“Awake and rising,
Awake and rising,
Great sorcerer
Free this child
Awake and rising
Awake and rising.”
He repeated the spell six times when he felt the magic take hold; pins and needles started travelling all over his body, in that moment he felt his true power surfacing and embraced the magnitude of sensations that coursed under his skin. It had been so long. He opened his eyes; the familiar intensity built behind his irises. He knew his eyes would be glowing red. Hundreds of years of magic flowed through him and into the sleeping child.
The magic was passing through Hope’s fragile little body, making her skin glow as the light filled her from the top of her dark curls to the tip of her toes. He couldn’t stop now even if he wanted to.
“Set her free, leagtha saor in aisce!” he bellowed, placing her arms wide open on the tiled floor.
Suddenly, the light from inside her escaped out of her nose and mouth, the tips of her fingers and toes glowed.
A flash of light filled the room, blinding him for a second before disappearing again almost immediately. The glow from Hope’s skin was gone.
Hope lay exactly like she had before, her arms spread out like an eagle; but there was something different… Her lips were blue, and her skin had lost all colour. The whites of her eyes were visible, and she wasn’t breathing.
Fuck.
“Don’t you dare!” he shouted. Panic built but he brushed the fear aside, he had seen this reaction before after he performed one of his ancestor’s spells, he knew what to do.
Lifting her from the floor, he embraced her, placing her ear against his chest, so her ear was against his heart; as his arms wrapped around her tiny body electrical currents passed between them. Their entire bodies were vibrating in unison from their magic combined. She was a Cailleach? Was she the missing piece the Domini Bellatorum had been searching for all this time?
The colours produced from their embrace travelled from them in waves; he had never experienced anything so extraordinary. Little Hope was definitely a strong spectral – purple, pink, blue and green waves of light cascaded off them. It was beautiful. He could only watch, mesmerised by the wonder they were creating as he held onto her still unconscious little body, praying this was bringing her back to them; suddenly the lights were gone and she was revived. The first gasp for breath was like music to his ears, he had never felt so relieved. After a few intakes of breath a small faint trail of black smoke exited from her parted lips and disappeared into the air. She opened her eyes.
It was the best feeling in the world.
She was all right; he had succeeded in reversing that bastard’s spell and in the process discovered her magic. She would have to start her training and learn all about their world.
“Nicnic,” Hope said, smiling sleepily, her big green eyes staring at him, asking a million questions without saying a word.
“Hey, pretty girl, it’s so nice to see you,” he whispered, stroking her dark curls off her face.
“Has bad Daddy gone now, Nicnic? He hurt Nana Heather.”
“Yes sweetheart, he’s gone.” She snuggled closer into his chest at his answer, fisting his sweatshirt. He tightened his hold, suspecting she needed more reassurance that everything was OK.
“Oh my god, Hope!” Amelia cried, racing down the stairs. “You’re all right. Dominic it worked! Oh my god, oh my god.”
She reached them in no time and threw herself at them, taking him by surprise as she wrapped her arms around them both, squeezing them tightly. He was expecting her to pull Hope away from him.
“Thank you, Dominic, thank you.” Her tears of happiness were cracking his tough façade and he had to blink a couple of times to stop his emotions from overflowing.
“You’re squashing me and Nicnic, Mummy,” Hope protested, making them both laugh.
“Well I am sorry little miss but Mummy is really happy to see you.”
Hope looked from him to Amelia. “Can we go to your house now, Nicnic? I need some pancakes, and Chef said I can have chocolate next time,” Hope said, batting her little eyelashes. He chuckled deep in his chest, glancing over at Amelia who was looking at him with so much awe in her eyes.
“What do you think, Mummy, are you going to come and stay at Nicnic’s?” he asked, suddenly feeling a little vulnerable. Were these two beautiful creatures his for keeps?
