River Cast: Part Two in the Tale of Lunarmorte (6 page)

“
You can’t go
through the portal without me.” She smiled sweetly.

His answering look would
have frozen water. “How much do muzzles cost these
days?”

***

He couldn’t
have been more relieved than when they finally pulled into the
parking lot of
Magic
Fitness
. The day, in close quarters with
Caia, had been harder than he had imagined. Lucien glanced at her
as he put the car into neutral and pulled up the break, switching
the engine off. She was smiling nervously back at him, her long
pale hair pulled back off her face making her cat green eyes seem
larger and more vulnerable.

She should have been
his.

Sighing, he shook off the
aggravating thought that created this heavy rock on top of his
heart. He was acting like a chick.

“
Ready?” He
managed.

“
Sure.” Caia
nodded at him and climbed out of his truck.

They walked in silence
into the gym, and he had to stop himself from taking a hold of her
hand. Her anxiety was oozing out of her pores, and he had a feeling
there was more to it than just the Centre. Sometimes, he thought it
might be because of him, but she had gotten good at hiding her
feelings, and as far as he was aware she didn’t see him as anything
more than a friend and her Pack Leader. So what in Hades was up
with her? He was the one that should be nervous, he thought, as
Caia led them through the gym to studio number three. No one
approached them, despite how inconspicuous a huge dark haired guy
and his tiny gorgeous blonde companion were.

This was it. This was
where he might lose whatever hold he had on Caia.

“
We’re here,”
she said quietly, her small hand reaching out to grab a hold of the
gold door handle under the sign that said
Out of Order
.

“
Yeah.” He
took a deep breath, running his hand through his hair, readying
himself. Her green eyes looked up into his.
Should I?
She seemed to ask. His
answer was a brief, stoic nod.

This was about more than
them. That had been their problem from the start.

The door swung open and he
followed as Caia tentatively entered the barren space. The mirrors
were attached to the back wall just as Marion had said they would
be. Lucien shut the door behind them and walked as quietly as he
could to where Caia now stood facing the first pane of
mirror.

She blew air out between
her lips. “This is it.”

“
Yeah.”

“
Take my
hand.”

He reached for her and
they clasped hands, and slowly, almost as if she had gone into slow
motion, she reached a slender arm out towards the pane. He saw her
hand tremble, and he squeezed the one enfolded in his own. At that
she seemed to shrug herself into action, and she laid her wide-open
palm against the mirror. The atmosphere in the room charged and the
air pressure changed; it was almost as if they had climbed up too
high. The floorboards beneath their feet creaked and shifted, and
Lucien grabbed tighter on to Caia. And then his eyes widened in
amazement as the mirror turned to liquid under Caia’s touch, her
entire hand sinking through the mercury mass. She looked back up at
him, smiling in astonishment and excitement, all her nerves seeming
to have disappeared.

“
Are you
ready?” She grinned, the dimple in her cheek flashing
invitingly.

How could he say
no?

He smiled back at her.
“After you.”

It felt like cold gel
sliding and clinging to his skin as he walked through the pane. He
could no longer see Caia, there was only darkness, but he could
feel her hand still clasped warmly in his. The gel-like feeling
disappeared, and as he kept walking the darkness began to dissipate
to white light. He stopped, blinking as the light glared brighter,
bringing his arm up to shield his eyes from the
intrusion.

“
Lucien,” he
heard Caia whisper.

Cautiously he brought his
arm back down and blinked open his eyes.

Whoa.

They stood in an enormous
space. In front of them were a couple of security gates and three
guards. It wasn’t hard to guess that they were all warlocks trained
in defensive magik. Beyond the gates was a huge reception area,
there was even a cute receptionist behind the circular desk. And
behind the desk to the right of the foyer were floor to ceiling
windows that curved along the right side of the building instead of
steel and brick.

“
Oh my...”
Caia breathed and he echoed the sentiment as he realised they were
looking out on to water, and beyond that a beautiful cityscape. And
towering behind the bridges and stunning architecture was the top
of the Eiffel tower.

“
You made
it.”

They both turned sharply
to see Marion, grinning like a child as she sidestepped the
security gates, gliding towards them.

“
Paris?” Caia
shook her head in amazement.

Lucien watched as her
mentor smiled smugly. “The River Seine to be exact.”

“
Wait.” His
stunned gaze flew to the windows. “We’re
on
the River Seine?”

Marion chuckled.
“Compliments of two of our finest magiks. An earth and air magik
worked together to create the Centre in another plane that exists
within Paris. We can see them.” She pointed to the outside world.
“But they can’t see us.”

“
Wow.”

Lucien nodded. “You said
it.”

“
Well, I’m so
glad you made it.” Marion was grinning again as she grabbed a hold
of Caia’s elbow and started dragging her through the reception.
“First things first, introduce you to Marita and Vanne, and then to
your rooms. And then in the morning I’m going to introduce you to
another water magik I picked out for you, Mordecai. He shows
amazing promise. Mordecai will show you around the classes I want
you to take part in while you’re here. Communication spells,
martial arts, water element lectures, glamour class, natural
materialisation... Oh, and we have altars to all the individual
gods here. I’m sure you would like to see Artemis and Gaia’s. Oooh
maybe...”

Lucien trailed at the back
of them, his eyes drinking in their modern yet rich surroundings,
his ears taking in all the excitement Marion had planned for Caia.
He smiled gently as Caia glanced back at him, her eyes wide with
the exhilaration of being somewhere she could really try out her
magik. With that quick glance she turned back to listen to Marion,
leaving Lucien behind.

And that was exactly what
he was afraid of.

5 - Sizing Up

The witch and warlock that
stood before her were not exactly what she had been
expecting.

