Incarnations (4 page)

***

DREAMS OF DEATH

Vesta waited until she heard Caislyn's even
breathing, letting her know that she had fallen asleep again. She
went into the room and tucked the covers up around her daughter and
wished her good dreams, because right now she would need them to
get through the mess that was her life. "I never wanted this for
you," Vesta said quietly. "I tried to spare you the heartache your
heritage would level on you. It seems I failed."

Vesta bent down to pick the sketch pad up off the
floor from where Gregore had knocked it out of her hands earlier.
She took it and went back in the other room to sit on the couch and
study the image that was drawn to perfection before her. Jaxon was
front and center with another woman in the image. They were busy
trying to flank a man, but something in the background of the image
caught Vesta's attention.

"This can't be," she whispered to herself. She held
the sketch up closer, wishing there were more details in the
shadows of the background. There in the window, a woman's face was
evident as she was climbing out of the balcony window, trying to
escape. "Melina!"

~*~

Caislyn knew the minute her dreams became something
she could control. Ash had been working with her on how to
recognize the signs. Soon, the river before her was flowing
backwards and the trees were bending in to her to say hello.
Caislyn stood in the now familiar forest around the gypsy camp
commanding the world to do her bidding. Now that she had
accomplished that without Ash around to help, she knew it was time
to go find Jaxon. She set her concentration and began to drift
through an endless sea of black, focusing on one fine pinpoint of
light that always seemed to be just beyond her reach.

Eventually, that light started to get brighter,
closer, and Caislyn kept reaching for it as she traveled on. Soon
the beacon in the night began to take shape and Caislyn could see
it was coming from a specific building. Once she landed firmly
inside she made sure to continue to block her presence from those
who might see her. Caislyn looked around and realized she must be
in Jaxon's mind now, because she had never seen this place before,
yet it had that familiar feel to it. The voice that sang out behind
her caught Caislyn’s attention and she turned, expecting to find
Jaxon there, but instead found an all too familiar face. "Oh my
Gods, it's you!" Caislyn said out loud as she continued to watch
the woman who was hovering around the room. Before long, Jaxon was
coming out of the shower, towel drying her long locks that were
starting to curl at the ends now that the weight of the water was
lifting from them.

"Jaxon, do you know who this is?" Caislyn asked, but
Jaxon didn't seem to notice her. Instead she continued to walk to
the kitchen.

"I'm famished, you have anything good in here?"

"I'm sure we can find some bedraggled little imp to
take advantage of out on the streets."

"No, I mean real food. I feel like I haven't eaten
like a human in ages." Jaxon said as she disappointedly closed the
near empty refrigerator and turned with a pout evident on her
face.

"Well, Jaxon dear, last I checked you weren't exactly
human." A small smile played at the corner of the woman's lips.

"Ha!" Jaxon said as she started opening cabinet after
cabinet in search of something to eat, only to find them all mostly
empty. She pulled out the container that held tea bags, some honey,
and a crusty bagget that she wasn’t entirely sure was still edible.
"No, I may not be human, but I still like to eat real food every
now and again. What the hell, Brig, do you sop up the extras with
this crusty ass bread or what?"

"Funny, Jax. As you know, we vampires still like to
eat once in a while too. This place has the greatest bakeries. And
for your information, I was distracted by a new guest after I got
that. It’s not as fresh as it once was, but it should still be
heavenly for you for now." The woman grabbed up a wallet and turned
on her heels. “I'll run and grab something from the little cafe
down the corner. I'd rather we not be spotted together just
yet."

The dream Caislyn found herself in seemed more like
one of Jaxon's recent memories replaying itself. Without warning
the scene swished before Caislyn, causing an undo amount of nausea
to sweep through her. She held onto her place in the dream world,
and with a great amount of effort was able to keep from getting
sick. Caislyn’s attention shifted to the kitchen table where the
two women were plotting an attack on a house, in Italy.

"Jaxon," Caislyn tried to get Jax's attention again,
but to no avail. "I don't know why this isn't working," Caislyn
said as she grew ever more frustrated with the turn of events.
Jaxon had to know who she was taking to, that she was important,
that this woman was...

