by Kimbra Swain
He had a debonair flare about his manner that rivaled Remington Blake’s N’awlins drawl. Before we could knock, the front door opened.
“Please come in,” a small voice said.
Raya and I stepped into the two-story foyer of the home. Straight ahead, a long staircase with filigree iron railings descended. The iron looked like waves, cascading down the glossy granite staircase. Standing at the middle landing, Seamus held a short glass of dark liquid in his hand. He wore a silk navy robe with golden accents and a pair of purple cuttlefish slippers with pink tentacles that attached to his ankles. It looked like they were made of felt.
“Nice shoes,” I commented.
“Wynonna, you can go back to your mother with that smart mouth,” Seamus said. His face showed no signs of amusement.
“Oh, okay,” I said, releasing Raya’s arm and turning to leave.
“Child, you know I didn’t mean that,” he quickly added.
“Didn’t you?”
“Back in the day, I’d throw you overboard with that kind of attitude,” he smirked.
“Good thing you don’t have a ship anymore,” I commented.
“Oh, but I have all my ships,” he replied. I didn’t know what he meant, but sometimes he spoke in riddles. “Why don’t you lovely ladies join me in my office? I have some business to take care of this morning.”
“Thanks. I’ve got some questions,” I said.
A smile spread across his face. It reminded me of those cartoons were the devil got his way and he would smile and roll his mustache. Seamus just didn’t have a mustache.
“Excellent,” he replied. “Come along.”
He walked up the stairs to his right, and we hustled to catch up with him. He pranced through the house to his office. Inside, a large painting of a ship tossed at sea hung on the wall behind a mahogany desk. Seamus told me that it was his favorite painting because life was like the sea. One moment it could be calm and breathtaking. The next, it would nearly capsize you in a storm.
I just wanted to get on the boat.
“Have a seat. Can I get you anything?” he asked.
“No, thanks,” I replied, as I sat down in one of the leather arm-chairs across from his desk. Beside the bourbon bottle, a file with a few papers inside sat aligned in front of him.
“Oh, this must be a serious visit,” he said, lifting an eyebrow. “Perhaps my business can wait.”
“I won’t take much of your time,” I explained. “I just have some questions that only you can answer. Or will answer.”
“Wynonna, I’ve told you a thousand times. I am your source. Whatever you need, I can provide it,” he said. Soraya nudged me, and I ignored her.
“Just answers.” He nodded, then waved his hand urging me to continue. “Well, last night Kyrie Babineau and I followed a woman from Hot Tin Roof. We thought she might be in danger. Only she didn’t go home. She went into the woods behind the new apartments in town. There Kyrie and I saw her talking to the same man that had harassed her in the bar. We watched as his fangs elongated, then he bit her.”
“I didn’t realize your mother allowed vampires through to the Otherworld,” he said.
“Well, because of the meeting in town, the vampire didn’t get his papers. His brother did, and the woman did, but they closed up before his process was completed. Anyway. Kyrie and I broke it up. There was just one problem.”
“She needed him to feed off her,” Seamus said while leaning back in his extra-large desk chair.
“Yes.”
“Well, what is the question?”
“I only know about vampires from you and what I’ve seen on television.”
“Which is grossly inaccurate.”
“You’ve mentioned that.”
“So, I have. Ask your question, Wynonna. There is no need to hold back.”
“How does your bite work? He said she was addicted to his venom.”
He took a deep breath, then looked at the ceiling. I looked up following his eyes. A large and colorful compass rose was painted above us. A smile spread across his face. “It seems strange to me that the daughter of the most powerful being in our realm has these types of questions, but I assume your mother loves you very much and wants to protect you. I also assume that you want to follow in her footsteps.”
“No, I have no desire to rule Winter,” I interjected.
He waved his hand. “No, Wynonna. You want to make this world a better place. I suspect you wanted to do that before you became The Phoenix, but now it drives you. You have to embrace that part of you. I had to embrace my abilities, but also stay in control.”
“You drink blood,” I smirked. Soraya nudged my knee.
