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Rycon had been appeased with my attempt at a workout, so the rest of my day was devoted to the magick folk. They had me perform exercises meant to stretch and use my aura.
“Is like a muscle.” Conrad explained. He stood with his feet shoulder width apart, and his knees bent. His arms moved gracefully with his index and ring finger pointed towards the water fountain Jeremy had installed last summer. The water erupted from the stone basin and shoots of crystalline liquid flowed in perfect arcs around me, in tune with his movements. “Yuh has to constantly work at it or yuh will lose it. Mimic mi movements, but pull on di darkness dat makes up yuh aura. Make it follow the water streams.”
I closed my eyes and tried to find the edges of my aura as I had a hundred times before. The once dark blanket that had swirled around me was dull, faded. I ordered it to move and follow the easy path of water that streamed around us. Wisps of smoke like energy separated and wobbled in an attempt to obey.
I struggled to dig deeper into that quiet place where I knew my power lay. I lost focus and imagined how Mrs. Serefini would have reacted if she could look out her window into our garden. Then, the memory of her being transported from her home by the paramedics hit me in the chest. My eyes flew open and the small wisps I had managed to conjure died.
I had almost forgotten that I had likely killed that poor woman. The guilt made it impossible for me to continue. Conrad let go of his stance and stood up to his full height, frowning.
“Rayven, yuh need tuh focus.” He said, his voice uncharacteristically somber.
“I know. I know, I’m trying. It’s just hard.” I breathed.
Rycon, who had found a comfy place in the sun on the deck spoke up.
“She doesn’t need to focus. You need to piss her off. All her power stems from her rage.” Conrad glared at him.
“She needs tuh learn how tuh control her aura without di rage. She can’t go through life being angry all the time.
“Why not?” Rycon asked with a smirk, “It’s worked for me so far.” Conrad shook his head at him, before turning back to me.
“Mi worried about di triquetra.” He said, scratching the back of his head. “Ever since wi put it on yuh, yuh’ve been getting increasingly weaker.”
A small memory tickled the back of my mind. As if someone else had warned me about the charm.
“It shouldn’t be dis haad fah yuh.” Conrad continued, worry furrowing his brow. Meredith, who had been examining Clair’s perennials, spoke without looking up from what she had been doing.
“If we remove it, we run the risk of alerting the entire Dominion of Sin of her whereabouts. We don’t have the resources yet to protect her if they send an entire army. Her power is a stain, and they will smell it like a shark smells blood in the water.”
“I’m not going to lie, it makes me feel like shit wearing it.” I admitted, swallowing back against the wave of nausea that had overcome me after trying to do that small metaphysical exercise.
“Let’s just wait until Kieran gets here and see what he says. If he thinks his coven will be enough to protect you, we will take it off.” Meredith said, finally turning from Clair’s plot. I nodded, still not fully convinced. I just couldn’t shake the feeling that leaving the charm on might do more harm than good.
“We should go, Conrad.” Meredith said, sending him a meaningful look, which usually meant they were communicating telepathically. “Raven needs to rest and we should bring our concerns to my father.” Conrad nodded, and turned to me.
“Take it easy for the remainder of di day Rayven. Don’t let that eediot make yuh overexert yourself.”
“Who me?” Rycon asked innocently from his lawn chair, a small smile on his face. “Would I ever do such a thing?”
“Yes.” All three of us quipped in unison.
“Take care Rayven, mi see yuh in di morning.” Conrad winked at me. “Big day tomorrow.” I tried to swallow back the lump of anxiety that had welled in my throat.
“Yeah. Big day.”
The rest of the afternoon passed without any incident. Rycon left around two o’clock claiming that he ‘needed a drink.’ I expected Clair to come home ready to plant the sunflowers with me, but she was too tired from her shift. Her and I settled down to watch TV together and were asleep again by the time Jeremy made it home. I did not dream.
The day came like a bulldozer, and I woke gasping for air. The familiar fist of anxiety was clenched hard around my chest, and even the sunlight streaming in my window couldn’t shake the nervous feeling coursing through my veins.
Was trusting Kieran the right decision? It was certainly better than the alternative. I couldn't sit around and wait for Amon to decide he was ready to abduct me.
Feeling as if I were backed into a corner, I heard the front door open downstairs. Both Conrad and Rycon’s voices floated up to meet me as they called each other names like ‘String Bean’ and ‘Sociopath.’ One of those was accurate. I thought of Conrad’s tall lithe form and bit back a smile. Ok. They were both close.
If I was going to meet this Kieran, I was going to do it in an outfit I felt comfortable in. What was it that Meredith had said the color black represented? Protection? Well, hopefully, she was right. I could use all the protection I could get. I pulled on my favorite black sweater and leggings before heading downstairs.
“Morning,” I greeted them dryly, frowning as I made my way to the empty coffee machine.
“Morning Kitten.” Rycon drawled. “You making coffee?” I glared at him as I went to grab the coffee grinds out of the freezer.
