Relentless (6 page)

11. KISSING IN THE RAIN

THE NEXT DAY,
a major storm front swept across the area. Gone were the pleasant temperatures and bright blue skies of the past week; in their place had come chill winds and leaden gray clouds filled with moisture. The forecast called for two or three days of intermittent rain, heavy at times.

Leesa didn’t care. She was still going to work on her magic. Indeed, she felt that using her powers to keep herself dry while performing other spells would be a useful challenge. The foul weather was of no concern to Rave, either. His inner heat kept him warm and dry no matter what the weather. The heavier the rain, the more he simply turned up the fire inside him to evaporate the moisture as soon as it struck him. Leesa had been with him in one storm so fierce she could hear the water hissing as his heat evaporated it.

They stood with their arms around each other near the highway at the edge of the volkaane settlement, waiting for Cali. The dark stone Leesa was going to try again to make grow sat in the mud in front of them. Leesa had levitated herself an inch above the ground to keep her gray and blue running shoes out of the muck, and she maintained an air shield above their heads to block the rain. The water poured off the air shield’s edges in tiny waterfalls. She and Rave had chosen a spot far enough back from the road that no one driving by would be able to notice the inexplicable phenomenon.

Today was Cali’s scheduled day to join them, and she had insisted on coming along despite the storm. “What’s the big deal?” she had said on the phone earlier in the morning. “I’ve got a raincoat and an umbrella—I won’t melt.”

Leesa was not surprised that Cali was coming. As much as her friend loved magic, Leesa guessed that nothing short of a hurricane or a tornado warning would keep Cali away. And maybe not even that.

A pair of headlights cut through the gloom and curved across the highway as the car made a U-turn and pulled over onto the shoulder. Leesa levitated the rock up into her hands. Since levitation provided only vertical movement, Rave used the arm he still had wrapped around Leesa’s back to direct her toward the car. The sensation felt a little like being on a moving sidewalk—she was moving forward without taking any actual steps. When they reached the car, she let the stone float back down to the ground.

Cali got out and came around to join them. She was wearing a bright yellow rain slicker with a large picture of Donald Duck’s head on the front, as well as a matching rain hat and black rubber boots. The pie-shaped sections of her umbrella alternated pink, purple and gray.

“Nice day, huh?” she said, smiling.  She looked up at the rain bouncing off and sluicing over the edges of the invisible barrier above Leesa and Rave’s heads. “That’s pretty cool, Leesa. If you can figure out a way to add some bright colors to that thing, you might have a winner.”

Leesa laughed. “I’ll keep that in mind, next time I’m waiting around in the rain with nothing to do.” The more she thought about it, though, the more it seemed like that might be a good combination of spells to try. She didn’t see a use for such a pairing right now, but she was always looking for ways to stretch her abilities.

Rave bent down and effortlessly picked up the heavy stone. Leesa watched an area of lighter gray spread out on the surface of the rock from around Rave’s hands as his heat began to dry it out.

“Since you’re riding with Cali,” he said. “I’ll carry this.”

“You don’t have to carry it, Rave,” Cali said. “We can put it in the trunk. It’s already a mess back there. A little mud and wet won’t hurt it any.”

Rave hefted the rock and grinned. “No, I want to carry it. I earn kisses from Leesa when I fetch and carry rocks for her.”

Leesa’s grin was at least as wide as Rave’s. “That you do,” she said. She leaned forward over the rock in Rave’s hands and gave him a long kiss on the mouth.

“Ugghh…” Cali groaned with mock disgust. “Could you two be any more in love?”

Leesa ended the kiss and smiled at Cali. “Nope. I don’t think so.”

“Me, either,” Rave added.

Cali shook her head and smiled. “Well, if you two are done playing tonsil hockey, can we get this show on the road? I only get to do this once a week. I want to see some more magic.”

Leesa’s smile widened as an idea came to her. “You want some magic?” she asked. “Rave, show her some magic. Give her a kiss on the cheek. Make it a warm one.”

Rave looked surprised for a moment, but then his expression changed to one of amusement. He put the rock down and bent over to kiss Cali’s cheek.

