by R. E. Butler
He met her on the porch and gave her a hug and kiss. “She must like you.”
“Yeah. It’s one more weird thing that happened today.”
She told him everything that had happened since he dropped her off, ending with the kitten somehow getting out of her cage and then the building and finding them at Mother Gibson’s.
“Damn,” he said, giving the kitten a scratch behind the ears. Flora hummed and squeezed her eyes shut as he scratched her head. “So what does it mean?”
“That someone in my family history is a witch or warlock. I think that’s why I had a vision of Zayde and feel so badly that he died even though I never met him and have no idea when he was actually alive.”
“What’s the next step?”
“Going back to my parents.”
“They already told us they didn’t know what you were talking about,” he pointed out.
“Yeah, but there are trunks of family genealogy stuff in their attic, and at Nonni’s too. If you can’t come because of the lighthouse duties I understand, but I have to figure this mystery out.”
“Of course I’ll go with you,” Cassian said. “When do you want to leave?”
“Tomorrow.”
“I’ll be ready.”
She smiled at him but her smile slipped and tears pooled in her eyes. “I don’t know what’s going on with me.”
He hugged her, gently enough to avoid squishing the kitten that had taken up residence in her arms. “You’re still you, sweetheart, you just have something new going on within you. Don’t fear it—embrace it. You’re unique and amazing, and whatever is going on, I’ll be by your side one hundred percent.”
He walked Zia into the rescue so she could put Flora back in her cage. The kitten screeched and struggled as Zia tried to place her inside. No matter how the kitten struggled, though, she never clawed or bit Zia. Cassian was amazed because he’d known kittens to be all little needles when they were upset.
“Let me take her,” Delaney said. She reached for Flora and the cat bit her thumb. “Ouch! Geez.”
Zia pulled the kitten back against her chest and Flora immediately relaxed and even closed her eyes as a loud purr was heard.
“Are you okay?” Zia asked.
“Yeah. Dang those little fangs.” Delaney shook her head. “She’s acting very odd.”
“I guess she likes me.”
“It’s more than that,” Hadlee said as she appeared with a first aid kit. Cassian knew the witches healed fairly quickly, but the puncture wound in her thumb was bleeding freely so he understood the need for a bandage.
“What does it mean?” Cassian asked.
“Well, for starters,” Delaney said, “it means that she doesn’t want to be parted from Zia. The divining spell didn’t tell us as much as we wanted to know, but I think the truth is right in your arms—you’re enough of a witch that Flora has claimed you as her master.”
“I can’t spell cast though.”
“You didn’t try,” Kinsley pointed out. “This is all new to us too, so don’t worry about it. Go talk to your family and look through your genealogy stuff. When you come back, whether you’ve found anything out or not, we’ll walk you through a few simple spells and see what happens.”
Zia looked up at Cassian. “Is that okay?”
“Which part?”
Zia smiled. “Bringing Flora home.”
“Of course. So long as she doesn’t bite me.”
“As long as you’re not trying to take her away from Zia I don’t see why she would,” Delaney said, then she shook her head. “I can’t get over how strange this all is. It’s like mating with you made some latent power flare up in her. But it wasn’t just a one-time thing, it seems to have taken root.”
“It’s incredible and should be celebrated, not feared,” Kinsley said. “Don’t forget that. No matter what your family information reveals, Flora is all the proof we need that you’re magical like us. Maybe not much—maybe you won’t even be able to do any kind of spell casting at all, but that doesn’t make you less of a witch in our book.”
“I totally agree,” Hadlee said.
“Let us know if you find anything interesting,” Delaney said. She looked at her freshly bandaged thumb and gave the kitten a little boop on her nose. “Not nice, little missy. In case you forgot, I rescued you.”
“In case you forgot,” Hadlee said, “you’re not supposed to try to separate familiars and their masters.”
“I didn’t forget, I just didn’t realize what was going on until she sank her teeth into my thumb. Which still hurts by the way.”
If Flora was sorry she’d bit Delaney, she didn’t look like it.
The witches put a box of supplies together for them, and Cassian loaded it into his truck. He shut Zia and Flora in the passenger side and got behind the wheel. They both waved at the witches. He backed out of the parking spot and turned toward home.
“How you feeling?” he asked.
“Good. Calm. Centered. I’m really glad you came when you did. You made me feel a lot better.”
“Glad I could help.”
Once they were at the lighthouse, they set up Flora’s things and gave her a tour of the building. Cassian really had to hide his laughter at how cute it was that Flora followed Zia around like she was the pied piper.
Zia put the kitten in a sunny spot on the couch and then took his hand.
“You look like you’ve got interesting things on your mind, sweetheart,” he said.
“Interesting and sexy. I missed you so much.”
“I missed you too.”
“See you in a bit, Flora,” Zia called to the kitten as Cassian swung her up into his arms and carried her into the bedroom. He kicked the door shut, just in case Flora decided to try to join them, and set his beautiful mate on the bed.
It was a great way to end their time apart.
