Entangled Darkness

by Brandy L Rivers

  “We make it right. I’ll be by your side every step of the way. Same as you were when Dacia was in trouble, even when you couldn’t stand her.”

  “Thank you. And it wasn’t that I couldn’t stand her. With her history… I was worried about her hurting you. Clearly, I was wrong.”

  “You were, and you’re forgiven. Now go. You’ll feel better if you see what Liz is learning.”

  “Call me if you need me.”

  “You got it. Now go.” Preston shooed him.

  Robert stood and translocated to their room in the cabin. He took one look at the pouring rain and dug out something more appropriate for hiking in nasty weather. After changing into a pair of Tremaine’s track pants, t-shirt, and jacket, he threw on a pair of his sneakers before heading out to search for them.

  Thunder crashed as he stepped out of the cabin. Robert shook off a shiver as his heart raced, trying to shove away his biggest childhood fear. He trudged through the rain and mud, following what appeared to be a trail of beasts. The only thing that stopped him searching by translocating short distances was his inability of knowing what kind of beast to look for.

  Heavy raindrops hit the leaves, splashed in puddles, and plopped against the roof, playing an orchestra from his first real nightmare.

  When he was five years old, Father took him camping, since Mother was busy with his baby brother and sister. Ever since the twins were born, Mother had been more interested in them, leaving Robert to entertain himself.

  He’d been so excited when they hiked into the woods. Father told him all kinds of stories on their trek and while they set up camp. They fished, cooked, sang songs. Activities he loved to do with his father. He’d fallen asleep next to the campfire.

  Raindrops splattered on his eyelids. Robert bolted upright.

  Father gently squeezed his shoulder. “Shh, I need you to listen to me.”

  Robert nodded, eager to prove he was the perfect son.

  Broken branches caught their attention. Then Father whispered against his ear. “Run to the dock. Stay hidden.”

  Lightning lit up the night, revealing a man in a flowing cloak. “Branches of Emrys will burn!” screamed the stranger.

  Run, Father shouted in his head.

  He sprang to his feet and charged into the night, as quietly as he could manage.

  Thunder crashed, and Robert’s heart paused a beat as he spun around. Colorful lights flashed through the trees, and shouting in another language echoed between them. Old spells Robert couldn’t grasp.

  He started back, keeping to the brush and shadows to watch his father who expertly slung spell after spell.

  The rain poured down harder, and the bushes couldn’t protect him from the water or the cold. He shivered in his hiding spot, watching as the stranger leapt over the fire that sprang up, burning brighter whenever the lightning struck.

  His father pushed his hands toward the stranger, and the bolt struck the other man.

  The storm died down as Father wove spells to set the man ablaze. Fear snapped Robert into motion. He closed his eyes and imagined the dock. Next thing he knew, he was huddled under the worn wooden boards, waiting for the rain to subside. Tears streamed down his face.

  Later, when his father found him, he explained that there were some very bad men who wanted to wipe away all believers of Mystra. Robert still didn’t understand. Ceridwen Mystra was supposed to be the founding mage of the Silver Council, but Father made it sound as if she were so much more.

  Robert stopped in his tracks when he found Liz and Tremaine. A haze existed between him and them as if he were looking through a bubble reflecting light. Across the barrier lay a vastly different scene than the forest surrounding him. They all stood in the middle of a ballroom without walls. As if only the portion of the room existed within the bubble and nowhere else.

  The rain came down in torrents as Liz spun around, amazed. Confusion danced in her hazel eyes.

  “That’s it,” Tremaine told her, laughing, but the sound was distorted to Robert’s ears as if coming through water.

  He stood, transfixed, unable to decide if it was wise to walk through the spell, or stay put.

  Liz stopped spinning, her eyes finally locked on his. She ran toward him as the bubble burst and the forest reappeared. “Did you see?” she asked, breathless, exuberant.

  He nodded, still dumbfounded. “Like nothing I’ve ever encountered.”

  “That’s what they mean by Rift Benders. I can—we can—walk between the realms, bring pockets of other dimensions into existence. It’s crazy, but at the same time, it makes so much sense.”

