“Storm, why not do your glow thing over him? That should help, like a little jolt to wake him.” Lucian did not take his eyes from the Phoenix as he spoke, his face a strange mask of curiosity and repulsion. Storm wondered if he would ever accept the connection between his wife and the Phoenix he’d carried as a burden for five centuries. The last few weeks had seen an uneasy truce between man and beast but a truce nonetheless. Ryder squeezed her fingers.
“I suppose that could work.” Storm knelt on the bed again, allowing power to well in her fingertips when Frederick’s eyes opened. He registered her face and offered a weak smile.
“I made it. Emerald, you must help them.” Frederick grasped her hand, his eyes more pleading than his whisper. “It is a trap. They think they have found him but it is an illusion. You must call them here; summon them, whatever you need to do to turn them away from their course.”
Storm forced the power out of her hands, watched the glow recede, and settled back on her heels. “Who Frederick? Who is close?”
“All of them. Ang, the Scottish Immortals, the Goddess. They all have been given false leads. It is a massive plot to trap them all.” Fear flickered in Frederick’s eyes, “You have so many enemies, I did not realize, I was just trying to help. I tried to help but they caught me. I am sorry.”
“Frederick, we need more information. Who did this to you?” Ryder spoke up from behind her.
Frederick looked over her shoulder at Ryder. “Call them back. They do not know what they are up against, it is so big. We have all been betrayed.” His eyes flared once and then the shifter passed out.
“Shock him, Storm, we need more than that to go on.” Lucian’s voice sounded eerily cold.
“I can’t, Lucian. He is too weak now. Look at him.” Storm noted how suddenly Frederick paled, his breathing shallow and erratic. Too much blood lost, he needed rest. “Frederick needs sleep. We can call the others back and give him some time to recuperate.”
“She’s right, Luc. Look at him. I will finish patching him up while you guys call everyone else back. If he says anything else, I’ll call you.” Sophia had taken to petting the Phoenix whose gentle hum seemed to be soothing Frederick. Ryder handed the morphine vial to Sophia.
Storm nodded to Sophia and backed off the bed toward the door pulling Ryder after her. Lucian grudgingly followed, silent until they reached the study.
“This is foolish. We needed more information.” Lucian headed straight for the liquor cabinet. He cut back significantly since being free of the Phoenix but now poured a tall glass of scotch, muttering to himself while Storm prepared to summon her grandmother.
“You can shut up any time now, Lucian. It does not help my concentration and it does not change our plan. Go call the Scots back.” Ryder already appeared to be on the phone with Angeline. For the hundredth time since they left, Storm wished they had decided against splitting up. Now it seemed pointless but what if the Scots were out of range of a cell tower again. What if they didn’t reach them soon enough? Storm’s hands glowed brightly, she turned her focus to Damarra, picturing her face, dancing eyes, flowing gowns, long unruly hair. And it came, completely unbidden, the room went white.
Damarra
“There he is. Go to him.” Almha gestured in the direction of the clearing. “Damarra, this is the will of the Tuatha De. You know your path.”
Damarra frowned. All her days she had searched for a partner to bear a child with, to replenish her line and pass on her knowledge. It was her destiny. She had seen a child, a beautiful little girl with flowing red hair and emerald green eyes. Damarra had seen her. Such a future would not be possible now. Damarra would never have a child with this man. Goddess of fertility or not, none could break the Immortal flaw. “Why would they wish this upon me, Almha?” Her friend’s eyes swirled like moonstones, blind by normal standards but seeing more than even Damarra could ever hope to.
“It has been forseen. I cannot tell you more than was told unto me. Damarra, this is your path and he is your partner in it.” Almha smiled, her iridescent skin shimmering in the dancing sunbeams. Raven hair blowing in the gentle breeze of the grove. Damarra found Almha to be one of the loveliest of their kin though most others shuddered in her presence. Sliding her arms around Almha’s thick waist, Damarra hugged her friend close, laying a gentle kiss upon her cheek.
“Thank you. I shall call upon you when my part is done. Be well, shine on.” Damarra stepped back and watched her friend disintegrate in a fountain of light. She turned toward the man in the clearing who was certainly handsome enough. His colors swirled as a rainbow of emotion, more than other Immortals Damarra crossed paths with over the years. Perhaps this would not be so unpleasant.
