Talisman (51 page)

“
What?
” I cried out, confused.  “
Catch?
  It’s pouring rain and there’s lightning flying all around.  You’re not serious,
are you?
”

Tanner opened the front door and
looked out at the stormy sky, grinning from ear to ear.

“
Oh, yeah
,” he confirmed, sounding almost thrilled.  “We couldn’t ask for a more
perfect
day.”

He’s craz
y!
  I followed him down the porch steps, but I still felt the need to question his bizarre request.

“But the weather is horr
—”

“
Enough!
”
Tanner interrupted as he turned and stopped me on the steps.  “No more questions.  Just
do
what
I
SAY
.  Think of me as your
mentor
.  I’m here to
teach
you,
advise
you, and to make your transition as smooth and…
painless
as possible.”  Tanner’s tone softened but he remained stern.  “Normally, it takes a Talisman
years
to master their skills…but we don’t have the luxury of
time
, not with Lazarus snooping around and hot on your trail…And keep in mind that the Onyx is still lurking out there, waiting for the perfect time to strike.  So, instead of wasting time arguing with me about my methods
or
my reasoning…just
trust me
. 
Understand?
”

“Okay,” I agreed.
  “
I’ll trust you
.”

“Excellent,”
Tanner replied.

“Where’s you
r vehicle?”  There wasn’t one parked out front, and I hadn’t seen any cars sitting on the side of the road on my drive home.

Tanner ignored my question.  He raised his brow and then jumped off the steps, out into the pourin
g rain.  He turned and winked back at me.

“
Try
to keep up.”  The next thing I knew, he’d transformed into that spellbinding purple mist and took off through the woods in a flash.  Though I was taken aback for a second, I hopped off the porch to follow him obediently.

I guess we’re
RUNNING
.

I
trailed behind him through the woods at a normal pace.  To my amazement, my stride quickened with every second that passed.  I couldn’t
believe
the speed at which I was running.  I’d never even driven a car this fast in my life.  My spirit felt freer than it ever had.  The wind whipped around my entire body, and I was totally drenched from the hard rain bombarding me, but I didn’t care.  I felt so
alive!

Though Tanner was always a good fifty
yards ahead of me, I thought I was keeping good time.  We had been running for almost twenty minutes when the purple mist stopped abruptly and morphed back into Tanner Grey’s human form.

I came to a screeching halt when I tried to
brake in mid-run.  I ended up sliding on some wet leaves and tripped on my own feet.  My body crashed to the ground, hitting some rocks right beside him.  He helped me up and looked down at my jeans.  Sure enough, there was a long tear running down the right leg of my Levi’s, roughly a six-inches long.

“Yeah…D
efinitely
ripped
,” Tanner confirmed.

I dusted myself off and
scanned the surrounding landscape curiously.  We were still in the woods, but I’d been running so fast and concentrating on following him that I’d lost my bearings.

“Where are we?”
I asked.

“I don’t know. 
You’re the
local
,” Tanner cracked as he started walking up a small hill, shaking his head.

I
continued to survey the terrain as I trudged behind him.  Nothing looked familiar.  All I knew was that most of the time I’d been running uphill.  We pushed through the trees and heavy brush of the forest.  I would’ve liked to think he had
some clue
as to where we were going.  I wasn’t keen on the idea of taking a “leisurely country stroll” in the pouring rain.

“Your speed will pick up over time.  You won’t always be
that slow
,” Tanner added confidently.

“I thought I did
pretty good
,” I interjected, somewhat offended. Tanner rolled his eyes.  “Well…
I kept up
,” I stated boldly.

“I
slowed down
,” Tanner countered.  “Tell me, Shiloh…what other
tricks
have you found in your bag?”

“You already know I can hear people’s thoughts and feel their emotions.  Does that work on everyone?”  I
asked, clueless about the actual “mechanics” of telepathy.

“The diamond wand comes with an e
normous amount of psychic energy.  One of its powers is telepathy.  It’s easy to get inside a typical human’s mind.  You can hear their thoughts, experience their feelings, and delve into their memories.  Talismans and supernaturals are different.  You have to physically touch them to make a psychic connection.  Like when you touched Lazarus…hence my warning,
‘not-to-touch-him’
.  But it doesn’t work on all of them.”  Tanner flashed a sly smile.  He seemed to find something amusing.  His grin quickly disappeared, and he confidently added,   “Definitely not on the Onyx.  Nothing affects him that’s of the psychic nature.  As for other supernaturals…It depends on what kind your dealing with, and what magic they possess.”

It seemed e
very answer I received would undoubtedly lead to more questions.  “Tanner, what other superna—”

“I’m starting to think you might be
partially deaf
, instead of
stubborn
,” Tanner interjected.  “What did I say?”

“
I know
.  No questions,” I acknowledged obediently.  I didn’t understand what all the secrecy was about.  I was dying to know what other “supernatural creatures” were out there.  I kept conjuring up images of all the various fantasy figures I’d ever read about or seen in a movie.

“What about
you?
” I probed suspiciously.

That sly ex
pression returned to his face.  “What about
me?
” he inquired.

“
Well
, when I touch you…I don’t hear anything.  In fact, all I feel coming from you is tranquility and bliss.” 
I also feel a Hell of a lot of desire, but he probably already knows that.  Why embarrass myself by acknowledging it?
  “What are you? Some kind of supernatural Prozac pill?”

