The Price of Power (The Price of Secrets Series Book 2)

by Ashley Drake

  Wow talk about stepping on someone's toes, Jaycee sure did.

  “What do you mean by ‘not this generation’?” I asked.

  Her blue, almost purple, eyes moved their gaze to me. “The time line is usually every five generations, give or take a few years. You are about a generation early. Right now I’m feeling that you are the reason it has started ahead of schedule. You have a very old soul, Hannah.” I couldn’t help thinking of my dad, he always said the same thing. “Each of you lay your left hand on the table.”

  We all did as we were told. I felt excitement, along with fear, coming from both Jaycee and Daniel. Me? I felt dread, and I did not like this at all. My ears were ringing and I knew, just knew, that what she tells us here today is going to change my life. As lives go, mine is pretty bizarre, but I don’t want it to change for the worse. Nonetheless, I feel that it will, but I can’t stop it because my gut is telling me that this is where I need to be. And some stupid girl (ME!) just told Jaycee a couple days ago to follow her gut...I hate that girl right now.

  Zeda started with Daniel. She put his hand in hers and closed her eyes. “It is Daniel right?”

  “Yes ma’am.”

  She smiled at his politeness but her eyes remained shut. She held onto his hand for several minutes before letting go without a word. She skipped me and moved onto Jaycee. After what seemed like forever Zeda opened her eyes. “True born witch. The crystal is where it belongs.”

  “You seemed shocked, I was too.” Jaycee smiled. “Hair braiding, nature loving, passive girl I’m not.”

  “That just might be what saves you this time around.”

  Daniel, who had been very quiet up until this point, leaned up in his chair. “What does that mean? Why does everything have to be talked around in circles?”

  “Give me a minute, Warrior, and I will explain.”

  That got my attention fast. The voice inside my head had called Daniel a warrior when we were in Cherokee. Before I could say or do anything about it, Zeda grabbed for my hand. This time she didn’t close her eyes, she stared unblinkingly into mine. On the creepy scale- I would give it a solid ten. While she was in a daze, or more like a trance, I thought I would try to look into her mind to see what she was seeing.

  “Stop. It will only give you a headache,” was all she said and continued to stare. I felt like a child getting caught stealing candy, but I didn’t try anymore. I saw the fog leave her eyes as she came out of whatever or wherever she was. “Such power for such a young girl.” Pink rose to her cheeks as if she didn’t mean to say that out loud.

  She sat back so she could address the three of us. “You asked for blunt, so I am going to be. Since the beginning of magic, four young supernatural beings have faced the demonic trinity, the Triune. There is a sort of balance in everything. There is no right without wrong, there is no righteous without sin, there is no yang without yin and there is no good magic without dark magic. When magic was placed upon the earth it was pure and good. The Triune was made from evil to try to capture all magic and turn it evil. Your battle is one of many between light and dark trying to win and set the balance in their favor. So, when the Triune was formed, so were the group of four to fight against them. After each battle the four are reincarnated every five or so generations to try again, but each time they have failed. This time around it is different, there are five.”

  The three of us interrupted at the same time, and our questions were thrown at her simultaneously.

  Mine was simply, “reincarnation?”.

  Daniel went with, “five supernatural people, like a star? But there’s only the three of us”. He was trying to make a connection with the white star in middle of the forehead of the horse he had shape shifted into. Well, it wasn’t him, but he was portraying an ancestor… never mind you get the gist.

  Jaycee, of course, had a good question that Daniel and I wouldn’t have picked up on. She is so much smarter than she gives herself credit for. “Why do these supernatural beings have to be teenagers?”

  “One question at a time, please, you didn’t let me finish.” Zeda was annoyed and rubbed her temples with her long fingers for emphasis. “Supernatural power usually moves into full swing around the age of sixteen. For someone who is well trained in their ability would be able to get a power boost by drawing from the infamous raging hormones that their body is producing during the puberty development. That, along with speed and stamina, are the reasons this battle occurs when they are in their teenage years. The Witch, The Warrior, The Fairy, The Traveler and now The Heart. They are not so much like the five points of a star, Daniel, but more like four shields protecting the Heart, the core, the one who is meant to defeat the demons once and for all. You Hannah are the Heart and seer- a psychic who, among other things, can see into the future, past and minds.”

