Harvest Moon (Beaux Rêve Coven 4)

After he strode out the door, Nikon pulled his shirt downward to cover his torso. “Why do I get the feeling he doesn’t think our demon is a mare?”

“I don’t know. He was being deliberately cryptic. But I’m guessing whatever he has to say is important. And we shouldn’t be talking about it. Not now.”

Khan glanced around Bryn’s table. Seated were Ethan, Radha and her sisters, Renner, Nikon, and himself. Guards stood around the table and watching the windows. More were outside, patrolling the grounds after Khan had shouted that the mare was following them, loudly enough anyone could hear.

Bryn gave him a nod, and then went to her apothecary shelf, pulling down a stoppered jar. She uncorked it, and then starting at the head of the table, she moved around it, spilling red powder in a circle on the floor.

When she finished the circle, she poured red oil over her hands and reached for the red candle she’d placed in the

center of the table. She anointed the candle with the oil, while Radha poured more of the red powder over Bryn’s hands.

Ali knew she was using the crushed resin from a tree, called Dragon’s Blood. A powerful ingredient in spell-casting. Bryn lit the candle then reached out to grasp hands with Ethan and Renner. The others quickly joined hands, forming an unbroken circle as Bryn began her spell.

“As above, so below,

Fire blinds but does not burn.

Our words wisp away like smoke.

As above, so below.”

The candle flame leapt and arced toward the floor, setting the ring on fire, enclosing those seated at the table.

Bryn unclasped hands and settled back in her chair. “We can speak freely now. So, Khan, tell me why you’re here in the middle of the night.”

Khan continued to hold Radha’s hand and turned toward her. “It’s not a mare haunting you. You said he was black and that his eyes glowed red.” He glanced at Nikon. “And you couldn’t move when he sat on your chest.”

Nikon and Radha both nodded.

Ethan muttered an epithet.

Bryn’s eyebrows rose. “Your friend, the vanir…”

“He’s not my friend.”

“Perhaps you should explain why he fell out of your favor,” Ethan muttered.

Ali closed his eyes. “A wife of a baronet asked to conceive, and then she wished her husband dead, because she knew he would get rid of her and raise the child himself with his paramour. I could stomach her bearing a child, but murder…” He shook his head.

“But she wished it, didn’t she…?” Radha said.

“We were staying at their residence, part of a retinue of friends enjoying a weekend in the country. After she attended her husband in the bedroom, I stole into the baronet’s room and watched while Frigg transformed. His skin was black, his teeth jagged. And when he leapt on the baronet, all the man could do was stare in horror at him. He died while my feet were frozen to the floor, because…”

“Because of her wish,” Bryn finished.

Ali nodded and sat back, feeling sick to his stomach. Frigg had allowed him to watch, while in his demon form he’d murdered the man, the baronet’s chest weighted and a hand smothering his mouth and nose. He’d left that night, never again to stand in Frigg’s presence because his own weaknesses had condemned him as an accomplice to the evil deed.

“He’s arriving today,” Ethan said.

“He will know I recognized the description Radha gave. Likely, he won’t present himself at the front door.”

“How do we fight him?” Bryn asked.

“We need a lure to get him to come to us,” Ethan said. He glanced at Bryn and frowned. “Can you lure him? Make it impossible for him to refuse to appear?”

“With a special boost, yes,” she said, and gave him a small smile.

Ethan rolled his eyes. “You’re talking about the Harvest Moon.”