“Why are you up so early Kade?” mom asked looking at me with concern, her body moving towards me in a comforting form.
“What did dad tell you about his hands?” my mouth blurted out, I was not going to ask like this. But her body went ridged, her mouth closed. She turned around looking the opposite way.
“Its nothing Kade,” she replied, this time it didn’t feel like her voice, it felt like it was forced.
Her hands gripped in mine, her eyes blue in color with speckles of green. Her pupils dilated then contracted, over and over again. It was wrong, her eyes should not have done that. I flashed my eyes to her, her body went ridged in my arms, her eyes unblinking dilated once more, her mouth fell open.
“Mom, you are going to tell me what happened, how can we stop him?” I commanded tightening my grip on her arms. My magic was not strong enough, it was impossible.
“Let go of her!” Alexis screamed at me, her voice turning animalistic. Throwing her arms around my neck, she yanked me off mom.
“Alexis you don’t understand,” I said reaching to grab mom again, I needed what ever dad did to her to break.
“Don’t you dare touch her again,” She screamed again, this time her face sprouting fur. She was turning to her wolf form.
As she launched at me, Gabby roared. Alexis froze in spot, dropping in mid air to sit like an obedient dog. As I turned to look at mom again she was gone.
“Kade we have a problem,” Desmond said as he pulled mom back into the house, dragging her with his arms locked around hers.
“What is going on?” Karen asked in horror, her eyes drooping, her smile fading to a frown.
“All of you stop!” Simone commanded, “take a deep breath, can you smell that?” his face scrunched as Desmond’s did earlier. He was making them understand. “that’s not the scent of a shape shifter, or a mage, its Quart,” Simone said looking angry, his face turned a shade of red I was unfamiliar with on him.
“Your right, but how did you tell?” Solena asked sniffing the air.
“What do we do?” Selena asked gripping Solena’s hand.
“First, tie my mother to the chair. Gabby get Alexis tied up, this is going to hurt them,” I said nodding to Desmond then gripping the counter to help myself up.
The twins walked over to the kitchen table as if they knew exactly what I wanted them to do. Each placing a hand on my mothers temples, the light and dark shone bright rippling around the room. Beams of each of their light shone through the air, mom’s memories faded into existence.
Alexis was a little more difficult, Karen and Ashley had to hold her in place. Tree branches wrapped around her ankles up her calves, while a metal collar wrapped around her neck chaining her to the floor as she snapped and tried changing form.
“Mom, I need you to listen to me, listen to your little boy,” I said, our eyes meeting again, her pupils completely gone. She screamed out, yelling louder and louder, not in pain but as if to force us to let her go. Looking up, the memories floated around in the smoke, each flashing.
“Solena can you find the moment when dad came home with the red hands?” I asked turning to her, and with a nod the memories flashed faster and faster as her white eyes searched for it.
Selena held her hand steady, mom still screaming. Selena’s eyes flashed black and moms voice stopped. No sound came out, her mouth continued to motion as if screaming again, but no sound, it was peaceful as Solena continued to search.
“Found it,” Solena said as the smoke billowed around her showing the memory.
The memory started with crawling into bed, still panting in pain. Mom turned over noticing his hands as he turned off the end table lamp. As she opened her mouth, gold and red aura spilled from him, swirling around him towards mom. As it touched her it seeped into her brain, and the memory changed to me, attacking him, as if he was filling her memory with something that had never happened. I could still see the true memory but the smoke of his magic was clouding it.
“Selena, would you mind?” I asked looking at her with a pleading face, I could not stand to see my mom hurt so much. But as I spoke she had already started, her magic covering the shadows, changing the image, wiping away what should not have been.
My eyes met moms again, as the memory wiped, her iris and pupil became more visible. Tears streaming down her face, she sobbed grabbing me tight to her. Her voice cracking up as she tried to speak, “it’s the spirit Kade, your father wasn’t strong enough to hold it, help him.”
I nodded my head to her, I knew what she was asking me to do, Alexis came running up, wrapping her arms around me. She too cried over and over, holding me tight, “I am so sorry,” her hair tickled my face as she held me.
“Okay, we need to go and find Quart before something happens to him,” I said standing up, my body freezing in place as I tried to get going.
“There is something you need to know Kade,” Mom said, “I have a way to stop your father before he hurts anyone else, but I need your help.”
“He’s my twin mom?” I said knowing I had suspected from Lori’s vision of the past, it was the only other explanation, we were all the same age, none of us were born out of a different year.
“Yes, how?” she said sounding confused.
“I suspected after Lori showed us our past and how we were bound,” I replied looking into her eyes again.
“Forgive me Kade,” she said lifting her hands up as if to apologize.
“There is nothing to forgive, just help us to stop dad,” I said moving to the counter.
“I need a couple items, would you three mind locating them for me?” mom said pointing to Gabby, Piper, and Ashley.
Shaking their heads, they moved closer to mom listening to the ingredients list. It made sense asking the three of them for help find the items. From Ashley she needed the new life of a tree sapling, for nymph tears, and weeping willow hair. Gabby had to find the bone of a dead clergy man, a tooth from a king beast, and a claw of a feline. While Piper got the more complicated items I had never heard of. The mane of a Kelpie, a barnacle older than six hundred years, and finally an egg of a hyppocamp.
