“I call upon the mirador sentinels of the South, keepers of the powers of Fire.” Like a conduit, my body vibrated with the power of supernatural flame and the wood in the firepit blazed to life. The type of wood was important. Oak for strength. Elm for longevity. Orange for sweetness. Dogwood for peace. I heard the collective gasps of the visitors. The power of the flame that was visible, like this, was always impressive.

  Turning slowly, I dropped my arms and the flame swirled around me, not burning, but feeding my natural Wicca power. Tapped into the element in my control, I could feel the power of my family line, the history of the women in my lineage that had performed these same rituals, much like my own grandmother did, who was the power of Earth and north corner of our coven. My mother turned away from her power for my human father and they both disowned me when I turned 18 the first time and embraced my nature.

  Constarte, filaron, dextristro, harmoni, I chanted, calling for the blessing of the den and peace for the coming months. Blessings meant babies and prosperity; peace meant their territory would be safe.

  Dropping to my knees as I began to cast my smaller spells, the feeling of dread settled over me again, but this time I felt it more strongly, the way you could feel a storm coming. I stood abruptly and grabbed the ceremonial blade I kept in a holster at my side and slashed the inside of my forearm. I heard Ash and Axe gasp in shock and call for me, but I was gone to my power.

  I had to see what was coming for me, for us.

  A drop of my blood hit the dirt and the ground shook and the fire roared as if it were alive. I spun, gathering a drop of blood on my fingertip and flicking it into the fire, and then I drew a swirled symbol over my heart with the blood.

  “By the power of the mage of the line Xavier, I call counseled wisdom from Iliarta, god of fire and future. Show yourself!”

  The fire shimmered and sparked and power rushed over me and nearly knocked me to my knees but I managed to keep on my feet. I watched as a face appeared in the flames. A demon, made of fire, looked at me and recognized my tie to him through my power. His face was like a skull, and horns of green flame licked from the top of his head.

  “Why call me, little witch?”

  “Something stalks on dark wings. Show me how to defend my family.”

  “You ask to see what may not be able to be stopped. You would know who is taken from you before they are gone?” His black hollows of eyes stayed steady on me.

  “I must know how to protect my den, please, Iliarta. What is the point of my power of fire and flame if I am unable to protect those that mean the most to me?”

  The silence was deafening, as the flames crackled and he considered. “I will show you what you wish to know and a task to perform to alter the future in exchange.”

  Nodding, I chewed on my bottom lip. He could ask me for anything. Agreeing without knowing just what that would be was risky, but I would gladly do it to avoid whatever it was that was coming that had the taste of slaughter and destruction.

  “Take the bear named Daeton to the city of Brotherly Love and bind her according to our laws on the banks of the largest river, sprinkling her head seven times with the water. Cast a seeking spell to draw her protectors to her side. She will know them on sight and they will take her where she belongs. Her safety is of the utmost importance. The den is no longer safe for her.”

  “I will.”

  As I spoke, I heard Filene crying at the mention of Daeton’s name. I knew I was speaking in Wiccan and so was Iliarta, so they would only hear their names. “Seven days to complete the task or all you love will be lost and a bloody future will come to pass.”

  “I understand.”

  “Blood, little witch. Carve my symbol in your shoulder and bury the blade in sacrifice.” I did as he said, putting the blade in my shoulder and with three quick cuts I carved Iliarta’s symbol that looked like a crooked letter “f” into my shoulder and then I jammed the blade into the dirt at the base of the fire.

  Images flashed through my mind and I grabbed my head and screamed at the intensity of the images. It was as if I was seeing my dreams in Technicolor. The foggy images that had tugged at my sleepy mind and haunted me were now vivid. I saw myself covered in blood, screaming to the sky. I saw the bodies of people I loved most cut down like wheat at my feet. A thread wove through the images connecting them together, and in the final flashes, I saw a man with long white hair standing on an altar with Daeton chained nude and crying, a blade poised over her heart. The young male bear who had joined the den for her, standing by the wizard, joined by a collar. The thread tying the images together meant they were all linked. One would lead to the other. First the slaughter of the den and then Daeton’s sacrifice.

  I screamed, but this time it was in rage. I darted my hand out to where I felt Bastion slinking away and I pulled him towards me with a rope of fire that sprang from my fingertips. It didn’t burn him, but it held him captive.

  The den parted for him, and everyone stood in surprise as I pulled him over the stones and into the circle.

  Iliarta chuckled as he disappeared into the flame. I knew I could alter this future path at least in some way. Daeton had to be kept safe, away from the den, and this bear had to be put down.

  “You slinky fuck; you thought you could take my sister from me?” I growled, feeling every bit as feral as my husbands.

  “I, I, I don’t know what you’re talking about! Help me. Someone get this crazy witch away from me!”

  “Iretetay!” I shouted and from the ground below our feet, tree roots long dead, shot up and curled around him, tethering him to the ground. I released the flaming bonds from my fingers and dropped to my knees, caught quickly by Ash and Axe.

