“Okay. So it’s not fair. Want me to cry you a river?” Liz’s brow arched and when Dacia didn’t answer, she continued, “Good. It’s not happening. Maybe if you relaxed a little and actually tried to be yourself when going after a man, you would find one.”
Dacia slumped in her chair. For the first time, Liz noticed that Dacia was in loose slacks and a blouse that actually covered her and didn’t cling to her body like saran wrap. Her hair was still perfectly in place, but it didn’t look like she had put much time into it, or her make up.
“Are you okay?” Liz asked softly.
Dacia shrugged a single shoulder and turned back to whatever froufrou drink she was drinking with cherries in it.
“What is it?” Liz tried.
Dacia picked up her drink and drank it down. Shit, Liz knew that feeling, where nothing worked to dampen the pain. “Why do you care?” Dacia asked in a fevered whisper.
“I know down and out. That looks about where you are, or are headed.”
Dacia’s dark eyes glittered as she met her gaze. “Yeah, I’m about there. I feel like shit since that piece of shit Shadow Fae stripped me of my confidence.”
“I’d say it gets easier but it doesn’t happen overnight, or over a year. Eventually though, you go numb.”
“Until you find someone, or someone’s to fill the emptiness,” Dacia muttered. “Sorry, I would be happy for you, but I’m feeling too sorry for myself to muster anything positive.”
Liz nodded at Jess. “Let me buy her out, and I’ll buy out our tabs while I’m at it.”
Jess’ eyes went wide, but she didn’t argue.
* * * *
Tremaine heard Robert’s phone chime and watched as Robert checked the display. He brushed a hand down his lapels and glanced over at Liz, who was walking back.
“What’s up?” Tremaine asked.
“Think she’ll talk to Preston?”
“I take it he has some news?”
Robert sighed. “I really hope so. I can’t stand knowing that James is out there looking for Liz. I know she will never let me be with her every second of the day, and I don’t expect her to.”
Tremaine barked a laugh as Liz joined them.
She looked torn apart when she said. “We should go. I don’t feel like being out right now.”
Robert cupped her cheek, his expression serious. “What’s wrong, love?”
She looked to the door, “I just want to get out of here.”
He nodded. “Okay, but Liz, Preston will have to meet us back at your place.”
“That’s fine. He’s always been a good friend, but please, let’s leave.” Her tone was harsh and Tremaine was on his feet, taking her hand as he started for the door.
Robert followed on their heels. Tremaine gave him a warning look over his shoulder before they ever made it out the door. Liz practically ran to the Land Cruiser and into the driver’s side.
Tremaine rushed to catch up. He opened the driver door with a raised brow. “Give me the keys. You’re on edge, and I don’t know why, but you’re starting to worry me.”
Her eyes slid shut, but she scooted over to the passenger side as Robert climbed in and caught her. He shifted her, sitting her in his lap.
Tremaine met his gaze. “Wait until we get home, Robert. Please.”
He nodded once, but took Liz’s chin in is fingers. Tremaine rolled his eyes.
“That’s not going to work on me.” Liz snapped. “Fuck. I don’t want to be here. It’s nothing more. Okay?”
“Fine,” he answered, but Robert obviously didn’t buy it.
Neither did Tremaine. However, he knew that Liz wasn’t answering anything until they got back to their place. Something had happened while she was talking with Dacia, who had been uncharacteristically mellow ever since she gave up on Hayden.
Robert pulled his phone out and quickly texted Preston with his free hand. Liz rolled her eyes and stared out the windshield, but stayed in Robert’s lap.
Chapter 25
Liz was tempted to slam the door on Robert. Picking her up like that, forcing her gaze to his had ticked her off… and turned her on at the same damned time.
Bastard. He still knew exactly how to touch her, to push her, to hold her, and she was scared to death she would lose herself in all of that. If he ever left, she would fall apart. It was inevitable.
