Magaestra: Loyalties: An urban fantasy series Read online

  Well, perhaps a bit. She had encouraged him to be fully himself, to not restrain his instincts and as a result Aldric had bitten her again and fed, though not much. She had called it grazing in a fit of humor, but Aldric still felt uneasy about it. The magic in her blood still fizzed through him and he knew in his soul that he could never have enough.

  Faith clearly had no concerns, however, as she had been unashamedly tactile ever since that night. He had woken the next morning to find her wrapped around him as if she was afraid he would run, and it had been one of the most reassuring moments of his long life. Aldric found himself also reassured by the fact that he felt even more protective of her than he had before. It made no sense to him: he wanted to bite, to drink her blood which could easily harm her badly, and yet the idea of her being harmed made him start hissing and snarling.

  Most of the events of the week left him exhausted and confused.

  They had also spoken to Marc about the odd restriction he seemed to have now, and tested the bounds of it by having him attempt to enter several private rooms. He was strangely able to enter any vampire’s residence unhindered, but humans seemed to have a hard wall across the entrances, keeping him out. The wolves’ residences seemed to fall somewhere in between, and they had decided not to mention the trouble to Detective Lincoln unless he asked, so they had no other mages to test against. They had been unable to figure out why some homes were easier for him to force his way into than others.

  Performing these tests without broadcasting his new constraint was difficult, but Marc and Faith between them somehow managed.

  Now, four days since the successful raid on the Goldfangs’ camp and Aldric's first taste of Faith's blood, they were gathered in Marc’s office at Leo’s request. Marc sat behind his desk, waiting to accept the video call. Tamika sat on the other side of Faith, and Uncle Eldridge sat in the armchair nearby.

  “Well, I am glad you two have worked out whatever was keeping you apart,” Uncle Eldridge said. His eyes sparkled as he eyed the way Faith slouched into Aldric’s side.

  “He was being stupid, that’s all,” Faith said.

  “We all assumed as much,” Eldridge replied comfortably. Marc chuckled and didn’t disagree.

  “Thank you both for that ringing endorsement of my capacities,” Aldric said drily. “I think you all can understand why I had concerns.”

  Uncle Eldridge sighed. “I remember making the agreements with Marc’s father when we first came to the Frostwalker wolves. None of us ever intended the rule to be quite so absolute. I thought you understood that.” He shook his head. “Being cautious and considerate is one thing, but denying your own nature is not something I think any of us would try to dictate.”

  Aldric frowned at that thought. “You believe that feeding directly from people is our nature? I have never felt unsatisfied with the bagged blood, or the animals I have hunted.”

  Faith looked up at him, then turned to watch Uncle Eldridge’s response. She was still relaxed and sleepy against him, with no trace of worry or anxiety to be in a room full of predators discussing eating people.

  “To survive? No, I don’t think that hunting or attacking people is in our nature, inherently, but we are vampires, Aldric. We bite. When we are feeling anything strongly enough— whether it be anger, or hunger, or passion— we want to bite. That is our nature.”

  Aldric turned the idea over in his mind. He had been so sure that any blood he consumed needed to be either donated medically or non-humanoid in origin that he had never considered anything else. He remembered his father coming to him after the negotiations and impressing upon him the need to make sure he never went back to their old coven's practice of cultivating a small group of volunteer donors to feed from. It had been tradition in their old coven, a common, normal practice.

  It had taken him a bit of time to adjust, but his dedication to the morals and ideals of the Frostwalker Pack— now the Frostwalker Clan— had easily trumped any of his early discomfort.

  “Your parents and I, when we came here, never intended for you children to deny yourself when you found someone to share your life with,” Uncle Eldridge said, almost sadly.

  “I doubt my father did, either,” Marc chimed in. “I’m glad that you take your oath so seriously. But really. Don’t die over it.”

  Marc was about to continue when his computer beeped, signaling Leo’s call starting.

  “Hey guys,” Leo nodded his greeting. “So, I’ve got some news. Whether you consider it good or bad, well...”

