“How are you feeling?” Sebastian asked when I was snuggled into the pillows.
“A little weak, but definitely much better. Thanks.” I smiled at him and took the cup of tea from his hands. “By the way, how did you make that soup? It was amazing.”
“I used blood water to make the noodles and added blood to the pan when I sautéed the veggies and chicken.” He smiled brightly, proud of his brilliant idea. “It always seems to help when you add some blood to the food while it’s cooking.”
“You should definitely cook more then. I still like food. I just want it to taste better.”
He nodded.
My eyes started closing and no matter how hard I tried, I couldn’t keep them open. I felt my head drop down heavily into the pillows. Dreams came out of the woodwork of my mind. Images flashed, colors danced, and emotions were real. Each dream was more vivid than the last. Not one of them was scary or sad. They were beautiful and happy. The best one that appeared behind my lids was a future life.
Sebastian and I danced happily together while people watched and cameras flashed. Everyone around us laughed. My white dress flowed around us each time we moved. Family and friends joined us to celebrate graciously. When our dance ended, we laughed and kissed. Everyone clapped, and more cameras flashed. A little girl ran up on wobbly little legs and hugged us enthusiastically. Sebastian scooped her up and kissed her forehead while I smiled brightly at them both. She had his bright green eyes, but with small flecks of purple and silver, like mine. Her dark hair curled loosely, and she laughed like a bell. She was ours. She was our baby, our daughter. My heart stopped in pride. She was beautiful and so sweet. Something was different about her, though. She wasn’t human. I didn’t feel a child’s racing heart in her chest. There was no heartbeat at all. She had been born a supernatural, something that had never happened before, but there had never been a three-in-one supernatural either, until me. I watched the scene around me. Willow danced with Luke, Sebastian swirled around the dance floor with our little girl, my parents danced happily, Fiora was dancing intimately with Alexandier, and my little brother and sister danced around wildly. Everyone had found love. Everyone had survived our war. We were all alive; we were all safe and happy. With a big smile on my face, I sat back and enjoyed the view of it all.
I woke up with a smile on my face and tears coming from my eyes. There was no telling if it was a vision or just a dream, but either way I wished it were real. Sebastian chose that moment to walk into the room. Shock and fear ran across his face as he darted toward me. Before he could even ask what was wrong, I telepathically showed him my most precious dream. When it was over his smile was bright and his eyes seemed somewhat sad. I sat up and touched his hand. My body felt fine, and I didn’t feel quite so tired anymore. Our eyes met and I lunged toward him, kissing his lips. He pulled me close and held me tightly.
Our bodies danced as we embraced each other. Every kiss was tender and sweet, every touch a whisper. It was beautiful and precious. Each second that ticked by on the clock felt like hours. I never wanted to move or leave the moment that we shared. But like most moments, it was over too soon. The warmth of his body called to me. Needing to be close with him once again, I curled up into his side, my arm resting on his perfectly sculpted chest, my hand lying right where his heart was. Even though there was no heartbeat, I imagined what it would feel like under my palm. Soft beats of a pretend heartbeat reverberated through my mind, lulling me back into my dreamland.
“My sweetheart, what are you gawking at?” her gentle voice scolded me lightly. “I believe your mother, father, and I all taught you better than that, young lady.” She shook her finger at me then chuckled. “Now get over here and give me a hug.”
I ran and jumped into her arms. Her embrace was so familiar, something I had missed so dearly. “Grandma,” I breathed. Tears streamed down my face. The most wonderful woman, other than my mother, was standing in front of me, holding me tightly in her sweet embrace.
“Why on earth are you crying?” She pulled on my chin gently to force me to face her.
“I’ve missed you.” I blinked as fast as I could to force the rest of my tears away.
“I know, my dear. I’ve been watching you. You’re going to do great. And that boy of yours is quite handsome.” She winked shamelessly at me.
“Grandma!”
We laughed.
She sobered up, and her face went serious.
“What is it?” My heart started to sink.
“There are a few spells you need to memorize from that grimoire. Also, we don’t have much time to keep this dream up.” With a flourish of her hand a bench appeared.
“What do you mean we don’t have much time?” I sat down next to her as I asked.
“A dear friend of mine is creating this bridge. It’s easier since you’re so powerful. Sorry for making you feel so sick. I didn’t quite like that part.” Her kind face went sad.
“Who is? And I don’t care that I got sick. I’m just happy I get to see you.” I grabbed her hand and held it tight.
“A half-blood, the one you call Mrs. Summer. Anyway, I need to tell you something. Well, a few somethings.”
“Okay, shoot. I’m all ears.”
“The spells you need to know. One of them is to detect shadows, just a few words that will force that shadow to show some part of itself, if not all. It shows you what or who is a shadow. It is the fateor spell. It means to admit, reveal, or make known. The next is a spell to help heal those around you. I know you; I saw the wheels spinning when you heard about the half-bloods. I know you want to save them. I tried many times, but I wasn’t powerful enough. You are, though. The spell is called the percuro. And lastly, a spell that will make you undetectable to the shadows, it’s called the—”
“Why do I need a spell to make me undetectable?” I cut her off.
“You’re going to need it to save Clamora. And you will need her to find your sister,” she answered matter-of-factly. “The spell to make you undetectable is the abscondere. It makes them believe you are one of them. However that one is tricky. You’re going to need shadow blood for it.”
“Why do I need shadow blood?”
“Because . . . you need to drink a potion that will allow the spell to work. If you don’t, it’s just words in Latin.”
