Scaredy Kat Read online

  Kat kissed his lips and let her tongue dance with his before she spoke. “No, give it all to me, Gareth. Don’t hold back. I need you so much.”

  He twined his fingers with hers and raised her hands over her head. His cock surged deeply into her wet, wanting pussy and he watched as she gasped in pleasure of having him fill her. With their gazes connected, he took her to heights of pleasure once again before letting himself go, spilling his seed inside her. He pressed her into the bed when he collapsed against her. Gareth pressed soft kisses against her neck while she drew lazy circle on his smooth back.

  “Hey, where are you going?” she protested when he rolled off her and pulled her close.

  “I am much too heavy to lie on top of you like that.”

  “I happen to like you on top of me.”

  “You are a waif compared to me, Katrina.”

  She poked him in the ribs. “I’m tough and can handle more than you think.”

  “I do not doubt that for one moment, my love.” He trailed his hand along her shoulder as he spoke, and it stilled when she asked her question.

  “You keep calling me ‘my love,’ Gareth. Is that just a term of endearment for you?”

  “If it were, would it upset you?”

  “I don’t know . . . and you can’t answer a question with a question.”

  Gareth turned and leaned against his hand to face her, to look into her eyes. “Katrina, I do not use words like love lightly. I have fallen in love with you.”

  “I don’t know what to say, Gareth. I sent that spell out looking for true love and it found you. I don’t know if it was fate, destiny, or just dumb luck. I don’t know what to think or feel right now.”

  “Don’t think right now, Katrina. If it is meant to be, it will be, but my heart is yours.” He kissed her lightly.

  They were silent for a few minutes until Katrina spoke up. “I know how to get us back to Herion safely.”

  “How?”

  “Tomorrow is Halloween, and the spell book from my great-grandmother has a spell where a nexus between worlds can be created safely for us to pass through. I would only stay open for thirty-six hours, and then if I don’t come back through, I would be stuck on Herion.”

  “Are you willing to take that risk?

  “I created the rip in the first place, and I feel you will need my help to get your world back from the darkness Genesis created. So I am willing to take the risk.”

  Gareth looked at her and saw the determination in her eyes. They would be able to go to Herion tomorrow. The words she spoke filled him with hope and with dread because either way, she was walking into danger. When it was all over, she would have to return to her time and he would have to stay in his realm without her. She would take his heart with her when she left.

  Chapter Seven

  The day before Halloween dawned in Charlotte, Kat looked out into the fog that had settled over the damp ground. She had been up for a while watching Gareth sleep and then staring out into the silent morning. He loves me. The thought swirled through her mind like the mist outside, and each time, her heart leaped. It also trembled when she thought of going through a nexus to his world and to face Genesis.

  “Katrina, why are you awake?”

  She was so lost in her own mind that she did not hear him come up behind her. When he pulled her back against his chest and wrapped his arms around her, Kat felt safe and secure, and it felt so right. Why couldn’t she bring herself to say she loved him return?

  “I was going to wake you soon. We have to cast the spell open the nexus.”

  “Are you afraid to go, Katrina? You don’t have to. I can go to Herion alone.”

  Kat heard the concern in his voice and wanted to reassure him. “I’m afraid, but you will need me, Gareth. I have to go.”

  “I will protect you with my life if I have to.”

  She caressed his cheek. “I know you will, and I’ll protect you as well. Now let me get a bag together and I’ll start the spell.”

  When he smiled at her, it was all the thanks that Katrina needed. She got dressed in a pair of black jeans, a blue turtleneck sweater, and a pair of comfortable boots. She made sure she was comfortable in what she wore so she would be able to move easily. You can’t go into the middle of a war between good and evil dressed in heels, she thought with a wry smile. Kat went downstairs and quickly gathered the items she needed under the watchful eyes of Mystique.

  “I still think you should take me along, Kat.”

  Kat understood her familiar’s concern. They had been together for so long, and they loved each other dearly. “I know, Mystique, but I need you here in case I don’t get back to the nexus in time. You’ll be the only one who knows how to hide the books until they can be passed on to one of the younger generation of my family. You’ll know which one has the power.”

  “Fine, but you make sure you come back in the timeline allowed. I’ll be waiting here on the other side for you,” Mystique said.

  Kat petted the little pug and then impulsively picked her up and nuzzled her soft fur. “I love you, too, fur ball,” she whispered before running up the stairs to where Gareth waited.

  He stood inside her bedroom tall and strong like the first time she saw him—his black coat hanging down to the cut of his boots and his face had a serious expression. He turned when he heard her, and his eyes and lips softened just in that one instant when his gaze met hers. Kat saw his love for her in that gaze, and she could not deny she felt the same thing.

