by Audra Hart
7-21-14 Re-edited Copy of “The First Spell Weaver of Airendell”
The First Spell Waver of Airendell – Book Two of the Airendell Chronicles
By Jen Bailey
Copyright 2014 by
Jenny Bailey/Jen Bailey
ISBN 9781311518422
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. No portion of this work may be transmitted or reproduced in any form, or by any means, without permission in writing from the author, with the exception of brief excerpts for the purpose of review.
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination or used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events or locales is entirely coincidental.
PROLOGUE
Luca, the magical vampire who stands over six and half feet tall, watches over his mate’s inert form. He is watching her intently, his great love for her obvious in his face. His pain is also plain for all to see. Then he looks up at the doorway the young vampire had made his escape through. Luca knows how much of struggle it was for the young vampire to be around Morna as she bled profusely before being mostly healed. Damian, the young vamp, had sworn to protect Morna and it made him feel worthless to see her injured like this. That and the raging blood-lust the young vamp had to cope with is certainly enough to force him out to hunt. If Luca had not had centuries of learning to cope his with his own need to feed on humans he too would have been forced to go hunt. But his own sense of failure and anger at his mate keep him at her side, for the time being.
Luca shakes his head in frustration. Morna simply allowed Aideen, their daughter, to beat her. Luca fears Aideen would have killed his beloved if Damian had not caught up to them when he did. He looks back to the woman he loves. He rubs his face with his hands and rake his fingers through his hair, and sighs. “I am taking her to our quarters, if you don’t think it will hurt her if I move her.”
“I am sure she can be moved, Luca, she is well on her way to healing. The medication will hopefully help her rest for a few hours.” assures Elias, then he turns and walks away. He knows Luca will look after her from here on out. Rinda finally moves away from Morna’s side after patting Luca’s shoulder.
Luca nods his thanks to his wife’s favorite godson and her best friend before picking her up and carrying her to their quarters and lies her on their bed. He kneels beside the bed holding her hand. He buries his face in the bed and his body is wracked with dry sobs. He has never felt so helpless, so angry in his entire life. He is angry at his daughter for beating his wife, and he is angry at his wife for preventing his intervention and for allowing Aideen to beat her. But mostly he is angry with himself for not raising their daughter better. Why did Aideen do this? I can’t believe she acted out of jealousy. There has to be more going on than that.
He raises his head when he feels Morna move on the bed. “Stop it Luca. None of this your fault. I told you things are funny with women.” she whispers. “Come up here and lie with me, please. I will be much better after a few hours of rest.”
Luca stands up, their eyes meet. “Dammit woman, am I supposed to just accept what just happened because you say things are funny with women?” he snaps, the ire on his face plain to see. “Am I supposed to pretend that I am not so angry with both of you, that I just want to walk away?”
Morna flinches at his words. “I am sorry Luca, but she was right, I am not much of a mother to her. I never have been. And I certainly wasn’t going to risk hurting her. So I just let her do what she wanted.”
“Morna, did it occur to you that Damian might have killed her when he came upon her beating you?” he yells. “Did it occur to you that she could have killed you? Did you think of anything, or did you just give up?”
Morna flinches at the accusation plain in his words and tone but she doesn’t respond. Luca turns on his heels and walks out of their quarters. Morna hears him ask Brigid to keep an eye on her, then she can hear him no more. She knows he has left. She’s not sure if he went out into the upper-world or down into middle-world. But she knows he will probably be gone for a long time, if not forever. I wouldn’t blame him if he never forgave me for this. I let him down. I let everyone down.
Grief and shame over her stupidity and inadequacy wash over her unrelentingly. Silent tears roll down her cheeks as the medication and the concussion draw her under again. Shortly after she falls asleep Morna feels Rinda crawl into bed beside her and gently pull her injured body into her arms. Rinda softly sings the healing songs and other songs to help Morna rest more easily.
