Entangled Darkness

by Brandy L Rivers

  “Dad will be back.”

  “Karl won’t do a damned thing to free your father. He doesn’t care about us. Don’t fool yourself.”

  “Karl cares about us. His wife is a witch. Their son is neither mage nor witch. He isn’t like the men who came. Karl will help.”

  “Then he’ll wind up dragged away the same as your father.” Mother turned and walked out the door, slamming it shut.

  Tears slid down Monique’s face. Mom was wrong. Karl would help.

  * * * *

  Fear and worry tore through Erik as he watched the house next door. He couldn’t stand the thought of Monique frightened and scared.

  Two Silver Council mages walked up the steps to the DeSandre house. They went in and several minutes later dragged Armand out, who wasn’t fighting. Monique’s father was the enchanter who supplied magically enhanced clothing to everyone he knew. He was also an acclaimed designer. His line of clothing had been picked up by several major stores for normal humans.

  Once the vehicle drove away with Armand in the back, Erik hurried through the house. He found his father in the kitchen on the phone.

  “Yes, I understand that. However, he’s not the one who committed the murders…Of course I know that. Draecyn, you need to get your ass out here and clear Armand DeSandre. You know damn well he didn’t commit the murder the damned Council is trying to accuse him of.”

  He waited patiently. Father turned toward him. One corner of his mouth tipped up. “Yes, yes, hang on, Draecyn. I need to talk to my son a moment.”

  Placing the speaker against his shoulder, he smiled. “Go see Monique. Just be careful. Vivian is bound to be in a mood, and you may not be welcome.”

  His father placed the phone to his ear again. Erik slipped through the back door and hopped the fence. Vivian liked Erik most of the time. Though whenever the Silver Council pissed her off, she went through stages of not trusting him or his father.

  Karl Mortale was a Silver Council Enforcer. Erik’s mother, Tyra, was a medium and a witch. Dad hid her true talent from the Council because they weren’t so accepting of Other casters. And being a Deathcaller often put one under suspicion.

  Erik had been enrolled in Mythra’s academy, until they learned of his gifts with the dead. He was immediately expelled, though Draecyn Montgomery fought to keep him enrolled. It was deemed he would cause too much of a disturbance in the other mages, so they sent him home.

  He’d been disappointed for a time. Monique had tried to convince him he should hate the council, but his father was right. You can’t change their opinion if you don’t try.

  Vivian and Tyra’s friendship was Erik’s biggest saving grace. Monique had been his best friend since the moment they met. His father was the problem, but Tyra could usually convince Vivian not all mages were evil.

  Erik whispered the spell to silence his movements before climbing the tree and hopping onto the eave in perfect silence. With the Council taking Armand away, Vivian would likely ban his whole family from the house. Luckily, she couldn’t change the wards to keep him out. And what she didn’t know, wouldn’t hurt anyone.

  He settled against the wall and whispered, “Cassandra, please come here. I need an extra set of eyes.”

  The ghost had passed away at the age of fifteen, sixty years before. She’d called this house home, though he had yet to get the whole story from her.

  She appeared before him with her big doe eyes and rosy cheeks. “Monique is crying. Her mother is horrid. And her dad is gone.”

  He smiled slightly. “My dad’s already working on getting Armand out. Is Monique in her room?”

  “Vivian is downstairs yelling at someone on the phone.”

  “Good to know. Thank you.”

  “Take care of her.” Cassandra waved before fading from view.

  Erik made it to Monique’s window and slid it open. He climbed in. Her dark eyes met his and the corners of her mouth lifted slightly.

  He wove the silencing spell before crossing the room and sitting on her bed. “Saw what happened. Dad’s calling Draecyn. Your father will be back.”

  Monique launched herself at him. Her arms went around his neck, knocking him onto the bed. “What if the Council won’t release him?”

  “Give them time. There are bad mages, but they aren’t all bad. Look at my father.”

  Her eyes narrowed. “He’s lucky the Council hasn’t learned your mother is more than a medium. Or that he can hear the dead now.”

  “Not like me,” Erik muttered. His dad heard murmurs, not real words. And his mother saw the dead and could talk to them, but that was as far as it went.

  “You’re special, Erik. You always were.” Monique smiled.

  He brushed her tears away. “My dad will get your father off the hook.” He’d heard the conversation the night before. Apparently someone accused Armand of weaving enchantments meant to kill his clients. Dad also mentioned the people who died shopped both at Armand’s shop and at another mage named Benicio LaPorsche. They both designed and enchanted clothing, but the mage couldn’t weave anything close to what Armand could. Dad believed Benicio was the one to set him up. None of the dead were wearing Armand’s clothing at the time of death.

  “How do you know that? No one is going to listen to your father on this matter.”

  “He’s talking to Draecyn Montgomery. The current Magister. He’ll send someone who can clear your father. Be patient.”

  “I will, but Mom...” She laid her head against his chest, and he rubbed her back, settling in to hold her close. He hated seeing her hurting, hated knowing his view would never match hers.

  And still, he already loved her. They’d been neighbors as long as he could remember. And in the last couple years he started to notice her in ways he’d never had before.

  It was more than a crush. She still thought boys were dumb, but she was twelve and he was fourteen.

  “I’m here to listen if you need,” he murmured.

  “You always are.” She sat up slowly and scooted to the headboard. He joined her and settled back.

  A smile lit her face. “You always do. Just sit with me. Feels better with you close. Like my world might not fall apart.”

  “I’ll sit here as long as you want,” he promised.

  “What happens if he doesn’t come back?”

  “Don’t know, but we won’t have to find out. I bet Draecyn sends his best enforcers to deal with the case.”

  “They don’t care about an enchanter. Why should they?” She huffed. “We’re in the way.”

  “You aren’t. My father doesn’t think that. He’s a mage who married a witch and medium. He loves me, no matter how dark my talent runs. Not all mages hate anything different.”

  “He’s the exception to the rule. And at least most of the time you can pass for a mage.”

  “Not always,” he muttered. “Doesn’t matter. The world is changing. Sooner or later, the boundaries will fall. Just a matter of time.”

  “The sun has a better chance of going dark than mages changing their opinions.”

  He smiled, running his fingers through her silky mane. “We’ll see,” he murmured, closing his eyes and breathing in her floral scent.

  “Hope so, but I don’t have your faith.”

  “Maybe one day.”

  * * * *

  Fear and rage rolled through Vivian as she dialed Kjell Emmalyn’s number. Several rings later, her godmother answered. “Good evening.”

  “Did you hear the news?” Vivian demanded. “The blasted Council took my husband for a crime he would never commit.”

  Kjell sighed. “I’ve told you all along that Armand shouldn’t serve the mages. The foolish man continued to compete with an upstanding mage. Benicio’s business is floundering because everyone realizes an enchanter can provide better protection than a mage. It was a set-up.”

  “I know that. But what do I do? How do I get him back?”

  “I’m not sure you can,” Kjell answered. She let
out a sigh. “You could try going to the Headquarters and demanding justice be sought. Of course, that may not go over well. Mages don’t want to believe their kind are capable of breaking their own laws.”

  “They do it every damned day,” Vivian sneered.

  “Of course they do. Which is why Armand has very little hope of surviving the trial to come.”

  “No! He’s everything to me. I can’t lose him.”

  “But the reality is you will very likely lose him. Start preparing for his death now. It will make it easier when the inevitable happens.”

  Crying, she hung up the phone.

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