Awakening, The

by Nicole R. Taylor

  Aya had soon come to the same conclusion that Gabby had. There were no answers in any of them and they were out of options. Well, save for one. She'd known it for days and had been trying to avoid mentioning it at all costs. She was from the ether and could walk both life and death if she chose. Gabby had done it once before with Aya and she could do it again on her own.

  "Gabby?" Aya asked, looking up.

  The hybrid knew she was struggling with something, she always did, so she just came out with it. "I have to go to the other side and find Katrin."

  Aya frowned at her, but didn't disagree.

  "It's the only way forward," she said. "Katrin is the only person who would know what to do next."

  "She won't be very forthcoming."

  "No, but what choice do we have?"

  Aya sat up in the chair, putting the grimoire she'd been reading aside. "Do you want me to come with you?"

  "No," she replied, shaking her head. "I have to do this on my own."

  Turning back to the desk, Gabby ran her fingers over the envelope that held Regulus' letter. Picking it up, she held it in her hands and stared at it for a few minutes, trying to figure out if it was possible. She glanced at Aya, not sure if she had it in her to ask the question.

  "Regulus died human and was reborn as a vampire. Where his soul has gone, you cannot follow," Aya said with a frown. "Katrin only died once and her soul was anchored. You should be able to contact her. You certainly have the strength to do it now."

  Gabby tried to hide her disappointment. Of course that's how it worked. Forever was a very long time.

  "I'm sorry, Gabby."

  "I have to go now," she said with a sigh. "We're running out of time."

  Aya nodded. "I'll be here if you need me. If you get lost…I can bring you back."

  "A shock to the heart?" she asked with a small laugh.

  Aya held up a finger and gave her a lopsided grin. "Only a little one."

  Sinking down into the chair she'd claimed as hers, she closed her eyes trying to fend off the weariness of the past few weeks. Finding the edge between life and death came easier this time. It was like turning the page of a book as her spirit brushed against the edges, a coldness seeping into her bones. Her physical body would remain back in the study with Aya looking over it, but she wouldn't be there. Not really.

  The other side was an eerie representation of life. The entire world was shrouded in a white mist, physical features mostly indistinguishable. She was here to find Katrin and so her intent was shaping the landscape around her, leading to where the witch resided in her incarceration. Remembering back to when she'd severed the witch's anchor with Aya's help, she knew that the spirits of the other Founding Witches would have punished Katrin. Wherever she resided now was a prison.

  Gabby's will was stronger than it had ever been and she didn't quite understand it, but all she had to do was walk forward and her destination would present itself. She didn't know how long she'd been walking when she saw a shape emerging from the mist. Blurry at first, but as she approached, it became more solid. A tangible existence in an otherwise empty landscape.

  Katrin was standing on a patch of colorless grass, hands folded in front of her. She wore a plain dress, faded like the color of a sepia photograph that hadn't stood up to the test of time. Katrin's entire world was this spot, devoid and washed-out. Lonely.

  The witch looked up and her eyes met Gabby's. Recognition flashed there for a moment and her lips curled into a sneer.

  "To what do I owe the honor?" Katrin drawled, turning away.

  Gabby wasn't here for small talk, so she got right down to business. The founder's prison was already putting pressure on her already weary soul. "The Coven has awoken a Tuatha hybrid."

  The witch turned sharply. "What? How do you know?"

  "Regulus."

  Katrin looked her over and snorted. "I can see he worked his wiles on you."

  "It wasn't manipulation. He and I had a mutual agreement."

  "A mutual agreement?" Katrin let out a laugh. "The only mutual agreements Regulus had were of his own making."

  Gabby's jaw tightened, but she wasn't about to let the greatest betrayer of her kind to get under her skin.

  "And if a hybrid is awake as you claim, then why hasn't he put it down?"

  "Regulus is dead." Her voice wavered as she spoke the last word and the founding witch narrowed her eyes.

  "Regulus is dead?"

  "We faced the Tuatha and he was bitten."

