Chapter

Chapter 9

“Guy’s here with the spell,” Nick said leaning against the doorframe to glare daggers at Ren.

Ren smirked and took Gypsy by the hand, leading her out into the main part of the shop. Nick growled as they passed by and followed them. Guy was standing by the main counter waiting on them.

“What do we have to do?” Gypsy asked wanting to get everything in place as soon as possible. She really wanted to sleep in her own bed tonight.

“I would say we start by stepping outside,” Guy said. “You may stand in the doorway. Because you’re the owner, the repellant spell won’t affect you and you can come and go as you please.”

They all looked at each other before heading out onto the sidewalk and turning to face the shop. Gypsy stood in the doorway watching them and wondering what exactly was going to happen. She prayed nothing else would get destroyed… her nerves really couldn’t take it a third time.

Guy didn’t bother taking out the piece of parchment paper the spell specifics were written on. He’d already studied it enough to know what he had to do. It wasn’t an easy spell to cast, but if the highborn monks could do it then so could he. Plus, it was the perfect addition to add to his list of spells to use if he was being stalked by a demon.

He began to chant softly as he mentally drew inside himself condensing his power and letting it flow outwards through the words of the spell. His hands rose in front of him as his fingers formed patterns. He sharpened his sight until he could see the illusion of symbols spiraling from his fingers, through Gypsy, and into the building.

Gypsy took a step back when the entire shop glowed with a blinding white light for a moment before slowly dimming and going back to normal.

“Is it finished?” Gypsy asked with wide eyes and quickly looked over her shoulder and into the shop. She smiled glad the blinding light hadn’t been a silent explosion after all. Not a single thing had been broken or even moved.

Guy smirked, “Looks like it… shall we try it out.”

Nick couldn’t control his grin as he leaned closer to Ren, “You won’t be able to get in without an invite.”

Ren heard Nick’s teasing and laughed inwardly. The way Ren had worded it, Gypsy and Nick believed that the spell would only work on demons and vampires. He never said it wouldn’t work on shifters and there was a very good possibility that it would.

Without waiting for the invite, Nick headed for the door and ran into an invisible barrier that reminded him of a thick stretchy balloon type material. He pressed his hands against the air and pushed but the rubbery air simply tightened and wouldn’t let him in. He frowned slightly then glared back at Ren who had suddenly started laughing.

“Not funny,” Nick growled knowing a setup when he saw one.

“Okay,” Gypsy said ignoring the banter for the time being. “I invite Nick first since we now know the spell won’t let in shifters.”

Nick felt the invisible wall vanish and since he had still been stubbornly pushing on it, he stumbled forward with the grace of a drunk. Once balanced, he swung around and gave Ren a go to hell look.

“Ren, Guy… won’t you please come inside,” Gypsy mimicked her version of how she would invite a vampire into her home if this were a Hollywood movie.

“It would be our pleasure,” Ren said in a dark seductive drawl, playing out the rest of her Hollywood movie scene. He was enjoying the fact that he could read her mind and fully intended to use it to his advantage.

Once Guy was inside, he turned and held a finger up to his sister who was still floating just outside the doorway. “Wait your turn.” He instructed.

“Are you ready to see Carley now?” Ren asked Gypsy. “She’s waiting for her invite.”

Gypsy nodded and smiled, “Yes.”

Ren smirked seeing another situation he could take advantage of and pulled Gypsy against him like he had done before. A deep growl rumbled the air around him and he glanced over at Nick’s golden eyes glaring at him.

“I’ll do you next,” Ren promised making Guy snort at the double meaning.

“That sounds like a fun promise,” Carley said with a grin.

Gypsy smiled when she heard Carley’s voice, “Hi Carley.”

“What’s up?” Carley asked as she took shape in the doorway. “May I come in?”

“Of course you can,” Gypsy smiled but took a quick step back when Carley floated in a little quicker then she’d expected and hovered in front of her with a silly grin. “What kind of stuff did you find in my safe?” Gypsy asked curiously.

Nick tilted his head to the side when Gypsy appeared to be talking to thin air.

