Havermouth, Present TimeRaiding the MegaStore was a brief period of light-hearted fun that they all needed Aislen thought as they raced each other through the aisles of the store with their oversized shopping trolleys, tossing in anything that caught their eyes, from sleeping bags and memory-foam pillows, to oversized bags of snack-sized chocolate and slabs of soft drink.“Heath’s going to hate these,” Cameron said as he picked through the denim, tossing jeans into his trolley. “But there isn’t exactly a large range. Huge quantity in every size and color, but it’s all the same basic design.”“The three of you will look like you’re in uniform, all matching,” she giggled at the mental image as she picked out some underwear for them, holding them up against Cameron’s arse for size. “Like the other Triquetra. What size? These right?”“Yeah,” he checked the tag and threw them into his trolley.“I think we are reaching the capacity of the vehicles,” Talen announced as he added a pile of cl
Havermouth, Present TimeThey were hustled out of the bathroom and forced to their knees in one of the aisles between stacks of gardening gloves and disapproving owl statues, whilst the Van Helsings circled them, the lights mounted to their guns blinding Aislen and catching on the wolf-sheen in Cameron’s eyes as he twisted his head in order to check on her.“Get your hands off of her!” He fought against their grip as he saw that they had forced her down to her knees, bucking off one of the soldiers. Three of them rushed forward, knocking him forward onto his stomach and kneeling on his back, forcing his breath out of his lungs.She cried out in fear seeing them swarming over him. “Cameron!”“Aislen!” He twisted and turned under the men. “Are you okay?”“Fine! I’m fine! Don’t hurt him!” She shrieked as one of the men caused Cameron to cry out by jerking his arms behind his back. “Don’t you hurt him!”“I’m okay. I’m okay, Aislen,” he ground out through his teeth as the Van Helsing soldi
Havermouth, Present TimeBefore they could respond to Talen’s startling statement, the other Triquetra appeared in the open roller door, the bright daylight throwing them into silhouette.“Someone is coming,” Greg told them as the Triquetra stepped to either side of the door, their weapons held ready.“Van Helsings?” Cameron wondered. He held the cuff on his wrist with his other hand, hiding it beneath the ring of his fingers.“No. Hippies,” Tom said with a slight sneer.“Oh,” Aislen brightened and walked out to stand in the open door. Sure enough, she felt Bianca enter her range a moment before the group of witches and warlocks made their way furtively through the back streets to the car park of the MegaStore.Bianca spotted her and waved with a big grin. Aislen waved back with both arms, dancing in excitement, and when Bianca closed the distance, threw her arms around her friend in a fierce embrace, breathing in the familiar scent of incense that always seemed to cling to Bianca’s h
Off the Coast of Concordia, Eleven Hundred Years BeforeThaelen watched as the craggy coastline of the mountain range softened into the rolling fields of Concordia. The rocks in the water closer to land forced them out to a distance that the details of the land were stolen even from vampire eyes, however he could make out the strongholds and the roads interconnecting them, and the different shading of the crops in the fields.As welcome as the sight of his homeland was, it was also an aching anguish. “Is a place still home, if the people that you love no longer live there?” He asked Sigrid.“It will become home again, Thaelen,” she leaned her head against his arm. “We will make it so.”He put his arm around her, drawing her against his side and pressed a kiss to the top of her head. “I hope that the temple remains intact,” he said softly. Egren had told him that they had decided not to go to the temple as they took the pass, for fear of becoming trapped there if Yeric and Inora pursue
Off the Coast of Concordia, Eleven Hundred Years BeforeThe moon was a horned curve in a peaceful, clear sky bright with stars, reflecting on the glossy surface of the water.A stillness had fallen, slackening the sails, and slowing their progress. The wind would pick up, he told himself as he resumed his favorite place on the top deck, leaning against the handrail and gazing out at the dark shadow of Concordia in the distance. The wind always picked up eventually, but he preferred the shallow bottomed boats of his people, where such periods of stillness were easily combatted through the wielding of oars.Within the darkness of the land, he could see small points of light – hearth fires, funeral pyres, or bonfires? Signs of unrest in the land?Sigrid came to stand beside him, leaning against the handrail. “You asked for love,” she said softly. “You asked the goddess for love.”She referred to his first full sacrifice at the temple, though it was a prayer that he had repeated every tim
Havermouth, Three Weeks BeforeThey slept wrapped in each other and Cameron woke still clutching Aislen to him, her breath warm against his chest and one of her legs trapped between his, as if in his sleep he had sought to hold her in place. Her scent filled his sinuses and his c-ck throbbed in demand as he pressed his face into her hair and breathed more of her into him, an addict inhaling his drug.F-k. It was a silent moan, dragged through him from his balls upward, a craving need for this to be the start of things to finally going right for them. Please, let Heath have been right, let this work, let them make her see… Please, goddess, let them finally have the life that they were meant to have. He wanted that life so badly that its absence was a wound within his heart.He wanted a romance movie, he thought. He wanted her to wake and smile, to reach for him with love in her eyes, and for them to kiss and make love slowly in the intimate warmth of the morning. He wanted her to want
Havermouth, Three Weeks BeforeHeath paused outside Rhett’s room on one of his frequent check ins. Rhett had left the music off this time, which was not a good sign that Rhett was coping well with the situation, Heath acknowledged to himself as he leaned against the wall. There was an ache in his chest knowing that he was causing his mate pain.He leaned his forehead against the wall. Hold in there, Rhett, he thought, willing the strength through the wood and plasterboard to his mate. Let me balance the scales of her favor just a little, and then we’ll…Aislen said something so quietly that whilst the sound of her voice carried, the tattoo gun stole the meaning from her words.“Stay still,” Rhett replied, and the gun fell silent. “You are shaking my hand.” “When they come looking for me, they will track me back here,” Aislen’s voice was louder, more confident. She had provoked a reaction from him and broken his focus on the tattoo. “You guys will be arrested and thrown in jail. The p
Havermouth, Three Weeks BeforeRhett floated on his back in the river water, his eyes closed to the glare of the sun, feeling the water tug at his hair, spreading it out around him. He needed the break, he thought, to get some perspective on things.It didn’t feel right. None of it felt right, and he’d been lying to himself from the start, trying to convince himself that he believed in the plan, because he was desperate. He didn’t want to lose Aislen again, and he feared what losing her would do to the Triquetra.In a way, it would have been better if she had never come back, he admitted to himself. They hadn’t been truly happy without her, but they also had been surviving, even rebuilding, after her loss. He wasn’t sure if they had it in them to do that again.He was glad to have her back, though. He could tell himself that, logically, they were doing okay before her return, but there was a difference between surviving and living, and he didn’t want to compromise for the rest of his