“I think it’s a great idea,” Cormac said suddenly.
“What? Cormac...” my mother started
“Cecily, Willa is right. She does not need our permission or even our blessing. We keep throwing her these curve balls, and she keeps smashing them out of the park. I think that it would be good for her to have her own home. We can’t keep trying to hold the reins too tight otherwise she will go mad."
“Well, I think it’s wonderful, after all, Oliver and I don’t live here in the castle. We live in the old groundskeeper cottage.” Rhoswen said
“I thought since Gussie and Julia are no longer here that I would just move above the shop. There are too many memories here. I’d rather be surrounded by all my junk.” Cuddy said gruffly
“Oh Cuddy,” Winifred said as she laid her harm on his arm comfortingly
“Well, I guess now would be a good time to tell everyone that I have been working on the third floor flat at the library. It’s almost done, and the thing is I’m there all the time.” Jeremiah added
“Goodness, everyone is leaving, maybe I ought to get a condo and downsize.” Winifred mused
“The castle was put here to ensure the safety of all the royal family members,” Mathias said, still staring at me.
“Yeah, like six hundred years ago,” I muttered.
Fortunately I was saved by the Mathias’s cell phone. He had glanced at the number before he slid the bar on the screen to accept.
“Yes?" he replied menacingly. “You’ve just made my day. I will be down momentarily.”
“Mathias? Is something wrong? You never take calls at the table.” Winifred asked
“We got them,” he answered with a cruel smile
“Who?" I asked bewildered
“The two Rau that your parents stumbled upon in Yuma,” he answered
A chorus of “Oh" went around the table. I sat there too shocked to say anything. The thought that there were two Rau’s in the same vicinity as me shook me to the core. I was also embarrassed to admit this, but I had another feeling of morbid curiosity.
“I want to see them,” I announced suddenly
“Absolutely not,” my parents both said at the same time.
“Cecily, Cormac, Willa should see them. Everyone here has been around a captured Rau prisoner. It’s perfectly safe, and she needs to see what we are up against with the Rau.”
“But...” Cecily started
“But nothing, Mathias take Willa down to the jail, be sure to keep a handle on things,” she said pointedly
Mathias just nodded before he rose from the table. He gave me a quick look that I interpreted as follow him or be left in the dust. I shot my parents ‘I’m sorry, please don’t be mad’ expression before I scurried after him down the hallway and stairs. We came to a stop by the side garden door.
Not even looking at me Mathias opened the door and proceeded across the lawn towards the back of the garage. Before he pushed in a code on the security lock by a large steel door he finally turned to me and stared at me in silence.
“I know you're angry. I should have consulted with everyone on the whole leasing the house thing. I didn’t realize that it would be such a big deal."
“Not a big deal?" he asked quietly
“I’m almost twenty-six years old. I don’t need anyone’s permission to live on my own,” I paused for a moment trying to formulate my words.
“Mathias, I need my own little world, my own sanctuary, so I can deal with all this stuff. I mean look at what happened when I took a few days off to chill out? Everyone was barging in, ‘Willa, are you all right?’ ‘Are you hungry?’ ‘Do you need to talk?’ They were driving me nuts. I cannot even imagine spending every single day of my life living here with a bunch of people. It’s just not my thing.”
He was quietly contemplative for a few moments. “It was the closet, wasn’t it?"
“That closet rocks,” I said smiling
“We’ll work out details tomorrow,” he said, “Before we go down I want you to lift the spell that masks your scent.”
“Why? I thought the point was to make sure no one suspects what I am.”
“It doesn’t matter now. After your little introduction, I’m going to tear off every single one of their limbs piece by piece until they are nothing but dust. Before that though I would like to see their reaction to you,” he added
“You want to drive them batty, no pun intended, with my scent? So glad I could be part of this experiment.”
“These are the two men that drove you here earlier than was planned by your parents. Because of them you had to leave your home, your business and your friends don’t forget that."
“Trust me, I will never forgive or forget, although if they hadn’t you wouldn’t be here with me right now. Imagine your world without Willa. I know, don’t get too overwrought with your emotions, I wouldn’t want to embarrass you,” I grinned
“My world without Willa is a world without aggravation. I was quite happy and content before you came along in my life.”
My eyes narrowed, “You mean bored before I came along in your life.”
He moved closer, causing me to lose focus for a minute. That was the thing with Mathias, one minute I was relatively fine and the next I was breathless with stars dancing in my eyes.
“Perhaps, but at least I knew what my job was and what was expected of me. Now I’m playing nursemaid to a young woman who is a major pain in my ass."
“Nursemaid huh? Candy stripes would look so hot on you. I smell a Halloween costume."
