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The memory faded as the cool May breeze blew the silk of her nightgown at her ankles. Belenos came up behind her and wrapped his arms around Artemis’s waist. “Where are you, my love?” he asked.
She leaned back against her husband and rested her head on his shoulder. “Thinking back to when our daughters were little, we told them the fairytale about us.”
“Our life has been a fairytale. Yet, we did as we promised to travel the world and give our daughters an exciting but normal life.”
“Has it been exciting and normal to always look over our shoulders and wait for the next shoe to drop?” Then, turning in Belenos’s arms, she linked her hands behind his head.
He leaned down, captured his wife’s lips, and then trailed kisses down her neck. “It has been an adventure.”
Artemis quivered as the familiar rush of heat went through her body. She let herself enjoy the moment of being caged by her prince. “You cannot keep trying to distract me with your kisses.” She pulled back as his mouth hovered over hers.
“Is it working, my dear?” he asked, nibbling her jaw.
“Yes.” Her head fell back to give him better access to her collarbone. She weaved her fingers through his hair as he placed open mouth kisses down her chest. She gave a tug before he got too far. Within a second, his lips covered hers as he commandeered her mouth. A moan vibrated through him as he scooped her up.
Her white gown flowed around them. “Let us put our worries away for tonight. I want to worship my princess with my body.”
She nestled her head under his chin. “I do love the way you worship me.” She chuckled, reaching for the top button of his blue oxford. He lowered her down onto their bed. “Afterwards, my prince, we need to talk about our next move.”
“Of course.” He stood to take in the sight of her lying back with open arms to welcome him. He covered her with his body and rested his forearms on either side of her head. “If I do my job at pleasing my princess right, we won’t be able to talk until morning.”
“We’ll see.” She gave him a sly smirk.
“Challenge accepted, my princess.” His finger traced the ribbon at the base of her throat. “Someone is wearing way too many clothes.”
“Yes, you are.” She reached for his buttons again. “I do enjoy undressing you slowly.” Artemis got his shirt open and ran her fingers up his warm chest, enjoying how his muscles jumped under her caress. She took a moment to trace the tattoo of the tree of life with tiny sparkly leaves over his heart that matched hers.
“Mmm,” he murmured. Then, with a snap of his fingers, Artemis’s clothes disappeared. “Now, this is more my speed.” He brought his mouth down to her shoulder, kissing a path to her breasts.
“The reveal is half the fun.” She moaned as his lips closed on her nipple, sending a wave of pleasure through her body. Then, with a snap of her fingers, his clothes came off. When their naked bodies touched, she was ignited with a fire deep in her belly. “My prince, I need you.” She ran her hand down his back to his sculpted butt cheeks and held him closer.
Belenos paid homage to her other breast as she begged, “Please, my prince.”
“As you wish, my princess.” He covered her lips with his as his tongue entered her mouth. Then, he lifted her thighs around his waist and penetrated her with one great thrust. “I love you.”
He curled his arms around her shoulders to bring her up against his chest. She felt the rapid beat of his heart and the tingle of their tattoos as their bodies joined and raced to completion. “I love you too, my prince!” Artemis cried out as her release peaked.
“You are my life, my princess,” Belenos called out and thrust into her one last time.
As they caught their breath, she caressed his back, enjoying the weight of his body. “I still can’t believe, after all these years, our mating tattoos still glow as bright as they did the first time we mated.”
“It’s because we make mad passionate love,” he chuckled and rolled them over, still joined.
Artemis settled on his chest, resting her head on her laced fingers so she could hold his stare. “Of course, mad passionate love does last a bit longer.” She giggled as he pinched her waist.
His fingers caressed down her back as their bodies cooled. “Well, my beautiful wife, we can take our time now.” With a flick of his wrist, the multi-colored quilt from the chair covered them.
“Yes, we can.” She ran her palms up his chest until her fingers twirled in the hair at the nape of his neck. Molding her lips to his, desire flared where their bodies still connected. “Are you up for round two?” He rolled on top of her in one fluid motion as he thrust deep inside, fanning their cooling bodies into heated flames of passion.
“Yes!” he gasped and turned their kiss into an all-consuming one.
A squawk of a bird echoed in the room.
“Damn, why didn’t I close the doors,” Belenos growled and snapped his fingers. “I swear to the Goddess that tattletale has the worst timing.” Their clothes reappeared as Belenos flopped on the bed next to her.
Artemis made sure her gown was tied. “You know he only comes if it’s important.”
They sat up as the bird turned into a man with black as night hair with a cloak of many colors. “I am sorry, Your Royal Highness, for interrupting.”
“Are you really, Fadias?” Belenos asked, straightening his clothes.
