Aconite (The Elektita Series Book 1) (20 page)

The sun shone high
in the sky by the time we all got settled in. Jonathon had retrieved a bottle
of wine from a butler’s pantry that came off the kitchen while Jo supplied the
glasses. I had never liked wine, but I thought it should be paired with
something. So I began slicing random cheese that I took from the refrigerator.

"Do you not
feel the urgency in our problem?" Sebastian paced the length of the
counter as he watched me slice the cheese. I had never seen him this on edge
before.

"Maybe if I
understood the problem I would slice with a bit more urgency." I knew that
someone was trying to pass the wards they had placed, and I knew the
premonition that I had factored into it somehow but Jo's reassurance had taken
hold. My dream was set in a time further ahead than now. My free hand slid to
my belly. That I was positive of because today I didn't have a swollen belly
and my daughter didn't tumble inside. I blinked away the image as I set to work
on another block of cheese. Sebastian gave me an odd look but let my spacing
off slide. To him I was a space cadet.

"The Elektita
know that you are here and they are coming for you. That is why I am stressing
the need to form a plan." He stopped, placing both of his hands on the
unfinished marbled counter top.

"If they were
strong enough they would have not just tested the ward but broken it
down."

"You naive
woman! The Elektita are not stupid. They have not defeated us time and time
again due to their ignorance. Breaking through our defenses on the first try
would define stupidity. A true warrior tests for weaknesses, plans many months
ahead. So when they do strike their plan is far less likely to fail."

"As much as
it pains me to say this, I do agree with his assessment," Jonathon chimed
in passing behind me with two bottles of wine in his hand.

"Well, by all
means don't let my cheese cutting stop you all from hatching out a plan. It is
not like I haven't eaten well enough since I came here." I waved my knife
at them to proceed. I could do more than one thing at a time. How hard could
listening and chopping really be?

"How many
times have you felt the wards being tested?" Sebastian asked to no one in
particular.

"Four
times," Jo piped up in response, my head snapped in her direction and my
knife clanged down against the cutting board.

"I see
something has piqued your interest." Sebastian let the words come out as a
sneer. Sebastian and Richland seemed far more volatile than Jonathon.

"Today wasn't
the first time you felt it?" Every time I thought I was gaining ground
with someone it seems to fall out from under me.

"They began
when you went on your open ended vacation." She looked directly at the two
men I had stayed with during that time, piercing them both with her
accusations. She suspected that Sebastian had something to do with that but I
didn't give them the satisfaction of knowing for sure. I took a deep drink of
the wine that Jonathon had poured in my glass.

"This is just
regular wine, right?" I should have asked before taking such a deep drink.
I guess it's better late than never. He slumped ever so slightly from the
relaxed position he had taken in a high backed chair. I would never be able to
get remotely close to relaxed in that chair. Give me a lazy boy any day. If I
decided to keep this house I was definitely investing in one. It was nice to
see he felt even an ounce of remorse for what he had done to me. I hope he
feels that same way for a very long time.

"Yes, it is.
I vow never to do such a thing to you again. It was an ill attempt to gain what
could readily be given in time."

I wished I could
say that I could just take him at his word but I couldn't. The only thing
reinforcing the truth in his declaration was the other occupants of the room.
Sebastian and Richland had been sickened by the knowledge that he had drugged
me to gain information.

I finally finished
the platter of cheese and crackers. With one hand I took the platter and grabbed
my wine with the other and took it into the living room where everyone else was
gathered. I made sure to sit as far as I could from everyone in the room. I had
to remember I was Switzerland and with the animosity so thick I could cut it
with my cheese knife I would play it safe and stay away from them all.

"I need to
know one thing before you all plan what to do about whoever is trying to get
in." I rounded on Sebastian who had sat himself away from all the others,
even Richland, who seemed to be his friend.

"Why are you
here? I know why Jonathon is here. He loves me. Well, he loves Alexandria that
is. I know why Richland is here. He was Alesiya's brother, and he swore to
follow her any way he could. I know why Jo is here. She is bound to me no matter
what life I may lead. She is my familiar. But what I don't know for sure is why
you are here. You, yourself, made it perfectly clear; love is a weakness."

