"Is it working?" he asked.
I threw my arms down careful not to rip the paper. "No!" I went over to the house phone to call room service. "Do you want anything? I'm ordering room service."
"No, thanks." He just looked at me.
"Hi, can I please have hot water for tea, a whole lemon cut in half, a salad with lots of red cabbage, and oil and vinegar on the side...Yup, thanks."
I put the phone back on the receiver and left the blank pages next to it while I waited for my order. I grabbed the other book off the table and plopped my butt on the couch. I kicked my boots off and put my feet on Graven's lap. Without turning his head he eyeballed me and smiled.
I turned the pages quickly. Some of the recipes and ingredients looked familiar to me. I was getting frustrated realizing Gram's notes were as cryptic as every other part of her life.
The knock on the door came quick. I jumped up to answer and Graven stood up and blocked my way. "I will go to the door. Please sit and relax."
He brought the tray over to the table. "Are you really going to eat this?"
"No, I needed some of these things to try and bring the text up on these papers." I held up the two blank pages. "I hope."
I picked out the cabbage and put it in the mug and poured hot water over it. I used the second mug and mixed lemon juice and vinegar together. I ran to the bathroom and grabbed a few cotton balls off the counter.
I didn't want to over saturate the pages and possibly smear whatever she wrote or rip the paper from it being too wet. I wish I had a spray bottle. I decided to try the red cabbage on a small section. If it didn't work I could try the acid from the lemon or the vinegar on the other page.
I gently smeared the cabbage water across the paper. It only took a few minutes and the letters started to reveal themselves to me. Graven was standing over my shoulder watching what I was doing. I don't know how long this guy had been alive, but you would think that he had seen this before.
My dearest Kasha,
If you are reading this that means that I have passed before you returned from college. I am sorry that there were so many things left unsaid. I know that I am in danger, I have been followed now on several occasions by what I think is a skin-walker. I am more concerned with keeping you safe. I have asked our friend Patience to look after you. She has a sister whom I am suspicious of. She seems to know quite a lot about you and our family history.
I have cast an enchantment on myself so that if my life is taken at the hands of another you will know who means us harm. Look in my recipe book for the recipe labeled Marked. You will need to reverse the recipe order and drink the tea. When you are in the presence of my attacker you will be shown the truth.
If you have matured into the young woman I now realize you were meant to become, please do not fear what is happening to you. I have tried to teach you many things over the years to prepare you for this possibility. I was going to explain everything to you when you came home. When you trust in yourself your light will shine at its brightest.
Please remember that we are all connected. Our souls are forever united. When you find your mother, please tell her how much I love her and that I know that she did what she thought was the right thing. She loves you with all her heart. Only she knows whom your father is, I only pray that he was full of light when you were conceived.
I will always look after you. I will miss you and look forward to being reunited with your Grandfather.
Loving you always,
Gram
"What is a Skin-walker?" I asked Graven.
"A Skin-walker is an abomination. They are not born; they are created. They are death in the skin of an animal, usually a coyote. Why do you ask?"
"My grandmother seems to think that one was going to take her life. I will kill it, whatever it is. If it took Gram from me, I will not let it walk on this planet to harm another living soul." I slammed my hand down on the table. "It is one thing for The Taker and his bottom feeder followers to come after me, but why my Gram? She never did anything to hurt anyone."
"Kasha, you have not done a thing to harm anyone either, it's just who and what they are. I don't think you should have any intention to go up against any Skin-Walkers. To become a Skin-walker a person needs to kill an animal, traditionally a coyote, and a blood relative at the same time. The bodies need to be burned together at the same time. A ceremony is preformed to create a corpse powder. The person that did the killing consumes a potion created from the corpse powder. They are then able to transition into a hybrid beast. The Skin-walker can use the corpse powder to sicken and kill others. They are often unable to possess empathy for others and have little to no conscience."
"Wow, why would someone want to become such a thing?" I asked. The thought of it made my heart feel like it was breaking in two. I chose to stuff the tears and sadness and accept the anger I felt toward whoever would make such dark choices.
"For power, revenge, for a sick and twisted way to have fun... I really don't know. I am sure on occasion someone else creates them who is interested in using him or her to do their bidding. I wouldn't go looking for that kind of trouble when we have enough to sort out as it is." Graven grabbed a few pieces of lettuce off the plate and ate it.
"Maybe I am getting hungry. How about we take a break from all this and go out for some dinner? We can even eat at the restaurant in the hotel," he suggested.
"I'm not hungry right now. How about we finish looking through these books, if we don't find anything, we can go grab dinner." I now also needed to find this Marked Tea recipe. I wasn't going to mention it to Graven. If it were in those books I would find it. I couldn't let it go. I went back to searching the book and Graven followed suit.
"So what do you think happened to the guys that attacked us today? Should we be worried about the police coming to look for us?" I asked while I turned the pages.
"No, I took care of it."
"What does that mean exactly?" I wasn't sure if I would like the answer he gave me.
"There is a universal number to text for supernatural cleanup's. We are to leave the scene before they get there."
