“It means a great deal to hear you say that.”
“It’s true. The city is amazing. The rooftop gardens, the power grid, the free hover transportation, you’ve done amazing work. The people are happy. You even let Ajax have his football game. I could see on the faces of the fans how much they admire you. It made me admire you too.”
Titus felt his heart burst. She was giving him the recognition he’d always craved from her, and it felt damn good. Desdemona reached over and gripped his arm, smiling up at him.
They arrived in Chicago soon after. Titus slowly moved through the crowded airspace. Jerith Blackrose had done a tremendous job of repairing the city after the Dark Sun. And many said it was prospering more now than it had before. A certain kind of peace had been restored even if the reins of civilization had been broken.
When Jerith returned from Paris, Titus hoped to have a long conversation with him about what he had done for his town. He hoped that the older brother’s hard work would not be undone while looked after by the younger one.
As Titus steered away from Chicago toward Lake Michigan, he reminded himself that he no longer wanted to blame Kyran for his missing shipment or his past mistakes with Desdemona. They were mated now. No man could ever come between them again. Kyran had lost, and Titus had won.
It was good to let bygones be bygones and Titus felt a certain kind of satisfaction as he stared out over the glassy silver waters of the Great Lake. Kyran hadn’t given him many clues, but he had given him something to go on. He was determined to find out what had happened to the generators. Shipping them over land was proving to be costly and inefficient with the current road conditions.
“Where will we start?” Desdemona asked.
“We’ll follow the trade route until we find something,” he said. “It’s too bad you don’t have psychic powers like my brother’s wife, Lucia.”
“Maybe there’s something I can do anyway.”
“For now, we’ll use technology. I have a scanner that can pick up different types of materials and life forms. Maybe we can get some insights from the scanned data.”
Titus turned on the scanner and began to watch as the information scrolled across to screen.
“Have you found anything?” Desdemona asked several minutes later, leaning toward the dashboard of the jet to get a closer look.
“Not yet,” he said, but a second later his scanner rolled over an area of beach on the east side of the lake. He examined the data and then tilted the wheel of the jet toward the shore.
“I think I found something,” he said, coming in for a landing on the beach.
“This is exciting. Now we get to solve the mystery together.”
The climbed out of the jet and onto the cold damp sand of the shore. The waters of Lake Michigan looked cold and silver-gray in the distance. Titus glanced around, trying to find the materials his scanner had found. The scanner had detected rare minerals that were used in the processing of zero-point energy devices. It was the best clue he had had so far, but as he stood on the beach staring into the scraggly stand of bare willow trees with the cold air blowing in his face, he doubted that he would find anything here.
“I don’t see anything,” he said, walking up the beach toward a small rise.
“Why did you land here?”
“My scanner detected rare minerals used in the processing of our devices. But that could mean anything.”
The willow tree stood up in the earthen rise. All the leaves had fallen from the branches onto the ground below. Desdemona looked confused, hugging herself around the waist from the cold.
“I have an extra coat in the jet if you’re cold,” he said, moving back toward his vehicle to retrieve the jacket.
He slid it around her shoulders and she looked up at him with a smile.
“I’m beginning to think there’s nothing here,” he said.
“Let me see if I can help,” she said.
Desdemona closed her eyes and reached out her arms, her palms open over the ground with her fingers spread wide. Titus watched and listened as Desdemona parted her lips. A long, smooth note emanated from Desdemona’s throat and pierced the cold winter air. Titus’s eyes grew wide as he watched her magic. Since he’d brought her to his city, he had yet to see her use any magic. Perhaps it had been an oversight on his part, perhaps it had been part of his own self involvement, but now that he saw her casting her spell and felt the crackle of her magic in the air, he had a newfound respect for the girl he had taken from the temple.
The notes she sang gained in intensity until she changed her tone and accelerated her magic. The effect was slow at first but soon gained momentum. The willow leaves that had fallen on the ground began to rise as if blown by the air. But instead of flying in a natural pattern from the wind, they began to dance and twirl.
Soon Desdemona had all of the leaves on the shore rising into the air into an ecstatic dance that dazzled the eye and moved the soul. Titus couldn’t speak for long moments. He watched her intently as she cast her magic, not sure if he should speak or move. But then he glanced up the shore again and saw what her magic had revealed. He found one of his zero-point energy devices rusted on the shore.
He growled and walked toward the device, kneeling on the damp sand to examine it. The sound of Titus’s growl caused Desdemona to break from her trance. The leaves slowly fell to the ground as she let her voice subside into silence. She walked toward him and knelt beside him on the beach.
“Is that one of your devices?”
“It is. I can’t tell how it got here, but it looks as if it was thrown overboard somehow.”
“Why would someone throw the devices overboard? I thought they were valuable.”
“I don’t think it was purposefully thrown overboard. I think there was possibly a violent takeover of the ship. But by whom?
“Who would want to steal your devices?”
“All of this time I have blamed Kyran and the Blackrose coven when I should have been focused on other things.”
