His Lost Tribrid

Chapter One

21 Years Later…

Ruby POV

“Again,” Maggie ordered sternly as she paced in front of me, annoyed that I had allowed myself to become distracted. I huffed but didn’t argue as I pulled myself off the floor. This was always the least favourite part of my day. Magic came too easily to me. It was an effort just to keep my concentration. I preferred practising my vampire abilities or running through the forest as my wolf, Ada. But there was never any point in arguing with Maggie. The outcome was always the same.

She raises her hands up at her sides as electrical currents dance from one hand to another and her eyes cloud over with a white fog. I focus my mind on her magic, seeing components of vibrant colours that made up the chemicals in her spell. Apparently, it was a very rare gift I have along with a few others. To be able to see and feel each element of magic before it was used. Through her rigorous training over the years, I learnt how to identify what would be needed from me to block any spell and sometimes I could manipulate her energy and use it against her instead.

She releases the ball of static electricity towards me and with my gaze alone, I stop it in its tracks before sending it hurtling back towards her. She shields herself with an invisible barrier and the small bomb explodes into the air, sizzling around us. This time, it is her turn to fall to the forest floor, her eyes blinking rapidly.

“Maggie! Are you okay?” I run to her side and hold her arm to help her up. The colour has drained from her face but she waves me away. She hated showing her vulnerability.

“I think that is enough for today child. I am going to go and rest,” she stumbles away, her frail body hunched over in pain. Over the last few months, she has been growing weaker and weaker by the day. Something is wrong with her but she refuses to confide in me. Her mess of beautiful red curls bounces as she makes her way into our little cottage. I hate it when she calls me child. I may have been a little girl when she became my guardian, but I was definitely not that anymore. Tomorrow would be my 21st birthday and no matter how hard I tried, I could not bring myself to feel excited. It would be pretty much the same as any other day.

I sigh deeply, wandering through the enchanted, colonial giants of trees that actively move from my path and wave their branches like limbs to me as I pass. The forest is such a light shade of green that it almost blinds you when the sun is at it’s highest in the sky. The floor bed is covered with fluffy moss and wild flowers of vibrant colours, some the size of my head. The scene was as soft as cotton to the naked eye and I know I shouldn’t complain. This place was a utopia of wonder and I had never known any different. Yet, it still didn’t change the fact that none of it was real. It was all a fantasy made from Maggie’s own magical gift of dimensional creation. Everything around us was an illusion. None of it was real.

As a child, I basked in its enchantment and the beauty that it held, but there was only so much to do in a magical realm that had been created solely for the purpose of my protection. No one else could enter and no one could leave. It was just Maggie and I. It’s the way it has always been.

But my days were becoming more and more tedious. Especially as I grew older and my powers thrived. I was now far more advanced than Maggie, but I humoured her all the same. Our daily routine consisted of farming the crops (we could just create food from magic but it gave us something to care for), making breakfast and lunch, starting the gruelling training programme with Maggie as my teacher, fighting illusions Maggie created to train me in combat in wolf form and using my vampire abilities. And then I would have time for myself in the late afternoon to meander through the woods before I headed back for dinner and my nightly glass of Maggie’s blood. Some nights we would sit and read and other times we would play games like scrabble and chess using magic, of course. The next day, we would repeat it all again.

Maggie had transported some books from the human realm for me to read and I must know every word by Austen, Fitzgerald and J.K. Rowling off by heart by now. I loved getting lost in their worlds. What I would do to go to elegant parties like Daisy Buchanan for just one day or perhaps be Elizabeth Bennett and meet my very own Mr Darcy. But I badgered her on a daily basis for real stories of the human realm and she would often give in and tell me about their way of life and the super naturals that lived amongst them.

Maggie has always been tight-lipped about the dangers that lurk there though. All I know is that I am the only one of my kind. A tribrid. And because of that, a lot of people want me dead. My parents died protecting me against some higher council and Maggie took me into her care. We have been hidden away in a pocket of creation for as long as I can remember. Come to think of it, I have no memories of my former life. Of my parents.

Perching on a moss-covered rock, I took in the golden waterfall that shimmered like glitter before me as a rainbow came into view behind it. Beautiful but not what I was in the mood for. I closed my eyes and created a scene in my head before muttering the Latin creation spell to bring it to life. When I opened them, a bustling bar that looked hilariously out of place in the middle of this tranquil paradise stood before me. I could see bodies inside moving around and the music that boomed through the windows made me smile mischievously. Time to let my hair down!

I opened the glass door to the packed room and the smell of sweat and arousal wafted into my nose. It’s how I imagined bars to smell, but what did I know? I walk up to the counter and a hairy man with a rounded belly turns around and nods at me.

“A glass of wine please,” I said confidently. Sometimes I get so immersed in my own illusions that I forget that it’s not real. It’s all I wanted. An escape from my reality. To be in the real world, with real people. He pours the red liquid carelessly into a glass, spilling some onto the wooden bar. I wonder where I got this character from. Most likely, Hagrid.

“Thank you kind sir,” I grinned and he grunted before walking off to serve the next fictional character I created from my subconscious.

I shifted on the stool and looked around the room as I took a sip of the liquid. At least the alcohol was real. I chuckled to myself as I cheers to the air. “Happy birthday to me!” I shouted.

“Where have you been all my life beautiful?” A deep voice made me spin on my stool. I took in the tall, dark-haired man, looking him up and down, not hiding my obvious disappointment. He was alright to look at but not who I was hoping for.

“Where I will be for the rest of your life- in your wildest dreams. Or more likely stuck in this hell hole.”

His face dropped as he thought carefully about my answer. I didn’t have time for this. I waved my hand dismissively and he disappeared into thin air. I jumped off the stool and made my way to the dance floor. I bounded around like a crazy person to the music, not caring about how I looked because, let’s face it, none of these people gave two sh*ts. The song ended and I turned around, out of breath from my frantic movements. My eyes locked with those hypnotising green eyes and I smiled. There he is.

I waltzed up to him as he leaned against the bar on one elbow, his ashy blonde hair falling slightly into his eyes. I have no idea where my imagination thought this guy up but he was always my favourite fantasy. “Shall we dance?” I said and he shook his head. I frowned. “Why not?”

“There is something I want to show you,” his husky voice oozed s*x appeal and I licked my lips. He is so yummy.

“Oh yeah? And what might that be?”

He held his fist out in front of me and turned it over. Opening his fingers, I gasped when I saw a beautiful gold bracelet with a red ruby gem as the centre piece. It was beautiful. I narrowed my eyes, inspecting it more closely. It seems somewhat familiar, but I can’t place it.

“It’s stunning,” I said, looking up into his almond-shaped emerald eyes. He smiles back, before closing his fist and putting it back in his trouser pocket.

“Hey! I thought that was for me,” I shouted, pouting.

He chuckles, “I never said that.”

“You never say a lot!” I argued. It was true. In every illusion I create to help me pass the time here, he always appears, but he is a man of very few words. And he never reveals his name, which infuriates me beyond belief, especially when he is a fragment of my own imagination. It always feels as though it is on the tip of my tongue, but it just won’t come to me. I don’t even know why I let it bother me. He isn’t real. “I thought it might have been my birthday present. You know it is my birthday tomorrow?”

His vibrant eyes twinkle. “I know.”

I sighed as I leaned my head against his shoulder. “And I will be spending it alone again.”

“You aren’t alone. You are with me.” There was something about his words that caught me off guard and made my stomach flutter. I found him so…intriguing. I raised my head and looked into his eyes once again. “Who are you?” I whispered more to myself than to him.

All he does is smirk.