Ieza had insisted on being released from the hospital that afternoon, and her doctors had hardly been in a position to argue after her miraculous recovery. We'd be lucky if there weren't even more people asking a lot of questions after that one. One of many reasons that humanity was getting closer and closer to learning the secrets that had long controlled their world: they weren’t all total morons.
I couldn't help but hesitate. I wasn't feeling ready to have my body flung from Galway to Dublin in a matter of seconds. Hell, I wasn't even sure if flung was the right term. I hadn't asked exactly questioned the mechanisms of Simon's talent—once we'd established that he'd be helping me make my meeting in time, I hadn't wanted to know the specifics.
I turned to look at Ieza; she had been quiet but not unfriendly since she'd arrived at my apartment a few hours earlier. She spent most of her time pretending that she wasn't obsessing over my kitchen, casting it a glance every few minutes. I doubted she remembered the night before, so my best guess was that she couldn't help but hope that the next time she looked over toward the small room, the woman she loved would be waiting there for her.
"Tell me again that this isn't going to be awful?" I asked her.
As she answered, Ieza reached up to tighten her dark hair into a ponytail. "Honestly, I love it. Leda and I have been all over the world, and yet I have never been on an airplane. It'll be over before you even know it's begun. Your body will take a bit of time to readjust, but only this first time. Don't worry. You are opening yourself up to a world of possibility."
I resisted the urge to point out that worrying was pretty much my full-time job by now. But having the travel be over, quickly and worry-free, did sound appealing, and so I finally forced myself to give Simon a smile.
Leaning over, I handed him a slip of paper. He read it before looking up at me. “What’s this?”
I’d written down a set of coordinates, not really knowing if that was the kind of thing he used.
“A backup. If everything goes wrong, can you get us there?”
Simon nodded.
"Alrighty then. Let's do this," I said. I reached out and clasped his hand just like he'd shown me earlier. Simon opened his mouth to say something, probably to reassure me, but I cut him off. "Nope. Just do it before I have a chance to change my mind."
The world unfolded around me.
Ieza hadn't quite been telling the truth when she'd said that it would be over before I had a chance to really experience it. The best way I can think to describe it is like for the briefest instant, I ceased to exist. Or at least my body did. The next moment, I was in Dublin, standing in the hallway of the house I didn't recognize. My head was spinning, and my body felt more confused than anything. But mostly, I was exhilarated.
Taking a stumbling step backward, I let go of Simon's hand.
"Are you okay?" he asked.
My mouth felt dry as I attempted to process everything I was feeling. I felt alright. Thirsty. Tingling. I was definitely alive, and by the looks of it, he was too. And we weren’t where we had been a second ago. So that was good news.
Holy. Shit.
Simon and I had just teleported across the country. West to east. The whole country.
"That is the coolest fucking thing I have ever experienced." And with the way my life had been going recently that was saying something. But I meant every word.
"Melanie?" A rumbling voice called out from the next room.
I recognized Ethan right away. When I called him earlier to explain my plan, he quickly volunteered his house as my arrival point. And, even with all the chaos in my life, I jumped at the opportunity to see him, even just for a few moments. Of course, it was a nice bonus that he'd offered up a safe space to and I could teleport undetected.
"We made it!" I called back. Within seconds, Ethan and his teenaged daughter Katie arrived in the hallway, with nearly identical expressions of concern on their faces.
"What's wrong?" I asked.
It was Katie who answered after taking a long moment to examine me from head to toe. Finally, she smiled. "Nothing. I was just worried you’d get here and be merged with one of the tables or something."
Startled, I looked toward Simon. "Was that a possibility?"
With a bit of a smirk, Simon shook his head. "Whenever possible, my sister and I do our best to aim for somewhere we know there aren't any people, just to avoid crashing into anyone, but as far as we've heard no one has ever actually ended up inside a solid object."
Katie raised her red eyebrows. "So you're saying it could happen?"
Simon just laughed as Ethan ushered us back from where they’d emerged.
I wasn't sure what I'd been expecting from Ethan's home, but as we walked into the living room, there was no denying that everything I saw seemed like a good fit for the man I knew. Cherry wood floors stretched into every room while shades of blue and grey decorated all the walls within eyeshot. The furniture all looked new but not uncomfortably modern in a way that couldn't ever feel homey.
"One second," I said, before sitting down. I grabbed my phone out of my back pocket where I'd carefully placed it back at my flat, after Simon had assured me that everything on my body would make the trip with me without a problem.
Melanie: I made it.
Cooper: Very glad to hear it. I was a little worried for a second there.
Melanie: I just needed a second to make sure I was still in one piece. It was weird. Everything okay there?
I couldn't really envision any way in which things could have gone south that quickly back in Galway, but it still felt right to ask. Cooper had offered more than once to accompany me and Simon to our meeting with the vampires, but in the end we all agreed that it made more sense for him to stay with Ieza. We had to assume that the vampires knew she was with me, and even though Colin had assured me that his mistress had agreed to our meeting, I couldn't say for certain that no one would try to make a move on my guest while I was gone. And so Cooper was stuck babysitting until I got back. Taya had volunteered to stick around as well, probably because she'd been offering to help me with so many things lately that it felt like habit by then.
