by M. Street
Raven woke abruptly, stumbling out of my inner aura, breaking the transfer of light.
“Where are we?” she said quickly.
“Playing a very dangerous game of cat and mouse,” Dev replied, moving quickly ahead of us.
“Two Guardian bishops are closing in. We are going to mask in the gallery,” Haruz muttered.
“What?” Raven spiked a vibrant red of disagreement.
We zipped into the building blaring with beauty.
“Assist.” Dev cast dazzling silver spells striking two approaching guards between the eyes.
The auras of the infants settled as their alarmed expressions went vacant. “Take us to the masterpiece room.” A pair of silver trains raced around Dev’s right wrist. I felt the vibration of the spell like a note strummed on my bass. My mind captured the frequency.
“This is very dangerous.” Raven broadcasted her red discontent. “Haruz,” she ordered sternly, “scout.”
The old man zigzagged down the hallway of the empty museum in a constant state of surveillance. The amazing auras from the works of art staggered my senses as we rushed by. Their fascinating beauty shined bright, casting shadows upon everyone but me. I was too bright and loud.
The sculptures, carvings, and paintings resonated with brilliant colors and emotions, evoking uncontrollable feelings. My body vibrated, momentarily connecting to a simple yet unbelievably alluring painting of a maiden and her guardian angel watching over her. Museums must have been one of the reasons Mom was leaping across Europe and other metropolises. Art was a wonderful need. If we weren’t scrambling for our lives, I could have been lost for days without need of food, water, or sun.
“My lady.” Haruz’s upper lip snarled, scanning down the opulent hall way saturated in layers of luminosity. “Please hurry.” He put an end to my candy stare at the pieces of art. The old man grayed further, positioning himself behind Raven, Dev, and me. Cosmic light spilled into the hallway as the entranced security guards opened a pair of giant doors.
Haruz rubbed his fingers together, stretching his nostrils larger than humanly possible. Copper sparks twirled around his head summoning Canite help. The SOS hit me like breaking glass, unifying my attention. I could tell by the look on his face I wasn’t supposed to be able to hear the silent howl.
I sensed Haruz’s body stretch, preparing to formulate. He closed then bolted the door. Walking backward toward us, he kept his eyes nailed to the keyhole. My jumping aura vibrated like a trapped animal despite my efforts to hold it down. I didn’t have control over my new banks of charge.
“Sleep.” Dev boosted the charms holding the security guards. The spells accelerated before breaking from his wrist, knocking the infants to the ground.
Dev passed by a beautiful, swirled marble sculpture of lovers forever embraced in a kiss. His silver light flurried into the masterpiece like it was a leap point. He extinguished the curious moment by fastening his leather silver-threaded collar with a dangling silver barrel around his wrist.
Haruz and Raven joined Dev, going ghostly infant by putting on copper necklaces with shining stones. Raven hid behind three dazzling blue sapphires laced in leather and copper braids. Haruz was masked by the clean light of a diamond held by copper caging. Stones and gems with their natural, concentrated geometrical structures were capable of dampening metallic frequencies. With the help of their masks and the grand auras beaming from the art, they were imperceptible.
Without a doubt, I was the loudest one in the room. I needed my dragonfly pendant mask to silence my hemorrhaging feelings. Even though we stood in a gym-sized room filled with all kinds of creations, spilling concentrated color everywhere, I stood out like a mirror facing the sun.
“They are going to feel us,” Dev said, creaking out fear. I knew he meant me. The Arbitri pulsed, changing direction, closing in on the museum. Raven lowered to all fours like a sprinter, tensing against starting blocks. Her instincts to fight were stronger than her debilitating pain. Dev paced, shifting his ears.
The only chance any of us had was for me to silence myself. I had to cool down so the dazzling art could cover my shuddering light. A painting of a ship in a turbulent sea played to my attention. I flashed over to the piece, standing directly in front of the oil-and-canvas miracle. Dev shadowed my unexplained move.
