Carry On Wayward Son (16 page)

“No, I—” She clutched his hands. “It felt right. For the first time, Marcus, I felt like I used my power for the right reason.” She pulled free, leaned back in her chair. “And if you call my son
the boy
one more time, it will be the last thing you say to me.”

A slow smile crossed his face. Damn him, she wanted to kiss every inch of that face. But not until he understood she was now a package deal.

“You have become the mother wolf, Claire.” She lifted her chin, and his smile widened. “It looks good on you.”

“Really?” She twisted her hands together, relieved to finally be able to unload on someone. Marcus was the absolute last person she expected to be her sympathetic ear. “Every other minute I’m terrified that I’m going to say something, do something that will scar him for life. Or worse, let something slip about who he was. God above, I still don’t know how I’m going to explain away what he thinks are sixteen years he actually lived—”

“Take a breath, sweet. It will work itself out.” He leaned forward, sandwiched her hands. “As for you and Zach—I came back for you, Claire, but if he is now in the picture.” Warmth trickled through her, left her wanting more. “I can adjust my expectations—”

“Adjust your—” She jerked her hands free and stood. “Damn you, Jinn. You always know just the wrong time to try and throw your hocus pocus at me. I don’t want you to adjust your expectations. Either you accept Zach, or you get the hell out of my life. Is that clear enough?”

He pushed himself up, his anger like a blast of heat. “Crystal, witch. And you are still a witch,” he said, pausing to whisper it in her ear. “You just need to find out what kind of witch you’ll be. I would like to be around to watch that happen.” He cradled her face, his anger fading. “I would like to be around to watch you blossom. To watch you love your son, to be part of your lives. But that will be up to you, Claire.” Kissing her temple, he let her go and crossed to the back door. “I will know if you want to find me.”

He shut the door, took her anger with him. She slumped in the chair, closed her fingers over the amethyst heart. Pride had gotten between them before; but she would give him up without hesitation if it meant Zach’s happiness.

And those few words told her everything she needed to know. Zach came first. Now, and for good. If Marcus didn’t fit into that, she would have to let him go.

Just the thought ripped at her heart.

Claire scrubbed her face, pushing back the sting of tears.

“Damn.”

NINETEEN

C
hristmas Day flew by in a blur of joy, laughter, happy tears.

Claire spoiled all of them, especially Zach, surprising him with a Vespa. He may have been driving age—physically. But she wanted to ease into that, since time wise he wore the months of a newborn.

Watching Annie and Eric together warmed her, and left her more lonely. She thought she hid it well. Until Annie brought her a cup of hot cider as she stood on the small patio, escaping Zach’s whooping triumph as he devastated Eric in some medieval sword and sorcery game.

“Hey, honey.” Handing her the ceramic mug, Annie slung an arm around her shoulders. “How are you holding up?”

“That obvious?”

“Only to me.” She rubbed Claire’s arm. “You can’t let that rat bastard get to you.”

Claire choked on her cider. “Annie—”

“Just being honest here. His massive ego aside, if he can’t accept the fact that Zach is the most important thing in your life, he doesn’t deserve you.”

With a sigh, Claire leaned against her friend’s shoulder. “I don’t know what I would do without you.”

“Won’t ever have to find out. Hey—we set a date.”

Claire looked up at her. “For the wedding?”

“No, for my dentist appointment.” Her laugh eased the knot around Claire’s heart. “We’re going for a spring wedding. April. June is so cliché, and I don’t want the June gloom to throw its damper on my day. You up for it?”

“You don’t even need to ask. Oh, Annie,” she gave her a one-armed hug. “I’m thrilled for you, sweetheart.”

“I’m thrilled for me, too. I’m getting married!” Her voice echoed into the dark. Zach poked his head out, sweaty, disheveled, and grinning like a fiend. “Hey, handsome.” Annie danced over to him, and embarrassed him by kissing him square on the mouth. “I’m getting married.”

“Yeah.” He pushed hair off his face. “I know. So does China.”

