Beacon's Spark (Potomac Shadows Book 1)

by Jim Johnson

  Vinya glanced at me as she moved the cooked food from pans to serving bowls. “I like Canal Center. It’s a very pretty walk from there along the river to Duke Street.”

  I nodded. “I didn’t get that far today, but I liked seeing the river.”

  The front door opened and Abbie called out as she walked in. “Smells like Vinya’s cooking tonight.”

  I finished up my chopping and then washed my hands. I smiled at Abbie as she walked into the kitchen, and she leaned in for a quick kiss, an encouraging sign. “How was work?”

  Abbie shrugged out of her business jacket and draped it over one of the chairs at the table. “Horrible. We’re closing in on the last of the paperwork for this hearing, but of course there are about a thousand redlines we have to revise before tomorrow, so…it’s going to be another long night and day tomorrow.”

  I rested my hand on hers. “Sorry to hear it. Is there light at the end of the tunnel, at least?”

  She patted my hand and then moved over to the fridge. “Yes, fortunately. I should be able to get a couple days off next week, to make up for the work I did over the weekend, but we’ll see.”

  Vinya drafted Penny to help move food and dishes to the table, and I pitched in to help make short work of the table setting. I glanced at the four places we’d set up and focused at Penny. “No Cooper tonight?”

  She shook her head, covering a frown. “His schedule at the gym changed and he has a couple new clients to train. He’ll be here around eight or so.”

  Vinya nodded. “There’s plenty of food. We’ll save him some.”

  Once everyone had drinks in hand, we gathered at the table and dug into Vinya’s great meal. Dinner conversation was casual but a little strained—it was clear Penny wasn’t happy about Cooper not being home, and Abbie was mostly quiet. I guessed it was the long days at work and our issues that had her down. All the work I had done today also had me worn out, and about halfway through dinner, I really started to feel the fatigue setting in.

  Vinya ended up doing the most talking. She worked for a large government contractor, one of the many companies she liked to call a Beltway bandit, and she and her fellow human resources specialists always had some sort of drama going on.

  I didn’t understand half of what she said sometimes, but when she was talking about internal personalities and politics, it made the corporate world sound like one great big soap opera.

  After dinner, Abbie and I volunteered to do the dishes, and in short order we had the kitchen to ourselves since no one liked to linger much after dinner. We were all housemates, but the fine line between housemates and friends was a chasm the group of us had yet to bridge—if we were going to bridge it at all.

  As we put the last of the dishes in either the dishwasher or the drying rack, I glanced at Abbie. “Got any big plans for the night?”

  She shrugged. “Honestly, I think I’ll take a bath and then go to bed early and see if I can get a nap in before going back to work.”

  A glimmer of an idea had struck me while we were scrubbing pots, but I wasn’t sure she’d go for it. I hesitated, but then charged forward. Recent experiences had shown me that lagging back didn’t get me anywhere.

  “I had a lot to do today, and am pretty tired, but I thought I’d get in some meditation practice with my crystal for a while and see if I could relax a bit. Would…would you have any interest in joining me?”

  She shrugged and gave me her little smile that I knew meant that she wasn’t all that interested, but would give it a try. “I…well. If you’d like.” She glanced at my crystal. “Do I need one too?”

  I shook my head. “Not at all. We can use this one as the same focus.” I pulled the plug on the drain and cleaned out the sink. “Why don’t you take your bath and relax? I’ll get the bedroom set up and start meditating while you’re showering. Once you’re done you can join in.”

  She flipped her striped dish towel onto the sink. “All right. But promise me you don’t do anything weird with the candles.” She lowered her voice to a whisper. “What happened the other night freaked me out—I’m still not sure how to feel about it.”

  I bit my lip as I glanced at her. “I know, Abbie, and I’m sorry. We really do need to talk about that night—about what’s been going on with me lately. And us.”

  “You bet we do.” She glanced at the hallway. “But I don’t think here’s the best place to do it. We’ll have to meet somewhere.”

