By the Embers Dies the Fire Read online

  They did, however, attend Brighton’s housewarming on Saturday, and Elain had been surprised to see it was a very nice place, even if she felt a little…off.

  Ellie being in Elain’s arms meant she was forced to give Brighton a one-armed hug upon their arrival so she didn’t raise Brighton’s suspicion. She was more than relieved to sense that the jumbled chaos she felt in him didn’t seem dark. Just…confused and bombastic, maybe more than a little self-important, but certainly not evil or demented like she’d felt in Rodolfo Abernathy.

  Not even a fraction as dark as she’d sensed in the three shifters she’d eliminated.

  Trust my instincts.

  That meant she didn’t have a reason to try to read him more deeply, she hoped.

  Because she really didn’t want to.

  Brighton also announced during the cookout that he needed to go visit some friends, now that he was settled. Since Elain’s guys wanted him at the recognition celebration for their children, she opted to make sure she extended the invitation personally to Brighton.

  “Thank you, my dear. I appreciate that. I will be there, but I have other friends to see before then. I’ll meet you all up there.”

  Add to that, Elain didn’t have a good reason to tell her men why not to have Brighton there. Not without revealing more about him and her suspicions that now didn’t seem to have much of a foundation. The guy wasn’t under their roof any longer, so it wasn’t like she had to worry about him when she had far more pressing issues on her plate. Explaining everything to her men when she had little to go on could possibly upset her guys for no good reason.

  Better to keep that information back for now, unless or until she knew more or had solid evidence about any misdeeds on Brighton’s part. Being a paranoid goober with poor social skills and planting surveillance devices in his siblings’ home didn’t mean he had evil intentions toward them.

  Her guys had told her about his decades of conspiracy theories. She could totally see him thinking he was doing the right thing.

  She was a Seer. If Brighton had truly dark designs for her or her family, it would have been obvious when she hugged him, right?

  * * * *

  Upon their return to the ranch, Brody and Cail had to go out and check on a couple of recently born calves.

  Sensing her Prime needed a little alone time with her, and with both babies soundly sleeping in the nursery, Elain straddled her husband in their bed and leaned in to kiss him.

  “Hiya.”

  Ain offered her a smile, one that reached to the depths of his handsome grey eyes. “Hiya.”

  “Would you like me to take advantage of you, Prime?”

  His smile faded.

  “What’s wrong?” she asked.

  “It’s not you.”

  Dammit.

  He reached up and pulled her down against him, tucked in the crook of his arm.

  “Then tell me.”

  “It’s weird, and stupid, and nothing I can put my finger on.”

  “It’s obviously not stupid or nothing if it’s bothering you.”

  “What about weird?” he asked.

  “I reserve judgment on weird until I hear it.”

  “That’s the problem. I’m not sure I know how to verbalize it.”

  She snuggled against him and traced random patterns across his chest even as she tried to read his energy. “I am a Seer. Want me to poke around?”

  She suspected had Brodey been there, he would have seized upon the pun immediately.

  Instead, Ain let out a sigh. “I don’t feel very…successful.”

  “I disagree with that self-assessment. I love my kinder, gentler Prime. You’re a great dad and mate and husband and brother.”

  “Except to Brighton.”

  She didn’t like his tone of voice. It felt…wary.

  Dark.

  “Brighton isn’t your problem. He’s older than you, and he’s nuts.”

  “Why did you shift your opinion of him?”

  “I finally saw what you guys meant about him.”

  “Mom asked us to take care of him.”

  “He’s here in Arcadia. That’s good enough. Right?”

  “I guess.”

  She sat up. “What brought this on?”

  “I don’t know. On the way home I realized I felt like this. Like I’d failed him. Why didn’t I push harder to get through to him years ago, or even now?”

  “Because he’s an adult and you’re an adult and adults are expected to adult, even if they can shift into something else.”

  “He acted weird a few weeks ago, asking me about our sisters’ deaths. About when I chased down the cockatrice and then tracked back to its nest and killed its mate.”

