By the time Evan returned from securing the premises, Lila had called Sebastian, told him he was the biggest jackass in the known universe for keeping things from her, and she could not wait to be rid of him forever. She hung up without letting him say a word. Then she lay down on the couch, her face buried in a pillow, and screamed her frustration out for at least three and a half minutes.
“Do you feel better now?”
Lila turned her head to see Evan sitting on the coffee table in front of her. She had not heard him come in.
“Not really,” she answered. “What did you hear?”
“Everything,” he said, tapping an ear. “That was quite the hissy fit. Tell me, are you going to repeat that volume when they’re all here? I might need ear plugs.”
“It’s not like you don’t deserve it.”
“I beg to differ. I’m just a lowly hired hand, it wasn’t my decision to keep you in the dark.”
“Oh, so if you had been present you would have told those men how wrong they were to keep all this from me?”
“Of course I would have. In fact I’d be surprised if Adam didn’t. He knows the modern female temperament better than I do.”
“’Modern female temperament’? What the hell is that supposed to mean?”
“Jesus Christ girl, stop looking for trouble around every corner. It’s not a judgment, it’s a compliment. I’m on your side.
“You have to come to terms with your life now. No matter you’re the most important person among us, Magique men are never going to understand that you are capable of thinking for yourself. It’s going to feel like you're moving backward in time, you’ll need to choose your battles. If every off hand comment sends you into hysterical fits, you’ll only encourage their chauvinist view. “
“Why are you so forward thinking? Aren’t you older than any of them?”
“Yes, but I spend more time among humans than the mages do, so I’ve kept up with the times.”
Lila sighed. She had the feeling that she’d be sighing for the rest of her life with these backward men in her life.
“Come on, let’s go back down stairs. I want to show you a few things.” Evan said standing up.
She looked at him skeptically.
“Things?”
“Choose your battles,” he huffed with irritation.
“Well if you explained yourself I wouldn’t need to be suspicious,” Lila said standing up.
Evan looked at her then as if he’d just had an epiphany.
“You need to be suspicious? Of all men or just me?”
“Of everything. You, vampires, men, Magiques, this whole magic thing,” she said with more than a little exasperation.
She looked incredibly vulnerable then, like a lost little girl. Evan wanted so badly to take her in his arms and comfort her until her fears were chased away, but he didn’t dare to. If he touched her, the pulsing addictive energy he’d felt in the dance club would return and he’d never want to stop. Instead he turned back towards the hallway and started walking.
“I want to begin your fightin’ lessons.”
“More words!” Lila growled as she followed. A chill shot down Evan’s spine when he heard the growl in her voice. It was very sexy, and he grinned as they descended to the gym again. What would her climax sound like when he got her in bed? Christ, man, don’t go there, he thought.
“I’m sure that Bastian is only teaching you to deflect and run. It seems to me that a girl with your grace and balance ought to be brilliant at street fighting. I’m going to teach you to take down anyone who gets past me.”
“Worried I’ll ruin your perfect track record, eh?”
“Angel, you’ve got ‘trouble’ written all over you in pink neon.”
Lila laughed. “You are worried.”
Evan turned at the bottom of the stairs to look at her. Lila pulled up short on the last step so that they were eye to eye. His face was serious.
“Lila, your safety is my priority and my responsibility. I will use all available tools to achieve maximum success. That means teaching you to help. Sebastian and Alexander might see you as some precious dolly to lock away inside a cabinet, but I have no use for such things.”
“You're going to drag this dolly around in the dirt by one arm, aren’t you? You’re going to lose my shoes and one sock, get my leg yanked out of joint so badly it hangs by the string, and give me a bad haircut.”
Evan smiled big and bright.
“Everything except the haircut, Angel, and you’re going to love every minute of it.”
Lila smiled back at him.
“Are we telling Sebastian about these lessons?” Lila asked him as if she was asking what his favorite Kama Sutra position was.
“No,” he answered in his bedroom voice.
They spent the next couple of hours fighting like two alley cats. There were no choreographed forms as Sebastian taught her, and the only technique that Evan showed her was the correct way to throw a punch. In Evan’s lesson, the goal was to take down the opponent so that they could not get back up, by any means available. He gave her permission to fight dirty, encouraging her to use fingernails and teeth and warned her that the knee to the crotch was overdone and expected. Lila loved every minute of the lesson, and felt calm by the end, her aggressions having been taken out on her indestructible vampire bodyguard.
Evan enjoyed it too. Though the physical contact gave him a constant hard-on, the aggression coming from Lila offset the sexual tension he’d felt when they’d danced. He was impressed by her agility and coordination, and she learned quickly how to compensate for her lesser strength by taking advantage of her feminine attributes. She would distract him by bouncing on the balls of her feet allowing her perfect breasts to bounce and then kick him in the knee when he looked at her chest. When he grabbed her from behind pinning her arms, she leaned in to grind against his crotch with her ass before stamping down hard on his foot with her heels. It would have hurt him more if she’d been wearing shoes instead of sneakers, but her instinct for fighting dirty was good, and the unintentional attraction ability she had was a good distraction for her foes. They ended at 5:30 so that Lila could shower before the team arrived for her “showdown.”
