by Marta Szemik
“I’ll be back soon.” I lifted her again so she could wrap herself around my body like an anaconda.
“Soon is not fast enough,” she purred into my ear, pushing her fingers through my hair. Her words flowed through me like a potion she stoppered, and she pressed her lips to mine. I continued to hold her even when the room began spinning.
When it stopped, I found my arms empty, feeling suddenly unfilled and lost, wishing I could stay in her lair forever. My feet were planted by the spruce where I’d first met Xela. Shifting into a vampire, the fastest creature on Earth, I sped toward the hill.
I was at its entrance in less than two minutes and stopped to sniff like a dog checking markings around the perimeter of his home. Great, lover boy is here. I pushed my palm against the trunk of a tree; it recognized my touch and the hidden doorway opened in the hill. The aroma of peppermint and rosemary welcomed me home as I stepped inside.
“Hi, Ma.” I kissed her soft cheeks.
She smiled unsurprised, always aware when I’d be home. Ma walked toward the kitchen, her bulked hips swaying the ruffles on the skirt along the floor. Her usually braided hair was pinned in a bun, and her hum, muffled by a tired breath like her lungs were too small to inhale, mysterious.
Mira jumped out of Eric’s lap as if she’d been burned. Before she could greet me, Ma said, “I need you in the kitchen, Xander.” Looking at me from below her brows, she smiled.
She knows. Of course she does.
“Five minutes?” I asked.
“Sure, five minutes,” she murmured, but her tone suggested she’d said, “Five minutes ain’t gonna get you out of the trouble you’re in, young man.”
I hoped the five minutes would be long enough for me to compose a good fib—a very good fib—but I doubted days of thinking would be long enough to hide something this big from Ma.
“Where were you?” Mira asked, suddenly sitting at the opposite end of the room.
“Don’t pretend you and lover boy there just met.” I waggled my finger between her and Eric.
“You know.”
“I figured.” I sighed, plopping down on the couch.
But who was I to judge? After all, I’d just spent the night with a witch. A black witch. “You shouldn’t have worried.”
Mira’s nose wiggled. “I smell roses. Where did you go to find such a sharp scent?”
I kept my eyes away from hers, knowing as soon as my sister looked into them, she’d see right through me. “I went to Pinedale. Their rose gardens are in full bloom at this time of year.”
She frowned. “The pantry is stocked. Why would you go there? You’re weird.”
“Just . . . confused.”
“Wanna talk?” she offered.
Being in tune with your twin had its pitfalls. Mira knew I was hiding something. The thing was, I did want to talk. I wanted to share my secrets with my sister, the way I always had, but this wasn’t the right time. If I mentioned Xela, Mira would flip. She wouldn’t understand.
“Ma wants to see me.” Taking a deep breath, I rose and headed toward the kitchen to face the wiser of two devils wanting to question me.
“You look like you’re going in to be executed,” Mira observed.
I grinned over my shoulder. “You never know with Ma, do you?”
“She wouldn’t hurt a soul. Unless . . . What did you do, Xander?” She pulled up her sleeve.
“I didn’t kill anyone; don’t worry.”
“I will get the truth out of you,” Mira warned.
“Yes, the same way I got the truth about lover boy.”
“Come here, sugar. Let Mrs. G have her say,” Eric said, and Mira skidded toward to him. He pulled her back into his lap and embraced her, nibbling on the back of her neck.
I rolled my eyes and stepped into the kitchen.
Ma was on a mission and waved her hand, casting a spell. The doorframe released a fog that covered the entrance, effectively dividing the two rooms. She looked at me over the rims of her spectacles. “Sit.” Although her request came in a soft voice, it felt like an order. This was serious.
I loved her too much to disobey. Guilt ate away at my insides as I pulled a stool out from under the kitchen table and sat. Black witches were among Ma and Pop’s worst enemies. They were unpredictable, striking without cause. But that’s what I loved about Xela: how unpredictable she was, especially in bed.
