Celtic Rose

by Campbell, Jill

  The guys came in with their eyes downcast nervously and shifting uncomfortably in the unfamiliar clothing. Finally, they looked up. They saw what the girls were wearing and froze, their mouths dropping. Gabriel sashayed in behind them in clothing that made him look very much like a biker: black steel-toed boots, black jeans, a black t-shirt, a black leather jacket, and a bandana on his head. He was smiling as he walked through the others to stand in front of the girls. They were the ones gaping then.

  “Now, why do we all have to dress like locals and you get to stick out like a sore thumb?” Kallisto said, standing. The movement must have done something interesting with the clothing because Talus took in a loud breath. Kallisto looked down and around herself to see if anything had come off. “What? Why are you looking at me that way?” she said placing her hands on her hips.

  “Nothing’s wrong Kallisto. I’ve just never seen you show so much skin. It’s very... surprising.” Talus smiled nervously. Kallisto smiled but wasn’t sure they could see it through the veil.

  “You like it, huh?” She put her arms up and made a slow circle to give him the full affect. He swallowed loudly. Gabriel laughed, reminding her of her earlier question. “So Gabriel, are you going to answer my question?” she asked, turning back to look at him.

  “Sure I will, I was just waiting for the display to be over,” Gabriel said, muffling another laugh. “I’m not the only one that’s going to stick out like a sore thumb. You three are going to get so much attention that no one within this area is going to be able to not know you’re there.” He gestured to the clothing.

  “Wait a minute. The joke was on us, not the guys?” Kallisto said shocked. She’d never thought in a million years that Gabriel would play a joke on any female. Gabriel chuckled.

  “The locals here keep everything covered. The only women here who aren’t totally covered are the belly dancers and other entertainers.” Gabriel grinned evilly. She’d never thought to see that look on his face for anyone but William.

  “What is this all about Gabriel? Why do you want us to stand out so much when you told us we needed to hide and blend in?” Kallisto couldn’t fathom why Gabriel would do something like that. She thought he was getting more open and kind in this life and she found herself wondering if he was just getting more cruel. Gabriel’s evil smile softened.

  “I want you to stick out in the crowd as a test, but not so much that any of the witch and warlock’s people would be able to tell who you are. It’ll be dark when we go out so the tattoos won’t show through your sheer fabric; your faces are covered, and it’s very hard to be able to tell who you are from their point of view without seeing a full face view. They only know what your faces and tattoo’s look like; they won’t be able to tell beyond that. As for the guys, they’ll only know them by seeing them with you, but William has very distinguished hair in these parts. If one of them were to see Williams reddish colored hair they’d know who he was very quickly,” Gabriel said and turned to William. “I’m very sorry, William, that you have to dress this way but it’s more common to see those with headdresses in this type of clothing than it is in the clothing that Talus and Kalan are wearing. I promise I only did this for discretion, not for spite.” He turned back to Kallisto still smiling.

  “Alright then, but what do you mean by a test?” she asked, still suspicious. He’d redeemed her faith that he was softening by being courteous to William, who still had his mouth open; not because of Ephiny now, but because of Gabriel’s courteous remark. She was still leery of the evil smile she’d seen on Gabriel; there had to be a reason for it.

  “The test isn’t for you. The test is for the witch and warlock’s men. In this culture, when a woman is dressed like you three, the locals will yell catcalls, offer vulgar services, and pretty much do everything they can to make you uncomfortable, but Merrick and Serena’s men won’t. They’ll want to do anything they can to keep a low profile so they can search for us. They’re very focused. Therefore, anyone who doesn’t whoop and holler at the three of you is a suspect. That way we can find them before they find us.” Gabriel stood there expectantly. Kallisto guessed he thought he was going to get an argument but when he put it like that, she wasn’t going to argue. She walked over to him with her arms crossed over her chest and a sober face.