“Try and stop me,” she mouthed at him, any amusement gone from her gaze now. She was looking at him like she wanted to devour him; saving her daughter had obviously stemmed her lust for him. He couldn’t wait to get her alone later, so he could lose himself in her again.
He cleared his throat, praying the effect she had on him and his inappropriate thoughts weren’t visible. They still had to speak with the others and make sure Heather was OK.
Just at that moment Heather came rushing down the stairs wearing a robe; all that was left of the gouges in her face were streaks of blood. Colt and Clara followed. Clara looked pale and worn out.
“My beautiful baby girl, you’re OK,” Heather said to Hope, cupping her cheek. “Dominic you did it, I can’t thank you enough. Amelia, my darling, he didn’t hurt you too?” Heather was running her eyes all over her, looking for signs of damage. Amelia was looking less than happy to see Heather and tensed next to him.
“No Mum, he didn’t, are you OK?” She spoke stiffly, not meeting Heather’s eyes which made the other woman’s brows furrow with concern at her daughter’s coldness.
The slight quiver of Amelia’s bottom lip was a sign she was trying her best to hold it together. Did she blame herself for this?
“Amelia, look at me,” he ordered gently. She turned her head, meeting his eyes; he saw it then – the guilt, the utter devastation, this amazing woman was brandishing her soul with what happened today, he wouldn’t allow that.
“I am only going to say this once and you are going to believe it. All of this wasn’t your fault, Amelia. Your mum is fine and Hope is safe, please don’t close down on us now when we need you more than ever, you’re not alone anymore, baby, you don’t have to take this all on by yourself, we are here and we all love you.”
Heather wrapped her arms around her; after a few seconds Amelia relaxed her stiff posture and allowed her emotions to flow, sobbing gently into her mother’s shoulder as Heather stroked her hair, whispering soothing words. Clara joined them both. The three of them hugged it out, he suspected it was what they all needed.
“My two beautiful girls, I am so glad I have you both back where you belong. We’ll beat this arsehole even if I have to summon Airmid herself,” Heather said, releasing her hold as she wiped away her tears. “Don’t you dare ever blame yourself Amelia, none of this shit is on you, do you hear me?” Amelia nodded her answer, still struggling to find her voice. Her red-rimmed eyes met his; the vibrant blue was back, some of the sadness had lifted.
“Time to go home,” he said with Hope still clinging to him. Her little arms and legs were wrapped around him tightly, she reminded him of a little monkey the way she clung to him; holding her on his hip with one arm he took Amelia’s hand in his free hand, squeezing lightly to remind himself he wasn’t dreaming, she was his at last.
This was it, this was all he needed in life – Hope, Amelia and the little life growing inside her were his family now.
He would find out who was working with Will from his coven, they would pay for what had transpired here today. There would be no more hiding who he really was, everyone who was involved in this betrayal should be very afraid of what had just been released inside of him.
Chapter Twenty-Two
Heather
“Fredrick is in a meeting at the moment, Ms Vandran.” The annoyingly nasal, high-pitched voice spoke on the other end of the line, making her grit her teeth.
“I don’t give a shit if Fredrick is in a meeting, you tell him to phone me back as soon as he’s free or there will be hell to pay!” Heathe
r snarled into the receiver.
“Fredrick will only come out of meetings for Dominic if you have an is—”
“Are you not hearing me? I don’t care if Fredrick only deals with Dominic, if I don’t hear from him soon I will come down to the offices myself and I don’t think any of you want that…” She wasn’t going to be brushed off.
“I’ll see if I can send a text to my colleague who is with Fredrick in the boardroom, will you hold for a moment please?” The woman on the other end sounded nervous now at her threat.
Good, so they should be.
“Yes, I’ll hold, don’t leave me hanging long if you know what’s good for you, I’m a busy woman.”
The beeping noise sounded as she was put on hold; the constant repetitive tone was like nails down a chalk board. She gritted her teeth and put her mobile on loud speaker, placing it on her dressing table. She walked to her wardrobe to pick out her outfit for today, her temper festering on the brink.
