Magic Awakened: A Paranormal Romance Boxed Set

by K.N. Lee

  “Cadie!!!” squealed Aethelu and jumped right off the outhouse, landing a couple of feet away from the still startled boys.

  Anais was momentarily shocked but then remembered the whole immortal thing. She realised that things must be a whole lot less scary if you are as strong as an ox and heal straight away if you do manage to hurt yourself. She decided it was much safer for her to lower herself down slowly to a ledge and then dangle herself off from there. She edged along the snow covered ledge before lowering herself slowly until she was hanging there, still twelve feet from the ground. She let go, hoping the snow would soften the blow, but as she fell, she felt a pair of strong arms catch her before she hit the ground. She looked into the eyes of her catcher and saw that it was Alexander. He had the same beautiful inky eyes as his sister, currently reflecting the twinkling lights that shone all around them. He had dyed his hair the same chestnut colour as Raphael’s, but unlike Raphael, his was short and spiked in a modern style. It was also very wet from the snow and bits of it were plastered to his face. He had a pinkish tinge to his cheeks from the cold and he was grinning at her. When he finally pulled his arms from around her, they all made their way through the courtyard and back into the warmth of the kitchen.

  “Lulu!” Arcadia was hugging her sister, as Anais walked through the door. “Rafe, Alex.” She hugged them all in turn before coming to Anais.

  “And this must be Anais.” She hugged Anais in the same way she had hugged her siblings.

  Anais was acutely aware that she was dripping snow all over Arcadia’s fabulous designer dress.

  “August told me what you’d done Lulu, Daddy is going to be livid when he finds out.”

  “I couldn’t just keep her locked up.” Aethelu said defiantly.

  “I’m teasing you. Of course, you couldn’t darling. Daddy will just have to lump it, won’t he. We really should have a nice long gossip and catch up.” She eyed Anais, and then gave her a wink “Now off you all go and put on some dry clothes. The lot of you are making the kitchen positively soggy.”

  Anais, along with Aethelu, Alexander and Rafe each took their boots and coats off and traipsed upstairs. Anais was relieved to be shown to a private shower room, rather than the ensuite she had used before. She got into the shower and let the rivulets of water cascade all over her body. When she was clean, she wrapped herself in a large white fluffy towel, which had been thoughtfully hung on a heated radiator next to the shower.

  There was a knock on the door. She opened it a fraction and peeked out. August was there looking extremely embarrassed holding on to the supermarket bag with her clothes in it.

  “I was told to bring these to you. Sorry! Seems to be becoming a habit.”

  Anais grinned at him and took the bag. Inside, she pulled out another pair of jeans, a t-shirt and a cute pale blue Christmas jumper which had snowflakes knitted into it. It was a bit cheesy but it was warm and it fit her comfortably. She made her way back down the main stairs into the entrance hall. As she was walking through, heading toward the parlour where she could hear voices, there came a knock at the big double wooden doors that made her jump. She looked around; there was no one else in sight, so she had no choice but to answer the door herself. She nervously pulled back the big bolt, hoping that she wouldn’t come face to face with Aldrich. She had met all his children now and liked them, although she was still reserving judgement on Rafe. She’d spent 6 months with his wife and she loved her, but the way Aethelu talked about him she was extremely nervous to meet him. As it was, she needn’t have worried. She opened the door and there in front of her was a pizza delivery boy. He had four huge pizza boxes in his hand. She invited him into the hall, whilst she wondered where she was going to get the money to pay him, feeling foolish to have worried.

  “Keep the change and Merry Christmas,” a manicured hand shot past her with two fifty pound notes, reaching towards the pizza boy. He looked positively ecstatic over such a massive tip, mumbled thank you, and ran off before they could change their minds.

  “Let me help you, darling.” Arcadia took two of the pizzas from Anais and walked towards the parlour room Anais had been in earlier.

