Magic and Shadows: A Collection of YA Fantasy and Paranormal Romances

by T. M. Franklin

Troy led me towards the first cubicle and the young woman there smiled up at Troy. “Stevens,” she said in a high-pitched, happy voice. “It’s been too long.”

  “Can you get Alys started on her identity information?” he asked her without smiling back.

  She looked at me and the smile disappeared. “Fill out this form,” she instructed me and handed me a clipboard with a piece of paper on it. It had a lot of questions and I wasn’t sure how to answer most of them.

  “I’ll help you fill it out,” Troy offered and took the clipboard from me. The woman gave me a sour look and then turned her attention back to her computer. “Sorry about her, we went on a couple dates and she seemed to really like me, but I didn’t feel the same towards her. She’s probably going to be rude to you because of it.”

  “We aren’t dating either,” I reminded him.

  He cringed, still not happy that I had broken it off with him. What else was I supposed to say to that? It’s not like I was the reason Troy and her didn’t work out.

  He led me to some chairs I hadn’t seen and we sat down. He filled in some of the information that he knew and then he asked, “Do you plan on staying at my house?”

  “That is the plan for now,” I said and felt bad for using him. Maybe I should see if Drake would let me live with him?

  He wrote down some information and then checked a bunch of boxes. “How would you describe your power?”

  “Uh, is there a better way to say ‘light giver’?” I asked and then laughed. How would one describe filling someone else with light and taking their darkness?

  “I’ll see if there’s someone here with a little more insight. Perhaps the Greeks will know more as well.”

  I watched the people moving around, doing their jobs, and felt incredibly out of place. Technology was everywhere and there seemed to be a permanent static hum. Troy reached over and rested his hand on my leg.

  “It’ll be okay,” he whispered. “I know this is all new and strange to you, but you’ll get used to it eventually.”

  “I have a headache,” I admitted to him.

  “We’ll go see the doctors in a moment and I’ll ask them to give you something for it,” he told me and then kissed my forehead as he stood up to take the form to the woman who was now glaring at me as though her look alone could kill me.

  She looked up at Troy and smiled sweetly and talked to him in what was no doubt flirtatiously. Perhaps it should have bothered me, but it didn’t since he had made it clear that he didn’t have feelings for her and I had broken it off with him. He hadn’t fully accepted it though, obviously. She did something on her computer and then Troy waved at me to follow him. We walked to the back where the doctors were and one of them opened the door to his room. He was short with thick black hair and a dark brown complexion. His glasses made him look old, but his face didn’t seem old.

  “Welcome,” he greeted me.

  “Hello.”

  “Dr. Patnik, this is Alys. Alys, this is Dr. Patnik, the top scientist here.”

  “Oh, you’re flattering me,” the doctor said with a smile. “So, Alys, what are you?”

  “Uh, what?”

  “She’s half human and half Greek,” Troy explained for me.

  I was glad he said something because I would have said Asgardian.

  “Oh! It’s been so long since we’ve had a demigod!” he said with excitement.

  “A demi…what?” I asked.

  “A demigod. Demi means half or partial and then add god and it means you’re half or partially a god.”

  That made sense, but I still couldn’t see myself as being part god. I was so weak compared to the others.

  “We’re going to take some blood, okay?” Dr. Patnik said with a kind smile.

  “Will it hurt?” I asked Troy.

  “Just a bit. Here, sit in this chair,” he told me. I sat down and then he took my left hand. “If you don’t watch, it hurts less.”

  “I wasn’t planning on watching,” I said which made Dr. Patnik and Troy laugh.

  Dr. Patnik hummed as he washed his hands, put on gloves, and took out a few pieces that looked slightly terrifying.

  “Did you know that when I first came here, Troy was a wild teenager who got so angry at me for taking his blood that he shattered all of the glass walls enclosing our labs here?” Dr. Patnik asked.

  “I don’t know much about Troy’s past,” I admitted sheepishly. Did it make me a bad person to be living with a man I barely knew?