The ‘showdown’, as it turned out was somewhat of a let down for Lila, at least emotionally. By the time she had dressed and come downstairs, Evan dutifully shadowing, most of the team was already standing or lounging in the living room with drinks in hand. Sebastian obviously had warned the men after the angry phone call, because there were two giant bouquets of flowers already in vases, a large blue box with a ribbon around it that looked and smelled like chocolate, and an enormous desk calendar with a big red bow stuck to it.
Lila had donned one of her comfortable knit dresses and a pair of ballet flats. There was nothing revealing about the outfit, but it did emphasize her feminine curves as well as her athletic build. Every man noticed and adjusted accordingly when she entered the room. Before anyone could break the tension in the room, the doorbell rang and James bustled in with take out Chinese for all.
Everyone gathered in the kitchen grabbing plates, extra utensils, and fresh drinks. Evan subtly guided Lila to one end of the table positioning himself on the end of the bench and Lila next to him. She would have been flattered by the attention except that she noticed that he had a view of everything in the room and all the exits. Remembering to let the little things go, she did not comment on the seating or the fact that he straddled the bench, his long legs casually invading her space, one knee touching hers under the table and the other sat snugly against her ass. Evan did not eat anything, vampires didn’t eat food, but he had a glass of whiskey that he sipped at while the others ate.
Lila found that she was starving and loaded her plate, eating with the same gusto as any of the men. Dinner conversation was minimal until the food was gone and empty cartons and dishes put away. For a minute Lila looked at each of the four men in front of her. Alexander, Sebastian, James, and
Adam. Evan’s body next to her warmed her left side. She realized that they were waiting for her. With a big sigh she shook her head.
“I don’t care who talks, but could you just start at the beginning and explain everything you know, think you know, have heard, might be true, rumored, and/or just hearsay.”
She saw a few smiles around the table and felt the warmth of Evan’s hand at the small of her back. It was a small gesture of comfort and, she supposed, meant to support her emotionally, but for a few minutes she could only think about the warmth of him so close that all she wanted to do was melt into the curve of him and let him run his hand up and down her back as she listened to the other men appease her agitation. Alexander had already started talking when Lila’s mind came back to the present.
“…It was written down a millennia ago and speaks of a time when there would be great prejudice and separation among the races.” He was speaking of the prophecy, she realized.
“Animosity would grow into unrest and outward hostilities, furthering separation between the Magique races and weakening the political alliances that uphold our laws and keep our secrets safe from most humans.”
“Has any of this happened?” asked Lila tentatively.
Alexander nodded in affirmation..
“We are seeing it now. There is general unrest among Magiques. More race related attacks and arrests being reported. Gangs threaten Magique businesses, and crime against humans is on the rise. Many Shifter packs have simply separated completely, creating their own countries on private land.”
Lila felt a lump growing in her throat, not sure if she wanted to hear the rest, but knowing she had to.
“And?” she reluctantly asked.
“The prophecy talks about a “Chosen One,” continued Xander. “A new mage who comes from nowhere and no one, and therefore has no predilection for any one group or race.”
Alexander paused and all eyes looked at Lila.
“This mage with no ties to anyone will be powerful enough to assuage the violence and unite Magiques once and for all.”
Lila stared back at the men. Now she really wanted to melt into Evan. Actually she wanted to bury her face in his neck and cry as he carried her off to bed so she could drown in his kisses and forget that these high ranking men in the ISF thought that she was some kind of political hero or leader.
“Um, what makes you think it’s me?”
For a second they all stared. Then James broke out in laughter. As no one else joined in, he trailed off.
“Sweetheart, we’ve been searching for your father for weeks. No clues, no one’s come forward. We’re fairly certain that he was a mage, but that still doesn't explain how he managed to make such a powerful child with a Special. Then you appeared out of thin air, stronger than most mages, yet less experienced than a novice. You have at least two unusual skills that we know of so far, and you have no prejudices against anyone. What other proof do you need?”
Lila gulped down the queasy feeling she was getting in her tummy.
“Well, it seems a little circumstantial at best,” she offered.
“If it looks like a duck, and it quacks like a duck,-” retorted James.
His aggressively confident tone intimidated Lila, and she instantly felt defensive. Then she felt the tingle of energy she got when she and Evan touched skin. She looked down to see his hand on hers, and she was glowing brighter by the second.
“It’s all right Angel, you’re safe,” he whispered in her ear. “You can turn your light down,” and he gave her hand a light squeeze.
Lila’s light retreated immediately, and as Sebastian watched, he was struck with the realization that there was more than just attraction between his student and her guard. Evan could not only touch her without getting shocked, he could calm her agitation. He wondered if Evan could be an integral part of Lila’s training. Could he enhance her magic? Help her to control it? They would have to explore the possibilities later.
