by Kiel Nichols
The fax started to chug. He went over and looked at the sheet. “As a matter of fact, I’ve just had a break.” He handed her the stack of files on the chair. “Here are the insurance fraud cases that Steve over at Nationwide sent me. I hadn’t had a chance to tell him no yet. Now I don’t have to. Give him a call and tell him that you’re gathering the information on them. Then get to work.”
Joanie saluted him then left the room. A moment later he heard the dreaded sound of his intercom. “Thanks a lot, boss.”
* * * *
Since the Seattle area had become so overpopulated, Gideon took to driving halfway up Mount Rainier to find a private place to practice the Waterfire.
Although spring was starting to peek its way into the valley, the mountain still maintained the briskness of winter. When Gideon first suggested practicing on Mount Rainier, Kristano insisted that he work within a protective circle. He didn’t trust Gideon’s unstable power being released mere miles above the flow of molten lava.
Considering that Raina’s house was in the path of the perspective lava flow, Gideon didn’t object.
Kristano established a “bubble” around Gideon twenty feet in diameter. No one could see in and nothing in the circle would burn. He also didn’t want to be responsible for burning down a section of Mount Rainier National Forest.
“Let’s start with something simple. Conjure a sword,” Kristano commanded.
“How?” Gideon asked.
“This is the easiest of all skills. Think of a sword in your hand, and it will be.”
Gideon closed his eyes. A moment later, a sword was in his hand. “Cool!” He said, laughing.
Kristano smiled. “Now, think it away.”
The sword disappeared. “That was way too easy,” Gideon said.
“Keep doing it until the action becomes automatic.”
The sword appeared and disappeared several more times. “I think I have it down,” he said. “What’s next?”
“Next we work on conjuring the Waterfire. Think of it as a well of flame within you that you need to tap,” Kristano was saying as he stood way off to the side.
Gideon took a long, slow breath then put his hands out. Nothing happened.
“Try to center yourself.” Kristano sat on the forest floor cross-legged and tried to demonstrate.
Feeling like an idiot, Gideon followed suit. He tried to picture flames dancing on his hand. He held his hand up, and although his palm was warm, there was no flame. He stood up again abruptly.
“This is not working. How come I’m able to pull in the power when I’m not trying?” He threw his hands out and when nothing happened, he shook them as though trying to loosen the magic out of them.
“It takes years to master the Waterfire. You haven’t even gotten control of your other power yet.” Kristano’s voice had a taunting edge to it.
“I can do this.” Gideon concentrated hard enough to sweat, but he couldn’t do anything more than create heat with his hands. The few times he managed the Waterfire, he was angry or scared. He couldn’t seem to recapture the feeling.
“I didn’t think you could do it anyhow. I’ll just have to make sure I keep a closer eye on Raina for you.”
Kristano’s condescension rankled.
“It’s not like you could do it.” Kristano twisted the knife.
This time when Gideon threw his hands out, flames danced off the tips.
“Ah, I thought that would do it.”
Gideon realized he’d been had. He was irritated, but not angry enough to lose track of how he was feeling. For the first time, he actually felt the power ooze from his body.
“I think I get it,” Gideon said. He stopped the stream, shook his hands out, then threw them out again. Fire once again danced from his fingertips.
“That’s only one area you need to practice. Creating it is easy.”
Gideon just looked at him.
“In comparison to controlling it, creating it is easy.”
Gideon stopped the flame. He was about to ask how to control it when a sword materialized in Kristano’s hand. He swung it toward Gideon’s head as though he was a major leaguer swinging for the cheap seats.
In defense, Gideon threw up his hands. Kristano went flying, almost exploding into the barrier.
“Oh, shit.” Gideon ran over to put the flames out, but before he could get there, Kristano stood up and snapped his fingers. His clothes were back to normal, as did the hair that caught on fire.
“Like I said, you need to work on control. Let’s go again.”
This time when Kristano swung the blade, Gideon was ready.
Chapter 13
It was a good thing that Raina’s work on the prophecy was coming along faster than her precognition. While she was in the shower, she’d had one quick glimpse of Adder in his office doing paperwork. She hadn’t been able to draw a vision since. “Did you say that you had no idea who the keepers are?” she asked Kristano on Thursday afternoon.
“No,” he said. “I was only allowed to know the first one so that I couldn’t unduly influence the meeting of the keepers.” Kristano was doing Tai Chi while Raina worked. It helped him relax.
“I’ll know them when I see them, though.”
They heard the front door open. “It’s just Bryce,” Raina said.
Bryce had stepped up his romantic campaign toward Raina, bringing her little gifts and flowers and stopping by throughout the week.
Raina knew that she’d have to figure out how to tell him that she wasn’t interested. She tried to before, but he left before he could hear it. Just thinking about it made her stomach queasy.
“You know you need to tell him,” Kristano said when he heard the footsteps coming down the hall.
Bryce stepped into the room and shot a dirty look toward Kristano. “I thought Gideon was here today?” Bryce asked.
“No, he’s following a lead. He’ll be back later.”
Kristano said, “I’m going to make some calls,” and left the room.
Tell him, now. You can’t afford to wait any longer, Kristano’s voice echoed in her head.
