Sebastian studied Lila and Evan’s body language. It will bind itself to the other three of the elements...As a guard, Evan was the strongest vampire he knew. That was why he’d been assigned as Lila’s guard. Could it be that the prophet’s zapping ability was nothing more than a way for her to find the ones who would best compliment her power?
“Teacher?” Lila brought Sebastian out of his thoughts.
“It’s nothing. Come on Adam, we owe you a beer,” he said as he stood.
Everyone stood and they moved to the front door.
“Don’t get him too drunk, boys.”
“You’re not coming with us?” James sounded disappointed.
“No. This,” Lila waved her hand in a circular motion among the four men,”Looks like a ‘victims of the Chosen One’ club, you’ll want to bond without holding anything back. Have fun.”
“Student, I don’t think it’s a good idea for you to---”
“Go on, Bastian, enjoy your evening without your ward for a change. I’ll be fine. I have a guard to keep me safe.”
“That’s what I’m worried about,” he grumbled.
“Oh give me some credit, Teacher, I’m not easy,” Lila said in an annoyed tone and crossed her arms.
“Very well, I won’t be long.” Sebastian turned and followed the others to the cars.
Lila closed and locked the front door and set the alarm. Then she went back into the kitchen to collect the glasses and put them in the washer. Evan followed behind her admiring the sway of her hips in the knit dress. His hands itched to touch them.
Lila turned around to find Evan holding up the door jamb with his shoulder.
“What now, Chosen One, do you play cards?”
Lila snorted and pushed him out the door backward to get by.
“No way am I wasting good alone time playing games.”
Evan’s heart sped up as he marveled at his good fortune.
“Do you like modern music?” Lila asked going to the stereo in the living room. She started shuffling through her new cds, and opened the player to insert five new albums into it.
Evan’s hope deflated as Lila pressed random play on the machine and music started. The first song that came out was “Wild West End” by Dire Straits, and Lila closed her eyes and swayed to the sultry rhythm of a guitar and a slow drum beat. The song was vaguely familiar to Evan, probably something he’d heard in a bar. Lila sidled up to him and took his hand. He felt that glorious tingle move up his arm from her touch, and then it was gone, but his hand was around her waist.
“Dance with me,” she said, and put her hand on his neck where the tingle slid down his spine. Evan was helpless to resist, and his other arm went around her waist, pulling her in until their bodies and cheeks were touching. He closed his eyes and let Lila’s magic dance inside his body as he swayed to the music with an angel in his arms.
Lila’s heartbeat quickened as Evan held her in his arms. Something wonderful had begun between them today and she wanted to hold onto it as long as she could, afraid that tomorrow would reset everything back to awkward stranger. She wanted to say something but she had no words. All she could do was hold on and feel his body mold itself against hers. They were a perfect fit.
By some miracle or magic, every song that the player pulled up to play was a slow song, and Lila and Evan danced for a long time. Only one light was on in the room and it cast a soft glow on the stone walls. Lila didn’t seem to hear the beep of the alarm being turned off when Sebastian came home and Evan was not interested in what Sebastian thought. He would dance all night if it meant he could hold Lila like this.
Sebastian didn’t hear anything that might indicate that his student was getting too familiar with her guard, so he cautiously looked through the archway to the living room. When he saw them swaying and holding each other, he flashed on a memory of himself and his wife long ago. It seemed that he thought of her a lot since Lila had come into his home. What was it about this young woman that had everyone around her thinking about true love? Was that the power of her magic? He smiled to himself. He would rejoice if Lila healed the Magique world with nothing more than love.
He watched the couple dance for a few minutes and wondered how her magic would affect the vampire in her arms. He was the most dangerous man Sebastian knew, and he had a reputation of never being with the same woman more than once. He worried for Lila’s heart. She was a romantic and she deserved to be loved. He wasn’t sure that Evan had the capacity to love the way she needed to be. Then again, her magic was strong. Maybe he should worry about Evan losing his heart to the Chosen One. Sebastian smiled to himself and turned to go to his study for a bit.
Eventually the random selection fell upon a fast song and the spell in the living room was broken. Lila’s hands slid down to Evan’s arms and she tried to step away, but Evan held her close and only let her lean back to look at him. He looked at her through half lidded eyes, and she wanted to kiss him.
“Evan,” she whispered.
“Angel.”
They smiled at each other, both acknowledging the intimacy growing by the minute. Evan squeezed her and wished he could just carry her off to her bedroom now to be alone together in the dark. He felt as though he was caught in an avalanche of desire, and the only way to survive it would be to ride it out. These feelings, which he had not felt since he’d first been turned, were overwhelming and exhilarating. Like a teenager, he thought.
“I need to go to sleep,” Lila said. She didn’t move.
“All right.” Evan kissed her forehead.
Lila looked up at him. He had beautiful dark lashes, and looking at him this close she saw that he had a thin rim of chocolate brown around the black dilation of his pupil. Lila kissed him. A slow, sensual, kiss full of her magical energy that was present in her every touch. Her lips parted and Evan deepened the kiss. He wanted Lila, was hard for her, but this felt like the beginning of something so momentus he was not about to jinx it with lustful thrusting. He let Lila lead the kiss where she wanted to go, and he followed with a trust that would become the bedrock of their ‘forever.’
