Chandler had a yacht on the water. The Village seaport was miles worth of docks, the Midnight nestled in a group of fishing boats, stark black in a row of white and beige. The sky splayed above it all like a painting, dawn a rose eruption in the east, shooting flares of pink-orange through the powder blue sky. Chandler took my hand, escorting me on the bow of the yacht–a fine, sleek instrument, a steed of the sea.
"Glad to see you on your feet." He gave my fingers a squeeze and let go. "Hope you don't mind the set. I crash here from time to time."
"Right." I nodded, toeing my boot against the ship's immaculate sole. "So you dragged me on this leaky boat because all Witches are secretly afraid of water, or because you don't trust me at your real place?"
"It's your friends I don't trust, Naomi. I risked my neck to save yours, remember? And I took on the Alpha because you asked me to. Now you're asking me to teach you magic, and while I'm obliged..." He shrugged. "Your friends made it pretty clear I'm supposed to stay away."
"Can you blame them, Mr. Shifty? So, what made you change your mind?"
"You said something--on one of your incessant voicemails." Chandler stuck his hands in the back pockets of his jeans, squinting at the beautiful sunrise. "If Tidus is right, if you are a demigod, then you have the power of the Fae. That would be crazy for anyone in this town to ignore."
"Well, as long as you're not secretly using me to write some story for the Herald, take as many notes as you need. Just... fix me. Make me better, something."
"I'll do what I can, promise."
Chandler led me below deck, to a small, refined space with a cot in one corner and a mini kitchen in the other. A marine sectional occupied the leftover floor space, along with a few barrel chairs, an ottoman scattered here and there. I took a seat on the sectional, leaning forward and sliding a candle aside to to run my fingers across the navigation star painted in the center of the marine teak table. Chandler wasn't far behind, two steaming mugs of tea in each hand. He stopped short.
"Did you light those?"
"What do you mean?" I followed his glance around the room, to the candles in every corner. All of them were lit, including the white candle on the teak wood table, flickering pleasantly within it's dish. "Whoa. I wasn't trying to, I'm sorry--"
"Don't be." Chandler passed me a mug and took a seat. "You did it without thinking. It means you're different than most Witches. They channel magic. Not you, you attract it, you create it." He paused, his expression softening from excitement, to concern. "Your power really is Otherworldly."
"So are you." I took a sip of his piping hot, bittersweet tea, then set the mug aside. "Is that why Tidus and Ethan don't trust you? Because you're Fae?" Like the Seelie and Unseelie, there were two sides to Chandler–light and dark interwoven. When we first met, all I noticed were the sunrays, his darkness hidden with the shadows. But in the blackest parts of our souls, especially, there is power. "Chandler, I've seen what you can do. I've felt it. Admit it, you don't need me to find Leda, you could find her yourself. What's holding you back?"
Chandler exhaled, setting his own tea to the side. "Leda's important, but she's also my cover--a reporter just doing his job gets more leniency than an outsider."
"Until people find out he's a super-powerful Incubus. You could annihilate those Witches. So, what are you really up to, Chandler--if that's even your real name."
"It is in this decade." He smirked. "Look, it's one thing for me to take out a Witch or two on the side, but an entire coven--that would attract attention I can't afford. Leda's... a project. But she's not the mission."
"Then what is?"
Chandler's pretty blue eyes raked me over the coals as he debated how much he trusted me. "Dracula."
"Dracula?" I climbed to my feet, moved by the mere mention of someone so close, so important to Catherine. "Dracula's dead."
"Says who?" Chandler rose as well, pretty blue eyes aflame, more passionate for Drake than Leda by far. "No body, no evidence, no proof. I'm gonna need his ashes, toots. Cuz' even if he really did bite the dust, he can be raised, and I've been eavesdropping long enough to know he can be raised by you."
"So you've been spying on me--no surprise there. But why go through all this trouble? Who are you, Chandler? Really?" I folded my arms over my chest, not just angry, unprepared--and that felt a whole lot worse.
"It's probably easier if I show you." He stepped back, an otherworldly sunset, light springing from him in all directions. I stared Chandler's outline flared in shining blue as tendrils of magic latched themselves to his jeans and t-shirt, hardening into something like onyx, a body armor the likes of which I had never seen. He bore a mask with a hood, dark eyes blazing through the slits, and in his hand was a blade made of Chi.
Chandler fell to one knee, bowing his his head as he crossed his chest with his right arm in solemn oath.
"Whoa. You really are a superhero."
"Not even close." Chandler's hood evaporated into Chi, fading like smoke. "I am the Taker of Souls, Dark Knight of the Unseelie Court. I come to this realm in service of her royal Majesty, the Ice Queen. I am here for Dracula."
I took a heavy seat on the couch. "Please stop kneeling."
He rose to his feet with a sigh, that divine light fading from his eyes as the body armor dissipated.
"You're a knight?"
"Does that surprise you?"
"Not as much as the fact that you're hunting Dracula. Is this how you know so much about witchcraft?"