Sebastian drew
himself up to sit stiff and straight in his chair. I knew I had angered him
with my question as I watched his jaw tick and his true blue eyes dart ever so
slightly while he mulled over whatever he was about to say. He stretched and
flexed his fingers. He let out a deep breath and closed his eyes.

"Love is a
weakness. What drives me now is far more complicated than simple love. I am
drawn to you like a moth to a flame. The moth knows that if he gets too close
he will burn up but still the moth swoops in closer. It's just what they
do." His eyes shot open and what I saw in them caused me to choke on the
bit of cheese that I was trying to swallow. That was not the answer I had been
expecting. Sebastian has so far seemed much more selfish.

In that moment, in
his eyes, I saw exactly what he described. It was something deep, and stupid,
and raw. What kept him here wasn't of his heart or mind, it was of his soul. I
turned to Jonathon who had shrunk down into his seat. He must be able to see
the same thing I did, and it shattered him. I watched him stare at us and knew
that his love was as pure as it came. It flowed through his heart and consumed
his being. He suffered from the same problem but much different.  I didn't
think I deserved any of it. I fished around within myself trying to find the
same within me but it wasn't there. I felt an unexplainable connection that
spanned well beyond rationality but nothing quite as strong as they felt. But I
was satisfied with the answer he gave and the knowledge I already had of
Jonathon. They were here for me and that is all that mattered.

"Okay, why do
they want to kill me?" We needed to stay on track. I had asked this
question before but I still didn't understand. If I was the chosen one, the one
that they were waiting for, why did they want to kill me?

"They are the
reason the Elektita want to kill you." Jo waved her glass at the guys. I
was beginning to like Jo's willingness to divulge answers that the men had been
unwilling to share thus far.

"My family
had resented the decision that Ava made from the beginning. They accepted a
place in the Elektita but soon began to plot against the very coven they swore
to stand behind. When they were ousted as traders, a curse long forgotten was
placed on us and we were banished from the village. The curse then made it
impossible to find our way back into the valley that held our home. We were
forced to lurk just on the outskirts." Sebastian didn't look pleased with
his own truth and I could say the same. It didn't seem fair to be banished
simply for disagreeing. I could only assume that he was talking about the same
curse that had made him a werewolf as well.

It made sense now
why I could only hear the wolves and knew that they couldn't pass the wards
that where in place while I was lashed in the center of town.

"When you
began to form your own opinion and rise against the Elektita you ran from them
right to me."

I watched Jonathon
while Sebastian told his story. His face was void of all emotions as he was
forced to listen to the story.

"You had used
your magic and slipped passed the protection that the village offered. You had
only wanted to get away for a moment. I watched you strut around the woods,
full of blind rage. I can admit it now. But I was afraid to approach you. I
could see who you were and it scared me. You didn't stay long before you
slipped back through, returning home. I didn't tell anyone of who I had
happened upon. I kept you a secret. I went back each day spending longer and
longer roaming along the edge of the village. ‘Till one day I saw you again.
Something had upset you and once again you magiced your way beyond the boarder.
You finally began to make slipping away a daily habit always at the same time,
and at the same seam in the wards. I followed from afar as you walked the
outskirts of the village. I soon realized that you did not carry the same ideals
as those who had banished us. So I came to you as a wolf. It surprised me
greatly that you did not scare from my large form. I knew that they had warned
you of us. Passed along horror stories of what our kind would do, could do.
They made us into the monsters that the Gods had charged them to destroy. You
were hesitant but soon extended your hand to run your fingers through my
coat."

No matter what he
said now, the story he told of when he and Alexandria had first met, was
consumed by love. It may have changed over time but for him, there in the
woods, he fell in love.

"I didn't
know," Jonathon whispered. My heart broke for Jonathon. You could hear it
in his voice; his heart was breaking all over again.

"Neither of
us knew ‘till it was far too late." I knew it then—they didn't hate each
other. The anger they latched on to was only a mask for the want that consumed
them. They wanted what the other hand. They craved the connection that would
win their battle and make me, Alexandria, forsake the other to be with them
heart and soul. They could see what I did, each one of them held a connection
that without the other would never be complete.

