Demon Hunted Page 8

  “The daggers can’t fight off every magic spell.”

  When Ian realized I was going to stick to the daggers, he bought me a special set. Engraved into the handles was my name and a small red stone. There weren’t any other decorations, but I thought they were the most beautiful daggers in the world. He also had them enchanted to block magical spells. It would work for most weaker spells but only for so long.

  “I have an idea,” Ian said. “I’ll be back shortly. I need to make a call. Continue practicing your forms.”

  Ian walked away from me and into the house while I continued practicing. I was sure Ian would be watching me from one of cabin windows. If he caught me resting, he would make me stay out here longer, and I was already sweaty.

  I held my arms up in front of me, loose but ready to strike. When an imaginary person tried to hit me, I swung my daggers out in a wide arc. I pulled my right arm across my body, effectively slicing through my would-be attacker’s neck.

  I hoped I would never have to do that move on a real person. I started to slide into my next form when Ian came running out of the house.

  “We caught someone,” he yelled as he ran past me.

  I chased after him, scared and excited about who we would find. I wanted this spying to stop. When I finally caught up to Ian, he was already holding onto the guy. I looked closer. He was more of a kid. He couldn’t be older than sixteen.

  “Why are you spying on us?” I asked.

  The kid didn’t say anything. He kept looking at the ground.

  “Sammy,” Ian said, “tell me what you’re doing? You know it’s against the rules to spy on other guardians. Do you remember the punishment?”

  The kid’s face paled. “I had to. He told me I wouldn’t get into any trouble.”

  “Who told you?” Ian asked.

  “Councilman John,” the boy said. “He told me we had to keep an eye on her, and if I did a good job, I would be closer to being a guardian.”

  “Does anyone else know that you’re doing this?”

  “I don’t know. I thought the whole council knew. Why would Councilman John tell me to do something without their permission?”

  “Don’t worry, Sammy. I’m not going to tell anyone but Councilman Kellan about this. We’ll act like it never happened. Councilman John has you doing things that he knows are against the rules for his own purposes. I know you’re a good kid, and you’re only doing what you’re told.”

  “I’m sorry, Ian,” the kid’s lip trembled as he apologized. I reached out and put my arm around his shoulders.

  “It’s going to be fine, kid. Technically, you didn’t do anything wrong. The councilman did. You aren’t going to get in any trouble.”

  “What did Councilman John want you to find out?” Ian asked.

  “He wants to know everything she’s been able to do,” he said, looking at me.

  “What did you tell him?”

  “At first I thought you might be very strong, but I haven’t seen you do anything powerful. All I’ve seen you do are basic spells. It doesn’t look like you have that much magic. Which is fine,” he said quickly when I glared at him.

  “You’re free to leave now, Sammy. If I need to talk to you again, where can I find you?”

  “I’m usually in my quarters. What am I supposed to tell Councilman John? I’m supposed to meet him tomorrow.”

  “Tell him the same thing you’ve been saying. She uses basic spells. There’s no reason for you to lie about that, but I wouldn’t mention that we caught you. Let him believe you’re still spying on her.”

  The kid still seemed worried.

  “Don’t worry, Sammy. If Ian says you’ll be ok, then you will be.”

  I headed back to the house while Ian talked to the kid for a little longer. When he came inside, I pounced. “See, it’s a good thing I haven’t been using a lot of magic or that ass John would know about me.”

  “I already have a plan for that. Obviously, this isn’t a good place for you to work on your magic, so I’ve made other arrangements; somewhere you might feel a little safer letting your magic out.”

  “Where?” I asked suspiciously.

  “Kellan’s house.”

  “Through the portal? I don’t think that’s a good idea. Won’t people get suspicious if we aren’t here?”

  “We’ll be here every day. We’ll only go there first thing in the morning to practice your magic. Then we’ll come back to practice everything else.”

  “People are still going to get suspicious of me going through the portal every day.”

