Dream Magic

by Michelle Mankin

  “There is no understanding evil like his. He is vile.” Billy’s hands balled into fists. “Let’s hope Bacchus can recruit the other two,” he concluded.

  I nodded.

  “What about Apollyon’s seer, Laveau? Were you able to locate her?”

  “No, though I have not abandoned the search.”

  “Good. I believe she might aid us in implicating Apollyon. The Destroyer may come to regret letting her take the blame for all the immortals he killed. She was his loyal advisor for many years. She has to be angry with him about his betrayal. If we can find her, and convince her to testify to the Council about his crimes, maybe we can eliminate him before he causes anymore trouble.” His fingers clenched tighter. “I keep Thyme by my side. But I can sense his threat looming over us like a black cloud.”

  “You are wise to be cautious.” I didn’t tell him that I also had someone else guarding her. Guarding them both. “Apollyon is obsessed with Thyme. But I have an agent within his court. We will have advance warning should the ruler of the In Between make a move against us.”

  “Good.” Billy gave me a quick nod of approval. “Worrying about her keeps me awake at night, Morpheus,” he confided raking a trembling hand through his dark blond hair.

  His concern was one that I shared.

  “She is flesh and bone now,” he continued. “I am eternally grateful for that miracle, but that also means she can bleed.” His bleak expression matched his words.

  “Have you broached the subject of going into hiding as I suggested?”

  “Not yet.” He shrugged his shoulders in response to my disapproving look. “You know how much she loves this city. She only just got it back in a way that she can truly enjoy. It kills me to think about being the one to take that away from her.”

  “You must, Blade. Every day the two of you remain in the open places her in danger. Apollyon’s domain is too close here.”

  “You’re right.” He sighed. “I know you are.” His expression turned contemplative. “Do you think it’s possible that our father loved our mother as much as I love Thyme?”

  “Yes, without a doubt,” I answered without hesitation. Every caress, every word, every breath and every moment had indeed been savored. Our parents had loved each other completely and lived every day as if it might be their last. I had seen the evidence of the depth of their love echoed in the dreamscape. Because of my unique ability to traverse that realm, I knew that even to the very end our father had remained silent to protect her, to protect all three of us. The love our parents shared had been epic but they had paid the ultimate price for it.

  I was but five when they were killed. Billy had been only three. He didn’t remember much beyond a few vague images, but I remembered it all because of my heightened raptor recall. The details of our mother’s violent end were burned into my brain. The sound of the hell hounds ripping her flesh. The metallic scent of her blood as it spilled. The taste of her fear in the air. The Council’s enforcers had been merciless, refusing to grant her the clean death she had begged for before the end.

  I glanced away, forcing my increased heartrate to slow. My parents’ deaths had shaped my determination to be the most lethal fighter I could be. After watching my mother die with my own eyes, being too young and too helpless to render aid, I determined never to be in a position of weakness like that ever again.

  Thyme and Billy were as dedicated to each other as my parents had been. I prayed they would not suffer a similar fate. I vowed to do everything within my power to make certain that they did not.

  “What is it?” I asked, refolding my wings. With a falcon’s senses I could see a mouse from two hundred yards away and hear the sound of its scurrying feet, but it was my nose that alerted me to her presence this time. Her light lemony fragrance washing over me like the promise of summer, I turned crossing my arms over my chest and lifting my brows as she ran across the courtyard pavers toward me. Beautiful in motion. Beautiful at rest. My sweet beautiful Thyme. “We said our farewells already,” I reminded her. “What have I forgotten?”

  “My hug.” She was noticeably winded, her breath huffing in and out. She must have sprinted all the way from the upstairs apartment. Silently, I thanked the Creator that she had kept on the robe Billy had draped about her. She launched herself toward me. Throwing my arms wide, I caught her. My unease settled as soon as I held her, though I would never confess to such sentimentality aloud.

  “I miss your falcon embrace.” She eased back in my arms, lifted her chin and gave me an expectant look. “Even when I was a shade you made me feel safe and loved. The way you used to fold your wings around me. It completely shut out the rest of the world.”

