Could It Be Magic

by Heather Mar-Gerrison

  She nodded, “Then be very careful.” She warned, “Because Nigel Blackthorn is a very dangerous individual.” She bit her lip. “I can’t prove anything,” she said quietly, almost as if saying it out loud would bring Nigel into the room, “but I think he was in some way, behind your father’s death.”

  Laars stared at her, “What?” he asked in horror; his boyfriend’s father had killed his dad?

  “I can’t prove it – of course I can’t. But after Arthur died, I went into hiding with you to save our lives. I don’t want to have done that in vain. You and I belong in the world they inhabit. It hasn’t been easy, living in the human world and hiding our abilities.”

  Laars frowned, “I wasn’t aware that I had any abilities.” He said, “What are you talking about?”

  She smiled, “I’m sure they’ll come back to you, now that you’ve found your one true love – but be warned – if you’re separated from your one true love against your will, you’ll cease to be an angel and will take on the demonic side of your natural nature.”

  Laars frowned, “That’s never going to happen.” He scoffed.

  “Well, I hope not.” His mother said with a shudder, “Or blood will be spilt and heads may quite literally roll.”

  Shit. Laars had always been a peace-loving kind of a guy. He never caused trouble. He was quite able to stand up for himself but he never looked for trouble. The idea that he could quite literally take someone’s head off their shoulders was horrifying. He would never do that. Nothing could make him behave that way… He thought about his beautiful, gentle, free-running loving boyfriend and a feeling unlike anything else he’d ever felt trickled through him. Well, he would never do that to someone unless that someone was out to hurt Saul.

  Saul. His face filled his mind. His soft voice filled his ears, stroking his soul and causing goose bumps to break out over his skin as he thought about what life would now be like without him in it. Intolerable. He’d want to kill them.

  Shock ripped through him that he felt so murderous towards the unknown person that might never take Saul away from him.

  “That’s never going to happen.” He repeated firmly, “I’ll keep him safe.”

  She smiled and nodded, “I know you will.” She said.

  Laars hadn’t known how to tell Saul his news about being a demi-angel but he didn’t want to keep things from him and decided that, since they were soulmates now, he wouldn’t blow a gasket about his boyfriend being a demi-angel. Saul’s father might, but Laars didn’t give a rat’s arse about him, anyway… “Come here.” He murmured to Saul, “I want to kiss you.”

  Saul sighed happily and scrambled his way to sitting in Laars’ lap, “Here?” he asked.

  “Perfect,” Laars murmured as he leaned in to kiss his boyfriend, “I’ve got something to tell you.”

  Saul’s eyes widened, “Oh, yeah?” he asked, “What?”

  “Well, you know that I went to see my mum last weekend?”

  Saul nodded, “Is she okay?” he asked.

  Laars smiled at Saul’s concern for his mum, “Yes, she’s fine. She told me something really interesting.”

  Saul blinked, “What did she say?”

  Laars took a deep breath, “She told me that she was a witch, something I never knew – and my grandfather was a demi-demon, which is where I thought I must have got my colouring from, but Mum reckons that it’s more likely to just be because she’s got such dark hair and that my Dad was blonde. My dad didn’t have any magical blood running in his veins.”

  Saul’s jaw dropped, “Oh, my God.” He exclaimed before putting both hands over his mouth in shock as something clearly occurred to him, “You’re a…” his eyes were so wide with fear it was disconcerting for Laars.

  Laars looked at him in concern. Why was he freaking out so much? “I’m a demi-angel.” He said, “which means, according to Mum, that I’m more angel than demon – unless…”

  “Unless we’re separated against our will.” Saul finished off for him. His eyes still wide, “Yes,” he nodded, “I know all about demi-angels.” Medieval Magic had been his favourite topic in Magical History, which had had been his favourite subject. Demi-angels were even rarer than demi-demons back in the day and it had been long believed that both demi-demons and demi-angels had been forever banished to the history books…

  “Well, that’s never going to happen – so don’t worry about all hell breaking loose because I’m going nowhere.”

