Chapter 5
Wednesday, July 6th, 2016, 12:10 PM
Caroline looked relax and confident as I finished the retelling of what had just happened over lake Michigan.
She said in a calm voice, “I’ll be fine. I’ll be extra cautious but I still have a job to do. I don’t have time to go run and hide. Besides, from what you just told me, you’re the one that needs to worry about yourself, not me. Sounds like the people you know are in danger of being used as bait, not actually killed. I’m not discounting the danger, but honestly I’m more worried about you at this point.”
I hadn’t quite considered it from that angle. I hadn’t taken the time to worry about myself yet, I was more concerned about all my family, friends, and allies. I had no idea what was coming next, but whatever it was would be serious.
I nodded, “I suppose you’re probably right. Still, I’m working blind here, and I’m not sure where they’ll attack next. Just… be careful.”
She smiled at me, “Nice to know you care. Don’t forget that I work for you, if you need anything, don’t hesitate to ask. Speaking of working for you, I have the second quarter taxes ready for you to look over and sign.”
I picked up the folder, and pulled the information. I grabbed a pen and signed it, and then closed the folder.
She raised an eyebrow, “Just like that?”
I grinned, “Did you forget what I do? I’d know if someone were cheating or being dishonest. Either stealing or lying on our corporate taxes wouldn’t go undiscovered. How is the coven doing after that unfortunate bit of violence this morning?”
She tilted her head, “I don’t suppose you’d…”
I laughed, “No, I’m not doing your taxes.”
I hadn’t read her. I was just getting used to her sense of humor.
She chuckled, “The coven is fine, but also too afraid to cross you. I think they’re also getting the idea if they follow the rules they’ll have nothing to fear. They all sort of expected you to torture Mark, but you just ended it quickly. It’s obvious you don’t enjoy that sort of thing. Of course, I knew that from the beginning.
“The point is though, one of the things about being a vampire is weighing the risks and rewards when considering stepping out of line. None of them believe they could escape or hide from you at all, or keep a secret.”
To be fair, they couldn’t. Even hiding underground wouldn’t work anymore with my new tracking abilities as a fire sorcerer.
“Anything else before I go?”
She shook her head and said playfully, “Just be careful, you dying would be an inconvenience. I’d stop being important and all that, and just be another newbie vampire in a sea of newbie vampires. I’d have to fall back on my good looks, sex appeal, and personality, which would be utterly tragic. I like being the crazy vampire that works with the scary and all powerful sorcerer.”
I snorted a laugh and shook my head, “I’ll try not to let you down.”
I had no doubts that if something did happen to me she’d be just fine, even without falling back on those looks of hers, which were far from inconsiderable.
I had to see Tara next, but I was also hungry, so I pulled out my phone as I left the building.
“Hello?”
I said deadpan, “Tara, I’m hungry.”
She replied haughtily, “Well I’m not going to cook for you.”
I sighed in faux sadness, “I suppose I could let you take me out to lunch instead.”
She replied sarcastically, “Oh, thank you so much. May I?”
I laughed, “Umm, I would like to talk to you, seriously. I need to fill you in on a little duel I had with a water sorcerer above lake Michigan an hour or so ago. My enemies are definitely in town. At the very least, be extra cautious.”
Tara and I had settled into a weird kind of friendship over the last month. The kiss that was forced on us in the old warehouse was just a distant memory now. We still steered clear of any flirting, mostly because I had the feeling she still wanted me to a certain extent, and in that case flirting would be a jerk move on my part, even cruel, but light banter was quite common between us lately.
I supposed some would consider that a type of flirting, but the point was there wasn’t any innuendo involved.
Caroline and I were probably a bit more borderline that way, but I think that was mostly because we both knew that we both were in love with different people. Somehow that made it safe.
I was probably overthinking it, and focused back on the conversation.
Tara replied in a concerned voice, “But you’re okay?”
I smiled, “Great, just a little hungry.”
Tara said slyly, “Fine, I’d be delighted let you buy me lunch, and Chinese was a great idea, glad you thought of it.”
I snorted, “Sounds good, I’m so glad you liked my lunch choice. I’ll be at your store in five.”
I shook my head as I hung up the phone. Guess I was having Chinese food for lunch…
It was probably strange that we even talked at all after what happened, and considering how she felt about me, but we were allied powers in Chicago which seemed to take precedence over those relationship considerations. Otherwise we might have walked away from each other and never looked back because of the baggage between us. I was glad that wasn’t the case though, it might have been strange, but we were still friends. If nothing else, time would work it all out.
After lunch with Tara, who was another one that wasn’t all that worried about herself at all, just me, I went back to the office.
I found myself telling the story a third time, when Aiya and Mike called me after their bust, once they got somewhere private. I’d also decided not to wait until I got back to the house to tell the pack, and conferenced in Sierra and Derik so I wouldn’t have to explain a fourth time. We offered Mike and Aiya the chance to stay at the pack house, we had a few extra rooms there, but they didn’t take us up on our offer.
Despite the fact they’d already been used as bait once.
