by N. K. Vir
“You don’t have to,” Daisy insisted. “I can do it. It won’t be as powerful as the magick from the Sinclair Witch but…I think I can get the job done.”
“No,” Wills snapped startling them both. “Kieran needs to do this.”
She grabbed his arm spinning him around; forcing him to face the destruction his magick caused. If her goal was to force him to change his mind she was going about it all wrong. Every time he looked at her it reinforced his decision to keep his vow. He looked down into her blank grey eyes wishing he had the courage to give her want she wanted.
“Daisy can do it,” he assured her. “Daisy should do it,” he emphasized. He brushed a kiss over the exact spot Adam had planted his own fatherly one. He stepped away; separating himself from them.
“I’ve held you back for too long; both of you” he said looking over at Daisy. “The moonstone opened up for you. Tanith would never have regained her memories without you.”
Daisy scooped up the labradorite. She gently squeezed the tiny stone in her palm. She closed her eyes and he could feel her use whatever strange magick she possessed to speak with the stone. They had been so wrong about Daisy.
He held Wills back when she tried to walk away. “She can do this,” he insisted.
Wills yanked her arm out of his grasp. “You can’t bury your magick for much longer Kieran.”
She walked away; not like a blind woman stumbling through the dark but like a very pissed off girlfriend. She had just put a very large period at the end of her parting sentence. He let her walk away. Nothing he could say would help now anyway. The only consolation he could give was to make sure that Daisy could deliver on her promise.
There was a piece of him, a very tiny piece, which knew Wills was wrong. The larger part of him wanted to rage and fight with every ounce of magick his body contained. He clung to that tiny sliver. His magick was seductive. It was dangerous; and it was beyond his control. He had swallowed down too much anger. Anger was his body’s natural trigger for his magick; if he even attempted to unleash his magick now he could shatter the delicate stone like glass.
“I can do it Kieran,” Daisy said interrupting his thoughts. “But Wills is right. I can see it. For a witch of your power suppressing your magick is akin to suicide.”
“When did you get so smart?”
She winked up at him. “I always have been,” she replied playfully punching his shoulder. “If I’m going to do this we’re are going to need the moonstone however.”
“I’m sure Lucas and Tanith will be back soon.”
“What if they’re not?” she asked giving voice to his concern.
If he was Lucas he would have run a long time ago dragging Tanith behind him. There was a very real possibility that was exactly what had happened. It would get the Trinity off their backs. Lily would lose interest, if Adam was to be believed, but Kane would never stop hunting her and there would be nothing they could do then. Midsummer was tomorrow.
If Tanith didn’t return…
“I’m here,” Tanith interrupted. “Can’t miss my ride home.”
There was falseness to her cheery tone that neither of them missed. “Where’s Lucas?” Daisy asked peering around her.
“He’s not coming,” he answered for Tanith.
“We said our goodbyes. We both wanted to keep…happy memories,” she explained with a sad smile.
Daisy squealed in excitement as she easily read between the lines. He was amazed at how quickly her attitude switched gears. A minute ago she was a wise shaman. Now she was playing the part of perky high school teenager.
“I’m glad you finally found some good memories,” he said uncomfortably clearing his throat. “Because we may have to send you home sooner than we thought.” He pulled his eyes away from her crestfallen face. “Tonight if possible,” he finished.
“But not everything is as dark as it seems,” Daisy said offering hope. “We found a way to call you back from the Otherside.”
Silence fell over the room as everyone swallowed the inevitable. Lucas was gone. Wills was hiding. Tanith had to leave; and he had put his magick to sleep. Everything rested on Daisy and whether or not she possessed uncharted magick of her own.
“I can do it,” she insisted cutting through the silence in the room. “Stones are kinda my thing.” She tossed the labradorite in the air and caught it again shooting them a saucy wink.
Laughter he didn’t think any of them were capable of bubbled out of them. The fate of …everything sat in the very small hands of the woman they were supposed to protect.
“The next thin time is at midnight,” Tanith informed her. “It’s also the most powerful; midnight on Midsummer’s Eve,” she added whistfully. Daisy nodded and held her hand out for Tanith’s moonstone.
“Do you think you can join the two stones then?” Kieran asked.
The labradorite shimmered; showing off the subtle flash it had been hiding. A wide smile transformed Daisy’s face. “I’ve been called a changeling and a seeker,” she shrugged her shoulders shaking off the names he had never heard of. “I prefer stone whisper.” She was breathtaking and her confidence was highly infectious.
He truly believed she could do this.
With the two stones in her hands he felt the magick within her ignite. Her dark eyes shifted; brightening to a deep shade of blue. He gasped; stunned by the sudden transformation. She was tapping into some form of energy, some form of magick that he had never felt before.
“I recognize that word; changeling,” Tanith secretly whispered to him. “In the language of my people it means Faeriedae.”
He grabbed Tanith’s elbow and led her out of Daisy’s earshot. “What is Faeriedae?” he asked. When she didn’t answer him right away he grabbed ahold of her shoulders and shook her out of whatever trance she had fallen into. “What is Faeriedae?” he repeated amazingly keeping not only his anger confined to his body but magick.