  She hoped he didn’t call her out on her pulse’s sudden burst of speed. “What was weird about that?”

  “I don’t know. It’s like he thought something else happened. I’m really worried about him. He feels a lot different now than he ever did before.”

  “Then why did you ask me why I changed my opinion of him?”

  His fingers trailed down her arm. “I guess I wanted to make sure I wasn’t off-base. I don’t know. I don’t know how to explain it.”

  She heard the front door open and close.

  Brodey and Cail.

  Aaaand that was the end of her private Prime time. Ain kissed her. “Sorry I talked your ear off,” he whispered.

  Brodey and Cail rushed through the bedroom door. “Hey!” they said together, making her giggle.

  “Hey, yourselves. Go clean up and you can join us.”

  She couldn’t help but giggle again as they pushed and shoved through the bathroom door to get to the shower.

  “You realize we now have several free bathrooms, right?” she called out behind them. It was weird having a nearly empty house. She thought she’d relish the quiet, but it was kind of spooky.

  Ain kissed her again, distracting her. By the time she realized she was being distracted, Brodey and Cail were out of the shower and in bed with them, and she had Ain’s tongue buried in her pussy and his cock down her throat.

  Okay, answers to Ain’s mood can happen later.

  What Ain’s skilled mouth and tongue were doing to her clit took away her ability to form coherent thoughts. The only cocka-anythings currently on her mind were the three cocks attached to her mates. She didn’t want to think about her crazy brother-in-law, the possibility that countless lives depended on the Triad deciphering a vision, or the fact that murderous things had spent all of history being evil and destructive.

  All she wanted to do was revel in the positive shift of Ain’s energy, and the joyous wash of emotions she felt from all three men.

  If only she could freeze her life and have this be all she felt.

  The men were good about avoiding her sensitive breasts. With Ellie already getting her second tooth in, Elain had decided to take Dr. Alberto’s advice and think about getting her weaned onto a bottle and formula sooner rather than later.

  Then her first orgasm hit her and the full focus of her life became the pleasure Ain was currently giving her. She licked and sucked on his cock, enjoying the sound of his moans vibrating through her clit and pussy as she drew him closer to release.

  Brodey and Cail stroked her back, one of them slipping a couple of fingers into her pussy and triggering another orgasm in her.

  This…was…heaven. The loves of her life all in the same bed with her.

  The men were in no rush to stop, either. Even after she finally sucked Ain to climax and swallowed a mouthful of his cum, he grabbed hold of her ass and wouldn’t let her wiggle free until he’d driven her over the edge again, not letting go until he knew she’d finished.

  Elain rolled onto her back and lay there catching her breath while Brodey and Cail smiled down at her. She sat up and kissed Brodey, then Cail.

  “Feeling like a little fun?” she asked.

  “How much fun?” Cail asked.

  “Double up.”
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  The men moved as one, reaching for condoms and lube. Brodey ended up under her, his wrapped cock inside her pussy while Cail slowly worked lube into her ass. Before long, she was impaled on both cocks and slowly fucking them as Ain sat up, fisted her hair, and kissed her.

  “Come for us, baby,” he edicted her through their mate bond.

  Cail and Brodey both moaned as her body responded to Ain’s edict, her muscles squeezing their cocks inside her while the orgasm swept through her nervous system and threatened to roll her eyes back in her head—

  —and she was standing on the rock pile in Maine, alone. The blue tinge to her vision told her it was from the future.

  No sounds, nothing moving but her, and in front of her a dark, wet stain on the rock that looked like fresh blood—

  —and she slammed back into her body as another climax hit.

  “That’s it,” Brodey encouraged, his hands on her waist as she rode him.

  Cail had hold of her hips, and as she finally gave out, he started thrusting, fucking her while Brodey thrust up into her from below and they were both coming, moaning, until she finally slumped down onto Brodey.

