A Shift in Power (Shadow Claw Book 5)

by Sarah J. Stone

  “Dahlia, come back. I’m too weak,” Nina called out but her voice didn’t carry, and she slowly started to walk toward where the girl had run. “Dahlia,” she called out again, but there was no answer.

  The wind had picked up, and it blew Nina’s hair into her eyes and her dress away from her pale skin. She was tired, and she felt weak enough that the wind might blow her over. She closed her eyes and saw dandelion seeds floating in the air, and she opened her eyes to see that the golden sun still hung in the sky, but all the warmth was gone.

  Nina’s fingernails were turning blue, and she wanted nothing more than the warmth of her big bear. She wanted Kevin to hold her and to tell her that everything would be all right. She pushed her hair back and waddled through the field until she reached the sunflowers. They were beautiful as they stretched ahead of her for miles and miles.

  She pushed through them and felt dwarfed by them as they loomed over her. She looked for the little figure in the white dress, but she could see nothing through the leaves and flowers.

  “Dahlia,” she called out again, and again, there was no answer. She kept walking through the field, she could hear bees buzzing overhead, and she could feel her feet swelling, and she just wanted this game to end – this dream to end.

  She heard someone move up ahead, and she walked on a little further, parting the flowers to look for her daughter.

  “Dahlia, where are you?” she asked, trying to keep the irritation out of her voice.

  She heard Dahlia giggle.

  “Sweetie, please, I’m getting very tired,” she said, swaying a little on her feet as she started to feel dizzy. Suddenly, she sat down, her legs giving out under her. A few seconds later, she spotted a bright red ribbon among the flowers, and she called for Dahlia. Before she could do anything else, a wave of darkness washed over, and she fainted among the sunflowers.

  ***

  Fergus looked at Kevin, and said, “How long has it been since you shifted?”

  Kevin looked up, surprised. “I don’t know – a day or two?” he said, shrugging.

  Fergus eyed Kevin’s leg bouncing uncontrollably with nervous energy, and he sighed, and said, “Come on, we’re going for a run.”

  Kevin shot a look at Nina and said, “No, uh–” but Fergus didn’t let him finish.

  “What? Where’s she gonna go? Is she gonna walk away while you’re gone? Come on, man. You’re driving yourself crazy cooped up in here.”

  Kevin sighed and nodded. “Yeah, I wouldn’t mind a run, actually.”

  Fergus smiled triumphantly, and said, “That’s what I’m saying. Come on.”

  The two men walked downstairs to see Cassie putting Violet to sleep in the downstairs bedroom. She saw them, and mouthed, “Where are you going?”

  “Just heading out for a run. You wanna come along?” Fergus said.

  Cassie nodded and bit her lip as she looked at Violet, still not completely asleep. Luke stood up, and said, “Don’t worry. You go on. I’ll put her to sleep.” Cassie kissed Luke on the cheek gratefully and then hurried to join the boys.

  Once they were outside, they each carefully tied extra clothes to their legs before shifting and letting the ones they were wearing disintegrate. Kevin raised his face up to the sky and breathed in the fresh forest air. It felt good to be outside and to have enough room to stretch and run.

  The silver wolf and black bear started to jog lightly, their paws padding the soft forest earth, and Kevin followed, lagging slightly behind as he closed his eyes and just enjoyed the feeling of running with the sun on his back. He felt the adrenaline rush through his body, and he finally felt that he had an outlet for all that pent-up energy he had. In the last few days, he had snapped at both Kalen and Ammara even though they had graciously hosted all of them in their house, and he made a mental note to be better and to act like an adult, especially around those two.

  He hurried to join the other two, and they all ran side by side.

  They ran for a good hour, and then, exhausted, they made their way back to the house slowly. Cassie and Kevin walked in, still in their bear forms, while Fergus decided to hang back and shift before entering, carefully pulling on his clothes out on the front lawn.

