Magical Tendencies (13 page)
The man shook his head, "Not for you, my queen. You can create life with any species. You are a gift to the one to win your heart. You are a bridge to tie the species together. You are a miracle waiting to happen."
My eyes snapped open and my body began to shake. It felt like my body was on fire and every muscle was convulsing.
"Celeste!" Von and Solomon both yelled at the same time. I could hear them in my ears, almost screaming as a loud buzzing took over and my vision went black.
I could hear them again in the background. My mind pushed them away to a distance but my ears kept picking up the conversation as they fought with each other over my future.
"She must go back to the kingdom," Von stated stubbornly. Just like always.
"She must be protected and therefore kept away from all that would intend to capture and take advantage of her. She is not
safe
at the castle." Solomon huffed, further away from me than I would have thought.
"It appears that you are painting yourselves into a corner over this." Tisha laughed, "Why don't you just draw straws and pick one?" She was just trying to divert them from their frustration.
In that moment my eyes popped open and I immediately sat bolt-upright. My body was in control and I had no idea what I was doing. Every muscle in my body stood at attention and I felt like the puppet to someone's puppeteer. The sensation was frightening.
"What the bloody hell?!" Solomon's voice was sharp and loud.
"Celeste, what are you doing?" Von sounded shocked and concerned.
My eyes must have said it all—but I couldn't speak. I was unable to do anything but push off from my sitting position and walk to the middle of the living room. I tried to shake my head but I couldn't. My body was rigid as my feet began to slowly leave the floor, my toes dragging on the tips until I was eventually standing one foot above the floor. Finally I could feel my body begin to spin slightly.
Both Von and Solomon grabbed a hand on either side of me—Von on my left and Solomon on my right. They both held on tightly and pulled on me so firmly that I thought my hands were going to detach from my wrists. Not a pretty image, that is for sure.
Tisha stood directly in front of me, scanning me from head to toe, trying to get a grasp of what was going on. She cast her hand out to place on my chest so that she could cover me in a spell of protection but her hand fell through me as if I wasn't there even though both men still had a strong grasp on my hands.
"Don't let her go!" Tisha yelled as my body began to emit a subtle yellow glow. My vision began to pulse with the yellow light and I felt myself convulse as both men lost their hold of my hands. They had not let go—I had literally slipped through their hands.
The yellow light swelled and I lost sight of my confined living room. The light consumed my entire vision until it began to slowly subside. My vision was spotted with tiny flares of light until it cleared and I could finally see the room around me. I fell slightly to the right and felt strong arms around me as I wavered back and forth, trying to get my balance back.
"My Raven." The voice was husky and deep, "you are finally here."
"Who are you?" I took a step back from the hands that had helped me regain my balance.
In front of me stood a man unlike anyone I had known in my past. He was, in a word, impressive. He was a slender but muscular man, standing no taller than 6'1". His skin was copper and his hair shined in the light offered from the overhead lamp, midnight black, long and braided down to the middle of his back, stopping just below his shoulder blades. Hmm, I don't like long hair but it looked appropriate on him—it just seemed right.
His facial features screamed Native American and so did the rest of him. His body was basically that of an athlete, his fingers could have been made to play the piano. His eyes were fierce in their darkness—there seemed to be absolutely no color but onyx black. His clothing was simple, though and that surprised me—worn relaxed blue jeans, white t-shirt and boots.
My eyes covered him from head to toe. Every inch of the man was muscular and ropey. He wasn't as broad as Solomon but he wasn't slight in any way—the man was clearly a warrior from the fluid movements of his body. My mind recognized the warrior in him in that instant that he moved closer to me—he was almost stalking me with his movements. I took three steps backwards in response to his movements. He didn't make a move to approach after that.
He looked oddly familiar although I wasn't sure I could trust him or where I had ever met him. My memory was already pushed to capacity from the events of the day. Trying to remember my middle name was going to be a trial. My head tilted slightly, trying to get a different angle on the man's face, while accessing all prior knowledge of men I knew. It was frustrating not being able to place his face.
