by L E Gordon
“I am Rula, leader of my clan. Welcome, witches, do you look to join us?”
“It’s a generous offer, however we don’t seek to become one of you. We’re here to get answers. Some of our townspeople have been attacked and we want to know if you and your sisters have been looking for company there?” Cait replied, unimpressed by the glamourous creature in front of her.
“Shame, a witch or two in our clan would be most interesting. As for your humans, we took an oath, we are not allowed to kill them these days, witch.” Rula smirked, looking at her clan.
“I’m well aware of that and the fact that you are avoiding my question. Have you or your sisters been in our town, preying on the humans?” Again Cait let power into her voice, making Rula and the other Baobhan Sith flinch slightly. The Fae couldn’t openly lie and Cait’s air magic made it difficult for them to avoid the question too.
“We’ve been in your town. I think I came across your pet, fire witch, I could smell your magic all over him. I can see why you chose him. Under your scent he smelled delicious, and had a body that could have kept me busy for days,” Rula taunted Kenna, hoping to get her to break the protection of the circle. Kenna was quick to let her temper flare and pulled her hand into a fist, not to hit Rula, but to contain fire that would have risen in her palm, but never made a move to leave the circle. Instead she stepped forward and met Rula’s smirk with a smile that held the promise of violence.
Cait was getting angry at the Baobhan Sith’s refusal to answer her. The air was starting to rise round her, gently lifting her blonde hair from her shoulders so it looked like a halo round her head.
“I, Cait, Keeper of Air for this town demand that you answer my question. Have you preyed on any human under our protection?” The air, feeding off Cait’s anger, started to swirl round us all, blowing our hair and nudging our bodies.
Rula pulled her eyes from Kenna and turned once more to face Cait. “I have not preyed on your humans. They are beneath us, nothing better than cattle.”
“Then why are you here, knowing we are protectors of this land? You may not be feasting on the humans, but you disregard the old ways by not introducing yourselves or having an invite to remain on our lands. Had you approached us, a treaty could have been struck. As it stands, you have insulted our coven and made a veiled threat towards one of our mates. You are not welcome here any longer. Leave tonight or face the consequences of breaking the rules of etiquette.”
The vampires, shifted, looking towards their leader. Rula stared at Cait, realising she had made a grievous error. She had underestimated our knowledge of the Fae rules of hospitality and now Cait’s knowledge had found a way to get rid of them.
Rula hadn’t spoken to the coven before entering land under our protection. This breach was a serious loss of face for the Baobhan Sith, placing them in danger from us and other Fae if Cait decided to let word get round.
The leader of the clan stepped back and dropped her eyes to the ground, defeated, her sisters stepping closer, giving her protection and energy. It was as if her bravado had been a front and these powerful creatures were actually afraid to leave our lands.
“I apologise for my error, witch. It appears you know our ways better than most. Our kind has been feared and hunted for many years. We only wish to find a place to make our own, to be safe and free from persecution. May I petition your coven to allow us to stay, we will adhere to any demands you specify in a treaty.”
Cait glanced round at us. This was an unexpected turn from these fierce predators who would kill freely and turn any woman to grow their clan.
“That is not a decision I can make without the input of our coven, Rula. Your clan have broken the old ways, however you’ve not harmed any human under our protection. I will give you twenty four hours so I can discuss this matter with my sister witches. We will leave this circle now and no harm will come to anyone, witch or Baobhan Sith. Do you agree?”
Rula lifted her head, taking on a proud stance. “We agree, no harm will come to you. I am grateful for you considering our request. If you accept us to your lands we will swear alliance to your coven. There are greater threats than a few of us roaming these lands. We may both need each other’s help in days to come.”
Cait nodded and broke the circle, trusting the vampire to live up to her word. “We will meet here tomorrow night and give you an answer. In the meantime, stay out of the town and keep to your selves. The air will bring me news if you do not follow this request.”
She turned her back on Rula in a show of dominance and walked towards the car. We followed in her wake, eager to be inside the safety of the metal.
Once we were seated I glanced back to see the women had vanished into the night and breathed a sigh of relief. “Cait, I didn’t know you had it in you! That was quick thinking. Now what do we do about them and what is the threat she is talking about? Do you think she meant in general or is there something we should look out for?”
Cait slumped a little in the seat, tired from the use of her magic and holding her own against Rula. “I’m not sure about a threat, but she had fear in her voice when she spoke about it. Maybe something is happening and we’ve yet to hear about it. Let’s get out of here. I don’t know about you, but I need a glass of wine after that. I really thought we were going to have a fight on our hands.”
Flora drove us back the way we came. A sense of relief filled the car and we were all glad to get back to her house to debrief. Flora took us through to kitchen to grab food and wine and shooed her kids out so we could talk in peace.
“So, ladies, do we let the vamps stay, or do we kick them off our lands?”
Chapter twelve
Kenna had spoken what we were all thinking, do we let the Baobhan Sith stay on our lands or not? I turned to Cait, interested in her input, knowing she had more background on the Fae than we did.
“What do you think, Cait? We could have kicked them off there and then. You must have had something in mind when you gave them twenty four hours,” I asked, wondering about the reason behind her generosity towards the clan.
