by Lissa Kasey
The sounds of our cries, the flesh slapping, and the bed quaking had me fighting to keep from tumbling over the edge. Gabe lost all coherent thoughts to the pleasure and just let his body feel. My skin radiated light against his pale brightness. Only my light was pale green. His eyes were shining, boring into me with nothing but need. This is why groupies flocked to vampires to feed them, though very few ever experienced this total assault on the senses. Vampires were predators with seduction as a primal instinct. Humans were easily attracted to beautiful things, therefore prey.
Gabe, to me, appeared filled with earth, power, and peace, because those were the things I craved most. What he became to others, I had no idea, and didn’t really care. Maybe I glowed because that’s how he saw me, but I felt like the sun filled my skin.
We moved in a rhythm that almost seemed to force us off the planet and into the cosmos. His power combined with my magic soared us through heights neither of us had ever experienced. By the time the end neared, all I could see were those beautiful eyes of his. The earth pulsed through both of us, each small movement another powerful thrust. I clung to him, felt his body jerk as he came, slammed home twice more before letting my own release go deep inside him.
The house seemed to shudder with the strength of the power. My body shook with uncontrollable pleasure, and my scalp burned for a few seconds. I collapsed on top of him, still inside, though I could feel the moisture of my come around me. If I’d had any energy left, I would have dipped my head to his stomach and licked his mess from him.
He sucked down air in thick gulps, skin and eyes still filled with power. Finally he said, “I think you killed me.” His hands were wound in my hair.
I laughed, knowing what he meant. Our link told me Gabe felt boneless, weak, and yet had power racing through every nerve. Sometimes being an earth witch in love with a vampire really had some perks.
“No kidding,” he mumbled in response to my thoughts. He tugged me up before putting his arms around me and hugging me tightly. His fingers brushed my hair out of his face. “We so need to do that more often.” Whether he was referring to the magic, my topping him, or the complete release of control, I wasn’t sure. Not that it mattered; I was willing to do it all again, and soon. “Although if your hair grows like that every time we have sex, you might be Rapunzel before the end of the week.”
I yanked a hank of dark hair around to see it. Sure enough, my hair was long again, like it had never been cut. Gabe kissed me, hands combing through my hair in reverie. I couldn’t help but stare at it and compare it to the dream I’d had. “Does it look green to you?” I asked.
Chapter 13
THEembarrassed flush of Sam’s face told me he must have heard or even felt the time I spent with Gabe. The fact that I could make Gabe go that wild made me proud and possessive rather than ashamed. Sam couldn’t meet my eyes and didn’t try looking at Gabe. He disappeared into the other part of the house as soon as the sun set, which was just past five. I showered downstairs, dressed, and stared out the window of my father’s old bedroom at the place where I knew the ring hid.
Gabe’s gentle hand on my shoulder nearly made me jump out of my skin. “Sorry,” he whispered. He peered out into the darkness too. “You should probably stay away from that ring. I can go look at it, see if there is a physical way to destroy it.”
“You are not going there alone. That place is awful.” I met his gaze and held it. He frowned. “Okay, we’ll go together, have a quick look, then come back behind the wards.” He laced his fingers through mine, and we headed toward the backyard. Sam sat in the kitchen glaring at another bottle of Quicklife. I didn’t know what he had against the synthetic blood but was pretty sure it wouldn’t taste better with age. “We’ll be back in a few, Sam.”
I didn’t want to go at all, but I let Gabe lead me through the backyard, around the caretaker’s house, and into the woods beyond. The lights from the cottage faded quickly into the darkness along with the sounds of Timothy moving around. I tried to let the soft tinkle of the stream push out all sense of fear in my head. Gabe’s presence in my mind and at my side was the only thing that kept me from running when the eerie arrangement of stones came into sight. The buzzing and crawling of my skin brought a catch to my breath, and we still stood ten feet outside the circle. Gabe didn’t attempt to move closer either. His side of our bond closed. One second he was there, and the next I was alone in my head. That hurt.
