Before I could stand back up, Edge was pulling me into his arms. “What happened, I thought you were ready?”
“Sorry, I was thinking,” I said. Not the best explanation, but it was the truth.
“Thinking? What could have been more important than remembering to defend yourself?”
“Hey, Edge? Matheson needs to see you,” Jessa called out as she made her way over to us.
Edge expelled a deep breath. “Can it wait? I’m in the middle of trying to drown Jade right now.”
“Ha ha, so funny,” Jessa said, rolling her eyes. “Besides, you’re doing this wrong anyway.”
I watched the anger build in Edge’s eyes. He snapped his teeth at Jessa in response.
“Oh please,” Jessa sneered. “Like you’re going to do anything about it. I happen to be pretty bad ass out there when we take on the Triad,” Jessa said as she tossed her windblown hair over her shoulder.
“What does Matheson want?” Edge asked, ignoring her taunt.
“I don’t know. He just asked me to tell you to come see him,” she replied.
Edge turned toward me. “I’ll be right back.”
“Touchy, isn’t he?” she said with a burst of laughter.
“Knock it off, Jessa. Why would you push him like that?”
“Because, he’s taking it way too easy on you. I lived with you. I know what you can and can’t handle.” She winked.
It was true. Jessa and Rainy had witnessed a multitude of things over the past few years and could attest that I’m a lot stronger than I look. They know my quirks and all the right buttons to push to get a desired reaction. We’d gone toe-to-toe before, just not with magic.
She smirked. “So whadaya say? Want me to step in for a little bit before Edge comes back?”
Jessa was right, even if she went about it the wrong way. I also knew that she would push me past my limits and would know when my mind was slipping off somewhere else.
“Let’s do this.”
“Okay, so what all have you learned so far?” she asked.
“Shielding myself and countering attacks.”
Jessa’s lips pulled into a frown. “That’s it?”
“I’m having a hard time keeping my shield up and countering. I usually end up dropping my shield when I counter and then I’m stopping to put it back in place. I don’t understand why I can’t do both things at once.”
“We’re going to change that immediately,” Jessa said, taking a couple steps back. With enough distance between us, she cocked her head sideways and studied me.
“I think I have an idea.”
I shifted from one foot to the other. I knew that look. It meant she was up to no good.
“Here’s what we’re going to do. You are going to put your shield up and brace yourself. No matter what, concentrate on your shield and staying on your feet.” She turned away and walked further down the beach. “Close your eyes, keep ‘em closed and above all, trust me, Jade.”
I had no doubt in my mind that whatever was coming wasn’t going to be good. I focused on my shield. It was humming and snapping as if in anticipation of Jessa. I braced my feet and closed my eyes. “I’m ready.”
Before I could worry about what she was planning, I was slammed into with a force so strong that my feet stumbled and I fell to the ground.
“GET UP!” Jessa yelled.
I blindly made it to my feet before another burst of energy hit me in the chest, driving me backwards.
“UP!” she yelled again.
My feet were pulled out from under me and my back connected with the sand, taking my breath away.
“GET ON YOUR FEET!” She kept yelling and pushing me around as I continued to stumble.
My anger began to brew. If she knocked me down one more time, I was going to snap.
A strong burst of wind lifted my body off the ground and I went sailing through the air. When my ass hit the sand, I was furious. My eyes snapped open. Power surged from my body. I was going to wipe that pretty little smirk off Jessa’s face.
I called forth enough wind to knock down a house and sent her tumbling across the beach. When her body stopped rolling, she was back on her feet and sending a plastic chair at my head. I didn’t stop to think where it had come from. Instead, I sent a bolt of energy that had it spinning out into the ocean waves.
I countered each of Jessa’s attacks up until she threw a bolt of energy inside a sand storm. I blocked the sand, but the energy blasted my shield. It shuddered and popped, leaving me defenseless. I watched as another burst of pure energy sailed towards me. My shield sprang back to life and I knew what to do. I grabbed the energy, weaving it into my own magic, and slung it back.
