"I THINK we got a lot accomplished, especially for only working half a day." Mikki wiped her hands together and surveyed the neat beds of newly fertilized roses that framed Hecate's Temple. If she didn't look too hard or think about the weird sick feeling she carried around in her gut whenever she was near the unhealthy roses, the gardens appeared almost normal, especially in this area of the realm closest to Hecate's Temple. Here the roses were all in shades of lavender and purple, and even in their sad condition, their sweet fragrance filled the space. Water flowed from the huge multi-basined fountain to trickle steadily into the marble troughs that stretched from its base outward and all the way to the four corners of the gardens. Nera had explained that the fountain carried water to all of the rose beds. Mikki had never imagined such a beautiful irrigation system.

"The work proceeds well. Many of the women were smiling and laughing today," Gii said.

"That's just because rumor has it that I'm going to cast a spell to invite men into the realm." But Mikki smiled back at the Earth Elemental. The women had worked hard and done so with good attitudes, especially today. She was keenly aware of it, because she had been struggling all morning with a decidedly surly attitude, which she had gone to great pains to hide.

Damnit! Asterius had shown not one hoof or horn or hair all morning. True, she hadn't called him. There hadn't been any reason for her to. Most of the heavy work had been finished the day before. Today the women were focusing on deadheading and clearing out weak canes. Neither task required his brawn. But he could have shown up to say good morning or check in or something - anything!

Logically, she understood that he believed she had thoroughly rejected him after he'd hurt and frightened her. But the sad truth was that love and lust were not logical. She'd wanted to see him - expected to see him. And she didn't want to have to force him to come to her or even ask him to come to her. She wanted him to come because he couldn't stay away.

"Empousa, shall I dismiss the women, or would you rather they stayed while you cast the sacred circle and invoked the spells?" Gii said.

"Oh, sorry. Yes, dismiss the women. I don't want an audience yet." Mikki pulled her thoughts into line. "And tell the other handmaidens that I want to do the magick work first. We can eat afterward."

"Yes, Empousa." The Earth Elemental hurried away.

Mikki frowned and chewed her lip. Instead of obsessing about Asterius, she should have been deciding exactly what she was going to do for the garden spell. She sighed. The man-drawing spell was easier to figure out - or at least she hoped she'd figured it out. For the other, she still had only half-formed ideas and confused musings. Crap.

Much too soon the four Elementals were waving and calling to her from their places around the ever-burning flame within Hecate's Temple. Mikki hooked her hair back behind her ears and brushed at a smudge of dirt on her violet-colored chiton. She'd been leery that morning when Gii had brought her the piece of beautiful material, thinking it would be damn awkward to work until noon with one boob exposed, but Gii had laughed and said that exposing her breast was only the ritual dress for rites during the dark of the moon. Otherwise, it was enough that she simply wore the color of the Spirit Elemental for spell casting. Well, that had been a relief. Or at least it should have been a relief, but part of her mind whispered that she would love to see Asterius's reaction to her wearing the more seductive garb - that is, if he had bothered to come to see her that morning.

Mikki climbed the steps and entered the goddess's temple. Its beauty soothed her nerves. She straightened her spine and walked with her chin up. She was High Priestess here, granted power by a great goddess. It was not appropriate that she moon over a guy (or a beast) when she should be focusing on the work of an Empousa.

Mikki took her place in the center of the circle. She closed her eyes and cleared her mind, breathing deeply and centering herself. Then she envisioned the threads of light she had seen the last time she'd cast the sacred circle and how they had formed a boundary of magick and power, linking the four elements together. When she felt ready, Mikki turned to the east and approached Aeras.

"Hello, Aeras."

"Empousa." The Wind Elemental fell into a deep, graceful curtsey.

Calling the elements to the circle was easier this time, and Mikki worked her way deosil through Air, Fire, Water, and Earth quickly and with much more confidence than she'd shown the first time. When she called upon Spirit, the protective threads that encompassed the circle's boundary were shining and clearly visible, even in the bright midday light. Then Mikki drew another deep breath and took a moment to listen carefully to her internal voice before she began the ritual.

