Taken In (The Red Enchanter Book 2)

by Mary Swift

  Dante tried to transform into a cat but nothing happened, he was too frightened to concentrate. He attempted to become smoke but it didn’t work either. He wrote a quick poem in his head. He was still in the same place. He felt his heart banging in his chest. “I’m not here to harm any of you. I just want Constantine.”

  Kip slowly took the pistol from its holster. “Why?”

  “He’s my son. He belongs with me.”

  Kip pointed the pistol at him. “You’re still on this whole fatherly thing, huh?”

  “I want to make things up to him.”

  “It’s too late for that.” Kip cocked the pistol. “Try and run away and I’ll shoot you.”

  “You can’t see.”

  “Do you want to take a chance that I’ll miss?” Kip grinned excitedly. Dante was reminded of his mother Talia; she had a thirst for violence too.

  “Why don’t you give Constantine the choice? I know he’ll come with me.” Dante didn’t believe his own words, but he needed more time to try and get away.

  Kip lowered the pistol and shot into the ground near Dante’s feet. The sound echoed through the woods. “The only choice here is for you to make. I can either kill you or you can come with me.” He pressed the barrel of the gun into Dante’s chest. “What will it be?”

  It couldn’t end here, shot by a blind man in the woods outside of Firesea. “I can fix your eyes.” he said. It was the only thing he had left.

  “Sure you can.”

  “I can still write the poems. I can make you see again. Do you want to be blind for the rest of your life?” Dante could see the conflict on Kip’s face. Everyone had a weakness; it was just a matter of finding it. “If you give me Constantine I’ll make it so that you can see again.”

  “I’m not handing Constantine over to you.”

  “He’s my son! I have a right to him. Besides, what do you care? Are you telling me that you want him around? No one does, he means nothing to anyone except me.”

  “He’s part of our family.”

  Dante snorted. “Family? That mismatched assortment of oddballs? Half of them aren’t even related to you. I suppose you have to reach in your case with your mother and brother dead. How did they die again? Shot in the street?” It was the wrong thing to say and Dante knew it, but he wanted a reaction. It worked. Fury tore across Kip’s face.

  “They died because of you! Because you sent Firesea rangers to Wildbush.” Kip raised the knife. “I’ve put it off long enough. I’m going to kill you.”

  Dante knew he had only seconds to act. He grabbed the pistol out of Kip’s other hand. The concentration it took a blind man to stab into the air had relaxed the muscles in his fingers. Dante didn’t bother to examine the weapon. He pointed it and fired a bullet into Kip’s stomach. As Kip fell to the ground the knife which had been hovering above Dante came down on his chest. The impact wasn’t very hard, but Kip kept his knives sharp and it easily sliced through Dante’s ribs to his heart.

  Chapter 72

  There was only one thing to do with the child. Killian had to make her a mortal. Leah was like a sponge, taking and taking energy. If she was released into Firesea she would destroy the circle. And if she was among the mortals she would unleash the pent up energy on them.

  He had to absorb the energy himself. The other choice was to destroy the child and he couldn’t do that. She had not asked to be this way. Taking the energy was easy. He was a Founder; they could take anything they wanted and usually did. Killian was well aware of the consequences of such an action. The more energy he took in the more powerful he became.

  Leah’s mother had died first. After Kip, Rowan, and Finnegan left she slipped into unconsciousness and never woke up. The father lasted longer.

  “You should try and save yourself.” Killian told him.

  The man looked at his dead wife. “I don’t see any reason to.”

  “I’m a healer. I may be able to help you.”

  “No, I’m beyond that point.”

  “My son is a very powerful healer.”

  “No. Promise me that you won’t try that. I want to die. I don’t want to see what this world becomes. Leah won’t be the last will she?”

  “Probably not. But do you want her to be an orphan?”

  “I don’t want to live knowing I created that.”

  Killian bit his tongue. He couldn’t imagine saying that about his own child.

  “Will you take care of her when I’m gone?” the man asked.

  “I’ll do my best.” Killian said.

  “I’m honored to die with a Founder.”

