by Ivy Asher
“Hello there, little caster. You’ve certainly been a hard one to pin down,” the lamia smiles flashing just enough fang to leave no doubt as to what he is.
He’s slightly taller than I am and possesses an angelic beauty, just like all the others I’ve encountered. I’ve never seen a female or even a fat fanged fucker. Either lamia are super picky about who can be in their club, or being a lamia makes you stone-cold gorgeous.
I scan the four lamia surrounding me, all of them have brown hair and various shades of alabaster skin. Each of them wears a confident smirk, and I can see the dismissal in their eyes. It’s okay though; underestimation always works in my favor.
“Aww, I’m sorry. If I had known you were looking for me, I would have sorted out your death wish sooner,” I wink at him and watch amusement flicker over his face.
I call on the runes for my short swords, and they flash solid in my hands. The amusement blinks out of the lamia’s expression and is replaced by intense indignation.
“Now, now, little caster, don’t be like that. Be a good girl. I promise we don’t bite...much.”
The four lamia titter at the lame joke as they close in on me.
“Could you be any more unoriginal? Really, you don’t bite much is the best you could come up with? How disappointing. I’d tell you to work on your lines, but you’ll be dead soon.”
The lamia furthest to the left spontaneously combusts into flames. The unexpected inferno makes everyone freeze, and I hear heavy footsteps pound against the pavement behind me. I recognize the cadence of Aydin’s giant stride, and he saunters up to me, fireballs alight in his palms as he takes in the scene.
“Well, look at you Little Badass, how did you know I was itching for a good ashing?” Aydin remarks, excitement and anticipation sparkling in his gaze.
“I’m an excellent gift giver. It’s one of my many shining qualities,” I deadpan.
“Why are we just standing around? Let’s do this.” Aydin’s fireballs begin to grow, and I watch, envious.
“You really need to teach me how to do that.”
“Come home with us, and I will,” Aydin tells me with a wink.
Before anyone else can so much as move, Aydin throws a ball at another lamia. It misses and explodes against a wall, and the magic fizzles out. I lose track of what he does after that as two of the lamia descend on me in a flash. I twist and dodge their sharp claws as I slash and stab with my swords to try and create an opening.
Based on the fireballs Aydin’s throwing, I deduce that’s one way to take them out. I’ve always had to remove their heads. Before my runes and magic armory showed up, I would force my power into the fanged fuckers. It would turn them to ash immediately, but I could never quite master how I did it.
Claws skate across my back, and my magic surges inside of me. I twist and slam my short sword down, and the blade takes a forearm and hand clean off. I follow through with my other sword, and the lamia’s head tumbles from his body. I twirl around and catch the chatty lamia with a blade to the stomach.
“Faron’s coming for you. Your free days are numbered. My sire will own you soon enough.”
My blade slices through his neck, cutting off any more bullshit threats.
I turn to see if Aydin needs help, and find him leaning against the hotel wall. He stands there his arms crossed, one foot on the pavement, the other on the stucco of the wall. He looks like he doesn’t have a care in the world.
“Well done, Little Badass, you went right for the kill each time, no hesitation.”
I roll my eyes. “Yeah, I’ve been doing this since I was fourteen, but I’m glad I could entertain you.”
Aydin rubs the back of his neck and takes me in. “You’re this fucking powerful, and you don’t even have your full magic yet,” he shakes his head and snorts. “Are you going to keep running, or can we move past that and go the fuck home?”
I stare at him not sure what the answer is. It’s clear by now that running is only delaying the inevitable. I may hate how this whole situation played out, but I’ve lived most of my life wishing I had answers. The road to understanding is laid out in front of me, but it’s paved with an asshole of an uncle and his half hostile coven of paladin.
I start walking toward the bright lights and bustle of the Vegas Strip.
“Where are you going?”
“My apartment. You going to come help me pack, or what?”
