Awakening (11 page)

Pagan was definitely a
romantic. In the room was a four poster bed with white sheer
material draped across the top and dangling part way down the
sides. Against one wall--a large white dresser with painted flowers
on the front. Over on another wall--a smaller matching dresser
sporting a large gilded mirror over the top. And a bay window had
drapes down to the floor covered in the same flowers as the
dresser. It was a comfortable room, but definitely a girly
one.

There was a knock on the
door.

“
Come in,” I said making
myself comfortable on the edge of the bed.

Luke stood in the doorway his arms
full of blankets and sheets. He pushed them into my arms and made a
quick retreat.

“
Goodnight,” I called to
his retreating back.

He lifted his arm in
acknowledgement, but never turned back. I watched him close the
door behind him.

Light was streaming in the
window. My body ached, and I knew I needed sleep, but my mind
refused to turn off. Images of the look on Darla’s face as the man
grabbed her and pinned her to the ground kept popping into my
head.

The room was chilly, so I pulled on a
blue sweater. I walked over and opened the door, hoping some of the
heat from the fireplace would make its way into the room. I forced
myself to lie down and pulled a large white fluffy comforter over
myself. I closed my eyes, but as I did, more images started to fill
my mind. My father laying dead on the floor, my mother’s lifeless
eyes staring up at me.

Needing to get away from the horrific
images, I got up. I wrapped my arms around myself for warmth as I
went back into the living room.

Luke was lying on the
couch.

“
Are you asleep?” I
asked.

He sat up. “What’s wrong?”

“
I don’t want to sleep
alone. I’m still kind of freaked out.” I was scared, as much as I
hated admitting it.

His eyes widened for a moment and then
he pushed the covers off and got up. He was shirtless in a pair of
gray sweats.

“I’m sorry…”

He interrupted me before I could
continue. “It’s cold in here, go back into the bedroom and I’ll be
there in a second. I’m going to put another log on the
fire.”

I made my way back into
bed, and a few minutes later he came in and settled down next to
me. I turned toward him and he opened his arms. I laid my head down
on his chest. He felt warm, and I finally felt safe.

His hands started to caress
my hair. “Sleep. I’m here. Everything is fine. Go to
sleep.”

I fell asleep listening to the sound
of his heartbeat.

* * * *

When I woke he was coming back into
the room, a cup full of something steaming in his hand. His hair
was wet and sleeked back.

“
What time is it?” I asked,
holding back a yawn.

“
Just after ten thirty. We
should get ready and get going.”

I looked out the window and
was surprised to see it was dark out. “Ten at night?”

“
You slept twelve
hours.”

I had actually slept
soundly for the first time
since the whole
nightmare had begun. “Did you get any sleep?”

He took a sip from the cup. He looked
tired. “Some,” he answered. “Do you want to eat something before we
go?”

I shook my head. I was too nervous.
The very thought of the ritual made my stomach queasy.

“
It’s cold out. You’d
better wear something warm.”

I looked out the window. “We’re
heading out there?”

“
Yes. It will take us about
fifteen minutes to get to the cemetery.”

I sat stunned at the word. Cemetery.
We were heading out to do the ritual in the cemetery.

“
Are you okay?” he
asked.

I forced myself to sit up and swung my
legs over the bed. “Yeah, just great.”

“
You don’t have to do
this.”

I raised my chin and looked him in the
eyes. “We both know I do.”

“
Don’t take too long
getting ready. We need to be out the door soon.”

“
The ritual begins at
midnight?”

“
Yes, we have to get there
and then get things set up.” He was watching me, his expression one
I couldn’t read.

I forced a smile onto my face. “I
won’t be long.”

He nodded his head and headed out the
door, shutting it softly behind him.

He left and the tears
started sliding down my face. I raised trembling hands to my
temples and tried to force myself to calm down. I had wanted to do
this. I had come to the magic shop to be trained as a death dealer,
but it terrified me that I was about to get what I’d wanted
most.

I straightened my shoulders. Doing the
ritual would keep me alive and hopefully help Luke save his sister.
I took a deep breath, and then forced myself to take another. I
could do this. I had to be brave and face it straight
on.

He’s going to kill
you
, the words seared across my brain. But
he’ll bring me back. I trusted him to bring me back.

I forced myself to my feet and started
to get ready.

* * * *

We were in the middle of
the cemetery, standing
at the edge of a
very old, very creepy, grave. No one was around but us and the
dead. I looked at the tombstone I was standing beside. Etched on
its surface the words Mathew Smith, 1805-1850.

It was hard to believe we’d trekked to
a cemetery in the middle of nowhere in the middle of the night.
We’d crossed pastures and even splashed through a stream to get
here.

Over head was a moon casting long
shadows. The cemetery looked like something right out of a horror
movie. Marble headstones stood in rows. The gravesites themselves
were a combination of patches of dirt and grass. And above the
headstones I could make out shapes. A handful of life-sized statues
of angels scattered around, seeming to move with the shadows. And
beyond those were a few larger monuments--above ground tombs that
were the resting place of the truly wealthy. It was fall and,
although the trees around the countryside had changed color and
started to drop their leaves, inside the wrought iron fence
surrounding the cemetery there were only a couple of planted trees.
And these trees were bare, their limbs gnarled and twisted. I
couldn’t fight the feeling that we were being watched, and a chill
ran down my back as I wrapped my arms around my body. I turned back
to where Luke was working.

