But now, I was in a serious dilemma. I couldn’t banish Drachan with Quinney so near. If I did, she’d be banished to the Realm of Dead also. My shield held strong around me, as if I even needed it. Quinney did an amazing job keeping Drachan away from me. She’s powerful indeed. He couldn’t even get close.
Finally, I huffed in frustration. “Quinney, you need to get back. You can’t be in the rune.” She either ignored me or hadn’t heard. I only had one card to play. As much as I hated to use it, what choice did I have. “As your Lady, I order you to cease this battle.”
In a millisecond, she shimmed back and bowed before me. “Oh, God.” I reached down and pulled her up. “Stop doing that.”
Drachan took the chance to attack me. His black empty soul searched for a way into my shield. It wasn’t painful or distressing but flat out irritating.
“Stop that,” I swatted at his ghostly form. Of course, he didn’t
This had to be over now. More annoyed than anything else, I drew on my Air Element and send a wisp of air out to Quinney, sent her back with Tyde, and raised my hand quickly to draw the rune.
The moment I closed it, it glowed before me, then just as before I said, “Banish thee,” I was leveled with power and flown back on my ass as wind poured around us and white light blasted the skies. With a loud bang, it ripped away and the night sky drew dark once again.
When I glanced over my shoulder, Quinney had somehow managed to remain kneeling, her head bowed. “For Christ sakes, Quinney. Get up.”
She stood. “As you wish.”
My irritation ran higher as I heard Tyde’s loud banter. I glanced at him, he hadn’t moved an inch. “Would you stop laughing?”
He took a deep breath. “You’re…” He looked up at me, then back down my body, and burst out laughing all over again. “You’re buck na**d.”
I sighed, ready to blast him one. “It wasn’t a thought, jackass. Sabi had the vision and I came.” I looked to Quinney. “Can you go and get me some clothes?”
She nodded with an equally amused smile. “Of course. Tyde, gather up the human, it’s still alive. The Otherworld will know what to do with him.”
Tyde nodded, still smiling.
I glared at him. “Some guard you are! You did nothing but laugh. I should fire your sorry ass.”
Furious, I went to hide behind a tree until I had some damn clothes.
Chapter Eleven
The door closed behind me. Kyden grinned up at me from where he sat on the couch. “I’m glad to see less of you.”
“Look who’s home, the idiot who stormed out of here na**d,” Willow said at nearly the exact same time.
“Hush you,” I snapped at Willow, then met Kyden’s gaze. “Okay, so I forgot I was na**d. It sure gave Tyde a good laugh.”
“I bet it just did.” He gave his devilish grin, stood and approached me in lengthy strides. When he reached me, he took me in his arms and his lips met mine violently.
Now that we were bonded, being away from each other was difficult, or so I heard. Since it was only a short time, I hadn’t really had the time to miss him. It obviously tore at him—maybe due to the element of danger involved—his concern for me.
I could feel it in the hard edge of his lips and the tight grip around my back. Even if his tormented emotions weren’t telling me as much, I reciprocated his force with one of my own. Just as the sensual energy ran high, Kyden slid his lips to my neck and that was when the damn book came into my line of vision.
Fuck, I should’ve left my eyes closed. I sighed deeply and pushed Kyden back.
He groaned and met my gaze with his usual arched brow. “Problem?”
“Oh, no. No problem at all. Just a bunch of demons summoning Demon Lords. You know,” I waved my hand dramatically, “nothing out of the ordinary.”
He chuckled. “Back to work then?”
I nodded, not a very convincing one, but did follow him back to the couch. Just as I was about to sit, I scooted toward the bedroom.
“Let me change first.” Not that I minded the jogging suit Quinney brought me, but I always felt so peculiar to be out of my Guardian gear. I’d become fond of the little kilt and bra, it was like my second skin now.
“I assume you got there in time?” Kyden shouted from the living room while I changed.
