Magaestra: Tested: An urban fantasy series

by Katherine Kim

  “Yeah. Let's call out for pizza or something, and then you and I can have snacks while we wait." Faith glanced over to Crissy who had moved to kneel with Kaylee and fussed over Jake, who squirmed and tumbled like the excited puppy he was. Lucy glanced over at them and winked. "I guess Crissy and the kids will be in soon, too. Juice boxes and snacks. And maybe we put the boots away until Jake is a boy again."

  Aldric laughed his agreement and helped Faith back to the house.

  It was good to know that their enemies were all stopped cold at last. At least for now.

  24

  "So this is our life now?"

  Crissy slumped back into the mountain of pillows on her bed and picked at a wrinkle in the quilt that lay over her legs. Faith raised a brow at her sister.

  "Cozy quilts and hot guys doting on us? How awful." After Faith had eaten three sandwiches and had a very large cup of coffee, she had followed Rod, who carried Crissy through the kitchen and up to her room to tuck her in carefully before bringing her a tray piled with snacks. Greg had been right behind them, ushering the kids up to the classroom while most of the adults helped with cleanup outside.

  Aldric had made sure that several pizzas had been brought up to the five of them when they were delivered, and that they had all the drinks they wanted, and Rod stopped in shortly after Aldric left to make sure they didn't need anything.

  Faith was very amused at the huge, bald man blushing when Crissy thanked him for his thoughtfulness.

  Crissy smirked at her for a moment. "You know that's not what I mean." Her expression turned pensive again. "And they all know now. They all know about our magic."

  Faith sighed. "Aldric has known from the very start. He found me and Kaylee trapped behind my shield, remember? Marc has known almost as long, and we told the inner circle of Enforcers before we tried to rescue you the first time."

  "But..." Crissy grimaced and glanced at the door. "But you've been attacked again since then. And the kids. Rod told me that Jake shouldn't be able to shift yet."

  Faith nodded. Jake was at least ten years early for running on four paws.

  "Yeah. And Kaylee has some pretty bad nightmares. She has her own room but ends up in someone's bed more often than not. Mine, Jake's. I even found her curled up with Aldric once, while he sat up and read. Has he lent you any books yet?" Faith grinned suddenly.

  "Um, no? I'm not sure I want to read anything a vampire enjoys." Crissy shivered. "I mean, he seems nice and Kaylee has gushed about him, but I'm sorry Faith. I can't." The shivers grew and Crissy wrapped her arms around herself.

  Faith moved over to sit on the bed and wrap her arms around her big sister. "I know. You have every reason to be traumatized. God, I'm sorry it took us so long to find you."

  "You can't let him bite you, Faith. You don't even know how awful it is." Crissy's voice was broken, and she spoke into Faith's shoulder, her words muffled.

  Faith sighed. She really couldn’t hide this, especially considering how traumatized her sister had been. Something that Faith remembered as a pleasant, intimate experience was for her sister a violent, horrifying memory.

  “He has bitten me, Cris."

  Crissy's head snapped up. "What? No! You said he was a good guy! You promised me, Faith!"

  "He is a good guy. I made him do it. You remember I told you that when we rescued Greg and searched the Goldfang's camp for you, Aldric and I got trapped in a cave for a bit?"

  Crissy nodded. "That's when he attacked you?"

  "No. That's when he was crushed by a boulder and almost died in the freezing cold darkness under the damn mountain." Faith shivered herself now, hating the memory of Aldric's weak voice telling her not to feed him. "I knew that if he got some fresh blood he could start to heal, and I was already bleeding from the fall and he still didn't want to drink, the stubborn jerk. That's how he could turn into a mist-like that at the warehouse. That's from my magic."

  Crissy shivered again. "Conti went on about that. About how he was going to give my power to his army. About how he was going to catch you and some guy and restore Cherro to full health or something. What did he mean by that, do you know?"

  Crissy was distracted now by her memories. Faith wasn't sure that was a good thing or a bad one and made a note to ask Marc about therapists who knew about the paranormal.

