Love's Protection (Passion Moon 3): (A Shifter, Supernatural Romance) (12 page)

It was a different kind of love than what I felt for Forrest, but it was equally as important.

The road bent. Moonrise appeared. The town looked so peaceful. Once again, it had to be protected from another selfish asshole. Christian, Burt, my father, and who knows how many other witches had come to Moonrise to claim the power for themselves. It wasn't theirs. It belonged to everyone.

Not just my friends needed protecting, but this wonderful town that had adopted me. My home.

We raced by the Moon Tear Roadhouse. The flashing, neon lights were off. The parking lot was empty on a Saturday night. It was such a sad sight. All the bustle and life had been stolen away. Our convoy sped down Spring Drive. The people of Moonrise watched us pass. Evelyn's Treasures was the only shop not blazing with lights. Every one of my friends was coming back safely. Nothing would harm my town.

Forrest ran through the light at Miner's Way, making the left onto the road. It curved up into the mountains, the same road we had raced down two days ago to confront my father the first time. We passed the spot where Christian had tried to control me. Then the Moonrise Bed & Breakfast whipped by. We passed the dark driveway that led to our house. And then Forrest took the turn onto the gravel road.

The Moon Tear Spring lay ahead. The passion moon was overhead. The energy of the summer solstice built. I shuddered. It washed through the air. The headlights flickered and the siren warbled. Forrest growled and the hairs on his arms stood up.

“The spring is at capacity,” I realized. “It has finally built up all its energy. And tonight it can be used.”

And my father wasn't the right type of witch to use it. Like Christian, he needed a Life, Death, or Love witch to access the power. He raised me for this moment. How many other children did he have to father until he finally had a child with the right affinity? Did I have other siblings out there? Did they suffer as much as I had? Or did my father dispose of them for not being useful?

I clenched my fists in anger as the gates to the spring loomed ahead.

My tattoo prickled. Magic was about us.

“Forrest,” I warned, scanning into the woods. Bubbling, black spirits dribbled down the trees. They had been imbued with enchantments. “The trees!”

As my shout exploded through the car, the trees moved. Wood creaked and bark groaned. The branches rustled as a massive fir tree bent in half to slam its trunk across the road before the SUV. Forrest hit the brakes. The SUV slid on the gravel.

“Kotie!” Forrest shouted.

Metal crunched. Gas hissed. An airbag exploded before me.

Smoke filled the SUV. I shook my head, my chest aching from the seat belt. The smoke engulfed me in gray haze. My eyes widened, and I panicked at the smoke curling through the cab. My hands fumbled at my seat belt. The SUV was on fire. The smoke had a dry smell, and felt...powdery.  

It wasn't like real smoke at all. I blinked and then realized it hissed out of the airbags.

I sighed in relief. There wasn't a fire.

“You okay, Kotie?” Forrest groaned as he threw open his door.

“Yeah,” I nodded. My totem flared. More trees moved.

The ground shook as massive tree trunks slammed down. Metal crunched. Forrest's pack ditched out of their cars into the scraggly brush as the tall trees attacked. Everything around us had been imbued and animated. My father had been busy. It must have taken him weeks to enchant all of this. The bushes wrapped thin, scratching branches around the limbs of werewolves.

Vanessa howled as she ripped her leg free of a thorny bush and leaped back. The bushes uprooted and dragged themselves forward by their branches. Metal groaned beside me. A bush yanked at my door, trying to rip it open.

“Spirits of flame, consume the bush!” I gasped.

The excitable Fire spirits obeyed. They were always eager to consume. Like a swarm of red fireflies, they descended on the bush ripping at my door. Fire exploded and wood crackled. The bush was dry and burned like a bonfire.

Right against the car.

It wasn't a great idea.

I cast another spell, forcing the Fire spirits to snuff themselves out. I kicked open my door, the burned bush crumbling to ash as I stepped out. Forrest leaped over the car to land beside me, seizing a lashing bramble and ripping it apart with his bare hands.

Other things besides the trees and bushes had also been imbued. A moss-covered log slithered forward like a slug, shooting out slimy tendrils of fuzzy green. Boulders ripped themselves out of the ground and hurled themselves at entangled werewolves. Animals poured out of the trees, small squirrels with sharp teeth, pecking crows, slithering rattlesnakes, and lean coyotes.

