Chapter 7

CHAPTER SEVEN

" R emind me again why we are doing this?" Rosa asked from her position face down on the training mat. Saul held out a hand to help her back up. He looked like a walking billboard for active wear, dressed sleekly in his black singlet and workout pants. His smooth golden-brown muscle flexed as he pulled her to her feet.

No wonder Eli had to dismiss so many of the staff , Rosa thought begrudgingly.

"We are doing this because you need to get used to your new abilities and get some technique fighting hand to hand," he replied. "While Bal is stuck in a meeting with Uncle Vincenzo, the duty of inducting you has fallen to the most attractive Vane."

"I know it may come as a surprise to you, but I wasn't exactly into sports when I was a human," Rosa said, rearranging her sweaty sports bra. They had been at it for twenty minutes, and she was ready for a shower and cake.

"When you were human, you didn't have a pissed off Seelie queen baying for your blood either," Saul pointed out. "So what did you learn from your last trip to the mat?"

"That I should've kicked you in the balls first," Rosa stated. Saul smiled, and it was like liquid sunshine surrounded by perfect sandy curls. She wanted to kill him.

"Excellent! So you have been listening to me and not daydreaming about Bal."

"Why isn't he the one training me? I wouldn't mind getting sweaty as I wrestled with him," Rosa said, aiming a punch for Saul's jaw.

He blocked it, sending another strike her way so quickly that she only just managed to dodge it. "That's exactly the reason why I am the one training you. I'm the best hand to hand anyway, and if Bal were training you, it would be some kind of kinky foreplay for you both just like everything else. Keep your fist positioned properly, or you'll break a knuckle!"

"I hardly think I'd see this as kinky foreplay," Rosa replied as she circled him.

"Please! I've seen how bad you two are at drinking tea, let alone if I gave you an excuse to get hot and bothered."

Rosa's mind drifted, and Saul's glove connected with her chin, sending her stumbling backward. She managed to keep her feet as she glared at him.

"Exactly my point!" Saul complained. "Your head is not in it when he's around."

"I'll put you in it," Rosa snapped. She launched at him with arms and legs at a haphazard speed. They collided and went down in a sprawling heap. Saul was laughing as she tried to hit his head with her gloves. His leg wedged up, and she squawked when he flipped her over onto her back.

Saul roared with laughter. "Better Wylt! Much better. Bring back the battle cry, you feral Celt."

Rosa hissed, bringing her leg up, and kicked him in the chest, sending him flying backward and into the treadmill.

"Oh, shit! I'm sorry! Are you okay?" she asked.

Saul let out a groan. "Look who finally remembered she has some strength in her now," Saul replied as he got back to his feet. "You're lucky that one didn't get me in the balls, or I would be walking funny for a week."

"It would probably do them good to have a break."

Saul grinned. "What can I say? I have a lot of love to give."

"It's lucky that the Gwaed Teulu are infertile, otherwise the estate would be filled with an army of your bastards."

"Ouch. At least they would all be devilishly good-looking," Saul replied and re-strapped her gloves. "Eli wouldn't mind. He loves kids. I think he was secretly hoping you would give him a clan of Wylt children to dote on."

"God no. Could you imagine three little me's running about? I would drown them in the lake," Rosa laughed. "Lucky for me that ship has sailed."

"Sailed, pilfered by pirates, and burnt to the ocean floor," Saul added.

"That reminds me, I really should check if Bal has a pirate costume."

"I'm sure he was one at some stage, the uncivilized Philistine," Saul replied with an eye roll.

"We can't all grow up as little love bunnies of the Russian court."

"For starters, I was a glorious fuck, not a little love bunny. And have you been to a Russian court? I was meat."

"And two veggies," Rosa quipped, blocking his strike. She felt the force of it rattle through her bones, but she managed to keep her footing.

Saul backed off her, chuckling to himself. "Oh, Rosa Wylt, it's a shame you picked Bal. What a pity you don't have a sister."

"If I did, I wouldn't let her anywhere near the likes of you."

"What if she was the woman to convince me finally to change my ways? I'm looking, you know."

"Why not find a nice Gwaed Gam girl to settle down with?" Rosa suggested.

"Because Gam girls are fucking crazy. I don't mean crazy hot. I mean crazy crazy," Saul argued. "You have fun with those girls and set them loose."

"A human girl then?"

