“Yes. Invoking can mean calling the spirit, with no determined destination. The spirit could end up taking over an object or a person, or just simply into the room where you are. Since spirits can exist on different planes and realms at the same time, they might be with you, but somewhere else also, which can make for miscommunication.” Picking up his plate, he set it into the sink. Tracking back to the refrigerator, he pulled out a carton of eggs, returned to the stove.
“Summoning calls that spirit to you, in whatever form they are in, wholly. They will exist in your plane, in your realm until you release them again.” Opening one of the cabinets, he retrieved a bowl and cracked two eggs, letting them splatter inside.
“Summoning is the most dangerous, but it’s also the most guaranteed method of speaking to a spirit.”
Summer’s mouth watered as she watched him add milk to the eggs and stir until the yellow mixture became frothy. Turning the stove back on, he poured the bubbly concoction into a skillet and grabbed up another spatula.
“Well, I need to know how to summon Faline, Cayden. I can’t imagine what happened to that book and besides, she told me to summon her if I ever needed her. And I would say this is the perfect time.”
Cayden turned from the stove, crossed his arms, making the spatula look like some sort of weapon, yielded by a fierce cook. “The most important thing about summoning is concentration and the images you allow into your mind while you’re casting the spell. You must maintain a steady vigil of meditation on that particular spirit. If you wobble or deviate from that at all, whatever comes into your mind will also show up.”
Summer bit her lip. “So, you’re telling me that if for one second I imagine Alsandair, he will be summoned here?”
Cayden hung his head. “That’s exactly what I’m telling you.”
Summer threw up her hands. “That’s just peachy.”
“Don’t worry about it. If you stress over it, you’ll be more likely to accidentally allow him into your mind during the summoning.”
“I guess you’re right about that.”
Cayden scraped scrambled eggs from the skillet and placed them on two plates. Walking back to the table to join her, he announced, “I’m right about everything.”
After slugging him in the arm, she started chowing down again.
Chapter 19
After breakfast, Cayden called Sophie and Lurleene and invited them to the summons. He wanted Lurleene there in case Summer needed healing and Sophie’s foresight would be a great back-up. He had gathered supplies and cast his spell of protection for Summer as she watched.
After he was done, he disrobed. And Summer gasped in shock when she saw the glorious naked man that revealed himself in front of her.
“Casting in the nude is just another way to pack more power behind the punch, so to speak.” A lopsided grin was attached to his face as he beckoned her to him.
As if in a trance, she walked slowly to him. Stopping, she got down on her knees. His dense manhood was already aching, straining towards her. A spot of moisture shone at the tip. She took him in her hands and licked it away.
Shuddering, he brought his hands to her hair and gently eased her closer. As her mouth engulfed him, he moaned, swayed slightly. “Summer, I don’t know what you do to me, but I know I’ll never get enough.”
His words made her bold. She stroked and lapped at him, purring. He brought one hand from her hair to slide down her cheek, hooking her chin with his fingers as she bobbed back and forth. A feral growl escaped his throat as he grabbed her under the shoulders and hauled her to her feet. The offense of his tongue claiming her mouth sent lightning bolts through her.
Every bone in her body went soft, liquid. Every part of her craved more. Goosebumps rose fresh on her flesh as he brought his hands down the length of her back, stopping to press himself further against her. She felt his stimulation, hot and hard as stone against her belly. She grabbed for the fabric and brought it over her head as fast as she could, not wanting to break contact for even that much time.
He slid her pants down her thighs and let them slump at her feet. Without warning his hands were there, the place she needed him the most. A miserable throbbing began to drum in her center and she rocked her hips, sinking his finger in her. She held onto his shoulders as she wailed, not able to support herself while her body was lost in such blissful confusion.
He brought his hands to her ass and though the emptiness she felt at the loss of his fingers was soon quenched as he kneaded.
Placing a foot between her legs and on the pants he had taken off of her, he lifted her up, freeing her ankles and carrying her to the wall. Astray in passion, they nipped, licked and tongued each other’s lips, throats and necks. Coming to the wall, he pinned her to it. He placed both hands on either side of her head as she supported her weight by hooking her legs tighter around his waist.
Pulling away just a bit, he placed his tip at her entrance and slowly passed into her. She instinctively used her back to push off the wall, towards what she was craving. He slipped so effortlessly in that she bucked as he buried himself to the hilt.
He prolonged his rocking, drawing out each sinuous stab. He came closer as he crested the waves and whispered. “We fit so perfectly. You wrap around me so tight that I lose myself in you.”
Summer threw her head back, spurred by his romantic ramblings. She began to bounce up and down, skewering herself deliciously. Cayden had stilled, allowing her to do as she wished. But, he reached for her ass, cupped his hands around it. “Summer, you have to stop; you’re going to make me….”
Before he could finish the sentence, Summer lanced herself one more time, hard and deep, crying out with a mixture of torture and gratification. As she bucked with the outcome and aftershocks, Cayden dove into her, spurting his own indulgence far into her.
They dressed and began blowing the candles out that still flickered from Cayden’s protection spell.
Summer glanced over at him, all of a sudden feeling self conscious and emotional. “Cayden, I love you.”
