Ray of Hope: The Cursed Elements Series Book 1

by K. Mawhood

  “I had them lock themselves in the bathroom as I ran and grabbed the cordless phone and dialed 9-1-1 but they couldn’t get there in time. Jeff choked Zack to death right in front of me. I ran back to the bathroom and hid with the others until the police arrived. It was one of the worst moments of my life. I’ve never felt so helpless before. I hated myself for a long time because I never tried to jump in and save him. It took me a while to realize it would have been worse for me and the other kids if I hadn’t kept them out of the room,” I say as I walk towards him slowly. I hadn’t realized I was so shaken up while talking about it. I’ve never really told anyone or talked about it except with Kelsey.

  He meets me and there’s sympathy in his eyes. He reaches for me and caresses my cheek. “I’m so sorry you had to go through that, darlin’.”

  “Thanks. I’ve recognized over time that the past doesn’t define us. It can shape us into who we are and who we want to become.”

  We both sigh in relief. It feels like we’ve grown closer just in these past moments. I feel it from him as well as he moves my hair behind my ear and smiles.

  He pulls away and bends down to grab a handful of flat rocks and hands me a few. “Thanks?” I say questioningly. I don’t know what he thinks I’m going to do with these, but I guess he wants to change the topic.

  He walks to the edge of the water and throws the rock in a weird way, causing it to skip across the surface a few times before sinking to the bottom. The ripples where the rock broke the surface are slowly starting to dissipate.

  He glances back at me and nods his head for me to join him. “Do you know how to skip a rock?”

  “No, no one has ever taught me. What do you do?” I say as I begin to walk over to him.

  He stands behind me and asks me to show him the rocks he gave me. “You have to find a rock that is mostly circular and flat, you see?” He picks a certain rock from my hand. He grabs the rest and puts them in his shorts’ pocket.

  “Then, you hold the rock like this.” He wraps his pointer finger around the edge and then places his thumb on the opposite edge. “Then you’re going to throw it with a flick of your wrist while being parallel to the water, like this,” he says as he flicks his wrist and the rock goes skipping across the surface.

  He grabs one more from his pocket and places it in my hand. I situate it like he did as he places his hand around mine. I almost go weak at the knees at just the touch of his hand with his rigid body behind me. I swing my arm back and then flick my wrist like he did. I'm prepared to be amazed but my rock just falls in the water with a plop sound.

  “Well, I have some mad skills I see,” I say sarcastically, turning to look at him.

  His eyes shine with amusement. “It takes practice, but you’ll get it eventually.”

  Chapter Twenty-Eight

  Brayleigh

  After a few more duds, I’m starting to get annoyed. I mean this can’t be that difficult. I begin to look around for new rocks since I sunk all the others, and find a perfectly smooth, circular rock. I feel good about this rock, it’s just too pretty not to work.

  I take my rock skipping position and make my final attempt. The rock releases from my hand and I watch in amazed excitement as it skips across the surface three times. Squealing, I start jumping up and down before throwing my arms around Cayden’s neck. His body tenses as I’m hugging him, so I let go and take a step back.

  I look at him to see if I’ve made him uncomfortable. His eyes are filled with regret but I can feel the chemistry we have. What’s holding him back? He takes a deep breath and steps toward me, placing both his hands on my hips. I decide to slowly get on my tip toes and bring my arms up again.

  His body is less tense so I go for it and place them slowly around his neck and slightly lay my head on his chest. This is the closest we’ve ever been while awake and I feel completely safe at this moment. After a few seconds, I pull my head back and look up at his face, my eyes lingering on his lips. He does the same as he closes the distance and kisses me with so much passion that it takes my breath away.

  He runs his tongue along my lips, requesting entrance. I gladly open for him and our tongues meet. He deepens the kiss as I begin to run my hands through his hair tugging slightly. It’s pure ecstasy and I never want this feeling to end.