Cali’s eyes went wide as Rave’s magical heat spread from her cheek across her face and then down through her body. When Rave finally lifted his lips from her skin, she let out a long sigh.

“Wow…now I know why you’re so hooked, Leesa. I think that was even better than a vampire kiss.” Cali’s lips curved into a thoughtful grin. “Though to be fair to Stefan, he’s only kissed my hand. Next time I see him, I’ll have to get him to kiss my cheek, so I can make a better comparison.” Her grin widened as she looked back at Rave. “And then I’ll probably need another kiss from you, Rave, soon after, to make the comparison fair, you know.” She turned to Leesa. “I may even let YOU kiss me, Lees, to add a wizard kiss into the whole mix. I could become the world’s greatest expert on magical kisses.” She nodded in approval at her idea. “I think that’s a goal worth shooting for.”

Leesa could only shake her head and laugh. Cali was too much sometimes.

“Incorrigible,” Leesa said. “Totally incorrigible.”

12. TRY, TRY AGAIN

THE RIDE TO THE PRACTICE SPOT
eight or nine miles north of the volkaane settlement took nearly twenty minutes. During the drive, the weather changed three times—from heavy rain to light showers and back to heavy rain. It was during the period of lighter rain that Leesa spotted something along the side of the road that she wanted.

“Pull over,” she told Cali. “Right here.”

Cali slowed down carefully on the slippery pavement and eased the car over to the shoulder.

“What is it?” she asked. “What’s wrong?”

“Nothing’s wrong. There’s something back there I want. Back up a bit, please.”

Cali backed up slowly, thankful the rain had lightened, making visibility much clearer.

“That’s good,” Leesa said after they had backed up a hundred feet or so. “Stop here.”

Cali took her foot off the gas. She tried to look out Leesa’s window to see what it was that interested her friend, but all she could see was a piece of discarded furniture. It looked like an old, round wooden end table.

“Don’t tell me we stopped for that thing?” Cali said. “It’s barely better than a piece of junk.”

Leesa had already opened her door, but was keeping it cracked just an inch or so to keep the rain from blowing in.

“I know. But I may have some use for it one of these days. You told Rave he could put the rock in the trunk, so I’m guessing you don’t mind if I put the table back there?”

Cali shrugged. “Go ahead. If my wizard friend wants to collect a piece of trash, who am I to argue?” She reached down and popped the latch for the trunk.

Leesa pushed her door open while creating an air shield above her head at the same time. The rain was still fairly light, so it fell off the edges of the shield in trickles rather than in torrents like earlier. Without Rave to push her, there was no point in levitating, so she stepped carefully across a narrow band of mud to the old table. It wasn’t very heavy, so she lifted it without magic and deposited it into the trunk. She slammed the hood down and returned to her door. Before she got in completely, she sat with her feet sticking outside and kicked as much mud off her shoes as she could.

“Oh, get in already,” Cali said. “Have you looked down at the floor mat? A little bit of mud isn’t going to matter.”

Leesa looked down. Cali had a point. The mat was stained with dirt and littered with pieces of trash. She pulled her feet in and yanked the door closed.

After carefully checking the road behind her, Cali eased out onto roadway. She had just gotten up to speed when the heavens opened up once again. The rain pounded against the windshield with such ferocity that the wipers couldn’t keep up with it even at their highest speed, forcing Cali to slow down to maintain even a semblance of visibility. They plodded along at ten to fifteen miles per hour for five minutes or so before the rain slowed to a mere downpour and she was able to see clearly once more.

Finally, they reached the spot where the road came closest to the practice place Leesa had selected, and she directed Cali to pull off the roadway once more and park. The rain was still falling at a steady rate, but nowhere near as furiously as it had a few moments before. Both girls got out of the car. Leesa spun another air shield while Cali opened her multi-colored umbrella.

They set off into the woods, picking their way between the tall trees. The foliage provided partial cover above them, slowing the downpour at least a little. The ground was covered with fallen leaves, creating a surface that was slick but not muddy. Leesa stepped carefully, while Cali stomped alongside in her heavy boots.

Rave arrived at the secluded clearing only a few minutes after Leesa and Cali. He set Leesa’s rock down carefully on the wet ground to avoid splashing any water or debris up onto the girls. When he stood back up, Leesa locked her arms around behind his waist.

