All Knight Long, Book I: One Warlock's Love Story Read online

  “We prayed that you would come home,” his mother cried.

  “Where the hell did you go?” Waverly asked. “I looked for you all over the Litha before and after the attack.”

  It was easier for Zander to just not respond to Waverly. He didn’t know what his parents had and had not deduced, and he didn’t want to give them any more information by saying too much.

  “We were worried sick about you,” his father added.

  Zander felt a pang of guilt. “I’m sorry. I got here as soon as I could.”

  “We’re just glad that you’re all right,” Grandma Nasha replied.

  Waverly sighed dramatically. “Isn’t anybody curious about where he was or why he had all of us worried sick all night?”

  “Now isn’t the time,” Grandma Nasha scolded.

  “That’s a nasty bump on his head, Crystal. Should I make a healing paste for him?” Aunt Finity asked, glancing periodically at her crystal globe.

  His mother nodded, and Zander reached up to find a plum-sized knot on the center of his forehead, which somehow gave him a sudden headache.

  “How long was I out?” Zander asked.

  “Oh, not too long,” his mother assured him. He could tell that she was lying. Zander looked around the room at his family. He was glad that they were safe.

  “Do we know who’s responsible for the attacks?” Zander tried.

  His father hesitated. “Not yet, but the district coven representatives are working hard to find out.”

  “The regional coven representatives told us to congregate as much as possible, so we came here to be with your family,” Uncle Siran added.

  “So where’s everybody else?” Zander asked.

  His father rattled off the various places that everyone was hiding, but Zander noticed that he hadn’t mentioned his Grandma Zoe. He waited a moment for his father to continue, and when he didn’t, Zander finally had to say something.

  “I guess Grandma Zoe was too stubborn to leave her house in Maryland, huh?” Zander tried to laugh, but it hurt. His mother burst into tears.

  His Grandmother Nasha sat down on the bed and held his hand. “Zander, we can’t seem to locate your Grandma Zoe.”

  Zander tried to sit up. “Has anyone called her house? Can’t we go to Maryland?”

  “The district representatives and regional coven leaders have restricted all travel,” his father announced.

  Grandma Nasha continued, “She was at the Litha when it was attacked.”

  “What was she doing there?”

  “She was trying to look out for you,” Waverly said.

  The reality of what had happened fell on Zander like a ton of bricks. His grandmother had gone to the Litha to make sure that she could keep an eye on him. For all he knew, she might have followed them to the club to protect him and somewhere along the way gotten attacked. It was all he could do to hold the tears back in front of his family -- especially Waverly.

  “We’ve been casting a finding spell since both of you went missing. We haven’t had any luck. We were only able to find your aural signature about four hours ago, and we figured then that you were headed home,” his mother said, sniffling. Zander realized that his family probably hadn’t been able to locate him when he was at Giovanni’s house because of the charms and spells that Giovanni had placed around the building.

  “So why didn’t you just meet me at the front door when I got here?” Zander asked.

  “Well, we’re supposed to verify everyone’s identity,” his father told him. “We realized it was you based on how comfortable you were in the house, but we also had to wait to make sure that no one had followed you here. And it takes a while to undo the spell that had us all cloaked in the first place.”

  Zander sighed. So much had changed since the last time he was home. His mother started crying again, and his aunt attempted to comfort her. The knot on his head felt like it was getting larger, and his headache was definitely getting worse. He looked at his mother, and his heart broke.

  Zander leaned up to give his mother a hug. “We will find her,” he whispered.

  “Blessed be!” Aunt Finity shouted.

  “What is it?” Uncle Siran asked, as they all looked over at her crystal globe.

  “Someone is here,” she whispered. “I think we are being attacked.”

  “You all have to lift the veil,” Zander’s father ordered. “Siran and I will go deal with the intruders.”

  “Be careful,” Zander’s mother pleaded.

  Waverly looked at his father. “What about me? Dad, you know I can help.”

