"What is it with that woman that has you so fascinated? You are free of a charge, and yet, you are here, hovering over the shop like a benevolent spirit? You're not a guardian angel," Arik observed.
"She's my boss. I just want to be sure she's taken care of. I don't want to lose my job." Seth felt a sharp jab in his side. Arik had pecked him. "What was that for?"
"That mortal woman is not your boss. Your boss is a crazy Banshee Queen and a council of five. Just because you work for her on your days off, which is absurd, by the way, does not mean that you have to hover over her every move. There's nothing magickal about her. She's not a werewolf, half fairy, or pookah. You have no ties to her at all, Seth."
"She pays me. I want to be sure she's okay."
"What do you do with the money she gives you, anyway?"
Seth smiled at the comment. He had no need of money, really. Everything he desired was at his feathertips. When a man, Seth had magick and could make anything he wanted appear. All it took was a thought. Just like slipping the veil between this world and the astral. He could become light as a feather and glide anywhere shadows traveled. "Mostly I give it away, but I use some to buy a few things in the mortal realm that I desire. That and I have an addiction to french fries. The pizza place down the street has great chili fries."
"You have the ability to magick anything you wish to eat, and you buy deep fried potatoes. I'll never understand you, my friend. I ... “ Arik grew silent and stared off into the distance. After a moment, he opened his wings and let the wind catch him. "I'm needed. I shall talk to you again soon, Seth. Fly well."
"Fly well, Arik." Seth watched when his Raven brother became insubstantial. The power of the parting of worlds touched Seth's feathers and made him shiver. The breeze seemed to slip between the fine spaces in his feathers and caressed every part of his body. Crossing worlds could be erotic in its own way, when the power raced through him, but he did not have to do that and focused his mind back on the shop below. Inside, he sensed there were two others. One aura he recognized, Aubrey, another massage therapist, who he worked with most of the time he was there. The other must have been her client. There was no one else. Seth scanned the surroundings and didn't sense anything amiss, but something had made Jayd leave in a hurry.
Seth would never admit it to any of his brothers, or really to himself, that he had appointed himself unofficial guardian over Jayd. His last charge was her Aunt Gabrielle. She had been a witch with a gift for calling fire. Before Jayd was born, Gabrielle had summoned a few evil fairies who pretended to be demons. One of them had seduced her and tried to get her gift by sacrificing her to their gods. However, their ritual fell on a full moon and Seth was lucky. He was able to save Gabrielle and killed all the fey. He didn't have to call upon the Shadow guards for backup. Gabrielle had been so beside herself that she never questioned his appearance. All Seth said to her was that he was her guardian. And he was always watching out for her. If she didn't believe it, then she could look around, and if she saw a raven sitting in a tree or heard the caw, then he was somewhere close. He said he'd always be there for her if she vowed never again to try her hand at the wrong kind of spell casting. She promised. For years, Gabrielle seemed to forget about him. Seth watched when Jayd, three years old, had been brought to her on a bright sunny summer day with only a teddy bear in her hand and a few bruises on her cheek. If she remembered what had happened to her before arriving at Gabrielle's, she had pushed it to the back of her mind.
Right before her death, Gabrielle did a spell thinking it would bring Seth to her. He did the dramatic act of pecking at her window. She was horrified at first but after a few moments realized he was no ordinary bird. He hopped in and stared at her circle. The candles flickered in the breeze. He knew she had lit them only with a thought, and if she really wanted, she could have sent a fireball at the tree outside with her mind and watch it explode into fiery splinters. Her gift had grown over the years.
* * * *
Seth cawed at Gabrielle, and she laughed. She'd been frightened and wasn't sure if he would show. After she calmed down, he hopped nearer to her and stared intently at her. He was already linked telepathically to Gabrielle. All Raven Warriors were connected to their charges, but she didn't know that.
"You summoned me?"
She was surprised he spoke directly to her mind. “Yes. Yes, I did. I was wondering if you could do something for me."
What did she want him to do? She had never asked him for anything before. Seth had always kept his distance making sure she was okay. It had been that way with all his charges. He never got involved with their lives unless it was necessary. It depends on what your request is.
"All those years ago, you saved my life, and I appreciate it, but my time is coming to an end. The reason I assume why you protect me is actually killing me. The doctors can't figure it out, but my body temperature is slowly rising. They're blaming it on high blood pressure, but I know the real reason. The human body is not meant to contain the power of fire. Fire is a living being and can't be bound in flesh."
"I'm saddened to hear that. I've watched over you for many years. I will miss you, but there's nothing I can do to stop your death. We are not..."
Gabrielle waved her hands. “No. Of course not. Honestly, I'm tired of this existence. I'm ready to be cool. I didn't summon you to ask you to grant me immortality or take my power away. I was hoping you could watch out for Jayd when I'm gone. She has no one besides me. I want to be sure she will be taken care of."
Seth sighed then. He opened his wings and mimicked a bow. "I can't promise you anything, but I'll do my best as long as I am not assigned to another after you have departed."
He felt Gabrielle's tension drain from her. A sigh parted her lips. She had figured he'd turn her down.
"Thank you. If I could repay you, please let me know."
