New City, New Life

[Demeter]

It took a bit if time but between the three women and Brielle's half-brother, they got the guardianship of Celeste transferred to Brielle. The women also took over the closing up of the farm from the young man, allowing him to sleep and grieve. It was Mercedes who cleared out anything magical and, in doing so, found the answer to Brielle's questionable source if magic. She'd inherited it.

Her father's wife had a genealogy hobby and had done extensive research into his family tree. It seemed that every few generations a powerful user would crop up. The woman had traced the line back in antiquityto a single woman. And Brielle had recognized the name and face of the woman's nephew. Brielle knew him as Uncle Sorin, a very powerful sorcerer.

When Brielle's Uncle Trey had come down to look over the livestock, Sorin had travelled with him to preform the rituals to confirm the relation. He was able to confirm that they shared a common ancestor in his grandfather. His mother and the woman who'd founded Brielle's line had been sisters.

Now they were back in New Orleans, above the magic shop, and Mercedes was exhausted. Brielle and Celeste were zonked out on her bed and Mercedes, after changing into her preferred uniform of leggings and thin strapped tank, quietly closed the bedroom door and turned to lean against it. Elise was across the room, sitting on the couch and Mercedes gave her a wide eyed look before sighing. "I need a drink."

It had been two weeks and a half weeks of revelations that hadn't been fully processed yet. Brielle not only had a father but siblings, she was related to a powerful sorcerer, and had a kid more or less. There was also the fact that she loved her, a sentiment that was fully returned, but that she, Mercedes, wanted a family with not only Brielle and the kid but Elise as well.

Mercedes huffed out another sigh. "A very big drink," she said and went to her kitchen to poor herself a water glass full of wine. She sat down and shared with Elise. "Its been a crazy couple of weeks. We haven't really had time to talk and it seems we've already wasted a lot of time."

Her freedom was still recent and the scars from her time as a slave were deep. Mercedes couldn't even begin to imagine what Elise had gone through during those times when Mercedes needed Romi to reorder things. She didn't want Elise to hear the screams in her head when things went to pieces.

That was the reason she didn't want to form the partner bond with Elise; she wanted to keep her from the darkness in her mind.

[Maira]

While Mercedes got Brielle and Celeste settled in her bedroom for the night, Elise sat on the couch and snuggled the familiars that seemed to think their people were neglecting them. Teacup and Akasha both had some choice words for the trio of women when they returned home with another human, a young rambunctious one no less, in tow. Elise had finally gotten Teacup to doze off, her head dangling off one end of the sofa, and Akasha was purring contentedly on the back of the couch when Mercedes finally emerged from her bedroom. When Elise saw she was alone, she could guess that Brielle had either chosen to stay and snuggle Celeste or she too had fallen asleep.

At Mercedes's words about needing a drink, Elise smirked slightly. She completely shared that sentiment and when the other woman sat down with her and shared the glass of wine, Elise didn't bother to hide a grateful smile. When Mercedes spoke, she nearly choked on her wine. Once the wine was safely down her throat, she looked at Mercedes and asked cautiously, "What did you want to talk about?" Elise had several ideas of what Mercedes might want to talk about, but on the chance that it was something else entirely she remained quiet while she waited to see what the other woman had to say.

[Demeter]

After setting the glass of wine on the coffee table, Mercedes sat back against the couch and drew her knees up to her chest. "I got the feeling that you think I never wanted a relationship beyond what we have with you. It really has nothing to do with you and everything to do with me.

"I was a slave, Elise, and I quickly learned that if I wanted to keep my head, I had to do what my masters desired. This didn't save me from humiliating and degrading acts but I kept my head. The spells that bound me to the Neri Family are insidious and still exist. That's why Romi can still control me to bring me down from those manic highs, you know, because those pathways are still open and will forever be open. I spoke with Brielle's Uncle Sorin when we met him; he says the spellwork is permanent and cannot be removed without risking my life.

"Those spells made it so my masters could influence me to do certain things. If one of them wished me or desired me to do certain...things, they could make me do them. I'm afraid that if we formed a partner bond that those magics would fuse to the spells already in place. Both Romi and Sorin are sure that this would happen."

Mercedes curled into a small huddle. "I don't want you to wish or want something and feel guilty when I act on it. I don't want you to censor your thoughts around me. I know that Brood partner bonds are two-way and can be turned off but I don't know how the bond would be distorted by the network of Neri slave spells already in place. You've given me so much, Elise, and I don't want my past turning what should be a beautiful bond into something that is terrible and ugly."

