Chapter 4 #2
Turning her head to the side, her gaze landed on the iron bars coated in silver covering the outside of the windows. The bastards already had a plan B. Hand instantly on her belly, she inhaled deeply, calmed her rattled nerves, and sent wave after wave of love to her unborn child.
Breathing a sigh of relief when the babe responded in kind, she finally asked Celeste the question running circles through her mind, “How many freakin’ people have these bitches kidnapped? I mean, we weren’t out long enough for a remodel that included welding, were we?”
“No, I think we were only unconscious for about forty-five minutes.” Blowing out an exasperated breath, she groaned, “And I don’t even wanna think about how many people they’ve trapped in their little Hotel Hell.
Just let me outta here, point me in the direction of the Asshole Sisters, and let me take care of the rest.”
“Oh, I'm gonna let you out just as soon as I know they won’t be able to hear or smell you.”
“I. Do. Not. Smell,” Celeste snarled.
Huffing out her own frustrated breath, Vanessa pushed the long dark curls from her face and sighed, “Stop being an idiot. You know what I meant.”
The momentary pause told the whole story.
The Polar Bear Princess had not understood what she was saying– and that was a first. No matter how old or how Magical, Celeste had been just as affected by the crappy concoction Angelique had put in their tea as Vanessa– and was having a hard time shaking off the effects.
Before she could explain, there was a bright, white flash of pure Polar Bear Enchantment, and Celeste whooped, “There we go! Now, I’m bright-eyed and bushy tailed.”
“That makes one of us.”
Rubbing her temple, Vanessa tried to massage away the pounding headache from the herbs Angeline had put in her tea.
After what felt like forever, but was truly less than a minute, she inhaled deeply, gratefully accepted the Healing Magic Celeste was pushing her way, and sighed with relief when the pain was gone.
“Thank you.”
“You’re very welcome.”
“Those weren’t the same herbs as the gris gris bag, were they?”
“Nope,” Celeste responded. Then instantly, she added, “But the babe is fine. I know you checked, but it bears repeating. Rest assured, there ain’t nuthin’ gettin’ through those Magical walls we built.
I know how to protect what’s special and important, and there’s not one damn thing as special or as important as you and that baby. ”
“Thank you so much for…”
“You don’t ever have to thank me for doin’ my job.” There was a split second of silence, and she added, “But you could let me take a peek to see if it’s a girl or a boy.”
“Nope,” Vanessa adamantly answered. “We’re all gonna find out when they’re born.”
“Can’t blame a girl for tryin’.”
“Don’t blame you at all,” Vanessa mentally chuckled. Swallowing hard, she added with a grunt, “My mouth tastes like the bottom of a birdcage. This is worse than the time Bonnie Sampson and I got into her daddy’s moonshine.”
Sliding her legs out from under the blanket, she slowly sat up and threw her feet over the side of the bed. The room tilted one way, then the other, and finally righted itself.
“You know you should’ve just stayed in bed for about five more minutes,” Celeste grumbled. “The herbs were almost completely out of your system, and you wouldn’t feel like you were on the ninth day of an eight-day bender.”
“Yeah, I know,” Nessy begrudgingly admitted.
“But there is no way in all that’s holy I’m lying around like a hibernatin’ bear while the twisted sisters try to marry me off to their deranged brother.
” Inhaling a cleansing breath, she slowly exhaled.
“And if they think they’re laying one finger on my baby, then they can… ”
“…Kiss your ass at the four-way stop in the middle of beautiful downtown Holly Bush,” Celeste teased to ease the tension. “Yeah, yeah, yeah, I got that before.”
“Yeah, that,” Vanessa agreed. “But I was gonna say, then they have another thing comin’.”
“That’s good, too.”
“You know it,” Vanessa gave a sharp nod, smiling when the room didn’t spin. “Especially since you, my dear Polar Bear Princess, are the other thing comin’.”
“Oh, yeah, this day just keeps gettin’ better!”
“I knew you’d like that,” Nessy winked. “But first…”
“We need a plan,” Celeste finished the thought.
Blowing out an exasperated breath, Nessy took a long look around the room.
She needed a plan, and she needed it yesterday, but all her brain wanted to do was think about Cyrus.
She wanted her Mate– the man made for her by the Universe.
She loved him more than she ever thought possible and wanted to spend the rest of forever by his side– not some thug with the IQ of a toothpick and his evil sisters who wanted the Magic of the Great Ursus Maritimus, the first Polar Bear who been blessed with the Power of the Celtic goddess, Artio.
