Power of the Fae

by Ariel Marie

  “I’m not.” Everyone at the table draws silent. She squeezes my hand.

  “Why not?” she asks with her eyebrows drawn together, her hand tightening on mine.

  “I can’t have someone go through what you went through, Mama. I can’t have someone bond with me, start a family with me and then I’m taken away. Where does that leave her or any pups we have?” I look up at her and see tears in her eyes.

  “Colin,” she starts as a tear escapes. “I have never regretted any of the time I had with your father. I thank the Gods every day for the time I did have with Goraidh! Your father was a strong Alpha, but he always made sure that I knew that he loved me, respected me and needed me. The Gods blessed your father and me with three beautiful healthy boys that he was able to see grow up. Your father loved all three of you. He would be so proud of the men you have become. A lifetime with your father would never have been enough! We will see each other again in the afterlife.” Tears are freely flowing down her face. Micheil rubs her back as Devyn hands her a tissue. Alec rubs his face to hide the tears that gathered in his eyes.

  “Now I didn’t mean to turn this into a cry fest.” She laughs, wiping her face and looking at all of us.

  “This goes to all of you. Don’t miss out on what I had with Goraidh. If you find your mate, grab her, hold on to her and love her for as long as the Gods let you!”

  * * *

  I arrive at Azura’s home as a large silver SUV is being packed with luggage. Lina called me and told me that her father wants to leave today to get her back to Faery so that she can start her training right away. They have agreed not to tell anyone that she has the power of the Fae.

  As I step out of the truck, Lina comes out of the front door. She has a white short-sleeve V-neck t-shirt on, jeans with rips in the knees and ridiculously high-heeled shoes. That girl knows she can wear the hell out of heels. Her long black curly hair is flowing down her back and she runs down the stairs towards with me. She hands her large purse to a man who is dressed in a uniform packing the truck. I catch her as she throws her tiny self at me.

  “I’ll miss you while I’m gone!” she says looking up with those big emerald eyes.

  “Who is that?” I haven’t seen anyone around Azura’s house with that uniform on before.

  “He’s one of the palace guards.” She dismisses the guard.

  “I’ll miss you, too. It’s only a month, right? Right?” I hate to sound like a whiny teenager but my wolf does not like the idea of her away from us. She leads me to the side of the house where there is a bench that overlooks the gardens.

  “Maybe you can come over and visit me in Faery.” I’m not even sure that the Fae would appreciate a shifter over there.

  “I’m not sure about that.” I scratch my head at the thought.

  “Have you ever been out of the human realm?” She asks with wide eyes. I shake my head no. She laughs. Nope, never left the beautiful planet called Earth.

  “While you’re gone we’re going to be looking into the portals that the demons are using to come to the realm. Nick thinks he’s figured out how to tell where the previous portals have shown up and he’s trying to figure out if there is a pattern to predict the next places the demons may show up. Then we have some other issues that have come up that we still need to address.” She nods in understanding.

  “You watch your back while I’m gone, wolf.” She smiles as she wipes an imaginary piece of lint off of my shirt.

  “When you come back, we need to talk.” I look into her eyes. She raises an eyebrow.

  “Why can’t we talk now? We should have a few more minutes before we leave.”

  “This is important and we will need more than a few minutes.” My hand shakes a little as I reach up and brush a strand of hair from her face. This is a big step for me, making a commitment to a woman. After speaking to my mother, I’ve decided to claim her if she will have me. I can wait to claim her until everything is right in the realm, but at least everyone will know that she is mine when she comes back. I’ll introduce her to the pack so that they can get to know her before she becomes the mate of the Alpha.

  “Okay.” She nods looking slightly confused. “You’re not trying break up with me are you?”

  I shake my head no. “How long will it take you to get home?” I ask changing the subject.

  “We’re going to drive a few hours away. We have to protect any portal that we create that leads to Faery. Once a portal is created, a strong witch can piggyback his or her magic off the remnants of our magic and can open their own portal to Faery. Once we get there, then I can open the portal tonight and then we will arrive in Faery. That’s the only thing about crossing over, the time difference. When it’s night here, it’s daytime there.”

  To travel to different realms, such as going into Faery, requires the use of portals. For centuries, certain Witches have been protectors of the portals. This was part of the peace treaty between the Witches and the Fae. Faery demanded that only the most powerful of Witches guard the secret to get to Faery. Lina inherited her superior witch magic from her mother Loredana, who was just as powerful a witch as her grandmother Azura. Almost any creature of Faery can open portals to different realms.

  “Keegan is staying here. A couple more Guardians are going to come. Please try not to kill each other while I’m gone.” She smiles as I roll my eyes. I’m not worried about the Fae Prince.

  In the distance, Vamir calls out Lina’s name. She turns back to me with a sad look on her face. I grab her face and kiss her deeply. She melts into me as I pour my emotions into the kiss. We break apart panting.

  “This is not goodbye, Lina.”

  “I know. It just feels like it is.” Her emerald eyes look at mine as if trying to figure out what I’m thinking.

