Lacy Seeing Double (13 page)

Oliver stood and said, “By who?”

“We don"t know, but if I met him again I would be able to identify his power. He was a shifter, a wolf. That is all we know for sure. And he wanted Lacy, for what we are not sure, but it felt personal.” Timothy said.

Oliver frowned and then sat back down and nodded. The rest of the meeting was dedicated to making plans for who was going to go where. They pulled out a map and tried to see the best place for Sabrina to be hiding. They were pretty confident she was in a city that was closer. She would have to be to hold a spell for that long. It would take a lot of concentration. They also assumed the rest of the coven would be with her. She would need to take breaks, and she would allow the coven to help her. Lacy wondered if they could find a time when they switched people, if it was enough for them to weaken the spell.

Adele and Lacy discussed the possibilities and soon the rest of the room had been assigned jobs and were in small groups planning what they were going to do. Oliver approached Lacy and Adele, bowed his head in respect, and then said, “Forgive me for interrupting. Lacy, it had to be said. You are one of the Chosen and must be protected at all costs. I think you should wait here with guards while we free the New Council.” Lacy frowned and looked at her mother who was grinning. She knew what was coming.

“Sir, I appreciate your offer but that is not my place. I don"t know what the rest of the Chosen do, but I will not sit and be guarded while my parents and mates are out defending me. I can take care of myself.” She growled and sent a burst of magic in his direction.

Oliver"s eyes widened and then he bowed again. “I assumed wrong and I apologize.

Wow, you pack quite a punch there, little one.”

Adele laughed and hugged her daughter. “She sure does. I think she will make a perfect addition to the Council, don"t you?”

Oliver laughed and then said, “Oh yes, wait till she gets together with Cami and the rest of the females, and they are a force to be reckoned with as it is. With each female that joins them, they become more and more powerful.”

Lacy nodded and let her hackles down; she would never let her family fight without her.

It was not even a possibility. She looked at her mates who were talking to the men from the Denver Pack. Apparently, they knew a few of them, and were trying to get an update about what was going on.

Chapter 16

Quin and Jaden sat in the meeting room with the Council members discussing what their plan of action was going to be. Quin knew they could not remain trapped for much longer in the compound. People were becoming restless and frightened. Worried they were never going to get out.

Yesterday they held a Pack meeting and discussed the feelings of all the members. The consensus had been that they were starting to doubt the Chosen one"s power. That was not acceptable. Quin had not wanted to be harsh with the Pack, but he exerted his strength to let them know he remained the Alpha of the Pack.

Devon and Darien were planning an attempt to break out of the compound. They discovered the spell weakened at times. The cloud had shown signs of clearing a few times a day. They thought maybe a few of the Enforcers could get out and find whoever was holding them here.

Cami started hitting him in the shoulder. “What, baby?” He said gruffly and turned to his mate. She had been pissed last night at the Pack. They questioned his ability to lead and she had stood up for him. So much so at one point Tey and Jaden had to pick her up and remove her from the meeting. Cloe had been just as pissed and kept asking for her weapon. The pregnancy hormones were running rampant. Ruby had eaten all the jalapenos in the house and demanded that her mates go and ask all the other Pack members if they had any.

“Look.” She whispered excitedly and pointed to Blaine who was staring off into space.

His mates were holding his hands and whispering softly to him. He was having a vision.

Thank the Gods; maybe they would catch a break.

They all sat silently and waited for Blaine to come out of his trance. It may have only been moments but it felt like a lifetime to them. They had been waiting for this. Blaine shook his head as if to clear it and then he leaned against his mates. They continued whispering for a few minutes before finally addressing the table.

“My brothers have returned. It"s a little hazy what they vision showed, but they brought a lot of people with them. Including the witches. They are planning on attacking in the morning. We have to be ready to help.” Blaine said quickly.

Quin nodded and looked at Devon. “Well?”