She wanted answers otherwise she would wreak havoc on the Domini Bellatorum and all of its members.
They had called for a truce a week ago; Fredrick himself had visited her office to speak to her personally. Whoever was behind Will returning had access to Domini Bellatorum magic; somebody in that company knew something; nothing was getting in the way of her finding out who had set the attack up.
Her answer to how co-operative Fredrick was feeling today came at that moment in the shape of the nervous, squeaky receptionist on the other end of the phone.
“Ms Vandran?”
“I hope you have Fredrick on the other line,” she drawled, sounding bored.
“I – er, no Ms, he – Fredrick is caught up in meetings all day. He is refusing to take your call.” The poor girl was terrified.
“I see. What’s your name, my dear?” Heather purred. She did enjoy the sound of fear in a person’s voice, it was evidence of what she had moulded herself into.
“B-Becky, Ms Vandran.”
“Right Becky, I like you, so I’ll tell you this once. Pack your things and go home, there’s trouble coming. Unless you want to get caught in the crossfire you need to be as far away as possible from that office. Your boss is about to get a lesson into who he’s fucking dealing with. Good day, Becky,” she sneered before hanging up.
If little Miss Becky had a brain cell in her head she’d get out of there now; the mood she was in Fredrick was in for an eventful afternoon. She refused to be cast aside like she was a nobody, did they not know better than to piss her off by now?
She pulled out her black pencil dress and matching jacket. Walking to her shoe section, she selected her black stiletto pumps.
Pulling her underwear on, she dressed quickly, a shudder running through her when her hand brushed against her chest. Clara’s healing spell had removed any damage caused by that sick fuck, but the inner turmoil from what she had endured a few hours ago was creating a ball of mixed up emotions inside her. Today had been the first time she had been that scared since… No, she wouldn’t allow herself to go back to that time, back to the place where her entire world had fallen apart, the night Cillian had been murdered and she had gone into hiding with her girls.
She had fought those demons a long time ago.
She had built a big name for herself as a mean and powerful Cailleach who worked at protecting innocent spectrals from arseholes, taking different contracts out on bastard that used their magic for harm, she took no shit. Everyone in their circle knew not to fuck with her because they would either end up six feet under or severely disfigured.
Many powerful spectrals had tried and failed to trample her throughout the years and she had destroyed every single one.
These bastards should have known better than to underestimate her; she wasn’t going to let this threat against her family go.
She had her life taken from her once and now she had everything she held sacred back; she wasn’t having it ripped away again.
She applied her mascara and red lipstick and eyed herself in the full-length mirror, appreciating her choice of clothing for the battle she had to face over the next few hours. The Domini Bellatorum were in for a rude awakening.
This meant war.
Dominic
“Nope, Vinny, the chocolate is first,” Hope told the chef as she kneeled on one of the stools helping to prepare her strawberry and chocolate pancakes.
He chuckled at the way her little face screwed up when she bossed him around; she looked so much like Clara with her gorgeous emerald eyes and mane of curly hair, but she had her mother’s fiery temperament.
Vincent didn’t seem to mind though, he just pulled a face at her which had her giggling. Dominic got the impression the big guy had a soft spot for the little madam who was now in the middle of rolling her sticky pancake together – there was more chocolate on her clothes and face than inside the actual pancake.
Amelia was having a lie down, her morning sickness was back again with vengeance and had taken a lot out of her, he was just glad she had given up on arguing about staying at the mansion. That woman was stubborn; she was going to give him trouble, but he wouldn’t have it any other way, in fact he liked her sassy side, he was just relieved she was ready to trust him wholeheartedly now. He wasn’t sure how much more his nerves could have taken if she had walked away again.
He strolled over to Hope and kissed her forehead.
“I’ve got to pop out for a few hours, Princess, you’re in charge of the whole house, ok?” he said, earning him a nod as she concentrated on spreading more chocolate on another pancake.