  “Stay here and watch over Zander,” Siran ordered.

  “Dammit.” Waverly’s shoulders dropped.

  “Come, let us gather,” Grandma Nasha said, speaking directly to the women. There were simply some things that witches were better at than warlocks -- holding onto large spells for long periods of time was one of them. Aunt Finity gave Waverly the crystal globe and grabbed Crystal and Grandma Nasha’s hands. Grandma Nasha led them into a chant, and the entire room went hazy, everything around them turning shades of black and white.

  “What are you doing?” Zander asked them curiously.

  Waverly rolled his eyes. “Be quiet, you idiot. They’re invoking the cloaking spell”

  Zander’s father and uncle were both very fit warlocks and versed in most forms and aspects of magic, but neither of them had seen the soldiers that had attacked the club. When they charged out of the room, Zander wondered if they would return or meet the same fate as Milo and the security guard at Arcane.

  “I can help,” Zander said, trying to get up. Waverly pushed him back on the bed and scolded him for being such a nuisance.

  The women were chanting and swaying. Waverly flopped down on the bed beside Zander and began looking into his mother’s crystal globe. From where was sitting, Zander could also see something inside. Waverly, despite his generally bad attitude and dislike for Zander, was as adept at reading a crystal globe as his mother. Zander was again reminded of what he had missed by not going to a traditional magic school.

  “What do you see?” Zander asked.

  “Wait a damn minute and shut the fuck up,” Waverly hissed. “They’re spellcasting, and your whining is interfering.”

  The chanting was reaching a fevered pitch. If someone did manage to get past his father and uncle, they would have a hard time finding the rest of them unless they were very skilled magicals. Zander wished that his father and uncle had stayed with them and hidden in the room, but he couldn’t really expect his father to do that. It was enough that the regional coven leader had forbidden them from going in search of his grandmother, but there was no law to say that a warlock couldn’t protect his home or family.

  The trio of witches finished their spell and sat on the bed, obviously exhausted.

  “Dad and Uncle Mal are on different sides of the estate,” Waverly said. “The two attackers won’t see them coming. They’re either going to whip them from both sides with wind storms or hurl boulders from the rock garden.”

  “Do the intruders have on uniforms?” Zander asked.

  “No. I think one of them might be a... warlock. He has a divining rod,” Waverly said. The room sat silent for a moment as they all crowded around the crystal globe.

  Zander could barely make out the image of two men at first. And then he knew -- Giovanni and Tau!

  “Wait! They’re my friends!” he yelled, trying to get untangled from the sheets.

  “What?” his mother asked.

  “It’s Giovanni and Tau,” he screamed.

  “You can’t run out there,” his grandmother explained. “You’re behind the veil. You can’t move through it. They can’t hear you or see you, either.”

  “Take it down, take it down. Tau is a shifter!” Zander warned. Even a warlock as powe
rful as his father would find it hard to defeat a shifter.

  “What?!” his mother exclaimed. The women immediately stood, grabbed hands, and began chanting. It was powerful magic, and it couldn’t be rushed.

  Zander paced back and forth while the spell was being cast. He didn’t dare look in the crystal globe. Instead, he looked at Waverly’s reaction -- and it didn’t look good. His father and uncle had grown up together, so their combined magic was strong. But Giovanni was no magical slouch, and Tau was capable of turning into a wild beast that could literally tear someone’s head off.

  Zander’s headache was getting worse, and he was starting to get dizzy, too. It seemed like it was taking a lot longer to remove the veil than it had to create it.

  “A witch’s work is done in a calm spirit,” he heard his grandmother whisper to the others. There must have been something wrong. Perhaps they were too excited or merely too tired.

  “Oh, fuck!” Waverly exclaimed.

  The witches continued to chant, seeming to have gotten a second wind. The magic in the room felt strong again, and within seconds the veil and barrier were gone. They all rushed out of Zander’s room and out toward the front yard.

