by M. J. Caan
Arnold had fallen under the control of a manipulative warlock and had attacked Torie and her friends, resulting in his death. It had not been a pleasant experience at all, and she was not looking forward to meeting another of his kind.
Vampires were not looked kindly on in Singing Falls. But neither were werewolves at one time, she reminded herself. She at least owed it to Elric to welcome this…man, graciously. She trusted Elric and knew that he would never willingly place her in danger.
If he trusted a vampire enough to bring him into her home, then she would trust him as well. At least until he gave her reason not to.
And if that happened, she was again thankful that she had her hex powers back; and if that wasn’t enough, she knew Fionna would be packing at least one stake.
Torie checked her watch and realized it was time to take food to Effie. She looked at little Leo and knew instantly there was no way to wrangle him and take food to someone that he had already shown aggression towards. She went out onto the back patio and retrieved a large sitting cushion and took it to her study. There she fluffed it up and sat it on the floor, under her desk.
“This is where you stay for now,” she said to Leo, focusing on what she wanted him to do in her mind. To her surprise, he complied, emitting a slight whine as he crawled into the space and curled up on the pillow.
“Okay. Maybe this whole dragon thing won’t be so hard after all.”
She headed back into the kitchen and quickly heated up a bowl of chicken noodle soup she had purchased in town, lightly toasted some thick slices of counter bread, and placed it on a tray.
Knocking lightly, she entered the room to find Effie sitting upright in her bed, her face toward the large picture window. She smiled, turning to face Torie as she walked into the room.
“Well, that nap must have done you a world of good,” said Torie. “You look great. I’m afraid I have to go to the market to get some steaks. But I do have some amazing chicken noodle soup. Are you up for sitting outside? ”
“Thank you so much. I feel great. I think all I needed was some good sleep in a comfortable bed, and to feel the sunshine on my face again. But if you don’t mind, I think I’ll just have my soup here in bed. If that’s okay, of course.”
Torie sat the tray down next to her.
“Absolutely. The soup is to the left of the tray and some fresh bread to the right for dipping. I placed a glass of water on the nightstand, right in the center. There is nothing else on it to get in the way.”
Effie smiled, shaking her head. “You are too good to me. I bet the last thing you wanted was to be taking care of some old fart like me. I’m really feeling better and will be ready to go back home soon enough.”
“Honestly, you are no problem at all. I promise you.” She squeezed Effie’s hand, noting the strength in the woman’s grip. “You really are doing much better.”
It wasn’t just her grip that seemed to have improved, but her entire being. The pallor of her skin didn’t seem to be as white, and there was a twinkle to her gray orbs that Torie hadn’t noticed before.
“Like I said; a little more rest and I’ll be right as rain.” She reached confidently for her soup, bringing the spoon to her lips. “This is excellent. Thank you.”
“You are welcome. When you’ve finished, just place the tray over to the side of the bed and I’ll be back to collect it.”
“Will do,” Effie replied, taking another sip. “Oh, Torie, there is something I wanted to ask you. A favor, if I might.”
“Of course, anything,” Torie said.
“It’s about my sister. I haven ’t seen her in many, many years because my son would never allow her to visit. He wouldn’t even let us talk on the phone. I just…I don’t mean to take advantage of your kindness, but if I give you a number, can you just call her and let her know that I am alright? And honestly, it would do me a world of good to know she is alright as well. I feel so bad not having spoken to her in so long.”
Torie felt bad that she had forgotten all about Effie having a sister. She saw the elder woman’s eyebrows knit together in worry and could see that she was close to crying again.
“I am so sorry you and your sister have been kept apart like that. Of course I will call her. It’s the very least I could do. Just let me get a pen and paper.”
She returned with a spiral-bound note pad and a pen.
“Okay, can you give me her name and number?”
“Her name is Hattie and she’s at 555-871-2234. She lives in Salem, Oregon.”
