The Storm Sullivan Saga: The Emerald Seer Series Box Set

by Violet Patterson

  Lucian fell back against the sink, the counter creaking under his weight, “How do you –“ but she was gone. Sophia. The name echoed through his mind, reverberated through every inch of him, and woke the beast. It did not burn him or tear at him, merely woke and grew restless.

  “Lucian?” Storm’s voice echoed through the door to his suite, a mix of concern and curiosity.

  “I will be right there, Storm. I just need to throw some clothes on.” He splashed some more water on his face, dried off and trudged to the dresser plucking out the first jeans and shirt he came across, more of the Emerald’s doing he assumed, not his taste but perfectly comfortable and clean.

  Storm stood waiting when he opened the door, her concern melting to relief. “Lucian!” She threw both arms about his neck in a maternal gesture. Had to be the hormones. “I was worried about you.”

  Sliding out of her embrace, Lucian headed for the staircase. Storm did not move. Without turning, Lucian knew her foot tapped on the carpet in irritation. “I know, I know. Will you for just once save the lecture and just come with me? I need a cup of coffee and some aspirin and then I will tell you and Ryder everything, you have my word.”

  Storm caught up with him and thankfully descended the stair case beside him in silence. He could tell she had a million questions, as was her way, but Storm held her tongue for possibly the first time ever. Lucian continued to watch her warily out of the corner of his eye until they reached the kitchen. She opened and closed her mouth more than once but did not break her silence.

  Ryder was busy in the kitchen when they entered, three pans warming on the stove, coffee brewing in the corner, and what smelled like cinnamon rolls in the oven. Lucian’s stomach rumbled loud enough for Storm to hear. She gave him a sidelong glance and snickered. Lucian shrugged and headed straight for the coffee mugs. He kept his back turned while Storm greeted her spouse.

  “Here is the aspirin, Luc. Help yourself.” Storm set a pill bottle on the counter beside him and settled at the breakfast bar. Ryder laid a plate before her, a look of complete peace and admiration on his face. Lucian imagined he looked at Sophia that way. His love for her had been just as deep. The beast burned him again, inexplicably aggravated. Lucian played it off, instead itching absentmindedly at his side.

  Ryder set his own food out and slid into the stool beside his wife, both of them watching Lucian intently. Leaning against the counter opposite his friends, Lucian took three aspirin and sipped at his coffee, the bitter, hot fluid shocking his system. “I do not know where to begin. It is complicated.” Well, not so much complicated as incredibly difficult for him to confess, even to Ryder and Storm. He remained grateful that Ryder made no attempt to touch his mind. Lucian inhaled deeply and exhaled slowly.

  “I suppose I need to start at the beginning, with the curse.” Lucian took another sip of the coffee, drawing strength from it as the headache began to recede. “Nobody alive knows what I am about to share with you. The Phoenix was not supposed to be mine to bear alone. Morgaine was to take on part of the beast so the burden would not be so intense. Instead, she bound the entirety of the beast’s power inside me.” Ryder looked shocked, understanding flooding his face as Lucian summed up the rest of the tale. “Once I realized the reality of my problem, I confronted Morgaine but the witch refused to complete her part of the bargain and went into hiding. It was quite foolish of her to flee a tracker, but there you have it. I located her in less than a week, spared no mercy, and destroyed her. Since then, I have been hunting the remainder of her line. Of course, my objective was primarily to relieve some of the Phoenix so I gave each witch an option – fulfill the bargain or die painfully by my hand. They all chose death, except one, but she was not strong enough to perform the spells. In the end, she died anyway.” Lucian studied his coffee cup, swirling it slightly, while Ryder and Storm processed and he built up the courage to say what needed to be said. When he looked up, they both still stared at him, attentive and unmoving, surprising for the Emerald; perhaps she had gained some patience through her bond with Ryder. Storm arched an eyebrow at him. Lucian set the coffee cup on the counter and lifted his shirt to reveal the lavender tattoo. “I loved her.”

  Ryder inhaled, “I did not know you were wed, Lucian.”