  “Well, why didn’t you tell us this before? Now that we know we can do so much more,” she said, smiling, and patted Gabriel’s shoulder. She walked back to the girls and continued, “We can go up to anyone that isn’t paying attention to us and make sure they’re true suspects and not just good ole boys who don’t pay attention to people like that. It wouldn’t bode well for some poor nice guy to get caught up in everything just because he wasn’t a pervert, now would it?” Kallisto said with a grin. Gabriel smiled wider.

  “It’s settled then; the men can protect the women from the perverted and unbiased gawkers, while I keep an eye out for anyone unseemly ignoring them. Oh and by the way, no touching. The locals won’t bite if it seems like the women are taken in any way, so hands off,” Gabriel ordered. That got Gabriel several deadly glares. He held his hands up, laughing. “Look, the clothes are bright colors, all except Ramina’s; that means that they are unattached. Ramina may not bring on as many catcalls as the others, but attached looking or not she’ll get some attention. If you are hanging all over the men then the locals won’t even bother with you and we’ll have gotten dressed up for no reason other than disguise. I want to catch bad guys and rip their heads off, so can you guys stand not touching for just a few hours?” That evil grin appeared back on Gabriel’s face as he spoke of ripping heads off, but a pleading look followed. How could they say no to that? Although it was very tempting since that magnetic pull between Kallisto and Talus had been pulling on them since they met. Kallisto wondered what would happen if William got that sickly look again–she’d have to touch him or he’d get worse. Kallisto went to William and touched his face, willing the river to flow so that maybe she wouldn’t need to that night. She watched as the yellow glow flowed from him and into her. He wasn’t really pale before but after the glow his cheeks were flushed as though he’d been embarrassed. She knew that wasn’t true, and she couldn’t understand why it was flowing into her and not from her. She had never noticed it before. They couldn’t see it before like they could this time, not until the dream of their deaths. Gabriel and Ephiny watched as though it was normal. He still looked better and even Kallisto felt better; she felt stronger somehow.

  “Why does it flow from him to me? I thought I was giving him the river, not the other way around,” Kallisto said as she pulled back and the flow stopped.

  “William is your power source. He gets ill because there’s too much in him, not the other way around. He mostly gets sick when you’re injured or weakened in some way. He gives you energy, power, and life-force when you need it the most. As you take power more is made, but he’ll only get sick when you are injured or weak, so don’t worry about tonight,” Ephiny said, smiling. Gabriel looked at her and then back at Kallisto with a look of relief on his face. Kallisto remembered in the room being able to hear Ephiny and Gabriel talk while she was dying. She had said that William’s and her relationship was like that of a succubus. She could give and take power at will. She knew exactly what she needed to do. She knew why they were able to have the river flow through all of them. She gave them power, energy, life-force, and unexpectedly, comfort. If she could do that in a time of stress then maybe she could give them a boost before they went out. Then they would be prepared for the worst.

  Kallisto went to William again and touched him and Ephiny at the same time. They looked at her strangely but stood still. She willed the river to flow again and heard Ephiny’s sharp intake of breath as the power flowed into her.

  “Talus, Ramina, Kalan, Gabriel, come and touch us. I want to disperse power into everyone so we’ll have a boost in case the worst happens. Come on.” They came and placed a hand on her, drawing in sharp breaths as they f
elt the power flow through them, into them...all but Gabriel. He stood shaking his head slowly with his arms crossing his chest. He gripped tighter as if he were holding himself together.

  “Gabriel, please. I want everyone to have a boost,” Kallisto pleaded. Gabriel started to uncross his arms, his face softened and he took a hesitant step forward, and then stopped. He crossed his arms again and held on tighter. He closed his eyes tight and his face scrunched as if he was in pain. Kallisto could see the feelings warring across his face as he fought with all of his might not to go to them. Ephiny touched Williams shoulder so that Kallisto could free her hand. She reached for Gabriel and tried again, knowing exactly what to say.