“Yeah.” I came back out into the living room and sat beside him. “We brought the human back here. I healed him and Zade gave him a new memory.” The convenience of having vampires around, all their mind-warping abilities came in handy.
“Good.” Kyden glanced back to the book. “Where were we?” He shuffled through the pages. Apparently, he had done some light reading while I was gone, since he seemed to know exactly what he was looking for.
Why did he have so much interest in that damn thing? I’m no history buff. All I needed to know is which rune would send Mammon back. That was it. All the rest could stay in the past as far as I was concerned.
“Right, here it is, the rune that reacted to you.” He glanced at me. “Is it still glowing now?”
I leaned forward. “Yup.”
“All right, then.” He took my hand and placed it flat down on the page. I giggled a little as the rune tickled my skin, warm and tingly. He placed his hand over mine and took my other one tightly in his, keeping us connected. “Now quiet yourself, Álainn. Rest your mind.”
I sighed once, then again, to let my mind go blank. Focusing in, I released the elements around me. I let go of Air, that’s cold and wispy, let the burn of Fire within me subside, and focused on the odd new sensation that sat deep within me.
Suddenly, the rune beneath my hand began to warm. The feeling of power began to come forth.
“Yes,” Kyden whispered. “Focus on that. Let the power fill you. Speak to you.”
The light within me began to glow deeper. My blood slowed as calmness spread throughout. The feeling was all the same, the sense of light remained, and I knew this was fueled my magic. What made me different? I’d never felt anything like it or seen it in anyone else for that matter. I still couldn’t indentify or explain it. I was back to square one.
Just as I was about to open my eyes, the rune began to burn. “Ouch,” I screamed as I tried to yank my hand way, but it was glued to the page.
“What…” Kyden started, but then his words faded away as I was pulled into a memory. I knew exactly what it was because I’d been in Zia’s before and it looked just like this. Almost as if I were watching a movie, but was in it and could see everything, hear words. Yet, not interact with anyone.
A witch stood in a dark forest near some large apple trees with the rune I’d just seen drawn in the air, but this one was a little different. Within the inverted pentacle was another symbol. Á Ù.
Six demons surrounded her and I could immediately sense their power. But even more shocking, it was hers that astounded me. Her strength was unparalleled.
She was a White Witch, that I could tell, but I’d never met a witch this powerful before, not even Zia. I couldn’t see her face since her back was to me, but she wore a white cloak with a hood. All I could hear was the sound of her soft voice but was unable to make out anything.
Swiftly, the demons shifted into their black form, and just as they did, she began to chant in Latin, Primoris quod Permaneo, over and over again. Her words smoothed together as she stood strong against the earsplitting shrieks around her.
Suddenly, a blast of white energy erupted, and with loud piercing screams, the demons evaporated into thin air, then it all went quiet. The witch repeated the line again, but she sounded so sad, like she failed. It didn’t look like she failed to me. The demons were gone, shouldn’t that be a cause for celebration?
As quickly as the vision came, it vanished, and my eyes opened to Kyden. He looked beside himself, to say the least, which only told me one thing. “You saw that?”
“Indeed I did.” His voice wavered, not in fear, just incredulous, and that coming from him meant he was very shocked.
“What the hell was that?”
He shook his head slowly. “I haven’t a clue.”
“Holy shit.” I could barely breathe, confused as to what had just happened. “The rune was like this one,” I pointed at the book. “There was an Alpha-Omega symbol in it. Did you see that?”
“I did.”
It was hard to get a grasp on anything, to understand what this meant. It didn’t take a genius to know that the witch in the vision was the one who Quinney and Tyde spoke of. The one who held the same magic I did. Who was she? How did she attach the memory to the rune so I would see it? Why did she act as if she failed?
I had no answers. To focus on these things was pointless, so, I stuck to the stuff I could find out. “What was she saying?”
“First and Last.”
Right then, our door flew open and Zia stood, breathing heavily.
“I saw that.” It didn’t surprise me that she had, our connection was wide open right now, in case I needed her. “Come quickly. I know of someone who might help us here.”