Lost Wanderer Awakened - Book One of the Airendell Chronicles (57 page)

“I am happy for you Brigid,” says Morna. “But
I assume he is mortal?”

“Yes I guess he is, sad but true. But it will
be worth the heartache that’s in store, I think,” she says quietly.
Brigid looks very deep in thought and Morna suspects that she is
imagining the loss she will endure when her beloved mortal dies. “I
need a favor from you. Breena met him the other night. She thinks
he may have some magic in his blood. But you were always the best
at detecting magic blood. Could you meet him? Please?”

“Brigid, I would love to meet him
regardless,” assures Morna. “Anyone who captures your heart is
worth meeting.”

“Great!” Brigid gushes. “Well, I have good
news for you. In case you haven’t figured this on your own, Luca
will not have to hold back any longer. You may have to hold back,
in fact. You are very strong, in fact you damaged my equipment when
I tried to test your strength.” Brigid just giggles when Morna
apologizes for that.

“When I was taking your medical history you
said that you had had your appendix removed when you were fifteen
and that your uterus and ovaries was removed when your youngest
child was born?”

“Yes, that’s right,” supplies Morna.

“Well, I am not sure how to say this, but you
have an appendix and a uterus, and ovaries. I would estimate you
have the body of a twenty-five year old, not a forty-nine year
old.” Brigid says uncertainly.

“How is that possible? Did my body regenerate
those organs?” asks Morna.

“Apparently so. But who knows for certain?
How is it possible that you were exposed to vampire venom and are
not a vampire? I think it’s your lineage, you know, your warrior
persona, and being part Norse god and all that.” Brigid says with a
shrug. “I have another theory; have you been exposed to minute
traces of Luca’s venom before this life time?”

Morna blushes. “Yes. I always have enjoyed it
and he’s missed how we could love before the change. I guess I am a
bit of a mess aren’t I?”

“Not a mess, but astounding. Believe me I
have done the tests. I know. Look I think that repeated exposure
over time changed you, it‘s probably been making you stronger with
each incarnation. I mean look at you… even before the vampire
venom, Luca said you were very strong this time. Look what you
survived!” laughs Brigid. “Plus I knew you for 260 odd years before
you died that first time.”

Brigid suddenly looks devastated, “Oh Morna,
I am so, so sorry I couldn’t save you! I tried so hard to figure
out how to reverse the curse and then when Aideen was born, I just
couldn’t do enough. I have never felt so helpless in my life. I
hated it,” breathes Brigid.

Morna stands up and walks around the desk to
her friend. She places her hands on her friend’s shoulders and
looks Brigid in the eyes and says, “You have nothing to regret. I
appreciate all you have done for me and mine then and since,” Morna
assures her. “Well, if you have your notes organized, let’s go meet
Luca out front, I am starving. I could roast a cow and eat it by
myself!”

Brigid laughs and starts to rise. Her cell
phone buzzes. She reads the text and laughs. “Guess who is waiting
for me out front?” Brigid quickly types in a response, and drops
her phone in her blazer pocket.

“Judging by that lovely glow on your face, I
would say a certain Mr. George Welborn,” laughs Morna. Brigid nods
enthusiastically, and starts putting her files in her leather case
then picks up her purse. Morna shoulders “monster purse” and locks
arms with one of her best friends from childhood. The pair walk arm
in arm to the elevator to ride to the lobby. They are laughing
chatting together like they did when they were girls in
Airendell.

CHAPTER 22 - AN UNEXPECTED ALLY JOINS THE
FIGHT

After going down in the elevator the ladies
can see a man waiting just outside the double glass doors to the
clinic. Morna can immediately see one source of Brigid’s attraction
to the man. He is very handsome and well built. He’s tall, about
6”3”, lean but muscular. He has jet black hair and brilliant
sapphire eyes. His handsome, strong facial features indicate Native
American heritage. He’s wearing a beat up old straw cowboy hat, a
worn western shirt and jeans, and boots. He is obviously a working
cowboy, the real thing. His face lights up when he sees Brigid
coming his way.