“No problem, my men are bored. They will be ready.” Devon said and stood up. He kissed his mates and then left the room. Cloe stood and followed with her mate"s right behind her.

Reggie stood and said, “Fanfuckingtastic. We need more jalapenos.” Ruby slapped him upside the head and laughed while Levi stood and said, “I will get the people gathered in the main house. No one will be outside when this happens. The rest of them quickly made plans on what they were assigned to do and the room emptied except for everyone but Quin and Sid.

“So, when are we gonna tell them?” Quin said casually.

“I have to talk to Casey and Devon first. It has not been the right time. When this is over and we are safe, I will talk to them. Then I will talk to my brothers. They are all aware that we are going to have to explain to the Council. I"m just worried about my mates. I never meant to hide this from them, my brothers and I never knew. We just got the letter from my aunt. I swear I would have told them otherwise.” Sid said quietly.

“They will understand. I wish we would have known this a long time ago though. It would have made at least finding one of the Chosen easy.” Quin said quietly. “Even if she is human.”

Chapter 17

Lacy was ready. Her mates and she had taken a nap and rejuvenated themselves. They sat in the room and waited for her parents to come and get them. Before they left the meeting earlier, a group of shifters was sent on a scouting mission. When they returned it had been with some good news. They had found where the Rogues were basing themselves out of. But they couldn"t tell if the witch was there.

Lacy and her mother planned on driving separately from her father. He was going in first to see if the Sabrina was there, he could handle her, at least for a while. Enough time so Lacy and Adele could get there. They were worried though the witch was not at the farmhouse they found. If she wasn"t, she could get a warning call. Lacy and her mother were going to stay back in case they needed to use a finding spell quickly. They had thought about trying it already but it would have alerted Sabrina, she would have felt the spell.

Shawn and Sevi were going in with the other shifters to raid the farm house. They insisted on going because they knew the area. Shawn and Sevi were going to take the shifters in the back way. Hopefully the Rogues did not have a guard on the back road.

“I wish we were going together.” She whispered and held onto their hands tightly.

“Sweetheart, we will be ok. You and your mother will have ten men with you to protect you. I don"t want you thinking about taking any chances.” Shawn said and kissed her forehead.

“Yeah, if we find out you put yourself in danger, your pretty ass will be sore for a week,” Sevi said sternly.

“Seriously? You are threatening to spank me? Now?” She laughed.

“Yep, if it will make you remember to be careful.” Shawn said just as someone knocked on the door.

Her parents stood at the door with serious expressions on their faces. Sevi had answered the door and stepped back frowning. Adele and Timothy walked into the room, took their daughter in their arms, and held her tightly. Her mates were confused about what was going on. They waited for a few moments before stepping closer. They wanted to find out what happened.

“Adele?” Sevi said softly.

“Oh, sorry Sevi, Shawn, we were caught up for a moment. Lacy, we came to tell you something. I am so sorry to have to tell you that your store was burned down to the ground last night. The coven called, nothing was saved. We are so sorry.” Adele said.

Lacy sat back on the bed stunned. Her store, her pride, and joy, gone? She took a deep breath and then looked at her parents and then her mates. Tears formed in her eyes and she refused to let them fall. She had to be strong, today was the day she would help take these bastards down. Then she would worry about her store.

“When do we leave?” She said with determination.

Her father smiled sadly and then said, “A few minutes. Honey, we know how much the store meant to you.”

“Yes, it did. However, I am starting a new chapter in my life. The old one is truly closed.

We will take care of Sabrina today and worry about the rest later. It looks like I have a lot of shopping to do though. Seems they wanted to make sure that they destroyed everything I own.” She said and sniffed before standing and shaking her head. Willing the thoughts to leave. She had to focus. Lacy could not be distracted today.

Her mates came, gave her a quick hug, kiss, and then whispered, “Don"t worry, honey, it will be fun replacing all of you underwear.” Sevi said.

