by Martha Woods
Jared nodded and stood from her bed, walking over to his own. Calla laid down and pulled the blankets up around her. Maybe she had just imagined that sudden thought. She didn’t understand how any thoughts could penetrate her mind when she wasn’t using her mind-reading ability. She had to have imagined it.
* * *
Calla was walking through the forest behind her childhood home. She was barefoot, feeling the lush moss between her toes and wet leaves tickling her ankles. Why was she out here? She couldn’t remember, but Calla wasn’t worried about it. The forest had always been like a second home to her, always feeling at peace when she walked through there. She knew every tree and stone like it was a family member.
Her fingertips grazed against the rough bark of the trees as she passed them, her eyes going up to the leaves that towered far overhead. It was an overcast sky, a light drizzle coming down just like it always seemed to do.
Calla.
Her eyes widened, scanning around the misty forest. “Who’s there?”
Where have you been Calla? We’ve been worried about you.
The voice was distant and faint, she couldn’t identify it. In a panic, Calla started to run, darting between the trees to try and escape it.
Where are you, Calla? Calla?
Was it the Calder? Were they getting into her mind somehow? Maybe they had found out that she was close to Tessa, and wanted to get information out of her.
“Get out of my head, get out of my head,” she whispered, running as fast as she could.
Stop running. I need to talk to you. Calla, please.
She looked behind her to see a figure in the distance. Calla threw her arm out, casting a fire spell in their direction. “Stay away from me!” she screamed. She watched as the trees caught fire in front of the figure.
Her chest was heaving as she watched the trees go up in flames, thick black smoke filling the air. Through the fire, the figure emerged. It walked toward her, moving through the clouds of the thick smoke. Just as Calla turned to run, she caught a glimpse of the woman’s hair. Her hair was thick and brown with a tell-tale red shimmer.
Calla’s breath caught in her throat, her chest growing tight. “Flora?” she breathed.
“Where have you been? We’ve been looking for you everywhere. The clan got word that Deidre’s dead,” Flora called over to her sister.
Shaking her head, Calla took off in the other direction. She wasn’t ready to face her sister, not right then. Flora must have been the one sending thoughts to Calla. Blood sister witches shared a special bond, making it possible for them to direct thoughts to one another. It used a hell of a lot of magic, though.
Calla! Stop running. Talk to me. Where are you? Are you safe?
She didn’t listen, running as fast as she possibly could.
* * *
“Calla, Calla,” a voice called while an icy hand shook her shoulder gently.
She jerked awake, her doe-like eyes wide as they could be. Her fear subsided when she saw powder blue eyes staring down at her. She had only been dreaming.
“You were crying,” Jared breathed to her. “Are you alright?”
Calla reached to her face, wiping away the tears that had been rolling down her cheeks. “I’m fine,” she mumbled. “I’m sorry I woke you…”
“It’s fine,” Jared stated. “Are you sure you’re alright?”
“Just a… a weird dream,” she sighed. “I guess everything is just starting to get to me. Not really used to being away from my sisters and family.”
His lips pulled into a frown. Calla could sense empathy washing over him. She wondered what kind of hurt he had been through. It had to have been something similar or else the golem probably would have never spoken to her. He had about the same level of trust in witches that Kristian did.
She watched as Jared stepped away, figuring he was going back to bed. To her surprise, though, he rounded her bed and crawled onto the other side. Calla rolled to face him, curious as to why he was laying down with her. Jared laid flat on his back, his eyes staring up at the ceiling. He didn’t say a word, closing his eyes as he started to relax.
Maybe he was trying to show some sympathy, knowing what it was like to be away from family; and thought laying with her would make her feel less alone. A faint smile appeared on her lips as she closed her eyes, trying to relax after such an unnerving dream.
* * *
Calla had laid awake for most of the day, too afraid to go back to sleep and let her sister invade her thoughts again. It wasn’t until the sun was starting to set that she dosed off into a restless, fitful sleep. It did calm her though that Jared was close, even though him being closer to her wouldn’t stop her sister from being able to invade her thoughts.
