A pair of witchlings moved forward to replace the wood sprites. Sisters Althea and Minerva could have been identical from their messy dirty, blonde buns to their slate gray eyes and pasty skin. Althea was the slimmer of the two but barely as both women were thick, not what she would consider overweight but they were athletic and Angeline suspected they spend a good deal of time training. Minerva explained they’d lost most of their coven in the war between Alva and Elba. Neither sister would willingly practice dark magic so they slipped away and had been on the run since. Angeline did not read any particular talents on the pair but even their minimal magical prowess could help heal some injuries or enhance a locator spell. Again, Storm received them pleasantly and gratefully accepted them each into her folds with warm embraces.
Finally, Angeline was able to skirt the crowd to meet Sophia at the sink to help with the dishes. In her lowest whisper, Angeline leaned in and asked Sophia about Storm. Sophia answered with a warning glance and continued to wash the dishes. Hell. Something definitely was not right. Sophia reached around Angeline for a large pan and leaned in close to whisper, “I will tell you later, with fewer ears around.” Angeline nodded tightly and returned to listening to the last of the new arrivals present, a rogue shifter she vaguely recognized.
“Jordan Jaxson from everywhere” is how the tall stranger introduced himself. His flaxen hair was cropped short and he was clean shaven with one of those impeccable jawlines that could make women weak in the knees if set just so. Glittering blue eyes were offset by a deep bronze tan and Angeline could tell he hid a well-muscled body beneath the black t-shirt and dark jeans. Angeline forced herself to look away knowing full well she did not need any more men in her life at the moment and Jordan Jaxson read trouble from head to toe. The shifter didn’t give much of a story to Storm but pledged his services just the same. Angeline made a mental note to keep Olivia far away from Jordan.
“Storm, your food is ready. Perhaps you should eat in the study so you can get off your feet?” Ryder interjected after Storm accepted Jordan’s allegiance.
“Yes, that would be good. Ang and Soph, let the dishes go! We have a dishwasher for crying out loud!” Storm looked at them, clearly flustered.
Sophia winked at Angeline and looked past her to Storm, “It’s better for the environment, you know, hand-washing and all.”
Angeline peeked over her shoulder to see Storm’s frown melt into a smile. “Har, Har, Soph.”
“Alright everyone, enough loitering, there’s work to be done.” Lucian filled the doorway and winked at Sophia. Angeline wondered if she would ever cease to be shocked by the witch’s effect on the formerly rogue Immortal. “Angeline and Sophia why don’t you two keep Storm company while she eats. Ry, I gathered everyone up except for the vamps and a few of the soldiers who just got in.”
Jordan spoke up, “Well, let’s move out. What’s the plan?” The shifter’s voice reverberated through the room with a rough quality that made Angeline’s knees a bit weak.
As the group exited in a flurry of voices, Sophia leaned in and whispered “Interested in the shifter, Ang?”
“No! Of course not. I do not need any more drama right now. With Olivia here –“ Angeline spun around in time to see the tips of her sister’s hair. “Olivia!”
Peeking her head back in, Olivia frowned, “What?”
“You stay with me.”
“But Lucian said everybody could help and – “ Olivia’s voice took on that annoying whiny quality it tended to when she was not going to listen.
“No. You have to stay in the house. With me. At all times. Period.” Angeline hated the irritated tone in her voice, she sounded like mother.
“But Lucian –“
“Olivia, I would really like to bend your ear, if you wouldn’t mind keeping me company. Angeline said you have traveled extensively and I have not been anywhere in some time – perhaps we could chat while I eat?” Storm took her plate in one hand and looped the other arm through Olivia’s. “Come, the study is much more comfortable.”
“I think you two should go as well, I can finish up the dishes before I help the others.” Ryder took the towel from Angeline. She knew better than to argue and admittedly was very curious about Storm at the moment.
