Cantrips: Volume #2: Minor Magics Crafted to Amuse and Entertain

by Joey W. Hill

  “Just what did you do to garner the good graces of the Lord of the Underworld, my lady?” Mason asked, his brow raised. Jessica was pointing to the gift, drawing Farida’s bright eyes to it. Lyssa raised the crystal, making it sparkle. Farida’s smile inspired the queen to give the baby the same in return. Then she responded to Mason’s question.

  “I visited with him several months ago to discuss Dante’s transition to our world. Perhaps he merely wished to thank me for my cooperation.”

  “Or like every bloke she meets, she scared the piss out of him, and he wants to stay in her good graces,” Dev muttered to Jacob. He hid his smile as Lyssa gave them both an arch look, that sensual promise of retribution again. Yet she didn’t disagree with the assessment.

  “Thank you for bringing the gift, Dante. Please convey my pleasure with it to Lord Lucifer.” Stepping forward, she laid her hand on the young vampire’s arm as she commanded the attention of the rest of the room. “I’d like to invite you all to the pool house now. The gift we have planned is ready.”

  As the vampires and servants prepared to head in the direction of the pool house, Lyssa glanced at Jacob. I’ve told Mr. Ingram to join us.

  A good decision, my lady. He will love it. Everyone will. And this was a good decision, despite my misgivings. His gaze strayed to Dante. Your heart and intelligence never outdistance one another, and both are far greater than most realize.

  I believe my heart has grown quite a bit, thanks to some very special influences in my life. One of which I won’t name, because he tends to get a little too full of himself.

  With a smile, Jacob offered her his other arm, magnanimously cooperating with her plan to allow both Dante and him to provide her escort to the pool house.

  * * *

  As they assembled in the spacious indoor pool area, exotic plants lit with Christmas lights gave a dim glow to the room, a flicker of diamonds across the water. Jacob looked around the perimeter of the pool house, taking in the various expressions of those anticipating the surprise.

  Lyssa knelt at Kane’s side. “Do you remember a few weeks ago, when we were decorating the tree and you said you wanted to meet an angel?”

  Her son nodded, his blue eyes lighting up with anticipation. Lyssa put a hand on his shoulder and pointed toward the pool. “Then watch very closely.”

  Across the pool from all of them, Alexis presented her back to Dante. He slid the zipper down on her dress and untied her sash, holding the cloth in place an extra moment to dip his head and kiss her throat before he let it whisper off her naked body. While nudity was not an issue for vampires or angels, there was a pristine beauty to her, to the moment, that made it more like unveiling a breathtaking creation than a sexual experience. Still, Jacob saw Ingram holding his hands over John’s eyes until she entered the water. But he took them away as he realized John might miss her startling transformation.

  As she stepped gracefully into the water, golden patterns began to appear on her skin, an intricate tattoo scrolling over the flesh of her upper arms and back, her breasts and abdomen. They gleamed, reflecting the Christmas lights.

  Her body shifted, shimmered. Kane drew in a breath—actually most of the adults did as well— as her wings emerged from her back. The feathers were a pale gold color, ruffling a little from the transition. As the wings arched over her shoulders, she extended them fully. She was still moving into the water, had reached the bottom of the steps. When she made a lithe, twisting movement, it was obvious she was no longer being supported by her legs. A moment later, there were gasps as her tail, the red and gold scales gleaming, undulated in a graceful arc.

  “She’s a merangel,” Lyssa said to her son. With their enhanced hearing and the echoing acoustics, every vampire and servant heard her. “Half mermaid and half angel. She can soar in the sky or swim in the deepest part of the ocean.”

  Kane was mesmerized, but again, Jacob couldn’t say the adults were much different. Alexis used the propulsion of her tail and the extension of her wings to lift her body out of the water, drops sluicing off her skin and scales in a glittering display. Kane clung to Jacob’s hand and Lyssa’s skirt.

  As amazing a display as it was, it was Gideon who caught Jacob’s eye. Perhaps because of his earlier thoughts, his worries of what might have happened to Gideon, how close he’d come to losing him, seeing him this year had special meaning to Jacob. Sharing this made him want to look toward his brother and see how he was reacting to it. He wasn’t disappointed.

