by Claudy Conn
“Hurry, Dilly…hurry,” my dad’s voice urged.
Okay, no easy way to do this. I prepared myself for extreme pain. It was pain that had allowed me to put down my guard and be flung backwards. It would be pain that would make it difficult to get through the ward. So, I had to brave it. Had to.
There is no spell to break a dark warlock’s ward. Wards work in various ways. Most take the worst fear you can imagine right out of the head of the intruder, and alter it to cause a simulation of pain so extreme, it doesn’t allow their ward to be broken.
I steeled myself and walked up to the cave’s opening once again.
I gritted my teeth and as I rushed at the opening, pain shot through me like a lightning bolt, or at least, what I imagine a lightning bolt might feel like when zapping through you. However, this time, I didn’t let it take hold of my mind. I steeled myself as agony stampeded my body and I cried out as anguish tore at my nerve endings.
Pain assaulted me in every inch of flesh and blood, but I went forward—forward and screamed some more.
I passed through the ward. I was on the other side of the cave.
I was out of breath and wobbly, but I was free. The pain was gone. It would only be a memory. A horrible memory that would soon be forgotten. Pain of that sort is soon relegated and put away, stored only as something filed for future reference.
Okay key—take me to Kallem.
With pleasure, my witch.
* * * * *
The ‘key’ brought me to the precipice of the canyon where I didn’t have a moment to think because no sooner had I arrived there, I found Kallem stomping towards me.
Without a word, he took me in his arms, wrapping me in his strong embrace.
The next thing I knew, he shifted us high above the deep hole where the beast machine now lay quiet and unmoving.
I breathed then and with tremendous relief. “It worked, oh Kallem…it worked!” I said, and buried my face against his hard chest.
He still didn’t speak.
I realized he couldn’t.
Instead, he lifted my chin and kissed my face and then my lips as though he had been parched in a desert and had just found water.
When he came away from my lips, his voice was touched with relief. “Dilly…baby, I was sick. I couldn’t find you anywhere. It was as though you disappeared. We have a link…I should have been able to find you with our link. What happened? Where were you?”
“Shh, oh Kallem, I’m sorry. This time it really wasn’t my fault. I was waiting for you, just as you asked, when suddenly Morlan took me by surprise. He must have hit me over the head…then Cole was there and Morlan was going to burn him alive. I managed to free Cole, but then he imprisoned me in iron, and long story short, here I am.” I hugged him fiercely. “Kallem…you destroyed it! You destroyed the beast machine. Does this mean it is over?”
“Yes, it is no longer functional. Its inner workings are thoroughly clogged. But just to be safe, I am going to shift it now to a realm that will keep it in its present state.” He grit his teeth and added, “Then I am going after Morlan and Fae rules be damned. I am going to tear him apart before I end his existence.”
I pulled away slightly. I say slightly because he had a firm grip around my body. But I managed to tip my head back and look him in the eye to say, “First of all, Morlan is mine. Second of all, I am coming with you. Not staying behind. So if we are going to take the machine away, let’s do it and be done.”
He chuckled. “I love you, baby.” He nodded. “Very well, yes, I agree. You should accompany me. The fact is, I don’t want to let you out of my sight anytime soon, and certainly not while Morlan is alive.”
I noticed he hadn’t agreed to let me be the one to destroy Morlan. That didn’t matter. No one had to agree to it. That was what I was going to do.
I repeated, “Morlan is mine.”
“After I’m done with him, you can have what is left,” he answered.
I let it go for the moment. I don’t argue. What is the point? I am going to do what I want in the end, if what I want is the right and just thing to do.
A moment later, we shifted to a barren land.
“This is called the Realm of the Dead. Its name denotes its use,” he explained.
Everywhere I looked, the earth in this realm was dry, cracked, and had no sign of life. Kallem deposited the beast machine with a flick of his finger and said, “It cannot reanimate here.”
I was so relieved. “Now, how do we go about repairing the damage already done to Rucker?”
“Time…” he grinned with a proud arch of his sexy eyebrow, “…and Fae magic!”
I laughed and he bent for another kiss, and another, and yet another as we hovered in the clouds. It was like nothing I had ever experienced in reality or fantasy.
I couldn’t believe I had the strength to stop him before it went any further, but I still had a goal that centered on Morlan. “Kallem…wait. I can’t. I have something I have to do.”
“I know, so do I,” he murmured. “We are one, Dilly, you and I. What you need—I need.”
