The Awakening: A Witch-Vampire Romance: Feel the Heat.

by Anastasha Renee

  “So what have you read about so far,” Jaxx asks me as he reaches across the bar to grab my hand in his.

  It always surprises me how affectionate he is with me. I didn’t grow up with that. So I am not used to it yet, but when he touches me in front of others like he can’t help it, it seriously makes me melt.

  “Werewolves,” I inform him with the sweet smile I only ever give him.

  “Gruesome beginnings, but they aren’t all bad. None of the Supes are only good or bad. There is no black and white in our world. Some are more malicious than others. Just like with the humans.”

  “That is good to know. Do you boys need help cleaning up? If not, I’m going to go and read some more. I’m tired of playing catch up to the rest of you freaks.” I smile to soften my name calling.

  “Go be a good little scholar,” Gavin laughs.

  Jaxx pouts when I leave the room and I smile to myself at him not wanting to be away from me.

  “I’m sure you boys can entertain yourselves while I study,” I call over my shoulder as I leave the room.

  When I get back to the front room, Seb hasn’t moved a muscle. He is as still as a statue. Snoring like a bear on steroids. Sheesh. I flop back onto the sofa, trying to make enough noise to make Seb jump in his sleep, but he doesn’t notice, just snores on. I pick the green book back up off the table and start to flip through the chapters.

  The second chapter I read is about the Fae. They are comprised of all kinds of little creepy things. There are the Fae Lords, Sprites, Goblins, Fairies, and Gnomes. There are so many different types of Fae that I doubt I will ever be able to remember them all. The illustrations in the book are either frightening or gross. I wouldn’t want to meet most of them in a dark alley.

  I read on, learning about Demons which are wraith-like creatures that invade living bodies. Daemons which are children born of a Demon-occupied body, and Immortals that walk the world alone, which are more than likely Seers that can see the future and the past. I also learn the origins of Vampires.

  Hekate once fell in love with a beautiful mortal man. She peeked in on him often while he prayed to her over an altar. He was a learned witch, a human that learned to wield magic instead of being born with it like True Witches. She appeared to him one night and told him that she would grant him a boon if he would give himself to her completely. He rushed at the chance. So she made him immortal so she could always keep him by her side as her concubine. Her lover for always.

  Things didn’t go as planned. Things with one sided love rarely did. She discovered that her chosen mate was wasting his charms on many beautiful mortal females. Convincing them that he was a God and then taking their innocence as his due. She banished her mate from her realm and cursed him with a never ending thirst. She left him with his immortality intact, but Hekate bade that he would always thirst for the liquid that carried life. That he would not survive without it. He was banished to walk the world alone, but again, it didn’t work out that way. If he bit a human and left their life in tact he would have the chance to feed them his own blood before their last breath left their body, changing them into weak mimics of himself.

  Vampires are stronger and faster than any other Supes. They are weaker during the day and thrive during the night. They can control the weak with their eyes, mesmerize them into doing their bidding. The strongest of their kind can also sometimes fly when the moon is high. Hekate took pity on her once mate’s children and gave onto them a kindred. Their one true mate, deciding they should not suffer for their father’s mistakes.

  I am just closing the book, finished with reading, when Seb jumps up out of his seat like he has been struck by a live wire. He looks so perplexed that I can’t help but laugh at his astonished face.

  “Tired,” I ask him.

  “More than you know. The sun is setting. I think that it is time we tried out your gifts and see how far they reach. Don’t you?”

  I sigh and stretch the kinks out of my arms and legs.

  “Whatever you say. You’re the teacher,” I simper at his frowning face.

  “I prefer Professor, thank you!” He stomps out of the room.

  I am assuming he is going in search of the boys.

  Looks like I am going to get someone else to play with while testing my powers, I think.

  “Meet me out front in the clearing in ten minutes,” he calls back before he quits the room totally.

  Chapter 16.

  We all meet in the clearing out in front of Gavin’s cabin, all of us looking at Seb, wondering what he wants us to do.