Finally, feeling like I'd taken care of everything I needed to, I allowed myself to take a few minutes to relax. As soon as I did, my eyes found Ethan's. He'd been watching me with a mixture of concern and wonder on his face, but as soon as he noticed me looking his way, the expression changed, deepening into something I couldn't read.
Knowing better than to look at a werewolf for long or else risk setting off their more primal instincts, I tore my gaze away; still, I felt a pull toward him.
Simon and I only had a few hours to stay at Ethan's, accepting a glass of water, as we counted down until we had to leave for the other side of town. The sun was already beginning to set, but our meeting wasn’t until midnight. We’d come ahead of time to be sure I’d be recovered from the jump with time to spare.
It turned out that vampires had a flare for the dramatic, which really shouldn’t have surprised me at all.
When the time came, we’d be going on foot to play it safe, and I wanted to give myself as much time as I could manage. My father had always been a fan of the saying that unless you were ten minutes early for work, you were late, a notion I'd never quite been able to shake.
I was also trying to convince myself that by giving myself as much time as I could to mentally prepare for meeting one of the most powerful vampires in this part of the world that I'd be able to steady my nerves. That part hadn't worked yet, but there was still time.
Ha, yeah right.
I went through a mental check of my body, going from head to toe, while Katie sat curled up on the opposite end of the couch from where I sat. Her feet folded in underneath her in that way that only teenagers can make seem comfortable. She was chatting away, peppering Simon with questions, which he seemed happy enough to answer for her, though he did freeze up when asked about where he'd come from. When she inevitably arrived at asking a
bout the reason for our visit, I was pulled back into the conversation.
"Are you sure you want to do this?" Katie said, her eyes nearly as wide as they'd been after seeing us appear in the hallway. "Vampires are trouble. You really don’t want to deal with them. Witches and fae, sure. But never vampires. I’ve never even seen one."
Her father nodded approvingly. I had to guess that this was a conversation they’d had a few times over. Stay away from vampires was a pretty good life lesson for anyone. "That might have something to do with the fact that peace in Dublin between the vampires and werewolves has everything to do with the mistress having agreed to keep her people at least three blocks from where you are at any time."
Katie stuck out her tongue. "That, and you almost never let me go out at night."
Ethan smiled. "That probably helps too."
Katie was old enough to remember the night her mother had died, but I was glad to see that despite what had happened, there was no cloud of fear lingering above her.
"You're not going to be in charge of me forever, you know?"
"I am painfully aware of the fact, yes. But let's face it, I'm always going to be at least a bit in charge of you... because you think I'm so great. At least, you swore I was the greatest man to ever walk the earth this morning while you were making your pitch for getting a new cell phone."
"And you agreed, so you still are," Katie said matter-of-factly.
I bit back a grin at the father and daughter banter going on before me. The humor in the situation even managed to still my racing pulse, just a little. Here Ethan was, a big guy with muscles to spare and an imposing presence, a literal alpha and leader of an entire pack of werewolves, and he still couldn't help but melt when talking to his daughter. I imagine he was something of a hit in the carpool lane at her school as well.
The only person who didn’t seem content to relax into the conversation was Simon.
He sipped at his drink and politely answered questions, but his body never once seemed to unclench itself.
He’d been given no reason to fear Ethan for anything other than what he was. Werewolf. Greater Magick.
The enemy.
“Simon, I’m going to go get refills for our hosts. Give me a hand?”
I was trying to offer him an excuse to move around without forcing him one way or the other and keeping me company seemed as good a reason as any. And it wasn’t all a ruse; I’d been told I would be thirsty after my first experience with teleporting, but the reality was so much more severe than I’d imagined.
Though I supposed that if his mother’s lessons in manners had been anything like my own, I hadn’t really given him a choice at all.
“Certainly.” A genuine smile inched onto his face.
I took both Katie and Ethan’s glasses before heading into the kitchen, leaving the two of them chatting away about a member of the pack I’d never met.
“Are you alright?” I asked Simon when the two of us were alone. “We can head out now if you’d be more comfortable.”
Simon shook his head. “I apologize if I am being rude. Your friends seem quite nice. I just…”
“You don’t need to explain. We could go and get dinner somewhere. Just be around humans for a while.”
Simon’s voice hardened. “I am quite fine here. I have sat through much worse than this in the name of getting along with them. The child is lovely. The wolf does not seem to be an immediate threat.”
“Ethan would never…” I cut myself off.
Simon didn’t know Ethan. He wasn’t even a person to him. Just another wolf.
“Okay,” I conceded. “We still have a bit of time. I could see if Katie wants to play a game or something. We don’t need to all sit around and have a small talk standoff until it’s time to go.”
Simon shrugged. That was likely as close to a yes as I could expect.
“If you need anything, you’ll let me know.” I didn’t make it a question. “You aren’t alone in any of this. I’m here.”
