A Quanta of Magick (Full Moon Series Book 4)

by P. Mattern

  Both Mitzi and Jaxon were anxious, as the sky portal they were taking was different from the one they’d used to return to their old residences in Fort Hunt on other return trips to Motuo County China. This portal didn’t have the conveyor belt stability of the other portal. It was more akin to a high speed conveyor belt with rises and sudden drops and bumps and was likely to deliver the rider squarely on his or her ass to the New City destination. There were no other choices though, with the newborn along, and Jaxon was determined to keep Mitzi steady as they traveled through it.

  “I’ve got you,” Jaxon said in his best John Wayne impersonation as they hovered before the shimmering entrance, ”No worries little lady,I’m at your service. AND Liam’s!” he added with a touch of satisfaction. Mitzi had asked Jaxon to be Liam’s godfather and protector immediately after he’d been born. Jaxon considered this a sign that he would be seen as a man rather than a boy when he returned to the tribe. He had conquered Patraeus and delivered a baby.

  He was immensely pleased to have achieved something that his best friend Absolam had not, and that added to his pleasure.

  The pair, with Liam at Mitzi’s bosom, stepped into the portal in unison, with Jaxon slipping his arm around Mitzi to steady her. The ride was as bumpy as they’d expected, but his added support kept Mitzi and the infant from tumbling forward or falling backward. Until the end.

  The trio seemed to be spit out of the portal with a vengeance, and though both he and Mitzi lost their footing as they were squeezed through the opening that offered the same resistance that a wall made of gelatin might have, Jaxon made sure he was under Mitzi as she flew forward, breaking her fall.

  “Thank you Jaxon,” Mitzi told him, as she held the baby against her with one hand and tried to smooth back the tumbled curtain of her hair as she sat up.”I think some of the portals are getting more and more unstable…or maybe that was just a bad one to begin with! Anyway….we’re HOME!”

  Jaxon laughed with her and had to put on speed to catch up as Mitzi flew laughing through the trees, looking more like a beautiful broomless witch than a vampire.

  The first person they saw was Fressenda, and Mitzi immediately grew sober. As she approached Fressenda she saw that Fress had been crying. In her hand she was carrying Charley’s favorite flannel shirt.

  Fress said nothing until she’d reached forward to place her graceful arms around both Mitzi and the baby. As Mitzi lovingly kissed her cheeks in the French way. And with the baby squirming between them, she whispered,

  “I know…I know….but please let’s not say it aloud just yet. He had been to me in my dreams, Mitzi. He wanted me to tell you that he will love you always, and that you will always be his hero.”

  Mitzi struggled to maintain her composure as tears fell rapidly from her eyes.

  “And he will forever be MY hero,” she whispered back into Fressenda’s perfect shell like ear, adorned with a single pearl. She found herself at a complete loss as to what words she could offer Fress, when Fress seemed to notice the baby.

  “Oh Mitzi, the new baby!” she cried, a smile replacing her sad countenance,

  ”Oh give the little dear darling to me please! I want to introduce myself!”

  Fress kissed the baby on top of his reddish brown mop of curls and then clasped him to her bosom.

  “He is so beautiful Mitzi! More handsome than Absolam and his twin were I think! And very stocky too, like Cass. Cass is sleeping by the way, he was so crazy worried about you after you left that Dr. Caligare had to make him drink Fairy Wine to calm down. You should be what he wakes up to! Let’s hurry!”

  The two women flew off, leaving Jaxon standing by himself over the knapsacks and weapons that he’d been carrying on his broad back.

  “Hey, I’m back too!” he said plaintively to a large bird hopping across a branch above him,”I killed Patraeus! I delivered Liam! Where’s MY welcoming committee?”he said, ending on a slightly forlorn sounding note.

  After a few seconds he sighed and hoisted the heavy traveling equipment onto his shoulders again, thinking there was a quote for this that he’d learned in home school.

  Something about a ‘prophet not being without honor save in his own country’.