  “Okay kiddies, we are going to test Ella to see what exactly she can do. Once we get an idea of her span of gifts, each of us can work with her on controlling them. Using them at will instead of just when she is scared or angry.”

  “Sounds delightful,” I smirk to tease Seb. He is so damn serious all the time. I can’t help it.

  “Hell, no way is she firing her light at me again,” Gavin bursts out. “The last time she used me for target practice, she made my ass sizzle!”

  Everyone busts out laughing at this except for me and Gavin. I walk over and hug him hard in apology. Sometimes it is hard for me to control my temper. That is one of my many goals.

  “So what’s first,” I ask, turning to Seb.

  “I want you to shoot an energy bolt at the dying Oak tree standing over there.” He points to the left at an ashen Oak.

  I shrug, push my palms out and shoot an energy beam straight at the Oak. It turns the entire tree to ash in seconds. I swallow hard and look down at my palms. Damn!

  “So we can mark down energy blasts. How about mind walking?” Seb starts to explain what mind walking is, but I stop him.

  “I think I have that down. I made a connection with Celian when he was an ass to Gavin, before Jaxx returned. I skimmed his mind through a connection that I forced upon him. His shit seriously skeeved me out. He is utterly evil.” I shudder just thinking about my grandfather.

  Seb and Gavin stare at me astonished. Jaxx is smiling softly, because he already knows what I can do with my mind. He never underestimates me. I smile back at him and blow him a kiss.

  “Any other secrets you are keeping from us, dearest,” Seb sneers at me.

  I blow him a kiss also.

  “I can feel others’ emotions and intentions. Like if they want to cause me harm or not. I don’t know what else. I thought that was the reason we were out here, to find that out.”

  Jaxx pulls me into him from behind and kisses my temple.

  I can feel my temper cool from the contact. I look at Seb.

  “What other things might I be able to do?”

  “Well, can you flash?” When I glance at him like he is speaking Chinese, he explains. “Can you move really fast from one point to another? Most Supes wouldn’t be able to see you move.”

  “I don’t know. I can try, though. How do I do it?”

  “Close your eyes and concentrate on wanting to be in the spot that the old Oak tree used to stand. Jaxx let her go and step back so you aren’t distracting her.”

  I feel Jaxx step away. I close my eyes and concentrate. I really want to show him up, so I concentrate really hard on moving myself to the spot where the remains of the old Oak are. I feel an instant wind in my hair and I feel like I am moving at hyper speed. I slam to a stop and open my eyes. I can see that I am closer to the forest surrounding us than I was before. I turn around and see that the guys are gaping at me.

  “Guess I can flash after all,” I mumble to myself as I slowly walk back to the clearing.

  “Well I’ll be damned. It is abnormal for a True Witch to possess more than one or two gifts at the most. You are truly blessed,” Sebastian is gushing at me now.

  “Do you think that you might be able to do anything else,” Seb asks me, like he highly doubts it.

  “Seb, seriously I have no fucking clue. Do me a favor and list something? Tell me how it is done and I will try it, okay?”

  “Okay, little
niece, let’s try teleporting. This is different from flashing because you actually leave this place and pop into another with just a thought. It is not moving yourself in a straight line. It is moving into another space entirely.”

  “Umm, like Jaxx’s misting?”

  “Not exactly, when Jaxx mists, he becomes one with the mist. He can move where there is mist, but he can’t when there is none about.”

  “Okay, so what do I do?”

  “Picture someplace close by. Close your eyes and picture yourself lying in your bed.”

  I close my eyes and imagine my room in detail.

  “Good, now remember what it feels like to be cocooned in your bed. Comfortable and safe.”

  I don’t hear what he says next because I am suddenly on my back, on a soft mattress, surrounded by my pillows. I let out a loud WHOOP! Then I close my eyes and imagine the clearing and being in Jaxx’s arms. What it feels like to be surrounded by his strength. Suddenly I hear a grunt and my knees hit the dirt hard. I open my eyes and stare up into ice blue ones. “Hi, baby,” I chirp and plant a long, deep kiss on him. He pulls me back up and starts laughing.

