I nodded and kissed the top of her head.
“You know if it’s a girl, I’ll have to buy a shotgun, and practice my scary dad face.”
She slapped my chest, “Stop stalling, dinner is soon and we still have to shower.”
Yeah, I could feel it myself. The ally bond felt… hungry. Not exactly that, but there was subtler information to be read in the bond that I shared with the pack than I’d first thought when it was created.
I moved my hand to her stomach and put my palm against it. I didn’t have to, but I wanted to, and I sent the air magic into her body, and essentially did a pre-natal scan. Reaching out for the information hadn’t worked, sometimes when it was too tied up with emotions it didn’t. And Sierra being pregnant with our first child certainly qualified.
“She’s definitely a she. As for the other, I have no idea.”
She lifted an eyebrow, “Really?”
I nodded, “I sense a spark of elemental fire magic. But since I’m blind to earth magic I don’t know if she has it. Which means, based on what I do know, she could be a fire sorceress, or a werewolf. I’m sure Carrie or Selene can finish the diagnosis, based on if she has earth magic or not.”
She frowned, “Not air?”
I shook my head, “My mother was a fire sorceress, I think that’s what runs in my family. The air thing is complicated, and is caught up with this whole mess and my enemies. I don’t understand exactly, but I’m pretty sure I’d just be a fire sorcerer if it wasn’t for the air elemental inside me.”
She kissed my shoulder, “So… any chance she could be both?”
“I don’t think so. It’s an either or thing. Only vamps can be more than one thing, since it’s not a natural race.”
She added, “And you.”
I sighed, “Yes, and me.”
I wasn’t sure how, or why. But it was clear to me without the elemental inside me, no matter how it got there, I wouldn’t be two things either. Which meant I was unnatural too.
Sierra grinned up at me impudently, “Don’t worry, I still love you even if you’re a freak.”
I gave her a wounded look and tried to object, but her hand wandered lower on my body. The woman didn’t fight fair. I thought about mentioning we needed to shower for dinner, but then, I wasn’t that stupid…
Chapter 7
Thursday, July 7th, 2016, 4:22 AM
I woke up in a cold sweat as my phone rang. I’d been dreaming, having a nightmare really. For some reason I couldn’t control the magic anymore, and everyone I cared about was dying in the dream, in front of me while I was helpless.
It wasn’t real though, and it wasn’t anything to do with my power to see the future. I knew that, but I was still shaken. I grabbed the phone and answered it, a little annoyed when I saw it wasn’t even four thirty yet. No one should have to wake this early, not even with coffee.
“Hello,” I said rather groggily.
“Mr. Edwards,” said a cold female voice, “My name is Anise, and this game has gone on rather long enough. I have your family, if you want them to live you’ll show up at your office in the city within the hour,” and then she hung up.
I was wide awake now. Like I’d drank a pot of coffee and then three red bulls.
I reached out with my power for information, and was blocked. How had she gotten my family without setting off the warning spells? I turned to my fire elemental magic and found the connections, they were easy to find, the ones that would lead me to my family. This Anise may be able to block my power to gain information, but she couldn’t hide them from me.
I knew I wouldn’t have much time when I got there though, I was sure I was being watched by air elementals, even if I couldn’t see them. I shook Sierra awake.
She looked up at me in concern, “What’s going on.”
I explained, “They have my family. I’m going to get them and bring them here. They might… follow me.”
She nodded and jumped up, we both got dressed, and she said, “I’ll wake the others.”
I gave her a soft kiss, wrapped myself in power, and traced the emotional connection I had with my family, and ordered the air magic to take me there.
I didn’t know how long it would take for Anise to respond, so I didn’t waste any time. I appeared in the air over two cars heading toward Springfield. They were full of humans with guns and body armor. That’s how she got around the spell, she’d hired human mercenaries to kidnap them?
I reached down into the two vehicles and wrapped my family in power and sent them straight to the living room in the pack house. That would be some conversation when I got there, but there was no time to be subtle, I could clean it up later. It was more important to send them somewhere safe, and Tara had the place warded.
At the same time, I dug into the mercenaries’ minds and looked for information. They didn’t know anything about Anise, except that she’d hired them for a job. They didn’t know anything important, and didn’t care to. Except, this wasn’t their whole team, the rest of them were on a different assignment, specifically to bag two cops. Mike and Aiya, and Jenna would be taken as well.
I reached out, that information was blocked, I couldn’t tell where they were.
Still, I had four mercenaries below me that knew the others very well, and were connected to them by bonds of trust. I used fire magic to trace the connections, mesmerized them to turn themselves in for kidnapping, and then followed those connections to the other four men.
When I stopped moving a few seconds later, I opened my eyes and took in Aiya’s apartment. I could also feel them now that they were in my sphere of power and I couldn’t be blocked. Mike and Jenna were tied up in the SUV out front, and Aiya was still asleep in bed. The four men broke in Aiya’s place right then.
I reached out and sent the three of them to the pack house, it was my first priority. When I reached out and mesmerized the men to turn themselves in, I ran out of time to act with impunity.
In a flash of fire, a man appeared in front of me. He was a fire sorcerer. I may have run out of time, but apparently Anise didn’t come after me herself.
