The Relentless Warrior

by Rachel Higginson

“I’m not trying to manipulate you; I’m trying to help you. Give it a shot; if it doesn’t work or if you hate it, we will stop. But Olivia, something tells me you would enjoy being able to destroy things with just a wave of your hand. There is a small chance you might like your new Magic.” He leaned forward so our faces were just a few inches apart and grinned wickedly at me.

  “Fine,” I growled accepting the fact that, okay, I might like being able to blow things up with a flick of my fingers. And being able to harness this alien power could potentially put me on equal footing with the monsters that did this to me. I couldn’t rain down revenge on them with the fury of a thousand suns without some kind of bodily upgrade. My physical prowess went as far as finishing a half-marathon last spring. And while I liked to think I dominated in the middle of the pack, eight minute miles didn’t exactly mean I was conditioned to be Robocop. “But I’m only doing this for O. I might be able to help her, if she ever wakes up…. I could help her transition.”

  “Thatta girl,” Jericho beamed at me. He closed what little distance lay between us and physically moved me in front of his Queen.

  The Queen that had no regal grace or royal pretentiousness.

  She was shockingly ordinary- almost unnervingly so; especially after being around so many of these people that weren’t normal.

  It was almost hard to remember that she was royal. She smiled too easily, laughed too loudly and seemed way too friendly. I caught myself gaping at her several times, wondering what brand of Monarchy raised their future royals with the same kind of barely-existent manners my siblings and I shared. Her husband was well on his way to winning Pretentious Snob of the Year, but Eden would never be mistaken for the ruler of a nation outside of her own people.

  Jericho leaned in murmuring his words directly in my ear, “Not knowing what to do with the energy inside you is something neither Kiran nor I can relate to. Magic is as natural to us as breathing. But Eden knows what it’s like to struggle to use it, to remember it’s available to her. She’ll be able to walk you through this and help you. I promise.”

  I sucked in a deep breath and nodded slowly. Truthfully, I was only doing this for Ophelia. I had no interest in becoming familiar with whatever was setting my blood on fire.

  “Do you think learning how to use it will make it somehow more permanent?” I asked in a strangled voice. The idea that something foreign and inhuman was mixing with my blood started to sink in- like all the way in. Hysteria was rising to the surface and I was about forty-five seconds from puking. “I mean, I don’t want to try to use it if I can’t get rid of it later.”

  “Do you truly not want the realm of Magic at your disposal?” The King/Kiran asked incredulously.

  “I truly do not want… to be like you.” I couldn’t even use the word “magic.” Too weird. “I want to go back to normal.”

  He stared at me like I was the alien and an arrogant smirk tilted his full lips. Could he be more conceited? I stifled an eye roll.

  “You’re disgusted by us?”

  “Freaked out,” I clarified. “But more importantly, I’m human and I intend to stay human. I didn’t ask for this. I didn’t enlist. I just want my sister to get better and then I want to go back home. That’s it.”

  “Incredible,” Kiran mused. He turned to his wife and raised his eyebrows, “Couldn’t we just take her Magic? That would solve everything.”

  Eden pursed her lips and Jericho’s grip on my shoulders tightened.

  “We could try,” Eden replied.

  “Not you, Love,” Kiran grabbed her wrist when she took a step towards me. “Not with the pregnancy. I’ll do it. Or Jericho? If you’re up for it.”

  Jericho stiffened behind me and replied with a short, “I’m up for it.” I spun back around to face him, already trembling. I felt sick, terrified of the process in which I would have to lose the Magic. It was hell going into my blood… I didn’t want to think about what it would feel like to come out of my skin. “Are you sure you want to get rid of the Magic?” Jericho asked levelly. “It’s not all bad, Liv. We’re not all like the men that did this to you.”

  I smiled shakily and nodded. “I’m not scared,” I deflected. “I just… it didn’t feel so great going in. I’m nervous.”

  Jericho’s brow furrowed and he stepped into me. “I don’t blame you for being nervous, but I won’t hurt you, not like Terletov did. Actually, to take the Magic out is a very simple process.”