On the other side of the glass George is
watching the girl of his dreams walking toward him. He smiles when
he looks at Brigid O‘Boyle. She’s amazing, five foot even, maybe a
hundred pounds of lovely curves. She has beautiful long black hair
and dark violet eyes. She is confident, kind and graceful in all
things. And something else, his grandmother would say Brigid is a
shaman. George wouldn’t argue. He should not be as healthy as he is
now, and he knows it is all Brigid’s doing, above and beyond her
renowned medical skills. George thinks of Brigid as his Irish
faerie.

George finally turns his attention to the
lady Brigid is walking arm and arm with. She may be older than
Brigid, but it’s hard to tell. But she’s the total opposite of
Brigid. He has already met a few of her friends from her home in
Ireland, and had assumed they were all tiny like her. This lady is
over a foot taller, very sturdy and strong looking, yet lithe and
smooth in her movements. She carries herself like a woman who can
handle anything. Her short strawberry blond hair frames her strong,
lovely face. Even from here he can make out those brilliant green
eyes. “Wow! She’s a real Amazon!” he thinks to himself; “Can this
be her childhood friend Morna?

As soon as the ladies step out of the
building, all hell breaks loose! The women aren’t two steps out of
the doors when the tall redhead, bares her teeth and snarls, pushes
Brigid behind her. The redhead has taken a defensive stance and
she’s looking at George snarling, she sniffs, and then looks
up.

“Hells bells!” he growls viciously, “I must
be losing my touch. Why didn’t I see them up there?”

Three vampires are clinging to the face of
the building. When they realize they have been detected, they drop
and surround the trio. George can see that the tall redhead thinks
she has to defend Brigid from three, possibly four assailants. He
takes a chance and looks over his shoulder to the Amazon and says,
“Morna, I can help defend Brigid. Let me get past you, I will cover
your back. I know what they are, I can help.” George pulls a small
wooden thing from a leather case at his hip. It’s about 8 inches
long and it looks like a lizard of some sort. It is orange and
black. It looks very old. George utters something in a primitive
sounding language that Morna knows she has heard before.

Morna looks over her shoulder at Brigid, “Do
you have your iron-lion spell woven?” Brigid nods. Morna looks back
at the vamp to her left and snarls, the vamp was trying to take
advantage of her distraction and sneak in. But Morna was on to him.
Morna says, without looking away again from the attackers, “Stay
back Brigid!”

She snarls again, and says, “George, if she
gets hurt I will destroy you for it. You better be able to protect
her as you claim.” She motions him forward with her head and George
starts past her to get to Brigid. He hesitates for a second. She
almost smells like a vamp too. He turns to face Morna crouched in a
defensive stance, he’s not sure now if she is friend or foe.

Morna is temporarily distracted by George’s
defensive posture and the middle vamp reads the distrust in George
and dives at Morna. He is snarling and snapping at her, he clips
her wrist with his venomous teeth. The pain is intense. Morna
punches his jaw so hard that an audible crack resounds, and
attacking vamp screams in agony and rage. She grabs the vampire and
back hands him savagely knocking him 50 yards in the air with a
vicious snarl. She crouches ready to face the other two. “Quit
screwing around George, protect Brigid, I am not the enemy!” She
grinds out between snarls.

Brigid says, “George, watch Morna’s back. I
am not in any real danger!” Morna and George, shoulder to shoulder,
step forth as a unit. Then he raises the lizard thing and charges
at the vampire closest to him. Morna charges the other vampire
simultaneously. The attackers are uncertain. They were expecting to
attack two immortal Spell Weavers, not a Spell Weaver, a vamp and a
damned Stone Breaker!

Morna charges at the one closest to her. She
hears the vamp George went after crack, and scream in rage. “Well
I’ll be damned!” she thinks, “He does know what he is doing!” She’s
about five feet from the vamp who is charging at her head on. She
leaps into the air and does a somersault over his head, lands
behind him and grabs his head, twists and yanks viciously. The head
snaps off in one smooth movement. The body falls. Morna tosses the
head at least ten feet from the body. Then twists to face the one
who bit her. He has recovered from the break he sustained when she
hit him the first time. He is very angry and charging straight for
her.

Morna suspects these are newborn vampires,
and therefore very strong. She knows better than let him get at her
head on, so she darts to the left then jumps and spins and kicks
the charging vamp in the side. She hears stone crushing at her
impact. She lands on her feet, and spins to face him again, but he
has recovered quicker than she expected.

