Fated Truth (The True Witch Saga) (23 page)

I look
ed at him puzzled. “Self-defense training? Why do you think I’m going to need that?”

“If I ca
n be taken and held at my age, then they can get to you also. We need to cover all of our bases.”

I look
ed into his serious expression and I thought about all that had happened and all that he was saying to me. I needed to be protected from all sides, but the main point was I need to be able to protect myself. I didn’t want to rely on everyone around me to coddle me. “I want to try something,” I said. “I don’t know if it will work, but I want to try it.”

He looked
at me quizzically. “Anything you want, sweets.” He smiled and flopped onto his back beside me.

I climb
ed onto his lap and straddled his thighs. He grinned and I laughed. “No that’s not what I want to try, you perv,” I said when he made a grab for my waist. I laughed again at his crest fallen expression. I put my hands on each side of his face, my fingertips barely touching his temples. I closed my eyes and concentrated. I tried to reach him with my mind, to feel the wall that protected Jaxx, blocking others including me from trespassing on his mind. I searched the walls and found a tiny crack like opening and pushed my way through. As I skimmed his mind and current thoughts I felt him stiffen underneath me.

He jerked
back like he wanted to break my connection with him.

“No,” I demanded
. “Wait. You will understand in a moment.”

He takes a deep breath and calms himself.

I tried to find an anchor point, a place to tether my mind to his. I skimmed his subconscious some more and found a glowing ember burning bright in my mind’s eye. It was his love for me. His feelings for me were over me like a tidal wave, all consuming, this man holding me in his arms. Trusting me in the most intimate ways, loved me beyond reason or doubt. I anchored our connection in the recesses of his love for me. It would never be broken there. His love would protect it always. I slipped quietly and quickly out of his mind, being mindful not to take any of his thoughts or memories with me.

I open
ed my eyes and looked into the midnight blue of a stormy night. I could tell Jaxx didn’t really know how to take what I had just done. “I connected us. Not on a level that we can read each other’s minds, but we can talk through the connection if we wanted.”

Jaxx let
out a deep sigh. “I wish you would have warned me of what you were trying to do. It didn’t hurt, little raven, but having someone inside my head without me expecting it, was strange in the least.”

“
I’m sorry, sweets. I didn’t know if it would work, but this way we can always know where the other is. And talk to each other privately if we need to.”

Jaxx cracked
a smile, finally, seeming to understand my actions. “You are brilliant. You do know that don’t you?” he chuckled. “You are also very gifted. Most True Witches only have one or two gifts at the most. We just don’t know what to expect from you. They just keep coming.” He smiled.

I ble
w a raspberry at him and rolled out of bed. I needed a shower to wash off the funk of the last couple of days. I felt like I had been rode hard and put away sopping fucking wet.
YUM!

“I talked to Seb while you were still sleeping.”

I looked over my shoulder on my way to the bathroom. “Is that right? How is my best friend doing? And when is he going to come and start training me?”

“He said that he took Jessa to a safe haven for his kind. She
is being taught to control her thirst and new body.”

“What
do you mean? He’s leaving her with strangers?”
Oh hell no!

“There is little choice, little raven
. She isn’t taking to him as she should. She is being incredibly stubborn. This is for the best. When she comes into her own in this new life she has been born into, then she and Seb will bond as they should. He loves her very much, you know?”

I look
ed at him speculatively. “Does he?”

“Yes, love, a
lmost as much as I love you.” He smiled that slow easy smile of his, the one that he only ever seemed to show me.

It
is
my
smile,
I thought. “I love you, too.” I walked over and knelt where he was sitting on the edge of the bed. “We need to talk about everything that happened to you. I know it hurts you to think about it, but I don’t want there to be secrets between us.”

“Can you give me time?” He looked
like he was getting ready to retch. “I’m just not ready to let any of it out, or to pull anyone into that nightmare, especially you.”

“Of course I can. All the time you need. I just want to be here for you. You can talk to me about anything. I won’t ever
judge. I love you beyond that.” I smiled at him and wrapped my arms around his waist. I placed kisses up his chest and snuggled my face between his neck and shoulder.

“And I you, little raven
. And I you.”

I go
t back to my feet and smiled at Jaxx trying to lighten the mood. “Now I really need to shower. My legs are turning into pine cones.”

