Of Flame and Promise (5 page)

But hell hath no fury like a hot bitch like me. With a hard shove forward, and an even harder scream, my magic blew up and out, forcing her to stagger. Sparks peppered the room, like sharp steel blades rabidly meeting metal. I stumbled when the floor beneath us rattled and the lights above us flickered, but I stomped forward, ignoring the pain burning its way into my muscles.

From what seemed like the top of a mountain, Gemini growled my name, and something else. But I wouldn’t respond, too busy concentrating on making my point: Bitch, keep your coven away from my family
and
your boobs off my wolf.

Every hair on my body stood on end as Vieve responded in turn, thrusting forward with a rush of power.

I thrust back, stubbornness and anger fueling my strength.

“Forze, solidita, vigore,”
she chanted.

Her surging magic slapped and heated my skin. I gritted my teeth. “Back off, Glinda. He’s
mine.
” I used my jealousy to charge her with an extra boost of fire.

For a moment, I caught a hint of surprise, before her surprisingly controlled demeanor splintered, revealing a touch of her rage.
“Potere, potenza, spiccato!”
she hissed, clutching her talisman.

“What the hell?”
Aric growled from behind me.

I hurtled forward, in spite of my lead-heavy feet.

Vieve gasped, spitting out power words in Italian for all she was worth. My power words only contained four letters, but they seemed stronger than hers.

We were almost to each other. I reared my arm out, ready to punch her in her perfect face, when another magical presence pimp-slapped back.

I knew it was Makawee even before she touched our arms; her power as the pack Omega as recognizable as the back of my hand.

“Ladies,
please.
” Her voice was gentle, unlike the force she used to rip us apart.

My back smacked against the wall. Genevieve struck the far bookshelf, knocking over several of its volumes. I tried to catch my breath, my attention skimming the area.

Oh…

Gemini and Aric loomed close by, their breaths ragged and their clothes singed, covered in blue, white, and yellow soot, the same soot coating every square inch of the once prestigious office.

They must have tried to separate us.

Oops.

Makawee’s long white hair hung loosely behind her as she folded her hands in front of her body. She kept her voice soft and her body between us. “My,” she said quietly, as if Vieve and I had merely exchanged insults. “It would seem all the Wird girls are a spirited bunch.”

“Don’t you mean Weird girls, Makawee?” Barbara offered.

Aric’s fiancée had arrived. Oh, goody. She shoved away from the doorframe and inched in my direction. Instead of screaming at her like she probably expected me to, I gave her a huge grin. “So, that’s where you keep your wolf!” I said with forced glee. She cocked her head. “Rammed up your ass,” I clarified.

Gemini and Aric both groaned. Makawee tried to suppress a smile, but didn’t quite manage. She always did enjoy a good guffaw. Genevieve, though, caught me by surprise. She laughed, as in, like, totally and genuinely giggled at Barbara’s expense.

She brushed off the magical dust coating her and walked forward, stopping a few feet in front of me. “It was good to see you again, Taran. Until next time?”

I returned her smile with one of my own, except mine wasn’t as sweet. “Looking forward to it, Vieve.”

Makawee merely shook her head and chuckled, joining Genevieve on her way out.

I watched the hem of Vieve’s long dress disappear around the corner but kept my guard up. With Bridezilla this close, chances were my supernatural smack-downs were far from over.

Barbara hated Celia, and me, too, as her sister. Well, can’t say I got the warm and fuzzies around her, either.

She narrowed her eyes at me. I answered her with a wicked smile, and maybe a little flame as I strutted to Gem’s side.

He stood ramrod straight. His stance and hardening expression told me he was majorly pissed. As much as it upset me to see him angry, I was more concerned that I may have injured him with my power.

My hands swept over his shoulders in a half-assed attempt to brush off the soot. Um, yeah. That didn’t work. If anything, all I managed was to drift poufs of soot into the air making us cough. I gave up and slapped my palms against my sides. “Sorry about the clothes, baby. Are you all right?”

“What are you doing here?” he asked slowly.

“He means besides causing trouble,” Aric said when I didn’t answer.

