Crescent Marked: StarHaven Sanctuary Book One

by Tera Lyn Cortez

  Letting my mother know I'd be gone for a while, and ignoring her sour face at the news, I slipped out the backdoor. Perched on the table where I'd left the crackers sat my two little friends.

  “Hey guys. Did you like the crackers?”

  Both of them responded with chatter, one of them running in circles around the table top.

  “Do you want some more?”

  More chatter. More skittering about the table.

  “Okay, be right back.”

  Taking a couple from each box I found to give them a variety, I returned to the porch. Laughing at myself for making conversation with the furry little creatures, I handed over the crackers and let them know I'd be gone for a while. At least they didn't seem to disapprove of my plans for the day.

  Following the path into the woods, I reached out for Isaiah with my mind. I'd never tried to use our telepathy from a distance and didn't know what kind of range I had. It occurred to me then that I had also never been to the village where their houses were, which meant I couldn't just walk over and see if he happened to be home.

  If he didn't hear me, or couldn't answer me, then I'd just be puttering around the yard until he showed up. Hopefully, he would have a reason to come by today. If not, I would just keep practicing until I saw him again.

  After walking down the path for a few minutes, I could hear his voice, loud and clear.

  “Hey. Are you okay, Leah?”

  “Fine. But I have something exciting I want to try. Are you busy right now?”

  “Not really, what's up? I can start heading your way.”

  “Good. I think today is the day. I believe I have a spell so that I can return your ability to shift back to human form.” My excitement bled into my tone, even telepathically.

  “I'm on my way. Don't wander too far by yourself.”

  He came loping up the path minutes later. Somewhat unsuccessfully, I tried to hide how excited I was to see him. And how nervous I felt about the spell. It would be the most complicated one I had attempted to cast since learning about magic. Hopefully, I'd end up with a human at the end of it, and not a toad or a guinea pig.

  Isaiah wanted to return to the clearing where we had sat before, and I agreed. Wherever he wanted me to perform the ritual was fine with me. Once we got there, I pulled out my aunt's book and the supplies. Each instruction was followed to the letter, and I kept up a running commentary, explaining what I had found out as I worked.

  Once the circle was cast on the dirt, I continued adding the other items to the set up according to the instructions. In my mind, I equated witchcraft and spell casting to baking. Each ingredient needed to be added in the correct order in order for you to get the desired outcome.

  Standing back to survey my setup, I reread the directions one last time. The words had been repeated over and over, relentlessly committing them to memory so that there would be no errors in the order or pronunciation. Directing Isaiah to his place in the center of the circle, I took a deep, cleansing breath.

  “You sure you trust me to do this?”

  “Wheek, wheek. What am I, if not your faithful and loyal guinea pig?” he teased me.

  “Shut up. I swear to God I will turn you into a toad someday and put you in a glass tank on my desk.”

  “Ha. Let's see if we can get me back to human first, shall we?”

  As our laughter subsided, I set the book down and prepared to try it for real. I'd done it a thousand times in my head. I'd read the pages over and over again. The words had been repeated so many times I could pronounce them in my sleep after an entire bottle of wine.

  But I'd never had my subject in front of me. The man -wolf- who had become my friend. He trusted me enough to place his faith in me that I wouldn't screw this up, and that somehow made the situation worse rather than better.

  Based on my understanding of the situation, I would need to cast the spell while working to pull his human side forward. The curse needed to be removed and I would likely need to force his shift back for the first time. After that the passage said he would be able to shift back and forth at will, as he had always been intended to do, if we were successful.

  “Basically, it's a simple game of tug-o-war. The curse wants to keep your ability to shift in and I want to drag it out. You'll need to push from your end too, though. For some reason I have this picture in my head of trying to force an elephant to walk on a leash, but we'll give it a shot.”

  “Got it. Thankfully, I haven't forgotten how to shift, so I will try my damnedest to push through.”

  “Okay, and do not stop until I tell you to, or you are shifted. Do not worry about me, I can do this. I promise.” I slipped off my shoes and socks, sinking my toes into the earth and attempting to connect with mother nature.

  “As long as it doesn't cause you harm, I won't. And fair warning, you might want to wait for me to let you know it's safe to open your eyes.”

  “Excuse me?”

  “So, when we shift, we usually retain whatever clothes we were wearing and they return with us. But, I've been in wolf form for so long, I don't want you to get an unwanted eyeful if I wind up buck ass naked.”

  Unwanted? He must be out of his damn mind. In spite of having never seen his human form, I just knew it would be a glorious sight. Not that I would tell him that.

  “Uh, sure. You got it. Maybe I can call up some pants for you if the need arises.”

  “Let's just see how it goes first. Ready?”

  Nodding so he'd know I was ready, I closed my eyes. The first two times I chanted the words, they stayed in my head. The third time they were spoken in a whisper as I lifted my arms to the sky, asking for the blessings of the sanctuary. Each successive time I raised the volume until I was speaking in a slightly louder than normal voice.