  “Gabriel, be a part of the group as Celeste said. Please Gabriel, we’re family,” Kallisto said, with her arm still stretched out toward him. He opened his eyes finally and slowly walked to Kallisto. When he was in reach she wrapped her arm around him and pulled him to the others. They surrounded Gabriel and let the river flow through each of them into him. He sighed and hugged her, laying his head on the top of hers. Kallisto felt his shoulders shake as he cried, but no sound escaped from him. He was truly a part of the family.

  Chapter 12

  They were out on the street walking along, a newfound companionship within the group. The plan was going well. The men were walking a safe distance from the girls. The magnetic pull was still there but it had lessened with the power surge in the room; they seemed to be tied together more tightly so distance didn’t matter for the moment. The locals were doing as Gabriel had said. Catcalls and vulgar comments were coming at them from all directions. They’d singled out a few that didn’t seem to pay them much mind, but upon approach they were easily weeded out as not being a part of Merrick and Serena’s people. They mostly withdrew from them nicely with comments about wives and children, and not being interested in messing up what they had with loved ones. So far they hadn’t been able to find any of the warriors they were looking for. They went on walking and found an alleyway they could convene in without being seen.

  “Now what?” Kallisto said as the guys came up to them deep in the alley.

  “Well we’ve made a full circuit of the surrounding streets so I think we should travel out further. We need to find a place we can go in and have a meal. The ones we’re looking for may be inside. It’s getting late and we haven’t had anything to eat yet; maybe they haven’t either. We have two choices. We could go back to the hotel and eat since it’s right there, or we could go out to eat and chance finding them out and about. Otherwise we’ll need to go out again tomorrow night; besides we still haven’t found this woman who knows the path. I think we need to find her before we can do anything truly helpful to the situation besides busting heads,” Gabriel stated happily.

  “I vote for going out. We’re not going to get anything done going back to the hotel,” Ephiny said. Everyone was in agreement, so they started back the way they came.

  The loud screeching started louder than ever in Kallisto’s ears. She grabbed her ears and dropped to the ground. She tried to hold in the screams that wanted to come out. It wouldn’t do any of them any good if they drew attention to themselves. Kallisto was rewarded with just a few whimpers...better than screams but no less humiliating for her. Everyone ran to her side, trying to give comfort. She couldn’t hear what Gabriel was saying but Talus ran toward the hotel at his request. Gabriel grabbed her and like before he held her head to his chest, covering the other ear. She could feel the vibrating of his chest but it didn’t break the screeching like before. Talus came back, holding a glove Kallisto recognized from the dream. She grabbed it from him before Gabriel could. She understood what they wanted. She let Gabriel keep a hold of her as she put it on. The screeching started to ease and she could hear that strange purring sound coming from Gabriel. When the sound was gone she pulled away from Gabriel. The purring cut off abruptly and Gabriel stood, pulling Kallisto with him.

  “The power surge in the room must have called her to you. She’s coming. I can hear her wings on the wind now–she’s close.” Gabriel released her as he said the last. She walked toward the mouth of the alley and out into the open so the hawk could find her easily. As she listened she could hear her call faintly, and as Kallisto listened it got closer. Kallisto’s body started to vibrate gently and she could feel power growing from inside. All at once the power surged out of her and yellow light shined from her up into the sky. Lady flew into the light and seemed to glow with it for a moment before descending. The light faded the closer she got, and when she landed on Kallisto’s arm it went away completely.

  “Hello, my Lady,” Kallisto said, smiling. She stroked her under the chest and Lady seemed to lean into it. She stared intently into Kallisto’s eyes as she stared back. Visions filled Kallisto’s head of her long journey hunting for her, plains as far as the eye could see morphing into forests and valleys and mountains then finally deserts. As the visions became familiar with the surrounding area Lady focused on many men at a tavern, all of them seemingly violent. They were searching areas discreetly and followed a dark man into a tavern of some sort. The leader stopped in the doorway as the men filed past and turned his face to the sky. He was looking directly at Kallisto and her breath caught.

  “It’s Maulro! He’s leading the men into a tavern or pub or something,” she spoke, still seeing the vision.

