Cantrips: Volume #2: Minor Magics Crafted to Amuse and Entertain

by Joey W. Hill

  Fussing over these types of things must be a woman thing. Gideon was happy to get a new package of Hanes T-shirts and a six pack of beer for his Christmas gifts and didn’t give it much thought beyond that.

  Now you tell me. Daegan sent him an indifferent look over Anwyn’s head. I bought you Fruit of the Loom.

  Let me guess. The ones in girly pastel colors that the boy bands like to wear?

  You’ve spoiled the surprise.

  Gideon’s vampire master was as dark and debonair as usual, in a gray suit with black shirt open at the throat. His hair was long enough it teased the collar, strands of it scattered over his forehead, accentuating the glitter of his dark eyes. Looking at the two of them, Gideon couldn’t tear his gaze away. Sometimes he had a hard time believing that he belonged to them both.

  We’ll be happy to remind you as often as needed, Gideon. Anwyn’s brown eyes had a touch of gold in them, picked up by her dress, and her moist lips curved, showing the tip of a fang. Maybe more than that. So you’re not thinking of tall blonde women.

  “I really am going to pay for that one.” Gideon shook his head, then looked at his brother. When he shot a punch at Jacob’s abdomen, his brother fended him off, but Gideon still managed to knock him back a step. “Stop grinning like that. You never answered the question. Who did you get to kiss?”

  “They put all the names in a hat and drew two at a time.” Jacob turned toward the tree, studying it with excessive interest. Gideon lifted a brow.

  “If you tell me you had to kiss Torrence, I swear I will puke all over your shiny black shoes.”

  “Well, we did win the prize. The female Council members were quite taken by the way he groped my ass.”

  “Oh, fucking hell.”

  Jacob chuckled and gripped his shoulder. “I need to go check in with Lyssa. Keep an eye on things down here?”

  “Always. Do you want to take Kane with you?”

  Gideon nodded toward his nephew. Dev currently had the vampire child engaged with a toy the bushman had made for him. It was some kind of carved three-dimensional puzzle, an elephant whose trunk, legs and ears came apart from the torso. The joints had been brightly colored to match their corresponding pieces on the body, to help the child know what went where. As Dev comfortably squatted next to the boy, he guided Kane with a finger tap here and there. A light smile was on his lips, his serious sea-green eyes watching the boy figure it out.

  Danny sat nearby, talking to Anwyn. As usual, the blond-haired, blue-eyed vampire looked like something right out of a Disney tale, only tonight she’d gone more hot Barbie than innocent Sleeping Beauty with her wardrobe. The snug wraparound green velvet dress with a blue satin bow edging the low back and trailing down her hip emphasized every curve. She wore a topaz anklet with her black stilettos that drew the eye to her fuck-a-man-into-the-ground legs. Of course, next to Gideon’s Mistress, she might as well be one of Cinderella’s ugly stepsisters.

  Nice try. Anwyn sent him an unimpressed look, but he gave her back an image that softened it. Last night, while she and Lyssa had been talking, he’d dozed off on the floor next to where his Mistress had been sitting. When he woke later, Lyssa and Jacob had gone. Anwyn was lying next to Gideon on the floor, the two of them there by the Christmas tree. He’d put his hand on her hair, looked down at her gazing dreamily up at the tree, and seen real contentment and ease on her beautiful features. Glancing up, he’d seen Daegan stretched out on the couch, reading, watching over them both. In that moment, he knew he’d never want—or need—more than this.

  No matter how many hot blondes I see.

  Anwyn pressed her lips together, tossing her hair over her shoulder, but he saw the sparkle in her eyes and the approval in Daegan’s gaze. Gideon lifted a shoulder. It was only the truth.

  “He seems pretty occupied now,” Jacob said, drawing Gideon’s attention back to Kane.

  “Yeah, right now.” Gideon snorted. “He’ll be trying to snack on the breasts of any available female the moment he gets bored.”

  “I wonder where he picked up that genetic trait?”

  Gideon blinked at Jacob. “You really want to start throwing that rock, brother?”

  Jacob held up his hands in surrender. “He’s been better about it of late. Ever since Lyssa told him the next time he did it, she’d harpoon him like a baby seal.”

