Katrina, The Beginning (25 page)

“I know several books and
scrolls that can help us,” I offered.

“We can ask Mother. She had
a lot of experiences with witches at Sangustae.”

“Good idea. We’ll need all
the help we can get. Time isn’t on our side; our trip is only a
couple of weeks away,” Rosa said.

“You forget how much better
we are together, than we ever were apart. So far, anything we try
seems to be easier as long as we’re together, and I’m sure this
will be no different,” I knew I was right.

“I guess we’ll find out,”
El said with a shrug.

“We also have the advantage
of surprise. No one but us knows we have the gifts we have, and
how, together, we can enhance and strengthen each of those gifts,”
I said.

Rosa added, “True, the
whole purpose to our training is to be prepared in every way we
can, so as individuals and as a race we can survive,”.

“That’s why the envoy to
the Americas is being sent, to make sure we establish ourselves
early-on in this new land,” I said. “I hope when they return we can
be part of this new clan.”

“Absolutely,” Rosa said. “I
think we all agree on that.”

“I wish we could go on this
first trip,” Letta said longingly.

“We’ll be ready as soon as
they get back; I just hope they don’t take as long as they’ve
predicted,” I said. “They will be sending messengers back and forth
as often as possible, to keep us informed. That’s the advantage we
have as vampires: speed. Unencumbered, we can cover hundreds of
miles in a short time.”

Of course I hoped to have
more personal updates from Damien; we had our own secret, he and
I.

“I’m going to bed; I’ll see
you in the morning.”

I changed into a simple
nightgown and combed out my hair.

“Katrina?”
I heard.

“I’m
here; I was just getting ready for bed
.”

“Me too,
but I wanted to tell you, I’ll be arriving on the
fifteenth
.”

“Good! We’ll have a few
extra days. We are to leave for Paris no later than the
twenty-ninth.”

“I’ve sent Ivan to make
all my arrangements in France and Portugal, where we are to
disembark, so I can spend some time with you in Paris…that is if
you still want that”? . . . . . Katrina?”

“I’m thinking.”

“Very funny.”

“Of course I still want
that. I know the girls will understand if I’m not around for a few
hours.”

Then I closed my eyes so I
could remember what he smelled like; when it came to me it was like
he was right next to me, it was so real.

“What are you
doing?”

“Remembering.”

“I’ll see you in a few
weeks.”

“I know but…”

“It’s a long time for me
too, but we’ll both be busy and we can ‘talk’ whenever we have a
chance.”

“Our lives are so
different now, with so many changes in such a short time. And that
trend is going to continue. You’re going to the New World without
me.”

“I’m only going so when
the time is right, our new clan will have everything in place to be
successful and safe. We need to make sure those who would
jeopardize our safety, by trying to take advantage of this New
World, establishing an evil and dangerous clan, do not
succeed.”

“You’ve see signs of such
evil making its way into this New World?”

“Yes.”

“This is why Father pushed
for so long for a delegation to be sent there, isn’t
it?”

“Yes, and why he has been
a target.”

“Luena— is she part of
this, Damien?”

“I’m positive it’s what
she wants. Without the power she sought here, it’s likely she’s
looking for new kinds of power.”

It was nearly morning
before we stopped talking. I couldn’t stop thinking about what this
all meant. Would Luena try to stop our envoy? I decided I wasn’t
going to be able to sleep, so I got dressed and headed over to the
library.

“You’re up early,” Quinn
said, as we met in the courtyard.

“So are you.”

“I’m on duty at least for a
few more hours.”

“I couldn’t
sleep.”

“Still thinking about me
all the time? You have to just let it go unless—”

“Hate to disappoint you,
but I have other things on my mind.”

“So you’re in denial,
then?”

I stopped and turned
towards him. He was smiling that mischievous smile of his, and
those beautiful blue eyes reflected the moonlight. I just had to
laugh and so did he. We hadn’t seen much of each other since we got
back, so we caught up on the way to the library.

“Quinn, I want you to send
someone ahead to Paris and to the port cities. Post them to
observe, see if there’s anything suspicious going on. If there are
other vampires heading to the Americas, we need to know about it.
Send someone who is familiar with Luena. And Quinn, can you keep
this just between us? Remember how evil she is, and she’s probably
not alone.”

“Consider it done. You know
your father has people looking for her already.”

“I’m sure she’s aware of
that fact, too. I just want a new set of eyes to look, as we say,
look in plain sight.”

CHAPTER
ELEVEN

W
e
parted ways, and then as I got to the library I sensed I wasn’t
alone. Gerhardt; I’d know his scent anywhere.

“Show yourself,” I
challenged, and sure enough, he eased himself out of the
shadows.

“Gerhardt, what are you
doing here?”

“I brought your reply
personally.”

Then he folded his arms,
crossed his left foot over his right, and leaned against the wall.
There was something different about him, a tightness around the
mouth that belied his causal look.

“So what is your father’s
reply?”

“Of course you are welcome
to stay as long as you wish, and I for one, can’t wait to show all
five of you around my city.”

“Your
city, I see.”

“That
ego,”
I thought to myself.

“You’re here awfully
early.”

“I misjudged my own
speed.”

“I see. All the years we’ve
known each other and you still continue to amaze.”

“I could say the same thing
about you, Katrina. Who knew when we were just youngsters you’d
turn into such a warrior—and a beautiful one at that.”

“Why Gerhardt, are you
actually praising someone besides yourself? Amazing.”

We shared a good natured
laugh.

“Well, I should get back.
There’s much to do before your arrival.”

