He saw glimpses of movement in front of him, and he was aware he was holding a crying Lizzie in his arms. He heard himself repeating the God Mother's prayer over and over as he unlocked the door of this room and closed it behind him. He crouched in the corner, behind the bed, trying to quiet the child. If he could just get Lizzie to stop crying…
Kyle found her pacifier hanging from her gown and tried to put it in her mouth, but she was having none of that. And he could hear the pounding of footsteps above him. They found the rooms!
The door…pounding. Kyle yelled out for help. Cried out for Arden and the God Mother.
The door opened—but there was nothing there. Or nothing he could see. Then there was a voice, a female voice. Only he couldn't make out what it was saying, no matter how hard he tried.
And then there was black, and cold, and nothing else.
Kyle sat back, away from Ceridwen. He was out of breath, his heart pounding hard against his chest. His aunt was also on her ass, her hands propping her up as she leaned against the bed and looked at him. "Aunt—"
"I couldn't hear what she said…could you?"
"No." Kyle licked his lips and tried to calm his heart. "I don't understand any of this. Who would take Lizzie? This can't be Cosgrove—or even Thorn."
Arden shook her head. "I—I can't jump to conclusions. The only thing we know is that someone wanted all the witches out so they could grab Lizzie. No one knew she was here, Kyle. I know I convinced Martin of it."
"Yeah," Kyle said. "But did he convince Thorn? Or was this Thorn taking matters into his own hands?"
"Arden," Ivan said from somewhere overhead. They both looked up and realized he was leaning on the bed and looking down. "Do you want me to call the police or an ambulance for Ceridwen?"
"No," Arden said. "We'll take care of her. I sort of recognized the spell. She'll have to sleep so, we'll make her comfortable."
She pulled herself up and faced him. "What I do want you to do is work with Kyle and find out who created the imaginary fire. The size of that illusion says they're either an adept at it, or there were several minds working on it. Then look into this ridiculous request to exhume Sam's body and stall it." She turned and the sea of witches and wolves crowded into the room parted.
"What are you going to do?" Kyle said as he stood on shaky legs.
She stopped at the door and looked back at them. "I'm going to bring Sam's body here, where it should have been buried."
"But Crwys wanted—"
"I don't give a flying fuck what that coward wanted!" Her voice actually shook the room and Kyle winced at the power behind it. Arden Vervain was a formidable Witch, but only a handful of people really knew it. Mostly because she never presented herself as such.
Until it was needed. And right now, they needed that power.
Tas appeared at the door behind her. "Arden—"
"Out of my way," Arden said.
But Tas put her hand on Arden's shoulder. "I can get you there faster…that is, if you don't have a fear of heights."
A murmur passed around the crowded room. Kyle knew what Tas meant. Crwys had had Sam buried where he'd buried his first love, and his second. It was a remote place, one only Levi knew about.
Tas held out her hand. "Levi's prepared to take us. He can meet us outside of town."
"Now?" Dharma said.
Arden turned and looked at Dharma. "Now is always the best time. Never tomorrow. I saw the signs and portents that Lizzie's birth was going to be something more, but I never acted on those signs. Now she's missing. In danger. And I made a promise to protect her, to Lizzie, to Crwys, and to Sam. It's time we stopped playing defense and did a bit of offense. Wouldn't you say?" She looked at Bastien.
He nodded to her.
"Bastien," Arden said. "I'm leaving you in charge of Gypsy Gardens. Get your people organized to defend again, and let no one, not even a Witch you don't recognize, enter this property. My Coven will take care of Ceridwen." With that, she moved past Tas out of the door. Kyle pushed his way through, paused in front of the woman, and then walked upstairs.
FIVE
There was a baby crying.
I'd hear it now and then, but I wasn't really sure where it was coming from.
Normally my reaction would be to find the mother and tell her to fix it.
Only…I wanted to fix it. Me.
And exactly who is me?
