The Dark Rising (19 page)

“Yes,” Hex replied, with a slight nod.

This wasn’t good.  It would mean his ties with our coven were completely severed.

“Is there more?”

Hex nodded, sitting down across from me with a nimbleness that belied his age.

“Tell me,” I demanded.

He looked at me for a moment before giving a sigh.  “He slaughtered an entire coven, thirteen innocent witches and warlocks, after he couldn’t find you.”

A sharp gasp caught in my throat and for a second I couldn’t move, couldn’t breathe.  My eyes welled with tears.

“This is my fault,” I said in a choked whisper.  “I should’ve let him find me.”

“You’re not to blame.  If you had let him find you, you would’ve only delayed the inevitable.  You were right to run,” Hex disagreed.

“But all those people are dead now!” I cried out.

“Something which has nothing to do with you, except for the fact you love the person who did it,” Hex argued.

“He’s never killed an innocent before.”  I lifted a slightly trembling hand to press against my forehead.

“He killed you,” Hex pointed out.

“Yes, but he knew I would come back,” I argued.

“That may be, but you were still an innocent.  He has slowly been opening doors, inch by inch, even if he didn’t realize it.  His choices and actions have been leading up to this very moment.”

He was right.  Vance always had one major flaw and that was the fact he barreled head long into everything, not ever fully weighing the consequences of his actions before he did them.

He’d rushed into the binding spell with me, which had linked us on a level we could’ve never imagined.  From that point on he’d been led by his heart, not his head.  He had been trying to make good choices, but they hadn’t necessarily been the best choices.  Now he was teetering on the brink of complete destruction.

“We need to finish my training,” I said, standing with resolution.  “I will stop him one way or another.  I can’t let him keep killing people.”

“Good girl,” Hex said, getting up to join me.  “Now come into the other room with me.  I bought you some things.”

“You didn’t have to do that.”  I followed him out, back into the living quarters.

“I wanted to,” he replied with a grin.

 He handed me two large bags.  I peered inside to see they contained several items of stylish clothing as well as hygiene and make up.

“You picked really well for a man who claims to be a virtual hermit,” I said with a smile.

“Well, I need to confess.  I snagged a sweet little salesclerk and had her help me select the items.”  He handed another bag to me.

“What’s this?” I asked, pulling out several long, black, spandex looking outfits.

“Workout clothes,” he explained.  “You need to have less restriction when we train.  I think they will work well for fighting.”

“Then what are these for?” I pulled out two pairs of knee high boots made of leather along with a thin black utility belt.

“I want you to get used to wearing the boots.  They’re safer to wear in the bayou, and the belt is to carry weapons around your waist.  You’ll be a regular warrior when I’m finished with you.”

“And I’ll look it too apparently,” I said gesturing to the gear.

“That’s part of the illusion,” Hex said.  “When Vance sees you again, I want you to seem deadly to him, not like his next meal.  You need to be dangerous.  It’ll make the predator in him respect you on a whole new level.”

“So we’re going to play mind games?”

“The mental game is just as important, if not more so, than the actual attack.  It’s where you build your strategies.  This is especially a key point when it comes to Vance, since you have said this is where his weakness lies.  He fails to plan properly.  We need to take his weaknesses and make them your strengths.”

“I don’t think he has many of those.”

“I disagree.  He has a couple of other big ones we can exploit,” he replied, looking at me.

“What’re you talking about?” I asked, confused.

“You.  He’s drawn to you for two reasons.  One is he’s hungry, and the second is purely physical.  He desires you.”

“Oh.” I blushed slightly.

“I would bet he’s mentally at war with himself over you.  He has a strong desire to kill you, but his physical pull is going to be just as strong.  If he destroys one, he destroys the other, which leaves him in a big world of hurt.  This will be a great distraction to him.”

That made sense.  “So what do you think he’d do?”

Hex shrugged his shoulders.  “I’m just guessing here, but I’m thinking if he could stave off the raging monster inside of him long enough, he would try to turn you.  That way he could still keep you in at least one capacity.”

“Ahhh … demon wife, how lovely,” I replied sarcastically, though the idea my husband might not want me dead was encouraging to me.

