Shifting Shadows (Sparks Collide Trilogy)

by Kelly, Amanda

  “I know. I know I haven’t been clear. I’m going to change that now, so let me just get this out. That means no interruptions from the peanut gallery.” I raised an eyebrow and mimed zipping my lips then waved my hand for him to continue. “Ok, I think my only option here is honesty and since you were honest with me last night, I’m going to return the favor.” He took a breath and I stayed very still, not wanting to break the spell, as I waited for him to continue. “You’re different. Different from anyone I’ve ever met and trust me, that’s saying a lot. I never know where you’re coming from or where you’re going, it keeps me guessing, wondering about you. You’re always on my mind and things are better when you’re around. So this is me telling you that I want to be with you.”

  I took in every word he said and still I had trouble comprehending him. I had to think over each word in my mind at least twice to get it. I realized I left him hanging, waiting for my reply. Right, I had to say something now. I smiled shyly up at him “I want this too. I do. As much as I tried to get you out of my head, I just couldn’t. If we’re both feeling this way then I think we owe it to ourselves to give it a try.”

  “Good we can consider this our first date.”

  I looked to the water and back at Jay. “Do you think we could make this work? I mean first of all, I’m a witch. Second of all, my life isn’t as stable as I pretend it to be. I’m in hiding and if that warlock at the rest stop has anything to say about it, this might just be the beginning of my problems. Third, we tend to fight easily.”

  He reached up to cup my face, stroked my cheek with his thumb. “As for you being a witch, I’ve been giving it some thought and I think it’s actually amazing and all that power is definitely hot. I mean, I’m a werewolf and you accept me. I live in hiding every day from the humans so I know what that’s like. I don’t think anyone else in the world is more able to make it work than we are. Think about it. I’m crazy and you calm me down. You’re in trouble and I’ve got a whole pack to protect you. We got this.

  As for the second thing, it’s all good because I don’t know a thing about stable. I wouldn’t know what to do with it if you were so that’s not a problem. The last thing is mostly my fault and the keeping secrets thing is just not for us. We won’t do that anymore.”

  I smiled. “How about this, just don’t lie to me. Tell me when there’s something going on that you can’t explain. I’ll try my best to understand and you’ll do the same for me.”

  He waited a beat. “That sounds fair and I know that you’re right. So you see, this is going to be perfect.” Then he leaned in and kissed me. It was slow and sweet and yes, just perfect. He ended it but not before I felt him smile against my mouth.

  He reached into the basket and handed me a Pop-tart. I took it happily. Mmm S’mores, my favorite. “Thanks. By the way why the heck am I up this early? Did you think it would weaken my defenses?”

  I looked up from my Pop-tart to see him blowing out the candles and submerging us in darkness. “No I didn’t think of weakening your defenses although, I’m glad to see it helped. I brought you out here this morning for this.

  He pulled me over next to him and turned me toward the edge of the dock where a sliver of the sun was just breaking through the water. I was stunned speechless by the multitude of the ever changing colors. It started out a lone, bright orange ball, but quickly turned the sky around it to all shades of yellow, red, pink, purple, and blue. The sunrise was one of the most breathtakingly beautiful things I had ever seen. I reached out for his hand again as we sat there, not saying a word and watched the sun push up from the ocean and into the sky.

  **********

  Jay

  After the sun rose, I walked with Kira back to my house. I’d never felt as incredible or as triumphant as I had with her hand in mine. On our way to the porch steps Kira froze. “What’s wrong?” I asked.

  “The wards… they’re gone. My wards are gone. We have to get inside now. We have to alert the others.” She started running.

  “Slow down, can it be an accident?”

  “No, this was completely deliberate they’d had to have known the wards were up and taken them down without trying to breach them first. This is the work of a magic user, a powerful one.”

  Shit. We heard a commotion and we ran into the house. Inside was a man and two girls pointing their wands at all eight of my pack members in their wolf forms. They were jumping around trying to avoid the sparks being aimed at them. They must’ve shifted when they sensed the danger.

