Ritual Magic (9 page)

"Yes, but she is a child of legend—a
prophecy come to life. She is not the product of true love between
you and that...that...thing!" Dylan's voice shook with discomfort
and I could see the oceans in his eyes become tumultuous and
deadly.

"Uh-huh." The panic washed away from me in a
wave of calm because, for some strange reason, I finally
understood. I finally
got
my
old man
. "So, you don't
like my boyfriend and you're afraid I won't have safe sex. You're
typical, Dad... Dylan...whatever. Don't you know that? You're
acting like all dads do that don't approve of the boyfriend the
daughter is dragging home." I laughed as I leaned forward in the
chair and reached over to touch his monster-sized hands with my
fingertips. I was trying to make eye contact but it appeared as if
he was fighting the urge to look at me at all. "You're going to
have to trust me to make the right choice."

"Abomination!" Dylan growled.

"Whatever, Dad." I rolled my eyes. Yeah,
yeah, he wanted me to call him
Father,
but he had to earn
the respect before I would call him by that title.
Hey, this
daddy-daughter thing was coming pretty easily.
"But I do
actually have to get going." I stood up as I set my hand down along
my hip. "What? No hug?" I cocked an eyebrow and looked up at him
with a soft smile—hey, he was huge even sitting down!

"Girl, I forbid you ever having a
relationship with that vampire." He was seething mad, and he was
clearly putting the force of his anger into his words. It wasn't
going to bother me, though, because I had already decided not to
let him bother me anymore.

"Okay, but it's cool if I date another
vampire, right?" I cocked my head to the side, flipped my hair over
the shoulder that was more exposed and smiled innocently.

"Grrrr, you...don't...get...it. You can
never be with
any
vampire..."

"Oh, I get it, but I'm just not agreeing to
your terms." I turned my head to get the view of the misty beach I
had noticed previously before continuing. "I pick the men in my
life—not you."

"I forbid it!"

"Yeah, yeah, Dad." Waving my hand in the
air, I could see his face turning a deep shade of red, and then
purple. "Look, I have to know though...what was it you said about
'love' and getting pregnant?"

Sighing, Dylan ran his fingers through his
hair and leaned back in his chair, looking a little ill. "For you
to be able to conceive a child, you must both be truly in love.
That is part of what makes your magic in conception so strong—it is
a gift." I wanted to almost laugh at the thought that my father
was, just now, giving me his version of
'the talk.'

"Ahhh," I nodded as my eyes glassed over. So
having a child with Leo would have been out of the question anyway.
"Hey, aren't you afraid that I would have a child with a
demon?"

"Are you
interested
in a demon?" His
voice dripped with consternation.

"Nah."

"Good."

I could actually hear the anxiety escape him
in a long, wispy breath as he eyed the mist above him
longingly.

Looking at him, I finally nodded. "Gotta go
Dad. Love ya and all!" I smiled at him as I began to walk towards
the beach in the mist.
I've gotta get out of here before my
brain melts!

"Don't forget what I said, Raven. No
vampires. Oh, and stay away from demons too!" His voice rumbled
behind me.

"That cuts out half the male population,
Dad! You take all the fun out of everything!" I smiled wickedly as
I began to glow with a steady calm and walked straight through the
mist onto the beach of Gull Cottage, the beach house that Solomon
had bought for me as a gift. The house was actually located off of
highway 101, a scenic stretch of road that hugs the United States'
West Coast. The house is right off of the coast and has a direct
stairway down to the beach. Basically, it's heaven.

As the mist around me dissipated I glanced
around the beach—there was nothing and no one anywhere to be seen.
My heart dropped by a fraction just before I caught a blur in white
out of the corner of my eye. My head snapped in the direction of
the blur and Cora was instantly standing next to me with a
distracted look on her face. She reached out for my hand, and
looked me in the eye—her eyes narrowed while continuing to scan the
horizon.
What is she looking for? Are we in danger? For some
reason, I still feel safe.

