Hecate's Own: Heart's Desire, Book 2 (6 page)

“The Prince wants my balls. I think the Princess wants my
babies. And my teacher wants my head.” He rubbed his hands over his face. “So
yeah. I’ve screwed up again.” He took a deep breath and spoke his deepest fear
to the one person who would understand. “Annabelle, do you think I should have
my magic stilled?”

“NO!” Annabelle pulled his hands away from his face. “Don’t
even think about it. I know you don’t understand yet. Frankly, I’m not sure I
do, either. It’s why I wanted you at court, to see if my hunch was correct.”
She settled next to him and patted his knee. “You’re more than you know, Zach.
Never let anyone tell you otherwise.”

“But—”

“No buts. Remember what you are. You are a
witch
,
Zach. Your emotional state can and will affect your magic. When you doubt
yourself—”

“I screw up even more?”

She nodded.

He took hold of her hand and tried to ignore his brothers
and Lana. Otherwise he might not be able to get this out. “All my life I’ve
been the weakest, the worst. It’s hard to overcome that, especially now. The
whole court thinks I’m a loser and they’re not afraid to tell me so.”

The low, inhuman growl from Gareth startled him. “Tell me
who.”

Oh boy.
“Down boy. Heel.”

Gareth shook his head, but Zach could see the amusement
lightening his features. Given half a chance Zach had no doubt Gareth would
head over to the court and give even the Prince a piece of his mind.

“You’re not going back.”

Annabelle stood and did her best to stare Gareth down. “You
have no say over that, Gareth. He must be trained by witches.”

“Then you and Lana can train him, but I’m not sending my
baby brother back into that pit of assholes.” Gareth crossed his arms, looking
more than ready to do battle with Annabelle. “We’re the only ones who truly
believe in him.”

Zach rolled his eyes. That was a load of bull.

“Hey.” Soft arms draped around his neck. “I believe in you.”

He turned his head and pressed a kiss to Lana’s cheek.
“Thanks, sis.”

She grinned at him. “Heh. I like that.” She leaned back,
missing the wink Chris sent him. That alone made him feel better. It meant that
whatever bad blood may still have lain between them had been absolved. “Okay,
Danger-Prone Daphne, let’s figure out how to solve your problem, okay?” She
wagged her finger at him. “No giving up.”

He shook his head. “No giving up.”

“I’m not sure what we can do to help him.” Daniel scratched
his chest and yawned. “He’s a witch. According to you—” he waved his hand at
Annabelle, “—we’ve messed him up almost beyond redemption. Won’t we make things
worse?”

Annabelle studied Daniel like a worm under a microscope. “Do
you love your brother?”

Zach turned, dying to hear the answer.

Daniel squirmed.

Annabelle glared.

“Yes, all right? I love all my brothers. But Zach… Zach’s
different.” Daniel shrugged. “He’s the one we always had to watch, you know?
Mom always asked us to keep an eye out for him.”

“And you resented him for it, didn’t you?”

Zach’s jaw clenched.

Daniel huffed out a rough breath. “Yeah. Maybe.” The look he
shot Annabelle bordered on hostile. “But you have to admit, he needed watching.
He’d do the most
interesting
things with an incense burner, a wand and
talcum powder I’ve ever seen.”

Zach kicked Daniel under the table. “Ix-nay on the
urner-bay.”

“You’re the one who did that to my burner?” Chris’s eyes had
damn near popped out of his head. “Dude. That’s just
wrong.
”

“Yeah. Story of my life.” Zach stood and stretched. “We have
any ice cream?”

“Why aren’t you the size of a house?” Lana followed him into
the kitchen, grabbing the Rocky Road out of the freezer.

“Sweet. Chocolate syrup.” Zach placed that on the counter
and pulled down enough bowls for everyone. “I have a good metabolism.” And a
wolf willing to help him run off all his tension.

Zach was a very tense boy these days.

“Zach?”

Something about her tone of voice put him on his guard.
“Hmm?”

“Maybe you should think about the Beckett spell.”

He turned to face her, damn near choking on air. “What?”

“Think about it. If you had someone who was on your side no
matter what, who believed in you when no one else did, I think you’d be the
greatest witch the world has ever seen.”

He blinked. He could feel his cheeks blushing. “I don’t
think Chris would appreciate it if I tried to make off with his mate.” He brushed
a kiss against her cheek. “But I’m glad you believe in me.”