“Well, the fact they mentioned a greater threat made me concerned. They don’t lie, but I wonder what kind of threat is out there. They could mean a simple threat to them, or it could be something we all need to be aware of. If it’s a big bad, we need allies, and they would be good to have at our backs in a fight. I need to reach out and see if any of my Fae contacts have any information.”
Cait was cagey about who she knew, but occasionally she would make contact with someone in one of the courts to find out what was going on. We didn’t push her on who it was, as she seemed to know what she was doing and never came to any harm.
“What about everyone else? Personally, any type of vampire gives me the creeps, but you already know that, and I’d rather not have them here for everyone’s safety. Kenna, Flora, which way are you leaning?” I asked, hoping that tomorrow we would say goodbye to the Baobhan Sith for good.
Kenna was first to answer. “I can see the benefit of having them on our side and owing us a favour, but does it outweigh the risk of having them live on land under our protection? If they aren’t drawing sustenance from humans, how are they feeding? Are farmers’ livestock going to be targeted, because that is not an option; they have it hard enough without losing animals to vampires.”
Flora nodded, “I hate to say it but I think we have to know what threat is roaming and if we’re in any danger before we make any decision. Cait, will you be able to speak to your contact before tomorrow night?”
“I think so. I’ll go home now and try to get in touch with them. I should know more first thing so we can make a decision there. Are we leaving the choice to us or speaking to the coven about this?” Cait asked.
She had a good point, normally we made the choices on how things were run, because for the most part there was very little change required. However, this was a big call, having dangerous creatures living on our lands by invitation could literally com
e back to haunt us.
“We have the deciding vote, but the coven has the right to make their opinions heard. Time to get on the phones, ladies, we meet here at five pm tomorrow. Don’t tell them anything apart from a coven vote is required, all information will be presented to them tomorrow night. If they don’t have time to form a bias then we will get a fair vote. In the meantime, put together all the arguments you can and we will meet at four pm to go through everything so we can present an even argument for and against.” Flora took charge and we were all relieved that it wasn’t just us making this choice for all the people under our care.
“Sounds good, I’ll be here at four. Ladies, I am tired out. I’m sure you are too so I’m going home to kiss my kids and snuggle with Michael. Sleep well, and good luck with the Fae, Cait. If anything big happens give us all a call.” I picked up my jacket and headed out to my car, fully aware that glowing eyes could be following my every move in the darkness.
I was glad to get into my own house and close the door, grateful for the wards keeping all my family safe from any unwanted visitors, humans or otherwise. Michael was still up but the twins were sleeping so I tip toed into their room to give them each a kiss while the kettle was boiling for some tea. Taking a minute, I gazed on their sleeping faces, my heart full and my spirit ready to do battle with anything that might cause them harm. Thankfully tonight was not that night and the tension I had been carrying started to seep away.
Back in the kitchen, I got down one of my favourite tea blends to help me relax and sleep well after being face to face with a deadly Fae and gave Michael the rundown on what happened at the castle.
“It’s unusual for the Baobhan Sith to ask for help, Tarn. They’re formidable warriors when it comes to it and there is little that they fear. Maybe there’s something else out there that needs to be addressed? I’ve not heard anything from the pod, but a threat on land may not be one that would worry my people. You need to think hard before banishing them. I know there is no love lost between you and any vampire, but they would be strong allies should the need arise.”
“I know and I’m trying to put my prejudice aside. Cait is contacting the Fae tonight to see what she can find out; we’ll know more tomorrow. I’m going to sleep on it and, if the goddess is willing to share her wisdom, I hope to get some insight through my dreams. Join me in bed, my love, I need the comfort of your body beside me tonight.”
It took a long time for me to drift off, but once I did I fell into a deep sleep. I dreamed of having a vampire behind me, my pulse quickening in my sleep, but it wasn’t for fear of the vampire. She was fighting with me, protecting my back as I protected hers against something unseen. Together we defended each other. I used my magic and had a silver athame in one hand and an iron one in the other. She had her deadly talons extended and her eyes glowed bright green in the dark, but who we were fighting remained a mystery. I woke with a start, not sure if what I had experienced was a dream from the goddess or a vision. Either way I knew what we had to do.
Cait answered her phone on the second ring, “They need to stay Cait. I had a dream or a vison last night of one of the Baobhan Sith fighting beside me against something I couldn’t see. It felt real, Cait, something is coming.”
“I agree, my contact said it would be good for us to have a strong ally, they wouldn’t say why but I trust their word. Time to put it to the coven, Flora and Kenna were in favour of them staying so this will cement it. I have to go to work, but I’ll see you tonight.” With that she hung up and a sense of calm came over me, knowing we were doing the right thing.
I pottered about getting breakfast and the kids dressed for the day then headed off to the shop. I was mixing tea when the doorbell tinged, letting me know I had a customer. I dusted my hands off on the apron I was wearing and went through the front, delighted to see Kenna in the shop.
“Merry Met Kenna, how are you after last night?”
