by Emma Hamm
This was not normal for him. Not when he had never once found himself so singularly attracted to one person. Not just for her body or her power but for the bright spark of life inside her that called to him.
Even now, with the smallest use of magic, he could see the filaments from his own body reaching for her. Dark blue and vibrating with power, they were a sharp contrast to the swirl of thick wavelike energy that was her lifeforce. And the so revered soul that resided deep within her breast. To his eyes, it was constantly dancing.
“You promised me a secret,” she said once more.
“Golems.”
“Is that supposed to mean something to me?”
“Golems are men crafted out of mud and the lingering souls in this dimension. I combine them with magic to bring new life to what was once dirt and water.”
“They’re your guards?”
She was smart, this woman of his. Although no, she was a not his. Not entirely. Not yet.
“Yes, they are my guards.”
“You use them to protect the streets? To keep them safe?”
“They are unlike my doppelganger. I control them when I use them. There are talismans throughout my territory that alert me when someone is distressed or uncomfortable.”
“Do they alert you when someone is being lied to?” Lyra’s expression had once more hardened to stone. “Such as when a Lord is making a deal?”
“We do not lie.”
“Again, I do not believe you in the slightest.”
He sighed. “I understand you are directly referencing Bones. I have little to share with you. But know this. Bones lost all faith in humanity long ago. He sees darkness in everyone and has found no way to contain such darkness. He has decided that the best way to protect anyone is to keep them safe. Even from themselves.”
“Doesn’t he understand that’s invading their lives?”
She said the words far too vehemently. Wolfgang’s eyes narrowed as he looked her over. Thoughts that he did not enjoy bloomed in his mind. Jealousy was a dangerous emotion, especially for one such as he.
“Bones teaches them to protect themselves. He gathers them to his home to create a personal army. Armed to the teeth, they are at his beck and call. He is prepared for the worst at all times.”
“You’re making him sound like a martyr.” Lyra grit her teeth so hard he could see the muscle on her jaw twitching. “He is not a martyr.”
Wolfgang was quickly losing control over this conversation. He knew where this would end. She would become angry and leave. He would then be forced to expend even more energy to see what she was doing while she was gone.
Spying on a woman wasn’t gentlemanly. He liked to think that he could be classified as a gentleman. Therefore, such an argument was only hindering him.
“I did not bring you here to argue, Lyra.”
The words seemed to calm her down, if only for a few moments. She huffed out a breath but arched a brow. “You didn’t bring me here at all.”
“Are you so certain of that?”
She remained silent. A small smile tilted the edges of her lips upwards, and he knew he had gotten through to her. That was the reaction he wanted. A distraction and an understanding that he was trying to save this evening.
“No, I suppose I’m not. And you are capable of such amazing things, aren’t you?”
He could do something with that. Sniffing loudly, he shook out the robe, which covered his shoulders, and lifted his hands.
A low hum rumbled in his throat as he splayed his fingers wide before him. Sometimes magic could be showy, other times it could be as simple as the slightest flick of a wrist. But, now, he wanted to be showy. If she thought he was capable of great things, then he would show her how correct she was.
Moving his hands ever so slightly, electric blue light began to pour from the tips of his fingers. Magic. In its purest form it always looked like a lightning bolt. It was so full of power that raw magic was nearly uncontainable.
The spell he was muttering under his breath was finished with a flourish. Bolts of magic were given form. Suddenly, the room was filled with a cacophony of creatures. A golden stag bowed before them as its great horns touched the moss beneath their feet. Birds of paradise flew overhead and giant carp swam past with long tails of glistening fins behind it.
Lyra’s laughter merged with that of the Nixies who raised their hands towards the birds.
“You can do all of this?” she asked as a wide smile spread across her face.
“This and more.”
“Why? Why show me this?”
The answer was a simple one. He knelt before her, and his robe parted to reveal a spindly leg covered by moth bitten velvet. His skeletal hand reached out to gently touch the curve of her jaw. “To make you smile.”
She seemed to smile all the more bright at his words. Mere moments were allowed before her head turned, and his hand fell away. She watched his creations with avid attention, and he, in turn, watched her.
His hand flexed many times in the hours that passed by in that room. The imprint of her skin burned into his flesh like a brand. Like the scars and runes that decorated his body, he was infinitely aware of her.
Multiple times he wanted to raise the hood of his robe. She should not be subjected to the sight of what he had become. Yet not once did she appear bothered by him.
Instead, she focused upon finding a connection with the Nixies. He smiled for the first time in true enjoyment. Not sarcastically or because he was expected to. But because he truly found her amusing as she tried to catch the carp he had created.
He teased her by flicking a hand and making them dart away at the very last second whenever she got close. Lyra didn’t catch on until the fourth or fifth time he had done it before she shot him an angry look and splashed water at him.
He didn’t feel weak when he was around her. Normally, he felt years older than he was. His bones ached, and his mind was troubled by dark thoughts. Both were banished just by being near her.
