Moon Spell (The Tale of Lunarmorte #1) (29 page)

“You see, Caia,” she had relayed patiently, as if to a child, “There are four kinds of magik. Water, Fire, Air and Earth.”

“Wasn
’
t that a band?”

Marion had rolled her eyes. “I
’
m sure you
’
re thinking of Earth, Wind & Fire. Please, Caia, can you take this seriously? It is pivotal to everyone that you take this seriously.”

She had sobered at the reminder of her great destiny, whatever that meant. “So the elements, huh?”

“Yes,” Marion had said primly. “I
’
m a fire witch. I can harness fire.” She
’
d stroked the air with her fingers and a flame appeared in front of her.

Caia had jumped back in surprise with a childish
‘
whoa
’
.

“I can control it.” The flame had started to dance across the room, while Marion sat, just looking at it, not moving. “I can manipulate it.” The flame had suddenly roared, nearly scoring the ceiling.

“Holy Artemis!” Caia had cried. “You could warn a person before you do that.”

The witch had merely smiled and turned back to her, the flame disappearing as if it had never existed. “A fire magik is one of the most powerful,” she
’
d explained without arrogance. “However, a water magik is more powerful because of the obvious.”

“In a fight we can douse you.” Caia had nodded in understanding.

“Exactly. We can use fire to destroy, but so can you with water. I actually fought a water magik from the Midnight Coven a few years ago. He almost killed me,” her had voice lowered at the memory. “He was able to fill my lungs with water so that I was asphyxiated. If it hadn
’
t been for the opportune arrival of my brother-in-law, Vanne, who is a powerful water warlock himself, I most certainly would have died.”

“What did Vanne do?” Caia had asked in awe. This woman had seen and done things she couldn
’
t even begin to imagine.

“He wrapped the enemy warlock in a cocoon of water and he drowned. In doing so his power over me was broken, and the water disappeared out of my lungs.”

The thought had terrified Caia. That she had the ability to do something so horrendous to a person. That she would most definitely have to do something like that to Ethan in order to protect the pack.

A more terrifying question had pierced her mind.

“Do you know what kind of warlock Ethan is?” She
’
d asked quietly.

“Fire.” Marion had smiled triumphantly.

Caia could see Marion thought she was more than capable of taking Ethan on because she was a water witch. Caia wasn
’
t so sure. She had only just discovered she was a water witch. And now here she was, three days later, exhausted and in pain from the smallest of tasks.

“Do you need to take a break, Caia?” Marion asked gently and then she stroked the air with her fingers, a glass of lemonade appearing in her hand. She handed it to Caia, who took it, blinking incredulously.

“If you
’
re just a fire witch how can you conjure things from nothing, and if I
’
m just a water witch how could I blast Alexa off her feet and make furniture move?”

Marion smiled smugly. “The element is just the basis of our power. Gaia would never be so selfish as to bestow only measly gifts on her children. We can have, and do, whatever we want, but we have rules to protect ourselves and the human society.”

“I guess you should tell me about them.”

Marion groaned at the monotony of it. “I
’
ll get around to it.”

“But what if I break a rule in the meantime?”

She sighed, rolling her eyes again. “Are you going to utilize your magik to kill a human?”

“No.”

“Are you going to utilize your magik to force a human or Daylight supernatural from their own free will?”

“No.”

Marion grinned. “Then I think we
’
re OK for now.”

Caia smiled back at her. “It
’
s kind of like you
’
re Robin Williams and I
’
m Aladdin.”

“Excuse me?”

“You know...
‘
Genie I want you to make me a prince!
’
”

The witch shook her head in confusion, and apparently worry. “Are you OK? Maybe you
’
re getting too much sun.”

Caia sighed in frustration. “
Aladdin
? 
Disney
? Can
’
t kill anybody, can
’
t make people fall in love, can
’
t bring anybody back from the dead...
‘
It
’
s not a pretty picture, I don
’
t like doing it!
’
”

“I have no idea what you
’
re talking about.”

“You
’
re killing me here,” Caia sighed. That had been her best Genie impression.

“Maybe we should just proceed to manipulating water.”

Caia nodded, feeling more of an alien freak than ever in the company of her pop culture free companion. “I was kind of hoping you could help me control the whole telekinetic thing first. I
’
m getting tired of being my own personal poltergeist.”

Marion shook her head again, pulling Caia to her feet. “You are the strangest girl.”

“Ryder gets me.”

Lucien tried not
to wince as he watched Marion train Caia on how to control her telekinetic abilities. The first few hours had been grueling as the witch taunted Caia with her past, and insulted her abilities in every possible way in an effort to incite her temper. At first it didn
’
t seem to be working, and Lucien had laughed quietly from his place at the kitchen door, amused at Marion
’
s disgruntlement and Caia
’
s ethereal coolness. But when she mentioned Adriana
’
s name, the hose pipe they had been using earlier suddenly whiplashed into the air and missed knocking Marion
’
s head off by an inch. The witch had smiled triumphantly and continued to push Caia until the young lykan-magik was able to control the telekinesis, even when her emotions were toyed with. Now they were working on Caia
’
s ability to utilize the telekinesis whenever she wanted. Marion had nearly been killed by many a flying object.

