“Oh, wow, now that’s an impressive animal,” Aunt Emily said. “But how does it fly?”
Beast gave a shake of his head and shuddered as his bat-like wings opened wide showing off their twenty-foot spread.
Aunt Ashley took a step back and bumped into my hands as I kept her from moving farther.
“It’s a manticore!” Ashley said.
“At your service, lady. It’s nice to meet a human who knows her creatures,” Beast said with a bow of his head.
Ashley tilted her head in reply. “Wow, you are amazing. You both are. I had no idea either of you really existed.”
“Not in your world for many centuries,” Beast said.
“Geez, I wish my grandmother could have seen you,” Ashley said.
“What?” Emily asked.
“She was the one that taught me the little bit of magic I know. I was never very good at it, as witnessed by the bad ward I put on the house.”
“That’s the second time a ward has been mentioned. Are you referring to that writing you did on the doorjamb? I thought that was some kind of Jewish custom,” Emily said.
“Yes and no. It’s customarily done by cabalistic practitioners, but not most Jews.”
“And what’s it supposed to do?”
“It keeps evil spirits or demons out of the home,” Ashley replied.
“And you believe in those things?” Emily asked.
“Well, I didn’t really, but my grandmother taught it to me, and she did. I just followed her practice out of respect for her.”
“It never hurts to have a ward on one’s home. There are many things that can’t cross a threshold protected by a ward. There are even more things that are weakened if they cross without permission,” Rafe said.
“That’s right,” I added. “Rafe told me that even he would have trouble hurting you inside your home unless he was invited across the threshold.”
Rafe gave me a look that told me I had revealed too much.
“Why would he consider harming us?” Ashley asked.
“I wouldn’t. It was just another lesson for my Apprentice to absorb, not one to spread among the mundanes,” Rafe said.
“Mundanes?” Emily asked.
“Non-magic users,” I inserted.
“It sounds derogatory,” Emily added.
“No, just a description that most magic users use when talking about everyone else. It isn’t an insult,” Rafe assured.
“Sounds like one,” Emily repeated.
“Rafe wouldn’t insult you, Aunt Emily. He’s not like that, truly,” I said.
“Can we really go for a ride on them?” Ashley inserted.
I glanced at her, thankful for her changing the subject. “Sure you can, Aunt Emily. Take your pick, although we should probably ride along with you, just to keep you safe.”
“Safe from what?” Ashley queried.
“To keep you from falling off, mostly,” Rafe said and then gave me a look that implied he didn’t want me to say anything about how dangerous our life had become so recently.
“Can I pick first?” Ashley asked, staring at her wife.
Emily nodded.
“Then I want to ride the manticore. Beast wasn’t it?”
“Yes,” Beast growled.
“Then you’ll ride with me, Aunt Emily. Maia, will you kneel please?”
Maia knelt where she stood without comment.
“Just how does this work?” Emily asked.
“I’ll get on and then you mount up behind me. Hold onto my waist so that you don’t fall off.”
“Aren’t there stirrups or reins?” Emily asked.
Beast growled. “Most certainly not. We’re not dumb animals.”
“Then how do you stay on?” Emily asked. “What if it turns upside down?”
Rafe grinned, and I hurried to reply before he could say something insulting to my aunt. “They won’t let us fall off. Besides, if it happens, a Wanderer has no problems letting himself down to the ground.”
“Say what now?” Emily asked.
“Just don’t worry about it, Aunt Emily. Nothing will happen to you as long as Rafe and I are here.”
It was only a small lie to relieve her stress. I couldn’t levitate her back to earth if something went wrong, but as long as Rafe was nearby, I wasn’t worried about anything happening to my aunts.
I settled in at the base of Maia’s neck and then offered Aunt Emily a hand. She looked at it skeptically, but took it and swung a leg up behind me.
“There, that was easy. Now hold onto my waist,” I ordered.
I looked at Beast and saw that Ashley had already settled in behind Rafe. She had her arms tight around him and was speaking into his ear. I wondered what she had to say that she didn’t want her wife to hear.
“Ready?” Rafe asked.
“After you,” I said.
Beast leapt into the air with a blast of wind and then Maia followed with no direction from me. I felt Aunt Emily’s hands tighten around my waist.
“You don’t have to hold that tight, Aunt Emily. Maia won’t do anything to dislodge you. Just relax and enjoy the ride.”
“That’s easy for you to say,” Emily grumbled.
We soared up in a cloudless sky. In less than a minute, we were a thousand feet above the ramparts of Palmer Park. The lights of Colorado Springs stretched out on all sides of us.
“This is marvelous!” Ashley shouted.
Maia beat the air with long slow beats that moved us through the air at speeds that would have teared our eyes but for her personal ward. It wasn’t as thorough as a shield, but it kept the wind down to a strong breeze.
“It is fantastic,” Emily said. “I’m glad I came. This is lovely.”
“I knew you’d love it,” I said.
We flew west, and I could see the looming red rocks of Garden of the Gods between our location and the mountains. I hoped Rafe wouldn’t go to close to that place. If whatever Rowle planned happened with my aunts with us…well, it wasn’t something I wanted to think about.
Shortly after crossing the brightly lit ribbon that made up the Interstate and its traffic, Rafe turned toward the south. We circled over downtown, there was an impressive crowd of people along the streets there, and then we turned back toward my Aunts’ home.
I looked west and saw a single light at the top of Pikes Peak. I wondered if we’d
