Children of Poseidon: Rann (14 page)

“I haven’t finished. The coven are concerned about the influence the mage, Alberic, is having on you, and they request that you sever all connections with him.”

Kara’s ice-blue eyes almost bulged from her head. “You have no right—”

“I’m just the messenger. The request from your coven is based on information from previous covens who’ve had associations with him.”

Kara laughed, and Jewel’s bones ached in response. “Tell the coven that I will consider their request, but if they are lucky, I will forget it.” Her laughter turned to a snarl, and her marble eyes gave off sparks. “If they aren’t lucky, then I’ll remember and call them to account.”

Jewel glanced at Rann. She knew him well enough to realise his blank expression didn’t reflect his mood. She stood up. “That’s all. I said this as a favour to the coven.”

“Don’t come back.”

Kara pushed herself to her feet, smoothing her skirt with shaking hands.

“You are no longer my daughter.”

She was going on about the disownment again, and Jewel stepped towards her, forgetting her resolve to stay calm.

“Did you give birth to me?”

“To my unending regret.” Bitterness coloured Kara’s voice.

“Then you can’t disown me.” Jewel clenched her fists. “I’m your bloodline. You have no legal reason.” She wondered why she bothered to engage in this discussion, as she had absolutely no desire to claim kinship with her mother. She was tired of feeling like a failure, and if her mother was disappointed in her, then it wasn’t her fault. As Jewel had discovered, she was far from perfect herself.

“I can do what I like.” Kara spat the words out.

Jewel stepped backwards.

“If I want you struck from the bloodlines, then the coven will obey me.” She folded her arms across her chest.

Jewel glowered at her. Kara had no basis for a sundering of the ties, and if Jewel wanted to be taken into another coven, then she would need to bring evidence of her bloodline with her.

“The coven won’t do anything of the sort,” she said. “Especially if you carry on refusing to meet with them. And if you sunder your ties with me, then that will mean the end of the Vargas bloodline. Is that what you really want?”
Surely she doesn’t hate me enough to cut off her own immortality through the bloodline?

Kara smirked. “That’s what you think.” The pale blue eyes darkened with satisfaction.

“I do think.” Jewel had had enough. “Come on, Rann. We should go. I think we’re finished here.”

“Wait.” Triumph coloured Kara’s voice.

“Make up your mind.” Jewel took a deep breath. “You told me to go and not to come back.”

“My bloodline won’t end with you.” Kara’s mouth stretched into a smile. “I’m pregnant. There will be a new child born into the bloodline. A true Vargas.”

“What?” Jewel’s pulse thudded in her forehead. “I don’t believe it.” Kara had passed the age of fertility at least two decades ago. She’d given birth to Jewel twenty-six years ago, and she was old then, at the end of her child-bearing years. “You’re lying.”

“No.” The door opened, and Kara turned her head.

Alberic walked through the door.

Jewel shivered. He gave her the creeps, and the air in the room had dropped in temperature by several degrees. Rann stepped closer to her, taking her hand in his, and she realised he must have felt the sense of menace as well.

“I thought we weren’t telling anyone yet.” Alberic had obviously been eavesdropping.

He crossed over to Kara and placed his hand on her shoulder. He towered over her by at least twelve inches, and Kara stared up at him with an expression Jewel didn’t recognise at first, because she had never seen it on her mother’s face before. Besotted was the word to describe it. There might have been a little fear, too, but after seeing her face, Jewel didn’t hold out much hope for the coven’s chances of getting rid of him.

His dark eyes swivelled to study Jewel. “It’s true, though. We are about to become parents. You will have a half-sister.”

“She won’t.” Kara’s voice wavered as she tilted her head to examine his face. “I’m going to disown her. She’s an embarrassment to me.”

Jewel wasn’t sure whether she wanted to laugh or cry. “Me? An embarrassment to you?”

“She’s your bloodline.” Alberic smiled at Jewel, who tried not to flinch. “Bloodline is important.”

“If you say so.” Kara’s voice held a note of submission.

“You can’t be pregnant.” Jewel couldn’t get her head round the fact. “You’re far too old.” She didn’t bother about her lack of tact. She figured her mother had to be mad, and this unpleasant stranger encouraged her. She saw why Maya was concerned now, as well as the coven.

“I—” Kara’s voice rose.

“I can see why you’d be doubtful.” Alberic’s voice oozed over her like slime. “But there are rituals. I think you’ll find that there are ways of restoring fertility.” He smiled at Jewel, with an air of conspiracy, as though they shared a secret.

She shivered again. Rann squeezed her hand, but he stuck to his promise of keeping quiet.

