Chapter 15
Chapter Fifteen
“ I don’t blame you for being upset, but it was all just a big mistake. Please don’t blame the Shadow Breakers, Gigi. They were acting under the influence of a powerful fairy enchantment.”
“Stop worrying so much, child. I’m not going to kill them. I’m just going to teach them a lesson about messing with me. They’ll only wish they were dead.”
When Tony laughed at Gigi’s declaration, I turned to glare at him. “Stop laughing. You’re not being helpful.”
“You’re not in any danger and we’re not training. I’m on break, which means I can be amused by anything I choose.”
I rolled my eyes at his snarky declaration and turned back to my grandmother. “Please don’t curse them, Gigi. They reversed the spell as soon as they were free of the spell on them. They would have stayed to apologize to you in person but I told them I would explain it when you came around.”
Gigi glared at me, threw up a hand, and said something in a language I didn’t recognize. Tony laughed again and got one of Gigi’s fingers pointed at him in a warning. Finger-pointing was an obvious family trait passed down through the females. How had I never noticed it before? Since getting the ring, it was like I suddenly saw the world as it truly was.
I would get Tony to tell me what she said... and in what language.
Was it Gaelic? It hadn’t sounded like Gaelic.
It was old Gaelic mixed with Latin, which was the language of the magick she was taught , the ring said, interrupting my thoughts. Your ancestor is plotting what she will do to the spellcasters after you leave.
I put my face in my hand. Not knowing might have been better, but the ring didn’t seem to care about my feelings.
Sighing, I looked at Tony. “I’m ready to go home now.”
“There is no need for us to remain in Ireland for your training. It can be done anywhere. I’ll be ready to leave when you are,” he said.
Then I watched him disappear into the bedroom.
If he had luggage stashed in there, I’d never seen it. I’d have to go in there to pack my belongings. Maybe I’d ask him then.
“I’m of half a mind to go to Salem with the two of ya,” Gigi said, interrupting my plotting. “But I can’t go today because I have some late business to attend to here. I’m behind on my potion-making and my customers are leaving messages. Will ya promise to call me if ya think I’m needed at yer mother’s?”
“Mom and I will always need you, but she lives in a commune of magickals now. Conn’s people are taking care of her, or so she’s saying. I think she has a lot more help than she’s ever had,” I said as I hugged her to me.
Gigi’s head nearly reached my shoulder. She was taller than Mom but didn’t project the kind of energy my mother did. Mom felt nine feet tall even though she was only five feet nothing. Gigi was taller than Mom as well, but her energy was less. It amazed me that I’d always been able to tell that. I just hadn’t been using the information for anything.
“I’m glad Aran sent ya with an open-ended ticket. It makes things easier. Ya should book yerselves on the first flight ya can get back there.”
I smiled as she pulled away. “Are you really okay, Gigi? It’s not like I’m on a deadline. Tony’s already assured me that my training can be done anywhere. He’ll follow me until he decides we’re done.”
“I’ll be fine, Fiona. Life will get back to normal in a day or two. When I get over being mad, I’m sure I’ll be amazed that the two of ya could free the Shadow Breakers from the fairy’s spell. Fairy enchantments are not an easy magick to break. Aran said Ezra was as full of power as it was possible for a being to be... and she would know.”
Tony had his own power. Gigi knew that. I wanted to tell her it had been the ring and not me who had freed those people, but I felt great unease each time I even thought about saying it aloud. I was going to have to get a lot better at lying, especially to my family. Or at least I had to be cleverer at sharing the truth.
“Not all of the Shadow Breakers fell under the fairy’s spell. Two of the arbitrators freed us when we got captured. Jessing and Hart went to help Mom deal with Ezra... I think. Anyway, most of those still loyal to the fairy fled. Tony found those he could, but the Shadows Breakers are out policing their own. That’s why I wanted you not to curse them.”
“Yes. So ya said already... and several times. I’ll call yer mother later and find out for sure. Make yer flight arrangements while I make tea. I’ll drive ya to the airport if yer mentor doesn’t insist on flying himself there.”
“I fly because I get carsick,” Tony yelled from the bedroom.
“Right... and I’m a fluffy unicorn,” Gigi yelled back. “Do ya want tea or not?”
“Yes, please,” Tony called more softly.
I ducked my head to hide my smile. I could handle this ring-protecting gig if I got a happy ending like this every time.
When I raised my eyes, my smile slowly slid away. Gigi stood at the sink with the water running. The kettle was in her hand but she wasn’t filling it. I went to look outside where she was staring but saw nothing.
I put my hand on my grandmother’s shoulder. “Gigi? What are you looking at?” There was no answer so I turned off the sink. I waved a hand in front of her face. My grandmother stared with unseeing eyes.
“Tony? Why did you freeze Gigi?”
When he didn’t answer me either, I rushed into the bedroom to see him. Tony stood there staring at the bed that showed no sign of ever being used. What kind of power could freeze him and not me?
I looked around. Was this another spell? Had Jude lied to me about the fairy enchantment being lifted?
Unsure what to do, I ran to the door to search the porch and yard. I saw nothing out there. “Hello? You might as well show yourself. I know you’re here.”
The master comes to visit you , the ring said haughtily.
I had to ponder that one. “Do you mean King Solomon? Isn’t he dead?”
The master is not the one who commanded the rings. The master is the creator. He set the seal on each and on those of us who serve them. You are to be consecrated as a chosen one.
What did that mean? Consecrated? My mind scrambled trying to guess.
My knowledge of Abrahamic religious lore was limited to a Comparative Religions course in college. I had believed Tony controlled or heavily influenced my use of the ring I wore. Why else would he bother to train me? If he didn’t control the beings in the ring, who did?
They listened to me, but not all the time. They didn’t share their origin or much about my role. Why hadn’t Tony told me these things?
I searched my mind for the answer. The being who trained the keeper of the original ring was supposed to be a scary demonic dude.
I was going to ignore the part of him that was alleged djinn because if I thought about it too long, I’d go hide somewhere and never come out.
There is no need to panic.
“Unfreeze Tony and I won’t worry so much,” I ordered.
We did nothing to hinder him.
“I don’t believe you. He’s frozen and I didn’t do it. I know you never liked him,” I said.
We cannot stop time for his kind. It must be the master doing it. He is all-powerful.
“I’m not completely uneducated. Even I know the God of Abraham would never allow anyone to be more powerful than him. It’s a monotheistic religion.”
I stepped onto the porch and looked around. When I still saw no one, I raised my voice. “Show yourself or withdraw from this place.”
It was something I’d heard my mother say. Or maybe I heard it in a movie. A worry I refused to acknowledge prevented me from remembering clearly.
A swirl of smoke coalesced in the yard. It formed a small tornado that spun out until what remained within it was a handsome, dark-skinned male, wearing a modern suit.
He wore his hair shaved on the sides and long down the middle and in the back. One ear sported three golden hoop earrings and a large diamond stud decorated the other.
He felt like Conn but resembled what I’d read about a djinn.
And he’d just made quite the entrance.