  “Her soft maternal side is really getting out of control. In case she meant it, you better take him with you. Mason and Jessica should be here soon, and you know my nephew thinks Jessica is his personal hot fudge sundae with a cherry on top.”

  “God help us when he’s a teenager.”

  “Don’t worry. If Kane holds onto his fixation on Jessica past puberty, Mason won’t let him live to see eighteen.”

  “Comforting.” This time, Jacob’s quick punch went under Gideon’s guard, making good contact with his kidney. He was gone before Gideon could retaliate. That was all right. Gideon knew how to bide his time, lay an ambush. He’d start by taking off all the tags on Jacob’s presents and putting his own name on them instead.

  “Ingram.” He caught the majordomo’s attention as the man brought in another tray of appetizers. “Do you have a Sharpie?”

  * * *

  Lyssa finished adjusting the strand of rubies at her throat, smoothing the dark green velvet dress over her bosom and hips. Her shoes were a matching velvet green, sprinkled with diamond rhinestones. Perhaps the green and red combination was a little over the top, but she was feeling unusually…festive. Turning, she saw the two main reasons for her mood. Standing in the doorway were her boys. Kane was at Jacob’s knee, one hand hooked onto his father’s jeans pocket, the other clasped around a poinsettia corsage.

  “Tell Mama your new word.” Jacob nudged him forward and Kane smiled at her, showing the tips of his fangs.

  “Bee…boo…Byeeootiful. Bootful. Mama.”

  “Yes, she is.” Jacob’s blue eyes glowed warmly at her. She smiled and shook her head at him. Despite her age and having seen the things she’d seen, that particular look of his could weaken her knees and speed up her heart rate. She considered it her own closely guarded secret, but like most of her secrets, she suspected Jacob already knew it. He certainly used the look to good effect, with excellent timing.

  Your reaction never fails to amaze me, my lady. A simple drifter, lucky enough to fall into your good graces.

  “If you’re trying to soften me up, you are centuries too late.” But when Kane came to her, she knelt to take the corsage. It was affixed to a barrette, so once she thanked her son for it, putting an affectionate hand on his tousled hair, Jacob came to slip it into her tresses. After he did so, he caressed her face, dropping his hands to her hips to draw her close for a kiss. Then he stepped back, his gaze sweeping her.

  He straightened the necklace, adjusted the velvet scoop of the neckline, and turned her to retie the back laces of the dress more smoothly. Being mirror and helpmeet became second nature to any servant. With amusement, she remembered their family dinner last night. On the way to have coffee in the library, she’d seen Gideon stop Daegan. The cynical former vampire hunter had brushed a glittering cluster of sugar granules off his Master’s jaw. It had ended up there when the vampire assassin indulged Kane’s desire to offer him a bite of a cookie.

  Such moments were one of the few times a servant’s familiarity didn’t require permission. Not that she really held Jacob to that standard anyway, unless they were in formal circumstances…or she was trying to make a point with her stubborn, handsome servant.

  Kane had wandered to the window to look at the Christmas decorations they’d placed in the side courtyard, specifically for his benefit. Accordingly, they were mostly blow up caricatures of Santa, penguins, polar bears, elves and other common Christmas motifs. The train set, whose cars were big enough to allow a child his size to ride, wound in and out among them, since they’d bought more track to allow the train a greater range.

  “I still cannot believe I le
t the two of you talk me into all those tacky blow-up things.”

  “Yes, you can. Admit it, you love the one of Santa on a John Deere tractor with Rudolph.”

  “I didn’t even know what a John Deere tractor was.”

  “And now you do. The person that learns something new every day never grows old.”

  Seeing his son was distracted, Jacob bent to kiss her shoulder, fingers caressing her left breast, eyes lingering on the low scoop neckline the rubies only enhanced. “The most dangerous vampires in the world are assembling in your living room,” he said against her throat, “while my brother is probably shaking packages, trying to figure out what’s in them.”

  “There goes that crystal set for Danny.” She sighed. “But since it will give me the opportunity to beat him, I will consider it worth the money.”

  “Play nice. It’s Christmas.”