Saul lowered his gloves. "That wouldn't be fair to her. Not everyone is like you, Rosa. Humans are afraid of us, and I couldn't risk falling in love and having her be disgusted with what I am. Besides, we have a war brewing, so it's not fair to endanger someone."

"Drinking and whoring for eternity isn't exactly a plan either," Rosa pointed out.

"We can't all be monks like Bal." Saul grinned.

"Bal's no monk." Rosa blushed despite herself.

"Not anymore. I'm relieved Eli turned you. I was worried that you might break while he was relieving all that…" Saul's words failed him as Rosa's foot delivered a swift kick between his legs. Saul collapsed on the mat.

"Remind me never to piss you off, Rhosyn," Eldon said, clapping slowly from the other side of the gym. "You okay, Saul?"

Saul muttered something unintelligible in Russian and Rosa pulled up the Velcro straps of her gloves with her teeth.

"How goes it, cefnder ?" she asked, stepping over Saul so she could join him.

"It was going rather dull until now. Are you done here?" he asked.

"Saul?" Rosa glanced over her shoulder at where he was lying.

"Go away, Wylt," he managed.

"I think we are done." She beamed up at Eldon.

Balthasar sat back and watched Eli argue with Vincenzo, dropping in and out of their native Unseelie, Italian and English. Even though it was only over Skype, there was something about Vincenzo's stern face and icy eyes that intimidated him. In person, he was tall and broad, and unlike Eli who rarely raised his voice, Vincenzo had no problem being the loudest voice in the world.

"What do you mean my Merlin is still alive?" he demanded. "Where in Dante's Hell has he been hiding all these years?"

"Under a spell. His presence is a good thing. His magic is incredibly powerful, and we will need him if the Autumn Queen makes a move."

"Has he aged yet?"

"Not very much. He seems to have inherited that from me at least. The rest is pure Deryn," Eli replied. "How's my Lily?"

"Broke half my bodyguard's hearts when they learned she prefers women. They don't seem to be letting it deter them very much." Vincenzo's smile was strikingly white against his olive complexion. "One suggested a threesome, and she broke both his arms. If I hadn't intervened, she would've torn them off completely. I do love her spirit."

"Excellent! It sounds like she is settling in nicely," Eli paused, studying his brother seriously. "Will you not come?"

"I can't leave my empire for some sniveling little under lord to watch over. You know what these Gam savages are like."

"So no then."

" Bleddyn , the Autumn Queen has harassed us for centuries. Why would she risk an all-out assault now? Don't you think you are overreacting?"

Balthasar flinched as Eli's power spiked angrily. "Gwaen, this is serious. Merlin believes Rosa and Bal broke the curse over the Aos Si. They've seen it snowing."

"Visions and dreams and supernatural mist, big brother."

"Have you not felt your magic grow in the last few weeks?"

Vincenzo's smile slipped. "I thought it was the winter."

"It's not just the winter! Heed my warning. Search through those 'supernatural mists' for yourself, brother, and start taking this seriously." They switched to Unseelie and continued to argue, leaving Balthasar to guess what they were talking about.

" Arrivederci, my nephew," Vincenzo said and smiled sharply at him. "Be patient with my crazy brother."

The call went dead, and Eli picked up the laptop and tore it in half.

"He won't come. If we are under attack, he might rouse himself, but until then, we are on our own," Eli growled.

"What about Zalan?"

"Wandering about the Russian wilderness for all I know. No one has heard from him in a hundred years."

Outside, Rosa huddled in her hoodie and still sweaty track pants. Eldon had refused to let her shower and instead taken her outside into the freezing parkland.

"What the hell are we doing out here?" she asked.

He stopped to touch the oaks one at a time as they passed by them. "We are going to unlock your magic, and I can't risk doing it in the house where you could break the place," he replied.

"Unlocking magic might be tricky while I am wearing this," Rosa said. She took off her new necklace and tossed it to him.

Eldon turned it over between his fingers, studying the patterns. "This won't dampen your power. It only makes sure you don't get overwhelmed with its resurgence. It also ensures it doesn't leak when you least expect it." Eldon frowned and studied it closer. "It's very well made actually. I know a shamanitsa who could have used something like this a while ago. Her power was unstable and unreliable for a long time. It almost drove her mad."

"How did she learn to deal with it?" Rosa asked, slipping the chain back over her head.

