Gray (Awakening Book 1)

by Shannon Reber

  I swallowed hard and stepped over to sit on the very edge of one of the chairs. “So if you know my name and knew I was coming, I’m guessing you know why we’re here.”

  She sat back and eyed me, then her lips quivered. “You’re Shayla Vincent, which I know because I watch the news. Saying that I was expecting to see you is one of those things which gives the feeling of authenticity.” She looked over at Ben and gave him a stern stare. “And you I recognize from the Police blotter.”

  He made no comment about his former infamy, but kept his eyes fixed on the woman. “You’re like me,” he said, his mouth open in wonderment.

  She let out an exasperated sigh and shook her head. “I am Madam Freeda, the hag who gives psychic readings. Is that what you are?” she asked sharply.

  “But you know what Shayla is,” he pressed.

  Freeda looked at me and scowled again. “I’d say you’re a girl who’s looking for some answers,” she said, shutting Ben out easily.

  I looked from one to the other of them and lifted my hand to show her the spear of Odin tattoo on its back. “Have you seen anyone else around with this mark?” I asked, since it was glamoured so humans couldn’t see it. Because Ben could, I hoped to trap her into revealing the truth.

  “Shayla, I’m a psychic. If you’re looking to contact some dead relatives, or find out your future, that’s why I’m here. Otherwise, you can leave.”

  “Why is it a secret?” I asked, entirely sure the woman did have the sight, just like Ben.

  “Because I have two sons and an ex-husband who think I’m just a crazy old lady, playing games with people’s emotions. Because that’s better than being hunted, having my boys hunted.” She stood up and waved toward the door. “Your future is bright. Now get out.”

  I stood up, but didn’t leave. She was the only hope there was. “Please, all I want to know is who’s hunting my sister, or if that’s not possible, then just who her biological father is. If you can tell me either of those things, it will save our lives, maybe even yours,” I wheedled, my hands clasped together pleadingly.

  Freeda frowned at me, but extended her hand between us. “Do you have something of hers?”

  I reached into my pocket and took out a bracelet Kassia always wore. I extended it toward her with a prayer it hadn’t been a mistake.

  She reached out to take it, but it slipped through her fingers onto the floor, then her body jerked. She spasmed and twitched. Her body fell back, half on the couch, half on the floor.

  Ben narrowed his eyes like he thought it was all fake. He crouched down to pick up the bracelet and all of a sudden, he began to convulse as well.

  My heart pounded. Ben. What had happened? Was he alright?

  I knelt down and took his hand. Tears rose in my eyes. He had to be okay. I couldn’t take it if he was hurt.

  Then it hit me. Dorian had the ability to draw some injuries out of a person, into his own body. He had told me I would be able to do that in future, but didn’t have the control which was necessary to do it just yet. It was Ben though. Madame Freeda might be unwilling to help me, but there was no way I’d let her suffer. I would find the right amount of control.

  I thought back to the injuries which Dorian had taken from me, to the way I had felt. Peace was the key to my magic. Ben gave me peace.

  I closed my eyes and focused on how it felt when he was around. My stomach fluttered. My heart clenched. A feeling kind of like a mental embrace wrapped around me. Being around him made me feel those things. I was around him.

  And suddenly, a piercing pain shot through my head. It was like I had been stabbed in the brain with a red-hot knife. My body seized. Something inside me screamed.

  The water called out. It wanted to help. It was my friend.

  Yes, please. Please help me.

  The water in the air came together with the water inside my body. It pulsed and sang until every fiber of my being floated in a sea of bliss. Heaven. Nothing mattered because the water would not let me suffer.

  It poured through me until the pain was washed away. Nothing was left other than a profound sense of peace and satisfaction. I felt alive, invigorated and altogether ready for anything.

  “Shayla?”

  I tried to open my eyes, but they felt heavy. I was comfortable. Why did I need to move?

  “Shayla, come on. Open your eyes. Please, Shay. Just let me know you’re okay.”

