“And don’t worry,” I say reassuringly. “This does not count as our first date.”
“Eeeewwww,” Summer groans. “Please stop flirting with my mom.”
Before Destiny could scold her, I bark out a laugh. I really like this kid. If she has magic like her mother when she is older, she will be a force to be reckoned with.
“Come on Summer,” Destiny urges. “Go hop in the shower, okay?”
“What about you?” Summer asks with concern. “You need to lay down.”
“I know baby cakes. I will take a shower downstairs and you can go upstairs. Okay?”
Summer barrels into her mom’s arms, wrapping her pencil-thin arms around her. I try not to focus on their Kodak moment. I have a job to do. Whatever becomes of them is not my concern. Besides, Destiny is about to become the most powerful magi in the world. So, who knows how everything will play out?
Summer slowly withdraws from her mother’s embraces and runs upstairs. Destiny waits until she hears the door slam before attempting to get on her feet. Instantly, I’m up to catch her just as she stumbles.
“Damn it,” she curses struggling to stand unassisted. “This is ridiculous.”
“Perhaps you should try a bath instead of the shower,” I suggest. “The warm water will relax you and the last thing you need is for the paramedics having to return because you lost your balance and fell in the shower.”
“You know? You are right. Bath it is.”
I watch her stumble through the hall to the bathroom, and upon hearing the hard rush of water filling the tub, I get up to make myself acquainted with the kitchen. Locating the coffee mugs, she keeps in the upper top shelf, I grab a black one and fill it with the crushed herb of a specialized magic plant, called the Illuminous Nocturna. The blue and black leaves of this plant are dried and crushed and used for all sorts of healing, including the removal of curses. But this herb is especially known for assisting with Awakenings. Once she sips this, her magic will come into full bloom and then it will be on to my next move.
****
Destiny
I add more than the suggested amount of bath salt into the tub, and my favorite almond milk and honey bath soak. Stripping down to nothing, I examine my five feet, seven-inch frame, inspecting the scattered stretch marks and the one dark mole on my left thigh that seemed to appear out of nowhere. Once the tub is full, I step in and sigh with relief as the warm water envelopes me. The milky water against my honey brown skin soothes my tight, achy muscles and I relax. I still can’t believe Erick is here—in my house. He drove me home after witnessing me puke my guts out and then came back to make sure I was okay. Could this be fate? Sinking deeper into the water I try not to think about the headaches…God, the pain. Just the thought of the searing hot pain sent shivers to my soul.
The headaches began when I was sixteen. I collapsed in the middle of history class as I was presenting my research on the First World War. I woke up hours later, hooked up to monitors with the serious expression of a neurosurgeon looking down at me. His team ran all sorts of tests on me. Nothing. The episodes were severe but never resulted in brain damage. There were no telltale signs of aneurysms, or tumors. They were stumped. All of my tests came back normal. Then the second major attack happened, when I was twenty-one and almost eight months pregnant with my daughter. I had fallen down in the middle of Ralph’s grocery store. Later, I woke up in another hospital bed, surrounded by monitors and the worried expressions of the medical staff. Tests were run again. And yet, my daughter was as healthy as ever, and so was I.
The common denominator with each attack is always her face. The beautiful woman who I feel is somehow watching me- haunting me really. I never mentioned her to anyone because it was bad enough that I suffered from extreme migraines, the last thing I needed was for a psych doctor to be called onto the scene, too. But she appeared, in every single one of my episodes, followed by visions of a place, or maybe an unknown country – definitely unlike any world I have ever seen or heard of – rich with ethereal beauty. I’ve seen flashes of crystal blue green waters that merge with the night sky. Strange creatures that litter the lands and sky. Magic. Magic is everywhere. And then the vision ceases, and I am overwhelmed with dizziness and extreme nausea.
Reaching for my loofa, I squeeze out a glob of my 1000 Wishes bath gel from Bath and Body Works and begin lathering up. Could any of the visions and the headaches somehow be connected?
A soft rap on the door startles me. “Yes?”
“Pizza is on its way, and your tea is almost ready,” Erick tells me from the other side of the door.
“Okay. Thanks,” I say. “I will be out in a minute.”
I move as quickly as my limbs allow me to, and within thirty minutes I’m fresh faced in a pair of sweats and a tank with a white robe wrapped around me. Summer creeps down the stairs when she hears me emerge from the bathroom. The smell of fresh pepperoni pizza is too much for her to deny. Erick is seated with his legs crossed on the couch carefully eating a slice over a paper plate. He obviously learned his way around my kitchen quickly. He sees me and gets up, abandoning the half-eaten pizza on the coffee table, and waits for me to take a seat on the bar stool.
“Here,” he says handing me a black coffee mug. “This will make you feel better.”
“Thanks,” I say inhaling the sweet aroma. “What kind of tea is this?”
“It’s a combination of herbs, that’s all,” Erick told me. “But it works. Trust me.”
I take a sip and the flavor is amazing. Like a light citrus combo that tastes something like orange, strawberry and mango. I’d never tasted anything like it before.
“Mmmm,” I say, this time taking in a huge gulp. “This is delicious. You gotta teach me how to make this tea.”
