The Price of Power (The Price of Secrets Series Book 2)

by Ashley Drake

  What was I supposed to say to that? What was I supposed to think about that? “Like I’ve told you, I will always be there for you.” That was the best I could come up with. “Good night Jaycee.”

  “Night, Han.”

  I put my phone in my pocket and noticed that Blaze had been sitting there patiently listening to my conversation. “I guess you’re waiting for me to make good on that promise of a treat, aren’t you?”

  He wagged his tail as a yes.

  “Well, come on, let’s go see what we can find.”

  He took off to the kitchen before me.

  “You’re a smart boy.” Very smart indeed. I added to my mental note to talk to Daniel about Blaze. That note was turning into a list, and it was getting pretty long. I know dogs are intelligent and can learn hundreds of words, but to understand everything I say? That can’t be normal. Ha, isn't that the pot calling the kettle black.

  Christmas mornings are the best. I have had the same routine for as long as I can remember. As soon as I open my eyes I wish Jesus a happy birthday. Even though, I’m sure today is not his actual birthday, it is still the day to observe it. Then Mom, Dad and I have breakfast. After we eat, and Mom breaks out the camcorder, we open presents. In that order, every year.

  With Blaze on my heels, I passed the Christmas tree in the living room on my way to the kitchen. It was beautiful. I felt a twinge of guilt for not appreciating it before now. Mom had it color coordinated with the room, naturally, in shades of red, gold and silver. It was all I could do not to detour over to the tree and check for gifts with my name on it. But I stayed strong.

  “Merry Christmas.” I announced to Mom and Dad, who were already sitting at the table. I opened the back door and let Blaze out to do his thing.

  “Merry Christmas baby girl.” Mom got up and kissed my cheek. “Make a plate and come eat.”

  “Merry Christmas H.B.”

  Uh-oh. Dad usually only calls me H.B., for Hannah Banana, when he’s had more than one glass of wine or when he’s ticked off. It’s eight in the morning, so I’m guessing the latter.

  He turned his body to face me as I added bacon, grits, eggs and a biscuit to my plate. “We need to talk.”

  “Avery, can’t this wait until later?” Mom asked.

  “I’m just going to ask her one question, Marie. Hannah, what happened last night?”

  “I was… I kinda… How do you know something happened last night?”

  “Oh well, let’s see, I was woken up, by what I thought was an earthquake. That was, until your mom said that she didn’t feel anything. So, I went to check on you, and that dog of yours wouldn’t even let me in the room! The best I could do was to stand in the doorway and scream your name, which you never responded. I had to watch your chest to make sure you were still breathing.”

  “Dad, I can explain.”

  “No, wait, I’m not finished. Right before I’m ready to call an ambulance and animal control, this female voice talks to me. Out of nowhere, this voice says to leave you be, that you were on a quest. What the hell, Hannah?”

  “That must have been MacKenna, I told you about her. Blaze was just protecting my body because I was…. I astral projected.”

  “You did what? I thought we had a deal. I would give you your space to do what you were called upon to do, as long as you kept me in the loop.”

  “I can’t keep you in the loop about something I didn’t know, until last night, that I could do. Something was wrong and when I sat down to concentrate on it, I just ended up there. I’m pretty sure I saved Jaycee from being tricked into giving up her powers to a demon, and Mike from being possessed by it.” I realized I had raised my voice to, just shy of, yelling. “Sorry.” I added.

  I waited for my punishment to be handed to me while Dad sat in silence.

  Mom wrapped her arms around me from behind. “Are you okay?”

  “I’m fine. Jaycee said I glowed.” I said meekly.

  “My baby girl. When I was your age my biggest worries were boys and homework.” Her voice quivered.

  “Wow, Mom, your teenage years sounded really boring.” I tried for a smile from her, and ended up with a laugh.

  “You are your father’s child.” She wiped her eyes. “Sit down and eat your breakfast.”

  I sat down as I was told, but didn’t touch my food. I watched my dad, waiting for him to respond. He finally looked up at me and covered my hand with his. “That is not an ability you should have. That is a witches power.”

