Prophecy Untold

by Kelly Carrero

  She locked eyes with me, a defeated sigh escaping her lips. “You’re not ready.”

  “Of course, I’m ready,”’ I said without hesitation. “And every second we waste here is an eternity of torture for her in there.”

  “I understand, but I also know you’ll be gone the second you work out how to bring her through, and you’re not ready if something goes wrong. That’s why I’ve given you those books to study. You need to arm yourself with as much knowledge as possible before you step into the Shadow Realms since there isn’t a damn thing we can do to help you once you’ve crossed over.”

  My face slumped as her words rang true. She was right. I would cross through without giving it a second thought. But that didn’t mean I was happy. It just made me even more pissed off with myself for falling asleep last night.

  “Maybe what Lana gives us tonight might help,” she said, trying to get me to cling to the smallest of hope.

  It worked.

  Because it wasn’t a small strand. Whatever the Society had on those shelves was the answer. I was sure of it.

  The way those books called to me carved an undoubtable truth in my heart. Either that or I was fooling myself and I was going to come crashing down—hard.

  Nessa cocked her head toward the back room. “Wanna come see how Joel is coming along with the new bullets? Then we can discuss strategies and work on some more spells that will help you tonight.”

  “Sure,” I said, curiosity getting the better of me. “But I can only stay for a minute before I have to go do something.”

  That something was waking up Max. I’d just ran out on them all, and it was kind of an ass thing for me to do after Max had slogged away on the books all night. Plus, I’d only just woken up, hadn’t brushed my teeth or even gone to the toilet. Then I also had the whole starvation thing going on.

  The smell of those damn vampires was driving me insane. Without them, my powers would most likely fade, but having them so close to me that I could smell their blood was kinda doing my head in when I was running low on their blood.

  We made our way into the back room, where we found Joel hunched over his workstation too focused to notice our presence.

  Nessa leaned her hip against the station next to his. “How’s it coming along?”

  Startled, Parker snapped his head in her direction. “I think I’ve worked out the compound for the bullets. Now I’m reconstructing it on these.” He held up a tip of an arrow. “Give me another four or so hours, and I should have it ready.”

  “Perfect.” She shifted closer to him and inspected the arrowhead. “Finn should be happy.”

  “Don’t suppose you can lace my daggers with it?” I asked then furrowed my brow. “On second thought, you can just give me a gun.”

  Nessa looked over her shoulder at me. “You shouldn’t need a gun if you can throw that wall up.”

  I barked out a laugh. “After what happened last time, I’m going in prepared for anything.” And I meant anything.

  “Focus on your magic, and nothing will be able to stop you.”

  “Except Orphelia and maybe any others like me they’ve managed to possess, because you know they’ve got access to magic that we don’t. And who knows how many descendants they have?”

  Nessa stared at me for a few moments as if she were trying to decide if she should say something. Eventually she strode past me, heading into the first room. “Come with me.”

  Like I was going to refuse. Whatever she was contemplating telling me was eating away at me.

  Nessa led me through the village, stopping at a container I hadn’t been in before. There were so many of them it was hard to tell which were people’s homes and which were not.

  She lifted her hand and pressed it against a pad stationed on the outside wall. A moment later, a clicking sound came and the door opened a few inches.

  We stepped inside, and it became immediately obvious that this was a spiritual place. The walls were lined with bookcases housing spell books similar to what Nessa had given me, glass jars filled with herbs, grasses, and other dirt-like ingredients. Candles lit the room, their aromatic scents wafting through the air, enveloping me in a sense of peace and clarity.

  “You can feel it, can’t you?” Nessa said, drawing my attention to her.

  I nodded. “What is it?”

  “It’s all of this.” Nessa cast her hands out to her sides. “The stronger the spells, the stronger the pull you’ll feel.”

  I could only imagine what the books I’d been drawn to in the Society’s library contained. “So those ones you gave me are pretty weak?”

  “You have to learn to crawl before you can walk,” she said with a smile, knowing damn well that I was frustrated as hell. “Master those, and you will have the framework for everything else. But that is not why I brought you here.”

  Nessa strode over to the shelf on the far corner and picked up an ornate box made out of pewter or something like that. I really wasn’t good with metals. She set it down on a table covered in a burgundy cloth next to a chalice and three candles.

  She lifted the lid, pulled out a parchment paper, and spread it across the floor, revealing a map of some sort. Then, she removed seven crystals from the box and laid them on top of the map. “As I’ve told you before, you are not the only one. There are other descendants around the world. Some we know of and most we don’t because they have never triggered the huntress within. They walk amongst us, unknown to us and the demons.”

  “These are seven others that we know of who have completed the transition by drinking from a vampire.” She moved the crystals, placing one over England and the other over Canada, then the remaining throughout Europe and Asia. “This one here”—she pointed to the one in England—“has known who she is for most of her life. And for the last year, she’s been learning how to harness her magic.” Nessa then proceeded to point out another few that also knew their true self.

  “Were they all bound like I was?”

  “Yes and no. You came into your magic well before your time and were bound much younger than they were.”

