The Portal to Sidhe: Book 3

by Kelsey Schaeffer

  “Will it hurt Grandma?”

  “No, not at all, but it may be a bit confusing at times. When we’re all done, we can help you learn how to use your magic.”

  “So I can fight?” Luke asked in excitement.

  I laughed and said, “Well you can use it for fighting, but so many other things as well.”

  “I’m excited!” Luke said as he quickly stood up and began pacing around.

  “That’s wonderful honey,” I said. “Magic can be a great thing, but you have to learn how to use if safely.”

  Luke nodded as Delia was mixing some potions on the table. She mixed a tube of yellow and one of light blue, and when they collided they created a soft pop as a light green smoke floated into the air.

  “Cool!” Luke cried as he clapped his hands.

  Luke had always been fascinated with magic, but he had seen very little, as magic classes didn’t begin until the age of sixteen on Sidhe.

  “I need you to drink this,” Delia said as she placed the glass tube in my son’s hands.

  Luke looked at the potion apprehensively as Delia said, “It might make you feel a little funny, but I promise you it’s safe.”

  Luke nodded his head as he quickly gulped down the green fluid. As he began to swallow the liquid, he made an icky face.

  “It’s okay, just keep going,” Delia soothed.

  When the fluid was gone, Delia placed her hands on Luke’s shoulders and softly began to chant. The lights in the room began to flicker as Delia began to scrunch her face and sighed in frustration. I could see the magic was much more difficult for her than she imagined.

  As blood began to drip from her nose she said, “Take my hand and place your other hand on his shoulder. I need to use your magic.”

  I nodded my head and did as she asked, and as soon as I was linked to her magic, I felt Luke’s power instantly penetrate into my hands.

  “Ah!” I cried in shock as I felt a drop of blood fall from my nose.”

  “Momma, are you okay?” Luke cried.

  “Shhh,” Delia whispered, “You must be silent.”

  Luke did as she asked, and soon, I could feel my son’s powerful magic thrust into my brain. With my eyes shut, I could see his dark powers drift from his body, into mine, through Delia and back into my son. Terrifying lightening storms lit up my brain as they pounded powerful, painful magic through my veins. I tried not to gasp or cry out, knowing this power lie inside my son, but the horrifying images shocked me and made me grasp onto Delia’s hand even harder. As my son’s power was thrust harder and harder into my mind, I could feel the blood pour from my nose and onto my son. I was overwhelmed with fear and anxiety and it took everything I had for me not to let go.

  “Momma!” Luke screamed as I felt Delia begin to tremble as she grasped my hand even harder. Her hand was shaking so hard, she could hardly hold on.

  I opened my eyes and quickly pulled away as Delia began to scream, and I felt tears pouring from my eyes. The emotional toll of my son’s magic had been too much for both of us. The horror inside of my son was more than I could bear yet alone explain. It took a moment, but she was finally able to calm down. When she came to her senses, she threw her hand across her mouth with horror written across her face. Luke began to sob in fear as he was covered in both Delia’s and my blood.

  “Oh my!” Delia cried as she began to pace. “Oh my!”

  “Delia what is it?” I asked as I wrapped my arms around my wailing son who was now covered in blood and petrified.

  “Oh my Miranda. Not here...not here.”

  I shook my head in confusion as I quickly used a towel to wipe the blood off my son. I left Delia pacing around in shock as I took my son to the bathroom to clean him up. Even through Luke was freaked out, it appeared that his grandmother was even more fearful by what she had saw.

  My son sensed as I grew calmer, which seemed to cause his tension to lessen. Once he had both settled down, I said, “Can you take a shower real quick?”

  Luke nodded his head, but he still looked frightened by his grandmother’s behavior. As I left the bathroom and heard the shower turn on, I knew I only had a few moments to find out what was going on, and when I returned to Delia, I could see she was still in shock by what had happened. She was still inside Luke’s cell, pacing around as she whispered nervously to herself.

  “Delia!” I cried out as I gently shook her shoulders. “Delia, we only have a few moments. Tell me what happened; what did you see?”