It was true; she had Elise to thank for her current life. Romi had been the one to pull her from the Neri Estate and to bring her to the new world. He'd been the one to acquire Bayou house and install her there. She'd been content to be know as the Bayou House Witch and to sell potions from the back stoop when Elise and her cameras had come knocking.

Her encouraging presence in Mercedes' life hadn't just given the woman the courage to open the store. Before, others had used Mercedes as a tool for their pleasure. Elise had been the first to bring pleasure to her.

All of her adventures had been because of Elise.

Mercedes scooted closer to Elise and leaned against her. "I have you to thank for making me the person I am today. It is because I Love you that I won't be your bonded partner."

[Maira]

It was as Elise had feared and hoped. Mercedes wanted to talk about them and the partner bond that she had asked the older woman to make with her before Brielle had come into their lives. She listened to Mercedes talk about the enslavement spells that the Neri family had placed on her and how both Romi and Brielle's uncle Sorin both thought that the Brood bonding magic would affect those old spells.

She sat, horrified at the thought of Mercedes essentially becoming her slave if they bonded, and stared blankly. For the first time in her life she regretted her mother's heritage, the dragon side of her was both the cause of her need to bond Mercedes to her and also the reason that she couldn't.

When Mercedes scooted closer to her, Elise was finally able to focus again and she looked into the other woman's eyes as she spoke once more. Only, Mercedes words quickly resulted in Elise's vision becoming blurred as tears sprung to her eyes and slipped down her cheeks. Before she could stop it, Elise felt her shoulders slump and start to shake as her heart swelled with love and shattered all at the same time. She wasn't sure how long the sobs wracked her body, or when Mercedes pulled her close, but when the other woman slipped out from under her, gently laying her down on the couch, Elise sighed and let herself slip back into sleep. At least it didn't hurt so badly there.

*****

Brielle hadn't stayed asleep for long after Mercedes left her and Celeste curled up on the bed. The girl was a restless sleeper and had flung her arm across Brielle's face, startling her awake. She'd laid in bed for a while trying to convince her body that a short nap was not enough rest, but something kept nagging at her. Finally she realized that it was the sound of voices from the living room. Or more accurately, one voice speaking, and another sobbing. Not wanting to interrupt whatever moment the other two women were having, Brielle waited until the sobbing stopped and then she carefully crawled from the bed she'd been sharing with her little sister-turned-daughter and slipped silently from the room.

Upon leaving the bedroom, Brielle immediately saw Elise asleep on the big sectional. There was no sign of Mercedes however. She listened carefully for just a moment, and sniffed the air before following her trail to Mercedes's own bedroom. Knocking softly, Brielle waited to see if the other woman would answer.

[Demeter]

Mercedes sat on the screened porch off the kitchen of Bayou House and listened to the sounds coming from the baby monitor. Sidda was babbling at Cosimo as he settled the baby for her nap. Sidda was a souvenir from the last Fire Feast in Haven. Cosimo was Sidda's father and Mercedes' savior.

Cosimo may have been young but his Incubus bloodline was old and powerful. Their bonding was accidental but his incubus magic had somehow cancelled out the network of spells cast on her by the Neri family. When she'd become aware of the bond, Mercedes has gone straight to the Oracle of Haven, begging her assistants to let her see the woman. She wanted to know if the bonding had activated the spells.

His magic had somehow bonded to the spells and had created a sort of insulated casing around the net. The network of spells was still there, even the Oracle had advised that the spells were permanent, but the magic of Cosimo's abilities had rendered them void. So long as they were together, she was free from the legacy of the Neri Family.

Cosimo's company wasn't a bad reward for that freedom.

She just didn't know how Elise and Brielle would take to Cosimo and Sidda. After all, she'd runaway from the two women almost ten years ago. Confronted with the fact that the spells were permanent and would be activated by the bonding spells of the brood, she'd fled the state rather then causing Elise any more pain.

For ten years, she'd wandered the globe while making Haven her home base. Last year, she'd attended the Fire Feast and, drunk on wine and the aphrodisiac properties common with the feast, hooked up with the equally intoxicated Cosimo. With the birth of Sidda, she'd wanted to return home.

Now, she just had to face Elise and Brielle. She called the magic store and left a message. She was sure the two would be showing up on her porch soon.

Mercedes looked up when Cosimo flopped onto the wicker chaise across from her. "She asleep?"

"Finally. Are we expecting company?"

"Neither was available when I called but I left a message. I expect them to come out here soon."

Cosimo lifted his head, ran a hand through his wavy black hair and scowled at her with his green eyes. "So long as you tell them I'm actually gay. You were an drunken aberration."

"You make me feel so special, Cosimo."

