Everlasting (Night Watchmen, #1) (15 page)

“Why?” I ask, just out of curiosity.

Jezi snickers to herself, and Cassie looks over at her, smiling about some secret they know that I don’t.

“Oh, you’ll see,” she says. The way she says it makes me feel uneasy, like I’m about to walk into a pit of vipers or something. Thinking of the company I’m in and what I’ve been through, I wouldn’t put it past them.

We reach the Witches Quarters
, and like every other building, it blends with the gothic, historic theme on the outside. The only difference is the large greenhouse off to the side of the building. There’s a mist that suspends in the air throughout the crystal glass. It comes from somewhere above, spraying and feeding the herbs and flowers. Cassie pushes open the large double doors, and, all at once, I’m struck with scents, feelings, and wonder.

“Welcome home, starlet” Cassie says with a smirk. “Time to put on a show.”

This building is nothing like the others. There’s no order. Objects float down the hallway. The crisp, sharp earthy scent of magic drifts all around us, awakening a need to tap into it. Music and laughter float through the air, lifting my spirits. If this is what a pit of vipers is like, then I’d hate to see what Cassie thought a butterfly garden would be like.

We pass by different rooms, all with classes in session. I clutch the mop handle against my chest like it’s a shield, and dip my head down. From the corner of my eye, I see labels on windows I pass by that read Herbology, The Elements, Invoke versus Evoke, Channeling, Spell Writing, Elemental Evocation, Healing, and I think somewhere in between all the classrooms we’ve passed and all the heads that have turned in my direction, I left my ability to process and digest information.

I feel eyes on me, all over me. Questions of my appearance in this wing replace the molecules in the air. Whispering voices form a blockade around my poise. Opinions weave shades of gloom into my expression.

I can hear almost every negative thought because, like every other Witch here, I now have that ability.

“Head’s up, Faye,” Cassie murmurs under her breath. “They can hear you too. Witches in their natural state are uncanny in their ability to not only project thoughts, but to hear them as well. How’s that for a pit of vipers?” She spares me a loaded grin.

I squeeze the wooden handle of the mop so hard it cracks in half. The gunshot sound pierces the air and fills the hallway. I close my eyes.
They aren’t looking at you. You’re fine. Just breathe.

I can’t stop from wondering what requires the need for them to be in my head. I can’t keep myself from wondering if Katie knows I’m here. I can’t keep my thoughts from coming back around to Jaxen and what the girls said about him in the locker room, and about how egotistical he is.

Right now, I have no business thinking at all.

Jezi snorts and, unfortunately, I know it’s because of my behavior. She does nothing to shield her negative thoughts about me.

“Geez, Faye, it’s not like you were really going to clean.” Cassie takes the broken pieces of the mop from me and tosses them to the side. “I guess you aren’t such a starlet. Damaging set props won’t please the director.” Mack’s face flashes behind my eyes.

Cassie guides us up a flight of stairs, and then down another, quieter hallway. “This floor is strictly for training the mind. While Hunters train their bodies and minds to feel no pain, we train our bodies and minds to feel every inch of every emotion. It’s what we draw upon and it’s where our magical energy is sustained.”

“And according to Mack, I’m supposed to use both,” I say more to myself than to anyone else.

We pass a door that says Aura Reading and stop in front of a door that says
Hypno-Linking. Cassie turns the knob, and Jezi walks through. I stop in the doorway, scoping out every inch of the room. There are two rows of four cozy beige lounge chairs. Small potted trees sit in the corners, breathing life into the air. Next to each chair is a small medical table with two needles and a vial filled with dark liquid.

Trepidation impresses on my extremities. The room spins a little. I close my eyes, but still see the needle. I see it entering my skin. I feel the inevitable prick. I watch my blood swell up out of the tiny hole. My stomach rolls and tosses like a stormy sea.

“Sit there,” Cassie says, pointing to the chair in front of me. She must notice the pale look on my face because she stops what she’s doing and eyes me over like a doctor would.

