Page 36 of The Second Sight (Wanderlust Emporium Presents, Season One)

Chapter

Twenty-Five

SEVEN

Iburst through the doors of my mansion with Kasi at my side.

Four centuries of survival had honed my instincts to detect the slightest hint of danger, and tonight those instincts screamed that everything I valued was at stake.

My hand remained firmly at the small of Kasi’s back, guiding her through the grand foyer toward my private study where I could sense the others waiting.

We moved swiftly down the hallway lined with portraits of my ancestors or rather, the human family I’d once belonged to, their faces frozen in time while I continued my endless march through the centuries. At the end of the corridor stood the heavy oak doors of my study. I didn’t bother to knock.

The doors swung open at my touch. The heavy velvet drapes were drawn tight against the night, no sliver of moonlight permitted to enter this space where supernatural beings now gathered.

Ancient grimoires and leather-bound books lined the walls from floor to ceiling, their spines bearing titles in languages long dead to the modern world.

My mahogany desk dominated the center of the room.

Lily stood beside it, her posture rigid. The yumboe, Romeca and Kyren kept their distance at the far side of the room. The tension was palpable, fairy and vampire forced into an uneasy alliance by circumstances none of us had anticipated.

Lily stepped forward. “Desmond Moreau landed at O’Hare thirty minutes ago,” she reported. “My informant watched him descend the escalator to baggage claim, where Tarus and Gideon were waiting with the black SUV.”

My fists clenched involuntarily at the confirmation of Kasi’s vision. She didn’t see Gideon. What did that mean.

“Your vision was accurate, then,” I said to Kasi, forcing my voice to remain steady despite the fury building inside me. “Desmond has indeed come personally to Chicago. Then we have little time,” I stated.

My gaze shifted to Romeca and Kyren, assessing them. Their presence complicated matters. yumboe were powerful, but their loyalties were to their own kind first. Would they risk themselves to save a human girl? Or was their only concern retrieving Kasi and taking her to their realm?

“The Bambara know of your presence now,” I said to them, measuring each word carefully. “You intervened directly. They will hunt you with the same fervor they hunt Kasi. This mansion is warded against supernatural detection. You should remain here while we formulate our rescue plan.”

Romeca’s suspicious eyes gleamed within their golden depths. She was ancient in her own right, not as old as me perhaps, but old enough to recognize the careful maneuvering in my suggestion.

“How generous,” she said, her tone revealing she perceived the offer as both protection and containment. “But before we discuss strategy further, I require a private word with you.”

“Anything you wish to say to me can be said in front of Kasi,” I replied.

“Not this,” Romeca insisted, her gaze unflinching. “What I must discuss concerns matters from before her birth.”

My suspicion deepened. What game was this fairy playing? Was she truly Kasi’s aunt, concerned for her welfare? Or was she merely another supernatural entity seeking to use Kasi.

I turned to Kasi. “Wait here with Lily.” I said softly. “I won’t be long.”

“Seven, I—”

“Trust me,” I whispered. “Nothing she can say will change anything between us.”

I would protect this woman at all costs. From Desmond Moreau. From the Bambara Brotherhood. Even from her own fairy relatives if necessary. In four centuries of existence, I had loved truly only twice, and I would not lose Kasi as I had lost Basirah.

As I followed Romeca toward the adjoining room, I felt the weight of Lily’s gaze on my back. My sister knew me better than anyone alive. She witnessed my descent into grief-fueled rage after Basirah’s death. She would understand what I was prepared to do to keep Kasi safe.

The fairy wanted a private conversation, very well. But she would soon learn that a vampire who had walked the earth for four hundred years was not easily manipulated, especially not when everything he valued hung in the balance.

I followed Romeca into the adjoining chamber, a room few were permitted to enter.

Antique weapons mounted on the walls, souvenirs from wars I’d survived and enemies I’d outlived.

The massive stone fireplace dominated the far wall, flames leaping and crackling as if they sensed the tension between us.