  Faith huffed a laugh and sat back. "Apparently, Conti was under the odd impression that even though too much magic drove Cherro to dementia, the cure for that was feeding him more power." Faith rolled his eyes. "I don't think that's how it works, do you?"

  Crissy wrinkled her forehead and shrugged. "I have no idea."

  "Anyhow, Aldric didn't want to drink from me for a lot of reasons, one of them being that he swore to the old chief that he would never drink from a human again when he joined the Frostwalkers. Turns out he didn't really understand the whole point of it all, and Marc had to explain that life-threatening circumstances and, uh, very intimate moments were implicitly excluded from that agreement." She cleared her voice and knew she was blushing.

  Crissy's eyes went wide. "Oh my god, you sounded just like him! All stiff and formal."

  That did not help the heat in Faith's face. Crissy laughed.

  "And you should see your face! You're redder than Rudolph's nose!" Crissy snorted and clapped a hand over her mouth, which only made her laugh harder. After a few minutes, Faith started chuckling, too.

  "What? I like hanging out with him. And you will too, once you're more comfortable. I'll bring some of his books. They're full of rugged heroes and plucky heroines and adventure and some of them have scenes that make him blush. He's adorkable and has a romance novel collection you're going to be so jealous of."

  Crissy lay back on the pillows, her jaw on her chest and her eyes wide with shock. "He reads romance novels?"

  "Yep," Faith smirked. "Paranormal romance novels. About vampires and werewolves and so on."

  Crissy couldn't possibly make her eyes any larger. "Get out."

  "Cross my heart." Faith grinned. Her eyes slid towards the door. "I'll go pick out some good wolf shifter books for you."

  It was Crissy's turn to blush now.

  "God it's so good to have you back." Faith leaned forward and hugged her sister again. "I know it wasn't that long. Just a few weeks, but it felt like forever."

  "For me, too." Crissy agreed. "That dipshit Honeyford wasn't so bad. I still can't believe that total sweetheart Greg is Jesse's brother! Oh shit, He's Kaylee's uncle!"

  "Yep. She even started calling him Uncle Greg and he cried the first time. It seems that the only person Jesse cares about is his little brother. Turned on Molin so fast we all saw spots when we told the guy about Molin kidnapping Greg, and when Greg went down there and lit into him Jesse practically begged for a chance to tell us everything he could think of. Anyhow, don't change the subject. Well, okay, I guess you can, but first I'm just going to say that Rod is a great guy and I approve. Especially if he makes you blush like that. I have never seen you blush like that."

  Crissy sighed and turned to stare out the window. Evening was falling now, and the sounds of the cleanup had started to fade. Nobody had died today, thank any deity that was listening-- Faith was starting to wonder if they all did and maybe she'd be meeting some soon, with the way her life had been going. The silence stretched for a while and settled around the sisters as they both got lost in their own thoughts.

  "I suppose I've been fired by now, huh? I only asked for a week off," Crissy said.

  "I talked to your boss, actually. Told her that you'd been kidnapped and the police were searching," Faith said. "You should call her, she was really upset to hear it."

  "And what are we going to tell the cops? That we raided a nest of vampires bent on world domination?" Crissy sounded bitter and Faith couldn't blame her. "They'll lock us up in a nuthouse and lose the key."

  "First, we'll tell them that our private investigator found you, and learned that a Federal raid was going to take place, s
o he sent them his file on you and when you were rescued and debriefed, you were sent home to recover," Faith said. She knew she was smirking at Crissy as her sister's eyebrows rose.

  "That was a very quick answer."

  "Yep. Marc and Aldric and I talked about it before I got snatched. We discussed it with Ken, too, and this was the cover story we came up with," Faith said. "Once the cops got involved, we knew we would need something to tell them if we had to rescue you ourselves. Which honestly seemed likely."

  Crissy nodded and turned back to the window. After a minute she said, "You said that was first. What's second?"

  "Second is that even if the cops do want us to answer questions or whatever, you could be shielded by Madeline as your doctor, and then on top of that, Marc has a lawyer ready and waiting. A clan member who knows almost everything and is ready to come to our defense if necessary. So don't stress out about that part, okay?"

