Page 16 of Voyage of Magic and Malice (The Vampires of Charleston #3)

SIXTEEN

a boy and his powers

I sit on the perfectly made bed in the bedroom that Thorne and I claimed when we came here. His clothes are still hung in the closet, along with his hygiene items. He didn’t take anything other than the clothes on his back.

There has to be a way to counter the binding spell. If we manage to kill Serafina, will the spell die with her? I make a mental note to ask the only remaining witch in the house. A knock on the door draws me back to reality.

“Elsie,” Alex’s soft voice says from behind the closed door.

“Aye.”

“Can I come in?”

“Of course.” Unlocking the door, I open it to see large brown eyes staring back at me. “Is everything okay?”

He shrugs. “I think so. Brayden and Nyssa talked briefly, and now they’re telekinetically moving things around the house.”

“That sounds fun.” I laugh as Alex moves across the wide planks, sitting on the edge of the four-poster bed. “But I meant you. Is everything okay with you?” His energy feels different.

“What do you know about Serafina?” he asks.

“Not much,” I admit. “She’s from Scotland, apparently had a ‘fling’ with my baby brother,” I shudder at the thought, “and is so powerful she was able to trick Thorne and me, making us believe we had traveled to New Orleans and Brayden.”

Alex’s eyes grow several sizes. “How is that even possible?”

I shrug. “She was able to cast an illusion grand enough to make us think we flew on a plane to Louisiana, went to Fran’s house, and had an entire conversation with Brayden. I realize how insane that sounds, but yeah…she did that.”

“Are you sure she’s a witch?”

I think back to Phyllis’s description of the three-hundred-year-old sorcerer. “I was told she was a witch. I have no reason not to believe the person who told me.”

Alex stares at me without speaking. I know without asking, he just read my thoughts on Phyllis. “I’m sorry,” he whispers. “I know I shouldn’t read your thoughts.” He picks at a loose thread on the chenille bedspread. “Your shield is easier to get through than before.”

“I’m not using it,” I admit.

“Why not?” he asks through my mind.

“I have nothing to hide from you. But I’d be remiss if I didn’t remind you that listening to someone’s thoughts…”

“I know. It’s rude,” he repeats my words from earlier. “I missed you, Elsie.”

Touching his arm, I rub my thumb across his smooth skin. “I missed you too, Alex. I’m glad you’re back.”

“Thank you for coming for us.” He plays with the loose thread again.

“I’m sorry it took so long.”

He shakes his tiny head. “Don’t apologize.” Turning his head, he wipes a tear. “I’ve never had anyone that would’ve come after me. You’re the first person who…the first person who didn’t lie or hurt me.”

I move in the blink of an eye, wrapping my arms around him. “I’m here. I’ll be here as long as you want me.”

“Always,” he whispers. “I’ll want you to be here, always.” He stays in my arms until his tears dry. Growing up the oldest of nine, I was the fill-in mother for my younger siblings. After Kragen took me, turning me into a vampire, being a mother wasn’t something I ever allowed myself to think about. The love I feel towards this tiny immortal child brings out the protective mother that’s been hidden away for three centuries.

“I’m not going anywhere,” I whisper back.

“Elsie, Alex?” Autumn’s soft voice says from the hallway. “Can I come in?”

Alex pulls away, drying his tear-stained face, and nods. “Sure,” I answer. The tiny blonde enters the room with a worried look on her face. Her clothes are soaking wet, and water drips from the end of her braids. “What’s up?” I ask, hoping to lead into the reason she’s soaking wet.

She sighs. “It’s Everly.”

“Okay?”

“She’s acting weird.”

“Acting weird, how?” Alex asks, sliding off the bed.

“Well…she just flooded the room we were sharing.”

I stare at the immortal child, not sure how to respond. “Did she leave the sink or bathtub running?” Nothing else makes sense.

Her tiny head shakes from side to side. “No. She just did it.”

