"Oh, great. This isn't what we need," Meredith whispered under her breath.
We had both stopped in the hallway from the sudden darkness. Meredith just stared straight ahead, not sure what to do next, like a deer in headlights. I could see her face from my own night vision gift. Although there was no color, just outlines, and shades of grey and black. Her face wasn't necessarily frozen with terror, but rather tense.
I smirked, feeling like an ass, but a little too comfortable in my own skin.
“What would you like me to get for you to make you feel better?” I asked, giddiness rising in my voice.
Her face and shoulders sagged in defeat. “You can see, can’t you?”
I couldn’t help the full grin stretch across my face as she still stood still. “Ah, huh.”
“Well, you don’t have to sound so happy about it,” she sighed. “I could use the candles in my room on my nightstand if you don't mind. I also have matches in my nightstand."
Soundlessly, I walked back into her room to find a medium-sized, vanilla bean, pillar candle that was on her nightstand and rummaged around to look for the matches. Stealthily, I came back to her, still motionless in the hall and lit a match. I saw her jump before the light burned the retinas in my eyes. I hoped I had lit the candle, as my eyes were still seeing a halo of gold light and I just felt for the wick with my fingers while my hand was wrapped around the pillar.
“You know, you are now a little creepy,” she mentioned as I handed her the candles to rub my eyes.
“Meant to be. But karma just got me back,” I said, rubbing my eyes after the candle was lit.
She giggled and took the candle from me. I heard her walk forward and followed the sound of her feet while my eyes adjusted as we headed for the attic steps.
“What’s up there, Mere?”
“We have some spell books up there. You know, for safe keeping.”
“I’m not a fan of attics,” I whispered under my breath, which she snickered in response and passed back the candle while she pulled down the steps for the attic.
“You are the ‘Huntress of evil things,' and attics freak you out?"
I shrugged in the candlelight and stared up the steps.
“Sure. Attics. Vampires. Males. It doesn't take much to freak me out. You first, my dear," I motioned. "It is, after all, your house.”
We headed up the stairs to the attic in candlelight as the only light source available. No thanks to the blackened night sky. Meredith walked straight toward a hope chest and popped the lid open. It was filled with a lot of leather-bound books.
“There are a lot of books here.”
“Yep. They are individual spell books passed down to the next generation in our family. Since we are the only ones left, they are ours.” a hint of sadness edged her voice. “Better get started.”
“And what is it exactly that I’m looking for?”
She grinned like the Cheshire cat. “It’s an Astral Projection into a Vessel spell.”
My face must have been frowning because she just chuckled.
“I’ll explain it when we come across it.”
“Are you sure it is in here.”
“I’m sure as anything,” she nodded.
✽✽✽
After what seemed like hours and hundreds of books later, my eyes had started to hurt from the candlelight reading and the handwriting.
"How's it going, Mere?" I inquired looking up from my big pile of books, after shutting the last one with emphasis.
I heard her inhale sharply. “Ya know, I'd hate to say ‘I told ya so,’ but I TOLD YA SO! Read it and weep!”
I stood, stretching my legs, and ambled over to her. I looked down at her book. Astral Projection for a Vessel was scrolled across the top of the page in old elegant handwriting.
“Ooookay. So now are you going to explain this to me?” I raised my eyebrows at her, who was still grinning with glee as I sat down next to her, glancing at the spell.
“You said that you think your Huntress is trapped. I thought we could Astral Project into you to find her.”
“What?” I gasped disbelief.
“Our spirits will wander into you. We can feel for that instinct that you should have and bring it to the surface.”
I felt my gut drop to the ground. I did not really like the idea that there would be “others” in my body. I was barely comfortable with myself.
“Mere, isn’t there a ‘bring your inner Huntress to the surface’ spell?”
She stared at the ceiling in thought. "Hmmm. I don't know. But I have been through these books a hundred times in my years, and if there is, we don't have it."
I sighed.
“Look, Nate and I are good. Remember? We aren't going to mess with you. And you have nothing to hide from Nate since he knows how you feel anyway."
“But why Nate?” I whined.
“Need an Empath to be the boatman in a sense. He will be the one to carry us into your body, so to speak.”
“Us?”
She pursed her lips and looked like she was choosing her words carefully.
“Yeah . . . Us . . . myself and Zane.”
My jaw dropped in disbelief, and my gut wrenched again as I thought of Zane knowing my feelings and thoughts. We both felt uncomfortable as it was with my sudden bouts of lust towards him.
“Why Zane?!”
"Because both you and he are predators. I personally wouldn't know what to look for or feel for. But I would be there as an anchor, so there couldn't be a lot of additional wandering."
“You really think your mom and Nate’s parents are going to be okay with you meeting a vampire?” I looked at her skeptically.
“I wasn’t planning on exactly telling them,” she said as innocently as possible.
“Mere, he’s a vampire that was on the side of the Scelesti. Once known as the 'Assassin.' Hello. This is a bad idea getting him involved.”
“Do you trust him to keep you and us safe?”
Strangely, I did, and it must have shown on my face because she continued.
“So if you trust him, that’s enough for me.”
