Snow Magic: Tales of the Were (Were-Fey Love Story Book 2) Read online

  Shifters needed touch—especially when they were upset. And they needed family. Josh and his mom had been a team for so many years while he’d been growing up. She’d been his anchor, and he would be there for her, he vowed, now that he was grown. As much as he could.

  “I told you about my rough journey to Deena’s door.” Josh had filled his mother in as he journeyed from North Dakota to points all around the United States as he sought help in controlling the magic that had suddenly flared to life in him months ago. “I landed in New York City and was told to seek a man named Duncan, who, it turned out, was house sitting for a vampire friend of his.” He saw his mother’s eyebrows rise at that announcement but went on with his story. “Duncan is a fey warrior. A fellow Knight, though I didn’t know it, then. He brought me to Deena. I think you probably noticed that her power is also like mine—fey in nature. Her grandmother many times removed is fey, and I think you met her once. Do you remember telling me that you once encountered the High Priestess Bettina?”

  Evie’s mouth opened in shock as she looked from Josh to Deena and back again. Then, her gaze zeroed in on Deena again, and Josh saw recognition in her eyes.

  “No wonder you’re so petite,” Evie said to Deena. “And you have her eyes. She was a lovely woman. So kind and pure of heart. She told me…” Evie looked back at Josh again. “She told me you would grow to be a fierce warrior on the side of the Light. And she said we would both find happiness again, eventually. I’m glad to see her predictions have come true for you, Joshua.” His mother moved closer, kissing his cheek. He was glad she was happy, and a little surprised by what she’d just revealed about the High Priestess’s prophecy, but he still had more to tell her.

  “Well…Deena and I had some problems with some bad dudes who tracked us here. We had a bit of a fight on our hands for a while.” He would not go into detail about the danger they’d faced and how close the battle had been. There were some things his mother didn’t need to know. “The thing is, after everything was said and done, I…uh…” He looked to his mate for help.

  “I can channel the Goddess,” Deena blurted. Evie looked at her with surprise on her face. “I mean…I’m an easy conduit for Her to speak. It’s why I hide out here on the farm, because the enemy would love to get their hands on me and try to pervert my magic to their own uses and deny Her my services.”

  Evie reached out to Deena, sliding one hand across the table. “It’s a heavy burden you bear, sweetie.”

  Josh’s heart warmed to see his mother extending her protective instincts toward his mate. There could be no better result than that the two women who were most important to him got along.

  “You actually spoke to the Mother of All?” Evie turned back to Josh.

  He nodded. “She offered me the choice to serve Her as a Knight of the Light,” he told her, feeling again the amazing way he’d felt when the truth of that offer had hit him. He would strive to be worthy of Her trust for the rest of his days.

  “And of course you said yes,” Evie supplied, knowing Josh’s heart as well as he did.

  “Yeah, I did,” he admitted. “I’m in training now and will be for a while. Duncan is my current teacher, but I was set a task, and you should know what it is.”

  Evie’s brows drew down in a frown. “Is it dangerous?”

  Josh sighed. “I don’t know. Maybe.” This next part was the hardest bit to tell her, but she had a right to know. “The thing is… My father is trapped in the fey realm. I’m supposed to free him and pull him back to ours so he can complete my training. He’s also a Knight.”

  Josh watched his mother’s face closely. She wasn’t surprised by the news that her mate had been a Knight, but the idea that Josh believed his father was still alive brought on powerful emotion.

  More tears. Dammit. Josh couldn’t take the tears. He reached over and dragged his mother into a hug. He just rocked her until she calmed, looking helplessly at his own mate. Deena gave him a watery smile, but he read compassion in her gaze and knew she was glad he was there for his mother. His mate had a big heart.

  CHAPTER TWO

  When Evie had regained a bit of control, she pushed away from her son’s strong embrace. He was such a good man.