Well, I can say who I was. I was a Witch. I was a lover. And I was a champion of a sort. I was also the killer of my father, of my step-mother, and of my aunt, and I blamed myself for the death of my mother.
I kept all these memories in the dark, along with a heightened ability to hear and to smell. Wow, the smell. I wondered from time to time if the B.O. smell was me or was I in bed with someone I should really shove in the shower?
No…that wasn't right. If I were in bed with someone, it would be with that hot guy. The one just on the edge of memory for me. He was always there, but when I looked for him, he was kinda off the map. It was like looking down from the sky and just seeing a light or a marker that said Hot Guy but I couldn't get there.
And if I thought about the crying, I saw another light, softer, more brilliant, in the opposite direction. The trick was I could only see this map when I closed my eyes. Which was most of the time because I was exhausted. In fact, I'd woke up tired beyond anything I'd ever known. It was hard to move, or even roll over, and my muscles felt like someone had encased them in lead.
I felt heavy. Had I put on weight?
"This would go much better if you'd just come out of the cave."
There was that voice again. I didn't like that voice. It chimed in my head in three tones. I could hear it as a chorus of a young woman, a middle aged woman, and an older woman. They spoke precisely at the same time and their words could cut through any thought I had.
"Really…it's been months. Just come out and stretch." There was a sigh. "Moping around in the dark is not going to help the situation."
I smelled something burnt. Or burning. Reminded me of how a campfire would smell after kicking the embers around, right before dousing it in water.
I inhaled and noticed something different. Like…sweet. Fragrant. I liked it. It smelled better than where I was.
What is that smell?
"Ah…she speaks," the voices held an equal amount of surprise and sarcasm. "That is the scent of the jasmine blooming around the cherry trees. You must really like these trees cause they are all over the place."
I don't see cherry trees.
"Because you're still in the damn cave. Now come out!"
Balls.
I sighed and finally pushed myself up on all fours. I'd been on my stomach for a while because it was the most comfortable position. With a snort, I crawled out of the darkness, toward the pink light in front of me. And when my nose touched the subtle sunlight, I had to admit I did feel a bit better.
The sun warmed my back as I looked up at it. The sky was soft blue with wisps of clouds and the voice was right. Before me were dozens of pink, white or red cherry trees. It was glorious. I'm not really a pink kind of chick, but I do love these trees.
"See?"
I looked around for the voices and found her below me, looking up at me. She was maybe in her thirties, dressed in a flowing dress that subtly changed colors to match the surroundings. I spotted necklaces of different types of coral around her neck, and she was barefoot. In her left hand she held a walking stick as tall as her shoulder and on the top of it was a glowing blue light.
I knew her.
I would always know her.
Had known her.
She was the God Mother. The Creatrix. And the Destructor. She was also…
Wait…why am I so high? I mean, I'm looki
ng down at you. That's not right.
"Because this is the first time since your rebirth you've actually come out of the cave." The God Mother pointed behind me and I twisted back to look—
WHAT THE HELL WAS THAT?!
I tried to get away from the back of something big and green and blue and scaled and it had a tail that whipped back and forth and I broke a few trees and I roared—
I roared?
Blinking, I stopped all my flailing and tried to make sense of what had happen. And of course, that didn't happen until I looked down at my hands where I gripped the ground and saw…huge, scaled, taloned fists. And attached to those fists were long spikes and a very soft and blue / green iridescent membrane.
"Figured it out yet?"
I swung my head around to see her in one of the trees. She was eye-to-eye with me now. I could see her in three forms and then in one. And I could sense her power. An all encompassing power that stretched down, to the sides, up—everywhere.
"You don't remember."
No.
"When you were in the tree, do you remember our conversation? In the grove?"
I tilted my head in thought. In the tree…yes I'd been sealed in a tree. And then I'd been dying and talking to the God Mother about choices…
Oh shit.
"Yes. You made your choice that night." She leaned forward. "Do you remember why?"