  “What have you found, son?” Uncle Eldridge asked.

  “Well, once we had confirmation on the camp and Aldric told me about that door he saw in the cave when he and Faith were stuck, I did a bit of searching though old records. Turns out that area was donated to the state by the last member of a family that once owned most of the area. They were a mining family and this was part of the gold mining industry. So, there were mines all over the place.”

  “So that was an old mine shaft?” Faith asked.

  “Not as such. It turns out that the mining operation was mainly on another side of the mountain, but they were very much not against using natural cave structures to expand their operations.” Leo grimaced. “I found a few maps, but they don’t seem to be complete, any of them. Naturally there was a fire up in the park at one point and a lot of the mining records were destroyed. What we have now was what was in the family house and got donated to the guy’s Alma Mater when he died.”

  Marc nodded. “I remember a bit about that fire from my own family’s stories, and from pack records before your family came to us. It was all a while back though.”

  Leo grunted affirmative. “Yeah, most of the mine entrances got sealed up, from what I can tell. But-- and here’s the thing-- not all of them did. I have the bad feeling that the door you guys found, Aldric, was a way for the Goldfangs to travel in and out of that camp without taking the roads which I can monitor.”

  Aldric caught a snarl forming, and nodded.

  “So, what does all this mean?” Faith asked. She didn’t move her head from where it rested on his shoulder, a warm, comforting weight that helped him calm a bit.

  “Well,” Leo seemed to glance around his screen, taking them all in before he grimaced. “I checked out some cameras from further away. Around the whole area, including on the other side of the mountain. This place here has had a significant uptick in activity.”

  A map popped up of the far side of the state park. There were several industrial sites that were mostly abandoned, Aldric thought, but it wasn’t an area he was terribly familiar with since it was a fair distance from their territory. Several towns over at least.

  “One of the factories seems to have been sold about a week ago and there has been a lot of activity there. Lots of trucks going in and out, but not a lot of people anyone can see.” Leo clicked through a few photos clearly taken from traffic cameras.

  “You think that the rest of the Goldfangs are holed up there?” Marc asked. “Where would Molin get the money to buy a factory, abandoned or not? And how does it tie in to the caves?”

  Leo sighed heavily and reappeared on the screen. “I’m still figuring all that out, but that property backs onto the state park. And the money didn’t come from the Goldfangs. It came from an offshore account I can’t get into. I’m good, but I’m not spy movie good.”

  A heavy silence fell over the group, punctuated only by Leo’s faint clicking on his end of the connection.

  “It’s Cherro. Or Conti. They’re the ones financing the Goldfangs, probably using them as pawns to distract us. Those vampires don’t care who dies as long as it gets them what they want,” Uncle Eldridge said at last. His words caused everyone to come back to life, it seemed, as there was a soft rumble of horrified agreement.

  “Considering the few images of people I can dig up from these cameras I hacked into, I think you’re right,” Leo sighed. “If it’s not Cherro himself, it’s almost certainly Conti. Which explai
ns where all the vampires working with the Goldfangs came from and also the blighthounds. Feeding prisoners to those monsters was one of Cherro’s favorite amusements.”

  “Shit,” Marc muttered.

  Uncle Eldridge swore in several languages, and Faith shivered and pressed closer into Aldric’s side. He wrapped his arm tighter around her shoulders and pulled her closer against him, as if he could pour his own strength into her.

  “They want Faith and Kaylee. We’ve suspected as much, but if that coven is involved, it’s a certainty,” Aldric growled.

  “And the detective, if they know about him, which they might. We don’t know if there were any more fighters that hung back in the attack here the other day. If even one of them escaped, then Lincoln’s cover is blown and they know all about him,” Uncle Eldridge said with a growl of his own. “I fought these goons once, and I regret not scrubbing them from existence. I won’t make the same mistake here.”

  “I’ll call Lincoln and warn him about all this,” Marc said. “I know he has, well let’s be kind and call them concerns about the paranormal world, but even he should agree that we are safer together from here out.”

