by M. R. Polish
Twenty Four
Esmerelda
A ilaina glared at me over the freshly dug grave behind the cabin. The cold earth now enveloped my dad.
“You had no right to put me to sleep.” She crossed her arms over her chest. “I knew something that would’ve helped.”
I averted my eyes away from her, back to the mound of dirt.
Her voice softened. “But, while I was asleep, I saw what you needed.”
I glanced back up at her, hopeful.
“They took his blood, Es, he was the warlock in my dream before, but I couldn’t tell you that. Now I can. I guess I could’ve said something, but it was hard. I wasn’t brave enough.”
“Who took who’s blood?” Ignoring the fact that she kept something from me that could’ve possibly saved Bry’s life.
“Meadow. After Luna was incapable of fighting anymore, Meadow attacked Bry and took his blood to Nicholas. That’s how he is completing the spells for his Crossbreeds. Bry had control over the water element, now he needs another witch or warlock who controls earth, fire, air and spirit.”
“What do you mean?”
“You have control over all the elements, that’s why you’re able to complete the turning process from vampire to magical blood-sucker. He just has blood from one element, but he’ll need all five. That might be what he meant when he said it would be time consuming. He’ll need to kill a warlock or witch for each spell. The blood has to be fresh, and there needs to be a lot of it—enough to kill over. That’s a lot of people who are gonna die.”
My lip quivered as I fought the urge to cry. I couldn’t help but feel Bry’s death was my fault. If I’d just helped Nicholas… No. That was something I couldn’t do. I could never force innocent mortals to a life like that. I started walking back to the cabin, hugging my coat around me. “How many vamps can he cross over with one spell?”
She caught up to me. “Not sure, maybe five.”
That wasn’t a lot.
“There’s one more thing.” She stopped before we opened the door.
I folded my arms. “What else are you not telling me?”
“I saw something else. He’s planning a large gathering to find the witches and burn the tomb. I think he’s afraid of them being resurrected.”
I shook my head. “Then we need to find it before him.”
I pushed the door open and saw Ian talking with Dregan. I forced a smile at him. What he did for Luna stayed with me, and it wasn’t something I’d ever forget.
“Hey, Princess.” He stood up. “Your mom’s in the kitchen waiting for you guys.”
I scrunched my face. “Huh? For what?”
He shrugged.
I had no time for this. I needed to find the tomb before Nicholas. Marching to the kitchen, I almost ran into Jarak, who came around the corner. “Oh, sorry. Have you seen Adonia - um, I mean my mom?” It was so weird to hear myself call her mom. My heart was at complete peace with it, but it rolled off my tongue as if it betrayed someone else, someone who didn’t exist anymore.
He nodded toward the kitchen. “She’s in there, getting things ready.”
I threw my hands up in the air. “For Pete’s sake!”
“Jeesh, Es, what’s wrong?”
Ailaina stepped forward. “Now is not the time, Jarak.”
“Fine.” He scooted past me with his arms up and left us to find my mom.
There was no time to worry about why he was so upset. Bigger things were brewing.
“Hey, I’m glad you girls are back. We need to get started. The sooner the better.” Adonia carried bundles of sage in her hands. “If we are going to fight together, we need to be together. I won’t lose you again.” She walked past us into the living room.
I cocked my head. “What is she talking about?”
Ailaina shrugged. “Your guess is as good as mine.”
“Some Seer you are,” I teased. I decided to listen and followed her.
Jarak was sitting next to my dad. They were in a deep conversation, but stopped talking as soon as I walked in. He stood up and took my hand. “She wants to tie us together, spiritually. Come on.” He led me to the couch to sit with him. We watched my mom set the small bundles of sage next to five colored candles she’d placed in a circle on the floor.
Without turning to look at any of us, she started talking. “The white candle is for spirit and peace, and it also can be used when healing.” She ran her hand over the wick of the white candle and a flame flickered.