Erick smiled. “If I teach you then I might have to kill you.”
“Well don’t teach her then,” Summer added, glaring at him. I shake my head. My child can be a handful sometimes.
“Summer,” I say firmly. “It was a joke.”
Summer continues to glare at Erick, who smiles back at her, before she returns to her pizza.
“I’m glad you like the tea,” Erick says softly. “You are going to feel much better.”
I take another gulp. Good lord this is some good tea. “I’m starting to feel better already.”
Erick studies me, but not in the way that makes me feel tingly, but in a way that is almost clinical.
“Tell me more about these headaches,” he says, leaning on the counter. His large muscled arm captures my attention. Strange markings lined his deltoids, extending well below his biceps to his forearm.
“They started when I was sixteen, and happened off and on throughout the years,” I inform him.
“All done!” Summer announces, balling up her napkin and sliding down from her seat at the dining table.
“Alright baby,” I chirp. “Time for bed.”
Summer groaned, but nonetheless slid down from the high dining chair with her napkin in hand and tossed it in the trash.
“But what about my report?” She asked as she walked by me.
“We will talk about that in the morning Summer,” I sigh. “We still have another two weeks before it is due.”
“Okay. G’night mom.”
“I will be up shortly to tuck you in,” I announce. My voice more than likely fell on deaf ears as she scurried up the stairs to her room.
Suddenly I feel extremely relaxed. Too relaxed. Like I just had the best sex of my life relaxed. Like I had three glasses of wine and a valium relaxed. I try to shake off the sensation, but my mind and body seem to be set for a journey across the sea of slumber.
“You know what Erick?” I say, fighting back a yawn. “I cannot appreciate you enough for what you’ve done.”
“No need to thank me,” he says coolly. “You should lie down. The tea is working.”
I slide off the barstool and almost trip, but Erick catches me before I hit the ground.
&n
bsp; “You’re great at that,” I mumble as he guides me to the couch.
“Good at what?”
“Catching me,” I say before I crawl onto my cushiony sofa, curling underneath the blanket that I had discarded there earlier before I’d left.
“I am about to head on out,” Erick announces. “I will call you in the morning to check on you, okay? And stay home tomorrow.”
I barely understand what he is talking about because sleep pulls me under. The last thing I remember is the sound of the door closing and the pull of a voice unfamiliar to that of any I’ve heard before.
I should have asked what was in that tea.
Chapter Fiv e
Erick
A part of me regrets leaving Destiny alone after she fell asleep, but if I am going to earn this woman’s trust, I can’t be the creepy coworker who stayed longer than I should have. Granted it is apparent the woman likes me-trusts me more than she should. But her daughter is more observant than I originally thought. That eleven-year-old does not trust me at all. It’s written all over her face when she is near me. It’s in her voice. She bristles upon contact as if her instincts recognize me for what I am. But then again, she may be like any other child of a single mother who is overprotective of the seemingly only parent they have. Either way, it was for the best that I left.
Instead of summoning another Uber driver, I walk home. I only live a few blocks away from Destiny which is mind blowing in itself because she and I have worked at the same agency for the last year but have only mingled a few times here and there. I’d long suspected that she was the one, but there are some humans that carry a very small amount of magic in their blood that has been diluted through the generations. There would have been no way for me to know for sure until her Awakening. And I arrived just in time.
I kept a close, watchful eye on her and for the most part she presented nothing but human traits. No such signs of magical ability whatsoever, which makes things more interesting. I wonder what kind of power she will wield once her Awakening is complete. And to think I almost gave up on her, preparing to move to another city where I could try my luck. But my gut instinct told me to stick close to her.
I failed the last time and it cost me dearly.
A shudder rolls through me and I keep walking. It has been twenty years since my departure from Mercuria. I vowed upon my return I would have the key to saving our people. However, it has become evident that time is running out. I examine my palms which now flicker with a soft purple glow. Even without my power, I can tell that magic wanes. My thoughts drift back to Destiny. The fate of our people rests with her. Hell, my fate as a Magi and as a male stripped of his power is in her hands. Stuffing my hands in my pockets, I continue walking, bypassing the row of one-story homes that lined the quiet neighborhood.
For twenty years I survived among humans-without magic. For twenty years I searched, not knowing what to look for; not knowing what she looked like, only knowing that Mercury, upon his dying breath secreted a child away into the human world, masking her magic so that his enemies would not find her. He knew upon his deathbed that his kingdom would not survive without the magic from his blood, and as his final “fuck you” to the powerful Drainer, he conveniently forgot to inform her that without his magic to sustain us, everything he built will disappear with him.
Unless we had his heir.
I almost laugh at the lunacy of it all. That’s why Mercury never wanted direct descendants. The five tribes are all descendants of gods that no longer reside in the physical realm. Mercury was the only god that preferred to rule in the physical world despite the many warnings from the other gods. He created a kingdom, a world for the descendants of the other gods to thrive. His power strengthens our own by allowing our magic to flow freely from us. We worked together to build upon his empire. Those of us with destructive powers such as Death and Disease, Elemental, and Mind have been used for military strength. They fight and defend my people from the legions of the dark realms who wish to take our magic. Those with healing abilities are our doctors. The strongest of the Healers work in the palace and service others in high ranking positions. The rest of us are an eclectic mixture of Drainers, Cursers, Botanists and Animals, and Shifters.