She held up her hand, the shadow of the wolf still showing
the blue of Zach’s eyes. “I’m not certain you have a choice in the matter.”

He shook his head. There was only one woman he truly wanted
and he doubted she wanted the same. “I don’t know, Lana.”

She took his damaged hand and placed the family emerald into
it. “Trust me, Zach. My instincts are screaming on this one. Do the spell.”

He clutched the ring in his hand. Something about the weight
of it soothed him deep inside. His wolf perked up at the feel of the emerald.
“Shit.”

“I’m right, aren’t I?” She licked some chocolate ice cream
off her spoon. “Your wolf wants its mate.”

He slumped against the counter, the ring feeling somehow
right in his palm. The pain he always felt was diminished, lost in the urge to
do what all the Beckett males had done for generations.

Find his mate.

He thought of a certain sexy teacher he had more than the
hots for. What were the odds she’d wind up the woman for him? “Shit. I’m
screwed.” He shoved a huge mouthful of Rocky Road in his mouth and ignored the
laughter of the woman beside him. “Fine. What could it hurt to cast the spell?
How much worse could my life get right now?”

When Lana snorted with laughter he chose not to answer that
question. It might get him incinerated.

Chapter
Five

“Holy. Fuck.” Jo’s eyes were damn near bugging out of her
head. Arianna didn’t look much better. “Am I seeing what you’re seeing?”

Ari nodded, her face so pale Jo was worried she was going to
pass out. “How are we going to tell Roland?”

Jo stared at her friend. “How the hell are we going to tell
the
court
? They’ve mocked the guy
to his face
. We’re lucky they
haven’t all ‘accidentally’ become toads.”

“Roland’s going to shit a brick.”

“What the hell was Annabelle Evans thinking? And why didn’t
she warn us?” Jo swallowed hard. “I mean, we might have been a little more, I
dunno, careful around the guy.”

“You’d have to ask Roland. If she told him, he didn’t tell
me.” Ari shook her head. “I don’t think she did. He always acts different
around
them
. And Roland was talking about having him stilled, for the
Lady’s sake! Thank the deities I talked him out of that.” Arianna shuddered.

“You’re the one who said there was something
precious
about him, remember?” Jo put her hands on her hips. “How did you know?”

“I didn’t, I swear! I just had a feeling he was different.
You think I would have put Roland in danger?”

Jo rolled her eyes. “Shut up about Roland. We need to get to
Zach.”

Arianna blinked. “I can’t believe he’s a—”

Jo clapped her hand over her friend’s mouth. “Don’t say it.
Someone might hear.” And then Zach might be in even more danger. Why the hell
hadn’t she listened to her instincts? Now he was out there, alone, untrained
and ready to do some serious damage. It was her duty as his teacher to take
care of him. “I have to find him.”

“You’re not equipped to deal with what Zachary Beckett is.
None of us are. We need the cavalry for that.” The two women exchanged glances.
“What the hell was Annabelle
thinking?
” Ari blinked, a crafty smile
creeping across her face.

Jo didn’t like that look any more than she had the last time
it crossed Ari’s face. She still hadn’t gotten all the blood out of that shirt.
“You’re not thinking of calling who I think you’re thinking of calling, are
you?”

Ari shrugged. “You have a better idea?”

Jo straightened up from the table and glared down at the
open Registry. She’d been forced to wait until returning to the Lodge to check
out the entry on the Beckett brothers. Arianna hadn’t been able to sneak it
past her husband. “I’m still going after him.” She had to.

No. She
needed
to.

“Jo. He’s not your problem anymore.” Ari’s hand landed on
her shoulder. “Let…
them
deal with it.”

Jo shook her head. She had a very,
very
bad feeling
about this. “No. I need to be with him.” Her head shot up. “I mean I need to be
there
for
him.”

Ari bit her lip. “Keep telling yourself that.”

Jo intended to. She planned on telling herself that until
she actually began to believe it.

Ari sighed. “What about his brother, Gareth? He’s the heir
to the Wizard throne. You think he might give you some trouble?”

Jo stared at her in disbelief. “More trouble than Zach?”

Ari winced. “Good point.” She shook herself. “Let me make
that phone call.”

“And I need to set up my plane ride and a place to stay.”
She glared down at The Registry. “Ari?”

“Yeah?”

“Where does Zachary Beckett live?”

Ari rolled her eyes. “I’ll check the Archives.” She left the
room, leaving one very confused witch in her wake.

