Enchanted

by Barbara Bretton

  We couldn’t have asked for better weather. Sunny, bright, not terribly hot or humid. The faintest hint of fall was in the air, hinting at what the next few weeks would bring.

  And I still couldn’t shake the feeling that this was all too good to be true.

  The annoying ring had started blinking fast and furious the second we arrived at the park and showed no signs of stopping. Too bad we weren’t having a winter wedding. A pair of heavy leather gloves would have helped block the light.

  Luke had asked Janice’s husband Lorcan to stand up for him while Janice had happily agreed to be my matron of honor. I had originally intended to walk down the aisle with Laria in my arms but asking Wendy to do the honors seemed the right and natural thing to do. Elspeth was delighted to hold the baby who looked beyond adorable in her new outfit.

  “You look beautiful, honey,” Bunny said, giving my arm a squeeze. “That wrap is exquisite.”

  I told her Wendy had executed the fiddly bind-off for me, which elicited more exclamations of approval.

  “Thank you,” I whispered in Bunny’s ear. “I’m so glad she’s in my life.”

  “I’m glad too,” she said, giving me a full-on hug.

  Everyone who was important to us was there that afternoon, including some unexpected guests. Manny, Frank, and Rose from Sugar Maple Assisted Living had decorated their motorized wheelchairs with huge white hydrangea blooms. Midge Stallworth and her husband held sunblocking parasols over their heads. I had the feeling it was more about nosiness than friendship but still they had joined us just the same.

  Fran Kelly, Luke’s old friend from his days with the Boston P.D., and her husband were there, front and center, to share our big day. I could see that Luke was deeply touched by their gesture.

  Of course, all of the MacKenzies were there to celebrate the occasion.

  “Showtime!” Janice called out. “Places, everyone!”

  The MacKenzie women blew kisses in my direction then hurried up front to take their seats.

  A billowy white cloud drifted over the gazebo and floated away.

  “Please don’t rain!” I muttered. “That’s all we need.”

  “It wouldn’t dare,” Lynette said with a fierce scowl. “I won’t let it!”

  And, knowing Lynette, she meant it.

  I suddenly found myself deeply grateful to be able to share this amazing day with both dear friends and new family.

  “Suck it up!” Janice ordered. “This isn’t a Hallmark movie, Hobbs. Your mascara’s not waterproof so blink back those tears.”

  She winked and I couldn’t help but laugh.

  “It’s really happening,” I said, my gaze moving from Janice to Lynette to Wendy. “Luke and I are getting married.”

  I didn’t think it would make a difference in how I felt but the idea of taking those ancient vows in front of everyone we loved was profoundly—and unexpectedly—moving.

  “I wish—“ I stopped, unable to say the words.

  “I know,” Lynette said, her eyes suspiciously damp. “Me too.”

  If only Gunnar could be there too. My childhood friend’s sacrifice had made my future possible. Luke and I owed him one and I prayed one day we would be able to thank him.

  Janice gave my hair a quick touch-up. Lynette fussed with my dress. Elspeth held Laria up for inspection and a kiss.

  Wendy took her place next to me. “Ready?”

  I nodded. “Ready.”

  We linked arms and waited as Elspeth and Laria took their seats up front. Janice and Lynette did the bridal walk to the makeshift altar to harp accompaniment courtesy of Bettina Weaver Leonides.

  Wendy and I stepped onto the white carpet to a chorus of appreciative sounds from the assembled guests but only Luke mattered.

  I was vaguely aware of Lorcan and Luke’s brother Ronnie standing next to him, big smiles on their faces, and of Janice and Lynette on the other side, beaming at me.

  Wendy murmured something in my ear then put my hand in Luke’s.

  Lynette’s husband Cyrus, an internet-ordained minister, stepped forward and began to speak.

  “We are gathered here together today to celebrate the marriage of our beloved Chloe and her partner Luke.” Cyrus’s voice rang out with the practiced ease of the trained actor he was.

