Lost Wanderer Awakened - Book One of the Airendell Chronicles (59 page)

George interrupts with a low whistle. “Only 5
years. You must have been very pure and very talented. I figure
your ascension rites and rules are as strenuous as ours are.”

“He was and is,” asserts Morna.

Luca doesn’t respond to either, but continues
with his story. “This amazing woman married me in 1316. However, in
1435 I was attacked by an ancient and powerful vampire. Morna
interrupted him before he could finish me off. She destroyed
Marcus, the ancient vampire and fed me her own blood and kept me
alive long enough for the venom to change me and save my life. The
silver haired witch the young vamp mentioned tonight is Kyera; she
was mate to the ancient Marcus. She was sent to destroy us, we
believe, by Morna’s mother, Magdrid.”

“Kyera, the witch, could not outright kill us
without forfeiting her own immortality so she cursed Morna to into
a semi mortal state. She has been born and reborn into different
life times over and over. It has been my proud honor to find her
over and over. And to be to her whatever she needs me to be. In
between these incarnations, she returns to her father Valiant, and
works tirelessly to keep the 52 gateways of Ari’s offspring
guarded.”

“Astonishing!” says George. “I am honored to
know you both sir.”

“You stood shoulder to shoulder with my mate
today,” says Luca. “If she allowed you to do that, you must be
honorable. If she had perceived any evil in you she would have
taken you out before she took on the attacking vampires.”

George looks at Morna, “You could have taken
all three at once?”

Morna snorts loudly. “Probably not. Brigid
would have had to help some. She had woven the iron-lion spell. She
is not a trained warrior, but she is still fully capable of
defending herself. All Spell Weavers have some warrior
training.”

“My little Irish Faerie can fight vampires?”
he asks in astonishment.

Brigid stirs from where she is lightly dozing
and says, “Not so much, I am not a warrior, but I could have
helped. But yeah, I can fight when I need to, all Spell Weavers are
trained to fight. Morna ordered me to stay put. I think she wanted
to see what you were made of sweetheart.”

“What is an iron-lion spell?” George
asks.

“Well it makes a Spell Weaver’s body harder
than iron, so a vampire cannot bite us. And faster than a lion. But
it’s nothing when compared to Morna’s and Luca’s abilities as
warriors. They are a whole other class altogether,” answers
Brigid.

“I bet,” says George, “I saw Morna in action
today. But I have a few questions for….? Luca? How did that vampire
get the drop on you in 1435?”

Luca extends his hand to shake,” Lucian
Michaels. I was in a spiritual trance. But that should not have
been enough to allow him to overtake me. We believe Morna’s mother
was holding me in a binding spell.”

“You mean what Morna did to young vamp
tonight?” George asks quietly.

“Yes,” confirms Luca.

“Morna, may I ask why your spells did not
hold tonight?” asks George.

“Well George, my friend. I only remembered
who I am a week ago. I am out of practice,” admits Morna.

“And you are already this strong? That is
amazing!” enthuses George.

“Well, the venom probably has a lot to do
with that.” Morna says with indifferent shrug.

Luca looks at Morna and smiles, “Doubtful
love.” He turns his attention back to the Stone Breaker and says,
“Ten months ago Kyera attacked her and her children, and spouse in
a car crash. Half of Morna’s body was crushed; she had a massive
head injury, and was in a coma for months. Her and her family were
returning home from her youngest son’s funeral when the witch
attacked them. Morna has come back from incredible odds in a very,
very short time. She is, and always has been, amazing,” Luca
assures George.

“And you dear man, are beyond biased,” Morna
snorts. She gets up and starts to clean up her pizza boxes; she ate
all but four slices, and drank half of the 2 liter bottle of
soda.

George watches her and shakes his head. “May
I ask what is up with your appetite ma’am?’

Luca speaks up, “I infected… sorry Morna,
exposed her to my venom on Sunday morning. I can only assume she
will be very hungry and thirsty for a while. Fortunately, she
doesn’t thirst for blood. Just water and soda.”

“Gee ma’am; you really don’t lead a quiet
life do you?” George asks when she comes back from throwing her
trash away.

