Magestorm: The Awakening (15 page)

3
3

The farmhouse
was quiet, but
Dhane
knew the bastard would be there
, waiting
.  Now that he knew Rachel was working with them,
it made perfect sense
why they wanted the book.  She could become the
supreme
ruler, a new Alger
non. 
Dhane
wasn’t going to be part of letting that happen
.

It took a while for him to convince himself he could do this alone. 
A little longer to decide he would survive the
merging
spell and journey
through solid ground
.  Finally he could wait no more and the words left his lips
, and i
nto the ground he went.

After a while he finally got the hang of moving his molecules
in the intended direction
, and he
worked his way
in
to
a
dark basement. 
The trip took nearly an hour. 
The darkness was
actually
a blessing, with the headache he ended up with. 
At least h
e
managed not to throw up
.

Once he had his wits about him and was feeling better, he spoke the words to remove the merging spell.  His sickness subsided and he
could sense the disenchanting spell was in place up above.  That was the last magic he would be able to use.

Footsteps could be heard overhead
, pacing across the floorboards
,
now was the time to act.  A two by four found on the floor would have to do as a weapon.  Carefully
Dhane
moved up the stairs and slowly opened the
basement
door.

He
found
the werewolf alone in the living room.  The poor bastard never saw
Dhane
coming.  One hard swing
dropped the creature
to
the floor and le
f
t
Dhane
free to
search the house.  A locked door
in the dark hallway
seemed to signal his prize
.  A few kicks on the door and h
e managed to knock his way through.

“
Dhane
!
  You are here…for me?”

“Who else?”

He smiled and hurried over to
w
her
e
she sat
. 
In a moment she was untied and turned to face him. 
Their lips met and bodies brushed against each other as their hearts raced.  The reunion was quickly interrupted.

“I hope you brought the book, boy.  For that treasure, I’ll forgive the bump on my head.”

The blow had only
managed to
stun the werewolf briefly. 
Dhane
knew he would be in for a fight for his life, but he wasn’t leaving without Amelia, and he wasn’t giving anyone the book.  If he was going down, he might as well have a little fun with it.

“Sorry, I didn’t figure you could read, so I didn’t bother bringing you a book.  If you like, I’ll go get you a copy of Green Eggs and Ham.  It might be a little more your speed.”

“Smart ass little prick
.
  I’m going to kick your ass and lock you up
for now
.  Once midnight comes, well, my werewolf form will make you wish you had never been born, much less come up against me to rescue
this
whore.”

Dh
ane
braced himself and clutched his fists
, but the sound of the front door opening got everyone’s attention.  Footsteps down the hallway towards the room they stood in made his heart race.

What now?

“Jason, I believe you have something that belongs to me.”

Xander
walked into the doorway and looked over the three of them.  He was calm, but you could see
the
contempt in his eyes.  Whose side was he really on?

“You have no jurisdiction here
,
Xander
.  I suggest…”

“I suggest you shut up
before you test my self-control
. 
Dhane
, please do me the favor of escorting Amelia back to the werewolf area while I have a chat with our friend.”

Dhane
overcame his surprise
enough
to nod and took Amelia by the hand to lead her out.  James attempted to step in their way, but
Xander
was on him in a flash, hand
clutch
ing his throat.  The couple didn’t wait to see what was next, but hurried out of the house and continued down the road.

A safe distance away, they stopped to catch their breath.  He couldn’t believe things worked out like this.  So much for the certain death he was sure awaited
him today
.

“
Dhane
, I will never forget that you saved me. 
My hero forever.”

Another
kiss had him floating on air, and the remaining walk, long though it was, passed like time never had before.  For the first time, he felt right, felt like a person, felt like a man.

34

Dhane
and Amelia arrived at the werewolf area, and she insisted he accompany her inside.  Down a long hallway
on the second floor
, they reached her room and she pulled him inside.  The room wa
s decorated in red and black, with
gold
trim
,
and
tigers or dragons adorning most everything.

She had him sit down on her bed and went to make him a drink.  She brought it to him and he recognized it immediately. 