  Robert focused on Tremaine, who seemed completely at ease. His earlier worries no longer straining his face.

  “That was certainly amazing,” Robert answered, looking up at the rain. A shiver traveled down his spine.

  Tremaine shrugged. “She taught me another way to look at it. I always feared it was only destructive, but she showed me how to stabilize the pocket.” He took Liz’s hand as he joined them. “She sees beauty where I only saw what didn’t fit. Now I see how the two dimensions intersect, and meld at times.”

  “Were you really in a ballroom?”

  “Yeah, we were. Though I’m not sure where. The people were—colorful.” Liz looked back into the clearing. “Their skin came in all different shades, their hair vibrant. As though they were painted in rainbows.”

  Tremaine watched her with a smile. “They used to frighten me when I found them. Though I think they’re echoes of those who came before. No one really existed there.”

  “It wasn’t our plane,” she stated. One shoulder lifted in a shrug. “We changed when we entered their realm. You were just as colorful. Like maybe our auras paint our skin there.”

  “And you have no clue what realm you were in?” Robert asked.

  Tremaine shook his head. “No way to know really. Supposedly, hundreds, maybe more, exist in different dimensions layered over each other. Rules here don’t apply elsewhere. I have no idea what we really saw.”

  “Can you take anyone?”

  Tremaine nodded. “Not always safe to, though. It’s how I nearly killed Jules so many years ago. I trapped him in a cavern. Brimstone lined the walls. I still don’t have a clue how he got out of there. I left him nearly dead. My only guess is that Rupert found him and brought him back.”

  “Rupert?”

  Tremaine nodded. “Rupert Lionmane. He was the same as me, but his magic leaned more toward that of a druid.”

  “And you?” Robert asked.

  “I’m somewhere in the middle, but I practiced both. I spent more time with mages and learned to fit in with them. Whereas he grew up with the druids, and never spent time with mages.”

  “He couldn’t pass for a mage?”

  Tremaine snorted. “I don’t know of any others who had the benefit of training as much with both sides.”

  Lightning struck nearby, followed immediately by thunder. Robert jumped.

  Tremaine turned to Liz. “Have you had enough training for the day?”

  Liz nodded. “Yeah. I have an idea of what we can do if they’re stupid enough to come for us.”

  Tremaine agreed. “Then we’re done. And I have some ideas to possibly track down some of the answers we need.”

  The rain petered out. Robert’s brow arched. “I’m curious. Did the rain start before or after you started playing with the magic?”

  Her brow wrinkled as she looked around. “After. I was dry while I was running and playing as a mountain lion.”

  “You shifted?” Robert asked with wonder.

  “I did. To a few things. I believe I could do more, but Trem wanted us to start on the rift magic.”

  “Which you’re learning as quickly as the other shapes.” Tremaine met Robert’s gaze, sympathy on his face. “Now let’s go back.”

  Chapter 16

  Robert took them directly to the bathroom. He turned the water on in the shower. Delicate hands caressed around his s
ides to quickly unzip his jacket. Tremaine stepped in front of him to pull the t-shirt and jacket from his body while Liz slid the pants down.

  “You don’t need to do that,” he groaned when Tremaine’s hand caressed up his chest and around the back of his neck to pull him in for a brief kiss.

  “Let’s warm you up.” Tremaine breathed against his lips.

  Liz laughed, a seductive sound. She slipped past them, already nude, and into the shower. “Sorry about the storm.”

  A radiant glow surrounded Liz. Robert glanced over and noticed the same glow around Tremaine. Their leftover magic hung in the air, teasing his senses, calling to something within.

  Robert’s chest fluttered when the warmth pulsed. He gripped the wall and breathed in deep.

  One side of Tremaine’s mouth quirked. “You feel it, don’t you?”

  “Feel what?”

  “Our magic, pushing… maybe pulling, at your own.”

  “Why is that?” Robert asked.

  He shrugged. “There are theories, old stories. The only thing they have in common is that our magic complements each other’s.”