  Due to the possibility of Anwyn having violent seizures in moments of uncertainty, emotional excitement or transition, Daegan and Gideon would often flank her in obvious reassurance. Jacob had noted it in the way Daegan had stood behind her chair in the living room as they opened gifts, Gideon lounging against the side of her chair on the floor, his hand on her knee. But other times, like with the jacket, there was a different dynamic. Jacob saw that adjustment now.

  Christmas held a lot of not-so-pleasant memories for Gideon. He’d spent plenty of them, in places far from the Christmas spirit. As his brother watched the merangel swim, Jacob saw quiet pain war with amazement on his face. Perhaps how wonderful this moment was contrasted too sharply with the desolate past. But Daegan stood at his back, hand on his shoulder, body pressed up against Gideon’s, while Anwyn stood in front, her hands clasped over Gideon’s on her waist, her head back against his shoulder. As Jacob watched, she turned her lips to his throat. Comforting him, reminding him he was here with them now, belonging to them. Daegan’s head bent, lips nuzzling the other side of Gideon’s neck while Anwyn reached up to caress their servant’s jaw, linking them.

  Looking over, Jacob saw Mason had Farida in one arm, Jessica inside the circle of his other one as she pressed against his side. Her lovely gray eyes were delighted and awestruck, an almost matching expression on their daughter’s face. Even Mason looked more relaxed than Jacob had seen him since Dante had arrived, but perhaps it was because Dante was in their field of vision as much as Alexis. From the expression on his face, the unpredictable Dark Spawn vampire was absorbed in Alexis in a way every male in the room understood. She was everything to him, and he was enthralled, possessive and possessed, all at once. The same way Mason, Dev, Jacob, Gideon and Daegan felt about their females.

  Your female, Jacob?

  He gazed down into his lady’s beloved face with warmth. I could lie and pretend I didn’t feel such a sense of possession toward you, my lady, but it’s too blatantly written all over me. Possess, cherish, worship, adore…love. He loves her. He may not even understand fully what that is yet, but it’s clear to all of us that’s what he feels. The right woman tends to bring that out in us.

  “So does Christmas,” she whispered.

  Kane moved toward the pool now, though he brought his parents with him, as if they were his security blanket before this exotic creature. “Lift,” he told Alexis. The word was a timid request this time, not an imperious order.

  When Alexis moved toward the pool edge, reaching for him, her smile dispelled any trepidation he might have. It spread an angel’s warmth and magic to every corner of the room, her special gift of empathy easing every heart. Ingram crossed himself, a look of reverence on his face. Kane stepped forward, letting go of his parents. Lyssa let her hand linger on his head before Alexis lifted him, settled him on her hip.

  It was a warmish night in Atlanta, so the roof of the pool house had been opened. It would allow Alexis to float into the sky above the building. But Kane wanted something else. As she began to ascend, he pointed at Farida, who’d become very animated, waving her arms fiercely.

  “Lift her,” he instructed.

  As Alexis moved to comply, her golden wings lifting her above the waterline, Mason met the merangel’s gaze. Jessica put her hand protectively on the baby. Lyssa spoke in his mind.

  No harm will come to her Mason. Farida is safer with her than the most powerful vampire in the room. I promise.

  Mason must have given the thought
to Jessica, because he brushed a kiss over her brown hair before lifting the baby toward Alexis, using his greater height so the merangel didn’t have to let her curved tail touch the concrete. Despite his reassurance, Jessica held onto the little booted feet an extra moment, a touch much like Lyssa’s lingering hold on Kane, before she let her go. Alexis gave the concerned parents a smile, an extra push of that warmth to ease their worries, before she straightened.

  Her wings rippled, flexing as she rose, taking the children up above the roof line. From that vantage point, Kane would see the Christmas decorations illuminating the yard all around the house. Farida didn’t cry or fuss, but cooed in delight. Kane’s hand latched onto Alexis’s long hair with one hand, Farida’s fingers in the others.

