by S. Young
“There’s more.”
Ethan wanted to reach down the end of the receiver and choke the living daylights out of her. Unfortunately, he needed her for the time being as she was one of only three people within the coven who knew about Caia: himself, her, and Lars. Of course, he’d have to kill them both when this was over.
“What else?” he asked between clenched teeth, half afraid of the answer.
“It appears Lucien and Caia’s relationship is now been put asunder due to the jealousy of a female pack member.”
That was the last thing he wanted to hear. Another wave of heat flew from his body, but he made sure it wasn’t directed at the mutt in the cage.
“My lord?” she asked again, worried.
He waited a few seconds so that he didn’t accidentally kill her down the phone line. When he was sure he was under control, he said in restrained breaths, “You will need to go in as quickly as you can and reunite our lovely couple.”
“Yes, my lord.”
“I don’t have to remind you that Caia’s relationship with her animal friends is pivotal to weakening the pack. Particularly her relationship with Lucien.”
“I’ll go in as soon as I’m allowed. They have her under lock and key at the moment.”
“Then break the damn lock!” Jeez, you just can’t get reliable help these days. “You can’t wait any longer than a few days or her powers and control will develop. Get in there and get those two lovebirds together, or I will personally eviscerate you.”
He took enjoyment in the catch he heard in her throat. “Of course, my lord.”
“And Xylena?”
“Yes, my lord.”
“Once your mission is complete, I want your first kill to be the bitch lykan female who put the kinks in Caia’s relationship with the Pack Leader and in our plans.”
“Gladly.”
19
Lessons
“That’s it, Caia. Hold it … hold it … hold it.”
Caia’s head ached with the pain of trying to contain the water. Marion set up a heavy-duty hose in the backyard and was attempting to train Caia to control it. Right now, instead of the water pouring out directly and falling with gravity, she had Caia separate the water flow into two halves spraying in opposite directions. It was the strangest feeling, having to reach beneath herself and tap into the energy she now felt hovering above the source she used for her wolf side. The trace buzzing above the lykanthrope energy was sharp and airy—like steel vapor, her lykanthrope more a tingling heat.
The first day of training was frustrating as she kept tapping into her lykan trace, fur exploding across her body at the slightest attempt to harness her magik. But the amount of focus it took was keeping her heartache at bay and allowing her to function normally.
Well …
As normal as she could be.
Although she felt heartache at the truth of her family’s past, she also felt a weird sense of relief and freedom from finally knowing the truth. She doubted the new lease on life she felt was an entirely “human” or normal reaction to the situation, but her embarrassing emotional breakdown when she first heard the news was human enough for her, thank you very much.
So now on the third day of training, she’d finally conquered her dueling energies when Marion threw off her focus with her obnoxious cheerleading-coach persona. She’d obviously had way too much caffeine.
“Marion,” she warned between clenched teeth, the pain in her forehead increasing.
Marion laughed, clapping her hands. She was wonderful, she really was, but she also had a perverse sense of humor. At Caia’s warning, Marion magiked a whistle out of thin air and started blowing the damn thing, jumping from one foot to the other. “Go, Caia, go, Caia, go, go, go, Caia! Whhhiieettt!” She blew the shrill whistle and was abruptly silenced by a spray of water to the face.
Caia snorted, letting the water return to its natural flow.
Instead of frowning, Marion smiled brightly. “Very good, Caia—directing a third stream of the water in another direction. We’ll just forget the fact that it was into my face …” She frowned, glancing down at the whistle around her neck. “I think you literally wet my whistle.”
Caia collapsed onto the grass. “My head aches.”
“It will at first.” Marion gracefully sat beside her.
“What next, then?”
“Well, I think we should soon work on creating water from air.”
“And I do that how?”
“You think about it, and it will happen.”
Caia grunted. Marion made it sound like a piece of cake. It wasn’t.