  Kevin made his way up the stairs, squeezing his large bear body through the small stairwell and went into the room where Nina lay. He shifted then and headed for the bathroom where he planned on taking a nice, relaxing shower. As he washed off the dirt and leaves that had stuck to him during the run, he thought about how his life had almost been on hold ever since Nina had fallen ill.

  Without her, he didn’t know what to do or how to act. He became petulant and moody, getting angry at everyone or feeling miserable for himself. He finished taking a shower and wrapped a towel around himself, emerging out into the room, and sitting next to next to Nina. He lowered his lips to her forehead and kissed her gently.

  “I love you, Nina,” he whispered, “Come back to me.”

  ***

  When Nina opened her eyes, she expected to be back in the world of the living, but instead, she found herself still stuck in the dream. She held back tears as she sat up and looked around. Dahlia sat a few feet away from her, and they were still in the fields, but it was no longer afternoon. The sky was purple, and as the twilight set in, Nina rubbed her eyes, noticing the dirt under her fingernails as she did.

  “What happened?” she asked softly.

  “You fainted,” Dahlia said simply, still staring at her with those big, brown eyes.

  “How long was I out?” Nina asked, looking around at the flowers. The sunflowers didn’t look as cheerful at night as they did during the day. Now they just towered over her ominously.

  Dahlia shrugged, and said, “I don’t know…hours, maybe days.”

  Nina frowned, and asked, “Dahlia, how old are you?”

  Dahlia didn’t answer. Instead, she said, “You know why you are here, right?”

  Nina blinked, and said, “This is a prophecy.”

  Dahlia nodded. “Yes.”

  Nina took a deep breath and tried to stand up, but she was too weak and she fell back down. “What…” she started to say, but her voice broke. She cleared her throat, and tried again, “What are you here to tell me?”

  Dahlia looked serious, and said, “You will wake up eventually from all this.” She looked around, and then continued, “And when you do, I’ll be with you in the real world. You’ll be happy, but it will only be the beginning. You have to understand that. There is darkness ahead.”

  Nina’s heart raced, and she said, “The beginning of what? What darkness?”

  Dahlia looked up at the sky, and said, “War.”

  Nina shook her head. and whispered, “No, things are good. Everyone is fine.”

  Dahlia was still looking at the sky as she said, “Not for long. With the coming of the third Caillagh, there will be a change. A bloodlust will descend on the Earth among humans, shifters, witches, fairies, vampires, ghouls, and all the Others, known and unknown. Every creature will want to kill or be killed.”

  Dahlia’s voice was changing. It was no longer the sweet voice of a child, but the raspy voice of an old woman. Dahlia stood up and started to sway, and Nina shivered.

  “Stop it, Dahlia. Please,” she begged, wrapping her arms around herself to protect herself from the cold.

  “There will be war,” Dahlia continued, and then she looked straight at Nina, and said, “And you will die, Mommy.”

  ***

  Nina’s body started to convulse violently, causing the entire bed to shake. Kevin panicked and yelled for Ammara. He didn’t know what was going on. He ran to the bed and held it down, but Nina wouldn’t stop shaking.

  Ammara came running upstairs and stopped short when she saw Nina. “Oh, my God,” she whispered under her breath.

  Chapter Six

  Kevin and Diana tried desperately to stop Nina’s convulsions, but nothing was working. Everyone else
stood around helplessly, panicking as they watched her shake and tremble. Gael and Ammara were outside to greet the witches from the Moon Coven, who were supposed to arrive at any minute.

  Ammara shivered as she stood outside, and Gael looked at her with an odd expression on his face.

  “You’re afraid,” he said. It wasn’t a question but a statement.

  Ammara nodded and took a deep breath. “I’m the Caillagh. I’m supposed to be the most powerful witch, but I don’t know anything.”

  Gael clicked his tongue, and said, “That’s not true. I was there. I was on the Council, and I saw you wield your magic. You are the most powerful witch. There is no doubt about that.”

  Ammara shook her head, and said, “No, maybe I was at some point. But not anymore. And I don’t know what these witches will expect from me.”

  Gael was quiet as he looked out into the forest, and then after a moment’s silence, he said, “I met these witches once, a long time ago. They are formidable, that’s for sure, but they are also kind and good. They are coming to help you, not judge you.”