  I shifted too as I jumped at the man from behind and took him down. We wrestled for control as I heard Kira screaming but one of the girls grabbed Kira and dragged her towards the door.

  “Relax. I’ve got you now, stop struggling. We’re going to get you out of here.” A roaring, flaming ball of light flashed and suddenly the girl flew back. The witch coughed and screamed “What’s wrong with you, we’re here to help you.”

  “Grab her and get her out of here” the man said scratchily from beneath my paw on his throat.

  In a flash, Kira had the two witches hanging upside down in midair, frozen. They’re wands in Kira’s hand. “No one is taking me anywhere. Jay, get off that guy for me real quick.”

  I did and he was suddenly lifted in the air too as his wand flew to Kira. Their suspension didn’t last long however as the man closed his eyes and suddenly he and his friends were on their feet. He must have undone her spell. “What are you doing? We’re trying to rescue you.” The guy asked as he positioned himself in front of the other two girls.

  “Rescue me from what? Who the hell are you and what are doing here? Better yet, I don’t care. You fling one more spell at my friends and I promise I’ll use my magic to do something to you that you’ll never be able to undo.” She said, aiming her last words at the man. She blinked. “You’re the man from the rest stop.”

  “Yes” the warlock said.

  I stared at him trying to see if recognized him but I didn’t. He looked around my age. He had dirty blonde hair and brown eyes but he must have been no taller than 5’9.

  I shifted back to human and grabbed the blanket off of the couch to cover myself up with. My clothes had not been spared. “Who the hell are you people?” I asked growling and coming to stand beside Kira. My pack stayed shifted but gathered around us in a protective formation.

  The witch who’d tried to drag Kira away said “My name is Violet, this is my sister Callie and my brother Lucas.”

  “And clearly, this is a misunderstanding.” The other witch, Callie stated. “We thought you guys had kidnapped this girl” she pointed to Kira and said again “This was a rescue attempt.”

  “I don’t need rescuing.” Kira said firmly.

  “We get that now.” The warlock, Lucas answered.

  “Then why did you take down my wards? Why would I even have wards if I was being held here against my will?”

  Lucas spoke. “That’s a completely valid question and one that we asked ourselves but we had to be prepared in case they made you put up a ward so once we saw you had one, we took it down. Look I think we should sit down and talk.”

  “Talk” I bit out. “You just attacked my pack. You’ll be lucky if I don’t tear you to shreds and share the pieces with my friends. ” I said angrily.

  Kira turned to me “Jay, I think we should talk to them.”

  “Why?”

  “Because this story matches my memory from the other day when Lucas told me he just wanted to talk.” She faced the witches and warlock again. “Not that I trust you or forgive you or think I should spare you just because you’re magic users. Let me assure you, it’s quite the opposite. Remember I hold your wands in my hands.” The last words came out chillingly and I knew it was a good threat.

  She turned to me and I nodded. “I’d feel better about this if we took precautionary measures.” I addressed the witches and warlock. “Prove to us that you won’t even think of using your magic on us again and we won’t kill you
. You have one minute.”

  The guy Lucas and the younger sister Callie looked genuinely frightened but Violet kept a straight face. Violet spoke up “We will bind ourselves in an oath not to harm you or yours.”

  I turned to Kira and she nodded. “Proceed.”

  They grabbed each other’s hands and stood in a circle. Violet spoke out “By the power of three we bind ourselves to this oath to thee. Our hearts are pure and our aims in friendship. We promise no harm to all here by the blood of our kinship.” A small light flashed.

  I turned to Kira again. She smiled as she watched them. “I like your style. I hate old fashioned wording too.”

  Violet gave the smallest of smiles back and nodded.

  I turned to my pack. “Shift back, we have some talking to do and one of you, get a hold of Rosie. Tell her to stay home. We’ll take care of our own breakfast this morning.”

  Chapter 26

  Kira

  The wolves guarded me in shifts while each of them took turns transforming back and getting dressed. Jay came back and Will’s wolf left at least I thought it was Will’s wolf. It was hard to tell.

