“That is enough. You will scare our guest away,” the old lady admonished.
The lights retreated, gathered into a ball, and then rushed to settle at Adri’s feet. To her utmost surprise, the shape of a Labrador materialized, and seconds later, a big dog sat in front of her with its tongue lolling.
“Would you care for a cup of tea?” Mother May asked. A small table laden with lemon scones, clotted cream, and tea in a Belleek porcelain teapot appeared between their seats.
Adri stopped trying to make sense of the magic. This was the faerie world, after all.
Mother May poured her a cup and handed her the delicate bone china. The brew looked like tea, but Adri was wary. This was, also, the fae world, and she didn’t trust them.
“Oh, my dear. It’s only tea.”
Mother May then placed her hand over Adri’s, and wove their fingers together.
No faerie had ever touched her unless under duress, and in the kaleidoscope of images and thoughts that washed through her, she could detect no duplicity on behalf of the old woman.
“Go on, have a sip. It will warm you up.”
Mother May released her hand and drank some tea, liquid that came from the same teapot as Adri’s drink. There couldn’t be something off there, could it? She brought the cup to her lips and took a tentative sip.
For a second, the world swam around her. But when she blinked, everything was as it had been previously, and Mother May was offering her a scone.
She took one, and sank her teeth into soft, pillowy dough baked to perfection.
“Good. You are not one of those waifs doing everything to starve herself.” Mother May shook her head. “What is going on in people’s minds, I say?”
Against herself, Adri smiled. “You know about that aspect of the outside world?”
The other woman gave her a sharp glance under her lashes. “I might be old and live much like a recluse, but I’m not dead yet.”
“My apologies,” she bit out.
Mother May seemed perfectly fine and in good health. Why, then, did she not step in as her people’s head in the Council?
“I can see where that pretty head of yours is running to, young lady.”
Adri bit her lip. “Sorry.”
“Bah! No need for all that formality. And the answer to your question is that I dislike politics very much. That sphere is more the forte of my son, Bernum, and this suits our community fine.”
Speaking of Bernum and the Council, the meeting would be in less than two hours. She had no time to lose.
“May I ask why you have summoned me?”
Mother May sighed. “I received a request from someone very dear to me to let you in on the true nature of the portal. He has already told you part of the story, and I hold the rest of the tale.”
Adri sat up straighter. “You mean, my fath— Zeus? Him?”
“Indeed, dearie. Why is that so hard to fathom?” Mother May handed her another scone. “So you know about the early vampires, and the demons. The angels were summoned back into the sky and since then, they are allowed to walk the Earth every morning just before dawn. None of us can see them, except animals. Why do you think all roosters crow at dawn? It’s in greeting to the angels walking before them.”
After two millennia, some things could still startle her. Who would’ve thought?
And if she thought this revelation through, Des couldn’t be an angel. He had come to her at all times of the day, and given that he’d walked the Earth at that time, that could only make him...a demon?
Et puis, merde! What had she gotten herself involved in?
“But there’s more,” she prompted.
Mother May nodded. “Sadly, yes. What I am about to reveal to you, none knows outside of our kind.” She paused, and sighed. “Twin daughters were born to a royal faerie couple. The Elders said the two of them would harness powers beyond our ken. They would be able to control the elements, but they would also have the gift of magic and prophecy.”
“Magic and prophecy? That’s the domain of witches,” Adri stated.
“You are right, my dear. But at that time, witches as you know them did not exist. One single race, born of that set of twins, would command all powers on Earth and on the faerie plane of existence.
“Yet, as the girls grew, it became apparent their birth hid something else. They were identical twins, split from the same fertilized egg. But that split had not created balance. Instead, it made one girl good, and one evil.”
Adri gasped, but she kept mum this time.
“Our people began to see how the twins who were supposed to be our salvation would in fact be our perdition. In the short-term, evil always wins over good, and such was the case here, too. The dark sister plied magic, and she taught it to those who wanted to wield that power. To protect our world and that of the humans, it was decided they should be stopped. Yet, they couldn’t be killed, because that would bring the end of all worlds.”