“Oh Kallem, you always say just the right thing.” I touched his face, traced my finger over his bottom lip, and sighed. “Can you take me to Morlan?”
“I can. He is hiding in the woods bordering your grandfather’s cabin. The vampires there have joined with the werewolf pack bordering their county and are surrounding him. Baby, this is going to get ugly.”
It would appear that I was going to have to fight with everyone to be allowed to have the satisfaction of tearing Morlan apart.
Kallem shifted us onto the grassy field between my gramps’ cabin and the dark forest Morlan was hiding in.
I saw the warlock in his mist of gray. His face looked haggard.
I felt no pity. “Come out and play, Morlan,” I said sweetly.
He stepped out of the mist and I am sure I saw his shoulders slump before he drew himself up. He was a beaten creature of the dark…and I still felt hate surge through me. It wasn’t enough that he was beaten.
“Dilly, don’t let the vampires…come at me. You can negotiate with me. We can make a deal,” he said.
I was astounded that he thought I might help him. “There is no deal to be made,” I snapped. “But go ahead, see if your magic is strong enough to stop them, warlock!”
“No…not so many…the wolves…Dilly, they will ravage me. Look at their numbers. I can take out a few before they all…Dilly. Don’t let any of them die because you want revenge. There has to be another way to resolve our differences,” he said hoarsely as his eyes darted futilely at the vampires and werewolves, now in wolf form, closing in on him.
He knew he was trapped. It was true. He would be able to kill quite a few before he was taken down. I didn’t want that. I didn’t want one more dear supernatural hurt because of Morlan. I turned in a circle, my hands in the air, and used a spell to resonate my voice.
“No…friends. Morlan is mine,” I told them, and was relieved to see them stand in place. I turned back to Morlan. “You see, they will be safe. Do you know why?”
“Because you are good and kind, Dilly.” Morlan seemed to be begging now.
“No, because I am going to be the one to tear you to pieces,” I said, surprised to find my tone so very calm. I raised my hand and sent my White Magic through the air. It took hold of him and forced him to his knees. It wrapped itself around him and held him prisoner.
I marched up to him. Supernaturals had gathered in the field, around him in the woods, and were cheering me on. I saw my gramps trying to calm what was becoming a mob.
I saw my mother and heard her call my name.
I ignored it all. For a moment, I was lost to the bloodlust the need for revenge creates. I said, “Do you want to die quickly? Yes, I see that you do, but…” I grimaced. “No, that wouldn’t be fitting. It wouldn’t be what I have planned for you.”
Out of the corner of my eye, I saw my mother rush up to Kallem. She was cryin
g. Why was she crying? I knew she thought I would lose my soul if I reduced myself to being a cold-blooded killer. But I wouldn’t be a killer…this was different. This was for my dad.
Suddenly, Kallem’s hands were on my shoulders. I looked around at him, surprised by the words he uttered, “No, Dilly, no.”
“What do you mean—no? This is what I have been waiting for!” I was near tears. Tears? Why tears? All I wanted was to rip Morlan apart, so why was I about to cry? Why were my hands shaking?
“Killing someone, even as evil as Morlan…killing him in cold blood will change you, and Dilly, I love you just the way you are.”
“Yes, it will change me. He already did that when he took my father away from me!” I shouted. “Killing him will give me peace.”
No, Dilly, it won’t bring me back. Punishing him will give you peace. Turning yourself into something you are not, won’t serve up what you need, my dad’s voice whispered in the wind. Be my Dilly. Always be who you are.
My gaze met my grandfather’s.
He had turned away from working with the supernaturals. He had turned away from calming them down to stare into my eyes, and I knew that look.
I heard the angry shouts of the mob. They wanted to see Morlan’s blood. They wanted him to suffer for the suffering he had caused them. Many had lost loved ones, as I had.
As I stood there, doing nothing, I could feel their frustration. It was what I felt. I had to do this. I had to punish Morlan myself. I had to…
And there was that soft breeze, my dad’s spirit.
No. I wouldn’t listen to him. This was for him. This was for justice for him.
Holy crap, my dad’s spirit took shape.
His form was spiritual, transparent, and yet there was no doubt that he floated right before my eyes. His mouth was drawn in sadness.
I wasn’t the only one that saw him. From the gasps all around me, everyone saw my dad.
“Dilly, remember your promise to your mother,” Dad whispered.
“I have thought it out, I have given it time. I have done my duty to Rucker and now, I have to do my duty to you. He dies now…” I couldn’t shout at my father, but my voice was hard, causing me to feel a rush of shame and it ripped through me.