“You’re not coming to the
meetings?”

“Oh yes, I’ll be back don’t
worry. I’ve got a special birthday gift for you.”

Then he handed me an
envelope sealed with his family crest.

“My father’s reply; just to
make it official. I’ll see you Katrina. Remember me to the
girls.”

“Oh, I will,” we both
laughed again and he evaporated into the shadows.

That was so weird, and I
would need to talk to Quinn about having someone watch Philepe’s
chateau.
Wait a minute,
I thought.
Damien said he sent Ivan ahead, I could ask
Damien to have Ivan…
No, that wasn’t a good idea, I decided.
We needed to keep this to ourselves, but we’d need to keep an eye
out for Ivan, too.

Now to the reason for
coming to the library in the first place; Father had just received
the latest maps of the Americas, and I wanted a look at them. They
were lying on the table; Father must have studied them already. The
vastness of the wilderness surprised me and it drew me somehow.
Cities dotted the coastlines; I ran my finger across the map from
city to city, Boston, New York, Philadelphia, Charleston, New
Orleans. As my finger crossed over New Orleans, I felt warmth. As I
leaned down to better inspect the map, something clouded my eyes. I
shook my head and as my vision both cleared and sharpened, I
realized I was no longer looking at table in the library but now, a
busy street in an unknown city. I watched a woman I’d never seen
before, walking towards me. I was filled me with apprehension; then
the vision was gone and I was again looking down at the map.
What was that,
Who was
she?
I didn’t know the answer to either question, but knew
without a doubt, the evil I felt while watching her was real, and
somehow, I needed to find out who and where she was.

“Quinn said you’d be here,”
Kate came into the library. “How long have you been up?”

“I couldn’t sleep, so I
came to study the new maps Father just received. Kate, I’m glad
you’re here; do me a favor, run your fingers over this map, paying
special attention to the cities marked there. Tell me if you feel
anything special. ”

She looked over the map and
to my amazement began to run her finger from city to city, just
like I had. When she got to New Orleans, she jumped
back.

“What happened?”

“I got a shock. What did
you do to the map?

I shook my head, “Nothing;
I swear.”

Kat, there’s some kind of
energy coming from this map.”

“Try again, and I’ll
concentrate with you; let’s see what we can ‘see.’”

We closed our eyes, and
Kate began running her hand over the map again. As soon as her hand
was over that area of the map, I could feel her begin to shake. I
opened my eyes and once again I saw the woman in my vision walking
toward us. She was wearing a dark blue dress with a white ruffled
collar. Her hair was topped by a matching small, blue and white
hat, and she held a parasol over her right shoulder. As she got
closer I heard a sharp intake of breath from Kate, our tension
mounted.

“I knew you’d join us,”
she said, “You had a choice and you made it. Once we eliminate the
rest of the new coven, there will be nothing to stop us from doing
whatever we wish with these easily manipulated humans. Come, my
son, let’s join the others.”

Then the image was gone. I
looked into my sister’s face and knew we had both seen the same
vision. It had shaken us both. Who was the women in the vision, and
whom was she talking to? She had called him her son.

Just then the others
arrived and we told them what had just happened. We even tried
again with all of us concentrating this time, but nothing new
happened; we just got a repeat performance of the vision Kate and I
had already seen.

“So, someone is to betray
one of the new clans,” Rosa deduced.

“That’s what it sounds
like, or the person she was talking to could be trying to
infiltrate their clan,” El suggested.

Kate just looked at her,
“Always the optimist.”

“Why would we get this
vision if it wasn’t meant to warn us?” Rosa asked.

“Have any of the rest of
you had a vision like this before? Kate wondered.” Each of us
either shook our head no, or said no. 

“Then we don’t know enough
about visions to know what they mean yet, but I definitely felt
evil emanating from that woman,” Kate gestured
emphatically.

El, Letta, and Rosa spent
extra time studying the new maps, while Kate and I moved on to the
books on witches, wizards, and magic. We needed to know all we
could about spotting them. I of course, would have an identifying
scent once I knew it, but we would need more for the others and
we’d need protection. Even though it’s forbidden to use magic for
anything but good, El’s school experience was proof there are
always those who break those laws and those who are just evil, and
if all those who were evil joined forces we needed to know how to
fight them, as well as protect ourselves.

“Hello ladies, how are the
studies going?” Mother called, as she came into the
library.

“Okay, I guess, but we
could really use your experience to help us.”

“Really, Kate? What would
you like to know?”

“How can we spot a witch or
warlock? And is it possible to block their spells or reverse them?”
I asked.

“Well, let’s start with the
first question. Witches and warlocks have marks, like a birthmark
in the shape of a pentagon, usually on their neck, either behind
the left ear or on the back of the neck just below the hairline.
They can be covered easily, however. Remember these are not humans
or another race that learns magic, but a separate ancient race like
ours.

“They are long-lived as
well. They don’t live as long as we do, but they’re around easily
for hundreds of years. They have a strong anise scent. Since all of
us have enhanced senses; it will be another way to identify them,
but for Katrina especially. However, the scent, too, can be
masked.

Most warlocks and witches
are good and abide by the laws of our councils. Just like
rebellious vampires, violators of our laws by any race, are sought
out and dealt with swiftly. If you think you may be challenged by a
witch or warlock; there are talismans that can block their spells,
magic you can learn to reverse spells and for protection. If you
find an evil witch or warlock, don’t confront them alone. Seek out
allies to help you, law-abiding leaders of the local
covens.”