Wonder: A Soul Savers Collection of Holiday Short Stories & Recipes (10 page)

C
hapter 3

Sheree exploded into her tiger form, and Jax followed, taking his alternate form as a white crocodile. Owen threw a shield over me and another over Tristan. We usually waged our own mini-battle before the real one, because everyone wanted me tucked away, coordinating the battle with my mind from a safe distance. But I always refused to leave Tristan, refused to watch helplessly through everyone else’s eyes as I had done the day I’d lost him. We usually ended up compromising—as long as there was a shield over Tristan, I would agree to remain hidden, but not far away.

Today, however, we wouldn’t argue. We didn’t have time, nor near enough soldiers to fight. They needed me out here, too, our second most powerful fighter after Tristan. Dorian was much too close for my comfort, but when I tried to search for his mind signature, I was barely able to find it, he was hidden so well behind a powerful wall of magic. The Daemoni wouldn’t be able to sense him. I hoped.

As the Daemoni approached, I realized the black cloud was not made up by the creatures themselves, but by the dark energy they were producing. They marched on, plowing through trees and the water, destroying anything and everything in their way, which was mostly property belonging to Normans. Boats, cars, even houses exploded with a blast of magic or a powerful punch. If we survived this, we’d have a lot of repairs to make and memories to wipe. If we didn’t survive ... well, God help those Norman souls. They wouldn’t be alive, or at least not Norman, for long.

Some of the Amadis from the colony had gathered outside with us. They weren’t our best fighters, but they knew they had to step up when necessary. Everyone’s eyes fell on me, waiting for the order. I looked over at Tristan one last time, and he gave my hand a squeeze with his own.

“
Let’s do this
,” he said.

As the official leader of our army, the actual command came from me. I silently called it out, ordering Owen and Charlotte to cloak everyone while sending small groups in different directions, using guerrilla warfare to counter the Daemoni’s head-on attack. Thanks to Tristan, I’d been learning all kinds of war strategies, but I never let our mental connection break during a fight, even when I had to mind-speak with others. His logic and strategic planning countered my impulsive tendencies. In other words, he ensured I didn’t screw up.

My core group, sworn to protect royalty—aka, me—stayed near my side. I swiped my finger over the amethyst embedded in my dagger and the knife showed itself on my hip, where it always hung. I unsheathed it while scanning the Amadis mind signatures, then the Daemoni’s, then back to the Amadis. When our soldiers were in place and everything seemed to be going as planned, we charged. Owen and Charlotte lifted the cloaks only at the last second.

The element of surprise worked to our advantage, but not for long. I shot electricity out of my left hand while swinging my dagger with my right, pushing Amadis power through the blade at the same time. Most of my foes retreated, as much afraid of the Amadis power as the electrical current that could fry them to ashes. But they didn’t go far and returned from a different angle. I sliced through them with the silver blade, and they cried out in pain, but they didn’t relent. Not until I blasted them so hard, they had no choice but to flash away.

Tristan fought with brute strength, paralyzing the enemy before crushing them with a blow from his fist. But as more began to swarm on him, he also began using his unique power, blasting them many yards away. Except then they would find whoever was closest and attack. Owen and Charlotte fought hard with their magic, their green and blue lights shooting everywhere while other mages’ retaliated with orange and red spell streaks. Sheree and Jax focused on the were-creatures, and Vanessa on the vampires. The other Amadis used whatever advantage they could get.

But we were so outnumbered.

The Daemoni continued their forward momentum, and we were unable to thwart it. For every push forward we could get them away from the safe house, they pushed us back twice as far. Normans screamed from the beach, from houses and cars, and they scurried for cover indoors. Our mages ensured they remained safe as the Daemoni warlocks tried to blast the houses to kill the people inside. They may have been gaining ground on us, but so far anyway, we hadn’t lost a soul—not an Amadis one, nor a human’s. Seeing that we wouldn’t stop protecting the Normans, the Daemoni turned their full focus on us.

“
Annihilate the entire Amadis colony, then you can take the Normans. Spare no one, not even royalty.
” The same voice, same words echoed through the Daemoni’s minds as I scanned over them, an order they must have received earlier as they prepared their attack. And the voice was familiar, icy, one that sent chills down my spine. It belonged to Lucas, my sperm donor. So much for wanting to bring Tristan, Dorian, and me to his side. He had to have known we were here—why else make the comment about royalty—and he obviously wanted us dead.

