Despite the lack of magic, Rave had installed an extra tall wooden “baby gate” to keep Ralin from entering the kitchen, where coming in contact with the refrigerator or other appliances might short them out. Leesa and Rave had started with a standard size child’s gate, but once Ralin started hopping up onto chairs, they had switched to a much taller gate meant to keep large dogs out or in.

  Leesa was still careful whenever they had visitors, wrapping a protective shield around Ralin just in case his magic should reappear. As the months passed, she became less stringent, however, removing the shield for a few minutes at a time so her mom could hold her grandson at least for a short while, or for Bradley to hold his nephew. Cali was another frequent visitor who received the same privilege. Jenna stopped by on a couple of occasions as well. Leesa remained especially cautious at such moments—she never let any of them hold Ralin without being totally focused on her connection to him, so that she was ready for the first hint that his magic might erupt. So far, she had sensed none.

  Ralin was a joyful and loving child who relished hugs and kisses from his mom and dad. Indeed, he seemed to enjoy affection from anyone willing to give it, which made his grandmother especially happy. His ever smiling face and infectious giggle brought instant joy to anyone lucky enough to cuddle him.

  Today was Ralin’s six month birthday, and they were having a small celebration to mark the occasion. Leesa’s mom and Bradley had come by, as had Cali and Balin. Judy had baked cupcakes covered in green icing for everyone, and had stuck a green candle in the center of Ralin’s cupcake. Rave lit the candle with his finger and then slid the cupcake in front of Ralin. Much to everyone’s surprise and delight, Ralin somehow knew he should blow out the flickering blue flame, so that’s exactly what he did. Maybe he didn’t like the blue fire, or maybe he just wanted to eat his treat—nobody knew and nobody cared why he had done it. They just loved that he had.

  Leesa pulled the candle out of the cupcake and handed the treat to Ralin, who promptly mashed the thing all over his face, giggling with delight the whole time. How much he actually managed to ingest was anyone’s guess, but he proudly wore green icing and crumbs of cake all over the lower half of his face. When Leesa tried to wipe the mess away, Ralin turned his face to the side in protest, so she gave up and left it where it was. Her mom and Cali were certain to come away with some entertaining pictures.

  Once the adults had all consumed their cupcakes, Leesa decided to provide Ralin some more fun and to show off his talents a bit at the same time. Using her telekinesis, she slid the old round table out of the corner to a spot just behind Ralin’s chair. He immediately hopped down from his seat and then jumped up onto the table. Leesa levitated the table and sent it floating slowly across the living room with Ralin balancing himself easily on top.

  “Surfing baby!” Cali cried, laughing as Ralin air-surfed the table to the far wall and back, chortling delightedly the whole time.

  When Leesa set the table back down on the floor, Ralin went silent and looked at her with what she could only describe as a beseeching expression. Unable to resist, she floated the table across to the wall and then completely around the edges of the room, allowing Ralin to make a full circuit. Everyone cheered and praised him as he rode his magical table around the room. This time, when Leesa finally landed it, he jumped up into her arms and buried his face lovingly against her breast. Smiling and filled with overwhelming maternal love, she softly kissed the top of his head.

  29. AN UNEXPECTED ENCOUNTER

  RALIN’S MAGIC RETURNED the very next day, triggered by a totally unexpected occurrence.

  After his birth, Leesa took a week off from practicing her magic before resuming her daily sessions. Occasionally, she held Ralin cradled in one arm while she practiced; most times, though, Rave held their son while Leesa worked on her ever-increasing repertoire of spells. For the first few months Ralin seemed oblivious to what his mother was doing, but had then taken to watching her with more patience than either mom or dad would have expected from so young a child.

  Now and then Leesa even had the feeling that Ralin was studying her, but she thought she might be reading more into his watchful eyes than was really there. He certainly noticed the results of her magic, though, often laughing delightedly when she made objects grow or blasted something with bolts of energy. He especially liked it when she floated him through the air from Rave’s arms to hers or vice versa.

