Forgotten Visions (The Divinities Book 1) (9 page)

“Did Mother…owe you anything? I mean, is there a debt to be paid?”

Willow laughed, shaking her head. “I’m sorry. I thought the question was going to be more offensive the way you looked. If there is any debt to be paid, it is I who owes it.”

That confused Kalissa. She’d never heard of a nymph owing anyone a favor. As if hearing her thoughts, Willow smiled, patted her hand, and explained. “Your mother raised me as her own child. But you know that. Connie found my mom, Rose, and me in these very woods. Rose was ill and dying. She was attacked by a demon that infected her with some kind of deadly poison. I was only a couple of months old at the time. Connie took us in until my mom passed away. Connie vowed to take care of me as if I were her own child.”

Willow paused for a moment.  “I never knew my mother, but Connie made sure that I learned everything about her. She taught me how to use my powers and how to scry so that I could look back on my mother’s life.”

“I never knew. How long ago was that?” Kalissa asked.

Willow thought about it for a few seconds before answering. “I believe I was twenty-five when your mother met and married your father.”

Wow. Kalissa had never known Willow’s age. Her parents would have been married for fifty-two years this year, making Willow seventy-seven.

“Your mother gave me everything. Two beautiful sisters.” She reached over and covered Kalissa’s hand. “And half this mountain to rule as my own.” 

“Kalissa said you were half human?” Ayden asked.

Willow nodded and finished chewing the bite of her omelet before speaking. “My father was human, but he did not want a family, nor did he care that my mother was pregnant.”

“Sorry,” Ayden said softly.

Willow waved it off. “He was human. Most don’t hold the same family values we do.”

“Not all humans are like that,” Kalissa said.

Willow smiled. “No, not all. Your father was human and the most caring and compassionate man I knew. He loved everything about our world, our beliefs, and our way of life. And he told me once that he felt more at home in our world than his own.”

Kalissa looked down at her plate, pushing a piece of ham around with her fork. Gods she missed her dad.  “I know. That’s why he took my mother’s last name.”

Ayden spoke up like he sensed her shift in mood. Of course, his empathy felt the sudden sadness that washed over her, and she was grateful for the distraction. “What’s on the agenda for today?”

She looked up at him, uneasiness making its presences known. “I don’t know. We could explore the mountain.”

Willow tsked, stood, and stacked the dishes together. “Stop worrying, Lis. All five hundred acres are surrounded with wards. What could possibly go wrong?”

Kalissa had suggested
a hike followed by a picnic down by the river, but she really wanted to stay inside the cabin until the others got there. It was unlike her to hide behind closed doors. Something or someone was following her. She felt it. The tiny hairs on the back of her neck rose, and her skin crawled as if an unseen force had brushed against it. The dream-vision didn’t do anything to soothe her nerves. She was a bundle of fear, desire, and distraction. She was a mess.

“Do you sense anything unusual?” she asked Willow as they cleaned up the kitchen.

“How so?”

She shrugged. “I don’t know, like a presence of some kind. I have a feeling that I’m being watched.”

“No. Why, hon? Are you feeling okay?” Willow reached out to place a hand on Kalissa’s forehead.

Kalissa let the nymph feel her head because it was something her mother would do. Something she missed. Her eyes started to fill with tears, but she blinked them away. “I feel fine. I guess I have a lot on my mind right now.”

Willow gave her a gentle, caring smile. “I didn’t sense anything earlier, nor do I now. I’ll be around all the same.”

“Thanks.”

After the kitchen was clean, Willow ran her out with a cup of tea.

Without a distraction, her thoughts turned to Ayden. It was extremely hard to stay away from him. She was drawn to him like a moon to her planet. The kiss they’d shared last night filtered through her mind, instantly warming her from the inside out. Her mouth curled into a smile as she entered her bedroom. The passion he had ignited in her was surreal. It also scared her.

When he touched her, every worry and fear melted away. Another sign of meeting a magical partner. Gods, what was she going to do? She fought the urge to run away. Running would only spotlight her weakness. No, she was stronger than that. She would overcome her phobic behavior and stomp it into the ground if it was the last thing she did.

Then there was her memory. Flashes of her past came back to her little by little, raising fear within her. She waited for the horrible pain that usually followed the flashbacks, but to her relief, it never came.

While in the shower, her second Divine Rose appeared on the inside of her left forearm and triggered the onset of visions. Memories. She staggered back against the wall for support as the images slammed into her and threw her off balance.

Kalissa rushes into the house with her heart pounding against her ribcage. She shuts the front door behind her and presses her back against it. Khloe comes into the living room with a smirk on her face. “You’re in so much trouble. I know where you were. I saw you.”