It was only a few hours later, as Cosimo was out shopping for their dinner, when Elise and Brielle spilled out of a taxi and onto her front walk. With baby Sidda strapped to her chest, Mercedes greeted them. "Hi."

[Maira]

Elise had been out of the country for a month on a business trip when the call came into the shop and Brielle had been visiting her family in Cedar Valley. The young man who had taken Mercedes' message, like all the other staff in prior years, had been given strict orders to alert both women if a call came in from Mercedes or anybody mentioning her name, and so he had done as he was told. Elise wasn't able to be reached, but Brielle had nearly dropped her phone when Max called her with the news. Gathering up Celeste from Uncle Trey's farm, Brielle had then called her Grandpa Darius to beg use of the gateways at his home, or at the very least his private jet because she needed to get back to New Orleans immediately. Always a soft touch for his grandchildren, he'd happily helped the girls get home.

At the airport, Brielle flagged down a taxi and gave the driver directions to Bayou House. On the drive out to the bayou, Brielle tried her damndest to reach Elise but for some reason the other woman's phone wasn't ringing through. Eventually she gave up and just sent a text message reading: She's home at Bayou House!

After what seemed like forever, the taxi pulled to a stop in front of Bayou House. Brielle practically fell out of the the taxi and Celeste's exit wasn't any more graceful. As she'd grown, the girl's hair had taken on first a strawberry hue, and then a more firey one as she'd aged. At 14 now, her hair was nearly the shade that Elise's was which gave her a twinge of satisfaction every time she realized it. Brielle was her family by blood, and everybody thought she was Elise's and considering the two women had raised her together that suited the girl just fine.

While Celeste gawked at the lady with a baby, faint memories drifting back to her, she heard Mercedes greet them and then watched in shock as Brielle bolted toward the woman without even paying the driver. Realizing her mother's forgetfulness, Celeste grabbed the bags out of the taxi trunk and fished Brielle's wallet out of hers. She gave the driver enough cash and then watched as he backed around and then pulled out of the driveway.

When she turned back to Brielle and Mercedes, Celeste was only slightly surprised to witness Brielle kissing the top of the baby's head and then Mercedes' forehead. She saw the women's lips moving and not for the first time Celeste wished she had either of her moms' heightened hearing. Giving up, she gathered the bags as best she could and lumbered up to the porch awkwardly.

*****

As soon as Brielle saw Mercedes standing waiting for her, all thoughts of the taxi driver and Celeste fled. When Mercedes spoke, her heart clenched at hearing her voice again and she had to blink through tears as she ran to the other woman. Only when she was about to launch herself at Mercedes did she realize there was a baby strapped to her chest. She slowed, tilted her head curiously, and then caught herself smiling despite the misgivings now growing in her gut.

"Who is this?" she asked softly, not wanting to startle the wide-eyed little girl. As Mercedes explained about her little daughter, Brielle just smiled at the girl. Sidda seemed very fascinated by her and Brielle wanted to make a good impression. When Mercedes finished, Brielle looked up at her and asked hopefully, "So her father's magic made it safe for you to be with Elise? And he's gay? Does that mean you're here to be with us?" At Mercedes' nod, Brielle enveloped both woman and child gently in her arms and kissed first the baby's head and then her one-time lover's forehead before whispering to Mercedes, "I never stopped loving you, I'm so glad you're home!"

[Demeter]

Mercedes had turned over the estate's river gatehouse to him for his use. He could do what he wanted with the space so long as the exterior features remained true to the era it had been built in. Given that he and the antebellum construction were of a similar age, he was mostly comfortable with the space. It just needed updated, UV repelling windows and few other tweaks. So, there he stood, Sidda asleep in the sling across his chest, talking with one half of the team from a local construction firm about those updates.

He knew he was getting some strange looks; the elder of this two personal team was what Cosimo deemed the stereotypical southern man. Childrearing was woman's work and here he was with a baby drooling on his chest. He was also getting some interesting looks from the younger builder as well. His were far more promising; Cosimo thought and plotted on sneaking his phone number to the hottie contractor.

Like all the Alati of his variety, he could perform sexually with men and woman but on emotional and mental levels, he found more fulfillment with men. Indeed, in his personal relationships outside of his former role, he found real intimacy with his own gender. His new role in life he'd be free to explore that deeper.

Now that he was one of Mercedes' keepers, he could no longer be summoned.

At only two hundred years of age, Cosimo was one of the youngest in his clan. Last year's fire feast had been his first time representing the clan at an official Haven function and he'd messed that up big time by enacting the ancient thrall spells.

