Denai Touch: Excalibar Investigations Series (26 page)

“If we had them, we would have a connection to the Grimoire,” said Seline.

“I have pages from the book too and it’s never helped me get any closer to it.”

“You are not strong enough, not worthy of the task. Catherine has the power required.”

Cate knew full well her mother didn’t lack power. Ceri was equal to her in that respect and stronger than Seline. She had a feeling Ceri’s talents and skill was what had driven a wedge between the two. “I don’t think I can find them on my own,” she said. “My sight is too unpredictable and so are my powers.” She took out one of Niara’s crystals to ease her hunger.

“We need those pages!” Seline snapped.

Cate went over to Bethany. “Sleep,” she told her. “You won’t remember anything that happened in this room.” Bethany’s head slumped onto her chest

“What if Raven senses her?” Ceri demanded. “I won’t have you using my daughter for your own means anymore.”

“That’s rich — you abandoned her and your family.”

“You didn’t exactly give me much of a choice. You and Kal wouldn’t let me –”

“Enough!” Cate snapped. “Mum, Gran is right. We need those pages back. They’re ours not hers.” Seline smiled triumphantly. “But Mum is right too, Gran. I can’t find those pages without help.”

“Nonsense, you are tied to Raven, not just through the prophecy, but by what your magic did to her.”

“She might have given me the power, but I’m the one who cursed Raven. Perhaps we should use the full strength of the coven to aid us,” said Ceri.

“No. What was said here shall not be passed on to anyone else.”

“Don’t you trust your own coven, Gran?”

“I trust no one, Catherine, which is why I have reigned for so long.” Seline replied. “No, we’re McCrays. We are the strongest of the three clans and the most powerful. All we need is the three of us to find what we seek, a triumvirate, just like Denai’s daughters who passed down their gifts.”

Ceri asked. “Are you certain this is a good idea?”

“We shall use the spell circle in the temple. It will protect us, but we need our full strength. We should all feed before we go.”

“I don’t need to feed. Through my bond with Kal, I have energy whenever I need it.”

They headed downstairs and, Odin, Seline’s Elemental, came when she called. Cate had never liked Odin, he was slimy and she didn’t trust him one bit, though she never knew why. Odin had been a criminal, but was spared death because Seline had felt his power was too great to waste. So she had used her magic and trapped him within her power. He was made a virtual slave to her will; such was one of the darker sides of Denai magic.

“You should call Jason,” Ceri told her. “You’ll probably find his energy better than anything else now.”

“The crystals are doing the trick and he went to do a Nuardan thing.”

“If you want to ask me anything about bonds I can answer your questions. I never liked the idea of being soul bonded at first, but it helps you to keep a constant supply of energy and I managed to keep my independence as well.”

“Bonds? Why would I need to ask about that?” she asked, looking confused. “I’m not bonded to Jason, and I wouldn’t want to be tied to anyone like that.”

Ceri’s eyebrows went up. “Oh, I thought – you should still call him. You’ll need all the energy you can get.”

Cate thought about it and there was a sudden burst of static as Jason teleported in. “What are you doing here?” she asked.

“You called me.”

“No, I didn’t.” Cate glanced at Ceri, but she was already gone. “Well, given that you’re here. I need to feed.”

“Are you hurt?”

“No, I just need to keep my energy levels up. I forgot, you’re hurt,” she said. “Never mind, I can feed from Odin or one of the guard.”

“No way!” Jason said and she was surprised by his outburst. “I mean, I’m fine. I’m healed. Feed from me.”

Cate took his hand, feeling a flood of warmth that wasn’t just to do with the energy. She felt anger, frustration, and a little fear, as if a doorway had been opened between them.

“Fuck! You can’t seriously be thinking of–” Jason demanded.

Cate yanked her hand away and the wall between them went straight back up. “What the hell is going on between us? How are you reading my mind?” she gasped. “It’s a bond, isn’t it?”

“It’s a partial bond. Don’t flip out.”

