by CC Solomon
“Hey, Ivan, this is Phillip and Amina, the witches I told you about,” Ed announced.
“Oh, they’re much more than witches,” the woman said, smiling.
Ivan slid down and I took a seat next to him.
“Hi, pleasure to meet you,” he said, eyes wide. His eyes were icy blue, with a black ring around the perimeter of the iris. His ears were large and pointed and he was of slightly shorter than average height.
I held out my hand and he shook it eagerly, giving my arm a workout. He did the same with Phillip, who looked at me with questioning eyes.
“It’s very exciting to meet actual soulmates,” Ivan exclaimed. He waved his hand towards the woman. “This is Liz. She’s a very gifted witch. She knows everything.”
Phillip sat down in a chair facing the booth and Ed slid into the space next to Liz.
“I hardly know everything,” Liz stated, chuckling. She looked to us. “Ivan filled me in on your predicament. So did Annie Mae.”
“Wait, you spoke to Mae? Our Mae?” I asked, eyebrows raised in excitement.
She nodded. “Yes, older black lady, right?”
“Yes.”
“She’s been contacting me in my dreams for weeks now. She kept mentioning soulmates but I didn’t know who she was talking about. I knew of the existence of magical soulmates but I didn’t know of any myself. I asked for her to give me names, but she said she couldn’t. She said I had to help the soulmates; that you would need a teacher. But since she couldn’t tell me who you were or where you were, there wasn’t much I could do. Then here you are!” She rested her chin on a hand, elbow balanced on the table. “Mae told me about this awful bad that’s coming. I’ve done some sight spells and I’ve seen some horrors of what’s to come as well.”
“If that is the case, Ms. Mae is one smart cookie,” I said.
“That she is,” Ed stated, crossing his arms.
I cocked an eyebrow and side-eyed him. “How do you know?”
“Before we got attacked by those Fae, I had a dream about an older black woman, with short hair. She told me to stay with you two and go wherever you go. That I was meant to do good and be a part of what’s to come. She also told me she’d make me bread pudding when I come to visit her. I have a feeling it’d be good.”
“If you two can communicate with her, then can you tell her where we are?” Phillip asked, leaning into the table.
“She doesn’t know where I am and I tried to tell her in my dreams but I don’t think she understood what I was saying. As soon as I said the words ‘Ireland’ or ‘Dublin’ or anything associated with this area it was as if she didn’t understand what I was saying. I was hoping from my accent she’d figure it out.”
I dropped my shoulders, disappointed. “Your accent is pretty clear. If no one has come it’s because something is preventing her from hearing your accent. Or maybe they’re here and just can’t find us. It’s a small country but it would still take time to search.”
“This doesn’t mean you won’t find your way home. You still have hidden potential to tap into,” Liz began. “This, I can help you with. I can help you both tap into that soulmate magic you possess.” She sat back, looking at us all. “Magic was always here. If you looked for it, you would find it.”
“How did it grow?” I asked.
“Dearie, that is what I have been trying to find out for the past nine years. It was definitely purposeful. And there are so many types of magic in this world to understand until I get to the big answer.”
“What are all the magical types?” I asked.
“Do we want a lesson with alcohol?” Liz asked with raised eyebrows.
Ed shifted to get up. “Woman after my own heart. I’ll get a pitcher,” he replied.
“No need,” she stated.
Before our eyes, a bottle of whiskey materialized on the table with five short glasses.
“I really think we should revisit that discussion about moving here,” Phillip said, leaning in to me.
“You can move here,” I muttered.
“I’d like to move here, too,” Ed said as he poured the drinks.
“Or we can find out the spell and do this ourselves,” I stated, taking a glass.
“I’ll share that and more,” Liz replied.
The five of us clinked glasses and then the lesson began.
“To begin, every magical category has subsets. The category of witch also includes warlocks, wizards, and mages. And witches vary within that. There are light witches, dark witches, and those in between. Then we have the Weres or Lycans, as I prefer to call them. The common werewolf, for example. This also includes your shapeshifter. Next, are your vampires and also succubi and incubi. Who am I missing?” She tapped her chin.
“Me!” Ivan exclaimed, his eyes practically twinkling.
Liz nodded slowly. “Yes, sweetheart, the Mythics. That is quite a large category to the outside world, but they are not the same. Elves, Fairies, Dwarfs, Trolls, Gargoyles. And there are light and dark within all of those. You also have Orcs, Goblins, Gremlins, and Demons.”
“What about Angels?” I asked.
“Right, that would be the final group. If there are Demons, there must be Angels. Everything has balance. Ghosts are the in-between,” she replied.
“So, there is a God?” I asked. I was never super religious before but I did believe.
Liz tilted her head and her eyes softened. “Sweetheart, there is a God. There are many gods.”
I frowned. “You mean more than just the Christian God?”
She nodded. “The magic not only changed people, it brought beings into our view that we did not see before. There were gods who were resting, but are now awakened. And not all of them mean well for humans. Soulmates are meant to combat the more powerful evils out there.”
“I think my world got a little bigger,” I whispered.
“Indeed, it did.” Liz looked to both Phillip and I. “We can set up a schedule for when you visit me, so that I may teach you all that I know.”
