Andreas tightened his hold. “I do not know what to say, cara mia. To have such loyalty from your friends.”
“Our friends.” She leaned into his embrace, enjoying the quiet moment. “We’re both fortunate in our friends. Daron was ready to give up Toronto to save your life. I wish I could have seen his face when you called tonight. I think he might have hugged you, if we’d been there.”
“Heaven forbid.” Andreas sounded amused. “Such indignity between princes is unthinkable.”
She smiled against his shoulder until she remembered the rest of the conversation. “I hope he’s right in believing the elders’ powers are limited, that we can defend against a sustained psychic attack as long as we stay on this continent. I was afraid we’d never have a safe moment. Still, I’m going to change the mansion’s protection spells tomorrow. At least we’ll have some warning if they try any long-distance mental stuff.”
“Speaking of spells.” He spoke as if he’d been waiting for the appropriate segue. “Do you still feel like reading my mother’s letter, and the Book of Shadows?”
“I’d love to.” Sudden eagerness filled her voice. Enough of this sadness. “Unless it’s too much for tonight.” Would talking about his mother be just as sad for him? Some losses were painful forever.
“You mean the memories? Her death was hard for me, but the rest are good. I do not mind revisiting them. I will get the book and letter.” He tilted his head and smiled at her. “My bedroom or yours?”
“Mine. I’ve missed seeing the cats.”
“I should have known.” He strode down the hallway to the left, and she turned right.
Bella and Dona met her at the bedroom door, twining around her legs with their motors revved on high, accusing her with their large green eyes.
“Did you think I was never coming home?” She scooped them up, a cat settled on each shoulder. Named after one of her magical but more dangerous spell ingredients, the mother and daughter felines were treated like family members by the entire household. Bella had been an adopted stray; Dona was the result of an unauthorized liaison between Bella and Claris’s white Siamese, Hernando. The cats were a fixture in Ari’s life, and maybe a replacement for the children she could never have with a vampire lover.
She hugged and petted them, laughing when they butted her hand if one perceived she was giving unequal time. “Play nice now,” she admonished. “Did you miss me?”
“Not half as much as I did.” His voice sent pleasurable curls around her, and she turned to see Andreas leaning against her doorframe. He looked so good, his shirttail untucked, half the buttons undone, his sleeves rolled up. If she’d lost him…
She jumped up to grab his hand, dumping the cats unceremoniously on the bed. Dona instantly pounced on her parent, and the two cats raced into the attached sitting room, vying for the highest perch on the cat tree.
“I’m so glad we’re home.” She smiled into his eyes and tugged him toward the loveseat. “We’ve been in tight spots before, but I’ve never been so scared for you.”
He placed a finger against her lips, the gentle touch sending a shiver down her back. “Hush, Arianna, I am right here. I will always be here.” He kissed her then, long and tenderly, finally breaking the embrace. “I think it is time you met my mother.”
They plopped on the loveseat. Andreas thumbed through the Book of Shadows handed down by his mother’s Valvano family, while Ari unfolded his mother’s letter.
Heart of my heart,
I have learned many things today from your Great-papa Fredrico and know I must write this letter. I will leave it with a trusted companion to be placed in our secret hideaway after I am gone. My dear Andreas, I cannot imagine the sorrows you face in the coming years, which will leave the responsibility for our family in your hands. Be strong. I must also reveal the history of my family. Fredrico says someday you will need to know about your witch ancestry. I have remained quiet before this because I have watched you and Luis since you were born and seen no sign of the gift. Nevertheless, Fredrico says it is time I told you, so I will trust his judgment.
The Valvano witches are a male-dominate bloodline. Although each of us carries a dormant ability, it rarely surfaces, and only in the men. Fredrico is the last. Unless one of your children or children’s children manifests as a warlock, the line dies here. I intended to sit down and talk about this when you and Luis were older, but I have run out of time.
Talk with Fredrico. If a child of yours has the gift, he will also need the family heirlooms. Be safe, my son. Grow strong. You are the gift I leave the world.
It was signed, “Your loving mother, Marie Valvano.”