  August was there already, pouring soft drinks into glasses for everyone. Anais sat in the same place she had before and put the pizzas on the table. August opened the top box and grabbed himself a huge slice dribbling cheese into his beard. Anais wondered if he ever ate a meal without catching most of it in his facial hair. She took herself a slice of the pepperoni and a napkin and took a bite.

  “I hope you don’t mind pizza,” said August, “but I didn’t feel like cooking tonight.”

  She glanced over at Arcadia, who was delicately chewing on a slice of pizza. She was dressed in an immaculate black dress with Christian Louboutin shoes. Anais was hopeless with designer labels, but even she recognised the famous red soles. Her hair was jet black and straight. Anais knew it must have been dyed or a wig. Her eyes were also different from her siblings, having been covered in bright green contact lenses and surrounded by perfect smoky makeup. She was also darker skinned than her brothers and sisters, which actually, made her look healthier. It was either a tan from living in the south of France, or it was a really great spray tan. Delicate diamond earrings decorated her ears, matching a diamond bracelet on her wrist. The only item looking out of place was the necklace around her neck. It was identical to hers and Aethelu’s, except it held a diamond where hers had a pearl.

  Anais felt very awkward as she sat there in her supermarket novelty jumper.

  She wondered if she should break the silence and tried to think of a topic of conversation.

  Luckily she was saved by the arrival of Aethelu, Rafe and Alexander, and another young man. Aethelu and Alexander raced each other to the pizza and squabbled over the last slice of pepperoni. Rafe sat down and waited his turn. She was relieved to see that both Aethelu and Alexander were wearing similar jumpers to hers, Alexander’s in dark blue and Aethelu’s in her usual red. Rafe now was wearing a black suit with a pinstripe and underneath, he wore a waistcoat with a fob which looked like it might have a pocket watch attached. He had a bright cerise cravat and she could see just peeking out, the same elongated star necklace with a sapphire in the centre. He looked so refined and sophisticated that Anais half expected him to have a top hat stashed away somewhere. She looked at what was visible of his neck above the cravat, but there was no hint of the damage he had inflicted on himself earlier. No hint of a scar remained.

  Alexander looked exactly as he had outside, windswept hair atop a face that wouldn’t have looked out of place in a boy band. He caught Anais’ eye and winked. She felt herself flush and turned her attention back to her pizza.

  The final man sat quietly in a seat on his own and seemed nervous in the group of outgoing siblings. She assumed him to be the brilliant Andrew she had heard so much about, the designer and creator of the wonderful chess set. Most of his face was hidden behind a curtain of poker straight shoulder length hair. It was the same silver-white that Anais was now used to seeing; and as she watched, he blew it out of his eyes, although seconds later it had fallen back to the same place. He was not as good-looking as Aethelu’s brothers and sister, but he was just as striking in his colouring, although he sat awkwardly, as if trying to make himself smaller. He wore a black shirt and black jeans.

  “So Anais, It’s nice to finally meet you.” Arcadia wiped her mouth. “I take it that you didn’t know about us. I can’t say it’s surprising. Alistair wanted to keep his private life private. I think he just wanted to be normal.”

  “What do you propose we do now, Aethelu?” Rafe had found himself a plate, and a knife and fork, from somewhere and was eating his pizza right at the table, a napkin in his lap.

  “Aldrich is expected home soon and it seems we have a little problem.” He flicked his eyes toward Anais. “I’m sorry, my dear, but you being here does cause some problems for us all. Aldrich is not going to be very pleased when he finds out our frien
d here has escaped.”

  He was like two different people, mused Anais. The carefree, fun-loving man she had caught sight of outside with the snowball fight and this serious man, who liked to talk about her as if she wasn’t in the room. She couldn’t put the two together. He was a strange man, an enigma. Anais had yet to make up her mind about whether she liked him or not.

  Aethelu came to Anais’ rescue. “She’s not escaped, I let her out. It’s inhumane keeping her locked up and if Father wanted the job done, he should have been here to do it himself.”

  “Quite rightly so! Where is Daddy anyway? I’d have thought he’d be here to greet me,” said Arcadia.