  “Ready?” she asked him softly. At his nod, Kat smiled just a little and went over to the wall of her bedroom to draw a pentacle on the wall with blue chalk. Gareth stood next to her when she placed her hand on each side of the pentacle and slowly exhaled. Kat closed her eyes and summoned the magic inside her, willed herself not to give into the doubts that had restricted her power. She felt the familiar tingle start from her core and emanate from her fingers. Her eyes opened to the circle and then pentacle she drew in chalk, glowing blue from the magic coming from her fingertips. The pentacle was charmed, and Kat began to repeat the spell, the one that would open the doorway between the two worlds. Her voice rang clear as she spoke the words and the magic danced around her.

  “In this time and in this hour I call upon the Wiccan power!

  “I summon the gods and goddess, to light our paths!

  “To open the doorway between the stars!

  “Take us to the world now in endless dark!

  “Bless our journey with the gift of the light!”

  Kat repeated the words over and over, each time her voice got stronger and more intense until she heard the magic in her words. To her, it was as if her voice became two voices, then three, and more. The pentacle she had drawn gave a bright spark, and then from its core it became a pool before their eyes.

  “Magnificent!” Gareth breathed.

  Kat looked over to him with a grin on her face. “It isn’t too bad, is it?”

  She reached out and let her small hand slip through the doorway she created and grasped Gareth’s hand in the other. The two of them were swallowed by the light of the portal and disappeared from the room.

  When they stepped through the nexus, they were just outside the barrier of magic that protected the mountains from Genesis. Kat looked around on one side where the light kept the trees lush and the woods beautiful, on the other side there was the complete darkness of genesis magic trying to break through. The towers of the castle, which she assumed was where the king once ruled, stood barely visible though the mist that swirled around it. The occasional flash of lightning was the only time Kat could see the place called Herion.

  “It was beautiful before this,” Gareth murmured.

  “And it will be again!” Kat hope her determination came through in her voice even though she quaked in fear. The spell had worked, and she was now in a place that went past her universe. They walked through the magical barrier that recognized the pure magic in them. Kat followed Gareth to where
his people would be taking refuge. With each step she took, Kat saw things that she would only have seen in books. Fairies and elves walked around, and each one they passed smiled and bowed gracefully to Kat and Gareth in welcome. Kat wanted to reach out and touch their wings to sure herself they were real. They walked into camp where fairy and human children played between the bushes and trees.

  All eyes turned to them as they walked into what now looked like a village instead of the forest. Kat heard a “hail” sound, and it was passed along to let everyone know that Gareth had returned. A man with distinguished handsome looks and a scar on his face ran up to Gareth and they embraced.

  “Gareth, we have been awaiting your return!”

  “Leto, how long have I been gone this time?” Gareth asked.

  “Almost a fortnight and we have been planning an attack!” Leto replied. It was then that he noticed Kat and how she was staring at him. “And who is this you bring into our midst?”

  Kat heard the wariness in his voice as Gareth pulled her forward. “This is Katrina, a woman of great power. She saved me in the other realm and aided me in coming home. She is here to help. Katrina, this is Leto, my second.”

  Needing no urging, Leto bowed low at the waist. “Welcome to Herion, Katrina. We are pleased you are here to aide us.”

  Katrina smiled at his chivalrous manner and wished that some of the guys in Charlotte could come to Herion and learn a few things. “Thank you for the welcome, Leto.”

  He turned to Gareth once again. “Come, the king awaits. He will tell you of our plans of attack. Now that the warlock of Herion has returned, you will lead us into battle.”

  Kat followed behind Gareth once again as Leto led them to where the king was waiting. The people of Herion trailed behind them at a safe distance, seeming wary but yet still curious of the woman in strange clothing who had come with the warlock. Kat turned and smiled occasionally, and when one little boy came up and held her hand, she stopped for a moment and bent to his level. She closed her eyes for a moment, embraced her power, and let it form a toy soldier in her hand. She handed it to the boy who ran back to show everyone his magical gift, and she continued to where Gareth now stood. The people of Herion needed her help. Now she could put a face to those she only heard about from Gareth, she could not deny them a chance of regaining their homes. She embraced her power and now she would use it to help save a world. It seemed her grandmother was right. She was destined to do something greater than herself.

  * * * *

  Genesis felt the portal open and a power unlike anything he ever felt arrive in Herion. This magic was off world, he could tell, and he could feel the magic of the warlock as well. So that’s where he went! It seemed his assumption of the magical folk of the mountains pulling him to safety was wrong. He had gone to another realm and had come back with a new power and one that Genesis wanted for himself. He looked at the Gem of Chale as he caressed its smooth surface. The darkness at its core was spreading but not enough to be able to break the magical barrier around the mountains. Very soon though, it would be completely corrupted by the dark magic.

