Chapter Twenty-Six
After Victor showers, shaves, and fixes his hair, he goes back to his bedroom and gets dressed. He pulls out his suit and examines it. The suit appears to have been recently cleaned and mended. Victor starts taking each piece off the hanger and tossing them onto the bed.
As Victor prepares his suit, Leo lightly knocks on the door. Leo slowly opens the door and pokes his head in. “No need for your suit. His place is protected, so we’ll be safe. Meet me in the living room when you’re dressed.”
Leo exits, and Victor walks over to his dresser to get something comfortable to wear. As he looks in the drawers, he notices his phone. He picks it up and sees several missed calls from his friends. Victor looks through the texts and notices that Leo responded to everyone.
As he scrolls through, he can’t believe how Leo made the texts look like he was sending them. Victor starts to get upset because Leo is pretending to be him. Victor then becomes sad when he realizes Leo could be right. It might be too dangerous to have mundane friends.
Victor still hasn’t told his friends that he hasn’t been flying since he started his magic training. He isn’t sure how much longer he can keep up the ruse. He sets down his phone and drops his towel, then slips into underwear and pair of jeans.
“Victor,” Leo shouts from the living room. “Are you ready yet?”
“Coming!” Victor responds as he takes out a shirt to wear.
As he puts on his shirt, he notices the wooden box with all his artifacts on top of the dresser.
“If I’m not going in my suit, I might as well bring these with me,” he says to himself.
He starts putting on his jewelry as he walks out of his bedroom.
Turning the corner, Victor notices a large mirror on his wall. “That’s new,” he states as he ponders why there is a mirror in his living room. “I’m not sure it works with the rest of the room.”
Leo uses a small red dagger to etch a rune in the center of the mirror. “You needed something to spruce up the place.”
Victor examines the mirror and notes the markings along its length on both sides. “I take it those marks are for protection?” Victor inquires.
Leo steps back from the mirror when he finishes the rune.
“That’s right. They are protection wards to ensure only those you allow can walk through.
” He presses his palm over the rune. There is a red glow, then the rune is gone.
He turns around to Victor as he wipes his hand on his shirt. “There, I think it’s ready.”
“Did you just use heat to fix the mirror?” Victor queries.
Leo nods with a smile. “Sure did. This way, no one knows what rune I used. Do you have your dagger?” Victor nods and pulls the dagger from his back pocket. “Prick your thumb and press it against any of the wards on the side.”
Victor walks over to the mirror and pricks his thumb. He flinches a little as this is the first time he has had to draw blood. He presses his thumb against a ward and feels the blood smear.
“Now, say your given name,” Leo commands softly as he watches on.
“Victor Raymond Russo.” The protection wards begin to glow for a moment and then fade out.
Leo holds his thumb up and points it at Victor. “Now, prick my thumb.” Victor gives Leo a puzzled look. “I can’t do it because these are your protection wards. My blood has to be drawn by you with your dagger.”
Victor takes a deep breath and shrugs. “If you say so.” As he holds Leo’s hand, he starts to shake nervously.
“Don’t be nervous,” Leo tells Victor with an assuring tone. “I do this all the time.” Victor takes a deep breath and pricks Leo’s thumb. “See, that wasn’t so bad. Now, press my thumb on one of the wards, and then tell me to say my given name.”
Victor takes Leo’s thumb between his fingers. He notices how soft but firm Leo’s hand is. This is the first time Victor has held Leo’s hand in his own, but he didn’t expect the sensation he was having.
Victor presses Leo’s thumb onto one of the wards. “Say your given name.”
“Leopold Jo?o Oliveira IV.” The protection wards glow as before and then fade out.
Victor turns to Leo, asking, “The fourth?”
Leo shrugs. “You can ask my father when you meet him.”
“Wait, what?” Victor questions.
Leo presses his palm against the center of the mirror. The protection wards begin to glow a blueish-white hue. The mirror becomes hazy with purples and blues. Leo looks over at Victor and asks, “Ready?”
“Are we meeting Superior Charles or your father?” Victor ponders with confusion. Leo winks over his shoulder and then proceeds to walk through the mirror.
Victor lets out a disgruntled groan. “I don’t like it when you ignore my questions, Leo.”
Victor steps through the mirror and enters a large rustic cabin-style room.
The room exudes a warm, rustic charm with weathered wooden floors and exposed ceiling beams. Natural light filters through simple linen curtains.