Aric’s attempt at humor did nothing to ease the strain between me and my irate lupine. I knew Gemini was mad. But his tone, that of barely controlled rage, surprised me. I’ll admit, maybe he had a right to be furious. That didn’t mean his reaction didn’t pain me.

“I came to see you.”

I couldn’t disguise the hurt in my voice or my face. But maybe it was what he needed to see and hear. His face softened and his demeanor slowly relaxed. He pulled me close, keeping his hands tight on my hips. “I’m sorry,” he said quietly. “It’s not that I’m not happy to see you. But what happened just now with you and Genevieve can’t happen again. Am I clear?”

“She started it,” I mumbled. Like I mentioned, I’m all kinds of mature.

Barbara stepped forward, and very close to Aric’s personal space. Although her voice was low and seethed with enticement, she was plenty loud enough for me to hear. “You should ban her from our Den, Aric.” She glanced back at me. “We can’t risk her insulting our allies or creating another unwelcomed disturbance.”

Her red nails matched her pouty lips. She ran them along Aric’s arm, but didn’t get far. He sidestepped from her reach.
His
voice? Now, that was far from enticing. “I’m not going to ban the woman who is both a valued member of our Alliance and the mate of my second-in-command.”

I peered around Gem and motioned to Aric. “You forgot sister-in-law,” I said, looking directly at Barbara. “He did claim my sister, after all.”

Oh, and didn’t I know how to bring the room to a grinding halt? Well, we all had our gifts. Barbara whirled on Aric, fast enough to whip her long blond hair behind her. “Is that true?”

Aric met her with equal force. “I told you, any discussion about Celia is off limits.”

Barbara’s scowl eased, replaced by a flicker of malice that caused both me and Gem to separate and edge closer to Aric. Her hand struck like a cobra, her nails clenching Aric’s jaw so tight, droplets of blood trickled down her fingers. Gem lurched forward, growling, his response and Barbara’s vindictiveness sparking my magic with fury. Aric lifted his hand, keeping us in place.

It was as if we weren’t there, Barbara so intent on whatever asinine point she was trying to make that she kept her back to us. “It doesn’t matter who was part of your past,” she spat. “Like it or not, I’m the only future you’ll know.”

Two fingers. That was all Aric used to break Barbara’s hold. He clamped them down on her wrist and removed her hand so forcibly, her nails peeled his skin away in chunks, leaving grisly lines that punctured deep into his skin.

Aric didn’t growl. He didn’t flinch. But that wolf was all rage. “I know my duties,” he told her. “And I know my obligations. Don’t think you’ll ever be more to me than that.”

He released her then. Barbara, while clearly stunned by his demonstration of force, clung to her wickedness and spite, refusing to let it go. She smiled with all the warmth of a gator. “My, what impressive strength you have, my love. Do you think our babies will inherit it?” Her smile widened as he straightened. “I can’t wait to find out.”

I’d seen a lot of carnage. But their interaction was hard to hear, to watch, and to take. Cruel. Barbara was simply cruel.

She walked away then, satisfied with the damaged she’d inflicted with her nails and her words, her hips swinging in that too tight dress. It was all I could do not to zap her for being so nasty.

Aric remained still as granite, lost in his thoughts, and hopelessly fated to be with someone with a soul cold enough to chill the Arctic. Blood dripped from his chin as his inner wolf sealed the goddamn holes on his face.
This
was the woman he’d left my sweet sister for, and the one he’d eventually breed with.

My voice quivered as I spoke. “I’ll meet your parents.”

“What?” Gem asked. He was so focused on Aric, and on keeping his wolf from going after Barbara, that he didn’t register my words.

I faced him then. “I said I’ll meet your parents.”

He lifted my hand, but his expression remained solemn. “What changed your mind?” he asked.

“Celia did,” I admitted. I squeezed his hand and glanced at Aric. “She said she’d give anything to have what we share.”

Aric met my eyes with an expression so pained it stung me down to my toes. “So would I,” he muttered.

He stormed out of the room then. In the opposite direction Barbara had disappeared.

