Between Shadows

by Joanne Durann

  Sahen was bold and rash, and he knew just what button to push when it came to Jared. He seemed very surprised when Jared smiled and walked out of his way and let him right up to Miranda’s face. He was even more surprised when Miranda walked closer to get right in his face and stare into his eyes.

  “I can see he is telling the truth, although don’t even think about it, I’ll never be yours, that’s just your overactive imagination. Tell my father I said Freitag. How does that sound? What exactly did he tell you or ask you to do? By the way if you lie to me, my father or Jared will kill you.”

  Miranda was getting a little to sassy for Jared, but he played along anyway he thought he would yell at her later.

  “Your father told me nothing of your powers, directly. He did however insinuate that it wouldn’t take long for you to piss me off, so I would go and get myself killed by you. My guess is you’re pretty powerful on your own just new at it, because I’ve never seen you before, so I guess from what he said you also have a bad temper. The job he gave me was to guard you but stay away, what was it he said exactly, bad enough she loves that vampire I don’t need a werewolf in the mix somewhere.”

  Sahen turned, “ Jared way to piss off the most powerful being of our time, that’s a layup even I couldn’t accomplish. I personally didn’t want to come but my father insisted. So how do I guard you, and why? If you have all of these people here, why do you need me?” Sahen was a little confused.

  “Simple we need a tracker. At least if the theory holds out, someone may try to kidnap her, and if they do, we need a tracker. Sahen aren’t you the best tracker in the land? Why wouldn’t Gage want to be sure we have all the tools we need for any situation?” Carma made perfect sense.

  Jared wasn’t happy because he knew how seductive Sahen could be and he worried in the back of his mind about Miranda’s human side and worried it might take over.

  “Jared,” Miranda said feeling the tension between him and Sahen, “We have some business to do, don’t we?”

  She was hoping to deflect some of the tension in the room and send Sahen on a lesson with the others.

  “Carma, can you, Michael and Mattis get Sahen up to par while Jared and I take care of some human things?”

  “Oh god, you schedule it? What is wrong with you two?” Sahen was upset thinking they were talking about sex, “by the way humans aren’t the only ones that do that. We all have need, hell; I think we invented some of it.”

  To place exploded in a roar; Carma looked at Jared and Miranda, “Just go I’ll explain everything to the slow one over here.”

  As Jared and Miranda left they knew it was going to be way to fun for Carma to explain what they were really talking about.

  “Hey fool, they are going to start the process of quitting her job! No everything is about sex, although with those two you never know.”

  “What do you think she is going to say?” Miranda asked Jared.

  “If I know Carma, she’ll protect us by making him believe we have sex all of the time, she doesn’t want him anywhere near you. Since she can’t tell him about you physical power, she’ll give him your sexual ones.” Jared smiled, Miranda knew why it made him happy.

  Chapter 15

  They pulled into the parking lot of her job around 3:30, Miranda was very nervous; she was worried they would see right through her, and she wouldn’t be able to pull this off.

  “Jared, I’m going to need your help through this, if we could keep our minds linked I think it would help me.”

  “They don’t know you or me, if they did they would have been there for you and we wouldn’t have meet. They didn’t take the time to help you through this, they don’t know about your powers, so they really don’t know the real you. Just give them the same face you were stuck putting on when you worked there before your family was killed. That’s the Miranda they know and they’ll be happy to see it, humans are so superficial.” Jared smiled and that always seem to make everything ok.

  Jared was right they never took the time to get to know her; in fact, they knew Ben better then they knew her. She found that kind of irritating at times, she worked with them, but it was her husband that was more important to them.

  “I guess you’re right this should be a breeze, if I could keep all of my powers in check before, then a secret, a little white lie about where I’m going to be shouldn’t be an issue. I guess it’s because they don’t want to know, they just want to move on with their pretty little human lives, don’t they?”

  “It’s good to hear you call them human. You’re finally accepting what and who you are, and I’m proud of you.” They were in the parking lot, “Let’s get inside and finish this so we can be alone together.” Jared gave her a look that surprised her.

  “Why Jared if I didn’t know any better I would think you were trying to seduce me? Could it be that the new arrival has changed your mind? Could he be all I needed to get you alone?” Miranda was playing around, but she wanted to know if suddenly with Sahen arrival Jared was going to be a little fairer with her.

  “Don’t get yourself started, I just meant away from all of this human stuff, you will wait until we’re bound, and that’s not happening until you and I take our fathers’ places at the table.”

  He laughed “Talk about a power couple, I never looked at it that way until now, I hope the bad guys don’t get a hold of that, before we sit at the table. Could you image, they’ll have bull eyes on both of us.” Jared started to look a little worried; he couldn’t save her if they were after him too.

  “Maybe we better not talk about all that just now, who knows what matter of person would be upset about that? Jared, be honest, would anyone in our world want to us to have that kind of power?” Miranda understood his concern, “let’s worry about this leave of absence for now, we can deal with the rest later, ok?”

