by Colt, Shyla
Crewe nodded. “We believe the two are related. It’s the only thing that makes sense. We think it’s distorting our natural evolutionary process.”
Joss turned to look at Kazimir. “This is the spell you mentioned recasting?”
“Yes.”
“How do you know it’s me? I’m sorry. I know you’re all committed to this, but I have experience with groups who truly believe without tangible proof. It doesn’t have to be true for it to have power.”
“It’s how we found you for one thing, and another, we have a guide.” Nakeeta glanced at me nervously. “I need you to keep an open mind and try not to freak out.”
Joss tensed. “What are you going to do?”
“Give you proof that we’re not crazy.” Closing her eyes, Nakeeta placed her hand over her chest. A green glow flickered around her hand. The power level in the room spiked. Joss shifted, unused to being in a witch’s presence. Nakeeta took a deep breath and plunged her hand into her chest. Joss screamed. Kazimir’s hand grasped her forearms, keeping her locked into place.
“Remain calm. She’s okay.”
Joss blinked away the tears threatening to gather in her eyes. When Nakeeta began to pull a brown scroll from inside of her chest cavity, Joss gasped. After the hole closed, she rested the parchment on the table between them.
“You can touch it,” Nakeeta said.
“I-I’m not sure I want to,” Joss admitted.
Snickers and chuckles broke the ice.
“It looks like its stored in my body, but it’s really kept in an alternate dimension I’m accessing via my chest,” Nakeeta explained.
“I’m not sure that’s any less disturbing, but okay. What is it exactly?”
“The map that’s guided us to the ancestors necessary to recast the spell. If we don’t do this, the degradation will continue to all magical beings. It’s about more than the ability to change at will or walk in the sunlight. Witches are experiencing a shift toward the dark as well.”
How can I say no when she puts it like that?
“How would I be able to help?” Joss asked.
“It’s all about the bloodline. We need to combine it together to recreate the spell.”
“What spell?”
Nakeeta shifted in her seat. “We haven’t seen the entire thing yet. We need to have all of us together to get the full script.”
Joss touched the map and sparks of white magic flew. The jolt didn’t hurt, but she startled.
“It’s making sure you should be touching it,” Nakeeta explained.
Reassured, she unrolled the map and blinked. Scrawled in what appeared to be black ink was her name along with Rainer, Crewe, and Nakeeta.
“How can this be true?”
“How can we exist?” Crewe countered.
“What do you want me to do?” Joss asked cautiously.
“We want you to look at this book.”
Joss braced herself for another rummaging inside of a body.
“This is a lot simpler.” Nakeeta picked up a small, worn, brown book from the table beside her and handed it to her.
She experienced the same zing of energy as she opened it. Skimming the page, her heart broke for the seer, Blythe, as she lost her family to the insanity that often came from living life in the past, present, and future. Sent to a mental facility, she learned to pretend she didn’t see things. The journal was a glimpse into her life, what she saw, and her hope through it all. Tears welled in Joss’s eyes. This woman had come before them, passing on a torch she could only pray would be picked up by someone else.
“Wow.”
“We think she was my ancestor,” Rainer said softly.
She glanced from the sprite to Cyprian who guarded her like a pit bull.
“He’s not my mate,” Rainer stated with a smile.
“I’m sorry.” Flustered, Joss winced as her cheeks heated. “I wasn’t trying to pry.”
“It’s okay. Sometimes I just know what people are thinking, so I answer.” Rainer shrugged.
Cyprian leveled a stare that dared her to ask more about their relationship. Mentally raising her hand in surrender, she returned her attention to Nakeeta.
Leaning forward on the sofa, she rested her elbows on her knees. “What’s our next move?” Joss asked.