  A seer I get, but the heart? I don’t want to be the heart! I’m supposed to be the one who destroys demons?

  I started to stand up and walk out, after telling her she had me mistaken for someone else, but the nosey voice inside my head had to give her two cents worth- now is not the time for a tantrum, you need to listen and take heed to what she is telling you. It will help you in this journey.

  That’s just it, I don’t want this journey, I want to go back to where my only problems are living impaireds talking to me and seeing into peoples minds!

  Zeda didn’t catch my internal debate as she continued. “After each failed attempt, the four had to rest to regain their strength before being reincarnated into a worthy supernatural body.”

  “I don’t believe in reincarnation. You have one shot in life to choose bad or good and that’s it.” What Zeda said goes against everything I was taught growing up in church.

  “Just because you don’t believe doesn’t make it untrue. I’m sure many don’t believe in ghosts, yet you see and talk to them, or witches, while one sits right beside you.”

  She had me there. “My souls is MY soul. I do not share it with anyone else and I am me, not someone from years ago.”

  “You are correct. It is not the soul, per se, that is reincarnated, but the essence of the spirit. It is embedded into your soul and it becomes part of you. So yes, you are still you and only you will answer for your soul and the choices you made in life. After all, we are given free will. Even though you know what lies ahead of you, you still have the choice to fight them, ignore them, or join them.”

  “Join them? It that what these demons want?” Daniel asked.

  “Absolutely, it would mean the demons have won. It would only take one of the five of you to turn to the dark side for all to be lost. It would be a devastating blow to the side of good. There would be nothing standing in the way of these demons collecting lost souls and forcing them to do their bidding. With only three remaining to assist and protect the core, the battle would become almost impossible to win.”

  “It doesn’t sound like any of them won or made any progress anyways.” Jaycee mouthed off. “Why would this time be any different?”

  “Oh but they did. Even though they didn’t totally destroy the demons, and some lost their life in the battle, each time the team was able to weaken the Triune enough to where they too had to regroup and recharge. This time, though, you have Hannah and the essence that has chosen her. Actually, all three of you have received enhanced abilities and I’m sure you will find that to be true with the other two once you find them.”

  “So, just how do you propose we do that? Put an add in the newspaper ‘wanted- two supernatural teens to help fight big bad demons’, or tweet about it maybe?” Jaycee stood up as she started her rant. “I get that I’m a witch and Daniel is a warrior and Hannah is the center of all this, but how do we find a fairy and a traveler? Do we go hunting in the woods for a little bug in a tutu that lights up? And what the crap is a traveler? Say we do find them, and we have our freaky five, what then? How do we know what to do then?” Jaycee grabbed at her sweater and started panting. While she was having a panic att
ack, every candle in the store went a blaze.

  I rushed to her side and quickly put my hand in hers, to give her a sense of calm that I was trying to radiate from my mind. Which failed miserably seeing as my calm was just a facade instead of a true emotion. Without thinking, I put our joined hands around her crystal that hung from her neck, and within seconds I could feel her pulse slow and see the color coming back to her face. I too felt the power of the crystal run through me leaving behind a feeling of strength and hope.

  “Concentrate, put out the flames.” I told her while still holding onto the necklace.

  Without trying, I saw into Jaycee’s mind and watched as she formed an image of a single flame waving red and orange heat from side to side. She

  pictured her fingers snuffing it out in one swift motion. Just as fast as the candles lit, they were out. Strangely, there were no smoke that normally followed when a candle gets blown out, there wasn’t even running wax. It was as if it never even happened.

