Natural Magick (21 page)

However, with the system they had installed, this was no longer a problem. They had had the cables dropped off and with the help of a couple of weres at the power plant, they had the power grid turned off long enough to work on it without a lot of others knowing anything about what they were doing. That was the thing about covert security, the more people who knew about it, the less effective it became.

“
They’re here,” Daniel said with a grin. “They arrived in town about twenty minutes ago. They are staying at that inn on Market Avenue. Their car, surprise, surprise, is a total piece of crap and probably won’t take them back to their home, at least not without a major overhaul. So for them to confront you, they’ll need to walk here, teleport, or take a cab. Jim, the owner of the inn, would probably believe they’d hitch a ride, that’s how stupid they are. He said that he had to explain to them eight times that they couldn’t each have a room as the inn only had four rooms total and two of them were already occupied. When he told them he would not kick the other two couples out, they told him he should have more respect for his betters. Then proceed to tell him how he should have special rooms set up for special guests like them at all times.”

“
Better than what is what I’d like to know. Did they say anything else?” Pete was almost afraid to hear what he’d say next.

“
Nah, not really. Said they were here to pick up their long lost sister and take her home with them. Oh yeah, and you’re nuts,” he told her with a cocky grin.

“
Excuse me? What do you mean I’m nuts?” She waited for him to explain while he got a large roast beef sub off the seemingly never empty tray Dunc had brought in.

“
Yeah, it seems they’ve got a court order saying that you need constant care and that you are incapable of making any decisions on your own. That a woman by the name of, get this, Aphrodite is your legal guardian. Now if I were the judge and heard all of those names together, I’d have all of them committed, not you. Aphrodite, isn’t she some sort of god of dirt or something?” If Daniel had not been so helpful, she might have gotten up and smacked him.

“
She’s the goddess of love and she’s my mother—Aphrodite, not my mother. Who the hell would give them a court order? What the hell am I supposed to do now? Every cop in town knows who I am. Shit! I won’t be able to move without someone trying to arrest me and to hand me over. I wonder if the stupid woman remembers that I took care of her more than she did me when I lived at home.”

“
They won’t be able to get you here, love. And I’ve talked with Bradley. It seems he has a brother and a few other pack members on the local force; they know to keep you safe. But that doesn’t solve our problem. They are still going to be out there waiting. They can’t leave because of their transportation issues, and as you have pointed out, I don’t think that they’ll leave without you at any rate. You’ve become the sole reason for their woes of late, I imagine. We’ll need to decide to either confront them or ignore them. Pete, you know them better than any of us. What do you think we should do?”

Aaron looked directly at her and no one else. He was saying, “your decision, kid,” and she knew it.

She knew that there was no point in saying that it was not anyone’s problem but her own, that they were her blood relatives, not theirs. But Aaron’s Kiss had taken her in as one of their own, and nothing she could say would change their minds. She looked around the room and realized that she was one of theirs, a friend, and a lover. Aaron and Sara had opened their home to her, Colin and Shade gave her friendship and understanding, and Dominic loved her. They had let her into their hearts and she had never had anyone be so open, friendly, or helpful to her before. She was a part of something.

“
I know this sounds so inadequate, but I wanted to say thank you to all of you. You can’t know how much it means to me, how much all of you have come mean to me. I...I think—”

Duncan walked into the big room and made a grave announcement before she could finish.

“
Miss Pete, there is an objectionable personage at the front gate who is demanding entrance. He is claiming to be one of your guardians and is here to ‘fetch’ you home. What would you like me to do to him?”

CHAPTER NINETEEN

Pete laughed even as she felt like crying. Dunc had become her newest champion, it seemed. She looked to Aaron, as it was his home, and silently asked him to make the decision. The children had already been taken to the Keep earlier that day, and already had nearly all of the royal court, including the guards, wrapped around their little fingers, so she was no longer worried about them.

