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MORNING SLID IN WITH an icy frost. The first real frost of the season. It settled over the Isle like one giant glittering and sparkly blanket. Melinda found herself on the steps of the Wicked Muddy again, this time, too early. So early that Grace wasn't even open yet. She hadn't gotten much sleep and her body ached and protested as she meandered through the sleepy town. This time of year, before Halloween, things got quiet and empty, the town deserted of tourists.
It was pleasant this morning, though, the quiet. The empty streets that belonged just to her for a short while. The other businesses wouldn't open for a couple more hours yet, and some had shut down for the season, not even bothering to stay open for the Halloween celebration. It didn't look like the sun was going to make an appearance today, but she'd needed some fresh air regardless, to help clear her mind and wake her up as she was severely sleep deprived.
She'd been up most of the night thinking about her blood being stolen and wondering why. She was sure the why of it all was vital and it was driving her mad that she could not figure out the reason for it—other than it was not good, which only led to more worry.
"Oh, hey," a familiar voice startled her. Lucas had just arrived, and she'd been so inwardly focused she'd not even heard him arrive.
"Oh, hey there. Sorry, didn’t see you coming."
He eyed her as if to warn, isn't that dangerous, all things considered?
She waved him off with an eyeroll. "Evil prefers to sleep in," she claimed. Before Lucas could argue she added, "Something apparently neither of us is doing. Grace isn't open yet if this is where you're headed."
"Oh, right. Fall hours, she opens an hour later now."
"Yeah, I'd forgotten too. Only another fifteen minutes until I can get some sugar and caffeine heaven in my veins."
"The woman does have a magical knack for making coffee," Lucas agreed.
"I'd never thought of it like that, but you're right."
"How'd you manage to get here alone?" Lucas asked. He wasn't ready to give up the topic of being safe, no matter the time of day.
"You came alone," she responded hotly. "Is this a man-woman thing, or just a weak Melinda thing?"
"I'm not insinuating anything," Lucas insisted. "You're not weak. I've never thought that. But you were specifically attacked, Melinda. I am honestly shocked William let you out of his sight after what happened."
"Well, my vampire appendage is busy interrogating Stricker. And I might have snuck out of the mansion," she admitted under her breath. "I needed some space. The mansion might be big but sometimes it's suffocating and feels like it's going to crush me." She pulled her gloved hand out of her jacket pocket showing Lucas three potion vials. "Feel better? I did come prepared."
"I'm really not trying to give you a hard time, I'd just hate for anything to happen to you, daylight safety net or not. Evil may prefer to attack at night, but it's not set in stone. And we should probably all make a deal not to head out alone at this point."
"Actually, that is a good point," Melinda conceded with a sigh. "We should bring it up at the next family meeting. And I don't mind my vampire's company. I love it. But he was busy, and I didn't want to bother him."
"More like, you didn't want to need him to come with you?" Lucas returned in gentle question.
She grumbled under her breath. "A little, I guess. I want to trust myself. I want to feel safe being on my own. I don't ever want to go back to being that frightened girl who can't leave her room and face the scary outside world. I can't go back to that place, Lucas."
The heart of the matter at last. He gave her a reassuring pat on the shoulder.
"And dammit, Lucas. You are going to be a really great Guardian someday."
She huffed and then groaned and then smiled and shook her head.
It brought a wide smile to his face and he wondered if he should tell her someday was coming much sooner than later. He opted to wait until he was ready to tell everyone.
"Melinda," he said with genuine reverence. "It's okay to feel a little lost and out of sorts. You fought so hard to find your inner power—I'm not talking about magic. I saw how hard you fought to come out of that dark place you'd been living in, and you did. The demon attack is bound to make you question that strength, and that's okay. Normal, even. But I have zero doubt you will come out of this even stronger, Melinda. You are not going to fail and become that person ever again. But if I can also add a bit of personal advice—tell William how you're feeling. Don't be embarrassed by your true feelings. He values them like a great treasure."
Lucas was right, and Melinda found herself feeling the part of the idiot. Instead of facing her problems head on, she'd decided to run right out, and in a way, run away—falling into old habits of avoiding humiliating conversations. If she and William were really going to be a couple, she needed to give it her all, and she wasn't. She wasn't even giving him a chance. But she'd also needed to prove to herself that she wasn’t afraid.
