Children of Poseidon: Rann

by Carr, Annalisa

  She and Maya were half-sisters. That would normally have thrilled her; they’d been as good as sisters since they were old enough to go to nursery school. Now it just chilled her.

  What did my mother do? What did she mean by saying she got rid of Fergal?

  Neither Maya nor Jewel had known him. Maya barely remembered her mother, who died just before her sixth birthday. She heard stories about her parents, though, from Lila, who remembered them both clearly and with a strong sense of love.

  Did Kara destroy Maya’s family? Jewel put her head in her hands and tried not to groan. She had no idea what she was she going to tell her friend. Or how. Or when. The groan emerged, and a table of teenagers shifted in their seats to stare at her.

  She forced a smile to her face and rubbed her arm as though it ached. She didn’t want to be thought a weirdo, even by complete strangers. Finishing her chocolate, she pushed her chair back and stood up. Her legs felt a little more solid, but a deep hollow filled the pit of her stomach. She made her way back to Maya’s flat, still unsure what she would say.

  Rann sat on the low wall outside the big Victorian house. Jewel screwed her eyes closed, opened them again to check she wasn’t imagining things, and a huge sensation of relief swept over her.

  Rann saw Jewel coming along the road before she saw him. She trudged slowly up the hill, her head down. She wore a short red skirt, short black biker boots, and a slightly oversized biker jacket.

  He frowned. Where’s her hair? And why does she look so beaten?

  He knew London wasn’t good for her and that he had to persuade her to come back with him, somehow. It hurt him, caused him actual physical pain, to see her looking so tired. What happened to the glowing, golden creature who left my island only a few days earlier?

  Jewel raised her head and saw him, and before she concealed her expression, her whole face lit up. She was glad to see him. Rann relaxed; he hadn’t been sure whether she’d view his visit as interference. He pushed himself up off the wall and strode towards her, wrapping her in his arms and hugging her to him. Mine. The word echoed in his head, and he froze in recognition of the moment. She relaxed against him briefly, before pulling away.

  “Rann. What on earth are you doing here?”

  “Checking up on you.”

  A scowl formed on her face.

  “I’m joking.” Still shaken by the unfamiliar need to possess her, he held up his hands. “I had a few thoughts about the seawitch. Come on, let’s go inside. Maya’s not back yet.”

  Jewel handed him the keys and followed him up the flights of stairs to Maya’s top floor flat.

  “I’ll make some tea,” he said. “That’s what you do in London, isn’t it?”

  Jewel took off the jacket and hung it on a peg in the hallway. She reached to take Rann’s coat, but he was dressed in faded jeans and an old Harvard University sweatshirt in some shade of dull purple. He hated wearing too many clothes, and the cold didn’t bother him.

  “You’ll clash with Maya’s kitchen.” She followed him into the kitchen just in time to catch his wince at the colour scheme.

  He spun three hundred and sixty degrees, taking in the entirety of the room, eyes lingering on the fruit chandelier. “I suppose it suits Maya.” Grimacing, he pulled open cupboard doors, searching for the tea things.

  Jewel sat at the kitchen table and let him.

  Rann was a lot more able than he made out and was perfectly capable of looking after himself if there was no one present who was paid to do it. He stretched up into an overhead cupboard to reach the teapot, turned round, and caught Jewel staring at him. He pushed his sleeves up. Her gaze moved to his forearms.

  Rann raised one eyebrow and then clicked his fingers together, startling her out of her trance. He ran a hand through her hair as he passed. Soft and silky, it caressed his fingers. “Love the new hairstyle.”

  He’d obviously said the right thing.

  “Do you?” Jewel beamed. “Really? I wasn’t sure about it.”

  “It suits you.” Rann ruffled it again, and Jewel pushed his hand away.

  “Don’t mess it up then.”

  He put a couple of mugs on the table, filled them with tea, and added milk.

  “You’re supposed to put the milk in first.”

  “Are you sure?” Rann sat down.

  “Haven’t a clue.” Jewel picked up her cup. “There’re some biscuits in the cupboard. If you want them.” She sipped the tea.

  “What’s wrong, Jewel?” Rann still held the image of her trudging up the hill towards him in his head.

  She let out a deep sigh. “I thought you wanted to talk about the seawitch.”

  “When Maya gets back. I want to talk about you now. Why did you look so upset?”

  “I saw my mother.” She placed her mug on the table and stared into it, running her forefinger along the rim.

  Rann waited.

  “I asked her why she hated me.”

  Rann raised both his eyebrows. He was well aware that Jewel hated confrontations and liked to take a roundabout route to any problem.

  “She said I was a disappointment.”

  “Then she’s a very stupid woman and doesn’t deserve you.”

  Jewel’s soft pink lips curved into a small smile. “I found I didn’t really care what she thought. I thought she couldn’t say anything to me that would bother me.”

  “So why are you upset?” Rann asked again.

  “She told me who my father was.” Jewel began to trace a pattern on the table top with her finger. Rann shifted his chair round so he sat next to her. He put his hand over hers. Her skin felt baby soft, and her oval nails were painted a pale rose.