  I knew that voice. It was Ben, but it sounded so strained, horrified in fact. Why would Ben feel anything other than the all-consuming, all-encompassing tranquility which poured off me?

  Something touched my forehead and warm breath passed over my face. “Your sister is going to be pissed if you don’t wake up. You DID steal her bracelet when you said you wouldn’t take her stuff anymore.”

  My lips twitched. Kassia. I always took things from my sister. I gave them back generally, but not right away. It was too much fun to see the faces she made at me.

  My lips twitched again, then slowly, my eyes came open. What I saw made no sense though. Could it be a dream?

  I lay on the floor, my torso in Ben’s arms, his mouth pressed to my forehead. All I could see was him. It was such a comfort. He was the peace I needed.

  I blinked again. Why was I on the floor? Had I passed out or something?

  I reached up to touch my swimmy head, but my hand was captured by a big, light russet skinned one.

  “Thank God,” Ben said and stood up with me still cradled in his arms.

  That was a strange feeling. I hated being under someone else’s control, but something about Ben holding me didn’t feel so bad. I kind of liked it . . . kind of.

  “I thought I knew what you were.”

  I looked over, startled to see a woman who looked a little freaked out. Oh, right. Madame Freeda. We were in her house.

  “What do you mean?” I asked, though my voice was far weaker than seemed right.

  She stepped over so she and I were at eye-level. “You’re not an ordinary elf.”

  My lips twitched. “You’re right. I’m extraordinary,” I said stupidly, too happy and at peace to care about anything else.

  She didn’t laugh at my little joke, but reached out to take my hand. “Thank you, Shayla,” she said, but her eyes clouded over, almost like she was struck blind for a moment.

  She stood there with almost white eyeballs, her hand moist around mine. That was when I knew. She was like me, a half-blood. She must be half sighted and half psychic. Um . . . wow.

  She blinked and her eyes became normal again. “I can’t see who is coming for your sister. What I see is darkness. You aren’t meant to know what’s coming. Whoever your sister’s father is, he’s more powerful than any creature I’ve ever seen.”

  “Can you see who he is?”

  Freeda swallowed and shook her head. “You’re not supposed to know. When it’s time, he’ll go to your sister.”

  “That’s nice,” I said in a comfortably dazed voice, my hands hooked around Ben’s neck. “Is there a good place to have tacos in town? I’m starving,” I said with a smile, the hunger inside me all that mattered in the moment.

  After a little while, I realized that air blew over me. I loved air. It was my friend. It always made me feel happy.

  I stuck my hand out to touch the air, pleased by the way it caressed my skin. I was with my friends. We were free. No one would imprison us.

  “Shayla?”

  I blinked and turned my head. It was such a comfort to see Ben. He was a good guy, a good friend. “I feel a little weird, Ben. It’s like the Black King tried to take my magic again. He really hates me. Thinks I’m an abomination.”

  Ben’s mouth went hard, but slowly, he took my hand. “Shay, is food going to be enough, or should I take you back to your sister?”

  I leaned my head back and closed my eyes. “I need Dorian . . . and food. He never told me how hard it was to—” I broke off. My body trembled with a mix of hunger and what felt like shock.
r />   “How do I find Dorian?”

  “Ayanna will know.”

  He squeezed my hand, then pulled his free and tugged my phone from the front pocket of my jeans. He scrolled through the numbers until he found what he looked for.

  “Ben, are you a psychic?” I asked dazedly, unsure what had caused him to collapse, or how he had been hurt so much.

  “No, I’m not. The bracelet is from the other side of the veil. It reacts badly when a mortal touches it.”

  “It would have killed you."

  He sighed and traced his fingers over my jaw. “You saved my life, Shay.”

  I smiled a little, the peace inside me still in full flow. “Of course I did. You’re my friend.”

  “Friend. Yeah,” he said in a tone I didn’t understand, then he simply made his call.

  I tuned out. Everything was bright and bold. Ben was safe. The world was a far better place because of that fact.

