by Audra Hart
“She shouldn’t be moved any time soon,” says Elias. “She has had too many serious injuries in such a short period of time.”
“I am heading out to try to track Ari. It is probably useless, but I must try. He has my daughter.” says Luca in an anguished voice. “I will leave now and let the rest of you plan. But could I have a few minutes with my mate before I leave though?”
“Luca she is out cold,” says Elias.
“That’s okay, I just want to say goodbye.” Luca says quietly.
Everyone steps back outside to give Luca some time with his mate. He leans down and kisses her cheek gently. “You can do better than that,” Morna whispers in a sleep thickened voice.
“How are you feeling, mo chroí?” Luca asks.
“Like a couple of tons of monster fell on top of me,” Morna grunts as she tries to sit up.
Luca gently places his hands on her shoulders to stop her. “No way, love,” he says as he kisses her cheek again. “Elias was very adamant that you must lie still for a while. Be a good girl. How much did you hear?”
“Everything. Do you really think Ari can read your mind without you being aware of it?” Morna asks skeptically.
“No, I said that for Magdrid‘s benefit.”
“Are you really planning to leave me behind?” Morna asks.
“No, it is always a bad idea for us to be apart. I was a damned fool to leave you at the Gateway. Can you forgive me?” Luca asks quietly.
Morna looks at him evenly and says, “Nothing to forgive. I had it coming. In your place, I would have been angry too. You were right, I just gave up. I am sorry.” She smiles tentatively at her mate and kisses him deeply.
Luca reluctantly pulls back from the kiss and says, “But I want Magdrid to think we will be apart,” Luca says. “I am hoping she will tip her hand if she thinks we are vulnerable.”
“We can’t trust her Luca,” Morna asserts quietly.
“I agree with my daughter,” booms a voice from the doorway. “Let her think we are keeping Morna hid safely away. Let Magdrid and that boy Elias go seek the help of the light elves, but I think they have already demonstrated that they cannot control their own. ”
“I don’t trust Magdrid not to do away with Elias,” says Morna worriedly.
“I think we should trick Magdrid and capture her, and go to Alfheim ourselves,” says Luca.
“Perhaps, but I am not ready to tip our hand to Magdrid. She probably thinks that she convinced us of her innocence. She has always been very confident in her abilities to persuade people,” says Morna thoughtfully. “But maybe Alfheim isn’t our best option right now. Father, do you think Heimdall would help us? It occurs to me that even Ari couldn’t hide completely from the Guardian of the Bifrost.”
“I was about to suggest that very thing, Baby Girl,” said Valliant. “Are you up to making the journey now or should we wait?”
“I think she should wait,” says Elias from the doorway. “But what do I know? I am just a trained physician and healer,” he adds sarcastically.
“Godson, you and I both know all I need is a good meal and I can make the trip. I will have plenty of bodyguards to protect me if we are challenged. And that is very unlikely, as you well know.” Morna replies as she gets up from the bed. “You will be in much more danger accompanying my mother to Alfheim than I will be with Luca and Valliant to protect me.”
“Fine Pretty Morna, I know you won’t listen to reason anyway. So I won’t waste my time,” Elias says as he walks over to hug his godmother. “And don’t worry, I don’t trust Magdrid either. But what she told you about me being chosen to succeed her, that part is true. She and the Elders summoned me here two hundred years ago and gave me the news. They said the seers had foretold of it, and that I had to simply bide my time and mature. But I never really put much stock in that story, so I am still leery of trusting too much in her too soon. Let her prove herself first, I am thinking.”
“We should send someone back to look out for those at the Oklahoma gateway,” says Morna. “Rinda, Fionn and Micah went to check on the girls at The Bridge. Oh man, and Mike! Ari knows about him too.”
“Sailor and Raider have already left for the Oklahoma gateway. My sons will remain as guardians of the gateway until they hear from me, and Rinda and Micah will can stay with your girls until they hear from you. Bronwyn, Brian, Carrick and Enya plan to accompany Elias and Magdrid to Alfheim. They don‘t trust the cow any more than I do,” informs Valliant. “Your godson will be well protected daughter. Breena and the Stone Breaker will travel with us.”