  Killian didn’t feel it should be anyone’s honor to die with him. He stood up and put Leah in the cradle. When he turned around Leah’s father was dead. Killian was tempted to try and revive him, but he had made it clear he didn’t want that. Killian could feel the new energy inside of him. He was becoming dangerous with so much power. He knew he had crossed a threshold that he couldn’t come back from. The robe could not go to him. He had to break the line of succession.

  Leah made a noise. She was probably hungry. He touched her. “You are fed.” She burped. He gently rocked the cradle. It reminded him of when he was a sixteen year old father sitting with Lucy in the middle of the night trying to get her to sleep. As he watched Leah drift off he suddenly got an idea.

  He picked up the baby and carried her downstairs. The house was still sealed but it made no difference to him. As he opened the door he felt Finnegan’s spell yield. It was dark outside. A lone lantern flickered on a crooked lamppost. No one was about.

  He hurried across the circle until he came to the Master Enchanter’s house. Killian balanced Leah in one arm and lifted the great brass doorknocker with the other. The sound echoed through the house. The door was opened by the housekeeper. Unlike the old days when the house was filled with servants, underlings, and followers there was just this one woman to look after things.

  “Master Enchanter.” she said with a look of relief on her face. “I’ve been worried about you.”

  “I’m the Master Enchanter’s brother.” He thought that would have been obvious, his red hair generally made him hard to mistake.

  “You haven’t heard then?”

  “Heard what? I’ve been busy.” He shifted Leah in his arms. He had forgotten how heavy an infant could feel.

  “Oh I am sorry Master Enchanter, do come in.” She opened the door and he stepped inside.

  “I’m Killian Cramer. I’m not the Master Enchanter.”

  “I hate to be the one to tell you this, but given that there’s no council I don’t know who else would do it. There was a disturbance outside of the circle wall this morning, your brother was killed.”

  Chapter 73

  Nora sat in the Master Enchanter’s throne in the council hall and stared at the wall. She wasn’t the Master Enchanter. She was nothing.

  After they had investigated the noise Kip heard they went back inside Killian’s house. A few minutes later no one could find Kip. He had slipped back out. Nora, Rowan, and Finnegan went out to look for him. They split up once they were outside.

  Nora roamed through the overgrown woods surrounding the circle wall. She heard someone scream. She ran to the other side of the house and found Rowan healing Dante. Dante was shouting obscenities and trying to pry Rowan’s hands away.

  “Kip stabbed him.” Rowan told her.

  Kip was rubbing his stomach. “After he shot me. Thanks Rowan.”

  “You should let Dante die.” Nora said.

  “Stop healing me!” Dante shouted.

  Rowan took his hands away. “I have to. That’s my job.”

  Dante struggled to his feet. He looked old, almost frail. “Nora, I want Constantine.”

  “Why? You hate him.”

  Dante shook his head. “No, I don’t. I need him with me. I’m old Nora.”

  “No kidding. Anyone can see that.”

  “Go get him.” he said.

  Nora felt her temper r
ising. “I don’t take orders from you. Why don’t you turn yourself to smoke and snatch him? That’s more your style anyway.”

  “I can’t do that anymore.” He pointed to Rowan. “This one, he’s messing with my head. I can’t do things like I used to.”

  “Can I kill him now Nora?” Kip asked.

  “No.” She grabbed Dante’s arm and squeezed it.

  “Ouch, that hurts Nora.” he complained.

  “Good.” She looked at Rowan and Kip. “Go in the house.”

  “We can’t leave you out here with him.” Rowan said.

  As usual people were underestimating her. “I want you to go in the house and don’t come out unless I tell you to.”

  “Get my pistol Rowan.” Kip told him.

  Kip’s pistol was lying on the ground. Rowan picked it up. “I should stay.”

  Kip reached for Rowan. “Come on. Your mother doesn’t want us here right now.”

  “But I have to be here.” Rowan protested.

  “No, you don’t.” Kip said. “This isn’t about us.”

  Kip was more like her than she realized. “I’ll be in later.” Nora told them.