Jaxx laughed and smacked
my ass as I turned to go. I walked into the bathroom and shut the door behind me. I flipped the lock and slid down the door. Once I hit the cold tile floor I shuddered. What could they have done to him that he wouldn’t tell me about? I really didn’t want to think about anyone hurting him. It put me into a rage anytime I thought about him being harmed. I felt the black void in myself start to swirl and whip. I had to push my anger back or Jaxx would know just how pissed and upset I was. He didn’t need to worry about me. He needed time to heal the wounds that were hidden from the world, hidden from all eyes, but his.

I had
to learn to control my gifts. I needed to learn my craft and not be dependent on him anymore. I wanted to be his equal, not someone that quelled behind his back in fear of what might come knocking.

I start
ed the water in the shower and let it warm. I stepped under the spray when it started to steam, washing away the funk of the last couple of days. I was determined not to be a drain on him any longer. I would stand at his side or not at all. It was decided.

Chapter Seventeen

Class In Session

When I rejoin
ed the others in the living room, I noticed Seb had arrived. I made a running leap for him. I had missed the man, the soon to be love of my best friend’s life. He’d saved her. He’d found something that was wrong after her accident when all of the doctors had missed it.

“Seb
, you’re here!” I practically attached myself to him like a pretzel.

“Nice to
see you too, little niece,” Seb replied, gently detangling my limbs from his body.

“How
is Jessa really doing? Don’t lie to me.” I shot him an evil look when he started to gloss over the truth. I didn’t know if my gifts were growing, but I got the distinct feeling that he was going to sugar coat the truth for me.

“She
is doing as well as can be expected,” he skimmed.

Ugh so fucking annoying.
“We will talk later. You will give me a straight fucking answer or I will boil your bone marrow,” I said, smiling sweetly and turned to my brother and Jaxx who were dragging in three oversized trunks. They plunked them down with little finesse right in the entryway.
“What’s with all of the loot?” I asked anyone in general.

“In these trunks are your learning tools. It
is time for you to own your gifts,” Seb said as he walked over to the trunks and flipped the lid on each of the three.

In the first trunk I
saw nothing but old HUGE dusty books. Same with the second, but the third held lots of shiny things. Shiny
deadly
things. I practically wiggled in my excitement.

“Don’t get any ideas
, Ella. You don’t get to play with the weapons until you learn more about your people and the world you now live in,” Seb insisted in a patronizing tone.

ASS!

Jaxx walked by Seb and whacked him hard on the back. I guessed that was a manly hello or something. I preferred the pretzel. Jaxx pulled Seb off to the sitting room and they started to talk in hushed tones, probably catching each other up on recent events. What a fucked conversation that was going to be.

I wish
ed I had super hearing. I bet they are talking about how fragile I was right then, since I was still recovering from nearly dying. Maybe they were discussing what my father’s clan put Jaxx through while he was absent. If he couldn’t talk to me about what happened, maybe he could confide in Seb. It wasn’t healthy to keep all of that darkness bottled up. One day he would explode from the pressure of it and everyone around him would be collateral damage. I would not be looking forward to that day.

Gavin
walked over to me and threw his arm around my shoulders. Steering me out of hearing distance of Seb and Jaxx and what they obviously didn’t want me to hear.

I shrug
ged off his arm and moved over to the first of the trunks to inspect the books inside. They were thick and dusty. I picked one up and almost dropped it right where I stood. It started to glow when my fingers touched the old fragile leather binding. I looked over at Gavin and found his eyes widen as he stared at the book.
What the fuck?

“Umm,
Seb? Why is this book glowing?” I yelled so that he could hear me in the other room.

Seb came
running into the room only to stop at the sight of me holding a large black leather book. The leather was splitting and curing in places. Gold etching ran up the spine and around the words stamped into the surface in a language that I couldn’t read. “Put the book down slowly, Ella. No! Don’t drop it!” he shouted at me when I almost flung it away from me. “Just gently sit it down. That is a very old book. I don’t even know how it found its way into my procession.”

“What
do you mean you don’t know how IT found its way into your shit?” I looked at him like he’s been sipping bad Kool-Aid. “Books don’t travel on their own.”

“This one does. It
is the book of Hekate. Her personal scribe wrote it with his own blood. It goes where it wants and picks who or what it belongs to.” Seb was looking at the old tome like he was seriously scared of it.

“Who or what
is Hekate. I’m sorry that I seem so ignorant, but. Yeah, I am.” I rolled my eyes. Yes, I knew I was being a brat, but I was so tired of being slow on the upkeep.

