[Axel]
“Do you think she really cares about you, Axel,” Slone is sitting across from me slowly eating a pancake. She is still wearing some of Marigold’s clothing which looks odd on her. Slone normally wore subdued colors, earth tones, and natural hues to match her affinity towards earth magic. Marigold preferred bold colors and floral prints, pants covered in embroidery, ribbons, and mirrors. On Marigold, the look is whimsical and fun. On Slone, it just looks gaudy.
Slone pulls back her hair which has gone completely white since I last saw her. Not in the same way that old ladies have white hair, but in the strange way that a lot of younger people die their hair an almost purple-gray. But her hair wasn’t turned with a bottle of bleach in an LA salon, hers was twisted by dark magic.
[Rosalynd] “Ah, Fiddlesticks!” I swear as I hang upside down from a tree. I’m working on my potty mouth since I’m going to be a mother in about 7 months if Dorothy’s estimation is correct. I can’t go around dropping sweary words every time I’m in a tricky situation. Like right now. Apparently, when traveling by shadow, you need to be VERY specific about your landing destination. I guess I was more focused on the trees near Axel’s house than the ground. Silly witch-fae-wolf-whatever. How the heck am I going to get down? “Maybe see yourself on the ground and flip the coin again,&r
[Rosalynd] “Vegas?” I look at the three of them skeptically as we pile into Axel’s truck after tying Slone up and leaving her in the corner to rot. It looked like she had at least three broken bones, but she was still breathing. It’s better than she would have left any of us. At least we know she won’t be following us as we head north. “I know it isn’t the big pack wedding I promised,” Axel is bubbling over with excitement as he speaks. He keeps looking over to speak with me, taking his eyes off the road for brief moments, which is a little scary considering he is also driving in the dark on a twisty stretch of highway. “But we have my dad and Rafe here, we can call Gideon and Evander, and we can have a proper family wedding.”
[Slone] The house is dark and cold. Nobody is here, and they haven’t been here for some time. I have failed, but I also haven’t. I might not have given the Master exactly what he wants, but I think he’ll forgive me when he hears what I know. From the feel of the ropes on my arms and legs, they trussed me up like a turkey after Rosie dropped me onto the floor hard enough to break my bones and knock me out. They paid no mind to my broken bones or the amount of pain I would be in once I woke up. No matter, something as small as that isn’t enough to do me any damage, especially since the Master has strengthened me to take any damage that I might have sustained. I don’t heal as quickly as a werewolf, but I can also tolerate more pain than the average human.
[Rosalynd] It is completely dark. The only light is coming from the small city across the bay and the stars overhead. Now that my body has learned it is more than human and some of my powers have been activated, my body has changed as well. It takes a moment for my eyes to adjust, but with both my wolf and fae vision, the dark is no longer something to fear. I guess this is as good a place as any to say farewell. “Goodbye, Axel,” I say over my shoulder at the parked truck as I walk towards the bay, the coin balanced on my thumb. But then
[Rosalynd] When we make it to our destination, we gently shake the boys awake and grab all of our things. Looking down at our watches frantically, we race forward running through the parking lot towards the small building in McKinleyville that insists on calling itself an "airport," even though all the planes are the type of small jets that seat maybe 100 people and look like they might rust out of the sky. In the style of other grand airports, it is named after the nearest "city" rather than after the town that houses it. So even if it is located in McKinleyville, it is the "Arcata Airport," the nearest city to around 14,000 people. There are neighborhoods in LA with more people than that. But one of the benefits of li
[Rosalynd]Evander was the first to approach us. He didn’t say anything, didn’t look at anyone, he simply swept me up into his arms and held me tight to his chest. His breathing was heavy as if he were on the verge of tears and could barely keep his emotions contained.“Never do that to us again,” he made me promise as he squeezed, his head buried in my hair. “We are glad that you are safe, but you scared us both.”“You all did,” Gideon looks at the four of us. “When we realized that Rosalynd had disappeared, we knew exactly where she had gone,” his gaze is less kind as he looks us over, his chest puffed like a rooster with his feathers fluffed. I’ve never seen Gideon look so angry and territorial. “When we saw the carnage at your place, A
[Rosalynd] “And what, exactly, was I made to be?” The room goes calm, and quiet, as I turn towards Gideon. Except for Patrick, who takes a seat next to his grandson. Rafe is still sound asleep, the events of the day far more draining than any of us expected them to be. He’s only five years old. In the last few months, he's had to fight evil warlocks and get sent away only to get kidnapped by the same evil warlocks and watch his father get tortured. This kid has had to witness more violence and deal with more stress than most people 10 times his age could manage. We didn't need Patrick to say anything out loud for us to get the message loud and clear. Poor Rafe neither needs nor deserves to be in the same room as I learn what Gideon means when he says I am "who I wa
[Rosalynd] The steps are hard and cold beneath my bare feet as I make my way up to the roof, the pounding clang of each footstep ringing throughout the stairwell. I do not move with care. I stopped caring about my safety as soon as I left that room. As the cool air touches my skin, I feel reality slam into me like an icy slap. I was never meant to exist. I shouldn’t exist. No one creature should contain the amount of power that runs through my veins. I was crafted with warlock magic, magic stolen from dozens of fae and witch lives. How many had to die to create the egg and sperm that eventually led to making me? Was even a small part of who I am a part of either Victor Vex or Esther Reid, or were they just vessels for something more terrible? If the nature of my creation were made known to the entire magical community, would I be seen as a potential savior, or a memory of the pain my father caused when he harvested their friends and families, stealing them away without a trace? I’