“You think I’m like that?”
“Well, duh.”
She considered his words. “But I don’t know anything about witchcraft.”
“Of course, you have a lot to learn—we all do. Techniques, terminology, background, control—that sort of thing. It will help you to understand what you do. But your power’s already there. You don’t need help developing that.” He walked down the corridor opposite the one leading to the classrooms, pulling her with him. “This is the business wing of the house. The Elders’ offices are here. The kitchens, laundry rooms, that sort of thing. And there’s a gym that you’re free to use whenever you like. Healthy body, healthy mind.”
“So is The Crux like a hotel?”
He laughed. “Kind of, I suppose. Except we’re not waited on hand and foot. We do have a couple of members of staff come in to help out with laundry and cleaning, but we’re all expected to keep our own rooms clean, and we all take turns in the kitchens.”
“You cook?” she asked incredulously.
“Of course. That muffin you ate this morning was mine.”
She stared at him. “You’re kidding me.”
He grinned. “No. Shocked?”
“A little. I can’t imagine you with an apron and a rolling pin.”
“I make a mean curry, I can tell you.” He opened a door. “This is my office.”
She walked in, curious to see something personal of his. It was a large room, looking out onto the same lawns at the back of the house as the meditation room had. There was a large mahogany desk with its back to the window, the walls lined with shelves filled with books. There were a couple of leather armchairs in front of the desk. The room smelled of leather, books, and his sandalwood soap.
She looked up at him, smiling. “It’s very you.”
He laughed. “I hope that’s a compliment.”
“Yes, of course.” She went up to the bookshelves. The titles were mainly about witchcraft and psychic development. “Do you have any hobbies?”
“All my other books are in my room upstairs, if that’s what you’re asking. This is where I work.”
She shrugged, trying not to think about his bedroom. “Just curious.”
He smiled. “I follow Exeter City FC, for my sins. I like history, especially ancient history. And dogs. And music, particularly blues or soul.”
He sat casually on the edge of his desk. He was so breathtakingly gorgeous it took her breath away. She shouldn’t have entered his office. She shouldn’t be finding out more about him. It wasn’t going to help with her determination to keep him at a distance.
She shifted awkwardly. “I ought to go.”
He sighed. “Look, it’s nearly eleven. I’m about to teach an advanced class—they’re developing their telekinesis skills. Why don’t you join us?”
“Oh God no, I couldn’t…”
“Kimi, you’ll be the most powerful person in the room.”
“Apart from you,” she said softly, warmth spreading through her at his compliment.
His lips curved. “Well, obviously.”
She sighed. “Okay, as long as I don’t have to say anything.”
“I’ll even give you a gold star if you behave,” he teased. “Now come on, we can call in at the lost property on the way—they usually have a few spare pairs of shoes in there.”
Kimi let Damien lead her to the classroom. Her nerves began to build at the thought of meeting a class full of other witches, in spite of his comments about everyone being there to learn.
“Relax,” he said, obviously sensing her tension. “You’ll enjoy this, I promise.” He walked up to a door and opened it with a flourish.
Chapter Eleven
“‘How now, you secret, black and midnight hags?’” Damien said to the room in general. “‘What is’t you do?’”
“‘A deed without a name,’” several voices chorused, followed by laughter.
“Morning,” he grinned. He turned and beckoned Kimi toward him and winked. “‘Something wicked this way comes.’”
Kimi blushed and walked into the room. There were nine people sitting at the desks, all but two of them women, and they all looked up with interest as she entered.
“This is Kimi,” Damien said. “She’s joining us today.”
“Morning Kimi,” everyone said, and she smiled nervously. With relief, she saw Ella. The blonde girl looked pleased and motioned to the empty seat beside her.
Kimi looked across at Damien, who gestured for her to sit, so she went over and sat beside her roommate.
“Hey,” Ella said as Damien started cleaning the whiteboard. “Good to see you. Are you going to be taking this class?”
“I’m not sure,” Kimi whispered. “I’m just observing.” She frowned. “Does he always enter the room in such a charming manner?”
Ella laughed. “It’s a quote from Macbeth—about the three witches, you know? ‘Hubble, bubble, toil and trouble?’”
“Ah,” said Kimi. “That makes more sense.” She hadn’t missed his mention of the word ‘secret’. Had he chosen the quote for her benefit?
“Right,” Damien said, putting down the board rubber. “Where did we get to last time?”
“Energy fields,” said one of the women.
“Ah yes. I remember.” He popped the lid off a whiteboard marker. “We were talking about everything having its own energy. About how you have to imagine your own energy field expanding to encompass an object.” He began to draw on the board. “When you want to move something with your mind, you have to bring it within your energy field, your aura. It has to almost become a part of you, spiritually at any rate.”
Kimi watched the other students as he demonstrated his words with pictures. Some of them took notes—others, like Ella, sat and watched. At one point one of the men got up and helped himself to a cup of water from the cooler in the corner—occasionally a couple chatted quietly, although most of the time everyone seemed content to listen to him.