11
I push the button to call the elevator. I usually take the stairs, but after the night I’ve had, I’m dead on my feet. The doors open, and I drag myself in. My floor lights up with a ding, and moments later I’m stumbling into the apartment. There’s a black duffle bag on the kitchen table, and I walk over to it and unzip the top. There’s a note inside.
Little Warrior,
Here’s your cut. Sorry I couldn’t stay, but business calls. I’ll be out of contact. I’ll call when I’m back.
Talon
I huff out a sigh and look around. I’ve lived here for five years now, but it still doesn’t feel like home. When Talon offered me the deal to train and fight for him, he did it on the steps of this building. It wasn’t a difficult proposition to accept. Not a lot of options existed for girls in my circumstances, and working my ass off was infinitely better than selling my ass.
When I agreed, he walked me up to this apartment, and I’ve lived here ever since. It was fully furnished when I moved in: towels, linens, dishes; it had everything, which worked for me because I didn’t have shit. The only things I’ve added over the years are clothes, books, and some hiding spots for money. I chuckle to myself, after five years of staying here I still don’t really have shit.
“What’s so funny?” Aydin asks me, as he lumbers through the doorway.
“Nothing.”
I groan and scrub my tired face with my hands. I drop the duffle bag of money by my hiding spot in the bookcase. A knock pounds on the door. I run my hands through my hair and stare at the door like the harbinger of doom that it is.
I open the door silently and wave the four tired looking paladin in. Judging by their haggard expressions, they haven’t gotten much rest, and their age is showing. They take in where I live and look at me like they expect me to bolt any second. I trudge over to the living room, and they trickle in after me. We all stare awkwardly at each other and around the room, no one eager to break the silence.
“Nice place," Evrin offers, always the one to lose the silent standoff.
For someone who looks like a tatted up badass, he seems awfully nice. It’s that, or he can’t stand awkward silences.
“It’s not mine," I monotone.
“Uhh…you live with someone?” he pries, scrambling for something to say.
“No.”
I know I’m confusing him, but I don’t care, so I don’t elaborate.
“Look, I know this probably feels overwhelming and confusing, and a little out of nowhere--”
“Oh, you know? Is that how you felt when all of this happened to you?” I snark at Keegan, unable to rein in my inner grumpy bitch.
He turns to Lachlan, who just watches me.
“We aren’t going to leave you behind. Like it or not, you are now a part of this coven, and it’s not safe for you to be on your own," Lachlan tells me, his voice a smooth calm I haven’t heard him use until now.
“So ask me then."
Lachlan looks confused.
“Ask you what?” he finally relents.
“Ask me to come with you. Don’t dictate or command like you would a pet. Ask me, like you would a person you actually gave a shit about.”
My voice betrays me and breaks a little as I finish. I look away and tighten my stranglehold on my emotions. When I feel under control, I look back into two green, fathomless pools of emotion I couldn’t even begin to decipher.
“Vinna, will you come with us?" Lachlan caves, his tone even and emotionless.
I guess that’s the best I can hope for from the prick. I
release a big sigh, but don’t bother to answer him. I just turn around and start pulling two rows of books from their shelves and set them on the floor.
“These are the only things in here that are mine. I have a couple of duffle bags, but I’ll need some boxes for some of my other things.”
Silva stands up and walks out the door. I’m about to follow him and tell him that he won’t find anywhere around here that sells boxes this late at night, but he walks back in with a stack of boxes. I shake my head. Maybe box making is one of his magical abilities. Who am I to judge? I mean, I use magic to style my hair.
“We can spread out, each of us packing a different room," Keegan directs and reaches for a box.
“That’s not necessary. I don’t own a lot. These books and some stuff in the bathroom and bedroom," I explain. I grab a box that Silva taped together and walk to the bedroom.
“Silva, I’ll probably only need three," I yell over my shoulder.
I assign Keegan my closet and Evrin my dresser. Mostly I just wanted to see how uncomfortable the tattooed hard ass would be when he has to pack my underwear. Lachlan’s texting on his phone, so I turn to Aydin with a shrug.
