Pema's Storm: Rowan Sisters' Trilogy Book 1 (14 page)

“If we kill her then that makes us no better than her. I refuse to be anything like her. Getting her to admit what she did will seal her fate. I want the elders to have everything they need. Cele is manipulative, and will find a way out of this for her daughter. We are going to make sure she can’t. Are you ready to record this, Suvi?” The ferocity of her feelings surprised even her. Her blood hummed with anticipation, she was ready to get this over with. Checking the time on her cell phone, she noted Claire should be there in five minutes.

“I was born ready,” Suvi said with a wink, holding up her phone. Pema loved her sisters as much as she loved Ronan. From the moment they were born, they had shared a connection that rivaled that of the mating bond. There wasn’t anything they wouldn’t do for one another, even murder, if Isis had her way.

“Thanks sis, now you two need to go get behind those trees and shield your presence,” she replied, pointing to some maples a few yards away. “She won’t approach if she sees us together and we need her in the circle. Come out after she activates it.” Pema shooed her sisters away, pushing them in the directions of the trees.

Night owls hooted from their perch and crickets sang while the moon shone brightly. Pema closed her eyes and titled her head back, absorbing power from the silver rays. The crunch of dead leaves brought her head down and her eyes open. Claire was crossing the park and had stopped about thirty feet from her, suspicion written all over her face.

“Where is Ronan? What have you done with him? He asked me to meet him here,” Claire snapped, her anger blazing like a sun in the midnight sky. With her pinched features, she looked more like her mother than ever. The only things missing were Cele’s glasses and tight bun.

What the hell did this witch have to be angry about? She was the one who had tried to poison Pema, and blew up Black Moon in an attempt to kill her. Pema was the one with reasons to be pissed.

“Ronan isn’t coming, I’m the one who texted you. We have things to settle. I know it was you that poisoned my drink and planted the bomb in my car. Did you really think you would get away with that?” She watched the female closely, but Claire betrayed nothing. Pema couldn’t help but wonder what Ronan had seen in her. She scowled all the time and snapped at anyone who tried to engage her in conversation. She had never been pleasant or friendly to talk to, and was extremely self-centered. There was nothing attractive about her.

Claire’s voice shrilled, “You have no proof of any of that. I was nowhere near Black Moon last night. I was with my mother. Have you considered one of the many other people who don’t like you? It may be difficult to narrow the field down. If this is the only reason I am here, then I’m leaving.”

Pema fisted her hands and placed them on her hips to keep from closing the distance and decking Claire. Suddenly, Isis’ idea sounded sublime, but she had to keep it together and coax her into the circle. She wasn’t going to stoop to Claire’s level. She told herself to stick to the plan. “Asking your mother would be a waste of time. She’s always cleaned up your messes. That’s the weakest alibi I’ve ever heard. You can admit what you did because we both know what this is really about. You’ve been jealous of me since I was a baby. That’s pathetic when you think about it. Being jealous of a powerless, little baby. Your attempt to kill me has failed, twice. And I’m not going anywhere, not unless my Fated Mate goes with me,” Pema purred, watching shock and anger cross Claire’s pinched features.

“Yeah, that’s right. Ronan is mine, he belongs to me,” Pema declared, relishing Claire’s outrage.

Claire sputtered and stammered, her face turning red. “The Goddess would never bless, or in your case, curse, a male with you as a mate. You were a wretched, poor baby, and you are a wretched adult. I have never understood why the realm went on and on about how you and your sisters were going to take the throne and reshape magic. It was sickening to watch powerful witches and wizards fawn over a bunch of striplings in rags,” she spat.

Pema was momentarily stunned silent. It was only two years ago that she had reached maturity and left her underprivileged stripling years behind. She remembered feeling inferior, and hated the cloud that being poor had cast over her. Claire was born with a silver spoon in her mouth, and had no idea what it meant to work for what you had.

