Magaestra: Tested: An urban fantasy series

by Katherine Kim

  Faith chuckled. "It's not that long from now, even. School starts in like, two weeks or something. End of August."

  Aldric frowned. "That feels very early."

  Faith shrugged but didn't move, causing her shoulder to rub up and down his chest and her head to bump gently against his chin. "I don't make the rules. I just complain about them later. I already pulled Kaylee from her old preschool. They were very understanding and were pleased to know that she visited Mr. Greg after he was rescued. It means that we're less likely to sue them for whatever since he was working for them when all this started."

  Aldric nodded. “So you’ve said.”

  "But really,” she pulled back a bit to peer up at him. "Thank you. I'd be a mess without you."

  Aldric smiled. "It is my honor."

  Faith smiled up at him and stretched up to kiss him. Aldric silently thanked any god that might be listening and let her.

  7

  Faith tugged the ties on her robe and tried not to be weird about sniffing the snuggly collar. It still smelled like Aldric, which made sense since he lent it to her, but she'd been wearing it for almost a month now so the fact that the scent was still so strong was a bit surprising. Not that Faith was going to complain. She peeked into Kaylee's room and sighed when she didn't see the girl curled up in her bed.

  Faith took a few steps down the hall and poked her nose into Jake's room and sighed again, seeing the trundle bed pulled out and two kids and a handful of stuffies sprawled across the mattress. It was sweet that Jake was so protective and affectionate towards Kaylee, but they were getting old enough that the sleepovers were going to have to stop.

  "They're pretty cute, all cuddled up, huh?" Aunt Lucy said from behind Faith.

  "Yeah. But they're getting bigger. And eventually, we'll get Crissy back. Who knows where we'll live once that happens." Faith pulled the door almost closed again and headed back towards her own room. "I just wanted to check in on her before I settled into bed."

  Lucy chuckled as she followed. "I know the feeling. That girl is no better at staying where she's supposed to than you were at her age. I heard about her little adventure in evading her bodyguards."

  "She's never been in a situation where it was dangerous to wander around her own home." Faith dug a new t-shirt out of the clean laundry she hadn't put away yet. Wonder Woman again. She could use a spot of Amazon Princess confidence. The longer this dragged out the more tense she got. It was starting to feel almost too heavy for her to stand.

  Aunt Lucy didn't respond, just wandered a bit around her room, peering at the pictures on the walls that Faith hadn't picked out and the rocks and leaves and dried flowers she had on her dresser that she hadn't picked out either, but were gifts from the kids. Aunt Lucy got to the bedside table and picked up one of the books, reading the back and raising an eyebrow at Faith who grinned.

  "Why yes, it is a vampire romance novel," Faith's grin widened and she felt lighter. "Aldric lent it to me."

  Lucy chuckled and shook her head as she put it back down. "That young man is quite a refreshing change from your usual type."

  "My usual type?" Faith frowned at her aunt.

  "Yeah. Emotionally distant or stunted." Lucy sat on the bed and looked at her. "You seem to have spent most of your life actively avoiding men with who you could form any sort of emotional bond. Aldric is, as far as I can tell, very nearly an open book."

  Faith sat beside her aunt and frowned, this time in thought. Looking back she could sort of see what Lucy meant. Most of her exes were... not very forthcoming. They were masculine in that I can't even admit I have feelings, let alone talk about them sort of way. Aldric was not even slightly like that. And yet, he managed to be entirely too male.

  "I don't seek out emotionally stunted men..." Faith frowned

  Lucy raised an eyebrow. "Now I know I haven't met all your dates, but the ones I have met... do you remember James? And Franklin? And Kyle?"

  "Okay, that’s not fair. Kyle was back in high school. Come on!" Faith protested, but she was starting to think that Aunt Lucy was right.

  Lucy laughed. "Look, I'm not trying to get on your case about your past taste in men. I just wanted to check in with you and see where you are in your head with this one. It's a hell of a high-emotion time to get involved with anyone."