"Do you not recognize me?" He waved his hand before himself like he was doing a magic trick. "We have quite the history together."
"Vague much?" I eyed him dubiously. "Answer the question please. Who
are
you?"
He laughed and shook his head slowly. "Oh my, how I have missed you, Raven."
"The name is Celeste, Celeste Woods." Or was it Ravenwood as the video had said? I was a bit confused. "Why would you think my name is Raven?"
"Because it is your name." He shrugged, "Raven… Celeste… of the Woods."
I frowned up at him. His solid black eyes were similar to mine in some strange way and I had to wonder… was I related to this man? His sharp cheekbones were high and almost regal. He carried himself like he was royalty, a prince, accustomed to always getting his way on everything.
"I must not forget myself. You have always distracted my mind when you were in the room." He shook his head and smiled broadly.
"I… I don't
know
you." I stuttered. I sounded immature to my own ears, unsure.
"But you
HAVE
and you
will
." He smiled and waved around the room, spinning on his heel like he was doing a fancy dance move. "My name is Gabriel Running Wolf." He bowed deeply, and reached for my hand. "And it is a great pleasure to greet you formally, my queen" He smiled mischievously at me as he leaned down to kiss my hand.
My pulse stuttered and my head became light when his lips touched my wrist. His lips lingered just long enough for my pulse to pick up the pace and make my knees go weak. This was not normal for me—I was actually acting like a typical teenaged girl. I actually wanted to giggle for heaven's sake! What was wrong with me?!
"Ahh, your pulse has sped up." He raised his eyebrows slightly, "Attraction is obvious when the pulse speeds up." His voice was husky.
Nope, definitely not related… or at least I hope not!
"Or, it just means that you frighten the heck out of me." I pulled my hand away from him slowly, cautiously. No telling what this man would do with me if he felt like I wasn't in control of the situation.
He stared at me for a moment and then laughed deeply, standing up straight once again and shrugging his shoulders as he walked over to the window of the room that we were now standing in.
"Has it truly been so long that you have forgotten everything, Raven?" He pulled the curtain slightly, revealing the view of a lighthouse from the window frame. My eyes settled on the lighthouse and tried to place it. We were on the West Coast but there was no hotel room near that particular lighthouse that I had ever known of—Heceta Head, my very favorite vista of all time.
"How?" My eyes sat on the lighthouse. I looked around the room to make sure I was correct—we were in a full hotel suite, or so it seemed. We were in what would appear to be an extremely expensive penthouse suite but our view was Heceta Head, floating hundreds of feet in the air. I audibly gulped.
Gabriel turned back to me from his position at the window. He smiled knowingly and raised one eyebrow as he spoke, "Magic, Raven."
Walking to the window, I took a closer look. The lighthouse seemed to be on the same level as us. Usually it took a good fifteen minute hike to reach the lighthouse from the base of the hill but there it was within a few minute's walk. Fog engulfed the lighthouse as the fresnel lense signaled the waters to the west. It was a little eerie not hearing anything from the ocean, only seeing the lighthouse call out to me—reaching with its rays to wash me in warm, radiant beams. I closed my eyes to see if I could hear the ocean below, crashing and singing to me. There was only silence.
"It is an illusion," Gabriel spoke, "a vision." He touched the glass with his right hand and then looked at me directly from his position.
Nodding, I kept my eyes on the fog as the light reflected in the water particles captured inside. "Why have you brought me here, Gabriel?"
"Because it is time." He said simply.
Turning my head to face his piercing black eyes I pushed, "Time for what?"
"Time for you to choose." He watched me sagely. He was trying to take this slowly and I had no idea what he was afraid of.
"Where are we, Gabriel?" My eyes drifted back to the view outside the window.
"New York City." He whispered.
