Blood Burdens (The Shadow World)

by Brandy Nacole

  “Was it Cerelia again?”

  I shake my head. “No, this was different. I didn’t feel threatened or afraid like I did with Cerelia.”

  “Describe it to me.”

  “It was complete darkness. I couldn’t even see my own body. I could only feel it. Out of the darkness, I heard my name being called. I stood there trying to make something out but I couldn’t. The when I started pulling away from the dream, a figure appeared.”

  Danika leans in toward me, totally enraptured by the story. “Well who was it?” She demands.

  I pause, smiling at her distress. Then his name falls off my lips with a sigh. “Micah.”

  “How could Micah do that? Are you sure it was him?” Danika asks, in disbelief.

  “I’m sure. I saw him for just a minute but it was long enough for me to be sure. There’s something else,” I say.

  “Well what is it?” Danika asks, irritated.

  “It’s hard to explain. One minute he’s standing in front of me, trying to warn me about something, and then he just disappears. I’m left in the darkness alone but I can still feel a small hum of energy in the air. Then I hear Micah scream my name as his face appears in front of me. Just before he’s ripped away from me, he says ‘help me’ with so much fear in his face that it haunts me.”

  Danika has a distant look on her face as she peers past me. “How did it feel when the dream ended?”

  I cringe. “It was painful. Honestly it felt like I had been cut in half. Like something had sliced right through my chest and ripped away a part of me.”

  Danika bites her lip, lost in thought. I’m sure she’s going through all her mental archives, trying to figure out exactly what was going on, and how. “I’m not sure about exactly what you experienced but I’ll do some digging around and see what I find.”

  “Thanks.” I say before the room falls into silence.

  We sit in silence for a few minutes, not acknowledging the real reason Danika was in here. I’m sure she was deep in thought about my dream. I, on the other hand, was thinking about Micah. His green, fear-filled eyes float behind my closed lids. Those beautiful green eyes that should hold a happy spark not a fearful one. The green eyes that held nothing but concern for me in Brazil, then humor at my stubbornness, proclaiming I was fine, when in reality I was anything but fine. When I thought about those eyes, I didn’t see the red that marred them now.

  My stomach drops like a brick when Danika breaks through my haze. “Coy was looking for you earlier while you and Addie were arguing. I told him you would find him later.”

  Tears try to surface at the thought of the betrayal I feel. I was supposed to be giving the relationship a chance. I shouldn’t be thinking about green eyes, I should be thinking about deep brown ones.

  Danika stands up, slapping her hands together. “Okay, let’s get started with some very basic meditating techniques.”

  I groan and flop on the bed face first. “I’m not doing this.”

  “Yes you are. Don’t think of it as Meira giving you an order. Think of it as salvation.”

  I raise my head enough to see if she’s serious. “Salvation? Really?”

  “Yes, really. If you find your balance, you will be saving yourself from self-destruction. You could finally understand how to control your body.” I narrow my eyes at Danika’s self-satisfied smirk.

  It takes more persuasion but Danika finally gets me to cooperate. We spend the next hour going over meditation techniques and calming breaths. When Danika starts in on spirit auras, I zone out. I already know about the spirit auras and what to search for. A Witch’s aura is blue, Shape-shifters are green, Vampires are black, and Lycans are gold. Once Danika feels satisfied that she’s taught me to the best of her abilities, she leaves to go help the others at the Elders’ House.

  I spend the later part of that morning and the early part of the afternoon sitting in the middle of my floor, eyes closed with frustration as I try to find peace within myself. Yeah, that frustration was really helping a lot. I try the breathing techniques like Danika told me and relax my body. I try to ‘disperse’ any negative thoughts from my mind, centering my spirit so I could focus. A last fleeting thought crosses my mind before I zone my mind. This crap is for the birds.

