Page 60 of When Shadows Dream: Shadow Hounds

“Where is the elixir, Leraie? I cannot find it. Did you not deliver it? Did you bring it with you?” Uncle Micah fired off his questions to the mysterious Leraie in rapid succession, giving her no time to answer until he was done. Not that she looked overly bothered by his urgency. In fact, her response was delivered with such calm detachment one would think her made of marble, save for the faint glimmer of unshed tears Jezzie could see in her eyes and the barely there tendril of sadness and regret which made its way into Jezzie’s pores.

“There isn’t one. Not this time.”

“What do you fucking mean, ‘not this time’?” her uncle growled. His muscles tensed and his body readied itself as if to go to war. Jezzie had no doubt he would do exactly that if he thought it would help.

“The Almighty has decreed it so. The time has come, enough leeway has been given, and destiny will wait for no one. Your daughter needs a shove out of her rut, she cannot keep dragging her feet, Michael. So there will be no more elixir until she figures out her destiny.”

“What the fuck? That’s bullshit, and you know it, Leraie. She’s stuck here just as much as I am, and yet you expect her to find her destiny? In this place? Full of monsters and supernatural convicts who barely survive a year? Tell the Almighty where to shove that proclamation and get me the damn elixir.”

Never had she seen her uncle so enraged. His pure white wings made larger shadows fall around the room, and his golden mist rushed toward Leraie. Only to stop short of their target and snap back into his body almost violently.

“Stop the parlor tricks, Michael. It wasn’t my call. I’m just the messenger, my boy.” She looked sad as she shook her head and made to turn away.

“Cut the shit, Leraie. You could help if you so wished. Instead you choose to be a whipped bitch, servicing a destiny designed by the Almighty, watching as we suffer loss and despair, as my daughter endures pain beyond compare. You choose to do nothing.” Came the verbal offensive of one helpless and angry father. “It’s like you don’t even care!”

It happened so fast Jezzie jumped and glued herself to Nithe’s side. His strong arms snapped around her, his warmth soothed her racing heart.

Where once the picture perfect, classically gothic face of the beautiful Leraie had been, dirty skin the color of gray stone now looked back at them, cracked and broken. Her previously golden brown eyes were completely white, except for the black of her pupils. The makeup around her eyes was smeared and smudged, spreading like veins through the cracks in her skin. Her lips disappeared, morphing into a scary black grin which reached from one ear to the other, black tendrils of shadow-like ink licked out above, below, and along its length. She could have stepped straight out of a horror film and scared the shit out of most humans.

What had even Jezzie jumping back though was when she opened her mouth rows of viciously sharp teeth lined the top and bottom all the way along the wide slit, and a red, thick, forked tongue flicked out as she spoke. Her eyes glued to the object of her anger. Her voice, the stuff of nightmares and sin.

“Remember yourself, Michael. Remember your place,” she hissed, angrily. “It is not for you to question and it never was. Don’t you ever doubt my care for that child! I would die a thousand deaths for any of the righteous. Destiny must be fulfilled, it is the only way. I have seen the sands of time and spoken with the Fates. The Almighty has both blessed and cursed me. I do what I can, when I can.”

Turning she locked her creepy gaze on Jezzie.

“Remember, Jezebeth, see past the fear. Remember me.”

And then she was gone. Vanished, as if she were never there.

Her uncle’s roar shook the cavern, a light layer of dust settled over the room. His anguish plain to see.

It was bullshit, utter bullshit, all of it. Nope. Fuck this shit. There was no way she was going to sit on her ass while Tana endured this pain. No one, not even the Almighty, was going to force her cousin to do something she didn’t want, or wasn’t ready for. But, what the fuck could she do?

A glimmer of silver caught her eye in the doorway. A mark on the frame no bigger than a quarter, but it drew her closer as she shrugged off Nithe’s hold and moved toward it. Her fingers reached out to touch it of their own volition, as if in a trance. The moment her skin brushed against it, she felt a rush of cool liquid spread up her arm and over her temples and a release of pressure she never even realized had been there.

Several memories flooded her brain. Long-lost snippets, moments of her childhood, and in each one Leraie was there. Speaking with her aunt behind a half closed door, smiling at her when she scraped her knee as she ran up the rough path to meet her. Every birthday when she’d handed Jezzie her gift with a smile and hug, reading her a bedtime story the first time she’d cried and questioned why her mom had to leave her behind. Her first heartbreak and the minor hex she’d suggested to Aunt Rai Rai. Most importantly though, was the time she told her aunt to include a young Jezzie in the preparation of potions and spells.

A feeling of familial love spread through her, filling the gap Leraie had left with the block on her memories.

It was a good thing she had a damn near eidetic memory when it came to books, and that her uncle kept a fully stocked herbal garden in ‘Paradise’.

She silently thanked her aunt for all the studying she’d made her do, and for training her as she would a born witch. Leraie had obviously planted the seed a long time ago.

One Anti-Needing potion coming right up. Well, as soon as she could make it. She just hoped it worked, considering it was actually for wolf shifters and all. On the bright side it had worked on an eagle shifter once, and since her cousin was also in the avian family, Jezzie was pretty hopeful of a positive outcome.

“Uncle, I can fix this, maybe,” she blurted out in excitement when she opened eyes she hadn’t realized she’d closed. “There's a potion I know which may work. Though it will take me at least a few hours to prepare it, that’s if you have the ingredients I need. Apparently I’ve known Leraie much longer than just today.”

“If Leraie somehow led you to this knowledge, then you will find what you need in the garden. She designed it, planted it, and tends to it personally.” A small sigh of relief seemed to deflate her uncle’s previous anger, and hope lit like a spark in his eyes.

Jezzie turned excitedly to Nithe.

“Ready to take a trip to ‘Paradise,’ babe?”

“As soon as possible, a stór.” He winked, causing Jezzie to feel a rush of heat fan her cheeks as she realized what she’d said. “But right now we have a garden to raid.”

Chapter 29

As they sprinted away from Tana’s room down the polished stone corridors Nithe held Jezzie’s hand tightly in his own. His mind was still racing. Sure, he wanted to get his mate naked as soon as possible and ravage her to the point she was barely conscious from multiple intense orgasms, but . . .what the fuck had just happened? All levity aside, internally he was freaking the fuck out.

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