Jessa tried to throw herself out of the way, but she was too slow and the energy collided with her leg. She screamed out in agony.
I could hear Edge shouting as I ran to Jessa’s side. Her eyes were closed and she was shaking as she held on to her leg.
Rainy slid alongside of me in the sand, knocking me out of the way as she placed her hand on Jessa’s leg. Blue light peeked out between her fingers and Jessa groaned a sigh of relief. Her hand slipped and she stared at me in admiration. “A couple more practices like that and you’ll be ready to take on just about anyone.”
“What the hell were you thinking?” Edge barked. “Are you completely insane, Jessa? How could you try to teach her like this, she’s not ready.”
“I just taught her how to save her own life, so back the fuck off,” Jessa interrupted him as she shot up off the sand and got in Edge’s face. “She’s stronger than you think, so quit babying her.” Jessa knocked into Edge’s shoulder as she limped off.
Edge’s jaw tensed, but he didn’t say anything. Rainy turned me to look at her. “Are you okay?” she spoke softly.
“I’m fine, better than fine. I feel, I feel..” and that was it, there was no way to describe the feeling of rightness. I knew deep down that Jessa had provoked me. She wanted me to know my magic as much as I wanted to know it. For that, I would always be grateful to her. Edge was going to be harder to get through to. Jessa had been correct. Edge didn’t want to hurt me so he was showing me in baby steps. Maybe he thought that if he kept my learning at a slower rate, then he could keep me from joining with them to fight.
Rainy’s lips turned up into a gentle smile as she squeezed my arm before turning away. She stopped in front of Edge. He was still furious. She placed a hand on his chest and he sucked in a shocked breath. “No one here would ever try to hurt Jade, including Jessa. You of all people know what the Triad is capable of. Don’t deny her the right to know how to protect herself–even if it means she gets hurt in the process. If you can’t do that, let the others help you, but please don’t take that away from her. It’s too important.” Rainy lowered her hand and walked away.
Edge sat down on the sand. His arms looped over his knees as he drew a calming breath. I knew how he felt. Rainy had pulled the anger right out of him. She had a way of balancing you out. I think it had something to do with her being a healer. The feeling leaves you a little melancholy for a few minutes, but when she pulls you back from your anger, you see everything just a little bit clearer. I’d seen her do that same thing to Jessa a few times.
I slid down beside Edge and waited for him to speak. It was always what Rainy would do for Jessa. If we tried to talk to her first, she’d just break down and cry. I didn’t want to make Edge feel worse than he already did. Jessa had just served him a hard dose of reality that he had to swallow.
The silence was enjoyable. The waves crashed into the sand as the sun blazed above us. The breeze blew gently, cooling our skin. Edge’s arm draped along my shoulder and pulled me into his chest.
“I’m sorry,” he said, placing his lips to my hair.
“For what?”
“Jessa was right. I’ve been trying to teach you on my terms, instead of what was best for you.” He shifted his body to look at me. “When you sent that last push of energy at Jess
a….that was amazing.”
I blushed at his praise. I felt far from amazing.
“I’m going to see if the others want to practice with you too. It will give you a feel for varied sorts of magic.”
“I’m still counting on you to help me with the spells in here,” I said, pointing at my head.
Edge’s lips turned up in a half smile. “I will.”
The next few days were very hectic. The Triad were even more relentless with their continued attacks. They were beginning to raid more than one Coven at a time. My training was slowing down since most days everyone was taking shifts to cover the monitors or answer distress calls coming in.
I helped Jude watch the activity on the computers and linked up with whoever was out in the field, relaying information through the headset. There was no way Edge was going to let me out just yet. Not until I proved beyond any doubt that I could handle myself in a full out attack.
A distress call had come in a few minutes ago. Edge had swiftly kissed my lips and ran out the door with Matheson and Julie, determined to stop the attack. Jude sat beside me feeding me information as I repeated it back to Edge.