“Figuring out how to find the rest of the spell. I have all of the ingredients and the first page of instructions, but I’m missing the last one.” Her expression crumbled. “I’m sorry. We’ve been running on empty. There’s an entire group of supernatural beings who don’t want us to succeed. They think the time of the human is over, and we should reign. They don’t care about the madness, or the fact that the imbalance in food and prey would create a desolate future where only the strong would survive, and war among ourselves would be a certainty.”
“People who hunger for power seem to be experts at seeing in tunnel vision,” Joss said dryly.
“You sound like you speak from experience,” Crew said.
“I do. I’ll help, but I can’t abandon my duty to my pack. They’re in danger, and like trusting children, they’re too brainwashed to realize it. I helped put them into this position. I owe it them to at least try to get them out.”
Kaz squeezed her hand gently. “You were a child when you were brought to White Creek.”
“But when I was old enough to know better, I did nothing. I fed into the insanity.”
“What’s wrong with your pack?” Cyprian asked, taking an interest in what she had to say for the first time.
“It’s a cult, “Joss answered bluntly.
Cyprian’s brow furrowed. “Surely, it can’t be that bad.”
“No, I mean it literally. The current Alpha has spent years preparing us for a paranormal war that pits us against each other and humans. We’ve been preppers long before the term was popular. He used his power and fear to manipulate them to do what he wants.”
“And how do you come into this?” Crew inquired.
“I play the role of Moon Maiden. They believe I have a special link to Odin. What I see, say … hell, how I act are all taken as signs. So, I’ve been coached, groomed, and directed since I was eleven.”
“Why you?” Cyprian asked.
“Because of my birthmark.”
He wrinkled his nose. “What?”
“You have your lore. We have ours. Mine ties in an ancient prophecy.”
“And it happens to be true,” Rainer said matter of factly.
Joss sighed. “Unfortunately, I’ve come to realize that not everything the Alpha claimed was a lie.”
“She’s the chosen one for her people. It has always been her destiny to bring about great change. The two will work hand in hand.” Rainer’s glossy, amber-colored eyes meant this was more than opinion. Joss had never been around a true Seer. The change that came over her was noticeable. It was like she had more power than her tiny frame could fully contain. “Part of a whole, the wolf will make or break the renewal. Save the wolf, save the world.”
“What does that mean, Rainer?” Kazimir asked.
She jerked and shook her head. “Oh, you’re different.”
“What?”
“I can’t see everything with you.” She frowned. “This doesn’t happen often.”
“Her path must be linked directly to you.” Cyprian stood. “How can that be?”
“We’re all in this together,” Nakeeta reminded him.
“I’m here to do two things. Help us win, and keep Rain safe.”
“Not even you can save me from my fate, Cy,” Rainer said.
“Don’t talk like that,” Cyprian snapped.
“I know it’s not what you want to hear, but we both need to be prepared for this possibility,” Rain answered gently.
“No. I’m not letting you end up in some looney bin.”
“What if it’s where I belong?” she asked sadly.
“It’s not,” Cyprian snapped, losing his cool.
“Hmmm.” She peered
down at the ground. “Every gift has a price.”
“You didn’t ask for this, Rain. There’s a difference between seeking out glory, and ending up with a bad hand.” He placed his arms on his shoulders. “Don’t give up on me.”
“Accepting my fate graciously and living in denial is not the same thing.” Rainer shook her head.
Joss looked from one to the other, feeling like she was watching a rapid-fire tennis match.
“Just because you come from a family of Seers who ended up institutionalized, doesn’t mean you’re destined for the same path.”
“No, but it’s a pretty strong indicator. I’m starting to lose time and drift in and out of the tenses. Unless I find the other half to balance me out, things are only going to get worse. I want to see this through first. It’s a moment in the making for my family. I want to do this for them as well as myself.” She placed a hand over his. “Family is forever. Death doesn’t sever that bond.”
Cyprian scowled. “I’d rather have my bratty little sister alive and driving me insane. I know you’re tired. It’s okay. I have enough fight for the both of us. It’s a big brother’s job.”
