Magical

by Bria Berg

  Chapter 22

  Several minutes passed before she heard the front door open and then close, followed by footsteps. Her knees were cradled to her chest with her head tucked inside to keep her face warm.

  “Can I sit down?” Milo asked softly.

  Tessa shrugged her shoulders in reply, not looking up or moving in any other way.

  The seat creaked a little as he settled down next to her. They swayed slightly as they sat there together in silence with not even a cricket’s song to accompany them. “Tess…” Milo eventually sighed. “Tess I’m so sorry. I can be such an idiot sometimes.”

  Tessa tilted her head slightly so she could see him. “Go on.”

  Milo laughed once. “What Dracul said about me being your protector, I think he’s right. I feel like I need to keep you safe, always, no matter what, and I already know I’m going to get overbearing at times. I hate that you went through what you did, I hate that your best friend helped do it to you, and I hate that I wasn’t there to stop it.”

  Tessa sat up slightly, surprised at his words. A breeze brushed against her exposed skin and she shivered. “I thought you were angry and disgusted with me.” I know I am, she added to herself.

  Discarding all of his reservations, Milo pulled her onto his lap, cradling her in his arms to shield her from the cold. “Disgusted with you? Never. And I wasn’t even close to being angry with you; none of it was your fault, even though I know that’s how it came across because I’m a jacka… I’m stupid, but I want you to know I care about you.”

  Tessa relaxed into his arms, enjoying the warm cocoon that he was providing for her. Milo seemed like the kind of guy that didn’t apologize often, and the fact he had made the effort with her made her smile. Even that he was holding her still, here and now meant so much to her. She couldn’t believe that he wasn’t angry or upset with her at all. It had been hard to look at herself in the mirror these past few months, and now he along with Sam and Ethan knew her deepest darkest secret, and they still wanted her around. They could still look at her in ways that she couldn’t even look at herself.

  Milo began stroking her hair back, and she snuggled a little closer, breathing in his addicting scent. His warm lips pressed gently against her temple and she tensed while Milo’s body surrounding her stilled at the same time. Slowly, she angled her head to face him. His expression was heavy and unsure, but longing was there as well. They stared at each other, their breathing and beating hearts as the only sound and Milo’s head lowered slightly.

  The front door swung open, and they both jumped as Sam poked his head out. “Hey Tess, your phone has been ringing constantly for the last five minutes, so I answered it. It’s you dad.”

  Tessa stood up, the warmth of Milo’s embrace immediately leaving her to the bitter coldness of the night. “My dad? Why is he calling me?”

  Sam didn’t have the answer, so hesitantly Tessa moved inside, taking the phone from Sam as she crossed the threshold into the house. “Dad?”

  A sigh of relief sounded on the other end, yet that couldn’t be right; Jim Grant wouldn’t know or care in the first place to have concern for his daughter. “Tess, you okay?”

  “I’m fine dad, what’s going on?” she replied still puzzled about why they were having this conversation to begin with.

  “Where are you?” he questioned at once.

  Tessa stumbled through her words taken aback by her father’s unusual curiosity. “Wha… I’m at a friend’s house. Why?”

  “You need to get home, you’re safer there!” he replied almost frantically. “I’m in the car right now, and I’ll be there in about forty-five minutes to meet you at home.”

  Tessa thought she had heard wrong at first. “Why are you coming here? What are you talking about?”

  “Tess, there are some things you don’t understand right now, but the most important thing is that you need to be safe, and the safest place for you is at home. You need to listen to me on this.”

  “No,” Tessa refused. “You can’t just call me and pretend to care and not tell me why. Besides, I’m safe where I am.”

  “Tess—”

  “You know what I am, don’t you?” Tessa asked, sure that she was right. Why else would this conversation be happening?

  He was silent for a minute before he questioned, “Who have you been talking to? Who are you with right now?” and then he thought better of it and said, “Never mind, don’t tell me over the phone. I’m coming to you, where are you?”

