Ritual Magic (8 page)

"So where is she, Dad?" I gripped the arms
of the chair to hold myself in place. This conversation needed to
happen in a calm state of mind or he could leave and I would never
know.

Clearing his throat, he clapped his hands
together as he continued to lean against his knees. "Communing with
the dragons."

"Dragons.
Really?
Seriously, Dad—this
isn't Harry Potter. There aren't dragons to be tamed. This isn't a
children's story." Huh, that was definitely out of left field.

"I never said she was taming dragons—she's
communing with them...in another dimension." He released an
exasperated breath and leaned back in his chair. "Damned woman
always was so wild and high-spirited. Hanging out with a bunch of
scaly beasts instead of staying here, with me." He actually sounded
like he was pouting.
What a big baby!

"So my mom...my mother is in another
dimension...with dragons..." My voice dripped with sarcasm. I let
that sink in for a minute. "Har, har, har, Dad. Very funny. Joke's
on me I guess because I just can't believe that."

"Look, it's not what you
want
to
believe because it sounds absurd. People haven't seen dragons for
hundreds of years. Heck, even your Bible refers to dragons...it's
one brief mention, but it is in there. Then there are the Cherokee
people, who have a distinct memory of the dragons as they walked
the earth. The stories have been passed down from generation to
generation to ensure that they will never forget. Their memories
have dwindled down to an oral living history of dragons passed down
from father to son. Mother to daughter."

"So why did they 'vacate the premises'?" I
made my air quotes especially obnoxious to push yet another button.
Dylan didn't seem to mind, though, or even notice. My curiosity was
piqued.

"Because this world was becoming too
corrupt, that's why." He eyed the beach in the mist as he leaned
back in his chair. "The current world is an unusually ugly place
when you take the time to account for all of the horrible
things."

"So why are
you
still here? Why
haven't you
zapped
yourself into another dimension and just
left?" The idea of my dad zapping himself away sounded pretty good
right at that moment. Parental units could be just so annoying
sometimes. How did I know? Again, I pay attention to teenagers.

"I cannot simply zap mahself away, lass. I
am the Ocean—I am too large to have that kind of freedom. Trust me,
I would if I could." He was angry, but not with me it seemed.

Silence hung in the air as I processed that.
"So...
how
did they get to the other dimension?"

"They vibrated themselves into another
dimension." He sounded so matter-of-fact, American accent and all,
making me want to giggle uncontrollably.

"
Vibrated
?" A quick snicker escaped
me before I knew what I was doing. "Okay, no matter how you say
that, it just sounds so
wrong
." I definitely was going to
giggle now. Gosh, did I actually have the
brain
of a
teenager? I was having a distinct issue keeping my mind out of the
gutter. I made a coughing, sputtering noise as if I was trying to
laugh through closed lips. It was actually pretty obnoxious.

"These are noble creatures, Raven. They
vibrated so quickly that they passed through dimensions. (He
slipped back into English but this time with a British accent.) It
was quite a feat for creatures as large as they are. But they were
incredibly old and wise, absolutely worthy of respect." He paused a
moment for effect, "So be
respectful
, Raven."

Nodding, I swallowed the feelings of guilt
away. This conversation was going to happen no matter what I
thought was funny. "Okay, Dad. Get to the point. What do you need
from me?" My eyes were set on his wide face, watching for any
movement or subtle eye contact.

Sighing, he spread his hands out in front of
him as he leaned heavily against the arm of the chair, looking
exhausted and almost sad. "I am here because you called me, Raven.
You needed your powers back—they have been restored. The prophecy
will be fulfilled and balance will be retained." He shrugged. "You
know that I speak the truth."

I nodded in absent bewilderment. Yes, it was
true...Cora...that's right. "So I have my powers back?"

He simply nodded.

A distinct chill began to permeate the mist
around us. "And what does that mean? When had my powers been
removed?"

