Zurlo, Michele - Riley [Daughters of Circe 3] (Siren Publishing Ménage Amour) (12 page)

Soren cocked his head to the side, an affectation Riley was realizing she did not miss. Then he straightened and regarded Teigh. “What powers does she have? Why aren’t they inside her now? The Daughters of Circe always reek of power, yet Riley doesn’t. I can smell something, but it isn’t the same. It’s less like power and more like pheromones.”

A soft chuckle escaped from Teigh. “You haven’t changed a bit, Soren. Always ready for sex. I think that’s why she made you a werewolf. That way you could interact with humans, and there would be no need to deny yourself. She knew you couldn’t go very long without sex. Three thousand years of abstinence might have made you insane. It’s also why she made you forget. You would have been loyal to us no matter what, and we needed you to create a wolf population to perpetuate the passing of this power along the bloodlines.”

Riley gaped at Teigh’s pronouncement. She understood the reasoning behind having Soren father the world’s werewolf population, though she didn’t necessarily care for the idea of him having other lovers. Still, it was water under the bridge. She hadn’t exactly been celibate. “You haven’t had sex in three thousand years? What about Caiden? What about me? Am I reincarnated like Torrey and Desiree, or is this my first go-round?”

A shadow passed over Teigh’s face, and his eyes darkened. He plopped down on a chair that suddenly seemed too small and dainty to hold the men in her life. “Soren, how about some breakfast? I haven’t had a meal in so long I’ve forgotten what food tastes like. Having a growling stomach is new for me.” He lifted his eyes and met Riley’s gaze. “Circe, how about you pour some of that delicious-smelling coffee and come sit by me? We can check out Soren’s ass while he cooks.”

Soren moved to do Teigh’s bidding, which surprised Riley. While she knew he didn’t mind cooking or helping out with domestic chores, she also knew he didn’t take kindly to orders, even ones phrased nicely like Teigh’s. The underlying authority and irreverence in his voice would activate Soren’s need to be the alpha, and he would resist fulfilling any request. Or at least he used to be that way.

Something still wasn’t right, but Riley knew there was no way Soren would continue their talk in front of Teigh. She poured another mug of coffee and set in on the table in front of Teigh.

He leaned in and inhaled the steam, his nostrils flexing for maximum aroma enjoyment. His thick dreadlocks brushed the table and obscured his face. “I remember the first time I smelled this stuff. I wished so badly to taste it. This is a dream come true.”

Riley watched him sip. His dreamy, expectant expression soured. She bit her lip to keep from laughing. “How about some sugar?”

Teigh nodded. “It’s bitter. Do you use sugar?”

“Yes. Soren likes it black, but I can’t drink it that way.” She handed him the sugar bowl and a spoon. “Teigh, I’d like an answer to my question. How is it you and Caiden can remember Soren and me, yet we can’t remember you?”

The sour expression returned. “You only had so much magic to go around. You gave enough for our daughters to be reincarnated two at a time. Their souls stayed with Caiden in between lifetimes. Soren got a big chunk. That’s how he shape-shifts, and it’s why he can absorb a witch’s power. Caiden got the smallest amount. He can only exist as a soul. Once in a while, he can possess a human. He’s the one who helps the girls as they grow into young women and search out their mates. He also helps keep their spirits up while they wait to be reincarnated. I exist in both worlds, but I can’t materialize in either for very long.”

As he spoke, he spooned sugar into his mug. Four teaspoons later, he seemed satisfied with the flavor. Riley exhaled impatiently. “What about me?”

He shrugged. “You only said we would find each other eventually. You had a limited ability to know the future. You gave us assurances that it would all work out, and that was enough for us all. If you walked the Earth before this lifetime, then I did not know it. I know you didn’t find Soren before now because your union triggered your renewed connections to Caiden and myself.”

Soren threw a stack of pancakes on the table between them. He returned a moment later with plates, forks, and syrup. “You and Caiden have been together all this time?”

Teigh contemplated Soren for a minute, that mysterious expression returning once again. Then he dropped his gaze to the stack of food. “I could appear in his spirit world, but we couldn’t do more than talk to one another. Neither of us wanted to lead an existence where we had to be unfaithful to you or Circe. You shoulder the lion’s share of the burden, Soren. That’s why you have the lion’s share of the power.”

Connections formed for Riley. She began to understand the structure of their holding pattern, but she had no idea why it was necessary. “Can you still appear to Caiden?”

Teigh shook his head. “My power has faded too much. We have until the next full moon to complete the ritual, or we’ll all be stuck this way. We’ll grow old and die, and we’ll never be reborn again. Nothing will hold our daughters’ souls together. Your powers will return to the sun, and we will all cease to exist.”

Riley glanced at Soren who had yet to join them at the table. “And Soren will never meet Caiden.”

He still didn’t look directly at her. His avoidance dropped a pebble of dread in her stomach. “Who is Desiree?”

 
The question had been directed at Riley, but she didn’t answer. She watched Teigh’s face soften, and his eyes glazed over with love and pride. “Desiree is one of our two remaining daughters.”

Soren turned a chair backward and straddled it. He stared at Teigh. Riley wanted to smack him for the way he seemed to have dismissed her existence. He had ceased looking directly at her, and she hated the wall he was forging between them.

“Remaining? How many were there originally?”

“Sixteen. Circe’s power is refueled by the sun. We don’t have access to the sun. As we ran out of power, their souls stopped returning to Caiden. Their life energy scattered to the four winds.” His voice dropped to nearly a whisper. Sorrow laced his words, but hope was there, too.

