by Rain Oxford
“Use the shadow pass,” Hunt said.
“Why make him---” Vincent started.
“Because he needs to learn,” Hunt interrupted.
“I haven’t been able to get anywhere but the tower.”
“That is how you learn. You will have no better motivation than love. If you wait until it becomes life or death, it will be too late.”
“If you’re just playing around, I’ll do something. I’m not sure what, but definitely something.” Without giving him a chance to question my empty threat, I closed my eyes and concentrated.
I pictured the symbol of my door and pushed away all other thoughts and sensations until my mind was as dark and quiet as the shadow pass. The constant dull ache in my palm sharpened as if my hand was cramping, but the sting was only in my mind.
I felt magic spread from my palm, up my arm, and throughout the rest of my body. It prickled beneath my skin, warning me that it was something sinister and unnatural. If there was a sensation for the presence of death, this would be it.
Darkness swirled around me. Even with my eyes closed, I could feel it. When the air suddenly felt heavy and stagnant, I pushed the symbol to the back of my mind and focused on my mother. I imagined her sitting in her kitchen, her voice, her smile, her tears, and everything else I could think of about her.
I opened my eyes, even though it was pitch black. There was a sensation of her. I felt like I could find her in the dark, and the more clearly I concentrated on her, the faster I could find her. Here, time was nothing.
The darkness finally broke and fell away, leaving me in a slightly less dark closet. I quickly discovered it was my mother’s closet when I stepped out into her empty bedroom. There’s no blood or screaming, so that’s a start. I went out into the living room, where Henry was sitting on the couch with my mother and comforting her. Kyle and Scott were watching them worriedly from the kitchen table. When he saw me, Scott jumped up and ran to hug me. I hugged him back, but spoke to Henry. “What happened?”
“It’s hard to explain.”
“Try anyway.” Only then did I see the other side of her face, which was bruised and scraped. If Scott wasn’t still holding onto me, I probably would have exploded with fury. Since he was, I did everything in my power to control myself. The lights flickered and died, and my cell phone sparked again. This time, it was dead for sure. Scott jumped back.
“What happened?”
“A man appeared in the kitchen… he just appeared out of thin air,” my mother said. “He made a motion with his hand and Kyle was thrown across the room. I asked him what he wanted and he said that I was just a pawn. He said as long as I did exactly what he said, I wouldn’t be hurt. Then another man appeared, just like he had, and they fought. Then… Kyle was gone and there was a wolf. I know it doesn’t make sense,” she said apologetically.
“It does, but how did you get hurt?”
“That was my fault,” Kyle said. “They kept getting too close to her, so I had to push her out of the way and hold her down. When Henry arrived, they both took off.”
I opened a link between mine and Henry’s mind. “A shadow walker showed up to fight another shadow walker?”
“I don’t know. I didn’t see anything except for them vanishing into black shadows. Assuming the shadow walkers will go after her again, how do we protect her from wizards who can appear anywhere?”
“With a guard that can appear anywhere.”
“Rocky? How are you going to explain him to your mother?”
“I have no clue.”
Whereas I could always open a mental link to Darwin or Henry, I could never close it to my familiar. It was probably because I did it so often with Darwin and Henry that it was second nature to find their minds wherever they were in the world. My familiar’s presence was always in the back of my mind and I expected he was always at least slightly aware of what I was doing.
From my perspective, it was like I was mentally tugging on his mind, not giving a command but requesting his attention. Although ours was definitely not the normal wizard and familiar relationship, I could live with a familiar who could easily end my life since he was literally keeping my heart beating. At this point, the gargoyle had reluctantly allowed himself to be used without requiring any of my magic for his own use in return, but I had a sneaking suspicion my unusual companion was keeping a tab.
After a few seconds, just to prove that he was being inconvenienced, he responded with an affirmative thought. I pulled away from his mind and sat next to my mother. “A gargoyle is about to appear in here. I know this is really confusing to you, but he wouldn’t hurt you. He’s my---”
“I get it,” she interrupted. “I’m used to Star appearing and disappearing all over the place. She used to pop into my…” she trailed off as confusion clouded her mind. “I don’t remember. Who is Star?”
“Vincent’s previous familiar,” I said.
“She’s dead.”
“I know. John killed her. You said you have his power.”
“I’m not like him, though. I have Vincent’s powers, too”
Her eyes widened slightly. “I guess he was right, then. You were always a good kid. There were times when I thought Joseph was going to raise you to be like him, but then you met Astrid. She kept you pure of heart. You need someone like her.”
Astrid had a very twisted side, though. “Who was right?”
“John was.”
Before she could say anything else, Rocky appeared in the middle of the living room. He only came up to my chest with long arms and short legs, but since he was always hunched over, I didn’t know what his actual height was. He was also very muscular, had a clubbed tail, and was made of stone, so there was nothing frail about him. He had massive wings, although I had no idea if he actually needed them for flight since he could just disappear from one place and appear somewhere else. His head had a short snout, resembling something between a human and a dog, with a bat nose, bat ears, horns, and glowing white eyes.
