Ritual Magic Read online

  Cora paced from one end of the living room to the other, turning swiftly and then walking to the other side again. The pacing was just like Solomon's nervous habit and it was somehow adorable to see Cora doing it, pivoting again to begin her march in the other direction. We all watched her as if she was a puzzle that we were trying to figure out. Leo's eyes watched Cora's mannerisms closely as if he was cataloging her body language for reference later, and some part of me realized that I liked the fact that he cared at all.

  Cora's forehead was furrowed in concern when she stopped in front of us and took a military "at-ease" stance—legs shoulder-width apart, arms clasped behind her back, shoulders back, chin straight out before her like she was getting ready for inspection as her face became an unreadable wall of calm. All Solomon.

  My eyes darted to him and back to her as I thought of what should be said. What was supposed to break the strange silence? Was I expected to crack a joke or something? I noticed as I turned to face Solomon, that he was sitting stoically, taking every tiny detail into account. I could almost swear I was hearing his head ticking off the similarities between him and this amazing creature before us.

  "Sir!" Solomon's shoulders snapped into place at Cora's sharp voice, "I am ready to be debriefed." Just like a soldier.

  My heart beat frantically as I looked at Solomon with genuine concern, feeling my eyes grow larger as I reactively licked my lips.

  Solomon squared his shoulders again, pausing for a moment before tilting his chin up with a swift flick. "Cora, what is your rank?" Was that a safe question?

  "High General." Her voice was succinct.

  "What is your mission?" Solomon continued.

  "Ensure that my fathers and mother understand that the ceremony must be fulfilled. I must be conceived or the future will be in jeopardy. Ensure that all five make it to the ritual site and the ritual goes on without a hitch." Cora snapped and I could feel my forehead furrow in reaction. This was a new side of her that I hadn't seen just yet.

  "Who are your fathers?" That's right; Solomon hadn't been there for the earlier conversation.

  "Solomon Ryker, Von Edwards, Leonzio Emilio Castillion, and Gabriel Running Wolf." Cora rattled off the names easily even considering the Italian inflections she had put on Leo's incredibly complicated name. Oh crap! Now the flea-infested cat is out of the bag. Damned cat!

  Solomon's head flicked over to me and my eyebrows shot up to the ceiling. Was he honestly accusing me with his eyes?! REALLY?!

  His eyes flicked back towards Cora before he continued, a tiny rumble of anger rising deep in his chest. "How did you get here?"

  Nodding, Cora directed a quick glance to Leo and said simply, "With the blessing of the king of the demons, I was given the right to shadow travel to the past. Since it wasn't actually jumping within our own time, it was more of a journey. Hence the use of the word 'travel'. That is all I am allowed to say."

  Leo nodded in agreement, drawing the conversation over to his side of the room. "She is bound by our laws not to share how we do it. Although, what I can tell you is that she had to have received express permission from me to be able to even consider shadow traveling. She also had to be extremely powerful and fierce to be able to make the trip at all." He beamed with pride which was evident with his squared shoulders, lifted chin and bright ruby red eyes. "Only our strongest could have made the trip and survived." He didn't even flick his eyes to Cora to cover her with an expression of awe—he already knew she was special. "The fact that she is here means that I personally showed her how to shadow travel into the past. This is a unique skill that only I and those I have shared it with know. But of those few, everyone is expressly forbidden to share the secret, upon penalty of death."

  Solomon's eyes covered Cora from head to toe, taking stock of what his daughter represented, or so I suspected. From his position on the couch, he crossed his arms and leaned back as if he were getting ready to give Cora a lecture.

  "What are your mission objectives?"

  4

  After a long, drawn out discussion about strategic planning and mission objectives, we all concluded that it was time for a break.

  Cora was sitting on the couch, chatting with Leo in Italian while I was flipping through Solomon's copy of Breaking Dawn. I was honestly looking forward to reading it, but Cora's arrival had taken my free time away for the immediate future, at least. Go figure.

  My eyes flicked over to Solomon standing by the curtain, his body tense, and I immediately wanted to be with him. Placing the book on the end table, I pushed away from the loveseat and walked over to him, gauging his reaction to me the entire time. He simply continued to look beyond the curtain and into the waves of the ocean beating into the horizon. Placing my hand gently on his forearm, I could immediately feel his tense muscles relax underneath my timid touch.

  Solomon's eyes remained on the horizon as he spoke. "I love you, you know," he said simply. "I always thought that I would have the freedom to romance you and you would finally be able to see how incredibly special you are to me. You are everything that my life was missing before you came into it and everything that I never knew that I wanted or even needed." His shoulders dropped as he shook his head. "Weakness."

  "Again, with that word." My heart skipped a beat at his sentiments. "Why do you keep calling your feelings for me 'weakness'? Is that what you really think of your feelings—as weakness?" I shook my head, "I don't think it is. I actually like hearing you talk about how you feel for me—it makes me feel alive, and it helps to ground me." I focused down on my shoes because he wouldn't look at me as I spoke, and it hurt to think that he didn't want to look at me at all.

  Solomon's body shifted and I could feel his hands on both of my arms. "Are you saying that..." His voice drifted off. "What are you saying, Celeste? Please, tell me."

