“I don’t think so. Not all volcanic-based places do. In fact, we know of a few that are similar to the Chakra; places that feed you energy willingly. Cato has been trying to pinpoint all of those special places around the world when he has time. He hasn’t found many yet, but Asia hasn’t been studied at all.” He looked at me a few moments, his forehead slowly mirroring the creases of concern mine had. “Listen, why don’t you try with just one? Stay connected to the plant and you’ll know soon enough if it will thrive or die there.”
I shrugged my shoulders. “I guess one couldn’t hurt, to start off. Let me just protect it first.” I recalled a spell my mother had taught me as a child when I refused to leave my teddy bear home from school. As I grew older, I always thought the spells were her silly way of getting me to do things. Come to find out there was much more to them than that. I lay the canister next to the blanket in the soil, and drew the outline of a circle within a star with my finger.
“With this pentagram, protection I lay. Guard this object both night and day. For him who should try and harm, may his body shiver and quake and warn me through charm. I now invoke the power in me. This is my will, so let it be!”
I looked at Micah. “Okay, here goes nothing.” I drew in some energy and called out to the wind around me. It picked up just enough to lift the canister out of my hands and up into the air. I sent it in the direction Micah pointed and kept my mind receptive to soil similar to the Galapagos. The energy and the work was all mine, but Micah’s presence was more help than even he could imagine. He exuded a sense of calmness and confidence; two things I seemed to lack. With him there, I felt like a complete person, capable of doing anything.
Twenty minutes after the canister left, Micah grew impatient. “Are you there yet?”
“No, I’ve hit a trouble spot. Something keeps drawing the seedling toward it, away from my path. I can’t get past it.”
“That’s probably it!” he said excitedly. “If the area is full of good energy, it will attract more good energy to it – even if it resides in other elements. Just follow the pull.”
I did as he directed, skeptical of his reasoning. I would more likely believe that opposites attract. Within minutes I felt soil rushing up to meet my plant. I slowed the descent and concentrated on keeping the canister steady, pointy side down. Before I allowed it to bury itself in the soil, I cautiously sent out feelers for what type of land lay there. As soon as I hit the barren soil, my weaves vibrated with warmth and strength. They infused themselves with the energy of the land without me doing a thing.
“Whoa!”
“What?” Micah frowned. “What?”
I smiled in triumph. “This is a good place –a very good place. Better than the Chakra, even.” Without waiting for his response, I buried the canister deep in the soil, leaving the top only a few inches from the surface. I pulled my weaves away from the soil but kept my connection to the plant. I felt life throb through it joyfully; it had been anxious to spread its roots somewhere.
“Will the roots be able to break through the canister?” I asked.
“It is biodegradable and will disintegrate into the soil in a matter of days. Once Susan is feeling better, she can direct rain that way which will also help.”
“Okay, it is done.” I leaned in for a kiss in excitement. What was meant to be a congratulatory peck turned into a long, romantic few minutes involving tongues and many other tender exchanges.
Once his hands began to work their way up the lengths of my nightgown, I pulled away. “I’m sorry, I’m not fully healed yet. I need time.”
“Of course, I knew that. I just got a little too enthused.” Micah took a couple of deep breaths and fiddled with my hair while he worked to cool himself down. We were both laying on the blanket now, my head resting in the crook of his arm. The moon was now hidden by clouds so the stars that did shine through seemed extra bright. His free hand put my hair gently aside and traveled down my torso until it rested on top of my belly.
“Is she kicking much?”
“Yes, usually around here.” I moved his hand to the lower part of my abdomen, the underside of the large round hump. “She’s been very active tonight. She does that when I am absorbing energy; or when I’m eating.”
He laughed. “A food fiend, just like her mother.” Before I could retort Micah let out a gasp. “I felt it. I mean her, I felt her!”
“You did? I didn’t think she was that strong yet…”
He sat back, keeping his hold on my belly, a satisfied smile on his face. “Kaitlyn?”
“Yes?”
“In your spell, what did you mean ‘warn me through charm’?”
“Oh. My mom gave me several necklaces as a child that always held what she called magical charms. The charms would supposedly warn me somehow if one of my spells were being tested. I guess by heating up or vibrating or something. When I was a little older she told me I would know even without a charm if I kept my mind open to it.”
“What about the necklace I gave you?”
I felt a wave of regret run through me. “The last time I had it was at the pier with Susan. Either the waves knocked it off or Shawn has it.”
Micah shrugged his shoulders. “It’s not like I can’t make you another one. In fact, you’ve done all the hard work, splintering the boulder into pieces and all. I could make you a whole set of jewelry, complete with earrings, necklace, and bracelets.”
“And if the Seven goes belly up, we could open a rock jewelry business together. I’ll collect the merchandise – you do the beading.”
We talked about everything and nothing for the next hour before remembering to send out the rest of the seedlings. It was easier the second time, now that I knew where to go. The first rays of dawn were just beginning to streak the sky by the time we finished.
“How are you feeling? Do you want to go back to bed?” Micah asked as we made our way slowly back to the building.