Watching them interact crumbled every preconceived notion she’d held about vampires. He didn’t care that Rainer was a human who happened to see the future. To him, she was like blood. The range of emotions he’d run through in just the past five minutes showed they weren’t the soulless, single-minded, bloodthirsty fiends the Alpha had long made them out to be. Perhaps Kazimir wasn’t the exception, but the general representation. It shifted her views.
“Why isn’t this changing?” Nakeeta’s anxiety-ridden voice drew her attention.
“Maybe we all need to touch it?” Crewe suggested.
“Come on team, hands in,” Nakeeta mumbled as she placed two fingers on the book.
“Why do I feel like I’m about to dabble with an Ouija board, and I know better?” Joss asked.
“It is a mystical portal of sorts,” Rainer replied.
“Not helping,” Joss said.
“Can you just put your fingers on the damn thing?” Cy asked impatiently. They exchanged a glance as they all placed fingertips on the worn and weathered bound piece of history. The ground rumbled below them.
“Is this normal?” Joss asked nervously.
“I have no idea,” Nakeeta whispered.
A bright light flashed. Streaks of color exploded from the center of the book like a translucent firework display.
Nakeeta’s eyes grew as round as saucers. “It’s like someone murdered Rainbow Bright.”
The colors darted around the room and then returned to the center to swirl together before they began to form a picture. The colors dimmed and black dominated the air above their head. Tiny dots of light became the stars. A brilliant ball of white, purple, and green streaked across the darkness.
“A comet?” Kazimir asked.
The ball burned brighter, nearly blinding them before it blinked out. The darkness swirled like a pinwheel made of black and white. Hypnotic, it changed its colors again, before disassembling to create another picture. Bodies lined the ground, pools of blood stood out starkly against the white snow.
“There’s going to be another skirmish,” Crewe stated.
“How do we win?” Kazimir asked.
The image shimmered, violently flashing red. They saw themselves laying on the ground.
The men hissed.
“Show us how to prevent it,” Rainer commanded.
Giant black wolves with their heads tilted back in a howl appeared.
“We need the pack. The ancient pack,” Joss exclaimed.
Kazimir turned to face her. “You understand this?”
“I think so.” Joss nodded.
“So, we find this pack? And we win?” Nakeeta said.
The image flickered as if annoyed.
“No then,” Crewe muttered dryly.
A Celtic knot, Akan symbol, wavy-lined Celtic family symbol, and infinity symbol flickered like a movie before the colors returned to the book.
“Well, that was cryptic. Ancient books. They never speak frankly,” Nakeeta snarked.
“They were all about balance, unity, and family,” Rainer pointed out.
“Yes, but we know we have to do this together to survive. Why would it tell us the same thing?” Crewe pondered aloud.
“Maybe it wanted to be sure we remembered that? We’ve already bickered amongst ourselves,” Kazimir added.
“Family has nothing to do with balance though,” Joss said as she mediated on the imagery they’d viewed.
“Maybe that was how it wanted us to treat each other?” Cyprian shifted his weight.
“We’re not going to figure it out in one evening. The ground was covered with thick snow. We have time yet,” Nakeeta remarked.
Joss leaned back and slumped against the back of the sofa, drained. More problems with no answers.
“Tell us about these wolves, Joss,” Crewe said.
Conveying her experience with her father to the others, she couldn’t help but hope their ratio of problems to answers would start to even out soon. It was early October. Snow could begin at any time.
“What’s our next move?” Joss asked.
“Narrowing down the celestial event to give ourselves a timeline, and trying to better interpret the message,” Crewe replied.
“Did we get the rest of the spell?” Rainer questioned.
“Let’s see.” Nakeeta thumbed through the book with speed beyond a human’s capability. Joss eyed her curiously.
“She and her mate share attributes,” Kazimir said.
“How?”
“Blood exchange near as I can tell.”
