Suvi's Revenge: Rowan Sisters' Trilogy Book 3 (7 page)

Suvi was overwhelmed with relief and little of what Zander said after that registered. Nothing else mattered once she heard that Caine was going to live. For the first time since she had met her mate, she fully relaxed. They weren’t out of danger yet, but that didn’t stop the unadulterated joy that exploded through her as she realized they were going to be mated. But, first things first. Their birthday party, and for her, a new pair of shoes, the higher the better.

CHAPTER SEVEN

“Where do you want this?” Suvi turned at the sound of a familiar voice. The blonde witch had her hands full with a platter of finger sandwiches.

“Courtney, thank the Goddess you’re here. Give me a minute and I’ll get the food table in place,” Suvi replied. She’d been running around like crazy and was glad to see it all coming together. She glanced at the sky and saw that the sun hadn’t quite set. She had never been more anxious for nighttime to arrive. She hadn’t given the bright orb a second thought until she met her vampire mate who could die by that light.

“No problem. Do you need help with that?”

“Nah, I’ve got it,” she replied, pointing her wand at a stack of folding tables next to the deck. “A
bhogadh
.” The moment the spell left her lips, two of the tables lifted into the air and sailed overhead to her side. She waved her hand and they landed at her feet.

“That is so cool, Aunt Suvi. I love watching you do magic. Dad was right. All magic isn’t evil,” Donovan muttered as he walked over and stood next to her.

The young male had been playing with one of the sprites nearby and came closer when she cast the spell. They had been careful not to perform magic around him since his ordeal. Everyone had been concerned that seeing it would cause him trauma. She masked the rage that always surfaced when she thought about the horrendous torture he had been through at the hands of Cele.

She turned to him and ruffled his brown curls. “In our world, magic is life and light and it’s a very good thing. Now, run and grab me those silver tablecloths from the kitchen.”

“Okay,” he called out as he took off running.

She looked over and noticed that Isis had been watching them. Her sister gave her a smile and continued decorating. Suvi unfolded the tables and set them up while she contemplated how much the addition of a stripling had changed the way they celebrated. Before, their parties revolved around general debauchery, and she had no doubt that there would be plenty of that tonight, but that would occur behind closed doors. There was a different focus for her and her sisters now.

“You can put the food down here,” she instructed Courtney.

“He’s an adorable stripling and clearly loves his Auntie,” Courtney observed after she had placed her burden down.

“Yes he is and don’t tell Pema, but I’m his favorite. It was all those hours playing XBox with him,” she laughed.

“That’ll do it. I’ll be back with the rest.” Courtney turned and headed back to her van for the rest of the food and Suvi continued with her task.

She was setting up chairs when Donovan came running. “Here you go,” he said handing her the silver fabric. “Can you inflate these now? I want to show them to Fen. She’s never seen one,” he explained, bouncing up and down with excitement, thrusting a bag of balloons into her hand. Donovan’s intrusion caused several chairs to crash to the cement and fall into the pool.

“Oops,” he laughed. His laugh was carefree and infectious and Suvi was helpless but to laugh with him.

Still laughing, Suvi looked over at the sprite who was wearing pale-pink marshmallow flowers strung together to make an exquisite dress that offset her fiery-orange butterfly wings for the party. Fen had been one of the first sprites to join their garden. When she had crashed into their lavender bush, she had immediately lit a fire in Suvi’s heart. The poor female had been attacked by an Unseelie creature she had called a soul-sucker. Suvi and her sisters had offered her sanctuary and she’d been there ever since. She and Donovan had gone through similar experiences and it wasn’t surprising that they had become fast friends.

Fen used to live in reed marshes and lonely fenland and had re-created that in a hidden corner of their property that she’d claimed as her own. Fen could only be seen when the first leaves fell from the trees unless she decided to reveal herself. It was a testament to her affection for them that she was showing herself this night when the confirmed guest list had topped one hundred a few hours ago.