She blushed and laughed. Leave it to Sevi to lighten the mood. She hugged them again and then turned to her parents. She was ready, she only hoped that they all returned safe after this was all over.

The group made their way down to the lobby of the hotel where everyone was preparing to leave. Oliver was standing with a few new men and Lacy and her parents walked over. Oliver introduced the men and then said, “Braden and Joshua were detained.

Both of them are trying to meet us. Hopefully they will make it in time. They both found out more information.”

Timothy nodded and then stepped back. Lacy and her mates were the ones who would be in charge. They were part of the New Council. It was hard for her parents to allow their daughter to go into harm"s way. But it was her destiny.

Lacy stepped forward and said loudly, “As we talked about last night. My mother and I will remain a few miles behind to make sure that none of the witches are hiding. We have radios to keep in contact. When we take down the spell, be ready to defend the Pack compound. Sevi and Shawn will alert their brother and the rest of the Council once we can get in.”

Everyone grumbled and agreed. She turned to her mates again and pulled them off to the side. “I swear to you that if you get even a scratch on either of you, I will be pissed.”

“Same goes for you, little one. Remember what we said, your ass will be red if you get hurt.” Shawn said and kissed her soundly. Once he released her, Sevi took his place.

“We love you.” He whispered before kissing her.

“I love you both too. Come back to me.” She said and touched both of their faces and then turned to her parents who were also saying goodbye.

The men that were going to be with them were standing off to the side. Lacy had met them last night and she was confident they would protect her mother and her. She nodded at the leader and then took her mother"s hand and walked out into the cool morning air.

They were going to a small town that was only five miles away from Milliken. There was a large subdivision that they thought that Sabrina would be hiding in if she wasn"t in the farm house. It only took fifteen minutes to get into place, but they were going to have to wait a little longer before the men were all in place.

They listened to people talking on the handsets. She began to get worried when she did not hear her mates. When she finally heard Sevi say they were in place, she let go of the breath that she was holding. Her mother stiffened when she heard her father begin talking.

“The spell is very strong. When I begin the counter spell, there could be fall out. You need to be careful not to get caught in the spell as it dissipates. I have seen it cause irreparable damage to people when dealing with a spell this large.” Her father said.

“I should have gone with him.” Her mother muttered and then she took Lacy"s hand.

“No, we are needed here. If she is hiding away from the Rogues, we will catch her.” Lacy said and then listened once again as the chatter on the radios lessened as the time came for her father to do his job.

The farm house was about six miles from where they were. The Enforcer who was driving them had positioned them at the entrance of the neighborhood closest to the farm house. Sabrina would have to be here. Any farther and her powers would not work with that large of a spell.

They felt the hairs on their arms begin to tingle and Lacy knew her father had begun. It would not be much longer for him to punch a hole in the spell and then things would move quickly.

***

Sevi and Shawn followed Timothy as he ran through the trees surrounding the house.

They were going to try to get as close as they could, they could feel the power coming from the house.

Timothy paused and waited. He closed his eyes and then whispered, “Shit. I don"t think she"s here. There are at least two witches holding the spell in place. They are not the ones who cast it though.”

“Should we warn Lacy?” Shawn whispered and looked around; making sure that no one noticed them. The rest of the people were surrounding the house and the Pack compound, looking for Rogues who were guarding. They knew that they were there; they just had to find them.

Slowly, Timothy crept forward until he was as close as he would be able to get. If they exposed themselves too much, they could alert them to their plan. They called their position across the radio and then waited for everyone to check in and say they were in place.

Finally, Timothy stepped forward and raised his hands. Shaw and Sevi flanked him so they could protect him should someone try to come and stop them. They felt the power beginning to come off of Timothy and stood as close as they could to him without being sucked into the spell he was weaving.

“Slowly spirits I ask of you, take the spell I must undo. Protect the ones who are inside, from the spell used to hide. Guide me so I find the cause, of the cloud we try to pause, from spreading to the Chosen ones, before the harm can"t be undone.” Timothy said.