  I’d never seen them shifted before. It was one thing to know that they turned into wolves but it was another thing entirely to see it happen in front of your eyes. I may have grown up understanding that they exist and reading up on them but nothing could have prepared me for seeing eight huge wolves snarling and fighting off the witches in Jay’s living room. It had been terrifying. Yet the thing that kept flashing through my mind was Jay’s leap onto Lucas’s back. He had shifted in mid-air, his body changing from human to wolf quicker than my eyes could catch. It was amazing and beautiful and chilling all at once.

  The wolves ranged from the darkest of browns, which I guessed was Max and Mena to the lightest of grays, which I guessed was Demi. The others varied in shades in between. I could tell the girls from the guys because they were slightly smaller in stature. Otherwise it was hard to tell anyone apart at first glance.

  Violet, Lucas and Callie sat stiffly at the dining room table and I almost felt bad for them. They looked scared and I wondered what their story was. Callie was had dirty blonde hair, like Lucas, and she looked to be the youngest. Unlike the other two, Violet had brown hair but all three of them shared deep brown eyes. They were all striking in their own ways and had on elegant clothing.

  Jay took my hand in his and kissed my fingers. I looked up at him and smiled. “I’m so glad you’re here.”

  “Me too” he said and rested our joined hands on his leg.

  When Annabella and Mena came back, the last ones to shift back and dress, they sat down and I looked to Violet. “Ok, who are you guys and why did you feel the need to rescue me?”

  Violet exhaled deeply. “I’ll explain who we are in a minute but as for your second question, I’ll let Lucas explain.”

  Lucas nodded and said “I was heading to visit my parents the other day when I stopped at a rest stop to grab some snacks. They live in the panhandle and it’s a long drive.” I nodded and he continued “I saw you.”

  He pointed over to me. “You don’t know my name, do you?”

  “Not exactly but I think I know you’re last name. Anyways I saw you and I swear you looked just like her, like identical so I followed you through the rest stop and when you spotted me, I worried I wouldn’t get to talk to you but when you reacted to my words in your mind, I knew you were one of us. I knew I’d been right about you looking like her.”

  “Like who? What are you talking about?” I interrupted but deep down inside, I already knew.

  “Like Poppy Beaumont.” I put my head into my hands.

  “You knew her, didn’t you? You must be her-”

  “Granddaughter” I mumbled before sitting back up. “Yes. I’m her granddaughter.” I’d always known I’d looked like her. I don’t remember much about her, as I’d only met her once when she risked herself by coming to visit us in New Mexico. My mother wanted her to stay but she wouldn’t. She had chosen a side and she was going to stay and fight. I’d never see her again. I’d seen plenty of pictures of her, even old ones of when she was younger. Lucas was right, we could’ve been twins. My mom got an unmarked letter one day telling us she passed away. My mother’s maiden name was Beaumont before she married my father. Normally a witch doesn’t change her last name because it’s an important thing to pass on to her children but she changed hers to my father’s so we could hide easier.

  Callie stared at me in awe and said, “That’s amazing. Your grandmother is a legend. Lucas said when he saw you that you must be related to her but I didn’t believe it. Everyone knows her only daughter and her husband were killed. How can you be here?”

  Well if that’s what the witches thought then I wouldn’t be saying otherwise. “How I’m here isn’t important. Yes, I’m a Beaumont witch but I don’t see why you’d felt the need to rescue me.”

  “Sorry” Lucas said “I’m getting ahead of myself.”

  “Wait” Jay said “Before you move on. Let me ask you, did you attack us at the veterinarian office?”

  Lucas shook his head. “No, I’m sorry I don’t know anything about that.”

  “Do you know anything about humans attacking werewolves or possibly even vampires too?” “No, I’m sorry but no. The first time I saw her was in the rest stop.” I could tell from his face and from his sister’s faces that they genuinely had no clue what I was talking about. Apparently Jay did too as he said “Ok, continue, with your story, why did you feel that she needed rescuing?”

