Released Souls (11 page)

I began getting uncomfortable hearing them place so much worth on a few skills.
Having these didn’t make me any more special or valuable than anyone else. I didn’t like how the fairies were able to dismiss or embrace so easily. It worried me.

“Have they relocated yet… my mom and aunt?” I asked hesitantly.

Bakula looked at Logan and back at me. “Everyone is together and in a safe place. But that’s the last we can talk of it until everything is over.”

“Thank you for telling me that, at least.
”

“Thank you, Bakula,” Logan seconded, wrapping his arm around my shoulder.

“Now, go get some items together and we’ll take you to where you’ll be staying,” Bakula replied, but Dace held up his hand, shaking his head.

“We n
eed to tell them what’s begun,” Dace said, eyeing Bakula, whose eyes fell to the ground. This was so unlike her.

“It’s becoming clear
that the longer we give your grandfather, the stronger his side will become. Once they complete their preparations, there will be a push like never before to gain control of the magical worlds we all love and adore. Mainly, they’ll be after you.” She stopped herself and looked away once more. She was never really at a loss for words. Something was wrong.

“Th
ey’ve started clearing out the covensteads,” Dace spoke softly. “The
Praedivinus
order has been commanded to begin the process of removing unwilling participants from covens across the globe. Some families have already gone into exile. In some places the witches have been left alone and only the structure destroyed. In other places the witches weren’t so lucky.”

“I don’t believe you,” I whispered, looking over at Logan for support. He looked as I horrified as I was.

“Jenny,” I whispered. “Her family. I haven’t heard from them since…”

“We’ll keep you up to date on any developments.
They might just be in hiding.” Bakula flew over to me, touching my cheek in a gesture of love. “Things are happening so quickly, we haven’t had a chance to get a grip on the whereabouts of everyone. Fairies around the world are on this, Triss, and we won’t let you down.”

Finding my phone, I sent text after text that all remained unanswered, and I knew what I was fighting for
was no longer personal. It was collective. My community needed help, and I would do anything to help them.

“So do you think we can trust Trevor?” I asked.

“Do you think you can?” Bakula asked, waiting for me to get out of the car.

“No,
” I sighed, closing the door. “Well, maybe we can.”

“Then trust your gut,
” she replied. “Off to the tent.”

That wasn’t helpful.

“You expect us to stay in a tent in this weather?”

“Sorry. I
t’s not
really
a tent. It’s a yurt, and it has a fireplace. Follow me,” her voice was filled with laughter, but I didn’t find freezing to death a laughing matter.

Bakula
flew ahead, weaving through the blackberries and naked maples, on a mission. I took a step forward and carefully lifted the first blackberry vine, which looked more like a tree than a vine, and moved it to the side so the thorns wouldn’t tear my skin.

“Babe, let me handle this. If we do it your way we’ll never get through
the thicket.”

“But I don’t want anyone to know we’ve been here,” I objected.

“We don’t really have the luxury of time right now.
Purgantibus Vites
,” he chanted before I had time to put up a fight.

The blackberries shriveled into themselves, and I began
walking forward, noticing Bakula hovering ahead impatiently.

“I could have done that you know,” I huffed, stomping through the clearing.

“I’m sure you could have.” He couldn’t hide the amusement in his voice.

“Come on, dears,” Bakula’s voice hummed through the air. “We’ve got a bit of
a climb…Or actually you’ve got a bit of a climb.” She chuckled. “We found a wonderful place for you. Don’t worry about the trail, we’ll be sure to cover it as if it’s never been touched.”

I glanced back at Logan who was getting as much o
f a kick out of Bakula as I was as we followed along the steep terrain. The thicket of blackberries had only edged the border of the woods, and now we were dealing with mostly jagged rocks and fir trees.

He squeezed my hand gently as we continued to
trudge up the nonexistent path to the fairies’ wonderland that they had created for us. I only hoped it really was somewhere special because I had been liking the idea of spending time at our home back in Seattle.

Bakula stopped moving and waited for us to reach her, which was probably a good idea since it looked as if there was a drop-off of some sort.
I wasn’t sure where they thought was such a great idea to call home, but with the chill in the air and the steep cliffs all around I was a bit skeptical.

“Here it
is. Your lovely abode,” she told us, smiling widely. Unfortunately all of her sharp, little teeth were on display when she did so, and I found myself looking away quickly. I wasn’t sure I’d ever really get used to those suckers.

Logan dropped hi
s hand and touched my back softly, guiding me over to where Bakula was hovering.

“We’re a ways up,” I whispered
to Logan, attempting to catch my breath.

T
he view stopped me in my tracks. It was gorgeous. The rocky cliff above gave way to a beautiful grassy knoll that was surrounded by maples and alders, both without leaves but equally stunning in stature. I scanned the clearing, spotting a brown, circular tent-like structure, with a little chimney poking out the top. Must be the yurt. It was quite cute and certainly changed my idea of living in a tent.

“Is
that the spot?” I asked.

Bakula started flying toward the yurt
with Logan and me quickly following behind.

“It should do well for the few night
s we want you out here. We’re thinking you should remain out of sight for a little bit until we ready everything.”

“What are you readying?” I asked, climbing
through the tall, stiff grasses that autumn had left behind.

