Chapter 16
50 years later
Keterlyn’s face greeted him as she lounged in Daniel's arms on his waking. He nuzzled his still young face into her neck and breathed in deep, satisfied by having spent the night so comfortably with her, so absolutely together again. For a few precious moments he gazed at her before he turned away, flinching in response to the pang in his chest. This wasn't right, and besides, Daniel had places to be. If he was going to make the meeting point he would have to be up and dressed within the half hour.
Still, Daniel looked back once more, shifting her hair from her face. She stirred slightly and he halted the movement of his hand, deciding to let her sleep for a few more minutes.
It was too late though, the phone rang out a subtle mix of classical notes in a digital tone, but enough to wake anyone, and the girl pulled a pillow over her head in protest. Daniel reached out and touched the button that signalled he chose to take the call, engaging the speaker automatically as Jake's welcome voice rang out.
"You ready for our road trip or what? It's nearly midday and if you want to do this the old fashioned way..."
"Jake, I got company." Daniel carried warning in his tone as he shifted his arm from underneath the pillows that held her head, and rose to a seated position.
"I'll be there in twenty minutes Daniel."
"I'll be there. But hey, call me a cab while you're at it." the connection was severed and Daniel turned back to the bed. A dainty, pale arm searched the mattress for him, and he lay back down as she pulled her head from the darkness of the linen.
"Morning." Daniel greeted warmly as her smile broadened and she entwined herself around his body.
"Morning." she replied as her toes curled and ran the length of his calf.
"I need to get going."
"Already?" she whined. "I wanted to spend the day getting to know the stranger who managed to get me to break all my rules last night."
Keterlyn's face greeted him with bleary eyes and a fake pout that reminded Daniel to put up a wall.
"You don't want to get to know me." he replied after a moment. He pulled his body up to a seated position, and feeling the bond break between them, she furrowed her brow.
With tone in her voice that was heavy with suspicion she narrowed her lids. "I like you, I thought you liked me?" she said
"I think I'm not a good person, Keterlyn, and I'm not sure if I ever really was."
Her body stiffened and she clutched the sheet to her with an angry fist. "My name is Talia."
Daniel turned to face her and reached out a hand to her face, hovering it just in front as you would if placing a mask. He smoothly waved it over her features which returned from Keterlyn's to Talia's darker, more petite features.
"What are you doing!" she asked, swiftly becoming outraged.
"Nothing you have to worry about Talia." Daniel stretched out his hand and took hers laying it flat and turned upwards in his palm. With his other hand he began to trace an image. Initially she let him hold her hand with some hesitation, but after a moment she became entranced, relaxed and stared back at him with blank eyes. "In fact,” Daniel continued now it was safe to do so, "There isn't a single thing you're going to need to remember. We had a good night, too many drinks, we laughed, I paid for a cab home. It's waiting for you downstairs."
"I hope it doesn't leave without me." Talia said concerned.
"You had better get dressed then." Daniel urged and she rose, dressed quickly and fled the room as Daniel quickly showered.
Downstairs, Jake was already waiting in the car and Talia was just climbing in to a cab, oblivious to Daniel who sank happily into the expensive leather of Jake’s latest acquisition, a Boxter.
"You are not a good man my friend." Jake said with a light, though accusing tone as he stared after the taxi that pulled from the curb.
Daniel looked at Jake shaking his head in mock sadness. "I could be worse. I could be you."
"Hey! I use my super powers for good, I resent your tone." Jake started the engine and revved it.
"Super powers huh. Saved anyone from burning buildings yet?"
"Maybe not this week." Jake took the car onto the road and headed for the freeway.
Jake looked over at Daniel sensing a moroseness he hadn't felt in Daniel for years. He searched for light conversation. "Think she still would have slept with you if you told her how old you are?" he quipped, but it failed to raise a smirk.
"I think it's not that hard to get anything we want." was the reply instead.
"You make it sound like a chore."
