Magaestra: Tested: An urban fantasy series

by Katherine Kim

  He moved around the kitchen and somehow Faith found herself seated at the table with a cup of tea, watching the Master of the Ulfred Coven scramble eggs in sweatpants and bare feet.

  "Thankfully it's not something I must worry about much anymore, but I remember another time when battles like that were far too common. It has always taken me a while to come down from the adrenaline. And you have the extra layer of relief at getting your sister back. I hear she will make a relatively quick recovery."

  "Yeah, I suppose. It could have been a lot worse, I know, but seeing her so pale and weak..." Faith swallowed some tea and it burned on the way down. "I know she's safe now, but I didn't want to leave the room."

  "I can definitely understand that," Master Arthur nodded, then grimaced. "I am frankly shocked by the scope of Conti's operation. He had managed to get far too organized without anyone noticing. I know that Marc is pretty disturbed as well. And the number of blighthounds penned in the caves behind the warehouse is more than a little terrifying."

  He put a plate down in front of her, with toast slices neatly tucked under fluffy, golden eggs, then sat down with his plate.

  Faith started to eat, and with the first bite realized how hungry she was. She hadn't eaten much more than a granola bar and a few cups of coffee since she got up the previous morning, and some soup when it was served to Crissy last night. When she finished her meal she glances up to find Master Arthur regarding her with some amusement, but he didn't comment.

  "Thanks," Faith muttered.

  "It was no trouble at all," he answered. "I'm a little surprised that Aldric isn't here, fussing over you himself."

  "I kinda threw him out of Crissy's room a while ago." Faith twisted her empty mug in careful circles. and couldn't bring herself to look up at the man. For a master vampire, he was shockingly easy to talk to. "He was hovering.”

  Master Arthur chuckled. "Yes, I imagine he was. I'm afraid he is likely to do more than a little hovering over you. It is in our nature to protect and care for those we bond with, but your young man has a great deal of hopeless romantic in him, I think, as well as the protector tendencies that make him such a good enforcer, so I suspect him to be even more prone to it."

  Faith blinked at him. "We… um. We haven't done anything like that. The bonding, I mean.”

  Master Arthur nodded. "I have talked to him about the process a bit, yes, and Eldridge has as well I think. It seems that while Aldric's parents were themselves bonded, they never discussed much how it happens with him. While you have not completed a bond, it is true, there are threads already connecting you. It was how he found you so quickly once the attack started." Master Arthur tipped his head and smiled softly. “How we knew where to concentrate our forces in order to get to you in the shortest time. He cares for you very deeply."

  "I know." She couldn't get her voice louder than a whisper. "I care for him, too."

  Master Arthur's smile grew. "I am glad."

  His smile turned into a grimace. "You will need allies, I am afraid. Conti and his people are dead, for the most part, but he is unlikely the only one who thinks the way he does. I promise you that the Ulfric Coven stands with you and the Frostwalker Clan, but none of us will be as dedicated to your safety as a bonded beloved."

  "I thought that was just made-up romance novel language." Great. All the questions that spun wildly through Faith's mind and that was the one she managed to ask.

  Master Arthur grinned now, his eyes dancing with laughter. "I'm trying to make it mainstream. I think it's a beautiful way to describe the relationship, don't you? The world could use more love and lightness, and it sounds way better than a couple who are dedicated to each other through a magical bond between a vampire and their chosen significant other, don't you think? That's just so clunky. And I appreciate the sentiment behind the word mate but it’s just not as poetic, I think.“

  Faith blinked at him, then giggled. A second later she was laughing so hard tears gathered at the corners of her eyes and she was gasping for breath. Master Arthur looked pleased with himself and stood to collect the plates. When Faith finally caught her breath, he had washed the dishes and carefully stacked them in the dish drainer, and wiped down the counters.

  "Feeling better?"

  "I am, thanks," she said. Her whole body was heavy with exhaustion, but her heart felt lighter, finally. The terror of being kidnapped and the scope of Conti's plans had wrapped barbed wire bands around her chest that even their escape and safety in the clan house hadn't fully eased, but now she felt like she could take a breath.

