For the rest of the day, I didn't know what to do. I walked around the house, then went back to my books. Failing to find anything useful, I got up and walked around again. I felt so powerless. This was so much worse than when I had to stay away from Cassie, at least then I knew that she was alright. Now I didn't know anything,
I turned into my crow form and flew around for a while, it usually helped to calm me down and to sort out my thoughts and feelings. Should I go and see Freya? Would she know where Cassie could be? No, she told me that she couldn't help. Should I tell Nick what was going on? I decided against it. I told myself that it was because I didn't want to waste time, but in reality I didn't want to admit to Nick that I had failed. Besides, it was my mess to clear up.
I flew around until the sun came up before I headed back home. I knew I n
"Dammit Jax, Wake up. Don't do this to me." I opened my eyes. It took me a while to realise where I was. I was no longer in a sitting position but lying down on the floor with Leah sitting on top of me. What was going on? "Thank god, you're awake." Leah looked at me, relief written all over her face. "Your heart stopped. What happened? Did you talk to Cassie?" I collected myself and explained everything that had happened. Leah listened attentively, but when I got to the end, she seemed disappointed. Leah let out a sigh. "So we still don't know where she is?" I shrugged and gazed into her eyes. "At least we know she is alive." Both of us were quiet for a while. I guess we wer
Leah came around the house the next day. I was excited and eager to share my plan, so before she even had a chance to say anything but good morning, I started talking. "I think I know how we can get to Cassie." "Really, how?" Leah sounded hopeful but at the same time she looked a bit sceptical. I walked into the living room and gestured for her to follow me. I approached the table, where I had left all the books that I had picked out the day before, and started showing her different pages from different books. "Maybe you can try to send me to Cassie, almost like a reverse summoning spell." Leah glanced at all the books and notes with raised eyebrows. "None of these spells seems to show you how to do that. And there is nothing in
I was back in the fields again, like in my dreams, but I somehow knew that this was the past. It was like I was back in my past body watching through the eyes of a younger me. I worked for a farmer, Edmond. Freya had sent me there to get acquainted with the human world. His wife had died a few years ago and his children had moved away, so it was mutually beneficial. He knew what I was, but treated me like a son. I had been warned about using my abilities and discouraged from going into the village, as it was full of witches that didn’t take well to outsiders. There was also the chance someone would be able to discover what I was. While I was on my way to pick up a horse from a field, I ran into the most beautiful woman I had ever met. She looked like Cassie, but slightly different. She had the same piercing blue eyes, but her hair was blond. She looked up at me with watery eyes and apologised for trespass
The next day, even though I knew that I wouldn't see Katie, I went to the place where we used to meet up. Memories of me and Katie flooded my mind and made me miss her all the more. I blinked away some tears. Would I ever see her again? My eyes fell on the spot where I proposed to her, a letter had been placed underneath a stone. I bent down and picked it up. It looked a bit battered, but it was still readable. The letter was addressed to me. I opened the envelope to read it, and my heart stopped. The letter was from Katie, she was writing to tell me that she was expecting and that I was the father. All common sense left me and I made my way to the village. I needed to see Katie. I didn't care who I would have to fight to get to her. I knew that her mother was the high priestess and that they lived in the middle of the village, so that was where I was heading.
There were a lot of discussions about rules I would have to follow, but I didn't pay too much attention. I was too caught up with the fact that Katie's parents had actually agreed for me and Katie to marry each other My thoughts got interrupted as I heard them mention that they wouldn't want me living in the village. "The farmer that I live with outside the village would happily accommodate both me and Katie." I told them, even though I hadn't actually asked him, but I knew he wouldn't mind. "There is no way that the priestess in training will live anywhere else but in the temple. We have a reputation to uphold." Elise said sternly. "I don't mind moving into the temple." "We cannot have a demon living in the temple, it w
Several weeks went by. I loved having Katie as my wife. As the birth of our daughter grew closer, I became more reluctant to leave Katie's side. One day while helping Edmond repair a broken fence. My mind was preoccupied and I accidentally used too much force hammering the wood panel. It broke into several pieces. Edmond made his way over to me and picked up the broken pieces scattered on the ground. “What troubles you? You haven't been acting like yourself lately?” I scanned the area and conjured up a new wood panel before meeting his gaze. “It’s just… I’m worried about Katie and our baby. I keep feeling like something bad is going to happen and that I will lose them.” Edmond gave me a reassuring smile. “It’s completely natural to be scared.” He handed me a nail and
Two days later, the ceremony for Katie's passing was underway. Because it had to be held in the temple, I wasn't sure if I would be allowed to attend. I had begged Katie’s parents to make an exception, to allow me to say a proper goodbye. They reluctantly agreed to discuss this with the elders. On the morning of the ceremony, I paced around the healing ward with Leala Fey in my arms, awaiting the verdict. After what felt like ages, Elise, Katie's mother, walked up to me. I bowed my head to show her respect. “It has been decided. You will be allowed to attend the temple this one time.” “Thank you,” I said with a smile. Elise stared at me with a pinched expression. “It’s what Katie would have wanted.” She turned and started walking away.
My consciousness slammed back into my body. It took some time for me to realise that I was back with Cassie by my side. "I had a baby." I whispered quietly, mostly to myself. "A beautiful baby girl." Cassie turned to look at me. "It was you, it was always you, in my dreams. I wasn't sure, but it was actually you. It actually happened." What was she talking about? Then a light went off in my head. Cassie is Katie. Somehow she must have experienced the memories of us too. I gave her a hug. "I found you." I wasn't sure whether I was referring to the fact that I had finally located Cassie or that I had finally found the missing part of my soul, either way I was happy. Holding on to Cassie, I looked around the area, trying to figure out where we were. Everything was dark.