He was very good with people, she thought. He’d handed out large silver rings, about twelve inches in diameter, to everyone and was now encouraging them to start levitating them into the air. He was so patient and gentle, quick to offer advice if they were struggling, generous with praise, funny and intelligent, the perfect teacher. She sighed inwardly. Of course he was.
Some people had more success than others with the rings. Ella managed to lift hers an inch off the desk, but it was clearly an effort, and it dropped eventually, clanging onto the table. “These are heavier than they look,” she complained, breathing heavily. “What are they made of, lead?”
Damien laughed, walking past her table. “Reach out your aura,” he reminded her. “Hold it in your mind.”
“I am trying, Mr. Bossy.”
He smiled and stopped in front of Kimi’s desk. She’d shaken her head when he offered her a ring earlier. Now he held out another hoop. She just looked at him.
“Go on, Kimi,” said Ella. “Have a go. It doesn’t matter if you can’t do it.”
Damien met Kimi’s gaze, and his eyes twinkled.
“No, thank you,” she said, her cheeks burning. Why was he embarrassing her like this? She wasn’t ready to make a fool of herself, not yet.
He dropped to his haunches in front of her desk and placed the silver ring on its edge in the middle, holding it upright with a finger. Slowly, he lifted his hand, concentrating on the ring. Kimi watched, eyes wide, as it stayed up, edge on. He moved his finger in a circle, and the ring began to rotate. He did it effortlessly, flicking his gaze up to hers with a smile, before catching the ring in his hand and holding it out to her. “Now you try.”
She met his gaze. She was about to refuse, but his eyes were very gentle and warm. She realised he wouldn’t have asked her if he didn’t think she could do it.
Still reluctant, she reached out and took it. Around her, everyone looked over. They would have heard what had happened in the woods the night before, and they were all interested
to see what she could do. This was where she made a complete idiot of herself and made them all laugh.
She sighed. “What do I do?”
He stood the ring on its edge and then moved her hand to rest on the top. “Think about what I was saying, about reaching out your aura to encompass it. It is part of you. Hold it in your mind.”
She took a deep breath and let it out slowly. Trying to ignore everyone else in the room, she focussed on the ring. After a few moments, she lifted her hand.
The ring fell onto the desk with a clang.
He didn’t laugh, or scold. He lifted it again and placed her hand back on it. “Try again.”
Twice more she did it, and both times the same thing happened.
“Damien…”
Patiently he moved her hand on top of it a fourth time. “It’s a part of you,” he told her softly. “Grasp it with your mind. You can do it, Kimi.”
This time she closed her eyes. She imagined what happened when she moved in spirit form, even though her body was still lying there. With her spirit hand, she reached out and touched the ring. Then she lifted her physical hand.
Everyone in the room gasped. She opened her eyes and saw the ring still on its edge.
Her heart began to beat faster. Suddenly she understood what he’d been trying to convey to her. With her mind, she turned the ring, and to her delight it began to spin slowly.
Damien pushed himself to his feet. “Now, lift it off the desk.”
“What?”
“Go on. Pick it up.”
She imagined her spirit hand raising the silver hoop, and it levitated slowly into the air six inches.
“Now lift Ella’s.”
Kimi looked at him, then across at the desk next to hers. Ella pushed the ring toward her. Kimi reached out with her mind and raised it until it hung in the air next to her own.
Damien walked around the room, pointing at one desk after another, and gradually Kimi raised all ten rings in the air until they hung in a line about four feet off the floor.
“Now hold them there,” he told her, walking to the back of the room.
She concentrated, frowning. The effort was beginning to make her sweat. He came back carrying a pink ribbon. He sat on the desk opposite her and threw the ribbon into the air. To her amazement, it didn’t fall but stretched out in a line. He moved his hand and she watched, open mouthed, as the ribbon began to move through the air toward her hoops.
Gradually he weaved the ribbon through the rings. He moved the pink band so gracefully it was like a gymnast at work, she thought. She was beginning to breathe hard with the effort of holding up the hoops.
“Now spin them clockwise,” he said as the ribbon finished threading its way through the rings.
Gritting her teeth and concentrating hard, she began to spin all ten hoops slowly clockwise until the ribbon tightened in a pink twine.
“Stop. Now anti-clockwise.”
She had to tighten all her muscles to stop the rings spinning. It was as difficult as lifting a heavy object. Once they’d stopped, she started to rotate them the other way. Sweat popped out on her forehead as she focussed. The ribbon unwound and then began to tighten again.
“Now, one clockwise, the next anti-clockwise.”
“You’re kidding me.”
“Try it.”
She stood, pushing the chair back, one hand held toward the rings as she did as he demanded. Part of her wanted to tell him to get lost—she wasn’t a monkey about to dance for his pleasure, but the other part wanted to meet and even exceed his expectations. Gradually she spun the rings in opposite directions, watching as he laced the ribbon easily backward and forward through them.
For him it seemed effortless. He wasn’t even watching the pink band. As usual, he was watching her. She flicked her gaze over to him. Was it her imagination or was there something extremely sexual about the way he was entwining the ribbon through the rings? His eyes were warm, a slight smile on his lips. Unbidden, the thought of him kissing her in the woods crept into her mind.