Everyone was clearly taking the position I was the one that needed protection. Which was nice in a way, but very frustrating at the same time, I didn’t want anyone else to get hurt. The idea of having all these allies was appealing to me in the past, but now that it was time to help me, instead of me helping them, I didn’t like it at all. I didn’t want to see anyone else hurt.
Which was naïve I suppose. I considered closing up office and going home, but most of the pack were still out at work, I could also tell they were all fine through the ally bond. There was also the fact my power clearly wanted me here in the city right now. I knew they were blocking my sight, or parts of it, but it would be foolish to completely disregard my power, especially now that I was in more danger than I’d probably ever been in previously. The power of air had helped to guide me for the last year, and even before that, when my power was mostly suppressed along with my memories, and I’d thought I was just a psychic.
I was hit by a vision, strangely, not a super one that would leave me drained. One of the old kind. For some reason that wasn’t very comforting, my subconscious must know I didn’t need to be weakened in that way right now. It certainly wasn’t something I’d controlled consciously.
I typed the details in on my phone, and sent it to Mike and Aiya.
A man named Brandt Richardson was at the Lincoln Park zoo. He had a camera, but it wasn’t the animal exhibits that were the focus of his attention. He knew he was a sick man, but had talked himself into merely taking pictures of the zoo’s younger clientele. He hadn’t seen the harm in it, no one would know, or get hurt.
Except, in one hour and twenty-three minutes the perfect opportunity to snatch one of the children would come along, and he wouldn’t be able to stop himself. Brandt would see it as karma, or kismet, like it was meant to be.
Those kinds of people were the worst of the worst, and I fought the urge to go sterilize the bastard and burn out that part of his mind. With my power and knowledge of ana
tomy it would be simple. My friends would make sure it didn’t happen though, what I’d seen wouldn’t take place. Beyond that, he was a repeat offender, and was not supposed to be near schools, or places that children frequent, like the zoo. He’d be going away another few years at least.
I shuddered, and was pulled out of my dark thoughts by a knock on the open door. I actually startled a little in surprise in my chair, because I hadn’t felt anyone coming into the building, or up the stairs.
When I looked up my alarm fled and I smiled at the petite woman. She looked like a soccer mom. Thirtyish, shoulder length light brown hair, and warm hazel eyes. She was wearing a pair of blue jeans, and a loose yellow blouse mostly unbuttoned with a light blue sports bra underneath.
“Melody, how are you?”
I hadn’t seen the Earth sorceress again after we’d talked that first time in the coffee shop. I was a little suspicious at her timing, yet if she meant me harm she wouldn’t be knocking. She also wouldn’t be up above the ground like she was, in my domain. Although she was so old I imagined it wouldn’t make much difference, I was almost sure her reach could make up the difference.
She walked in, “I’m not sure why I’m here. I suppose I’m curious, but we all know what happened to the cat, so…”
I gestured to the chair, “Take a seat, you want coffee?”
I’d brewed more of course.
When she nodded I stood and walked over to the sideboard, and made us both a cup. I may not have been able to read her, but I also never forgot anything and had total recall. It was easy enough to recall how she’d done it last month. A dash of cream and one sugar. Real sugar.
Melody smiled and said, “Thanks,” when I handed her the coffee, and then said casually, “Someone tried to hire me to take you, and trap you below the Earth. It made me curious, you have some very dangerous and old enemies.”
I suppose I looked a little alarmed, because she added, “I said no of course. I’m not a mercenary, and I choose my own fights. But I was curious, when we met you seemed like a reasonable young man, polite and caring even, very rare traits for a sorcerer. I’d planned to come back in a couple of decades, maybe ally if you hadn’t gone around the bend as so many of us do. But like I said, I was curious, and wondered if I misread you at our first meeting.”
“I’m afraid I can’t indulge you,” I said a little sourly, “The first time they came for me I was just five years old, and they killed my mother. My enemies are family enemies, and I’m afraid I’m rather in the dark about who and why, and have been for a long while. I can tell you I’m being watched, so they probably know you’re here right now.”
She waved around, “This room has a lot to say about you, and all good. You’re an interesting man. I don’t think you just lied to me, but you know more than you’re saying. Of course, it’s none of my business. Just, watch your back. These fools that are after you have bargained for true power, not like that idiot Jaben you managed to take out.”
She stood up and knocked back the rest of her coffee.
“You make a good cup of coffee. If you survive you’ll see me again. I’m tempted to stick around and help, but then I haven’t lived as long as I have by making bad bets. We could be friends, maybe allies, but I don’t know you well enough to risk my life yet.”
She put the empty coffee cup down and walked out. That was, very strange. And what the hell had she meant by bargained for power?
Chapter 6
Wednesday, July 6th, 2016, 3:44 PM
The place looked odd with nothing in it, and I was a little lost in the memories of the past. I hadn’t been here very long, but it still had good memories attached. I supposed I was saying goodbye to the place for the final time, before dropping off my keys with my last rent check.
I still had a month left on the lease, but I didn’t see any reason to drag things out further. Over the last month I’d cleaned the place out. I’d donated some of my electronics and furniture, some I’d sold on eBay. My personal things, such as the remaining clothes, and a few knickknacks with sentimental value, got boxed up and sent to the pack house. The rest I’d simply disposed of.
