Bowen

Wednesday January 6

11:18 AM

I was making lunch for myself and Mari in the kitchen of our house in Scotland. She was waiting in the living room, sipping tea and staring at the snowy landscape when I brought her the sandwiches.

"What are you thinking?" I asked, coming up behind her and wrapping my arms tightly around her waist.

She laughed and turned to kiss my jaw. "Its so beautiful here," she said.

"Yes," I agreed, my eyes never leaving hers.

She smiled and glanced back out the window. I stared at the view and tried to see it through her eyes. The large yard was covered in snow and surrounded by large oak trees. The sun sparkled brightly off the frozen lake that lay beyond the tree line. She followed my gaze. "Can we go ice skating after lunch?" she asked excitedly.

"Aye, Lass, whatever you want."

Her answering smile was breathtaking.

After we had both finished eating we grabbed our coats and skates and hurried down to the lake. We sat on a fallen log by the edge to put them on. Once we were ready, she gripped my hand as we wobbled towards the ice.

"I've never been ice skating before," she told me as we stepped onto the frozen surface of the lake.

I shot her a glance, "Never?"

She laughed and looked up at me, wobbling wildly, she would have fallen on her ass if I hadn't been holding her up. "Born and raised in NOLA remember?"

She slipped again and glanced down at the ice, her body becoming unresponsive. "Mari?" I asked, shaking her lightly.

I looked down and felt terror race threw my body, staring back at us were our reflections, and Mari was caught in hers.

I scrambled for my phone and called the first number I could think of.

Cadeon

1:00 PM

"Whaaa?" I slurred into the receiver when I finally hit the accept button. "This better be fuckin important." My mate was very cranky and pregnant and her OCD had had me running around the house rearranging everything in sets of threes so she could sleep. So I valued my naps over the life of any bastard who woke me up for no reason.

"Cadeon!" that was Bowens desperate growl. I sat up straight, exhaustion forgotten.

"Bowen? Is Mari okay?"

"She's trapped again, I canna get her out! I need Holly's help!"

I had a moment of indecision, Bowen and Mari were some of my best friends and they needed my help, but my Mate was pregnant with twins and any trauma could jeopardize the babies. "I cant," I said. "Holly is too pregnant, we can't risk it. But try Sabine!" I shouted over his enraged howl, "She'll help you- for a price."

Sabine

1:45 PM

I watched impassively as the nymphs screamed with terror. I wasn't quite sure what they were seeing, but I did so enjoy their reactions. They should have known better than to come after Rydstrom. It was their own fault. No one could blame me for playing.

My phone rang suddenly, and I pulled it from its solid gold case on my hip. "This better be important." I said, and ratcheted up the illusions so whoever was on the other end of the phone could hear them.

A growl sounded on the other end. "Bowen?" I asked, ending the illusions so I could hear better. The nymphs lay panting on the floor.

"My lass help… she wont look away…" I frowned. I didn't really want to help per se, but Rydstrom loved Mariketa and had been friends with Bowen for centuries. Besides, my husband was going to be mad when he heard about the nymphs and nymphs were known for their mouths, even when they weren't on their knees.

"I'll be right there." I promised and hung up the phone.

An ornate mirror hung in Rydstroms office for the express purpose of contacting Mari. It was quite useful to have an instant connection to the Witch who had helped me find my sister and I was ready to repay that debt, no matter how much I hated mirror travel.

I much preferred my sister's portals to the mirror, but Lanthe was currently honeymooning with her winged husband, so I had limited choices.

With a shudder I stepped into the glass.

My leather stiletto sank into a foot of snow, effectively ruining it. "This is going into your fee, Bowen!" I snapped, trying to dislodge it. The other foot got stuck and I swore as I caught sight of Bowen and Mari.

They stood on the ice, Bowen holding his Mate tightly for warmth and comfort as she stared, fascinated at the ice below.

"Move your ass, Sabine!" he growled, catching my scent.

I snarled back and gave up on trying to save my boots and instead focused on the scene in front of me. The proper illusion could break the ices hold on Mari.

With a flick of my mind I made an illusion of darkness flood Maris mind until she could see nothing, she rocked and collapsed into Bowen's arms with a sob.

A shiver of awareness crept down my spine and distracted me from Mari and Bowen's reunion. I glanced around and froze, gaze landing on the very large, very angry form of my demon- king husband. Oops. Didn't mention I was leaving, did I? For some reason Rydstrom disliked it when I disappeared.

"Sabine." His growl rang over the snow, setting my blood on fire.

"I'm out!" I called over my shoulder to the oblivious couple, giving them a little two-fingered salute. "Expect my bill promptly. It shall be exorbitant." If I was going to get in trouble because of Mariketa's pesky little problem, I was going to get a new armored corset out of it, and Bettina was really getting good. And expensive.

"Why are there two sobbing nymphs in our foyer?" he asked softly as I approached, grasping my shoulders and checking my body for damage, eyes lingering on some of the headlines.

I shook him off. "Wait- those little hookers went to our palace? Clearly I didn't do enough to them." I squared my shoulders and turned toward the mirror portal.

"You can't keep using your powers on innocents like that Sabine." He said, spinning me to face him.

I snarled. "Watch me. And nymphs aren't innocent!" I cried, flinging myself through the mirror.

"You are in so much trouble!" I heard him growl behind me.

I grinned to myself. I was counting on it.

Trehan

11:27 PM

I vanished into mist and crept toward the portal to Bettina's kingdom. The journey their palace was quick and familiar and he soon flew through her high balcony window into the warm yellow light of her room.

She sat at her worktable, quietly humming and exchanging snide comments with the crude poltergeist that always hung around. She was working on what seemed to be a corset with knives sticking out from every possible crevice.

I materialized behind her, leaning over her back to kiss her neck. She started, rattling the metal on her table. "Trehan," she sighed, leaning into my kiss.

"I better be," I murmured back, slipping my arms around her waist to pull her to me, away from the stool.

She laughed throatily and turned in my arms to kiss me square on the mouth. "Where have you been?"

"Spying." I told her. "Bowens mate, Mariketa the Awaited, got caught in her reflection again, and your Patroness had to save her. The pregnancy is hard on both Cadeon and Holly and I missed my queen while I was gone."

"All very good observations," Bettina replied, leading me to the bed.