In a rare show of unity and cooperation, the Daemoni came together and focused all efforts on us. Their Weres stopped running the beach, their vampires stopped attacking any Normans that remained outside, and their mages ceased throwing magic randomly at houses and Normans’ property. They directed all weapons, whether fangs or claws or magic spells, on the Amadis.

We continued to fight hard and smart, but their sheer numbers had us constantly backing up.

“
Alexis!
” Sheree mind-shouted at me. “
The safe house.
”

I know
. I clenched my teeth to ground out the words, although they came silently. We’d reached the safe house. If we couldn’t hold the Daemoni off and finish this battle, everyone inside would be in danger. Including my son.
Tristan, what do we do?

“
Fight!
” was his only answer.

The Daemoni suddenly seemed like they hadn’t even been really trying before. Dark energy surged through them as they redoubled their efforts. Snapping jaws and swinging fists came at me. I slashed at them with my dagger. Zapped them with electricity. Pushed Amadis power into them, their screams making my blood curdle.

Light-spells blasted all around us. Tree branches snapped and fell. Vampire limbs soared through the air after being snapped off the creatures. The sounds of crashing stones reverberated all around us. Several fires burnt, darkening the sky with their smoke and making my nose twinge.

And we still fought on.

My heart pounded in my ears as I soared for a Daemoni vampire, arcing my silver blade down and into her shoulder, severing her arm. Her red eyes glowed as she glared at me with violent anger before charging at me. I gathered a large bubble of Amadis power within me and pushed it out at her. Her whole body—well, minus the arm—writhed and convulsed. I sent an electric current at her, not relenting even as her pale skin turned purple and an acrid smoke arose. She was barely able to grab her arm before disappearing in a flash.

The fight carried on into the night. Although the Daemoni had numbers on their side, we had more determination, more passion, more heart and soul. We were not only fighting for the Normans, but this time we were also protecting our loved ones and our safe haven. We had more to fight for. Eventually we dwindled their numbers down. We could see victory on the horizon. Maybe it would rise with the sun.

But then ... bright yellow light streaked through the sky. An explosive blast shook the ground and made my ears ring. A plume of flames and smoke shot into the air.

“Tristan!” I yelled.

The safe house. It’d been hit. Hard. And our boy was inside.

I searched for Dorian’s mind signature even as I ran for the mansion. Tristan ran after me while aiming his palm skyward. Then I saw what he had—a Daemoni mage who exuded powerful magic, possibly even a sorcerer, hovering in the sky. Before Tristan could blast his power, though, another shadowy form shot through the dark and plowed into the first.

“Oh, my God,” I whispered, and then I screamed, “Dorian! No!”

He could fly, but we didn’t know what other powers he possessed. Besides self-healing, no others had manifested yet. He had unusual strength and speed—but only unusual compared to Normans. There was no way he could stand up against a Daemoni yet, especially not a mage as powerful as this one.

“Owen,” I called, “he needs
you
!”

Owen ran and leapt, soaring through the air as he blasted a spell at the flying mage. My heart stopped for a moment when I thought it was going to hit Dorian, but my boy twisted in mid-air, and the spell missed him. The blue light smashed into the Daemoni warlock-slash-sorcerer. The form fell to the ground. Owen shot a series of several spells, not relenting until the mage disappeared with a loud
pop
.

The few Daemoni who still remained on the grounds let out a collective gasp. Tristan spun around and hit each of them with his power. They all
popped
away.

My hand flew to my mouth as I stared at the safe house engulfed in flames. Those who had fought were now running inside and pulling people out while mages directed water from the gulf through the air and to the mansion. Dorian landed next to me with a soft swoosh. I pulled him into a tight hug, but I couldn’t tear my eyes away from the destruction all around us. From what I could see with my inhuman vision, even in the darkness, the whole island had practically been destroyed. All of the houses, mansions, condos, and businesses appeared to be nothing but piles of rubble.

And I had no idea how many lives had been lost in the end.

Chapter 4

By the time the sun rose, all of the fires had been extinguished, but devastation surrounded us. The island looked even worse in the morning light than what I’d feared in the dark. It appeared as though a hurricane had blown through. Trees lay on the ground, either uprooted or snapped in half. Every building had suffered damage, with caved-in roofs, shattered windows, and large objects such as cars and boats smashed into them. Some were nothing more than big piles of charred rubble. Bicycles hung in trees, and sand buried the streets.

