“And?” Emily quizzed.
“And it just so happened to be the time Father was enjoying—ahem—quality time with Mother,” Marion added.
Emily’s eyes widened. She instinctively let go of Michael. “You caught them having sex???”
Michael shuddered.
“That’s exactly what he did,” Alice replied, mocking Michael. “Caught them naked in bed, totally unassuming. Of course, he knocked them both out.”
“So how did you end up as their prisoner?” Emily asked her brother, astounded.
“They hit me with the exact same spell,” Michael replied. He was more subdued now. He wasn’t going to be making any rash decisions now.
“How is that possible?”
“Dad has a host of protective spells around him at all times.” Marion was the one to respond. “One of them is the reflection spell. It reflects an attack spell and sends it back to the sender. In other words—”
“If you try to knock him out, you end up knocking yourself out.” Emily finished the sentence.
“There was no way I could have known he had that spell around him,” Michael said in defense. “Besides, I didn’t go there to fight him. I only went there to explain. I didn’t even know I had magic! It just sorta . . . happened.”
“Right, and you felt the best place to explain yourself is in our parents’ personal room?” Alice shot back. “I would flay you alive if Dad didn’t need you!”
“I didn’t know that was the bedroom!” Michael defended. “It’s not like there was a map of the house lying around.”
“Maybe you shouldn’t have been sneaking about the house in the first place,” Alice fired back.
“Maybe you shouldn’t be trying to kill us in the first place!” Michael spat.
Alice growled. Her eyes crackled with red fire. Her hand exploded with red electricity. She threw them forward. The electric bolts cut into the dome. The dome repelled it, but the girl kept feeding the electricity.
Emily wondered briefly just how much power this “child” harnessed and how old Alice even was. Such an already powerful rove turned vampire. How terrifying was that!? How did that even happen?
The little girl’s flesh started to steam as she poured more of her magic and rage in the blast of electricity cutting into the dome. The dome held nonetheless.
“Stop this bullshit!” Marion shrilled. When his sister didn’t budge, he marched up to her and pulled her back.
Alice turned on him and pounded her hands into his chest, driving him back—vampire strength. Just lovely. “Don’t touch me!”
“Do what she says, Man,” Chandler said, docile as ever.
“You’re just in love with her and can’t think straight!” Alice accused Marion. She sounded like she was on the brink of tears. But Emily wasn’t focused on the girl’s impending tears.
Marion’s in love with me? Emily thought to herself. What?
Well, surprise, surprise, Selena teased.
18
Marion didn’t speak at first. Alice also went placid because she’d run out of steam—literally. Her shoulders slumped as Marion tried to collect himself. Emily could see his ears burning with a reddish color. The redness spread out to his cheeks.
Michael’s gaze fell to Emily in a way that caught her attention. Even he knew to keep his mouth shut right then.
Emily couldn’t believe what she’d heard. She wanted to assume the little girl was just making empty accusations and trying to embarrass her brother. But, when Emily thought about it, the evidence suggested otherwise. Marion had saved her from Alice once.
Emily’s reasonable mind questioned her emotional state. Marion was the kind of guy to fall in love with, for sure. He was the perfect physical specimen, plus calm and kind-looking. Of course, she believed otherwise since he was there to kill her father and imprison her. But maybe if situations were reversed, or maybe if he wasn’t some psychotic murderous rove, she might crave his touch.
Nevertheless, it was what it was. Marion was on the evil side, and no matter what he did or said, she couldn’t let her desires get the better of her. It didn’t, however, mean she didn’t want to hear the rest of the story.
“Well, that’s just awkward,” Chandler announced in the cold night air.
Alice had turned her back to Marion and Chandler and was now glaring at Emily. “I’m going to enjoy skinning you alive,” she snarled.
Geez, this cute little girl was a monster. Again, Emily was stricken by how much rage and hatred emanated from the child—or whatever she was. She didn’t look more than twelve, yet her heart was steeped in hate. Although, if Alice was a vampire, she was likely much older than twelve. Heck, she could be twelve hundred! Was she really even related to Marion and Chandler at all? Or were all the Alfreds vampires?