“Wanna see who she’s talking to this time?” Ren asked.

Nick actually thought about turning Ren’s offer down but finally nodded his head. If Ren did anything weird to him, he’d make sure the succubus lost his head along with something else. Much to Nick’s shock, Ren merely reached out and tapped the center of his forehead with two fingers. Within seconds he heard a disembodied female voice and when the ghost came into view Nick could only blink.

That’s when it dawned on him exactly what Ren had done. He jerked his gaze away from the ghost no longer interested and pinned Ren with a hot glare. If all it took was a simple tap on the forehead, then why did he have to put his hands all over Gypsy? The worst part was that Gypsy hadn’t even been paying attention… she’d been too busy talking to the ghost.

“You damned bastard,” Nick hissed softly.

Ren smirked as if he’d just won The Noble Prize for being smarter than the shifter. “At least I’ve made a move.”

Nick’s anger began to skyrocket and he closed the distance between them with the speed of a jaguar. With a blur, he and Ren were standing toe to toe with one another. “You know what… I’ve had it up to my eyeballs with your shit. You have no rights or claims here.”

“I wouldn’t be too sure about that,” Ren said, secretly loving the fact that he was literally looking down at the enraged jaguar since he was so much taller and bigger. “So far all you’ve done is pussyfoot around your objective while I’ve actually gone in for the kill.”

“Oh, I’m sure with your tendencies to lose your freakin’ mind you are quite the catch,” Nick growled the insult.

“Don’t go there,” Ren warned him when his succubus powers suddenly felt Nick’s anger over everything else. It was strong enough to make his own temper spike.

Nick’s eyes shown with sadistic glee, “What, don’t want anyone seeing you as less than perfect?”

Ren scowled, “I think you’re confusing me with yourself.”

“I know I’m less than perfect,” Nick shot back. “But at least I don’t go around scaring the hell out of her or destroying her shop.”

“No, you just stand by and watch it happen,” Ren said unable to help himself. “You don’t have the power to protect her and that is one of the reasons you will never win.”

“Back off leach, I liked her first!” Nick exclaimed loudly, momentarily forgetting there were other people in the room… namely the ‘her’ they were arguing over.

Carley and Guy were standing on either side of Gypsy watching the two men fight like little kids on a playground.

“Oh no he didn’t,” Carley said to no one in particular.

“Oh yeah he did,” Guy said folding his arms across his chest and grinning at the two idiots digging their own hole.

Gypsy placed a hand over her eyes so no one would see her shock or embarrassment. No way were they fighting over her.

Carley glanced over at Gypsy seeing the high color in her cheeks and scowled back at the two dummies who were embarrassing the pretty girl. Her scowl disappeared when she thought of a way to get even with them. She figured that since this whole situation was childish already… why not make it entertaining for the adults in the room.

“You know,” Carley began softly, “I’m not completely sure if it would work or not but I think it’s worth a shot. If you invite someone in and then change your mind because the person is stealing or being a butthead… then you should be able to revoke their invitation and the spell should immediately kick them out of the store.”

“That would be helpful,” Gypsy said liking the idea.

Carley looked at Gypsy with a raised eyebrow, “Don’t you agree that this might be the perfect time to test that theory?”

“Love to,” Gypsy muttered tired of seeing the proverbial testosterone fly all over her shop. She wasn’t at all sure they were fighting over her anymore… it looked more like they were simply fighting each other to see who was king of the hill.

Guy heard the girl’s plan and suddenly had the urge to rejoin the men’s club by warning them. He cleared his throat trying to get Nick and Ren’s attention but they continued to throw verbal barbs at one another.

“Hey,” Guy yelled out in another attempt to get their attention and this time both men turned to glare at him.

“Stay out of this,” they shouted back simultaneously and returned to their argument without missing a beat.

Guy held up his hands and backed away from them, “They’re all yours… but honestly, I don’t think you’ll need their attention in order to revoke their privileges. We’re the only people you’ve invited in, so now would be as good a time as any to test out the theory. I’d advise you to simply uninvite all of us and see who gets the boot.”

