Chapter Six

THOUGH SHE WOULD never tell her, Briar hated Fauna’s apartment. Not the location—on top of the tallest building overlooking a park with a little lake—but the decorations. She’d hired an interior decorator, so had Briar, but Fauna hadn’t added any of her own touches in the two years she’d lived there. It looked like something out of a magazine; in fact, it had been featured in two. It was dreadfully boring, and Briar had never known there were so many shades of white.

Fauna always said she didn’t care. She’d decorate when she took over Constance Steel and got a house somewhere in the city. Briar had seen her drooling over some of the oldest buildings, the ones with balconies off the bedrooms and wraparound porches dripping with detail. Still, she could do something now. It made Briar itchy to be there.

At this particular moment though, Fauna was emerging from her pantry with what Briar suspected were several very old bottles of wine, expensive but not stored very well. Their labels were yellowed and peeling slightly at the corners.

Fauna was still wearing her pumps and the slacks she only wore to work. Her hair was pulled into a tight ponytail that made Briar’s head hurt just to think about. Soren looked terrified.

“What are we going to do?” She tried to uncork a bottle of wine, shoving the opener in with too much force and shredding the cork.

Soren gently took it away from her. “She’s already had most of a bottle.”

“And?” Fauna reached up, tightening her ponytail, and Briar shuddered.

“Just an observation. And as for what we do, I think we wait for your mother to contact us. We have no idea what Eliana is capable of right now. She could have her under her control and if we need to free her we don’t want her suspicious. Or she could have just been meeting with her. My father used to meet with your grandfather whenever he had a public works project. We could be worrying too much.” He didn’t sound convinced.

And Briar felt even more guilty, which she hadn’t thought was possible. She’d been so worried about what Henrik was going to do she hadn’t given a moment’s thought to Vestia. For all her aunt’s faults they were still family, and more importantly, she was Fauna’s mother.

Her cousin turned pleading eyes toward her. “You can’t agree that we should just wait. It’s my mom, Briar. My mom. What if it’s Sparrow next?”

“He’s in the Tragues, probably getting blown by several models right now. I don’t think Eliana is going to hurt him.”

“He’s so stupid. He wouldn’t even notice.”

Lillia laughed. “Sorry.” She took the glass of wine Soren offered.

Briar navigated through the kitchen and grabbed an unopened bottle of white wine, trying to formulate a plan. Vestia was a pain in her ass but she didn’t deserve to have her mind invaded and Briar knew Vestia would go to blows for her if it came down to it. Fauna hadn’t gotten her fire from her father. “What if we call your dad?”

“What’s he going to do?”

“Piss her off enough that she’ll take some pills and a few glasses of wine and call you. You can get whatever you want out of her and she probably won’t even remember.” If Vestia Constance had one weakness it was Nikos Outstoff, the only man who had ever gotten under her skin and left her when she stopped getting under his. “We can’t be obvious. If she’s under Eliana’s thrall we don’t want her to know we suspect anything. She has to tell us voluntarily. We need a way to spend more time with her, without raising suspicion.”

“My dad doesn’t bother her that much anymore,” Fauna said, but she’d put down her glass of wine only half finished and pulled out her phone. She spun it in a circle. “Or bother to answer my calls.”

Briar thought for a moment, sipping her own drink. “Okay. So your dad is a no go. We could get Sparrow to call her. You know she loves to dote on him and he’d tell her whatever lie we concocted. He could say he ran into my mom—you know how much Vestia hates her. It’d be a good gauge of whether she’s under Eliana’s control or not.”

Fauna grimaced. “You know how she gets though. It’s mean to rile her up like that. At her age?”

“Wait.” Soren put up a hand, looking between the two of them. “I should have realized it sooner but the two of you are evil geniuses. This is uncomfortable to watch.”

“Truly.” Lillia slid onto the gold barstool beside him and clinked her wineglass against his. “It’s frightening.”

Briar rolled her eyes and stepped closer to Fauna, her phone suddenly heavy in her pocket. Involving Sparrow would be a gamble. He was safe now, far away and presumably not a target for Eliana. Sparrow never made waves; he was a shallow pool. But if they asked him to lie to his mother Briar was sure he’d oblige. His love for them outweighed his desire to keep the peace. “It’s just a little Constance cousin shenanigans, for old times’ sake.”

