A Dangerous Legacy Pt. 16

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madam_noe
madam_noe
1,845 Followers

We moved to the table like poker players who had just stood down from a Mexican standoff in the wild west. And it had been a stalemate, a shocking surprise.

"Your are strong, I'll give you that."

He just glared at me and I had to remind myself of all he suffered and how in many ways it was my fault just to cut him some slack.

"I have nothing to say to you," He repeated.

"Look. Ken, mind if I call you Ken? I like nicknames, just deal with it but if you call me Annie I will bitch slap you. Anyway, right now someone is fucking with the timeline, magic is weakening, and shit is on fire. I don't need you sneaking around my back trying to assassinate me."

"I'm not."

"You're not?"

His eyes narrowed. "I'm not trying to kill you. And I'm not leading an army against you. There are foolish witches who want more than anything to keep wolves slaves for a variety of reasons. They approached me to lead them and I laughed in their faces."

"Why?"

"Why? You know nothing about me then, do you, majesty?"

"Anna," I said automatically.

He looked off towards the doorway to the bedroom slightly flushed. "Given how they have treated me for the last century it felt good to laugh at them when they thought they needed me.

"I thought I would want you dead, but your actions the last few days...I've reached a different decision."

"Oh? Then why attack me when I came?"

He finally met my eyes and insecurity was painted all over his handsome face. "I wanted you to know how strong I am, how strong my magic is. I have just as much witch in me as sorcerer.

"And I know magic is weakening. I don't know how but I know some of the magic I carry inside me came not just from my mother, but from you. We are weak because both my mother and I have some of your magic."

It made sense, but only as much as anything made sense.

"I knew it when we met at the chessboard, when I smelled your magic. It's sweet, slightly sweet, like lotus blossom and apple blossoms together, and that tang is in mine and my mother's. We are weak because you are weak. We can fix it, Anna."

He was now blushing scarlet and his eyes fell to the table, refusing to meet mine.

"Oh, boy," I grumbled, knowing something bad was coming.

"We can fix it if we reunite our magic in a child."

"Huh?"

He forced his eyes to mine. "I want to be your consort."

***

Time travel had its advantages, I reflected as I popped back into the room to see myself leaving. Seconds later the door opened and Andre was there. "Anna?"

"Here."

He shut the door behind him and turned on the light. "Are you all right?"

No. I had caused immense suffering in two people, or I would, and one of them wanted me to be his brood mare. Malachai did as well, Valerius wanted me to be somebody's, and I had to figure out why I was responsible for the ethnic cleansing of vampires.

"I don't know if I will ever be. Andre, how soon until everyone meets again?"

"In twenty minutes we're to all meet for dinner. They are expecting to hear what you have to say then."

"And what will I say?"

"The truth?"

I shook my head. "I had a dream, a vision. I can't explain it all, but Andre, I know that as I solve this puzzle so must I build it. So with that, I am so sorry."

"Anna, what-"

I called on a spell I head read in my books, and his mind opened to me. I resisted the urge to explore and simpoly found the memory of seeing my future self at Chengzhou. I made it a blurred face, female but unfamiliar.

When I was done I shut his mind tight and simply added it to the growing tally of sins committed I'd have to face. In that moment I knew I would push it all off, finish the task before me. Once I healed the timeline, then and only then would I succumb to the guilt, so I pushed it aside for the moment.

"Yes, Andre, the truth. You're right."

"It is indeed a mystery."

"Do we dress for dinner?"

"In whatever you like." Andre smiled.

I dressed us smart-casual and sadly thought how now magic felt natural, and no, forgoing it wasn't comforting. Alessandra was over a millennia in age, it made sense she would be tired.

Once all gathered food was served by wolves who worked the hotel and despite the delicious smells I had no appetite, nor did anyone else it seemed. All stared at me expectantly so I stood at the head and addressed them all.

"The culprit had another spell, likely aid from another unseen magic-bearer. I could tell it was a woman, but not who she was."

This began a roar as everyone spoke at once, save me, Andre, and curiously Malachai. I had to shout for quiet and then sat. As we ate everyone talked, but ignored the lines between witch and sorcerer were drawn.

Malachai had with him three fellow sorcerers sans dragons, a woman and two men. Once more inhumanly beautiful, they seemed the most distrustful of all but they obeyed every little shake of Malachai's head if trouble brewed.