  Tessa spoke quickly with the brothers, who were all listening to the one sided conversation intently, and they agreed they needed to get some answers out of her father. She gave Jim the address, and then they waited.

  Milo stayed close to Tessa, although he hadn’t touched her since when they were on the porch swing. She glanced at him from beneath her lashes, remembering the moment, and wondering if they had been about to share a kiss. The thought made her warm and tingly all over, but when he caught her staring, he didn’t smile or blush, just walked away. She must have been imagining things, or reading into more than it really was. Luckily Sam and Ethan were chatty, and it was easy to listen to them and not dwell on things that might or might not have been.

  Forty minutes exactly after Tessa hung up the phone with her father, they heard a car move up the long driveway. Tessa assured them the silver Mercedes was her father’s car, before she went out onto the porch to meet him. Only after he saw his daughter standing there unharmed did Jim turn off the ignition, and step out into the night. He looked at Tessa, and then to the three men flanking her sides. “The Ricks brothers, I should have known,” was all he said before shutting his car door and strolling casually up the porch.

  They all stared at one another when he made up the steps until he said, “Well are we just going to sit out here looking pretty and turn to ice, or are we going to go inside and talk?”

  Tessa turned first, followed slowly by the brothers. Jim stood just outside the front door, looking in. “Aren’t you going to invite me in?”

  Milo stood taller, with a scowl masking his face meant to intimidate Jim. “If you harm her in any way—”

  “She’s my daughter, I would never hurt her,” Jim replied, meeting Milo’s narrowed eyes.

  After staring him down for another moment, Milo said, “Come in.”

  The exchange didn’t go unnoticed by Tessa. “Why did he have to be invited in?” she whispered to Ethan who was standing the closest to her.

  “Because this house is protected, and all Gifted who don’t live here must be invited in before they can enter.”

  “Isn’t that a vampire thing?” she asked.

  Ethan gave her a small grin. “You’ll find that most vampire stories are really about Gifted people, like Dracul.”

  Tessa let that soak in as they moved to the family room and took her seat. She also didn’t miss that Ethan had basically said her father was a Gifted. The others all sat down, waiting. Milo, however, wouldn’t sit down, he stood behind Tessa, leaning down on the back of the couch where she sat.

  “Okay dad, you’re here now, so talk,” she said harshly.

  “Nice to see you too,” he muttered loud enough for her to hear.

  “Don’t,” she warned. “Don’t pretend to care when we both know you don’t.”

  He frowned at her words, and if she didn’t know better, he even looked hurt. “That’s not true Tess,” he said slowly. “I know I don’t deserve any father of the year awards, but I love you, I always have, always will.”

  Tessa’s eyes filled with angry tears, and she hastily wiped them away so he couldn’t see how much she actually cared. “Just say what you came here to say so you can be on your way.”

  Jim’s posture slouched slightly as he closed his eyes looking tired. When he opened them, he stared directly at Tessa. “I don’t know how much you already know, so I’ll just start at the beginning. I have certain magical powers; I am Gifted, if you will.” He studied Tessa’s reaction to
this, but she didn’t act at all surprised about the Gifted part, maybe only that he held these powers. He went on, “I knew from a time when you were very young that you too were special, although you were different from me. Whenever I was around you, I felt a little more powerful, and as you grew, so did that unique power of yours. The strange thing was that you never displayed actual powers. I devoted much of my time researching you in the Gifted community. I traveled the world, visiting anyone who could possibly have any answers for me at all. I learned that you are something called an Amplifier, and your power is very rare, and can also be very dangerous. There is one evil Gifted, the worst kind of man there ever was or is. His name is Dracul.”

  “We already know about him,” Tessa informed. “He almost killed me and Milo.”

  Jim’s face went pale and slack. “He found you?” he said in voice that Tessa had never heard her father use.

