MAKING MAGICKAL ALLIANCES: A Paranormal Women’s Fiction Novel

by Leigh Raventhorne

  There is no one here left alive.

  As he moved forward, I saw the bloody paw prints he left behind. I expected to feel something, but there was only the need to find Rand and Olen and get off this ship—though I was relieved I didn’t have to see the carnage the big cat had probably left in his wake.

  “That leaves one more level.” I turned around and went back to the stairs, hugging the wall to brush past Dorn and Arella. “Let’s go.”

  Cracking open the door to the last level, I heard voices echoing toward us from somewhere at the far end. This area was more spacious than the two upper levels. Cautiously, we spread out, each of us making our way around bolted down tables and chairs in what must be a mess hall.

  The voices became louder, sounding desperate, and I could make out some of the words now.

  “We’re not going back empty handed. You’re trapped down here, out of bullets, and your fishy friend there doesn’t look so good. Give us the fish-man and we’ll let you go.”

  Was the king injured? The language Rand used to respond to their demand shocked me. At the same time, pride bloomed in my chest. Even cornered, he wasn’t going down without a fight.

  Arella grabbed my arm. “The king, he has been too long out of the water. He will be weakening by now.”

  I didn’t know how everything was laid out ahead of us, or exactly where Rand and Olen were. It sounded like whoever was speaking wanted Olen alive, so that was something, at least. If I went in, magick blazing, would they simply shoot the men anyway?

  Follow me.

  Turning, I expected to see Sebastian charging down the hall. Instead, he was in his house cat form, trotting casually past us. Arella looked confused, as did Dorn. I trusted Sebastian with my life. A familiar, even one not a witch’s own, would never allow a First witch to come to harm if he or she could help it. Besides, Zara’s life and those of their kits were at stake if anything happened to me. I followed him, motioning to my companions.

  When he got to the open doorway at the end of the hall, he sat down and yawned. Then he laid down. The voices coming from the room went silent.

  “Sal, does this ship have a cat?”

  “What? I don’t know. Why?”

  “There’s a cat laying outside the door.”

  Sebastian rolled onto his back, batting at the air above him playfully.

  “Forget the damn cat! Eyes forward, man. That fish-man might not look so good, but that doesn’t mean he ain’t dangerous. You saw the damage that little one did to Russ.”

  “I know, I know. Are cats supposed to be good luck on a ship? Even black cats?”

  “Yeah, cats take care of the mice and crap. Wait, did you say black? How big is it?”

  Sebastian rolled back to his belly and sprang through the doorway, shifting mid leap. There was a scream, a sickening crunch, shots fired, and then sounds of fighting. I ran for the door, throwing my shield up as I entered the room. Sebastian had one man down on the floor while another tried to fend Rand’s fists off, his gun thrown to the far side of what appeared to be some sort of stockroom. An unmoving body lay in a pool of spreading blood against a shelving unit. My feet skidded to a halt and I stood there, not sure what to do.

  “Hey, beautiful.” Rand caught the man’s arm, twisted, and drove him to the ground with a knee in back. “Would you mind looking around for something to tie this guy up with? I’m out of zip ties.”

  Arella pushed past me and ran for Olen, who was pulling himself to his feet. His coloring looked off and his breathing was labored. “He needs the water. Come, my love.” She pulled him out of the room, only pausing for Olen to hand me Spellbreaker. Dorn started to follow them, but hesitated.

  “Go. We’ll wrap this up.” I began searching the bins on the shelves for something suitable for tying a man up with. I almost whooped in victory as I pulled out a package of heavy duty zip ties. I pulled several out and handed them to Rand to secure the man’s arms. As I bent down, I caught a whiff of myself and backed away quickly. Trixie’s impromptu ocean water shower may have gotten some of the worst of the smell off, but I still reeked—I could only imagine what my hair and the rest of me looked like. With a sigh, I decided I was too tired to care. Right now, I just wanted to get off this ship, get those children back home, and sleep for a week.

  Rand jerked the man up to his feet. Sebastian sat a few feet away, cleaning his paws and face.