He went very still and looked at her for what seemed like an eternity. Then, he briskly conquered the short distance between them, his foot steps sounding like thunder in the ancient attic. He held her face in his hands as he said, “I’ve waited for you to say that since the moment I saw you.” She was bowled over and tried to keep happy tears at bay.
“I love you, too. But, of course, you already knew that,” he said.
“How would I have known that?”
Looking confused, he answered. “I told you, I think. It was right after we made love, it accidentally slipped.” He kissed her deeply, pulled her to him. “I have to be honest and say that at first I thought it was just the haze of really good sex that had made me say it. But, then I realized it was true and it scared the shit out of me.”
“It scares you?”
“Hell, yeah. Never been more scared in my life, especially when I keep thinking I might lose you.”
“You won’t ever lose me. I promise.” A familiar sinking began and her first thought was to try and run from it, but she knew better now. She gave herself over to it, inviting whatever awaited her.
Her face had gone ashen and Cayden kept her from falling to the floor as her body went lax. Scared shitless, now, he let the tears come. He cried until he couldn’t cry anymore, his sobs becoming convulsions as he realized he had lost her again.
****
Welcoming whatever had taken her over this time felt like melting into satin, it was warm, slick, and ran through her body like butter. She found herself in darkness, which she took as a good sign. The times she had been brought over by Alsandair, there were surroundings, not the inky void she was accustomed to.
She heard sniffling and focused on the center of her vision. The sniffling came from a little boy, maybe nine or ten years in age, she guessed. He wore jeans and a black t-shirt that depicted a blue dragon twisting up and around the shoulder. His hair was spiked, with the
ends tinted in red. Kids, she thought.
Feeling her there, he jerked his head around to face her. “Who are you?”
“You know,” Summer began, moving closer, “that is usually the first question I’m asked and I have yet to come up with an answer.” She sat in front of him, leaving a little distance until they were sure of each other. “I guess you could call me Summer, that’s my name, anyway, but really who I am is someone to help you.”
“Help me with what?” he asked, brave eyes sinking to his sneakers.
“Aren’t you scared? Do you know where you are?”
“I was in the car with my mom; we were laughing about me falling in my game yesterday when a car came out of nowhere. It hit us and that’s the last thing I remember.”
Her heart lurched. It had probably been a drunk driver; she had seen so many of their victims. If people could only grasp the tiniest chance that something like this could happen, they might be less apt to get in their car and drive home. Ignoring the bad part of the story, Summer tried to get him to focus on something good.
“What kind of game did you have?”
His eyes lit with excitement as he said, “Baseball.”
“That is so great! I love baseball. I bet you were really good.”
“Yeah, until I fall. I can be kinda clumsy sometimes.” Looking shamed, he once again looked at his sneakers.
“Clumsy?” Summer snorted. “I bet you’re nothing compared to me. “Do you want to know what I did the other day?” Summer waited for a response.
The boy shook his head, “Sure.”
“Well, I had all kinds of stuff in my hands, trying to bring it out to the car. I was getting ready to go down the stairs. I leaned too much to my left and smacked my head on the corner of the wall.” Summer put her hands up. “No lie. I had a bump the size of a baseball and a bruise to top it off.”
Genuine laughter rang in her ears. “So, what’s your name, MYP?”
“Scott.” He brought his hand towards her, waiting to complete the introduction. Stunned by his manners, she complied. He continued to talk, but the laughter was gone and he was back to staring at the toes of his worn shoes.
“My mom used to call me Scotty, I hated it.” Wistfully, he picked at the rubber soles. “I would give anything to hear it again now.”
“I’ll tell you what, Scott…..close your eyes.”
He furrowed his brow at her, but did as he was told. Summer spoke softly. “Do you feel anything?”
“I feel warm, like I’m on a beach.” An ear to ear smile spread rapidly across his young face. “I hear my mom. She’s calling me Scotty.”
“Go to her, Scott, and be warm forever.”
“When I get there, I gotta tell her to quit calling me that.”
Summer laughed as Scotty disappeared. Closing her eyes, she brought herself back into her body, slowly, comfortably.
Cayden was yet again at her side in the bed. “Why do you keep putting me in bed?” The laughter had carried over from her vision as she giggled.
Cayden didn’t laugh, his eyes were wet and he looked at her in misery.
“What’s wrong?”
Cayden stood. “I thought I’d lost you again. This is killing me.”
“Cayden, it was just a regular vision, someone needed my help, a boy who shared my tendency towards klutziness.” Her little grin went unnoticed as he paced.
“I don’t know if I can handle this, it hurts too much.”
Summer sat up, bracing herself for the inevitable rejection from her body, but it never came. She had gone through the motions correctly, therefore, she was fine, better than fine, actually. She stood and put her hands on her hips.
“What do you mean you can’t handle this? You can’t handle me, is that what you’re saying?”
Cayden swung around, his fists bunched. “I said I didn’t know if I could handle it, not that I can’t. If you’re going to repeat what I say, at least get it right.”
Summer flinched as if burnt. “I don’t know who you think you’re speaking to right now, but you better cool it. I’m not going to take that kind of treatment from anyone, much less the person I’m sleeping with.”
