Jayd hugged her knees closer trying to curl herself up into a ball. She began to piece things together and draw conclusions she wasn't ready to accept. It was too much. This whole scenario and the current events made her brain go into overload. The stress of it was pushing her over the edge. It brought her back to another time where she was frightened and her life had been fragmented because her father came home angry. There had been a loud noise and then...
The trauma of her current situation opened her to the memories of the night her father had come home and shot her mother.
Jayd had been playing in her parents’ room. Her mother was playing dress up with her. All of her makeup was spread out on the vanity. It was neat and orderly. Everything had its place in the house. Jayd was on her mother's lap. Her mother's face had never been clear in her mind, but now, when she gazed out through the eyes of a child, she saw her mother's face reflected in the mirror. Jayd had never realized she could have been her mother's sister they looked so much alike. They had the same curly, unruly blonde hair. Only hers was a shade darker than her mother's. Her mother's eyes were the same. Her mother had a rounder face and a more pointed chin, but other than that, they were identical.
"Jayd, do you want to look like Mommy?” she heard her mother in her mind.
Staring out through a child's eyes, she wanted to tell her mother how much she missed her. How much she wished she had never gone away and what her life had become, but her reply was, “Yes, Mommy."
Her mother smiled and then picked up her lipstick and made her face into that of a fish. Jayd tried to mimic her, but she couldn't quite figure it out, and her mother started laughing. Jayd began giggling, too. Her laughter was clear and innocent. Finally, her mother took the lipstick and started putting it on Jayd's lips. Then, they moved on to the eye shadow. Jayd had wanted to be a princess. They never got that far. Once the first brushstroke of makeup touched her eyelid, the door burst open. It hit the wall hard enough that the door handle knocked a hole in the plaster. The scent of drywall stung Jayd's nose. She looked over and saw her father standing there. Something was wrong. His face was all red. In one hand, he clutched something black and shiny. The other held a piece of paper.
Her mother slid Jayd off her lap. “Sweetie, why don't you go to your room?"
Jayd nodded her head, but she couldn't make it past her father, who was blocking the door.
"I thought you said this was going to stop, Margret!” he shouted.
Jayd covered her ears from the yelling. It didn't drown out her father's voice.
"Not in front of Jayd, Harold."
Her father looked over and sneered. “Like that little whelp is mine! How many have you screwed? How many?"
Jayd screamed. When her father slapped her, a sharp pain went across her face. She stumbled backward and hit the wall. Tears poured out of her eyes. She didn't understand why her parents were yelling and why her father had hit her. He'd never done that before. She looked at her mother, who got up and took her in her arms. Some of Jayd's pain went away from being in the comfort of her mother's embrace. She felt her mother's soft lips on the top of her hair. Her mother smiled and wiped away her tears. “Sweetie, go downstairs and play. Mommy and Daddy have to talk, okay?"
She nodded and began chewing on her thumb. She walked out of the room and down the hall a little ways, but stayed behind to see what her mother was going to say to her father.
"Harold, I admit I screwed up. It was one slip, but there is no reason to think that Jayd is not yours."
"Are you so sure, since she looks a little bit like my brother?"
"Whatever your drunken brother says about what he thinks happened between us isn't true. I can't believe you'd take his lying word over that of your wife. He's betrayed you all these years, and yet, you still defend him."
Jayd listened to the words her mother and father were saying. They went back and forth, getting louder. She walked a little closer and peered through the crack in the door. Her father lifted the black metal thing he had in his hand. He pointed it at her mother. A loud bang came out of it and some sparks at the end. Her mother was standing before her one second, and the next, she was on the floor with a dot of red on her yellow shirt that was growing like she had spilled paint on her chest. If Jayd had done that, her mother would've been mad and punished her for making a mess. Jayd let out a shriek and waited for her mother to get up. Her mother didn't. She stared at Jayd with vacant eyes. She didn't understand that her mother was dead. Then, the door opened, and her father stood looming over her. Something triggered in her brain. Jayd didn't know what it was, but it seemed her mother was telling her to run. Her mother's voice was screaming for her to get out of the house and hide. Her father made a grab for her, but Jayd ducked and ran downstairs into the kitchen. She was too small to get the handle, but she was just right to fit through the doggy door. She squeezed through it and didn't see that her father was not trying to come after her. Jayd was so scared that she kept on running around to the side of the house where there was a crawl space. Her father told her never to go in because there were things inside of it that might hurt her. It was covered with wood, but she was able to pull the boards down because they weren't nailed on. She crawled underneath the house. When she did, she curled herself up into a ball, hoping her mother would come and get her when she got up from the bedroom floor.
After a few minutes of waiting in the dark, Jayd heard another loud bang and then everything was silent from the house above her. She waited in the crawlspace for three days, going through the nights huddled up. Thankfully, it was warm, so she was okay, but she was hungry. Jayd didn't dare go back into the house in case her father was still there. Finally, a neighbor came over and heard her crying in the crawl space. Jayd recognized her because the neighbor was nice to her and always gave her a cookie when her mother went over to her house. But when the neighbor tried the door and found it was locked, she asked Jayd what happened. Jayd didn't know. She said that she was waiting for her mother. The neighbor called the police after that, and Jayd was brought to Gabrielle.