Dylan nodded again, appearing to agree to
move on with the conversation because he knew it was inevitable.
"When you were a mere infant." His eyes burned into me, those
swirling orbs of ocean, deep and emotional. "You were born too
strong to contain your own power. You could have lost control and
killed everyone around you but your mother and yourself. We felt
that it was necessary to separate you from that power to protect
the people around you. Your mother and I both agreed—we made the
decision to remove your powers together." He let his voice drift
off as his eyes shifted over and became almost sorrowful.

"But, but...why are you giving them back to
me now?" I shook my head and rubbed my temples with the tips of my
middle fingers. "What the heck are you NOT telling me?" I shook my
head in bitter pain.

Sighing, he leaned back in his chair and
slumped. "Look," his accent became sort of gangsterish—making me
think of
The Godfather
and other terrible
movies that I refused to watch. "I can't tell yous everythin' but
what I
can
tell yous is this—yous are a demigod. Half the
one and half the udder. Yous..," he jabbed his finger at me like he
was making me an offer that I couldn't refuse, "yous are going to
be the muddah of an incredible child. She's gonna be big, you hear
me?! Big!"

My chin must have been scraping the floor
because I couldn't believe my ears! My father was talking like a
real honest-to-goodness gangster.
Did they still even talk like
that anymore?!

"Again, I tell yous that yous have to
fulfill the prophecy. Do yous hear me, little girl?" He pointed a
sausage finger at me as he rubbed his muscular belly with his other
hand.
Dad really gets into character when he does the Jersey
Shore bit, I'd say.

"Yeah, I hear you."
Geesh.

Sitting up straight, he leaned forward and
looked at me, speaking with a more charitable tone, sounding less
like a gangster every second. "I think that I also need to be a
little more specific to prepare you for your coming challenge."
This time his voice was dripping with British
undertones—reminiscent of the 007 Bond series. Was it Sean Connery
I was listening to in his accent?
Hmmmmm.

"Raven, you must fulfill the prophecy.
Five beings, selected by fate, one child conceived in magic, one
day where the world stands still, and then the ultimate sacrifice
made for love alone
." He nodded at me as if I understood it
all. "Ahh," he sighed and rolled his head back with his eyes
closed, "to be in your shoes. What an opportunity to feel alive!"
He threw a giant fist into the air as he made a guttural "Hoorah"
like a Marine.
Guess a few Special Forces are in there too
.
Creeeeepy
.

I was beginning to feel twitchy as I watched
him react and tried to digest everything that he had just shared
with me. Too much information at one time would cause my mind to
meltdown, possibly even black out.
Oh yeah, I already did
that.
Maybe I'll actually wake up this time
.

"I think it's time I get out of here."

Dylan nodded, opening his eyes and
straightening his head to eye me cautiously. "I have one more topic
of importance that I need to talk to you about before you escape
back to your reality."
Was it really escaping when you were
afraid of where you going to end up?

"Okay..."

"The vampire..."

"Yes?" My eyebrows furrowed and I looked at
him deliberately with a warning deeply embedded.
This could not
be good at all
.

"You must break it off with him." Dylan said
flatly.

"What?! Why?!" My voice shook and I
immediately felt like I had no say about the topic.
My dad was
making me break up with Solomon? What? Was I sixteen?!

"Nothing good could ever come from a
relationship with him. You must break it off before it ever
begins." He began to pick his fingernails while he spoke to me,
giving him something to focus on instead of looking directly at me.
There must have been some really gunky stuff underneath because he
was spending extra attention underneath his right thumb.

Heat swelled into my face and my heart
pounded painfully as I considered what he had just said. "What?
What could possibly cause you to want me to break things off with
Solomon? We aren't really even together. Not really." My voice
trailed off as a towering wave of guilt and distress washed over
me.
I want us to be together, though
.

Suddenly I heard shushing noises, which
seemed completely out of place considering I was ready to destroy
something.

