Page 10 of My Haven (Bewitched and Bewildered #16)

Without missing a step, she hooked her left foot behind her to kick the back of his knee, causing him to stumble. He was still grumbling when the door shut behind them.

“Men, move out,” Caiden ordered.

He paused when he heard his mother say, “They won’t mind.” But decided ignorance was bliss and headed out to the training area with his unit.

*****

Hunter was bent in half, breathing hard, when he reached out a hand to grab Caiden’s arm. “How...how is he still moving?” he asked, gasping for air.

Caiden was having a hard time breathing himself, so he simply shrugged. “He’s our Unit Commander for a reason,” he managed to reply.

The only one who was keeping up with Aiden was Bryok. An hour after they started, the fae returned from his ‘Button Mission’ and had been in lock step with their commander since.

“We’re not that bad,” Zev said, staring at the two men circling one another in the training area.

“I believe it is not that we are bad, it is that they are that good,” Konstantine added.

Bryok paused and pointed in their direction. “The kids are tired.”

Caiden bristled a bit at being called a kid, but realized Bryok was probably much older. He bowed to both Aiden and Bryok. “Commander, if the men aren’t up to standards, blame me. I have clearly failed them.”

Aiden grinned and shook his head. “You’re the third unit leader to say something similar after running drills with me for the first time.

” He pointed to the woods. “Noctem Falls is protected by the earth, éire Danu is protected by being in another plane, and Storm Keep is protected by magic. Lycaonia however, up until recently, didn’t have any protective measures for the city.

We fought ferals on a regular basis, so, our drills are a bit more intense. ”

Bryok reached down and picked up a bottle of water before passing it to him. “All of the éire Danu warriors were limping for days after their first session with our commander.”

“Got room for one more?” a voice called out.

They turned and Caiden laughed. “Where in the fuck have you been?”

Mikel Appleblossom walked up; his bike helmet tucked under his arm. “Chasing bad decisions.” He walked up and clasped forearms with him before turning to Aiden. “Being mated looks good on you.”

Aiden pulled him into a bear hug and pounded on his back. “Damn good to see you. I heard my mate made you an Elder.”

Mikel winced. “I am both humbled by her faith in me and finding myself wanting to run for the hills.”

Caiden smiled at the reunion. It was common knowledge that Mikel had been chosen to be the witch warrior for Alpha when Aiden took over. “Where are you staying?” he asked.

Mikel groaned. “I want to crawl back and hide in the Sigma unit house, but I have too many asses to kick at the Fire Temple.”

Aiden cracked his knuckles. “I’m ready to go whenever you are.”

Zev stood from tying his boot laces. “Why are we kicking asses at the Fire Temple?”

Aiden’s face darkened. “Because they went after a unit warrior’s family.”

Hunter growled low. “Who did they dare go after?”

“My baby sister,” Mikel said, through clenched teeth.

“Welp, fuck then. Let’s go,” Zev said, pulling out his sidearm.

“You okay with Nu playing escort?” Caiden asked.

Mikel grinned evilly. “It makes more sense for you to play escort than my old unit, you have more political clout.”

“Alright men, we get a break from Aiden and Bryok to help Mikel beat some high-handed assholes at the Fire Temple,” he announced.

“Thank the gods,” Konstantine muttered.

Aiden looked around. “You drive over?”

Zev chuckled. “No sir. Like Lycaonia, Storm Keep was built in a time before cars.”

“Carriages?” Aiden asked.

Caiden reached into his pocket and pulled out his keys. “No sir, ATVs.”

Aiden grinned. “Let’s go.”

*****

Caiden led the men to their normal parking spots just inside the outer wall in the Lower City. They paid a nice couple every year for the ability to park there. What the couple made from the units had supported their families for generations.

Mikel took point and walked them through the Lower City, up the Market Road to the walled gate separating the Lower City and the Inner City. They walked through the gate, and he turned to head west toward the Fire Temple.

Two stooges in Academy Robes stood on either side of the gate protecting the temple.

Mikel walked straight toward them. When they saw him approaching, they held up their hands.

“Stop. No one is permitted to enter the Fire Temple without the council’s permission,” the one on the right declared with a sneer on his face.

Mikel simply backhanded him, causing the man to land in a heap on the ground. “Your failure to recognize me just shows how lacking the Academy is lately,” he said, standing over the man.

The second one made the mistake of grabbing Mikel’s arm. His former unit brother reared back and punched him. The man howled clutching at his face.