Abigail let out a laugh and I turned towards her, weapon ready. Anger pulsed through my veins. She had tried to kill the people that she had spent the last ten years looking after. Kids she was supposed to care about. Cold spots appeared on my skin, turning the area to become black. My body was transforming into my demon form. I fought against it. If the demon inside won, instinct would take over. I gritted my teeth, willing myself to stay human. Losing control wasn’t an option. “I’m not going to let you get away with this?” Abigail rolled her eyes. “With what?” I glared at her in silence. Part of me, the demon, wanted to rip her into pieces for what she’s done, but my logical part knew we needed her if we were to figure out a way to get Mark and Sky’s magic back. Sh
I woke up a few hours later from Cassie tossing and turning. It looked like she was having a nightmare. I gently shook her awake. It took her a second to come to, when she did, she looked at me with worried eyes. "Leah's very scared, she's in a dark room and her magic does not seem to work. I told her that we would come rescue her soon." “And we will,” I said as I gave her a reassuring hug. After we had got out of bed and I had sorted myself out, the sun was setting. It was time to get everyone gathered and go over the almost non-existing plan one more time. There was an empty feeling in the pit of my stomach. Would we be able to get to Leah and rescue her? I really hoped so. I teleported myself and Cassie to the cabin where Mark, Seth and Sky had been staying. We went over the plan one last time. The wolves woul
I walked over to Cassie and gave her a kiss on the forehead. She stirred and opened her eyes to meet my gaze. "What did Freya say? Does she know where Leah is? Cassie asked, chewing her lip. "She said that she was in between." Her hand went to the necklace. "But how will we find her?" "Freya said to follow our hearts and use our connection to Leah." Cassie frowned at me. "That doesn't really make sense." "But you are related." Sky let out a yawn from the other side of the sofa. We must have woken her up. I looked over at Sky with a raised eyebrow. Did Sky know something I didn’t? "Does that make a difference?”
When I arrived at the cabin, several wolves were there. They stopped howling when they saw me. I turned to the shifter closest to me. “What’s going on?” “Something’s wrong. Mark and Seth are here...” As he spoke Mark walked out from the cabin with the Alpha. Mark approached me with a stooped posture. His eyebrows were drawn together, his lips curled and his face pale. My stomach turned into knots and I took a deep breath to steady my racing heart. “What’s wrong?” I shook my head internally. If anything had happened to Leah, it would be on me. I let her go back against my better judgement. Mark swallowed and met my gaze, his eyes haunted. “Leah’s gone. I got home and she wasn’t in the house. When I asked Abigail about it,
I woke up to the smell of food sometime in the late afternoon. After I walked downstairs, I found Cassie and Sky cooking dinner. I stood at a distance and watched them for a while. It looked like Cassie was teaching Sky how to make pancakes. After we had eaten, Sky asked for a scrying bowl. "I thought you didn't have any magic?" She gave me a sad smile. "I don't, but I promised Leaf I would let her know that we had arrived safely." I gave her an understanding look. “I’m sorry I wont be able to help you. I don’t have the ability to scry.” Cassie perked up. “But I do.” she pressed her lips together, a slight blush on her cheeks. “It’s very new, so I don't know if I will be able to get it to work, but I'm willing to give it a go."
When we got to the house, I left Leah with Sky to go and check on Cassie. I was excited to tell her what we had discovered. As I made my way over to the cabin the sky had started to brighten, given way for a new dawn. I expected Cassie to be asleep, but when I walked inside the cabin, I saw that she was playing cards with some of the wolves. I approached her and gave her a kiss. "How did it go? Where's Leah?" Cassie asked, biting her lip. "She's fine, she's in the house with Sky." Cassie bit her lip. "Who's Sky?" I squeezed her shoulder. "It's a long story, I will tell you on the way back." She nodded and stood up from the chair. I thanked the wolves for keeping Cassie safe, before taking her hand. While we made our way
The middle-aged woman stopped in front of us. "Welcome to the house of the hidden, I'm Leaf." There was a moment of silence as she studied us before she waved her hand, removing the concealing spell that had been placed over the house. Several teenagers appeared in the room. A few cast us a curious look as they walked out of the room to leave us alone with Leaf. "Why are you hiding out here, instead of being in the village?" I asked. "Isn't that the question," Leaf said, giving me a sad smile. “However the more urgent question would be why are you here? You are clearly not from the village yourself.” A feeling that she knew who we were entered my mind. I looked her over, something about her felt familiar and my gut insti
Leah turned up a few hours later. She told us Mark and Seth were going to stay at home and hopefully that would keep Abigail from becoming suspicious. It meant that the wolves would have to look over Cassie without Mark, however he had already told them to meet us at the cabin. I left Leah in the house while I teleported Cassie to the cabin. It didn't have any electricity, so I lit up a few candles and waited for the wolves to turn up. I didn't have to wait long. After I had made sure that they were happy to watch over Cassie, I teleported back to Leah. "Are you ready for this?" I asked as I grabbed her hand. "As ready as can be" she said before I teleported us to the city and the Whitelock industry building. When we arrived in the alleyway, the streets were almost e
I enjoyed my flight, knowing that Cassie was safe in my house with Leah protecting her. It made me feel less worried, especially after the defensive display of magic that Leah had manifested by instinct when we were sparring. I knew she still felt bad about it, but in all honesty, it was nothing. If I had been prepared for it, I would have been able to deflect it. My fighting skills went way beyond some elemental magic. There had been a war in the supernatural community. Freya had tried to solve it in a peaceful way for many centuries. She was a strong believer that everyone, no matter their origin, should be able to co-exist and live peacefully amongst each other, and amongst humans if we so wished. Being raised by Freya had its advantages and I had seen first-hand the beauty of different species living together in harmony. Freya's place, or more correctly,