“When were the new times?” Soren paced back and forth in the kitchen. “Why involve anyone else at all? You could just call her. She is your mom.”

Fauna waved him away. “Call my mom? Come on, Soren. How suspicious would that look? We just need to rile her up a little bit so she’ll need someone to vent to. There’s always the chance she’ll call Uncle Keller and then you know how that could go.”

Briar certainly did know. It was rare for Vestia and Keller to spend much time together, but when they did things tended to get messy. They’d once created their own scandals, and a bottle of whiskey tended to take them back to those long-ago nights when they were young, unburdened by bad marriages and distant children. “All right, so you text Sparrow and you tell him that—”

“Okay, wait. Seriously.” Soren stood up, looking to Lillia for support, but she shook her head. “You also run the risk of getting more people involved in Eliana’s web. Think about your mom, Briar. She figured out something was wrong with Jenia faster than anyone else. I know she’s not related to Vestia but all of you are bright women of varying levels of frustration to those around you. Again, why not just talk to Vestia, or have Andora do it?”

Briar laughed so hard she choked on her wine. Though if she stuck her mother and Fauna’s together in the same room they might not need a sacrifice any longer because one of them was bound to kill the other. “Vestia hates Andora and she’s not going to take any advice from her. Especially right now. After my mom met us in Kylva, she spent a few weeks here. My dad’s still trying to find his way up from the bottom of a bottle. And she is not going to help Vestia. She never does anything to put herself at risk. If she senses trouble she leaves. That’s the Andora Promise you can always count on.”

Frustration twisted Soren’s features and he turned to Fauna. “You really think this is the best idea? Why don’t you just talk to your mom? Ask her if she met with Jenia. You’re making this more complicated than it needs to be.”

Fauna chuckled and brushed a hand against Soren’s cheek before patting it. “Oh, you sweet thing. You have obviously never dealt with my mother. If you want her to tell you anything honest and not twisted to her own advances you have to get a couple of glasses of wine in her. Ry, if I called and asked her how her meeting with Jenia went, what do you think she would say?”

Briar held her wineglass by the stem, one pinkie out. “Oh, sweetheart, you know it was the best time. She’s so amenable to Constance Steel and luckily your cousin did not totally tarnish the relationship. If you’d like I can set a date for you to meet with her, get you right on target for where you should be. Oh, and I heard she has a brother, older than you but a good match.”

Lillia’s eyebrows rose toward her hairline. “This conversation has really answered a lot of questions for me. But if you just want to booze her up for answers, why not do that? Why involve your whole family?”

“How else do we get her chatty?”

A mischievous grin split Lillia’s face and she turned toward Soren who immediately started shaking his head. “He obviously does well with Constance women. He’s charming. Oh, stop being dramatic. The two of you have to be about the same age.”

“It’s not her age that’s the problem!” At least he had stopped pacing. A wrinkle appeared and deepened between his brows and he practically fell onto the couch. “I’m staying in here, away from all of you.”

Briar struggled and failed not to laugh at the idea of Soren drinking with Vestia. This was a better plan. She couldn’t wait to get Lillia alone and tell her how incredibly hot she found it when she joined in with Briar’s scheming. “She likes red wine, Soren.”

“I swear to Ortus—”

“Briar tried to fight him, better watch out.” Tears of laughter were welling in Fauna’s eyes. “I bet you could get the whole thing out of her.”

Soren was slowly sinking into the cushions of the couch and Briar had never seen him look so uncomfortable. “I think you’re forgetting she knows Jenia doesn’t like me.”

“The perfect way to bring up the conversation.” Lillia followed him into the living room. She downed the last of her drink and sat the glass on the coffee table before sitting in an armchair. She was not laughing like Briar and Fauna, her face was serious, and Gods, it was so sexy to watch her plot and conspire. “If we’re assuming Vestia isn’t actually being controlled by Eliana—and I think that’s a fair assumption, Eliana can’t mind control everyone she meets—then it’s not that important who the Goddess likes and doesn’t like. All that matters is that we find out why Vestia is meeting with her.” She leaned forward, her elbows digging into her knees. “Before another Constance falls under her control.”

Soren frowned for a moment, then nodded. “It’s better than their plan, which involves pissing her off first, but I cannot properly explain how much I don’t like it.”

