Wolf Spell 1 (10 page)

I lagged behind, stopping us both. “I don’t think I’m hungry anymore.”

He gave me a gentle smile. “I think I know what’s wrong.” He nodded his head toward the front door where we just passed. “Come on, let’s go. I have the same problem.”

My eyes widened. “Go?”
He was taking me somewhere?

“Trust me.”

There was that word as if it hung on a sign in front of my face. Trust. I released a loud breath, unsure of what to do.

He tugged on my hand and pulled me to the door, then opened it for me. Ushering me outside quickly, as if we were two younger teens sneaking out of their parent’s house. The dusk air was still warm. I tried my best at a fearless smile, even though my heart raced inside.

We ran down the driveway and he kept hold of my hand, stopping at one of the two cars parked in front of the house. He opened the passenger side door for me to get in and then dashed over the hood, sliding across to the other side.

He landed in the driver’s seat so fast that it surprised me. I laughed my first real laugh in weeks. Jarak smiled and laughed with me. “That’s a great sound. What’s it called?—A laugh?”

I slugged him in the shoulder, still smiling. “Stop it.” I was under so much stress that I hadn’t had a reason to smile, let alone laugh.

In a deep voice, he tried to impersonate a movie commentator. “A laugh… coming soon in a vehicle near you.”

“Do guys ever grow up?” I chewed a little on my bottom lip, waiting for his answer.

“Yes, wait I mean no, um… is this a trick question?”

We both laughed again. I could feel myself relax. “So, are we going somewhere?”

“That depends.” He patted around the dash with his hands, then flipped open the visor only to shut it again.

“Depends on what?”

“Well, we don’t have keys. My truck’s at home, not here.” He stopped searching and looked at me. “Would you do the honors?”

I giggled. “How am I supposed to do that? I don’t have keys.”

“Okay, indulge me. Close your eyes and imagine the car starting, hear the engine come to life in your mind.” His hands rested on the steering wheel.

“You’re crazy.”

“Maybe, but I’m right. After these last couple days, you won’t even play along?”

This was nuts. I couldn’t believe I was going to listen to him. “Okay but you can’t look at me, I get embarrassed easy.”

He made an
X
over his heart. “My honor.” Then he closed his eyes.

With a smile, I closed my eyes as well. I relaxed, letting my mind envision the car, and then wished it would start. The roar of the engine startled me. My eyes flew open, and I looked at Jarak. He held a cocky grin. “Told you.”

My eyes darted to the ignition where no keys dangled from the key lock. “How did you do that?”

“Not me. You.” He pulled back the gear shifter and placed it in drive. “Ready?”

All I could do was nod. “It’s weird, you know, having magic. I’m still unsure about it. It still feels like a dream or something.” I couldn’t take my eyes from the keyless ignition. It was weird but so awesome at the same time. It was like the night before Christmas as a kid, and you just knew good things were to come. It gave me that kind of excited feeling.

“Weird?”

“Yeah, what about you, wasn’t it weird when you found out?”

Jarak straightened his back. “I don’t have any powers like you.”

“I’m sorry, I just thought—I’m stupid for assuming.” I fidgeted with my hands I folded in my lap. I totally blew that. I didn’t know, and now I felt awful. It was as if I called him out without a warning.

He reached over, turning my face toward him with his free hand. “Don’t ever call yourself that again. It’s okay. I am a Guardian, and that is an incredible gift.”

“A Guardian? I’ve heard Victor and Ree talk about them, but I’m not sure what you mean.” Was it like the secret service? I’d never heard of Guardians in mythology, but I remembered hearing Victor saying he paid him.

He turned the corner and headed toward the city. “Guardians are connected to the spirit wolves.”

My mouth dropped open. All I heard was wolves. My heart thumped wildly as my imagination drove over the edge. “So Guardians are Werewolves?” All my thoughts of trusting him were leaving. Werewolves were a legend that I knew. I could feel the signs of panic coming over me as the reality of being alone in a car with him set in.

He chortled a little. “No.”

 “I don’t understand.”

He drummed his fingers on the wheel. “Guardians aren’t exactly an old mythical legend, in reality they are very new, only been around for about two hundred years or so. We were created from a time of war and because of love.” He paused, taking in a ragged breath. “There was a man named Torres who loved his wife Adonia more than his own life.” I sucked in a sharp breath. There were those names again. He stopped as if to let me take in what he’d just said.

“He wasn’t born with magic or power of any kind, but she loved him back regardless. Because of her immortality, after becoming her husband, he was also bestowed the gift of eternity with his beloved.

“The war had started between Nicholas, all magical beings and the human race. That's why Nicholas took Adonia as a hostage. She was in a voided area for the time so she couldn’t use her magic against her captor. Torres had nothing to save her with and his grief tore him apart. He went deep into the woods, and it was there that he sacrificed himself to the wolves, calling on their power to save his beloved. He’d have gladly given up his life for her. He tried this because she once told him that wolves carried the most spiritual powers in nature, and with all his heart he believed they could help.

“But the strength of his love was so strong that the wolves sensed it. The Alpha wolf understood his pain and vowed that he would help Torres throughout his life to protect his beloved Adonia. They made a pact that night,” he stopped drumming, and his voice calmed as he finished his story.

“As Torres lay on the ground, wounded and bleeding, the Alpha sank his teeth into Torres’s chest, binding the wolf’s powers with the man. Creating the Guardians.

“When Torres awoke the next morning, to his amazement, his wounds were healed. The large white wolf lay next to him, sleeping. He could feel the wolves all around, calling to him in his heart. At first, he heard a garbled voice in his head, and then it became clear.