  “That’s what Jaycee said. But I did it and I’m okay. Don’t worry so much. You know I have MacKenna and you saw how well Blaze looked out for me. Along with Jaycee and Daniel, I’m more covered than Fort Knox.” I squeezed his hand. “It’s Christmas, let’s enjoy it. I love you.”

  “To the moon and back.”

  ...I ended up with so many new clothes and shoes that I’m going to have to donate some of my old ones just to fit them in my closet. I also got makeup, an ipod, and gift cards. If I left out anything I’m sure Mom can playback the video. She loved the pajamas I got her and Dad was happy with the slippers and the book on Stonehenge. He has been fascinated with the place ever since I told him about Jaycee’s connection with it. Even Blaze racked up on gifts. He got a bone, the size of my arm, a ball, a squeaky toy, and a new black collar with his name on it. We had a great Christmas, even the worry lines on Dad’s forehead went away, eventually. They just left to go volunteer at the homeless shelter. I usually go with them, but they understood why I couldn’t this year. Daniel and Jaycee were on their way here so the three of us can come up with a plan to help Megan. Jaycee better not complain one bit or I will have to remind her that I just saved her and Mike, so she owes me one. That should guilt her enough to bite her tongue.

  I heard the doorbell ring, I put away my journal, and hurried to open it. There stood my boyfriend, looking all sexy in a red sweater, holding a mistletoe over his head.

  “It’s bad luck to break tradition.” He smiled those delicious dimples at me.

  “We can’t have that.” I sighed. “I guess I have no other choice.” I raised up on my toes and laid one on him. “Merry Christmas to me.” I giggled.

  “We really need some magic-demon-supernatural free, alone time.”

  “I couldn’t agree more. I still have your Christmas gift that I keep forgetting to give to you.”

  “Unless it’s you with a big red bow, it can wait a few more minutes.” He pulled me back up on my toes and kissed me again.

  A hot tingle warmed my insides. “You make it hard to be good.”

  “You’re telling me. Maybe you should go get my gift, before we end up on Santa’s naughty list.”

  I walked over to the tree, putting more effort in my hips than needed, and picked up his gift. When I turned around I almost face plowed into his chest. “Sorry.” Why was I so nervous? “Here, I hope you like it.”

  He sat on the arm of the couch and unwrapped it. “That’s us at your birthday party and you put our song at the bottom.”

  “I wondered if you would pick up on that or not. I didn’t know you thought of it as our song

  too. Do you like it?”

  “I love it, thank you.” He gently laid the frame down on the side table and pulled me into his lap. “Are you cold? You’re shaking.”

  I felt my face turn hot. “No, I’m good.” Did my voice just crack, really? Could I be more horrified?

  He tucked the same strand of hair, as always, behind my ear and let his hand linger. “Don’t be embarrassed. I think it’s sweet that you still get nervous around me. I do too, I’m just better at hiding it.” He smiled.

  Blaze chose that very moment to push his way between us.

  “Blaze, why don’t you go watch out for Jaycee.” He turned around, walked to the window, pushed back the curtain with his nose, and started to bark. “See, I told you! Did you tell him to do that?”

  “No, I promise. I kinda had my mind on other things.”

  “
Door’s open, we’re coming in. Are you two decent?”

  We?

  Jaycee walked into the living room, followed by Mike.

  “Crap, you are. Don’t you guys ever have any fun?”

  I stuck out my tongue and made a face at her before turning to Mike. “How’s your hands?”

  “Healing, they’ll be good as new in no time. I talked Jay into letting me tag along. Hope that’s okay.”

  I could tell, by his tousled hair and the dark circles under his eyes, that he hadn’t been sleeping well. “Of course, I think Daniel would be here too if he was in your shoes.”

  “Absolutely.” Daniel confirmed.

  “Let’s get started. I made some snacks for us, I figured we could talk at the table.”

  We went into the kitchen, only after Blaze gave Mike a sniff of approval, to catch everyone up on the last few days.