  Rand rolled his shoulders. “There are two more tied up on one of the upper decks. Who’s going to do the questioning?”

  Sebastian paused and looked up. There are none left alive for questioning besides the one in front of you.

  “You killed them? Why? They were subdued.” Rand sounded more surprised than angry.

  I did not kill them. I believe the pixies just dragged the last one over the side of the ship.

  “Wait, what?” Now it was my turn to sound surprised. “They agreed not to kill anyone. What about the one I stopped? The one with the magickal gun?”

  The pixies did not kill them. The men were alive when they went over. I don’t believe the water fae were so forgiving, though. He didn’t answer my question about the last guy.

  Semantics. I sighed again and looked at the man in zip ties. “What do you know about the Paragons?”

  The man looked bewildered. “I don’t know who you’re talkin’ about, lady.” That last word was said with derision as he took in my appearance.

  I was too tired to be offended. Plus, I knew what I looked—and smelled—like. “Fine. Who hired you?”

  His jaw jutted out. He wasn’t going to answer me. Sebastian stood and stretched, his claws extending as he pulled them slowly across the floor, the sound like nails on a chalkboard. Times ten. Then he yawned, displaying teeth as long as my fingers. The man watched in horror. The sound that escaped him was strangled.

  Rand looked down and stepped away quickly, dragging the man with him. There was a puddle where they’d stood before and a stain spreading across the front of the man’s pants.

  I tried to keep the disgust off my face as I said, “Last chance before I hand you over to him.” I jerked my thumb at Sebastian. “Who hired you?”

  The man swallowed audibly, his face paling. “I-I don’t know. Everythin’ was handled electronically, you know? No names, and we kept our mouths shut. And we had to work with the scary woman. Those was the only rules.” He was shaking so hard, Rand almost had to support him. “We was told we had to help catch them, and then help keep the kids alive. That’s it. Then we found out they wasn’t really kids—that they was fish-people or somethin’ weird.”

  “They are children and you had no right to do what you did.” He pushed himself back at the snarl in my voice, only to be shoved forward again by Rand.

  “We didn’t do nothin’ to them! I swear. The scary woman, she kept takin’ their blood.”

  I felt the anger rising up in me again, chasing away the fatigue. “Who beat up the little boy? The one who was separated from the other two?”

  The man paled even further, if that was possible. “The boy kept tryin’ to get out. One of my guys just taught him a little lesson, that’s all. The kid did more damage to my guy than my guy did to him.” The man started to look desperate. “Look, those kids ain’t even human. I heard that snooty guy, Harris, and the scary woman talkin’ about selling them for research. They saw me listenin’ and quit talkin.’ That’s all I know.” He cast a terrified look at Sebastian.

  “Does the woman have a name?”

  “She never talked to us, except to tell us what to do, and even then it was mostly just that Harris guy who gave us instructions. I think he called her Jada or somethin’ like that once.”

  My gaze fell to Sebastian. He tells the truth. He knows little, as I told you before.

  Now I had a dilemma. I had no idea what to do with the man. I thought back to my promise to Kylen. Could I really kill an unarmed man in cold blood? I looked over at the gun in the corner. It didn’t have any shimmer o
f magick like the other gun had, nor did I see a pendant on this man’s neck. I walked over and picked up the gun. I didn’t look at either the man or Rand as I walked back. I did meet Sebastian’s eyes for a brief second.

  “Release him.”

  Rand stared at me in stunned silence. “What are you doing, Roxie?”

  “We’re going to let him go. I don’t have any place to keep him and I don’t want the responsibility.” I gave the man a flat, appraising look, but I didn’t meet Rand’s eyes. “Can you keep your mouth shut? About all of this?” I motioned around us.

  “Y-yeah. I won’t say a word. I promise. Boy Scout’s honor an’ all that.” I seriously doubted the man had ever been a Boy Scout, but I didn’t call him out on it.