“Flip out? We bonded!” she cried. “Why the hell didn’t you say anything?”

“I didn’t want to worry you.”

“How did it happen? Oh wait, it was those rings, wasn’t it?” she demanded and her face turned white. “I knew I felt different. That Dwarf bound us!” The room began to shake.

“Calm down!” Jason put his hands on her shoulders. “It’s a partial bond, lots of people get them. It’s like a telepathic link. We can ignore it.”

“Ignore it? You’re the one person I can touch and not be bombarded with your feelings,” she said nostrils flaring.

“We’ll talk about this later, but I don’t want you going after Raven.”

“You’re afraid of me,” she accused. “I felt it.”

“I’m afraid
for
you, there’s a difference.”

“I don’t want to be bonded to you or anyone.” Cate saw the hurt in his eyes. “We’ll undo the bond later, but I have to go now.”

“Shouldn’t we at least talk about this before we do anything rash?” he asked with a worried look.

“There’s nothing to talk about,” she said and turned away from him.

Cate’s mind was reeling as she headed out to the temple. A bond. She was bonded to Jason! She couldn’t believe it. One thing she’d always vowed was not to end up being magically tied to anyone. She wasn’t happy having to rely on him for energy, but she’d grown to like their partnership. A bond was more than just a telepathic link, it went deeper than that. They would be magically connected too, in a way they never had before. She could feel him now, inside, and part of her was terrified by it.

As much as she cared for him, loved him, she was afraid these feelings would go away after she ascended. It had happened to other Denais before, their emotions heightened and they confused lust with love. How could she be sure what she was feeling was even real, given this bond between them? She considered asking Ceri for advice but it was awkward talking to her about personal things. Denais always had to be in control of their emotions, to govern their powers. Being an Enforcer, she’d always kept a handle on her feelings, but she hadn’t lost sight of love and compassion as Seline had. She’d just convinced herself she didn’t deserve to have romantic love. She only slept with men she felt nothing for and Jason had always just been her friend and partner. Now they had started to cross that line, everything was confused.

Maybe Seline was right, what kind of future could they ever really have together? Her heart suddenly ached and she wanted to cry.
Goddess damned ascension!
She didn’t cry, not often, and not as much as she had lately. Cate gritted her teeth; she would break the bond and be ready for whatever the ascension threw at her. She had to be focused or she would die, or worse be a monster at the mercy of her own magic — dark, soulless, and worse than Raven. She shook her head; she had more important things to focus on. Hell, she couldn’t even say the words “I love you” to him and they were better left unsaid.

Seline was lighting the candles as she walked in and Ceri was setting crystals. They would need all the protection they could get.

“Why couldn’t Raven use that power spell on herself?” Cate asked, forcing her mind back to the task at hand.

“Because the spell was written by a Grand Mistress, to draw power from our family line to bestow on others to aid them,” replied Seline. “It could only be used on the Grand Mistress, if cast by one of her bloodline.”

“It wouldn’t work on Raven. I didn’t just try to burn her to death, I cursed her so she’d never be able to absorb power from another,” said Ceri.

“But she could take strength from you or me because our power fuelled the curse,” Cate said, realisation hitting her.

“Through that link we should be able to find those pages.” Seline lit the final candle.

“Can a bond be broken once it’s formed?” Cate asked suddenly, thinking of Jason

“It depends on the kind of bond,” her mother replied.

“Of course it can and I will give you the spell. You can’t afford to be bonded to anyone and your feelings for Talbot are too much of a distraction,” said Seline. “You already know that.”

“Mother, have you considered that their feelings are meant to be?” Ceri asked, sounding annoyed.

“I won’t see the same thing happen to Catherine that happened to you and the Tempus.”

“I could never regret my bond with Kal. I loved him.”

“Yes, and now you can barely stand each other. I made the mistake of bonding with your father. It hurt when he left me and broke that bond,” Seline said. “The two of you need to learn that men do not last long in our world. They are there for when we need them and then gone. Talbot will always be hunted and even you, Catherine, are no match for the might and power of the Ashrali. Besides, there are rules against the mingling of the Elder Races.”