I glanced at the clock. “What’s keeping her? Should I call her again?”

“Dude, relax. If Ceel said she was coming, she’ll be here.”

I whipped around to tell Shayna to try her again, only to get sprayed in the face with perfume. “Oops. Sorry, T,” she said.

I coughed and gagged, and would have glared had it not been for the perfume burning its way through my sclerae and into my skull. I swore when I slammed my nose into the doorframe in my haste to reach the bathroom and rinse my eyes.

Emme clasped my elbow, leading me forward. “Here. Over here.”

I nodded, turning myself over to Emme’s gentle hold.

“Son of a
bitch.
” I tripped over the small lip in the threshold, stumbled to my knees, and landed on something sharp. I rolled onto my side, agony ripping through me, only to have something poke me in the ass.

“Oh,” Emme said when I yelped. “Don’t worry, honey. I can fix that.”

“Holy sharp stilettos, Batman,” Shayna said from somewhere behind me. “You know, you shouldn’t leave your shoes lying around like that.”

“Get away from me before I kill you!” I screamed.

“Ah, maybe you should give Taran some space,” Emme suggested, albeit from a good distance away.

I rose on my throbbing knees with my hands outstretched, trying to find my sink. Tears streamed down my face and snot poured out of my battered nose. Emme clasped my waist, angling my body, and positioning me against the sink. That was good. Until she blasted the cold water and drenched my bra and exposed skin. I jumped back from the frigid temperature and stumbled over my shoes—
again,
landing on my ass,
again.
For all the moaning Shayna did about leaving my shoes lying around, do you think Cheerleader Barbie picked them up?

I smacked the hands away that were trying to help me up. “Don’t touch me.” My fire sizzled when either Emme or Shayna refused to let go. “I said
don’t touch me
!”

I still couldn’t see thanks to the acid burn from the perfume. I rose slowly, and blindly made my way back to the sink. With every swear word I knew, I adjusted the water to less-than-freezing temps. I splashed my face repeatedly until the sizzle cooking my eyes lessened enough for me to see. I blinked back at my reflection. The hair I’d spent an hour straightening was ruined, clinging to my neck in wet clumps. Black lines cut across my face from the remains of the eye shadow, liner, and mascara I’d painstakingly applied. Snot continued to drip down my face and my nose was competing with the bright red swelling ringing my eyes. The eyes won.

Emme offered me a towel. I lifted it from her grasp and wiped my raw face. “Thanks—”

“Oh, wait, I think that one’s dirty.”

I slowly lowered it. She was right. I now had leftover whiskers from Gemini’s goatee trim scattered across my face. It was all I could do not to beat my little sister to death.

Celia walked in then, her smile fading when she caught a good look at me. “Um. How’s it going?”

“My tits are soaked and I resemble Bozo the scary and hairy clown. How do you think it’s going?” I snapped.

She moved toward me, tripping over my shoes and snapping the heel off one of the pair I’d planned to wear. “Oh, sorry. You know you shouldn’t leave those on the floor—”

“I know that!” I slumped over the sink and covered my face.

“Taran’s having a rough few minutes,” Emme explained.

Celia sighed and placed her hand on my shoulder. “Let Emme heal you. Jump in the shower, and let’s start over.” She looked to the ceiling when I belted out six swear words in a row. “Taran, Gemini’s parents won’t be here for another four hours. There’s plenty of time to fix—well, everything.”

My stinging eyes took in the mess on the floor and the mess that was me. I don’t cry much. Things really have to be bad for me to shed more than a tear. But I wanted to then.

“I was going to make them dinner.” I swallowed hard, trying not to lose it. “But I was worried I wouldn’t have enough time to get ready.” My body trembled with cold. I pushed back my wet hair, ready to cry for real. “I printed out all these recipes—food and appetizers they might like. How am I going to get everything done? It took me an hour and a half just to get ready.”

Celia angled her chin. “This means a lot to you, doesn’t it?”

“I just wanted to do something nice for them,” I admitted. And I wanted them to like me. If not for me, for their son.

“Where are the recipes?” Celia asked.