“No. Being connected to that place…I have more energy now than when we started.” I could still feel it coursing through my body, mixing with my blood and muscles. Good to know that a boost like that was only a short distance away.
“Are you sure?” Micah persisted. “It’s going to be a busy day.”
“Why?” I looked at him. “What’s happening?”
“Cato will order an inspection of the entire building and grounds later. He’ll also have us inspect each employee for physical signs of Shawn – like you have.”
I made a face. “I can’t imagine that will go over too well with some people.”
“It won’t. But those who refuse will be escorted off the island immediately.” He paused then added, “You and Susan will need to inspect the women on your own. Are you okay with that?”
“Sure.” As far as I could recall, there were only three or four women on the compound.
“Great.” Micah held open the door to the kitchen.
We took our time with breakfast, cooking up a feast big enough for ten. I never had been a good cook; in the time he whipped up scrambled eggs, banana pancakes, sausage and bacon, I had managed to butter toast and cut up a few pieces of fruit. In my defense, I had to take a hiatus to nurse the shallow cut on my finger from an unfortunate combination of clumsy hands and a very sharp knife.
Although it was only six, the smells began to lure people into the kitchen. Cato and Alex had come in. Just as my mind wandered to Susan, debating if she was angry with me for the lightning incident, she also appeared in the doorway to the kitchen. Her eyes hungrily scanned the food on the counter then rested on me. Without giving her a chance to speak first, I ran over and threw my arms around her.
“I’m so sorry,” I whispered, my face muzzled into her shoulder.
She spoke back in a voice just as low. “Don’t be. I would have been suspicious if your reaction was anything less. I would have done the same.” She paused. “Well, not exactly the same - I would’ve opted for a hurricane.”
I pulled back, pro
dding her - looking for signs of weakness. “I haven’t seen you since, how are you feeling?”
She giggled, pushing my hands away. “I’m fine. I’ve been camping out by the pond. The water does wonders for me. Just like the soil does for you.”
“Oh.” I paused, processing the information. It suddenly hit me. I dropped my voice again, all too aware of the group behind us. “Oh….did you…?”
“I saw you guys sending out our gift. It was very touching.” She lowered her voice even more, “I may not have completely understood your relationship with my brother, but the look in his eyes and the sound of his voice last night… It’s obvious you’re his everything.”
“Oh.” That was the only word that kept coming to mind. It was annoying. I took a deep breath and tried again, steering her toward the food. “Have some of the breakfast I made.”
“You made?” Her arched eyebrow mirrored Micah’s across the kitchen, who echoed the same thing at exactly the same time.
“Well,” I said defensively, “I helped anyway.” I hid my bandaged finger and gave Micah warning glance to keep his mouth shut or else.
He took the hint.
As Susan piled pancakes on her plate, Cato broke the silence, “So you planted the seedlings last night? Where?”
I hid a grimace. I always forgot his ears were younger than their years.
“Indonesia.” Micah puffed out his chest. “Turns out the location there is just as powerful as here, maybe even more so.”
“Hmmm. Good, I thought that might have been the case. Some of the seedlings have a GPS installed. I’ll send someone out in a few months to check on their progress.” Cato looked at Alex, assigning him the mission silently.
“Awww. Come on, it’s their stupid forest,” Alex whined, but truthfully he looked forward to his trips away from the Chakra and everyone knew it.
I dismissed Alex’s comment and turned to Cato. “How do you pinpoint the areas that give off that much energy?”
Cato studied me for a moment. “Perhaps that is something I can teach you. I didn’t realize Gaias could recognize such a place at a distance. We’ll put you to good use while you are, well – incapacitated, as you are.”
I opened my mouth, ready to protest.
He put up a hand to stop me. “But that is a conversation for another time. Right now we need to discuss today’s inspection.”
“Yeah – where is everyone else? The smell of this sausage would wake a bear out of hibernation.” Alex stuffed an entire patty in his mouth.
“I put up wards to block the smell,” Cato said, “but it won’t last long. We are all going to inspect each other first. I don’t expect to find anything – it is just so we can disregard any biased comments from the rest of the staff. Kaitlyn, we are already aware of your mark and how it came to be, so it won’t be necessary to strip.”
“How kind of you,” I said sarcastically.
“I am not stripping in front of my brother,” Susan said.
Alex began to raise his hand, but Micah slapped it down quickly, grumbling at him.
“Of course not, no. Kaitlyn can inspect you. After each other, we will call in the security patrols first. Next will be the medical staff. Then the ground personnel, and then anyone else we might have missed. Everyone will be sequestered in the living room pre-inspection and be moved to the library post-inspection. Except for those that are suspect. They will be escorted off the island under heavy guard immediately. After the personal inspections, we can move to their rooms while they are still in the library.”
I raised my hand. “Question. Don’t most know about my mark? Won’t it look bad to fire people while I get to stay? Also, don’t you think Shawn may have thought of this? Once one was discovered, surely he anticipated we would look for the rest. Maybe he planted a few of his minions here that don’t have the mark, hoping we have a false sense of confidence once some were booted.”