“Shi-” he hissed, and ducked his head as a large branch flew at him. It crashed past him and into the kitchen, skidding across the table and smashing his mother
’
s fruit bowl and some glasses that had been left there. He turned wide-eyed to see Caia smirking at him. “It
’
s OK!” he called. “I
’
m OK.”

Marion walked towards him sheepishly. “Sorry, Lucien, that was an accident. Didn
’
t know you were there.”

“I did.” Caia shrugged and smiled too sweetly.

Lucien groaned. “Still like that is it?”

“I don
’
t know what you mean.”

Marion frowned at her protégée. “I think we should take another break.”

Caia nodded and turned away from them, heading into the woods. Lucien sighed, his eyes following her closely. When was she going to come around and stop being pissed off at him? He had said he was sorry.

Marion strode up the porch steps and glanced back at Caia before she reached him. She smiled sympathetically when she turned back to him and gave him a reassuring pat on the shoulder. “She doesn
’
t hate you, Lucien. She just needs someone to be angry at right now.”

He grunted. “That makes me feel so much better.”

The witch chuckled, her eyes twinkling. “Well, the fact that she
’
s chosen you as the one to be angry at
should
make you feel better.”

“And how
’
s that?”

“Well, generally to be angry at someone they have to have done something to upset or hurt you, and to be able to upset or hurt someone means you having to have meant something to them in the first place.” She smiled as he took this in, and then slid past him gracefully into the house.

Lucien sighed, gazing at the spot Caia had entered the woods. He hoped to Gaia Marion was right about her, because if they were going to get through the next few weeks together, Caia was going to have to like him enough to trust him.

The wave of energy sparked her senses as she drove closer towards the house off the highway.
Crap
, she groaned. It definitely wasn
’
t energy from someone from the Midnight Coven. She cursed profusely as she pulled over to the side of the road and quickly dialed Ethan
’
s number on her phone.

“What?”

Ah, he was as pleasant as ever.

“My lord, I think we may have a problem.”

“You know, I
’
m seriously considering having a t-shirt made for you with those exact words on it,” he sneered and then snarled, “Why am I not surprised? What the Hades is going on now? Incompetent wench.”

She flinched and bit her tongue. If she said anything disrespectful to him she would be dead in seconds. “I can feel unfamiliar energy radiating from the house.  I think it
’
s Daylight. I
’
m just parked off side their driveway.”

“That
’
s why you
’
re calling me?”

Duh
.

“Yes, my lord.”

“Xylena, do you remember why you
’
re going to the house?”

What?

“Yes, my lord.”

“And do you remember to whom you are going to visit?”

She rolled her eyes. He really was a jackass. “Yes, my lord.”

“And do you remember that Caia has just been introduced to her new powers? That the energy coming from the house is most probably hers?”

Oops.

“No, my lord. I didn
’
t think of that.”

“Yes. Obviously.”

“I apologize for disturbing you, my lord.” She was lucky he hadn
’
t fried her already.

“Just get your ass in there, already.”

“Of co-”

He put the phone down on her.
Charming. Prince of the Coven …
My ass
, she snarled and threw her phone down.
Frickingcenter toad.

Caia took a
deep breath and smoothed her hair back before she opened the door. She had been training constantly for the last week with Marion and hadn
’
t seen anyone other than Marion, Saffron and the Elders since the revelation. Everything seemed to be going well so far. Marion was impressed by how quickly she was learning to control her powers, and awed by the range of said powers. But Caia was exhausted and missing her friends. And to be honest, despite all the sadness and madness, she was a little excited by her new powers and wanted to share it with Jaeden and Sebastian. So instead of her working at Lucien
’
s this Saturday, Jae and Seb were on their way over to visit with her.

“Sebastian.” She smiled and drew him into a hug. He squeezed her back tightly and placed an affectionate kiss on the top of her head. “How are you?”

He chuckled and brushed a loose strand of hair behind her ear. “How am I? You
’
re asking me how I am?”

“Yes.”

“Well, I
’
m OK, now I know you
’
re not angry at me.”

Caia shoved him playfully and then made for him to follow her upstairs. “Angry at you? Seb, you saved my life at school, getting me into your car so fast. Thank you.”

He looked adorably embarrassed by her gratitude, shrugging and mumbling incoherently under his breath. She laughed and then stopped him as he blushed. She wanted him to know that she was serious. He had been a true friend to her throughout the whole ordeal. “Honestly, Sebastian. Thank you.” She exhaled slowly. “I mean you even tried to tell me the truth that Saturday...”

“About that.” He blushed again. “Caia, I
’
m really sorry if I made you uncomfortable. I was wasted.”

She chuckled. “Yeah, you were. But you were also sweet. Wanting to mate with me so the pack would accept me.” She smirked, brushing his hair from his face.