  “We weren’t. This is not our ink, it is human work. She would not wed me.” Lucian briefly remembered her face when she declined, the pain of that rejection never receded.

  Storm appeared confused and Lucian knew she was trying to choose the right question. He did not expect what came out of her mouth next. “Was her name Sophia Bedeaux?”

  Storm

  Lucian paled. He opened and closed his mouth several times without making a sound.

  “I’ll take that as a ‘yes’ then, Lucian. I think we are going to need more information so if you could stop with the less than impressive goldfish impression that would be a good start.” Storm hoped sarcasm would jolt him out of the stupor. Instead, he just closed his eyes for what seemed like an eternity. Storm looked to Ryder but he just shrugged and went on eating a cinnamon roll. Honestly? How could he be so passionate with her yet so nonchalant with his best friend? Well, apparently she’d have to do all the work. Storm stood and walked around the counter to their unmoving friend. Placing a hand gently on Lucian’s arm she whispered his name. No response. Storm shook his arm gently and repeated herself a bit louder. Still nothing.

  “Dammit Lucian, if you don’t open your eyes and start talking I am going to shock you and maybe toss you out a window for good measure. You know I can.” Storm felt the anger and frustrating building and she made sure to channel it into her hand so it warmed Lucian’s arm just to drive the point home.

  “It would be unwise to shock me, woman. You would only succeed in waking the beast.” Lucian opened one eye and looked at her. She held his gaze, jutting her chin out defiantly. “You must understand. This is difficult for me.” His voice choked with emotion, Storm realized Lucian was holding back tears. She felt her resolve falter and took a step back. Dammit, she couldn’t see him cry.

  “Alright. I am sorry. It’s just that Trin visited us and told us to find Sophia Bedeaux to help you. She also told us there are two covens after me.” Storm paused, exhaled loudly, and dropped the part that would affect him most, “both are of Morgaine’s bloodline.” Lucian reacted precisely how she anticipated, jaw dropped, eyes flared wide, and the fire rippled in the center of his pupil. Storm backed away, she knew him well enough to know what came next. Several things happened simultaneously, Lucian slammed his coffee cup on the floor and bellowed, Ryder leapt over the breakfast bar in front of her, and pushed her back a foot or so. The Scots walked into the kitchen and froze, whatever they’d been arguing about dropped the minute they saw Lucian. Dammit. Lucian went hoarse and she knew he was forcing the Phoenix back down. She needed to calm man and beast quickly.

  “Ryder, move away. Kell, Pollux will you please wake Damarra and Roane, they are in my old bedroom.” Storm placed a hand on Ryder’s arm and pulled, sliding around him. She met his eye and gave him a silent warning. Several images flashed through her head, all of the possible outcomes Ryder saw, all of them unfavorable for her. Storm shook her head and pointed toward the door as Lucian roared once more, causing the room to quake.

  Once the room had cleared, Storm summoned all of her power into her hands and laid them on Lucian’s shoulders. “Lucian, please, do not do this. Let us help you, let me help you.”

  “If we need Sophia then nobody can help me, not even you Emerald. There is a limit to even your power.” Lucian sounded hopeless, beaten. “It’s like I am losing her all over again, Storm. Yesterday, the dreamstate, it was her, well it was about her.” Lucian finally met her gaze, the fire gone but pain glaringly strong. She exhaled.

  “Try me. Aunt Trin seems to think we can help you and handle the covens at the same time. How is the Phoenix right now?” Storm’s mind raced, plan after plan forming and then dissipating as she waited for Lucian’s
response.

  “The beast is listening,” he practically spat the name, “it likes you Storm, it liked her too. I knew peace when I was with Sophia but she was sick and couldn’t help me and I couldn’t save her. That is the whole story.”

  “Lucian, I think we all need to sit down and talk this out. Nobody is going to judge you. I mean, look around, Roane follows Damarra like a little lost pup and we all know I have Ryder wrapped around my little glowing finger.” Storm shook Lucian slightly until he looked at her. “Aunt Trin would not have come to us if she didn’t know of some way to fix this.”

