Her eyes got large with surprise. “How do you know about that?”
“We have Fates that look out for us and they let us know things that could be very important to us,” Lorelle said as she stepped forward. “They told us about you and that we would need to protect you.”
“What are you? What am I?” Miah asked as her eyes continued to dart between all of us.
“We’re called Guardians and you’re a half-Guardian. We don’t know what that means for you yet. You’re the first one we’ve met who has any abilities, but we’d like to figure it out while protecting you from those who mean you harm,” Lorelle replied to her.
Miah seemed to have calmed down some now that she realized we didn’t want to hurt her, but that didn’t mean she would come with us. She truly had no idea about our world. If I was her, I’m not sure what I would choose. I had my parents and Jordan to make the transition easier. I couldn’t imagine doing it on my own.
“Why should I trust you guys?” Miah asked. “I’ve never met anyone who knew about me. The one and only time I told someone about me, I ended up in a psych ward.”
My heart broke for her. I couldn’t imagine what Miah had gone through all on her own. She was much stronger than most people I knew at her age. I wanted to reach out to her and offer comfort, but I doubted she would welcome it.
“You’re right to question us,” I said. “I’m so sorry for what you went through. If we had known you existed, we would have come for you sooner to help guide you through the changes.”
Closing her eyes momentarily, Miah breathed deeply and ran her hands through her short blonde hair.
“We want to help you grow into your abilities and teach you how to protect yourself from those who mean you harm,” I continued. “I know it’s a lot to ask, but please try to trust us.”
Lucas came to stand next to me and squeezed my hand. I watched as Miah continued to look around at all of us. Her posture slowly started to change. She no longer stood defensively and her shoulders were slightly drooped.
“Do I have to stay with you if I agree right now?” Miah asked hesitantly.
“No, you can come back home whenever you’d like. We would never make you stay anywhere you were not comfortable,” Lorelle replied as she stepped closer and reached out to place a hand on Miah’s shoulder.
We had all slowly moved closer to Miah and she was doing much better. Lorelle’s touch made her tense up a bit, but Miah didn’t flinch away, which was good.
“What would I tell people if I left? I have a roommate and a job.”
“You can tell them there was a death in the family. You have an aunt you didn’t know about and you need to go finalize her estate,” Jordan said. “That should buy you enough time without anyone questioning why you’re gone until you decide what you’d like to do.”
Miah seemed to consider her options carefully and thoughtfully as we stood there, holding our breaths, waiting to see what she would decide. I had no idea what we were supposed to do if she said no.
“Can I think this through for the day?” Miah asked. “I’d like to go to work and take some time to consider your suggestion. I think I’m open to seeing what you have to offer and learn more about who I am, but you’re asking a lot of me. I haven’t trusted anyone since I was eleven years old. I need a little more time.”
We could work with that. She hadn’t completely turned us down. I could see the twinkle of excitement in her eyes. As nervous as Miah was to trust us, I knew she also wanted to know more about herself and we were the only ones who could tell her.
“Of course, take your time. Can we meet you at the café by your apartment tonight at six?” Lorelle asked. “Write down any questions you might have and we can answer as much as possible.”
Miah nodded her agreement. “That should be fine. I’ll be there right after work.”
She quickly squeezed past us and we turned to watch as she walked swiftly out of the alley. I hoped she wasn’t playing us and we’d see her tonight at six as planned. I wouldn’t blame her if she changed her name and ran away, though. What we just told her would sound insane to a crazy person.
“Should at least one of us stay with her to make sure nothing happens?” Kane asked.
“I’ll stay with her. I can make sure she doesn’t see me and I will meet you at the café right before she gets there,” Lorelle said. “The rest of you go enjoy yourselves for the day and stay out of trouble.”
“We have the whole day in Seattle? We don’t have to do anything else?” Jordan was practically foaming at the mouth.
Lorelle just smiled at her and walked out of the alley to follow Miah to her work.
“I’m going to head back to the house,” Strix said mentally. “It takes a lot of magic to stay invisible and I’d rather not do it all day if you don’t need me.”
“Enjoy the peace and quiet for both of us. I’ll see you soon.” I swept my hand down his back and gave him a small squeeze before I felt his weight lifted from my shoulders.
I turned my attention back to Jordan, “Remember we’re traveling. You can’t go crazy shopping.”
“You should know me better than that by now. I already have a plan. I’ll store my wonderful purchases at your parents’ house very quickly and get them when we’re all done.” Jordan let out a squeal. “We are most definitely going on a shopping spree!”
I looked at Lucas and Kane for some help, but they both just shrugged their shoulders as if they had no idea what I wanted from them.
“Well, you ladies have fun. We’ll meet you back at the house at five and then head to the café,” Lucas said, and I glared back at him. “Don’t look at me like that. Have fun and relax a little. I love you.”
He tugged on my arm and brought me toward him. My body instinctively nestled into his, even if I was a little mad he was ditching me.
“Easy for you to say. You’ve never been shopping with Jordan before. You won’t recognize me when you see me again,” I said with a grimace.