“Gabe?” I asked. His eyes were shut, and he was still as death. Then he took a sudden step back. I gulped, heart thudding in my throat. Did it feel as terrible to him? Another step back, this time dragging me with him. He pulled me into the yard, under the thick growth of trees, and swept me into his arms. He didn’t seem to breathe or move for several minutes, and I couldn’t see his face. Everything I sensed about him spoke of danger, little flares of warning at the edge of my brain, like a new vampire would give me warning. Only the oldest of vampires could hide that odd Spidey sense. Gabe could rip out my throat or tear off my head, but I wouldn’t let him go, even when he finally pulled away, revealing eyes that were black instead of green with no whites around the edges.
He pushed me away. “Go inside, Seiran.” His voice ground like wheels on gravel. “Sam.” Sam appeared beside him. He couldn’t pop in and out of locations like Max could, but he could move fast enough to make it seem like he could. They both turned away from me and headed around the front of the house to the car. They’d hunt. I prayed for the earth to watch over them so neither of them would get hurt or harm anyone else.
“Everything okay?” Caleb’s voice startled me out of my daze. Why was I so jumpy?
“I thought you’d be finished up for the day.” “Just packing up. I’ve pretty much finished, unless you’ve changed your mind about me trimming the trees. The lilacs could use some control.” He pointed to the other side of the lawn and the wall of tall bushes. I bet it smelled nice when it bloomed.
“I could probably use some help replanting the gardens, if you’re willing.”
“Sure. I’ll bring some catalogs of plants tomorrow for you to pick from, since we don’t get a lot of rain here.” “Thanks.” I waved goodbye to him and headed inside, pausing again because the lights were on in rooms I hadn’t been in. Was the place haunted? I didn’t believe in ghosts any more than I believed in fairies. Maybe I’d have to rethink that, having found a fairy ring. Sigh.
Making my way to my room, I shut down the unnecessary lights again and headed up to the hidden space. Perhaps my father’s journals would shed some light on the history of the house and how to destroy evil fairy rings.
Several hours of reading didn’t reveal much more than the fact that my father was as in tune to the earth as I was. He met Jamie’s mother in college, and they had a brief affair. When their trysts produced Jamie, my father fought for partial custody. He lost but was allowed visitation rights. I scanned through a lot of those journals, putting them aside for Jamie, who would love to read about how much Dad had missed him in between visits.
The bits of magic scattered throughout the journals all related to the earth, but none of them were finished spells. Many of the spells related to the house, which he’d inherited from his father. I began reading the account of Dorien Merth watching his father burn to death, but had to stop. The entire thing brought back memories of those pictures Sam had sent me of my father’s death. There was nothing beautiful or peaceful about dying by flame. It haunted the living and made an awful death. My heart broke just thinking about it.
I searched through the journals until I found a mention of my mother. Dorien thought she was an exotic beauty, and at the time “she was disenchanted with her family.” She’d run away from home to escape an arranged marriage. My father wrote that Tanaka “appeared haunted by a horrible childhood, like most Dominion girls.” Having never met my grandparents, I suppose it was likely they had treated my mom bad too, since she was an only child. The pressure to carry on the Rou line must have
been terrible.
The lamp flickered on the other side of the room, like the bulb was dying. I set the book aside. There were bulbs under the kitchen sink. The light in the bedroom downstairs was on again. I sighed, left it on. Every light was on as I passed. The hall, each room and bathroom, the living room, the main entry, everything. It took almost twenty minutes to shut them all off and get back to the hidden bedroom with a light bulb. The lamp had completely gone out.
I fumbled through the dark, flicked the light off, unscrewed the bulb, put in the new one, and turned it on. The soft glow of the energy fluorescent made me sleepy. Maybe I could nap a bit.
After wrapping myself in the warmth of the blankets, I closed my eyes and reached out for Gabe. His walls stood solid against my probing. Something had scared him about that ring.
