“I … was trying to protect you,” I answered lamely, slightly taken aback by his response.
“What are you?” he demanded of Caleb, excitement and curiosity illuminating his face.
I answered for him, “Caleb is…”
Both of them looked at me waiting for my response. Nathan's interest was more practical, but I could tell that Caleb was actually more interested on the label that I was going to put on him.
“…my guardian angel,” I finished simply. It was the best that I could do without a long winded and drawn out response. Nathan's eyes sparkled with excitement, but I sensed a touch of disappointment in Caleb's demeanor after that.
“I need to speak with the Elders about this,” he informed me brusquely. “Your brother having the gift of Sight is not a complication we were prepared for.”
“Okay, I'll see you tomorrow,” I responded with a nod.
His features softened when he nodded and turned his attention towards my brother. “It was nice to meet you,” he told Nathan warmly.
“Yeah!” Nate agreed enthusiastically. “Maybe we could hang out sometime.”
Caleb laughed in a carefree manner I hadn’t seen for quite some time. “We'll see.”
He disappeared with a fluttering of wings and Nathan turned to me with the biggest smile I’d ever seen.
“Yeah, okay,” I admitted. “We've got a lot of catching up to do.”
~ * ~
“Do it again!” Nate commanded with a laugh.
I rolled my eyes indulgently. “Okay, but this has got to be the last time.”
He nodded vigorously and I took that as understanding. Carefully, I reeled back and summoned a fireball in my hand. He leaned in to examine it with a childlike grin on his face, totally enraptured by the swirling flames and mystical glow it emitted.
“What's that on your arm?” he asked me suddenly. I dispersed the fireball immediately and glanced down to where he was pointing. A few of the dragon scales were becoming visible again and I felt a miniature thrill of panic.
“Oh, that's a glamour spell,” I told him sheepishly. “I must have been a little sloppy about it last time. I … have to illusion my skin on now.”
Nathan grinned. “If this is an illusion, then what do you really look like?”
“No way! It’s too weird.”
“Aw, come on, I promise I won’t come at you with a pitchfork.”
“You … want to see it?” I asked in disbelief. “You're not freaking out or anything?”
“Wynn, this is the coolest thing I have ever seen in my life! You’re like a real life avatar! You have got to show me!”
My lip twitched, secretly pleased he was on my side, and I pulled on my sleeve up to reveal the entire length of my arm. Very slowly, I ran my other hand across it and exposed the terrifying, black dragon scales underneath. Nathan's eyes grew wide as he stared at it in wonder.
“Can I touch it?” he asked me tentatively.
I nodded and he gingerly brought his hand up to feel the scaly flesh. “That is so … awesome!” he told me gleefully.
I pushed him away quickly and covered up the rest of my arm with a glamour spell.
“What'd ya do that for?”
“Nate this is not a joke! You can’t tell anyone.”
“Well, duh!” he said punching me in the arm. “Is that what you're worried about? Wynn, I'm not going to tell anyone. Who would even believe me if I said my sister had snake skin?”
“I guess…”
“How is this even possible?”
“I honestly don’t know, it just happened to me one day. We can talk more about it later, but I'm getting kind of tired and really need to rest.”
“Okay. I love you, Wynn.”
“I love you too, troll-face.” He gave me an impish smile before heading out the door and disappearing down the hall.
I sighed, tucking my wildly disheveled hair back behind my ear and propping up one of my feather pillows behind me.
“Well, that's quite fortunate. I thought he would never leave.”
My blood ran cold as I watched Aidan emerge from the shadows with Blix hiding sheepishly behind his pant leg.
“You heard?” I asked him nervously.
“Of course I did,” he snapped. “I've been watching you for hours.”
“Please don't hurt him,” I begged mercifully. “Nate doesn't mean any harm, he couldn't help it—”
“Of course he couldn't. Your brother has the Blood of the Fae as you do, unnatural Sight was inevitable. I figured that out when he heard our conversation that first night. I knew he was going to be a problem.”
