Relentless (10 page)

18. FAMILY SHARING

RAVE LOWERED LEESA
to the ground at the edge of the woods not too far from her mom’s apartment complex. Holding hands, they walked the rest of the way as the sun disappeared from sight beyond the western horizon.

At the front door, Leesa knocked twice and then twisted the doorknob. It wasn’t locked, so she pushed the door open and stepped inside.

“Company,” she called in a sing-song tone.

Bradley poked his head out from his room. “Pumpkin!”

He strode across the living room to embrace Leesa, but she held out her hand to stop him.

“No hugging,” she said. “At least not for now. And don’t get too close.”

Bradley looked perplexed as he took a step back. “Okaaaaay…. I’m sure you must have a good reason why your big brother can’t give you a hug.”

Leesa nodded. “I do.”

“Mom’s in the shower,” Bradley said. “Is she expecting you? She didn’t say anything about you guys coming by for dinner.”

“No. We didn’t know we were coming until a little while ago. Rave’s going to be leaving, but I’m going to spend the night. I’ve got something to tell you and Mom, plus I need to use your computer.”

Bradley studied Leesa’s face. “So, are you going to tell me what’s going on?”

“It’s a little bit complicated,” Leesa replied. “Can you wait until Mom’s here? So I only have to explain it once?”

Concerned for his sister, Bradley didn’t really want to wait, but he knew it would be easier for Leesa.

“Sure, no problem.” He nodded toward the couch. “Make yourself at home. We can chat until Mom’s ready.”

“I’ll be going now,” Rave said. He turned and gave Leesa a kiss on the cheek. “I’ll be back tomorrow afternoon, right?”

“Yep. That’ll be perfect.”

“I’ll see you both tomorrow, then.”

Leesa saw Rave to the door, then sat down on the couch. Bradley settled down beside her and the two exchanged small talk for fifteen minutes or so until their mom emerged from her room, wearing a casual blue skirt and pale yellow top. Her short hair still wet.

She stopped short and her face broke into a big smile when she saw Leesa. “Sweetheart! What a nice surprise.” Judy glanced around the room. “Where’s Rave?”

“He didn’t stay,” Leesa replied. “He just dropped me off. I’ll be spending the night.”

Judy perched on the edge of the recliner, a worried look on her face. “What’s going on? Is something wrong?”

Leesa smiled. “That’s what Bradley asked. Can’t a girl just want to spend a night with her family?”

Judy smiled back. “Not a girl who’s as in love with her husband as you are with Rave. So, what’s up?”

Leesa took a moment to gather her thoughts. “It’s nothing serious,” she began. “At least, not yet. But Rave and I don’t want to take any chances. It’s a little bit complicated, so bear with me.”

Judy and Bradley listened intently as Leesa began her story.

“Remember how I told you that the little guy is getting a bit frisky? Well, it’s become more than that. This afternoon, his magic leaked out again. This time it had a real effect, damaging a mountain laurel branch I was working on.”

“Damaged how?” Bradley asked.

“I had just made some flowers bloom on it when a bunch of green bolts—like miniature lightning bolts—shot from my stomach. The blossoms shriveled up and dropped off, and the leaves turned brown and brittle.”

Leesa watched her mom, certain that her reaction would be stronger than Bradley’s.

“Oh, no…that’s terrible,” Judy said, her face a mask of concern. “And you had no control over it?”

Leesa shook her head. “No, Mom. It wasn’t my magic. And it happened so suddenly I didn’t have time to do anything about it.”

Bradley recognized the implications of what Leesa had just recounted more clearly than his mom did.

“So the magic has become dangerous,” he said, “for anyone who might be standing in front of you at the wrong time. That’s why you wouldn’t let me hug you.”

Judy covered her mouth in dismay with her hand as she realized what Bradley was saying.

“Yeah,” Leesa said. “I’m going to have to be very careful. No hugging… and no getting too close to anyone. At least not until I figure out a way to shield it.”

“Do you think you can?” Judy asked. “Figure out a way to shield it, I mean?”

Leesa had been asking herself that very same question. “I don’t know, Mom. I haven’t really had much chance to even think about it, let alone try anything.”

“Well, pardon my French,” Judy said, frowning. She settled back farther into the recliner. “But not being able to give my daughter a hug sucks.”

Leesa grinned. ‘Sucks’ was about as bad as her mom’s language ever got.

“Well, there’s some good news, too,” she said, “in a way at least.”

Judy’s mood perked up. “Really? What is it?”

“Rave and I have to move. I’m not sure where yet, but it will be certainly be closer to you guys.”

“HAVE to move?” Bradley asked. “Why? The volkaanes aren’t kicking you two out, are they? Can’t they handle a little baby magic?”

