by Brenda Trim
Sebastian sat up straight so fast some of the whiskey spilled out of his glass. “That never occurred to me. I guess it’s possible. I know Isidora talked about obscuring the portal in Eidothea. She said the spell she cast would leave the portal’s presence disguised in Faery to any with ill intent.”
That made sense. I would want to limit access to protect the town, as well. “Let’s hope that one doesn’t need to be touched up. It wasn’t mentioned in the book.”
“Regardless of whether or not Fiona is more powerful than most Fae, what she did is going to piss the king off. And, I’m going to go out on a limb here and say it will motivate him to pour even more resources into eliminating her.” Violet pointed that out as if she were talking about the weather, not discussing my demise.
“That’s a given. I’ll be staying close to the house for now. I don’t want Vodor collapsing the barrier around Pymm’s Pondside to get to her,” Bas announced.
I cradled my head in my hands as I focused on slowing my breathing. Hyperventilating in front of the guy I made out with sometimes was not my idea of fun. “When is this going to get easier?”
Aislinn got up and patted my shoulder. “All we can do is deal with things as they come up. There’s no reason to go borrowing trouble. We will be here when you need us, but for the time being we’re going to head out. I need to get some rest and Violet needs to get home to her kids before they burn the house down.”
I laughed as I got to my feet and embraced them both. Sebastian followed us to the door, and we walked them to their car. The chill in the air was still there but it was normal for fall in England.
I stood close to the porch while my friends got in their car and drove off. I hated them going alone. Something could happen to them. I hated worrying about them. My eyes scanned the forest to the left looking for danger.
“They’ll be okay. It’s you he’s after, not them.”
I turned to meet Sebastian’s gaze. “You know that’s not all that comforting. For them yes, for me not so much. At least my kids aren’t here and in danger. What do you think are the chances of me surviving what Vodor has planned for me?”
Bas’s eyes darkened and his brow furrowed. He was pissed and the look was terrifying. “One hundred percent survival rate. I won’t accept anything less.”
“Be realistic. I’m new at this and still have a lot to learn. You can’t be here all the time. Don’t get me wrong. I appreciate the help, but ultimately this is up to me. And, I’m afraid he will get to me somehow.” I walked over and took a seat at the bistro table.
Sebastian stood there for several seconds before joining me. The anger vibrating off him was unmistakable. I saw Kairi poke her head through the surface of the pond then go right back under when she got a look at his expression.
He sat there with his arms crossed over his chest before he got up and went to the woodshed near the corner of the garden closest to the house. Seeing him open the door reminded me I need to have some wood delivered before winter. Grams had installed a heater when I was a kid, but I loved having fires when it snowed.
He came back with a handful of logs and dumped them on the ground a few feet from the table where I sat. “You’re going to practice. Fire and Fae don’t mix. Iron is another item I want you carrying at all times.”
He was right. I didn’t have time for a pity party. Thankfully, shoving how I felt aside to get a job done, or taking care of others as in the case of when Tim got sick, was second nature.
Squaring my shoulders, I took several deep breaths and got up from my chair. Bas picked one log up from the pile and held it out to the side of his body. “Light this one.”
That seemed highly dangerous. “I don’t think that’s a good idea. I’ve haven’t mastered fire.”
“Start by focusing the fire in your palm. Once you have it you can toss it at the log.”
I nodded my head and closed my eyes. Looking at him was far too dangerous. “Ignis.” I held out my hand, palm up, and pictured a tiny flame flickering to life in the center.
“You need to watch what you’re doing.” My eyes flew open when I heard Sebastian’s voice.
I sucked in a breath and stomped on the flames dripping off my hand to the ground. The leaves had turned and were falling from the trees all around us. The last thing I needed was to start a fire.
Once the flames were extinguished, I lifted my arm again. This time I kept my eyes open on my palm when I muttered the spell. Flames burst from the center and shot five feet into the air.
