by Aiden James
Fearing this wizard might be able to override Wizard Gabon’s protective spell, I forced myself to not think of Daciana, or the fact she had arrived at Twin Magnolias and was hiding as a Barbie doll-sized faerie at that very moment inside the armoire in my bedroom.
Nope. Back to imagined menageries of raccoons, skunks, and even Rocky the Flying Squirrel.
He chuckled and drew even closer, to where I could smell an expensive cologne blend. He raised the cane’s handle toward my face, and I swear to Christ it took every ounce of restraint to neither flinch nor laugh out loud while again picturing the movie version of Wizard Malfoy using his cane similarly to reveal Harry’s zig-zag scar along his scalp line.
“The time for honesty is now... why wait for us to find her?”
I furrowed my eyes and put on what I hoped was a genuine befuddled look. “Daciana? You believe she’s here?”
Suddenly, a small army of footsteps emerged from upstairs, and in panic I craned my neck toward the landing, expecting to see my beloved in chains or handcuffs. Or, if still in her miniature state, in the grip of one of the handful of young warlocks gathered above.
“Anything?” Orpheus asked.
“Nothing, sire.”
The response came from a youngster roughly Alisia’s age, maybe younger, dressed in a similar bodysuit to Wizard Bagley’s. Along with several others around the same age, I noticed that Karl and Klaus Hausner were with them. I caught them shaking their heads when Attila shot them a glance.
“You were in my room?” I asked accusingly, followed by a slight collective gasp from the women in my family. My family’s fearful deference to this visitor eliminated any further need to confirm his lofty rank.
“Your room?” Orpheus replied haughtily. “Until less than two weeks ago, it lay empty... as it will again, unless you start cooperating, Bas.”
“Have we checked everywhere else on the property?” asked the elderly woman, her Scottish accent even more pronounced than earlier. “By the way, Bas, I’m Rowan MacCrum.... All we want is to peacefully return Daciana to her rightful place.”
Her rightful place is with me!
“She’s not here,” I said. “I thought she was still in Europe!”
Double-dare lie right there; delivered with the indignancy of a poor guy being bullied needlessly.
And the Academy Award for best liar goes to....
“Not here... still in Europe?” Orpheus mocked, studying me with those cold unusual eyes. “Sadly, and I do mean this for you personally, Sebastian... she is here. Somewhere close by. For your sake, you should hope that when we find her, none of her essence can be traced to you. Otherwise....”
“Should we have James and the others check the grounds again?” asked the tall elderly man. I noticed his French accent carried a hint of the British elocution of his wizard cohort.
Must be longtime buddies on the EEC board.
“No, Aristide,” said Orpheus, still holding me in his gaze. “We’ll wait for the others’ arrival this afternoon. Perhaps by then, we’ll make headway here... unless it’s too late for our young friend when we return. Once we unlock Sorin Gabon’s maze, it will be.”
Admittedly, a chill seized my soul as he said this. For an instant, I pictured a sentence to a purgatorial world far worse than Bajenie.
Wearing a knowing smirk, Wizard Orpheus Bagley—whom I knew in my heart of hearts was truly one of Daciana’s Supremes—turned to leave. I half expected my parents and grandparents to plead for the trio to consider leniency on my behalf as they exited the house. Certainly, the look on Alisia’s face spoke to that desire, as a single tear streamed down the right side of her face. Or, just as likely, it was a precursor to another round of rebukes awaiting me from those who remained gathered in the foyer—be it family, neighborhood constables, or a pair of menacing wizards eyeing me with angry suspicion.
But it didn’t happen—at least not as the all-out assault I expected. Instinctively, I knew this had everything to do with the EEC trio that had invaded our home, and left with an ominous promise to return. The usual balance of peace and harmony in our household had been thrown out of whack... though perhaps not permanently ruined. Not yet.
“Has Sorin Gabon contacted you in any way, Bas?”