She awoke from the light sleep because of how frigid the air was around her. Had she kicked off her blankets? The more awake she became, she realized that she was fully covered—including cocoa arms. In his sleep, they had both managed to get to the middle of the bed. Jared was holding her against his chest, his cold skin pressed against hers. She could feel the chill of him even through their clothes.
Calla peered back to him, noticing how peaceful he looked when he slept. His face wasn’t screwed up in that stern expression he was always sporting, the muscles in his face totally relaxed. Should she wake him? No, Calla definitely didn’t want to do that. She had already woken him because of her pathetic crying. Carefully, she slipped from his arms and stood from the bed.
She walked to the dresser and pulled on a pair of skinny jeans, not bothering to walk into the bathroom since Jared was asleep. She also changed out of her tank top and into a periwinkle long-sleeve crop top, the shirt reaching to her belly button. As she pulled on a lightweight jacket, Calla heard Jared starting to stir. Looking over to the bed, Jared was sitting up and rubbing his eyes. “Evening,” Calla called over.
He didn’t say a word but gave her a small wave. Jared hoisted himself from the bed and slid on his pants that were on the floor next to his own bed. Calla hadn’t even noticed he was sleeping in his boxers.
They moved from the room and headed into the living area. Calla wished they had coffee. Jared sat in his usual chair in the corner of the room as she went to poke around the kitchen to see what there was to eat. Someone seriously needed to go grocery shopping, the supplies running really low. They only had a few pieces of fruit and a carton of eggs left. She plucked an apple from the fruit bowl and moved to the couch. As she bit into the apple, Calla could feel Jared’s eyes on her. Glancing over at him, she wondered what he was thinking. It was tempting to tune in for just a second, curious to see how he felt about her after the night they had. She was going to stick to her word, though, and mind his privacy.
Then, there was someone beating on the door. Jared shot up, moving to the door in a blur. He peered through the peephole before opening the door. A vampire with short brown hair and hickory eyes marched into the apartment. She had an aura of power to her, as though nothing could strike her down. It wasn’t arrogance, but actual power. The most prominent display of it, was Jared’s shift in demeanor. The stern look returned to his face, his posture perfectly straight.
“Where’s Kristian and Tessa?” she asked, but then her eyes fell on Calla. The vampire froze, taking her in before mentally placing her and her attention going back to Jared.
“They’re in bed,” Jared replied simply.
“Go get them. Now.”
Jared didn’t hesitate to beeline directly to Tessa and Kristian’s room. Calla was a little surprised by how well Jared listened to orders. With his sturdy frame and substantial vampire strength, she figured he would be the type to give orders instead of receiving them. He listened to Kristian and this woman without any questions or hesitance.
Within a minute, Jared, Kristian, and Tessa all hurried into the living room. Tessa and Kristian sat down on the couch across from Calla, their eyes glued to the vampire. “What’s going on, Ally?” Kristian finally spoke, his voice a bit
raspy from just having woke up.
No wonder the woman radiated dominance, definitely being the alpha in the room, even outdoing Kristian. She had heard them talk about her in passing. Jared moved to sit down next to Calla as Ally sat in the armchair at the front of the room. Ally crossed her legs and folded her arms over her lap. “I don’t know how it happened, but somehow, the Calder caught your trail,” she announced in an even voice.
All of their eyes widened, a thick tension falling over the room. “How far are they?” Kristian asked, his arm wrapping around Tessa tightly.
“Last I heard, Minnesota.”
Kristian’s brow knitted together, “Then why are we already hearing about this? Can’t you send others to take care of them?”
Ally sucked in a deep breath, “Because it isn’t a job just a few could take care of. It would be a fruitless effort to send any group after them.”
“I don’t understand. How many are there?”