  I missed that, too. After almost losing her, I knew I would never again take a single moment with her for granted. My throat tightening on that thought, I unfurled my wings, not to fly away, but to give her what she wanted. What we both needed.

  She sighed, her violet eyes glowing with satisfaction within the feather lined walls of our cocoon. I was certain mine were aglow, too. All immortals’ eyes flared with inner light whenever their emotions were heightened. “Why don’t you stay here tonight?” she complained.

  “I cannot.”

  “Why not?” she pressed. “Have you ended things with that skanky sorceress?” She had made no secret about her disapproval of my arrangement with Esmerelda. “Tell me you’ve finally found someone to have a real relationship with.”

  “No, Thyme. I have not.” I shook my head. I was an outlaw. One couldn’t see a target on my back between my wings, but it was there nonetheless. Romantic entanglements were out of the question, given the secret of my illicit heritage. Besides, I was a falcon. We mated for life. It would be wrong to put anyone at risk. My arrangement with Esmerelda worked for me. Mostly. Blade would call it ‘friendship with benefits.’ Empty and meaningless though the sex might be, I tried not to think too much about it, or the future.

  “Well, you can’t go back to the canyon house.” She was right. I couldn’t. Apollyon had discovered the secret location of our cedar cabin due to a betrayal by a traitorous blood sucker named Crane. “Mamere’s bedroom is empty. It’s available.” She tilted her head inquiringly, waves of cinnamon following her movement. “Where have you been sleeping?”

  On a high ledge near the ceiling in the Desolate Lands, but I didn’t reveal that. It was one of the most dangerous areas in the Underground. She would worry if she knew and insist that I stay in the apartment. That would be too awkward. Things were different. She wasn’t a shade anymore. I was as grateful for that fortunate turn of events as Billy was. On the other hand, she was a woman once more, a warm and tempting woman with curves that I couldn’t ignore. I felt an attraction toward her that I couldn’t deny, not surprising, as much as I loved her, as beautiful as she was, as important as she was to me. But I would never let those feelings venture beyond acknowledgement. I suspected, though I had no way to prove my hypothesis, that a significant part of the pull I felt toward her had to do with the same Fated magic that bound her to Billy. We shared the same genetic code after all.

  I didn’t understand it all, but I wondered if this was how my older brother Shane had felt, an undeniable urge to claim her and make her his own. Or had his feelings gone deeper to the soul level connection that Thyme and Billy shared? If that were the case, how could he stay away from her? Wouldn’t my Duality Demon sibling feel compelled to do whatever it took to be at her side?

  “Morpheus,” Thyme whispered. “You still haven’t answered my question.”

  I shook my head, trying to focus. Thyme’s lips were so full. She licked them and I found it incredibly erotic. I swallowed to moisten my mouth, trying to remember how long it had been since I had visited Esmerelda. Too long apparently. “You need not worry.” My voice was too husky. I cleared my throat. “I take my respite somewhere safe.”

  “Ok. If…you…say…so.” Thyme looked skeptical but disoriented, too. Her pupils were unusually large, her
gaze glassy and unfocused. I suddenly realized what was going on. My musk. She was no longer immune to it now that she was corporeal. She would become increasingly amorous if I didn’t release her soon. But first I remembered that we had unfinished business within the safety of our cocoon. I knew it was more than just nostalgia that had brought her running to me and asking to be inside my embrace where no one else could hear us.

  “Thyme.” I kept my wings around her and pressed her to reveal her motivation. “Is there something you needed to share with me?”

  She blinked slowly. “You know me too well,” she grumbled.

  “And my powers of observation are legendary,” I thought it important to point out. “I assume the matter is of some urgency?”

  She nodded grimly. “Apollyon had someone slip me a note while I was at the market.”

  Instant tension bracketed my limbs.