“What will it cost us?” Phillip asked, leaning his elbows on the table.
Liz gave a slow shrug. “You help me heal some people. That’d be enough. I’m not as young as I used to be and healing takes a lot of energy.”
“We can do that,” I said, eagerly.
We made a schedule for visits, ordered lunch, and had a few more drinks. My spirits were renewed. I would learn all that Liz knew, make it home, and become magically wiser for it. This banishment would not be for nothing.
Before we left the pub, wanting to get home before the creatures of the night arose, Liz called me back to talk to her. She asked the men to go ahead outside while she had a brief word.
I sat back down in the booth and faced her. “What’s wrong?” I asked.
“Do you love him?” Liz asked, eyes neutral.
I raised my eyebrows. “Who? Phillip? No. I have someone back home.”
“Well, he certainly loves you,” Liz replied with a knowing smile. “Soulmates don’t come often. Ones who love each other, even less. You can be the ultimate good or the ultimate evil. Cause the greatest movement for the world or destroy mankind. Suppressing magic prevented that from happening, but now that magic is back fully, you two can be quite dangerous. At your full power, people may fear what you can do or they may come to worship you. Neither should be what you want, but it will be hard to ignore. That power will try to consume you. You must fight it.”
“Why are you only telling me this and not Phillip?” I asked.
“Because you and I both know that Phillip is compromised. He’s bespelled. I can feel that.”
“I tried to help him with another spell.”
“That is only a Band-Aid, my dear. You must break the spell but you aren’t strong enough yet. The type of dark control over him is beyond my powers. However, his love for you will help. That love’s a power on its own. Whoever put the spell on him couldn’t overcome that part.”
“But why di
d they do this to him in the first place?”
“I suspect they hoped it would break you up, which would make you weaker and less of a challenge. Love is the key, my dear. It is the soulmate’s greatest power. If you loved Phillip, you could break that magic hold on him and you both would become stronger. No matter what I teach you, without that love, you will never reach your full potential. Yes, you will be formidable without it, but you will be so much more with it.”
I swallowed what felt like a lump of coal in my throat. “I don’t think I have it in me to be any friendlier to him than I already am. I’m just so tired.”
Liz gave a slow nod. “I can sense that. You must come to terms with your own emotions as well. Things have been very challenging for you. You can’t continue to shoulder it all on your own. You might not be under a curse but you are still battling your own darkness. Phillip could help.”
I shook my head. “I don’t need him.”
“Then you will fail and all will be lost.” She frowned briefly before softening her face. “Give love a chance, dearie.”
I let out an exaggerated sigh. “What type of love?”
“That is for you to find out.” Liz reached over and patted my hand then sat back with a smirk. “He is a handsome man, isn’t he?”
Chapter 21
Several weeks passed and we were still in Ireland. I had such high expectations that Liz would be able to connect with Mae again but she didn’t. If Phillip and I were special, why couldn’t we break this damn magic?
Each day, I got up and helped wherever I could. Then in the afternoons I practiced my magic and the soulmate connection. There were no more Fae attacks and I could only assume it was because the town proved themselves to be quite formidable or perhaps the Fae really didn’t want to kill Phillip and me. However, I suffered no delusions that they would not be back, stronger than ever. And so we prepared. Strengthening our physical and magical wards, defensive and offensive moves. Every man, woman and child in the village who was able to fight would be prepared.
Four days a week, Phillip and I met with Liz, learned her knowledge, and practiced our magic. She’d been slow to share on our soulmate magic, first giving us aid in reaching our own full potentials as life mages; although, she liked to call us earth mages because we controlled anything living and growing.
We were on week three of our practice when Liz finally taught us of our bonding magic in the living room of her small attached cottage. “Soulmate magic is tricky. You can only pull from that particular magic when the other soulmate is near. It’s possible that because you are part of The Six, you are strong enough to use your soulmate magic even when Phillip is not around, Mina. And with you being an alpha’s mate, there are even more possibilities. It’s quite exciting.”
She found it exciting, I found it overwhelming.
“I don’t know the specifics of soulmate magic. It’s really too mysterious. However, I know it is a form of binding magic. Similar to becoming a mate for a Lycan or a consort for a vampire. And anytime you bind with another person, you make your magic foundation stronger,” she explained.
“How do people bind?” I asked.
“Many ways,” Liz began. “You can become a mate of a were, marry someone, blood-bond with a vampire, become a familiar to a witch, or become bonded through another magical spell. When you combine with someone you are bonded to, you can become as one on many levels, depending on the strength of the bond or the other person. You, Amina, have two bonds.”
I nodded.
Liz frowned. “You could actually have a tri-bond and through you, your were-mate and Phillip are also connected and can use each other’s magic.”
“Fun,” Phillip muttered.
“Or it could cancel everything out, which would explain why you aren’t as strong as you think you should be for soulmates,” Liz stated with a shrug, sitting down on her living room couch.
“So, you’re saying her being mated with another man could be hindering us?”
“No,” I said, defensively.
Liz gave another shrug. “I’ve never encountered a person with two bonds.”