  Trying to hold on to the vision in her brain, all Elain’s body wanted to do was collapse into sleep with her men surrounding her…

  * * * *

  Elain opened her eyes and found herself in Baba Yaga’s house. When she looked down, she was wearing the fuzzy pink bathrobe of her previous visit.

  “We need to stop meeting like this,” Elain joked.

  The matron smirked. “You haven’t complained about that robe before. Besides, it wasn’t me who put it on you.”

  “Then who did?”

  “It’s a construct of your mind. Change it at your whim.”

  Elain thought about it, and when she looked, she was now wearing a chic blue satin dressing gown. “Huh. Cool.”

  “You didn’t come here to discuss night clothing with me,” Baba Yaga said.

  “You didn’t bring me here?”

  “You brought yourself.”

  “Oh.” Elain paused. “Have you learned anything else about Brighton?”

  “I think it’s an excellent thing that he is no longer under your roof. Beyond that, I don’t know. There is an even larger void in my abilities now.”

  A thought crossed Elain’s mind. When they’d gone to Brighton’s house for the cookout, one of the rooms, his office, had been locked. He hadn’t taken anyone in there, either, just claimed it was his home office. Which normally might not ping her radar, knowing what he did for a living.

  For a man so eager to help them with their cockatrice artifacts, he was blatantly reluctant to return the favor and show them his.

  Hmm.

  Maybe once their latest trip to Maine was over and they were settled back home for a while, she needed to pay her brother-in-law a solo visit.

  Another thought hit Elain, a conversation she’d had with Baba Yaga at the rock pile that day. “Those items we have. Are we stirring up trouble by messing with them?”

  “I don’t think so. I believe that Lina’s connection to the…other artifact and its creation have given her and her sphere of influence a natural protection from this magick. That’s probably why you and she have such an aversion to that one particular icon.”

  “But Mai doesn’t.”

  “Don’t panic. It doesn’t mean she’s not protected. Just like Zack and Kael don’t react to them. I’m speculating. I’ve seen future snippets of Zack and Kael, good things, and nothing I’ve seen indicates them succumbing to dark forces from those items.”

  Elain’s mind finally caught up. “Hey, I just had a vision. Fresh blood on the rock pile in Maine.”

  “That rock pile has seen a lot of blood. Within it, and upon it.”

  “It was a future vision.”

  “I haven’t seen anything,” Baba Yaga said. “I told you, there’s a blank spot in my visions now.”

  Elain didn’t feel like the woman was trying to pull one over on her.

  Then again, the woman had countless years of experience on Elain.

  “I was afraid you were going to say that.”

  The sound of a baby crying pulled Elain out of her visit. She opened her eyes and found herself in bed with her men. On the baby monitor, Connor was fussing.

  Ain rolled over and sat up. “I got it.” He leaned in for a quick kiss from Elain. “Love you.”

  “Love all of you,” she said.

  Cail and Brodey edged her off of them, carefully climbing out of bed. Apparently, her little jaunt to Baba Yaga land had only lasted seconds in real time.

  As she drifted off to sleep again, she thought about the blood on the rocks and hoped the event was way in the future.

  And didn’t belong to anyone she loved.

  * * * *

  Late Sunday morning, the Triad gathered again. At Lina’s.

  Just in case Brighton decided to drop by the Lyalls’ unexpectedly.

  Jasper had whined and obviously wanted to come with, so Elain had relented and let him join her. He had eagerly shoved his head against her arm so Elain could simply poof her, him, and the two babies into Lina’s living room.

  Now the dog happily lay on the living room floor, helping watch all the other kids, including BettLynn.

  Having him around helped soothe Elain’s mind. She knew he was a good watchdog.

  “I am going to want to murder Micah and Jim by month three, I can see it already,” Mai griped.

  Elain could sympathize. “Do we even want to ask?”

  Mai pretended to be Micah. At least, Elain thought it was Micah Mai was imitating. “Oh, my god, we have to get the new nursery done now! We have to get new baby furniture now! What is the baby’s sex, when will we find that out, when are you seeing Doctor Alberto…Aaarrggh!”

