Zora's Dawn (Defender Book 1) (8 page)

Allowing
Powers to lead her to Marcus she tried to keep her mind on the task at hand. It
was difficult, worried as she was that she would be unable to feel anything and
thus be seen as a failure to the others. Powers pressed her hand gently, and
murmured in her ear, “No matter whether you feel anything or not, Axel and
Marcus will not be disappointed in you. Relax, it’s not a test.”

Zora felt
that it really was a test, but she tried to do as Powers suggested. They came
to a halt next to Marcus, who addressed them both without taking his eyes off
the ground, “I can smell so much blood, and fear. This poor man was terrified
before he lost his life. I think the werewolf was playing with its prey.” He
met Zora’s shocked eyes, his own burning with an intense blue fire, a colour
completely impossible for human eyes to achieve. Zora found herself trapped in
his gaze for a few brief seconds, before she wrenched her eyes away. Powers
grunted slightly and Marcus exhaled a surprised breath that had Zora looking
back at him.

“Zora I
apologise, I did not mean to use compulsion on you, I was angry at the werewolf
and I did not bank down my eyes before I looked at you. And yet, you were able
to break the spell, you truly are a very powerful defender.” His eyes had gone
back to normal, but his expression remained grim. Zora smiled uncertainly at
him, not entirely sure what he meant. Seeing it, Marcus elaborated. “Vampires
have great power in their eyes; we use compulsion to make others bend to our
will. Sometimes a strong emotion will light our fire and anyone trapped in our
gaze succumbs to the compulsion even if we do not mean to use it. Naturally as
we grow older and stronger we can control this. I have not lost control in this
way for many years and I apologise most humbly.”

Zora
swallowed hard as the implications of his words sank in. Marcus was a dangerous
man, she was glad he was an ally. She looked at the patch of ground before her
and wished with all her heart that she did not have to step onto it. She turned
to Axel as he joined them as what seemed an obvious thought occurred to her.
“Axel, this murder happened at night, how will I see anything?”

Axel
stared at her in surprise before saying in a careful tone of voice, “Little
Zora, what you are about to do is magic. Do you really think a small detail
such as the time of day is going to interfere with this?” He actually looked a
little annoyed, did he think she was criticising the quality of fairy spells?
That was probably a bad thing to make him think. Zora now felt nervous about
two things and was relieved when Sunny came up to her and bumped her gently
with her hip.

“So, a defender
eh? I admit, I had no clue about you, but of course if your abilities were
blocked by the fairies I wouldn’t would I? And I sure didn’t notice any
evidence of any bond between you and Powers. That kind of sucks doesn’t it?
Pity you weren’t bonded to someone like Marcus.” She winked impishly at Zora,
blew a kiss at Powers and smiled sweetly at Marcus who no longer wore such a
forbidding expression. Zora smiled at her friend, grateful to her for defusing
the situation. Then she took a deep breath and stepped forward.

Nothing
happened. She didn’t freeze, her hair didn’t blow in an invisible wind, no goose
bumps raised the hair on the back of her neck. Zora looked at the four faces
watching her anxiously and shrugged. All four faces fell to varying degrees and
she couldn’t help but feel she had just failed a major test. Well, she had
thought all along that she was a bit of an imposter.

Intending
to walk around Sunny who was standing in front of her Zora took a single step
sideways. As soon as her foot made contact with the ground the world faded around
her while a jumble of impressions assaulted her mind. She swayed where she
stood, unaware that her hair was once again lifted around her head, her eyes
were burning molten gold and her skin was glowing. She didn’t see the shock and
awe on Sunny’s face or the worry on Powers, or the satisfaction on Axel and
Marcus’. She saw only the images pouring into her mind, assaulting her with
vivid colours, sounds and smells. Nobody had told her she would hear and smell
the visions. As abruptly as they had started the visions stopped, leaving Zora
feeling drained and weak.

