Between Light and Dark (14 page)

Axiom's rejection only made it even more humiliating that
she couldn't stop thinking about their passionate episode.

Clearly, he had some timetable of his own in mind for
when they would have sex. Or "mate," as Axiom put it. She
hadn't even been able to push past his ward long enough to
make him have sex with her. And clearly, she was not sexy
enough to make him relinquish his control.

It doesn't matter. It's just the yearning making me want him
so much. It's not real.

She needed to stop thinking about Axiom. She'd been
having a hard time focusing on her witchcraft training because of him. And because of her embarrassment and hurt
over being rejected. At least she'd done a pretty good job of
avoiding him since the thwarted seduction attempt.

Unfortunately, she still bumped into him at meals and
around the contained fire the coven enjoyed in the ritual
circle each night. She avoided making eye contact and
gave him only a forced hello when he greeted her.

She'd stop thinking about Axiom. Instead, she'd focus
on the child to come.

Laurell stepped out of the shower, grabbed a nearby towel,
and wrapped it around herself. She picked up a hand towel
and rubbed it through her hair. Wiping the steam from the
mirror above the sink, she studied her flushed face. Who are
you? Are you even ready to be a mother? Her reflection didn't
respond.

When he'd first mentioned she would deliver the Earth
Balancer, Laurell had thought it a cruel joke. An impossible one. Once she began to believe Axiom spoke the truth
about the child, her soul had sung. She'd have a child she
could raise and love as she herself had never been loved.

She'd be the mother she'd never had. Focus on the baby.
Laurell sighed and blinked away the tears that threatened
to well in her eyes. She was strong. She was used to having
only herself to rely on. She'd be fine. Focus on the baby.
Maybe that thought could keep her fear of the Umbrae and of an uncertain future at bay. At the moment, it was the
only bright light she held against the invading dark.

Mobius strode through the sparkling halls of the Divine
Council's meeting quarters. His white robe flowed about his
ankles like a cloud, and he impatiently kicked it away as he
turned the corner and entered the room where Elaine
Pittman and Anne, the former High Priestess of Hidden Circle Coven, lay oblivious atop crystal slabs. The goddess Willow watched them intently, lips pursed in concentration as
she twisted one shiny blonde lock of hair about her finger.
"Has there been any progress?" he asked.

Willow lifted her head. "Elaine's re-visioning is just
about complete. I've scanned all scenes from her memory.
She did not see who pushed her from the balcony, but the
energy surge she experienced prior to the fall carries the
scent of the Umbrae."

Mobius glanced to where Elaine lay, her light gold robe
shimmering under the soft lighting of the re-visioning room.
Her features were relaxed and peaceful, dark hair curled
over her shoulders, arms folded across her midsection. He
then looked at Anne, whose face was twisted in a grimace.
She wore the same gold robe, as all previously human spirit
beings did, but she dug her fingers into the material at her
sides, clawing it.

"Her re-visioning is still in process?"

Willow nodded. "It is not going as smoothly."

To say the least, Mobius thought. A large screen hovered
in the air several feet above them. Images flashed. Anne's
memories.

Though they could be utilized at any time to gain insight
into a mortal's history, re-visionings were typically employed when humans first moved from Earth to the Light
Realm. Their lives were replayed so they could remember and learn of progress made or not made in that lifetime. It
helped determine whether they needed to reincarnate.

In this case, a repeat procedure was necessary for the Liaison Elaine, since Willow felt certain Anne and Elaine's
deaths were connected. Anne's re-visioning had been delayed because, since her final moments had been so violent, they'd caused a fracture in her memory of them.
She'd needed time to regain her strength and heal before
proceeding.

Mobius and Willow observed the screen in silence. The
images whizzed by at rapid speed, but Mobius knew they
were getting close to Anne's last few days on Earth. "Slow
the projection," he said.

Willow placed one slender hand over Anne's head and the
moving images assumed a more comprehensible pace. Anne
meeting with Laurell's grandmother, Helen. Helen pleading
with her to talk sense into Laurell's mother, Elaine. Anne's
visit to Elaine, who refused to listen. Anne's attempt to convince her by sharing her visions. Mobius watched this scene
with interest. He had viewed it once already, from Elaine's
perspective, but hoped seeing it through Anne's eyes would
bring additional enlightenment.

During her attempt to convince Elaine to take part in
the mission, Anne had shared a vision that racked Elaine's
body with energy remarkably similar to the yearning. If he
himself had not once experienced the yearning, Mobius
would have thought it the real thing.

"Was anyone on the Council aware of Anne's ability to
transmit visions in this manner?" Mobius asked.

"Yes," Willow confirmed, "but we did not know she had
envisioned the yearning."

Mobius frowned. Well aware of the Umbrae's ability to
tap into the yearning and track the parents of the Earth
Balancer, the Council had carefully guarded its secret until the mission's launch. "We underestimated Anne's power. It
cost us Elaine's life."

With another sweep of her hand over Anne's head, Willow halted the woman's re-visioning and stepped close to
Mobius. She glanced at the open doorway and pulled him
to the side.

Lowering her voice, she said, "I questioned Anne after
she arrived in the Light Realm. She said she'd learned of
the yearning from Helen."

Mobius tilted his head to one side. "Helen's psychic abilities were not strong enough to discern the yearning. Especially when we had purposely erased the memory of it from
all humans affected during my time on Earth." This new
development did not bode well. Not at all. A sinking sensation took root in his solar plexus, and he crossed his arms,
not enjoying the feeling one bit.

Willow's lavender eyes flashed with apprehension. "One
of the Council members must have implanted the vision of
the yearning in Helen's mind. But who would do such a
thing?"