Attila posed this question as I watched my beloved sister sadly shake her head upon leaving the foyer with my parents and grandparents. Arthur and Matilda Albright stood not far from the living room, where my family had relocated... other than Adrian. He stood next to Attila. After exchanging nods with my uncle and Denmark’s head constable, the Albrights left the foyer to rejoin everyone else gathered in the dining room, from the sound of it.
Both wizards turned their sole attention upon me with sullen gazes—surely wishing they could see all the guilty thoughts gliding past my mind’s eye—swirling faster and faster, as if carried along by an out-of-control carousel.
I shook my head. “No, I’ve not heard anything from Wizard Gabon,” I said. “Not even an impression, and no new notes.”
Yes, I know... a complete pile of bullshit there. However, technically, Daciana’s and my benefactor hadn’t delivered any new notes or impressions lately. Just Sorin Gabon’s aid in assisting Daciana’s evasion of everyone on the planet determined to stop her. So, since this was his doing, it wasn’t as if I had anything to do with it, correct?
Maybe so. But I hated the way I felt right then.... After all, deceitfulness is always a lie since it’s intended to mislead.
“I’ve got a terrible feeling, Sebastian,” Adrian advised. His expression softened as he shook his head sorrowfully. “This won’t end well for you... one way or another.”
I expected a lecture to follow from my uncle, but he merely patted my shoulder before moving on to rejoin my family, leaving me alone in the foyer with Wizard von Stroheim.
“Bas... I sincerely like you, kid,” said Attila, casting a longing glance toward the dining room, where a whispered discussion was gaining strength in volume. “I know you’re hiding something from us, and surely it deals with Wizard Gabon or Daciana Matei... or perhaps both. Please think it through... the consequences may well ruin your young life. Don’t do this to yourself.”
I believe he would’ve reached up and patted my shoulder, too, if Adrian hadn’t already done it a moment ago. He smiled sadly, looking as if he desired to say more. But without another word, he turned and moved through the living room as he headed toward the conversation in the adjacent dining room.
Alone in the foyer, I shook my head at another irony: this was exactly what I had hoped to find as I prepared to leave the kitchen with my breakfast bounty, disguised and hidden for my cherished guest. It might’ve been an ‘act’ earlier to trudge upstairs as if depressed about my circumstance and likely fate. But now it was genuine.
What in the hell am I doing? Am I making things better or worse—and not just for me, but Daciana, too?
It was all I could think about as I returned to my bedroom.
Chapter Twenty-one
Daciana waited for me on the bed when I returned to my bedroom.
I’m sure that statement carries all kinds of imagined scenarios in and of itself.... But seeing the tiny version of my beloved perched upon the bed’s edge—like a hillside, if this was her normal size—pulled on my heart in a protective way.
All I wanted to do at that moment was take her gently in my hands and hold her close.
“Maybe later you can treat me like your treasured pet!” she teased, and for a moment her expression brightened. But then it quickly melted into worry. “I heard everything. Orpheus Bagley isn’t one to be trifled with, and it figures the EEC would send him first. Or... perhaps this is his insistence, since he has long been seen as a close ally of Gregorius Ninnius.”
“Wouldn’t that also make him a friend of Sorin Gabon’s at one point?”
I moved over to the armoire, using a spell to transfer the breakfast items I had retrieved for her from my shirt pocket to the tiny k
itchen island in her ‘apartment’. I smiled slightly when discovering her miniature refrigerator emitted a frigid breeze upon being opened to insert the items needing to be chilled.
“The fridge is modeled after the one at home,” she commented, as a wan smile tugged on the corners of her luscious lips. “Here in Denmark... where I used to live.”
“Hey, I understand,” I said, moving over to the bed and sitting beside her. “My suffering has been nothing like yours... but during the time I spent in Bajenie, I missed my family terribly. That’s something which will be hard for both of us starting tonight... and I hope our families can one day forgive us for it.”
I looked away for a moment, as I thought about leaving my family behind for an extended period of time. A fresh dose of sadness washed over me, and I silently prayed it passed quickly. But the reality of our upcoming absence from this world left me feeling uneasy... although I’d rather be in a veritable Hell with Daciana than Heaven without her. Certainly, our planned disappearance into Sorin Gabon’s hidden domain would piss off just about everybody we knew, and it could be quite a while before things calmed down. It made me think we might not be back here in Denmark for a year... maybe longer.
