by CC Dragon
I flopped on the sofa, feeling nauseated and frustrated. This wasn’t the usual monthly cramps and fun of being a woman. Was I sick? I didn’t generally get sick.
Did being part Shadowmen make me evil? I could toss and turn all night over the questions whirling around in my brain.
But I needed to sleep if I was going to look after the kids and fight with the Fae. I got up and headed for the stairs when there was a knock at the door.
It wasn’t Mason. I could just feel that it was a stranger with a lot of magic.
“Shadowmen don’t generally knock,” I said.
The Shadowman moved inside in a blink.
It wasn’t one that I recognized.
“You’re alone?” I asked.
He nodded.
“Did I kill those other ones?” I asked.
He smiled. “No, but they were out for nearly a week. You’re very strong.”
“For a half Shadowman?” I asked.
“For anyone. We need to talk,” he said.
I folded my arms. “Who are you?”
“I’m called Bradly,” he replied. “I’m your father.”
I laughed. “This is a bad Star Wars dream.”
“No, it’s the truth.” He looked totally serious.
I tried to wake myself up. It had to be a nightmare.
“And you just show up now?” I asked.
He started putting up that symbol on all of the walls, doors, and windows.
“What’s that for? Protecting people from me?” I asked.
“Quite the opposite. Where is your room?” he asked.
I shook my head. “Get out.”
“I’m your father,” he insisted.
“You’re too little too late,” I shot back.
He grabbed my hand and shoved a ring into it.
I looked at the ring. “What’s this for?”
“I’m sorry I wasn’t able to see you before. The ring will help you channel your growing powers.” He seemed confident.
I shrugged, still not believing any of it was true. “Channeling my powers hasn’t been a problem. If my father really were alive, why wouldn’t he have seen me for decades? Or maybe you never have?”
He sighed. “I’ve watched you from a safe distance. Where is your room?” he persisted.
I walked to the stairs then turned quickly. Staring him in the eye, I said, “Father or not, if you threaten me or anyone in this village—I will kill you. I won’t hesitate.”
He nodded. “You are as reckless as I expected. You fit Alaska and the trials that have plagued your life.”
“Are you saying I couldn’t kill you? I feel like I could,” I said.
He laughed. “You could. I could kill you. Shadowmen are one of a kind. Half or whole, we’re all full powered, but we’re on the same side.”
I went up to my room. “Be quiet. Margo is sleeping.”
“I have enhanced her sleep. She won’t awaken, but she is perfectly safe,” he said.
I opened the door to my room and stretched out on the bed. “What do you want?”
He set about the room decorating it with more glowing symbols.
“I am your father. I’m sorry I couldn’t be a part of your life. Your mother tried to get away. She died in childbirth, but you don’t have to worry about that. You’ve got Shadow magic in your blood and will survive just fine.”
“Good, if I ever have kids, I won’t worry. Your creepy friends seemed interested in that. What do you mean my mother died in childbirth?” I shook my head. “I remember her.”
“That wasn’t your real mother. Your birth mother was human. She wanted a child very badly, and I couldn’t say no to her. I did warn her,” he explained.
“If this is true, who do I remember?” I demanded.
“A friend of your mothers who was Fae, she looked after you and imbued you with Fae protection spells. When she was killed, another couple was chosen. They were much more low profile and could almost pass for human.” He looked around the room at the protections and seemed satisfied with himself.
“I’m not Fae then. I’m part human?” I asked.
He nodded.
“But everyone thinks I’m half Fae. How did I have basic magic before the shadow magic?” I asked.
“You think we would leave you without protection until you were grown? Until we could reach you? Never. You had all the magic you needed,” he explained.
“We?” I asked.
“I have friends who helped keep an eye on you. Other Shadowmen, Fae, witches, and so on,” he said.
“All that Fae crap was a lie,” I said.
He shrugged. “They understand upsetting the Shadowmen does them no good, so they played along. When you thought you were half Fae, they never contradicted you. But they couldn’t let you live among them. That would’ve made it obvious to you eventually. Also, all of their people would find out and they would consider you a target for their group to be attacked. That was not a viable option,” he replied.
“No one could tell me the truth?” I demanded.
He looked down. “It was safer if you didn’t know. You chose to help humans. The Shadowmen have been trying hard to regain their control and powers over certain areas.”
I thought about my life. “Why could I pull power from Fae lines?” I asked.
“You can pull power from anywhere you like. Yeti, warlocks, or any lines on the Earth that had power. You don’t suffer from the limits of others,” he said.
“That makes sense and explains some things. Why I prefer humans to Fae. I’m safe in this village. You don’t need to bother with the protection. I thought people were using those to protect themselves from me,” I admitted.
“You are in danger. Your baby will be a target,” he said.
“My what?” I asked
“You are pregnant right now. I assumed you were aware,” he said.
“No, I’m not. I mean that’s crazy and fast.” Even as I argued with him, I knew it was true. I felt it inside of me.
“The father is that Native. You’ll be fine. You’re strong enough, and he is very grounded. That will help him deal with his overly magical offspring,” said Bradly.
