door.”
“I sacrificed myself and Vincent to save Earth and
the other worlds from Krechea.”
“Why Vincent?”
He grimaced. “Well, that was a mistake. I made a
choice between vampires and fae and that was wrong. I also… maybe got the doors
mixed up. I meant to enter the fae world and took Vincent so that Krechea
couldn’t get to the last two keys, but I accidentally took us to the vampire
world. Now if Krechea kills you, he can get to me.”
“So you let Vincent go because you realized it was
the wrong door?”
He opened his mouth to answer when I felt something
very strange. It was definitely my instincts, but it was pulling me out of the
dream and into a vision. I was suddenly in Henry’s parents’ house, watching
Luana and Matheus Lycosa sleep in their bed.
Two wizards formed out of thin air. They were both
middle-aged and forgettable in appearance, with black hair and black robes. The
only thing that stood out about them was the silver clasps on their robes.
One of them approached Matheus and put his hand on
the shifter’s head. The other wizard went to Luana and pulled out a knife.
I shouted for him to stop.
* * *
My door burst open and Henry quickly scanned the
room, looking for danger. “It was a vision,” I said. I got up and started
dressing while Henry just stood there, trying to catch up. “We need to go save
your parents.”
“My parents?”
“Well, your fake parents. I just saw Luana and
Matheus get attacked.”
“So?”
“What do you mean, ‘so’? Luana is still pregnant.”
“They killed my wife.”
“Luana’s baby didn’t.” I grabbed Henry’s arm and
focused on the symbol of my door. “Picture them.” Henry had pants on at least.
This time, it seemed easier to enter the shadow pass. As soon as the blackness
engulfed us, I reached into his mind and saw some of the horrors of his
childhood.
Matheus used to beat him over anything and
everything, but it was Luana that he hated. Luana was the one who told him
every day that he was a worthless freak. She was the one who burned all his
drawings.
I followed my instincts through the shadow pass until
it vanished around us and we were left in Luana and Matheus’s bedroom. “ They
look fine to me ,” Henry said in my head.
“ I doubt I would have a vision after it’s too late
to do anything .” I sensed danger and pushed my power into their minds. It
was almost second nature to take control and make them sleep. I pointed to the
closet and we both hid inside.
“ They are jaguars; they’ll sense us soon .”
“ I have that covered .”
That was when two wizards appeared out of thin air,
just like they had in my vision. I held up my finger when Henry started to
move, and then focused my magic on them. I knew Henry’s mind and his parents’
minds, so it was easy to single out the two strangers. What I hadn’t expected
was a third unknown mind.
Luana’s unborn baby had awareness.
This distraction nearly resulted in disaster as the
wizards got close enough to the bed to attack the sleeping couple. I let my
magic surround them completely before taking hold. As quickly as I could, I dug
my power deep into their minds. “ Stop ,” I demanded.
Instantly, I felt them struggling against my power.
It wasn’t just them, either; someone far stronger than me had a much deeper
grip on them. Krechea. They were pawns with almost no control over themselves
as it was.
Neither wizard was particularly intimidating. They
both turned to me and I opened the closet door. “Why are you here?” I asked.
“We’re here to kill the female shifter,” one of them
said.
I was surprised he told me, since I didn’t think my
control over him stood up against Krechea’s. My power was slipping. “Why?”
“What is going on here?!” Luana asked, jerking up in
bed. That snapped both wizards out of my control.
They both pulled a sword. Just like Felicity’s sword,
there was no blade
C. J. Cherryh
Learning to Kill: Stories
John O'Riley
Brenda Sinclair
Christopher George
Stephen Lloyd Jones
Karl Iagnemma
Celya Bowers
Jill Gregory
Aria Cunningham