“The solution came in the form of the portal,” Adri said on a whisper.
Mother May nodded. “You know the truth now.”
“But they are prophesized to return, aren’t they?”
“Hmm, resourceful little one, aren’t you? Yes, it is said they will one day be delivered from their prison. All the elements have come together to seal their cell, but blood from one of their descendants can undo those locks and let them out.”
Blood? And maybe blood depleted of Air?
Adri gasped, and her heart galloped in her chest. “Mother May, tell me something. Was Air the strongest of the elements used to seal that gateway?”
The old woman narrowed her rheumy eyes onto Adri. “Yes, but why do you ask?”
In the name of all that is holy... “Did the twins have offspring?”
“Thank goodness, no.”
“I’m not sure you’re right.”
“What do you mean?”
Adri pulled her cell phone and scrolled through the gallery. Once she found a picture of her and Susan, she zoomed on the image of the deceased woman and showed Mother May the screen.
“This woman has all the characteristics of White Witches, but she has never wielded magic or belonged to a coven.”
Mother May blinked. “Are you sure?”
“Please, look closely.”
The old woman’s hand trembled when she held the phone. “Where is this person now?”
No—not a good vibe there. “She is dead.”
Mother May gasped.
“And that’s not the worse. A soul stealer killed her, and escaped with samples of her blood that had been depleted of oxygen just before she died.”
Adri paused at the stricken expression on the other woman’s face. “Oxygen. Air. Blood depleted of Air. Could that be used to break the seal?”
“It very well could.”
The calm certainty in the faerie’s words rattled Adri. Mother May did not deny, nor did she attempt to buy time. She merely stated the truth as it was.
“If this woman is indeed a descendant of the twins, then yes, her blood deprived of Air can unlock the seal. But for that, the portal would have to be opened first.”
And a vessel of Sekhmet could achieve that....
Adri grasped the wrinkled hand and closed her fingers tight around the fragile bones. She had to know. “Faeries put the twins away, but witches might want to bring them back?”
All a power game, in the end. She’d heard rumbles how witches resented the strength wielded by faeries over the elements. Controlling Air, Fire, Earth, and Water implied one could control just about anything. Spells and magic didn’t work all the time, especially when faerie Elementals’ help was required.
“We are not the enemy, Adrasteia.”
The words rang clear, and she felt nothing except the certitude in that statement. Adri released the weathered fingers and stood.
She needed to find Sera. Too much at stake right then for her daughter to be safe except in the presence of her mother. Oh yes
, the girl would kick and fight and blast her to Hades and back—hello, Uncle, Adri would have to say— but Adri had to protect her. At all costs.
She curtsied to Mother May. “Thank you for everything.”
“You have to go.”
She nodded.
The old woman indicated toward the door. The dog turned into the little lights again, and once more, they carried her to the threshold of the house. The gig waited for her outside, and she made her way down the steps and up into the carriage.
As the horses started forward, a sear of pain lanced through her head. Behind her closed eyes, she saw, like in a suspended moment of déjà vu, how everything spun around her. She could still taste the honeyed tea on her tongue. Then Mother May smiled, and said, “Seek, and you shall see.”
Adri blinked her eyes open and turned to stare at the house. It seemed to her the old woman smiled from where she stood on the porch.
What did those words mean? Could Mother May have gifted her with a version of Second Sight, a way to deepen her perception? She closed her eyes and willed herself to pinpoint Sera’s whereabouts.
As if by magic, the haze inside her head cleared to let her see her daughter laughing with Fiona at the counter of The Stirring Pot.
If she hadn’t been sitting, she would’ve fallen. Her back pressed onto the cushion, she reeled.
The oldest faerie alive had trusted her, and given her a gift. What was that supposed to mean? Did everything now hinge on her capacity to stop the portal from opening?
