Relentless (16 page)

30. SMOOTHIE SURPRISE

STEFAN’S APPEARANCE SEEMED
to trigger a rebirth of Ralin’s magic. It didn’t happen immediately, but looking back, Leesa was pretty sure the incident marked the beginning of the magical resurgence. Whether it would have occurred anyway without Stefan’s visit no one knew for certain. She thought it probably would have happened eventually, and probably sooner rather than later. Balin concurred.

What did happen right away was that Leesa became more careful with Ralin when he was around other people, keeping him wrapped in a protective shield for the overwhelming majority of the time. Hugs from relatives and friends without a shield became far less frequent and much shorter in duration. Whenever she allowed a hug without a shield, Leesa made sure to focus her attention completely on her bond with Ralin, alert for any small sign his magic might be about to erupt. People who loved holding Ralin were disappointed at the restrictions, but they all understood the newly awakened danger and the need for such caution. They were grateful for the months they had enjoyed when hugs had been longer and more complete. And they could still enjoy Ralin’s perpetually smiling face and engaging giggle when they held him.

Leesa even kept Ralin encased in a shield when Rave held him. She had seen what their son’s magic had done to Stefan, and volkaanes did not heal nearly as rapidly as vampires. Only when the three of them were alone and neither she nor Rave was holding Ralin did she let him wander around the house or the woods without a shield. As Rave remained alert, his supernatural quickness allowed him to avoid any accidents at the hands of his son.

Two weeks passed without incident. Leesa began to wonder if perhaps she was being overly cautious, if maybe it did take the stimulus of a vampire to activate Ralin’s magic. She was not about to let her guard down, however—not for a long while yet.

She stood at the counter in the kitchen, pouring a selection of frozen berries into a blender in which she had already dumped several scoops of vanilla yogurt. She preferred to use fresh fruit when she could get it, but October in New England provided few choices other than apples and bananas. Apples were too much work for a smoothie—you had to peel and core them. Bananas, on the other hand, were easy, so she always included one.

Ralin’s teeth had begun coming in at around four months, and though he could already chew soft solid foods, a fruit smoothie remained one of his favorite meals. Leesa enjoyed them as well, so she always made enough for two.

Ralin watched her preparations from the other side of the dog gate. The way he had been eyeing the four-foot tall barrier for the past few days made her think they might soon need something even higher to keep him out of the kitchen. While he understood the word “no” perfectly well, like any child he didn’t always obey it. The concept of his magic potentially shorting out any appliance he came in contact with was far too complicated for him to understand.

Leesa realized she didn’t even know yet if such damage would actually occur. She resolved to get an old cell phone or hair dryer or something similar to test it out. Either they would need no gate at all, or they were going to need a taller one, and probably something blocking access to the counter separating the kitchen from the living room as well. She also wanted to know if she would ever be able to take Ralin anywhere in her car should the need arise. Ruining a cheap old appliance to find out was definitely preferable to having him fry the circuits in the car.

Rave stood on the far side of the counter, watching her the way he usually did. How he didn’t grow tired of constantly looking at her she didn’t know, but she hoped he never stopped doing it. She glanced up from her labors and flashed him a smile.

“Are you sure you don’t want any of this?  It’s really good. I can make enough for three.”

Rave returned her smile. “No, thanks. I’m not a yogurt guy.”

Leesa shook her head. Rave was hardly even a food guy. He ate one meal a day, if that, preferring fruit, soups and stews. She kept a covered pot of vegetable stew at one end of the counter, ready for him to warm up with his magic heat whenever he decided he was hungry.

Frozen strawberries were her final addition to the smoothie. The bag was nearly empty, so she dumped the remainder of the strawberries in, put the top in place, and switched on the blender.

The roar of the blender filled the room as it chopped up the ice cubes Leesa had added and pulverized the frozen fruit. Her ever playful child jumped back like a frightened deer when the noise started. Leesa opened her mouth wide and put her hands on her cheeks, pretending she was just as surprised and frightened. This was a game they had been playing for several weeks now. Ralin wasn’t really afraid—he just loved to pretend he was. A moment later he was laughing loudly at his own histrionics.

Leesa made a funny face and shook her head rapidly. “Oh, you’re so funny, Ralin!”

Ralin laughed louder and clapped his hands together several times. He frowned when Leesa shut off the blender, but the smile was back on his face as she poured the purplish-red smoothie into two large, clear plastic glasses. Ralin had graduated from his sippy cup more than a month ago. He was easily coordinated enough to use a glass, and he liked to drink from the same kind of glass his mother drank from.