Mobius sighed. He could think of a number of those on
the Council who did not approve of Axiom's selection, but
none who would risk the mission because of prejudice. "Perhaps we've misjudged Helen's intuitive ability, just as we did
Anne's powers."

What if we also underestimated the Umbrae's pull on Axiom's
dark half while he is on Earth? Willow did not speak the words,
but Mobius saw the doubt on her face.

He wanted to groan his frustration. Humans thought the
gods were omnipotent. Yet despite their mighty strength
and vast abilities, they remained limited. They could not
see or know all. Only Source had the ability to tap into all
of life at once. Source, however, was not a thinking being,
but instead an energy, a force, something that resided in all beings, in varying degrees. The Umbrae hoped to harness
Source by stealing the fragments of it that resided within
the gods and goddesses. They hoped to weaken the gods via
their ties to humanity. So far the mission to prevent that
from happening was off to a shaky start.

Mobius shook his head and willed the worrisome
thoughts away. He motioned for Willow to resume Anne's
re-visioning. He cringed as he witnessed the final, brutal
scene of Anne's life. Some weeks after her meeting with
Elaine, she'd been overcome by an Umbra.

"Why do you suppose the Umbrae didn't attack Anne
earlier? They must have detected the yearning on her after
she shared her vision with Elaine," Willow murmured.

"She had a perpetual ward in place; it sometimes occurs
in witches who spend a great deal of time working protection spells."

"Which she would have been doing while perfecting the
spells for the safe house and the covenstead," Willow murmured.

Mobius nodded. "It's unlikely she even realized it was
there. Unfortunately, it would have taken only a small
lapse in her ward for the Umbrae to detect her."

"So much death." Willow's voice was low, almost a whisper.

Mobius knew much of death. His own time on Earth, his
own mission, had been fraught with it. He cleared his throat,
not willing to allow his mind to drift back to that time.
What's done is done.

"At least it seems clear the Umbrae did not track the
coven or Laurell through Anne," Mobius remarked.

Willow said nothing, just stroked Anne's forehead as
though to brush away the lines of agitation. Filled with admiration, Mobius's eyes swept over the unconscious witch
turned spirit being. Anne had put up such a strong fight dur ing the final moments of her life. She'd resisted the Umbra's
attempts to infiltrate her mind, where it might have gained
access to her secrets.

"Bring them both back to consciousness. Once they've
rested, inform them of what we have learned and instruct
Elaine to pass the information to Laurell. At least the coven
will be able to rest easy knowing they are safe at the covenstead."

For now. Eventually, the Umbrae would find a way to ferret them out. They always found a way.

Laurell perched on her bed, thankful for a moment of reprieve from her witchcraft training. She flipped through
the pages of her grandmother's Book of Shadows.

The doctors say I've not long to live, and I sense this is
why I'm seeing the visions more often. I woke last
night from a particularly vivid dream in which Elaine
was giving birth to a child that glowed white and
shiny as a pearl. The child was brought to a man, an
ugly, twisted man who had the blood of many on his
hands. His fear of the child was palpable.

He tried to run away, but others, men and women
in long cloaks holding wands of some sort, held the
man in place. The child settled small hands on the
man's head and suddenly all that was evil within him
dissipated. I woke abruptly, thinking I heard someone
call my name. Of course, I was alone.

I wanted to make contact with my spirit guides. I
felt certain someone wished to get me a message, but
I could only grasp fragments of it. In my frustration, I
decided to try some automatic writing.

I've never been very skilled at automatic writing, but
apparently the messenger wanted to be sure I received
this information. So I picked up a pad of paper and a
pen and held my hand limply over the page, waiting for the spirit guides to take over. I closed my eyes and
silently told the spirits to speak to me through the pen.
My hand shook and moved as though directed by an
unseen entity. When my hand stilled, I opened my eyes.

Imagine my surprise to see the following words on
the paper before me: Elaine is to mother the Earth Balancer. She must accept her heritage as a witch. You must
convince her. She will birth the child that will save Earth
from demons threatening to destroy it.

I called Elaine the next day and read these words to
her. She became immediately incensed when I brought
up the subject of witchcraft. She reminded me I'd
promised not to soil her or Laurell's life with such nonsense. Then she assured me she had no intention of becoming a mother again at age forty-five. She said it had
been hard enough becoming a mother at age seventeen.
She asked if I was taking my medication and demanded
to speak to my nurse.

I was afraid the nurse would take the Book of Shadows, so I hid it where I always do. Only my old friend
Robert knows where to find it. Along with all my important papers.

Laurell glanced up from the Book of Shadows and
frowned. Wait a minute. Mother was supposed to be part of the
mission? Mother was supposed to be the one to mate with Axiom? Mother was supposed to get pregnant and give birth to the
super-kid and ... and ... and ... Laurell snapped the book
shut and dropped it to the bed with a frustrated groan.

She buried her head in her hands and tried very hard to
calm herself. She hadn't wanted this mission. She hadn't
wanted anything to do with Axiom or the baby, but he'd
convinced her the world rested on her shoulders. This was
her destiny, a role she'd been born to fulfill. Even worse, she'd supposedly volunteered for the mission before incarnating. And she'd finally come to terms with all of that, accepted her place, and started to see the bright side of things.
Such as it was.

So why had her grandmother written that Elaine was to
birth the Earth Balancer? What was Laurell? The freakin'
backup plan?

Laurell leaped to her feet and paced the room. Rage
welled in her chest, sharp as a tack. Just when she thought
she understood everything, she discovered more she hadn't
been told about this mission. Her first instinct was to confront Axiom again. But his rejection during her attempted
seduction still stung. She'd done a pretty good job of avoiding him so far. She intended to keep avoiding him for as
long as possible.