  “I’m so proud of you, Joshua,” she told him, knowing she needed to say that first. He needed to know how much she loved him and approved of what he was doing with his life.

  “I love you, Mom,” he told her in a low voice. She never got tired of hearing that, though he said it much less often now than when he’d been a little boy.

  “I knew Ray was a Knight. When we mated, he felt he had to tell me because he was here in our realm for a purpose, and he had duties to fulfill. I admit, I was insecure about him not being a shifter. I’d had to give up my Pack to be with him. We moved down from Canada and found a place to live all by ourselves. Shortly thereafter, Ray said he felt it only fair that he should tell me where he went when he rushed off from time to time. It wasn’t that often, but it did happen.”

  She remembered those early days of their mating. She’d been so happy with her fey mate, but she’d known he was keeping secrets. Her fears had almost gotten the better of her until he’d come clean, and she realized her mate was an even better man than she’d believed. He was a consecrated servant of the Goddess. She couldn’t find a better man than that.

  And now, her son was following in his father’s footsteps.

  “You said he was trapped?” Evie asked her son, his words slowly beginning to sink in.

  “So I’ve been told. Apparently, moving between realms isn’t something that happens easily. I was also told that I’ve been put through a series of tests to get this far. This is another one, I think.”

  “I actually think it’s a test for both of us,” Deena put in. “Our magic is stronger when we work together, and I believe that’s the whole point. The Lady wants us to get better at blending our magic, so we’ll be ready if, and when, we’re needed.”

  That sounded serious to Evie, but even she had felt the rise of evil that had been building up for the past few years. She might be a lone wolf, but she still had a few connections and had heard the warnings sent out to all shifters by the Lords. She knew the Venifucus, for example, were back. That evil order had been silent so long they were thought to have been extinct, but in recent years, they’d resurfaced, their purported intent to return the Destroyer of Worlds to this realm and wreak havoc on all those who would serve the Light.

  “I’ll be honest. That sounds kind of scary, but also very wise. Though I hate to see either of you in danger, I know you’re both strong and will do your best to serve the Lady,” Evie told them. “I don’t have to like it, but I also agree that you two should train to make yourselves as prepared as you possibly can. It couldn’t hurt, and it might just save your lives…and us all.”

  “Then, you’re aware of the bigger picture?” Deena asked shrewdly.

  “I have friends. I hear things, even though I run alone,” Evie responded. “Now, tell me more about freeing Ray.”

  What followed was a long discussion about what the young couple had come up with. Evie was ready to give it a whirl right that minute, but the moon would be full the next night, and that was when they were planning to try. It made sense, Evie guessed, though she was no expert on magical workings. She was a shifter, plain and simple. Any magic she possessed was an innate part of being what she was. She didn’t wield magic like a mage—or even like her son and his new mate did. That kind of thing was well above Evie’s pay grade.

  The rest of the evening passed in a blur, and when it was time to go to bed, Evie sat awake for a long time, just smiling. Ray was alive! She had something to live for again!

  Evie had wondered what was to become of her now that her son had found his own happiness. Evie hadn’t wanted to horn in on the youngsters’ happiness. She had planned to stay in North Dakota all alone but for a few human friends who had no clue she was a shifter. She’d honestly had no idea what
the future might hold, but feared it was going to be a great deal of loneliness. She didn’t blame anyone for that. She’d done her job. She’d raised her son the best she could, and he’d been fortunate enough to find happiness. She didn’t begrudge him that, but she wasn’t that old. She wasn’t ready to pack anything in just yet.

  For one thing, shifters didn’t age like humans. Evie wasn’t even fifty yet. She probably had another two centuries left to her lifespan at the very least. The thought of facing that alone had worried her. Losing Ray meant she had already lost her one shot for true love in this world. Werewolves mated for life, and her mate had been lost long ago. There would never be another great love in her life.

  But now…maybe all was not lost. Suddenly, she had a shot at happiness just one more time. A chance to live again with the only man she would ever love…if he still even remembered her.