Jewel had never been taught anything of the sort, which made her think that the ways might be on the forbidden list, might involve banned magic. If they did, then they must involve blood magic or death magic. She stared at her mother’s midsection suspiciously.
What has she done?

“This child will be a true Vargas.” Kara glanced at Alberic for approval. “It will have the power that you should have shown. It will be a credit to my bloodline.”

“It?” Jewel asked.

Kara’s brow creased.

“And why should it be more powerful than me? After all, it didn’t work for you last time.”

“This time—” Kara’s voice rose.

Alberic interrupted again. “This time, I am the father. The correct rituals will be performed. The correct spells cast. There are ways to ensure that this child will contain strong magic. My daughter will be a witch of power.” He smiled at Jewel, and she flinched. Something strongly predatory flickered in his gaze. His eyes held hers until the darkness of them filled her vision, threads of red twisting in their depths.

A tug on her hair pulled her free. Rann’s hand smoothed over her head, and she blinked, clearing her mind.

The mage moved closer. “I am skilled in such things.”

Rann touched Jewel’s arm. “I think it’s time to go.”

With a sigh of relief, Jewel tore her attention away from Kara and Alberic. The back of her neck prickled with nerves as Rann led her to the door. Anger struggled with fear, churning in her stomach.

“What happened to my father?” She whipped round and faced her mother. The question burst from her. “How did you get rid of him?”

Kara clutched at Alberic’s arm. “I’m telling you nothing.” She laughed, and again, Jewel found the sound deeply disturbing.

“Jewel?” Alberic’s voice wrapped itself round her mind. “I promised I’d look at your seawitch. I’ll see you soon.”

Chapter 14

Rann took Jewel’s arm as he led her through the door. He had to get her out of there. The malevolence in the room made him uncomfortable, too. The woman was definitely heading down the road to insanity, and the mage just exuded evil. He swore to himself that Jewel was never going back there, not if he had to tie her to him and watch her day and night. He’d had to pull her hair hard before she managed to extract herself from Alberic’s gaze. He thought it was a pity he’d told her he wouldn’t interfere. It would have been easy to kill the creature there and then sort out the coven’s problem for them.

The maid waited in the hallway. She hurried them to the front door, glancing nervously behind her. As she opened it, the sound of footsteps coming up from the basement made Rann swing round.

A door creaked ajar, and a tall, spindly woman hesitated in the opening. She held one hand up to stop the maid. “Who are these people, Cathy?”

The maid shuffled her feet. “Miss Gwen? What are you doing? You should be resting in your room. Miss Kara will be cross.”

A flicker of fear crossed the woman’s face. “I woke up.” She stroked her stomach. Rann’s eyes followed the movement of her hand as it caressed her huge, swollen midsection. Gwen met his gaze when he looked up. She smiled. There was something a little off about her smile.

“Congratulate me.” She stretched her arms above her head. “I am with child, and I’ve been told it will be a powerful witch.”

Rann raised an eyebrow at Jewel; he couldn’t sense new life in this woman.

“You must be Gwen.” Jewel’s voice dropped to a soothing tone. “Are you all right? The coven is concerned about you.”

That wasn’t how Rann remembered it. The coven hadn’t seemed concerned about anything other than their own interests.

“I’m fine.” The woman drew herself up to her full height. She was so thin she looked ill. Her stomach dominated her frame; it was the largest part of her. “The coven witches wallow in jealousy.”

“Where’s Tom?” Jewel peered round the woman to see down the stairs.

“Tom?”

“Your husband.”

Gwen glanced round vaguely. “Oh. That Tom. He’s somewhere.”

The maid pushed past Jewel. “I’m sorry. Can you let yourselves out?” She took hold of Gwen’s arm and tugged her back to the door she’d come through.

Jewel stopped her with a raised hand. “Wait.”

The maid paused, but her fingers clenched on Gwen’s arm.

“When’s your baby due?”

“In four months.” Gwen folded her arms over her stomach protectively.

Jewel’s smile looked forced. “Congratulations. To you and Tom.” She waited until the maid led Gwen away before she closed the front door behind them.

“What was all that about?” Rann had his own ideas, but he wanted to know what Jewel thought.

“Let’s get out of here.” She marched off down the drive, towards the gates.

Rann took her hand as they walked back towards Hampstead Village. She strode quietly at his side, head down, obviously deep in thought.

She took a deep breath. “That woman wasn’t pregnant.”

“I know.” There had been no scent of pregnancy about her, no sign of new life. Rann would have been able to tell.

“So what on earth’s going on?”