"Vodka mostly," Eldon replied grimly. "That's why I couldn't let you be turned and not come to help you learn to control your new abilities. Magic can be incredibly destructive to your mind and body if you don't have the proper guidance straight away."

"In that case, thanks again for coming to my rescue," Rosa said with a wink. "What now?"

"Now you defend yourself." A stick flew off the ground and hit her in the face. "I said defend yourself."

Rosa clutched her nose to make sure it wasn't broken. She picked up a rock and threw it at him angrily. Eldon held out his hand and the rock stopped mid-air.

"Rule one: Anger," he said, and the rock crumbled to pieces. "You don't need it. It's not one of your strengths, Rosa Wylt, so it won't serve you here. Be done with it."

"Anger can get stuff done," Rosa challenged.

"It can, but you don't want it to be your trigger. Magic will heighten your strengths, so choose wisely which ones you wish to encourage."

"You shouldn't have thrown a stick at me."

"You should've shielded and protected yourself. Self-preservation is a strong instinct. Perhaps I should get Caruthers to come and chase you about."

"Caruthers! I can barely get that guy to talk to me, let alone chase me in that penguin suit of his."

Eldon's smile was infuriatingly smug, "You don't know what he is, do you?"

"Eli's driver," she said stubbornly.

"He's a loup garou, silly girl. He's Eli's ultimate guard dog."

"You're kidding me! Stop trying to be funny, wizard."

"I'm not a wizard. I'm a magician, and I'm not kidding you. You are too distracted by the Lord of the Manor to notice how strange Caruthers is."

"I noticed how strange he is, but it's Gwaed Lyn. Everything is strange here." Rosa brushed the dirt from her pants. "So did you train your other friend by throwing things at her?"

"No, but she already had teachers, and her nature was different to yours."

"Does that make a difference?"

"Tremendously. She's constantly at war within herself, fighting to stay in the light when there is so much darkness in her. The tragedies of her life have left a stain on her melancholy heart. In comparison, you are like liquid sunshine."

"I wouldn't say that. I'm plenty moody."

"No, you aren't. You brighten this place up. That's why the Vane men all adore you. You're like a sweet, rose-filled chocolate to them. Your magic even manifested roses."

"When I was helping Eli make my necklace, I had a pinkish light coming from my hands," Rosa said thoughtfully. "I wonder if it's because of my name."

"Why didn't you tell me about the light?" Eldon demanded.

"I didn't think it was important," she shrugged.

"Of course it is important! Pink! Now I know exactly what to do." His eyes gleamed feral. He clapped his hands once, and Balthasar appeared a hundred yards away.

"What the hell are you doing?" Rosa demanded.

"Motivating you." He whispered words she couldn't catch, and power rolled out of him. A huge black wolf appeared through the trees, and its head lowered as it made for Balthasar.

"Bal! Look out!" Rosa shouted, but he didn't move. "Eldon, stop this!"

"You stop it."

Rosa turned and ran towards Balthasar, heedless of the danger. She wasn't going to reach him in time.

"Bal!" she screamed, reaching for him. Something roared through her, knocking her to the ground. The ground ripped up in a wave of dirt and turf, curling up and around Balthasar, enclosing him in a protective wall. The wolf vanished in a cloud of mist.

Eldon helped her back to feet, "Breathe, Rosa. You're okay, so just breathe."

She coughed violently, doubled over as air forced itself into her lungs.

"Bal, get him out of there," she wheezed.

"He wasn't really there. It was only an illusion like the wolf."

Rosa's hand swung up and struck him hard across the face. Eldon didn't stumble. He took it as if he expected it.

"Don't you ever use Balthasar as bait again," she hissed.

"He wasn't in any danger, and I needed to prove something to you."

"What? That I will protect Bal from your stupid games?"

"No, that love is what triggers your magic. It's the most powerful trigger that you can have, but it also makes you vulnerable. Can you feel it now? The magic in your blood begging to get out?"

Rosa took three deep breaths and tried to calm her anger. She could feel something humming under her skin like inverted goosebumps. The more she focused on them, the more the sensation grew. She held out her hand and focused the sensation on her palm. A pink rose bloomed between her fingers as Balthasar had shown her.

"I'll have to tell Bal…" she managed before she pitched forward, and Eldon rushed to catch her.