Torie wrote everything down and then took out her phone to transfer the information and store it there. It occurred to her as she was doing it that she really didn’t have to go looking for a piece of paper; she could have just used her phone from the beginning. She really needed to start relying more on technology, but she loved the feel of paper in her hands.
She once again told Effie she would make the call today and left her to finish her meal. She returned to her study to check in on Leo, who appeared to be napping in his new, comfortable cave. If the old saying was to let sleeping dogs lie, she could not imagine what would be appropriate for sleeping dragons; so, she opted to leave him where he was and instead made her way back to the kitchen.
She flipped open her iPad and started perusing chocolate ideas, hoping for inspiration. A buzzing sound interrupted her thoughts and she looked around distractedly for the source.
There was a sleek, thin video monitor mounted under the cabinet in the corner of the kitchen and on it she could see Jasmin and Fionna standing at the front door. She pressed the talk button, told them to come on in, and then pressed another button to unlock the door.
“I’m in the kitchen,” she called.
Seconds later her friends appeared, Fionna marveling at the beautiful furniture and decorations. Torie felt bad as she realized she hadn’t involved Fionna in picking out furniture as she had Jasmin..
“Now this—” Fionna said, indicating the surrounding space with a sweep of both arms, “—is how you decorate. Congratulations.” She held out a wine bag and offered it to Torie. “A housewarming present.”
Torie took the bag graciously. “Thank you, Fionna. But you shouldn’t have.”
“Nonsense. It’s your first home that you own completely, so you need all the gifts as far as I’m concerned. Besides, you’re throwing me a birthday party, so I need to give you something. I mean, you are still throwing the party, right?”
Jasmin fixed her with a stare. “We’ve been over this Fionna.”
“What? I’m sorry. Like I said, I absolutely understand if you can’t. Your life is crazy right now.”
Torie smiled. “Doesn’t matter how crazy it gets, the party is still on.” She sat the bag on the large island and turned to face them.
“Speaking of crazy, why on earth is Elric bringing a vampire into your house? Especially one from Trinity Cove.”
“He said he knows a lot about dragons,” replied Torie. “And right now, I need to learn as much as possible about Leo.”
“Leo?” said Jasmin, arching an eyebrow. “So you’ve named it?”
“It isn’t a thing, Jasmin. And yes, I have named him.”
“Oh, that sounds like a perfect name for a baby dragon,” said Fionna. “Where is he? Can I play with him? Oh, did you feed him?”
“I did get him to eat. He seems very fond of raw hamburger. He’s napping in the study for now. I’ve decided to keep him in there when he’s not with me; I don’t think he was very fond of Effie so I can’t have him just exploring the house and wandering into her room.”
Jasmin’s brow knitted together. “What do you mean not fond? What happened?”
“Well, nothing happened. I went in to check on her and he was with me. He just sort of…lunged at her. And there might have been the tiniest amount of…smoke, coming from him.”
“He breathes fire!” said Fionna excitedly.
“He breathes smoke. There was no fire whatsoever.”
&n
bsp; “He’s a dragon,” said Jasmin. “Where there’s smoke, there will literally be fire at some point. I guess you’re right. The more you learn about him the better.”
“Especially if he is going to be your familiar,” said Fionna.
Jasmin spoke up before Torie could answer.
“I’m not so sure about that. I did a lot of research trying to find out what I could about dragons, well, whatever I could dig up that wasn’t Arthurian myth; and I also researched familiars. From what I could find, while familiars are magical creatures, they almost always come in the form of an animal that is somehow familiar to the witch. Hence the name familiars.”
“So, cats, dogs, birds…things of that nature?” asked Torie.
“Correct. I could not find any instance of a mythological creature showing up that the witch has no history with.”
“So he’s here for a different reason then?” said Torie, hiding the slight bit of hurt in her voice.
“We don’t know for sure,” said Jasmin. “Singing Falls is a town steeped in magic. It could be that he was drawn here for some reason. I just don’t know enough about this to hazard a good guess.”