Gypsy nodded, “Good idea.” She took a deep breath and calmly let the words form, “I revoke all invitations of the people inside these walls.”

“I seriously think you aren’t half the man a woman like Gypsy needs,” Ren shot off then added with a devious smirk, “Oh, that’s right… your only half a man to start out with.”

That was the last straw for Nick. He raised his fist knowing it would be very happy to get acquainted with Ren’s face. Insult him fine, but it was a low blow to insult his lineage like that. Just as his fist was about to connect, Nick felt a powerful force yank him away from Ren and toward the door.

Ren had braced himself for the blow that would in Gypsy’s eyes name Nick as the one who threw the first punch. He was getting ready to put on a show by laughing in Nick's face when he felt himself moving toward the door at breakneck speed. He closed his eyes waiting for the impact with the door when he noticed it was already open. He saw Storm standing there holding it open as he passed the threshold.

Both Nick and Ren landed hard on the sidewalk outside knocking the breath out of their lungs.

Ren was able to muster up a harsh glare at Storm who was still standing beside the open door with a smirk on his face.

“You could have caught us,” Ren growled.

Storm shook his head, “Nah, this part never gets old.”

Just before either man could retort Storm vanished.

“Does he always do that?” Nick asked lying on his back and looking up at the sky.

“Yeah,” Ren said after a moment with a comical frown on his face.

Gypsy stood just inside the doorway with her arms crossed over her chest watching them. She felt bad now that she’d done it but at least they had stopped fighting. Guy was almost on the floor roaring with laughter and Carley was floating beside the two of them enjoying the spectacle.

“Well, now we know it doesn’t work on ghosts or humans,” Gypsy stated making the brother and sister duo laugh harder.

Carley finally got control of her giggles and pretended to pat Guy on his back. “Well, I guess that means you’re nothing more than a mere human that’s good with magic.”

“Hey,” Guy said defensively. “I’m better than just good at magic… I’m great at it.”

Gypsy bit her bottom lip seeing that neither Ren nor Nick had bothered to get up yet. She hoped they weren’t seriously mad at her for doing that and in truth… she owed them a lot respect for everything they had done for her and The Witch’s Brew.

“Before you let them back in, make them beg for it,” Carley said with a stern look on her face.

Gypsy didn’t respond as she stepped over the threshold. Gazing down at them she kept her voice soft and asked, “Do you two promise to stop fighting?”

Nick and Ren looked at each other from their places on the sidewalk then back at her.

“No,” Ren said with a grin.

“I don’t think so,” Nick said at almost the same time.

Gypsy sighed, “I give up! Fine, the two of you can come back in but please keep your taunts down to a minimum and the violence outside.”

“He started it,” Nick and Ren said at the same time.

“See, they’re getting along already,” Carley said sarcastically, chalking another one up to the stupidity of men.

Gypsy frowned and walked back into the shop shutting the door.

Nick sighed and sat up, dusting his hands off on his pant legs.

“Think she’s mad?” Nick asked looking at the door.

Ren chuckled and sat up next to him. “What gave it away… her sweet smile? I think it might be better if you wait a while before going back in.”

Nick rolled his eyes and used his middle finger to give Ren the universal jester for ‘fuck you’. He looked back at the door broodingly. Usually, he could keep his temper in check a little better than this but watching Ren use every cheat code in the book to outmaneuver him was getting on his nerves.

“Not every cheat code in the book,” Ren informed him and stood up straightening his jacket.

Nick jumped up beside him and growled, “Stay the hell out of my head.”

“Then stop thinking so loud,” Ren said in amusement.

Nick ran a hand through his hair then steadied his gaze on his rival. If Ren could hear his thoughts then he might as well say them out loud. “Look, this isn’t a competition to me. I really like her and have for a while now. You’ve known her how long… five minutes?”

Ren opened the door and held it for Nick who looked at him distrustingly before sliding past him and entering the shop. He paused for a moment as he listened to Nick's heart speed up a fraction the second he laid eyes on Gypsy. He almost felt bad for giving the shifter such a hard time… almost.