“We will live in a village where the kid is loved, supported and loved. He or she will belong here. No lies. I won’t abandon my child, either, even if something happened to Mason. If anything did happen to him, by the way, I will destroy a whole lot of Fae hills, some Shadow caves, and everything else I feel like,” I warned.
“This is a very normal phase of accepting the powers you have. The burden and the power,” he said. “I swear, I won’t leave you now. You’re far too important to the Shadowmen to leave you unprotected. We did our best to let you live your life until you became aware of what you are, and they did as well.”
“They?” I asked.
“I need time to explain. It’s not a two-minute answer,” he said.
I looked at him with disgust. My father who I’d never seen. Who’d left me alone in this cruel world. I wanted to blow him up, but he was the only chance at real answers. But I’d need more confirmation.
“I need to be alone.” I snapped my fingers and went from my room at Margo’s to Mason’s home—straight into his bedroom.
He woke up immediately. “Dot?”
“I’m sorry, but I can’t…” I knew my father would follow. “Someone found me.”
Chapter Fourteen
Mason locked the doors, and I smiled. He was trying.
“It won’t help.” I didn’t want to tell him about the baby because I had no proof other than I had been feeling weird. But somehow, my Shadowman father was sure. Somehow, I knew it was real, and it felt like too big of a secret.
“Who? Fae?” Mason asked.
I shook my head. “A Shadowman who says he’s my father.”
“You can take him if he tries to hurt you,” Mason said with confidence.
I nodded. “It’s not that. He says I’m pregnant. I think that’s what
drew him out. I thought he was dead. Why else why would he stay away?”
“Pregnant?” he asked.
“I’m not sure. We didn’t use anything, and it’s been recently, but…I haven’t seen a doctor or anything, but he seems pretty sure. Is there a magical pregnancy test?” I shuddered.
There was noise outside, and we went downstairs. Bradly broke through the door.
“I told you stay behind the protections,” he said.
“Mason, this is Bradly, the man claiming to be my father, a Shadowman. Bradly, be nice to Mason, or I will kill you without a second thought,” I promised.
“Don’t threaten me,” Bradly warned.
I waved a hand at him, throwing my father into the wall. He crumpled through the high wooden wall to the floor.
“You don’t give me orders. You show up now? Ignored me my entire life and think I will obey you? Trust you?” I stood over him with a lifetime of rage boiling up inside of me.
Bradly struggled to stand up. “You’re strong. The baby is making you stronger. More apt to lash out. It’s normal. A mother protecting your child. I might be doing this all wrong. You’re the only child I ever had. But you really should be listening to me.”
I blasted him again. “Saying it’s hormones is the stupidest thing a man can do.”
Mason got between us. “If she’s so strong, she doesn’t really need you.”
Bradly started with the protection crap around Mason’s place.
“What is he doing?” Mason asked.
“Some weird protection crap. Those symbols. What is after me? Fae?” I asked.
“Hardly. There are stronger things in the world. What are you doing running around at night in your condition? You need rest and protection,” Bradly insisted.
I laughed. “Pregnancy, if I am in that condition, isn’t a disease you need to be quarantined from. The last trimester might be tough moving around, but I have a case to resolve and plenty of magic to help me deal. The Fae and these changelings, kids missing all over Alaska. I’ve got my work. My priorities are important to me, no matter what you think is important.”
Bradly rolled his eyes. “That is beneath you.”
“No, it’s not. It’s my choice. This is my home now, and I’ll protect them over you, some deadbeat father with so much power yet claims he couldn’t be part of his only child’s life.” I closed my eyes and clapped my hands.
“You were safer without me,” he said.
“I believe you that.” I nodded.
The Earth moved and winds whipped up.
“Another Thunderbird?” Mason asked.
“I think we need it.” I nodded.
Bradly smiled. “That’s good for the village, but what is coming for you is stronger. Those changelings aren’t Fae. They are much more dangerous.”
“The kids are dangerous?” I asked. “Demons are stronger than Fae? They’re not stronger than me.”
“There are things much stronger and deadlier than Fae. If I’d been around you when you were growing up, you’d have been a target. I wanted you safe,” he said.
“And you let me find out from random Shadowmen tricking me with messages on a Yeti wall?” I demanded.
He paused in his symbol decoration. “They went against me. They wanted to draw you into helping them, joining them. You knocked them out, I found them and killed them.”
“You killed those Shadowmen? I thought we were small in number?” I asked.
“We are, but good vs. bad Shadowmen. There are always good and bad in every group,” he said.
I couldn’t argue with that piece.
“The Fae are afraid of these demons. That much we’ve seen, Dot. What is stronger than the Shadowmen?” Mason asked.
I frowned at Mason. “Don’t trust him.”
“Your father is afraid of something. What is it?” Mason pressed.
“I’m not absolutely sure, but I’m trying to protect you,” he insisted.
I sat in the chair behind the desk Mason used in his village police office. “Why? You didn’t care about me the rest of the time? You won’t tell me what’s coming for us.”
“I did care, but I didn’t want to blow up the relationship when you didn’t really need me,” he explained.
“I don’t believe you.” I put my feet up on the desk.