Perhaps much, much longer, if it turns out the rumor of Toma Matei being in Sorin Gabon’s care is actually true!
I felt a tiny hand’s fingers brush against the side of my left hand, and returned my attention to Daciana, whose loving gaze immediately warmed my heart.
“You asked about Orpheus Bagley’s relationship to Sorin Gabon,” she said, bringing my focus back to the present. “Yes, they know each other well... but no, they have never been allies. In fact, from the little I’ve learned about their relationship, Wizard Bagley’s meddling has much to do with why Sorin and Gregorius drew apart from each other.”
“Really? So, Orpheus is a Supreme?”
“Yes... and though Sorin has not named him as part of the small group that is keeping our families at war, he hasn’t excluded his name either.” She paused to stand. “Mind if I climb onto your hand so I can see you better?”
“No... that’s fine.” I chuckled, holding my hand out for her to climb aboard. Yeah, no way around admitting how crazy it felt, and nothing to compare it to, since holding a hamster, newborn kitten, or puppy come with their own unique sensations.
“Don’t laugh too hard... one day our roles may be reversed!” she warned, while shaking her head.
“I’ll try to keep that in mind,” I said, trying not to focus on how adorably cute her Minnie Mouse voice sounded with an edge of irritation. “So, how old is Orpheus? I know that ‘Bagley’ is English, since I had a social studies teacher back in the seventies whose last name was Bagley, and she claimed to have proof that her family’s roots date back to the Tudors in the fifteenth century. But Orpheus is Greek, right? Like the famed poet/musician from ancient Greece.”
“Yes... how’d you know about the mortally famous Orpheus?”
“From spending nearly fifty years in various high schools in Dupage County, mostly in Wheaton. Since we warlocks and witches age so damned slowly, studying the same shit over and over again about ancient Greece and Rome makes it kind of hard to forget it all.”
“Ah, yeah, I dealt with a little of that... but my family eventually hired tutors sworn to secrecy to school my brother and me,” she said. “I would’ve liked hanging out with mortals more, but my parents said we were too privileged to stoop to that.”
“Oh.”
“Hey, hon, I didn’t mean anything against your upbringing,” she sought to assure me. “I love everything about you, Bas, and am a bit envious of how you and Alisia are allowed to mingle with society more than my brother and I have been allowed. I think it’s really cool that Ali is dating a mortal, and that your family approves. Being so sheltered, and fed such hate and a continual sense of superiority, might be part of the reason why Serghei acts like such an ass at times.”
“At times?” I grinned in a loving way, to let her know this was mostly in jest, since I honestly don’t know the guy—other than he’s been a full-on asshole to me and my family.
“Well, okay... he’s mostly a jerk,” she admitted. “But I have hopes that one day he’ll change.... Anyway, back to Orpheus Bagley. Sorin has indicated he might be one of the oldest Supremes, and that he actually hails from Greece, being born in Roman times.”
“You’re kidding. Really? He looked a helluva lot younger than the other two EEC reps, and noticeably younger than my grandparents.”
“I get why you’d think that, but it’s true, according to Sorin. Depending on when one is granted ‘full-immortality’, the aging process stops. It can happen at any human age, and the recipient of this status will forever stay the same physically from that point forward,” she explained. “As for Orpheus’ journey to where he is today? His lineage is aristocratic, and after his Grecian family experienced increased prejudice and hostility under Roman rule, he became embittered and fled his homeland. Sorin says Orpheus migrated north and settled in the area that eventually became Cheshire, England.
“Already a gifted alchemist, the druids eventually accepted him. Once that happened, he steadily rose within their ranks as a master sorcerer, eventually attaining enough power and status to rival Wizard Myrddin. When Myrddin died, Orpheus became the most powerful Wizard in all of the British Isles. Somehow, long before Myrddin’s death, he also figured out how to become fully immortal—a secret that all of the Supremes tend to keep to themselves, once they discover it. He then added the Bagley surname to complete his transformation from a Greek alchemist to a respectable northern European wizard.”