Seb pursed his lips and stared
down his nose at me like I was a naughty child.

I smirk
ed at him in return.

“
Hekate is a Goddess,” he said slowly like I was…well…slow. “The most powerful of all Goddesses. She is a triple. Goddess of the Moon, the Earth, and the Underworld, she is the one that has gifted your race with their birthright. The gifts bestowed on you come directly from her. Jaxx’s ability to mist for instance is stronger in the presence of moonlight, if you think about it. When everything comes full circle it always begins and ends with our Mother Goddess.”

I look
ed around the room to see if I was the only one breaking out in goose bumps at the mention of the Mother Goddess. Obviously not. Everyone was at rapt attention for this little lesson. “Thank you for explaining that to me, but why is her book here and what do we do with it?” I asked Seb. Hoping he had the answer for this also.

“No
we
, my dear.
You
. It has chosen you. It glowed and revealed its power at your touch.”

“What does that even mean?” I ask
ed Seb.
He must be going cray, cray,
I thought. I had no idea what to do with that book. I didn’t even want it, it seriously creeped me the hell out.

“It means that it belongs to you and only you. It
is another talisman to help guide and guard you in this life.” Seb shook his head as if in confusion. “The last time the Book of Blood chose someone to belong to, they were a Celios.” At my questioning glare, Seb explained. “A Celios is either a demigod, someone born of a God or Goddess, or someone that was blessed at birth by our Mother Goddess.”

I breathe
d in deep through my nose and tried to fathom why such a powerful relic would choose me of all people to belong to. I was new to this life. I was so far behind everyone else I might as well be crawling around and shitting in my nappy. I walked over to the trunk and gingerly picked up the Book of Blood and held it in my hands once more. It started to glow even brighter than the first time that I touched it.

Everyone in the room
was staring at me like I was some kind of freak. “Seb, would you get me something to wrap it in, to keep it safe?” I asked.

He handed
me a cloth the size of a large towel made of black velvet. He must have yanked it from another one of his many trunks.

I gently wrap
ped the tome and walked out of the room. I had no idea where I was going to hide it, but I knew I had to keep it safe. It was like a voice was in the back of my head guiding me as to where to take the book.

I
walked to my room and started to stomp on the wood floor near the huge bed that I had claimed. I heard a creak as a wooden plank moved slightly out of place. I gently placed my wrapped charge on the floor as I reached for the board. I pried it open and discovered a fairly big sized cubby under the floor boards. I slipped the velvet wrapped book gently inside and closed the board back over my new hiding spot. It should be safe there, but just to be sure I wanted to try and ward the tiny space. If the book was meant for me in this life time, then I shuddered to think what would happen if it fell into the wrong hands.

I kne
lt above the loose board and closed my eyes. Concentrating on how I didn’t want anyone to be able to sense the book there. How I didn’t want anyone to know where it was being kept. How I didn’t want anyone to be able to get into the cubby but me or someone that I gave my permission to. I felt my palms begin to heat in the centers. I heard that little voice in the back of my mind guiding me as I placed the wards. I traced a strange marking with my light onto the floor below with my finger, markings that I couldn’t understand, but somehow knew that they would keep the space safe from prying eyes and hands. Once I was sure that the book was secure I rose and left my bedroom.

When I mad
e it back to the front room, Seb had a study space set up on the coffee table. Books and notebook paper were spread over the top. Guess class was finally in session.

“Did you find a secure spot to hide away your new treasure
, little raven?” Jaxx pulled me into his arms.

I love
d the way he smelled and nuzzled into his chest. He always felt like home to me. “Yes, I think it is safe in the place I picked for it.” I looked to Seb from the protective shell of Jaxx’s arms. “Are you about ready to start my lessons, teach?” I snickered at the affronted look on his face. “Kidding!”

“Yes. We are ready for you to learn more of your world. I quizzed Gavin
, but he seems to be up to speed on everything that I could have taught him. Later we will test both of your powers to see if there are any exercises he might need to strengthen himself. I need to test you to see exactly what you are capable of.”

Yay! That sounds like a fun zone to me
. I walked over to the coffee table and Seb handed me a slim book with nothing written on the cover. I turned it over in my hands trying to figure it out for myself exactly what information it could hold.

“That book
is a list. Every type of Supernatural Creature is in there. I think it’s time that you know that there are more than just witches, True Witches, and Vampires in our world.”