“I don’t have anything for you to do. Nothing else in here is mine other than the clothes.”
“And there’s not many of those either," Keegan grumbles from the closet.
He’s right. I don’t own a lot of clothes. I hate shopping, and most of what I do have is workout clothes because that’s how I spend the majority of my time. I leave them to it and head to the bathroom to pack it up. Twenty minutes later, all my possessions sit in three boxes stacked by the door.
“You weren’t joking when you said you didn’t have a lot to pack," Silva comments looking at the small stack.
I shrug. I can tell that my meager collection of belongings bothers them. I keep catching looks of sympathy and dismay being exchanged back and forth, but it is what it is.
“So, where the fuck are you dragging me off to?” I walk over to the black duffle bag that’s sitting by the bookshelf and open it.
“We live in a town called Solace. It’s in northern Maine, a couple of hours west of Presque Isle," Keegan starts, as I pull out the bottom shelf of the bookcase.
“It was founded in 1635 after the first witch trials began in North America. It’s predominately a caster community, although a few shifter packs live there too. It’s spelled so nons can’t find it, which allows us to stay safe and secluded.”
“Don’t the locals think that’s weird?” I ask as I start to transfer stacks of money from the bottom of the bookshelf into the duffle bag. “I mean they would know there’s a town there but can’t find it on a map or GPS?”
“It’s spelled to keep nons away entirely, so they don’t even know it exists," Keegan explains, sounding distracted. “Anyway, inside Solace our coven has about 25 acres with all sorts of fun things to do: lakes, ATVs, camping, swimming, and there’s a stable on the property next to ours, so there are horses.”
I place the full black duffle bag by the boxes and grab the empty one I set aside earlier.
“I’m still listening, just talk louder, I need to get my stash in the back," I tell Keegan.
I walk back to the bedroom, and everyone follows me.
“Uhhh…we…um…recently tore down the old house and rebuilt one that works better for us. We all live there, including Silva’s two nephews.”
I pull out the two bottom drawers of my dresser and nod at Keegan, encouraging him to continue talking. I pull more stacks of cash from the dresser and begin filling the second duffle bag.
“You rob a bank, kid?” Aydin finally asks me.
I chuckle, shaking my head. They’ve all been watching me empty my hidey-holes with wide eyes, and I wondered how long it would take before someone asked me what the hell I was doing.
“Nope, I earned this fair and square…well… maybe not exactly square. This is what I earned from my fights.” I nod at the duffle bag as I keep piling stacks in. “I couldn’t put it in a bank, so…yeah.” I pop the drawers back into the dresser and zip up the duffle. I look up, and they stare at me like I’ve done something crazy.
“What?”
“How much is in there?” Aydin asks, and Evrin slaps him on the back of the head like he did something naughty.
“What, you know you want to know," Aydin scowls at Evrin and rubs the back of his head.
“About two-hundred-thousand, give or take," I shrug. I haven’t counted what I made from last night’s fight yet, so I’m not one-hundred percent sure.
Aydin whistles. “It’s a good thing we aren’t flying commercial. They’d never allow those bags on the plane.”
“It looks like fighting’s worked out well for you," Silva comments, though I can’t tell if he’s judging me or impressed with my haul.
“Yeah, I can hold my own," I tell him, and I can’t help the smirk that sneaks across my face.
“I can’t wait to train with you, Little Badass," Aydin exclaims with enthusiasm, rubbing his hands together in anticipation.
I feel a tingle of excitement myself at the prospect of training and using magic. “I’m all set," I announce, looking back over everything. I pull out my phone and place it next to the keys I left on the kitchen table. I set the note I wrote for Talon in the same place and take one last look around.
This place wasn’t mine, and it never quite felt like home, but I was protected and nurtured here, all the same. Gratitude and a twinge of sadness fill me as I close the door on this chapter of my life.
12
Something tugs at my insides, coaxing me from the nothingness of deep sleep. A quiet but consistent hum sounds all around me, and I groggily try to figure out what the noise is. I settle on I don’t care, as I snuggle into the side of whoever’s holding me and breathe out a contented sigh.