  “I prefer being naughty.” She turned in his arms, dusting some powdered sugar off his chest. “You’ve been in the gingerbread.”

  “Ingram took that cooking class with his new lady friend. He gets the whole puppy dog eyes thing going on if you don’t sample everything he makes.”

  “A poor excuse. If you get fat, I will get another servant.”

  He arched a brow and kissed her even more intently, hands dropping lower on her hips. She framed his face in her hands, long nails sliding into his hair as she leaned into him. She didn’t often do that, simply melt into his arms, but there was something about tonight that made her feel…soft. It had been a challenging year, but tonight felt like a small, precious reward for all of it.

  “It’s one you deserve, my lady,” he said against her lips. “When are our two special guests expected?”

  “They’ll be a little late, but I think it’s best that way. Once they arrive, they can meet everyone all at the same time.”

  “Like tossing a kid into cold water, rather than making him go in an inch at a time, having to readjust every few moments?”

  “Exactly.” Her gaze became somewhat unfocused. “Mason and Jessica have arrived.”

  A moment later they heard the dogs joyously barking. Kane ran over to the west window, where he had a better view of the front drive, and Jacob stepped up behind him. As Jacob put his hand on his son’s head, he was unaware of how Lyssa studied them both. Her handsome knight in profile, wearing a V-necked sweater over jeans. The sweater showed off the broad shoulders and well-developed biceps, and his copper-streaked hair was brushed to gleaming waves, his blue eyes intent on what he was seeing outside. Her gaze slid down over the curve of buttock, the length of thigh. She had a sudden desire to be close to him again, run her hands over the body that was all hers.

  When he chuckled, she saw what he was seeing through his mind, but she came to his side anyway. They’d put velvet collars with jingle bells on all the Irish wolfhounds tonight. Since they were bounding around and just ahead of Mason’s red Jaguar XJS, they only needed antlers to look like reindeer pulling a sleigh.

  “Jesca, Jesca, Jesca.” Kane flew out of the room, while Jacob cast Lyssa an amused look.

  “He’s not even four, and he knows their car. You know a boy’s first love is the hardest to get over.”

  “Hmm. I’m more worried about his reaction to little Farida. He may see her as competition and dump her in the potato bin.”

  Jacob shook his head. “Not a chance. He’ll take one look at those pretty amber eyes and be lost.”

  “That rule only applies when his genitalia gets bigger than his brain. I expect Kane will be as well-endowed as his father, but he has a few years to go before that balance shifts. Thank God.”

  “Your inflated opinion of my gender never fails to overwhelm me.” He pinched her and earned a feline smile, a flash of her eyes that said she’d take her revenge for it later. But when he offered her his arm, requesting the honor of escorting her, her lips softened along with her eyes.

  When you look at me like that, my lady, it never fails to make my knees weak.

  Charmer. Let’s go be with our guests.

  They traversed the staircase to the wide main hall. As they moved along it toward the wing of the house where the festivities were happening, she took her time. Jacob, Ingram, John and Kane had put a lit Christmas tree in between every suit of armor that lined the corridor, with bunches of mistletoe hanging from the light fixtures. Jacob had kissed her beneath every one of them, and then Kane had wanted his mother to kiss him as well. John had merely made a face, but of course he was at the age he was supposed to think kissing girls was gross.

  Ingram had watched them with that bemused look she sometimes caught on Gideon’s face. She’d heard his Twilight Zone comment to Jacob and, though his sardonic wit amused her as always, she understood the faint unease behind it. As Jacob had said, her house was filled with dangerous vampires. But even dangerous vampires could love Christmas.

  She strolled along the passageway, enjoying the Christmas decorations around her and Jacob’s strong biceps beneath her hand. The delightful anticipation she was feeling was something she’d experienced for the first time last year, when they’d managed a smaller version of this gathering with Gideon, Anwyn and Daegan, but things had been a little different then. Now, matters were more settled. For the first time in many years, she hoped to establish traditions. Not just in terms of Council rituals, but her own personal rituals.

