Crystal Casters: Awakening (The Crystal Casters Series Book 1)

by Jenn Nixon

  Zorin did and his body tensed, easily arousing hers. She pushed the extra heat through the siphon. He set his hand on her hip not hiding his erection this time. “I don’t know what I’m capable of, Cyndra.”

  “You’re not a monster, Zorin. You’re a man, trapped in another form. A man I need. A man I want, no matter what he looks like on the outside.”

  Zorin dipped down and caught her lips between his. Cyndra liquefied against him, deepened the kiss, and clutched his shoulders. Teasing his tongue into the kiss, he lifted her from the walkway and pressed her against the glass of the lighthouse. When he guided her legs around his waist, she felt every bit of the more she wanted from him and rocked her hips.

  He groaned and moved his hands up her sides, seductively slow touches feathering her skin as his hand slip under her shirts. Cyndra moaned against his mouth, capturing his bottom lip between her teeth. Zorin rubbed against her, sliding his hand higher and trembled when she did.

  Zorin cupped her chin with his free hand and slowly broke from her lips. “Irresistible.”

  “Yet you stopped kissing me,” she said, stroking his chin, enjoying this new look in his eyes.

  “Rune is near. Now that I’m stronger, I can sense you both again.”

  “Keep the siphon open.” Cyndra leaned in and kissed him. I want to feel you near.

  As the kiss slowed and his hold lessened, Zorin leaned back and helped her to her feet. “I will so long as I’m in control.”

  “Fair enough. About time you meet Tulli anyway. I’m sure Rune’s explained you to her by now,” Cyndra said as she approached the door. Pausing, she turned back and offered her hand, unsure if he would take it. Instead, his brow furrowed. “What?”

  “Tulli?”

  “The other caster from the journal, remember? Those wraiths we fought in Georgia were chasing her. She’s downstairs with Rune.”

  Zorin clasped her hand tightly, stopping her from going inside. “How did you confirm she’s a caster?”

  “She has the air symbol on her hand and a crystal.” The hairs on the back of her neck stood on end when he began shaking his head. “What?”

  “Cyndra, I don’t sense any other casters here beside you and Rune.”

  As he ascended, keeping a firm grip on Cyndra’s hand, Zorin followed her down the two flights of stairs and bumped into her at the bottom step.

  “What the shit?” Cyndra spat and tugged Zorin to the kitchen. “Rune?”

  The whole space was empty.

  When her body tensed against his, he squeezed her fingers. “What’s wrong?”

  “He wouldn’t leave without saying anything.” Cyndra released his hand and ran back upstairs. Zorin followed and saw her go around the widow’s walk, looking down and out as she went around the entire walkway. “Can you sense him? He’s not answering me.”

  Zorin opened his siphon completely, absorbing all the power in the air. Yes, Rune was there, strong and gentle. His trail led toward the mansion. Every muscle tensed. Cyndra palmed his bicep. “The mansion.”

  “Go,” she said.

  This time, he moved behind her, wrapped both arms around her waist, and jumped onto the railing. Cyndra quivered against him when he extended his wings. You said you trusted me.

  I meant it. Just…hold tight.

  Grinning, Zorin did just as she asked, and dove into the air, chuckling when she screeched during the upswing. Her fingers gripped his forearm as he tilted toward the ground.

  “His power is getting stronger.” Zorin glided swiftly over the field wasting no time.

  “And you don’t sense anyone else? How is that possible?”

  “You said she was awakened, had the brand?”

  Cyndra nodded. “Same as yours. I even remember thinking you’d be able to help her, being an aircaster. Wow.”

  Zorin soared close to the trees. With the siphon so open, the energy between them sizzled every time either of them got excited. When he tilted down to go even faster, she gasped and dug her nails into his skin, he clenched his jaw and slowed.

  “Mirror-wraith,” she grunted, pointing toward the east side of the mansion. The empty-handed wraith slithered up the side of the tower.

  “There, near the wall,” Zorin said, altering his direction.