Lillia stood up, patting his knee as she did. “You’ve slept with worse women.”

Fauna made a strangled noise. “Don’t sleep with my mom.”

“I’m not going to.” He patted the couch beside himself. “Come on, ladies, sit. You’ve convinced me, I’ll do it.”

Briar perched on the arm of the chair Lillia had just vacated and Fauna took the seat beside him. Briar ran over her plan in her head, admittedly complicated and not very nice, and Lillia’s—also not the nicest but much less complicated and just as dependent on Soren’s ability to charm women. Nearly a sure bet. But she didn’t like his involvement, or that it might put him close to the Goddess once again. “Vestia likes to get drinks at Rosco’s when she gets off work. Thank you for doing this, Soren. We’ve got to figure out what Eliana wants before she gets it.”

“I can’t believe I’m doing this.” Soren ran his hands through his hair and leaned his head on Fauna’s shoulder. “So, tell me how to seduce your mom?”

“I’m literally going to throw up.” Fauna pushed his head off her shoulder. “The red wine thing is true though.”

*

HER CONDO WAS quiet. Briar had grown used to the sounds of people inside it but they’d all parted ways when they left Fauna’s house. She didn’t want to think about her aunt in the clutches of Eliana, and who would be next? She had no idea what the Goddess was capable of.

Her eyebrows though, that was something she could focus on, and they certainly needed it. Reaching across the sink, Briar grabbed for the glass of wine she’d brought with her. Her fingers grazed the stem, and it slipped from its spot on the sink and crashed to the floor.

“Shit.” She knelt, trying to pick up the pieces without impaling herself but was unsuccessful. Glass pierced her knee, a rogue piece carried away by a river of white wine.

Careful of the rest of it, Briar stepped over the mess and into her bedroom, bringing her tweezers with her. How often had she bled in the last few months? More than the entirety of most of her years combined. She thought of the last time, the heady feeling of the drugs even as the words had spilled from her lips. The spell ran through her mind as she wiped blood from her leg with a tissue.

“Well, I expected clothes.”

Briar screamed, spinning around to find Nilaja in her bedroom. “Shit. Shit. Shit.” She grabbed a crocheted blanket off the back of the chair and draped it over her shoulders, but she was still left in her bra and a pair of boy shorts.

Autumn leaves fell from Nilaja, mixing with spring rains that smelled of hot asphalt, as they stepped forward and out of the shroud of mist surrounding them, but they were still not fully corporeal. The fog continued to swirl around their feet, giving the impression they were gliding—maybe they were. They pushed a sheet of thick auburn hair over their shoulder. Their hair was longer now, brushing their well-shaped ass. Their body was different, too, their shoulders wide, their arms thick with muscle. “Did you not mean to summon me?”

Briar shook her head but she rubbed her fingers together, still sticky with blood, and looked to her knee to find it healed. Understanding fell into place. “I can see why spells fell out of favor.” It was wild magic that seemed to have a mind of its own.

“They’re tricky beasts. I heard about your encounter with Ortus. You are not the first to find him frustrating but what you did takes gumption.”

Briar didn’t know what to say so she headed for her closet, pulled out a sundress, and quickly slipped it over her head. “I’m sorry I wasted your time.”

Nilaja shrugged and fires ignited and died in their eyes. “If I’m truthful, sometimes the lands I roam can get boring and the Gods are so tedious I never visit them. I am terribly sorry we haven’t had better answers for you.”

“Speaking of…” Briar stepped closer to Nilaja and froze. Something about them was more intoxicating than any drug—a desire to touch, to do something, to laugh. It was sweet on her tongue and her anxiety eased away. “What are you?”

Nilaja smiled like a thousand sunsets. “I’m the God of Change. Seasons, time, people even. There’s so much change for the humans, moving, new jobs, new lovers. You are always in a state of flux, sometimes I think you prefer it that way. You were going to ask me a different question before you got too close though. Go ahead. I love to hear your thoughts.”

Time moved slowly as Briar struggled to remember what she had wanted to ask, focused instead on the desire to run the pads of her fingers over their jawline. “Oh, um, yes. Mind control. I assume Eliana still can. Do you know anything about it?”