“Very good, Kaitlyn.” Cato smiled at me and I felt like I should get a gold star sticker. “We’ll just have to be extra cautious even after these inspections are done. We can do them on a regular basis and perhaps get more cooperation from the staff if they are told that.” Cato paused as if listening to something the rest of us couldn’t hear. “The wards have worn off. We should begin.”
Susan finished her breakfast and motioned for me to join her in another room. “Here goes nothing.”
Micah stopped me. “Just don’t go too far, and stay connected to me. Call out if you need anything at all.”
I kissed him on the cheek. “Don’t worry; I am a pretty capable girl.”
“That, my dear, is what worries me. The phrase ‘too capable’ comes to mind.”
“Whatever that means,” I huffed, following Susan out of the kitchen.
Chapter 16
Coursing Through my Veins
Once in private, Susan stripped and I quickly glanced over her nude body, feeling more awkward than she probably did. She was free of any markings, scars or even scratches, and I couldn’t help but notice its soft glow.
I coughed, looking away. “Nice skin.”
“Thanks.” She put her clothes back on. “Water does wonders for a body.”
“Yeah, so does coffee.” In all the excitement we hadn’t made a pot, and being up for the last seven hours was beginning to have its effects on my caffeine-addicted brain.
“Let’s get some before we see the other women.”
Susan led me out, apparently just as anxious to get to the warm, sweet liquid as I was.
Ten minutes later we entered the living room, hot cups of coffee in hand. The room was packed and I realized these poor people hadn’t had a chance to eat or have their own coffee yet. Half were still in their pajamas with bed head.
Micah pushed his way through the crowd toward us. “We’re still waiting on a couple more, but the three women are here if you want to start with them.”
“Alright, here goes nothing.” Susan took charge and I was happy to let her. She called the three women, only two of whom I recognized, and led them into the kitchen. Hanging in the background with my face buried in my mug, I let her do the inspections and answer their questions. Susan handled it well.
Inspection completed, we led the women to the library, hands full of muffins and fruit to set out for everyone coming in after being inspected. One of the women also brought in mugs and a carafe of coffee. Not to would be cruel.
We stayed with the women until enough of the security guards were done being inspected and Cato gave the okay to leave the library under their watch. The men filtering in post-inspection made themselves as comfortable as possible in the dusty room. At least there wasn’t a lack of reading material.
At Cato’s suggestion, Susan and I moved on to inspecting the women’s rooms. With two of the women being roommates, we moved through the two rooms quickly but thoroughly, careful to leave things as they were. Hopefully the guys would have the same respect when they did their inspections.
In going through a dresser, I found a small, tightly wrapped bag of white powder. “Umm, Susan?” I held up the bag with facial tissue, careful not to get my fingerprints on it. “What should we do with this?”
Susan took it from me. “Well, we can stop treating it like its evidence in a crime scene.”
I threw the tissue in the trash. “It kind of is.”
She rolled her eyes, stuffing the bag into her pocket. “Kaitlyn, this is Sumatra – not California. Probably cocaine. This comes in handy as justification for doing these kinds of inspections. Alex will make sure word gets around that this was found. He is good at gossip.”
When we entered the living room that still had a few lingering souls waiting for inspection, Alex greeted us, “Thank God. These guys are edgy and it is only getting worse. Can you do something to lighten the mood?”
“You mean, besides our mere presence?” Susan floated by him touching his chest lightly. Alex just rolled his eyes. She moved to the windows and threw them open. S
he looked at me across the room and made a slight gesture with her head. I stood staring at her, befuddled. She tried again by jerking her head to the side a little less subtly. My dazed look and her epileptic motions were beginning to attract attention.
Alex cleared his throat, looking at me. “I think she wants you perform a little voodoo and, you know, bring in a breeze.”
“Ooohhh.” I gave Susan a thumbs up that I finally understood. “She and I really need to work on our communication skills.” The air element was becoming easier to command and within seconds I had a cool northern breeze blowing amongst the room’s inhabitants, lifting the heat off their necks and easing the tension considerably. I felt my weaves waver with a touch of Susan’s power and realized she was infusing the incoming air with tiny water particles, making the breeze all that more refreshing. I looked at her while she stood by the window catching many of the tiny water particles on her face, her skin absorbing them. I suddenly wondered if she and I might be able to have the same sort of mental communications as I did with Micah, or even the less desirable type of dream connections I had with Shawn.
I tried by sending out a short message. We need to work on our communication.
I was almost immediately answered. What?
Micah. The same path wasn’t going to work with Susan.
I shook my head. Never mind.
We talked, or rather shared thoughts, back and forth for some time while he did his inspections. The room was beginning to empty rapidly and soon only two men were left besides the guards, Susan, Alex, and me. Through the open path, I felt a sudden rush of Micah’s heartbeat. What happened? Are you okay?
He responded with grunts and curses, something I was sure he meant to say out loud. I just hoped he wasn’t trying to relay the situation to those around him instead of sending it telepathically. Finally I heard a strained, send the rest of guards in here but keep Alex with you. I relayed the message as ordered.
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