“Damian, you and George need to come in here please,” Morna calls out quietly. When they join them Morna asks, “Damian, have you been informing George of the discussion in here?” When Damian nods, Morna chuckles at how close the two have become, and continues, “Well George I am sure I know what Damian will want to do, but what about you? Will you join us and go to Asgard, or do you want to return to Brigid and your grandmother?”
“I should want to return to Brigid and Maria, but I honestly can’t turn down the chance to go to Asgard. Besides, no one will get past my Granny, Brigid is perfectly safe,” admits George. “Unless you think I will do more good back in Oklahoma.”
Valliant speaks up, “George, I want you to come to Asgard. I believe you are much more powerful than you are aware. I want to discuss your history.” The demigod says cryptically. “I think you will play an important role in restoring balance between good and evil.”
“Okay, all that is settled,” says Morna rubbing her hands together in an attitude of anticipation. “Now on to more important things, I need food and a bath before we go anywhere. I am famished and I smell like a Troll.” She wrinkles her nose and everyone laughs.
Damian opens one small section of his backpack, it is full of jerky, candy bars, energy bars, cokes and bottled water. “Sorry about the poor selection, but I wanted to make sure you had essential calories. I have kept this with me since I became your bodyguard. I also have some clothes, a first aid kit, a knife and revolver in here. I had no idea what you might need in any given circumstance. But at least I can feed and clothe you Morna, even if I can’t protect you. Sorry, but I had no way to keep the sodas cold.” He apologizes.
Luca laughs, “Damian, nice work. That‘s fine with her, she loves her junk food.”
Morna gives Damian a big kiss on his cheek and helps herself to the goodies in the bag. “I can take care of the soda. Watch this kiddo. This is a little trick I came up with between my LiNora and Hilda incarnations, after Father took me to Jotunheim.” Morna holds a can of coke in her hand and utters a short spell and ice forms on the outside of the can. “Oops, that might have been too much. It‘s much harder to do on a small scale like this. Too bad I didn‘t remember this little trick when we were fighting the Trolls in the glen. I could have saved myself a few broken bones and a lot of embarrassment.” She laughs at her mistake.
Luca takes this opportunity to run everyone out of their cottage saying, “Morna needs to eat, bathe and rest. After the envoys leave for Alfheim we can leave for Asgard. Everyone in agreement?”
Everyone nods and files out, giving Morna hugs or kisses as they go. She holds her friends tightly who will make up the entourage bound for Alfheim and charges each of them to be cautious. After everyone leaves Luca comes to Morna and caresses her cheek. “You remember Hilda?” he asks softly. When Morna nods, he asks, “How long?”
“I remembered her and Roxie on the run over here.” Morna smiles sadly. “I never seem to know when memories will come back.”
“So you remember my failures now too. Can you forgive me?” Luca asks quietly.
“Darling, there is nothing to forgive.” Morna assures him as she snuggles into his arms. “None of this is your fault. But I can understand how much pain those lifetimes must have caused you when you learned how I died. I was terrified I would get to you too late to help today, and that made me recall those deaths. I was nearly crushed by the pa
in you must have felt because you were unable to prevent them. But those lifetimes in no way represent a failure on your part. Fate can be cruel, you know that. And this curse took my fate completely out of our hands. You have never failed me love, never! If either one of us has ever failed the other, it was me. I know you watched me live as wife to Myles when I lived as LiNora, and as wife to Erik when I lived as Nichole. How long did you endure that? Thirty-six years, as I recall.”
“You didn’t remember me, and I wouldn’t force the truth on you.” Luca says stiffly.
“I know this probably won’t be any comfort to you, but I dreamed about you all the time as both women. Especially as Nichole. She was never in love with Erik. That was an arranged marriage, but she was honor bound to remain faithful to him. But she would dream of you, burn for you. I think we both lived tortured existences for the twenty-four years she was married to him.”
“Can I ask why you refer to yourself in your past lives as another person?” Luca asks thoughtfully.