  Rand pulled a knife from somewhere on his person and cut the ties. The man rubbed his wrists and stepped away. I saw it in his eyes the moment he made his decision. He lunged for the gun in my hands. I tossed up a shield just as Sebastian’s dark form knocked the man to the ground. His neck broke on impact with a sickening crunch.

  I turned and walked from the room.

  Chapter 17

  A new magickal alliance formed

  I had to admit, waking up in Rand’s arms just felt . . . right. He’d said nothing about the stunt I’d pulled with the man on the pirate ship, and I wasn’t going to bring it up, either. As soon as we’d returned home early this morning, we’d taken a long, hot shower together—even though I’d taken one on the Sea Witch on the way back—and fell into bed, too exhausted to do anything more than shut our eyes. By the time we made it down to what was either a very late lunch or very early dinner, I found that, with the exception of Danai, we’d all slept through the morning clear into the afternoon. According to Gloria, the healer and her familiar had gone to check on the children hours ago. Tess and Sam were still in their rooms.

  Rand stayed behind, talking to Gloria, Dutch, and Clyde, Toby glued to his side, while I grabbed a glass of iced tea and went to look in on Zara and the kits. The room was empty.

  Zara?

  We’re out on the back terrace.

  Surprised, I headed that way. As far as I knew, this was the first time she’d taken them out of the room. Cutting through the dining room, I stepped outside and scanned the terrace. Zara lay between a grouping of potted palms, in a patch of midafternoon sun, her eyes closed as five wobbly kits explored around her. I couldn’t help but smile when I saw several pixies in the branches of the surrounding shrubs, watching in fascination. Though I was surprised to see any of them here at the house when there were thirteen pixies back at either one mound or the other probably recounting increasingly embellished tales of their battle at sea and subsequent rescue of the children. I’m pretty sure they would leave out the part about the time they’d spent locked in the cargo hold.

  The chair I pulled back scraped the stone, the sound harsh. Five pairs of eyes immediately focused on me, their explorations forgotten. Zara lifted her head lazily, yawned, and laid her head back down. Two kits made their way toward me, creeping along on shaky legs. The other three became distracted by the yellow butterfly that flitted past. As soon as the little tabby and miniature panther reached my feet, they began climbing my pant leg, their tiny claws like needles. I managed to scoop them both up with one hand and deposited them on my lap. Taking a sip of my tea, I leaned back in the padded chair and closed my eyes briefly, turning my face up to the sun.

  You did well last night, Roxanne.

  I thought back to the night before and shuddered, stroking the tabby kit in my lap—more for my benefit than hers. The black kit chased his tail, then attacked my hand, but I barely noticed. All the blood, the death, the haunted look in Kylen’s eyes . . . It had taken the combined magick of Danai, Tess, and myself—with the added boost from my Power ring—to restore the children to a point where they could safely be returned to the water. Danai had surmised that Jada had taken so much of their blood, they hadn’t had enough magick left to change back into their natural forms. Tess had even gotten to use her healing potion made from mucum from her own snails to heal Shay’s arm. Shay had not been impressed when she found out what was in it.

  Harris had nearly escaped—if it hadn’t been for Rikshi, Jeremy, and Shay, he would have. The woman, Jada, had escaped. We had no idea what she looked like or if, no, how she was affiliated with the Paragons. We still didn’t know exactly how Margo and Harris were tied to either the Paragons or the blood magick witches, but they were our only real links at this point. Jeremy’s parting words to me when we finally returned to the marina had been that he would ‘handle’ Margo and let me know what he found out. While I was confident Jeremy was probably better equipped than I was to do what needed to be done, I still worried about what he would encounter. Margo had been packing a lot of magickal Items on her person and I had no idea what they were all for.

  You did everything you could. Jeremy has proven many times that he can take care of himself.

  “You’re right,” I said aloud. My wrist began to tingle. I looked down and nearly jumped out of my skin. The kits hissed, their claws digging into my thighs. Zara trilled softly and they calmed, their little hackles slowly relaxing.

  You left me in that wooden box!. That wasn’t the agreement. Trixie’s voice sounded sullen.