  The magic of the ancient spell swirled up around me. The sensation traveled from my bare toes, dug into the forest floor, to the tips of my fingers, enhancing my senses. The smell of the woods around me intensified. Despite the distance, I could hear the waves of the surrounding ocean crashing against the shore, and the thunder of the waterfall from the opposite side of the peninsula. Miniature insect footsteps echoed in my ears, and the hum of tiny wings thrummed in the distance.

  With each repetition of the sacred words, I used my mind to pull Isaiah closer to me, calling out to his human form, casting away the curse. Sweat beaded and ran down my body as I struggled to free him. At one point, I heard him groan, telling me he was so close to success.

  The pressure of the magic caused my ears to pop, muting the sounds I'd been hearing so acutely. My hair floated on the electrically charged air, tugging at my scalp. My temperature ratcheted up, bringing more sweat to my skin. And still the curse resisted my effort to dispel it. It fought tooth and nail to keep its claw sunk into his psyche.

  My arms moved to reach toward him, curling my hands into fists and pantomiming the act of pulling his body toward me. My fingers couldn't have strained more if I hung from a cliff using only them to anchor me. My muscles ached with the strain. I felt blood run from my nose. Tears leaked from under my eyelids. Then, in a single second, it ended.

  My strength gave way like a chain link snapping, landing me on my knees on the forest floor, eyes still closed. Exhaustion prevented me from opening them, although I had no desire to see my failure. I rested my weight on my hands, too wrung out to attempt to stand. I felt each object against my skin, from the pine needles and small rocks digging into my palms to the lumps of dirt around them. The crescent mark on my palm was strangely sensitive to the sensations of the earth.

  “You can open your eyes, Leah.”

  My head jerked up. I had heard that voice with my ears.

  “Isaiah?”

  My eyelids lifted by the millimeter. Once fully open, they stared straight into the amber eyes I had grown so familiar with over the last few days. Eyes that were set in a human face. They were framed in thick, dark lashes, resting above cheekbones that looked like they had been carve
d out of stone. He squatted in front of me with his hands held out, offering his assistance.

  “Are you ready to stand up?”

  Blinking rapidly, I attempted to dislodge the sensation of being lost. He stood, taking my hands and drawing me to my feet. Slipping his arm around my waist, he helped me to the log and sat me down. Grabbing one of the napkins I had thrown in with the sandwiches, he dumped some of the water from the bottle onto it and wiped my nose.

  He handed me the bottle. “Here, drink. And once you're ready, you need to eat. I'm glad you brought food. That sort of thing takes a lot out of your body.”

  “Thanks.” My voice was little more than a hoarse croak. My entire body felt like it had been run over by a semi-truck, then thrown in front of a train, and steam rolled for good measure. It didn't hurt exactly, but it ached everywhere.

  My eyes roamed his body, clad in a plain black t-shirt and jeans. His feet were bare. The brown hair caught me by surprise, since his wolf was gray. Making my way up to his face once more, I blushed, having been caught staring.

  “I'm sorry. This is quite a change, and you've known what I look like forever.”

  He chuckled. “Do I meet your standards? Or am I so ugly you are going to re-curse me yourself and make sure I never get to leave my wolf form again?”

  Lacking the energy to even giggle, I sighed. “Well, I mean, your wolf is very pretty. But I guess I'll let you stay as you are. After all, I didn't do all that work for nothing. Besides, now you owe me. It'll be easier to get my payback this way. And if I was going to curse you to an animal form, I'd have to say I'm picking a toad. Promises are promises, after all.”

  “I owe you alright, and believe me, I intend to make sure you are sufficiently rewarded.”

  His words brought heat to my cheeks. He took out a sandwich and tore off a chunk, placing it at my lips.

  “Here, eat.”

  And he fed me the entire sandwich that way, stopping to give me drinks from the water bottle between bites. Never in my adult life had someone been so attentive to my needs. The action only made me like him more.

  “You should eat too. I made a sandwich for each of us, and there's some other food in there too.”

  After trying to insist that I eat them both, he gave in when I insisted I couldn't eat another bite, and took one for himself. Stealing glances from the side, I watched him bite off pieces and chew, finding the motion of his jaw to be very appealing.

  Thanks to the sustenance gained from the food, I started to feel a bit more like myself as time went on. An exhausted and wrung out version of myself, but myself nonetheless.

  He turned to face me, meeting my eyes with a serious look on his face. “Leah, thank you. I can't thank you enough for this. It's been so long I almost feel like a stranger in my own body. But I would never have gotten it back without you.”

  “You're welcome. And it's the least I could do. I just pray that at some point I have the power and the know-how to do the same for the rest of the pack. I hate that right now you're the only one who is getting any relief.”

  “Trust me, once I show them that it's possible, they will be thankful you even tried. The majority of the pack are good people. I think you'll really like them.”

  “The majority, huh?”

  “Well, we have some characters just like any other community, but nobody is bad. They all know that any sort of behavior that is detrimental to the pack could get them banished.”

  Keeping my thoughts to myself, I silently wondered if that meant that they were all actually good, or if it just meant that they spent a lot of energy trying to hide their true nature. Not wanting to offend him, I decided to change the subject.