  Chapter 14

  By the time they got outside, Giovanni had Zander’s Uncle Siran paralyzed and suspended in midair. Zander’s father had fashioned an iron bar from the estate’s gate into a spear that was just inches from Tau’s temple. Tau had transformed into a werelion with fully extended claws that were well within striking distance of Malachi’s throat.

  “Let my brother go and I won’t send this spear through your friend’s skull,” Zander’s father yelled at Giovanni.

  “Fuck him and fuck you, too. I am here to save my friend,” Giovanni yelled. The magical intensity in the air had his dreadlocks flying around his head like a halo. It was obvious that neither couple realized that the other was connected to Zander.

  “Dad, Stop!” Zander yelled from the front door.

  Zander’s father turned for one split second. The momentary lapse in concentration was all that Tau needed. He snatched the spear, pushed Malachi Knight to the ground, and raised it to strike him in the heart.

  “Tau, No!” Zander yelled again, before whipping his arms in an infinity pattern that sent his father, his uncle, Giovanni, and Tau flying off to separate corners of the yard. Not only had Zander broken all of their magic, but he had forced Tau to return to his human form and pinned all of them down to the ground.

  “This is my father and my uncle!” Zander said, looking directly at Tau.

  “How the fuck were we supposed to know that?” Giovanni asked, still attempting to get up.

  “You’re at my damn house. Who else would it be?” Zander yelled. The entire family was out in the front yard now, and it was a good thing that the next neighbor lived miles away.

  “So is that what your family does? You attack everyone that comes to visit?” Giovanni shot back.

  “Who is this?” Zander’s mother asked.

  “Let me up, dammit,” Zander’s father yelled. Zander released his hold on everyone but Tau.

  “Who are these people?” Zander’s mother asked again.

  “They are my friends,” Zander said, looking at his family, who had assembled in front of him and Giovanni.

  “We can see that this... young man is a warlock, but who is the shape shifter?” his grandmother asked. If there was an issue with Zander’s father’s side of the family, it was that they could appear to be somewhat aloof and haughty. They were, after all, a highly respected magical family who didn’t socialize with just any witch or warlock. They were very straight laced and allowed very little room for coloring outside the lines. Zander knew that to them, cavorting with a shifter was just not acceptable.

  “Let me up, Zander,” Tau pleaded, growing annoyed. Zander swung his arm in a wide arc, throwing Tau up in the air. Were it not for his catlike reflexes he would have fallen back to the ground. As it was, he landed squarely on his feet.

  “How did you find me?” Zander asked Giovanni. Giovanni looked across the yard at his divining rod, which he had thrown down during the fight. He reached his hand out and called to it. It flew directly into his palm, and he held it up for Zander to see.

  “Young man, where were you trained?” Grandma Nasha asked.

  “The Erato Academy,” Giovanni answered.

  “Ah, Atlanta.” Grandma gave Giovanni an appraising stare. The nine major private schools were named after the nine muses. There was the Erato Academy in Atlanta; the Clio Academy in Salt Lake City, Utah; the Euterpe Academy in Orlando, Florida; the Thalia Academy in New York, New York; the Melpomene Academy in Fort Lauderdale, Florida; the Terpsichore Academy in Seattle, Washington; the Polymnia Academy in Anne Arbor, Michigan; the Ourania Academy in St. Paul, Minneapolis; and the Calliope Academy in Knoxville, Tennessee.

  “Will someone please explain what on Earth is going on here?” Zander’s mother asked again.

  “These are my friends Giovanni and Tau,” Zander said, not making eye contact with either his friends or family.

  “How do you know them?” she continued. Zander struggled to answer.

  “You heard your mother. How do you know them?” Zander’s father asked. It was apparent that he was still angry from the fight.

  “I don’t want to talk about it right now,” Zander said, as he fought back the tears.

