The Hidden (Heartfire) (7 page)

His eyes were wild but intelligent. Cunning. He wasn't just an animal. None of them were.
 

They were werewolves.

There was no use lying to myself about it now. Werewolves were real. And I was in love with one of them.

The way the ghost faced wolf looked at me though... there was no kindness there. He wanted something from me, and he didn't care who he hurt to get it.

I knew all that, just from looking into his eyes.

I peeled my jeans and t-shirt off and stepped into my old flannel nightgown. There was no use hiding from him. But maybe, if I was clever enough, I could find out who he was. What he wanted.

Why he was haunting me.

Not just haunting.

He was hunting me.

Despite my misgivings I was asleep in what felt like an instant. I'd always been that way. My head hit the pillow and I was out. Of course, I was very much aware of what was happening when I slipped out of my bed and body.

This time I didn't hesitate. I walked swiftly through the dark countryside toward the dark house where the stone room was hidden. I'd figured out that it was North. Maine maybe. Or Canada.

Dylan wasn't the one drawing me this time though. I could feel the difference in the energy that pulled me. It was dark, seductive, greedy.

It was him.

The ghost faced wolf.

Before I knew it, I was in the house again, wandering it's dark halls. It was a stone house, at least two hundred years old. It might even be older than that.

I was turning toward the cellar door when I heard it. It was just a faint echo but it hit me hard, making me sway on my feet. Even in the dream, I could feel my heart hammer in my chest.

A woman's voice.
 

Singing.

Hush little baby don't say a word...

I held perfectly still, afraid to believe what I was hearing. I knew that voice. I knew it because it belonged to my mother.

Papa's gonna buy you a mocking bird...

My mother was here. Somewhere in this house. Catherine Thomas was here.

She was alive.

I took the steep stairs at a run. There was no effort involved. I practically flew up the narrow steps. All I had to do was exert the slightest control. The singing got louder as I floated up towards it. And then it stopped.

I looked around at my surroudings. I was in the top of the house. A turret. Or the attic. Boxes and old furniture were everywhere. I wandered through it, forcing myself to slow down. My movements in the dream were too large, too fast. I didn't want to get lost, or worse yet, lose
her.

Finally at the far end of the attic I saw a small room. There was a heavy door with an enormous lock barring the entrance. It was obviously meant to keep something out.

Or keep something locked in.

I reached for the door but it wouldn't budge. For the first time in my life, I couldn't go somewhere in my dreams. I pulled on the knob in frustration, rattling the door in it's frame.

"Who's there?"

I gasped, the voice touching my heart, making me freeze in place. It was my mother. There was no question in my mind now. It was her.

I hadn't been imagining things.

"Mom?"

Pattering footsteps ran toward the door.

"Kneel down, quickly. Look through the keyhole."

I did as she asked. A beautiful brown eye blinked back at me.

"Scoot back so I can see you."

I moved backwards a foot and smiled, tears of relief washing over my face. My mother... she was here. She was alive.

"Oh my sweet girl... You are so beautiful, Kaylia. I never thought I'd see you again."

I reached out, laying my palm against the door.

"I never thought I would see you again either."

"You have the gift? You can dream walk?"

I nodded.

"Ever since I can remember."

"There is so much I want to teach you."

"Please. I want to see you. Why are you here? Why didn't you come home to us?"

My mothers voice cracked.

"You can't. You have to leave. Quickly, before they find you!"

"You scoot back so I can see you."

"Alright, but quickly. Then you have to go."

I pressed my eye against the door and stared. The room was clean. There were books everywhere and a large bed covered in white blankets. A large window looked out over the countryside. And standing in the center of the room was a slim, beautiful woman in her forties. She looked like a girl, until you saw her eyes.

Her eyes were sad. Tired. Not the eyes of a young girl after all.

My mother.

Then I noticed the white streaks in her hair. No matter how well she looked, she had aged. Or something had changed her.

"You're really alive."

She nodded.

"I'm so sorry my love. I tried to get back to you but they wouldn't let me leave. I tried so hard. I never forgot you."

"Mom, we have to get you out of here."

In a flash Catherine was back at the door, bringing us eye to eye again.

"No, Kaylia.
You
have to leave. Now. And never come back here. You have to learn to hide your gifts. Snuff them out, like Gran did."

Slowly I shook my head.

"I won't leave you mom. And I won't hide what I am."

"If White Beard sees you-"

"Is that his name?"

"You've- dreamt of him?"

I nodded.
White Beard.
It was better than what I'd been calling him.

"Yes. But I've been calling him Ghost Face."

My mother cursed, fear twisting her features.

"I'm so sorry, Kaylia. I should have warned you. Now it's too late... If he's seen you, he will never stop trying to find you."

"Who is he?"

She closed her eyes as if struggling with something. Then she looked at me.

"He is my husband."

"You married him?"

Her features twisted in a grimace.

"It wasn't a traditional marriage. It was a wolf marriage. He's an alpha. He didn't exactly ask permission."

Heavy footsteps rang out behind me. My mothers eyes widened in fear. She leaned into the door, her eye once again filling the keyhole.

"Wake up! He's coming!"

I blinked and woke up an instant later in my bed. I was covered in sweat from fear and exersion. But it didn't matter. None of it mattered now.

She was alive.

My mother was alive.

Chapter Ten

Dylan

✠

I pulled up outside Kaylia's Grandmother's house. I'd been driving for hours and now I was here. I had no idea how I was going to get Kaylia to come with me. Or agree to the plans I had already set in motion.

I stared at the tiny dilapidated bungalo for a moment before I got out. The neighborhood was poor, the houses ill tended. It was a far cry from the manicured lawns that I'd played on as a child.

