Triptych

by S. C. Mitchell

  “So weird.”

  But it had worked. She was rested and fed.

  Which begged the question: If she split up and each of her ate Thanksgiving dinner, then recombined, would she explode?

  “Not something I need to test right now.”

  ~ ~ ~

  At six sharp, Maggie waltzed into the training gym.

  When Paul dragged in five minutes later, she was well into her warm-up routine.

  “How are you so chipper?” he asked, plunking into his desk chair.

  His handsome face was lined with fatigue.

  “Did you get any sleep?” she asked.

  “A little, I think.” He popped open an energy drink. “I’ll survive. Not the first time I’ve had to operate sleep-deprived.”

  He took a big gulp, yawned, then rubbed his eyes.

  “Look, we’re here to test my powers anyway.” Maggie moved around behind him and placed her hands on his broad shoulders. “Let’s start here.”

  Her fingers caressed the dense musculature. It was nice to have a reason to touch him. Not the way she’d like to, but still. She willed her healing force into him. Her hands glowed brightly.

  If sleep enhanced healing, then didn’t it make sense healing would cure lack of sleep?

  “Mmm. Feels good.” He rotated his neck, stretching.

  After a minute or so, he drew in a deep breath, and sat up straighter. “Wow, yeah, that helps a ton. Probably not the most useful superpower, but I’m putting it on the list.”

  He spun in his chair to face her. The fatigue was gone from his features. “Now, let’s see what else you can do.”

  Over the next few hours they discovered she had enhanced strength, something she’d never even thought to test. She easily dead-lifted two-hundred pounds.

  Before, she could maybe lift fifty on a good day.

  “Not Z-Bot and Shade levels of strength enhancements, but not bad,” Paul said, marking it down.

  She didn’t seem able to run any faster or jump any higher, but she scored high on reflex and reaction tests.

  Before she’d even worked up a sweat, Paul called a halt to the physical tests. “Can you shift into the raven form or do any of the magic stuff now, or can only the Morgan aspect do that?”

  Again, things she’d never tried.

  But she had no trouble changing into the raven and flying around the room, and she retained the knowledge and ability to cast other spells as well. She fired an arcane bolt from her fist at a board, punching a hole through it, then brought up a round, shimmering shield of energy on her left arm as she wielded Fragarach in her right.

  “Okay, now shift into your three aspects.”

  ~ ~ ~

  As Morgana pulled out of Maggie, she knew where this was going. She tried to shift into Morgan’s raven form, but couldn’t. Nor could she get her mind around the magic, even though she retained memories of performing the actions that created the spells. And when she willed Morgause’s healing, her hands refused to glow.

  Damn, that magic shield would’ve been convenient to have in combat. But she’d only be able to do that when she was fully Maggie.

  Still, she had no trouble lifting the weights or matching her scores on the reflex and reaction tests.

  Morgan and Morgause couldn’t budge the weights, and failed miserably in the reaction testing. Each retained the powers of their aspect and nothing more.

  Morgana could see there would be times it would be more advantageous to remain Maggie and have access to everything, and times when splitting up made more sense.

  At least she had the option.

  At eight-thirty, Paul sent Morgause to meet with Mary Cullen for more testing and some medical training, and sent Morgan to El Brujo.

  “Now it’s time for you and me to get a little physical together.” A half smile ticked up on his lips. “But not in the way either of us really wants.”

  Morgana sighed. Yeah, this could be harder than she thought, especially if he taught her wrestling moves. And wrestling with Paul sounded like a really fun way to spend the night.

  The door opened and Phaze walked into the gym. “Paul?”

  Paul’s gaze shifted to her and he raised an eyebrow. “What can I do for you, Phaze?”

  With a chuckle, she crossed her arms and sent her gaze between Paul and Morgana. “Actually, it’s what I can do for you. I’ve been trained in battle tactics by Jason Pike and by you, Paul, and I’ve developed some of my own techniques in the field as well. Plus, I’m a woman.”

  Paul nodded. “I did notice that.”

  “Combat is a little different for us. Movements, issues of balance and such. In short, I’m better qualified to train Maggie than you are, and I have time right now.”

  Phaze would have a unique perspective on what Morgana needed to learn, and learning from Phaze wouldn’t be half as distracting as learning from Paul. Still, Phaze could have waited until Paul had demonstrated a few good wrestling moves. A little contact would have been nice.

  Narrowing her eyes at Paul, Phaze added, “You’re exhausted. I can see it in your eyes. Go get some sleep. Leave this to me.”

  She was right. The fatigue had returned to Paul’s face. Maggie’s healing could only do so much. He needed his rest.

  He sighed. “Okay, I really appreciate this.”

  Then he pointed at Morgana. “For some ungodly reason she’s fully rested, so don’t go easy on her.”

  Phaze’s gaze traveled to Morgana. Her eyes sparkled as her smile broadened. “Oh, I won’t.”

  ~ ~ ~

  El Brujo opened his apartment door as soon as Morgan knocked. “Bueno, you are here.”

  Spanish words constantly crept into his sentences, though his English was very good. Morgan suspected he did it on purpose.

