Shadowborn's Terror: Book IV of 'The Magician's Brother' Series

by HDA Roberts

  They shook their heads, a few of the girls burst into tears.

  Kron opened a portal and held my arm as we walked through. We emerged onto Blackhold's front drive. She walked me slowly up to the front door. I staggered a few times.

  "Easy, Graves, you had a fractured skull, it'll take a while to get you up and running again," she said.

  "Thanks for coming when you did," I said, "That was about to get ugly."

  "I know. Saw something very nasty coming, just in time to stop it. You don't want to know how badly that could have ended," she said with a sad smile as a couple of my Wardens came forward.

  "Lord Shadow?!" one said, taking my other arm, "Are you alright? Jillian, get the Captain!"

  "That's unnecessary," I started, but Jillian was already through the doors.

  "I'm going to go and speak with Jen," Kron said to me, letting go of my other side, "I'll be back tomorrow morning; don't return to the school until one of us tells you it's alright."

  And just like that, she was gone, stepping right back through a portal.

  My head ached, and I kept staggering as I walked through my front doors.

  I was grateful for Kron's foresight, but wished it would have kicked in before I got smacked about the head...

  "Shall I summon a healer, my lord?" the guard propping me up asked.

  "No thanks Lacy, but I'd appreciate a sturdy arm up to bed, if you wouldn't mind?"

  "Of course, Sir."

  The house's lights started coming on as the commotion spread. Tethys met us as we were coming up the stairs, dressed in a very interesting set of night things.

  "Matty?" she said, darting towards me, "What happened?"

  "Oh, the usual, lynch mob, tied to a stake, nearly got immolated, you know, Mondays," I said as she took over from Lacy.

  "Thanks, Lacy," I said.

  "Of course, Milord," she said before darting back down the stairs.

  "Will I have to order them to call me by name?" I asked Tethys.

  "You could try, but it might short-circuit something," she replied, helping me into my room and lowering me to the bed, which looked distinctly slept in. Tethys saw me notice and grinned.

  "What? It's comfy," she said.

  "Could you make sure Cassie knows where I am, when you've got a sec?"

  "Oh, it's fairly safe to say she'll be along right abou-"

  The door banged open.

  "Shoot, so close!" Tethys said, smacking her thigh.

  "What happened?" Cassandra asked, rushing over to me.

  "It wasn't my fault!"

  "That means it was."

  "Before we get into that, could you send two of your most discreet guards to Windward, one each for Cathy and Bill, just until I get back there? I'm a bit worried, so if you could have them on site within the next thirty minutes, it would be a load off my mind."

  "I'll arrange it now," she said, "but you'd better believe that there's going to be a conversation."

  She turned around and jogged back the way she came.

  "Wow, you're in trouble!" Tethys said with a snigger.

  "Why? I was the victim!"

  Tethys just kept giggling.

  I pulled my mobile out of my pocket and texted Bill and Cathy. If two strangers showed up and started shadowing them, they might fret. I kept it simple. I didn't want them to worry about me, either.

  While I did that, Tethys took off my shoes and gently shoved me into bed before pulling the duvet over my legs. She curled up under it with me, her arms around my chest and her head on my shoulder.

  "You want to talk about it?" she asked once I'd finally put the phone down.

  "I do," I said, closing my eyes.

  I was out like a light before I could start.

  When I woke up, my head felt like it had been split in two. Tethys was sleeping on my chest, looking peaceful. I cast a numbing spell that took care of the pain and closed my eyes again.

  "You know, it's hardly fair," said a far too chipper voice not too long afterwards.

  Kandi dropped onto the bed next to me, jostling me awake, "I'm here all the time, working my perfect arse off, but the second you come in the door, herself drops everything, including whatever part of me she was handling at the time, and drops right into bed with you."

  "Sorry?" I offered, still half-asleep.

  Kandi snorted and slid under the covers with us, "Oh, it's not so bad. I can see the appeal," she said, resting her head on my other shoulder, "What's this I hear about you cavorting with Vampire working girls?"

  "You have my attention," Tethys said, suddenly awake and staring me in the eyes, "Kandi, Honey, where did you hear this delightful piece of gossip?"

