Burden Of Blood

by Wenona Hulsey

  “You don’t hate me because of my father?” he asked cradling her face in both of his hands.

  “You’re a great man and a great warrior, Luke. I can’t say what I would have done if it were my dad.” Her eyes closed as she thought of the pain Luke had endured for his fathera father who didn’t deserve such a wonderful son.

  “Don’t do that, Nicole.” He brought his forehead down to lean against hers, “Don’t feel bad for me. The path I took was hard but it brought me to you,” he traced her lips softly with the pad of his thumb as he spoke. “And you are worth every breath I wasted without you. He pressed his lips against hers as he pulled her into a tight embrace.

  Nicole lost herself in his kiss, wrapping her arms around his neck as happiness filled her heart. Having given up on the dream of falling in love long ago, she felt like a whole new world had just opened up to her. Sure, it came with some strange ancient powers and unusual acquaintances but this life had brought her a chance at happiness she had forgotten was possible.

  Luke pulled away from her kiss, laughing softly, “We have really got to get you trained. Those fiery eyes of yours are going to get us in trouble.”

  Nicole gasped as she noticed the glow reflecting off Luke’s deeply tanned skin. “Damn it, that’s twice tonight you’ve caused me to glow like a lightening bug.” She could feel her cheeks heating with embarrassment.

  Luke lifted her chin to his face, a sly grin played across his full lips, “I love that I make you feel this way, just don’t go glowing for any other guys,” he winked then kissed her.

  Nicole pulled back from his lips giving him a sarcastic smile. She started to speak but her body froze as images started playing across her eyes. Kat’s house flashed to the front of her mind. The normally pristine living room was littered with papers, overturned furniture and pieces of blue glass from a shattered vase. Kat’s oversized purse lay on the floor. Keys, lipstick and her checkbook strewn a little farther away like the bag had been thrown as a weapon.

  “Nicole, what is it?”

  Nicole forced her eyes to focus on Luke as she pulled herself out of the vision. “Kat.” she gasped. “Something is wrong,” she said moving toward the car.

  Chapter 12

  Nicole and Luke pulled to the front of Kat’s house, parking beside her dark green Jeep. They jumped out of the car and Luke stopped, touching the hood of the jeep. “It’s still warm. She hasn’t been home long.”

  She nodded then turned up the stone path that led to the front porch. Luke pulled her to a stop pointing to the front door. It was open with the door frame busted. Easy for anyone to see that someone forced their way inside, powering their way past the dead bolt she remembered Kat had installed a few years back. Kat had feared living alone even though Nicole had reassured her that she had nothing to worry about. Most people in this small town never locked their doors. They trusted their neighbors and for the most part, people held true to treating their neighbors as they would want to be treated. Nicole felt like this ease of living was what kept her in her small town but as she looked at Kat’s smashed locks, a bit of that security was lost.

  “Try feeling inside the house. Can you tell if anyone is inside?” Luke asked in a whisper as he put his body in front of hers protectively.

  Nicole forced herself not to run inside to save her friend from an unknown fate and did as he asked. She closed her eyes and tried to listen for any thoughts, plans, ideas or hell, even a hiccup that would hint of a person waiting to ambush them but all she got was silence. She opened her eyes and shook her head at him. “Nothing.” she whispered. “Do you feel anything?”

  He shook his head but still crept up to the door in a slight crouch, ready for anyone that might have slipped under the radar. He moved into the doorway, eyes searching the room in front of him. “Do you have your gun?” he whispered.

  “Yes.” she was glad she remembered to pick it up at her apartment now.

  “Okay, wait here.”

  Before she could protest, he was gone. A blur of motion was all she caught, then he was out of sight. She could feel a slight tug in her mind as he moved around the house from room to room. Her brows pressed together as she tried to figure out if she was following his mind or if this, too, was another ability just now surfacing. She knew the second he started back to where she was, she could feel the pull as if there were an invisible rope tying them together. Was this what Luke was talking about, how one warrior could feel where another warrior was in battle? Before she could finish her thought, Luke was standing in front of her. She pushed the issue to the back of her mind to revisit later when there wasn’t a life or death situation nipping at her feet.

  “There’s no one here but there is no doubt there was a fight.” He moved out of the doorway so she could enter.

  The living room was just as she had seen it, right down to the placement of the blue shards of broken glass. She moved down the hallway where pictures had been knocked off the walls. She picked up one, shaking the picture loose from the crumpled frame. It was of Kat and herself on Fourth of July a few years back. They had decided spontaneously to head down to Panama City, Florida. She remembered the fun she and Kat had that weekend, lying on the beach, drinking Margaritas, checking out hot guys and laughing until their sides hurt. That was the weekend her abilities started to emerge, causing her to do away with the fun side of herself. The picture made her heart ache to see her best friend’s smiling face again.

  “I bet she really hates me now. She’s in trouble because of who I am or better yet, what I am. I will make this right.” She spoke to herself placing the picture on the hall table that stood untouched amongst the damage. Luke placed a comforting hand on her shoulder as she moved further down the hall.