  I stared at the crystals on the map, each representing someone like me. Then there was a whole heap who still hadn’t laid claim to the demonic blood. “Why haven’t they all completed their transition?”

  The corner of her lips tipped up. “If I came to you a month ago, told you what you were, and asked you to drink the blood of a vampire, what would you have said?”

  “I would’ve told you to eff off.”

  “Exactly.” She collected the crystals and placed them back into the box. “It’s going to take a great deal of courage and sacrifice to complete the transition. We can’t force them to do something they don’t want to do.”

  I shrugged. “You could always take someone they care about.”

  Nessa glared at me.

  “Kidding.” Maybe I wasn’t. The truth was the demons didn’t care if you were ready or not. They never asked permission to possess you. They did nothing but spew lies from the mouths of those who followed them. Letting these few think that someone was in danger would be worth the pain so as to not be the unwilling participant in the demon-possession program.

  “If it turns out that we need the help of one that hasn’t transitioned, we’re hoping you can be an example to them. Let them know there’s nothing to fear in harnessing that part of their souls.”

  I was hardly a role model, but I needed all the help I could get. “Whatever it takes.”

  11

  Heading back into my container, I found Max sitting on the floor, running his hand over his face. He looked up at me, his eyes showing just how tired he still was. “Where did you go?”

  I peered into the bathroom, making sure we were alone, then sat cross-legged next to Max. “Nessa was showing me where the other descendants are. Did you know they already have seven others but some are too chicken-shit to make a meal out of a vamp?”

  He yawned, covering his mouth a second too late. “I
had no idea. Nessa hasn’t gone into any of those details with me. But you can hardly blame them for not wanting this.” He gestured to me.

  I jerked back and slapped his bicep. “What is wrong with me?”

  “Absolutely nothing. But you can understand that they might be a little afraid of becoming another form of bloodsucker.” He grabbed my hand and laced his fingers through mine. “Not everyone’s as stubborn and determined as you.”

  “For a second, I thought you were going to call me pigheaded.”

  “Well…” He shrugged.

  I glared at him.

  Max tugged my hand, pulling me onto his lap. “But you see, those are all the things I admire you for. You don’t care what anyone else says. You fight for what you believe in. Even if there’s some dumbass wanting to kill you.”

  I tapped my finger against my chin. “Hmm… Who could that dumbass be?”

  He laughed as his hands moved around to the small of my back. “One that regrets every second of his asshole ways.”

  I loosely hooked my arms around his neck. “One would think such an asshole would want to make up for his error in judgement.”

  Max leaned closer, brushing his lips across the nape of my neck. “Oh, I plan to.” He left a trail of kisses as he made his way up to my earlobe then over my jaw, stopping when he reached my lips. Literally stopping. As in pulling back, killing the moment.

  “What’s wrong?” I asked a little breathlessly. The guy had barely touched me, and I was already a hot mess. “I didn’t try to eat you, did I?” I joked. But as horrible as that sounded, the possibility was true.

  Max laughed. “No. You didn’t try to eat me.” He brushed my hair behind my shoulder than ran his fingers over my skin, down to my forearm.

  And I’d be damned if that smallest of touches didn’t set my hormones into overdrive. The guy was killing me with wanting to take things slowly. “Then what is it?”

  He cupped my face in his hands. “If we keep going, we’re not going to stop. And as much as I’d love to keep you all to myself for the rest of the day, there are other things we need to be concentrating on.”

  He just said “we.” I leaned forward and pressed my lips against his, giving him a kiss with a promise of what was to come. Then, I tore myself away from him and shifted onto the floor, picking up another book.

  Max snatched the book from my hands and stood. “Time for a feed.”

  I reached unsuccessfully for the book, but he pulled it away and tossed it onto the bed. “You’re jittery. You need to eat.”

  “I’m sexually frustrated, not jittery.”

  Fire lit up in his eyes, and I thought I had him, but he quickly extinguished it, once again taking the higher road. “Come on.” He held his hand out to me.

  Sighing, I placed my hand in his and got to my feet. “Let’s get this over with.”

  Max was right, after a quick feed followed by a shower to clean myself up, I felt as if I could attack the world on my own. Or at least I could face Nessa, Liam, and Parker, who stood before me, within the wards of the village and were about to unleash their combined power on me.

  Adrenalin coursed through my veins, eager to test my abilities. If I could hold my own against their attacks, maybe I stood a chance against Orphelia. I had no idea where I stood against the likes of her, and I really didn’t want to find out. She wasn’t just a witch. There was an evil presence to her that wasn’t from this world.

  Drawing on the energy from the earth, I felt the magic swirling around inside of me, consuming me with unrivaled power. They were no match for me.

  Nessa and Parker kneeled on either side of Liam, each pressing one hand against the dirt, and placing their other hands against Liam’s leg, drawing from Mother Nature and connecting their powers.

  A moment later, a sonic boom rippled through the air, heading straight for me with a speed that took me by surprise.

  Just before it hit, I threw my hands out in front of me, creating an impenetrable wall. “Give me more,” I yelled.