  Mai slumped in her chair. “I get it, they’re happy, they’re excited, and they’re worried. So am I.”

  “You say happy,” Lina said, “but based on your reaction, I’m not sure that word means what you think it means.”

  Mai leaned forward again. “I get it. I do. They’re worried about finding out ASAP if our baby will have any…issues. They want answers. Trust me, so do I. But my gut instinct tells me that, this time, we won’t. I don’t know why it feels different from the start, but it does. This pregnancy feels totally different than with BettLynn, and I’m not even talking not being in fear of my life or having to be on the run and eating road kill during part of it, either. It just feels different. Like it’s going to be okay. I haven’t had a single nightmare like I did with her. No feelings of dread at all. Other than how long it takes me to murder my men.”

  Elain wondered if it had anything to do with Baba Yaga not having a hand in things this time but opted to keep her mouth shut on that topic.

  “Then get to the doctor and allay their fears,” Lina said. “Simple.”

  “They are like in commando dad mode. I want to decorate one of the bedrooms for BettLynn and upgrade her into that once the baby’s born and use the nursery for the new baby. I don’t need all new baby furniture. Between all of us, and Mom, I’m happy with recycling hand-me-downs that were probably BettLynn’s to start with.”

  Lina got up, poured herself another cup of coffee, and refreshed everyone else’s. “We leave for Maine on Thursday. Let’s try to get something accomplished in that time. It’d be nice to have a good report for Blackie and the others for a change.”

  “Mai being preggers is good,” Zack teased.

  “You know what I mean.” Lina leaned against the counter and sipped her coffee. “What haven’t we tried yet with these visions?”

  “We haven’t let Mai do oral on the one statue,” Zack darkly joked.

  “No,” Lina and Elain both said.

  “Especially not with her pregnant,” Elain added.

  Mai let out a sigh that spoke volumes about how she was trying to keep a death-grip on her patience. “Guys, I appreciate the concern, but considering w
hat we did with Elain about to pop, I really don’t think what we’re doing is going to harm my baby. I’m more worried about us missing something obvious that might prove key to figuring this shit out.”

  “Zack,” Lina said, “can you read us the bullet points about the vision again?”

  Zack pulled out his iPad and opened the running notes he kept about their current knowledge. “New Madrid and Marston, Missouri. An elderly woman we’re pretty sure is cockatrice uses a cell phone to detonate the bomb. The bank probably has a vault. Is she going to rob the bank, or hide in the vault, or is she clueless about what’s coming?” He looked up and around the table. “Thoughts?”

  “Road trip,” Elain muttered. “To those two towns.” They’d practically memorized the layouts and surrounding area via studying Google Earth. But looking at them via street view and actually standing on the streets was a different thing entirely.

  “Won’t need a road trip,” Mai said with a smile. “Poof trip.”

  “That sounds really bad,” Lina snarked as she retook her seat. Except Elain could hear the exhaustion in the goddess’ tone.

  Zack, however, stared at his iPad for a moment. “You know,” he slowly said. “That’s not a bad idea.”

  “What?” the women asked.

  “Boots on the ground.” He looked at Elain. “Let’s pick out a secluded spot near the start of the vision and you film it and come back.”

  “Okay. Can’t hurt.”

  Zack opened his laptop and pulled up Google Earth. They gathered around him as he looked until he found a park two blocks away from the parking lot behind the bank building.

  “How about there?” he asked, pointing. “You can materialize behind them and remain hidden, then come out.”

  “Okay.” Elain pulled out her cell phone. “Let’s do this.”

  “Right now?” Lina asked.

  “Yeah, right now.” Before anyone could argue with her, Elain closed her eyes and poofed.

  When she opened her eyes, she was, in fact, behind the bushes. They were a little larger than in the Google Earth picture, because it was nearly six months old.

  Glancing around, she knew no one had spotted her. She headed for the parking lot at a brisk walk as she called Zack.