What the hell was Jo going to do about
this?

More importantly: did Zach know what he was?

“Are you sure about this?”

Zach stared down at his preparations, mentally checking and
rechecking each and every one. The runic circle looked right to him, if not to
his brothers. The configuration he’d placed them in had made Chris gasp and
Daniel groan, but Zach knew he was right to lay them out in a Hecate’s wheel.
There was a beautiful symmetry about the symbol that called to him in ways he
didn’t fully understand. But he did know one thing. “It will work. Trust me.”

“But why the wheel, Zach? Isn’t that dangerous?”

Zach ran his finger down the rune for love and smiled. “No.
I think it’s just right.” He shot Daniel a look when the other man snorted in
derision. “Shut up, fuckwad.” Daniel had been giving him nothing but grief
since he’d found out Zach was going to cast the Beckett mate spell. Then again,
Daniel just liked giving Zach grief.

Daniel shot him the finger but kept his mouth closed.

The cinnamon incense tickled his nose, making him think of
apple pies and cuddling under blankets on cold winter nights. The small fire
he’d created in Chris’s cauldron burned merrily. He’d waved away Chris’s offer
of colored candles, preferring to go with pure white. His instincts told him he
didn’t need to worry about color magic tonight. A rose for love and an iris for
wisdom, the stems braided through the Beckett emerald ring, sweetly scented the
air and brought spring into the workroom.

Every item held a piece of the Beckett mate spell, but with
Zach’s unique twist. Daniel had shaken his head as he watched Zach put the
spell together, muttering under his breath when Zach decided to do away with
the purple silk robe in favor of a white cotton one. Every Beckett had worn the
purple robes for the casting of this particular spell, but Zach knew it was
wrong for him.

He wasn’t like any other Beckett. He had to do things his
way.

He was beginning to understand why Lana had been so hesitant
to accept a wizard for a mate. Explaining to his brothers that he did something
because it “felt right” was turning out to be more of a pain in the ass than
he’d thought it would be. From Chris’s worried looks, to Gareth’s supposedly
helpful suggestions to Daniel’s derision, he was ready to toss the whole lot of
them out onto the front lawn. If they were lucky he
might
unlock the
door when he was done.

He took one last look at the spell itself. The words were
the bond, the cement that would bring the pieces of his magical puzzle
together. The words he was keeping. Without them, he knew the spell would
fizzle out and he’d never find his mate.

He glanced down one more time at his work, rolled his eyes,
and removed the green M&M from the middle of the emerald ring. “Gareth.”

“What?”

He popped the M&M into his mouth. “Thanks for the
snack.” He had the feeling he’d be seeing a lot of green M&M’s popping up
around the place before he was done. The lecture Annabelle had given Daniel on
acceptance seemed to have hit Gareth the hardest. Of all his brothers Gareth
seemed to be the only one truly taking his fuck-up in stride. He seemed
determined that Zach would too.

His gut churned for a brief instant, distracting him from
his spell. Somehow he suddenly
knew
beyond a shadow of a doubt that Gareth
was going to need that ability to accept others more than anyone could
understand.

Zach blew out a chocolate-scented breath and rubbed his
hands together. “Okay, let’s rock this thing.” He ignored Chris’s chuckle and
concentrated on what he
really
wanted in a future mate.

It took him a bit to drive Jo’s image from his mind. He
could not cast this spell on a particular person. To do so would create a
karmic backlash that would result not only in his destruction but the
destruction of the person the spell was aimed at. Using magic to force another
being to do your will was anathema to all the known laws of magic. Only warlocks
could get away with crap like that, and as Annabelle liked to say, they merely
paid the price at the back end instead of the front.

Zach didn’t want to find out what she meant by that. He had
the feeling it was bad.

So, the question was, what
did
he want?
Other than
Jo.

He forced thoughts of Jo away once more and concentrated on
the spell. His perfect mate would be strong, strong enough to stand up to the
wolf in him, the dominant male he did everything he could to hide from his
brothers. He knew deep inside that there was a part of him dying to get out, to
prove itself to the family. Hell, to the world. He needed someone who could
bring that out, help him tame it. Hone it.

Make it into a weapon that could save people.

Zach frowned.
Save people? What the hell?

He shook his head and moved on to the next item on his list.
His chosen one would accept the fact that his magic didn’t always work out the
way he planned. He needed someone who understood that Zach was different from
everyone else. Whether Lana was right, and he was the most powerful witch she’d
ever met, or Jo was right and he was a complete incompetent, he wanted someone
who loved him no matter what.