Ma studied me a moment. “Oh, Xander.” She sighed, “I smell black magic all over you. Mira may not know it, but red roses are a black witch’s signature.”
I picked up my head, locking my eyes with hers.
“Honey, I don’t want to meddle in your business, but I can tell you’ve been to the underworld.”
I lifted my hands like a twelve year old. “Ma, it’s just hard.”
“Life isn’t meant to be easy. I knew who you were the day I found you in the forest.” She read my predicament without me having to tell her.
My eyebrows rose, curious. “How?”
“It’s your destiny, and I know destiny.”
“Why did the keepers leave us there?” I asked as the loneliness of the void flowed back into my heart. We’d chosen when we wanted to be infants, a choice most shape-shifters made to erase their past, to forget what had happened before and start a new life. It could take months or even years to grow up; that depended on the shifter’s choice and state of mind.
We took three years, lying in the forest. The memory of our infant life was distant, but not lost. When the canopy overhead thinned with the change of season, we’d grow fur to keep warm. When we were hungry, we’d shift into a bobcat or a mouse to hunt—small mammals didn’t need to eat much. Sated, we’d shift back into human babies, the easiest form to maintain, although we weren’t completely human. At one point, we lived with a pack of wolves; then a bear adopted us for a while. Soon after, Ma found us in our human form and took us in. With her at our side, we chose to age.
“That’s a question for the keepers love, but I know I was meant to find you and protect you. You’re needed here and you have a purpose, I’m certain of that.”
I thought about my destiny and where I wanted to be at the moment. And it wasn’t sitting in Ma’s kitchen.
“What’s her name?” Ma lowered her glasses.
“Xela.”
“Hmm . . .” Ma closed her eyes. “She’s beautiful. Is it serious?”
“You’re not upset?”
“Our hearts have a way of choosing the ones with whom we’ll share our life.”
I widened my eyes. “You mean I could be with her? A black witch?”
“Possibly, but you have to understand what that means for you and your sister. I believe you’re meant to be marked with the water mark. If you stay with her, that won’t be possible.”
“I can’t have the water mark and be with her?”
“It’s almost impossible.”
“Almost?”
Ma’s eyes rolled back—something I was used to seeing when she mixed her predictions into a conversation. “It’s too dangerous for you. She’d betray you. She wouldn’t have a choice.”
“And if I don’t want the water mark?”
“Consider your decision carefully. It’s not a choice I can make for you, but since you and Mira are bound to each other, the decision should be made in unison. Mira’s been seeing Eric for a while, but she doesn’t want to sway your decision.”
“And what would happen to us if I chose the other side?”
“You will always be my little monsters. Your decision affects your sister’s life and hers affects yours. That will never change, but I do believe your path is different from Xela’s.”
“That cannot be true.” My jaw clenched, and the cracked tooth throbbed down to the jawbone.
“Xander, you’re going to get hurt.” She gave me a jar with green ointment.
“Are you saying that as a mother, or as a witch?”
“A witch. Put some on your tooth.”
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sp; “And she’ll hurt me.” I scooped the goo with my finger and rubbed it on the molar. The physical pain eased, but the worry about my future with Xela lingered.
“She won’t have a choice, hon.”
The breath shuddered between my lips when I sighed. “How long do I have?”
“Three days. Then it will be decided.”
She smiled and came and came to wrap her arms around me. “I’m sorry.”
There was no doubt she meant it. Ma wanted us to be happy, but the future was not up to her. “I love you, Ma.”
“I love you too, Xander.” She tightened her embrace.
I pulled back to look into her eyes. “I promise I will not disappoint you.”
Her eyebrows narrowed as she sighed, then stroked the back of my head. “Just remember I’m here for you if you need me. So is your sister. I know you’ll make the right decision.”
“By ‘right’ you mean get the water mark?” I asked.