  “They’re going to try harder to get Faith and Kaylee. Conti wants enough power to impress Cherro, either by gaining powers of his own or by handing over the Magaester to him,” Eldridge said.

  Aldric felt his vampire form slide into place and he further tightened his arm around Faith. “They may come for them. And they will die.”

  Faith hissed in a breath and stared up at him, wide-eyed, but he didn’t see any fear there. Only surprise. Uncle Eldridge raised his eyebrows and Marc chuckled.

  “You’ve got it bad, cuz,” Leo said with a smirk into his webcam. “Still, I’m with you. They even try to touch our classmates, and it will be the last thing they ever do.” Aldric was sure he had never heard that hard tone from Leo.

  “Agreed,” said Marc, his eyes steely even though he still smiled. It was a chilling expression.

  “It is long past time to end this threat,” Uncle Eldridge agreed. “I propose we don’t even wait for them to come. Let's confirm where they are and take them out. The world will be a better place.”

  Aldric smiled himself now, an expression promising cold violence.

  “I agree,” he said. “It is time we took the war to them.”

  * * *

  Do the Frostwalkers rescue Crissy or do Faith and Detective Lincoln fall into the hands of power-hungry vampires? Read on for an excerpt from Magaestra: Tested, or go buy it now!

  Excerpt of Magaestra: Tested

  This is fully unedited so I make no promises as to commas or the like. I apologize in advance to any of you that might bother. -K.K.

  The rest of the day was almost dull in comparison to playing with her magic or settling the nerves of a stressed child. Cuddling with Aldric was the best part, though. Faith always felt more confident after he held her, even if it was just for a moment. Like his presence helped her find her footing again, even if he did or said nothing.

  She wondered what it was like to be magically bound to someone like that. The way Aldric talked about it...

  Faith knew that real life wasn't like the romance novels she had taken to reading since she got here, but boy did it sound nice. To know that there was someone always there for you, dedicated and loving and protective. And she wasn't going to lie to herself: she liked feeling that around Aldric. She snuggled deeper into his arms and put her head on his shoulder, just so she could feel him stroke his hand up and down her back like she knew he would.

  Was it possible to fall flat on your face in love in three weeks?

  Was it fair to Crissy that Faith did exactly that while her sister was god knew where, suffering god knew what?

  That question was one of many that were starting to gnaw at her in the cover of night when she couldn't sleep. She was about to bring it up again, whether she had any right to feel content while Crissy was missing, when the doorbell rang. Faith sat up and looked toward the hallway and she could tell Aldric was listening as one of the enforcers opened the door. One of them was always nearby since the raid on the lodge where they almost rescued Crissy.

  Aldric stiffened and frowned. "Come. We must deal with this." He stood and turned to help her up. She put her hand in his and and let him tug her to her feet before they headed to the front of the building.

  The Frostwalker Clan House was huge and to the unaware looked more like an exclusive hotel or resort. Aldric's office was beside Marc's own, just around the corner from the entry hall. Once they had stepped out the door, Faith could hear voices. Tamika's and...

  "Aunt Lucy?"

  Faith dropped Aldric's hand and dashed around the corner to see that she wasn't hearing things.

  "There you are, sweetie! You really are alive and not dead in a ditch somewhere, not that I would have known that, mind you. You've missed our weekly call twice now, and you didn't sound right on the one before that," Aunt Lucy said. Her hair was streaked with grey now, instead of the mahogany brown Faith still expected to see, but it was pulled back in her usual ponytail and her earrings fairly danced with her worry and irritation.

  "Now then, show me my other girls and we can sit down for some explanations." Aunt Lucy stepped inside, brushing right past Tamika, who blinked in surprise. "Be a dear and pull my bags inside, please? I'm not as young as I once was and the cab driver has gone already."

  "Um..."

  "It's alright, Tamika," Aldric said from just behind Faith, which was a good thing since Faith was still gaping at the sight of her aunt, who should be in LA, not way up here near the Oregon border. And definitely not in the front hallway of the Frostwalker Clan of paranormals who were in the middle of a damned pack war and hunting down possibly rogue vampires to boot.