  Faith nodded her agreement. "Yeah. I just... I feel safe with him. And I don't have to put up any sort of front around him, you know? He's seen me at my absolute worst already. I mean, I've had moments of seriously ugly crying on his shoulder, and he still wants me around. He blushes Luce. I didn't know guys did that in real life!"

  Lucy smiled. "I'm glad to hear that. And I'm also glad to hear that you can relax around him. He seems a reliable sort of fellow. And handsome." Lucy wiggled her eyebrows at Faith.

  Faith smirked. "Mmmm. Both those things seem to run in the family. I did notice you and Eldridge chatting all the way through dinner."

  Aunt Lucy laughed. "Eldridge is certainly handsome— I'm old, not dead. He has some wonderful stories."

  Faith grinned. The women chatted for another hour before Faith's yawns were cracking her jaw and Lucy raised an eyebrow at her. "Do I need to tuck you in to make sure you go to bed, young lady?"

  "Only if you make me some warm milk first! With vanilla and cinnamon!" Faith laughed. "You know Crissy makes that for Kaylee all the time? I had to teach the guys here how to make it 'the right way' according to her, and now Jake has it most nights, too. And Marc and Aldric. And I think half the Enforcers."

  Lucy chuckled. "It is tough to beat. There's just something about that touch of spice."

  Fatih grinned. "Marc said it was just enough Christmas in the summer to make his heart feel warm, too." Her own heart squeezed and her smile faded. "Crissy would love that. That whole idea."

  "Oh, sweetheart. You'll get to tell her." Lucy wrapped her arms around Faith and pulled her close, and Faith soaked up the feeling of family and Aunt Lucy and being held by the woman that raised her.

  "What happens if I don't get to tell her?" Faith whispered. "What if it's too late already? It's been nearly a month! Even though she seemed to be fine when we saw her at the lodge, that was still weeks ago, and we all know what those vampires want us for, and it's not a tropical vacation."

  Lucy sighed, her breath brushing over Faith's hair. "Oh, sweetheart. If it's too late then we do our best to carry on. We mourn, and we raise Kaylee and keep her mother's memory alive for her and teach her everything she'll need to know to survive in the world. You won't be alone though. You have me, and you have the Frostwalker Clan. Marc and Aldric and the rest of them would never let you do it all on your own like I had to."

  "How did you do it? How did you keep me and Crissy from crying all the time?" Faith sniffled. "I remember when you came. The babysitter called a neighbor over and she stayed with us all night but nobody would tell us what was going on or where Mom and Dad were. And then you showed up in the morning and the neighbor cried, and you sniffled, but you looked right at us, sitting at the breakfast table in our pajamas, and smiled."

  "It was probably the worst day of my whole life. Well, it was until you told me about Crissy. I cried all the way across the country in that plane. I know I worried the flight attendants. I lost my brother and my best friend both at the same time. But you girls needed me to be strong enough for you to fall apart for a while."

  "I've been trying so hard to stay strong for Kaylee. It's so hard."

  Lucy leaned down to press a kiss to her forehead and looked her in the eye. "It is. It's sometimes impossibly hard. But as I said, you are not alone. I couldn't lean on anyone for fear that they would discover your secret. You have a whole clan of paranormals around you to help, and that Ken fellow, grumpy as he is. I know he fusses and argues about it, but if he was completely irredeemable, he wouldn't come up here at all. You have me, and I know some of what you're going through. You've got this, honey."

  Faith let Lucy hold her, rocking them both sli
ghtly as if she was a child in need of reassurance. It was so hard, way harder than she had expected, to be Kaylee's parental figure. She didn't like to dwell on it, and Kaylee was generally a pretty easy kid, but they hadn't had a 100% smooth time of it this summer. Some lashing out was expected, and honestly reasonable.

  Kaylee hated that they were effectively under siege in the Clan House. They weren't going for hikes or swims in the creek, or to the movies, or out for ice cream without a whole platoon of bodyguards— none of the things that were normally such a huge part of coming up to the cabin. The farthest that she could go outside was the playset, and that was only if there were three or more guards with them.