When he thought about it, it boiled down to one thing. He
wanted someone who believed in him. He didn’t care if they were a witch or a
wizard, or even one of the rare good warlocks. He just wanted someone who
wanted
him
, the complete Zach, bumbles and all. Hell, at this point he’d
be tickled pink with a human so long as she loved him.

Although he had to admit, he’d be less than pleased to get a
bad
warlock. Those people were seriously fucked in the head.

He felt someone poke him in the side, trying to hurry him
along, but he ignored it. He knew he wasn’t quite done yet. Chris had mentioned
thinking about desired physical characteristics, so Zach focused on that next.
He’d always been partial to dark-haired girls with liquid brown eyes, full lips
and hourglass figures. No stick women for him. Zach liked a girl with curves,
the more the better. He wanted a woman shorter than he was, not that difficult
since he was roughly six feet tall. And he wanted someone who was strong in her
own right, a woman who didn’t need to be in Zach’s pocket twenty-four-seven.
Zach hated clingy women with a passion. He wanted to be able to go to a ball
game with the guys and not get called and texted twenty times in the first
inning.

Zach touched the blue piece of paper he’d written his wishes
down on. All of it, the desire for acceptance, the dark hair, the strength,
were written there and waiting for the fire. He could feel the power building
within him, white hot and blinding in its intensity.

“Holy shit.”

He ignored whoever had whispered. Without even opening his
eyes he held out his hand and dropped the sheet of paper into the flames. He
then moved his hand until he felt the pulse of the Beckett ring under his palm
though he didn’t touch it. He didn’t need to. He opened his eyes and focused
intently on the two red candles.

It was time.

“I call on forces higher than I,

To awaken the dreams that I hold inside.

Venus, grant me the love that I lack;

With this spell my mate attract!

This candle for her,

This candle for me.

When they touch,

United we’ll be.

Kindle the love,

Kindle the flame,

When we meet, she’ll know my name

By the power of earth and fire,

Bring unto me my heart’s desire.

By the power of air and sea,

As I will so mote it be.”

As he chanted, the two red candles, one carved with the symbol
for female, the other marked with the symbol for male and bearing a lock of his
hair, shifted toward one another. Already they were almost touching.

The ritual was working.

He repeated the chant two more times, invoking the power of
three, and felt the spell settle in his bones. The last of the paper burned to
ash in a puff of red smoke.

“Dude. Tone it down.”

Zach opened his eyes to find Daniel staring at him in shock,
his mouth hanging open. “What?”

“You’re glowing.”

“What, again?” Zach looked down at himself. Even through the
black leather of his glove he could see his own light. “Huh.”

Daniel snapped his mouth shut. “Right. Just another day in
Zach’s World.”

The way Daniel stared at him left Zach feeling
uncomfortable. Because when Daniel got that particular look in his eye Zach
wound up in a world of trouble.

Just a fraction of a second more and she would have hit that
deer.

Jo’s heart raced, her hands trembling as she pulled into the
long driveway leading to where Ari had told her Zach’s house was. Something was
off, wrong, and she was trembling from more than the adrenaline rush.

She could have sworn that deer had glowing red eyes.

Jo shook her head. It had to be a side effect of the
concussion, seeing something that couldn’t be there. But still, her instincts
were rarely off, and they were screaming at her
Danger, Will Robinson
,
the warning loud and clear. At night, she could have dismissed it as the glow
of her headlights. But in the fading afternoon light?

No way in hell. What had Zach gotten himself into now?

She parked outside the protections she sensed just on the
edge of the driveway, eager to find Zach and make sure he was all right.

She stared at the house in front of her, feeling more
confused than she ever had in her entire life. The Registry entry on
most
of the Beckett family had been fairly mundane. Wizards for more centuries than
she cared to count, the Beckett’s main claim to fame was the curse they lived
under. A witch named Theresa Langhorn had been jilted by Andrew Beckett, Zach’s
ancestor, who’d decided it was more prudent to marry a fellow wizard than the
witch he’d bedded. In retaliation she’d cursed the entire Beckett family with
lycanthropy. And not the hairy-faced genetic condition humans thought
lycanthropy was.

The Becketts really
did
turn into wolves. And there
hadn’t been a daughter born into the Becketts since the curse went into effect.
They were all males, and all werewolves.