  “I didn’t tell Billy. I didn’t want to worry him. He’s already trying so hard to make me happy. The ice cream shop. Postponing his tour. I love him for it, but he doesn’t understand this world the way we do yet.”

  “What did the message say?” I grasped her delicate shoulders pressing my fingers in gently but firmly, my thoughts dire.

  “That he knows Billy’s secret.”

  “Unlikely.” I exhaled my relief. Samuel would have informed me. If Apollyon really did know Blade’s secret, it would mean he knew it about all three of us. He wouldn’t take a subversive tact if that were the case. He would call us out publicly. The Council would intervene, and the object of his desire would fall conveniently into his hands after he saw us destroyed in the fires that took our father.

  “Is it? Truly?” She tilted her head again. “How can I know for sure with you and Billy keeping things from me?”

  “You are one to speak of secrets,” I admonished.

  “You’re right,” she admitted after only a slight pause. “Apollyon promised to keep silent if I gave him Billy’s harmonica.”

  I wasn’t surprised the Destroyer continued to be obsessed with obtaining our father’s powerful talisman. It summoned spirits that obeyed the piper. Personally, I doubted that anyone but Billy could wind it to that effect. But it being such a focal point for Apollyon held danger. It was a key that could potentially unlock the secret my brothers and I desperately guarded. That Apollyon continued to pursue it so fervently meant time was short to thwart him.

  “Did you give the demon a response?”

  She shook her head. “He gave me three days to consider.” Her lids fluttered. “I hoped a solution would come to me or…that you…would return.” She seemed to be having difficulty focusing.

  I lowered my wings. She swayed as if she were inebriated. I gently shook her. “How long ago was that?”

  “Two days ago.”

  “Hellfire and damnation!” I exclaimed.

  “Morpheus.” She fanned her flushed face with her hand. I could sense her arousal. “Why do I feel…so… warm?”

  “Breathe deeply of the fresh air.”

  She did as I suggested while lifting her hands to examine her fingers. They sparkled as if covered in glowing glitter. She tried to shake it loose, but it was harder to get rid of than that. She would have to wash it off with warm water and soap. “What is this stuff?”

  “My dream musk.” I sighed.

  “Why didn’t I ever notice it before?” she asked.

  “You were a shade,” I reminded her.

  “Ahh.” Awareness brightened her features. “No wonder so many women desire you.”

  “Not all is the musk.” I sounded a little defensive. My feathers bristled. “It is after all only on the… inside of my wings.”

  She giggled. I loved the sound of her mirth. I always had. Even if it was at my expense. So much of her time in the In Between had been somber as she had pined for Shane.

  “No, your gruff voice, your good looks, your ‘get back’ stare and the fact that you can fly weigh somewhat in your favor,” she allowed with teasing in her tone before her expression sobered. “But… what should we do about Apollyon?”

  “There is no we in this, Thyme. You will let me attend to the matter.”

  “Don’t be ridiculous. I can help you. I can use the obsidian switch blade you gave Billy. I’m handy with knives when it comes to Apollyon.” Looking stubborn and absolutely fiercely lovely, she put her hands on her hips. “I gave him the scar he wears on his cheek, Morpheus.” She tapped her foot. “I’m not afraid of him.”

  I knew that wasn’t entirely true, but she was certainly brave enough to take him on. She had done it before. “That wouldn’t be wise. You are immortal now Thyme, but you can still die. And you have Billy to think about. You didn’t see him after you faded away and disappeared.” I hoped to never see him that distraught again. It had nearly destroyed him when he thought he had lost her. Not to mention myself as well.

  I straightened as determined as ever to protect both Thyme, the girl who had taught me that life is only really worth living with someone to care about, and Billy, a newly discovered brother who had already become a trusted friend.

  “Make Blade happy, Thyme. Focus on that. And use your wit and bravery to keep both of you safe.” I looked to the sky, anxious to be up in it where I could think more clearly about what she had revealed.

  “You sure you won’t stay here?”

  I shook my head, the tips of my wings quivering with impatience to be in flight once more.

