Dark Interests Ch. 02

Aaron blinked back across the room to put his glass in the sink then looked at Elina expectantly.

"You ready to go?"

"Hold on!" Mini held up her hands like a traffic conductor as Elina walked towards Aaron. "Has anyone told you the consequences if you tell anyone about the Clave?"

"I have," Amanda said. "I told her this morning over breakfast."

"Daemon will be the one punished as you are seen as part of his household." Mini's cheery round face turned serious. "That means he'll be killed FYI."

Daemon rushed forward and gave Elina one more kiss. It wiped some of the frown lines from her face. She nodded reassuringly to him before stepping back and looking at Aaron who took her meaning and grabbed her hand. Just like that, they were gone. The young man stood there for a moment staring at the spot his girlfriend had occupied. Worry and a sudden pang of loss made his chest ache.

Amanda came to stand beside him and rubbed his back before leaning against him. "Don't worry. She'll be fine."

Daemon's text tone went off in his pocket and he pulled out his phone with one hand, his other wrapping around his foster mom's waist to hold her close.

I'll see you soon. I love you. xoxo

"What do you think she means 'see you soon?'" Daemon asked with a goofy smile.

"I think it means she up to something."

"Well come on then!"

Mini made for the elevator with her bouncing, energetic walk that Daemon started to realize was normal for the woman. Amanda shrugged and motioned for Daemon to take the lead before following.

"Where are we going?" Daemon asked Mini. She just smiled back at him, her cheeks dimpling adorably as she pressed the B08 button on the elevator panel. "Holy shit! Are there eight basements?"

"Yup. Most of the Clave is underground. There's tunnels and everything. How else do you think we keep the pesky humans away, silly?"

Daemon looked at Amanda who had the good grace to look guilty. She could have told him a lot more about the Clave and what to expect but she had wanted him to have as normal a life as possible, and the Clave was definitely not normal. "Sorry!" she mouthed quietly.

"Countess Karnstein said you were to get tested today, so that's where we're going. To get you tested," Mini said as she bounced on the spot. "To get you tested we go, we go!" she sang quietly under her breath.

Amy met Daemon's eyes over the woman's head and slowly twirled a finger around her temple while crossing her eyes. Daemon's shoulders were still shaking with suppressed laughter when the elevator doors opened with a ding.

The doors opened into a long narrow hallway of stone. Harsh fluorescent lighting shone from the ceiling high above them illuminating the rough hewn walls and the thick steel doors that lined either side of the hallway. Daemon counted eight doors in total, four to each side. Amanda stretched out a hand and ran her fingers along the wall before pulling her hand back, her pale eyebrows pulling together in a frown.

"What is it?" Daemon whispered as Mini bounced down the hall.

"We had a floor like this in the Carolina Branch. Notice how it's rough, like it was dug by hand? Well it is - okay, not by hand - but with natural means. All of it," Amanda whispered back, pushing on Daemon's lower back to get him moving. "It's an old superstition that a place shaped without technological means retains magic and that modern technology and methods can degrade magical saturation. Whoever built this wanted to retain as much of the ambient magic as possible. My guess? Those are all training rooms of some sort," she nodded towards the doors, "and each will be inscribed with runes and wards on the inside."

"Oh, okay...wait! The Clave is superstition?" Daemon asked, shocked.

"OH YEAH! Big time!" Amanda nodded vigorously. "And they are so old school I'm surprised the staff aren't walking around in fur loin cloths."

"...Amy, why are you looking at me funny?"

"Just thinking of you in a loincloth," Amanda said with a saucy wink before speeding up so Daemon wouldn't see her sudden blush. Her pale skin showed it all too well.

Daemon watched the sway of her jeans-clad ass as she walked before shaking his head in disgust. Jesus, that was the woman who raised him! His mom, for crying out loud...well, kind of. And just because she flirted and teased didn't mean it gave him the right to...to do whatever he wanted to do, which was the confusing part because he wasn't sure he knew what he wanted to do.

Mini pulled open the last door on the left. The balanced metal swinging open with very little effort. Runes covered the inside of the door in a swirling pattern of gibberish. The magical characters and pictures seemed to shift and move under the hallway lights and Daemon had to look away, the sudden feeling of vertigo they induced making him want to throw up. These were nothing like Amanda's work - hers were beautiful and artistic and often times they made him feel warm and comfortable. These runes were like hammer blows to the back of his head.