  "He faced it on his own? The fool," she hissed, turning away. "It was his own stupid fault, then."

  "What do you know of the Tuatha?"

  Katrin's shoulders rose and fell with a sigh. "As much as you, if Regulus told you everything he knew."

  "He did."

  "Then he told you about my heritage. The Coven."

  "Yes, he did."

  The witch shook her head, biting her bottom lip as if she was trying to stifle her anger. "If I had of known my secrets were being handed out like candy to children, I would have ended him myself."

  Gabby held herself high and looked the founding witch right in the eyes. "What happened to Aoife and the Original Witch?"

  "Isolde. Her name was Isolde."

  "Then, what happened?"

  Katrin cast her eyes to the ground, the only indication that this made her uncomfortable. "Aoife sealed the hybrids away one by one. She then hunted down the witch she'd created and tried to end her, but that didn't go so well."

  "Isolde killed Aoife?"

  "Yes, and so the Original Witch went on to found the Coven. They wanted to find where the Tuatha vampires were hidden and awaken them."

  "But couldn't they glean that from Aoife's blood?"

  "Once she died, her blood was useless. For that little trick to work, it needs to come from a live host. They had nothing and spent the next three thousand years searching."

  "And they wanted you to infiltrate the last Celestines so you could find out?"

  "That was one reason. But they didn't count on my betrayal. My chance for revenge."

  "You wanted to destroy them." Regulus had already told her this. Born into the Coven without any power, Katrin had been forced to become a Founding Witch and had turned on everyone and created a third side intent on destroying everything.

  Katrin laughed, her eyes suddenly dark. "I might've embraced the dark, Gabby, but I would never side with the Tuatha. The devourers of worlds. The fact that my family worked to revive the hybrids was their greatest folly. They could not bring an extinct race back to life. A Tuatha made into a vampire? That is so much worse than turning humans. Aeriaya is a perfect example of that and she's not an original. Imagine the horror she'd inflict on the world if she was."

  "She'd be exactly like Aed. Human blood was the only thing that saved her from total insanity."

  Katrin nodded. "In her full powers and those of a vampire amplified ten fold? No remorse. No control. That is what your Tuatha is. And that is the only reason I am entertaining this little questioning session. My beloved Regulus is dead. You need your own Original. Your Celestine hybrid cannot help you this time."

  "Our only option is to make another founder."

  "The only option."

  Gabby paused, not knowing how to go on. They needed a human...

  "I hope you have someone you can trust," Katrin said with a sneer.

  "Who do you suggest?" Gabby asked, cocking her head to the side.

  "Someone pure of heart," she scoffed. "Someone who understands control. Someone who has the stomach for a bloody fight. Anything less and you'll have another monster on your hands."

  Gabby swallowed hard, trying to keep her expression even. They didn't have anyone. "We don't even have the spell," she said carefully. Katrin had helped above and beyond what she'd been expecting from the witch, but this might be pushing it too far.

  "You want me to give it to you," the witch said with a smirk.

  "How else am I going to make ano
ther founder? I thought you wanted the Tuatha hybrids gone forever. I'm here and I'm willing to do whatever it takes to put Aed down for good."

  "Finally we have a common enemy."

  "And a little trust goes a long way." There was no way of knowing if Katrin still gave a crap about what happened on Earth and there was no way of knowing the spell she might give her would be a trap. There was no other option to trust the founding witch and Katrin knew it.

  "For me to give you the spell, you need to find my grimoire in life."

  "What happened to it?"

  "When I died, it was before I was ready. I'd made preparations that would take effect once I set foot on the other side. In the process, I lost my grimoire."

  "Someone killed you?" Gabby asked, getting the witch's meaning.

  "It didn't matter," she said, waving her hand. "It was already too late."

  "Did you ever find your grimoire again?"

  "No. But it was useless to me anyway. I wanted to pass it on to my daughter, but that never happened. She was lost to me in the process and my grimoire was never found and I never bothered to look very hard for it. It was a symbol of everything I'd suffered. Good riddance."

