by Sarina Dorie
Maddy nudged her and shook her head.
Hailey shrugged. “Well, it’s true!”
Ben leaned in conspiratorially. “Don’t worry. I don’t do anything with accounting. I’m a security guard.”
Ben was a short, scrawny kid. I didn’t know what kind of magic he could perform that would help him against someone bigger and stronger breaking into a bank. Then again, it wasn’t my problem.
Their presence was my problem.
“Why are you here?” I asked. “Not that I’m not happy to see you, but we’re busy making plans tonight.”
“I know. We’re here to help.” Balthasar flung an arm over Maddy’s shoulder.
She flicked it off.
“We owe you. We have to pay back our debts,” Ben said.
“I don’t think that’s a good idea,” I said. “The fewer who are involved, the better.”
“Hailey said you needed an army of misfits. Well?” Balthasar waved a hand at Ben and himself. “Here we are.”
“Two doesn’t make an army, dumbass,” Hailey said. “You were supposed to bring Darla, Luke, and Maya with you.”
I turned to Hailey. “Who all did you tell? This was supposed to be a secret plan.” If the Raven Queen found out, we’d lose the element of surprise.
I was too distracted by the sudden arrival of my former troublemaker students crowding around to notice the new couple who had come in, until I heard Thatch’s voice rise above the music.
“What the bloody hell?” He walked past me, toward Gertrude Periwinkle and a bearded man.
It was her presence that I thought had caused his startled reaction. I could imagine he wouldn’t want her to get involved in this. They were still friends.
Then it was the man I noticed. His black beard and hair were wild and tousled, but in a rakish manner that became him. The shape of his long nose and large eyes reminded me of Thatch’s. Even his lips were the same. He was my husband’s bearded doppelgänger. I remembered the Star Trek episode with the evil Mr. Spock from an alternate universe. The only difference one could see from the normal Spock was the goatee.
This was like that moment, staring at a version of my husband from an alternate dimension. More than the beard, there was the hunch in his shoulders, the narrowing of his eyes as they settled on me that made him appear threatening.
Thatch intercepted him, saying something, but the man kept on walking, shouldering Thatch out of the way. He was as tall as Thatch, but his muscles bulkier.
He stalked toward me, his eyes flashing yellow like a cat’s. The way he stared at me as though I were his prey unsettled me. I reached out for Josie, but she had slipped off and was talking to Pinky.
I stepped back, stumbling onto the hem of my skirt, and falling onto the settee. I lifted my skirts and stood again. In that time, Thatch had whipped out his wand. Gertrude Periwinkle laid a hand on his, lowering his arm as she whispered something to him.
“I beg your pardon.” Elric strolled directly into his path, blocking the man. “I hope you won’t find it forward of me to be so bold to introduce myself, but I am the host, and I haven’t made your acquaintance. I am Prince Elric, formerly of the Silver Court. I can’t help but notice—”
The man took hold of Elric, squashing him in an embrace as he shifted the Fae aside. All the while, Thatch’s doppelgänger stared at me.
“Excuse me! That isn’t very polite behavior to do to a host in his own home,” Elric called after the man.
If Elric had been stronger, he might have been able to stop him, but Elric wasn’t what he had once been, despite the way he tried to hide it.
I shoved Maddy and Hailey aside, not knowing what the man might do. Before I could utter a word, he grabbed me by the shoulders. I attempted to squirm back, but he held me so tightly that I couldn’t get away.
“Um, hi,” I said with my usual grace and charm.
He leaned in and dropped his face close to mine. I thought he was going to kiss me, and I turned my face away. His nose dragged against my cheek. I leaned my head as far away from him as possible, bending back to get away. He inhaled deeply.
That was even creepier than trying to kiss me.
“Clarissa,” he said in a gruff voice that sounded unused to speaking.
My imagination was more convinced than ever this had to be Felix Thatch from an alternate universe.
“You unhand that woman!” Elric said. “Don’t make me use my magic.”
