Bronx shook his head as he tried to get his bearings. Fucking hell, he’d always hated magical travel, and time travel was even more disorienting. Anyone prone to motion sickness was particularly susceptible and usually passed up offers to circumvent traditional travel options. Kenya’s obvious reluctance was the reason he’d opted to go first, tagging Kenya and Audric to pull them along behind him. Bronx wanted to be ready to help her get her bearings once she and Audric arrived.
“Holy hell in the Highlands, where are we?” Bronx could hear Kenya’s excited voice but had trouble seeing her through the thick foliage. Didn’t it figure she’d weathered the trip without any issues while his head was still spinning like a damned top?
“We are about a half-mile from the clearing. I wanted to make certain you weathered the trip without becoming ill.” Audric’s calm voice sounded from a few yards to Bronx’s left.
It didn’t matter there was a full moon, the sacred light wasn’t able to penetrate the thick tree canopy. Crystal clear night vision was one of the shifter traits Bronx found the most useful. The minute he saw Kenya, he knew she’d already noticed the difference. It only took him a few steps to reach her side, and he didn’t waste any time pulling her against his side.
“I can see everything. This is kick-ass, I tell you. Absolutely amazing.” A quick glance at Audric and he knew the other man was amused by the wonder in Kenya’s voice. “I can hear all the little creatures scurrying around… okay, maybe that isn’t necessarily a good thing, but it’s still a huge change. It had to be so cool growing up being able to see at night. Good grief, you had to have felt so much safer. One of the worst parts of being hearing impaired while living on the streets was the fear someone could sneak up on me. It’s one of the reasons I enjoyed sleeping in your offices. Shoot, I’ll just stop chattering like a magpie now.”
“You are such a breath of fresh air, Kenya.” Audric’s amused chuckle sounded from in front of them. They’d already agreed Audric would lead them to their destination since he’d been seen a portion of the original ceremony. He’d told them his vantage point hadn’t allowed him to see how many pieces had been created or who they’d been given to, so he was leading them to a spot where they’d have a much better view. “We’re early, but we’ll need to be in place well before the others arrive, so we need to move along.”
They made their way through the forest, passing close enough to a cottage, Bronx was able to make out many of the architectural details of the small stone structure, surprised by its storybook appearance. It wasn’t long before they passed a much larger structure. This house was the original portion of Bronx’s sister-in-law, Vienna’s family home. He’d heard plenty about the house and the underground vault, so he was pleased when Auric led them around the outside entrance to the cave beneath the house. In later years, the secondary entrance would be hidden by a greenhouse, but they’d traveled to a time at least a hundred years before recorded history would begin documenting details of the property.
In the distance, Bronx made out cloaked figures walking single file parallel to the path they were following. The small group wasn’t making any attempt to be quiet, their words easy to hear.
“Stafford’s gunning for a seat on the Council. We must get this done before he shows up. He will insist we summon a Council member, and we do not have time for such a delay.” The words were spoken by the man leading the group through the woods. The man was carrying a torch, so Bronx assumed he wasn’t a shifter.
“We must not let him get his hands on the talisman.”
“Never. We cannot allow him to secure his seat by stealing what does not belong to him.”
“Our plans are too important.” The comment piqued Bronx’s curiosity, and he hoped Audric would be able to explain what the women meant.
“I am tired of the Council controlling our every move. Soon they will dictate every spell we use.” Good Goddess, some things never change. Hell, people are still fighting against being controlled by those in power. “In a few years, we will have enough power to break away from their control with this totem.” The woman speaking sounded enough like Vienna, Bronx suspected this was the woman responsible for so much sorrow in his new sister’s life.
Bronx could tell by Audric’s reaction he recognized the voices. Damn, he hoped none of them turned out to be his own ancestors. How embarrassing would that be? Bronx could see the clearing Audric had said the group planned to use. The elderly wizard’s memory was remarkable. He’d described the area perfectly, down to the knotted tree they were crouched behind. Audric waved his hand in a circle above his head, leaving a trail of floating pieces of glitter that quickly took the shape of a dome over the three of them.
