explain things to you."
"So what was that just now? Any time that I've been around Roane, even when I slowed time, he always knew I was there." And why did she seem so much nicer than the last time?
Saren smiled. The flames lit again, but they were small embers. "I'm not nicer. I'm here to do my job and that's to tell you what's going on. When I need to make you angry, I won't hold back. You need gentle guidance and answers right now."
I still didn't like her. "About what just happened?"
"The Immortal sensed something that you needed to know. It/you sent yourself there."
"Why didn't he know I was there?"
"He's powerful, too powerful, but if you don't want him to know you're there, he won't. That was you, not the Immortal. You didn't want him to know you were there. What did you see?"
"A group of vampires are coming to town. Roane is going to meet them."
She nodded. "What does that mean to you?"
"They're coming for me. I'm guessing that they'll try to kill me."
"Try."
"Try." I nodded.
Saren nodded too. "Who were the vampires?"
"I don't know—" I started to say, but Saren shook her head. She stepped close. "You know who they are. Who are they?"
I didn't even consider it. I just answered. "They were Roane vampires. They were sent by his Elders."
"And?"
I had no idea how I knew it, but I did. "They're here to usurp Roane from his position as their hunter."
"Are they going to succeed?"
"No." I spoke so quickly, my eyes widened in surprise. I hadn't known that I knew any of that.
"Why not?" Saren knew. She measured every thought I had. "Why not, Davy?"
"Because he's powerful," I blurted out. The knowledge simmered beyond my reach. Now I grabbed it. "He's powerful because his blood is in me. He's connected to me."
Saren smiled and stepped back. "You're doing well. You might not need my help."
I frowned. I wasn't sure how I felt about that.
"He's more powerful than all the hunters." She still watched me.
I nodded. I hadn't known that, but it made sense.
"You don't like that?"
"Like what? That he's connected to me?"
She took a stalking step towards me. "That really bothers you. You don't like that he's connected to you, do you? You really don't like it."
I looked away, but I couldn't ignore what she'd said. Did I like it? No. I'll be honest. Everything was too much. I wasn't ready for this, much less ready for my abilities to help someone else. Roane was something personal, too personal to me. I didn't enjoy that I helped him become more powerful. At least, I didn't enjoy that I hadn't made that decision. It was taken from me.
"He doesn't know how powerful he is." Saren glided close behind me. "He knew you were the Immortal, but he didn't know your power would go to him. That's not why he wanted you to take his blood."
"Then why?" I turned back around. "No riddles. I need to know."
"Because he was answering something inside of him. Something in him beckons to him just like I beckon to you. It doesn't make sense, but it will. Someday. And as for what you heard just now, you needed to know they were here. You're the Immortal. You'll start to know everything that happens, whether you want to know or not. Right now, I'd be less worried about the Roane Elders and more worried about that Mother Wolf. She's a bitch."
And I needed more on my plate. "I'm supposed to go to an empath meeting. My sponsor is making me go."
Saren laughed. "I'm your sponsor, Davy. Don't go. You'll overwhelm them. They'll feel inside of you and most won't make it to the hospital. Trust me. And dump Blue as your sponsor. She doesn't mean well in the end."
My eyes snapped to her. "What do you mean by that? She's like a mother to me."
Saren smirked and stepped back. I felt her absence before it happened so I reached out and grabbed her arm. "Don't go."
She glared at my hand. I felt like it had been scorched and I let go. I didn't have another second to react. Saren was gone. I almost expected a puff of smoke to linger where she'd been, but there was nothing. Just air. Now I was really frustrated.
"Davy?" Emily called out behind me. "I thought you were leaving for something? Where do you go all the time?"
My roommate was such the inquisitive one. I wasn't too worried. She'd forget about it in two seconds, but I was relieved to see that her normal coloring had come back to her cheeks. In the broad sunlight, she almost looked like nothing had happened. She had changed to a similar outfit that Saren had worn, but her hair was pulled back in a ponytail. Pippa was dressed in something that made her look like a hippie, complete with the same two braids as before. The shirt was full of flowers and her pants were brown suede?
"Davy," Emily spoke again.
"Oh. Right. I'm not going anymore. Something…I changed my mind."
"Oh. Well, we're going to get some breakfast. Did you want to come with?"