  “Tell me.”

  “He was Fergal.”

  “Fergal?” He’d never heard the name before.

  “Fergal Redcar. Maya’s father. One of the strongest mages in London.” Jewel pulled her fingers from under Rann’s and rubbed both her hands over her face.

  Rann frowned. Jewel’s father was Maya’s father? He hadn’t expected that.

  Aren’t witches monogamous? “So your mother had an affair with Maya’s father? You didn’t know?”

  “No!” Jewel’s head jerked up. “It wasn’t like that. She drugged him and bespelled him. Then she said she got rid of him. What did she do, Rann?” An expression of horror swamped her delicate features, and she buried her face in her hands.

  Rann jumped up and pulled her to her feet. He wrapped his arms round her and sat back down with her in his lap.

  She wriggled but then lowered her head to his chest. “What do you think she meant?”

  “I don’t know.” Rann rested his face on the top of Jewel’s head. “Do you want to find out?”

  She took a huge breath, her body trembling as she let it out. “I have to. What if she killed him? Maya always thought the weight of his magic drove him insane. It happens to some powerful mages, you know?” She tilted her head to gauge his reaction.

  He nodded.

  “But what if he didn’t wander off? What if she murdered him?” Her voice sank to a whisper.

  “I don’t know. But we can find out.” He wasn’t sure how, but he’d certainly try. For Jewel. He stroked her arm. “Whatever she did, though, it’s not your fault.” He tried to interject a note of command into his voice. He wanted Jewel to believe that, but she shook her head against his chest.

  “If my mother did that, then she messed up Maya’s family. Wrecked Maya’s life.” A note of hysteria shook her voice, and Rann decided he needed to put a stop to that.

  “Maya’s life looks pretty good to me,” he said. “It looks more as though she tried to ruin your life. And you’re doing fine.”

  Jewel said nothing.

  “Are you going to tell M
aya?”

  “No!” She struggled to sit up straight. “I suppose I’ll have to. I don’t know how, though. Let me think about it. I’ll tell her tomorrow.”

  “You have to. Soon. If Kara is as mental as she sounds, it won’t be long before she pours out all her secrets to anyone who’ll listen.”

  “I know.” Jewel scrambled to her feet.

  Rann let his hands slide away from her.

  “Come and have a look at the seawitch.” She led him through to the sitting room, telling him what Kara and Alberic had said. “I wonder why that mage was so interested. It was a bit odd.”

  The two of them studied the still figure on the sofa.

  “We sit her up in the morning, lie her down at night,” Jewel said. “She eats if we hold food to her mouth, but that’s all. She doesn’t move by herself.”

  “I stopped off in Scotland.” Rann sank onto the opposite sofa. “Talked to Lykos and Lila. Lila had some ideas. We’ll talk about them when Maya comes home.” He held his hand out to Jewel. “Come and sit with me.”

  She slowly moved over and sat down at the other end of the sofa.

  “You should come home.”

  Her arms folded defensively over her chest.

  “There’s no place for you here.” He tried to read her face. “Look at you. Come back with me when we’ve sorted things here.”

  Jewel ducked her head, avoiding his gaze. “No. I told you why I wouldn’t. Nothing’s changed.”

  Rann examined her. She was so stubborn. Why doesn’t she just trust herself, and me, and go with her feelings? “You were happy there.”

  “I’m going to change into some jeans.” Jewel jumped off the sofa and stalked out of the room.

  He walked over and crouched down next to the silent figure of the seawitch. He had seen something in her eyes.

  “Everything’s going to be fine,” he told her, but he had a strong feeling the reassurance was for his own peace of mind rather than hers. She didn’t answer.

  Jewel stayed in her room until she heard the jangle of Maya’s key in the lock. She couldn’t argue with Rann. Before she knew it, she’d be on a flight back to Dar es Salaam, then in his bed, then nervously waiting for him to move on to his next lover. She knew he wouldn’t discard her, but she couldn’t watch him with anyone else.

  Maybe she would have been willing to make the move if she knew how she really felt. Is it just a crush? Am I infatuated with Rann’s power and generosity?

  It didn’t matter, because she knew that seeing him with someone else would destroy her. She’d learned that from previous lovers; she tended to choose the ones she didn’t feel too deeply for, in the hope she could minimise the pangs of jealousy. It hadn’t worked that well in the past. She just had to live with it, and if her feelings for Rann involved love rather than infatuation, then maybe she would take the risk. She didn’t know, and the only way she ever would was if she left and developed her inner strength and emotional resilience.

  A door slammed, and voices from the kitchen broke into her thoughts. She scrambled off the bed to open her door. Listening carefully, she recognised Maya’s voice and quickly changed into a pair of new jeans made of aged, comfortable denim, embellished with sequins. She glanced in the mirror to check her appearance. Her hair still surprised her every time she ran a comb through it and realised how short it was. Running nervous fingers over it, she made herself walk into the kitchen where Rann sat at the kitchen table and Maya leaned on the counter. Both of them looked up at her as she closed the door. She avoided both of their gazes.