Kalissa steps forward to grab Khloe’s hands with hers. “Did you say anything to Mom?”

Khloe shakes her head back and forth. Before she can say anything else, their mother comes into the room. “Khloe, go tell your father dinner’s ready.” When Khloe doesn’t move, their mother says, “Now, Khloe.” It isn’t a demanding tone she uses, but it is firm enough that Khloe nods and walks toward the study. Before disappearing inside, she gives Kalissa an apologetic look.

“Where have you been, Kalissa?” 

Kalissa flings her arms behind her back as soon as her mother comes into the room. “At the coven,” she answers.

“Why didn’t you come home with Khloe?”

“I, um…lost track of time,” she says softly. That isn’t a lie. She was with Ayden. Every time they are together, time gets away from her.

“Give me your hands,” her mother says, holding out her own.

She takes a breath to push down the fear forming in her gut. She slowly takes her arms from around back and holds them out to her mother, palms up. Her mother looks down at her hands and up to her forearms. Kalissa is surprised when her mother pulls her into a hug. “You scared me,” her mother says into her hair. At seventeen, Kalissa is only a couple of inches shorter than her mother. “I couldn’t bear it if anything happened to you.”

“I’m sorry, Mama.”

Finished with her shower, Kalissa sat on the edge of the bed, remembering being so relieved that her mother hadn’t been able to see her second rose. Maybe she and Ayden were the only ones who could see them.

Oh, Gods.
They were life partners.

What was she going to do? Leaving him wasn’t an option. Not again. That acknowledgment saddened her. How could he forgive her? What had she done?

With a heavy sigh, she calmed herself and searched for Ayden.

Entering the kitchen, she found him sitting at the table with his laptop on. “You’re not working, are you?” She didn’t even try to take the annoyance out of her voice.

He closed the computer, stood up to wrap an arm around her waist, and kissed her lips softly. She winced at his fast movement but relaxed when he pulled back and met her gaze. His eyes were filled with worry. He opened his mouth and then closed it again, before taking a deep breath and answered her question. “Zach sent me the info on the tag number.” Disappointment flashed across his face. “It belongs to a human. Turns out, it was a drunk driver. Charlotte PD has already taken him into custody.” 

“That’s good, right?” She studied his facial expressions.

“I guess.” He stepped back and took her hand, linking the fingers of one hand with hers and picking up the basket with the other. They headed out.

They went on their hike first before heading to the river for their picnic. A light, warm breeze drifted around them, rustling leaves and swaying tree branches.

The uneasy feeling of being watched returned. Not that it had actually left. Being with Ayden just offered a sense of peace and security.

“Are you okay?” he asked after walking in silence for several minutes.

Kalissa nodded. “Yeah.” She let out a sigh, knowing he sensed her mood. She turned over her arm and linked her fingers with his. He glanced down, squeezed her hand just a little, and then let go. A second later, he stopped and set down the picnic basket Willow had packed for them.

“What… ”

Ayden turned to face her and cupped her face in his hands. “You remember?”

Kalissa relaxed. “I’m starting to.” She held up her left arm with her forearm facing him. “I know this is not the first time this has shown up.”

Ayden leaned in and pressed his lips to hers in a quick kiss. “Are you okay? I mean…the headaches.”

She knew what he was really asking. “No, no pain. Thank the gods. I was in love with you once. But now? I’m confused. And there are things you need to know. Things I’m not sure I’m ready to share, yet.” Those things would most likely send Ayden packing. So, no, she wasn’t prepared to share her secrets with him.

She replayed the vision over and over in her mind, trying to figure out what it meant. True, the vision hadn’t specifically shown Ayden being struck. The one question that she kept mulling over was: why were they at the cave in the first place? Unless…

“Oh my gods. The cave.” Kalissa locked eyes with Ayden then she twisted out of his hands and went to the picnic basket. Reaching in, she pulled out the translated missive from her mother. She’d brought the message, hoping they could figure out what it meant. She read it aloud.

“
What you seek is hidden within the chamber, and protected by the twin retrievers. Five score from Lolissa into Mother’s light. But first, you must meet the others at The Wheel.
”

“The chamber must be the cave. And five score is one hundred. The cave is exactly one hundred yards from the cabin.” There was no way to avoid the vision. Her gut tightened. They had to go to the cave.

She was going to do everything she could to stop the dream-vision from coming true. Ayden had said it himself—visions were suggestions, a glimpse of what could happen. They could decide what road to take based on that peek into the future. They could prepare. Gods, she hoped he was right, and they could all walk away alive.

“And mother’s light is the moon?”