At least, he had thought so at the time. So had Grandfather, the head of the clan, and the man had come down on him hard. He'd been taking his punishment when the Oracle had sashayed into the clan's meeting hall and told the old man to shut his mouth. The spells placed on Mercedes by the Neri's had acted on their own in the heat of the moment.

She'd had time to study the spells and deemed them a bastardized, generic version of thrall spells. The Neri's had somehow twisted the spells to their own purposes. Almost alive, the spells would seek out one who could use them. She supposed that the spells recognized that Cosimo had the ability to use Thrall Spells and reached out but, being only spells, the net of spellwork over Mercedes wouldn't have known that his abilities were superior. While the network was still there, the magic had been squished.

Cosimo's presence kept the old spells subjugated to his whims and he wished for Mercedes to live her life freely.

Downside, he was attached to her for all time. Upside, he could no longer be summoned, was frequently fed Italian and, of course, Sidda.

He patted the baby's head and watched as Hottie Contractor bent over. Yeah, things could be so much worse.

...

Mercedes wandered into the Bayou beyond her house. She felt at home in the humid shadows. Even though she'd been gone for a decade, she knew the whispers and rumors about the owner of the big plantation house persisted. And how true they were.

She may have had a magic shop in The Big Easy and a workshop her at the house but the Bayou was her spot for magic. In the deep shadows of the flooded cypress groves, she was queen.

But there was more now; she could all but taste Brielle, Elise, and Celeste in the bayou. They'd cared for what was hers even when she'd run from them. And now they'd welcomed her home. They'd heard from Elise in the middle of the night; she was working her way across the globe from whatever far flung place she'd found this time.

She knew that Elise had taken Brielle as her bonded partner per Brood Traditions. It hurt, just a little, to know that but she also knew how much more it would hurt if the spells on her had been able to twist the brood magic. There was still fear, she thought but also hope. Romi had come when he'd heard what she and Cosimo had done. He'd come but he hadn't been able to make her do anything. He'd tried with all his strength to force her to do something but she'd been able to push the orders away. He'd summoned his cousin Thanos and even their combined wills had not made her bend.

So long as she had Cosimo around, she was free of her Neri Curse. She knew there were tests happening in Haven. Other survivors of the Neri Harem had come and been put under the thrall spells of Cosimo's clan in order to test how the superior spells contained the Neri spells. She'd been a test subjected until she'd learned of Sidda. Now she was just subject 00; the control subject. She and Cosimo just went about their lives.

She sincerely hoped that both Elise and Brielle would be okay with his presence. And the fact that every now and then they might bump uglies. It kept his role as master of her spells in place. And, you know, because he was Sidda's father. Children made everything complicated.

She half turned at the sound of crashing underbrush. She shook her head as Teacup, still young even though she'd lived a Dane's life twice over now, bounced towards her. Waddling behind the giant was Moose, the squat little Corgi she'd rescued two years ago. The little dog was determined to keep up with Teacup no matter what route she took. He was currently festooned with plant life.

Mercedes squatted down to pull leaves and vines off the little dog. "There are paths, you know."

Both dogs just shrugged their mental shoulders and Moose wiggled free to investigate. Mercedes shoot a look at Teacup. "Keep him away from the Gators."

She sat in her swamp for hours, just soaking in the feeling of being home. She knew the moment Elise stepped into the area. "Hello, Elise. I'm home. I'm sorry for leaving but I'm fixed now, sort of."

[Maira]

Elise had gotten Brielle's multitude of frantic voicemails and text messages as soon as she had left the Holding that she'd stumbled into. She hadn't realized she'd been there for a week until her phone practically exploded from notifications. Luckily, they had only mostly come through in the past couple days.

Now that she was finally home at Bayou House, she could no longer ignore the tightly wound knot in her stomach and all because of one question: Why was Mercedes really here?

Feeling her former lover's presence in the bayou that the house was named for, Elise left the man she travelled with in Brielle's gawking care and she went to find Mercedes.

*****

"So," pried Brielle not at all slyly, "you came home with Elise because..."

"Mom!" Celeste yelled before turning to the extremely tall man, "I'm really sorry about her. Sometimes I'm almost certain she is the sixteen year old..." Celeste missed the man's smirk as she shot her adoptive mother a glare over her shoulder.

With a soft chuckle, Rory answered Celeste and then Brielle, "Your other mother warned me all about her so don't worry. I'm prepared." THe look Rory got from Celeste at that implied that no, he really wasn't prepared for Brielle. Next, he turned to the dark haired woman and finally answered her, "I came home with her to ask your blessing to take her as my mate."

Brielle's head tipped to one side curiously and she seemed to short-circuit because nothing came out of her mouth. Even Hellcat was shocked into silence.