There was too much for me to dispel. When had my father prepared all of this? How long had he been in Moonrise? I sent Air spirits gusting down the road, blowing off the black feathers of the crows. Earth spirits seized the feet of snarling coyotes. Life spirits shriveled up attacking bushes.

Forrest became the wolf beside me, his claws swinging and jaws snapping. He protected me as I cast my spells. I sent Love spirits to engulf Hank when a fir tree crashed down at him. A golden bubble erupted around him right before the trunk of the tree slammed into the shield with a loud crack. The tree straightened and wobbled. A massive crack had splintered through the middle. The tree split in half, the top crashing to the forest floor.

One tree down, but more surged in to attack.

Guns erupted. Some of the deputies fired their shotguns at the attacking wildlife. Others became werewolves to dodge and tear at the dangerous foliage. The moon rose higher in the sky. Energy burned through the glen.

The Spring glowed crimson behind us, shining through the gate and painting everything with red light. My father waited with my friends as his hostages. If I wasn't there soon, he would kill them. I bit my lip, glancing back at the pack as they fought.

Some were wounded, whimpering in pain as they were guarded by the vehicles. I took a step towards them, waiting to heal their wounds. I was draining my magic fast. And I still had to fight my father.

“Forrest!” I shouted.

He snarled as he turned towards me, his bestial eyes burning. The wolf head medallion glinted silver, buried in his black fur. “What?” he growled, his words distorted by his jaw. His claw swiped, tearing the bark off an attacking log and throwing the rotten wood away. It burst into musty dust against his SUV.

“We can't keep fighting this,” I said. “I need to get in there! It's almost midnight.”

Forrest glanced up at the crimson moon and snarled. He looked around at his deputies. He didn't want to abandon his pack. Howls filled the night. A shotgun fired. Things scampered through the brush, their beady eyes reflecting light. I kicked a squirrel away as it scampered towards me, sharp teeth ready to bite and gnaw.

“I know you don't want to leave them, but we can't keep doing this. There's just too much going on.”

Vanessa appeared out of the brush, blonde hair streaming behind her as she swung a rescue ax, chopping through a thorny bush crawling towards me. Severed limbs, dotted by waxy-green leaves, flew through the air.

“Go fight your father!” Vanessa snarled. “The pack will keep these off of you. Trust us, boss.”

Forrest nodded. He scooped me up in his furry arms. “I love you,” I screamed as Forrest took a mighty leap, vaulting over the thick fir tree that had crashed down across the road and the locked gate cutting off access to the spring.

My heart thudded as he landed on the other side. “Love you,” Forrest growled as he set me down, then he gave me a quick lick up the cheek, his tongue hot and rough.

“Let's stop my father together.”

We raced down the road. The moon burned red above and the Spring reflected back its passion. The energy humming in the air grew with every step, pressing on my body. Life, Death, and Love all mixed together, churning the air and ground. The hair on my arms stood straight. My tattoo ached.

We rounded the corner. My father stood before the Moon Tear Spring.

The crimson light poured around him, making him almost a silhouette in his black clothes. But his green eyes seemed to burn in the center of his shadowy appearance. On the other side of the spring my friends—Ms. Maggie, Penny, Evelyn, Connie, and Augustus—lay bound, but not with ropes. Green energy encircled them, some spell of my father.

“You are far more capable than I had imagined, Dakota,” my father said. He almost sounded...proud. “You broke my spell on your wolf. I was quite shocked when I felt it snap. After ten years, my enchantment should have been burned into his bones. How did you manage to do it?”

“Love,” I answered.

“Yes, yes, Love magic can be powerful.”

“No, just love.” I laid a hand on Forrest's furry arm. He growled and snarled. Anger burned in his golden eyes.

“Yes, love has its uses,” my father said. “It is an amazing tool at manipulation. Look at your mother—”

Forrest let out a snarling growl, his claws digging into the ground as he prepared his charge.

My father glanced at Forrest. “So he knows the truth?”

“That you made me kill my parents?” howled Forrest.

The shadowy form of my father seemed to writhe. He had cast some spell upon himself. I studied him. Glowing Light spirits danced in and out of his shadows. He had imbued himself with Light spirits to create the surrounding shadows.

