by Briar, Robin
“Having the time of her life as usual, entertaining the mountain climber. I don’t sense anybody watching the place right now, but then I wouldn’t if they have those tattoos. If there are werewolves nearby, they’re being inconspicuous. Maybe waiting for one us to show up. I’ll head outside when Erik leaves and see what I can shake out of the woodwork.”
I’m talking to Saffron on our magically networked phones while getting dressed in my bedroom. She teleported to the hidden apartment directly from Mason’s car.
She’s the only member of our coven who feels confident enough casting that spell based on a mental image. Not even Candice would attempt it without a teleportation circle securing the destination point, but she’s flying into the city as we speak.
She’ll still get here a lot sooner than Mason can drive.
“The two werewolves in my home were a surprise, but it’s strange, Saffron. You would think that would upset me more, but it doesn’t. Not even a little bit. All I can think about is Trent right now. He’s downstairs, still naked because he couldn’t care less about wearing clothes. What the bloody hellions is wrong with me?”
“You clearly hit it off. I still can’t believe the two of you were able to fill up the quicksilver pool that quickly.”
I close my bedroom door. I’m sure Trent has ears even more sensitive than Mason’s. There’s no telling what he can hear from downstairs, even with the door closed. I cup the phone and lower my voice for good measure.
“That makes two of us. It was so primal. I mean, it’s like that with the Mason too, but loving as well. This was much baser. More urgent and needful. Like there wasn’t really a choice in the matter, especially once he changed into a half-man, half-wolf.”
“Well, there was an urgent need for the pool to be filled again. Could the stakes have been ramped up for that reason? Maybe that’s why you’re still keyed up even now?”
“I don’t think that’s it, but I will say this. The pool was hungry. Once I cast Preserve the Lust, there really wasn’t any quicksilver left. When the tendrils latched on to me, they took over my entire body. Resistance wasn’t an option. I had zero freedom of will, unless I went along with it.”
“The pool does have an appetite,” Saffron says, “especially when it’s empty. I should have warned you. We were moving pretty quickly at that point and it didn’t occur to me. Sorry about that, Jessica.”
“No problem, Saffron. I was concerned about Trent’s werewolf control for a moment there, but he held it together.”
“Thinking about it now, however, maybe that’s why you still feel so horny. It could be a residual side effect of being connected to the quicksilver pool so completely. I wouldn’t be surprised if your bond to the pool is even stronger now.”
“That might explain something else then,” I say. “I was able to cast spells wordlessly again. Until now, I’ve only been able to do that with Mason. Isn’t that only supposed to happen when I’m in love with a man? So what, do I love Trent now too?”
Saffron doesn’t say anything. The silence continues long enough that I wonder if we’re disconnected.
“Saffron? Are you still there?”
“I’m here. I don’t know what to say, Jessica. That’s a question only you can answer.”
Strange. Saffron doesn’t normally deflect like that.
“I don’t know how to answer that question. I just don’t feel the same way toward Trent as I do toward Mason. If I can only cast spells wordlessly when I love a man, then I don’t see how my feelings for Trent would qualify. They’re more instinctual, almost devoid of emotion.”
“Almost?” Saffron asks.
“Well, there is one emotional component. But it’s small. Insignificant.”
“And what might that be?”
“Well, I may not have told you everything that happened between Trent and I under The Vault.”
“Then perhaps you better do that now,” Saffron says, stern now.
A part of me wishes I were talking to Candice.
“Well, shortly after we teleported, I tried to kill Trent while he was still weak. For all the good it did me. There was a hole through his gut, but he was still able to overpower me. I felt pathetic. I couldn’t beat him with speed or strength, but I wanted to beat him somehow.
“So I kissed him. I did it to catch him off guard, and it worked. Really well, actually. Much better than I hoped. But then something else happened. His cruelty melted away. Completely. Suddenly he was a different person. Gentle. Vulnerable. And then…”
“One thing led to another. You are the Maiden, after all. I won’t act like I’m even a little bit surprised.”
“That’s how Felix found us when he opened the slab entranceway.”
Saffron sighs. “It appears you’re emotionally invested in two men now, Jessica, and they’re invested in you. I know Candice will agree with me on this point, but if you have to choose between them, pick Trent.”
“What makes you say that?”
“Love can be such a complicated emotion. It’s fleeting at the best of times. You’re better off with Trent in the long run, especially considering how quickly you and him were able to fill up the reservoir.”
“I’m confused. So you don’t think I’m in love with Trent?”
“I think you’re connected to Trent, possibly even magically fused to him in some way by the quicksilver pool. I’d have to examine you both at the same time to know for sure. But love? There are many ways to fall in love. It doesn’t follow any rules and it’s certainly not convenient.
“You showed a vicious man tenderness. You saw him as something other than he appears, and you also appreciated that quality. It might even be how Trent has always wanted to be appreciated. That’s going tug at his heart whether he realizes it or not.
“Evil men can be turned by that alone, Jessica. Trust me, I know. You snuck around Trent’s defenses, and you did it in a warlock’s private sanctum. A space beneath The Vault that Felix probably forged out of cruelty.”
