Page 32 of Slaying With Sylphs (Haven Ever After #6)

CHAPTER THIRTY-TWO

LOU

O nce we manage to untangle ourselves, Dirk reaches for me with a smile.

“My sweet, Vikand dropped some books by for you. They’re all about blue magic, one written by a blue witch.” He pulls my hair toward his nose and sucks in a deep breath, eyes rolling into his head. “Glorious,” he murmurs. Blue eyes drift to mine. “Connall and I started reading while yeh were sleepin’, Louanna. There’s a lot to be learned.”

Connall joins us, setting three cups of coffee on the long skinny table behind his sofa. He takes a sip, looking thoughtful. “According to the only book written by another actual blue witch, you’re incredibly hard to kill.” He pulls in a deep breath, like it pained him to even say that sentence. His wolf presses to the front of his mind, his eyes going full emerald. “The book hasn’t specifically mentioned thralls, but I bet that’s why you didn’t turn when they bit you.”

I look from him to Dirk and back again, mouth going dry.

“And I’m sorry I didnae share my suspicions with you, my sweet. I thought to protect you.” He looks sorrowfully between Connall and me. “‘Twas the wrong thing to do. Forgive me?”

I snuggle against him even as I toss a saucy look up over my shoulder at him. “See me after class, Mister Zefferus. It’ll be detention for you on account of extremely poor behavior.”

He groans and buries his face in my neck, laughing even as he sighs.

“I’m being serious, my sweet,” he manages, chuckling into my skin.

“Me too.” I nudge him in the belly with my elbow. “Can I see this book, please?”

“Of course.” Connall rises gracefully and grabs a book from the kitchen island. Somehow I didn’t notice the stack sitting there, what with the fuckery and all. He paces back to us and hands me the book. “Dirk and I got about halfway through it. There’s a lot there.”

I take it, running my fingers over the worn cover.

And then I lose myself for hours, devouring every scrap of information in its pages. Connall leaves to meet Richard, but Dirk stays with me. He’s silent while I read, stroking my hair and rubbing my back. Eventually, he leaves to clean up the bedroom and kitchen. I’ve got a lunch date at the Green Bean, but I read right up until it’s time to go. What I learn is fucking fascinating.

Dirk appears from the hallway, pulling fresh jeans on. Blue eyes flash at me, wrinkling in the corners as he smiles. “What is it my sweet? That look on your face tells me yeh’ve got to the part where blue witches need to sexually recharge after an expulsion of magic. Am I right?”

“Yeah.” I stare at him, gobsmacked. “But that explains why after I passed out I couldn’t wait to drag you both into the bedroom. I’m like a giant sex battery. A solar sex battery.”

Dirk laughs. “Well, I’m pleased as punch tae be the thing you need to recharge yeh, Louanna. Swear tae the gods I didnae plan that one, but when I say they made us to fit together, I’m right.”

I snort out a laugh and return to the book.

The blue witch who wrote it shares stories of blue witches decimating entire armies and leveling cities to the ground. It’s terrifying…and exhilarating.

But by the time we need to leave for the diner, I still haven’t found any mention of revenants.

“Damn,” I curse as I close the book, glancing at my watch.

Dirk holds a hand out for me. “Come, my sweet. Yer burgers await…”

Despite how serious and shocking this whole situation is, I love how he can still find a way to laugh. I take his hand, and we disappear into the wind.

“ I ’ll be fine,” I reassure Dirk for the millionth time, pointing at not only my nieces, but all three of their mates as well. “I’m in good hands.”

Dirk’s dark eyes move around the booth at the Galloping Green Bean.

“I’ll comm you if anything remotely suspicious occurs,” Abemet croons in his silky, deep voice, crimson eyes flashing with mirth.

Morgan smiles as she rubs his thigh.

Dirk lifts his chin at the former Keeper’s promise. “If I didn’t have to meet with yer mother right now, I’d not be leaving my woman, but…”

“It’s fine,” I repeat. He hasn’t talked much about work. Technically, he’s still on paid leave, finally using up the days he’s been accruing for the last ninety years.

Dirk bends down and presses his lips to mine, slinging his arm around my waist. “If yeh see him, dinnae try to stop him, love.”