A dozen candles now lined both sides
of the grave. On the marble headstone was a box. At the foot of the
grave a bottle full of a red liquid that looked like
blood.

“
You need all this to do a
spell?” I asked.

The act of healing came from within.
It was true healers often used herbs, salve and elixirs in
combination with their magic, but for the most part healers stayed
away from doing spells and all the trappings that came with spell
magic.

Luke started lighting candles. “I do.
Spells are about focusing your abilities, and also calling on the
forces of nature.”

“
Why this graveyard?” I
asked.

“
Because graveyards are a
doorway to the other side. Think of them as a portal to the dead, a
place where many spirits are closest to the earthly realms and
easier to contact.” Luke looked around and did a wide sweeping
gesture with his arm. “We’ve buried the members of our family in
this particular graveyard for generations.” He pointed down at the
grave. “We could do the spell on any grave, but one of the
strongest mages in our family line is buried here.”

I looked down at the grave and tried
to quench the fear rising inside me. “What spell are you doing
tonight?”

“
It’s one that’s the first
part of the ritual. It’s called the passage. The passage into the
magics of the death dealers. Your spirit has to commune with the
other side. You have to touch the hereafter, see death first hand
in order to be able to wield its power.”

I straightened my back and tried to
feel brave. “I have to die.”

He looked up at me and nodded his
head. “It’s the way my guild has guided students in the dark arts
for centuries.”

“
You plan on killing me.
Then what? Bury me and bring me back up like a voodoo zombie?” I
couldn’t keep the sarcasm out of my voice.

“
No. There’s no voodoo
involved and no zombies.” He went back to lighting
candles.

I watched him work for a few minutes
in silence. He pulled something out of a black duffle bag he’d
brought. It was a glass jar full of black powder. He started
sprinkling some on the ground around him.

“
I trust you,” I said
quietly.

His expression turned sullen. “Trust
me to kill you and bring you back?”

“
Yes.”

I knew about death. I had watched Mama
bring people who were hanging on the brink of it back with her
healing. But whether she could bring them back or not was never a
certainty. Death had its own rules, and when it decided to claim
someone, its grip could be stronger than a rip tide.

He walked toward me until he stood in
front of me. “I’ve been by my uncle’s side when he’s done this.
Assisted him in the ritual, but I’ve never done one. It’s not
something you’re allowed to do until you’re older, until you truly
master your power.”

“
You can do it. I have
faith in you.”

His eyes filled with anger. “And if
you’re wrong? If you trust me and something goes wrong?”

I shrugged my shoulders. “Then game
over. Look, everything in life is a risk, a gamble. I’m here, and
I’m throwing the dice.” I didn’t want to ask the next question on
my mind, it had been haunting me ever since he’d told me about the
ritual, but now standing here in the cemetery I had to know. “How
are you going to do it?” I whispered.

“
Strangulation is the
easiest.” His voice was suddenly void of emotion.

What the hell did he mean,
‘strangulation is the easiest’. He’d told me I had to die, but I
had assumed he’d give me a potion. I would drink something, slowly
fade out and then later I would drink a counter potion to undo the
spell.

“
I’m going to put my hands
around your neck and squeeze the life out of you. It’s the only way
the ritual works. You have to experience the pain, experience your
death at the hands of a death dealer.” Fear--there it was again in
his eyes. “You don’t have to do this. It’s crazy we’re doing
this.”

At the word strangulation, everything
in my body screamed to get out of that graveyard and away from this
lunatic. I took a deep breath and stepped toward him. “You know we
don’t have a choice. If you want to save your sister, you need my
help. I can’t help you as I am. I need power.” It was true I wanted
to save his sister, but I also wanted to exact my revenge, and I
was willing to do anything to see the men who killed my family
pay.

He stood looking at me for a long
moment and then turned and walked over to the bag. He pulled out a
handful of black feathers.

He looked back at me. “Raven
feathers.” He started scattering them about the area. “I’m just
about done with the preparations.”

“
What do you want me to
do?” I asked, trying to keep the fear I was feeling from
showing.

He pointed toward the ground. “Lay
down on the grave.”

This wasn’t happening. I was in some
bizarre nightmare, and I had to wake myself up.

“
On the grave?” This time I
couldn’t keep the tremble out of my voice.

He didn’t look at me when he answered.
“Make sure to lie on your back. I have to be able to see your
eyes.”

I got down on my knees and then slowly
I turned over and lay down against the damp grass. I tried not to
think about the skeleton lying a few feet beneath me.

Luke was suddenly straddling me.
“There’s still time to change your mind.”

Yes, yes, get out of
here.
The voices in my head were
screaming.

“
Do what you have to,” I
whispered.

I flinched when his hands encircled my
neck. They were bigger than I imagined and the panic I felt rising
from the pit of my stomach was almost more than I could
stand.

“
Last chance. You don’t
have to do this,” he said. The fear was back in his
eyes.

The images of my father’s broken body
flashed through my head. I had no choice, I had to
continue.

“
Do it,” I said between
clenched teeth.

His hands tightened, and I realized in
a moment of sheer terror that I had been wrong. He needed to stop.
I couldn’t go through with this. My hands came up and clawed
against his fingers, but he was too strong. My lungs were bursting
with the need to breathe. I looked up and into his eyes. The
expression on his face was one of concentration.

He was killing me. I had to stop him
from strangling me. I struggled, I twisted my body, but he was too
big and too heavy. My hands gave up on his and I reached up to claw
out his eyes. He anticipated my move and raised himself up until
his face was out of reach.