I opened my soul to the gorgeous painted expression. Attempting to blank myself like a stone that had just sunk, I concentrated on the contrasting bright rays of sunlight parting the dark-slate billowing sky. The highlighted sea surface sparkled with feelings of hope. The artist commemorated the ship’s excited souls embarking on a new life across the sea in the wash of each stroke. The promise of a new life skimmed above the choppy blue-gray transatlantic tumultuous start. Remembering what Mom told me, I let go of my fear, lulled by the work’s essence.
Dev wove his fingers with mine, following my intentions. Like stepping from ship to shore, his tender, soft touch took me down. My aura contracted, drifting just above the magnificent lights beaming around us. Feeling the comfort of Dev’s stare and the closeness of his love, I slowly released my alarming senses to the stillness of the stormy art.
My heartbeat slowed until the closeness of Arbitri Guardians hammered my quieted senses, shattering my trance. I jumped, spiking in brilliance. Dev’s apprehension leaked through his masking collar.
“Piper, we do not have a choice. We must leap before they pick you up,” Dev said quickly. I skirted over to Raven and Haruz. They held fixed on the large doors to the grand room. I could feel the copper light build behind their masks, hunching and snarling with the fierceness of a prodded, caged animal.
Then, I felt the Canite king blast a loud message of distress toward the museum.
“Jeremiah is en route.” Haruz verbalized what I had heard in the copper. He lowered his stance further without breaking his watch. A pack of Canites would temporarily slow the powerful platinum approaching at high speed. Intentions of self-sacrifice clouded what few options we had left.
Like hitting a hard wall of water, I felt the Arbitri enter the National Gallery. Their religious devotion to Eli mottled their light, making them all feel the same: damp, cold, and oppressive. Splinters of light swirled everywhere. If Eli was summoned it would all be over. Haruz’s face showed signs of formulation. His mouth protruded, eyes widened, and teeth enlarged.
“Leap,” Raven said to me with throbbing eyes. “Do it now!” Her voice deepened to a growl.
I had a differing opinion. My mind analytically quantified the losing odds; my heart gushed on any possible loss and my intuition beat fast. An instinctual remembering rippled through me. Mom had not left me defenseless. The power of her light shined within me.
With lattices of light, I swung open the hefty doors, exposing my blistering shine. Before tock added to tick, I blew through the collective shock and into the long hallway lined with colorful auras, confronting the brilliant platinum threats.
4
I’m not a Lady
I
was seven years old when I felt growing pains after the cancer consumed my infant mom. I had no choice but to put up. There was no one to help me. As much as I fought it, life spun forward, off-center. I heaved and hoed to the next day not for myself, but for my baby brother, Charlie. My new, upside-down life quickly adjusted right side up, giving my heart no time to heal. My present circumstance scribed similar circles, but this time the stakes widened from my little brother to the entire world.
I was done being protected. It was my turn at the wheel and my newbie hands were shaking. Raven’s body and light hemorrhaged, Haruz chomped at the bit for a fight to the death, and then there was Dev. Love had a way of magically flipping fear into double-blind courage. My disabled heart climbed fast, facing the oncoming ghastly platinum threat honing in on us with deadly purpose. I flexed my fists, exposing rows of white knuckles.
I exponentially ramped to an Everest charge. The two stately Arbitri, looking like they just stepped out of
a congressional meeting, stopped clean in their approach. My raw amplitude stuttered their aggressive intentions with confounding disbelief. Pouncing on their unintentional pause, I recalled the pitch of Dev’s spell. Two rivers of silver light swirled around me with wild speed, creating blazing Hula-Hoops. Before the Guardians could quell their shock, I snapped my fingers, sending the incantations directly up their noses. The silver spells hit hard, twitching their heads back, sending them into deep suggestiveness. The chaos in their light came to a rest as the icy vibrations rinsed their brains numb.
“What are you doing?” Dev screamed, racing to my side.
Two rows of tiny silver icebergs sailed around my left wrist. The incantations bobbed up and down, producing mind-controlling notes.
“Go to the South Pole and wait.” I told the Arbitri bishop on the left. He paused, gazing at me with vacant eyes, heating up the heavy tension. “Now.” My voice cracked, pouring more resolve into the silver Vampacoti spell, further narrowing the charm’s frequency. He tilted his head in blind obedience. Looking up, he sliced a gleaming white elliptical leap point a few feet above the crown of his head. Without hesitation, he accelerated away into rising rivers of pink.