"Caislyn?" Ash was there briefly, calling to her, but
he had a far away quality to him. Caislyn got the feeling that he
was searching her out, but couldn’t quite breech some sort of
barrier that would allow him in Jaxon’s dream. He called out to her
one more time and then he was slipping away. His momentary presence
seemed to agitate Jaxon, however; and as Ash slipped away Jax began
to wake up.

Caislyn pulled out of the dream and found herself
sitting up in bed in the RV again. Ash wasn’t there with her, so
she wasn’t sure if he had really tried to find her or if she had
imagined it. She put the thought aside for a minute thought,
because she had something more important to attend to. Caislyn
reached for the cell phone she kept to contact Seth, and began
dialing his number.

***

SUMMONING A WITCH

Vesta looked in on Caislyn one more time, and then
went back to the living room to study the sketch again.

"It has to be her," Vesta whispered to herself. She
walked over to the RV door and made sure the lock was engaged,
before she started pulling supplies out of the cabinets. "One way
or another, I'm about to get us some serious answers."

Vesta began by clearing everything from the middle of
the floor in the living room area. She thought briefly about taking
all her ingredients outdoors, for more room, and the connection
with nature, but she felt the confinement inside the RV would help
the situation.

Slowly she began to pour salt in two symmetrical
circles in the living area. She made sure they were close, but not
touching. The summoning bowl and it's mixture were placed inside
the first circle, before Vesta closed it with a chant.

"Let this circle hold those within,

Protect all that lie without,"

After closing the first circle, Vesta stepped into
the second one and closed it behind her.

"Let this circle protect within,

while projecting without."

She closed the last circle fully and began to chant
under her breath while concentrating on Melina and the scene
Caislyn had sketched. She imagined Melina being ripped from that
sketch and brought forth into the circle that now sat empty in
front of her.

The strain on her own body was becoming evident, as
she put forth more effort and began to draw from the still depleted
well of her own magic. Sweat began beading up on her forehead with
the strain as she tried to pull all the magic she could muster to
the forefront of her consiousness.

"Melina, I summon thee," her chant now finished,
Vesta was sure it was time, she began to repeatedly call out for
Melina to make her entrance. "Melina, I summon thee! Within the
witch’s circled, bathed with your essence, you shall come to call.
Melina, I summon thee! Within the circle that shall protect, your
secrets shall be spilt."

Vesta continued to chant her plea as she felt her
energy and magic draining into the mix. It took a little longer,
and a lot more out of her than she had hoped, but before long a
haggard looking Melina stood within the circle in front of her,
looking completely startled.

"What?" Vesta watched as Melina looked around,
wide-eyed, until her glance came to rest on Vesta. "Vesta? I
thought..."

"That I was dead? No such luck, and now that I've
summoned you, start telling me what the hell has been happening.
And don't leave a rock unturned, Melina."

"Vesta, I'm so..." Melina doubled over within the
circle and fell into a hacking fit. Vesta wouldn't have bothered to
care accept the coughing fit sounded wet and Melina stood again
trailing blood from the hand that wiped across her mouth. "I don't
have long. I'm fried, Vesta. You're summoning spell drew from my
power resources too."

"Melina, what have you done to yourself?" Vesta
couldn’t help the concern that was impossible to cloak now. “This
is madness, how could you let this happen?”

Melina shook her head softly before continuing,
"never mind that. The girls are in more danger than you thought
they'd be in. I know what will hap..." Another coughing fit
interrupted what Melina had been about to say. The coughs seemed
excrutiating for Melina as she dropped to her knees within the
circle, and looked up one last time at Vesta in between a bloody
coughing fit. Vetsa thought she heard her say, "Caleb," and "ice
skies."

She didn't get a chance to ask Melina about it,
because the woman dropped to the floor in a heap, convulsing at
first, and then going still. Melina was still contained by the
protective circle she had been summoned into, not that Vesta
thought it was necessary anymore.

"No!" Vesta grew anxious, but was loathe to break
either circle at first. She heard someone trying to enter the RV
and continued to watch Melina. "Come on, get up," it was a hopeless
plea.