Cayden kept on. “Sleeping with? Is that all we’re doing, Summer?” His jaw muscles worked. “We’re just simply sleeping together?”
“That’s not what I meant and you know it. I told you how I feel. I’m not keeping anything from you.”
“Yeah, well, maybe you ought to.”
Summer’s hand flew to her mouth. She blanched and ran from the room.
Cayden stood, feeling like the biggest asshole in Louisiana.
Chapter 20
Running from the house and down the stone steps, Summer thought briefly of where to go. At this point she didn’t care, she just had to be away from the jerk she had thought she had fallen in love with. How had she gotten things mixed up? He had told her he loved her, didn’t that mean that he loved all of her? Weren’t people in love supposed to stick together in hard times, be there for each other? Now he was telling her in not so many words that she was just too much for him.
She walked up the sidewalk and decided to pay Sophie a visit. Picking up the pace, she jogged towards The Enchanted Attic and saw Sophie standing below the battered sign. Slowing down, Summer panted, put her hands on her hips.
Sophie smiled. “Good morning, chere. In need of some womanly company?”
Even though Summer had an idea, she thought about asking how Sophie knew, but quickly dismissed the notion of asking a question she already knew the answer to.
“That would be lovely, Miss Sophie. Got any tea?”
“Made it fresh just for you,” Sophie said, as she opened the door and motioned Summer inside. The shop smelled fragrant as always, like a lively perfume that never fully left.
Sophie walked past her and led the way to the back. Pulling back beaded curtains, Summer saw a little break-room. A microwave sat on a counter to her right, with two whitewashed cabinets above. There was a table and chairs to her right and she hurriedly sat down in one as Sophie shuffled around, finally bringing two cups of iced tea to the table with her.
“So, you had a vision, huh?” Sophie asked.
Trying to act nonchalant about the fact that Sophie had a supernatural power to know everything, she answered. “Yeah, I did.” Summer put an elbow on the table and put her chin in her hand.
“And it went well, I see. You’re coherent.”
“I’ve finally realized that if I harness the vision instead of pushing it away, I can help the effects it has on my body.”
“Very good.”
“Cayden doesn’t seem to think so.”
Summer played with her glass, catching the drops of condensation that had already begun to fall from the amber glass.
“Cayden loves you.” Sophie said, indignantly.
Summer sat up straight. “How do you know that?”
Sophie gave her an incredulous look. “Oh, duh,” she said.
“Yes, duh. I have a question to ask you, but it’s quite personal, or at least it might make you uncomfortable to know that I see certain things. It’s not like I have control or anything, they just stream in like a video in my head.”
Summer leaned forward and said, “As if it would the first time I was utterly embarrassed or knocked off my rocker in the last few days.”
Sophie pointed a finger at her. “You’ve got a point there.”
Summer was growing impatient, tapping her fingers on the table.
“Stop that, it’s driving me crazy,” Sophie barked at her.
Summer jumped a little and said, “I’m sorry, I’m just all fired up, I guess.”
“Understandably so, but if you persist with that annoying habit, I might have to curse you. Now, Shall I continue?”
Summer nodded. “Please.”
Sophie leaned back in her chair. “Have you wondered why your visions always come after you and Cayden have made love?”
Summer wr
inkled her forehead. “No.”
“Well, you should. A vision has come to you almost every time you two have made love, correct?”
Summer sighed. “Yeah, I think so.”
“Have you thought about how scared that makes him?” Sophie asked
A look of understanding washed over Summer’s face as she answered, “No.”
“The both of you are extremely powerful as individuals, now you put both of you together, and it creates a magnet of some sorts.”
“You mean it makes it easier for my visions to surface.”
“Bingo. Not only that, but it attracts spirits and magical beings from all over the damn place. They all sense it and gravitate towards it.”
“Like a big spiritual orgy?”
Sophie’s laugh rumbled in her big stomach. “Kind of like that, yes. Some feed off the energy you two create, others who are seeking you can locate you very easily.”
“Wow.”
“Yep, it’s a big wow.” Sophie leaned closer. “Chere, if I know anything, it’s that the two you belong together. He’s just having a harder time of dealing with the possibility of losing you. Although I don’t condone the way that boy spoke to you.”
Summer raised her eyebrow as Sophie continued. “Duh. Remember?” Sophie rolled her eyes. “Yes, ma’am, that boy is going to get a tongue lashing the next time I see him for that. His mama raised him better.”
“Sophie, I don’t think I can go back there, not after the way he talked to me.” Summer felt the sting and let the tears come.
Sophie got up, bundled Summer in a bear hug. “Oh, chere. I can promise you he’ll never talk to you that way again. He’s so scared. I can feel it in the air right now. He’s absolutely terrified. Terrified that he won’t be able to protect you. Which we all know he can’t, but it still makes him feel so helpless, frustrated.”
Summer sniffed. “What about me? Wasn’t I the one that was captured, nearly raped by an undead sack of shit? Don’t I have the right to be scared?”
Sophie patted her head. “Yes, darling, you both have plenty of reasons to be scared.”
Bayou Summons Page 11