  The colors of my spirit auras come into focus once my mind clears. Honestly this isn’t hard to do. Any being can see their own spirit aura if they look deep enough. Each Shadow being has a certain color that represents their spirit aura. Humans are a little bit trickier. Their spirit aura will represent their personality, so not all humans have the same aura color. Shadows do no matter what their personality is like. In my case, I have four: blue, green, black, and gold. Of course, my spirit auras—yeah, plural—shine brighter than most because there are more colors. The problem is they are also more tightly intertwined than a Gordian knot.

  I’ve heard stories about the spirit aura being a ball of light that radiates from the center of your soul. Well, my spirit aura wasn’t a ball of light, it was a twisted mess. Plus, they aren’t balls of light, they’re threads of light. I guess since my spirit is divided, the spirit auras were divided into strands instead of just one harmonic ball of rainbow light.

  Auras shouldn’t appear like mine. They shouldn’t be twisted and jumbled up together. That just creates friction. Our spirit auras are what provide us with our power. If humans could focus and learn how to use their spirit auras, they would have at least some small power. Some tap into their auras but not many.

  I open up and focus my concentration on the auras again. But once I open myself up, the feelings I have suppressed come flooding back at me: Meira, Addie, Micah, Cerelia, Witten’s belittlement, everything. It all flashes into my mind, flooding me with emotions like a flooded river washes out a town downstream.

  I have to stand up and pace the room to try and work past these overwhelming emotions. The whole goal is to focus on peace, and balance my spirit, but so far, it isn’t working. I shake my head, clearing it, and then set a new resolve to accomplish this, to find a way. I sit back down on the floor and try again. And just like before, when I focus on the auras, my emotions overwhelm me.

  I repeat this process several times. Each time my frustration builds. I want to go back to the Elders’ House and see if they have found anything. But I know that would be a mistake too. Plus, I don’t know what I will do the next time I see Meira. I probably need to find peace and balance before that happens. If I don’t, I may have a lot of time to find peace behind bars, after pulling that hateful woman’s head off.

  Closing my eyes once again, I focus back in on the colors. Finding the knot of colors isn’t that hard now, since I’ve been doing it all day. The hard part is keeping my emotions in check so I can unravel them. I calm my body, relax my muscles, and clear my mind.

  I can still feel my emotions radiating through my body: hate, anger, concern, and understanding. They’re pretty complex emotions. I mentally picture myself grabbing the hate and choking it down to an even level with care and understanding. Then I do the same thing with the anger. Once I do this, I feel a peaceful hum course through my body, and a familiar voice in my head says, You can do this, Racquel. I believe in you. I’m not sure if I just imagine Micah’s voice, or if he is really here, but it gives me the push I need.

  I focus in on my auras, picturing them unraveling. I command them to become untangled. I want them to detach from one another so they could be more distinguished from each other. I place the image of them being free and independent in my mind. If they are untangled, I can use them to their full potential. I keep focusing on that image. Nothing happens for a while but I don’t let up. I keep myself calm, relaxed, but focused.

  Finally, I see one of the threads start to tremble. My hope soars as I focus on that thread. I mentally picture it unraveling from the others, maneuvering around this twist and through that hole. I make it through a few loops when suddenly my concentration is shattered by a crashing noise. The thread slips from my
grasp, and knots itself even tighter around the others.

  I let out a loud growl as I turn to the person who made me lose it: Ethan. He’s doubled over in my doorway, panting really hard. I know something has to be wrong but I’m still aggravated. I jump up, throw my hands up in frustration, and give Ethan a hard look. “Do you realize what you just did? I was this freaking close to-”

  “They’ve found her.”

  I look at Ethan in disbelief for a moment. Then without saying another word, we rush out the door and head back to the Elders’ House.

  Chapter Nine

  I leave Ethan behind and shoot across the grounds toward the Elders’ House, stirring up leaves, like a mini tornado. I’m so full of adrenaline I feel like I can run all the way to wherever it is Cerelia is hiding. A broad smile is on my face when I enter the house. Never would I have thought it would be this quick. Last time it had taken forever, or at least that’s what it had felt like as we searched.