"I don't know how to trust myself, and keep that confidence, and still be dependent on others to help when I need it."
"The hard parts already done," Lucas told her. She eyed him in question. "You surround yourself with people who will only ever lift you up, and don't cut you down. Putting your trust in others does not mean you don't trust yourself, too. And part of trusting yourself is knowing your limits and when you need help. You are surrounded by people who've seen you struggle and seen you climb out of the darkness, Melinda. They trust you to know how to stay out of that place."
Melinda leaned in and gave Lucas the deepest hug.
"You really are made for being a Guardian," she sniffled. "Thank you, Lucas. It was pretty dumb of me to come here alone. It was definitely not the right way to regain my power." She pulled back and wiped her eyes.
Grace moved somewhere inside the café and waved upon seeing them.
She unlocked the door and grinned. "If'n I'd seen ya out here I woulda let ya in. Geesh! Come in and warm up!"
"I'm so ready for some sugar," Melinda moaned. Lucas was about to agree when an arrogant voice echoed a vile greeting from across the empty street. Melinda gasped—so much for thinking they were safe because it was morning and daylight.
"Dominic," she growled. Part of the reason for her doubt. She refused to let this pathetic excuse of a man take anything else from her. He'd done that enough.
They warned Grace to get back inside—the café owner's eyes blanched beach-ball wide upon seeing what was happening right out in the open in front of her café. She vanished into the depths while Lucas twisted back around to help Melinda. They were poised to defend themselves if needed.
The smug rat Dominic didn't do anything, though. He merely grinned as arrogantly as he sounded and stood there like he was waiting for something. Melinda and Lucas held their breath, fearing the arrival of a demon, but nothing happened.
They really did need to be more careful, even in broad daylight, and this close to home. Hell, they weren't even safe walking around town in the morning. Melinda had been stupid to walk alone, Lucas too. That much was never clearer than right now.
Melinda and Lucas shared a knowing eye raise about this while Dominic simpered and glared across the street. The morning air warmed and the frost on the cobblestone melted and made it appear as though the streets were steaming upward. It also made them slippery so they'd need to be cautious.
A quick glance in both directions of the road confirmed they were still alone on the street—thank God it was the off season and only locals around. Regardless, the witches didn't normally bring their battles right out in the open on the street.
"What do you want Dominic?" Melinda demanded. "Trying to kill me again?"
"Don't need to try."
And just what the heck did that mean?
Dominic started to lunge as if to attack—at the same time Melinda shot off a spell that hit him straight in the chest and should have sent him flying into the road—but not a thing happened. He didn't even wince. Dominic stopped and looked over himself, his vile grin spreading a little wider. Melinda shot off another spell making another direct hit, and again, nothing.
She thrust one of her potions at him. This time, the jerk ducked out of the way and the potion exploded, shattering a glass window behind him.
A terrible thought was forming in her mind, but she pushed it down until this was over. She nodded for Lucas to go right while she went left, and they dashed out into the street at the same time Dominic rolled out of the mess of shattered glass and back onto his feet—and then did something neither of them expected and raised his palm and threw a spell toward Melinda.
It blasted into her body with an unexpected force that blew her body right toward Grace's café windows—Melinda managed to avoid crashing through the glass due to the perfect timing of her vampire who'd arrived and caught her in time.
Grace had called for help. Melinda would thank her later once her brain stopped shaking.
Lucas called for Mathew while he and Dominic blasted at each other in a heated battle just as a siren screamed down the street and Mack's patrol car arrived with a screech of tires. Charlie and Lizzy scrambled out of the back—the sheriff must have been visiting the mansion when Grace put out the SOS.
The fighting stopped a breath later as a great power threaded the air and two halos shrouded them, each one fighting for dominance. Mathew in his golden halo of warmth and goodness, and a demon, its halo deep red and filled with dread and cold warning.
"Holy—lookalike." It was Lucas who stammered out the words.
Melinda stared in dumbfounded awe. She had not heard or seen wrong.
It was Mathew against Mathew, light and dark... only it appeared neither had expected this scenario and both leered at each other, uncertainly.