  I met her eyes and nodded, feeling a surge of love tinged with trepidation rise in my heart. “Let’s do that soon. Maybe after your project is finished at work?”

  “God!” She nodded. “Yes, please let that be over soon. In fact, may our meditation tonight help me get through tomorrow.”

  I grinned. “I’ll do what I can to help.”

  “All right. I’m gonna go up and run the water. I’ll see you soon.” She gave me a peck on the cheek as she walked by, and I focused on putting the last of the dishes away.

  Vinya walked into the kitchen as I was finishing up and started pulling together a little plate of leftover veggies and hummus. “Hey, Rachel.”

  I nodded as I made myself a cup of hot tea. “Thanks for dinner, Vinya. That was really great. I love the spices you put in your kafta. What do you use, again?”

  She shrugged and smiled. “Quite a few, actually. It’s a family blend passed down from my grandmother’s grandmother. Cinnamon, allspice, cumin…and a few other secrets.”

  I nodded as I pulled my tea together. She leaned in a bit. “Hey, Rachel…I hope you don’t mind me asking, but are things okay between you and Abbie?”

  I glanced at her, a little spark of worry itching down my spine. “Yeah, I guess. Sure. Why?”

  She shrugged and picked up her plate of food. “I just…heard you two talking about going together somewhere to talk. I hope it’s nothing serious. You should feel safe talking here, at home.”

  I bit my lip as I focused on her. What else had she heard? “Well…you know.” I waved a hand, trying to act nonchalant even though I felt a twinge of worry. “We have a lot to talk about and thought that someplace private would be…easier on all of you.” I threw in a little smile to try and disarm her concerns.

  She didn’t take the bait. She frowned and settled in next to me. “Easier on us? I don’t understand.”

  I stirred my tea a couple times. “Well, you know.” I glanced at the hallway but didn’t see anyone moving around. I lowered my voice. “Abbie and I aren’t super-close to anyone here and we’ve been worried, you know, that some of you might not be entirely comfortable with us…as a couple, I mean.”

  Vinya looked genuinely surprised. She shook her head. “Well, if that’s what you’re worried about, I don’t think you have any reason to fear. I don’t care one way or the other—if you two are happy together, that’s all I need to know. Penny’s a stick in the mud about a lot of things, and Cooper…well, Cooper is his own special breed of bro.”

  She had a little tone at the end of that last sentence that I couldn’t quite parse but I wasn’t awake enough to want to ask about it. I just nodded and smiled. “Well, that’s good to know.”

  She shrugged and then headed for the hallway. She paused before she left the kitchen. “I hope you and Abbie have a nice meditation session together.” She gave me a weird little smile and then walked down the hall and into her bedroom and closed the door.

  I stared at her door with a frown. So she had heard more than I’d guessed. I tried replaying my and Abbie’s conversation back but didn’t remember anything particularly incriminating.

  I headed upstairs with my tea, tamping down a sudden flare of dread that I had missed something important.

  Chapter 38

  I PUSHED MY WORRIES ABOUT VINYA from my mind and went into my bedroom. She was nice, though I hadn’t hung around with her enough to get a real good sense of her. I changed into my comfy clothes, flannels and cottons, and then grabbed the candles and matches as before, but cleared a sp
ace on the floor this time to set up a circle of light.

  I made sure to space the candles out far enough that both Abbie and I could sit comfortably inside it, and then lit the candles, again using the matches rather than my ley talents. I was tired enough as it was. I suspected I’d get less tired the more I practiced, but for now, using the matches took way less effort.

  I tossed the matchbook outside the circle of light and then settled cross-legged along one arc of the circle. I rested my wrists on my knees and closed my eyes, seeking out my centering point.

  It was easier to find than before, which was encouraging—both Bonita and Miss Chin had said it would be easier to find with practice. I had used my abilities a lot lately, and they were right—it was totally easier to settle into my center.

  I kept my eyes shut as I focused my will inward and slowly tapped into my energies to pull etheric threads together to form a small sphere of silvery light in my mind’s eye. I was worn down from using so much magic today, but I was inspired by the possibility of Abbie joining me for a little while.