I wrapped him in air and ordered the air to take him straight up. It occurred to me it would only take about five seconds to put him in space, only two seconds before he couldn’t breathe at all. Plus, it would be extremely cold and he’d be cut off from his power. Unfortunately, he wasn’t as stupid as the rest I’d face, and went up in flames, and appeared behind me while escaping my power’s grasp.
So much for fire not being able to move a person quickly, I supposed Melody was right when she called Jaben an idiot. He also wasn’t one for banter because he attacked me immediately.
He hit my shields with a blast of fire from behind, and I went through a wall, although my two air shields surrounding the fire shield didn’t break, it was still a bit disorienting to be thrown through plaster and wall studs. I sent back a combination of fire and air, but the guy moved across the room again.
I decided to run at that point, and surrounded myself in power, but his attack burnt into and consumed that power, and I couldn’t go anywhere. It also put the wall next to me on fire. Crap, Aiya was going to kill me. If I lived that is.
Still, we were surprisingly evenly matched, he wasn’t quite as strong as Jaben had been, but on the other hand he was a much better fighter than Jaben. I also got the feeling he was only trying to beat down my magic and knock me out. He wanted me alive, no doubt to take me to that Anise woman.
Why she wasn’t here herself I didn’t know. Either I was wrong about my guess that she was actually in charge of this little war, or she was just used to having others do the dirty work.
I tried to escape again twice more, but he wasn’t having it. I also failed to move him, he clearly knew what an air sorcerer was capable of. So I changed my subtler approach to battle, to a much blunter tactic, and attacked with a huge blast of rolling fire and air.
And then when he couldn’t see me for a moment, I wrapped myself
in invisibility and stepped to the side. He’d still sense me, but it wouldn’t be exact.
A blast of fire flew by my right side, and blew another hole in the wall. I frowned as Aiya’s bedroom went up in flames, and could hear the approach of sirens, as well as all the other residents moving out of the building.
Good thing I was in charge of Chicago, or I’d be in deep crap for risking exposure.
He kept blasting away as I moved around silently and sensed the elemental magic around me, as I slowly pulled more and more power toward me, letting it build up. I spent the time not just to frustrate him, but figure out a way to win the fight. My usual tactics, and brute force, weren’t going to do it. His teleport jumping, or whatever it was called, was really annoying. Which… gave me an idea.
I sent another normal blast at him and smiled as I saw him start going up in flames, again.
I sped up my body, and more importantly, my speed of perception. His fire jumping trick slowed down, and I felt and studied the magic around me. More importantly, I had the time to trace his magic, and figure out where he would end up before he got there.
I surrounded that space in a strong air shield, and then sucked out all of the air inside of it, making it a vacuum. What had been happening in a blink of an eye, felt like several seconds as he appeared in the new spot, with a lung full of air. The pain of explosive decompression from his lungs disrupted his concentration, and I took full advantage.
I sent the buildup of power inside the shield, a massive swirl of air and fire which fed each other and consumed the fire sorcerer’s body in the blink of an eye. I also managed, because of my currently enhanced perception and speed, to steel a few things from his mind.
I was really curious about his ability to teleport, even though that had been his downfall. He’d depended on it too much in our fight, which made him predictable, but that didn’t mean it wouldn’t be useful to me. I also needed to know what he knew about Anise and my enemies. Although he turned out to be just another mercenary like Michael, he did know a bit more.
Anise was an air sorcerer, an exceptionally powerful and old one.
That’s it. All he knew. It was frustrating to say the least. I laughed at the absurd thought, that perhaps I’d win the war, and never find out what it was all about. Well, it was a better thought than dying without ever finding out.
I looked around at Aiya’s burning apartment which was in shambles. I could put the fire out, but that would be really hard for the humans to understand. Sure, they’d already have a mystery about how the fire started, except they’d blame that on the four mercenaries outside, when I was finished setting them up for it that is.
Still, the idea of just letting all her stuff go up in flames didn’t appeal to me either. I reached out and put the fires out, and then grabbed her fire extinguisher and sprayed it around until it was empty. I needed to go before Anise either came for me herself, or sent someone else. She was probably already aware of his failure from her spies. I was exhausted from using my power to speed up my body and perceptions for even for those short few moments, and if I had to fight her anytime soon I’d rather do it at the pack house, where we were strongest because of Tara’s wards.
I just did one more thing. I picked one of Aiya’s neighbors that was still moving outside, and convinced him he’d put the fire out with the extinguisher. It was far from a perfect cover story, but it would have to do. I wrapped myself in air and went back to the pack house, and appeared in the kitchen…
Chapter 8
Thursday, July 7th, 2016, 5:09 AM
I must have been more wiped than I’d thought, because I stumbled when I went for the coffee. Suzy grabbed me and saved me from braining myself on the counter. That would have been embarrassing.
Suzy asked, “You okay?”
I nodded, “Just tired.”
She wrinkled her nose, “And you smell like sweat and smoke.”