What the fuck? Where am I and who the hell am I snuggled up against? A jolt of panic shoots through me, adrenaline slamming into me like a tsunami. My heart thunders and a charge laps across my body, making magic crackle over my skin. Voices whisper around me, and something makes a chill run down my spine at the hushed tones.
I sit up in a flash, trying to get away from the arm draped around me. Another set of arms wrap around me from behind, and I almost taste the rising panic as I call on my magic. I send a jolt into anyone who has their hands on me, and it’s answered by a satisfying, pained shout. I run my hands over the runes on my sides, calling on the short swords. A squeal sounds off from somewhere around me, and I’m thrown forward, smashing into something hard. I shake it off as I reach for a door handle and scramble to escape.
“Vinna, wake up!” a familiar voice shouts, but I dismiss it as my feet sink into something cool, and I begin to run.
Air whipping past my face and the cool ground pounding against my feet pull me fully conscious. I’m in a grass-covered field, quickly approaching a line of dense trees. I hear footfalls behind me, and I push myself harder. If I can just make it to the trees, I can lose them. Wait…who am I trying to lose?
“Vinna, stop!” a voice behind me bellows, confusing me even more.
“You’re safe. We’re in Maine," someone else yells, and I stop in my tracks.
I spin around to find Aydin and Silva running towards me, though they’re still about fifteen feet away.
“Holy shit, what just happened?” Aydin pants, stopping in front of me.
“Where am I?” I ask, my voice gravelly from sleep.
“We just passed into the boundaries of Solace," Silva reassures me.
“By the moon, you’re fast!” Aydin declares as he bends over and tries to calm his breathing.
“Yeah, and you need to work on your cardio."
The stoic Silva shocks the hell out of me when he busts out laughing. I stare at him in wide-eyed surprise, and Aydin cracks up as he points to the expression on my face.
Evrin pulls Keegan up off the ground as we walk closer to the two Range Rovers that are stopped
on the side of the road. Looks like Keegan took my jolt of magic. I feel kind of bad, but I was half asleep and didn’t really know what I was doing. We can be even now for his part in ganging up on me in the fight with the shifters. Evrin looks me over from a distance.
“How’d you get her to stop?”
“She woke up and stopped herself," Silva tells Evrin with a shrug.
“You okay?” Evrin asks me.
“Yeah, sorry, I felt something weird and…well…freaked out," I run my hand through my sleep mussed, and now windblown, hair.
“Shit, that’s on us," Lachlan admits, and I look at him confused. “We just passed through the boundary. It would have pulled on your magic. We’re used to the sensation, but you’ve never experienced it before. It can feel alarming.”
Realization dawns on the faces of the paladin around me.
“I didn’t even think about that," Evrin admits sheepishly, and the others agree.
Aydin lets out an excited squeal, and I look at him like the mental case he clearly is. I didn’t know a grown man could sound like that.
“I am just so excited to see all of the things you can do. It has me giggling like a kid on Christmas morning! A staff, a sword, throwing knives, baby swords…what else do you carry in that magical arsenal of yours?” Aydin wonders, his blue eyes bright and eager.
“Wouldn’t you like to know," I reply evasively, and Aydin giggles.
“Little Badass, you live up to your new nickname more and more as I get to know you.”
A smile lights up Aydin’s face, and the girlish giggle coming out of this auburn-haired, seven-foot-tall giant, is contagious. I’m trying so hard not to laugh, but I can’t seem to help it.
“Do you know how to use all of those weapons?” Lachlan probes with feigned nonchalance.
“Yes.”
“Who trained you?” he presses.
“YouTube.”
Aydin and Lachlan scoff and laugh like I’ve just told the best joke. Laugh it up, bitches. They’ll be choking on those chuckles when they realize that endless hours of videos can teach you to do practically anything. With my ability to mimic the things I see, I’ve developed quite a diverse range of skills.