Caia asked from the very beginning of her training why she had the power to harness water. If she was going to be this weird hybrid of lykan and witch, shouldn’t she have really cool powers? Not some weak ability to quench her thirst whenever she wanted. Marion wasn’t amused by her blasé opinion of a water witch. Apparently, it was one of the most powerful kinds.
“You see, Caia,” she relayed patiently, as if to a child, “there are four kinds of magik: Water, Fire, Air, and Earth.”
“Wasn’t that a band?”
“You’re thinking of Earth, Wind & Fire. Please, Caia, can you take this seriously? It is pivotal to everyone that you take this seriously.”
She sobered at the reminder of her great destiny, whatever that meant. “So the elements, huh?”
“Yes,” Marion said primly. “I’m a fire witch. I can harness fire.” She stroked the air with her fingers and a flame appeared in front of her.
Caia jumped back in surprise. “Whoa.”
“I can control it.” The flame danced across the room while Marion sat looking at it, not moving. “I can manipulate it.” The flame suddenly roared, nearly scorching the ceiling.
“Holy Artemis!” Caia cried. “You could warn a person before you do that.”
The witch merely smiled and the flame disappeared as it if it had never existed. “A fire magik is one of the most powerful,” she explained without arrogance. “However, a water magik is more powerful because of the obvious.”
“In a fight, we can douse you.” Caia nodded in understanding.
“Exactly. We can use fire to destroy, but so can you with water. I fought a water magik from the Midnight Coven a few years ago. He almost killed me.” Her voice lowered at the memory. “He was able to fill my lungs with water, asphyxiating me. If it hadn’t been for the opportune arrival of my brother-in-law, Vanne, who is a powerful water warlock himself, I most certainly would have died.”
“What did Vanne do?” Caia asked in awe. This woman had seen and done things she couldn’t even begin to imagine.
“He wrapped the enemy warlock in a cocoon of water, and he drowned. In doing so, his power over me was broken, and the water disappeared from my lungs.”
The thought terrified Caia. That she had the ability to do something so horrendous to a person. That she would most definitely have to do something like that to Ethan in order to protect the pack.
A more terrifying question pierced her mind.
“Do you know what kind of warlock Ethan is?” she asked quietly.
“Fire.” Marion smiled triumphantly.
Caia could see Marion thought she was more than capable of taking him on because she was a water witch, but Caia wasn’t so sure. She’d only just been told she was a water witch. And now here she was, three days later, exhausted and in pain from the smallest of tasks.
“Do you need to take a break, Caia?” Marion asked. She then stroked the air with her fingers and a glass of lemonade appeared in her hand. She gave it to Caia who blinked incredulously.
“If you’re just a fire witch, how can you conjure things from nothing? And if I’m just a water witch, how could I blast Alexa off her feet and make furniture move?”
“The element is just the base of our power. Gaia would never be so selfish as to bestow only measly gifts upon her children. We can have, and do, whatever we want, but we have rules to pr
otect ourselves and the human society.”
“I guess you should tell me about them.”
“I’ll get around to it.”
“But what if I break a rule in the meantime?”
“Are you going to use your magik to kill a human?”
“No.”
“Are you going to use your magik to force a human or Daylight supernatural from their own free will?”
“No.”
Marion grinned. “Then I think we’re OK for now.”
Caia smiled back at her. “It’s kind of like you’re Robin Williams and I’m Aladdin.”
“Excuse me?”
“You know … ‘Genie, I want you to make me a prince!’”
The witch shook her head in confusion and apparently worry. “Are you OK? Maybe you’re getting too much sun.”
Caia sighed in frustration. “Aladdin? Disney? Can’t kill anybody, can’t make people fall in love, can’t bring anybody back from the dead …‘It’s not a pretty picture, I don’t like doing it!’”
“I have no idea what you’re talking about.”
“You’re killing me here.”
“Maybe we should just proceed to manipulating water.”
