by Beth Caudill
Leyna stopped. She’d never imagined giving up her abilities before meeting Vithar. Or the consequences. Guardian angels lived in the present. The future always took care of itself. “I have no idea.”
“Just because you gave up your power doesn’t mean you can’t protect others.”
Leyna walked forward. “What? Become a police officer?”
“No.” Annabel coughed again. “Something less official, more heartfelt.” Spasms rocked the old lady.
Raphael appeared between the trees. “Let me help.”
Power washed over them both. Annabel straightened her back as healing energy wrapped around her. It was kind of warm and effervescent.
“Go home, Annabel. I’ll talk with her.”
The old woman nodded and hobbled around the trees. Vithar, in owl form, followed her.
“She’s dying.” Leyna knew death could only be held at bay for so long.
“Yes.” She and Rafael walked along a different path, laced with sand. Reflected sunlight off the water peeked through the trees. “She has served longer than any other. But her time is almost complete.”
“I’m not a witch.”
“You don’t have to be. But it will take two.”
She stopped. “We don’t have partners.”
“You are no longer a guardian angel.” Raphael’s words were emphasized in a deeper voice. “Now, you need to let love guide you. Love is not about sacrifice or a contest to see who can give up the most value. It is accepting the flaws in yourself and in the other person. It’s about creating something greater than you’d accomplish alone, building a partnership with someone you trust implicitly.”
Raphael glowed so bright she could barely make out his wings. “Decide quickly what you want the future to be. Because not everything must be sacrificed to win.”
They walked into an open meadow bathed in sunlight. Then he was gone from beside her. The sunlight warmed the chill that covered her arms.
“My dear, you should watch where you’re walking. I wouldn’t want you to become lost.” Doyle’s voice echoed in her head, a musical resonance that she wanted to follow.
She shook her head, trying to clear her thoughts. “Leave me alone.”
Suddenly, he was beside her. His laughter made her want to melt into his arms. “What would be the fun in that?” A reddish glow surrounded him. “Where is your owl now?”
“Watching over someone else.”
“Makes this all the easier. He never should have left your side.” He touched her cheek.
Magic washed over her. His lustful thoughts invaded her mind. Images of them together in carnal activities she would never consent to, no matter how much his desires pushed against her more wholesome nature.
She swayed and would have fallen if the demon hadn’t caught her in his arms.
“Such a pretty little captive. A shame I can’t sample your wares, but that would upset the balance, according to Margaret. Our time together will have to wait until after I have my revenge.” He laughed as he carried her away.
It was difficult for her to think. Even to form words. All his power focused on overwhelming her. “Don’t want to go,” she mumbled.
“You don’t have a choice, my dear. From the moment Vithar picked you, I knew I’d have to take you from him. You and Melisande will be such beautiful trophies.” He laughed. “At least, until I am done with you.”
8
Vithar flew to the patio, where Fremont stood with Melisande.
Fremont paced. “There’s only fifteen minutes left. What is taking the demon so long?”
“It’s so nice to know you missed me.” Doyle walked around the side of the house. Leyna followed behind him, led by golden chains shackled around her wrists. “When Melisande is mine, she will serve my every need. Until then...”
Vithar stretched his wings, blocking his brother from charging the demon. The villain could posture all he wanted. Leyna had filled his heart with love and the hope of living with her. Together, they could nullify this curse.
“Here to gloat, demon?” Fremont’s voice vibrated with rage.
“Of course not. I’m here to trade.” He yanked Leyna’s chain so that she tripped forward and then placed a knife against her side. “Either Meli comes with me, or I kill this woman.”
“I’m sorry, brother, but I won’t let Meli go.” Fremont put a hand on the wolf. “Go ahead. Meli is mine. What do I care if you stab some woman?”
Doyle hissed. “You expect me to believe that you’ll let your brother suffer?”
Fremont sucked in a breath, almost seemed to waver.
Vithar turned his head, regarded his brother. “Leyna would not exchange her life for another.”
“Are you sure? He will kill her.”
“I have to trust Leyna can be saved.” He shook his feathers. “No one wins if we lose one of them.”
They needed a plan.
Vithar launched himself into the air and gave a loud screech. Doyle ducked beneath him but kept his eyes on Meli. In her wolf form, she was the deadliest to him.
They had to find a way to distract the demon. His connection to Fremont allowed them telepathy. He had to believe that his connection to Leyna was just as strong. That the magic of love would give them the same ability.
“Leyna!”
Her eyes were bright and clear. “Vithar?”
“Are you okay?”
Her eyes glazed over. Silence met his query, and his heart beat far too loud.
“Leyna?”
“Keep talking. Hearing your voice helps.”
“Can you run?”
“Not very well. The chain channels his power without him draining himself.”
Vithar swooped above their heads. There was no easy answer. “Fremont, we have to take the risk. Attacking the demon is our only chance. Meli and I can hurt him. You have to get the chain and draw Leyna away from Doyle.”
“Can you keep her safe? Meli is my life.”
“He caught us off guard when he cast the curse. We’ve been running ever since. Either we fight, or he wins.”
