Cyan kissed her grandmother’s agate necklace and stepped over the threshold of Charleston Memorial Hospital. No one noticed as they walked by the front desk. No one noticed them on the steps or even lingering outside Zoe’s room. Liam, as could be expected, was completely awake and standing near the window. He didn’t notice them enter, of course, thanks to Drake’s invisibility spell. Cyan watched her father approach Liam, put his hand in front of the young man’s face, and, thankfully, catch Liam in his arms. Strong as her daddy was, even Liam looked like a lanky ragdoll in Drake’s grip. He laid Liam on the cot by Zoe’s bed and turned to the unconscious woman.
Cyan stood at her father’s side after casting a single concerned glance at the man she was supposed to love—who was supposed to love her back, according to Sybil. “What now?”
“Hush.” Drake pulled out a pocketknife and dug into his palm.
Cyan closed her eyes. “Shit, Daddy.” She knew her father used blood in almost all his rituals—the dark side of him showing—but she still never got used to it.
He folded his hand into a fist and opened it again, a thin layer of wet red coating his fingers. A slight bit of gray light burned through the blood and cast Zoe’s pale face in moving shadow. He then put his meaty mitt above the center of Zoe’s chest, moving up and down in shallow waves. He moved his hand above her face, down to her stomach. Cyan looked up at her father’s face, wrinkled in concern. Finally, he said, “Something ain’t right.”
“What do you mean?”
He moved his hand over Zoe’s chest again. “She’s not here.”
Cyan grabbed her father’s arm. “What do you mean, she’s brain dead?”
Drake’s right eye twitched. “No.”
“Then, what the hell do you mean?”
“It’s like her soul isn’t here.” With his uninjured hand, Drake picked up one of Zoe’s limp hands and cradled it between his own.
“You’re not making any sense.”
“Neither is this.” His wide brow crinkled.
“Just bring her back.”
“I can’t bring her back when there’s nothing here.”
Cyan felt her stomach boiling with annoyance. She pointed at the beeping machines. “Something is here. Someone is here. Look at the damn machines, Daddy. The woman is alive. Her heart is beating.”
Drake dropped Zoe’s hand. “She feels lost, little girl.”
“No,” Cyan said. She shook her head. “No. That can’t be true.” She spun around and knelt next to Liam’s cot. She touched his face and ran her hands through his hair. “No,” she whispered, watching him sleep. “Please, Daddy. He’ll break into a million pieces.”
Liam whimpered what sounded like Zoe’s name.
Cyan growled and stood. “Dark magic, then. We’ll bring her back that way.”
Her father’s dark blue eyes turned murderous. “I don’t touch that anymore, Hypatia, and you damn well know it.”
Drake never used that name for his daughter. Never.
She curled her hands into fists and cursed her burgeoning powers—her weak, useless powers. She would soon fight a War against the dark Dorcha, and she wasn’t ready. She wanted to help Liam, and she couldn’t. She would have called upon the dark spirits to bring Zoe back, but she didn’t know how.
She hardly realized she was panting, breaths coming harshly in and out her throat. A heat grew in the center of her chest until she screamed, and the window behind Drake exploded outward into Charleston daybreak.
The next thing she remembered was being carried by someone strong. She recognized the arms beneath her, huge hands cradling her. He’d carried her dozens of times before as a small child, up to bed. Now, he carried her beneath palm trees, beside old buildings. The sky above was the color of violet petals, so the sun would soon rise.
“Daddy,” she whined.
“Shh, it’s all right.”
They arrived outside the entrance of Sea Books, and Drake shouted and banged at the door until Sybil answered in her bedclothes—although by the look of her puffy, red eyes, she hadn’t done much sleeping.
She put her hand on Cyan’s forehead. “Why is she playing possum?”
“I’m not.” Cyan tried shoving away from Drake, who held her even tighter as he stepped into the shop.
“Girl just made a window explode.” He set her down in Cyan’s favorite dusty chair. “Sybil, I want you to do a reading. Tell me what you see in her right now.”
Sybil pulled her red and purple paisley nightgown tight. “Not right now, Drake.” Her chocolate eyes moved to the floor.
“Yes, right now,” he said. “We need you right now.”
Sybil shook her head.
Cyan, still feeling weak, had enough strength to sit up and look at her beloved auntie. “What’s the matter, Sybil?”
She smiled softly, sadly. “I had a bit of a bad night, dear.”
