The Queen of All Magick: Elizabeth (2 page)

“I’ve come to see Elizabeth.
My name is Rythen, and I’m the creator of magic. The original magic. I have had a desire for some time to come to see her and how she is faring. I swear to you, I never meant to cause anyone any harm.” When he was lowered to the floor but not let go, Rythen continued. “I am profoundly sorry that I’ve upset everyone. It was never my intentions. I’m confused, as you well might imagine, but I wish only to speak to my lady and see what wonders that this family has created on their own.”

The man only looked at him
, then took his hand away. Rythen could still feel his anger, but he only nodded. It was then that Rythen realized what he was.

“Good Christ. You’re the Holder of Secrets.”
The man nodded, and Rythen bowed before him. “It is an honor to meet you, young man. I’m very…you are related to this family then?”

“My father-in-
law owns this house.” Rythen looked at the men still in the doorway, and the vampire stepped forward. “You’ve upset this family, sir, and for that you will apologize.”

Rythen wanted to point out that he hadn’t really done anything as yet
, but turned to the family again. They were very protective of each other, and the young human in front of them was still looking at him like he would cause him great harm. Rythen leaned down to speak to him first.

“You are someone that I’ve never met before.
A human, I mean. I’ve seen them…ones such as yourself…but never met one. What is your name?” The boy looked at his father, and Rythen waited. When the boy looked back at him, Rythen knew whatever came from his mouth was going to be great.

“With a person’s name
, there is power. You’ve given us yours, but I’m betting you only gave us a part of it. So I’ll do the same to you. My name is Mathew. And when my grams tells me it’s okay, you can have the rest.” He leaned forward just a little and lowered his voice to continue. “You should also know that I’ve got my eyes on you. You mess up, I’m going to hurt you bad.”

“Duly noted.
As for my name, I will gladly share it with one as brave as you. I’m Rythen, Creator of all Magic. I have come to see your grandmother because it has been a very long while since I have seen her. Never in all my years away did I ever expect this sort of reception, and I am deeply sorry that I have upset all of them.” The little boy stared at him for some time before speaking.

“I still don’t really trust you
, but I can see that you really are sorry. I can tell you who my family is, but not all of it. You’ll have to earn that right.” Rythen was impressed by the young man and put out his hand when Mathew did. “My name is Mathew Burris. And this is the house of Aaron.”

Rythen stood up and reached for the vampire’s hand. He’d heard about the man since he’d
risen and was thoroughly impressed with everything that he’d heard. Before he could take his hand, however, the boy’s father stepped between them.

“You still owe them that apology.”
Rythen nodded. He supposed in a way he did. He had come unannounced and had really upset everyone.

“I am profoundly sorry for this. I only me
ant to talk with Elizabeth and see how she is faring.” He looked at the woman who had been his first and only creation other than magic. “I felt you, you see. Felt that you were…unhappy, and came to see what has happened.”

Before he could say more
, Elizabeth came to him. He could see the sadness in her eyes now. Whatever he’d felt, now that he was here, he could almost touch it, for it was that strong. She started to cry, his Elizabeth, and he felt something in him tear up as well. When she reached for him, he pulled her into his arms and simply held her.

“
I know why you are here. But they do not. Please don’t say anything until I’ve had a chance to prepare them.”
To say he was shocked by the news would have been an understatement, but to those around him and her, it was overwhelming. Especially the dapper man that only just then made an appearance.

“My lady?”
She turned in his arms and looked at the man. “I have made you a sandwich of the finest beef and freshest vegetables. If you would come with me, I’ll share another glass of sherry with you as well. All this nonsense about you being sad must be a mistake. Especially now when you have everything you ever wanted.”

“
I do have everything and more than I deserve. But I am…it is time that I do something else, don’t you think?” When she turned to him, the queen Melody stepped forward. He watched her face when she, too, started to cry.

“Her mate, my grandfather
, has gone to the fade, and now no one knows where he is. His flower, you see, it’s died. And that could only mean one thing.”

Rythen looked at them all before looking at Melody again.

“
You believe that he has left the realm?” Melody nodded as her grandmother started to cry harder. “But he has not. He has been with me all these months.”

“With you?”
Rythen nodded at Elizabeth. “What the hell is he doing with you when I feel as if my heart has been torn from me? Tell him I want him here right now.”