“Your Royal Highness,” Fadias continued as if Belenos never spoke. “Queen Diana has sent me with an urgent message.”
Dread washed over Artemis as she scrambled to her feet, and Belenos came to her side. “Has something happened to my mother and father?” She leaned into Belenos’s hold.
“The guards of the Jonquil Coven have been infiltrated. Queen Diana and her consort Uilliam do not know who to trust. When I left, they were rotating rooms and enchantments every hour.”
She pulled away from her husband, heading for their closet. “I must go to them.”
“Wait, I am coming with you.” Belenos followed her.
“No, someone needs to stay with the girls.”
“Then you stay, and I will go.”
“If the guards have been compromised, then killing you would surely bring me back.” She grabbed a small bag from a hook inside the closet door. She whispered and waved her hand over it: “Store infinite.” She began pulling clothes and items, placing them over the bag, and they disappeared inside the opening.
Belenos took out his wand, waving it over the bag as the items came back out, and he replaced them with his clothes.
“Stop it, my prince.” Artemis placed her hands over his. “You have to protect our girls, please.”
He pulled her into his chest, caging her in his arms. “I have sworn to protect you, my love. I cannot lose you.”
“I can’t lose you,” she cried, fisting her hands and hitting his chest.
“Mother, I can keep my sisters safe,” Brigid whispered from the door as Fadias turned back into a raven and perched on the birdcage in the corner.
Artemis clutched Belenos’s shirt as they turned to their oldest. “Darling, your father is staying.”
He held her wrist. “No! I am coming with you.” He motioned with his head for Brigid to come into the room. “Close the door. Are you the only one up?”
She did as her father asked, walking towards them by the closet. “My sisters are sleeping. I heard a bird squawking. Mother, I can watch over my sisters. We will stay here at the shop, I promise.”
Belenos lowered to hold her stare. “Darling, think about it. We can place enchantments on the shop and the apartment above,” he spoke softly in her ear.
“Brigid, there is a lot you do not know about us.” Artemis pulled away from her husband.
“Mother, I am guessing you have magical powers too.” She pointed to the bag hovering in the air and clothes disappearing into it.
With a snap, the bag fell to the ground. “Well, yes. You all have magical powers. We are sorry, sweetheart. We wanted you all to have a normal life. I wish I could stay and explain everything, but your grandparents need me right now.” Artemis went to her daughter and sat on the bed. Belenos hovered, crossing his arms over his chest, and shook his head. “Brigid, if you do not think you can do this, we can stay.”
“Mother, I have known for a while that I have powers. We all have. We will be fine, and I will explain everything to my sisters. But, please, both of you, go help Grandma and Grandpa.”
She hugged her daughter tight. “Brigid, I am so proud of you. Go with your father as he secures our building.”
Artemis watched as her daughter and husband left. “Fadias, can you keep them safe?” she asked, rushing to the closet to pack her and her husband’s clothes.
The raven turned back into his human form. “Yes, Your Royal Highness.”
“They cannot know. I need someone to keep watch on those Cathain boys. Something is odd about the younger one, and the older one is very conflicted. Belenos is concerned they have some kind of plan.”
“I will arrange guards immediately.” Fadias turned back into a bird and flew out the window.
“Mother,” Brigid called from the door a few moments later, “how will we communicate with you while you’re gone?”
Artemis rushed over and pulled her daughter into her arms. “We will send word when it is safe.” They sat on the edge of the bed. “Brigid, your grandparents...”
“Have powers too. We know, and the last time they visited, they told us a story about people in a small town with the ability to change into different animals and such.”
“What?”
Brigid grimaced. “That was our secret. Please don’t tell them I told you.”
“I won’t. I am guessing you know the town is not just a story.” She brushed a lock of red hair out of Brigid’s eyes. “You have a special gift of visualizing words and committing them to memory.”
“I know. I have other gifts too. Grandma showed me how to move water and fire.”
Artemis let out a big sigh. “Really, what else did my sainted mother show you?” she asked, working up a long lecture to give her parents when she saw them.
“Well, not just me exactly.” Brigid focused on her lap as she spoke. “Grandma helped Demeter with crystals and Cassandra with her ability with her visions. Grandpa showed Aradia how to heal and explained the danger in Aradia using her powers.”
“Oh.” Artemis rubbed her forehead as if she had a headache. “It seems your grandparents did not share in our wishes to wait until Aradia turned twenty-five to explain all of this to you.”
“Grandma said we needed to learn a few things so we understood our powers and their importance.”
Artemis remembered that understanding her skill kept her isolated and very lonely as a child, so she wanted her children to focus on being children.
“What skills do you and Dad have?”
