by Martha Woods
After a while of laying there in the comfort of his arms, Calla realized she was starting to fall asleep. Forcing herself to open her eyes, she leaned her head up a bit and gave him another kiss. Jared happily kissed her back. When she continued to kiss him, and her hand gently rubbed his chest, Jared pulled back lightly, “What are you doing? You need to get some sleep.”
“I don’t want to sleep,” Calla stated, one corner of her mouth pulling into a smirk. She kissed him again, her red hair falling like a curtain around his head.
He gingerly pushed her back, holding her a few inches away from his face, “Why don’t you want to sleep? Is it your sister again? You aren’t ignoring her, are you?”
Calla rolled her eyes, “No, it isn’t my sister. Maybe I just wanted to kiss you. Did you think of that?” she challenged.
Jared’s eyes narrowed as he studied her, clearly not quite buying it. “When was the last time you actually got some sleep?”
“Why does it matter?”
“Calla…” Jared said in a warning tone. “What’s going on?”
“Are you sure you can’t read minds?” she questioned in a grumble, sitting up straight in the bed.
“If I could, I wouldn’t be asking,” Jared pointed out. He sat up as well, his cool hand drifting down her back. “Tell me what’s going on.”
She ran a hand through her wild red hair, nibbling on her lip as she tried to form the words to tell him. What if he freaked out? Calla really didn’t want to make a big deal over the dream she had when she wasn’t sure if it had only been a dream, or if the Calder really was trying to get inside of her head. “I… I had a really bad dream right after we had our little falling out,” she began.
Jared frowned deeply, resting his chin on her shoulder, “I hadn’t caused it, did I?”
“No, I don’t think so,” Calla sighed. “It… It was a really eerie dream. It felt real, I’ve been debating whether or not it could have actually happened. Even though that sounds silly…”
“It doesn’t,” Jared promised, hugging her to his side. “What happened in the dream?”
“I was in this beach house… It was nice and really big, but there didn’t seem to be anyone else in it. Then, I found this old woman, and she claimed to be something like a guardian angel, who wanted to talk me through my worries. I even remember within the dream I thought she was a figment of my imagination, and that maybe some deep part of my brain trying to work through the stress I was feeling. As I started talking to her, she started asking about Tessa. When I wouldn’t say anything, her eyes grew black and she attacked me. She had hit my head against the floor, and the crazy part was I woke up with a horrible migraine and a bruise on the back of my head. Then the beach house started to burn down, and I woke up…” She let out a heavy sigh, “I was afraid that maybe it was a Calder witch trying to get into my head to get information on Tessa. Now that I say it all aloud, it does sound like maybe it was just a bad dream.”
“What did the beach house look like?” Jared asked.
Calla looked up to see him peering down at her with serious, and worried eyes. “Why does it matter?” she asked softly, genuinely wondering why he cared what the beach house in her dream looked like.
“Humor me,” Jared commented, though his eyes gave a pleading look.
She brushed a lock of hair behind her head, “Well, I know it was at least two stories. Really spacious, pretty expensive looking decorations. It had really shiny mahogany floors and some gawdy red furniture in the living room… Why?”
His eyes were wild, shooting from the bed as though he had been electrocuted. “I… I don’t think that was a dream, Calla,” he said in a voice lower than a whisper.
“Why?” Calla asked, standing carefully from the bed. Her body was still weak and sore from the blood los.
“That house you dreamed of, it sounds like Kristian and Veronica’s old house. The Calder burned it down just before you came here with Deidre. There’s no way you could have dreamed it without someone putting it in your head,” he explained, walking to her and steadying her as she stood. “Have you heard from your sister at all? Are they still following them, or are they headed directly here? That Calder witch could have poked around in your head like your sister did.”