  “Oh, really?” I didn’t believe him, but I just wanted to get on with this.

  “Really,” he promised. “Just don’t fight me and I’ll be able to absorb everything in a matter of minutes.”

  “Will it hurt you?” I whispered. Stupid question. Of course it would! For the first time I wasn’t afraid of how I would feel. Thinking Jericho would have to go through what I went through in those bright, scientific labs made my stomach churn. I wouldn’t wish that on anyone, not even one of the nicer Immortals.

  Jericho smiled at me- a little patronizingly. He lifted his strong hand and cupped my jaw gently. “No, Liv. It won’t hurt. This is what we do. This is our weapon against each other. You’ll feel the Magic leave your body, and I’ll feel the power added to mine. But it won’t hurt since we’re not fighting. Alright?”

  I jerked my chin out of his hand and glanced away. He thought he was helping. He was not, in fact, helping.

  He was kind of pissing me off.

  “Sure, Jericho. It won’t hurt.” But, I knew that it would.

  Jericho took a step back and his eyes did that narrowing-crinkling thing again. He didn’t like that I pulled away from him. He expected me to trust him unconditionally. Silly boy.

  “Ready?” he asked.

  I nodded and then braced myself for… for whatever was about to happen. I slid my feet to shoulder-width apart, I shoved my hands deep into the tight pockets of my skinny jeans. I cracked my neck by snapping it to the side quickly and then I waited.

  Jericho’s palm reached out toward me, stiff and alive with energy. I could feel his “Magic” pop and crackle in the air around me, slowly move around the room in a swirling wheel of intent until I was the epicenter of his entire focus.

  I had never felt another person’s energy field so strongly before. Sure, there were moments when I could swear Jericho’s Magic was communicating with the live wire that replaced my blood. But this was different. This was a palpable force that lit the room on fire with intensity and lightning-like sparks.

  My breath stuttered in my chest, a true feeling of panic ripping through me from toes to hips, from the pits of my stomach to my tingling scalp. I closed my eyes and counted to ten, hoping I could at least hold it together until something actually happened.

  But I could feel him everywhere! I could feel him in every blood vessel, in my molecules and atoms, in the bits and pieces of whatever made up those basic elements. His Magic wrapped around me like a mummy’s gauze, closing in like the lid of a coffin, suffusing me in blinding, suffocating confusions like being plunged to the ocean’s depths.

  I could feel his Magic tightening in on me like murderous hands around a delicate throat.

  And then we collided. I kept my body as relaxed and vulnerable as I could but I couldn’t stop the scream from tearing out of my chest as soon Jericho’s Magic attacked mine.

  I felt the pull, the torturous yank as he struggled to rip the foreign entity out of my skin. My blood boiled beneath the skin, my newly-acquired alien instincts screamed at me to fight back and whatever inhuman species had been planted inside me dug down roots and refused to let go.

  The onslaught of riotous sensations went as fast as they came. One moment I was stiff, shrieking and blind with pain and panic; the next I was in a crumpled heap on the ballroom floor, swiping at unwanted tears and thanking God I hadn’t peed my pants.

  Sure, Magic was uncomfortable.

  But an out of control bladder was simply unforgivable.

  I forced myself to face the room, pulli
ng in confidence and composure from some place outside of me, because I had neither of those things in any great supply. I blinked away the remains of blurry tears and came face to face with Jericho.

  Because he was also on the floor.

  “Shit, Olivia,” he growled with a roughened voice. “I’m so sorry.”

  “It’s fine,” I whispered. “But I told you so.”

  A small smile twitched the corner of his mouth, “I’ll never doubt you again.”

  “Jericho, are you alright?” Kiran asked from above.

  “I’m fine,” Jericho mumbled in that voice that sounded like he’d been a smoker for the last forty years.

  “You don’t look fine,” Eden said. She walked over to us and squatted down next to Jericho. Putting a comforting hand on his shoulder, she forced him to look at her. “Seriously, are you alright?”

  “Her Magic is immovable,” Jericho sighed, dodging Eden’s question. “That was the most painful thing I’ve ever felt. There is no way to remove that from her body manually.”