Morna laughs, “Would you believe me if I told
you that I was a teacher in small school district in Oklahoma for
nearly 20 years before the crash? A week ago, I thought I was
middle aged, small town widow who had nothing to live for because
my children were dead. Now I know my babies are safe and will
probably stay that way if I can break the curse and stop whatever
force has been working so hard to tip the scales between light and
dark magic in the world?” George looks very surprised at this
admission and emits a low whistle.

“Speaking of the battle between good and
evil, Would you like to meet a couple of envoys from the Council of
Alfheim?” Morna asks with a grin.

“Alfheim, that’s the light elves, right? The
good guys?” George asks.

“Yep, that would be the same ones,” confirms
Morna.

“Yes ma’am, I surely would,” he says
excitedly.

“Good, because I am quite certain they would
probably like to meet you. You can tell your story to them. Luca
and I already have a good idea who you are. We have been here in
the west before. We were great friends with a Stone Breaker named
Montoya when we lived in Wyoming.” Morna supplies.

“No shit? Sorry ladies, that was crude.
Montoya is my uncle,” George added hurriedly.

Morna laughs, “We suspected that was the
case. Isn’t it a small freaky world after all? Let’s go folks.” She
slips back into her shoes and heads for the door without looking
back to see if anyone was following.

Morna and Luca drive back to the hotel in the
rental car. Brigid rides with George in his pickup truck. “I can’t
believe I just fought three vampires with Montoya’s nephew. We were
about 15 seconds into that fight when I remembered Montoya and
remembered the stories he used to tell us about young George. How
funny, don’t you think Darling?” Morna asks Luca.

“Morna, I have something very serious I have
to discuss with you,” Luca says in very stern voice. “You should
have stayed in the building until I got there. What hell would have
happened if George had not have been there?” he asks in a tortured
voice. Luca pulls the car over and turns to face her. “Dammit
woman, I am so angry with you, and so damned scared. You must stop
being reckless, is that clear?” he demands.

“Luca I am sorry, Brigid and I were talking
girl talk, and she’s really in love with George. We were walking
down to the lobby to wait for you when George sent her a text and
said he was waiting out front to see her. I am sorry, but I didn’t
think about the possible danger. You are right, I should have been
more careful. But if George had not been there, Brigid could have
kept one of them busy for me while I took out the other two. It
would have been close, but we would have had a shot at coming out
of it alive.”

“A shot!?! A shot!?!” Luca yells. “That is
unacceptable Morna! Do not risk the life of the woman I love more
than anything else in existence by being reckless! Don’t you see?
We truly have a shot, as you put it, at ending this madness this go
round. A chance to end the curse. You must be careful Darling, you
must!”

By now Morna is crying silently. Luca’s
obvious fear for her safety has moved her greatly. “Luca I am
sorry, I really let you down darling. I promise I will be more
careful. I am still getting my bearings. I don’t always think like
a warrior yet. Please continue to be patient with me,” she asks
softly.

Luca cups her face gently and then kisses
her, “I am sorry I yelled at you,” He whispers. “That really wasn’t
necessary.” He kisses her again.

She sniffles and says, “Yeah it probably was
necessary, I deserved it.”

“You did, but I never want to hurt you love,”
he assures her as he brushes her left cheek with his thumb. “I
truly am sorry love,” he promises.

“We better get to the hotel. I am sure Brigid
figured out why you pulled over. They may all be thinking we are
fighting and making up or something ridiculous like that,” Morna
sniffs. She is more than a little embarrassed that her friend
realizes she had probably been chastised like a child for her error
in judgment. Never mind that she had it coming, it still stings
that someone else might have figured it out.

“How are you feeling physically?” Luca asks
once they are back on the road.

“Good actually, very good!” Morna assures her
mate. “Better than I have felt in a very, very long time, if not
ever. I feel strong, mentally clear and focused. How are you doing
with the whole I-exposed-my-wife-to-vampire-venom thing?” she
asks.

“Oddly enough, now that it seems it hasn’t
done you any harm, I am rather excited. You just smell sexy to me
now. Your scent doesn’t make me as thirsty. I don’t think I will
ever have to torture myself again with fears of losing control and
drinking your blood.” he admits.