* * *
The following morning, they launched from the boat dock with Zia holding Flora and Cassian driving. Her parents still didn’t think there was anything related to a witch or warlock in their family line, but they didn’t deny Zia the ability to come see for herself. Whatever happened, Cassian thought his beautiful mate had a good attitude about things. Whether they were successful in getting to the bottom of the source of her power or not, she promised him she’d be okay with whatever the results were.
He hoped they were able to figure it out.
“You’re not worried, are you?” Zia asked.
He blinked out of his revere and looked at her. “About what?”
“The merpeople.”
His brows went up in surprise. He’d been thinking about her situation, but he realized he’d also been scanning the water around them.
“I’m not, honestly, but I think I’ll probably always be watching the water whenever we’re out, just as a precaution. You know the old saying, fool me once.”
“Right. Better safe than sorry.”
“Absolutely.”
She peered around the boat, leaning over a bit. Flora peeked over the edge as well, which made Cassian smile. He really didn’t think Ianessa or any of her goons were going to come after them. Aside from the witches’ threat and the protection spell for the bay, the mermaid had been thoroughly freaked out by Zia’s abilities, and he thought she wasn’t so foolish as to attempt to cause problems for them again. But...Zia was right that it would behoove them to be alert.
Zia settled back on the bench next to him and leaned on his shoulder. “Flora doesn’t seem to mind the boat.”
“I’m glad. If she was crying the whole way it would sure make for an unpleasant trip.”
Zia kissed the kitten on the top of her head and she snuggled a little closer under her neck. He shook his head with a smile. He still had no idea why the kitten had claimed his mate, but it must mean there’s some magic in her DNA.
Both Zia and Flora fell asleep on the drive to Trieve, waking just as he pulled up to the dock at the marina. A young male j
ogged out and helped him tie up. Cassian climbed from the boat and helped Zia out, who scooped up the kitten and carried her as they walked along the floating dock.
“Will you be here long?” the young male asked as he finished tying them off.
“Just a few hours,” Cassian said.
“I’ll keep it right here, then,” the male said with a nod.
“Thank you,” Zia said.
They walked to her parents’ home. Zia knocked on the door twice and walked inside, calling for her parents.
“In the study, dear,” her mother called.
Cassian followed his sweetheart to the study, where her parents were seated behind matching large desks. He greeted them both and smiled as Zia introduced her kitten to them.
“She’s a familiar.”
“Familiar what?” her father asked, brow arching.
“A magical familiar. Like a witch or warlock would use.”
“Why do you have her?” her mom asked.
“Because she likes me. Which I think is evidence of me being more than a fairy.”
Her father gave her an indulgent smile but it was clear that he didn’t think she was anything but a fairy.
“Let us know if you need anything,” her mother said.
Zia shrugged one shoulder at Cassian, and he followed her out of the study and down a side hall to a set of stairs. At the top of the stairs, they hung a right down a narrow hall to a door that she pulled open. It led to a winding staircase that they followed to the attic space, a sprawling open area stacked with boxes, trunks, cabinets, and clothes racks.
A light clicked on and Zia gasped as her grandmother came into view.
“Nonni! What are you doing here?”
“I came to help you with your mystery.”
Chapter Twenty-One
“What are you talking about?” Zia asked. She put Flora on the floor and looked at her grandmother, who was sitting in an old rocking chair on the other side of the attic. “Do you know something about why I’ve got access to magic?”
Nonni patted a leather-bound book on her lap. “I do. Come pull up a trunk, I’ve got quite a story to tell you.”
Zia looked at Cassian in surprise. They closed the distance to Nonni and he pulled a trunk over. Zia set an afghan on top of it to cushion it, then sat down with Cassian.
“Your father brought cinnamon rolls to my house this morning and told me you were coming to visit to do family research. When I asked why, he told me about your situation and I decided to come see you.”
“Dad doesn’t believe me.”
“It’s not that he doesn’t believe you, he just has no reason to suspect that what happened when you mated Cassian has anything to do with our family history. But it does.”
“Did you tell him that?”
“I wanted to tell you first.”
She lifted the front cover of the book and handed Zia a very old black and white photo that was yellowed with age.
“This is my grandmother, Lucerna. I called her Nonni Lucy.”
Zia showed Cassian the photo. She handed it back.
“When I was a little girl, she told me about her arranged mating to my grandfather, Edwin. He was very high ranked within our military and had successfully fought in several campaigns to keep the borders of Trieve safe, even before they were mated. She was very proud of him. He passed on before I was born, so I never knew him. At any rate, a few days before their arranged mating day, Lucy went to a friend’s house and they got drunk on raspberry wine. She got lost on her way home, and ended up far from Trieve in the woods, wandering around in the dark.”
“That must have been really scary,” Zia said.
Nonni nodded. “She stumbled into a clearing where a group of males were sitting around a fire. She asked for help, and one of the males offered to escort her safely home. When she got home, she invited him in for a nightcap, he accepted, and they had sex. Which let me tell you, back then, was something that a good fairy did not do before her mating day! The scandal alone would’ve cost Edwin everything.”
