Her Warriors (6 page)

She had wanted to protect him. She had kept
him from his duty to the Nyx, but somehow he had never chastised
her for doing so. All she had known at that moment—low on energy
and desperate to keep those she cared about from further harm—was
that she must protect him too, regardless of how mad he would be at
her later.

But he hadn’t been mad. He had taken her,
Beau, and her brother, to safety after the battle was over. He had
also looked after them while helping with the logistics of mop up.
He’d had duties to the Nyx and his fighters, but he’d always found
time to check on her each day they’d been in North Carolina. When
he’d left for New York, she had missed him and coming here today
had been a bit like coming home, for some odd reason.

She found herself moving upward, reaching on
tiptoe as his head moved downward. Their lips met in the middle, in
a sweet kiss that turned suddenly hot. The gentle man turned into a
wildcat in her arms and her body responded in kind.

This
so
wasn’t the time for this, but
by the same token…it totally was. She had wanted to kiss Geir for a
long time, though she had never really acknowledged the thought
until this very moment. He seemed as hot for her as she was for
him, his mouth claiming and demanding, where she never would have
guessed such passions ran beneath his calm exterior. He was fire in
her arms rather than the ice he often portrayed, and she loved it.
She loved that she could drive him to such an unpracticed,
real
response.

And then he had to go and wreck the whole
thing…by purring.

Jacki broke away from his kiss and tore
herself out of his arms. It was hard to do, but her mind was in
turmoil once again. She had to find clarity. She had to
think
.

Seeing her opportunity, she fled through the
kitchen door and took off through the back garden. The woods were
beyond, and they were calling her name. She entered the thick
forest, glad to know that Geir hadn’t followed. At least not
closely, if at all. She couldn’t hear him at any rate. Which was
good, she determined. She needed to be alone. She had to find some
kind of equilibrium so she could deal with everything that had
happened in such a short amount of time.

She felt a pull in the direction that led up
the mountain and she followed it, not really caring where she was
going. She just needed to wander a little bit, and this was as good
a direction as any to go.

She should have been surprised, but wasn’t
really, about fifteen minutes later when she stepped into a
clearing that held a small stone circle. And even more importantly,
Bettina was in the center of it, looking for all the world as if
she had been waiting for her.

Jacki felt an enormous sense of relief fill
her being as she walked into the circle and went to Bettina,
reaching out to her with both arms. Bettina took her hands and
Jacki immediately felt a jolt of calm, pure energy reach out to
her, stilling her inner turmoil a little bit.

“Thank goodness you’re here,” Jacki said
with true feeling.

“You seem so conflicted, child.” Bettina
looked at her with concern. “I hope I haven’t brought such chaos to
your life.”

“No, it’s not you at all, milady. It’s…”
Jacki felt so stupid thinking about the two tigers and their
reactions to her when her brother was so very ill. Her personal
stuff could wait. Tom was so much more important. “My brother is
very sick. He was injured in the battle at the lake, but it wasn’t
really a physical injury. He keeps losing strength and I’m afraid
he’s in a state I’ve never seen before. It’s like a coma, but on
the magical plane.”

“Where is he?” Bettina was all business now,
her fey eyes filled with unease.

“Back at the house. At Master Geir’s house,”
she clarified. “We’re all staying with him for the time being.”

“Then there’s not a moment to lose. Let’s go
see about your brother. Selkies are susceptible to many forms of
magical attack, but if we catch it in time, we may be able to save
him.”

Her voice, as well as her words, were music
to Jacki’s ears. They took off the way she had come, walking
briskly through the woods, not speaking much as they made haste
back to the big old farmhouse.

Chapter Four

Beau had stayed to look after Tom when Jacki
took off. Truth to tell, Beau was just a little too stunned to do
much of anything after she left him. She was his mate. He had
confirmation now. But she didn’t seem all that happy about it.

He couldn’t really blame her. Her brother
was looking worse all the time and it was obvious she cared deeply
about him. This wasn’t exactly the time to be thinking about
mating, but apparently the Mother Goddess had other plans. Beau
wouldn’t argue with the Mother of All’s plan, but he could wonder
at Her timing.