  As I caught my breath, I looked up at Adriel. “He is collared to a wizard who is planning to sacrifice Daeton.” Filene gasped and grabbed Daeton to her. “I don’t know why, but she’s in danger. I’m supposed to perform a seeking spell on her in Philadelphia in seven days and take her to wherever she will be safe.”

  “She’s lying!” Bastion screamed, struggling against the gnarled branches that held him in place.

  Axe stood up from where he knelt next to me and growled, his hands going to claws and his fangs elongating. Grabbing his throat, he squeezed until Bastion turned red. “You calling my wife a liar you pathetic fuck? I will see your entrails strewn about the city like Christmas garland. Tell us what you know!”

  Bastion passed out from fear and Axe released his neck with a grunt. “Father,” he started, and Adriel said, “Elizabeth, if you can release him from the, whatever the hell that is, our guards will get all the information from him. But not in our place of worship.”

  I released the roots and they sank back into the ground and Bastion slipped to the ground like a rag doll. Axe barked for the guards and after checking to make sure I was okay, he disappeared to wake up the traitor and, I assumed, torture him for what he knew.

  “My sweet mate, are you alright? You were covered in flames and speaking to a…a face in the fire but we couldn’t understand what you were saying. I was fucking scared to pieces.” Ash’s voice shook with barely controlled worry.

  I held him tightly. “I’m sorry. I haven’t really felt right these last few weeks, and I knew there was something wrong here in the den so I called for the god of the flames to show me what the future was. In exchange for what I saw, Ash, I have to take Daeton away from here for her own protection.”

  “We’ll go with you.” He swore.

  “I wouldn’t go marching into the gates of hell with anyone else, Ash.” I kissed his cheek and hugged my arms around him tighter. He stroked his hand across my shoulder. “I saw you cut yourself, but it’s all healed.”

  “It’s just a symbol of willingness. Most gods and goddesses demand a little blood before they’ll do something. And then a favor afterwards. Your sister is special, but I don’t know why exactly. Special enough that she warrants protection.”

  “Tell me what you saw, aleni, that frightened you so.”

  “Later. With Axe.”

  Nodding, he scooped me up in his arms and carried me to our tent. Adriel was making apologies to the other clan, but they seemed very impressed that I had the ability to speak to gods made of flame and find a traitor in the den when no one else had sensed his deceit.

  Ash sat down on the couch with me in his lap and hugged me tightly. “Aleni, can I get you anything?”

  “I’m just so sleepy, Ash.” My voice began to slur as exhaustion tugged at me.

  “Sleep then,” he kissed my forehead and cuddled me closer. “I love you.”

  Drained physically from calling my power, I dozed off, tucked safely in Ash’s arms. Under normal circumstances, being Gaia for the den didn’t drain me at all. But drawing on the true power of my flame by summoning a god associated with it was like running a marathon around the world without a break. Mentally, physically, and emotionally exhausted, it was times like this that made me thankful I had chosen to collar my bears. They would keep me safe, no matter what.

  I woke up when Axe joined us several hours later. Filene, Adriel, and Daeton came into the tent, eyes on me. Although my first instinct was to shield them from the vision, I knew that I couldn’t do that. An integral piece of the future was altered forever in taking Bastion out and getting Daeton away from the den. That future was not to be, unless we failed getting Daeton to Philadelphia.

  “I saw a vision of the future, snapshots of what would have come if nothing changed. I saw myself covered in blood standing surrounded by the den, all of you slaughtered at my feet. Why I was alive and none of you were, I only have to guess that it was because I was being protected and it worked. And then I saw Daeton being sacrificed by a wizard with long, white hair. Bastion was there with him, that’s how I knew he was a traitor.”

  I paused and accepted a mug of tea from Ash and took a slow drink, letting my words absorb into their minds as much as they did in mine.

  “Iliarta, the god of flame and future that I called into the fire, he said that Daeton had to be protected, taken away from the den to Philadelphia within seven days to be bound by wiccan law for protection and anointed with the water of the river. Protectors will come for her then, and they will keep her safe. If she stays here in the den, everyone will die, and whatever this wizard’s plans were, they’re bad on an epic scale.”

  Adriel spoke slowly, like he was thinking out loud. “So you saw in the visions, first the den slaughtered and then Daeton being killed in a ceremony by a wizard. And the god in the fire told you to take her away from here so she could be protected and that would alter the future?”

  “Yes. I believe that Daeton is the lynchpin of that bloody future. Bastion sought her out on behalf of the wizard and would have taken her from us. We would certainly have gone after her. Whatever happened when we did that in the visions, everyone died as a result. But now, Bastion is taken care of and we’re going to get Daeton to safety. Iliarta said that getting Daeton to her protectors would alter that bloody future.”

  Filene began to sob again quietly, holding onto Daeton like she was an anchor in the storm.

