Two
Paradigm, Regia
20 years after the war of the wizards.
Maddox left his date in the dancing crowd and stepped outside for a moment of fresh air. In the dark courtyard of The Academy, he leaned against the castle’s wall and sighed. The after-graduation party was well under way, but he wasn’t even halfway drunk yet. Always the center of attention—where he liked to be— there still were times, like right then, that he needed to be alone. No doubt, his best friend, Kendrick, would find him soon.
Maddox pulled his lighter and a joint from his pocket. The end glowed happily in the dark as he inhaled the head-spinning smoke and held it in his lungs. On his second pull, the door opened.
“Dude, why are you out here?” Kendrick asked, coming out.
Maddox blew smoke in his face and held up the joint. “Fresh air. Wanna hit?”
Kendrick took one drag and handed it back. “I’m not even close to being wasted. The party punch sucks.”
“Did you expect better?” Maddox asked incredulously. “This is a school-hosted function. The music isn’t bad though. The punch will work on the panties, don’t worry.”
“Thank goodness for that. Not all of us are superstars and have hordes of women throwing themselves on us the way you do.”
Maddox smirked and took another drag. “Don’t complain. I know picking the carcasses clean of my discards is one of your favorite pastimes.”
Kendrick chuckled. “True. Most of the time the poor girls think I can get them back in your good graces. They will do anything for that. If it wasn’t weird, I’d ask you to teach me. You’re such a slayer.”
Maddox pulled his face like he’d just swallowed something sour. “Eww… Anyway, my gifts can’t be taught.”
“Are you going back in or cutting out?”
“Haven’t made up my mind. Neely is boring me. She can’t dance. I hate that. Such a turn off.”
“So?” Kendrick snorted. “She’s got a great rack. Are you really not going to hit that?”
“I already have, yesterday. It wasn’t that great. Once was enough. If I leave now, she’ll get the hint.”
“You think?” He scoffed. “She’s got stars in her eyes when she looks at you. You know she’ll show up on your doorstep tomorrow, begging.”
Maddox pulled more smoke into his lungs and rolled his eyes. “Well, that will be more fun than taking her home tonight. Feel free to wipe her tears and whatever else. I don’t give a shit.”
Kendrick held out his fist. Maddox bumped it with his own and threw the joint to the ground.
“See you tomorrow, brother?”
Maddox nodded and began walking away. “Not before noon, or I’ll kick your ass.”
The music faded behind him as he walked through the school grounds and out. He grimaced since no one could see him. He shouldn’t be so cruel, he knew that, but it was like a drug. It made him feel powerful…afterward however, the guilt was heavy.
He looked at his watch, the face shivering under the touch of his fingertip. He scrolled through his messages for a second, and then unfastened it and put it in his pocket. The watches most Regians used were all designed by his sister, Tesla. She’d taken her inspiration from Earth’s technology and added her own flare to it. Everyone was connected as they chose, but Regia’s version of the Internet was a product of Tesla’s singular mix of science and magic. Nothing had to be charged. No equipment kept things running.
Now that his watch wasn’t hiding the portal embedded in his wrist, he touched the gold medallion on his skin, opening a gateway to the outskirts of Anue. He wanted to walk a bit before going home. He relaxed in the dark solitude as he strolled, his hands in his pockets. His rangy frame cast a very thin shadow across the ground. He looked around and smiled. He’d missed this place. Anue had grown from a small town into a medium-sized, racially diverse city. And since he’d spent over half the year living at school, he didn’t get time to spend there. That could change now that he’d graduated.
Memories of his past nightlife in Anue came into his head and caused him to scowl. He didn’t want to analyze his character, it would just make him feel guilty. At least no one ever found out about his good deeds. He wove through the empty back streets, unconsciously moving toward the low-income area. He stopped in front of the shabbiest house he’d ever seen and smirked. Why not? Just for old times’ sake.
He fished out a few large coins from the bottom of his pocket and put them in the mail box. The sum was enough to feed the family for a month. He began to walk away and stopped after three strides. He’d forgotten something. He bent over and picked up a stone from the ground. He tossed it in the air, caught it, and went back to the house to place the stone in the mail box with the coins. He never knew exactly why he did this, but he always had, ever since the first time, when he’d just needed a rock to keep the letter from blowing away. After that, it was just an odd compulsion he indulged.
He turned the direction of home and walked a little faster than before. Thumping music floated on the air a few streets over. He followed the beat to the house having the party and looked into the open front window. His eyes devoured the scene for a moment before he backed away and continued home. He smiled to himself as he opened a portal to home. Yeah, summer slumming was going to be good. The townie girls he’d glimpsed through that window were hotter than the snooty school tail he was used to.