  Nicole stepped inside of Kat’s bedroom. Kat took so much pride in decorating. The walls were a crimson red, matching her bedcovers perfectly and the queen-sized bed sported a large black, leather headboard that took up most of the space on one wall. There was a large dresser on the other wall, also in a modern black style, and the floor was covered in the plushest white carpet Nicole had ever seen. It made you want to take your shoes off just so you could feel it under your bare feet. But on the far wall, near the door to the walk-in closet, Kat’s large vanity and everything that it held was flipped over. The mirror had managed not to shatter but several bottles of perfume had crashed together spilling out onto the luxurious carpet.

  Nicole stepped around the mess making her way to check the closet. Maybe Kat had time to leave a note before she was found. She glanced down at the floor spotting something red. At first she thought a bottle of nail polish had met its demise too but as she drew closer she realized her mistake. “Blood,” she gasped.

  Luke had stayed in the doorway as Nicole walked the room but when she spoke, he moved to her side, examining the spot on the floor. “Looks like she tried to hide in the closet but whoever took her drug her out by her hair,” he pointed to a clump of black hair on the floor in the open doorway of the closet. “She must have been fighting by the looks of the vanity and quite possibly, someone ended up with a bloody nose or a bad scratch.”

  Nicole’s worry lessened a bit since she knew Luke was right. There wasn’t enough blood for someone to be badly injured but the fact remained that her best friend was kidnapped and she didn’t have a clue where to start searching for her. “You’re right,” she sighed as she ran her hand across her forehead. “But now what? We don’t know what to do next. I mean we have a good idea of who took her, but how in the hell do we get her back?” Her voice started to quiver as hopelessness filled her. “This is entirely my fault. I should’ve made her talk to me. I should’ve forced my way through that front door and made her hear me out, then she would have been prepared.” She started to pace the room, blinking rapidly to clear away the tears that were threatening to spill over.

  A loud beep sounded in the room causing Nicole to stop her pacing. She stood still for a second then started searching her pocket
s, pulling out her cell phone. “Someone sent me a text,” she flipped the phone open and hit a button. “It’s from Kat’s phone!” She pressed another button then read aloud, “I don’t give up that easy. If you want your friend back alive, keep your phone close. I’ll be chatting with you real soon.”

  Luke took the phone from Nicole’s shaking hand. “What kind of bullshit is this? Why would they make us wait?” He ran a hand through his hair as he read the message over again. “What are they up to?” he mumbled, brows crumpled together in thought.

  “They are hatching a plan while we stand here, doing nothing.”

  “I’m sure that’s what they will be thinking but,” He pulled her close, running the backside of his fingers along the length of her jaw, “we are going to get you ready to fight, like the true super warrior you are.” He placed a tender kiss on her lips then added, “I’m going to call Sage. We will need her help too.”

  “Sage?” she sputtered “That crazy woman hates you and I’m not too sure that she doesn’t hate me too.”

  He chuckled, “I don’t care for her much either but she was right about me not being able to teach you everything you need to know. I can help with your warrior half and she can teach you to control your fae blood.” He let out a deep sigh as he pulled back looking her in the eyes. “I can’t let you keep wandering around blind. This may be the only way to save Kat.”

  Nicole stared into his deep hazel eyes, watching his forehead crease with lines as he waited for her to answer. She would do anything to save Kat and she still owed someone for what happened to her dad, be it Ronald, Detective Spade or Loch…someone was going to pay. “Call her.”

  *****

  Nicole stood in almost the exact spot where she started her morning yesterday only this time there was Sage, the Gothic fae in the group and James had decided to pull up a lawn chair to enjoy the show. “No pressure,” she mumbled to herself as she tried to focus on setting fire to her hands for about the hundredth attempt this hour. So far, she had only managed to make her palms glow. Focusing was proving to be difficult for her today. She had gotten very little sleep last night as the hurt look in Kat’s eyes kept playing over and over again in her head. That coupled with the guilt of putting her friend in danger only added to her insomnia.

  And today her mind kept drifting back to her best friend, wondering if she was okay, wishing she had some way to find her and regretting that she hadn’t told her everything when she had the chance.

  “You are going about this all wrong,” said Sage who had been quiet since her arrival out of nowhere moments after they walked into the pasture. Nicole wanted to question that trick but decided she had enough on her plate as it was, so she added it to her “Need to Know Later” list. “She needs to figure out how to control her mind first, then everything else will be simple.” She was leaning up against a fence post picking at her black fingernail polish as if she were bored out of her mind by the training session. She was still dressed in all black, but today the leather was replaced by a long flowing dress with a black and silver corset around her waist, boosting her ample breast. A large silver cross lay on her pale white chest but she was still wearing the bright red lipstick that Nicole had came to think of as Sage’s trademark.

  “Well we didn’t call you here to stand around and look like death warmed over,” Luke snapped at her. It was obvious that the two hated each other beyond words even though he had swallowed his pride and asked her to help. But already the tension between the two was thick. “Show her what she needs to know,” he hissed.