  “Manually?” I snorted, but nobody was listening to me.

  “Did it hurt to connect? Or just when you tried to remove it?” Kiran loomed over us, his arms crossed and his eyes tracking every one of his wife’s movements.

  “Everything felt fine, felt… normal, until I tried to syphon her Magic. She seemed just like any other Immortal. Her Magical current is strong and answers easily. But the minute I tried to manipulate it, it lashed out against me. I don’t even think she knew what was happening.”

  Three sets of eyes swung towards me. I shrugged and shook my head.

  “I want to try,” Eden met my gaze and held it.

  I tried not to shiver against the blackness of her eyes. It just wasn’t natural. She belonged in a horror movie. I mean, logically, I knew she was nice, or, er, nice enough. But meeting her coal black eyes made me feel like at any moment she was going to flip over and start walking on her hands and feet with drool dripping down her chin.

  “No,” Kiran said firmly. “You saw what happened to Jericho.”

  “But I could help,” Eden said gently, her eyes still fixed on me.

  “You could also hurt the babies. Eden, no,” Kiran reinforced, but this time it was more pleading desperation than command.

  “Damn it,” Eden spit. “If only my smoke worked! This is so stupid!”

  Jericho chuckled, “E, it’s not like I’m so much weaker than you. Your super Oracle powers wouldn’t have any more luck than my ordinary Magic. Whatever Terletov did to Olivia, he made it irreversible. Or at least impenetrable without a cure.”

  “If only we could be sure,” Eden mumbled. “Well, Avalon comes home in a few days. He can try!”

  “No,” Kiran barked. “You might have closed down your telepathic connection with him, but you’re still connected to Avalon in every way that matters. If something were to affect his Magic, then it would spread to you. Just like the King’s Curse. I’m not going through that again, Eden. And I’m sure as bloody hell not endangering the babes. Sorry, Olivia, but you must understand my wife’s condition.”

  “Of course,” I agreed quickly. “I didn’t ask her to do anything! I knew it wouldn’t work.”

  “It will work,” Jericho argued. “Or something will at least.”

  I pulled myself to standing- which was no easy task and looked down at Jericho who still sat slumped but perfectly still under Eden’s hand.

  “You should stop all that, Jericho,” I warned him. “Or you’re going to start believing all these lies you’re telling me.”

  “They’re not lies!” He was quick to defend himself and shot into standing so he could be at eye level with me.

  “Kiran could try!” Eden piped up helpfully- or non-helpfully, depending on whose side you took.

  “We are also connected, Love,” he explained exasperatedly. “Stop trying to hurt your Magic and the babies. You’re like a hamster, I swear. I’m going to have to separate you from them, I just know it!”

  “I am not a hamster!” Eden shrieked. “And I’m not trying to hurt them. I’m just trying to come up with a solution! One that doesn’t involve Olivia suffering anymore. And I love the babies,” she finished on a mumble, wrapping her slender arms around her delicate stomach. She sniffled while tilting her face away from Kiran, “Besides,” she said. “They’re Immortal. No matter what I do to them, they’ll be just fine.”

  Kiran cursed under his breath and yanked two frustrated hands through his hair. “I give up.”

  “Me too!” I commiserated. “There’s nothing that can be done. I think we’ve established that. I’m going to go check on O then.”

  Jericho stopped my retreat with a yank of my sleeve and huffed out an impatient sigh that reminded me of Kiran’s vexation with his wife. “There is something we can do, Liv. You’re not going anywhere.”

  “Ugh! What? What is it that you think I can do that will possibly help me?”

  “You can learn to use it.”

  I clamped my mouth shut, mostly because he was right. Apparently it wasn’t going anywhere. I might as well become a little familiar with it. What was that saying? Keep your friends close and your enemy’s closer…? This situation might not exactly apply, but this Magic did feel like an enemy. It felt very much like an imposter struggling to take over my entire body and bend it to its will.

  It was time to fight back.

  But first, I had to learn how to use it.

