you, Shea. To have you here now is a gift beyond measure. And imagine,” she added with a grin, “you’re the first to come home.”
Shea laid one hand on her aunt’s arm. “There’s another witch who claims to be one of us.”
“What?” Confusion was etched on Mairi’s features.
“Her name is Kellyn. Torin and Rune broke her out of an internment camp in California when they were looking for me. She says she’s an Awakened witch.”
“Kellyn’s Awakening has begun? But that shouldn’t be possible,” Mairi murmured. “You were the first, Shea. Kellyn wasn’t to come along until later.”
“Well, somebody should have told her that,” Shea snapped, then instantly regretted it. “I’m sorry. I’m just tired. And scared and worried.”
“I know you are, honey,” Mairi said, “and I’ll do all I can to find out about Kellyn. But until then, come with me. I want to show you something important.”
On the far side of the hall, they stopped again and Shea could only stare openmouthed. There was an arched niche carved into the stones and in that arch rested three cages—shaped like old-fashioned birdcages, but they were made of fire. Living flames, shifting colors from green to red to yellow and blue, danced with abandon across the silver wires that made up the cages.
A memory flickered in the back of her mind and Shea grabbed hold of it. “These are for the Artifact.”
“Yes,” Mairi said, visibly pleased that her memories were coming back so completely. “Each shard that is returned to Haven will be stored here for safety. Until all of the pieces have been gathered. Then we’ll rebuild the Artifact and destroy it magically.”
Shea stared at the living flames and felt the enormity of the task ahead of them all. The shards of the Artifact had been hidden all over the world. Each witch was going to have to complete her own quest to retrieve that mystical slice of black silver. And as Shea had already discovered, that wouldn’t be easy.
“Do you know where your hiding place is?”
“No,” Shea admitted, wondering why that piece of the puzzle was still hidden from her. Why her mind hadn’t provided the one link she needed above all others.
“It will come,” Mairi assured her, pulling her into a hard, fierce hug. “Here at Haven you’ll rest. Gather your strength and your memories will arise.”
“I hope you’re right,” Shea said softly. “Like you said before, we’re almost out of time.”
In their chamber, Torin stretched out on the bed and watched as his witch stood naked before a mirror. Blood rushed to his groin and desire pumped through him, hot and fresh. He would never have enough of this woman, this witch, he thought. Eternity wouldn’t be enough time to sate himself with her.
Her every breath was a seduction. Her touch was fire and passion to the point of madness. Her power shone around her, glistening in a pale yellow aura that throbbed with the beat of her heart.
Soon, he thought, his own heart would finally beat in tune with hers. Soon, they would be linked forever. Joined as they were meant to be joined.
Shea ran her fingers lightly across the mating tattoo on her breast and Torin hissed in a breath, feeling her touch on his own skin. She smiled into the mirror and waved one hand in front of her. In a flash of movement, she was dressed in the traditional garb of a mated witch.
Her left breast was bare, his brand on her skin glowing with a fiery red light. She looked like a princess of old, both demure and erotic, and Torin’s body hungered for her.
“I didn’t think I’d be able to wear this robe,” she said thoughtfully, first watching her own reflection and then meeting his gaze in the glass. “But now, it seems right, somehow. To be here, to be wearing this. To have you with me. It’s all . . . right.”
“Come to me, Shea,” he said, lifting one hand and stretching it out to her. He dissolved his clothing with a thought and nearly groaned aloud at the relief his body felt, being freed from its tight confines.
She turned and walked around the bed to sit on the mattress beside him. Torin lifted one hand to cup her bare breast and she closed her eyes on a sigh as his thumb stroked across the tattoo and her hardened nipple.
“You are magnificent,” he whispered, rising up to claim that nipple with his mouth. His tongue and teeth toyed with her