I picked at my food, despite most of it were favorites of mine and the rest were familiar enough, Malachai's favorites it seemed went towards old world Hungarian and German or spicy as hell Thai. Interesting.

I did manager to eat some Jaeger-Schnitzel and curried scallops and washed it down with a good beer, Budweiser, the original European, not the poor American imitator.

I looked at my council and remembered the dream. Truth, it seemed, was subjective, and this was another piece to the puzzle I had to solve and yet create. I had grown up agnostic but in that moment I knew if there was a God, a supreme creator, I pitied him more than anything. Such power was a curse.

So in the future I knew I would go back to a young Alessandra and take her back into the past, give her some of my magic so she could be guardian. I would make sure she was in place to be raped and then return to make sure she bore Ken. I would also go back to Chengzhou and help the werewolves kill every last vampire man, woman, and child, which would force a truce between light and dark.

Light and dark...Ken was of both. Balance seemed mean something here but I couldn't figure it out. And if I was weakened now because I have some magic to Alessandra who in turn lost some to Ken, how would I have enough to spare them some?

I drank more beer, at a total loss. Once more I cursed mysteries.

After dinner Malachai introduced his advisors, Soren, James, and Leanne, and tried to wrestle me away for a private audience but I declined. Instead I used magic to make a note and made sure one of the wolf waiters knew to give it to Francine and Nadine when their sorcerer was not around.

Beyond exhausted, we retired from the medieval styled great-hall dining room and went back to our suite. I invited the pack to have a drink with me and they all sat around me expectantly.

I wanted to tell them the truth with all my heart, but I couldn't. I had to create the puzzle. I don't know why I believed Alessandra so much, perhaps it was guilt, but I did.

"Over the next few weeks or however long it takes us to fix the timeline, I am going to have to ask you all at various times to do things you won't like."

"Such as?" Andre drawled.

"Such as following orders. It is not out of a desire to command but a need. If I tell you I must do something, you must trust me that it needs to be done. I can only say I know more than I can tell, and that too you must understand. It has become clear to me that only I can fix the timeline, and that menas taking risks."

"No!" Pierre reflexively said.

"Yes," I countered coolly. "I have seen many people today and spoken to them all, and something has occurred to me.

"When I was just sixteen, something happened to me. I don't want to discuss it, but I had to walk ten miles in the snow, wearing only stolen boots and a torn dress. I should have died. At the time I thought it was grit and determination that saw me through the ordeal, but I realize now it was magic. I don't know who, but some witch made sure I did not weaken and turn back to something horrible that would have killed my spirit, but instead made me go on to a different kind of hell, one that forged the woman you see here today.

"That same providence will keep me safe. There is some goal, some destiny in all this. You will have to trust I will remain safe until it is realized."

"And then?" Julian asked.

"And then it will by my strength and yours that lets me greet the sun each morning, but one thing at a time. Simple know I will never ask for more than you can give." I directed the last at Jerry and Liv, our newest group members.

Diego rose from the floor and came over to me, whining slightly, his dinner finished.

"Now, I have to take Diego out and I would like to be alone. Andre, I know you will insist, so please, whoever comes with me, just hang back, watch me, give me space."

Wariness filled each pair of eyes that regarded me. I had once sworn to let them be free and now I stood on a tightrope between breaking that promise and suspending it temporarily.

I summoned up a winter coat and Diego's leash and we left. I never looked back to see who came as I walked to the stairs and went down to the first floor.

The hotel was deserted, ghostly. My footsteps and Diego's light panting breaths echoed off the walls. We went out onto the terrace for the breakfast restaurant and I took him off leash to run around. The door opened and closed behind me, my watcher I knew, but my attention was drawn to a match struck be someone seated at one of the tables.

I tasted magic, which explained how she had cleared the snow and was staying warm.

"I'm sorry to intrude," I called to Leanne, the sorcerer.

"Not at all." She raised her soft pack of cigarettes. "Want one?"

"Actually, yes. May I join you?"

"Come on over. What about your wolf?"

I turned and saw Pierre, whom I knew didn't smoke. I sent him a spell for warmth, sent another small one to Diego, and entered hers.