“I don’t know
,
I heard this can have a permanent effect on you, so to speak.  Are you trying to make me your slave?”

“Clearly you don’t understand exactly what this does,” she laughed.  “This will help us merge, body and soul.  We don’t control each other; we become a part of each other.  Then we each will be able to sense where the other is.  That way, you can always find me.”

Considering how well things had been going for the witches and
himself
lately, he knew he probably shouldn’t do this.  He finished the drink
and she took the cup from him and dropped it on the floor.

She kissed him deeply as she pushed him back onto the bed.  Her hands ran all over him, and he was prepared to just enjoy the ride.  Instead she pulled back and stood again,
stripped
off her shirt and dropped her pants.  In her bra and panties, she smiled at him and took a teasing step away.

Dhane
jumped to his feet and undid his pants as he walked towards her.  She smiled and turned like she was going to run away.  He caught her from behind and pulled her body against his.  Hands around her waist, one slid up and across the bra, then slipped inside it and began massaging. 

Closing her eyes, Amelia let her head fall back and his lips found her neck.  As he kissed all around
from her neck
up to her ear, his other hand slid downwards and over her panties, teasing her with a steady rubbing.  The hand went inside them and she let out a moan as she clutched at his pants.  She made them fall and felt him pressed against her, hard and willing.

A glance to the nearby table and she knew what she wanted.  Pulling away, she walked over and dropped her panties.  She put one knee on top and leaned over, inviting him inside her.

He obliged and they tested the durability of the table.  He just had to hope her cries wouldn’t bring any unexpected visitors, thinking she was in pain.  There would be no interruptions, and
as they finished, connected physically and so much more, a power seemed to run through him. 

Dhane
stepped back and she got off the table and pulled him over to lie on the bed together.  She leaned up on her arm and ran a hand across his chest, tracing with delicate fingers.  She stopped and smiled.

“Now you’re mine.”

A brief moment of fear rushed through him, and he feared the power he felt was actually her power taking
him
over.  Amelia burst out with laughter and he breathed a sigh of relief.

“That’s not funny!”  He laughed.

“It was to me.  I fear though, if anyone has power over another, it’s you
who
holds me.”

He smiled and they lay together for hours.  Finally he knew he had better be going.  Darkness was just falling, he was in werewolf territory, and he had a meeting comin
g up soon.  A farewell kiss
turned into another
romp
,
a fitting end
to
their time for now.  Dressed and satisfied, he made for home.

The cold night air didn’t bother him in the least.  That tingling sensation he had become aware of earlier was still there
, and it made him wonder.

Is this what love is like?

He slipped his hands into his coat pockets out of habit more than being cold.  The piece of paper inside brought a horrible realization back to him.  He had used his father’s spell.  There would have to be consequences for that, wouldn’t there?  Shaking his head, he was suddenly grounded back to reality.

N
ight had fallen by the time he got home, and he was running late for the council meeting.  He hurried up to his apartment
and
slipp
ed inside.  A quick change of shirts and a Pepsi to go was all he’d have time for.  He wouldn’t even bother with the lights.

Once inside, he made his way to the dresser by the dim light from the hallway.  One shirt off, another shirt
on,
and he was back to the fridge.  He put his drink on the counter to put his jacket back on, when a voice rang out.

“Hurrying off so soon?”

He recognized her immediately. 

“What are you doing here, Heather?”

“I’ve been watching you.  A tricky one, you are.  You had me going with your
act, that
you weren’t going to follow your father to becoming the great wizard.”

“What the hell are
you talking about?”

He closed the door and hit the light switch.  On his bed, Heather lay naked, with nothing but a scattering of spell pages beside her. 
Dhane
gulped.

“I saw you today, using that merging spell.  You have taken the first step, and I’m here to see that you don’t ever stop, Master.”

35

Dhane
walked aimlessly for hours.  He was banned from his training for two weeks as punishment for casting a spell on Elisabeth, a fellow witch.  He had missed the last two nights of meetings as well, calling in sick.  Funny thing is
,
he never got sick. 
Ever.