"Before who gets there?"
"I don't know, I never asked. It has been a long time since I needed to have someone help me clean up a mess I made. They are discreet; as long as you don't see them or get in their way they don't see you or get in your way. Their purpose really is to cover up things of supernatural nature from the humans."
"Whatever, this is all so freaking messed up. Do you think someone cleaned up my grandmother's death?"
"Kasha, we don't even know for sure that your grandmother's death was at the hand of a supernatural. Didn't you say it was a car accident?" I know Graven was just dying to divert my anger and thoughts, but it wasn't working.
"Yes. Is there no law among supernaturals? If we are above the law of the humans then who do we answer to? Who keeps the order? There is no law amongst us all?"
"There are rumors of an organization that tries to keep the peace and who attempt to maintain a balance between light and the darkness. Certainly there are customs and standards of conduct unique to different supernatural bloodlines. One thing you should always remember is that many supernaturals keep themselves hidden and for good reason. I am not sure if there is anyone that truly knows all of that exists.
"Then you have those that walk in darkness, the way they live their lives by stealing power or the favor of those with the most power and using them against others. They work outside the limits of what should be. The worst of them seek to possess an unobtainable amount of power sucking it from all that they can.
"There are fears and whispers that those with the most power have created new supernatural beings or are attempting to. And you, you are so unique I don't think that there has ever knowingly been anyone to posses the potential you have or the combination of genetic makeup that flows through your veins."
"Hmmm. I must pose a threat to both those that seek balance and power. I would a
ssume I would tip the scales if I were fighting for one side over the other. I still can't believe this is happening to me. I never wanted so much to be normal as I do now." I flipped the pages faster than I could read the words on the pages.
"Our goal right now has to be maintaining your safety, Kasha. If we can keep the truth about what you can do a secret hopefully we will be able to find a balance between worlds, one that you can find happiness in."
I took a sip of my latte and it was cold. I was about to get up and heat it in the microwave and then I found something. The words were scribbled in pencil toward the inner binding next to the list of ingredients and directions. "Re-animation!"
"What?" Graven asked.
"This says that this can be used to help someone to wake from a coma, but she also wrote a small note along the inner side of the page that says re-animation. I wonder if we could try this to help Axel"
"It's worth a shot. What do we need to make it happen?" Graven asked and finished off the rest of his muffin.
"White Mustard, Lotus, Evening Primrose, Basil, Elder, Arjuna, Banyan, Mango, Pine, Olive, Eucalyptus, Red Rose, Wheatgrass, Orange, Banana, Winter Cherry, Carrot, Pink Rose, and Alfalfa."
"We can get most of that at the local grocer. There are a few holistic stores here in Santa Fe that would possibly have the rest. It is late though, none of them would be open right now."
"Do we still need to go back to Sedona tonight? Would it be possible to stay here until we can help Axel?" I got up and took my cup to the microwave.
"I don't see why not. I do need to take care of some things back there for the club, but we also need to be back here this weekend for Red Reign's opening. I will figure it out, we can go to the stores first thing in the morning."
I ran over to him and jumped on his lap and wrapped my arms around him. "Thank you." He hugged me back and the hug felt too good to let go, but the microwave beeped and I still needed to find the Marked tea recipe.
"Instead of you drinking that old reheated drink, how about we make that dinner happen?" Graven suggested.
"I think I will let you twist my arm. My stomach is starting to put up a stink." I figured I had all night to keep looking through those books, with or without Graven's help.
Chapter Twenty
APPARENTLY I WAS BEYOND EXHAUSTED from a very long day. I agreed to go grab dinner with Graven and had every intention on staying up as long as it took to go through every inch of Gram's books. Unfortunately I never even made it to dinner. I passed out in the truck on the ride there.
I woke up in Graven's bed with one of his tee shirts on and my panties. He told me he carried me in and changed my clothes. I woke up to find him sitting in the chair next to the bed, sleeping with one of Gram's books in his lap.
I felt bad that he slept in a chair, but he told me that he didn't sleep much. He spent half of the night watching me sleep and the other half looking through Gram's books.
Graven thought we should grab breakfast on the go, but I still needed to get the ingredient list for the Marked tea. We each took a fast shower and got dressed quickly. I took a few minutes to split my hair down the middle to weave my hair into two braids. It was faster than taking the time to blow it out, and I was never a big fan of wearing a bun out of the house.
I was glad that Graven had managed to save our shopping bags after Maritza and I were attacked the day before. I was happy to have clean clothes to wear, but half of them were a bit fancy for running errands. I loved my boots, but another pair of shoes were still going to be in order, the weather was starting to get warmer so boots wouldn't be a suitable option for much longer.
I asked Graven to order us room service for breakfast and suggested that we try to map out a plan or at least look up a list of all the holistic and natural food markets in the area. We grabbed the hotel note pad from next to the telephone. By the time we sat down there was a knock at the door.