"One day, don't say no to a stranger who shows up on your doorstep and asks you to take him out for some french fries."
Gabrielle laughed at that. “If that is what you want. Then sure."
Seth said nothing but hopped backward across the room. When he did, his powers expanded around him. He made a show of letting the shadows grip him. The darkness stretched and enfolded his form when he split the worlds. His power carried him back into the midnight darkness that clung to the tree across the street.
Three months later, Death's cold touch had already claimed Gabrielle, but she had been happy. One day while she was reading, Seth appeared on her doorstep dressed all in black. It took his charge a minute to come to the door. Jayd worked at a retail job and wasn't home. Gabrielle opened the door and stared at him. Seth saw fear in her eyes. She assumed he was going to try to rush past her and rob her. In all outward appearances, he did not fit into her neighborhood because it was all white and he was not. He had been a Raven for so long that the matter of color no longer fazed him, and he saw himself as nothing more than a man.
"Can I help you?"
Seth heard the barest quiver in her voice and saw how she clutched the door. He flashed her smile. “I was wondering if you wanted to go get some french fries. There's a great place in the next town over."
After a moment, realization came to her face. Her demeanor relaxed. She laughed and opened her arms to Seth. Before he could skirt the gesture, she had her arms wrapped around him in a tight hug. After a moment, he embraced her also. Then, he pulled himself out of the hold. It'd been a long time since he'd been touched by anyone, and he did not feel himself turning back into a Raven. Then again, he was not aroused by Gabrielle's gesture.
"It's really you!"
"Yes. It's really me,” Seth answered.
"How..."
Seth sensed the questions brewing in her mind. He put up his hand to stop his charge before she got started because he was not allowed to answer any of her inquiries. “I can't talk business. It's against the rules."
"So what do we talk about then?"
"How about we figure that out
over some french fries?"
Gabrielle said nothing and turned to get her purse. Seth put a hand on her shoulder and shook his head. He wanted to wow her. It was against policy, but she was not long for the world. During the days he was human, he didn't care what he did. “Just hold onto me."
Gabrielle looped her arm through his and clutched it tightly. Seth stepped in and closed the door. After a moment, he had his power wrapped around them both. It would be a spectacular show of power to his charge, but to him it was nothing.
They spent the rest of the afternoon talking about everything from her childhood to her marriage. All of it Seth knew, but he didn't let on. He mentioned a few details of his life, but nothing more than that. He gorged on french fries, and when it was time to pay, he magicked the money for the meal and then brought Gabrielle back home. That was the last time he appeared before her in human guise. In the last days, when he felt her slipping away, Seth would talk to her in her mind, and she would talk back. Jayd thought her aunt was out of her mind, but he knew Gabrielle was lucid until the moment the Angel of Death came and claimed her soul. It had been a sad moment because he had cared for the woman in his own way.
* * * *
Seth pulled himself out of the memory. From the moment of her death, he had kept his promise to Gabrielle and watched over Jayd. From how she left the store, the Raven Warrior had a bad feeling. Things had been strange with Jayd the past few months. Every time he went into the shop, she seemed to want to tell him something. Whatever bothered her, it sat on the edge of her tongue, and she never got the courage to confide in him. For that, Seth had been keeping an extra sharp eye on her. Without wasting any time, he decided he would wing over to her house to be sure she was all right.
With a little jump, Seth opened his wings and let the current catch him. Unlike Arik, he wasn't in the mood for acrobatics. He pumped his wings fast so he could catch up to the car. However, even when he soared through the sky, something wasn't settling right in the pit of his stomach. No matter what it was, tomorrow he'd approach Jayd and ask her what was on her mind. No matter what it took, he would get it out of her. He owed Gabrielle that much to be sure that Jayd was safe.
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Chapter Three
Jayd left the shop and then phoned Aubrey to tell her she'd gone home thinking that she had come down with a bug. Jayd had left the letter under the counter behind some other papers. She was trying not to let fear consume her. So far, it had eaten away her stomach and was slowly stealing the air from her lungs. A panic attack while she was doing fifty was not going to help matters. She could handle the situation. But during the ride home, her iron will had dissolved into molten fear. After she got home, she raced upstairs and started throwing things into an overnight bag, with the plan of heading into Boston to get a hotel room and be around lots of people. Her hands shook so badly when she threw stuff into her bag she had to stop. When she did, and looked around her bedroom, a realization descended over her. The terror her stalker was instilling in her was not going to rule her life. She was not going to run from her own house. She was going to stay and face the man who was leaving her gifts and little love notes. Her Aunt Gabrielle would tell her she had to face her fear. Gabrielle had never been afraid of death—even in the end when she was having imaginary conversations with what she claimed was one of her guides. Jayd wished she had that kind of courage. Sometimes, it had wavered. She had worked at a retail job for years, first at the local mall in a clothing store chain. By the time her aunt was dying, Jayd was the manager of her department and making good money. She never had many friends except the books she brought with her on her lunch breaks. The only person she needed in her life was her aunt. When she died, Jayd was lost.