Nilaja nodded and sat on Briar’s desk chair. Their mist moved with them, swirling up the legs of the chair and settling in the lap of the God. “Yes. Hers was always powerful, especially considering her heritage. We all have something, the way we influence the world. All of our powers are different. Ivian has always had strong, some might say indecent, mind control but he’s careful with it. She was not. I see no reason to believe she has lost her abilities. But now that she has broken through the veil and compromised all the spells we used to take ourselves from this world, it might be easier for someone to recognize what is happening to them than it was for you.”

The information was solid. It made sense even while it frustrated Briar to hear how cavalier Nilaja was about their manipulation of the humans. Though the Gods could not change what was needed, maybe there were ways for them to help, if only Briar knew the right questions. Her curiosity was piqued and she settled onto her bed, just outside the reach of Nilaja’s power. She wanted to keep her head clear. Her thoughts were tangled enough by being in the same room as the most beautiful person she had ever seen, she didn’t need magic swirling around with them. “What about you, how do you influence the world?”

“Can I show you?” They stood once again, and Briar went rigid on the bed.

Certainly this was a bad idea. She’d already proven that she had little restraint around the Gods. “Am I an entire fool if I willingly let a God into my mind again?”

Nilaja paused. Taking a step away from Briar, they raised her hands in front of themself. “I will not do this if you are uncomfortable. I will control no part of your mind though. I only set intentions, place images, nothing sinister. I thought only to show you the beach.”

“Can the Gods lie?” Briar asked, leaning back onto her forearms, grounding herself in the feel of her velvety comforter.

“Certainly we can, but I am not. And I’m afraid I must leave soon, though I suppose I may be back when you clean the rest of that spilled wine.” They smiled, one side of their mouth rising higher than the other.

Briar had forgotten the wine entirely. There was something endearing about a God with a crooked smile. “Okay. Show me, but I swear if this is a trick I’m going to be so mad.”

The God moved carefully, approaching Briar like one would a frightened stray. Gently, they took Briar’s chin between their fingers and every inch of Briar tightened. The smell of Nilaja filled her, her very veins were alive, and her thoughts were not of beaches.

“Ready?” Nilaja asked and Briar must have nodded because images of white sand and crashing surf filled her head. But as the filthy thoughts left Briar’s mind like a thread unspooling, Nilaja’s eyes went wide. “I am a God!” They let go of Briar and stepped back, outrage and humor vying for a spot on their features.

“I was kneeling.” Briar fought the smirk that pulled her lips, but it won.

“It has been a long time since someone projected their thoughts to me. The whispers of your power are true.” They sat heavily on the bed beside Briar. “You can truly do this. You can win.”

The mists dancing along Briar’s skin were both too cold and too hot, each touch a burst of magic. Her heart pounded in her chest. “I am so afraid, Nilaja. I don’t want to kill anyone.”

“No, of course you do not, sweetness. I have consulted the heavens so many times, I have looked for your solution. But I can feel it, death is waiting. You’re all so sticky with fear and longing. I do not covet the human world.”

And yet they kept coming back. “Can you see the future? Do you know what will happen?”

“No, unfortunately it is nothing so simple as that. I have divined what I can but there are so many moving parts, so many feelings, so much love and hatred. There is no way for me to know.” Nilaja closed their eyes, their chest rose, and they opened their eyes on the exhale. “It is time for me to go, sweetling.”

“Wait.” Briar resisted the overwhelming urge to grab their wrist, frightened of the way touching the God made her feel. As alluring as she found Nilaja she’d been fooled before.

“Yes?” They took a step away, becoming more transparent with every passing moment until Briar could see through them.

“Thank you…for being patient.”

“You are interesting, as humans go. So much power and chaos inside such a beautiful woman. I look forward to seeing the things you will do.” Without warning they were gone.

Briar combed through her hair with her fingers, watching the spot where the Deity had stood moments ago. Thoughts darted like flies through her head, colliding with each other. She’d done something Nilaja had not expected, accidentally sending her own thoughts to them. There was no context to understand it but she knew it must mean something. All that power, they kept saying it—was there an alternative? Something she wasn’t seeing?

Her phone vibrated with a text from Soren, grounding her and bringing her thoughts back to reality. The plan to send him into Vestia’s clutches made her skin crawl but she needed to know why Eliana was meeting with her aunt. She knew all she’d get was frustrated looks and sighs and all Fauna would get was a lecture on family duty. And Soren was charming, easily loved. Maybe it would work, but she hated it.