“Well, not in that way,” he said. “But it’s not easy watching you go all glowy and sweaty, knowing I should be thinking of shamany stuff and not sexy stuff.”
She looked up at him, her lips curling in spite of how tired she was. “What sort of sexy stuff?”
He kissed her, moving his lips slowly down her neck to the open V of her blouse. “You want a list?”
“I’m too tired to answer.”
“Are you too tired to just lie there while I do this?”
“Yes.” She held her breath as he began to undo her buttons. “I may fall asleep.”
“Fair enough. You can lie there while I have a quickie.”
She started laughing.
“Just don’t snore too loudly—it puts me off.”
She pushed him away and rolled over onto her front, laying her head on her arms. “Honestly, I need to sleep.”
He began to kiss down her back. “I’m not stopping you.” He slid his warm hands beneath her top, drawing light patterns on her skin. “Don’t mind me.”
“Ssh, I’m asleep.”
He leaned over her and ran a tongue around the edge of her ear. She shivered, sighing. He pressed against the length of her, hooking a leg over hers. He was heavy and warm, deliciously so, and her tiredness ebbed away as desire rose inside her.
“Damien…your mother could walk in at any moment,” she protested half-heartedly.
“Sorry, you can’t use that excuse—a) she’s gone out shopping and b) she’s under strict instructions not to come in here.” He ran his hand up her leg, under the long skirt she was wearing, to the top of her thigh. He stopped suddenly, and lifted his head. “Oh my.”
She smiled.
“How come you’re not wearing any underwear?”
“I get hot when I’m channelling. Is that a complaint?”
“I’m shocked.” He pushed her legs gently apart, then slid a hand between her thighs, finding the softness within. “You are a very wicked witch,” he whispered in her ear. “And you need to be punished.”
“Oh I do,” she agreed softly, her heart rate speeding up.
He stroked her slowly until she began to sigh with pleasure, then unbuttoned his jeans.
“Luckily I came prepared,” he murmured, and she heard the rustle of paper as he opened a condom. He’d apologised for forgetting the first time, promising it wouldn’t happen again.
“That was presumptuous,” she said as, seconds later, he moved on top of her.
“Hopeful, more like.”
She lifted her hips and he slid inside her, making her gasp out loud.
“Bad witch,” he murmured in her ear as he began to move, and she sighed her agreement, accepting the punishment as graciously as she could.
It took Kimi just over a week of almost constant practice to be able to reach a hundred percent on her chakra clock, but on the Thursday morning, Damien finally thought she was ready to try to plead to the Higher Powers.
Kimi sat cross-legged opposite Damien in the dining room, Serena on a chair to one side, observing.
Damien explained to Kimi what she had to do. “Everyone has an animal spirit guide,” he told her. “Shamans are the only ones who can see them usually. But we’re going to ask Storm to introduce you to yours. Once you’ve met her, she can then take you to the Higher Powers.”
“What are the Higher Powers like?” Kimi asked nervously.
“It differs from person to person. They may appear as animals, people, an object, as words or pictures in your mind. You need to be frank, polite, and honest, because they know if you’re lying before you do. Just say what’s in your mind.” He took her hands in his own. “Are you sure you still want to go ahead with this? There’s still time to back out.”
Kimi smiled, even though her pulse was starting to race. “Of course I want to try. I’m not getting up from this floor until you have your powers back.”
“We may not be successful first time,” he warned. “It may take a few tries.”
“Damien… I’m prepared. I’m ready. I’m a big girl—I can take care of myself.”
“Okay.”
He was uncharacteristically nervous. That made her nervous in turn. She had to get going, or she was going to be too panicky to do anything. “Let’s start.”
He nodded and closed his eyes. Kimi studied him for a moment as she calmed herself. He’d been very quiet the past few days. She knew he didn’t actually think he’d get his powers back, and he was trying to adjust. He didn’t believe she could do it. That very fact made her determined to be successful.