Worry that he was becoming addicted to her like a drug made his mind race. But was it so bad to be addicted to a person? Perhaps worse than any substance that existed in this dimension. He now thought if she were to disappear from his life that he would be lost forever to the void his mind had become.
Wolfgang could not return to being the soulless creature he had become. The Blood Magic Magician who was capable of a great many things. Yet he had never been capable of being simply a man.
And when she left, he asked her the question that had festered in the back of his mind the entire evening.
“Lyra?”
The smile on her face sparkled in the light he had created. “Yes?”
“Is it you?”
“Is what me, Wolfgang? Your questions are always vague.”
“Does Bones hold your contract?”
She froze and took one more step into the dark hallway that would lead her out of his domain. A shadow fell across one side of her face and seemed to pull her away from him.
“Yes.”
The whisper remained in the room as she left. It filled the space like a bubble that refused to pop. Acidic, the knowledge burned against his tongue and down the back of his throat.
The tarot cards in his pocket fluttered. His hand shook as it reached into the pockets deep within the folds of the heavy fabric that covered him. The worn edges of his tarot cards dug into his palm as he pulled them slowly out. One card stood above all the rest.
He pulled the card away from the others and slowly flipped it over. As he saw the image, he hissed out a breath and immediately placed it back with the others.
The Judgement had stared back at him with solemn eyes.
Chapter 8
The Team, as Lyra had chosen to call them, materialized on a stone slab in the middle of a swamp. Dark water surrounded them, and great bubbles of air released foul smelling gas into the air. Jasper released his hold upon all three of them as their feet struck the ground.
/>
They were on a mission. Yet another mission that Lyra considered to be entirely useless. But then again, she thought most of them were.
Her head was in the clouds. Why did they need to keep trying to find a solution to their Malachi problem? They had Wolfgang! He could raise people from the dead, and he could do much more than that. She was certain of it.
And sure, the magic was mostly Blood Magic. But that didn’t mean anything! Certainly it was better than finding themselves in a swamp.
“Don’t tell me we’re going to have to beg on our hands and knees,” she muttered.
Wren ignored her and turned towards Burke. Her hands brushed against his shoulders as though she were swiping away dirt.
“There’s no dirt there yet,” Lyra couldn’t help but tell her.
Wren rolled her eyes. “Yes I know, Lyra. Thank you.”
She did it again just to annoy Lyra. Wren had been unusually snarky towards her lately. She wondered if it had anything to do with E ratting her out. Honestly, Lyra was more intimidated by E than Wren. She’d take her chances on the woman.
“Be careful,” Lyra heard Wren whisper as she leaned forward to press her lips against Burke’s.
“Gag me.”
Wren’s body shuddered once, twice, and then her eyes flipped backwards. The milky white that meant her creature was in control always made Lyra uncomfortable. It wasn’t natural. Black or Blue, that was normal. Sometimes, even the rarest yellow of human eyes could be looked into without getting the jitters. But white?
E surveyed the area around them with a critical eye. Lyra noticed that its gaze lingered upon the weeping willow trees whose branches touched the top of the swamp water. Lily pads spotted the surface and likely hid horrible little monsters she didn’t want to think about.
“You know, rumor has it that the frogs in this swamp aren’t normal anymore.” So much for not thinking about it. Lyra was definitely thinking about it, and now everyone had to think about it too. “They supposedly grew teeth and a liking for meat.”
“Lyra,” Jasper said with an exasperated tone. “Do you really need to do that?”
“I’m just warning people!” She glared at him. “Don’t step in the water.”
“You’re a pain in the ass sometimes.”
“You’re just mad at me.”
He rolled his eyes at her. Why was everyone doing that today?
“Why would I be mad at you?” he growled.
“I don’t know.”
“Because maybe I know you were in your room after breakfast a few mornings ago? And I know you disappeared. Somewhere. Again. No one knows where you keep disappearing to.”
Lyra licked her lips and glanced out over the swamp. “Don’t step in the water and don’t look the bitches in the eyes. Those are my suggestions.”
“You won’t even give me an answer?”
Anger laced Jasper’s words with a punch like a stiff drink. Her spine straightened, but she refused to answer him. She knew where this road was leading her. If she told him one little bit then he would ask for the rest.
Jasper had a way of wanting to unravel all of her secrets. He’d grab a tiny bit of a string and pull so hard that there would be nothing left of her. He would know everything and then he would poke and prod until she stopped being capable of speech.
She refused to allow that to happen. She liked keeping Wolfgang to herself. And even though she had only been to visit him a few times, each time had been magical.
That was the only way to describe him. Magical.
Sirens were selfish creatures. She had found something shiny and new and somehow connected with it. Lyra wished that her Siren was still here to talk to because then she might have some kind of understanding of what had happened to her. No other person had ever gotten such a response from her. Never in her life.
Jasper growled next to her. “Sometime soon you’re going to have to talk to me.”
“I don’t have to if I don’t want to,” she stuck her tongue out him.