"It's okay, it will all be okay." Dylan's
words sounded like the waves crashing on the beach, "You will be
much better without him, I promise." His words sounded insincere
and I instantly suspected that he was up to more than just putting
the wrench in my relationship with Solomon.

I could feel my body quake with my tears and
my cheeks were newly wet, but I couldn't remember crying at all.
When did that happen?
"Why?" That was the only word I could
get out.

"You two could never truly be together. It
would be wrong. You were never meant to be with him." He shook his
head, "Now, the warlock. THAT is a good man. HE is a good
choice—steady, a brilliant strategist, a fair and strong leader and
a handsome individual." My head swam as he spoke, a feeling of true
foreboding riding up my spine.
Could he honestly have been
talking about VON?!
"Now HE will provide me with grandchildren
to be proud of." His voice sounded final.

There was silence for a brief moment as I
listened to his words...truly
listened.
CLICK!

"What the f'ing
hell
are you saying?!
That you don't want me to have
children
from Solomon?!" I
railed at him as I pounded my fists in my lap. Instantly I felt
like a teenager fighting the
man
who just happened to be the
nosey dad sitting in front of me. I
really
needed to beat
something up right about now.

"Young lady, you will NOT use that kind of
sailor language around me—I hear it quite enough as it is, let me
tell you!" Dylan looked at me sternly as he leaned forward in his
seat as if he was going to fly between the chairs and give me a
good spanking.

My eyebrow cocked up as I gave him my
warning look.
Don't mess with me, Dad. I'm on PMS!
I wasn't
but he didn't need to know.

He stopped suddenly where he was, his huge
body going rigid as he weighed my words and finally sat back down
in his chair, crossing his arms over his massive chest again.
Good
.

For a moment we just sat there staring each
other down, trying to force our wills on each other before I opened
my mouth to share my thoughts with him. Oh yes, he was definitely
going to get a piece of
my
mind.

"I will date
whomever
I
want
whenever
I want. You hear me, DAD
?!" A man telling me how to
live my life? Any man?
That was way too much for me to handle.
My body shook with power, which drew Dylan's attention as the air
around us began to crackle with sharp, quick snaps.

"Hmm, maybe I gave you back your powers a
little too quickly." He watched the clouds of billowy white swirl
around him as the mist began to darken and tiny bolts of lightning
jumped from non-existent clump to non-existent clump. "Running
Wolf, the Chieftain—he would be a better choice." His head bobbed
up and down as he tried to continue with his idiotic theme.

Narrowing my eyes, I watched my father
through the tiny slits that were covered only by my eyelashes.
"No." My eyes lasered through him and he shifted in his seat
uncomfortably.

"Look here, young lady..."

"No, you look,
DAD
, I don't like
being told what to do..."

"Obviously." He threw it in before I could
catch my breath.

"And that being said, I want you to butt out
of my love life, thank you very much!" I kicked my leg over my knee
and began to pump my foot furiously, my body language screaming
that I was taking charge and I was tired of the conversation.

"Raven, be realistic." His voice practically
pleaded, pausing to allow me to interrupt if I was going to. He
continued when he was sure I wasn't going to cut him off, "You are
capable of having a child with anyone...and...he is a vampire.
There is a reason that vampires are infertile—they are
abominations. Any child with him would be just that—an
abomination." He paused for a brief moment and then instantly
allowed his head to hang low as he realized that the words had
finally made it out of his mouth. "I will not have a blood-sucking
leech in our family line."

Taking a calming breath, I set aside my
distress slowly, deliberately closing my eyes to clear my view of
Dylan's adamant expression.

"So,"
deep breath in,
"let me get
this straight."
Deep breath out.
"You do not want me to
become serious about Solomon because...and this is just a stab in
the dark...we could end up having a child together? Did I get it
right?" My voice was dripping with agitation but Dylan nodded
firmly, an unmoving statue.

"Well, it's a little late for that isn't it?
I mean, Cora clearly exists, and
Solomon
is one of the four.
One of the fathers chosen by fate." Pointing this out seemed
weird.