  “Not many of the magi here know about that portal. And besides, we have an excuse. We’re going to be running through the woods every morning to get your stamina up. People won’t even know you’re going through the portal. They’ll think you’re running in the woods.”

  “I hope you’re joking. That better be what we’re telling people, not what we’re actually doing.”

  “We’ll be jogging to Kellan’s every day. You really do need to get your stamina up.”

  “I’m going to hate you by the end of this training.”

  He walked over to me and pulled my body close to his. “No, you won’t,” he whispered. “Once training is over, you and I will be joined as mates.”

  “I told you, I don’t believe in mates,” I said, pushing him away.

  “Yes, but I do, and I’m not going to let you leave me.”

  “You don’t have a choice. If I decide I want to be with you, and that’s a big if right now, it will be because of my wants, not fate.”

  Ian shook his head and turned away from me. I could tell it hurt him when I told him we weren’t mates, but I wouldn’t let fate dictate my life. I hated him being upset with me, so I walked over and laid my hand on his arm.

  “You don’t understand,” he said before I could speak. “It’s not about fate dictating your life. It’s a good thing. A chance at everlasting happiness.”

  “I don’t understand what you mean when you say mate. To me, it sounds like your life has been decided for you, and I don’t agree with that.”

  “Nothing has been decided for you. Every person has a mate, or soul mate as the nary’s call it. It’s the other half of your soul. You can live without it perfectly fine and even fall in love and be happy, but you’re never one hundred percent whole. There’s always a small part of you that feels like something is missing. Most people put it down to needing to do something more, or depression, or even their lifestyle, but it’s really that they haven’t found their mate.”

  Ian leaned down and gave me a light kiss on the cheek before continuing. “When mates find their other half, their hearts and bodies call out for each other. They feel each other’s pain, and they accept their flaws. For mates, being together is the ultimate happiness. When they’re apart, they miss each other deeply, even for short periods of time. Finding a mate is what each person in my clan strives to do. Very few are given the opportunity though. It’s the most sacred bond my people have.”

  “Your people?”

  “Yes. Not all magical beings feel the same. Especially the magica. They believe as you do; that there are no such thing as mates. To my people, it’s a sad thing to see. Too many people are together for the wrong reasons. You’re supposed to be with another person to bring joy to their life, not the other way around. Mates always try to please each other. They constantly try to make their relationship the best it can be. Mates have few arguments, and only once has a mated pair divorced. Even though I am a guardian, I follow the beliefs of my people. The shifters.”

  “You’re a shifter? Like a real shifter? You can change into an animal? I thought you were a guardian.”

  “I am a guardian, and yes, I can shift into an animal.”

  “What animal? Wait, let me guess. You’re a wolf. Or maybe a tiger. It would have to be something big and stealthy with the way you move around.” I didn’t know a lot about shifters, only what I had read in one of the books Kellan brought m
e.

  “I can change into anything I want,” Ian said, laughing.

  “Anything? I thought shifters could only change into one form?”

  “Some of them can only change into one form. Others change into many forms. There are a lot of different clans of shifters, some more dangerous than others.”

  I should have realized he was a shifter sooner. The way he was able to scent something, and sometimes his eyes almost looked like they were glowing at night. He must be able to see really well in the dark. I had a ton of questions for him, but I didn’t get the chance to ask.

  “Let’s talk about this later,” he said, leading the way inside. Every time I tried to ask about his clan throughout the evening, he would sidestep the question. Finally, I let it drop.

  The next morning he was up even earlier than usual. He forced me out of bed, and we started our jog. I tried to keep pace with him and was congratulating myself on how well I was doing when he sped up.

  I glanced at him. He wasn’t even sweating. We were only halfway there, and I was ready to keel over. When he stopped for a break, I could hear my own breathing. It sounded unnaturally loud in the silence of the woods.

  “I think I hate you a little right now. How are you not even breathing hard?”

  “I’m a guardian. We have to be ready for anything, so I work out a lot.”

