Perpetual Prey Read online

Elsinor smiled. “It feels better. Now I just need to figure out what to do next.”

  Al murmured, “Perhaps we could discuss your future... privately.”

  She looked over at where Jeri was watching her birthing video with fascinated horror. “Yeah, that would be a good thing.”

  They walked up the stairs and through the hatch. She left the door open and went out to the deck to retrieve her book.

  “So, is that Pandora’s box?” Al smiled.

  “It is. Everything that I have ever done to send ripples through the world has come out of this box. I will never forget that my curiosity doomed my children and so the gift I was given was knowledge. I am not curious about much anymore.”

  He nodded. “That makes a horrible sort of sense.”

  She sighed. “It does.”

  “So, in your travels, did you ever find the tree of life?”

  “Sure. That is where I directed Matthias when he needed to try to save his people. He and his brother went off, but disease spread through his people, and when he returned, there was no one left. His brother had destroyed or turned them all.”

  “You didn’t stop him.”

  She looked at Al. “I hadn’t begun my magic studies yet. The first wave hadn’t even happened. The magic wasn’t in my soul, so I was simply a woman who knew more than was good for her. Defending families wasn’t something I was good at, though I did try.”

  He blinked. “You tried to fight off new vampires.”

  She wrinkled her nose. “I did. It wasn’t the smartest of moves, and everyone died anyway. I hadn’t seen one before and didn’t know their weaknesses. That information was catalogued and stored after I healed and woke.”

  “You have really seen some shit.”

  She chuckled. “I have. Are you sure you still want to sign on for an eternity with me?”

  “I want nothing more, but I have to stop underestimating you.”

  She looked around and opened her book, beckoning him closer. “This is an image of my first daughter. Ayana. She was the mother of modern Europeans.”

  He looked at the image in surprise. “She’s African.”

  “Of course. She was born in the cradle of civilization.”

  “I thought you were mentioning the Greek gods.”

  She snorted. “They were developed when the population grew large enough and spread out to create new gods. By the time I was given the box and tricked into opening it, the world had millions of humans in it. They were the ones who tricked me. They needed me to spread the curses as I was in the centre of the expanding population.”

  “So why are you so... pale?”

  She snorted. “I was sculpted of limestone clay, and my hair was taken from the tail of horses. My first eyes were fashioned from diamonds. I was created so that my husband could not lose track of me.”

  “It is hard for me to get my mind around the sheer expanse of your experience.”

  She patted his hand and closed her book. “It is fine. We have covered my origin, and that is the most difficult part. Once you accept that, everything else is just an anecdote.”

  He grinned. “Your past is fascinating, but I was not kidding when I said it was your future I was interested in.”

  She linked her arm with his and fluttered her lashes at him. “Tell me more.”

  He laughed and picked her up with one arm. “I intend to. Allow me to lecture you... at length.”

  She chuckled and wrapped her free arm around his neck. “I do love getting new information.”

  He held her tight and walked into the bedroom.

  She must not have been paying close enough attention because he repeated himself, several times.

  Epilogue

  “Welcome to all of the new students and those who have decided to take advantage of this particular course.” Professor Elsinor Mathers grinned. “Today is my first day lecturing, so please, let me know if I am missing anything.”

  She placed one hand on the podium and waved at the screen, bringing up the image of a group of extranaturals. “We are here to speculate on the origin of the wave. I am going to be bringing up and debunking several theories, as well as dangling a few more in front of you for you to ponder or study, as you like.”

  Elsinor looked at the full auditorium. “Some of you may have noted the presence of some extranaturals here, but they are not only students, but they all have an interest in human-based magic. Not all extranaturals were born so. Some are made in the process of the wave.”

  Jericho winked at her from the front of the class, and Elsinor took a deep breath.

  “Right. Into the details. The waves have been recorded at random intervals throughout history, and each has had a differing level of intensity. This suggests an intelligence behind the waves, so that is going to be the first theory that we discuss today. I will present the current theories, and then, you can contribute your own. Let’s begin.”

  Elsinor began her lecture on the subject that she was definitely qualified to speak on and found that she enjoyed herself as she went along.

  Jeri had been entered into the student body by the strength of Elsinor’s skills and Jeri’s own sincere interest in extranatural medicine.

  Al had gotten a position as a special consultant with the XIA, and they had all settled in for the long haul.

  If any magical disaster raised its head, Elsinor would no longer have to fight it alone, and the family around her gave her a feeling she hadn’t had for centuries. Of course, Lenora Ganger might wish that the Mathers hadn’t moved in down the road, but that was her problem.

  Elsinor and her clan were setting down roots, and no one was going to get in the way of her future. She finally had one.

  Author’s Note

  So, I went through several mythical women in order to provide the background for Elsinor. It seemed to me that since the Greek gods were so obnoxious and the women lacked a lot of depth, that a woman could be overwritten with a hero and no one would ever know.

  Pandora was a classic beginning for her, but I am happy with how she ended up.

  She will appear in the Obscure Magic series whenever a historian is needed.

  Thanks for reading,

  Viola Grace

  About the Author

  Viola Grace (aka Zenina Masters) is a Canadian sci-fi/paranormal romance writer with ambitions to keep writing for the rest of her life. She specializes in short stories because the thrill of discovery, of all those firsts, is what keeps her writing.

  An artist who enjoys a story that catches you up, whirls you around, and sets you down with a smile on your face is all she endeavours to be. She prefers to leave the drama to those who are better suited to it, she always goes for the cheap laugh.

  In real life, she now is engaged in beekeeping, and her adventures can be found on the YouTube channel, Mystery Bees Apiary. Just look for the cartoon kittens.