“Shit,” Jude grumbled. “Two more just popped in behind Julie,” he said, clenching his fist.
“Two more behind ya, girl,” I told Julie through the headset.
“Got it,” she replied.
“The bastards are getting sneaky,” Jude murmured as he continued to watch his screen.
“Looks like they’re about done.” He pointed to the screen and I watched as the last red dot disappeared. Moments later, they were stepping back through the door. Julie’s arm was pulled against her chest and Edge’s shirt was wrapped around it. The blood had soaked almost all the way through.
I yelled for Rainy. She barreled around the door, almost colliding with me. Her gaze shifted to Julie being helped into a chair.
Edge’s shirt hit the closest garbage can with a wet splat as Rainy barked out the items she needed. “I’ll fix this right away, but I want to get it cleaned up first before I use any healing.”
“You think there’s something in there?” Matheson asked as he scrubbed his hand along his jaw.
Rainy picked at my arm. “I’m not sure. It’s hard to see around all the blood and dirt.”
Jude placed the requested items on the table and Rainy began cleaning Julie’s arm. Julie hissed as Rainy poured a clear liquid on the open wound.
“Give it a second and the pain will numb.”
Julie bit her lip as tears pooled in her eyes. Rainy reached back and grabbed a small towel and began cleaning the dried blood and dirt away She stopped every so often to douse Julie’s arm with more of the clear liquid.
“What is that stuff? It stinks.” Julie waved her hand in front of her face to get rid of the smell. Rainy stopped wiping long enough to look up at her. “It’s herbs that I combine with grain alcohol, which is the burn you felt in the beginning.”
Rainy bent her head back down and finished cleaning the jagged wound. “What cut you like this?”
“Not sure, but whatever it was, it tore into my arm. I was able to smack it away before it blew apart.”
Rainy’s hands moved up and down Julie’s arm. On the outer edges, just under where the skin was torn, Rainy swiped her finger in the wound and pulled out a shiny piece of metal.
Jude plucked it from her fingers. “I think we’re compromised,” he said as he placed it in Edge’s hand.
“What is it?” Julie asked.
“It’s probably a tracker. Destroy it,” Edge said, holding his arm away from his body.
Dagger’s hand hovered over Edge’s and the small metal piece caught on fire. I was intrigued at what was happening since I’d never seen anyone work with fire before. There weren’t many chances to do that kind of magic so close to the water. Blue flames danced in Edge’s palm. Smoke wafted out from between their hands as the tracker turned red. Dagger’s hand slammed down on to Edge’s, gripping tight as the tracker blew apart. Edge dusted off his hand and sat down in front of Jude’s computer.
“Jude, get another security monitor in here,” he said while running his fingers over the keys.
Before Jude could reply, the alarm went off. Another Coven was under attack. Edge slammed his hand against the table. “I’m going to rip Lorenzo’s heart out, personally,” he growled.
“I’ll go,” Dagger said as he yanked the door open. Jessa and Matheson slipped out behind him. Seconds later, another alarm went off.
“This can’t be good,” Jude said as he scrubbed his hand along the side of his face.
“I’ll be back,” Edge said, shoving the chair back and jogging to the door.
“I’ll go with you.” Julie darted across the room to follow Edge out.
Jude sat down in front of the computer and blindly tossed the headset to me. Daggers voice broke through the speaker. “What do you see?”
There was no reprieve for the next few hours. As soon as one of the groups came back, they were out the door again. I couldn’t help but wonder if the Triad was trying to get us so scrambled that our defenses slipped.
The emergency calls kept coming in back-to-back. With each return, the others were starting to look like they were ready to drop.
“They’re trying to figure out who’s stopping the attacks,” Jude said as he stretched his arms out in front of him with a loud yawn.
