“Yes, daughter, I will take you back with me, to my home and the place of your birth where you will learn to fulfill your role as an Executioner.”
Oh shit. That's so not what I meant. So much for tricking him into taking me home. I was just digging myself in deeper. The look on my face must have given me away.
“I am an old god, Maurin, but I still have my wits about me. I knew that you would not believe me so quickly. I will show you how to get back to Salem. I am a hunter, which means that I am both patient and determined. Given time, you will see that I speak the truth.”
“No one has that kind of time.” There was use in pretending I believed him.
“Shall we begin your first lesson then?” After seeing my eagerness to learn how to get home, he finally breached the topic I wanted most to discuss. “There is more happening in the universe than the reality that you are in right now. In fact, when I say that anything is possible, I am not exaggerating. It is not until our mind decides that the reality becomes truly clear.”
“I'm sorry. What? I thought that you were going to show me how to go home, not give me a physics lesson. You'd think that my dad would know I flunked physics in high school.” When in doubt, revert to sarcasm.
That got a laugh out of him. “Let's try a different approach. Imagine that you are at one of those fancy restaurants that humans are so fond of. You've ordered one of the dozen menu selections. A waiter brings your meal in one of those covered trays. He sets it before you. Right up until the moment you lift the cover, all twelve selections are still possible. The chicken does not become reality until your minds decides it is.”
“That’s probably the best explanation of quantum mechanics that I've ever heard. Seriously, where were you when I was in high school?” I could have used a tutor like him in more than one science class.
“Now that we are on the same page, alternate realities are the same way. When you are in the between, any reality is possible. Your mind simply needs to decide on what your reality will be.” Arawn rubbed his hands together, contemplating how best to continue. “For example, I followed the Blue Man across the globe. Each time, I arrived shortly after him. That is, until I tired of the chase and put an end to it.” Arawn said.
“You're talking about Baylen?” Knightley hadn’t been seen or heard from since the night he and Medea made their escape.
“Yes. It saddens me to say, since I take no pleasure in ending any race, that the Blue Men are no more.” He bowed his head in reverence for a moment.
“But that is not why I bring it up. I was able to follow him across Europe, more than once, by opening myself up to the between. Every time Baylen and his fanged friend made a decision about their destination, I would envision the same in the between. It is how I am able to chase my quarry relentlessly. They move by horse or plane or train, and all I have to do is wait for them to decide.’ He ticked the modes of transport off on his fingers one by one. “Then, I slip into the between and choose the reality of my being in the same place at the same time.”
“But how do you know when and where they decide? How do I open myself up to the between?” It all seemed so impossible.
"One thing at a time. The between is always there. It is the basis of all reality. Not everyone can see it. But I would say you inherited the gift from me.” Arawn’s chest swelled with pride.
“Then how was my mother able to do it if she was just a Druid Priestess? Are witches able to move through the between?”
The coven could move from one place to the next without any mode of transportation besides their magic. Given recent events, it would be good to know if they could move through the between as well.
“To some degree, yes. Your mother's magic was very powerful. I have never seen another who could manipulate magic, and the between, the way that she could. Their teleportation spells are very similar, but you will not need potions or magical relics to move through the between. Take my hand.” He reached for me, arm outstretched, palm up.
All I had to do was slip my hand into his.
My mind was reeling from everything he’d told me, I hesitated. Every time I thought my life couldn’t get any weirder, it did. Big time.
“Take my hand, Maurin.” Arawn held out his hand, waiting for me to trust him enough to take it.
The moment my hand touched his, I felt the world fall away. My eyes slammed shut when the weightlessness set in. It was a good thing I hadn’t eaten for a while, because my stomach threatened to empty its contents as soon as my feet hit terra firma again. The cold air felt good against my clammy skin and eased the motion sickness that was fighting to take over. After a couple of deep breaths, I tried to find my center.
“Open your eyes.” Arawn sounded completely un-phased by our means of travel.
Fighting the urge to shut my eyes tighter, I opened one eye and then the other.
“I think that I'm going to puke.” Doubled over, I pressed a hand to my stomach.
“It will pass in a moment.”
We were standing in the middle of Gallows Hill Park. He had transported us both through the between and brought us back to Salem.
“Not that I'm not grateful to be back, but why are we here?” I’d avoided the park as much as possible. Too much blood had been spilled here, too many memories I’d just as soon forget.
“This is a place of great importance for you. You spilled your blood and the blood of your enemies on this ground. You wielded the Retaliator for the first time only feet from here.” Arawn spread his arms wide, gesturing to the whole of the park. “And it is where I found you after spending a lifetime believing that you were lost to me forever. Step into the between here, and I will meet you.”
I didn't know if that was a good thing or not. The fact he would know I was in the between at all was enough to make me never want to do it again.
“Now take us to the warehouse.”
“How am I supposed to do that?”
“I just showed you.” He sounded frustrated. He wasn’t the only one feeling that particular emotion. “This is going to be more difficult than I thought. Try to break down this reality. The castle isn't here. Nothing is here. Peel away the layers of detail that make this place real to you. There is only space."