The thought of Kazimir drinking from her nearly made her squirm in her seat. Tamping down the inappropriate images, she cleared her throat.
“It’s getting late, and I’ll be missed soon. I need to return to White Creek.”
“Keep a tight leash on you, do they?” Cyprian taunted.
“They watch all of the members closely and monitor what they’re doing. It’s par for the course.”
Nakeeta nodded in understanding. “I’ve placed ‘notice me not’ spells around the property, so you’ll always be safe here.”
“Thank you. We want to keep the element of surprise, and I have research to conduct.”
Ominous thunder rumbled overhead, urging her to hasten. Had they already run out of time?
Chapter Nine
“Do you know what this is about?” Joss turned to Isiah as they walked into the meeting hall.
“Not a clue.” Isiah sounded less than pleased at being left in the dark. He opened the door, allowing her to enter first. The lights were dimmed. Hundreds of candles illuminated the place.
“What’s going on?” Joss asked, refusing to take another step.
The Alpha appeared, walking toward them in a black robe. “I had a prophetic dream last night. We need to have a ceremony.”
“What kind of dream, Dad?” Isiah said.
“One that showed me what we need to do in order to thrive. You’ll be Alpha soon, but I haven’t handed over the pack yet. I will continue to do as I see fit until the day of the naming ceremony.” The bass in his voice made her flinch. “We need to capitalize on the energies gathering in the universe.”
“How?” Joss asked cautiously. Stepping down from Alpha appeared to be pushing him over the edge. Dark circles stood out in his paler than normal face.
“With a brand-new ceremony.”
“Oh?”
“It’s a throwback to our roots.” He turned toward her mother. “Show them, Dorothy.” Her mother walked forward with grayish brown pelts. “We’ve drifted too far from our origins. To prepare, we must honor the old ways and feed the wolf.”
The words made her skittish. “Feed the wolf what?”
“Blood. A true sacrifice.” He nodded his head and grinned, pleased with himself. “Come. We must prepare you both.” While they too
k their cues from Viking roots, they’d never done anything this elaborate before. “Go with your mother, Joss. Isiah. You come with me.
Joss followed her mother into a back room.
“Mom?”
“We need to get you ready. Hurry. Ian’s been agitated the past few days. I’ve never seen him like this before. He woke one evening and threw himself into research and began preparing.” Her mother shook her head. “Strip down.”
“How was he strange, Mom?” she asked, complying with her request.
“He mumbled to himself, barely slept or ate, and he seemed to be speaking with someone or something that wasn’t there.”
“What?”
“He was being guided.” Her mother shook her head. “By what I can’t say, but it terrified me. The cold that has taken over our home is bone-chilling and threatening. I wouldn’t dare deviate from his plans purely based on my fear of what might happen. I’ve been held hostage by an unseen force. I’ll do whatever it takes to get this thing out.”
Her hands shook as she handed Joss a coarse, cream-colored dress, and a deep blue apron dress to cover it. Quickly slipping the clothes on and tying the strings on the side, she mulled over her mother’s words.
“What do you think it is?”
“I don’t know.”
“Why didn’t you tell a pack member?”
“Tell who? What can anyone do? He’s the Alpha.” Her mother paused and glanced around the room. “And who knows how far this entity’s power extends.”
“Mom, you’re scaring me here.” Joss’s voice warbled.
She cleared her throat. “It’ll be fine. Your mother is probably being silly. There’s high tension and tons of pressure.” She gave a fake laugh that Joss didn’t buy for a second. “Sit, let me do your hair.” Sinking to a chair, she studied her mother in the mirror as she finger-combed her hair, then wove two braids on either side of her hair. I look like an extra on the set of Vikings. Her mother completed the look, wrapping a wolf pelt around her shoulders.
“Take off your shoes.”
“Mom. Has he explained why he’s doing any of this?”
“No.” Her lower lip trembled.
“You’re worried.”
Her mother bit the inside of her lip and gave a quick nod.
