I should get an assistant to keep them in line.
No, I should re-institute a mandatory hour of daily silence…at dinner time.
Yes.
Kiera wanted to laugh. The time was not right for any reaction, though. She could not afford to be noticed, so although she was only half-way through her meal, she placed her cutlery on her plate. Wiping her mouth with her napkin, she got to her feet.
“Do excuse me, everyone…your Eminence.”
“Retiring so early?” Regent Minassus’ voice carried down the long table, silencing everyone else’s chatter.
“Yes, Regent.”
“How have your meetings with Commander Oslo gone so far?”
Kiera cleared her throat. “Very well, sir. The soldiers have been working diligently on preparations and new defense tactics for the first storm.”
“And the men to be turned?”
“I’m sorry, your eminence. What of them?”
“Are they in good spirits?”
She had no idea what to say. What she wanted to tell him was that he gave them no choice, so why did he care about their states of minds. Or how would she have any idea, given her mind was occupied with coming to terms with the fact that she would be dead in six days. Or why not make it optional to join the Boundary Protection Unit, while also opening the ranks to women with the 236-k gene. Not that women would necessarily want to make such a sacrifice, but why not? Those questions to him would not go over well, so she settled for, “I supposed they have accepted their fates.”
“They have to. We need every possible shifter this year. The coven of seers is predicting a long, cold winter, with many blizzards and at least ten weeks of sub-zero temperatures. There’s no telling how many Ravagers will attack this season…” he paused for a moment, eyes narrowed as he scrutinized her face. “Kiera, there is something different about you…”
She nervously lifted a hand to her shoulder, taking a step backward. “Different? I am not sure what you mean.”
She sensed everything the Regent reflected on as though the words were coming from his lips…except his lips were not moving.
What on earth?
I can’t read her thoughts.
She must have been practicing her blocking spells.
Perhaps it’s all that time she spends in the library.
It does not matter, as long as she and her bird-brained familiar are successful in transforming the new shifters next week.
“Not to worry,” he said, and this time his lips moved.
“As you wish, your Eminence.”
“I would like to confer with you on an item tomorrow. I meant to see you yesterday, but your botanist friend informed me you were out fetching herbs for her.”
Thank God Reena had covered for her. “Apologies for my absence. I will be sure to remain available, sir.”
“Excellent. Enjoy your evening.”
“You as well. Good night, everyone.”
Turning quickly, she scurried off, relieved to get away. At least the Regent was not suspicious. Had he asked which herbs she gathered, she would have no idea what to tell the man.
Coco flew into Kiera’s window early the next morning, squawking and flapping her wings at the center of the room beside the bed.
“What’s wrong?” Kiera asked, looking up from a spell book she was reviewing in bed.
“You tell me. You just summoned me, didn’t you?”
“What? I never called for you.”
“But you did. With your mind, Kiera. And it hurt like hell this time. I had no choice but to obey.”
“Coco. Did you hear what I just said? I did not summon you. I have no idea what you’re talking about.”
“I heard you. You said my name with your mind.” Coco took on her human form and wrapped herself in the robe she had left on the chair in the corner of the room. “Let us talk this out, now that you have practically dragged me from what I was doing.”
Kiera slammed her book shut and glared across the room at her familiar. “Oh, now you want to figure it out? I begged you to stay yesterday morning and you wouldn’t speak to me!”
“It was not safe to talk.”
“Why not? It was only the three of us in the room.”
“And there is one weak link.”
“What are you saying?”
“We cannot afford to trust anyone anymore…not even Aleena. I am not suggesting that she can’t be trusted, but you have to remember she is not a witch. She cannot block her thoughts from the Regent. It is bad enough that she knows you have been secretly meeting Xander. If you had said anything about sleeping with him that night, who knows if you’d be alive right now.”
“Wait. You know? That we were… intimate?”
Coco pursed her lips into a tight, mischievous smile. “You were way more than just intimate with the guy, Kiera. You gave him all the goodies. Of course I know. I am your familiar. I want all the scandalous details, but before we get to that, tell me what else has been different since you gave it up for Xander?”
Kiera contemplated the question. “Different how?”
“You’re getting stronger, Kiera. Let’s start with how you just summoned me.”
“I told you. I. Did. Not. Summon. You.”
“Okay, let me try to put it a different way. Think back to about ten minutes before I flew in here. Did my name cross your mind? Even for the smallest, most insignificant notion?”
“I don’t think so.”
“Try to remember. What were you doing ten minutes ago?”
“Reading.” Opening the book, she flipped back a page. “Oh…yeah… you did cross my mind.”
“What exactly were you thinking?”
“I was checking out an old spell that called for a puffin feather.”
“What the hell do I have to do with a damned puffin?”
“No no, that’s not the way I made a connection to your name. I remembered I could not complete the last spell that called for such a feather because the birds are extinct…in our sector, at least. Then I wondered whether you had seen one all those years ago.”
