Kay Hooper - The Wizard Of Seattle

It was a relief to rip away the mask Merlin had so carefully taught her to hide her powers behind, and as she gazed across the water at Varian, she had the distinct pleasure of watching his face drain of color as her power became something he could now sense. She smiled at him gently and performed the impressive trick of altering her environment.

Before the sinking water level exposed her breasts, the pool began to churn and bubble. Within seconds a whirlpool circled Serena, the frothy white water easily hiding her body from Varian's stunned gaze. She conjured a few gusts of wind to blow her loose hair about dramatically, and with slow grandeur she rose from the center of the whirlpool perfectly dry and dressed like no other woman in Atlantis.

Fawn-color trousers, tight enough to cling to every curve, were tucked into knee-high boots. A fawn-color vest that snugly shaped her small waist and generous breasts was belted in place over a full-sleeved blouse, which was tightly cuffed at her wrists, and was silky and pale green. Over it all was a rich fur cloak around her shoulders that was loosely fastened by a thin gold chain with a round emerald on either clasp.

While Varian gaped in shock, Serena strolled across the churning water to the bank several feet away from him. (She'd always wanted to walk on water, but had never gotten the chance.) As soon as she touched land, the pool quieted and continued to drain rapidly down the mountain.

Hands on hips, she faced him with a tiny smile.

"A woman of power," he almost whispered.

Serena mocked him with just the sort of half bow he had used earlier. "That's right. Merlin isn't the only wizard of Seattle, you see-so am I."

"No-you're his property-"

"The hell I am. Where we come from, Varian, women don't belong to men-wizard or powerless."

"You bear his mark."

Before Serena could respond, Merlin's quiet voice sounded behind her.

"To protect her, Varian, in case she was caught outside Sanctuary at night."

Serena turned her head and watched Merlin walk toward her. For a moment she forgot everything except the need to sense if her earlier attempt to heal him had been successful. He looked the same, she thought, though perhaps there was less strain in his features and a certain thoughtful quiet in the liquid darkness of his eyes.

But was there an open door to permit him to heal? She couldn't tell.

He reached her side and looked her up and down deliberately. "Nice outfit."

"Thank you. Sorry about dropping the charade without discussing it first, but this… this moronic bastard made me crazy."

"I figured he would eventually," Merlin admitted to her in a rather dry tone, and turned his gaze to the still frozen Varian. Politely he told the older wizard, "She is indeed a woman of power, Varian. A female wizard. A rather talented one, as a matter of fact."

"How is it possible you travel together?" Varian asked in a voice that cracked slightly.

Serena waited for Merlin to answer, curious to know how he would. He had been careful when they'd first arrived, only observing, reluctant to do anything else, including providing information unknown to these people. But she had the feeling that he was now perfectly willing to shock Varian, and she didn't blame him one bit.

Lifting an eyebrow, Merlin feigned puzzlement. "Why would it be impossible? Surely you don't believe Atlantis is the center of the universe, governing the rest of the world in all ways, including customs between men and women? No, Varian, outside this twisted little kingdom of yours is an entirely different world. Serena and I travel together because we wish it. We've been together for years."

"She's your concubine?" Varian demanded hoarsely.

Softly Merlin said, "No. My mate."

Already surprised by the out-of-character way he seemed to be taunting the other wizard, Serena nearly gasped at Merlin's words. She had the odd feeling he meant it, that whatever else he said, that statement was truthful, and she didn't dare look up at him, because she was afraid she wouldn't be able to control her expression.

Luckily, Varian was too shocked himself to notice her wonder. He stood stiffly, staring at them, his armor of arrogance certainly dented-if not split wide open-by this living, breathing impossibility even he, in his wildest sexual fantasies, had seldom considered attainable.

If he had stopped to think at all, he never would have risked himself, but he had the confused impression of a threat they represented to his vision of the world, and it was characteristic of him that he struck out to protect himself, roaring in a kind of dumb animal fury.

The stream of energy that shot from his outstretched hand was white-hot and aimed accurately to strike both Serena and Merlin, a target made easier since they were standing so close to each other. Swifter than thought, both of them lifted a hand, acting instinctively and in concert to block and then repel the destructive energy.

What happened then-should not have. Both Merlin and Varian knew that; Serena had no idea, simply because she had never considered what was likely to happen if the energy stream of two wizards-let alone three-collided, and because she had never been called on to defend herself against another wizard.

What happened was visible to all of them in the heartbeats granted them to ponder. The separate energy streams of Merlin and Serena-his white-hot and hers tinted the searing blue of the base of a flame-met scant inches from their outstretched hands and twined together in an almost sensuous motion, forming a single ropelike shaft of living, writhing power. It sliced through Varian's energy stream like the steel hull of a battleship slicing through water, struck him midchest with an audible craaack , and knocked him thirty feet down the mountain slope.

He picked himself up, panting and shocked, one hand covering the seared place on his chest, and stared at the pair of wizards, who looked gravely back at him. After several silent moments he drew his coat dosed over the burn on his chest, turned, and hurried down the slope away from them.

Serena looked on either side of her and Merlin to find two seared and smoking trees that had taken the brunt of Varian's deflected energy stream, then looked up at Merlin. "What just happened?" she asked hesitantly.

"Positive and negative," Merlin said softly, more to himself than Serena. "That must be it. When they're combined, the energy stream is more powerful… much more powerful." He looked down at her. "Serena, Varian has enough raw power that he should have been able to knock either me or you back a step or two at the very least, but he didn't."

"Because there are two of us?"

"No. If two male wizards had stood here and struck out at Varian, all three would have gotten a nasty jolt that probably would have broken off the attack. And if it had just been him and me fighting through the first jolt even against our instincts for self-preservation, we would have eventually drained each other, possibly to the death. But if we'd chosen to stop it at any point, neither of us would have been permanently damaged or even left physically scarred by the battle. Positive energy , Serena-no matter how many times or ways you combine it, it always cancels itself out."

She frowned up at him. "So what happened with us? Did we knock him off his feet, and obviously hurt him, because we're a pair? Male and female?"

"Positive and negative. And our energy streams were directed together, so they merged."

"You didn't know my energy had a negative charge?" Then she remembered, and answered the question herself. "Of course not, because you've always been so careful that our energy streams never touched during my lessons or whenever one of us was conjuring. Because of the way it always happened with males, you assumed the same danger existed for us."