Magic In My Soul

by Kellie Sheridan

  "Good morning," I said, shaking the man's hand, trying to remember everything I could about him while also looking as relaxed as possible.

  "This me brother, Bryan," Cooper said, his accent coming out thicker than ever, even to my ears. "This is Melanie Sinclair."

  We exchanged pleasantries for all of thirty seconds before Bryan decided he couldn't wait any longer. "I understand there was an attack in your home last night, Miss Sinclair."

  Right. All I wanted to do was look over to Cooper for clues, but even I knew that would look suspicious. Which left me to figure out what to say.

  "No." I shook my head emphatically. "She was hurt when she arrived, looking for Simon, her brother-in-law." There wouldn't be any chance to try to line up the stories of the people who'd been there in my apartment the night before; the best thing I could do was try to stick to the truth... more or less.

  "And what exactly is your connection to the Condos family?"

  "Uhh…" I finally gave in and looked over at Cooper, confused. All he gave me was a tight-lipped smile. Hopefully we'd have a chance to actually talk later.

  "Simon and the woman who was admitted here last night." Bryan cleared his throat, drawing my attention back to him. "Is it safe to say you are not closely acquainted?"

  "No, I only met Simon last night." I searched my brain for an answer to the question I thought was coming next. Why had Simon been at my house last night? What business did we have, or how did we know one another?"

  Instead, the next question was directed at Cooper, and it wasn’t at all what I’d been imaging. "And does what happened have anything to do with your," he lowered his voice, "affliction?" He emphasized the final word to clearly give it a second meaning.

  Cooper's affliction? Werewolf! My sleepy mind finally remembered the rest of what I knew about Cooper's brother and their relationship. When the wolves had come to Galway the week before and a girl had turned up dead, Bryan's first instinct had been to blame his brother. He knew exactly what Cooper was though he seemed to have a fairly dark interpretation of what that actually meant. When it came to law enforcement the world over, it was usually a safe assumption that they had no idea what it was they were really up against. That they had no idea just how much evil there was in the world, no matter what terrible things they'd seen. Bryan knew better. He also had some really shitty ideas in his head about his brother being one of the bad guys.

  "No," I said as quickly as I could, reaching out to touch Bryan lightly on the arm. I'd hoped to be reassuring, but he flinched away from me as soon as I made contact. It was as though my words only confirmed his darkest suspicions. I'd gone from a mere witness or possible suspect to one of them, tainted by magick. "Coop had nothing to do with this. No one here did." I froze, completely unsure of how much more I could say. "Ieza… well, I'm not sure. But I think she was in some kind of trouble and was trying to find help. Isn't that what you're supposed to do? Help people?"

  I tried to muster as much accusation as I could behind my words, hoping to trigger whatever it was that had first convinced this man to join the Garda in the first place. But I knew there wasn't anything he could do to help the Condos. He'd never track down who had attacked Ieza. He had no chance of finding justice for anyone involved.

  That was my job.

  Bryan's green eyes narrowed slightly, studying me. "We’ll need to send an officer to your flat, have a quick look around." He didn't bother trying to sound apologetic.

  It was possible that I had some sort of rights to refuse in this situation. I pictured my new home in my mind, trying to think of anything that might look suspicious. Almost everything was in boxes, and I didn't really have anything that screamed magickal conspiracy anyway.

  The only things I knew I needed to hide, I already had one me. Both my blade and my gun were sitting safely in the lining of my purse. Not as easily accessible as I’d like, but safe and close.

  I must have taken too long to respond because Cooper jumped in. "He just needs to have a look at where the paramedics found Ieza." I hoped that what he was also trying to say was that there was nothing to worry about. Or maybe just trying to warn me that it was easier to cooperate.

  "Sorry, just thinking. My roommate, er, friend will be there to let someone in if they want to head over now." Taya would know what to look for, the kinds of things that our people might not want theirs to find. Or luck would finally be on my side, and they'd give me enough time to finish up here and get back before anyone showed up.