  “Where are they, Kallisto?” Gabriel asked quickly; his voice sounded gruff like his teeth and claws were growing. She felt Gabriel’s presence at her side but she still couldn’t see him. Her vision was full of Maulro’s face. He stared at her as though he knew she was there and then smiled. He looked to the top of the building and the hawks eyes followed. The vision broke and Kallisto looked at Gabriel.

  “They’re at the King’s Head Pub. I guess we should’ve seen that coming since he was the king’s head of guard. He looked right at Lady as if he knew who she was.” Kallisto looked at Gabriel, confused. She was right. His teeth and claws had grown. He looked fierce as she looked at him.

  “I should’ve known it would be him. He was nowhere to be seen at the wedding. He was supposed to be standing guard at the doors, that’s why I just showed up when everything went bad. I should’ve been inside, not outside. I was covering Maulro’s spot because he wasn’t there; otherwise I’d have been inside and I might’ve seen Merrick and Serena’s plans before they happened. I could’ve stopped it all from happening. Now I know why he wasn’t there when he was supposed to be. He knew I’d take his place. I can’t believe I didn’t see it before!” He picked up part of a busted wagon and threw it with all his might. It went over the roofs of the buildings and disappeared into the darkness. They never heard it land. Lady fluttered wildly on Kallisto’s arm.

  “Stop! Gabriel, you’re scaring Lady–and the rest of us. Calm down; what’s done is done, we can’t change any of it. All we can do now is find the necklaces so we can end this curse. I need you to be in control. You’re the protector; the only reason you couldn’t protect us before was because you were ignorant of their plan; we all were. We were pure and innocent then; or at least most of us were,” Kallisto said, grinning at Gabriel. She received a smile which looked very disturbing with fangs.

  “What we need to do now is go to the pub, and find out what we need to know discreetly. I couldn’t tell how many men there were. We need to do recon, find out how many men and see if there are any others that would recognize us. You’re too recognizable. Maulro knows us all, but we’re covered for the most part. If we show up without men and covered like we are they may not be able to tell it’s us. We can do recon and be back here before Maulro and the others even know we were there,” Kallisto said, planning. Gabriel stared at her like she’d grown a second head for a moment and then laughed. The teeth and claws distended with his laughter.

  “Well now Princess, I think you’ve just stepped up into those royal shoes; or then again, maybe you’ve just stepped into my shoes,” he said, looking at her proudly.<
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  “Well, after centuries of being around you, it’s a wonder I didn’t pick it up sooner,” Kallisto said arrogantly.

  “I’m not sure I like the idea of the three of you going in there without us. What if something goes wrong and they recognize you? We may not be able to save you in time.” Gabriel frowned.

  “Hey, this is the 21st century, not the 14th. Whoever said we needed saving? I’ll just give ‘em a jolt and we’ll get out of there,” Kallisto said smugly.

  “Don’t be too overconfident, little cub. Your bark may be worse than your bite,” Gabriel said and put his hand up, stopping her before she could say anything. He continued, “Look, Kallisto, I know you’re strong–I know all of you are–but I was appointed protector for a reason. Maulro knows you, all of you, even me. He’d be prepared for a frontal attack, mystical or otherwise. Surely Merrick and Serena gave them precautions for your power surges since the last time. That’s why he was taunting you. He knows Lady’s yours; he probably figured you sent her to search for them, and he was letting you know where they are. He wants you to come–all of us to come. If we die then we have to find each other, learn and remember all over again. That’s what they’re counting on.” Gabriel grabbed Kallisto’s shoulders and shook her slightly. She lifted her arm up to let Lady fly and pushed back from him. He didn’t fight to hold her, he just let go.

  “Alright Gabriel, you win. We’re still going, but we won’t do anything that might cause him to recognize us. You will wait, at least outside the pub, and give us time to do the recon. We will come back out unscathed. If we get in trouble you won’t be far away and we can call to you for help,” Kallisto ordered. Gabriel was back to smiling proudly at her.