I’d considered getting storage at first, it was my stuff, and I didn’t want to just get rid of it, but then I didn’t see the point of keeping it just to have it collect dust in a room with a big orange door. I’d be with Sierra and wasn’t changing my mind, she was mine and I was hers. Putting things in storage seemed like a waste, I’d never need it again.
A safety net I neither needed nor wanted.
Still, there were good memories here. Surprise breakfasts with Aiya, and visits from Diana before things had gone bad there. Long conversations with Aitheria, and even the uncomfortable interview with Kira came to mind. Not to mention the first time I made love to Sierra. It wasn’t a sad thing, I was happier now living with Sierra and the pack, it was just a wistful feeling of moving on and closing the last chapter of my life. The last remnants of my old single life were being cleared away.
I walked through one more time, though I knew I hadn’t forgotten anything, and then locked up. I headed downstairs to the wall of mailboxes, and dropped the envelope holding the key and check into the drop box there. I was about to go home, my new home, when my phone went off. I pulled it out, and it was Tara.
“Hello?”
Tara asked, “Hey, will you take me home?”
I chuckled, couldn’t help it. Then I winced at the awkwardness that descended.
There was silence for a moment, and then she said, “That probably came out wrong. I want to check the wards I set up for the pack, just in case they attack there. I also want to set up some more inactive ward traps and teach Carrie and Selene to trigger them.”
Tara had set up wards around the house and yard over the last month, the whole property really. They would dampen the powers of other sorcerers, but she’d somehow keyed me to them so they didn’t effect mine. Probably more hair or blood, I didn’t ask or go looking for the info. As far as powering the wards without Tara there, Carrie and Selene could do so as werewolf mystics.
Well, it would certainly help, but only if my enemies were stupid enough to attack me without taking out the wards first from the outside. Granted, I’d been that stupid, but only once. Luckily I’d lived and learned from the mistake. Still, it wouldn’t hurt, and at the very least it might slow them down a little. There were also other inactive wards that were similar, but had to be activated.
“Alright, I’ll be there in five. And thanks Tara.”
Tara had her long red hair put up, probably because it was still hot as hell out. She was also dressed rather conservatively. She still looked sexy, but her black skirt almost reached her knees, and she had a loose white blouse on. She’d been showing a lot less skin ever since she’d had that stalker, and I wondered if she’d ever go back to the old way she dressed, or if this was a permanent change.
After a quick hello, and she told me she had everything and was ready to go, I wrapped us both with power and moved us to the pack’s backyard. Tara shot me a smile, and then moved off straight to Selene, who was sitting with Derik, Katie, and Clint.
As for me, I relaxed when my eyes fell on my mate. I hadn’t realized exactly how worried I was until that moment. She looked stunning in a yellow sundress that hugged the curves of her body. Her soft brown eyes lit with a smile when she saw me. She walked over and gave me a quick hug, and then stepped back. The look in her eyes told me she wanted to kiss me, badly, almost as much as I wanted to kiss her.
Still, we both refrained, neither of us wanted to rub it in Tara’s face. I hoped she would find someone soon, but until then Sierra and I would hold the public displays when the witch was present. Still, she was a werewolf, and werewolves thrived on touch, so she grabbed my hand and gave it a squeeze.
“I have to tell you something,” she said and dragged me toward the house.
When we got up to the privacy of our room, I kissed her passionately, and my hands might h
ave started to wander a bit.
She kissed me back, but then giggled and pushed me away.
“No, I really do have to tell you something,” she caressed my face with a light touch, “Although we should definitely have that other discussion before we go back downstairs,” and then she led us over to the bed where we sat.
I smiled a bit bemused, “What is it?”
Her smile made my heart skip, “You know what we started to try to do last month? Well. You’re going to be a dad.”
“A dad,” I said a little in shock, but my face was already smiling, and then a million things went through my head of everything that could possibly go wrong. I shook off those things and smiled wider.
“Umm, do we want to know the sex, and stuff?”
Clearly I did, my magic reached out toward her body twice to check but I managed to control it. I was also very excited about having a child with her, but that was all underneath what I was sure was my outward appearance of shock. But she clearly felt my excitement and happiness over the ally bond. I can’t even explain how many arguments that bond helped me avoid, she had no insecurities that I didn’t want this.
Then she’d kissed me, with passion and an almost desperate need to join as one, as she tore at my clothes which were clearly in her way. I supposed we could have that conversation later, about the baby’s sex I mean, apparently being pregnant made her… rather frisky. I was a very lucky man, and had just enough brain power left to throw up a privacy shield around our room.
It was quite a while later when we were snuggled together, rather content, when she brought the subject back up.
She caressed my chest with her head on my shoulder and asked, “What is the sex, I think I would like to know. Also, will she be a werewolf, or a sorceress?”
I grinned teasingly, “She? And would it matter?”
Sierra shrugged, “I’m not calling our baby an it, so she’s a she until you check. No. I’ll love her no matter what she is, but I’m curious.”
Sorcerer: Elemental: Power of Air (Book 5) Page 3