Magic Born

by Rayanne Haines

  “We needed some time alone with her. You think we didn't study up on you? We knew you'd come for her. We needed her to understand the seriousness of what's coming and her role in it.”

  He uncurled his legs, standing to his full height and looked down at the woman. “You don't apologize?”

  She shrugged, apparently unintimidated. “Nope. I did what I had to do. As you'll do what you must. Look, you can be mad all you want. I hope you get over yourself soon. We have a common interest in keeping her safe.”

  As she pointed to Maria, some of his anger drained. After speaking with Xiomara and Sofia it was easy to guess where Maria got her attitude from. Her ancestors spit sarcasm for breakfast. Being among them the past days tested his patience in ways he hadn't thought possible. He'd laughed a lot too though. Sofia was a cantankerous old bat. He preferred her company.

  Maria's voice rang out across the field, swearing to the winds as a vortex she'd been spinning collapsed in on itself. Light filled his chest as she stomped her feet in frustration.

  “I would give my life for her.”

  “We know, big guy. It's why we could come for her. True love and all.”

  He nodded but said nothing more. Sitting back on the couch, he waited for Xiomara to continue. He rested his feet on the footstool. One of the legs was shorter than the others and it rocked as he shifted. “You need to remodel.”

  “We like broken things here. We have no interest in perfection.”

  There was meaning under her words. He studied her face, finally. Waited for her to continue speaking.

  “Her mother plays a dark game. We don't know if Maria is strong enough to win.”

  He nodded. Waited.

  “You know the darkness is coming. You must feel it.”

  “I do not feel what you witches’ feel.”

  “C'mon. It's creeping in everywhere. Touching all the light places.”

  “And you know it rests inside me as well.” He glowered at her. “What is it you want, Xiomara.”

  She glanced away. “Yes. We know it resides in you. But you’ve controlled it all these years. You searched for light instead of falling into dark. I need you to be willing to help Isabella . . . or kill her.”

  His heart pounded in his ears and chills raced up his spine. The words came out quick. Brittle. “I’m not killing Maria’s mother.”

  Xiomara rushed on. “I'm not saying you have too. We don't want you to have too. But right now, we don't know where the darkness is coming from. Someone’s wielding it. We can't find Isabella. We can't read her. Someone or something very powerful is protecting her. We think Olorin may be pulling strings from wherever he's locked away.” She dragged her foot in the grass. “Mar won't be able to stop Isabella if she comes for her.”

  “Do not underestimate her,” he growled.

  “Don't be obtuse. Mar might be a tough ass witch, but Isabella's her mom. There's no way she'll be able to take her down if it comes to it.”

  A weight settled in his chest. Of everything he'd done in his life. Everything he could do. What Xiomara asked would destroy him, because it would destroy Maria.

  From the corner of his eyes, he caught sight of her twirling on the lawn. His chest collapsed. He dropped his head into his hands.

  “She would never forgive me.”

  Xiomara nodded. “Doesn't matter. You said you'd give your life for her. Will you give your love?”

  He stood, intending to walk away. Her voice stopped him.

  “Answer the question.”

  Rage clouded his vision as adrenaline rushed through him like a wave. Claws burst from his fingers. He spun on his heels, seething, ready to rip her head from her shoulders. When she stepped back it pleased him. He clenched and unclenched his fists. Breathing deeply, he forced his mind clear before speaking through gritted teeth.

  “I will do what is necessary to protect her. Whatever the cost.”

  Xiomara sighed. “I take no pleasure in asking this of you.”

  He grabbed his forgotten drink off the floor by his chair. Chugged it. Let the moonshine burn his throat and cloud his mind. “And still you ask it. You ask me to kill a woman. A mother.”

  “I ask only because of how deeply I'm certain of your disgust. I also know you'll keep your word. Do you give me your word?”

  He moved slowly. Deliberately. Each step measured. Each thought measured. His jaw brittle as he answered before walking into the cottage. “I give you my word.”