“You were safer if the other Shadowmen didn’t know where you were. The couple who raised you after your mother’s friend died, she was Fae, and she took you for a bit. She died, and I thought it might be people looking for you, so I picked the next couple. I had them set up protections around your room so no one could sense you.”
“And when I went to school?” I asked.
“No Fae would send their kid to school. If they were a Fae couple, it’d cover you paranormally from being suspected. You were a human taken in or hybrid they adopted,” Mason agreed.
“They knew you were alive, but never told me a thing about you. You never visited, and I’m supposed to trust you now. You just want the baby,” I said.
“No, those kids do. If they sniffed out you’re pregnant, they will do anything to get that kid,” Bradly said.
“Who is they?” Mason demanded.
“Djinn,” Bradly replied.
Chapter Fifteen
“Djinn? Like a genie?” Mason asked.
“Some Djinn do get caught in the genie’s curse, but those are very dangerous. They will grant wishes in the cruelest way they can. Twist the wish and exploit any ambiguity. Never wish on a Djinn unless it is to wish the Djinn dead,” Bradly advised.
“We need more than him.” Mason got on his phone.
“The Djinn are older than angels. Many people see them as demons, but they are neither good nor bad. They want power and will trick and sneak to get it. They’re deadly, but they don’t like to fight. It exposes them too much,” Bradly revealed.
Mason hung up the phone. “Joe and Gileal will be here soon. Joe is re-doing all the protections, alarms, and Fae are coming to keep the kids contained.”
“Great, hopefully little kid Djinn aren’t fully powered,” I mumbled.
“You will need help,” Bradly replied.
“If they can’t fight me off, and you think the Djinn are stronger than the Shadowmen, we’re doomed.” I shrugged.
“No, with the Fae, the Natives, and Shadowmen, we will stand a chance of taking back those children and reaching a truce. They appear as smoke when they are transitioning from place to place. They can appear as an animal or an object. Anything really. They don’t like direct confrontation. They prefer to slip into the world and take what they need. It makes them a bit easier to chase off. They don’t want to be tapped as a genie.” Bradly went over the protection places again.
Mason pointed to the symbols. “And those old Celtic marks will stop them?”
“They will lower their powers and give us the advantage. These symbols are as old as the Djinn,” Bradly replied.
“Smoke?” I asked.
Bradly nodded. “Usually blue smoke, but some like to change things up. I never thought they would come to Alaska.”
“Why did they?” I asked.
“I don’t know.” He shrugged it off.
“No, it makes no sense. Big cities would have more magicals. More magic kids to exploit. If they are taking so many kids that the amber alerts and news are catching on, they must swap in other kids to cover… They’re gearing up for something or hiding up here.”
“Up here, the missing persons cases are more normal, unsolved, and chronic.” Mason sighed. “They found Alaska has a higher number of paras than most other states, so there is more power to steal. Groups isolate themselves to the point that humans don’t even know they exist—easier to pick them off.”
“But they are super powerful. Why do they need to steal power?” I asked.
Mason nodded. “That is the question.”
“People don’t revere them as much as they used to. No one understands the Djinn, not the hu
mans. They mock the genie,” Bradly replied.
“They’ve never even heard of Shadowmen. Are you guys throwing a fit?” I asked.
Bradly smiled. “We were never worshiped or revered like the Djinn. They were considered the impartial ones. Not angels or demons—the fair ones who could judge before you went to the gods. But now, people want wishes. They want magical beings to serve them. It’s an insult.”
“They want to terrorize humans?” I shrugged. “They’d expose themselves.”
“That’s why they are using kids with powers. Taking them out. Sucking their power. Stealing kids that are hybrids, not a threat with their power but a threat to expose us.”
“The Fae would support that.” I checked the desk for weapons and found a dagger.
“What are you doing, Dot?” Mason asked.
“Nothing.” I whispered a curse on my new dagger and fixed it to my belt.
“Dot, a dagger won’t do much,” he said.
I nodded. “Neither will Fae or a shaman. I guess you should wake the elders. At least we have two Thunderbirds.”
Gileal and Joe arrived magically this time. I wasn’t thrilled to see either of them.
“I told you it wasn’t the Fae,” Gileal said.
“I’m very relieved to find out I’m not half Fae.” I folded my arms. “Not so happy that the Shadowmen have to protect everyone from these Djinn.”
“Djinn.” Joe shook his head. “How many?”
Mason and I shrugged and looked a Bradly.
“At least six are working together,” Bradly replied.
“All over the country, Canada, or here?” Joe asked.
“Active in Alaska,” Bradly answered.
“We need to circle the wagons. Bring in the best fighters and link powers,” Gileal agreed.
“Not me, I’m not linking with anyone,” I said.
“You don’t trust us?” Gil asked.
“I don’t, and I’m not going to risk being corrupted by fear or swaying loyalties,” I said.
“Dot,” Mason said.
I shook my head. “Get the elders. You and the Thunderbirds need to protect the village.”
Mason left to get all the help we could muster.
“She’s pregnant. We can’t let her be exposed,” Bradly informed Gil.