“I don’t know.” Rann glanced down at Jewel. “I didn’t think to check with Kara. Whether she was pregnant or not. But I think the coven was right to be worried. The house made my skin crawl.”

“Could she really be pregnant? At her age?” Jewel muttered to herself. “I wonder what the rituals are.”

“I don’t know. Dirty magic, I’d think.” Rann squeezed her hand. “That mage looked very pleased with himself. I didn’t like the look of him at all.”

“No.” They both brooded on Alberic in silence for a minute.

“Let’s get that drink.” Rann needed to think about the situation a bit more. If Jewel thought she had to stay here until it was resolved, then he considered it to definitely be his business. “Where do you want to go?”

Jewel took him to a small bar in the village.

“I wasn’t sure it would still be here.” She pushed the glass door open, with an air of satisfaction. “I always wanted to come here when I was a teenager, but they had a strict door policy.”

Rann ordered lemon martinis for both of them. Alcohol wasn’t one of his vices; he didn’t see any point in indulging, since it had no effect on him. Today, though, he chose to drink the same as Jewel. They found a high table next to the window, pulled the stools round to see out into the street, and waited for their cocktails.

Eventually Jewel propped her elbows on the table and glanced sideways at him. “There’s something very wrong in that house.” A small line formed between her brows. “Kara pregnant. At her age. Gwen thinks she is, but isn’t. And where’s Tom? And the whole house reeks of black magic.”

“That mage.” Rann slipped off his stool and rested one hip against it, unsure of what to say. “He’s up to his neck in something bad. Most of the stench comes from him.”

“She can’t possibly disinherit me.” Jewel’s mind obviously dwelled on the conversation she’d had with her mother. “The coven won’t agree. It would be illegal.”

“I can’t imagine the coven agreeing to anything once you’ve told them what she said.”

Jewel looked up at him, the line between her brows deepening.

“And she’ll find it even more difficult if she refuses to convene her coven.”

“She must be mad.” Jewel sprawled across the table, resting her head on her arms. “That’s all I can think of. I hated her when I was a teenager, but I don’t think she was mad.”

“Alberic?” Rann thought it had to be.

“Probably.” Jewel sighed. “I don’t know what to do.”

Rann knew what he would do, if the decision was his to make. Kara would be in a cell lined with nullsilver, and he’d execute her lover. There were probably hundreds of reasons to condemn him. Perfectly legal reasons, although, in his opinion, that wasn’t an issue. “Maya said she heard some pretty unsavoury things about him?” He made it into a question.

“Yes. He was thrown out of his last coven.”

“I’d be surprised if he didn’t have a trail leading back for years. The coven is going to have to act, if they want their territory back.” Rann had a horrible feeling Jewel might think it was her responsibility to sort the mess out. He started to tell her it wasn’t when he realised she wasn’t listening.

She sat up straight and stared out of the window, her whole body alert.

“Jewel?”

“He was there again.” She pointed. “Just across the road.”

“Who? Alberic?”

“The tramp. The one I told you about. The one I keep seeing.”

Rann squinted out of the window. There were a few business men leaving work early, a couple of women who looked as though they were serious shoppers, a teenager with multiple piercings, and a small white dog. No tramp though. No one who looked as though they didn’t belong. “I can’t see anyone.”

“He was there.” Jewel sounded as though it wouldn’t take much to send her into hysterics, so he hastened to reassure her.

“I believe you. He must have moved on.” Rann wondered what was really bothering her. “Do you think he’s following you?”

“No.” Jewel snapped, then her voice softened. “I don’t know. Maybe. It just seems like too much of a coincidence. And I did think he was staring at me. Yesterday.”

“He’s probably harmless, but let me know if you see him again.” Rann hoped the man was harmless and not some unbalanced psycho who just happened to have fixated on Jewel. That would be one unfortunate coincidence too many. “I’ll have a little chat with him.”

Jewel laughed, a small giggling sound, and he gave her a reassuring smile as their drinks arrived.

Jewel knew she was out of her depth. She had expected a short, unpleasant interview with her mother when she had decided to come back to London. Then she could move on with her life, apply to join some pleasant coven somewhere in the sun, find a useful job there, and get over her crush on Rann.

None of this should have happened. Not the coven’s demands, not her strange stalker, and certainly not Kara’s pregnancy. Rann wasn’t supposed to follow her either, although, given everything else, she was glad he had. Alberic’s words kept repeating in her mind.

