Chapter 20 Storm of Determination #2
I shot him a look, but before I could retort, a loud, sodden squelch drew our attention back to the lake.
Gregory was hauling himself out, water streaming from his designer clothes, his once immaculate hair plastered to his forehead.
He looked like a drowned rat, and I couldn’t suppress the smirk tugging at my lips.
“You’re fired,” Cas said in a tone that could freeze lava.
“What?!” Gregory squealed. “You can’t fire me!”
“You’ve been acting unprofessionally toward Koa since the moment we met you.”
“It’s because of her, isn’t it? Because of some woman who won’t last a—”
“Finish that sentence.” Cas’ eyes were as flat as a viper’s. “I dare you.”
“Fine,” Gregory spat, turning on his heel and stalking away, his wet shoes squelching with every step. “I didn’t like working here, anyway!”
“What a little shit,” Zane scoffed.
Suddenly, Seri’s breath hitched, and I turned to her just in time to catch her as her legs gave out. My heart slammed against my ribs. She was so light in my arms, her body limp and fragile, as if she might shatter if I held her too tightly.
“Seri!” My voice came out sharper than I meant it to, panic clawing at my throat. “Seri?”
I lowered her gently onto the soft grass, my hands trembling as I brushed a strand of honey-gold hair from her face.
Her skin was pale, almost translucent, making all her bruises stand out and the purple circles under her eyes seem darker than ever.
Brumous trotted over and whined softly, pressing his cold nose against her hand, eyes wide with worry.
My brothers knelt beside us, Zane’s usual playful demeanor replaced by grim concern.
“What the hell just happened? Did that bastard do something to her?”
“Of course not.” Casimir’s voice cut through my anger like a blade, his gaze fixed on Seri’s still form.
“Think. Arabesque siphoned her magic dry. She didn’t have anything left to shadow walk with.
She was running on adrenaline, and now it’s run out.
Not to mention all her physical injuries taking a toll on her body. ”
“So what do we do?” I clenched my jaw, frustration and fear bubbling up inside me.
“Wait,” he said simply. “She needs rest. Rest and time to recover.”
I wanted to argue, to demand that we do something, but the rational part of my brain knew he was right. Still, it didn’t stop the ache in my chest as I watched her, so small and vulnerable, lying there like a broken doll.
“Hell, even just the little bit of walking she did here probably wore her out,” Zane fussed, growing more upset the longer he talked.
“She’s pushing herself too hard too fast. We need to step up our game and take care of her better.
Her bruises haven’t even healed yet, and she’s still limping, and her arm’s still weeping infection!
Bleeding night! What were we thinking, letting her get out of bed today? ”
“We were thinking we wanted to give her sunshine,” I mumbled as a shit-ton of guilt hit me.
After what felt like an eternity, her eyelids fluttered open and relief washed over me, over all of us, until tears streamed down her cheeks. She winced, the heel of her hand rubbing up and down her breastbone as if trying to shove something back inside herself.
“It hurts,” she whimpered. “It hurts so much!”
Anguish. Utter anguish in my heart. If I could take her pain myself, I would, and I knew my brothers felt the same.
“That’s from the siphoning,” Cas murmured in the gentlest tone I’d ever heard from him. “Your magical well is empty. Every time you try to draw from it, it’ll feel like that until it replenishes.”
She nodded weakly, but the tears kept coming. Her lower lip trembled, and she turned her face into my chest, curling into me like she was trying to make herself smaller.
“I’m sorry,” she choked out, her voice muffled against my shirt. “I’m just a burden.”
“You’re not a burden,” I said fiercely. “You’re ours. And we’re going to take care of you.”
“Yeah, darling.” Zane brushed a tear from her cheek with his knuckle, his usual smirk missing. “No more apologizing, okay?”
Her gray eyes flicked up to mine. Still watery, but clearer now.
“But I’m causing you problems,” she whispered, her voice shaking. “I don’t mean to—”
“You’re not,” I interrupted, brushing a thumb over her cheekbone. “It’s the pain talking. The exhaustion. Arabesque took too much from you, and your body’s still recovering. That’s all. And it’s not a problem, beloved. You are never a problem for us.”
Cas was quiet, eyes distant as he stared at the water. I could practically hear the gears turning in his head, that analytical mind of his working overtime, but when he finally spoke, his tone was kind.
“Koa’s right, Seri. You’ve been through more than anyone should have to endure. It’s going to take time to heal.”
I was proud of him. Proud of him for talking to her like that, for being gentle. It would go a long way toward helping her realize that he did, indeed, ‘like’ her.
