Magical New Beginnings

by Brenda Trim

  We walked in silence as I took in everything that had happened that day. The night was clear, and the sky was filled with stars. Everything looked familiar yet also felt so new and foreign.

  Violet’s steps faltered when we came across an area where the foliage had died. All plant life was dried and brown in a three-foot circle. “This doesn’t look good.”

  Violet’s blue eyes were pinched as they lifted to mine. “It’s not. I can’t say for sure what it is but be on alert. Something might have crossed the portal after your grandmother died and before you arrived. She gave us potions that should have prevented that but there were a couple hours between when she passed away and was found.”

  My heart started pounding against my rib cage and my breath caught in my throat. “What do we do about it? Do we need to make a potion or something?”

  Violet shook her head and walked so fast we were practically running back to my house. “No. You taking the role as new Guardian fortified the spell around the land, and blocked the portal. You need to find your family Grimoire, or at the very least the portal so you can physically monitor it. Sebastian was right about one thing. None of Voron’s minions will be able to cross over and take Cottlehill Wilds for their own now that you are here.”

  “No pressure,” I retorted as I huffed and puffed. I wanted to get home, take a hot bath and go to bed. All of this bullshit could wait for morning. I had reached my limit. My crackly body needed the soft bed that had just arrived and several uninterrupted hours of sleep.

  Chapter 5

  We hadn’t made it twenty feet from the dead section of the forest when rabid dogs with glowing red eyes sprang out of the shadows. Violet came to a dead stop and I tripped over my feet and slammed into a tree before I managed to catch myself.

  “What the hell is going on?” I was screeching but I couldn’t help it. There were giant black dogs with canines as long as fingers dripping with saliva. Plus, tiny grayish-brown things that were a grotesque cross between chihuahuas and alligators. Only these things had smooth, leather-like skin and long pointed ears.

  “Seems like I was right. Dark Fae came through alright.” Violet’s hands were shaking as she watched the creatures circle us.

  Keep your shit together. I was known for my calm in a storm. It’s one thing that made me a good nurse, but this was in a whole other spectrum. “And, what do we do about these things? Can we just keep walking?”

  One of the dogs snapped its jaws and jumped toward me as soon as the question left my lips. “Apparently not.” I tried to concentrate on the self-defense classes I took back in college.

  It was so long ago, but I never forgot the instructor telling us to hit the nose, groin and instep. Sensitive places that would injure the attacker. That applied to people. What about dogs and goblins, or whatever those small things were?

  I saw angry red eyes heading for me as a dog lunged for me. I threw my hands up on instinct right as Violet shouted something in a foreign language. She was likely casting a spell. It sounded like what she’d spoken a few hours ago.

  I needed to use my magic, too. But how? I knew nothing about being a witch. She mentioned magic being about intent.

  When teeth sunk into my forearm, I screamed out in pain and kicked the dog latched onto my arm. The thing yelped and snarled at me but didn’t let go. My fist pummeled the beast’s nose over and over with no effect.

  “Get off me,” I demanded and brought every ounce of desire to the front of my mind. I had no idea if I was performing magic and was about to give up when the dog yelped and let me go.

  Warm liquid dripped from the wound on my arm, but I didn’t have time to think about that when two more headed my way. I couldn’t rely on whatever magic I had to fight off these creatures, so I snatched a stick from the ground right before one of the goblins launched himself into the air.

  Gripping the tree limb with both hands, I swung and sent the creature sailing away from me. I wanted to fist pump the air, but another was behind that one. “That was freakin fantastic,” Violet called out.

  My smile died when sharp teeth cut through my existing wound. The flesh burned and was now sizzling from the new injury. My blood thickened and despite the way my heart raced, it barely pumped through my veins. I became light-headed and dizzy.

  The goblin latched onto my arm shook its head, tearing skin. I barely registered that on top of the pain from the previous attack. “I can see why we don’t want your kind here. You’re a violent, leech.” That was the only thought that came to mind as my energy seemed to drain from me.