Throughout Marion’s
chatter Caia had been completely aware of her and Lucien’s
surroundings as they entered a large elevator near the rear of the
massive reception area they had passed through. The back wall had
three elevators, and Marion led them to the middle elevator that
needed a security code to open it. As soon as the doors glided
smoothly open, Caia could see why. She was guessing this was the
‘presidential elevator’, clad in mahogany and gold, sparkling clean
mirrors reflecting three of each of them. Marion explained to them
that this was indeed the only elevator to the Head of the Coven’s
suite. When the elevator stopped and the doors opened, Caia’s eyes
had widened. Before them stretched a loooong wide corridor,
decorated richly in butter creams and gold. The carpet felt like
clouds beneath their feet, and here and there were pieces of Louis
XIV furniture, and rich, dark oil paintings favouring Italian
Renaissance. More surprising, however, was the lack of doors,
except for the large double doors at the very bottom of the
seemingly endless corridor. Furthermore, there were ten magiks
standing vigilant guard, five aside to either wall, and dotted
along the walkway in exact formation.

Those colossal double
doors, which would not have looked out of place at the Palace in
Versailles, had swung open to reveal a breath taking room with an
eclectic taste. But it was neither the room, nor the furniture, nor
the decoration that caught Caia’s eyes this time. It was the magiks
in front of her.

“
Caia
Ribeiro.” Marita gave a tight smile, nodded at her before shifting
her gaze to Lucien. “Lucien Líder.”

Caia gulped and looked up
at her Alpha, whose eyes were narrowed on the couple. Was she
supposed to curtsey? Lucien was doing his usual, calculating their
characters, deciding on the spot whether they had the potential to
be likeable. The brief nod he gave, however, revealed that like or
not, Lucien would respect the Head of the Coven and her
‘mate’.

Marita was very like her
sister. She was as small and fragile-looking as Marion, as elegant,
her hair as fiery red. But where there was gentle warmth in
Marion’s features, Marita seemed sculpted in ice. Her eyes were
tight and sharp, her jaw tense, her hands clasped rigidly in front
of her. Vanne on the other hand was almost as tall as Lucien,
except leaner and wiry. Seeming far more relaxed than his wife,
Vanne stood, smiling widely at Caia, his eyes drinking her in. He
wasn’t leering at her, she was sure of that - it was more that he
seemed to find her extraordinarily fascinating, as if he was
waiting for her to do something completely unexpected.

“
I’m glad we
have this opportunity to meet,” Marita said, walking gracefully
towards them. She took Caia’s hand in her own and shook it quickly
and soberly. “Please, have a seat.”

“
Thank you,”
Caia managed and, with a subtle nod from Lucien, she followed
Marita and Vanne further into the room. She and Lucien sat on a
Louis XIV sofa facing the Head of the Coven, who sat facing them
primly in a chair matching the sofa. Vanne lazed back in a leather
La-Z-boy that was so out of place with the décor and gazed,
entirely relaxed, at the fire blazing brightly in the massive,
ornate fireplace to their right. She knew she must look like the
biggest dolt, her eyes wide as she took in the rich surroundings.
Her gaze fell on Marion, who was now taking a seat away from the
small gathering at the fireplace. She smiled at Caia
reassuringly.

“
Well,”
Marita began slowly, her ocean-blue gaze fixed like granite on
Caia, “Marion has filled me in on your reports about the Midnights,
however I would like you to reiterate for me this Pierre Du Bois’
plans for the MacLachlans.”

She nodded,
feeling the butterflies dissipate a little, now that she had some
control in the situation. “In three weeks time, Sunday
4
^th
to
be exact, Pierre and a few of his agents intend to ambush the
MacLachlans during one of their pack runs. He was investigating
best possible attack strategies, and then he found out that, like
us, the MacLachlans have organised pack runs every month. They
drive out to Remnant Forest, the woodlands that border the east of
the city. According to Pierre’s agents the MacLachlans have
employed a magik to mask their activities on public property?” She
quizzed, having never realised such business went on.

Vanne grinned at her.
“Some of us are extremely enterprising. We like to think on the
whole that the Daylights are a tight group. We work well with each
other regardless of race. And yes... we are aware that one of our
magiks is employed by the MacLachlans. Seems only fair, considering
the MacLachlans have been providing the Coven with excellent Rogue
Hunters for many generations. One of the finest currently in fact,
Phoebe MacLachlan.”

“
A female
hunter?” It was her turn to grin excitedly.

He chuckled. “There are a
few. We’re not as backward as you may think, Caia.”

“
Having lived
among humans for so long without any supernatural influence other
than one measly lykan.” Marita smirked and Caia bristled at the
certain condescension she sensed in her tone. “It’s only natural
that you may think the human females have more liberal rights than
some female supernaturals do-”

“
Lykans in
particular,” Vanne teased, grinning dangerously at Lucien. She felt
him tense beside her.

“
Hmm, well no
matter the race, we are aware your opinions may be unduly
influenced by your upbringing, but I assure you, Caia, the Daylight
Coven has much to offer you. Why... I’m a woman. One could surely
say I’m one of the most powerful supernaturals today. A very bright
future awaits you here.”

OK, so how did her
detailing the MacLachlan’s plans suddenly detour into a sales
pitch? She wanted to laugh. They had jumped on her surprise and
delight at there being a female Rogue Hunter because they thought
she was being oppressed by Lucien? And suddenly their sales pitch
had turned into some feminist bull? She managed to keep the smirk
off her face as she leaned closer to Lucien to reassure
him.

“
Yes, well,
as I was saying,” she managed diplomatically, “Pierre will ambush
the pack in Remnant Forest with ten magiks, guard the place with
four, and he’ll have five spies watching the MacLachlans; together
they live on five streets in town. So we’re looking at nineteen
magiks.”