  She stopped pacing around and quickly gazed into my eyes as tears began to fall. She was still trembling hard so I reached out to take her hand and guided her to a chair for her to take a seat.

  “Delia what is it?” I asked again.

  “Oh Mirada, oh,” she wailed. “It’s bad Miranda, it’s so bad!”

  “What is it? Tell me!”

  She gazed sadly into my eyes and said, “Not only is he full of some of the most powerful dark magic I’ve ever seen, but Miranda...he’s vile.”

  Chapter 6

  I heard screaming, but I wasn’t sure where it was coming from. My mouth was wide open, but I didn’t know why. My hands were clenched so tight in ball that they were turning red and going numb. The world was silent; all except the sound of the scream—my scream.

  I saw her mouth moving, but I didn’t know what she was saying. All I could do was scream—scream until I couldn’t breath. Scream until I collapsed—until the entire world went black.

  I suddenly awoke, gasping for air. “Delia!” I screamed as I looked around, but she wasn’t there. I was in the bed I shared with Ben and he was sitting by my side.

  When he heard me yell out, he said, “Are you okay? You fainted, and Delia couldn’t wake you up. A vampire brought you back here.”

  “Who’s with Luke?” was all I could ask.

  “Nathen’s with him,” Ben paused. “Miranda, I know everything. Delia told me everything when they brought you here.” He sighed and looked as if he were in deep pain.

  “What do we do?” I whispered.

  Ben shook his head. “I don’t know Miranda. Your father knows more about superhumans than anyone else, but we can’t drag him into this…not with his heart condition.”

  “I know,” I said. “Nathen can help us. He is full superhuman and he was a warrior. He knows a lot about the vile.”

  Ben nodded his head. “I’m so glad they’re here. I don’t know what we would do without them through all this.”

  I nodded my head in return. “Who’s with Damon?” I asked.

  “Delia is,” he said. Then his face turned sour. “Miranda, we should keep this between the four of us for now—you, me, Nathen and Delia.

  I nodded my head again.

  “Damon can’t handle this,” Ben said, “and if Benny finds out—”

  “I know.”

  “We’ll get through this,” he said

  Over the next few days, Damon remained in bad shape, as his body withdrew the large amounts of alcohol he had consumed over the last several months. Between the alcohol withdrawals and the loss of his unborn child, his mind began to spiral down a large dark hole. Ben, Nathen, Delia and myself where exhausted as we divided our time between Damon and Luke. Whoever was left to spare, tried to care for my infant daughter Isabella, but there four of us were worn down, trying to keep my eldest son out of the picture. As our energy was wasted away on family ordeals, the clock was ticking on Desmorelda’s return, and our only plan so far was to build a giant army.

  Finally, after several weeks of burdening ourselves with a colossal secret, we decided it was time for the four of us to tell Benny the truth about Luke. For those several weeks, Alice was nearly neglected, as Isabella was given the minimal care, and we knew it was time to ask for help.

  Benny agreed to have dinner with the four of us that evening, as he assumed we would be discussing Luke’s release from the dungeon. Little did he know the bad news we would be sharing with him.

  Before dinner, the f
our of us rotated our duties as we had been doing for weeks. I would be staying with Damon until dinner, and Roger agreed to stay with him while the four of us were away. Roger knew of Damon’s condition, but he didn’t yet understand why Luke was still locked away in the dungeon; thankfully, he didn’t ask many questions.

  When I entered Damon’s room, he was sitting in his pajamas in bed, watching television—he appeared quite content. Although he seemed to be doing well, I knew he was still unstable.

  “Miranda.” he smiled when I entered his room, “I’m glad you’re here, but you know I don’t need a babysitter around the clock. I can take care of myself.”

  “I know, but you’ve been through a lot. We just want to be there for you if you need us,” I said lovingly.

  Damon looked at me in the most loving way as he gestured for me to sit by his side. Once I was in his bed next to him, he said, “Miranda, I’m sorry for the things I’ve done. I love you so much, and everything that happened…it wasn’t your fault. It was mine. I was bitter and angry…and it hurt that I lost a child, especially after we lost our child together so many years ago.” He paused, “Maybe it was for the best, because it brought me back to you.”