Leesa shook her head. “No, of course they’re not kicking us out. None of them even know about it yet, though I imagine Rave will tell Balin as soon as he sees him.”

“So, why the move?” Bradley persisted.

“It’s the baby’s magic again,” Leesa explained. “There’s a very powerful magic slumbering deep in the earth beneath the volkaane settlement. Wizard magic risks awakening it. Dominic warned me not to chance waking it, so I never practice my magic anywhere near the village. But I can’t control when the baby’s magic might erupt, so I can’t take the chance of being there anymore. That’s why I’m staying here tonight.”

“What kind of magic lies beneath the settlement?” Bradley asked. “Black magic like that Necromancer guy you told us about?”

Leesa bent her legs up under her on the couch. “I don’t know what kind, exactly. Dominic called it a ‘fell power.’ He said it was far stronger than any magic he had ever sensed. Have either of you ever heard of the Moodus Noises?”

Bradley and Judy looked at each other blankly, then both shook their heads.

“Never,” Judy said. “What are they?”

“Unexplained rumbling noises beneath the earth near the Moodus River. They’ve been happening for hundreds of years. They’re even mentioned in old Indian legends. No one’s ever been able to explain the noises, though scientists have tried. If we’d grown up in Connecticut, we would have learned about them in school. Dominic said they’re probably caused by the fell power stirring in its sleep.”

A strange look passed over Bradley’s face, sort of a combination of surprise and wistfulness.

“What is it, Bradley?” Leesa asked.

“Oh, nothing really. I was just thinking about how when I got here to Weston, I never dreamed there was so much supernatural stuff going on all around. Vampires, volkaanes, wizardry, and now some kind of immense magical power under the earth.”

“You and me both, Big Bro,” Leesa said, smiling. “You and me both. But to be fair, there weren’t any wizards around here until I showed up. That’s the only thing that brought Dominic to Connecticut.”

Judy shook her head slowly and sighed. “I didn’t know about most of this stuff until you told me a few days ago. It sounded like it was all under control. The bad guys were gone, Stefan has put all of us off limits to the vampires, and you and Rave had pretty much figured things out. Now my grandson-to-be is playing magical tricks and there’s some mysterious power under the ground that’s dangerous enough to make you and Rave have to move. I can’t help wondering what’s next.”

Leesa got up and sat on the arm on the recliner. She rested her hand on her mom’s shoulder.

“I know, Mom. I was kind of hoping the only magic I needed to worry about was my own, practicing and getting better at it. Getting pregnant so quickly sure has changed that. I wouldn’t change it for the world, though.”

Judy put her hand atop Leesa’s. “Me either. I can’t wait to be a grandmother. This time, I’ll be able to do things properly right from the start, not like with you and Bradley.” She smiled wistfully. “I just hope I’ll be able to hold the little guy eventually.”

“I hope you can, too,” Leesa said. “By then, I hope I’ll have figured something out.”

19. SWELLING

LEESA AND RAVED MOVED
into a small, one-bedroom cottage Leesa found that very first night she searched the computer. The place was perfect. Less than two miles from her mom’s apartment, the house had originally served as servants’ quarters on a wealthy estate back in the early 1900’s. The property had long since been subdivided, and the white wooden bungalow was isolated from the rest of the property by a tall hedge that would keep outside eyes from seeing any accidental displays of their baby’s magic.

Even better, the cottage’s grassy back yard bordered on a large swath of woods, allowing Rave to carry Leesa wherever they were going almost from the moment they stepped out the back door. Two tall oak trees on either side of the yard provided shade.

Despite the white wood exterior badly needing a fresh coat of paint, Leesa and Rave decided to take the place almost as soon as they saw it. Leesa gave the owner, an elderly widower with a spry step and a warm smile, six months rent in cash out of money she had banked from selling some of Dominic’s gold coins. The advance payment kept the man from asking for references or even ID from Rave. Leesa and Rave had moved in that very day.

The place was unfurnished, except for the small kitchen, which Rave avoided completely. The room was too tiny for him to maintain a safe enough distance to avoid shorting out any of the appliances, which consisted of a refrigerator, a small stove and a microwave. Leesa hadn’t minded living in the volkaane settlement—she didn’t care about not having a television or stereo—but she was pretty happy to have a refrigerator again. The microwave would come in handy, too.

They brought their sleeping mat and a wooden table and chair set from their previous home, and Leesa found a couple of cushioned chairs at a nearby garage sale to place in the living room for when they had guests. She stuck the end table she and Cali had rescued from the side of the road in a corner of the room, out of the way but where it could easily be dragged out and used if needed.

All in all, she was extremely pleased with their new home. Rave seemed to be as well, though she knew he could be comfortable anywhere. She could, too, as long as they were together. Their extended stay in a cave in the mountains of New Hampshire the year before had proven that.