After nearly six hundred years of surviving thirteen reincarnations and subsequent deaths Morna had once again found herself again in the arms of her beloved and her one true mate, Lucian Michaels. The sexy as sin Spell Weaver turned vampire has been formally mated to Morna since 1316. He’s a powerful magical being who has kept watch over Morna through all of her past lives and recently reunited Morna with her sister and friends from Airendell. His love and his magic have sustained her through countless trials and heartbreaks but Morna’s own failure to protect herself has caused Luca more frustration than he could deal with so he walked away.
Recent battles with enemies have left Morna’s body struggling to heal despite her partial change into a vampire. Her broken heart over being attacked by her own child and the subsequent departure of her mate have left her feeling alone, unworthy and ripe for dreams full of recriminations and self-doubt.
CHAPTER 1 - DAY FOURTEEN - March 13
When Morna Glynn Michaels, Spell Weaver and hybrid vampire rouses after twelve hours of drugged sleep, it is to a full room. She shakes the remnants of the dream from her mind and focuses on everyone that is watching her closely. Rinda, her best friend from childhood and fellow Spell Weaver, is sitting on the bed with Morna’s head in her lap. Sammy, the teenage seer, is sitting on the bed beside her. Damian, the young vampire and bonded protector of Morna, is sitting on the floor by Sammy‘s legs.
Brigid and Elias, are standing beside the bed, also watching Morna intently. She smiles weakly at them all. She feels the weight of her failure heavily as she looks into each worried face. “I’m fine, guys.” She sees their skeptical looks and adds; “Really.” Couple of them nod, but don’t comment. The solemn atmosphere in the room is nearly overwhelming to Morna but she forges ahead.
“I guess Luca is still gone?” she asks Damian. He nods again but doesn’t meet her eyes. Morna asks her friends to let her have a moment with Damian.
Once everyone else has left she smiles sadly at the young vampire. His long black hair is partially covering his handsome face. He is dressed in his perennial black tee shirt, jeans, and motorcycle boots. Morna has no problem seeing why her sister, Breena who is a fellow Spell Weaver, is so deeply attracted to the young vampire. Morna strongly suspects that those two are true mates and will solidify their relationship very soon.
“Damian, I put you in a bad spot yesterday. Fortunately, you are a much stronger person than me and you did your duty admirably. I am so sorry for what I put you through.” she says quietly.
Damian gasps, shakes his head and says, “Morna, that wasn’t your fault.”
She sits up and raises her hand to stop him. “Yes it was, Damian. I could have held Aideen in a binding spell. It was bad judgment on my part to bind Luca so that he could not intervene.” Morna swallows hard and looks away before saying; “I think that a part of me wanted her to harm me. But I wasn’t thinking about you, or Luca or anyone else. I was just wallowing in my own failure
s. I won’t ask you to forgive me because it was unforgivable, but I will vow to never let you down like that again. And just so that you know, your self-control is every bit as astonishing as Luca’s. Be proud of yourself, I certainly am. Keep it up, son.” She leans over and hugs him and asks him to send Sammy in.
When Sammy comes in Morna looks at her thoughtfully. “Did you not see anything that happened yesterday before it actually happened?” she asks gently.
“No Morna, I haven’t seen a thing since we have been down here,” she says plaintively. “What if I have lost my second sight?”
“I don’t think so, kiddo. I think it is being here inside the gateway. It’s basically a non-dimension.” Sammy looks confused. “It’s hard to explain. Look, your senses are probably overwhelmed by all the magic around you here. It is not your fault. If Luca comes back soon I will see what he thinks we should do. If he doesn’t, I will consult with my fellow Spell Weavers. We may have to take you someplace else. This environment may not be good for you. I am sorry, darling girl. I have let you all down,” Morna says dejectedly.
