Marked By Magic by Christa Wick

Chapter Eight

Esme stoodin front of the altar on shaky legs, her hands resting on the stone surface and her elbows locked for support. Despite the room's chill, the stone was as warm as if it was an extension of the body resting on top of it.

At her request, a sheet had been placed over the creature, covering all but what resembled a head. She had intended to find the fabric and do it herself, but pandemonium had erupted before she even reached the room's threshold. The creature began vibrating whenever Esme left its side. The greater the distance, the more violent the vibration.

Howls would simultaneously erupt around the building at the same time. More than the sound of it reached her. She could hear inside the wolves when it happened. Denver's thoughts rang like a massive bell, but, if she focused, she could hear all the smaller bells, too.

The vibrations incapacitated all but two of the wolves. Denver had clawed his way to the chamber, his body stuck in a shifting loop—one hand normal but for the hair that suddenly sprouted along it, the other literally a claw but hairless and tanned. Iris had followed after him, only her eyes and nails changed, but the rest of her body weakened to the point of collapse.

The response of the latents had been equally disturbing. The women had turned catatonic but for the screams that left them, the pitch perfectly matching that of the vibration within the creature.

Esme had felt pain at the sound, but only the sympathetic, gut-wrenching hurt a mother might feel to hear and witness her child's injury.

So, for now, Esme remained by the thing's side. A chair and cot had been brought into the room, plus a tall, folding screen with a five-gallon bucket to relieve herself. Just thinking about someone emptying the makeshift commode on her behalf made Esme blush.

"Baby?"

Denver had entered the room while her mind roamed in a dozen different directions. Carrying a second chair with him, he placed it a few feet from the altar, then moved Esme's chair by it. Returning to her side, his lips parted as if to speak, then closed. He took her by the shoulders instead and gently guided her to the chair.

He broke contact long enough to sit, then reached forward and gently folded his hands around her.

"You sent for Oscar," she said.

He nodded, a flash of guilt slightly altering the line of his mouth and the curve of his ginger-blond brows. Esme had strongly urged him against sending for the boy, but had known when he left the chamber earlier that his mind was set. She believed the visit could only bring the cub more trauma. If nothing else, he would be able to smell that Quentin had once occupied the space.

Even worse, he might have spent time at the run-down estate.

"Is that all you wanted to tell me?" she asked.

He didn't answer, just brought her hands to his mouth, kissed them, then continued to hold them captive until her flesh grew numb and she withdrew to stand alongside the altar again.

"I'll bring you food and—"

"Iris is doing that now," she interrupted, a vision of the witch-wolf carrying a tray down the rough stairs forming in her mind.

His forehead wrinkled. When she didn't explain, he went to the door and listened intently, his chin up and his nostrils flared at the same time. With the stale air of the underground rooms, more than a minute passed before he either heard or smelled Iris.

Esme wanted to tell him that she could feel where every one of the mission's wolves and latents were at that moment, but he wasn't ready for the news.

Hell, she wasn't ready for the news.

"Can you bring me some maps and a table?"

Denver straightened at the request, his mood visibly lifting at the opportunity to do something for his mate.

"Right away," he answered, delaying only long enough to kiss her cheek, one of his strong hands braced against her back and the other lightly above her breasts, his palm open and warm as he touched her.

He didn't seem to notice the double beat that played inside her chest—or maybe she was only imagining that her heart's rhythm had drastically changed since she first entered the room.

Alone for a brief second before Iris entered with the food tray, Esme rested her hand on her creature's chest. A faint, erratic thump greeted her. Sliding down to the abdomen, a second beat crowded out the first, this one like a stop watch steadily ticking every half-second.

"Are you okay?" Iris asked, entering with both food and a fresh pitcher of water.

Esme shook her head, staring at the shape on the altar.

"One of them must die for the other to live."

"What about you?" Iris asked, placing the tray on one chair and directing Esme to the other. "It is obviously tuned to your presence. If it—"

"How long are you going to hide the fact you're pregnant?" Esme asked, not wanting to contemplate the question-shaped grenade that Iris was about to lob at her.

The woman's expression broadened, the black of her pupils expanding until they nearly eclipsed the surrounding purple of her gaze.

"I thought I had a strong spell in place," she huffed. "Who else can tell?"

Esme inclined her head toward the creature. "Being in her…in its presence has enhanced my powers. I see two totems now when I look at you. Did you spell yourself before Cade sniffed the cub out?"

A smile whipped across Iris's face. "He scented the change before I realized. I just don't want people getting crazy around me, especially when they're supposed to be dodging bullets or chasing bad guys."

"Well, congratulations," Esme said, mustering up a wan smile. "And I'll keep the secret. But, once it's out, we're having a huge baby shower."

Reaching out to pat Iris's hand, she paused and cocked her head.

"You're seeing things?"

Esme answered with a slight nod as she remained otherwise focused on the image in front of her.

"Future things?"

"No," she answered, her attention returning to Iris. "Right now, it's just Denver coming down the stairs with Cade. They're bringing a table and cot, some blankets, and the maps I asked for."

One hand danced in frustration. "Not really a useful talent to have acquired. Maybe it will be after I learn to focus it. Navarro is bringing the cryptex to me. I hope I can finally unlock the rest of it."

Surprise ghosted Iris's face. Taking Esme at her word, there were only a few members of the clan who knew the cryptex existed. The jewel encrusted tube could be twisted in a number of ways, many of them mechanically impossible based on the other twists that were possible. The grooves just appeared and disappeared, responding to the magic of the person trying to puzzle it out.

Esme had allowed Iris her own turn at deciphering its mysteries. And Lana had been slowly making her way through the device. But only Esme could claim true progress despite her knowledge being incomplete. It seemed some parts would only reveal their secrets to the All-Mother—someone the clan had lost, and been lost without, over a decade earlier.

"How is he managing to bring it?" Iris asked. Knowledge of the cryptex was secret. Esme had revealed it to her mate, Lana and Seth, and now Iris and Cade.

"Carefully," Esme said, her laugh shot through with exhaustion. "Lana retrieved the lockbox and gave it to Navarro. He doesn't have a clue what's inside, only that he'll lose half his hide if something happens to it."

Iris nodded, then tilted her head to the side. She could finally sense her mate and the clan leader at his side. She stood and opened the door, standing there until she saw them round the corner.

Each man had tried to carry too much. She relieved Denver of the maps and blank notepads, then held the door wide so they could enter the room.

When everything was set up, she kissed the witch's cheek, then left with Cade to allow the couple what privacy was to be had stuck in the presence of the creature on the altar.