  They walked into the building together, but they didn’t hold hands, Miranda and Jared both knew that would be too much for anyone to handle, you can’t walk up to people claiming to need time off from your first husband’s death with a new boyfriend.

  They settled on Jared being just a family friend people could handle that better, in three months he could be the boyfriend who got her through it all, and was now taking her away from them.

  It wasn’t long before Miranda met with her boss, and gave him the story, the women in the office had their eyes glued to Jared. There were whispers and hopes that he would come back again with Miranda, but they were all dashed when Miranda came out to clean out her desk. She told them she would be back in three months if everything worked out. They weren’t all that sad to see her go, and this time she knew it and didn’t care.

  Miranda wanted to take the time to go from person to person as she cleaned up, she looked right into their eyes and found what she already knew, they really didn’t care to much about her. They were actually glad she was leaving, one woman though now we can laugh and not feel guilty, and another that Miranda though was her friend thought good maybe I can have her job now! Miranda was never so glad to leave a place; she walked out feeling so much better than when she went in.

  “I can’t believe I even liked those humans they are so petty.” She turned to look back one last time, “Kathy can have my job now.”

  Miranda was a little angry but knew she needed to keep it in place, “Don’t worry Jared, they bother me, but not enough to get any of them killed. I know what showing things to them would mean, funny the only person who had any feelings about me, was my boss. He was hoping when I come back I would date his son, strange isn’t it?”

  They got back in the truck and this time Jared drove. Miranda felt free and ready to be in a new life more now than ever.

  “Could you tell me about The Seasons and then my family line, The Forces? I want to know the rest before we get back to bodyguard central. There’s a little park up ahead, and I’ll even tell Carma where we are, ok? I really want to know and more than that, I want some alone time with you. If you do I
promise to behave for the rest of the week, please?” Miranda gave him a smile and he agreed.

  “Can you please tell Carma to let me know what’s going on with our new guest will you? Tell her she can just mind link me or we can talk to her together if you want?” Jared said to Miranda as they pulled into the park. “Any place special or just somewhere dark and lonely?”

  “Dark and lonely is good, but I have to behave so it’s not really fair, now is it? I’ll have Carma come to you separately in case she wants to tell you something she doesn’t know if she should tell me, this way she doesn’t have to feel bad keeping secrets from me.”

  Miranda gave Jared a smirk and quietly closed her eyes.

  “Jared, I want to know a lot all at once and this time I trust you alone to give me the information. I’m not going to go back and ask the others to fill in the blanks, so it’s on you and you alone to help me here. I want the good and bad, I also know you’re the only one who will give both to me, because my dad told you to.”

  Miranda needed to have all of the facts laid out for her, the human world had been dishonest to her, and she wanted to enter this world in the most, raw honest form. She needed to know everything even if it was going to hurt her.

  “Ok, the Seasons, mostly good people and they are our friends, because they like peace too. They help out the human earth a lot, which in turn, helps us. They take care of the flowers, trees, and anything green. They deal with the weather changes because they, like you, can see the future and they are the only race that can relax a person with the whisper of their voice. They use insects and small animals to do work for them and they can gather the energy from the earth to help them when they need it.”

  Jared got quiet, “they use the energy as a weapon too, but not like you, they don’t have that kind of power. Please don’t get angry now and call yourself names again, promise me, you said you wanted it all.”

  Miranda nodded, “It will be ok, and I realize that some of what I do is a little extreme, I think I know what you’re going to say already but I need you to say it out loud. I know what I saw in the faces of the others when I did it and I know I am that strong.”

  “They don’t compare in power to you and I have never seen someone pull that much energy from the earth, let alone control it, it’s amazing and scary, Miranda. The hybrid of their line; Fortuna is the most powerful anyone has ever seen and she can’t hold a candle to what you can do. She will be very envious when she meets you; she’s not use to anyone having that much more of her power. I think you should try to keep that one to yourself until you meet her face to face, hopefully once she meets you she’ll be as charmed by you as I am. I also think that’s why the others believe you are the unknown one, you have an incredible ability and the strongest powers we’ve ever seen. I’m just afraid that if you’re not the legend, that the idea of being the legend will get you killed. Do you have any questions? ”

  “No, I think you’ve covered it pretty well, the good and the bad. Now, can we move on to my family line and my dad? Everything Jared and I want you to start with the one thing he thought he might want you to forget.”

  Miranda knew this put him on the spot, “that’s why I want to do it here and not in front of the others. I want you to have the time you need without them jumping in every five seconds.”

  “Your dad knew someone would tell you something about him at just the right time, to anger you into killing him and everyone around, that’s what I’m going to tell you now. You need to understand first that he was very angry at the time and he didn’t mean what happen.” Jared drew a long breath and stared into the sky to find the right words.

  Miranda remembered what he said about her ability to relax with a whisper, “its ok take your time I have all day, I’ll wait for you to be ready.”