The cold wind usually bothered him, but not tonight.  He thought about what happened two nights earlier, with the vampire Heather.  She had showed up again, determined to push him to be a great wizard. 

Damn her.

She had seduced him, like that was so hard.  Ever since that night, all he could think about was Amelia.  All this free time, and he couldn’t bring himself to face her now.  The last time had been more intimate, no business,
all
pleasure. 

Now he roamed the streets looking for what was next.  He didn’t pay much attention these days to where he was going.  The vampires
had
left their area, and the werewolves that remained in theirs were allies.  The real threat was around every corner.  Vampires would come for him eventually.  He was sure of it.

He glanced down one street and saw darkness ahead.  That was the vampire territory, or what was left of it. 
Dhane
decided to walk through the area that was forbidden before.  It was deadly quiet
;
nobody roamed this area even if it was empty. 
He
became aware, on that dark street, just how alone and lost he was.

You can do what your father never could, be the gr
eat wizard he should have been.

Heathers words still rang in his mind. 
A chance to be more than what his father was, to make up for his wrong doings was very tempting.
  Only, he had to give the pages to the council, didn’t he?

“They will think you took them intentionally, and that you’ve been studying them before turning them over.  Giving them over is a lost cause now.”

She was right, of course.  He was just getting into the good graces of other members of the council, and this would undo all he had worked for.  Destroy the pages?  That might be his best option now.  Instead
, they were shoved inside books
.  He didn’t read them, wasn’t even sure what they would do. 
He was only sure
he didn’t want to know, right?

“Fucking vampire.”

The words barely escaped his lips when he heard a sound from around the corner.  Something moved and he raced after it, further into the darkness.  He reached the next street just as the shadow slipped into an alley.

“Hey!”

Upon arriving at the alley, he raised his hands to cast the spell of illuminate when he heard a hiss of a voice calling out.

“Algernon!”

He
squinted
his eyes, trying to see in the darkness what was there.  Then he saw teeth, long vampire teeth, shine in the little light there was.  This was it, his demise.  At least he would see the creature that would kill him.

“
Illo
garda
et
due
vatro
!”

The spell sent light from his hands and flooded into the alley.  The creature stumbled back, sheer terror on his face.  Scrambling, he hid behind a dumpster, curled into a ball and covered his face.

“No master, please master, no pain.  Sorry to startle, please no pain.”

He mumbled and cried as
Dhane
looked at him with curiosity.  They weren’t lying about how Algernon must’ve treated the vampires.  This creature recognized
Dhane
, and must know he was the son of the bastard, yet instead of enacting revenge, it hid in fear.

“I mean you no harm, no pain.  Please get up.”

“Master, don’t beat me, don’t beat me.  I will do better, do better.”

“I’m not your master.  As I said, I’m not going to hurt you.”

The vampire carefully looked up to
Dhane
and then cocked his head as he examined the face before him. 
Clearly familiar, but not quite right.

“Master, you are young again, very young again.”

“Do you think I’m Algernon?”

“You are the great wizard, master.  Whatever name you wish, I will call you, I will call.”

“Look, what’s your name?”

“It is
I,
D
emian
, master, humble servant.”

“I’m not Algernon, I am his son.  You are in no danger,
Demian
.  You may get up.”

Demian
stood and looked over the young man before him.  So familiar, but somehow different, he was beginning to believe him.

“Son of Algernon?
  I knew not of you.”

“Yeah, well, that’s probably for the best.  I’m sorry for whatever my father may have done to you.  Just know that I’m not the cruel man he was.”

“Not always cruel, not always.  Once a great wizard he was destined to become, so great.  The road is so
difficult,
it was too easy to stray, to be led into temptation.  Watch the fall of the great wizard, avoid the same path, and you could be the master of all.”

“I don’t want to be anyone’s master.”

He smiled.

“You will.  Go now, must go now.”

“Can I come back and talk with you sometime?”

Demian
stopped and thought for a moment.  He glanced back over his shoulder at
Dhane
and looked him up and down.  Finally he nodded and disappeared into the tunnels.  All was quiet once again.

He was weird.

Dhane
continued his walk, but with more direction now.  It was time to go home.