  “Oh Damon,” I cried, “it was such a horrible thing, and I’m so sorry. I never would have left you, not even if you fathered a child from another woman. Gabby and your baby could have taken the guest room. We could have made it work. You made it work with Ben and I.”

  “Oh Miranda, I love you,” he said as he gently kissed my lips. As he pressed his lips against mine, I allowed him to kiss me harder until his body was pushed against mine and I could feel his excitement pressing against me. “Give me a baby,” he whispered in my ear as he began tugging at my shirt. “Please Miranda, I want to put a baby in you.”

  “No…Damon,” I whispered, but I didn’t push him away as he gently tugged off my shirt and unhooked my bra. A thousand mixed feelings swam through my brain, as he pressed his mouth against my breasts. Soon, his fingers began to unzip my pants, while I moaned in pleasure from his kiss.

  I knew making a baby with Damon right now was a horrible idea, but it had been ten years since we had made love. Our chemistry had been locked away for years, but it hadn’t disappeared. On top of that, it had been weeks since I had made love with Ben, and my sexual yearning was stronger than ever.

  As his lips sent icy flames through my breasts, he quickly pulled off my underwear, leaving me completely undressed and craving his body more and more. As his lips found their way down my stomach, I moaned in delight as he pulled off his shirt. When he had kissed every inch of my body, he quickly undressed himself and climbed on top of me.

  “I’m going to put a baby in you,” Damon whispered into my ear as he slowly pressed himself into me. Although my mind was telling me to stop, I couldn’t. I cried out his name as he pressed himself into me again and again until he rolled away, panting from the thrill of our love.

  After a few moments of rest, he rolled back towards me and whispered, “I love you so much. I’ll never leave you again. I need you so much.”

  He softly kissed my neck, before he rolled back on top of me and made love to me again. I felt senseless as we made love over and over again, as if the two of us were brand new—hardly pausing to rest before we started again. Each time, I prayed a baby hadn’t been made, as Damon could hardly father the son he already had, but something inside of me wouldn’t allow me to quit. His body was seemingly a drug, impossible to resist.

  We made love again and again, until the two of us were soaked in sweat and exhausted with pleasure. Somewhere, I lost track of time, as my sanity was overcome by lovemaking, which had been absent for much to long.

  As I climbed on top of Damon, his strong hands held my waist. His gaze burned into mine, as he rocked me methodically to the beat of his soft moan. I felt entranced by his sexual energy, but suddenly, we both heard a thumping on his bedroom door and the sound of Ben’s voice calling our name.

  I quickly pulled off Damon as Ben’s voice had knocked me from my trance. Damon still mesmerized by our lovemaking whispered, “Don’t stop.”

  Before we even had a chance to anything more, Ben thrust open the door and caught us both completely exposed.

  “Miranda!” he gasped.

  “Ben, I’m so sorry,” I cried as I grabbed a sheet to cover Damon.

  “Uh…uh…I’m sorry…I didn’t realize—” He quickly turned away and said, “We’re supposed to meet Benny in five minutes.”

  “Oh no!” I cried. “I’m sorry Ben,” I said as I jumped out of bed—still completely naked—and ran to my closet. Ben followed behind me.

  “Miranda, you shouldn’t have done that,” Ben said as soon as he shut the closet door. “He’s not in the right mind.”

  “I know,” I said, “but I love him so much…and it’s been ten years. You and I…we haven’t even…”

  “I would have if you would have came to me.” He grew quiet as he looked at me carefully. Then he said, “Were the two of you even careful? We don’t need another child right now…not with everything—”

  “I know Ben, I know, and yeah we were careful,” I lied as I realized we hadn’t been careful at all. The two of us had been so drunk on our lust for one another, we could have easily made a baby. I could only hope Damon’s desire for another child hadn’t been made reality.

  I quickly showered and cleaned up the best I could before heading to the dining room to meet the others.