  “He’s very secretive,” Dr. Patnik agreed.

  “Why was he mad that you took his blood?” I asked even though Troy was right next to me.

  “Because I took part of him. He didn’t understand that we were taking it to test for diseases or other things that could be hurting him.”

  “I apologized afterwards and cleaned it up,” Troy told me.

  “And got yelled at by Chief,” Dr. Patnik said. “Okay a slight pinch…”

  I felt a pinch in my inner elbow and hissed in pain. Troy rubbed the back of the hand he was holding and said, “I used to be a very angry person.”

  “Why?” I asked.

  “Because I felt like my father had abandoned me. I knew logically that he didn’t know about me because my mother had hidden it, but I felt like he should have known I existed. It was stupid and childish, but at the time I hadn’t met any other demigods and I was very out of place.”

  “How did you end up here?” I asked him. I could understand why he felt abandoned. If Odin had known, he would have brought Troy to Asgard, I was sure of it.

  “Drake found me and brought me in. He and I have been friends ever since.”

  “Now that is a scary man if you’re on his bad side,” Dr. Patnik said. “Okay, pulling it out now.” More pain and then he put a cotton ball on the spot he had taken the blood from and a piece of tape over it. “Leave it on for an hour so it heals.”

  “Why do you think Drake is scary?” I asked Dr. Patnik.

  “You’ve obviously never seen him mad,” he said with a smirk. “He’s a great warrior when he needs to be.”

  “Can you give her something for a headache?” Troy asked Dr. Patnik.

  “Of course!” he said with a broad smile. He went to a cabinet and pulled out a vile of liquid, extracted some into a syringe and then without warning he stuck it into my arm and pushed the liquid in. “Your headache should be gone within a few minutes.”

  “Thanks,” I mumbled as I rubbed my arm.

  We left and Troy led me back towards the cubicles. “So, does this mean Drake or you could have defeated the Dark Elves?” I asked Troy when we were away from Dr. Patnik’s lab room.

  He sighed loudly. “If he had activated his powers, yes, but we can’t use them in front of other humans.”

  “You told me that you couldn’t have defeated them.”

  “Not in my human form.”

  “Human form? You have another form?”

  “No, it’s just what we refer to the state in which we conceal our power. When we release it, we call it demi-form.”

  “So you could have defeated them?”

  “Possibly.”

  “I could have died,” I told him angrily. “They were considering killing me instead of letting me live because of my power.”

  “Odin wouldn’t have let you die.”

  “They had me chained to a wall and frozen!” I snapped at him.

  He stopped walking and turned to face me. “I’m sorry, Alys. I couldn’t expose myself to the humans. If I had, my cover would be blown and I would have had to relocate or go into hiding and I didn’t want to do that. I had faith that Odin and the others would save you.”

  I couldn’t believe what I was hearing. “And if they tried to take me again today? Would you still let them take me?” I asked softly.

  “No,” he answered immediately with clenched fists.

  “Why is it different now?” I asked angrily. “You would still have to expose yourself.”

&nb
sp; “It’s different now because now I wouldn’t care if I was exposed. Now, I would rather let the humans see me than let you get hurt.”

  “What is different now than before?” I asked in quiet fury. The darkness stirred within me and tempted me with images of destruction that would satisfy the anger.

  “Now I have feelings for you and the thought of you getting hurt infuriates me and makes me want to tear someone’s head off,” he whispered. “I’m sorry that I didn’t protect you before, but you won’t have to worry about that in the future. I regret not helping you now, but I can’t change the past.”

  I was still mad, but hearing him admit his feelings for me made the rage simmer to irritation. He started walking again and I followed him to the woman who hated me for being with Troy. “Have you decided on a surname?” she asked me with a scowl.

  “Odinsdottir,” I told her and spelled it for her.

  Troy looked at me in shock. “The Greeks won’t like that. You should consider taking on a human surname.”

  I shook my head. “I may be genetically a Greek, but I was raised by Odin and the Norse and I owe them this respect at the very least.” It wasn’t much, but I knew Odin would appreciate the gesture and it would make him happy for a moment. Even if I was still hurt and unsure of our future relationship, knowing that he had killed my parents.