  "Aunt Lucy!"

  Kaylee barreled into the hallway, not stopping until she leaped into Lucy's arms.

  "Oh my gosh what are you doing here? You have to see the play set in the backyard, it's the most amazing play set ever and Jake and I put Tamika in jail there all the time and she pushes us on the swings so high and it's the most fun ever and when we can't play outside Jake's dad has so many movies! They have all the movies and their tv is ginormous! It's so cool!"

  Kaylee paused to take a breath and Lucy jumped into the slight pause.

  "That sounds wonderful, Kaylee-bee! I'm so excited to hear all about your new friends! But whatever are you doing here?" Lucy transferred her gaze to drill into Faith. "I went to the cabin, and some strange man told me to come here. He gave directions to the cab driver and then closed the door in my face."

  “That was Rod. When he's sleepy he loses his manners," Tamika rolled her eyes. "I bet he called Marc to let us know you were coming, but lord knows if that man has his phone on him. He probably called you, too, Aldric. What’s your excuse?“

  She smirked at him and put Lucy's suitcase and small carry-on style bag on a bench at the side of the door. Aldric ignored her, but patted his pocket and frowned.

  "Indeed. Would you go let Marc know we have a guest?" Aldric asked. "I will show Miss Lucy into the den and arrange for refreshments."

  "You got it, sugar." Tamika winked and turned to head outside to the wooded area that most of the clan used to shift in some privacy.

  Faith felt Aldric's hand press into her back, warm and strong.

  "Come right this way, ma'am. It will be much more comfortable than standing around in the entry." Aldric gestured to the left, and Kaylee hopped down and tugged on Lucy's hand, but the woman herself was peering at Faith who hadn't managed to speak since her first astonished outburst.

  "Well, sweetie? Is that a good plan?" Lucy asked.

  Faith shook herself out of her stupor. "Uh, yeah. Yes. The den's got a wonderful view of the backyard. You can see the play area, even. Kaylee's eyes almost leaped out of her head the first time she saw it." She tried to keep her tone steady and her face free of any sort of tells. Aunt Lucy had always known when
she or Crissy were hiding something. And the secrets Faith had now were way bigger than a plan to sneak out to a party at a boy's house in high school.

  Kaylee tugged Lucy's hand to drag her over to the window in the den and after asking if she would prefer coffee or tea, Aldric bowed and left them to head to the kitchen.

  "Wow, Kaylee-bee. That is a serious play structure." Lucy whistled low and nodded. "I can see why you're so eager to show me. That thing could accommodate a whole class of kids!"

  "It's so cool when all the kids come over and then everyone can play, but Jake is the only one that lives here. Well, me too, I guess, but it was so fun when everyone came over! We played the best game of tag and then there was so much food and we all snuck cake into the clubhouse and Deanna's big sister said we shouldn't have food in the clubhouse cause we'd attract pests, and then--" Kaylee's eyes got huge and she looked wildly at Faith for a moment. "And then they went home and that's all. Come look at the movies!" Kaylee scampered to the wall with the entertainment system. "Jake's dad buys most of them on the internet, but he's got a bunch here, too. He says that it's better to have physical backup just in case, so he gets discs with Jakes favorites and he went out and bout some of mine that he didn't have and they came and we had a movie party and we watched Jake's favorite movie which is The Incredibles which is so good and then we watched Moana cause that's my favorite, then we watched something Jakes Dad likes called Howl's Moving Castle and it was a little bit scary. but not too much and the end was really nice and then we had pancakes for dinner!"

  Lucy's eyes were wide and sparkling with laughter by the time Kaylee slowed down to take a breath. Even Faith had relaxed, and when he brought a cart with coffee and snacks on it, Aldric grinned as the words flowed over the room.

  "Did you know that Howl's Moving Castle is a book, as well? It's a bit different than the movie, but I think it is quite good. Perhaps we could find it and read it together?" Aldric said.

  "Really?" Kaylee bounced up and launched at Aldric, who caught her easily. "Promise?"