“I don’t know if I can agree to that,” I whisper, lifting a palm for him to see. The tiniest of blue flames flickers there, and I can feel it now. That sense of otherworldly power. I should probably be terrified about this entire thing with Leighton. But somehow, now, I’m not. I’m far more terrified at the idea he’ll hurt someone else than worried for myself. I think if he wanted to hurt me, he would have.

Dirk grits his jaw. “I’ll be back soon, my beauty.” Without waiting for an answer, he slaps his gem and disappears on a gust of wind.

I take a seat next to Morgan and snatch a fry off her plate. She shoves the whole thing toward me with a wry smile. I’ve always been a food stealer. I’ve been stealing the triplets’ extras since we were kids together.

When Ohken, Wren’s big troll mate, gives me a funny little smile, I shrug. “What? It’s called the snack tax. Because I’ve watched over these girls their whole life, I get to tax their snacks until death do us part.”

I blanch a little after saying “death,” but Ohken grins, one auburn brow traveling toward his hairline. He glances at Wren, squeezing her hip. “Snack tax sounds like something I need to incorporate in our home.”

Wren snorts. “You’ve got me, honey, so you’ve already got the whole-ass snack, okay?”

His smile goes bigger, and my heart melts. My girls have found the most perfect mates, and I couldn’t be happier for them.

Shepherd leans over the booth table and shoves my hand away, snatching a fry.

When I growl, he winks at me. “You literally just taught us about the snack tax, and Alo and I are protecting everybody all the time. I need to catch up on back tax snack tax.”

I snort, then Wren follows suit, and everybody but Abemet laughs. And seeing the ever-stern look on his face as he watches us laugh makes me laugh harder. Finally, finally, he cracks the barest of smiles.

When our group’s laughter dies, I kick Shepherd under the table. “I want to go back to the wraith motel today. I’ve got questions for them after reading some books that Vikand dropped off. Are you guys up for a little adventure?”

Morgan glances at her mate. “That’s safe, right?”

“Safe as anywhere within the wards, my darling.” He strokes a stray bang back behind her ear. His eyes flick toward the door and narrow. He glances back at me with the hint of a smile. “But, actually, Arkan and I reached out to an old friend, a blue witch, to see if she might be willing to help. And she’s just walked in the door, so…”

We all whirl around in our seats to see who he’s talking about. A stunning, pale vampire female stands in the doorway, talking with Taylor, the centaur host. She’s got a smile like a true predator, all vicious intensity. Stark white hair is drawn back and up into a loose, effortlessly messy bun. She’s hot, and she looks like a badass. Even her outfit is awesome—tight black leather leggings and a red collared shirt with a fitted black leather vest. She’s a sexy vampiric schoolmarm, and suddenly I’m wondering how the guys might feel about a foursome.

“Jesus, she’s hot,” Thea mutters.

I spin back around and squirm in my seat, looking at Abe. “That hot vampire is the blue witch?”

He grins at me. But as he opens his mouth to speak, a gust of wind ruffles my hair, and the hot vampire lady appears to my left. She plants both hands on her hips and beams at me, twin fangs poking her bottom lip.

Oh fuck. I forgot that vampires can slip quickly over short distances.

“Name’s Laerith,” she says confidently. “And, yes, I’m the blue witch. And a vampire like Abemet here, so my hearing is quite excellent.”

“Fuck,” Thea and I mutter at the same time.

“No thanks,” she chirps. “But I’m told you need to learn blue magic quickly, so let’s go.”

I cough. “Now?!” It seems dangerous to take off with a woman I just met, given everything that’s going on right now.

“You’re safe with Laerith,” Abe says. “I’ve known her for centuries. Probably safer than anywhere else, to be honest.”

“We’ll come with you,” Morgan states, rising from her seat.

“You won’t,” Laerith says, her tone brooking no argument. I bristle, knowing Morgan won’t let it go.

But somehow, she does. I bet fifty bucks Abe is squeezing her thigh under the table.

“Come on, Witch,” Laerith says, heading for the door. She doesn’t look back to see if I’m coming. I stare around at my girls, who all look a little worried. Except for Wren, who, like always, wears a knowing smile on her face.

“You’ll be fine, Auntie,” she says quietly. “Go learn about your power, alright?”

That comment gets me moving. I rise and reach for my wallet in my back pocket, but Shepherd stays my hand. “Go on, Lou,” he says kindly. “We’ve got this.”

I thank them, gulping as I head for the exit.

I really, really hope I’ve got this.