  “But it could be dangerous.” Rowan wore his father’s conflicted face.

  “Let’s go.” Kip took Rowan’s arm and together they made their way through the woods. Rowan looked over his shoulder a dozen times before the trees became too thick and he could no longer be seen.

  “You’re a fool Nora.” Dante said.

  “Shut up.”

  “You’ve ruined my life.”

  “I haven’t ruined anything. You took an innocent girl and turned her into this.” She pointed to herself. “Do you think I like being this way? Do you think I like lusting for power and struggling over and over again for my sanity? Do you think I want to see my children’s lives constantly threatened?”

  “I think you like being in charge.” Dante countered. “I think you like giving orders.”

  “If it’s giving orders to you then yes I do.” She squeezed his arm some more. She was sure his bones were to the breaking point.

  He looked into her eyes. Nora wasn’t sure if he was going to start crying or if he was going to disappear. “I’m really tired Nora.”

  “So what?” she asked. “I don’t care about your physical condition.”

  “I want to make things up to Constantine.”

  “It’s too late for that.”

  “And I care about you Nora.”

  “Ha!” she shouted. “That’s rich coming from you. You’ve been trying to destroy me for years.”

  “I was promised things by the Founders. If I helped them I would get power, unlimited power. And then they turned on me.”

  “What’s it like to feel betrayed Dante?”

  Dante bit his lip anxiously. “I have a daughter with one of the Founders.”

  “Constantine told me. What about it?”

  Dante sighed. “My life is not what I thought it would be.”

  “I thought at this age I would be enjoying a quiet life at home. Instead I’m standing in the woods talking to you. Do you think my life is how I imagined it would be?”

  “I don’t think I want to live anymore Nora.”

  Nora stared at him.

  “Aren’t you going to say anything?” Dante asked. “I’m meaning, I might kill myself.”

  “Are you expecting me to try and talk you out of it?”

  “Maybe I’ll make one last try for the robe.” he said.

  “Go ahead.” she told him. “Maybe you’ll get killed in the process.”

  “Do you really hate me that much Nora?”

  “Yes. How do you expect me to feel?”

  “We could rule Firesea together.”

  Nora chuckled. “How? Are you planning to cut the robe in half?”

  “No. I’ll appoint you as my deputy.”

  She grabbed his collar. “What makes you think that you would be the one in charge?”

  Dante’s lip trembled. “Uh, I just thought because I’m part enchanter.”

  “You’re part idiot, that’s what you are. I’m not ruling with you.” She rolled her eyes. “Where do you get your ideas?”

  “Why do you love Killian? You’re nothing like him.”

  Nora was getting annoyed with him. She didn’t even know why she was standing around talking to him. And where was Finnegan? He should be dealing with this. He was a lousy Master Enchanter.

  “You and I have more in common Nora.” Dante stated. “Killian’s too good for you.”

  Nora wished he would just go away. Instead he stared at her. Maybe his powers of mobility really were gone. “Don’t you think I know that? I’m not good Dante. I know I’m not. I’m nothing like Killian. I don’t understand why he loves me. But I know why I love him. Because he’s kind and decent and I can look up to him and try to be as good as him.”

  “Yeah, he’s a real saint.” Dante sneered.

  “Name one thing that he’s done wrong.”

  “He created Rowan.”

  “Rowan isn’t a creation, he’s our child.”

  “A child that you had when you were still married to me.”

  “Dante, that was nearly twenty years ago. Does it really matter now?”

  “I guess not.”

  There was a noise in the woods. Finnegan suddenly emerged from behind a tree. When he saw Dante there was fear in his eyes. “Are you all right Nora?” he asked anxiously.

  “Yes. Dante and I are just talking about old times.” she said.

  “Oh, okay.” Finnegan stood next to them.

  It was clear to Nora that she was going to have to take charge. “Why don’t you signal the rangers and have them lock Dante up?”

  “Yeah, I could do that.” Finnegan said. He stuck his hands in the pocket of the robe but he didn’t pull anything out.

  “Dante claims he’s been weakened by Rowan’s healing.” Nora said.