  She and Rex had captured it briefly, in their early years together, but it was a shadow of what she was experiencing with Jacob, with Kane, with those now in her large living room. These were people she considered her extended family, in every sense of the word. The other Christmas festivities she’d offered these past couple weeks, to the Council, to the overlords in her Region, those had been more formal affairs, though enjoyable in their own way. Tonight was different. No politics, no games. Simple fellowship, friendship and family ties. These vampires knew more about her true self, the meshing of Fae and vampire blood, as well as her feelings for Jacob, and accepted all of it.

  Ingram hadn’t been sure about John being here when other vampires were. For the formal vampire events, she’d agreed, making sure he had his grandson at sleepovers during those times. But Kane and John were almost inseparable now, and Ingram had met most of those who’d be here tonight, so he’d tentatively relented to his grandson’s plea to be his “assistant,” a job John took very seriously. He’d made lists to help his grandfather with the catering arrangements, carted clean linens to the guestrooms and done a variety of tasks. She’d been amused to see Kane doggedly following John around earlier in the week while the older boy informed him of all the things that had to be done, all while emulating his grandfather’s grave mannerisms.

  She’d given Ingram her personal pledge that John would come to no harm. It was evidence of how far their relationship had come that Ingram had believed her, for once without looking toward Jacob for reinforcement.

  As they reached the end of the hall, the subject of her thoughts came through, rolling what she assumed was Mason and Jessica’s luggage. “They’re freshening up in the blue bedroom, my lady,” John assured Lyssa. “Lord Mason said they’d be down directly. I’m taking their luggage up to them now. Granddad’s keeping Kane occupied in the kitchen until they get back.”

  John was a handsome boy, going through a growth spurt that made him tall and thin, even though he hadn’t hit double digits in age yet. The smooth brown skin and long lashed dark eyes reminded her of a young African prince she’d once known, back in the sixteen hundreds. Or was it fifteen hundreds?

  As he continued up the corridor, intent on his mission, Lyssa glanced after him. “What is it he wants to be now?”

  “Last week it was a wizard like Dumbledore,” Jacob said. “This week I think he’s investigating nuclear physics.”

  “Closely related professions.”

  Jacob smiled, squeezing her hand. As they emerged into the living area, Daegan and Anwyn were already rising from their spot on the stairs, moving b
ack to give way to her. Jacob noted the cordial bows in her direction from the two of them, as well as Danny, across the room. This was an informal event, so such courtesies weren’t necessary. That made them a deliberate decision to demonstrate to his lady their earned loyalty and respect. It increased Jacob’s already substantial regard for all of them. Lyssa noted the gesture as well, her jaw tightening a fraction, showing she was moved by it. She rewarded their unexpected formality by touching Daegan’s face and giving Anwyn a warm smile. Well, warm for her.

  Jacob’s fingertips slid along her lower back. Well done, my lady. I’m sure Anwyn is now a bit less certain you’ll eviscerate her after wine is served.

  Smart ass. But she stepped up to Anwyn, brushing her cheek in a light kiss. His lady gave Gideon her usual censorious glance, conveying her expectation that he would misbehave. He responded with a glint in his eye that said whatever she had in mind in retaliation, she could bring it. Then he winked at her.

  He will not make it to a hundred years old.

  He will, with Daegan and Anwyn to protect him.

  They are the ones most likely to dispatch him for his constant impertinence.

  Jacob hid his grin at that. He knew—as well as his lady did—how Daegan and Anwyn felt about Gideon. He personally still found it somewhat surreal, seeing his brother, a former hardcore vampire hunter, so firmly bound to both a male and female vampire. But in their company, his brother looked the most at peace Jacob had seen him in over a decade.

  Hearing Jacob’s thoughts, Lyssa agreed. Despite her stern attitude toward Gideon, she cared a great deal about the surly vampire hunter. It was probably best not to let him know that, however.

  Dev and Danny were her next stop. When they’d visited Danny in Australia back in the summer, Dev had looked sexy as sin in his regular sheep station garb of trousers and sweat-dampened cotton shirts that clung to his powerful upper body. However, she found him quite arresting in slacks and a dinner jacket, polished boots. The strands of silver threaded through his russet hair were highlighted by the Christmas lights. The rugged lines of his face creased at the sight of her and Jacob.