“So we have to hike all the way back to the arch?” I wasn’t looking forward to that.
“We will fly. It will be quicker and with less chance of another confrontation.”
“Sleep and Nadia’s food have done wonders for me, but,” I hated to admit that I wasn’t as strong as him, however, it was a fact of life, “there is no way I can hold the shift that long. Not right now.”
“No, you’re too depleted,” he said as we came back in sight of the lake. “We will stay at Nadia’s until tomorrow. That will give you time to rebuild your energy. Her home and the area immediately around it will be safe from any attack.” He gave me a weighing look. “And it will give you time to practice that shield you made during the fight with the seran.”
“I have no idea how I did that.” I wasn’t sure staying at Nadia’s was a good idea given the obvious hard feelings Caius still harbored for the woman.
“Hence the reason you need to practice.”
“How can I practice something I don’t actually know how to do?” I frowned, as I picked my way past some rocks.
He glanced at me with a gleam in his golden eyes that didn’t bode well for me. “You just need proper motivation.”
That didn’t sound good at all. I wasn’t sure I was ready for, or if I would survive his motivation.
***
“She can’t defend herself if she doesn’t know how to harness the energy inside her.” ~Caius
Chapter 25
Nadia didn’t seem to mind the two of us returning as guests. Or rather she didn’t seem to mind me. I could tell she wasn’t really thrilled to have Caius around, but since we were a package deal it appeared she would put up with him.
She fed us another simple yet filling meal and then I listened to her tell me tales of the past three-hundred years while Caius lurked around outside as if it bothered him to be in the same room with Nadia. For her part, Nadia said no more about Caius. But there was a lot she’d seen. I could have sat there forever listening to her talk of the world.
Caius had other plans. After a couple of hours, he opened the door and said, “Enough sitting around, Reaper. Time to practice.”
I wasn’t entirely sure I wanted to practice with someone who looked like a cat with a canary when he spoke of motivation. Warily, I followed him outside. “I still don’t see how I can practice something I’ve only done once. Something that just happened without me knowing how.”
“It’s called a shield and it’s an extension of your angel side,” Caius said as he walked a distance from me.
“I’ve never heard of anyone using a shield. If it’s something my angel half can do, shouldn’t the other reapers be able to do it?” I propped my hands on my hips and tried not to look nervous.
Though he seemed relaxed, there was something in his stance that told me to be ready. For what I didn’t know, yet ready all the same.
“They don’t have enough angel in their blood. To make a shield, you have to be a true hybrid.” His golden eyes reminded me of the bird of prey he could become and right then, I felt like a rabbit.
Dark indigo shadows started coiling around his hand. I watched them warily, unsure of what they would do. They shot across the distance between us. I threw my hands up as if that would help. The shadows struck me in the chest and sent me flying backward.
I hit the ground a few yards from where I’d been, the air knocked from me. It took a minute to get my lungs working right. I slowly sat up and rubbed my chest.
Caius still stood where he’d been. “Get up.”
Glowering at him, I got to my feet. “Are you trying to help me or kill me?”
“This is the least I can make it do.”
“What exactly is it?” I brushed the debris from my landing off my cloak.
“Soul energy.” The way he watched me as if analyzing the best way to kill me made a nervous knot form in my gut and I wiped my suddenly damp palms on my cloak.
“Why haven’t you used it before? Can all demons use it?” I asked, trying to stall.
“It isn’t infinite. This,” he allowed a small amount of it to bloom in his hand, “will barely make a dent in the energy. Using it for larger things will drain it and the only way to replace the energy is to consume souls. And no, all demonborn can’t use it. Only the offspring of Archdemons can harness and use soul energy.”
I swallowed hard, my gaze riveted on the indigo ball floating above his palm. “So that’s why you take the souls of mortals?”
“And immortals. Mortal souls go a long way. Immortal souls will last even longer, but are harder to get. Enough questions now, back to learning.” The shadows curled around his hand once more as he said, “If this doesn’t work, I can also call forth serans to help you find your shield.”
His words sent panic through me a second before the energy hit me. Grumbling under my breath I pushed myself up and stood, determined to find a way to stop his next attack.
“Imagine the energy you use to make your staff. Bring it forward in the same way only visualize it as a shield,” Caius said.
I thought of my staff, and the weeks it took for me to achieve it, in despair. Caius would probably kill me before I got the hang of a shield. When the next ball of shadows shot toward me, I held up my hands and tried to see my staff as a shield. It flickered for a brief second then was gone and I was sent sprawling on the ground.
“Did Alaric even teach you how to reach your powers beyond making a staff?” Caius folded his arms, a scowl on his face.
I shook my head as I stood once more. “It took quite a while before I could wield a staff.”
“What about Rowen, did he teach you anything?”
“No, Alaric did all my training in that area.” Why hadn’t Rowen taught me?
“So Rowen took no part?”
I tried to understand the sudden anger in his eyes. “No, just Alaric. He kept making me meditate until I could visualize it in my head. He said I had lots of determination and I needed to use it.”
“Determination will only get you so far.” Caius raked a hand through his hair and made a disgusted sound. “Emotion will help you connect with your energy in the beginning, help you form it.”