The answer came instantly to me. Love.
"Yes, that was one of the reasons."
And then I saw the Hot Guy again. I wanted to be with a hot guy.
"Yes. And I needed someone to fill what void?"
Spirit.
"Because why?"
I blinked. Because you were going to destroy Lethe. She could no longer fulfill the role as your…Spirit.
"By George, I think she's got it." The God Mother jumped and floated down to the ground. That's when I saw four familiar figures.
My Elementals!
"Well, they're technically not yours," God Mother said. "But they are still bound to you. They've just been with me since you became human."
They waved at me and I grinned. Or I think I grinned. I was sort of slowly accepting the fact I wasn't human anymore. I knew the scaly butt and tail I'd seen were mine.
I was a Dragon.
That baby cried again and I looked in that direction.
"Not yet, Sam," the God Mother said. "In good time."
I looked back at her.
"We have some things to talk about, and there are things you have to learn. About what you are. About what I expect of you." She leaned against a tree. "I wasn’t diligent about this step, this communicating with my Children, in the beginning. Artemis knew her role, Dáinn knew his, Thea hers, but somewhere I failed with Lethe and I wasn't there. Not like I should have been. I had believed her will to be that of Fire, but without guidance—my guidance—she became Spirit. At that point in history, my Spirit was in a state of destruction, with wars, death, disillusion…and she carried those burdens. So when I finally made Apollo, my Azazel, I entrusted his care to her.
"And I was wrong. I nearly lost him. These things you know."
I did. Kind of. It was as if we'd had this conversation before. Maybe in the clearing that day.
"Do you remember what kind of Witch you were?"
The memory opened up at that moment. I saw in an instant, the things I'd done, the acceptance of Arcane, the power that I'd wielded. I remember it now. But I didn't remember it in the cave. Or when I woke.
"I've shielded many of your memories for now because I want you to understand completely before I release you to the world."
Will I get those memories back?
"Yes. You are the sum of your experiences and memories, Sam. But you must be prepared before you search for Apollo."
Search? Is he missing?
Her hesitation surprised me. From what I could remember, this was all so I could fill a hole and be with Hot Guy for as long as we wanted. Like this, I wouldn't be limited to being a human and he wouldn't have to watch me die.
So—
Did I die? I thought you said you made us from the resurrected souls of a chosen few.
"Yes. And you did die." She held up her hand. "I will give you back that memory when you are ready for it. But now is not the time."
Is my death why Apollo has to be searched for?
"Sam—one step at a time."
Now just a minute, and I stepped closer to her and leaned my snout down at her. My Elementals moved to the side though they didn't seem frightened of me. I started seeing memories, bits and pieces of scenes, but they were disjointed. One didn’t go with the other and I didn’t remember which came first. Nothing really made sense. Did Apollo see me die? Is this Apollo…are we close? Did the Faeries get him again? Where is he? Why do I have to search for him?
"All in good time, Sam. But not now." If she was afraid of me, it didn't show. Not one bit. "You have to learn what it is to be a Dragon before you can go back."
What's to learn? I fly. I breathe fire. And I can turn into a human, right? I think Hot Guy turned into a Dragon…so that means he turned into a human too.
"That's not so easy. And the Dragon Fury spell is Apollo's spell. He'll have to give it to you."
So, I reared back on my big old butt. I'm like this till I find him and he gives me that spell?
"It's not that simple—"
Why not? You keep saying that!
"Sam!" The God Mother was looking a bit frazzled. "You have got to have patience. There are things you have to learn, each relating to an Element before you can realize your new purpose. I can't stay here and teach you, so your formal Elementals have volunteered." She smiled. "They miss you."
And I miss them. So let's get to it.
"Air will be your first because you have to learn to fly. Your Sylph will teach you this." And she vanished. Just poof.
Hey!
The other Elementals disappeared as well. All except my Sylph whom I once considered the largest of my Elementals, seemed so small now. He bowed to me and I nodded my head.