I
was actually excited. I had wondered what kinds of others there were besides people like me. I opened the cover of the book wanting to get started as soon as possible when Jaxx spoke and startled me.

“
I’m going to go and start on some brunch for everyone. You are going to need your energy if Seb is going to cram so much information into the pretty head of yours,” he snickered at me when I blew a raspberry at him.

I sank onto the couch and go
t comfortable amongst the throw pillows while Gavin and Jaxx filed into the kitchen. Seb took the club chair across from me in a slouching pose. He pulled out a thick volume of goddess knew what and started to thumb through it, grunting at me when he noticed me staring at him.

The first chapter of the book I
was studying pertained to werewolves. How awesome was that! Werewolves existed. They were creatures controlled by the moon. ‘Hundreds of years ago a man prayed to the Goddess Hekate to grant him the means to make a beautiful maiden in his village fall in love with him. Up until that point she had snubbed his advances.

Hekate granted
the poor farmer his wish, but warned him that if harm befell the maiden by his hands or actions then he would suffer a curse far worse than he could ever imagine. He took her warning with a grain of salt. He was too excited to go and collect his new lady love.

Love him she did for years and years. She bore him many strong sons and was a pleasant wife for the fa
rmer, until he let his jealousy get the best of him. Throughout their marriage many taunted him, telling him that his wife could have done better. That by marrying her he’d pulled her down into the muck with him. He cast his dark thoughts aside until one day a lonely, dirty, and bedraggled drifter passed through the farmer’s lands while he was away at market. His wife took the drifter into their home and bade their sons to bathe the man while she fixed him a meal.

After a hard day of hocking his wares the farmer returns home to find his wife entertaining a
very handsome young man. They were laughing over something and it looked very intimate. A dark rage like nothing the farmer had ever felt rose up within him. He remembered all the taunting and teasing of the towns folk. How he’d pulled down his lovely wife from the life of splendor she could have had to life in the muck with him.

He reached
into his cart for his hatchet and charged the drifter. He swung the hatchet high above his head and brought it down in a hard stroke. The only warning the drifter had was the slight widening of the farmer’s wife’s eyes. The farmer’s hatchet buried itself deep within the back of the drifter’s head. His life was snuffed out like a weak candle. The farmer lifted his head and saw his lovely wife weeping and screaming. She was covered in blood.
She is not my lovely maiden. This harlot cannot be my wife,
the farmer thought to himself and he charged his wife, screaming
harlot
at the top of his lungs. His sons ran into the room and she shooed them away.
Run
she told them
. Papa is not well.
The boys scattered.

The farmer heard
his beauty of a wife pleading with him to stop, to think, but it was like a dull buzz in his ears behind the ever present taunts. He raised the hatchet once more and swung. He didn’t stop swinging until all of his strength had left him.

The farmer woke
from a strange sleep hours later. He was covered in blood and grime. The sight before his eyes was that of his deepest nightmare. His beloved wife lay sprawled on the floor of their home slaughtered like game. A green tinted mist started to swirl over the floor thickening until he couldn’t see through it.

A woman more exquisite than he had ever beheld
, stepped through it, parting it with her hands. She had hair as dark as raven feathers, eyes the color of pale grass, and was tall for a female. Her body was strong and lithe like the carnival dancers that visited his village on occasion. When she spoke it sounded like thunder and a hard rainstorm personified.

I warned you. You
r actions have sullied what I so graciously gifted you. So I curse you and yours. Curse you to run on four limbs on the nights when the moon is full. Your sons will share in your fate. Your jealousy has not only damned you, but your spawn as well. You shall sing to me and worship me even when you are wracked with pain from the shift from man to beast.

With that
last word the green mist swirled around her in a giant funnel and she disappeared as fast as she’d come, leaving behind the farmer’s wail of denial. So the werewolves were born.’

I look
ed up from the book and rubbed my eyes. That was some vengeful shit. Not that the man didn’t deserve it, but still. I looked up and spotted Seb napping in the club chair. Sprawled out and drooling on his shoulder. I stifled a laugh and got up. I went in the kitchen and found Jaxx and Gavin chowing down on fried pork chops and mashed potatoes.

“You fuckers ate without me,
” I pouted at my brother and Jaxx.

They laugh
ed and pushed a plate across the counter at me. The brunch was delish. We all chowed down until we could barely move. I could feel the food hitting my system and helping me heal from almost dying just a day ago. I was sure by tomorrow I would at least look normal. I felt stronger already.