Meli licked Fremont’s hand. The only sign Vithar needed.
“Leyna, when he’s distracted, run toward Fremont.” Vithar flapped his wings to increase his speed. Flying with Evelyn had at least improved his stamina. His feathers were quiet in the dive. Under the demon’s regard, Fremont and Meli couldn’t move until after Vithar attacked.
His talons hooked into Doyle’s scalp.
The demon’s anguished cry brought him joyful satisfaction. Vithar’s wings flapped as he tried to keep his perch on the demon’s head. Peripherally aware of the others, he sunk into the owl’s bloodthirsty nature—tearing at the man who’d tormented his family.
A sharp pain rammed his chest. His screech cut off as an icy seizure froze his limbs. Magic sizzled in his veins from the cold steel embedded near his heart. He plummeted to the ground, rasping for breath.
“Vithar!” Leyna screamed as she tried to break away from Fremont’s hold.
He heard Meli’s growls and the peals of the nearby church bells. His gaze sought Fremont. They were out of time.
The curse gripped his body, and he arched in renewed pain. His feathers melted into his arms, the prickling stronger than ever. Ligaments stretched as his body grew. The ache in his chest spiked, his breaths shallow.
Finally, the agony ended. Across the patio, Fremont gaped at him.
They were both humans. He tried to sit, but his limbs were still frozen. They were free of the curse…maybe. He couldn’t see Meli or Leyna.
“This has gone on long enough!” Doyle roared. “It is time to collect what I’m due.”
Whistling reverberated through the backyard.
The old fisherman emerged from the forest path. “Good evening. Great fishing weather—a bit cool and a low sun, so the shadows will provide good hiding places.”
He shuffled toward them slowly…so very slow.
“Do move along.”
“Yes.”
Raphael smiled. “Good. It’s not nice to leave an angel on the ground.”
“Fallen angels don’t deserve consideration. She shouldn’t have involved herself.” Doyle’s measured statement dripped with disdain.
Raphael shrugged. “She only did what was needed.” He waved his hand.
The golden chains dropped from around Leyna’s wrists. Free of the incubus’ vile magic, she rushed over to where Vithar lay. He wanted to wrap his arms around her, ensure she was unharmed. But whatever sorcery imbued the weapon paralyzed him.
Instead, he had to be content with his head on her lap and the cool touch of her fingers as she swept them through his hair. He prayed that the defender sent to them could ensure their souls remain safe from any retaliation by Doyle.
“You cannot interfere,” the demon wailed.
“And using a witch’s curse is playing by the rules? We adjust to keep the balance. And you have overstepped.”
Leyna whispered, “I would gladly fall for you again.”
His heartbeat fluttered. He desperately hoped it was because of her and not because he was dying.
“Evil pushes because good stands in their way. I only want what is mine.”
“Free will knows no bounds. They have fought you for 101 years. Love has been found and met. You cannot twist the curse any further.”
Doyle barred his teeth. “No.” A ball of flame coalesced in his palm.
“The curse has met its end.” Raphael voice echoed. He leaned over Vithar and grasped the dagger. Light flared from beneath his fist. “All magic has an end.”
His back bowed as searing pain whisked through Vithar’s veins. The curse leeched from his soul. Until once again, he could move, without the darkness that had weighed him down.
Molten flames leaked from Doyle’s hand that pooled at his feet. The puddles sizzled and smoke curled around him. “Melisande owes me. I refuse to go without her.”
Whip-like tendrils of fire spiraled around the demon. Doyle’s body trembled before he crumpled to the ground. His raspy cry of agony echoed across the clearing.
The demon crouched with his face grimaced in terror. The flames dissolved into a mist and then he disappeared within a curtain of red smoke.
Fremont and Melisande embraced, humans together for the first time in over a century.
Raphael assumed a solemn bearing. “He is right. The guardians are not meant to interfere. There is a price to be paid.”
Leyna gripped Vithar’s hand. “How badly are we in trouble?”
Raphael’s grin rivaled the sun and the clouds dispersed. “Trouble, no. But you were a guardian, and while you’ve chosen to give that up, you can still protect what is needed.”
“How? My wings are gone.”
“Then, I’ll give you new ones.” Raphael flicked his hand, and Leyna turned into a snowy white owl.
She flew up to a low-hanging limb.
“Wait. You can’t take her!” Her loss would break Vithar, even more than the distance with his brother had.
“I can send her wherever she is needed. That is my job.” Raphael tilted his head. “However, you could always join her. That is an option.”
Fremont grabbed his arm. “We’ve just broken free. You barely know her!”
“Yet you married Meli after only a month and brought this on us. I’ve finally found love, and I won’t let it go.” He glanced at the archangel. “Whatever you need.”
“While your brother’s family will always be connected to wolves, I think you will enjoy the feathers for now. The future holds many surprises and brings together those who need each other.”
Once again, Vithar’s body contorted, but this time without the pain. It was a smooth melting of parts reforming into a new whole.
He flew up next to Leyna and preened her feathers with his beak.
“Vithar! Why can’t I hear him?” Fremont turned to the archangel. “What have you done to our bond?”
