She heard his light, mellow laugh, and she expected to hear his thoughts as she usually did most people's. Only, there was simply silence. When she turned to say one last thing, her hand hovering over the doorknob, he stopped still, but not in enough time to keep their torsos from bumping.
“Promise me tomorrow you will tell me all I need to know. Like why I can’t hear your thoughts?”
“Tomorrow, I promise. Until then, I am just a wall away if you need me.”
The concept brought a smile to her face she quickly turned down to simply seem grateful.
“Thank you, Luca, for everything. I truly would not be here without you.” An icy feeling crawled down her spine, and she realized she was afraid to go into the room alone. She had not been afraid in this house since she was a small girl. It had only provided her with safety until today. She was starting to feel violated. Smiling quickly once more, she turned the knob, opened the door, and forced one foot in front of the other.
“Wait, something is wrong. Your energy just changed significantly. I don’t like it.”
“I am fine,” she stopped, relieved to just have another moment near him where she felt safe, better. Maybe it was all of this energy he kept talking about. Maybe she was sensing it and it made her feel better. He comforted her, and not just in a 'bodyguard makes me feel safe' way. Maybe all they had been through in just the last few hours had made him feel like an instant friend.
“No, you are not. It is okay to admit, especially after the day you've had, to being afraid.”
Her anger warmed her instantly. “I am not afraid. I have always been fine on my own, and I will continue to be.” His face looked as if she had struck him, although the non-existent slap had not removed the concern he displayed from crinkling the corners of his eyes. “I am sorry. You have helped me immensely, and this is how I repay you...by taking my frazzled emotions out on you. While I appreciate your concern, I rely on no one but myself. I will allow you to be around as long as it saves my Poppie from worry.”
Confused as to what had snapped in her, she remained grateful to him but she hated to admit it. She wanted his protection but she wouldn’t allow it. In addition, he desire she felt for him unnerved her. She felt the need to create distance, even though she truly only wanted to be pulled into his arms and held tight against his firm chest, comforted by his heat and strength
“Okay, good-night then, Kamillia.”
The way his hand gripped the door jam was the last thing she saw as she stepped through her bedroom door. She wanted his fingers to grip around her throat in that manner so she could stop protesting and have him here with her, in her bed. Then she could cocoon herself against him all, safe and snug. Nevertheless, her pride, which there was little left of after all that had happened to her today in front of him, kept her from admitting to any more frailty.
In fact, she gave herself a mental pep talk to remind her of who she was and all she had accomplished on her own as she pulled the large quilt from the bed and curled up against the wall their rooms shared. Despite her rampant thoughts, she rapidly succumbed to sleep.
***
One could not say the same for Luca. He required no sleep, even in human form.
Eternally required to watch, he sensed her through the wall, and wondered why he sensed her so strongly. She had somehow managed to infiltrate his senses beyond the human desires of a man. He knew he had to rein it all in quickly, but her energy almost seemed to match his on some level.
He sat, finally, with his head against the wall, sorting between his memories of touching her, his criticisms of himself for thinking such inappropriate things of his charge, and the redirected thoughts of his mission. Something was off, but he was still unsure what. He would have to be intensely aware of the signs to come, which meant he had to stop being so acutely aware of Kamillia’s body.
Chapter Four
Luca waited until he heard stirring in her bedroom to leave his own. She had awoken late into the morning, given the hour sleep had finally rescued her from her troubles last night. He found her grandfather already downstairs, staring out the window like it was a television screen cloaked in yellow daisy drapes. Luca assumed the poor old man watched the days of his life in his mind’s eye rather than actually looking at anything in the real world. He could only hope for him to be at the good parts.
“Good Morning,” Luca said to announce his intrusion.
“Good Morning, or almost afternoon at this point. Have you seen Kamillia yet? Is she avoiding me by staying up there all morning? I told myself I would give her the space or time she needed. I was just remembering her standing out in the front yard listing for me the reasons I should let her go to see this rated-R movie with her friends.”
The old man laughed at whatever the teen Kamillia had said in his memory. “She could have been a politician if she hadn’t been so caught up in all of those science fiction and horror films.”
“I am guessing she could have been a great anything. You raised her to become a very strong woman.”
“Nah, her Mammie did. I just paid the bills, backed up my wife’s decisions, and spoiled her with ice cream from time to time. So, is she avoiding me?”
“No, she is not avoiding you. She knocked on my door late last night wanting some questions answered. I am sure by the time she fell asleep it was already early morning. So, I let her sleep in. She will need the rest, I am sure. I just heard her coming out of the shower a moment ago, so I came downstairs.”
He tried to keep the look out of his eyes, revealing the truth of the matter. He had come downstairs to escape the images, the betrayal of his imagination, conjuring visions of her naked and wet. While he had tried all night to refocus his mind onto his task of protection, and to forget the lovely and intriguing woman one wall away. Instead he had only kept her fresh in his mind. He had no idea how to focus all of his energy on her while remaining detached physically and emotionally at the same time. Continually reminding himself this had never been an issue before was his lame attempt at making it so this time, too. Last night, with her in his arms in his room, when her energy had so strongly surrounded and invaded him, it had felt familiar on a deep, intimate level. Yet, she had been a virtual stranger to him, having only met her just hours before.
