Souls of Three: Book Two of the Starseed Trilogy

by Ashley McLeo

  “That story is a treacherous gospel that must be destroyed,” Empusa spat. “When the fata take over they do not want false idols lurking. Human gods give them no pause as they are nothing compared to our ancestors. What they care about is fata other than King Dimia and our father claiming godliness and power over humans, giving their wretched race hope as Dimia’s traitorous daughters did. We’ve been searching for the book by the daughter of that blasphemous whore and traitor for centuries so we may destroy it. It is the only task our father has given us that we have not fulfilled.”

  “Seraphina is a whore and traitor?” Lily asked incredulously. “That’s a pretty harsh judgement considering Noro was the one to rape her. You’d rather side with a kidnapping, rapist father than a mother who died to bring you into the world?”

  She’d expected downright outrage for dissing the vampire’s master, but it didn’t come. For the first time Empusa, the narcissistic, arrogant, prideful vampire Lily hated, hesitated. Lily’s eyes shifted to Amon and saw he too looked uncertain.

  “How dare you,” Empusa uttered beneath her breath. “How dare you call that traitor to our noble family line our mother!”

  Lily glanced at Brigit, her eyebrows raised. What the hell is Empusa talking about?

  “The book Hypatia left, the one you’ve been searching for, describes Noro’s relationship with Seraphina. He used rape as a means of power, a way to force her to do what he wanted. She never did. But she did give birth to two children. A girl with bright green eyes, and a boy with violet eyes,” Brigit said.

  Empusa’s emerald eyes widened.

  “Birthing them nearly killed Seraphina as she was half transformed between a human form and fata. Noro had to pull the babies from her and he nicked her pneuma in the process. Once they—once you—were out Noro became ecstatic. You didn’t look human or fata; even as babies you were strong and powerful in Seraphina’s memory. It’s like he was a mad scientist. Noro allowed your mother to die after that. I guess he got what he wanted in you, two powerful beings he could control from birth,” Lily worked out the truth as she spoke it.

  “Your first meal was of your mother’s blood. Your father allowed you to drink her dry as she lay there with her pneuma seeping from her, dying,” Brigit finished, sadness clear in her voice.

  Empusa shook her head, “Lies. Every word. Our mother was no prize by any measure. A lowly human that died as all humans do. It is because of her that we are weaker than our father. Immortal to a point, but with none of the magic of fata. It is because of her I must live in this vile human shell. I detest that I must claim kinship with her, but at least she wasn’t a traitor to my father’s kind.”

  “If your mother was human, you’d be witches. Every fata-human mating on Earth has resulted in witches. It’s the fata-fata pairings that produced other variations of supernaturals. And you look human because your mother, Seraphina, expelled all her Hecate magic making the portal and had been using magic born of Earth ever since. The human form is ideal for housing Earth’s magic. It’s evolution,” Mary said, her eyes wide with revelation as she dug up the bits of truth hidden in Empusa’s words, Hypatia’s book, and the hundreds of myths she’d studied in her quest for answers.

  “Noro lied to you,” Mary whispered. “Used you as pawns against your own blood. The reason you’re not full fata is because you weren’t born on Hecate. The magic of Earth differs from Hecate's magic, and life had to evolve to match that. I doubt any full fata were ever born here or will be even if all the fata come. That’s why he’s desperate to bring the rest of the fata over. One or even a handful of fata aren’t as scary or powerful, but hundreds are. Noro didn’t know that then, but I’m positive he does now. And yet, he still didn’t tell you. He probably promised someone could change you, didn’t he? Give you fata powers? Is that what he said?”

  The answer was written across the vampires’ stiff faces.

  Mary’s lips turned down. “You should know, he’ll never be able to do that. Fata magic comes from their homeland. They’re still powerful as hell once here and acclimated, but in a different way. Fecking hell, they’re not even immortal once they arrive here! Seraphina died, didn’t she? Lily injured Noro with a trowel and he fled. Why would he run if he were immortal? They may have been immortal on Hecate but on Earth fata can die, just like me, and just like you.”

  Empusa sprung at Mary fangs bared.