"How's Anise?" detracted Daniel.
"Shaky, what happened to Will wasn't expected."
Daniel had difficulty hiding the concern in his voice, "But he'll be here tonight?"
"Yeah, he'll be here. It was a wake up call for us all. Nothing like a heart attack to make everyone around you feel a little more mortal." Daniel nodded to himself absent mindedly.
"Why are we driving Daniel?"
"I miss it." he replied honestly.
"What? Driving?" queried Jake.
"Normal." Daniel corrected. "And I miss her."
"We only knew her for a few months, fifty years ago. I have to be honest, I don't get your hang up with her, but this?"
"She's always with me Jake." Daniel lifted his forearms, his shirt pulling back from his skin. Underneath the flesh a translucency rose to the surface, ribboned about his forearms then died back down as he rested his limbs again. "The more time passes, the more difficult it gets, feeling like part of me is missing." Taking a deep breath Daniel closed his eyes, feeling the energy rising within him, bubble back down to a gentle simmer.
Jake couldn't take it any longer. "What's wrong? You're different, more..."
"Sombre?"
"I was going to go with morbid."
Daniel smiled finally. "Maybe I am. I've just been thinking a lot lately."
"Care to share?"
"Yeah, we have some time." With that Daniel eased back and began to speak his mind.
That night, as the full moon beamed down from its perch in the sky, Molly, Zara, Ashleigh, and Rebecca sat in the grass waiting for the others to join them. Zara was explaining what had happened to Will as Rebecca lounged back looking carefree and Molly hugged her knees staring with intent features at Zara. Ashleigh lay in the grass staring up at the stars contentedly. None of them looked their seventy plus years, having used glamours to cover up their ages for so long they barely needed to try anymore.
"So Anise called me." To Molly's drawn brows, she explained further. "Well it's not like they could go to the hospital was it? Then I had to call Lily because she's the healing guru, and anyway, thank the Goddess she got there in time.
"What do you think would have happened if y'know..." Molly queried.
"If he died." finished Rebecca dusting her hands and sitting upright.
Molly was quiet for a moment while everyone thought through the obvious, though eventually she had to voice it. "What do you think happens to the energy?”
Ashleigh finally spoke. “Keterlyn lived forever. Obviously we won't."
“Daniel has the lion share,” Zara reasoned. “It would make sense if the power returned back to him.”
A familiar though unwelcome voice sounded out behind them. “So what, he gets to live forever while we decay in the dirt.” Micala stood, arms crossed, and a bitter look across her features.
“Why don’t you go decay into the dirt.” Rebecca muttered. Micala didn’t bite. She had learned the hard way more than once not to feed into it. Now the comments, snide remarks and seemingly endless resentment from the others generally slid off her back. Usually she made a point of arriving late for these things just so she could get it over and done with, but every few years she seemed to forget, or want to torture herself, or something beyond her comprehension. At her core she knew she still hoped that they might accept her back after what she did, or at the very least be less than hostile, but
Micala refused to entertain the thought. They needed her and she needed them as part of the circle, and so once a month at the full moon they tolerated her, nothing more.
Just then, there was a whirling, the wind struck up and formed a funnel, sparks flying about it until Abel stood amidst it and the winds died down on cue. He had a broad smile across his face and Zara rolled her eyes at the showmanship, as Rebecca jumped up and rushed over giving him a bear hug. Even Ashleigh sat up to watch.
“Hello again,” Abel said, his voice tight from being squeezed.
Rebecca leaned back and let him go. “Just glad to see you – my saviour!”
Molly and Zara looked puzzled. “Say what now?” Zara asked.
“I got stuck in a bind at this club, and who waltzes in, but Abel.” Rebecca explained.
“That’s what you get for hanging out in the Devils Pit.”
“What were you doing there?” Molly’s nose turned at the thought of the place. It was a well known hang out for the supernatural types, but not one respectable practitioners frequented.