  “It isn’t possible. I don’t know what this is but Sophia said Trin could not help her before, how could she help her now?” Lucian hung his head again. Storm thought for a moment he might actually let go and cry. Instead he just stood there, silent and brooding.

  “Damn you, Lucian. When did you turn coward? When have you ever in your life walked away from a fight? You have fought every manner of supernatural creature and born the burden of the Phoenix for over five hundred years but now, when you could save the only woman you have ever loved, you buckle? Stop with the self-pity and talk to us.” Storm may have gone a bit overboard but once the words started she couldn’t seem to stop them. She seemed to hit the mark though. Lucian straightened, looked down at her, and smiled.

  “Thank you, Storm. You are right, of course. I really am not sure what is going on with me, or with the beast. I am struggling and it has grown increasingly more difficult in the two years since I left Sophia.” Lucian fell silent again and again Storm waited, exercising as much patience as she could muster, not usually her forte. His breathing slowed, back to a normal rate. He took her hands from his shoulders and in spite of their slight glow, placed them to his lips. “Thank you, Emerald, mate of my brother, friend.”

  “Lucian, you honor me. You are like a brother to me and I cannot stand to see you so unhappy.” Storm paused, “Besides, it is actually selfish of me; I want a piece of these covens before I am too large to move.”

  At that mental image they both laughed. Storm knew the danger had passed and Lucian looked more himself. “I am going to try very hard to not refer to you as fat but I am warning you now that I may slip and use a derivative thereof at some point so I ask your forgiveness now.”

  “Lucian, if you call me fat, or any derivative thereof, I will truly send you out a window without remorse and blame it on the hormones.” She raised an eyebrow and half-smiled. “Just fair warning. Now, let’s go plan us a witch hunt!”

  Ryder

  He doubted anybody would ever know what transpired in the kitchen between Lucian and Storm. She may or may not divulge it to him later but whatever occurred had worked. When Storm called everybody back into the kitchen Lucian was back to his usual self, leaning against the counter tossing grapes in the air and catching them in his mouth. Ryder met Lucian’s eye and touched his mind briefly enough to know it was no act.

  “Eat up everybody. Ryder made plenty for all of us.” The sound of Storm’s level tone settled him even further. She flitted by him and offered a quick hug, leaning up to whisper in his ear “Everything is fine, you will see. You can thank me later.”

  “I understand Trin Sullivan has been making several appearances as of late.” Ryder turned toward Damarra’s voice. The deity seemed to be opening and closing the refrigerator door as she was wont to do. “Is she still skipping between Soul Mirrors then?”

  Storm released him and spun, shock flooding her face. “What do you mean?”

  Damarra continued with the refrigerator flicking the light on and off by the button without answering Storm. “Damarra? What do you mean, ‘skipping between mirrors’?”

  “Honestly dear, have you not yet read up on the Soul Mirrors? If a spirit inhabits a mirror that has been bound to another then he or she could walk between them easily.” Damarra closed the door and moved on to the dishwasher, her usual ritual. Ryder could not help but marvel at her. Such a tiny thing, a smaller version of his Storm but with far wiser eyes and a slightly more rounded face, in spite of her eccentricities, he liked her. Ryder rarely took to any of the gods he met in his long life but Damarra was different or perhaps it was because of her ties to Storm, he could not be certain but at the end of the day it did not really matter. Watching her flit around the kitchen, the epitome of relaxation, Ryder marveled at how she could be Storm’s grandmother.

  “Damarra, will you please slow down? I have not found anything in my research about binding mirrors together, I haven’t found much of anything on them actually, but clearly I should have just asked you. How does that work and how would it help us?” Storm went from relaxed to frantic in a matter of moments. Ryder squeezed her hand gently. She got the message and fell silent. His fiery Storm, so aptly named. He often wondered if she was defined by her name or if the name simply suited her.

  “Honestly, Damarra, I did not know the mirrors could be linked either, what would that accomplish?” Lucian interjected and winked at Storm. Ryder felt an idea forming and realized the Soul Mirror upstairs would be pivotal somehow but for the life of him he could not recall anything important about them.