  Chapter 26

  “Has Glenn heard anything?” Alex stormed into Collum's office without knocking.

  Neeren and Maria had gone over to the other realm five days ago. Alex received one brief communication saying the two were fine and would be staying for a week while Mar trained. The ancestors warned of a coming darkness and they would fill them in when they returned. Meanwhile, Neeren's lifeless body lay in a pool in the basement under the watchful eye of another guardian, Idris Bolaji.

  Alex met Idris briefly only a couple of times. The first time as an enemy. The second as a trusted friend. Collum shared that Idris had been a guardian for over two-hundred years. He also worked with Lachon Findel an elemental elder and one of her grandfather’s oldest friends.

  Collum jokingly described Idris as a freelancer. He was a huge man. Almost as bulky as Collum. The story went that Idris, a Lion shifter, was brought to America as a child slave in early sixteen hundred. After transitioning and discovering his true power he’d killed the slave trader and escaped. Then made it his mission to root out and destroy as many slave owners as possible. Collum found him near death in 1792, after being shot in his lion state. Idris agreed to join the guardians but refused to stay in one place for long, or to take any job he disagreed with.

  Maybe Idris felt an affinity with Neeren because they were both shifters? Alex couldn't fathom why a man so fierce agreed to babysit a corpse. Whatever his reason she thanked him from the bottom of her heart.

  Each day though, Alex became more concerned. None of them knew what this prolonged state of existing between life and death would do to Neeren. Mar had been guided by her ancestors. Neeren's entrance to Valhalla was a different story all together.

  Collum sighed and pushed himself back from the desk. “Nothing yet. You know I'd come find you if we received any word.”

  “It's been too long. I don't like leaving Neeren down there.”

  “He’s a water elemental. I don't think marinating in liquid for a few days is going to hurt him.”

  She scowled. “What about his brain? It can't be okay for his brain to be in stasis for so long.”

  “We're monitoring him. We'll see any alteration in his brainwave pattern immediately. Besides, Idris never lets people die on his watch.”

  Collum gently cupped her elbow and led her over to the couch by the window. The warmth from his hand soothed her as nothing else could. She leaned in and breathed deeply. Nothing on earth smelled like her dragon. Alex’s head swam with visions of the two of them wrapped around each other. His knowing grin annoyed her.

  “Have you discovered anything else about this darkness hinted at?” she asked.

  “Not much. Glenn's looking into it.” He paused, and she knew he was about to say something she wouldn't like. “I skyped with Quinn about an hour ago. With her knowledge and research abilities, I think she'd make a great asset to the team. With your investigative journalism background, I think the two of you would work well together as researchers. What do you think?”

  Alex covered her face with her hands. “Did you tell her about Neeren?”

  “Yes.”

  Alex groaned. “She'll call my mom. Gray will be here on the next plane.”

  “So?”

  “So? Do you think Gray is going to be okay with her son being chained unde
r the water for a girl he just met? I may not have been with my mother long, but it was long enough to know she'll rip him out of the pool as soon as she gets here.”

  “Idris will keep her back.”

  Alex laughed and patted his shoulder. “You keep telling yourself that. You better warn Idris.”

  He pinched her and pulled her in for a quick kiss. “Your family is going to prove the bane of my existence, isn't it?”

  “You're the one that keeps reeling them back in.”

  “You'll work with Quinn?” He asked the question between nibbling her neck. Little love bites that would turn to so much more if she let it.

  “I'll work with Quinn . . . if she accepts.”

  “She's out of a job. Why wouldn't she accept?”

  “Because you're asking her to be a guardian. Quinn wasn't a fan of the secrets my grandfather kept. She prefers a life free of subterfuge.”

  “Hmm.” Collum nuzzled further and pulled her on to his lap.