There’s a short pause before Saffron keeps talking.
“Jessica. That’s it! That’s why Felix didn’t kill you right away. You’ve desecrated his private sanctum.”
“I what?”
“You introduced a genuinely tender emotion into his place of power. That’s like poison to him. It weakens his magic grasp on a fundamental level. It erodes his connection to whatever reservoir of magical energy he stores there.”
“I can do that?”
“Yes, maybe even you specifically. A Maiden. Especially a Maiden who isn’t aware of what she’s doing. Your magic isn’t bound by normal constraints, Jess. It’s more wild and unpredictable. Tell me, what happened after that?”
“Felix tried to convince Trent that I was merely seducing him so that he would lower his guard and I could get the upper hand.”
“That makes perfect sense! He needs to corrupt the sincerity of your gesture. That’s one way to purge the stain of your connection to Trent. If he succeeded, it would have cleansed the emotional bond you and Trent formed in his private sanctum. That bond is a blight on his domain. This all makes sense now.”
“Are you sure? My gesture couldn’t have been that sincere. I was trying to get the upper hand on Trent. My plan was to stab him with the silver spike the first chance I got.”
“And did you get that chance?” Saffron asks.
“Well, that’s when Felix opened the chamber.”
“So there weren’t any opportunities before that point?”
I pause before replying, thinking about the situation again.
“Okay, there may have been a few.”
“That’s what I thought. You were enjoying the connection to Trent, the excitement of it. Even the discovery that there was more to this man than you thought. Felix would have picked up on that right away. His private sanctum is functionally the same for him as the quicksilver pool is for us.”
“And that’s why he didn’t kill me? I don’t know, Saf
fron. It certainly felt like he wanted me dead. The way his snipers were shooting at me after we leapt out of the building. I would have died if I hadn’t casting Maintain the Flesh so many times.”
“About that. There’s a much more efficient spell Candice and I can teach you for repelling bullets. I think Felix assumed you knew the spell I’m talking about. He probably thought we taught it to you already. After you were shot, did the snipers keep shooting?”
“No, but we were pretty far away by that point.”
“It wouldn’t have mattered. Those rifles would have been augmented with magical accuracy. If I’m right, I think they stopped shooting the moment you were wounded. They weren’t expecting that.”
“How can you be sure?” I ask Saffron.
“I’m not, but I’m pretty sure. Felix wants you alive to undo the blight of your emotional connection on his private sanctum. He can do that without Trent, but it would work better if you were both alive, kind of like making an anti-toxin from the poison of the snake that bit you.”
“Then shouldn’t Trent and I get away from each other?”
“No. Felix wants to isolate you from Trent, before the connection you formed with each other, in his private sanctum, strengthens even more. Much like he tried to do already, locking you away in that apartment. You’re stronger together than apart. Not only that, but Trent will protect you.”
“So will Mason,” I say.
“Not like Trent can. He’s stronger than Mason. You need to stay very close to Trent right now, Jessica. This is not a suggestion.”
“Are you ordering me to stay with him?” I ask.
Saffron pauses before answering.
“No, of course not, but if I’m right, then we have a real chance to strike a lasting blow at Felix. Had I known what happened between you and Trent earlier, the last time we talked, I might have figured this out sooner. No piece of information is too small, Jessica. You must know that by now. Please share everything with us.”
Saffron is right to scold me. I kept that piece of information from them on purpose. I really need to stop doing that, even if I’m embarrassed or surprised by own actions. In fact, especially then. Candice and Saffron are my coven, after all. I may have wanted a break from it all, but that’s over now. We’re in danger now, and it’s all because of me.
Still, if we’re going to share everything, that needs to be a two-way street.
“How do you know Felix?”
I keep the question simple. I wish we were talking in person rather over our magically linked phones. Then I could read the expression on her face.
Felix talked about Saffron like they know each other from long ago. Saffron has been talking about Felix the same way during this conversation. I can’t shake the feeling that there is more going on here than I know.
“It’s much like you already suspect. Felix and I were lovers.”
Okay. That was honest. No hedging. No minced words. She just came right out and said it.
“I’ve known Felix for a long time,” she continues. “Longer even than Candice, and I recruited her when she was still mortal.”
“How does the warlock stay alive so long? I only know how much work goes into keeping the three of us young. It takes all of us working together to make it possible. How does Felix manage to do it on his own?”
“I don’t know, Jessica. Felix and I were lovers for over one thousand years, but not constantly. It was off and on a lot. He knew I was a witch. I knew he was a warlock, but it was mostly about the sex. We rarely shared our secrets with each other. Too independent, I guess. I didn’t even know about The Vault until recently, twenty-five years ago, when we collaborated on a project together.”
“No!” I say, putting a hand over my mouth too late to muffle it. “Do you mean Felix is Trixie’s—”
“Father? No. Definitely not. Felix is a lot of things, but he would never have sex with his own daughter. He seduced my daughter, not his own kin. He seduced Trixie because he wanted to drain her potential and keep it for himself. No, Felix isn’t her father, but he knows her father. He actually introduced him to me. Well, pointed me in the right direction is more accurate.”