Pippa shifted behind my roommate, but the movement was so small. I wouldn't have noticed it four weeks ago. When she refused to meet my gaze, I shook my head. "I'm going to head to the library instead. There's something I need to look up."
Emily frowned. "You're going to do homework?"
"Yeah."
"By yourself?"
"Who else would I go with?"
"I'm the one who usually forces you to do homework. With me. And you're going alone?" My roommate looked too speculative for my taste. "Are you sick?"
"Ha ha. That's funny. See you." Then I hurried away. I didn't like that Emily was with Pippa, but I knew the wolf would keep her safe and I needed information on werewolves. I couldn't ask Roane. I didn't think to ask Saren. I was advised against seeing Blue. Kates was gone. So that left the library. Fun times.
CHAPTER SEVEN
I wasn't sure the library would have literature on werewolves. I expected cartoons, teen romance novels, maybe some articles, but I was surprised they had an entire selection of older books. When I looked for where they were, I wasn't surprised. They were on the sixth floor and the creepiest floor.
The book was gone when I got there. So I hoofed it back to the main floor and requested to check it out whenever it was due back. The guy looked like I had three heads when he informed me that the book was not allowed to be checked out. I gave him a blank look in return. Then he sniffled up his nose, lifted his arms like he was a tyrannosaurus rex, and proceeded to walk me back up six flights of stairs. As soon as we got there, he looked dumbfounded when he saw the book was gone. I enjoyed that.
"Well," he sputtered. "I have no idea. That book isn't allowed to be checked out. No one knows where it is. No one cares about where it us unless…" He gave me a meaningful look. "Why are you looking for it?"
I gave him a blank face. "I'd like to be a werewolf. You?"
He rolled his eyes and dismissed me with a hand. "I thought you were looking for a class. Perhaps one of your classmates has it, but I can see that I'm wrong. Hmmm?" Then he threw both hands in the air. "It'll show up."
"You're not very helpful."
He shrugged. "It's my last week. Do your worst."
As he left, I glowered at his back. When it didn't burst into flame, I gave up. I must not have really wanted to hurt him. Then I turned for the bathroom and as I walked past an aisle, I caught sight of someone bent over a table with a very large, very old, book in front of her. Maybe… I approached with caution at first, but the girl was oblivious to anything around her. Her nose was pressed into that book and I wondered how she could handle the dust from it.
I drew a breast to her table and checked the book. It was the one I wanted. "How long are you going to be reading that?"
She shrieked and fell from her chair.
"I'm sorry."
She pulled herself back up and studied me. "Who are you?"
"Who are you?" I narrowed my eyes. The girl had long brown hair that fell to her waist. She had
a heart shaped face and glasses that covered dark eyes. Though she was dressed in a baggy sweater and jeans, I knew she was stick thin. Her feet peeked out from underneath her jeans in red ballet shoes. "I like your shoes."
She blushed. "Thanks. My sister didn't want them so I got them. I was over the moon when my mom sent—wait—Why do you want to read this book?"
"Werewolves."
She blinked and pushed up her glasses. "I didn't expect that answer."
"Why are you reading it?"
"Not for the werewolves." She laughed and turned back to her page. "This book has one of the best chapters on witches from Caduna. Do you know where that's at?"
I didn't.
"It's a secret place the Quakers first settled, but there was an abolition of witches so they moved and decided no one should know of the place."
"How do you know of it?"
"My family. One of the witches was my great-great-great-great-well…one of the founding witches was in my family. The secret was passed down."
"So you know all about that place?" This was interesting and all, but not what I had come for.
She frowned and scratched behind her ear.
"What's wrong? The secret didn't go to you?"
Tears welled up in her eyes as she shook her head. "It's always passed to the oldest daughter and I'm not the oldest. Tabitha doesn't care about this stuff, but she got everything. The stone. The books. The pendant. I got nothing" She sighed heavily. "I'm the witch of the family. I can do magic. The most magic she can do is with guys. She can get any of them. Not me. What's your name again?"
I extended my hand. "My name's Davy. What's yours?"
She placed her hand in mine. "I'm Sarah, but you can call me Brown. I prefer that name. I feel like I'm part of the earth and that's the natural color of the earth. Brown."
"It's blue. The oceans cover most of the planet."
Something sparked in her and shot through me. "I know, but my connection is to the land, not the water. Maybe Tabitha has that connection."