I’d sat on the safe house’s front lawn, still wiping at the tears that wouldn’t stop, holding Dorian and Tristan for what felt like hours. But the Amadis needed me, so I eventually had to push myself up and tend to their needs. Owen, Charlotte, and Blossom gathered up some of our more powerful mages and set off for the Normans. They fixed what was unexplainable, then altered the Normans’ memories before sending them on their way off-island. The good thing about this being a holiday week was that many of the regular Normans were away, spending the holidays with their families up north.

“There’s just so much in ruins,” I said to Tristan after ensuring that a pair of Were siblings had found each other. “Not even Owen can repair all of this before some Norman starts demanding answers.”

“The Amadis have their ways. We’ll figure it out,
ma lykita
.”

I pushed my hand through my hair and turned to stare at the ruins of the safe house once again. It had suffered the worst damage, and Owen wasn’t sure he’d be able to put it back. Too many of the stones it was built from had disintegrated from the magical explosion.

“
Alexis?
” Blossom’s voice came as a whisper in my mind. “
We’re at your house. You, uh, might want to see this ... or maybe not.
”

My breath caught, and I looked up at Tristan for just a moment before flashing to our house on Sanibel.

“Oh, my God,” I choked out, and more tears sprang to my eyes. Our house—our beautiful little house on the beach—was gone. Leveled. Another of our homes decimated by the Daemoni.

Tristan appeared by my side and pulled me into his arms. “It’s just stuff, my love. The important parts of this home are okay.”

I nodded, my head rubbing against his chest, but I still couldn’t help the flow of tears. This house had been our little sanctuary, away from the demands and controls of the council, a place of our own. We’d bought it knowing life would be tough but hoping we’d always have this place for ourselves, for our family. The extra bedroom held our hope for a daughter to come into our lives. Blossom and I had painted for the first time here, making it into something that was
ours
. Something I’d hoped would be a permanent structure in our lives. But nothing was permanent for us. When would I learn that?

A hand too small to be Tristan’s landed on my back and rubbed up and down. I looked over my shoulder at Blossom, who gave me a sad smile.

“My house is gone, too,” she said, her voice heavy. “But we’re all okay, and that’s what matters.”

“We’ve finished counting heads,” Owen said as he strode up behind her. “All Amadis and Normans accounted for.”

“Injuries?” I asked as I swiped at my eyes and nose.

“A few,” Charlotte said. “Nothing Tristan can’t help heal.”

We spent the remainder of the day fixing people up, then the mages worked on shelters for everyone for the night. Owen and Char put up a shield and cloak over the entire island to give us at least one more night and day before Norman authorities caught on that anything had happened here. That night, as we lay in a tent on the beach, Tristan and I discussed how we should handle those authorities. Times were changing, and we had to be careful, but we couldn’t simply run and hide from them. Not with the war waging around the world. The local authorities needed to understand that they were not immune to the attacks.

I didn’t know how I managed to fall asleep, but my body must have forced me to so it could regenerate. I awoke with the sun shining through our tent’s walls and a chorus of excited voices outside. When I stepped out of the tent with my hand on my forehead and my eyes squinting against the bright vision in front of me, Blossom came running over the sand to me.

“We’re still having Thanksgiving!” she squealed.

My brows pushed together. “Um ...
what?
”

“Aunt Sylvie brought her whole coven, and Christina, a warlock, came, too, to protect them, and they’ve all been working hard on preparing a feast for us!” Blossom continued her gushing. “Isn’t it wonderful? It was so thoughtful of them to come all the way from Daytona, and they found our food that we left in the truck, so they’re working their magic. After everything that happened—”

My eyes widened, and my jaw dropped. “After everything that happened, I think this is the
last
thing we should be doing.”

“What? We don’t deserve a victory party?” Owen asked, sauntering up from behind our tent with Vanessa at his side.

“A victory party?” I repeated in disbelief.

“Yeah, we still won,” Jax said as he draped an arm over Blossom’s shoulder.

“And the food’s practically ready. Everyone’s pretty excited for it,” Charlotte said, walking up to join us.

“
Excited?
” I blinked. My mouth gaped, closed, gaped again, like a fish. Sure, we’d run the Daemoni off, but what exactly had we won? “They want to
celebrate
?”

“Why not?” Tristan asked as he stepped through the tent’s door and stood by my side. “They deserve it, Lex.”

“There’s so much to be grateful for,” Sheree agreed, the last of my core group to join us.