“Because I am not really me until I am with you. You know that.” Morna says simply.
“Yes, I suppose I do. But I find it disconcerting nonetheless.” he admits. “Why were you and your father in Jotunheim?” Luca asks changing the subject.
“We had chased a band of frost giants back to their home world. They had been trying to break through the barriers, trying to get at the human world. Someone, something seems to be intent on taking that world over. I don’t understand it. I don‘t see the advantage, the purpose of it…” Morna says thoughtfully.
“I think that is at the root of the conflict we find ourselves in, even now.” Luca says. He rises and says, “Eat, wench! I will go make a hot bath for you.” He kisses her passionately and leaves the room. Morna sits on the bed to remove the splint on her arm and eats her fill of Damian’s junk food stash. She thanks God for the day she met that boy. After she finishes eating she cleans up her wrappers and empty cans, and then puts up a buffer spell around the cottage and joins her mate in the bathing room.
Outside Damian laughs, “Am I imagining things or did Morna just put up one of those buffer spells?” he asks Elias quietly.
Elias looks up from reorganizing his medical supplies and says, “Huh! What do you know? Kid, how did you feel that? I didn’t detect it until you mentioned it, and I am a Spell Weaver.”
“I don’t know,” admits Philip. “But I seem to be more aware magic things since I got that Moonlight blessing and since Bronwyn has been coaching me in how to deal with magic. Breena think I may have some psychic ability. Perhaps that explains it. Maybe it’s just being here in Middle-world, I don‘t know.”
“You are either a very quick learner or you have a little magic in you,” says Elias thoughtfully.
Damian leans over and quietly speaks to Elias. “Luca said Almeda isn’t really dead. He could still hear a very faint heartbeat when Ari struck her down. He thinks someone is controlling Ari. He wants you to act like you are taking her body back to Alfheim for burial.”
“Who would be powerful enough to control Ari?” Elias asks skeptically.
“I don’t know,” says Valliant as he joins them. “But Luca is correct about one thing. I went to check on Almeda, she lives. But just barely. We need to get her to a healer soon.”
“How the hell can I hide that from Magdrid?” Elias wonders out loud.
Valliant says, “I should take her back to Asgard with me. Our healers can reanimate her easily enough.”
“That’s probably the better solution. I am going to run by my old cottage and clean up and change clothes. I can’t go to Alfheim dressed like this,” he says as he looks down at his cargo shorts, running shoes and t-shirt. “I’ll come back with Magdrid.” The rest of the Spell Weavers in their little group join him for the trip into the village of Airendell.
George is thoughtful as he watches them go and says; “I wish we had time for me to go see Airendell. I have heard stories about that place and Spell Weavers since I was a kid. One of our elders visited here for a time. She greatly admired the Weaver‘s commitment protecting mortals. She was particularly impressed with one child, a little red haired warrior child.”
Valliant laughs and says; “I bet we all know which little girl your elder was so impressed with. “ He smiles proudly and then says; “Take heart lads, you will see it when we get back. Now that Morna can freely enter this realm, she will be back very soon to look after her people. I know my Baby Girl, she will not allow Magdrid to continue to ruin her Clan,” Valliant assures them with a hearty slap on the back. “Besides, in a very short time you will see one of the most magical places in existence, Asgard. Home of the Norse gods. Let‘s go get Almeda and hide her from Magdrid and her cronies. Besides, I think we should give my daughter a little time to… uh… ‘rest’ with her mate.” He laughs uproariously because he suspects his daughter isn’t resting at all.
Morna comes out of the bathing room and finds Luca staring at their bed. She can tell by the look on his face that he is thinking of the last time they were here together in this room. The day Aideen was born. The day Morna died the first time.
She takes a moment just to look at her mate. She has always found him so beautiful. He’s very tall, well over six and half feet. His wide shoulders and muscular chest taper down to lean hips. He is powerfully built and Morna once knew every inch of his beautiful body. When he turns to face her she smiles into his luminescent blue eyes. Before he was changed into a vampire they were a lovely brown, but he was blessed by his mother, the Roman goddess of war, Bellona with the Moonlight blessing. Not only did it make his eyes this beautiful shade of blue, but it allows him to gather extra strength from the moonlight, and prevents his skin from reflecting sunlight like other Stone Cold vampires.