  My grin falters as I glance around at the troubled faces before me. The only Shadows left in the room are the Elders, Danika, and Lucas. I wonder where Addie, Natahala, and her goons went. I start to ask but the troubled look on the others faces halt my words. Why aren’t they jumping for joy like I am?

  Ethan comes in behind me, panting. He shuts the door with a gentle click and walks over to the double windows. Danika stiffens as she watches him cross the room. I wonder if they’ve talked yet.

  “Why the long faces?” I ask. “I heard you found Cerelia.” I bite my lip as I wait for a reply. I manage to keep my wits about me when Meira speaks. I had planned on giving her a scolding when I saw her again, but now doesn’t seem like the time.

  “Cerelia has been located. A local Coven not far from Mykonos sensed her power briefly, then it was gone a few hours later. They believe she left the area, but only temporarily.”

  “Where is Mykonos?” I ask, the name sounding familiar.

  “Greece,” Danika responds, quietly.

  I’m still not getting why everyone seems so down. “Is the Coven sure she’ll return?”

  “Yes.” Witten snaps.

  “Then what’s the problem?” I cross my arms over my chest as I try bracing for the impact of whatever the bad news is going to be.

  Danika answers my question. “We were right about Cerelia wanting to use the Perigee Moon to finish what she started. But that’s not all she’s planning.”

  “What do you mean?” I ask her.

  “Well, the Coven in Mykonos felt Cerelia’s power emanating from an island—an island that will provide her even more power during the Perigee Moon.” The determined set in Danika’s jaw tells me more is coming.

  I take in a breath. “What island?”

  Please don’t say it, please don’t say it.

  “Delos.”

  And she said it. I close my eyes like I’ve already been defeated as I let out a slow exasperated breath. Delos Island is the island Cerelia’s grandfather, Apollo, was born on. The island still holds great power.

  I know Danika’s not finished, I can see it in her eyes. “What else?”

  “She might have the-”

  I raise my voice and stick out my hand to stop Danika. “No! Do not tell me she has the Tellurian.” If Cerelia has that we might as well kill ourselves off now and save ourselves some torture.

  “We’re not sure. The staff hasn’t been seen for centuries.” Witten’s restless. He paces around the room, deep in thought.

  Ethan turns away from the window to look at me. “What staff?” I process how weird that is considering legend expert Danika is in the room. And then I remember the current distance between the two.

  In any case, here’s a history lesson I actually remember. The story had been so interesting that I had even written a report on it in school. “The Tellurian is a staff that Hecate created for Apollo. The Tellurian contains the life spirits of the earth. When it’s used, the Tellurian draws on those life spirits for power that the possessor can use. It’s one of the most powerful staffs in history. Some have even compared it to Zeus’ lightning bolt.”

  When I stop, Danika looks up from the floor she has been boring holes into. I can hear her heart beat pick up as she addresses Ethan. “Apollo gave it to Cerelia, but took it back from her when she became tainted.”

  I perk up just a bit. I hadn’t read that. “If he took it from her, it may still be hidden from her. I remember something about it cloaking itself to avoid unwanted hands.”

  “Yes, but we don’t know for sure that it can hide from Cerelia. She has Apollo’s blood. The staff will respond to that since it was designed for Apollo.” Danika eyes never leave Ethan. She just keeps staring at him, with a desperate need in her eyes. It hurts me to see her pain.

  “The only place the staff will work is on Delos Island. Do you think that’s why she’s going there?” I ask Danika.

  “We’re not sure. She could just be using the island for its own power. Just because she’s at Delos doesn’t mean she has the staff.” Laveda answers.

  Ethan finally speaks but still holds Danika’s gaze. He’s unwilling to be the one to break their stare. “Any more power Cerelia gains is a bad thing, staff or no staff.”

  Lucas, never seeming to disappoint, steps up behind Danika. “Yes but we have our own source of power.” Lucas places his hands on Danika’s shoulders, giving them a light squeeze.

  The room fills with Ethan’s loud growl. I glance over at him in shock. I can’t believe he let go of his control, especially in front of the freaking Elders. And oh crap, now his eyes are glowing.