Alaric never mentioned any of that and I said so. When I asked Caius why Alaric hadn’t tried to teach me any of it, Caius only shrugged and said, “I have no idea, Reaper.”
“Maybe it’s just the demon way of using energy.” I was trying to find a logical reason why I hadn’t been taught more.
Caius raised an eyebrow. “Trust me; it works the same for both.”
“Does Alaric know that?” It seemed impossible that he couldn’t. My earlier doubts about Alaric’s honesty came back tenfold.
“He knows.” Caius growled something under his breath then said, “For some reason, he didn’t want you tapping into your angel powers too much, or into anything else. It might be wise to consider why.”
“He taught me to use a staff.” I wasn’t sure why I felt the need to defend Alaric. And what else would there be?
“Anyone can use a staff. It’s the first and easiest thing to come to those with immortal blood whether it’s a demonborn or reaper.” He regarded me with a speculative look. “A staff is the most basic of things, just like shifting. He sent you out here as prepared as a toddler who has just learned to walk and talk.”
Being compared to a toddler made me bristle even as the sense of being thrown to the wolves settled over me. Why had Alaric sent me, someone with so little experience, to do this? Especially when it appeared I was majorly lacking in the knowledge of my power? I gave Caius a half-hopeful look. “Will you help me learn?”
“Teach you to tap into your emotions to feed your energy and form it?”
I nodded.
He shook his head. “No.”
“How were you planning to help me practice if you can’t teach me?” Irritation threaded through me. Was everyone just going to dump this on me and let me sink or swim?
“I d
idn’t say can’t. I said won’t.” His expression turned hard.
I wanted to scream in frustration and cry because it hurt that no one seemed to care if I could defend myself against whatever Eisheth, or whoever else, threw at me. I didn’t do either. Arms crossed, I kept my expression neutral. “Fine.”
It was stupid to expect a demonborn to care. But Alaric should have. The fact that he obviously didn’t, left me feeling alone. At least before all of this, when I was alone, I’d always known my mother cared. I was alone by choice then because I didn’t want to bother her with my issues. This time, it was like being shoved out the door during a storm.
“But I will motivate you to find your shield.” His eyes glowed as indigo shadows curled around his hand.
I swallowed and nodded. If this was all he was willing to do to help then I would be happy I was at least getting this much. My heart jumped at the same time the shadows came at me. My hands flew up because that seemed to work last time. Again the shield shimmered around me like a bubble then disappeared and I was back to eating dirt.
Three more times his shadows came at me. Each time my shield flickered for a split second before they hit me. After the last one, I was slower getting to my feet. My shoulder ached from where it had struck the ground, same with my head and back. Who was I kidding? Everything ached from being repeatedly punched in the chest by his power and thrown to the ground.
Caius appraised me. “What are you feeling the most?”
“What?” I dusted my cloak off and set myself for his next attack.
“Your emotions, Reaper. What do you feel the most?”
“Irritated. Frustrated.” I chewed my lower lip for a second before finally admitting the last. “And a little afraid.”
He raised an eyebrow. “Afraid?”
“Not that you will kill me. If you were going to do that you would’ve done it already. But, every time you throw those damn things at me I know it’s going to hurt.” I shrugged. “So yeah, afraid.”
“It seems fear motivates your shield.” He folded his arms and regarded me.
“I guess.” I eyed him suspiciously. He didn’t look ready to use me as his shadow punching bag anymore. “What does that have to do with anything?”
“It has to do with everything.” A dark glint entered his eyes. “We will see how much of that emotion you need right now to bring up your shield.”
I gulped. “What do you mean how much I need right now?”
“One day, when you’ve gotten used to using it, you will require little to no emotion. It will just be something you do.” He gave me a smile that looked more like a baring of teeth. “For now, it would seem you need lots of it to work with.”
In the quiet, without so much as a light breeze to disturb the surface of the lake, my ears picked up the whispery sounds of their passage with terrifying ease. I spun around. Wide gaps opened up in the grass as they ran over it on their way to me. Oh gods no, he didn’t. I turned a panicked look on Caius.
He gave me a quick nod. “Let us see just how much fear it takes.”
His body language said he was going to stand right there and leave this up to me. I was going to die. The staff appeared in my hand and I turned toward the serans coming fast in my direction.
“No staff.” Caius barked it like an order.
“What?” My heart started pounding as I looked over my shoulder at him.
“Put the staff away or I stop the lesson and go inside and lock you out here with them.” Something in his expression told me he would do exactly that.
My legs felt watery as I let the staff go. The first seran came at speeds I wouldn’t have expected. I leaped away as it lunged toward me, its teeth ripping through the hem of my cloak and spinning me off balance.
Gasping, I managed to right myself just in time for the second to come at me. I barely got out of the seran’s way; its teeth snapping closed less than an inch from my face. The first coiled back. It hit me while I was dodging the other. The strength of the collision sent me sprawling. Both snakes lunged toward me. I threw my hands up as my heart thudded painfully. The shimmering bubble sprang up, just barely big enough to cover me.
