“Are you ready to practice some magic?” Dominic asked.
“You bet,” Leesa replied. She started up the SUV. “Where to?”
“Let’s try somewhere new, to spread around any traces your magic might leave behind.” Dominic thought for a moment. “You have been to Sleeping Giant, right? Can we find the privacy we need there?”
Leesa nodded, thinking about how large the park was.
“For sure.”
Sleeping Giant State Park held a fond spot in Leesa’s heart. It was the place where Rave had captured the one-fang vampire whose blood Professor Clerval had used to cure her mom. The huge park was a popular hiking spot, but there were many off-trail areas that would provide plenty of privacy, especially with the foliage as thick as it was this time of year.
“If a grafhym can hide away there for all these years” she said, “I’m sure we can find a nice secluded spot
The result was nowhere near as crisp and clean as she would have liked, but she did manage to break her beam into several uneven parts. The hard rock was unmarked by the blasts, but that didn’t concern her at this point.“Not bad for a first attempt,” Dominic said. “Not bad at all.” The wizard returned to his seat upon the boulder. “Try again.”For the next twenty minutes, Leesa repeated her effort more than a dozen times. Occasionally, Dominic would stop her and offer some instruction. With each attempt her control grew better, until her final try resulted in quick bursts of energy that were nearly all the same length.Dominic pushed himself up from the boulder. “Well done,” he said. “Now we need to work on the strength of your beam.”He shuffled over to the rocky outcropping, motioning Leesa to follow. She joined him beside the rock wall.Dominic held his hand out so that it was ju
The following morning broke gray and damp. Leesa stared out the living room window, waiting for Dominic to come pick her up. A light drizzle peppered the glass with tiny drops of water, but the dark, heavy clouds promised heavier rain to come.Leesa really didn’t care about the rain — unless it messed up whatever practice Dominic had planned for today. She wore a dark blue ball cap atop her head and a carried a waterproof windbreaker draped over her arm. Her hair was gathered into a ponytail she had stuck through the opening at the back of the cap. Waterproof hiking boots would keep her feet dry even if she and Dominic hiked into the woods somewhere.The silver SUV eased to a stop in front of the apartment. Leesa slipped into her windbreaker and grabbed an umbrella from the urn beside the door. Outside, she popped the umbrella open and walked down to the car. The rain was already starting to fall harder.The driver’s side window slid down, reve
As they approached Balin’s cabin, Leesa saw Rave standing in the open doorway. She loved how he always knew when she was near—the touch of vampire essence in her blood assured that it would always be like that. She wondered if there would ever be a way that she could sense his presence in a similar manner.“If I was the rain,” Rave said as Leesa neared the doorway, “I’d be very frustrated at not being able to touch you.”Leesa let her air shield dissipate and ran the last few steps into Rave’s waiting arms. She loved when he said things like that.“Luckily, you don’t ever have to worry about that,” she said as she hugged him tightly. “I’ll always make sure you can touch me.”Pressed against Rave’s warm chest, Leesa could feel herself beginning to dry. Rave ran his hands across her cheeks and then down her ponytail, quickly drying her with his magical heat everywhere
As Leesa floated in the air with her head near the ceiling of Balin’s cabin, she had to fight to keep from laughing at the absurdity of all this. Below her, Rave stood with his eyes closed. She watched his chest slowly rise and fall as he performed the intricate breathing exercises necessary to begin Rammugul, so he could decrease his inner heat. She had levitated herself so she could implement her heat resistance spell without risking awakening the mysterious power that slumbered beneath the earth in this region.She wondered if any two people in the history of the world had ever needed to go through so much preparation just to kiss each other. She didn’t see how anyone could have. It was always worth it in the end, though, when their lips finally met.“Tempus resiti,” she muttered, activating the heat resistance spell and then allowing herself to float back down to the floor.A moment later, Rave opened his eyes. Balin placed his finger
“OF COURSE RAVE CAN STAY HERE,” Judy said. “From what you’ve told us about how sharp his senses are, he’ll be better than any home security system.”Leesa grinned. “That he will, for sure.”She was sitting on the couch beside Rave. Judy was nestled into the easy chair, while Bradley still sat at the dining table. Most of the dishes had been put in the dishwasher, but Bradley was still working on a big piece of the blueberry pie Leesa had brought home from Aunt Janet’s.“I don’t know how comfortable Rave will be sleeping on the couch, though,” Judy said. “He’s pretty tall—I’m not sure how well he’ll fit.”“I’ll be fine, Mrs. Nyland,” Rave assured her. “I don’t sleep all that much.”“Really? Do you have trouble sleeping?”“No, it’s just a volkaane thing. My people do not require
The days flew by as June slid peacefully into July. Except for the one blissful week she and Rave had spent alone in the mountains of New Hampshire a few months back, they had never been together as much as they were now. Leesa loved every minute of it and wished it could go on forever, though she knew it would have to end one day soon. She took comfort in knowing that eventually she and Rave would be together for hundreds of years. She could not even begin to imagine the details of what that was going to be like, but she knew it would be amazingly wonderful.The only times they separated during the entire period was when Leesa drove Dominic to wherever they were going to practice her magic, which they did once every day. Rave could not come with them in the car, of course, so they always told him the general area they were heading for. No matter how deeply into the woods they ventured, the tinge of vampire in Leesa’s blood allowed Rave to easily track and join them.
Agter brief stopovers in England and then Newfoundland to refuel, the jet carrying the Necromancer, Viktor, Andre and Jordan landed an hour or so after sunset at a small, out of the way airport some miles north of Bangor, Maine. Also aboard the aircraft were three servants from the castle. Awaiting the Necromancer and his followers on the edge of the tarmac was a custom-made, oversized brown and white Winnebago RV. Behind the RV sat an empty black SUV.The jet taxied as near to the RV as possible before the passengers silently disembarked. The Necromancer came out last, his huge bulk threatening to bend the portable metal stairway before he lumbered safely onto the ground. The secluded airport combined with the cover of darkness to insure that no one witnessed the evil mage and his followers climb aboard the RV, while Jordan slipped behind the wheel of the SUV. A powerful spell cast by Andre caused the two pilots and three nightshift airport workers to remember the flight as ju
THE SUN WAS BRUSHING the tops of the trees on the western horizon when Leesa saw Cali threading her way through the crowd that filled the park above the river. Families and groups of friends sat on folding chairs and blankets spread out on the grass, waiting for the fireworks display that would be shot from a pair of large, flat barges anchored out in the water. A sizzling hot day had given way to a warm, muggy evening. Thankfully, a soft breeze now blew in off the river, providing at least a little bit of cooling. Near the edge of the water, a band from the local high school entertained the crowd with patriotic songs. At the moment, they were performing a rousing rendition of “This Land Is Your Land.” Leesa sat in a canvas chair, with Rave on one side of her and Dominic on the other. Her mom hadn’t been feeling well today and had decided to stay home. Bradley had chosen to remain at home with her. For some reason, he had never been much of a fan of fireworks, even