He landed in the garden, under the shimmery magic dome of security that also had been created by his sister. Had he landed outside the dome, it would have opened for him when he touched it because it was designed to recognize his DNA. There was an invisible code panel on the back side of the property for trusted friends and family members to use. The dome made the house and the surrounding garden invisible to outsiders.
He was happy to be home. Nothing about it ever seemed to change. The stone house had been his mother’s before she mated with his father, Syrus. And even though Syrus had been the vampire prince, and they could have lived in the castle, been the king and queen, they left all that and lived here, in privacy and comfort. It had been their choice to change Regia from a kingdom into a republic. And even though they weren’t king and queen, no one in Regia had as much power and influence as his parents. Maddox was proud of his heritage. His mother, Forest, was the Hailemarris, highest judge, a powerful politician, and a badass warrior. His father was The Sanguine Mage, the only mage in the world for the last century and the highest level of master in the vampire martial art, the Blood Kata.
The windows were dark, but the porch light had been left on for him. He quietly opened the door and went to straight to his room. He sighed deeply, relaxing all the way. He hadn’t been home since the last school holiday a few months ago, and he didn’t mind acknowledging to himself that he’d missed his mom and dad, but mostly mom. The time was coming for him to move out, he was too old to live with Mommy and Daddy now. Problem was, he didn’t know what he wanted to do or where he wanted to live.
He hung up his jacket, stripped down to his boxers, and threw on a T-shirt from his dresser. He held the fabric up to his nose and inhaled. It was always the same smell. Home. He flopped onto his bed and stretched out. He could have still been at the party, taken Neely back to his dorm room, but he was happier where he was at the moment. Disappearing without a word just added to his mystique. He couldn’t let any girl think she could catch him, not even for a moment. He closed his gray-green eyes and yawned. For a few hours, no one could touch him. No one could stare and try to get close to him. Fame had its perks and its drawbacks.
He woke slowly to the feeling of his mother’s hand smoothing his hair off his forehead.
“Hey, Mom.” He blinked and smiled up at her, his heart swelling. She was the same as she’d been since he was a small child. Fierce, vibrant, and so lovely. She’d broken so many racial barriers—for herself and others. Not least of all himself and his sister, since they were more mixed than most, having a vampire as a father and a half elf-half shifter as a mother.
“I’m glad you’re home. I missed you,” Forest said.
“Missed you, too.”
“I didn’t think you’d be back last night. I hoped, but I thought the party would keep you away.”
“Meh. There are always more parties. There’s only one you, and I wanted to see you and Dad before you took off on your vacation. Congratulations on winning the election again, by the way, Madam Hailemarris. I read about it in the news.”
She arched one eyebrow, beautifully stern. “I read about you, too. In the junk society section.”
He rolled his eyes. “Don’t worry. Most of that stuff is total bullshit.”
“I certainly hope so…” She frowned for a second, then tapped him on the nose. “You’re all grown up now. Twenty years old. Geez, that’s weird to say…I’m relieved you graduated; you let your grades slip so far this last year. Have you thought any more about a career field?”
He flashed her his most charming smile. “I just want the summer, Mom. Just this one last summer to do nothing without you getting on my back about it. I promise, once the fall rolls around, I’ll get my ass in gear, do something useful, and act like a man.”
She softened and smiled. “Okay. I’m going to hold you to that. Now get up, your dad’s made breakfast.”
Maddox stalked out to the kitchen, yawning again and embraced his dad. Syrus hugged him briskly, slapping him a few times on the back. “Son.”
Maddox smirked. “Dad.”
The three of them sat down at the kitchen table and ate together.
“So, when are you guys leaving? Where are you going again?”
“Earth, and we leave this evening,” Forest answered.
Maddox looked at his dad. “Got your vampire sunscreen?” he teased.
“We’ll mostly be in Alaska, smart ass. No sun. The rest of the time, I’ll stay in during the day.”
“Don’t forget to pack your portable coffin, dad.”
Syrus chuckled. “I seem to have misplaced it.”
After breakfast, Maddox showered and got dressed. He stood in front of his full-length mirror and considered which belt would look best. There was a knock on his door.
“Yeah, come in.”
He knew it was his dad before he opened the door by the way the knock sounded. Syrus came in and shut the door behind him. He offered no preamble.
“I’m worried about you, Maddox. You’re in the media a lot, and it’s not…flattering. In fact, most of what’s said about you makes me really angry.”
“You shouldn’t listen to celebrity gossip.”
“It’s not just the gossip. The pictures of you and your friends say enough.” Syrus sighed and wrung his hands. “I get it. You’re not that different from me when I was your age. Regia is different, now that your sister spreads her technology everywhere, and you have the public eye more than I ever did, but I had the same kind of power and attention you do. You’re taking the easy way. I get it.” He repeated. “You seem…lost. Only focused on fast girls and partying.”
