Darlings of Paranormal Romance (Anthology) (126 page)

“
How long ago was
that?”

“
Some two or three decades
now. I haven’t seen her in a very long time. I’m not even sure if
she’s still alive.”

“
Do you think we will see
our loved ones again?” Emily asked.

Realizing I had brought up a sad
subject again, I scolded myself. From the pile of wood she had
gathered, I took a few arm loads and tossed them in front of the
bench she sat on. The grief she knew because of my father’s actions
outweighed mine. I arranged the logs in a stack on the sand. “I
hope so,” I insisted. “There’s a lot out there we still don’t
understand. Like the river. I never knew that was a portal. There
could be more and we just don’t know about them. You could be
right. If we can find the door, we may be able to see our loved
ones again.”

“
I’d like that. Doors to
other worlds. What if it is like that? We could ask your mother
when you find her.”

I paused and glanced over at her as I
got ready to light the fire. Her comment caught me off guard. “I’ve
never thought of that.”

“
What?”

“
To search for her. I
always hoped she’d come back to find me.”

“
But what if she can’t?”
Emily joined me in front of the stack of wood. A need of urgency
suddenly made her move toward me. “My aunt always said sorceresses
are very powerful people. What if she calls to you, but you don’t
hear her because you don’t know how to listen? You should try
calling to her instead.”

“
Voices from the Beyond you
mean? I never thought that was possible. I’d love to hear her voice
again.” The thought saddened me for a moment until I heard Emily
speak.

“
How are you going to light
that by the way?” She grinned at me as a fire in her eyes already
burned.

I winked at her because she knew
without asking what I was going to do. “It’s one reason I want to
join the Order of the Dragon.” I aimed my hands just under the
stack of wood and sent a fireball from the center of my palm,
hitting the wood dead-on and igniting the logs.

“
You cease to amaze
me.”

“
Like I told you, I do have
a few tricks up my sleeve. Help me move the bench a little closer
so we’ll stay warm.”

***

As Emily and I watched the fire, I
felt the flames burning in my loins. I wanted to make love to her.
I wanted to taste every part of her body again before it was too
late. I pulled her tighter into my arms. She truly was unique, a
rare jewel discovered in the Dark Place. I still marveled that she
was probably a Livonian werewolf as I suspected. When a gust of
wind drifted by, her golden hair wildly whipped around her face and
shoulders, lacerating me a time or two on the chin. Occasionally, I
sent another shot of flames at the fire to keep it going. I
wrestled with my thoughts. Was it the right time? I decided to take
a chance and tell her what I was feeling.

“
I know our time together
has been short and we don’t have much time left before you go home,
so I want to tell you something.”

“
Vincent, I
don’t…”

“
Please let me finish. I’ve
never done this before. It’s not like me to voice my feelings.
Okay?”

She nodded.

“
I don’t need a century to
figure this out. I knew from the minute I saw those wolf eyes
staring at me from that cage that I wanted to claim your heart. I
won’t deny it and I won’t spend my life being some macho shit. I
don’t have time for it. Life is now. Here and now and I want my
life with you, Emily. If it means, it’s only a few hours more or
millenniums, I want you with me always.”

Unexpectedly she pushed her hands into
my chest. “No,” she whispered hoarsely. “They’ll kill you. I can’t
do this. I can’t do this to you.”

“
Do what?” I asked, growing
alarmed at her actions. I pulled her again into my arms.

“
My father sent me to kill
you, the son of the lord demon. That’s why I’m here, Vincent. To
kill you.”

“
No.”

She nodded as tears rolled down her
cheeks. In her agitated state, she pounded her fists repeatedly
into my chest. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to mislead you. I didn’t
know who you were until you told me who your father is”

“
What were you instructed
to do,” I asked her through clenched teeth, struggling to maintain
my anger.

“
Papa had said to stand out
in the meadow, to help any strangers who passed by on the road at
the bottom of the hill. I didn’t know I’d end up in the Dark Place.
But when I did, you were there and I thought you could help me. I
thought maybe I could escape and maybe I’d find this demon along
the way. Then that transformation happened after I drank your blood
and…”

“
Your father, King Lividius
told you to go to the meadow?”

