The grim but wry thought told him the steam pressure was truly falling off now. He let the power ebb accordingly. It was then he realized he wasn’t alone.

It wasn’t a surprise. He hadn’t expected he would be for long, because there were forces in the universe that went on full alert when power like that was exercised, even in a chaotically controlled way as he’d just done it.

All the angels he’d met in his life had been male, and warriors. He didn’t know if they were all like that, or those were just the kind his work involved. When he lifted his head, he saw a phalanx of about a dozen of them hovering in a semicircle above the dying funnel of his power, the shimmer around its lingering presence suggesting they’d added some reinforcement to containing it.

Crap. He dropped to a knee in automatic respect, bowing his head. “My apologies, my lords. Didn’t mean to set off the fire alarms.”

He knew the guy in front. Silver-white wings, solid dark eyes and dark hair, praises to the Goddess etched on his greaves and wrist guards. Derek suspected he was pretty high up in the echelon, a commander. At his raised brow, a silent request for more information, Derek straightened. He wasn’t a diplomat, and didn’t see the need to complicate it anyhow. “Woman trouble.”

A slight quirk moved that firm mouth, and the angel lifted his left arm, drawing his attention to something below the wrist guard. A bracelet of braided golden-brown hair. So angels did know about love, and maybe how crazy it could drive a male. An intriguing thought.

She stands against the angels….

His lips pressed in a firm line, Derek gave the angel the image of Ruby, of Mikhael, and Mikhael’s words.

You didn’t ask angels for anything. They either helped or didn’t, depending on their purpose in your business. But when the angel saw the image, his brow creased, making Derek’s gut tighten. The commander glanced at the angel to his right, a burly, powerful-looking male carrying a long sword in a back harness, neatly fitted in the channel between his wings.

There was apparently some type of communication; then the head angel looked back at Derek. His expression got even more serious as he gave Derek three chilling words, delivered direct to his mind.

Help her soon.

Nodding to Derek, he made a gesture to the others, and they turned, winging back up in the sky.

Derek watched them go. At different times in his life, they’d been there like this. Watching him, for sure, but more than that. Sometimes, like now, they felt like backup. Reinforcement and reassurance. Being so close to something so directly in the Lord and Lady’s service was an even more leveling experience than the power surge. It cleared his mind, strengthened his resolve.

It was time to handle this, once and for all. He’d get this Great Rite out of the way, pick up Ruby’s trail and deal with this. She was too damn important to him, but not only that. With the strength she had, both as a woman and a witch, he knew she could send that Darkness shrieking out of her like a scalded cat. So he was going to help her deal with whatever had put her between the rock and hard place and be whatever she needed him to be so she could blast out of it.

Help her soon.

I’m on it.

Chapter 15

THE SUN SET OVER THE MARSH WITH A PAINTER’S dream of rose and gold hues, deep violet blue slashes of sky throughout. The breeze slid through the long grasses, creating hushed whispers. It was as if all the elements knew the coven’s intent and, given the destabilizing forces of earlier in the day, they were pitching in to help restore order.

At least that was what Derek hoped. He adjusted the belt of his ritual robe, probably for the sixth time. The thing was designed to slide off easily, of course. He’d done Great Rites plenty of times, was completely clear on what it was and wasn’t, so why he was having difficulty getting his head in the right place on this, he didn’t know. Linda was an exemplary priestess. They’d channel Light to the fault line, reinforce it, get the job done.

But maybe because of the earlier revelations of the day, he hungered for it to be Ruby. He needed to touch her, needed to integrate their personal magic with the Joining as Lord and Lady. It would be more powerful that way; he knew it. Better for the fault line, better for her, better for all of them. He shouldn’t have sent her away.

When the door opened behind him, he assumed it was Jocelyn, come to see if he was ready. Instead he faced Linda in her priestess garb, the pearl coronet representing the moon on her forehead, her black dress beaded with tiny bits of starlight. The garment fell in a simple line to her bare feet, but showed her as woman, clinging to unbound, generous breasts, the line of hip.

“Blessings of the Lord and Lady upon you this night,” she said formally, giving him a bow.

“And you, my lady,” he returned. It was unusual for the head priestess, the one who would be serving as the Lady in the Great Rite, to be here, talking to him beforehand, but since he could tell she had a specific purpose, he waited for her to gather her thoughts. She’d bowed her head, thinking, but now she lifted it, met his gaze again.