  Two massive fireballs shot across the alley. They missed the tip of Mary’s nose by inches but saved her from Empusa’s bite as the vampire flung herself back into the wall, away from the flames.

  “You know, I never realized the irony that the element your mother was master of is the one your kind is most susceptible to? Strange how genetics work out, isn’t it?” Aoife said, lifting her arms and calling up two ten-foot-tall flame gates from the concrete to cage in the vampires.

  “Fucking witches,” Amon bellowed. “You think you’re so powerful with your little balls of fire and bag of spells, but what you can’t see is that you need us! If what you say is true and the grand fata plan is to rule us all, supernaturals and humans alike, you’ll need us. The fata Evelyn let over, they’re weak now, but they won’t be for long.” Amon pulled in a breath of air his vampiric body didn’t need and sighed. When he spoke next his deep baritone was smoother, calmer, less accusatory. “You should know there are more fata that have been here for thousands of years, hiding, biding their time. The ones Eve brought over, they aren’t weak at all. My sister and I can hunt them, kill them. Then the new fata will see how powerful the creatures of Earth are. They’ll fall in line. Let us go and we’ll help. If we work together, the fata won’t stand a chance.”

  Lily’s stomach jumped and her skin tingled. She watched the spines of her friends and family straighten as they listened to Amon’s words. Brigit and Gwenn lowered their hands slightly. Mary tilted her head in consideration. Aoife frowned, looking like she very much wanted to refute Amon’s words but couldn’t find a rational way to do so.

  It was prudent, smart even, to have the two strongest, most ancient vampires in the world on their side. Spies feeding them insider information and dismantling enemy ranks from within. It was a tempting offer.

  Only Lily remained fully on her guard. She remembered all too well how her body responded to Amon’s words when they were dating. It responded just as it was now, with her limbs tingling and stomach flopping uncontrollably in response to Amon’s smooth, controlling baritone.

  But that had all been a lie, too.

  “He’s lying,” Lily said, her eyes locked with Amon’s. “I can feel it in my body, the lie. It feels like when we were dating.”

  Amon smiled smoothly, “That was different, Lily love. I didn’t know I was being used then. I didn’t know the truth.”

  Tingle, tingle, flip, flop.

  “Still lying, Amon. Try again. Or should I try for you? If we let you go you may run off and kill a few fata to make sure Noro remembers how powerful you are. Then you’ll negotiate a way to remain his right-hand creatures, killing all the new, weaker fata if you have to. There’s no way you’ll join us. Why be egalitarian, still living in hiding, when you can run the world?” She smirked as his face darkened with the realization that his lies could no longer sway her or save him.

  And then Amon soared twenty feet in the air as if it were nothing. Aoife’s flame gate followed the vampire’s ascent seconds too late. Amon flew straight at Lily, teeth bared and eyes narrowed in hatred. There was another blur in the sky and Lily knew without looking that Empusa had made the leap as well. Flame gates fell and orange fireballs shot high in the sky, following and missing their target by inches. Lily’s eyes trained on Amon and she shoved down the fear that fluttered in her gut.

  Here’s my chance.

  Amon landed lightly in front of Lily. A wide smile split his chiseled face. He, like Lily, realized no one would dare toss fireballs at him for fear of hitting Lily, who stood trapped behind him.

  What he
didn’t know was how she’d hoped for this, prayed for it, and prepared for it. Lily lifted her hands and revealed two fireballs burning red hot in her open palm.

  “Flambara,” she whispered enclosing them in a circle of flames.

  “Ahh, alone again. Just how I desired tonight would go.” Amon started prowling the circle’s edge.

  Lily mimicked his movements and fired off her first two balls of flame. I may not be a fire witch but I can do this. I have to do this for Em.

  Amon laughed as the fireballs flew and disappeared into Lily’s flame gate, feet from where he was standing. “I see your spell work has improved, Lily love, but you must work on your aim.” Then, he lunged at her.

  She darted to the side. A searing pain shot through her right leg and Lily looked down to see the skin already puckering up in a blister. Two more fireballs materialized in her hands as if emboldened to act on their own and she hurled them across the circle.