  “But that’s a witch’s power!” Daniel spoke in awe.

  “So I’ve heard.” I said dryly.

  He turned his head toward the wall, as if expecting to find the answers, to all this, written on it. No, wait, I’ve seen that look. He’s trying to piece something together.

  “So how long have you talked to dead people?” Mike asked as he crunched down on a ranch dressing covered carrot stick.

  I froze. It was still crazy for me to be talking so openly about my gift.

  Mike noticed my hesitation. “Hey look, Hannah, my lips are sealed. You can trust that I won’t say a word. Not that anyone would believe me if I did.”

  I tried to give a reassuring smile. “I trust you, I do. My abilities have always been a part of me that I have kept private my entire life. But to answer your question, I was twelve when I first met a dead person. I call them living impaired, it sounds less depressing.”

  “You said abilities. What else can you do?”

  “I know what’s happening.” Daniel interrupted. “Don’t you get it?” He looked from me to Jaycee, then back to me. “Z said you were the core, the center, the Heart of us. You can talk to Blaze…”

  “What, really?” Jaycee asked.

  Daniel kept going. “That’s my gift. You casted a location spell and astral projected, that’s Jaycee’s gift.”

  “That I can’t even do yet.”

  “You are copying our powers! And I bet when we find the other two, you will copy theirs too. That’s why you are the Heart, that’s why The Light thinks we have a shot this time around.”

  “That would explain it.” Jaycee chimed in again. “It makes perfect sense.”

  It did. I was copying their powers, but not draining them of it. So they will be able to help and to protect, but it was going to be up to me to use the combination of the five to defeat the Triune. Permanently. That’s why I have to be the leader, because it’s going to all come down to me.

  “What did he mean by this time around?” Mike asked.

  “Don’t worry, I will give you Hannah’s diary so you can catch up.”

  “You will not!” I couldn’t help but laugh at the mischievous grin on her face. “You share my secrets, Sister, I share yours.” I felt the release of tension that I didn’t even realize I had built up over the past hour. I find myself stressing out way too much to be only sixteen. If I keep this up I will look fifty by the time I hit twenty-five. Maybe by then Jaycee will have married a rich plastic surgeon.

  “The diary’s out then. I'll just fill you in later.”

  “I know we need to discuss the whole copying thing further, but we can come back to that. Right now, we need to decide how we are going to get you-know-who out of Megan’s house.”

  “Megan? We’re going to help Megan?” Mike asked. It worried me that he added the word ‘we’.

  “Yes, unfortunately. Apparently, it’s the right thing to do and blah, blah, blah.” Jaycee rolled her eyes at me.

  “I’m telling you, Jaycee, your inner growth and kindness warms my heart.” That earned me a hair pulling.

  Chapter 17

  “I got a text from Megan today.”

  “Please tell me that she has decided to stay in Tennessee forever.”

  “Not quite. She’s on her way back.”

  “Damn.”

  “You’ve gotten a really bad potty mouth lately. On the bright side, you owe me lots of money for it.”

  Last night went better than I had expected. Meaning, Jaycee didn’t complain very much, and we came up with some really good ideas. Before everyone left, Jaycee pulled me aside and handed me the charm to put on Blaze’s new collar along with a small glass jar. Her instructions were to dump the jar in hot bath water, to get in and to call her, all by noon. So, now I am on the phone with her while taking a tub bath.

  Jaycee says it cleanses the body, mind and aura. And that it also calms the nerves while energizing the spirit. She’s taking one too.

  “Tell me again why I had to do this at noon and be on the phone with you at the same time?”

  “I’ve noticed, that in witchcraft, symbolism and tradition plays a big role. I think it’s really so everything we do has a meaning to it, something to focus on. Noon is when the sun is at it’s highest point of the day, and we want to soak in the light, so, noon is the obvious time. Being on the phone? Well that’s just so I won’t get bored.”

  I laughed. “One minute you talk like a powerful witch, then the next you talk like, well, you talk like Jaycee.”