Seamus looked over our shoulder. I turned to see one of his servants standing behind us. “Go ahead, Dagwood.”
“Sir, your car is ready. We will button the house up tomorrow,” Dagwood said.
“Very good. Give me a few more minutes with my friends, then I will leave,” Seamus said.
Dagwood exited, closing the door behind him. Not that I ever heard it open.
“Are you going somewhere?” Raya asked.
“Why, yes. I have business in Steelshore. I also have friends there who are being affected by these Sanhedrin swine. I have influence, and I intend to use it.” He paused, folding his finger into a steeple in front of his mouth. Then without moving his lips, I heard his voice. “You are going to Steelshore, too. Aren’t you?” I looked at Raya, then back to Seamus, who raised his eyebrow at me. “She cannot hear me. Only you.”
“What?” I responded out loud.
“Wynonna. I can only enter your mind as much as you allow. Send your thoughts to me. You know that your Mother and Levi have a bond and speak like this. I don’t have to have a bond. I’m only influencing you to hear me. And you think I just drink blood.” He had spoken in my head once again. I saw the devil in his eyes, but I also knew he would not harm me.
“How did you know I’m going to Steelshore?” I asked inside my brain.
His smile widened. “Because you need to make the world a better place. Why not start in the pit of hell itself?”
I took a deep breath then looked at Raya.
“Are you ready to go?” she asked.
“Yeah. Just a minute,” I responded. “Can you see the future? Did you read that in my mind?”
“I only know what you show me. You didn’t show me that, but I know your desires. And I know that despite your refusal to admit it, you are very much like your mother,” he said. “Do what you have to do, Wildfire.”
“I’m lost,” Soraya said since she’d only heard the tail-end of our conversation.
“I’ll explain later. Thank you, Seamus for your help,” I said.
“One warning, if I may,” Seamus said.
“Okay?”
“Vampires are deceptive by nature. Do not open yourself up to them. Yes, the young woman needed his venom, but she is addicted to him wholly. Not just the feeding. She must have all of him. She must have his admiration. She craves his body. She will do anything he asks her to do. My advice is to avoid vampires completely,” he said.
“Not you, though,” I said.
“If you knew what was truly best for yourself, you probably wouldn’t be here, either. I’m just as dangerous as the vamp and his brother. Even more so, because you trust me.”
I’d never been scared of Seamus, but I got it. He wanted to scare me. He wanted me to think twice. It was a lesson. One that I needed to take with me into the world. A friend may be a friend for the moment, but there were very few people that I could truly trust. A very few.
As soon as Soraya and I stepped out of the house, I grabbed her hand and skipped us back to my bedroom.
“What the hell was that?” she asked.
“I have to leave. I have to leave right now,” I replied.
Chapter 7
I hugged my best friend and sent her home because I didn’t want her to be complicit in my exodus. The time had
come for me to do the things my heart had been begging for me to do. The people of Steelshore needed help. They needed a Phoenix.
I grabbed my suitcase and skipped to the edge of town. The wards had been strengthened and I couldn’t skip through.
Surprisingly, at the edge of the southern veil, my mother and Levi stood leaning on my red Camaro. I paused, then hung my head. I felt my mother’s arms wrap around me.
“Did you think I’d let you go without a good-bye?” she asked.
“I dunno,” I whimpered. Suddenly, the gravity of my decision sank into my heart and weighed down my soul.
She stepped away and lifted my chin with her cool finger.
“Wynonna Riggs, I have loved you from the day I met you. You are the one who warmed my heart, breaking through all the icy walls that I had built. I stayed in Shady Grove for you, and today, I want you to go. Get in that red hot-rod and go show the world who you are. I’m always here. I’m just a headspace away. Go out there and make us proud,” she said with tears in her eyes.
“How did you know?” I asked.
“Honestly, we’ve been waiting here for a couple of hours,” she smiled. I looked over her shoulder to Levi who approached us.
I crossed the distance between us and threw my arms around him.
“I love you, Winnie,” he said. Hugging me tightly.