  Jaxon needn’t have worried because a crowd was gathered in the central square to greet him as he returned. Cas, Lux, Pierre, Daniel and the rest had his parcels taken to Mitzi’s and hoisted him on their shoulders to parade him around the own Circle to cheers of the residents, both vampires and humans. Jaxon was pleased but also anxious to get back to the Marble City and Rosalie who was there waiting for him.

  After eating his fill and exchanging good natured jibes and punches with Absolam, who had helped himself to some of the champagne left over from Byron and Alexiandra’s wedding and was slurring his words slightly at that point, a hush fell over the crowd as a helicopter hovered over them, casting a shadow over the crowd , which parted to let the copter land on the relatively flat surface of the town square.

  The helicopter bore the insignia of Castle Febere: two moons, one full, one a crescent ,and a star separated from the symbol for the Tree of Life by a sword on the diagonal.

  Quickly Jaxon was surrounded by his friends,who were really his family, the only one he’d ever found acceptance and stability in.

  It was hardest of all to say goodbye to Fress. She was coping well but looked more slender and wan than Jaxon had ever seen her. He made her promise to ‘bulk up’ and threatened the rest of the male vamps to make sure that it happened. Fressenda had been the only nurturing and maternal figure in his life and he felt guilty for leaving her in her time of sorrow.

  “You MUST go, Jaxon. It is your destiny. And I am so proud of you!” she told him, with tears glistening in her eyes as she planted one last kiss on his cheek.

  Fog clung to the mountaintop city, ghostly and white on the day of the memorial service for Charley Rabbit. Mitzi had insisted that it be held at the edge of the city clearing where an immense flat rock was located. At one end two tall plythons of rock stood, flat and tall and at right angles to each other. Behind that, several unusual mammoth rock formations stood upended as if they were crude statuary

  .Charley himself had named the location ‘Freedom Rock’, and it had become a popular meeting place for young lovers. Charley had thought that it seemed like a mini-Stonehenge.

  Now it would be the final resting place for his heart.

  Fress and Faun clung together. Fressenda, dressed in black lace from head to toe was weeping soundlessly, her glistening tears shining like streams of quicksilver on her pale face. Mitzi was regal and stoic as she stood beside Cass, who was holding their newest son Liam in his arms. All of the V-net vampires were present, and most of the humans that had gotten to know and admire Charley Rabbit in the time of their exodus.

  Yaya Wisceivisc had sent his regrets—he was deeply involved in the political upheaval that had encircled the globe and unable to be present, but he had sent a dignitary in his stead, someone seen as a revered and almost ethereal being:

  Luminous.

  Luminous had written passages specifically for Charley’s service, and except for the woodland sounds behind the group, there was complete silence as he began speaking.

  “What is it to experience the eternal? To become Immortal? To live this shattered life as a god? Transcendant, becoming one with the classical pantheon. What is it to have this promise broken?What is it to have Change rain down on you like a summertime thunderstorm’s relentless deluge?

  What is it to be a temporal transient? To be of the temporal plain. To persist with only form surrendering to the determined actions of time. To wither, fade, linger and age.

  This is something of that which is earned by those who have gone before us.

  On hallowed days of grace the swallows dart and glide in the sunny cloud dappled blue sky like the tiny kites of playful children on a warm breezy spring day. Our mind flows more open, allowing space for a message from the muse. There is no
time for the wants and desires of the earthbound temporal self. No reasonable excuse for the demands of ego. There is only the light and warmth of Love. The beauty of creation. The truth of why we are here and what it is we are to do.

  If I could lift you up and show you distinctly the sun, the stars and the moon, the crashing of the surf on the great gleaming beaches of salvation where streaming sunlight scattered in broken crystalline rainbows through your luminous vision would I not do just that? Do you not feel it? Do you still not yet see?

  I think you do, for you have been lifted. Transfigured. Transformed. Just as you remember the feeling of the warmth of the sun reflected in the moonlight, so too feel the love you have for those who are gone, reflected off their soul back to you.