"Strong...but sloppy. Wasted effort since the anchor point won't be lasting much longer." Amy started mumbling to herself as her green eyes flashed over the rune work she could obviously read.

"Best leave her to it," Daemon said to Mini as he walked past her into the room. "She's like a cat, easily distracted."

"Am not!" Amanda said quickly, though she continued to study the door. "...okay, am a little."

The room was about the same size as Daemon's bedroom back at the farm and if he had to put units to it he would say ten feet by ten feet. The walls and floor were the same stone as the hallway but he was glad to see the floor had been smoothed out at least, though the walls and ceiling remained rough. More runes covered the ground, the grooves filled in with some kind of shiny silver metal. Daemon felt rude walking over them in his dirty boots but they literally covered the floor in a swirling, shimmering, metal carpet.

The runes covering the walls looked to be chiselled deeply into the rock and much like the ones on the door they were empty. A simple wooden stool stood alone in a dark corner, the light from the hallway barely reaching it.

"There should be a...aha!" Following Mini's exclamation a sudden burst of bright white light left Daemon blinking stars from his eyes. "Wow that's bright, bright, BRIGHT!" she laughed and clapped.

"Hmmm?" Amanda hummed as she stumbled her way into the room, her eyes never leaving the runes as she walked. "Oh...yes...bright..." she mumbled, her focus elsewhere.

"So whatcha think?" Mini asked, hopping over to stand beside the much, much larger man, her big brown eyes looking up at him expectantly. "It'll block your aura from being detected and it absorbs any spell that hits the walls. A lot of mages use these rooms to practice. Cool right?"

"That would be the spell sink...focused downwards but spread out?" Amanda walked past them as she continued to mumble, her gaze locked on the floor as she followed something only she could see. "No. Not spread out...it's distributed...what a bloody mess!" She crouched down and put her hand on the floor.

"Uhh..is she okay?" Mini stage-whispered to Daemon.

"She's fine. Mom can get lost in her work. She once lost track of time and spent two days straight in our old barn. Let me tell you...the smell. Dear god! The smell! I actually had to hose her down."

"GOT IT!" Amanda jumped up. "It doesn't absorb magic which is good, you wouldn't want to limit how much it can store or it might explode. It...I would say slide...yeah, it slides any magic that comes into contact with the walls and floor towards the center of the room, that's where the sink is. You see this concentrated circle of runes?"

Curious despite being completely lost, Daemon walked over to look down at where she was pointing. Mini followed along, showing no interest whatsoever but not wanting to be left alone. The runes looked like squiggly lines to Daemon as they jumped up and down and switched places but he could at least tell the ran into a rotating pattern that grew smaller and closer together the closer they came to the center .

'That's where it drains away and is recycled and distributed back towards the facility above. It's brilliant. Really shoddy work and horrible runic sketching - I don't even recognize the family script - but the core concept is brilliant."

"I'll be sure to pass along the compliment to Garry. The praise of an O'Connor family member means much to Tinkerers I believe," Countess Karnstien said as she walked in on high heeled feet.

The harsh lighting did nothing to diminish her beauty and once more Daemon found himself distracted by her looks. Her long raven curls were let out today to fall about her face like a waterfall bouncing and moving with each step she took. A slight application of kohl to her eyes made them look large and exotic as her long thick lashes fluttered. Lips of a deep dark red were pursed in a half pout that made Daemon unconsciously lick his own.

She stalked; it would be the only way to describe the way she walked. Tantalising flashes of glowing pale skin showed through the slits on the side of the maroon colored pencil skirt she wore. The material clung to her full thighs and hugged the swell of her hips, ending on her thin waist. With each step she took her hips swayed in a rocking, rolling motion that was just on the right side of being sexy without being over exaggerated. It was designed to draw the eye and that's exactly what it did. A coat of the same colour, designed like Aaron's and Mini's, struggled to contain her large heavy breasts.