“I heard a vamp gone loco runs that place.” Zara observed.
“You hear right.” Abel said.
“Yeah but there was a guy I met there,” a small chorus of ‘ahhs’ rang out. “I was looking for him.”
Ashleigh smiled as she spoke. “Is that the Owen you were going on about. You an item yet ‘cause the last time you were talking about him, it sounded like he was a little work obsessed. Doesn’t he kill things like us – the unnatural?”
“Only the nasty things. That’s why I was looking for him.”
“He’s a little under four decades younger than he should be from what I hear.” Abel chimed in and Rebecca shook her head at him.
“Like you aren’t using the glamour to get your own way with the twenty something set, honey. I hear your going by Abel Jr now.” taunted Zara.
“Actually it’s Jr, Jr now.”
“Couldn’t give up the limelight hey?” Molly joked to which Abel simply gwaffed and turned towards the approaching car that held Daniel and Jake. Ashleigh jumped to her feet and walked towards the car leaving the others behind walking though the spontaneous appearance of Anise and Lily to either side of her. They wisped out of thin air, mid stride, as if they had just strolled though a light breeze, though Lily had to turn slightly to dodge the smiling Ashleigh who was bent towards reaching Jake faster.
“Hey baby!” Ashleigh beamed as Jake left the car and took her hand. Daniel nodded curtly as he passed her and headed towards the others on the hill. “What's with Mr bright eyes?” she asked sarcastically of Daniel.
Another car arrived, holding Tempest and Will, both of whom emerged slowly, Will looking all of the seventy three years he was. Anise stood forward and waited for them both to reach her. Tempest winked at her worried face as he passed her, and she reached out a hand for Will’s as he took heavy breaths climbing the hill. As their fingers entwined, Will swiftly transformed back into his younger self.
“He can’t hold his own image?” Micala whispered under her breath.
Instead of jumping on it no one said anything except for Molly again. “What does that mean?”
Tempest looked up at her, grim, though resigned. “You know what that means Moll.”
“You don’t feel… tired somehow?” Abel asked as Will and Anise joined the group.
“That’s enough, let’s begin.” Instructed Daniel, and the group moved into a circle, taking hands to complete the connection and exchange their energy.
As soon as the last one took hands, a bright light built amongst them, and a wave of energy rose simultaneously. The power built, cascading about them as they found themselves rejuvenated. As soon as the energy was dispersed amongst them again the light subsided and Micala moved to vanish as quickly as possible, but as she projected herself to disappear, Daniel set up a barrier preventing her from leaving.
Micala snapped her head back in irritation. “We need to talk,” Daniel remarked. “All of us.”
Daniel felt acutely responsible for everyone being comfortable with this decision, mainly because he knew he could enforce it even if they didn’t agree with him, but although Daniel had led them, they had all played a part in helping eachother grow, to learn to hone their own skills, discover new ones, so even though relatively little time had gone past, each had grown greatly. Lily could summon almost any illusion, transport items, and cast shadowing spells to hide people or objects. Micala also had worked hard to earn forgiveness, especially from Tempest and Rebecca. Her ability to find lost things had come in useful a number of times, and started to earn her a small fortune. Turned out, when she put aside the fear, she had an amazing capacity to manipulate water as well. Ashleigh and Jake had done more than practice magic skills though, they had become engaged, then married.
Anise had traveled to Paris once a month, at least, and Will had devoted time to learning energy fields with Ashleigh. Zara no longer taught, but studied all the time, transporting from one place to another, keeping over 20 field notes. Abel had become a near household name in no time, his accuracy seemingly uncanny in being able to evade opponents, score goals, and his on air manner highly sellable. Abel also seemed to have an almost preternatural capacity to engage an audience as well. Tempest had set up his own business to which people flocked to access his consultancy services which had a surprising knack to set people on the right path either in love, careers or other directions. Molly, had kept her head down, mastering most of the basics, and submerging herself in the art of magic and researched the supernatural to extend their scope of threats and allies. Everyone here was extraordinary as far as Daniel was concerned, and not just because of the magic.