Beau could back off a bit, of course, if his
inner tiger would let him, but in the end, he would claim her for
his own. That thought gave him a bit of security and a sense of
purpose. First though, he had to help her and her brother through
this crisis. He didn’t want to start off their life together with a
tragedy. Beau vowed to do all in his power to help Tom recover,
though he had no idea really, where to start.

Sitting with the guy was a small enough
thing he could do, making sure Tom didn’t get any worse while Jacki
took a moment to regroup. If Beau was any judge, their reaction to
each other had surprised her more than anything. She had looked
really overwhelmed when she ran off, which was a bit of a relief,
in one way.

If she had been overwhelmed, she had felt
the same intense reaction he had. Right? That thought gave him
comfort, even as his tiger demanded they go hunt her down.

He shushed the beast and did what the human
side of his mind counseled—proceed with caution. Women were
unpredictable in Beau’s experience. He had to tread lightly,
especially with a woman he fully intended to spend the rest of his
life with. A little caution now might help them have a fantastic
future. He could be patient. Somewhat. He’d do his best to tamp the
cat’s instincts down as much as he could, and do this the more
human way. For now.

The door to Tom’s bedroom opened with a
small crash and Beau was instantly on his feet, ready and willing
to defend the unconscious man in the bed. But it was Jacki, and she
wasn’t alone. A petite woman followed on her heels, and Geir was
bringing up the rear, his brow furrowed in concern.

“How is he? Did he wake up at all?” Jacki
asked Beau, her gaze on her brother as she took up a post at his
bedside.

The other woman went to the other side of
the bed and began checking Tom over with a professional air. Was
she a doctor? She didn’t look like any kind of doctor Beau had ever
seen.

“No. Sorry. He’s been out since you left,”
Beau reported.

“You stayed with him?” Jacki looked up at
him as if he had committed some great act of kindness, but he
didn’t think it was that big a deal. He just nodded when her eyes
welled with unshed tears and her mouth formed words of the thanks
that she wasn’t able to speak.

But he understood. In Beau’s mind, Tom was
important to Jacki, and Jacki was important to Beau, so it was only
natural that he would help Tom. Even if Jacki didn’t make Beau purr
in human form, he would have hung around for Tom’s sake. The selkie
male was brave and had proven himself an able warrior. He was well
worth helping for his own sake.

“This is bad,” the small woman announced,
then stood back, looking at the three others gathered around the
bedside. “But I think we can save him. If we all work together. You
two are tigers, right?”

Beau nodded, a little surprised by the
woman’s perception. Geir had come up beside Beau, and they both
stood at the foot of the bed.

“She is the High Priestess, Bettina,” Geir
said softly, filling Beau in as the woman turned back to Tom,
clucking and feeling his forehead and wrists.

Beau paused to nod his thanks at Geir. The
High Priestess was rumored to be a powerful creature indeed. Beau
had never seen her before, but he looked at the small woman with
new respect. She was the chosen of the Goddess. If she couldn’t
save Tom, nobody could.

“Four elements, I think. I will stand for
air, Jacki for water, of course.” The High Priestess seemed to be
thinking out loud. “Master Geir will be earth, and you, young man…”
she looked right at Beau with those piercing blue eyes of hers,
“…from all accounts, you have a volatile temper. In this case,
that’s a good thing. You will stand for fire.” She looked around
the room and then set her gaze on Geir. “Can this bed be moved out
from the wall? It would be best if we could surround him.”

Geir bent to grab the frame and Beau moved
to help on the other side. As gently as possible, they slid the
bed, Tom and all, out from the wall, positioning it in the center
of the room as the High Priestess watched. She nodded in
satisfaction when they had maneuvered the bed into the right
place.

“Thank you,” Bettina said briskly. “We’ll do
this first spell fast, to stabilize him and stop the decay. It will
probably knock you all out for a few hours. You can rest tonight
and then tomorrow we’ll do something a lot more formal to start
reversing this.”

“What is it?” Jacki asked, fear clear in her
tone.