  I kept my eyes trained on my shoes until Solomon's firm hand was underneath my chin, lifting my head to force me to look into his own intensely glowing eyes. No longer was there a subtle and calming blue-green swirling in his irises, but a pale blue glow that made his face appear ghostly and beautiful. My heart stopped as a gasp escaped my lips and he took a quick step towards me, reminding me that he was still waiting for an answer.

  What in the world am I going to say? He was so extraordinarily handsome, and his eyes so incredibly intense that my knees were instantly the consistency of gelatin. I held my breath as I realized that the annoying butterflies were fluttering once again in my stomach, smashing the insides of my esophagus this time. How am I even standing?

  "Solomon." My voice shook, giving me away.

  "Please." Solomon leaned down so close to me that I could feel the coolness of his breath on my cheeks, the caress of it being something that I had been dreaming of for years. My eyes fluttered closed at the sensation and the smell of him. It's just too much.

  "Solomon." His name sounded like a prayer on my lips. I felt like I was praying. "I, I..." My head spun as I felt his strong arms suddenly around me, pulling me close, I caught my breath.

  He was somehow infusing me with his strength; I could feel it because suddenly my mind was clearing as I registered his amazing scent swirling around me.

  "That's all right." He whispered into my hair, his hand rubbing up and down my back, "You don't have to say anything."

  My face was pushed gently against his firm torso, making me all too aware of his bulging chest as my hands pressed against the cotton fabric of his shirt. But Solomon was incredibly gentle, and it was easy enough to say because I definitely meant it, "I love you."

  My eyelids drifted down and I listened to his breath stutter as his body went rigid, his arms closing protectively around me.

  A small sigh escaped his lips as he rested his cheek against the top of my head. "I never thought I'd hear you say those words. I always dreamed, but I was convinced..." His voice trailed off as he drew me even closer, although it didn't seem possible.

  "Solomon." My voice shook.

 
; "Yes, my love." His husky voice rang next to my ear, brushing the burning skin of my cheek with his cool breath.

  "You're choking me."

  He laughed as he released me, ever so slightly, allowing me to breathe again.

  We stood there in perfect quiet as my thoughts began to race again. What was the future going to be like for us? A vampire and...well, me. What were we getting ourselves into with a love that seemed doomed to fail before it even began? Yes, he had been by my side for fifty years, but were we really meant to be? Would we last longer than Von and I had? Would we always be together? And if so, how would that impact my decisions in the future? How would that impact Cora, our child that was destined to exist?

  I shivered slightly at the sudden flush of concern and insecurity that I was beginning to feel about the future. Actually, I was insecure about the future even before I realized how I felt about Solomon. How would his love for me and mine for him impact what came to us both?

  Solomon pushed me away just enough to look down at me with those glowing blue eyes, full of emotions and love. "What are you thinking about? I can never keep myself from wondering just how your mind works. You always seem to surprise." He smiled down at me, gently caressing my face with the back of his hand and sending tight tendrils of activity through my stomach and spine.

  "I wish I knew, Solomon." Another shiver ran through my body.

  He just smiled down at me, a man consumed with fire and love, and he wore every inch of it in his eyes and on the planes in his face. There was no lust in his eyes, not now, because there was simply that complete knowledge that he had everything that he ever wanted here, in his arms. He pulled me in closer to him, releasing a deep sigh that seemed to echo up from the depths of his soul.

  "I'm consumed with you, Celeste. Everywhere I turn, everything I see...it's all you. Every time I stand by your side I'm afraid that someone is going to try to take you away, so I stand fiercely against the world. I would completely annihilate anyone or anything that would attempt to take you away from me. Every moment is precious, I know, but I can't settle for just a few moments. Fifty years has been nothing, even when you weren't mine. I was able to see you, watch your movements and reactions, see your face, your smiles, and hear your laughter. Everything you do keeps me alive, and I thank you for it."

  What in the world could anyone say in response to that? It was like a woman's dream come true. Tilting my head, I looked up into his eyes, which were now endless waves of blue-green, deep enough for me to get lost in and never be able to come back up from the raging torments of lust and love. I could hear the ocean crashing in the background. Assuming it was the ocean outside our window, there was still a small part of me that was absolutely positive it was the effect that Solomon had on my body. He reminded me of the ocean, my beloved ocean, and I instantly yearned for him.

  He smiled down at me now with a touch of wickedness, his thoughts evident in the lift of the tips of his lips and the half-lidded expression he was pouring down upon me. I could see the spark in his eyes as my body reacted, heating up as my heart began to beat wildly beneath my breastbone.

  "Solomon, this is hardly the time or the place." My voice shook again, making me angry that I was becoming a weakling woman subject to hormonal fits and loss of vocal stability.

  Solomon continued to stare me down with desire in his eyes, beating against my resistance like a hammer against a thin pane of glass. A suspicious grin spread across his angelic face as my gut told me that nothing good could come of this.

  At that very moment, someone cleared their throat over from the armchair, drawing both of our eyes with a quick snap of our heads. It was Leo who had called for us to come back to reality...with eyes that appeared as rich as two deep burning embers of red-orange. His expression was wary and more than a bit annoyed.