Leesa had taken to maintaining an air shield around her midsection when she was awake. She didn’t know if the shield would block her son’s magic, and the only way to find out was to have one in place the next time his magic erupted, even if she and Rave were alone. Since she didn’t know when the magic might appear, she simply created a shield as soon as she woke up each morning.

The first day, she had wrapped the shield close around her, almost like an extra layer of clothing. She soon learned that the barrier trapped her body heat inside it, so she now positioned the shield about two inches out from her body, which allowed her heat to ventilate. A byproduct of constantly maintaining the shield was that she had grown quite proficient at it. Once the most difficult spell for her to master, she was now able to keep one in place all day without even thinking about it.

Five uneventful days passed before the next surprise. It occurred overnight, and Rave watched it happen.

Leesa slept on her back, as always now. Sleeping in any other position had become uncomfortable. Rave lay beside her, his gaze alternating between her lovely profile and the slow rise and fall of her stomach. It was well past midnight before he noticed the change.

At first, he wasn’t certain if his eyes were playing tricks on him. Each time Leesa’s belly rose, it seemed to rise just a bit farther. And each time it fell, it seemed to drop a little bit less.

Rave watched more closely. It took almost fifteen minutes before he could be sure, but finally, there was no doubt. Leesa’s stomach was expanding—very, very slowly, but growing nonetheless, right before his eyes.

Rave rose silently to his feet and used his fingertip to ignite two candles, so Leesa would not open her eyes to darkness when he woke her. He placed both on the floor on Leesa’s side of the mat before returning to his place on the other side.

Sitting next to her, he gently shook her shoulder. He spoke softly, so as not to alarm her.

“Leesa, wake up.”

Leesa opened her eyes groggily. She used the knuckles of her first two fingers to wipe the sleep from her eyes.

“What is it? Is something wrong?”

Rave kept his hand lightly upon Leesa’s shoulder. “I’m not sure. There’s something you need to see.”

Leesa turned her head, glancing around their dimly lit bedroom.

“What? I don’t see anything.”

“Not out there.” Rave moved his hand to Leesa’s stomach. “Here. It’s growing.”

Leesa browed furrowed. She didn’t understand.

“Of course it’s growing. I’m pregnant, remember?”

Rave’s lips curled into an amused half smile. “Yeah, I remember. But I’m not being clear enough. For the last fifteen minutes or so, I’ve been WATCHING your stomach grow.”

Leesa pushed herself up onto her elbow and looked at her stomach more closely. It was hard to tell for sure in the candlelight, but her belly did seem larger than she remembered from yesterday. She might have thought it was just a trick of the flickering light, except for Rave’s assertion that he had watched her belly grow. She trusted his eyesight, and she trusted him. He would not have said it—would not have woken her—if it wasn’t so.

She reached out and grabbed one of the candlesticks. Holding it close to her body, she focused her eyes on her stomach. There was no doubt. She had gone to bed barely showing that she was pregnant—in clothes, most people would not have noticed at all—but now the signs were clear. Somehow, it had all happened in one night. 

She handed the candle to Rave. “Let me check on him.”

Leesa closed her eyes and turned her concentration inward toward the fetus, using the special bond between them to make certain her baby was all right.

Sensing that everything was fine, she opened her eyes.

“He’s fine,” she assured Rave. “Bigger than yesterday, for sure, but fine.”

“And his mother?”

Leesa smiled. “She’s fine, too. No worries.”

Rave put his arm around Leesa’s shoulders and she snuggled against him.

“I was kind of expecting some kind of growth spurt,” she said, “given that you volkaanes come out after only six months.” She rubbed her belly with her hand. “But I wasn’t expecting it to happen overnight. No wonder you were concerned.”

Rave put the candle down on the floor and placed his hand atop Leesa’s. “We may develop more quickly than human babies, but I’m pretty sure you can’t actually see the growth happen. It was a bit unsettling to watch, to say the least.”

“I imagine it was. You were probably worried our son would just burst out of me, like in one of those Alien movies.”

Rave looked at her blankly. Leesa grinned.

“Sorry. I forget sometimes that you’ve never seen a movie.” She started to explain the reference, but decided it wasn’t worth it, especially since the image of an alien monster exploding out of a human chest was not the most pleasant one, given the circumstances.

“Never mind,” she said. “The growth spurt is over, for now, anyhow.”

Keeping hold of Rave’s hand, she lifted their hands away from her stomach. “I kind of like seeing a bit of a bulge down there. It makes the whole thing seem more real.”

Rave raised his eyebrows. “Green magic leaking from your stomach isn’t real enough?” he asked lightheartedly.

Leesa squeezed his hand. “Oh, that’s real, for sure. But it’s magical real.” She put their clasped hands back onto her stomach. “This is a normal real. I much prefer this kind.”