“I try to follow Their guidance in all things, Derek. And though your power and grasp of Their Will is greater than mine, on this night, I believe my path to be the correct one. I hope you will forgive me, if forgiveness is needed. Tonight I am ceding my position to another more appropriate for this Great Rite. She will await you in the circle.”

Derek swallowed. “She was leaving.”

“No. She merely thought you wanted her to leave.”

“I don’t.”

“Which is why she is still here.” A faint smile touched Linda’s lips.

On impulse, he held out his hand. When Linda took it, he pulled her closer, wrapping his arms around her. “Thank you,” he murmured.

“Oh.” Surprised, Linda gave a little laugh, then returned the hug in full measure. “I like you quite a bit, Derek Stormwind. And though Ruby worries me, she worries me in my heart. That means she’s good people. She needs you. She needs this. I think you both do.”

When he released her, she took a seat in one of the chairs in the small sitting room, gestured him to do the same. “We have some time. Would you indulge me a question?”

“Linda, at this moment, you could probably ask me for anything.”

“Well, instant weight loss and a rapid metabolism that allows me to eat all the chocolate cake I want springs to mind, but I think it’s best you not reveal whether you have that power. You’d be mobbed by hordes of women.”

He grinned, enjoying her. “You’re soft in all the right places, Linda. I think you should give Sheriff Wassler a chance to find that out.”

“And now I know a secret’s not safe with Ruby. At least not from you.” She smiled again, though. “From the beginning, I sensed there might be something between you and Ruby. But when I saw you together, it was obvious. The two of you are…. timeless. That’s the word that’s stuck with me, so now I’m curious and nosy. Since we have a few minutes, and it might help you to get your mind in a different place, would you tell me about her, how you met?”

She was right. It would help. Now that he knew he’d be facing Ruby in that circle, he needed some time to adjust his thinking, be sure he was going there in the right frame of mind. Thinking how they started was probably a great way to do that.

“I met her when she was a little thing, five years old. I interacted with her mother on various matters, maybe three or four times a year, and after I met Ruby, I made sure that happened more often.”

He was used to leaning forward, splaying his knees and clasping his hands loosely between them, the pose more in keeping with his restless energy level. Despite the fact the Great Rite was done sky-clad, without clothes, he didn’t think it was good manners to flash Linda in the short robe. So he settled for rising and moving to the window, feeling better on his feet.

“That first visit, I conjured her a stuffed toy, a possum. She smiled, this tiny expression, like a flower growing out of the crevice of a concrete sidewalk. Mary had another client there that day, and she said, right out, ‘Mary, that’s the first time I’ve ever seen her smile. How pretty she is.’ ” His expression darkened. “By the time I’d turned back around, Ruby had disappeared. She lived in Mary’s shadow, and that’s the way Mary liked it. The woman had as much business raising a child as a praying mantis. But I felt Ruby’s potential in that first meeting, and something else.”

He paused, deciding not to go there yet, wanting to give Linda a better order of things. “She almost never went to a regular school, was always schooled on the road as Mary was traveling.” His lips curved. “But when she was eleven, she got the chance to go for a couple months. During one of my visits, she told me about a boy she liked. Billy Morris.”

When Linda chuckled, Derek glanced at her. “What?”

“You remember his name.”

Derek gave a wry smile. “Yeah, I do. I kept track of my competition, even when he was twelve years old and could knock a softball out of the park. Oh, and he climbed trees as well. But he jumped right out of his tree when Ruby fell on the playground, helped her up, asked her if she was okay. And she was in love.”

Derek remembered how Ruby had told him about it. At first shy and hesitant, then more enthusiastically. When Mary had called out for her in that querulous voice that said she thought her daughter was getting too much attention, Ruby had cut herself off short. Derek recalled how she’d stopped at the door, looked back.

I don’t love him like I love you. But I do like him a lot. That’s okay, right?

“What did you say?”

Realizing he’d spoken aloud, he tuned back in to Linda. “I told her of course it was okay. And that if Billy didn’t keep treating her right, to let me know because I’d kick his ass. She almost giggled, but not quite.”

Derek turned to look at the priestess. “I know you’ve guessed I don’t have an age line like most humans, so it’s different for me, Linda. I didn’t have any inappropriate feelings for her at that time. She was a child, and I thought of her as a child, saw her as a child. But my heart knew. In this quiet, understated way, it knew. And the thing is in what she said, so serious, too serious for an eleven-year-old, I knew the same subconscious part of her knew as well.”