The next time Lila pulled away he let her go. Her hands slid all the way down his arms to feel the skin of his hands. Their contact brought the bubbles back, but now they moved lazily, like they were sleepy. Lila yawned, and one hand left his to cover her mouth. She took half a step away and now just their fingers were touching. Evan stepped forward to keep the contact, and she smiled at him.
“Don’t worry, Evan, I’m not going anywhere. I’ll just be upstairs.”
“And I’ll be on the roof, just outside your window.”
Lila smiled.
“Like a vampire Romeo. Will you sing to me?”
“I might.” He brushed another kiss across her lips and walked with her to the stairs before he let go of her. His body immediately mourned the loss of her touch, and he had to force himself not to follow her with anything but his eyes. When Lila got to the turn in the stairs she looked over her shoulder, whispered good night, and disappeared.
Evan stood at the bottom leaning on the thick stone pillar of the balustrade and listened to Lila’s footsteps ascend the stairs to the third floor. When he heard her door shut, he went to Sebastian’s study to say good night to him. Bastian followed him to the front door and locked it behind him. Evan heard the beep of the alarm and he walked around to the back of the house where he could see Lila’s window. It was still warm enough that she had it open, the lace curtains moving with the light breeze. When her light went out. Evan leaped to the roof, landing silently on the terracotta tiles. It occurred to him now that this was a break in Sebastian’s security. After all, Evan wasn’t the only vampire who could jump three stories. There should probably be motion sensors on the roof and around the third floor windows. Evan had half a mind to crawl into Lila’s window just to teach Sebastian a lesson, but she was tired and he wanted her to sleep. Maybe later, after he watched the property for a while.
He sat on t
he edge of the roof with his legs hanging over the side and listened to all the night noises. The crickets were so loud that he had to tune them out to hear anything else. He heard small animals foraging on the ground. An owl hooted a mile away. Two miles further he heard the sound of four paws running, probably the neighboring shifter pack. As long as they didn’t come closer than a mile to the house, he didn’t worry about them. All these natural noises blended together to create a night song that soothed Evan’s soul. They all belonged to this place, nothing was amiss. Any unnatural noise would stand out, but nothing did.
After an hour, Evan decided to indulge his desire to lie with Lila, and he slipped into her room. He removed his shoes and crawled on top of the covers to lie next to her. He faced her so that he could watch her sleep. She was so beautiful, and she looked even more like an angel when she was asleep. Vampires didn’t sleep, and Evan thought that he could easily wile away the hours just gazing at her beauty.
Lila lay on her side, her hands curled under her chin holding the sheet in place. He put his finger tips to her skin so that he could feel her magic. Maybe he was addicted to her. Her magic felt different now that she was asleep. It was soothing instead of urgent, mellow instead of effervescent. Evan liked the change, and thought he’d like touching her all night while she slept. Every night. For the rest of his days. Evan wondered idly where these romantic thoughts were coming from. He wondered if Lila could project her dreams into him and if all he was feeling were her desires. That thought started to worry him, until he thought about being under the covers, both of them naked, caressing, licking, fucking. That sounded like his thoughts.
Maybe when they touched, the tingles that he felt were a conduit for their thoughts and feelings, and they went both ways. Christ, that would make their fucking even better. Making love. Evan smiled. He was starting to think with her voice.
“I promise you Angel, I will fuck you and make love to you like no one else has, or ever will,” he whispered.
Lila sighed as if she’d heard him and liked what he said. Evan smiled and closed his eyes to rest a while and listen to his Angel breathe.
Chapter 7
September
That night Lila dreamt that she was Juliet and Evan was Romeo, and they had a passionate courting full of secret rendez-vous and climbing trellises to balconies. They poured their hearts out to each other and promised their souls forever, just like Shakespear’s lovers, only Lila’s dream ended with a happily ever after instead of death, and she woke up happy and refreshed.
When she went downstairs for breakfast, she found her teacher at the stove making eggs and bacon, and having a conversation with Evan about the quality of his security system.
“Do you think we need more than sensors on the roof and windows? What about an outer perimeter?”
“You can’t go too far out if the shifters next door have an easement through your property. Did you introduce Lila to them yet?”
“I’m not supposed to until after her presentation. I gave them one of her t-shirts for now.”
“Is that where my ‘Dancing Queen’ shirt went?” Lila cried in dismay.
“It was threadbare, student.”
“It was vintage!”
Sebastian let out a pained sigh.
“I apologize, Lila. I chose it only because it carried the strongest scent. Would you allow me to buy you proper sleep wear?”
“No thanks, I like my t-shirts and shorts.”
Evan’s eyebrows rose as he envisioned Lila in nothing but a tight t-shirt and lacey boy-shorts. He cleared his throat and dragged his thoughts back to the subject at hand.
“You’d better wait on an outer perimeter alarm then,” he said to Sebastian. “I’ll just have to watch it more carefully.”
“In that case you should bring some clothes here. There’s another guest room with it’s own bath on the second floor, you may make yourself at home in there.”