“Oh, hush your face, Kali. I won’t be that bad today, I promise.” Jordan couldn’t contain her excitement. “Boys, go have fun doing boy stuff and we’ll see you later.” Jordan grabbed my hand and dragged me out of the alley.
“Have fun, my love. Remember she’s your best friend and you don’t actually want to kill her,” Lucas said mentally to me.
“I’ll try to remember that, but I make no promises that she’ll come back in one piece,” I grumbled.
I heard Lucas laugh as we rounded the corner and I smiled. I could do this. It wasn’t the first time Jordan dragged me all over a city for a day of shopping. I would just have to remember to smile and nod. A lot.
***
We made it to the house at five. Jordan was weighed down with bags and I had to carry some of her stuff as well. I didn’t understand why one person needed so many shoes. I did find a few things I liked, but they all fit nicely in one bag.
“Did you clean out all the stores, babe?” Kane teased as we walked in.
“Almost, but not quite. Pouty pants over there complained too often, so I had to make the trips into each store quick,” Jordan replied as I rolled my eyes.
“Did you have at least a little fun?” Lucas asked me.
“For the first few stores it wasn’t bad, but by the fifth or sixth store I was ready to kill her. Finally, we took a break for food and it wasn’t so bad after that.”
“Do you ladies need anything before we head back? We should get going in case Lorelle needs us sooner,” Lucas said.
“I want to wear my new boots and shirt, so let me change and then we can leave.” Jordan grabbed a couple bags from her mountain of things and headed to her room.
“If she takes too long, I’m taking a nap. You can carry me back to Seattle,” I said to Lucas.
I laid on the couch while we waited for Jordan. I was two seconds from some blissful sleep when she pranced back into the room.
“Okay, let’s go!” she called out.
“Thank you, husband,” she replied with a quick kiss.
“How do you still have so much energy? I need a nap, a very long nap,” I complained.
“Oh Kali, don’t be cranky. You can have a nap after we get Miah.”
We walked outside and ported back to the same alley we were in earlier today.
“What would happen if someone was in this alley when we appeared?” I asked.
“Our magic would conceal us and they would feel the sudden need to be elsewhere so we could leave. It wouldn’t work if we ported into a crowded area, but it works for places like this,” Lucas answered.
I nodded. That was good to know.
We headed to the café and found a table outside again. It was half past five and I hoped Lorelle didn’t have any problems. We sat down to order some food while we waited. We were almost done choosing our dinners when I saw Lorelle practically running toward us.
“She should be here any second,” Lorelle said quickly, sounding out of breath as she sat down. “I had to port to the alley and rush here. Miah left work and started running this direction. I didn’t want her to know I was following her, so I came straight here.”
I looked around in the direction I thought Miah would come from, but didn’t see anything yet. I hoped Lorelle made the right choice coming here instead of still following her. Miah may have seen something that spooked her and made her want to run from us and not to us.
Everyone else was now glancing around and waiting for Miah to show up. I was just about to get up and go look for her when she finally came barreling around the corner.
“We have to hurry. I don’t know who he is or what that thing was, but I think I saw what you’re trying to protect me from. I had a vision of a black ghost-like thing that attacked some guy on a farm. It was like it possessed him and took the light right from his eyes. Do you know what that thing is?” Miah asked frantically as she sat down.
I looked to Lorelle and confirmed it was the Parias. I had yet to see one, but from what Miah just said, that would be changing soon.
“Don’t worry, Miah. We’ll figure out exactly what the ghost-like thing is and we’ll protect the guy you saw as well. Do you know where he was or when the attack happened?” I asked her calmly.
“Yes, I always keep my phone in my pocket, because I go into a vision with whatever I have on at the time. It was around eight o’clock tomorrow morning, but according to the maps app on my phone, it’s all the way in Georgia, but I doubt we can get a flight from here to there by then,” Miah said looking defeated.
I knew we could port, but I wasn’t sure if Miah would be able to go with us. I’d never asked if we could bring someone else with us when we ported. It had never been necessary since everyone in Arvata could do it.
“We will get us all there by morning, I promise,” Lorelle said calmly. “There are certain things we can do as Guardians and one of those things is we can get to places very quickly. You may not be able to do it on your own yet, but we can use our magic to bring you with us.”
“So, what do we do now?” Jordan asked.
“Miah, why don’t you go pack a bag with enough items for a few days and meet us back down here. We’ll order food and then show you how we will get there on time,” Lorelle answered.
Miah shook her head in disbelief and got up. We all watched her walk back to the apartment. I felt bad for her. She had an amazing gift, but I couldn’t imagine the responsibility she must feel for those who appeared in her visions.
Lorelle waited until Miah was out of sight and let out a heavy sigh. “Our next half-Guardian is in Georgia. This has to be the same person.”
“At least we know about the attack and that we need to be there by a certain time,” I said. “What would happen to him if we didn’t get there before the Parias?”
