Chapter 14 #8
Outside, Mandy felt the sudden influx. The wards blazed brighter than she’d ever seen. She laughed under her breath, exhilarated. “Oh, Lucy…” she murmured. “You clever girl.”
With Lucy’s energy added to hers, the process doubled in strength. She wove larger knots of power into the ground, anchoring them deep. The land shimmered faintly, pulsing with violet light before fading back into stillness.
When the last knot sealed, Mandy exhaled and whispered through the link, Thank you.
Lucy’s voice brushed softly across her mind in reply. You’re welcome.
Mandy smiled. The wards were complete.
“Right,” she said aloud, turning back to Davina and Erin. “My part’s done. Now it’s your turn. We need the forest dense and uninviting.”
Davina glanced down at Erin. “Step back, little one. Let me try first.”
Erin obediently took a few steps back, eyes wide with anticipation.
Davina took a deep breath. When she looked up again, her irises had turned pitch black, swallowing all colour. The air around her trembled.
“By the gods,” Mandy whispered.
Davina raised her hands slightly and began to speak low words in an ancient tongue, rough with power.
The ground responded instantly. Roots twisted and surged from beneath the soil, snaking around the trees.
Vines thick as ropes unfurled from the branches, knotting together.
Thorns burst from the undergrowth, glinting wetly in the early light.
The forest was moving. Growing. Breathing.
Inside the manor, every person stopped what they were doing. Even Byron turned his head toward the window, brows lifting.
“What the hell…” he murmured.
Lucy moved to the window beside him and stared. Davina stood in the clearing like a storm in human form, her hair lifting slightly with the current of energy swirling around her. The forest bent to her will, transforming from peaceful woodland into an unwelcoming wall of green and shadow.
When the power finally ebbed, Davina swayed on her feet, blinking as her eyes faded back to normal. She looked exhausted but proud.
Mandy gave a slow, approving nod. “That was… impressive.”
Davina exhaled. “It’s been a while,” she admitted. “But it felt good.”
Mandy smiled faintly. “You’ve just made this place a fortress.” She turned toward Erin. “All right, little one. Your turn.”
Erin grinned, setting her tiny hands on her hips. “Okay!”
She scampered forward, concentrating hard. The grass trembled where she stepped, and a trail of bright flowers burst into bloom behind her — blues, yellows, pinks, all bobbing cheerfully in the breeze.
Mandy couldn’t help but laugh. “It’s a good thing you’re here, Davina,” she said with a grin. “I doubt these flowers would stop anyone from getting in.”
Davina laughed softly, reaching out to smooth Erin’s hair. “Not yet. But it’s a start.”
From the window, Lucy smiled faintly at the sight. “We really need to see what Davina’s capable of,” she said quietly. “I was going to let her settle in, but we can’t wait anymore.”
Byron nodded beside her. “Agreed. We’ll set a time later today. She’s powerful, maybe more than she realises.”
Lucy kept her gaze on the forest below, watching the last flickers of Davina’s magic fade into the trees. “Whatever’s coming, we’re going to need her.”
Outside, the wind rustled through the newly thickened forest whispering through thorns, vines, and bright little flowers that lined the edges like tiny guardians. The manor stood protected, if only for now.
By late morning, the forest around the manor had settled into its new, living rhythm. Lucy and Byron were still in the training room, catching their breath, when the door opened and Mary walked in.
She looked tense, even for her. “We need to talk,” she said flatly.
Byron straightened, wiping a line of sweat from his temple. “What’s wrong?”
“It’s Michael,” Mary said. “I don’t trust him. He keeps asking me questions, and not the kind a curious newcomer asks. He wants to know who makes the decisions, how the wards work, where the Doves report from. I don’t like where it’s going.”
Lucy frowned. “Byron, can you listen in on him? See if he’s hiding something?”
Byron hesitated. “Funny you should say that. I’ve been trying since he arrived, but he’s blocking it. Properly blocking. With us, we can tune out other people’s minds when we want to, and he’s been doing that on purpose.”
“So, he knows exactly what he’s doing,” Lucy muttered.
“Exactly. And that’s why I’m suspicious,” Byron said.
Lucy took a breath and closed her eyes for a moment. When she opened them, a faint shimmer passed behind her pupils the tell-tale sign she was broadcasting.
Her voice went through the house, calm but firm:
Everyone, keep your conversations with Michael to a minimum. Don’t tell him our plans. Nothing. We cannot trust him.
She cut the connection before anyone could answer. It wasn’t a request. It was a command.