Such was her beauty that Daemon didn't even notice the old withered man that stepped in behind her. She was the most beautiful woman Daemon had ever seen. It was also the reason he didn't trust her for a second. She could get him to do all sorts of evil things just by batting her eyes, and the young man knew himself well enough to know he would do it happily. It helped a little that hers was a cold, distant beauty. Like a sun setting behind icebergs. If she was personable and friendly...Daemon would have been fucked.

"This is Jasper Young, he's been responsible for testing and categorising young mages for years. He will be conducting your test."

Daemon and Amanda both said hello. Jasper Young nodded back politely, his stooped frame swaying with the movement. He wore a black suit that hung loose on his bony body. Thin strands of hair clung to his liver spotted scalp. The harsh fluorescent lights leeched what little colour his already pale skin might have had.

He dabbed at his brow with a clean pocket square and hustled to the middle of the room, an old worn briefcase swinging beside him. Daemon rushed across the room and grabbed the stool, placing it before the old man and helping him with the briefcase. Mircalla's dark grey eyes watched him, missing nothing.

"Thank you Daemon." Jasper Young's voice was a deep and smooth bass that shocked Daemon. He didn't think sound like that could come from something so...well, withered. "May I call you Daemon?"

"Sure." Feeling like he was back at school Daemon asked, "What do you need me to do Mr. Young?"

"Pass over my case, there's a lad." Taking the battered old suitcase, Mr. Young balanced it carefully on his knees and flipped the clasps with a pop. "Wait just a moment while I prepare everything, if you would. Would you like a lollipop while you wait?"

Daemon blinked in surprise as the old man pulled out a red lollipop and waved it in his face. He kept hearing the voice of Amanda saying 'Don't take sweets from strangers!" and almost laughed.

Stuck in a magical basement-slash-cell with a withered old man offering him candy and now he thought of stranger danger?

Mr. Young must have seen the amusement on Daemon's face because he explained. "I mostly test children, you see. I find that they will sit still longer if you give them a treat. Usually the sugar rush comes on after they've left and the parents can deal with that."

"Oh," Daemon felt a little embarrassed at being relegated to a child's level at magic. "I was...uhh..."

'No need to explain Daemon," Mr. Young said, his head buried in his case. "Countess Karnstein has informed me of your special circumstances. I meant no offence."

Amy casually walked up to Daemon. "Are you okay?" she asked, concern dripping from her voice as she tried to stealthy pull the lollipop out of Daemon's hand.

"Seriously?" he asked, cocking an eyebrow at her.

"What! You know I have a sweet tooth!" Amy said, defending herself. She laughed happily when Daemon released the treat and she stood on tiptoe to give him a kiss on the nose, leaving a smudge of red lipstick that made him look like a clown.

Amy unwrapped the sweet before popping it into her mouth. She watched Young pull out a glass vial from his case and her eyes went wide as she realised something. She leaned in close to Daemon so she could whisper around the lollipop. "Hey, I think I should probably step out for the next part. I can just wait outside."

"What?" Daemon whispered back confused. He had expected her to stay with him. "What do you mean?"

"You don't need me here for the next part, do you? I mean, it's really easy...besides, the less magic in the room the better the results," Amanada said, trying to hide her sudden nerves. She was edging towards the door as she spoke.

"Mom, what's wrong?" Daemon was looking concerned now. He knew Amy better than anyone else in the world and he could tell something was off. He just had no idea what it was.

Before she could reply or move any further Young's smooth deep voice said, "We are ready."

Countess Karnstein herself closed the metal door, sealing them all inside. She stood in front of it with Mini at her side and watched Young and Daemon intently.

Praying that she was wrong and what she feared was going to happen didn't actually happen, Amanda cursed under her breath before stepping back so Daemon would be alone with Young in the middle of the room. The two men now stood alone directly over what she had called 'the sink'. The Tinker cast one last look at the door and the scary woman she would have to get past and decided to take the risk.

Daemon gave Amanda one more concerned look before turning back to focus on Young and his vial of...coloured paper?

"Sit down in front of me, on the floor, if you would. Could the rest of you move back a little ways please? I don't want any magical crossover in the immediate vicinity. Thank you. Daemon, would you be kind enough to remove the suppression device please?"

Mircalla placed a hand on Mini's shoulder and said quietly so only she could hear, "Prepare yourself, young Mini."