  Fifteen

  Waves rolled up and back in my mind. Peace. It was all around. Water, air and stones called to me. They asked what they could do. Anything you want, I told them without hesitation.

  It was wonderful . . . other than the hunger which tore through my system. I was starving, but there was nothing to eat inside that peaceful oblivion.

  Gray One, listen to me. Hear me and follow.

  That voice floated over the water, but I didn’t want to follow it. All I wanted was to stay right there . . . with Ben.

  I looked over and smiled. He was next to me, his warm russet skin mesmerizing in the light which danced over the water, his dark eyes fixed on me. We floated together, our fingers entwined. It was amazing, like we’d been made just for that moment in time, to turn it into paradise.

  I let my legs sink, pleased to find rocks under my feet. I stood and touched my lips to Ben’s. He responded just as I had wished. His hands pulled me closer while our mouths and tongues tangled.

  It was unbelievable. I wanted to stay there for the rest of my life, to stay with Ben in that warm, watery land.

  He traced his lips over my jaw, then down my neck, his teeth nipping at my earlobe. It was exquisite. We were . . . wait. No. Ben was my friend. He wasn’t interested in me like that.

  I stared at that figure for a long moment. It embarrassed me how much I wanted to stay right there, making out with a guy like him. But it wasn’t real. It was in my head. It had to be.

  I focused on the water around me and called out to it. “Where am I?” I asked, sure it would know.

  But it didn’t answer that question. It began to swirl around us until nothing other than its beautiful dance could be seen.

  Gray One, focus. You must focus on my voice and follow it back.

  I gazed at Ben as he stood before me, his eyes fixed on mine. “I wish this was real,” I said and touched my lips to his again.

  He held me tight for a moment, then pulled me back. “What makes you think it’s not?”

  “The fact you kissed me.”

  He traced his fingers over my jaw. “I’ve wanted to do that since the first moment I saw you on the night you came back. It scared me a little, to see an elf walk into my house, but your magic was suppressed, so I knew you wouldn’t hurt Mom.”

  I narrowed my eyes. “You saw me?” I asked, confused by the idea.

  “I saw you,” he said and wrapped his arms around me to pull me up. “Most beautiful girl I’ve ever seen and she walked right into my house. Hard for a guy to focus on anything else.”

  Me? That wasn’t possible. I was nothing, especially in comparison to London, who he’d already been with, according to her. I was short and scrawny. Why would a guy like him want anything to do with me?

  That was the catalyst. He wouldn’t. It was a dream, nothing more.

  I wiggled to get him to put me down and turned away from him. I had to focus on reality. Dorian’s voice was all there was. Everything else was just a dream. Okay, so it was a really good dream, but still. Not reality.

  I closed my eyes and listened. Dorian’s voice had come from the right. I turned in that direction, but all that was there was a wall of stones. Was he behind that wall?

  I smiled at the stones and asked them to move. They did so willingly, doing a little dance like they wanted to show me how happy it made them that I had asked.

  I loved that. Those friends never failed me. They were there with me whenever I was in need. The water and the air were there as well, but the stones were my favorite.

  It startled me a little when the wall was gone, to see a dark corridor behind it. It was the kind of hallway you’d see in a movie, where some ghoul or creepy monster would jump out to kill the stupid, unsuspecting girl.

  I wasn’t stupid and suspected everything and everyone. There was nothing which could stand in my way, because air, water and stones were the most loyal friends in every world.

  I nodded decisively and stepped into the darkness, ready for anything. Or that’s what I thought. A hand fell on my shoulder the second the darkness enveloped me.

  I grabbed for that hand, ready to throw who or whatever was there, to the ground. No one would hurt me, or imprison me, ever again. I would be free.

  “Shay, it’s me.”

  I jerked a little. I had thought that when the darkness was around me, the dream would go away. It didn’t. Ben was still there, his hand warm on my shoulder. “What is this place?” I asked, desperate to hear his voice, no matter how ridiculous it was to let some dream guy be so important to me.