Hiding a smirk behind his hand, Rory coughed lightly and then cleared his throat before explaining further. "Elise stumbled into my home Holding, delirious from fever from ignoring her flight cycle. Our healers medically induced her flight, triggering a shift into her dragon form, and I came in second in the flight. The one who caught her, initially, wound up losing a wing membrane to her temper and that's when I caught her. She tried to take my head off but instead I helped her complete the flight. When she tried to slit my throat when we woke up in bed together the next day I by some miracle calmed her down long enough for her to explain just why on earth she'd gone nearly 10 years since her last real flight. Being only part Brood, she luckily didn't suffer any permanent damage from ignoring her biological demands."

Celeste, gawked first at Rory and then at Brielle. When after a moment Brielle still didn't say anything, Celeste nudged her in the ribs and muttered, "Mom, say something!"

Brielle shook her head, starting to get some function back in her brain thanks to Celeste's nudging. "Um..." she tried before clearing her throat and starting over. "So, a dragon flight. The kind that results in baby dragons? Or did the healers think to give her the medication that prevents that?"

It was Rory's turn to get a little awkward. His face flushed as red as Elise's hair and he stuttered, "Th-they neglected t-to give her the medicine."

Clearly by the look on his face, Rory was expecting Brielle to be furious that the woman she'd been partnered with for nearly a decade had come home knocked up by some stranger. Instead, he got an armfull of Brielle as she launched herself at him. She wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him on the cheek before bouncing away to Celeste and practically yelling, "You're going to be a big sister!" The happy dance that came after was hilariously uncoordinated and her sisters would have been totally embarassed had they seen it.

*****

As soon as Elise stepped into the tiny clearing that Mercedes had situated herself in, the other woman started talking to her. Elise's ears perked up at hearing Mercedes's words and she hoped that they meant what she thought. She also hoped that Mercedes would be as thrilled at the news of her pregnancy as Brielle seemed to be on the other end of their partner bond.

The nerves in her stomach were about to make her lose her lunch, or maybe it was the pregnancy, so Elise stepped forward quickly, lifted Mercedes in her arms, and twisted the smaller woman to face her. As soon as her eyes met the other woman's, Elise knew that the love she'd been missing for 10 years hadn't faded at all in the time Mercedes had been away. Before her logical mind could stop her, Elise felt herself kissing Mercedes soundly.

[Demeter]

Mercedes may have made a meeping noise when she was suddenly being kissed by Elise. She wasn't really sure and she honestly didn't care. Moose, however, was not having any of it. If not for Teacup's hold on his ear, Elise would have found her ankles being gnawed on.

Mercedes eventually, and very reluctantly, pulled away from Elise. "We should talk. Big, world shattering changes have happened. One of those changes is why I could come back. I had to leave. You'd learned that bonds could form spontaneously. I couldn't risk it, couldn't risk you being hurt by those damn spells. There is a triad group down in Haven, a very trusting Triad, who are currently experimenting with how the spells react to a Brood bond when contained by even better thrall spells that cancel out the Neri spells."

Mercedes paused and blinked at the confused look on Elise's face. "Ah, let me start from the beginning. About eleven months ago, I met this guy and....shoot," Mercedes broke off and glanced down at the spreading wet patches on her blouse. "Dang it, gone too long. Come with me," she said and started to pull Elise from the swamp; the dogs bounding after them.

She dragged Elise from the swamp and across the property to the River house where Cosimo stood in the doorway.

"Its about damn time you got here. The midget is hangry," Cosimo said.

"How many times have I asked you not to call her a Midget?"

"Look, while you're not exactly fun-sized, you're not model worthy and the genes of the statuesque gods I'm descended from passed me by. Face it, the kid is doomed."

Mercedes peered down at her daughter's face. Yes, her little empress was getting very hangry. "You may be right but you can't keep calling her a midget. Hand her over." Mercedes took her daughter from Cosimo and turned to face Elise. The woman was blinking in confusion.

"Ah, these are some if those big changes. This is my daughter, Sidda. Two months old. And that is Cosimo Santis, her father and the how as to why I've come back. Let's go inside."

***
Cosimo warily watched the Brood as they followed Mercedes into the small house. Brielle had warned him about Elise and how the woman still felt very strongly about Mercedes. He was slightly concerned that the woman would take his head off. Especially when she started to growl at him as Mercedes unbuttoned her blouse to nurse Sidda.

Cosimo held up his hands. "Just to clear the air, while I know what to do with lady boobs, I personally prefer a set of hard, manly pectorals. Lady boobs do little for me and sweaty, hairy man boobs make me gag. I've got some cousins who'd wet themselves for man boobs but that branch of the family is a little off."

