Magic Awakened: A Paranormal Romance Boxed Set

by K.N. Lee

  “I’ll give you my present later,” whispered Aethelu and then kissed her quickly on the cheek.

  Arcadia spoke “My present to Anais and Lulu is a makeover for our Christmas dinner--Anais, you first.” She grabbed Anais hand and pulled her up from her sitting position.

  Anais hadn’t planned to spend half of Christmas day having makeup applied, but she didn’t want to seem ungrateful. She grabbed a couple of croissants from a tray that had been brought up from the kitchen and let Arcadia drag her up to her bedroom, the room next to Aethelu’s.

  Despite having a mother who worked in makeup, Anais had never been much good at applying it herself. If she ever wanted to go for anything more adventurous than putting a bit of lipstick on, she usually asked her Mom for help. If she did it herself, it usually looked like she’d let a group of excited six-year-olds loose with a box of crayons on her face. Since her mother had died, she’d not worn any makeup at all, finding it simpler to go without.

  Arcadia sat her at the dressing table in front of the large mirror.

  She rummaged around in a make-up bag and lined up some brushes on the table, whilst Anais continued to look at herself in the mirror. She was the same person she had been a month previously, but as she looked at her reflection, she noticed her face had changed somehow. Her green eyes were just as bright as they had always been, but now they seemed to have their own sparkle. The dark circles that she had sported since her parents died had vanished, her skin had a glow and her cheeks had a blush to them, which had not been present a month before. She knew that being in love had changed her on the inside, but she didn’t expect that it would show in her face. Of course, thanks to the amazing food, she had been eating much better than she had ever eaten, and for whatever reason, she had finally got over the insomnia that had plagued her for years. Both these reasons probably contributed to the picture of health staring back at her from the mirror.

  Arcadia started work on Anais face, expertly applying eyeliner, mascara, and blusher.

  Absorbed in her work, Arcadia was silent at first. Eventually she spoke. “She’s in love with you. You know that don’t you? I’ve never seen her like this before. It’s actually pretty sweet.”

  Anais didn’t know how to reply so she kept quiet. Hearing that Aethelu was in love with her from another person, made her feel wonderful. Neither of them had said ‘I love you’ to each other, but despite the strangeness of their relationship, Anais knew that she loved Aethelu. She ached when they weren’t together, and even now, when she knew that she’d see her again at dinner, she still missed her desperately.

  She had to try really hard not to grin as Arcadia applied lipstick.

  Arcadia chatted all the while she worked on Anais about life on the French Riviera and her celebrity neighbours. She talked about her family at The Manor and Andrew.

  “You know, it’s going to be a big change this Christmas. It’s usually Rafe and Alex who have girlfriends. It’s actually kind of funny that this year it’s going to be Lulu and Andrew with dates. Do you know he’s invited his internet girlfriend over for Christmas dinner? He set off early this morning to pick her up from the airport. Fancy flying on Christmas Day. I hope the snow doesn’t disrupt the flight. What was her name again?”

  “Judith?” Anais answered

  “That’s it! I knew it began with a J. Rafe and Alex are going to be mortified,” she laughed.

  “Mortified? Why”

  “Oh don’t you know? They both have a massive crush on you and neither can have you because you’re with Aethelu, and now to top it all off Andrew’s gone and got himself a girlfriend who’s absolutely stunning. Have you seen the photo?”

  Anais murmured in the affirmative. She was still reeling about the boys having a crush on her. She’d barely ever spoken to Rafe. In fact, slitting his throat in front of her remained the longest time they had spent in each other’s company. She was still wary of him. Alex, on the other hand, well, she’d suspected as much although she’d done nothing to lead him on. She’d thought that the bet they’d had about her was more about bravado than them actually liking her.

  Arcadia eventually finished and stepped aside to let Anais have a look.

  Looking in the mirror, Anais barely recognised herself. She usually found her features mousy and boring. Arcadia had transformed her into a siren with sultry smoky eye shadow and pale lips.

  Arcadia was now working her hair into waves which caressed her shoulders and reminded her of the Hollywood starlets of the 40s and 50s. A few pins later and it was swirled up, waves resting on her head away from her face. Arcadia then brought out the most beautiful dress Anais had ever seen. A red, floor-length gown tied high at the neck with a heavy silver chain that hung down her back. The front of the dress was very modestly cut but when Anais put it on and turned to look at the back she could see that the whole back was cut out to the waist leaving her feeling rather exposed. She couldn’t deny that she looked amazing though. She could barely take her eyes away from the mirror. Who knew that she possessed such beauty?

  Arcadia then brought out a pair of silver jewelled high heels which would have made Cinderella green with envy. Anais put them on and spun round feeling like a princess.

  There came a knock on the door bringing her back to the moment.

  “That’ll be Lulu,” smiled Arcadia.

  Anais thanked Arcadia, gave her a big hug and then skipped to the door. She flung it wide open and shouted “Ta-Da!”

  It was not Aethelu at all, it was Aldrich who seemed quite surprised by the unexpected welcome.