She glanced over at Serena. Damien’s mother smiled. Kimi knew she appreciated what she was doing for her son. Although Serena had no powers, Kimi still valued her being there. She had a calming influence, which Kimi needed at that moment, and she drew on Serena’s energy, feeling it wash over her like a calm sea.
She lifted her hand from Damien’s briefly to open her portal. Storm appeared immediately in front of her. He was standing, waiting. He knew what they wanted to do.
She closed her eyes and slowed her breathing.
After a few minutes, a picture began to form in her mind’s eye. She was standing on the edge of a forest, similar to the one in the grounds of The Crux, ringed by a shallow ditch. In the vision, she glanced down at Storm looking up at her, tongue hanging over the side of his mouth. He moved forward and jumped over the ditch into the wood, then turned and looked back at her. Taking a deep breath, she followed him.
The woods closed around her, and instantly she knew she was on another plane. It was autumn there, just like it was back on Earth, and the trees were turning, russet and gold leaves falling and blanketing the ground, but there was something magical about the wood—a whispering in the tops of the trees she wasn’t entirely sure wasn’t the trees talking.
Ahead of her, a path led through the trees. Storm started walking down it, and she followed him. Damien had explained in one of his classes that, when following a visual meditation, going down a path often meant you were sinking into a deeper state of relaxation, and she realised this forest represented her mind, the path taking her further into an altered state of consciousness.
Storm slowed his pace, and Kimi looked up at the path ahead, seeing something in the middle. It was an animal, waiting for them. Her heart pounded. It was a hare, slightly larger than a real animal, its body dark brown with black patches, its long ears shimmering with an unnatural silver light.
“My spirit guide,” she whispered.
Storm walked up to the hare and touched noses with it. Kimi stopped a few feet away and sank to her knees. The hare stared at Storm for a moment, then hopped slowly toward her. It paused a foot away and looked up at her. A wave of amazement swept through Kimi at the knowledge that she was meeting her spirit guide. This was an ancient soul, a being who, out of choice, had decided to spend time with her, guiding her along her spiritual path.
The hare rubbed its face with its paws, then turned and began to hop down the path. Kimi got to her feet and followed it.
She walked through the forest, her feet crunching through the piles of leaves, more fluttering in the air around her, some glittering with copper and gold, reminding her that this was no ordinary forest. It wasn’t long before, ahead of her, a structure appeared through the trees. It was like a small, low stage made out of carved wood, entwined with vines and leaves as if it had grown out of the very fabric of the forest. Kimi approached it nervously. The hare hopped up the steps to the platform, turning to see if she was following. She did so, climbing the steps, seeing immediately there was somebody sitting in a chair in the middle of the platform, watching her.
Kimi walked onto the stage in front of the figure and stopped. Her mouth had gone dry. It was a young man, not much older than Damien, and yet far, far older in terms of knowledge and wisdom than herself. He wore simple clothing in the colours of the forest, and he had plain brown hair swept off his forehead, but his dark green eyes were ancient, and
his face held an intelligence and insight that told her this was no mere servant of the Gods, no minion sent in their place.
Standing before him, the hare and Storm beside her, she knelt, bowing her head.
“Greetings, Secret Fox,” said the man. “Please, stand. Let me look at you.”
She did so, shivering as he used Damien’s nickname for her, risking a glance up at him. She frowned. Was it her imagination or were there antlers crowning his brown hair? He moved his head and she realised they were just branches of the tree behind him—or were they?
“I am Herne the Hunter, Lord of the Greenwood,” he announced quietly. “And you are most welcome.”
Kimi’s eyes widened. This was definitely no underling. The God of the Forest himself had come to meet her.
“My Lord,” she said, looking down. Her knees shook.
“You have brought friends with you, I see,” he said, amused, looking at Storm and the hare.
“They were kind enough to guide me here,” she said.
He nodded. “I am glad you see them as the gracious beings they are, and that you do not see them as your pets.”