"It's good to see you Samantha, even like this," Zephyros said. "Let's get in the air first…and then I have a lot to tell you."
SIX
Kyle had never considered himself an acrophobic. He loved roller coasters, Ferris Wheels, and the Great Gasp at Six Flags. He liked flying too, in an airplane. Even took flying lessons in a Cessna when he thought about being a pilot.
But nothing prepared him for the thrilling terror of sitting on the back of a Dragon.
Nothing.
No safety net, no harness, no seat belts. It was him and a sheer drop and sudden stop.
It also didn't help that his aunt had reverted to somewhere between eight and eleven years of age and was barely hanging on as she held up her hands and laughed and screamed "Weeeeeeeee!" too many times.
He'd tried screaming at her to stop that, but after doing nothing more than aggravating his own throat, decided it was best to just hang on and pray Tas landed them soon. He didn't have a clue where they were going. None of them had been present when Crwys put Sam's body to rest.
The trip took about an hour, though Tas insisted it was faster than any human means. Once they touched down in Ireland, Kyle understood what she meant. He had no idea Crwys had taken her this far.
Once back on the ground, in the middle of a muddy field, strewn with large rocks and a few bits of stone building here and there, Tas became her human self and formed clothes around her, a trick she said took a century to perfect. Kyle wished he had Jack's cable knit sweater, given the temperature and waited for the two women to join him. Everything felt and smelled so different, more Earthy and natural in some way. He sometimes forgot the oil and fishy smells of New Orleans until he left the city.
There was also the thrill of being in another country illegally. He smiled at Tas as she walked toward him and Arden tagged along beside her. "You come here often?"
Tas shook her head. "Not as
much as I'd like. This really isn't my territory."
"Territory?" Arden said as she straightened her hair, even though the wind constantly blew it around her head.
She laughed. "Sorry. I wasn't born here, on the islands. So I don't get out here much. Dáinn on the other hand, spends most of his time here, and in England. He's also in Greenland a good deal. Norway."
"Dáinn?" Arden said.
"My brother. He was born here."
"I think I assumed you and Crwys and Lethe were all there was," Arden frowned. "Or maybe I wasn't paying attention."
That was possible. Kyle crossed his arms over his chest. "When was the last time you talked to Dáinn?"
"It's been about a decade I believe. Last time I saw him, he was Sleeping."
Sleeping. The resting time of Dragons. Something that happens to them every 200 hundred to 300 years. They'd all learned about it from Tas when Crwys never returned after taking Sam's body. They assumed he'd found a place to hide and Sleep away his grief.
"How in the hell was Cosgrove going to get a court order to exhume Sam's body from here?" Arden said.
"He can't," Tas said. "Because there's no way he can know this is where she is."
Kyle finally picked up on the confusion he sensed from Arden. "Wait a minute—I thought Sam was buried in Lafayette Two? We just didn't know which tomb?"
"No," Tas said.
Kyle kept his distance from the cliff and had to fight to hear Tas over the crashing waves below. "I'm confused."
"Sam's resting place wasn't given out to anyone. Crwys kept it a secret."
Kyle opened his mouth to talk just before he felt a presence to his right and saw Levi Tulose elegantly land on his feet. He was still impeccably dressed in his suit and Italian shoes, though Kyle was pretty sure this muck was going to do a number on them.
"Crwys had three great loves of his life," Levi said as he approached and removed his sunglasses. Kyle didn't see him without them much, but in the subdued light, they weren't necessary. He was always amazed at how handsome Levi was. But then again, vampires usually were. "There was Maggie, then Emma, and Samantha." He gave Arden a hug, then Tas and offered Kyle a handshake. "I was with him when Emma was killed, so I knew where this place was. When Crwys disappeared, I came here and did my own investigating and found that there are three graves on the hill, not just two."
Elemental Dreams: An Urban Fantasy Series (The Eldritch Files Book 9) Page 4