As the words left Alastair’s mouth, the Thornes appeared en masse with his beloved Rorie leading the charge.
“Hello, my love. How did I know you were going to show up?” he asked.
She stomped forward, full of fire and wrath. “Were you truly planning to go to your death without a goodbye? I could murder you, you bloody bastard.”
He adored how her English accent thickened with her pique. “I thought I was limited on time.”
“Foolish man.” She knelt beside him and cradled his face, staring as if to memorize each of his features. “After we finally found each other again, it figures you’d do something to bugger it up. Is this your way of getting out of wedding me?” Aurora didn’t give him a chance to answer, instead leaning over to check on Nash. “How is the dear boy?”
“Suffering,” Alastair replied gruffly. He couldn’t pretend with her. Couldn’t hide his anguish upon seeing his firstborn at death’s door. “I don’t know how to help him other than to be here for him.”
As she opened her mouth to answer, the ground shook beneath them and another long crack appeared in the marble. Her worried blue eyes latched onto him. “He’s doing this even in his unconscious state?”
“Yes. It’s why I wanted our family clear of this place.” He shot a glare at Knox. “It’s why I entrusted the family to your care, boy.”
“Sorry, sir.” Knox held up his left hand to hide pointing at Autumn with his right. “Someone refused to listen. Someone told everyone what was going down. Someone—”
Autumn punched him in the shoulder. “I know what you’re doing, you tool!”
Even as his lips twitched in response, Alastair cast them a stern warning look. “Now is not the time for horseplay.”
“‘Horseplay’?” Aurora snorted indelicately. “I thought our daughters brought you into this century, you old dinosaur. Who says ‘horseplay’ anymore?”
“Et tu, Brute?” He lowered his voice for her ears alone. “Remind me, if we get out of this, to show you how much of a dinosaur I am.”
She grinned and winked.
“If Nash survives, I hope we are like the two of you years from now,” Ryanne said tearfully.
Aurora stroked a hand down the young woman’s glossy dark hair. “Not if. He will. Between all of us, we’ll come up with a solution.”
“Thank you,” Ryanne croaked.
Any reservations Alastair had retained about Ryanne dissipated. He’d be a fool not to recognize the love she bore his son.
His sister stepped forward. “Alastair, the clearing behind your estate, do you think it would work to counteract Nash’s magic? I have an idea.” GiGi outlined her plan to utilize Knox’s and his son-in-law Quentin’s powers to manipulate time and throw Nash into a stasis state until a way to safely remove the necklace could be agreed upon.
The suggestion had merit, and Alastair mentally ran through the list of possible spells they might use. “I’m not sure the standing stones will help. In theory, they might give us an added boost for any spell we may cast, but I can’t see it counterbalancing the earthquakes he’s causing.” As Alastair finished speaking, the floor beneath them rumbled. “Either way, we need to get out of this blasted building.”
He tucked one arm beneath Nash’s back to cradle his son to his chest. “Ryanne, take my free hand and don’t let go. The rest of you, meet us in the clearing.” He met Aurora’s bright blue gaze and felt some of her confidence seep into him. “Grab on, my love.”
He waited a moment until everyone vacated the premises before sending out a magical feeler to the glen. When he was certain he could teleport safely, he closed his eyes to concentrate and opened the rift between the two locations. It only took an extra push of his power to move his small group of four through the opening.
His son-in-law, Quentin, was on the other side with Knox to relieve him of the burden of Nash. “Place him on the stone altar,” he directed them. “We need to call up the stones.”
Previously, his brother, Preston, would have led the ceremony to raise the stone pillars, but since his passing, that job now fell to him or his sister as the most experienced witches. He went to GiGi and placed a hand on her shoulder. Sadness swamped him. It had only been six months, but he desperately missed his little brother.
Alastair cleared the emotion from his throat and said, “Would you care to do the honors, sister?”
She nodded, gestured to five Thorne sisters to assist, and positioned the group of seven into a circle.
As Ryanne moved forward to offer her assistance, Aurora clasped her hand. “No, dear. This is for the family. Come, wait with me over there.” She gestured with one hand to the tree line beyond the clearing. “When the time is right, you can help Nash.”
The two men who had followed them separated, with one moving to the path north of the clearing and the other heading south.
“What are they doing?” she asked Aurora.
“They are checking the wooded area around the estate. I like to call them the ceremony guardians. It would take an army to get by either of them, don’t you think?”
Her eyes were drawn to the large dark-haired man as he strode away. The guy had to be at least six-six and was chock-full of lean muscle. “He’s a beast.”
“Ah, but a damned sexy beast, no?”