  The dresser drawer. I hadn’t even thought to take her out when I came downstairs. My heart still racing over her unexpected appearance, I said, I didn’t mean to. I was . . . busy after I woke up and just forgot you were in there. I’d felt self conscious having her present with us when we’d showered. She’d agreed to go in the drawer for the night and the clasp had opened. Personally, I wasn’t surprised I’d managed to forget she was in there this morning during Rand’s ravishingly enthusiastic method of waking me up. Emphasis on the ravishing. He’d more than made up for the two weeks I’d kept him at arm’s length. I’d like to think I made up for it, too.

  Humph!

  I’m sorry. Just remind me next time I walk away without you, okay?

  Fine. She didn’t sound very mollified. How crazy was it that I was apologizing to a sentient piece of magickal jewelry?

  A sentient piece of magickal jewelry that saved your butt several times last night!

  She was right—she had saved all of our butts more than once during that rescue.

  Zara made a chuffing noise and sat up. She looked concerned and possibly a little guilty. You shouldn’t discount the value of wearing that thing, especially when I can’t be with you.

  Thing! She did not just call me a thing! Trixie went from slightly petulant to completely indignant in a matter of seconds. I lifted a hand to my face and rubbed my eyes, feeling like I was dealing with two squabbling siblings.

  Zara looked from me to my hand, her eyes narrowed in silent consideration. Finally, she said, I meant no insult, but you are a fae Object. It wasn’t exactly an apology, but I had the feeling that was as much as Trixie would get from my familiar.

  A fae Object with a name.

  Sam and Tess walked out, each carrying a mug and a plate of fruit. I could have kissed them for their timing. Sam sat down and I barely managed to control my double take.

  “I know, right?” Tess laughed, setting her mug and plate down before walking over to the three kits play pouncing on Zara’s twitching tail. “May I?”

  That last question was addressed to Zara, but I wasn’t paying attention to her response. I was still too busy staring at Sam.

  “You look . . . radiant,” I finally said.

  Her hand went to her face self consciously, but she was smiling. With a shrug, she said, “It was too good an opportunity to pass up.”

  Tess sat, snuggling the little black and white kit. “I figured it would work, even with borrowed magick. She must have taken a dozen selfies earlier.” Laughing, she popped a grape in her mouth and relaxed against the back of the chair.

  Sam blushed. “I took three. I just wanted something to remember this,” she made a circular motion ar
ound her face, “by.”

  Stella’s glamour cream had worked so well on Sam she was almost hard to look at. She’d been gorgeous before, but now . . .

  “I don’t think I could walk down the street next to you, even if I put a double layer on.”

  “Oh my god. Whatever, you two.” She ducked her head and took a sip of her coffee. Swallowing, she said, “It will wear off by tonight or tomorrow, when the magick fades. I just thought it would be fun.”

  Trying not to frown—looking at her made me want to try to rub the lines that I knew were becoming etched into my own forehead away—I thought about that. She didn’t have to give it up, did she?

  No, but it must be her choice, Trixie said gently.

  “Sam,” I began. She held up a hand to stop me.

  “I know what you’re going to say and, believe me, I gave it a lot of thought. As useful as this has been, I think I’ll remain human for the time being.” The expression on her face was serene. “Thank you, Roxie. And thank you, Trixie.”

  At least someone knows how to show proper appreciation where it’s due. I swear she actually sniffed at the end of that statement.

  We were joined by Gloria and the guys and the conversation turned to lighter matters. None of us were ready to delve too deeply into everything that had happened out on the water last night. Rand pulled a chair up next to me, laying a casual arm across my shoulders. Tess and Sam raised their brows, but said nothing. Toby snuck out of the house, doing his best to make himself unobtrusive and avoid Zara’s attention. He laid down at Rand’s feet and I saw the kit on Tess’s lap sit up and bat a playful paw at him. Poor Toby cast a nervous look at Zara and avoided looking at the kit trying so hard to get his attention. Sebastian came bounding up the stairs, Danai not far behind him. He trotted over to Zara, sat beside her, and proceeded to groom her face while Danai sat in the chair Clyde pushed out for her, looking tired.