“With her mind?” Alex asks.

“Yeah. We were talking about Eudora, and the room suddenly flooded.”

Alex looks at me. “Is it possible for her to borrow a goddess’s power?”

I laugh loudly. “I’ve learned that with you three, anything is possible.” I jump off the bed, joining Alex and Autumn. “We might need to get a mop.”

The three of us pass Nyssa and Brayden, staring intently at each other in the living area. I can’t hear their silent conversation but have no doubt that’s what’s happening. Cam’s asleep in the chair next to them, completely unaware of anyone else in the room.

“What’s going on?” Brayden asks, pulling his gaze away from Nyssa.

“Everly stole Eudora’s power and flooded the room,” Autumn announces like it’s an ordinary occurrence.

“What?” Nyssa asks, wrinkling her forehead. “Her abilities were able to mimic a goddess’s?”

“That’s what we’re on our way to find out,” I answer, moving through the room.

“Can we come?” Brayden asks, standing. I don’t answer as he and Nyssa join our small group, moving toward the flooded room.

Autumn is right. My feet smack against a few inches of water covering the antique wooden floors of the second-floor hallway. I lead the group into the room, finding Everly on her hands and knees with a pile of wet towels behind her. “Everly, is everything okay?”

The immortal child rocks back on her thighs and wipes tears from her tear-stained face. “Elsie, I’m so sorry. I don’t know what happened. It just came out of nowhere.”

“It’s okay, sweetie. These things happen. Well…they don’t happen very often, but they happen.”

My words do nothing to ease her frustration. Everly sniffs loudly, wiping her runny nose on her sleeve. “I’ll go to the basement,” she says, standing.

“What in the hell happened here?” Fran asks, coming into the room.

“I flooded it,” Everly admits. She wipes her eyes again, moving past the group into the hallway.

“Everly? Why are you going to the basement?” I ask as she passes.

“It’s where Mother would send us for punishment,” Autumn answers for her sister. “It’s where she would…” She doesn’t finish her sentence.

Everly moves slowly down the hallway, making squishing sounds as she moves. “I’m not going to punish you, Everly.”

The immortal child stops, turning her tiny head in our direction. “But I flooded the room.”

In the time I’ve known the children, I’ve never thought of them as children until now. Whatever Patrice did to them, I don’t want to think about. I move in front of the soaking-wet vampire and wrap my arms around her. “I am not Mother. You’re safe here.”

Quiet tears turn into loud sobs as Everly rests her head on my stomach. “I’m sorry, Elsie.”

I pull her to arm’s length, looking into her deep brown eyes. “Do you know how amazing you are? You flooded a room with no access to water using only your mind. That’s something to be celebrated, not punished. You borrowed a goddess’s power.”

Everly sniffs loudly. “You really think so?”

“Um, yes.”

“But the room is ruined. The floors, the carpet…”

“I can fix that,” Nyssa interrupts. She steps into the room, and the energy surrounding us changes instantly. “Earth below and sky above, balance water, take what’s enough. Air, rise and carry away, leave this space dry today.” I watch in awe as the druid lifts her arms to her side, rotating them slowly throughout the room. With her movements, the water begins to dissipate. Seconds later, the once-flooded bedroom is dry with no signs of ever being flooded.

“How did you do that?” Brayden asks.

“The elements helped me.”

Everly walks back to the room. “Thank you.”

“You’re welcome, little one.” She ruffles the curls on Everly’s head. “If you can harvest the power of Eudora, you are going to be a huge asset in this fight.”

“The children shouldn’t have to fight.” Fran has her arms across her chest defiantly.

“I agree,” I add.

“I want to fight,” Brayden interrupts. He looks at the other three immortal children. “We all want to fight. We’ve discussed it.”

“Serafina isn’t Eudora. With the goddess, we knew what we were up against. With Serafina, we don’t have any idea of what she’s capable of,” I argue. “She’s bound vampires and lycan to her, which gives her even more power. I won’t allow you four to risk your lives.”

