Chapter 4: A Celestial Laugh
Chapter 4: A Celestial Laugh
Lilia POV
Once upon a lazy afternoon in Wildefell when Anneliese and Lilia were both ten, they snuck into the Wildefell Witch Circle Library and got all the books they could find about shifters and the shifter territories to the north. Anneliese had a mission to satisfy her burning curiosity.
Then and there, she closed one of the ancient books with a sound that made the sweet-faced librarian scowl at them. Young Anneliese had declared, “I’m going to visit the shifters and I’m going to make friends.”
Other witches just giggled at her when she shared her dream after that, but Lilia never did. Lilia always pressed her hand to her heart and swore that someday she would do everything in her power to make Anneliese’s dearest wish come true.
And now, Anneliese just might have a shifter mate, IF Patch would ever stop acting like a wild thing. Lilia adored Patch, but his courting left much to be desired, especially as someone who invented “Operation Romance” to help Kyon and Jiro with their romances. Also, his laugh and smile were far too much like Xidorn, Anneliese’s ex-lover, whom Lilia had never truly liked or trusted. She hoped Anneliese saw Patch’s strength and character beneath the glibness.
At least Patch had the good sense to insist Anneliese take a break. Anneliese looked a bit more relaxed sitting with Lilia as well as several of the friends she’d made who were practically family, namely, Dane, Jiro, Garnet, Kyon, and Azandra. They had gathered in Jiro’s and Garnet’s favorite room in the house: the library. Their library even put the witches’ one in Wildefell to shame, and no one glared at Lilia and Anneliese to keep their voices down.
The shelves upon shelves of books had a comforting feel and smell. Some of the books appeared to date back a thousand years, from the cracked and worn binding. Antique globes displaying maps of the world decorated the room. The library also had many fine works of shifter art, which Kyon was studying.
Jiro and Garnet looked perfectly at home sitting in leather chairs around the fire. When Cyran kidnapped Lilia and brought her to Sinsworth House months ago, she never dreamed that one day she would sit in its library with her best friend, her mate, and her brothers,and sisters-in-law, and feel completely at peace.
Dane’s late father had once reportedly said, “Even with the right Alpha, a pack can still go wrong. With the wrong Alpha, even the best pack will fail, until they stand up.”
Jiro had proven, through being the right Alpha, that the Crimsontails had the wrong one in Cyran. Even worse, they had an Alpha who didn’t make his own decisions, deceived into following the forces of darkness.
Anneliese leaned back, stretching out in an impressive leather chair. “I told Patch I was going to go get a cup of coffee, which he insisted on and practically kicked me out of the Healing Wing because I've been working too hard. But honestly, I need your advice and wisdom more than the coffee.”
His intense blue eyes on Anneliese, Dane leaned back in the twin to Anneliese’s chair near a roaring fire in the fireplace. “I think Patch made the right decision. You’ve barely left Cyran’s and Tulaska’s bedside.”
Azandra snorted. “Patch may be a hurricane at the best of times, but he’s no fool. ANYONE could see how tired you are, Anneliese. And I’ve got half a mind to tell that to the Witch Circle–including your mother.”
Anneliese blushed. “It’s not her doing. She’s not the one demanding results.”
Edna Chalice was kind, funny, and neighborly at heart, loved by all, and one of the best Head Witches in the circle’s history. Liila knew from Ravyn that certain members of the council had given Ravyn blinding headaches, and now were pressuring Anneliese. Edna had to tread carefully and not show favoritism while defending her daughter … although Edna was perfectly capable of making even the most advanced witches and wizards run for cover.
Azandra blushed, too. “You’re right. Your mother is one of the sweetest people I’ve met, so I'll have to yell at someone else.”
“Well, not yet. I am getting results,” Anneliese said. “Cyran is moving about in his coma.”
“Moving in a dangerous way?” Jiro asked, his turquoise eyes narrowing.
Anneliese shook her head. “It’s typical of what you see in demon-induced comas. It means that Cyran is fighting the Dark Goddess.”
Garnet nodded cautiously. “I suppose that’s a good sign.”
Anneliese smiled. “Patch was right there and saw everything … he even held me and comforted me. It was so sweet.”
Jiro and Dane got identical knowing grins upon seeing Anneliese’s dreamy-eyed stare, while Kyon whistled a romantic tune. Azandra smirked. Garnet looked bewildered until Jiro whispered in her ear, and then a quiet, knowing smile slipped over her face.
Anneliese blew out a breath. “I … I have a hard time with certain duties.”
Garnet said in a soft voice, “You don’t have to tiptoe around my feelings, Anneliese. What you’re doing means more than you know, and sometimes I think it’s more than my brother deserves. I’m his sister, and I have to love him–”
“Maybe you have to love him, but what you’re doing goes beyond love,” Anneliese told her. “If I can take even one bit of that weight off your shoulders, I’ll lift it with the biggest, most powerful levitation spell any witch has ever cast!”
Garnet looked grateful. “Thank you.”
Anneliese shivered, rubbing her arms together. “If only I had a guide, a map, or a signpost to show me the way.”
Although Lilia wanted Anneliese to succeed in healing Cyran, her mind went to the budding romance between Anneliese and Patch. Her spirited, loyal best friend and Dane’s brave, funny, pure-hearted brother deserved happiness together.
