Magic Resistant (20 page)

Reluctantly releasing her, he said, “Be safe
and come home to me.”

Chapter
Seventeen

JULIA EXITED THE
bus, Dawn’s house less than a block away. Feeling bold and daring,
she chanced the exposure and walked the rest of the way. Thanks to
Revenant’s apparent protection, she made it there undisturbed.

She stopped for a moment to admire Dawn’s
house. A gorgeous, two-story Victorian home with a soaring turret
in the back. The dark burgundy with pale green trim suited the
house. Bold, yet unassuming. A sprawling, immaculate lawn dominated
by large oak trees that attempted to hide the house but didn’t
quite manage it. Shrubs lined the property to create a natural
fence.

Steel shutters covered all the windows.
During the day, they kept sunlight from creeping in. Summer, a
frustrating time for a vampire; the sun didn’t set until well past
nine.

The art show, however, wasn’t until ten
o’clock, giving them enough time to make a fashionably late
entrance.

Eager to see her friend, Julia showed up
mid-afternoon.

And
, she thought wryly,
it’d take a
fair bit of time and effort to make me sexy and
eye-catching.

She strode along the cobblestone path,
enjoying the riot of flowers surrounding her. It was like being
transported to a magical fairyland, one without the vicious, cruel
Fae. Instead it ended with a friend who happened to be a
bloodthirsty vampire.

The doorbell rang throughout the house,
announcing her arrival. Smiling broadly, she waved to the security
camera. Tiny and unobtrusive, she wouldn’t have found it if Dawn
hadn’t pointed it out to her ages ago. It vetted all the visitors.
Her friend refused to be caught flat-footed again.

Tales of running from rampaging villagers
caused Julia nightmares and she wasn’t the one who’d lived through
it. She couldn’t imagine having to flee her home, watching it burn
to the ground. Even worse, having friends who didn’t make it, ones
who’d died due to fear and hatred.

The magic resistant must’ve experienced the
same horror.

She shivered in the muggy heat.

The click of the lock scattered her
disturbing thoughts. Dawn’s housekeeper opened the door wide, a
discrete smile showing her joy. Sarah believed she was to make
Dawn’s life easier and be as unobtrusive as possible, to act as the
perfect servant.

Another door stood directly behind her, this
one with a steel core instead of a hollow one. Julia once made the
mistake of knocking on it, a move her knuckles still hadn’t
forgiven her for. Setup as a security precaution, it guaranteed
sunlight never made its way inside and kept out intruders.

“Hi Sarah. You’re looking well.” She smiled
wide at the housekeeper. For as long as Julia had known Dawn,
Sarah’s worked for her. The passing of years slowly crept up on
her. Her light brown hair was turning grey, fine lines had appeared
around her grey eyes and she had a slight rounding to her
shoulders, but she had a healthy, vibrant glow. She was a woman who
loved and enjoyed life.

Sarah embraced Julia then chided, “I’m so
happy to see you. Dawn’s been out of her mind with worry. She
almost cried in relief when you called.”

Guilt scratched at her, an angry kitten
demanding attention. Somehow, she should’ve gotten word to her.

She drew back to look at Julia. “Come, you
can also meet her nephew.”

The last bit said with some distaste, though
Sarah was too proper and well-trained to gossip about her employer.
Confused, Julia wondered about this person. When did Dawn get a
nephew? Granted, it had been a few months since they last saw each
other, however, they kept in touch via texts and email. Not once
had she mentioned a nephew.

She shrugged and figured she’d find out soon
enough. Following Sarah to the library, she let her gaze wander.
Dawn’s house was full of priceless paintings, sculptures and other
artifacts, collected during her long life. They showed the history
of her travels. Greek, Roman, Russian, Indian, Japanese, Australian
and finally North American cultures all represented. Dawn had come
to Canada in the early 1900s, after she’d explored everything the
other continents had to offer. She once explained to Julia that
living here for the past thirty years in this home was the longest
she’d ever managed to stay in one place. Toronto constantly changed
and had enough vitality to keep her settled - for now, at
least.

They passed by the formal dining room on one
side and the sitting room on the other side of the hallway. They
continued on until they arrived at Dawn’s favourite room, the
library. The impressive room took up the entire back half of the
house. Julia loved this room, filled with rare and exotic books,
many written in languages now long dead.

