Under a Blood Moon (Beaux Rêve Coven 2)

She shook her head. “When we escaped, I sent a sideways wind laden with water at Mathias who was chasing us into the woods. I nearly drowned him on dry land.”

Above her head, Mikkel shrugged, not the least concerned about how she’d treated the dragon.

“Is it why I’ve seldom seen you use your magic?”

She nodded against him, sinking closer.

“And if you share it?”

“Bryn thinks it will dissipate it, make me more calm.”

“Then why are you so worried?”

“I’m not. Not so much about the magic, but I’ve seen how people change. Mathias changed. Once he came into his own, he became proud. Too proud to listen to me or consider how I felt. All his thoughts were for his rise inside the council.”

“Well, we don’t have a council. And we don’t have any expectations to become too proud about. We’re just trying to make a life, one we can share.”

“That sounds nice…”

“But you still have doubts.”

She sniffed and nodded but finally moved back to lift her head. “I love you, Renner. I fear more that I’ll want to surrender everything to you.”

“That’s not going to happen,” Mikkel said.

When Renner and Miren turned toward the merman, Mikkel arched a brow. “There will be balance. Not equality, but a simple balance.”

“You have this all figured out,” Miren said, her voice thick.

“All knowed up, or so my grandfather would have said.”

Miren eyed both of the blond men and her expression slowly eased. Her mouth curved. “There’s so much for us to learn about each other.”

“It will be a journey,” Elias agreed.

Renner tipped her chin and turned her face toward him. “Any more doubts?”

“No.”

“Tonight then.”

She nodded, her eyelids slipping downward as she tilted her face to receive his kiss.

The women led the men through the forest.

Ethan had complained that they could get there sooner if they took vehicles. The company had laid down roads in the clearing where the old oak stood even before construction on the new office building had started. But Bryn had shaken her head. “We are earthing,” she’d said firmly. “Barefoot. Nothing between us and Mother Earth. We draw power from her, just as we will from the moon.”

And so all the men had removed their socks and shoes, something Renner had regretted the first time he stubbed his toe on an exposed tree root. He and Ethan trailed directly behind the women. Every now and then, Miren glanced behind her, her expression clear despite the heavy canopy above them. The pearl-like glow emanating from all the witches was like a beacon in the darkness.

Just like the last time he’d made this trek, he had the feeling that they were somehow entering another realm. The air was alive with electricity. The scents of the wood and decaying leaves, even the stagnant bayou water flowing beside them, smelled sweeter, fresher. There was no sound, just as though someone had hit a cosmic mute button.

Above them shone a full moon, abnormally large, he thought, and shining so brightly he could see color here and there amid the gray moonlight. He checked his watch and noted the time. They still had a few minutes before the eclipse heralding the blood moon began.

Since they’d done this before and knew what to expect, the men remained silent. They followed the women to the tree and then waited to assist them with their bundles and clothing as they stripped.

Then they too removed their clothes, leaving them in neat little stacks beside the cloth

ing of the women they protected.