  “He’s on one of his missions, very hush-hush,” replied Rafe. “Now back to the matter at hand.”

  “Well it seems that now she’s here, there is very little point in worrying about it.” Alexander spoke for the first time between great mouthfuls of pizza.

  “I quite agree. Daddy will still be able to do what he needs to do. What’s the difference if she’s locked up or here of her own choosing. You do want to stay don’t you, darling?”

  Anais looked around. They were all looking at her expectantly, except August, who had dropped a bit of his pizza on the floor and was bending down to try to pick it up.

  She thought about it. Winnie was like family to her now, the only family she had and she was beginning to feel at home here. She had not foreseen this moment, but she did want to stay here, with this strange family, with Aethelu who had somehow gone from being her captor to being her friend.

  “Yes, please. If it’s ok with you all.”

  “Well that’s settled then,” said Arcadia, who patted Anais on the hand. She noticed that Arcadia didn’t have to wear gloves to touch her, not even a slight tingle ran through her hand, even though Arcadia’s hand was still in hers.

  “You are not wearing gloves.”

  “What? Oh no. I’ve spent many years around other people. I can very easily control my little affliction now. I bet Alistair never wore gloves either.”

  Now that she came to think about it, her father was always holding her hand and she had never felt the sensation she had felt earlier with Aethelu.

  “Did one of the boys shock you?”

  “No, it was Aethelu.”

  Arcadia gave Aethelu a knowing look, which made Aethelu blush.

  “Interesting. If we haven’t had much people contact, we forget how to control ourselves. We have to learn not to shock them when we touch them. It gets easier, the longer we are around people.”

  “I find it only happens to me around people I’m attracted to.” said Alexander.

  “Didn’t you shock the milkman last week and a woman collecting for charity the week before?” cut in August.

  “Yes, well...” Alexander trailed off.

  “Let’s all just keep our gloves on for the next few days to make sure we don’t hurt Anais. Except me, of course.” Arcadia grabbed Anais hand to prove the point.

  Later, Anais moved her new clothes back up to the second floor with help from Aethelu. She was back in her prison room where she had started, which she did not like too much, but she couldn’t very well stay in Arcadias room, now that Arcadia had come home. She’d not even slept in it one night. Aethelu fixed the door knob back onto the inside of the door, unscrewed the bolt, and spent an hour tracking down various bits of furniture to make the room more homely. It still felt a bit like a prison to Anais, but it looked better than it had and at least she could now come and go as she pleased. Aethelu was very apologetic, but as she wasn’t sure who would be home for Christmas, she didn’t want to give Anais someone else’s room just to have to move her again in a couple of days. Apparently, the bedroom next to hers was Andrew’s and the others on this floor belonged to Aethelu’s cousin, Audsley, and her parents, Ava and Alfred. There was also a large communal bathroom on this floor which, Anais was pleased to find had a shower. The corridor ended in a door which Aethelu told her led up to the attic.

  Anais thanked Aethelu and shut the door as she left. She opened it again to test that the door now worked, and she wouldn’t somehow be stuck in the room. Once satisfied that she could open the door, she closed it again softly and laid down on the bed. It had been an eventful day. Her whole life felt like it had been a lie, and yet she felt at home here in this strange family, as her father once had. Hundreds of thoughts were flying through her head and it was quite a few hours until she finally fell asleep.

  Chapter 8

  The next few days flew by in a whirl of festivities gearing up for Christmas. Anais, at first feeling shy and out of place, soon got used to all these new people and her new surroundings. It helped that everyone went out of their way to be nice to her and welcome her into her new home.

  Anais had never felt so happy. She was an only child and although she had never been lonely, she had always wished for siblings. Here, she was surrounded by people. Although not officially a blood relation to any of them, she was treated as a sister and very quickly became a member of the family.

  August proved himself to be an excellent cook and provided them with amazing meals, which they ate around a huge rectangular table in a massive dining room.