Maybe one day she’ll even be able to look past the mask and see how much he loves her, I thought.
Zane leaned back on his hands, tilting his face toward the canopy of willows.
“You know what you need? A distraction. Like a game. Or cake! Definitely cake! We’ll raid the kitchen when we get back. How does that sound?”
“I like cake,” she admitted with a tiny smile.
So I lifted her carefully into my arms and carried her toward the golf cart.
“Why did I faint, though?” she asked as Cas slid behind the steering wheel.
“Your body’s pissed at you for that whole shadow walking stunt,” Zane scoffed as he took shotgun this time, Brumous on his lap.
“Shadow walking?” she parroted.
“Yes. It takes a lot of energy,” Cas said, then scolded her. “You can’t push yourself like that while you’re recovering.”
“I don’t even know what shadow walking is!” she wailed, her gray eyes filling with tears.
I jolted in surprise at that, and I could see the same shock reflected on my brothers’ faces.
“Darling,” Zane said slowly, “how did you get over to Koa so fast?”
“What do you mean?” She blinked, clearly taken aback by the question. “I just ran, I guess.”
Cas hesitated, then turned the golf cart around so we could see the area we’d just left.
“You were standing with me, then you appeared next to Ko. In the blink of an eye.” He pointed his finger to one spot, then drew a line of at least forty feet to where she’d shoved Gregory into the lake. “From that shadow there, to that shadow there.”
“I didn’t… I don’t know, Simmy.” She swallowed hard. “I just wanted to get to Koko.”
I felt a pang of something at her words. I didn’t know what it was, but I could see it in Casimir’s eyes, too.
“You wanted to protect him,” he suggested quietly.
“I didn’t like what Mr. Storms was doing,” she admitted with a pout. “I don’t want anyone touching him like that. And Koko looked unhappy. What if Mr. Storms hurt him?”
“You don’t have to worry about that,” I told her.
“But what if someone tries to hurt you?” Her gray eyes searched my face.
“We can take care of ourselves.” I smiled to reassure her. “But we appreciate your concern.”
Cas, however, was still frowning.
“This changes things,” he said, his voice thoughtful. “If you can shadow walk and didn’t know it? We need to figure out the full extent of your powers.”
“So what is shadow walking? You never answered, Simmy.”
“Just what the name says. You travel through shadows from one place to another.” He gave her a tiny smile, pride in his eyes. “It’s not something anyone can do.”
“Only the special ones,” Zane added for him, nudging his arm and receiving a confused look in return.
Should have kept Gregory around as a flirting tutor, I thought dryly. Cas sure as hell needs one.
“But.” She shook her head. “But I didn’t mean to. I didn’t even know I could. Everything I know of magic, Mama and Papa helped me figure out. Neither of them were lunar witches and…”
“You didn’t do anything wrong.” I tightened my hold on her, feeling the way her body trembled. “It’s just something you’re capable of. Something powerful.”
Her breath hitched, and she buried her face in my chest again.
“I don’t like it,” she mumbled. “It feels like I’m losing control.”
Zane reached back, ruffling her hair gently.
“You’re not losing control, buttercup. You’re just figuring yourself out. We’ll help you, yeah?”
“You’re safe, Seri,” Cas told her. “And we’ll make sure you understand your abilities. But for now, let’s just focus on getting you back to the house.”
“And cake?” she croaked out.
“And cake,” we chorused.
I pressed a kiss to the top of her head, my heart aching at everything she’d been through. But there was also a flicker of pride, She was stronger than she knew, and I couldn’t wait to see her realize that.
#
Zane
After we all had a slice of cake, we tucked Seri up in her bed, and I plopped down next to her and rolled on my side to watch her face, my new favorite pastime.
It was just so interesting. Her eyes told you everything.
“You’re not gonna try anything fancy for a while, yeah? No shadow walking, no magic tricks. Just rest,” I told her with mock seriousness that was also real seriousness.
“But what if it happens again? What if I can’t control it?” She bit her bottom lip, those eyes showing only uncertainty and fear.
“Then we’ll be here to catch you, darling. But seriously, don’t go poking around in your magic until it’s had time to recharge. You’re running on fumes as it is.”
Cas stood a few feet away, arms crossed, his eyes scanning the room like he expected a wraith to come barreling out of the closet.
“As you are probably aware, magic is tied to energy,” he said like he was her professor or something. “If you push yourself too hard, you’ll collapse again. Or worse. We need to rebuild your reserves before we explore what you’re capable of.”
I watched Seri’s face, the way her brow furrowed. She looked so lost, so unsure of herself, and it made something ache deep in my chest.