Panicked, I waved my hand around and the flames flew toward the pile of wood. It ignited immediately. Bas sighed and said, “Mergit.” He waved his hand over the logs and the flames were extinguished.
There was no frantic waving of arms or barking of curses. Sebastian cast the spell with his usual calm confidence, and it went off without issue. “Your emotions rule you and that chaos is translated to your magic. You need to blank your mind.”
“Easier said than done. I’m a woman in case you haven’t noticed. We’re emotional creatures by nature.”
“And, yet you handled dying babies without devolving into a blubbering mess.” Bas kicked the embers to ensure they wouldn’t flare back up.
Go into nurse mode. That I could do. “Got it. Okay, I’m ready to try again.”
Focusing on the need to ignite that log, I called fire to my hand. A flame flickered and flared in my palm. Nope! Not this time. The fire subsided and I forced it into the round mold I used for ice.
Bas extended his arm again and held out the log. Keeping my gaze on the rough wood, I bounced the flames in my hand then pulled my elbow back and tossed it at the target.
The fire exploded when it hit, and Sebastian dropped it to the ground. “Good job. Again.”
Cracking my neck, I connected with the energy tingling in my chest while he picked up another log. The second his arm shot out, I conjured another fireball and threw it. Sweat broke out along my forehead and I had trouble catching my breath.
Sebastian bent and picked up a charred log. “Again.”
I did it three more times at his behest and had sweat dripping from my face by the time I was done. “I can’t do it anymore. I’m sweaty and exhausted and I need a hot shower.”
“You go shower while I clean this up.” The look he shot my way said he’d much rather join me in getting naked.
My body ignited like one of the logs and spread from head to toe adding more sweat. I was a mess and all I could think about was grabbing him and dragging him inside the house.
“Fiona,” Bas called when I turned to enter the house. “Good work tonight. Your fire will be there when you need it.”
I wanted to preen like I’d just won a scholarship for each of my kids. That was the nicest thing he’d ever said to me. The more I got to know him, the more I saw who he truly was. There was more to him than a bad attitude.
“I couldn’t have done it without you. And, thanks for sticking around. The house is open if you need anything.”
I practically ran to the door before I did something stupid like invite him to protect me from the right side of my mattress. I never expected to find someone else after I lost Tim. I was devastated when he died, but then I met Sebastian. He’s not a nice guy. There’s nothing soft and cuddly about him. He’s the opposite of Tim whom I loved dearly. Yet, despite all that and my desire to focus on myself and creating my new life, I was falling for Sebastian.
Chapter 18
“What the….ah!” The scream was out the second my hand slipped, and I lost my balance. There was nothing to grab hold of to stop the fall. I glanced down cursing when I hit the corner of the table a second later. Pain exploded through my hip as I continued to the floor.
Landing with a thump, I threw my arms over my head and winced when the crystals fell on top of me. I gave myself a couple seconds after debris stopped falling and lifted my hand to glare at the short ladder. What did I ever do to you?
Right, it was my fault
I fell off the thing. The moon was bright in the sky and I was cleaning the skylight so it would charge my crystals. I’d read that it was important to do periodically so they were ready for you when you needed them, and I hadn’t even touched the things since moving in.
I wondered why Grams put one in the attic where she wouldn’t get to enjoy it much. It all made sense now. I’d spent the past two days reading as much as possible, so I wasn’t found with my pants down.
There was some uber evil creature gunning for me and I had to be ready. I’d gone from being a registered nurse in a hospital to a magical Guardian of a Fae portal. I understood life and death battles. And, I once again found myself square in the middle of one. Except this one wasn’t going to take my children’s only surviving parent.
Rolling over, I pushed myself to my feet and dusted off my pants. My left hip hurt like hell and was no doubt going to sport a massive bruise tomorrow. At least I hadn’t broken anything.
Bending to pick up the fallen crystals and herbs that had been on the table wasn’t an easy task with my back seizing up. By the time I bent for the fifth time it had loosened somewhat. Of course, that’s when all hell broke loose.