“Can I put my bike in the garage on rainy days?”
“Of course.”
Sebastian turned away from the stove with two plates and handed one to Lila. The three of them sat at the table while the two mages ate.
“Did you sleep well, Angel?” Evan inquired.
Lila nodded, her mouth full.
Sebastian took note of Evan’s endearment for Lila.
“Student, after our workout this morning,” Bastian said,“we will add magic to your sparring practise. James will join us. Evan, you are welcome to as well. You need to get control of your power, especially the unintentional electrical shock.”
“What if I can’t?”
“You must.”
“But what if my magic intends it to be automatic?”
“Does it?”
“How am I supposed to know?”
“It’s your magic. It speaks to you, doesn’t it?”
Lila thought about that. Did her magic speak to her? She wasn’t sure. She looked at Evan and thought about the first time they’d met. James and Adam were just as handsome as Evan, but she’d felt nothing towards them, only Evan. Was that ordinary attraction, or her magic steering her to him?
“Today I want you to focus on your magic and pay attention to when it is influencing your actions.”
“Okay.”
That day Sebatian pushed her harder in the workout. He completely changed how he trained Lila by introducing fighting drills and magical defense methods. James arrived after 10am to train with them, and she found herself being attacked first by two men, and then three when Evan joined in. Lila found herself pushing energy into her kicks and punches to keep from being overwhelmed by her attackers. The men were much more experienced at fighting with fists and magic, and would always get the upper hand. Lila was going to have to keep practicing if she ever wanted to win a sparring match.
Her afternoon study session was dropped for more magic practice with James.They worked on her control and strength for hours. The only thing that Lila could not control was the electric shock she gave every man except Evan. James tried everything from a casual relaxed touch, to touching her while Evan was holding her hand, but that seemed to make the zap stronger, not weaker as he’d hoped. Every time was met with some degree of shock. After three tortuous hours of nothing but focus exercises, James was sore from getting continually shocked, and frustrated that Lila could not stop it from happening. In fact, the harder he pushed her, the worse it got, as her own frustration mounted. Alexander arrived at sunset to find the two mages lying in the grass on the back lawn in defeat.
“How goes the training?” he asked looking down at them.
“The only training going on is me learning to stay away from her,” James said, pointing an accusatory finger at Lila.
Alexander smiled. Sebastian had shared his thoughts with him about why Lila’s magic insisted on shocking every man except Evan, and to a degree it made sense. His only worry was that if the other elders of the council learned of it, they would insist that she was doing it on purpose. In every other aspect, Lila would achieve Mage control soon, and would be ready to take the test, but this one small involuntary flaw could hold her at Acolyte status indefinitely. If she never achieved Mage ranking, she would never be independent, and never be accepted as the Chosen One.
Lila’s power was impressive, and as far as Alexander was concerned, she was ready. But Lila wasn’t just a mage, she was the Chosen One, and she would be held to a higher standard. Any visible flaw would turn the council against her, and the council had to be in agreement that she was the long awaited Chosen One before any kind of wider announcement or introduction could be made. Because Lila arrived in Alexander’s territory, she was his responsibility. He was in charge of her training, protection, and presentation. It was up to him to find a way for her to pass the council’s tests during presentation, so that there would be no doubt of her mage status.
“Tell me, James, do you think we can get her through the presentation without anyone touching her?”
James l
ifted his head to see if the council Head was being serious. He looked down at Lila and James deep in thought.
“Xander, what are you thinking? Do you mean you want to keep it a secret from the elders?”
Xander took a minute to answer.
“Yes.” He sat on the grass to join the two mages. It was a perfect Autumn evening, warm, dry, barely a breeze, and the clouds in the sky were putting on a light show of orange and pink.
“How many different interpretations of the prophecy have you studied?”
“I’ve read plenty, but studied? Just the one we all study, Uval’s. Why?”
“Who is Uval?” Lila asked.
“Uval was an ancient philosopher, the first to give an interpretation of the prophecy. He was also a mage,” Xander explained, then he continued.
“My mate saw me reading a number of different interpretations yesterday, and reminded me of Lunal.”
“She’s just a fairy tale,” James snorted in derision.
“You have a mate?” Lila asked.
Xander smiled at both reactions to his admission.
“Yes, I have a mate, Lila, and many believe that Lunal’s story is true, James. Just because it is not written down and archived by mages, does not mean that it’s not real.”
“Who is Lunal?” Lila asked.
“She is a goddess.The mother to witches. She’s said to have come from the land of Fey, hence the fairy tale reputation.
“She is recognised by witches as a real person who gave her own interpretation of the prophecy.”
“I’ve never heard of it, where’s it recorded?” James demanded.
“In their oral history. Every coven has an archivist who commits it to memory and passes it on to her successor.”
James made a face that Xander ignored.
“Lunal’s interpretation takes a more...feminine view of the prophecy.”
“What’s that got to do with Lila’s electric shock?” James interrupted.
Xander gave James an annoyed look. He was about to say more when they heard a car horn beep twice from the front of the house. Alexander stood with James and Lila and they entered the house through the kitchen door.
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