“No, I mean you will decide what’s right for you, Mira, and the future of this world.”
I snorted. “No pressure, eh?”
“You can handle it. You’re one of the most powerful beings on Earth.”
“So, if we can get the sphere by killing someone, what do we do to get the water mark?” As soon as I thought of the mark, I felt a tug, as if my soul disagreed. How would Xela feel about it? Would she care? Maybe there was a chance we could be together. Even if I got hurt, I’d let Xela do with me as she pleased.
“You know I cannot meddle, but ask Eric.” She twirled her finger at the spellbound doorway.
My gaze flew to the common room, where Mira was sitting in Eric’s lap while he flipped through Ma’s magic book; he was calling her sugar in every other sentence.
“A war is brewing, Xander. Aseret is preparing to strike at the vampires. He has to be bound to the underworld and you two have to be the ones to bind him. Everyone else has joined the demon lord. Those who didn’t were killed. The balance has shifted. You two are the last of the unmarked and the last of the shifters who can still help the world. For you, becoming part of one side or another is more important than ever.” Ma’s hands pressed on my shoulders as her face drooped and eyes sunk into their sockets.
“I will not fail you. Let’s get this over with.” I kissed her on the cheek and stepped through the lifted spell, its remnants fogging the doorway.
The love birds were smooching when I entered. “Get a room.”
“Tempting.” Eric kept his eyes on Mira. I recognized the lust on his face and thought of last night with Xela.
“You’re the one who’s supposed to mark us? Why?” I challenged.
“I’m not the one who’s going to mark you, but I know which mark you ought to have.” Eric shut Ma’s spell book and returned it to the side table.
“How?” I crossed my arms at my front.
“Because I’m just like you.”
“You’re a shifter?” I stepped closer, re-examining the evil-bender.
“No, I’m a watcher, but we come from the same breed.”
Mira jumped off his lap to stand beside me. She mimicked my posture of a probing investigator. I liked this part of being a shape-shifting twin—Mira always had my back and I had hers. In a conversation about our future, we were both involved, supporting each other.
“How do you know?” she asked.
“It’s my job to know. I work for the keepers, and we come from the keepers.”
“Come from the keepers?” Mira repeated. “So we don’t have parents?”
“You do.” Eric looked toward the kitchen, then lifted his finger before I interrupted. “No one abandoned you. Being left in the woods was necessary for you do develop the required skills and emotional barriers to become watchers. Protect the innocent, hunt and kill the tainted. It’s the reason you cannot control your feelings. Our essence comes from a range of experiences to later fulfill our purpose in this world, or the one beneath us.”
I’d known what Eric was talking about since my first memory, but being in the human form and juggling emotions differently than other mammals came at a price: self-doubt. The need to belong, to know where you came from, was greater. Now we had to control our feelings, instead of letting them guide us and we weren’t sure how. Many creatures set out on their life journey without parents; why couldn’t we? Turtles, fish, crab—even birds leave their nest as soon as they can fly and find food.
“And you’re sure that’s the mark we’re supposed to bear?” I pointed to his wrist.
“Yes.” He stood up from the chair like a soldier, nodding.
Mira contained the squeal I heard in my mind. And I was happy for her, really. But what did that mean for me? Finally I’d be marked, but was that the mark I wanted? Would it prevent me from being with Xela?
“It’s for the greater good of the species. Humans, vampires, and warlocks all depend on us. It’s the path you need to take to be happy. The happiness may not come right away; it may take years, decades, even centuries,” he added, as if he knew my decision to be a good guy would mark the end of me and Xela.
“So we don’t have a choice.”
“I’m sorry, Xander. But sometimes it’s not about choices. It’s about fate—though your fate will be decided through your choice. You will choose when the time is right.”
I snorted. “What kind of a choice is it, if it’s already decided?”
“It’s not decided. I’m only telling you what I feel you will choose, and my intuition hasn’t betrayed me yet.”
“Do you know who will mark us?” I asked.
