Ritual Magic (5 page)

"What do you mean by
foretold
?"
Solomon inched towards the couch to look down at her, worry
covering his expression now that he was aware of their
relationship. He may have still been wary of her, but he was
warming up to the new responsibility of being a father.

Cora released a deep breath and shook her
head lightly. Throwing her hands up in the air, she held them palms
out towards him as if to say
"stop right there."
"I really
prefer not to talk about it, Dad." She made a clear pushing motion
as if she were pressing her palms against a wall, displaying her
desire to resist the topic. "Truly, it's not something that I want
to go over right now, even if I could. But what I
can
say is
that everything depends on me being conceived and born. And that
means that we must convince my other fathers as well to participate
in the ceremony, the ritual. In a nutshell, that's what I'm here
for." Her eyes were downcast and her body slumped, giving her the
distinct appearance of frustration.

That's strange.
It tore me up to see
her that way because it was obvious that she felt she was carrying
the weight of the world on her shoulders.

"Cora," my hand went out to her and she
scooted on the couch to grasp it. "Sweetheart, you know that we are
going to do everything you need us to do to keep you safe and help
you." She nodded and I noticed the men shift in my peripheral
vision, each from different corners. It appeared as if they were
agreeing as well, and it gave me hope to think that we could all
work as a team for Cora's benefit.

Concentrating only on Cora, my heart swelled
with pride for this beautiful woman, my daughter. It was extremely
difficult to think of her in those terms, but my heart agreed with
everything she had said—she was truly mine. Well, mine and four
others'
. I still don't get it.
I didn't get how four men
could be involved in this scenario, how we were going to perform
magic that was strong enough to conceive this stunning individual,
and exactly
why
she would be trained to become such a
weapon.

How surreal was Cora's life? And how was a
human weapon actually honed? Well, as far as Cora was concerned, it
was as if there was a recipe for it. Leo had taught her about her
demon powers and automatic weapons and Solomon had taught her about
all other weaponry. Sprinkle in a little bit of Gabriel who had
instructed her about Native American skills and foreign languages,
as well as Pilates
(which seemed like a huge joke),
and then
there was Von who was the proverbial icing on the cake. He chose
every school, tutor, and skill that she learned outside of warfare
(except for languages). Everything about that screamed Von to a T.
But there didn't seem to be anything about me in the recipe.

Where was I in all of this? My eyes bored
into Cora like she was going to give me answers through
osmosis.

Still staring at her dejected look, I asked
with a tiny shake in my voice, "What did I teach you, Cora? Or was
I missing during your childhood? I don't hear anything about me in
your stories. Does something actually happen to me?"

Solomon stiffened automatically at the
questions as if I were striking him with every word spoken. Had he
been wondering the same things?

Cora's head snapped up as she realized what
I was saying, "Mom, you were
always
there. Watching,
supervising, commenting, applauding. When we had moments together
they were always beautiful and filled with sweet memories. Of
course, you taught me my magic, but you always turned it into a
game or a bonding moment more than anything. Learning with you
wasn't like taking lessons—it was like learning about myself, and I
loved you for it."

Staring directly into her eyes, I realized
that her true gaze was one of gentle pools of hazel and blue-green.
There was nothing I wanted to do more than to talk to her about
everything from her childhood, but a warning light flashed on and
off in my head.
There's a danger here
, I thought. "Cora, is
this all you can tell us? "

Standing up abruptly, Cora yanked down on
the hem of her shirt as if it was the jacket of a uniform, pivoting
on her heel before beginning to walk around the room. With Solomon
eyeing her suspiciously, Cora couldn't help but react, sighing as
she pointed towards the newly vacated couch. "Please Dad, go sit
down by Mom, okay? You're making me much more nervous than I need
to be," she sighed heavily.