“I will blow them up after you help me put these tablecloths on the tables so that Courtney can do her thing with the food,” Suvi offered.

“Awesome, c’mon.” He grabbed Suvi’s hand and dragged her back to the tables.

“Take this end,” she told Donovan as she handed him two corners of the silver fabric and they quickly covered both tables.

“Okay, now blow them up. C’mon Fen, come closer,” Donovan called out to his tiny friend. The excitement danced in his blue eyes as she opened the bag and pulled out a red latex balloon. The sprite landed on his shoulder and watched her with equal enthusiasm.

“
Seid
,” she chanted and the red balloon inflated and floated next to her head. Donovan was jumping up and down and snatched the balloon, waving it at the sprite. “Careful or you’ll pop it. If that happens so close to Fen it’d be really loud for her sensitive ears. Suvi inflated several more balloons and muttered an impervious spell so they could play with them freely. Laughing at their antics, she continued to fill each and every balloon until she was completely surrounded by the colorful decorations.

All of the balloons were inflated within minutes and were seemingly everywhere. This wasn’t going to work. They’d never had so many at previous parties so she had to stand back and scope the area. An idea came to her and she cast a barrier five feet above the tree-line and sent the balloons to hover just beneath it. Satisfied, she turned back to find Caine standing behind her.

“Oh, when did you get out here?”

“A few minutes ago. You are stunning when you do magic. And, I can see that you thrive on celebrations,” he replied, pulling her into his arms.

He lowered his head to hers and kissed her tenderly. She melted against his body and wrapped her arms around his neck. Just as things were about to get interesting, a throat clearing nearby broke them apart. She looked over her shoulder at Isis.

“Caine can help finish setting up the tables, but you need to get ready now or you will miss the party. People will be arriving in less than an hour. Besides, I have to show you what Braeden gave me,” Isis said, pulling her along behind her.

Caine shrugged his shoulders, smiling at her retreating form. “See you soon, love.”

She blew him kisses before she disappeared through their back door. Once inside the house, Isis let go of her hand and they walked side by side. “What did he get that has you so eager to show me?” Suvi asked, caught up in her sister’s giddiness. Love really did make people act differently. Isis wasn’t normally so happy-go-lucky and it made Suvi’s heart sing. She still wouldn’t want to piss Isis off, her temper was still below the surface…the surface just looked different.

“He made me this,” Isis said, doing her best Vanna White imitation, show-casing what was hanging on the wall above her bed. Suvi gasped as she quickly entered the room and crossed to the metal sculpture. It was two, large, silver, intertwining hearts. They weren’t perfect hearts by any means, but more abstract in nature and beautiful because of it.

“That is gorgeous. I love it. Your mate is extremely talented. I should ask him to make a mushroom sculpture for the sprites in the backyard, one big enough for Donovan to play on too.”

“He is the best,” Isis preened. “You can talk to him about it later. Go get ready.” She pushed her in the direction of her room and turned back down the stairs.

“You aren’t actually wearing those shoes tonight are you?” she called over her shoulder. They were three-inch, red heels that had no sparkle or design. Shoes, in Suvi’s opinion, should be at least six inches high and include at least two different fabrics or leathers, straps and bling.

“Sure am,” Isis retorted before closing her bedroom door.

Suvi shook her head and entered her bedroom, crossing to her closet, glad that she had planned her outfit ahead of time. She couldn’t show up downstairs without the perfect shoes. The plastic bin sat on her top shelf, waiting to be opened. She picked it up and lifted the lid. What was it about a new pair of shoes? Her sisters thought her crazy, but for Suvi they were exhilarating.

The right shoes could make you look like a million bucks while the wrong ones could have the Fashion Police showcasing you on TRex, the social media network for the Tehrex Realm. She shuddered at the thought and hoped that Isis didn’t end up on the cover next week.