  "The Captain was muttering something last night after you got in, 'Bloodsucking hookers, demons labs and now a bloody lynch mob, is he trying to give me an ulcer?!'," Kandi said in an impressively accurate impression of Cassandra, "and then she said some un-ladylike things about having you neutered so girls couldn't lead you around by the nose so easily."

  How did she know what had happened with the mob?! I hadn't had the chance to tell her yet!

  Oh, Kron.

  "Oh, Matty, what have you been up to?" Tethys said with a chuckle.

  "I told you everything on Wednesday," I said.

  "Nowhere in that conversation was there a mention of an escort, Vampiric or otherwise," she countered.

  "I told you about Crystal."

  "You said she was your borrowed muscle, that conjures up a certain image, you sneaky boy," she said, nosing my ear.

  "What the young lady does when she's not knocking drug-dealers on the head is none of my business," I replied with as much dignity as I could muster.

  "She started sniffing you, yet?" Tethys asked.

  "Not that I'd notice."

  "What sort of Vampire is she? Quad, Lupin, Strigoi?"

  "There's more than one type?!"

  "There's twelve that I know of," Tethys said, "Any powers?"

  "Strength, speed, telepathy, as far as I know; doesn't do well in sunlight, I think."

  "Add beautiful to that and we get a Saphyron," Tethys said, "I presume beautiful, going by her profession?"

  I nodded.

  "Don't... don't let her bite you. She'd likely get very... clingy," Tethys said with a wide grin.

  "You don't say?" I asked in a heavily ironic tone, "Don't let the creature that feeds on human tissue bite me, never would have figured that one ou- Ow!"

  Tethys bit me on the cheek.

  "Sarcasm, Matty? And in our bedroom, have you no shame?" she said mischievously.

  "Why is nobody afraid of me? I'm a dangerous man, you know," I complained.

  "Saw you run away from a rubber spider," Tethys said with a smile.

  "Watched you cry during Bambi," Kandi offered.

  "Damn it," I said, pulling a pillow over my head, rolling over on my side.

  "Come out from under there, we're not done with you," Tethys said.

  "I'm going back to sleep!"

  "Can't you tell us about your new gal-pal first? We want more material to tease you with later, and I just know you've bungled this one somehow," Kandi added, trying to pry my pillow away.

  "No," I said.

  "It's not worth it, Kandi, knowing our Matty, he was a nauseatingly perfect gentleman," Tethys said, patting my arm and settling back down, "I'll bet you didn't even ogle the girl a little, did you?"

  "Sleeping now, can't hear you," I replied.

  "Yeah, that's what I thought," Tethys said, curling up again.

  That was at about seven o'clock.

  Hopkins came in about nine, Cassandra right behind her, looking poised for that promised scolding.

  "A lynch mob?!" Hopkins shouted, startling me out of sleep. The numbing spell had lapsed and the headache was back, though somewhat diminished, Kron did good work.

  "God, why are you yelling at me? I didn't form the mob," I said, sitting up as carefully as I could.

  "How did you ev
en get caught by a lynch mob?!" Hopkins continued, shuffling Kandi out of the way so she could sit on the bed.

  "Morning, Jenny," Tethys said, stretching as she hopped out of bed.

  "Morning, Tethys. Spill!" Hopkins said.

  "You mean that you're yelling before we've even gotten to the stupid part?" I asked, "I don't think I want to tell you."

  "Matty!" Hopkins almost shrieked, making me jump. Tethys and Kandi sniggered.

  "Fine, fine," I said. I told her.

  It didn't take long. The look on Hopkins' face wasn't one of amusement.

  "A girl. Again? Did you learn nothing from that Puritus thing?" Hopkins asked, clearly exasperated with me (not that I could blame her).

  "I knew this one!" I pointed out.

  "Yes, that makes it better," Tethys offered.

  "Please stop," I asked her.

  "Pwease big stwong man, save me fwom de mwonstwers," Kandi said in a tiny lisping voice. I called my Shadows and she shrieked as they tickled her mercilessly before pulling her off the floor by her foot.