I had no idea where they would find any of those items, but they all seemed to know and took off in a hurry. Desmond was next on mom’s list of to do’s.
“I need my spell book from my room, its under the false door in the bureau, there is a trick to opening it, you need to tickle the hanging bar, you’ll know what I mean when you see it. There will be a glass bowl in there as well, grab it please.” She said as he took off down the hall to her room.
Simone and I stood by her, she still did not seem that sturdy to stand on her own, but we managed to help hold her up.
Mom looked confused when she looked at Simone, nobody else seemed to really notice his secret but her, of course she would know, she knew all of us a children.
“Simone, prefers everyone to know her as a he. Nobody else has noticed, this is his first ever female body and he does not like it, its not him. So he’s hiding it,” I whispered, her eyes just about bugged out, she looked ashamed she even thought the question.
“Please Yass, I just don’t want anyone to look at me differently,” Simone said a tear welling in his eye.
“No, never Simone, you are safe with me, but you must have realized hunny. These are your family,” She said waving her arm around, as if to point out everyone else that was still in the room, “they have been with you for millenia, nothing will ever change in their minds.” Pulling his head closer to her as she kissed his forehead.
Simone’s eyes continued to water, as he stood clutching the counter, “Thank you,” he whispered to her.
“Are you guys okay?” Solena asked as she walked up.
“Yes, yes we are just catching up,” Simone said whipping his tears away.
Desmond came back carrying a huge book, and a tiny glass bowl, they looked very odd together.
“Okay I need you all to stand a
round the kitchen table, once everyone is back we can search for Quarts powers and return them to him,” she said turning to Desmond and I, fear in her face. “I don’t know how angry, or how much the powers have taken him over but he will be angry and I will be weak for a while,” she finished looking at Alexis with soft eyes.
“Desmond and I will take you back to my palace, I still have some guards and dad has already destroyed my realm so they wont think I’ll take you there.” I replied smiling at mom, she had to know I would go to the ends of the earth to protect her.
“Your sweet Kade, okay lets get this done,” she finished as we waited for the girls.
Chapter 29
So Close
Placing her book on the kitchen counter, she waved her hand as it floated in front of her. The glass bowl grew to the size of a cauldron. She set it on the burner lighting it. The ingredients were placed in one at a time, she managed to do it with such grace and beauty, the cauldron popped with pink, then green, then grey and then gold.
“Kade I need your magic for a minute, I need you to pour some of your aura in the cauldron, it will help with the location of Quart and his abilities,” she said waving her hand as the colorful smoke changed from blue to green to blue again.
Lifting my hand to the cauldron, I allowed my magic to drip from my hands, the smoke forced out of the way as its dripped in.
“That should be enough,” she said motioning for me to sit again.
As the magic swelled around the room, the aroma of roses and tulips wafted. It was intoxicating. The colors of smoke rippled through the air around us. Laying flat on the table the smoke opened revealing where dad was. He was on some highway heading towards what looked like the states. As sign popped up in the distance, reading Great Falls.
“Oh my, he is almost to Quart, you guys need to stop him,” She said her voice catching.
“We will!” I said standing up, knocking the chair back.
“Calm down, I haven’t stripped the powers yet, its almost done,” she said still working with the potion of hers. “Now this will rip the powers from him, weakening him, and myself at the same time. You will only have a small window to get them back to quart before your father can pull them back so make sure quart is nearby,” she said as she handed little vials of the potion around.
As I promised Desmond and I opened the portal to my realm, taking my sister and mom to the palace. And when we returned Simone had everyone ready as we watched my father driving towards my twin. That was such a weird feeling saying my twin. His soul intertwined with mine had never happened in any other life, something else must have caused it.
“Are you ready? This may be hard for you Kade?” Simone asked looking around the room.
“No, but we need to do this, then we need to find Tyler,” I replied looking at everyone, the looks on their faces would have made anyone else cry, they looked scared.
“Kade, its okay if you can’t do this, we will take care of it,” Kat said wrapping her arms around me now.
“No we are all going to need to be there, and we will most likely need to use our powers as a team again or we may not be able to separate him from Quarts gifts. Solena and Selena do you think you could take lead and get to Quart first, maybe keep him safe and bring him when its time?” I asked knowing Selena would not say no, but Solena wanted to be where all the action would be.
And just as I thought their voices were the first to speak up, Solena arguing to join us, while Selena was all for keeping her sister safe. The two bickered back and forth, while everyone else started getting ready. Opening a portal, the house from my dream popped into view in the smoke.
Solena was the first to step through. As Selena stepped through Desmond closed the portal. From behind me Simone and Kat ripped open another portal, Kat was not good at making them yet, her portal half frayed and tearing. Desmond and Gabby gripped hands stepping through, Piper and Kat took the next steps, Ashley, Karen and I followed, leaving Simone to close the portal.
“What do you suggest Kade?” Gabby asked, her voice trying to sound soft and compassionate.