Roane – several years after the sealing of the portals
‘The first few years were wonderful but now she grows restless. I do not know what to do for her.” Roane looked to Credne, one of the few gods he had been able to track down since the sealing of the portals. He had hoped being around some of her kin would ease Damarra’s unrest.
“She has much on her mind, Immortal. You did well to find me but I cannot heal what is wrong in my sister.” Credne frowned, staring out over black water of the channel. “This is a lovely place to make a home. This isle is still strong with power. How did you come to select this place?”
“It was shown to me.” Roane said no more on the issue and Credne did not ask. It was like that with him, this odd little deity who Roane had taken a shine to. “Are there others of your kin who may help?”
“We all would help if we could.” Credne turned to Roane, “We cannot make this right for her, none but you can ease her pain and fill this void and then only when she shows you the way. Do not fear, Immortal, all will come to pass as it should. This has been written in time. We like you very much and wish we could say more but part of your path is discovery. We can tell you no more.” Credne stood, bowed his head slightly and vanished with a pop.
Roane fell back against the cool ground, his head hitting a hard patch with more force than he intended and sending a sharp pain down his neck. No help. He did not know what else to do but watching her like this, moving around and constantly unhappy. Roane did not know how much more he could take. For so long they sat together watching the world. They watched humans, fairies and weres, shifters and vampires, sprites and all manners of lesser supernaturals enter the world. Together, they mourned the birth of the first banshees and the rise of Darkness among the innocent creatures of Earth. Now, they barely sat in the same room, barely shared a bed. He longed for her touch, her smile, her laughter. Then she was there. He felt her but kept his eyes closed, willing the pain away and hoping for his Damarra back.
“It is time, Roane.” Damarra looked down on him with an odd expression on her face. She stood over him, her feet on either side of his head. Her hair nearly reached his face as she bent slightly to peer at him.
How did she always find him? Had she heard his conversation with Credne? It was better not to ask. Wait, what did she say? “Time for what?”
“For our child.” Damarra spoke matter of factly, as if she were calling the grass green instead of requesting the impossible.
Roane frowned, wondering if she’d finally gone mad. “You know this is not possible, my love.”
“Do not patronize me, Immortal. Do not pretend you do not wonder what will heal me, that you have not sought my kin, that you do not wish me changed.” Damarra’s swirling eyes blazed red for an instant. “You are not like other Immortals, you never have been. I am the Goddess of fertility and a witch has risen with the power to aid us. This has been forseen, Immortal. We cannot change it for anything in this realm or any other.”
“If this would heal your pain, if it were possible I would offer it to you with all I possess, my love. You know my kind cannot bear children, it is our curse. Your kin bore this on us to limit our power.” Roane took his mate’s hand, wishing to pull her into his arms but knowing better than to risk such an action in her current temper.
“Do. Not. Patronize. Me.” Damarra pulled her hand away and stood. “I am going out, away from this place for a time. I will return and we will have a child.” She evaporated in a waterfall of raindrops that soaked him.
Roane hung his head cursing the way he was made, cursing the gods for preventing him from giving his mate her heart’s desire. He rose to his knees and cried out for Damarra, his voice carrying out to sea.
Storm
Olivia walked around the study with wide eyes as Storm munched on her macaroni and cheese. She answered questions politely, perhaps a bit too formally at times but that was probably her boarding school background. Sophia and Angeline sat patiently on the couch opposite Storm, listening to the conversation intently though clearly growing impatient with the idle chit chat. Pac Man and the Phoenix were curled quietly on the rug between them, seemingly asleep.
Storm was not about to ruin her appetite with the conversation they really needed to have. It could wait until she was done. “So, you were not a fan of Sweden then? I found the unsettled areas to be quite charming though I admit, I left a part of myself in Ireland.”
Olivia cast Angeline a dark look before smiling wryly at Storm, “I think you have had more experiences than I have. All of my travels have been closely chaperoned.” The girl rolled her eyes and turned back to the bookshelves.