She went to the next one in the circle, a deep cerulean color. “Blue is for water and knowledge. All things are logical when magic is used. Nothing is impossible.” She did the same thing as before to light the wick before moving to the next candle.
“Black is air and power. Don’t be deceived by the darkness of its color. It is extremely powerful and will give you added strength.
“Red is for fire and passion.” She glanced at me before lighting it.
“And finally, green is for earth and life. All of our gifts come from these elements, but this is my favorite, it fills us with a sense of positive well being and security in the world of mortals.” With all five candles lit, she stood and took a deep breath.
“Why wasn’t I shown candles and all of this before?” I asked.
She shook her head as she lowered her eyes. “Victor merely wanted you for a specific task, one of which I am still unsure of, not to learn your true place in the world as a witch.”
The door opened behind me, causing me to jump a little. Ian came in, along with all four wolves close on his heels.
“Wait. Ian too?” I folded my arms. I wasn’t sure that was a good idea. His nearness caused feelings in me that I didn’t understand. I was mad at him, yet yearned to be close to him. It was just more than what I wanted to deal with right now, and knowing I'd be linked to him wouldn’t make it any easier.
Torres walked over to my mom, placing his arm around her tiny waist. “He is family to Jarak and is here to help. You should be more grateful.”
I rolled my eyes. “Fine. Let’s just do this.” I dropped my arms to my sides. “What exactly are we doing again?”
“A Joining Spell. If something happens to one of us, say kidnapped, then we would be able to find them.”
“It’s okay, Es, this is a good thing. None of us want to lose you.” Jarak placed his arm around me and gave a gentle squeeze.
“Princess, he’s right. We can’t lose you. This is the best way.” Ian stood about two feet away from me with his hands tucked into his jean pockets.
I groaned out loud. “Cut the princess crap, Ian.”
He winked at me. “One day you might be grateful for this.”
“Well it’s not today.” I could feel the anxiety build inside of me over the conversation, and I snapped at my mom. “Can we just get this over with?”
She gestured to the candles as she talked. “Esmerelda, this is for you. Hard feelings in the circle will only cause you to regret them. Try to clear your mind before entering. When you all are ready, enter the circle then we’ll begin.”
Closing my eyes, I took in a deep breath and held it in, and then I slowly blew it out to calm my nerves. Everyone was already in the circle when I opened my eyes. I hesitated for a second before stepping in and grabbing Jarak’s outstretched hand.
Ailaina smiled at me. “Better?”
I nodded. I wasn’t going to talk about it because it would just get me worked up again.
My mom reached her arms toward the ceiling. “Spirit, water, air, fire and earth… We call upon you to unite us as one in a spiritual unity.” She leaned over, grabbed a bundle of sage next to the white candle, lit it, and then she walked around the inside of the circle waving the sage, letting the smoke swirl around us.
She made a complete pass before setting the bundle down on a prepared plate I hadn’t seen before. She continued to do that with each of the remaining four bundles, lighting each one with the candle it sat beside.
&nbs
p; Once she finished, she came back to the middle of the circle. “Spirit give us peace within our circle. Water give us knowledge to help each other. Air give us power to succeed. Fire give us the passion to thrive, and earth give us life full of blessings. We ask that you bind us together.” She reached behind her and grabbed a small knife.
I tensed.
She went to my dad first. He held his hand out, palm up then she sliced it, and pointed to a paper that looked like an old scroll. Without talking, he went over and placed his hand on the paper, letting his blood soak into it.
Ian held his hand out also, and she did the same thing. He too went to the paper and let his blood smear with my dad’s. I closed my fist, not wanting to feel the cut of the blade.
I saw a pattern happening, and I knew it got closer to my turn. Ailaina came back from the paper to stand next to Ian. Jarak let go of my hand to hold his open. He moved away to the paper and left me to stand with my mom. I glanced at her. She nodded, and I hesitantly opened my hand. She took it in hers and quickly made a slice on my palm. I winced, but bit my tongue so I wouldn’t cry out against the stinging pain.