I fill my lungs with a breath of determination and do as she says. I know Jezi’s eyes are on me like a hawk, waiting for me to slip up, waiting for an excuse to insult me. I can’t give her one. I cross the room, taking small, careful steps, and sit in the chair Cassie stands by. My body sinks into the cushions.

“We’re going to connect minds, and then I’ll be able to show you the core of being a Witch. Each Witch must find an inner balance, a safe place to meditate. Since we run off of emotions, we can get kind of …” Her hands sway through the air, reaching for the right words.

“Crazy,” Jezi answers for her as she drops into the chair next to me. She tosses me a spiteful grin.

“I was thinking more along the lines of passionately driven,” Cassie says with a smirk. She rolls the sleeves of her jacket up a little past her elbow. Her affinity mark is a jagged crescent moon.

Jezi picks a needle up and grabs a vial. She fills the syringe, and then sticks the needle in the crook of her elbow where her link with Jaxen resides. I get a brief look at it, but almost gag as the needle pushes through her flesh. I have to look away. It’s one thing stabbing a Vampire, but watching someone stick a needle in themselves is entirely different.

“What is that?” I ask, my voice faltering. My mouth is dry. My palms are sweating. My heart kicks off beat, stuttering in fear.

“It’s a serum that helps induce us into a relaxed state of mind,” Jezi says, her eyes already growing heavy. “Once we fully relax, we can reach out to
each other’s auras and blend with them, allowing us to connect mentally. I’ll be able to interact with you on an alternate plane.”

“You’ll basically be sort of tripping,” Cassie says, picking the needle up next to me.

“What’s the serum?” I try to avoid looking at the needle, but I can’t keep my eyes away. I can’t keep my stomach from twisting. I can’t keep my hands from gripping the armrests.

“It’s made from the Belladonna plant.” She turns the vial upside down and flicks it, then plunges the needle into it, drawing out a small dose. She never blinks.

“Belladonna?” I nearly choke out. I look over to Jezi, who’s head is already slumped over to the side, her mouth hanging slightly open. I jump out of my chair, reaching for her arm to check for a pulse. “That’s a poisonous plant, Cassie. One of the most deadly!” Her pulse beats so slow I can barely feel it.

Cassie snickers. “Sit down, hero. She’ll be fine. As a Primeval, we have a high tolerance to poisons. Didn’t your parents tell you that?”

I don’t answer.

She waits for a moment, and then quickly says, “Well, we do. We have a high tolerance for a lot of things. The amount inside this serum is just enough to make you trip, not die.” She shoves me back down into the chair. I try to push back up, but her blue eyes flash with power. Invisible restraints form around my body, holding me in place. I can’t even move my lips. I can’t even blink.

“This will go a lot smoother for you if you just relax,” she says soothingly. “Fighting the serum will only hinder your trip and make your journey through your inner balance that much shorter. Then you’ll have to do this all over again, so I suggest you trust me and relax that deer-in-the-headlights look.”

I can feel my heart racing and my mind screaming with the need to keep her from putting that needle in my arm, but even though there’s power in me, I have no idea how to tap into it. I try to remember what Jaxen said. Inner strength. Shut it off.
This isn’t so bad. I’ll be fine.
I try to think freeing thoughts. Anything that will help me cut the pain, but, before I know it, the needle pierces my skin and the heaviness of sleep wraps around my mind and weighs me down.

Still bound by her magic, I watch her walk to the chair beside me before she disappears out of my line of vision. I can tell the moment she injects herself, because the ma
gic holding me releases, but I’m too far gone to move or yell for help. Even if I could, I wouldn’t anyhow. It would only prove me weak and unfit.

My eyes drift shut and my mind sinks further and further away, until I feel the tendrils of their minds reaching out for mine. I’m a floating light, drifting through a land of fog. In front of me, there are two other floating beacons, and I know it’s them. I can sense it. They seek me out, and connect to me like an antenna picking up on a signal.