  All those old insecurities about mating with a non-shifter rattled around in her brain. Ray had tried to tell her, many times, that he felt the same bond, but she wasn’t sure if she really believed it. She hadn’t been sure back then, and now—after all this time—she still wasn’t sure now.

  The only thing she was completely certain of was that Ray needed to be free. They needed to spring him from the trap and bring him back so he could at least be here for his son. The two had never met, and it was about time Joshua got to know what a wonderful man his father was, first hand.

  As for Evie… If something could be salvaged of their relationship, she would be over the moon. But if twenty years apart had soured her fey lover on their relationship, then she’d have to accept that, even if it broke her heart into a million pieces.

  The next day was a little bit like torture for Evie. Not being with her son and his mate, but the waiting. That was driving her nuts. Deena was patient with her, giving her a tour of the farm and introducing her to the animals that dared come near the new predator on the property. The livestock had already come to some sort of arrangement with her son, but she was a different story. The younger horse was watching her carefully as she walked around with his mistress—as if he’d come charging to Deena’s rescue should the wolf-woman put a toe wrong.

  Deena’s menagerie was like no other barnyard community Evie had ever seen. The animals here were magic-touched. That was the only way she could explain it.

  By the time moonrise drew near, Evie was about to go out of her mind with nerves. The three of them trooped out to the copse of woods on one side of the property, and Evie was impressed to find a small circle of standing stones. A sacred circle, hidden in plain sight, in the protective woods. The magic was strong here, and as the moon rose, the two fey-touched youngsters began working spells and calling on the magic of other realms in order to free Ray.

  Evie watched from the periphery, standing just inside the stone circle. She could feel and also see the forces gathering—forces she had never witnessed in such abundance before. The power her son and his mate wielded put her in awe, and she almost dropped to her knees when a huge crack sounded within the circle, and the scent of a place…not Earth…wafted through a blindingly white rift centered on the altar stone in the middle of the circle.

  It smelled of flowers and Springtime. Strange spice and…brimstone?

  Evie saw him step through from the portal from another realm. Her mate. Her Ray.

  Then, all of a sudden, chaos erupted all around them. Ray bounded off the altar stone, looking around quickly. He saw her, and his motion never faltered. He was coming right to her, his expression thunderous as Evie suddenly realized they were under attack.

  Something had followed Ray out of the rift. Something evil that reeked of smoke and putrid fire. And that thing was fighting with Josh and Deena, even as Ray reached Evie.

  Sir Rayburne wasn’t really sure what was going on, but something—a very strong something—had pulled him into the mortal realm. Unfortunately, it had also dragged the unholy creature that had acted as his jailor along.

  Ray didn’t want to stick around to find out if the mages that had freed him were good or evil. If they were good, they might possibly be able to handle the flame creature themselves. If they were evil, he hoped it ate them.

  If he hadn’t spotted the one familiar face he most wanted to see, he would have spent more time getting the lay of the land, but as it was, he had to protect his mate, first and foremost. He made straight for Evie—his beloved Evie.

  He wanted to weep with joy, but there was no time. He had just enough magic left to get her to safety. Little Evie had no protection against the sort of evil the flame creature could produce. Better to let the mages fight it out with the beast while Ray protected the one woman for whom he would happily give his life.

  He ran straight to her and scooped her into his arms, expending the last dregs of his magic to transport them both to the place he’d been dreaming of for so long. A blinding flash of light, and then, they were there. He could feel the bite of the cold North Dakota winter night. It had been summer in the fey realm, and he wasn’t dressed for snow, but it didn’t matter. He had his mate in his arms for the first time in way too long, and now, they were home.

  Evie blinked a few times after the second flash of light. Ray still held her tight, but they weren’t in the warmth of the magical circle anymore. He’d done something. Taken them somewhere. She took a quick glance around and had her answer. They were hundreds of miles away from where they had just been.