  The October afternoon was cool and blustery, with a solid layer of dark gray clouds blanketing the sky. Unsure whether Ralin’s volkaane magic protected him against the cold, Leesa had swaddled him in a thick, dark green jumpsuit, making him look more like bundle of cloth than a child. He didn’t need the protection when Rave held him, of course, but he liked to be put down now and then so he could run around the woods.

  Leesa had donned a red Weston sweatshirt to go with her jeans. Just in case she suddenly needed to wrap a shield around Ralin, she didn’t want to be busy practicing some spell AND using her magic to keep herself warm. Before Ralin had been born, she had grown proficient at doing two spells at once, but realized now that doing so might slow her reaction time by a split second or so in an emergency. She knew being able to do more than one kind of magic at a time might be important someday, so she still worked on it, but never for the long stretches of time that keeping a heat spell going for an entire practice session would entail.

  Right now, she was playing with her yellow energy, trying to create the intricate spiraling pattern Ralin had displayed before he was born. Despite months of on and off trying, she had been unable to replicate it. She wasn’t sure if the beautiful pattern would ever have a use, but she thought that if her unborn child could do it she should be able to manage it as well. She was getting closer, but the rings in her spiral came out lopsided and uneven, and they broke apart when they moved more than a foot away from her hand.

  She frowned as her latest attempt started to disintegrate.

  Suddenly, Rave flashed to her side. The expression on his face and his coiled posture told her he was on full alert.

  “Take Ralin,” he said, holding their son out to her.

  Leesa grabbed Ralin and clutched him tight against her chest. She quickly scanned the woods around them for any sign of a threat, but she saw nothing out of place.

  “What is it? What’s wrong?”

  Blue fire flared from Rave’s fingertips. “Vampire,” he replied. “Getting closer.”

  Rave’s gaze was fixed to the west, so Leesa followed his eyes. She saw nothing, but knew better than to doubt her husband’s volkaane senses. The heavy cloud cover made it a very suitable afternoon for a vampire to be out and about.

  “What would a vampire be doing here?” Leesa asked. “Stefan has forbidden any of them to bother us.”

  “Not all vampires are members of Stefan’s coven,” Rave said without turning his head. "Perhaps this one is new to the area.”

  Leesa’s face tightened in ruthless determination. If this vampire meant to hunt, it was in for a surprise. Few vampires were a match for an alert Rave, and she doubted any could stand before a powerful volkaane like Rave and a wizard besides.

  Rave’s posture relaxed slightly. “This vampire is making no attempt to conceal his approach. In fact, he’s almost broadcasting it.”

  Leesa stole a quick look at Rave’s face. She saw his eyes widen in surprise.

  “It’s Stefan,” he said. “I can recognize his vibrations now.”

  Leesa finally relaxed. Stefan would never be a threat to her—at least, she was pretty sure he would never be a threat.

  “I wonder what he wants?”

  Rave lowered the intensity of his fire until it was barely visible on his fingertips. “We’ll know in a moment.”

  A few seconds later, Stefan emerged from the trees. He was as sensual looking as Leesa remembered, with his jet black hair falling to his shoulders, his impossibly dark eyes, and his lithe, athletic body. Stefan was less powerfully built than Rave, but according to Rave was physically stronger by far. Rave was faster, however, and possessed his volkaane fire besides. Both men were accounted among the most powerful of their respective kinds. If it ever came to a fight between them, Leesa knew it would be a battle unlike any other. Fortunately, she was pretty sure such a contest would never come to be.

  Rave and Stefan were not friends—she doubted there was any way a volkaane and a vampire could ever truly be friends—but they respected each other. More importantly, each owed the other a profound debt. Rave had helped Stefan defeat Jarubu—a black magic infused super vampire that even Stefan had been unable to destroy on his own. Stefan, in turn, had played a critical part in the battle against some of the black waziri, saving Dominic as well as Leesa from the servants of the Necromancer.

  Leesa also owed Stefan for releasing Bradley from an eternity of horror and for saving Cali when Edwina had tried to exact her revenge on Leesa.