  Gabby didn't like the sound of Katrin's story, but she wasn't about to ask for the gory details. The book was why she was here. Grimoires were basically indestructible. They had multiple spells woven through them to protect from all manner of harm. Katrin's would most certainly still exist, but after so much time, it could be absolutely anywhere and anyone could be in possession of it. Luckily for them, it took a certain amount of energy and skill to cast most spells and if Gabby was as right about the one that had created the Roman founders...there was only one witch alive she knew of who could cast it.

  "Tell me, Gabrielle," Katrin said with a smirk. "Have you ever made your own grimoire?"

  Gabby frowned, wondering what she was getting at. Katrin's eyes sparkled and she stepped towards her.

  That was the thing about spirits. They weren't hampered by physical bodies and could move incredibly fast if they wanted to. Before Gabby could step out of the way, Katrin's hands cupped her face and everything went dark.

  "Katrin, my child."

  As Gabby's vision started to clear, she heard the voice beside her and it brought her back into clarity.

  "Yes, Mama." Her voice didn't sound right, but she realized that she was in a child's body. Katrin's body. The founder had given her a vision and she was along for the ride, whether she wanted to be or not. She felt herself melding with the young version of Katrin until she was the little girl. Blinking, she looked up at a woman with wild auburn hair and caramel eyes.

  Her Mama was called the Matriarch and all the other witches looked to her and she told them what to do. Disobeying the Matriarch was forbidden. Those that did went away and never came back. Those were the only witches she ever got to see outside of her Mama's rooms. She said she was her secret shame and had to remain hidden. She wasn't a witch like them, but she should have been.

  "You are going to make your own grimoire, child," she said, pointing to the bare book and the table full of witches tools. Things she was forbidden to touch.

  She looked with greedy eyes, hardly believing her Mama would let her so close. She looked up into her Mama's face and her eyes were kind, not like they usually were. She smiled, finally proud that she'd done something right. She wasn't sure what it was, but her Mama wanted her to make her own spell book. Her heart swelled with pride.

  "You are ten summers old, Katrin. You are my daughter and have brought shame onto your Coven. Do you know why?"

  "I have no power, Mama. I am not a witch."

  A sharp slap echoed through the room and her cheek stung.

  "I am your Matriarch, Katrin. I am more than just your mother. If you lie, I can tell. Understand?"

  "Yes, Mama."

  "Tell me the truth, child."

  "No Mama, please," she pleaded, but she paid her no heed.

  Her Mama grabbed her wrist and held it over the bowl, her fingers digging painfully into her skin. Tears prickled in her eyes, but she tried to hold them in. If she cried, then she'd be beaten. Weakness was forbidden. They told her she had no power, that she wasn't worthy of being a witch. But she knew it was there. Tiny, hidden…secret. Mama knew. She was tied to her by blood, of course she knew.

  She didn't dare struggle against her Mama's grasp, but when she saw the glint of silver in the candle light, her heart skipped a beat and her stomach felt sick.

  Mama wouldn't hurt her.

  "You've been telling lies, child," she said, her voice changing. Mama's voice always changed when she went away inside herself. The Mama who she loved wasn't here anymore. She'd gone away and the bad one was here.

  "Mama, please," she pleaded, but Mama wasn't coming back.

  With an evil glint in her eye, Mama took the blade and sawed into her fingers. Screaming in pain, Katrin hardly felt it when the first finger plopped into the bowl on the bench.

  "Please, Mama. No. It hurts, please…"

  Blood dripped down into the bowl while her hand burned with white-hot pain, but Mama wouldn't let go of her wrist. She started speaking the words she used when she was casting, words she was forbidden to speak. The knife cut again, a second finger joining the first. Katrin screamed, this time tears falling from her eyes. Why was her Mama hurting her like this?

  "Weakness is forbidden, child," her Mama said, letting her go.