Emily shook the thoughts from her mind. None of that mattered at the moment anyway. What did matter was dealing with the evil little girl in front of her. And, try as she did, she could not match Alice’s level of animosity. Emily didn’t wish for anyone to die. She just wanted to be left alone. She was even willing to let Mom’s death go unpunished. The past was the past. She just wanted to forge ahead with her life and her friends.
“I don’t want any trouble,” Emily said in a weak voice. “I just want you all to leave us alone.”
She knew her words were pointless. Yet, she had to try. She had to try to persuade them to turn their backs. Because when she let the fire demon come out to play, he was going to feel no sympathy for them, nor was she going to yank on the creature’s chains to hold him back.
Alice’s response to her words was a spitting laughter. “You’re such a pussy!” she spat. Her face metamorphosed from the sarcastic laughter to loathsome venom as she swiveled on her heels. “Again!” she shouted.
Chandler was the first to make up the circle. Marion held back for a moment. His eyes unfocused. Emily looked in them and saw the hesitation of a soul who was being twisted into doing something he’d rather not.
“Marion!” Alice snarled, her vexation pouring into her voice.
Emily got the feeling that Alice was used to getting her way and bossing her brothers around. Emily wondered if it was because she was the youngest and Daddy’s favorite or because she was the most powerful of them all. There was a lot more to that kid than met the eye.
Marion met Emily’s gaze. The moment that happened, her heart stopped short for a fraction of a second. Uh-oh. She watched as determination flooded into his eyes. Emily didn’t know what he was determined to do. She didn’t even know him, which made his being in love with her all the more preposterous.
One moment he’s new to their school, the next moment he’s asking her to come to a party because he wants to be ‘friends’ with her. Then the next, he’s part of a family of evil roves who want to unleash hell on earth, and they need to kill her to make that work. Not exactly the beginning of a love story. So, needless to say, she had no idea what he was thinking at that moment.
Marion walked up to the duo and made up the circle. Immediately, they started chanting. Emily turned her back on them and faced Michael.
“Come on, let’s go inside,” Emily said just as the fireball slammed into the dome, and the dome crackled and spat electricity everywhere.
Michael didn’t speak. But he allowed her to guide him back to the cottage. Inside, the comfort of the warm living room called out to her. The moment Emily settled into the couch, she could feel sleep trying to grab her.
She was going to be useless in a few moments. But she only hoped that when she slept, Michael wouldn’t think to venture off beyond the dome. Hopefully, he now understood what a terrible danger Alice could be.
“You’re worried for me, aren’t you?” Michael asked as he sat in the armchair opposite her.
Emily smiled. “I can’t say I’m not.”
“You think I don’t understand the gravity of the situation—that I would do something stupid.” Michael looked her up and down. “That’s why y
ou’re fighting to stay awake.”
Emily’s smile wavered. She didn’t know Michael could read people so well. “Pretty much.”
Michael heaved a sigh and looked to the side. His eyes roamed the air as he thought about something—probably the magical action taking place outside.
“Life’s insane, isn’t it?” Emily asked after a brief moment.
“Life is shit,” Michael retorted. “My life anyway. First, I learn I’m a warlock. Then I learn you’re my sister. And now I’m the only thing that can start the apocalypse. If that’s not shit, I don’t know what is.”
“I mean, if you put it that way, then our lives are shit,” Emily concurred. “But we can stop this.”
Michael’s head snapped to look in her direction. “How?” His voice was so sharp it startled her. “Because from what you’ve told me, the only way our ancestors have been able to stop the evil roves was to sacrifice themselves. Are you willing to do that?”
The question was so straightforward—like a jab to her heart—that she blanked out for a second. She hadn’t thought about sacrificing her life for Michael. She’d had no reason to do so because she and Michael weren’t really siblings. Yeah, sure, they were related by blood. But family was much more than blood. And she wasn’t sure she even liked Michael.