“Your grandfather will take him in for his trial. All of Rucker will be there. Our citizens need to see him brought to trial and answer for his crimes against them. He has done great harm and he will pay for his actions…but not now, not like this. He is a murderer, but, you daughter, must not be.”
Morlan was on his knees, sobbing.
I didn’t answer my dad. Instead and without the benefit of shoes on my feet, I kicked Morlan square in the face. Owww, that hurt, but it felt good as well.
“You piece of trash!” I yelled, and while Morlan, who had fallen backwards with the blow, lay on the ground unmoving, I brought the heel of my bare foot down on his belly and then on his balls.
He screamed in agony and wailed in pain while the crowd around us cheered.
Kallem wrapped his arms around me, forcing me to stop. He wasn’t letting go of me anytime soon, and I collapsed in his embrace. I broke down. My father was right. I’m not a cold-blooded killer. I should have given Morlan a sword and made him fight me in a fair battle…
I just let go and sobbed into my prince’s strong embrace.
I felt my father’s soft touch and then he was gone.
~ Epilogue ~
OUT OF A TRAGEDY COMES new understanding and new beginnings.
My experiences these last few months have led me to myself. I know who and what I am, and I am as my dad said I would be, at peace with my decisions.
I have to say that landing in Zelda’s attic and zany world was one of the best things that has ever happened to me.
She and her crew have become good friends and I visit them all as much as I am able.
Also, if I hadn’t landed in her attic, would I have met the love of my life?
I chalked it up to fate. It was fate that sent me hurtling into Zelda’s wonderful world and it was fate that had Kallem there at that most opportune moment.
Also, being the ‘key’ is turning out to be a fantastic experience. I can come and go to many worlds with a mere thought.
The ‘key’, or as I simply dubbed it Hallow, and I have become friends and have quite a few entertaining conversations.
Rucker has nearly returned to normal.
There is a great deal of rebuilding going on in all of the counties: homes, shops, and even municipal offices. Our realm has many ‘devastated’ areas, but we are all working together to put it right.
Morlan stood trial and was found guilty by a jury of his peers. He was sentenced to hell. Literally. At Kallem’s suggestion (he is brilliant), Morlan was taken (by Kallem) and left in a realm that can only be described as hell. I don’t believe he will survive the beasts that inhabit that fiery world.
Gramps is in charge of Rucker and is very careful about putting anyone in either of the covens in charge of anything without his approval. Go Gramps!
Cole is seeing someone very nice, but I don’t think he is in love with her. She is a vampire and I like her, but I don’t see that spark when I watch him with her.
One day, he will meet the right one and then, then there will be sparks the likes of which will make me laugh right out loud.
Mom laughs now. Dad’s spirit is with her all the time, but the ‘key’, who jabbers to me all the time, won’t answer any questions about whether or not Dad will ever be more than a spirit.
Once Hallow answered me and said, Dilly, his spirit lives, but for it to take form, it would need a body. Time will tell.
A body? How would Dad get a body?
Ah, was all it answered. Hallow thrives, I think on riddles and puzzles. So annoying!
Me?
“Are you ready, baby?” Kallem shifted in and has my waist in his two hands.
“Oh yeah,” I answered.
He laughed. “I mean, are you ready to meet the queen?”
“OH, no,” I said, and sighed, but as he put a hand on my breast and fondled me in a way that made me squeeze my thighs together, the sigh turned into a groan.
“All right then,” he said, “let’s see if I can get you ready.”
Clothes—mine and his, gone. I love how he does that. No fuss, no muss, just naked all around.
All at once, we were no longer in my bedroom at Gramps’ cabin, but in his, in Faery.
“Ah…ah…” I started to say.
He laid me on my back and rammed himself into me, hard and fast, as his mouth closed on mine.
Oh yeah, good way to get ready for a meeting with a queen.
About Claudy
Claudy Conn, a native New Yorker, now lives with her husband, Bob; their wolf, Cherokee; and Cherokee’s son, Rocky Man, who weighs in presently at 190 pounds.
She loves horses and riding and raised her twelve-year-old gelding Southern Pride from the moment he was born. She also loves gardening, swimming, skiing, hiking, and travel—and of course, reading, and writing, but no, she says, no arithmetic!
To get her monthly news, her reviews for all her new paranormal romances, and excerpts, come on and visit her at her website!
To see pictures of Cherokee—and her shepherd-wolf son!—have a look at her Facebook page!