As soon as she started thinking about him like that, however, she lost concentration. As one, the rings dropped from where she’d been holding them. The ribbon caught them and neatly tied itself in a bow.
In the doorway, somebody clapped, slowly. The whole class turned to see Rose leaning against the doorjamb, watching them.
“Stop showing off,” she said.
Damien threw her a look. “I wasn’t showing off—I was demonstrating.”
She glanced at him doubtfully before looking over at Kimi. “Margaret would like to see you please, if you have a minute.”
“Of course.” Kimi hesitated, exhausted, drenched in sweat.
“Can you find your way?” asked Rose. “I need to have a quick word with Mr Show-Off Shaman here.”
Ella stood. “I’ll take her, Rose.”
“Okay, thanks.”
Kimi glanced at Damien, who winked at her, and she followed Ella out of the room and down the corridor toward the east end of the house.
Rose’s words echoed in her ears as she walked. Stop showing off. Was she talking to her or Damien? He’d been trying to prove to her how powerful she was. By forcing her to stop the rings and rotate them in the opposite direction, he’d been testing her energy, and showing her what she could do.
Ella looked across at her. “Are you okay?”
Kimi sighed. “Yes, thanks. A bit tired.”
“That was amazing, what you just did. They said you were powerful, but I didn’t realise quite what they meant.”
“I didn’t know I could do that until I did it. I hope nobody thought I was showing off.”
Ella stopped and gave her a hug. “Hey, no. Ignore Rose—she was having a dig at Damien for some reason.” She took Kimi’s arm as they continued down the corridor. “The Elders have a strange relationship with each other. They’re all supposed to be equals, but of course, Damien’s the youngest, and he grew up with them, so they tend to mother him. As far as I know, he was a model teenager—never rebelled or anything—he was always very disciplined, very responsible. But I think he resents being treated like he’s inferior to them now, because of course he’s not—he’s more powerful—than Margaret, Rose and Max, anyway.”
They walked across the entrance foyer and into the corridor leading to the Elders’ offices. Ella stopped outside one. “This is Margaret’s. Good luck!”
“Thanks.” Kimi watched Ella walk away, suddenly nervous. Why did Margaret want to see her? Surely it would be about the events of the previous night?
She knocked on the door, and when Margaret answered with “Hello,” she opened it and went in. Margaret’s office was completely different to Damien’s. Decorated with lots of aluminium shelves, grey filing cabinets, and a standard office desk, it was much more your typical business office than his old-fashioned study. And much less comfortable.
She stood in front of Margaret’s desk. The older women was typing on her computer and finished off her sentence, then looked over. “Hello, Kimi. Thank you for coming—please, have a seat.”
“Thank you.” Kimi sat on the edge of the chair, hands together, conscious of her sweating palms.
Margaret leaned forward, elbows on the table, fingers clasped, and surveyed Kimi. “You did a wonderful job last night,” she said eventually, surprising Kimi. “Your power was amazing, and your control of it was exemplary.”
“Thank you,” Kimi said again.
Margaret rested her lips on her hands for a moment. Then she said, “Clearly, after last night you will be aware of the problems we are having with the forces of darkness at the moment. Incursions are happening all over the place, and we believe the constant pressure they’re putting on the veil means they’re going to attempt a full scale invasion in the near future.”
“Damien did mention it,” Kimi said, then cursed herself for saying his name as Margaret frowned.
Still the older woman didn’t mention what she’d seen in the wood
s. “We are desperately training all of our witches, warlocks and shamans to be prepared for a possible invasion. Many come here to learn advanced techniques to take back to their covens across the country. It’s a difficult time for us all, and tempers are short. But it is imperative we do not lose the battle, when it comes.”
She got up and poured herself a cup of coffee from the pot on a table to one side. She offered it to Kimi, who shook her head. Margaret sat back down. “The Crux is so named not just because it is the centre of all the covens in the UK, but because it sits at the middle of a latticework of ley lines that radiate out to all corners of the country. Do you know what a ley line is?”
“Some kind of energy channel?” Kimi offered.
“Exactly. The Crux is the focus point of the country’s energy, the centre of conduits laid down thousands of years ago when our ancient ancestors first learned the ways of the Earth. We’re not sure exactly where the focal point is—that information has been lost over the thousands of years. We think it’s probably right underneath the house, beneath the Great Hall. It is a powerful place—and also a weak one. If the invasion is going to come, it is likely to happen here. To this end, obviously it would be good for you to stay here and help us.”
She sipped her coffee. “Kimi, can I be honest with you?”
Uh-oh, Kimi thought. “Of course.”
“You are one of the most powerful witches I’ve seen for a long time. We are thrilled that Damien found you—although I apologise for his…unconventional methods of transporting you here.”
“That’s okay. I understand why he did it now.”
“That’s good. As I said, we are exhilarated that you have come to light at this crucial time. We would love to have you working with us over the next few months as the threat of an invasion grows near. There is a lot we could teach you—ways to control and strengthen your abilities.” She stood and came around the front of the desk and perched on the edge. “However, I have one more matter to discuss with you.”
Midnight Shaman, Fire Witch Page 10