“Storm, really, nothing to worry about, we had it covered. I think Roane may have even enjoyed himself for a moment.” Kell piped up from behind the mountain of bags. “I didn’t even have to put the bags down; they were young and inexperienced at best. Though, I was surprised they attacked in daylight. What do you all make of that?”
“Aye, they were ugly brutes but dumb and I doubt they had any battle experience.” Pollux brought he bottle over and topped off Lucian’s glasses for him. Good man.
“They were enchanted.” Roane spoke in the low, monotone Lucian had been accustomed to for years, not a good sign. He continued to pace before the hearth without looking at any of them. “I do not know which coven has enough power to hold a spell like that on trolls but it does not bode well for us. Yes, they were stupid and young which would have made them easier to practice persuasion on, but they persisted after being struck down. Yes, they were easy for us and I admit I found it somewhat enjoyable to engage in a fight after so much contemplation, but it was almost too easy.” Roane trailed off and retreated into his own thoughts once more.
Storm looked pointedly at him. He took the hint and cleared his throat. Now was as good a time as any to put his part out there, before he got too drunk and let too much slip out. “I should probably tell my part.” Lucian inhaled deeply and took a deep gulp from one of his glasses. He decided to fixate on the glass in his hand rather than make eye contact with anybody, easier that way. “A few years ago I met a woman, Sophia Bedeaux. I had hoped she would alleviate part of my curse in exchange for her life but instead, I fell in love with her and she died. According to Trin Sullivan we have a chance to resurrect her, splinter the burden I carry, and put an end to the covens threatening Storm all at once.”
“She was of Morgaine’s bloodline, Immortal?” Damarra scrutinized him. Gods that woman made him uncomfortable, and it had nothing to do with her being a goddess.
“Sophia was only half witch. But, yes, her mother descended from Morgaine. As it happened, Alva leaked her human paternity to her stepfather who then murdered her mother. Sophia became an outcast, no coven would accept her.” Lucian frowned. He still wondered how much had been related to her half breed status and how much was due to lesser covens fearing Alva’s wrath. The beast hissed at the mention of Alva. Lucian took another drink, hoping to lull it to sleep again.
“Ah, a wise move. Eliminate Sophia and her mother in one broad stroke. Without her mother or a coven, Sophia would have been out of the running.” Damarra leaned back against the couch frowning.
“Out of the running for what, exactly?” Lucian downed the rest of the contents of one glass and started on the second.
“Why, Morgaine’s power, of course?” Damarra looked at him with a certain measure of disdain. “Honestly, did you even research the line before you started tramping around killing them off? Do you realize what you have done with your little vendetta? You wonder why other races seek to expunge you yet you scamper about wiping out lines without regard for the consequences.” Damarra’s face flushed with unexpected emotion, all eyes in the room riveted on her in the midst of an unheard of verbal rampage.
“Damarra, I –“ Storm attempted to interject but one glare from her grandmother ended it.
“Immortal, it is because of you that Alva and Elba have grown as strong as they are. Every time you destroyed a witch from their line the remaining kin raced to usurp the remnants of power. Their families caught onto your patterns and often arrived minutes after you left. Alva and Elba inherited all that remained except for Sophia’s small reserves thanks to Trin’s interference. Still, you have managed to create two witches with reserves of power completely unrivaled among their kind. That is why they are such a threat to Storm and her babes. You had as much part in this as anyone.” Roane touched Damarra gently on the shoulder causing her to pause and bow her head. “He needed to know, Roane. They all need to know what they face.”
“Of course they do, but there are better ways. You allow your vast knowledge to cloud your judgment in this. Some things they must discover on their own, you told me that if you recall.” Roane spoke softly, evenly, underlying affection and respect evident in his tone. Damarra turned to face him and Lucian swore she wept. “I think we will take our leave. We are both weary and it seems we have a great deal of work ahead of us. I trust you are capable of formulating an appropriate course of action.” Roane looked to Storm, his face softening in a paternal way, “Congratulations, granddaughter. We are truly blessed.” Lucian nodded to Roane and lifted his glass. Again, perfect timing and a golden tongue.
