The Vaga (11 page)

‘You haven’t the first clue what I’m thinking,
son
. If you did you wouldn’t be sitting here right now.’ His voice holds a dangerous edge to it.

Julian’s face drops.

‘Uncle Jo, please. You haven’t even heard what we’ve just been through.’

He turns his face to me and his eyes lose their deadly lustre. ‘You’re right. At the very least I can hear you out.’ His shoulders relax and it seems he’s willing to let go of his need to kill Julian for now.

Julian makes to speak, but Uncle Jo silences him with his hand. ‘I suggest you stay quiet, Bucko, if you want to exit this house alive. Let Ellie tell the story.’

I’ve seen Julian in action and I know he could take Uncle Jo, but instead he shuts his mouth and glances in my direction, waiting for me to speak.

His willingness to put up with Uncle Jo’s anger earns him some extra brownie points with me, and I smile lightly in his direction. His grey eyes deepen in colour and a burst of electricity travels between us.

I swallow loudly as Aunt Lily places a tray of hot coffee onto the table and hands us each a mug.

I then go about telling them everything.

As always Uncle Jo is the first to respond. ‘So let me get this straight, because I want to make sure I heard you right. Are you saying that something drew you to the museum, your magic was blocked, a creature mimicked my voice and tried to kill you, this guy,’ he jerks his head in Julian’s direction, ‘saved you, and then another animal defended you so you could escape?’ His hazel eyes intensify. ‘Do I have that right?’

‘Yep.’

Exhaling loudly he says, ‘Okay.’ He leans back into the lounge, his eyes focused on some distant spot over my head.

‘That’s it?’ I ask, surprised.

‘Well it’s all a little much to take in right now, Ellie,’ he responds.

Aunt Lily then shocks all of us by saying, ‘Thank you, Julian, for protecting Ellie.’

Julian raises his chin in surprise. He probably wasn’t expecting that. To be honest, neither was I. In fact I didn’t even thank him yet myself.

Aunt Lily nudges Uncle Jo’s arm and he clears his throat. ‘Yes, thank you,’ he mutters begrudgingly.

In that moment a shift occurs between Uncle Jo and Julian. They definitely won’t be giving each other hugs anytime soon, but for now there seems to be an unspoken truce.

We all take a moment to gather our thoughts, and I realise that Uncle Jo still hasn’t told us what happened to him and Magi.

‘Do you think that creature lured you and Magi into the woods as a diversion?’ I ask.

He looks in my direction. ‘Now that you mention it, I think it might have. I heard what sounded like a child’s cry, and Magi and I followed it to the edge of the woods. When we got there we were met with a deathly silence. We searched for the noise but found nothing. That’s when we headed back.’

I look at Julian and give a slight nod, letting him know he was right.

Aunt Lily says, ‘So, now what?’

All eyes fall to me. ‘Uh…maybe we need to find out what exactly we’re dealing with here. I mean, what the hell was that thing?’ I look at Julian, hoping that he’ll enlighten us seeing as he seems to be the only one among us who has any knowledge on the Vaga.

Something in Julian’s face shifts, moving from a nervous uninvited guest to a warrior briefing us on the enemy.

Is it wrong to think it’s kinda hot? Probably, although Isis’ essence doesn’t think so. It’s trembling with excitement within me.

Uncle Jo crosses his arms and waits for Julian to respond.

Julian leans forward in his chair, his arms resting on his knees, the blood still lightly oozing from his wound. He should have let me heal that. ‘I assume Elena told you about the Vaga?’

Uncle Jo nods. ‘The little she knew of them.’

‘Well then you know that what we’re dealing with here is unlike anything you’ve probably had to come up against before.’ His voice holds warning.

‘Well that would be a matter of opinion,’ Uncle Jo says.

Aunt Lily rolls her eyes. ‘Please, Jo. Can we just hear Julian out?’

I smirk as Uncle Jo grumbles something under his breath.

Julian continues, his accent growing thicker as his emotions fuel the conversation. ‘The creature that attacked Elena could probably only be described as a minion—a creature loyal to the Vaga. At this point we can assume that it is under the command of Erebus.’

What accent is that? Welsh perhaps?
Focus
,
Ellie
!

Uncle Jo sits up straighter. ‘Erebus? Ellie mentioned him briefly, but I’ve never heard of him before. How do you know all this?’

Julian shifts uncomfortably. ‘I have access to…some of this information.’