  “Yes, umm, lovely,” was all he could muster “I need a quick word with you if you are finished here.” Anais looked towards Arcadia, who nodded her head.

  Anais followed him down the main stairs and then into the kitchen that had temporarily been vacated by both August and Winnie although she could see Baker snoring away in the corner. She assumed they would stay there, but Aldrich made his way to the back door of the house. She followed him outside through the courtyard, where she had to hold her new dress up around her ankles to keep it from getting wet in the snow. Her beautiful new shoes were difficult to walk in, but Aldrich seemed not to notice her difficulty. Anais wished she’d thought to take them off and put some wellies on. Aldrich came to the middle door in the outhouses. The only door she had not yet been through. To her right, was the garage and to her left Aethelu’s studio. She grinned at the memory of her one night there.

  Stepping into the building she found herself in a large room which looked half like a modern doctor’s surgery and half like an apothecary from the past. A desk, which would not have looked out of place in a stately home, housed a computer and had a matching chair, which is where Aldrich now seated himself. A bed of the type she had only seen at a hospital lay near the wall on the right-hand side. Various utensils filled the rest of the space. To the left, however, shelves and shelves of glass jars filled the walls, hundreds of them, each neatly labelled. She looked at the nearest one.

  Lavender

  Picked 14th July

  Manor Gardens,

  3.30am Full moon

  It was so very specific; she wondered why it mattered when it was picked.

  The next one read:

  Moss

  Growing on a large sycamore tree

  Lincolnshire

  27th May

  Misty night, No moon

  “Ahem”

  Anais looked over and found Aldrich waiting for her. She sat on the only other seat in the room opposite his desk and waited to see what he needed her for.

  “Am I correct in thinking that Aethelu has told you our story?”

  Anais briefly recounted what Aethelu had told her, leaving out the part where Rafe had slit his own throat.

  “Mmmm, I see.” Aldrich sat back and appeared deep in thought.

  Anais didn’t know what else she could say, so she sat there waiting patiently for him to speak again.

  “In essence, what you have b
een told is the truth, however, there are things that my children, including Aethelu do not know. Only Winifred and I know the full story. I am telling you now, in the hope that you can remain discreet.”

  “I don’t think I can keep a secret from Aethelu, sir, if that’s what you mean.”

  “Very well, if that is the only way we can do this, then I permit you to tell Aethelu, but you must not, in any circumstances repeat what I am about to tell you to anyone else.”

  “Ok.” said Anais.

  “Do I have your word?”

  “Yes, I promise. I’ll tell no one but Aethelu.”

  He regarded her for a minute but seemed satisfied that she was telling the truth.

  “You know that your father was murdered.”

  “And my mother.”

  “Yes, quite,” said Aldrich “Your father was murdered; your mother was just in the wrong place at the wrong time.”

  I had not heard from Jago in over six centuries. I had assumed he had drunk the potion and found a way to get on with his life, much like the rest of us. Unfortunately for him, he did not have what the rest of us had. We had each other. Jago only took enough elixir for himself.

  Imagine if you will, living forever, whilst those around you grow old and die and constantly having to move on so people don’t discover your secret. It can be an extremely lonely existence. We have found our own ways to cope. I have Winifred. My sister Ava has her husband Alfred for company. The others have coped in their own way. Arcadia and her cousin both enjoy the company of others, but are happy to move on when the time comes. Indeed there always seems to be a waiting line of admirers for Arcadia’s affections. She has fun, plays with them, and then when she gets bored, moves on to the next suitor. Andrew is happy with his own company and that of computers and technology. He has never actively sought out a partner as far as I’m aware and that works very well for him.”

  Anais guessed he was in for a shock when Judith arrived. Andrew must have forgotten to tell him she was coming.

  “Alexander and Raphael seem to fall in love every other day usually with the same girl. It’s Aethelu that has troubled me more than the others. She has become rather reclusive. She and your father were very close, much like a brother and sister. For many years that was enough for both of them, but as you know, your father eventually met Sarah and fell in love with her. He left this house to make his own life, leaving Aethelu pretty much on her own...until you came along. Funny, I never expected her to fall in love with another girl, much less Alistair’s daughter. It is funny how things turn out sometimes.”

  Anais suddenly understood why Aldrich wanted to talk to her. He was going to warn her off Aethelu, tell her that a relationship was impossible. She was surprised when he continued.

  “Still the heart wants what the heart wants and I am happy that Aethelu is no longer alone. Jago, on the other hand, had no one. I believe that for a long time he didn’t know about us. As you remember, he left us in the first place because I refused to let him have half of the elixir. He must have assumed that we never took it and died of the plague like so many others. Of course, with us moving around and changing our names, we would have been difficult to track down, even if he was searching for us.

  I don’t know how, but last year he found out about us. He must have been livid to find that I had also drunk the elixir, when I had expressly forbidden him to do so, and had given it to the others, as well. Well, to say he was angry was an understatement.

  He started sending me letters, just to let me know that he was still alive and to express his anger at what I had done.