“Darling, it’s all right,” Vega purred. “He isn’t going to hurt her. That’s just his way of being friendly.”
“You know this man?” Elric asked.
“We may have met in a past life.” She chuckled.
The man released me, and I stumbled back onto the settee. By now, Hailey, Maddy, and Balthasar had stepped in.
Hailey grabbed onto the man’s arm. “Watch it, buster!”
He must have weighed three times as much as Hailey, but she was fiery—in temperament and in magic.
“Hailey! Maddy!” he said, laughing. “Where’s Imani?”
“Who the hell are you?” Hailey asked.
And how did he know their names?
The man circled his arms around the girls and squeezed them to him, picking them up off their feet. Maddy patted his arm, her voice muffled. Hailey kicked him in the knee.
“Set them down this instant,” I said, pointing to the floor.
Past him, I caught a glimpse of Gertrude Periwinkle arguing with Thatch. She held him back, his face pink as they argued.
Finally the doppelgänger set them down. He pulled back. His brow was creased. His lips flinched from a frown to a smile and back again. I couldn’t tell what to make of him.
“I am . . . happy to see you,” he said, though he sounded uncertain. His accent was less pronounced than Thatch’s, but still British and just as precise.
“Who are you?” I asked.
“You don’t recognize me?” A smile twisted his lips upward. It was unnerving seeing him wear my husband’s smile. It was difficult to tell with the beard covering most of his face, but he might have been younger than Felix Thatch. “My name is Lucy, but you always called me Lucifer.”
My fairy godmother’s familiar? But her cat was a cat.
By now, Thatch had made it over with Gertrude Periwinkle. She nudged herself between the two men, as if fearing what they might do to one another.
“Please allow me to make introductions and explain,” Gertrude said. “This is Lucifer Thatch, the youngest brother in the Thatch family.”
CHAPTER NINETEEN
Cat Got Your Tongue?
Felix Thatch had a brother? He’d never told me. I looked at him. His eyes were wide with surprise. Maybe he hadn’t known either.
“I thought you were dead,” Felix Thatch said.
Lucifer’s lips drew back into a snarl. “Did you?”
“Mother shoved you into the oven to punish you. To make an example of you.” The normal affect of apathy on Thatch’s face dropped away as his eyes widened with horror as he relived the memory.
“To scare me. Not to kill me. It wasn’t even hot. Only warm.” Lucifer glowered at Thatch. “You didn’t even try to help me.”
Thatch pulled himself up taller. “What was I supposed to do? I was a child myself.”
Lucifer’s lips drew back. I knew him as a curmudgeon of a cat who was quick to bite and more likely to claw than wait patiently.
“Whoa, guys,” I said.
Lucifer pointed a finger at his brother’s chest. “You escaped, and you left me there.”
“I thought you were dead. I wouldn’t have left you if I’d known.”
Gertrude placed a palm on Lucifer’s chest. “Take a step back. Remember what we talked about? Personal space. Humans like personal space.”
Lucifer allowed her to guide him back two steps. His eyes smoldered at his brother, the betrayal still fresh after all these years.
&n
bsp; “How is this possible?” I asked. “You were a cat. My mom’s familiar.”
Lucifer spoke to me, but his eyes remained on his brother. “A witch cast a spell on me. Baba Nata. She used blood magic. Abby couldn’t undo it.”
Abby? He must have meant my mom. Bitterness radiated from the man. Not toward Abigail Lawrence but toward his brother, Baba Nata, his mother, and . . . me. He had so much hurt inside him, so much loneliness. His pain at losing her was as deep as mine.
I could feel the wound inside him, etched into his soul. It wasn’t a good idea to pet a wounded animal, but I instinctively knew he needed touch to heal. Tentatively, I reached out and placed a hand on his arm. He flinched and then looked at me again. I stroked his arm as I would do with a cat. Lucifer hadn’t tolerated much petting while he’d been a cat. He’d only allowed my mom to hug him. But I could feel in him that aching need to be comforted.