  “You better come back to me!” I say, helping her up from the bench as her father calls her again. We walk towards the front of the house holding hands. When we round the front of the house, Vamir’s eyes zero in on our clasped hands. He nods his head to me before turning to the open back door the guard is holding open for him. Another guard gets in the driver’s seat.

  I walk her over to the other back door. I wave the guard away so I can have a few more seconds with her. The guard gets in the passenger seat. I look down at her, grabbing her face, kissing her on her forehead, the tip of her nose and her lips.

  “Call me when you can, okay?” She nods.

  I open the door for her, helping her in. My eyes connect with Vamir and he nods his approval before I shut the door. I walk over to my truck and jump in. They drive down the driveway. My wolf whines, he doesn’t understand why she’s leaving us. I turn the key in my truck, throw it in gear and drive home.

  Chapter Twenty-Four

  ~Lina~

  It’s been a long exhausting week since I returned to Faery. It’s been non-stop training since I’ve been back. My father made arrangements with an elder elf from the town of Eshora named Eldrin Von Luthe. Eldrin is older than my father. He is a tall, lanky man with long stringy grey hair. My days with Eldrin are extremely long. According to Eldrin, everything can be turned into a lesson. In between training with Eldrin, I try to get some combat training in. As a Guardian, I have to make sure I’m in shape and my fighting skills are superb.

  Since returning to Faery, I’ve been avoiding Christian. He’s texted, called and left messages for me to call him. I don’t have time for him now. The fate of both the human and Faery realms is heavily weighing my little shoulders down. Eventually, I will have to tell him about Colin. It shouldn’t be hard. We’ve been broken up for months now. I’m sure he has moved on.

  While working with Eldrin, he has me focusing on a different element each day. Since I have already mastered the wind element, I now need to focus on the fire, earth and water elements. Today we are working on the fire element. We are outside the palace in a private meadow. It’s a beautiful day in Faery. The sky is a bright royal blue with not a cloud in the sky. The human realm pa
les in comparison to Faery’s bright colorful backdrop.

  A small group of wood Fairies fly past, all waving in excitement to see royalty. I return the wave with a smile. They’re giggling and curtsying to me before entering the woods with excited chatter. They are the tiniest of Faery’s creatures. A wood Fairy could stand in the palm of my hand.

  There are two palace guards with us who keep a little distance from us. Since returning to Faery my father has not wanted me to go anywhere without guards. Knowing my father, he probably has not just these two with me, but also a few additional guards out of sight. Eldrin has set up straw-stuffed dummies tied to posts at different distances away from me. We are sitting down facing each other.

  “Have you used your new fire power yet?” he asks, demonstrating by creating a fireball in his hand. The small yellow ball hovers in his hand before he closes his hand putting it out.

  “When I was attacked, I was able to make a demon self-combust into flames,” I answer, thinking of the demon attack when we were in the vampire club.

  “Good, my child. However, it’s harder to create and control a flame versus just making something blow up. When creating fire, it will take more concentration. Now hold out your hand.” I hold my hand out palm up. “Focus on your hand and think of heat and a flame. Push the power to your hand.”

  I do as he instructs but nothing happens. I shake my hand out and hold it back out again. This time the tip of my finger lights up with a small flame like a candle. I smile, but I know I can do better than that. The amulet warms. I feel a small rush of energy travel to my hands and before I know it my whole hand is engulfed in a soft light blue flame.

  “Great! Now push that energy into a ball in your hand,” he calmly instructs. I follow his instructions and the flame moves to a ball that hovers above my palm. “Now close your hand and withdraw your power and it should go out.” I again follow his instructions and the fire goes out.

  “Try to create the flame again. This time create only a ball of fire. No finger tips,” Eldrin instructs.

  I try and I’m able to get the ball immediately. Eldrin nods in approval. I close my hand and it goes out. “Come my child, let’s try throwing fire balls. Kids usually love this activity.” He smiles slightly as he stands. For someone who is almost a thousand years old, he moves like someone much younger. He is a wonderful teacher, his patience and the way he instructs makes him the best. No wonder my father brought him to me.

  He has the traditional Elfen elder clothes on; long flowing robes with a long tunic underneath, with wide leg pants that match his robe and sandals on his feet. His once blond hair, now gray, and is pulled back in a low ponytail with the hair flowing down his back. We walk over to the first dummy that is tied to a wooden post.

  “You’re going to build the flame and this time I just want you to toss it. Let’s start off close and we’ll move to full-blown throwing at further targets.” The next few hours we work on controlling the fireballs and throwing them. It is not as easy as I thought. I would throw some of the balls and the fires would go out mid-throw or some balls would go the opposite directions I would throw them. Once I was able to control throwing the balls, he had me running, ducking and dodging while throwing them.

  By the time Eldrin was satisfied with my progress with the fire, I was drenched in sweat. My t-shirt is sticking to me; I am out of breath like it is my first time working out. Tod, one of the guards, brings me a large water bottle. I nod my appreciation, grab it and take a long pull from it. Creating and controlling fire all day has me dying of thirst.

