by Lee Roland
“I don’t feel anything. Now. It was like indigestion for a while. Like something boiling in my body and . . . my brain. Abigail did something.”
“Oh.”
If she masked his power, it might show up at inappropriate times and places. I silently groaned. Unless she expected me to deal with it. The implications of that situation for an inadequate witch like me were mind-boggling. Not to mention he would probably be more powerful than me if punching a hole up through twenty feet of concrete was any indication. How would I handle the deplorable prospect of him having more power than me?
“Okay, so what happens now?” I truly didn’t know.
He drained the glass and stared at it for a moment. Then he said, “I’d like you to stay here. Stay with me. I don’t blame you if you want to leave, though. What do you want, Nyx?”
“I’d like to stay. If you can be honest with me. We really haven’t had a chance, have we?”
“I’ll work on it.” His lips twitched, as if he wanted to smile. He would not leave himself vulnerable yet.
“You better work really hard,” I told him. “Because the first deception and I’m out of here.”
We both sat silent for a while; then he rose and went back to the kitchen. He lifted the bottle he’d left on the counter and poured another. I frowned. Why was he drinking so much? I suddenly realized I had something he had not received. Healing. Yes, he had meds, probably painkillers, but Aiakós had punched holes in him, not to mention the battering he’d taken in the collapse of the garage.
“You’re in pain,” I said. “If I get something from Abigail to help, will you accept it? It’s better than drinking yourself into oblivion.”
He glanced at the glass, then at me. “Yes.”
It didn’t take me long to get my car, then go to Abigail’s and back. Abigail had no problem giving me a pain potion for him. When I brought it back to him, Etienne tossed it down like the glasses of whiskey and immediately became sleepy.
While he rested, I made the necessary calls to Single-Eye in San Francisco. Karen bubbled for twenty minutes about how wonderful my sister was and how she so wanted to meet her in person. Karen also became a highly paid manager and personal assistant. She could deal with my business and personal things in her usual competent manner. She could handle Harold, too. I’d miss it. I might have to fly out there occasionally, but this was the electronic age. Or Karen could bring things to me. She was ecstatic at the idea. Most business could be taken care of from Missouri.
I went in search of Darrow and found him in a gym. Men and women worked out on the floor, sweating and grunting like it really hurt. I plopped down beside him.
“Exercise at its best,” I said. “Watching someone else do it.”
Darrow chuckled. “Absolutely.”
I sat close so I could lean against him. I’d leaned on him so many times in past years it seemed right. Once, for a few brief weeks before I left him to go him, he and I had been lovers. Not in love, or at least I wasn’t, but very close. It wouldn’t have happened before I was ready to leave, but once I’d made the decision, he’d asked and been received in my bed. Only once, at that final moment before departure, had he said “I love you.” I did love him, but not like he loved me. It was a good memory, though, and one I cherished.
“You gonna hang around?” he asked.
“For a while.”
“That’s good. Boss man really likes you. Needs you. This place? You belong here. It fits you.”
“Seems that way.” I grinned. “Etienne might change his mind about having me around when he realizes I won’t do everything he says.”
“Nicky, if he doesn’t know that by now, he’s not as smart as I thought he was.”
The prospect of facing unknown problems and agony daunted me a bit, but life was full of those. Except they had a tendency to be magnified here in this place of magic and a door to other worlds.
Darrow nodded. “Dark moon is coming. That’s when crazy things happen. And other things have a tendency to come through the Zombie. We might get to fight. I kind of miss that.”
“Have you seen Herschel?” I knew he could take care of himself, but needed to check on him. I hadn’t seen him since we’d left the crush in the Barrows.
“Try the kitchen. He and the chef have become best friends. Chef says the dog is the only one who appreciates his culinary skill. Chef says they have an agreement. Big dog doesn’t pass gas or drool in the kitchen and chef feeds him all he wants.” Darrow laughed out loud with true amusement. “Etienne hasn’t seen the bill yet.”
