Kay Hooper - The Wizard Of Seattle

Serena leaned her hands on the front of the desk and followed his gaze. "Isn't that one the book your father gave you? The one with the procedure to take my powers?"

"Yes."

Uneasily, she said, "Then why is it still here? I mean, if he only gave it to you because of the procedure-?"

"There could have been another reason he gave it to me in this version of the present, Serena. There must have been." He turned to a specific section of the book, scanning the text rapidly, then looked across the desk at her and smiled. "Things are looking up. The procedure isn't here."

"Maybe it just moved to a different part of the book," she offered, still apprehensive.

"I don't think so." Merlin turned several pages quickly. "There was a brief section detailing what Tremayne-at least, I hope it was Tremayne-saw from his ship…"

Serena rested a hip on the desk and chewed on her bottom lip, trying not to worry. She was as patient as she could be, her gaze flicking from the open book to Merlin's bent head, then finally said, "I'm going to go nuts if you don't tell me-"

He looked at her, his expression grave. "There's more here than there was before we went back in time. I'll read it out loud."

Serena braced herself.

" 'It happened not long after nightfall,' " he read quietly. " 'Because we had dropped our sails less than a day out for the crew to make minor repairs, Atlantia was still within sight, though barely. We heard the sound first, a rumble such as I have never known. Then the sky over Atlantia was rent by dazzling streams of energy, and the sound grew louder, more terrible. We stood on the deck as if frozen, unable to remove our horrified gazes from the awful sight of the very earth being wrenched apart. It did not take long. The mountains shuddered and heaved, some of them literally exploding, and the sea began to churn and boil. Then there was a last, dreadful convulsion, and the land where I had spent the past months sank without a trace into the sea.' "

Serena drew a deep, slow breath when Merlin paused. "So that didn't change," she murmured.

"No, but the report did. Before we went back to Atlantis, this report was very terse and not a little bitter. And this last part wasn't here. Listen: 'I am convinced that what happened here could have been avoided. The lesson to be learned is twofold. First, no being of power should be allowed to control his or her surroundings to the detriment of others, and should be restrained by reasonable laws from unbridled ambition. And, second, men and women of power must be encouraged to coexist peacefully, to understand rather than fear or mistrust one another, for neither of us can be whole without the other.' "

"That sounds… encouraging," Serena offered.

"Definitely." Merlin's eyes were very bright. He looked through the other books on his desk and then handed her one. "Check this one, Serena-you should be able to read it. Before we left, there were a number of passages that might have dealt with when and how the law against female wizards was created, only they were illegible-deliberately so, I thought. But now there may be nothing they wanted to hide."

She obediently bent over the book, reading more slowly than he would have done but with fair ease. She was aware that he opened another book, but didn't look up until she had found something.

"There's a passage here concerning male and female wizards," she told him. "The gist of it is what we found out ourselves-that the powers of a male and female wizard can combine, making the pair stronger than either alone, but only when there is the kind of deep trust found between mates."

"With that potential dangled enticingly out in front of them," Merlin noted, "I doubt there was much talk of getting rid of the women."

"Umm. Let me keep reading, there might be more."

But it was Merlin who found something less than five minutes later. "Serena."

She looked up. "You found something?"

He was smiling. "Yes. This volume contains a number of family trees. I thought you might like to know that Tremayne and Roxanne had six children-four girls and two boys."

Serena felt herself grinning. "Really? They made it?"

"They made it. And they went on to live long and apparently happy lives."

"And… Kerry?"

"She made it as well. There's a note here that Tremayne and Roxanne also raised a foster daughter- who grew up to mate with a man of power." He shook his head slightly. "Two women born in Atlantis, and both of them were able to rise above what they'd been taught, and what they had experienced themselves."

Serena slowly closed the book she had been reading. "You know, I'm not quite so nervous now about that call to Chicago. Why don't you go ahead and make it?"

Merlin came around the desk to her. He framed her face in both his hands, and gazed at her seriously. "No matter what happens," he told her, "no matter what we find out, we're going to be together, Serena. I love you."

"I love you too."

He kissed her. "Thank you."

She was surprised. "For what? For loving you?"

"For that. And for teaching me how to love." He smiled at her, his wonderful black eyes liquid with tenderness. "Come on. Let's go make that call."

Chicago, 1993

The late fall day was chilly and blustery, providing a taste of the coming winter, but inside the large study, a blazing fire in the hearth warmed the room.

"We're finally going to meet the Apprentice of Richard's he's talked so much about," Eric Merlin said in a tone of satisfaction as he hung up the phone.

"It's about time."

"I know. Though I suppose it's been for the best, her training taking place out in Seattle without interference or distractions. God knows it's difficult enough for any wizard to learn the art, but it's particularly difficult for someone like Serena."

"Because she was born to powerless parents?"

He nodded. "We lose so many, you know, the ones who have no real understanding of what they are and what they're capable of. It's a genuine tragedy. The Council tries to find the ones with power before they're lost to us, but it's a big world. Thank God a few like Serena have the instincts to go out and find a Master to teach them before their powers are drained or corrupted by the distrust of powerless people or a simple lack of understanding. Richard believes she has the potential to be a seventh-degree Master."

"Good. And… what else?"

He smiled. "I've been told by others that she's beautiful. And spirited. I'll bet she's made life very interesting for him. Richard didn't say, but it was fairly obvious from his tone how he feels about her."

"That's even better. He needs a woman who's strong enough to understand him."

"Yes, I agree."

"So they're coming to Chicago?"

"Tonight, in fact, and they'll stay for the weekend." Then he frowned. "It's odd…"

"What?"

"Well, when I reminded Richard that you always kept his room ready for whenever he wanted to visit, he seemed almost surprised to hear it. No, that word isn't strong enough. He seemed… almost dazed."

"He was probably pulling your leg, darling."

"Catherine, I know my son."

"Yes, but for all you know, Serena may have come into the room just then wearing nothing but a smile."

He chuckled. "True. Anyway, he said to give you his love, and that he'd see us tonight."

"Wonderful." She smiled at him, then rose from her chair and came to the desk, a beautiful woman who was still slender and graceful and elegant, her face still un-lined and her hair still untouched by silver, though she had turned sixty on her last birthday. She bent to kiss him, but he pulled her down into his lap instead, a gleam in his black eyes.

"Eric…"

"Catherine?"

"I have to go and check with cook about dinner tonight, and then I have to make sure Richard's room is ready for them-"