“Those rules died out long ago,” Ceri retorted. “Look at Kal and me.”

“Kalban is Ashrali, they had an alliance with the witches. There is a reason the Ashrali enslaved the Nuardan and it was a good one.”

Cate frowned. “What do you mean?”

“The Nuardan – like the Ashrali, the Witches, and the Phoenix people — are of the Elder Races who formed an alliance, which still partially exists within the Order of High Elders. One of their rules is that none of the Elder Races may have children or any bonds of marriage with the other races.”

“Oh Mother! Like I said before, that rule is outdated. I married an Ashrali and my father was a Phoenix.”

“Their rules maybe lax, but there is a rule about the Nuardan — and with good reason.”

“What reason?” Cate asked.

“The Nuardan, like us, are neither solely good nor evil. They are a balance of nature, but all of them eventually lose their emotions, and turn into very dark, very dangerous beings,” Seline told her. “They grow all the more powerful then.”

“I thought the Ashrali enslaved them because they were jealous of their power?”

Ceri said. “That’s probably why most of the Ashrali think they’re better than every other race.”

“It wasn’t just the Ashrali that overthrew the Nuardan people. Our ancestors helped, for we can take their energy.”

“Just because a few Nuardan turned bad doesn’t mean Jason will. He is part Denai too, a good man, and he has emotions,” she said. “You can’t judge an entire race because a few of them were bad. Look at us.”

“Do you really know what kind of man he is? He has been around far longer than you. He wasn’t always an Enforcer. He was a warrior and a fearsome one at that. You know he’s capable of great violence.”

“Mother, stop interfering. You did the same thing when I told you I’d married Kal. Let Cate make her own choices.”

Seline sighed and shook her head, finally accepting defeat. “Let’s get to work.”

They sat down in the circle and joined hands. “Goddess Denai, we ask you to join us here in our circle,” said Seline, beginning the usual invocation.

“I wrote a spell to help us guide you to what we seek. It may help,” said Ceri.

“Just focus on the pages you saw,” Seline told her.

“We’ll pull you back if anything goes wrong.” Ceri placed the piece of paper in the centre of the circle.

“It doesn’t completely rhyme,” Cate noticed.

“Spells don’t have to rhyme.” Ceri frowned at her mother. “Did you teach her spell craft?”

“She wasn’t interested. Catherine said she could will things to happen without them.”

“Then I am needed. We can get started when we go to Elaris after your ascension.”

Cate felt Seline grip her hand like a vice and sensed anger simmering beneath the surface. “I already told you I’m leaving,” she said and turned her attention back to the spell.

Together they began to chant.

Ancient powers we summon thee,

by the power of us three,

help us find what was lost.

Taken by the one who plagues the earth,

Help us find the witch we cursed.

Cate felt the familiar whoosh of magic in the air and closed her eyes, sensing their combined energy building. She saw the pages Raven had and directed her power to take her to them. She gasped as her spirit left her body.

Cate appeared in a darkened room and held her breath as she quickly scanned her surroundings. There was no sign of anyone. Switching to
Other Sight
, she searched the shadows to be certain no one was lurking there.

It was similar to the room she’d seen in Bethany’s mind, but she had no idea where the pages might be. Still using her
Other Sight
, she examined the room, looking for any signs of magic. She checked every inch of wall, but there was nothing. No hint of a safe, spell or ward. Maybe she was in the completely wrong place, or perhaps the pages weren’t in a safe this time.

Cate turned her attention to the furniture. There were two empty, high backed chairs, an empty fireplace, and a desk with another chair. It looked similar to the one she’d seen Raven using, but couldn’t be certain. It was more of a bureau than a desk. As she reached in, her hand burned as if scalded by fire. She bit back a yelp and gritted her teeth. This must be where the missing pages were.