She was but an immortal, for goodness’ sake! She uttered a foul curse. How could she stop the end of the world, and protect her child in the process?
They had reached the edge of the fae world, and the horse snorted again. The minute she alighted from the carriage, the vehicle and the animal pulling it disappeared into thin air. Thank goodness she’d gotten out, or she’d be flat on her arse right then.
A current of air, like a twister, built against her back. The power pushed her forward, beyond the delineation of their territory, and let up once she stepped onto the other side.
Twilight had fallen. She stared around her, suddenly at a loss how to get to the Council meeting which was supposed to take place in mere minutes. She had spent more time than she’d thought at the old woman’s house.
The rev of an Italian sports engine made itself heard, and she smiled when she spotted a bright yellow Lamborghini Gallardo speeding toward her. The driver stopped the car in front of her and threw the door open.
She smiled at Sebastian. “You’ll be late for the Council meeting.”
“As will you if we don’t hightail it there ASAP.”
No sooner had she closed the door than he channeled the car at incredible speed toward the other side of Shadow Bridge.
“What did the fae want with you?”
Adri winced. What would she tell him? She still hadn’t untangled the twisted yarn in her own head. “Mother May granted me an audience.”
“Son of a— my apologies, Miss Adri. But Mother May? She exists?”
Adri nodded. “She does. And guess what, Bernum is her son.”
“She must be a harridan.”
“On the contrary. I wonder how such a sweet woman could’ve given birth to such a snake.”
“And speaking of the snake, he’s glaring in our direction.”
Sebastian stopped the car and they got out. The other members of the Shadow Bridge Council waited on the edge of Besom Forest. From the boot of his car, the vampyre handed her a ceremonial robe and she donned the garment, pulling the hood over her hair.
In a single file, they made their way through the woods, until they stood in the clearing where a stone henge had been erected. Far from them all to channel pagan beliefs and rituals, but stone henges concentrated the Earth’s lei lines and channeled energy and power. No place in their town except the circle in the heart of Besom Forest carried as much earthly force as this loop of big rocks.
As they gathered in a wide circle and started to go about the agenda for that meeting, Adri couldn’t shake off the malevolent stare Bernum kept on her. Did he know his mother had summoned her, and did he not approve? It always seemed to her that short and stocky Bernum did whatever he could to further the interest of his people.
But Mother May had claimed they were not the villains in the story.
Then who were? The witches? She trained her gaze onto diminutive Rose, leader of the Shadow Bridge coven. Before today, she would’ve said Rose could never hurt a fly, but she wasn’t sure any longer.
Adri surveyed the members of the Council one by one. Craig, the appointed connection to the outside, human world, stood to her left. On her right, Sebastian, as leader of the vampyre nest, held his position. Beyond him stood Jeff, the Chief of Police who had to be aware of every policy to be applied in town. Rose stood next to him, and on her other side was Bernum. Roscoe, the Alpha of the were pack, completed the circle.
She’d never trusted Roscoe, believing him too intent on glory to have the good of anyone else in mind. She’d breathed a sigh of relief when he declined joining the Shadow Bridge police force. With their extra strength and super-developed sense of smell, weres were the logical choice to head law and order in their town. Vampyres, eternal hedonists, provided the partying and nightlife, while witches with their spells kept the shopping district and food industry hopping, with their talent to spell and procure by magic. Only the fae kept themselves apart, but they did contribute much of the town’s livestock and crops from the organic fields on their territory.
Who in this setup could have obliterated the greater good of the town from their minds, and gone for the fleeting rush mayhem and chaos would bring?
Adri no longer knew who to trust anymore, and that unsettled her.
But worse, of one thing she was certain—she had to protect Sera, at all costs!
*****
“Remind me again why I let you drag me into this?”