“
Yes,” she replied. Her
eyes wide and alert. “Why?”

“
That’s where my father
found you. In the meadow?”

“
Yes. I don’t understand
what that means.”

“
It was a trap. You’ve read
stories of demons roaming meadows looking for virgins, haven’t
you?”

She shook her head as she wiped away
her tears. “No, that can’t be right. If Papa told your father then
that means he led us all to be slaughtered.”

I sighed. “I can’t say for sure, but
I’d suspect your father has gone dark. I’m sorry, Emily. He’s
probably been in league with my father for some time.”

“
Then I have no home to
return to,” she muttered in between sniffles. “Oh Vincent, this
can’t be. My pack is lost.” She fell into my arms overwhelmed again
by grief. I let her cry it out as she rested her head on my
shoulder.

***

When Emily finally fell asleep on the
bench I had made for her, I looked for more wood which was scarce.
The fire was low and only a soft glow of coals remained. Now and
then Emily mumbled in her sleep and I’d check on her. Her angelic
features radiated in the dying firelight. She was the most gorgeous
creature I’d ever seen. My heart jerked and I felt a dull ache of
foreboding. Did I want to send her home, back to the Golden Kingdom
now? What if my hunch was right? As I took my shirt off and draped
it over Emily’s shoulders, I decided I should try to contact my
mother. The suggestion Emily had made that I should call to her
from the Beyond was a smart idea. Why had I not thought of it
before?

I dug a six inch wide trench in the
shape of a circle around Emily and where the previous fire had
been. I lit the sand on fire and watched the flames chase around
the dug trench, each forming a circle that stacked on top of the
other until it created a dome above us. As I retrieved my sword and
stabbed it into the ground in the most center point of the circle,
I called upon the Moon Goddess, the one entity I knew who could
find my mother.

“
Al di
là, al di là, la dea della Luna, fatemelo sapere di mia madre. Al
di là, al di là, la dea della Luna, fatemelo sapere di mia
madre.
”

I called out with all my might,
stabbing the sword again and again into the ground. Leaving the tip
in the sand, I whirled the blade in a circle left, and then right.
“To the beyond, to the beyond,” I said again, “Moon goddess, bring
me word of my mother.”

Suddenly
a large gust of wind from the South blew out the flaming dome of
fire. My vision adjusted as I noted how completely dark the night
had become. Emily whimpered in her sleep. I went to her and placed
my fingertips on her wrist. She still has a pulse and breathing
evenly.
She’s fine,
I thought. I looked out across the water to where the strong
wind had surfaced. The waters were calm like all life in the sea
had stopped. Something was wrong. I glanced out at the end of the
pier, thinking I wouldn’t see anyone, but I did. The moonlight
appeared, bathing the figure in light. The person retreated and sat
down in the hammock, looking my way beckoning me to join him or
her, then reclining in the hammock, rocked back and forth,
whistling. I remained frozen, closing my eyes temporarily, so I
could focus on the sound. Did I know the tune? I could hear the
song floating over the breeze.
Hush,
little baby, don't say a word, Mama's gonna buy you a
mockingbird.

My throat tightened and my legs
lurched forward. Could it be? My mother had sung that lullaby to me
when I was a child. Could it be her? Cautiously I made my way out
along the pier, hoping against hope it was my mother. When I
approached the figure, I realized she was a woman. She wore a white
chiffon dress that hovered and moved around her. The dress sparkled
with gems that had been woven throughout the sleeves and upper
bodice.

Taking a moment to stand, the woman
tossed her gray hair away from her face and over her shoulder, just
the way my mother did. I recognized the gesture immediately. Her
face, I did not recognize. But her eyes. Her eyes I recognized.
Tranquil pools of blue love gazing up at me.

“
Vincent, my
son.”

“
Mother?” I ventured. It
had to be her.

“
Yes, my son,” she said.
“Don’t let my appearance concern you. It is me.”