Except, she knew he wouldn’t leave. The only reason he had let her go was because she begged him to. He never once gave her a reason to doubt him, but she always had.
Tremaine, oh he still grounded her as always, but now there was a heat there that had always been under the surface waiting to break out. She could get lost in it just as easily.
Between the two of them, she found balance, she finally felt like she was on even ground and not sinking as long as she shut off that nagging little voice of doubt. The fear of losing one or both was paralyzing, but reason wouldn’t shut it out.
She stormed into her room and slammed the door. Everything had been fine until her little talk with Dacia and she remembered the sea of hopelessness she had waded in for so damn long. She was one little push from the edge again.
She wrapped her hand around the knob and felt her magic surge, fusing the knob together as she heard Robert and Tremaine stomping up the stairs to get to her.
Lightning lit up the whole room as she fell against the wall and slid down to stare at the storm brewing outside. Her arms wrapped around herself and she tried to shut down her thoughts, her heart, everything for a little while.
She needed to find peace before the storm set off a spark of wild magic that flared beneath her skin. Robert hated storms, and since she left, she was drawn to them even still. Liz felt like a ticking time bomb.
The door rattled in its frame. Tremaine bellowed, “Liz, talk to us.”
There was no talking at that point, she was beyond words, barely hanging on to her control. There was another flash, this one closer. The thunder cracked and she winced at the current that coursed through her system.
Their argument was on the outer reaches of her consciousness, but the storm was calling to her. She wanted to walk right into it.
“Shit, it’s the storm,” Tremaine growled.
“What? What the hell are you talking about,” Robert demanded.
“She rides the storm,” he slammed his hand against the door. “Liz, it’s all right. Open the door.”
“She doesn’t have to,” Robert answered, and then there was a pop.
The two of them appeared right before her as the next bolt of lightning hit a tree not twenty feet from the window.
Robert jumped, that’s all it took. She was on her feet, running for the window. She slid it open and jumped to the ground, rolling on impact and then running into the field beyond the trees.
She heard Robert calling after her, and heard Tremaine yelling her name.
Falling to her knees, she let the tears come. This was going to scare the hell out of Robert, but she couldn’t push the storm aside, not just then. She was too close to losing it as it was.
This time when the lightning struck, it hit her, but it didn’t burn, no it danced through her, clearing her head, sweeping away most of her doubts.
There was one left. Robert. He had always feared storms even if he always braved them for her. She heard the pop as another lightning bolt hit her.
Tremaine caught Robert around the waist and pulled him back. “Give her a minute to rein it in,” Tremaine yelled. “She’s fine, I swear it. This isn’t the first time.”
“Liz, tell me you’re okay,” Robert begged, his eyes round with terror.
“I’m fine,” she whispered, pushing to her feet. “I’m fine,” she said louder.
And Robert stopped struggling, falling against Tremaine who held him, leaning his forehead against Roberts face. “I told you she was fine,” Tremaine said loud enough for her to hear.
“It doesn’t hurt.” Liz shrugged and took a deep breath. “I don’t want
you to try it, but it calls to me, or I call to it. I’m not really sure. Just wait until it passes.”
“Passes?” Robert demanded, but he let Tremaine stroke his chest, and he relaxed again.
Tremaine brushed his lips over Robert’s ear, and it seemed Robert went weak in the knees. “The storm. She feeds off it. I’ve seen druids do it.” And then Tremaine froze, his eyes widening as he stared at Liz.
“What?” she whispered.
He shook his head slightly and Robert straightened, turning to look at Tremaine. “What is it?”
“Soon, I’ll tell you soon,” Tremaine said softly.
Liz frowned, but held her hand out as Robert turned around. Hoping to calm him further she called to the lightning as she raised her hand above her head. The bolt surged into her palm, and she felt the tingle all the way to her toes.
Robert’s mouth fell open, but he didn’t look scared so much as in awe this time around.