I heard her voice, but it came from a distance. When that something sparked through her, I was bombarded with images. One was the ocean as if someone was riding over it to us. The other was of a girl in a field. She was watching me. Slim. Long brown hair. Blue eyes. Another image was at night. Brown was standing in front of me and she held her hand out to me. She was trying to warn me about something.
"Davy?"
Brown stared at me. "Are you okay? Wait! Are you a witch too?"
"No." My voice came out hoarse. "How long have you been one?"
She sighed in disgust. "I've felt like I've been one all my life, but I didn't start doing spells until now. I was forbidden to talk about it or do anything with magic in high school. Tabitha's the chosen one in my family and that's only if she chooses to become a witch. All the family powers will go to her. Not me."
"Is your mom a witch?"
"No. She chose to pass on her powers. You can do that in my family. You can get all the powers from our ancestors."
"And if you don't? What then?"
She shrugged. "You just live a normal life."
"And if you choose the powers?"
Her voice trembled. "Then you have the responsibilities of all the other witches in my family."
"What are those?"
"I don't know. You don't know until the powers pass onto you."
"What if your sister decides she wants to be normal?" I flushed as I realized I was jealous. The girl had a choice.
"Then the powers will go to the next oldest daughter, hers or mine, or Kendra's. Not me."
Her eyes looked like she was seeing something far away, remembering something painful. She bit her lip for a moment and more tears welled up in her eyes. When she brushed one away, I realized that she'd forgotten about my existence.
I felt magic in her and she was just beginning, but the power in her was enormous. I felt it. It reached me. It was why she told me any of this. And I knew her magic would grow the more she trained and reached for it.
A wave of sadness swept over me and I knew it was hers. My empathic abilities had gone inside of her. I wanted to heal her. When she didn't react, I knew she couldn't sense my powers. I decided to push a little further inside of her.
When I found the thread of her magic, I followed it deeper inside. It stopped and I felt it was boxed in. That's when I realized that though she was blocked from her own magic, it still seeped out slowly. She was pulling it out the more she learned and she was determined to get it all.
"You really want your powers, don't you?"
Brown jerked her eyes to mine. "What? Oh, yeah. Is it that obvious?"
"I can feel it from you." I frowned. "What happens if your sister gets the powers and you do too? Can there be two?"
"There never has been before so I'm not sure. Why?" Then her eyes popped open again. "I can't believe I've told you all this. I'm usually—I never talk to people. What is it about you? Do you have a special power over me? That's the only thing that would make sense. I feel like a fool." As she spoke, she shot to her feet and started stuffing papers in her bag. When she shoved the book in too, I opened my mouth to remind her it wasn't supposed to be taken home, but she rushed away before I could say anything. It wasn't long before I heard the door alarms sound.
Then I sat back down and wondered about this girl. I knew I should've been curious about her powers as a witch, but anything magical or supernatural didn't surprise me anymore.
"Your thoughts are transmitting so loud, I could've heard them on a radio."
Roane glided out from one of the book shelves and sat where Brown had left.
"I thought we weren't supposed to see each other?" I frowned when my voice came out raspy, but I couldn't help it. There was something about Brown that made me sad. I didn't think it came from her anymore because I still felt it and then Roane showed up.
It was me. I was sad.
'Were you in my office before? I felt you, but I couldn't place you.'
'I know about the Roane Elders, about the other vampires.'
'What do you know?'
'They want to take away your huntership and they want to kill me.'
'What else?'
'That they can't. You're too powerful because your blood is in me.'
He looked away and swallowed. Roane kept his emotions in check, but I felt his fear for a second before it was taken away the next moment. He didn't want me to feel what he felt. I chose not to comment how that hurt, but was it my place to know those things? He loved her, not me.
He thought, 'The Elders sent a sorcerer. He felt your presence, but he can't narrow it down to where you are in town. I shouldn't be here. They might be tracking me—'
'They're not. You know they aren't. You're better than them.'
Roane frowned for a moment. "I wanted to ask if I had been imaging things or not. I know I hadn't so I should be going."
I wasn't going to say good-bye. I didn't want to do that anymore, but I watched him. He didn't move. Then he looked around, and still didn't move. "Was that a witch you were talking to?"
I nodded. "She's powerful, but something's blocking her. She has a weird family thing. She was telling me about it."
"She's a Bright. I've heard of their line, but I've never met one before."