  Ammara didn’t answer. Instead, she squinted into the forest and said, “I think they’re here.”

  The trees started to rustle as though whispering to each other, and then, three cloaked figures appeared between them, moving so gracefully they seemed to be gliding toward Gael and Ammara.

  They stopped in front of them and lowered their hoods, revealing strikingly beautiful faces. All three of them had flowing, black hair and piercing, green eyes.

  Gael stepped forward, and said, “Welcome. Thank you for coming. I don’t know if you remember me–”

  But before he could finish, the witch in the middle spoke. “You are the vampire – the one we crossed paths with in Italy so many years ago. Gael, was it?”

  Gael nodded, and said, “And this…” He gestured toward Ammara. “This is Ammara.”

  The three witches bowed their heads, and in unison, they whispered, “Caillagh.”

  Ammara nervously licked her lips, and said, “Ammara is fine, please. You are Cora, Adelaide, and Blanche, yes?”

  The witches nodded, and Ammara said, “This way, please,” as she led them into the house.

  The witches followed solemnly, and once they were led to the room, they silently moved toward the bed and looked at Nina, still convulsing.

  “She has the gift of prophecy,” Cora, the eldest of the three sisters said.

  Ammara nodded, and Kevin asked, “Can you help her?”

  The witches looked at each at other, and then Adelaide said, “We must separate her from the child. It is a powerful spell, and will require all three of us and the Caillagh.”

  “Yes, but you can do it?” Kevin asked.

  The witches nodded, and Cora raised her hands. The bed slid forward into the center of the room with Nina still convulsing on it. Cora then took Ammara’s hands, which held Adelaide’s, which held Blanche. They formed a circle around the bed and began to chant.

  Nina stopped shaking as they began to chant, and within the next few seconds, she began to float. She was levitating at least a foot off the bed when the convulsions started again, and her entire body began to jerk wildly.

  “What’s happening?” Kevin yelled, but Fergus and Diana held him back.

  “Don’t break their concentration,” Fergus whispered to Kevin, who choked back his fear and anger and watched helplessly.

  The witches raised their voices, chanting louder and louder. The vase on the side-table exploded, its hundreds of tiny pieces flying around the room. Downstairs, Violet started to cry, and Cassie ran to her, taking the child in her arms as she whispered words of comfort.

  The witches chanted louder. Their eyes had rolled back into their heads, only the whites visible. Thunder crashed in the sky outside, and the fairies were heard chattering angrily.

  ***

  Dahlia watched as Nina’s body convulsed violently. “I’m sorry, Mommy,” she whispered, clearly frightened.

  Nina couldn’t speak. The words were stuck in her throat, and she felt like she was choking. She couldn’t stop shaking, and she felt as though she was possessed. The sky darkened overhead, and Nina could hear thunder. She tried reaching out to gasp her daughter’s hand, but she couldn’t control her arms. They moved of their own accord as her whole body did. She screamed, but no sound came out.

  Dark clouds rolled into the sky, and the thunder got so loud that Nina couldn’t hear herself think. Help! she thought to herself. Somebody, please help me. Big sobs were caught in her throat, and when she felt water on her cheeks, she thought she was crying before she realized that it had started to rain.

  It fell on her hair and clothes, drenching her within seconds. She was soaked to the bone, and she was still shaking uncontrollably. She just wanted it to end.

  Kevin saw rain drops spattering against the windowpane, and he heard the rain hammering onto the rooftop. The witches continued to perform their spell, and Nina started to sink back into the bed. Her convulsions were slower now, less violent, and she seemed to be getting back to normal.

  “We call upon the powers of the moon and the tide, the waters of the womb, we call upon your magic to save this woman, the second Caillagh,” Blanche called out as the other three witches continued to chant their incantation.

  All of a sudden, Nina’s body bent at an odd angle. Her head was thrown back, her legs bent under her, and her arms stretched wide over her head. Kevin bit back his impulse to shout. He couldn’t see Nina like this.