  He swallowed, turned back to me and began. “I saw you and you weren’t displaying that you were a witch so I thought maybe you hadn’t chosen sides, maybe you’d been in hiding and I knew I had to ask you if you would help us. If you hadn’t chosen a side maybe we could persuade you to understand what we wanted. Then I saw you run into him” He pointed to Jay “and I thought I saw him take you to the parking lot and I couldn’t find you after that. I thought I was seeing him kidnap you. I decided to leave it alone and continue on my way, any witch wouldn’t need to worry about being kidnapped by a human, it was a ridiculous thought. But I couldn’t get you out of my mind. I couldn’t stop thinking about you and how you looked just like Poppy or at least all of the pictures I’d seen of her in the history books. She’s one of the most famous witches out there, seeing her 20 something year old self at a highway rest stop threw me for a loop.

  So I turned my car around and went home and I thought about the guy who’d I thought kidnapped you. Why did he look familiar? Did I know him too and suddenly it hit me, James Dellarson of the Florida Dellarsons.” He turned to Jay. “Your family is famous too but for another reason. Your father is the big Alpha. My coven’s been trying to get him to sign an agreement to help us in the war. We researched his family, his habits, his likes and dislikes, everything we could to get your father to sign. Then I realized, a witch wouldn’t have any problems with a human but a werewolf might give her some trouble. I convinced my sisters to join me in finding you.

  That night we checked Brisdale but a few inquiries around the street and we realized none of you were in town. No one knew where you were, either that or they don’t give out that information to strangers. I’d found out through my network that your father was in Tennessee. At first I thought you’d be there with your father but then Violet remembered you had another home in Florida. We figured we better check the beach home first while we were still in the state.”

  “That’s clever thinking but why go through all this trouble just to find me? You said yourself you weren’t even sure if I was a Beaumont.”

  “I wasn’t but if there was any chance you were, then we were going to take it. What better way to get you alone to listen to us and to endear you to us then to save you from werewolves? We had it all planned out but we were just so wrong, at least about the saving thing.”

  “Ok, I’ll bite. What do you need me to hear out? What do you want me to help you with?”


  Violet nodded “I think it’s the point of the conversation where we explain who we are and what we want. Like I said my name is Violet and I’m apart of a light witch coven as is my younger brother Lucas.”

  Everyone froze, understanding all at the same time what she meant. Even so, she stated it aloud “My youngest sister Callie is in a dark witch coven.”

  I turned to look at Callie but her eyes were devoid of any emotion. She was clearly not fond of so much attention. “I see.” I said.

  “No, I don’t think you do. This war is tearing us apart. Witches and warlocks on both sides are being slaughtered everyday. We can’t go on like this. Our parents have disowned Callie for choosing the other side but my brother and I” She looked to Lucas “We can’t let her go. She’s our baby sister. Just because she has a different way of using magic and sees it differently doesn’t make her wrong. It doesn’t make her evil. How can anyone tell me the little sister I grew up with my whole life, who doesn’t have a single cruel bone in her body deserves to be shunned from her family and friends?”

  Tears slipped down Callie’s cheeks but she wiped them away. “This war is a selfish endeavor of cruel people to get what they want, for everyone to think like them. My brother and I won’t stand for it, not any longer. We’ve been recruiting, very quietly, others who feel like we do but it’s extremely dangerous. To stand against Zorlon is an unthinkable crime in the eyes of the light witches.”

  “No one does a witch hunt quite like the witches.” Brandon quipped and I gave him a dirty look.

  Callie, Lucas, and Violet laughed, though. “Indeed” Violet continued with a small smile. “It has been slightly easier to recruit from Callie’s side because the dark witches are more tolerant, which is strange to believe but true. The only problem is you can’t always trust those loyalties.”

  “What are you recruiting for, exactly?” My stomach dropped but I had to hear her say it.

  “We want to put an end to this war. We want to create resistance groups out there that can stand strong against Zorlon, Trella, and all of their believers. There have been others in the past who’ve tried to accomplish this same thing but to our knowledge they’ve all failed. The most people have been able to accomplish is running away and living as humans but we’ve yet to see that be successful until we found you…”