"Hecate, Great Goddess of the Ebony Moon, I ask that you grant me the power and knowledge to call health and protection to the Realm of the Rose."

The spirit flame in front of her leaped in response, and she felt a sudden rush of energy within her body. Following her instinct, she turned first to Floga.

"Floga, you are Flame, and I command that your element protect the realm. Each night when the sun sets I want torches to blaze all along the rose wall, sending light into the darkness and causing that which would hide in the shadows to look elsewhere for camouflage."

Dancing flame licked the handmaiden's body as she ritualistically replied, "This you ask of me; therefore, so mote it be."

Next, Mikki approached the Water Elemental. "Nera, you are Water. Your part in today's spell will be health and not protection. Every fourth sunrise I want soft rainwater to wash the gardens in a brief, refreshing shower. It isn't enough that the realm is irrigated; the roses need the touch of your element on their leaves to keep them healthy."

Nera's pale blue chiton rippled around her body like waves lapping a shore. "This you ask of me; therefore, so mote it be."

Then Mikki stood between Gii and Aeras. She looked from one to the other as she addressed the personified elements. "Gii, you are Earth. Aeras, you are Wind. I command that you join to nurture the health of the roses. Gii, I want you to summon ladybugs from the forest." Mikki paused, picturing the kind little red-and-black-spotted insects in her mind. "And Aeras, I want you to call the wind to carry them into the realm so they can find a new home here" - she smiled at the pretty Wind Elemental - "just like I have."

Together, Gii and Aeras intoned, "This you ask of me; therefore, so mote it be."

Then she returned to the place of Spirit and said, "I thank you, Wind, Water, Fire, and Earth - powers of the elements - divine spirits of nature. With Hecate's blessing, I asked that you always be present in this realm of dreams and magick and beauty. So I ask of thee, and so mote it be."

As she finished the spell she had a sense of completion, as if she had just cleared a rose bed of particularly nasty weeds. One spell down, one to go . . .

This time she started with the Wind Elemental, just as she'd begun casting the sacred circle there. She'd already thought about what she would ask of the elements, already planned out the words and practiced them in her head that morning, so as she spoke her mind wandered . . .

"Aeras, I command that men be allowed within the realm again, but only by a woman's invitation. If she speaks the invitation aloud, carry the words on the wind to her lover and then let him come to her."

Asterius . . . that's the name I would call and the lover I would have the wind invite to me . . .

Mikki moved to the Fire Elemental. "Floga, your affinity is with flame. Use the heat of your element to ignite the passion of any man who is desired by a woman of the Realm of the Rose. Let their passion burn as bright and hot as fire."

I know he wants me. He proved that last night. I wish Asterius would burn for me so much that he couldn't stay away - couldn't let our differences separate us.

She stood before Nera. "Let your element ready our bodies for the sweet intrusion of accepting a lover. Hot and wet and ready - that's what I wish for each woman who desires a man in her bed, so each will experience the physical thrill of the consummation of love."

I want him in my bed. I want his body joined with mine, and I don't want to be afraid of my desire for him anymore.

Almost without knowing how she got there, she found herself in front of Gii. "Earth is rich and wild, fertile and lush. Let your element fill the senses of the lovers. Let them know the fullness of love that is as deep as an ancient forest and as ripe as the sweetest fruit."

Help me not to fear loving him so Asterius can finally know a love like this with me.

Back at the Spirit flame, Mikki's body felt flushed. Her nipples prickled against the soft fabric of her chiton, aroused and ready.

"Hecate, I ask that through your power and the powers of the elements that this realm be a place of passion and love, as well as peace and enchantment. So I ask of thee, and so mote it be."

Mikki closed her eyes against the rush of liquid desire that slid through her body, and she had to bite her lip to keep from moaning his name aloud.

Asterius . . .