  His hands slide around my hips landing on my ass. Gripping it tightly, he lifts me up and I wrap my legs around him. He carries me to the bench near the walkway back up the hill and he sits down. I take my hands and put them under his shirt to touch his abs. Glorious. No one needs a washing machine with this man around.

  I start to grind my hips on top of him, causing him to groan inside my mouth. The sound of him groaning makes me instantly wet as I break the kiss and trail tiny kisses down to his neck, his beard tickling my cheek as I go. His hands travel to my breasts, lightly squeezing them. The need to feel all of him is consuming me. He feels it too because he begins to lift his hips to meet me and I would give anything for all of our clothes to be gone.

  All of the thoughts and worries of the past two days leave my mind as my intense need for him grows. I feel like I’m going to combust at any moment. I faintly hear a whooshing sound next to us, but I ignore it. Cayden however does not. He pulls his head back and looks to the right.

  “Holy shit, darlin’,” he exclaims, while standing from the bench with me still in his arms.

  I glance over and spot a small bush in flames. Shit. I look back at him with wide eyes. “Um, did I do that?”

  He nods at me in shock while setting me back on the ground. It looks like it’s starting to spread to the next bush.

  “Crap, crap, crap,” I chant running my hands through my hair. “What do we do?”

  He begins scratching his beard in thought. “I’m gonna go grab a bucket real quick, we need to put it out before it gets out of control.”

  “Wait,” I tell him before he walks off. “Let me try something first.”

  Clearing my mind, I try to focus on what I need to do. I listen to the water flowing behind us and imagine it putting the flames out, hearing the sizzling sound of a doused fire. I feel the magic flow through my body and stretch out towards the river. I feel it moving over the ground and into the cold river. I move the magic around gathering water in a huge ball. I think of the wind carrying that ball over to the bush. I can feel the power in the air around us now. I instinctively know that I can release it now. Once I let go, I feel the magic rush back into me and I open my eyes.

  Where the flaming bush once stood is now a sopping wet and soot covered pile of branches. I glance over to Cayden and see his mouth is hanging wide open.

  “What the fuck just happened? How did you know you would be able to do that?”

  “Because I’m a badass bitch. Obviously,” I reply with a straight face. “Just kidding, I was taking a chance.”

  He rolls his eyes and chuckles.

  “Let’s head up to the house and get some dinner before Smokey the Bear makes an appearance,” he jokes.

  Once we get to the house, I decide to get situated by the fire pit. My body still hasn’t adjusted to the weather here.

  Cayden goes in to see what we’re having for dinner. I look at the wood in the fire pit and decide to try my powers again. I do the same thing as before when the bush was on fire. I close my eyes, mute out everything around me, and begin to picture the fire starting slowly. I feel the magic pulse towards the pit and I can feel the heat on my skin. I push more power towards it until I feel warmth hitting my face. I open my eyes to see the perfect fire.

  I mentally pat myself on my back.

  “I guess we don’t need any lighter fluid,” Liam laughs.

  “Yeah, I was informed earlier that she’s a badass bitch. This was after she set a bush on fire,” Cayden says, his eyes shining with amusement.

  “Hey, I put it out by myself. Focus on the positives,” I say with a smartass smile.

  They gather around the fire and begin to pass out the s
kewers and hot dogs. We all begin to roast our hot dogs and add all the fixings when they’re done.

  I practically inhale my hot dog and begin to roast a second when I glance around the fire and find all eyes on me.

  “What? Doing all the heavy lifting around here made me hungry,” I say with a hint of cockiness.

  Wyatt jokingly throws a piece of bread at me while chuckling.

  We finish eating and go in for the night. I head to the room where I put my stuff and see that it’s not where I left it. Behind me, Barrett says, “I thought you would be more comfortable in my bedroom since it has an attached restroom.”

  “Oh, thanks. Where will you be?” I ask.

  “I’ll just sleep on the couch since all of the other rooms are taken. I can sleep anywhere.”