“I never believed you would ever do it
anyway,” Morna states flatly. “You are too good and you love me too
much.”

“True I do love you too much, but I have been
turned into a truly dark creature Morna, the pull of your blood
scent was so strong on me,” he admits.

“Look, I know I really can’t fathom the pull
that blood has on you, but I know you. Your body was turned into a
dark creature, but not your mind, soul, or your heart,” she assures
him. “I know you would never have harmed me. I just really hated it
because I knew it was a torment for you, to essentially make love
to your favorite meal all the time.”

Luca laughs at the way she describes it. “I
admit that was hard. But I am also excited because I don’t have to
worry about crushing you with one wrong move now,” he smiles. “You
have always been stubborn about not protecting yourself with the
appropriate spells, and now, I suspect you may have to be careful
not to hurt me for a while. In many ways, I suspect you have the
attributes of a newborn vampire.”

“That’s a scary thought darling,” she says
fearfully. “We both know I do not have one tenth of the control you
do, especially not when we are loving.”

“So what if you crush me once or twice
between those delicious thighs. I think I could get used to that.”
Luca winks at her.

Morna groans, “Oh Luca, I wish we hadn’t
talked about this. I want you so badly,” she softly wails.

They have arrived at the hotel and Luca
chuckles as he walks around to open her door for her, “Me too! I
can‘t wait to get you to myself Morna,” he whispers into her ear as
he helps her out of the car. She gasps and eagerly clasps his face
in her hands and kisses him deeply. He returns the kiss with an
ardor that surprises and delights Morna. After a few minutes, he
pulls away from her reluctantly and smiles at the drugged
appearance of her eyes, and obvious love and devotion he sees in
them. “I love you Morna Michaels. But we need to join the others
now.”

They maintain an unspoken no touch policy all
the way up in the elevator to their room. It doesn’t help. They
both feel like there is a tangible current between them. They keep
looking sideways at each other. Finally, right before the elevator
opens, Morna starts giggling and Luca soon joins her in his own
deep laughter. The occupants of their sitting room can hear them
before they open the door.

Aideen leans over and whispers into Brigid’s
ear, “See, I told you they would make up before they made it back
to the room,” she says smugly.

Aideen is out of her seat in an instant
embracing her parents. She hangs onto her Daddy while they turn to
talk to everyone else in the room.

Morna and Luca look around the small sitting
room. Almeda and Ari are gone. “Where have the envoys gone?” asks
Morna of the room in general.

Breena speaks up, “They stayed long enough to
meet George here, and ask him to join our little party in
Oklahoma.”

George smiles and says, “I am going back to
my old stomping grounds. I lived about 80 years near Fitzhugh. You
know it? It’s not too far from where you folks live.”

Morna says, “Yeah I know it, I taught school
there for a couple of years when I first moved to Oklahoma. George
do you really want to get into the middle of this mess?” she asks
sincerely.

“Why the heck not, I got to fight vampires
with a magical being with more titles than I can recall today, and
then icing on the cake, I meet two actual Elves, envoys from
Alfheim no less. Pretty heady stuff, for a mythology nut like me,”
George assures Morna. “Besides ma’am, we have been seeing signs of
a shift in the balance between good and evil too out in our neck of
the woods. I don’t think this fight is just about your Guild, not
at all ma’am. I think there is a lot more at stake.”

“Fair enough George, welcome aboard. We need
to go pack. Please excuse us. We have a flight to catch. Breena are
you already packed?”

Breena gets up and hands a business card to
Morna. “Yes, I am. And here is Almeda’s cell phone number. She
chuckled when she gave this to me and said you would get the
joke.”

Morna did get the joke. She had been wishing
they could call them on a cell phone not too long ago. She pulls
her cell phone out and programs the number in then hands the card
to Luca, he glances at it and hands it back. Morna mutters under
her breath something about damn perfect vampire memory, and says to
all in the room, “We must get packed if we are going to make our
flight.”

George and Brigid stand up, “Yeah I better
pack too, I am booked on the same flight,” he informs them. “But
first, Lucian, may I have a word with you in private, sir?” he asks
politely.