“Wow, that’s impressive. You’ve obviously learned quite a bit from Sorin.... It sounds like Orpheus is older than two thousand years. Is he the oldest Supreme in the world?”
Honestly, as I learned more about Wizard Bagley’s heritage, I began to worry about my brashness in the foyer a short while earlier.
“He can be pretty intimidating, for sure,” she said, in obvious response to my private worry. “But I don’t think your attitude angered him downstairs, my love. And, he’s not the oldest wizard on Earth, according to Sorin.... While none of us can read a Supreme’s thoughts, I detected a slight fluctuation in his aura when you spoke with him. My guess is that Orpheus was impressed by your interaction... or at least surprised he can’t read your thoughts yet—which isn’t something any wizard likes or is used to dealing with.”
“I would imagine not,” I said, hearing Wizard Bagley’s implied threats replay in my head. “But Sorin is as powerful as him, though... correct?”
Yeah, I needed a little assurance we weren’t going up against Goliath without a souped-up slingshot. Especially, if Wizard Bagley somehow did figure out Wizard Gabon’s scheme before midnight.
“I would say, ‘yes’,” she said. “Sorin is also as powerful as Gregorius, too... but neither one is as old as Orpheus.”
“So, all of the Supremes sound like they are pretty close in power to one another, or so it seems.”
“That’s how it’s been explained to me,” she said. “Which is why they try to create alliances, with a focus on keeping things balanced. Sorin is seeking to align most of them on our side, but we can bet that Orpheus is determined to tip the scales against us.”
“Well, that’s comforting,” I deadpanned, admittedly nervous about being involved in a very real and dangerous tug-of-war amongst the highest ranks of our kind. “What do you know about the other two Elders who stopped by?”
“Rowan MacCrum and the one I assume is Aristide Chevalier?”
“Yes. I didn’t catch the older dude’s last name downstairs, but you know him, huh?”
“I don’t actually know either one personally, but they have recently visited the Ninnius castle in Bucharest.”
“Ahh... privileged friends and allies of the Ninnius clan?” I added an impish grin. “Sounds like there’s a number of folks on the wedding ‘guest list’ who are quite unhapp
y you’ve skipped town.”
“So it would seem,” she chuckled, but then grew serious. “Someone’s coming... they’ll be here in a moment. Don’t freak out with what I’m about to do. Remove the tie holding your ponytail.”
“Okay.”
Before I had finished pulling my hair free from its elastic restraint, a knock resounded upon my bedroom door.
“Sebastian?”
It was my grandfather’s voice, which surprised me, since he seemed resigned to let everyone else fret about the ‘Highway to Hell’ I had embarked on.
“Yes, Grandpa.”
“Can I come in for a moment?”
“Sure.”
By the time he opened the door and stepped into my bedroom, Daciana had scurried up my arm and disappeared under the cover of my long locks. I fought the urge to burst out laughing in response to being tickled as she worked her way around to the back of my neck. I could feel her peering toward Grandpa through concealment provided by some loose dark strands partially draped over my chest.
In the meantime, he eyed me compassionately while quietly closing the door behind him. He gazed around my room as if he had never been inside it before. Unlike the rest of my family, I didn’t get the feeling he was on the hunt for Daciana or even Wizard Gabon.
“I like this bedroom best when you’re here,” he said, smiling weakly. I noticed his eyes carried a dimmed glow, and I felt a fresh wave of guilt for causing him sorrow. “It won’t be the same without you around, son.... I keep thinking about what happened last Sunday, and no one has brought it up yet. Maybe they won’t ever.”
He chuckled for a moment, before stepping over to the window facing Chaffin’s Bend and lifting the curtain to peer outside. He dropped it in disgust.
“Damned hot heads!”
“Are they still circling the place?” I asked, knowing full well the ‘circus’ outside had grown much more active since the last time I had bothered to check at dawn. A glance at the alarm clock on my nightstand showed the current time was just after eight ‘o’clock.