  My hand reflexively closed around the stick, so I didn’t drop it as my fingers went numb. I needed to get this thing off me. The fingers of my left hand wrapped around the goblin’s large ears and yanked. He opened his mouth reflexively and I acted as fast as my sluggish body would allow and removed him from my body.

  I tossed him away from me and winced when I saw the mess of half-masticated meat left behind. Growls and snarls warred with the need to close my eyes and go to sleep. If I was truly a hybrid, wouldn’t I have more power than a middle-aged woman with bad knees?

  Said knees gave out and I collapsed with a loud crack followed by pain shooting up my thigh. That was going to hurt worse tomorrow, and that was saying something because I was fairly certain I couldn’t move at the moment.

  My hands flew out to catch myself. Agony shot up my right arm, but it was followed by a zap of energy. I dug my fingers into the soil and relished the tingling.

  I’m part Fae, part witch. Thinking back to the stories my grandmother told me, I recalled her saying something about a connection to the four elements, especially the Earth.

  Opening my mind, I called the power to me. I needed to heal my arm and fight off these creatures. Violet screamed next to me right as electricity traveled from the ground to my core.

  I jumped to my feet as tiny white streaks of lightning traveled up my arms. It hurt my wounded arm while also invigorating it. My head swung in my friend’s direction. I flung one of my hands out and caught the hindquarters of a dog that had its claws embedded in her chest. The thing growled and turned to look at me. Violet shoved it off and rolled away.

  “There are too many. We need to try and run.” She was pulling herself up using a tree. Neither of us was in any shape to run.

  I limped over to her and wrapped my good arm around her waist. “Not sure how far we will get, but it’s better than standing here while they kill us.”

  We hadn’t made it three feet when a goblin scurried in front of us and slashed out at our legs. I managed to swivel out of the way, but I lost hold of Violet as I did. She collapsed to the ground with her eyes closed.

  “Shit, shit, shit.” I cursed as my breathing quickened and my heart raced. I scanned the area and noted the two dogs and four goblins were still circling us. The wider they wound around us, the more the trees and plants decayed. They were using life to fuel themselves. I could see the green aura flow from the shrubs to the creatures.

  It infuriated me. These dark Fae were destroying my home. I may not own these woods, but it was a matter of time before they took over everything, including Pymm’s Pondside.

  My entire body heated and sweat poured from me in buckets. Why the hell did I have to suffer the worst hot flash of my life when I was facing half a dozen creatures that wanted me dead?

  If I’ve learned anything in my life it was that I had to work despite the bullshit ragging through my head. I could multitask in my sleep. Fanning my face with one hand, I knelt and buried my hand in the dirt. The Fae started circling around me and I focused on the connection to the element.

  Anger surged through me once again and I used that to fuel my determination. I cried out when fire shot out of me in a wide arch. I have no idea how I did that, but I was grateful.

  The goblins waved their clawed hands at me. The dogs turned tail and tried to run away. The word burn flashed through my mind and was on repeat as I fed my intent to have the flames eat the
se creatures into the spell.

  I tried to will the flames to extend a little further and catch every one of the dark Fae. Something light landed on my back and a scream echoed from my throat. When sharp claws dug into my flesh a second later, I reached up and tried to grab the goblin that had managed to catch me off guard.

  My fingers wrapped around one leather ear. I yanked and held the beast up in front of my face. What little energy I had drained from me every second I willed the flames to catch the next dog.

  It shouldn’t surprise me that I was weakening. Magic like anything else took power and I had no idea what I was doing. No doubt I was pouring more than I needed into my desire to burn these fuckers to death. The goblin slipped from numb fingers and landed on its back in front of me.

  I slapped a hand down over the small creature, trapping it under my palm. Pressing down, I slowly dialed my energy back. This would all be so much easier if I knew what the heck I was doing. Fortunately, my age meant I had plenty of experience to know better than to pull all my energy back and keep it close to my chest.

