“To protect you and your mother. Ask Carter. He knows.” Her dad wrapped his arms around her stiff form.
“What do you mean, protect us?” She spoke into his collar, “Wouldn’t that be easier if you were actually with us?” She could hear the scorn crowd her words.
He smoothed her hair. “I had to draw them away from you. They were after me, to kill me. I thought it best if I kept their focus on me alone.”
“Who? Who was after you?” She felt the tendrils of fear slip beneath her anger and grip her body.
“I think you have seen for yourself. That’s why I’m back here now. My alert told me someone had been here. I hoped it was you.”
Riley stood rigid as he continued to embrace her. She wanted it to be true so badly. Her head rested on his shoulder, and his scent enveloped her, reminding her of that last night in the apartment before the move when he’d promised he’d never let anything happen to her.
“I’m so glad you have finally come.” He kissed the top of her head and pulled back. He lifted the necklace and smiled. “I see you’re wearing the charms.”
Riley tugged at it, and her dad let it fall.
“I sent each of those for your mother to give to you. To protect you and offer you portals you could use one day, if the need arose. I wasn’t sure I’d make it back.”
A shadow of guilt passed over his face. “I had to do what was necessary to protect you both. I hope she’ll understand. I hope you understand.”
“But I don’t. I don’t understand. I needed you. Mom needed you.”
He covered his eyes. “I had to keep them away from you. I’ve set every protection I could over you and your mom, but something finally got through.”
“I don’t understand all of this.” Riley touched the necklace in disbelief. She felt betrayed by her whole family. She blinked back the fresh tears. “Does Mom know all this?”
“Not exactly, no. She’s under a spell. She knows I’m gone for a good reason and that I’ll be back when I can.”
Riley’s chest heaved. “A spell? Like to mess with her mind? How could you?”
“I know you’re angry with me. And I deserve it. But to keep you safe, I felt it best that you know nothing.” He rubbed his unshaven face. “I intended to never have to explain this. I thought I’d be back, that our lives could go back to normal.”
“Did you do that to me too? Have I been under a spell?”
“No, you never knew anything but that I left. There was no reason to do anything but put a protection on you.” He sighed and let the chain fall. “I wish I could have been the one to teach you. I worried Carter would never be able to help you. He’s relatively new to using the old skills.”
He reached for her again. She saw the lines in his face and wished she could go back four years before he left and tell him not to do it, that they’d face it together as a family.
Riley put the thought in the back of her mind. She wiped at her eyes and watched him run his hands through his hair. It was still as brown as ever, but he looked older, sad. Gone was the merry father whose jokes were made just for her, and in his place stood a thinner man with old, distrustful eyes and a leaner face.
“Come back with me, Dad.”
“I wish it were that simple. But I can’t just come back. Not now. I left to take care of an old problem that I thought we had put behind us, but I was overconfident, thinking I could take it on and be home before Gillian could pack everything.”
“I can help. Let me help.”
“You must train now. It was wrong, not teaching you the old ways, but I had chosen to walk another path with your mom and you, and I was happy to let it all go. Until the Order came to me in the first crisis. Old magic was under attack. They came for us. He came for me.”
“Who is he?” Riley felt the tiny hairs at her nape stiffen.
“He has named himself time and again. The last in your grandfather’s day was Dr. Brown, the man you fought.” He nodded at Riley’s shock. “Carter doesn’t know, though he might suspect as we all did. It seems his friend Sean’s misgivings were more accurate than anyone knew.”
“Why is he after me? How is he alive?”
“He’s older than we know. At first, he pursued me, fearing my abilities which I hope exceeded his own. But now, he has shifted focus. You, my daughter, were born with powers unseen since the elders lived in the shadow of fae. He fears you.” Sam smiled again. “I never spoke of your abilities. I thought to teach you sometime when you were older, sometime when I could ease your mother into a little magic.”
“You never seemed to realize you were different in any way. Sometimes, I would see you about to grasp something, and then you would shrug it off and daydream or draw. I thought perhaps you would eventually wonder why your dreams often came true. All the déjà vu that plagued you. Remember? I taught you visualization. That was training. The things you could make happen, things you made real from your imagination, manifesting. It was astonishing. I knew you’d be a force one day when the time came.”
He took the glass from the sink and filled it. Riley watched, amazed. Her dad turned it up, draining the glass.
“That isn’t supposed to happen, right? Water sends you out of a projection.”
“For most, yes. For us, daughter, it is inconsequential.” He refilled the glass and held it toward her. “It’s not Perrier, but it’ll do when you can get no other. Thirsty?”
“No, thanks. Are we actually in our old apartment?”
“Yes and no. We’re on a parallel plane, an in-between where we are safer. I met your Romani friend here. I owe her a lot for what she’s done. She’s powerful, that one. She called me in the shadows and told me to flee the hellhound.” He set the glass back in the sink. “And then you fought him. How did you do it?”
“I just grabbed the first thing I could find that would work as a weapon.” Riley thought back. “It just seemed right.”
