Chapter 16 Matthew
Matthew
My head was fuzzy, and it was dark in the room. I could tell I wasn’t alone in the room though. But I was alone in our bed.
“Cornelius?” I whispered out into the darkness.
Immediately a dim light turned on, and I saw my mate sitting in a chair right next to the bed.
But I also saw several others standing behind him.
Among them was the Edison. I took comfort—though only a little—that my mate was closest to me and Constantine had walked up right behind him.
“May I?” he asked as he gestured to the bed.
After looking at Cornelius, I nodded. The doctor sat on the edge and held his hands out toward me, a green light emitting from them as he slowly ran them up and down my body.
When he reached my bump, he held there for a moment longer, and then his hands stopped glowing and he dropped them back to his thighs.
“All is still very much as it should be. If you’d like, I can remain in the room while Master Edison talks,” Constantine said.
“Please,” Cornelius replied, and all I could do was lie there, frozen in fear.
My mate wouldn’t hurt me. Mates couldn’t hurt one another.
That much I did know and was sure of. “You’re thinking something you shouldn’t, sweetheart.
Calm down. Nobody in this room is going to hurt you, ever.
Nor our baby. Understood?” Cornelius said as he reached for me, pulling me out of the bed and into his arms. I was used to him carrying me around by now, but I still squeaked a bit when he stood up.
“How about some tea?” Patrick asked. I looked at the warlock who had been nothing but kind to me and offered a small smile. I knew it was a crooked smile because not only had I freaked out about his father-in-law, but I’d accused that same man of being there to cause me and my unborn son harm.
“Tea would be great, Patrick. Thank you,” Cornelius said as he started walking across the room.
When we exited, I noticed we weren’t in our own suite, and I looked at my mate in question.
“We’re in Master Arthur and Patrick’s suite.
We all thought it best that you have a discussion with Master Edison in a neutral area.
One that wasn’t our own suite, our own sanctuary. ”
Cornelius sat down on the couch, and when I tried to climb off his lap, he tightened his hold. “Let me go, Cornelius. I want to sit beside you while we talk. Not in your lap.”
“I want you to feel secure, sweetheart.”
“And I can do that just as easily beside you. Now let me down,” I insisted and pushed at his arms. It was times like this that I really missed having full use of my own magic.
With a little more pushing, I finally got settled beside my mate, pulled tightly into his side.
I was thankful for his attention and protection, but I needed to breathe as well.
Patrick brought out a tray full of mugs and offered one to me, then the others. We all thanked him, and then Cornelius had to take my mug from me when the Edison sat on the coffee table directly in front of me.
“I’m too close? I mean you absolutely no harm, Matthew. I will move across the room, but I’d rather not have to.”
“Mate? Would you…protect me?”
“Always.”
“Even against him?”
“With my very life, love. But it truly isn’t necessary. Please listen to what he has to say.”
“Okay. You’re…okay there,” I told the ancient warlock. For I knew he truly was ancient. He was the very first warlock. One that was created as a full-grown man by the goddess. All others were changed from men who were deemed worthy of such powers.
“Very good. Now, first, you call me the Edison. Why is that?”
“Umm, it’s what we’ve all grown up hearing. The Edison is the Original Warlock. I think over centuries it’s just been shortened to the Edison.”
“Okay, very well. And why do you fear me? I’ve not tried to hurt you. You were there in the field that day. The same day you left your realm.”
“Yes,” I replied. I had been, only I was slower to get there than others, and I’d only gotten a quick glimpse of him before Thomas had sent him elsewhere.
“I have never attacked any fae when not provoked.”
“But you have attacked and killed many, have you not? That’s the story we’re told.
That you went on a rampage, attacking villages because you didn’t like other beings with magical powers that could match yours.
” And there it was. That was the story. That the Edison didn’t like to be challenged. But the shock on his face confused me.
“Who told you that?”
“Everyone. It’s what we’re told, early on.
That we need to always be on the lookout for the Edison because he’s promised to return to our realm and destroy us so there are no others that have powers.
Did you not promise?” I asked, curious because from my mate I got nothing but concerned feelings, but from the others in the room, there was confusion, and a bit of anger, but not so much I felt the need to flee.
