Page 58 of Curse of Ancients

“Gods, you are so cute.” Carleigh set the cub down and stood. She led them through the house. Gemi, Kat, and Juniper were hovering around the kitchen island. Juniper was typing on her phone as Gemi listed ingredients for some type of dish, but they stopped and stared at Tiger and Juni. Carleigh opened the back door and called out for Silas when they were outside. When he appeared from around the side of the house, she told him his assignment – keep her two tigers safe.

Silas placed a fist over his heart and bowed his head. Tiger led the way with Juni bounding beside him. He wanted to go next door and see his property, but Carleigh didn’t have cameras set up, so he kept to the acreage on this side of the property line. Juni scampered this way and that, never going farther than he could see Tiger. Meanwhile, Tiger took in their surroundings. He trusted Silas to watch over them, so Bayu enjoyed being in his fur once again. It might be his imagination after being separated for a week, but colors appeared crisper, birdsong was shriller, and he could differentiate smells better than before.

Juni froze, the fur on his back bristling. Tiger padded closer, and his eyes focused in the direction the cub was staring. A large deer had been grazing at the edge of the trees, but as soon as Tiger got close, it loped off in the opposite direction. He doubted Juni had ever seen a deer. They became extinct due to poaching on their home island before Bayu had left for the States.

They continued exploring until Juni shifted to his skin and plopped down on his bottom. “Me hungwy.”

Bayu also shifted. “Let’s go eat lunch. Do you want to go in your fur, or would you like for me to carry you?”

“Up, pease.” Juni held up his arms, and Bayu lifted him easily.

Silas chuckled, then muttered, “Best assignment ever.”

They hadn’t gone far, so it didn’t take long to get back to the house. As soon as they entered the kitchen, the food was on the table, waiting for them.

“Talk about good timing.” Bayu inhaled, ready for whatever the females had fixed for lunch.

Juniper made a silly face at Juni. “Carleigh saw that you were headed back, so we figured Juni would be hungry.”

“Thank you, Juniper. He is.” Bayu was as well since he hadn’t eaten his breakfast. “Let us wash our hands, then we’ll be ready.” Bayu knew Gemi would take good care of them, but he was going to miss having Carleigh’s parents and sister around when they went back to their lives. Maybe he wouldn’t be so quick to finish reading the scrolls. If he took his time, they would hang around. Selfish? Absolutely, but Bayu relished having a family once more.

Chapter 20

Carleigh spent the morning in her office. She had Harlow in her ear and her eyes on the monitor showing the drone footage. At one point, Barrett had to put the controller down and help the other Goyles. There were more Black Lotus members than had been there previously, and it took all of them to fight the mages, even with Erik voicing the cult members. Without the drone footage, Carleigh and Harlow were blind to what was happening.

When a tiny shadow moved past her door, she got up to follow Juni. He asked Bayu to pick him up, and her mate did. Carleigh sensed some turmoil within Bayu, and she worried it had to do with what he read in the scrolls.

Bayu has more questions than answers after reading about the markings.

Well, that sucked. Rhoan had also said the scrolls were confusing. Maybe together they could make sense of them.

“Tiger pway?” Juni asked.

Once Bayu made sure it was safe for them to go outside, Carleigh gave them some fur rubs when they shifted to their animals. She was so in love with both her tigers, and she couldn’t wait until this whole mess with the Black Lotus was over so they could get on with their lives without having to worry about so much security. She loved her parents and appreciated them being there, but the house was a little crowded.

With the tigers safely under Silas’s careful gaze, Carleigh returned inside. Gemi was telling Juniper about a recipe she wanted to teach her, and Juniper was making a list of ingredients she needed from the store. Carleigh winked at her mother as she walked through the kitchen, returning to her office.

Working from home was convenient, but she didn’t have access to all the expensive equipment like the multiple computers and large screens, and the 3D holographic display. Carleigh hadn’t been to South Carolina where Nikita and Madsen lived, but Nik assured them they had as much if not more equipment in what Madsen called his lair. Carleigh would not put all the work on Harlow just because she now had a mate and cub to look after, but she would rather do as much from home as possible for the time being. She was torn, though, because Harlow was hurting, and Carleigh wanted to be there for her cousin.

“Uncle J’s calling,” Harlow said. Carleigh hadn’t removed the earpiece, so Harlow had been able to listen in on her exchange with Juni and Bayu.

“Hey, Julian. Carleigh’s on the line with me. I take it you got them all since you’re calling?”

“We did. None of these bastards will come after one of ours again, but we have a situation. There was a young magic user there, and she begged us to help her. Erik voiced her, so we believe she’s sincere. She is the daughter of the head mage, and he gave her no choice but to live their lifestyle. She said what they were doing goes against everything her mother taught her as a young witch. Her mother was killed several years ago, and she has been under the man’s rule ever since.”

“How young are you talking?” Harlow asked.

“Sixteen. With this sect of the Black Lotus taken out, she has no other family. She has no formal education, no means of surviving.”

Carleigh only saw one problem, and she told him so. “We have a whole Clan to look after her, but I do not want her near Juni. Not until she’s been vetted by the witches.”

“Dominic already called Lilly, and she agreed to take the girl in, but there’s something you should know. Violet, that’s her name, says she knows how to shield Bayu from the other Black Lotus members.”

“That would be helpful, except Rhoan insisted it was a Nuhuala who told them where to find Bayu’s father. Can she shield him from the Nuhuala too?”

“Violet overheard her father on the phone with the mage who had captured that Nuhuala. The female has escaped. They are focused on finding her, so with her missing and Violet capable of shielding Bayu, he should be safe.”

“I still want Luna and Solara to talk to her first. I want them to question her before she puts any type of spell on my mate.”