“Or maybe he was placed here,” said Fionna, taking a seat on one of the bar chairs.
“What do you mean?” asked Torie.
“Well, think about how you found him. You said he was on your porch in a basket, right? Well, what does it mean when human babies are left at the doorstep of hospitals or fire stations?” She glanced briefly at Jasmin, seeing the slight wince she made at the remark. “Oh geez, Jasmin, I didn’t mean that in a bad way. I’m sorry; me and my big mouth.”
“It’s okay,” said Jasmin. “You have a point. I left my daughter at the fire station because I knew I couldn’t take care of her. I wanted her to have the life I knew I wouldn’t be able to provide.”
“Yes. So, what if that was the same with Leo? Maybe, whoever had him knew he was beyond their ability to provide for? Kind of like when someone gets a pet alligator or snake and don’t realize just how big they get, so they turn them loose or flush them down the sewer.”
“You know that’s an urban legend, right?” said Torie. “There are no alligators in the sewers.”
Both Jasmin and Fionna looked at her, their eyes wide.
“Maybe not where you are from,” said Fionna. “But I know a gator-shifter that was raised in a sewer because of that very reason.”
Torie was shocked, her mouth dropping open. She headed for the cabinet and took out a bottle of whiskey. This was obviously going to be one of those kinds of conversations.
“Anyway,” said Fionna, “all I’m saying is that someone, or something, put him here for a reason.”
“If that’s the case,” said Jasmin, “the next logical question is who and why? Who would have a baby dragon and why would they give it up? And why was it left with Torie?”
“There’s another question Implicit in all of this as well,” said Torie. “Where are Leo’s parents? And is there a mama dragon out there somewhere that will come looking for him.”
That was a sobering thought that none of them had an answer for.
Torie poured them all a small whiskey and handed it out. The first sip burned deliciously going down, and all of them coughed slightly and laughed at one another. Just then, another buzz echoed in the kitchen, and Torie went to the monitor to see who was ringing her doorbell.
Elric’s face appeared on the screen and he waved at the camera. Beside him stood the tall, lean figure of a man. He stood with his face turned away from the camera as he surveyed the property around him.
The vampire.
Torie took a deep breath and nodded to her friends. Together, they made their way to the front door.
10
Torie swung the big door open and gave Elric an apprehensive look.
“Elric,” she said, giving him a nod.
Jasmin and Fionna flanked her, and she could feel the magic buzzing in the air around Jasmin. She glanced at her friend who had not taken her eyes off the slender figure that stood next to Elric. Glancing at Fionna, Torie could see that the squirrel shifter had one hand inside her denim jacket; her eyes were also fixed on the second man on the porch.
“Okay then, let’s get the introductions out of the way,” said Elric, releasing a deep breath he had been holding. “This is Elion. Elion, this is Jasmin, Fionna, and Torie.” He nodded to each of them as he called their names.
“It is very nice to meet you, ladies,” said the man. His voice was deep with no affect and very little intonation. Torie strained to pick up any accent he might have, but, to her surprise, there was none. She chided herself briefly. What had she expected? That he would sound like the count from Sesame Street? She searched her memory to see if Arnold had possessed any trace of an accent. He was the only other vampire she had ever met, but to her dismay, she really could not place what his voice had sounded like.
The vampire stepped forward to stand directly next to Elric so the women could have a better view of him. He was tall, even taller than Elric, yet his body was leaner. He wore jeans, a long-sleeved white tee shirt that fit him almost too loosely, and a dark red jacket. His skin did not have the pale coloring that they expected, but rather was a deep olive hue. His eyes were dark brown with flecks of gold that seemed to float around the irises. Jet-black hair framed sharper features and only served to accent his eyes.
All in all, he was a striking figure. But striking or not, he was still a vampire, and none of the women were quite ready to let their guard down.