She turned and made me sit down at the smaller kitchen table, and grabbed me a coffee. I probably needed to sleep, but I could hear my uncle in the other room demanding to know what was going on. It would be a while before I could sleep this off. I hated using my power to speed up my body and mind that much, the price was always high, but I don’t think I’d have beaten him if I hadn’t. I heard Mike trying to calm him down.
“Thanks Suzy,” I said almost absently, but meaning it.
She smiled, “Take a minute, everyone is out there waiting for answers. Your uncle is a bit upset, they woke up just a few minutes ago. They must have been put under when they were taken, maybe a drug?”
I nodded, “They were unconscious when I moved them here. I have no idea what to tell them.”
Suzy shrugged, “Tell them the truth, if they can’t handle it bamboozle them into forgetting.”
I sighed, “I hadn’t planned to tell them about this world.”
Suzy asked, “Why not?”
“Because…”
I trailed off. I’d never really thought about it before. I’d just decided that I would never tell them, without really taking a look at the reasons. Part of it was to keep them safer, but only a part. I realized the truth was, that I’d been afraid of their reaction.
“Because my uncle may hate me even more than he already does, and my aunt and cousin might reject me if they can’t handle it.”
Suzy frowned, “Isn’t it better to find out? Rather than just miss out.”
“Yes, I guess I just hadn’t thought it through very well. Do you need any help?”
She giggled, “Stop avoiding the issue and get out there. Carrie and Selene will be in to help me with breakfast when it’s time, though it’s horribly early I really don’t think anyone will get back to sleep.”
She helped me up and walked with me out the kitchen door, like a mother hen with a weak chick. When I got out into the living room, Sierra hopped up with a concerned look on her face as she too wrinkled her nose. I’d have to shower soon.
My uncle looked at me rather accusingly, “How the hell did we get here, and what’s going on?”
I cleared my throat, “It’s a rather long story. Suffice it to say, that the people that killed my mother and failed to take me are back. Oh, and magic is real.”
He turned a little red in the face. I didn’t blame him and I wondered if the reason he never liked me was because of the mysterious way my mother, as well as the men that came for me, died when I was a kid. Was that it? Had he just been afraid I would bring trouble to his door? That I would bring harm to the wife and child he loved?
It hadn’t been obvious growing up because I’d lost my memories for so long, I hadn’t even remembered the attack, but it fit all too well now, and explained a lot. But now… it made all too much sense. I felt guilty and uncomfortable, I had brought danger to his family.
Sierra pulled me down onto the couch, and sat against me.
She asked in a cheery voice, “So, is now a good time to tell your family I’m pregnant?”
All the eyes in the room turned from me to her, and I realized she’d just thrown herself under the bus on my behalf, to break the tension, or at least, shake up its focus.
Amy gasped, “I knew it!”
My aunt shook her head and refused to be baited, and then looked back at me like she wondered if I was sane, “Are you okay, what did you mean, magic is real.”
“Magic is real. Your sister in law had magic, and so do I. My daughter will as well.”
We’d discovered last night, when we finally went down to dinner and had Selene take a look, that my daughter was going to be a fire sorceress. Without the presence of earth magic, we knew she couldn’t be a werewolf.
If I could at all help it, I’d be around to teach her how to use her power, so she didn’t have to struggle and use it through guesswork, and figure it all out on her own. Like I’d had to.
Amy asked doubtfully, “Magic?”
I nodded, “I’m not really a psychic. I…”
It took a while, but I
explained what I had to, so it would all make sense. Of course, in the end it came down to a demonstration before belief sunk in for them. They now knew what sorcerers were, and about werewolves, vampires, and witches. As far as my uncle went, he took it about as well as I’d expected, which was to say not well at all. He was afraid for his family, and if looks could kill, Anise wouldn’t have had to go to any further trouble.
My Aunt took it well, but seemed a little in shock. Amy, who was close to me, was both excited and incredibly angry at me simultaneously. Excited because she thought magic was cool, angry because we were so close despite the age gap, much more like brother and sister than cousins, and I’d kept it from her for almost a whole year. In essence, I’d lied to her. We’d even grown a little apart over the last year because of it, and I supposed I had a lot of making up to do there.
She got up and stormed out of the room. Suzy gave me a look, and then followed her, which made me feel a little better. Still, I’d have to talk to her myself soon, I’d have followed her then if I didn’t have my aunt and uncle to deal with.
My uncle asked angrily, “What now?”
I shook my head, “This should all be over soon, but right now this is the safest place you could be. It’s protected.”
I looked at Aiya, Mike, and Jenna, “All of you.”
My uncle frowned, “I have work Ben, I can’t be hiding here from the world.”
I nodded, not sure what to say. He could go to work, but he’d be in danger there, although not as much as he would at their own house. Human mercenaries, in case Anise had hired more, wouldn’t want to take him from too public a place. And if a supernatural went after him, the spells on his ring would kick in.
I explained my reasoning, and he reluctantly agreed. I could tell he wasn’t happy about it at all, and was angry I’d gotten them involved in this, whether or not I’d really had a choice in the matter, which I hadn’t.
Aiya sighed, “I can stay here for a few days, but I still have to go to work.”
Sorcerer: Elemental: Power of Air (Book 5) Page 4