"When you
were Alesiya, the Elektita saw once again the soul of the child that would
bring back their powers." Richland had picked up the explanation after
both Sebastian and Jonathon grew quite from their own personal revelation. I
closed my eyes and erased the image I had conjured from my mind. I needed to
focus on the why and not get so caught up in the personal drama.

"They brought
you up in the Elektita, worked even harder to warp your mind. They couldn't
afford your betrayal again. You had even agreed to offer yourself willingly to
the Gods when you came into your powers. They were calm as the time came
nearer. Your powers would reveal themselves and they believed without a doubt
that they would soon have full access to the powers of the Gods. None of them
even realized it had been years since they had heard anything from the Gods
that they still worshiped. They were blinded to the abandonment in search of
the power that they could no longer have." He hung his head, and I watched
as his chest heaved from the deep breaths he was taking in. "Until one day
we fought. It was over something so impossibly stupid. You were furious.
Alesiya swore to me that day she would never return. I followed her as she
headed for the northern border. She didn't dare go any further. I hid yards
away, blurred myself in the tree line, and watched. She summoned magic much
like the Elektita and slipped through the ward. She could have easily walked
through but then they would know she had left." Richland took a deep
shuddering breath before continuing with his tale.

"I didn't
tell on her that day. I waited, prayed that she would return. We had been told
stories of the monsters that lurked just beyond our borders. Of the witch
hunters that roamed the outskirts waiting to find someone they could burn at
the stake. When she came back relief swelled inside of me, but I noticed over
the following weeks her disappearances became more and more frequent. When the
Elektita finally grew suspicious, they called her to the great hall. That was
the last time I saw her alive."

"When they
emerged hours later, it took four of their guards to carry my sister out on a
wide plank. They laid her out in the center of town. They had stabbed her
through the heart, impaling her to the board. My aunt stood up on a small stage
in front of the entire village and declared her a demon worshiper. They warned
that if anyone else chose the same path their fate would be the same. They told
my people the Gods had decreed the cursed wolves’ monsters. That they could not
walk among us so whoever chose to take up with one of the cursed they too would
be deemed a monster in the eyes of the Gods."    

I couldn't keep my
distance any longer. I got up, tears blurring my vision, and sat down next to
Richland. I hugged him with all I could. It wouldn't bring her back and I
couldn't replace her. I may be a reincarnate of his sister but I wasn't her. He
had wished to be reunited with her someday and that’s why he went against his
people and accepted the curse into him. He chose the curse to be able to follow
her no matter how many lives he had to watch die and fade away.

I had wanted this
hadn't I? To know everything that had brought me to this point in my life. I
truly am selfish. I never thought of the pain that this would cause anyone.
They had these memories to live with every day but to speak them out loud was
like giving them form. It made them new all over again.

"Each time
you come into your powers you are drawn to them." Jo had picked up the
spot that she felt needed to be shared. "Each life you went against your
family and sought out the wolves for comfort and each time they would find you,
take you again from this world without any of us being able to stop it." I
watched as she sifted through her own memories, reliving my deaths as if they
were her own. I couldn't imagine what they all had gone through trying to save
me from a corrupt, godless bunch of witches.

The stories they
shared ignited a fury deep within my soul. It wasn't the same type of rage that
caused my tattoo to flare. I wasn't the one in danger. If they could feel my
magic then I would hope at this moment that they could feel the white hot rage
that piped through my blood. I wasn't going to die by the hands of the Elektita
again and nobody was going to lose someone they loved. It was that easy.

"How long do
you think we have before they truly make a move?" I was focused now; I got
it.

"I don't
know, things are different this time." Jonathon's voice was gruff and he
wouldn't look in my direction. I didn't think we had time to analyze his
emotional state. We would deal with it later.

"How are they
different?" So many years and reincarnations, how could now possibly be
any different. It sounded to me like I had taken the same path that ultimately
led me to my death every other time.

"You have
never had the power of foresight. I don't know if it could help us or if it is
just a foretelling of another death we cannot stop?" His voice was
beginning to regain some of its sexy baritone that it normally carried.