  “Very impressive. Especially for someone who hasn’t even had their rite of passage yet.” Zeda saw our blank expressions and smiled. “It means coming into her full power at sixteen. I did not mean to scare you, nor am I here to sugar coat it. Just like you, I have a job to do and I want to make sure I do it thoroughly.”

  “How do you know all of this? Were you taught this story, this legend?” Daniel asked. He seemed to be taking this well. It makes sense, him being a warrior and all… my warrior.

  “My part in this battle is that of a teacher, if you will. Over the years I have been given dreams of what to share if and when you found me.

  “Jaycee, do not worry, the five of you will find each other because your powers will attract and pull you toward one another. In all actuality you probably already know the other two or have at least crossed paths with them.

  “The Fairy will not be a tiny bug like creature. That person will be very much human. However, there is a small problem, they have no clue that they have any powers whatsoever. When their bloodline came to America they hide the powers that they were born with, out of fear of not being accepted in this new land, and they never practiced or spoke of it again. When a power lays dormant for that many years, without being able to evolve, it stops trying to emerge. But it is still there, deeply embedded.

  “A Traveler on the other hand will know they are special. Maybe not that they are supernatural, but will know they have been called for greatness. A person is not born a Traveler, or have it in their blood, they were chosen at birth to become a vessel for a Traveler. They inherit the powers from that Traveler. A true Traveler is an angel that has been given permission to leave Heaven to travel the universe in search of their own path to help destroy evil, only returning home once their purpose is complete. They are of pure heart and nature and seek out the same in a vessel.”

  Zeda stopped and turned her head as if listening to something that only she could hear. Without addressing her pause, she continued. “The number twelve is a powerful number, from the twelve astrological signs, to the twelve disciples of Jesus Christ, to the twelve realms of the dead. The number twelve will be your clue in finding the other two.

  Jaycee you were born in December, the twelfth month. Daniel, you are the twelfth generation of the powerful shape shifter Oganatoga. Hannah, your twelve is not so obvious. At the age of twelve you had a traumatic life changing occurrence when you helped pass over a spirit for the first time so...”

  “Wait,” Daniel interrupted, “you said Oganatoga was the name of my ninth great grandfather?” He didn’t wait for Zeda to confirm before turning to me. “That was who came to you at the crystal shop. Why didn’t he tell you who he was? Why didn’t he try to communicate with me?”

  I felt his pain. It wasn’t a pain like when you miss a loved one when they pass away, it was more like a pain from feeling like a failure. Daniel thinks that Oganatoga didn’t reach out because he was ashamed or disappointed in him. Or worse, that Daniel was not worthy of being The Warrior in this fight.

  “I don’t have an answer but I know it’s not for the reasons you think.” I tried to think of something more comforting to say, and came up with nothing.

  “There were no need for introductions, Daniel, Oganatoga has been watching over you since the day you were born. He put his spirit in danger just by giving Hannah the crystal, he could not risk speaking of his connection with you. Everyone that helps you with this quest will be putting themselves in harms way, including myself.”

  I never thought that we were putting anyone in danger by asking for help. If this is true, then that means Aunt Lucy, even my parents, could be in trouble. “Is there something we can do to protect you and the others we have talked to about this? Maybe Jaycee can do a spell or something.”

  “Jaycee hasn’t even came into her full powers yet, and what she does already have, she hasn’t exercised enough.”

  “Maybe not alone, but when we join together our powers intensify. I know that for a fact because Daniel and I joined and we were both able to take our powers to higher level. And when we faced the shadow demon, we joined hands and repeated Jaycee’s spell. Becoming one is what defeated him.”

  “Shadow demon? What did it look like?”

  “Here let me show you. It might take a second, I’ve just learned how to do this.”

  I held out my hands and Zeda placed hers on top of mine. In my mind I brought the image of the night we helped Samantha pass over. Once I had a good picture I imagined sending it down my body, through my neck and shoulders, and out my hands into hers.

  I knew it worked when I felt Zeda’s body tense.