Shimmering colors brush the outskirts of my mind, followed by a sense of peace. I find myself standing in a misty forest surrounded by never-ending Redwood trees. The ground is mossy and covered in bright green ferns that curl into pretty spirals with drops of dew sliding down the spines. The enchanting sounds of water and birds and branches swaying in a breeze dance around me.

Across from me, Cassie stands wearing nothing but a white satin gown that forms and flows around her every curve. Her strawberry hair is pinned up on top of her head with short spirals falling out around her face. Her deep red lips are crooked up into a smile, lifting her rosy cheeks.

Jezi stands off to the side, wearing a black lacy dress that forms around her top half and billows down around her legs. A train spreads out along the forest floor behind her, dragging along with her steps. Her lips are crimson and bring out the sparkle in her hazel eyes. An overflow of chocolate hair spills down her back and fans around her face, framing her olive-skinned features.

I glance down at myself. I’m wearing a tea-length pink lace gown with a black satin ribbon tied around my waist and forming a bow in the back. My platinum hair cascades down around my face in wide ringlets dyed pink on the ends. My feet are planted inside of black and white Converse, the laces the same pink as my hair.

“This is your inner balance,” Cassie says, her hands out in display. “And I have to say…” she spins once, taking in the majestic forest and all its sounds and scents, “it’s pretty relaxing. And a good taste in clothing.” She checks herself out and twirls in her gown, her smile lifting up to the heavens.

“What does yours look like?” I ask, running my hands down length of my gown. “Your inner balance, I mean.”

“Not as nice as this place.” Her smile cracks in half. I want to ask why, but she appears right in front of me and takes my hand. A second later, we’re perched on a rock, gazing at a waterfall that tumbles down over the jagged cliff side of the forest. Jezi appears next to us, standing with one foot perched high on a rock.

Cassie lets my hand go and takes in a deep breath. “Do you feel calm?” Her eyes are closed, her face tilted up to the warm sun.

“Yes,” I say, finding myself smiling without reason.

“Good. That’s what a Witch must retain in order to be at their strongest. When you pull on more power than you can handle, and your mind is spinning on the crazy side, this place will cleanse you.”

Leeriness sets in, adding weight to my smile. “Do I have to take Belladonna every time?”

“In the beginning, yes. Every novice is given a small amount to keep, further into their studies, but it must be taken in extreme moderation and only when necessary. Eventually, you’ll learn to relax your mind on your own and find your own path to your inner self.”

“But you both aren’t novices.”

“No, but Belladonna puts you in a very deep frame of mind. In order for us to find you, we needed to take it too,” she says.”

“So is that what you brought me here for?” I ask, enjoying the gusty breeze that careens through the trees.

Her eyebrows lift. “Actually, no. I brought you here to find what you specialize in. As you may already know, every Witch has a specific talent. Some can read auras and futures very well, while others can pull on a certain element or write spells. Each one of us learns to use all forms of magic, but there’s always one ability we are strongest at. Knowing that will help you along in your studies.”

A train of anguish collides into my heart. My mother specializes in Herbology and Clairvoyance. Memories of her smile, the way she always had a remedy or a hug to make me feel better, of the potted plants my head always bumped into, crash through my mind. Piece by painful piece, my heart shreds, leaving an irreparable mess inside my ribcage.

“What do you two specialize in?” I ask, my voice breaking. I cough to clear my throat and look between them, wishing for any form of distraction. Jezi has her arms
folded and her chin pushed into the air. There has to be a way for me to show her I’m not a bad person. I’m not a threat. Her eyes flick over to mine at the thought, and for a moment, I see a glimmer of conflict, of regret and remorse, of pain and betrayal.

“I specialize in channeling all of the elements,” Cassie says, holding her palm out. Fire dances within it and within her eyes. Then she blinks, and her eyes fill with liquid and water splashes out of thin air, putting the fire out. She purses her lips together and blows, the air from her lips turning the water into ice. Her eyes are a bright blue now. Then she crushes her palm closed, her eyes turning greenish-blue, and opens it. The ice is gone and in its place is dirt.