"Mother, you need to get to the house." Her
words were clipped, getting directly to the point, which I figured
was very much in her nature.

"Okay." I nodded and turned towards the
stairs just before she reached over and grabbed my hand sharply,
yanking me back towards her.

"
No
, Mom. You have to jump to the
house—there isn't time. Do it now because I don't know how long we
have before something attacks." Her voice was laced with
concern.

"Cora, are you going to be okay?" I leaned
in closer to her as I scanned her face for any signs of dread.

Laughing sharply, she flicked her eyes to me
and I instantly knew I was being an idiot. Oh well, I'm her
mother
and I was going to be protective, dammit!

"Mother, you have to go
now
." She
whispered underneath her breath, which scared me even more. My
pulse raced and I could hear my breathing quicken as the
realization of our dangerous situation hit me with a subtle ping.
Placing her hand on my shoulder, Cora looked deeply into my
eyes.

Instantly a vision of the living room of
Gull Cottage, my Gull Cottage, spread through my mind's eye and I
could smell the cotton scent of the fabrics and feel the comfort
and safety of the atmosphere. Closing my eyes, I reached out for
the vision as if it was something tangible that I could grasp onto.
With a swift whoosh of air popping in my ears, I knew that I was
finally there.
What a rush!
Opening my eyes, I could see the
living room stretching out before me. It was just as I had left it,
messed up cushions and all.
When had I actually left?
Huh.

Walking quickly to the window, I peered down
on the beach to see if Cora was still there. Of course she wasn't,
and I could feel anxiety wash over me as I scanned the area around
the beach and the back yard skirting the area behind the house.

Get away from the window, Mother.
Cora's voice rang through my head.
You're telling anyone that
might want to get to you exactly where you are.

Right! I'm sorry
. I thought as I
grabbed the curtain and tugged to close off the view. "Right." I
whispered to myself.

Scanning the room around me, I thought about
the ways that I might be able to help Cora. What could I do to
protect her? And then, where was Solomon? Was he out trying to
protect us as well?
That's a stupid question—of course he
is.
I shook my head.
Really stupid.

I was instantly frustrated with what little
I could do to help. "Useless." I berated myself as I walked to the
couch and threw myself down with a loud huff. In all reality I was
the one that needed the protecting...so why did I want so
desperately to protect Cora? Why did it matter so much to me that I
know that she was safe and away from those beasts known as shadow
demons? Why did she have to be so very fierce and...capable? How
had I ended up the mother of Xena, Warrior Princess?

"Celeste?" A voice came from downstairs,
where the guest rooms would be located. "Is that you?" Tisha's
voice rang from below.

My heart sped up as I pushed off of the
couch and rushed towards the stairs that led down to the lower
level of the beach house.
Thank goodness. Tisha's here!

"Yes!" I half whispered and half giggled. I
was absolutely thrilled to see Tisha—she was a constant in my life,
and without her I was rudderless. She had always been my friend, my
sounding board. I could be as insanely silly or serious with her as
I wanted and it would always be the same old story—she was just
Tisha, my dearest and closest friend.
But is she honestly your
friend?
I thought about it for a second.
Yes.
Yes,
she is.

I listened as I heard footsteps ascending
the wooden staircase, taking brief moments to pause before
continuing to skip upward. My heartbeat increased and drove my
sense of suspense even further past my limits. Tisha's head finally
bobbed into view and my heart beat even faster.
Relief!
Waiting until she stepped to the living room floor, I swept over to
her and gave her a monster-sized hug before she could throw her
arms out to stop me.

"Oh my gosh, I have missed you so much,
Tisha! It's been crazy around here." My eyes actually began to
prick with the desire to cry.
Why the HECK would I even want to
cry? This is happy stuff, you dummy!

Tisha laughed softly as she wrapped her arms
around me and rubbed my back like a sister. "That's okay. It's
okay. I know about everything. I have been filled in on every
detail that they had at their disposal. Although," she pulled away
from me slightly to look up into my eyes, "it felt like there was
something...missing." She pulled back even further, quirking her
head to the side and finally gasped, covering her mouth with one
hand in surprise. "Celeste!" Her fingers went to her lips as her
eyes grew wide. "Oh my word, your
aura
!"