  “It does?”

  “According to the tales.” Tremaine slipped his clothes off before combing his fingers through the dark chocolate waves. “I believe we can find some answers with your help.”

  Liz’s brow arched. She turned her head to look at Tremaine. “What answers?”

  “Why your father sent me, knowing they would teach me what I was and how to use my power. He knew but never said why.”

  Robert gripped his shoulder and pulled him into the shower with them. “Let’s warm up, eat something, and then we can figure out what to do.”

  “Yeah, first we need to remind you why you should enjoy storms,” Liz teased.

  Grinning, Robert closed the distance and captured her face for a slow kiss. She pressed tight, sliding her hands up his chest.

  “For you, I could get used to them,” he promised.

  * * * *

  Tremaine wanted to put the conversation off a little longer but knew that wasn’t wise. Sooner or later they’d have to deal with facts.

  Liz sat curled between them, reading one of Tremaine’s journals documenting some of what he’d learned from HARP. Tremaine could give Robert the books he’d given to Christian, but Christian managed to inherit nearly all mystic talents. Robert was a gifted mage, and like Liz, needed to learn how to tap into the other half of his magic.

  He’d been told hybrid mystics needed to learn from true mystics to find that power within, where pure mystics or mostly pure, could sometimes find it on their own.

  True mystics were rare. Old Lady Murdock may or may not help. She came and went as she pleased. He’d only heard about others. Robert was mage enough that no one questioned his magic. Though it seemed most mages wanted to believe hybrids didn’t happen.

  Tremaine had been staring at Robert for twenty minutes when he spoke. “Why are you watching me like that?”

  “Trying to figure out the best way to explore what mystic skills you can access. I think we need to have a true mystic help but finding Old Lady Murdock is not always easy.”

  Robert shifted uncomfortably. “Here’s what I don’t understand. Old Lady Murdock’s magic looks like mage magic.”

  Tremaine nodded. “True, but she’s so much more. She’s the most powerful mystic I’ve ever encountered. I think she might have been one of the first.”

  Liz set the journal aside. “First of what?”

  “Mystics were supposed to have come from another realm. Some place they destroyed. Remember Amethyst, and the Shadow Fae that stalked her?”

  Robert nodded. “Theory is they came from that realm. They destroyed their own planet to get rid of the Shadows. Supposedly, none of them realized that some of the Shadows escaped the same way they did. The only difference was they wound up in a separate realm entirely.”

  Robert shook his head slowly. “That would make her thousands of years old.”

  “Yeah, it does.”

  Robert’s mouth opened, then shut as his brow furrowed.

  Liz snorted. “She’s easily that old.” Turning toward Tremaine, she snorted. “The way she trained me to use my magic wasn’t at all like that of the mages. Don’t you remember how you took me the long way to better teach me to use my magic so the other mages wouldn’t be suspicious.”

  “Yeah, but at the time, I believed you were a mage who hadn’t had the benefit of proper training.”

  “Even if I were, that was true. Ms. Murdock did her best to show me what I needed to know to survive.”

  Robert drew a breath. “Do you think she knew what I was?”

  “Very likely. Though perhaps your father, or even your mother, had a reason for her not to train you. Not to mention in the academy, with the way you’re watched over by the instructors and other classmates, it makes sense they wouldn’t tell you.”

  “Besides seeing the future, some telepathy, and other mind tricks, what else am I supposed to learn?”

  “You know how humans supposedly only use something like ten percent of their brain, and the theory is if they could use more, they would gain psychic abilities? What if mystics use their whole brain? They can tap into things most people can only imagine. With the way you can translocate, I guess you could move forward and back through time with the right guidance. There are stories—”

  “Stop. That’s not important right now. You mentioned finding answers. What do we need to do? You know I’m with you every step of the way.”

  Tremaine nodded, but his heart sank. Some answers he wanted. Other solutions and knowledge scared the hell out of him. He learned long ago that Draecyn had ulterior motives for nearly everything he set in motion. If he knew… Shit!