  “I’m pretty sure the curse that was on the bracelet, when you transferred the damage into your body, the curse couldn’t kill you, so it brought you to the source.”

  “Source?”

  “That’s my guess. I’d say whoever put the curse on the bracelet is watching.”

  I took his hand from my shoulder and linked my fingers with his, determined not to lose him in the dark. I turned, but there was only blackness all around us. “Who are you?” I asked, sure Ben was right. Somebody was in the dark. The air told me it was true.

  Ben’s hand tightened on mine. Okay, maybe he really was there . . . and we had kissed. Holy devil-dogs, we had seriously kissed.

  The blackness around us shimmered, like there was some kind of presence there which could not be seen. I wanted to punch at it, but something told me that would be a very bad idea.

  The shimmery blackness continued on for a moment, before a sigh filled the air. “You are not mine,” a deep, gruff voice said and there was some serious irritation in the tone.

  I snorted. “Not yours? You are so right. I’m no one’s. Well, unless you count my pain in my sister’s butt status,” I said glibly, despite the fear which had risen inside me.

  “Sister. Are you the half-sister of Kassia Antema?”

  I narrowed my eyes. “Kassia Vincent is my sister, yeah. Nobody uses her legal name, ever. She hates it."

  “It is the name which gives her power. Without it, she is nothing more than a pathetic human.”

  “Pathetic human?” I practically bellowed, furious at the use of that particular phrase. “Humans are far better than most immortals I’ve met, both good and honorable. If you’re against them, I will stand against you,” I said through my teeth, furious that some unseen creature had used such a tone about the people who were my friends.

  A cold laugh filled the air. “You could become one of mine very easily.”

  Ben’s hand tightened yet further. “What would it mean, to be one of yours?” he asked, though it was clear he did not like the idea.

  “It would mean that vengeance could be yours, Benedict Connelly. You wish revenge for the deaths of your father and sister. You could have it. The Redcap who killed them did escape.”

  Ben’s hand trembled and I heard him swallow. “How do you know about that?” he asked in a shaky voice, one which made it sound almost like he was about to cry.

  “Everyone who wants revenge is mine. Justice is not mine. Revenge—” and he made a pervy kind o
f yum noise.

  “I’m not on your side,” Ben whispered and pulled me closer.

  I wanted to hug him. I had never known his dad and sister had died at the hands of such a creature. Was that why he had begun to hang around me? Did he want to use my magic to kill that monster? Was he even really my friend?

  The voice in the blackness let out a derisive sound. “Kassia will come into her power when she embraces it. You will both be eternal weapons of vengeance if you come to me.”

  I rolled my eyes. “Does this mean you’re Kassia’s father?” I asked, massively disturbed by that idea.

  “The White elf woman who came to me almost twenty-three years ago did birth a daughter named Kassia.”

  “The White elf woman?” I asked sharply, furious with him. Did he even remember my mom’s name?

  “A beautiful creature, with a purity of heart which made her desire for revenge all the sweeter.”

  I took in a long, deep breath of air and did my best to push back the fury inside me. “My mom’s name was Bronwen. Do you even remember that?”

  “I do remember, but what I remember most, is the fact she and your father are dead. Doesn’t that make you wish to kill, to sink that stone blade of yours into the hearts of the ones who tore them to shreds?”

  I was getting sick of that guy, so simply focused on Dorian. “Show me the way out,” I said aloud, the air around me apparently having waited for that request.

  Gray One, follow my voice. Let the air guide you.

  I tugged on Ben’s hand and turned to walk deeper into that blackness, away from Kassia’s creepazoid father. The air gusted to show me the right way.

  “Kassia is protected by her own magic, but with her nearness to you, her protection is increased tenfold. If you remain close to her, you will both be safe during the coming war.”

  I turned in the direction of his voice. “And what about everybody else? If there’s a war coming, it’s not just me and Kassia who need to stay safe,” I growled, my whole body quivering with anger.

  “Humans are of no concern to me, Gray elf. If they die, others will want revenge. It is all I wish for.”