As soon as
her hair stopped swirling around her head and her eyes lost some of that eerie
glow Powers stepped forward and slipped his arm around her waist. When her foot
touched that spot of ground he had been cut off from his connection to her and
had no idea what she had seen, but now the connection was restored he could
feel her exhaustion. Marcus and Axel each began to speak but Powers held up an
imperious hand.

“She is
exhausted, she can barely stand on her own. We need to get her home and let her
eat and rest. Then you can ask your questions. Is that ok with you Zora?”

Zora heard
nothing except ‘rest’ and ‘eat’ but since that was exactly what she needed she
nodded her agreement and allowed him to support her back to his vehicle. On the
drive back Marcus and Axel speculated about how much Zora had seen and the
level of her power. Sunny remained quiet and studied Zora’s profile with
worried eyes. Powers kept his hand entwined in hers except for when he needed
to change gears, and Zora herself just stared sightlessly out the window while
inside her mind was screaming protest at the sights and smells that had
assaulted her senses. Would it always be like that? Because if so, she wanted
to give back her membership card to this supernatural club and get a refund.

At the
house Powers settled Zora on the veranda and produced a packet from his pocket
which he passed to her. Zora raised her eyebrows as she saw what it was, “Jelly
babies? Really? Like Dr Who?”

Smiling at
her reference to the Dr with a penchant for the sweets Powers explained, “You
need a sugar hit, eat some jelly babies while I make coffee and some proper
food for you. The others are going to enjoy the ocean view and not bother you
until you say you are ready.” This last was added firmly with a stern look to
Marcus and Axel who nodded their reluctant agreement. Sunny took the seat next
to Zora and assumed a militant expression before leaning across and stealing a
handful of jelly babies.

Zora ate a
few of the little sweets and had to admit that she felt better for doing so.
She had never felt so drained in her life, but more than that she felt violated
by the images she had seen, the cries of the poor murdered man and the things
the werewolf had done to him. She felt like she should somehow wash her brain
with bleach to remove the darkness she had witnessed. And the smell - the smell
of fear, and blood, and other things even nastier. Pushing it all to the back
of her mind Zora concentrated on the taste of the little sugar treats, better
to think about it when she had to, when she had to tell the others what she had
witnessed.

Sunny
patted her hand, swiped a few more jelly babies and went to help Powers in the
kitchen. She paused by Marcus and Axel and Zora heard Marcus asking her about
her family and about a supply of blood for him. Sunny said something in the
affirmative and then was gone. Zora noted absently that the blue haze still
clung to her, and wondered if she would always be able to see that around Sunny
now. Perhaps it was Sunny’s aura she thought, but then surely she would be able
to see everyone’s aura if she could see one persons.

Planning
research was far easier to cope with than the recent events, so Zora allowed
her mind to think only of auras, compiling a list in her head of websites and
books that might give her more detail. She was adding questions to her mental
list such as colours and brightness when Powers and Sunny came back out,
bearing a giant pot of coffee and a heaped platter of food – warm beef salad,
an assortment of cheese, pickles, fresh bread sliced generously thick, and some
more of the decadent chocolate cake. It was enough to take away the taste of
fear and the terrible smells that lingered in her nose and mouth, as though she
really had been there as it happened. Zora smiled her thanks at Powers as he
buttered some bread and heaped a plate of food for her. Sunny poured some
seriously strong looking coffee and added a dollop of milk before placing the
divine smelling concoction next to her plate.

Without
needing any encouragement Zora dived into the food, so hungry that she was a
little worried she would embarrass herself with the speed at which she devoured
it all.

When she
cleaned her plate she reached for a slice of the chocolate cake, her tastebuds
already groaning in anticipation of the delicious treat. Chocolate cake and
coffee, what better taste combination could there be she wondered absently.
Looking up from her plate she saw four pairs of eyes staring at her in varying
degrees of amusement.