I positioned myself across from Romeca, maintaining enough distance to react if this conversation turned hostile.

Four hundred years had taught me never to fully trust a fairy, especially not one who clearly disapproved of my bond with Kasi.

Romeca turned to face me. “I don’t want my niece with a vampire,” she stated bluntly, dispensing with pleasantries. Her directness almost earned my respect. Almost.

I allowed a cold smile to adorn my lips. “How fortunate, then, that your niece is a grown woman capable of making her own decisions.” I kept my tone level.

“You don’t understand what’s at stake,” Romeca insisted, stepping closer. “Kasinda is the daughter of Theia, descended from a royal line of yumboe seers. Her abilities could be extraordinary with proper training. Her place is with her people.”

“Her place,” I countered, “is wherever she chooses it to be.” I met her burning gaze. “And she has chosen me.”

“Has she? Or have you seduced her with vampire tricks?” Romeca’s accusation sort of hurt my feeling.

“I’ve done nothing to manipulate Kasi,” I said. “Though I should inform you that we have already mated.”

“Of course you have. All you vampires care about is blood and fucking.” Her voice dropped to a menacing whisper.

“I have taken her blood, and we have joined in body and spirit. It’s how I sensed her danger tonight. The blood bond between us allowed me to feel her completely.”

“You drank from her?” Romeca hissed, taking another step toward me. “You fed on the rightful yumboe queen’s daughter?”

“It was consensual,” I clarified, my patience wearing thin.

Romeca’s expression darkened, but beneath her anger, I detected a flicker of something else, calculation. “And Theia? What do you know of her whereabouts?”

The abrupt change of subject didn’t escape my notice. “Nothing,” I admitted. “But I had planned to help Kasi find her mother.”

“How gallant. You’ve taken her daughter as your mate without her knowledge or blessing.” Romeca’s tone was accusatory.

“I’m her protector now. Can you say the same? Where were you when she was growing up ignorant of her powers, when her visions terrified her, when she believed her mother had simply abandoned her?”

A flash of what might have been guilt crossed Romeca’s features before her expression hardened again. “We couldn’t reach her across the realms. The Bambara were hunting us. We had to protect all our fae kin.”

“And now you expect Kasi to simply run away with you?” I challenged. “To leave the life she’s built, the father who raised her, to follow you into some hokey fairy realm?”

“I expect her to choose her people over a vampire,” Romeca shot back. “Especially when there’s a human girl who needs rescuing.”

The mention of Brooklyn redirected my thoughts to the immediate threat. “Then help us save her,” I urged. “Brooklyn is innocent in all this. She’s being held captive because of her connection to Kasi.”

Romeca’s hesitated. “Why should we risk our lives for a human girl? Our numbers are already dangerously low after the Bambara.”

Something inside me snapped. The careful control I’d maintained for decades cracked.

“Because that’s exactly what my wife did for your people,” I growled, my voice dropping to a dangerous register.

“Basirah went to Goree Island to warn the yumboe about the Bambara Brotherhood’s massacre of the Aziza fairies. ”

Romeca’s eyes widened, recognition flashing across her features.

“Yes,” I confirmed, taking a step toward her.

“My vampire wife risked everything to save fae lives. And how was she repaid? Desmond Moreau captured her. He burned her alive on that stupid Island. That’s why I hate fairies,” I snarled.

“Your kind accepted Basirah’s warning, fled to safety, and left her to die.

Not one of you came to her aid when Desmond found her. ”

Romeca stood her ground, unafraid of my display. “Yes, Basirah came to warn us. If you hate fae so much, vampire, then how can you claim to love Kasinda? She is half-fae. The blood you’ve tasted carries our magic.”

Her question sliced through my anger. “You think I love her because she resembles Basirah,” I said, my voice deadly quiet now. “That I’m trying to replace what I lost.”

“Isn’t that exactly what you’re doing?” Romeca challenged. “Kasi bears the face of your vampire wife.”

