Page 18 of Whisking Her Dragon Away

"No way," I continued to argue. "They're locked away in Hell, sentenced to cleaning the litter boxes of all the Hellcats in all of Hell for the rest of eternity."

"Yeah, and we all know that before they were sent to Hell, they conned a powerful Wizard to write the curse that would take Molly's Magic and extract the secret of the Sacred Pumpkin without reprisal from the Great Goddess or the Authority of Others, Nate growled. "As if that wasn't enough, the Magical dumbass also created gris-gris bags, a powerful talisman, and a potion to give Big Daddy and Mother Archer – our parents…." He made a circle with the index finger of his left hand, pointing at all his brothers. "…the power to attack Molly and take her Magic."

"And we're pretty sure Mom and Dad sicked Krampus on Ella," Liam snarled. "Without stepping a toe out of the Underworld."

"Yep, well, they were the ones who convinced Harvey, their beloved nephew and our waste-of-space cousin who'd been sentenced to a lifetime as a Minotaur, to attack, kidnap, and try to kill my Violet," Mick seethed. "I will never forgive them." Fire danced in his eyes, and the head of his Dragon King Magically superimposed over his own as he added, "They are dead to me."

“And if Jackson was here, you know he would chime in about what he went through to save Davie from the maniacal machinations,” Chris added with venom in his tone.

“You really think they would’ve found a way to fuck with my memory all those years ago? How would they have even known?” I looked into the eyes of all my cousins and saw the truth, but I still had to ask. “Did they know the Uncles were coming to get us?”

Sadly, I already knew the answer. The fact of the matter was, The Powers That Be - aka the Great Goddess, the Universe, Mother Nature, Fate, and Destiny - my Grandad and our Clan all knew that Big Daddy Archer and Mother Archer – my aunt and uncle - were just no good. I don't mean litter bugs or take-a-penny-when-they-don't-really-need-it bad. I meanhorriblewith a capital B-A-D, real assholes, pretenders, just actual wastes of space with designs on stealing Magic and harming Others.

Oh, they played the part of pillars of the community like they were going for an Emmy, a Grammy, a Tony, and a People’s Choice Award. They made nice with everybody and got in good with anybody they ever met who had so much as a pinch of Magic. Big Daddy and Mother Archer sat on every single committee, club, and women's auxiliary in and around Nowhere, USA. They went to all the functions, donated to the Other Orphans Home, and spearheaded the Food Drive for the Shifters' Sanctuary every fall. The Brown Witches invited them to Samhain Dinner, Santa, Mrs. Claus, and the Elves invited them to the Annual Christmas Cookie Party, the Easter Bunny had them over to color eggs, and the list goes on and on. They were abig deal.

But there was one thing they didn't have, couldn't buy, and damned sure weren't able to schmooze their way into getting – Magic. At the time, none of us guys knew what they were up to. Thank the Heavens, the Ancients, and the Great Goddesses that the Uncles came to get us when they did. To say Uncle Diarmuid saved my life was an understatement.

But could Big Daddy and Mother Archer have known what would happen? If they did, then why did they have someone make me forget Lucy and not the other Brown Witches? Something just wasn't adding up, and my cousins weren't answering.

"Alright, then, why Lucy and not Molly, Ella, Vi, Davie, or any other Brown Witches? Why make me forget my Mate and not any of the others?"

When no one answered or even blinked and just kept looking at me like their stares could make me believe, I added even louder and with more conviction, "What do they have to gain from messing withme? They never even gave me a second look when we were growing up.”

"Oh, they were watching all of us. We just didn't know it," Mick sneered. "Who knows why they fucked with any of us? I never could have imagined they would do anything to Jackson, but they damned sure did." Deeply inhaling through his nose, he kept going as he exhaled. "Or with any of us, for that matter. They're assholes who think they can just take whatever they want, no matter who it belongs to. They want to wreak havoc, destroy lives, and have the Magic they were denied because they are evil personified and think they are above everyone and everything. They have delusions of grandeur. It blows my mind every time I think about it."

“But… but….”

“Spit it out,” Liam prodded with a wave of his hand.

“Could they have messed with Lucy’s memories, too?” I couldn’t believe I was even entertaining the idea, then what Chris said actually registered in my brain. "Wait! None of you remembered that Lucy was my sweetheart when we were kids, either? You just…? Like I did, you just…?"

Nodding their heads in unison, Nate finally spoke up. "Yep, that's what we're sayin'. We didn't remember a thing until Mick said something about the dandelions. Then it was likewham, bam, thank you, ma’am, a whole load of memories about you and Lucy just appeared in my brain.”

"Same here," Mick chimed in. "Hell, it wasn't until I started talking and the words came out that I remembered anything significant about Lucy. Hell, until then, I truly didn't remember her as anything but Ella's cousin."

“How could that…?”

But that was as far as I got before the ruby my mother had given me sprang to life. Light streamed from my pocket, turning everything as far as we could see a deep, brilliant red. It hummed and buzzed, throwing my Family's Magic in every direction as the gem flew from my pocket and hovered mere inches from the tip of my nose.

Spinning so quickly, the perfectly cut facets on the massive stone threw shards of light in every direction. They were literally every hue of crimson known to man and then some. It felt like nineteen-seventy-five, and we were at Studio 54, dancing the night away. With my mind already blown, I wasn't sure what to do. The damned thing hadn't come with instructions, and the only thing the Goddess said was that I would know when the time was right.

“Got any ideas, Old Man? Anything better than standing here like paint dryin' and lookin' like an idiot?”

“Ya’ need to….”But that was as far as Sith got before a small white circle in the center of the whirling, twirling kaleidoscope started to open.

Getting bigger with every beat of my heart, it was then I realized not only was the ruby spinning and flashing in time with my pulse but there was another's heart keeping time with my own.“Do you feel that, Old Man?”

“Aye.”His voice was low and slow, two things I absolutely hated to hear in any situation.

“What the hell? That’s the second time you’ve sounded like that today – like you’re unsure or thinking about your answer. You usually blurt out everything you’re thinkin’ and everything that just popped into your mind. What. Is. Happening?”

No answer. Nothing. Just utter and complete silence.

Trying to come up with the words I thought would get the Dragon King with whom I shared my soul to explain the situation – or at least what he thought was happening, I was no closer to knowing what to say when Sith confidently said,“It’s Lucy. It has to be. There is no other explanation. Your Mate's soul is reaching for yours, and your heart has answered the call.”

Well, crap, that wasn’t what I thought he would say. But, in for a penny, in for a pound. I just had to forge ahead and pray we were all still standing in the end.

"Could that have been what Mom and the Goddess meant?"I asked Sith, not really expecting a response but hoping with all my heart he had some kind of insight.

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