  "My dear, I believe that you need to hear what we have been discussing." An arched eyebrow told us that nothing that had gone on near the curtain had escaped his watchful eye. He knew everything, and I was pretty sure that he didn't approve.

  Solomon and I turned towards the couch, Solomon's hand now taking residence on the small of my back, his fingers spreading out across my shirt and helping to guide me back to the couch.

  "And what could that be?" Solomon's voice rang through the room, resonating on every reflective surface within the touch of his voice.

  "Our darling daughter has been sharing some most distressing information with me." He waved us towards the couch again, next to Cora as she fidgeted with her shirt, tugging it down over her waist again.

  "Cora, what is it?" Concern tainted my words. What was going on? What was going to happen?

  "Well, it's pretty simple, actually." She paused to roll her lips between her teeth before continuing. "If we don't get my other fathers to agree to the conception spell, there will be a ripple in time that will affect the kingdom. Without the combination of all five individuals, there will be an imbalance of power and the kingdom will fall."

  "Fall?" Solomon's voice was sharp. "That's not possible! Who would be strong enough or even insane enough to try to take control of the kingdom?" His voice was incredulous and he shook his head fiercely from side to side.

  "The shadow demons. If I am not conceived, if I am not born, mother will be killed and all will be lost." Cora almost sounded like she was whispering and her voice floated above the room like a mist. We all simply listened to the cascade of emotion as if it were the echo of falling tears.

  Solomon's hold on me tightened as he drew me into his strength, making it clear that he would never leave my side if it were his choice. My heart pounded in my ears and my mind registered the beat of Solomon's speeding heart against my shoulders.

  "She dies?" His voice shook as he asked the painful question.

  Cora nodded at me as if I were the one asking, our eyes making contact before I realized what she was doing.

  Mother, I'm sorry, Cora's thoughts touched my mind and I released a quick breath through my mouth before anyone else caught the action. Cora's eyes were full of pain and concern, but I nodded at her without replying. She knew what I would have said anyway. It's okay. We will do what we can.

  My head swirled with thoughts that would have best been left alone. I die. I actually die. How could that happen? By the hand of a shadow demon? Who were these demons? I had just come into contact with my very first three demons, but now they held my morbid future in the palm of their hands, or better yet, at the tips of their wicked claws.

  The horrid black eyes flooded my memory as I fought to keep my eyes from closing. My active mind wanted to recall their wicked faces, their frightening bodies and razor sharp claws. I wanted to hide from the future, but my mind kept dredging up clear images in my mind's eye of my future killers. I had to fight the desire to whimper as the images of the shadow demons cascaded through my mind, but I couldn't show weakness in front of anyone in this room. I doubted that they would be able to handle the queen of the realm showing that kind of weakness.

  I just nodded at Cora to continue, like I was simply accepting my fate.

  "But I'm the answer, Dad. I'm the key." Cora said the words with conviction. "I am the ultimate bodyguard for Mother. I am her sword, her killing blow. I am the one that saves her life and allows her to save the kingdom."

  Silence reigned and we all avoided making any kind of movement or eye contact.

  "And how is that, Cora? Where am I during all of this? I would never allow anything or anyone to get close to the queen, much less harm her. Why am I not the one that saves her?" Solomon shook with what could have been anger but, judging from his words, it was fear.

  "You aren't there, Dad." Cora shook her head as her eyes pleaded with Solomon's intense stare. "You have to believe me when I say that I am not at liberty to share any more information."

  She nodded as she straightened and pushed off of the couch again to begin pacing the room. She stopped short of the coffee table and assumed her father's military stance. "I
am her protector, her blade, her fist of power and strength. I am a weapon honed by my fathers, designed to protect and serve the queen. And that is what I do—protect and serve. It is my destiny, and you will be my guides, my mentors. You four will be everything to me as well as my honing stones." Her chin lifted slightly as she squared her shoulders and spoke, "I am a force to be reckoned with, just like my mother. I have power flowing through me and I am a weapon of unparalleled strength, unmatched by anything forged and magical." Every word flowed from her lips like liquid metal, molten and scorching. She didn't sound like she was bragging because it sounded like she was speaking from a script she had practiced for the majority of her life.

  Solomon looked at me with intense anguish in his eyes. It was clear that he was frightened that he wasn't going to be by my side in the future. He wasn't sure if he was alive or dead, and there was no way to ask Cora about it. He couldn't ask her without expecting her to break her vow not to reveal anything that would cause an issue in the future.

  "I am the answer."

  5

  What happens to you when you blackout? Well, when it happens to me I travel. No, it's not the kind of 'pack your bags—you're going on an amazing adventure' kind of travel. It's the kind where you are chased by demons, meet the men you're going to love and lose, and possibly even change the future. It's the kind of travel where you have to watch out for that pesky cockroach you aren't supposed to step on because then the evolutionary ladder would be completely screwed. Yeah, that kind of travel. My life sucks big time! I never get a BREAK!

  I shook my head as I cussed underneath my breath. "This week of mine is one crazy, chaotic mess and I would like to get off now...please!"