Rave grinned as he watched the two loves of his life play.

Leaving the two smoothies on the counter for a moment, Leesa opened the gate and slipped through. After closing the barrier behind her, she picked up a glass and handed it to Ralin, who stood waiting patiently. His beaming smile as he took the glass carefully into his two chubby hands was all the thank you she needed.

She watched him begin with a small sip, as if testing it to make certain the drink met his lofty standards. He licked a bit of stray smoothie off his upper lip and then smiled again. Apparently, the drink met with his approval, because he took a much bigger swallow next. At first, Leesa had worried about letting him drink such a cold beverage in this manner, thinking that swallowing too much freezing liquid too fast might hurt his mouth or throat. It didn’t seem to affect him, however, no matter how quickly he drank the icy concoction. She guessed his latent volkaane heat probably warmed the smoothie in his mouth and stomach before it could cause him any discomfort.

When Ralin was almost halfway done with his drink, Leesa had barely finished a quarter of hers. Without using her magic to warm her drink, she knew she would get a headache if she drank any faster. And what was the point of making a delicious frozen drink if she was just going to warm it up with magic? So she sipped her smoothie and watched her son while he swallowed larger gulps.

Out of nowhere, as usual, Ralin’s fingers began to glow green. Leesa set her glass down on the counter, ready to cast a shield if necessary. Rave backed up a step—he well remembered what had happened to Stefan the last time Ralin’s magic had appeared. He was ready to leap aside should the need arise.

Ralin kept both hands wrapped around the glass, his face showing delight and surprise at what was occurring on his fingers. He watched closely as twisting bands of pale green energy climbed the sides of the plastic like ivy climbing a wall, then curled over the edge and crept slowly down the inside of the glass. From the intensely interested expression on his face, he seemed to have no idea that he was the cause of the strange and beautiful magic.

Leesa and Rave watched with equal interest. When the green bands reached the slushy juice inside the glass, they seemed to pause for a moment, as though the thick liquid provided resistance to the magic light. They then continued down into the drink, moving more slowly now. Tendrils of pale green appeared in the dark smoothie, spreading slowly through the drink until the whole thing had turned green, making it look almost like some kind of lime smoothie.

When the change was complete, the green glow winked out from Ralin’s hands.

Leesa and Rave exchanged relieved glances, happy that Ralin’s magical outburst had ended up doing something so innocuous. Ralin appeared disappointed that the show was over. He wore what Leesa could best describe as a studious frown on his face.

She reached out toward his glass, wanting to make sure his drink was indeed harmless before he drank any more of it.

“Let Mommy have your smoothie for a moment, honey” she said softly, not wanting to alarm him.

Ralin stared at his drink for another second or two, as if disappointed that the magic had ended, then handed it to Leesa. She took a small sip. It still tasted exactly the same as hers. Except for the new color, it seemed to have remained a berry smoothie. The difference between the drink’s appearance and taste was slightly disconcerting, but she didn’t think Ralin would mind. She smiled and gave him back his glass. Ralin accepted it happily and took a big swallow, totally unfazed by the change in color.

Leesa turned to Rave. “It looks like we got away easy this time.”

Rave nodded. “Let’s hope all of Ralin’s magic outbursts are this simple and harmless.”

Leesa smiled. “Yeah, for sure.”

Somehow, though, she doubted they were going to be that lucky.

31. A SIMPLE TEST

NOW THAT RALIN’S MAGIC
had spontaneously reappeared without the stimulus of a nearby vampire to trigger it, Leesa immediately became more careful about where she took him. She knew she might be overreacting—other than blasting at Stefan, all he had done so far was harmlessly turn a smoothie green—but she thought excess caution to be the wiser choice, given the total unpredictability of Ralin’s power. Gone were the visits to her mom’s or aunt and uncle’s that she used to make with Ralin. She didn’t want to take the chance his magic might damage their homes or be witnessed by neighbors. When his relatives wanted to see Ralin, they now had to come to Leesa’s house.

Worse, she grew increasingly anxious about leaving Ralin alone with Rave while she went out on errands like shopping. She wasn’t worried that Ralin would hurt his father—Rave was still much too quick, as long as he remained alert, which was pretty much his natural state. Her concern was that Ralin might cause noticeable damage to their carefully selected home if she were not around to conjure up a shield in time. She didn’t relish the thought of trying to find another secluded house with a landlord who would leave them as completely alone as their current one did.