“Of course not, my Lord.”
“And why have they brought you here?”
“I come…” She cleared her throat. “I come to plead for you to give Damien Stone back his powers.”
Herne studied her, his eyes half-lidded. Leaning on the arm of his chair, he fingered his chin thoughtfully. “The shaman’s powers were removed because he broke his oath. The universal balance had to be kept. We cannot interfere with the equilibrium of the universe, Secret.”
She swallowed. “There is a great battle coming, my Lord. We know it is imminent. The forces of darkness are about to break through the veil. The powers of light need Damien. Please… Do not punish everyone for his transgression.”
“He knew what was at risk,” Herne said sternly. “And so did you.”
“I… I know.” Kimi felt a wave of shame. “I should have been strong enough to say no to him, but…I wasn’t. I’m sorry, my Lord. Please don’t punish him for my weakness.”
“Your weakness?” Herne looked amused. “Damien has been around long enough to be able to resist the attractions of a woman.” He gave her a long look, which reminded her of Damien’s teacherly reprimand. “Don’t make the mistake of thinking of him as just a man, Secret. As one of my followers, I sent him to Earth to champion the cause of Light—not to be distracted by mortal women.”
Kimi had suspected Damien was something special. But the thought of him as a supernatural being, a follower of Herne, made a shiver run through her.
“Even so,” she protested, “he doesn’t remember anything before he came to Earth. When he had his powers, he was still a mortal man, with a mortal man’s desires and needs. If you didn’t want him to experience these then why make him into a man in the first place?”
Herne’s eyes widened. “You dare to question me?”
Storm lay on the ground, snout on the floor, and the hare quivered. Kimi stayed where she was, however, desperation giving her courage. “It’s not fair,” she whispered. “He is a good man. He deserves more than this. Why are you punishing him for loving me?”
Around her, the air darkened. A wind began to whip through the trees, causing a flurry of dead leaves around her. Herne stood, towering over her, and the shadow of his antlers darkened. “Even I cannot change the balance of nature,” he boomed. “For him to receive his powers back, something else has to be sacrificed.” He fixed her with his stare. “Are you willing to give your own powers for his? Take his place as a mere mortal?”
“Yes,” she said, although disappointment swept over her, and she could have cried. “I will.” Damien would be so angry with her, she thought sadly. He didn’t want her to sacrifice her powers for his. But what else could she do?
Herne looked down his nose at her. “So be it.” He held out his hand. Kimi sank to her knees, energy gathering between her eyebrows. She wanted to cry out, to protest, but she knew it was pointless. At last, she understood about the equilibrium of nature. Everything had to be balanced, light and darkness, everything.
Thunder rolled, and lightning cracked in the sky.
Suddenly, however, in the forest there was a blaze of light. A figure appeared before her, a woman, sheathed in a white dress so bright she had to look away. Herne cursed and stepped back, and the pressure eased between Kimi’s brows.
“What transpires here?” the woman demanded. She was very young, seemingly the same age as Kimi, but her manner and demeanour showed her physical age meant nothing, and this was a very old, very ancient spirit.
“This woman wishes to sacrifice her powers to restore the shaman’s,” said Herne.
“They are not hers to give,” said the Goddess, looking over at Kimi. “She wears my mark—I gave her the powers—they are mine and mine only to take away.”
“The balance must be kept,” snapped Herne, looking up at the roiling clouds above their heads.
“And it shall be,” said the Goddess quietly. She turned to Kimi and came over. “Your sacrifice would have been a great one—but it is unnecessary.” Her face softened and she reached out and touched a silver hand to Kimi’s cheek. “Damien loves you very much. Herne is right—we must keep the balance. But equally, not even we know all the patterns of the universe. Not even we can fight what is written in the fabric of the stars.” She looked deep into Kimi’s eyes. “You are my champion, Secret. You have a purpose to fulfil. Do not forget this.”
“I won’t.” Kimi’s voice was little more than a squeak.