“Time for your reward for carrying that,” she said before giving him a long kiss on the lips.

“Oh, geesh,” Cali complained. “Again?” Her smile showed she didn’t mean it.

When Leesa finished her kiss, she turned to Cali and grinned. “Don’t be so jealous. It doesn’t become you.”

“Shouldn’t I get a reward for driving you here?” As soon as Cali finished asking, she looked at Rave flirtatiously, clearly showing what she wanted for her reward—another kiss from him.

Leesa stepped closer to Cali. “Yeah, I think you do deserve something for your trouble.” She leaned over and planted a big wet kiss on Cali’s cheek. “How’s that?”

Cali doubled over with laughter. “Not quite what I had in mind,” she said when she straightened up. “But at least I’ve collected a wizard’s kiss now. I have to say, Lees, you’ve got a ways to go before it measures up to a volkaane kiss or a vampire kiss, that’s for sure.” She glanced at Rave. “No offense, Rave. I’m sure you enjoy Leesa’s kisses just fine.”

Rave reached out and took Leesa’s hand. “That I do. More than just fine.”

Leesa squeezed his hand. “Good answer, sweetheart. Now stand back you two, it’s time for me to get to work.”

Leesa let go of Rave’s hand and turned her attention to the dark stone in the center of the soaked clearing. In a few minutes, she would attempt to make it grow, but first she needed to warm up with her magic. All this time, she had effortlessly been maintaining a shield over her head to protect her from the rain, but now she would need to combine spells if she was to stay dry. She remembered Cali’s earlier suggestion and thought that might be a good place to start.

She held out her hands and called forth a yellow illumination globe above her left palm and a blue one above her right. When both were glowing brightly in the gloom, she sent them floating up toward her invisible shield. When they struck the barrier, she concentrated hard on mixing the different magics, infusing the hues into the shield. Half of it suddenly shone yellow and the other have glowed blue.

“That’s what I’m talking about!” Cali cheered. “Add some color to that thing, so we can see it! It’s pretty, too.”

Leesa smiled proudly. She wasn’t done yet, though. Continuing to visualize the colors filling the shield, she broke them into six different blue and yellow rows, alternating them in sections similar to the segments in Cali’s umbrella. Where the colors met, thin strips of green appeared. The green light made Leesa think of the child inside her belly, and a warm glow filled her. When she was confident she had the colors locked firmly into place, she turned to Cali.

“How about now?” she asked.

Cali’s eyes were fastened on the yellow and blue barrier above Leesa’s head. “Even better. Way cool. Not as cool as hot pink, mind you, but cool enough.”

Leesa smiled. She was pretty sure she could make colors other than blue and yellow, but those were the two she had always used. Trying to fashion other colors would have to wait for another day.

Pleased with her success so far, she felt ready to get to work on the stone. She let the blue and yellow glow fade from her shield—maintaining the barrier while she tried to make the rock grow would be difficult enough without trying to keep the colors in place as well.

She stared down at the dark stone, once again fixing every angle and sharp edge in her mind. When she felt ready, she pictured it expanding an inch or so in every direction while she cast her spell.

“
Blitha morun sumuss
,” she chanted. “
Blitha morun sumuss
.”

Nothing happened. The stone remained exactly as it was.

Leesa was not deterred. Getting it to grow on her first attempt today would have been a surprise—a pleasant surprise, to be sure, but a surprise nonetheless.

She inhaled several slow, deep breaths, then fixed her eyes onto the rock.

“
Blitha morun sumuss
,” she said, even louder this time. “
Blitha morun sumuss
.”

Once again, the stubborn stone remained unchanged. When two more attempts failed as well, Leesa knew she had to try something different.

She turned toward Cali. “Come over here, please. I need your help.”

Cali’s raised eyebrows showed her surprise, but she hurried over to Leesa’s side. She didn’t know how she was going to help Leesa, but where magic was concerned she was always willing and eager to try.

“What do you need? Are you going to try to draw on some of MY magic?”

Leesa let her air shield dissipate and ducked under Cali’s umbrella.