Herschel was indeed lying by the wall in the kitchen. I sat beside him and laid my hand on his head. I wanted to thank him and tell him that I loved him, but it didn’t seem necessary. “I guess we’ve come a long way from the swamp, buddy. Lot of mystery around you. Maybe I’ll figure it out someday.”
Herschel sighed. I took that as an agreement of sorts.
I left Herschel, talked with Rocky a while, and went back to the apartment. I found Etienne sitting on the couch.
“How is it?” I asked.
“Still hurts, but it’s better.” His face had lost that pinched look and I didn’t see the bottle or a glass anywhere.
I sat beside him and he didn’t pull away. “Have you seen Dervick around?”
“No. I haven’t been out much.”
“I need to find him.”
“We can try where he was before. I’ll take you.” He hesitated. “If you don’t mind.”
Etienne showed me the way, but I had to drive. Though the pain in his arm had abated, he remained weak. We went to the place where I met Dervick the first time. The Bastinados were gone, so I couldn’t be sure he was there. I walked into the abandoned building. Etienne followed me.
“Dervick?” My voice echoed.
“Yes, sister.” He entered from another room. I thought he might take on the aspect of the first Dervick I saw, but he did not. He remained as I saw him in the parking garage, strong and fit. He gave me a warm smile and his eyes flickered with a tiny light. He was dressed more casually this time, jeans and a shirt.
“Will you tell me . . .” What did I ask him? What was it I wanted to know? How we were related and who—or what—he was. That would do to start.
“Of course. You and I, Nyx, have the same father by two very different witches.”
“And our father is . . . ?”
“Someone who lived upon the skin of this world in the days of early man. One of the Earth Mother’s children who is banished beneath her now. But those Hidden Ones are eternal and have been promised freedom in the future when man’s time is finished. Our father walks here at times. He is able to assume a human form. He is ancient and the most powerful of his kind. He said our mothers found him and asked him to give them a child. He did so.” He bared his arm to show me a bracelet much like the one I wore on mine. “Father gave us these, so we could speak to him if we wished. And to show our kinship with the fire. His fire. I’ve had mine all my life. You must be new to yours.” He held out his hand. “Let me show you.”
I stared at the hand of my supposed brother. Did I dare? Information on my father was something I really didn’t need. In childhood I’d been curious, but if my father had never shown any interest in me, why should I care now?
“Nyx?” Etienne expressed his concern.
“I understand, but I have to learn what this is about,” I said.
I wrapped my fingers in Dervick’s.
The world dissolved in flame. It burned high with light, but with no heat. Below me I saw rivers of molten lava. Above there was no sky, only more flame. I understood that it was a vision, since I could still feel Dervick’s fingers. A single word came, wreathed in fire.
“Daughter.”
I turned and saw . . . it could not be. Of all the impossible and improbable things. Enormous, bright as the finest gold ever forged and polished by man.
Dragon.
Chapter 36
I don’t kn
ow how long I stared. Time had ceased. My mind suddenly seemed too small to absorb the presentation of such an amazing thing. Of course I’d seen water dragons, Penrod and Chalice. This dragon was on a scale so massive it would dwarf them like Herschel would dwarf a flea. And it had wings.
“Isn’t he magnificent?” I heard Dervick’s words, but magnificent seemed too trivial.
The dragon turned its head and stared at me—saw me.
“No!” I couldn’t get my jumbled thoughts to wrap around it. I jerked my hand out of Dervick’s and the fire ceased. I stood not in the flames but in a decrepit hollowed-out building somewhere in Missouri. And it was cold. So cold I thought I would freeze. My teeth chattered. Etienne came and wrapped an arm around me and dragged me away from Dervick. He held the gun in his other hand, pointed straight at Dervick. I relaxed against him.
“Are you hurt?” Etienne asked. He didn’t look at me, but kept his eyes and gun on the possible danger.