Sammy hugs Morna and says, “I understand that you feel like a failure right now. But I think you did the right thing. Aideen will either chose to get her act together and sort out her feelings about you or she will walk away. Either way it was time for her to make a decision. I was worried that over time her jealousy of you would be like a poison among this group. She is very good at manipulating people and getting whatever she wants from them. She would have posed a very real threat over time if you had not allowed her to show her true feelings. Your allowing her to do what she did has clearly shown her and everyone else exactly what her selfishness and jealousy can cost everyone. I think it will work out. She will come back a new woman. I am sure of it,” Sammy says confidently.
Morna laughs weakly and says, “From your mouth to God’s ears, kiddo. I love you, Sammy, I am glad that I have taken you on as my adopted daughter.”
Morna stands up weakly and says, “Well let me clean up and change my clothes. I need to get some food as well.” After Sammy leaves, Morna finds a mirror and examines her face. The left side is swollen and badly bruised. With her accelerated healing Morna realizes the bruising and broken bones must have truly been extensive. But it should heal completely in few days’ time. In fact, she suspects a meal will go a long way in boosting the healing process because she has never felt more ravenous in her entire life. She touches her head and realizes someone stitched up large laceration on her scalp. She didn’t realize anyone had done that. It must have been Elias or Rinda after Aideen was taken away and Luca left.
Just then a knock sounds on her door. She heaves a frustrated sigh and says “Come in.”
Elias walks in the door hesitantly. “Pretty Morna, I hate to bother you, but as your physician, I must insist on examining you before I let you get up and run around the Nine Realms. Who knows what you will get into next,” he chuckles and rolls his eyes.
Morna laughs, and looks at her favorite godson fondly. He is the youngest child of two very dear friends, Bronwyn and Brian. Elias and his brother, Micah, are powerful Warriors and Spell Weavers whose abilities are almost as great Morna’s and Luca’s. Almost, but not quite. In a century or so they will truly be a force to be reckoned with.
Morna smiles patiently and says, “Sure kiddo, due your due diligence. But you can drop the Pretty Morna business, it certainly doesn’t fit anymore.”
“Whatever,” he snorts. “Do you honestly think I ever called you that because of the way you looked? Oh I will admit you have always been easy to look at. Morna, even in this incarnation you are a beautiful woman. But I call you that because of who you are on the inside. Your love for everyone, your sense of duty, and your strength of character to see that duty done. So stop beating yourself up, and let me check you over.” He points to her bed and orders, “Sit!”
She complies, he checks her over thoroughly, the injuries from today as well as the ones from the fight with the creature on the Spirit Plane, and says, “Well you are in a hell of a lot better shape than you have any right to be. You know that don’t you?” Morna nods sheepishly and he continues, “Now let me ask two questions; Are you really okay? And, is Luca coming back?”
Morna looks down at her hands, struggling to keep the tears back, “I am sure Luca will come back at some point. He won’t let the Guild down. But he is very angry at me. I don’t blame him, but I pray he will be able to forgive me at some point.” she whispers. “I need him more than he knows.”
Elias pulls her up to her feet and hugs her for a long moment. Then kisses her battered forehead. “He knows that. He needs you too. But you need to pick up your confidence and dust it off. You have much to do yet. Don’t let Aideen’s jealousy set you back. We still don’t know exactly what we are up against. Finish your toiletry and come join us in the dining room.” he says firmly and exits the room.
When Morna joins them she fears she will be overwhelmed with questions about her health and Luca’s absence. But apparently Elias has filled everyone in and got them to focus on the challenges ahead of them. Morna gets her food and listens to everyone’s discussion while she eats.
She looks around at her dwindling group. Aideen, her daughter, Ari and Almeda, the Elves, are in Alfheim, of course. Luca, her true mate is gone to parts unknown. Her father, Valliant a Norse demigod and self-appointed protector the Gateways between Earth and the other dimensions has gone to patrol the connections between the different Gateways. Micah, Mulder, and Bronwyn have gone with him. Enya and Rinda are on guard duty. Samantha had another headache and went to lie down. Fionn arrived while Morna was unconscious.