“I mean… it’s… it’s possible, but unlikely. Normally you have to have a strong bond with a witch to be able to direct thoughts. Typically just sisters or mother and daughters can do it, on rare occasion friends… I had never seen that witch before in my life…”
Jared was silent as he thought, his eyes scanning all over the room. “The Calder elders are extremely powerful… If they had even a small amount of information on you, do you think they could do it?”
Calla’s face fell completely, going white. It was definitely possible. The fact she had dreamed about Kristian’s old beach house… A shiver ran down her spine. She nodded nervously, “Yeah, it’s possible. Deidre could have been feeding them information the entire time I was with her. Clearly she hadn’t been able to give them the location of this apartment, or else they would have been here ages ago.”
“Do you think that witch could have gotten our location from you?” Jared asked, a worried look in his eyes.
“I have no idea… I didn’t tell her anything. My sister was able to read my thoughts outside of my interaction with her because of our bond. I really have no idea what all is in the realm of possibility of someone I’m not close to invading my dreams. She was extremely hostile when she asked me flat out where Tessa was and I wouldn’t tell her. So maybe she couldn’t access my subconscious thoughts?”
Jared was extremely uneasy, and growing more and more antsy with every second that passed. “We need to figure out their location. Can you contact your sister?” he asked her, sitting her down softly on the bed.
“I can try… She hasn’t spoken to me since we initially spoke, though,” Calla grumbled. Flora was definitely distraught over Calla giving her alliance to Tessa and having to serve her and the vampires. Calla was cast out of the clan without a single word, she could feel it.
“Try, and I’m going to go call Ally to see if she can give me an update on their location,” Jared stated, kissing her forehead before moving from the room.
Calla took a moment to calm herself, her hands already trembling from anxiety. Her stomach was tying itself in knot, her entire body was begging her to not even try and lie to Jared and say Flora hadn’t replied. However, she knew it was serious and she had to try or else she wouldn’t be able to forgive herself.
Closing her eyes, she concentrated on thoughts of her sister. Memories of warm summer days spent on the riverbed behind their childhood home. Sharing a room during their teen years and staying up until three in the morning, gossiping about other witches and boys. Flora had always been boy crazy, where as Calla had always been more reserved.
As she thought about Flora, Calla started feeling her aura. Flora was stressed, but motivated. Whatever she was doing, she was focused. Slowly but surely, Flora’s thoughts started to echo in the back of Calla’s mind. They were approaching the border of New York, and had just narrowly escaped an encounter with the Calder. Calla directed her thoughts to her sister: Flora, can you hear me?
After a couple of seconds, Flora replied. Yes, Calla. Is everything okay?
I don’t really know… I think a Calder elder tried to get into my head. Do you know if they are all still following you? Did any break off from the group?
I’m pretty sure they are all still following us. Our scouts haven’t reported anything different.
Okay, good… Do you think you guys can divert them again? Just for a day, so that we can be sure none of them break away.
We can try. We’ve already diverted them once. They might catch on if we do it again…
I know… Thank you for all you are doing, Flora. I love you.
I know you do.
Then, her sister’s thoughts were gone. She physically winced. Flora couldn’t even
tell Calla she loved her? Calla’s heart was heavy, her mood immediately dampened. Having to force herself from her bed, Calla went to find Jared. If she spent anymore time alone, she would harbor on her thoughts and fall into a dreadful depression. With the pending fight, she didn’t have time for that.
Walking into the living room, Kristian and Tessa were already back and sitting with Jared as he talked on the phone. Blinking, Calla moved over to sit next to Jared. “Is it true?” Tessa whispered.
Calla gave her a quizzical look. “Is what true?”
“Don’t play coy,” Kristian warned.
She nibbled her lip, “I don’t know, but if it did, she didn’t get our location. My sister just narrowly escaped the Calder. They haven’t had any reports from their scouts about any unexpected movements. Flora and the others are going to try and detour the Calder for another day if they can.”
Jared hung up the phone and sighed, “Ally hasn’t detected any sudden movements, either. It has her worried, though… So she’s managed to find five more vampires to join us.”