My mind wanders to Caroline. If she were here, she’d tell me I’ve got this, too. She’d tell me I deserve to learn about my power, to see what it can do. Maybe she’d even tell me that she was a witch too, and she knew about this mystical, magical world beyond the human one I remember from my childhood.

I’m certain of one thing. She’d say that I should take a chance on Laerith.

Plus, Abe wouldn’t tell me it was safe if it wasn’t.

Outside the door, the hot vampire stands with her hands on her hips. When I emerge, she jerks her head up Sycamore Street. “Let’s head for the woods in Shifter Hollow. We need peace and quiet and to not have onlookers.”

I resist the urge to ask if I can call my mates. I think she’d say no. And this female is crazy intimidating. Still, the bratty side of my nature that sometimes doesn’t know what’s good for me rears her head. When I open my mouth to say something, Laerith’s elegant nostrils flare.

“You asked me here, Witch. Well, Abe and Arkan on your behalf. Do you want help or not? Or would you like to handle a revenant all on your own?”

Shock courses through me. “You know about revenants?”

“You don’t know the half of it, sister,” she mutters. Then she spins on her heel and strides quickly up Sycamore toward Shifter Hollow.

“Wait, how is all of this gonna work?” I shout up the street after her.

When she doesn’t pause or answer, I jog to catch up.

She glances down, smirking as I struggle to keep pace. “We’ll toss you right into the deep end, Witch. Few things you need to know about me. First, I’m here as a favor to Abe. If it weren’t for him, I wouldn’t step foot in a haven at all. Second, if you mention one word of my involvement to Evenia, I will come for you, rip your innards out through your pussy and leave you for the ravens to pick apart.”

“Oof, sounds shitty,” I blurt out, sucking in deep breaths as I hustle to keep up.

“Listen,” she says with a snort, waving one long black-nailed finger at my face. “I don’t fuck with that bitch, and I don’t come to the haven system because I don’t want her siccing hunters on me to force me into service. You’d do well to hide this magic from her because she’ll do the same thing to you.”

“Err, is it gonna be a problem that one of my mates is a hunter?”

Laerith grabs my shoulder and halts me in the street. “Your mate is a hunter?”

I nod. “One of them. The other’s a?—”

“Don’t care,” Laerith all but shouts, her crimson eyes wide as her fangs grow longer. She glances around, like super-secret hunter spies might be around every corner. “Don’t like this.”

I’m pretty sure she’s talking to herself.

“Laerith, I need this help,” I press. “My hunter’s not a rule follower. I swear on my life he won’t tell Evenia about you. People are getting hurt. Doc Slade can’t fix it. And my family is at risk. I?—”

Her frown turns into a feral smile. “Did you say Doc Slade? As in the dark elf with those gorgeous long horns?”

I shake my head, confused. “I guess? Tall, thin, he’s been here a long time, I think.”

“Since Ever’s beginning,” she muses, tapping her chin with her forefinger. “Hmm. Very interesting. Okay, little blue, let’s go. My first rules still apply, and as long as you’re good with that, I’ll stick around long enough to give you a primer. You should be able to pick up the rest on your own, once you can feel the magic well.”

I take off at a jog to keep up with her, but when she darts off into the underbrush, disappearing behind two ferns, I stop and stare. This is ridiculous. Am I really about to follow a woman I just met into the exact type of situation where the guys found Amatheia?

Laerith pops back out from behind the ferns with a wry expression. “Your inability to follow basic instructions does not inspire confidence.” She shoots me a haughty look and then disappears, and I think of my old mantra about how it takes a bitch to know a bitch.

So I follow my new bitchy teacher because I see a little bit of myself in her.

Pushing through the ferns, I follow her trail, barely keeping up with her. I jog, shoving plants and shit out of my face, until I run right through a spiderweb she must have somehow dodged. Or else I’m going totally the wrong way. When I shout, sputter and whirl around to wipe the web off my face, Laerith appears in my side view, sighing exasperatedly.

“Gods, you’re a mess, girl.” Without further ado, she steps forward, picks me bodily up and throws me over her shoulder like a sack of potatoes, grumbling under her breath the whole time.

“Put me down!” I shout. “Or I’m calling Abe!”

“Please do,” she sasses, spanking me on the ass.

I’m embarrassed at how hot I find it to be hauled off into the woods by a gorgeous vampire. If my mates could see me now, I think they’d laugh and enjoy this view. Even so, my power bristles and surges to the tips of my fingers.

