Elemental Shadows (25 page)

After he disconnected, I held up my glass of wine and toasted him a rich and wonderful life.
 

I heard the footsteps first. I was sitting on my couch in my living area. It was a half hour before midnight, before the ball dropped in New York City. I had it on my flat screen. Booze on the coffee table, along with an assortment of MSG laced Chinese food from a few doors down.
 

I knew who it was even before I heard Grey woof. It was so good to see her and I hugged her as she jumped on the couch and licked my face.
 

Crwys looked good. He wore his usual shirt, leather jacket, jeans and boots and had nice glasses in one hand and a bottle of Dom Perignon in the other. "I figured no one should be alone on New Year's."
 

"Not even Samantha the destructor."
 

"Not even you." He grinned at me as he set the glasses and bottle on the coffee table and took his jacket off. He slung it on a chair and took the spot to my right. Grey made her big old self comfortable between us. He unwrapped the foil from the cork and held his hand over it as he pried it loose. It popped and champagne gushed out. He poured it into the two glasses and handed me one.
 

"It's not the new year yet. We've still got twenty minutes."
 

"I know. I wanted to toast you, Sam. You've had two shit months. Devastating news. And you've lived through it."
 

I held up the glass, we clinked and I downed half of it. "Wow. That's good. So, any word on my warlocking?"
 

"Arden said Parliament is torn. The majority wants it lifted with a year long commitment of service. Apparently they want you as a Tracker, like your mother was. But as she reminded me and the boys, they're also a bit long at making up their mind."
 

"So I could be like this for another day, or a year."
 

"Yeah. But at least you won't suffer the consequences of what a warlocking does."
 

I swirled the glass. "No…I just have to make sure I don't lose control again and make the entire city of New Orleans disappear."
 

"You won't do that."
 

"You don't know that."
 

"I do. Grey and I both do."
 

"Crwys…an entire house disappeared and three bodies. What does that make me?"

"It makes you human. Your despair, anger, and sadness handled it the only way it knew how. It was the first time you used the magic."
 

"No. I killed with it. Maybe that's all the magic knows how to do."

"I don't know. What I do know is that Grey and I have something to tell you. We've talked about it long and hard and she feels it's time for you to know the truth."
 

Truth. I sat forward. "Is this that truth Ivan mentioned in that note?"
 

"What note?"

I punched him before I put my hand on Grey's back. "What do you two want to tell me?"
 

That I can talk.
 

I was smiling when the voice came to my mind. I thought it was Crwys but his lips didn't move. And I'd seen him try and throw his voice before. He sucked at it. "Wait…that's the same voice I've been hearing now and then."

Because sometimes I can't help myself. I want to protect you and well, you're pig-headed like your father was.
 

I looked at Grey. She was looking up at me. "You…you're talking to me."
 

Yes
.

"You've been able to talk all this time."
 

Yes
.

I looked at Crwys. "And you knew this?"
 

"She and I spoke the day I met you. But she wanted me to keep it a secret."
 

"Why?" I put my hands on Grey's face and turned her long nose to me. "Why would you keep such a wonderful thing a secret?"
 

Because I'm not supposed to be here. Keeping others in the dark as to my existence is essential.
 

"I'm not following."
 

And that's okay, Sam-Sam. As long as I'm with you, can be here to protect you, watch you grow up, that's all I've ever wanted.
 

I stared at Grey. Hard. She'd called me Sam-Sam. Only one person had ever…ever called me that.
 

My eyes burned as I thought back over what I'd learned, what I knew about Faerie lore, about taking humans on the Wild Hunt. I remembered Arden's threat that she would not be Brendi's dog.
 

Crwys put a hand on my shoulder. "Go on. It's okay."
 

I heard cheers somewhere and realized the big, jeweled ball had dropped in Times Square. The pop and crash of fireworks lit up the New Orleans sky as I stared into Grey's human like eyes.
 

Was it possible? All this time? Here I thought I'd lost my entire family and I learn at the start of new year, I'm not alone.
 

"Only one person ever called me Sam-Sam."
 

Yes
.
 

"You were there, in the Arcane veil."
 

I was.
 

I brushed a tear from my cheek as Grey licked at my nose. I wrapped my arms around her warm, soft neck. "Mom!"
 