On his way out Patrick helped him put on his grey suit jacket.
“Keep my girls safe, if all goes well I will be back within two hours,” he told Patrick who was awaiting his orders. “No one gets in or out of here until I’m back, understand?”
“Perfectly. Good luck, sir,” Patrick answered in his usual military style.
Dominic nodded and climbed into his waiting Austin Martin; he was driving himself, some of his security were meeting him at the offices.
His knuckles turned white as he gripped the steering wheel tightly as he drove to his meeting, he had hidden his anger in front of Amelia and Hope after the events of that morning he was seething that someone had used his ancestors’ magic to hurt one of the people he cherished most; the darkness had been scratching away at his insides; today they would see exactly what he was capable of if he didn’t get the answers he needed.
Chapter Twenty-Three
Dominic
The sight that greeted him when he pulled into the offices in the city centre of Dublin was one of sheer chaos in the shape of Heather Vandran.
She currently had one of the security staff up by the throat, snarling something at him. The terrified expression on his face was enough to know what ever she was threatening wasn’t pleasant.
After the state she was in less than eight hours ago, this show of valour only added to his admiration of her; he had always known she was tough, but seeing it for himself, he now knew why his father felt threatened by her. He had watched the frustration and temper tantrums his father had thrown every time he tried and failed to get one over on this woman, she was a warrior with a true Cailleach spirit.
She had managed to battle her way through years of cruelty at the hands of his father and although the psychological pain she suffered must have been unbearable she had created a legacy for herself and kicked back against whatever was thrown at her. He could see where Amelia and Clara got their tough exterior.
To look at her though, it wasn’t hard to see why many men bent to her will, she was fierce but stunningly gorgeous with her delicate features, her long poker-straight blonde hair and her big blue eyes that reminded him so much of his Amelia.
He wondered whether his father’s brutality and torment of this woman was done out of bitterness of wanting something he would never have. His father had been a womaniser and Heather’s undeniable beauty wouldn’t have escaped his father’s eye.
Heather had her whole life ripped away from her by that evil son of a bitch, but all the chances he had to end her, he never did, this had always left Dominic reeling with unanswered questions that his father had always had an excuse for.
He had to prove to Heather he was a better person than the man who helped create him; he wouldn’t stand for any injustice against people unnecessarily, especially not against someone who he hoped would become his mother-in-law one day, and possibly a new business partner; Heather was exactly the person he needed to take over his business affairs here, he just hoped she agreed.
He slammed his car door and marched over, addressing the security guard who was trying and failing miserably to remove Heather’s death grip from around his colleague’s throat.
“Ms Vandran is with me, tell Fredrick I am here and I am demanding a meeting with him now,” he barked. The guy looked at him in horror, nodded and immediately ran off to do his bidding.
“Dominic, how nice of you to join me. I apologise for the show; but as you can see these imbeciles need to be taught a lesson… I don’t enjoy being told no,” she purred, dropping the guard who immediately rubbed at his throat, gasping for air.
Dominic smirked. “I can see. Well, now we are both here, care to join me?” he asked, gesturing her into the building.
“With pleasure,” she said, stepping over the guard who was now watching them from his spot on the floor, his eyes bulging from his skull.
Five minutes later they were both entering the lift on their way up to Fredrick’s office.
“Do you think Fredrick is behind Will resurfacing?” Heather asked as soon as the doors closed. He was sure he saw a flash of fear in her eyes as she spoke. Was she afraid? The events of earlier that day had obviously rattled her more than she would admit.
“I have a meeting with some people tomorrow who were working for Juliet when Will was killed, we are trying to track down one of her main henchman, Phil. I have a feeling he’s involved in this somehow. I don’t think Fredrick is involved, but someone in the coven definitely is and I am damned well going to find out who and deal with them personally. No one threatens what’s, mine ever!” he snarled, his temper surfacing.
Something Familiar (The Vandran Legacy Book 2) Page 12