  "Great!" Bryan forced a smile that seemed as much a part of his ensemble as the blue uniform he wore. "I'll have someone head over there now. We had wanted to speak with the rest of the witnesses anyway."

  The three of us stood there for a few final, awkward seconds before finally dispersing. Cooper walked out behind his brother, shooting me one last apologetic look. I had to trust that he had more experience dealing with both police and this particular officer than I did. But I hated everything about this.

  When I'd stood in front of a delegation of Lesser Magicks only five days before, I had imagined doing some good by creating our faction. I'd wanted to bring people together, to give them somewhere they could feel safe. I'd wanted to give them a voice as the other factions decided whether we should remain hidden from the rest of the world. I hadn't considered the problems of actually dealing with humans. Or just how much damage the vampires, witches, fae, and even the wolves were already doing to those they had no reason to fear.

  I was going to need more than a can-do attitude to navigate all of this.

  But first, I needed to see to Simon and his family and help them however I could. We still had to deal with whatever the vampires were going to need, to keep them on our side. There was a chance I could convince those in charge that protecting this one small family was in Ireland's best interest. They had useful skills; they could be useful to us. But that would only mean freeing them from one prison long enough to hand them over to a new one. I'd have failed as a faction leader before I'd even really begun.

  I wouldn’t do that or anything else without talking to Simon first. Ieza as well if the vampire blood had worked like it was supposed to. This was their lives we were all toying with. Odds are, they just wanted to be reunited and get as far away from the rest of us as possible. And I couldn't blame them in the slightest.

  Chapter 7

  I wasn’t exactly sure how much Colin had told Simon before I’d found the two of them. There was a decent chance he’d made his mistress’s demands before I’d had a chance to intercept them. If so, I expected to find Simon sneaking out of the hospital with his sister-in-law. Or already halfway to somewhere quiet where the two of them could disappear without anyone noticing.

  But he was still in Ieza's hospital room, sitting at her bedside with one hand resting on the mattress.

  "Is it time?" he asked without looking up when the door clicked a little to let me inside.

  I stepped forward and placed a hand on his shoulder. "Time for what? To leave? Not a chance."

  "I thought..."

  "What? That I would let some asshole wander in here and force you to go back to Greece?" I felt Simon shrug beneath my hand. "Not today. Not any day. What you can do, it's incredible. But that gift is yours alone. You decide where you go."

  "Your friend said they have Kassie.” So that was the conversation Colin had been in the middle of. “Which probably means they have Leda too since threatening her daughter is the only way I can imagine anyone forcing Leda to do anything. And since Leda was the one who carried Kassie, there's a chance she inherited our families gift. If I go back, at least there's a chance that will all be safe."

  "What about her?" I said looking down at the woman lying still in the hospital bed, a thin blue blanket tucked up to her neck. "You're just going to hand her over?"

  "Of course not. I would get her somewhere safe, probably a house in Norway, and then come back to go with your friend. She'd hate it. She'd never forgive me. But she'd be
safe."

  "I should probably start off by clarifying that Colin is not my friend."

  "He was at your house last night," he pointed out.

  "Fair point. I thought that maybe we could be friends, but things change. None of that is important now. His priorities are not mine, but this territory is, so for whatever it’s worth it means there is no part of you that has to listen to Colin, the vampires, or anyone else. If you want to hand yourself over, fine. That's your call. If you want to give yourself and your family a fighting chance, then I don't think you should ignore the fact that your sister sent you here. To me."

  I paused, removing my hand from Simon, and stepping around the other side of the bed. "The way I see it, you have three options. One, give up. Stick with your original plan and get Ieza somewhere she can be safe without any of the people she loves. Two, run. I think it managed to get you a little more time, and I'm guessing you can both get yourselves far, far away by this time tomorrow. Or three, stay here and find a way to fight for your family. Join our faction officially, putting yourself under my protection. I'll go and speak with the vampires here in Ireland tonight and see what I can learn. From there, we find a way to get your family back." And hopefully find a way to keep Galway from being invaded by a force of the undead, I amended in my head, but kept the thought to myself.