  “Herbcasto,” she said, reverting to earth magic in hopes of catching him off guard. Grass, green and strong as a rope, shot up from the cement and wrapped around Amon’s legs. I’ve got him, Lily thought as the fireballs stayed on a perfect trajectory for Amon’s chest.

  But Amon fell to the ground. He ripped the blades of grass like a crazed animal, rolled to the side, and jumped back on his feet.

  Dammit! Lily began to call forth fireball after fireball, each taking more effort than the last. Sweat dripped down her face, and her breath shortened as she and Amon stalked around the circle, pouncing and darting to and from one another.

  “Mahasoka,” she wheezed. Vines flew across the circle at Amon, who hissed and caught them in his hand with ease.

  “Oh it’s bondage you want, is it? I’ll give you bondage, but we’ll do it my way.” Amon sneered and ripped the strong vines in half as though they were paper.

  Shiiiiittttt.

  Let me help, Sara’s voice pleaded in Lily’s head, alerting Lily she’d allowed her mind barriers to drop. Circle toward the center of the alley.

  He’s mine. I need to do this, Sara.

  Lil, please. I can’t take knowing you’re in there with him. If you’re not going to drop the gate, at least let us help.

  Fine. I’m losing steam anyways, Lily admitted grudgingly. She clutched two small fireballs in her hand as she circled round, hoping Amon wouldn’t make a sudden move and throw her off course.

  I’m here.

  Raise the gate, Sara answered

  Lily raised the gate an inch in the air and watched in horror as both of her fireballs diminished to the size of a candle flame.

  I can’t, Lily thought letting the gate drop as Amon lowered into a crouch. She didn’t have enough fire power to sustain three different spells at once, and what if her sister didn’t act in time while her defenses were down?

  Do it again! We’re all here for you.

  Lily glanced over her shoulder, hoping to catch sight of them behind her, but all she saw was a stunning wall of fire two feet deep and ten feet high.

  “Trying to escape me, Lily love? Well, we’ll see about that!” Amon made to grab her.

  With her last bit of magical energy, Lily closed her hands, extinguishing her only means of self defense, and flung the gate up as high as she could. She gasped as a shower of fireballs flew under the two foot gap, filling the space between her and Amon who miraculously jumped back, darted, and swore his way around the flames.

  Lily grunted and the gate fell.

  Amon was still before her, very much alive.

  “You never could get it done yourself, could you? You always needed help,” Amon snarled. He circled as far from her as he could, a menacing growl rumbling in his chest. “Pathetic. It’s why you’ll never be able to forget me, because you can’t face me alone.”

  The truth hit Lily straight in the face. He’s right. I have to do this. It’s me and him, it always has been. She looked down at her trembling hands and tried to draw flame from them.

  A flicker died in her palm. She’d expended her fire reserves. Soon, the gate behind her would fizzle and then someone else would finish Amon off.

  What a shitty time to have nothing left, Lily thought backing into the flame gate. The heat of the fire threatened to singe her skin, and she inched away, cognizant that she was choosing to face the greater of two evils.

  Amon grinned as she moved nearer to him and Lily felt his confidence build.

  Then, as though he were a missile on an unstoppable trajectory, Amon’s chiseled body shot through the sky toward her. The fire at her back burned and with it an idea sparked in her mind. It may work. It’s so human he won’t expect it. Her skin grew uncomfortably hot as she inched closer to the fire.

  Amon flew closer, soon he’d be upon her, ripping into her neck and sucking her life from her.

  But she stayed, until Amon was seconds from tearing into there skin. Until his cold fingers grazed her shoulder.

  Now! Lily’s head hit the concrete as she dropped to the ground, flung her hands to her face, and rolled. Keep the gate up, keep the gate up.

  Her skin burned as the faux leather of her pants melted to her legs and the fire feasted on skin. What felt like years later, she appeared on the other side and a flurry of hands beat at her. Her vision darkened as flammable material melted excruciatingly into skin.

  A collective scream rang in her ears and Lily’s eyes popped open to see a storm of snow white ash hurtle through her dying flame gate and land right on top of her.