  Saul snuggled into his boyfriend’s gloriously warm body. He definitely ran a few degrees higher than Saul did and he revelled in the heat. “No, me either,” he said, “We’re forever.” He leaned up and looked into Laars glorious eyes, “I’d really like you to come home with me for my sister’s wedding – as my plus one. Then we can celebrate my birthday together at least – it’s on the same day as the wedding.”

  “What day’s that, then?” Laars asked.

  Saul rolled his eyes, “The twenty-second of December,” he said, “Of all the days in December and they had to choose that one. My twenty-first, too. What were they thinking of?”

  Laars jaw dropped, “You’re kidding?” he asked.

  Saul blinked, “What?”

  Laars stared at him, “I’m twenty-one on the twenty-second of December too.”

  Saul’s mouth dropped open, “No way.” He whispered, “This has got to mean something.”

  Laars grinned and nodded, “Yeah,” he said, “It means we’re going to party like there’s no tomorrow, baby!” he said with a laugh, “And I would love to come with you so we can celebrate together.” He said, “But how are we going to hide my hair and my eyes?”

  Saul grinned, “Leave it to me.” He said with a wink, “I’m a witch, don’t you know?”

  Laars chuckled. He was quite certain that his boyfriend could change his whole appearance with no trouble whatsoever…

  Chapter 32 – Christmas Break…

  Saul

  Saul’s head was killing him. He knew why. His father was trying so hard to penetrate his shields, he was making himself ill – but shielding the onslaught he was subjecting him to was beginning to scare him. He’d surely have an aneurism or something, at this rate…

  They were in the local pub – somewhere he’d never been to with his father in his whole life. It was actually quite nice. Not as nice as the pubs and clubs back at uni of course, but that wasn’t any surprise. He’d felt more at home at university than anywhere else he’d ever lived.

  “Right, son.” Nigel Blackthorn rubbed his face and rose to his feet, “I think it’s time we got back home. It’s uh, nice to know you ‘ve been getting on so well – and your, uh, friend seems like a lovely young man.” He watched Laars’ retreating back with slightly narrowed eyes. Laars had just excused himself to go to the bathroom.

  Saul smiled, being careful not to watch Laars. He didn’t want to give away anything he was feeling for him. “Thanks, Dad.” He said, “I’m really happy that you came to see me at uni – and it’s good to be home. Thanks for letting James come back with me to be company for Marissa’s wedding.”

  After the way his father had reacted to his slip of the mind back when he’d come to visit him at uni, there was no way on this earth that he was allowing Laars to go by his real name, or with his normal colouring while he was in the magical community.

  They’d decided to borrow a real name from one of their friends and, both convinced that he was genuinely only human, James Sandwell was the person they had decided to use as their cover, and Saul had given him dark brown hair and blue eyes for their visit. Laars had been amazed at his new appearance, “Holy moly! I look totally different!”

  Saul laughed, “Well, that is the general idea.”

  Saul wasn’t happy at all that his father had insisted on taking them both out for a drink on the way home from the station. It was awkward at best to pretend to only be friends and to try to shield his mind from his father at the same time as guarding his feelings for Laars
. There was only one reason why his father had done that – and that was that his magic had to have shown itself again. Sure, it was his golden opportunity to tell him all about his beautiful relationship with his one true love, Laars, but he couldn’t help feeling that it was the wrong moment.

  He was absolutely sure that the only reason his father had deigned to visit him at uni was that he suspected he’d met someone. Saul was well aware that he only usually had time for his sister, whose magical ability was second-to-none. He had no idea that Saul’s magical ability was really kind of amazing these days and Saul wanted to keep it that way…

  “When will you be heading back after Christmas?” Nigel asked.

  Saul smiled, the idea of being away from this pressure was a very welcome one, “I’m pretty sure that we have to be back by the fourteenth of January.” He said, looking at Laars for confirmation.