  “Okay, thanks.”

  He shows me to the room and leans in and kisses my cheek. “Goodnight, doll.”

  “Goodnight.”

  Chapter Twenty-Nine

  Brayleigh

  I wake up before anyone else and decide to start the coffee. Barrett walks into the kitchen through the front door just as it finishes brewing.

  “Good morning. How did you sleep?” he asks me as he starts kicking his dirty boots off to set by the door.

  “Good, thanks again for letting me sleep in your room. Your bed is super comfy.” I pause for a second before speaking again. “I didn’t realize anyone was up, where were you?” I ask.

  “Just doing the morning chores. I was hoping to take you around the farm today. Does that sound good?”

  “Um, hell yes,” I answer excitedly.

  He’s smiling as he hands me two to-go mugs and I fill them up with coffee.

  “Why don’t you go get ready. I’m going to call around about the Elder and see if he can meet with us at some point.”

  “Okay, that sounds good.” I go back to the room and get ready. I’m excited to speak to the Elder. I have a good feeling that I’m going to at least get some answers as to what's going on with me. I make sure I look presentable and exit the room. Barrett’s at the front door waiting. He holds open the door for me and we start walking to the barn next to the house.

  There is a pen next to the barn with a few goats inside. I make my way over to check them out. Two of them ignore me and continue headbutting each other, but the third one makes his way over to the fence. He looks like a young goat but not a baby. His horns are about four to five inches long and he’s covered in black and white fur. I go to pet him but Barrett grabs my hand stopping me.

  “I wouldn’t do that, doll, Goliath is a mean little bastard.”

  I glance up at him. “So he bites?”

  “Fuck yes he bites, and I’m pretty sure he intentionally tries to break the skin,” he says, staring down at the goat.

  I look down too, and Goliath lets out a warcry from hell before he starts ramming his head into the fence post.

  Okay then, I think as I start to slowly back up.

  Barrett grabs my hand again as he starts to lead us to the barn doors. I glance back over my shoulder at the demented goat still ramming his head into the fence.

  “Maybe you should call a priest to come perform an exorcism or something. That’s not normal,” I say before laughing.

  He chuckles. “I’ve learned to just accept and embrace the crazy that is Goliath. At least there’s never a boring day when he’s around.”

  He opens the barn doors and there are multiple stables filled with beautiful horses. The floor is covered in hay and there is a loft area above us. Barrett begins to sweep the floor and tells me to start meeting the horses.

  “Man, I was hoping there would be a unicorn in here with everything that I’ve learned recently,” I say with a smile.

  “She’s flying around here somewhere,” he deadpans.

  I feel my eyes go wide as I gape at him. “Seriously?”

  “No, Brayleigh, this isn’t a fairy tale. Unicorns don’t exist,” he says laughing.

  “Could’ve fooled me, wolf boy.”

  “Trust me, I’m no boy, doll,” he says with a wink.

  Well, now I’m all hot and bothered. I fan my face as I head to one of the stalls.

  The first horse is all white with black eyes. He’s eating his food and his tail is swishing.

  The next horse I see is all black and I know already that I want to ride him. I reach out to pet his forehead slowly. He brings his face down towards me to meet my hand and I begin to stroke his fur.

  “He likes you. He never lets anyone pet him,” Barrett says from behind me.

  “He’s beautiful. Do you think he will let me ride him?” I ask.

  “I don’t think so. He’s usually not too fond of people riding him,” he says with a shake of his head.

  “Oh, come on, please? Let’s just see how it goes. I have a feeling he will let me,” I beg.

  Barrett stares at the horse, contemplating whether or not it’s a good idea before going to the wall and hanging the broom up on a nail.

  “You better behave yourself, Ace. She’s special,” he says to the horse.

  He opens the stall door and leads him outside and ties him to a post.