  A sly grin stretched across Sage’s lips as she pushed off from the post. She sashayed up to Luke, blowing a kiss in his face as she passed then she glanced at Rhys, who still wasn’t acting like his normal cocky self, and gave him a flirty wink. “About time they realized where your true greatness comes from.” She pushed her hair back behind her ear, revealing the pointed tip and adding an exclamation point to her comment.

  Nicole rolled her eyes at Sage’s show and was sure she heard James chuckling softly from his chair. “The stupid warriors are making this too complicated. You’re a smart girl, after all, you are half fae, so we’ll make this fast. I’ve got places to be and people to do.” Sage winked at Nicole as she grabbed her by the shoulders, turning her until her back was to the warriors. “Close your eyes and picture a door in your mind.”

  “What?” Nicole twisted her face, “Meditation is your big idea to help me?”

  “No. Now do what I said before I change my mind about helping you,” Sage placed a hand on her hip as she waited.

  Nicole let out an exasperated breath as she closed her eyes. “Fine.”

  “Picture a door that is closed, and behind that door is all the power your blood holds, fae and warrior, both waiting for you to let it out.”

  Nicole could see a door in her mind. An aged wooden door carved with beautiful intertwined knots and a large gold handle. Around the door, she could see the glow of light shining through the small cracks. “I see it,” she whispered.

  “Good, now reach out and open the door.”

  Nicole felt Sage place one hand on her left shoulder and the other one directly over her heart. Her body tensed from the closeness of the strange woman but she ignored it, refocusing on the door in her vision. She took a deep breath to steady herself then mentally reached for the door, pulling it open.

  First, the light was blinding, a kaleidoscope of reds and blues covered her vision but the pain that followed forced her body to crumple to the ground. A jolt of electricity overtook her, starting in her chest then following the path of each vein and traveling every inch of her. Then there was blackness.

  “Ye bloody killed her, ye winch!” Rhys’ voice was rough and strained as it echoed in Nicole’s ears. She could feel someone holding her and stroking her hair in slow soothing movements.

  “She’s fine, see? She’s breathing again,” Sage said, her tone was casual as though near death experiences were nothing new to her.

  Nicole tried to speak but only a small moan escaped her lips. Aftershocks jerked her body as she tried to move but the biggest problem was the constant mumbling. Her dad was cursing, “That bitch tried to kill my baby!” and Luke kept repeating, “Please let her be all right, please let her be all right.” She tried again to move, this time focusing on just her arm but nothing happened. Her body had short-circuited, refusing to obey her mind’s commands. She decided to start small by trying to open her eyes. After a few moments of concentration she managed to force a small opening between her lids. Her blurred vision revealed the silhouette of someone cradling her and soon the scent of musk filled her nose which she recognized as Luke’s. She tried to say his name but, once again, only a small moan was audible.

  “Stop fussing over her Luke, she’s waking up. I can hear her mind running in circles.” Sage snorted a small laugh then added. “You’ll be bowing to my greatness soon enough, you just wait.”

  The air around Nicole whooshed in her ears as Luke lifted her up and started carrying her toward the house. She tried again to open her eyes, but managed only a quick flutter before they closed shut again. She could hear Rhys saying, “Me princess shouldn’t put up with that scanger fae, maybe she will have a row wif her when she comes to. Would serve the scrubber right, it would.” She waited for the explosion from Sage after Rhys’ blunt words but none were said. They entered the house and Luke laid her down on the couch.

  “Why isn’t she waking up?” James asked, his voice quavering as if tears were just seconds away.

  “She is.” Sage snapped.

  Nicole listened as a string of profanities poured from her dad. She had never heard him talk like this before. Sure, he would sometimes say the small ones but never had he used “fuck” and “bitch” within seconds of each other. “Dad, stop cussing out Sage. You’re freaking me out,” she whispered.

  A shrill laugh came from Sage causing Nicole’s ears to ring. “I told you!” she giggled again, “You may kis
s my feet now… better yet, how about ye kiss me arse ye warrior buffoons,” she bellowed in a horrid Irish accent.

  “What is she talking about?” Nicole whispered as she forced her eyes to crack open again.

  “You heard inside my head Nicole. I wasn’t cursing Sage out loud… but you heard me.”

  “Not just you Pops,” added Sage with a smirk, “she is hearing all of you.” The smile was evident in her voice. Nicole could picture her bright red lips stretched into an arrogant smile. “Her mind is firing off in so many directions that I can’t keep up.”

  Nicole managed to turn her head toward the group who were gaping at her like she was some kind of cool science experiment. “What did you do to me?” she groaned. A slow feed of energy began charging into her catatonic body causing her limbs to tingle.

  “I stopped your heart.”

  “You killed me!” Nicole pushed herself up onto her elbows despite the protests coming from her arms and head. She tried to glare at Sage but her vision blurred in and out of focus from the sudden movement.