  The words were more magical than any of our spells. They spoke to the essence of love and my heart soared with every second that brought us closer to declaring our eternal bond.

  Finally it was time.

  “I, Luke, choose you, Chloe, to be my wife, my partner, my soulmate in good times and bad, in health and in sickness, for now and forever.”

  Tears streamed down my face as I struggled to pull myself together. “I, Chloe, choose you, Luke, to be —“

  And then it all came crashing down.

  Chapter 21

  CHLOE

  * * *

  The world went dark and silent. Next to me Luke was statue-still, his hand rigid in mine.

  Someone or something had cast a freeze-spell on us.

  “Chloe!” Wendy’s whisper floated toward me. “What’s going on?”

  “I don’t know,” I whispered back. “See if you can get to Laria while I figure out what’s happening.”

  If both Wendy and I were untouched by the spell, odds were good that Laria was untouched as well.

  I sensed rather than saw a large male form looming behind me. I took my shaking hand from Luke’s rigid one and quickly turned around.

  “Show yourself!” I demanded.

  And he did: by the glowing light of a ring that was the twin of the one that had been welded to my hand for weeks. He was drop-dead gorgeous so he had to be Fae. But he wasn’t one of our own. He was the man I had seen in the Book of Spells, the one who had walked through the fire toward me.

  “I am called Gavan of Eres,” he said, “and I am not here to hurt you or yours.”

  I’d heard that one before, usually seconds before one of my enemies launched a lightning bolt in my direction.

  “Did you do this?” I asked.

  “No.”

  “You didn’t turn everyone into statues?”

  “No,” he said again. “It was—“

  Before Gavan of Eres had the chance to finish his sentence, a heavy metal chain dropped from the sky and snaked its way around him, rendering him as immobile as the rest of the wedding party. A little old school for my taste, but effective. Whoever I was dealing with operated from a different playbook. I wondered who would have the advantage.

  Laria whimpered and my breasts began to fill with milk. I had to trust that Wendy would keep her safe while I tried to determine what exactly I was dealing with. Not an easy thing to do when everything in me wanted to tear the world apart to find my child.

  “Cat got your tongue?” I asked my captive friend. His attention was clearly elsewhere, which angered me even more than the let’s-turn-out-the-lights parlor trick. He was staring up at the darkness as if he expected skywriting. “What’s going on? Who’s doing this?” I’d get to the why later.

  “I am.” The voice was female, strong and authoritative, and it surrounded us like fog.

  “I’m tired of tricks,” I snapped, more scared than angry but nobody had to know that but me. “Undo your mischief or I have nothing to say to you.” I knew that no magick worth her salt wanted her best spells referred to as mischief. I was bound to get a reaction but apparently she didn’t get the memo.

  “Silence, Chloe of Guinevere.”

  Chloe of Guinevere? Had we time-traveled back a few centuries when I wasn’t looking?

  I wasn’t about to stay silent. Not when my baby was somewhere in the darkness and the man I loved was a department store mannequin.

  “You have ten seconds to tell me what’s going on before I drag you down here and make you tell me.” It sounded good if you didn’t consider the fact that I still had no idea who or what was behind the commanding voice. Or if it even had a body I could drag anywhere.


  Next to me, the man named Gavan said something. I moved closer to catch his words and my hand brushed against his and just like that my ring came back to life and so did the sun.

  The sudden explosion of light was startling. My eyes struggled to adjust to the transition from utter darkness. I saw Wendy standing about thirty feet away with Laria in her arms. It took Laria a nanosecond to break free and float straight for me.

  The feel of her in my arms, the sense of relief I felt knowing she was safe, took me out of the zone. I was shocked to realize that the image of a woman in fiery orange and red robes now filled the sky above the gazebo.

  At least now I knew who I was dealing with.

  “Oh my god,” I heard Wendy say as she joined Laria and me. “She’s beautiful!”

  Of course she was. She was clearly Fae.

  Which meant she could be dangerous.

  “Five more seconds,” I said to the giant image as I held my daughter close. “Restore us to what we were and then we’ll talk.”