Carley hovered near the mirrored shelves trying to entertain Gypsy and take her mind off the two men that had just reentered the store. She looked past some of the crystals on the shelf and fluffed out her hair complaining, “How am I supposed to know if my hair is messed up if these stupid mirrors don’t reflect me?”

Gypsy giggled and leaned over to look into the mirror seeing only herself then turned her head to make sure Carley was still beside her. Something began to gnaw at her memory then her eyes widened when it came to her.

“Come here, I want you to do me a favor,” Gypsy said and moved down several shelves where she had tilted one of the antique mirrors at an angle to where she could better watch the weapons area for shoplifters. She pointed up and started to ask Carley to try looking into it but her lips parted seeing Carley’s ghostly reflection beside hers.

“Oh wow,” Carley floated closer to the mirror really looking at herself.

Her shoulder length ash-blonde hair was still the same with its loose spiral curls framing her face. The glasses she’d worn since she was a child were gone and her bright green eyes reflected back at her with a brightness she hadn’t seen very often when alive. The spattering of freckles on her cheeks she’d hated as a kid were still there too.

She hovered higher so she could take a good look at her legs, loving the fact that she could move them at will now even though she didn’t need them to walk. Her body had always been tiny when she was alive and to see it reflected back at her made her tilt her head to the side with a giggle.

“I still look good,” Carley said with a satisfied nod then moved her gaze to Gypsy’s reflection. “Not even water will give me a reflection… and trust me I’ve tried. How did you find a mirror that has the ability to reflect a soul?”

“I didn’t know for sure if it would reflect you or not,” Gypsy shrugged. “But when Hyakuhei walked in here, I saw his reflection in this mirror and he looked different than when I looked at him straight on. In the mirror, his face was softer… kinder looking, and he had beautiful black wings.”

“You’re talking about the one that knocked Ren out with a simple touch… right?” Nick asked walking up behind her not missing the look of frustration Ren gave him in the mirror.

“Yeah, the man that erased the words from the back of the portrait I gave to Tasuki.” Gypsy swung her gaze around until she found Ren watching them from a distance, “Which reminds me… I’ll be right back with my camera and laptop. Storm wanted a copy of the pictures I took of the legend… remember?”

“Do you need any help?” Nick asked.

“No,” Gypsy shook her head and took off toward the back room, “I can get it.”

“Try not to smother her so much,” Ren said as he walked up behind Carley’s free floating form.

Nick held his hands up in surrender and leaned back against the counter to wait.

Guy glanced up at Carley expecting her to turn around and start laying in on Nick and Ren but she was so engrossed with seeing her reflection that she wasn’t paying attention.

When Gypsy returned to the front of the shop, she was met with complete silence. Carley was still primping in the mirror while Guy had found a random book and was thumbing through it. She shifted her gaze to Ren and Nick noticing that they just simply looked uncomfortable.

“Got it,” she announced wanting to break the silence and began hooking the camera up to the laptop. “Do you want to email them to Storm?”

“No, he’ll see them the same time we do anyway because I’ll be using the PIT databank,” Ren answered and approached the computer.

Gypsy stood back and let Ren take over. “I can’t wait to see what he wrote on the back of his painting,” she murmured in excitement. They were actually going to be eavesdropping in a way, and the fact that Hyakuhei had seemed so powerful made it that much more interesting. Everyone crowded in closer so they could get a good look as well.

Ren held his hands out over the keyboard, twitching his fingers slightly as if he were typing even though his fingers weren’t touching anything but thin air. The pictures downloaded from the camera and the computer pulled them up on the screen, scrolling through them and selecting the one it wanted.

The picture appeared and cropped itself before enlarging and moving over to fill one half of the screen. A blank document appeared on the other half. A few seconds later, words began to type themselves out on the blank side of the screen as the symbols on the other side were highlighted one by one.

Gypsy smiled and leaned closer when the words began translating and she started reading it out loud.

“The Legend of the Heart of Time,” she began softly but in her mind Gypsy was hearing it being read in Hyakuhei’s voice.

