“You’ve been looking for me?”

  Nora nodded, “For three years. Five years ago, something should’ve happened that didn’t, when you turned sixteen. It wasn’t until I waited for two years for it to occur to no avail, that I decided to look into it.”

  I had no idea what to think, except it was both tempting and ridiculous. She didn’t exist. She couldn’t exist.

  Because if she did, then I had done something unforgivable when I chased her away and told her to never come back.

  “Can’t you speak plainly?”

  Nora shook her head, “I really can’t. It would just make it harder for you to believe, but I can tell you later once you realize you’re perfectly sane after all. Better for you to just trust your feelings, and in your connection to Rosaria. In your eight years of history, it is something you already believe in, even though you don’t wish to and are afraid to.”

  It was silent between us for the rest of the meal, as we chowed down on the stew, and I was lost in my thoughts. Nora was still a knockout. Gorgeous, a ten around the face, and she had a perfectly lush body that looked amazing in my shirt and had me feeling possessive of her. That hadn’t changed, but she was no more alluring than the few other tens I’d gotten into my bed the last four years of college.

  That extra had been some kind of influence, I still didn’t understand. Don’t get me wrong, she was still alluring as hell. Despite sleeping with her all day long I kind of wanted her right then. Hell, it was tempting to call Rosaria just to keep her as my lover for as long as I needed and wanted. I had no doubt she’d meant it, and that she’d enjoy her time with me.

  But I wouldn’t do it for that reason. I felt guilty, and there was this foolish insane hope in me that she was right. That Rosaria would come, and that she would forgive me for sending her away. For believing the doctors and doubting our connection.

  That just maybe, magic was real after all, because Rosaria was magic. She wasn’t human at all.

  But that was insane, it felt like hovering over the abyss of madness, with a gorgeous woman at my side ready to help push me in. Or, like it was some kind of cruel joke, an elaborate con or joke on me, that for some reason Nora was a willing participant in, even to the point of sharing the deep and myriad pleasures of her body. Just to torture me with my most painful memories.

  I hardly remembered my parents, but Rosaria had been a wound that never healed, I’d been eleven when I sent her away ten years ago.

  A dark joke or cruel trick didn’t make any sense, but nor did the idea that Rosaria was real, no matter how badly I wished that was true, while I desperately hoped it wasn’t after the cruel way that I’d sent her away from me.

  It also occurred to me the seduction, and everything Nora had done all day long, had been all to lead to this moment to convince me Rosaria was real and to call her. So that I wouldn’t dismiss her and leave angrily, and I would actually listen. It was also a boost to my ego to realize she hadn’t expected to enjoy it as much as she had, nor to enjoy my company as much as she did. She’d as much said so. Well, I’d enjoyed hers too, even if it had been damned odd and surreal.

  Even worse, the time limit of midnight had me… antsy. The thought of losing her forever, even though I wasn’t sure she existed, was more painful than I could express. Choose another? Rosaria was mine.

  Fuck it, if I’m nuts, I might as well act nuts.

  I put the empty bowl down, “How do I do it?”

  At this question, I felt like I was falling into the rabbit hole.

  Nora stood and put her bowl on top of mine, and then moved forward and straddled me. Her violet eyes were mesmerizing as she looked into mine.

  I put my hands on her, but that was it, despite my desire to take her that wasn’t what this was about.

  “Close your eyes and feel for her. Don’t imagine her appearance, picture her but imagine her presence. The connection between you isn’t complete, the bond not yet set, but the promise of it is there.”

  I felt a little foolish but did what she said. Rosaria had been a pretty girl my age back then the last time I saw her, but she felt like eternity. Older, ancient even, and magic. The sense of her was flowing water, the torrent of rain, and the movement of the oceans. She was warm, deep stirring emotions, and she’d always made me feel safe as a child. There was strength and power in her, a potential that flowed around her, unseen but felt.

  “Rosaria,” I whispered in a broken voice.

  What had I done?

  “Come back to me, Rosaria.”