  Lyssa reached into the bodice of her green dress, pulling out a small vial of silver liquid she’d stored there. Her half-sister’s gift, a wary token of affection and Christmas wishes from the Fae Queen. Now Lyssa opened the vial, pouring the precious several silver drops in her hand. As they fused to her palm, she lifted it to the sky, calling up her own Fae blood to merge with her sister’s magic to achieve the results she desired.

  The assembled had their eyes on the merangel and the children, so what happened next was a complete surprise. They let out a collective sound of delight as snow began to fall from the sky above Alexis. The snowflakes glittered like diamonds, the blue and silver arcs around the large flakes making them look like thousands of tiny ice fairies.

  John, standing next to Ingram, had eyes the size of saucers. Alexis would undoubtedly take him up next, for Kane would command it so. He included the other boy in everything.

  The exercise of the Fae magic took very little effort on Lyssa’s part, enough that she heard Jacob’s response to her thought. That might be so, but tonight Kane offered the gift to Farida first, my lady. Your son already recognizes the benefits of impressing a female.

  So it would seem. We will have to remind Kane to be understanding about that when John gets his first girlfriend.

  At length, before Mason and Jessica could get too anxious, Alexis slowly floated back down. She immersed her tail in the pool up to where her upper thighs would be, so she was high enough to keep the children from getting wet. As she brought them to the edge, Kane wouldn’t let go. He was stating his second favorite word in his repertoire.

  “Keep.” He was still holding fast to Alexis’s hair and Farida’s hand, and showed no inclination to release them.

  Usually Jacob handled any pending tantrums, but this time Lyssa moved forward. Kneeling at the pool edge, she took her son’s hands away from both females, squeezing them gently. “No,” she said, meeting his stubborn gaze. “That’s what’s so special about Christmas. We have to let it go. So it can come back again.”

  Kane considered this. Full understanding wasn’t there, but he rarely disobeyed either his mother or father when he recognized the tone that said he needed to comply. He let his mother lift him out of Alexis’s arms and then, with a quiet noise, he switched his grip to Lyssa’s dark tresses, burying his face in her neck. Lyssa tightened her grip on him, holding him close as Mason came forward to take Farida. Alexis caressed both children, nodding to Mason and Lyssa. “Blessings on them, now and always,” she said. “And on all those who care for and protect them.”

  She took John next, just as Lyssa had anticipated, yet before Kane had to tell the merangel to do so. When Alexis brought the older boy back down, dazzled and blushing, she kissed him on the forehead, gave him a blessing as well. She included his grandfather in that, reaching out to grip Ingram’s hand. The majordomo held it briefly in both of his, dipping his head to her.

  Nodding to Lyssa, confirming she’d fulfilled the queen’s wish, Alexis turned. She slowly descended into the water until it was obvious her tail had vanished and she was walking on human legs. As she moved across the pool, Dante was ready with a towel for her. When she came back up the steps to him, her wings vanished, leaving a brief scattering of feathers that disappeared in a sparkle of dust. Dante wrapped the towel around her. Lyssa saw that dispassionate expression slip as Alexis put a hand on his face and lifted up onto her toes to kiss him. Her soft, “I love you,” only enhanced the warm energy encompassing all of them.

  At Lyssa’s gentle prodding, Ingram recovered enough to go to the wet bar, break out the champagne she’d directed him to have there. As he and John distributed the glasses, Lyssa made sure he took one for himself. The majordomo looked surprised, but she reinforced it in his mind.

  You are a valued part of this family too, Mr. Ingram. Please join us in this.

  The man nodded, putting his hand on John’s shoulder as they all turned attentively to her.

  Lyssa raised her glass, still holding Kane on her hip. Jacob saw the boy was starting to look sleepy, so many things happening in one night. Sliding his arm around Lyssa’s waist, he bent over her to kiss his son. As he did, he felt Lyssa’s fingers stroke through his hair. Then he straightened at her side.

  “I told Kane we always have to let go of Christmas, so it will come again,” she addressed the group. “But what we never have to relinquish is the love we feel for one another. The bonds of our family, which Christmas highlights for us and yet exists year round, a fixed star in the sky.”