“What do you know now for sure?”
“I know that the shipment left the Chicago port headed north in Lake Michigan. I also now know that this device washed ashore. By the leaf cover, we can assume that that happened quite some time ago. Probably when the shipment first went missing.”
“What should we do now?”
“Take the device back home to have it examined.”
Titus lifted the device, which would have been too heavy for the average human male to lift alone. He carried it to the jet and placed it inside.
“Let’s get you back to town,” he said
They hurried back to the jet and climbed inside. The heat thawed their chilled bones, but Desdemona’s rosy face only got rosier. He had to get her back to her rooms. These were not the conditions he wanted his bride to experience. Not now, not ever. She was his priestess, his mate, his wife and soon to be the mother of his child. He would protect her with every fiber of his being, and that included her comfort and contentment. It meant everything to him. It always had.
18
After Desdemona and Titus returned from the lake, they sent the zero-point energy device to a lab to have it examined for further clues. Desdemona had a great deal on her mind that she had to attend to. She and Titus had finally decided on a date for the wedding.
Now that he had claimed her, their marriage would mean so much more. She had left the temple a frightened human virgin and would be returning an immortal woman, claimed by an Alpha dragon. The last month in St. Louis had truly changed her. Now that she had discovered who she really was, she wished Titus hadn’t held back for so long. She believed now that he was always trying to spare her feelings.
Titus had always done things for her that looked one way on the surface, but were actually the complete opposite. She was learning to read the signs he gave her more now than she had before.
Desdemona now believed that was a big part of becoming the immortal witch she was destined to be. She could not remai
n a child who could not see things on multiple levels. She might not have the second sight that witches like Lucia or Bridget had, but she still had magic coursing through her veins. She had a responsibility to live up to it. For herself, the immortals, and all of humanity.
The duty set before her, by the chance of her birth, had caused her to hold resentment for so long, but Desdemona felt she was really letting go of it now for the first time.
Now that she accepted Titus and his bite, she had accepted herself as well. She no longer feared her immortal blood, but craved to know what secrets it held. In the time she'd been in St. Louis, she'd spent her focus on the mind games she played with Titus, ignoring her magic and being a little brat.
Desdemona sat in front of her computer terminal, trying to make appropriate plans for her upcoming wedding. Titus was down at the lab, inspecting the device they'd found. Their experience together out on the lake had brought them closer in a way she hadn't expected. Titus was distracted by the disappearance of his machines, and Desdemona had not been paying enough attention to him to realize what it all meant to him.
Titus was trying harder than most immortals to bring humans into the New World. Even though he resented Gama and the other gods for leaving the immortals to bear the brunt of the world alone, Titus still had a good heart and a keen mind.
Desdemona had a tremendous amount of respect for what he was doing for the people of his region and his need to know what it happened to his generators was part of that. Desdemona was determined to help him find out the true cause of the missing machines. Perhaps when they visited the temple they could get the guidance and advice of stronger witches like Lucia and Bridget.
Her music was not suited to solve a mystery. At this point, she didn't know what her magic was really good for at all. Besides entertaining children. Desdemona hoped that in the coming months, after her wedding to Titus, she would gain a greater understanding of her abilities.
Desdemona looked through the fabrics and festive dressings that the temple had online for its choices of wedding materials. They were having weddings more and more there, almost every day now since she’d left.
The pace of the weddings was increasing all the time. There were options for dresses and theme receptions and the temple had put it all on a website for everyone's convenience.
She clicked on a long cream-colored lace gown that had a fitted bodice and a flowing satin skirt that draped in waves to the floor. There was a slight bustle at the back and a short train. The whole thing was finished with tiny crystal beads and pearls. The work was exquisite and the witches would create it with their skill, craft, and magic.
Desdemona input her measurements and clicked send on the website, transferring her order to the witches of the temple. After she'd ordered her gown, Titus opened the door of her bedroom and stepped inside. Desdemona turned to him and smiled, knowing that she had just ordered her wedding gown and he would soon see her wearing it. She couldn't wait to see the look in his eyes when she walked down the aisle.
"You're just in time to choose the decorations for our wedding," she said. "The temple has all of the options on their website."
Titus crossed the room and sat down on the bench beside her at the desk in her bedroom. There was a fire blazing in the fireplace and she had the curtains pulled open to let in the warm light of mid-day.
"What are our options?" Titus asked, looking at the screen intently.
Desdemona clicked over to the flowers and place settings and showed Titus all the options. Together they settled for pink roses and lilies. For dinner, they chose steak and salmon. And the cake they settled on was chocolate with buttercream frosting. Titus suggested something lighter but Desdemona still craved rich flavors after spending two years in a compound. She couldn't get enough of the food they served out in the world of the immortals.
"Chocolate and buttercream it is," Titus said, cupping Desdemona's cheek.
"Did you find out anything else about the machine?" she asked.
"There was a fire. And the fire marks have the distinct pattern and chemical markers of dragon fire."
"Dragon fire? That means that an immortal stole the shipment."