  “He’s right,” the woman said softly and with a quivering voice. “You should consider taking a name like Smith or Johnson instead. The Greeks are easily angered.”

  “They don’t get to decide my surname,” I told them firmly. They might decide to take me from Midgard, but they wouldn’t take my surname or the love I held for the Norse from me.

  “You’re certain?” she asked me.

  “Yes,” I said and stared straight into her eyes, daring her to make another comment.

  “Okay,” she said with a sigh, “but don’t say I didn’t warn you.” She typed on her computer and then looked up at Troy. “Her documents will be ready in about twenty minutes.”

  “Thanks,” he said and then led me towards the odd circular openings. “Let’s see if we can get in contact with…”

  “Troy!” A deep voice bellowed.

  Troy and I stopped and turned to find a man at least six feet and six inches tall with broad shoulders and bulging muscles walking towards us. “Hercules,” he said in shock. “What are you doing here?”

  “I came to talk with Chief and he told me that you had something important to discuss with me,” the man said. He was filled with light and only had a tiny bit of darkness within him. He looked at me and his eyes widened. “You. You’re one of us.”

  How did he know?

  I looked at Troy and he said, “Hercules is Zeus’ son and he’s the demigod we told you we would try to find. Hercules, this is Alys. She’s Apollo’s daughter.”

  Hercules walked around me slowly and reached out towards my face. I wasn’t sure what he was going to do, but I held my ground and hoped he wasn’t trying to harm me. He rested his fingers against my cheek and whispered, “You look so much like Apollo and Artemis. You’re the light that was lost. We tried to locate you, but we couldn’t.”

  “I was rescued and taken off Earth to be raised after my father was killed,” I explained vaguely.

  “I need to take you to Artemis and Zeus,” he said urgently.

  “I don’t want to leave here,” I told him. “I want to live here.”

  “I just want to take you to meet them,” he explained.

  I looked at Troy nervously. “Troy?” I asked softly.

  “She’s your aunt,” he said, “And I think you should meet your father’s sister to learn about him and the rest of your family.”

  “Can’t you come?” I asked nervously.

  He shook his head. “No. I can’t. My blood prevents me from stepping foot on their ground.” How was that possible if I was allowed on Asgard? Odin must have altered things for me to live there. How much had been altered because of my presence on Asgard? Had I opened the possibility of them getting attacked by non-Asgardians because of my presence? Would it be different now?

  “I swear no harm will come to you,” Hercules promised.

  “Will you swear to return me here or to my home on Earth afterwards?” I asked him.

  He smiled. “That’s a pretty smart request for someone unfamiliar with the Greeks. Yes, I swear to bring you back to your home on Earth after meeting Artemis.”

  “Tonight,” I amended firmly.

  “Could we do tomorrow? I’m certain that Artemis will want a lot of time with you and Zeus will want time as well.” he asked me.

  “Fine, tomorrow night at the latest,” I agreed.

  “Great!” Hercules said with a wide smile of perfect straight white teeth.

  I was afraid to go, but I also knew that this was my blood family and it was important to meet them. I hugged Troy and whispered, “If my family comes, don’t tell them where I am. I don’t want them attacking the Greeks.” He nodded his head. “And I’ll be back soon.”

  He hugged me back and kissed my cheek. “Stay safe.”

  Hercules was scowling when I turned back around. He asked Troy, “Can we use your portal?”

  Troy walked towards one of the strange circular things and when he approached, a panel rose from the ground. He typed into it and blue light filled the circle. “It’s ready.”

  Hercules took my hand and said, “Come, let’s go fill our family with joy at your return.” I nodded my head and found myself smiling along with him. He led me into the portal and I glanced back to smile one last time at Troy, who looked sad.