The house hummed softly of life and peace, putting me to sleep before the ideas began to form in my mind. I dreamt again of my father. He walked through the house with me, explained some spells I’d never heard of before. The one that made the house and tree was so complicated my dream brain turned it into a mush of sounds. My red-haired friend seemed to have vanished, and I missed him more than I cared to admit.
My dad smiled indulgently at me. I felt younger in these dreams, a small child following his footsteps. He’d touch my head, running his hands over my hair, eyes shining bright with pride. Would he have ever looked at me that way?
The sound of growling edged into the dream. My father didn’t seem to hear it, but I stopped following him, searching for the source of the sound. Nothing looked out of place, but my father had gotten so far ahead I couldn’t see him anymore. I turned again, only to see a dark shape lunge toward me.
I woke up screaming, heart pounding, to a darkened room. Hadn’t I left the light on? Then the growling began again, only this time in reality. The low rumble sounded like a large cat or ridiculously huge dog, and it was inches from the bed. My sleep-fuzzy brain took a few seconds to catch up, but when I stretched my magic through the house, there was nothing. No animals, no people. What the hell?
Ghosts didn’t exist. This I knew because the earth recognized no such thing. After death, the human body decomposed and returned to the earth. The power that made up our spirit fled back to the element from which it came, creating a balance. Objects could hold memories, but not people. And whatever was growling was not human, dead or alive.
Silently I cast a spell and closed my eyes for a second as the light brightened the room. No animal, ghost or otherwise. I blinked again, seeing something from the corner of my eye. A bug? Then it flew at me, like a dive-bombing bee determined to sting. I rolled back, landing on my back on the bed, sprawled out, blinking at the tiny colorful bug that hovered above me.
A voice boomed in my head. Usurper! Thief! “Seriously?” I asked, then cast a bind spell. The small creature thunked to the bed, rolling around, struggling against the invisible bonds. It cursed and shouted at me with a voice that only I could hear. Unusual, since I’d put my personal walls back up.
I picked it up and moved it a few inches away so I could study it. What sort of bug could talk to people and make growling noises? I smiled. It probably could turn on lights too. “What an interesting little bug.”
Bug! Not a bug! “Well, what are you, then?” My dad’s journals thus far hadn’t spoken of any unusual creatures in the house. And nothing I learned about at school resembled this little thing. Looking closer at him, he looked sort of like a small man. His hair was blue, long, styled almost to look like the head of a thistle. He appeared wrapped in green, but whether that was clothing or just the color of his skin, I couldn’t tell. He weighed nothing more than a fly would and had almost invisible iridescent wings. Overall he was smaller than my thumb, but had a fierce-looking face, with a large mouth and extreme expressions. His little eyes glistened a dark black, angry and flashing.
Holy mother earth! This had to be a fairy!
Release me, Usurper!
“Why do you keep calling me that? I haven’t taken anything from anyone.”
This dwelling, man thing! It belongs to the earth!
“I have no intention of taking it from the earth. My father left me this house. I don’t know what I’m going to do with it yet, but I’d like to keep the earth intact. The peace here is comforting, but this is not my home.”
Liar, blasphemer! Release me! You cut the trees! “Could you stop shouting? You’re giving me a headache. The gardener cut the trees, and I yelled at him for it.” I wondered if my father knew about fairies. Maybe Gabe could help me find a way to better store the information of his journals so I could search them later. The over one hundred volumes seemed intimidating since I’d only gotten through so few. “Did my dad know about you? Did you know him? Dorien Merth?”
The angry racing of the creature’s wings paused. He seemed to wilt, the fight going out of him. He went so still I reached to pick him up to be sure I hadn’t accidentally hurt him with the spell.
“Ow! Fuck. What did you do that for?” Blood welled up on my thumb where he’d bitten me. He smacked his lips, eyes filling with a sapphire fire. He bowed. Child of Dorien, scion of the earth, forgive my insolence.
“Um, okay. Just don’t bite me again.”