  Jacob saw his lady’s gaze touch every face present before she spoke again. “Thank you for sharing this night with us, and for giving me the gift of your presence here. Merry Christmas to you all, and may the blessings of this year follow us throughout the new year.”

  Here, here. Jacob’s thought was echoed by the spoken responses of those present. Even Dante lifted his glass, emulating the others and Alexis, but it was to his merangel he turned when Lyssa spoke of blessings.

  Jacob knew how the Dark Spawn felt. He bent his head again, meeting Lyssa’s lips with his own. Their son’s scent and heat pressed against them both, and he knew he could ask for no more than this moment. Love and family, however and wherever those bonds were formed.

  It was the true magic of Christmas, and of every day he spent in the company of his vampire queen.

  The End

  The Bet

  A vignette featuring Daegan, Anwyn and Gideon of Vampire Mistress and Vampire Trinity.

  Originally posted in serial format, 7/23/2013.

  Background: In Bound by the Vampire Queen, it was mentioned that Gideon and Daegan had a friendly bet in play. When Lyssa asked Anwyn to give her the details, Anwyn replied: “Gideon thinks you’ll have to beat Lord Belizar to a bloody pulp to get him to listen to reason. Daegan thinks you’ll have to stake him and start from scratch. If Gideon wins”—she glanced at Daegan, confirming he was fine revealing the nature of the agreement—“he wants Daegan to set aside his Master role for one night. Gideon wants to . . . take Daegan.”

  Long and short, Gideon won the bet (small spoiler for those who haven’t read BbtVQ, yes, but nothing big – you know we couldn’t kill off grumpy Lord Belizar), so this vignette is the long awaited fulfillment of those terms.

  Part One

  “Son of a bitch, that hurt. Last time I take a vacation with fucking vampires.”

  Gideon grimaced as Daegan eased him down onto the amber-swirled Mexican tile in the kitchen. Anwyn dropped her purse on the counter and came around it to kneel next to him, leveling a severe glance at them both. “What the hell happened? I go into a shoe store for twenty minutes, and you’re picking a fight with vampire hunters. Why are you putting him down here, instead of on a bed?”

  “It was more like an hour. And you’ve been freaking out about using Lyssa’s summer house for our vacation ever since we got here.” Gideon grunted. “If I bled on the sheets, I figured you’d have kittens.”

  “It’s not her summer house,” Daegan corrected. “Summer homes are usually in cooler climates than the Florida Keys.”

  “Summer house, Easter house, Kwanzaa house…whatever chip it is in the potato bag, you know she’s got plenty more.”

  “S
o says the man who’s never had a mortgage payment in his life.” Anwyn shifted her gaze to Daegan. “I saw part of it in his mind, but it was cloudy.” It had scared her half to death, feeling the punch just beneath her rib cage. She forced her voice to remain even, though she was sure both men could feel her churning reaction. I will not have a seizure right now. I will not.

  She knew that was why Daegan and Gideon had both insisted on driving the thirty minutes back to the secluded cottage before dealing with any of this, or even answering her basic questions. Daegan had driven, and she’d sat in the back with Gideon, holding pressure on the wound until the blood finally stopped and the skin started to knit. While dealing with the pain, Gideon hadn’t been in a position to talk, and Daegan’s attention was split between them and monitoring whether or not they were being tracked. He’d taken a circuitous route back to Lyssa’s place, making sure.

  So all that was handled, and she was done being patient. She set her jaw and put her hand on Daegan’s arm as he sat back on his heels. Despite his warning glance, her nails dug in enough to convey her irritation. Yes, he was pissed off, but so was she. “What happened?”

  “We ran into a vampire hunter Gideon knew,” Daegan responded. “And a handful of his companions.”

  “Sure. Make it all about the kind of friends I have, rather than the fact you’re a bloodsucker,” Gideon mumbled.

  “Please shut up, before I decide to finish the job,” Daegan said mildly. “Five men were sitting in the alley outside the back door of a Chinese restaurant. They were dressed like restaurant employees and apparently taking a smoking break. Gideon and I were about fifteen feet inside the alley entranceway, waiting for you. When one approached to talk to us, we assumed it wasn’t anything untoward.”