Chapter 38
Slipping out of bed, Carson picked up the book Mystia had given him last night and padded quietly over to the chair in the corner of their bedroom.
Turning on the lamp, he quickly threw a shirt over the lampshade, killing the glow of light.
His gut was telling him again his mate was in danger and the need to know how to protect Remy was keeping him from sleeping.
Giving a quick glance at his slumbering mate, he turned his attention back to the book in his hands.
Opening it, he began to read, quickly losing himself in it.
Staring at Carson sitting in the small halo of light, Remy could feel the love for his mate expanding until it’d permeated every cell of his body.
This was the love his parents had, the love he always wanted, the love he thought he’d never have and yet, by some miracle, he’d found it in the best man he ever met.
A man with a heart big enough not only to love him, but his brothers as well.
His eyes teared up as he watched his mate’s lips move, silently voicing the words he was reading.
Then Carson’s body began to glow, incased in a light sphere, sparks of magic dancing over him.
Sitting up quickly, Remy felt the pull, drawing him out of bed.
Walking slowly over to Carson, Remy held out his hand, placing it on the surface of the sphere.
Suddenly, he found himself inside, gazing into his mate’s eyes, seeing Hecate staring back at him.
The light sphere grew dark; magic swirled around them with such intensity, it forced Remy to his knees, bowing his head to the goddess.
The book was torn from Carson’s hands, disappearing into the darkness surrounding him.
Reaching out, his hands found Remy’s and, clasping them tightly, he knelt down in front of his mate.
Buffeted by the strong whirling magic around them, Carson locked his eyes on his mate’s as they were lifted off the floor.
Pulling Remy tight to him as the light sphere grew larger and darker, Carson felt his wolf spirit leave his body, joining them before they all began to spin.
Rotating wildly, Remy clung to his mate as the magic in the sphere started to enter him, sending shockwaves throughout his body.
Everything was a blur, punctuated by the dazzling magical sparks piercing Carson and his wolf before doing the same to Remy.
He felt his body filling with magic—a breathtaking mystical experience like no other.
Finally, the spinning slowed, the darkness began to lift and Remy could clearly see Carson and his wolf protecting him from the magical maelstrom surrounding them.
Bowing his head, Remy closed his eyes as the light sphere gradually vaporized and Carson became one with his wolf again.
Held up by Carson’s strong arms, Remy knew he’d been changed—powerful magic danced through his body.
There was no need for a wand or spells anymore.
Nothing had to be learned—he and magic were now one; Hecate’s knowledge resided in his mind, in the same place the light spheres did.
Opening his eyes, he realized his vision was sharper, his hearing more acute, his sense of smell more discerning.
Gifts from your Mystic Guardian’s wolf, Hecate’s voice whispered.
Then, a vision of his mate’s wolf appeared, and Remy was struck by the calm, strong wolf standing guard over Remy’s magic.
“Babe,” murmured Carson, “you okay?”
“I…I…yes, I am,” Remy said breathlessly.
There was so much inside him it was going to take some time to come to terms with it which hopefully his book will help him do.
Until that happened, Remy felt vulnerable, exposed.
Leaning his head on Carson’s chest, he listened to the stea dy drumming of his mate’s heart before realizing his was now beating in sync.
Carson had changed, too. Remy felt the strength of his mate’s anti-magic powers coursing through him, powers that were formidable, even terrifying to magic users.
Yet, to him, his mate represented a place of shelter from the storms of the mystic realm, a place where he’d find love, support and security. “How about you?”
“I’m good…that was…something,” Carson murmured, nuzzling his mate’s hair.
Giving a snort of laughter, Remy replied, “That’s an understatement if ever I heard one.”
Chuckling, Carson said, “Yeah, I guess it is. I wasn’t expecting anything like it…I thought…well, I don’t know exactly what I thought but it sure as shit wasn’t that.”
“Yeah, our very own magical mystery tour,” replied Remy, smiling.
Kissing his mate’s forehead, Carson murmured, “I can feel your power.”
“And I can feel yours,” Remy whispered. “If you don’t mind me saying this, it makes me want to fuck you six ways to Sunday.”
“Please…” Carson moaned, his cock hardening.
“As much as I would love to, the boys will be waking up any minute,” Remy murmured, “so…later, Carsy?”