The same thought she always had popped into
her mind. Exactly how old was Dawn? She never got a straight answer
whenever she asked.

Sometimes, Dawn claimed to be barely a
century old and then in the next breath discussed Roman gladiators
she’d met. An intriguing puzzle for Julia to figure out and a
favourite pastime for the both of them. Julia would ask questions
and then decide if Dawn truthfully answered her. She still had no
clue if Dawn had met Socrates and Genghis Khan, if she’d visited
Rome before it burned or watched as they built London Bridge over
the River Thames.

Even with the steel shutters down, the room
was bright and cheerful. Vivid sunrises, oceanscapes and lush
forests painted on the shutters brought the forbidden sunlit world
to Dawn. Some, she said, done from memories, others from movies or
pictures.

Her friend sat in the middle of the room in
an overstuffed leather chair, legs dangling over one arm. Julia
wasn’t sure which book she read, written in a language unknown to
her. Some days she regretted having her earring imbued with only
spoken language and not written as well. A difficult spell to cast
though, never mind making it permanent in a gemstone.

Dawn tilted her book downwards and raised a
perfectly arched eyebrow.

“I’m so sorry I worried you.”

“You should be. I hate losing my pets. As a
mage, you’re to last longer than a human pet.” Said partly in jest,
Julia heard the grain of truth to her words. As the other races had
much shorter lifespan (eighty or so years for humans and a few
millennia for a mage), it was easy to see why she viewed them as
pets instead of peers. Dawn refused to befriend either demons or
Fae, said they were nasty, backstabbing, vile creatures.
Werewolves, she was indifferent to, not caring for them one way or
the other.

Placing the book on the arm of the chair,
Dawn stood up and glided over to Julia. No other words described it
so accurately. Graceful, beautiful, a regal queen walking among
commoners. She was a tiny goddess, barely hitting 4’11”. Her thick
black hair cascaded over her shoulders, falling down to the small
of her back. Her creamy chocolate skin held no hint of age, free of
wrinkles and blemishes.

Julia deduced she’d been in her early
twenties when she’d turned into a vampire; from royal
lineage
due to the pampering of her skin. The hard
life of a peasant would have shown through even at such a young
age. Again though, Dawn wasn’t telling.

Years ago, Julia had stuffed aside her
feelings of inadequacy when compared to the tiny vampire. There was
no comparison. Few could even hope to compare to Dawn so no point
in suffering from envy. Sometimes, though, she indulged in wishful
thinking and daydreamed about having long black hair and silky
brown skin.

A man near one of the bookcases detached
himself from the shadows. He hardly made an impression on her
peripheral vision. She almost jumped but was too well-trained to
betray her emotion.

How odd. She hadn’t sensed him, only Dawn’s
presence in the room. Very unusual, almost like he masked himself
from her. Now that she was aware of him, she could feel his
signature. Human, a regular human. She opened herself up a little
more and could sense no spell energy on him, nor any residue. Why
was he blocked from her? Curious...

As he came closer, she noted he was
unremarkable, an ordinary person. As someone overlooked most of her
life for the same reason, she empathized with him.

Then he smiled at her, a slow, disturbing
smile, like he knew an awful secret she didn’t and all her empathy
for him disappeared. She wanted to yell for Dawn to run, to stay
away from this vile human, except he’d done nothing but smile.

Pushing aside her uneasy feelings, she fell
into her training - calm, neutral and friendly until circumstances
dictated otherwise. She made a mental note to keep defensive spells
ready and perhaps a painful offensive spell as well. None of this
showed on her face; the schooling too deeply ingrained. Only
another Enforcer would have detected the change in her.

She smiled back and held out a hand to shake
his even while her whole being violently rejected touching him. She
honestly had no idea why she reacted so strongly to him. His
unremarkable short blondish hair, light brown eyes and somewhat
pleasant looking face held no hint of malice, nothing about him
screamed “Murderer, sadist!”

Even his handshake non-threatening, a firm,
dry grasp. He didn’t try the over-squeeze, nor was it a limp shake.
Respectable and a few seconds long.