Look for the next book in Eldritch Files, Elemental Moon!
 

Thank you for purchasing and reading Elemental Shadows. It would be greatly appreciated if you could take a moment and leave an honest review of this episode within the guidelines of your favorite retailer.
 

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Glossary:
 

Pronunciations:
 

Crwys -
Cruise

Medbh -
Mayv

Sidhe -
Shee

Dijin -
Gin

Alfheim
- Alf-hime

Definitions
:
 

Magical Parliament
- a grouping of 13 High Witches chosen from all over the world to regulate magic use and the teaching of magic so as to avoid revealing a Witch's presence to the Cowen world. There are more than 13 High Witches at any given time, but only 13 are chosen to serve in Parliament.
 

Demon Realms
- worlds that exist outside and yet beside the Material Plane. Other names used for these realms are the Mental, Astral, Abysmal, Ethereal, Peripheral, and sometimes Alfheim.
 

Mother's Tracker
- The Parliament once granted tracking rights to some Elder Witches, especially those with Elemental Gifts. The last Tracker to officially receive this right was Samantha's mother, Elizabeth Hawthorne. The right gave them the ability to see, hear, taste, and smell trails left behind by a named target. This is the magic Eliza used to track Dionysus and made it impossible for the Leviathan to escape Eliza's abilities.
 

Elemental Witch
- A God Mother's child who possess all five of the Elemental Gifts; Earth, Air, Water, Fire and Spirit. The combination of the elements make the use of Spirit possible, though small instances can be achieved with little training. Elementals use their own energy to power their magic as they transmute the magic inherent in the Material Plane into power.
 

Dianic Witch
- A God Mother's child who does not possess any of the Elemental Gifts. Dianics are given Gifts such as second sight, telekinesis, telepathy, aural visions, clairvoyance, and psychometry.
 

Elder Witch
- A title given to any Witch possessing three Gifts, one usually required to be Elemental, who serves on the local counsels under a High Witch.
 

Magical Sight / Other Sight
- the ability to see magic. All Witches possess this ability, but not all Cowens do. Those that can are usually slightly touched with a Dianic Gift.
 

Circle
- Cutting the Circle is the Witch's ability to cut a circle into the Earth, thus creating sacred space for ritual.
 

Drawing Down the Moon
- The ability of a Witch to join with the God Mother through Her blood in their veins. The phrase is also used by Dianic Witches when referring to creating sacred space.
 

Athame
- Usually a black handled knife. The Witch's ceremonial knife. Represents the Witch's will.
 

Warlock
- Often thought to be the term given to male witches. It's not. This is a state of banishment, when a Witch's connection to their magic is removed.
 

Hierarchy
:
 

Cowens
- Non Magical folk

Dianic Witches
- God Mother's children possessing only Dianic gifts, such as telekinesis and psychometry.
 

Hedge Witch
- God Mother's children whose Gifts contain an inherent, working knowledge of all of the Gaia's plants. They possess a very latent touch of all the Elements but not enough to wield them. They generate their magic through these combinations of herbs.
 

Elemental Witches
- God Mother's children who possess all five of the Elemental Gifts.
 

Elder Witch
- God Mother's children who possess at least one Elemental Gift but have dedicated themselves to their craft and their follow Witches for the betterment of all of the God Mother's children.
 

High Witch
- A position voted upon; a position of leadership, and not one to take lightly. In order to be a high Witch, a God Mother's child must have at least two of the Elemental Gifts and one Dianic.
 

Cyber Witch
- Still fairly unknown.
 

About the Author…

Phaedra Weldon is a writer and mother of one. Born in Pensacola, Florida, Phaedra was raised in the lush, green southern tropic of Georgia. She grew up on southern ghost stories told while eating marshmallows around campfires, or on the back of pick-up trucks in the middle of cornfields on chilly October nights.
 
She worked as a Graphic Artist for over twenty years in the publishing and sign industries until she became a full time writer in 2009. Phaedra currently lives in Atlanta, Georgia with her daughter.
 

This work and everything in it is the sole property of Phaedra Weldon. Any copying or reprinting will be prosecuted to the furthest extent of the law.
 

For more of Phaedra's work, visit
www.phaedraweldon.com