“A man after my own heart. Go on, destroy my future husband with your sword, so I can lay his weary head in my lap and—”

“No—” He covered his ears and ran inside, slamming the door behind him.

“I am going to love teasing him. If that’s okay with his mom,” she said, looking at Claire with wide, pleading eyes. Claire laughed, helpless to resist her friend’s goofy mood.

“His mom thinks it will be good for him, since he won’t get it from other kids.” She sobered. “Am I doing the right thing, Annie? I want him to be normal, but I know he never will be. What he was,” she lowered her voice, “it’s going to manifest somehow, as he gets older. I’m just praying it’s a benign gift.”

“You’ll take it in stride, like you do everything else.” Annie looked up at the sky, “It’s a beautiful night, it’s Christmas, and I’m getting married. Let’s go inside and celebrate some more.” Taking the mug out of Claire’s hand, she set it on the small wrought iron table and gathered Claire into her arms. “Merry Christmas, honey.”

Blinking back tears, Claire held on to her, grateful for her love, her friendship, her generous heart. Annie let go, took her hand and together they walked inside. Zach glanced up, gave Claire a flashing grin that left her breathless.

Here was her life now, her love. Her future.

She couldn’t wait to see what happened.

~*~

Reader’s Guide to the Claire Wiche Mythology

As a fiction writer, I do take liberties, but I always start from a point of truth, or mythology, depending on the subject. Because I pulled from so many different sources, I decided to add a reference guide. Now you can see where I started, and where the mythology for the book took off. Happy reading!

Azazel
– there are several stories about Azazel, depending on the religion. In the Hebrew Bible, in the rite of the scapegoat, a goat was sent “to Azazel” in the desert, with the sins of Israel on its back. This rite was performed every year on The Day of Atonement. Azazel was the desert demon, the spirit of desolation and ruin, and the source of all impurity. In the Book of Enoch, Azazel is listed as one of the leaders of the Watchers, the angels who bred with women and created the Nephilim. They taught men the art of warfare in the time before the flood, and taught women to beautify and adorn themselves. For these sins, he was bound hand and foot by the archangel Raphael, and cast into darkness. He is also referenced as one of the three leaders of the fallen angels.

For my purposes, Azazel is a fallen angel, and sits at the right hand of Lucifer in Hell. Claire was his first, his Lieutenant, his most trusted. Until she began to care about the humans she was supposed to torture. For this, she was banished to earth, to wander among those humans, alone. Azazel not only protects her when she returns to the gates of Hell, he gives her what he considers a gift – a wall to block the power of the demon, to allow her and her new soul to live as much like a human as possible.

binding spells
– what it sounds like – a spell used to bind someone or something. It can be an incredibly invasive spell, and there are so many forms and so many versions available, it’s a crapshoot finding one that will actually do what the wielder intends.

The binding spell Claire and Annie use is real – I left out some ingredients, purposely. For me, this goes so far out of my comfort zone I had to do quite a bit of research to even find what I needed.

crystals
– crystal healing has been popular for centuries, and has been documented as far back as 1550 BC, in an Egyptian medical document known as the Ebers Papyrus. References to them are found across religions and in everyday society. For every health issue, physical or mental, there is a crystal that can help. Lapis for boosting the immune system, helping with depression, and a host of other ailments. Hematite for mental clarity and confidence, along with blood cleansing properties. Rose quartz for self-acceptance, self-love, and personal worth.

Claire has been partial to amethysts for decades – partly for the calming, healing aspect, and partly because it ties her to her true self. The angel she was, before pride had her exiled with Lucifer. She uses it now, along with her essence, to give Zach a chance at life, knowing it will cost her everything to do so.

demons
– ah, demons. Here is the universal definition of a demon: something not human, and that is almost universally malevolent. Hebrew mythology calls them “workers of harm,” beings that entered the body and caused all sorts of ailments, depending on the demon or spirit. The only cure was to draw them out by using incantations and talismans. Christianity has had demons in their mythology for centuries. The modern Roman Catholic Church has sanctioned exorcists, who perform exorcisms on the possessed, using prayer – a modern form of incantation. Throughout literature, fallen angels are considered demons.