“Was it so bad, son, you are trying to figure out exactly what to tell me? I can handle it. I guess I always knew this day would come. When I lost my son, there was no way I could think on it. But, later, I knew it had been a bad idea. Yet, how could I not keep his dying wish? Anyway, ignore the ramblings of this old man and don’t spare me any details.”
“She is just confused. She trusted you completely, and then found out you had been lying to her for years. It complicated matters for her knowing you did lie, and yet she couldn’t wrap her mind around the magic part either. I think it was just a lot to take in, especially after the attack weakened her.”
“I am fine, and I can speak for myself.”
The flat tone of her voice made him wonder what emotions she hid, but it was only moments before they swatted at him. The invisible rays of energy containing the force full of her anxiety and suffering literally sucked away his breath. He had the urge to grab her and beg for forgiveness, although he was unsure what he would be asking it for. Her hair, hanging down in long, wet strands on her back, a deep, red blanket of curls, deterred his thoughts. Adding to his burden, her face, so beautifully flushed from her shower, thwarted his mission.
“Kamillia?” Her Poppie's voice came out in a gruff, loud whisper, as if he, too, suffered a lack of oxygen. Luca could see the old man standing there with his arms and back stiff and straight, probably trying to hold back his own need to embrace her.
I am standing the same way.
“I am fine, Poppie. I just want to go home, since to my knowledge it was not burnt down last night. Only, first, I have to at least look at my emails. My agent has sent me several text messages already this morning, so it must be something urgent in her min
d. I figured it would be easier to read a single email than to listen to all of her text messages berating me for not answering. But, you two better not move a muscle. I have questions for you both.” Her direct statement could have stopped an army with the authority it held.
He watched her open up her laptop and start typing out codes to get her to where she needed to be on the screen. Forcing himself to turn from her, he took vigil at another kitchen window. The energy outside, which had been choking the place, had, at least, diminished in magnitude from last night. He wished he knew more of what was going on, but he had no choice in the matter other than to wait for a sign.
The cell phone she had carried down with her rang, and he turned to her as she exclaimed in frustration, “I had to turn the thing on!”
She tapped the screen, silencing the thing, which her grandfather took as a moment to speak.
“Listen, Kamillia. I know you want to go home and get to work, but I need you to do something for me first. You remember the church, just over the hill, the one your grandmother and I attended?”
“Of course. You want me to go to church with you?”
“Yes, in a way. No one is there today, but I think going there may help get you some answers. That church is so much more to this family than you know. It has a long, rich, history. Not all of it good, but chosen hundreds of years ago for a reason. It sits on a portal, and over time, it became the site of a great house of magic. We have practiced there for centuries. Your parents practiced there. Were trained there, as you would have been had things been different. Actually, that is the site that your parents were killed on, out in a field just beyond it where we perform outdoor rituals. The Mastema have tried over the years to steal the site, wanting the energy it houses there for their own personal gain.”
His voice cracked and the old man stopped talking.
“So, you want me to go to this place, where my parents practiced? Where my parents were killed?”
“I think it will help. The history, plus, I know you are struggling to believe, there I can harness powers I can’t here, and show you what I believe you need to see in order to begin to accept, to come to terms with all you have learned about your family, your heritage.”
Right past her waterfall of hair, Luca could see the scroll of a glyph appearing on the wall.
It was the sign he had been waiting for. The smoky scroll looked like a symbol being burned into the wall. It wasn’t, of course, and only Luca could see the image. This symbol’s curved line read as a confirmation of being on the right path, or heeding a call. So, Kamillia needed to go to this church. It made sense. It was a portal to be cleared. It seemed quick, but then, there was an urgency to this mission. Maybe the Mastema had sinister Halloween plans for that place this year.
“You have got to be kidding me! I’m not sure if I am ready for all of that. I have work. I need to process. And, despite the late hour of the morning, I barely got any sleep and I need to work in a nap before I get any crappier.”
Luca stepped right up in front of her to let her know they needed to talk immediately. She didn’t respond other than to glare at him and put up her hand signaling him to wait.
“It can’t wait. Sorry” He gave his voice the edge it needed to convey his seriousness.
“What can’t wait?”
“I have received a sign. We have to go to the church.”
“What? A sign? Where is this sign of yours?”
“You can’t see it, only I can.”
“Well, how convenient. If I can’t see it then I’m not following it either, I guess.” She looked around him with an angry amount of sarcasm.
“We will go. I will explain the sign thing later.” He hated himself for using such a tone with her, one so commanding it must have been demeaning. Yet, he had no choice. The sign had been given. To not heed its call would be disastrous.