He flickered for a moment, brightening then fading, and I felt the binding spell snap. He fluttered upward, hovering in front of my face. My mind still reeled. Fairies were real! Hadn’t Gabe said he’d met some before? This tiny thing completely bent all laws of science. Was he created completely from magic? Would the Dominion have to change their curriculum? I supposed this proved that not everything could be learned from books.
He bowed again, midair. As thy father before thee, I vow to serve thee. At least his voice no longer rang through my head like a gong. Now it was quiet and subtle, a breeze moving through the trees.
“I don’t need you to serve me, but I’d be nice if you’d stop turning on lights all the time. I imagine the power bill here is enormous as it is.”
His wings seemed to falter for a moment. But I have to serve thee.
“You don’t have to do anything. Did my father make you serve him?” I served your sire with honor as commanded by his sire. “Right. Did my father command you to serve me?” He seemed to ponder that for a few moments. No. “Great. ’Cause I don’t need a servant. You’re free to do
whatever you want. I release you from whatever you may have been bound to.” He seemed to pause, wings stopping completely. I caught him before he could plummet to the bed and really hurt himself. He just lay in my grasp, gasping for breath, looking like a flower cut from the stalk too soon. Was it wrong to release him? I figured my uncle must have done something to him, but maybe fairies needed a bond to survive?
“Are you okay?”
You truly release me?
“Yep. Any buddies you have too. I don’t need servants of any kind.” I could have asked him about the ring, but he looked so shocked I didn’t want to chance him having some sort of breakdown. “Do you need me to take you out to the garden or something?”
Still he blinked at me, wide eyes blue, glowing balls of confusion. His overly expressive face said he still hadn’t grasped what I was telling him. I’m free?
I just nodded. He suddenly flew upward, racing around the room like an overactive fly who couldn’t find his way out. He smashed into the door and vanished. Maybe he’d gone right through it? I shrugged to myself, pulled up the blankets and another journal. I bet my dad had something written somewhere about fairies.
Browsing the next journal, I came up with much the same. Half spells, recounts of normal, everyday life, but nothing on fairies or the Ascendance. I put the book aside in frustration and slumped back on the bed. Where was Gabe? What was taking him so long? The night had half passed already.
I glared at the wooden ceiling, letting it go out of focus for a bit while sorting through my thoughts. It was then I saw the scratches on the beam above the bed. On the side facing the window, a
way from the room, small letters had been scored into the wood. My head replayed the words a few times. It really just sounded like a haiku.
“Imagine in your head, let it play once and again, imprint to recall.” When I repeated the words out loud, a rush of power poured through me, racing through the house. I shivered, and then the door opened, yet it didn’t. The man who strode inside could only be my father. His dark chocolate-colored hair fell into his eyes, sapphire blue, like mine. He was tall and lanky, but moved with the grace of a man who had control. He crossed the room with purpose, opened the bottom drawer of the dresser, pulled everything out of it, and then opened a false bottom.
Again the door opened. Only this time it was my mother who walked through it. Her hair was long, somewhat hippiestyled, straight and free of any binding. She wore jeans and a T-shirt that fit tightly over her small chest. I’d never seen her look so ordinary, so common.
“I can’t let this happen, Dorien.” She put her hands to her midsection. I saw the tiny bump. Was that me? “Tanaka, please.” Dorien stood up and wrapped his arms around her. He pressed his face to her hair. “The baby is more important.”
“I can’t do this on my own.”
“I’m not asking you to. Lily will help. You know she will love that baby like her own.”
My mother pushed him away. “This is your responsibility, not your sister’s.” Dorien closed his eyes and swallowed deeply. “We already talked about this. I have to do this.”
“Die to save your brother? Just because he’s done wrong? These are his crimes.”
“He wants to atone. I need to give him that time.” Dorien went back to the drawer and pulled out a journal and some other items. “I’m leaving my power to Jamie. He’ll need it.”
“What about our baby?”
“Our baby has plenty of power without needing mine. I can already feel him in my head. So strong and smart. Already in tune with the earth.” He set the items aside and hugged her again.