  I felt a woman’s dainty hands on my shoulders, and I felt her in my chest. Her true presence so much more than I remembered. I was ashamed, shocked, and had tears in my eyes as I opened them to look into Nora’s face.

  Her voice was richer, more profound, womanlier and more alluring, but there was no doubt it was her voice. I’d never forget it. It was also cold.

  “Witch, if you have harmed him, you will rue the day your mother opened her legs.”

  Witch?

  Nora backed off of me, and knelt, “I have not, will not, harm him. He is our hope, it is past time for the promised renewal.”

  Rosaria asked, “What business is it of yours?”

  Nora said, “The old magic is a concern of all, its return will affect us all, and it has been gone too long from this world. The druids and their charges must return. I have sworn to my spirits to help guide, nurture, and serve all of his needs. I swear I only used a little seduction magic, I have not stolen his will.”

  Old magic, seduction magic? Serve all my needs?

  I was shocked and feeling a bit overwhelmed with her hands on my shoulders, but I was getting more confused by the second. Nora was a witch?

  Rosaria said, “Your spirits, and what of your demons?”

  Nora looked up above my eyes, presumably to hers. I was too much of a coward to move, to turn and look at her, and it didn’t seem prudent to interrupt their conversation anyway.

  Nora replied firmly, “I have not explored the left-hand path, it is forbidden in my coven, and we only deal with spirits, except for the dead. I have no demons to swear to, goddess.”

  Wait, what? Goddess?

  Nora must’ve seen the shock on my face, because she said, “Don’t think modern god, think pagan times where there were many gods, and none were all powerful, that walked the earth. Another word for your Rosaria would be Fae. But yes, she is a minor goddess, sworn to your family line, and above the nymphs and sprites in power and authority.

  I wasn’t sure I understood any of that. Except for a minor goddess being bonded to my family line, which seemed a little crazier than my usual brand of crazy.

  Nora added, “I will give you time to reacquaint and make your decisions.”

  She rose gracefully with a nod of respect, and then collected the empty bowls and headed into the woods, presumably to wash them in the creek.

  There was no putting it off any longer, so I rose and turned.

  She was… exquisite, almost painfully so, and she appeared to be my age as she had in the past, right around twenty-one. She had the same straight shimmering curtain of golden blonde hair down to the small of her back, and ocean blue eyes. Her face was oval, with a soft beauty and gentle cheekbones. Her lips full and pink.

  She was petite and curvy at five foot one, with generous C cups that looked rather large on her otherwise petite curves. A little top heavy, in a hot way. She was wearing a blue sundress covered in flowers that matched her eyes, and it showed quite a bit of her cleavage and barely reached lower thigh.

  Truly, exquisite.

  “I’m sorry…” I trailed off as she put a finger over my lips.

  Her eyes were moist, and then she did something she hadn’t done to me in ten years. I’d forgotten, how did I forget? I could feel her love for me, bursting in my chest, and the warmth in her blue eyes was overwhelming. It also reminded she could feel everything I did, so she already knew.

  She knew how sorry I was, knew that I loved her too. She also undoubtedly knew I was insanely attracted to her new form. The soft beauty of her face gave the impression of both elegance and innocence, though her eyes were ancient and wise they were also warm. The coldness from before leached away with Nora leaving us for now.

  Rosaria said, “All is forgiven, but we have a lot to cover if we’re to create the bond tonight. You may keep your witch but be cautious with your heart. They can be treacherous even at the best of times.”

  “I don’t even know where to start, Rose. So just… tell me what I need to know. I don’t even know what the bond is about. I’ll figure out the goddess thing later, I missed you.”

  Rosaria nodded, “And I you, Brendan. I’m sorry they put you through such anguish. Sit, this will take a while. You were too young back then, and outside of our connection I didn’t really tell you anything of importance.”