  Stefan halted ten feet away from Leesa and Rave, not taking his being welcomed for granted. He smiled.

  “Hello, Leesa. Rave.”

  Leesa and Rave returned his greeting.

  “I heard you two had produced a child. I came to see for myself. I hope you don’t mind.”

  Leesa didn’t know how Stefan had come to know about Ralin, and she wasn’t going to ask.

  “It’s okay,” she said. “We don’t mind.”

  “May I come closer?”

  Leesa looked at Rave, who nodded.

  “Sure,” Leesa said.

  Stefan glided slowly closer, stopping only a few feet away. “He is a handsome child; I expected nothing less, given his parents. I wanted to see if your son was truly a mixture of your two races, and also to learn his scent.” He carefully extended a hand toward Ralin’s head. “A volkaane/wizard mix could be very dangerous to my kind, if he becomes a hunter. This familiarity will help us to avoid him.”

  Stefan’s finger was only inches from Ralin’s face when a bolt of green magic suddenly erupted from the boy’s hand. Stefan leapt back with vampire quickness, yanking his arm out of the way at the same time, but the energy beam still scorched the skin on the back of his hand. The odor of undead flesh charring filled the air.

  Leesa quickly spun an air shield between Ralin and Stefan, but Ralin fired no more bolts. His face continued to look just as angelic as before his magic erupted.

  Stefan glanced down at his hand, which even now was slowly healing before their eyes. He grinned.

  “I guess that answers the question about whether he is a hunter.” He ran a finger along the healing wound. “Not quite as hot as volkaane fire I have suffered in the past, but plenty warm enough to do the job.”

  Leesa was glad to see Stefan was taking the incident with such good humor.

  “I don’t think Ralin meant anything by it,” she said. “He doesn’t have control over his magic yet—at least, he hasn’t up to now. I think his reaction was purely instinctual. Reflexive.”

  Stefan lowered his hand, which had already healed completely. “No doubt. Volkaanes are born to hunt us. Why should he be different?” He smiled again. “I will pass along what I have learned to my comrades. Should any of us detect this new mixture of vibrations and scents in the future, we will make sure to give him a wide berth.”

  “When he’s older, we’ll try to teach him about the neutrality that exists between our family and your coven,” Leesa said. “But just in case, a wide berth is probably a good idea.”

  “He is your son, and Rave’s as well,” Stefan said. “Both of those make him special to me, even if he doesn’t yet like me. If I can ever be of service to you or to him, do not hesitate to ask.”

  Leesa was touched by Stefan’s offer. “Thank you, Stefan. I will remember that.”

  “I think I shall take my leave now,” Stefan said, backing away. He grinned. “Before the little guy changes his mind. His aim might be truer next time.”

  Leesa saw no need to reveal to Stefan that he was protected from Ralin by an invisible shield. It was something vampires didn’t need to know. She was glad of Stefan’s pledge to be of aid if necessary, but she hoped things never got so serious they would need to take him up on it. She couldn’t imagine how or why they ever would, but she well knew from experience that stranger things had happened.

  30. SMOOTHIE SURPRISE

  STEFAN’S APPEARANCE SEEMED to trigger a rebirth of Ralin’s magic. It didn’t happen immediately, but looking back, Leesa was pretty sure the incident marked the beginning of the magical resurgence. Whether it would have occurred anyway without Stefan’s visit no one knew for certain. She thought it probably would have happened eventually, and probably sooner rather than later. Balin concurred.

  What did happen right away was that Leesa became more careful with Ralin when he was around other people, keeping him wrapped in a protective shield for the overwhelming majority of the time. Hugs from relatives and friends without a shield became far less frequent and much shorter in duration. Whenever she allowed a hug without a shield, Leesa made sure to focus her attention completely on her bond with Ralin, alert for any small sign his magic might be about to erupt. People who loved holding Ralin were disappointed at the restrictions, but they all understood the newly awakened danger and the need for such caution. They were grateful for the months they had enjoyed when hugs had been longer and more complete. And they could still enjoy Ralin’s perpetually smiling face and engaging giggle when they held him.