My head snapped toward the ruins of the safe house—the one place everyone here had relied on for security. Now it was gone. I lifted my arms and swept my hands out, gesturing to all of the destruction. My house, Blossom’s house, Owen’s condo, everywhere the Amadis people had lived and worked had been damaged or even destroyed.

“What could they be thankful for?” I whispered, the question more to myself than anyone else.

“Well, I’m thankful we still have our strongest warlocks to keep us protected,” Vanessa answered anyway as she took Owen’s hand in one of hers and Charlotte’s in the other.

“I’m thankful for a chance at friendship ... and something more,” Jax said, tightening his hold on Blossom.

“Me, too,” the witch replied to him before her gaze skimmed over all of us. “I’m thankful for
all
of you.”

“I’m thankful for second chances and people who really care,” Sheree said. She moved up to stand between Blossom and me and took each of our hands into hers.

“I’m thankful for you and Dad and Sasha,” Dorian declared as he and the lykora ran up to us. He threw his arms around Tristan and me.

Tears stung my eyes by now.

“I’m thankful for a strong leader who brought us to victory,” Tristan said as he pulled me into his arms.

“Here, here!” cheered a crowd of Amadis that had gathered around, including Blossom’s Aunt Sylvie and several witches and wizards I’d never met yet.

My heart swelled as emotions crashed over me. My mind, always alert these days, listened as everyone mentally counted their blessings.

“
I’m thankful for an excellent leadership team
,” one thought. Although many others’ echoed hers, I searched this one’s out. A warlock I didn’t know yet, but the one Blossom had called Christina, tall with light brown hair and brown eyes deeply focused on Tristan. Maybe it was the mischievous little smirk on her face and in her voice that caught my attention. “
I’m especially thankful to set my eyes on this man. He’s so lickalicious.
”

I couldn’t help the giggle as I looked up at my husband. He
was
lickalicious. But licking would have to wait.

“What are you thankful for, Mom?” Dorian asked as he studied both of us.

A grin stretched across my face, and I lifted my arm to indicate everyone, although my eyes never left Tristan’s hazel ones that sparkled beautifully. “For
all
of you!”

Then I wrapped my arm around my son and the other around my husband and pulled them both into a group hug.

Especially for my men
, I thought to both of them.

“So we can have our Thanksgiving?” Blossom asked, hope overflowing in her question.

I looked around at all of the faces, young and old, some magical humans, others were-animals and vampires, all of them full of gratitude and love. We may have lost everything material—our homes, our belongings, even our safe house—but we still had what mattered more than anything: our lives and our loved ones.

“Who am I to stop you?” I asked with a smile, and the crowd erupted in cheers.

So we ate, drank, and were merry with a Thanksgiving feast like no other spread out on the beach of Captiva Island. Blossom had worked so hard with the others on decorations that were now ashes. She didn’t get to bake the twelve cakes she’d had planned. Tristan and I didn’t get to spend hours in the kitchen together cooking up a storm like old times. But the food was delicious and the company extra special.

“Best Thanksgiving ever!” Dorian exclaimed at one point, and everyone lifted their glasses to toast their agreement.

Later that night, just before ducking into our tent for bed, Tristan whispered something to Owen. The warlock nodded and flicked his hand toward our tent, before calling Dorian over to him. He took our son and walked down the beach toward his own tent. I looked at Tristan and tilted my head with curiosity. He grabbed my hand and pulled me into the tent. As soon as he zipped it closed, all of the sounds outside fell away.

“Owen muffled our tent?” I asked as excitement zinged through me.

Tristan gave me his most sublime grin. “Since today’s all about counting our blessings, I thought it only right to show what I’m most grateful for.”

“Oh, yeah?” I gave him a teasing smile. “And what is that?”

He yanked me closer to him and bent his head so his lips grazed my neck. “My wife,” he murmured, and in a flurry of movement, he had me undressed. “And her naked body.”

“Mmm ...” was all I could muster as his lips and hands explored, and my body immediately reacted. But before he brought me down on knocking knees, I tore off his clothes as quickly as he’d done mine. “And I’m thankful for this lickaliciousness.”

He pulled away and gave me a strange look. “This what?”

“Nothing,” I said with a giggle as I pulled him down on top of me. “Now show me how grateful you can be.”

And he did. And all night we shouted out our thanks as we counted multiple blessings together. It really was the best Thanksgiving ever.