I went over to the bloody paper and pressed my hand on it, letting my blood mix with the others. My mom placed a hand on my shoulder. I looked up. She had her hand ready to do the same.
As soon as her hand left the paper, a bright red glow emanated from it. All of the blood swirled and made a perfect circle. It was our circle of unity.
A loud boom sounded, and the house shook. I cried out. Both Jarak and Ian ran to my side and held on to me by my arms. The shaking stopped, and another boom echoed.
I looked at my mom. “What was that?”
She smiled. “It is finished.”
I shrugged out of the guys grasps and walked out of the circle. Glancing down, I noticed all of the candles had gone out. Not even a tendril of smoke wafted up from them.
“Hey, Es, I think you should come see this.” I heard Jarak yell from downstairs.
So much for a peaceful nap. Sitting up, I pushed myself off the bed. Dragging my feet, I forced myself down the stairs and over to the couch where he sat reading the newspaper.
I slumped down beside him and propped my legs up on the coffee table. “What’s so important it couldn’t wait till after my nap?”
“This.” He held out the paper and pointed to an article that covered the front page.
I rolled my eyes. “You know I hate reading that thing. Can’t you just tell me?”
He shook his head. “No, Es, you need to see this.” He shoved the paper closer to my face.
I pushed it back and frowned. “Fine, just knock it off.” I snatched the paper from his grasp and shook it open. “Surprise tornados. It’s so sad to see. Wait. What the heck?” I leaned in closer and gasped. “Is that what I think it is?”
“What’s all the commotion?” Ian walked out of the small spare room, under the loft.
“Have you seen this?” I held up the paper in disbelief.
“No, let me see.” He grabbed it from me before I could object. I hugged myself and rocked back and forth on the edge of the couch.
Ian read out loud. “A surprise tornado struck across the state with explosive impact. On Friday, a wide pattern of super-cells spanned as far as Tennessee and throughout the south. Recorded winds reached up to two-hundred miles per hour. This is extremely rare for this time of year… Blah blah blah… What exactly am I looking for? Other than the fact that tornados don’t usually ever happen in November, I’m not seeing anything significant.” He looked over the top of the paper at me.
Jarak leaned forward. “Look at the picture. Bottom right hand corner.”
Ian moved the paper closer to his face as he examined the picture. “Oh crap.”
“It’s him, isn’t it?” I continued to rock.
“Yes.” Ailaina closed the door as she came in the house from her walk. “I just had a vision. It’s time to find the witches.”
Jarak rested his hand on my back. “It’s okay, you’re not alone.”
“It’s not your name written in blood! Someone had to die for him to do that.” I brushed Jarak’s hand off. “Someone deliberately caused that tornado, didn’t they? Nicholas did this. He’s baiting me.” I stood up, shaking my hands out at my sides, no longer able to sit still.
“It says here that they found a pile of bodies among the debris, drained of all blood. They are saying it was from lacerations to the neck and other areas, probably caused by flying debris. Ha! Flying debris indeed.”
I swallowed hard. I knew it wasn’t a tornado that caused those deaths. It wasn’t a tornado that wrote my name on a piece of debris in blood either. He used innocent people to get to me. “We have to go there.”
“What?” Both Ian and Jarak said at the same time.
“Es, think about this. That’s probably what he wants you to do. We can’t just go traipsing about Tennessee and run right into his trap.” Jarak tried to reason with me.
“If you don’t want to go then I’ll go myself.” I folded my arms in front of me.
“She’s right.” Ailaina sat down next to me.
“I’ll go,” Ian stated.
“No, if she goes, then so do I.” Jarak stood up.
“We all go.” We all spun around at the sound of my mom’s voice. She stood at the back door, my dad right beside her.
“She’s right. If Esmerelda goes, we all go. We’re here to protect her, and we can’t do that if let her leave alone.” My dad said.
“Alright, I guess that settles it. We leave tomorrow.” I felt a small amount of pride in knowing that I was the one making the decision.