  The earth rumbled beneath me, and cracks began to form in the dirt. A second later, vines shot out of the ground and snaked their way around my ankles, squeezing tighter the higher they climbed.

  12

  Losing my concentration, I let the wall slip, the sonic blast sending a shockwave through me, disturbing the magic within as if I’d just been short-circuited. A split second later, an invisible force smacked me in the chest, sending me flying backward, the vines stretching the distance with me, then rooting themselves into the ground as they continued to constrict me.

  Shit.

  I had to think hard—and fast. The one thing Nessa had kept telling me was to stick that damn wall up. But what was a wall going to do against these vines trying to squeeze the ever-loving life out of me?

  Then it hit me. The wall could start with me.

  Concentrating on the ground beneath me, I called on the power of the land, once again allowing it to consume me until every nerve was on edge, my hairs standing on end. Then, I focused on building the wall just below the layers of my skin and slowly pushed out.

  I let out a strangled laugh, barely able to believe it was working.

  Nessa was right. The wall was my best defense.

  The vines stretched, getting pushed away from my skin with every inch I pushed the wall further until they snapped into little pieces, no longer able to withstand the pressure.

  Nessa clapped as I stood. “Well done.”

  With a grin spread across my face, I strode over to her and the others. “Guess you were right. All I needed is the wall.”

  “For now,” she said. “There is still a great deal to learn and many tricks that the demons can play on you.”

  Yeah, they had me by the lady-balls; they had my mother. “Don’t worry. I’m not that cocky to think I’m untouchable. You guys just proved that.”

  “Good.” Parker said, dusting off his hands. “Because one little falter is all they need. Orphelia has been practicing magic for longer than any one of us has been alive. And although you have the power to defeat her, she has experience and knowledge on her side.”

  I didn’t need reminding. I knew exactly how hard it would be.

  “Why don’t you go clean up and hit the books?” Nessa suggested. “We’re meeting in two hours to discuss the plans for tonight.”

  I nodded and was about to leave when I turned back. “Can I do that whole vine thing as well?”

  “Of course,” Liam replied. “That and so much more.”

  “FYI,” Nessa said, “that spell is in one of the books I gave you.” She got that look in her eyes as if she were wondering if she should say what was on her mind.

  “Whatever it is, just tell me,” I pleaded.

  She smiled. “There will come a time when you realize you don’t need the spells in that book to manipulate the world around you. It is only magic that you can not see nor touch that requires something greater than what already lives inside of you.”

  Well, that made a whole lot of sense. I can’t see the wall, yet that is something I don’t exactly need a spell for. It is more a feeling or a vibe, an energy that comes from within, drawn from the earth.

  And there it was. The earth. Something I could see and feel.

  What Nessa said was starting to make sense. I could not bring my mother through the veils as there was nothing I could physically connect with in the Shadow Realms to draw my magic from. Which was why tonight was so important.

  Heeding Nessa’s advice, I headed back to my room and jumped into the shower for the second time that day. It was surprising how much of a sweat I worked up out there considering I was basically just using my mind. Then again, I did have a vine wrapped around me, flattening me to the ground.

  Dressed in a comfy pair of running shorts and a tank, I picked up the book I was halfway through and sat on my bed cross-legged.

  Reading through the pages caused me way more frustration than I wanted to admit. I didn’t wa
nt to know how to expel the dark energy from a room, or how to light a candle without using a fire source. Nor did I want to know how to change water into wine. That shit would’ve been great a few months ago, but the thought of compromising my state of mind was inconceivable.

  What I needed to know was how to defeat that demonic bitch and make every member of the Society that came at me bleed tears of blood. I wanted to learn how to light a fire inside their bodies, burning them from the inside out.

  I wanted them to suffer for everything they’d done and what they’d planned to do. So much anger resided in me, and I desperately needed an outlet.

  Running was the only thing that came to mind. But I couldn’t spare the time. I had to keep forcing myself to search. Everyone’s life depended on it.

  By the time dinner came, I was no closer to saving my mother. I did, however, master the whole moving things without touching them. Well, maybe not master. But I could move them a little.

  All too eagerly, I headed toward the dining area, my eyes lighting up in wonder as I took in the scene before me. Tables were barely a foot off the ground, surrounded by cushions, and up above were hundreds of tiny orbs of light, floating in the air, turning the area into a magical fairy wonderland.

  The others were already there, seated at a large square table along with the witches and a few I hadn’t met yet. They were all digging into the various plates of food spread across the table and drinking from the goblets that looked to be filled with wine.

  I wasn’t sure it was such a great idea to be drinking when we were about to go on a mission. Then again, who was I to judge?

  Slipping in between Max and Kade, I asked, “What have I missed?”

  Max slid his hand over my thigh as he leaned closer to me. “Nothing much. Just a bit of security detail and the what ifs about Lana.”

  “I say she’s clean,” Kade said, goblet in hand. “We’re at a split, and you’re the deciding factor.”

  Furrowing my brow, I said, “Regardless, we’re going there tonight. I’m not blowing this opportunity.”