“Yes,” laughed Sage, “Brilliant strategy if I do say so myself. I watched inside of your mind until you touched the power then, bam,” she popped her hands together in front of her. “I zapped you with enough energy to stop your heart from beating, then it was all up to you. Either you’d embrace the power or die.” She leaned against the wall, giving Nicole a quick wink as she beamed a bright smile.
“How did you know it was going to work?” asked Luke, his brows almost vanishing into his hair line.
“I didn’t,” Sage shrugged, “but it did and now she will be able to really train. The power will flow without her having to force anything.”
“What about this?” Nicole pointed a shaking finger to her temple. “I’m hearing everything all at once. Everyone else is so loud that I’m fighting to hear my own thoughts.”
“Easy, I’ll help you,” said Sage.
“Not if it involves killing me again.” Nicole rubbed her temples as she sat up on the couch. She was starting to feel more herself again but different at the same time. Like she had just run a marathon but her muscles were stronger and faster from the sheer experience of the race and only minutes after she crossed the finish line.
“You shouldn’t have taken a chance with her life. That was very foolish and arrogant of you Sage,” snapped Luke, his eyes were ringed in red and his hands fisted at his sides.
“Easy, down boy,” teased Sage as she turned her attention back to Nicole. “Just simple training, I’ll show you how to block out everyone and how to shield your mind from other readers, like myself. Then you can get back to learning the other, less important, half of yourself.”
Nicole could hear the fight building in Rhys’ and Luke’s heads as the insult sunk in. She stuck a hand up in front of the two men before they could speak their minds, “Not worth it so just stop.” She pushed up from the couch turning to face the Gothic fae, “Let’s do this. We are running out of time to save Kat.”
*****
To Nicole’s surprise, Sage was a great teacher, and in no time Nicole could block other people’s thoughts fairly well. But then again, when your coach is suggesting pornographic thoughts of having sex with you, you’ll do whatever it takes to close your mind off. A shutter crept down her spine as the image of Sage’s tongue gliding up her neck flashed into her mind. “Stop that,” she groaned rolling her eyes at her grinning instructor.
“You let down your guard. You have to learn to hold it in place until you want to hear me,” she blew Nicole a playful kiss. “Unless you’ve decided you like what you hear.” She purred. “No?” she poked out her bottom lip, “well maybe later.”
After another hour of practice, Nicole had a good handle on blocking the Gothic seductress out of her head as well as keeping Sage from reading her mind, most of the time.
Luke opened the door, stepping out onto the back patio where the two women sat. Before he could speak, Sage rolled her eyes, “Yes it’s your turn with the princess now.” She huffed while leaning back into her lounge chair.
“Could you not call me “princess” please. I’m far from being prim and proper royalty.” Nicole chuckled.
“But you are a princess, at least from your fae blood line. You’re power comes directly from Queen Titania's blood, the most powerful and wise of all fae, that makes you royalty.” Sage stared with wide eyes at Nicole’s remark about her heritage.
“But that doesn’t mean anything now-a-days right? I’m sure fae’s have evolved past having kings and queens just like most the world outside of fairy tale land has.” She smirked at her own joke.
Luke and Sage shared a quick glance, both expressing the same look, eyes wide and mouth working to form words that didn’t come out.
Nicole let out a sigh, “Well tell me this. What happened to Queen Titania?” She wasn’t sure if she should tell them about her dreams just yet so she quickly thought of a way to get more of the story without giving away her secret. She was pretty sure she knew the answer to her next question but she asked anyway. “Is she still…alive?”
Sage shook her head as a look of sadness covered her eyes, “After the Queen was forced to hide her child and she returned to the castle, she…chose to give up her immortality and allowed herself to grow old.”
“Why would she do that?” Nicole asked with lines of confusion creasing her forehead.
“Alios, her love, was dead and she had to give away her child to protect him.” Sage shrugged as she picked at the hem of her dress, “What’s the point in living forever if you have nothing to live for?”
Nicole thought about her words as she tried to imagine what it would be like to lose her soul mate then have to walk away from her child, the only piece of her lover she had left, just to protect him. The thought had her heart aching as she struggled to keep her eyes from filling with tears.
Luke reached down and rubbed her shoulder softly, “There was a mystery to Queen Titania’s death that was never solved. The night she was buried the gateway to the fea burial grounds was lost.”
“Yes, I’m sure that was due to you super genius warriors,” snorted Sage. “I know damn well what happened to the Queen.”
Luke rolled his eyes as he took a seat in a lounger next to Nicole’s, “Do enlighten us ol’ wise fairy.”
“Legend tells us whoever is buried last in a graveyard is responsible for carrying water to souls trapped in purgatory. It remains that soul’s duty until someone else is buried, then that person can cross over.”
“That’s just a fairy tale Sage and you know it, no pun intended.”
“No it’s not,” she pointed a red fingernail in Luke’s direction, “and I’m sure your sweet little daddy had something to do with this. I just can’t figure out how he did it,” she leaned back in her lounger staring out across the pasture.
