Enlightened (Love and Light Series) (18 page)

They gathered at the Travelers’ winter campsite, which looked more like a small village. Their unlit, little cabins were strung along a large circular pathway amidst a few empty, three-sided shelters. At the central campfire, Loti sank into Wolf’s side, grateful it was all over. Wolf pressed his cheek to her hair. Snippets of conversation swirled around them.

“Never seen the shrine light up like that”

“Did you feel it?”

“What was that?”

“Wish we could bottle it.”

Soft laughter and shuffling feet blended with the murmuring voices and the popping fire. According to the folks who showed up afterward, the explosion of light spread across the entire ashram. Tribe members who stayed behind at the campsite were describing what they’d seen in eager voices.

“I’ve heard of one other light walker, but she was gone before I became vampire. She was remembered well. There hasn’t been any like her since.” Calisto’s voice rose above the gentle cacophony.

All voices stilled and bodies turned expectantly.

“According to the stories, she was extraordinary. She healed in new ways and taught the other healers some of it. She was bonded with a vampire named Acacius.” His eyes were bright and wistful as Calisto regarded Loti who was still nestled against Wolf. “The story tellers said she had the power to heal hearts and minds, as well as bodies. How much of that is real and how much is legend . . . ” He shrugged his shoulders.

“All healing starts with the heart,” Margarite said, snugging a knit beret over her ears.

“What happened to them?” Loti asked. “What was her name?”

“Her name was Jyotika,” Margarite said.

Mitch handed Loti an insulated mug that she took with a smile of thanks. “So, what happened to Jyotika and Acacius?”

Calisto stared at the fire and the others shifted. “They died, of course. Even the undead can’t live forever, can we?” Calisto’s voice was far away, and Margarite placed a gentle hand on his arm. “They had enemies who mistook their healing potential as a threat. My maker told me they were separated, and Acacius was forced to meet the sun.”

Loti’s heart jumped in her chest, and Wolf’s arm tightened around her.

“Jyotika died of grief and loneliness,” Margarite finished, a wisp of melancholy in her voice. “Once a healer bonds with her mate, she won’t outlive him.”

“Is that true of all bond mates?” Loti bit her lip. “Even if a regular human bonds with a vampire?”

“No, just healers—maybe witches?” Margarite glanced around the fire ring for confirmation.

“It depends.” Korinna looked over at Justin.

“I think it has to do with how powerful the two are, and how long they’ve been bonded,” Justin added.

“Do all healers bond with a mate?” Loti sat up, curiosity and worry itching at her.

 Margarite slid her arm around Calisto’s waist, who closed his eyes and pressed his forehead to her cheek. Margarite smiled at his curly head. “No. It’s a choice. Sometimes there are benefits; a vampire’s magic can enhance the healer’s abilities and extend her life span.”

 “How?” Loti sat up straighter, the photograph on the stairs on her mind.

“Well that’s the million dollar question.” Calisto chuckled. “If we knew that, think what miracles we might be able to work.” The brightness was back in his wide open eyes, and his mouth was taut with eagerness.

“I’ve told you, Calisto, its simple physics. Vamps are like antennae and healers are transceivers—able to receive the energy vampires draw in and transmit it.” A goateed tribesman joined the conversation, rocking forward in his camp chair.

“The Professor thinks he’s got magic all figured out.” The black-bearded tribesman, Sensei, who Loti identified as part fae tossed a stick into the fire.

“Hey, why complicate things? We know how radio waves work. And everything is an emitter—absolutely everything. The intelligence community has huge databases cataloguing everything’s signature from a 1992 Jeep Grand Cherokee to a GM toaster with a blown element.” He wiped his forehead with a well-worn bandana. “We know each person has their own unique energy signature. So it’s the next logical conclusion.”

“Prof used to work for the Department of Defense in signaling intelligence.” The lady next to him patted his knee.

“Actually, I dabbled in electronic warfare, of which
signal
intelligence was a part,” the Professor patted Peacepipe’s knee.

Chuckling, she tugged on his goatee. “Yes, dear.”

“Moooommmm!” A young boy’s voice bleated from a ways off.

“Duty calls.” She rolled her eyes. “I’m Peacepipe, by the way.” She shook Loti’s hand, a smile on her face as she squeezed by. She pecked Wolf’s check, and he patted her arm. “What now?” she yelled as she jogged off.

“And the designs of antennae are like magic; have you seen some of the weirder ones? Sometimes there’s no rational reason why one works and the other doesn’t.” Prof settled back into his chair.

 Yawning, Loti curled her gloved hands around her mug, her eyelids too heavy to keep up.

“The sun will be up soon.” Wolf yawned. “We need to finish this.”

Guided slapped his hands against his thighs. “Time for the vision quest.”

Loti sloshed hot tea in her lap. Drawing air through her teeth with a loud hiss, she wiped at it with her black fleece gloves. “A what?” She dusted her hands over the fire.

“You’ll need to do this alone.” Guided looked at Wolf, who’s eyelids drooped at half-mast. “There’s a path we’ll take you to after the vamps settle down for the day. You’ll take nothing but the clothes on your back. That’s the Traveler tradition. All of us have taken this journey, so even though you’ll feel alone, you won’t be in spirit. We’ll all be with you, including Wolf.”

Loti felt like she was floating above, looking down on the conversation. Had she really been in the car with Rachel on her way here less than 24 hours ago? Was she ready to walk out into the mountains with nothing? No water, no food, no compass.

“All healers do this?” she stalled.

Mitch leaned forward, elbows on her knees, steaming mug in her hands. “No, not all, but we do. It’s necessary to wake up to your dharma.” She sipped.