  Danika’s just standing there stiff, as is everyone else. I walk over to Ethan and stand in the line of sight between him and Lucas. I decide to whisper very softly, knowing if I yelled he would probably try biting my head off. “Ethan, calm down now. You need to regain your control and cool it. Go get some air.”

  Ethan stops growling but his eyes still gleam with power. I can see the struggle on his face as he looks at the floor and walks out. He didn’t want to leave. If anything he wanted to knock Lucas out for touching Danika, then whisk her away.

  “What was that?” Lucas asks as he peers at the door in disbelief.

  “It better not be anything.” Witten snaps, looking sharply at Danika. “Danika?” His voice booms as he calls her name out across the room.

  I watch as Danika masks her face in confusion, erasing the look of pleasure and surprise. I could imagine her shock at his being possessive in front of the Elders but delight in knowing it was a gesture for her. “I’m not sure.” Shrugging her shoulders she tries covering up for him. “You know how the Lycans are. They’re possessive and bossy, especially when it comes to family and friends. I guess while we were away, he started feeling a little protective of our friendship.” She tries finishing up with a joke to ease up everyone’s apprehension. “I’m surprised he hasn’t peed on me.”

  Like I figured, no one finds her attempt at a joke funny. Witten just says, “Very well,” before he starts pacing the room once more.

  Danika glances back at me and I raise my eyebrows. Did you really just lie your ass off to the Elders for Ethan?! I say with my eyes. Danika shrugs her shoulders with a small smirk that she quickly bites back.

  “So back to the staff,” I say, wanting to move the conversation away from Ethan. “Do we have any records of its last location?”

  Witten shakes his head, “There are no documented records if that’s what you mean. All we have is word of mouth.” He pauses.

  The other Elders are focused on books in front of them, leaving me to converse with Witten. Based on our last conversation, this might not go over so well. “And what are those mouths wording?” I ask impatiently. I want to talk to someone else but everyone’s busy with their own thoughts and tasks.

  “The stories say that Apollo split the staff from the crystal spearhead, dividing its power. He left the staff somewhere on Delos, but hid the spearhead.” Witten seems to be holding his temper with
me but only by a thread.

  “Well that was smart. The staff won’t work without the crystal, even if you have it on Delos.” I’m impressed with Apollo’s actions, very smart. “I wonder where he hid it.”

  A number of Elders mutter, “Don’t we all,” and similar statements.

  I hate all this doom and uncertainty. It doesn’t settle well with me or the others. Uncertainty will fill the mind with fear and a need to know the more likely outcome. In this case, I don’t want to think about the likely outcome. “What can we do?”

  Laveda stands, stretching out her long form. “We’re doing it.” She says, gesturing to the books on the tables. “We have assigned many of our students to search through the history books and some journals. These books here are the ancient records. We are searching for some mention of the staff.” Laveda turns to the others. “I’m going to go make some snacks and drinks. Any request?” No one has any, so she heads off down the hall.

  Dagna looks up from her book a few minutes later. Her eyes are red from lack of sleep. “We’ve also sent out word about the staff to the other Ruling Council leaders. They will be in touch with us if they find anything.” Dagna stands slowly, bones popping as she straightens herself out. “I fear what will happen if we don’t find the staff.”

  The uncertain tone in Dagnas voice plagues me with a new worry. “We are still going to go to Mykonos whether we find the staff or not, aren’t we?” If we don’t at least try to stop Cerelia, then she’s already won.

  Meira stands in a quick movement. “We most certainly will. We will not let either the Shadow or the human world fall because of our uncertainties.” Meira glances over at Witten, who nods a confirmation.

  “The planes will leave in the morning so we can arrive by Friday morning. I want time to scope out the area and convene with the local Coven.” Witten confirms.

  I wonder how Witten feels about working with new Elders. Eldrida always seemed to be the one running the show around here. Sure they all played a part but Eldrida was the one that everyone looked to. Now it seemed that the women kept turning to Witten for confirmation on everything. Maybe it was a respect thing. He has been an Elder longer than the rest.