  Once the etheric sphere was about the size of a softball, I stopped the flow of energies into it and shifted the ball from one virtual hand to the other. The thing had weight I could sense and feel, even though it was nothing more than insubstantial, contained power.

  With the little ball of energy in hand, I played around, moving it around in my mind’s eye in patterns, starting with a triangle, then a square, and so on through different shapes, ending with an figure-eight. I moved the ball through the curves faster and faster, seeing how much control I could manage over it.

  I paused and realized I had worked myself into a sweat. Good going, Rachel. I focused and moved the ball off to one side, then took a few deep breaths. I was supposed to be meditating and relaxing, not goofing around with the power I had at my fingertips.

  I sensed Abbie come into the bedroom. I slitted open my eyes. She was wrapped in her bathrobe and had a big towel draped over her head, covering her short dreadlocks.

  I smiled up at her, feeling at least a little serene in my circle of candlelight. “How was your shower?”

  “Relaxing.” She gestured toward the circle of candles. “How is your meditation going? You made your crystal glow again?”

  I didn’t even bother glancing down this time. I nodded. “I feel good. At peace.” I indicated the open space in front of me inside the circle. “Would you join me?”

  She bit her lip as she stared at me. I could tell she was thinking hard, wanting to decline, but finally she nodded. She took off the towel around her dreads and fluffed them a bit, then draped the towel over the back of her wooden chair. She stepped over a couple candles and settled down cross-legged inside the circle, facing me.

  She tucked the robe underneath her legs as she sat. “Okay. What do I do?”

  I smiled and reached out my hands to her. “Take my hands, close your eyes, and clear your mind.”

  She snorted. “We’ll see.” But, she did reach out and took my hands in hers, and then, after a moment’s hesitation, closed her eyes. I closed mine as well, and reached out to sense her through my third Eye.

  It was an amazing feeling. I could See her energy pattern, so different from my own. Her energy signature, her aura, had a purplish tinge to it, as opposed to my own silvery glow. I snagged a ley thread and reached it out to touch her aura. There was a little pop and spark when they connected.

  She flinched back and snapped open her eyes. “What was that?”

  “Oops.” I grinned. “That was just me saying hello—touching my aura to yours.” I realizing she wasn’t smiling. “Are you okay?”

  She gave me a doubtful look. “I think so, yeah. How did you do that?”

  “I’ll show you. Close your eyes, and I’ll try it again.”

  She closed her eyes, though the frown didn’t leave her face. I’d have to be careful. I wanted this to be relaxing for her, not terrifying.

  “Focus inward, and let yourself feel the flow of energy all around you.” This was going to be so exciting—I couldn’t wait to show her everything Miss Chin and Bonita had shown me.

  Her aura shimmered in my mind’s Eye. “I’m not sure what I’m supposed to be seeing.”

  “Take a deep breath, relax, and just look around. You should see, like, little threads of blue energy swirling all around us, inside the circle of candles.” They were right there, why wasn’t she seeing them?

  Abbie took a few deep breaths. The image of her in my Eye shook her head. “Nope; not seeing anything, Rachel. Maybe I’m doing something wrong?”

  I tried to channel my frustration away from her so that she didn’t feel it or sense it. The little silver ball I had created wavered in my peripheral vision. I had forgotten all about it. I swatted it aside with a slap of etheric energy.

  The ball of energy flew across the room and crashed into the far wall, which rippled in a burst of blue and silver energy, almost like a softball hitting a curtain. The arcs of silver and blue within the sphere contracted and then exploded, and when the flash cleared from my mind’s Eye, I saw a pinprick of bright white light, a gap in the insubstantial Veil. The remnants of the threads contained within my sphere arced out and grabbed hold of the edges of the gap, and started to spread it open.

  My Eye widened. “Dammit!” I gathered more ley threads and pushed them toward the gap in the energies and tried to staunch the virtual wound. I had no idea what I was doing but I had to do something.