“This is because of me isn’t it?” Will said definitively. Anise squeezed his hand.
“This is for all of us, before we lose what we have, before something happens and we don’t get a chance to direct it.” Daniel was firm, though he saw tears in the eyes of the friends he had kept for so long.
Zara seemed the calmest of them all. She was the oldest, though right now, her face flush from the energy that had been sent surging through them all, no one could have guessed it. “There’s not much of a difference, escaping time, or escaping the things in the dark that came for our predecessors. At least we choose when, all of Keterlyn’s others never really got to choose, and never really knew what exactly was coming for them in the dark.” The remark drew mostly nods of understanding.
“It’s been an amazing life.” Rebecca added.
“More than I could have imagined.” Lily said as Abel nudged into her.
Tempest spoke next. “I don’t like the idea of running from anything anymore. We’ve been in control, I’ve been in control for so long, I don’t want to wait for some wakeup call where I suddenly age fifty years in the middle of lunch one day, scare the crap out of my assistant.”
“What are you thinking of?” Will asked of Daniel.
“Wait,” Micala objected. “What are we talking about, it doesn’t have to end. What if one dies, and the others just…keep going. What if we get their power and somehow that helps…” but she didn’t get to finish the sentence before Zara took her hand. Micala started crying instantly, tears of fear and relief pouring down her cheeks as she buried her head into Zara’s shoulder.
Ashleigh even ran a hand over Micala’s back. “None of us knows what happens next. Daniel, is there something we need to do.”
Daniel had thought through this for a long time now, and had tried to come to terms with what was the best thing to do with the time and the power that remained in their possession, and the fact that is all might fall apart even with the best of plans. “This experience of ours, has been more than I think any of us could have imagined. It might not have intended to be a gift exactly, but I think it ended up being one anyway. Keterlyn gave us a chance to live to our best, longer than we thought we could. She gave us second chances.” He swallowed hard for the next bit. “So I think
we should think about giving someone else the same chance. Give up the power before we lose everything altogether.” There was a calm silence as all their faces stared at him with various looks of approval and acknowledgement.
“Can we choose who gets it?” Micala asked much to everyone’s surprise.
Daniel nodded. “I think each of us picks one person, family, friend, whoever we think can handle it.”
“And who’ll do the right things with it.” supplemented Tempest.
“Agreed.” Abel supported. “I have a cousin who’s good people.”
“My neighbour.” Jake answered.
Anise stifled a sob. “I don’t think I can do this.” she murmered but as Will pulled her closer into him she steadied herself.
“I can’t imagine a better way to do this.” Rebecca said brightly, though much of it was forced. “We get to choose on our terms, who gets this, amazing gift of ours. In a way we kind of get to live on. I’m going to find that Owen.”
“Focus Bec, we’re looking to pass on a legacy here not have a one night stand.” Lily joked.
“I meant for that!” Rebecca chastised. “He kills evil things in his spare time, he deserves a bit of oomph behind him.”
“It’s settled then. Next meeting, we bring 12 people with us, to take our places.” Daniel stated for the collective.
Following the seriousness of the conversation they spent the rest of their time together reminiscing, joking and generally just enjoying each other’s company. Lily rested into Abel, Zara and Molly lay front first on the grass using their powers to draw worms to the surface and the others sat scattered about except for Daniel, who stood slightly away from the group staring into the night.
Anise turned to Will. "He seems lonely."
"Nah, he's always like this." Will dismissed.
"Yeah but this time he's more...you know."
“I know.”
“I always thought he would find a way to bring her back you know.” Tempest said thoughtfully.
Zara toyed with an earthworm as she responded to Tempest’s comment. “He knew he never could. Ket made it clear. Bringing things back from the dead never worked out right.”