I think I found them,
she said, knowing they would hear her.
But there’s a spell repelling me.

Seline cursed.
I hoped you being there in astral form might prevent that.

Magic is magic, no matter what form she’s in,
said Ceri.
You’re going to have to use your powers,
Ceri insisted.

How? I doubt I’ll be able to move them out of the bureau without triggering some kind of alarm,
she said anxiously.

Use your fire. Phoenix fire can burn through anything,
said Ceri, encouragingly.

I can’t do that. I can’t even summon that power unless I lose control and I’m not sure I can do that here.
Cate couldn’t help but feel a stab of fear at the thought of using her powers.

Your fire is triggered instinctively. Usually when your life or the life of someone you love is in danger. Try to get into that emotional state again.

Easy for you to say,
she thought.

Cate tried to summon the fire, but of course nothing happened. How was she supposed to get back into that same emotional state without losing control, or without being attacked? She couldn’t use her powers to introduce specific emotions on herself, like she could with other people. Denai magic didn’t work that way. And she’d need someone stronger than Ceri and Seline to anchor her. Somehow she doubted they would be able to bring her back if she did lose control. Pushing away her connection to the other witches, she reached out to the one person she knew could help.

Cate immediately felt a wall between them. Jason was deliberately blocking her and she supposed she couldn’t blame him.

Jason?

No response.

Jason, come on. I need you.

The wall crumbled.
Oh? So it’s okay when you need me?
Jason said, giving her a pained look.
Sometimes I think that’s all I am to you. Useful when you need me.

That’s not true and you know it. You can’t blame me for being upset about the bond. You knew and you never told me.

I was just trying to protect you. I thought you had enough on your plate.

Cate sighed.
I’ll agree to see how this bond thing works out, but if either of us decides we’re not comfortable with it, we’ll break it. Agreed?

Okay.

Good, because I do care about you, it’s why I need you. You’re the only one who can pull me back if I lose control. But first I need you to try and relive the memories of the other night.

You want to have a vision within an astral projection?

More or less. I need my silver fire to break through this spell.

I could blast my way through it.

That might not work. I need my fire.

And if that doesn’t work?

It has to.

What do I have to do?

Show me what happened, what you felt. Think about getting stabbed, that’s what set me off.
Cate was flooded with feelings of fear and then pain as she felt the knife cutting through his flesh. She saw the Deva holding her dagger and her hand sparked with power. She narrowed her eyes and silver flames erupted over the bureau, burning away the spells and wards until it opened.

There was a flash of light as Jason appeared at her side. “At least I didn’t have to use a crystal this time. Cate?” he asked anxiously.

“I’m fine.” She reached out to the bureau. It opened with a snap. Inside laid several sheets of yellowed parchment. She felt a rush of excitement as she picked them up. The pages shimmered at her touch and she felt the familiar traces of power, etched with dark magic.

“How did you plan on taking the pages once you found them? You can’t transport physical objects back to your body with you.”

“We thought we’d move them with our combined power.”

“Out of a heavily warded compound? This is too easy, it doesn’t feel right.” He shifted uneasily.

“I agree, we need to get out of here.” Cate focused her magic on the pages, just as the door burst open and Tasha came running in. The sheets started to shimmer away. Cate closed her eyes to return to her body, but nothing happened and panic hit her.

Tasha made a grab for Cate and her hand passed straight through her as Jason vanished.

Gran! Mum! Help!

“You made a big mistake coming here.” Tasha grabbed the pages just as they were about to vanish.

“Those don’t belong to you.”

“No, they belong to Raven and you’ll never get them back.”

Damn, she couldn’t use her powers now that Tasha was touching the pages. It was time to leave.

Mum? Gran?
Cate closed her eyes, thought of her body and faded away.

Cate gasped, her eyes flying open as she collapsed within the spell circle, struggling to breathe.

“Gods damn it! Are you trying to get her killed?” Jason was already at her side and she could feel the waves of fury coming from him.