  “He did, but we aren’t going to let him have her,” Milo stated firmly.

  “If he has found you, how are you still alive?” Jim asked with his voice still full of fear.

  Tessa told him all that had happened when she and Milo encountered Dracul, leaving nothing out. Jim listened patiently, until the part came where Dracul wanted to take Tessa for his own. He sprang from the couch.

  “He can’t have you! He is already the most powerful Gifted to ever come into existence; can you imagine if he had you by his side strengthening his power?”

  “You think I would just go with him like that?” Tessa fumed. “I would rather die!”

  Jim took a deep breath and looked to his daughter with pity. “You wouldn’t have choice, Tess. It sounds like he already used compulsion on you when he kissed you. He’ll do it again and make you do whatever he desires.”

  “He won’t get close enough to her to even try,” Milo said confidently with a warning in his tone.

  Jim scoffed, “He is Dracul, if he wants her bad enough, he will get to her eventually. The only way to resist his compulsion is true love. Sounds silly I know, but he can’t reach a heart that is full with the purest of love. Some things don’t make any sense, yet make perfect sense at the same time.”

  “Neutron?” Ethan suddenly spoke gaping at Jim. That last phrase had been one he had read from Neutron’s blog numerous times.

  Jim grinned tiredly. “You follow my site.”

  Ethan looked as if he was star struck. He had been putting it together in his mind, and it all clicked. “How do you know about Elite attacks before they happen?”

  Jim rubbed the back of his neck, an uncomfortable action. “That’s a little complicated.”

  “You’re one of them,” Sam accused reading his body language.

  Jim sighed. “They recruited me when I was in a bad place. I was vulnerable, dangerous, and not at all in my right mind. I rose pretty high in the ranks, and when I met Dracul, and learned he was the Elite’s leader, I wanted out. If only it was that simple. Once you’re in the Elite, it’s a lifetime commitment, so I couldn’t just walk away, but I’ve been trying to sabotage them as best as I could ever since.”

  Tessa hated that he was actually attempting to gain sympathy as an excuse. “So is that why you left me and Hailey? You left us to join them?”

  Her father looked at her sadly. “It wasn’t like that Tess. I tried, I really did. Your mother had an affair right before she got pregnant with Hailey. She swore to me it was the one and only time, and she would never do again. I loved her so much that I believed her. When we found out Sandra was expecting, I didn’t know if the baby was mine or the other guy’s, but I was determined to make her happy so I acted as happy as I could. When Hailey was born, I knew immediately she wasn’t mine, but I still loved her. I took her as my own, but that was the same time I started to go downhill. The way your mother talked to other men, it wasn’t appropriate, so I began taking her on trips, just the two of us to get away, so she would remember that she loved me like I loved her. Those were my darkest days, and that’s when the Elite found me. It was easy to pour all my anger into their cause while ignoring where it was coming from.”

  For a moment, Tessa couldn’t breathe. Hailey was her half-sister, and neither of them knew it? He said he still loved Hailey as if she was his own, but what about her? “You ignored me!” she burst out unable to control herself. There was no denying that he had been hurt, but that didn’t mean that he had a right to dump his kids because life got tough. He can’t just run away from his problems! She felt sick at that thought; running is exactly what she had been doing.

  “You’re right,” Jim admitted quietly. “I regret that more than anything else. Believe it or not, when your mother and I divorced, I was a signature away from full custody of you and Hailey; I wanted to make up for the lousy father that I had been. That was the same time Dracul somehow found out that an Amplifier lived, although he didn’t know where. I didn’t want you anywhere near the Elite, and especially Dracul, so I distanced myself even more so they would have no reason to even look at you.”

  “How did you hide what you are from me?” Milo questioned. “In the hospital when we first met, you were completely normal, no sign of any magic, but here now I can sense it.”