“Call Abemet,” her hand tightly grips my upper ass, “because I have quite a few questions for him, my little dumpling.”

“Dumpling?” I shriek. “What on ea?—”

I’m promptly dumped onto the ground in a heap, and before I can even track movement, Laerith stands across a small clearing, leaning against a tree as she picks at her long black nails.

I rise and bend over my knees, sucking in harsh breaths as I glare at her. “Come over here so I can slap you.”

She grins and stalks to the middle of the clearing. “I like you.” She waves a hand toward my entire body. “I like everything about you. But you don’t know shit about your power, and we need to change that fast.”

Get it together, Lou , I shout at myself.

Rising to my full, short height, I match her stance. “I’m ready, Obi Wan.”

“Don’t quote Star Wars to me, girl,” she snarks.

I’m so shocked she got the reference, my mouth drops open.

Laerith continues right on as if she didn’t just “get” a human reference. Nobody gets them here.

“You know Star Wars ?” I blurt out.

She pinches the bridge of her nose. “Didn’t I already say that I don’t live within the haven system?” She narrows crimson eyes at me. “So, if we use our incredible powers of deduction, where might I live, if not within the system?”

This lady’s got attitude by the bucketload.

I wonder if that’s a blue witch thing?

“Noted,” I bark. “Let’s get going, then.”

She sighs again, returning her hands to her hips, where they seem to be a majority of the time. Then she begins muttering to herself about what a bad idea this all is. It’s on the tip of my tongue to be sassy, but people’s lives are at stake—my mates, my girls, my friends.

“Please,” I say quietly, “I don’t want anyone else to get hurt if I can potentially stop him.”

Laerith stops in her tracks and turns to me. She stares for a long moment, crimson gaze dropping to my feet and coming back up. It’s a lazy perusal, but I stand tall and lift my chin. It feels like she’s assessing my soul, and I don’t want her to find it lacking.

“Fine,” she says, crossing her arms. “Blue magic is so rare that most of us have just learned by doing over the years. But there are a few basic tenets that can be taught.”

“How many of us are there?”

She snorts. “Within the haven system? I can’t think of any. It’s well known Evenia wants one to become her personal guard dog, so most of us stay out of the havens, lest our power show itself. The stronger you get with the power, the more frequently it’ll come out, and nothing screams blue witch like blue flames licking up your hands.”

“That happened to me,” I admit. “Leighton, the revenant, threatened one of my mates, and I burst into flame.”

Laerith’s brows rise. “And then?”

“It shocked him, I guess, and he left.”

“You’re lucky, and strong. But I’m guessing you have no idea how to recreate what you did?”

“I don’t,” I admit. “Or how to use it if I could create it. Well, I’ve read part of one book.”

“Blue power is primarily born from the fire elements, meaning it works like fire. But you can guide and direct your flames into weapons of almost any sort. Wait,” she stalks closer, “you know it's battle magic, right? Do I need to start at the very beginning?”

I grin. “I knew that much, thank you. I started that book about it to try to figure things out.”

“Written by blue witches?” Laerith looks skeptical.

“One was,” I manage.

She shakes her head. “Let’s move along. Nothing better than working with your magic. The magic arrives through the power of belief and need. Needing to help someone, believing that you can, those things are the crux of your power. Like this.”

She focuses over my shoulder, lifting a palm. Blue flames crackle, and then they spin and morph into a long sword that looks like it’s made of glowing blue glass.

“I’m going to throw this,” she murmurs. “Watch what happens.” She never takes her eyes off whatever she’s looking at.

I walk to her side, and she tosses the spear with a grunt. It slices through the closest tree and embeds deep into the tree behind it. Blue flames lick up the tree and begin to catch fire to the lower limbs.

I gasp, staring at the spot where the spear’s lodged.

Laerith stalks past me. Grabbing the spear, she pulls it from the tree and swirls her hand in the air. All the flames rush to her and disappear into her skin as I watch in amazement.

A slow clap echoes through the air. I whirl around to see my mates standing about twenty feet away. Dirk comes closer, looking at the spear in Laerith’s hand.

She bristles. “Don’t know who you are, but we’re in the middle of something here. Get lost.” She flips the spear, and it disappears into nothing.