Maddox pursed his lips, unsure what to say. He couldn’t bullshit his dad; Syrus saw through him.
“I didn’t ask for this kind of fame. I feel like the whole world is trying to eat me alive in very small bites. What defense do I have against it except to be an asshole? How can I protect myself?”
Syrus laid a hand on his shoulder. “It doesn’t matter what other people think of you. What matters is what you think of you. You’re in charge of your path, son. You. I know the heart of you. And this is not who you are. Have you considered the consequences of your actions at all?”
He hung his head, the weight of his father’s disapproval falling hard on him. “I will, sir… I’m sorry if I’ve shamed you.” The words almost choked him as they came out.
Syrus crossed his arms. “When your mom and I get home, will you consider coming back to the Obsidian Mountain?”
“No.” He shook his head, keeping his eyes down so he could get the words out. “I’m sorry, Dad. That’s not for me. You already know I won’t ever amount to much in the Kata. I’m not fast enough to make the level of master. All the badass genes in this family were used up before I was born.”
“I just thought I’d ask. You’re a very skilled fighter, Maddox, you just hesitate too much. It’s my failure. I never could get you out of your own head when you were fighting.”
Syrus walked around him, picked up one of the belts laid out on the bed, and handed it to him. Maddox scowled as his dad fluffed the top of his dark hair.
“There, that’s better.” His dad’s voice was snide. “Now you’re all set for another day of womanizing.”
“Hey, It’s the one thing I’m really good at.”
Syrus snorted and shook his head. “One day, the right woman will come along and knock all the stupid out of you.”
“Very doubtful. Why would you think that?” he demanded, near panic at the thought.
Syrus laughed darkly. “Because that’s what your mom did to me. Trust me. I know.”
After he was dressed, Maddox became antsy. He wanted to hang out with his folks, but they were making him uncomfortable. Their eyes held too much judgment. He pinged Kendrick to meet him in a few hours and decided to take off.
Forest stopped him by the door. “Where are you going?” Her voice was sad, and it brought him heartache.
He scrambled to come up with a reason that wouldn’t hurt her feelings. “Uh…I thought I’d go see Tesla.”
It worked. The hurt left her eyes, and she smiled before kissing him on the cheek. “That’s good. Tell her we’ll stop by before we leave, won’t you?”
“Of course.”
“You’ll be back to say goodbye, right? We leave at sunset.”
Maddox hugged her hard. “I’ll be back.”
He exhaled and then scowled to himself as he shut the front door behind him. He put on his sunglasses, shoved his hands in his pockets, and made his way out of the garden. He had no choice but to drop in on his sister now. At least she’d probably make him coffee. He just hoped X wasn’t there. He touched the mark on his wrist and sent himself to Tesla’s property.
Tesla and X lived in an awesomely odd house, far out from civilization. Not that he blamed them. They were the most famous people in all of Regia, but neither of them wanted the spotlight. The world revered them as the saviors from the wizards. Maddox had grown up knowing the incredible history of the wizard’s war, but he hadn’t lived through any of it. According to everyone, Regia had transformed since then. Everyone looked to Tesla to solve problems and make the world as safe as possible. Maddox could hardly imagine the medieval type place Regia had been before the war. Now it was tech rich and a total mash-up of off world stuff.
He approached the house nestled in the sharp rocks of the eastern hills. Tesla and X’s home was a modern masterpiece of architecture. It jutted out from the rough landscape in sleek lines. The roof and entire east face of the house was one seamless expanse of glass, so you were both inside and outside. The sky filled their house at all hours, and their view was both serene and striking. On the top floor, you could see the edges of the Wolf’s Wood, the defiant outline of the Lair, and all the way to the Crystalline Sea.
The invisible shield over their property shimmered as he came close, and it opened a door-sized hole for him to step through, the magic-science recognizing his DNA. He walked up the sharp stairs to the huge front door and knocked. Tesla cracked the door and smiled.
“It’s the manwhore, also known as my baby brother.” She opened the door wide for him. “Come in, Maddie.”
“Ugh, don’t call me that. I’m not five.”
“Could’ve fooled me.”
Tesla wore a plain white shift of a dress with her long black hair swept up in a ponytail. Jealousy poked at him immediately, as it usually did around her. It didn’t matter that they shared the same parents, had the same blood. He was, and always would be, mundane compared to her. Veins of red light pulsed on her hands in time with her heartbeat. Lightning lived inside her, as it did in their father. She was perhaps the most powerful being in all of Regia. No one else could create things, or jump worlds quite like she could. It was as if the natural laws of their world or any other didn’t apply to her.