"Who are you?" breathed out Mathew.
The demon growled under his breath and nodded curtly at Dominic, who had no clue what was happening with the lookalikes. The jerk returned to the demon's side, though, and bowed his head.
"It worked, My Dark Guardian."
The Mathew lookalike did not respond, and instead placed his hand on Dominic's head, who vanished. But the lookalike didn't leave after his progeny. His beady eyes glared at Mathew as if this was some dirty trick.
It was like looking at Mathew, but not quite.
Mathew, if his hair was longer and messier. Mathew if he was skinnier, a hard thing to imagine as he was thin already. But this other version was almost gaunt. His eyes screamed villainy, and not the adoration and sweetness of the Mathew they knew. It was like looking at Mathew if he lost his golden halo of soul-deep goodness and was possessed by pure malevolence.
"Who are you?" Mathew tried again in desperation for an answer.
"I'm not anyone," the demon replied a moment later. "We are all one. We follow our King."
"What do they call you? Surely, you're not called anyone," Mathew pushed out.
The demon snarled. "I am Markus." He took a step closer, conflict in his eyes. A curiosity they supposed he wasn't supposed to have. A question he should not need to ask. He was a follower, a doer of orders. Demons did not question, only obeyed their King.
It was like this reminder hit him all at once and he growled acting like he was about to leave, but Charlie stopped him with another question.
"Why are you attacking my sister? What do you want from her?"
Markus' only reply was an annoyed grunt and he vanished in a halo of red, the frigid cold and dread lifting with his departure. He left behind a speechless Mathew who stared at the empty spot, and a terrified Melinda who had pieced together what she thought was happening with Dominic.
"Are you okay?" William needed to know first. There was no disdain in his voice over her running off like she had, only concern that she was unharmed.
"I'm not hurt." But she was not okay, and he was catching on to her thoughts about why.
Lucas came up to Mathew and grabbed his shoulders gently.
"It appears you have an evil doppelganger."
It wasn't that they'd disbelieved Melinda when she'd said such, it was just easier to believe the Demons were up to some trick—but this was something different. This demon, Markus, had no clue who Mathew was either, and had been honestly surprised by the turn.
Mathew nodded absentmindedly as Grace came flying out. Melinda thanked her for calling for help. The others wanted to know all that happened, but William stopped their badgering as he recognized Melinda needed a moment to gather herself and explain.
"I guess it's a sign of the times," Grace mumbled under her breath, "when evil attacks in broad daylight right on the dang street."
"This evil is not like the evil we usually fight, Grace," said Charlie. "I don't think they're coming here to harm others, though, only us." It wasn't much comfort, but Grace nodded and gave them a weak smile.
"At least let me send ya all home with some baked goods." Because sugar or caffeine was the real answer to every problem in her book. But they'd never say no to delicious yumminess from Grace's oven. Serious trouble brewing or not.
Lizzy dialed Michael and Emily and warned them about what happened and that they were going to have another emergency meeting. So much for spending time in their new home. At this rate, they might as well move back into Michael's old room.
Annie and Courtney met them at the entrance of the mansion, having stayed behind to keep watch in case this had been a distraction—something they'd suffered through and learned the lesson of the hard way before.
When everyone had gathered in the kitchen, Melinda once again found herself explaining another attack. And if she'd felt powerless before, it was downright miserable now. Everything she'd talked about with Lucas made perfect sense on paper, but right now, she felt utterly powerless. And more so than anyone, against Dominic, the man who'd stolen it away from her to begin with.
"I know why they needed my blood," she shakily announced, trying not to sound terrified. "They were making an immunity to my powers. The attack was a test. And it worked. My magic did not work on Dominic."
Silence.
Silence, as this disturbing truth sank in.
"Um—" Charlie shook his head. "Are you sure, Melinda?"
"Can we even confirm this for sure?" Michael asked no one in particular.
Her brothers were stunned, and she realized not questioning her judgment, but the idea that this was even possible.
"My own magic didn't touch him," she replied. "It was like it just fizzled or something. I had two direct hits and they did nothing. Lucas' magic worked. The potions too, which were not made by me. The guy wasn't even afraid of me. He was waiting for me to attack and he was not afraid of me, at all."