“Yes, I can see how that would be a problem.” Storm frowned. Poor gal, she had no idea how far people went to keep her safe or how closely she’d truly been watched. “Perhaps someday I can take you traveling with me.”
“Really?” Olivia’s eyes flared even wider with obvious interest. “That would be amazing!”
Storm nodded and took a bite of her last chicken nugget. She swiped the last bit through her ketchup and popped it in her mouth chewing slowly. Setting her empty plate on the table beside her, Storm pushed off the couch to her feet. “We will get through this, Olivia and then we will travel. We have to get through this though. To that end, I have a plan and I want to share it with you all first.” Storm crossed over to the secret compartment and withdrew the Emerald Oraculum. “I think the answers are in here but I need anchors to this plane before Olivia and I cross over.”
“What?” Angeline’s reaction was about what Storm expected.
Very calmly, Storm turned to face her friends again, careful to hold Angeline’s gaze the longest while exuding the coolest confidence she could muster. “Yes, Olivia and I are going to Damarra’s realm to extract her and get a reading.”
“Storm, Olivia cannot cross over.” Angeline jumped up startling both Pac Man and the Phoenix.
“She must, Ang. It is the only way this will work.” Storm crossed the room to Olivia, took her hand and led her to the couch, stepping around Angeline. “We need to know what the Tuatha De see for her future. I know you have had readings and that she has had readings but not from the Tuatha De.”
“How do you know they will allow you passage? And what about the war? Damarra warned you already!” Angeline’s voice continued to rise. She opened her mouth to speak again but Storm raised her hand.
“Ang, this is the only way I can think of to keep your sister safe. Do you think I would risk my children if I didn’t think we could do this and get back safely?” Storm gestured for Angeline to sit back down, her hand glowing with a dim golden light. “We cannot sit here holed up and waiting for the Unseen to make another move. There is more you should know.” Storm sighed. She had to tell them but how? It was better for them to hear from her now instead of later when they told everyone else but every time she said the words it became more and more real. “Rosalee is not dead, we are not sure what she is but she sacrificed her children – all of them – to escape the other realm. Aunt Trin said nobody is certain what she will return as but I do not want to leave Olivia unprotected and the truth is we know next to nothing about her role in this. The Tuatha De must know something and we have to ask their guidance in this. Unless you can think of another way to get a step ahead of the Unseen?” Storm challenged her friend though she knew it was no longer necessary. The sad resignation on Angeline’s face said enough.
“What do we have to do?” Angeline watched her sister, tears brimming in her eyes. “I did not want this life for you, Liv. Ever.”
“Nobody wants this life, Angeline. You must forgive yourself.” Aunt Trin floated into the room and hovered above Pac Man and the Phoenix who lifted their heads to take in the new arrival. “Storm is correct in this, the Tuatha De must read Olivia. They may ask to keep her in their realm until the battle is over but I would not advise you to agree.”
“What? Why would they ask her to stay?” Storm had not considered that an option. She would love to run to the other realm, any other realm.
“She is special.” Aunt Trin smiled down at the young woman beside Storm. “I think it is time for Olivia to know who and what she really is. It is better she learn from the appropriate parties and that is just what is about to happen.” Angeline started to interrupt but Aunt Trin raised a transparent hand to Angeline and floated to Olivia, lowering her voice to a tone Storm recognized well, “Olivia, you know it deep inside, do you not? You know there is more to you, a greater purpose. Look how easily you have accepted all of these new races in such a short time. In your heart you knew something about this world, about your part in it. I see it on your face now.”
Olivia sat frozen, staring at Aunt Trin’s translucent form, her mouth closed in a thin line. Finally, she nodded, as if confessing a dirty secret after intense interrogation. Storm reached over and squeezed the girl’s hand lightly. “It’s alright, Olivia.”
“Tell us what you, know, luv.” Aunt Trin floated onto the cushion on the other side of Olivia, touched her on the wrist and turned solid. “You have been seeking answers already, have you not?”