  She loved watching Rafe and Alex constantly squabbling over some girl in the village and listening to Arcadia, who told her many stories of Hollywood legends she had known. Even Andrew, who took a few days to get used to having a new person around, had chatted with her on the rare occasions he left his room. He was always very quiet in there, but she was assured he was probably doing “something techie.”

  When Arcadia wasn’t gossiping about actors, she spent a lot of time on the phone alternating between making big money deals to more intimate conversations. Anais lost count of how many names she heard and wondered how one woman had the time for such a busy work and social life. She also wondered if all the men knew about each other, but didn’t like to ask.

  Anais spent most of her time with Aethelu, although Alexander (or Alex as he asked to be known) occasionally hung out with the pair. Anais very much enjoyed his company with his easy going charm and quick wit. Looking like Brad Pitt’s better-looking younger brother didn’t hurt either. He was as carefree as Aethelu was serious. They complimented each other very well and Anais could tell they were best friends, with their playful banter and light-hearted sibling rivalry.

  However much she liked Alex though, she increasingly found herself wishing she had more alone time with Aethelu. She enjoyed her company so much, but it was more than that. She felt safe when Aethelu was around. It wasn’t that she didn’t feel safe around the others, in fact, they had done everything they could to make her feel welcome. It was a feeling of safety she had never known before and it was as strange as their friendship was effortless. It was a hard feeling to define, but it was very new. It was probably the way Aethelu made her comfortable and let her be totally herself. She felt no need to pretend to be anything other than she was. Aethelu seemed to like her exactly as she was. It was refreshing. She almost missed the time she had been locked in her room. At least then, she’d had Aethelu to herself. When she went to bed at night, she missed her, even though she’d just left her at the bottom of the stairs. Only when a cheery knock on her door every morning announced Aethelu’s arrival, did Anais feel truly happy.

  On the few occasions that Aethelu wasn’t around, Anais found herself fretting, not feeling completely at ease until Aethelu returned. Anais tried to analyse her feelings for Aethelu, but in the end, she didn’t care why she was feeling this way, only that she was happy for the first time in a long time.

  One day, a week after Aethelu had freed Anais, she decided to give her a guided tour of the old manor. Anais had already seen the main rooms of the house, but when Aethelu suggested showing her the rest, she jumped at the chance. Any excuse to snatch a few hours alone with Aethelu. She particularly wanted to see the library. She’d been wanting to see it for a while, but she felt rude wandering round the manor by
herself, plus she’d been so caught up in this new strange environment and getting to know everybody, that it had gone to the back of her mind.

  Aethelu told her the manor had been built over 300 years ago as an ordinary manor house, but Andrew, with his ingenuity, had been given free rein to transform the manor into something special. She talked with such animation and pride about her home, giving a tour through the rooms as though she were showing off a royal residence.

  There were parts of the house which Anais would never have guessed were there if Aethelu had not shown her. Andrew had been asked to increase the manor’s security recently, but before that, he’d had fun adapting the house and adding extras in his own eccentric style. Aethelu showed her many features of the house, which, if left on her own, Anais would never have found. They started in the library at Anais request, but she hardly had time to get a good look around before Aethelu was showing her a secret passage from it to the corridor on the first floor. It allowed the inhabitants to walk the length of the house behind the walls, thus enabling them to spy on the occupants of the library, parlour and dining room through a series of tiny peepholes. The exit was reached via a ladder up to the first floor and a wooden panel that moved back at the flick of a switch. Anais found it fascinating but was disappointed that she’d only spent a minute in the library. It had looked like a place where she would have wanted to spend a lot of time. She made a mental note to go back there as soon as possible. Aethelu had other ideas though and was now showing her another part of the house. The most interesting discovery by far was the cupboard on the ground floor that hid a whole games room. Aethelu had gone into the cupboard to fetch something. When she hadn’t returned, Anais opened the door to find the small cupboard was empty. Thinking Aethelu had somehow slipped by without her seeing, she closed the door and turned to look elsewhere, only for Aethelu to emerge from the cupboard seconds later.