"You need to
tell us what you saw in your last vision." I would have thought Jonathon
had filled them in but it sounded like he had only given them the bare minimum.
I had to tell them now. They had bared painful memories that sliced deeper than
visions of something that hasn't even happened yet.

I took a deep
breath and closed my eyes. I wanted to visualize and parrot back everything
that I had seen; the visions where unlike dreams in a very large way. They
wouldn’t fade or grow weak in time. My visions still held strong and I could
recollect every detail like I was watching a movie in my own head.

"It was
Christmas. I had decorated the house, this house, just as my mother did when I
was a child. The smells of traditional Christmas dinner had made it to every
room of the house. I was preparing the table in anticipation for all of you to
come. I was worried that Jonathon and Jo would get lost or not remember the
incantation to bypass the wards that Sebastian had placed. Sebastian had placed
the wards around the house to hide my home from even those we trusted. The odd
thing was I knew Jonathon was not happy to be meeting here." While I gave
them a play by play I also visually walked the same path I had in the dream. It
wasn't a conscious thing. I definitely did not want to make it any more real.

I skipped over the
feeling of my daughter rolling around in my belly. I needed to get out the
important parts before all hell broke loose. Jonathon had warned me to tread
lightly tonight, and this revelation was equivalent to a full on sprint. I kept
my eyes closed fearful that I would chicken out if I saw everyone watching me.

"The doorbell
rang just as I had set the last place setting. I thought it was Jonathon and Jo
since Sebastian didn't need the doorbell. My excitement had me skipping to the
front door. This was the first time in a long time that we had all been
together. But when I opened the door a cloaked figure stood on the porch. I
tried to shut the door before they could push pass me but my belly made me
slow."

The crash of glass
jerked me from my replay. Even though I had anticipated such a reaction it
still scared me. It was Sebastian that had thrown his glass at the adjacent
wall even though everyone was standing I knew it was him. 

"What did you
just say?"

I wanted to take
back that last part and keep it a secret but it was too late. All the men in
the room were pissed and Jo stood staring at me in horror. I covered my belly
almost protectively. My womb was empty, but I still felt the instinct to
protect a child that wasn't even real yet.

"I should
have seen it earlier," Jo said. "Ever since she had that dream her
hands find their way back to her belly. Things truly are different this
time."

None of them were
happy in the least for the prospect of a child being born. Even if it proved
that I wouldn't die for at least another year. I was far too pregnant in my
vision for it to come to pass by this Christmas. I thought back to my dream,
not just this last one but the one before. I refused to even bring up that one
after the display of sheer rage that Sebastian just exhibited.

I was happy,
elated, and excited to finally be a mother. Yes, I still held a great fear in
knowing that I could die. But at least I would have left behind a child I knew
would be loved more than most.

"How could
you have left that out when you told us of your dream this morning?" Jonathon's
question came out more as a growl than human speech. He was barely containing
the wolf within him.

"This is the
reason!" I screamed at the room. "You all are acting like I just told
you I crossed over to the dark side and slayed you all! None of you seem to
remember that this is my first week on the job." My tattoo flared to life.
I did not want to fly into a magical panic attack and be the reason they all
shifted into wolves and ate me. I'm sure that is a little over dramatic but I
needed to pull myself together.

"Can I get to
the end of my vision? Then, by all means go back to losing your shit."

When none of them
made a sound I sat back on the couch. No one else made a move to reclaim their
seats. Whatever, I just wanted to get this over with.

"When I
couldn't get the door shut in time the figure rushed passed me and made it down
the hall before I could stop her."

"How do you
know it was a her?" Richland interrupted.

"Because just
before everything faded away she told me that she wasn't here to hurt me in a
clearly feminine voice." There was nothing else to say. That was
everything to tell of my vision. Now it was up to them to make the next move.

"Who was the
father of the child that you carried?" Sebastian's cool dispassionate
voice made it sound like he didn't care what my answer would be. I knew he
would care if I told him the truth. They all would care.

"The dream
wasn't an explanation it only showed what was going on right then. I couldn't
tell what had brought us to that point." I shrugged and looked away,
trying to give them the most plausible lie I could come up with on the spot.