“She just had a one-nighter with this guy? Was it because she was drunk?”
“According to the diary, she was drunk but felt compelled to be with the male. She says he was enchanting and handsome, and she felt drawn to him. But he knew she was getting mated, so he told her she could contact him if she wished but he wouldn’t try to insinuate himself into her life.”
“She obviously mated Edwin.” Zia chewed on her lip. “Does she say what the male’s name was?”
Nonni opened the diary to a bookmarked page and handed it to Zia. There, in delicate script, was the male’s name: Zayde.
Zia’s heart started to pound and her vision went a little blurry as she stared at the name.
Cassian put his arm around her and said, “Damn. Lucy got pregnant from Zayde, but she mated Edwin?”
“She didn’t find out about the pregnancy until a few weeks later. She traced it back to her time with Zayde.”
Zia told her about the two visions she’d had, realizing the first vision was Zayde discussing Lucy with his friends, and then his friend discussing Zayde’s death.
Zia handed the diary back. “So what happened?”
“After my mother, Fern, was born, Lucy took her to meet Zayde. She wasn’t very happy in her mating, and felt the reason for that was simply because Zayde was who she was actually supposed to be with, and not Edwin. But when she got to his home, it was empty and had been for a while. She couldn’t find any of his friends, and the clearing was overgrown and not in use. She went back to Edwin and never told a soul what happened or who Fern’s real father was.”
“She must have worried that Fern would have magical abilities she couldn’t explain,” Cassian said.
“Lucy watched Fern for anything out of the ordinary, but nothing ever happened. When I was born, and then my siblings, she watched all of us, but none ever showed signs of anything other than fairy magic. She died when I was a teenager, and I found the diary when I was helping my mother clean out her cottage. I asked if I could have it and my mother said yes. I read it—many times over the years.”
“But I don’t understand,” Zia said. “If you know the truth, why doesn’t Dad?”
“Well, honestly, it feels like it’s not my secret to share. There was no reason to tell anyone else because no one ever had any issues with other types of magic.”
“Until me.”
“Well, yes, you like to be unique, don’t you?” Nonni said with a laugh. “I knew it was time to share the truth of our family heritage and let the secret come to light. It won’t hurt any of us now, it’s so far back in the past, but it can help you.”
“So I’m like one-sixteenth warlock?”
“Something like that, but you’d actually be a witch since you’re female. I think what happened is that when you mated with Cassian, his magic somehow boosted your latent magic and now it’s active.”
Flora meowed softly and Zia picked her up. “Is that why she likes me?”
“She doesn’t just like you, my dear, she chose you.”
“So she’s my familiar?”
“Yes. You’re witch enough to have a familiar. I suspect that if you worked on growing your powers that you might be able to cast spells and things, but you’d have to speak to a witch or warlock about that.”
“I know just the ladies,” Zia said with a smile. “It’s sad that Lucy never knew what happened to Zayde, or that they didn’t get together in the first place.”
“Very,” Nonni said, nodding. “But if she had chosen to be his mate, then none of us would be here. Her life would have taken a very different turn. It simply wasn’t in the cards for them.”
Nonni stood with the aid of her cane and gave the diary back to Zia. “You can keep this. I think you’ll find it a nice way to connect with the past.”
“Are you going to tell Dad?”
“I will. But after dinner,” she said, winking. “He’s always in a better mood
when he’s full.”
“That’s very true.” Zia stood and hugged her grandma. “Thank you for sharing the truth with me.”
“You’re very welcome, my dear.”
Nonni left them alone in the attic. Zia sat back down next to Cassian and put Flora on the floor.
“How are you feeling?” he asked.
“Good. I mean, I have the answers I was searching for. I’m so glad she shared this with me.” She ran her fingers over the old diary and felt a connection to her past that she hadn’t had before. Her great-great-grandmother had lived her entire adult life with a secret, never knowing if it would come to light. And she also harbored a broken heart from not knowing what happened to Zayde.
“I wonder why I had the dreams, though.”
“I don’t know. It could be when your power came to life that it tried to reach you through a vision, show you what your family history had omitted.”
“That’s pretty neat.”
“Do you want to stick around for the day?”
“I’d like to grab some things from the shed at my place to take back for the greenhouse, but we can head back after that. No need to stay in this dusty old attic when we have what we came for.”
Cassian nodded in agreement.
When they were back in her parents’ study, she discovered her father had gone to the palace to take some documents to the king. “We’re going to stop at the cottage and head out,” Zia said, giving her mom a hug.
“Of course. Did you find anything interesting upstairs?”
“An old diary that Nonni gave to me. It’s my great-great-grandma Lucerne’s.”
Her mom hummed. “I haven’t heard that name in a long time. It’s nice that Nonni shared it with you.”
“It was,” Zia said.
“Remember we’re coming to dinner on Sunday night.”
“Are you coming by boat or car?”
Her mom rolled her eyes with a smile. “You know your father.”
“Ah. Boat.”
“Yes. So wish me luck. I don’t do well on long trips.”