The first thing I noticed felt like a slap to the center of my being where I called my magic from. That transformed to ants crawling under my skin. Disturbed, I rushed down the stairs and looked out the sliding glass door. It gave me a view of the garden and my property on the other side. It stretched further than I could see. When I saw nothing out of place, I ran to the kitchen and looked out the window.
I had a view of one section of my pond and the dirt road leading to my house. My property line was a foot beyond the other side of the lane. My gut told me something happened to my barrier, so I kept my gaze trained just beyond the trees opposite of me where I was attacked by the ryme several days ago.
My heart was racing like a car in the Indy 500. If someone was coming for me, they’d come from this direction. Grab a weapon, woman. Right. I shouldn’t go out there empty handed. I don’t own any firearms. I don’t believe in them, so I grabbed the knife Sebastian gave me a while back.
With the sleeve of my sweatshirt, I wiped the sweat from my forehead before it dripped into my eyes. “C’mon, where are you? I know you’re there.” Yet, when I scanned the trees, I didn’t see anything.
A high-pitched scream shattered the quiet of the night and broke the window above the sink. Without thinking, I ran out the door. The blood froze in my veins and I tried to stop, but my body was moving so fast I had to windmill my arms to catch myself.
“Leave her alone,” I yelled at the half a dozen creatures hauling Kairi from my pond. One thing my many years on this Earth had taught me is that it was better to hide your fear and project an air of authority. That alone scared most people.
Based on the dark greenish-black aura surrounding the half-human, half-selkie I knew they were without a doubt Dark Fae. The one at the front of the group lifted one corner of its mouth and flashed razor-sharp teeth at me.
Remembering Bas’s tip about fire, I called flame to my hand. In my panic I wasn’t able to call a perfect ball like usual. I didn’t care about the three-foot tower of flames and tossed it at the hybrid selkie. It was the only name I could come up with in the spur of the moment.
The first one dodged out of the way while my fire slammed into the two standing behind it. They flailed their arms and fire fell off them to the ground. The pair at the back holding Kairi managed to keep hold of her despite the way she fought against them.
I had been looking at Kairi and the others and lost sight of the one that stood in the front. It growled at me and slammed into me. As we tumbled to the ground and my head bounced off the grass like a ball.
Ignoring the dizziness, I lifted the hand holding the knife and wrapped that arm around the thing’s neck. Its teeth raked across my shoulder leaving behind a long cut.
A choked cry left my mouth as I plunged the knife I held into the Dark Fae’s side. With my luck I wouldn’t hit anything that might make it slow down. Stopping it would take a miracle. Keeping that thought in mind I decided to give fate a bit of help and wiggled the blade around while it was inside its chest.
“Shit.” I couldn’t pull my weapon free and when I heard footsteps heading my way I had to give up and push the creature off me. Luck was actually on my side and it stayed on the ground with brackish blood gushing from the wound. The ground sizzled and smoke rose into the air where it hit my grass. Talk about toxic.
Kairi was on the ground and bleeding on the edge of the pond while two of the selkie’s kicked her. The other two had finally put the fire out and were heading my way. I lost my weapon, but still had my flames.
I held out my palm and called my fire. It burst from me in a massive column. I was too freakin exhausted to control it any better. The ones I’d burned paused and recoiled. I hurried to Kairi’s side and yanked one off her.
I forgot I was brandishing fire and it engulfed the selkie instantly. I lost track of everything as I heard what sounded like nails on a chalkboard. I turned my head and nearly peed my pants.
There was a Grim Reaper fifteen feet away and heading toward me and Kairi. The new arrival had a black cloak with a hood on. It was impossible to see anything except a black hole where the face should be, and the cloth reached the ground. The mermaid fought the selkie while I stood there gaping. Fear mixed with anger and my fire morphed into lightning.