Tanner let out a
boisterous laugh.  He quickly composed himself enough to answer, “
No
, nothing like that.”  He chuckled some more and added, “I have a few psychic talents of my own.  I’m sort of what you would call a
medium
or a
channeler
.  That’s why you can’t hear my thoughts or feel any of my emotions.  And I can only receive a person’s feelings, never their thoughts.  Then I filter them back to them…
purified and clear of any negative emotion
.  That’s why I’m able to take away the pain you’re feeling.  That’s just
one
of my talents.”

Mentally noted
, I thought to myself as we kept on walking through the soggy woods.

“Is there anything else
that you’ve discovered?” Tanner inquired.

I thought about C
hief Roberts and Officer Ryan.

“Yeah,” I began, as a boa
stful smile crept across my face.  “I’m a lot stronger than what I look.”  I had to admit, I felt pretty proud about that.

Tanner’s brow rose.  “
Really?
” he asked curiously.  Then like a black belt, he threw his arm straight at me.  With one sweeping blow to my chest, he managed to knock me several yards, up against a large maple tree.  I heard the trunk of the massive tree crack when my back crashed into it and then I dropped to the ground like a brick.

“Maybe you’re not as strong as what you think?”
Tanner posed.  I glared up at him as I tried to catch my breath.  “Don’t worry,” he assured, “That too will strengthen.  You shouldn’t have a problem with humans.  Just don’t go picking a fight with any Talismans for a while.”

His sneaky jab ticked me off.  I could feel wet mud
soaking the rear of my jeans.

Tanner
walked over and extended his hand.  “Here, I’ll be a gentleman.”

“A
‘gentleman’
wouldn’t have knocked me down,” I proclaimed as I sharpened my glare.

I felt an overwhelming
urge to return the favor.  Quickly, I tried to swing my leg around to sideswipe his lower limbs, so I could knock him off his feet.  To my dismay, it was
only
an attempt.  Tanner managed to jump out of the way.  The next thing I knew, he had grabbed a hold of my arm and hurled me over his head.  I crashed onto the ground.  I was now lying flat on my back, feeling nothing but a slight sting from his attack and unfortunately, more mud that now caked my entire backside.

Tanner stood over me smirking. 
“I told you that I could sense emotions, Shiloh. 
Vengeance
is pretty powerful.  You need to learn to control that one.”

I propped myself up on my elbows and scowled at him.  I was even angrier than before, and he sensed it
too.

“Okay, since you
obviously want to
play
,” Tanner announced confidently.  “Let’s see what you’ve got.”

Good
…I need to release some of my tension the good ’ole fashion way and not by letting him absolve me of it
.  I started to rise to my feet only to have Tanner spin around and drop kick me back onto the ground.

“
Any day now
,” Tanner taunted as he casually removed his jacket and hung it on the limb of a tree.

I was going to have to be
a lot quicker and clear my mind, but that was easier said than done.  I sprang to my feet and snapped a hefty branch off a nearby oak.  Tanner didn’t seem the least bit intimidated.  I swung it at him several times, but he dodged every one of my strikes effortlessly.  Suddenly, a loud “
squawk”
cried out around us.  Tanner looked up to see the falcon swooping down on him.  The fowl’s sneaky attack gave me a chance to swing the branch into the side of his abdomen.  The force of the blow propelled him back several yards, where he crashed against the sidewall of a cliff.  The impact caused the earth and rocks above his head to cascade around him.

T
he crafty falcon landed on bush beside me.  “
Thanks
,” I replied and threw the bird an appreciative nod.

I looked back to the spot where Tanner had landed after I’d pummeled him,
only to discover that he was
gone
.  I heightened my guard, scanning the area for any signs of him.  There wasn’t the slightest movement coming from any direction.  I kept my branch raised and ready to strike. Another abrupt
“squawk”
shrieked through the forest like a warning shot.  I’d just started to turn to around see what had alarmed my feathery cohort when I felt the branch being ripped out of my hands from behind.  Tanner was transforming back into his human form as I completed my spin.  He tossed the large branch off to the side and slammed me down on the ground.  Granted, I was strong, but I couldn’t match his strength.  I tried to wrestle out of his hold, but he had me helplessly pinned.

“Yo
u can get off me
now!”
I barked, glaring at Tanner, who appeared to be in a deep focus.

“In a second,” Tanner assured.
  “You need to calm down a little more.”

I knew what he was doing.  I could feel my anger, as well as
all of my aggression, leaving my mind and body.  Once my attitude had been
adjusted
, Tanner released me and pulled me up to my feet.  I may have felt a lot more at ease, but this was far from over.  That wasn’t my anger talking.  It was simply my inborn, overly competitive nature.

“
See
, not a scratch on you,” Tanner confirmed as he spun me around.  “That’s another one of your powers…Your body’s
defense mechanism
.  Your bones are indestructible, and the chance of even scratching your skin is
almost
impossible,” Tanner declared with admiration.

I ch
ecked my body.  He was right — just like this morning with the table saw.   Tanner extended his arm.  Streaks of blood-covered cuts were etched on his skin. Apparently the rocks had nicked him, but his injuries were minor, like scratches from a cat.