Elric stepped forward, entering the house.
“It’s okay,” he said to them. “I can vouch for him. He’s one of the good ones.”
Torie cleared her throat and stared at Elion. “So, what now? I mean, how does the whole invitation thing work?”
Elion arched an eyebrow and gave Elric a mischievous grin.
“Um, just invite him inside,” said Elric.
“Okay. Vampire Elion, I invite you into my home,” said Torie, happy that her voice only quivered once during the invitation.
“Vampire Elion?” replied the man, giving her a smile. “So formal. Almost like that show I once saw…True Blood. But you can leave the vampire part off. It’s just Elion.”
Torie nodded nervously, then stepped aside for him to enter.
He stood there, his eyes tracing the door frame.
“There appears to be some type of ward protecting your threshold,” he said. “I’m not sure I can cross through.”
“What? Oh that,” said Torie. “I forgot about that.”
She held out her hand, palm up, and closed her eyes. When she opened them, she nodded to Elion to let him know it was okay to enter.
He gave her a smile and confidently stepped into the entryway of her house. He looked around, nodding at Jasmin and Fionna.
“You have a beautiful home, Torie. Thank you for inviting me in.” He frowned slightly, his gaze settling on Jasmin.
“I assure you, there is no need for you to utilize your magic against me. Is that hex power I feel?”
His words caught her off guard, and she narrowed her eyes at him, her power buzzing throughout her body.
“What do you know about hex magic?” she asked.
“I’m sure not as much as you, but it is a power I have encountered before. I am quite familiar with magicks of all types. Each resonates at a different frequency, and hex magic is unique in comparison to all other forms.”
Jasmin jutted her chin in his direction. “Then right here and now, vampire, state your intention to do no harm to us.”
Elion raised a single eyebrow and slowly nodded. “Very well; I hereby state that I have no interest in harming any of you or creating any kind of violence in this place. My intentions are merely to help.”
Jasmin looked at Torie and slowly recalled the magic that had been swimming around her.
“He was speaking the truth. I would have known if he were lying.”
�
�Well, come on in,” said Torie, motioning for them to follow her through the house into the great room. As they sat down, the three women on one side of the room, Elion and Elric on the other, Torie remembered something Elric had once told her. “Elric, I thought you said vampires don’t need an invitation to enter someone’s house.”
“Oh, technically they don’t,” he replied. “But I just thought it would be nice for you to actually be the one to invite him in. You know, southern courtesy and all that.”
Torie shot him a look that let him know they would be talking about that later.
“And hello to you, little shifter,” said Elion, nodding to Fionna.
She didn’t move but narrowed her eyes in his direction. “Just so you know, I’ve staked a vamp before, and if you try to hurt Torie or Jasmin, I won’t hesitate to dust you as well.” She patted the outside of her jacket to drive the point home.
Elion smiled. “A stake made of hardened teak. Good choice.”
Fionna started at his words. “How did you know that?”
“I could smell it the minute you opened the door.” He crossed his legs, resting his hands in his lap.
Torie looked from him to Elric and back to the vampire. There was something different about this one. He didn’t have the fidgety mannerisms of Arnold. He was stoic and assertive at the same time. Something about the way he carried himself told her that he wasn’t worried in the least about either Jasmin’s magic or Fionna’s stake.
“So, I understand that you have a dragon, is that right?”
Torie nodded. “He’s sleeping, but I can see if he’s awake.” She stood up, but Elion motioned for her to stop.
“If possible, I’d like to go to him instead. If that’s alright with you, of course.”
Torie shrugged. “I guess. He’s in my study, just down the hall.”
The group stood, following Torie out of the room and headed for the hallway that would lead to her private wing of the house. Elion paused, staring down the opposite hall towards the room where Effie stayed. Giving Elric a glance, he continued on after Torie and Jasmin. Fionna filed in behind the two men, her eyes not leaving Elion’s back.