  Secrets Uncovered

  “Do you have the calendula compress ready, Gwenn?”

  “Arrgghh.” Lily shifted in bed and moaned as her raw skin brushed across the sheets.

  “Lil’s awake! Get Brig and the others,” Fiona instructed.

  Footsteps raced across the room and disappeared down the hall.

  “Can she move?” a weak, airy, yet familiar voice asked.

  Lily shot up, ignoring the intense pain and ripping of burn blisters along the length of her arms.

  “Evelyn?” she asked, stupidly looking at her sister, who lay propped upon a mound of pillows in the bed next to her. “You’re alive!”

  Evelyn smiled a watery smile and looked Lily over. “You shouldn’t move much. Your burns look painful.”

  “When did you wake up? How do you feel?”

  “Like hell but I’m fine. Fiona tells me I woke up shortly after they brought you back from the club, but I don’t remember that. As far as I know, I woke up late this morning. All I’ve done since then is call my parents, drink broth, assure the million people that came to check on me that I’m fine, and sleep. I almost wish I hadn’t woken up with the guilt trip I got from my parents, but I guess I deserve it.”

  Lily nodded, unconcerned by Evelyn’s issue with her parents. She glanced around trying to determine what time of day it was, a feat made impossible by the lack of clocks and effective blackout curtains in the room.

  “It’s almost six in the evening. You’ve been out since last night,” Fiona said, reading her movements. “Here, drink this regeneration elixir. It has goldenrod and aloe to help heal you faster. I added what Indian pennywort I had on hand, but it wasn’t much. Celestine said she’d pick up more but she hasn’t returned with it yet. I’m hoping she comes back quickly so we can avoid scarring.”

  Lily took the cup, her hands shaking from the slight weight of it, and lifted it to her lips. It didn’t taste good, but it wasn’t terrible either, like cucumbers with a dash of wheatgrass and suntan lotion.

  “What happened? The last thing I remember is lifting my flame gate and a shower of fireballs.” Lily set the empty cup on the night stand.

  “You dove into your own flame gate. You were too exhausted to lift it and, as Sara said, ‘Too damn proud to drop it.’” Evelyn raised her eyebrows. “Fiona has been telling everyone that while your burns are bad, they’ll heal fine. You’re mostly in here to rest. Between the battle to save me and the fight at the club you’ve been going too hard and yo
ur magic needs a break.”

  An image flashed in Lily’s mind. Herself, hurling her body against concrete and into a two foot wall of fire as Amon flew through the air after her.

  “Oh my Goddess! Did it work? Is Amon . . . ?” Lily screeched.

  “Oh, it worked,” Brigit said striding through the door beaming at Lily. “The twins really should have listened to their father and brought back up instead of letting their astronomical pride get the best of them because they may still be around. Instead, you clever, brave, stubborn girl of mine, will forever be known as the witch that ended one of the most notorious vampires of all time.”

  And suddenly, the room filled with people. The McKay women, Sara, Annika, even Rena and Selma—who still should have been in their own sickbeds—all filed in after Brigit to gather around Evelyn and Lily. Lily listened amazed as Sara described how Amon had barreled right into her flame gate after her, intent on his prey until the last second.

  “He burst into a cloud of ash so large it looked like a bomb had gone off,” Sara said.

  “And his sister wasn’t any smaller. I swear all of us in the alley were covered in her after Brigit dealt the final blow. I may have found a wee bit of ash in my hair this morning after my shower,” Gwenn scrunched up her nose and stuck out her tongue.

  “So they’re both gone,” Lily murmured.

  “Let’s not get too excited,” Evelyn said, her voice flat. “There are plenty more bad guys to defeat, thanks to me.”

  Lily turned to look at Evelyn fully for the first time since waking. She still looked skinny, but no longer on the verge of death. The cuts and bruises on her arms, neck, and chest were visible but healing. Lily doubted she would have any marks on her once Fiona finished with her.

  “What happened, Evelyn? What did they do to you?”

  Evelyn lowered her gaze to the blanket clutched in her hand. Her eyes flickered up to Rena, Annika, and Selma cautiously.