Patch’s matchmaking with Kyon and Azandra, and Jiro and Garnet, had started something that was unstoppable. Lilia felt the urge to have more love in the world and in her family. With Dane’s babies inside her and with her wonderful mate beside her, she wanted everyone in her family to know the happiness she felt, starting with Patch and Anneliese.
Azandra’s forehead wrinkled, and she did her best imitation of Tulaska, her mentor. “Only if you get lost will the signposts appear, but in losing the way, you will find yourself.”
Lilia really tried to hold back the laughter that bubbled up. She bit down hard. Azandra really tried to sound like Tulaska. Lilia could not laugh.
Azandra gave her a strange look. “What’s wrong?”
“Nothing,” Lilia wheezed.
“Whatever it is, you gave it to Dane.” Azandra pointed to Dane, who looked like he was trying to swallow a particularly hard-to-digest bite. “And Jiro.”
The normally calm and unflappable Alpha grabbed a book from the shelf and pretended interest in it.
Garnet blinked. “I’m sorry, but I have absolutely no idea what you just said.”
“Then I’ve done my job,” Azandra said confidently.
Anneliese rose. “And on that cryptic–I think–note, I owe the Witch Circle an update.”
Barrett Malone, Jiro’s steadfast and brilliant Beta, coughed to get Jiro’s attention. “Alpha, you asked to be notified when the hunters returned … they brought back quite the haul..”
“Thank you, Barrett.” Jiro stood. “Hunting has been a challenge lately with winter approaching. I need to thank our hunters personally.”
* * * * *
Patch POV
Everyone thought of Tulaska Volkov as the Wise Woman who spouted riddles cloaked in riddles and gave you herbal concoctions that curled your tail. That was true. But she also used to hide her ceramic gnome somewhere in her house and give Patch treasure hunt clues to help him find it. When he found the gnome, he’d also find a shiny gold coin or a sweet treat.
He smoothed the white-blonde hair back from her forehead. “You’re missing so much. Of course, if I know you, you’ve found a way to keep watch on us, even in there. You’re probably smiling about the way Garnet blew Hades to bits, or almost, and the way that Jiro has become the Alpha of the moment, and how you were so right about Azandra …”
His wolf, Tiva, warned him of danger. With practiced stealth, he whirled around and surveyed the blue-walled light and airy space with the two tall amethyst obelisks on either side of the entrance. No one was in the room, not even Healer Kellam or Kieran or their assistants.
Cyran lay still and quiet, but he’d lowered his arm, at least.
Still on alert, Patch turned back to Tulaska. “If anything is around us, it better leave,” he said loudly. “Even with you taking a nice long nap, you’re still more than a match for anything. Y’know, I don’t think I've ever told you what you’ve meant to me. A lot of people don’t know what to make of my humor. Oh, I know I’m popular, but I can be too much for people. Not you, though. Being a Wise Woman, you see people. It’s like that obelisk. It has a crust on it, right? Well, once upon a time, that amethyst was covered in rock and nobody saw the beauty under all that rock. That’s your gift. I think that’s Lilia’s gift too, and Azandra’s, Garnet's, and Ravyn’s. And Anneliese’s.”
He blushed, wondering if he should be sharing all this with her while she wrestled with the dark magic. But Azandra as well as all his favorite witches told him that demons couldn’t stand it when people strengthened their victims with good memories and joy and gratitude.
He went on. “And you told me that I should stop playing hide and seek with what I feel for that amazing woman. It’s not like I’m completely hopeless in romance … Well, you know, you were there.” He paused. “After Mom and Dad died, I could talk to you about girls when I couldn’t talk to my brothers because you need a woman’s view sometimes. You were so good, telling me that after what happened with Gwenna, I shouldn’t take her back even if she changed her mind, and besides, you hit me over the head saying she wasn’t my fated mate, and that she had her own destiny. You were right, by the way. We both know who the lucky lady is.”
Then, he heard a voice whisper in his head. Tulaska’s voice. “Patch! Look sharp!”
He turned again and his eyes changed to gold. His claws shot out and his teeth sharpened. He didn’t know what they could do against the foul black cloud with the red lightning streaks currently trying to suck out what was left of Cyran’s soul, but he would fight with everything he had to protect Garnet’s brother.
The swirling cloud funneled itself into Cyran’s mouth, and the Dark Goddess whispered in a serpentlike voice, “Patch Cresta, you are no match for me. Everyone considers you a clown. Unworthy of the name you carry.”
The demon just made a colossal error. Patch had grown up with people grumbling whenever he got in trouble, “Why can’t you be more like Dane?”
He puffed out his chest and flashed the Dark Goddess a defiant smile. “What fish does a demon fisherman avoid? The angelfish!”
Cyran rolled on the bed laughing, holding his sides.
A grin stretched Patch’s face. “Oh, there’s more where that came from. You want more, Cyran? I got more.”
The Dark Goddess’ cloud started to thin out, and Patch let loose with another joke. “Why do people in Brighmere seem so calm and level-headed? They read elf-help books!”
He had the feeling the tide had just turned when he heard Tulaska’s belly laugh.
The Dark Goddess hissed, “When I end you, it will be no laughing matter!”
And then Anneliese shouted in a defiant voice, “You’ll have to get through us first!”