“You're not going to hurt him?”
“No, you were wise enough to leave our arrangement out of it, so it's no concern of mine. What I am upset with is your insistence on associating with that winged freak. I thought I told you to stay away from him.”
“That's what you're upset about?”
“Naturally.”
“Well, I don't see how that's any of your business. Caleb and I are friends.”
“You honestly believe that, don't you? I can't say that's not adorable, but it’s also stupid and naive.” He spat the final words out as if he had tasted something foul. “It’s a Guardian’s job to destroy demons and their minions. You are no exception.”
“Maybe Caleb is different than other Guardians you've encountered.”
“Maybe your association is making you weak and complacent! I don't like the way he looks at you, it’s too familiar. You should know by now, I don't share my play things. Remove him from your life, or I will do it for you. Do you understand?”
My jaw clenched together in rage as I fought back angry tears and managed a stiff nod. Aidan turned to leave and I called out after him. “Weren't you going to help me practice?”
He looked back at me over his shoulder and said, “Your training is coming along fine. Take the rest of the evening off. I'll call for you when I'm ready to have another round of sparring.”
With a majestic wave of his hand, I watched him disappear into a puff of smoke.
“Mistress should consider herself lucky,” Blix mumbled beneath his breath. “Lord Lucifer is a formidable opponent and his skills are legendary. For him to take you on as an apprentice is a great honor.”
I snorted. “Is that so?”
Blix was not amused. “You should know, Earthwalker, there are creatures in the realm below that would kill for the opportunity you’ve been granted. You should be more grateful for what you’ve been given.”
And with that bit of scorn, he disappeared.
I didn't know what to think, or what to do, so I just cried until sleep and darkness took me.
Chapter Fourteen
Pound of Flesh
“Very good,” Aidan complimented. “How does it feel?”
The edge of my mouth twitched up into a weak smile as I glanced down at the pen that had appeared in the palm of my hand. “Still a little shaky, I was trying to create a pencil.”
“You'll get there,” he assured me. “Do you want to try again?”
I nodded stiffly, too embarrassed to look him in the eye. I felt guilty keeping this from Caleb, like I was being unfaithful to him somehow. I still ended up coming back to Aidan time and time again, seeking his assistance. I hated I was so dependent on his training. The worse part of that was, I was beginning to enjoy it. I still loathed him for what he was doing to my mother, and for what he had done to me, but I almost felt like it was inevitable. It was pointless being angry, when I was enjoying myself so much, but then I also hated that I was enjoying it. A constant battle waged inside my mind.
We'd been spending so much time together I didn't even flinch when he came up behind me and put his hand on my arm to guide me through the movement. His casual touch was familiar to me now, I was growing accustomed to it. I always thought a person’s moral compass would dictate what they are attracted to, seeking out what they unconsciously desire. And if that were tr
ue, then the reverse would also happen — things that are attracted to us will seek us out, just as Aidan had found me. It made me wonder what Aidan saw in me that he found so appealing.
“It’s just like the glamour spell,” he insisted calmly. “Clear your mind, picture what to summon, and will it into being. Trust your instincts, you’ll know when it’s working.”
I exhaled a breath of air and began concentrating on the task at hand. Apple, I insisted.
My hands began shaking slightly, nothing happened. Groaning with exasperation, I flexed my fingers a couple times and wiped them on the front of my jeans. Let’s try this again. Apple!
I had already done this in the land of dreams. With my mother’s direction I had conjured my shoes and then weapons with relative ease, but it was different here. Maybe subconsciously I had known dreams are where the unexplainable is possible, letting my mind believe the unattainable was within reach. But trying to do it in reality, when logic states it should not be possible, felt like I was fighting against my own incredulity, as well as the laws of nature.