  I held my breath, waiting for Simon to think over his options. Technically, if he went with either run or fight, I would need his help, but I hadn't been able to find a way to work that into my pep talk. As far as I knew, Colin was already in his car and on his way to Dublin. We had hours to go before sunset, but, even as small as Ireland was, it would still take him several hours to get back to where he'd come from. Meaning that if Simon decided he didn't want anything to do with me, I'd have to buy myself a bus ticket pretty damn soon if I wanted to make it to the East Coast by sundown.

  "What about Ieza?" Simon asked. "I've been told that as a showing of good faith, the vampires had found a way to cure her. Vampire blood, I'm assuming. But she's still unconscious, and I'm not willing to do anything at all that will leave her here by herself, completely helpless."

  He had a point. Not sure how to answer, I frowned, and studied Ieza. She had deeply tanned all of skin, a little darker than Simon's, and thick black curls that lay limp in a halo around her head. Now that she wasn't battered and covered in blood, it was easy to see that she was pretty, with delicate features and brow shape I'd kill for.

  "Well, she definitely looked better than she did last night. So I'm guessing that Colin already did what he'd promised. Maybe she's not unconscious, just asleep. Have you tried waking her up?"

  It seemed like an obvious suggestion, but the look of surprise on Simon's face suggested that he hadn't yet considered the possibility. Hesitantly, he moved his hand toward Ieza's hip before poking one finger into her side. "Ieza," he whispered. "Ieza, wake up."

  For nearly a minute, no one moved. Simon said her name a few more times before finally her eyelids began to flutter in the low groan escaped Ieza's lips.

  Immediately, a smile took over Simon's entire expression, lighting up the room and coercing a grin onto my own face. "Ieza!" Simon's hand clambered to find his sister-in-law's. "It's Simon. You're okay. You're okay." It sounded to me like he was reassuring himself as much as the woman whose hand he was holding, but at last she opened her eyes.

  I stepped back, trying to give the two of them their space as Ieza attempted to speak. At first, the words came out slowly with a rasp that made her impossible to understand. I was about to head for the hall and try to find some water when Simon reached toward the bedside table for a bottle that was already sitting there, handing it over before I could move.

  "Slowly," he said. "You've been through a lot." But even though what Simon had said was technically true, Ieza's body good and had already forgotten the trauma of the past few days. As soon she managed to quench her thirst, her voice came out clear and strong. "What happened? Where is Leda?" The half-empty water bottle tumbled to the floor, spilling liquid as it fell, while the woman scrambled to sit up.

  Right away, Simon leaned in. I could see him squeezing Ieza's hand, trying to keep her from sprinting away in a panic. "Shh," he said "it's okay."

  I wanted to shake my head right then and there because there was nothing he could say to this woman that would make her believe they were actually okay. I was already dreading the moment that Simon would have to get her up to speed and was prepared to step in if needed.

  But instead of giving bad news, Simon asked a question. "What do you remember?"

  Ieza's body stilled. "Nadir. He gave me to some of his thugs to play with. Play with, those were his words. After you and Leda got away, they took me to some basement. I begged them to tell me what they've done with my daughter, but no one could be bothered to speak to me. It was just like you had both always told me it would be. I was nothing to them, no more than food that they weren't allowed to eat."

  I was barely breathing as the incredibly strong woman sitting in the bed continued to tell her story, skipping around from place to place as the memories got too intense. She had just picked Kassie up from school when Nadir's men found them. Since the men who took them had no way to teleport on their own, Ieza and Kassie had been forced into the trunk of the car together. They weren't found but had no way out. Again and again, Ieza remembered trying not to imagine how things might unfold, having to believe that her daughter would be okay.