Cora paced from one end of the living room
to the other, turning swiftly and then walking to the other side
again. The pacing was just like Solomon's nervous habit and it was
somehow adorable to see Cora doing it, pivoting again to begin her
march in the other direction. We all watched her as if she was a
puzzle that we were trying to figure out. Leo's eyes watched Cora's
mannerisms closely as if he was cataloging her body language for
reference later, and some part of me realized that I liked the fact
that he cared at all.

Cora's forehead was furrowed in concern when
she stopped in front of us and took a military "at-ease"
stance—legs shoulder-width apart, arms clasped behind her back,
shoulders back, chin straight out before her like she was getting
ready for inspection as her face became an unreadable wall of calm.
All Solomon.

My eyes darted to him and back to her as I
thought of what should be said. What was supposed to break the
strange silence? Was I expected to crack a joke or something? I
noticed as I turned to face Solomon, that he was sitting stoically,
taking every tiny detail into account. I could almost swear I was
hearing his head ticking off the similarities between him and this
amazing creature before us.

"Sir!" Solomon's shoulders snapped into
place at Cora's sharp voice, "I am ready to be debriefed."
Just
like a soldier.

My heart beat frantically as I looked at
Solomon with genuine concern, feeling my eyes grow larger as I
reactively licked my lips.

Solomon squared his shoulders again, pausing
for a moment before tilting his chin up with a swift flick. "Cora,
what is your rank?"
Was that a safe question?

"High General." Her voice was succinct.

"What is your mission?" Solomon
continued.

"Ensure that my fathers and mother
understand that the ceremony must be fulfilled. I must be conceived
or the future will be in jeopardy. Ensure that all five make it to
the ritual site and the ritual goes on without a hitch." Cora
snapped and I could feel my forehead furrow in reaction. This was a
new side of her that I hadn't seen just yet.

"Who are your fathers?"
That's right;
Solomon hadn't been there for the earlier conversation.

"Solomon Ryker, Von Edwards, Leonzio Emilio
Castillion, and Gabriel Running Wolf." Cora rattled off the names
easily even considering the Italian inflections she had put on
Leo's incredibly complicated name.
Oh crap! Now the
flea-infested cat is out of the bag. Damned cat!

Solomon's head flicked over to me and my
eyebrows shot up to the ceiling.
Was he honestly accusing me
with his eyes?! REALLY?!

His eyes flicked back towards Cora before he
continued, a tiny rumble of anger rising deep in his chest. "How
did you get here?"

Nodding, Cora directed a quick glance to Leo
and said simply, "With the blessing of the king of the demons, I
was given the right to shadow travel to the past. Since it wasn't
actually jumping within our own time, it was more of a journey.
Hence the use of the word 'travel'. That is all I am allowed to
say."

Leo nodded in agreement, drawing the
conversation over to his side of the room. "She is bound by our
laws not to share how we do it. Although, what I can tell you is
that she had to have received express permission from me to be able
to even consider shadow traveling. She also had to be extremely
powerful and fierce to be able to make the trip at all." He beamed
with pride which was evident with his squared shoulders, lifted
chin and bright ruby red eyes. "Only our strongest could have made
the trip and survived." He didn't even flick his eyes to Cora to
cover her with an expression of awe—he already knew she was
special. "The fact that she is here means that I personally showed
her how to shadow travel into the past. This is a unique skill that
only I and those I have shared it with know. But of those few,
everyone is expressly forbidden to share the secret, upon penalty
of death."

Solomon's eyes covered Cora from head to
toe, taking stock of what his daughter represented, or so I
suspected. From his position on the couch, he crossed his arms and
leaned back as if he were getting ready to give Cora a lecture.

"What are your mission objectives?"

After a long, drawn out discussion about
strategic planning and mission objectives, we all concluded that it
was time for a break.

Cora was sitting on the couch, chatting with
Leo in Italian while I was flipping through Solomon's copy of
Breaking Dawn
. I was honestly looking
forward to reading it, but Cora's arrival had taken my free time
away for the immediate future, at least. Go figure.