  Axe said, “Bastion confirmed part of what you said after some persuasion. He said that he was contacted by a wizard with white hair who told him that in exchange for bringing him the virgin bear from our den that he would give him wealth and power beyond his wildest dreams.”

  I squeezed his hand with mine. “Is he dead?”

  Axe said grimly, “Yes. Our justice for betrayal is swift.”

  Filene’s voice came out thick, “Why did you feel like something was wrong, Elizabeth, and not us?”

  “Because I’m sensitive to supernatural power maybe, I don’t know. I haven’t really felt right in a few weeks, I thought it was because of all the talk about the mating season and having a cub, but clearly my powers were tapping into something that was coming for us. If I hadn’t thought to call Iliarta…” I stopped because the emotion of the scene in my mind swept over me. Ash and Axe cut down protecting me, their blood like red ribbons covering my body. Ash pulled me against him and Axe pressed to my back and they held me tightly, their bears peeking through their control so I felt the warmth and strength of their love for me.

  “Mom, I…” Daeton said quietly, “I actually have been having some dreams lately.”

  “You have?” Filene asked, and I lifted my head from Ash’s shoulder to look at her.

  “What kind of dreams?” I asked.

  “Well,” she cleared her throat and blushed, “I don’t know, they don’t really make sense. In some of them, I’m in the dark but there are men with me and I’m not afraid. We’re traveling a great distance and it’s cold. In some of them, I’m, oh, I’m naked and being pleasured.” She dropped her eyes in embarrassment. “Those ones made me so curious about sex that I went to Bastion a few days ago and suggested we could, you know, fool around, but he put me off. He said that he didn’t trust himself not to take my virginity and that it was something precious to be preserved. I thought it was noble, but I guess he needed me to stay a virgin?” She shuddered.

  “You were nervous tonight, though.” I reminded her. “Is that because you were planning to mate with Bastion tonight?”

  “No. Last night, I had a dream that soon I would meet the ones that would walk with me in the darkness and that I couldn’t trust anyone but them. When I woke up, I knew that Bastion was not meant to be my mate and that I was destined to do something else with my life. I was nervous because I wondered if someone in the visiting den was going to take me with them, but I see now that you have to take me to the protectors.”

  Adriel stood up, “I need to tend to our guests before they retire for the night. I’m sure they’re back from their hunt by now. When will you leave?”

  “The solstice is tomorrow night, so I have to be there for that, but we should be able to leave the following night. I think traveling at night is a good idea. We can rest during the day and then perform the binding and seeking spells at night so there will be less chance of us being discovered.”

  “The solstice is tonight, love,” Ash reminded me, and a glance at the clock showed me it was already well past midnight.

  I stuck my tongue out at him, “Still, we’ll leave Thursday night and perform the spell on Friday night, assuming we get there with no problems.”

  “What do you need?” Adriel asked.

  “I’ll have to get supplies from the Wiccan store, my spell book, and we’ll want to take guards with us from the den just for safety’s sake.”

  “I’ll get men together,” Axe said.

  “Also, I think Daeton needs to come back with us. She can stay at the house and then join us on the bluffs for the ceremony. I don’t think it’s wise for her to stay here in the den.”

  “Agreed,” Adriel said, and he motioned to his wife and daughter. “We have tonight. Let us spend it together as a family.”

  Chapter Four

  Thursday night, we loaded three vehicles for our journey to Philadelphia. Adriel and Filene were with us, saying goodbye to their only daughter and Tavian and Lynk stood quietly by as their only sister prepared to leave. No one knew how long she would be gone with her protectors or whether we would ever see her again.

  The corners of the coven were standing in the driveway with us as my grandmother and I checked over the supplies we’d packed together for the spells. The back of our SUV was open and a wooden box with herbs and supplies was open while she read off the supplies list and I triple checked. Without knowing if there was a decent Wiccan supply store in Philadelphia, it was imperative that I had everything before we left.

  Filene handed Daeton a dream catcher. “I made this for you when you were born, sweet elu. Carry it with you and know that we will always think of you and pray to the great bear spirit that you will come back to us safe.” Draped from the dream catcher in small braids were six locks of hair, from each member of her family. I had cut and braided Ash and Axe’s locks myself, twining blessed root strands and my own hair into them. She cried quietly against her mother’s shoulder. After I shut the supply box and closed my spell book, I turned to my grandmother.

  She smiled in her wise way, 200 years of Wiccan wisdom and power coursing through her body, and she rested her hand on my shoulder. “My sweet granddaughter. When you were born and I held you in the hospital, I knew that you were meant for great things. May the goddess grant you a safe journey and a quick return home.”

  Gwen and Bitty, the East and West corners of the coven, put their hands on me and chanted with my grandmother for a safe journey. Power swept around me like a comforting caress, and I smiled and hugged them all when they were finished.

  I sat in the second row of the SUV with Daeton, Axe driving and Ash in the passenger seat. Two cars full of bear guards followed us out of the development and East towards Philadelphia.

 

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