“Five more?” Kristian repeated. His eyes fluttered to Calla, “That means we’ll need more blood…”
“What?” Jared spoke before Calla could even react to Kristian. “You’ve taken plenty from her, Kristian. Take more and you’ll risk killing her.”
“We can start in the morning. You said your sister is creating a diversion, right? So we have the time. We can hook Calla up to fluid bags and keep her well fed. If she starts to do poorly, we’ll stop. We need enough to have all of the vampires able to be exposed to sunlight.”
“Then shell out the cash and get them the damn daylight drug,” Jared defended.
“Who knows if we’ll have time to get our hands on it? You know sometimes the connections fall through with that,” Kristian replied.
“At least try,” Jared pressed.
“And waste the time we could be collecting blood? We would be cutting it too close. It isn’t like I want to risk her life, Jared. We’ll be as careful as we can. Like I said, we’ll stop if anything goes wrong.”
“Look at her, god damn it,” Jared growled. “She’s already weak and fragile because of what you’ve taken from her. You really want to her bleed her for five more doses?”
Calla rested a hand on Jared’s arm, “It’s okay… I’ll do it.”
Jared’ eyes flew to her, looking at her as though she had grown a second head. “You can’t, Calla. You need to rest or else you won’t even be able to join the fight.”
“Five vampires… That’s only like a bag, right?” Calla asked, her eyes on Kristian.
Kristian nodded, “Just about.”
She looked to Jared, “I need to do this. It’s my duty.”
“Dying is your duty?” Jared retorted.
“My duty is the same as yours. Do everything in my power to protect my charge. If this strategy is in the best interest of Tessa, then I need to do it. I’d rather be weak and ill than to not have done everything I can to help,” Calla explained to him. Looking abck to Kristian, Calla asked, “Could we wait until tomorrow night to do it? To give myself some time to rest.”
Kristian nodded, “It will be cutting it close. If your sister is able to distract them all day tomorrow, then we will have to move to the farmhouse tomorrow in the dead of night. They will think they will be able to ambush us at dawn, but we’ll be able to fight back thanks to your blood.”
Calla inhaled and shook her head, “Let’s do it then.”
* * *
Having an approximate time for the fight made everything feel all the more real. That night and the following day, even as she was donating her blood, Calla tried to make the most of her time. She knew there was an actual possibility that she wouldn’t walk away from the fight. It was a huge brawl between the Calder and Firehaven and vampires—there were bound to be casualities on both sides. So she laid with Jared for as long as she could, cuddling into him and trying to memorize every detail of his voice and body. Calla could tell he held her extra tight, as though it was for sure the last time he would hold her. She managed to sleep, and thankfully didn’t have any visitors in her dream.
Then, when evening came again, Calla gave more of her blood. Even with having slept and keeping hydrated and fed, it took a heavy toll on Calla. Her body still hadn’t had enough time to recover from the large amount she had donated just a day prior. By the time the bag was filled, it was time to leave for the farmhouse. Jared kept his arm locked around her waist to help steady her as the group made their way down to the cars.
“Ally and the others are meeting us there. We should all get there right at the same time,” Veronica announced as she climbed into the passenger seat of the black SUV they were riding in. “Any word from your sister, Calla?”
Jared helped Calla into the seat in the very back, Kristian and Tessa sitting in the middle row. Calla rested a hand on her face as she tried to organize her thoughts to reply to Veronica. “Yeah. They are going to give the Calder the slip around 4 a.m., and come to us. As long as everything is timed right, the Calder should arrive right at dawn.”
“Perfect,” Veronica beamed, holding Morgan’s hand as he started to drive.
Jared pulled Calla to rest her head on his shoulder. She could feel his worry. Calla truly wish she could soothe his woes, but to do so would be to give him false hope. Knowing Jared, that wouldn’t comfort him in the slightest. Leaning into his embrace, Calla just tried to enjoy the time they had together before the shit hit the fan. She wasn’t the religious type, but she found herself praying to any deity that would listen, to keep them all safe.