  Almost.

  "I think you should go get that rest now. I'll finish closing down the kitchen and see if anyone else is still up aside from those on watch," Master Arthur said.

  "On watch? But I thought it was over?" Faith frowned.

  "Alpha Molin and his mutts weren't there. They had apparently left long before we arrived, though we're not sure why," Gregory grimaced again. "Marc and I both have trackers out and the Sun Ridge warriors are going out in the morning to search as well."

  She had totally forgotten about Molin.

  Well, he was a problem for another day. It was almost five in the morning, and she had a vampire to snuggle up with.

  21

  Aldric sighed and rolled over again. He had woken to every sound all night. Every squeak of a floorboard as someone patrolled the house, every nocturnal creature outside that made noise in their hunts, every time a distant door closed, Aldric's eyes flew open, ready to defend his people.

  He knew why, of course, but knowing a thing and doing something about it were often two entirely separate things. The only action Aldric could think to take that would settle his nerves enough to truly rest would be to go to Faith and drag her to bed. To make sure she was getting the rest she also needed but was no doubt denying herself at Crissy's bedside. And Aldric was not foolish enough of a barbarian as to try to separate the sisters now.

  She would likely not thank him for the attempt. And in truth, Aldric could understand the need to stay close to her sister after so many weeks of worry and fear for Crissy's life. Aldric had deliberately not sought out her location in the house. He could, now that he was aware of the spider silk fine threads connecting them, but alone here, in the dark of his bedroom, he had to admit that he was afraid of what they meant.

  Aldric rolled onto his back and adjusted his pillow. Glaring at the glowing red numbers on the clock for the hundredth time that night, he turned to glare instead at the ceiling. It was no more helpful but was rather less irritating than the reminder of how much sleep he wasn't getting.

  What if now that her sister was safe and now that the main threat to her family had been eliminated, she wished to leave? To go back to her own life? It was a perfectly reasonable course of action, after all. But would she be willing to even stay in touch? Aldric and the others in the clan would, after all, be living reminders of a traumatic experience. He growled softly at the thought.

  Footsteps in the hallway sounded like drumbeats in the quiet of the house. Someone walked with a light step, but in his hyper-alert state, they sounded loud and clear. Especially when they paused outside his door. He tensed and waited. The latch clicked and the door swung quietly open and Faith slipped in, chewing on her lip and peering at the bed.

  She couldn't see that he was awake, he realized. His curtains were drawn and the room lay too dark for her human eyesight. She could probably only see vague shapes in the room.

  "Faith?" he whispered.

  She jerked, startled, but then her shoulders relaxed and she closed the door behind her.

  "Everyone told me I should get some sleep in an actual bed," she answered, her voice hushed. “But I wondered... Um..."

  Aldric waited for her to finish her thought, but when she went back to chewing on her lip, he sat up and reached a hand to her, not that she could see.

  "Would you like to sleep in here? It can be difficult to be alone after a day like yesterday."

 
; She nodded and hurried to his bed, stumbling slightly on the edge of his rug. When she got to him, she slid under the covers and settled against him, smelling of soap and toothpaste and somehow, of home. Aldric found himself pulling her close, and she curled into him, resting her head on his shoulder and sliding an arm over his waist.

  "Thanks. Madeline and Crissy sorta threw me out of her room, and when I went to eat something, Master Arthur was having tea and toast and made us both some scrambled eggs. He seems nice."

  Aldric nodded. "Indeed. I have only heard of him before yesterday, but his reputation is that of an honorable man and a fair coven master. I can also now confirm that he is an excellent fighter, as well."

  "I'm glad. I think he wanted to reassure me that he wasn't going to go get flyers printed up that say 'Mages found in California!' or something, too,"

  Aldric chuckled. "Indeed. He is nearly five hundred years old, I believe, and has been master of his coven since they moved to the U.S. some century and a half ago. I believe nearly the entire coven fought in World War Two in one capacity or another and saved many mages by hiding them.”