  Laars, who had just returned to the table, smiled and nodded, “yeah, that’s right.” He agreed.

  Saul smiled, “But James here, wants to see his mother before we go back and he’s invited me to go with him. I never imagined anyone wanting me tagging along so I’m really happy to go.”

  Laars laughed and Nigel joined in, his voice booming out and making Saul jump slightly. He wasn’t used to hearing his father being so jovial, “Your mother will be delighted that you’ve made such a good friend.” He said smiling at them both.

  Saul forced a smile. He doubted that, but there was no way he could get out of some sort of conversation with her about it. “I can’t wait to see Mum.” He said as sincerely as he could muster but the truth was that he’d have been happier staying at uni for the whole of the Christmas break. He hadn’t wanted to go home at all and he sure as hell didn’t want to attend his sister’s wedding and start being questioned by everyone in the magical community about when he was going to find a nice young lady to settle down with.

  He wasn’t all that sure he’d be able to keep his hands off the nice young man he’d found and bonded with either, but hell, they’d been keeping a lid on it this far... Could they contain their feelings for each other over the Christmas period? He sincerely hoped they could, since they’d be within the magical confines of his world and everything was far more visible there than on the outside. It had been absolute madness to take Laars home with him – madness, but something he just had to do…

  And surely, they’d be able to keep it up long enough for them to both escape back to the normal world. Once they were safely back there, he’d call them and tell them the truth. That he’d found his one true love in Laars and that he was going to stay with him in the normal world for the rest of his life.

  Epilogue

  Saul

  “I know you said that your dad worked for the magical community government – but what does that actually mean?” he asked.

  They were in Saul’s room at home and Saul was making sure that they didn’t touch each other by staying on the far side of the room from Laars. It was hard to do, but he wasn’t going to let either of them down by slipping up.

  Saul smiled, “He’s one of the ministers at the Pyramid. He’s a sort of equivalent to a member of the Prime Minister’s cabinet at Westminster – he’s not like an MI5 agent or anything like that…” He bit his lip, light suddenly dawning on him that actually, he had absolutely no idea what his father did for the government. He knew he worked for the Pyramid, but which department he worked for was a complete mystery. He could have been a secret agent. “Well, I don’t think he is, anyway.”

  Laars pursed his lips and gazed at his boyfriend, “So, what you’re saying is that you actually don’t know that he isn’t an MI5 agent, then? Or at least the Pyramid’s version of it?” he asked.

  Saul frowned, “Well no...” All he really knew was that he’d never been around a lot. His mother had said that he was a very important man and did a lot of work for the Pyramid Hierarchy. Fuck. That really could be the Pyramid’s equivalent to MI5. Why had he never considered that before?

  “That of course would explain why he wanted you out of the way at uni in the normal world.” Laars mused, “But he could never have imagined that you’d meet and fall headlong in love with a redhead with green eyes that can miraculously read your mind and enhance all of your gifts beyond your wildest dreams.”

  Saul bit his lip and looked at his boyfriend, “It’s only a matter of time before he does find out, though. He finds out everything.”

  Laars nodded, “I know.” He said grimly, “the question is, what the hell is he going to do when he does find out?”

  They looked at each other. What did Nigel Blackthorn have against the Zanelli family? Why had Laars’ parents felt the need to flee to the normal human world – and why had someone been so desperate to follow them and try to kill them all? There was no doubt that Saul’s father would know all about those events from the past – but asking him was a very dangerous game indeed, particularly since Saul – and his own mother – had a horrible feeling that he was involved and not in a good way...

  “I have no idea.” He said, “Let’s just try to keep him in the dark about the two of us for as long as we can.”

  Laars nodded, “Fine.” He agreed, “But how the hell are we going to do that when we’re in the same place? It was a mistake coming here…”

  Saul’s face fell, “I’m so sorry.” He said, “I didn’t mean to put us in jeopardy. I just really wanted to spend the holidays with you.”