Chapter 9
I'd been hoping Katie would have a deck of cards or something and wouldn't mind hanging out with Simon. It turned out that I had no idea what I'd been getting the man into. One mention of games, and Katie was off to the other side of the living room, giving Simon a tour of a wall of board games tucked against the entertainment unit. I spotted Monopoly and Scrabble, along with at least a dozen games I didn't think I'd ever seen before.
The two of them picked something in minutes, sitting down at the table so Katie could chatter away freely about the rules. With any luck, the distraction would be enough.
It left me with the entire couch as I finished off yet another glass of water and stretched out my legs, still trying to feel normal again.
"Are you alright?" Ethan asked.
"Getting there," I said, honestly. "Besides, it was worth it. If you ever get the chance to teleport like that, do it. It makes what I can do look like a parlor trick. So damn cool!"
"Yeah," Ethan deadpanned. "You make it look grand."
I chuckled and stretched back even further. No doubt I looked ridiculous, but Ethan wouldn’t judge me for it. I'd never even been inside his house before that night, and still, I felt so comfortable. Possibly too comfortable.
Wriggling upward, I sat properly. "What can you tell me about the Dublin's mistress? I've heard a little, but it's all pretty standard vampire fair. Twisted. Unpredictable. Playing a long game. But you must have had closer dealings with her."
A shadow passed over Ethan's features as he put down his glass on the table between us.
In that one fluid movement I regretted my words. I'd been talking about any interactions he might have had with the werewolves while leading and sharing the largest city in Ireland.
“I didn’t mean…” I started.
Ethan held up a hand to quiet my apologies. “It’s okay, I know what you meant. And it’s okay. My history with vampires is no secret. I don’t keep it from my pack, my daughter, and I won’t keep it from you. And perhaps the story of what happened to Alana will do more to show you exactly who you're dealing with, better than anything else I might be able to tell you about my day-to-day dealings with vampires. Not that I deal with them at all if I can help it. But all things considered, Dublin is not that large of a city. And we do cross paths. It doesn’t often end well.”
“You really don’t have to.” I faltered, unsure of what to say. “Cooper gave me a rundown. I know what I’m getting into.” That was probably an overstatement, but I was willing to let it stand.
“You truly don’t. I’m not sure there are many on the entire continent who do. Each time a new vampire is made, a new and unknowable darkness is set upon the world. Maybe not at first when they are little more than ambition and instinct. But the longer one of these creatures lives, the more their minds twist. Understanding one master or mistress in no way prepares you for the others.
I had so many questions. It felt like I always had so many questions. Somehow I managed to keep my mouth shut, knowing Ethan had to do this at his own pace.
“It happened on a Thursday, in the middle of the day. At least that’s when they found her. When I got the call. As far as I know, it was a younger vampire that murdered Alana. That’s what I was told. Someone new and untrained.” He paused only long enough to take a breath. “The memory still feels so jumbled. The police found her. I knew it was a vampire as soon as I went in to identify her body. I could smell him on her.”
Ethan seemed to be making a point of looking anywhere but at me. Again and again, his eyes settled on his daughter. “I don’t remember the next day or so after that. I don’t even remember telling Katie. Only that being there for her was the only thing that kept me from disappearing into my rage. She gave me the strength I needed to do what I was supposed to. I told my Alpha what had happened and who had done it. The pack was there to support me, and I trusted him to take care of the rest.”
“Him?” I asked, finally, sure I must have misse
d something. “So you weren’t the Alpha here back then?”
Ethan shook his head. “No. For almost forty years, we’d been led by a man named Denny O’Rourke. He’d been the one to change me, and for the longest time he’d protected us. Speaking to him after Alana’s funeral was the first clue that perhaps age was catching up with him. That he was no longer the man we needed him to be.
“He waited until he was sure I was steady again to even tell me, so he must have known his call would not be well received. He’d said he talked to the Mistress, and this had all been a misunderstanding. The abomination who had killed Alana hadn’t realized she was one of ours. Had thought she was just another human ripe for the taking. Denny demanded blood. The Mistress refused. And that was that.”
My mind reeled. None of what he was telling me seemed to line up with what I’d thought I’d known about vampires and werewolves. About power structures within the Greater Magicks. Any of it.
“When there were no consequences for the vampires, things only got worse. Three more of my pack lost humans they loved, to the point where no one could claim ignorance. Denny retreated more and more, pulling away from all of us. I had no chance but to challenge him, step into the role of Alpha and then declare war on the vampires and anyone else who would stand with them.”
I’d heard enough about how Alphas were chosen to know exactly what Ethan would have had to do in order to become Alpha himself. In the back of my mind, I’d always known he’d likely have killed someone before in order to take on that role himself. I’d never considered that he’d have had to challenge someone he respected, even cared for.
In one movement, I shifted over to the other side of the couch, leaving me almost right beside Ethan’s chair. I reached out and took his hand in mine, giving it a gentle squeeze. This couldn’t have been easy for him to talk about, and I was so touched that he trusted me enough to share the story.
Magic In My Soul Page 6