chapter two: home late

It was late and Marian Loxley was awake. She would have been asleep at such an hour, happy to get sleep when it was dark out, but she couldn’t stay asleep for long. Usually there was a reason- it was too hot outside (usually in the case of summer), she was having a bad dream, if she was hungry, and a whole slew of other reasons. Yet this reason was one that had somehow become the norm in the past few weeks since they had left the city.

Her husband wasn’t in bed next to her.

Marian had always felt comforted when Rob was sleeping next to her. Recently, however, he had been absent from their bed, coming in early in the morning and sleeping until later before going out again. He wouldn’t tell her what was going on but Marian had a notion what was happening and she didn’t like it one bit.

She sat on the edge of her bed a moment longer before she started. There was a car engine idling outside! She was up in a flash, peering out the window. She could see the shadowy form of Rob getting out of the vehicle- even from this distance and even in the dark, she knew it was him. He came up the steps and she heard the door open and close, the deadbolt locking once again as he moved to the guest room next to the kitchen.

Well, if he thought he’d just slip into bed as usual, without a single word of argument, he was dead wrong.

She was waiting by the fire when he came out, already dressed in sweats, ready for sleep. He seemed surprised to see her and was about to say something (most likely to praise her or butter her up) but Marian cut him off swiftly. “Where have you been?” She snapped, giving him an indignant glare. “And don’t try to lie, Robin Loxley, for I know better than to believe you!”

Rob flinched at her voice, sinking into the nearest chair, trying to come back with an answer. “Well, you see Marian, I…well you know how things are, eh?”

“You’ve been stealing again, haven’t you?”

“Now, hold on just a moment-” Rob glowered back. But Marian wasn’t about to let him off. Her anger and fury was enough to stop anyone in their tracks.

“I told you once and I’ll tell you again: no more! I told you last year when we got married that I didn’t need this in our life anymore. You promised me!” There was hurt in her eyes as she trailed off, sinking into her chair more, glowering at the fire.

They sat in silence for a long time before Marian finally spoke, rising as she did. “You can sleep in the guest bedroom tonight.” There was a strange finality to her voice as she trudged up the stairs. He didn’t watch her leave, even though he wanted to, sinking his face into his hands with a heavy sigh.

He’d sleep in the guest room tonight but he knew that, by morning, Marian would be calm enough to receive an apology.

chapter one: brotherhood

Night was falling swiftly upon the small valley. Dusk settled around, daylight clinging until there was nothing left but darkness to swallow it whole. Had there not been a half moon in the sky, it would have been terrible conditions for going out in the night. Yet the moonbeams created a bit of light and the florescent glow from the lights stationed on the front yard of the grand mansion helped show the path towards the dwelling. The lights upstairs were already snuffed out, the mistress of the house already curled up in bed. Yet she listened carefully, taking soft, shallow breaths as she tried to discern the voices that bled through from the downstairs below her. Aimee knew she shouldn’t have been listening in on the private affairs of the men down below but she just couldn’t help herself. She strained her ears, closing her eyes, and letting out a long breath as the voices became a little clearer to her sleepy mind.

“Brothers, we meet at last,” It was her husband who spoke first. Evan had a darker tone, though it remained even as he greeted the two men whom Aimee had let into their home only a few hours ago. Robin Loxley and Jeremiah Gantz were seated at her table (well, her husband’s table), each with a glass of wine, and each ready to speak on the matters of their move to Vestan Ridge.

Two of the most powerful families had come along with she and her husband. Two families to keep this place safe, to protect them and help lead their sons into this magical world in which they existed. While Aimee had long been a skeptic of this, it was clear the skepticism was rooted in jealousy. Her husband and these men had what she could have wanted: magic and a means of such power! Instead of being like them, she was simply a human. How could she be special? Yet Evan had told her, time and time again, that it was the fact that she didn’t have magic, that she relied on simply living without the burden of the power, that drew him to her.

She fought sleep as long as she could but the voices soon blurred into simply noise as she drifted off into sleep. She didn’t hear the chairs scraping against the wood, nor the farewells given before the door was closed and the house was silent again. Yet she did stir as she felt weight on the bed shift. Evan slid beneath the covers and a peek over her shoulder proved to her his utter exhaustion as he heaved a sigh. His body pressed against hers, an arm wrapping around her waist. Her fingers intertwined with his.

“How’d it go?” She murmured sleepily, eyes closing once again as she fought off sleep long enough to hear his answer.

“We have a lot of work ahead of us.”

prologue: seven generations

Vestan Ridge, a township located in the north woods, has only recently been opened to the public. The quiet streets, spacious homes (well, at least in one half of the town) and the woodland all around have been the appealing factors that draw residents to it. Yet, despite how normal it or the folk who live in this place seem, nothing is as it seems.

It started seven generations ago. Magic bloomed within a small town in the north. Most were frightened, some saw it was the devil’s work, and others embraced this gift. Writing down what they could, gathering the knowledge they had, the men composed the Book of Days, knowing that this power would stay in the families. The next generations would need guidance in the matters of magic. It wasn’t perfect the first time around but, with each passing generation of men blessed with the gift, the art of magic was slowly perfected to a point where they could live among humans again, living as regular people and not let the powers seep into their everyday lives.

There was peace between the families of magic and, as they grew, they spread apart to different corners of the continental United States. There was a bond there that couldn’t be severed and it continued to grow stronger with each passing year. Yet the families also grew cocky and greedy, letting things slip when they shouldn’t have. Things like getting ahead in line when they had been near the back or finding the perfect spot became en everyday occurrence and, while it wasn’t significant in the bigger picture, the tasks that they used magic for were added to a long list.

While their bonds of family seemed strong, not all things were meant to last. Bickering began at the top, working down towards the lowest of the men until most of them had broken away from their band of brothers that had been in place for almost eight hundred years. The families that had once been friends were now enemies and there was little anyone could do.

They stayed like this for two generations, the different sections of family staying clear of the sides they hadn’t agreed with two hundred years back. It seemed life would stay like this…until the highest order’s son fell in love with a daughter on the opposite side of his family. His parents fought him on the issue, fervently dismissing the idea that their son could have fallen in love with someone like her. There was talk that perhaps a witch had finally been born to them and the girl had twisted the boy with some sort of spell. Yet there was no denying when you saw them; the two loved one another and, for this love, they were willing to do whatever they could.

With the son’s power and his love’s ambition to bring the different sides together, they managed to plead their cases to some choice families. Banding together, they set forth towards a small township in the North Woods, carefully hiding themselves within the trees. It’s here that the story begins and here where the trouble starts.