  They had taken Kassie from her the instant that they reached Nadir’s large manor house. The last thing she'd seen of her daughter, the little girl was being put into the back of a different vehicle, allowed to sit in the car this time, and driven off the property.

  "It was then that I knew what they were doing. They were going to hide her somewhere that neither of us could find her. It wasn't that Nadir had just found out about our existence... it was that he was trying to control the uncontrollable." She turned to look at Simon. "Have you found her yet?"

  Selfishly, I was grateful that where I was standing I couldn't see the pleading look that had to have been on Ieza's face. However, I could see the heartbroken grimace that Simon couldn't hide. He shook his head.

  "What the hell are you doing here?" Ieza asked, the strength of her accent increasing along with her volume. "Go get my little girl."

  Simon looked sick as he struggled to find a way to answer. When it felt like everyone in the room was on the verge of tears, I stepped forward. "What do you remember about last night?" I asked.

  Ieza nearly jumped out of her bed at the sound of my voice, moving her head around to look at me. I realized then that she hadn't even noticed I was in the room until that moment.

  I raised my hands to show her I wasn't a threat. "Last night, Leda dropped you off in my kitchen, bringing you to Simon. You were in bad shape, but your wife was gone before he had a chance to speak with her." I remembered that Simon had told me that his sister had never married, but the word seemed more appropriate than anything else.

  "Who are you?" Ieza demanded.

  "A friend. My name is Melanie Sinclair. You're currently at the University Hospital in Galway. From what we understand, Leda thought that maybe I could help. Is there anything else you can tell us about what you remember?"

  Ieza turned to Simon, and he nodded his confirmation. For what it was worth, he thought I was trustworthy.

  "I'd been hearing whispers for days. I knew Leda was trying to find me, popping in and out of the city in any place she thought they might be hiding either me or Kassie. Wherever they kept me, the room had no windows. I had no idea where I was but both of my captors seemed convinced that there was no way Leda would ever find me. They weren't the first to underestimate my wife. But days had already gone by, and they were getting bored. I had to believe that everything would work out. That Kassie would be safe even if my body couldn't hold out long enough for someone to find me. One day, they broke every bone in my legs before using their blood to heal
me. That day, last night I guess, they were using me as a human dartboard. I was strapped to a wall, facing the bricks so I had no way to see what was coming. I had to listen as they as they drank and slept together. It went on for hours. I don't even know when I passed out. It's the last thing I remember."

  "Leda must've found you," Simon said.

  Ieza nodded. "That's my best guess, but I wish I could have at least seen her. God, I don't even know if I'll ever see her again."

  "You will," I said. "I have an in with the vampires here in Ireland, and I'm headed there tonight. Hopefully, I can learn something that will help." Saying I had an in was a stretch, but I didn't have it in me to sit there and say nothing, or to let either Simon or Ieza believe for even a second that all hope was lost. Because I refused to believe it.

  "Simon," I continued. "I'm going to make a few phone calls, and give you guys a few minutes. But if you're up for it, I could really use your help tonight. I think having you officially join our new faction might give you extra protection, but only if that's something you want. I'm going to do whatever I can to help you either way. So talk it over, figure out what's best for your family, and I'll be back in a few in case you have any questions."

  I left without saying anything else, hoping like hell that whatever questions they came up with wouldn't be anything along the lines of, "Hey, so what's your actual part was still very much a work in progress.

  Chapter 8

  "Ready?" Simon asked. The two of us stood in the center of my living room. Both Taya and Ieza watched us from the couch. Cooper stood, arms crossed, in the back corner, a look of disapproval chiseled into his strong features.

  I hadn’t heard anything else about his brother since I’d met him. If that was good or bad, I had no idea. As promised, two officers had come by that morning to look around and talk to Taya. They hadn’t gone anywhere near my bedroom, though, from what I’d heard, they’d been a bit more chatty than necessary to find out what Taya had witnessed.