  Abbie cried out, “What’s happening?”

  I was too focused on trying to close the gap to answer. A sudden deep thrum sounded from somewhere within the Veil, shivering the etheric curtain and widening the split within it. I flinched back.

  Oh, God. I’d heard that sound before.

  I stared into the growing rift in the Veil. That same strange glowing face I had seen in the conduit back at Branchwood started to form. This time, the face was clearer, more defined—a male with a prominent jawline. His eyes were aglow with yellow-gold fire, and his expression was full of fury.

  “Shit!” I pushed all the threads I could gather in my insubstantial hands toward the rift, just as the form attached to the face called forth a surge of blue threads laced in yellow-gold. The rift continued to spread open, the edges sparkling in blue and silver.

  Abbie! I clamped my hands down on top of hers and pulled threads from her purple-tinged aura and mixed them with my silver threads, and pushed the mix toward the rift in the Veil, hoping a fat plug of power would get the job done.

  My ball of silver and purple light smashed into the Veil right about the same time the guy’s yellow-gold burst struck it. There was a silent explosion and then another deep bass-like thrum. A shockwave knocked me back and blew apart the circle of candles. The lights in the bedroom went out.

  I lifted myself up onto my elbows and looked up through my Eye at the rift in the Veil. It fizzled in a rainbow glow of silver and purple and gold. The competing circuits of energy burned each other out as the rift collapsed. I saw that strange man’s face inside the closing gap, staring right at me, the heat in his eyes burning into my soul.

  He seemed to know me now, and I sure didn’t think I’d forget that face any time soon.

  The remnants of the rift condensed down to a tiny pinprick of bright white light, then disappeared with a little popping noise that might have been comical under a different circumstance. All was quiet in the dark bedroom other than for Abbie’s panicked gasps.

  I slowly sat up, the weariness bearing down on me. The room was lit only by my glowing crystal and the moonlight arcing in through the window. Abbie had been pushed back on her butt almost a foot, her back resting against the bed’s footboard. Our candle circle had been torn apart—all the candles had been scattered and snuffed out.

  A flicker of movement caught my eye. The bedroom door had been left open. Vinya was in the hallway, staring at me with a slack jaw and terrified eyes.

  I managed a listless wave with o
ne shaky hand. “Uhhh...hey.”

  Chapter 39

  VINYA TOOK A GOOD LOOK AT me, screamed out one long burst, and then ran out of sight. As I heard her rumble down the stairs, I glanced down.

  My crystal was shining with its usual bright silvery glow. But there was something new this time—subtle purple veins ran through the bright light. Some vestiges of Abbie’s aura had clearly gotten mixed in with mine.

  Crap. I had unconsciously pulled some of her energy to try and seal the rift. I focused on Abbie as a door downstairs slammed shut.

  Abbie blinked a few times as if to regain her senses, then stared at me with a mix of horror and anger. “What the hell did you just do?”

  I shook my head, at a loss for an answer. I stared at the broken circle, seeing in my Eye the wisps of etheric energy burning off, vague traces of silver and purple energies fizzling out. “I…I don’t know. I think I lost control for a minute, and…”

  Rushed footsteps sounded in the darkened hallway outside our room. Penny and Cooper, both looking rumpled in t-shirts and tousled hair, stared in at us through the doorway. Penny’s mouth was tight, a thin line between her chubby cheeks. Cooper’s usual vacant expression turned to a sidelong grin as he saw us sitting on the floor.

  “Hey, girls…uh, who screamed?”

  Abbie glanced at my stupefied expression and got to her feet. “It was Vinya. We…knocked over a couple candles and she thought we were gonna burn the place down.”

  Penny’s brows furrowed together. “I thought I heard a noise, like a thunderclap. And the power’s gone out.”

  “Ahhh…”I dragged myself to my feet. “Yeah. There was a power surge. Maybe a transformer outside blew.” I glanced out the window. The house across the street from us had its porch light on. I bit my lip and turned back to the others, hoping they hadn’t noticed.