Desmond’s hand slide down my forearm gripping my hand. Squeezing it tight, he moved by my side, “You don’t have to do this you know,” he whispered in my ear.
“Why is everyone so concerned with me stopping my father? We are stripping his powers not killing him, he’s still a good man. The Element is corrupting him,” I said getting so angry the ground shook.
“What if we had to kill him, can you even forgive us?” Gabby asked as she tried not to sound patronizing.
“Under no circumstance does my father get harmed,” I said almost yelling, the ground shook even harder, this time knowing it was not me and my powers.
‘What is that?” Desmond asked, looking around.
Kat looked around, “Something is coming, and its huge. I can feel its foot prints. The shaking of the ground is something else hitting the ground, its almost like a giant tree trunk.”
“What do you mean something is coming towards us?” Gabby asked,
“Its almost here, its behind that patch of tree’s,” Kat said placing her hand on the ground, her eyes glowing shimmery bronze. Ashley placed her hand on the ground as well, her eyes flashing to life.
“She’s right, and its not a tree truck, it’s the entire forest moving at once, each movement of their roots is causing the earth to shake,” Ashley said, now standing, her face showing the fear that I could only imagine the rest of us showed.
The looming forest continued to move towards us, a large creature with tusks began to peer from the trees. The ground continued to shake over and over, getting more violent the closer the trees got to us. Desmond still standing on the road way spotted a car in the distance. Turning instinctively looking towards the vehicle. It was a small black car, travelling at least double the speed limit. As it sped towards Desmond and I, we stood our ground. Karen, Ashley, and Kat focused their attention on the trees, while Simone stood with them at the ready with Gabby for the tusked creature.
Using as much magic as I could force out, slowing the car down, not wanting to kill my father, but I was not letting the car get any farther. About a hundred yards from us I threw up a solid barrier, I was not letting it get past that. As the car continued to speed towards the barrier, I exerted more pressure, the wind around us blowing furiously. Ashley and Karen could barely keep their hair tied back. The trees advancing on them swayed and shook, as the ground quaked with their steps.
Kat leapt into the air, her fist clenched as she dropped towards the ground. As it connected with the dirt and rocks the earth split open, the crater continued towards the trees, some falling in. Their branches clawing at the walls of the earth as if to find purchase and crawl up. Kat stood up, closing her fist, her last finger clenched as did the crater, sealing and crushing the trees beneath the earth.
Ashley moved forward, placing her hand to the ground as well, but as she did a ripple in the grass sped towards the trees, vines and elf like creatures began popping out of the ground, attacking the trees. Gripping them tight in place, while the elf like creatures began chopping away at them. The tree’s fighting back, branches swinging low, hitting them into the air, tossing them back. She managed to take out a part of the approaching creatures.
Watching the car pick up speed, dad knew he would survive it using Quarts powers. As the car got closer yet, my heart slowed, the world around us slowed to a stop. As the car slammed into the barrier the front of the car buckled in, the window spider cracked as Dad’s face disappeared behind it. The look of shock and fear in his eyes as the window completely shattered around him. His face slammed into the steering wheel, the engine dropped completely below the car while the tires hit the barrier bouncing off. Just as the car bounced back in all its tore up and smashed glory the world around us sped up again.
Desmond and I ran towards the accident, we had to stop him before he could continue. Desmond got to the car before
me, his features turning animalistic as he ripped the door off, gripping my dad by his shirt, tossing him from the crash. As dad flew into the ditch he transformed, his wolf form snarled out. His jet black fur, with green eyes sparkled in the light of the sun. The roar echoed through the air, his body crunched together, ready to pounce and attack. Desmond stood his ground snarling back at him, dad launched into the air. His large paws slamming into the ground as he bounded towards Desmond.
Like a matador, Desmond spun around allowing my father to pass him like a charging bull. As dad turned to attack again, he changed form this time to a man wolf. His speed lessened but he would be able to attack upright. Seven feet tall dad launched at Desmond knocking him back. They were in a grappling struggle for dominance. As they stood there arms outstretched, their fangs snapping at each other, I threw the stripping potion at them, hitting dad square in the back.
His body spasmed lurching back as a large gold light shone off his skin. The magic spilled out onto the ground around them. Dad fell to the ground, struggling to breathe, he was falling unconscious. The bright shimmering gold glistened in the sunlight as it morphed and formed into the shape of a lion. Its large main shaking as its golden mouth opened as if to roar. It started to wander towards the town, as if it sensed its true holder.
Desmond reverted forms, standing next to me again looking on at my father laying on the ground as his breath shallowed.
“Thank you,” I whispered as I started towards my father, he had stepped in to stop him for me. He knew how hard it was going to be for me. But before I could get more than a couple feet from my father, a yellow and ice blue portal ripped open. The two women from Piper’s realm leapt out, grabbing my father, and lifting him into the portal as if to disappear forever.
My face froze, chocking out the words, “stop,” I could feel my powers ripple, something was wrong.
Desmond was by my side in a moment, wrapping his arms around me tight, as I collapsed to the highway. My body changed, my breathing became shallow, choppy, it felt weird to me and something was wrong.
Zephyr Page 17