“Yeah, it is. Owen.”#p#分页标题#e#
She broke into tears. Remy collected her against his chest and glared at Gideon. There were a few choice things he wanted to say, but not in Tasha’s presence.
He jumped when a hand touched his shoulder. Lilith. He hadn’t heard her coming. Her eyes were wide and dark in the pale oval of her face. The silver rune he’d never seen her without had vanished from the silver chain, and in its place she wore a crystal that went light and dark by turns as something moved within the facets.
“Let me take it from here,” she said softly.
He moved aside. Tasha started to speak then seemed to think better of it.
Lilith paced out of the cave and stood about ten feet away from Gideon. She was not a small woman, but she looked slight in comparison to the alpha.
“I’ve come to make good on my promise,” Lilith said. “But there are some things you don’t know, my lord. Factors that will influence your decision.”
“Decision? There’s no decision,” Gideon said. “The woman is mine.”
Tasha shuddered again and huddled closer to Remy.
Lilith turned around gestured at Remy. “Bring her here.”
“No,” Tasha said, “I’m not going out there.”
“How about if I go with you?”
She hesitated, her eyes liquid, then nodded.
He walked slowly with Tasha on his arm feeling like this was some bizarre wedding ceremony and he was about to give away the bride. Before he released Tasha, he whispered in her ear, “You don’t have to do anything you don’t want to do. Remember that.”
Lilith took Tasha’s hand in hers. “What Remy said. The choice is yours.”
Tasha shook her head. “I don’t understand any of this.”
Turning back to Gideon, Lilith said, pointing, “But he does. In the bar, you knew what she was. The minute you kissed her hand, you knew. That’s why you kept mentioning Gaebryl later when we were in the banquet room.”
“That’s ridiculous,” Gideon protested. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
A rush of wind blew through the clearing, kicking up dried pinecones and pebbles. The weres whined and pawed at the ground. Remy looked up, fearing to see the ghostly forms of circling fehin above and then the weres quieted. The silence shredded his last nerve. It was as if even the breeze was afraid to move.
Sweat prickled his brow.
The massive wingspan blocked the moon as the seraphim descended.
Remy blinked to make sure what he was seeing was real.
He’d never seen a seraphim before, not outside of books and movies. It was one thing to know that a witch belonged to one of them and quite another to see one touch the ground and fold his majestic wings gracefully behind him. Lilith never even glanced in the seraphim’s direction, but kept her gaze trained on Gideon.
Some of the weres rolled on their bellies. Gideon snarled and snapped, but it did no good.
The seraphim—Gaebryl—towered over Pacific Range alpha. They made an odd pair: a were and a seraphim facing Lilith like recalcitrant schoolboys.
Lilith turned Tasha’s hand over so the were mark blazed neon red. “This mark has been the source of a great deal trouble along with the hex I placed upon it.” She hit Tasha with a level stare. “If you desire, I can remove them—the mark and the hex.”
“No!” Gideon shouted.
The seraphim rested a hand on Gideon’s shoulder. “If she can remove a were’s mark and a hex at the same time without damaging the woman…” He paused and looked at Lilith. “I assume it’s your intent to do so without harming her?”
“Yes,” Lilith said flatly.
“Well then,” Gaebryl continued, “if I were you, I’d think twice about challenging someone like that.” He waved a hand airily. “But do as you see fit.”
Gideon snarled but remained silent.
Lilith faced Tasha. “Once the mark is removed you will be free of the weres. However, you can never be free of who and what you are. You are a witch. Unconscious and untrained, but a witch you are, nonetheless. That’s why my hex didn’t work properly.”
Tasha tried to pull her hand away from Lilith and mumbled a steady no, no, no under her breath, but Lilith held firm.
“By the terms of the Kinraven Charter, all witches belong to the seraphim,” Lilith said quietly. “Someone hid you when you were a child.”
“But I don’t remember,” Tasha said.
“That doesn’t change anything.”
“So why do you keep saying I have a choice?” Tasha’s voice was small and tremulous.
“Owen marked you, but after he submitted, that right passed to Gideon as his alpha. Gideon has indicated he will take you. If that is your choice.”