I heard three gasps in unison from behind me. Keeping my concentration on the precarious defusing, I continued unarming the threat. “Go to the North Pole and wait.” I tightened the screws on the Arbitri bishop on the right. He also slit a perfect leap point opening a backdrop to the fourth dimension. The enchanted and vacant Guardian vanished, screaming up past the currents of time.
Breathing resumed, but the silent shock didn’t last long.
“You cast a Vampacoti spell!” Haruz grumbled in a high and gravely pitch. Guardians were not capable of generating metaphysical incantations. I had crossed the lines, unintentionally rewriting what was once thought true.
“How?” Raven coughed, leaning against Haruz. She held her nose pointed to where the Arbitri Guardians had stood. Even behind their masks, my compound senses could read the surface of their feelings. Raven’s and Haruz’s were both washed in waves of surprised confusion.
Drawing my attention with a heated touch, Dev held my hands with his. With my heart battered, the show of love sparked pink. The room twittered with unease, breaking our private fall.
“You and Dev?” Raven’s eyes made nervous tracks around Dev and me. “A Guardian … and a Vampacoti?” Weaves of pink spoke the truth of our hearts. In the matured world, love was something that could not be easily hidden. How something so wonderful and natural to me could also be shockingly abnormal didn’t make intrinsic sense.
Welcoming copper light burst from down the hallway of vivid auras clearing the radical tension and incoming inquisition. Jeremiah raced toward us at compressing speed, turning his royal copper to blue. Miguel—Jeremiah’s faithful guard for centuries—followed, constantly moving his head and patina-laced eyes side to side, nimbly and deliberately. They completely ignored the glorious beauty of the art.
“Raven!” Jeremiah’s temper roasted the air like a giant red sun. He pulled her close, like a scared father would despite his anger. Jeremiah laid his heavy displeasure over Haruz, causing Haruz to whine.
“I’m fine,” Raven responded, trying to paint a tough stance. “It’s not his fault.” She defended Haruz with failing fortitude.
“Piper can cast Vampacoti spells,” Dev divulged promptly.
“My lady.” An astonished Jeremiah addressed me formally in his thick Aussie accent. The newness of my life was as stifling as standing amidst smoldering, wet wood. He and Miguel rippled their light with the respect that I did not want nor ask for. I had done nothing to deserve any kind of exaltation. The royal salutation caused pain in my heart over Mom. Their eyes honed in surprise, pegging the silver spells orbiting my wrist. I was something more than a Guardian.
“I’m not a lady,” I insisted defiantly. I came from the poor side of average.
“Yes, you are.” Dev placed his hand on my lower back. His protective touch towed an honest acceptance that I was going to have to get used to my inherited title.
“How appropriate the runaway Vampacoti prince would be somehow involved in the mayhem,” Miguel said with Latin flair from his full lips. His concentrated stare aggressively shaded the atmosphere with hot displeasing oranges, emitting waves of tension.
Dev amplified the colors back, deflecting the accusatory sentiments and standing his ground.
“Enough!” Jeremiah flashed a dazzling copper, silencing the steep downward ramp to nowhere good. His nostrils elongated, whistling with rapid intakes. “Raven is seriously hurt. She needs medical care.”
The Canite princess fussed, failing at trying to look ok.
“I don’t know what happened here, but the Arbitri were here mere seconds ago. We have to move Raven and Piper to safety.”
Raven contested Jeremiah handing her off to Miguel’s protective hold. Feeling the fortitude of his care, she released herself to him.
Without pause, they started down the long hallway toward the growing pack of Canites gathering in the entrance courtyard. Jeremiah grabbed my arm before I could follow Raven. “I’m sorry, my lady, but together you would endanger each other.” His words cut contrary to my heart, but his intentions pillared the truth. Raven glanced back painfully before her eyes fell shut. Dream fireflies twirled around her head, signaling her passing out into a healing sleep.