My eyes flicked over to Solomon standing by
the curtain, his body tense, and I immediately wanted to be with
him. Placing the book on the end table, I pushed away from the
loveseat and walked over to him, gauging his reaction to me the
entire time. He simply continued to look beyond the curtain and
into the waves of the ocean beating into the horizon. Placing my
hand gently on his forearm, I could immediately feel his tense
muscles relax underneath my timid touch.

Solomon's eyes remained on the horizon as he
spoke. "I love you, you know," he said simply. "I always thought
that I would have the freedom to romance you and you would finally
be able to see how incredibly special you are to me. You are
everything that my life was missing before you came into it and
everything that I never knew that I wanted or even needed." His
shoulders dropped as he shook his head. "Weakness."

"Again, with that
word
." My heart
skipped a beat at his sentiments. "Why do you keep calling your
feelings for me 'weakness'? Is that what you really think of your
feelings—as weakness?" I shook my head, "I don't think it is. I
actually like
hearing
you talk about how you feel for me—it
makes me feel alive, and it helps to ground me." I focused down on
my shoes because he wouldn't look at me as I spoke, and it hurt to
think that he didn't want to look at me at all.

Solomon's body shifted and I could feel his
hands on both of my arms. "Are you saying that..." His voice
drifted off. "What are you
saying
, Celeste? Please, tell
me."

I kept my eyes trained on my shoes until
Solomon's firm hand was underneath my chin, lifting my head to
force me to look into his own intensely glowing eyes. No longer was
there a subtle and calming blue-green swirling in his irises, but a
pale blue glow that made his face appear ghostly and beautiful. My
heart stopped as a gasp escaped my lips and he took a quick step
towards me, reminding me that he was still waiting for an
answer.

What in the world am I going to say?
He was so extraordinarily handsome, and his eyes so incredibly
intense that my knees were instantly the consistency of gelatin. I
held my breath as I realized that the annoying butterflies were
fluttering once again in my stomach, smashing the insides of my
esophagus this time.
How am I even standing?

"Solomon." My voice shook, giving me
away.

"
Please
." Solomon leaned down so
close to me that I could feel the coolness of his breath on my
cheeks, the caress of it being something that I had been dreaming
of for years. My eyes fluttered closed at the sensation and the
smell of him.
It's just too much
.

"Solomon." His name sounded like a prayer on
my lips. I
felt
like I was praying. "I, I..." My head spun
as I felt his strong arms suddenly around me, pulling me close, I
caught my breath.

He was somehow infusing me with his
strength; I could feel it because suddenly my mind was clearing as
I registered his amazing scent swirling around me.

"That's all right." He whispered into my
hair, his hand rubbing up and down my back, "You don't have to say
anything."

My face was pushed gently against his firm
torso, making me all too aware of his bulging chest as my hands
pressed against the cotton fabric of his shirt. But Solomon was
incredibly gentle, and it was easy enough to say because I
definitely meant it, "I love you."

My eyelids drifted down and I listened to
his breath stutter as his body went rigid, his arms closing
protectively around me.

A small sigh escaped his lips as he rested
his cheek against the top of my head. "I never thought I'd hear you
say those words. I always dreamed, but I was convinced..." His
voice trailed off as he drew me even closer, although it didn't
seem possible.

"Solomon." My voice shook.

"Yes, my love." His husky voice rang next to
my ear, brushing the burning skin of my cheek with his cool
breath.

"You're choking me."

He laughed as he released me, ever so
slightly, allowing me to breathe again.

We stood there in perfect quiet as my
thoughts began to race again. What was the future going to be like
for us? A vampire and...well, me. What were we getting ourselves
into with a love that seemed doomed to fail before it even began?
Yes, he had been by my side for fifty years, but were we really
meant to
be
? Would we last longer than Von and I had? Would
we always be together? And if so, how would that impact my
decisions in the future? How would that impact Cora, our child that
was destined to exist?