  Rune stood next to a woman he’d never seen before. Both were glancing toward the mansion. Something felt very off and he tightened his hold on Cyndra as he tilted his wings to descend.

  “What are you sensing?” she asked, as her right hand heated up the closer they got to the ground.

  “I’m not certain,” he replied, landing near the tree line, twenty feet from Rune and Tulli.

  “Rune,” Cyndra called, unmoving from his hold. She dropped her hand and evoked her fire.

  Zorin gasped when an orange glow seeped off Rune’s right hand. She’s siphoning him.

  “No!” Cyndra broke from his grasp and darted forward.

  He glided behind her, watching both her arms extend. One became a wing of fire as the fingers on her other hand twitched with the beginnings of the energy swirl. When she crunched her right hand into a fist and shot her flare forward, he expected Tulli to catch fire or dust out. Instead, the woman expertly spun away from the flames, breaking the siphon with Rune. The caster collapsed on the ground.

  “What are you doing, Tulli?” Cyndra’s hand sparked with fire again.

  Zorin moved beside her, checking Rune to make sure he was breathing.

  “Your ignorance will destroy you,” Tulli replied, twisting her lips.

  “Soulless,” Cyndra gasped. “You…you can’t be, I—”

  “She was right.” The woman lifted her hand, clutching the leather strap tighter. “This was all I needed to trick you…the island barrier. Now I can go back. The pain can end.”

  “Who, Mergan? What lies did she sell you?” Zorin barked, clenching both fists as he glanced over to Tulli.

  “She promised to send me to the mirror-realm.”

  “What?” Cyndra crinkled her brow. “Why do you want to go there?”

  “To escape the hunger. End the pain. I’m…sorry. I was a caster once, like you, this isn’t what I wanted.” The Tulli imposter looked toward the mansion, then back to her and Zorin before trickling away exactly like a soulless.

  Cyndra ran over to Rune and pulled his head into her lap. “Idiots…both of us. We knew something was weird, off, we…were just so happy to find another caster, or so we thought.”

  “She was a caster. That means Mergan knows what happened to her. I need to make contact.”

  “You said she’s ignoring you.”

  “I think I can make her hear me, with your help.”

  Cyndra grinned. “Siphon me while you sleep?”

  “Another thing I enjoy. Your mind.”

  “Now you’re just brown-nosing.”

  “I have much to make up for,” he replied, turning back to the mansion again. “You said the first soulless you met wanted your crystal.”

  “Yeah, said he had to get back too,” Cyndra said as she rubbed her brow. “Do you remember anything about crystals and barriers?”

  Zorin scoured his mind for the answer, coming up short and shaking his head. “Nothing new has returned about that but…speaking of memories, Cyndra, I did remember one involving your grandparents and your father, Ben.”

  “My father?”

  “Evie told me I would forget, like the others. She also knew the humans would retaliate against any caster attack regardless of the source. Your father, I think he was saying goodbye to you.” He paused, unsure all of it needed to be said now. “I didn’t know him, I rarely met new casters after Mergan transformed me, but Evie…trusted me.”

  “Guess that runs in the family too.” Cyndra smiled up at him as she brushed the hair from Rune’s face, prepared to sit with him all night if she needed to.

  “Are you hungry?”

  “Starving but you’re not leaving my sight until Rune wakes up.”

  �
��I can carry him back to the lighthouse.”

  Cyndra sighed, swerving her eyes toward the mansion again. “Probably a good idea.”

  “What are you thinking?”

  “How possible is it that Mergan can control the wraiths from her prison?”

  “Very,” Zorin answered, watching her frown as he picked Rune up. Not leaving her either, he walked into the woods, heading back to the lighthouse, enjoying their new arrangement of an open siphon. He only seemed to take what he required when he needed it.

  “If she is, why did she want you on the island?”

  “To lure you back?” he guessed.

  “Yeah, to get Tulli—whoever she was, here,” Cyndra replied.

  “Why?”

  “That’s the next question we need to answer. I want to double-check the journal, see if there’s anything about the soulless or wraiths. You’re not a speed reader are you?”

