Chapter 23
Chapter
Twenty-Three
We appeared inside Soren’s Keep, which told me he’d either dropped his wards, or the witches had dropped them for him. The Lord sat on the front steps of his porch with his head in his hands. He was still alive and apparently uninjured.
“Is that the guy with the magic dick?” Ari whispered.
Soren’s head jerked up.
“Yep. If you haven’t noticed, Lords tend to have sharper hearing than normal shifters.”
“Huh,” Ari said. “Good to know.”
He stared at Ari, a thin ring of gold around his irises. “Moira? Who is this?” His voice held a slight growl. He wasn’t angry. Not exactly. But he sounded weird.
Ari didn’t give me the chance to answer. “My name is Ari Tavish. Moira needed a lift, and I was happy to oblige.”
The sound of retching came from somewhere to the left. “Everyone’s hurling,” Soren said miserably. “I have no idea what to do.”
Ari gave him a weird look. “Shifters don’t get sick. They’re either under the influence of a spell or they’ve been poisoned.”
Soren gave her a dark look. “I’m aware.”
Ari clicked her tongue. “Then why are you sitting on your ass doing nothing?”
Soren rose. His eyes turned full golden.
“Uh. Ari?”
She scoffed. “I am not afraid of a Lord, Moira.”
“You should be, fae.” Soren stalked toward her.
Ari rolled her eyes. “Come, wolf. Take me to your people. I will try to identify what the witches used.”
Soren’s steps hitched. “Witch. You don’t order me around.”
“Fine. I’ll see to them myself.” Ari stalked away.
I pressed my lips together to hide my smile.
Soren blinked a few times before he looked at me. “Is she always like this?”
I shrugged. “No idea. I just buy my jewelry from her.” A little untrue. The first time seeing Ari in the wild was just as surprising for me as it was for Soren.
The Lord sighed and took off after her.
I stared at their backs and shook my head. Hopefully Soren wouldn’t try to sleep with her, too. She might magic his balls right off.
I followed after them, keeping my eyes peeled for any witches. With the wards down, anything could happen.
At least ten shifters were lying on the ground, curled into the fetal position, groaning in agony.
I gagged when I got too close, the smell of vomit overwhelming. Ari crouched beside one of the shifters, her hands on his pale face. Her eyes glowed molten silver, and her lips were slightly parted.
Soren crouched beside her, a furrow on his brow as he watched her. The poor bastard wasn’t quite sure how to take Ari. No Lord knew how to take a woman who was unafraid of them.
But they were all having to live in a brand new world now that Evie had opened the doors. She wasn’t afraid of any of them. In fact, they were all a little afraid of her. I had a feeling Ari, if she ever stepped into society, might be worse than Evie.
She lifted her hands, her eyes returning to normal. “Did they all eat the same thing?”
“Catered food,” Soren said.
Ari and I exchanged a glance. “The witches intercepted the food. Maybe paid someone off to give them access.”
The healing power living inside me wasn’t rising up. No one here was close to death. I’m sure the shifters disagreed, but Fee’s power only rose when someone was either in grave danger or had been seriously wounded.
Food poisoning didn’t count, it seemed.
I pulled out my cell and texted Ben, one of the other Lords. “Soren, are you cool allowing Ben in to take a look?”
He was a big burly Lord and had acted as Caelan’s Healer once upon a time.
Now he was a Lord and managed territory around the Midwest. On a side note, he and Evie had danced around each other for a while, and the idiot probably could have married her if he got his head out of his ass.
Spoiler: he did not, in fact, pull his head out of his ass, and Rowan won the day.
I liked Ben. He was a little set in his ways, but healers, as a general rule, tended to be good people.
Myself excluded. My healing gift was not inherent or even wanted.
“The wards are down,” Soren said with a grunt. “Any damn body could waltz in here right now. Might as well be someone who can help.”
Alrighty then. Soren was grumpy.
I fired off another text to Ben and then one to Evie’s dad to see if he’d transport the Lord if he had time to pop by. He wouldn’t appreciate being used as a taxi service, but this wasn’t a normal circumstance.
“How many others are there?”
“Everyone but me is affected,” Soren said.
I went still as his words finally penetrated. If every shifter was down, this would be the perfect opportunity to strike.
“Shit,” I muttered. “Ari, be ready.”
The fae stood up and dusted her pants off. “Three against a coven?” She winced. “Poor odds.”
Ari slid a look over to Soren. “Maybe two against a coven. Soren seems to be a little useless right now.”
“Watch it, witch,” Soren growled, still staring down at his ill shifters.
Ari sighed. “I am no witch, wolf. You’d do well to watch your tongue around me.”
A shift in the wind and Cernunnos stood there with a disgruntled Lord.
“Ben,” I said in relief. “Thanks so much for coming.”