“I don’t think the coven would allow it though,” Hex said breaking into my thoughts.  “I think they want to kill you so they can revert all of the Awakening to him eventually.”

“Why not bring me in too?”

“They’re targeting him specifically.  He filled the thirteenth spot, after they killed one of their members to make room for him.”

“How are you finding out all of this stuff?” I asked, suddenly suspicious.  “Did you go there alone?”

“No, nothing that risky,” he replied quickly.  “I happened to find a couple of the coven members lurking around and I popped into their heads for a minute.  Don’t worry.  They never even knew I was there.”

“A couple of coven members?  What if you would’ve had to fight them by yourself?”  I placed my hands on my hips.

“Two would have been easy,” he laughed and he reached out to pull one of my hands away from my hip.  “And if you’ll let me teach you, I will show you how easy it can be.”

I sighed.  “Then let’s quit wasting time and get started, shall we?”

He nodded, seemingly pleased by my eagerness to proceed.

“I plan to give you the jinn cells tonight before you go to sleep.  Then we’ll begin monitoring the results in the morning.”

“Well, it’s bedtime now,” I replied, eager to get on with things so I could move forward.  “Let’s do it.”

“Follow me,” he said with a nod in the direction of his lab. “Oh, and just so you know, your family is on their way.  They should be here two days.”

“Who’s coming?” I asked, feeling a rush of relief run through my system knowing we’d soon have backup.

“Several from what I understand, including your parents, grandmother, Vance’s mom, and possibly a couple of coven members.”

“I’m surprised any of them want to risk being around Vance after everything that’s happened.  They were pretty untrusting of him before,” I said.

“I told them Catriona was responsible for the killings, not Vance,” he replied.  “Your dad was very relieved to hear it.”

“Not that it matters now.  He would kill all of them without hesitation,” I mumbled.

“Well it’s up to us to keep that from happening, isn’t it?” Hex said and he patted me on the shoulder.

We stopped in the doorway of the gym and Hex went to the disguised panel to get the vial.

“Where are they all going to stay?” I asked him.

“Here, of course.  It’s the only truly safe place.”

“Won’t it be a little crowded?”

“The exercise mat is thick.  I figured they could sleep on it.  I’ve got plenty of blankets in the storage unit.  It will just be a matter of keeping everyone busy and fed,” he replied nonchalantly.

“If my mom’s coming, you won’t need to worry about people being fed,” I laughed. 

“Is she a good cook?”  He smiled as he walked past me to go across the hall into his lab.

“The best,” I said proudly, my mouth watering over the thought of eating some of her great green chili enchiladas she’d whipped up.

“Well, that’ll be a welcome change.  I’ve gotten used to my own cooking, but I can’t say it’s ever been good.”  He chuckled softly.

“I haven’t been complaining.”  I smiled.  I leaned up against the doorjamb, still afraid to enter the sophisticated space with its high tech equipment.

“Yes, I’ve certainly mastered the bologna sandwich and canned beans, haven’t I?”  He laughed while he placed the glowing vial on some sort of motorized shelf that began tipping back and forth.

“Don’t forget the cold cereal.” I added.

“Now you’re just mocking me,” he said, looking up at me with a wink.  “Get in here.”

I shook my head.  “I don’t want to break anything.”

“You won’t.  Come sit.”  He gestured to a rolling office chair which sat in front of the computer.

I eased past him and sat down as he had instructed being careful not to knock anything.

“Does this thing have internet?” I asked absently, running my fingers over the tops of the keys.

“Sadly, no.  I didn’t want any outside signal pointing to this place.  The electricity here is fueled by a generator and sometimes magic,” he explained.

“So that’s why you don’t use a dish for your television?”

“Correct.  It’s also the reason there’s no phone.”

“What if something were to happen?  How would you get help?” I asked out of curiosity.

“I figured I’ve made my bed, now I have to lie in it.  No one would be able to find this bunker let alone get in.”

“So you’d just lay down in here and die?”

“Pretty much,” he chuckled.  “Why do you make it sound like such a horrible thing?  I’m an old man!”