I smoothed a hand over his beard. He slumped lower, allowing me to reach him more easily. I stroked his hair and shoulders. He nuzzled his face into my hand. I didn’t want to deplete myself of the energy I’d stored up, but I could see he needed my help. It wasn’t so much he needed magic, but he needed healing. I infused love and calm into my arms and willed that energy to pass into him. The tension in his muscles melted away. He leaned against me, resting his head on my shoulder.
The wound in his soul was easier to see than it had been in Vega’s or Felix Thatch’s. There were no spikes or rawness. His wound was a cocoon of cold that kept him isolated and alone. Reaching out with my awareness, I gently peeled that barrier away so that his soul didn’t become smothered and his heart didn’t harden.
He inhaled deeply.
“Is that better?” I asked.
He nodded. He buried his face in my neck. The soft purr that came from his throat attested to the change in him. From Thatch’s grimace, I could tell he didn’t like his brother cuddling up to his wife.
“Ahem,” Elric said. “Etiquette dictates someone introduce me to this . . . guest.”
Gertrude pried him off me.
“Lucifer,” Vega said, waving a hand toward Elric. “This is my husband Elric, fallen prince of the Silver Court.”
“Pleased to make your acquaintance,” Elric bowed.
Lucifer glared.
“How do you really know each other,” Elric whispered none too quietly.
Vega ignored him, turning to the children to send them off to bed. The room was suddenly too quiet without the pianoforte being played.
Lucifer looked the Fae prince up and down, unimpressed. “Abby did not like you, therefore—”
“No,” Gertrude said, her tone full of patience as though speaking with a child. “Abigail didn’t know Prince Elric well. He is Clarissa’s ally. Therefore, he is your ally. If you are to get what you want, then you need to be civil. We talked about this.”
“What do you want?” I asked.
He lifted his chin. “Clarissa Lawrence, I am here for Abby. I intend to rescue her.”
My breath caught in my throat at the bitter twinge of crushed hope I felt when I thought of her. “She transformed. I don’t know how to change her back.”
His eyes went wide. “She’s a cat like I was?”
“A tree. An oak. It was her affinity.”
He nodded, his face determined. “Then you will take me to her, and we will fix her. Together.”
“I don’t know if—”
“Your magic fixed me. It will fix her.”
“What? When? How?”
He waved a hand at his brother. “Over one year ago, your magical activities with Felix disturbed Baba Nata’s spell and allowed me to free myself.”
“What does that mean?” Balthasar asked. “What magical activities?”
“Sex magic.” Maddy and Hailey said at the same time.
My face flushed with heat.
Lucifer nodded by way of confirmation.
I didn’t know whether it was possible to turn my mom back. Then again, I was willing to take on the Raven Queen. If that was possible, some transfiguration should be a piece of cake. Especially if I had Vega on my side.
Lucifer leaned up against Gertrude Periwinkle now, not so different from what he’d done to my mom when he’d been a cat. Only he was bigger than Gertrude.
There were too many people crowding in the room, a dozen of them, their magics intermingling and threatening to suffocate me. Hailey’s fire clashed against the water and winter Elementia, Ben’s metal affinity tangled alongside it. Celestor star magic seeped through gaps in the Amni Plandai plant and animal affinities of Josie and Pinky. Witchkin magic mixed with Fae. Pleasure and pain, kinesthetic movement, and lightning flickered in my core, responding to those in the room. It was as though someone had taken a buffet of magic and put it in a blender on high, chunks of everything pouring onto me all at once. A kaleidoscope of colors and smells overwhelmed my senses.
I smelled yellow and tasted wolves howling. My senses became confused as the rainbow of magic embraced me. Rainbows. That had been the epiphany I’d had before.
All these affinities felt like they were going to explode. Or implode. Not that these people in proximity to each other ever had before. Something was different now.
I was the thing that was different. My magic.
“Everyone take a step back,” I said. I could feel the generator inside me kicking into turbo drive as my affinity charged itself from their energies.
This was what Vega’s do-anything potion did. Only I hadn’t needed a potion for it. I was a conduit for all magic.