Especially since it wasn’t coming from the warlock in front of me.
“I never…the only…Oisin,” Edison said suddenly.
I gasped. I’d heard that name before. It was one we were told to never say aloud.
“You’ve heard of Oisin, then? Do you know the story?”
I shook my head. I hadn’t heard the story because we were told to never speak of his name.
“Very well. Did you know that the fae used to be in this realm?”
Another shake of my head. We’d always been in our own realm. That’s the way it was. Like the demons, we had our own place.
“They did. And they honestly used to be the bane of my existence because they truly did cause a ton of mischief. Picking the apples before we could, stealing the eggs, letting the animals out of their pens, removing half of the roofs, putting pans of water in front of the doors so we stepped in them. Things like that.” Edison sighed and looked over my shoulder, his eyes not really focused.
“But it didn’t stop there. They’d take the animal feed, the buckets to fill their water, but then they started in on picking on humans.
And several died.” I gasped. “I looked into it at my goddess’s insistence.
There was no reason for the thievery, the hoarding because they had magic to make their own if they so chose to do so.
And they became careless. They materialized in the middle of gatherings. ”
Edison looked at me, and if nothing else, I’d say he looked sad, only more.
“What happened? We’re not supposed to do magic near humans.”
“No, we’re not. Just as you cannot go out in public right now in your condition. Your safety is of the utmost importance. As is that of any paranormal, but especially one who is carrying a precious child.”
“Thank you,” I said. Why was this man—no, warlock—being so kind? Especially when I’d been told he was anything but?
“They were punished, and eventually banished to their own realm to live separately from other paranormals. The goddess stripped them of their powers and sent them to the fae realm. Oisin took that as a personal attack and found the portal and came after those of us that still had powers. He spread hate, lies, and deceit. For some reason, others believed him, and they organized an attack on us. So fae that no longer had magic and some that did waged war on not only the warlocks—”
“But the witches as well,” I said, finishing the sentence. “Witches were another group we were always told to be wary of. Basically it was any others that had powers similar to ours. Because they would attack and kill to keep their superiority in place.”
“You didn’t fear me. Not even for a moment,” Cornelius said.
“I wouldn’t. You’re my mate, and you can’t hurt me. Not intentionally.”
“No, I wouldn’t. I couldn’t bear it,” Cornelius said as he reached over and cupped my face.
“But you said he came through the portal. We can’t get through it. It’s locked,” I said.
“It is now. They all are. And they only open to the fates’ realm now. Before there used to be a portal connecting each realm to the others.”
“So…you don’t seek out fae to kill them?” I asked, hesitantly.
“No, Matthew, I do not. I am the one that killed Oisin though. He came after my One and firstborn child. I defended what was mine, and he paid for his treachery with his life. Because of it, your species have feared me since. There were a few that slipped away and went back to the fae realm, telling the tales of the warlocks attacking and killing, when in reality we were defending our Ones, our children.”
“I…I’m sorry. They still tell the tale of you. And that day you seemed irritated and were yelling. That didn’t help.”
Edison looked at me and shook his head. “I’d imagine not. I will admit to not really knowing much about the fae really, and what experiences I do have aren’t favorable. I didn’t act the best that day, and I apologize.”
I was shocked. Why would he apologize? Especially to me? I shook my head.
“No. I’m the one that should apologize. It is my people that have wronged you. All of you. I just…do you…” I stopped, not really knowing how to pose my question.
“What is it?”
“I guess just why? Why did he do it? What made them cause so much trouble? We’re not malicious.
Things seem to go wrong when we’re unlucky and have crazy magic when we’re pregnant.
Things fizzle, explode—although not violently, people or things don’t end up where they were supposed to.
Stuff like that. I’m not sure why my magic hardly works at all. ”
I cuddled into Cornelius’s side, needing the comfort from my mate. Would my magic return? If it didn’t, would he still love me? Want me?
“Absolutely, sweetheart. I don’t love you for your magic. And if it doesn’t return, I’ll still love you just the same.”
I flinched slightly. Darn, my thoughts were being projected. “Sorry. I know. Deep down, I do.” My mate leaned over and kissed the top of my head before giving me a tight hug.