Aegis returned a few moments later. “She’s off safely. Even a vampire would have trouble keeping up with her, though I swear, it’s so icy I hope to hell she slows down.”
I snorted. “Sandy has a Hasty spell in her repertoire that she’s modified to work on her car. The one caveat is that no one will be harmed by it. If she’s in danger, it will slow her down, or if anybody else is in danger from her driving, it will also slow her down. The spell also takes over when she’s drunk, so she puts the car on autopilot so she can safely get around.”
“It won’t be long before she can buy a self-driving car and save the magical energy.” Aegis stopped by the kitchen island. “I guess—you want to talk?”
“I’m thinking we’d better. And it’s not just about Rachel. Aegis, there are things about me you should know. I don’t know if anything out of my past will crop up to make your life a living hell, but there’s always the chance. And there are things I did that I have to be honest about.” My voice was shaking, and I realized this was one of those crossroads in a relationship, where futures were decided.
He motioned for me to follow him. “We can build a fire in the parlor. You want to go in there? Somehow, I’m thinking this conversation is better left out of the bedroom.”
“I’m thinking you’re right.” I poured myself a glass of wine and followed him into the parlor. As I knelt by the stack of kindling and logs in the fireplace, Bubba hesitantly wandered into the room. I held out my fingers to the wood, but then decided not to waste the energy. Instead, I grabbed one of the long fireplace matches, struck it against the brick, and lit the fire.
As I curled up on the sofa with my glass, Bubba sat patiently in front of me.
“Mur?”
“Hey, Bub. You lonely?” I patted my lap and Bubba jumped up, curling softly in my lap. I stroked his fur gently, my fingers sliding over his sleek, plush coat. Lifting him gently, I kissed his head before settling him back in my lap.
Aegis was also carrying a glass of wine. The lamps were off, but I had strung faerie lights all around the room, winding them with a glittering garland, and Aegis plugged them in before sitting down in the recliner closest to the sofa. He leaned forward, cupping the goblet as he rested his elbows on his knees.
“So, who goes first?” Then, before I could answer, he said, “Ask me anything you want to know. Anything. I won’t be upset.”
I contemplated the possibilities. How could you cram several thousand years into a few questions? The answer was that you couldn’t, of course. And really, what did I need to know?
“All right. The most obvious one you answered, but I want to hear it again. Do you still have feelings left for Rachel? Has all of this stirred up any unrequited desires?”
He paused, taking his time. “To say I don’t have any feelings for her would be a lie. But they aren’t the ones you fear. I’m angry at her. I’m tired of her chasing me—and before you ask, this isn’t the first time she’s tracked me down. But the last time was a year ago, when I came to live here. That must be when Franny saw us. Rachel tracked me down to beg me to come back to her. I told her to leave me alone. I told her I never wanted to see her again. I thought she left, and maybe she did. But she’s back now.”
“She’s really crazy, isn’t she?”
“Yes, and in a bad way. Actually, I wouldn’t even call her crazy. She’s just narcissistic, vain, and…evil. Rachel is an evil woman, Maddy. She’s the stereotype that makes people afraid of the Fallen. Oh, we are definitely a frightening lot, but she gives rise to all the nightmares about what we can do.” His voice trailed off, sounding forlorn. “She’s the monster I never wanted to become. I never want to become.”
I sucked in a deep breath. “Maybe I’d better go next. I need to tell you about who I was. About who you’re dating. Because Aegis, there was a time when I could have become exactly what Rachel is. The two people who kept me from going that far were a friend named Fata Morgana, and Sandy. But even they couldn’t have stopped me if I hadn’t been ready to stop.”
As the shadows enveloped the room, I moved Bubba to the sofa beside me. I began to pace, unable to sit still. I was about to open an old wound that I hoped was scabbed over so deep that it would never see the light of day again.
“TOM WAS MY love and I was his. We kept on the run because the witch hunters during that time were dangerous and they were everywhere. Some were agents of the church, others were just bounty hunters, but they sought out my kind to put us to death as enemies. They were afraid of our power. They were afraid of what we stood for—the gods and lands we had shepherded before they drove through and took over.”
“I remember those days. From a different perspective, of course. Few knew about my kind, or believed we were real.”
“The witch hunters were after us, and so we ran. There were so many on the move back then. Those who could see the future coming tried to find shelter. They had visions of the fires blazing, the stones being piled on the bodies, the rack and the iron maiden.” I closed my eyes, remembering the fear that had run through the Pretcom back then as witches and Fae and Weres did their best to hide from the fanatical zealots who sought us out.
Aegis nodded. “I kept to myself, hiding in the night in the bigger cities, moving on before anybody ever figured out that the Fallen were among them.” He paused. “Tell me about Tom.”
I smiled softly, remembering.
“Tom had a voice as sweet as yours is dark. He could sing, and so we posed as wandering minstrels, staying in each village a month here, a month there, until somebody would notice that things had a way of happening around us. When you’re a witch, magic is as natural as breathing. You can’t just turn it off.”
I worried my lip. “Long story short, because the story lasted for years, one night we were out in the woods and we thought we were alone. We didn’t realize we had been followed by a group of vampires.”
Aegis froze. “Crap. I didn’t know that. What happened, Maddy?”
I closed my eyes, pausing by the fireplace as I leaned my head against the wall. The smell of fresh cedar from the boughs swagged across the wooden mantel filled my senses.
“I keep these memories locked away because they’re as fresh as they were then when I take them out to examine them. Tom and I in the woods, making magic together, weaving a spell to heal one of the village girls who reminded Tom of his niece. She would never know why her leg healed up so quickly—and her parents would attribute it to prayers. But we would know, and most important, she would live and grow strong. Life for the handicapped was usually a death sentence during those days.
“The sparkles of magic were bright that evening, brilliant and flaring around us in a silence brought about by the weight of the energy. Everything seemed suspended in a lovely haze, and then it collapsed as the vamps descended. Tom was closest to them, and they caught him. As he struggled, he screamed for me to run, to get away.
“I didn’t want to, but he summoned up every ounce of power he had and I turned to find a unicorn standing beside me, a bright Fae warrior on its back. She reached down and grabbed my arm, hauling me up with her, and we were off, vanishing into the mists. The next moment, we were in a Barrow Mound, and I curled on the floor, weeping.”
Shaking, I gulped down a deep breath, then sipped from my wine and crossed to the window, staring out into the snow.
“When they let me out, I realized that twenty years had passed by. The Fae had kept me with them that long, so that I would be safe. Oh, legends had grown up around my disappearance, but I don’t know if anybody really believed it. I cloaked up, disguising myself, and began to search for Tom. I found out that he had been turned. He was a vampire.”
Aegis rubbed his forehead. “Maddy.”