“You aren’t that old.  Besides, I’m starting to enjoy being around you.  You’re a tough teacher, but you’re honest.  I could use some honesty in my life right now,” I said with a slight smile.

“I bet you can.” He looked over at me sympathetically.  “I’m sorry you’ve gone through so much in your first year of being a witch.  It isn’t normally like this.  In fact, most witches and warlocks go their whole lives without having to ever deal with, or worry about demons and black magic.  You probably would’ve too, if you had never met Vance.”

“Then I’ll happily take the life I have now,” I said, not even needing to think about it.  “I never knew how happy I could be until I met him.”

“You also didn’t know how sad either,” he pointed out as he removed the vial from the tray.  He inserted a needle into the rubber stopper on top, pulling the swirling liquid into the syringe.

“I don’t care.  If those happy moments are all I ever get, it will have been worth it.  I love him and my time with him has been some of the most precious.”

“The fact you can still look at the situation positively tells me precisely the kind of person you are.  You’ve probably grown more in this past year than in the rest of your life and it’s turning you into something precious,” he commented.

“What do you mean?”

“You’ve walked through the refiner’s fire.  It’s buffed away the rough spots, polishing you up to be bright and shining in a world where darkness is abounding.”  He looked at me with softness.  “In my whole life I’ve never met a person who loves as unconditionally as you do.”

“Really?” I asked, my eyes moistening at his compliment.

“Really.”  He reached out to place his weathered hand over the top of mine, giving a gentle squeeze.  “Are you ready to do this?”

I extended my arm.  “I am.”

He moved to a cupboard and pulled out a small bag filled with fluid and some sterile tubing.

“I’m actually going to give this to you through an I.V. instead of a shot.  After I pondered it over, it seemed the better way to go since it would circulate things faster,” he explained while he set up the equipment.  When he was finished, he injected the contents of the syringe into the bag.

He wrapped a large band around my upper arm and had me pump my hand into a fist.  Then he pushed and patted, looking for a good vein to use.

I thought about the veins that stood up off of Vance’s strong forearms.  Hex could’ve probably hit them blindfolded.

“Okay, big stick,” he warned, and I felt the sting into my skin right before a flash of blood showed at the top of the needle.

“Good, good,” he muttered, and he pulled the sharp part out, leaving the plastic catheter in my arm.  Then he hooked the primed I.V. tubing to it.

He adjusted a small roller and a slightly cold fluid began to seep inside of me.  After watching it for a minute, he straightened up again.

“Looks good,” he said, the nervous anticipation showing on his face.

“So, now what do we do?”

“We wait.  This ought to go in pretty quickly.”   He checked the tubes over again.

“You know if this works it’ll be like we’re relatives,” I said with a grin.  “In a mutated blood sort of way, that is.”

He laughed before he reached around me to squeeze my shoulders in a giant bear hug.

“I couldn’t think of anyone else I’d rather have as a mutated blood granddaughter.”

“How’re you feeling?” Hex asked with concern after a couple of minutes had passed.

“Normal, I guess,” I answered with a slightly nervous laugh while I watched the constant drip of fluid going into my arm.  “Is that good?”

“I think so,” he replied and he smiled encouragingly.  “No reaction is better than a bad one, right?”

We were both nervous, but it was understandable.  A lot was riding on this little experiment of ours.

The contents of the bag were soon emptied.  Hex removed the I.V. and covered the site with a Band-Aid, telling me to hold some pressure on it.

“Okay, so we’re going to sit on this overnight.  You need to let me know if you notice anything strange or out of the ordinary.  In the morning we’ll see how things are.  I’ll do some labs then to check if the new cells are attaching to yours or just floating in your blood stream,” he explained.

“What difference does that make?” I asked, curious.

“If the cells bind with yours they can mutate together making these powers, if you get any, permanent.  If they’re only floating along it might generate powers which could eventually wear off after a while, flushing from your system.  It would be bad if it were to happen during an attack of some sort, so it’s crucial we have the results before we confront Vance.”

“Yes, definitely a good thing to know,” I replied, agreeing whole heartedly.