“He was able to communicate with the Alpha who bonded with him. The wolf became Torres’s spirit wolf. Torres’s strength became boundless because he was able to call on his wolf to help. Together they were able to save Adonia because the power of the wolf was insurmountable, the magic from the warlock had no effect on him.

“The wolf will fight next to their chosen one when needed. With the connection also came great things, and some attributes from the wolves are embedded into our souls.”

I leaned forward and listened intently, this was the best story I’d ever heard. I felt as if I knew this somehow, like I’d heard it before, but my mind suppressed it. “Like what?”

He reached over and took my hand. Butterflies fluttered in my stomach, and my skin flushed. I glanced away, hoping he wouldn't notice. “One is that once we love, there is no stopping it, like the bond between the Alpha wolf and his mate. It will become forever. When a wolf mates, they mate for life, it’s a bond so strong that it is never broken.”

He never blinked, but his jaw tightened. “However, some neat things can happen too. Because Adonia was so grateful to the wolves, she bestowed a gift if you will, upon all the chosen Guardians. Each of us can be gifted a power, but it has to be from the heart. One of the greatest gifts we have is that magic has no effect on us. And, those of us born as a Guardian, just have to be around their chosen wolf to bond, it’s spiritual with no process or pain.” He took a minute, letting everything he said settle in the air.

“The last time either Torres or Adonia were seen, was right after you were kidnapped, stolen from birth. It was sad to see them that way.” I almost thought his eyes glistened as he spoke of them as if it were a memory, something he’d seen with his own eyes.

I couldn’t help but feel miserable for the couple he talked about. I was their missing baby girl. It couldn’t have hit me harder if I’d seen my picture on a milk box. It gnawed at my insides as if an attacking force grasped and squeezed my heart. I needed to clear my mind. All my thoughts jumbled together with my overflowing emotions. It was me. I truly was Esmerelda.

We sat in silence for a few minutes. I was grateful he understood my need for quiet.

I made a stopping gesture with my hands. “So no werewolves.” It relieved me to know the guy who could make me blush wasn’t a ravaging werewolf.

He laughed, lifting the sadness in the car. “No, the myth of the werewolf might be true, but I have yet to see one.” He chuckled. “Shape shifters are real, but they don’t turn into raging wolves on steroids, killing vampires or hunting on full moons.”

“So do you hunt vampires or change into a wolf on full moons?” The thought of Jarak hunting Meadow as a vampire pulled at my heart.

“No, we only protect. We don’t hunt vampires just to kill them. We will kill, if necessary. Think of us as the secret service of the supernatural world.”

“So how did you become a Guardian if it’s something that’s still relatively new?”

“My father was a close confidant to Torres, so Torres chose him to become one. After that, it was passed down to me and others...”

I settled back down with his lighthearted demeanor. I wondered who the others were. He looked over, watching my expression. “So does that scare you, knowing that about me?”

Inside I searched for any signs of remaining fear. “No. Honestly, at first I was a little afraid because all I thought was werewolf, but after hearing the truth, I’m not scared.”

He smiled at my acceptance. “Good.”

“So what about the vampires? I mean, I thought they couldn’t stand in the sunlight, but Ree’s house has so much light.”

“Another myth. They can walk out in the sun anytime, but they don’t have to worry about a sunburn. The sun has no effect on them.”

“I see…” It was weird, talking to him about vampires and werewolves, so I let the conversation fizzle out. I was still hard for me to accept that the whole supernatural world was real.

The lights of the capital at night were breath taking. The trip to the city seemed shorter than when I’d first arrived. I could feel my eyes burn from being so tired, but I willed them to stay open and take in the sights. I hadn’t slept much since arriving. Every noise made me jump, and made me wonder who it was or if they were after me. The truth is, I’d have gotten better sleep if I’d shared a hotel room with a drum playing band of monkeys.

I watched the thousands of buildings as we sped past them. There were so many that they looked like they were on top of each other as if the Spanish crammed every possible outlet into one tiny space.

Beep beep
. The sound of a car horn honked before the tiny car rushed around us. The number of people crammed into the vehicle made me smile; it seemed the buildings weren’t the only thing lacking space.

Jarak parked along the side of a road. Businesses had lights glowing from inside their windows. Crowds of people walked past them, talking amongst themselves. Just as before, he ran around the car and opened the door for me.

I could hear the sounds of the city even more, the cars passing, horns beeping and unfamiliar sirens in the distance. Excitement radiated from every passerby. I smiled up at him as he offered his hand, helping me out of the vehicle. Recognizable, yet new scents surrounded me. Fried ham and grease filled my nostrils.

“Where are we going?” Now I was even more curious what we were doing on a crowded sidewalk.

“Right there.” He pointed to the corner of a large building on the corner of a cross road with lots of traffic.

I strained my eyes, looking for a sign of some sort. Summoning all my courage, I reached out and gripped his hand as we neared the edge of the road we had to cross. My smile became wider when he never pulled away. A panhandler reached out with his hat, asking for our money.

Jarak glanced down at the old man. “Sorry, not tonight.” He pulled me closer and we continued to walk.

I sniffed the air. I’d know that smell anywhere. I hurried, almost pulling him with me. Once across the street, my nose served me right. A large moving truck hid the painted sign on the window. Even in Spain, I knew what it said. You can’t make the golden arches foreign.

“Seriously? We’re in Spain, and you take me to McDonalds?” Inside I was overly happy about seeing something familiar, but I couldn’t stop myself from goading him.

“Oh yeah, that’s how I roll, a cheeseburger in one hand, a pretty girl in the other.”

My heart fluttered at his complement. “Well then, lead the way. I hear the french fries calling out to my stomach.”