  “Liz, I wonder if he knew what I’d find at Sinclair’s and expected me to take you to Wilhelm so you could learn to work with Robert.” He scrubbed his hand over his face. “Must have been a shock to learn I wound up with both of you.”

  “Hey,” Liz said firmly, turning toward him and hands on each side of his face, bringing his attention to her. “Who cares what he planned or thought. Okay? My heart belongs to you both. Does it matter how we wound up where we are?”

  Tremaine took her hand and pressed a kiss to her palm. “No. I wouldn’t change a thing. Doesn’t mean I’m not curious as to why.”

  Robert jumped back into the conversation. “Me too. Seems he told me certain things, you others, and Liz nothing. Why stay away from Liz if he suspected she was his daughter?”

  “I believe Draecyn was part of a group full of secrets miles thick. I’m willing to bet Old Lady Murdock is too. There must be something to prove it. He was big on documenting everything, but some items I couldn’t access.”

  Liz dropped her hands and shifted to face him. “Are you sure you want to know? I mean, does it change anything?”

  “Maybe.”

  She turned and walked away. Tremaine went after her, but Robert popped in front of her. “That’s not what he meant,” Robert told her.

  Flinging her hands up in disgust, she stepped back. “You sure about that? He’s full of doubt himself.”

  Tremaine turned her gently back to face him. “Not about us, only about Draecyn. If he knew, maybe he knew more that will help us deal with HARP for good.”

  “Whatever,” Liz snapped.

  He stared into her eyes. “Draecyn sent me on an assignment knowing Anthony and Jules were the faces of HARP. Why didn’t he tell me that? Probably because he knew they weren’t the real leaders of HARP. Instead, he only revealed that when I gave him a progress report more than a year into the assignment.”

  Her eyes narrowed.

  Tremaine continued, “Old Lady Murdock is involved too. She shows up at the weirdest times. There were times when I was young I’d see her but forget. Her face would be familiar, but until we stayed with her for some time, I couldn’t remember previous situations when I’d seen her. She was at Draecyn’s several t
imes I checked in with him on various missions, especially the HARP assignment. She was there just before I was taken by HARP. Then again with you at Sinclair’s, she could have stopped that fucking piece of shit, and didn’t. When she showed up at Wilhelm’s, they knew something. I still think there was more to the story he never revealed.”

  Liz pulled away. “She got the rest of them out. The old woman made sure you were where you could save me. I’m fine.”

  “But you didn’t have to suffer.”

  She laughed bitterly, glaring into his eyes. “I’d been suffering for years. That may have been the first time he raped me, but he beat me, whipped me. I was a child and had been through more than most people I know will ever have to suffer in a lifetime. So what if he took it a little further. I wasn’t hurt as bad as other times. At least, it’s over for all of us.”

  Tremaine took her arms and pulled her closer, his tone heated. “I don’t care about the rest of them. She watched over you but could have protected you better. She didn’t.”

  “What was she supposed to do, Tremaine? Really, what else could she have done? He did worse to her the night before you showed up. He meant to do it to me prior to your arrival. She was in bad shape the last time I saw her before I killed him.”

  Robert gently turned her face. “Arguing over the past will get us nowhere. We should go to Draecyn’s and see if we can find anything.”

  “I’m sorry,” Tremaine pleaded. “Seeing you hurt tore me up. Thinking about it twists me in knots. I’ve only ever wanted to protect you, Liz. Can you blame me?”

  “Of course not. But you didn’t know me, or the situation. Didn’t matter because you got me out of there. So don’t blame her. It’s not her fault. Eventually, he was going to find a way to do what he did.” Liz blinked as she looked away, her voice became quiet. “Let it lie in the past. We have the whole future.”

  Robert moved closer. “Liz, do you want to go to Draecyn’s?”

  She bobbed her head. “Yeah. I’m curious about my father.”

  Tremaine stepped back and squeezed her arm. “He was a complicated man. Though it doesn’t surprise me, he sacrificed himself for you. The secrets, those… I don’t have an answer for.”