“I wonder what else she knows that we don’t. Lucian, why didn’t you tell us what you have been up to?” Pollux didn’t sound accusatory but the beast roared inside in response. Lucian emptied his glass and handed it to Pollux.
“Get me another, young Scot, and I will tell you now.” Pollux nodded in agreement and Lucian continued, “Morgaine was a lying, treacherous wench who made a pact and broke it. It is true that I hunted her line without regard for the consequences. I wanted to rid myself of the beast, or rather the part of it that should have been Morgaine’s to bear. If she had kept her word, half of the Phoenix would have been disseminated among Morgaine’s offspring gradually being diluted over time until too little remained for it to regenerate. At that point, the rest of it was to be stripped from me. I wanted to be free, to fight when necessary and know true intimacy with a woman rather than a string of meaningless encounters. No offense, Angeline, I do not consider you when I say that.” She half smiled and tipped her wine glass his way. “Anyway, I tracked the witches of her line and offered them the chance to fulfill Morgaine’s pact or die. They all chose death so Alva and Elba are as much their fault as mine. They could have told me, any one of them.” Thankfully the beast retreated into its corner, silent and unmoving.
“No use dwelling on it now, we need to move forward.” Storm smiled when he met her eyes, an unfailing kindness in her expression. “You didn’t know Lucian and if you had you may have missed out on Sophia. Everything happens as it should. Now, the first order of business is locating Sophia’s Soul Mirror since we need both. Kell and Pollux, I think it best that you two handle it with Angeline. I have been thinking on it and Alva will surely expect Lucian and be on alert for him. Angeline, you should be able to sense the mirror, right?”
“Theoretically.” Angeline looked thoughtful. “Yes, I believe I could locate it if I were close. It would help if we could find out what it looks like.”
“Trin would probably know. If she helped bind Sophia to the mirror then she would have to know what it looks like. I’ll summon her later and have her describe it for me so I can sketch it for you.” Lucian found Storm’s reasoning solid but he felt a pang of frustration at being grounded. Leaving such a crucial mission in anybody else’s hands seemed an entirely new form of torture.
“Why not summon her now? Shouldn’t she be party to this since she knows more than we do?” Kell’s voice carried out from behind the mountain of bags.
“It may be good to have her here, Storm.” Lucian cringed internally as he spoke, the woman, even as a ghost tended to get under his skin.
Storm bit her lip. “I don’t think that is a good idea. We need to minimize the time she spends over here for now.”
“Why is that?” Lucian hoped it had something to do with Ryder’s dislike for Trin but a sinking feeling in his gut told him he would not like the answer.
“Every time Aunt Trin visits us she has to leave Sophia alone.” Storm lowered her eyes and her voice. “Sophia has to run, shifting around the other realm. Aunt Trin helps disguise her from the spirits or whatever it is Alva sent after Sophia. I didn’t exactly get the details but I think it is pretty important that we call Trin over as little as possible. If need be I can talk with her through the mirror.
“That is still summoning her, Storm. Even in the mirror she is between realms, not here or there. She would still be away from Sophia.” Angeline fr
owned, “Where did that come from? It just popped in my head. I swear I combed my memory for every bit of knowledge I could recall on Soul Mirrors and that never surfaced until now.”
Lucian leaned forward, scrutinizing Angeline. “Try again, Ang. What can you tell me about Soul Mirrors?”
“Soul Mirrors were created by the fairies to house spirits of deceased persons who were too valuable to be lost or whose loved ones could not bear to part with them. They also serve as portals to the other realms but only those skilled in necromancy can exercise the degree of control required to move themselves or others back and forth at will.” Angeline’s eyes flew wide, “I can recall a good deal more, mostly insignificant anecdotes but the holes are gone.”
Settling back into his chair, Lucian closed his eyes and pondered the new development. How had Storm crossed over he wondered, a new power? Perhaps Trin had done something? More troubling, who had enough power to interfere with everybody’s knowledge of Soul Mirrors and what changed in the last fifteen minutes?
