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Chapter 182
Rave lowered Leesa gently to the ground in front of a gray, one-story wooden house. After racing through the night in Rave’s arms, the cool, still air felt strange on her cheeks. With little ambient light from the volkaane settlement, the sky above was a black curtain pierced by what seemed to be thousands of stars. A three-quarter moon painted a soft glow on the world around her.
She sighed. As always, it took her a moment to get over the disappointment of no longer being cradled in Rave’s arms. She took his hand in hers, to maintain the contact a bit longer.
“So, this is where you live,” she said, taking in the house with a slow sweep of her eyes.
The design was simple—a plain, flat front with a door in the middle and two square windows on either side of the door. Even in the moonlight, Leesa could see that the horizontal wood planks were old and weathered, but in good repair. An A-frame roof fashioned of dark wooden shingles was
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Leesa's Advent Chapter 183
Balin’s cabin was just a short way back up the narrow roadway from Rave’s house. Holding hands, Leesa and Rave strolled unhurriedly through the beautiful night. It looked to Leesa as if there were even more stars twinkling in the sky than before. With her eyes fastened on the jeweled canopy above, she tripped on a ridge in the rutted road and would have fallen had not been for Rave’s strong grip on her hand.“Sorry,” she said when she regained her balance.“Don’t worry,” Rave replied, turning to her and smiling. “Lately, I find myself distracted by beauty all the time.”Leesa felt herself blushing. She hoped Rave wouldn’t see it in the darkness, but with those darn volkaane eyes of his, she was pretty sure he could.“Maybe so,” she said, “but you don’t stumble like some clumsy oaf because of it.”Rave draped his hands over Leesa’s shoulders and sta
Leesa's Advent Chapter 184
“Let’s sit down and you can tell me everything that’s happened,” Balin suggested. He had met Dominic once and knew about Leesa’s nascent magic and about the existence of the black waziri, but he had no idea what had occurred during the last few days. “Does anyone want a drink before we begin? Some mead, perhaps? Telling tales can be thirsty work.”With everything that had happened today, Leesa was definitely tempted by Balin’s offer. His homemade mead was even more delicious than his stew, but it was also very strong, especially for someone who rarely drank. She decided she had better pass.“No, thank you,” she said. “I think I should keep a clear head. I’ll just have water. Rave, you go ahead if you want.”Rave nodded to Balin, who quickly filled two big pewter mugs with golden liquid from a big glass jar. He filled a third mug with water for Leesa.They all sat down on chairs
Leesa's Advent Chapter 185
“Catch,” she said as the stick did exactly what she wanted.Rave reached out and caught it. “Now you’re just showing off,” he said, smiling as he examined the stick.“Yeah, a little,” Leesa replied with a smile of her own. “But I do have plans for that, so it’s not totally showing off. And the more magic I use, the better I’ll get, so why bend down when I can do it with magic?”“Just don’t get too carried away with yourself, or you are apt to be disappointed when you’re back at Weston and not surrounded by volkaane energy.”Leesa walked closer to Rave. “I know. But I think whatever I do here will carry over at least a little. Success breeds success, as Dominic likes to say.”Feeling very confident, she decided there was no reason to wait until they were inside to try the shield spell.“Wait just a moment, and then try to poke me with t
Leesa's Advent Chapter 186
This was no train, though—not unless someone had built a subway beneath rural Connecticut when she wasn’t looking.“The Noises,” Rave said calmly. “It’s nothing to worry about. They’ve been occurring here since long before I was born.”Leesa remembered Cali and Stacie talking about the Moodus Noises, an unexplained phenomenon that had been happening in this area for centuries. The explanations for the Noises ranged from the practical—small earthquakes whose sound and vibration were magnified by the peculiar geology of the area—to the more fanciful: ancient Indian spirits stirring deep within the earth.She loosened her grip on Rave’s arm. “Sorry,” she said. She hated showing any kind of weakness to Rave. “It startled me.”Rave smiled and laid his hand over Leesa’s. “Never apologize for anything that makes you touch me.”Leesa smiled back and
Leesa's Advent Chapter 187
“Go, then,” Leesa said, sensing the urgency in Dominic’s voice. “Don’t worry about me. I’ll have Rave take me home as soon as we hang up. Please be careful.”“I will. Good-bye for now, Leesa. I don’t know when I’ll be able to check in on you again.”“Good-bye,” Leesa said, but Dominic had already hung up. She turned to Rave. “You heard all that?”Rave nodded. “Yes. I’ll take you home as soon as you gather up your things. Then I need to come back here and tell the Council of Elders what Dominic said. I’m not sure if there’s anything we can do about the powers he mentioned, but we need to discuss it, at least.”Leesa didn’t like hearing that Rave would be leaving as soon as he got her back, but she understood why he had to return home.“Okay,” she said as she began stuffing her clothes into her backpack. She was di
Leesa's Advent Chapter 188
Genevieve lowered her feet from Dara’s lap and sat upright on the couch. “Fair enough.” She turned to Dara. “What do you think, sweetheart? Are you up for a little adventure?” Dara smiled. “Always.” She stood up and crossed to Marcio, linking both her arms around one of his. “Marcio is a very powerful man,” she cooed. “It will be good to have him beholden to us.” Marcio smiled. Of all the vampires in the coven, these were the two he least minded owing a favor. “I will meet you an hour after sunset,” he said. The three vampires glided through the trees, heading south and east from their caverns, dark shadows among the shadows. Marcio was in the lead, guided by the strange force that grew stronger with every mile he covered. Dara and Genevieve followed close behind him, racing side by side, content to go where Marcio led them. Despite their speed, the vampires moved cautiously, making no sound in the darkness. No human eye
Leesa's Advent Chapter 189
The first thing Leesa did after Rave dropped her off at her dorm was head for the showers. She was anxious to see her friends, especially Cali, but that was going to have to wait for a bit. Getting cleaned up—and washing her hair, especially—was a bigger priority.She had learned a lot about volkaanes staying with Rave for the past three days. One of the things she learned was that volkaanes didn’t bathe. They didn’t need to. Their inner fire kept germs and other bacteria at bay, and their heat dissolved things like mud and grease. If they got dirty with something more stubborn, they simply wet a cloth, warmed it with their inner heat, and wiped the spot clean. Their clothes seldom needed washing, either. She thought about Dominic, who owned only one set of clothes, but they were always fresh and clean. She wondered if that particular wizard’s trick was somewhere in her book of magic—while it wouldn’t be of much use for battling evil
Leesa's Advent Chapter 190
Back up in her room, Leesa was both anxious to get started practicing her magic and nervous about how it would go, now that she was away from the magical energy in the volkaane settlement that had seemingly enhanced her abilities. She sat on her bed with Dominic’s book unopened on her lap, unable to decide whether to open the book and see what was next or to jump right into practicing something like the illumination spell. The pros and cons of trying the spell were the same thing—she would know immediately how much being back home was affecting her magic. She was afraid of the disappointment that might bring.Finally, she decided to just bite the bullet and try. Delaying wasn’t going to change anything, so she might as well get started. She pushed the book off her lap onto the bed and held her right hand out in front of her, palm up.“Illuminati verdus,” she said softly but forcefully.The familiar glowing sphere appeared immediatel
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