  It worked, he relaxed and found the words he needed, “You father told you how angry he was when his wife and son was killed, right? What he didn’t tell you is why. They were killed because he took a daughter of Exire and messed her up, and I’m being polite with my words. You know about the little cottage with women in it? Well, your dad has always been like that even when he was married. She played with him, flirting and acting as if she would become one of the extra women, and then she tried to force him into stepping down from his Concillium seat. She told him she would ruin him and he would lose everything if he didn’t leave quietly. He found out that she was working directly for Mical and Emina, and he took her and hurt her in ways that I can’t say out loud to you. He tortured her and raped her until he finally killed her. After that he took her beaten, bloody, body and left it in the town center, in front of the Concillium for everyone to see that this is what happen when you cross the mighty Gage. They wanted justice but because she used her body to ruin him, they said her punishment fit her crime. I told you our world can be cruel, didn’t I? That wasn’t good enough for the others because she was Emina’s daughter. It was the one time Emina’s hands were caught in the cookie jar and she wanted to make a statement, so her had your step mother and step brother tortured and burned in front of everyone. Emina used the right people because of course those who got caught said they acted alone. Your father couldn’t do anything to Emina at all; he had to take his anger out the ones who were caught, and that really didn’t work for him. That’s how he came to meet your mother and that’s how you came to be born. He was angry about everything for a long time up until he saw you when you were two, and when your parents wouldn’t give you up, he waited and waited hoping one day to have you. I think in the back of his mind he knew you were safer not being with him, he knew he caused his families death and he didn’t want to cause your death. Now here you are and more powerful than any of us, I just hope you can be ready when Emina and Mical find out you truly exist, because I knew they will come after you with everything they have. They still want Gage to pay, not for what he did to Emina’s daughter, but for the fact that everyone knew they were behind it even if it could be proven.”

  Jared looked worn down, but he continued on, “as for your family line and their powers, you are the most powerful of your kind and you will not only take your family’s seat but take the head of the Concillium. You will have control over the winds and rains, the snow, sleet and hail, along with the sun and clouds. You will control all of the forces of weather, including tornados and hurricanes. Your family can mind jump but only you can walk around in someone’s mind to see what they are all about. Your family line has a heighten awareness of other people’s feelings but only you can actually feel them. Your family line knows anyone current thoughts, but only you know the past, present, future and death of everyone. You have power over everyone and yet you act so powerless, that makes you even more powerful, that fact that you won’t use your powers to hurt or harm anyone else.”

  Jared looked at a shocked Miranda. “I’m going to give you a minute to digest that and then we’ll drive back to the house, and tonight when we’re alone I’ll give you your final family line, my line. After that, I will give you everything about me and I just hope you still want me around, after you hear it all. More importantly know your dad is right, I don’t want you to find out something bad about me at the wrong time, I’m not perfect and you need to know all about that.”

  “Jared, I want you to know that I have things to confess to, so before you confess, I want to. I think your right it, needs to be tonight at home but in bed just the two of us, everything on the table, no surprises.”

  Miranda knew she loved him enough to trust him with everything. She also knew this would complete their relationship because they were totally honest with one another; she wanted to tell him things she could never admit to before.

  “Ok, I guess we should go back then.” Jared said it just as Miranda grabbed him and kissed him, it was long and passionate.

  “Now is it ok to go back I need to know that we are both ready for the rest of them.” Jared started the car again and slowly drove back to her house; Miranda stayed as
close as she could, and held on to him tightly.

  It wasn’t long before they reached the house and found Carma on the step waiting for them. “What took you guys so long? I tried calling and not only didn’t you answer, but Jared you blocked me! What’s up with that?” Carma was a pretty demanding person.

  “She wanted all of us to go looking for you! I wouldn’t let her,” Michael said as the rest of them came out of the house. “Sahen and Carma were buddy, buddy over this; they both were ready to pounce. I told them with all of us around you may have needed some alone time.”

  As Michael said it he made quote mark with his fingers and laughed. “I know you guys miss some opportunities due to interruptions so I wanted them to leave you alone.” Michael smirked, “Did I call it right?”

  “Sort of,” Miranda replied. “Jared told me about the other family line, my line and how I fit into it. He also told me about Gage and how he fits into everything that I’ve learned so far, and how it all effects me.” Miranda was smiling again, “and yes we took some time to be alone, some much needed time, thanks.”

  Jared smiled at Sahen, “She’s not going anywhere, you can try all you want, she has a mind all her own.”

  Jared looked at the group and then back to Miranda. He held her hands tightly in his and stared directly into her eyes.

  “I also want to made sure I tell her one more real important thing in front of everyone, if you disagree with any of it leave now, and don’t come back. We all care about you and your safety, we won’t let anything get near you or harm you. Finally because I have never said it out loud before and it’s been over a century since anyone has even given me the urge to say it, Miranda, I love you. I will give my life for you and as soon as this is over I want to be bound to you.” Miranda smiled and kissed him again like they did in the park.

  There was a stillness and silence that was so calm even breathing was almost too loud.

  Carma looked as if she would cry and Sahen as if he wanted to kill at that very moment. On the other side Mattis and Michael didn’t know what to say or do if anything so finally Michael spoke to break the silence.