The Goddess stepped back. “So be it.” She passed her hand in an arc above Kimi’s head. Then she put her hand on Kimi’s hair and said something quietly under her breath.
Kimi’s eyes shot open in the real world, lightning exploding between her and Damien, throwing her backward across the room. Damien went to reach for her, but light streamed from above through his crown chakra, and he gasped, pushing himself to his feet, rooted to the spot as if pinned with a giant golden spear.
The breath knocked out of her, Kimi could only watch as energy rained down, flooding through him, filling him up as water might fill a tall container to the brim. His head tipped back, his hair turning from blond to white and finally to a dazzling bright gold. Rays of light erupted from his fingertips, exploding in a shower of fireworks that could have beaten any Guy Fawkes’ celebration.
Serena stood, backing away to the doorway, fear and wonder lighting her face. Kimi got up as well, coming forward a few feet to stand before him. It was as if he were absorbing all the electricity in the air, as if someone was turning up his inner dimmer switch brighter and brighter, until he was like a filament heated to a white-hot temperature. Still he brightened, and Kimi began to fear he wasn’t going to be able to stop. He was going to self-combust, burn up from the inside, or melt like candle wax.
“Damien!”
He didn’t hear her. Delight and exhilaration lit his face. Herne’s words about Damien being one of his followers rang in her ears. He was not an ordinary man, she thought—but then she was no ordinary woman, either. They had both been marked for something special, and the Goddess herself had sanctioned their relationship.
But that wouldn’t be of any use if he had a meltdown before they even got to spend time together. There was a humming in the room, and the windows were starting to rattle in the panes. Kimi glanced over at Serena, whose panic-filled eyes matched her own fear.
Kimi walked up to him. The heat he radiated was fantastic, and she could barely look at him, he was so bright. But she had to do something.
She went up and put her arms around him.
Damien gasped. The physical contact brought him to his senses, and he blinked, breaking his connection to the Otherworld, the light around them dying slowly.
“Kimi?” he looked down at her as if surprised to see her there.
She stepped back. “Are you okay?”
He studied
her for a moment. Then he looked across at his mother. Finally, he glanced at the ground. Kimi could see he was staring straight at Storm.
He stepped back. He took a deep breath and let it out slowly, turning in a circle, holding out his arms as he raised his face in relief. Excess energy effervesced from him, rising in bubbles of gold to dissipate above their heads.
When he opened his eyes to face her, he was smiling.
“I’m back.”
Chapter Twenty-Three
The three of them spent the rest of the day talking and celebrating, Kimi explaining what she had seen, although she omitted the bit about the Goddess saying how much Damien loved her, as it made her feel as if she was trying to second guess him.
Though he was happy to talk, and his sense of humour had returned with a vengeance, that afternoon Damien was like a caged wolf. He was full of energy, and while they talked, he paced the floor, constantly moving, sparkling with electricity.
She felt suddenly shy with him, unsure as to what the return of his powers meant for their relationship. He hadn’t thanked her for what she had done and had merely sat and listened quietly when she told them how Herne had been about to take away her own powers in exchange for his. That puzzled her. She knew he was grateful—he didn’t have to say it, but still, his silence unnerved her. Did he dislike the fact that he now felt beholden to her? Was he wondering if she expected things of him now? She knew he resented being tied down—that he had hated Margaret thinking she could control him. Is that how he felt about her?
It wouldn’t be long before she found out. Serena had decided to go away for a while. She’d planned a trip to Scotland for some time, and in light of the coming invasion, Damien had made her promise to go. At seven o’clock, she came to say goodbye, ready to go into town to catch a train. They’d lit the fire, even though it wasn’t that cold, and the room was aglow with warmth. Kimi stood by the sliding glass doors to the garden, sipping a cup of tea. Damien rested—for once—on the arm of the sofa. Serena stood in the doorway. “Well, I’m off.”
Midnight Shaman, Fire Witch Page 20