“Hi, I’m Brian, Dawn’s nephew.” His voice
even-toned, friendly and, this time, his smile more inviting. “You
must be Julia. Dawn’s told me all about you. You’re one of her
favourite people.”

Julia glanced to Dawn who smiled a little
dreamy, “Yes, a favourite. And you’re my favourite nephew. I love
having you here and I hope you never leave me.”

“I didn’t know you had a nephew. Did you
recently find each other?” Curiosity uncoiled, a beast hungry for
information. Why hadn't Dawn told her about Brian? Sure, she didn’t
expect every detail about Dawn’s life laid out for her, but she
figured this was the kind of big news shared among friends.

“Oh, Brian found me.” Again, Dawn seemed a
little unfocused, drifting in her own world. “He showed up a few
months back with some genealogy papers showing how we’re related.
He’s a great, great, great, and so on, nephew. Such a fascinating
read. I asked him to stay. He’s been such a big help around here,
taking care of me.”

Julia’s suspicion piqued at those words. Dawn
was centuries old, if not a millennia or two. No way did she need a
short-lived human to help her with everyday life. She was about to
inquire when Dawn snapped back to her usual self.

“Oh Julia, I can’t wait to play dress-up with
you. I’ve been itching for ages to get my hands on you. Now, you
agree I get full rein, right?” The giddy, happy smile distracted
Julia.

This was more like her friend and her
happiness was infectious. Pushing Brian to the back corner of her
mind, she meekly followed Dawn to the stairs.

“I couldn’t help myself. I peeked at the
dress. It’s simply gorgeous and I can’t wait to see you in it. It’s
about time you played up that sexy body. And speaking of sexy body,
who’s the man?” The impish smile lit up Dawn’s face, transforming
her into a young teenager, wiping the world-weary look from her
golden eyes.

Julia gawked at her. “What do you mean?”

“Oh, come on, I may be old, but I’m not
brain-dead. First off, you're glowing and happy under your stoic
Enforcer glare and second, my sense of smell is a hundred times
better than yours. You’d be amazed at what I can tell by scent
alone.” She grinned mischievously. “So, spill it. Who is he? Anyone
I know?”

Julia snickered. “Well, I’m not sure if you
know him, but you’ve definitely heard of him. He’s a little
notorious.” She wasn’t above teasing Dawn with information. After
all, Dawn loved to do the same to her.

“Ooh, notorious. Those are the best kind.
Wait, holy crap, no! Seriously? Are you telling me this whole time
you’ve been missing, it’s because you’ve been hiding in a love
nest? Naughty!”

Delighted laughter filled the air. Dawn
didn’t have much use for toeing the line. If people believe Jackson
kidnapped her and instead had been out living it up, that was fine
in her books.

“No!” Julia couldn’t contain her own
horrified chuckle. The notion of disappearing without informing
anyone too absurd. “While he did abduct me, it was a
misunderstanding. He didn’t mean to. He was trying to save my life.
One thing lead to another and well...” She trailed off.

“You don’t need to draw me a picture.” Dawn
winked at her. “However, I wouldn’t object if you did. So tell me,
how’s he in bed? Did he learn any interesting moves from an
incubus?”

“Dawn! You’re incorrigible! No, he hasn’t
learned anything of the sort. Well, at least I don't think he has.
Either way, amazing.” Julia leaned against the staircase wall.

A fit of uncontrollable giggles overtook her.
How she’d missed her friend. So little ruffled her.

“Hmm, or better yet, does he know an incubus
he could introduce me to? I’ve never been with one before and I bet
it’d be one hell of an experience. Plus, he wouldn’t drain any life
from me because I’m already dead.” She had that glint in her eye
showing she was half-joking.

Julia shook her head. “I’m not helping you to
seduce an incubus. Poor thing wouldn’t know what hit him. He’d end
up infatuated with you and then he’d be the laughing-stock of the
demon world.”

“Me?” Dawn gazed at her innocently, batting
her long lashes and playing up the sweetness inherent in her
youthful face. “Why I would never to do that.”

She ruined the whole act by cracking up,
unable to contain her mirth. “Oh, do you remember the one poor
fellow sent to kill me? He took one look at me and assumed I needed
protection, not assassination. He had no clue I could have killed
him before he even realized he was dead.”