Pema and her sisters had been forced to find work in the human sector to have anything. They had worked triple time to open their shop, and this witch had taken enough from them.

“That must have been a hard pill to swallow, being overshadowed by us peons when you were being groomed to take over. You don’t have enough talent to rule, and my guess is that your mother knows that. You were jealous that my sisters and I rocked the rags and had the guys flocking to us regardless of what we wore,” Pema laughed, taunting her to lure her closer to the circle.

Claire screamed and took a few steps forward before she regained control. Dammit, she was almost in place. Pema would need to work harder to bait her.

“You may have pretty clothes and a fancy car now, but no matter how much perfume you spray on a pile of shit, it’s still just a pile of shit,” Claire retorted.

Pema ignored her words. “You are a bold-faced liar. I have many things you want, talent, power, the respect of the realm, and beauty. Oh, and let’s not forget…Ronan. That is why you came here, after all.” Pema watched Claire’s fury darken her eyes and she took another step forward. She was almost to the edge of the circle. “It must be eating you alive to know that he belongs to me. He will share my bed and my life. You will never have him again. And, your attempts on my life were laughable. You couldn’t even kill me. Surely, you can do better than that.”

Claire screamed out obscenities and charged. “My attempts aren’t laughable. I almost had you. If Jace hadn’t been there that night, you’d be dead. I have no idea how you survived the blast, but you won’t survive this time!”

Pema put her hand on her wand at the small of her back and stood her ground. The enraged female crossed into their circle, activating the spell with a brilliant flash. She continued forward, lost to her anger and bounced off the outer edge, inches from Pema.

Isis and Suvi came out from their hiding spots with Suvi holding her cell phone. The three of them pulled their wands out and entered the circle. Claire’s eyes widened at the sight. They formed a V with Pema at the head of the formation, closest to Claire who had whipped out her wand, pointing it at them.

“Stay back. Get away from me!” Claire shrilled.

Pema eyed her sisters before turning back to see that Claire’s eyes had taken on a wild look. The witch’s fear was palpable. She was unfairly out-gunned and didn’t stand a chance against the three of them. Pema felt bad for her, but brushed her empathy aside. The female had tried to kill her and didn’t deserve her consideration.

Still, she wasn’t one to take unfair advantage. That was something Claire would do. “This is my fight. Don’t engage,” Pema told her sisters and re-focused on Claire. “It’s just you and me. Let’s see who is more powerful, shall we?”

Claire squared her shoulders and met Pema’s determined gaze. “This’ll be easy. I’m far more powerful.” Claire pointed her wand and muttered a spell before Pema could respond. Silver sparks shot from the wand and flew towards Pema’s chest. Pema fell to the ground, her heart skipped several beats as the charge went through her and she gritted her teeth against the pain. Her hand wavered, but she was able to keep her wand trained on Claire. She uttered a counter spell that sailed past Claire’s shoulder.

When Claire ducked, Pema jumped up and the two of them began circling each other. Isis and Suvi followed behind Pema. When Claire tripped over a twig, Pema cast a spell. The blue light hit Claire high on her shoulder, making her cry out.

“Is that all you’ve got? A kitten hits harder,” Claire taunted as she lobbed an amethyst sphere of energy at Pema. It hit her in the side, stealing her breath. Panting, Pema tossed another spell that landed on Claire’s thigh. They went round and round lobbing spells back and forth. Some hit their mark, causing sharp pain, while others hit the ground, causing the earth to shake.

Pema was tiring, and needed to be recharged. She reached back to Suvi as Isis’ hand was on her shoulder the moment she twined fingers with Suvi, linking the three of them. A familiar hum of power arched through them and a storm brewed in the sky above. The winds picked up and debris swirled all around them.

Claire’s eyes flared with panic, but she wasn’t giving up, it seemed. The fever never left her midnight orbs. “You may be his mate, but that won’t mean anything after I make him love me. And, trust me, he always made love to me. He didn’t just stand there and fuck me like an animal!”