  Cassie gently went to the others and asked them to leave, giving the witches and Nina and some privacy. Luke agreed and shepherded Fergus, Diana, and Gael out of the room. Heather decided to stay in case she was able to help in any capacity, while Cassie gently convinced Kevin to leave the room as well.

  Once they were outside, Kevin angrily whispered, “I can’t leave Nina. I have to be in there.”

  Cassie shook her head. “No, I could see you struggling as you watched her. It’s better this way. Magic is not easy to watch, trust me. Here,” she pointed at the stairs right outside the room and said, “we’ll sit here. If anything happens we’re just a couple of steps away, all right?”

  Kevin nodded, clearly upset by this arrangement, but willing to compromise. “I just…Cassie, I just want everything to be okay. I want Nina to be okay.”

  Cassie bit her lip for a second and looked at him worriedly, sighing as she said, “Hang in there, Kevin. You’ve gotten this far. She’s almost on the other side. We just have to have faith.”

  Kevin rested his head on Nina’s shoulder. His bear was moaning and writhing in pain, and as he closed his eyes, a tear rolled down his cheek.

  Cassie pretended not to notice. She knew that Kevin would not like her to see him so vulnerable, and she said nothing but soothingly ran a hand over his hair, whispering reassuringly.

  Kevin stayed like that for a few minutes and told himself that if he didn’t move, that if he stayed here, he could pretend that Cassie was Nina, and that just for a moment, everything was all right. And even though he squeezed his eyes shut and tried to pretend with all his heart and mind, he couldn’t do it. Cassie wasn’t Nina. Nobody else could ever be Nina, and he sighed at the realization.

  Suddenly, he felt something in his chest, and the bear inside raised its head. It was a familiar feeling, but he hadn’t felt it in so long that he had almost forgotten what it was. He felt it again, stronger this time, and he sat up and gasped, holding his chest.

  Cassie looked at him strangely. “What? What is it?”

  Kevin couldn’t speak, but he could visualize what was going on. It was like a golden thread slowly wrapping itself around a silver one. He touched his chest again, and whispered, “Nina.”

  Cassie licked her lips nervously, and asked, “Kevin, are…are you all right? Do you need me to call someone?”

  Kevin shook his head and gestured emphatically to his chest, saying louder thi
s time, “Nina. It’s Nina. I can feel her.”

  Cassie narrowed her eyes, clearly thinking he had lost his mind, when suddenly, comprehension dawned on her, and she said, “Wait…is it your mating bond? Is that what you feel?”

  He nodded wildly and stood up. “It’s Nina. I think she’s coming back. She must be waking up. That’s why I can feel it.”

  ***

  The wind whipped around Nina, and she screamed. Suddenly, her body started to float off the ground. She clawed at the ground desperately, but nothing happened, and she continued levitating. She was going higher and higher up, and she looked terrified.

  She saw Dahlia getting smaller and smaller. She raised a hand and waved solemnly at her mother. Nina called out to her, but no sound escaped her lips. She was shaking from fear. She could see the sky all around her, and dark clouds floated past her. Thunder crashed. It was deafeningly loud, and Nina was crying now, praying that she would escape somehow. And then suddenly, she was surrounded by darkness. Complete darkness.

  She floated in nothingness, and she raised her hands in front of her face to see that they looked like a pale shadow, a wisp of smoke. She had stopped convulsing and shaking. Now she just hung there in mid-air like a rag doll. She could move her hands a little, but that was all. It was like she was a marionette held up by strings.

  She tried to turn, to twist and see if there was anything below her in the darkness, but she couldn’t. All of a sudden, she felt something: an immense pain. She watched as her belly shrunk, as her baby was removed from her womb, but she didn’t know where it went. Terrified, she tried to garb on, but there was nothing there, and her hand came away holding smoke that dissipated quickly. She screamed and screamed, and her loud cries reverberated in the silence, and she knew no one could hear her. She wanted her baby back, but she didn’t know where it had gone. She cried and cried until she was too exhausted to cry anymore.