  Crissy nodded but didn't turn back from the window.

  Faith reached out to take Crissy's hand. “I’m pretty sure that there are also a few therapists in the clan. You could talk to them and not have to hide anything."

  Crissy nodded slowly. "Sounds like I would have to stay here to see them, though."

  Faith shrugged slightly and squeezed Crissy's hand. "It's a nice place to live. You'll like Tamika. And Marc. He makes an amazing venison pot roast."

  Crissy's eyebrows rose and she turned back to Faith at that. "Venison pot roast?"

  "Yep." Faith grinned. "And of course, Rod's here. And Jake. You wouldn't want to separate the two musketeers. We'd never hear the end of the whining— human AND puppy! Oh, Kaylee is desperate to be a shifter, she says. Like Jake and Uncle Greg. No mention of Jesse whatsoever."

  Crissy snorted. "I suppose I can allow that. Greg was pretty awesome before all this, even if he did accidentally start all the trouble."

  "He still is pretty awesome. I don't know if you saw, but he was kicking some furry butt this morning. Aunt Lucy, too. I think Aldric wants her to teach some classes for his security people."

  "The scary, badass vampire wants an old human lady to teach his werewolf army about self-defense techniques?" Crissy blinked several times, clearly trying to picture it.

  "The intelligent leader of security and not-very-secret romance novel reader sees an excellent opportunity to expand his people's skillset. And I think he wants to give her an excuse to stick around. She and Uncle Eldridge have been pretty cozy since she got here."

  "Good lord," Crissy clapped her free hand over her eyes and slumped back. "These Frostwalker men have a fetish for our family."

  Faith snorted. "Oh my god, Crissy!"

  "Well!" Crissy sat up and poked Faith in the arm. "You've got Aldric panting after you. Aunt Lucy is apparently being drooled over by this Eldridge guy, wait. Whose uncle is he? Marc's?"

  "Aldric's. He's Madeline and Leo's father. You haven't met Leo yet, but he's been hacking like a lunatic the last few days to find you. I think he's asleep now, finally."

  "So," Crissy paused, chewing her lip for a minute. "So Eldridge, Madeline, and Leo are all vampires, too?"

  "Yep. They're the good guys, Cris."

  Crissy frowned but nodded slowly. "And Kaylee even has Jake wrapped around her little finger I've noticed," she said, not commenting on the short diversion.

  "And you have Rod blushing. I think he's going to get teased a bit for that, I doubt blushing is something he's known for around here. Being super grumpy before coffee, yes. Being adorably lovesick? Not so much," Faith laughed.

  "Coffee, huh? Good to know. You two have that in common."

  Faith smacked her sister's shoulder.

  They sat there, grinning at each other for a long moment.

  "Sounds like I'm going to have to call my boss and let her know I'm moving, huh?" Crissy said with a shrug. "Madeline was grumbling about not having enough hands to deal with the wounded here and work at the clinic. Guess I could offer to help out once she lets me do stuff again."

  Faith wasn't sure she could smile any wider.

  25

  Aldric stood from his desk chair and stretched his arms as far to the ceiling as he could before twisting left and right, causing more popping from his spine than he liked to hear. After an exhausting day of finally ending the conflict with the Goldfangs, caring for Faith, Crissy, and the children, assisting the Council team in recording the names of all the prisoners and organizing their transport, and watching Marc take charge of everyone there, including the Sun Ridge wolves and the Ulfric Coven vampires and the Council team much to the impressed chagrin of Dwayne Linsby, Aldric was more than ready to at last get some dinner.

  "You look completely done."

  Aldric blinked and turned to see Faith leaning on the door frame, a small smile on her lips, and two cups of coffee in her hand.

  "I am, fortunately, finished for the evening. I hope." With one last stretch, he dropped his arms and stepped away from his desk.

  "Don't stop on my account. I was enjoying the show," she said.

  Aldric raised an eyebrow at the gleam in her gaze. She didn't elaborate but held the coffee out to him. He took a sip and raised both his brows this time.

  "There is blood in this?"