“So how do we get strong enough to be undefeatable?” Phillip asked. “We are stuck with this fairy curse we can’t break, which was cast by someone who shouldn’t be stronger than us. Ghosts attacked us in a building that was warded. A crazy dude nearly took the both of us out. If it wasn’t for a human’s arrow, Amina would be gone. I couldn’t save her on my own. We can do amazing things like mind- and body-control but clearly, we should be able to do more.”
“You aren’t working together,” Liz replied, sitting back. “On your own, up against a being immune to mind or body control, you aren’t these all-powerful beings. You could be, in theory easily defeated. Stop fighting your bond. Your bond boosts your powers.”
I sighed. “So, how do we stop fighting it?”
“You should have sex,” she replied with a light shrug.
I slouched in my chair. Why?
“I like that plan, let’s do that,” Phillip said eagerly, turning towards me in his chair with an excited face.
“There’s no way in hell. How else do we connect? Can I just give him a hug?” I asked Liz, crossing my arms.
“You have to accept each other into your lives. It can be emotional or physical—” Phillip coughed at that “—you can open your hearts to each other. Touch each other. Fully feel the power simmering between you both. Don’t fight whatever you feel. Sit and close your eyes. Feel it and let it in,” Liz said, sounding like a hippie.
She made us sit down on the couch and told us to face each other and hold hands.
“Close your eyes. Clear your mind and focus on the touch of each other’s hands and the feel of your skin,” Liz stated, getting up.
I did as instructed, and fought not to respond to the contact with Phillip. Despite us living together, we’d maintained our space. Touching him now, holding hands, took me back to the first time we met. Our attraction had been out of control then and I felt a tinge of that feeling again from his touch. His hands were large and strong and I felt safe. A heat simmered in my palm and spread farther up my arm and through my shoulder. It continued over my back, relaxing the tight muscles and aches.
“Place a hand over each other’s heart,” Liz instructed.
I glared at Phillip but he kept his hand respectfully above my breast.
“Focus on the rise and fall of the chest. The feel of the heartbeat under your fingers.” Liz’s voice began to sound soothing, like a yoga instructor.
I focused, as Liz instructed, on the feel of Phillip’s chest rising and falling under my fingers. The warmth continued to spread throughout my body. I felt like I was getting the world’s best invisible massage. My shoulders slouched and my body felt weightless and free. This wasn’t the same as when magic first awoke in me. This felt like the next stage. Like a continuation. Nothing in me hurt or ached. There wasn’t the itchiness that sometimes came with the use of magic.
I yawned but felt energized; like I could run several miles. I actually wanted to run and I hated running. My mind felt cloudy, as if I was high on some magical drug, and I swayed slightly. A giggle unexpectedly escaped my lips. Phillip chuckled in return.
“Open your eyes,” Liz stated.
I opened them and stared into Phillip’s face. He gazed back at me with a sleepy grin and I opened my mouth and let out a silent gasp. His eyes, which were once a lighter brown, were now a beautiful violet color.
“Your eyes…” he whispered.
Had my eyes changed as well? I smiled, still feeling dazed.
He squeezed my hand and the look in his eyes were wonder-filled. He mouthed the words, “I love you.”
I wanted to tense up and resist his words…but I couldn’t. I couldn’t think of the cruel Phillip who was under a control I could only dampen. I thought of the Phillip who had saved me from that prison and shown nothing but kindness to me and others since being in Dublin. My eyes sof
tened, and I continued to let the magic in. Soon an all-encompassing peace wrapped around me and I welcomed it. I wanted to hug him, hold him in my arms, and feel his heartbeat.
Liz let out a little yelp and I looked over to her. Except something was different. She seemed shorter. Well, that couldn’t be right.
“Whoa, this is new,” Phillip announced, looking down.
I moved around on my invisible cloud of peace and suddenly realized that the reason I felt so floaty was because I was indeed floating. We were actually levitating two feet above the sofa. I kicked my feet in a panic. “How do we get down?” I cried, looking to Liz.
She just shook her head, a hand over her mouth.
I wiggled as if that motion would twist me down to the couch. Surprisingly, it didn’t work.
Phillip chuckled and I gave him angry eyes. “I’m glad this is so amusing to you.”
“We’re only up two feet, it’s not like we’re hanging off the ceiling.” He looked all too amused, his eyes twinkling and his lips in a smirk.
“Well, do you know how to get down, then? Because being stuck even one foot above the ground can be problematic. Maybe if I…” I trailed off and let go of his hand. Instantly, we plopped down on the couch.
Phillip lowered his eyebrows and frowned in disappointment.
Liz clapped her hands. “My dearies, I believe you have just magically bonded yourselves. You’ll only grow stronger from here.”
I nodded, rubbing my hands together. I felt oddly cold now that Phillip and I weren’t touching. I blew on my fingers.
Phillip reached out and grabbed my hands again and my freezing fingertips instantly warmed. Thankfully, we didn’t start floating again.
“We can’t hold hands all day,” I grumbled.
Phillip smiled and then blew on my hands before releasing them. This time they didn’t grow cold.
I suspiciously looked down at my hands then back up at him. “Magic?”
“Actually, no, just my breath.”