Dervick himself stood watching us, silent and patient. I got the feeling that the bullets Etienne might send his way were of no concern to him. He’d told me as much. I wasn’t bulletproof. How could he be?
By the time my teeth stopped chattering, anger had risen to an astronomical level. I stood straight, ready for battle. And there was nothing to fight.
“What kind of illusion was that?” I demanded. It had to be a trick. I knew magic, but . . . was I so sure that my knowledge was complete?
“Illusion? You don’t believe?” He sighed. His mouth turned down and his shoulders slumped. “I wish I could be like him. I can’t. Neither can you.” He looked away so I couldn’t see his face. I heard deep sadness in those last words. Had he actually wanted to be able to change shape? To become like our supposed father?
“No. No. There are no . . . they don’t exist.” I crossed my arms and shook my head. Denial. I would remain in denial. I couldn’t make myself say the word.
Dervick gave a loud laugh, seeming truly amused by my rejection. “I understand. I was only a child when I received the revelation of my parentage. And in some ways, you are right.” His voice tightened and I heard the frustration there, too. “It might as well be an illusion for all the good it will do you or me. There are none of his kind here in this time and place, and will be none for the foreseeable future. At least not in that particular form. If we could only be . . .”
“Be what, Dervick? Beasts men would fear and try to destroy?”
“Perhaps.” His smile turned smug. “But now you know. Every time you use your magic and call upon the fire, you will hear his voice. And you will understand.”
“Why are you here?”
“My mother was an earth witch like yours. I can create some small illusions, as you saw when you first met me. I have built myself a rather luxurious nest I’ll show you someday. But I am different in ways you cannot see. I can do other things. I’ve tried to live, but I have no place in the world but here.” He held out his arms, palms up in a grand gesture. “This is where the magic lies. This place is a haven and a source. It called me.” He grinned. He’d turned boyish again. “And I have had some legal disputes with the authorities in Miami.”
“Get me out of here,” I said to Etienne.
“I am not your enemy,” Dervick called as we walked out of the building.
I heard a bit of a plea in his words, and loneliness. I turned back to him. Nest? Did he actually say nest? “We’ll talk again, Dervick.”
He laughed. “Anton. My name is Anton.”
“Okay, Anton. I don’t want to be your enemy, either.”
I didn’t speak as Etienne led me to the SUV and drove us back to the compound. When he parked the car, he asked the inevitable question. “Are you okay?”
Was I? I shuddered. “Yeah, I’m okay.” Dragons? Or bullshit and illusions. I’d added another problem to my list. Anton Dervick and his pronouncements of his heritage and my own would come right after dealing with my feelings for Etienne and keeping Marisol away from Aiakós. What Dervick had shown me might be—or might not. A dragon? It was certainly improbable.
I already knew two dragons. Both were very real. The thought of them taking on a human shape and fathering or bearing a half-witch child seemed ludicrous. But if I believed Dervick and the vision he’d given me, while I remained the Earth Mother’s child, I was not entirely human. I didn’t like that.
The Earth Mother had done something rare when she spoke to me directly in my dream, so rare even Marisol was jealous. Now I’d have to find a way to ask her about dragons. Etienne distracted me by sliding his hand in mine. I moved closer and kissed him as gently as I could.
He frowned. “Visions . . . dreams . . . nightmares. They’re not real. They can be lies. Talk about magic is basically all lies. The magic itself is real, but it injures everyone it touches. Now it’s in me. Like a . . . disease.”
Ah, yes. Get away from my problems and back to his. I wasn’t the only one dealing with revelation in my life. “I guess I understand. When I was a kid, magic was a plaything. Then I had to grow up and it became a weapon. It was never a way of life. I didn’t want what others wanted. To live with it every day, to let the study and practice consume me.”
“But it does, Nyx. It’s consumed you since you came to the Barrows. You may not study, but have you ever used magic on a day-to-day basis before you came here?”
“No, but it was always there. Not a way of life, but a part of me. And you have a lot to learn about magic.” To be safe, he would have to learn.