I’m a Curse, or at least I was until my powers were stripped from me. My only means of self-defense are the magical dagger that is laced with the power of Death, and of course my wits and fighting skills. That’s it. I have been neutered. They might as well have chopped my balls off and stuck them in pickle jar.
But if I do not bring back Destiny and turn her over to the powers that be, she will not be the only one being hunted. As a matter of fact, it would not surprise me that the Queen has already sent out her henchmen to collect both myself and Destiny. I just hope I have enough time to bring her back to Mercuria first.
****
Destiny
I wake up to the sound of the television blaring and my daughter seated on the carpet, dressed and ready for school. I sit up and throw the blanket off of me and look around for signs that it is still early enough for us to make it on time.
“It’s nine o’clock,” Summer tells me.
“Damn it!” I jump up. “Why didn’t you wake me up?”
“I did!” Summer shouted. “But you wouldn’t wake up. And you were talking in your sleep again.”
I run my palm through my messy hair. “What do you mean ‘again’?”
“You talk in your sleep a lot,” Summer shrugged and then returned her attention to the television. Disney’s Descendants were on for the millionth time, but Summer watched it with the same enchantment as she did when it first aired.
“I’m sorry Summer. Are you upset that you won’t make it to school today?” I walk over to the dining table where my purse sat, opened and ready for me to dig through.
“Not really. They are only going to serve that nasty ‘Build Your Own Pizza’, and then we have a test today.”
“Well it looks like you lucked out darling,” I say as I successfully grab my cell phone. Thankfully there is enough battery for me to make a call to work.
Plopping down on the seat, I dial my work number and am instantly connected to the H.R. department for Cindy, the main person in human resources, and just the woman I needed to speak to with answers.
“This is H.R.,” she says softly into the phone.
“Good morning Ms. Carmichael this is Destiny Johnson,” I begin. Cindy is the sweetest person I know so this should not be a problem. Plus, I do not have much of a call off history.
“Good morning Destiny! You sound so much better,” Cindy tells me, sounding relieved.
“Huh?”
“Erick called in for you this morning and informed us that you were violently ill, so ill that he had to drive you home yesterday.”
I cringe at the memory. “I was and he did.”
“I spoke to Mr. Crawford and he approved two days off to recover. Well basically, you have four, today, tomorrow and the weekend.”
“Oh wow. Okay. That was nice of him,” I say, still trying to wrap my mind around the fact that Erick had notified H.R on my behalf.
“Migraines can be a beast,” Cindy continues. “My daughter suffers from those terrible headaches so I understand how you must feel. Drink tea and get plenty of rest. We will see you on Monday.”
We exchange farewells before disconnecting the call. Speaking of tea, whatever was in that tea that Erick gave me last night worked wonders. I don’t feel terrible at all. I mentally assess myself, noting no hint of nausea, or minor throbbing in my temples. Before, even when the attacks were over, it took days to recover. Days. And here I am feeling like a million bucks. Maybe better than a million bucks. More like a trillion.
My phone powers off and I dump it on the table and stand up and stretch. I haven’t felt this great in a long time. I feel like I can run a marathon. What the heck is in that tea?
I have two days off, and it looks like I will not have to spend the next four
days recovering, Summer and I could hang out. As I ponder on what kind of activities my child and I could get into, my house phone startles me out of my thoughts.
“Who the hell could this be?” I ask myself as I rush over to the sofa and lean across the arm of the couch to answer it.
“Hello?” I say as soon as the cordless phone touches my ear.
“Hello,” came a deep male voice. “Is this Destiny Johnson?”
“Yes…”
“This is John from 123DNA,” he says casually. Even though his tone is upbeat and friendly, there is something behind that mask that I instantly do not trust.
“Okay…how can I help you?”
“Well we wanted to ask you a few questions. You recently used one of our kits, correct?”
“Correct.”
“But our results are showing inconclusive, which never happens unless you contaminated the swab. Did you accidentally touch the swab with something else…like did you place it on a messy countertop or-“
“No. I did as I was instructed and put it directly into the plastic container and sealed it immediately.”
The man continues to speak, but his words are drowned out by the sudden loudness of the television. I open my mouth to tell my daughter to turn it down, but stopped at the sound of the quick knock on the door.
“Would you like to redo the test?” I hear the man ask politely. “It would be free of charge.”
“Actually, I would like my money back,” I grumble into the receiver as there are knocks at the door again. “Hold on one second…Just a minute!” I yelled after covering the speaker.
“Ma’am,” the man begins apologetically. “We cannot do that. It’s just the results of your test are not normal. It’s placing you with an ‘origin not found’ and-”
“Listen sir,” I quickly say. “I have to go. I appreciate the offer, but the only reason why I even paid for that stupid test in the first place was for my daughter’s school project and look at how that turned out.”
The Lost Queen- Mercury's Heir Page 3