Wolf Spell 1 (20 page)

I sped through the city streets, honking my horn and blasting past everything on the roads. Ailaina never said anything. I looked back in the rearview mirror and watched her cry over Es’s almost lifeless body. I punched in Victor’s number on my cell and waited for him to answer.

“What’d you find?” He asked as soon as he answered.

“Hey Vic, I got her, but it’s not good.” I looked back at her and spotted the slow rise of her body. She was still breathing. I didn’t hear anything he said, “I’m on my way to Ree’s.” I hung up. I was in no mood for talking. Besides, he’d let Ree know we were on our way.

“Stay with me. You can’t leave me, not now,” I whispered, hoping that on some wavelength, she could hear me.

– Esmerelda –

I could hear far off and distant voices, muffled in an incoherent echo. I strained to listen.
What happened? Where was Jarak?
I tried to move but couldn’t tell if I did or not. My body was heavy, compressed as if thousands of pounds lay on top of me.

I needed to know what happened, but I felt trapped in my own body. The noises sounded as if they were underwater. My mind wanted to shut down, making it impossible to listen anymore. I drifted back off into the welcoming void of unconsciousness.

I needed to focus. I could still hear muffled voices, but when I opened my eyes, blurry creatures talked back.
What’s wrong with me?
I used every ounce of oomph I could muster and forced my fingers to move. Exhausted, I wanted to cry, but no tears came.

Tiny prickles danced across my skin over my hand from some kind of movement. It felt as if my hand had fallen asleep and now tried to awaken. I flinched and tried to move it away, but I couldn’t, I was still too weak. Whatever was on me, hurt so badly. I wanted to cry, scream, yell—anything.

“I think she can hear us now.”

Oh my gosh, I heard that. It was small and garbled as if I was underwater, but I heard it. That was the first clear thing I’d heard. I had no clue how long I’d been in this dead like state, but I assumed a while. I couldn’t remember the first time I started hearing voices or seeing blurry creatures, but it felt as if it was weeks.

“You better be right because if she doesn’t get better any faster, I’m afraid she may not make it.”
A man’s voice muddled with another one. I could hear them, but no sound erupted from my throat.

Who was with me? Where was I?
I willed my eyes to open, but they remained shut.
Jarak!
Ailaina!
I called out to both of them in my head.

“I saw her finger twitch.”

Hope fluttered inside me. I knew that voice. It was Ailaina. Even underwater garble couldn’t hide my friends sound.

“Did you see it? She moved! Es, I’m right here, can you hear me?”

“I’m here! I can hear you
.” I tried shouting but still no sound left my mouth.

Someone grasped my hand, holding it tight.
“Es, if you can hear me, squeeze my hand.”
Jarak’s voice came through much clearer, except he sounded far away, not muddled like Ailaina’s.

I was numb, how was I supposed to move, let alone grasp his hand? Didn’t he know what a nearly impossible task he asked of me? Ugh!

Instead of letting myself give in to the pity party my heart tried to give me, I concentrated on my inner power, grasping around the invisible chord that tied me to Jarak and pulled… hard.

I used his energy to move my hand. It wasn’t a tight squeeze, but at least I made a connection with him. As soon as I squeezed his hand tighter around mine, the energy drained and faded away. I wouldn’t be able to hold onto his hand for much longer.

“I knew it!” Ailaina squeaked in delight. “Luna look!”

Luna? Who’s Luna?
Luna must belong to the soft voice I heard.

“Esmerelda, you need to sleep so you can heal. We’re right here with you.”
It was a soft-spoken woman talking. That must be Luna. Her voice was calming, and it helped lull my mind back into the darkness.

Meeting a Wolf

– Esmerelda –

November 1, 2012

I looked around, watching the pale light of the moon cast shadows around the darkened room. The window was open, letting in a brisk breeze.

A small shift of movement under the dancing curtains caught my attention. A large white wolf lay curled up asleep on the floor. I watched the steady rise and fall of the beast’s chest.

Jarak lay sleeping against the massive wolf’s body. He had his legs kicked out and crossed over, with his arms folded, resting on his chest. He looked so peaceful while he slept.

My heart leapt for joy seeing him there and I wondered how long I’d been out. My memory of what happened was fuzzy. Something pressed me into thinking I needed to remember.

I sat up, careful not to make too much noise, not wanting to disturb Jarak and the massive wolf. I watched them as I lifted the coverlet off my legs. The wolf’s ears turned forward as if he listened to my movements. I held my breath and sat still.

“You scared me.” Jarak spoke without opening his eyes.

I jumped a little at the unexpected sound. “Sorry. I didn’t mean to wake you.”