  He knew that now the warlock was back, he would try to launch an attack against him to regain the castle and the gem. He would have a surprise waiting for them when they decided to move. Whatever new power this was, it was not as powerful as he was. He would destroy the warlock and take the new power for his own. Then he would use the portal to go to the realm where this new being came from and he would coup there as well. The possibilities seemed endless. The universe could be his. Genesis held the gem in his hand and concentrated, directing his demon things with his mind and instructing them on what to do. The consequences to the warlock would be death, after he killed the king and enslaved the rest of the Herion people. Genesis’s laughter rang throughout the empty castle. He heard the only living things answer with harsh screeches, his demon creatures that ran around like vermin in the dark corners.

  Chapter Eight

  The plan was set and preparations to unleash an attack on Genesis were being made by what was left of Herion’s army. Gareth walked past the men who sharpened swords and spears. Out of an army of three thousand soldiers, there was less than half left. Herion was a peaceful place. The soldiers were there to keep the peace. This was the first war any of them had ever really fought. The last one had left half the world in darkness and the other half in the light. Each sharpened weapon was being infused with magic from the fairies and elves. When it sliced into a demon, it would cut them down with the light that they feared.

  The magic folk would not go to battle with them because they were creatures of peace, but they knew this battle was the hope of all their survival. So they helped out how they could by using their magic to protect the few soldiers left that were going to battle. Of course, some of the villagers who were now refugees in the mountains took up the sword to help save their home. It had been so long since Herion had even spoken the word war that many of them did not know how to fight. Gareth instructed Leto to try to train them how to fight as best he could. They would need every able bodied man they could find. King Arturious, against Gareth’s pleas not to join the battle, took up the sword again. He was a man of honor and would not see his people go to battle without him.

  Gareth was now looking past the men and women preparing for battle to the woman with bronze curls who had captured his heart. She was busy making magic lights shows with her hands for the children who oohed and aahed at her every trick. When she looked up and caught him looking at her, the smile she directed his way made his heart leap in his chest. By the goddess, I love her, he thought. He walked up to the group of children and sat enthralled, looking at the tiny birds she made of magic flutter around their heads before bursting into tiny flecks of light that fell like bursting stars. He held out his hand to her and she willing placed hers in his warm grasp.

  “Sorry, children, I have to take Lady Katrina way for just a bit,” he said amid the sounds of disappointment they made.

  “Where are we going? Do you need my help to charm more weapons?” she asked as they walked away from where the forest had turned to a village in to the dense green woods.

  “No, we are going for a walk,” Gareth supplied.

  “Okay, where are we walking to?”

  “Nowhere in particular.” He gave a sigh that caused her to cast him a sidelong glance. “I wish you could have seen Herion before the madness with Genesis began. There was such beauty here, Katrina, and I wonder if it will be ever the same again.”

  Katrina squeezed his hand. “It will be again, Gareth. You have to believe we will be the ones to win today. And you never know, maybe I can open the portal again and come back when you bring Herion back to the place it once was.”

  “We both know that after you go through that portal, it cannot be opened again. The fabric between time must always be kept intact.” Just the thought of never seeing her again made his heart ache like nothing he had ever felt. For a moment, he wished that Genesis had struck him down. That pain would have been short and he would have met his fathers and brothers at the tables of the gods and goddesses. The pain of not having her in his arms or to feel her lips, to show her the love he had inside of him, would be long and torturous. He would feel it every day of his life.

  “Katrina, stay here!” he said on impulse and grabbed her shoulders turning her to face him. “Live here with me and my people, where your magic would be seen as a gift!”

  “My magic is needed where I am from as well, Gareth. My mother and her mother before her, they all told me that my power was to set a balance. If I left, somehow that would change my world and I can’t do that.”

  Gareth crushed her against his chest and claimed her lips in a searing kiss. He kissed her as if he wanted to fuse their lips together. There was desperation in the way he roamed his hands over her. He was imprinting her every curve to his memory. He heard her moan as he cupped her breasts thought the material of her sweater before slipping his hand unde
r it to feel her skin against his palm. Stepping backward until her back was against the soft mossy trunk of the tree behind her, Gareth devoured her lips in a passionate kiss, and then his lips traveled down her neck. When she pressed against him wantonly, Gareth knew he would not be able to stop loving her or wanting her.

  “Katrina, you drive me beyond madness. Let me make love to you here, my love. Surrounded by magic, let me be with you one more time before we face what must come,” he whispered.

  Kat reached up and caressed his face. Gareth closed his eyes from the sheer pleasure of having her touch on his skin.

  “Yes, Gareth, yes.”

  His lips touched hers with soft, featherlike kisses before he rubbed them sensually across hers. While he kissed her, he raised his hand, and with a flick of his wrist, the magic within him spun outward. Around them, vines grew down from the trees, each of them budding and sprouting flowers and twining into each other to create a cocoon around the lovers. He undressed her slowly and let his tongue trail along the surface of her skin. Her gasps of pleasure excited him as he moved down to unsnap her jeans and pull them down her legs.