“Come out, I know you are there.” The voice came from the clearing, from the Immortal. Damarra watched a moment as he scanned the brush. His colors flared yellow but his core remained a lovely shade of green, so like the mosses in her home meadow. Damarra’s breath caught as the Immortal walked her way, directly toward her hiding place. Squaring her shoulders, the deity emerged from the brush and nearly collided with him, the beautiful Immortal.
“Hello, Roane. I wish to speak with you for a moment.”
He eyed her skeptically, shifting his weight as he scrutinized every inch of her. “You are the Immortal, Roane, are you not?” Eyeing the half-naked male Damarra felt a peculiar fluttering sensation in her abdomen. Each time the male moved and his muscles contracted the strange feeling flared again.
“That I am, m’lady. And who would be asking?” The male had a rumbling voice that she found quite pleasant. His eyes were oddly familiar and warm. She found it disconcerting, almost as much as the fluttering sensation but not quite. Damarra flitted around him, hoping to size the male up from every angle. He simply stood there with an odd tool leaned casually over one shoulder. What in fates could the Tuatha De intend for her with this male?
Damarra drew herself up, thrust her shoulders back and looked into the male’s eyes. “I am Damarra, Goddess of Women and Priestess of the Tuatha De Danaan. You are not without your charms, are you? Does it please you to look upon me as well?”
The male’s face changed, many expressions flashing across it. Damarra did not understand most of them. Her impatience grew with each moment of silence. Finally he spoke, “I have never seen anything as lovely as you in all my life. I took you for a false vision, then a cruel joke, even a trick of my brethren. Are you real?” The male dropped his tool and reached out to touch her, innocently upon the arm. Dirt from his hands transferred to her pale skin and sent a shock through her entire body. Damarra withdrew her arm and stepped backward. She did not miss the way his eyes flared silver at the touch but the Immortal recovered quickly and bowed his head respectfully, “Apologies, m’lady, I did not intend to soil you.”
“I must go.” Suddenly she felt the forest closing in around her, a quite unpleasant choking sensation. Damarra inclined her head slightly and disapparated in an explosion of water droplets. She looked back once to see the Immortal glistening in the remnants of her departure. The unusual flutter ripped through her once again. How very peculiar.
Storm
Wow, that was weird. Storm opened one eye, then the other. Several pair of eyes stared back at her. “Did she come?”
“Who, my love? What did you see?” Ryder’s hand rested on her cheek.
“Damarra, is she here?” It felt as though the summoning worked, she should be here. Storm thought back, the warmth, the images.
“No, Storm, she did not arrive. You looked like you were summoning but then you sort of collapsed on the ground and started humming. We figured you were having a vision. What happened?” Ryder ran his fingers through his hair as he was wont to do when stressed. Sophia scooted up beside her, concern and curiosity dancing in her violet eyes.
“I saw the moment Damarra met Roane. Another Goddess was there, I – Damarra called her Ah-something. I don’t know, she was about your height, Sophia, heavy set with jet
black hair. It seemed important. I have never seen the past before and it was different somehow. Something must be wrong.” Storm reached back through the vision, or memory, trying to figure out why she’d seen it.
“You are getting strong, my love. It is expected that even your Sight would improve.” Ryder returned to her side and stroked her hair gently, his face settling into a mask of reassurance but Storm heard the doubt in his voice and arched an eyebrow at him. “Alright, alright, that should not happen. Do you think Damarra was sending you a message?”
“I don’t know, it was different, like I was inside her, I was my grandmother. I mean, I thought what she thought and I recognized everything as though I lived the moment. No, it was more than a message.” Storm closed her eyes. “I just don’t know what it was. At least I don’t have a headache, but Damarra isn’t here so I cannot really find out, can I?” Storm opened her eyes. “What about everyone else?”
“The Scots still have not answered their phones. Angeline is on her way back.” Ryder paused. Storm followed his gaze to Lucian who stood against the wall, arms folded across his chest.
“What? I am not breaking that news to her. That’s all on you brother.” Lucian smiled at Storm, “Glad you are well but I am hungry for some breakfast. Soph, care to join me.”
