Taken (Breaking the Darkness) (24 page)

“Gram told me not to trust anyone. In my heart I trust you. I’ve felt a special connection to you since the first time we met at The Flea.”

“Aww, me too sweetheart. What did you want to talk to me about? And why here?”

“Well, where has Axel been? I haven’t seen him. I miss him too. I’m going to start having withdrawals from his random history lessons.” My face couldn’t hide my fondness or my concern for him.

Patience looked uneasy. “He is just fine. He has been… resting. Don’t worry yourself about us. You have way too much on your plate to concern yourself with us old folks.”

“I’m not sure I agree with you on that. You guys are the closest thing I have to family now. Your connection to my grandmother only solidifies that. Something just seems off when I come to your house. I don’t understand why I can’t get out of your kitchen when I come there.” I couldn’t put my finger on what it was that made me feel that way.

“We told you that is for protection. What about you? Has anything else happened to you? Have you seen Mage again?”

Patience managed to deflect my unease of the circumstances surrounding Axel.

I wasn’t buying her explanation.

“No. That reminds me. Did you and Phaela ever make any headway with getting in touch with a medium or psychic?”

“My sister put out the call. We are still waiting to hear back. Listen, what your gram said about trusting people, it is true. Be careful what you say and who you say it to. There are a lot of good people out there, both human and supernatural. You will find allies in life for sure, but the ones that are bad can be worse than anything you could even try to imagine. Sometimes it is those closest to us that wear an invisible mask of deception.”

I wanted to tell her about Graven and that I had a chance with him. That he’d already helped me. He taught me how to control my abilities and to travel in this plane. He avenged me and killed the man—or beast—that defiled me in ways I would be haunted by for a lifetime. He was, as far as I knew, trying to locate me as we stood there.

It was at that point I realized that I never told her about Anton’s death. She was probably worried about him coming back to torture me again. How could I have told her? Then I would need to explain how I saw it happen and why I was there. I hated lying or, at best, omitting parts of the truth.

The main reason I needed to talk to her was about my concern that they were in danger. Again, I wasn’t sure how to explain how or who I overheard making those potential threats. For obvious reasons, I couldn’t tell her the very person I was depending on to save me was the very reason she was in danger.

Patience’s face flooded with concern. I was lost in thought a few too many minutes. I eased back my scrunched-up eyebrows and took a deep breath to force past the hesitation.

“Patience, I have some good and not so good news to share with you. Well, you know how I’ve been getting out and about, practicing my astral projection? I made another attempt at using Ziona to determine my location. I hoped to follow her directly away from my room. But I’m still not even sure how she comes and goes. I was, however, able to focus my energy on her and found myself at another one of her meetings.”

Patience edged in closer to me with hope and eagerness to hear more.

“Unfortunately, this trip didn’t help me ascertain my current location. I did overhear some pertinent information, though. The man, Anton Leviath, the monster who stole a piece of my very existence, is dead.”

“Leviath? He was of the dragon. How? It is almost impossible to kill him. He must be over a thousand years old.”

“I, um, well, that was what Ziona and her associate were talking about.” Here I went twisting the truth.

“She was wondering the same thing. They thought maybe a
story keeper
would have provided that information to the perpetrator.”

Patience eyes went wide. “What?” she whispered.

“Ziona asked her associate to look into whether or not a story keeper of the Leviath family history may have told someone how to kill him.”

“No one claimed ownership of this conquest? I would think there would be a lot of pride involved in defeating such a creature.” Patience nervously questioned me.

“As far as I know, no one declared their hand at this feat. I got the impression this isn’t public knowledge yet. She also suggested she had another idea about who might be responsible, but she didn’t mention who at this meeting.

“I’m worried they’ll come after you and your family. How many other story keepers are there?”

“Not many.” She admitted.

“Can you warn them that they’re potentially in danger? Please!” I wished I could do more than just warn her of the threat.

My eyes shifted down to my shimmery blue feet. I was embarrassed that I wasn’t telling her everything. I prayed in my heart I would make it to Graven in time to make sure nothing happened to Patience and her family. He and I both knew they had nothing to do with how Anton was killed.

“Chin up, child. Let us look at the bright side of this situation. He is dead. That is huge. For all of the things you need to worry about right now, a visitation from him will not be one of them.”

“There’s a whole lot of truth in that statement. I guess that is the good news. I’ll try to find out as much as I can. If I hear anything else, you know I’ll come to you and tell you right away.” I was anxious to get in touch with Graven. I needed to see him as soon as possible.

“You listen to me! Don’t do anything stupid. There are others out there with the gift of sight and flight. You don’t want to be discovered snooping around Ziona or any of her associates. That is a dangerous game to play.

“I have been around a lot longer than you realize. I know how to protect myself. I have seen and read enough to have a fighting chance against any of The Taker’s minions.” She capped off her statement with a less-than-innocent wink.

“If you say so. Can you tell me any more about how I can access or learn how to use the elements to my advantage? There has to be a way for me to fight my way out of there.”

I had to keep telling myself there was a way. My thought seeped out of my mind as I continued to ramble on before Patience had a chance to answer me.