The woman now looked just dumbfounded so Cosimo turned to Mercedes and waved his hands. "Please, explain that I'm just your baby daddy and Neri suppressor."

Mercedes motioned to him. "So, this is the guy I met about 11 months ago now. We were very drunk and under the influence of god knows what. The Fire Feast in Haven isn't exactly a church social and we hooked up. Cosimo is part of the Santis Clan, a old and powerful clan of Succubi and Incubi. Between the various substances and elements of the Feast, there are like no inhibitions and we hooked up. I'm gay; he's gay. We just didn't care.

"When we tumbled into the nearest stable surface, something happened with the spells the Neri's put on me. It is like the recognized that Cosmio could manipulate thralls spells and reached out. Because they are brainless spells, they didn't know that Cosimo's magic would crush them. The working theory is that the thrall spells used by Cosimo's clan reacted to the Neri spells by trying to overpower them. We think that the Neri spells are actually some sort of stolen, bastardized version of the inherent magic of the Santis Clan but anyone who would know is hopefully dead and anything written is in ashes. They are conducting experiments in Haven; Santis Clan members have a stronger affect on the Neri spells. Anyway, the two sets of spells has more or less cancelled each other out. So, as long as Cosimo is around, the spells are inactive. The current hypothesis is that we might have to be together every now and then, to keep the spells suppressed."

Worrying her lower lip between her teeth, Mercedes looked up at Elise. "I know it isn't ideal but this is just about the only way I can be with you. If you still want me, that is."

[Maira]

Believing that Mercedes had left so that she wouldn't accidentally bond with her had hurt Elise deeply. Hearing the words from the other woman's own mouth now, confirming her fears of the past ten years, was devastating. Her own biological nature was what had chased Mercedes away. But somehow, this random incubus was able to control the spells that had been cast on Mercedes and that meant she could finally come home. It took a stranger's magic to make it safe for Mercedes to even be around Elise. It took every ounce of her willpower to not bolt from the River House as Mercedes continued to explain the current situation.

Only when Mercedes finished talking, saying that it would now be possible for them to be together if Elise still wanted her, did Elise get up from where she'd been sitting. She crossed the small distance to Mercedes and knelt in front of her, taking the other woman's delicate hands in her own. With a smile on her face and hope shining in her eyes, Elise teased, "If I still want you? Really? Was my greeting in the bayou not enough to show you?"

Then, a bit more seriously, she added, "You know my answer, but in case you need to actually hear the words, 'Yes Mercedes, I want you. I will always...'" A shaky breath interrupted her words then and she looked down at their joined hands. After a moment Elise took a steadying breath and plunged on into her own news. "I will always want you, but there are somethings you need to know too. My trip didn't go exactly as planned and that's why Brielle couldn't reach me when you first got home." Here, Elise relayed the same story that Rory had given to Brielle and Celeste. As she ended the story, one hand slipped free from Mercedes and hovered just over her womb.

She hadn't realized she was crying until tears landed on her folded knees and in a rush she pulled away her other hand, stood, and turned away so she could wipe the tears from her face. She hated crying, and tears weren't going to help this situation at all so she did her best to get them under control, all the while waiting for Mercedes to say something.

[Demeter]

Bayou House became an interesting collection of couples. They pretty much mixed and matched with each other; the three women and two men. Mercedes was damn sure Celeste thought them some sort of science experiment and Sidda ruled the house. Unrestrained compulsion magic was a dangerous thing but the baby’s powers were limited. She demanded normal baby things and if the adults were a little quicker to answer those demands, no one said a thing. Cosimo was already asking his mother for advice on how do deal as Sidda grew.

Two months ago, she’d told Elise that duh, of course she still wanted her. It was why she’d hightailed it out of Haven the moment she knew it was safe. If Elise now came with Rory and spawn of her own, that was okay. After all, she had her own spawn and Cosimo.

Now, on what could only be described as an idyllic Sunday morning, she watched from the kitchen window as Elise and Celeste took the dogs and the kid into the yard for playtime. Behind her, the baby daddies were slumped over the kitchen’s dinette set while Brielle was somewhere upstairs.

“I told you two not to join Brielle in any drinking games. She can drink men twice your sizes under the table.”

Cosimo just groaned and Rory told her to shut it. Smirking, just a little evil-like, Mercedes reached over and flipped the blender on to finish off her hangover remedy. The two men had crawled over from the carriage house to beg it from her but she was going to make them suffer a little for it. She watched their reflections as Cosimo buried his head in his arms and Rory hissed at her.

