MAKING MAGICKAL ALLIANCES: A Paranormal Women’s Fiction Novel

 
Making
Magickal Alliances
A Paranormal Women’s Fiction Novel
Roxie’s Midlife Adventures book 5
Leigh Raventhorne


The characters and circumstances in this story are a product of the author’s imagination, and represent no real person, living, dead, nor undead. Any real public places or names are used only to build atmosphere for the reader’s mind.
Copyright © 2021
Leigh Raventhorne
All Rights Reserved
No part of this story may be reproduced in any way without prior written consent of the author.
Many thanks to Beta reader Traci Otte.


Contents
Contents
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17


Chapter 1
Rand woke up - alive
“No.” I turned away, not meeting his eyes. We’d had this argument—no, discussion—every day since he woke up almost two weeks ago.
“Rox, it’s fine. I’m fine. C’mon.” He stepped closer, running his hand through his freshly cut hair in frustration when I quickly stepped back to keep the distance between us.
“Rand, I did this to you!”
“You might have had something to do with this. We don’t know if it was you or that.” He gestured toward the sapphire bracelet on my wrist. “Either way, I feel great. Better than I did when I was alive the first time, even. Whatever happened, it’s a good thing. Quit blaming yourself.”
He’d made every effort to make some sort of physical contact with me daily—and I’d made every effort to avoid it, terrified of what would happen if he touched me again. This had definitely put the kibosh on our self defense lessons—not to mention any other physical activities.
Jake and Toby lay side by side just a few feet away from us, watching our back and forth like it was some sort of fascinating ping pong match.
Hugging myself, I shook my head. Danai had given him a thorough examination and proclaimed him, well, alive. Sort of. He had a heart beat, his body ran only slightly cooler than normal human temperature, and he could eat and drink—which he did with gusto, nearly moaning with satisfaction with every bite he took, even after two weeks of regular meals. Don't get me started on how much coffee he went through daily. But . . . he could also pet Jake. Physically pet him, as if the ghostly Newfoundland was every bit as solid as the formerly incorporeal Army Ranger standing before me now. That baffled everyone, even Zara. There was no known precedence for this. At Finn’s—and my—request, Astra had her best researchers looking into the matter. The pixie library was the only thing that hadn’t been split with the new mound yet, but so far there was no record of a ghost being affected by any kind of pixie magick. According to Finn, the queen had surmised that it was entirely possible that it could have been some sort of unusual interaction between my own hybrid magick, that of the powerful, pixie magick-saturated sapphire, and the blood magick that had been used when I’d made the bracelet. She hadn’t been by to see Rand yet, as most of the pixies had been, er, busy, since the new fairy mound was formed, but she was going to meet us today by the river. She’d only been by briefly since he’d awakened to offer her congratulations to Zara on the birth of the kits, to inspect the bracelet, and to speak with me about what had happened on that stretch of highway where the battle had taken place. Rand had been with the Draftman brothers at the time, checking the borders of the property.
“I can’t chance it, Rand. You know how I feel.” I glanced over at the clock on the parlor wall. “I’ve got to go meet with the water fae soon.” I hesitated, then asked, “Are you coming with us?” Sam, Tess, Danai, and at least one of the Draftman brothers were going to accompany me, but I knew Rand was curious about them.
He stared at me for a moment, then gave a tight nod. Since he’d woken up . . . alive . . . he’d been adamant that nothing had changed between us—including his protection. He’d saved my life several times over the past months as a ghost, but neither of us had any way of knowing what would happen to him if he were injured while in this new state of being.
“Where you go, I go. You know you can’t avoid me forever, beautiful.”
That was another thing that scared the you-know-what out of me. Now that he was . . . alive or whatever this was, why would he still want me? I was several years older than him and almost completely gray, thanks to some quirk of my magick. Before, I’d wondered if the attention he’d paid me was just because I was the only one who could See him, and I had taken Toby in. Not that I’d complain—we’d had fun.
“I need to check on Zara before we go.” Without another word, I turned and fled from the room, my face warm.
“The dogs and I will meet you out front,” he called after me.
I will never understand the mating rituals of humans. Even witches are more straightforward with these matters. I relaxed at the sound of Zara’s voice in my head.
Well, I was kind of raised human, you know. And sorry. My shields were down again.
Just let him touch you and see what happens. It would be better than the both of you walking around on pins and needles. He’ll either explode or he won’t. Matter settled.
Yeah, no. That wasn’t happening.
I rounded the corner leading to her room—my aunt’s old room—and slowed my steps. The door was closed. Before that thought