“Who the hell do these Blackwoods think they are?” she pushed the words through gritted teeth.
“They can’t fight Fate. They can’t laugh in the face of the Universe.
” Getting to her feet, she stood as tall as her five-foot physique allowed and shook with fury.
“And they damned sure can’t mess with a momma bear and the Polar Bear Princess. ”
“Hell yeah!” Celeste agreed with a shout that shook the confines of Vanessa’s mind.
Taking one step forward, the aftereffects of Angelique’s nasty potion had Vanessa’s stomach doing flip-flops. Thankfully, the baby wasn’t affected. Unfortunately, Nessy had to take some seriously deep breaths to keep from throwing up.
Refusing to let the Blackwoods win, she slid her left foot forward, then followed with her right.
When she stayed upright and her stomach didn’t revolt, she lifted her left foot and took a real step.
Everything was fine until her left foot joined the party.
Grabbing the huge, brass handle on the door of the wardrobe at the end of the bed, Vanessa held on for dear life as Celeste poured Healing Magic into every fiber of her being.
“Hold on, Nessy,” the Polar Bear Princess encouraged. “You got this.”
“I… I th-think it’s you, my friend, you have us both.”
Leaning into the tall, cherry wood armoire, the garment bag from the other room fell to the floor. “Well, shit, they brought the party dress,” she grumbled.
Spilling out of the black bag, the gorgeous, red velvet gown Angeline thought she could force Vanessa to wear to the farce of an ‘engagement’ party tickled the tips of her toes.
Scooting back, she stepped on the dress with both feet and ground the fabric into the ceramic tile floor.
A perverse sense of pride and glee filled her heart as red and green crystal buttons, along with snow white sequin appliques, pinged off the furniture and the walls as they flew around the room.
“I wish we could’ve burnt it,” Celeste happily sing-songed. “But the dude with the fire isn’t here.”
At the mention of Cyrus, Vanessa couldn’t help but think of his dreamy brown eyes, his impossibly soft lips, and the way he made her feel when he professed his love in the language of the Ancients.
“Tha gaol agam le m’ uile chridhe agus anam, Vanessa Anne Bryant.” Not only were the words echoing through her mind, but Cyrus’s deep rumbling brogue sent shivers down her spine.
“While I love to stand here and reminisce about our Fated Mate and all his wonderful qualities,” Celeste sighed. “Can we get outta here first?”
“Oh, shit, yeah,” Vanessa hurriedly agreed, trying and failing to hide her embarrassment. “I just…”
“You just wanna get out of here and find your man, duh.”
“Yeah,” Vanessa sarcastically chuckled. “Duh. And you need to stop watching so much TV. You sound like a teenager.”
“Well, thank you, ma’am. I will take that as a compliment.”
“You would take that as a compliment.”
Stepping off the tattered dress, Vanessa decided to exercise caution and used the plethora of antique furniture in the room to make her way to the windows.
Looking out at a backyard, she saw a garden the size of the Veterans’ Memorial Park in Valentine.
It was huge and filled with exotic flowers of all shapes, sizes, and colors.
“And I bet that’s where the Voodoo Wolf grows her herbs,” Celeste snarled. “Cyrus is gonna need to burn that shit to the ground.”
“Mhm,” Vanessa hummed.
Grabbing the lace doily of the tables on either side, she wrapped it around her hands and grabbed the silver-coated iron bars.
Ignoring the burn, she pulled as hard as she could.
Pouring all her strength and all the Power Celeste pushed towards her hands, Nessy’s shoulders ached, and her fingers felt permanently crimped, but nothing moved.
Letting go, the skin on her fingers was blistered, then she stared angrily into the darkness.
Turning to the right, she marched to the door. Grabbing the decorative, brass knob with the authority and ferocity of a pissed off Polar Bera Shifter who was eight and a half months pregnant, had a headache, and needed a snack, she turned it one way, then the other, then pulled with all her might.
Jerking her hands away, she threw them in the air and growled, “We are gonna rip these bitches limb from limb.”
Doing an about-face while Celeste detailed all the ways they would rid the world of the Blackwoods, Vanessa caught sight of a thin, sliver of a window in the far corner of the room that did not have bars attached.
Racing across the cavernous room, zigging and zagging around an overabundance of furniture, she slid to a stop, slammed her hands on the wall on either side of the window, and plastered her face against the crystal-clear glass.
Shoving all the Magic and Power she had into her preternatural vision, Nessy slowly and methodically searched the landscape.