Page 15 of The Aether

“What have you done, Josie?” Taryn demanded, anger causing her normally pleasant voice to vibrate. “If you brought the Aether’s wrath to our door, I’ll never forgive you.”

“As if I require your forgiveness,” Josie scoffed and crossed her arms over her scantily covered chest. “You walk around all day with your face crammed in a book and your head in the clouds.” An ugly sneer curled her lips. “You wouldn’t have known it was Beltane if we hadn’t told you. And do you even remember your niece’s name?”

Distress clouded Taryn’s stunning visage, but it didn’t last long. She was a fighter, and she intended to go down swinging. “You’re so damned power hungry and sex starved that you can’t see the blessings the Goddess bestowed upon you.”

“Blessings? What blessings, Taryn? Please, tell me, because I don’t see anything other than a decrepit old house in a podunk town, on a disappearing island, with needy-ass people.” Tears filled Josie’s eyes, but she angrily blinked them away. “The female-to-male ratio is three to one, and unless any of us want to steal a miserable excuse for a man away from one of the all-too-desperate women here, we are going to die old maids.”

“As if you don’t already steal them,” Taryn muttered.

Ignoring her, Josie gestured to Vivian. “She ran away from the only good one. And why, you ask?” Her lip curled again. “She feared he’d become like his deranged mother and murder people for their magic.”

“The fearyouperpetuated, Josie!” Indignation gave Vivian the strength to stand and confront her sister. “You!All because you wanted Damian for yourself. But he rejected you, didn’t he? How many times did you make a play for him over the years? How many times did you go behind my back?”

“I’vealwaysmade it clear what’s available should he wake up and realize you aren’t enough for him, Viv.” The smug grin on her face bordered grotesque. “Always.And are you so sure he was faithful?”

Fury consumed Vivian, making her insane with the need to strike out. Without conscious intent, she gave in to the urge and punched her sister in the nose.

Soleil screeched even as Taryn shouted a laugh, and Josie pinched her nostrils together to stem the flow of blood.

“’Bout time, Viv,” her youngest sister cheered. “About damned time.” To Josie, Taryn said, “If it was me, I’d throw your ass out.”

“You don’t need to bother. I won’t stay where I’m not wanted.”

Josie teleported away before the other three could comment.

Knees weak, Vivian fell back against the table. “I’ve been such a fool. How could I miss it?”

“No, Viv.” Soleil placed a hand on her arm. “She conned us all.”

“He took my daughter, Lei,” she cried. “He took Sabrina.”

“He’ll relent in time,” Taryn assured her, rubbing Vivian’s back soothingly. “You just have to make him see this wasn’t your doing.”

“You didn’t hear him. The finality in his tone. The disgust in his eyes.” Shaking, Vivian swiped at the tears streaming down her cheeks. “He hates me.”

“I don’t believe that.” Soleil shook her head and stared off into space. “He’ll come around. He has to.”

Vivian wasn’t so sure. No one was as prideful or as uncompromising as her husband. And he’d had three years to plan his revenge.

CHAPTER6

Damian experienced a pang of remorse as he watched his wife through the scrying glass. Yes, he wanted her to experience what it was like to have her spouse disappear with her beloved child into the night. Wanted her to know the helplessness and pain of betrayal. Wanted her…

Hell, he just wanted her, period. With every fiber of his miserable being. He desperately missed the sunshine of her laughter and the sparkle of mischief in her shining eyes.

“I’m hungry.”

Sabrina’s tentative voice brought him back to himself, and he turned to face her. She stood in the doorway, looking small and unsure. A trail of previously shed tears stained her cheeks. His heart broke all over again, but he didn’t allow it to show.

“Then food you shall have, Beastie.”

She cocked her head to the side and gave him a curious look. “Why do you call me that?”

“Beastie? Because when you were this big”—he bent to hold a hand down by his knee—“you were a holy terror.” He grinned. “Once you’d made up your mind to do something, you did it despite my best efforts to keep you from trouble.”

The hint of a smile teased her lips, but disappeared just as quickly. “Mama makes me pancakes when I’m hungry.”

He barked a laugh, knowing perfectly well Vivian was the more health conscious of the two of them. If anyone was inclined to spoil Sabrina and feed her sweet tooth, it was Damian.

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