  “It’s a rare cloaking gift that few Gifted possess. I’ve only ever heard of those prone to fire having it, most likely because fire is energy, and energy can be taken away,” Jim replied. Then his eyes narrowed as he looked Milo up and down. “So he believes you are her Protector?”

  “What do you know about Protectors?” Milo asked revved up they were finally getting answers.

  Jim thought carefully about his next words. “Amplifiers are so incredibly rare as it is that the information on them is miniscule, but every known Amplifier that has ever been has always had a Protector. The Protector is bonded to their charge, and will do absolutely anything to ensure their safety.”

  “What do you mean bonded?” Tessa asked glancing back nervously at Milo.

  “A deep connection made from the moment you two met. Your power makes others stronger to be sure, but it will affect your Protector much more. While he may give his life to protect you, if he fails and you are killed, he will die as well.” Jim angled his head and looked Milo straight in the eye. “Is that something you can accept?”

  “Wait! That’s not fair!” Tessa cried before Milo could answer. “If what you are saying is true, I don’t want a Protector! He shouldn’t have that burden!”

  “Tess,” Milo said calmly placing his hands on her shoulders. “It’s too late. I felt it when I pulled you out of your car, and I don’t think it’s something we can just turn off. I wouldn’t want to if we could.”

  Tessa was on the verge of becoming hysterical. She should have just run away like she had wanted to four months ago and never looked back. Because of her, Milo was in danger and with an enemy like Dracul, could very possibly die and it would be all her fault. She wished Milo would have never pulled her out of the burning car and just let her die, and then no one in this room would be in danger. She wanted to run outside and just keep running, but she couldn’t do anything reckless, while Milo might be willing to die for her, she wasn’t as accepting. She needed to be alone, she needed to run, so her legs took to the nearest bathroom where she shut herself in.

  Chapter 23

  The men watched her go, knowing that she needed time in her little sanctuary. Tess had already been through so much in her life, and now she had more burdens and responsibility than ever. The brothers continued to listen to everything Jim knew about Dracul. Dracul was born in the mid seventeen hundreds, although no one knows the exact year. He was Gifted, incredibly so right from the beginning and instead of excelling in just one element, both fire and air spoke to him. He is quite Gifted with earth, and although water holds the least amount of his skill, he is still strong in the element. Using the elements combined, he somehow figured out how to feed life into himself to keep him young, thus allowing him to be immortal. It is believed the only thing that can kill h
im is a stake or dagger infused with all four of the elements, plunged deep into his chest and heart, yet another vampire myth from Dracul. There is also one other weakness he has, and that is of women.

  “It appears that he has already chosen his next conquest,” Jim said sadly. “He won’t stop until he has her. He loves a challenge in the chase, and he will not give up. As much as I hate that he wants Tessa as his, at least we know that he won’t want her killed right away. He’ll make sure the Elite know not to kill her and if anything that buys us some more time. If she can learn to control her power so that it doesn’t amplify his, that might be the safest option for her.”

  “He won’t touch her,” Milo growled.

  “I hope more than anything you’re right,” Jim agreed. “As far as I know, Dracul doesn’t know that Tessa is my daughter, but it’s only a matter of time before he figures it out, and I’ll simply play dumb to it because I haven’t been around. When that happens, he will most likely send me after her, and I’ll have to go if I want to remain close to him. You three will have to stop me, and it will have to look believable.”

  Each of the brothers nodded in understanding. Jim wasn’t going to hold back when the time came, and neither would they.

  Jim had decided that it was best for Tessa to continue on with her regular schedule. Now that they knew the Elite wouldn’t hurt her anymore because Dracul wanted her alive, it was even safer to remain in the public eye. Despite all of Dracul’s faults and wickedness, he more than anyone wants magic to remain a secret as his whole being depends on it. Jim also decided unanimously with the brothers that Tessa should stay with them until there was no longer a threat, however long that may be. Although it remained unspoken, they all knew that meant Dracul would have to die, and they would be the ones to have to do it.