  “So, as I studied the books looking for this spell, I did learn quite a bit about the curse, and the cloudy memories. I think with enough time I can find a way to reverse it.”

  CHAPTER TEN

  “Much of the information in my aunt's book is spread out through the volumes. She wasn't the only one to write in them, obviously. It looks like there have been other women in my family who were witches also, although I think some of the entries are from women not related to us. Her coven, maybe, if she had one.”

  “I didn't know your aunt well enough to be able to say, but that would be a likely scenario. I doubt Aimee would have allowed any unreliable information to be entered into the books, so most of what you found should be accurate. The only hang up would be if things have changed, which would make some of it out of date.”

  “According to the information I read, in order to reverse a curse, it helps to know the caster of the spell. It said that each person who performs magic leaves behind a signature, like a magical fingerprint. Once you know who cast the spell, or curse, then you can begin to unravel it. You must learn their encryption and then you can work backwards, untangling it and rendering it harmless.”

  “I suppose that makes sense.”

  “Aunt Aimee must have figured out how the curse on the stream was cast and tried to reverse it. I wonder if that is what she was doing when she died?” My voice caught on the words.

  She had died trying to help the shifters on the reserve because she didn't call for someone to help her. Tears streamed down my face. If she had called me and said she needed my help, I would have come.

  Isaiah put his arm around my shoulder, pulling me close. With my face buried in my hands, I leaned against him. At this point, the pain of her loss stabbed me so deep that I wouldn't have turned down comfort from anyone.

  “I'm so sorry, Leah. I wish there was something I could have done. Or something I can do to help you feel better. I know it sucks to lose someone close to you.”

  He held me for a few long minutes, giving me a chance to cry it out and collect myself when I finished. Using my sweatshirt sleeve to wipe the tears, I looked up at him.

  “I must look like a real disaster, huh? Did you ever figure that once you got your ability to shift back, the first thing you'd be doing is consoling a crazy sobbing girl?”

  I felt his chuckle rumble through his broad chest. “I mean, I suppose there are worse ways to spend my time, right? And you look beautiful, as always.”

  His reward was a tiny smile. “But I feel like such a failure. There is so much guilt. If I hadn't let my mom talk me out of coming to visit, so much of this might never have happened. For one, I'm sure she would have begun teaching me about magic, eventually. And if she had done that, then I would have been prepared to help her with the curse. If I had been coming to visit her, she never would have taken on the task alone. Between the two of us, we would have been enough.”

  “She wouldn't want you to feel guilty, Leah. You may not know them, but I bet she had her reasons for doing things the way she did.”

  “You're probably right, and my head knows, but my heart doesn't care. I'd give anything to bring her back. Anything at all.”

  “I wish I could help you bring her back. But we can't. Even a magical spell won't bring her back to us.”

  My gaze went to the ground. Maybe there was a way to bring her back hiding in one of those books somewhere. I might not be strong enough yet, but if I practiced, maybe I could bring her back to us somehow.

  Isaiah reached out and gently took my chin in his hand. He tilted my face upward until I met his eyes. “You can't bring her back. And I bet she wouldn't want you to. The magic that is this sanctuary doesn't work that way.”

  Blinking to drive away the thoughts crowding into my head, driven there by the nearness of his lips, I nodded.

  “I just feel so damn helpless. I'm too weak with my magic to fix this mess, and I can't even begin to guess what it will take to get me where I need to be.”

  “My dad told me a story once, when I was feeling down about things. I don't remember what I was upset about exactly. But, it's one of the few things I remember clear as the day that he taught me. He told me a story which I won't bore you with the entire thing because you aren't seven, but the basic premise was this.” He clo
sed his eyes for a moment before looking back at me. “Being strong is not about being able to do something all by yourself, or being able to do everything you think you should be doing. Being strong means being smart. Strength means asking for help when you know you need it, even if you don't want to do it. Weakness lies not in being wrong, but refusing to admit when you are so that you can turn things around to make them right. It means you keep going, even though something is hard and you want to lay down and give up.”

  “Wow. That's pretty deep to be teaching a seven-year-old.”

  “Maybe, but I can tell you this, it has stuck with me my entire life. When I lost my ability to shift, I wanted to lay down and die. I love my wolf, but I always knew I was a human first. My entire identity was tied to my humanity. But because that story lived in my head, I never gave up. I kept looking for the way, because I knew someday it would come. And here you are. I am sitting next to you, as myself, because I waited. You are strong. I can see it in you. You will keep going, not just because that is what your aunt would have wanted, but because you know you can make a difference. You proved that here today.”

  “Wow. You sure are good for a girl's ego.” I winked at him. “Thank you for the pep talk, and sharing that piece of yourself with me. I needed it.”

  “I could see that.” With a wink back, he looked around the forest and stood. “If you feel up to walking now, I think we need to get you home. It's getting late, and dark.”

  He held out his hand and pulled me to my feet. My muscles ached in protest, but I could manage. He slipped his arm through mine to give me support, and I took full advantage of his closeness.

  By the time we reached the trail that led to the house, I had exhausted all that was left of my energy. We stopped just out of sight of the clearing.