  Chapter Five

  Jericho

  Olivia grunted a feral sound of frustration and whipped her head violently to the side, trying to get her bouncing hair out of her face. I suppressed an amused smile.

  Olivia and Eden had been working for a while but my skin still tingled from our failed attempt at extracting the Magic from her blood. It was like nothing I’d ever felt before. It was like nothing I ever wanted to feel again. That hurt like a son of a bitch.

  Kiran walked over to me as Eden explained the electrical current now attached to Liv’s blood. We watched with macabre curiosity as the girls reluctantly shared the same space. It was obvious to anyone that Olivia did not want to be here and she was taking those frustrations out on Eden. Kiran’s jaw clenched with frustration but he remained silent. Whether it was because Eden could easily take care of herself, or because Olivia had already been through so much and he was simply granting her grace this time, I couldn’t be certain, but I was thankful for his silence.

  The instinct to protect Olivia was like a burning and consuming fire inside me. I didn’t exactly trust Kiran to remain benevolent. Eden was his life and he would do anything to keep her from getting hurt. Likewise, I had been out of the field for long enough I was itching for a fight. There was a warrior buried inside my casual demeanor that had been deprived of fight, starved of conflict and vindicating bloodlust. Kiran and I were matches poised, waiting to be lit. Add in the layer of our past competition for Eden’s attention and the feelings between us weren’t exactly friendly. There wasn’t any need to provoke that sleeping giant.

  Well, it wasn’t exactly like we didn’t get along. More like we simply co-existed. But there was no lost love between us. That was for damn sure. The silence between us was the strongest evidence to this.

  An hour passed with Eden handing out patient direction and Olivia getting nowhere. She was frustrated, exhausted and because I was paying such close attention, I could tell she was also buzzing with the excess energy floating inside her tainted blood. She was pushing through her irritation, but barely. And her eyes kept drifting to the huge double doors that would lead her back to her sister.

  It was time to intervene.

  “Isn’t there a different tactic we can take?” I asked, stepping forward and joining Eden and Olivia in the middle of the expansive dance floor. “She obviously can’t produce Magic, and I don’t blame her. This concept is entirely foreign to her, how is she supposed to feel what to do or let go of something that feels like an intrusion to begin with?
”

  “What are you suggesting?” Eden asked, seeming open to any idea at this point.

  “Is there a gentle way to force it out of her?” I asked carefully.

  “What do you mean, force it out of me?” she demanded. She shot me a betrayed look and shook her head at my smirk. Her just-below-chin-length blond hair bounced around her elegant jawline and her big blue eyes grew wide with disbelief.

  “I won’t hurt you again,” I promised her. “What I mean, is that whenever Eden’s Magic exploded out of her, there was usually a reason behind it. She got angry, or really worked up. Something was driving the Magic to need escape.”

  “I don’t want anything to explode out of me!” Olivia complained, looking somehow determined and frightened at the same time. She had such a tough exterior but behind those deep blue eyes was a vulnerable girl that called to some primitive part of me. She had been through hell, at my people’s hands. I wanted to fix that for her, pay for their sins, and make up for the unnecessary but lasting trauma she’d suffered. And I didn’t really understand my pull to this girl. She was human and as soon as we could fix her she would be gone- back to her human life in her human world.

  I wondered if it had anything to do with how unnervingly beautiful I found her. I’d been through all kinds of girls between Eden and now- enough to forget any kind of painful past. But I’d never been able to find a girl that could compete with Eden’s wild black hair and matching depthless eyes. She was beauty personified for me.

  Until Olivia.

  Her porcelain pale skin, her electric blue eyes and all that shiny golden hair seemed to step directly out of my fantasies- fantasies I didn’t even know I had until her. And while half the time we were at each other’s throats thanks to the stress we were both under, the other half of the time I wanted to drag her back to my room and relieve the tension between us in an entirely more creative way.

  Kiran and I looked at Eden expectantly. She scrunched her dark black curls and cleared her throat before sending us a sheepish smile.

  “The thing is….” she started and then let out a nervous laugh. “Most of my episodes were brought on by a trigger.”