I tried. I really did try, but I kept getting distracted by thoughts of the final frontier.
“You're going to have to do better than that. Focus!” Arawn shook his fist at me, demanded the best and accepting noting less from me.
Not wanting to risk irritating him further, I concentrated on finding the between. I thought about the place where everything began—before it became real. It was there, rolling just beneath the surface like an underground river, a stream of possibilities. All I had to do was learn to control the current. I dipped my hand in and let the cool power of the between move across my skin.
“Very good, Maurin. Though I don't recommend you use this as an escape route just yet. You'd be dead already if an enemy were after you.” Satisfied I finally grasped what he’d been trying to teach me, the Lord of the Hunt relaxed.
“Shhhhh. You're going to break my concentration. I've almost got it.”
Without further instruction, I focused all of my attention back on the between, soaking up its power and spindling it in my mind until I couldn't hold any more. Once I was full to bursting of the between, I envisioned the warehouse. The people I left behind took shape n my mind, the cold, damp concrete, the circle on the floor. Every minute detail came into focus until I actually felt the new reality form around me. Voices, some familiar and a few that weren't in the warehouse before reached my ears.
I was out of the between and back where I had started. Well, almost. I wasn't in the circle any more. I was closer to the main door.
Masarelli had pulled his team from security detail and moved them inside. Guns were drawn, and the guys from SPTF were yelling, “Put her down!”
It took me a second to figure out what was happening.
Aidan had
Graive jacked up against the wall by her throat. It was hard to tell from where I was, but it looked like his fangs were out.
I turned to tell Arawn I'd be right back, but he was already gone. Damn! I knew I was going to have a hard time explaining what had happened without him around. I turned back just in time to see that Oberon had worked some sort of spell and had aimed it at Aidan.
It was time to rejoin the party.
Chapter 21
“Don't kill her on my account.” I made sure I said it loud enough for everyone to hear over all the commotion.
Masarelli and a couple of his guys turned their guns on me. Two agents kept their sights on Aidan as he turned to look over his shoulder.
His eyes were wild, and his face contorted with rage. There were two small, red dots on Aidan's back. Their sights were set on him already, but two guns wouldn't stop him.
If I had arrived even a couple of seconds later, Graive would have been dead, and Aidan would have been arrested. There was no way Masarelli would have let him get away with murder, even though Graive was a necro and Masarelli was a bigot when it came to the Others.
“Easy boys. It's just me. Masarelli, tell them to lower their weapons before I end up getting shot in the head.” I kept my eye on the newest recruit to SPTF and his itchy trigger finger.
“Sir?” The green recruit awaited his orders, gun rattling slightly in his shaky hands.
“How do we know that you're really you?” Masarelli eyed me cautiously, keeping his weapon trained on me.
“It's her.” Aidan finally let go of Graive.
She hit the floor hard. It took both Amalie and Oberon to pick her up. Aidan had nearly strangled her to death.
He barely had a handle on his emotions. The air was filled with pheromones and an anger so thick the rest of us were choking on it.
“What makes you so sure? You said you saw her vanish with the demon. How do we know it didn't kill her and then change into her form?” Masarelli whipped his head from side, looking to the others for confirmation that I was who I claimed to be.
“I know that's the same suit you were wearing the last time I saw you, right down to the mustard stain on your collar. Don't they encourage good personal hygiene at SPTF anymore?” The best way to get Masarelli to realize it was me was to irritate the hell out of him.
“Screw you, Kincaide. I've been working nonstop since you left me to clean up your mess at the station.”
It seemed to be working.
“My mess? There wouldn't have been a mess if you hadn’t been so hell bent on cuffing me and stuffing me in a cell. I tried to tell you not to do so, but you had to try to prove that you were better than me, once again.” I pointed an accusatory finger in his direction.
“It's her, all right. Lower your weapons. Even a demon couldn't be this obnoxious.”
I gave him the finger.
Aidan had regained enough of his cool vampire composure to come over to me. “Don't ever do that again.” He grabbed me by the shoulders.
“What? Get banished with a demon? Trust me, I don't plan on it.”
He slipped one hand behind my head and one around my waist, pulling me to him. Cool breath danced along my neck, raising goose bumps. Fangs brushed against my skin, and my body tingled in anticipation as if I were hooked up to jumper cables.
“As much as I enjoy your sarcastic sense of humor, it won't save you from my wrath if you ever do that to me again.” Only a vampire could make a threat sound like sweet nothings.
I knew he was serious. Aidan warned me vampires were protective, but there was something strangely exciting about the threat he had just whispered in my ear. He let me go, leaving me a little weak in the knees. Everyone else would think it was exhaustion, but Aidan knew the effect he had on me.
I stepped around Aidan so I could see everyone in the warehouse, but more specifically Mahalia. I wanted to look my betrayer straight in the eye. She had lied to me about so many things.
Mahalia met my gaze. “You never cease to amaze me, Maurin. When we realized that the Afrit was trying to take you with him, it was too late to stop the banishing spell. I have to admit that even I was worried that our magic wouldn't be enough to bring you back, but you made it on your own. Not only did you kill the demon, but you managed to find your way out of the between. I'm so relieved. I should have known that you wouldn't need our help.” She exuded her usual confident demeanor as she finished her monologue of bullshit.