  “You answer us right now!” his father said. The pressure was too much. Zander had experienced more drama since his eighteenth birthday than he had in his whole life, and here his father was interrogating and embarrassing him in their front yard in front of his family and friends.

  “Not now, Dad,” he said, lowering his voice.

  “You will answer me right now, dammit!” his father yelled.

  Zander exploded, “Do you really want an answer? Do you, Dad? Here you go! I met Giovanni on a gay chat site months ago. A gay chat site! I went to meet him after the Litha in Atlanta, and we went to a gay club. A gay club! This is Tau. Tau is the gay dude that I met at the gay club. A gay dude! I guess you could say we were dating. So there you go. I’m gay, and I am sick and tired of everyone in this damn family treating me like I’m a child. I am eighteen fucking years old, and I don’t know half the spells that Giovanni does. I can barely defend myself, and I don’t know shit about the supernatural community. Is that enough of a damn answer for you?”

  “It was more like mating than dating,” Tau corrected, as if that would help.

  Giovanni rolled his eyes. “Are you serious right now?”

  “I see that my little cousin has some edge to him,” Waverly said, in a tone that almost sounded like admiration.

  “I don’t believe this. This is ridiculous. Let’s all go back in the damn house right now,” Zander’s father ordered. His family slowly turned and went back into the house without a word, leaving Zander, Giovanni and Tau outside.

  “Zander, I’m sorry, dude. We only came here to help. We were really worried about you,” Giovanni said.

  “I know. It’s not your fault. How’d you get here, and what is that thing?” Zander pointed at the divining rod.

  “Hung let us borrow his car, and this is a divining rod. We had to use magic to find you,” Giovanni explained. He glanced over at Tau and then back to Zander. “I need to go... call Hung and make sure that he hasn’t torn up my house.” Giovanni headed back to the Mustang.

  “Thank you for acknowledging me to your parents,” Tau said.

  “That had nothing to do with you,” Zander responded hotly.

  “Wait. What’s wrong with your head?” Tau gently touched the knot on Zander’s forehead.

  “Long story,” Zander responded, and then noticed the chunk missing from Tau’s hair. “What’s wrong with your head?”

  “Long story. I see that you still have your ring on.” Tau fro
wned.

  “With everything that’s been going on, I guess I forgot to take if off,” Zander started to remove the ring.

  Tau covered Zander’s hand with his larger ones. “Please keep it. I want you to have it.”

  Zander was beginning to regret his tantrum.

  “Excuse me,” Giovanni said. Neither Zander nor Tau had noticed his return.

  “What is it?” Zander asked Giovanni.

  “You should go back in the house before your father comes back out here.” Giovanni glanced warily toward the house. “He looked like he was pretty upset. Heathcliff and I can leave.”

  “I’m glad you came,” Zander told them.

  “Even me?” Tau asked, poking out his bottom lip. He was too cute for Zander to resist.

  “Even you,” Zander said, smiling.

  Tau grinned. “I’m sorry that I wasn’t more honest. I guess my heart got in front of my head.”

  “I’m sorry that I overreacted,” Zander said. “I should have been able to use my words and not my magic to communicate my feelings.”

  “Tell your dad we’re sorry about the misunderstanding. I’m glad to see that your family is safe. Now that you and Catwoman made up, we can get the hell out of here. I’ll call you later.”

  “That’s just it, though” Zander said. “Everything isn’t okay. My Grandmother Zoe is still missing. We think she was either at the Litha or near the club when the soldiers attacked. No one can find her.” Zander paused, frowning. “The ruby necklace was the last thing that she ever gave me.”

  “Baby, I’m sorry.” Tau put his arm around Zander’s shoulder, and surprisingly, Zander allowed him.

  Zander’s mother opened the front door. “Whatever you boys are talking about, you can talk about in the house. The entire supernatural community is suggesting that we all stay undercover.” She looked at Zander and gave him a small smile. “We’re about to go back behind the veil and then break bread. Your guests are welcome to stay, so come in the house.”