Cryptic. Storm tried to read Ryder but he kept thinking of her naked. Dammit, he was becoming good at shielding her. “What. Is. Going. On?” Ryder recoiled as their friends exited the study, even the Phoenix and Pac Man trailed after Sophia and Lucian. Storm scooted up to a seated position on the chaise. Ryder paced the floor beside her avoiding eye contact.
“Angeline had some news.” Ryder ran his hands through his hair, still blocking his thoughts from her. “The monks who guarded the Immortal archives were slaughtered and the archives burned to the ground. There have been other things, attacks on various mystics. She has not been able to get a read on any of the ruins, like somebody wiped them all clean.”
Storm frowned, a sick rumbling sensation rolled through her stomach, the babes shifted in response. Several thoughts crossed her mind in a flurry. “How is that possible? I mean, the archives and the monks? Wait – what was the first harbinger? What have you not told me?”
Ryder handed her a piece of toast with fresh blackberry jam on it. “Here, I brought you breakfast because I thought it was a vision and you would be hungry.” She shook her head petulantly and nearly stuck out her bottom lip. Ryder’s shoulders slumped. “Eat, please, my love. Then we can talk.” She took the piece from him as he settled in a chair opposite her. “I know something is wrong. I feel it through you. I have many concerns, many ideas, but none explains how something could be strong enough to wipe out the monks and the archives. They were well protected, guarded with high magics. I think we need to wait for Angeline to arrive and for Frederick to wake. Maybe they can shed more light on some of this. Maybe you should try Damarra again with the aid of Sophia and her beast.”
Now, Storm cast him a dark look and spoke through gritted teeth. “Stop referring to the Phoenix as a beast. She is not going to warm to you or Lucian if the two of you continue to treat her like a thing. Honestly, she saved our lives and she is bound to Sophia whether you like it or not so just deal.” Storm paused and took another slice of toast from the plate. She took a sizable bite and opted to chew slowly to savor the taste of jam. She really was hungry. “Ry, I think I need to eat and then I will try again with Soph and the Phoenix. Perhaps you are right and their added power will help me reach Damarra even if she has crossed out of our plane.”
“Agreed. Perhaps she is visiting the Tuatha De for information. Remember it took you and Roane to reach her there before and that was with his intense connection to her.” Ryder leaned over her and planted a feather light kiss on her forehead. “Maybe we could order pizza for dinner to make up for this lackluster breakfast?”
Pizza, one of her many vices over the last few weeks, especially from Whiskey Mystics. “Sounds wonderful. Are you going to have it delivered from Whiskey Mystic?” Storm took her last bite of toast and licked her fingers. Ryder’s mental shield fell for a brief moment. Her mouth fell open and eyes flew wide, “No way! Really? They are coming here!”
“You are no fun sometimes, my love.” Ryder strode toward the door of the study. “Yes, they will be here by dinner and wished to surprise you. Apparently you are in enough trouble that your guardian angels are returning to protective duty.”
“Please be nice, Ry. Dan and Shane are important to me.” Storm continued to eat but gave him a hard stare, “and they prefer to be called seraphs.”
“Fine, fine. For you I will be polite, maybe even congenial.” Ryder turned back to her, all the affection he felt welling in his eyes and bleeding through his thoughts to her mind. The front door opened and Angeline’s voice rang out in the foyer.
“Storm? Ryder? Hello?”
“Send her in, Ry. Let me talk to her alone, please?” Storm shifted and adjusted the pillow supporting her lower back.
“I think perhaps we should all talk together, my love.” Ryder strode to the door and opened it slowly. He poked his head out and called down the hall, “We are in the study, Ang, come on in.” There was no answer. They waited but no footsteps sounded in the hall. Worry lines creased Ryder’s brow. Storm pushed the tray off and set it on the floor to follow Ryder down the hall. Storm made it to the entrance of the foyer in time to see Ryder scoop Angeline from the floor. When he turned back around, Storm noticed a deep gash across Angeline’s forehead and blood dripping from her nose.