I raised my eyebrows at her in disbelief. “So, let me get this straight…you want to mess with some magic that you haven’t even touched in years, get a vampire involved, and not tell your mom about any of this?”
She nodded cheekily.
“You realize that this is an incredibly bad idea and it’s going to bite us in the ass, right?”
She shrugged a shoulder. “It might.”
I held my breath, not sure what to think or say. I was not thrilled about being this vessel, but I had to believe that if I were uncomfortable about it, Zane and Nate wouldn't want to do it either.
Meredith was still looking at me expecting an answer, and her face was so full of hope. Odds were that this was a way for her to get back into her craft. She was after all a witch who had been too scared to cast due to past circumstances. And here I was, the Venatrix Malorum, someone to protect her and her mother from any harm. To her, I was a savior, and I did need her help. This was important for her, I knew.
So being a sucker for people with high hopes, I shrugged my shoulders. “If you can convince the guys, I’ll do whatever.”
She grinned from ear to ear as if that was not an impossible task. Ignoring the uncomfortable feeling in the pit of my stomach from her positively confident smile, I glanced down at the ingredients: Dittany of Crete? Mugwort? Cinquefoil? Parsley?
“What the heck are some of those herbs? And where on earth are we going to find ‘Dittany of Crete’ and ‘Cinquefoil’? And the use of parsley? Really?”
“First of all, parsley is used for help in communicating with other planes, which will help in communicating with your spirit. Mugwort will keep other ‘spirits’ away from our bodies as we travel. Dittany of Crete will help with the trance since we have to be in that state."
“And Cinquefoil?”
She pointed her finger against her chin, th
inking. “Not entirely too sure. Most witches put it in their toothpaste. It’s a powerful astringent. Don’t quite know why it goes in this, but it’s not toxic, so . . .”
“And where exactly are we going to get these herbs?” I asked, hoping to bring her back down to earth.
"I have the parsley. And witches always have Mugwort in their cupboards. It’s standard. But the other stuff . . . What about the weird herbal store on the corner of Main and Water in Franklin? They always sell strange items there. We should check it out."
“Now?”
“Yeah. Why not?” She looked at her watch.
“Mere, it’s close to ten o'clock at night for one! They might not be open. Two, we'll have to walk there. Three, it’s a school night, and four, it's completely impulsive and totally INSANE!"
“Caden, you're always telling me to seize the day. Well, let's seize it. We could get Nate to drive us.” Meredith grinned that Cheshire cat grin, aware that it would give her the opportunity to convince Nate of her plan. "You know that he is just itching for an excuse to use the car. Everything around here is within walking distance, and you know how he has been grouching about ‘the point in getting his license.'"
Yeah, Nate had just gotten his license not too long ago because it was customary for a teenager to do so. However, he was a little older than most teenagers to get his license, a junior in high school. There really had not been a point besides the rite of passage idea since everything really was within walking distance. The school, each other’s houses. Even the Quickie Mart was right down the street on the opposite side of the school.
✽✽✽
Twenty minutes we were out the door with money in our pockets and armed like an arsenal. More or less, I was armed. I still had my stake-stocked boots strapped to my feet and the holster across my chest. Meredith was armed with a flashlight to light the way to Nate’s house. She was still uncomfortable with the concept that I didn’t need any lighted source to see in the dark. I even found it a little eerie that not too long ago I would have been relying on a flashlight myself.
Any rain that had come with the thunder and the flash of lightning earlier had stopped, but the signs of the storm were still lighting the sky and rumbling in the background. And the ground was still a little slick with the rain, while the air had that fresh rain scent that seemed a little stronger with my improved sense of smell.
I felt a little guilty as we passed by my house with Sera probably sleeping in bed, believing that I was safe at Meredith’s. And passing Underhill, I wondered what Zane was doing since he was the nocturnal sort. And if Finn was sleeping or if he was keeping an eye out for trouble. But it was dark and still when we walked by. Everything was still, and we had arrived at Nate's house without a vampire in sight.
Being relatively late in the evening, we did our usual sneak around. Only this time, for me it was stealthy. It was great to be a show-off for my friend, who thought I was the neatest thing since sliced bread. I stepped away from her without her even paying attention and slipped into the shadows. Soundlessly, I waited for Meredith underneath Nate's window. I watched her as she looked around with the flashlight, and then I began to feel a little guilty.
“Mere, I’m right over here, waiting for you,” I whispered loud enough to see her take in a deep breath and regain her composure.
I watched her try to step lightly, hoping she wouldn’t make much noise, but to me, it was like a bull in a china shop. She shined the light over me as she carefully crept over to me. The look of unease was all over her face.
“I’m not too sure how I feel about your stealth skills.”
I just shrugged. I couldn’t deny that it was creepy that I was suddenly supposed to be some sort of predator versus the regular teenage girl that my friends had known for the past year.
Nate’s parents had made a small rock garden around the house to be more "Zen." It was quite "Zen," but his family was that way. They were peaceful and spiritual. It was no wonder that they were healers.
I bent down to grab some stones to throw at Nate's window. I had about four in my hand, and I was shifting the weight around. They were no more than a pebble, dime size. A soft, warm hand grabbed my arm that was holding the rocks.