Leanne had hair so dark brown in the moonlit night it looked black. Her skin tone was dusky, the natural slant of her eyes made sharper by smoky kohl. Her build was small, delicate, and I could almost imagine her in some Sultan's harem, dancing with seven veils.

I took a cigarette and her lighter and lit up. Passing it back I saw something move in the breast pocket of her black poplin. "What is that?"

She reached in and pulled out a cute little hedgehog. "This is Sam, my familiar."

"He's adorable."

"Thanks, yours is beautiful."

"And he knows it," I laughed. She seemed warm and open, strange for an enemy. "His name is Diego."

"May I pet him?"

"Sure." I saw Diego had done his business and with magic I disposed of it, and called him over. He sniffed at her hand and looked to me for approval, which I gave, and she found the spot behind his left ear that drove him mad with happiness.

"I grew up in a time before Islam came to my lands. We had dogs, for hunting. I loved them. Dogs are not so popular nowadays."

I blew out a puff of smoke and rolled my shoulders. "Forgive me for asking, but why are you so friendly to me?"

She smiled and made sure Sam was snuggled deep in her pocket and Diego didn't sniff him. "My king asked me along of all his advisors because I like witches. I was in love with one once."

"Oh?"

"He was killed by a dragon. I killed the one who did it and my king imprisoned me for two hundred years in punishment. But recently he has been softening to the idea of a permanent truce and made me an advisor. I believe he is beginning to understand what I have been saying all along."

"And that is?"

She laughed and took a deep pull. "Forgive me, majesty, it is just so thrilling to have your presence requested by your king and then have a private conference with a queen."

"Call me Anna. I'm an American and we only like titles in BBC shows."

"Fair enough...Anna. Now, what I've been saying is that wars between sorcerers and witches is like two species competing for the same resources. Like wolves and coyotes. We fight to keep balance."

"Interesting."

She shrugged. "I had two hundred years with no magic, no companionship, no entertainment. I had a lot of time to think. And so it makes sense the wolves killed the vampires."

"How do you mean?"

"Once, long ago, it was the very first king of sorcerers who called forth all the powers of the dark. This brought people and animals, more than he expected, so he combined powers. Bats, jackals, and humans became vampires, and he combined the rest to make dragons. Two races of pure magic. When your first queen did the same she turned away many creatures that answered her call. She took those like her familiar, wolves, and the humans who came, and made werewolves. One race, tied to her.

"With two dark became stronger and the wars began. Vampires were messy, mistakes. You see, the first king had no tie to humans, jackals, or bats, nothing to anchor them, so their magic was wild and dangerous. We sorcerers like danger, I doubt you'll meet any that haven't tried BASE jumping or bear wrestling, but this was more than we could handle.

"The vampires began feeding on witches, overfeeding on people. They began to hunt werewolves for sport on the full moon, drinking their blood as it made them high. The wolves had to kill them, to correct the mistake, balance the sheet."

I was astounded, and hope bloomed in my chest. I knew enough of basic psychology to know I would grab at any straws to sublimate my guilt. "Do you have any proof?"

"None, and there are only five of us sorcerers old enough to remember vampires, four witches. I seem to be the only one who remembers how it actually was. Two centuries of meditation will do that."

Diego came to me and curled up, happy in the warmth bubble as the winter winds howled around us.

"Why are you smoking outside?"

"Oh, I know I can use magic and do it inside, but it's habit. See, for another hundred years after I was let out I couldn't use magic, probation in a manner of speaking. So I got used to the human rituals, including smoking outside."

"How long since you got your magic back?"

"Three hundred and sixty years, but I try to use magic as little as possible. Warmth spells like this are fine, some transport, but I'm old enough being human is a novelty."

"Do you remember when you were human?"

"Yes. Some, actually, not much. You know what I remember most?"

I shook my head and she smiled, stubbing out her cigarette. "I remember getting the flu and being terrified I would die. I haven't so much as sneezed in twenty-five hundred years."

I didn't know what to say to that, so I changed tack. "Which four witches would remember the vampires?"

"Oh, your Marcus and Shin-Zan, and two recluses, Marta and the great Horus."

"Horus?" I remembered he had been Pierre's war buddy, for lack of a better term.