She flipped the blender off and poured out two glasses. She plunked the glasses down on the table. “Chug it down, boys,” she cackled, knowing just how vile the mix was.

She laughed at they cursed and Cosimo’s insistence that she was trying to kill him. Leaving the boys to their misery, she left the kitchen to join Elise and Celeste. They sat on the grass; Sidda giggling as the dogs goofed off.

When the storm came in the afternoon, they retreated into the house. While the others snoozed or watched movies in the den, Mercedes stood out on the screen in porch, Teacup by her side, and surveyed her property. There was something or someone out there, hurt and lost in the Bayou. In her time away, she’d finally taken the time to study her mother’s spell books and had learned new ways to read the wards around the house.

Whatever was just inside the wards was no threat to her but it was threatened. She closed her eyes and traced along her mental links to draw Cosimo to her. The ladies of his clan had taught her how to visualize the net of spells over her mind.

The ones cast over her by the Neris was a sick green color, caught in the stranglehold of a red net. An extension of the Fierro spells that currently bound her to Cosimo, they’d said, that was choking the life from the Neri spells. The network of the Fierro spells was a sparking bright gold color. And there were strands that led to her people. The bright white gold that was Cosimo. Pink gold for Sidda and from that one sprouted the red gold for Elise, blue gold for Brielle, brown gold for Rory and even a green gold for Celeste. Somehow they were all being linked together.

She opened her eyes when she felt Cosimo step up next to her. “There’s something or someone out there,” she said and nodded to the wilderness beyond her tame lawn. “Hurt. Lost. Terrified.”

He surveyed the property, casting his incubus senses out wide. Incubi were, at their base, empaths and they’d honed the skill to pick off those who were easy prey. He found the knot of emotion just inside the borders of the property. Fear, hunger, pain, tired, cold and blackness bombarded him. Further out, he found anger and ugly lust. “Whatever it is, it is being hunted. Take Rory with you,” he said while tugging on that strand.

Soon enough, a bewildered half-dragon was standing next to them. Cosimo clapped him on the shoulder, said he’d explain later but now there was a soul in danger and shoved him out into storm behind Mercedes. He blinked when a Lynx also went bounding past him.

***
Spencer sat in the mud, huddled against the side of a hollow cypress tree, and hoped he wasn’t found. It had been hours since Mama had created a distraction that had allowed him escape and he didn’t know if she’d survived the repercussions.

A decade ago, the man had killed Papa and taken himself and Mama as captives. He’d been mostly ignored; kept alive as convenient way to keep Mama in line. He’d had food, enough to keep him alive but too little to really let him thrive. He’d been content to be ignored but then the man’s son had grown up to be like his sire. He’d taken a fancy to Spencer and, just a few months ago, had taken him as his own.

He’d been instructed to call the son ‘Husband,’ though no ceremony had occurred and to let the son exercise his marital rights as often as he wanted. He did as he was told, aware that Mama was being used to keep him in line as he was used for her. He wore the dowdy woman’s clothing, and the provocative underwear that Husband had liked, and remained silent when that man administered the hormone injections that softened his appearance.

And then he’d started talking about surgery to turn Spencer into his ideal partner. That was when Mama had stepped in, created a distraction and ordered him to run. He’d only stopped after slipping and twisting his ankle. Every step from the slippery bank of the swamp to the hollowed out cypress had been agony.

***

Mercedes trekked through the swamp, Rory at her back while Brielle, in her Lynx form, and Teacup scouted ahead. When asked why she’d come along, Brielle had replied that Rory might have been a dragon but the swamp was close quarters and not very friendly for a dragon of his size.

She heard the sounds first. A yell, a scream, Teacup’s growl, a gunshot, and a Lynx’s scream. She looked at Rory and both of them ran in that direction.

[Maira]

The two months that Mercedes had been home were bliss for Brielle. Her life was once again how it should be, with a few extra perks in the forms of Rory, Cosimo, Sidda, and Elise's unborn baby. Her heart was as full as Bayou House was and that was just how she liked it, having grown up in a large close-knit family.

It was a nice lazy Sunday and Brielle had been curled up with Elise and Rory, snoozing while the other two watched a movie, when suddenly she was jostled awake as Rory hurried from the couch out to the porch. Through their new partner bond, formed when Elise and Rory officially became mates, Brielle could sense Rory's unease at having been oddly summoned by Cosimo. She eavesdropped on the conversation long enough to know that while a dragon's ferocity and strength might keep Mercedes safe, her lynx's size, speed, and familiarity with the bayou, would help Mercedes find what she was looking for faster. With a quick kiss for Elise, Brielle stripped right there in the den and bounded out the door onto the porch that Rory had left open in his passing.