“I will
, my lady, but I think he works on a project of great importance.” He looked at the young human and wondered if this was the child he spoke of so often who would inherit so much. “You are the reason he works so hard, young Mathew Logan Burris. He works for you.”

“Me?”
Mathew looked at his father, then back at him. “On our project? He is putting it together?”

Rythen had a good deal more respect for the child now and knelt in front of him to see into his eyes. There was purity there as well as love for the man.
And a good deal more that he’d bet that no one, not even the child, could see. He was brimming with untouched magic, magic that he’d bet his grandfather Aaron had given him in such small doses that no one had noticed.

“He is. He has…there have been some snags
, you see, and he tends to forget about timeframes and such when he is working them out. He tells me that you’ve taken all of the pictures that accompany the book.” Mathew nodded, and Aaron went to stand behind him.

“You are welcome in our home. But know that it is warded against magic that is used as ill intent.”
Rythen nodded and moved to cross the threshold, but was stopped by Melody. She was not as easy to convince as the rest.

“Bring
my grandfather here.” Before he could tell her he could not, she continued. “I don’t care what he’s told you. Can’t you see what he’s doing to my grandmother? I want her happy. Because when she’s not, no one is. Bring him here.”

Rythen snapped his fingers and held Elizabeth back when she went to go to her mate.
He had taken her to Phillip rather than bring him out of his shell. There was no way she’d believe him if he told her what was really going on.

“He is working on this because he would like it finished before it is time.”
She turned to him. “You know as well as I do that the time for all is nearing. I have told you this day would come.”

“And I have prepared for it as well
as I could. I had forgotten, if you want me to be honest. Life had finally…it’s been wonderfully blissful here and I simply forgot.” She stared at her mate as she continued. “I don’t have my things in order as you can well guess. I’ve been living, something I would imagine a man like you wouldn’t understand. I know that my reign has come to an end. I guess in a way I knew that you’d be here soon, but I don’t want to go. Not now that I know my love is alive.”

“But you have no choice.” She nodded and looked at him.
“You will need to tell them. Soon too. They will need to prepare as much as you do.”

“You think it will be that easy? That telling my family, whom I love more than I do anything in this realm or any other
, that I’m going to die? You’re off your noodle if you think that.”

He had no idea what being off his noodle meant. But it didn’t change the fact that he was
there for one thing and one thing only…to end the creation he’d made to govern magick all those years ago.

Chapter 2

“I don’t understand.
What do you mean you’re not ready? How could you be? I’m certainly not either.” Elizabeth watched her daughter, Savannah, pace and wondered if she had taught that little annoyance to the family or they had taught her. Either way, she was going to miss it…that and so much more.

“You do too understand. It is as it was written.
And as I have said to you countless times, I have come to the end of my time. I believe I have mentioned this to you before. But as usual you refuse to listen to what you do not want to hear.” Elizabeth stretched out her legs in front of her and looked around her chamber. It was a mess of things she wanted to give away before the time came. “Do you want that large demi-god statue that was given to me by—?”

“I don’t want you giving away your things anymore either. This is
ridiculous. You’re not going anywhere. And neither is Dad. I won’t have it.” Savannah sounded so much like Aaron at that moment that Elizabeth wanted to laugh. But she didn’t. Savannah was upset with her, and she really didn’t blame her.

“Look
, love, I knew this day was coming. I’m not looking forward to it as much as I had before I knew where your father was, but it doesn’t change the fact that it’s going to happen one way or the other. It was written that I would end, and the time is growing near that I do. You should be happy to have me out of your hair.” The intended joke did not go over as she’d planned, and Elizabeth got up to take her daughter into her arms. “I’m tired. More exhausted than I’ve ever been. And I’ve seen so much. Things that I could never tell you about that you’d believe.”

“But I don’t want to lose you. It was hard enough thinking that
Dad was gone, and now this. I love you.” Elizabeth felt her heart leap at the words like they did every time she said them to her. When she looked up at her, Elizabeth knew a moment of regret. But it would do her little good to have it. The contract was sealed.

“Your father is working so hard to make sure that Mathew has all he needs to finish the project that the two of them are working on. And when the time is right, you’ll need to pass on what we’ve put
together for him. He will need it.” Elizabeth picked up the chain that held a small vial on it. “You’ll see that he drinks it down?”