Electricity flared under my skin. Miniature arcs of light danced over my bare arms and my neck and face. That got people moving. Khaba and Elric leapt back first, the others more slowly. Vega and Thatch didn’t look particularly alarmed, but they were Red affinities. This wouldn’t hurt them. Probably not, anyway.
Vega’s brows drew together. “What’s going on? Why are you glowing like that? Please don’t tell me it’s because you’ve got the hots for Felix Thatch’s brother.”
“Clarissa, what is happening?” Thatch asked.
“Magic.” I laughed.
Everyone else kept inching back.
“It’s how we’re going to defeat the Raven Queen,” I said.
I had known it would take a rainbow of affinities, only I hadn’t realized how that would work until this moment. Usually I was the one who intensified everyone else’s magic. It had taken a rainbow to intensify mine.
This was Alouette Loraline’s secret from her diary.
The electricity inside me churned faster. Part of my mind was here in the room, staring out at the expectant faces. The other part was flying through the cosmos. I saw the nest. I had thought of it as my nest and my eggs previously, but Lee had corrected me on that.
These rubies were the future generations of the Dragon Court. If I took an egg for the purpose of knowledge and power, I was robbing the world of a life. I wouldn’t be welcomed back into their fold.
Yet if I didn’t, people in this world would die. The Raven Queen would succeed in building her army of Red affinities. Witchkin would be enslaved.
I had told myself I wouldn’t be tempted to the dark side as I had before when I’d beaten Odette. I’d been cruel—like Alouette Loraline. I told myself I was doing this for the right reason. Even so, I hated what I had to do. I wondered whether the choice had been this difficult for my biological mother.
Yet why would the Dragon Court have gifted me with the blessing of balance if they hadn’t meant for me to use it to my advantage?
This time as I reached for the ruby egg, I wasn’t a dragon in body. I took the ruby with my human hand. The weight of it was solid and heavy. Knowledge was a weight, a burden.
I held on to that ruby as I drew myself out of the celestial dragon realm. I descended into my body with the egg. I opened my eyes, not realizing I had closed them. In my palm, I held a ruby.
; “I have the answer to all our questions,” I said. It would solve everything.
CHAPTER TWENTY
The Ruby of Unending Problems
The ruby was the size of a dragon egg, larger than an ostrich egg, smaller than a basketball. Candlelight flickered across its surface. I felt a thousand times smarter. I could do any spell that had ever been invented—and even those that hadn’t.
I could see the past and the present and the future. Thatch’s eyes met mine. I could see into the secrets in his soul more clearly than even he could see them. I could forgive him for keeping so much from me, even if he couldn’t forgive himself.
I had thought it was the Ring of Solomon we needed to return Khaba to the lamp. I had been wrong. It was the ruby in the ring, a fraction of an egg, one of many pieces from a dragon egg, the others lost or destroyed over time. This egg was ten times stronger and could do so much more than that incomplete fracture. I didn’t need the Ring of Solomon to control Khaba. I didn’t even need Khaba.
I had my affinity and my coven of rainbows. Unlike the other times I had been in a crowd of affinities, there were two other factors that had never been present. I carried a baby inside me. I was full of the magic of life and goodness. Vega, crowding in closer to me, was filled with the opposite energy. She lusted for death and necromancy. It pulsed inside her, the desire stronger than ever. She wasn’t evil, but her soul was dark, a balance to the brightness of mine.
I understood Lee and Yin’s blessing now. This rainbow of magic was what I needed to create balance and harmony. It was just as the school prophecy said:
One student, a misfit of the affinity fire, unable to be sorted,
Will be the chosen one who will rise with power.
She will bring back the lost arts.
This will unify all Fae and Witchkin.
Or lead us into war.
I wasn’t sure whether Lee and Yin’s blessing was a gift or a prophecy. They had said they weren’t willing to help me fight a war, but they had given me the answer I needed to solve it myself. They’d given me the wisdom to know when it was time to battle.