My God. I can't believe I remembered that, Jayd thought when she looked up and wiped her eyes. Her muscles were cramped from sitting so long. She checked her watch, shaken at what had transpired. When she saw the time, her heart dropped. Four hours had passed, and she was still all alone. No one had come into the shop, and even if someone had, she wouldn't have heard the person. She was out of it. She had spaced, something she had never done before. God, what's happening to me? Am I losing it completely? All of this over Seth and some stories that Aunt Gabrielle told me. All of this has to have a rational explanation. She tried to wrap her mind around the sane side of the events. But there were no realistic thoughts at all. The shock of the situation had opened a can of worms in her mind. She had never felt so vulnerable in her life until now.
"Who the hell are you, Seth? Are you the guardian angel Gabrielle told me about? Is that why you can't talk about what it is that you do when you're not here?” Jayd asked to no one in particular when she got up and stretched. Her legs ached from being stiff for so long, but she didn't care. It took a moment before her toes had feeling in them once again because they had fallen asleep. Moving the curtain aside, Jayd noticed that the sun sat on the horizon, casting long shadows on the sidewalk from what she could tell, because she was below street level. There was a chill in the shop that made her rub her hands over her arms to get her circulation going. Her mind traveled to Seth and how he had vanished. It seemed the shadows had swallowed him whole.
If that was the case, and everything her aunt had told her was true, then there was another world that she didn't know about. Magic might be real. The concept was hard to grasp. Jayd wasn't sure since she had always based all of her actions in a world that she could taste and smell. Another thought crossed her mind.
What if my stalker isn't human, either? The idea made her stop and investigate the shadows. They seemed bulkier than they had been before, but that was
a trick of the light because it always got dark in the shop at this time. After the sun hit a certain point on the street, she lost its light. Jayd had never felt unsafe in her store until that teenage Goth boy had come in. With his appearance, everything in her world went topsy-turvy. She barely trusted her own judgment since she was hearing voices, but now, she realized that she wasn't crazy. Something was going on, and she was in the middle of it. Her fear from her stalker turned to anticipation almost because she wanted to confront him and see if he, too, was something extraordinary or if he was a normal human guy. But she still didn't want to face him alone. Jayd checked her watch again. It was near six.
Seth, wherever you went, I hope you get back here in time. Jayd, hoping that he would appear out of nowhere, searched the empty space, but when he didn't, she didn't let her resolve vanish. She was going to be ready for her attacker whoever or whatever he was. If he was some kind of supernatural being, Jayd was going to find a way to ward him off. Hell, she owned a new age shop and had knowledge of the occult at her fingertips. Maybe it was time to learn a few things about the wares she peddled.
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Chapter Eight
Seth looked up from his kneeling position into the azure eyes of the Banshee Queen. Instead of looking haggard, and wizened, she appeared in her human form. Her hair fell down her back in long chocolate waves that shimmered in the candlelight of the throne room. Her throne was made of black onyx. All the walls were lined with mirrors frosted over with cobwebs that looked to be made out of gold. There was someone playing a piano in the far corner. It was one of the queen's banshees, in normal form, playing a tune on keys made of human finger bones. The floor was tiled with emerald marble veined with gold. The queen herself wore a dark green dress that clung to her mortal form. Seth had to admit, the queen was a beautiful woman and horrible when she was a banshee. Her nails were blood red to match her lipstick, and her skin was translucent, showing off the veins in her hands.
"I have come as you insisted, Majesty.” Seth tried to sound sincere.
Betha turned her gaze from her court to him. He noticed in the reflection that there were specters dancing and twirling on formless feet along with the ethereal music continued. It reminded him of some macabre funhouse scene. “My, my, Seth, you've finally decided to grace me with your presence. Never in all my years with you Warriors have I been kept waiting so long. Now why is that? Are you too enamored with that mortal of yours? Am I going to lose you like I've lost two of my other Warriors?"
Seth tried to rise. Betha waved her hand, and his muscles froze. He was locked in a kneeling position. He fought with all his strength, straining against the weight that held him down. No matter how much force he used, there was no way he could overcome the power of the Banshee Queen. She ruled him, and he was not able to go against her. The only ones who could were the ones who had been freed from the curse.
"Mistress, please,” he said through gritted teeth. “I am here. I was coming when you summoned me. However, I was making sure Jayd was safe. There is something after her, and I swore to protect her. You're not going to lose me, My Queen."
He cast his eyes down and looked at her feet. A screech erupted from her human lips. It pierced his brain. It shattered his eardrums. Wetness began to trickle down his neck from the blood. He was deaf for a few minutes while his body repaired the damage. Sharp fingernails under his chin lifted his face to look at her.