“What? Why?” I asked, soulfully upset about not being part of Raven’s posse of protection. My light twinkled sharply, uncontrollably speaking my objection to being separated from Raven. The urge to protect her tugged tautly, bordering on needful desire, especially after having had to give up Lisa.
“Your light will draw the Arbitri. We have to find a place that is capable of concealing you.” He blinked rapidly. I caved to his solid reason, knowing in my heart that I would see Raven again. The pack of wolves protecting their princess disappeared in under a blink.
The room dimmed. “What happened—” Jeremiah swallowed, suppressing his cracking voice, “—to Esther?” His personal reference came to an unsettling rest upon all of us. I could easily feel the sadness trickling in his heart over Mom.
“Eli knew everything,” Dev said sadly.
“How?” Jeremiah’s loud voice was distressed.
“There is an infiltrator.” Dev’s pupils narrowed to vertical slits and his silver aura cherried.
“The Arbitri have penetrated deeper than we thought.” Jeremiah shook his head slowly. His royal copper aura quaked, spewing fear, taking the information badly. The powerful Canite king’s sentiments caused me to shiver. Dev stood behind, leaning against me. His towering touch ground my nerves and sparked pink.
Jeremiah went blank witnessing us, but his glittering metallic light exploded with disturbing astonishment. “I’ve never seen …” With froths swirling around his head, he trailed off into an unblinking calculation. He took careful steps back, widening his perspective.
“Did the queen know about … your coupling?” His fluster fizzled the air.
“She did.” Dev peacefully placed his hand on my shoulder.
“You know what this means?” The orange in Jeremiah’s eyes spun, locking onto Dev.
I did not understand the prejudiced reaction to our love. Our devotion shone with an undeniable beauty. It seemed as though both friend and foe did not approve of our relationship. I put my hand over Dev’s and stepped forward. “I need to know everything,” I said to the ruffled king. It seemed like everyone knew my business except me. I was still facing backward screaming forward in the rapids of a new world I didn’t understand. Dev, my strange new love, was now my guide through the treacherous waters, helping me avoid of the numerous trapdoors. Only his trust came without query or a foundation of time.
“My lady.” Jeremiah calmed his popping aura, grunting from the effort. “It’s just that …” He paused, puckering his thin lips, considering his words. “The impossible takes time to get used to.
Your ability to cast spells is revolutionary, but a royal Vampacoti and Guardian pairing is unheard of.” He threw his ears back and clouded his copper, shadowing his feelings.
Wanting more, I instinctually and naturally wove into his barred aura without rejection. My inherited light held receptors to the frequency of his copper soul. With the easiness of reading an infant, I reached into his heart. Surprisingly, his care for me stood first. Although on a different plane, his intensity rivaled Dev’s.
Jeremiah picked up on my private probe, respectfully concealing his light into obscurity. Before he went as silent as an unplugged speaker, I picked up a whisper of distrust aimed at Dev. The tiny glimpse hit me like black ink spattered on bleached, sun-dried sheets. I quickly dove into Dev’s violet pools. He looked at me in confusion, not knowing the source of my startle.
Jeremiah caught the scent of infants coming first. He resumed, keeping an awkward eye on Dev.
“Where is your pendant?” Jeremiah asked sharply. My brightness was a problem.
“Eli vaporized it.” I touched my chest, reaching for my incinerated security blanket.
“Esther gave me the blueprint,” Dev said.
I wondered what else he knew about me that I didn’t.
“How long will it take to craft a new mask?” Jeremiah’s aura clarified. Lights went off around his head making plans behind his eyes.
“Not long. I know where we need to go and Piper has mastered leaping.” Dev wrapped his gaze around me. “She has already surpassed the queen’s valence.” Hope sprang in his eyes.
“Her coronation coupled with nothing to conceal it is a serious problem. It won’t take long for Eli to be able to pick up her signature,” the Canite king cautioned, clenching his jaw. “Until we find the breach, you must remain hidden.”
“Where is Olo?” I asked about my Guardian protector whom I’d nicknamed Safe. Mom’s longtime envoy would improve our less-than-zero chances.
“No word,” Jeremiah replied, hovering just above his clanging restlessness. “He went silent.”