“I have no time for this,” E growled through Wren’s mouth. “Lyra. You are with me. Jasper and Burke will go in the opposite direction. We have no way of knowing where they are.”
Lyra whirled around to point all around them in a great arc. “And how are we supposed to walk anywhere? We’re on the only rock in this entire swamp.”
E arched a brow and took one step onto a lilypad. Shockingly, the green plant held her weight. “As you said, we don’t step in the water.”
“Show off,” Lyra grumbled as she gingerly hopped onto another lilypad. Though it shifted, it remained nearly as solid as the stone they were standing on before.
Of course, there had to be a way to find the women they were looking for in this labyrinth.
The mission was simple. Find the women known as the Trinity. Maiden, Mother, and Crone. They were not only renowned seers of the future but also knew the possibilities that could occur. The Five were concerned that the future they saw was fluid.
Some predictions of the future showed what was. Others showed what could be. The Five were all powerful, but they could offer no answer to which their prophecy related. The people who fit the description could shift and change.
They all wanted to make certain that the direction they were going was correct. Sadly, that meant they had to find the Trinity and ask the important questions. Burke had said he would ask them, and E had immediately shot him down.
Hopping from her left to her right foot, Lyra picked her way through the swamp until she was close enough to talk to E.
“So, partners now?” Lyra’s voice was muffled in the fog.
“No.”
“But we’re walking together.”
“Yes.”
She had to focus very hard to not trip over a lilypad that was lifted slightly. “One word answers again? I thought we’d gotten past that, secret keeper.”
“Did you find him?”
“Wow going right to the meat of the conversation. You don’t want to talk about the weather first?”
E paused for a moment to stare at her with those unnerving eyes. “No.”
She swallowed hard. “Right. Okay, yes. I did see him.”
“And what did he say to your inquiry?”
“Oh, ah, well.” She stumbled over her words. “He said ‘no’.”
“He said ‘no’ to saving the world?”
Lyra had to pause to think about that. He hadn’t really answered her question again. Instead, he had confused her and shown her pretty things. Maybe she should really look into paying attention more.
“He didn’t exactly say no to that part, he said no to the Five.”
A smile spread across Wren’s face. Lyra had never seen E smile and found it was even worse than the usual stoic expression on her face. “Smarter than I expected him to be.”
“He’s definitely smart. The man is capable of way more than I thought he would be.”
E hopped onto a lilypad close to her and grabbed onto Lyra’s arm.
“Ouch!” Lyra flinched as Wren’s fingernails dug into the meat of her bicep. The grip was much harder than she had ever expected Wren to be capable of. She’d have to compliment her once E wasn’t in control.
“You know what he is.”
She hesitated and stuttered once more, “No… Not really.”
“Lyra, do not lie to me. I will make true my promise to you. Tell me.”
The fire in E’s gaze warned her that lying would likely result in her being shoved into the swamp never to surface again.
“A Magician.”
E shook her hard. “There is no such thing, girl.”
“Apparently there is.” She yanked hard and distanced herself from E. Smoothing a hand down her stomach, she pulled one of her knives out of its hiding place. “I don’t care that you’re in my friend’s body. I will rip a new smile in Wren’s face if you do that again.”
Wren’s hands raised in surrender. “I will not do it again.”
/> “I would hope not.”
They turned while eyeing each other. Lyra desperately did not want to have to fight with E. Although she was very good at what she did, she knew a losing battle when she saw one. E was thousands of years old and had far too many souls gathered inside of it that had lifetimes of knowledge. She would be asking to hurt herself.
Only a few moments passed before she heard the creature speak again.
“A Magician? Truly?”
“Yes.” She smiled slightly. “I’ve seen it. Whatever it is that he does.”
“Not a Necromancer?”
“Capable of necromancy, yes. Illusion as well. Healing. Who knows what else he could do.”
They skirted around the edge of a willow tree that tried to reach its vines out to tangle around them. Both remained above water but were breathless as they met up on the other side. E shook its head at her when she reached out a hand.
“You should not see him alone.”
“Why?” Lyra couldn’t help but ask. “I think he likes me.”
“A Magician would. He’s human, Lyra.”
“So?”
“So he cannot resist the Siren call you have. There aren’t too many creatures in people that can resist you. What knowledge is there to say that he is truly interested in you and is not simply attracted to the magic you do not have to control?”
She frowned. “I think he’s more powerful than that.”
“He may be powerful, but the magic he controls is not an innate ability. He has learned to do what he can do without training. There are none like him left.”
“Then I’ll find that out later. But for now, it’s better if I talk with him because he trusts me.” The lies tasted bitter. She would return to him because she liked him. And damn E for turning her thoughts against the potential that he might return the feelings.
“You should be frightened of him, Lyra.”
She immediately laughed loudly. “Him? He’s the last person I need to be frightened of.”
E was scowling at her. Though she did not want to see it, she could see the furrows of worry on its brow. E was actually worried for her.
“We should all be very frightened of what a Magician can do.”