  Thank all that was holy for Jake. That kid was a hero and didn't even know it. He worked every day to keep Kaylee cheerful. And now that Mr. Greg was here and mostly headed up, he had taken to doing projects with both kids in the mornings, keeping them both entertained and sneakily teaching them. Faith hadn't wanted to like the guy after his role in accidentally outing the Latham's to his brother, but he had officially joined the Frostwalkers and sworn an oath of loyalty to Marc, the Clan, and the Frostwalker's ideals of family, community, and responsibility.

  He had also spent nearly an hour calmly and verbally taking his brother apart in the most vicious schoolteacher sort of way. He had limped down to the holding cells before he had finished healing, the bruises and welts still making an ugly pattern across his body, determined to confront his brother. Faith wouldn't have believed that Jesse Honeyford was even capable of remorse or regret, but the man was cringing within minutes and had been subdued and as helpful as he was able to be since that afternoon.

  Kaylee still had nightmares and, like tonight, more often than not ended up in Jake's room in a puppy pile. Faith had no idea how to keep the girl in her own bed, and it was going to be a problem eventually, but for now, she and Marc had made the parental decision that it was probably okay. Kaylee was traumatized and had decided that Jake was her safe person, and Jake, bless the boy, had more than risen to the challenge.

  "What am I going to do?" Faith asked. "I feel really selfish, but even without Kaylee, I need my sister. And then I go to Aldric and find this... this peace and I can smile and laugh and then I come back here and feel so damn guilty for not being out there looking for Crissy. For not spending all my time searching."

  "You can't help her if you don't take care of yourself, Faith," Aunt Lucy said, not pausing her slow back and forth and running her hand over Faith's hair. "Kaylee found her solace in Jake. You have found yours in Aldric. There is no shame in that, and you shouldn't feel guilty about it, either."

  "And what if it was vampires that have kept Crissy this whole time? What if they've been..." Faith whispered. She didn't want to say it out loud.

  "Your sister is undoubtedly going to be traumatized when we get her back. But that won't be Aldric's fault. or Eldridge's. Or Leo and Madeline's fault. I know that those four have been working their fangs off to find Crissy and she'll understand that, too. Eventually. You said that she met Aldric briefly during the first rescue attempt?"

  Faith nodded.

  "And did she seem afraid of him then?"

  Faith shrugged. "Wary, for sure. She didn't trust him at all, but she could tell that Kaylee and I did. And Jake. So she didn't argue too much."

  Aunt Lucy nodded and pulled back. "Then she also knows that he's been working with you to find her. When we do get her back she will have a lot of work to do, and thank goodness this Clan has a few therapists among them. But I believe that it will all work out."

  "Especially if it turns out that Kaylee is a shifter and not a mage," Faith chuckled damply. She reached up and felt the tears she hadn’t even noticed spilling, and scrubbed her hand over her cheeks to dry them.

  "It will all work out, sweetheart," Aunt Lucy said, smiling slightly and reaching for the tissue box on the nightstand. "I have faith."

  Faith groaned, but she did feel better. A little.

  8

  The knocking on his door woke Aldric instantly. He had been sleeping very lightly for the past few weeks, half expecting an attack at any moment, and being woken like this at-- he peered at his alarm clock-- four oh seven a.m. had his adrenaline rushing. The knock repeated.

  "Aldric!" Marc's voice carried a note of urgency, but Aldric couldn't hear any sounds of fighting.

  "I'm awake, what it is?" he pulled the door open to find his friend fully dressed with his cell phone pressed to his ear.

  "Get dressed. I need you to head to the clinic," Marc's face twisted with anger. "Detective Lincoln was attacked in his home."

  "What?" Aldric left the door open and hurried to his dresser to pull out some pants. Marc followed him in and paced.

  "We really ought to have seen it coming, honestly. He is also a mage, after all, and these people seem to be collecting them, just like they did eighty years ago," Marc growled. "We should have had him assigned guards."

  Aldric sat to lace up his boot. "Do you truly believe Detective Lincoln would have allowed us to send bodyguards with him everywhere? He is far too independent and stubborn, as well, he doesn't exactly trust us due to his bias." Aldric stood and grabbed his jacket. "I am going armed. Before I go, I will wake Tamika and tell her what has happened, and have her check in with the sentries here. I will call Kenya and Ori to go investigate Detective Lincoln's house, and contact you as soon as I have information."