Mikel stepped over the man and pushed at the gate. It swung wide at the touch of his hand. “Gentlemen, I welcome you to the Fire Temple, watch your step, someone left trash just outside.”

Aiden was all smiles as they followed Mikel through the temple grounds.

When they got to the main building Andrei met them at the door. “You do not have the council’s permission to be here!”

Mikel stared, then pointed to the temple’s large, elaborate gardens. “I do not have permission to be in my own home? Since when?”

Andrei sputtered.

Aiden leaned in and rested an elbow on Mikel’s shoulder. “This is the man that abused Zoe on a daily basis and tried to force her into a mating.” Seconds later he had to step back as the air around the witch became superheated.

Andrei held up his hands. “I helped her with her duties!”

Mikel stepped away from them, moving toward Andrei, the man stepped back. “What duties could a barely of age witch possibly have?” he asked.

“We had her run the Temple, since an Appleblossom has always been in charge of the Fire Temple. If you did not want her performing those duties, you shouldn’t have left,” Andrei said, backing up even more.

Caiden blinked and missed Mikel grabbing the arm of the officious man. Andrei began to shriek in pain, trying desperately to pull away. “You have five minutes to clear the temple grounds of any Academy or Witches’ Council personnel. I cannot guarantee their safety or lives after that.”

Andrei collapsed, then struggled to his feet to scramble away from them.

Aiden looked at Mikel. “That was anti-climactic,” he complained.

“Come now, Commander. One, do you really think they’ll listen? And two, do you think that will be the end of it?”

Zev looked at the sprawling building. “You going to invite us in?”

Mikel bowed. “Welcome, to my humble abode. This is the main house, over there is the temple proper.”

Caiden shook his head. “Humble, my ass.”

As they walked through the family estate, Caiden noticed that Mikel’s expression darkened. “Our family’s heirlooms are gone. Paintings are missing. It looks like everything has been stripped bare.”

He stopped, then suddenly turned left. He led them down a hall and stopped at the end. He hesitated, then opened the door. One by one the men filed in.

Hunter looked around. “Was this a storage room?”

Mikel reached up to place a hand on the wall to steady himself. “This was Zoe’s room.”

Caiden looked around and a cold rage settled in his chest. He knew that Mikel had spoiled Zoe no less than he had Amelia. There was nothing in this room that showed anyone lived there, much less the youngest daughter of the house.

“Did she already move her things?” Mikel asked, his voice dark.

Aiden placed a comforting hand on Mikel’s shoulder. “She arrived in éire Danu with a single suitcase and has not been back since.”

The wall under Mikel’s hand was soon scorched.

Aiden kept his hand on Mikel’s shoulder. “She has been spoiled by her mate, the unit warriors, her mate’s mother, her athair , Meryn, the queen and her sons. She has left her painful memories behind her,” Aiden said, in even tones.

Mikel took a deep breath and turned to face them.

“I bought her furniture for her eighty-fifth birthday. It was custom order. She looked forward to it for months. She had a rug that belonged to our fae great-grandmother, she would lay on it and read,” his voice broke, and he took another deep breath.

“Mikel…” Aiden began.

Mikel shook his head. “You don’t understand! Our parents never let her leave the temple grounds. They feared her powers. All she had was this room! I tried to make it a sanctuary, they turned it into a true prison. This was her entire world.”

Zev inhaled, Konstantine looked around as the weight of Mikel’s words sunk in.

Mikel turned to him, his eyes bright with unshed tears. “They imprisoned her, fed her garbage and worked her from morning ‘til night. How can I get those years back? How can I make this right?”

Caiden could not imagine coming home and hearing that Amelia had been abused in his absence. In truth he marveled at Mikel restraint. “You let your brothers help you rip justice from those bastards, one body part at a time.”

Mikel had barely gotten his breathing evened out when they heard pounding on the gate. He looked up at Aiden. “My getting appointed as Elder and then being sent to Tribunal for murder in less than a week, could set records.”

“You only face a Tribunal if you leave people alive to protest,” Aiden pointed out.

Bryok laughed and pointed. “Aiden McKenzie, those were Meryn’s words coming out of your mouth.”

Aiden smiled softly. “I’ve said it before and will say it until I die, she is the best part of me.”

The pounding grew louder as they walked toward the gate.

Mikel took a deep breath and opened the gates wide. On the other side Karl Brugmansia, a trembling Andrei and uniformed men stood on the other side.