Mary folded her arms. “That’s not good enough, Lucy. I’m telling you, there’s something off about him. I can feel it.”
Lucy faced her. “I know. But we can’t lock him up without proof. For now, we keep him close and watch him.”
Mary’s jaw tightened. “You’re making a mistake.”
“Maybe,” Lucy said quietly. “But it’s my mistake to make.”
For a moment it looked like Mary would argue, but she finally exhaled through her nose, muttered something under her breath, and turned for the door.
When she was gone, the room felt heavier.
Lucy stood still, staring at the floorboards.
“She’s right to be worried,” she said softly. “I just can’t afford to show it.”
Byron stepped closer and lifted her chin with two fingers.
“Hey. It’s a mess right now, I get it. But look at what you’ve already done.
You could’ve gone back to your old life, pretended none of this existed.
Instead, you solved your family’s murder, found out who you really are, and built a home for a bunch of supernatural misfits who somehow haven’t killed each other yet. Chaos, sure, but it’s our chaos.”
Lucy managed a small smile. “You sound like Barnaby.”
“Scary thought,” he said, and the corner of her mouth lifted a little more.
Byron wiped a streak of sweat from his chest, seductively.
“I know you’re tense. I can take your mind off it right now!
Everyone is busy, I can lock the door and let you take all your frustrations out on me.
I mean it wouldn't hurt for you to vent on my ...” Before he could say it, she moved out the way “now is not the time, so no!” He turned to her with a grin, “I own you now Lucy, there is always time.” she swatted away his hands and started to run off towards, the door.
“If I truly wanted to Lucy, I could chase you down and take you”.
She laughed “Sit down, Byron.”
Her tone changed mid-sentence it was sharp and commanding. His body obeyed before his mind caught up. He blinked, surprised, and then started laughing.
Lucy smirked. “If I let you, it’s yours. Otherwise? No taking.”
Byron pointed a finger at her, still half-smiling. “You’re playing a dangerous game, Morgan, I'm going to fuck you so hard later, you're going to regret restraining me”
“Maybe,” she said, hand on the doorknob. “But not right now”
Lucy opened the door, looked back, and smiled. “You’re free,” she said, then slammed it behind her and disappeared down the hall.
Byron sat where she’d left him, still grinning, shaking his head.
Lucy went in search of Michael and found him in the library.
He was sitting at the long table; papers spread in front of him that he clearly wasn’t reading. “You’re up early,” Lucy said, walking in. Her tone was friendly, casual, the kind that always made people lower their guard.
He looked up quickly, then gave a half-smile. “Yeah, sorry I missed the meeting, this morning, you can update me now if you want?”
“Oh no, that's ok, it was just general run of the mill stuff” she said this whilst taking the seat opposite him.
“Looks like you're preparing for something big” he said. “What's going on” She sighed. “Nothing you need to worry about”
He shrugged. Lucy studied him carefully. His posture was relaxed, but his eyes kept shifting between the door and the window.
“Mary tells me you’ve been asking questions,” she said.
Michael blinked, caught off guard. “I talk a lot when I’m nervous.”
“Mm. What were you nervous about exactly?”
He hesitated just long enough to confirm her suspicion. “Well,” Lucy said, leaning forward slightly “I'm just curious that's all” Michael responded back bluntly,
To ease the mood Lucy decided to switch it up a bit “You know, I was thinking, your ability intrigues me. Mimicry like that, it must take control.”
“Control, yeah,” he said cautiously. “Also, a good memory. And timing. Why?”
“I wanted to understand it,” she said. “Maybe practice with you. You could show me how it works. See how far it goes.”
He hesitated. “It’s not really a party trick.”
“Then think of it as a lesson,” she said warmly.
He nodded slowly, then his expression shifted. It wasn’t the skin melting or bones reshaping kind of change, it was subtler than that. His face softened, posture changed, voice dropped just slightly.
And suddenly, Lucy was looking at herself.
Her own features. Her own tone when she said, “So? Impressed?”
Lucy stared at him, then smirked. “You got the face right. But the energy’s off.”
Michael frowned. “Energy?”
“Yeah,” she said. “You look like me, but you don’t feel like me.”
She stood up and circled around him, studying the illusion. “You’re copying the outside, not the core. The core’s clearly harder to fake.”
He turned slightly to follow her movement. “And you think you can tell the difference.”
“I know I can,” she said, stopping behind him. “That’s the problem with deception, Michael, it always flickers somewhere, I can see your energy.”
“How do you do that?” he asked quietly.
Lucy smiled. “It’s my thing. Connection.”