"Good morning. I hope you are finding yourselves well, it is going to be a beautiful day today." Jesus rolled in a cart full of breakfast foods, fresh fruit, juice and an insulated carafe full of hot coffee. "Will you still be checking out today? Can I make any accommodations for you or pack your room up for you?"
"Jesus, we will be staying through the week. I don't need anything special right now, but I will have Maritza call down to you when she gets up." Graven walked Jesus back to the door and handed him a tip. "Thank you for the consistent service."
"My pleasure, sir. You know if you need anything just ring." Jesus turned and shut the door behind him.
"This looks good, I didn't realize how hungry I was until I smelled the food. We never did get to eat last night, at least I didn't," I said as I fixed myself a plate. "Can I fix you a plate?"
"Sure, thank you." Graven sat next to me and nibbled at my neck while I piled the food on a plate for him.
"I think you might be enough to satisfy my hunger." His voice was low, but so deep and rich that I felt the vibrations rousing the tiny hairs on my neck. Small shockwaves tickled down my arm and the back of my neck.
A small moan slipped out of my mouth. I closed my eyes and enjoyed the exchange of energy. I was still holding his plate out in front of me with a fork in the other hand.
"I don't know about that, but I sure would like to try." I turned to him and he gave me a gentle kiss on the lips.
"What more can I ask for." Graven sat back and poured us some coffee.
"It sucks that we don't have a computer with us," I said.
"That is true, perhaps I could ask Jesus to provide one for us. My phone will serve the purpose for now." Graven pulled it out of his pocket.
"We will have our work cut out for us. On the plus side there are numerous places for us to try and retrieve all the necessary ingredients, on the down side, we could be driving all over the city today. There is a reason they call Santa Fe health food alley," Graven said before taking a sip of his black coffee.
I still needed to find the other recipe, but I didn't want to make a big thing of it. I knew that Graven wasn't keen on me looking for the skin-walker.
"You know I found that tea recipe your grandmother spoke of in her letter; the one that would show you who she marked as her killer. That is if someone killed her, and if you happen to come across the path of said person." He took a bite of eggs and looked over at me waiting for my response.
"So you are on board with me pursuing this?" My stomach was swirling in a way that was making it difficult to eat.
"Look, I think that you have a lot on your plate right now; some very serious matters. Your life is and has been in constant danger, and I don't see that changing any time in the near future. I am concerned with you bringing more strife into your life."
"I know. I think I am still in shock or denial about where my life is right now. Some really messed up stuff has happened to me, but I am hoping that I can continue to live in a way that I can extract positive energy from the good that has come along with it.
"Having you and Maritza in my life at a time when I felt utterly alone in this world is huge. I want to spend my life on a path of letting my light grow by both being positive, but also by bringing positive energy to others around me.
"I don't know what I would do if I found out that Gram was really murdered, but I deserve to know. I deserve to know the reason behind it, as I am more than sure it is somehow connected to me."
"Is it justice that you are looking for? It can come at a price, Kasha." Graven put his fork down and took my hands in his.
"I don't know how justice works in the world of supernatural creatures or genetically enhanced humans or whatever, but in the human world there is a price to pay for taking someone's life." I looked down at our hands.
"I will rage a war against every skin-walker if that is what you desire. I have walked in the shadows for long enough that knowing I am defending the honor of your beloved grandmother would give me all the peace I need about it."
"Thank you, Graven. It really means
a lot to me, but I am not out to start a witch-hunt or skin-walker hunt. I just want to know what happened to her."
"Then I guess it's a good thing I wrote down the list of ingredients for that tea too." He winked at me.
I reached over and wrapped my arms around as much of him as I could. "Thank you," I whispered and my stomach started to growl.
"We better get you fed and get out there, we have a lot of shopping to do," Graven said.
"Hey any chance there is enough breakfast there to share with little old me?" Maritza walked out of her room. Her hair was tousled over to one side and she had on sweat pants. It was strange to see her looking so human, so simple.
"Of course," I said. I poured her some coffee in a juice glass. "I hope you don't mind drinking your coffee like this."
"I'm not that fussy. Besides, it's kind of fancy." She put three spoonful's of sugar in and took a sip. "I was hoping to catch you before you left today. I have to go back to Sedona tonight and tie up a few things and make sure we are ready to open Red Reign. Are you gonna eat that?" she pointed to the bacon. Graven and I both shook our heads.
"Great, I'm starving. So there has been a slight change of plans with the opening. We are going to have a soft opening by invite only. There won't be any humans, unless they are someone's guest.
"Our staff needs a dry run and I wanted to make sure that we get the word out to the locals that we will be catering to. Only the main dance floor and bars will be open. It will make the club seem busier and help us to keep track of where there may be any weak spots in security or the staff. Do you think that you can be back from Sedona on Wednesday?"
"Unless there is an emergency in Sedona we are actually planning on staying the week. We have some things that we want and need to do so we decided to stay until after the opening. Do you need anything from me?" Graven wiped his mouth with the cloth napkin and put it back in his lap.
Betrayed: Breaking the Darkness Series Book Two Page 21