It rolled over my hands and sizzled up my arms. I had no idea how I managed that and knelt carefully, so I didn’t lose it. “Kairi get back in the pond as soon as you can. This new one looks terrifying.”
“Ungh.” Breaking my gaze away from the reaper, I shifted focus to Kairi. The selkie had a chunk of her flesh dangling from his mouth and the mermaid was fighting as best as she could.
I grabbed the selkie with both hands and zapped it with the voltage sliding over my flesh. The creature gurgled and started smoking. The air filled with a pungent odor of cooked roadkill.
“That was a mistake, witch.” That threat came from the reaper, but I couldn’t tell if it was male or female. As if that matters. Kick its ass!
Letting go of the selkie, I had to trust Kairi would get back in the water. The last selkie was coming at me and the ones I’d burned a moment ago were lumbering my way.
I was surrounded with the biggest threat I’d ever faced right in front of me. I screamed as loud as possible hoping Bas was somewhere close that he could hear and unleashed the lightning. My breathing had already been fast. Now I was close to hyperventilating it was so rapid. It filled my head, blotting out my thoughts.
I trusted my instinct since it hadn’t let me down yet and pushed the energy out of me with most of the focus heading to the reaper. The night sky lit as if a spotlight was focused on my yard. When my lightning hit the creature, it sounded like a frozen egg roll hitting hot oil. All I could hear was the crackle. The sound blocked everything else. And, the smell wasn’t as rancid as before but wasn’t pleasant.
Like a galloping horse, my heart thundered in my chest and I stalked the cloaked reaper when I noticed it diminishing in size. Was it using some spell to make it look bigger and scarier?
I passed the selkie-like creatures that were now withered husks. “I don’t know how you broke through my protections, but you made a mistake.” I poured more anger into my hands and the lightning flared around me.
The reaper shuddered then turned around and took off into the forest. Take that bitch! I stood there and tried to calm my energy. I had no idea if it would come back, but I needed to preserve as much as I could. I was no Energizer Bunny. I would eventually run out.
I wanted to be protected when that time came. I took several deep breaths and turned to go in the house. I needed to call Bas. By the time I made it to Kairi the lightning had stopped traveling over my skin and shooting from my hands.
“Are you okay? Can I get you anything?” I scanned the mermaid’s body and winced at the inj
uries she suffered.
“I’ll be okay. I just need time to heal.” Kairi lifted a lily pad from a deep gash and I could see the skin was already knitting together.
“I’m going to call Sebastian then hunt that thing down. See if we can neutralize at least one threat. You wouldn’t happen to know what it was? Or what the other creatures were?”
Kairi looked up at me and shook her head. “I think the robed being was an elf and the others were slaugh. Although these were missing the shells that usually cover their bodies. It’s why they looked like a creature out of water. Their skin is used to being protected. I have a feeling whoever was controlling them removed them to break through your protections.”
“She’s right. Whoever was just here was an elf. A female.” My head snapped up when I heard Sebastian’s voice. I watched as he hurried toward us. “I returned a few minutes ago and knew right away the protections has been breached. What was the light I saw in the sky?”
I held up my hands and turned them over. “Apparently, I can shoot lightning from my hands. Don’t ask me how. It started as fire that was out of control but when they injured me, and I saw Kairi being beaten I lost all semblance of control. We need to track that bitch.”
Sebastian stared at me for several seconds. “Who are you? No one has ever had that kind of power.”
I kinda growled and sighed at the same time and rolled my eyes at him. “That doesn’t matter right now. I want to get her and make her pay.” I started running the way she’d taken off ignoring the curses that exploded behind me. I ducked under a low hanging branch and paused when I came to a thicket of trees.
The path had been obvious, but the footsteps were now hidden in the groundcover. Bas paused next to me. Tilting my head back I looked at him. “I lost her. Can you sense her?”
His head swiveled around before zeroing in on the right. “This way.” He took the lead that time, and I followed. We traipsed through the forest for fifteen minutes with me growing more anxious by the minute.