Kalissa nodded. “The moon rises from that side of the mountain this time of year.”

“What do you think the twin retrievers are?” Ayden asked as he picked up the basket, laced his fingers with hers, and started walking again.

“I’m not sure. But I hope they’re friendly, at least to us.”

“Me, too,” Ayden said with a small smile.

They continued down the path to the river. Her mind was a whirlwind of information and possibilities. When they reached the riverbank, she asked, “What do you know about the Divine Rose?” He gave her a questioning look as he pulled the small blanket out of the basket and spread it out on the grass. “I mean, how is it no one else sees it?”

Ayden thought about it for a few seconds. “I’m not sure. I think it’s different for every couple. Papa said his mother saw his and Grams’.”

Kalissa sat down on the blanket and looked out into the water swiftly flowing along. “But no one can see ours?” She told him about the memory she’d had earlier, and that her mother couldn’t see it. “I believe that’s what she was looking for.”

Ayden sat next to her and took her left hand in his right. For the first time, she didn’t flinch away. He gave her a seductive smile before speaking. “Many believe that sex triggers it. She might’ve been checking to see if we had been intimate.”

Kalissa pulled her hand from his and pushed at him playfully. “She was not.” He raised his eyebrows at her, and she smiled. “Okay. Maybe. But we were only seventeen.” As soon as she’d said it, she realized it was a lame excuse.
Magickin
developed and matured faster than humans. Plus,
magickin
didn’t hold the same views about sex as humans. They viewed sex as a part of nature and a sacred part of life and love.

“I’ve even heard of couples whose roses were visible as they developed,” Ayden added.

Kalissa looked at his handsome profile as he peered out into the water. There was so much she didn’t know about him, yet she felt so close to him. She wanted to reach out and touch him, kiss him, and explore every inch of his hard, muscular body. Run her hands though his silky brown hair. But he was like a stranger to her. Would she feel differently when the memory spell was broken? Could they break the spell? They didn’t even know who’d cast it or how. Or why. 

Ayden took his shoes and socks off and rolled up his pants legs to his knees, then stood and walked to the edge of the bank. “Come in the water with me,” he said, looking over his shoulder to her.

She shook her head side to side. “No way. It’s too cold.”

He turned and stepped into the rushing water, sucked in a sharp breath and laughed. “Oh, it’s fine.” He turned to face her.

Kalissa stood and walked closer to the edge. “It’s cold,” she repeated and laughed softly at his appearance. It reminded her of when they were younger and had gone to the lake. She smiled widely at the fact that she’d just had another memory without the onset of a headache. Was the spell weakening?

Ayden splashed water toward her. A half-squeal and half-laugh vacated her as she turned sideways to keep the water droplets from making contact. When she turned back to face him, her smile faded. His facial expression had changed to one of alarm. A nanosecond later, she was yanked off the ground and carried off through the forest at supernatural speed by something she couldn’t see. It wasn’t even completely solid.

The trees flew by in a blur of motion. Ayden yelled her name. She looked back and saw him struggle to get out of the water and run after the assailant and her, but he wasn’t fast enough. Kalissa panicked and started to fight the…entity? She wasn’t sure what it was, but she could tell it was male, and she knew she wasn’t going to like where he was taking her. 

She managed a solid kick in his stomach. He grunted, and she slipped off his shoulder slightly. Another twist and several kicks to the abdomen, and he struggled to hold on to her.

Willow swooped in behind him. “Take that, demon!” She thrust an energy bolt into his back. He dropped Kalissa, sending her rolling into the underbrush along the path they’d been traveling down.

Another shadowy creature barreled toward them, plowing into the other. The newcomer was different, felt familiar to her somehow. After a few seconds, she recognized the new one as Ayden. He was using the demon’s abilities against him.

They rolled on the ground until one kicked the other off. He sailed through the air and slammed hard into the trunk of an oak tree. Sliding down to the ground, he jumped up, shook it off, and charged back at the other one.

The other crouched low—braced for impact. When the one that’d hit the tree made contact, he was thrown backwards over the other’s head.

It was hard to tell them apart. Kalissa didn’t know whom to root for as the two transparent, black-clouded bodies wrestled and fought one another. Her palms were sweating, and her heart raced. A crack sounded and echoed off the trees, as one got a solid punch in on the other’s jaw. They were too well matched. It was a death match. She wanted to stop it but didn’t know what to do.

A distraction. She could cause a diversion. But what?

Willow came and sat beside her. “Man, I wish I had some popcorn.”

Kalissa frowned at the nymph. “Willow!”

      “What?” Willow gave an innocent look and then released a heavy sigh. “Lis, you have the power to help him.”