  Faith huffed a laugh and her breath blew across the skin of Aldric's shoulder, and he felt gooseflesh prickle down his arms. "I'm glad he came to help, then. Conti was crazy. I almost felt a little sorry for him and Cherro, though. Almost. I mean, it's not easy to watch someone you care about losing their grip on reality. Even if that person is a psychopathic war criminal who overdosed on eating people.”

  "You have a kind heart to be so generous to the people who tried to use you."

  "Don't get me wrong, Aldric. I was never more glad to see someone killed than I was when you swooped in like a superhero and smothered Conti. I have to admit that even though I'm not at all bloodthirsty, I felt nothing but relief when you ripped that man's heart out."

  Aldric chuckled. "I think you can be forgiven for that sentiment."

  "I didn't know that vampires could suffer from dementia?"

  "I have heard of it in those who are very old. Ancient. If a vampire is unbonded, it is easier to slip away from the reality of so many centuries of memories," Aldric said. "Although Cherro was only a few hundred years old, Master Arthur suspects that the power he consumed from the mages he fed on overwhelmed his mind. Cherro’s old master Wilhelm was said to be mad as a March hare in the documents describing his death. I suspect that was the great downfall of the whole coven. They went quite literally mad with power."

  "Conti seemed to think that drinking the blood of another powerful mage would reverse the dementia." Faith said. Aldric felt her shiver and ran his hand up and down her back, hoping to soothe the fear away.

  "It would not have worked, and the question is moot. They will not threaten you again."

  He felt her nod and curl closer to him.

  "Um, something else Master Arthur said-- do you think he would be mad if I dropped his title? I'm not really into BDSM and it feels really strange to keep calling him Master. Anyhow," Faith kept going without letting Aldric answer one way or the other and he chuckled again and nodded. “Arthur also mentioned that you could find me at the warehouse because we've started bonding?"

  Ah. Yes. Arthur and Uncle Eldridge both took him aside after they returned to discuss it. Crissy had fallen asleep almost immediately once they started the truck and headed back to the clan house, which they had decided was far easier to defend than the clinic in town, should it come to that. Faith was not going to leave her sister's side until Crissy was awake and whole again, so both of the older vampires had taken the opportunity to fill Aldric in about a great deal of the bonding process that his parents had neglected to educate him on.

  "Yes," he said softly. He wasn't sure how she would take the information, but he would not start hiding things from her now. It wasn't who he was, and hiding information deliberately for whatever reason was one of the most annoying plot devices in the romance novels he enjoyed. "It seems that my parents neglected to inform me of large portions of the bonding process. We have begun very early bonding, yes. It is not irreversible at this stage, more like a confirmation of compatibility. I suspect it started when you fed me. Your magic and the magic that sustains my life meshed easily. Very easily, in fact, which is one reason I gained such a powerful ability so rapidly."

  Aldric considered the information he had gained that evening from the other men, as well as their speculation on abilities. Conti's fireflies, as Faith called them, were impressive but overall not terribly powerful despite the skill with which he wielded them. The fact that even if two vampires fed from the same mage, they were not guaranteed to gain the same skills. Arthur speculated that the skill a vampire gains depends on several factors, one of which being compatibility.

  It seemed a reasonable theory since through history it had been noticed that those vampires who befriended or fell in love with mages gained much stronger powers. Those were the ones that wound up in popular mythology: turning to mist or into an animal or with the ability to influence a human mind. It is also where the common myths about a vampire's weakness comes from since it seemed that the more powerful the skill the greater the weakness.

  Aldric felt he had gotten off easily. He was unlikely to enter a person's living space uninvited regardless of his being a vampire. It was simply poor manners.

  "So ability depends on compatibility?" Faith asked. Her voice was sleepy and thoughtful.

  "So it would seem. We cannot, of course, test the theory, but it feels plausible enough." Aldric glanced at the curtains where he could see the edges brightening as the sun rose.