  I glared at him as he started forward again at a leisurely pace. When we reached the portal, Ian looked around and quickly pushed me through. I was beginning to get used to the feeling of the portal, but the loving caress it gave me on my cheek still freaked me out a little. Instead of stumbling out of the portal, I managed to keep my feet and stay balanced. It was a massive improvement over the last two times.

  I followed Ian, forgetting how to get to Kellan’s house until we turned onto the path to his home. When we got there, Kellan was waiting.

  “Hello, Serena. I hope you’ll feel more comfortable practicing your magic here. I’ve made sure that no one will be able to watch you, and I have the best protection spells up so you won’t actually damage anything. The best way to use your power is to let it out and see where it takes you.”

  “Probably to death’s doorstep,” I muttered.

  “What was that?” Kellan asked.

  “Nothing,” I said quickly, my face flaming at getting caught complaining. “I don’t want to hurt anything or anyone.”

  “No worries, everything is safe here. I’ll let you two get to it. I’m heading back to the compound. Let me know how practice goes. And Ian, I took care of the problem with Sammy.”

  “Thanks,” Ian said, inclining his head to Kellan. Kellan left, and Ian turned to face me.

  “It’s time to let your power out. You heard him. Everything is protected.”

  “What about you?”

  “I’ll be fine. I’ll be standing behind you with my own protection, so I’m not in your way. Now close your eyes and do it so I can figure out what type of magi you are.”

  I closed my eyes and started to let a little magic in but slammed the gate shut in my head right away, scared. I took a deep breath and tried again. After a few more attempts I still hadn’t managed it. Ian tried to tell me it was ok, but I ignored him. I had to get past my fear.

  I tried again, but this time I forced myself to keep the gate open for a second longer. It wasn’t a lot, but my body felt overfull with magic. Any longer and I would have pulled too much. I shuddered. Magic was dangerous.

  I opened my eyes and looked at Ian. “What do I do with it?”

  “You need to work a spell with it. You understood the basic spells quickly. Larger spells are similar, but they have more depth to them.” He lifted his hands and moved them in a swishing motion. About twenty feet in front of me a training dummy appeared. “Try to destroy it. Pretend it’s a demon attacking you. What would you do?”

  “I have no idea.”

  “Try something simple, like choking the dummy. See it in your mind and then let your magic out.”

  “Do I need to do something with my hands like you did?”

  “It’s up to you. Some magi’s feel it helps their focus if they use their hands. You can try both ways to see which is better. Sometimes I use my hands, and sometimes I don’t, depending on the spell.”

  I looked at the dummy and imagined he was one of the demons from my dreams. I saw myself squeezing his neck in my mind, and I put my hands up and pushed them toward the dummy. I felt the magic shoot out of my hands and wrap around the dummy’s neck. I could even see finger impressions. I watched as the magic continued to squeeze the dummy’s neck, almost breaking the material holding it together.

  “You can stop now,” Ian told me.

  I tried to cut the flow of magic, but I couldn’t. The magic wanted to escape. I heard a noise and looked at the dummy. The head was being ripped off the body slowly. I watched, horrified, as the head was completely torn away.

  The magic inside me was still attacking the dummy. Without a thought from me, it started to pummel the dummy’s body tearing large chunks from it. If this had been a person, they would be dead. It was awful, and I didn’t like that it was coming from me.

  I tried to stop the magic again, but it fought me. Finally, I threw my hand toward the ground and released all the magic. Thankfully, Ian knew what I was going to do and threw a spell over us to keep the backlash of my magic from hurting us.

  It sounded like a bomb went off, and the ground quaked underneath us. When the dust and debris finally settled, I looked down into the giant hole I made. It easily went ten feet into the ground. My body started to shake.

  “Was it like this when you started using magic?” I asked him, slightly panicked over what I had done.

  “No. Since you’re able to use wild magic it’s completely different. I think yours is destructive because you’re scared to use it. You’re not embracing it fully, so it’s fighting you.”

  “I don’t know if I can embrace it.”