  She let him of course. Ran her hands over his shoulders and dug her fingers into muscles carved from rock. His skin jumped. Hers tightened in response. She pressed her breasts against his chest.

  Collum's phone buzzed. The sound like thunder interrupting the quiet of their breathing.

  “Ignore it,” he growled.

  She tried. After the third round of buzzing she knew it wouldn't stop just because they wanted it to. “You better see who's so desperately trying to reach you.”

  He shoved his hands through his hair. Alex laughed at the forlorn look in his eye as he stood and fished the phone out of his pocket. He turned back after reading the text with shock clearly written on his face.

  “It's your mother.”

  Between bouts of hysterical laughter, she replied, “have fun,” before leaving him to deal with the scariest thing in the world. A mother on the warpath.

  ~ ~ ~

  At two that afternoon Alex found herself on the roof looking out over Stanley Park. Glenn—she assumed it’d been Glenn—had created a serene escape from the city below. White wood, lilac pillows, and thriving pots of lilies filled the space. She leaned against the patio railing watching people far below walk along the seawall. A slight ache filled her belly as she accepted she wasn't one of them anymore. She'd never be able to walk blissfully unaware of the immortal world.

  Salt spray coated the lower windows of buildings. The world smelled fresh here. She'd always loved the Pacific Ocean. The depth of it. Today it seemed smaller.

  The door to the patio slammed behind her. “Tell me where you're going next time,” Collum bellowed as he walked onto the roof.

  The scent of his fear reached her. “What happened?”

  “It's Idris. Neeren's back. Idris hauled him out of the water when his body began convulsing.”

  Terror sliced through her chest. “Is he okay?”

  Collum rushed to her and laid his hand on her shoulders. “He's fine. I promise you. But he's freaking out. Mar was supposed to be back before him.”

  “What are you talking about?”

  “He watched the ancestors send Mar back before he agreed to return. She's not here and he's threatening to drown himself again to find her.”

  “He can't do that again? Can he?”

  “Glenn's advising against it.”

  “We have to stop him.”

  Alex pushed past him, racing down the stairs to stop her brother before he did something stupid. Collum's hot breath tickled her neck as he followed. She reached the room in the basement of the building within minutes.

  If she wasn't freaking out she'd have laughed out loud. Idris held her brother on the floor in a head lock. In front of them stood Glenn in his favorite pink track suit trying to reason with her brother. “You need to calm down. You're safe.”

  Neeren raged. “I told her I wouldn't leave her again. She should be back already.”

  “I'm sure she's on her way. Her physical body may simply have reanimated in a different location. Give her time,” Glenn said.

  “Or you could simply give her a call, brother,” Idris replied sarcastically while struggling to hold Neeren down.”

  Alex sensed there was more going on. Neeren was pale and shivering. “Can we get him a towel or a blanket?” she asked no one in particular.

  As the shivers grew worse Neeren began rambling. “The darkness may have her. It's too soon. We should have stayed longer. But my body was giving out. We swore we’d stay together.”

  Neeren struggled against Idris, physically weakened from his time in the pool. Chains wrapped around one wrist. His voice took on a dark quality. “Let me go before I can't hold myself back.”

  “Not happening until you calm down,” Idris replied.

  Neeren’s voice became frantic, cutting. “I'm losing control. I'm not in control. You need to stop, now.”

  “You elbow me one more time, brother and I'm knocking you back in the pool.”

  The air in the room shifted. Neeren closed his eyes. When he opened them black pools of deliverance peered back at them. Idris screamed in agony and flung his head back. His body twisted like a broken doll. Alex stood rooted to the spot unable to understand what was happening. Collum swore and rushed Neeren. He swung his fist. Connected with Neeren's jaw. Her brother slumped. Out cold. Somehow still held in Idris's arms.

  Breathing heavily, Idris released him and stumbled back on hands and knees. “What the fuck did he do to me?”

