by C.M. Owens
Chapter 7
Bad Blood
Fear of the unknown is the reason for panic and war. Kindness and acceptance is the reason for peace.
The drive back to my grandmother's house was intense. Tallis drove my car as I sat nervously popping my fingers. He was so serious, and he kept his eyes straight ahead, driving in complete silence.
Allaysia and Edmond followed us in their silver Audi, and Desmond and Ayla followed them in her white convertible BMW.
I reached over and put my hand on Tallis's right shoulder for encouragement. He smiled slightly, still staring at the road as he reached across his body with his left hand and placed his palm over the top of my hand.
We pulled up in the driveway, where he released me, and we were met with all of my family... and my grandparents' friends. Everyone's face was riddled with worry, and they were scowling at the unknown company I carried. They couldn’t smell the essence of Tallis, Desmond, or Ayla, but they could smell Allaysia and Edmond as they walked up.
Anesta, Iris's sister, stood in front of the family with a murderous glare, acting as though she was ready to pounce at any second. She held her hand to her side as if she was about to do something, but Iris stepped up and stopped her.
Iris spoke in a cautious and worrisome tone, her eyes anywhere but on me as she spoke. "Arisianna, dear, I have been worried sick. Where have you been?" She shifted her glances between the whole Verdan family, studying them carefully.
I hesitated as to how to get this whole conversation started. I was horrible at articulating things the way I wanted them to come out lately. I blamed Tallis and magic for that.
"I went for a drive after school, but I realized someone was chasing me. I got scared and did what I had to in order to get away. I was absolutely terrified."
"Oh…" Iris tried to sound surprised but her tone was all too obvious. She wasn't too good at acting surprised or acting at all when she was distracted.
I took a deep breath. "Well, not someone. Taryn and McKee were following me, although I didn't know that at the time I made them wreck."
I could see Tallis smirk out of the corner of my eye.
Iris's scolding glance shot toward Taryn and McKee who were bowing their heads in shame. She fumbled around for the right words. "So… you… What makes you think that Taryn and McKee wrecked? They don't have a mark on them. Look for yourself." She held her hand out to prompt me to look at them.
Her voice was shaky. She worried what I knew. It was almost as if she was baiting me, and I took the bait without hesitance. I was ready to let her know that I knew about everything... well, the basics. My voice was steady as I replied.
"I'm sure that has something to do with their invincibility."
Her eyes narrowed at the whole Verdan family and Anesta took a step forward, beaming red with fury.
"What did they tell you!?" Anesta barked, showing her rage.
The Verdan family took a step back. I was handling this all wrong. Suddenly, I saw a sense of calm spread over Anesta. I looked over at Ayla who had removed her white hood and stared at Anesta with her pale blue eyes that seemed to be even lighter now.
Anesta stepped back, relaxed. Iris noticed that Ayla was using magic on her sister, but she had never seen it before.
"What is she doing to Anesta? Is she hurting her?" Now Iris sounded confused and worried.
She was becoming irritated and I heard the wind start to stir. An elemental... like her story. There was an elemental daughter of Isis who survived. A revelation spiraled around me. I understood the whole thing now. My grandmother really was immortal and she had to witness her mother sacrifice herself. That would make Anesta the healer that survived.
I had to stop thinking and start speaking. "She's calming her down. They don't want to fight. They want a chance to tell their story."
"Why should we listen? I smell the Craymon blood from here. She's a Craymon. I don't know how much you know, dear, but I can promise you that nothing good comes from Craymon blood," Iris admonished, her eyes burning against my newfound allies.
Someone help me.
"You're right about me not knowing much, but I do know more than you do about something. I really think you should listen. Just hear their story. Hear it for me."
"I don't know of any reason I should hear their story." She had tears in her eyes thinking of how her mother had to sacrifice herself to destroy Dramus - their blood. She was treating me as if I was betraying her. I could feel the anger and resentment in her voice growing every time she spoke.
I was sick of this. I knew if they would just listen, then they would understand. Tallis was the only reason I was even alive. I wasn't going to just let her dismiss them.
My voice took a whole different tone. I was more forcefully demanding than I had even known I could be. "Reason number one should be because your granddaughter is asking you to. Reason number two is because they saved my life today from a danger I didn't even know could exist." My eyes watered up thinking back to how I had almost died.