There was a mild pressure inside my chest and a vibration in my shoulders, rippling down into my fingertips. I wouldn’t allow myself to lose concentration, and pictured a shiny, green apple resting in the palm of my hands. A mist appeared where I’d been focusing and transformed into the very apple I’d imagined. A beautiful, green apple. I held it to the light and admired my results with a subtle grin.
Aidan smirked and plucked the apple from my hand, taking a bite out of it before I even had the chance to stop him. “I knew you’d get the hang of it. Now, what would you like to try next? Perhaps we could try a little hand-to-hand combat, what do you say?”
“I guess that could work,” I told him nervously.
As the words escaped his mouth, I barely had time to think before he slammed me against a tree. I groaned at the unexpected attack and pulled myself off the ground. “Hey! What was that for?” I demanded.
“You said you were ready,” he reminded me arrogantly while looking down at me from his great height. “Am I to understand that you misspoke?”
“No, but some warning would have been nice!”
He slapped me hard across the face and I went flying across the clearing. “You think any of my cohorts are going to give you proper warning?” he spat out angrily. My knee hit a small boulder. “This is war, they want you to fail. What makes you think they’re going to play by any rules? You‘ve got to be prepared for anything.”
I gritted my teeth and looked up at him, wiping some blood away at the corner of my mouth with the edge of my sleeve. Cruel though he may be, I could see the logic behind his reasoning and knew that I’d be better for it. Instead of arguing with him, I stood and brushed off the dirt, preparing myself to go again.
Aidan saw my determination and grinned as he took a fighting stance a few feet away. Without any further discussion, he threw himself at me and we were locked in a vicious grapple. At one point I was able to get the best of him and it looked like I could win, when his body erupted into flame and I reeled back from him in terror, brushing off the soot and ash.
“Gaa! What the hell was that?”
Aidan flipped himself off the ground so he was standing on the earth in front of me, still on fire and completely unfazed by its effect on him. I stared at him in shock as he stepped out of the open flame without a single hair out of place and the hem of his vest unsinged— every bit as handsome as before.
He sniffed as the flame subsided and saw me crouching on the floor. “I’ve found that the use of elements can be an effective away to get an attacker off you,” he stated calmly. “Now you try.”
“What? No, no no … I am not ready for that yet.”
“I’m sorry, did you think that was a question? I’m telling you to try it.“
“God, you’re so bossy,” I grumbled.
“You’ll get over it,” he assured me. “It comes with the territory.”
My anger flared and at that exact moment, I did too. My body erupted into flame and it startled me, but Aidan just beamed with pride. As the fire’s heat licked against my flesh it felt like a caress, and not at all uncomfortable. The sight of it was unnerving so I shook my hand to put it out and turned my back to him.
Aidan sighed and leaned back against a tree, “All right, what's on your mind?” he asked me, sounding bored.
I turned to face him then, aggravated that he was able to read me like a book. “Is my brother a demon?” I asked him bluntly.
Aidan looked up at me surprised. “Why would you ask me that?”
“He has the gift of Sight, we come from the same bloodline … it makes sense to me. But his life is not on trial like mine is… how can that be?”
He sighed. “Because he’s not a demon,” he said simply.
“But he can still See because of the fae bloodline,” I clarified.
“That would be my assumption, yes.”
“But … if you had a claim to one of her children, why did you choose me instead of him?”
The ghost of a smile played at the corner of his mouth when he responded. “The contract was for her first born child, which is you. It’s just a happy coincidence that what I'm after is not in alignment with his nature. I have no interest in him.”
“Why? I'm just a stupid kid, what makes me so freaking interesting that sets me apart from him?”
Aidan thought about that for a minute and walked around me in a circle. “How would you defend yourself if one of my compatriots came after you?”
I blinked a couple times, startled by his sudden change in topic. “You said I wasn’t ready.”
“You’re not, but that still doesn’t change the fact that they could test you at any time, whether you’re ready for it or not. What would you do, with the knowledge that you have, to defend yourself?”