  Faith shrugged and moved to sit on the sofa. "I guessed that you might need a little extra something after this week. What with the rescue yesterday, then the battle this morning, and all the stress and nonsense from everything that's been going on you’re bound to be a bit worn out. Marc pulled some meat out of the fridge to make stew a bit ago and I asked him to pour off the meat juice into a pitcher for some fancy vampire coffee. Arthur’s men all started texting people back at their coven, and Arthur said it reminded him of his mother's coffee and got all nostalgic. I can't imagine why it isn't more of a thing."

  Aldric smiled. "I believe it is an old-fashioned idea. I remember my father doing something similar when I was a child." He sipped at the coffee and sighed, the caffeine and the blood working their wonders on his body. When he had taken another sip he looked over at Faith. She had the air of someone settled, of someone that had made a plan and was ready to see it through, and Aldric prayed to any deity that might listen to him that she included him in her plan.

  Faith grinned. "Well, I think it's smart. I'm bringing it back."

  Aldric took a step then stopped and looked at her for a moment as she sipped her coffee. "I certainly would not be upset. And I suspect that Madeline and Leo would both enjoy the idea of their coffee laced with blood as a more publicly consumable manner of sustaining themselves while they work." He took the last few steps and sank onto the sofa next to her. "How is your sister?"

  Faith's grin faded. "She's going to need a lot of therapy, I think. But I think she’ll be okay." She took a deep breath and let it out slowly, pondering her next words. "I think, mostly, she doesn't feel safe. Anywhere. Although, when either Aunt Lucy or, surprisingly, Rod is around, she seems less tense. She probably thinks she's hiding it well, but I can see it. Aunt Lucy can, too. Marc has given me a list of therapists in the clan, and I told Crissy I have it. When she's ready, we'll get her the help she needs. Right now, though, I think she needs to see the proof that she's safe."

  "This morning likely did not help," Aldric grimaced. "I could swear to her that we will be dedicated to her security, and that of you and Kaylee and Lucy as well, but words are simple to utter and mean very little to someone in this situation."

  Faith grinned. "You got all stiff again."

  Aldric shrugged and sipped his coffee.

  "Oh, don't hide. I like it," She said. She shifted to lean her head on his shoulder, snuggling herself close to him, and he took the hint, wrapping his arm around her shoulders. Faith relaxed and sighed in what Aldric hoped was contentment.

  "So, I talked to Crissy. Ugh, I think I've talked to everyone in the house today. Dwayne swore that the Council won't do anything when they find out about me. I don't really believe that, but I think he does," Faith
sighed. "But, that's a problem for another day. I know that he was talking to Marc about joining the Council or something, so there's a lot of politics about to happen."

  "That is true. There have always been those who wished to use mages for their own ends. They do not know about any other mages to bother, at least. And Kaylee still scents as a wolf, so it is, unfortunately, you, Crissy, and Detective Lincoln that will be primarily caught up in this Council nonsense, whatever it is that happens."

  Aldric wished he could somehow manage time, or perhaps that he had the mythological vampires' ability to cloud minds and erase memories so that he could protect Faith and her family. But there was nothing he could do in this case but be prepared to defend them if necessary. And he did not doubt that it could become very necessary. Would he have to send sentries and bodyguards with them if they moved back to the city?

  "I suppose that everything will be very complicated for a while, won't it?" Faith asked.

  "I am afraid that is likely, yes." Aldric balanced his coffee mug on his knee. He had to know what her plans were. The uncertainty was eating away at his concentration. "You have decided on a course of action. May I inquire about it?"

  She laughed softly. "I don't know how you make stiff and formal sound so damn adorable," she murmured into his shoulder before sitting up to look him in the eye. "We, that is, Crissy and I, are very concerned about our security going forward."

  "I can arrange security for you both. All three of you. I would never leave Miss Kaylee unguarded," Aldric said.

  Faith's lips twitched as if she was trying not to smile again.

  "Indeed," she said. There was a smile in her voice at least, and Aldric wondered what she was amused at. Likely him, somehow.

  "I am missing something," he said, sure of it.

  "You are. A little bit of implied information, but I intended to make myself clear momentarily," Faith said.