“No.” Eric shook his head. “It’s been a long time since a marking has been done and it’s different for everyone.”
I relaxed my muscles. How would I break this to Xela? Would she still want me as much as I wanted her?
I retreated to my room, promising myself that whatever was decided, I would make every effort possible to stay with Xela. It would be my decision whether to see her, even if she hurt me, because I knew she wouldn’t. What Ma saw in her spell didn’t matter.
The night dragged. I lay on my mattress, fiddling with the white gem between my fingers. Mira and Eric tried to be discreet, but when their moans intensified, I had to press my hands to my ears. Their leaving didn’t help. Even when they were far off in the woods, I couldn’t block out her happiness. The mental image of what lover boy and my sister were doing burned in my brain.
I closed my eyes, and the first person to visit the back of my lids was Xela. My fingers fiddled the jewel, and squeezed it. The air blossomed with the scent of red roses. When I opened my eyes, Xela’s face was inches away from mine. I didn’t get a chance to greet her before her lips were dancing with mine, and our bodies connected soon after. She knew exactly what I wanted—her. All I wanted was her, no one else.
Would all this change in three days? Would I have to relinquish the only woman I felt connected to in all the eternity I lived? Perhaps her black magic could give us some answers.
“You’re worried,” she observed when we’d sated our raw passion.
“Concerned.”
“Why? Isn’t this what you want?” She lowered herself onto me again, urging my hips to move with hers.
I moaned. “Yes, but I want this forever.”
“Forever is a long time, Xander,” she reminded me. “I’m a black witch who can’t control what happens to her fate.”
“Isn’t there a way?”
“I don’t know.” She paused for a moment. “I’d have to do some digging.”
“Then dig.”
“Until I reach the other side of the world.” She licked my ear, then drew her tongue down my body, stopping midway.
I moaned again and reached down to hold her shoulders. “Wouldn’t you want this forever?” I asked when she paused and looked up at me.
“Yes, but I’m marked. I don’t have a choice of who I am.” She moved back up, repositioning her hips.
I lifted my head to caress he
r breasts with my lips. “You’re choosing to be with me,” I said against her skin.
“Then yes, if I could choose this forever, I would.”
That’s all I needed to know, that she wanted me as much as I wanted her. But: “What if I got the water mark?”
“Would your body still move the same way it does now?” She laughed.
I grinned. “Better.”
“Then get the mark.” She moved her hands down to control my hips.
“You really are a black witch, aren’t you?”
“One of a kind,” she teased.
Sobering, I stopped the momentum and warned, “I’m serious, Xela. I may have to be one of the good guys.”
Xela came down to rest by my side, propping herself on her elbow. “Is that where you want to be? You know it’s easy to get this.” She held out her wrist.
When I locked my eyes on the sphere, it seemed to hypnotize me the same way Xela could. I stroked my finger over the imprint. The heat flowed like a calm stream through my veins, not a tsunami.
“You’re proud of who you are,” I said.
“I couldn’t choose who I could be. You can. And whichever way you decide to go, I hope you will come back to me.”
I looked into her eyes. “I promise.”
She smiled, but my worries didn’t fade. Ma’s words came to mind, and the knowledge that I would not be with Xela.
“Let’s go for a walk.” She jumped up and pulled a black tank top from a drawer in the wooden dresser.
“You’ve got a lot of those?” I asked, remembering the one I’d removed the previous night.
“Yes, but they’re not unlimited.” She winked.
I made a mental note to buy some for her the next time I went to town, so I’d be able to rip them off her more often. She pulled on black leggings that hugged her thighs. Lucky leggings. As I got into in my jeans and shirt, I smirked remembering how her legs wrapped around me effortlessly.
“Where are we going?” I asked.
“To do some digging.” She grabbed my hand, adding, “Don’t stray from me. I don’t want the seekers to sense you.”
“I won’t let go.” I tightened my grip.