  “Not one of my skills,” Zorin answered.

  Near the lighthouse, Cyndra paused and glanced back at the mansion again. With their bond growing stronger, Zorin sensed her confusion and curiosity mixing with the deep concern for her friend.

  “Next time we go in, we all go.”

  “Good idea,” she said, nodding and opening the lighthouse door.

  Once in the living space, Zorin brought Rune to the bedroom and set him on the lumpy mattress, letting Cyndra tend to him while he returned to the kitchen. He found some of Rune’s tealeaves in the cabinet and made a small plate of fruits and cheese for Cyndra. After he set everything on the table, he flipped through the journal while he waited.

  Cyndra walked out of the bedroom slowly shutting the door behind her. She tossed her army hat onto the couch and pulled off the oversized oxford shirt, revealing a tight t-shirt that did wonders for his pulse. “You heard my stomach growling again?”

  “My hearing is exceptional,” he replied and pushed the cup of warm tea closer to the edge of the table.

  She sat across from him and sipped the tea. “Thanks.”

  Zorin dipped his head. “There’s something else from the memory, it’s not pleasant information.”

  “Not that I normally suggest postponing the inevitable, talking to Mergan is important,” Cyndra said, pulling the journal closer. “You nap. I’m going to read this bitch cover to cover.”

  Chuckling softly, Zorin rose from his stool and rounded the table. He set his hand on her shoulder. Cyndra glanced up at him and covered his hand with hers. The energy pulsed between them with no emotional interference. “I will sleep here. Wake me if you need to.”

  “Okay,” she smiled and squeezed his fingers, “good luck.”

  Feeling as if he could sleep forever, Zorin walked into the living room eyeing the couch, knowing he’d never be comfortable even lying sideways. Instead, he got down on his stomach, letting his wings go slack against his body and propped his head on his forearm.

  Already focused on her task, Cyndra sipped her tea, yawned, and flipped the pages of the journal completely open and trusting him with her power.

  As he shut his eyes and used both casters’ fire to warm and relax his body, Zorin focused on the mansion and the woman inside, hoping the siphon made him strong enough to make contact.

  Cyndra shut the journal and glanced across the living space seeing the streaks of the setting sun lighting the room. Zorin, beyond exhausted after his encounter with the soulless and wraiths, shifted to his side, yet remained sleeping for the fourth hour in a row.

  Tracing the scorch mark she’d made a few days ago, Cyndra sighed and understood why there was no information about Mergan’s prison or the mirror-realm other than a passing mention of imprisoned casters. Evie finished the book before her confrontation.

  Cyndra was grateful for the journal. It helped her understand the odd, caster history, offered plenty of instructions on all the elements, dual and multi-casting and eventually she’d be able to do more than defend herself once she practiced. If she mastered energycasting, she could transform Zorin back. When Rune mastered earthcasting, he’d heal the world with Cyndra’s help. She even knew how to create and break barriers in theory. If reading books had any benefits whatsoever, now was the time.

  The only problem she saw was finding out which elements made up said barrier. Without evoking the right elements, nothing could undo a barrier.

  After sipping the last of her cool tea, Cyndra went to check on Rune to see him sleeping soundly, still recovering from Not-Really-Tulli’s siphon. Cyndra went over it a thousand times, realized all the mistakes they made trusting so blindly. The complete opposite of every survival instinct she usually listened to, she should have known.

  Taking advantage of every moment of her second wind, Cyndra pulled out a long T-shirt and shorts and vanished into the lavatory to take a shower. All the sunshine the last two days warmed the water, which helped to ease the tension from her shoulders. Unsure what the next few days would bring, she used a tiny drop of her favorite wildflower soap to wash her hair while she had the chance.

  As she came out of the lavatory, drying her hair, Zorin grunted and rolled onto his back. His striking face tightened. Cyndra evoked the energy to her hand. Cool vapors swirled around her fingers. The power seemed so much strong when casting this element first.