“It means dark gift of the fae,” Tanith absently replied. Her eyes were locked on the wall behind his back as if she could see Daisy through the layers of earth and steel that separated them from her.
“What does that mean?” he asked.
“It means she died at some point in her past.” The awe in her voice stunned him. “I’ve only ever heard of one. He’s one of the greatest warriors in my world. If she’s Faeriedae she could be capable of anything.”
Chapter Twenty-Four
Witches, Werewolves and a Faeriedae…Oh My!
They were running.
The weight of the moon seemed to press down on the Earth; demanding silence. The wind brushing through the trees, the echo of distant traffic that usually bounced off the house, even the small woodland creatures that usually chattered in the trees; the world had obeyed the moon and covered itself in silence. It was deafening. She felt as if she had suddenly been shoved into an isolation chamber; unable to see, unable to hear and unable to feel. Everything was happening too fast. Only one thing was real…
They were running.
She should feel the branches whipping against her exposed skin. The ground should be firm beneath her feet. The speed at which they were moving should have forced the air around them to drill harshly into her ears. She was numb; immune to it all because only one thing was real.
They were running…and he wasn’t there.
She knew this would be difficult for him. She had left him alone, all the while silently willing him to understand that she needed him. She had never needed anything more. Even the cool shade of his midnight shadow would be better than the emptiness that had engulfed her. She had hoped he would understand that this was the only way; the only way to save them all. She believed in them; believed in them all even when they couldn’t find the courage to believe in themselves.
She knew Lucas was strong enough to break through any curse launched at him. Daisy held more power within her tiny frame than any of them imagined and Kieran would find a healthy balance between his magick and the real world. They had saved
her; rescued her when she was unworthy of it. She had been drowning; lost and alone in the world but not anymore.
She wasn’t alone; she had never alone; not really. They had always been there just as they were now.
They were running with her…or rather they were running behind her.
Moments ago Daisy had finally managed to merge her moonstone with the piece of labradorite she had salvaged from the shop. The strange rock hung like a new anchor around her neck. It was a pale reminder of her past and a shadowy promise of her uncertain future. As soon as Daisy had placed the new stone around her neck she had shifted. There had been no warning; she couldn’t have fought the change even if she had tried. For only the second time in her life her wolf-skin felt uncomfortable; like she was being held prisoner.
Until now she could not remember that night. It chose this moment to come rushing back.
The terror of the sudden, uncontrolled shift had set her mind into fight form. Her world, her state of mind had shifted with her and it brought with it a terrible anger that she had not realized she had been suppressing. She had taken everything away from her. Her knight, her Kieran, loved her not the timid little human girl. The anger, the hurt she had carried into her uncontrolled shift was being fed and encouraged by an outside force. She didn’t fight it; in truth she accepted it allowing the external hate to excuse, to exonerate her from what she knew had to be done. She just needed an opening; one tiny moment when everyone’s guard was down.
The girl with the hair that rivaled the color of midnight exited the monstrous mansion with Kieran’s arm wrapped protectively around her. Her rage grew. That girl, that woman was standing in the way of everything that she had so meticulously planned. She had recognized then that the thoughts circling inside her head were not her own but she was powerless to stop herself. Someone else had control; she was merely a puppet.
Wills was out in the open; separated from those who could protect her. The urge to attack was overwhelming and resisting it was beyond her control. The instant all of her four paws had touched the foreign feeling earth beneath her she was launching into the air; hell-bent on ripping the girl in two.
The shock of what she had almost accomplished caused her to stumble in the present. Daisy’s claw-like nails sunk deeper into her pelt, drawing a growl from her throat that was not wholly caused by her present pain. She deserved the punishment Kane was currently so eager to impose. She was running now not to save her life but to save those that were too willing to protect her.
“Don’t growl at me,” Daisy chastised. “This was your idea remember?” she reminded her, “Something about my legs being too short to keep up.”
Robbed of her human vocal cords all she could do was angrily grunt in return and roll her eyes. Yes, it had been her idea. When Kane had showed up at the house unexpectedly she had listened when everyone screamed run. Wills had sounded the alarm; her blind eyes wide in terror. Kane had come for them and he wasn’t alone. The Sinclair’s would hold them off as long as they could but they didn’t have time. In the end she was set upon the path that she had wanted to take all along; she ran. At least she wasn’t running alone.
She had never carried another being on her back before. On the Otherside it would have been a mark of shame. She had been born into an elite warrior clan; nothing dominated them. They may have been gifted by the goddess to change shape at will; but that did not mean they carried lesser beings. She shook her head clearing the ridiculous thoughts from her mind. She was thinking with her old mind. This new world she had been exploring for the last ten years had opened her mind to a new way of living. In her old world a Faeriedae was a polluted thing to be used only when needed. She had a friend, a Faeriedae who had salvaged her memories and was now fleeing with her, risking her life to save a warrior who was too afraid to stay and fight.