Morna hears stone crushing from the vicinity
of George and the third vampire, but she can’t spare a glance his
way, the attacking vampire is nearly on her. She holds her hand out
and weaves the binding spell, quickly followed by the levitation
spell. The charging vamp freezes, and rises a foot off the ground
almost simultaneously. George has disposed of his vampire and is
now crouching beside Morna, expecting the vampire caught in Morna’s
spells to attack any second. Just then a black car comes roaring
across the parking lot, and slides to a stop directly in front of
them. A tall man flies out and charges toward them. George can
smell what he is and takes a defensive stance in front of
Morna.

Morna laughs and puts her hand on George’s
shoulder, “He’s okay friend. That is my mate.”

Luca is now in front of George, they are both
in defensive crouches, expecting the other to charge. George sniffs
and says, “Your mate is a vamp? That why you smell almost like one
yourself?” he demands.

Morna sighs, and says, “Yeah, something like
that.”

Brigid comes up behind George and wraps her
arms around him. “Oh God George! I thought he was going to kill
you!” George relaxes at her touch, but he is still watching Luca
warily. Luca is watching him with mild surprise. He knew George was
okay just because he had seen Morna crouched shoulder to shoulder
with him. George straightens up and says, “Well, let’s figure out
how to dispose of the garbage, and then I think we all have some
explaining to do.”

All four of them laugh. Then Brigid says,
“Let’s drag them inside. I will fire up the medical waste furnace
in the surgical wing.

Luca turns to Morna and says, “Can you
sustain the spells so we can question him or should I destroy
him?”

“I want to talk to him, but I am out of
practice with the spells, and my concentration is not great at the
moment. I am afraid my binding spell is slipping,” admits Morna. At
that moment, Luca notices the bite mark on her wrist; he takes her
hand to gently examine it. The wound is nearly healed already, but
he knows she is in a great deal of pain. He brings the wrist up to
his mouth and kisses it gently. His eyes searching her face to make
sure that she is okay.

George steps up; he’s taking a leather pouch
from around his neck. “I can help with that,” he says. “Let me wrap
this around him, he won’t be able to get away. It makes them sick.
It’s ancient magic. He will be as timid as a cowardly puddy-tat.”
He winks at Morna and pulls a long thin ancient looking cord out of
his pouch. He starts winding it around the suspended vamp and the
vamp starts crying and begging for mercy.” Just in time, George
finishes wrapping the cord around the vamp because Morna’s binding
spell and levitating spell fail simultaneously. The vamp drops to
the ground writhing in agony, and screaming. Brigid weaves a “mute”
spell and the vamp’s screams produce no sound. The trapped vamp
falls forward on his face into the concrete with a loud grinding
sound.

Luca is still searching his mate’s face to
make sure she is okay, when he smiles and kisses her gently. He
releases her before he picks the bound vampire up by the back of
his shirt and his pants and tells Brigid to lead the way to the
furnace. Morna and George start gathering up the shattered pieces
of the other two. About a minute later Brigid comes running back
out with two heavy duty plastic medical waste disposal bags. George
and Morna put the pieces in their respective bags. George swings
his over his shoulder and reaches for Morna’s.

She chuckles and says, “Seriously, after what
we just did you think I can’t carry this?”

George tips his hat back on his head and
drawls, “No Ma’am. I was just raised to never let a lady carry her
own bags.”

Morna laughs heartily. She sticks her right
hand out to shake George’s hand. “Mighty nice to meet a true
country gentleman here in the big city,” she drawls in her best
Oklahoma slack-jaw accent. They laugh together, while Brigid looks
on, feeling slightly confused. George takes Morna’s bag and tells
Brigid, “Please lead the way darlin’.”

When the three of them join Luca in the
furnace room, Brigid and Morna are amazed to see the bound vampire
lying on the floor, whimpering weakly. George eyeballs the specimen
and says, “If you folks want to ask him some questions, you better
do it quick. He will be comatose soon.”

Morna reaches down and yanks the vamp up by
his hair until she’s looking him in the face and his feet are
several inches off the ground, “Who sent you?” she demands in a
terrifying voice.