“Your intuition is itself a great gift. You were right to use the nail and keep it.” He paced the room. “You got lucky that evening though. You were untrained, but sheer fear took over your mind. You acted from a place of pure response and need. But now you need to channel your abilities, make them work for you any time. Not just when the need is great. You cannot leave it to chance that you will again be able to work the elements or sense the danger.”
“I still don’t understand how I can fight him or even why he wants me.” She glanced over at her father who continued to pace the kitchen.
“A far-seeing power or the ability to project is child’s play. But someone like me, who can project at will without the need for objects, is a threat indeed. I was on his radar for that alone. And you, you came along with all that and an affinity for the elements. And now you have been on his trail too, searching for Sean, learning what happened, looking for me through Romani magic. All that knowledge is power, power that he feels you accumulating. And there’s something more that I don’t understand. Your powers are different from mine. I’m not sure I understand what is happening to you.”
“What’s different?”
“I don’t know, but I’m going to find out. And I want you to lay low with your magic outside of the Order. Practice under their protection and stop looking for me. I’ll come when it’s safe.”
“What about helping find Sean? Do you know what happened to him?”
“I don’t know. The trail is dead there at the castle. I went to Donahue castle the night before the move to deal with the threat that had come for me. It was abandoned then, dangerous. I was almost trapped there. If it hadn’t been for the warning a bird gave, I would have met my death there in the library.”
Riley rubbed her eyes. “Please don’t go. Please.”
“Oh, Riley.” He hugged her again. “I have to. I would give my life for you and your mother. But I can’t stay yet. Brown is a foe that I don’t know. I fear he may find you again sooner than I expect. If that happens, come here to me. I’ll know when you do. My al
erts will let me know.”
“Why can’t you come back with me? We’ll fight together. Teach me.”
“I must go. If I don’t, we will all be in more danger. Listen to your grandfather. Do the drills I taught you. Remember the words of power. The poetry I taught you—spells of the old country. They’re yours to use.” He looked at the letter lying on the counter top. “I tried to prepare you for every eventuality. The drills, the self-defense classes, everything I taught you. But I didn’t know of him then. It was just everyday danger I thought you’d face. Strangers, muggers, not this evil. But your birth, your drawing of energies alerted him to us. He wants to rid himself of you before you can harness your strengths and learn the true limits of your power. He is driven to seek out your gifts. You wield the elements the way the most powerful of first magic users did, the legends of Lia Fáil. Like the goddess, the Mórrígan. We would never have known about him if he hadn’t come for me because of my lineage. And now you.”
He picked up the letter and handed it to her. “Take this with you. I have to go. It will explain some things. Others I have no answers yet. And you must uncover some for yourself.”
With tears in his eyes, he hugged her again. “I love you, kiddo.”
Riley pressed her face into his shirt. “Don’t go.”
“I have to, but I’ll be watching over you wherever you are. Know that. And when I defeat Brown, I can come back to you and your mother.” He stood back as if listening to something. “You need to leave here, too.”
Riley gripped his hand. “I can’t do this.”
He shook his head. “My girl can do anything.” He kissed her head again. “We must leave.”
He didn’t let go.
Riley nodded. “How do I get out of here?”
“Just think of where you want to be.” He held her hands between his. “I’m so proud of you, darling. And so sorry that you must be a part of this. I will do everything I can to help you. Saints be with you ‘til I am. I love you.”
He blurred into brushstrokes, like watercolors moving in the air.
“I love you,” Riley called out to his shimmering form.
She rushed toward him, reaching out. “Dad!”
He smiled and was gone.
A scream tore from her throat. She felt like wailing. How could all this be happening? Riley folded the envelope and put it in her pocket and thought of where he might be now.
Suddenly, she was in the dark velvet space again. It was just as it was when Tsura had helped her find it. Riley stumbled toward the weak glow of a window. It looked like twilight, dark shadows with a faint purple glow.
Riley reached out and touched the window sill.
She turned and realized she was inside a small room looking out over a garden. Footsteps sounded outside the door. She felt for her necklace, closed her eyes, and willed herself to project back to the apartment.
And nothing happened.
12
Panic had her eyes darting for a hiding place. She scrambled toward the bed, but it was too close to the floor for her to hide under.
“Oh, my god.” Riley raced to the window. Her only thought was to escape.
A hand covered her mouth and pulled her into the corner of the room. Her father’s voice whispered in her ear. “Don’t scream. I’m taking us out of here. Think of the apartment where we just were. Hold on.”
Relief swept weakly over her and she obeyed, holding the vision as best her wild mind would let her.
The apartment came into view, and her dad released her.
“You almost got us both killed. What happened?”
She turned to face him, reaching for the bar to support her.
“Where were we?”
“That’s irrelevant. How did you follow me?”
“I don’t know. I didn’t exactly mean to. I just wanted to go with you, and there I was. Stuck somewhere. My key didn’t work, and I panicked.”
He pulled her to him. “Saints be with us, your power is more unpredictable than I thought. Erratic.”
“I’m sorry, Dad. I’m so sorry.”
“Shh.” He squeezed her tighter. “It’s okay. Not your fault. It’s a gift.”