I mused for a few minutes and then started to think aloud, “A frontal attack against a full-fledged Lord would be suicide, even in my dragon form.”
“You’re right,” Aidan agreed. “So what you have to do is think outside the box.”
I tried to picture scenarios that were within my limited skill level. Adrenaline began coursing through my body and my heart quickened, “I could use that fireball trick you showed me and conjure it inside their body, cooking them from the inside out!” I said excitedly.
Aidan nodded. “Yes, what else? Be creative.”
“Well, I still can’t do anything big and flashy, it wears me out too fast. I would be left defenseless. It’ll have to be lots of little things.” I thought about summoning things, moving things with my mind, all the stuff we’d been going over the last few weeks. “I could try and create an air vacuum around their throat so they couldn’t breathe. It wouldn’t kill them but it would distract them and leave them vulnerable to other attacks. Better yet, I could explode all the blood vessels inside their head and give them repeated brain aneurisms one after another, until they’re bleeding from their eyeballs. Environmental factors are also fun, I could turn the ground beneath their feet into quicksand and watch them drown. There are a hundred different ways I could use magic or brute strength from my demonic form to try and kill them. Why does it matter which attack I use?”
Aidan brushed his hand against my cheek and smiled. “It doesn't, all I said was to defend yourself. There were at least a dozen ways in which you could immobilize, maim, or even run from anyone that wanted to hurt you. Instead, you went for the kill. Your first instinct was not only self-preservation, but to completely and utterly destroy the enemy.”
My eyes grew wide in horror as I realized he was right. I hadn't even considered the possibility of merely wounding my attacker, or using wit and cleverness to orchestrate an escape, my only thought was to take them out —completely. For the first time, I felt like I was a monster on the inside.
“So the Elders were right about me.”
“You certainly have a dark streak,” he agreed. “Especially when it comes to your fami
ly. When it comes to protecting them, there is nothing you wouldn’t do. You can be ruthless when you need to be.”
Goosebumps rose on my skin and I turned around to face him. I was disgusted yet intrigued by the notion he was probably right. Aidan raised his hand to touch me and without warning, a jolt of energy hit me between my eyes. My vision went blurry for a second and when I opened my eyes again Aidan was nowhere to be seen. It was dark and I was standing on a vacant beach. It was the same feeling I’d had when Caleb and I connected, allowing me to see into his past.
Frantically, I glanced from side to side until I saw another figure walking down the moonlit shore. As I moved closer to get a better look, I recognized the raven black hair and cotton dress the woman wore. It was my mom. She was younger, and even more beautiful than I remembered, with tears streaming down her ivory cheeks.
I watched in silence as she stumbled across the deep, soft sand and drew a small rustic knife from the pocket of her coat. She drew a rune in the sand with a piece of driftwood, pulled the blade from its sheath, and slid it across her palm. Four crimson drops of blood fell on the white sand as she spoke a name I was only too familiar with.
“Aidan!”
The black silhouette of his figure broke through the shoreline, a gnarled black claw rising from the earth. She whipped around in a flash, but not before he materialized out of the shadows. “Hello, Michele. I didn’t expect to be hearing from you again.”
“I wasn’t either, but things aren’t exactly going the way I planned.”
Aidan snickered, a ghostly smile played at the edge of his lips. “How tragic for you. Now what do you expect me to do about it?”
Her face softened as she squared her shoulders and took a step towards him, batting her doe-like eyes, “I thought that … perhaps you and I … c-could go back to the way things were.”
“I’m afraid that no longer interests me. I’ve already seen everything you could offer, so that’s not really an appealing option.”
She scoffed at his insult and cast her eyes down towards the sand in embarrassment. Aidan watched her carefully for a moment and I could see the wheels turning in his head. “You obviously didn't come here to reconcile things with me at all, did you? You just wanted my power again!”
Dealing with the Devil (The Earthwalker Trilogy Book 1) Page 24