I heard Tallis make a sound, and it looked like he winced as he reached around my back and put his hand on my side. My grandmother's face suddenly carried a wave of emotion on it. She went from mad to guilty to concerned to surrender.
"Who, what…?" Her voice was trembling slightly from my unexpected revelation as she stuttered.
Tallis pulled me closer as his voice cracked while he answered for me. "It was a blazing scout. They know someone is new in town. He had already started draining her when I got there."
I interrupted him when I saw the look of horror on Iris's face. I could see my brothers' jaws clenched tight with fury and my sisters' faces streaked with tears from the realization that I had almost died. I was quieter when I spoke this time.
"Tallis saved me. He did something and the guy blew up," I said too casually, sounding overly familiar with this crazy world I'd just been launched into. "Then he carried me back to his house and explained to me what was going on. I have to say, this has all been a bit overwhelming for me. I'm just asking that you listen to what they have to say before passing any judgment."
Allaysia interjected as she saw concern for a new reason spread across their faces. "We had a washer cleanse the area so there was no trace of her essence left. My house had protective eyes all around it, ensuring no one followed. She's safe for now, but they will be back. They don't know we exist and we can help you if you allow us to do such."
My grandmother looked at me with nothing but pure unadulterated guilt in her eyes. I think she felt as though she had let me down. She shifted her eyes to meet Allaysia's. Her tone was not as offensive anymore as she questioned her.
"Why was your son watching her?"
Allaysia raised her eyes to meet Iris's stare. "Because I asked him to. We've been watching mortal witches for centuries. We've saved the lives of many, including your daughter, Jaslene. Edmond saved her from the same sort of fatal circumstances long ago, during her mortal period. There are many things we should discuss. If you hear me out, you'll understand why I mean you no harm."
Anesta seemed to come back around out of her moment of induced serenity. "We can’t trust them, Iris. You smell their blood. You see the changer. Two sides of betrayal cannot make someone trustworthy. It can only lead to more betrayal. We can't be the fools we once were."
Iris sighed. "Magic evolves, sister. Isis tried to tell us more, but there was no time. There was more, so much more that she needed teach us. So much more she wanted to teach us. She saw something more in the future, but she couldn't tell us what. I trust the magic. You can see their light, and I trust my granddaughter, who is alive because of him. Isis told us to always trust the magic and our hearts. The light is the magic, and my family is my heart. Maybe that's what she meant. I feel certain it is."
Anesta nodded her head with reluctant acceptance. She didn't like it a bit, but she res
pected her sister's decision. Being that Iris was the matriarch of the family, and apparently the head of the coven, everyone agreed to listen. They would all do as Iris did. I trusted my grandma to listen and believe.
Tallis gripped me tighter again and McKee glared at him for doing so. Ayla was the first Verdan to enter the Bradbury house. It was tense as people walked by the Verdan's.
Ayla and Jay circled each other in a peculiar fashion before sitting side by side on the couch. Selesha wasn't too far away from them. Desmond crouched in a corner away from everyone, like he was waiting for something bad to happen. He didn't trust my family the least bit.
Everyone else seated themselves around Allaysia and Iris. Ash gazed at Desmond and he stared back. There was something so indescribably intense about their eye lock. It was as if they knew something we didn't.
I sat down beside Tallis on the arm of the large chair, as he set in the seat of it. It wasn't exactly comfortable, but I felt like I had to be close to him. Not to mention, it was the only seat left.
I guessed he saw me twitching uncomfortably, because he suddenly slid me off the arm of the chair and into his lap. That was certainly enough to appease my desire to be close to him.
He smiled at me as he wrapped his arms around my waist and I nestled myself into him. My face was inches from his neck as I laid my head on his shoulder. I wanted to just reach over and lock my lips with his. I wanted to kiss his neck as I watched him take each breath.
His hands were touching my bare skin from where my shirt had slid up just barely. Heat spread throughout my body. He turned his head to where our eyes met. We stared at each other as if it was only us there.
His eyes burned with intensity as his hands seemed to grip my side tighter. It felt like he was fighting the same hormonal urges I was. He cut away from my stare suddenly. Then he cleared his throat and moved his hands to where they were on top of my shirt.
I huffed with a little disappointment at the loss of skin contact. I was so wrapped up in Tallis that I hadn't even noticed Allaysia had already begun telling the story.