  “The time to talk is over. You will honor the commitment and join our clans together before the next sunrise.”

  Definitely old school.

  “What commitment? I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

  Showers of hot glitter, carnelian red and silver, spilled over us. I shielded the baby from them as best I could.

  “Chloe of Guinevere knows nothing of the betrothal.” It wasn’t easy to sound tough when you were bound in chains but Gavan managed. “She has chosen her mate, Rohesia. They have created a child together. We must find another way.”

  I was having trouble processing the fact that Rohesia of legend had stepped out of the Book of Spells and into my life.

  The Old Magicks had divided into three groups during the early persecutions in what would one day be northern Europe. The clan that produced Aerynn had risked all to migrate across the ocean to what they hoped would be a more tolerant home among mortals. Bronwyn and her followers, unable to accept change, pierced the veil forever while it was said that Rohesia ultimately took her family of Others beyond the mist.

  But here she was, looming over me, demanding I honor a commitment I was hearing about for the first time. This wasn’t how we did things here. At least, not in this century.

  “The rings bind you together and have ever since Guinevere and I struck the bargain between us.”

  “I still don’t know what you’re talking about.”

  Gavan spoke up again. “Our families betrothed us to each other when we were children. Your mother wanted to ensure your safety if something should happen to her or to your father. Rohesia wanted to ensure asylum for our clan when the time came.”

  “Silence!” Rohesia ordered. “I will say all that needs to be said.”

  “No.” He made that one simple word carry a multitude of meanings. “It is time for you to listen before there is no time at all.”

  I have to admit the man had a way with words. I glanced quickly at Wendy. My cousin was utterly transfixed. Her fear had been replaced with what seemed to be a sense of wonder.

  “It was I who gave you that ring,” Rohesia said to me.

  “I found this ring in a cardboard box.”

  “That ring was put in your parents’ care until the proper time.”

  “My parents are dead,” I said flatly. “They died when I was six.”

  Suddenly I understood. Bits and pieces of long-buried memories floated to the surface. A beautiful woman. A young man. My mother’s tears. My father’s reluctance. A ring that would one day be mine. We had been on n the way home from meeting with Rohesia about my future when the accident took my parents’ lives.

  Rohesia was watching me closely. “Guinevere was one full-blood magick and her gifts were prodigious. How is it that she died as mortals do?”

  I wasn’t about to give her my family history while the man I love was a statue standing next to me.

  “I am no longer a child, Rohesia, and I am no longer without magick. Undo the spell or I will—“

  “We are of the same beginnings. A marriage between your clan and mine will secure the future for all. There is great strength in unity.”

  “You’d be a lot more convincing if you hadn’t turned out our lights, magicked Sugar Maple into a statue garden, and wrapped one of your own in chains.”

  Okay, so maybe I’d gone too far.

  Her enormous eyes blazed red as her robes. The cloud or mist or fog or whatever it was that surrounded her spread across the sky, claiming it as her own. She cursed me in pungent, albeit archaic, terms, her voice rising in pitch and volume like an out-of-control burglar alarm from hell. Words spilled from her beautiful lips, ugly words filled with hate and more than a touch of fear. A rumble of thunder was followed by a crack of lightning and an ominous feeling of impending doom.

  “Take the baby!” I quickly handed Laria over to Wendy. “I’m going to—“

  Too late.

  Rohesia launched a shimmering silver thunderbolt toward me and in that same instant my baby sorceress tore free from Wendy’s grasp and launched her tiny but powerful self toward Rohesia with every ounce of magick at her command.

  Rohesia moved swiftly to deflect the incoming missile. Laria slammed into an invisible wall, cried out, then tumbled helplessly toward the ground.

  I was fast but Wendy was faster. She grabbed for the baby, couldn’t quite connect, but somehow cushioned her fall with her own body.

  “She’s fine,” Wendy called out after an anxious moment. “I’ve got her!”