Mathias just shook his head and sighed. “Stay behind me and don’t make any sudden movements. Control yourself and your emotions.”
“I will promise to keep my arms and feet inside the ride at all times,” I vowed
“Your scent Willa,” he reminded me
“Oh, right”:
Earth, Air, Water and Fire
I call upon thee
Unmask my scent with this charm
This spell has protected me from harm
I release it now, with your blessing
As I will so mote it be.
Saying a silent thank you, and I then released the elements. We proceeded down the long, winding flight of stairs beneath the garage. We went through two separate steel doors before finally coming to a room filled with about fifteen guardians. Frank and Riah looked up mildly surprised.
“Mathias you didn’t tell me the princess was accompanying you. If you had, I would have dressed better and…” Riah’s voice trailed off as he took in my unmasked scent.
Mathias immediately pushed me behind him and positioned himself in a protective stance. I peeked out from around his shoulders and saw fifteen vampires stand eerily still with their nostrils flaring.
“I shouldn’t have done the spell so soon,” I murmured
Mathias ignored me. “Princess Willa has come down to see the prisoners. I had her unmask her scent, and I assumed this would not be an issue for anyone of you. If there is, please excuse yourself now, or I will be more than happy to escort you from the room.”
His announcement was greeted by apologies and shuffling of feet as the Guardians shifted around uneasily.
“Sorry Willa,” Frank said sheepishly
“It’s ok Frank. I know you wouldn’t hurt me. Besides if I walked into a chocolate factory, I would have probably reacted the same way."
He smiled at me but when he looked at Mathias, his smile faded. “Take a good whiff now ladies and gentlemen. If any of you react that way again, you will be dismissed from the island.”
“Mathias, please, I’m sure I just caught them off guard. There’s no need to threaten them."
His only reaction was to roll his eyes at me, which made me laugh out loud. “You’re catching up pretty quickly with my mom on the whole ‘eye rolling at Willa thing.' Maybe we should do a little contest?"
“I’m reasonably confident I would win,” he said with a smirk
“Winner, winner, chicken
dinner,” I sang. “Oops, probably not the best term to be throwing around with this crowd."
It was then I noticed the silence that had come over the place. The vampires were all looking at Mathias with shocked faces. Apparently they have never witnessed the head of security acting without a big stick up his ass and joking around with someone.
“Sooo...” I emphasized. “Are we going to go harass some Rau or what?"
“Follow me and do not say a word. This is strictly an observation exercise for you,” he said sternly
“Whatever,” I answered with a flip of my hair
He shook his head and grabbed my hand roughly before pulling me through another door where Riah was standing. I glanced over my shoulder and Riah gave me a quick smile before the door closed, and we walked down a long hallway.
On my right, we passed about five cell doors before stopping at the last one. Mathias placed his palm on the computer panel and much to my surprise the door slid open. I cautiously walked through after Mathias but was relieved to see a small threshold before a set of thick bars.
The relief was replaced with terror when I got my first look at the Rau.
Two men leaned against the opposite wall from us. They paid no attention to Mathias but fixated their predatory gaze upon me. They were both of average height and build, but the mediocrity stopped there. What caught me off guard were their eyes. Black as night, but accentuated by a bright, red pupil. It was terrifying and almost hypnotic at the same time.
“Well, well, well. What have you brought for us Mathias? Is this a last meal to tantalize us with before you kill us?” The one with blond hair said mockingly
“No, sorry Vladimir, I simply brought you someone to meet,” Mathias said
“Vlad?" I whispered, “Seriously? Talk about a walking advertisement. I’m assuming he doesn’t blend in well."
Vlad, the cheesy, as I began to refer to him in my mind walked a few steps before he hissed. I saw his nostrils flare right before his fangs came down, and he flew at the bars trying desperately to break them.
“Vladimir, what is the meaning of this?” his brown hair counterpart asked disdainfully. He decided to assess the situation and got a whiff of me. He walked over to the bars with much more elegance and control than his counterpart.
“What is she?” he breathed
“Vladimir, Cosmo, allow me to introduce to you, Princess Willa. She is the daughter of Prince Cormac of Fairlia and Princess Cecily of the clan of Skye."
“Impossible,” Cosmo said staring at me in wonderment. “She is a Fae and Gypsy child? A royal one at that?”
“It’s not possible. Everyone knows the Tuatha De Danann and the Gypsies cannot conceive a child. This is trickery, witchcraft trickery. Did you expect us to fall for such nonsense?” Vladimir asked with a sneer.
“Willa, give me your hand, please?” Mathias asked while giving me a silencing look which was also strangely comforting.
I knew what he was going to do, but part of me wanted to run screaming bloody murder down the hall and out of this basement. There was something odd about these two vampires. It wasn’t that they were scary as much as downright, hair standing on your arm creepy.