“
What happened?” I asked as
I took her feeble hand in mine and guided her along the pier
towards the beach. I wanted to hug her, but I was afraid I’d break
her in half. She was so gaunt and frail.

“
The last token of love
from your father before he banished me. He took my looks. Since
then, I’ve aged more learning my magic. The previous Moon Goddess
retired and handed things over to me. I have some big shoes to
fill.”

I halted
in my tracks, glancing down at my black boots, and then at her.
“
You
are the Moon
Goddess?”

She simply winked at me, a hint of
calculating knowledge crossing her features.

“
This is wonderful!” I
exclaimed.

In response, a grin beamed on her
face. “You were always such a good student. You understand,
yes?”

“
I think so.”

“
Let me look at you,” she
stated, again changing the subject. “You are so tall, so
well-defined, Vincent. My goodness. So unlike your father.” She
stifled a thin giggle. “Do I look that old to you, my son? Too old
to hug? Oh what am I saying? That doesn’t matter, let me look at
you. You sent for me. That IS what matter! I’m so happy to see
you!”

It was indeed my mother! Her constant
chatter. Her changing subjects often. It was indeed her. When we
made it to the end of the wooden pier, she whirled me around and
fastened both her hands on my elbows like clamps. There was no
mistaking. She may look old, but her grip was strong and firm. Her
strength had increased, not diminished. Her magic probably had as
well. It would have to if she was now the Moon Goddess. Her nails
dug into my flesh and I quietly cringed, pretending I felt no
pain.

“
It’s been so long,” I
said, wrapping my arms around her waist as I hugged her.
Delicately, I cradled her bony frame in my hands and foregoing the
formalities, I planted a huge kiss on each of her wrinkled cheeks
which seemed to delight her.

It seemed
Father had drained the very life source from her. I felt enraged. A
wave of anger flashed across my face and I was sure my mother had
seen it.
I’ll kill him for
this.

Immediately, she turned my attention
to the beach. “Are you alone?”

“
No,” I replied, patting
her hand like she was a hundred years old and I was but a boy. “I
want to meet this woman I saved.” I noticed out of the corner of my
eye that the moonlight seemed to follow us, shining a spotlight on
us.

“
She is close to your
heart, yes? I feel this radiance permeating from you.”

“
Yes, Mother. I think I…” I
paused, not daring to utter the words my heart already knew. “I
think I love her,” I finally admitted. Feeling ashamed, I quickly
shut down and blurted out. “I saved her from Father’s clutches and
that’s all that matters.”

She contemplated me, never once
believing my hesitation. My mother could always see through any of
my charades. She ran her fingers slowly over her lips in a circle,
listening intensely to me, but thinking at the same time as she
carefully composed her next statement. It was a habit that drove my
father nuts. However it was a habit that served her well in the
Dark Place until that one day she couldn’t hold her tongue anymore.
“Have you told her, Vincent?”

“
No, she has said the
words, but I have not. What if I can’t protect her? I didn’t
protect her family. They are dead because of me. I did nothing. I
looked away. I don’t deserve Emily’s love. I know that, but I want
her safe. I’ll give my life if I have to.”

Mother pressed her index and middle
fingers to her lips. Her light blue eyes darted about as she
thought. Then she heaved a great sigh. “Hush that silly talk, my
son. You act like you don’t deserve happiness. Sweetheart, we all
deserve happiness if our hearts are pure. Just because you are the
child of a demon does not mean you should deny yourself love, not
the kind of love your father and I had, but the kind of love that
is real. True love. You must seek it out always and if you have
already found it, then you must hold on to it and never let it go.
I can tell by the look in your eyes, Vincent. You have found it.
I’m not going to let that shit of a father of yours rob you of it.
Remember you are the son of a goddess, not the son of a demon. Stop
letting him control you. Those burdens you hold on to. Set them
down. Great things are in store for you, my divine warrior.” She
chuckled softly which was a laugh of hers I loved to hear. It was a
quiet sound that lodged in the back of her throat when she knew she
risked all by vocalizing a response in front of my father or one of
his brothers, but she did it just the same. The sweetest of
threats.