Karl inclined his head to Aiden and Caiden. When he saw Mikel, he paused. “Mikel, I didn’t know you had returned to Storm Keep. Are you moving back?”

“Where are my family’s assets?” Mikel asked, ignoring the question.

Karl’s eyebrows rose. “What family assets?”

Mikel pointed to the main building. “Every heirloom, painting, and stick of furniture has been stripped from my home.”

Karl shrugged. “I’m sure they were moved to a more secure location in the event Zoe had a mishap. She was alone you realize.”

“You have until sundown to return every item along with the money taken from the estate accounts,” Mikel demanded.

Karl sighed. “That may take some time.”

“Why is that?”

“We were looking out for Zoe and invested most of the money, to help maintain the funds to operate the temple,” he explained.

“There should have been more than enough to run the temple,” Mikel said, grinding out each word.

“I fear your parents took quite a bit out of the accounts when they left,” Karl said, his eyes sympathetic.

“Left to go where exactly? I looked for them without success,” Mikel asked.

Karl shook his head. “I didn’t ask. Your mother was in tears, nerves frayed, following a fire Zoe set. Both of your parents came to ask us to watch over Zoe and the temple in their absence.”

“Bullshit! They could have come to me,” Mikel refuted.

“Mikel, you were already serving as a unit leader, your attention would have been split,” Karl pointed out.

“So, they just left?”

Karl nodded, looking sad. “They said they needed a break.”

Mikel straightened. “I would appreciate it if all Academy and Council personnel leave the premises. I will resume temple management whist I wait for Morigan to return.”

Karl’s eyebrows rose. “I thought I heard that you are the newly appointed Elder in éire Danu.”

Mikel nodded looking distracted. “The queen and other council members have given me leave to get things sorted,” he rolled his eyes. “You and I both know that it doesn’t take much to act as an Elder in éire Danu.”

Caiden’s eyes cut to Bryok at that statement, but the man simply watched with a bored expression.

Karl nodded knowingly. “I’ll see to it that our personnel are recalled and your home assets returned this evening,” he promised.

“Thank you,” Mikel said.

“Good to have you home, Mikel,” Karl said, warmly.

“Sir! My arm!” Andrei yelled, holding up a mangled forearm.

Mikel glared at him. “You know why you deserve that.”

Karl gave a short nod and steered the protesting Andrei away. Once the men left, Mikel shut the gates and nodded toward the building.

Once inside, he cast a soundproofing spell.

Aiden exhaled. “He was lying and telling the truth, wasn’t he?”

Mikel simply nodded. “He lied about my parents taking most of the money, but he didn’t lie about them wanting to leave.”

Caiden had forgotten about Mikel’s ability to tell if someone was lying.

Aiden rubbed his chin. “You’ve gotten better, there was no glow that I could see.”

“I perfected the spell so that there’s no outward indicator that it’s running. It became increasingly annoying when people knew the spell was active. It became mental gymnastics with them wording things in a specific way to avoid lying,” Mikel explained.

“You fudged the truth a bit yourself when he asked about your Elder duties,” Caiden pointed out.

“And he relaxed when he believed I was simply angry about the furnishings. I was a good witch son, returning home and taking care of business. My flippant care over my Elder duties might be enough to make him careless, but I won’t bet on it,” Mikel said, looking tired.

“Your parents?” Caiden guessed.

“We butted heads constantly when it came to Zoe. Morigan and I hated how she was treated but could do nothing about it. It made us see them in a different light.”

“Do you really think they abandoned Zoe?” Aiden asked.

Mikel hesitated, then nodded slowly. “They never knew what to do with her. Their own insecurities had them relying on the Witches’ Council at every turn in regard to Zoe’s upbringing.

Each accident eroded a bit more of their confidence, until they simply didn’t know what to do.

I could see them wanting to get away, but for them to leave and not tell either me or Morigan where they were going hurts. ”

“What do you want to do?” Caiden asked.

“I want to be here when the estate’s things are returned,” he looked over to Caiden. “Then I want to eat a steak and drink a few beers.”

Caiden laughed. “Good thing I prepared several cows worth of steaks for tonight’s dinner.”

Zev scowled. “At least one cow is mine,” he groused.

“You’ll get your damn ribeyes, Zev,” Hunter laughed.

As the men got comfortable to wait, he noticed that Aiden was never more than a foot away from the stressed witch.

Caiden knew that their commander would do no less for any of them, even if they didn’t serve anymore, they would always be unit warriors to Aiden McKenzie, and always under his protection.