Morna reaches up and tousles his longish, wavy auburn hair before she kisses his wide forehead. “I’ve missed you, my love,” she whispers as she wraps her arms around his lean waist.
“Morna, can you forgive me for leaving you at the Gateway? I am so ashamed that I left you while you were recovering.”
“Of course I can forgive you. You were pissed and rightly so. Let’s not talk about that now.” Morna runs her hands up his back and holds him close.
“Baby, I have been standing here remembering the last time we were together in this room,” he whispers. His face reveals the pain that memory causes him.
She‘s very grateful that he hasn‘t bothered to get dressed yet, and kisses his chest. “That was a long time ago, baby. Literally, another life time. Don’t dwell on it. Love, I think we need to create some fresh new memories for this room. What do you say?”
“Mo chroí, we have some things to talk about first. Almeda isn’t dead. She still had a faint heart beat when I went to check on her before the Trolls attacked. I wove a spell to stabilize her, but she needs proper medical attention.
“I think Ari made it appear as though he had killed her. I think someone is acting through him and that was the best way he could protect his mother. He seemed to be fighting someone. He seemed genuinely distraught about his mother and Aideen.”
“Why didn’t you say something sooner?”
“I am not sure. I told Damian so he could collect her.” Luca says softly. “I guess I am doubting myself, maybe. So much is happening so quickly. We don’t know who to trust and I am questioning my own judgment.”
“I can understand that. I have been turned inside out many, many times lately.” Morna admits. “I am just grateful that you and I are together again. I don‘t want to face whatever is ahead of us without you by my side. We are stronger when we are together. We have always been better together than apart.” She draws his mouth back to hers and kisses him desperately, and then says; “Don’t ever think about leaving me again Luca! I am nothing without you, you know that!”
“I wasn’t leaving you Morna. I just needed a little space to think,” Luca whispers into her ear. “I am sorry if you thought I was leaving you. I could never
leave you. I too, am nothing without you. We are two halves of a whole.”
Luca takes her into his arms again. He gently kisses the bruises on her face. He is amazed that they are already turning yellow because of her accelerated healing. And then he kisses her lips and trails kisses to her breasts. He just can’t seem to get enough of them now that it is safe for him to love her as he truly wishes. Since her change he can kiss, nip and suckle her body with abandon. Before he exposed her blood to his venom he had to be very careful not to hurt her or even kill her when he loved her. But now she is as strong as he is. No one understands why she didn’t become a Stone Cold vampire like himself, but he is grateful for the changes it did make in her. She’s stronger now and stronger means safer.
Morna groans and says, “I want to make love to you right now so badly, but we must go to Asgard. We have to find Aideen.” She walks over to the armoire and looks inside and then laughs, “Who am I kidding? I can’t wear any of my old clothes.”
“Damian said he had clothes for you in the back pack,” Luca reminds her. He reaches around her and grabs some of his six hundred year old clothes and begins getting dressed.
She digs around in Damian’s backpack and finds a pair of lime green Capri pants and a tank top with a brilliant floral pattern lime green, hot pink and electric blue.
Luca laughs and says, “That ensemble doesn’t look bad at all on you, kind of sexy. But you would make a sack look good.”
Morna looks up from tying her sneakers and shrugs. “Kind of sexy in a slutty sort of way.” Morna giggles and concedes, “I guess it looks alright. But these pants are tight.” Morna rubs her belly and says, “I think I am putting on weight.”
Luca chucks her chin and says, “The more to love, my beauty.” They laugh pleasantly together and then walk outside of join her father and the others. Damian comes up to them and ushers them back into the house quickly and says, “Magdrid’s spies are already in place. After the entourage leaves for Alfheim, Valliant thinks one of you should lock them in a binding spell so we can slip away without them reporting to Magdrid.”