  "So we're really compatible?" she asked. “We started bonding?”

  "Indeed," Aldric said. He wanted to say more but couldn't think how to even begin saying all that he wanted to express. "Nothing becomes permanent unless we choose to make it so, however. I am glad for even this small connection, though, since it led me straight to you yesterday afternoon. I cannot regret anything that helped me locate and rescue you and your sister."

  "Mmmm," Faith hummed. "Me too."

  A moment later, Aldric heard her breaths even out and her whole body softened with sleep. He lay awake still, staring at the ceiling again. This time, however, he felt nothing but contentment, and a determination to make certain that the woman in his arms felt safe enough to sleep well.

  It was the least of what she deserved. And Aldric wanted to give it all to her.

  22

  Faith woke up, warm and foggy and as comfortable as she could ever remember being. She pulled in a deep breath, getting ready to stretch and cozy memories of roasting marshmallows over campfires in the waning daylight, and of long, lazy chats over the dying coals, and of comfort and home flooded her mind inspired by the familiar scent embedded in the pillow, making her smile. When she managed to convince herself to roll over and open her eyes, the room was dim, but the bright sunshine peeking around the edges of the heavy blue curtains was plenty to see by.

  On the bedside table, there was a travel mug, a bottle of painkillers, and a note, and she sat up to reach for both.

  Faith,

  As much as I would rather stay, I must go to perform my duties. I must arrange for the ceremonies in the Enforcer's Grove for those we lost in the battle. I stopped to speak with Crissy to assure her of your location, but she and Rod were deep in conversation, so I did not linger. The children are with Marc and Greg in the schoolroom.

  The coffee was very hot when I left it, so I hope it is still warm enough to drink. I was uncertain if you would need them, but I have left some painkillers as well, in case.

  Good morning,

  Aldric

  Faith grinned as she took a cautious sip of coffee, finding it a perfect temperature. She peered around the room until she found the small analog clock that Aldric had set on his dresser. Ten twenty… something. She was too sleepy still and the room was too dark to make it out exactly, but it was close enough. Only around four hours of sleep.

  Still, she grinned to hersel
f. Faith wasn't sure how she'd gotten it into her head to try to sneak into Aldric's bed this morning, but she was glad she had. His presence soothed her and drove away the shadows of Conti and his creeps, and of the fate she had narrowly avoided.

  She knew she was free because of Aldric and Marc and the others who attacked the warehouse, and she had to thank them, but just now, while she sat in Aldric's bed, drinking coffee he had left her and taking the medicine that he had thoughtfully provided as well— because she did ache absolutely everywhere— Faith just smiled. She was safe and she knew it to her bones.

  When the coffee was gone, she swung her legs over the edge of the bed and stood, stretched, and shuffled into the hallway. She smiled when she got to the door of her room as she heard Kaylee squeal in the new classroom down the hall. The squeal turned into a laugh, Jake's laughter a happy counterpoint. Greg was chuckling, too, and making noises that sounded like they were trying to get the kids back on task.

  She wished him luck.

  After she got dressed, she peeked in on Crissy, who was asleep. Rod looked up from the book he was reading and nodded a greeting. Faith smiled and nodded back.

  "Aldric is in his office," he said, his voice just above a whisper. "Crissy just dozed off a few minutes ago."

  "I'll go find him then. Thanks for keeping her company."

  "My pleasure," Rod answered. If Faith didn't know better, she would swear that his ears turned red. She cocked an eyebrow at him and he shrugged. Faith chuckled softly as she headed to Aldric's office. That could be interesting.

  She heard voices as she neared Aldric's office door.

  "...just don't understand why you're in here and not upstairs with Faith, that's all. You were frantic yesterday," Marc said.

  "She needed rest, Marc. And no doubt she needs more time with her family. I will not begrudge her that," Aldric answered. "Besides, this needs to be done. We lost three sentries yesterday and they deserve all the honor we can give them."