  “Myyyyy...Ffffuck,” Sebastian breathes out.

  “She is Goddess touched! She has to be.”

  “I’m not a demigod, Seb! I’m an ordinary person. Well as ordinary as a True Witch can be.” I stomp my foot to get my point across.

  “Do you have any birth marks, Ella,” Sebastian asks suddenly, very calm.

  “Yeah, I have a half circle on my inner thigh. It’s one of the reasons that my douches of adopted parents thought I came from Satan.” I blow out a breath.

  Jaxx is studying me in that quiet way of his. Gavin just stares at me with bug eyes. WTF?

  “Ella, when a baby is born Hekate can bless them. When she does this, she bestows upon them great power. She marks them with a crescent moon. She blesses them for a reason, she fates them with a task to complete during their lifetime. Being a Celios is both a blessing and a curse at times.”

  There are so many things weighing down on me suddenly. I feel like an elephant is standing on my chest and dancing a jig. I can’t breathe. What is wrong with me? I start to shake and my vision tunnels out, graying around the edges.

  “She is going to faint. Someone shove her head between her knees!”

  I hear Gavin shout and then everything goes black. Fuck, I never faint! When I can once again open my eyes, I feel all floaty. Someone must have given me some damn good drugs, I think. I wonder why they would shoot me up with such powerful stuff. I look around and the ground I am lying on is covered in green-tinged mist. It seems familiar for some reason. I must have cracked my head pretty good when I blacked out if I am having this fucked up dream. I continue to look around me. I can’t see anything but the green fog.

  “This isn’t a mere dream my child,” a soft voice that sounds like a melody says out of nowhere and everywhere at the same time.

  I sit up and try to figure out who is stuck in the fog with me. I see someone in the distance moving slowly toward me. I fire up my palms in case it is an enemy bent on my destruction. Knowing my luck that’s what it is going to be.

  “I’m not your enemy child,” the melodic voice speaks again as a tall lithe woman parts the fog like curtains and steps into view. She looks familiar. She has raven hair that falls to her waist. She is wearing a white gauzy dress and golden sandals that are laced to her knees. Her skin has a pearlescent glow to it.

  I am struck speechless when my eyes reach her face. My face is staring back at me through her. She is my twin or I am hers.

  “I made you in my image, my child. My babe.”

  “You’re my mother? How is that possible,” I breathe out in totally utter disbelief.

  “I blessed you when you were nothing more than light. I gave you to a True Witch, for her to carry in her womb. I made you in my image, so that all that looked upon your face would know that you are made of me.”

  I bow my head and feel tears stream down my cold cheeks.

  “Why do you cry my child?”

  I feel a soft hand touch my tears.

  “I never thought I would meet my mother. I was hated and despised by the person I thought bore me.”

  “You are loved, child. You have always been loved. You have never been alone.” The woman, my mother, sits across from me with her legs tucked underneath.

  I wipe my hands across my face and look into her eyes. They are so much like mine. “What does this mean? Where exactly am I?”

  “You are in my realm. Many call it Avalon. Others call it by a million different names. You have slipped beyond the veil. I wanted you to meet me face to face. It is time.”

  “Time for what?” I shake my head in obvious confusion.

  “It is time for you to know what and who you truly are child. You are blessed. Destined to do great things in your life. Fate has granted me this boon, a child. Fate has also set a difficult task upon you, but you will conquer all that set themselves in your path. For you are of me.”

  “What is your name?”

  “Many call me Hekate. I have many names, just like the place we are sitting upon.”

  I stare. I can’t help it. I am stunned. Hekate is my mother. WOW!

  Hekate starts to chant as she reaches across the space separating us and touches the center of my forehead. Her voice is melodic as she chants:

  “Child of light,

  Blessed by night,

  Darkness looms.