Squinting at her, I shrugged my shoulders in
agitation. "Is that something like my eyes changing again? Because
you know, I got really tired of everyone caring about my eyes so
much. Who cares if they are brown, or lavender or silver...who
cares?!"
Oooh, still a sore subject.

Tisha gathered my face in her warm hands and
began to inspect me as if she had all the right in the world to do
so, but I didn't fight her even if I wanted to because it was
inevitable in a sense. Turning my face this way and that, Tisha
finally released me, stepping backwards to get a broader
perspective. And then finally, she did a full circle around me as
she tapped her finger on her lips.

"Yes, it is distinctly different and...much,
much
more powerful."
She was talking about my aura,
right? Not my bitchiness.

Shrugging, I tried not to let her qualms
with my aura bring me down. "Can't we just have
normal
girl
time like other women? Why does it always have to come down to
something about my eyes, my aura, my choice in
men
?"

Tisha tilted her head to the side yet again
and gave me a lopsided grin while shooting me with a finger gun,
"Good one!" She laughed and winked at me while I glowered at her.
I
was not amused.

I pushed away the dismay that I was feeling
about this new conversation and walked over to the loveseat, my
favorite spot in the entire room. You could see every piece of
beachy fabric, every grain of whitewashed wood and every little
sprinkle of dust from this loveseat. I was in heaven on my
loveseat.

Throwing myself into the seat, I kicked my
feet up to rest my legs on the loveseat cushions with my feet
hanging off and reclined on the arm of the chair. "Straight and to
the point—I met my dad today." Twirling a ringlet of dark brown
hair around my pointer finger, I released a deep breath from what
felt like my shoes.
I need a vacation
.

You know what gets on my nerves about Tisha?
She's never shocked.

"Yeah? What was he like?"

"The Ocean." I said simply, tossing my hand
forward like I was throwing darts at the ceiling.

"Oh, really? He's like the Ocean?"

"Nope. He
is
the Ocean." My voice
grew a little musical on the words
the Ocean
.

Tisha paused what she was doing and walked
straight to the edge of the couch that was closest to me. This
conversation had piqued her interest and she was going to get
everything that she wanted out of the entire conversation, so help
her... "What was his name?"

Looking at her sideways, I answered, "He
wanted to be called Dylan, but I really think he looks like an
Andre." I looked back at the ceiling as I continued to throw air
darts and give myself points for making the bullseye.
Woohoo!

"Dylan..."

I looked over at her to make sure she was
still conscious. "Yeah, Dylan."

Remember when I said that nothing ever fazed
Tisha? Well, forget it—she was actually freaking out. Her eyes were
wide, her forehead was beading tiny girly pearls of sweat (always
the lady) and she was shaking...actually shaking in her literal
shoes.

"What is it, Tisha?" I instantly had the
urge to run over and shake her, but I was almost afraid to move.
"What's wrong?!"

"Lir...," Tisha muttered under her breath,
as if she was whispering to only herself, and wrung her hands
thoroughly. "Lir...as Dylan...oh my gosh, what to do..." She shook
her head and began muttering incoherently to herself as she pushed
up from the couch and began pacing from one side of the room to the
other.

"What's the big deal? So he's a god, so
what? He's not
my
God and that is what matters to me."

"This isn't a joke, my girl." Tisha sounded
ill as she continued her path around the room. "He really
is
the Ocean. Not a god in the sense that everyone would automatically
assume. He exists everywhere...
is
everywhere. You can't even
go to the bathroom without him knowing because he
controls
all water."

"GROSS!" I blurted out. Thank goodness I
wasn't drinking milk or it would have been flying through the air,
threatening my beautiful fabrics. I cringed at the idea of going to
the bathroom anywhere near the coastline, that was for sure.