  I arrived to our dinner nearly fifteen minutes late, and completely out of breath. The others were already deeply engrossed in conversation as the sipped on wine. Feeling ashamed, I quickly took a seat as one of the servers poured me a glass of wine.

  “Miranda,” Nathen said with a glum look across his face, “We went ahead and told Benny everything. We assumed you were having problems with Damon and didn’t want to wait.”

  I nodded my head.

  “We were waiting for you before we got too far into a discussion,” Nathen said quietly. Then he continued to speak as he looked in my direction. “I don’t know as much about superhumans and vile as your father did, but I do know some.” I nodded my head as he continued to speak, “It isn’t typical for signs of vile to appear in a child. Usually a vile’s evil nature and special powers don’t begin to emerge until the vile is a late teen…eighteen…nineteen—sometimes even their early twenties.”

  “So what he did wasn’t because he was vile?” I asked, feeling unsure of anything.

  “That’s hard to say,” Nathen replied. “I think Luke’s emotion’s were very strong in that moment, and some of his feelings may have been inflated by vile feelings that are buried deep down inside. I think his strong emotions may have been enough to power his dark magic.”

  I nodded my head. “Gabby was hardly injured from the magic. He hit her just in the right spot. It had to be an accident,” I said as I tried to make every excuse for my son. “Luke couldn’t have known she was pregnant. I don’t think he wanted to kill the unborn child, let alone hurt Gabby. The baby was so tiny, and the magic was too much. It was a freak accident.”

  “I agree,” Ben said.

  “Freak accident or not,” Benny said boldly, “he’s dangerous. He may be my little brother…and I love him, but I have an entire realm to think about.”

  “What if we take away his vile…like you did with Taylor?” Ben suggested.

  “I don’t know,” I said. “It made Roger a mean, suicidal alcohol for many years, and it made Taylor so resentful and hateful, he married Desmorelda and became the King of Hell. I don’t know what’s worse.”

  Suddenly Nathen looked up as if an idea swept through his mind. “Miranda, I think I know what we can do,” he said quietly.

  I stared at him as I waited for him to continue.

  His eyes fluttered towards the table and he nervously took a drink of wine, as if he already knew I wouldn’t like his answer. As soon as he swallowed his drink, he said, “Please just
hear me out. I have an idea that would be good for everyone.”

  I was nervous to hear what he had to say, but at this point, I would listen to anything.

  Everyone stared at Nathen as he opened his mouth and said, “What if we send Luke with Desmorelda and Taylor to Hell—”

  “No!” Ben and I spoke at the same time.

  “I will never send my son to be with them!” I hissed.

  Benny and Delia looked reluctant, but didn’t say a word.

  “Miranda, Please just listen to me,” my father-in-law said.

  “Nathen, how can you even consider this? This is your grandson, your own flesh and blood. How can you even suggest this!” I cried out in disbelief.

  “I agree with Miranda,” Ben piped in. “How can you say this or even suggest something like this. This is your son’s only biological child. What’s wrong with you?” Ben said with a scowl across his face.

  “Let’s just listen to what he has to say,” Benny said. “It’s not ideal, but it won’t hurt to listen.”

  “Fine,” I said, but I felt both pain and anger boiling from within.

  Nathen looked at each of us as he said, “It’s not what I want—hell it isn’t what anyone wants—but taking his vile away may be just as bad as leaving it. We can’t take away his magic—there is not cure for that. We could keep in in the dungeon forever, but is that really what you want to do? Do you really think that is any kind of life?”

  I shook my head. Nathen was certainly right about that.

  “We can spend the next two and a half years finding a way to fix Luke without causing harm.” Nathen looked at Benny, “If it’s okay with Benny, maybe we could even let him out of the dungeon and enjoy the next few years.” He paused. “In the meantime, we can keep building and training our army, and finding a way to defeat Desmorelda and Taylor.” Nathen paused again as everyone sat on the edge of their chair, waiting for Nathen to go on. “If those two and a half years go by,” he said, “and we can’t find another way…we’ll choose Luke to go with Taylor and Desmorelda.” He looked at all of us and said, “At least, it’s a solution is we can’t find any other.”