Oh no she didn’t
, Pema thought as her anger instantly spiraled out of her control. She pulled her hands free and lifted her wand to Claire. She felt Suvi and Isis reach out to her, but she was tired of this witch. Ominous clouds obscured the moon and lighting struck the ground outside their circle, illuminating the area. Sheets of rain began pouring from the sky as thunder rolled, echoing the storm within Pema. “
Dichuimhneatum,
” Pema roared above the tempest, releasing all of her fury.

Claire stiffened and her eyes rolled back in her head before her body crumpled to the ground. Pema was panting and sweat beaded her brow, despite being drenched from the rain. She approached the unconscious female and prodded her with a foot. Claire didn’t respond. Instead, her body began convulsing and her arms drew up to her chest as lightning rained around them. Pema glanced back at her sisters in panic. What the hell had she done?

Tears brimmed Ronan’s eyes as Hayden muttered the words of his mating ceremony to Pema, bonding Ronan and Pema for eternity. It had been a long week since the night Pema had attacked Claire. He was still angry that Pema had gone behind his back and confronted Claire, but despite this, he was proud of her. His mate acted with courage and had proved her power.

He knew Cele wanted revenge for Pema obliterating Claire’s mind. Pema hadn’t intended it, but she had rendered Claire brain-dead. They would deal with Cele together when she decided to seek retribution. That was one promise he squeezed out of his mate before they agreed on a date for their ceremony.

Shaking those troubling thoughts aside, he gazed at Pema and thanked the Goddess for such a priceless gift. He was the luckiest male in the Tehrex Realm. His mate never ceased to amaze him. In a matter of days, she and her sisters had gotten Black Moon up and running again
and
planned their mating.

A hot wash of pain flared in his mate mark, making him glad the ceremony was almost done. The thought had his bear anxious to claim every inch of his mate. Ronan’s blood heated at the lascivious bent of his thoughts, knowing what he would do soon. He took a deep, calming breath that was anything but, as he caught the scent of his little witch’s arousal.

His resulting growl was cut off by Hayden’s deep voice. “I bless this mating under the Sun and the Moon. This circle of love and honour is open and never broken, so may it be.” Hayden raised their clasped hands to their group of friends and family. Enveloping warmth flooded Ronan at the pronouncement.

*****

Pema stood in awe as the final words of her mating were spoken. A vibration left the mating stone and traveled from her hand and down her arm. She felt both souls leave her body and enter the stone. She looked up to their clasped hands and saw a golden light flash between their fingers. Her skin tingled with the invigorating magic. She automatically absorbed some of that magic, infusing it with her own. The connection she felt to Ronan solidified into thick golden bands joining them.

She rubbed the warmth in her chest and glanced down. It was like a cocoon of chain mail surrounded her, bringing with it a sense of peace and fulfillment.

In a flash of brilliance, their combined souls flowed back into her body, causing her to gasp. Her eyes never left Ronan’s and she saw her bliss and amazement mirrored back at her. She felt the bond between them sink anchors into her completed soul.

To say she felt whole underscored the enormity of what she experienced, and it warmed her heart to see that Ronan felt the same. She explored her soul and was awed to discover that it had been so entwined with Ronan’s during the mating that a part of both resided within her. She knew everything he felt and thought. It was overwhelming, but truly remarkable, nonetheless.

Her heart raced as she felt the magic of their mating cement. The lights continued to flare through their joined hands, creating a brilliant strobe effect. The vibration intensified and was followed by a sharp pain in her palm. What was with the pain involved in a mating? First, the unrelenting pain in her mate mark, and now this. She was more than ready for the pleasure.

Having the ability to sense her discomfort, Ronan cupped her cheek and lowered his lips to hers, kissing her deeply. The pain, while intense, faded to the background as arousal quickly built to crowd it out. He poured all his love and desire into his kiss, and long moments later, they separated to loud whoops and hollers.