The only thing about this house that stood out was the late roses that still clung to the house, covering it on either side of the small entryway. They should have been dormant, but they were still blooming in a stunning profussion of pale pink blooms. It should have made me smile.

Instead it brought home the truth. Kaylia was a witch. Her mother had been a witch and the woman who grew these flowers in the middle of early winter was a witch.

I was keenly aware that Kaylia's life had not been easy. And being with me- being who and what I was- was about to make it exponentially more difficult. I felt a pang of guilt. But there was nothing I could do about it now.

If I could go back in time and not meet her, or not acknowledge her... I would not. I could not have stayed away from her if I tried.

For the first time in my life, I believed in love. I believed in destiny. I believed in sacrificing myself for someone else. No matter the cost.

I gripped the steering wheel hard, turning my knuckles white.

I would keep her safe.

I had to.

A curtain fluttered. Someone had seen me out front. Kaylia must have realized I was here. She always seemed to know.

We were magnets. Always drawn together. Instead of frightening me, the thought gave me comfort.

I climbed out of the car and walked to the front door. I was not surprised when Kaylia opened it before I could even knock. I smiled at the sight of her in her oversized cardigan, with a kerchief tied over her head.

She had the same effect on me as always. I felt the wind knocked out of me as I looked at her. Her beauty, so fragile and yet enduring. Her size, small and curvy and somehow just right. Her smell... her energy... Her soul.

Her big brown eyes blinked up at me. I smiled, relaxing instantly in her presence.

"Hi."

She smiled tentatively. She looked worried. She should be worried.

I was about to rock her world.

"Hi. What are you doing here?"

"I'm bringing you back to school with me a few days early."

She stared at me. She seemed to know there was more to the story than I was letting on. I wasn't ready to tell her yet. But I would.

Soon.

"Okay."

"I got us a place to stay. A house near school."

"You did?"

"We can talk later. Is it okay if we leave now? There's some stuff we need to get before it gets dark. We can get your stuff from the dorm tomorrow."

She nodded and led me into the house. I met her Gran and had a surprisingly good slice of homeade pie. An hour later we were on the road.

In fits and starts I tried to fill her in on what my parents had told me. I didn't want to scare her. But I made sure to impress on her the danger she was in.

That she needed me to protect her.

She had to be cautious, awake and asleep. I would keep her safe, but she still had to be on her guard. The others would be coming for her.

Maybe they already were.

I'd already started making a plan to keep her safe. I was listing the security measures we would take when she interrupted me.

"Dylan-"

I glanced at her. She was staring out the window looking like a lost, delicate girl. She was so beautiful it made my stomach ache.

"I know where my mother is. She's alive."

I tore my eyes off the road to look at her again. This time she was turned to face me. This time I saw her eyes. I'd been wrong.

Kaylia didn't look lost.

She looked determined.

"We're going to go and get her."

Thank you for reading
The Hidden
. This edition has been completely rewritten in an effort to better tell the cursed love story of Kaylia and Dylan. The story will continue in
The Gate
, coming soon!

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Turn the page for the following bonus materials from Pincushion Press:

Excerpt from
The Gate
- book three in the Heartfire Trilogy by Celeste Davis

Excerpt from
Second Sight
- a supernatural adventure story by author Kara Sevda

HEARTFIRE

Book Three

The Gate

By

Celeste Davis

Dylan

✧

Running.

I was running blindly, crashing through the tall grasses. I had no idea what was in front of me, but I knew what was behind me.

Someone was chasing me.

No. They were chasing Kaylia. She was hidden in the dreamscape, not far west of here. I was on the coast, running on all fours from a pack of them. I had no idea how many of them there were.

But I knew that if they caught me, they would finish me.
 

I didn't know what would happen if you were killed in a dream but I didn't want to find out. Especially since my dreams were far from ordinary.

I woke up with a shudder, reaching for Kaylia. She was beside me, sound asleep. Her breathing was shallow. She drew in a ragged breath and cried out. Something was happening to her in the dream.

Gently I slid my arms around her and began to whisper in her ear. We had developed a system for waking each other up. Almost every night now, one of us had to escape from the dream.

They were getting closer. I wondered what would happen when they caught up with us. I knew I didn't have long to find out.

"Wake up now, Kaylia. Wake up. They are too close. You have to wake up."

Her eyes opened with a snap. The warm golden color looked darker in our bedroom at night. She looked at me, reaching out to touch my face. I smiled at her, pulling her into my arms.

Our bed. Our room. Our house.

I'd rented us a place off campus, figuring a single family house would be easier to protect.
 
It was on a pretty residential street with sidewalks and families. It would be hard to sneak up on us.

I was still setting up security measures outside and inside. Video cameras. A fence. An alarm system. Bars on the windows.

I'd had to pay extra to the landlord to do all that, and promise to take it down when we left. But I didn't care. It was worth it.

Kaylia was worth all the money and time and effort in the world.

All the blood, sweat and tears I had to give too.

But it wasn't just that. The past few weeks had also seen the first real normalcy we'd had in a long time. And a glimpse of what the future might bring.

Living in a cute little house with her made me feel like we were married. A normal couple who loved each other. A couple who wanted to grow old together and start a family.

And I liked that. More than I could have ever imagined. I hadn't mentioned it to her yet, but I would.

I wanted her to be mine, forever. In name. I wanted everything.

I was going to marry Kaylia Thomas.

If we survived this.

We had to survive it.

Turn the page for more from Pincushion Press
     

Second Sight

Kara Sevda

1800's... Italy

He almost caught her. Almost. His hands nearly caught on the soft cotton of her white blouse. But she disappeared in the flutter of falling apple blossoms. Behind a tree. And then another. Twisting and turning through the orchard.