About half way through the car ride, Tessa turned in her seat and spoke to Calla, “I’ve been practicing everything you showed me. I really think I’m getting the hang of firebending. Blocking thoughts is still hard, but I’m starting to be able to do it one thought at a time. Kristian’s been helping me all he can with it.”
Calla gave a weary smile, glad to hear that someone was helping her while she went through the bleeding process. As she thought over all Tessa said, a sudden realization hit her. Gasping loudly, Calla sat straight up, “Oh my god, I didn’t make you a charm.”
Tessa’s eyes widened too, “Oh no… I totally forgot… I would have reminded you…”
“It’s my fault,” Calla said, shaking her head. “I’m so sorry… I’ll perform the spell just before the fight, and hopefully it sticks.”
Tessa didn’t look convinced but nodded, turning back around in her seat. Calla could feel her sudden fear, making guilt riddle Calla. Jared’s arm tightened around Calla and he kissed her hair, “You can’t blame yourself, sweetheart. You’ve been through a lot the last few days.”
She shook her head, “It was a priority to make that charm. I shouldn’t have let myself forget it.”
“You can’t blame yourself for forgetting something, Calla. Mistakes happen. There is no going back to fix it, so you shouldn’t harbor on it.”
Calla sighed, “You’re right… I just know that if anything happens where she needs that charm—”
“Then it’d be unfortunate and still not your fault. We are all here to protect Tessa and our family. We would all be at fault if something were to happen. You can’t put it all on yourself. You’ll go crazy.”
“I think it’s a little late for that,” Calla joked. Jared smiled, making her mirror him. “Thank you,” she breathed to him. He seemed to always know exactly what to say to calm her down and bring her back to Earth.
“Don’t mention it,” he purred, kissing her head again.
After just a while longer, the SUV came to a stop. Calla’s eyes searched for the details of the house through the darkness as she climbed out of the car. Clouds completely blocked out the moon, making the field the house resided in pitch black. Several other cars and vans pulled into the driveway, the head lights illuminating the farmhouse. The large home was painted off-white with a long, wrap-around porch. It looked like it was made entirely out
of wood, making Calla a little uneasy. They had picked a tinderbox to have a battle at.
Her thoughts must have been written all over her face, Jared spoke to her, “It was the only property in the countryside around here that anyone owned.”
Calla nodded, “It’s just…”
“Dangerous, I know,” Jared sighed.
He grabbed her hand and guided her into the house with the others. The lights were turned on, antique décor filled the house. Quilts and doilies were draped over all the couches, chairs, and lamps. It truly looked like a home straight from the nineteenth century. “Who owns it?” Calla asked.
Jared made a face, “Nolan.”
“Huh. Well at least I won’t feel bad if it burns to the ground,” Calla teased, gaining a grin from Jared. He leaned down and gave her a small peck on the lips.
“I heard that,” Nolan called as he walked through the door.
“I don’t care,” Calla retorted.
As he passed them, he reached to brush a hand against her back, but Jared quickly moved her out of his reach. “No need to be so bitter. Although I’m sure it’s not your fault. I’m assuming Jared’s filled your pretty little head with all kinds of lies.”
“Don’t have to take it out on Jared that I’m not interested in you at all,” Calla told him cheerfully.
Nolan snorted, “You look like you’re a day away from death. I wouldn’t be interested even if you were painted to look as though you had some life in you.”
“Watch it, Nolan,” Jared snapped.
Nolan gave a wicked grin, closing the distance between them quickly and sprung one of Calla’s hair. “I look forward to tasting your blood, witch.” Then, he turned on a heel and walked away before Jared could attack him.
A shiver ran down Calla’s back, unnerved by the interaction. “If he wasn’t such a skilled fighter, I would switch your blood out for human blood for him and let him burst into flames,” Jared muttered to her.