A half-sister. She wouldn’t condemn anyone to grow up in that house. Picking up her drink, she took a small sip. It tasted lemony with a hint of vanilla. Outside, the light grew dim and, one by one, the streetlights flashed on, casting an orange glow over the scene. Back home on the island, the sun would be low, but it would still be bright. And warm. A shiver rippled through her. Rann shifted closer to her and put his arm round her shoulders. She sank into the warmth of his body, relishing the comfort. It was too much effort to move away, and anyway, Rann made her feel safe.

“I don’t like this city.” His voice rumbled in her ear. “It’s cold and wet, and whenever I’m here, it seems that there’s always a problem. We should go home.”

Jewel nudged him with her elbow, but she couldn’t be bothered to argue. The island looked like paradise from where she sat, and unrequited love felt a minor problem compared to everything else. She sipped at her drink again, closing her eyes to savour the flavour. Small pleasures.

“Pregnant?” Maya’s voice rose to a shriek as she took in their news about Kara. “You have got to be kidding me.”

“No.” Jewel still had trouble believing it herself. “That’s what she said, and Alberic agreed.”

“He’d be the father then? Albert?” Maya flung herself down on the sofa. “I think I’m going to be sick.”

“There’s something horrible going on in that house.” Jewel perched on the arm of the sofa. “The atmosphere was toxic. Wasn’t it?” She turned to Rann for confirmation.

“It stank of magic,” he agreed. “And not the good sort either.”

“What can we do?” Maya chewed her lower lip.

“I know what I’d do if this was my territory.” Rann’s voice dropped, and distant thunder echoed outside the flat.

Jewel thought he’d just been speaking theoretically, but Maya pinned him with her stare. Her amber eyes had darkened to bronze. “What?”

“I’d kill the mage. Lock the witch up until she gives birth and then strip her of her powers.” His eyes narrowed. “I might even burn the house down. As a cleansing.”

Jewel realised her mouth hung open and closed it with a snap.

Maya smiled. “I like your thinking.”

“If the witch wasn’t Jewel’s mother, I’d probably execute her as well.”

“Don’t hold back on my behalf.” Jewel shook her head, half-horrified, half-amused.

They both ignored her.

“And to think you have the reputation of being easy going.” Maya’s smile grew wider.

The conversation made Jewel nervous. “Let’s not go off track. It’s not your territory.” She glowered at Rann, before turning to Maya. “We need a reasonable solution. And we need to talk to the coven.”

“Gwen thinks she’s pregnant, but she’s not?” Maya shook her head. “I’m looking forward to my visit. It sounds as good as a circus.”

“Honestly, Maya.” Jewel frowned. “It was awful. The woman looked ill. She was as pale as a corpse and thin. Dead thin, except for her stomach. And she sounded drugged.”

“That wouldn’t surprise me,” Maya said. “I told you I’d heard some unsavoury stories about Albert.”

“What are we going to do?” Jewel rubbed her forehead. A pain began to take up residence behind her eyes.

“It’s not your problem.” Rann stretched out on the other sofa, propping a cushion behind his head. “I think we should concentrate on the seawitch and leave this to the covens.”

“Thanks.” Maya scowled at him.

“It
is
my problem.” Jewel stood up and stamped her foot. “She’s my mother. At least until she disowns me.”

“Disowns you?”

Jewel had forgotten to mention that part of the story to Maya. She filled her in.

“You’ve got to be kidding me.” Maya’s brows were almost in her hair. “She can’t believe the coven would let her do that?”

“Doesn’t matter.” Jewel shrugged. “Alberic told her not to anyway. And she fell over herself to agree with him.”

“Right.” Maya sat forward. “First things first. We should let the coven know what’s going on. I’ll phone Maria.”

“Okay.” It was good someone had come up with a plan of action. Although, Jewel hadn’t seen much evidence of the coven’s competency recently.

“Then we’ll have to set up a meeting to decide what to do. She can’t be left in charge.”

Jewel nodded.

“She’ll have to move out of the house,” Maya continued. “For a while at least. The library’s there, and all the coven records.”

“Good luck with that.” Jewel didn’t believe it would be that easy.

Maya glanced at her. “After I’ve phoned the coven, we’ll try and work out what ritual she used to restore her fertility. We might have to go into the library to find any useful information.” She narrowed her eyes. “It’ll probably be classified.”

“So we won’t be able to get at it?”

“There are ways.”

Jewel was sure there were, and her admiration of Maya’s ingenuity went up a notch.

“So, if I go to ask about my father tomorrow, I can check out the library as well.” Maya flashed a satisfied smile at Jewel. “Two birds with one stone.”

“You’re not going in there by yourself.” Jewel realised how Rann must have felt when he thought she planned to visit her mother alone.

“No,” Maya agreed. “Lila will come with me.”