  Clutching her hand against her chest, she sobbed at the pain, blood flowing freely from the wound, staining her dress. If this was what being a witch was, then she didn't want to be like them. She wanted to run away and find a new Mama. One that wouldn't hurt her. She'd find a new family to love.

  "Katrin, say the words with me." Her Mama pulled her forward, grasping her mutilated hand and forced her to hold it over the leather book. Her blood dripped all over the cover, seeping into the soft cover, staining it red and brown.

  If she didn't speak the forbidden words as her Mama bade, she didn't know what would happen to her. So, she spoke them and the ball of power she'd been hiding in her stomach flared into life. A little spark, but it seemed like it was enough. Mama smiled at her and for a moment she thought that the good one was back, but as she spoke the final words, she grabbed her maimed hand, a strange look in her eyes.

  "I have a use for you, Katrin," she said, pinching her daughter's savaged flesh, making her cry harder. "You are going to become a witch and you are going to help us find what we have lost."

  "I'm going to be a witch?" she sobbed.

  "Yes, you are."

  Mama began to speak witches words and the pain in her hand began to fade. She was going to be a witch? She'd made her own spell book with the tiny ball of power in her stomach. Her secret power, no smaller than a speck of dust. She was going to be like her Mama.

  As the witches words sunk into her hand, her eyes began to droop. She wouldn't have to hide anymore. She wouldn't be locked away. She let her eyes close and her Mama's spell take her.

  As Gabby came back to herself, she realized she'd collapsed. Katrin looked down at her with a satisfied smirk and she realized she'd been clutching her hand. Looking down she realized her fingers were intact and the phantom pain began to subside. Katrin held up her hand and the air shimmered, revealing two missing fingers and ugly, puckered skin. A glamour.

  "There is your affinity," Katrin said smugly. "Go back to your world and leave me be."

  Glaring up at the founding witch, Gabby could only think one thought. Being a mega bitch ran in the family.

  CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

  "Gabby?"

  Gabby opened her eyes at the sound of her name, her entire body feeling sluggish. Aya's face slowly came into focus and relief washed over her. She was back.

  "Are you okay?" the hybrid asked.

  Nodding, she dropped her head into her hands. Her journey to the other side had taken more out of her than she thought it would, but then again, she hadn't
slept properly in a while.

  "Did you find her?" Zac asked, dropping a blanket around her shoulders.

  She jumped at the sound of his voice. Everyone had come while she'd been on the other side. Their concern and loyalty was a little bittersweet. Nye sat behind the desk, Tristan was by the fireplace, which was crackling away with a warm orange glow and Zac was beside her, his hand in hers.

  "Yes, I found her."

  Aya glanced at the others uneasily before saying, "Dare I ask…"

  "She told me a great deal about her life and the Tuatha. I never really knew her," Gabby said. "Apart from destroying her anchor, I never got to meet her before. Not on my own terms. She wasn't a nice person, but I don't know if that because she was shaped like that by the Coven, or it was her true self."

  "We could debate the level of good and evil in somebody for eternity and never agree," Tristan said.

  "Did she advise you what we should do next?" Aya asked.

  "She said we only had one option. We need to make a new vampire," Gabby said, glancing around the room.

  "A founder?" Zac asked. "Who the hell do we know who would be willing to be turned?"

  "No one," Tristan said with a sigh.

  "What about the spell?" Zac continued. "I mean, I thought it was lost."

  Gabby shrugged, still feeling a little groggy from her trip to the other side. "Katrin told me how I can find her grimoire."

  "Seriously?" Aya asked with a raised eyebrow.

  "That seems like a long shot," Nye said, flipping open the laptop on the desk and began typing. "Has anyone tried this?"

  "Did you just seriously Google how to kill a fairy?" Tristan exclaimed, looking over the spy's shoulder.

  "He is a fairy, right?" Nye asked, raising an eyebrow.

  "I don't think Google is an entirely trustworthy source of information," Gabby said.

  "But, you're not denying that he's a fairy?"

  "Nye."

  "Just getting all my facts straight, lovely."