Elise had been listening too, but as a pregnant Brood she would be of no help. She couldn't even shift into dragon form so she'd be relegated to trying to help in her human form. When Brielle popped up off the couch and shifted, obviously going to help, Elise couldn't help but pout. All three of her people were going without her and she couldn't keep them safe.

******

It didn't take Hellcat long to find an unfamiliar scent in the bayou. She and Teacup both picked up on it at the same time and were bounding after it together. Teacup leapt over a log before her, and a yell sounded from the other side. The lynx was already mid-air and when she landed, the yell turned into a scream. Apparently they had found the source of the unfamiliar scent.

Brielle, suddenly forefront in their mind while still in lynx form, was shocked into stillness at the sight of her brother Zach, wearing tattered women's clothing, cowering against an old cypress tree. She was staring at him when Teacup let out a loud threatening growl which was quickly followed by the sound of a gunshot. Hellcat was screaming in pain and protest as she wheeled around and launched blindly at the source of the gunshot. The lynx managed to land on the hunter's chest, knocking his rifle out of his reach as the pair of them tumbled to the ground, Hellcat trying for the man's throat. In an instant Teacup was beside her, sparing one sniff for Hellcat's gun wound, and then baring her teeth and snarling viciously at the hunter that Hellcat had flattened.

It wasn't long before the sounds of two humans, Mercedes and Rory, came crashing through the underbrush.

[Demeter]

After assembling some medical supplies, Cosimo sat with Elise on the screened in porch and waited for their people to return. Celeste had been ordered to keep the baby, guarded by the loyal Moose, upstairs in case whatever was out there followed them back. They both felt the moment Hellcat was injured; jerked by the phantom pains in their sides. Cosimo ignored the ache as he tried to keep the half-brood from going out after them. The two of them would be more of a hinderance then help if there was fighting.

***
The dog, biggest he’d ever seen, stood in front of him. The feline, oddly familiar, had pounced after the shot. Two more beings appeared; the male of the duo wrestling the feline back while the woman did something and then the Man’s Son was simply nothing more than a swamp log. Spencer blinked rapidly as he watched the log drift away down the swamp. Had that really just happened, he thought as he turned to stare at the odd quartet of beings. He was pretty sure they’d just saved him; he just wasn’t sure if that was a good thing. He watched, weary snd wary, as the woman edged towards him.

***
Mercedes blocked out the sound of Rory trying to reason Hellcat into staying in her Lynx form. His logic was sound as the gunshot to the Lynx wasn’t horrid but would be so on the woman. She looked on as Teacup bellied over to the boy huddled against the cypress tree.

As Rory worked a field dressing onto the Lynx, Mercedes slowly moved closer to the boy until she was crouched down next to him. With a simple command and subtle hand movements, she had him drifting off to sleep. She gently lowered him to the ground before looking over at Rory and Hellcat. “What in the hell is this?” she said.

***
Teacup bounded out from the trees first and was followed by Rory carrying the Lynx. This time, Cosimo didn’t keep Elise from running off to her people but followed after her. He came up to Mercedes, last out of the trees, and the prone figure floating next to her. He glanced over the body, taking in the signs of abuse and captivity. They’d both volunteered in the shelters of Haven and done work in the little talked about slums of the great city. They didn’t need words of any kind to know that this boy had been through hell.

By the time they reached the house and had deposited the boy on a spare room bed, Brielle had been allowed to shift back and was receiving medical care while on the phone with her younger brother’s husband. She wanted to know exactly where the hell Zach was. Mercedes listened, shaking her head at how protective Brielle’s family was of all it’s members, as she gathered supplies to treat the boy.

Summoning Celeste, Mercedes returned to the spare room. The girl wanted to learn and knowing the medicinal properties of herbs and magic were part of learning. Cosimo had been busy while she’d been gathering supplies. The tattered dress had been remove and so had the woman’s underclothing he’d apparently been wearing. She raised an eyebrow at the quality of those garments. Cosimo has draped a towel over the boy to preserve his modesty and together they worked to wash away the mud from his body.

They both looked up when Celeste came into the room, took one look at the boy and said his name. “That’s Spencer Rose. He and his mother went missing about ten years ago. They just did this big media thing on the disappearance and we talked about it in school.”

Celeste turned as the rest of her family edged into the room. “It was a big deal when he and his mom went missing because the dad’s body was found about the same time. They covered everything from the parents marriage, Spencer’s adoption, the murder and disappearance, to what is going on with current investigation.

Brielle had perked up at the words adoption before running off, muttering the words about DNA tests, baby snatchers and damage control.