  “I miss our canyon house,” she whispered. “It was so beautiful there.”

  I missed it, as well. But years of solitude before Thyme had come along with nothing but my own counsel, history books and philosophy tomes had taught me at least one thing.

  “Home is not a place, dearest Thyme.” I pressed my palm to her soft cheek cherishing her warmth and reveling in her vitality. The light of her sweet spirit had never dimmed, not even in death. It was no wonder Billy had fallen for her. “Home is those you love. It’s the ones you trust to help bear your burdens. You have shared your concerns with me. Now you must trust me to take care of them.”

  “Master,” I prompted. Completely engrossed as he worked at his forge, the air wavered around Hephaestus like an asphalt road beneath a blazing desert sun. Dreaming about a cool breeze and a tall refreshing glass of ice water, I shifted from one foot to the other waiting for him to respond. The smithing god was immune to the heat…obviously. But it had been years since I had dwelt in his realm. I was no longer accustomed to the temperature. My shirt and jeans were completely saturated, plastered to my skin by my sweat. “Will you do it? Will you vote to abolish the Code?”

  “Yes, Morpheus I will.” He nodded once at me before returning his attention to Bacchus. “But you my friend, you should have known what my answer would be.” Hephaestus’ voice blew from him like the billows he used to fan the flames of his forge. He had an intense manner that gave the impression that every word he spoke was carefully considered. “You know how I feel. I’ve been waiting for you to make your move.” With practiced ease, he moved the red-hot dagger from the blazing flames to a flat stone surface to cool.

  “Merci, podna.” Thank you, friend. “I trusted that would be your answer. But I make it a practice never to presume, no? I’ve had my reasons for not acting sooner, but given recent events I can’t afford to delay any longer.”

  “Because of Apollyon, that sadistic cloven-hoofed bastard.”

  “Weh.” Bacchus nodded. The flickering fire sharpened the angular planes of the Cajun wine god’s face, the heat from it reddened his skin giving it the appearance of being sunburned.

  “You need to stop blaming yourself for what happened. It wasn’t your fault, you know.” Hephaestus tossed his tongs into a nearby bucket and removed his gloves setting them aside. Steam billowed into the air the water hissing as the heated metal connected with the cool liquid. “Nyx and Hemera knew the risk.” The smithing god’s assessing gaze remained on Bacchus long after the cloud of vapor dissipated b
etween them. “It was their choice to make. Not yours.”

  “But if I hadn’t interfered, if I hadn’t approached my father thinking I could convince him to override the Code, they might both still be alive.”

  “Maybe they would be. Maybe they wouldn’t. You can’t know for sure.”

  “Can’t I?” Bacchus’ expression was raw, his gaze guilt-ridden. “The hell hounds followed me after I spoke with my father. I led them right to Hemera.”

  “Unknowingly.”

  “But still…”

  “Still nothing,” Hephaestus interrupted. I never knew that Bacchus felt responsible for my parents’ deaths. I uncrossed my arms and pushed away from the wall leaning forward. I didn’t want to risk missing a single word. “If Nyx were here today, he wouldn’t hold you accountable. You thought you meant more to your father than you do. That’s a mistake we’ve all made at one time or another. The Heirs are all the same. Yours. Mine. Even Poseidon. They have lived so long they have lost all compassion. The game. The power struggle. That is all they see. It is all that motivates them. That feeling is shared by many of the others on the Council as well.”

  “You are right.” Bacchus didn’t look happy.

  “You know that I am.” Hephaestus gentled his tone. “You have to let it go, my friend. The past is a lonely place to live.” He rubbed a work roughened hand over his square as a hatchet jaw leaving behind a thick trail of dark soot. “Repurpose your regret. Transform your sorrow. Keep Nyx’s and Hemera’s memory alive by creating a better future.”

  “Wise words as usual.” Bacchus’ eyes continued to look troubled, a silent plea for absolution within their depths. “But Nyx was the decisive one. He was the strategist, not me. I would give anything to have him back, to have him advise me…” His voice cracked.