“It’s a kind of magical poisoning. I will
teach you the signs to look for during your training, but your
brother cannot wait right now, so let’s do this quickly, to stop
the drain on what remains of his power, then you and I can talk
about what is to be done tomorrow. It would probably be best if you
led the greater work, since you are his kin, but we can talk more
later. For now, we’re going to do a simple, but powerful,
protective spell. We’ll call on the four elements, combining our
energies and binding Tom to us, here in this realm. It should block
whatever is draining him and buy us time to figure out exactly how
to stop it and reverse the process, if possible.”

“If possible?” Jacki’s voice rose in
alarm.

Bettina smiled gently. “It might be possible
to return what he lost, in which case he will recover quickly. It
might not, in which case, his recovery will take longer as his
personal power is restored bit by bit in the natural course of
healing.”

“Or he might not recover at all,” Jacki said
in a bleak tone and Bettina went to her, putting one arm around her
shoulders.

“No, my dear. Don’t think that way. We
will
fix this. We
will
save your brother. How could
we fail with you and me, and two strapping young tigers to bind Tom
here?”

Geir, the old fashioned bastard, dropped to
one knee, his head bowed. “I pledge all my strength to you, High
Priestess, and to you, Jacki.” Geir looked up then, catching
Jacki’s gaze, and it looked like she brightened. He had given her
hope. At least the dude had managed to do that much, and Beau had
to grudgingly give respect where it was due.

Jacki reached out, taking Geir’s hands in
hers as he stood. “Thank you.”

“Uh…” Beau felt the need to speak, but
wasn’t anywhere near as formal as Geir’s gesture and words had
been. “I’m in too. We’ll fix Tom up. No problem.”

Jacki reached out to touch Beau’s arm, a
small smile aimed in his direction as she met his gaze, thanking
him too.

“Now that’s settled…” The High Priestess
sounded a little impatient, and the sense that there wasn’t much
time to lose took hold. “Master Geir, you take the north for
earth—up above Tom’s head. Angry man, you get the south, at his
feet. Jacki, your water spirit goes to the west and I’m in the east
for air. Now everybody join hands and say your prayers. I’ll be
drawing on your personal energies and those of the elements you
represent during the ritual. Don’t let go and don’t fear. I know
how much power you can spare and how much Tom needs. I’ll strike a
balance that we can all live with.” She smiled, but Beau admitted
to himself that he was a little frightened by the High
Priestess.

She was a creature of myth and legend. She
was mystical and incredibly magical. As a general rule, Beau wasn’t
all that comfortable around magic. It had caused some of the most
painful moments in his life and he didn’t really trust it—or those
who depended on it.

His mother had been a priestess. She had
lived her life with magic every day, and depended on it to her
detriment. It was what had gotten her killed. And his father had
died trying to protect his mate, leaving Beau all alone.

He just had to remind himself that this
woman, this High Priestess, served the Goddess directly and there
could be nothing evil in her or her actions. That was his only
comfort as Bettina began chanting in a bell-like tone, her voice
musical and full of magic.

Beau felt the magic gather as the little
hairs on his arms rose. He felt a charge building in the air, like
an electric current, but different somehow. The room got brighter
and though there was no wind inside the house, a circulation of
sorts began, sending a light show over the pale walls. It was like
the aurora borealis met a disco ball as colors and light flashed
and danced against the surface of the walls, and a golden glow
began to form inside their circle of joined hands.

Beau felt the tingle where his hand met
Jacki’s, but on the other side, he felt the tug of the High
Priestess’s power as she drew on his energy. It was an odd
sensation. It was like the link with Jacki fueled him and then it
drained into the other woman, and from her, into the center of the
circle—into Tom.

“Earth, air, fire and water, we stand
against the darkness,” Bettina’s voice rose as she switched to
English. “We stand against the forces of evil and the power that
seeks to harm this man. He is our beloved brother and we are his
protectors.” The light and fury of Bettina’s enhanced power rose to
a crescendo and then descended over Tom, cocooning him in a golden
glow that seemed to seep into his pores…and for just a moment…it
lit him from within.