He held me tighter. “I love you, Nyx. From the minute I first saw you sitting at Laudine’s. When you came outside with me, it was all I could do not to grab you and take you away from her. And that’s something I never thought I’d say to a witch—or a woman.”
“I’m here, Etienne.” Did I love him? Probably. It wasn’t perfect. I simply couldn’t bring myself to say the words. But I thought I would someday. I kissed him to show him how I really meant it.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Lee Roland lives in Florida. She received an RWA Golden Heart nomination in 2008. To learn more about the world of Vicious Moon, please visit www.leeroland .com.
See how it all started in
the first Earth Witches novel
by Lee Roland,
VIPER MOON
Available now in print and e-book from Signet Eclipse.
The Barrows
July 21—Full Moon
Mama wanted me to be a veterinarian. She’d probably have settled for a nurse, teacher, or grocery store clerk. She never came right out and said, “Cassandra, you disappointed me” or “Cassandra, you have so much potential,” but I knew I’d let her down.
The idea of me running down a slimy storm sewer in the desolate, abandoned ruins of the Barrows section of Duivel, Missouri, probably never crossed her mind. The unconscious five-year-old boy strapped to my back and the angry monster with fangs and claws snapping at my heels were just part of my job. Maybe Mama was right—I’d made the wrong career choice.
I’m in good shape, but I’d run, crawled, and slogged through the sewer for over an hour. My chest heaved in the moldy, moisture-laden air by the time I finally reached my escape hatch. The glow from phosphorescent lichen gave me enough light to see the manhole shaft leading out of this little section of hell. Claws clattered right behind me and the tunnel echoed with slobbering grunts. This particular monster was an apelike brute with porcupine quills running down its spine and glowing green eyes.
Up into the manhole cylinder, two rungs, three . . . Roars bounced off the tight walls . . . Almost there—a claw snagged my slime-covered boot.
I jerked away and heaved myself out onto the deserted street.
Not good.
Clouds covered the full moon’s silver face, so my vile pursuer might actually take a chance and follow me. The Earth Mother has no power here in the Barrows, save her daughter’s light in the midnight sky. Maiden, mother, and crone, signifying the progression of life from cra
dle to grave, that ancient pagan female entity had called me to her service years ago. Now, in her name, I ran for my life. In her name, I carried this innocent child away from evil.
I’d managed to get off two shots and my bronze bullets hurt the ugly sucker, but a kill required a hit in a critical area like an eye. I could stop and aim or run like hell. I ran.
Its claws gouged out the asphalt as it dragged itself after me.
Under usual circumstances, I wouldn’t have gone below the street. I’m good at kick the door down, grab the kid, and run. This time a bit of stealth was required since the door guards carried significant firepower. I was definitely outgunned.
Most things living in the storm sewers were prey. The small creatures ran from me. This time I’d crossed paths with a larger predator determined to make me a midnight snack.
I’d parked my car on the next block, so I sprinted toward a dark, shadowed alley that cut between the three-story brick buildings. Derelict vehicles and broken furniture made my path an obstacle course as I threaded my way through the debris toward the pitiful yellow light of a rare streetlamp at the alley’s far end.
A coughlike snarl came from behind. The creature would leap over things I had to go around. I wouldn’t make it, and if I did, those claws would tear the metal off my little car like I would peel an orange. I’d have to turn and fight soon. I hoped I could take the thing down before it overwhelmed me.
Halfway down the alley, a door suddenly opened in the building to my left. A Bastinado in full gang regalia, including weapons, stepped out. Though technically human, Bastinados are filthy, sadistic bastards whose myriad hobbies include rape, robbery, and murder.
I had nothing to lose as terror nipped at my heels and gave me momentum. I rammed the Bastinado with my shoulder, knocked him down, and rushed inside. Drug paraphernalia and naked gang members lay scattered around the room. I’d crashed their party and brought a monster as my date. The Bastinado at the door certainly hadn’t stopped it.