I nodded slowly. Grrrr, I hated the East Coast. How the heck had I gotten there so quickly? I was just in Portland sitting in my tiny apartment, surrounded by crazy people and having my memories slowly poured back into my mind. Maybe a change of scenery
was
in order but New York City?!
AHHHH!
"So, why the illusion of Heceta Head? Why show me something that isn't there?" My hands touched the window.
"Because you love it." Hmmm, that sounded like a good enough reason. I nodded at the window.
"Yes, but it is a lie. I do not like lies." My eyes flicked over to his and I could read the determination in them.
He straightened his posture and walked to the middle of the room, drawing my attention from the window. "I thought that you would appreciate the view since you are not fond of the East Coast. This is where the powers are converging, though, and this is where we had to meet." He raised his hands in the air like he was pushing something up from his chest level, up into the air above. It was a bit of an ominous sight.
"Explain, Gabriel." I took three steps towards him and then placed my hands on my hips. "NOW."
Gabriel nodded from his position in the middle of the room. Slowly, he sat himself down on the floor, crossing his legs and placing his elbows on his knees. I knew this position—my meditation pose.
He nodded to me and waved his hand towards the carpeted area in front of him. "Please," his eyes asked for me to join him.
I sat down across from him, crossing my legs and placing my elbows on my knees as well. I knew what we were going to do—we were going to take a journey together. A vision journey.
How did I know that?
I nodded back at him.
He tenderly took my hands in his and closed his eyes, which prompted me to do the same. Immediately my head was full of visions and he was in every one.
"We were promised to each other as children," his voice sounded in my ears, surrounding me, filling my ears and mind with the rich resonance of his voice. "Our parents knew that our futures would be entwined. Your mother saw as much."
"Who
was
my mother? I don't remember her." I asked but was afraid to know the answer. A picture of a woman floated into my mind. She was beautiful with long, flowing straight black-brown hair down her back, soft doe-brown eyes, beautifully full lips and a slight smile. Her eyes were happy and her figure was full. She was not skinny or fat —she was just right. I liked her. She was small compared to me. I could tell from the vision but she looked fierce, strong and determined. Standing on the wrong side of her could end you in a world of hurt—I could tell.
Yes
.
"She was the tribe's shaman. There have not been many female shaman in our tribe but she was not the first or the last. She was the strongest before you, though, and no one questioned her or her decisions. Not until us." I could hear the smile in his voice.
"What did
we
do?" I wanted to smile. I knew that we were pressing our luck going against my mother's wishes.
"We released each other from our commitment for marriage." His answer did not shock me. Hey, he would have been in my life already if we had been married. I think my
husband
would have told me about my
fiancé
.
I opened my eyes, causing him to do the same. He knew that I was outside of our shared memory vision.
"So what do you want now, Gabriel, since we are not committed for marriage and you have pulled me away from everyone that I know? What do you want from me?" My forehead furrowed and my eyes began to squint as if I were looking at him through a microscope.
He cleared his throat and began to hold my hands a tiny bit tighter. He wasn't letting go. "I had a vision."
"Let me guess." I didn't want to say it, "I was pregnant." His eyes opened wide in shock. "I was gonna have baby, I was with child, I was preggers or knocked up. Am I in the general ballpark?" I shrieked.
"Those all mean the same thing, Raven." He released my hands and stared at me unashamedly. "But no, You were
holding
a child."
Oh, my mind spun a little on
that
answer. "And what did this child look like?" My hands shook.
"He looked like… me." His eyes bored into mine.
"So what, Gabriel? You had a dream about me holding a child that looked like you and now you are yanking me over to New York to
chat
about it? Isn't that a bit weird?" I took a big breath before continuing, "So what do you expect me to do? It was a dream, it was only a dream."
"It was a vision… of the future." Gabriel spoke softly, a tiny bit wary.
Huffing, I crossed my arms under my chest. My fingers thrummed on my bicep as I considered what was going to happen now. "So what now, Gabriel?"
He reached over and squeezed my hand as he gave me a soft grin. "Now we talk about the future."