“That’s what you were thinking? Are you sure?”
“I’m positive, dear. Then I flipped a few pages to see whether there was another spell or incantation I could use…oh…right…”
“What?”
“That was when I wished you would come back here and talk to me.”
“See I told you! You did summon me!”
“I wished you were here. That is not a summon, last time I checked.”
“Well, it is now. You’re getting stronger. Let me show you something. One second.” She rushed out of the room, returning with her notebook a few minutes later. “Okay. Brace yourself. I’ll go through a list of supernatural mental abilities one by one, and I want you to tell me if you have experienced any of them in the last twenty-four hours.”
“All right.”
“Cosmic awareness or precognition? Wait. Don’t bother. The answer is yes. You knew when the ravagers were coming nine years ago, so you already had that ability…Next is telepathic reception. You know, memory navigation, or sometimes referred to as psychic navigation.”
“I don’t believe I’ve been able to read specific memories in someone else’s mind, but I…he would kill me if he knew, but I read the Regent’s thoughts.”
“You did what? When?”
Kiera nodded sheepishly. “Last night. No. Two nights ago as well.”
“When exactly?”
“I was with Xander overnight… and then at dinner last night.”
“Wait a second. Did you just say you read the Regent’s thoughts from inside the shifter camp?”
“Yes. I was surprised too…I’m not sure, but I may have affected the containment spell around the camp too.”
“Holy hell, Kiera. That means you’re telekinetic…but even stronger than just moving objects with your mind. You potentially undid a spell, which takes a ridiculously intense burst of energy.”
“How about memory manipulation?”
“No.”
Coco continued down the list. “Mental manipulation…that’s a yes, because I felt it earlier. Ditto for pain inducement.”
“What?”
“I had no choice but to come to you. Trust me. I tried to ignore your call, and the second I did, it felt like an invisible hand twisted a knot inside my stomach, then came up my throat and grabbed me around the neck, wrenching me toward the fortress. It was awful.”
“Gosh. I had no idea. I am so sorry.”
She shrugged. “The pain only subsided after I changed course and started flying in this direction.” She looked down at her notes again. “What about psychic navigation?”
“Sorry, what?”
“Searching for and finding a particular thought in another person’s mind.”
“Is that even possible?”
“It could be, for you, along with psychic blocking. You must have done some psychic blocking, if the Regent does not yet realize what’s going on between you and Xander. If he knew you are no longer a virgin, or if it were to become public knowledge, he would have already announced a new Chosen.” She closed her notebook and set it down beside her. “You and I would end up with our heads on the chopping block.”
“No doubt.”
“You know what I think?”
“What?”
“You will only get stronger. Five days is not a lot of time. We need to prepare.”
“We are destined for death, Coco, aren’t we?”
Coco shook her head. “I do believe Sector Two has a brand new weapon against the ravagers.”
“Which is?”
“You.”
14
Kiera
The Regent was trying to get in Kiera’s head, but with her new abilities, the man got nowhere. She blocked him out completely at first, but with Coco’s help, was able to annex one tiny corner of her mind, where she only revealed the preparation spells he would expect her to be working on. She also let Minassus see the faces of the men who were scheduled to be included in this year’s transformation. That way, he would continue to believe that the ceremony, and their futures, weighed on her.
She and Coco acted surprised when the Regent entered the conjuring room where they had been working. Kiera had known he was on his way the very second he had willed himself to get up from this chair in his private study.
“Kiera? May I have a word with you?” the Regent asked from the door of the dim room. “Alone?”
“Certainly, your Eminence.” She motioned to Coco, who left quickly. “Is there anything I can help you with?” she asked, already aware of the man’s answer.
“No. There are a few things you and I need to discuss.” He entered and took a seat on the maple-colored wooden bench where the younger students sometimes observed the most experienced witches cast new spells or combine various potions. Probably to keep his distance from the waist-high table where she worked.
Kiera kept her expression neutral as she waited.
“I sense you have concerns about performing the spell.”
Kiera could tell he was lying, but tilted her head in feigned confusion. “Concerns? I supposed it is natural for me to feel apprehensive and somewhat anxious, given the stakes.”
“Don’t play games with me, Kiera.” The flames in the fireplace flared as though kindling was thrown on them. That telekinesis was the Regent’s handiwork, not Kiera’s. “You have changed. You are stronger.”
“I am so glad you noticed,” she lied. “I have been practicing a lot, and meditating,” Kiera admitted.
“It’s more than that.”
“How do you mean?”
“Is there something you would like to tell me, Kiera?”
Thank goodness she and Coco had talked this morning. She was ready to defend her mind from his manipulation and intimidation.
“I don’t believe so.”
“Do you remember the Big Storm, child?”
“Of course, I do. It’s what brought me to you.”
“And do you remember the tragedy of that event and the days that followed?”