"Vesta?" Gregore was knocking on the door now,
calling out to her, but she couldn't break either circle's seal in
case this was a trick on Melina's part. Caislyn was sleeping in the
bedroom, unaware of what was going on. She would be
defenseless.

"Vesta? Caislyn?" Gregore was growing louder and more
agitated. Vesta listened as he tried the door one more time.

"Melina?" Vesta called out to the woman she had once
considered to be her friend.

"Damn it, what is going on in there?" Gregore
shouted. His temper was evident in his voice as Vesta tried to
control her own in response.

"Every thing is under control, Greg, go away" Vesta
snapped her response without meaning to. Considering everything
Gregore had been through with Caislyn recently, that probably
wasn't the best idea.

The door splintered inward, and the force knocked
Vesta over, causing her to slide out of her circle. She looked up
in time to see Gregore's eyes go wide and Caislyn come running from
the bedroom. Luckily, Melina still hadn't moved and her circle
seemed to be intact.

"What is going on?" Caislyn questioned as she looked
around at the cramped living room space where her mother was
sprawled out across a broken circle, while another woman lay in a
heap in another.

"That's what I'd like to know." Gregore added as they
both turned to look at Vesta.

“I summoned Melina here in the hopes that I would be
able to get some information out of her. I noticed her in the
sketch Caislyn did. Unfortunately, she didn’t have a whole lot to
say before she collapsed.”

“Collapsed? Vesta, it looks like she’s dead,” Gregore
stated matter of factly.

“I was weary of removing the protective circle while
Caislyn was still sleeping, just in case it was a trap.”

“I’m pretty sure, that’s not a trap!” Gregore pointed
to the woman’s lifeless body. I’ll take care of it while the two of
you discuss what just happened here.” Gregore moved through the
protective circle and grabbed up Melina’s body. He carried it out
of the RV to dispose of it as Caislyn turned to her mother.

“Mom, what were you thinking? You weren’t strong
enough to do a summoning, look at you.” Vesta was still sitting on
the floor, where she had collapsed herself only moments ago, shocks
of gray hair now running through her otherwise chestnut locks.
“Come on, let’s get you up on the couch.” Caislyn helped her mother
up and then sat down beside her. “What happened?”

Vesta explained everything that happened to Caislyn,
only when she was telling Caislyn about the name Caleb, and “ice
skies” something struck her as odd. “Wait, maybe she wasn’t saying
skies.”

“Ice eyes,” Caislyn said as she looked at her mother.
“Caleb is the one who took you guys in the first place, and ordered
Merriwyn’s death.”

Vesta simply nodded.

***

DEADLY REUNIONS

Jaxon and Brigid stood flanking Marc in the middle of
the apartment's living room when Melina, who was moments ago
desperately trying to climb out the balcony window unnoticed,
suddenly disappeared. It wasn't like she fell, she just wasn't
there any longer. "What the hell?" Jaxon called out. This caused
Marc to turn around and look.

"That bitch," he swore under his breath, "first sign
of trouble and she jumps."

"She didn't jump, she just disappeared." Jaxon
countered.

"Impossible, even if she had access to teleporting
magic like your friend, and her Fey relatives, Melina had no juice
left. Her magic was all but burnt out."

"She's not necessary anyway," Brigid began, "but you
and I," she gestured between herself and Marc, "we have some
history to discuss."

"You can't still be angry at me for having your
family killed, Brigid. I think you'll understand they weren't
worthy of saving. Especially that brother of yours." Marc actually
winked at them with that statement.

Jaxon could tell Marc was goading her, and she also
noticed Brigid's reaction. If she didn't step in and take control
of things, it would get out of hand quickly.

Before Brigid could spring on Marc, Jaxon was there.
"I need answers first," she said as she placed a calming hand on
Brigid's shoulder. Brigid immediately responded to the touch and
backed off a little bit. Jaxon’s other hand was now touching Marc
too. She was projecting calm, along with a smattering of
cooperation. He stilled beneath her touch.