  Beyond the bright,

  Give her my strength.

  So that she may endure.

  When the ground runs red,

  Shed by the many dead.

  She will rise above.

  Make her strong.

  To put right the wrong,

  A power of purity and love,

  To lead the ones still standing,

  Upon a path of truth and trust,

  Fate has called this upon you.

  So do this you must.”

  Hekate’s hand leaves my forehead and she reseats herself across from me.

  “What just happened?” I look at her in utter confusion.

  “I have blessed you my child. You will lead the ones touched by light. There is a war looming. You have many obstacles ahead, but fear not. I’m with you. Always.”

  My mother leans forward again and brushes her petal soft lips against mine. I feel a shock run through me, like I have just been struck by lightning. I pull back from her, startled.

  “AS I WILL IT. SO IT WILL BE,” Hekate shouts out. Her voice sounds like thunder inside of a tornado.

  Sparks are still running through my body and I start to feel very tired all of a sudden. I lay back on the spongy ground and feel the air shift as Hekate leans over me. I see tears swimming in her luminous eyes.

  “I have safe-guarded you my child. You are loved. Always remember that.”

  Everything around me starts to fade.

  “When will I see you again,” I barely whisper.

  “I will be there when you most need me,” her voice is laced with promise.

  That is the last thing I remember before I wake in my own bed to eyes the color of ice inside a face more beautiful than the moon.

  “What the hell happened,” I ask Jaxx while rubbing the sleep from my eyes. I stretch and feel like I have slept for ages.

  “You fainted when you discovered something very monumental.”

  “Yes, I remember that. How long was I out?”

  “Two days, my little raven. You have been driving me mad. I was afraid you would not wake again.”

  “I was…,” I start to tell him about my trip across the veil, about meeting my mother, a Goddess no less, but something stops me. Instinct tells me that telling him here and now would not be wise. “I had the strangest dream, but I can’t seem to recall it.”

  Jaxx wraps me up in him. Pulling me into him so tight I can hardly breathe.

  “Don’t do that to me again. I can’t withstand i
t,” he whispers into my hair.

  I don’t know how I ever got so lucky to be destined to have this wonderful man in my life, or how I am destined to have a Goddess for a mother. I might have many trials ahead, but I still count myself lucky.

  “It was good that you woke when you did, little raven. We have company.”

  I turn my head and stare at him. Gavin had said that this place is private. Secret even. “Who?”

  “Three Vampire Elders have brought Jessa. She was fading without her Kindred.”

  I jump and sit up in excitement.

  . “Jessa is here? Like here in this very house?” I know I sound like a toddler at Christmas, but I can’t help it.

  Chapter 17.

  I am out of bed and running for the shower in no time flat. After lying in bed for two days I am bound to smell horrid. I want a shower, and then I want to see my Jessa. Jaxx catches me by the arm and spins me around.

  “Stop, Ella. You have to listen to me. Jessa is changed. That is another reason she has been brought here. It was either bring her to Sebastian or put her down.”

  My palms start to tingle. I know my power is rising.

  “They want to kill her like she is some kind of animal?”

  Jaxx slowly nods at me.

  “How much has she truly changed? Why would they want to do that? She is of their kind now.” I am seriously freaking pissed right now.

  “They had to get another True Witch to knock her out with a sleeping concoction. They say she went feral when Sebastian left to come here. He left her there so they could teach her. Being around him seemed to agitate her. So he thought it was for the best.”

  “What do you mean feral? What is that exactly?”

  Jaxx looks at me with sad eyes.

  “She is nothing more than an animal. She tried to slaughter everyone, including the Elders.”

  My legs threaten to buckle. I am shaking so bad it is hard to stand on my own, but I don’t want to lean on Jaxx right now. I don’t want to be touched at all. I am half pissed and half scared to death of losing the only sister I have ever had. I take a deep breath and calm myself outwardly. I always did have a good poker face.