“I don’t even know where to start,” she admitted quietly.
Koa’s hand touched her shoulder, and he shot Cas a look that said, Comfort, not lecture.
Before he could make it worse, I stepped in.
“Hey, sweetheart, look at me.” She did, her eyes searching mine like I held all the answers. “We’re gonna help you. All of us. You’re not alone in this, Serafina. We’ll figure it out together.”
“Thank you. I don’t know what I’d do without you three.”
“Probably push yourself into a lake,” I quipped, earning a playful swat from Cas.
“We’ll take it slow,” he told her as he met her eyes. “One step at a time. For now, just focus on getting stronger. The rest will come when you’re ready.”
“Okay. I’ll try.” She nodded, her smile growing a little more confident.
“That’s all we ask.”
I watched her eyelids grow heavy as she fought to stay awake. Even with two feet of mattress between us, I could feel the subtle tremors running through her body. She was exhausted, but stubbornly refusing to give in to sleep.
“Rest, beloved,” I murmured, brushing a stray curl from her forehead. “We aren’t going anywhere.”
She blinked up at me, her gray eyes hazy with fatigue. “Promise?”
“Promise,” I promised like I never promised before. “Now close your eyes, baby.”
With a soft sigh, she finally let her eyes drift shut. Within moments, her breathing evened out, and we stayed where we were, watching the rise and fall of her chest, all of us marveling at how peaceful she looked in sleep.
“Let’s talk,” Cas whispered, motioning us out of the room.
With a last glance at our girl, I reluctantly got up and followed. Cas closed the door softly behind us, then turned to face us, his expression grim.
“She doesn’t even know the basics of her own powers!” he hissed. “How is that possible?”
“Her mama died when she was young, right?” I leaned against the wall, crossing my arms over my chest. “And she said her father was an earth witch. He wouldn’t have known specifics about lunar magic.
And then that fang-rotted Arabesque kept her drained to barely functional levels. What’s not to understand here?”
“Yeah.” Blowing out a heavy breath, he reached up and undid his ponytail, then shook his hair free before smoothing it all back into a man bun at the base of his neck.
Whoa. Big Bro was more stressed than I thought! Messing with his hair was a telltale sign that his frustration was ready to boil over into something dangerous.
“We need a plan,” he said after he’d re-done his hair three times. “She’s vulnerable like this. If she doesn’t understand her own abilities, she could hurt herself or others without meaning to.”
“Or someone could take advantage of her, or target her,” Ko added, his eyes narrowing at the thought. “We all know witches with rare talents are valuable in more ways than one.”
“So what?” I scoffed. “We give her Magic 101 lessons?”
“Essentially. We need to be careful. Push her too hard too fast, and we’ll do more harm than good. Slow and steady, just as I said.”
“Oh, hell, yeah!” I shot one fist into the air. “We’re gonna be her personal magical tutors! Cas, you be the brainy one, Ko, you be the broody, intense one, and I’ll be the ‘let’s ditch class and get pizza’ one! A sweet, full package deal!”
“It’s not just about teaching her how to use magic,” Ko said, obviously ignoring every word I’d just said. “She needs to trust herself, too. She’s scared, and if she keeps doubting herself, she’ll hesitate when it matters most.”
“Which is why we go slow,” Cas agreed with him. “Give her confidence, not just knowledge.”
“And hopefully some knowledge in other areas soon, too, right?” I waggled my eyebrows and nudged Ko’s ribs. “I mean, the way she hugged you today, bro! Whew! Almost needed a fan!”
“Shut up, Z,” he muttered as red streaked across his cheeks.
“Can you focus, please?” Cas sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose. “And you wonder why no one takes you seriously.”
“Hey, I’m plenty serious! Just selectively,” I protested. “And now, if you gentlemen will excuse me, I need to pay Greg a little visit.”
“So you did realize he’s Arabesque’s?” Ko grunted.
See, that was the problem with being the fun brother. Embrace a little chaos, and everyone thought you were oblivious. I had to admit, though, that being underestimated had played to my advantage more times than I could count.
“Get intel before you terminate him,” Cas ordered. “And no shenanigans this time.”
“Define shenanigans.” I tilted my head to the side. “Because I’m pretty sure your definition does not match mine.”
“Anything involving slime, glitter, or poultry.”
“I still remember that hunt in Malaysia,” Ko muttered, scrubbing a hand down his face. “All those fucking chickens. Feathers and eggs and shit everywhere.”
“What can I say? I’ve never been one to half-ass shenanigans,” I stated proudly.