  He motioned her into the apartment.

  Olivia sat on the couch, feet curled up underneath her, eyes intent on something on a data pad. “Hi, Maggie,” she said without looking up.

  El Brujo closed the door. “I believe she would properly be called Morgan at this moment.”

  Placing her data pad on the couch beside her, Olivia looked up and shrugged. “How can you tell?”

  Morgan chuckled. “You can’t. And either name works. We’re kind of identical quadruplets.”

  Morgan, Morgause, Morgana, and Maggie. So many Ms. But that was because they were all derived from Morrigan. Well, all but Maggie. But her mother had been named Meara, and Gran was Maeve, so maybe that was a family naming thing. Gran had never gone into that, but it might be something Maggie needed to consider when naming her children.

  A nurturing, maternal desire shot through her Morgana knew was the essence of the Morrigan working to bring about an heir. A survival instinct that had probably served the entity well over the eons. And she did want children, in time.

  With Paul?

  Oh, yeah.

  But right now she needed to stifle the Morrigan’s maternal urgings and concentrate on her training and taking care of Guinevere.

  Olivia and Carlos Diego were twins. Morgan wondered how similar they would have looked if Olivia were in her original body. Even now, they both had black hair and dark eyes, but that’s where any similarities ended. Olivia’s features were Middle Eastern while El Brujo was definitely Hispanic.

  Humor twinkled in Carlos’s eyes. A rare occurrence.

  “Your three aspects are not completely identical if you look with eyes that see.”

  Yeah, that was the kind of thing he would say. The man was a mystery. Erudite, yet approachable and at times affable, with occasional bursts of dry humor.

  “So, what do your eyes . . . see?”

  His eyes lit as a soft smile caressed his lips. “Your aura has crimson ov
ertones, while Morgana’s holds a bluish cast, and Morgause is surrounded by golden radiance.”

  He might have been pulling her leg. It was hard to tell with Carlos, but she might as well go all in. “And when we’re Maggie?”

  “Very green.”

  Olivia rolled her eyes. “Carlos, sometimes you are so full of shit.”

  He shrugged. “True, but only when people aren’t in a position to call me on it. Morgan will soon enough have eyes that see. Her power is immense and will only need a bit of honing.”

  Immense? “I don’t expect to ever be as powerful in the craft as you, but it would be nice to at least understand what I’m doin’ and how I’m doin’ it when it comes to this magic stuff. Some of Gran’s descriptions of the spells I supposedly can cast give me more questions than answers.”

  Carlos waved her to a seat. “Would you care for some refreshment?”

  A puff of smoke issued from his hand and suddenly he was holding a tall glass filled with ice and an amber liquid. “Iced tea?” Another puff and he was holding a tumbler with a deeper amber liquid and no ice. “Or something stronger?”

  Morgan held out her hand. “I’ll take that before you change it again.”

  She took a sip.

  The familiar burn as the drink slid down her throat, brought a smile to her lips. “Sexton Single Malt?”

  He nodded. “I met your grandmother a few times over the past few years. That was one of her favorites, so I always kept it available. I mourn her passing.”

  Morgan’s heart warmed. “You knew Gran?”

  “An amazing woman, and very powerful in the craft. When I first met you, I did not make the connection. Your grandmother came to visit whenever her work brought her to Méjico.”

  Her work. Protecting Ireland. Protecting the world. Gran was a superhero before there were superheroes.

  “I really want to learn, and I need to learn if I’m going to defeat Guinevere and return her to the Fae Realm.”

  “Ah, yes, the Fae Realm. I haven’t had many dealings with Donavan and his people, though with the exception of his queen, he seems to have done well for himself in creating a sanctuary.”

  “The Fae Realm is a sanctuary? Why do you call it that?”

  With another poof, a bottle of Sexton Single Malt Whiskey appeared in El Brujo’s hand. He set it on the table beside Morgan’s chair.

  “That, my friend, is a very long story, but one I think you need to hear.”

  Chapter 15

  As her three aspects fell into her, Maggie’s head reeled.

  A galactic being? That’s what Carlos had called Donavan, the original Morrigan, Odin, Zeus, other gods . . . and her.

  It was Carl Sagan who’d said “We are made of star stuff?” Could he have possibly known? Had he been a galactic being? Or a descendant of one?

  As a young girl she’d been captivated with the television series, Cosmos, and could almost recite every episode by heart. But the star stuff in her was even more majestic and mysterious than anything she’d seen on the TV screen.

  There are galactic beings on a scale we mortals can’t even begin to comprehend, yet they make war and die for very much the same reasons humans do. Greed, power, lust.

  She remembered John Wylde talking about those strange entities he’d encountered on his excursion to Russia to rescue Quantum. The process that created Quantum caught the notice of these galactic beings that came to Earth to intervene in his father’s experiments.

  And like people, there were galactic beings of greater and lesser power and resources. The weaker ones tended to hide out on the fringes of the galaxy, on planets like Earth, or in pocket dimensions like the Fae Realm, lest they catch the eye of a powerful galactic warlord.