  Aware her energy soothed Zorin the way his calmed her, Cyndra stepped closer, watching the lines on his forehead fade and his jaw relax. His eyes flew open.

  “Just me,” she whispered.

  He covered his face and scrubbed his cheeks as he sat upright. “How long have I been sleeping?”

  “Almost five hours.”

  “Rune?”

  “Still out, too,” Cyndra said, stepping back as he stood up and stretched his dark gray wings. She stared at him from across the room. Watching the muscles tighten as he breathed in started a fire in her belly. He was magnificent in this ‘form’. His voice, however, seemed to arouse her the most.

  “She refuses to answer me. I know she can hear me,” Zorin rumbled, twisting her insides.

  “We can try face to face again, maybe with Rune there we can make contact, that’s a lot of power to ignore.”

  “Your energy feels different.” Zorin approached, heightening their bond, which she already tainted by ogling him.

  “I evoked it first, you were grunting.” Cyndra went to the kitchen table to collect her water bottle.

  “Bad dream,” he replied as he tucked his wings and followed her. “Did you finish the journal?”

  She took a quick sip of water then nodded and offered him the bottle. After he drank, he set the bottle down on the table, leaning closer, and meeting her eyes. “It’ll be helpful when I get stronger, you should read it, too, some of the stuff your friends taught you is bunk.”

  “Like?”

  “You can practice both together…if you’re younger. I don’t need to be much stronger to break a barrier but I need the right elements. Most barriers need two casters, energy is an obvious one, the second is the key.”

  “Then it is fortunate I am a siphon. I can break down the elements,” Zorin replied, actually smiling down at her. “What else did you learn?”

  “According to our family legend, casters were an ordinary nomadic tribe until they made a home in an enclosed valley guarded by mountains. Supposedly, the tribe found crystals inside the mountain caves, used them in jewelry and clothing. Living in the valley for a couple thousand years, surrounded by the crystals, drinking the water from the streams, wearing the crystals, eventually, the casters consumed and absorbed the power of the crystals. The community got too large to remain in the valley, began integrating with non-casters, slowly, and like you said, there were no problems until the siphons. Evie believed the siphons are a diluted line of energy casters.”

  “That is a reasonable conclusion.”

  “It does make sense, and you were right. The power’s in our blood, we are born casters.” She glanced down at her left hand.

  “Yes.” Zorin
clasped it, allowing the energy to strengthen, not hiding her excitement at his closeness.

  “Which means Rune is right, too, you’re still a caster, Zorin.” Cyndra set her right hand on his cool skin, not tempting him with her fire, yet.

  “You have a theory,” he said as he stroked his hand down her cheek.

  She grinned at him. “The mansion barrier is air, to keep you out. Luckily, anyone without those elements can get you in. When did Mergan put that one up?”

  “Most likely after she transformed me. I…had no reason to go to the mansion until Evie told us the truth.”

  “Us? You’ve never said that before. Did you remember something else?”

  “I did. Other casters were on the island with me for many years. Rune, his father, and a dozen families were here long before the flare. Most had come after Mergan manipulated or lied to gain their cooperation. Your grandparents came, too, though much later. When Evie told us the truth, several casters joined together to stop Mergan’s army.” Zorin’s mouth dipped as he swept his hand across her chin and inched his body away. “Your father…”

  Her fingers tightened around his hand. He took another step back. “What you wanted to tell me earlier?”

  Zorin nodded and broke from her hold. “Evie’s plan to stop Mergan’s army required casters, the most powerful casters we had left.”

  “They…put a barrier around the army when they flared out,” Cyndra concluded, covering her mouth with both hands as the emotions rumbled in her chest. “When Rune asked me if my parents were in the mirror, I flashed to that day…the flare. I hoped he was right and they were in the mirror, it was the opposite.”

  “I’m very sorry, Cyndra,” Zorin said, dropping his arms and shoulders.

  The bedroom door opened and Rune walked out rubbing his wavy mop of dark hair. He didn’t smile or offer his usual happy greeting.

  Cyndra had him in a hug before he took another step. “Are you okay?”