Nicole’s mind was running wide open as she sat in silence. She knew that her grandmother acted as if she was trapped in that cemetery but how could she figure out where the place was so she could free her soul, if all of this was true?
After a moment, Luke extended a hand to Nicole. “Come on, we need to get back to training.”
The group moved to the green pasture for the second time of the day and spent several hours going over the basic uses of fire. Luke explained that there were two kinds of fire, red and blue. Blue fire was the hottest of the two but took more energy to create, so he advised her to only use blue as a last resort. He said it was better to preserve energy in battle than to put all of your power into one punch and miss, leaving yourself defenseless until you recover.
Nicole could have her hands glowing with bright red fire, in a heartbeat now, but directing the wind was proving to be more difficult to master. She had to feel her way around the possibilities of wind by herself. According to Luke, the ability to control wind was very rare so they didn’t have any experience in how to guide her.
“Let’s try some target practice,” said Luke. He had set up a small fire pit and in the center of the stone-lined circle he put an old scarecrow. “Stand over here,” he moved her to a spot where she had to aim between two trees to reach her target. “Try to light up the scarecrow.”
“Did you forget that I am a cop too?” she grinned. “This is police academy stuff,” she wiggled her brows at him as she raised her flaming hand, sending a glowing ball of fire straight for the scarecrow’s head. She hit her target square in the face, but with such force it sent the dummy flying twenty feet back into some tall sage grass. Within seconds the brown twigs flamed up and started spreading. “Oh hell!” Nicole covered her mouth with a glowing hand.
In the next second, she was stomping on the rapidly spreading fire but with little effect, then she found herself standing next to a small pond about two hundred yards away. Without thinking, she called the wind to her and sent it into the water. An enormous mist rose from the surface of the pond. She was back at the expanding fire in a blink of an eye, sending the water raining down from the misty wall that hung in the air.
The grass sizzled and steamed, filling the air with a singed smell as the fire died away, leaving behind a trail of black ash that led from her feet back a few yards to the smoldering scarecrow.
An echo of laughter drew Nicole’s attention away from the mess. Luke, Sage and Rhys were all doubled over laughing. Rhys reached over and patted Luke on the back, “I think the princess is catching on just fine, brother,” he chuckled.
“Sage, you’ve got to admit her warrior half is quite impressive.” Luke smiled proudly as he watched Nicole walk toward him with her arms crossed over her chest and her brows crumpled together. “She doesn’t have a clue how special she is.”
“I’m starting to see what all the fuss is about.” Sage chuckled, “Maybe this isn’t a total waste of my time after all.”
“Where were y’all at when I needed help?” Nicole came to a stop in front of the group placing one hand on her hip as she glared at each smiling face.
“Didn’t look like you needed our help Wonder Woman,” Luke teased as he kissed her on the cheek.
“Do you know how sexy that was?” Sage purred, winking at Nicole. “You’re such a tease.”
Nicole huffed as she rolled her eyes, “I don’t know what you all saw but a little help...” A beep from her cell phone cut her words off. She pulled it out so she could see the small screen. “Tonight, 8pm at Bank’s Airfield. Come alone.” Nicole stared at the screen until it went black. Her heart sped up as the world around her seemed to stop, “Two hourswe have two hours to come up with a plan to save Kat.”
“Yes, but first you need to find out who has her,” said Sage.
“And how do you expect me to do that?” Nicole lifted one side of her upper lip causing her nose to wrinkle. “Guess I’ll just text them back saying ‘I would like to bring the host or hostess a gift so could you please give me their names so I can properly address the card?’ I’m sure that will work.”
Sage glared at Nicole, not finding her snide remark funny, “No genius, you were able to use your power to locate your dad so…,” she waved her hand sarcastically in front of her waiting for Nicole to finish the sentence.
“That was different. The visions just sort of dropped into me, I didn’t do it on command.”
Luke placed a hand on her shoulder, “It’s worth a try Nicole.”
Nicole nodded, knowing that they were right. It would be a lot easier to fight someone if she knew who she was up against. It would also make the weight on her shoulders a little less to bear if she could see that Kat was unharmed. She closed her eyes and tried to focus on her best friend. She pictured Kat’s smiling face in her mind but it morphed into the disappointed friend she last saw. She took a deep breath trying to see past her emotions and reached out to Kat’s beautiful soul.
She was flying light and carefree over green trees and blue streams then everything turned black and cold as her sight faded. The smell of mold and dust overpowered her as she struggled to see anything in the darkness. She reached forward touching a cold, rough cement wall and the sounds of tiny, scurrying feet met her ears. Slowly, her eyes started to adjust and she could make out small shapes. An old bench against a wall, a few small shelves with various sized cans sparely placed, most missing labels, and a small oil lamp sitting unlit atop a worn table. “I’m in a storm cellar, I think,” she spoke to herself hoping that Luke, Sage and Rhys would be able to hear her outside of the vision.