She held one eight-inch stiletto to the light. The snake skin and black patent leather straps had drawn her to the shoes, but it was the hot-pink platform at the ball of the foot that really set them apart. She grabbed her black mini dress and went back into her room. She quickly stripped down and slipped on the sexy, little number. It was simple in the front with spaghetti straps and a deep V at the bust. The crisscrossing straps that made up the back of the dress showed off her pale skin.

Smoothing the fabric into place, she contemplated her hair. Finally, she settled on pulling her hair into a high ponytail. She lined her brown eyes in coal and added shimmery eyeshadow. A quick application of lip gloss and she was donning her shoes. She stood up and crossed to her full-length mirror and admired her image.

She turned her ankle, glancing at her mate mark. The crescent moon tipped in blood had been burning since they’d had sex and that pain had only worsened, but, the shoes made the brand look incredible, she surmised. She didn’t understand why people would complain about wearing heels. For her, they were the most natural thing in the world. She took one last look in the mirror and realized she was missing something. The final touch to any outfit was always the earrings. She put on her favorite large silver hoop earrings and headed out the door.

The noise from the party increased as she descended the stairs. Butterflies fluttered in her stomach. This was the first party she’d attend with her mate. She was no longer a single witch, ready to prowl the night. A smile spread across her face as she thought about how she was so much better…she was mated.

She stopped at the back door and glanced around, grateful that her sisters had added the finishing touches. Isis had dragged her away before she’d cast the lights, but they had done it for her. Multi-colored orbs floated amongst the balloons giving the area its illumination. It was too much color in her opinion and she muttered a spell to switch all the lights to clear. She observed her work and nodded. Much better, now only the balloons provided the color.

She strode out and her eyes immediately sought out Caine. She was glad to see the Dark Warriors in attendance as she noticed Santiago and Orlando by the food table talking to a couple of Valkyries. They were brave males. Valkyries were lethal assassins. Gerrick was scowling at the pair a few feet away, obviously not happy to be there. He wasn’t one to wear a smile on his face, but he wasn’t typically pissed off and she wondered what was going on with him. Jace and Cailyn were tossing a ball to Donovan who was in the water and Zander and Elsie were nearby watching the interaction. Unless she was mistaken, those were looks of yearning in Elsie’s eyes. Suvi smiled at the thought of babies taking over Zeum.

She quickly scanned through dozens of other people and found Caine standing next to Nate, deep in conversation. She noticed that Caine had changed into black dress pants and a green silk button down that matched his eyes perfectly. His lean muscled body and the way his head swiveled to follow her movements caught her breath and once again reminded her of a black panther. His glowing gaze held an intensity that spoke of his predatory nature. She shuddered as she recalled the feel of his fangs sinking into her breast. Her nipples hardened at the thought and she flushed with arousal. A magnetic pull had her sauntering in his direction. There were no words spoken between them but she knew what he wanted. She wanted it too, right now, if she had her way.

“I haven’t gotten used to the way your eyes glow when you are turned on. Dragons’ eyes have a flame that burns in the center. Does this only happen with your mate or does it happen with any female?” Nate asked, breaking the moment.

“With anyone,” Suvi responded, irritated at the interruption.

“Thank the Gods. I was worried for a minute. This female named Paula had glowing eyes the entire time she was talking to me and she is annoying as shit. All I could think was if your Goddess thought to make her my mate, I was slitting my throat. No way in hell was I going to spend five minutes with her, much less eternity.”

“How the hell did Plain Paula get in? I specifically left her off the invite. I swear one day I’m going to turn her into a toad,” Suvi vowed, trying to think of a way to get rid of the bothersome female before she started running of the guests.

Caine picked up her hand and kissed her knuckles, laughter dancing in his eyes. “My ferocious little mate. Forget about her, let’s dance. It was good to talk to you, Nate. Someday, I will take you up on your offer and visit Khoth to see your purple moon.”

“Oooo, your realm has a purple moon? I wonder if that would impact our powers differently,” Suvi postulated, excited by the prospect of visiting other realms and experimenting.