“I do, sir.”
“I remember all the deaths…so unnecessary, but to the ravagers, they meant nothing. Those families and soldiers were simply food, or human chew toys. There was no hope for our sector until I completed the spell to turn those first men into shifter warriors for our cause.”
Kiera nodded. “You did, your Eminence. You helped save us all.”
“Do you know how many of us would survive without the shifters? None. Literally, none. You realize that, too, right?”
“I understand you hold that view, sir.”
“Shifters are a necessary evil. They are the monsters that we witches create to fight the true monsters that Mother Nature unleashed on Othala.”
“With all due respect, shifters are not monsters.”
“It was a figure of speech, Kiera. Don’t take me so literally.”
“And may I ask why they need to live separately from the rest of the citizens?”
“The simplest answer I can offer is that it’s safer for them, and for the rest of us, if they live with their own kind. Turning this next cohort will secure our way of life.”
Kiera decided to take a risk, and added, “And there are no other methods we can implement to defend the Sector, other than shifters and the Nauru’s containment spells?”
“Nothing near as effective,” he offered.
She was sure he kept his answer neutral for a reason. For a split second, she read the flashes of the thoughts at the forefront of his mind. It was not a thing, or a person, but rather, a location in the fortress. A long-closed section of the building’s lower level, beside the dungeon. It had been empty for the past nine years, as far as she knew. Then again, if it had crossed the man’s mind, it had to be important.
The Regent stood up from his seat on the bench. “Should you have more concerns, please do come and speak to me.”
“I will.”
“You are playing a pivotal role in ensuring our survival. You should be proud.”
After he had left, Kiera knew what she had to do. Pushing the door open, she waved Coco back inside.
“What did he want? Wait, let me guess. The same thing that all controlling men in power want…more power.”
Kiera nodded, picked up the top sheet of a stack of paper she had been using to record her observations for the spells they cast. “Can you take a message to Xander?” she asked her familiar.
“Sure.”
She wrote a short note and folded the sheet of paper. “I have an idea.”
15
Kiera
That evening, Kiera found Reena neatening up in the laboratory. She demanded answers. If Kiera had to, she would scour and hunt through her friend’s mind for the truth. It was a stroke of good luck that she walked into the lab when she did, because Reena was on her way out.
“Hold it.” Kiera held out her hand, placing it on Reena’s chest. “You are not going anywhere, miss botanist. We need to talk.”
“About what? Another date with Xander?” Reena joked, giving her a wink.
“I want answers about what you’re working on.”
“I already told you I can only share when it’s time.”
“Not anymore, dear. We have five days until the ceremony, so you will tell me now.”
Reena stopped scrubbing the countertop, straightened up, and crossed her arms. “Or what?”
“Come on, Reena. You can trust me.”
Reena shrugged, arms still folded. “I know I can trust you, love. The thing is I’ve been sworn to keep my mouth shut on this. You don’t know yet, but you will. I promise.”
“This time, keeping it from me is just not good enough.” Kiera poked her head out the door, making sure nobody was coming down the hall in either direction, then turned back to Reena and whispered, �
�I know it is about the ravagers, that there are other ways to stop them. Proven methods that already work.”
Reena didn’t respond, but something changed in her face. Her eyebrows lowered, her cheeks went slack. She might as well have admitted it.
“That’s not such a big guess, is it, Kiera? You know I’m always working on spells and potions to keep them out.”
“Except that my source is ironclad this time.”
“And who is that?”
“The Regent.”
“He told you?”
“In a way.”
“Why do I get the feeling my best friend in the world is baiting me?”
“Trust me when I say I am not.”
“Minassus would never tell you.”
Kiera grunted out her frustration. “Look, I read his mind, all right?” she blurted out.
Reena frowned, chewing the inside of her mouth the way she always did when she was uncertain of something and needed time to assess its merit. “You cannot. The Regent’s mind is unreachable…militarized almost…unless…oh my God!”
“Yes. I slept with Xander.”
“Sweet mother of God, you have!”
“Focus, Reena. I’m not here about that. Tell me about the new weapons against the ravagers.”
Reena blew out a breath. “All right, but only because if you dared reading the Regent’s mind, you probably wouldn't hesitate to wrench my secrets right out of my head. I’ll show you where I’ve been conducting my trials.”
“Yes. Let’s go to the dungeon.”
“Wow, you got solid information. It’s true that the work here on the main floor labs is more…sanitized. You know, preliminary tests and analysis. The trials, on the other hand, are conducted downstairs.”
Kiera checked the hall again, and finding no one watching, motioned for Reena to lead the way. She followed her friend down the corridor to the back of the fortress. They stopped at one of the doors that led down to the dungeon. Torches lit the stairs, but provided no heat for the cold, damp space.
Mystic Storm: An Adult Paranormal Witch Romance: Othala Witch Collection (Sector 2) Page 11