  “I cannot remember much about Soul Mirrors either. That seems odd, does it not?” Ryder looked to the Scots who shrugged and Angeline shook her head as well.

  The deity stopped messing with the kitchen appliances and turned to face the crowd, completely incredulous. “It appears something has been missing from your instruction. Hm.” She fell silent and looked meaningfully toward Roane. Ryder noted the subtle exchange and realized the alternative answer she did not want to speak. Hell.

  “Or somebody has struck the knowledge from our books and memories. Why?” Ryder could not manage to puzzle it out. Soul Mirrors were fairly rare but innocuous, beyond that he could not recall anything, as if somebody punched holes in his memory. Ryder shook his head and tried to focus recalling volumes that should have referenced the mirrors but came up empty again. Gods, who could have managed such a task?

  “I have found two volumes in the Sullivan archives that briefly reference Soul Mirrors. Beyond that I reached a friend in Sumatra and then her acquaintance in New Delhi. Every volume offers the same, limited information in the exact same wording, actually. Of course, the translations of the foreign text leave some room for variation but in general there is little research available on Soul Mirrors. I tabled further research in favor of more pressing matters but now it seems rather relevant.” Storm turned to him, her eyes searching his, silently asking for some guidance. She really hated feeling ignorant in their circle. Ryder made a mental note to start tutoring her in lore when things died down.

  “If I may,” Angeline chimed in. Ryder eyed his former assistance curiously - uncharacteristically dressed in ill-fitting pajama pants and a t-shirt so faded the letters were now illegible. She’d swept her hair up in a messy bun with several tendrils falling around her face. The Scots’ eyed her appreciatively and Ryder had to admit, she pulled the look off quite well. “Soul Mirrors were created by the fae so it would stand to reason that their archives would hold all there is to know of them. Even if somebody magically altered the rest of us, it is impossible to breach the fae archives. I can contact my fairy relations and ask them to send what they have, if you like.”

  “That would be quite helpful dear, I am sure, but I can explain it all right now.” Damarra beamed genially at Angeline and opened her mouth to continue but Lucian interrupted.

  “Or, we could just summon Trin Sullivan and she could answer all of our questions in a more specific context.” Lucian continued to stare in his coffee mug as if oblivious to everybody’s eyes on him. Several moments passed that way, the entire room staring silently at Lucian before he looked up. “What? It just makes sense to ask her exactly what she did and why she did it, should save us a good deal of time and effort.”

  Damarra sniffed, clearly offended. Nice job, Lucian. Ryder glanced at Roane meaningfully and touched his thoughts briefly. He wo
uld be the only one capable of diffusing her.

  “Damarra, why not let them handle this? I could introduce you to a department store and we could shop for clothes and toys for the baby.” Roane allowed the bait to settle and for a moment Ryder was not convinced the deity would go for it.

  Angeline cleared her throat. “You know what? We could stop at the home store and pick up some paint samples for the nursery too. You are right, we really should warm it up a bit. Kell, Pollux and I could go with you. Storm could visit with her aunt without all of us hanging around and when we get back we can finish our devious plotting.” Angeline paused, watching Damarra’s indecision. “Come on Damarra, we really need to change the color of the nursery before we hang anymore pictures or buy curtains.”

  Angeline nudged Pollux in the ribs. “I would really like to go with you all. Kell and I want to pick up the new Call of Duty anyway. We could even go out to lunch at a little bistro I know. It is owned by a siren I know who makes a marvelous ambrosia martini.”

  Damarra’s face softened. “Very well, let us go out.” She drifted over to Storm and whispered in her ear so low that Ryder only caught part of it, something about being wary. He could not make out the rest but Damarra glanced briefly at Lucian as she backed away and followed the others out of the kitchen.

  Storm spoke first. “Lucian, you know you have to be more diplomatic with her.”

  “No, Storm, I don’t. She is older than all of us and I will not treat her like a toddler to avoid hurting her feelings. Damarra is a goddess and more than capable of accepting reason.” Lucian poured himself another cup of coffee and looked from Ryder to Storm and back again. “Ry, come on, do not look at me like that. It is not fair when you two do that mind meld thing and gang up on me.”