“Sebastian said that would kill a vampire . . .” I spoke softly.
“I know. But you also have to remember you aren’t just a vampire. You’re three parts combined perfectly into one. Every supernatural that has been thrown into you was put there for a reason, to allow you to be invincible, to allow you to survive and save.” She spoke these words with a strength I had almost forgotten she had.
“You’re right. But I can’t tell Sebastian. He wouldn’t let me do it, even if it was to save Clamora.” I hated the idea that I had to lie to him, yet again. It left a bitter feeling in my stomach.
“I know. You’re doing the right thing. I know you know that. These spells will help you more than you think they will. I promise you.”
“Thank you, Grandma.” I hugged her tightly.
“You’re welcome, my sweet.” She kissed my forehead, just like she used to. “I’ve got to go now. And you need to wake up. We will meet again, my dear. I love you, AubrieAnna.” With a smile and one last squeeze, she was gone. She dissipated like fog. I stood there, staring off into a white fog. My heart felt cold and empty.
“I love you too, Grandma,” I whispered.
Something hard jerked me out of the empty space that had been dream. I looked around the room. Darkness had taken over the sky outside, leaving no trace of moon or stars. Soft snores rose from Sebastian’s sleeping form next to me. Careful not to disturb him, I got dressed and whispered the spell to collect my grimoire. With the heavy book in my arms, I tiptoed out of the room and down the stairs. Still being as quiet as possible, I flicked the curtain on the alcove to the side and stepped inside. I turned the lamp on, and it threw a soft glow throughout the small space.
We had already begun remodeling the little room into an office. Thick mahogany shelves lined two of the three walls. Up against the floor-to-ceiling window was a desk, big enough for some papers and a laptop to fit comfortably. Two tall lamps were the only source of lighting. One sat by the desk while the other sat by the soft, plushy orange love seat. A soft shag Aztec-printed rug covered most of the hardwood floor and pulled the colors of the room together.
I padded across the floor to the love seat, stopping on the carpet just long enough to wriggle my toes in the soft pile. There was a slight chill in the air so I snagged the black afghan off the back of the love seat and snuggled down. The moment I got comfortable, a deep rumble in the sky startled me. Seconds later a large flash darted through the sky and rain forced itself free from the clouds. Feeling caught up in the moment of the storm’s beauty, I stood and walked to the window.
I leaned against the glass as I searched the sky for more strikes of lightning. Thunder rumbled and rolled, making the glass shiver beneath my palms. Veins of light forced their way through the sky, illuminating the dark clouds above and streaking them with purple and blue hues. The rain started raging at an angle, causing the window to be flecked with droplets. It was a force of emotion from Mother Nature. Each raindrop was a tear of sadness, each rumble of thunder a cry of pain, and each strike of lightning a hint of her anger. Every second the storm raged on was another second I stood by and watched the beauty it created, and imagined the damage it would cause.
With a sigh, I pushed off the glass and turned away from the storm and back to the grimoire. I sat down once again, resting my back on the arm of the couch so I could still see the storm from my peripheral vision. My fingers hurriedly flipped through each page until I found those I was looking for. An anxious feeling rose up in my chest, and before I could do anything about it, the curtain wavered ever so gently.
No breeze was in the air, the fireplace didn’t even have wood in it, which could only mean one thing: Someone had been standing there. Careful not to make too much noise, I leaned as far over the loveseat as I could. There were no shadows cast on the walls or the curtain. My heart hammered so hard in my chest it felt like it was going to break through my chest cavity. I was pretty sure everyone in a ten-mile radius could hear it too. After what felt like years of waiting, little footsteps gave way to what was hiding on the other side. Helios.
His little head poked through and he looked at me. When I sat back down, I made clicking noises with my tongue and patted the space next to me. With a quick jump, he landed heavily on the cushion next to me. As the storm raged outside, Helios snuggled as close to me as he possibly could. My thirty-pound cat was scared of thunder. I chuckled. The book took up a large portion of my lap, and Helios grumbled angrily at it.
Silly cat
, I thought. I gave the giant fur ball a good scratch then returned my attention to the grimoire. My need to find the spells was far more important than my need to soothe my cat.
The pages were worn, yellow, stiff, crinkled, and even torn. Every time I turned to a new page a crackling sound wafted through the air. It took a few dozen pages until I found one of the spells. Its name was written elegantly at the top of the page, followed by instructions to allow the incantation to work, to allow a person, thing, or race to be healed: percuro. Feeling a little excited about the prospect of saving a race, I got up and headed toward the desk. In one of the drawers I found a small notepad and a pen. I snagged them both and went back to the grimoire and spell.
I wrote each spell down. Most of my directions were abbreviated, but that didn’t matter. Satisfied that I had found each spell that my grandma had told me about, I turned the lamp off and scooped up my sleeping cat. I had successfully made it up the stairs and into the bedroom when I lost my balance and dropped the book with a heavy thud. Helios growled at the sound, which startled him, and Sebastian jumped out of bed with his supernatural speed. Embarrassment flushed my cheeks. As I stepped quietly toward the bed to put my cat down, Sebastian turned on the bedside lamp and sighed.
“Sorry,” I whispered.
“It’s all right. What are you doing up so late anyway?” His eyebrows knitted together as he looked at me.
“My grandma—”
“Are you still upset about it?” he cut me off and walked around the bed to hug me to his chest.
“Well, yeah. But that’s not what I was going to say,” I replied a bit too harshly.