  “I’m not claiming it Nora.” Dante said angrily. “It’s true. There’s something wrong with your son.”

  “Shut up.” she told him. She turned to Finnegan. “Signal the rangers.”

  Finnegan fiddled around in his pockets some more. Finally he took out a signal and threw it into the air.

  “I’m not going to prison.” Dante said. He suddenly bolted into the woods.

  Nora didn’t wait for Finnegan to do something. She ran after Dante. He was so old and out of shape that it only took a few seconds to catch him. She grabbed the back of his tunic. “There’s no use running Dante.”

  He turned around. “I can’t be locked up Nora.”

  “You sure didn’t mind locking up Killian all those years ago. For nothing.”

  “It was to prevent him from ruining my life.” He looked over Nora’s shoulder. Finnegan had finally caught up to them. “Killian ruined your life too Finnegan.”

  Finnegan shook his head. “No he didn’t. I love my brother.”

  “You hated him once.”

  “That time is over.”

  Dante made a face. “What a miserable failure you are. Your father would be ashamed if he saw you now. You’re a disgrace to the robe.”

  “Shut up Dante.” Finnegan said.

  “Don’t listen to him.” Nora told him. “He thinks he can string a few words together and people will find it clever.”

  Dante’s face turned red. “I’m still a great writer!”

  “Yeah, sure.” Nora could hear the rangers coming through the woods. It would soon be over. Suddenly she noticed that Finnegan had a hammer in his left hand, he must have pulled it out of the pocket of the robe. “What are you doing?”

  Dante smirked. “He thinks he wants to kill me. He thinks it will make up for his weaknesses. He’s no Master Enchanter. Even you can do a better job Nora.”

  Finnegan raised the hammer and struck Dante on the side of the temple. His head began to bleed.

  “Master Enchanter!” Gareth was running through the woods followed by a g
roup of rangers.

  Finnegan used the hammer to point at Dante. “Lock him up.”

  Dante grabbed the hammer. Finnegan’s relief at seeing the rangers must have loosened his grip. “If you want to kill someone then kill this bitch.” He raised the hammer and struck Nora’s face. Before Dante could hit her again Finnegan stepped in front of her and took three consecutive blows to his skull. He crumpled to the ground, his head was bleeding heavily.

  Dante made an insane laugh and then dropped the hammer. He put his fingers to his wound. Gareth loaded his bow. He pointed the arrow at Dante and fired. Dante collapsed on the ground. Gareth put two more arrows in him. Nora looked at Finnegan and starting crying.

  “Don’t look.” Gareth said. He put his arms around her and she buried her face in his neck. “They’re both gone. It’s all over now.” he said quietly.

  They brought the bodies back to the council hall. Dante’s was carted off somewhere while Finnegan’s was given attention by a young enchanter who spent much time fixing his hair to conceal his injuries. She cleaned his skin and applied makeup to give him the appearance of being alive.

  Nora stayed in the council hall with the body. Finnegan had given his life to save hers. She didn’t deserve saving. She hadn’t even been that nice to him in the last few days of his life. She knew why he had stepped in front of her. It was the ultimate way he could make up for what he had done to Killian. She hoped that he now felt he and his brother were even. Nora knew that Killian had long ago forgiven Finnegan, but Finnegan had never been able to forgive himself.

  Two days passed. Rowan tried to persuade her to come back to the house but she wouldn’t. Ivan Cramer told her that she needed to get out of Firesea altogether but she refused. Gareth hung around and brought her food to eat.

  On the evening of the second night Killian walked into the council hall. He looked exhausted. Gareth had been sitting on the floor smoking a cigarette. He got to his feet. “Master Enchanter, good evening.”

  Killian stared at Finnegan’s body. “I didn’t believe her.” he mumbled.

  “Who?” Gareth asked.

  “Finn’s housekeeper. She told me he was dead.”

  Nora realized that she should have been at the Master Enchanter’s house waiting for Killian, not sitting in the hall feeling sorry for herself. Killian should have heard the news from her, not a stranger. “He’s dead because of me.” She started to cry.