The rain calmed and the dark storm clouds faded away. She took a step closer to Robert and took his face in her hands. “I’m sorry. I didn’t realize it was the storm, I thought it was hearing that Dacia was going through the same sort of thing I went through.”
He nodded, but then shook his head. “What do you mean?”
“Her whole world was rocked when Izackarus took her over, and showed her a darker side of herself. I think she’s realized how she was and she’s now on the edge of figuring out who she wants to be. She’s broken, and now she has to find the strength to find herself.”
“You’ve never been broken, Liz,” Robert told her.
“Oh, but I have, many times. I’ve always put myself back together again.” She nodded toward the house. “Let’s get dry before Preston shows up.”
* * * *
Preston’s phone dinged. He brought up the text and winced.
P- Come to the house. We’re not at the bar - R
He was looking forward to stopping by In 2 Deep for a drink or two. Anything to avoid detailing the shit he’d seen in the last twenty-four hours. He had seen the first victims with his own eyes, and hopped on a flight.
Robert would have come to get him, but he hated Robert’s method of travel. Besides, he had to check on a few things on the way. He was shocked to say the least, but he didn’t know what to make of it.
Magister Draecyn had a child eighty-four years ago. The mother was a druid. There were a few stories about true druid/mage hybrids, who inherited both druid and mage traits, and when you pissed them off, they were scary as hell.
That fit Liz. Not that Liz was scary, but when her magic went off the charts, she was terrifying. Hybrids weren’t supposed to exist. They were supposed to be myths
So, what the fuck does it mean?
Preston wasn’t even supposed to know Liz was a hybrid, let alone who her parents were. In fact, Draecyn would probably flip the fuck out if he knew that Preston knew, and how he knew.
If he hadn’t found records at the Fanning’s he would never have made the connection. He saw the contract Sinclair McCallister wrote up, that Maynard signed. The bastard agreed to take an infant from Draecyn’s druid lover. There was a search for the child, but she was never found. And the story got more fucked from there. That is, if his suspicious were correct.
With a sigh, he pulled into Liz’s driveway and made his way to the door. He knocked before he noticed the bell, but left it alone. It had been years since he’d been here. She lived on the edge of Edenton, and he knew she had a cabin deeper into the forest, high into the foothills but he had never actually seen it. He knew she used some crazy wards that hid it from view. Once upon a time, he had tried to follow Robert and wound up lost. That was forever ago though.
Liz opened the door, her hair was wet and slicked back. Tremaine and Robert both came down the stairs.
Preston’s brow arched. “You three just get out of the shower?”
Liz rolled her eyes. “That’s a hell of a welcome.”
His eyes widened and he smacked himself in the head. “Sorry, it was the first thing that came to mind. It’s good to see you and not have you run the other direction.” He winked.
She grabbed his wrist and hauled him in with a laugh before kicking the door shut and locking it.
“Sorry. I guess I thought Robert didn’t know where I was.” She shot Tremaine a look, but it wasn’t as icy as he expected. Preston couldn’t figure out what was going on with the three of them… unless it was the three of them.
“Wow, so you all are together?” He shook his head, trying to work that out. Robert and Liz were always the obvious choice for him, but something about the three of them seemed connected and locked into place. He looked at each of them and then back at Liz. “I’m right, aren’t I?”
“Yes, and we’re happy, so don’t fuck with that,” Liz warned with a spark in her eye. Not like a twinkle but it looked like actual sparks, and then he remembered the lightning.
“Right, wow, well…,” Preston stammered. “I’m happy for you. Really, maybe a bit surprised though. I remember how you two were. So, I’m sorry if this comes as a shock.”
She grinned. “Sorry for always running. I thought it was best. I missed you though.”
Preston grinned and hugged her. He did miss her fiery personality. “Of course you missed me. It’s been too damned long.”
She laughed then. “Agreed. Now come on. I hear you have news.”
“I do.”