“Wait. Let me get this straight. Your lover introduced you to another man, and that man became Trixie’s father?”
“Yes,” Saffron says.
“Should I ask?”
“It’s not complicated. Felix wasn’t my lover any more. We had broken up decades earlier, when he was drawn to another woman. There’s more to it than that, but suffice it to say for now, I was over him. Seducing my daughter, however, was a betrayal.
“I’m only telling you this because events are still moving quickly and we can’t talk in person right now. That’s how I know Felix. He’s very old. Maybe even older than me, I’m not sure. What I can tell you is what I’ve learned about the man during the last five years.
“The Vault has been his place of power for longer than I’ve known him. Before North America was really settled by anyone other than Native Americans. Maybe Felix came over with the Vikings, it’s hard to say, but he’s very invested in that place.
“If you spoiled his place of power, even a little bit, then he will definitely want to set it right. Not with half-measures or shortcuts. He’ll want to fix it properly, unweaving what has been woven according the rules of magic and manipulation. Two areas in which he excels.”
That’s when I remember what I almost forgot to write down. The entire sequence I committed to memory. The string of numbers on the chamber slab directly across from the one in which I emerge with Trent. I say them to Saffron.
“What’s that?” Saffron asks.
I grab a pen and pad of paper from my night table and repeat the numbers, writing them down as I speak.
I repeat them to myself again, looking at what I scrawled on the paper. Making sure they match up before answering Saffron’s question.
“These are the numbers from inside his private sanctum. All the chamber entranceways had numbers on them. This was the only set I memorized before Felix darkened the hallway.”
“Repeat them back to me,” Saffron asks.
I do, reading them off the sheet this time. I can hear her writing them down as well. Then she repeats them to make sure they’re correct.
“Jessica. Do you have an atlas or a map in your house?”
“Yes, in my library. Why?”
“Grab it. Don’t use the internet—Felix might be monitoring it as well. These numbers are a set of coordinates.”
12. Wolf in the Hand
Kumi and Trent have been busy downstairs while I was on the phone. They’ve already wrapped up the werewolf bodies in plastic and cleaned the floor with bleach. Piper slept through the entire ordeal. In fact, she’s still sleeping.
Trent assures me that a long, comatose sleep is normal when young werewolves shift. Their bodies aren’t used to the change and so it really taxes them.
I managed to find some old clothes that fit Trent, which actually turned out to be pretty easy. I have a steamer trunk full of clothes that belonged to my father, albeit from the 1920s.
It was casual wear back then, but they look almost formal now. To be honest, they look really good on Trent despite being dated. Trent and my dad were definitely of a similar body type. Freud would have a field day with that.
We carry the werewolf bodies into the aqueduct tunnels behind the door that my apothecary hides, and then leave Kumi alone with them. I know what she’s going to do, but that’s not an ability she’s prepared to share with Trent yet.
Suffice it to say, it will get very hot down there when her foxtails come out. There’ll be no trace of their bodies when she’s done. Not even the bone will be left behind.
Trent and I sit down in my library and pore over the most current atlases I own. I share what Saffron told me regarding the coordinates and we start working together.
Sitting at a table across from each other is the most civilized we‘ve ever been, but I s
till can’t help but feel aroused by his proximity, especially in those old clothes.
His scent is fuel for my libido, but really it’s everything about him. A heady musk mixed with a dated style of clothes. Why is that so exciting? I do my best to remain focused on the task Saffron gave me.
We track the latitude and longitude, which turns out to be here on the coast. Not that far from the city. It’s a mountain range, one peak in particular. A tall, inaccessible spire. Saffron was right. The numbers are coordinates. It would be too much of a coincidence otherwise.
I’m certain that this is the mountain I saw in my vision during that last orgasm with Trent. I descended on this peak from high above and floated down through the trees until reaching the lowest point of the valley.
That’s where I found a pool of clear water and gazed upon a likeness of myself. A version of me with red eyes, right before I fell in the water.
It would seem I had a vision about the coordinates I memorized before I knew they were coordinates.
Kumi joins us shortly after we make this discovery. She looks no less composed, but definitely smells like fire.
“There,” I say, pointing to the map. “These are the coordinates I memorized from that slab entranceway beneath The Vault.”
Kumi leans in and takes a closer look.
“And you mean to go there?” she asks.
“I do. Not only that, but I’ve seen this place before.”
I look at Kumi with a focused stare, hoping she understands my meaning. I’ve seen this place in a vision. She nods, knowing exactly what I mean.
“This looks like a mountain. Are you going to climb there?”
“I am, but it’s not going to be easy. It’s steep, treacherous even. I would need to go with somebody who knows what they’re doing. An experienced climber.”
“Erik? Trixie’s Erik?”
“Who else?”
“He certainly knows what he’s doing, but if Erik is going, then Trixie will want to come too. What about Candice? Maybe she can fly there instead. Wouldn’t that be easier?”
“I’ll mention it to her, but something about this place is calling to me, like I have to see it myself.”