And she was married to a human. The only human ever to survive longer than a few minutes in Regia. Of course, the term human applied very loosely to X. Cursed by a witch, X didn’t age, had a magical ability to always see the truth, and could pull your soul right out of your body with just the touch of his hands.
He looked around. “Is X here?”
“No. He’s at work, coward.” She smirked.
“I’m not afraid of him,” he argued.
“Uh huh. You don’t like that you have to be honest around him, cause he always knows when you’re not.”
“Geez, first dad and now you. Everyone’s picking on me today.”
She grabbed his forearm, stinging him with her lightning covered hands.
“Ow! Shit, that hurts.”
She laughed and pulled his watch off before he could stop her. “I thought so,” she said smugly, touching the mark on his wrist. “I figured you still had this.”
He half-scowled half-smiled. “It works,” he said, trying to sound flippant.
“Does it still glow in the dark?”
“Yeah.”
She gave him a genuine smile. “How old were you, seven?”
“Six.” He let down his guard for a second. “It’s still the best birthday present you ever gave me.”
“I made it glow because you were afraid of the dark. You know that, right? It was meant to be a night light as well as a portal.”
He hadn’t ever realized that. “I guess you loved me more back then.”
She tsked and rolled her eyes before looking at his watch. She touched the face. The glass rippled like water under her fingertip. “This thing is solid, but I’ve got a new prototype that won’t roll out to the public for another few months. Want one?”
“Hell yes…Wait, you can transfer my contacts, right?”
She gave him a dirty look. “Give me a break, Maddie. Of course.”
He held his hands up. “Hey, my watch is my black book.”
“Sure, Skank. I get it. I’ll transfer your contacts. I know all about your bad reputation.”
“Don’t hate, old married woman. I’ve worked hard for my bad rep.”
She raised one eyebrow. “Work?”
“Yep.” He gave her his smarmiest smile. “I really put my back into it.”
Tesla made a gagging sound and shoved him lightly. “Disgusting.”
He shrugged, relaxing in the familiarity of his sibling’s company. “Can I have some coffee?”
She smiled easily. “You want the blood infused stuff?”
He nodded.
“All right.”
He followed her to the kitchen. The glass ceiling soared high over his head, letting in all the cool late morning sunlight. He sat on a barstool and propped his elbows on the massive rock slab that made the kitchen island.
“Oh, I was supposed to tell you, Mom and Dad will be by later to see you before they take off on vacation.”
She nodded as she moved around, starting her coffee maker. “So, how is my public transit system holding up?”
“No idea. I haven’t caught one of your public portals in a while. I’m too recognizable. It’s a pain in the ass to use things like that when you get swarmed at the hub. I know everyone else loves them though.”
“That’s nice to know. I need to check them soon for maintenance. But I have to do it in the dead of night. If you think you’re too recognizable, you should walk a mile in my shoes.”
“I bet. I still wish I had your hands though.”
She pinned him with a sharp look over her shoulder. “No, you don’t”.
“Sorry. You know what I mean.”
She turned to face him fully and braced her hands on the island. “Do I? You have no idea the agony that lives in my hands. I’d cut them off if I didn’t feel a responsibility to use my power to help and protect everyone. You have it so damn easy. You should be grateful.” She sighed and shook her head. “I get you. But it’s nonsense. You’ve always envied me, and I’ve always envied you.”
“Why would you envy me?”
“My childhood was fast and furious, and it caused Mom and Dad a lot of heartache. You were normal. They got to relax and play with you. I was already grown, so I saw clearly how much joy you brought them, just by being normal. Before X, I hated myself for being such a freak. You think you’re nothing special, but you’re wrong, Maddie. I know there’s something about you, it’s subtle.” Her eyes slid out of focus. “I’ve tried to put my finger on it for years, but all I could ever come with was… lucky. It’s like your birthright was to be blessed or something. I don’t know…Nothing bad or painful ever seems to stick to you.”
He harrumphed. “Being lucky? That’s far from impressive.”
She poured a mug and handed it to him. “Such a brat. I’ll get your new watch. Be right back.”
“Wait! Can I come? I want to see what craziness you’ve been making in your workshop.”
“All right. Just don’t touch anything.”
Maddox stayed longer than he’d meant to, and as he left, his new watch pinged with three messages from Kendrick. He scrolled through them quickly. One had a picture of a girl he’d never met with a caption: You like? This is Selena. Ran into her this morning. Haven’t seen her in years. She’s blossomed hot. And she’s crazy for you. Biggest fangirl ever. She begged me to talk to you about her.
He made the picture bigger and looked at the girl. His eyebrows shot up. She was a full-blood elf and very choice.
He messaged Kendrick back. Bait taken. Give me her number.
Nope. Kendrick wrote. Come pick me up first.
Fine, but you better be ready to roll.