Tremaine sighed, probably in relief. He had looked a little tense a moment before. “Preston, sorry I couldn’t tell you.”
“It’s cool. I get it. You were doing as she asked.” He let out a heavy sigh. “Well, I have a lot of shit to cover, but to start, I believe all your crazy ideas from back in the day. Something is going on within certain factions of the Council.”
Liz nodded. “What changed your mind?”
Preston ran his hands through his hair and then down his face. “We’ll get there. Let’s all get cozy first, and I could use a drink or two. Liz, you might need a couple for part of this.”
Tremaine gave him a sideways look but started for the living room. Robert went to the bar to pour everyone what they needed.
* * * *
Before Liz could sit down, Tremaine wrapped his hand around her waist and pulled her close as he sat at the end of the couch.
Sighing, she looked at Tremaine who was watching Preston closely, then turned to him herself. “Why do I have the feeling that you are about to tell me something totally life-altering?”
Preston held up one finger as Robert handed him a shot of Patron that he knocked back. Robert brought the other drinks to the coffee table and took Liz’s other hand.
“Okay, now you guys are all starting to worry me. What the fuck is going on?” Liz demanded, about a second before she pulled her hands away from Trem and Robert.
Preston set the shot glass down and looked her in the eye. “I think your father is Magister Draecyn.”
Her eyes popped wide, her mouth fell open as she stared at Preston.
“You found proof?” Tremaine asked carefully.
She flipped around to look at Tremaine. “You knew,” she whispered.
Tremaine caught her arms before she could stand and bolt. “I didn’t have a clue until I watched the way you drew the lightening into your hand.” He shook his head. “I hadn’t ever given it a thought until tonight when I watched you channel the storm. I was the one helped Draecyn search for you. We thought you had died.”
“Died?” She scoffed. “Someone gave me away, and you thought I died?”
Tremaine took a deep breath and nodded slowly. “Look, it was eighty-four years ago. Very few people knew about you. Draecyn was in love with a druid named Amalie. He kept it secret, they had a hidden cabin far in the woods…,” his eyes rounded.
“Shit,” Preston exclaimed. “That explains how you cast those wards for the damned place. I couldn’t find your cabin, and I can track anyone anywhere.”
�
�What?” she whispered.
Tremaine let her go and stood up to pace, his fingers plowing through his hair. “Amalie set up these wards that kept the cabin from view. The same type of wards you put up around your cabin. You learned that without anyone teaching you, right?”
She nodded dumbly.
He continued. “Yeah, she did the same thing. It’s not a mage ability. I’ve never seen a mage pull that off.”
“So you’re telling me that I’m not really a mage at all.”
Tremaine spun around and bobbled his head like he wasn’t sure if he should nod or shake it. “Not exactly.”
She shot to her feet. “But I’m not a druid. I never once shifted.”
“Have you ever tried?” Tremaine fired back.
She frowned. “Well no, but that doesn’t matter. I never even had the urge to shift.” But then she stopped for a second to think that over. That wasn’t entirely true, but only ever in her dreams.
Liz sank back on the couch and muttered, “But I cast like a mage.”
“You’re both,” Tremaine said simply. “And it explains so damned much. You have traits from both sides of your parentage. Your magic is blended, Liz. You always cast your spells differently than the mages in your classes. You scared the hell out of them with the way you tend to blend your elements in ways they never could.”
Robert took her hands. “It doesn’t matter what you are, Liz. You’re still ours.” He looked up at Tremaine, and she saw the way he was visually prodding him.
She almost laughed.
“Don’t give me that look,” Trem barked. “Of course I’m not going anywhere. I don’t care what Liz is. I’ve never left her and I never will.”
Robert opened his mouth to say something.
“I didn’t mean it like that,” Tremaine growled. “Liz hadn’t given you much of a choice, so stop.”
Robert nodded slowly.
“Fuck,” she whispered. “I’m sorry. This whole night is fucked.”
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