Ari ran her fingers over the page. “I wish I had met her in person.”
He reached out to caress her cheek, smiling when her eyes raised to his. “I think she would have liked you.”
Ari snorted. “Yeah, a proper aristocratic lady? We have so much in common.”
“More than you think.”
“Did she kill people too?”
“No, but she was strong, independent.” His eyes danced. “And of course, you both love me.”
Ari’s voice softened. “Yes, we do share that.” She snuggled closer to his side. “Anything of interest in your little book?”
He laughed, shaking his head at her. “I have in my hands a grimoire of magic that has been passed down through my family for centuries. Are you seriously asking me if there is anything of interest?”
“Don’t be coy. Open it up and let me see.”
For the next hour they perused the four sections of his book: family history, which contained a listing of family names, including his and Luis’s at the bottom; family spells; tried and true potions; and important events, which ranged from sightings of rare demonic creatures to recovered amulets to an ancestor’s position as an advisor to Italian royalty.
“I can’t believe you’re from a witch bloodline,” she said, when they finally closed the book. “No wonder our magical bond is so strong. But it’s kind of weird that we’re learning so much of our history through our mother’s letters. My mother’s letter is where I learned that the Ramora bond, tying soulmates together, was strongest when both partners were witchborn. It explains a lot.”
“But my abilities never manifested.”
“But they were inside you. And they survived your transformation to a vampire. Sophie recognized them. I guess I didn’t because I was too caught up in other feelings about you.” She frowned. “If Sophie recognized them, maybe they’re no longer dormant.” She sat up. “Could they have manifested with the transformation? You’re unusually powerful for a vampire of only two hundred years. You’re resistant to the sun, to silver, to holy objects. You’ve never explained any of that.”
He raised his brows. “Because I could not explain them. They just were.”
“Exactly.” She scooted around to look him in the face. “We need to find out if you can do real magic. Witchcraft. See if you can find and activate an inner witch source. We have a lot of work to do.” She gave him a quizzical look. “Well, say something.”
Andreas leaned back in the loveseat, his dark eyes hooded. “I do not know what to say. I admit to being speechless, and I am not yet certain how I feel about…,” he spread his hands, “all of this.”
“It’ll be fine. You’ll get used to it.” Ari picked up the letter again. “What are the family heirlooms your mother mentioned?”
“I have no idea. Unfortunately, Fredrico, who was in reality my great-great-grandfather, died in 1813. He was 105, an unheard of age during those times. Now I suspect it was the magic that kept him alive so long.” Andreas tapped his fingers on his knee. “So my eccentric Great-papa was a warlock. They must have encouraged the stories of his mental instability in order to protect him from the witch hunters.”
“I suppose. I’m rather glad I wasn’t around then.” She shivered, imagining the horror of being tied to a stake and set on fire. “So how do we find the heirlooms?”
He shrugged. “I can have the estates searched, but it will not be easy when we cannot describe what we want them to find. Perhaps the heirlooms were sold or buried with the old gentleman.”
“Can we dig him up?”
The corners of Andreas’s mouth began to twitch. “I would rather not,” he said dryly. “As my Great-papa, he is due a certain amount of respect.”
“Yeah, well, he also had a duty to pass anything magical to the next generation. It’s expected. Where were you when he died? Did he say anything to you?”
“I was at home in Italy. My brother Luis died two years before, and I was still struggling to learn my duties as a landowner. I did not see much of Fredrico, but he died at his home on our property and is buried in the family cemetery.”
“That’s good to know. Just in case.”
He chuckled softly. “I believe you are looking forward to the possibility.” He caught a blonde curl and gave a gentle tug. “I have not seen this ghoulish side of you before.”
“Oh, stop teasing. I’m just saying. But you know,” she sat up to look at him again, “since Zylla knew your history was important, maybe she can tell us about the heirlooms. We should go see her.”
“A reasonable plan, but not tonight.” He bent and planted a kiss on her throat, moving on to leave a tingling path across her chin, up to her nose, her eyelids, and finally dropping to capture her mouth.
She sighed and slid around until she was straddling his lap.