For the first time in what felt like days, Ryanne cracked a smile. How Nash’s family retained a sense of humor when one of their own was in trouble was beyond her scope of comprehension. Yet, they did, and it was easy to fall in with their unwavering optimism. “I didn’t think men like him existed outside of Hollywood.”
Aurora placed an elegant arm over Ryanne’s shoulder and gave a light squeeze. “As my daughter Autumn is fond of saying, he’s the perfect eye candy.”
Again, Ryanne’s smile came unbidden. “I can’t fault your daughter’s eyesight.”
The light, musical laugh from her companion drew Alastair’s attention from across the clearing. If asked, Ryanne would have said the sound wouldn’t have carried as far, but it was as if Nash’s father was attuned to everything about the woman standing next to her. Even from this distance, his love for Aurora was obvious. His head turned in his sister’s direction, but his eyes lingered for another second or two on his lover.
“I thought Mr. Thorne’s sister mentioned utilizing their magic. Did I hear wrong?”
“No. Their usefulness will come in later, if we cannot remove that bloody piece of jewelry.”
Ryanne simply nodded, unsure what to say or do to help.
“Watch,” Aurora said quietly. “This is a sight to behold.”
While Ryanne couldn’t make out the words, each Thorne joined in a chant led by GiGi. This merging of voices was mesmerizing. The ground groaned and grumbled, then separated to reveal the tips of fourteen large rock formations. As one, the pillars rose from beneath the earth’s surface, towering over the group and casting shadows around the circle. Oddly enough, all the shadows were directed outward, as if the main source of light came from the center of the stone ring.
The air crackled and became charged with electricity. Ryanne could feel the energy even from this distance. As tired as she was, the current gave her a boost and wiped away the bulk of her fatigue. In an instant, her senses sharpened, and she could smell the heavy scent of pine from the trees beyond them.
The stones were easily three times her height and had to be five feet in width. Moss decorated the rock formations, and symbols—not discernible from this distance—were etched into the hard surfaces of each stone. The setting reminded her of Stonehenge.
“Um, Aurora, these are eerily similar to the standing stones I’ve seen in the UK. Do people have ceremonies there too?”
“We do. We simply cloak the area and cast a spell to repel visitors.”
“It’s like pulling back the layers of an onion. I had no idea what lay in the center, no idea a magical community even existed.”
“I have the feeling you’ll take to it like a duck to water, dear. Your parents were gifted.”
“You knew my parents?”
“I did. Your mother and I were school chums.”
“You were friends? I got the impression from Mr. Thorne that she—they—my parents—were terrible people.”
“I can’t speak to what kind of person she was after she met your father, but when I knew her, she was lovely. Very much like you.”
A chill swept through her. If her mother had been like her, which Ryanne doubted, what had been the catalyst for her change? Her father? If so, then what type of person allowed themselves to be swayed by another to the degree of using their children for financial gain?
Her gaze fell on Nash where he now lay still. Would she commit a criminal act for him? The answer was a resounding yes. Based on what little he’d told her, Ryanne had been prepared to steal the Red Scorpion necklace. Only, to Nash’s mind—and her own—the theft was justified. Had her mother thought the same? It begged the question, what items had they stolen? When this was all over, she intended to find out.
“I feel as if I need to find my sister and beat the hell out of her until she provides a reversal spell.”
“That’s one option. But I somehow doubt she knows how.”
“What do you mean?”
“Knowing the type of person Victor Salinger is, I suspect he only provided her with the means to attach the necklace, not remove it.” Aurora shrugged. “I also suspect your sister didn’t have much of a choice in the matter.”
“Bull. There’s always a choice. She did this because she could and because she can’t stand to see me happy.”
“Or did she do it because he threatened her and gave her no choice? If faced with harm to you or your person, wouldn’t she act in a manner to protect you?”
“I don’t know anymore. I don’t know if I ever did. My sister is a nutcase.”
In the middle of the stone circle, the Thornes gathered and seemed to be discussing their options.
“Can we enter now?” Ryanne asked, unsure of the magical boundaries or how she was expected to deport herself.
“Certainly.”
Before they could step forward, Nash’s body arched up and a tortured cry escaped his lips. The earth buckled, starting from the altar and working out like a tsunami. The result tipped the stone formations.
Ryanne’s fight-or-flight instincts kicked into high gear, and reacting on that instinct, she tackled Aurora, rolling them out of the way of the falling pillar.
The rock formations never toppled. Instead, every single one hung suspended at a forty-five-degree angle from the ground.
Aurora rose and pulled a gobsmacked Ryanne to her feet. “Thank you, dear girl. Now, I need to borrow a bit of your magic.”