“I wish I could. But your magic is just my magic. There’s nothing to draw from.”

Cali’s brow knitted. “What then?”

Leesa grinned. “I need your umbrella. I think maintaining my shield is working against me. I need you to keep me dry for a few minutes.”

Cali returned Leesa’s grin. “I can do that, for sure.”

The two girls moved closer to the rock, both staying close under Cali’s umbrella. Leesa fixed her gaze upon the stone once more.

“
Blitha morun summass
,” she chanted.

The edges of the rock seemed to shimmer for a moment, but it was difficult to tell with so much water streaming over its surface. It didn’t grow, though. That much was clear.

“I think you almost had it,” Cali said.

Leesa thought so, too, but she wanted to be sure. She looked over at Rave. He had by far the sharpest eyes among them.

“Did you see anything?” she asked him.

Rave nodded. “The edges vibrated for a few seconds. I thought it was about to grow, but it didn’t.”

Leesa smiled, pleased that her magic had begun affecting the rock at least a little. “That’s what I thought, but I wasn’t sure.” She turned back to Cali. “Let’s get the rock under the umbrella as well.”

Squeezing even closer together, Leesa and Cali stepped toward the stone until they were almost standing on top of it. The umbrella was barely big enough to protect the two girls and the rock from the rain, but barely was all Leesa needed. She decided to make one more change as well before she attempted her spell again. She wanted to dry the stone off first. A heat spell would do the trick, but she had a better way.

“Rave, will you come dry this thing off, please.”

Rave crossed the clearing with four quick strides. He squatted and placed both palms upon the rock, using his heat to quickly evaporate the moisture. In seconds, the rock was as dry as if it had never been rained on at all.

“Don’t tell me,” Cali said, smiling. “He earns another kiss for that.”

Leesa laughed. “Not now, but maybe later, yeah. Right now, I’ve got a date with this rock.”

Rave backed up a few steps, and Leesa fastened her gaze upon the stone once more. Her confidence buoyed by Rave’s confirmation that her last attempt had vibrated the edges, she focused her concentration as strongly as she could upon an image of the rock expanding in size.

“
Blitha morun sumuss
,” she chanted, repeating the incantation three times in a slow, firm tone.

On the third chant, the stone began to shimmer, so she repeated the spell again. This time, the shimmering edges moved outward. She had done it! The rock had definitely grown.

Leesa smiled, pleased with herself. The rock hadn’t grown much, but she didn’t care—she had caused a rock to grow, all on her own, without any help from Jenna or anyone else.

“You did it!” Cali exclaimed. Her excitement caused her to move the umbrella slightly, allowing the rain to soak Leesa’s right shoulder and half of her head. As soon as Cali realized what had happened, she hurriedly shifted the umbrella back into place.

“Uh, sorry, Lees.”

“Not a problem,” Leesa replied.

She was about to use a spell to dry herself off, but Rave had already bounded to her side. He put one hand on her shoulder and used the other to stroke her wet hair. Both dried quickly as Rave’s heat spread into her from his fingertips.

Leesa smiled. This was so much better than a boring drying spell. She wished she could let Rave’s hands linger, but she wanted to continue her practice while the image of the stone enlarging was still fresh and clear in her mind.

Reaching up, she grasped the hand that was stroking her hair and gave it a gentle squeeze.

“Thank you,” she said as she lifted Rave’s fingers from her hair. “I hope you don’t mind, but I want to get back to this rock right away.”

Rave gave her hand a gentle squeeze of his own. “I don’t mind at all. I love watching you when you’re beginning to master a new spell.” He stepped back two paces.

Leesa returned her attention to the rock. Not every attempt was successful, but by the end of her session she had made the stone grow half a dozen times, including once while maintaining an air shield over her head.

“I think that’s enough for now,” she said, tremendously pleased with that final success. “We can leave this rock right here. From now on, I’m pretty sure any old rock will do.” She moved to Rave’s side and took his hand. “Cali, you don’t mind if I catch a ride home with Rave, now that he doesn’t have a rock to carry, do you?”

Cali grinned. “Of course not. Why would you want to ride in my crummy old car when you can have Rave carry you? I’ll drop that table off at the side of the road for you to pick up.”