  I was heaving as I tried to catch my breath, and my heart was close to giving out. The exertion was almost too much for it to handle, but if I did that the flames would die and I would be shit out of luck.

  I crawled to Violet and pressed a finger to her neck and felt a steady, if slow pulse beating back at me. My shoulders dropped a fraction at the same time the flames dimmed by half. A dog jumped over the lower fire a second later, but never made it to me.

  Big muscular arms reached out and knocked the hound off course. “Sebastian.” His name fell from my lips as he stepped in front of me. I collapsed and released the word burn. It was as if his presence signaled to me that I was safe.

  An absurd notion. He’d done nothing but scowl at me and try to drive me away. This man wasn’t my friend exactly, but he was the sweetest sight I’d ever seen at that moment.

  He caught one goblin around the neck and snapped it. Opening his fingers, he dropped the creature to the ground. It landed amidst the flames sputtering across the forest floor. Without me fueling the fire, it was dying a quick death.

  A goblin ran through Sebastian’s legs heading toward me when the other two leaped at Sebastian. He lifted one booted foot and slammed it down on the creature, crushing it beneath his heel. A burned dog hobbled toward him with its red eyes glowing brightly.

  Bas cursed when the goblins in his hands sunk their teeth into the back of his hand. He shook them in his fist and crushed them. Blackish-green goo oozed through his fingers before their heads popped off and rolled away.

  Bile rose in my throat making my gag reflex do pushups at the back of my throat. Pushing myself to my knees, I gasped when pain shot through the joints. “Bas, look out,” I cried out with more force thanks to my discomfort as I warned him that the dog he’d kicked a moment before was headed his way.

  Bracing himself with his feet shoulder’s width apart, he shook his hands free of the goblin bodies then swiveled and bent as he turned. I could barely follow his movement, but I saw when he grabbed the stick I’d dropped earlier.

  Never stopping, he cracked the makeshift weapon against both skulls before coming to a stop facing me. His chest was rising and falling rapidly while I stared into his bright brown eyes.

  A howl sounded to his left and my gaze fell to the massive black dog that was baring its teeth at him. Sebastian turned and kicked the dog. A loud snap was followed by the dog’s head twisting all the way around before it slumped to the forest floor.

  The burned dog was left and tried to scamper away, but Bas was on its heels and swinging the stick through its back. It cut through the beast and brown blood flew through the air, spraying everything within a four-foot radius.

  As much as I wanted to collapse to the ground, I channeled all my remaining strength into getting to my feet so I could thank Sebastian. I wasn’t sure what would have happened if he hadn’t come along when he did.

  He held up a hand as he turned to face me. “Don’t. I can’t allow these creatures to destroy my home. And, I couldn’t leave Violet to be sacrificed by them. It wasn’t for you.”

  I crossed my arms over my chest and narrowed my eyes at him. He really was an asshole. I don’t like him at all. Even if he was the sexiest guy I’d ever seen. He had a bad attitude and was rude.

  “What is your problem?” I limped over to Violet and contemplated how I was going to get her home. No way was I leaving her here. There might be more of those things out here. “What were those creatures anyway? One looked like a goblin, but I’ve never seen a dog that big.”

  He walked over to me and shoved me out of the way with his shoulder before he bent down and picked Violet up. “They were goblins and grimm. You and Violet have been marked for death. Otherwise there would have been no grimm here tonight.”

  “What?!” My voice was shrill as I hurried to catch up with him. “I can’t be marked for death. I’m just starting my new life.”

  “Someone doesn’t want you coming into your full power.”

  I shook my head as I jogged to keep up with his long strides. “I’m a middle-aged widow and mother of three with bad knees and a serious case of hot flashes. Why would anyone want me dead?”