The group is much smaller than yesterday before Aideen attacked her own mother. Everyone seems more than a little reserved and tense. Morna watches the group speculatively. There’s George and his granny, Maria, the two Stone Breakers that have joined their group to battle whoever or whatever force is trying to upset the balance between good and evil in the world of magic. As well as Brian, Brigid, Elias, Carrick, Fionn, and Breena the Spell Weavers and the young vamp, Damian, whose been roped into acting as Morna’s bonded protector in the dining hall.
Morna finishes her food, gets up, cleans her dishes, and gets more coffee. On the way back to the table she hears Carrick say, “Morna, I wish you had been able to learn more from the creature on that other plane before you disposed of it.”
“Me too, Carrick.” Morna admits ruefully. “I have been thinking that was a mistake ever since I came back. That creature was afraid of me. More than it should have been if it was acting alone to attack my mind like that. I mean why didn’t it just attack me that way again when I confronted it? Something was off. We are missing something. I just can‘t figure out what. I should have been smarter, more patient.”
Morna sighs and scrubs her face hard with her hands and winces from the harsh contact on the still tender bruising. “Maybe I should have gone after that golden woman that I saw in the distance, as well. But I was worried about all the blood I was losing and thought it might be a trap.”
“I wasn’t criticizing Morna,” says Carrick. “Any warrior would have ended it when you did. You might not have lasted much longer after sustaining that wound. You lost a great deal of blood. Whatever that compound was in that creature’s blood and on its claws interfered with your accelerated healing. You were badly weakened by blood loss.”
Morna nods at Carrick, she knows that he is right. “I just regret not knowing more about the creature and who got her to attack me. I just don’t think she acted on her own. She was far too fearful and I could sense how desperately she wanted her mate,” she admits. Morna exhales a harsh breath and grouses; “Well, since I wasn’t warrior enough to capture the creature we may never know who was pulling her strings.”
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Carrick, a fellow Spell Weaver and warrior, along with Morna spend the rest of the day running Damian, Rinda, Breena, Morna’s sister the Clan’s Chronicler, and
Brigid, another childhood friend, Spell Weaver and Master Healer, through some defensive drills and discussing strategies to defend the Gateway with their fellow Spell Weavers.
At one point when Breena had put Rinda on her ass a couple of times Morna decides to pair Breena and Damian. Carrick joins Morna and asks if she thinks that pairing is really wise. Morna laughs and responds; “Well, they will either burn off their frustrations on each other or end up in the sack like Luca and I always did when we used to spar against each other.”
After ten minutes of watching them spar Morna laughs and says; “Breena, your abilities as a demon and vampire slayer must been greatly exaggerated or else you are holding back. I know the boy is holding back because he’s too damned chivalrous for his own good… What’s your excuse?”
“Bite me, Morna,” Breena snaps out.
Morna laughs, “Oh big sis, you really don’t want me to do that. My teeth are probably as sharp as the boy’s there.”
Breena tosses the stave to ground and is in Morna’s face before anyone can bat an eye. “Stop calling Damian the boy. He’s not a boy.”
Morna is surprised by her sister’s ire. “Shit, Bree! Chill out. I was just messing with the two of you.”
“Well, knock it off,” Breena snarls before turning to snatch up the stave and return to sparring with the young vamp. It becomes obvious to everyone that Breena and Damian had both been holding back because now seem to be sparring in earnest.
The rest of the afternoon goes by fairly calmly. When Morna is finally so exhausted that she knows she must sleep, she bids everyone good night and heads for her quarters. She’s reluctant to admit just how badly her injuries had weakened her.
After a quick shower she lies across the narrow bed and sobs pitifully. She is worried about her children, especially Aideen. And fearful that her mate may never be able to forgive her for all the mistakes she has made. Suddenly, she feels someone crawl on to the bed beside her. For a split second she rejoices thinking that Luca has returned. But she quickly recognizes Rinda’s scent. She heaves a frustrated sigh and turns to face her dear friend.