“Please, Kamillia, I know I am the last person on Earth you wish to listen to, but you have to do as he says. In this situation, your Mammie would have asked the same of you,” her grandfather added, leaving Luca stunned to hear the man put in his firm two cents.
Tears threatened the worn lines around his eyes. He had to hand it to the old guy, though. He had pulled the Mammie card, and judging by the look on Kamillia’s face, she was not happy with him about it.
“You will start explaining the minute we get in that car.” She answered him tone for tone.
Luca looked over at Poppie, hoping his look of empathy conveyed his thanks to the man for what he had said and indicated Luca truly did know what the support had cost him. It was a lot to ask of a glance and facial expression, but he couldn’t risk speaking. Amazing, the power her grandmother still held over her even from the grave. It was a fierce love the woman’s name evoked, and he hoped to harness some of it to help Kamillia later.
“No, start explaining now. What sign?” she demanded as her phone started ringing again. Pressing more on the screen, she finally slammed the phone down on the table. “Why should I go anywhere with either of you? It seems to me doing as you asked last night not only almost got me killed, but also upended the life I knew.”
“I am sorry you are so angry right now, Kamillia, but you just have to trust me. I am here only for you. I intend to take you where you need to go and to keep you safe.”
“Look, I don’t need a protector any more than I need someone telling me where to go. I had been surviving this modern day sham of a witch hunt just fine on my own until you came into the picture.”
“You cannot blame this trouble you are in on me. I am only here now because the trouble was going to find you anyway. Were it not for me, you would be dead right now. I understand your anger, but once we get going to our destination I will do my best to make you understand.” She exasperated him like no human ever had before.
Between the need to protect his charge and the need to care for her, he felt his life had been upended as well.
“Kamillia, please,” her grandfather pleaded. “I know you are angry with me, too, right now, and that I have hurt your trust in me, but please, you have to do whatever Luca says. He is trustworthy. His kind always have been.”
“His kind?”
“I mean the group of men he works with have always been there for your family. You can trust him with your life. Please believe me.”
“So, shall we go?” Luca asked of her grandfather.
“Oh, now you have questions!” Kamillia interrupted their conversation.
“Stop it.” He’d had just about enough of her strength now. He was here to protect her, and he would, no matter what she thought of it.
“Fine. Let’s go, then. You are the one who said we had to go.” Her sarcasm was weakened by her state of exhaustion, but he got it, nonetheless.
“Please, Kamillia, I know it is all a lot to take but just trust me.”
I am right. He mentally questioned himself as he looked back up at the glyph still darkly printed on the bright floral wallpaper. He was assigned to her to keep her safe, because she was able to unlock a portal with her magic. He just had to believe. That he had done before. Follow the signs and hope it all turned out in the end for his charges.
The glyph was the only confirmation he needed. He couldn’t dispute the symbol. He knew what each one meant like he knew the back of his hand, so there was no misreading it. Ahti knows what he’s doing. I have absolute faith in him. I will heed the call of it as I always have. They have never led me astray before. Only, this time something nagged at him in a consuming sort of way. A deep feeling of foreboding unnerved him, not like the one he was used to when the negative energy was strong. No, this sense of imposing danger and doom was unfamiliar, yet intensely personal, which was just plain scary.
“Luca! Luca!”
“Yes?”
“Where did you drift off too? You look like you have seen a ghost,” Kamillia stated.
He didn’t like the reference she had used. It not only reminded him of the sorrowful feeli
ng he couldn’t shake, but of the truth of his own true identity, which he may have to push on this poor woman who had already been through so much. Will these feelings ever subside? If only I were a human, I would just claim it love at first sight, take her to my bed and never let her go. Luca, get a grip! It is not even a possibility!
“Luca!”
“Yes?”
“Are you okay? I thought you were supposed to be protecting me?” She had placed air quotes around the word protecting which ruffled a feather. “Are the Mastema taking over you, too?”
“No. They can’t hurt me.”
“Oh, well, what makes you so special?”
“I will explain it all to you. I promise. Just, please, no more questions for now. We can talk more at the church. Will you promise me that? I know, so much is being asked of you.”
“Why not?” The shrug of her shoulders spoke of defeat, and he didn’t like what that said of her mental state.
“Listen, things just aren’t as I assumed they would be. Something else is going on here. So, all I can do is follow the signs I am given and keep you safe at all costs.”
“Great!” She hopped to her feet like an overanxious teenager. “Then, let’s get this show on the road.”
He only wished it all a show, and the energy radiating from her as positive as she made herself seem to be. She was not only unhappy, she was hurt and she was scared. To some extent, she was denying these things, even to herself.
“Actually,” her grandfather interrupted again. “I need some time at the church first. So, Kamillia, I think you should go home and take a nap. Luca will watch over you. I will call when it is time for you to come. As Luca said, it is a lot to keep asking all of this of you, but I want to dig some things out, clean the place up, secure it…”
A Cursed All Hallows' Eve Page 156