OK.
“Bryce, we need to talk,” Raina began.
Bryce sat down next to her and held her hand. “I was hoping you’d say that.”
Raina opened her mouth to speak, but Bryce put his finger on her lips, “Me first, OK?” He didn’t wait for an answer. “Raina, I love you.”
Raina was dumbfounded by what he said. She didn’t know how to respond.
Tell him the truth, Raina. It’s only going to get worse if you don’t. Gideon, feeling her discomfort, cued in on what was happening to her. Part of him wanted her to tell him to protect his brother from getting more hurt, but more imperatively, he wanted to stake his claim.
I’ll tell him enough to stop this, but I’m not telling him about you.
“Bryce, I don’t...”
He cut her off again. “I know you don’t love me yet, but I think you will in time.”
Raina pulled her hand from Bryce’s and said in no uncertain terms, “I love you, Bryce, but only as a friend, and that’s never going to change. Truthfully, I’m in love with someone else. It’s a real and forever kind of love.”
“But does he love you like you deserve?” Bryce looked toward the doorway that Kristano left through.
I love you with every breath in my body.
Raina smiled. Even under the circumstances, his words warmed her through. “Yes, he loves me,” she said softly.
Seeing the smile on her face, Bryce faced the realization that he lost her. He waited too long and this Kristano guy came along and scooped her up.
“I hope you’re not making a mistake,” Bryce said just as Kristano came into the room.
“I’m not,” Raina said with certainty.
“Sorry to interrupt, folks,” Kristano said. “But we just got a break in the case.”
* * * *
Bryce left right away, ostensibly to let them work on th
e case, but really to get away. Kristano could feel his pain as he left the house.
“I hope you know that he thinks you were talking about me,” he said. He allowed himself to go partially translucent to save his magic. If Raina had been able to see him at that moment, he would have looked like a ghost.
Raina blushed. “I know. I’m sorry I didn’t set him straight, but I didn’t want to put a wedge between Gideon and his brother.”
“I don’t care, but not being truthful might just bite you in the butt in the end.”
Raina shrugged. It was too late to worry about it at this point. She put the coffeepot on and went to pour herself a cup.
“You might not want to drink that,” Kristano said.
“Why?” Raina asked. “I feel like something the cat dragged in, I need the kick.”
“I don’t think it’s good for you,” Kristano didn’t want to tell her about the baby. He knew it would throw everything into chaos, if they even believed him.
Raina shrugged and poured herself a cup. “Most of the best things aren’t good for you. I need the boost of energy,” she repeated.
Kristano was struggling to decide what to do when Gideon got home.
The first thing Kristano said when Gideon walked into the kitchen was, “You were right. I checked out those names you sent me, and one of them was Air. We need to go see him.”
Raina sat at the table and took a sip from the coffee. It just didn’t taste right. “It’s a guy? I guess I just assumed Air would be a tiny, delicate woman.”
“No, remember, Adder was of the Air tribe also. All it means is that this man is full of power. Remember, his powers would have been activated when yours were.” Kristano shut off the coffeepot and dumped the remainder of the coffee down the drain. He made a mental note to pick up some decaf for the house.
“Then we really need to talk to him before Adder finds him,” Gideon added.
“He runs a Wiccan shop down on Twenty-Third Street,” Kristano said.
“A Wiccan shop, really?” Raina thought about it for a moment then shrugged. “At least he’ll be open to us.”
“Or he could be a total crackpot,” Gideon said. He stood directly behind Raina and touched her shoulder. She leaned her cheek onto his hand. “I don’t think Raina should come when we go talk to him.”
“Hey! I’m as much a part of this as you. I won’t be left out.” She took another sip of the coffee then pushed it away.
Kristano picked it up and put it in the sink. “Do we even know what we’re going to say to him?” Kristano asked.
“You’re the expert at this. What do you think?” Gideon asked Kristano.
“How am I an expert? You were the only ones I ever had to tell.”
“Why don’t we just wing it?” Raina suggested. She walked out of the room and down the hall. By the time the men caught up with her, she was putting on her coat. “Let’s go.”
* * * *
The Wiccan shop was located in a charming little house on Main Street. It was nestled between an Italian eatery and an insurance agency. There were pots of geraniums on the porch and a bolt of lightning carved into the door. The shop’s name, “Earthstorm,” was also carved into the heavy wooden door.
They stood on the sidewalk for a moment just looking at the store when Kristano saw the sign. “Look at the shop’s name. Air must know something about his destiny. Earthstorm is one of the powers he may or may not come into. Like your Waterfire, it completely depends on his mate.”
“His name’s Eric Bevan. We probably shouldn’t call him Air when we meet him. He’ll think we’re crazy,” Gideon said.
“Good point,” Kristano said as he walked up the stairs.
As soon as Raina stepped into the shop, she felt her nerves edge away. The store was pretty, but there was no reason why it should relax her so immediately. The shop itself was filled with knickknacks, books, crystals, runes, tarot cards, just about everything mystical under the sun. The air carried a faint smell of incense. There was no one in the store, not even a clerk.