“To your life’s work?” Loti rubbed the back of her neck that suddenly prickled.

“Mmm hmm.” Mitch held the mug between her hands and nodded, her face pensive. “Do you know why we live out here? Why we worked so hard to keep the trail system from being sold off?”

“A little, I think. It has to do with being close to nature. Night Eyes taught me that a healer’s magic works better when the healer is pure, unadulterated by modern life.”

“Something like that, but don’t think of it as segregating ourselves. It’s the opposite. It’s about staying connected to the Mother, to life.” Mitch took another timid sip.

Guided leaned back in his camp chair and pulled on one of the straps, tightening it. “And the trail system is protected now, so there will hopefully always be wild places without power lines and hotels.”

Calisto clasped his hands. “Not that those things are bad, per se. They interfere. The signal gets disrupted. Healing is vibrational—”

“Everything’s vibrational, that was my point,” Professor interjected.

Calisto nodded respectfully. “Yes, of course.”

“I brought that up,” Mitch spoke, “because our life work, our dharma, is about how we live and who we live with, as well as what we do. Some folks define themselves by what they do, but that’s only a fraction of who we are.” She gestured widely around her. “This is as much who we are as anything we do.”

They lapsed into silence. Wolf shifted so Loti adjusted in the double wide camp chair they shared, like a folding, nylon loveseat.

“White rabbits, white rabbits, white rabbits,” Loti muttered as she waved away the stinging smoke from her eyes. The crowd chuckled at Loti’s invocation of the old smoke charmer. “So to wake up I have to go out in the woods alone with no pack?” Loti coughed, rubbing the back of her neck; Wolf mirrored her movements.

“Just the clothes on your back, and you’d better wear a neoprene hat.” Guided glanced up at the black sky devoid of stars. “Waterproof is good.”

“Those fleece gloves will be drenched in minutes. I’ll get you some Gortex mittens you can wear over them.” Mitch set her travel mug in the net cup holder on the arm of her camp chair, standing and stretching tall. “Be right back.”

“You’ll have to trust yourself, and listen to your instincts,” Hammer added from the opposite side of the fire.

“Do you remember what the black man said in your dream about the secret of the universe?” Wolf’s voice was thick with doze.

“Yes. Know yourself, be yourself, and . . .trust yourself.”

Wolf nodded, struggling to keep his eyes open. The stinging at the back of Loti’s neck spread to her throat and face and she scratched at it. So did Wolf.

“I’ll never be very far from you, if something should happen. I’ll meet you in four days if you haven’t returned. No matter what.” He was almost talking in his sleep.

“How will you know where to find me? I don’t even know where I’ll be.” She looked at Guided. “Do you?”

“No and yes. We won’t know where you’ll be exactly, but we’re pretty sure you’ll end up in the general vicinity. I doubt you’ll walk to Maine or anything.” Guided winked.

“I think I could find you, now.” Wolf covered a painful-looking yawn with one hand. Loti understood—she felt it, too. It was like a pull in her chest that would take her wherever he went.

 “But these men need to go to ground before the sun comes up.” Guided stood and stretched into a slight backbend.

Calisto and Wolf labored to their feet, Margarite and Loti with them. Margarite kissed Calisto, and then he moved so fast he disappeared. Wolf dragged Loti into the privacy of the trees where he pulled her into his arms.

“I know this is strange for you,” he breathed the words onto her cheek.

“It’s not for you?” she whispered back.

”Yes, but I’m used to strange.” His mouth slid just below and behind her ear. “And I’ve been searching for you.” His lips touched the soft spot behind her earlobe.

She sighed. “Searching for me? How do you know I’m the one you’ve been searching for?”

He pulled away and the electric shock shook her spine. He kissed lower on her neck, and when his mouth touched, the buzz blurred. Sliding his lips side to side under her ear, he held her, quieting the alarms going off in her head. Things deep inside of her went soft.

“I’m pretty sure,” he mumbled.

Swallowing as his lips caressed her neck up to her ear then down to her shoulder, she slipped her arms under his; his arms enveloped her. The calming energy balled up in her lower abdomen.

“I’d given up. I thought it was folklore.” He found her jaw line. “Nunne’hi,” he whispered, his mouth sliding down to her chin. Her bottom lip trembled as his lips pressed over hers, gentle, questioning. She kissed him back and his kiss turned fierce and probing. She froze. Her mouth wanted to open to his while her head screamed to stop. Her body jerked and she shoved him away.

The pain in his expression stabbed her to the quick, but he turned away before she could be sure. He was gone from her side. She felt abandoned, cold, and sick. Her dead husband’s face floated in front of her.
Oh, David
. Was it the magic that prickled through her or guilt that she wanted him? Her belly clenched.

“I’m sorry, Wolf.”

His back to her, he stared at the cloudy pre-dawn sky, hands in his pockets. “No,” he said. “I’m the one who should be sorry. Rachel told me about your husband.”

 Tears ran hot down her face, and she couldn’t think of what to say. It’s not that? Of course it was that, but he didn’t know the whole story, or her for that matter. She covered her face with her hands. She’d fought the tears so hard and for so long that there were too many, and she was going to drown in them. She wanted him to kiss her, hold her, and make the ache go away. Angry at her blinding tears, she shuddered alone, and then arms were around her extracting a moan from deep in her chest.

“A river of tears.” His voice reached inside her chest, while his hand stroked her hair.

Unable to speak, Loti shook her head, but he gripped her tighter. She lifted her face, wiping at her eyes. With wet fingers she touched his lips like a blind person, searching. She kissed him, a long, lingering kiss, and when he pulled way, she pressed one hand to her chest and wrapped the other arm around her waist. The stinging was all over now.