  “Jewel.” Maya stirred a pan on the top of the stove.

  Jewel stared. Since when did she take up cooking?

  “Rann said you had a bad day.” She pointed at an open wine bottle. “Help yourself. Are you okay? What happened with your mother?”

  Jewel glowered at Rann; he had no business talking to Maya about her. “I’m fine. I’ll tell you about it later, after Rann’s said what he came to say.”

  “I’ll just finish this.” Maya prodded the pan with a spoon. “Then it can simmer as long as it likes.” She ground some black pepper into the cooking, picked up her glass, and carried it to the table. “Don’t hover.”

  Jewel still stood just inside the door. She walked over to the counter, paying no attention to Maya’s barely concealed curiosity, poured a glass of the rich red wine, then pulled out a chair and sat down. She darted a nervous glance at Maya. “How was your day?”

  “Shit.” Maya lifted her glass to her lips. “Everyone’s freaked out by Kara’s behaviour. No one’s doing any work, and all the corners are full of people whispering frantically.”

  Maya ran one of the branches of the coven’s investment bank and helped manage her coven’s finances. She had a talent for business as well as an aura of power and authority. She led the circle of junior coven members, or at least those of them who would have future influence and serve the coven. Her energy dazzled Jewel.

  She half closed her eyes as she savored her wine. “I’m hoping someone here is going to give me some good news.”

  “Not me.” Jewel stared miserably into her glass. “My mother’s worse than I remembered.”

  “Rann?” Maya propped her elbows on the table. “You said you had some news. Make it good.” She drew out her voice into tones of pleading.

  Rann pushed his chair back slightly and stretched out his long legs. “I went to see Lykos and Lila. Lila had some ideas. About the seawitch. I think we should try them.”

  “What were they?” Jewel sprawled over the table, matching Maya’s pose. She felt it would be good to concentrate on somebody else’s problems for a while.

  Rann turned to Maya. “You remember when you were a prisoner on that ship nine years ago?”

  “Vividly.” Maya scowled. “They all got off too lightly, if you ask me.”

  “There was a witch in the cell on one side of you and a werewolf on the other.”

  “I remember.” Maya smiled in reminiscence. “I can still remember the sound of that werewolf howling in his human form. You’ve never heard anything like it.”

  “Connor, his name was,” Rann said. “And the witch was Annis.”

  Jewel listened carefully. She’d heard all about the people-trafficking operation. Micael had started it, but of course she hadn’t known that then. Despite her mother’s judgement, she hadn’t been involved, and she would have left Micael if she’d known the extent of his behaviour. She didn’t know the people Maya and Rann talked about.

  “They were private investigators.” Rann brought her up to speed. “Connor set up the business, and Annis worked for him. They specialised in cases involving supernaturals.”

  “Right,” Maya said. “I see where you’re going.”

  “I thought of employing them to look into where this witch might have come from. They’re set up for this sort of thing, and probably they can do it a lot more quickly than we can.”

  “Good idea.” Maya nodded. “Of course we’ll help if we can.”

  “I’ll ring them tonight,” he said. “Ask them to come here. They can have a look at the seawitch, see what they think. Okay?”

  “Perfect.” Maya said.

  “Jewel?”

  Jewel forced herself to focus. She’d listened to the other two talk with half her attention. The other half of her mind thought about her mother. “Yes.”

  “So what did you think of your mother?” Maya made a twirling movement with her fingers as she changed the subject. “Completely loco. Did you meet the love interest?”

  “Alberic?” Jewel didn’t want to talk about this until she’d slept on it and had a chance to think about the implications.

  “Alberic!” Maya’s mobile features twisted into a sneer. “Albert Cooper. That’s what he used to be ca
lled. We made some enquiries.”

  “Really.” Jewel knew her smile was weak.

  “Yeah. He changed his name. He’s such a poser.” Maya grimaced. “It doesn’t change the fact that he’s a nasty piece of work though. Dangerous.”

  “Dangerous?”

  “I talked to the last coven he stayed with. People disappeared. No one ever knew where they’d gone, and they weren’t the sort of people you expected to freak out and wander off.”

  “You think—”

  “The coven leader told me he’d practised blood magic with animals. That’s why they threw him out. But they had no evidence that he was connected with the disappearances.” Maya rested her head on her hands. “He’s a slimy bastard. Then he went off the radar for a couple of years. God knows what he got up to then. And remember I told you we’d had a couple of people go missing? Too much of a coincidence for my liking.”

  “You don’t like him?” Jewel raised an eyebrow.

  “He’s a complete tosser.” Maya sneered. “He made the moves on me. Big mistake. I sent him on his way with a few bruises. And a promise that if he tried again, he’d never father another child.”

  “Was Kara as bad before he arrived?” Jewel asked.

  “She’s always been a despot,” Maya said. “And she’s gotten worse with time. But she’s reached a whole new level since Albert arrived.”

  Jewel suddenly remembered what she had meant to tell Maya. “Alberic was very interested in Seawitch. Wanted to come back with me and look at her.”