"Um—okay." Charlie was at a loss for words. Even Lizzy could only muster a comforting pat on his arm.
William forced the snarl in his throat to stay there. His beloved was afraid. How had he missed it? Right, he'd been so focused on getting Stricker to talk, amongst other things, like protecting Melinda from demons, that he missed what she really needed protection from—her own self-doubt.
She hadn't wanted his help, or anyone's, and he understood why. It was out in the open in her mind and she was showing him freely. She was afraid of falling back into old habits. Of becoming the person she was before—only, it didn't matter to him what she was, he loved her any way she came. He nudged this thought into her mind. And while she appreciated it, he was aware it didn't solve the problem in that she needed to love and trust herself too.
He whispered in her ear.
"Perhaps it is not a short distance to victory, but a long-distance battle that takes time. But know, please, Melinda, that I am always on your side and will do whatever you ask of me. Whatever you need of me, it's yours."
What she wanted was to disappear and curl up in his arms—that or a dark corner to be alone. And that was the wrong thing to do and she knew it—the curling up in a dark corner part, anyway. She linked her fingers with William's and for now, it was enough to know she could borrow on his strength for a little while.
The hush in the kitchen morphed into low whispers like they were all afraid of being heard, or that somehow by speaking about this new development, it would somehow make it real. But it was real, and they needed to deal with this problem fast.
Mathew had been pacing and stopped and the hush returned as they listened to him speak.
"If the demons have someone like me, a potion maker, they might have the ability to create a magical immunity. I know this because I conjured up such a thing in my own lab many years ago—as a potential weapon to use against Charlotte Howard," he explained. "Should the evil witch's plan to return to the future actually work, we needed a backup plan. My work was kept under secure lock and key and has never been used. Again, the reasoning being everything to do with power and not letting anyone have too much."
"Something demons have no concern over," said Rae, joining the conversation after listening intently alongside Riley and the others.
"Especially now that we know the truce between you wasn't honored," Lizzy added.
"And not to state the obvious, Mathew," said Melinda, with an over dramatic eyeroll.
"They do have me. I don't know how. I don't know who this Markus is."
Lizzy meandered over to William, thoughtful. A plan in her mind.
"Can I borrow you for a minute?" she asked the vampire.
He eyed Melinda in concern.
"I'm okay. Go. I'll be right here," she promised.
Lizzy and William disappeared into his study, probably to do research Melinda imagined. She got the impression Lizzy had a theory about something and no one was faster or better at finding the info than William.
Lucas comforted Mathew. "We'll find out who Markus is."
"He really looked like you?" Riley asked.
"Almost a perfect match," Lucas answered with a shudder.
"Freakishly so," agreed Melinda. "And while I think it's important to find out who Markus is and what he's up to, I think we need to lay it on the table that demons are not only building an army, but one immune to magic."
"One witch at a time?" Michael wondered. "It might be our only advantage, if it's one witch at a time." But they were not foolish enough to think it was any true advantage, or that the demons wouldn't use the blood to accomplish other evil things.
Lucas' gaze narrowed. "Not that your point isn't totally valid, Melinda, because it is, but there is another giant elephant in the room we haven't talked about yet—" everyone turned to him while he aimed his words at her. "How did Dominic attack you using magic?"
"Right. That." In all the chaos she'd forgotten she'd almost flown through Grace's window because Dominic had used magic on her.
"Are we sure it wasn't the demon at work?" wondered Mack.
"It was definitely Dominic," Melinda said. She heard the disgruntled snarl of William distant in the study. Yup, Dominic wasn't winning any points in the not getting torn apart by a vampire...
"Witches blood used to be stolen a lot more than it is today," Courtney reminded. "Because it offered temporary power."
"But it would have to be used fast to serve any real purpose," Michael added. "We can hope it was a onetime thing."
"But we'd be idiots if we wrote Dominic off the table," Charlie agreed.
This was truly the most terrifying war ever to be fought. And if they'd thought Rae was enough to balance out their odds, they'd never been so gravely mistaken. With demons stealing powers and creating ways to block magic... the scales were tipping, and not to the side of good.