“Get her to her room. I will be right there.” Storm slipped back into the study, grabbed a few more potion bottles and headed back up the staircase. She stopped in Frederick’s room for the first aid kit. He appeared to be unconscious still so Storm slipped back out and shut the door quietly.
Lucian and Sophia were just heading into their room when they noticed her. Storm frowned; she was really getting tired of bad news. “Ang is back. Injured and unconscious, but here in one piece.”
“Hell. What is going on?” Lucian’s expression turned grim, frustration marring his features.
“I don’t know but we need to find out.” Storm walked to the door beside Frederick’s where Angeline roomed before she left. Ryder had laid her out on the bed and was wiping her brow when they entered. The fairy’s eyes fluttered rapidly and her breath quickened.
“I do not know what is wrong with her. She seized a moment ago and then started this.” Ryder continued to clean her wounds but Angeline seized again. “I think you need to get Damarra here as soon as possible. Lucian, keep trying the Scots until you reach them.”
“I have been, brother. I can’t even get a dial tone now.” Lucian moved aside so Sophia could glide closer to the bed.
Storm turned to Sophia, “Do you think you could help me summon Damarra? Maybe together we can reach her?”
“Of course, Storm!” She leaned up, pecked Lucian on the cheek and headed for the door.
Storm handed the first aid kit and potions to Lucian “Try the blue one first and if that doesn’t work go with the green one.” She silently led the way to the study, the Phoenix sauntering along between her and Sophia.
Once settled on the antique rug before the hearth, Sophia beckoned to the Phoenix to join them. The creature sprawled between them; the long feathery tail wound itself lightly around Storm’s waist while her shimmering head rested upon Sophia’s knee. “Picture my grandmother, Soph. I will draw some of your power and with some luck we should be able to reach her.” Sophia nodded and closed her eyes. The Phoenix settled into a gentle hum in rhythm with Storm’s heartbeat.
Storm felt a soft jolt and a light squeeze of her hand. She opened her eyes to see a gorgeous rolling. Sophia stood wide-eyed at her side with the Phoenix on her back.
“Where are we, Storm?” Sophia breathed the question, disbelief and wonder lighting her face.
“I believe this is my grandmother’s meadow.” Storm no
ted the moss covered stones glowing slightly beneath their feet, the tall bluish green grasses before them rolling into a line of tall, lush trees with trunks covered in flowers much like lilies. A small reflecting pool with a simple fountain sat to their left. Storm felt an unusual pull toward the fountain. Without thinking she crossed to it and settled on the marble ledge, peering into the clear blue waters.
“Lovely, is it not? It is pleasant to see you here, dear.”
Storm startled as Damarra appeared over her shoulder smiling. The deity looked tired and pale, her face less rounded than usual. “Why are we here? We were summoning you to us, I don’t –“
“Indeed, and a wonderous effort you must have given to manage to meet me here. Hello, Sophia. Greetings, mighty Phoenix. Welcome to my meadow.” Damarra gestured for Sophia and the Phoenix to join them. The Phoenix slipped from Sophia’s back and settled at Damarra’s feet, her head upon the deity’s knee. Damarra took to absentmindedly petting the creature’s head while she spoke. “We are in trouble, granddaughter. There has been a great betrayal. The witch, Rosalee, has done the unspeakable. We are locked in a great battle in another realm. I do not know how much longer we can hold. Creatures from your world seek to enter the realm of the Tuatha De to free your father. They have issued an ultimatum to the Tuatha De and my kin in like. We are to surrender the Anomaly unharmed. Unfortunately, he is indeed harmed and unwhole. There is more but I cannot hold to this place much longer. You must return, take counsel with your Aunt Trin, and stop the Unseen from rising. This war threatens your realm above all others because of your power.” Damarra tilted her head as if hearing something, a brief look of panic crossing her face. “Go, now!” Damarra clapped her hands and leapt over their heads. The Phoenix lashed her tail out and shocked Storm across her shins. She slammed back into her body in the library. Sophia still sat across from her with wide eyes. The Phoenix stretched up and licked Storm once across the face before turning to do the same to Sophia. She instantly felt soothed, the strangeness of their experience melting into the warm trail left by the Phoenix.
The Storm Sullivan Saga: The Emerald Seer Series Box Set Page 41