  If the mythical and current gods of earth were the weak, small-fry of these galactic entities, Maggie wasn’t sure she ever wanted to encounter one of the big kahunas.

  But that was exactly what El Brujo had said they were going to attempt tomorrow night.

  A chill ran up her spine. “Begorrah!”

  ~ ~ ~

  With one final email, Paul finished the shifting of all of his duties to other people so he could concentrate completely on training Maggie.

  Guinevere’s deadline was still a few days away, so they had a little breathing space, but no one doubted Maggie was the crux of whatever would happen next. The more prepared she was, the better.

  Thanks to Phaze taking over some of Morgana’s hand-to-hand combat training, he’d gotten some sleep, and had time to shower and grab a bite to eat. The prospect of spending the rest of the day with Maggie sent a warm wave through his gut.

  His mind envisioned her kissing him again, her lush body pressed close to his.

  Not like that. Not today. They had work to do first.

  Aaron commandeered Paul’s office and all the security equipment there, and Kirk set him up a laptop to work from his room for email and other tasks. He was closer to the training gym here anyway, and job one was getting Maggie as ready as possible for what was coming.

  Someone knocked on his door.

  “Come in. It’s open.” His apartment was now his office, and he’d directed people to meet with him here if they needed him.

  Hopefully this wasn’t some new distraction. He’d sent Maggie a message to meet him in the gym in half an hour, and he still had a few tasks he wanted to finish up before that.

  But when the door opened it was Maggie. “We need to talk.”

  He stood and advanced toward her, beckoning her in. “Okay.”

  She wasn’t wearing her Triptych costume.

  The red dress she wore was a stunner. The deep plunging neckline and the mid-thigh length of the skirt had his gaze skating up her shapely legs and begging to stop and spend long moments drinking in her cleavage. He forced his eyes up, noting how her hair hung in slightly damp curls, like she’d recently showered. The light floral scent she wore filled his senses.

  Her cheeks were pink, highlighting those freckles he’d always loved. What had her blushing and dressed to the nines?

  “Make love to me.”

  It was the invitation he’d dreamed about—desired more than anything. But the timing? “Maggie, what the—”

  “Please, kiss me and make love to me, right now.” Trembling, she threw herself into his arms.

  He pulled her in, held her close, and drank in the lushness of her body pressed against him. “What’s going on? Are you scared of something?”

  What could have shaken her? This woman had flown the most powerful aircraft in the world into countless combat missions without flinching. She’d piloted a stealth jet over Russian airspace, dodging radar, to deliver Wylde to a secret destination without batting an eye. Her service record was filled with incidents where she’d volunteered for the most dangerous assignments.

  Still she stood here hugging him close. “What’s not to be scared of?” Only a slight quiver in her tone now. “Guinevere, aliens, galactic beings, pocket dimensions.”

  The worst part was most of that made sense. There was plenty hanging over their heads right now. Was she cracking under the pressure?

  “Maggie, you can handle this. And Xi Force has your back.”

  She drew back slightly and kissed the tip of his nose. “You’re right, I can handle this. We will handle this. That’s not it.”

  Sliding her hand along his cheek, she captured his gaze. “I don’t mind puttin’ my life on the line. But I refuse to take a chance on dyin’ before I’ve made love to you. Right now, I need you to take my mind off all this blarney, at least for the moment, and give me somethin’ to hold on to over the next few days. Somethin’ real.”

  Her brogue was back with a vengeance. Determination blazed in her gorgeous green eyes. “Sure an’ there�
�s more at stake here than you know, and I’ll be fillin’ you in . . . after. But first I need you like I’ve never needed anyone before.”

  “Whatever Maggie needs,” had been Aaron’s instructions to Paul.

  Okay.

  She kissed him so ardently all sense left him, and he let himself be swept away in the passion of the moment.

  He wanted . . . no, he needed this as badly as she did.

  ~ ~ ~

  Maggie drew back and took a deep breath. The evidence of Paul’s interest was pulsing stiffly against her belly. This was what she’d wanted for months, and needed right now so much more than she needed to breathe.

  Tonight she’d be in the presence of a being more powerful than she could even imagine. She’d be like a pauper addressing a king. And that prospect terrified her.

  Carlos had tried to reassure her, but even he, with his carefully crafted smile, couldn’t hide the glint of fear in his eyes.

  She’d learned to handle life-threatening danger long ago. Flying a fighter jet for the Air Force, flying the Xi-1 into combat with Xi Force, her life had been on the line every time she’d lifted off. She could deal with that.

  But this would be danger on a whole other level. Danger not only to her life, but also to her soul. These beings were essentially gods. And her actions tonight and going forward would affect more than just her. They’d affect the entire planet and everything she held dear.

  After talking with Carlos, she’d gone to her room and tried to sleep. All she could think of was putting her things in order, in case something happened. Little by little, as she’d pulled herself together, she realized Paul was the only thing she needed to put in order. And this, making love with him, was the most important thing she needed to do before facing tonight.

  Paul was the one. She loved him. She’d known for months, even while trying to deny it. And the thought of leaving this world without ever having made love to him, caused her heart to fist in her chest.