Sera frowned, standing in the middle of Fiona’s very pink bedroom in her tiny Shadow Bridge apartment—the one she kept as a refuge outside witch territory. Fiona had worked her charm to keep Sera with her throughout the afternoon at her jewelry-making studio and now, Sera had just helped herself to a shower at her friend’s place, getting ready, as Fiona urged, “to paint the town all sorts of colors.” Here in this room, the air smelled of roses and lavender—a scent so strong that if Sera were sensitive, it would have triggered all her allergies within seconds of entering.
“Did you put some spell on me, Fi? Or am I completely nuts?”
“Nah, you just love me too much.” Fiona grinned, chewing gum. “Come on!” She sized Sera up and down. “My clothes look like a million bucks on you. Can’t hang around with you too often like this or you’d cramp my style.”
Her gaze settled on Sera’s flat booted feet, and she made the face of one who’d just stepped on fresh dog feces. “Good for us that Milly at Shoeholic closes late today. We can pick a pair of sexy heels and some sheers on our way to the party. Can’t help that I’ve got doll’s feet.” She winked and hooked a hand on her hip. “Look at yourself now!”
Sera turned to the full-length mirror and a stranger stared back. The figure-hugging teal, black, and white tank dress with hypnotic swirl designs was way too short for her; only with constant pulling and rearranging would it reach half-way to her knees. Plus, with its strapless, stretchy style, it hardly left anything to the imagination. Thank goodness for the boots. At least some skin was covered, although not the important bits, and according to Fiona those would have to go. Heels? Haven’t worn those in ages.
At the sight of the barely-hanging-on elastic of the top, she let out an embarrassed moan.
“It’s way too cold for this and it’s not me. I can’t wear half a dress without at least a sweater on top.”
“Cool your jets, will you? I’ll drive us to the club, and you’ll have a jacket on.”
“I don’t like going without a bra. I feel na
ked,” Sera grumbled as she adjusted what seemed to pass for an acceptable length of skirt. “Let me wear my leggings at least. Then, if the dress rolls up, my privates will be safe and I’ll only have to worry about my boobs falling out.”
“And cover those killer legs? If so, you really are nuts! And that dress has a built-in shelf bra, so technically, you’re wearing one.”
“Fi, I’m not like you—”
“I know, I know, but hear me out. You’ve been living like a hermit and it’s time to have some fun. How wrong can it be to let your hair loose a bit? It’s not like you’re alone; I’m going to be with you.”
“Until Sebastian shows up and then you’re gone ogling him and his hot friends,” Sera pointed out, letting out a pained breath. “Never mind they’re blood-sucking creatures tied to imposed rules of civility.”
Fiona tsked and waved her off. “Sebastian always keeps his people out of trouble and they’re happy bunnies with the blood Uncle Seamus provides from his butcher shop. Luckily for me because I have no desire to accidentally be turned into a vampyre. I’m kinky but not that kinky.”
“Are you sure it’s safe?”
“It’s Saturday night. Everyone goes to Vibiza on the weekends. Doesn’t matter if you have shiny pointy canines or not. It’s gonna be humping, baby!”
“Hmmm…no doubt about the humping,” Sera said skeptically. “Just don’t want to see it with my eyes.”
Fiona shook her head and smiled at her indulgently, like a patient teacher with a disinterested student who never ‘gets it.’ “You really do need to get out more often. Okay, lady, let’s put on some makeup. Time’s a-ticking.”
Sera sighed. “Sure, but I’ll do the makeup. If I left it to you, I’d need an ice-cream scoop to take it off later.”
Fiona flopped down on a chair and lounged back, examining her nails. “Hmmm. With that bod, who’s going to look at your face, anyway?”
Sera wished then her eyes had been laser weapons so she could smite the smug smile off her friend’s face. Grabbing the three-in-one face powder, she put on a light coat, and after applying mascara, a smudge of color to her cheekbones, and pink gloss on her lips, she was ready. She set the cosmetics bag aside and assessed the state of her hair. The curls had been tamed with some anti-frizz and other care products she’d put on that morning, and it still looked bouncy, healthy, and natural.
Inescapable (Eternelles: The Beginning, Book 1) Page 14