A handmade wool rug and a rough-hewn wooden table add character without cluttering the open, minimalist space.
“Nice place,” he says to himself.
“I’m glad you like it.” Victor looks to his side and sees Superior Charles holding out a glass of bourbon. “Welcome to my home. I’d like to show you around, but we have business to attend to. Follow me.” Victor takes the bourbon from Superior Charles and follows him.
They walk down a hallway with floor-to-ceiling windows looking out to the lake. Halfway down the hallway, Superior Charles opens a set of double doors. As they walk in, the room smells of fresh cigars, bourbon, and whiskey.
The room is windowless and lit by a variety of floor and wall lamps. The decor evokes an old-fashioned smokers’ lounge. Victor walks further in and looks at a wall covered with various dark liquors. Next to the bottles is a temperature-controlled cabinet filled with boxes of cigars.
Superior Charles makes his way to the center of the room, where six smokers’ chairs sit in a circle.
Each chair is identical, covered in dark brown leather, with tall backs and thick armrests.
Dark brass studs accent the trimming, holding the leather in place.
Superior Charles turns to Victor and gestures to an open chair. “Please, take a seat.”
The six smokers’ chairs have side tables next to each one.
There are additional empty chairs and tables against the other walls, presumably for use when there are more attendees.
Victor can tell this is where Superior Charles likes to hold his meetings.
There is a young warlock walking around, refreshing drinks.
As Victor makes his way to an open seat, he looks around the room and only sees one familiar face, Superior Jackie, and three other men in the other seats.
Superior Charles stands in front of his chair, introducing everyone to Victor.
“Empath Victor Russo, you already know Superior Jackie. The other gentlemen are elders of my coven. To my right is Elder Jonathan Harps, to your left is Elder Franklin Torres, and to your right is Elder Leopold Oliveira III.”
Victor stands by his seat as though he is stricken with stage fright. “Pleasure to meet everyone.” He takes his seat between Elders Franklin and Leopold. Superior Charles sits directly across from Victor, with Superior Jackie at his side.
Elder Leopold leans over to Victor. “Hello, young empath. My son has spoken fondly of you.”
Victor tries not to smile too much. “Thank you, Sir. He’s been a great mentor.”
Superior Charles sits back and brings a cigar to his lips. The cigar lights up without the use of a lighter or match. Superior Charles takes a couple of puffs before he speaks. “So,” he starts before he exhales, “you’ve had an interesting turn of events a few days ago.”
“You can say that,” Victor responds.
“Do you remember everything that happened in Otsu?” Superior Charles inquires.
As Victor is about to speak, the young warlock offers him a cigar. Victor declines before he responds to the question. “I’m not sure where to begin, Superior.”
Superior Jackie leans forward, examining Victor’s eyes. “How about you start when Chiyo smashed the witch’s head in with her makeshift ice hammer?”
Victor rubs the back of his neck, recalling when they were first attacked. “Well, we can start with how those two tried to drown us first.”
Superior Jackie waves her hand, dismissing Victor’s comment. “We already heard about that from Leo and Chiyo. What happened to you when that witch died?”
“Well . . .” Victor starts as he ponders how to describe what happened.
He knows that as long as Superior Charles was looking at him with focused eyes, he couldn’t lie.
“I know I was fighting a warlock. Leo tried to help but got turned away when the witch tried to catch him off guard. I remember seeing Chiyo smashing the witch’s head in with an ice hammer in the corner of my eye.
As I blocked the warlock’s punches, things started to feel and look different. ”
“What felt and looked different?” Superior Jackie asks watchfully, wanting Victor to proclaim that moment.
Victor scratches his beard below his ear, thinking about how to explain what happened. “It just felt like something was being absorbed into my body. Suddenly, I had a new burst of energy.”
“And this happened once the witch was dead?” Superior Jackie reiterates.
“I guess so, yes,” Victor replies with a shrug.
Superior Jackie twists her neck and looks at Superior Charles. “Looks like our young empath did have a necromantic experience.”
Superior Charles takes a puff before asking Victor his question. “Is that when your eyes turned black?”
Victor gives the superiors a confused look.
“My eyes turned black? The only thing I remember after the witch being killed was the warlock trying to stab me with his dagger. But when Leo ran over to assist, the warlock tossed another dagger, slicing Leo’s side open.
That’s when it felt like something changed within me. ”