Gideon helped Raina look around the shop. They looked at the collection of books, and Raina was surprised to find a wide selection of silly occult books like Love Spells, How to Become a Millionaire with Magic, The History of Vampires in America. After reading that title, she thought about Kristano. A moment later he joined them. She knew the moment he saw the book, because she heard him snort.
Raina laid her hand on his and whispered, “Think Adder’s in there?”
Kristano answered, “If he’s in there, I’ll eat my hat.”
Before Raina could come back with a smart-aleck response about him not wearing a hat, they heard voices coming from the back room.
“I know this will help your niece, Mrs. Britto,” a smooth male voice preceded the pair into the room.
“I’m not sure what magic you put into this,” an older female voice answered, “but you’ve never let me down before.”
“It’s not magic,” the man answered back. “It’s simple herbs.”
With that comment, an older woman and a strikingly handsome man came from the back room. He was tall, around six four would be Raina’s guess, and built whipcord-thin with black hair that curled slightly at his shoulders. As soon as he cleared the doorway, his head snapped over to look at them, and his step faltered.
His emerald eyes looked steadily for a long moment. Then he turned to Mrs. Britto again. “Why don’t you take that on the house today? If it works, you can pay me for it when you come back in.”
“Oh, I don’t mind paying for it now. Like I said, you never steered me wrong before.” She was reaching inside her enormous purse for her wallet.
The man put his hand on Mrs. Britto’s elbow and walked her toward the door. “Actually, something just came up. I’d prefer if you settle with me another time.” He gave her a reassuring smile. “I appreciate it.”
Mrs. Britto looked at the other three then reached for the door handle. “Well, if you’re sure. You take care now, Eric.”
“You, too, Mrs. B.”
As soon as the woman cleared the door, Eric shut and locked it. He also flipped the sign to close before turning around.
“I’ve been expecting you.”
The words were so startling that Gideon didn’t know what to say. Finally he asked, “You were expecting us? How?”
“You’re here about the magic. I knew as soon as I saw you.” He gestured to Raina. “I’m not very strong at scrying, but right after everything changed, I looked for the cause. I saw you.”
“Scrying?” Gideon asked again.
“I use a mirror. I’ve never been able to use water or even straight meditation to see. Frankly, I’ve never been good at it. I’m still not, although I find that I can do a tremendous amount of other things I didn’t know I could do.” Eric’s tone was casual, but the sheer volume of words showed his nerves.
Gideon wanted to understand what he was talking about, but just didn’t. “I don’t get it.”
Eric looked surprised. “You don’t know about scrying?” He sounded incredulous. “Scrying is a way of using a mirror or water to see things—usually the present or the future, but sometimes even the past.”
Gideon looked at Kristano in confusion. “I thought only Raina was able to do that?”
“The child of Air is the most diverse of all of you. He’s able to do a little of everything, but his real power is in magic.” Kristano looked at Eric steadily. “Isn’t that right?”
“Witch Extraordinaire at your service,” Eric said with a sardonic smile and a bow. Then he held out his hand to Kristano. “And you are?”
“I’m Kristano, your guardian.” Kristano took his hand. When he did, their joined hands glowed.
* * * *
Looking at their glowing hands, Eric’s stomach began to jump. He knew the power was real because he’d felt it coursing through his body. He even saw it in things he had done, but this was something totally different. He also felt that
he should hide his nerves. Looking into the startling golden eyes, he realized that he would be keeping no secrets from this man. “Holy shit.” Eric didn’t know what was going on, but he knew they were coming. He also knew danger was coming. He didn’t sense it from these people, but he knew it to be true nonetheless.
The other man and the woman were quite a pair. She was average height, but very slim and wore sunglasses inside the store. She had long, curly hair with one long stripe of white in the front. She looked a little like Rogue from the X-Men comic book series. Eric wondered if she was trying to make a fashion statement.
Unlike the woman, the man was a little frightening in his looks. He was bald with scarring beginning on his head above his ear and traveling down the left side of his face and, presumably, his body. He would have guessed that the man would have been fairly intimidating before the injury. After it, he was terrifying.
Eric turned to the couple. “And you are?”
“Raina Kallan and Gideon McConnell,” Gideon answered. “I run Phoenix Detective Agency, and Raina is a student of ancient studies.”
Eric gestured to the back room. “Shall we go back and have some tea? Actually, I might throw a bit of the Irish in mine. I consider myself closed for the day, and I have the feeling I’m going to need it.”
“I think I’ll stick with just the Irish itself,” Gideon said with a grin. “I’ve been through this exposition once before. I know I’ll need it.”
“Raina and I will just have tea,” Kristano added.
“Hey, what if I wanted a bit of the Irish, too?” Raina sounded a little petulant, and Gideon looked at Kristano oddly.
Kristano looked like he wanted to say something but just shrugged.
“You don’t like whiskey, Raina,” Gideon said softly.
“I know,” she whispered back, “but he’s been on my case about what I’m eating and drinking for a week.”
Gideon looked concerned. “What’s the matter with her? Is she sick?”
“No,” Kristano said so immediately and sincerely that Eric believed him. “I just know she’s getting run down, and I’m worried about her, that’s all.”