  I took a seat on the ground before the fire, and Rosaria sat down right next to me, leaned into me and put her head on my shoulder. I put my arm around her out of reflex, but this wasn’t like what it felt like ten years ago to hug my Rosaria. She was… as I said already, exquisitely feminine and beyond stunning, and I felt a bit embarrassed as she no doubt sensed my… building attraction.

  She smiled up at me warmly, “I am pleased you feel that way, I too find your adult body quite… stimulating, Brandon. It is natural, our attraction foreordained, and that is what we are.”

  I wasn’t sure I understood that yet, but it was kind of close to what Nora had said earlier, about it being natural. It was obvious neither of them had any interest in what modern human cultural standards said about expressing attraction.

  She said, “It all started back in the fifteen hundreds or so. You are aware of the fall of paganism to the modern church. Of the horrific things done in the name of god during the inquisition and crusades.”

  I nodded, “Yes.”

  Rosaria said, “Whatever you heard, it’s worse than is publicly known. The church hunted supernatural kind and killed a great number of them. Witches you know even if this modern age doesn’t believe them anymore. There were also vampires, wizards, necromancers, and druids. You are a druid, of the last druid line until the renewal.

  “As Nora said, I’m a Fae. Water fae, to be exact. The Fae, Nymphs, and Sprites are all magical beings, minor gods even, by how that was counted in the past, and worshipped by humans a long time ago. That will be important later on, so we’ll go back to it. Right now, I want to get through the history, then we get to what you and I are, and what our duty is.”

  She was stroking my leg softly, and still leaning against me looking all sorts of sweet and vulnerable, not exactly a look I’d have attributed to a goddess, but quite mesmerizing to me. I got the sense she was feeling a bit clingy, but so was I, after her absence for so long. I sure as hell didn’t mind holding her in my arms, and I was trying really hard to focus and not get distracted. I knew one thing, if I was crazy I didn’t want to be sane. Rosaria was mine, and no one would ever take me from her again.

  “The vampires were able to hide and blend in the growing cities. Preying on humanity among them, and while some were caught most were too fast to fall to the inquisition. Wizards are human in appearance, and they get their power from ceremonial sacrifice, so it wasn’t hard for them to hide either. Their craft is too easy to conceal, done in dark cellars and hidden rooms.

  “Necromancers are really just witches that work with the dead, the lost souls that wander the earth. A witch has some intrinsic powers of the mind, can seduce which is the least of it, the other two are far more serious, outright mind control and the slightly lesser ability of manipulation. Their greatest power is working with spirits, demons, and the dead souls of humans. Through the spirits they can do great things with magic.

  “Witches were hunted and killed, but it was easy enough for them to hide in the cities as well. They survived, hid, and found unsuspecting rich or influential people to hide behind.

  “Druids however, had no easy way to hide. They couldn’t stay away from the forests and wild places for more than a couple of weeks, so it was easy for the inquisitors to set up ambushes. They are also deeply connected with the Fae, nymphs and sprites. Gods, nature spirits, whatever you want to call us, we are the source of your power. A druid has no power of their own, unless bonded to a nature spirit, then some internal abilities are unlocked, which we’ll discuss momentarily.

  “Anyway, the druids were being slaughtered, and it was apparent they would be killed to the last if nothing was done. It was your ancestor that came up with a solution, and all the nature spirits save myself, were sealed away. Not just the three kinds that accept bonds with druids, but also faeries and other magical races that were being hunted. Friends of the druids, but not servants.

  “Your line and me were left out, with the duty to release them all back into the world when the time was right. When it was safe enough to do so. One druid family could hide from the ones hunting all supernaturals, it was felt they’d stop hunting, when no more were found. The old druid lines are still here, but without any of the three kinds of nature spirits to bind, their power is unrealized, and they stayed off the radar. It was a sacrifice they all willingly made, for the promise of a future for their descendants.

  “That time was approaching, unfortunately your parents died before you grew up and could learn of it, and I failed you.”

  I frowned, and squeezed her shoulder, “I’m the one that failed you, Rose.”