  “Remember, we’re in a protected place. Let’s try one more time.”

  I nodded and closed my eyes. My body was tired, but I knew as soon as I let a little magic in, I would be fine again. I took deep breaths to steady myself and calm down before I tried again. I opened the gate to the magic and let it in. I kept it open even longer. My body felt like it would burst, but I let more in, trying to accept the magic.

  Pain shot through my body, and I tried to cut off the magic, but couldn’t. My body felt like it was being stabbed everywhere at once. I slowly lifted my hand to my nose and saw blood. I could feel something dribbling out of my ears too. It was too much, and my mind started to drift away.

  I knew I was supposed to be doing something, but I couldn’t remember what. I thought I heard a soft voice talking to me. I tried to ask who was there, but my mouth wouldn’t move. The voice moved closer. My vision started to go black around the edges. I was close to passing out, but I needed to hear the voice. I held on to consciousness longer.

  “Accept your magic. Let it flow freely through you, and it won’t hurt. You’ll die if you don’t.” I could feel love coming from the voice. It sounded like a woman.

  “How?” I tried to say. The voice heard me even though I couldn’t talk.

  “Feel it pulsing along with your heartbeat. Let it fill every part of you. Don’t be scared of it. Embrace it like a lost friend. Wild magic is much stronger than other magic. They won’t know how to help you. Wild magic needs to be free, but it will do whatever you want if you’re strong enough and you respect it. I know you’re strong enough.”

  “Who are you?” I thought.

  “Someone who can help. Once you’re strong enough, you’ll be able to find me. Don’t give up. You must get stronger,” the voice said as my body finally gave out.

  I woke up in a dark room, but I felt a familiar presence near me. Ian was here.

  “Serena, thank god you’re awake. You’ve been sleeping for two days.”

  “What? How?”

&n
bsp; “You couldn’t shut off your magic, so your body overloaded. I’m sorry I pushed you to use so much magic. It was way too risky.”

  “No, you did the right thing. I heard someone before I passed out. She told me I need to accept my magic. She tried to explain it to me. I need to practice it more.”

  “I don’t think that’s a good idea,” Ian told me. “I could have lost you.”

  “You didn’t. I know I need to use my magic. All of it at once. It’s the only way for me to connect with it. I can’t be scared of it.”

  Ian tried to argue, but I held up my hand to stop him. “I have to do this.”

  He shook his head but didn’t say anything else. He knew I was right. Over the next few days, my strength returned. Beth even came to visit, and I enjoyed listening to her talk about her time with Micah. They were getting along well when he was around, which wasn’t much since he was looking for the demon. Beth didn’t stay long. She wanted me to rest.

  As soon as I was strong enough, I insisted that I return to my training. I trained at Ian’s house for another week before he finally relented, and we went to Kellan’s to practice magic.

  I still wasn’t sure how to connect to my magic, but I knew what I needed to do to try. I closed my eyes and let the wild magic fill me. I didn’t try to stop it, and I tried not to be scared of it. It still hurt. I had so much magic coursing through my veins, but I didn’t shut the gate. I could feel my consciousness starting to shut down, but I held on, waiting to hear the voice that would tell me what to do.

  It came just as softly as before. “You need to let go,” the voice said. “You’re still scared of what will happen to you. Feel me next to you. I’m here. As long as you do what I say, no harm will come to you. Now breath. Feel the love I’m sending you. Feel the harmony in the magic inside you. Think of the wonders magic can do.”

  I listened to the voice and tried to relax. I started to feel a shift in the magic. It didn’t feel quite as painful. There was a gentleness to it. I opened myself up further, letting even more magic in.

  “You’re almost there,” the voice whispered.

  I could hear the love and pride in the voice, and I wondered again who was helping me. The voice sent another wave of love over me, and I let the rest of my defenses down. As soon as I did, the magic stopped hurting. My head cleared, and I could feel the presence of many people with me. I looked around, but only Ian stood near me, and I didn’t think it was his presence I felt.