  Evie clouted him on the shoulder. “Ray! What did you do? Why are we here?” She didn’t give him a chance to answer her questions but rushed ahead, in a state of near-panic. “We need to go back and help Joshua!”

  “Who’s Joshua?” Ray asked, puzzled.

  That stopped her cold. She looked up into his beloved face, meeting those eyes she’d thought she would never see again, and her heart just melted. He’d missed so much. He didn’t even know he’d had a son.

  “Ray, you’ve been gone a long time,” she began, having some recollection that time passed differently in the fey realm than here.

  “How long?” He traced the lines she knew had formed on her face in the time since he’d left.

  Lines of worry, though she didn’t age as humans did. She suspected she didn’t even age like shifters did. Not since joining her life to Ray’s. She didn’t seem to get older anymore, though her experiences had aged her in ways that were visible sometimes.

  “It’s been more than twenty years,” she told him in a gentle voice. “That man back there. That was your son. I named him Joshua. And the woman with him was his mate, Deena. They’re newlyweds, and they’re the ones who were tasked with freeing you and pulling you back into the mortal realm.” Ray looked stunned. As well he should. Evie reached up and took his cheeks between her two hands, knowing tears were leaking out of her eyes. “I didn’t know what had happened to you. I didn’t think I’d ever see you again.”

  “Oh, Evie,” he whispered, clutching her to his chest as he hugged her tight. “I’m so sorry. I never intended to leave you all on your own.” He kissed her then, a kiss that tingled with his magic and innate goodness. She’d missed that flavor of power and frisson of electricity that zinged between them whenever they touched. He drew back after a moment and looked incredulous. “We had a son?”

  She laughed through her tears. Incandescently happy for the first time in over two decades.

  “Yes, we had a son. A big strapping werewolf with amazing magical abilities, and a new mate.” She patted his chest, loving the reassuring beat of his heart under her hand. “Ray, we really need to get back to them. They may need our help.”

  His eyes narrowed in concern. “I can’t. Not yet. I need a little time to build up my strength. I’ve been drained of magic every moment I was away. That creature that came through with me was literally sucking my magic out of me. The enemy laid a trap and left the creature to guard and feed off me until I was no more. I thought I might die there. Even fey can die if all of our energy is stripped away
.”

  The horror of what he was describing pained her. He’d been through an ordeal. They’d both lost time together and so much more. She wasn’t sure they’d ever be able to recapture those lost years, but she was willing to try if he was. But that talk would come later. Right now, they had to figure out how to get back to Josh. Though it sounded like that was a non-starter.

  “How long before you can poof us back to where we were?” she asked.

  “Poof?” he repeated, smiling a bit at her choice of descriptor. She just raised her eyebrow, waiting for a straight answer. “A few hours. What time is it now?” He paused to look up at the cold, starry sky. “Around midnight?” She nodded confirmation. “Maybe by dawn,” he told her, and she realized they weren’t going to get back to the battle in time to make a difference.

  She thought Josh could probably take care of himself, but a mother always worried. Still, she had to be practical. She looked around and realized where they were.

  “Why’d you bring us here?” she asked, curious.

  “It was the only place I could think of on the spur of the moment. It was where I was happiest.” He moved back, letting her go, and looked around at the cold cabin a few yards away.

  They were standing in front of the home they’d shared for those blissful months when they’d been newly mated. Remote and wild, nobody lived nearby. Not for miles and miles.

  “You don’t live here anymore?” Ray asked, frowning.

  “I still own it, but I moved closer to civilization after Josh started roaming on his own. This place holds a lot of great memories for me. We did okay here, even if we didn’t have much.” Josh had been raised on the outskirts of human society, always the outsider looking in, but he’d been a good boy who was always wise beyond his years.

  “That must’ve been tough. Evie, I’m so damned sorry. I should’ve been here for you.” He came over and grasped both of her hands in his, looking deep into her eyes. She could see his pain reflected there.