  Laars smiled at him, “Hey, don’t worry about it. We’re definitely stronger together, right?”

  Saul nodded, “Definitely.” He breathed. He felt even more powerful now that he was back home. He’d even been able to decipher the unreadable spell and it had made very interesting, if alarming reading. It was almost a warning but it also seemed to hint that their union would make them both incredibly powerful.

  The last line of the warning made the hairs stand up on the back of his neck,

  “Beware those who seek to harm you;

  Enemies may hide in plain sight…

  And they will lie through their teeth to deceive you

  they endeavour only to steal your light…”

  “Steal our light?” Saul turned to Laars with a startled expression, “Do you think that means the light we see when we kiss?”

  Laars shrugged, “I wouldn’t be half surprised.” He said, “It’s damned powerful – you could light up six football stadiums with the power of that thing.”

  Saul nodded slowly, “It is powerful. Maybe that’s just it – maybe it’s our combined power and maybe that’s what others seek to steal. Power.”

  Laars nodded, “I think you’re right, baby.” He said, “I don’t think it’s any different in your world or mine – people are always power crazy.”

  Saul nodded grimly, “And my father is the most power-hungry man I’ve ever had the displeasure of knowing.”

  Neither Saul, nor Laars seemed to be able to control the light that shone brightly every time they got passionate with each other and Saul was becoming increasingly worried, verging on paranoid that it could be seen by the magical world. Shining out into the world like a big old searchlight. If that was the case, they were surely doomed…?

  Laars didn’t seem to agree with him being found out so easily, though. “What are you worried about?” he asked, “You trust your book, don’t you?”

  Saul blinked, “I guess so.” He said, “What do you mean?”

  Laars smiled, “That book loves you – she’s keeping you safe. As long as you extend your book the same courtesy – by keeping her safe too,” Saul knew that Laars was being serious, because he’d acknowledged that the book was female, “then I’m sure everything will be okay. And as long as we’ve got each other, everything will be absolutely fine. How can it not be?”

  Saul swallowed. A creeping dread was beginning to invade his heart. He loved Laars and he wanted nothing more than to believe in every word he said but he also knew that his father was never
going to accept their union and that knowledge terrified him. If his father found out about his and Laars’ love, he would do everything in his power to destroy it – any way he saw fit. Saul was convinced his father was behind the death of Arthur Zanelli but there was no way on this earth he was going to stand by and allow him to kill the love of his life – the very reason for his existence. He would protect Laars with his life – and he knew that Laars would do exactly the same for him. He sincerely hoped that it wouldn’t ever come to that… but hoping wasn’t going to change the inevitable. They had dark days ahead of them, of that he was sure.

  Laars smiled, “Stop worrying about stuff you can’t control – and let’s just enjoy your sister’s wedding – and our birthdays. As soon as it’s over, we’ll escape back to our real world and if we have to, we’ll go into hiding.”

  Saul nodded, relief flooding through him that they could indeed do just that. Where they’d be able to hide was something they’d have to consult his spell book to find out. She’d come up trumps with advice so far…

  “We need to name her.” He murmured as Laars fingertips traced up and down his spine as Saul rested his head on his chest and sighed contentedly.

  “Who?”

  “The spell book,” Laars said.

  “Oh, wow,” said Laars with a chuckle, “Can we call her Britney? I love Britney Spears.”

  Saul chuckled along with him, “Britney it is.” He said, “Unless she hates it.”

  Laars grinned at him, “Well, let’s ask her,” he looked over his shoulder at the book behind them on the shelf, “Oh, Britney?” he called, “Do you like your new name.”

  She glowed pink for a moment before going back to normal.

  Laars raised an eyebrow to Saul, “I think she liked it.” He said.

  Saul laughed, “I think you’re right.” He agreed, “Now, I think it’s time you kissed me again.”