* * *
Early the next morning, Ari presented herself at the office of the president of the magic council.
“Well, Arianna, I had heard you were home.” The wizard gestured toward an empty chair. “You have not called.”
“No, sir, I don’t work for you.”
“Very true. So, what can I do for you?”
“I heard you have a vacancy.”
He peered over his glasses. “Word travels fast.” When she didn’t comment, he sighed and leaned back. “It is true Bodie left this morning. It appears he never intended to stay, that he values his retirement too much. I believe Moriana played a fast one on us when she recommended him.”
“I didn’t ask her to. If that’s what happened, it was without my knowledge.”
He nodded. “Yes, I’m sure that is true. Moriana is a law unto herself.” He regarded Ari with solemn eyes. “Riverdale needs a Guardian like you, Arianna. In fact, it needs
you
. If you hadn’t driven the warlock and the German vampires out of Riverdale, our entire community would have been in danger. However, you do us little good if you are gallivanting over the world.” He steepled his fingers and sighed again. “Bodie left you a message. He said if you got in a bind again, you should call him to provide temporary coverage
before
you got fired.”
She suppressed a smile. Her first real hope glimmered, but she stayed quiet, sensing the wizard had more to say.
“Will you get into such a bind again?”
Uh-oh. Maybe she’d been too optimistic. She thought about how to answer him, knowing what he wanted to hear, but she could only be honest. “I can’t say for sure, sir. As long as the O-Seven is active, nothing is certain.”
“I was afraid you would say that.”
Her heart sank, anticipating the fatal words.
“Your loyalties and sense of responsibility are part of what make you so valuable to us, so I guess we must learn to live with the rest. I have spoken to the other council members, and I am authorized to offer you full Guardian status, effective immediately. The job is yours, if you want it.”
She didn’t hesitate. “Of course, I want it, and I accept. The council has been more understanding than I expected.”
He waved his hand. “We may have been a bit hasty in removing your powers.”
She nodded, not denying it. “My life was harder than I thought it would be without them, and I need to say something, sir.”
He lifted both shaggy brows. “Yes?” His tone wasn’t exactly encouraging.
“If not for Andreas and a few German friends, I might have been killed without my powers. If you ever take them away again, I’m done. I won’t be back.”
The president chuckled. “I was wondering where our out-spoken witch had gone. I think we can agree that neither of us wants that to happen. Welcome back, Arianna.”
“Thank you, sir.” She turned to go, but his use of her name reminded her of something she’d wanted to ask for a long time. She swung around. “I don’t believe I’ve ever heard your name.”
“I’m not surprised, and you aren’t likely to hear it from me.”
“Why not?”
His eyes twinkled. “That is my secret. Go on, get out of here and back to work. Perhaps someday I’ll tell you.”
* * *
“No, I do not see a ball of white light,” Andreas insisted. “Just a mist. Nothing like you describe as an inner witch core.”
“But you saw something. It’s a start.” Ari and Andreas sat on her bedroom floor with lit candles all around. The candles weren’t really necessary when they weren’t doing a spell, but Ari always thought that candles were the next best thing to moonlight when working with any aspect of witchcraft. “No one sees it clearly the first time, but that you see anything at all proves that you have warlock powers. You’ll just need to release them.”
She had insisted they start his training as soon as he awoke that next afternoon. He agreed to go along, but he still hadn’t accepted what she thought was obvious.
“I have lived a lifetime—several normal lifetimes, in fact, with no knowledge of this other side of me. It is strange. I find myself wanting to push it away and say no, this is not me.”
“Maybe we need to slow down. Um,
I
need to slow down,” she corrected. “You seem distracted. A lot has been happening. This will wait for another day. Besides,” she got to her feet, “I have to redo the wardings on the house and club and compound.”
“I have errands of my own, but I’ll call you later. How would you like a candlelight dinner at the club to celebrate our safe return?”
“That would be very nice.” She considered what she might wear. Something feminine and sexy. It had been a while since they’d been home to use the private alcove he had added at the club just for them. It would be fun to have an evening out.