Joanna felt more like Emily’s family. That’s why she hadn’t ceased thinking about Joanna and Rina and how they were faring. If Emily wasn’t so spent from fighting the swarm, she would be up in the skies heading toward the Alfreds’ castle to wreak havoc.
But she had a plan. As soon as she was back to top shape, she was out of there. She could get to the castle and back before the dome fell. At least she hoped so.
“You know what? There’s no need to answer the question,” Michael said later. “It ends with our generation because you’re not going to kill yourself for me or vice versa. So he’s likely to get us both. We’re likely to die. And the world is likely to burn.”
Emily just stared at him quietly, her lips agape.
“If that happens, then so be it. It’s not like the world has done us any favors. We’re not putting our lives on the line to help save it.”
“But that’s the point, isn’t it?” Emily said almost desperately. “We’re not doing it for the world. We’re doing it for our family. We’re doing it for our friends. Our parents. Our town.”
Michael kept his brow furrowed, but he refrained from replying.
Emily felt her heart pounding in her chest. For whatever reason, she was hurt when Michael had said he wasn’t going to give his life for her. She didn’t know why she felt so much sibling instinct for the guy when he didn’t give a damn about her. Was she weak to feel a sisterly pull toward him? Was she being overly emotional?
Emily shut her eyes for a moment, allowing the pain to wash through her. She didn’t blame him. She didn’t blame him one bit. She convinced herself that maybe he didn’t mean what he said. Maybe he was just scared.
But would I? she asked herself. Would I lay down my life for him?
Emily thought back to the previous two times she was told the evil rove had been defeated by a sacrifice of one of the two siblings. Both times, the Owl shifter hadn’t been like Emily and Selena. Yeah, sure, Granddaddy was Adopted, but he didn’t have the fire demon. And Mom hadn’t even been Adopted at all and didn’t have the same level of integration with her Owl that Emily had with Selena.
So things were certainly different this time. This time, they had the tools they needed to win.
Imagine if you combined the Adoption with the fire demon? Selena’s presence peeked into Emily’s mind. You’ll have an explosive force that even an ancient evil rove can’t withstand easily.
19
Michael’s movement snapped her right out of her short sleep. She jerked up, panic splashing adrenaline into her blood. For a brief second, all she knew was that she was in trouble. That was it.
Michael paused, casting a wary glance her way. “Are you okay?”
Emily suddenly remembered where she was and what was happening. She sighed and settled back into the couch. That’s when she felt the ache developing in her lower back. This was definitely not where she wanted to spend the rest of the night.
She pulled herself off the couch and to her feet.
“You know, you don’t have to babysit me,” Michael grumbled when he saw her get up.
“Oh, don’t I?” she scoffed. “I can’t lose you.”
Michael paused and turned to her and folded his arms across his chest. “Why? From what you’ve told me, if I die, they have no need for you. Shouldn’t you be rooting for my death? Maybe even plotting it?”
Emily gasped in outrage. “I would never do that!”
“Maybe,” Michael retorted, shrugging. “It doesn’t mean your dad won’t.”
“Then he would have done it the moment I brought you back with me.”
Michael’s mouth opened to spew another string of nonsense, but then he stopped. “Look, you look so exhausted. You need to sleep and stop following me around.”
“Not until I’m sure you’ll stay put, and we make a plan.”
“So that’s what this is about, is it?” Michael folded his arms. “You need me to fight in your little war.”
“It’s not my war.” Emily yawned. “It’s our war. It’s a war for the town. Remember, your dad is in the evil rove’s clutches. Now, the Alfred seniors are knocked out just as Aunt Anastacia is. Their kids are here doing their parents’ bidding while they recover their strength. How long do you think it would take them to use your family as bait?”
That caught Michael’s attention. His face contorted into a frown. “You’re saying they’ll torture them in a bid to flush me out?”