“What are you doing with your last month Zar?” Molly asked as she rolled on to her back.
“Might go back to that place in the Caribbean, relax for a bit.”
"I might have to join you.” Jake said.
“Like hell!” Ashleigh piped up. “We’re going to go to that place in the Hebrides where we got married.
“Hmm, cold, windy….Can’t wait.” Jake wisecracked. “S’pose there’s no sense in running, you'd find me anyway."
"Damn right." Ashleigh said gripping tightly to his arm.
Daniel walked back then, his hands in his pockets. “I might call it a night.” Jake started to get up but Daniel waved his hand. “I’m not travelling back the old fashioned way.”
"So what are you doing with your last month?" Abel asked Daniel.
"I'm going back to school.” Daniel didn’t even hide the feint smile on his face.
"Even with the glamour I don't know you can pass as a student.” Molly noted.
"Why don't you let me worry about that. See you next month.” With that Daniel was gone, soon to be in bed and having the best night sleep in a decade.
The year before, Daniel had worked as a school counsellor for a term. Mainly because he was bored, and partly because he was curious, but in doing so had come across a high school student by the name of Robert, Bobby, who was bright, destined for amazing things, but only if he could keep a lid on his anger. When Daniel said he was going back to school, he meant it, but only for enough time to offer Bobby a chance of a lifetime.
There was something else about Bobby though, and as the afternoon set in, the school bell rang, and Daniel set out to find the boy. Daniel rounded the emptying corner of the hallway, to see Bobby with two of the other boys of his year, being shoved about as he resisted, only slightly, but just enough to keep the others at bay. On walking away though, the last of the tormenters, swung a leg under Bobby causing him to fall backwards on his backside, the pain not nearing the emotional outrage. Bobby had been picked on since moving to this school last year, and he took it silently, with as much dignity as possible, but when Bobby got mad, Daniel noticed something else. Things around him swayed, moved, rattled, not noticeably, unless you were looking for it. Daniel recognised it immediately of course, and watching Robert on the floor, gritting his teeth as his school mates laughed and left him in their wake, Daniel saw it again.
Clenching his fists, Bobby stood shaking, the light above him swaying slightly as though an unperceivable breeze had found its way through the corridor. The boy rose his fist, stuck out his chin and swung at the corkboard next to his head in anger, but his fist never made contact. Daniel held Bobby’s arm at bay, a determined and knowing look upon his features, and the boy calmed instantly. “Sorry sir, I didn’t see you there. I’ll go, it’s time to get home.”
“Actually Robert,” Daniel spoke softly, “I needed to have a word.” Daniel let him go, and cursing under his breath Bobby followed Daniel down the corridor to the nearest classroom, imagining he was in the worst kind of trouble.
****
At the next monthly meeting everyone arrived with their new inductee. Walking a stunned Bobby in through thin air, Daniel released the boy’s shoulder ad joined the others in his coven. They spoke briefly, hugged each other, and said their goodbyes as the 12 people destined to take their places looked on in disbelief, or at each other with doubt in their minds and hearts.
After a few minutes, Daniel produced Lormorian’s old knife that he had kept in his possession for so long, Keterlyn’s blood dried and brown on the blade’s edges. He drove it into the ground and stood back, feeling the power seem into the earth. “It's time to find out what happens next.”
With that, the coven closed the circle, the new recruits in the middle, and handed over the power that so many years ago had been instilled in them.
With a blinding light escalating and strobing through and around the circle, those in the middle shuffled in nervousness, there was a flash, and suddenly Daniel, Molly, Rebecca, Lilly, Abel, Jake, Will, Anise, Ashleigh, Zara, Tempest, and Micala were gone, leaving twelve new faces, staggering, sinking to the ground, or closing their eyes as they absorbed the power running within them.
THE END
Other books by this author:
Matthias (out now)
Asatru (out now)
Kindred (Out 2012)
Thank you for reading books on BookFrom.Net Share this book with friends