Brushing his lips across Remy’s forehead, Carson whispered, “Count on it.” Then taking his mate’s hand, he led him into the bathroom. “I want to take you back to bed, but if I did that…”
“Galen might see something he’d want to talk about all day? ”
Turning on the shower, Carson replied, “Especially to his brother. I can just imagine Galen demonstrating to Eamon what he saw, telling him it’s a new way of playing.”
Snickering, Remy stepped into the spray along with his mate. “And he would show Mrs. B, and also his friends.” Picking up the soap, he began to wash Carson’s chest. “Then, you’d have to explain to Mrs. B what happened, Carsy,” Remy laughed.
Shuddering at how that would go, Carson said, “We are getting a lock for our bedroom door. There’s no way I’d ever want to do that.”
Giggling, Remy continued washing his mate, moving around to Carson’s back, enjoying the feel of his rippling muscles.
Moving downward, his soapy hands gripped the globes of his mate’s ass, squeezing them before running a finger down the crack until he reached the pucker he intended to breach that night.
Pressing in on it, he grinned as it pulsed under his fingertip, then, moving on, he washed Carson’s legs.
Finally finished, he angled the showerhead to rinse off his mate.
Carson stood still, relishing the feeling of his mate’s hands caressing his body, teasing it with promises of what awaited later. Grasping his now-hard cock, Carson stroked it, imagining how he was going to feel that night when his mate made good on his promise.
When the suds disappeared down the drain, Remy pushed his mate’s hand away before pressing his chest close to Carson’s.
Sensuously moving his body against his mate’s, Remy slowly lowered himself until he was staring at Carson’s eager cock.
Running his fingers along the velvet skin of the hard shaft, he smiled as it twitched in response .
Kissing the tip, Remy sucked it into his mouth, hollowing his cheeks as it slid down his throat. Burying his nose in the tight curls of hair at its base, he began to lave and tongue-stroke the thick rod in his mouth until his mate’s legs began to wobble.
Glancing up, seeing Carson’s heated stare, Remy’s cock responded by leaking droplets of pre-cum that dripped onto the shower floor.
Cupping his mate’s balls, he rolled them between his fingers causing Carson to throw back his head, whimpering and moaning.
Moving his hand to his mate’s sweet hole, Remy pressed a fingertip against it until it popped through the ring of nerves and muscles.
“Holy Fuck! Babe! Please!” Feeling his knees buckling, Carson slapped his hands against the shower wall, bracing himself as his orgasm began to race down his spine, unable to be denied, shooting down Remy’s throat, reducing Carson to jelly as it spurted into his mate’s mouth.
Throwing back his head, he closed his eyes, savoring the aftershocks of pleasure coursing through his body.
After licking the last bits of cum from Carson’s cock, Remy looked up, enjoying the blissed-out look on his mate’s face. Allowing Carson’s softening dick to slide from his mouth, he rose, kissing his mate’s nipples before moving his lips to his neck, where he left a hickey, marking his mate again.
Finally, Carson’s eyes opened and seeing Remy’s satisfied smirk, he asked, “Proud of yourself?”
“Uh-huh…I sucked your brains out.”
“Yeah, you did at that,” agreed Carson, tugging his mate closer and wrapping his arms around him. Gently, he brushed his lips against Remy’s and then, after using his tongue to lick them, he whispered, “I love you, babe. ”
“Ditto,” smiled Remy. Nestling against his mate’s chest, he closed his eyes as Carson began to wash him. It was perfect…just what he needed to help calm the magic sparking within him.
~/~/~/~/~
Standing next to Remy’s car, Carson looked over the roof at his mate. “Hunter is spending the day with Fionn at his hoard.”
“Why?” Remy asked, opening his door and climbing in.
Joining his mate inside the car, Carson chuckled. “It seems Fionn needed some place dark and fireproof to recover from his hangover.”
“I thought you said shifters couldn’t get drunk,” Remy replied, starting the engine.
“According to my cousin, that doesn’t apply to dragons.”
Shaking his head, Remy navigated slowly down the rutted service road leading to the winery, yanking the steering wheel back and forth in an effort to avoid bouncing his mate out of his seat.
“Fucking hell!” Carson exclaimed, bracing one hand on the dashboard while white-knuckling the other around the ‘oh shit’ handle when the car bottomed out after falling into a deep pothole.
“Sorry. I haven’t had the time to get it graded. This always happens after we have a heavy rain. I tried to convince Artur to either pave or gravel the road, but as you can see, I was not successful.”