“It could be anywhere. There’s nothing that makes it any different than the thousands of other ones across the state.” She walked deeper into the darkness of the small underground room. Soon she noticed a mass taking shape in the back corner as she walked. “I see Kat. She’s tied to a chair.” Nicole moved closer trying desperately to see her. She gasped when her friend’s face rolled to the side, a small groan escaping her mouth as she struggled to open her eyes. “She’s been beaten. Her eyes are swollen shut and her lip has dried blood caked on it.” Nicole felt her eyes start to tingle with tears as her heart broke for her friend. Her clothes were dirty and torn. Her nice silk shirt was missing several buttons leaving most of her chest exposed and her beautiful black silk hair looked like someone had drug her through mud. “This is all my fault,” she whispered.
The sound of the door being unlocked brought Nicole’s thoughts back into focus. She moved against the far wall watching as light beamed into the small room. The figure’s features were blocked out by the sun pouring in around the door but when the person reached the bottom of the stairs and pulled a chain, the room lit up. Detective Spade stood towering in the small room. He was dressed in an expensive looking black suit and carrying a small velvet bag under his arm. He stared around the room as if searching for something, then, when his curiosity was satisfied, he moved towards Kat.
“Honey, I’m home,” his tone was equally cruel and teasing as he pulled Kat’s chin up to face him. She groaned and winced at his touch, causing him to chuckle. “Come now, I know you missed me, baby,” he slid his hand down her neck until he was low enough to rub her breast. She thrashed wildly almost tipping over the chair as she tried to break away from him. Spade grabbed her by the shoulders steadying the chair, then backhanded her across the face.
Fresh blood trickled down Kat’s quivering lip. She turned her black eyes on him as she lifted her chin high, “Nicole is gonna fuck you up, you slimy piece of shit. I’ve seen how powerful she is. You don’t stand a chance!” she spit a mouth full of blood onto his pristine suit.
“You bitch.” Spade looked down at his ruined jacket then raised his fist. Kat braced herself for the blow but Spade’s ringing cell phone stopped him. “Hello,” he paused, listening to the speaker on the other end of the line. “Yes sir, I’ll have her there in an hour.” He hit the “end call” button then turned his attention back to Kat. “Well, my dear, I’ve had fun but sadly our time is up.” He walked over, opening the small black velvet bag and began pulling things from it. “The boss is ready for you so we’ve got to make you a polite young lady again,” he turned to face her with a syringe in hand. Kat shook her head as tears streamed down her face.
Nicole screamed running toward Spade, intending to wrestle the needle away but her body passed through him. “Damn it!” she slung her arms around trying to knock the syringe from his hand but nothing happened as he continued to move toward her sobbing best friend. She placed herself between the man and Kat, squatting down so she was looking up into her friend’s battered face, “I’m coming for you Kat, do you hear me? I’m going to save you and I promise you I will make Spade pay for this with his life.” Nicole looked down as Spade’s arm passed through her chest. He grabbed Kat’s arm and inserted the needle. Within seconds, the bleeding woman went limp, tears still dripping from her chin as her breathing became shallow. Nicole stood, turning to face Spade as he packed the bag up again like some medical professional. Fire burned in her soul, pulsing through her veins with every beat of her heart, and wind started to sway her hair and clothes wildly around her.
“Nicole, open your eyes!”
She felt a hand firmly grasping her own. She mentally shook herself as she forced her eyes to open. Rhys and Sage were crouched down, shielding their faces from the tornado spinning around her. Luke was standing at her side, in the eye of the twister, with wide, pleading eyes. “Oh God, Luke,” she buried her face into his chest and cried for her friend.
Chapter 13
Time crept by as Nicole waited for sunset. She couldn’t get Kat’s bruised face out of her mind. Those swollen eyes and torn clothes were so far away from anything she could have imagined being done to her friend. The way Kat cringed at Spade’s touch made her wonder if things had gone much farther than she had seen moments ago. Her pores oozed hatred for Spade as she relived him slapping her friend over and over again in her mind. She looked down at her hands thinking about how helpless she was to stop him from putting that poison into Kat’s arm. “These hands will not miss again,” she muttered to herself as she paced, a ball of blue fire
spinning in her palm.
“Time to go,” said Luke. He ran his fingers along her cheek but she turned her face away, moving out of his reach.
“Don’t, please,” she looked out across the darkening sky, unable to meet his eyes. “I’ve lost who I am by letting myself give in to my desires. It’s my fault Kat is bloody, bruised and drugged out of her mind somewhere in a dark, cold cellar, with a sadistic trader for company.”
“Nicole, you can’t blame yourself for this,” he moved to her side. “This is not your fault.” He said each word slow then slammed his hand down on the porch railing. “You can’t turn your back on life.”
She stood there, eyes shining with unshed tears but with her chin lifted high as she stared forward. “I must do this alone. Thank you for your help,” she paused to steady her shaking voice, “your job is done. You’ve fulfilled your oath to Queen Titania so you can leave now. I have nothing to offer you.”
“Nicole you don’t…”
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