  I dangled her in front of me upside down and she giggled, blushing hard.

  "Oh, you touched me in places no man ever has before," she said, limp and bedraggled.

  "Must you make everything tawdry?" I asked.

  "Hey, you're the one who enveloped me in tentacles, which one of us is more guilty here?" Kandi asked.

  I dropped her on the bed and she stretched out like a cat before rolling onto my legs with a happy little sigh.

  Hopkins rolled her eyes and rubbed her forehead. Cassandra looked like she was about ready to beat me over the head with my bedside lamp.

  "If I ever see that little wart again, I'm going to gut him, I swear," Hopkins said.

  "Assuming Kron doesn't beat you to it," I said, trying to get out from under Kandi, who wouldn't let me. In the end I just rested my hands on her back and tried to make the best of it.

  "I really can't leave you alone, can I? I turn my back and it's a Demon drug lab, or an angry mob, or a sentient suit of armour, a Fairy princess or some other such nonsense. Bloody hell, Matty, you have a Warden for precisely this reason!"

  "Not at school, I don't," I offered, looking hopefully at Cassandra, who didn't look any happier, or inclined to help me out of my scolding.

  "She could go in disguise," Kandi offered.

  I put my hand over her mouth, and she giggled, "You are not helping," I told her.

  Hopkins and Cassandra smiled at her antics. Kandi tried to say something else, but I kept my hand in place, not wanting her to put any more ideas like that in anyone's head. Naturally, this didn't discourage the redhead; it just made her make happy grunting sounds (the little weirdo liked it for some reason, so did Tethys).

  "Anyway," Hopkins said, moving on, "your little friend may have a point. You need a Warden around."

  I grunted something and let Kandi go, who was now flushed again.

  "Love it when you do that," she whispered in a shaky voice.

  "She's right, Matty," Cassandra said ignoring Kandi, "People keep trying to kill you."

  "Look, I know that the day is coming when I'm going to need full time security, but let me have my illusions a little longer, okay? This isn't likely to happen again, after all."

  "You said that after the Puritus thing, and yet here we are," Cassandra pointed out.

  "I know, I know, just let me have this last term, alright?" I gave her my best puppy-dog eyes, which don't really work when your eyes look like something a demon would be proud of, but they were successful enough that Cassandra growled and stomped off.

  Hopkins shook her head, "Just be more careful, will you?" she asked.

  I nodded and she left me to it.

  "Kandi, I need to pee," I said.

  "Should have thought of that before you did things to me," she said, wrapping her arms more tightly around my legs.

  "Tethys, control your staff," I begged.

  "Tell you what, Matty, rub my back, we'll call it even," Kandi said.

  "One inappropriate sound, and I'm stopping."

  She nodded and I ran my hands up and down her back gently, kneading it carefully. Naturally, she fell asleep after a few minutes of this and Tethys grinned evilly as I looked desperately towards the bathroom.

  "Help!" I mouthed.

  Tethys shook her head and Kandi started snoring.

  Cassandra came back about an hour later, barging in before dropping on the bed next to me, where she proceeded to turn the most ugly stare I'd ever seen on me. It made me uncomfortable.

  "Tethys, would you give us a moment?" Cassandra asked.

  "Sure," Tethys replied, picking Kandi up and slinging the girl over her shoulder. Kandi squeaked as she was handled, but that quickly subsided into yet more happy sounds.

  "You could have done that any time?!" I asked.

  Tethys stuck out her tongue and disappeared with her nearly-purring burden.

  "I'll be right back," I said, running for the bathroom. It was a close-run thing!

  "Okay, shoot," I said, returning to my spot.

  "Bad choice of words, Shadowborn," Cassandra said with a smirk, patting her hidden holster.

  I sighed.

  "I'm worried about you, Matty. This isn't sustainable."

  "It's not like I enjoy it, you know," I pointed out, earning me an elbow to the ribs.

  "Be serious. You aren't trained for this sort of thing. You nearly died at school. Who manages that?!"

  I leant against the headboard and looked over at her.

  "I know," I said quietly, "and I'm sorry for worrying you; I will be more careful in future. I wasn't expecting something like that to happen at Windward."

