Awakening (7 page)

Gypsy magic was decidedly different
from my family’s. We drew our energy from the earth or from the
sky. The gypsy had some kind of medallion in her left hand. The
tighter she clutched it, the louder the buzz and the more the
drapes fluttered. Was the piece of metal the source of her
abilities?

As quickly as they had started, the
buzz and breeze were gone. The room stood silent. The old woman
stumbled a bit as she moved away from Luke, catching her balance on
the back of the chair.

She spoke without turning in my
direction. “No child, my magics don’t come from any object. But it
helps to focus, helps bring me focus, you understand?” She looked
directly at me. “We’re not so unlike, your people and
mine.”

She turned and faced Luke. “It will
itch as it heals. The marks will close in about three days and then
you’ll only have a small scar. But a scar can be attractive on a
man.”

Luke lowered his shirt and stood up.
He reached out to the old woman.

She grasped his hand in
hers.

“
Thank you, Mother, I
appreciate your help. May you be well,” he said.

“
And you,” she
replied.

I stood up. So that was it? We were
done? I turned and headed toward the door. I had my hand on the
door handle when the old woman caught up with me, her fingers
digging into my shoulder. She might be old, but her grip was like
steel.

She leaned in and whispered in my ear,
“Child. I know what happened. It wasn’t right what happened, but
you must trust him.”

At her words, I spun
around.

She motioned toward Luke. “If you want
the power, you must tell him your story. Let him in. He has to be
able to see the very essence of you. To lead you down his dark
path, he must be able to read your heart and soul. It’s the only
way. And child, be careful, they’re looking for you.” From within
the folds of her skirt, she brought out a red velvet pouch tied
with black leather. She reached out and put it in my
hand.

I was too shocked by her words to
respond. I had no choice but to take the pouch as she forced it
into my hands.

“
For your protection. Take
it. Keep it close to you.” Her eyes suddenly looked unfocused. “I
see you swimming at the edge of a great darkness. The awakening is
coming upon you, child. It’s going to try and consume you. The
pouch, the protection, it won’t be enough, but it may
help.”

We stood next to each other in
silence, as if frozen, as the seconds ticked away. I could hear my
breath coming out in short rasps. I looked over at Luke. He was
watching us. I wasn’t sure if he’d overheard what she’d told
me.

I took a deep breath and tried to calm
my thoughts. I looked at her and blurted out the first thing that
came to mind, “I don’t have any coins to pay you, for the
pouch.”

She reached up and patted my cheek.
“Don’t worry about paying me. Stay alive, child. You must save
yourself, and whatever you do, don’t forget who you
are.”

I clutched the bag to my chest and ran
out the door.

* * * *

“
Where’s the fire?” Luke
asked, coming to my side. He’d followed me out of the store and had
to jog a bit to catch up.

He must be feeling better if he was
running--it wasn’t something he’d have been able to do prior to
seeing the healer.

“
The place freaked me
out.”

“
The place or the
healer?”

“
A bit of both,” I
admitted.

“
What did she say to you?
At the door when she gave you that pouch?”

I still held it tightly against my
chest. “It was nothing.” I looked over at him, and he raised an
eyebrow.

“
Okay, it was something. A
warning. She said, ‘The awakening is coming upon you, child. It’s
going to try and consume you.’”

His expression turned grim.

“
What is the awakening?” I
asked, not quite sure if I wanted to hear the answer.

“
In gypsy lore it’s
considered a time when you open yourself up to the spirits--when
the dark magics run wild in your blood. That’s when you need to be
especially careful. For the spirits and the magic, they can take
you over, they can overwhelm you. They can change you.”

“
Swell,” I mumbled under my
breath. Another thing to worry about. I might finally learn the
dark arts--only to be consumed by them?

We walked the rest of the way to the
corner in silence. A cab headed in our direction. Luke raised a
hand and stepped off the curb to flag it down.

He opened the cab door for me, and I
scrambled in.

“
So what now?”

“
We go back to the
apartment, and we check on Darla.”

“
And after
that?”

“
You go home and then come
back in a few weeks when my uncle is back, and he can get you
started on your training.”

I looked at him in shock. “You said
you could help me.”

“
Colina, I know what I
said.”

“
You took my money. You
promised to teach me,” I forced the words out between clenched
teeth.

“
I did, but it was a
mistake. I should never have promised to teach you. Only the elders
in the guild can do this type of teaching. Men and women that have
been practicing the dark arts for years. For me to teach you, it
wouldn’t be safe. The gypsies aren’t wrong. Dealing with the dark
arts can be dangerous.”

I shook my head and tried to calm the
panic I felt rising within me. “I can’t wait a couple
weeks.”

“
Why?” he
demanded.

I turned and looked out the window of
the cab. I said in a quiet voice, “You said you’d teach
me.”

“
It’s just a few weeks, and
then my uncle will be back.”

I didn’t know how to make Luke
understand that I was out of time.

* * * *

We made it back to the apartment.
Darla fussed over Luke. Luke looked annoyed, and I tried to stay
out of their way.

I was still trying to get my head
around what Luke had told me in the cab. If he refused to teach me,
I would have no choice but to go out on my own and try to find
someone else to guide me in the dark arts. But who? If I left this
place, where would I go? Home was no longer an option. I could
demand my money back and head out into the streets. At the thought,
I felt panic in the pit of my stomach.