After everything my mother had been through, I expected her to at least scream, despite what she said. She didn’t, though. Her eyes widened with surprise, but there was more awe than fear in them.
“You have a gargoyle,” she said quietly, staring at Rocky as if she was expecting it to vanish or attack. Scott gave the gargoyle a wave before wrapping his arms around Henry’s waist.
“Yes. He’s my familiar, like Star was Vincent’s familiar.”
“Who?”
“Never mind. He’s going to watch over you in case someone attacks again.”
“Someone attacked? Are you hurt?”
“No.”
“Devon, she’s not having a good day. Can you do something to make him less…” Kyle stopped talking when the gargoyle abruptly vanished. “I’m sorry! I didn’t mean to upset him. I was just going to ask that he play statue or something.”
“He’s still here,” I said, easily picking up his strong presence. “He’s just not visible. He’ll stay and protect you two.”
“I get to go with you?” Scott asked excitedly.
Henry picked him up. “Of course you’re going with us. How else would I put you in time out for five years?”
“It’s five minutes!” Scott whimpered.
“No, not anymore it’s not.”
* * *
On the way home, Henry called Darwin twice, but he only got the answering machine. I tried to connect with his mind, but he was blocking me. Seriously worried, I finally called Marcus. “Where is Darwin?” I asked when he picked up.
“Um… the Galapagos Islands?”
“Tell me where he is or I’ll make sure Stephen cuts off your internet.”
Whether it was my tone of voice or the threat, he finally realized I was serious. “He’s with his girlfriend.” That was so unexpected that I didn’t respond. After a moment, he explained. “We were investigating some animal abuse from Sunday night until Tuesday afternoon and were pretty much done, when Amelia call
ed him. I didn’t hear her end of it and Darwin didn’t stick around to tell me. He said I could finish up on my own and vamoosed.”
I sighed. “Fine. Call Maseré and tell him.”
“How much sleep did you get last night? You sound like hell.”
“That’s always nice to hear. I’m going to bed in a few minutes, so call Maseré.”
“Yep.”
“I mean it.”
“Of course.”
“You’re going to forget in two seconds.”
“I won’t forget. Wait, why do you want me to call Stephen again?”
I hung up on him.
* * *
My dreams were strange. I was in a hallway that was endless in both directions and there were countless doors, all identical. The worst part was that the only light was red. “What is this?” I asked. I was alone, though, so I didn’t expect an answer.
“This is a prison.” It was Vincent’s voice, but I heard it in my head.
“Why am I in prison in my dream?”
“It’s not you that is in prison.”
“So I’m here to break someone out?” It was either that or I was trying to make sure someone was locked up. I didn’t like either scenario.
“Isn’t it interesting that Astrid is trapped on Dothra and I’m trapped on Kadin.”
I turned to see Langril standing right beside me. “You did it to yourself. You went through that door.”
“I sacrificed myself and Vincent to save Earth and the other worlds from Krechea.”
“Why Vincent?”
He grimaced. “Well, that was a mistake. I made a choice between vampires and fae and that was wrong. I also… maybe got the doors mixed up. I meant to enter the fae world and took Vincent so that Krechea couldn’t get to the last two keys, but I accidentally took us to the vampire world. Now if Krechea kills you, he can get to me.”
“So you let Vincent go because you realized it was the wrong door?”
He opened his mouth to answer when I felt something very strange. It was definitely my instincts, but it was pulling me out of the dream and into a vision. I was suddenly in Henry’s parents’ house, watching Luana and Matheus Lycosa sleep in their bed.
Two wizards formed out of thin air. They were both middle-aged and forgettable in appearance, with black hair and black robes. The only thing that stood out about them was the silver clasps on their robes.
One of them approached Matheus and put his hand on the shifter’s head. The other wizard went to Luana and pulled out a knife.
I shouted for him to stop.
* * *
My door burst open and Henry quickly scanned the room, looking for danger. “It was a vision,” I said. I got up and started dressing while Henry just stood there, trying to catch up. “We need to go save your parents.”
“My parents?”
“Well, your fake parents. I just saw Luana and Matheus get attacked.”
“So?”
“What do you mean, ‘so’? Luana is still pregnant.”
“They killed my wife.”
“Luana’s baby didn’t.” I grabbed Henry’s arm and focused on the symbol of my door. “Picture them.” Henry had pants on at least. This time, it seemed easier to enter the shadow pass. As soon as the blackness engulfed us, I reached into his mind and saw some of the horrors of his childhood.
Matheus used to beat him over anything and everything, but it was Luana that he hated. Luana was the one who told him every day that he was a worthless freak. She was the one who burned all his drawings.
I followed my instincts through the shadow pass until it vanished around us and we were left in Luana and Matheus’s bedroom. “They look fine to me,” Henry said in my head.
“I doubt I would have a vision after it’s too late to do anything.” I sensed danger and pushed my power into their minds. It was almost second nature to take control and make them sleep. I pointed to the closet and we both hid inside.
“They are jaguars; they’ll sense us soon.”
“I have that covered.”