There was something in her eyes that belied her relief to see my safe return. Mahalia knew Agrona would ensure she lost her seat on the Council for her deceit. She’d meant to trap me in the between with the demon. Greatly underestimating my abilities, she didn’t think I would be able to kill it in its own domain. The demon was supposed to drain me dry and leave me for dead with no way to escape. But she forgot about Arawn. It never occurred to her he would be able to sense me in the between.
What about Aidan? He was there when Mahalia had confessed what she had done, would bear witness to the Council and make sure she forfeited her seat to the Fey.
That's where Masarelli had fit into her plan. She knew Aidan would blame Graive, knew the vampires were looking for an excuse to get rid of the necro. Masarelli would be clueless about what was really going on and Mahalia was counting on him to try to stop Aidan. When Aidan turned to defend himself from the onslaught of bullets, Graive would be freed from his grasp and would use her necromancy to control Aidan, and SPTF would have finished him off. Oh my god, that fucking bitch!
I wanted her to pay, and I had a plan. The rational part of my brain said it was a bad idea, but my temper was getting the best of me. There would be consequences for my revenge and I was definitely digging myself in deeper with Arawn, but I didn’t care. I grabbed Aidan's hand and pressed forward.
Mahalia backed up, but I was faster than she was.
Catching her by the wrist, I started breaking down the reality just as Arawn had shown me; managing to deconstruct the warehouse more quickly than before. Knowing exactly where I was going helped. Aidan tried to pull away, but I held on tighter. Masarelli’s panicked shouts were barely audible as we vanished into thin air. I was going to have a hell of a time explaining my disappearing act this time.
I moved through the between easier than I had expected, despite the weight of the two extra beings I had with me. I thought about where I wanted to be and who I wanted to find when I got there. The "landing" was a little rough, but I managed to move all three of us through the between and into Gallows Hill Park. Everyone seemed to be intact. For the moment.
“How the hell did you do that? What the hell is going on?” Aidan asked in disbelief.
“I'll explain later,” I promised, brushing him off.
“Maurin,” he said, demanding an explanation using only my name.
“Not now, Aidan! You'll see soon enough. Just trust me,” I pleaded.
Mahalia looked like she was about to take off. All too aware of what was about to happen, she frantically worked to whip up a spell. Arawn was taking too long. She was going to get away!
Damn it, Arawn, where are you?
Something made a huffing sound, and Mahalia came to a dead stop. Perhaps old age or karma had finally caught up to her, because once again she was too slow.
A cold, wet nose pressed against the palm of my hand. Cwn Annwfn.
Arawn had waited until the last second to reveal himself. He had a real flare for dramatic entrances. “Hello, witch. I told Maurin that I wanted to speak with you. Wasn't it thoughtful of her to bring you to me? I, for one, am touched by my daughter’s desire to please me.”
Aidan’s eyebrows lifted almost to his hairline when Arawn called me his daughter. I didn’t have to touch him to know what he was thinking. I shook my head no in silent answer to the question racing through his mind.
“Do not deny it, my dear. We are among friends, are we not?” Arawn put on one hell of an innocent act, but he was up to something.
Di
d he know the depths of Mahalia’s deception, of her plan to kill me? Of course he did. He was baiting her—hoping she would try to lie to him. She never said a word.
“You left this behind, daughter. In the future, be more careful where you leave your things. It would be a terrible shame to lose the Retaliator in the between.”
Taking the sword From Arawn, I turned slowly to face Mahalia. It was a familiar scene. One I wouldn’t have imagined Mahalia playing a role in. She stood in practically the same spot Morrigan had, with the Cwn Annwfn at her feet. I looked at Aidan as I swung the sword above my head. He needed to see what I really was. He needed to know what I had become.
“Wait!”
I lowered my sword and turned to face Arawn. I didn’t bother to hide my disappointment.
“Stop looking at me like a petulant child would, Maurin. I know why you brought her to me. I would like nothing more than to see her meet the end that she had so cruelly planned for you. Her deceit about your true lineage would be enough for me to send my dogs on the hunt for her.”
“So why are you stopping me? She banished me with the demon. She tried to kill me! She deserves to meet the end of my sword!”
Aidan lunged for Mahalia as my words registered. In less than a second, he was behind her, wrapping an arm around her waist and another around her head. His fingers dug in beneath her chin as he pulled her head back, exposing her neck.
“Do not kill her, vampire!” Arawn’s voice bellowed throughout the warehouse.
Aidan retracted his fangs, but he didn’t let Mahalia go.
“So, she’s just going to get away with it?” Pissed off, I didn’t bother to hide my disbelief.
“No. She will be punished.” Arawn voice dropped an octave and turned to ice.
“How? You won’t let me do it. You won’t let Aidan do it. You’re obviously not going to do it!”
“Is it your intent to leave this life behind? Are you ready to walk away from everything and join me on the hunt?” Arawn’s question felt loaded.
Dark Secrets: A Paranormal Romance Anthology Page 172