  We stepped through the blue light and out onto a terrace with blue sky and wispy clouds all around. “Welcome to Mount Olympus,” Hercules said, “Home of the Greek Gods.” We were so far above the cloud line that it looked like the ground from a plane, or at least the photos I had seen of that. Was this really a mountain somewhere or an alternate planet like Asgard?

  “How do you get here aside from the portal?” I asked him.

  “I can travel here with a thought because my father gifted me with that ability, but I can’t bring others that way. They should give you the same gift once they’ve met you.”

  Did I want to visit Olympus? Would I visit it more than Asgard? What rift would that cause between Odin and the others? As much as it hurt to consider, perhaps it would be best to cut ties with the Norse.

  He led me to the right, around a pillar that had been in the way and I gasped. There were several buildings, but in the center stood a massive stone building with six pillars on the front of it. Everything was paved with stone and it looked like glimmering pearls. The lands stretched as far as I could see and evenly spaced were distinctly different buildings. There were trees around the grounds and beautiful flowers everywhere, but the buildings had their own unique landscaping. Off in the distance it appeared that there were floating islands, but I couldn’t be certain. There were also several strange creatures roaming around. He led me down a path and said, “Be wary of the edges, there are no rails and if you fell, you wouldn’t survive.”

  That was not something I wanted to hear. I stayed closer to him and tightened my grip on his hand. He had to notice, but he didn’t comment or look to confirm. A large horse with wings trotted up to Hercules and nudged his shoulder. “Hello, Pegasus,” he said warmly to the winged-horse. “How have you been, old friend?” The horse nickered and made odd noises with its muzzle. “I’ll catch up with you later,” he promised it, “but I am on urgent business right now.” Pegasus bobbed its head and flapped its wings to fly up into the sky. I covered my face with my free arm and held onto Hercules as the wind from its wings pressed against me.

  “A friend of yours?” I asked him.

  “He was a gift from my father when I was a child. He was like a friend to me when I lived up here.”

  “Why did you choose Earth?” I asked him.

  “Because I wanted to help protect the mortals from the
dangers that often left Olympus to go down there.”

  “So, you’re a hero?” I asked in shock.

  He shrugged. “Some call me that. I think as a demigod, it’s my duty to keep balance between the gods and the mortals.”

  Was that what I was supposed to do? Was that why I felt so compelled to leave Asgard when I discovered I was ruining their balance?

  We walked to the huge building and I stared in awe at the hand-carved designs. It must have taken someone a very long time to create this building alone. I walked up to one of the pillars and ran my fingers along the depictions of a great battle. I felt a connection to the story even though I wasn’t fully sure what was happening in it.

  “That’s your father,” Hercules whispered and pointed to the man in a chariot holding a spear. “His loss was greatly felt in Olympus and when we couldn’t find you, the family went into a panic. We felt it within us that you weren’t dead, but since you were lost to us, we had no idea where you were or what had happened to you. We feared the worst and feared that Apollo’s loss had simply clouded our judgment about you. Artemis locked herself in solitude for several years to mourn her twin brother’s loss and the loss of you. She will be overjoyed to meet you.”

  “What is she like?” I asked him.

  “You’ll see for yourself shortly.”

  “Will any of the others be unhappy with my return?” I asked and refused to move closer to the doors. I needed to know if my safety would be an issue inside the room. Not that I was likely capable of defending myself against a god who wanted to kill me, but I wanted to be prepared.

  He sighed. “Our family is constantly squabbling with each other, but on this topic I am certain. You are the lost child and your return will only be met with joy.”

  I hoped he was right. I also hoped they allowed me some freedom such as choosing where I wanted to live and who I wanted to date. I could definitely see them not wanting me to date a son of Odin. I shook my head to rid it of that thought. Troy and I would never be. Could never be.

  “Ready?” he asked.

  No.

  I nodded my head and he pushed open the marble double doors. They swung opened to reveal what I presumed was a council room with large chairs that resembled thrones, a table with maps and different pieces for battle strategies, and people in each of the thrones. They vibrated with power and I felt small compared to them all. It was similar to being around the Norse, but they often reined it in when I was there so I wouldn’t be overwhelmed.