  Rosaria shook her head, “I’m the elder of my kind, and older than you can imagine. I should’ve acted before you were put under so much pressure to deny me. I had too much faith in the past and our bond, which was unfair to a small boy. I do not blame you, and I suppose we owe that witch for waking you up to the truth.”

  I nodded, “So why now. The inquisition was over four centuries ago.”

  Rosaria shook her head, “For the humans it was. The sect of the church responsible for destroying all supernatural races, as they are to them abominations in the eyes of god, was only disbanded three years ago.”

  “So, it sounds like the return of the Fae, Nymphs, and Sprites will cause a resurgence of druids. How does it affect the witches?”

  Rosaria said, “The most powerful of spirits were locked away, along with the nature spirits, we were being hunted too. As I said earlier, a witch gets her power from dealing with spirits, and the strongest ones have been locked away for five centuries. A great number of witches turned to demons because of that, no longer satisfied with the power of what minor spirits remain.

  “Alright, so if I hadn’t done it, you’d have found another druid line?”

  Rosaria nodded, “I did not wish to. I love you, and have served your line for millennia, but if you’d waited too long you’d have broken the pact and I’d have had no choice. Too much rests on the renewal and the return of the druids. This world is fading, and it’s not all due to human pollution and foibles. The spirits are an integral part of nature, and the world will be renewed when they are released.

  “One of your powers once we’re bonded will be the power of purification. Healing of diseases or sickness by purifying the blood and body, directly controlling liquids as you’ve seen me do, and projective empathy. You’ll be able to feel the emotions of others as well as project emotions that they will feel. That comes in handy, when taming or working with animals, as well as dealing with humans at times.

  “That is the power of water, and what I offer you with the bonding.”

  I asked, “What do you get out of it. Why would a goddess bond herself to a mortal in service?”

  Rosaria smiled, “For many reasons. Living in a body of water is boring, not much happens. As my druid you’ll provide me with experiences, fun things as well as the duties, and mortals give us a sense of time and the age we’re living in. Otherwise we’d get lost in the past and never grow. Plus, you will help preserve nature, which is dear to my heart. And of course, Love.”

  There was a smoldering look in her eyes, but before I could decide to kiss her, which I badly wanted to do, she turned away.

  She said, “Now, besides sharing in my power, you will also unlock your own internal power with the binding. There are three levels of druidic power. Enhancement, modification, and transfiguration, and they are all aimed inward to your own body.

  “Enhancement is to enhance your body, say with the strength of a bear, or the speed of a cheetah, the surefootedness of a cat, the eyes of an eagle, or the ears of a bat. The enhancements are taking on the attributes of greater senses or strength and speed like an animal, but it’s magical only.

  “Once you master that, you can move on to learning about modification. When you enhance your body with magic, there are still limits to your flesh and bone structure, but modification means you can literally change your hand into claws, and to toughen your body enough to use the true strength of a bear or tiger. Or elephant.

  “Once you master modifying your body, you can learn to transfigure it fully. Actually become a great cat, bear, tiger, or any other animal you can think of.”

  I shook my head, “Okay. That’s… a lot.”

  She nodded, “You can also gain more powers, by binding another spirit through me. A weaker druid line whose primary nature spirit is a sprite, would be out of luck. But as a fae I can bond up to two more Nymphs of lesser power, which would unlock more powers that you’d be sharing. But that is for later, we must see to the renewal first, there are no nymphs or sprites in the world right now.”

  “What’s involved in it?”

  I’d already decided I was all in, she needed my help, and I’d get to keep her for life as my best friend. Maybe Nora too, if I could arrange it. But it seemed prudent to look before I leaped.

  Rosaria replied, “There are three stones, the druid stones. They are… a key of sorts to returning the spirits. We need to collect them and bring them to Ireland, and then arrange them in the right spot. That will be enough for me to make the connection, and free the spirits from their sanctuary. The first one is right here in Philadelphia. It was the one your family kept with them, which was sold off in auction at their deaths. I know who has it.