“They’re holding me because they think I have some kind of power they can exploit. My power, whatever it might be, is my own to claim. I want to use it against The Taker and his dark forces. I cannot do that locked inside a black box.”

“Remember one thing, Kasha. The power is yours. That amulet that fused with you only enhances what resides inside of you. Did you ever stop to think that you have already been using those elements?”

“What? How?” I was so confused.

“Think about it. Your ability to astral project, the level of mastery you have achieved, and your ability to communicate with your grandmother who has passed on to a different place—these are things that require a unique control of the spirit, both yours and other’s. You have learned to travel quickly and efficiently; that most likely comes from your connection to the air element.

“You will learn how to control the elements to work for you in a lot of different ways. We told you not to try and use them because you do not know how to command them right now. Experimenting with the elements in a small, enclosed place may not be the safest idea. Not to mention they are watching you.

“Don’t you think if you start a fire or fill your room with water this will bring about unwanted attention? I don’t know what they are hoping you can do, but I’m scared of what they will do with you after they get what they want.” Patience pleaded with me.

“Ziona wants me to go with her, to train with her. She said if I just tell her what I can do or what I am, she will help me.”

“You cannot trust anyone working with or for The Taker. You will be in his servitude until the end of your time. I do not want that for you. His corruption runs deep. The darkness can consume you. You want to fight against him and the darkness? You will not be able to do that immersed in his shadow.”

I knew she spoke the truth. I only hoped it didn’t come to a point where I no longer had a choice.

“I have to get back to Phaela before she starts to question my whereabouts. You have a gift inside you. Focus your energy on the light and fill your heart with love. You have a long road ahead of you. You know where I will be if you need me for anything.”

She lifted her hand to my cheek; I swear it was glowing. It felt like a warm burst of sunshine on my face. I closed my eyes to soak it in and when I opened them, I found myself standing there alone again.

With no desire to return to my prison, I was faced with the decision of where I should be. Going to Graven might not be helpful, although I missed being around him. My physical yearning for Kaden was for when I must escape the darkness through dream. That time with him was like reading a good book. I was nervous about getting myself caught while exploring the astral plane.

Then it hit me… Home.

I STOOD THERE staring at a terra cotta painted door. The door was mine, the entryway to my newly rented home. I wanted to rush inside and throw myself into my bed and hide under the covers. I looked around at the front landscape and all the plants were doing well. Thank goodness I planted mostly desert foliage that required little watering. Maybe one of the neighbors tended to them.

I’d been gone long enough to miss a rent payment. It was a good thing I’d prepaid. If not, I would soon have found my belongings on the curb.

I braced myself for a surge of emotions longing for the comforts of home and proceeded into my little cottage. I was stopped midflight. I was stunned at what my eyes witnessed. This wasn’t the category of emotions I expected. My heart sank.

The house was void of all of my belongings. There was nothing there. I looked in all the rooms—not a single thing in the place. How could this be? Where were all my things? A new wave of panic crashed over me.

Violated yet again. I’d been stripped of my humility, caged in a small room devoid of light and food. Now this!

I knew my landlord wouldn’t have removed my things. Even if I failed to go back there for an entire year, my rent lined his pocket. He would have no reason to go in there and clean house. This had to be Ziona and The Taker. They would keep taking until there was nothing left to take.

The rage and anger bubbled in my core. I wasn’t about to stoop to his level. I needed to focus my rage in a positive direction. I must not succumb to the darkness that feeds The Taker and his reign. How that would happen, I couldn’t be sure. Right at that moment, I just wanted to hurt them back. Somehow, I would find a way to turn the tide.

It sucked not being able to confront Ziona about where my stuff was. It was imperative that she not know I was there. I wished I could tell her that I knew what they’d done to me. Tell her to her face that I played a role in helping take down Anton. It would be so gratifying… and useless.

Thank goodness I never finished unpacking or picked up my new bookshelf from Axel and Patience. A lot of my valued belongings, the ones that connected me to Gram, were still in the storage unit.

Crap! What if they took everything in my unit too? Sadness and fear collided with my anger. It felt like my chest was going to burst open. If I physically had eyes, my feelings would have pushed a shower of tears down my cheeks. I hoped my body wasn’t crying.

Without a second thought, I stood inside the metal box. Relief pushed all the negativity out of my being as I found myself surrounded by boxes. Boxes full of memories. I could smell and feel Gram’s essence all around me. There was comfort in knowing this little bit of my past was still safe.

Somehow, they didn’t get in. Fingers crossed, they were unaware of my storage. I didn’t have the unit registered to my name or any for that matter. Again, somehow I had the prudence to prepay the monthly charges there as well.

Being amongst my treasures was bittersweet. If only I could’ve sunk my hands into the boxes. I wanted to touch my things and connect with my life I no longer recognized. I needed to take a serious inventory of everything I had left. I was glad I never made it there before they took me. I shuddered at the thought they could have followed me to the unit. But thankfully, Gram’s books were still there waiting for me to search for some clue as to my family’s true nature.