“That is something you’ll have to fix. The curse damaged your family. Only you can decide to repair it.” A bright glow formed between his open palms. When the glow diminished, Raphael held a wooden box inscribed with willow limbs out to Fremont. “Give this to Ranger Morgan. He’ll know when to plant them.”
Raphael flicked his wrists toward the trees. “Be off. Annabel’s tree needs protection.”
Not alone anymore, Vithar followed Leyna across the sky to a willow tree that glowed weakly in the coming twilight.
“Although not who I expected, I do think you will come in handy, my incubus,” Margaret chortled. She examined Doyle in his shrunken size on her workspace. Confined to a circle on her table, she packed away the two blue bottles and pulled out a dull red one.
“What are you going to do to me?”
“You didn’t fulfill your promise to provide me with souls, because as all witches know, demons don’t have them. But you have given me a way to slip past the protections around the town. Using another’s soul to shield yours was ingenious.” She lit black, red, and white candles. “I know just the girl to help me with that.”
“Then you’ll let me go?”
“Go? Oh no, you’ll be the star attraction in my next spell. An incubus’s blood carries the same lust-inducing magic you wield. I’ll just use it to steal the heart from Daphne Lowe’s protector. Once he is mine, the town will fall at my feet.” She stuck the athame into the incubus’s heart and drained his blood into her bottle.
Very soon, the revenge she sought against Daphne’s family would be complete.
Epilogue
No longer alone, Vithar flew wingtip-to-wingtip with Leyna. Gliding above the treetops, his wings beat in a strong, steady rhythm. An ability he hadn’t embraced two weeks ago.
He brushed the tips of his feathers against hers. Thankful for the delight she’d brought into his life. “You know I love you?”
She turned to look at him. “Of course, you’re an intelligent fellow.”
With a joyful hoot, he rode the air currents higher, and then dipped and dived in a playful aerial acrobatics display. Today was his 129th birthday. They were on their way to Fremont and Meli’s house. Meli had made it very clear that he was expected to attend her party, even as an owl.
In his mind, the cabin was no longer his place. Wherever he landed with Leyna was home. Even if that turned out to be within a willow tree. The tree’s magic tolerated them; it wouldn’t become theirs until after Annabel’s death. That wouldn’t happen in the immediate future, but sometimes the magic latched onto him, and Leyna indicated it wasn’t too far off.
They alighted on a tree near the patio. Meli and Fremont carried food to the outside table.
“Why won’t you let me carry the food?” Fremont tried to take the cake from Meli’s hands.
Meli huffed at him. “Because I’m pregnant, not helpless.”
“I just want to help.”
Fremont looked so sad.
“When I’m nine months pregnant, I’ll let you carry all the stuff and rub my feet.” She took his hand and wrapped his arm around her. “Until then, I will do normal activities because I haven’t been able to for far too long.”
“I wouldn’t push her.” Vithar tried his link with Freemont.
Fremont glanced around and focused on the owls. After a few moments, he said, “You invited my brother?”
Meli looked up at him incredulously. “Of course. His birthday is the same as yours.”
“You’re sure you’re okay?”
Vithar hooted and hid his beak behind his wing.
“The doctor assured me everything is normal for almost two months with twins.”
“Twins?”
“Surprise,” Meli said with a tentative smile.
Vithar and Leyna circled them, offering hooty cries. His family was going to be just fine. With time, he and Fremont would work out their link, and shortly, he’d have nieces or nephews to spoil
. Life encompassed the lows of despair and the even greater highs of bewitchment.
Stanford Morgan hid within the shadows of the forest above the town center of Willows Haven. The magical enhancement of the white stag allowed him to oversee Daphne’s bed-and-breakfast even from this distance.
Over three years ago, she’d walked away from him. Immediately after they’d completed the ritual that released his magical heritage. Unknown to him, his family carried latent markers for earth magic that special circumstances could release.
Suddenly, he had magical abilities that needed controlling, and he’d lost the woman his heart yearned for. He’d tried talking with her, giving her space and time, thinking maybe she’d been scared. Except she’d become entrenched in avoiding him.
Over the last year, he’d come to accept that she didn’t love him anymore. He’d tried to move on. Took up dating. Tonight had been another first date failure. Stacy had been a sweet-tempered blonde, but his libido had kicked into overdrive before they’d even ordered appetizers.
On top of that, he’d imagined Daphne’s face instead of Stacy’s.
He couldn’t end the date fast enough. Yet he couldn’t go from dinner with Stacy to guarding Daphne. It wasn’t fair to either woman. So here he stood, under the sliver of a crescent moon, spying on her.
Usually, he patrolled by her house. Maybe he waited until she pulled the curtains back to glance over Main Street to drive by the B&B. But not tonight. As her silhouette melted away from the window, a strand of the magic tying them together frayed and snapped.
He should be glad that the ties connecting them were coming undone. Yet heartache dragged him down. He let the wild stag’s magic loose and ran through the trees faster than the wind.
Home was his only refuge. Because he wished with a whole heart for Daphne to be by his side.
Unfortunately, not all wishes came true.
When the Tree Falls
June 20, 2017
Lifestyle