He isn’t telling Uncle Jo about the fact that a Dominus is passing along certain little facts, and it doesn’t go unnoticed by me.

Uncle Jo frowns and Aunt Lily interrupts. ‘I’m sorry, I understand you’re all used to this sort of lingo when talking about the supernatural world, but can you just slow it down for me please. Who is Erebus?’

‘Erebus is an Immortal, a powerful sorcerer of ancient times,’ Julian responds.

‘Immortal? You mean like a vampire?’ she asks.

He shakes his head. ‘No, that term is too frequently confused with the Strix. An Immortal is more like a god. At least to our people. Erebus is known as a primordial deity, one of the first beings to exist.’

Aunt Lily swallows the lump in her throat. ‘And this…this
deity
is after Ellie? Why?’

Julian casts his eyes downwards. ‘We can’t be sure, but we think it’s because someone in our order refused to believe she was dead. It seems they may have hired the help of the Vaga to track her down in an attempt to confirm their suspicions.’

Magi comes plodding back in, takes a look at Julian, and then walks over to sit by my feet. I rhythmically stoke her fur.

Uncle Jo’s energy surges. ‘
We
?’

‘I’m not the only one concerned with Elena’s safety.’ Julian meets his glare. ‘Contrary to popular belief, we are not
all
evil.’

Uncle Jo scowls. ‘Forgive me for thinking that you have her best interests at heart.’ Sarcasm oozes out of his words. ‘But it’s a little hard to forget that you tried to kill my niece.’

The tension in the room electrifies.

‘This isn’t helping us,’ I say, throwing them both a look. ‘Right now we need to find a way to work together.’

‘She’s right, Jo. This isn’t helping us,’ Aunt Lily agrees.

He puts his hands up and redirects the conversation. ‘And this creature at the museum, what did it look like?’

Thinking about the way the creature stalked me and tried to lure me out causes me to shudder. ‘I don’t think it was of this world.’

His frown deepens. ‘Why do you say that?’

‘This thing was distorted, Uncle Jo. It looked like part hyena and part dog. And not a cute, fluffy one either. This thing has striped fur that glistened when it walked, a flat snout, and a huge mouth filled with sharp ridges of bone where there should have been teeth. And if that wasn’t enough, its creepy cloven hooves with claws was enough to tip me off that this thing wasn’t like any animal I’ve ever seen.’

The image in my head of the creature reaches Magi and she whimpers, resting her head against me.

‘Cloven hooves?’ he asks.

‘One of the signs of evil,’ Julian says.

The room is silent for a moment while that particular statement sinks in.

‘If I’m right, then this creature was of the ancient world. A legendary creature known as a Crocotta. Elena was right when she said it looked like a hyena. These creatures were rare and lived mostly out on the plains of Africa, stalking villages and luring out their prey by mimicking voices of people their victims knew.’ He turns to look at me briefly and concern flashes across his face. He clasps his hands together and I notice they’re shaking.

As my magic reaches out to him I sense that his injury is causing him a lot of pain.

‘You need to let me heal that,’ I say, pointing to the wound.

He lifts his arm to look at it and the blood spreads with his movement, causing him to wince. ‘It’s fine, I’ll tend to it later,’ he says, giving me a small smile.

‘How do we kill it?’ Uncle Jo asks, ignoring Julian’s obvious discomfort.

He shakes his head. ‘I have no idea.’

Uncle Jo rises to his feet and starts pacing the room, hands thrust deep into his pockets. ‘And what about this other creature that interfered?’

‘You mean the other animal that saved us?’

He nods.

Remembering back it seems completely bizarre that in one morning I would encounter an ancient creature and a…what animal was that?

‘I didn’t really get a good look at it. At first I thought it was a dog but—’

‘It looked like a cougar,’ Julian responds.

‘A cougar? Are you sure?’ Aunt Lily asks.

He nods his head. ‘I got a pretty good look at it.’

‘Why the hell would there be a cougar in a museum?’ Uncle Jo asks more to himself. ‘This all seems far-fetched, even for our family.’

‘Seriously?
This
is far-fetched? You do remember the events of four years ago don’t you?’ I ask, throwing him a sarcastic look.

He turns, and instead of the normal comeback that he would throw at me a dark shadow falls across his features.

He shoots a stern look at Julian. ‘Yes, I do.’

Julian stands up, and the movement causes him more pain.