If they could only see her now…
A shifter racing through the woods carrying a Faeriedae and towing a witch and a blind human in her wake while they escaped instead of turning and fighting. This would be the last time, she promised the warrior she had buried within. This would be the last time she ran…ever. From now on she would turn and fight and she would make sure that she was always on the right side. She had a lot to atone for.
The clearing was just a few hundred feet in front of them. It was where she had said goodbye to Lucas; it was where she would say goodbye to this world. The symmetry was too perfect to ignore.
This was insane.
They were leaving a trail that an infant could follow. Kane was not an infant. The look in his eyes when he had spotted them…he had a hard time describing the emotion he had read there. He had latched onto Wills and did what she had asked. He ran.
His magick was mocking him. He had the power to make Kane stop. He had the power within him to stop this madness before things escalated to the point of no return. He had a duty to protect Wills no one else mattered, not Lucas and Tanith; not even Daisy. He was denying every magickal fiber that had been bred into his body and soul; but still he ran. Scattered remnants of the path Wills had shown him earlier flickered into his mind. They were the beginning and the end of everything. Then he couldn’t see him running through the dark following Tanith’s wolf with Daisy riding her like a reluctant cowgirl; but now he remembered doing this. The timeline they were traveling was more than confusing.
Twelve minutes ago the world still sat upright on its axis. Daisy had a name, a title that would follow her not only on this plane but on the Otherside; a plane of existence he had not been aware of until earlier today.
Eleven minutes ago Daisy had done the impossible. With foreign magick escaping from every pore in her body she had melded together two things that had been born separate creating something entirely new.
Ten minutes ago they still had time; time to enjoy a brief moment of victory; time to hug and celebrate that they were moments away from fixing everything.
Nine minutes ago…hell had erupted on Earth.
The planet should not be capable of changing its orbit in such a short space of time; but it had.
They were running; blindly.
He could hear everything; his parents valiantly fighting, and failing, in order to give them a head start. The distant flares and flickers of an old school witch’s battle still reached his ears and with every foot he put between them and him and them. The further away he got the louder the battle cries grew. There had been no time for goodbyes but the sad look in his mother’s eyes did not afford him the luxury of hope. They had stayed to fight to give them time to escape.
He could have stopped then. He could have turned and stood shoulder to shoulder with his parents; ignited his magick and fought with them. Instead he’d run and left them alone to deal with not only the might of the Trinity but with Marek as well.
He had seen the hungry look upon Marek’s face the moment he’d stepped out of Kane’s hired car. The evil smile that had turned up the corners of his mouth meant he was there to draw blood…Sinclair blood.
Still he had listened to his feet and ran. He was following a fugitive shifter who was carrying one of his best friends on her back while dragging a blind woman, the love of his life, behind him. He had hesitated for a moment; but the sound of Adam’s voice invading his mind urging him to run had spurred him on.
When would he learn not to listen to the king of witches?
He was supposed to be the one; the only one who could protect her; yet here he was, again, dragging her further into danger. He felt his magick flare and settle into his fingertips begging to be set free and hit the target that threatened them; that threatened her. He pushed the urge down and forced his legs to run faster.
“I can’t keep up!” Wills shouted from behind him. “We need to stop and fight!”
He couldn’t do it. He couldn’t release his magick. He couldn’t be the cause of hurting her again. His magick had targeted too many. He couldn’t risk her getting caught in the crossfire again. “I will carry you o
ver my shoulder if I have to!” he threatened her. “Adam said run so we run!”
Tanith’s wolf skidded to a halt in the small clearing that had opened up in front of them. Daisy was thrown by the sudden stop and rolled a few feet away. She jumped to her feet laughter escaping her throat. He followed suit sliding to a halt as he shoved Wills behind him. He had followed Adam’s command but from here on out they were on their own.
“Whatever you’re going to do Daisy do it quick,” he hollered over his shoulder.
He flung his arms protectively out barring Wills from breaking past him. He could hear her tearful shouts. She couldn’t hear them shouting. She couldn’t hear them fighting. The air had gone still and silent. He knew what the silence meant. His parents had bought them time and nothing else. He could not entertain another thought. The anger and fear he had buried during their flight would not let him.
His hands balled into fists as he fought to contain his magick. Every fiber, every cell was focused on what was about to burst through that clearing. He tried to fight his magick but instinct was a hard thing to overcome.
The spell had come out of nowhere and only instinct and uncanny reflexes had protected them. Irony apparently loved magick. Because the man who first taught him to block spells was the same man who threw the attack spell at him now.
The clearing they had found shelter in was suddenly their worst enemy. The forest itself was encroaching threatening them all. Roots that had remained buried beneath the ground for decades suddenly erupted around their feet. Branches meant only to pass along the late afternoon breeze reached out to them. His eyes flashed to the future and he saw what was coming. His magick overrode his nearly unbreakable self-control. His reflexes were barely fast enough and the force of the spell Marek threw at him nearly knocked him over.
“Daisy,” his pained voice managed to choke out.
His arms, crossed in front of him, struggling to keep the delicate magickal shield he had projected from breaking. His clenched fists turned threateningly towards his face. He was still fighting his vow; still fighting his pride. He would allow his magick to protect them; nothing more.