“A network for communication between covens
and coven members we can trust,” she replied matter-of-factly. “Since only Trevor, Logan, and your aunt can communicate with us simply, we’ve needed to implement a few more measures so we can get the word out more easily.”

We reached the yurt, which looked much bigger on
ce I got closer, and Bakula quickly flew around it giving it a once over.

“
Seems they did a good job constructing it,” she said pleased, patting the canvas surface.

“It kind of looks like one of
your homes but on steroids,” I replied.

“Where do you think your people got
the idea,” she shot back with a grin.

I gave her a quick smil
e and reached for the handle on the door. Yes! There was a door on this tent. I could really get used to this. Logan came up behind me as I opened the door, revealing an adorable space.

There was a woodstove
in the center of the yurt, and huge throw rugs covering the pine floorboards. They had placed a different color rug in each space making the area feel divided, even though there were no walls. The kitchen’s rug was bright red, the sitting area’s was bright green, and the bedroom’s was ivory.

The sitting area had two
gray, overstuffed corduroy beanbags along with two small chairs, and a vase full of flowers. There were unlit candles stored everywhere that they could find space. It was astonishing what lengths the fairies went to make this place feel like a home for us. The kitchen consisted of two rolling carts with pine-blocks on top for the counters and a small, propane stove.

My eyes fell to the
back of the yurt, where the bedroom was located. The sumptuous feather bedding beckoned me. There were countless pillows in various shades of ivory and white. It certainly didn’t seem like something that would be typically found in the middle of the forest. There was no doubt Bakula was attempting to make her point about us as a couple. The sitting room seemed completely sparse in comparison to the bedroom.

I threw Bakula a grin, try
ing to hold in my embarrassment as my mind wandered to Logan and the bed.

“Well
, it gets cold out here in the mountains,” she said emphatically.

“I thought we were only going to be here a few days?”
I teased.

“
You’ve got a lot of practicing to do while you learn all of your abilities. You’ll need your rest.” She winked at Logan. “And you might as well not suffer while you’re out here.”

Logan dumped the large backpack on the floor and caught my eyes, locking
his with mine and I couldn’t look away. It was like seeing inside his soul.

“I don’t think there’ll be any suffering going on,”
Logan channeled to me, and I immediately blushed. He raised his brow at me, and I couldn’t help but smile. I wondered how I’d get any practice time fit in.

“We’ve pulled
Troni and Coter off securing you. No one will find you out here unless they are sent by us,” she replied, eyeing Logan. “Just remember that.”

“Thank you for going to all of this trouble,” I told Bakula.

“No trouble at all. We’ve got to keep our Triss safe until the time is right for you to turn our world around.”

“Well, nonetheless, thanks,
” I replied embarrassed. They were certainly pinning a lot of hope on me.

“To
some points of action. What we need you to do is practice your gifts until you can practice no more. And then, practice some more. We also need you to think of a list of possible individuals who you think we need to take to safety or who you think might lend us a hand. I also want you to rest assured that your families are protected and will remain that way. No worrying about them,” she insisted.

I let a sigh escape and Logan wrapped his fingers around my hand.
Things were going to start happening fast. I could feel it, and I wasn’t entirely sure I was ready for it.

“Oh
, it won’t go on forever, dear. One way or the other it will all end. We only have a limited amount of time, which is why we have to get you up to speed, pronto.”

“What do you mean?” I questioned, completely bewildered. Since when did we have time constraints?

She ignored my question.

“
The released souls from your father’s compounds are all healing at various speeds. We’ve placed many of the families into hiding who are coping with the aftermath. Only time will tell how that will all shake out, but we can’t risk them being in the mix.”

I thought back to my mother and wasn’t really sure if her recovery would be considered
fast or not. It didn’t seem like it to me, but I had nothing to compare it to.

“
Now I’m going to head off and let you two settle in. Don’t forget to practice. These few days will go by quickly. If there are any updates that can’t wait, one of us will be up to let you know.”

And she was off, shutting the door
softly behind her.

Logan didn’t waste any time
bringing my body quickly into his. Feeling his firmness as he pressed against me, created a rippling sensation through out my entire body. Catching my quickened breathing, his eyes sparkled with warmth and desire as he guided his hands along my arms. He looked deeply into my eyes, touching my chin softly before bringing his lips slowly down to my neck. What we were feeling came from a place neither of us wanted to understand, but both had to recognize.

“It’s going to
be dark soon,” he murmured softly in my ear. “We might want to stay inside until morning.”

The
message in his words was almost paralyzing as he let his lips glide along my jaw stopping short of my lips. He knew how to drive me crazy.

“Are you sure?” I whispered. “The training…”

I looked down and attempted to pull away, but his hands tightened around my arms securing me in front of him. My eyes collided with his and what was unleashed between us was a raw, desperate desire to release the anxiety of what our lives had become. His expression was strong and unguarded as he pressed his lips to mine, moving his hands down my waist to my hips, I felt him lift me up and into his arms. I wrapped my legs around him, as he carried me to the featherbed, letting us both sink down into peaks and valleys of the surrounding softness.

Shivers ran through my body
from the slightest touch as his fingers barely grazed my skin. How he could do this to me so easily I’d never understand, but I’d always fully comply — that I was sure of.

“Your smile is always so cute when you’re thinking about something.”
Sitting back slowly, he watched as I was left wriggling and signaling that I wanted more of whatever he was going to give me.