  Neeren lay on the cold floor, dripping wet, his skin tinged pale and lifeless. Alex shivered as fear for what he'd been through crawled along her spine.

  Idris rubbed shaking hands over his face. “He was in my mind. Screaming at me to die or let go. Then it felt like my head was going to explode.” He turned to Collum. “Literally going to explode, man. Not figuratively.”

  Alex glanced between the three men in the room. No answers would come until Neeren woke up.

  Chapter 27

  The early evening dusk whispered along her skin as Maria opened her eyes. The scent of freshly mowed grass filled her nostrils. Equally strong was the smell of mint tea. Like her Nonna used to make. A multi-colored plaid blanket lay beneath her back. A wicker picnic basket rested near her feet. Just beyond, in the shadow of a large Elm tree, sat a figure in shadow. A hood covered her mother's face.

  Mar launched a barrage of foul language to the wind before sitting up and screeching, “You're kidding. It's one thing after another with this goddamn family. Where am I?”

  Isabella remained in shadow. Her voice grated on Mar's nerves like nails on chalkboard. “You needn't be rude. I simply wanted to make sure you were all right after the ordeal Jason put us through.”

  Mar rooted through the picnic basket. Her stomach felt as empty as her mother’s heart. “Jason? Really, Isabella?”

  “I don't like your tone. I even brought you a meal.”

  Mar ripped into a hunk of bread, smearing jelly on it. “I know everything. The ancestors told me everything. My entire messed up life story.”

  “Well then they must have told you how I protected you all these years.”

  The bread dropped from Mar’s hand as nausea crept up the back of her throat. “You didn't protect me. You used me in your sick game. I was a child.”

  Maria wiped her hands on her dress and stood. She reached her mother in three quick strides. Poked her in the chest. “You're a bad mother. I think you are a bad person. I don't want to know you.”

  Isabella's loud gasp echoed in the shadows. “How could you say such a thing? I saved you in that cave. I've been saving you for more years then you'll ever know.”

  Hysterical laughter bubbled, fighting with the nausea. “You put me there. I saved myself.”

  “I knew this wouldn't work, but he told me
I should try.”

  “Who told you? Domhall? My father?”

  Finally, her mother looked at her with some semblance of reality. Fear curled the white of her eyes. Like a terrified colt, Isabella stepped back. “Do not mention him.”

  “Why not? Why are you so afraid of him?”

  “I devoted my life to keeping him from you. I lost everything. Even you.” As Isabella reached for her Mar jumped back.

  “You have everything you wanted, Mother. Power. Immortality.”

  Isabella’s voice came out in the barest whisper. “Not you. I never had you. Everything got so messed up.”

  Mar curled her hands into fists at her sides. “Talk to me. Explain why I should trust you.”

  Isabella shook her head side to side like a marionette doll. “It doesn't matter now. I'll find another way.”

  Lifting a single eyebrow and tilting her head, Mar simply replied, “Honestly. If you would just answer one of my questions with something other than riddles I might be able to believe you. But you can't. You never could. You know what? You keep on being Vamporilla and stay away from me. I have bigger fish to fry. The ancestors. The guardians. They need my protection. I don't have time for your particular brand of crazy.”

  As her mother waved her away like a petulant child, Mar's blood boiled under her skin.

  Isabella's next words turned Mar’s blood to ice. “I know Xiomara claims to have seen a great darkness. It's always the way with her. Vague predictions. Possible outcomes.” Isabella pointed to her chest. “I know real evil.”

  Mar felt certain the forest stilled around them. Birds stopped chirping. The sound of the ocean quieted in the distance. The wind calmed. Her voice caught. Tears burned the back her throat. “What do you know about it? Just tell me. For once. Is my father evil? What happened to make you choose this existence over me.”

  “Maria child, the darkness was always coming—for him. As it would have come for us if I hadn't made the choice I made.” She laughed. “There are only two constants in this world. Battles among the immortals never end. Humans always shrivel and die.”