That was when two wizards appeared out of thin air, just like they had in my vision. I held up my finger when Henry started to move, and then focused my magic on them. I knew Henry’s mind and his parents’ minds, so it was easy to single out the two strangers. What I hadn’t expected was a third unknown mind.
Luana’s unborn baby had awareness.
This distraction nearly resulted in disaster as the wizards got close enough to the bed to attack the sleeping couple. I let my magic surround them completely before taking hold. As quickly as I could, I dug my power deep into their minds. “Stop,” I demanded.
Instantly, I felt them struggling against my power. It wasn’t just them, either; someone far stronger than me had a much deeper grip on them. Krechea. They were pawns with almost no control over themselves as it was.
Neither wizard was particularly intimidating. They both turned to me and I opened the closet door. “Why are you here?” I asked.
“We’re here to kill the female shifter,” one of them said.
I was surprised he told me, since I didn’t think my control over him stood up against Krechea’s. My power was slipping. “Why?”
“What is going on here?!” Luana asked, jerking up in bed. That snapped both wizards out of my control.
They both pulled a sword. Just like Felicity’s sword, there was no blade until they actually removed them from their harnesses. One of them went down and started screaming. Super-wizard or not, he wasn’t expecting to be attacked by a giant, invisible jaguar with saber fangs.
Because that was something someone should always be prepared for.
The second wizard raised his fists, in which red fire balls formed. I pulled out my gun and shot him in the head. Since I knew what would happen, I wasn’t surprised that he dispersed into shadow only to reform a second later. Shooting him merely served to stop him from attacking long enough for me to prepare my magic.
I made a swirling motion with my right hand and turned my magic inward. It was much like I was calling my familiar, except I was calling something inside my magic instead of my mind. My familiar’s presence was always in the back of my mind, like I had a mental link to him, wherever he was, at all times. My wizard’s staff, however, was always a part of me, just waiting to be called. From what I could tell, it only existed when I had use of it.
This was magic that took me months to learn, but since the staff was a huge aspect of my power, Hunt insisted that I learn to conceal it. If I didn’t see him do it with his own staff myself, I wouldn’t have believed it was possible. There was still a lot more that he and Vincent were able to do that wasn’t taught at the university.
My staff appeared in my hand and the magic joined with mine. It felt like I was using a limb that I forgot I had. The wood was oak with sigils all over it. Although I carved the sigils with specific intentions, they tended to randomly change on their own. At the top of the staff was a clear crystal with a dark red spot in the center. The wood wrapped around the root of the crystal and almost looked as if the crystal was fused into the wood.
The wizard’s eyes widened in shock and he dispersed into shadow again. It took me a few seconds to realize he was gone for good. “Seriously? Are all of the shadow walkers wimps? Henry, let up a bit; I want him to answer my question.”
The wizard Henry was mauling screamed again as he was pushed into a sitting position and I heard the sound of bones in his shoulder cracking.
“Why were you here to kill Luana?” As I asked the question, I filtered my magic through the staff before it took control of his mind.
He still fought my power, but the distraction of pain and the power of my staff were apparently too much for him. “The woman doesn’t mean anything to us.” He screamed again as Henry tightened his grip. “It’s the… it’s the infant!”
“Why are you trying to kill an unborn baby?”
“Because of his future. His destiny is to stop the Shadow Mas
ter from defeating his greatest enemy.” And then he vanished.
A few seconds later, Henry became visible and shifted. “I thought it was going to take a lot more work than that.”
“I did, too. I don’t think they were expecting anyone to stand in their way. Also, magic in Dothra is controlled by emotion, like anger, so it will probably take them a while to get used to it.”
“Isn’t that like magic here?”
“Not quite. How would Luana’s baby stop the shadow man from killing Langril? If he is here for long enough for her son to grow up and fight, we’re pretty screwed.”
“What are you talking about?” Luana asked.
Matheus held her, but he was glaring at Henry. I noticed he wouldn’t even look at me. “Have you two found a good family to adopt the baby yet?” I asked, making sure my tone told them there was only one possible answer I would accept.
When Henry finally realized what his parents had put Scott through, he came very close to killing Luana. Right before he could, Matheus told him she was pregnant. Since they had no interest in raising another child, they planned to sell the baby to the highest bidder. Although I had used my magic on them to make them look for a loving family to adopt the baby, I knew my power was limited by time, distance, or both.
From their expressions, I could tell that’s exactly what happened. “Medical bills are expensive and I’m ruining my body to carry this little fleabag. If I’m not going to make money on it, I should have just aborted it.”
I was about to use my magic on them again when Henry cleared his throat. I opened a link between myself and him instead.
“They’re just going to keep fighting it and the baby is going to get hurt. I would rather they profit from the child’s life than lose it altogether.” He addressed his mother. “Eat healthy food and don’t drink, smoke, or do any activity that could cause harm to the baby.” Luana opened her mouth, but Henry went on. “Do this, and I will buy him from you.”
“Five thousand,” she said automatically.
“Six thousand,” Matheus corrected.
“Fine,” Henry said. “I know a hundred paranormals that would make a better parent than you. Even Hunt’s orphanage would be a better place to raise a child.”