I reached for a towel just to wrap myself with. “They’re on the counter. By the coffee machine.”

“We’ll get started on them,” she said. “Let Emme heal you. Get a shower and we’ll take care of the rest. It’s going to be fine, Taran.”

I wasn’t so sure. “Did you bring the dress?”

She smiled. “I did.” I watched her disappear and return with a garment bag. She unzipped the bag, pulling out a long and elegant Asian-style dress. The blue satin, embossed with silver flowers, was the perfect color to compliment my eyes and skin.

I walked to her slowly, barely believing how stunning this dress was, as Emme and Shayna gushed over it. “Oh, my God,” I whispered.

Celia laughed. “I know! It’s one of a kind and exactly what you need to make a memorable first impression.”

I lifted the bottom of the dress, examining it carefully. “Celia, how did you—? I mean, this is just, just…
awesome.
”

She laughed again. “Misha’s name goes a long way. It arrived from Tokyo this morning from a designer he likely fed from. I sent her that picture you emailed me, told her your likes and dislikes, gave her your measurements, and she came up with this.”

I threw my arms around her, believing for the first time that maybe she was right. Maybe I’d make a good impression after all….

I took my time getting ready and did my best to relax. Although I’d planned to help in the kitchen, everything was done by the time I stepped out.

My sisters rushed over. “Taran, you look beautiful,” Emme said.

“No she doesn’t, she looks hot,” Shayna said, with a smack to my ass.

I hugged Celia when she smiled softly. Although I didn’t want to get all girly, it was hard then. She, like Emme and Shayna, knew how important this day was for me. “Thank you,” I whispered. “I…just thank you.”

“You’re welcome, Taran,” she said quietly.

I let out a breath when I pulled away, trying not to lose it again. “How much do I owe you for the dress?”

“Nothing.”

I frowned. “Come on, Ceel. I can’t let you pay for this.”

“Consider it a gift,” she said, motioning to Emme and Shayna. “From all of us.”

So much for not getting girly. I hugged them tight when they gathered around me. More than once I’d wondered what I’d do without them. God willing, I would never find out. “Thank you,” I told them, my voice cracking as I struggled not to cry.

“It’s going to be okay, Taran,” Emme said.

“You’ve got this, T,” Shayna agreed.

I hope so.
I released them carefully and walked into the kitchen, snagging the apron draped over the counter. “What needs to be done?”

“Nothing, we got you covered, T—oh, except for the fried tofu with peanuts. It will need to bake for a few minutes and then be topped with sprouts and the sauce.”

“You can put it in while you’re adding the shrimp to the baked toast,” Celia added.

I was almost too stunned to speak. “Wow. You girls totally went above and beyond—” My head jerked when I remembered something. “I forgot the sake.”

“What?” Emme asked.

I untied my apron and tossed it aside. “Gem mentioned how his father and mother enjoy this particular and rare kind of sake. It’s expensive and hard to find, but I called a spirits shop in South Tahoe and the owner hooked me up. He ordered it from an upscale restaurant in Japan and had it shipped to his store.” For the almost three-grand price tag and an additional handling fee, I didn’t add. “It’s at his shop. I meant to pick it up yesterday when I hit the grocery store, but I forgot.”

Shayna skipped (because that’s how girlfriend rolls) to the coat closet. “Here. I’ll go. Come on, Emme.”

“No. That’s okay.” It wasn’t that I wouldn’t trust those two with my life—because I would. I just wouldn’t trust them with my sake. After their “help” in my room, I was worried they’d drop the bottle. “You’ve already done enough.”

“It’s really not a problem,” Emme said. “We’re happy to help.”

There was that word again. I spoke through a tight smile. “Really, it’s okay. I got it.”

Ceel tried to suppress her grin, likely scenting my lack of faith in our girls just then. “Taran probably needs a distraction to help her relax. Why don’t we stay and tidy up so she’ll be all set when Gem’s folks arrive?”

Celia’s reasoning was the something shiny they needed. I grabbed my keys and off I went.

Little did I know I was in for a lot more than I’d bargained for.