"Seth, you have been a devoted Raven Warrior since the day you were cursed. You have never disobeyed me. The charges I assign to you are always the first things on your mind. I applaud you for that. This ordinary mortal has no magickal blood in her. She is not a half-breed of any kind, nor does her fate dictate that she will one day come into some preternatural gifts. There is no reason for you to be watching her.” Betha stabbed the points of her nails into his chin. He winced at the pain but did not let it escape his lips. He knew better than that.
Seth narrowed his eyes. “Betha, I have honored you over the centuries I've been with the flock. I've done everything you have ever asked of me. However, I will not leave Jayd to be ravaged. No matter what you do to me, I will go back and protect Jayd. It doesn't matter what kind of abilities she does or does not have. You will not keep me away from her!"
Seth felt the weight of her power descend on him again, trying to force him to look away from her, but she wasn't going to have the satisfaction. It took everything in him. Betha shrieked again in frustration and walked away. Her high heels clicked on the marble when she strolled back to her throne. The music and the dancing were still going on. The tune had grown darker and more dangerous, something that would accompany a dark and stormy night before a massacre. It fit the Banshee Queen's mood. He would have to tread carefully. The more he thought about it, the more he realized he didn't care anymore. In his heart, Seth knew that Jayd was his heartmate even if she didn't understand what was blooming between them yet.
"Seth, you're becoming like all the others. Just like Tremain and Darius. You're so engrossed in this mortal bitch you're forgetting that you belong to me. You can't be with her. All she'll do is cause you pain and trouble in the end. Come back to me and do what I ask. I will send the Shadows to guard her if that's what you desire to keep her safe, but you have one assignment to do that doesn't include watching over this woman you're infatuated with.” Betha sat in her throne and slung her feet over the arm. A low wail split her lips. A servant appeared next to the throne carrying a golden goblet. Her fingers, tipped with blood-red nails, wrapped around it, and she brought it to her lips. Seth watched when she downed the contents in one long swallow. When she put the goblet down on the tray again, he saw the unmistakable stain of blood lining her lips. It would only be human.
His stomach turned in disgust. Seth understood that she had to drink it in order to retain a human appearance, but he thought killing innocent humans was a sin. That was one reason he despised vampires. He did not condone violence even if he was a Warrior. But if she was drinking more blood, then she planned on going to see Linnea and the children again. Something was going to happen, but he didn't know what. He wasn't a seer and could not predict the future. After twenty-five hundred years, his instincts told him that it was going to be bad.
"Highness, what're you planning to do with Whitney? Tremain and Linnea must realize that you have a vested interest in their infant daughter when you never pay any attention to their son."
The Banshee Queen turned her head to stare at him. It rotated slowly enough that he could hear the bones creaking in her neck. When she faced him, her human facade melted away, replaced with her normal visage ... a shriveled mummy that had been badly preserved. Her hair bleached to bone white with bugs and bits of dirt clinging to it. Her eyes disappeared altogether. Betha's skin grayed and began to flake off until all he saw was bone underneath. Her feet shriveled up and evaporated into wisps of smoke. Her dress became nothing more than tattered rags that had been put through a shredder one too many times. Her chest flattened, and her teeth grew all pointed and yellowed. A shiver of fright seized him. If a mortal saw her, death was imminent. If her lips touched you, death was instantaneous. Because he was immortal, it wouldn't matter. She rose from her throne and floated in front of him.
"You dare question my authority when it comes to my Warriors and my intentions. What I do with the child is none of your business! You should be damned for what you are inferring. How could I ever replace my Maili? She was my life. Linnea and Tremain took her from me. There is only one course of action with those two."
Seth knew what that was. Betha was not going to replace Maili with Whitney. She was going to kill the child. She was going to inflict the same kind of heartache she suffered on Tremain and Linnea. “You can't take her life! It would ruin Linnea and Tremain. How selfish can you be? Your daughter was insane!"
Betha laughed in a high-pitched tone. When she did, he saw her expression turn maniacal. “My dearest, Seth. How quick of you to figur
e it out. Tremain defied me. I see the same insubordination in your eyes, Seth. Why don't I send one of my banshees to your little mortal? I can have her kissed. Once that happens, you won't have anything to worry about. Her soul will be Azrael's, and you'll be free to be my faithful Raven Warrior again. I will not lose any more of my Ravens to their mortal desires."
"It's not your decision how destiny brings together two souls or how the human heart works. Maybe it's time that all of the Warriors are freed to make room for those souls that have to be punished. So many of us have spent decades, centuries repaying our sins against those whom we have wronged, or were never supposed to be here in the first place."
Betha put her face right into his. “I control those I see fit. And even you are still under my control."
Betha ran the back of her decaying hand along his cheek. He tried to suppress a shudder, but it enveloped his whole body when her lips touched his forehead. Once they did, his entire body erupted in agony. It was worse than the pain he felt when he had first been branded with the triple raven symbol on his shoulder. Nothing he could do would stop it. The power that held him in place was gone. He dropped to the floor. His sword fell, and the loud crash echoed through the entire hall. Through a distant tunnel, he heard the ghostly music stop playing, and the loud roar that had replaced it was coming from his own mouth.
Whispers in the Dark [A Raven Saga Book 3] Page 7