“The Heart of Time is the secret link that exists between all dimensions and realities. That link always converges on the statue of a beautiful young priestess that appears within every world. She is kneeling with her hands outstretched as though waiting for something.

I have touched her hands many times in this world, but without The Guardian Heart Crystal I cannot rejoin her in the Heart of Time. This powerful crystal is said to have a mind of its own… others say the gods are behind it all, but I know the truth. I am the one that damned us all to this paradoxical eternity that binds us to her.

Each time the crystal has appeared, regardless of the world or dimension, we guardians have always emerged… ready to defend its power from the demons that would use it selfishly… as I have been known to use it selfishly.

One girl stands among us, unaware that she has been born into this world from the soul that was scattered throughout time and space because of one guardian’s jealous rage. She is the same ageless soul that the maiden statue was created in the likeness of.

She will forever be the object of the guardian’s affections as we all love her with an obsession and she holds within her the power of the crystal itself. Only by returning the crystal to her can the universe regain its balance and the seal between the demon realm and this one be strengthened.

Our curse is that we are powerful immortals who do not share easily. This has often been our downfall when it comes to sharing our beloved priestess with each other. This is the wine from which the heart of darkness drinks. It is the opportunity to make the guardians of the crystal weak and susceptible to attack.

Jealousy has often become a dangerous game when possession of the priestess becomes an obsession among brothers. I am living proof as I have killed my own brother in order to claim her and suffered the consequences.

Gypsy leaned back from the screen and blinked her eyes in shock while Nick said exactly what was on everyone’s minds.

“Uh oh, that doesn’t sound good at all.”

“Poor girl, she must be the one that he painted on the portrait. It all sounds a bit sad really,” Gypsy mused aloud.

Nick covertly glanced over at Ren as he added his own thoughts, “I’d have to say the guardians being in love with the same girl for all of eternity is a big bucket of this sucks.”

“Hey, does that mean Tasuki’s a guardian?” Gypsy asked now feeling better about giving the painting to him. “That painting is a thousand years old but Tasuki said that he knew her.”

“I told you Tasuki’s human… I’ve known his grandmother my whole life,” Nick reminded her.

“No now… I was watching him and his eyes turned amethyst when he went all obsessive over the painting,” she said with conviction.

“We could always go show him the legend and see if it rings a bell,” Nick shrugged becoming curious himself.

Ren stilled when the PIT database snatched up the document and listed it as restricted access, which meant that only the people Storm allowed to view the document could. With all the secrecy behind the guardians, he had a feeling that Storm would make it a very small list.

He frowned when Storm and Syn were suddenly on the other side of the counter facing them.

Gypsy’s jaw dropped when the beautiful dark haired man was suddenly standing there and she couldn't have looked away if she tried. She’d heard Nick growl but even that had been cut short and everything was so quiet.

“Sorry about this,” Storm said and reached across the counter to touch Ren and teleport him out of Syn’s way.

“Thanks,” Ren breathed when he found himself on the other side of the room near the door. “Is he taking their memories of the legend away?” he asked noticing the way Nick Guy and Gypsy seemed to be hanging on Syn’s every word.

“No,” Storm smiled, “but they no longer find the topic very interesting and they won't go repeating the legend to anyone else… mainly Tasuki.”

“So what did you think about it?” Ren asked curiously.

“As always… just a touch different from the other legends scattered across time yet remarkably the same,” Storm whispered then admitted, “but it was interesting to see it from Hyakuhei’s perspective this time.”

“Looks like Syn is finished,” Ren said then blinked realizing he was talking to thin air.

He glanced up to find Carley floating near the ceiling and grinned when she took her fingers and made the motion as if she were zipping her lips. His grin widened when she threw him the imaginary key. He reached out and pretended to catch it and stick it in his pocket for safe keeping.

Storm reappeared in Ren’s office and leaned back in the swivel chair behind the desk. A slight flux of power made him look up at the ceiling and he wondered if the five brothers had indeed found the priestess they’d been searching for… or if maybe Hyakuhei would be the one to find her first.