“I do love
a woman who appreciates her food, generally she appreciates other appetites
too.” Marcus winked at her while Powers frowned heavily in his direction and
Sunny cast a highly speculative look at him which managed to encompass his entire
body. Marcus switched his gaze from Zora to Sunny and smiled a slow predatory
smile that caused Zora’s toes to curl up and it wasn’t even directed at her.
She was unsurprised to see Sunny break eye contact and look down at her plate,
blushing prettily.

Axel
commanded her attention, “Little Zora, it is only to be expected that you would
have an increased appetite. One because of your extra unlocked abilities and
two because I think this experience took all of your energy. Truly I have never
seen a defender so exhausted from the sensing ritual. But I have also never
sensed such power as was coming from you. It was phenomenal. Please, eat all
that you require to regain your strength before you share what you learned with
us.”

Zora gazed
uncertainly at the fairy prince. “Axel, it was such a jumble of impressions, I
am not sure I can make sense of it all. And the smell of it, I felt I could
taste the victims fear, it was indescribable.”

She paused
in the act of sipping more coffee at the almost comical expression of shock
that appeared on all of their faces. At least it would have been funny if she
had been in on the joke but as it was she just felt anxious and worried,
wondering what she had done wrong.

Powers
clasped her free hand in his strong one, and brought it to his lips in a gentle
kiss of reassurance that caused her blood to sing and her mind to stutter. “It
is only that a defender usually does not receive smells, or tastes. You are
extraordinary and unique.”

Powers
smiled into her eyes and she felt that stabilising strength again. This time
she didn’t question it, but welcomed it. She felt it course through her body,
felt the trembling in her hands cease and the headache that had begun to tease
at the edges of her consciousness dissolve. Powers squeezed her hand and broke
eye contact. His expression gave no clue as to whether he felt that connection
the way she did. She had no idea if she had actually received strength from him
in a physical sense or if it was just the calming influence of his touch. Right
now, it didn’t matter which it was.

Marcus put
his coffee down and leaned forward. “Zora, you really could taste and smell the
visions? I don’t know if that is a good thing or not, it must have been a
harrowing experience for you. I believe the visions on their own would be
disturbing enough. But as Powers said, it shows how powerful and how unique you
are. When you feel rested enough, please tell us as much as you remember.”

Zora
smiled her thanks at him, it was good to know that he understood how much the sensations
had affected her. She looked at Axel who had remained silent. His expression
was remote, his gaze turned inward. Looking more closely she saw a faint silver
shimmer and realised that he was doing something magical. Nothing seemed to be
manifesting, so she gave an internal shrug and decided to wait until Axel was
once again focused on them. Reaching forward she snagged another piece of the
cake. Almost before she thought of it Powers had refilled her cup, pushing the
milk jug closer to her. His expression was as always one of mild distaste as
she added milk to the fragrant brew – Powers believed that coffee should only
and ever be consumed black. Zora wrinkled her nose at him, the small normal
reaction making her feel a bit more grounded.

She
watched Axel as she ate, trying to figure out what he was doing. She thought
she was being circumspect but realised not enough for a supernatural being when
Marcus leaned forward and said very quietly, “He is communing with his kind,
most likely his mother the Queen.” Zora’s eyes widened and she added telepathy
to her list of Axel’s abilities. As she watched the silver shimmer dissipated
and Axel blinked before reaching for his coffee.

“Little
Zora, my mother the Queen has confirmed that you are the only defender in our
history to both taste and smell your visions. She believes that this is another
indicator of your strength and says this makes you immensely valuable to us. She
will send guards before we leave to continue our investigations. She also
wishes to meet you when it is possible.” Axel took a large swig of the coffee
and smiled at Zora. “How do you feel now little Zora, better?”

Zora felt
like she was several steps behind, her mind was still reeling at the thought
that a queen wished to meet her, not to mention the guards that would be sent.
She allowed herself a brief visualisation of fairy guards, all as large and well-muscled
as Axel but a low growl from Powers burst her rather delightful fantasy and she
snapped back to her current reality. She noticed Sunny was staring raptly at
Axel and wondered if she and Sunny had just shared the same fantasy. Sunny met
her eyes and winked – yep, same fantasy.