Connall follows Dirk into the clearing, coming to my side and rubbing his cheek along mine. “You alright? Abe got us up to speed, but Dirk felt compelled to make sure you were okay…”

I smile and tickle his chin. “I’m fine.” Turning to Laerith, I offer a smile. “Laerith, these are my mates, Connall and Dirk.” Holy shit. I introduced them as my mates. And it didn’t even feel weird. No, it felt good. I felt proud to introduce them.

Laerith doesn’t bat an eye, instead giving Dirk a once-over. She looks at me. “We need space to work, girl.”

I give my mates an imploring look. “I’ll be home soon, I promise.”

Laerith snorts. “She’ll be home when I think she’s learned something.”

Dirk visibly bristles.

What is going on here?

Laerith snorts and points lazily at him. “Got to love air elemental posturing. You must be the hunter. Go puff yourself, boy.”

Dirk grins like he’s about to blast her to smithereens, but comes to me and wraps an arm around my neck, pulling me to his chest. He peppers me with kisses all over the side of my face.

“What’s gotten into you?” I try to extricate myself from his cool embrace.

“Air and fire are opposites on the elemental spectrum,” Laerith coos. “We pretty much always hate each other.” She barks out a harsh laugh. “Tell me, hunter, has Evenia got your nuts in a vice like the rest of your kind?”

Oh okay. Elemental drama. Dirk stiffens but holds me tight.

“But those elements can also be incredible partners,” Connall breaks in evenly, sparing us from whatever Dirk’s answer was about to be. “Air can bolster fire, help it to burn hotter by providing oxygen to the flames. And fire can turn air deadly.”

“Or suck it out of a room,” Laerith snaps.

Dirk growls, something I’ve never heard him do, and glares at Laerith.

“Okay, this is getting a little too much for me.” I push out of Dirk’s hold. “Why don’t you two go so I can learn something that might help us?”

“Sounds like a plan.” Connall kisses my forehead. “Kick ass, Sweetheart.” He turns to Laerith. “And I’d like you to come for dinner, please. I’m making chicken marsala.”

Dirk’s still an irritated looking, frozen popsicle by my side. “Be good to my woman,” he barks.

Laerith grins. “Maybe. Now scurry along, males.”

Connall smiles despite her insult. I push Dirk toward him. Threading his fingers through Dirk’s hand, he pulls my sylph toward the road.

When they’ve gone, I stare at Laerith. “What gives?”

She frowns. “What do you mean?”

I point at the direction my mates left in. “With Dirk. Why would you take an immediate dislike to him, and he to you? Is it just because he’s a hunter? It was his idea to find you.”

She rears back and laughs. She laughs so long and hard, I start thinking maybe she’s a little nuts. When the laughter begins to fade, she wipes tears from her eyes.

“Not to worry, little blue, your mates seem quite lovely. Elementals and those with elemental gifts often posture like that. Elements work together, as your wolf mentioned. Most of us can be strengthened through partnership with another. But talking shit is in our nature. Prepare yourself for a dinner full of insults.”

“Gods, you’re all weird,” I mutter. “I might be the only normal one.”

Laerith points at me. “Call your flames, Lou. I’m very hungry, and now that your mate mentioned food, I’d like to get this first session done.”

Laughing, I focus on the power but can’t feel it at all. I felt it earlier when I was angry-ish about the ass grabbing, though.

“Think how you felt when you thought he’d attack your males,” Laerith says quietly.

Normally I try to dispel bad thoughts, not keep them and focus on them. But I allow myself to do it now because, if I have the power to help people, I will. I remember how terrified I was when Leighton entered that room and stood behind Connall. An electric zing travels through me. When I look down, my palms are full of blue flames.

A sudden thought occurs to me and I stare up at Laerith as the flames disappear.

“Why didn’t this power come to me when I was possessed by a warlock? That would have been a really fucking convenient time.”

She cocks her head to the side, looking thoughtful. “Blue magic often goes undiscovered for a long time. No one is truly clear on what causes it to appear. But one thing is clear—it’s a battle magic so it’s typically used in service of others .” She crosses her arms. “As a younger one, I could certainly have used my blue magic to protect myself against…things.” She shudders. “But it didn’t come in for me until I needed it to protect someone else, and then it came in like a fuckin’ hurricane.”

Before I get a chance to ask her about that, she waves dismissively at me. “Call the power again.”

When I do it with ease, Laerith grins wickedly. “Well done, little blue, well done.”