Now that Jayd ran the New Age store, she'd emerged from her shell. The years in retail had prepared her to run her own business. There had been unruly customers at her counters, but she'd never had to deal with a stalker. The closest thing she had encountered was when one of her employees had a crazy boyfriend who had started to be abusive. He'd call the store at all hours of day wondering who she was having an affair with. Jayd had a soft spot for the employee, but after a while, the phone calls got to be too much, and he started coming into the store and making scenes. Finally, Jayd had him arrested, and she fired the girl. That was years ago. Jayd had seen all those cop shows on television with women or celebrities who came home and found people in their bathtubs or something.
I'm not going to be driven from my own house. If he wants to come and get me here, then so be it! I may be afraid, but I'll be ready for him. Jayd looked at her bag and slowly began to take the things out of it. The rhythm of going back and forth to her bureau drawer was soothing and hypnotic enough her heart did not feel like it was being eaten alive by the teeth which had developed in her stomach from all the terror she had stored inside. It had become its own entity inside her body and was eating her alive. Maybe it was fear combining with a little bit of anticipation. She wanted to see the face of her nighttime visitor. Was it really the teenager she'd met months ago who had come into her shop? It had to be. The stalker had left the same crystal gargoyle the Goth boy purchased that night.
After Jayd put everything away, she sat on her bed and stared at herself in the mirror. Curly blonde hair hung like twisted snakes around her face and brushed the top of her shoulders. If she straightened it, her hair would be a couple inches past her shoulders. It was such a pain and took so much time she hardly bothered. Her cheeks were rosy, like they had been pinched. Aunt Gabrielle used to say the goddess blessed her with roses all year round. Jayd's lips were undecorated, but she had dashed some dark green on her lids before she left. Eye shadow and lipstick were the only kinds of makeup she was not allergic to. It didn't matter how expensive or how hypoallergenic the stuff was. She was sensitive to every brand of blush, foundation, and powder she had ever tried over the years. At graduation, her eyes had puffed up so much she looked like she'd been punched and forwent getting her pictures taken in her cap and gown. However, the swelling had gone enough on graduation day that she was able to get away with going. After that, she experimented some, but the same result always occurred.
The dark green made her eyes not look so dull. She had medium brown eyes that never popped. Nothing akin to Aubrey's, but then again, having two different color eyes was unusual. In comparison to some of the women she'd see in the department store, Jayd had never considered herself stunning. She was average. She'd had a few boyfriends over the years. Had one that was almost going to propose, but he realized he was gay at the last minute and told her after they had made love one night. That had crushed her heart a little, but Jayd bounced back and went right back into the dating pool. She lived with Gabrielle until she died and then got her own home because her aunt's house had held so many memories. Most of them were good, but a few of them were bad. Especially the day that she had first arrived at her aunt's house.
Jayd recalled it was in the back of a police car. She didn't remember what had happened. The memories were fuzzy inside her mind, and whenever she tried to recall them, they were out of reach like a dream she couldn't quite grasp. All she did recollect was the fear about her parents. Of course, now she knew the reason why she lived with her aunt. Her father had found out her mother was cheating on him and he'd lost it. He got a gun, shot her mother, and came after her. She had run and hidden in a small crawlspace under the house. Then he had shot himself when he could not get at her. Three days later, the police found her under the house.
Jayd only knew her mother and father from pictures. Growing up, Gabrielle had suggested maybe she should try therapy since she had nightmares for a few years, but after a while, those dreams faded, and she didn't remember anything of her parents. Gabrielle had replaced them in her mind and she knew comfort and safety with her. When she died, Jayd thought she would feel all alone in the world, but her aunt had always pushed her to be independent. Now, living by herself, Jayd had never felt un
safe. It always seemed that she had some kind of guardian angel watching over her. It was corny to say, but she had felt something hovering over her, except, of course, for these past three months, when she started receiving her private messages and the gifts.
I will not let him win. I will not be afraid. I will not let anyone push me around. Jayd wrapped her hair in a ponytail. A few tendrils escaped the elastic band and sprang around her face. She sighed. There was no way around it. Her hair never did what she wanted. Jayd got up from the bed and changed into jeans and a long T-shirt. After that, she checked the time. It was only three in the afternoon, and she still had hours before nightfall.
The hours ticked by slowly. Jayd tried to keep herself busy, but it did no good. She checked and rechecked the windows and doors. They were still locked. She sat and stared into the woods behind her house wondering if there were any beasts lurking in the shadows. Gabrielle used to tell her stories about magic and fairies, but she never believed her aunt. Her aunt was a witch who cast spells and worshipped nature. However, Jayd just respected nature. Whatever was out there in the cosmos was fine where it was in Jayd's mind.
Jayd didn't watch horror movies because she didn't enjoy the gore, and she hated dramas because they always made her cry. The only ones she loved were fantasy and sci-fi. However, they were few and far between. Reading, knitting, and crocheting, on occasion, helped her pass the time and keep her mind occupied. And it was what she was doing now. The clicking of the knitting needles put her mind at ease for a while until she didn't bother to even look at the clock. In the back of her mind, she was well aware of the time, but she was trying not to think about it.
Whispers in the Dark [A Raven Saga Book 3] Page 3