Soren blinked, clearly shocked by Teigh’s news. Riley felt a distant sadness, but it wasn’t personal. She hadn’t known these daughters, and she hadn’t processed the whole idea that she was the reincarnated soul of Circe. The concept that Torrey was a Daughter of Circe still gave Riley pause. If she hadn’t seen Torrey use magic or shift into a wolf, then she wouldn’t have believed a word of it.

“Wow. Sixteen kids. Ouch.” Riley’s attempt to break the tension elicited a smile from Teigh.

“Over a period of several hundred years, babe. Every time one of them grew up, one of us would bring up the idea of having another.” He closed his hand over the fist in her lap she hadn’t realized she had formed.

Across the table, Soren scowled and cleared his throat. “What happens now?”

Riley wanted to stand up and yell at him. Maybe she’d throw the steaming stack of pancakes in his face. He had no call to behave this way.

Teigh distributed the breakfast food and poured the syrup. “Now that we have our thirteen, we head up to see the girls, they do their thing, and everything goes back to being like it was.”

Now Soren looked at her, and she desperately wished he would stop. The depth of his hostility radiated outward and scorched her heart. “So, she gets all the power and we have nothing? Will I still be a wolf?”

The way he threw the word “she” at Riley instead of using her name snapped her temper. She shot to her feet so fast her chair banged to the floor. “Damn it, Soren. What the hell is wrong with you?”

Teigh wrapped an arm around her shoulders, effectively pinning her arms to her sides. She glared up at him, but he merely flashed a reassuring smile. “It’s not ours, Soren. Think of it like a battery that’s almost out of juice. Once that’s gone, we all die. She’s the only one who can recharge it.”

Soren’s lips pressed together. His muscles clenched so tight he looked like he might break. Finally, he turned and stalked from the room. A truck engine roared to life, and tires squealed as they left the driveway. Riley turned to Teigh and buried her face in his shirt. She wasn’t sure whether she was more hurt or angry, but she didn’t like either feeling.

“He’s going to try to take it back.” Teigh’s hand soothed a path down her spine, but she wasn’t fooled into thinking he was unaffected.

“Take what back?” Even as she asked the question, the answer presented itself. He wanted her power, a power she didn’t yet possess. She closed her eyes against the truth. “Crap. His demons are back. How is that possible? Torrey killed them.”

A short, humorless laugh hissed from Teigh’s mouth. “There are hundreds of them. They overwhelmed us, Circe. It was a sneak attack. You woke screaming, having had a vision in your sleep. They killed our girls before we even knew they were on the island.”

The image of fire and people running in terror caused Riley to close her eyes. That wasn’t how it happened. It had been quiet. She had slept while her daughters and their lovers were murdered. Were there grandchildren? Horror washed through her body, and she shivered. That question would remain unasked.

“Where was this island? Why did I make Caiden a spirit and Soren a wolf and you…I don’t know what you are.” Riley shivered, and his arms tightened around her. She breathed in his reassuring masculine scent.

“You did the best you could, baby. It was night and you only had so much power to use. You had to corral our daughters’ souls and tie them to Caiden. Soren went out to watch over their lovers after you disguised them as shape-shifters. You wanted me to be able to liaise between them, to keep everyone together.”

But he had lost Soren. Too many reincarnations and too much time had passed. Riley didn’t question how her mind was able to fill in these blanks. “All these years, and you never lost faith.”

He eased her face away from his chest and wiped the wetness from her cheeks. His somber eyes easily penetrated her soul. “Never.”

Though she expected the kiss, she couldn’t have predicted the way the sweetness would explode into hungry passion. She needed this affirmation of their love even though she didn’t completely remember their relationship. It seemed like she knew more now than she did a few hours ago.

“It’s the sex.”

Riley opened her eyes and blinked at Teigh. His lips lingered an inch from hers and she wanted them back. “What?”

“Your memories are beginning to return. So are your powers.” He grinned as she rose to her tiptoes to try to achieve her mission.

“Why? I thought we had to wait for the ritual.”

Teigh shook his head. “The transfer began the moment you first made love with Soren. Each time he’s with you, more and more shifts to you. I gave you most of what I have already. Caiden has also transferred a bit to you.”

“Then why is this ceremony-ritual thingy so important?” Riley was more than willing to use the rhythm method. Her men were damn good lovers.

“You’ll need back what the girls have in order to bring Caiden home and defeat those demons.” He gripped her shoulders. “Circe, those are the souls of the men who attacked us. You cursed them and damned them to this existence. Only the most powerful beings can hear them. Soren came by more power than you gave him when he stole it from some of our witch descendants. It was self-defense, but he wasn’t meant to be this powerful. That’s how he can hear them.”

She nodded solemnly. “We can’t let them destroy our family twice.”

He sealed his forehead to hers. The thick locks of hair springing from his head blocked the existence of the rest of the world. “No, baby. We can’t.”

Riley prowled the rooms in her two-bedroom ranch rental taking stock of exactly what she would leave behind. She harbored no illusions she would have the chance to return to this little house.

It had come furnished, which meant a lot. It meant she didn’t have to sleep in a sleeping bag until she could purchase a sofa-sleeper. When she had run from her life the first time, she had packed everything into a compact car and hauled a trailer that held her big things. The trailer had been stolen the first night she splurged on a hotel.