“It’s going to take them a few minutes to set everything up, so I’ve covered the three of us in a dome of silence, so you’re free to ask questions without worrying about being heard.”
“Damn, you are amazing, Mr. … I mean, Audric. And smart, too, since my voice always seems too loud. I never really mastered the art of whispering.” Kenya sighed and shrugged her shoulders. “Guess I’m not great at the whole staying on topic or shutting up when I should either.”
“Talking when you are nervous is perfectly natural, Kenya. It’s also a habit you’ll likely outgrow as your self-confidence grows.” Bronx watched her eyes widen in surprise, making him sad. Shit, hadn’t anyone ever paid her a damned compliment?
“They will set up five fires at the points of a pentagram you see marked with stones. This location is one they’ve used many times for various coven gatherings, but the land has recently been sold, and it’s the last time they will be allowed to use this location. One of the younger witches is married to the man who bought the property. He is an elder in the local church and doesn’t know his new wife is a witch.”
“Does he ever find out?”
“Not until after she poisons him. She tells him as he lies dying in their bed. I’ve tried to keep an open mind and not hold it against her. After all, he was a hideous hypocrite and mean as a snake. The woman you heard speaking is her mother. She was as power-hungry as any magical I’ve ever known. No one shed a tear when she mysteriously vanished a few years after the ceremony.” He turned to look at the group gathering a few yards away before continuing.
“The daughter is a member of the Magic Council—has been for many years. She is looking forward to meeting Vienna in the near future.” Audric turned back to the group, watching as more people joined those building what looked like small teepees of wood. In the center, they spread a large, round tattered piece of cloth over the grass, then set a fabric wrapped object in the center. The young woman who pushed her hood down to expose long auburn curls looked so much like Vienna’s, it was startling.
“Yes, Esmerelda is Vienna’s great-grandmother. Her mother is the angry-looking woman behind her. Not all the witches who took part in this ceremony wanted to overthrow the Council. Essie knew the piece you’re going to see was too powerful for any one person to have in their possession. Power of that magnitude can corrupt even the purest heart.”
Esmerelda pulled a shiny fabric ribbon from around the package and let the material fall away, exposing the totem they planned to split apart.
Bronx gasped when he saw what everyone was calling one of the most powerful magical icons ever created. “Catalina has one of these in her front window display.”
“Yes, she does. The Magic Council started getting calls about it as soon as it was unveiled.” Audric’s response shocked him.
“Is that why you talked to her yesterday?”
“No, we had already had several enlightening conversations prior to the one yesterday. Just so you know, she has a fascinating story to tell you all about how her design came to be. Your sister is a remarkable artisan; no one should be surprised the other side chose her to help them.”
“She’s a conduit, isn’t she? The other side talks to her.” Bronx enjoyed watching Kenya’s eyes dance with knowledge as she put together pieces of the puzzle. It shouldn’t surprise anyone she’d made education a priority, even at the expense of having a place to live.
“Until recently, Catalina had no idea where her ideas were coming from—she’d never associated the voices in her head as anything other than her creativity speaking out loud.” Audric turned to check what was happening in the meadow. Bronx wondered what he was waiting for but didn’t want to ask a question that would sidetrack the conversation. “We see this same form of magic with writers. They believe it’s their imagination speaking the words onto the page when, in fact, it is a voice or voices from the other side. Just because a soul moves to the other side of the veil, it doesn’t stop creating, and it certainly doesn’t want to be silenced. Some of the greatest authors of all time were merely channeling the stories they were hearing.”
“I hate to admit it, but hearing this is kind of a relief. It was always a little depressing when other students would say they wrote down what the voices in their head told them to say because all I ever heard was my own voice telling me I should stop waiting for someone else to do my work.” Bronx understood Kenya’s frustration because he’d always been envious of what Catalina called her muse.