The question drew her back. “I can read people’s thoughts if I touch them, your father is gifted in herbs, and we both are gifted in spells.”
“Do you get the spells from the books you keep behind the panel in the library?”
With a shake of her head, she asked, “And how do you all know about the library?”
“We did play hide and seek as children.”
“Is there anything else you know that I don’t?” Artemis kept her hands on her lap, kicking herself for muting her powers with their children.
“Well,” she glanced down at her mother’s clasped hands. “Grandma and Grandpa did take us to get our wands.” Brigid let out an exhausted breath. “We have all been dying to show you.” Finally, she whispers, “Reveil,” and held out an ornately etched wand to her mother. “It’s made from an alder tree and has a core of hair from a mermaid and earth vampire couple freely given. The wandmaker forged this wand under the Alder moon by a lake in Ireland and the mountains of Scotland over two hundred years ago. But, he said, the wand has been waiting for me.”
“I know I am going to regret asking this. How long have you and your sisters had wands?”
“Since our grandparents came to visit last summer. They showed us how to use them and a few concealment charms when practicing in the garden. So we do know the packing one too.” She pointed to the closet as clothes kept going into the small bag.
“Wow, I guess it was my daughters who have been helping my garden along.” Belenos walked over and sat next to their daughter, holding his hand out for the wand. He examined it. “Very nice. This is a very powerful wand, my child. It can help with harnessing your powers to move water and fire. So whose wand is enriching my soil?”
“Demeter’s, her wand has the earth crystals and is made from an elder tree under the elder moon,” Brigid whispered.
“Sweetheart, you can tell us anything. We are not going to be mad.” He glanced over at his wife. “You all have amazing gifts, and we are glad your grandparents had the initiative to show you.”
Brigid leaned against Artemis and held her father’s hand, and she knew they were in for a long talk. They did not have time for one, but they needed to know their daughters would be safe. She wanted to strangle her parents and hug them at the same time. So instead, Brigid told them about Cassandra’s wand being made from a hazel branch and Aradia’s from an oak tree.
“We are old enough now to take care of ourselves. I promise I can watch over my sisters.”
“What about Cathain boys?” her husband asked with concern.
Their daughter stared down at her fingers as she flexed them. “The shop will be closed, and we won’t be leaving, so I think it will be okay. Plus, I broke up with Erebos. He knows I don’t feel the same way he feels for me.”
“Maybe I should stay.” Belenos glanced over Brigid’s head.
“No!” Brigid stood and faced them. “I can do this. Grandma said I am more powerful than I know. Erebos might think I’m unique, and that’s why he likes me. So we will all call our professors in the morning and explain we have a family emergency and stay in the house.” She flicked her wand towards the closet and reversed the spell to have her father’s clothes go back in the bag. “Cassandra will warn us if anything changes. We will send you a note with Merlin if we need you.” All their eyes focused on the bluebird sleeping in his cage. “Now, both of you go.”
If it was not for her daughter’s determination and conviction, Artemis might suggest Belenos stay. “Don’t leave the house, please.” She let the beg play in her voice. At the same time, she held her daughter and lowered her guards as she read how Brigid planned on protecting her sisters.
Brigid smiled. “Go, both of you.” She hugged them.
“Keep them safe,” she heard her husband whisper.
“I will,” she grinned, “I can’t tell you what a relief it is that you know about our magic. My sisters will be so excited to practice their wand skills.”
“Brigid, did your grandmother explain how magic can be traced? I am begging you not to use your magic outside the confines of this house.”
“I’ll be right back,” Belenos said as he took out his wand, heading out of their French doors.
“Mother.” Brigid flicked her wand over her outstretched palm. Four ancient books Artemis recognized from her childhood appeared. “Grandma and Grandpa left these with us to understand our magic and history.”
A smile curved her lips. “Yes, they will give you the basics. You all will need formal training.” She brushed a lock of hair out of her daughter’s eyes. “Your father and I might have made a mistake keeping this from all of you. We wanted you all to have an ordinary life and let you decide for yourself if you wanted to be part of this world and everything it entails.” Artemis held Brigid’s stare. “Your father believes the Cathain boys are warlocks and are up to something. So I mean it, please, don’t leave this house or open the shop.” She hugged Brigid again.
“I promise, Mother, we won’t leave the grounds.”
“Are you ready, my love?” Her husband held out his hand from the balcony.
The small bag floated over with a wave of her hand, and she clasped it closed. “Tell your sisters we are sorry and love them to the moon and back.” A tear slipped down her cheek as she took Belenos’s hand. “Be careful.”
“Be the leader you were born to be, our child,” Belenos said before Brigid vanished from their view as they disappeared.