  If you think me not there at the next sunrise, look closer, listen well, feel more deeply and you shall know that I am yet still in the glory of this magnificent moment.”

  When Luminous finished there was not a dry eye in the crowd gathered there. Muffled sobs could be heard, and most of the male vampires stood silent and stoic as tears ran down their faces. Charley had touched each of their lives in a unique way, establishing himself as a worthy member of the Dark Brotherhood that was respected by each of them.

  The only sound for a few minutes was the water dripping from the branches of the trees, redbuds and cherry and dogwood trees in full bloom as the spring rains fell. Mitzi stepped forward and placed the stone urn that held Charley’s heart on a bower of flowering branches that had been placed on a miniature casket lowering device that was then lowered into an opening into the ground. Daniel, Lux, Cass, Pierre, and Orry quickly grabbed shovels and filled the open pit as Mitzi watched them stoically, holding Liam against her bosom and looking as though she were in a daze. Cass had insisted that she drink a small amount of Fairy Wine before the ceremony, to take the edge off her grief, but thought it seemed dull and far away, she was still in pain. It seemed irretrievably sad to her that Charley, who had so looked forward to having another sibling, had never gotten to hold his new brother, who, except for the auburn color of his hair, was the spitting image of Charley himself when he’d been an infant.

  It made her glow with satisfaction and fierce pride to know that she had sent Adrastos to meet the same fate that he had afforded Charley.

  As she watched the vamps place a very heavy stone marker over the final resting place of Charley’s heart, she knew that somehow, though he was unseen, Charley was around them to see how much he had been loved and how much he would be missed. Mitzi also had also had a dream in which Charley told her that he would always be a Shadow Guardian for Liam, protecting him throughout his Immortal Life as surely as if he was still in the earthly realm.

  And Fress had also had dream visitations from Charley Rabbit that she’d shared with Mitzi in which Charley showed her the touching inscription to his friends and family that he had carved and that had been destroyed by Adrastos.

  In a way, though she desperately longed for a tactile embrace, she knew Charley would be with her and Fressenda always.

  The funeral over, the hushed crowd walked back toward the main Hall where refreshments were being served. Mitzi noticed that Fressenda and Faun were still standing at the final resting place of Charley’s heart.

  “Fressenda,” Mitzi called quietly, ”Are you joining us dear?” Mitzi was worried for Fress, afraid that the depth of the beautiful vampire’s grief would cause her to harm herself in some way.

  Fress managed to offer Mitzi a barely-there version of a smile.

  “I just need a few more minutes,” she said quietly,”We will be along, I promise you.”

  Faun threw a look over at Mitzi as if to say, ’Don’t worry, I will take care of her’.

  When the last of the graveside crowd had gone, Fress stepped forward and addressed the huge rock sculpted to look like a faceted stone and engraved with Charley’s full name and the simple line ’beloved son, beloved fiancé, beloved brother,beloved friend’.

  “Charley, I know somehow you can hear us, and you may already know this, but I want to hear myself say it aloud because it is the only reason that I would not purposely end my own Immortality to join you in the netherworld.”

  Fress’s voice went up an octave and cracked, but she cleared her throat and continued.

  “It finally happened Charley..Faun is pregnant with your baby—OUR baby, and I am overjoyed my darling, because it means that though you are gone from this earthly realm you have left a part of you to live on. I’m going to tell your mom today, and I know that it will help her cope with your passing also. We will love you forever Charley…and we are so very grateful for this gift of new life that you have left behind.

  I’m sure we will see glimpses of you in our child Charley, at least from time to time, and I know that will make us glad and sad at the same time. But it’s all we have…and I just wanted you to know how grateful all of us are.”

  Fressenda stretched out her hand and released a single white spring blossom to float down to rest in front of the inscription on Charley’s stone marker. Then quietly she and Faun embraced, and the two of them walked silently over to the reception hall.