“You know I will. I would never want anything to happen to that little boy any more than you would.”
Elizabeth nodded and handed her the magic that would give Mathew the ability to live as long as he wanted and then some. He would also come into a power that would help him in the coming decades. Little Mathew was going to be a very powerful being when he turned twenty-five. They all made sure of that. Even Aaron.

She moved
among her things as she thought of whom to receive her pretties, as she called them. There was so much of it that she’d had to, at one point, store it in a building that would hold it all. Even she had no idea what was there. But the things in this room were the things that meant the most to her.

“I should have done this years ago.
I’ve so much stuff that…what on earth is that?” She picked up the long sheaf of paper and laughed. “I had wondered what happened to this. It’s the original copy of the rules of magic. Your father was looking for these.” Elizabeth put them with a few other things she was going to have Rythen take to Phillip. He would have to do what he wanted with them. “I wonder what other treasures I’ll find.”

“
Mother?” Elizabeth turned to her daughter and saw the anguish on her face. “Don’t let them take you from me. I need you both so much.”

“It is for the best, Savannah.
You’ll see. Once I’m gone, any magic I have will come to you and Mel. She has a great deal, as do you, but you will have a bit of—”

“Please don’t leave me.”
Elizabeth felt her heart break again. She’d only come here when the look on Duncan’s face had hurt her when she’d looked at him. Elizabeth thought she’d miss him the most over her family. He and Aaron had been her best friends since she’d met them.

It was almost an hour later that Savannah took her leave.
It was really good, too, because Elizabeth was close to breaking down and telling her that she had no desire to leave either. That she wanted her life to go on and on forever. But as she’d said to everyone countless times, it was as it was written. She would end her days in nineteen days, and there was nothing anyone could do about it.

Elizabeth remembered opening her eyes for the
first time all those years ago. Rythen had been standing next to the table where she’d been laying, and he smiled at her. It was several days before she realized that the knowledge that she had in her head was something he’d given her rather than any experiences that she’d had. Even her knowledge of sex was something he’d implanted.

“You’ll someday meet a man who will care for you a good deal more than I can. He will be your mate.
Do you have it in your mind what that means?” She had nodded and smiled at him, and he asked her to repeat what she knew.

“It is a person who would love me no matter what, die for me if necessary
, and put me above all else, including himself.” Rythen nodded as she continued. “He will be my protector and my lover. He will guide me when I need it, distract me as well when it is necessary, and he’ll stand beside me for all, even if he doesn’t agree with me.”

Elizabeth
had thought he sounded boring and told Rythen that. “Be that as it may, he will be there for you. Sometimes, like my own life, I think it will be necessary to have something beside you for his or her help. It might have made me a better man had I found the time to create me a mate.” He looked out the window where they sat. “You will find him to be the best thing that has happened to you and, at times, the worst. He will be a good mate to you.”

“Will I know him?”
She didn’t know if she wanted a mate, but Rythen had told her it was necessary to have a friend when the time came. “What will become of me if I should not see him for what he is?”

“You’ll know.”
Smiling at the thought, Elizabeth thought of the first time she’d seen Phillip. She had known what and who he was…it just took her a good deal longer to convince him.

Phillip sent her his love
, and she basked in it.
“You old poop. The least you could have done was tell me you were alive. I’ve been thinking you never missed me at all.”

“But I did.
You said that you had projects that needed seeing to, and I took that to mean you wanted to be left to do them.”
His love washed over her again.
“You really missed me?”

“Not as much as I think I should have.”
He laughed, and she smiled.
“You know that I did. But please tell me that we’ll be together soon. I want to spend some time with you before I go.”

“We go.”
She started to ask him what he meant, but he answered her first.
“I’ll not spend a day without you where I cannot touch you and at least know that you are there for me when I return. You’re my mate, and when you are gone, so shall I be.”

“There is no reason for you to—”

“There is every reason,”
he told her as he cut her off.
“I love you with all my heart and would not want to survive without you beside me. Where will I be without you? How will I want to breathe in and out if you are not there to scent up my air? You are my all, Elizabeth, and I would not have this any other way then to go with you in this as we have our life.”

Her heart ached to be with him
, and she thought about him being with her. But when she spoke of it, she knew what he was going to say before he said it. He could not leave this project. Too many lives were at stake if he did.