Autumn moves in front of me. “With all due respect, Elsie, you don’t get to make that decision for us. We may look like children, and to the world around us, we are children, but we’re not ordinary. We’re vampires. We have abilities that would be useful for whatever the witch wants to throw at us.”

“Autumn, I know you think you’re strong, but…” My words stop short as the antique four-poster bed lifts from the floor several feet into the air. The tiny vampire turns her head toward a solid wood dresser. I watch as it lifts off the ground, completely spinning in the air.

Autumn crosses her arms in front of her chest and yawns. “Should I continue? I could do this all day.”

“What the hell did I miss?” Cam asks, coming into the room. “That was one hell of a nap.”

“Elsie doesn’t want us to fight, and Everly stole Eudora’s power and flooded the room,” Alex answers for the group.

“That helps,” Cam answers sarcastically.

Alex and Everly move to Autumn’s sides as she sets the large pieces of furniture back in place. “I know you’re trying to protect us, Elsie. We don’t need protecting.” Alex’s words are soft. “We can do this.”

“What if…” The room transforms into the bowels of Kragen’s ship before I complete my sentence. The smell of death slaps me in the face. It’s a smell I will remember for as long as I walk the earth. “Alex? Fran? Brayden?” What just happened? Serafina? I look around the room, allowing my vampire eyes to focus on the familiar details of the room. Rotting flesh covers the floor, while the rats that sustained my life for a century scurry throughout their remains.

The roar of the ocean, lapping against the bow of the ship, threatens to turn me into the lost girl being held captive once again. “This isn’t real,” I say out loud. I close my eyes, willing the image to disappear, returning me to the house in Charleston.

My eyes open to the familiarity of the ship. “This isn’t real,” I repeat. This time, my words sound frantic, even to me. “This isn’t real. This isn’t real. This isn’t real.”

“It’s real,” a familiar voice says from behind. I turn, finding Brayden. He’s dressed in the same clothes that I bought him earlier.

“Brayden? How are you here? How am I here?”

He shrugs. “I read your mind.”

“Why here?”

“I needed you to know how powerful we are.” Large blue eyes stare into mine. “Alex, Autumn, Everly, and I are the only ones strong enough to overcome her. Plus, she has Thorne’s power under her control right now.”

“What are you saying, Brayden?”

“I’m saying you’re going to die if you don’t let us help you. Thorne will die. Fran will die. Nyssa and Cam will die…”

“Okay, I get it,” I interrupt. “How did you do this?”

Brayden takes a deep breath. “I don’t know.” He kicks a huge rat across the uneven floorboards. “I’ve seen it in your mind several times.”

“Seen what?”

“This.” He motions around the room where I was held captive.

“Brayden? You can see images in my mind?”

He shrugs. “Sometimes. Only when you’re focused or really sad. I have to concentrate hard to see it.”

“Did you use a spell?” I ask, not sure how he has the same ability Serafina does.

“No. I just pictured it in my head with us standing here.” He lowers his head. “I’m sorry, Elsie. I can see how horrible this place was. I don’t know why I brought you here.”

“It was horrible, but I’m not sorry you brought me here.”

He looks up, smiling slightly. “I thought you were angry at me.”

“Angry, no. Annoyed, yes.” I move closer to the young boy. “You’re right. We can’t defeat her and get Thorne back without you. Without all of you.”

Brayden’s arms wrap around my waist. “Thank you.”

“I had no idea you could do this.”

“Me, neither.” He laughs.

“Can you do it again?”

“I think so. It was easy. Why?”

I clap my hands, echoing through the wooden ship. “This is how we’re going to fight and win.”

“On a ship?”

“No. In the world that we create,” I answer. “It’s the only way.”

“I don’t understand.”

“Aye. Me, neither—yet. Take us home, Brayden. We’ve got a plan to create.”