She shouldn't have been surprised at the speed with which the handmaidens made their excuses and drifted off to their separate rooms. By this time Mikki knew that the women of the realm lived in the west wing of the enormous palace, so far from her own room she could have gone ages without knowing they were there had Gii not told her. Mikki smiled to herself as she walked dreamily up her balcony stair. She could definitely imagine what was going to go on in the women's wing tonight. I wish the same thing was going on in my room - only with more growling and biting. A little bubble of laughter escaped from her mouth. She still felt hot and flushed - giddy. No. That wasn't right. She felt hot and flushed - horny. Mikki looked around her balcony. Empty. She'd hoped he would be there. He was male. He had to have felt the spell, and he had to have known she was the only one who could have cast it.

What if he thought she was opening the realm to men so she could call someone else to her? But how could he think that? She'd used his name during the ritual; she'd thought only of him.

The truth had to be that he was staying away because he thought he'd hurt her. Or maybe because he was afraid he would hurt her if he came to her.

Just the thought made Mikki shiver with erotic pleasure. All that power - a beast barely harnessed by the soul of a man. It was delicious beyond belief. And so damn poisonously seductive.

Okay, she could call him to her. He'd have to come. But is that what she wanted? Of course not. She wanted him to come to her of his own free will and . . .

. . . And that was it. He needed her to come to him. If she did, she'd be showing him she wasn't afraid of him and she cared enough - desired him enough - loved him enough - to come to him.

Gii had said his lair was below the baths. Mikki didn't stop to primp or to think; instead, she followed her gut and her heart. She hurried from the balcony and down the path that led to the hot springs. From the top landing, she descended the stairs that connected the large bottom pool to the separate baths on the landing above. She hadn't been down on this level before, but it didn't take long for her to find a second stairway, one that clearly was not as well used as the others. It declined sharply, turning to the north. The end of the stairs emptied into a grassy area that hugged the side of the cliff on which the palace and the springs sat. To her right the grounds opened up to the labyrinth of Mikado Rose beds that were, by far, the healthiest roses in the realm. She knew her private temple sat in the middle of the spiral arrangement of beds; she'd been through the whole area with Aeras and Asterius the day before. So she also knew that there was no lair stuck out there.

Mikki studied the wide patch of grass. It ran along the base of the cliff, just like a path. She smiled and followed where her instincts led. Turning the corner, the cliff wall abruptly opened into a smoothed out entrance to a cave.

"Or better yet, a lair," she whispered.

She held her breath, stepped inside and was instantly surprised. The entrance had only been a little larger than an average-size door, but inside magickally smokeless torches lent a warm, yellow light to the area, making it look very un-cave-like and welcoming. The cream-colored walls were high and smoothed like the baths of the hot spring. They were also covered with lush paintings. Awed by the talent of the artist, Mikki gazed at the walls. The scenes showed a rocky island surrounded by white sand beaches and water that was a brilliant turquoise. The only person in the landscape was the faint outline of a tall, golden-haired woman.

Crete - these have to be images he remembers from the island of his birth. And the woman? Is it his mother, or the Empousa who rejected him? Not sure if she really wanted to know, she turned away from the beautifully decorated walls. There was a large wooden table in the middle of the room. On it was a bowl filled with cold meat and cheese and a pitcher of wine. There were also several rolls of parchment and glass bottles filled with a thick, dark liquid. Intrigued, Mikki came closer and realized the liquid was ink. One of the parchments was unrolled and held into place with smooth stones. An almost-finished ink drawing was on it. She walked around the table to see what he had been sketching - and gasped. It was her in the ritual dress she had worn her first night in the realm. She was standing in Hecate's Temple, in front of the Spirit flame. He'd somehow captured the aura of power she felt within the sacred circle, as he depicted her hair flying around her and the look of rapture on her face. It was a beautiful sketch, obviously drawn with loving attention to detail as well as a master's talent.

A beast didn't do this. A man did this, and one who might be very much in love.

"You should not be here!" he snarled.