Shadow of the Wolf(22)

"Mm-hmm. White, blue, yellow and black."

He sat back. "All on one or one of each?"

"One of each."

He reached into a cupboard behind him and pulled out the feathers she asked for.

"Thanks!" She took the feathers, planted a kiss on his cheek, and  hustled out of his workroom, knowing he was shaking his head at her.

Lana had already ransacked his cupboards and pantry for the other  ingredients she needed. The feathers had been the last bit. He'd even  had the black rope she needed in his bedroom. And if he'd used it for  what she thought he'd used it for, it was better going where she planned  to send it.

If he wanted to play those kinds of games with her he could damn well buy new rope.

She ran out the back door and onto the patio, into the teeth of the  storm, ignoring the fact that she'd been turned on at the thought of  playing those kinds of games with Chris. Just not with the rope he used  with other women. Not if she had anything to say about it.

She had to work fast. Lightning was beginning to strike all around the  house, the flashes coming closer and closer together, forming a cage  that they might not be able to break free from. If Chris or Annabelle  caught her out here she'd never hear the end of it. She just knew what  she had planned would work, but she needed the time to make it work.

She took the large glass mixing bowl and put the feathers inside.  Holding them down with one hand she began to pour salt over the  feathers. The salt was meant to ground the wind, represented by the  feathers.                       
       
           



       

At first she wasn't certain it was working, but she persevered. She  visualized the winds dying down gradually, and it began to work. When  the last feather was covered the winds had died down until only a light,  natural breeze remained. The lightning stopped, but the tang of ozone  was still in the air.

Nodding in satisfaction, she took two wooden mixing spoons and bound  them together in the shape of an x. She set the x on the wet ground just  off the concrete patio and began pouring the salt over it.

"Evil storm that rides the sky,

it is time for you to fly.

Lord and Lady hear my plea.

As I will so mote it be."

The rain stopped. There was a sense of expectation to the air, like the  lightning was poised to strike again at any moment. If it did, her spell  would be undone.



Damn, Cole is strong. The storm should have been wiped out, but some  force behind it was keeping it in place. Better work fast. She pulled  out the black rope, carefully cut down to thirteen inches, and began  tying it in knots. With each knot she chanted, pouring her power into  each knot until her hands were shaking with fatigue. If this didn't  work, the storm would come back full force.

"Knot of one my spell begun.

Knot of two my words are true.

Knot of three it comes to be.

Knot of four the storm is no more.

Knot of five this spell is alive.

Knot of six my protection fix.

Knot of seven, power is given.

Knot of eight protect my mate.

Knot of nine completes my rhyme."

With a satisfied smile she saw the clouds begin to break up. She took  the spoons and the rope, wrapped them in some white cheesecloth and  began digging in the dirt.

"What the fuck do you think you're doing?"

She ignored Chris's irate voice in favor of burying the spoons and  knots. If she didn't hurry, the spell could still be undone. She could  feel Cole's power testing the knots, trying to pull the storm free of  the binding spell. The binding needed the grounding of the earth to hold  it in place. Without that, her knots could be unraveled, and she'd have  to start all over again, and she was already exhausted.

"Cole's storm packed one hell of a punch," she muttered, patting the wet  soil down over the spell with a final surge of power. Now nothing could  get to it. She sat back on her heels, closing her eyes and lifting her  face to the sky. The cool wet air wafted over her face, soothing now  without the wizard fury behind it.

"You should have let me deal with it." She found herself lifted off the ground, not that she cared.

Her legs were shaking so badly she wasn't certain they would hold her up.

"Sorry, Chris. There was something about that storm, something not right. It needed to be gone."

He sighed. "This is why you can't deal with Cole, sweetheart."

"Mmm?" Man, she couldn't remember the last time spell work had tired her  out so much. It usually left her feeling like she needed a good nap,  but this? She felt like she could sleep for a week!

"I told you before. Wizards do things slowly, in stages, needing only  one small component at the end of the spell to activate it. We usually  have several charms on our person at any given time, only needing the  right words to activate the spells. Witches do everything at once, in  one big bang. No way could you take on the multiple spells Cole would be  casting. Remember how tired you were from the spell you did in the  car?"

She opened one bleary eye and stared up at him. His expression was full of annoyed concern.

"'Kay."

One dark brow rose in disbelief. "Really? Not going to argue with me anymore on that?"

She burrowed closer to his chest. "Sleepy. Don't wanna argue."

He sighed and settled her down on something soft. Bed, her tired brain  registered. "That was a very powerful storm. No wonder you're a tired  little witch." She felt him remove her shoes. "Sleep, sweetheart. I'll  take care of you."



"'Kay." She struggled through the thick layers of tired to reach for him. "Chris?"

"Hmm?"

"Night."

She felt his lips brush hers before falling back through those layers and into the arms of Morpheus.



* * * *

"Your little witch is extremely powerful, Christopher." "Yes, she is."  Christopher sipped at his tea, staring at the roaring fire. Lana had  slept through dinner.

He didn't expect her to wake until morning, and that was fine with him.  At least he knew what she was up to. Part of him was furious at her for  putting herself in danger; the other part was furious with himself for  not realizing what she'd been up to. "It's a good thing I felt her spell  taking hold.                       
       
           



       

I'd already started to cast mine. Things might have gotten  …  interesting if they'd clashed."

"Drought for certain, not sure what else." Gareth stretched. "Why don't  you go for a run? I'll keep an eye on your little witch, keep her safe."

"From outside the bedroom?" Christopher mock-glared at his brother. He  knew that Gareth would lay down his life for Lana. It was the Beckett  way, and whether she wanted to admit it or not, Lana was most definitely  a Beckett.

Gareth laughed. "From outside the bedroom." He laid a hand on Christopher's shoulder. "Go on.

Your wolf must be getting restless. I've already had my run."

Christopher nodded. His wolf was dying to get outdoors, but they were  both leery of leaving their mate unprotected in their den while there  was an enemy nearby. Christopher knew he could trust his big brother.  Gareth would have to be dead for Cole to get one finger near Lana at  this point.

He stood and headed to the patio. "I'll be back in a bit."

"Take your time, bro. I'm not going anywhere."

He shot his brother a grin on his way out the door. "Gareth? Thanks."

Gareth nodded, looking determined. "Becketts stick together."

He shifted, taking joy in the night air and the knowledge that his mate was safely inside, sleeping in his bed.

"Becketts stick together."

He was halfway into the woods before he realized what that meant.

Shit. Gareth had already called in the cavalry. He wondered when they  would arrive and if he'd have time to warn Lana about the bevy of  Becketts about to descend on them.





Chapter Eight


Christopher got back from his run to find all three of his brothers waiting for him.

"Any problems?" Gareth held out his pants with a smirk.

He shifted back, used to being naked in front of his brothers. "Nope."  He'd been surprised to find the run uneventful. He had to smile at the  thought that the unraveling of Cole's spell had left the other wizard  too tired to pull any further crap for the night. He had his little  witch to thank for that.

Still, he'd been hoping he'd been wrong and his brothers wouldn't be  here quite so soon. It was bad enough he had to share space with Gareth;  he knew from experience that now Daniel and Zachary were here he wasn't  getting rid of them any time soon. "You had to call them, didn't you?"



Zachary, the youngest, tossed a peanut MandM up in the air, catching it with his mouth. "Heard you had some problems."