The Hidden Waterfall

DELILAH

We arrived a little ahead of schedule back at the house, or compound, or whatever it was.

The smell of cooking food had my mouth watering, but it would need to wait until after the spell. My diet would change from here on out.

Cole was waiting for us on the lawn; probably one of the scouting wolves had seen us pass the perimeter, or caught our scent and notified him as we’d walked back at my humanly pace.

He looked at both of us, his nostrils flaring to take in our scent, and then his shoulders relaxed considerably.

My gaze narrowed at him as I continued standing in front of him.

I knew that he had been so tense because he’d expected us to have had sex. What an interesting dynamic between brothers.

“You’re back,” he drawled, as if it was the last thing on his list of concerns.

Seth continued walking straight into the house past us. I folded my arms in front of me, staring at Cole long and hard.

“From my understanding, Seth seemed to think I was possibly his mate. So you also have the same concern, Cole?” My words were smooth and soothing—this wasn’t a challenge, but a concern.

If their heads weren’t in this, if their energies weren’t in this, then this spell wouldn’t work.

I needed them to desire finding their mate—to fill that emptiness inside and to find someone who would see them for who they were.

A mate—a true mate—was so much more than just someone you connected with sexually or mentally. It was that emptiness inside you, finally healing.

Cole stared at me for several moments, not saying a word.

I gave a small sigh. “I will tell you what I have told Seth. It’s impossible.”

I didn’t volunteer any other information, but instead stepped forward and rested a hand on his arm.

“Tomorrow, you’ll find the person you’re meant to be with. That’s a big thing. I can understand if it makes you both a bit on edge. But please do not confuse me as someone or something that can fill that gap inside you.”

“I’m not,” Cole grunted, pulling away from my touch and heading inside.

I sighed again softly.

~Wolves.~

Shaking my head, I went inside to prepare for our next spell. Within an hour I had all my supplies on the lawn as I munched on fresh bread and a small wedge of cheddar cheese.

Once my white pillar candle was set up, with the proper herbs around it, I finished off my food.

Jewel sat watching me from the porch along with several others.

I tried to stay calm and act normal, but I wasn’t used to having so many nonwitches’ eyes on me, and it was making me uncomfortable.

It was as if they were waiting for me to slip up at any moment, or to do something they were unhappy with. Like they might pounce on me and tear me limb from limb.

I couldn’t wait to be out of here and back to my own people.

Seth and Cole came out of the house just as I lit my candle; they stood and waited with me as well.

It was time.

This would be the first time I worked magic in front of all of them, and they would know I had real power.

Any creature with any sort of magical bone in their body would be able to feel it.

Planting my feet into the ground, I moved my hand over the flickering flame, pulling it, making it grow brighter and brighter until it began to trail and encircle my hands.

I moved them over the blaze, one after another, as if I was gathering rope instead of flame.

“Fire and flame, fuel my bones, give them the energy to keep up.”

I pulled the flame from the candle, still twirling it around my hands, keeping it in constant motion.

“Air, fill my lungs, fill my blood—keep this fire from going out.”

I felt it expand around me, the air growing heavier as I dug my toes into the earth.

“Earth, guide me so I may help others, soften the blows on my feet as I speed across your surface. Water, allow this into my body and fuse it with my own.”

I opened my mouth, letting the flame lift up of its own magic like a snake and enter my parted lips.

I could feel the spell beginning to work as soon as the last bit of flame flicked down my throat.

Though I coughed as the flame on my candle went out, I felt it in every fiber of my being—filling me, expanding.

Now we would find where we needed to go, and we would be there fast.

I glanced back at the brothers, knowing that my eyes were glowing like embers, making most of the pack look at me warily.

“Now we run,” I told them. And without giving them a second thought or glance, I sprinted off into the woods, as fast as the wolves in their pack.

I felt the wind whip through my hair, the earth crumbling under my feet with each step forward. It was exhilarating.

Before I knew it, both brothers were beside me in their wolf forms, their fur glinting in the twilight making my breath catch.

They were absolutely stunning.

At first glance, they looked like they had identical markings around the eyes and ears.

The only difference was their coloring, which concerned me at first—matching marks were typically reserved for mates.

Cole’s fur was much darker than Seth’s, but his markings were lighter in color, while Seth’s were darker.

Then I saw that Cole’s ear was tipped with a white spiral, and on Seth’s flank there was a white crescent moon.

Special marks of the Goddess—though to the wolves they were just mating marks. And sometimes they were, but in an alpha things were rarely so subtle.

But any witch would see how these things were connected.

Their mate, whoever it was, could either be one person—or twins as well.

But each of those scenarios seemed equally unlikely. Maybe their mates would just be similar in personality.

I felt the magic vibrating in me, feeling their presence. I knew I had to head upriver once we got to it.

My feet sank into the soft soil near the edge even as the sun sank farther into the horizon, making the shadows in the trees grow and grow until it felt like the world was tilting and swirling around me.

Faster and faster, I pushed myself. Once the sun was set my flame would go out and I was desperate to find the spot.

It pulled me in like a moth to a flame, urging me forward like a siren’s song.

It wasn’t until the first star winked into existence that I felt myself collapse against the grass, a wave of nausea hitting me as I pitched forward and fell.

Both wolves circled me in concern, unsure of what to do. A small whimper came from Cole’s dark figure.

I tried to get back up, but my arms and legs shook.

I had expended so much energy, I barely had the strength even to look up.

Cole and Seth both shifted and knelt beside me, their nudity the last thing on their minds despite the blush that filled my cheeks as they lifted me up slightly.

“Are you all right?” Seth asked in concern as Cole ran a finger over my back, both of them moving me to an upright seated position.

“Just aftereffects of magic,” I groaned, trying not to throw up. Glancing around slowly, I waited for it to subside for a moment.

Their warm hands were still on me. I could draw some energy from them, but I waited to be sure this was the place first.

Water trickled from somewhere. Rocks surrounded the area—tall ones where candles could be placed.

The energy here pulsed and made me feel connected with the two of them as they touched me, like a heartbeat I could hear for the very first time.

I realized the sound of water was coming from a giant oak, and I furrowed my brows. “Is that…water coming from that tree?”

Both Cole and Seth glanced over, puzzled looks coming across their faces.

Their eyesight was undoubtedly better than mine. “Yes,” they both answered in unison.

This place was full of magic, but that magic was unnatural.

Someone had tampered with a natural order, and with both of them.

This was their sacred place—not because of the pure magic, though there was certainly some sort of natural line in soil and rivers.

But here it was tainted, as proved by the small waterfall coming out of a tree, as if it were a natural spring of life.

~This is wrong.~

~But is it Fae?~

~And will it mess up my spell?~

I took a deep breath and nodded, deciding not to tell them.

If I tried and something went wrong, it was better if they just thought the spell had failed.

“We are here,” I told them.