Chapter 16

Amanda Teague swore under her breath as she stalked into her house on the east side of Emory. They had all agreed it would be a good plan to arrange to “accidentally” meet him on the road.

That turned out to be a mistake.

Katie had called and warned them that grown Lachlan Quinn was way different from the shy, awkward boy they’d remembered. Amanda thought she understated things, but as soon as she got into his truck, she was instantly struck by the feeling that she was sitting next to a predator—a big lazy lion. She was equal parts entranced and fearful. Both feelings unsettled her and irritated her.

The smug, arrogant ass had made a fool of her. All four of them had had a crush on him one time or the other over the years, including that damn Niamh, a fact he was frustratingly oblivious about. In their minds he was Prince Charming and a big brother mixed into one. He protected them. He was one who taught them all how to ride a bike and dribble a soccer ball.

She smiled when she remembered the “Supreme High Courts” that used to be called into session when one or the other of her sisters had gotten into a fight with one of the others and gone to him for judgment. A solemn Lachlan would call order and threaten to squirt them with a water pistol filled with what he claimed was an acid that was “A thousand times stronger than the strongest acid ever known to man” and he was going to squirt the one who talked out of turn as he questioned them. He was always fair, and they usually accepted his judgment with mostly good grace. If not, they got squirted until pouts turned into giggles. System kids like them did not go to adults with their problems.

Silly teenage crush she’d thought herself long over. He’d always been good-looking, but now there was a deeply dangerous edginess to his good looks. An easy confidence that made him seem so different from the men she dated. God, he smelled good. Wild and masculine and powerful.

It suddenly occurred to her that her feelings were not normal. Somehow, he’d become a very powerful adept. Somehow, he had charmed her while she was trying to charm him.

She flushed with embarrassment. She had acted like a neophyte and he’d made a fool of her.

Thunder rumbled in the distance. The rain came and with it a hard wind that drove the fat drops against the windows.

She reached for her phone as she walked into her bedroom to change and texted Isabella.

—He’s here. I met him on the road.

—What was he like?

—Different, quite different. I’ll be there in a bit.

—Abby and Charity are back. They are terrified.

—Shit.

Before Bella could ask any more questions, Amanda disconnected and tossed her phone on the bed, startling her two cats, Tigger and Pooh. They looked at her reproachfully and moved up to the pillows.

When Amanda drove up to Bella’s house, she wasn’t surprised to find Charming, and even Katie had arrived as well.

Lachlan’s arrival had already started to change things. Bella and Katie were on the outs and hadn’t spoken for months.

Inside she found her sisters and the two teens the Aunties had sent to Seattle, seated around a big, scarred oak table that she and Bella had found up in Bellingham back in better days.

Bella had her arm around Abby’s shoulder. Isabella Delgado had a classic Hispanic look; smart brown eyes, her long black hair now drawn into a bun. No makeup. The law and arcane knowledge were Bella’s specialty.

Both teens were pale and had mascara-streaked lines on their faces.

As Amanda came into the kitchen, Charming got up and leaned against the wall staring down at them, her mouth drawn in a prim disapproving frown. Charming was a tall, slender black woman originally from Georgia. Her specialty was food. She was a master chef. Along with her adopted mother, she ran a restaurant in the Crafter’s neighborhood in the center of Emory along the Stillaguamish River. She was also the best at traveling.

They all belonged to the same coven and had been sworn in as guardians at the same time. They were coven-siblings, much closer than most blood sisters. Their relationship was solid, forged over their tormented early years in the foster care system. They were close, but that didn’t mean that they didn’t fight like sisters.

“Where’s Katie? I saw her car out there.”

“She’s in the extra bedroom getting changed out of her work clothes.”

“Well, what was he like?” Bella asked. She was the only one of them who hadn’t seen Lachlan. She was alive with curiosity. “It’s been so long. Did he look the same?”

“He’s way different,” Amanda said. “Physically, he’s a lot bigger than I remember—maybe six three. He grew two or three inches and added forty pounds of muscle since we saw him. He’s got a scar on his face that goes from his eye to his ear. It’s weird to see him as a man, not the boy we used to play tricks on...”

Katherine came into the kitchen, poured herself a cup of coffee and sat down at the table. She looked at the two teens.

“Let’s start at the beginning,” she said crisply. “Girls, you go first.”

Abby took a shaky breath.

“Mistress, we watched him for two weeks. Like we were told to. He seemed so normal.”

“Boring even,” interrupted Charity. “All he did was work, go to the gym and sleep. He doesn’t seem to date, although there was one girl he was friendly with.”

“Blond airhead,” catted Abby. “You could tell from a mile off. Mean girl type. What he saw in her besides her tits and ass, I don’t know, but you know how boys are.”

“Get back on track,” snapped Amanda.

“Yes mistress,” a chastened Abby continued. “I drew the summoning rune and Mistress Charming came. Whatever she told him bothered him. He sat in his truck for a long time. We followed back to his house and watched some more.”

“Then what happened,” Charming asked, her soft drawl showing her roots in Georgia. “What’s got you two in such a state? You didn’t get permission to come back.”

“Damn it Charms, let them tell it,” Katherine said impatiently. “Go on girls, it’s okay. I’m sure you had good reasons to break off watching.”

“A Hag happened.”

“A HAG,” Charming shrieked.

“Charming,” Amanda said. “Would you PLEASE shut up and let them talk?”

“Abby, go on,” Bella said gently. “How did you know it was a Hag?

“It was blood magic. Mistress told us about it during our maleficium sessions.”

“There was a bad thunderstorm,” Abby said shakily. “Really bad lightning. He had a visitor, a shifter woman who handed him something. And then we saw a weird green glowing in the back. We got out and ran back to see what it was. There was a woman back there. As we watched, she cut a dog or a wolf and she took a smear of the blood and started casting spells.

“She was way powerful, scary too.”

Then that guy Quinn came piling out of his house.”

“Oh. My. God.” Charity interrupted breathlessly. “I’ve never been so scared. We tried to compel her like Mistress Sara taught us.”

“She laughed at us. Enchanted us, like it was nothing and froze us in place.”

“The guy was out in the yard in the rain in his underwear looking pissed.”

“She demanded he turn over the girl. The shifter. You didn’t tell us that the Shifters were involved in this.”

“Oh My God,” Abby repeated herself. “He called out to her in some weird language. Singing.”

“Wait,” said Bella, “did it sound like this.” She sang a series of high-pitched notes followed by whistling.

“Yes, as a matter of fact it did.”

“High Alfar. Where on earth did Quinn learn high Alfar? As far as I know, only Anna and Althea can speak it fluently.”

“What’s high Alfar.”

“It’s the language of the Daoine Sidhe Royal Court.”

Lachlan, what the holy hell have you been up to.

“Whatever the Hag did must have pissed him off.”

“He ... He changed,” whispered Charity.

“What do you mean? Bella said sharply. Tell us exactly how he changed.”

“I have the SIGHT you know. Not all the time. it flickers on and off. It was on that night and I could SEE. His skin glowed white. Really bright. His back was covered with glowing white and green glyphs. It hurt to look at him. His eyes turned solid black.”