  "Didn't they tie you to a set of Rugby posts that one time?"

  "Well..."

  "And to my recollection, no less than four groups have tried to kill you on those grounds."

  "That doesn't count."

  "Why?" she asked sweetly.

  "Um..."

  "That's what I thought. Now can I send a Warden with you?"

  I gave her a look.

  She snorted and yanked me into a hug.

  "Fine, but if you die, I'll kill you," she said, squeezing hard enough to bruise.

  "That makes no sense!" I gasped through the constriction.

  "Shut up, Shadowborn."

  She held me for a while; it was a nice moment, which Kandi ruined.

  "Yeah, that's right, now go for the bra..." whispered a sultry voice from the door.

  We both turned to glare at Kandi, who was peering through a crack.

  "Um," she said, "It wasn't me."

  The door shut as she ran for it.

  "You just had to move the Succubus in, didn't you?" Cassandra asked.

  "You told me to get the paperwork under control, this is your fault."

  She leant her head against mine.

  "You hungry yet?" she asked.

  "I could eat."

  I checked in with Cathy, who hadn't noticed the bodyguard. She was worried about me, but was reassured by my explanation (as she should have been; it was all complete waffle that concealed everything important).

  Miss Jenkins laid on a fantastic breakfast, as always. Hopkins joined Tethys, Kandi, Cassandra and I, and we all ate like it was going out of fashion. Cassandra stole half my food, just like normal. It felt good. Just like it should. I smiled, more than I had since the church. I actually relaxed, really relaxed.

  Chapter 14

  Cathy dug the real story out of me over the phone as I was being driven back to school. She tried to hide it, but I knew that she wasn't taking the latest attempt to do me a mischief very well. She smiled when I arrived back at Windward (just in time for lunch), but broke down in tears the second I looked in her eyes. I held her as she cried it out, whispering soothing things to her as she squeezed me.

  People started to stare, but my red-eyed glare soon had them minding their own damn business.

  "Oh, Matty, I'm not sure I can
bear too much more of this," she whispered in a tiny voice as she sat on my lap.

  "I'm sorry, Cath, really I am," I said, "I'll be more careful, I promise."

  "I don't want you to change, Matty. I just hate that you live in a world where who you are puts you in danger."

  I kissed her forehead and held her hand.

  "Me too," I said, "God, me too. I wouldn't tell anyone else this, but I'm getting tired, Cath. It seems that every time I turn around there's another enemy, or another creature trying to get its hooks in. I just want to pick you up and carry you to the Grotto and stay there until it all goes away."

  "I'd like that," she said with a smile. She kissed me gently, that simple gesture a balm for all my worries.

  "How do you do that?" I asked with a smile.

  "What?" she asked.

  "Make it all better," I replied, cupping her cheeks.

  "I'm Cathy," she said with that lovely smile of hers back in place, "I'm amazing."

  "That you are."

  She seemed to calm down a little and we went back to our day. But we kept close to each other. I think we just needed the other to be there when we turned around. I was so glad she was there, even as I felt horrible that I was making her worry.

  Mister Kenilworth called me into his office to discuss the various confessions he'd received that morning, and I told him what had happened, laying the lion's share of the blame on Oxley and Storm's shoulders, largely letting the rest off the hook.

  As much as I would have liked to bring the hammer down on all of them, I knew that even powerless, Storm was an expert manipulator; I'd seen that in his memories when I went poking through them. Half the time, he didn't even bother using Magic to break people up, he just talked to them. It should have come as no surprise to me that he'd managed something like this.

  Storm and Oxley were expelled by the end of the day and I never saw either of them again. Half the student population either thought I was a snitch or a monster, but at least that meant that they weren't inclined to make trouble.

  After that, the week passed quietly. Thank God, I needed the break. I had lunch with Tethys as usual; she'd already managed to grow my not-inconsiderable holdings, and was raking it in. Cassandra was there, too, as she was from time to time. She said it was to make sure Tethys didn't try anything, but I knew those two were starting to get along quite well, it was actually beginning to worry me. It was hard enough getting my nonsense past one of them; both would be impossible.