The two serans coiled around my shield, alternately trying to squeeze it and bite it. It didn’t flicker, didn’t fall. Caius gave a sharp whistle. The serans made a couple last attempts to break through before leaving me and moving through the grass to Caius. I watched as they coiled around his legs for a moment before slithering away from him. The two snakes both reared up and dove straight into the ground, disappearing in puffs of smoke that left two rings of charred grass behind.
Disbelief washed over me. The shield flickered and died. I scrambled to my feet almost shaking with the anger that replaced my fear. “They were what? Yours?”
Caius seemed unfazed by my shriek. “As half-Archdemon. I can command lower level demons with almost the same ease as my mother.”
“So…you called them to kill me?” I couldn’t even begin to address him in any kind of calm, quiet voice.
“No, I called them here to help you find your shield. Which they did.” He smirked as if he found my anger amusing. “You were in no danger of dying. The serans were under my control. Trust me, if they hadn’t been, you would have been dead the instant the first reached you.”
“You? You!” I couldn’t even articulate words. He’d practically scared the life out of me, let me think they were going to kill me…He’d…I couldn’t formulate a coherent thought.
Without looking at him, I turned and stormed inside. There would be no more practice that day. I was too mad to think straight. Learning to use my shield was a dance I didn’t know the steps to and the only one who was willing to teach me thought dance or die was a good way to learn.
I should be able to hold the raven by the next day. At least then we would get back to Midtween. Which left me torn. I wanted to confront Alaric and, at the same time, I wanted to get out of there as fast as possible. The confusion over Alaric’s actions left me feeling off balance and angry with him too. Caius, wisely, stayed outside until it grew dark. When he finally did come in, he didn’t try to speak to me.
***
The light of the rising sun barely touched the eastern sky, nothing more than a smudge of less dark on the horizon when I stood beside the lake the next morning. I reached for the raven, feeling it form in my mind before my body followed suit. At least my feathers were warmer than my cloak. Caius shifted into the giant bird of prey and we both took to the sky.
He still hadn’t said anything more to me and I hadn’t spoken a word to him either, though I’d cooled down considerably. In fact, by the time we’d been in the air an hour, I could admit that as furious as I was at the time, his method had worked. I’d found my shield. It might only come to me in life or death situations at this point, but it was better than nothing. And the memory of the way he’d rolled his shoulder after I’d hit the ground particularly hard that last time reminded me that the minor injuries I’d taken during his training session were his injuries too.
We reached the natural arch of the tree late that afternoon. After landing smoothly, I allowed myself to shift back. I glanced at Caius who was busy settling his dark crimson cloak after the change. “Any ideas on how to get us both back to the same spot in Midtween?”
“There is no way that I know of.” He glanced at me and, for a moment, I thought he was going to remark on the fact I was speaking to him. Thankfully, he didn’t bring up my rather tantrum-like behavior of the day before. “You’re a reaper; your angel blood will take you to your side of the river.”
“Doesn’t the bond change that?” I glanced at the arch with more than a little worry. Alaric may be the Head of Reapers, but I wasn’t sure I could trust him anymore.
Caius eyed the bent tree. “Not a partial bond. The heaviest concentration in your veins is still angel and…”
“And human,” I finished for him.
He hesitated, turning from the arch to look dir
ectly at me. His jaw flexed as if he was purposely clamping it shut. I tried to read his expression and failed. If I had to guess I would’ve said he was suddenly furious, but not at me if that made any sense at all, which it didn’t. After a moment, he relaxed and let his breath out in a long sigh. “Yeah. Human.”
Why did I get the feeling he’d been about to say something else? “So I’m going to end up in the Incoming Office on my side of the river and you are going to end up…where?”
“Don’t worry about where I end up. Just do your best to not be seen.”
I crossed my arms. “Why do I have to worry about that? If we aren’t coming in together then there shouldn’t be a problem.”
Oddly enough, I wasn’t looking forward to the separation. Caius was still irritating, but he’d fought beside me, not against me. And so far, he hadn’t lied. A terrible feeling twisted my gut, one that doubted Alaric. It was strange to feel like the person who was supposed to be my enemy was my best ally.
“Have you forgotten you’ve been gone a few days now?” He glanced at me and took another step toward the tree. “You haven’t picked up a list, replenisher, haven’t been home. You mentioned lying to both your friend and your guide before you left. They are going to wonder where you’ve been.”
Oh crap. Bethany was going to be pissed if she saw me. I didn’t even want to think of what Rowen would have to say to me. I was surprised Caius remembered it. Surely Alaric would have covered for me. Then again, maybe not. Maybe I couldn’t trust him to do anything.
I swallowed and stepped under the arch. Might as well get it over with. The cold, windswept land wavered like heat waves and slowly disappeared from sight as the Incoming Room began to materialize in the rippling air.
***
“Everyone had lied to her. Distrust lingered in her eyes for the first time. Strangely enough, it wasn’t directed at me. The walls closing in around her, the web of deceit, and her reluctance to be separated from me triggered something deep inside. It wasn’t something I wished to examine too closely.” ~Caius
Chapter 26
Unveiled (Raven Daughter Book 1) Page 16
