Chapter 15 - Power
The magic called to him, wafting through the air with a potency that could not be ignored. All afternoon, the power of it vibrated throughout the house, as if embedded deep at its very core. As if the brick of the foundation were mortared by the lifeblood of his people.
That night while Charlie slumbered blissfully unaware in his bed, Matt crept up the attic stairs, reminiscent of a thief in the night, searching for the source of the disturbance. Time was not on his side. There were only minutes before Seth returned to the property after his evening run. For hours, he'd waited patiently, biding his time until Leah drove Billy home and the young wolf departed.
She had shown up like a miracle from the gods the night before, bursting through the door in her usual impetuous fashion, baby brother in tow, barking out orders at him as though he were no more than a mere child. It was the first time Matt had seen the male shapeshifter and if Seth Clearwater carried any suspicions regarding him, or if Leah had confided hers, neither the young man's face nor his demeanor betrayed them.
There was something about Leah which Matt found attractive. Not only was she just as alluring as many of the goddesses he'd met, but there was a ferocity in her nature which had nothing to do with outward appearances or the fact that she could physically transform into a wolf at will. If forced to explain it, he would probably attribute it to the fire which burned in her eyes. It spoke of a woman who knew her mind and the power she wielded over mankind. If Leah were to stand shoulder to shoulder with his people, the soles of her feet would be washed clean by the dozens who would beg to do her bidding. Leah Clearwater embodied all that was revered by the sidhe, both good and bad. When her destiny as shaman to the Quileutes was fulfilled, she would be powerful indeed.
Almost as soon as she'd walked in the door, Matt observed Leah's keen sense of smell in the slight flare of her nostrils. A traded glance with her brother, indicated they both knew something was wrong. In an unrehearsed but well put together play, which Matt had to admit amused him enormously, Seth's huge body crowded between Billy and Charlie, jarring the latter's shoulder so badly that he noticeably winced with pain.
Hands on her hips, Leah shouted at her baby brother in mock anger. "Damnit, Seth! You're twenty-years old!" she blustered. "When are you going to outgrow this awkward, clumsy teenager bit?" Leah patted Charlie's injured shoulder a bit harder than she normally would have. "I'm so sorry," she gushed. "It looks like that really hurt. Why don't you let me call my mom so she can check your stitches."
Within twenty minutes and under heavy protest from Charlie declaring he was fine, Sue Clearwater breezed through the front door. Her calm insistence led to Charlie being seated at the kitchen table without really realizing how he'd gotten there. Then she proceeded to peel off his bandages revealing an ugly, festering wound. Sue clicked her tongue and shook her head. "I just don't understand. The antibiotics they sent you home with should be preventing this from happening."
Turning six shades of red, he looked at her as innocently as a lamb, pulling on a dejected face as though his own body had unwittingly betrayed him.
In the living room, Leah ordered Seth and Matt to bodily move Billy from the couch. Then proceeding to tear off the cushions, Leah searched like a woman possessed, only to come up empty-handed and cussing like a sailor. When she began to replace the cushions, one nicely manicured fingernail snagged on the zipper, tearing it sideways and causing her to curse violently once again. That was when her keen eyes caught sight of something between the fabric and metal teeth. The source of the odor that she kept smelling.
Charlie's hidden stash of pills.
White tablets, red and yellow gel capsules and little pink sleep aids spilled outward in a rainbow of sticky color. Scooping them up, she marched into the kitchen, dumping them unceremoniously on the table. "Care to explain this, Chief?"
Charlie Swan looked very much like the thief who wasn't sorry he stole, but was extremely upset about getting caught. Leah's mouth turned up in a wicked grin. Not for nothing, had she helped her mother during her teenage years on the reservation. In fact, Leah Clearwater was as capable of dressing and stitching up wounds as any veteran nurse. "That looks pretty infected," she announced. "I'll get the sponge."
Appearing two seconds later with Sue's medical kit, she yanked out a seemingly harmless looking sponge with a triumphant look. Neither woman said a word about the pills laying scattered across the table and neither made a move to clean them up. Yet, when Leah began to scrub the incision, Charlie swore loudly, swearing the piece of foam was made of sandpaper.