It was Emily’s turn to shrug. “They’ll do whatever it takes to accomplish their mission. They’ve proven that already.”
Michael was still frowning. “You can’t expect me to just go back to sleep. I’ve got to do something.” His voice raised in pitch. His emotions were truly coming out now. And Emily saw that in spite of the bravado and nonchalance, he was a guy of deep yearnings and emotion. He cared a lot about what was happening.
It was just the fact that he couldn’t do anything about it now that made him feel so inadequate.
“It’s not like you’re just standing around with your thumb up your butt.” Then a thought occurred to her. “Look, you’re a warlock. You might hate being a supernatural, but for now, you’ve got to think about what we’re up against. The vigilantes are toast. In fact, very soon, they’ll be marching on this house to take us hostage because they’re under the thumb of the Alfreds.”
Emily lifted her chin as she spoke. “So we need your powers. If we’re going to break the spell, we’ll need you at the top of your game. If we’re going to face off against five evil roves—the three guys out there, and the mom and dad in the castle on Main Street—then we need you to know your stuff.”
Emily paused to suck on air. She saw that she’d finally gained Michael’s attention.
“So what do you want me to do?” Michael glared at her. “I don’t know shit about being a warlock. I mean, I tried to take down Mr. Alfred, and look where it landed me.” He paused and looked at her again.
“I never got to say thank you for helping me out of the dungeon,” Michael continued. “I must say, I was surprised when I saw you.”
“You didn’t look surprised,” Emily reasoned. “If you were, it was probably because you felt that you were right all along; that I was an Owl and probably should have been hanging from the town’s center—entrails all spilled out on the ground.”
Silence.
“Okay, maybe,” Michael said with a slight smile. “But I am grateful I didn’t allow my stupidity to get the better of me. I’m grateful you came for me.”
Emily nodded. “There is something you can do while I sleep off my fatigue.” Emily led Michael into the back room, where Aunt Anastacia had a large library.
&nb
sp; The place was cleaned out. Books that she’d seen splayed across the central table had been returned to their shelves. The place smelled nice and was well aired. Aunt Anastacia had to have cleaned the place up well before going to sleep.
As they entered the library, Emily had this great sense that Aunt Anastacia valued her books more than anything. She would probably curse anyone who laid a finger on them.
“Whoa!” Michael muttered as he looked up to see the library stretching up past the ground floor. Books everywhere. It was a sight.
“Let’s not touch anything yet, okay?” muttered Emily. If Aunt Anastacia had put a protective spell on the house, Emily had every reason to believe there was a spell on the books, too.
“I suppose you want me to read up, right?” Michael pulled out a chair from the table and sat down in it. “I’m game. The problem is, where do I start?”
Emily nodded. That was indeed the problem. They didn’t have time for him to read any non-essentials. She wished there was a book he could read that would bring him up to speed in the few hours they had before the outer perimeter collapsed. “If only there was a book that taught you the basics,” she wondered aloud.
“Yeah, that would work,” Michael replied. “If I know the basics, I can get creative.”
A book glowed on a shelf to their right. It caught Emily’s attention, and she turned to face that direction. “Um, is that book glowing!?” It was on the fourth shelf from the floor. It had even popped out a little, half the book visible past the spines of the others. It was thick and heavy-looking and packing a lot of dust. Michael had seen the book as well. He was now standing, although he allowed her to go get it first—probably because he was afraid to touch it and wanted her to be the guinea pig.
Emily hoped there was no protection on the books as she reached out to the binding. As she wrapped her hand around it, she felt a thrill of electricity course through her body. It was mild—more like a warning. It said: Break the book, and I break your bones.
Emily swallowed hard and pulled it the rest of the way out. The book’s weight made it drop. Emily had to put her other hand underneath it to keep it from slamming to the floor. “Phew!” she said with a nervous laugh as she carried the book to the table and put it right in front of Michael.
Controlled by a Fire Demon: The Owl Shifter Chronicles Book Two Page 9