  ------------------------------

  “Oh my gosh, help me with these decorations! She’ll be here any minute!” Mitzi sounded giddy with glee as she strung pink, white, powder blue and yellow twists of 3d crepe paper across the expanse of her living room with vampire quickness. Nearby Liam was bouncing in a bouncy chair with a rattle in his tiny fist as he looked up with wide eyes. Mitzi had made a canopy of crepe paper streamers that was gathered in the center of the room so that it made a colorful canopy over the nicely decorated living space. In the center she had fastened a bouquet of balloons in the same colors as a focal point.

  Other balloon bouquets were anchored to the corners of the long table in the next room, and crystal bowls of pastel mints were placed there along with a huge cake that Mitzi had baked and decorated herself in the shape of a giant baby shoe.

  “Nice Mitzi!” Merilee exclaimed, looking around at their handiwork. Merilee was as happy for Fress as she could possibly be, and had volunteered to help out with the baby shower.

  “Do you really think she’ll like it? “ Mitzi asked,”And Faun too? We musn’t forget Faun…after all she’s carrying the baby!”

  “I KNOW they will both love it! It’s gorgeous in here. And they will be surprised at the presents that Dante Febere delivered. He is so wonderful! He always comes up with whatever we’re lacking at zero hour! All those beautiful baby clothes! I mean, I know we have residents that can knit and crochet and sew here and we have our own little ’department store’ set up with the crafts of everyone featured, but sometimes I long to go shopping on Madison Avenue…you know?”

  Mitzi sniffed.

  “You forget Merilee that New York was decimated by that artificial tidal wave. At least that was the last intelligence that we received. But Dante Febere shops in Paris frequently and he IS French. I bet the baby clothes were designer baby clothes from France!”

  Although she was chatting gaily Mitzi’s mind wandered to the loss of her son Charley for a moment. It was only made bearable, she reflected, by the addition of NEW life to the tribe. Liam was a joy of course, and the thought of Faun giving her a grandchild from her son’s loins was an unexpected miracle. A miracle for which she would be forever grateful.

  She didn’t really care what sex the baby was, but she couldn’t keep herself from hoping that the child was a little girl, if just for a change of pace. With her prescient powers Mitzi was convinced that she might get her wish. It would be SO much fun to have a little girl around, she reflected. The females in the group were starting to be outnumbered, and Mitzi felt gleeful contemplating the tea parties and quilting and crocheting gatherings that they could have.

  One thing for sure, Mitzi though to herself, giggling as she did so-this girl child would have not only ’Grandpa Cass’ around to protect her but also the entirety of the mal
es in their vampire clan looking out for her at all times.

  Mitzi remembered the expression,”There is no great loss without some small gain.” She thought it fit their circumstances perfectly. Charley had a legacy, a daughter, and that meant that Mitzi and Sam’s direct family line would continue—something Mitzi had never believed was possible. She thought with gratitude of Faun, who so generously had agreed to be the surrogate for Charley and Fress. What a blessing the humans had turned out to be, not just as providers of blood for the vampires, but also in totally unanticipated ways.

  It was a new era, and there was much to be grateful for.

  EPILOGUE

  “You don’t look sad,” Mitzi told Cass, “So it can’t REALLY be bad news—can it?”

  Cass chuckled and picked Liam up, tossing him up into the air and making him laugh with glee. Liam was already 6 months old, and was the size of an average seven year old human, given the advanced growth schedule accorded to vampire offspring.

  “Well it depends,” Cass answered,”How fond you are of the idea of moving again!”

  Mitzi frowned.

  “At this point I would say I am UN-fond of moving, with ‘extreme prejudice” toward anyone that should suggest I move! Come on Cass, you can’t be serious! I am getting tired of being nomads! All of us-humans, vamps, everybody-- have worked hard to form our society and it’s been going very well.”

  “I know,” Cass replied with a teasing tone,”I agree. But what if I told you that we can move without disturbing anything? That we can stay in the same New City in our same homes , even take freedom rock along with us?”

  “Well then I’d have to say that I don’t have a clue what you could be talking about!” Mitzi retorted.