You could tell him the
truth.
The words whispered across my mind.
If I told him the truth, then he’d understand why I was so
desperate to learn. He might be convinced there was no time to
wait, why it had to be done now. I wanted to tell him the truth, I
really did, but I didn’t know if I could.

I suddenly felt cold all over. I
hugged my arms around my body and walked over to the row of
windows. It had started raining again. I stood at the window
looking out at the storm. Sheets of water blown by high winds
slammed against the walls of the buildings and the street
below.

The old woman’s words kept coming back
to me. She wanted me to tell him, but I didn’t know if I had the
courage to speak about what had happened.

Luke crossed the room. He was moving
without pain now. He stood next to me and asked, “Are you
okay?”

“
Can you get me a glass of
water?” I knew I was stalling. The last thing I wanted to do was
relive it all.

He looked surprised at my request.
“Sure.”

I turned back to watch the storm. A
few minutes later he was at my side again, a tall glass of water
filled with ice in his hand. He reached out and offered it to
me.

I took it and sat down on the window
sill. “Thanks.” I tried to organize my thoughts. I looked around
the room. “Where’s Darla?”

“
I don’t think she’s over
last night’s ordeal. I suggested that she should lie down for a
bit.”

If there was ever a time to clear the
air, it was now when we were alone. I didn’t think I could get
through it all with an audience. “The gypsy said I should tell
you…everything.”

He sat down next to me. “Tell
me.”

“
You keep asking what
brought me here, and I admit I’ve been reluctant…” I swallowed
hard. “But it’s not because I didn’t want you to know. It’s just
because I didn’t know if…if…” my words faltered.

He reached out and clasped my
hand.

I forced myself to continue. “It’s
only by a quirk of fate that I’m even here. If I hadn’t been in the
pantry looking for something…” My voice broke off again. I looked
out the window, watching a tree sway in the wind. “It’s funny. I
can’t remember now what I was looking for.”

I put down the glass and leaned my
forehead against the cool glass of the window. “It was Sunday.
Family dinner. We did it every Sunday. Everyone helps out with the
cooking.” I sat up and looked at him. “It’s always been one of my
favorite days of the week because we would all be together.” I
leaned back and picked up the glass of water and took a long sip. I
put the glass down and took a deep breath. I could do this. I could
finally get it out. I just had to say the words.

“
If James…my brother, his
name is James.” I closed my eyes and took a deep breath. “His
name
was
James.”
It took a few moments for me
to find my voice again. “
If James hadn’t
been at the pantry door giving me a hard time. If he hadn’t seen
the men
...James told me to stay hidden. He
didn’t give me a choice. He shoved me inside and closed the doors.”
I opened my eyes, and a sob escaped my mouth. “He knew I would have
left the pantry and fought, but I couldn’t. James placed a spell on
the doors.”

I realized that tears had
started rolling down my cheeks. “James, his parting words to me
were the tail end of a whisper of a spell.” I barely spoke the last
words.

Luke reached out and took
me in his arms. My chin rested on his chest. I choked back a sob
and forced the rest of the words out.
“
The spell kept me in and kept the
men from hearing my fists pounding against the door. They couldn’t
hear my screams,” I spoke the words against his shirt. “I watched
through the door slats…James rushed the men, but he was too late.
He couldn’t save them.”

A sob broke through and then another.
“My people don’t practice war magic. We focus on healing, keeping
people alive. We learn some defenses, but nothing that would stop
someone like the powerful wizard who lead them. He blew through my
father’s defenses like they weren’t there. He was strong, like one
of your kind.” I pushed myself away from Luke and looked him in the
eye. Tears were streaming down my face. “He overpowered my father
and he…he slit my father’s throat. And then…then they shot my
mother. The blood, there was so much blood…”

Suddenly I was back there. I heard the
screams of my family in my head. Blood poured from my father’s
throat. The smell of it clogged my nose and mouth. I watched the
light leave my mama’s eyes as the bullet tore through her head. I
started to gag and nausea rose from the pit of my
stomach.

Strong arms encircled me tightly
again.

“
They must have known you
were healers if they used guns,” Luke said. “It would have been too
great a risk to try and shoot a wizard.”

I wanted to finish the story, to tell
him what happened to James, but I couldn’t force those words out.
So instead I sat there, my body embraced by his strong arms, my
head resting against his chest. I listened to the beating of Luke’s
heart. It was soothing. I felt comforted and safe for the first
time since the nightmare had happened.

He broke the silence. “How did you get
out?”

“
It took a day and a night
before someone came and freed me from my prison. But I’m still not
free from the living hell that my life has become.” I pushed away
from him and looked him in the face again. “My family is gone. And
someone is after me.”

“
What do you mean someone
is after you.”

“
At the funeral, the same
men, I saw them…they were there. I didn’t know what to do. It put
my clan at risk to stay around. I couldn’t lose anyone else, so I
ran and kept running. Away from everyone I know… away from my home.
I’ve no idea why they killed my family. The only thing I can do is
become powerful. Learn the black arts and become a death dealer.
Whatever price I have to pay to get to the top of the magic food
chain, I’m willing to do it.”

“
I knew there was
something. But I never imagined…” his voice trailed off. He reached
out and grabbed my hand. “Revenge isn’t a reason to become one of
us.”

“
How about survival?” I
demanded. “I’m the only witness to their crime. My father is the
most powerful of our clan. If he couldn’t protect us, then no one
in my family can. The only way I can survive is to become one of
you.”

He suddenly stood up with a burst of
energy. “You don’t want this. Believe me when I tell you, this
isn’t something you want to bring into your life.”