Uncle Jo casts him an annoyed glance. ‘You need to let her heal the wound, Julian. You’re no use to her if you’re hurt.’

As if in unison, all three of us turn to look at him. A satisfied smile appears on Aunt Lily’s face.
He called him Julian
. A glimmer of hope spreads through me.

‘Take him into the bathroom, Ellie. We could all use a bit of air,’ he says striding into the kitchen.

I motion for Julian to follow me down to the bathroom.

‘Just sit there,’ I say pointing to the toilet.

He does as he’s told and sits down slowly.

Kneeling down before him, I avoid his gaze. ‘Lift up your shirt.’

A sharp breath escapes me as I look upon the deep wound underneath his ribcage.

I grimace. ‘Why didn’t you let me heal that before? It looks painful.’

He shrugs and his eyes find mine, glistening like two metallic orbs upon his face. ‘Pain is a reminder of loss and past mistakes. It doesn’t hurt to feel it now and again.’

I know what he means. The guilt that he feels over trying to kill me has radiated out from him ever since we made contact again. He feels remorse about what he tried to do, and about what his ancestors have done in the past. I can feel it rolling off him now—the guilt, shame, and regret.

I know I have to let my anger go too. It’s too late to turn back now. We all have to move forward. Our future depends on it.

‘Pain also reminds us that we are human, that we make mistakes so that we can learn from them,’ I say, placing my hand against the warmth of his skin.

His breath gets caught in his chest and he gently places his hand over mine. ‘I’m sorry.’

Our eyes lock. I cast the healing spell and the purple glow from my hand permeates his skin, flowing through torn tissue and muscle before mending the wound.

I pull my hand away gently.

‘Thank you,’ he says.

All of a sudden the bathroom feels very small. ‘There are spare shirts in the hallway cupboard, just help yourself.’ I turn and walk out before he can say anything else, my skin on fire.

Uncle Jo and Aunt Lily are in the kitchen, talking softly to one another across the table. He looks up as I enter. ‘Is he alright?’ he asks.

‘He’ll be fine.’

Wariness and uncertainty cross his face, and then his eyes move past me and I know Julian is standing behind me. He glances at both of us before taking a sip of coffee and looking at his watch. ‘I have things to do at the campus this morning.’ He pushes his chair back from the table and places the mug in the sink before turning back to us. ‘It isn’t safe out there, Ellie, so I want you to stay inside the warding. Okay?’

Shaking my head I say, ‘I can’t today. I have a tech exam in B block at ten. I can’t miss it or I fail the unit.’

His forehead creases with worry.

‘I’ll go with her,’ Julian says from behind me.

Uncle Jo’s face hardens.

Julian tries to sway him. ‘The Vaga won’t attack in public. That’s not their style. They haven’t spent hundreds of years staying undetected by drawing unnecessary attention to themselves. And Crocotta’s are nocturnal creatures, or so the legends say, so I think she’s pretty safe at the campus during the day.’

‘You think? Is that code for
you don’t know
?’ Uncle Jo glowers. ‘And what about Erebus?’

Julian ignores his remark, shaking his head. ‘No one has ever seen Erebus walk the earth before. That’s why he summons these creatures to do his bidding.’

‘You know I
can
look after myself,’ I pipe up, just in case these men think I’m some helpless female who can’t defend herself.

Uncle Jo studies me for a moment before giving me an abrupt nod. ‘Of course you can. That’s why Julian and Magi are going with you.’

‘I can take care of myself. I don’t need babysitters.’

‘Uh…I’ll just wait outside. Take your time,’ Julian says as he makes his way past me and out the back door, the hinge creaking as he goes.

Uncle Jo watches him leave before he steps forward, laying his hands on my shoulders. ‘Need I remind you of how much you mean to me? I will not risk your safety for anything.’ He glances towards the back door. ‘Even if that means I have to endure the company of certain people to make sure that you are protected.’

I sigh, getting ready to put in my two cents worth.

He pulls me into a tight embrace. ‘Please don’t fight me on this one, Ellie,’ he whispers into my ear. ‘There is something greater at work here, I can feel it. I want you to be on guard. Stay alert.’ He pulls away gently. ‘Come home right after the exam, okay?’

Before I can respond he walks off down the hallway.

‘Geez, that wasn’t tense at all,’ I mumble after him.

Aunt Lily folds her arms, looking after him with concern. ‘Tell me about it.’