  “That’s enough practicing with fire for now. Go get some lunch, my child. You need to keep up your strength. Make sure that you are eating and drinking enough. We will meet after lunch to work on some mind exercises.” He ambles away down the stone path that will take him back towards the palace. I hurry back to the palace with my two guards trailing me. I’m anxious to get to my cell phone. Since I’m not back in the human realm, the only way I have to communicate with anyone there is the telephone. During practice, Eldrin does not allow telephones because they are a distraction.

  I run up to my room and grab my phone. There was a missed call from Keegan and a text message from him. The message says for me to call him as soon as I get back from training. Father must have told him whom I was training with.

  “Do you need me to get you anything?” I look over and see Tillie peeking her head through my door. I missed her so much when I was in the human realm. We have to find some time to get together but with my training, I barely have time to sleep.

  “Yes! Please have some lunch sent up here, I’m not picky, and something cold to drink. Thanks!” I blow a kiss to the door as she shuts it. I tap Keegan’s name on my phone. He answers on the second ring.

  “What’s up, Keegan?” I say when he answers.

  “Lina, how’s the training going?”

  “Eldrin is nice, but he can give any general in an army a run for their money! It has been non-stop training since I got home!”

  “Well, speaking of you going home, please call your wolf. He is driving everyone crazy. That’s all I’m going to say on that matter. The other thing I called to tell you was that there was another demon attack.” He pauses, barks a few orders and comes back to the phone.

  “What? Where?” I sit on the side of my bed.

  “Colin’s tech guy, Nick, is a genius. He was able to use all the past locations where the demons showed up to create a program that will predict the next location the demons may appear. They showed up at a large pharmaceutical factory and broke in at night when there weren’t that many employees there. They were raiding the factory and killed everyone that was there. We were able to get there not too long after the demons showed up. We don’t know what they were looking for. They are starting to get bold.”

  “What do you mean?” I feel totally out of the loop being all the way back in Faery. I know I’m here for a reason, but I should be with the Guardians helping protect the human realm.

  “The demons are showing up in glamour around cities and towns now. Now that the Legion nationwide is getting involved, they have been reporting the locations of the demons. Dorian and his vampires have spotted them too. I think they sense you are not in this realm and are looking for you.”

  “But what would they want at a pharmaceutical factory? Looking for drugs?” What the hell are the demons up to? What could Melomouzor need from a pharmacy factory?

  “We don’t know. Think about it, it’s where drugs are made so there are chemicals, drugs, supplies that they may need to help Melomouzor with his experimentations or even his return. We just don’t know yet. Since the Vamps and Wolves are working on the demons, the Guardians are going to focus on what was taken. That might help us figure out what the hell Melomouzor has been up to. We think at least one demon was able to get away.” I can feel Keegan’s frustration through the phone.

  “What are you going to do?”

  “Colin is having his wolves track down the one that got away. They think more demons are hiding out in the city. Dorian is having the Vampires help at night so that the Legion is not spread too thin. If they are looking for you, which I suspect they are, then we are at least a step ahead of them now.”

  “Melomouzor could be getting ready to make his way to Earth. I may not be able to master all of my powers by then, Keegan. We need to figure out who is helping to open the portals to the Underworld! Do you think the Dark Fae could be helping?”

  “The Dark Fae? I don’t think they are that stupid. Azura is going to look into the witches who she knows practice dark magic. We need you to work as fast as you can, Lina. You may not have the time to master the powers, but at least know how to call on them and use them.”

  “I know! I’m working hard on it. I am learning quickly.” I’m starting to feel the pressure. We may not have much time and I refuse to let Melomouzor destroy the human realm.

  * * *

  “You’re doing good. I couldn’t acc
ess your thoughts or mind,” Eldrin said looking satisfied. He sits back in his high-back chair. This part of the lesson for this evening is focusing on mind control and blocking. We have been in the study in the palace for a couple of hours now. I’m starting to feel slightly tired; all of this mind concentration, building walls and bridges in my mind, is taking its toll on me. The other day we worked on me accessing someone’s mind and it was just as tiring.

  “How can I prevent someone from entering my dreams?” I think back to the night that Melomouzor entered my dream.

  “That’s a good question. When you are asleep your subconscious is in control. When you dream and wake up, you know that everything that happened was not real.” He crosses his legs and creates a steeple with his hands.

  “But if someone was to enter my dream and, let’s say, mark me, then I wake up and the mark is really there? Then what? How do I prevent that?” He pauses and looks at me and doesn’t say anything, his foot tapping the floor.

  “That person would have to be a very strong dream walker,” he begins. “At this stage in your lessons, I don’t think you can prevent them from entering your dream but you can break their control and end the dream. Again, your subconscious takes control once you are asleep so, you must plant something like a kill-safe, in your mind.” I must have looked confused. “You must plant something in your subconscious that will be a part of all of your dreams. When that person or someone shows up in your dream, you use the kill safe to break their control of your dream and you wake up.” I nod my head in understanding.

  “And how would I do that? Plant something in my subconscious?” I need to know this. Melomouzor cannot come back into my dreams. “Can you help me?” I’m almost desperate. What happened the last time he showed up in my dream has me scared! I shudder at the thought of losing complete control of myself.