He nodded. "When you work for one of the most powerful beings in the Otherworld, you learn a thing or two about magic. I can teach you whatever you need to know, Naomi, as long as it doesn't stop me from finding Dracula. It's been centuries on Earth since he betrayed the Queen, but time flows differently in the Otherworld. I get it--this is a suicide mission. I'm tracking someone I may never find--but the Queen will always be waiting. She wants vengeance, and if it's already been dealt, I need to deliver proof."
I cleared my throat, but it did no good, the truth was here to stay. "So... my friends were right?" I shook my head, tongue in cheek. "This whole time, you've been... using me. You want Dracula, and you knew I'd fall for your Leda sob story enough to help you."
"Naomi--"
I brushed him away; his candles went out in a silent, angry wind. "You work for the Ice Queen--she ruined Tidus' family!"
"Naomi--"
"You could have told me, it wouldn't have mattered--I would have understood--"
"Naomi--"
"You almost killed Ethan--and I still believed you were innocent, someone I needed to protect. I stuck up for you!"
"Naomi!"
"What!"
"We've got company."
I turned, saw the two smirking women just as they motioned in unison–and was thrown off my feet by a soundless, colorless blast. I flew over the couch, flattening a cardboard table, where I lay in the rubble, winded, head spinning.
Fucking Witches. I hobbled to my feet in time to see Chandler wreak his vengeance, their Chi his for the taking. He was so busy chowing down, he didn't notice a third Witch ease from the shadows...
"Chandler!" But I was too late. She darted forward and Chandler collapsed with his victims. In her eyes was a darkness I was familiar with, in her pale hand, a knife stained with Chandler's ichor.
Too bad for the Witch, I was a quick study. Mimicking the motion I had picked up from her friends, I sent the knife flying from her fingers, hilt-deep into the wall. She stared at the weapon, she stared at me... We took off at the same time, the Witch tearing after the knife, me tearing after the Witch.
I was faster.
I grabbed her by the forearm and slung her around, marring her cheek with the claws of my free hand. She landed on the floor with a yelp, backing up until her head cracked against the marine table. She held her bleeding face, and begged me not to kill her. Ignoring her pleads, I swiped a fallen candle, showing the gold as I huffed and puffed like a fire-breathing dragon. The candle became a blowtorch, shooting flames a foot from her nose.
The Witch scrambled for the door. I tossed the candle aside, and grabbed her by the collar, dragging her onto her feet to peer in her sunburned face up close.
"You hurt my friend. If I ever see your face again, you're dead, got me?" I let her go, shoving her towards the exit. "Tell Catherine the gloves are off."
She and her friends hiked it through the door and back upstairs. I watched from the porthole windows as they scrambled from the yacht, disappearing into the harbor. I exhaled in relief, pushing the hair from my face. Chandler was already on his feet, sagging against the couch back.
"You okay?"
I nodded. "This is my fault--Catherine's keeping tabs on me. She had me followed last night, they must have followed me here too. Now they know who you are... I should've killed them, I know, but I..." I shrugged, I couldn't do it. It was hard to explain why.
"It's alright, I understand." Chandler sniffed through the pain as he straightened, his hand pressed to his abdomen. "You just came from a dark place. I don't wanna be the one who sends you back."
"I never thought it was a big deal before now, but I think either Catherine has Dracula's remains, or she knows where they are. And if I'm right, she'll kill you before she ever lets you take him back to the Ice Queen."
"Yeah, you're probably right." Chandler swayed. His hand fell away and I saw his palm, dark from the ichor on his t-shirt. I shimmered, catching Chandler before he hit the ground.
"Holy shit, that's awesome." I shimmered again, resting him gently on the lounge. Chandler was deathly white, trembling, struggling just to breathe. He kept his waist covered, ichor oozing between his fingers.
"Chandler, you're hurt, tell me what to do."
"I can't." He shook his head. "I can't ask you--"
"You have to, you're dying." I removed his hands, putting pressure on the wound myself. "Chandler!"
"I'm an Incubus. There's only one thing you can do. Siphoning your Chi will only get me so far; in order to heal, I need you." He grit his teeth, hit by a wave of pain he couldn't ignore. "I'm sorry I betrayed you, Naomi. If you can't do this I understand."
"Shutup. You risked your life for me, again; I won't leave you hanging." I shimmered. Chandler sat up on his elbows, eyebrows raised at the pile of clothes at my feet. All that stood between him and salvation was my lingerie. "Can't let you die. I need you."
A deal with a devil, who had eyes like stars at midnight. I sealed my own fate. I let Chandler in.
He scooped me into his arms, carrying me to his cot as the Midnight drifted into the open seas. Bow-first it plunged beneath the white-capped waves. We were taken to a world far from the sunlight, but our magic broke the darkness–blue embers shot through pink flames, as over and over I slayed the dark knight.
So for totally obvious reasons, I've placed the super steamy details between Mimi and Chandler in the following private chapter, which means you have to follow me to read it (don't worry you can always unfollow when you're done, I won't hold it against you lol). If you're not interested, you can totally skip that scene and you won't miss any important deets (just the fun ones, as I always say lololol).
In the meantime, won't you pretty please click that little star up above and VOTE for Chandler and Mimi. More SF is coming soon, so don't forget to add it to your reading list so you don't miss the next update! Thanks, guys! <3 <3 <3