“We aren’t sure of an exact count… but we’re estimating up to forty,” Ally explained, causing jaws to drop all around. “It isn’t a number I can just send some guys after… It seems as though we’re going to have to let them come to us.”
“That’s suicide,” Kristian pressed, jumping to his feet. “There has to be something else we can do.”
“I don’t have the manpower for it, Kristian,” Ally explained. “I’m sorry. I can call all the men here that I can… but I can’t risk our entire family over this.”
Kristian paced around, running his hands through his chestnut hair. “I don’t expect the whole family to lay down their lives for us,” he admitted. “There has to be some sort of way out of this…”
“Could you call on your clan to help us?” Tessa called quietly to Calla.
Everyone paused and turned to stare at Calla. She was frozen in place, her heart pounding in her chest. Flashbacks of the dream she had the night before consumed her mind. “I… I don’t know if that’s a good idea,” she breathed.
“Why not? Do you think they wouldn’t be willing to help?” Tessa asked.
Calla blinked rapidly, her throat growing dry. She wasn’t ready to talk to the clan. Of course they would be willing to help. They wouldn’t want Tessa’s power falling into the hands of the Calder. Calla’s own emotions were in the way. A cold hand slid over hers, making her flinch. Jared was staring at her intently. “Are you alright?” he asked.
“I’ll… I’ll be right back,” Calla managed to get out, her voice lower than a whisper. Without any more explanation, she jumped to her feet and hurried to her room. Closing the door behind her, she walked over to the bed and sat on the edge. Her hands clutched to the mattress as she tried to steady her breathing. It was stupid for her to be so afraid, but she couldn’t help it. Calla had spent her entire life with the Firehaven clan, and knew nearly all of them like family. Deidre had been a mysterious, powerful elder. Everyone wanted to learn by her hand. So when the woman had approached Calla to assist her on an important mission, Calla jumped at the opportunity with no questions asked.
She had been humiliatingly naïve. Deidre had only used Calla for her magic, needing more than just her own to track Veronica down. It should have been a red flag to Calla that they hadn’t gone to Tessa. The old woman had convinced her it would be best to persuade someone close to the vampires to let them in, to lower the risk of danger.
The bedroom door pushed open, and she nearly jumped out of her skin from how lost in thought she was. Jared slowly stepped into the room, closing the door behind him. “They want you back in the living room,” he called to her.
Calla nodded, but didn’t yet move from her spot.
Jared sauntered over to the bed, sitting down next to her. “What’s going on? And don’t say ‘nothing’.”
Calla didn’t reply, not knowing what to say. She would be made fun of if she told her the truth.
Jared sighed, “If something is bothering you, you can tell me.” There was silence for a while longer, and then he rested a hand on hers. It wasn’t until then she realized she was still gripping the mattress, her knuckles white from how tight her hold had been. “I won’t tell the others,” he promised.
Calla nibbled on her lip, her gaze flickering to see his pale blue eyes staring into hers. “My clan would be willing to help…”
“And that’s a problem?” he asked, not in a snide fashion, but just confused.
“Only in the sense that I don’t want to reach out to them.”
Jared’s brow creased, his eyes narrowing as he studied her expression. “Why is that?”
Calla’s eyes fell to the ground, taking in a deep breath. “They’ll be disappointed and ashamed of me for being tricked by Deidre. It sounds stupid, but they are my family. I know I’m already exiled, in a sense. I just don’t want to hear it or see their disappointed faces…” Her bottom lip started to quiver just picturing it. Flora and Gemma, her sisters, would be so heartbroken. The others would be angry with her for her negligence and for letting the Calder get so close to killing Tessa.
A cold arm slipped around her back, Jared pulling her into his side. His posture was stiff and his hold a little awkward. Clearly, he wasn’t used to comforting people. “You couldn’t have known what she was. She didn’t just trick you, she tricked everyone. They’ll be understanding of that, I’m sure.”