  "He's as stable and as comfortable as I can get him, but despite the fact that you have been using this place as an emergency room and trauma center for the past few weeks, we are not actually a hospital. I have a transport coming for him in the next couple of hours to take him into the city where they can make sure that he's okay. He's human, and I want to run tests that I don't have the equipment for." Madeline sighed over her desk. "I'll take you to see him in a minute, but Aldric..." she shook her head.

  "I know. This has to end." Aldric frowned and shook his head. "Leo believes that he has a lead on how to locate the base these vampires are operating out of. With a little luck, this will be over soon."

  "Assuming that finding their local base of operations will solve the problem," Madeline said. "I think at this point we all know that they're after humans with magic, and the only way to stop them is to find out who's stirring them up and stop that person."

  Aldric grimaced. She was correct, after all. They needed to find the head of this monster and cut it off there. If the paranormal community had sanctioned the Immortal Thirst coven and its Master before he got so power mad that he sent his people out to actively hunt and collect mages in the first place, a great deal of violence and brutality could likely have been prevented.

  "Let me see Lincoln," he said instead. There was nothing he could do about the larger problem at the moment.

  "He's not really awake. I've got him pretty heavily sedated so if he does talk to you it isn't likely to make any sense."

  Aldric nodded and followed his cousin. She led him to the small room that he himself had been in not too long ago. On the bed lay Detective Lincoln, pale and somehow smaller than he truly was. His breathing seemed loud against the quiet of the early morning hours in the clinic, and he had a tube running over his face that Aldric assumed was providing the man with oxygen.

  "He's got a couple of broken bones, a ton of nasty bruises, a concussion, and I don't like the wheezing although I don't think it's anything too scary. That and the head injury are the main reasons I called the transport." Madeline grimaced. "And he doesn't have our healing abilities, so I can't in good conscience treat him here."

  "I ran my batteries out, s'all," Lincoln grumbled, his words not as crisp as they usually were. "Fuckin' vamps thought I'd go easy."

  “They were foolish, then. I would never have made that assumption. Even without magic, you are not the sort to allow yourself to be abducted," Aldric agreed. "Can you tell me what happened?"

  "There will be police here soon as well. I have to call them or they'
ll start to investigate me. Fair warning," Madeline said before slipping out the door. "I will tell them that he was being treated and couldn't answer questions, but they will undoubtedly send someone over anyway."

  "With luck, it'll be Steven," Aldric said, and Madeline nodded, pulling the door almost closed. "He already knows what's going on."

  "So, Detective, what happened?" Aldric pulled a chair up beside the bed between the detective and the door and sat.

  "Sleeping. Assholes busted in my door. Dunno how they got through the wards though," Lincoln frowned and sucked in another breath. "I got a warning that they were breached, an' then the vamps were bustin' in my door. First two got fireballs to the face." He snickered, then coughed.

  Aldric nodded. “Good. I must apologize, Detective. I feel this was my fault. I should have assigned some sentries to watch over you."

  Lincoln scoffed. "I can take carea myself." His words were slurring together more now and his eyelids drooped.

  "I am fully aware. But you do not need to defend yourself alone. I have spoken to Tamika and she is sending over two sentries to act as your bodyguards while you recover."

  "Don't need–”

  "Please. For our sake," Aldric said. Then he added, "For Faith's peace of mind."

  Lincoln started to sigh but it turned into a cough. "Fine."

  They sat for a moment, Aldric watching the detective breathe.

  "I think I got all of 'em. Crispy vamps. Like steaks." Detective Lincoln giggled. "Vampire stakes. 'S funny. Get it?" His giggle turned into a cough again and Aldric gently laid a hand on his arm.

  "I sent Ori and Kenya to your home to investigate. With luck they can get the remains out of your house before the police arrive there," Aldric said. "And I will stay here until your transport arrives. Your guards will go with you."