Mini had been in service to Mircalla ever since she was a Kit, just like her mother before her and her grandmother before that. She knew the treatment she received from the Countess was different from the rest of the staff. The usually cold woman would make an effort to be a little less formal, a little less cold, with the young Were-Rabbit. So Mini instantly went on alert. It was a good thing she did.

Daemon removed the medallion, pulling the piece of metal out from under his shirt and over his head. As soon as it was no longer in contact with his skin the room shook. It actually shook. Daemon's magic, finally free from the suppression it was constantly under, seemed to explode in glee. Mini didn't have mage sight, she didn't have a magic affinity, but her Were nature let her sense magic and what was coming off of Daemon was making her nose twitch.

Unseen force swirled around the room, whipping at clothes and pulling hair. Everyone in the room felt a weight settle on them as Daemon's magic saturated the air and pushed at them. Young, a human with no magic whatsoever, held onto his case calmly, as if he had seen it all a million times.

Countess Karnstein's cold facade cracked. It was so fast and so fleeting that no one saw it. She smiled, her ruby lips pulling up at the sides as her fangs poked against her bottom lip. A look of triumph flashed across her grey eyes before she locked it all away again.

Amanda was too busy trying to control her raging emotions to focus on anything else. Her worst fears had been right. Her magic was rebelling against her. It made her legs weak as it clouded her mind with dark, dirty thoughts. She wanted nothing more than to jump on Daemon and grind her dripping wet sex against his crotch as she felt him harden beneath her. In much the same way Daemon's magic was going wild having been freed after so long, so too were her emotions.

No one moved as the magical maelstrom slowed down. The pressure pulled back as Daemon's magic finished stretching and settled back around him like a cloak. He let out a sigh. This was the longest he had been free of the medallion and he felt oddly light. He could feel his magic even now as it moved about his bloodstream like adrenaline.

Mini let out a breath she didn't know she had been holding. Her large eyes were wide as saucers as she looked up at Mircalla then back to Daemon. She hadn't felt anything like that before. Her beast was urging her to find a nice safe little place to hide and wait out the coming storm. Her cute little nose twitched as she smelled something in the air that was an enticing mix of spicy and sweet, like cinnamon.

Amanda was a barely controlled wreck. Her thighs were clamped tightly together as she wrapped her arms around her chest, trying to hide the protrusions of her erect nipples. She bit her lip hard enough to mark them and winced as the pain cleared her mind enough for her to start walking. She had to leave!

Her magic pulled at her like fish hooks as she walked past Daemon. It urged her to go back, to be with him and bask in his magic. She switched on her mage sight to look at his aura and flinched. Thick tendrils of power, a deep dark red in colour, floated off him like tentacles as it reached for her. Amy's own magical aura, smaller and thinner, stretched out to meet his. A single strand made contact and where the dark red of his magic met the navy blue of hers their magic mutated into a deep rich purple. She stifled a gasp at the shot of energy that coursed through her coupled with a dollop of giddy joy.

She wanted to throw up and cry and laugh and dance. It was magic resonance. She needed him on an almost cellular level and he needed her. The boy she had raised as her son. She ran past the Countess, who watched her leave with interest, and from the room before anyone could stop her, leaving Daemon's shout to go unanswered.

Daemon watched the door slowly swing shut behind the fleeing Amanda and felt like a part of him had been torn out for some strange reason. Rubbing at the sudden pain that had flared up in his chest and trying to ignore the feeling of deep concern for Amy, the young man made to get up. He was stopped by an old withered hand. Young gently but firmly pushed him back to sitting position before reaching up and pushing back his wispy white hair with a shaking hand.

"The test hasn't started yet and you are leaking magic. If you leave, you destroy the very need for this room."

"Master Young, have you ever experienced a release like that before?" The Countess asked although she knew the answer.

"Can't say I have, Countess. It could be from the suppression. Like a soda bottle when you shake it, all that gas is just waiting for the lid to be taken off. Could be that it has had eighteen years to mature without integrating with Daemon"

"I'm thirsty!" Mini squeaked. The mention of soda sounded good to the little woman whose throat was suddenly very dry from nerves. Everyone ignored her.