"He's the oldest, older than Malachai. My Giano was friends with him. He was once worshipped as a god, the God, the first, original God we know beyond the great mother father our ancestors worshipped. He's actually a hoot."

I remembered Pierre mentioning Horus thought his magic came from death, a very un-witch-like statement if I ever heard one. "Do you know where I could find him?"

"Probably in Central Africa. He likes the wars the larger powers don't get into. He says it makes it easier to divine the right stance. All right, I'm heading in." She stood, a petite thing, and smiled down at me. "Anna, I'm glad to have met you. I know why we're here, and I will do all I can to help. I think it's high time witches and sorcerers come together and bury the hatchet."

I didn't know what to say so I bade her good night. When she went in I stubbed out my cigarette and used magic to clean everything, including my breath. Diego and I padded over to Pierre who held the door for us.

"You heard all that?" I asked him and he nodded. "Can you contact Horus?"

"I think so. Why?"

"If you can, ask him how the balance of magic felt before the vampires died. Ask him what he remembers of the first truce of magic and how we settled all that magic loosened into the world when they died. And ask him to keep it secret."

"I can do that. Anna, what's going on? Do you know which witch aided the wolves in destroying the vampires?"

I answered him as truthfully as I could, remembering the dream. "I don't know her...yet."

***

For the first time I had declined sex and found my pack in agreement. Thanks to time travel I was beyond exhausted and just wanted to sleep. We piled into bed together and they held me, and I did my best to hold them. Even Diego hopped up and slept at the foot and I let one of my feet loose from the blanket to set my toes in his silky fur.

Bolstered, I slept through the night, and blessedly had no more dreams, or if I did, I didn't recall them. I woke feeling refreshed and enjoyed a long slow bath with Julian in attendance. I did manage to eat breakfast in the bath, once we refilled it. The water had gone cold during our lovemaking.

Then Pierre and I took each other quickly as I dressed, or rather halfway through dressing. I had just put on my underthings when he ripped my panties and I rode him, both of us laughing and kissing.

Andre had only promised me that night when I told him I had a private meeting to attend.

After minimal argument it was Liv who walked with me down to the small conference room.

"Please wait outside for me. I will be perfectly safe inside."

"I would feel better if you had Diego with you."

"He'll be happier hiking with Valerius and Andre this morning. I just need to consult with someone, that's all."

We stopped at the door and she brushed some of her blonde curls aside out of her eyes. "If I hear any sound of distress I will break the door down."

"I know, I know, I know, or Andre will have both our heads. If any trouble comes my way I will call your name, I swear."

"Be safe."

"Don't get bored."

I went inside and to my relief Francine and Nadine were there, the dragons looking curious and yawning. Creatures of the night didn't like meetings before noon, I gathered, and I was pleased even more they had come.

"Welcome," I said by way of greeting.

"Good morning," Nadine said with a yawn. "What is so important?"

"Sister, dear, I think it's what we had earlier discussed. Isn't it, majesty?"

"Anna, please. Yes. I need to go into the future, and I can't explain why, but I can't go alone and I can't go with another witch or a sorcerer."

Francine nodded, sighing. "You're going to visit yourself. That's usually why any one of you comes to one of us for help. You want us to take you into the future and make sure you're corporeal when we do."

Nadine perked up. "And you want total secrecy. Interesting. Why?"

"I can't say."

"Yes, you can," Nadine said with a soft smile. "Consider it payment. We don't wish any power over you, but we need to know if it is worth the risk."

"I am going to the future to see myself. I need to know from my future self why the witch has gone back in time and made sure the vampires died. I need to know if that same witch has been the one killing sorcerers and witch queens."

"So it's a witch, you're certain?" Francine said.

That much I would acknowledge, and did so with a nod.

"We will not tell a soul, that is for you to do," Francine said, and rolled her elegant neck. "Do you swear you will come back with answers?"

"I don't know. There is a sensation I get whenever I hit a...node is the only word for it, when the timeline has been messed with. It's just a guess but I think it will get stronger as I approach the time it began, which is in the future."

"So how do we do this?"

"Take me to myself in six months and I'll be able to tell how much further we must go."

"We'll take you near yourself, but somewhere private. And you must swear to be ready to defend us," Nadine said solemnly.

madam_noe
madam_noe
1,845 Followers