  “Okay, come over towards him slowly and try to pet his neck first. Talk to him so he can get used to your voice. I’m going to go get a saddle. If it looks like he’s getting agitated, step away from him and keep yourself within his line of vision,” he instructs.

  I begin to slowly pet his neck and talk to him. “Hi, Ace, I’m Brayleigh and we’re going to prove to Barrett over there that you love me. He doesn’t know what he’s talking about. You’re just misunderstood, aren’t you?” He snorts and nods his head a bit. I’m gonna take that as a yes.

  Barrett appears with a saddle and carefully places it on his back. Ace keeps his eyes on me and I continue petting him as Barrett looks like he’s going to have a heart attack.

  “Okay, now try and get on. Put your left foot in the stirrup and swing your right leg up and over his back.”

  I put my foot in the stirrup and try and fail to lift myself up. Apparently, I need to start doing some pull-ups. That was just pathetic.

  “I think I’m going to need some help here,” I say.

  “Okay, I’m going to give you a boost,” he says while putting his hands on my hips.

  He lifts my hips and I move higher than I was. He moves his hands from my hips to my butt and pushes me the rest of the way.

  I put my other foot in the stirrup and pick up the reins.

  “I’m going to walk you around for a bit to see how he does.”

  After a few times around the horse pen, he feels confident that Ace will be fine. He goes to get the white horse and gets on with ease. He’s definitely got the hot cowboy thing down pat.

  We make our way back to the river and follow along the bank at a steady pace. It’s beautiful here and the scenery has a tranquil effect on me. There are big hills surrounding us, covered in multicolored trees. Birds are chirping all around us and chipmunks scurrying up the trees. I can spot a few deer through the trees but they run off as soon as they hear us coming.

  “Wow, I could get used to seeing this everyday,” I say in awe.

  “I could too,” he says. I glance over and he’s staring at me, causing me to blush and turn away again.

  After another thirty minutes or so we arrive at a small clearing right off the river. I see a blanket laid out with a picnic basket in the middle of it. My stomach starts fluttering with butterflies. I look over at Barrett as we stop the horses next to the blanket.

  “Did you do this?” I ask him as I get down from the horse with absolute grace.

  He holds his hand out to me to help me off my ass as he answers. “I snuck out this morning when everyone was sleeping to set it up for you. We haven’t really had any alone time together yet.”

  “This is the sweetest thing anyone has ever done for me,” I tell him as I walk over to the picnic he set up and sit down.

  Sitting down ne
xt to me he begins to pull the food out of the basket. There are a few blueberry muffins, yogurt, fruit and a few other breakfast items. He also pulls out a thermos of orange juice and two paper cups.

  He hands me a muffin and yogurt before he starts to pour our drinks.

  “How are you feeling today about everything that happened yesterday?” he asks me.

  “I haven’t really thought about it that much. I think I’m just trying to mentally block it out or I will have a serious freak out again.”

  “If you want to talk about it with me you can. It might help you process it better,” he suggests.

  I nod in agreement. “I don’t even know where to begin with how I feel about it. The whole thing was a giant shit show.”

  “Your powers are an interesting twist of events. I don’t really know what to think about that yet.”

  “Have you heard of any supernatural, outside of witches, who have powers?” I ask him before taking a bite of my muffin.

  “There’s a legend that’s been passed around for generations about wolves and vampires having powers, but it’s just a campfire story. There’s no record of anything like that ever being true. Not to my knowledge anyway.”

  “Well, it’s definitely something we need to ask the Elder about,” I tell him. He nods in agreement, grabbing some yogurt for himself.

  “I was pretty pissed at you for not saying anything to us about them,” he says, looking down and trying to peel the lid off the yogurt.

  “I’m sorry, I just didn’t know how to bring the subject up and I was completely freaked out by it,” I say sincerely.

  He looks at me with understanding. “I get it now and I understand.” He pauses for a second before continuing. “When I was younger, some horrible shit happened to a friend of mine as the result of some stupid fucks lying.”