Storm
She didn’t even have time to react; the vision came on so suddenly there was no aura. Storm blinked her eyes furiously, how did it get so dark? Had she been blinded? Her bare feet recognized the floor as concrete, cold and hard. Putting her hands in front of her, Storm felt around until her right hand struck a wall; it seemed to be brick, rough against her palm. Following along the wall, Storm realized she ended up in a tunnel of some sort. Her feet kept moving, left hand in front of her and right hand along the wall, feeling along the grouting. Storm’s eyes never adjusted to the darkness but she heard water in the distance and it seemed to be growing closer. Finally, she caught a shimmer of light the size of a pinhole, bluish white and fading in and out. Storm picked up the pace, pushing herself forward. The ground seemed damp and then she stepped in a puddle, the icy water a jolt to her system. Still, Storm pushed on, the light growing more stable until she realized it was the opening to a waterfall. Fifty feet from the falls, Storm noticed a body sprawled across the stone, unmoving.
“Hello? Are you alright?” Storm slowed her pace and inched closer. “Hello?”
The body jerked and coughed, seizing for a moment before falling limp again. Storm closed in, building a reserve of power in her right hand, just in case. Her eyes adjusted to the change in light allowing her to see it was a woman with long, wild hair filled with leaves and twigs, blood dripping from her mouth and nose. Judging by the irregular movement of her chest, she was in no shape to fight. Storm moved closer and knelt beside the woman. She took the scarf from around the woman’s waist, soaked it in a nearby puddle and wiped the blood and grime off her face.
The woman’s eyes opened, “You came.” Barely a whisper, the two words caused a great deal of pain but she opened her mouth to speak again.
“Sh, don’t speak. I will get you out of here and cleaned up. Hush now.” Storm felt her pockets for her phone but the woman grabbed her wrist with greater strength than she should have been capable of.
“Emerald, must stop her.” The woman sucked in a few more ragged breaths. “Take necklace. Go. Tell Sophia I am sorry.” The woman breathed out once more. Her head fell to the side and her eyes went dull. Storm looked her body over and spotted the necklace in her other hand, covered in blood. She took it and turned it over in her hand.
Storm looked up, directly into Ryder’s warm brown eyes. His whole face contorted in pain and worry. Gazing around her husband, Storm realized that everybody seemed to be staring at her with similar expressions. “What?”
“What did you see, my love?” Ryder’s hand traced gently along her jawline sending chills down her spine.
“I – well- I –“ Storm looked in her hand, the chain of the necklace still coiled around the pendant in her palm, coated in blood. “I don’t know, exactly. But does this mean something to any of you?” She grasped the necklace by the chain and turned her palm out to release the pendant.
Ryder snatched it first, scrutinized it, turning it over and over in his palm. He shrugged and held it out to Lucian, “What do you think?”
Lucian eyed the piece and reached for it but the moment his fingertips touched the jewelry he roared and withdrew as if bitten. “Hell. I know exactly what it is, the question is, how did you get it?”
Storm shrunk into the couch, it didn’t make sense. She shivered again. “Why is it so cold in here?”
“What do you mean?” Angeline looked at her peculiarly. “Storm? What happened? Tell us from the beginning.”
“It was really strange. I didn’t have an aura with this one, nothing. All of a sudden I was in a tunnel that went on for miles, or so it seemed. The tunnel ended behind a massive waterfall. A woman was there and she had been beaten badly. With her last breaths she called me ‘Emerald’ and told me I have to stop ‘her’.” Storm sighed and met Lucian’s watchful gaze. He knew something, sitting across from her, nursing his fingers and waiting. Dammit. “She told me to apologize to Sophia for her.”
“I would say she is stopped if she’s dead.” Pollux handed a fresh cup of tea to Storm, “here, this should warm you a bit.”
“Do not be daft, Pollux. The woman in the tunnel was not just a woman. That necklace belonged to her and it seems things have just become more complicated.” Lucian did not take his eyes off Storm. “Were you like this before? I mean, before you got your powers back did you attract an unusual amount of bad luck?”