“Caden, do you have control of your strength,” Meredith’s voice was soft, trying to be a comfort, not condescending.
I gazed at her intently. Did I have control over my strength? I wasn’t too sure. Before all this had happened, I had poor aim and the stones barely ever tapped Nate’s window. I wasn’t too sure if my aim had improved, but I doubted they would gently bounce off the window.
“Mere, why don’t you do the honors. I don’t want to test my control on Nate’s window. The last thing the Spencers need is to repair a window.”
I dropped the pebbles into her hand and watched as she pitched the stones at the window until it opened. He looked out questioningly, and we signaled for him to come down. He was outside within minutes with a bewildered expression on his face.
“What on earth are you two doing out here?” He asked.
“We're going on a little adventure. Care to join us?” Meredith questioned him with a cocky smile.
“Why can I sense in the pit of my stomach that you have something troublesome going on? And I can feel how tense Caden is. What are you up to?” He eyed us suspiciously.
Meredith regarded me innocently as if she wanted me to explain the situation. I smirked at her and narrowed my eyes, silently challenging her.
“Mere, it’s all you,” I remarked smugly.
She peered up at Nate, sweetly and innocently.
It’s never going to work, I mouthed to her.
She cleared her throat and dug deep for some courage. "Caden needs a little help awakening her inner Huntress. For some reason, Caden believes that she might be trapped. So I was hoping to do a little magic to find her."
Nathan digested this information calmly before he eyed Meredith. “What kind of magic, Mere?”
She shuffled her feet before she spoke again. “Well, . . . I was thinking about using the Vessel spell.”
Nathan raised both his eyebrows in disbelief.
“Why?” He snapped. “You know there are other ways we could go about it. Why the Vessel.”
My jaw dropped in shock. Other ways? Meredith had lied to me. There were other spells, but she wanted to do this one. To invade my body.
“Why?” I demanded, feeling betrayed.
“For another reason besides the one I mentioned. There’s a side effect to the spell. We all become connected.”
“Why would you want that?” I begged.
Her face was determined and not sheepish anymore. Her resolve was strong. Whatever the reason was, it was pretty powerful to her.
“We are family. If we are connected, we can sense if you are in trouble. If anything were to happen to you, we would be able to find you. Caden, consider it extra protection."
“I’m in,” Nathan affirmed before I could argue with them about how silly this all was.
"No, you're not. None of you guys are in. Do you not understand how dangerous this all is? It's not a game or playtime, guys. This will get you killed." I struggled with them, hoping they would come to their senses.
Nathan sided with Meredith, crossing his arms across his chest. It was two against one, gaining strength in numbers against me. Neither of them looked threatening, but they were a united front.
“What part of family do you not understand, Caden? We protect each other,” Meredith asserted.
I sighed. I knew I was not going to win this. At this point, I knew Zane would probably even agree. All he would have to hear was how he would know where I was and that would be enough. Zane seemed like the dominate type that would want something like this and him having that ability would be the most perfect form of assistance. This would be a losing battle for me. Nathan relaxed when he felt my defeat and peered at Red.
“So, Mere, where we going?” He inquired.
&nbs
p; “It’s after ten, it’s not going to be open,” I argued.
Nate smirked at me. “It’s about time you learn how the Mundus Noctis operates.”
✽✽✽
Nate left a note for his parents letting them know that he was staying the night over Meredith’s house. Both of his parents were working at the hospital. Nate had said that it usually happened when one got an emergency call the other was soon to follow. He said that his mother got paged first during dinner. And just as Nate and his dad were settling in for the evening, watching a little news, his father got called in.
He never talked about whether he felt lonely with them always being gone, but I could just imagine. Being on the run with Sera always felt lonely to me. Like most parents who loved their kids, but were always busy, they tried to make it up to Nate by buying him extravagant things. Like all his band equipment and his car, which was a brand new Honda CR-V. It was a beautiful dark blue SUV with plush seats and all the fancy gadgets inside. It was initially his sixteenth birthday present, but when he didn't get his license right away, it sat in the garage. Even now, it had only been taken out a couple of times, not that his parents minded one way or another. After all, there was very little reason to take a vehicle anywhere in this town. So venturing to the next city over was somewhat exciting.
About twenty-five minutes passed, and we were outside Earth Tones, which was like a hippy store in the sleepy college town of Franklin. It was very rural area, but with a lot of stores and other goodies. It had a very calming atmosphere, so a hippy store in the middle of downtown Franklin was not a surprise. What was a surprise was the fact that it was still open close to eleven o’clock.
“Well, it says ‘open.’ Are we going to go inside or just stay out here forever?” Nate mocked, as we all just eyed the store.
“Come on,” Meredith urged.
She opened the door to a mix of a store. There was hippy clothing, books, candles, incense, CDs, and the herbs were in the back, which wasn’t a surprise.
Both Nate and I meandered into the store, looking like we had no idea what we were supposed to be doing in there. Meredith took the lead and stepped up to the counter, where the clerk was hidden behind a book.
Huntress Claimed Page 23