“
Dunc, my man, allow this person in. Daniel, could you please alert the pack members and let them know the faction has arrived finally? Pete, nothing will happen today. He’s here only to see if he can persuade you to come with him without a fight, which I’m betting he fully expects, as he has come alone. Dominic, let’s go and greet the rabble with your mate, shall we?” When she walked out of the front doors, she was flanked by both men.

~~~

Pete watched as Ares was just getting out of the car. The low, mean growl behind him had him turning quickly. Right behind him was a pack of wolves not ten feet away. He pressed his back against the car door and did not move. Pete was sure he was not stupid enough to take on a dozen full grown wolves and believe he would come out on top. And Ares had always managed to come out on top, no matter who he had to kill to get there.

The largest wolf by a good forty pounds of pure muscle moved closer to the car, raised his hackles, and bared his teeth. When he moved to within a foot of Ares, he lifted his hind leg and pissed all over him. Ares started to move forward to challenge the wolf, she thought, to make him pay for ruining his clothes, but stopped, frozen as the entire pack moved three steps forward, teeth bared and growling menacingly at him. Their growls were a harmony of sounds and tones that seemed to reverberate around them all as they moved forward toward her brother.

The feelings running through him were just what his victims had felt when faced with him or one of her brothers. Of course, this would never have occurred to him, just as it would not have to any of the others. Pete could feel his terror, taste it even. She waited until he turned to look at her before she spoke.

“
I wouldn’t, if I were you. Run, I mean. I’d stay very still and make no sudden moves. I’ve learned that they don’t care for food that doesn’t make them work for it. Maybe they’ll kill you quickly and you won’t be alive when they eat you. Or if you’d like, you can run. That will certainly make them happy, running you down, chewing on your soft tissue before breaking bones. You know, on second thought, I want you to run. Yes, please run from them. I believe I’d like that very much.”

As soon as she spoke, Bradley walked over to her and sat to her right. She reached down and scratched him behind the ears. She realized then that he had been the one who had peed all over Ares. She smiled. Leaning down, she spoke in a voice everyone could hear and said, “Good boy.”

Dominic walked up behind her, put his arms around her waist, and pulled her into his body. He was clearly showing ownership of her, and normally that would bother her, but she found that she needed his touch more than anything at that moment and leaned back against him. Aaron flanked her on her other side as the wolves fanned out around her and the men.

“
Are they gonna eat me, Dilly Bar?”

Ares’ voice sounded a little higher than he would normally speak to her or anyone he had thought to dominate and she found she enjoyed that tremor in his voice.

“
I’m not sure yet what I want them to do to you. I haven’t decided. What do you want? If your answer isn’t too offensive, then I might let you live, human. And be quick about it. I have better things to do than to stand around with a fool who comes to my home unannounced.”

Aaron, fangs bared and eyes glowing a deep blood red, stepped up beside Ares using the speed of his kind. Pete smiled broadly when she heard Ares whimper.

“
I have a court order that states that Dilly Bar, err Piccadilly, my sister, is crazy. Well, it says that she is unbalanced, and suffering from hallucinations and delusions of grandeur. That she is unfit to be left alone. My mother has been named her guardian; I’m here to take her home, back home with me, us.”

Ares pulled the paper out of his jacket and shakily handed it over to Aaron. He looked at Pete with a questioning brow. At her nod, he opened it and began to read it.

“
Pete, my dear, are you having delusions of grandeur again? My, my, and all this time we thought you to be the real deal.” He turned to look back at her brother. “She isn’t left alone. As you can see, she has quite a few beings around her at all times. Dominic, why don’t you bring your lovely wife around so she can introduce us to her, hummm...brother?”

Pete heard the way Aaron had emphasized the word “being,” but she doubted that Ares had. She could see that he was sure of what the outcome of today’s meeting was going to be and that Ares had missed the small enounce. Pete wondered if her family had ever been told no before.

She and Dominic walked to just beside Aaron, and the wolves had moved just enough to allow them a clear view of the human. None of them would let her get close enough for Ares to be able to touch her, yet close enough for him to see. Bradley, still in wolf form, had followed her and again sat, this time in front of her.

“
Sire, Dominic, this is one of my brothers, Ares Bartholomew. Ares, this is my master, Aaron MacManus, and my mate, Dominic Marshall. And this is my alpha, Bradley, master of this pack. You are trespassing here and are not welcome, so what the fuck do you want?”

Pete had been very careful to keep her powers in check. Sara warned her that there was no reason to give them any more information about her and her powers than necessary. Sara was helping her hold them; hide them really until the time came when Pete would need to confront the brothers. There was no doubt that she would have to, and having the upper hand could save her life.

“
Can you call off your dogs and let’s be civil about this?”

He stiffened up again as the alpha stood up on his hind legs and moved, bracing himself on the car very close to where Ares was. He growled deep in his throat at him.

“
He’s not a dog, you moronic fuck. He’s a wolf. And you’d do well to remember that. Dog indeed! Do you realize he could snap your scrawny neck in a second if I wanted him to? I wonder why I didn’t realize you were this stupid when I lived at home. Now, what do you want?”

Bradley growled again, as if begging for her to ask him to kill the man. Pete was very close to saying have a good meal. She might have, too, if she wasn’t afraid Bradley and the others would be sick from him. Just the thought of Ares being eaten by the pack made her smile. She wondered fleetingly if she was as bad as them. No, she thought, she only thought it. They actually carried through with it.

Ares didn’t like Pete being smart with him. She could tell by the stiffening of his body. So when Ares leapt forward suddenly and grabbed her arm and meant to strike her, Dominic had him by the neck and dangling from the ground a good two feet before he could draw back his other hand to hit her. Pete had been so startled by both of the men that she did not move for several seconds. And she did not know how much longer she would have stood there if Dominic hadn’t spoken just when he had.

“
Touch her again and I will kill you, you fucking worthless excuse for a human being. I will kill you in ways that will make what you’ve been up to seem like child’s play. Trust me when I say I have a great deal more practice and I’m much more patient with bloodletting.”

The intimidation and menace in voice was powerful, leaving Ares no doubt of the man’s claim, Pete was sure. Then Dominic licked her brother, a long swipe of his tongue along his jugular.

“
You will get into that piece of a shit car, turn it around, and never come near her again, or I swear to you that nothing will keep me from you. Do I make myself perfectly clear?” To make sure he understood, Dominic shook him hard again, and then dropped him to the ground. Pete laughed when she realized that Ares had wet himself.

~~~

Ares got into his car very slowly, as the pack had not backed away when the others had reentered the house, but had moved closer and were now baring their teeth and had unsheathed their claws.

The car had been giving them problems all the way there so when it did not start on the first two tries, Ares was not surprised. When he was finally able to start it and turn the car around and head back toward the front gate of the estate, he was relieved to see his escort, the pack, Pete had called them, start to fall away a few at a time, and by the time he reached the iron gates, only four followed. He didn’t even pause, afraid that one or all of them would make him very sorry he had. He drove straight out the gate and to the relative safety of the main road.

Ares had to think. Things were not going as Sherman or their mother had said they would. Not only was Pete not the weakling they had thought she would be, but she had a very large, very strong husband as well.

The car was running badly, they were nearly broke, and they had no one to steal anything from. This was all Dilly’s fault, he thought. If she would just learn her place and come back with them, everything would be fine again, he was sure of it. And then Ares could go on with his own plan. He was not sure what to tell Sherman and the rest about what had happened. He knew their master and his older brother would be angry.