A warming sensation infused Ryanne’s body, and she could literally feel the wave of heat sweep from her cells and transfer itself to Aurora. The winds around them kicked up to tropical storm force, except as far as Ryanne was able to tell, the direction of the air all flowed toward the standing stones. Even as she watched, the stones slowly straightened and settled back into their original upright positions.
Alastair closed the distance between them and swept Aurora into an all-encompassing hug. “Christ, that was close. Are you all right? Was that too much, too soon?”
“I’m fine, darling. Ryanne was lovely enough to lend me her power.”
He released Aurora only to embrace, Ryanne. “Thank you, child. You’re quickly becoming invaluable to my family.”
“But who stopped the stones from falling in the first place?” Ryanne asked, dumbfounded by all that was happening and at the power these witches possessed.
“That would be Summer’s or GiGi’s instinctive response. Most likely both.” He must have picked up on her confusion because he clarified, “They, along with Spring’s husband, have the ability to halt time. It comes in handy now and again.”
She shook her head at the wonder of it all. “Is this a thing? Like fifty percent of witches can do this? Can I do that?”
“Possibly, but doubtful. It’s a gift from the Goddess. Few witches outside the Thorne line can achieve that level of skill.”
While she was disappointed, she had other things to worry about right now. Like how the hell had Nash’s pain killer worn off so fast? She asked as much and received a grimace from Alastair in return.
“What can we do to help ease his suffering?” She could hear the panic in her own voice, and while she wasn’t one to overreact to situations, this one was more dire than most.
“We’re working to figure it out, child. Be patient.”
“I can’t…” She paused to get her hysteria in check. “I can’t be patient. Seeing him in such excruciating pain is killing me.” The speed with which all this madness had taken place was astonishing. Was it only yesterday morning Nash had brought up the plan to steal the necklace? Ryanne had believed he and Liz were kidding. “Liz!” she cried. “Liz and Nash had been planning to get the necklace for a while, or at least that was the impression I got when we spoke yesterday. Is it possible that she has information we don’t?”
“It’s worth a try,” Aurora agreed. “I’ll get her and bring her back.”
“Be careful, my love. Go straight there and come straight back. I don’t trust Victor not to attack when everyone is distracted.”
Ryanne got the impression there should be an “again” attached to his statement. It was more about the look the couple shared than any other reason, but she couldn’t shake the feeling Victor had already used that technique to strike at the Thorne family.
After Aurora disappeared, Ryanne and Alastair strode to where Nash once again rested quietly. She stroked his sweat-dampened hair back from his face, and in his uneasy sleep, Nash turned toward her touch.
“Has Victor done something like this before?” she asked softly.
“Not this exact thing, but yes. He’s part of a warring bloodline who has it out for our family.”
She raised her gaze to meet Alastair’s stare. “Anyone associated with you will never be safe, will they?”
“No.”
Biting her lip against the flow of profanity rising up, she nodded and looked down at Nash. “He’s collateral damage in this stupid-ass war of yours.”
“Not if I can help it.”
A viciousness welled in her chest and hate flooded her being. She whipped her head up and glared. “But you didn’t help it, did you? Because of you, he’s going to die. Tortured by some nasty piece of work who—”
Her ugly speech was cut off when hands jerked her back from the altar. All the fire inside was instantly banked. A dying ember. She looked around at all the faces staring in shock. “I’m sorry. I don’t know what came over me.”
Spring patted her arm. “I do. It’s why I pulled you away. The scorpion was poisoning your thoughts.”
“But I didn’t touch it.”
“You didn’t need to. I noticed it early on at Thorne Industries. My sister and Nash were both acting out of character. With your sudden anger, well, let’s say, it shouldn’t have taken me that long to figure it out.”
Ryanne focused her attention on Nash. Had she not been watching, she’d have missed the movement of the scorpion as it appeared to burrow deeper into his skin. “Dear God!” She grabbed Nash’s hand and, acting on instinct, pulled the next wave of his power into her. The boost of energy knocked her flat on her back. She bit her lip and saw stars when her head slammed into the hard-packed earth. It felt as if all her blood and brain matter had pooled in that one spot in her skull.
Spring and GiGi got to her first. As Spring produced a handkerchief and dabbed at the blood on Ryanne’s mouth, GiGi worked gentle fingers along the back of Ryanne’s neck and palpated the bump forming on the back of her head.
A simple incantation by Nash’s aunt took away Ryanne’s headache and cleared her thoughts. “I need to get that thing off him. I don’t care what I have to do.”
With a determination and courage she didn’t feel, she approached Nash’s still form. As she grasped the edges of the shirt, the jewel-encrusted tail rose up to strike. “You can’t have him,” she said fiercely. “He’s mine!”