  Zeda jerked her hands back like I had shocked her or something. “I was not aware of this. You have already encountered him with only three of you, and survived?” She questioned, even though she saw us sitting here alive and well. “That was not a shadow demon, he is one of the Triune, that was Malcolm. Malcolm, Mikah and Malachi make up the demonic trinity. Malachi was the first and the strongest. He took his name to slander it’s meaning- messenger of God.”

  My heart sank. “Then we have a problem.” I felt my body start to tremble from the cold shiver running down my veins. “I’ve met Mikah too.”

  Chapter 11

  “What? Why didn’t you tell us?” Daniel asked, as all three of them stared at me as if I had grown second head.

  “I did tell you. You've met him too.” As much as I hated talking about it, I felt that I needed to catch Zeda up. “I had to go over to Megan’s house to work on a project, Megan is a girl in my class, and he was there. I knew that he wasn’t a living impaired, but I couldn’t figure out what he was. Megan told me his name was Mikah and that he has been tormenting her for years. Then while Daniel and I were in Cherokee I was attacked in a bathroom stall. This man came in and tried to… tried to rape me, but Daniel was able to get to me in time. When Daniel knocked him out this black ooze started coming out of his body and disappeared through the ceiling vent. Daniel said that the man had been possessed by a demon. It had been saying the same things that Mikah had said to me at Megan’s house, so we figured that this demon and Mikah were one and the same.

  “This has never happened before. You shouldn’t even be on their radar yet. In every past group each had their sixteenth birthday, and had found each other, before their identities were ever discovered.” Zeda stood up and started to pace. “They must think you really have a chance this time. If they are tracking you, they will find out you were here.”

  “Let us help you. Like Hannah said, if we join together we will be able to… what’s the word, umm, cloak you.” Jaycee looked to Daniel and me for confirmation. “I can do this. I have been trying to do little things here and there to see what I can do. I have had success with it.”

  After getting the go ahead from Zeda, Daniel and I stood on either side of Jaycee and joined hands. Jaycee was having a hard time putting a spell together, so I tried to offer encouragement.

  “Remember when we were at t
he mall Christmas shopping and you got that woman to give up that sweater? You didn’t have time to think about it, it just came naturally to you. Relax and just concentrate on your breathing. It will come. Daniel and I will send our energy to you.”

  Daniel and I waited in our tiny circle, trying to send Jaycee energy and support, until she was ready to begin. She held her head back and started to chant.

  “We call upon our powers three.

  To disguise so none will see,

  this meeting taking place today.

  To keep all evil fully at bay.

  Complete protection- please don’t be hasty,

  to ensure Ms. Wood’s safety.

  We thank you in advance, respectfully. As we will, so shall it be.”

  It only took three times repeating the ‘wordy’ spell before it started to work. Warm air, that started in the center of our circle, pushed it’s way through us and filled the entire store. The aromas of Grandma’s kitchen and of Christmas overwhelmed me.

  “Eww, what is that smell?” Jaycee wrinkled her nose.

  Zeda clapped her hands together. “That would be pine and basil. They aid in protection. That was amazing! You did that without any preparation or staging whatsoever.”

  “Staging?” Jaycee asked.

  “The use of herbs, candles, an athame and such. I have never seen a witch perform a spell with such ease. But I have never met a natural born witch, nor someone with such backup as Hannah and Daniel either. You must go, so not to press our luck. Thank you so much for your help.”

  “No, thank you. You have given us a lot of information. We will keep in touch.”

  I went to shake her hand and she pulled me into a hug. “I feel like your group will win this time with you on their side, Seer. Here is my card, my email is on there. I’m not so sure the demonic trinity is computer savvy, so lets communicate that way. Please don’t speak my name out loud, I don’t want to put this protection spell to the test. And remember, when you say a demon’s name out loud it gives them power and an invitation.” She let go of me and hugged Daniel. “Be careful and Godspeed.” Then made her way to Jaycee. “Practice your craft. You have great power, you all do. Your freaky five, as you put it, will be talked about by supernaturals for centuries to come.”