“You may attempt to seduce me,” I offered. “But if I say no, you will stand down.”
“Of course, my fire. We would never force you to endure our attentions. None of us want that,” Darc said gently, automatically reaching for me again.
This time, I took his hand and squeezed it. “Thank you.”
“We'll accept those terms with one addition,” Slate interjected and focused on Verin. “If the love spell is broken and we're both right—the two of you are still in love but Elaria also loves us—then you will join us and share her without reservation.”
“That is already part of the agreement,” Verin said, his voice low and dangerous. “What are you getting at?”
“No, it's not. Elaria asked that we accept you,” Slate reminded him. “What I'm asking is that you acceptusin return. That you join us and commit yourself to our family and do whatever needs to be done to make this a harmonious union.”
“That's exactly what I want,” Verin narrowed his eyes as if he thought Slate might be trying to trick him. “If Elaria loves you again, we won't have to cast spells on her or try to find a way to destroy the RS. It's the least painful solution.”
“Then you have a deal,” Darcraxis spoke to both Verin and me but held his hand out to Verin.
The Blue Dragon and the God of Water and Darkness shook on it.
Chapter Thirty
My parents had filled the men in while Verin and I were in the bedroom speaking to Cerberus so they were caught up on what we knew. Darc suggested that we go straight to Odin but there was some argument over how safe I'd be at Coven Cay. Finally, my father suggested that he call Odin and ask the Leader of Earth—the element, not the planet—to come to us. Everyone agreed on that so my father made the call.
A few minutes after Dad hung up with Odin, a rumbling announced the Earth Witch's arrival. Witches can't create charms that can magically take them to other realms but they can use their element to transport themselves around a planet. So, even though I'd given Odin a shining one traveling stone, he decided to go with earth magic instead. It meant fewer trips since the traveling stone would require that he leave the realm to use it.
The treehouse was warded; only family, those considered family, and those traveling with either of the above could move through the ward. Although Odin was like family, my father—as I mentioned earlier—had recently reevaluated who he trusted implicitly. Cerberus and Nigel made the list but Odin didn't—a fact which he didn't take personally. All of this is to say that Odin had to arrive on the ground. Being an Earth Witch, he probably preferred that.
My dad hurried down to let Odin in and returned with him just a few minutes later. Odin walked into the living room like a warrior—a stride that matched his appearance. If his bulging muscles and impressive height weren't enough to scream badass, his stone-cold features and the leather patch over his right eye did the trick. He had his nut-brown hair tied back at his nape and his left eye surveyed our group as if he might start barking orders at any second. Thankfully, that didn't happen. Instead, he stepped up to my mother and kissed her cheek.
“Elaria Tanager,” Odin grumbled after he greeted Mom. “What have you done now?”
“That is completely unjust,” I protested but I did it casually because I knew he was teasing.
“I hear that not only is Vivian's spell giving you trouble but you're also being hunted by an unknown assassin.Again. Why is it that so many people want to kill you?”
“I'm just lucky I guess.” I smirked.
Odin snorted.
“And my would-be assassin isn't entirely unknown,” I corrected him. “There's at least one witch involved.”
“At least?” Odin lifted the brow over his eye patch.
“We're not sure how many accomplices Scylla had. I don't think we should assume anything at this point.”
“That's probably wise.” Odin nodded. “Your father tells me that he's analyzed the potion Scylla used and determined it to be water in nature.”
“It makes sense that she'd deal with a Water Witch—Scylla being a sea monster and all,” I said.
“True,” he agreed. “Though I'm a little surprised that any of my kind would work with her.”
“Hatred can be a great motivator.” Banning grimaced.
“But Vivian has no cause to hate Elaria,” Odin pointed out. “I don't think she should be on your list of suspects.”
“Vivian's spell goes awry, a monster with no psychic ability knows where El will be—days before Elaria knows, and that same monster uses an illusion spell—one with no signature—to sneak into an underwater court and poison my daughter,” Dad listed the facts.
“She actually used the potion three times,” I added. “Once to assume the identity of one of Verin's advisers, once to take the appearance of one of his soldiers, and once to make that soldier take on her appearance.”
“Elaria, you didn't tell me that,” my father growled.