Claire is one of the fallen, banished from Heaven for siding with Lucifer in his rebellion against God. She has come full circle – touching the power of the angel again, only to give it away, in order to give another of her kind a chance to live.

demonic possession
– literally, to be possessed by a demon. As above, possession was thought to cause certain diseases. Blindness was from a demon of blindness, who sat on the water, and struck those who drank the water with blindness. There was also the spirit of headache, the demon of epilepsy. The Sumerians believed that all disease was caused by demons, what they called “sickness demons.” Modern demonic possession is similar to what is portrayed in film and television: loss of control by the possessed over their body, supernatural strength, access to hidden knowledge, drastic changes in voice and/or appearance, and expulsion by exorcism.

I take the high road with demonic possession – the demon has total control over the body they possess, and they also have complete access to the memories and emotions. The human’s personality is dormant, but they can hear, see and feel everything that is happening. Once possessed, supernatural strength keeps the body from dying, even when it is mortally wounded. The demon also gives the body they possess, or ride, exceptional healing abilities, up to a point. Iron, salt, and holy water can hurt them, to the point where they may decide to vacate. And of course, a rousing exorcism will send them back to Hell – if they don’t escape first.

fallen angels
– here is an interesting fact: the term “fallen angel” does not appear anywhere in the Hebrew Bible or the New Testament. It was adopted because of the interpretations of the Book of Revelation, Chapter 12. The Jewish faith took their interpretation from the Book of Enoch (see Azazel). The most prevalent belief is that these angels “fell,” or were cast down, because of their rebellion in Heaven, either against Michael or God.

I have taken on the belief of a war in Heaven, and the angels siding with Lucifer were cast down into what became Hell, and eventually turned into demons. Claire is cast out of Hell because she remembers what she was, and starts to have compassion for the condemned souls. Now that connection to Heaven is the one thing she can give to save Zach from an eternity of anguish.

guardian angels
– there are as many beliefs about guardian angels as there are religions – and they are found as far back as the ancient Greeks, who believed that God sent a spirit to watch every individual. There are angels assigned to protect an individual, messengers to guide men to the kingdom of Heaven, to protect children. They are found around the world, across many religions.

My guardian angels are a bit different. They are the souls of mortals, not quite ready for Heaven, not quite bad enough for Hell. They are sent to help, to guide, to nurture and care for people in need, in order to help wipe away the stains on their own souls. Zachariah is trapped with these lost souls, without the chance for their redemption.

iron
– found in hematite, magnetite, goethite, limonite and siderite, it is one of the raw materials used to make pig iron, which is then used to make steel. Cast iron is made by melting down scraps of pig iron, scrap iron, scrap steel, lime stone and carbon. Melt out contaminants, adjust the recipe, and you get a lovely cast iron skillet. In folklore, iron is believed to be the best protection against witches, sorcerers, demons and other evil spirits. It can also repel ghosts.

I use iron as a tool and a weapon: this time against the threat of ghosts. Claire is no longer affected by iron, or salt, but can’t quite bring herself to keeping it nearby. What she and Annie face this time can’t be vanquished with iron.

Jinn/Djinn/genie
– there are many versions of the Jinn mythology, depending on what source you read. In Islam, the Jinn were created by Allah from smokeless flame, and, like man, given free will. In Muslim cultures, Jinn have been given different qualities. As an example – in Morocco it is believed that the Jinn can grant three magical wishes. Stories of the Jinn litter the
One Thousand and One Nights
, where the tale of Aladdin and the lamp can be found.

This is where I veer away from mythology and folklore the most. Marcus came from the idea of the Jinn, but he is a completely different entity within the confines of my fictional world. As I wrote him, Marcus simply evolved, and I liked what he became so much I decided to go with it. So he is Jinn, but not any Jinn you will find in religious or folklore text. In this book, we find out more about his past, and where he came from, meeting another, more powerful Jinn—who changes Claire’s life with a touch.