  Sebastian stopped so suddenly, Violet was jostled in his arms and I ran into his back. “Ooomph.” That was going to leave a mark. The guy was solid as a brick house.

  “You have no idea the power you possess.” His lip was curled up in one corner and there was a growl in his voice, displaying his unmistakable disdain. “Learn from your grandmother’s mistakes. She made many enemies and is no longer here to usher you into this life. There’s no time for you to work through your feelings.”

  My jaw hit my chest as I struggled to accept what he’d just said. I snapped it closed and pushed past him as I continued to my house. “You’re just as bad as my late husband who refused to stop and ask for directions when we were lost.”

  I was pissed and thinking of every time Tim refused to admit his faults. A gasp left me as I recalled more incidents of me wielding my magic. Anytime Tim and I were lost and arguing about asking for help something happened to the car. One time it was a flat tire outside a gas station. Another time we ran out of gas while a third time the car overheated, despite being brand new.

  How had I been so blind before? That was way too many coincidences. I shook my head and paused outside the back door to glare at him. “There is nothing wrong with asking for help. I don’t know how you expect me to know everything when I have never even been told I have magic. I’ll be sure to find a spell that downloads all the information I need directly to my brain, so you won’t be bothered feeling like you should help me.”

  A growl rumbled in his chest. “Are you keeping Violet here or should I take her home?”

  I opened the door the gestured inside. “She can stay here. I don’t want to leave her alone tonight. She was helping me, and I feel responsible that she was hurt. And, before you tell me it is my fault, I didn’t allow those dark Fae to cross through the portal. I might not know much, but I’m not that stupid.”

  He grunted as he passed me and headed for the living room. Apparently, he’d been in this house before. He set Violet down with more care than I would have expected before he turned around and left without another word.

  I grabbed a blanket and spread it over my friend while trying to forget the events of the past few hours. An odd sense of betrayal settled in my gut. Why hadn’t my grams told me more about this world?

  She knew I would come back, at least temporarily. She should have told me something. A heads up would have been nice, if not basic information like the Fae actually existed and there was magic in the world.

  Did my mom know about this? She would dismiss the stories I shared after returning from gram’s house at the end of summer. It was her way of telling you about this world. I never thought about it, but my parents never agreed on sending me so far away every year.

  T
he more I learned the more questions I had. Not just about this world I suddenly found myself immersed in, but about my family. I needed to find that Grimoire and fast. I refused to be so vulnerable again. There was something out there gunning for me, and I was going to stop them even if my magical new beginning was something of a joke at the moment.

  Chapter 6

  “Knock, knock,” Aislinn called out from the screen door. “I brought treats.”

  Please let it be those delicious almond croissants from the bakery. Setting my mug down, I hurried to open the door. Okay, so I didn’t move all that fast. The night before I had fallen asleep on the chair in the living room shortly after Bas left so I could keep an eye on Violet.

  Sebastian had shown far more gentleness than I thought possible as he cleaned my injuries. I expected the cloth to hurt as it moved over the torn flesh and was shocked when it didn’t make the pain any worse. I was convinced he did something to make it easier for me. Of course, that might be wishful thinking and I had reached the point where not much could make it hurt worse.

  After he bandaged me, I got up to help Violet, but he put me in the chair while he tended to her. She seemed to pass out while he was working. I didn’t blame her. I had been about a second away myself. I tried but couldn’t get up to check on her.

  I had hit a wall and didn’t move for eight hours. I fell asleep before Sebastian finished with Violet. And remained in the chair all night so now my back ached, and my neck was sore, but it was the best sleep I’d had in over a week.

  I woke up when Violet was complaining under her breath about sleeping on the floor. She wasn’t surprised to hear Sebastian left us where we were without thinking of moving us to a more comfortable location. She went home before I could get up and make her some breakfast, claiming she needed to make sure Ben and Bailey, her kids. Got off to school okay before she showered and got ready for work. I was still in the same chair twenty minutes later even though I knew I would pay for it later.