“No! Of course not. Why would you ask that, Luc? What do you know?” Storm sat forward on the couch, prepared to play tough if that’s what he needed now. Lucian leaned back, still nursing his fingers.
“You know what I am about to say though, don’t you?” He raised an eyebrow, challenging her. Storm held his gaze and thought about it. She’d been considering the options, each less likely than the last. Never before had Storm transported something from a vision, this felt completely different. She didn’t even have a headache, however, her hands burned. Looking away from Lucian, she turned her right hand palm up to find it scraped up. No. Uh-uh. Dammit. Storm shifted the blanket and looked at her feet, bare, and pale, the hemlines of her pants were frayed and soaked half way up her shin as if she’d just walked through a cold, wet tunnel. At least that explained her chill.
Storm fell back against the couch, her mind reeling, thoughts zipping around too quickly to make sense of them. It hadn’t been a vision at all - she’d been summoned then returned. Few could carry off such a feat on their own. A chill spread down Storm’s spine. “That was Alva the witch.” Angeline gasped at her side.
“Good riddance. Our job just got easier, one less coven to handle.” Pollux polished off the rest of his drink and headed to the wet bar for another.
“Foolish boy. Alva’s death just complicated things. In fact, we have to hope her sister has not claimed her magic yet.” Lucian frowned, “This is ill timing. Our time has been cut even shorter now. We must assume Elva has usurped Alva’s power, combined both covens, and now acts as the embodiment of Morgaine herself.”
“Yes, but you handled Morgaine on your own, we can take out the rest of the witches and end it all.” Pollux shrugged, unimpressed by Lucian’s warning.
“Do you know what it took to end Morgaine? Elva will be more powerful than Morgaine ever was since she has two covens at her disposal that Morgaine never had.” Lucian shook his head. “No, this is going to be nigh impossible to accomplish, not that it would have been a walk in the park before.”
Storm knew they were missing something. She watched Ryder swinging the necklace lazily as he paced the floor between her and Lucian. His thoughts came across just as jumbled as hers but she picked up threads that helped her weave a better picture. Little by little Storm pieced together the answer, she hoped. “Ry, give me the necklace.” He kept pacing, but tossed it to her in mid step. The amulet hissed when she caught it, her hand instantly glowing brilliant gold, so bright she had to look away.
“Storm, tone that down. Honestly, do you want to blind us
?” Angeline shielded her eyes and scooted away.
“I am not doing it.” Storm threw the blanket off and walked across the room, focusing hard on her aunt. “Aunt Trin!” The glow continued to spread up her arm. She tried to drop the amulet but couldn’t. It vibrated in her hand, a gentle thrum in her palm, yet it didn’t seem dangerous or threatening, it felt, well, familiar somehow.
“Where did you get that?” Aunt Trin’s voice in her ear broke the reverie. “Storm!”
Shaking her head slightly, Storm refocused on the translucent shape of her aunt. “This is the mirror, isn’t it? The Soul Mirror is in here – Sophia’s mirror?”
“It is more than just Sophia’s mirror. It contains all of Alva’s magic – all of it Storm. You cannot keep it here, like that. How did you get it?” Aunt Trin’s ghostly voice trembled slightly.
“Alva gave it to me.” Storm gauged her aunt’s reaction. That look was more than familiar and Storm knew she had to come clean about the whole experience. Dammit. “Okay, she summoned me to this place behind a waterfall where she was beaten and bloodied and handed it over to me right before she died.”
“Storm, possessing that locket places you in grave danger. Elba can sense it, she will be drawn here and likely bring both covens with her. Who knows how many others she will recruit if they believe she has defeated Alva?” Aunt Trin paused. “Well, we will have to rely on the wards. As much as I hate to admit this, I think you need to summon Damarra. We need her.”
“Trin Sullivan, it warms me to hear you say that. No need to summon me.” Damarra entered and walked right over to Aunt Trin. “Perhaps it would help if I make you solid for a little while longer, we could use your help as well, dear.” Damarra leaned in awkwardly and hugged the specter. “There you are. That’s better is it not?”
The Storm Sullivan Saga: The Emerald Seer Series Box Set Page 27