  Leesa even kept Ralin encased in a shield when Rave held him. She had seen what their son’s magic had done to Stefan, and volkaanes did not heal nearly as rapidly as vampires. Only when the three of them were alone and neither she nor Rave was holding Ralin did she let him wander around the house or the woods without a shield. As Rave remained alert, his supernatural quickness allowed him to avoid any accidents at the hands of his son.

  Two weeks passed without incident. Leesa began to wonder if perhaps she was being overly cautious, if maybe it did take the stimulus of a vampire to activate Ralin’s magic. She was not about to let her guard down, however—not for a long while yet.

  She stood at the counter in the kitchen, pouring a selection of frozen berries into a blender in which she had already dumped several scoops of vanilla yogurt. She preferred to use fresh fruit when she could get it, but October in New England provided few choices other than apples and bananas. Apples were too much work for a smoothie—you had to peel and core them. Bananas, on the other hand, were easy, so she always included one.

  Ralin’s teeth had begun coming in at around four months, and though he could already chew soft solid foods, a fruit smoothie remained one of his favorite meals. Leesa enjoyed them as well, so she always made enough for two.

  Ralin watched her preparations from the other side of the dog gate. The way he had been eyeing the four-foot tall barrier for the past few days made her think they might soon need something even higher to keep him out of the kitchen. While he understood the word “no” perfectly well, like any child he didn’t always obey it. The concept of his magic potentially shorting out any appliance he came in contact with was far too complicated for him to understand.

  Leesa realized she didn’t even know yet if such damage would actually occur. She resolved to get an old cell phone or hair dryer or something similar to test it out. Either they would need no gate at all, or they were going to need a taller one, and probably something blocking access to the counter separating the kitchen from the living room as well. She also wanted to know if she would ever be able to take Ralin anywhere in her car should the need arise. Ruining a cheap old appliance to find out was definitely preferable to having him fry the circuits in the car.

  Rave stood on the far side of the counter, watching her the way he usually did. How he didn’t grow tired of constantly looking at her she didn’t know, but she hoped he never stopped doing it. She glanced up from her labors and flashed him a smile.

  “Are you sure you don’t want any of this? It’s really good. I can make enough for three.”

  Rave returned her smile. “No, thanks. I’m not a yogurt guy.”

  Leesa shook her head. Rave was hardly even a food guy. He ate one meal a day, if that, preferring fruit, soups and stews. She kept a covered pot of vegetable stew at one end of the counter, ready for him to warm up with his magic heat whenever he decided he was hungry.

  Frozen strawberries were her final addition to the smoothie. The bag was nearly empty, so she dumped the remainder of the strawberries in, put the top in place, and switched on the blender.

  The roar of the blender filled the room as it chopped up the ice cubes Leesa had added and pulverized the frozen fruit. Her ever playful child jumped back like a frightened deer when the noise started. Leesa opened her mouth wide and put her hands on her cheeks, pretending she was just as surprised and frightened. This was a game they had been playing for several weeks now. Ralin wasn’t really afraid—he just loved to pretend he was. A moment later he was laughing loudly at his own histrionics.

  Leesa made a funny face and shook her head rapidly. “Oh, you’re so funny, Ralin!”

  Ralin laughed louder and clapped his hands together several times. He frowned when Leesa shut off the blender, but the smile was back on his face as she poured the purplish-red smoothie into two large, clear plastic glasses. Ralin had graduated from his sippy cup more than a month ago. He was easily coordinated enough to use a glass, and he liked to drink from the same kind of glass his mother drank from.

  Rave grinned as he watched the two loves of his life play.

  Leaving the two smoothies on the counter for a moment, Leesa opened the gate and slipped through. After closing the barrier behind her, she picked up a glass and handed it to Ralin, who stood waiting patiently. His beaming smile as he took the glass carefully into his two chubby hands was all the thank you she needed.

 

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