I reluctantly gave Mathias my finger and flinched when he pressed down lightly on my skin with a small knife he had pulled out of his pocket. The second my blood welled up on my finger Vladimir and Cosmo both started growling and pulling on the steel bars violently.
“Do I have your attention now? Yes? Have you ever smelled such rich blood before in your long, pathetic lives? My theory is the combination of two such powerful magical genes coming together produced this unusual and intoxicating scent.” Mathias had smiled before he licked my blood off the knife. He closed his eyes for effect and then plastered on a satisfied smile.
His little show began to drive Vlad the cheesy and Cosmo nuts. I hoped those thick bars could hold them in because I swear these two were trying to rip them apart with such ferocity I took a small step back.
“One drop, that’s all I ask Mathias, is one drop.” Cosmo pleaded as he sank to his knees
“I’m going to rip these bars off and suck her dry.” Vladimir yelled as he started to scratch his nails up and down his face. Dark red, almost black, blood appeared and began to drip down to his neck and chest.
Mathias stood calmly smiling while they begged and screamed for my blood. When they both started to tear at their flesh, I had to turn away. Even though, I knew these two would have killed me and my parents in a heartbeat back in Yuma or kept us as some blood slave, to watch their insanity driven by hunger take over their whole being was a gruesome and almost sad sight.
I heard Mathias chuckle and then something hit the ground. I turned to see him lean down to pick up the knife that he must have dropped, leaving a few faint drops of blood on the concrete floor.
Mathias, who was so careful and vigilant though, had made a grave mistake. He got too close to the bars and turned his back on his enemy. Vladimir and Cosmo both reached for him through the bars at the same time. Before I could even call out a warning they had him in a death grip, trying to pry his head from his body with their strong fingers.
I stood frozen in shock. Mathias’s eyes were screaming a warning at me "Run," his voice exploded in my head. “I’m fine. I’ve got this. Go."
I had a split second to react. I knew that I would never make it in time to call out for the Guardians down the hall nor could I physically help him break free.
Without a conscience thought I flung my hands out, called upon my fire, and aimed for the two Rau who was clawing at Mathias madly.
The purple flames hit them squarely in the face and neck, and before any of us could even register what had happened, their whole bodies began to become engulfed with my magic. They were screeching in agony until the flames I shot at them eventually disintegrated their flesh.
Their remains littered the floor with smoldering ash.
Mathias stared at the floor before turning his gaze at me. “What the fuck Willa?" he asked in bewilderment.
“My fire, I have freaky fire.” I replied almost drunkenly, “Purple flaming fire.”
“What?" Mathias asked again confused
“Freaky fire,” I answered as stars began swimming in my vision and my eyes rolled back in my head. Darkness took over as I crumpled to a heap on the floor.
Chapter Fifteen
Low voices cut through the darkness that was surrounding me, and I had the sensation that I was floating through the air. I tried to push against the weight that seemed to be paralyzing my eyes and limbs, but it was too much. Instead of continuing to fight I let my other senses take over to assess what was going on around me.
“Mathias!” my mother shrieked. “What’s happened? What’s wrong with Willa?"
“Oh dear God,” asked my father. “What’s going on?”
“She’s fine, she fainted. I’m going to lay her down on the couch. Winifred, you may want to have a look at her. Is Oliver here yet?"
“I’m here. Tell me what happened. Rhoswen, get my bag please, it’s in the foyer," Oliver’s steady voice said
I decided now was probably the time to announce that I was conscious. I cracked my eyes open and let out a groan as everyone around me rushed over to where I lay on the living room couch.
“I’m fine,” I croaked.
"Mathias, please tell us what has happened,” Winifred asked in a no nonsense voice. “Surely she didn’t just faint from seeing the Rau?"
“No, that isn’t what bothered her. It was the power of her witch fire that she threw at them and disintegrated their pitiful existence that knocked her out,” Mathias replied in a grim tone.
“What? That’s... that’s... impossible.” Cecily stammered.
“Willa, can you tell us what occurred? It’s crucial.” Cormac asked
I looked at Mathias for a moment; I didn’t want to deliver a blow to his pride, but I had no choice. Luckily he answered before I tried to say anything.
>
“I turned my back for a second and they caught hold of my neck through the bars. Instead of letting me handle the situation and running for help...”
“Whoa, whoa, whoa,” I interrupted. “Handle the situation? They had you by the neck with your back turned. I couldn’t waste the time trying to get help; I did what I had to do.”
The Skye Trilogy: Isle of Skye, Isle of Night, and Isle of Dawn. * Bonus: Scrumptious Skye Confections Cookbook* Page 20