“Yes.” Olivia looked from Storm to Aunt Trin and then to Angeline. “I knew something was strange before I left home. I was lying in bed one night when I felt this shock go through me. It didn’t hurt or anything but I suddenly felt weaker and out of sorts. That’s when the dreams started.” Olivia looked down at the floor.
“Dreams? What did you dream, luv?” Aunt Trin looked at Storm, concern in her eyes as she continued to coax answers from Olivia.
“Many things, I always dream now, every night I dream such vivid dreams that I feel as though they are real. I started seeking mystics and fortune tellers and dream readers. Some refused me service; others would not give me answers no matter how much I paid them. I couldn’t help it. I had to know what was wrong with me!” Olivia looked up to Storm, huge tear drops rolling over her cheeks. “I am so sorry, I did not mean to look, I shouldn’t have kept asking but I couldn’t help it!”
“Look at what, Olivia? What did you do!?” Angeline’s panicked voice made Olivia sob harder. Storm shot her a warning glance.
“It’s okay, Olivia. I have done a lot of things I shouldn’t have. We all make mistakes. Believe me. If you tell us then it might help us.” Storm took the girl’s hands in her own and allowed a slight glow to seep into Olivia.
Olivia regained some semblance of composure, took a few deep breaths and looked Storm straight in the eye. “I found an old woman in a small carnival in Germany who told me everything and allowed me to look in her mirror. She told me I could know my fate but would not like it or I could remain ignorant and live as I always had. I couldn’t live that way, feeling as though a part of me were missing, as if I was missing something. Do you know what it’s like to wake up after a night of dreams and feel like you forgot an important appointment? Or what it’s like to be sitting in class and all of a sudden involuntarily stand up and walk out of the room into the rain because you felt you were supposed to be doing something else?”
“So you looked in the mirror. What did you see?” Aunt Trin began stroking Olivia’s hair, speaking in the gentle, soothing voice Storm was long accustomed to.”
“I saw Storm and Angeline and many of the others fighting an enormous cloud with lightning in the middle. There was this woman, at least I think she was a woman, I don’t know. She was standing in front of the cloud and laughing, this awful cackle that made my skin crawl and I was just watching from the distance as people kept falling to the cloud’s lightning or the woman’s strange whips that seemed to shoot from her hands. It was terrible. I was standing there and then these two young girls in white robes walked up to either
side of me and took my hands to lead me away. They wanted me to go with them but I couldn’t leave Angeline. The girls told me that everyone would be alright if I went with them, that I could help stop it all. They pointed at Storm and said she had all the power but I had to be the one to show her the way. Then the woman saw me, I don’t know how I knew but I did. The girls started crying and tugging at me to run but I couldn’t move. I was frozen and she was walking toward me, throwing people out of the way left and right and growing larger with every step. And then I was sitting across from the old woman in her tent and she was watching me with this odd look on her face. She passed my money back and told me never to seek another reader until a reader sought me.”
“What was her name?” Storm’s skin crawled with awareness, as if a sudden terrible revelation was rolling into her.”
“It started with an ‘a’ and that’s all I remember. I don’t even remember what city in Germany I was in when I went to her or the name of the carnival. It’s the strangest thing.” Olivia shrugged and wiped at her tear-stained face. “I suddenly feel a lot better, that’s not normal is it?”
“It is perfectly normal, luv. You were read by the goddess Almha if I am not mistaken and she placed a series of blocks on you so that you would not reveal your experience until the proper time. Well done, Olivia. Well done indeed.” Aunt Trin looked to Angeline, “Your sister is brave and very strong. She will be just fine in the other realm. Especially since she has already met with a goddess of that realm. And now, I must be leaving. This changes things on our side. Please be safe. Rosalee, or the creature that was Rosalee is seeking Olivia with every bit of the Unseen’s power at her back. I would feel better if you both had stronger tethers to this plane so I will send Dan and Shane in to help.”
The Storm Sullivan Saga: The Emerald Seer Series Box Set Page 50