  They came postmarked from all over the world, so it was impossible to know where he was living.

  I must admit, I was a little concerned as they did get more threatening in time. I asked Andrew to put his computing abilities to good use and try to track him, but by and large, the letters went straight in the bin, after all, what could he really do to us? Then when we had the call from Alistair, I knew. Andrew was the only one home when the call came and set out straight away to help him. He called me as soon as he found your parents, but by then it was too late. Your mother was already dead, and your father had little time left. By the time I got to him, he was already unconscious. I did everything I could, but it was too late. He died minutes after I arrived, despite my best efforts. Of course, as soon as they died, my biggest concern was your welfare. I had only met you briefly as a baby, but you were like family and I suspected you were Jago’s next target. Andrew had brilliantly made this place into a fortress, although you’d never know it, so it was just you that was vulnerable on the outside. Your...erm...lifestyle choice made you even more vulnerable...”

  “Which is when Winnie picked me up.” interrupted Anais, eager to get to the point and get back to the house where it was warm.

  “Yes. I hated to have her leave the confines of this place and I confess to missing her terribly, but someone had to look after you and she was the right person for the job.”

  “That was six months ago. What’s changed? Why did you bring me here now?”

  “Partly because I missed Winifred, the house felt empty without her. We were planning to let you in on our secret soon enough anyway, but it was this letter that prompted our actions. It arrived a few weeks ago, postmarked from Rio de Janeiro.”

  He held a letter in his hand that he now passed to Anais. She took the letter and unfolded it. It was typed on A4 paper and looked like the kind of letter a bank might send you.

  Aldrich,

  I see that my threats are of no consequence to you. I have politely asked you on a number of occasions to brew me some more of the elixir, to no avail. I thought the little ‘accident’ of your friend might have persuaded you to reconsider, but it seems I was wrong. I have no doubt that you have made it extremely difficult, if not impossible, for me to enter your manor. So I have decided that another plan is in order, a little nudge, if you will, to put you on the right path. If you remember I was a capable alchemist myself, after all, I learnt from the best. Unfortunately, because you added some ingredients whilst I wasn’t looking, I have not been able to replicate the elixir. Many fruitless years I have tried, alas to no avail. So I wondered what I could do to make you give me more of the elixir. I have created my own potion now, Aldrich, one to rival yours. This one, however, is not a traditional potion. It is not really a potion at all. It is a virus. A highly contagious virus which will kill a person within a few days after contracting it. I predict that it will wipe out most of the world within a few months. I know your elixir, no sorry, OUR, elixir takes a long time to brew, so I’m giving you a full year to get the elixir to me. On Christmas Day next year I will unleash the Jagovirus (Catchy name, don’t you think?) on the world unless you give me what I want.

  Jago

  “Why does he want the elixir so badly? He has already had some. The fact that he’s still alive proves that.”

  “I suspect he’s lonely. Funnily enough, if he’d just asked to join us rather than threaten us, that would have solved his problem in a second. However, he obviously didn’t consider that an option… Pity.”

  “So he’s going to kill everyone just because he’s lonely? Surely that’s only going to make him lonelier.”

  “I believe the phrase is cutting one’s nose off to spite the face.”

  “So are you going to make the elixir for him?”

  “It was an extremely complicated solution to make. Each of its many ingredients was picked at a specific time or place. I confess, it was more luck than judgement that we managed it at all. Six centuries have passed since then. I cannot remember the exact ingredients. I would be lucky in the extreme to chance upon the right formula a second time. Besides, Jago is obviously unhinged. It would be extremely unwise to give him more eternal life potion. Goodness only knows what he would do with it. An eternal army springs to mind. No, I will not give in to his demands.”

  “So what will you do?”

  “That, my dear, is wher
e you come in.”

  “Me? What can I do? I don’t know anything about potion- making.”

  “Jago was nice enough to include a vial of his Jagovirus, as he calls it, in with his letter. I suspect he wanted to prove his point. After examining it in great detail, I concluded all he said was true. There is no cure I know of. I do, however, believe that there is a possibility that a cure can be made. At first, I thought that by somehow using the blood or DNA of one of our own I could devise some sort of cure. As you know, The Guardians are immune to all disease. I tried to make a cure containing my own blood, but my research found that The Light was too much for a normal human body and instead of repairing the cells and fighting the virus; it instead attacked the body and killed the person. Well, mouse, in this case, but you get the drift.

  I believe the only way for me to develop a cure for this virus is to use your blood.”

  “How will my blood help you?”

  “I’m not sure it will, to be honest, but I do not see any other way forward. You have half your DNA from a Light Guardian, your father, and half from a normal human being, your mother, Sarah. I do not know how this will affect your blood type. There are four different blood types: A, B, O and AB. Your blood type is determined by your parents. Of course, when we drank The Light Elixir, our very DNA was changed and a new blood group was formed. I did not know this at the time, as blood groups were only discovered in 1901, but I have tested us all extensively since then, and all of the Custor Lux now have the same blood group. Let’s call it ‘L positive’ for the sake of giving it a name.