Cat tried to explain it once, describing it as someone else’s voice speaking inside her head. She’d told him the voice didn’t always sound like the same person speaking, but it always guided her jewelry designs. After they’d become adults, she’d sworn the voices had saved her ass more than once when she’d been on a mission for one of the plethora of alphabet agencies she contracted with. After her kidnapping, Cat told him she’d felt abandoned by the organization she was working for and her muse—now her comment made more sense.
“There are only a few known sketches of what you see in front of you.” He paused and seemed to be scanning the other side of the meadow. After long seconds, he pointed to a small clump of shrubbery almost completely concealed by trees lining the other side of the clearing. “If you look closely, you’ll see why I only got a brief glimpse of it at this ceremony.” Kenya and Bronx both leaned forward, following his line of sight. Their enhanced night vision made it easy for them to see a much younger Audric standing in the midst of the brambles.
“No offense, Audric, but you look pissed.” Audric leaned his head back and laughed at Kenya’s observation. Even in the semi-darkness, Bronx could see her blushing. Her blunt honesty was quickly becoming one of the things he loved most about his new mate.
“I was. The man you heard say that I was looking to secure my seat on the Council was right, and this incident would have secured it if I’d been able to see how many pieces there were. We think there were five, based on the elements of the Meridian Balance at the points of a pentagram. I was never certain of the information because, as you’ll see, the smoke from the fires obscured what little view I had.”
Bronx watched as the witches crushed herbs in what looked like a large granite mortar. He wasn’t surprised by the wooden pestle, but he was curious about the granite since there were no granite deposits nearby. When he heard Audric chuckle beside him, Bronx turned to see what he found amusing.
“Goddess above, I do enjoy spending time with young people. It keeps me grounded and reminds me how important it is to share knowledge. Your observation is a good one. The granite is from Ethiopia. It’s one of the coven’s most prized possessions because it was gifted to one of their members after he healed a tribal elder. Your brother travels along ley lines, so you understand how magicals have been doing the same since time began.”
“It’s easy to forget those who came before us but seeing this… being here and witnessing it firsthand makes history so much more real.” Kenya turned to Bronx, her eyes wide with interest, “Didn’t you say your youngest sister runs a school for shifter children? Can you imagine how remarkable it would be to speak with them, telling them what you’ve witnessed here tonight? Your gift has so much potential.”
Bronx pulled her back against his chest. She’d humbled him with her simple observation and holding her close was all he needed to feel grounded.
“Look closely at the totem, and you’ll be able to see power shimmering around it, much like the auras we see surrounding people. The effect is the same. Everything is made up of energy. Mankind has made many advances in the identification of the particles involved, but it’s knowledge magicals have been using for centuries.”
They watched what looked like a small, sculptured piece of metal shimmer brightly against the black velvet backdrop of the forest. The five small fires provided little more than a glimmer of light, something Bronx suspected was intentional.
One of the witches poured a small flask of amber liquid into the mortar, the contents flashing a blinding white light, illuminating the entire meadow for no more than a split second, but it was long enough for a man on the other side of the group to lock his eyes on the spot where they stood. It was only then Bronx realized Audric had dropped the privacy dome. The man’s attention was immediately focused on Kenya, and Bronx’s arms tightened around her as he felt his wolf stirring beneath the surface.
Listening as the group began chanting in what Bronx recognized as Latin, he strained to put together the few words he recognized.
Let the light of the moon’s magic shine on each piece as it travels forth. Each part of a whole… together they make something greater than the sum of the parts. Audric’s interpreted words floated through Bronx and Kenya’s minds.
“Synergy.” Kenya’s whispered word so quietly, Bronx had barely been able to hear it, and there wasn’t a breath of air separating the two of them. Audric turned to her and nodded.
“Synergy is one of the least appreciated properties of energy. It’s what your generation calls a game-changer. That’s why the pieces your ancestors have worn since this night are small and don’t appear to be particularly powerful.”
Bronx suspected Audric was deliberately distracting them with pieces of fluff. Stafford hadn’t attained his position in the magic world by giving away secrets. Even though Bronx liked and respected the man, he wasn’t going to forget Audric had an agenda, and in the end, that would be what took precedence.