Page 17 of Charisma
“That’s the million-dollar question of the hour,” Maizy grits out.
“I presume you’ve gone through all your grimoires,” Esmerelda states, looking at the three other witches.
“We’ve gone through them so many times, we could probably recite them verbatim,” Meri asserts. “Frustrated doesn’t even begin to encompass how we feel about the situation. Our mother, Matilda, wasn’t able to locate anything else either.”
“What about Mara? Was she able to help?” Esme inquires.
“Grandmother wasn’t able to do anything either. She even tried scrying some of her friends who are in different covens, but we’re well and truly stumped!” Bell exclaims. I watch as her mate attempts to comfort her. I’ve always been a watcher so seeing the intricacies of others’ relationships is positively fascinating.
A low rumble next to me has me peeking at Baldwin. Leaning toward him, I whisper, “Are you alright?”
“Don’t like how you’re staring at the dragons.”
“Youdon’t or yourbear?” I tease. When his face starts to shift slightly, I place my hand against his chest and state, “You have no need to worry, my snow bear. I can admire when someone else is attractive without wanting to fuck them. You’re the only one I want between my thighs.”
“Damn straight,” Baldwin grumbles, his eyes blazing.
“And your Quora?” Esme directs this question at the dragon siblings.
“Our parents, Kiruss and Inni, are powerful, but even they are at a loss. We used every trick in the book the last time we faced them. We did banish them, we thought it was permanent, but someone from this side broke the seal and let them loose,” Airvyd informs the room.
“Kiruss and Inni? I know them. I had to help them once upon a time. They were freshly mated and were facing off with a rogue pack of mixed race shifters. They would’ve come out as the victors, but my stumbling upon them and easing the rogue’s inner fears made things easier instead of complex. Your poor folks weren’t looking forward to decimating those poor, lost souls.”
“No. I imagine they weren’t. They would rather end things peacefully if given the chance,” Drakko reminisces.
“They had been packless for far too long. Never finding their mates left them vulnerable to their animal side taking completely over. That’s one of the hardest things for shifters because when they don’t find either a chosen mate or their lifemate, it becomes riskier and riskier every time they shift. At some point, they cannot shift back to their human counterpart.”
“That’s… that’s terrible,” Landry replies, sniffing as her pregnancy hormones take over. “To never find love? They had to be terrified beyond all measure.”
“They were, but thankfully, I worked my magic as the saying goes and was able to calm them sufficiently that they were able to shift once again. Your parents knew of a pack nearby and they were introduced to the Alpha, who took them in as his pack was full of others who had banded together with other animals just like them.”
“They were a bunch of misfits, just like us,” Paxton muses, which soon has the rest of us chuckling. I love that this is a mismatched group of shifters and supernaturals. We’ve learned to accept anyone regardless of their ethnicity. We work side-by-side as if we were always brothers and sisters instead of the strangers we once were.
I mean, who’d have thought we’d be able to live in harmony considering we have wolves, vampires, witches, panthers, and bears? And let’s not forget Maverick’s fucking squirrel who still loves to taunt him.
“So, I need to hit the books,” Esme murmurs, tapping her fingers on the table while in thought. I love watching her when she gets like this because I know she’s going to figure it out.
“Tell me how I can help,” I demand. “I know I’m not a witch, but I’m positive you’re going to need shit like herbs and what-not so give me a list while the four of you put your heads together. Wecannotlet this happen. More than just our world is at risk, the humans are as well, and we’ve been charged with protecting them at all costs.”
“I’m going to take you up on that offer, Risma,” Esme states. “Give us a little bit of time to see what’s been tried so we don’t waste all of my energies on this project. If needed, I’ll reach out to some others because there’s got to be a way to permanently defeat them. Now, have any of you tried to figure out who was behind letting them free? Because that individual needs to face the Tribunal.”
I can’t help the gasp that escapes my lips because the Tribunal is thelastgroup any supernatural being wants to face. They’re the supreme reigning body over every single person who holds paranormal abilities, whether they’re witches or shifters. Each group has their own council of sorts but when shit hits the fan, the Tribunal is called in to handle it and it usually involves a lot of screaming before death.
BALDWIN
“Okay, so let’s figure this out rationally. While Esmerelda and the other three women look for spells and shit to defeat these demons, we need to ensure our security is top-notch and that nothing can get through as it sounds as though we’re going against dark magic. We also need to scour the dark web to see if there’s been any talk. No lead is too small,” Maverick decrees.
“I like this plan,” I admit. “Beast and I will start checking and reinforcing the fences. Esmerelda, are you going to put up some more warding spells and reinforce the cloak that hides our town?”
“Absolutely. Already done, big boy.”
“Okay, we all have jobs to do, and they won’t do themselves so let’s dismiss for now and meet up and mine and Esme’s place around dinnertime,” Beast suggests, standing up and holding out his hand to help his mate up from her chair.
“That was my line,” Maverick pouts, sending Beast a scathing look.
“Sorry,” Beast says, not sounding sorry in the least.
“We’ll split up into teams and join you,” Drakko announces, walking toward Paxton and stopping next to him. “What is it you’re going to do?”