Cyan found the strength to stand. “Why?”
Sybil tilted her head, still smiling, but her eyes were wet. “The new painting of Liam’s in the back.”
Cyan shoved her immense father out of the way—some feat—as she passed through the midnight blue curtain and into the secret room of Sea Books and also Sybil’s studio. She smelled oils, pungent and familiar. A new painting stood on Sybil’s easel, and Cyan rushed toward it only to stop when she saw it.
“No,” she whimpered.
To be continued …
ABOUT SARA DOBIE BAUER
Sara Dobie Bauer is a writer, model, and mental health advocate with a creative writing degree from Ohio University. Her short story, “Don’t Ball the Boss,” was nominated for the Pushcart Prize, inspired by her shameless crush on Benedict Cumberbatch. She lives with her hottie husband and two precious pups in Northeast Ohio, although she’d really like to live in a Tim Burton film. She is the author of the paranormal rom-com Bite Somebody, among other ridiculously entertaining things.
Her website is at https://saradobiebauer.com/
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MAGIC SPARK
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The Story Continues in Book Two:
Magic Ember by Sara Dobie Bauer, Em Shotwell & Wendy Sparrow
The second installment in the series. Magic Ember contains “Destiny’s Dark Light--Part Two” by Sara Dobie Bauer, “This Hollow Heart” by Em Shotwell and “How to Capture Your Match” by Wendy Sparrow.
Available at PenAndKinkPub.com/
The Enchanted Trilogy concludes With Book Three:
Magic Flame by Sara Dobie Bauer, Em Shotwell & Wendy Sparrow
The final installment in the series!. Magic Flame contains “Destiny’s Dark Light--Part Three” by Sara Dobie Bauer, “These Resting Bones” by Em Shotwell and “All’s Fair in Love, War and Demigods” by Wendy Sparrow.
Available at PenAndKinkPub.com/
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Servants of Fate by Wendy Sparrow
As servants of Fate, Father Time’s sons must sacrifice a mortal’s lifetime on behalf of humanity before each year ends. It’s simpler if they don’t get involved, as their immortality is a barrier to relationships and to understanding the emotions of those whose lives end in a blink, especially if these time holders have a hand in it. Servants of Fate pass in and out of the lives of those around them, never interacting, until a different type of fate steps in. They can s
top time, but love will leave them powerless.
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kINKED edited by Cori Vidae (includes work by Sara Dobie Bauer)
Every tattoo tells a story…
A submissive pain slut receives a tattoo as a reward for years of selfless service. A man’s body is used to deliver a very different kind of message to a domineering masochist. An exotic teahouse on an alien planet where one woman explores her submissiveness with a set of shapeshifting twins.
These and other sizzling stories take you to the places where kink meets ink and leave you indelibly marked.
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Legendary edited by Laura Harvey (includes work by Wendy Sparrow & Sara Dobie Bauer)
Urban legends. We’ve all heard them, we’ve all told them. They fill the role that fairy tales once held—morality tales meant to frighten us into sticking with the herd, obeying society’s rules, and not taking any chances. In most urban legends, once someone transgresses, we know things won’t end well for them.
But what if the bright spark of romance also common to these stories refuses to be snuffed out? What if it bursts into a love that fights for its chance to burn? Can love triumph over evil? Forgive any trespass? Heal any wound?
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Ravenous edited by Ariel Jade (includes work by Sara Dobie Bauer)
Cross the threshold into a world of insatiable heroes and voracious heroines. RAVENOUS explores saucy, sexy, and sweet tales: of forbidden vampire/vampire hunter love, vampire threesomes in space, kink as only a vampire could enjoy it... and so much more.
Edited by Ariel Jade and with contributions from Wendy Nikel, Jaap Boekestein, Sara Dobie Bauer, Violet R. Jones, V. Hummingbird, Dale Cameron Lowry, R. Michael Burns, and Tiffany Michelle Brown.
Don't forget to bring your garlic--just in case.
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Transformed edited by Charlie Watson
Nothing is quite so deliciously freeing as caving to your instincts. For centuries, shapeshifters have personified our impulse to bow to our animalistic nature. From lycans to skin-walkers and everything in between, shapeshifters give us a chance to connect with our inner-selves and celebrate our intriguing differences, our passions, and ultimately our humanity through their necessity of striking a balance between their human selves and supernatural selves.
Available at PenAndKinkPub.com/
Magic Spark Page 19