“I shall see you soon, my heart.”
He told her that it wouldn’t be much longer, and she knew that he was right in more ways than he knew. It wouldn’t be long now. Just over two weeks. And she’d yet to tell her family the date was sooner than they’d thought.

~~~

Logan sat with Mac at the long table. He really liked the man and had learned a great deal from him in the few months that he’d been in this family. But now he was trying to wrap his head around something that neither of them understood.

“You think that Rythen can be persuaded to change his mind?”
Mac shook his head, and Logan had a feeling that he’d say that. “I don’t want her to go. I love her like she was my own grandmother. I can’t imagine what you and the rest of them are feeling.”

“Like my heart has been ripped out.”
Mac opened his hand as he continued to speak, and a rolled parchment appeared there. “This is the contract that was signed all those centuries ago. Dad found it this morning and asked me to have you look it over. He said you might be able to find something with that vault of knowledge you now have.”

It wasn’t an unfair statement.
He and Lizzy both had been given a great gift…or not…the day that they’d found the Book of Magic. Everything in it, and every other book on the shelves at the castle, was now, he supposed, downloaded into their minds. Logan had had Bradley, the alpha wolf, repeat it to him twice the day he’d told him what he’d found when he’d smelled him. Fucking bastard.

“Oh
, and Bradley said to tell you that he’s going to kick your ass. Did you really tell him that he was going to have eight more children?” When Logan nodded, Mac laughed harder. “Man, you should have seen the look on Aric’s face when he told her. I thought she was going to kill him. But I have to know, is it true?”

“Yes.
I cannot tell a lie.” Mac shook his head and laughed again. “I just never told him that it would be because he would have two more sets of twins after this one. I thought it better that he think he was going to father five more separate births. More fun that way.”

And more dangerous, he knew.
The alpha was a great man, but he could hold a grudge like nobody he knew.

When Logan’s phone rang
, he stood up to take it. This was his work number, so he never knew what might come through it when he answered.

His secretary
, Anna Peirce, had decided to retire some weeks ago. She’d told him that the hustle of him being mayor to a growing city was too much for her. So he’d given her a nice retirement package and sent her on her way. The new girl, Kim Craft, was working out okay.

“There is a man here to see you
, and he’s not very nice.” Logan started to ask her who when she went on without his question. “He says his name is Ronald Jones and that he works for Rythen. You don’t have an appoint…hang on a second.”

He heard her fussing with someone and could only assume it was with Mr. Jones.
When she told him to sit down and shut up or she’d kick his ass, Logan had a moment of worry. He had no idea who this man was, but could only assume it was someone with magic. As soon as Kim got on the line, he waited for her to finish her explanation before he could caution her.

“He said that he was to meet with you about a contract that needs to be signed off before things can
progress. Something about you being the one to hold it. He won’t tell me what it’s about, nor the attorney who wrote it up. If you ask me, I think he’s hiding something.”

Logan would bet he was.
Kim was human and hadn’t been told what they all were as yet. He had wanted to make sure she was going to work out before he told her, and lately he’d not really had the time to mess with it. He had other things, like keeping his in-laws together, that were taking most of his time.

“Don’t t
ell him where I am, and that if he doesn’t make an appointment, I don’t have time to see him.” Logan looked at the contract that was still in Mac’s hand. “Do me a favor, Kim…ask him if this has anything to do with Elizabeth.”

When she came back to him after putting him on hold
, she sounded like she was going to hit someone. He wished now that he’d worked at the office instead of coming home when he had. But Lizzy had said she was running late and that she’d not be there for Mathew when he got home from school. And since today was a big day in their family, he came home to be with him.

“He said that it is. He also said to tell you that time is of the essence and that he needs for you to sign your part of this before things could progress.”
He sat down with Mac and put the phone on speaker. “You’re to sign off on this contract so that he can go back to his realm, whatever that means, and make sure that things are in the proper order before it is time.”

“Time.”
He told her to have the man make an appointment and hung up. He looked at Mac. “If I’m understanding this right, I have to sign off on the contract to end your grandmother’s days.”

“Then you won’t do it.”
Logan shook his head and smiled at Mac. “I don’t think I like that look. It tells me that you’re up to no good, and I’m pretty sure a few people are going to get pissed about it.”

“Oh no. Not a few people but a particular man.
I think that Rythen is going to be very pissed at me.” Logan reached for Lizzy. He wanted her to see if what he thought was going on really was. Mac stood up to leave him and then turned.