"That's what I would assume as well, but we don't know anything for sure."
"Who would take your shipments? I thought most of the immortals around the lakes were part of the alliance."
"Most are, but not all."
After Desdemona and Titus had picked out their wedding decorations, the days passed quickly. Soon the time to leave for the temple had arrived. Desdemona packed her bags for the overnight trip, excited to try on her dress for the very first time.
The trip to the coastal mountains of California from St. Louis would only take a few hours in Titus’s jet. Desdemona had dressed in thick leggings, a mid-length winter coat and fur-lined leather boots. She climbed into the jet beside Titus and felt her heart begin to pick up in anticipation for their wedding.
It was hard to believe that they had made it to this day. It had taken so much effort to get to this point. They traveled quickly through the winter clouds and made it to California in mind-boggling speed. Titus set his jet down in the courtyard of the temple and they climbed out. Titus carried and unloaded their bags and the Benny, the temple’s Goudy butler, took them up to their rooms. Desdemona and Titus were greeted by Orion and Lucia on the front steps of the mansion.
"How was your trip?" Lucia asked Desdemona, reaching out to take her hand.
The priestess was dressed in a flowing pink gown with screen prints of modern photographs of kittens imprinted into the fabric. Desdemona looked at the dress and smiled up at Lucia.
"I love your dress," Desdemona said.
"Isn't it wonderful?" Lucia agreed, holding out the skirt. "My cat Felix found himself a mate and they had kittens. These are their children."
"Oh my gosh, they're so cute," Desdemona squealed.
Orion greeted Titus with open arms and the brothers embraced roughly but with affection. When they stood back Orion kept his hand on Titus’s shoulder.
"How are things back in the city?" he asked.
"I still haven't found my missing shipment, but we learn new things every day."
"You'll have to tell me all about it," Orion said. "You should keep me in the loop on these things."
"I thought you are busy out here with the ladies."
"They do keep me busy. I'm sure you are tired from the trip. Come in," Orion said.
The couple led Titus and Desdemona up the stairs and down the grand hallway to a comfortable sitting room on the first floor. Titus filled Orion in on what had been happening and what they had found recently. Orion sat back and thought about it for several moments before Lucia interjected.
"Why don't I try to investigate for you?" Lucia said.
"How would you do that, exactly?" Desdemona asked.
"I’ll show you after the wedding."
"Desdemona, darling, you should go get fitted in your dress. We can save these matters for later," Titus said.
Desdemona smiled and stood and Titus stood beside her. She leaned up on her tiptoes to kiss his cheek, breathing in the smell of his cologne. He smelled like the cool winter air and the underlying spices of his favorite scent.
"I'll see you soon," Desdemona said, squeezing his hand as she backed away.
She turned out the door, feeling giddy and girlish. She was truly going to marry her prince. And although she was no longer a virgin, today she would fully commit herself to the man she had chosen.
The centuries between them yawned in her mind like a gaping cavern of uncharted time. But the memories they shared from the past had been becoming them more clear with every passing day. She knew for certain that what Titus had told her about their relationship in the past was true. Her dreams were vivid and detailed, taking her through the story of their love. And now she was ready to truly accept him for the first time.
It was like a curtain had been lifted and she could see his real
face. He was no longer the enigma he always had been before, but the man whose heart belonged to her.
Today they would declare their love to their friends and family. Ajax and many of the Silverdrake cousins would arrive soon and so would her family.
She knew they would be arriving soon as she hurried to the fitting room in the basement in the first floor of the temple. The witches spun their craft in a large open room across from the banquet hall. The witches used their magic in multitudes of ways, blending together the animate and inanimate. The magical and mundane. From the beginning, many of the women had been interested in textiles and fabrics. Since the founding of the temple their designs had become legendary. Every priestess who entered the temple soon found herself swathed in the most beautiful gowns and robes she could imagine.
Desdemona walked through the textile room and into the finishing room of the craft areas. Her dress hung on a special rack, it sparkled in the bright light shining through the broad windows. Desdemona gasped and put her fingers to her lips.
The seamstress, whose name she knew was Ophelia, stood and smiled beside her.
"You like it?" Ophelia asked.
"It's breathtakingly wondrous," Desdemona said.
"This is a special design. You are the first to choose it."
"Can I try it on?"
"Of course.”
Desdemona pulled out of her street clothes and Ophelia helped her into the gown behind a dressing curtain. When Desdemona stepped out into the light and looked at herself in the three-panel mirror, she couldn't believe what she saw before her. She looked like a princess from a fairytale. Every detail of the dress sparkled and shined. It was so fine she almost didn't feel like she could live up to it.
"What do you think?" she asked Ophelia.
"It's beautiful," she said checking her seams. "I think it's perfect for you. This is exactly what I would've chosen for you."
"Really? You don't think it's too much?"
Ophelia stood back, her eyes taking in Desdemona's entire form.
"I think it's perfect. You are a princess, marrying the Alpha of the Silverdrake clan. I've heard your magic is great too."