“I’m not sure, but it wouldn’t be good. Without training, no matter what power he might hold, he wouldn’t stand a chance against the Parias.”
CHAPTER THREE
After we were done eating dinner, we walked back to the alley we arrived in. Lorelle still hadn’t explained how we would take Miah with us or answered any of our questions about the Parias. She said we would talk more at my house where other people couldn’t accidentally overhear something they shouldn’t.
“So, what do we do with the kid? Knock her out and throw her through the gateway?” Jordan teased.
I looked over at Miah and her eyes were huge. The poor girl looked scared to death. “Jordan, leave her alone. She isn’t used to your morbid sense of humor yet. Miah, ignore her. The rest of us normally do.”
Miah let out the breath she’d been holding and looked a little less worried, but not by much.
“When Merakis merge their powers, they contain enough magic to allow a human to travel with them. Even though Miah is only half-human, it should still work the same. I’d like Lucas and Kali to travel with Miah for the port. The combined power you two share will allow Miah to stay with you during the port.”
I walked over to Miah and grabbed her hands. “Try not to worry. It will feel weird the first few times you travel with us, but I promise nothing can happen to you while we’re doing it. We can move from one place to another just by thinking of the place we want to be. The places have to be on the same realm and continent, though.”
“So, we couldn’t go from here to England?” Miah asked.
I caught a bit of disappointment in her voice and smiled. She was going to be okay with us.
“Correct. When we need to go to another continent, we have to go back to Arvata and use a different gateway that will take us there and then we can move around that continent freely. When we port, it’s like floating and goes by very quickly.”
Miah didn’t seem too sure about all that, but she nodded her head and didn’t say anything else.
“Tonight, we will go back to Kali’s, get some good rest, then get up early to head to Georgia,” Lorelle stated. “Miah, if what you saw happened at eight, then we need to be up by four because of the time difference.”
“Seriously? I need more beauty sleep than that,” Jordan whined.
Everyone laughed, but Kane whispered something in Jordan’s ear and made her blush. He must have made her realize she didn’t need the beauty sleep, because she didn’t complain about it again.
***
“Before everyone goes to their rooms for the night, I’d like to tell you about what Miah saw in her vision,” Lorelle said to us after we arrived at my house.
“Are you going to tell us everything this time or should we be worried about something else coming up later?” Kane said slightly irritated.
I had to suppress my smirk. Jordan was really rubbing off on him. I was trying to understand where Lorelle was coming from, though. If the Fates told her she shouldn’t say anything, then she was doing the right thing.
“I will tell you everything now. The Fates did not want me to tell you everything earlier in hopes that we would get to the half-Guardians before we had to worry about it,” Lorelle said as she took a seat on the couch. “The black ghost-like figure that Miah saw is called a Parias. Parias are demon spirits that look for magical beings to inhabit so that they can take a physical form. They can stay longer on Earth when they have a physical form. Without it they only last a few days.”
“What happens to the host when they leave the body?” I asked.
I’m sure Jordan and Lucas knew all of this, but I was glad Lorelle was starting from the beginning for Kane, Miah and me. I had heard of Parias briefly before, but not enough to feel comfortable going up against one.
The training we did this past year was more focused on learning about the history of Arvata, how to communicate with the Fates and learning the Elders schedule. I also spent more time than I expected trying to master the Arelia abilities. Without having Lorelle’s expertise, there was only so much Strix could teach me sin
ce our magic wasn’t the same.
“That depends on how long the Parias stays in the body. If the Parias is removed within days, the host will fully recover. If it has been weeks, then it’s not likely that they would survive the depth of dark magic that the Parias leaves behind,” Lorelle answered somberly.
“How do these Parias know to go after the half-Guardians?” Kane asked.
“They sense the magic when it’s used. It’s not just half-Guardians they go after, though. There are different types of magical beings that roam the Earth unaware of what they really are. They don’t know how to protect themselves from the Parias or other dark beings. It’s up to their kind to save them from the Parias as we are doing for the half-Guardians,” Lorelle replied.
I looked over at Miah to see how she was doing with all this. It wasn’t too long ago that I was where she was and I remember the feeling of being completely overwhelmed.
“You doing okay?” I asked her. “I was in a similar position as you this time last year. I know it’s a lot to take in, but try not to worry too much.”
“I feel like I am dreaming, like none of this can be real. I always knew that my visions weren’t normal. I only talked about them once, but I never thought anything else about magic might be real. Are vampires, werewolves and witches real, too?”
“Let’s focus on one problem at time. If you decide you want to stay with us in Arvata, there are classes you can take that will teach you about other magical beings. For now, we will worry about the Parias and saving this guy in Georgia.” I smiled.
Lorelle spent a little more time going over things we would need to know if we ran into any Parias and needed to defend ourselves, and then we all went to our rooms.
Once back in our room, I couldn’t stop thinking about how Miah must really be feeling and I was worried about her. “Do you think I should go check on Miah?”
From The Falls (The Falls Trilogy Book 2) Page 3