Caia nodded, feeling more of an alien freak than ever in the company of her pop culture–ignorant companion. “I was kind of hoping you could help me control the telekinetic thing first. I’m getting tired of being my own personal poltergeist.”
Marion shook her head again, pulling Caia to her feet. “You are the strangest girl.”
Lucien tried not to wince as he watched Marion train Caia to control her telekinetic abilities. The first few hours were grueling as the witch taunted Caia with her past and insulted her abilities in every possible way in an effort to incite her temper. At first it didn’t seem to work, and Lucien laughed quietly from his place at the kitchen door, amused at Marion’s disgruntlement and Caia’s ethereal coolness.
But when she mentioned Adriana’s name, the hose pipe they’d been using earlier suddenly whipped into the air and missed knocking Marion’s head off by an inch. The witch smiled triumphantly and continued to push Caia until the young lykan-magik was able to control the telekinesis and stop it from happening whenever her emotions were toyed with. Now they were working on Caia’s ability to utilize the telekinesis whenever she wanted. Marion was nearly killed by many a flying object.
“Shi—” he hissed and ducked as a large branch flew at him. It crashed into the kitchen, skidding across the table and smashing his mother’s fruit bowl and some glasses. He turned wide-eyed to see Caia smirking. “It’s Okay!” he called. “I’m Okay.”
Marion walked toward him. “Sorry, Lucien, that was an accident. Didn’t know you were there.”
“I did.” Caia smiled too sweetly.
Lucien groaned. “Still like that, is it?”
“I don’t know what you mean.”
Marion frowned at her protégé. “I think we should take another break.”
Caia nodded and headed into the woods. Lucien eyes followed her. When would she stop being pissed at him? He’d said he was sorry.
Marion strode up the porch steps and smiled sympathetically, giving Lucien a reassuring pat on the shoulder. “She doesn’t hate you. She just needs someone to be angry at right now.”
He grunted. “That makes me feel so much better.”
“Well, the fact that she’s chosen you as the one to be angry at should make you feel better.”
“And how’s that?”
“Generally, to be angry at someone means they’ve done something to upset or hurt you, and to be able to upset or hurt someone means you meaning something to them in the first place.” She smiled and slid past him into the house.
Lucien stared at the spot Caia had entered the woods. He hoped to Gaia Marion was right about her, because if they were going to get through the next few weeks, Caia would have to like him enough to trust him.
20
Replaced
The wave of energy sparked her senses as she drove closer to the house off the highway. Crap, she huffed. It definitely wasn’t energy from someone from the Midnight Coven. She cursed as she pulled over and quickly dialed Ethan’s number.
“What?”
Ah, he was as pleasant as ever.
“My lord, I think we may have a problem.”
“You know, I’m seriously considering having a T-shirt made for you with those exact words on it,” he sneered and then snapped, “Why am I not surprised? What the Hades is going on now … incompetent wench.”
She flinched and bit her tongue. If she said anything disrespectful to him, she would be dead in seconds. “I feel an unfamiliar energy radiating from the house. I think it’s Daylight. I’m just parked off to the side of their driveway.”
“That’s why you’re calling me?”
Duh.
“Yes, my lord.”
“Xylena, do you remember why you’re going to the house?”
What?
“Yes, my lord.”
“And do you remember to whom you are going to visit?”
He really was a jackass. “Yes, my lord.”
“And do you remember that Caia has just been introduced to her new powers? That the energy coming from the house is most probably hers?”
Oops.
“No, my lord. I didn’t think of that.”
“Yes. Obviously.”
“I apologize for disturbing you, my lord.” She was lucky he hadn’t fried her already.
“Just get your ass in there.”
“Of co—”
He hung up on her. Charming. Prince of the coven, my ass, she snarled and threw her phone down. Fricking toad.
Caia took a deep breath and smoothed her hair back before she opened the door. She’d been training constantly for the last week with Marion and hadn’t seen anyone other than Marion, Saffron, and the Elders since the revelation. Everything seemed to be going well so far. Marion was impressed by how quickly she was learning to control her powers and awed by their range.