"Don't you dare cuss at my daughter! This is your own fault," admonished Sue. "If you hadn't been lying and hiding those pills then this would never have happened. Now I get to explain to Bella why her father nearly died of septic shock."
Leah smothered a smile over her mom's highly painted exaggeration. Charlie had a long way to go before something like that happened. In fact, he would have been in so much pain in another day or two that he would have willingly dragged himself through the emergency room doors shouting for help. As it was, he deserved a good scare for pulling the kind of crap expected out of a small child. A little white lie never hurt anybody, she reasoned, determining in this case that the culprit deserved it.
Sue rummaged around in her bag, pulling out a long, fat needle along with a clear, glass vial of liquid.
"What's that for?" Charlie asked, clearly worried as to where she was going to stick it.
Leah's breath blew past his ear like a haunted wind on All Hallow's Eve. "Bend over and suck it up, Swan."
Not long after Charlie was fast asleep. Amid many protests, he struggled as Matt and Seth held him firmly down while Sue administered one shot and then another. The second contained liquid painkiller bringing near instant sleep much to everybody's relief. Charlie's head began to loll to the side before reaching the top of the stairs. Billy sat on the couch, shaking his head over his friend's stubborn nature and extreme stupidity until Leah offered to take him home, telling him to consider this a lesson well learned in humility. Nobody put it past him to do the same thing one day.
After a time, the house grew quiet. Matt chatted amiably with both mother and son, excitedly discussing plans for the new gallery and what it could mean for indigenous peoples of the area. When Sue announced she was tired, he too agreed that it was becoming late and time for bed. Bella would not be back before morning, if even then.
To Matts great dismay, Seth offered to stay as well, opting to sleep on the couch. Laying awake in Bella's bed, Matt waited impatiently for the wolf to rise within the young man, forcing him to respond to the thousand-year-old gut instinct and the built-in need to protect. Finally, the sound of a door clicked in place then through the window Matt watched as Seth strode across the moonlit yard, shedding his clothes behind him before bounding into the trees to become one with the wolf.
Time was not on his side. Ten minutes, give or take, was all that was needed for Seth to ascertain the security of the home and become comfortable with his surroundings. Ten minutes, no more, to mark his scent, warding off predators from the inherent need to protect the slumbering occupants from danger. Matt threw the comforter aside, stealing quietly into the deserted hallway.
Matt's fairy lineage enabled his footfalls to remain silent as he glided over the old wood floors. But the rusty hinges on the attic door protested loudly upon being disturbed. Only opening it barely enough to slip inside, he stepped lightly, climbing upward to find the source of the magic concealed within.
His eyes adjusted automatically to the darkness, needing no light to see. The senses of the fae being sharper than any of those in the supernatural world. They were the fount from which all mythical beings were derived, the gifts of their people given freely and sometimes stolen by force to create abominations which human beings associated with the devil and by those of faith, angels of God.
The vibration called to him, guiding his feet in one direction as if they were the needle of a compass.
On the far wall, the carefully hidden object appeared as a small glittering light, glowing from deep behind the aged, knotted wood of the attic wall. A smile of supreme indomitability crossed his face when he noted the iron nails driven into the hundred-year-old boards and caught the faint scent of dried herbs concealed behind them. Foolish charms, naught but superstition recounted in human folklore which did nothing to sway the power of the Tuatha Dé Danann running thick through Matt's veins.
There would be no way to discover what was hidden tonight. The occupants of the house would surely wake if he dared prise the wood loose from the walls. It was enough to know that it was there. Whatever object that was hidden, was done so long ago and with great fear. Even now, the ancient forces could be felt quivering through the air. This was no foolish charm or talisman embedded into a home for protection. It was a source of powerful magic, created by one of his own kind, much older and more powerful than he. Familiar and comforting, it spoke of clan, the birthright of his line. Something, perhaps stolen many years ago from one of his own.
Máire.
The only other known fae to traverse these lands.
When he climbed beneath the covers, his mind was full of more questions than answers.
This is an early update for Monday as I am on vacation. Regular posting schedule will resume on Thursday. Thanks for reading everyone!