The men were all staring at Lila as her light faded. Embarrassed by the attention, she pulled her hand away from Evan’s. There was a pregnant pause during which Lila saw each man register the connection she and Evan had. She decided not to comment on it.
Alexander took control of the discussion again.
“Let’s not get ahead of ourselves yet. Just this much is a lot to take in, there’s no need to overwhelm the girl.
“Lila, our search for your father has led nowhere, and yet I feel like we are still missing a piece of the puzzle.”
“Be that as it may, you’ve only accounted for half the prophecy. What is the rest of it supposed to mean? Binding the elements and sh-stuff.”
Evan looked at Lila with admiration. There was so much more to her than he’d thought. The more he learned about her, the more he understood her combative attitude to be a self defense mechanism. He wanted to be the one person in the room whom she could trust all the time. Not just as her guard, but as her friend, or perhaps more than a friend. He had no idea why he felt so strongly for her. Maybe it was her magic’s doing, but did he really care? For the first time in almost 600 years he felt the hard shell of his own self defenses begin to crack.
“Hang on a sec,” Adam interjected. “Lila’s not adopted, but did anyone ask if her mother was?”
His statement was met with dead silence.
“Did anyone work up a family tree for her?”
Eyes turned to Xander. His face held a look of defeat, and he shook his head slowly.
“No. I was wholly focused on the father, sure that I’d find a delinquent dad. I don’t suppose you know, Lila?”
“If she was, it’d be news to me... What if it was news to her too?”
“What do you mean, Student?”
“Well, she didn’t know about magic, she didn’t know anything about her boyfriend, I frankly wouldn’t be surprised at this point if she was adopted and doesn’t know that either.”
“Lila, may I have your permission to call your mother and ask her?” Xander inquired.
“Yes.”
“Thank you, I will do so tomorrow.”
“So...Back to the prophecy,” Lila started.”Is there anything I can do to convince you that I’m not your chosen one?”
“Lila, as commander of the ISF, I am under an obligation to protect the Chosen One by any means necessary as soon as it arrives.”
Lila was not the only person at the table to look at Xander in surprise.
“It’s actually written in my contract. We are not the only ones who believe in the prophecy. Many Magiques believe that someone is coming.”
“So it’s more like I’m your Chosen One until someone better comes along?” Lila asked.
“You could say that. Your safety is our priority. It’s one reason why you’ve been cooped up here without a lot of interaction with other Magiques. You need to be presented to the rest of the elders before you can...roam freely.”
“Why is that?”
“Mostly politics. Mages feel they have priority access because the prophecy came from a mage, so we don’t want you to start out with a mass of enemies.”
“Why would they be my enemy? I’m supposed to fix everything for them.”
“Power.”
“Jesus Christ was a prophet,” Evan said, ”and look what they did to him?”
Lila shivered, and Evan’s hand covered hers again, and when she looked up his eyes held a promise that she didn’t even know she wanted. This man, at least, would not try to manipulate her. She wasn’t sure how she knew this, whether it was through their strange bond, or her magic, but she knew it with certainty. She could and would trust Evan above all others.
Lila was acutely aware of the other men studying them. She looked at the three mages.
“What do I have to do to be...presented?”
“You have to show control over your power.” Sebastian answered.
“What about the zappy thing?”
“Is it truly out of your control?” James asked.
“So far, who here has not been shocked yet?” Lila asked.
Everyone looked at Evan’s hand on top of Lila’s. She turned red and pulled her hand away, to place it in her lap. Xander and Adam smiled, but Sebastian and James frowned at her.
“I haven’t been zapped yet,” Adam admitted.
“Ah, thank you for volunteering.” Alexander said.
“Wait a minute, he’s human. All the mages here have been zapped, correct?” James asked.
Xander and Bastian nodded.
“So if Adam does not get shocked, it could be a mage thing. Proceed.”
Adam gave James an annoyed look.
“Does this experiment come with hazard pay?”
“I’ll buy you a beer if you get zapped.”
“Good enough,” Adam said.
Evan snorted.
“You're a cheap date.”
“And easy!” chortled James.
Adam smiled and reached his hand across the table towards Lila.
“Hit me, oh Chosen One.”
Lila stared at his hand for a beat before hesitantly reaching for it.
“Don’t worry, Angel,” Evan whispered in her ear, “You won’t hurt him.”
When their hands were two inches apart Adam squeezed his eyes shut in anticipation of pain. Lila slowly let her breath out and touched his hand. They both felt a shock and pulled away, but it was not nearly as strong as the last time she had touched Sebastian.
“Hunh. I thought you said it hurt a lot, James,“ commented Adam, “That wasn’t so bad.”
“Maybe James is just a pussy,” Evan baited.
“I think Lila is just calmer right now,” Sebastian observed. “Her magic is stronger when her emotions are high. I’ve experienced three different pain levels.”
“And we still haven’t accounted for Evan,” said Xander.
“Oh I know a few vampires I’d like to see get zapped,” said James gleefully.
Magic's Love Page 9