How dare this fairy presume to understand the depths of what I felt for Kasi? How dare she reduce my love to mere replacement, as if Kasi were interchangeable with Basirah?

“I love Kasi for who she is,” I stated, each word deliberate and weighted with truth.

“Yes, her resemblance to Basirah initially caught my attention. I won’t deny that.

But it is her spirit that captured my heart.

” I held Romeca’s gaze, refusing to look away.

“We are fated mates. Our souls are bound across time.”

Romeca studied me, searching for deception. “Fated mates,” she repeated skeptically. “A convenient belief.”

“Basirah died over a century ago,” I continued, my voice quieter now but no less intense.

“I’ve walked this earth alone since then, feeding but never connecting, existing but never truly living.

Until Kasi.” I met Romeca’s eyes. “I will not lose another woman I love to Desmond Moreau. I will not fail Kasi.”

The sorrow in my voice must have reached even Romeca. Her posture softened. “You truly love her,” she said, the statement neither question nor concession.

“More than I thought possible.” I admitted. “Which is why I will do whatever necessary to protect her from the Bambara.”

“There is something you should know,” Romeca finally said, her voice calmer than before. “About Kasinda’s heritage.”

“I’m listening.”

“As a half-blood, Kasinda’s fae abilities have manifested later than a full yumboe’s would,” Romeca explained. “Her precognitive dreams are just the beginning. With proper training, she could develop other gifts.”

“Such as?” I asked, my curiosity genuine despite my suspicion.

“Possibly wings,” she said simply. “Not all half-bloods develop them, but with her bloodline, the potential exists.”

The image of Kasi with fairy wings was strangely appealing. Yet I sensed there was more to Romeca’s revelation than mere information.

“And how would one determine if she has this potential?” I asked, already guessing the answer would involve some fairy ritual.

“She must be bathed in an enchanted solution,” Romeca confirmed. “Water infused with moon sand, fairy dust, and certain natural herbs that stimulate dormant fae genes. The ritual must be performed under the waning moon which happens to be tonight.”

“Convenient timing.”

“Perhaps fate,” she countered. “Or simply practical necessity. If Kasinda is to face Desmond Moreau, wouldn’t you want her to have every possible advantage? Wings would give her mobility, a means of escape if needed.”

Her logic was sound. “And if this ritual awakens her fae nature, what then? Will she be more fairy than human? Will her connection to this realm weaken?”

The unasked question hung between us. Would she still want me?

Romeca seemed to hear the silent inquiry. “The ritual doesn’t change what she is, it merely awakens what’s dormant. She won’t grow wings overnight, but it will awaken them if they exist inside her.”

“I won’t deny Kasi any power that might help her survive what’s coming.”

“Then you’ll permit the ritual?” Romeca asked, a note of surprise in her voice.

“On one condition,” I stated firmly, turning to face her directly. “I must be present during this ritual. I won’t leave her again, even for some fairy ritual I don’t fully believe in.”

Romeca’s expression tightened. “The ritual is sacred, traditionally witnessed only by female kin.”

“Then consider me an exception to your tradition,” I replied, unmoved. “Where Kasi goes, I go.”

We locked eyes across the room, another silent battle of wills. Finally, Romeca inclined her head slightly. “Very well. Your presence may put her at ease. Your sister Lily has already gathered the necessary ingredients,” Romeca said, watching my reaction carefully.

“Lily?” I repeated, unable to mask my surprise.

“She seemed to understand the urgency,” Romeca replied smoothly. “And she’s quite knowledgeable about fairies for a vampire.”

This unexpected alliance between Lily and Romeca unsettled me.

“I make sure all my vampires are taught about all the supernaturals. We should return to the others,” I said, unwilling to discuss Lily’s motives further with Romeca. “Time is against us, and Brooklyn remains in Desmond’s clutches.”

Romeca nodded, and we moved toward the door, the tension between us not dissolved but transformed. We were allies of necessity, nothing more.