  “I have many layers. I’m a very complicated woman.” She paused. “Hold on, I’ve got a text.”

  I took the time to dry off my hand and change the Pandora station on my new ipod. I wanted something calming in the background and chose the Relaxation and Meditation category. The sounds of trickling water and chimes whispered out from my speakers. I could get use to this.

  “That was Phebs. Her and Kayla are both back in town and wanted to know when we are going to get together for our B.F.C.. I told her tomorrow was good, but that I had to check with you first.”

  The nostalgia of hearing Jaycee use the initials had me smiling. It seemed like forever ago when the four of us came up with B.F.C.- ‘Best Friends Christmas’. During the Holidays each of our families were always so busy, we knew we would never see each other on Christmas Eve or Day. But we still wanted our time together to be special. So, we came up with our own day.

  “Tell her tomorrow's great with me, providing I live through it.”

  “How bout I just tell her you said it sounds great?”

  “That works too.”

  “Hold on.” I could hear the click, click, click of texting through the phone. “Okay, I’m back. Do you have me on speaker?”

  “Yes, but nobody can hear you except for me and Blaze.” Who was curled up on the bathmat beside the tub.

  “Good. Have you thought about Kayla, that she might be apart of us? I mean, come on, she is so good, kind and pure. Can’t you just see her having an angel living inside of her?”

  “I haven’t thought about that. Kayla would be the perfect Traveler. That’s smart.”

  “Don’t act all surprised, I have my moments. Think about this, Phebs looks like a fairy with those green eyes of her’s. Plus she’s short, you would think that a fairy would be short. What if the four of us becoming best friends wasn’t by accident?”

  “It would make sense. Tomorrow, when we’re with them, let’s send out feelers and see what we get back. I don’t like to get inside of my friend’s minds, but I will try to get past their conscious level to see if there is any magic lying dormant. If it was active, they would’ve seeked us out, plus we would have felt it, by now.”

  “How many letters are there in the name Phoebe Starnes?”

  “Ummm,” I counted on my fingers, “thirteen.”

  “How about Kayla Chapman?”

  I repeated my elementary school counting method. “Twelve.”

  “See! Z said twelve would be our clue.”

  “I agree with your logic and where you’re going with this. A sentence I never thought
I would say to you.” I heard her snort through the phone. ”We will find out tomorrow. We just have to get through tonight first.”

  “Did Megan say that she was positive she could have everyone out of her house tonight?”

  “She’s got it covered. They have plans to go to a family oriented office party at her dad’s work at eight, and it last until midnight. But she is going to fake being sick. She has already started the ruse on the car ride home by complaining of a stomachache.”

  “What a sneaky bitch.”

  “Admit it, you are impressed, and plan on using her idea in the near future. Let’s see, with that name calling, I think you now owe me about twenty bucks.”

  “It’s not a curse word if it’s descriptive, so there. Mike and I will be at your house around six. If we have to make a quick getaway from Megan’s, all of us riding in one car is the way to go.”

  “About Mike, I don’t think it’s a safe for him to come along.”

  “I have tried to tell him that, but he would not take no for an answer. Which I had expected, so I was one step ahead of him. I took the key chain with our names on it that I gave him for Christmas, and put a protection spell on it. If it works like it should, he will not only be protected, but cloaked.”

  “You can do that?”

  “I hope I DID that. We will find out.”

  My mind started to race. “Do you think you could do that for all of us?”

  “Not yet, but I’m working on it. The only reason I think it will work on Mike is because he doesn’t have magic to use. I feel that if I cloaked you let’s say, once you used your magic the cloak would disintegrate. I’ve been doing tons of research.”

  “You, really?” I joked.

  “Hey, I read! Only when I have to, but I do read.” She laughed. “See you at six. I’m getting off here and out of this tub, I’m turning into a prune.”

  “Ditto.”

  I started to stand up but remembered that Blaze was in here with me. “Out Blaze. I don’t need you sharing images, of me getting out of the tub, with Daniel.”

  Doing as he was told, Blaze got up, stretched, and slowly made his way out of the bathroom.