He gave my father a dark look. “Didn’t have much choice,” he said with a rumble. “Less than a minute after I got your text, Cernunnos stood in my office.” He spread his hands out. “And here we are.”
“I let you take your bag,” Cernunnos said mildly.
Ben rolled his eyes. A second later, he spotted Ari. Tension pulled in the air between them. Ari’s eyes narrowed.
“You are more than you seem, Healer.”
Ben grunted. “You’re one to talk.”
My gaze bounced between them. “Uh. Ari, this is Ben, the Shifter Lord of the Midwest. Ben, this is Ari.”
One of his eyebrows rose. “Just Ari?”
“She owns a jewelry store in Emberwood,” I supplied. Ari probably had an annoyingly long, fancy title, but I didn’t know it, nor had she shared.
They were still staring at each other. And not in a good way. Both of them looked like they wanted to go for the other’s throats.
“Well,” I said slowly, “we think witches intercepted a catered meal. No idea if it’s a spell or simply spoiled food. Soren is the only one who didn’t eat the food.”
Ben snorted. “Not enough caviar to suit your fancy tastes, Lord?”
Soren’s lips thinned. “Don’t start with me. Can you help or not?”
A flash of teeth was Ben’s answer before he walked over, keeping a wide berth around Ari. He knelt beside a shifter and touched two fingers to their throat. Magic rose in the air, gentle and cool. Ben’s magic always reminded me of a calm sea. His eyes turned an electric shade of blue.
Ari came to stand beside me. “How well do you know him?”
“Not too well. He’s like a side character in our main quest.”
Ari gave me the side eye. “I want to understand that, but I’m not there yet.”
“I like Ben, but he’s grumpy.”
“I heard that,” Ben growled.
“It’s true,” I said hotly.
Ari kept staring at Ben. “He looks familiar.”
“He hasn’t been a Lord long. Maybe you met before then.”
Ari’s lips pursed. Maybe.
Ben checked each shifter before rising. “They’re under the influence of a spell. No one is in any real danger of anything other than shitting themselves for the next few hours.”
Soren grimaced. Ben speared him with a furious look. “To my knowledge, this is mostly your doing. I can help speed their healing along, but the spell isn’t designed to last long.”
Ari stilled. “Moira. Something is coming.”
Ben’s smile didn’t reach his eyes. “It seems the witches felt taking on a Keep, even one as small as yours would test even their mettle. You’re lucky your shifters aren’t dead. Next time, be smarter than this.”
Soren’s eyes began to glow.
“Keeping your dick in your pants won’t hurt either.”
Ari snorted.
Soren lunged for Ben. A tendril of emerald and silver magic flashed, freezing the angry Lord in place. “Your battle is not with him,” Cernunnos said. “Turn and see what you have reaped.”
A massive cloud of darkness rolled toward Soren’s Keep.
Soren swore, a rare look of desperation on his face.
“Can you throw the wards up?” I asked.
Cernunnos thought about it for a moment. “I could, I suppose. The more important question is why they’re down in the first place.”
Soren blanched. “I had to let the caterers in.”
Ari covered her mouth to stop her laughter, but she wasn’t all that successful.
“Why didn’t you put them back up?” I stared at Soren like he was the biggest idiot on the planet.
“When I tried, I couldn’t!” His face took on a look of raw panic.
Cernunnos frowned. His eyes began to swirl, and I assumed he was looking at the wards. A moment later, he slowly nodded. “Your wards are gone, Lord. Destroyed. If I were you, I’d make that first on the list and push chasing after paramours down to perhaps number four or five.”
“Cernunnos,” I warned.
We eyed the coming storm. My phone buzzed.
What the hell is going on over there? So much magic is buzzing against my senses, I can’t nap!
I stared at the message. Evie never napped. Was this code for I can’t indulge in a little mid-afternoon delight?
My response was quick and to the point. Soren pissed off the witches and took advantage of his idiocy.
Ah. Sounds like things are totally normal then.
We got it under control. Don’t worry.
Evie sent me an eyeroll emoji back.
Oh yeah. She was definitely going to worry.
“Any idea what’s coming toward us?” Ben asked.
To his credit, he sounded unrattled about the fast approaching cloud of blackness.
Cernunnos focused. “I’m not as familiar with witch magic, but that seems like a death curse. You might want to do something.”
Another shift of wind and my best friend appeared in the clearing. She looked at all of us, frowned when she spotted Ari and gave me a questioning look, then turned to see the massive cloud approaching us.
“What the fuck!”
I barked a laugh. Evie put her hands on her hips. “Dad! What the hell. Why are the wards down? Why are you standing there doing absolutely nothing?” She spun. “And why the hell is Ben here?”
Her sharp gaze spotted the groaning shifters. “And why the hell does it smell like vomit?”