But Caia was exhausted and she missed her friends. And to be honest, despite all the sadness and madness, she was a little excited by her new powers and wanted to share them with Jaeden and Sebastian. Instead of her working at Lucien’s this Saturday, Jae and Seb were on their way over to visit with her.
“Sebastian.” She smiled and drew him into a hug. He squeezed her tightly and placed an affectionate kiss on the top of her head. “How are you?”
He chuckled and brushed a loose strand of hair behind her ear. “How am I? You’re asking me how I am?”
“Yes.”
“I’m okay, now I know you’re not angry at me.”
Caia shoved him playfully and then gestured for him to follow her upstairs. “Angry at you? Seb, you saved my life at school, getting me into your car so fast. Thank you.”
He looked adorably embarrassed by her gratitude, shrugging and mumbling under his breath. She wanted him to know she was serious. He’d been a true friend to her throughout the whole ordeal.
“Honestly, Sebastian. Thank you.” She exhaled slowly. “You even tried to tell me the truth that Saturday …”
“About that.” He blushed again. “Caia, I’m really sorry if I made you uncomfortable. I was wasted.”
She chuckled. “Yeah, you were. But you were also sweet. Wanting to mate with me so the pack would accept me.”
Sebastian groaned but it morphed into laughter. “Will you stop? I’m dying of humiliation here.”
“Don’t be humiliated, Seb—”
The doorbell rang, cutting her off.
“Just go up to my room. That’ll be Jae—we’ll be a sec.”
When she threw open the door seconds later, she followed the action up by throwing herself into her best friend’s arms. Jaeden laughed but hugged her close.
“Whoa, Cy. You OK?”
Pulling back, she was shocked by the strange feeling of unfamiliarity that hit her. She smelled like Jaeden,
her energy felt like Jaeden, but there seemed to be something else there. It was the strangest trace she’d ever encountered—thick, smog-like, icy. It was difficult to describe the feelings that ran through her. She blinked, trying to clear her mind, and then noticed how uncomfortable Jaeden was. Jae’s eyes darted all over the house, into the hall, the kitchen, up the staircase.
“I’m fine. Just glad you’re here,” Caia answered. “Are you okay?”
She nodded. “Of course. Is Sebastian coming?”
“He’s already here. Let’s go up.” Caia frowned over her shoulder at Jae as they walked upstairs. “You sure you’re okay?”
“I’m fine. Really. Anyway, you’re the one who’s been through all the crap. How are you really? How’s the training?”
“Good, I think.”
Once they were seated in her bedroom with Sebastian, Caia’s brows furrowed at how stiff her friend seemed, still trying to identify the unfamiliar trace that Jae reeked of. Jaeden narrowed her eyes at her scrutiny. “So, Cy, everyone at school’s been talking about your meltdown with Alexa last week.”
“Oh, great.” Just what she needed—gossiping kids when she returned to school on Monday.
“I wish I’d been there to see Alexa fly across the room.”
Sebastian nodded. “Right? Man, it would’ve made my year.”
“Aaaahhheeeeaaaahhh!”
“What the—” Caia jumped to her feet at what sounded like a cat being tortured. Saffron’s energy hit her before she physically appeared, and Caia’s eyes rounded as Jaeden shrieked in outrage, her chair flying away from her. Her body wavered, flickering in and out, as she began muttering something in Greek under her breath, her eyes now a blazing onyx instead of their natural blue.
Before Caia could do or say anything, or even comprehend what was going on, Saffron materialized behind Jaeden and placed a hand firmly on her shoulder. Jaeden slumped and collapsed on the floor with a thud. Saffron’s eyes were onyx, too, as she cursed at the girl she’d just knocked out. She kicked her and Caia cried out to make her stop. She did, catching her breath, her eyes transforming back to ice blue.