Calla shook her head, “I had followed her blindly. Anyone else would have asked questions and would have wanted to know details before going on such a dangerous mission. I’m not the best witch out there, but just beneath the best. I had never been called on to help with anything. I was so excited to be doing something that I just jumped on board.”
Jared was quiet for a moment, taking in everything she had said. “Did you learn something from it?” he asked.
“What?” Calla blinked, her face scrunching into a confused look.
“Did you learn something from blindly trusting Deidre?” he reiterated.
“I mean, yeah. Don’t follow someone into something dangerous without knowing all of the details first. Seems like a pretty obvious lesson that I should have learned ages ago...”
“It doesn’t matter when you learned it. It just matters that you did. There’s no going back to change the past. You need to take what the experience gave you, and leave the rest be. If they really are like family to you, then they will forgive such an innocent mistake,” Jared breathed to her, his chilly hand gently rubbing her bicep.
Calla looked back to him, tears brimming her eyes. “Thank you,” she muttered, reaching to wipe a tear away before it had the chance to fall. “You must think I’m such a mess…”
“Not a mess. Just young,” he shrugged, a slight smile pulling at his lips.
Calla studied him, sensing his aura. Even if their interactions had started out so negatively, Jared was becoming more and more fascinating to Calla. Unable to help herself, she reached a hand out, her thumb grazing his cheekbone. “You have an old soul, don't you? You put off an aura of wisdom that I've never felt except among my clans elders.”
Jared was thrown off by the sudden contact, but didn't shy away from it. “I do,” he answered simply, “if you believe vampires have souls.”
“And why wouldn't they?” Calla smiled weakly. She always found the notion of vampires being soulless to be silly. In her eyes, they were souls bound to immortal bodies, forced to wander the Earth for all eternity.
Jared’s facial expression didn't change, but his eyes brightened a bit. Calla wondered if someone had once tried to tell him he didn't have a soul anymore. Knowing him, asking wouldn't get her an answer. “We really should rejoin the others,” he stated, standing up.
Calla nodded, letting out a nervous breath. She wasn't looking forward to any of this. Jared led the way out of the room and down the hall. When they walked back into the living room, all eyes were on Calla. “I will reach out to the Firehavens. I'm thinking they will say yes.”
“Excellent. Thank you,” Kristian
exclaimed. “I need to ask you to do something else.” She gave him a questioning look. “You need to teach Tessa some basic magic, so that she can protect herself if it gets to that.”
“How much time do we have?” Calla asked, her gaze redirecting to Ally.
Ally shifted her head side to side as she thought. “Three to four days, I would say. It's hard to guess, considering they could stop for any reason. I'll keep you all updated on their movements.”
Calla shook her head, “I'm sorry, it can't be done.”
“What do you mean it can't be done?” Kristian challenged, his tone snappy.
“She doesn't even know how to block out thoughts yet. She won't be ready to firebend or even perform the most elementary spells during that time,” Calla explained.
“I'm sitting right here,” Tessa muttered, apparently not liking that they were talking as though she wasn't there.
Calla sighed, speaking directly to her then, “I'm more than happy to teach you how to control your abilities, Tessa. Just, learning anything in a few days will be close to impossible. It takes years of intensive training for witches to gain full control of their abilities.”
Tessa deflated, understanding what Calla was getting at. “It's at least worth a shot. Not like we will have anything else to do while we wait for them. I'm a fast learner,” she said, trying to end on a positive note.
“Then it's settled,” Kristian nodded.
Calla sighed. It was going to be a long four days.
* * *
“You have to concentrate, Tessa,” Calla reiterated for the thousandth time that day.
“I am,” Tessa snapped.
They were sat in the middle of the living room floor, the men having moved all of the furniture to the far walls so that they could have plenty of room to practice. “I'm not trying to frustrate you. Just trying to help. Don't close your eyes so tightly, just relax,” Calla instructed. “Relax your whole body. Breathe in through your nose, out through your mouth.”