Julie was the last back. As soon as the door slammed closed, she sprawled on the floor. “I’m going to scream if that damn alarm goes off one more time,” she said. Her words muffled against the tile.
I looked around the room. If they continued answering the emergency calls and didn’t get some rest soon, someone was going to slip up and either get caught by the Triad or worse, killed by them.
I prayed the damn alarm would stay quiet.
Even after a few moments of silence from the alarm, no one left the room. Dagger slouched down against the wall, crossed his ankles and closed his eyes. Jessa staggered over and used his legs as a pillow. Rainy pulled up a chair and curled into it, while Julie used the table as a makeshift bed. Matheson headed to the kitchen muttering ‘coffee’.
Jude was still monitoring the screens as Edge paced behind him. His finger tapped against his lips in thought.
“Amp the security around the perimeter of the house. Make it so that even if a grasshopper jumps, we are alerted, Jude.”
“What are the chances that it was, in fact, a tracker we destroyed?” Jude asked.
Edge stopped behind him. A crease formed on his brow. “I don’t know if it was or not. If it was, than Lorenzo either knows it’s us and he’s trying to trace our location, or he doesn’t know it’s us and he’s trying to draw us out.”
“We’re not gonna be able to keep going at this pace. If he keeps up these attacks, we’ll be caught for sure. No one here has ever had to fight like this. They’re all drained,” Jude said, turning his chair to face Edge.
“Let’s just hope they’re trying to recover, like we are. The Triad lost a lot of Enforcers tonight. With any luck, Lorenzo is scrambling to get them replaced.” Edge grabbed the chair on the other side of Jude and slid into it.
“How long before we can turn this around on him?” Jude asked.
Edge looked at me. “Once Jade is comfortable with using her own magic, we can move onto the spells in the book. I won’t risk her going out there with us not knowing what that book can do.”
Edge was right, as much as I hated to admit it. The book had many spells I could call forth. Spells I could use to keep us all safe or get us all killed. If drawing from energy was the base of the spell, then I could take out anything and everything around me, including all of them. It was too dangerous for me to try and use magic I didn’t understand.
But that was all going to change tomorrow, even if I had to do it myself. I could no longer sit back and watch while everyone else was fighting.
The woman in the book hadn’t made another appearan
ce and that was a little scary for me. I’d expected her to be ready to blast the inside of my head out the inside of my head in her escape. What was she waiting for? Pages fluttered as I directed my thoughts to the spell book. I looked down at the words on my arm. Why had I gone through so much to get the spell translated only to have her remain in my head? I still had no clue who she was and what she was really after. Sure she wanted the Triad wiped out. At this point, who didn’t?
I laid my head on the table and closed my eyes. There was no use going to bed only to be woken by the blaring alarm that undoubtedly would be going off at any time.
The spell book pages began fluttering as my body slid into a deep sleep.
I stood in front of the table where the book rested. Her wispy form rose from the pages and shifted in front of me.
“So eager to talk again I see,” she said.
What did she mean? I didn’t come to her, she brought me here.
Her brow quirked at my thought, “I cannot bring you here.”
“How is that possible?”
She sighed heavily. “I ask for a savior and you give me this!” She shook her fist in the air. “Goddess, you are a cruel, cruel woman.”
“You asked the Goddess for a savior?”
She snorted. “And I got you. How lucky could one bound soul be?”
I cringed at her sarcasm.
“It’s not like I asked for this either,” I blurted back at her.
She rolled her eyes and hitched her shoulder.
“So we’re stuck with each other until when?” I asked.
“Until it is time.”
“Time for what exactly?”
“You will know when I tell you.”
“Probably about the same time you tell me your name,” I grumbled.
“DARE YOU NAUGHT, LITTLE GIRL! I have crushed others far better than you.”
Her misty breath slammed against my face like ice crystals. She hovered before me, teeth clenched as if she were holding herself back from striking me. I kept silent until her form retreated to hover over the book again.
Casted (Casted series) Page 23