“It’s a curse.” Riley’s voice hitched. “I just wanted to be normal.”
“I know. But you are anything but normal, my girl. You are special. Normal is overrated.” He released her and searched her face. “You okay?”
Riley nodded. “I’ll be okay.”
“You sure?”
“Yes. I’m sorry. I didn’t mean—“
“There’s nothing to be sorry for. You will figure it out. We will figure this out. But for now, I have to go.”
“I know. Okay.” She choked back tears. “Be careful.”
“I will.”
“Dad…” Riley let the tears flow.
He released her and started to shimmer again. “I’ll be back for you. Saints be with you until I am.”
He was gone before she could blink.
Riley dried her eyes and made sure the envelope was still in her pocket before daring to head back to the clearing.
She gave the empty apartment one last look and thought of the stones jutting up from the ground and the little growth of trees beside the pond. She pictured Eric pushing his hair out of his eyes, and the air grew cold. The apartment faded. This time she felt only as though she had stepped through a door.
She saw Eric immediately. He jumped up off the rock where he had been sitting.
“Riley! Thank goodness.” He hugged her quickly and stepped back, crossing and uncrossing his arms. “You just disappeared— for a long time. What happened? Did you get stuck? I’ve been out of my nut thinking I had somehow sent you into another realm or something.”
The wind pulled at her hair and Riley gave a weak smile. He was too close to the truth for comfort. No one had to know that part. “I’m fine. Just had things to do.”
“What is there to smile about? You near took years off my life.” Eric smiled, too, and looked relieved. “How would I explain that I lost a whole person to the wind?”
Riley pulled the letter from her pocket and showed it to him.
Eric’s eyes bulged. “You brought it back?”
“Yes.” Riley put it back into her pocket. “Why? What was I supposed to do with it?”
“How did you do it?”
“I just did. I don’t know. You know more about this stuff.” Riley swept her hair out of her face, marveling that she’d finally found her father. He had been there. Her father had really been there.
“The student has become the master,” Eric quoted and grinned. “But I think I need to show you a few other things. If you’re up to it?”
Riley dried her cheek with her sleeve.
“I am. Teach me everything you know.” She smiled and gripped the letter tighter. “Everything.”
13
Riley was cold and tired. They’d been out in the field for what seemed like hours after her ordeal with her father. She was tired on a whole other level than she’d ever known.
Her enthusiasm for learning had waned, and she wanted nothing but something hot to eat and a soft place to lie down. That, and to be alone to read the letter. Riley groaned and wondered how Eric still had the energy to be out here in the cold. Her legs were ready to give out, and there was an aching pulse behind her eyes.
Her body may have slowed, but her mind had not. It would not let up on its barrage of questions and new knowledge repeated in rote. She buried her musings in the back of her mind and tried to think only in concrete terms of working magic.
Eric gave her a sympathetic look and then frowned. “Don’t give up. You can work with stone just as you did with metal.”
He looked as tired as she felt. He clapped his hands once and rubbed them. They were red and chaffed, but he was still going strong.
Riley picked up a small stone and faced Eric again, keeping her mind on the task. “You sure you’re not too tired? I feel bad, keepi
ng you out here like this.”
“I’m fine, Miss. This is important. Now, just picture it falling through the air, only feel it pass through your hand and out as if it were part of you and then not. The key to teleporting things is to picture it falling through the air. Maybe don’t think so literal. Just envision. Pretend you already did it.” He held up a pebble and demonstrated. It disappeared through his palm and dropped to the ground. He picked it back up and pointed at her. “Your turn.”
Riley tried to think of the rock as part of her and failed. The rock stayed put in her hand. She cleared her head and focused on it, let it roll around her palm. Her mind went back to a nightmare she had had where her body became sand. She pictured her hand as thousands of tiny grains and saw the rock sink in and drop out, the sands filling back in to place.
“You did it!” Eric did a little hop and pumped his fist in triumph.
“I did?” Riley looked at her hand. It was empty. The rock lay at her feet.
“Like water through a sieve.” Eric held up his hand. “Don’t get too excited. You still have to figure out how to harness those energies that Mum says are drawing to you. And that is where I run blind.”
“I need to know how to defend myself.” Riley thought back to the way the nail had moved in her hand. “Can you manipulate the elements?”
Eric bit his lip and hesitated. “Well, I can work with metals, mostly, and stone, as you see, in small mass, but, like most of us, except your dad and a few I’ve heard about, I can’t do water. I did, however, once make the wind blow a toupee off Mr. Burwick.”
“Who’s Mr. Burwick?”
“A teacher I had when Mum let me spend one semester in London. I opened a few windows before class, and when he started to take up our homework, I let him have it. The papers went everywhere. His toupee was never recovered, though several others reported a very comfortable rookery on the ledge outside the classroom.” Eric laughed and put a finger to his chin. “That’s one way to lose one’s homework. Certainly better than the proverbial eating by a pet, don’t you think?”
Riley rolled her eyes. “Yes, it is a far better thing. Can you show me how to do that?”
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