“Who grades it? An outside company?” asked Carson.
“No, Jules does it with the grader.” Pulling up to the building that held the fermenting vats, Remy saw Mystia standing outside waiting for them.
Climbing out of the car, he greeted her while waiting for his mate to join them.
Then, entering his security code for the door lock, he waited until it clicked before pulling it open.
Leading his mate and Mystia to the room where the sabotage occurred, Remy stopped several times to answer questions from different workers before they arrived at the tanks.
“These are the seven vats the ladybugs were put into, and this is the one where I sensed the black magic,” Remy said, pointing to a tank.
“Why is the wine ruined?” asked Carson.
“Dead ladybugs produce a foul-smelling toxin when they are processed along with the grapes, giving the wine a bad aroma and taste. When the grapes are harvested, there are always a few bugs along with them, but so few it doesn’t matter.
In this case, though, seven of these tanks had lots of ladybugs thrown into each of them.
And this wasn’t the first time it happened.
It’s going to cause the winery a significant loss. ”
“You said something didn’t seem right this last time…what was it?” asked Carson.
“There were dead ladybugs all over the floor in addition to those in the tanks,” Remy began. “The other times, there were no indications something had been done. We don’t even know when the previous incidents happened because Pierre only discovered it when he ran his test routine.”
“Did you check the security video the first time?” asked Carson.
“No, because there weren’t any cameras then. I ordered them after the first incident because I thought it might have been an employee,” Remy replied .
Leading Mystia to the tank that had jolted him, Remy and Carson watched as Mystia extended her arms, placing her hands flat on the side of the tank.
There was enough left to cause her to jerk her hands away as the residual black magic clashed with hers.
Lowering her eyes, she gazed at her hands, mumbling words so low Carson couldn’t make out what they were.
Suddenly, there was a flash and a puff of black smoke floating up from the tank.
Removing her hands, Mystia stepped back.
“It’s the same signature as the black magic used by the witches I’ve been searching for. ”
“I don’t understand,” Remy said, “it doesn’t make sense.”
“It doesn’t,” agreed Carson. “According to Jackson, the witches teamed up with vampires to share stolen loot…which amounts to a hell of a lot more profit than trashing some wine.”
“If I’m correct, the witches are doing this for a client,” Mystia said.
“For a client…like someone hired them to cause all this damage?” asked Carson.
“Yes,” Mystia replied, pausing a moment before continuing. “It all started after Fionn’s father died, right?”
“Yes, although I didn’t realize it until I made a spread sheet, documenting each occurrence,” answered Remy.
“Do you think it’s connected with Artur’s death?” asked Carson.
“Could be, but I just can’t see what it would be,” Mystia said.
“Maybe because there isn’t one,” Carson said.
“What if it’s just a coincidence that it started then?
We already know the Witches’ Governing Council was hunting Remy…
what if someone on the Council knew my mate was going to be the new Keeper and this was an effort to force him to complain to the Council…
to do him harm before he was claimed by his fated mate? ”
“If they knew I was going to be the new Keeper, then they’d know I was a low-level magic user who’d escaped their round-up,” replied Remy.
“I don’t know, babe…maybe whoever’s behind this got the information illegally and wouldn’t want to disclose how he did it if he was pushed,” Carson said.
“That makes sense especially since black magic was used,” murmured Remy. “Mystia, did you report the use of black magic to the Council?”
“Of course,” Mystia confirmed.
“What happened?” asked Remy.
“They wouldn’t do anything until I gave them the witches’ names,” Mystia said.
“Really?” asked Remy, beginning to get suspicious.
“That’s fucked up,” Carson said.
“No shit,” Remy said. “What good is the council if they refuse to investigate a claim of black magic being used. That’s something I’m going to change.”
“I’ll add it to the list, babe,” smirked Carson. “The lack of an inquiry does support the theory that someone on the Governing Council hired these witches.”
“It certainly does,” Remy agreed. “But I still can’t see what they hoped to accomplish…the only one who was hurt was Artur…well, Fionn actually.”
“It might help if I could view the other sites where damage occurred,” suggested Mystia .
“I want to see your spreadsheet,” Carson said. “I might be able to see a pattern regarding the dates the attacks happened.”
“Fine, let’s go to my office,” replied Remy. “It’s this way.”