Forrest charged.

I commanded the Love spirits to protect him. Golden hearts streaked after Forrest as he bounded towards my father, howling in rage. The shadows engulfing my father lashed out like tendrils. His green eyes burned brighter. The tendrils wrapped around Forrest. The Love spirits blocked the tendrils, dissolving them with golden light.

But there were a lot of tendrils. Forrest was pushed to the side. He tumbled and came to his feet, his claws digging furrows in the earth. He snarled and lunged again. They fought with shadows and claws. My father barely moved, but his attacks were furious and fast.

“Spirits of illumination, banish the shadows!” My magic rushed out of my totem. Glowing Light spirits surged towards my father. Shadowy tendrils dissolved. Forrest lunged in.

My father was carried to safety by Air spirits and landed on his feet. I blinked in astonishment. “How did you cast a spell without speaking?”

“I'm not weak.” Life spirits suddenly hurtled at me. The greenish blobs slammed into my body. I screamed as they tried to attach strings to my limbs. Flesh control. I shuddered in horror.

I pulled my protection from Forrest to drive the Life spirits off of me. Shadowy tendrils wrapped up my mate and hurled him into a tree. I broke the flesh control spell as Forrest howled in pain. The tree swayed, pine cones raining down as Forrest landed in a crumpled heap. I staggered as I broke my father's spell, my body back under my control.

“You bastard!” I shouted as I rushed to Forrest.

Shadowy tentacles lashed out at me. My Love spirits swirled around me. They batted away my father's attacks. The ground rumbled. Earth spirits ripped open a deep crack before me. “Spirits of wind, carry me across the chasm!” I shouted as the crack swelled.

I jumped over the yawning hole. Cloudy spirits swirled about me, carrying me across to Forrest. I landed beside him and touched his fur. “Heal him!” I screamed at the Love spirits. They poured out of me into Forrest's body. He spasmed as he was healed.

The shadows wrapped around me and ripped me from Forrest. I screamed as I tumbled through the air. I landed before my father. His body rippled, covered in the inky shadows. His green eyes bore down at me.

“Are you done with this foolishness?” he asked, sounding more like a disappointed father than an enemy. “You need to channel the spring's power to me.”

“Never! You tried to ruin both my and Forrest's lives! I will never help you!”

The shadows wrapped around my arms and hauled me up so I stared right into his eyes. “Don't think our relationship will keep me from killing you, Dakota. I created you. I molded you. You have a purpose. Now do it or you and everyone you love dies. I will raze Moonrise and leave only smoking rubble behind.”

“Spirits of—” A shadow tentacle jammed into my mouth, choking off my words.

I growled in rage and summoned the Love spirits to free me. The golden hearts danced to me and were batted away by my father. Forrest growled behind me. He charged, dodging tentacles as he struggled to reach me.

The shadowy tentacles were fast. They came in from every side. They wrapped him up. Forrest howled as his limbs were pulled taut.

“I will rip him to pieces, Dakota,” my father growled. “Unless you do what you are told.”

I kicked him in the balls. The pointy end of my red, snakeskin cowboy boots connected square between his legs. I savored his groan of pain. He doubled over, his green eyes bulging. It was satisfying to inflict some pain on him after all the grief he caused my loved ones. But I didn't take the time to gloat. Instead, I kicked him hard in the face.

The tentacles holding me loosened as he staggered back, blood streaming from a deep cut on his brow. He was stunned by the attack. I landed on my feet and threw myself against him, my fingernails clawing at his face. We fell to the ground beside the pool.

“You killed her!” My anger burst out of me. “You killed my momma just for this fucking pool!”

I raked his face, leaving bloody furrows. I hated this man. All the pain in my life, every bit of suffering I had ever experienced could be laid at his feet. I wanted to kill him. He struggled beneath me, his eyes wild.

“It took her months to die!” Tears burned my eyes. My hands seized his throat. My fingers squeezed. “She was in agony. Do you have any idea how much pain and suffering chemo does to a person? She suffered all that pain just for some meaningless power?”

“Meaningless?” he choked. His hands seized mine. He was strong. He pried my fingers from his throat. “The power of creation is meaningless? Life and death are in that spring. Immortality. The power to conquer and rule. Control. I will be beyond mortality. I will be something more. Something greater.”