  Relief coupled with gratitude is a potent mix. It almost undid me. I struggled to regroup.

  “You have gone too far, Rohesia!” Gavan, still in chains, roared. “That child is the key to our future!”

  The chains rattled as they tightened around Gavan’s body but his face gave away nothing.

  “Put aside your fears and prejudices, Rohesia,” he ordered, “and listen to what I say. This isn’t the world you know. This world is bigger and far better than anything we imagined but there is no place for us here if we can’t change. Magicks are a small percentage of this dimension. It is a mortal world and it is up to us to figure out how to live among them and honor their ways.”

  “Gavan and I don’t need to marry in order to bring our families together,” I said, not entirely sure I wanted to throw Sugar Maple’s fate in with this lot. “There are other ways.”

  “You are half human,” she said, putting a particularly unpleasant spin on the last word. “Our history shows that humans cannot be trusted.”

  “Are you blind?” Gavan demanded. “Did you not see the way the mortal Wendy put Laria’s safety before her own?”

  Rohesia nodded. “I had never before seen a mortal risk anything for a magick.”

  “And this was not the first time,” Gavan continued. He recounted the story about Laria and the wobbly dresser and how Wendy again saved the baby from peril. (Even if it was Elspeth-inspired peril.)

  Wendy was shaking so hard, I was afraid she’d fall over. “I love her,” she said simply. “I would do anything for her and for Chloe and Luke.”

  I believed her and, from the way Gavan looked at her, I thought he believed her too. Rohesia, however, was a much tougher sell.

  But that was Rohesia’s problem.

  “Laria is more mortal than she is magick,” I reminded Rohesia, “but her powers already exceed mine.”

  “A new world demands a new way of living,” Gavan said. “We have much to learn but with Chloe’s help, we can make the transition in harmony with Sugar Maple.”

  She said nothing. Her image faded until it was more memory than reality and as it did, the chains dropped away from him. Way to end the conversation, Rohesia.

  “She is considering her options,” Gavan said, kicking them away. “She is not a foolish woman. She will see that I am right.”

  “I’m not so sure,” I said. “The woman wrapped you in chains.”

  “She is the mother of my
mother,” he said with a quick approximation of a smile. “She will not harm me. She believes magick should never harm magick.”

  “She tried to harm me,” I reminded him. “And the baby.”

  He had no answer for that.

  “Our time runs out,” he said. “In less than ten earth days our clan will pierce the veil unless we can find a home in this dimension.”

  “And she just figured this out?”

  “The death of our dimension had been steady and slow over centuries. We thought we had time to unite our clans before it happened but in the last few earth months its progress has accelerated.”

  “If we were betrothed as children, why did Rohesia wait so long to force us to marry?”

  “As I said, time moves more slowly in our dimension. When the blueflame warning all magicks to avoid the Spirit Trail until after your wedding reached us, Rohesia realized she had to take immediate action or all would be lost. When the ring was activated, we knew where to find you.”

  I held up my hand, the one with the blinking ring on it. “I don’t want to marry you,” I said.

  “I do not wish to marry you either. You are already wed in all the ways that matter. I will not divide a family.”

  “You understand that so why doesn’t she?”

  “We have lived in isolation since the separation of the clans. Our way of life was established centuries ago and is deeply ingrained in Rohesia and the Elders. Some of us have traveled between dimensions and have returned with stories of amity between mortals and magicks that are viewed with great suspicion.”

  “A little suspicion isn’t necessarily a bad thing. Life here is good for magicks but it isn’t perfect.”

  He looked at me and smiled one of those Fae smiles that can bring any woman, mortal or magick, to her knees. “You give me hope, Chloe of Guinevere.”

  “Sorry for interrupting,” Wendy said, glancing from me to Gavan, “but Laria wants her mommy.”

  The baby was squirming in Wendy’s arms, making little sounds of frustration as she reached out in my general direction.

  “It was you,” Wendy said to him, a touch of aggression in her tone. “You’re the guy who knocked me over in front of Sticks & Strings.”