“I’m not talking about that.” He was fully awake and rose from his position. “I’m talking about you almost dying. I’ve sat here for days while you were unconscious.”

I lowered my eyes. Warmth spread through my cheeks as I blushed, knowing he’d watched me sleeping for days. “Sorry. How long was I out?”

“Four days, it was touch and go at the beginning. Victor helped take some of the pain, but he couldn’t do too much since it was a poison deadly to all magical beings.” Jarak stood in one swift motion and was on his feet walking over to the edge of the bed, sitting down next to me. His eyes met mine and I searched his, studying every flake of cerulean blue in his iris. His gaze made me warm all over. “What happened?”

“I’m not sure, it’s still unclear. I remember the darkness and something crawling all over me, hurting me. Dark shadows consumed me, making me think horrible things.” I shifted my gaze to the wolf, which was now wide-awake yet still under the window. Jarak followed my stare and smiled.

“Maztic, come here, meet Es.”

The large beast got up on all fours and stretched his hind legs before leaping over to the bed. My eyes were wide as I watched the full size of Jarak’s wolf come into my view.

Maztic must have experienced pride at my expression because he puffed out his chest in a proud stance.
“Esmerelda.”

I jumped back, and hit my elbow on the headboard, in my mad rush to move away. “He talked!” I had lost my mind.

He cocked his head at Jarak, and then looked back at me.
“Of course I can talk. I’m just a little surprised you can hear me.”
Maztic barked back. It was weird. I heard him in my head not my ears. His mouth never moved.

Jarak reached for my hand. “It's okay Es.”

I shook my head. Of course, now I’m like freaking Dr. Doolittle, talking to animals. “He’s talking in my head. Can you hear him?”

Jarak laughed a little. “Yes, all Guardians can hear their wolves. It’s not normal for others to hear them, but then again you’re exceptional, so this shouldn’t surprise me. Es this is Maztic—Maztic is my Spirit Wolf.”

I moved my eyes back and forth from Maztic to Jarak.
So this was the wolf he bonded with.
Never would I have imagined a wolf, or any animal for that matter, could talk to me. Still stunned, I moved a little closer to Jarak.
“I think that went rather well.”
Maztic’s voice rang with sarcasm in my head.

Jarak rolled his eyes. “Maztic, could you give us some room? I want to talk to Es.”

“Where do you suggest I go? The dog house?”
Maztic’s low gruff sounded more jovial than disappointed. I smiled—a little.

“Maztic.” Jarak chided a little deeper. I watched as he walked toward the door, his form evaporating into the air until he was gone.

I didn’t move. “Omigod. He just disappeared.”

“Yeah, they are Spirit Wolves. They can come and go as they need.”

“Do they all talk?” I still sat frozen, watching the doorway where Maztic vanished.

“Yes and no. Only a Guardian can talk to his or her Shadow, but you can hear your mate’s wolf also. That’s why I’m a little baffled why it is you can hear him. Since…” Jarak glimpsed into my eyes, not saying more. “So are you feeling okay?”

I rubbed my arms, and tried to forget about the awkward conversation. “Yeah, I mean I guess so. Emotionally? Not sure.”

“Victor wasn’t sure if he extracted enough from your system. He worked for hours at your side using some weird spell. It looked like a green fog settled over your body. I’m glad it worked.”

Jarak moved off the bed. “Wait.” I clutched onto his arm, afraid that he would leave, and I didn’t think I could handle being alone. “I remember falling, scared that I was dead or dying. I was alone. I tried to stop, but there was nothing there for me to grab to help me.”

I took a deep breath, hoping to relax a little from the anxiety the memories provoked. Jarak sat back down and pulled me closer, holding me tight.

“Finally, I hit the ground. It was cold and hard, like a dirt-covered stone slab… pitch black, no light. I crawled around, feeling my way through the dirt. That’s when I saw the light,” My voice cracked, it was hard to think about what happened.

 “What light?” he whispered against my neck.

“It was Moriah—she was with the light.”

He stiffened, his embrace no longer relaxed. “Moriah?”

Tears rolled out of my eyes. “Well it wasn’t really her, she’s dead, but she managed to come in spirit form. At least that’s how I understood it.”

His hushed tone was deep. “I’m so sorry you went through that.” He kissed the top of my head. He sent me mixed signals and my emotional state couldn’t handle it.

I nodded. “It was horrible.” I remembered the pain in that awful place. “The pain I had is unreal, unfathomable,” my voice trembled.

“I’m so sorry Es.” I could hear tears choking in his voice. I snuggled deeper in his arms, resting my head on his chest, feeling him loosen up a little more again.