“I love you too, Uncle Levi. Thank you for being there for me.”
“I will always be here for you.” I saw the sadness in his eyes, but I also saw pride. I looked to my mother, and her face mimicked his. She was proud of me for running away. She handed me the keys.
“The tank is full. Aydan and Callum checked the oil and everything on it yesterday. We packed some things of yours in the back, plus a few other items you might need.”
Levi took my suitcase from me, and we walked to the back of the car. When he lifted the trunk lid, I gasped.
“Mom!”
“Aydan has your father’s leather jacket. I thought you might like to have the one he gave me. I’m pretty sure you can wear it now,” she said, lifting the jacket out of the trunk. I never imagined she would part with it. She never wore it. It was like a sacred piece of Dylan Riggs that he’d left behind for her.
“But you don’t even wear this,” I protested. “It’s sacred.”
“I don’t think it was ever meant for me. I wanted his jacket, but felt it was right to give it to your brother. This one is for you,” she said, then touched my cheek. “I am so proud.”
“Do you think I’m ready?” I asked.
“Hell, no,” she replied. “But neither was I when I suddenly found myself without a home. You always have a home to come back to. You will always have a family to support you. It doesn’t matter where you are. You are our girl.”
She kissed my forehead, and I felt the tingle of a spell ripple over my skin, rising up as goosebumps. Whatever she had done was very powerful. The cool breeze settled into me. Protection.
Levi hugged me again as I climbed into the car. “Your brothers send their love. They will be checking in on you. We didn’t tell them to do that, but you know they will. We are here whenever you need us.”
“I know you are,” I replied.
“Never feel ashamed that you have to ask for help. You will find allies in Steelshore. Nick will be there tomorrow. Take this address. We know the couple that run this apartment complex. They have a room ready for you,” Levi said.
“How long have you been planning this?” I asked.
“Since the moment you produced your first fireball,” he said with a snicker. “Now hit the road.”
He shut the door, then backed away to wrap his arms around my mom. One day I hoped to find the happiness that they had found in each other. I had to find myself first.
This was an ending. It was also a beginning. It was my zero hour.
Epilogue
The rain poured down as I rounded the corner into the alley running at full speed. My leather jacket had become heavy with the wet. I followed my prey as quickly and as quietly as possible. Our footsteps pounded through puddles of water, splashing through the darkness.
Suddenly, she turned to face me with the three-foot troll under her arm.
“Let him go!” I yelled.
“You don’t realize with whom you are dealing,” she returned. Her dark brown hair glued to her cheeks. He clothes were soaked to the core. She’d been in the rain longer than me.
“You are Sanhedrin, and you are killing innocent people,” I snarled as the heat rose in my heart and in my hand, which started to glow, lighting up the alley between us.
“What are you? A fire throwing mage. You smell human,” she said. I wanted to knock the smart look off her face. I’d been chasing Reyna, the head of the local Sanhedrin for two days. This was my first chance to really see her without spying through a pair of binoculars or through the smoke of a dark club. The Sanhedrin were rounding up fairies and beings of the Otherworld by the dozen.
“I’m not human,” I replied.
“Well, what’s your play, not human?” Her smart mouth would have turned to ash like the rest of her if she didn’t hold the troll in her hands. He squirmed trying to get away from her.
I lifted both hands on either side of my body. My arms ignited into flame, followed by my legs and torso.
“I am Wynonna Riggs. The daughter of the Queen of the Winter Realm,” I said.
“Oh! The little human who became a fairy via an illegal procedure performed by your mother.” I really didn’t like the way she said mother. It was almost as though she spat at me as she said it.
“No, you may have misunderstood.”
“I’m sure I didn’t,” she smiled, but stepped away from me. “You are just another little girl trying to fill her mother’s shoes.”
I smiled at her through my fiery form. “No, I am Wynonna Riggs. I am the Phoenix.”
Acknowledgments
Thanks to all the members of Magic and Mason Jars. You light up my life with your activity in our community.
First Flame will be released in November 2019. Details coming soon!