Her mom and brother picked up much of the shopping slack, bringing groceries whenever Leesa had the need. Both were happy to help, in part because it meant bonus time with Ralin when they brought the groceries by—not that either of them ever really needed an excuse to visit. They were welcome anytime.

If Leesa simply HAD to go somewhere, she wrapped Ralin in a shield and had Rave carry her and Ralin out into the woods, where any magical eruption would occur out of sight and cause no damage that might have to be explained. Once they were a safe distance into the trees, Leesa would walk back and hop into the car, leaving father and son to play in the woods. Her shield would disappear as soon as she was out of sight of her son, but with Ralin isolated out in the forest that was not a problem. She had been working on creating a barrier that would remain in place even without her presence, but so far had been unsuccessful in figuring out how to accomplish that task.

Today, Cali had volunteered to help Leesa test the volkaane aspects of Ralin’s magic. The sporadic nature of his powers provided more than enough unpredictability for Leesa—she could at least learn whether Ralin shared his father’s penchant for shorting out electrical circuits.

To test whether he did or not, Cali had generously brought along her old cell phone. She switched it on and handed it to Leesa.

“I can’t think of a better use for this old thing now that I’ve upgraded to the latest and greatest.”

Leesa looked down at the screen, smiling to see that Cali’s background picture was one of Leesa holding Ralin when he was just a few months old.

“Thanks. You sure you don’t mind?”

“Not at all. I was just going to recycle it anyhow. I’m happy to donate it to the cause of magic. It’s got no service, but it still has plenty of pictures and stuff on it that’ll show us whether Ralin messes the thing up.”

“You’ve already transferred the stuff you want, right? And left your new cell out in the car, I hope? Out of danger?”

Cali grinned. “You bet. That baby set me back three hundred big ones. Ralin’s not getting anywhere near it—at least not until we know how lethal he is.”

The object of their discussion sat at the table across the room, engaged in a rare moment of quiet leafing through a picture book his grandmother had given him. The book was filled with colorful illustrations of magical creatures like dragons and unicorns, as well as wizards and warriors. Looking at the book was one of the few stationary activities capable of holding Ralin’s attention for more than five or ten minutes. Leesa supposed the book provided as good an early education into the world of magic as could be expected for a toddler. Now it was time to glean a little learning for herself.

“Ralin, come here, sweetheart. Mommy has something for you.”

Ralin twisted his head around at the sound of her voice. She very much doubted he understood what she said, but he recognized his name. When his eyes fell upon the small glowing object she held out toward him, he hopped down off his chair and hurried over.

Leesa handed him the cell phone. His smile widened as he stared down at the illuminated screen and saw a picture of himself.

Leesa and Cali watched the screen closely. After just a few seconds, the image began to flicker and break up. A moment later, the screen went dark.

Ralin looked at the phone for a bit longer, as if expecting it to light up again. When it didn’t, he shook it a couple of times and then checked the screen again. When it remained dark, he simply dropped the phone to the floor and returned to the table and his book.

“Well, I guess that answers your question,” Cali said as she bent down and picked up the cell. She tried to switch it back on, but nothing happened. “It’s fried, for sure. Looks like you’ve got a second volkaane on your hands. No phones or cars in his future.” She grinned. “Good luck with that as he gets older.”

Leesa smiled. “Thanks—I think.”

For the next few months, Ralin’s magic continued to appear sporadically and unpredictably. Sometimes as much as three weeks passed between outbursts, while twice they occurred within the same week. Most were completely harmless—displays of light and energy more than anything. Some were quite intricate, like a repeat of the spiraling pattern Leesa had still been unable to duplicate despite many tries.

In between the magical occurrences, Ralin behaved pretty much like an ordinary, very active and very happy young boy—although far more advanced physically than other children his age. He particularly enjoyed running and jumping, which he did so quickly and powerfully that his parents never even considered taking him to a playground where his abilities could be witnessed. Until he was old enough to understand how he needed to behave in public, the yard and woods behind their home would serve as his playground.

The most serious of these magical incidents occurred late at night when Ralin was about nine months old. While he was fast asleep, a green beam shot up from his snoring mouth that left char marks on the ceiling above his crib. Ralin never even woke up, but Rave had seen the bolt as soon as it began and promptly awakened Leesa, who blocked the beam with a shield before it could do any further damage to the house.

Following that nocturnal incident, Leesa wrapped a shield around Ralin’s crib every night before she went to bed—she didn’t need to be awake for the barrier to remain intact, she merely needed to be in the same room. Ralin’s crib had shared their bedroom ever since he was born, so this presented no problem.