“Merry Met Tarn, I’m OK, Cait phoned and told me about your dream. I’m with you I think they should stay. If they meant harm they could have caught us off guard last night but they didn’t make any move to attack us, even before we were in the circle. They would have known we were there as soon as we drove through the gates. Anyway I’m not here to talk about them, we still need to figure out who is attacking the people in town. We were so distracted last night we didn’t talk about that.”
She was right, the whole reason we had gone there was to see if they were the attackers, which they weren’t so our original problem was still looming, even with a new potential issue coming our way.
“I’ll put some tea on.” Tea was my answer to everything, it would help clear our minds and focus on the task at hand, although I was almost out of ideas to what could be stalking the men in our community.
Two mugs of hot tea in hand I went back to the shop and placed on in front of Kenna and sat down beside her. I had a small seating area where people could browse books, drink tea and on the odd occasion get their tarot cards read.
“I have no idea where we look next Kenna, any suggestions?” I was hoping the fire witch had an epiphany overnight and knew exactly who was causing trouble.
“Let’s go back over what we know. Kira is somehow linked to the energy. Bobby saw a woman, but seemed unharmed. Joe and Scott were bitten, Joe lives near the harbour and Scott works on the fishing boats. I still think it is a water creature, that’s the only link. Can you close up the shop? We need to walk from Bobby’s to your sisters and see if we find any more clues.”
Closing the shop wasn’t a problem, I was only open a half day today so I could go after lunch.
Closing the shop wasn’t a problem - I was only open a half day today so I could go after lunch.
“I close at twelve o’clock and we can go then. I’ll pick you up, we can have a quick lunch and I can change clothes and pick up some supplies. I really hope we can figure this out. There could be bigger fish to fry soon.”
Kenna agreed and headed out to make the most of her morning. I closed up at 12 and went straight to Kenna’s renovated warehouse to take her to my house. Michael had made soup and sandwiches and it was easy to add a few more sandwiches to the plate for Kenna. I quickly changed into a heavy jumper and walking boots and grabbed a backpack from the back door and put in water, some salt, crystals, and a notebook.
“Let’s go, the sooner we start the sooner we might find out what this thing is.” We walked out the back door, through my garden and on to the path that ran above the high tide mark. To anyone looking we were simply two friends out on an afternoon walk, enjoying the autumn sunshine.
Our first stop was near Kira’s house. I pulled up my second sight as we drew close to see if any magic was visible. Kira’s circle had faded and the blue magic near it was gone as well. Nothing fresh was showing here so we continued on our way.
It was a mile until the harbour and we had stopped regularly along the way to check for magic, with no success. The harbour was a different matter though. We were on the opposite side of it, but even from here we could see there were traces of blue magic near the boat ramp leading into the town.
I turned to Kenna, making sure she could see the lines as well. “This must be how she’s coming in, Kira’s house seems to be where she was first drawn. Kira had a sexual experienced during her circle that night, maybe that drew the creature to land? It was disappointed at finding no one so ventured closer to town.”
“That’s a good theory. Do you know of any water creature drawn to that kind of energy?”
“Maybe an Undine, a water elemental. If they marry a man they gain an immortal soul, but Undines aren’t known for biting. The only other creature it could be is another Selkie, but Michael doesn’t know of any round here and he is out swimming most nights so he would have come across them.”
“Is there any way to test for their different magic? Maybe we can narrow it down to one of them and figure it out from there?” Kenna’s suggestion made sense.
“I can try, but I have to be at the harbour to test for it. I think there is a bench over there we could sit on so we don’t look too suspicious.”
It took us another fifteen minutes to walk round to the harbour itself. Spotting the bench, we walked over and sat down. I took the bottle of salt out of my bag and poured a circle round the seat to keep us safe while I tested for magic. Kenna had brought her camera and was sitting taking photos of the boats, making it look like we actually had a purpose.
While she was providing cover for us being there I sat down and closed my eyes. I reached out with my water magic and felt traces of the female’s magic in the concrete. She was definitely from the water, but was she a Selkie or an Undine?
Being with Michael for so long I was familiar with what a Selkie’s magic felt like, and this didn’t have the same sensation about it. It was cold, fluid, and pure. Michael’s magic felt warm and had a duality to it from each of his selves. My question was answered. We were dealing with an Undine.
I opened my eyes and was about to tell Kenna what I could sense when my cousin Dougie appeared with his fishing gear. We were related through my dad’s side of the family so Dougie didn’t have any magic, but was familiar with what went on in the town and could be trusted with some of the information, including Michael not being entirely human.
“Hi, Tarn, Kenna! What are you doing hanging about here? Come to join me in a spot of fishing?” Dougie laughed at the thought of us sitting quietly for several hours trying to entice fish onto our lines.
“Not happening any time soon, cuz, but maybe you can help me? Have you seen anything strange in the harbour recently?”
“Apart from you two?”
Laughing I replied, “Yes, apart from us.”
“I’ve seen a seal a couple of times, thought it might be Michael but it didn’t approach me so probably a wild one. I did see something out of the corner of my eye the other day. It looked like a woman swimming under the water, but when I turned it was gone. I figured it was just a shadow, or the seal swimming by.”