Twenty Five
Esmerelda
I stepped over another jagged piece of metal. This was the worst part of the damage, or so the Red Cross volunteer told me. There were still over fifty people in the area unaccounted for. I prayed silently that I didn’t step on any of them. I stopped to zip my coat up, trying to keep the cold out.
Straight ahead, a two-story house leaned heavily on its wooden braces. An unexplainable urge compelled me to go there. So far, we had been here in Shreveport, Louisiana for six hours with no sign of Nicholas—or the location of the tomb. My shoulders relaxed as I walked, maybe we were wrong and wouldn’t find Nicholas here.
Pushing open the creaky door, I braced against the dirt-covered wall with my hand. The floor was in pieces and tilted sideways near the entrance. I could hear the creaking and moaning as if the house cried out in agony. The wood groaned as I stepped on it. Closing my eyes, I used my power to feel around me. There had to be something Nicholas left behind.
“Nothing's here.” Ian’s voice behind caused me to jump.
“Don’t do that!” I squealed.
He walked through the door behind me, watching where he stepped just as I did.
I relaxed a little as he got closer. “It doesn’t feel right. Something is wrong. Can you feel it?”
He stopped and leaned against the unstable wall. “I’ve felt it since we arrived and stepped off the plane.” He fingered some of the flowered wallpaper that peeled off the sheetrock. Flakes from the ceiling fell, landing on his black hoodie.
I rested my hands on my hips. “Well, we have to find it. Has anyone found that piece of metal that has my name written on it?”
He shook his head. “No, we haven’t found anything that even resembles the picture at all. I think Nicholas set a trap, or maybe he thought we wouldn’t bring you and is back in Idaho looking for you.”
“I know.” I wanted to give up and say it was useless when the ground shook. I cried out and Ian darted, throwing himself over me.
“Run! The ceiling is falling.”
I didn’t have time to argue. Glancing back over my shoulder, I could see a portion of the house fall and close off the doorway. I ran with Ian. Spotting stairs, I took two at a time, but half way through the ground shook again. Ian’s arms went around me, and we fell to the floor. Everywhere I looked all of our p
ossible exits closed off. The shaking didn’t stop.
Wooden beams fell around us, and loud cracks sounded as more of the house fell apart. I threw my hands over my head and prayed we’d make it out alive. Ian’s body completely covered me, and I honestly worried about him, hoping nothing would hit him.
Sirens screamed from somewhere, and I could hear the wind howl as it picked up. Oh no, another tornado. I grasped Ian’s shirt and clung to it.
I peeked over the crook of his arm as a piece of the wall flew past us, barely missing Ian’s head. I needed to think, needed to focus. I am stronger than this.
Moving so I was on my knees, I came face-to-face with Ian and he grasped me around the waist and held me tight. Raising my hands in the air above us, I stared into his eyes. The world that flew by became still and listened to my magic as I forced it to stop. My eyes never left his. We were so close that I could feel his hot breath on my face.
I wanted to push against him and make room, but I didn’t. Instead, I lowered my hands down to his shoulders and lingered there. My breathing was still rapid, matching his, and I could feel my heart race to keep up with his.
After world-stopping seconds passed the trance broke, and he let me go.
Pushing myself up, I surveyed the damage done to the house. I tried to brush off the dirt from my jeans, but it was impossible as dust still fell from above, settling to the ground.
I coughed as I breathed in a lung full of dirt particles, waving my hand in front of me, trying to clear the air. Ian coughed too. Sheetrock powder and dirt covered every inch of us. I shook my head, and a pound of dust floated from my hair.
I looked around. “What do we do now?”
“We’re gonna have to dig out.”
“Can’t we call Luna or Dregan to get help?”
He ran his hand through his black disheveled hair and sighed. “Yes, but we don’t know where the others are.”
“True but it’s worth a try.”
“Luna, I need you.” That was all I needed to say, and she was there.
“Esmerelda, are you okay?”
“Yes, but we’re trapped. Can you find Maztic and have him get someone to help dig us out of here?”
