With You In Spirit (The Bassinville Witches Series) (12 page)

Taking a deep breath, she walked all around the orb, her
emerald
eyes reflecting the orb’s colour. She reached her hand out again, and took hold of the orb, clasping her fingers around it tightly, and lifting it towards her.

As soon as she touched it, it was like a bolt of electricity had leapt through her arm, and the sheer power from the orb
lifted her. It started to lift her higher, her hair floating out from her head as if she had touched static. Just when she thought it was either going to smash her against the
walls of the
cave, or drop her like a stone, she suddenly found herself hovering gently about four inches off the floor.

She closed her eyes, letting the warmth of the orb’s power flow through her, stretching out into every
fibre of her body, liquid fire racing through every vein, lighting her fingertips. Turning her attention towards the sounds of the fight, she grinned, and began to float towards it…

********

As Marcus floated towards him, Caden braced himself. Although he didn’t have any of the powers of a witch, vampires didn’t always need them. They had their own inbuilt shield against magick, so it was a lot less effective against them-it didn’t mean, of course, that they couldn’t be destroyed by magick, but it made much more of a fair fight.

“Caden…I didn’t think we would meet again in this lifetime.” Marcus sneered, as he drew close.
His eyes gleamed as he flicked his finger, light playing along the tips of them like a black glowing snake.

“I certainly hoped to never see you again in this lifetime, no. But I think it’s time we stopped running into each other.”
Caden snapped, pulling his teeth into a bloody grin. Without wasting a breath, his arm moved fast as light, and his fist connected with Marcus’ ribs.

Marcus wheezed in a breath, but straightened himself up, moving himself further back. The cockiness was now gone, and his face was drawn and white. Crying out in rage, he twisted his hand, throwing a bolt of black towards
Caden’s torso. It lashed out at him, ripping a large tear down the front of his shirt, slicing the skin underneath as if it were a knife. Caden gave a quick glance down, watching his skin slowly repairing itself, and he growled in anger. “That was my best shirt, asshole.”

Marcus simply laughed, darkly, and pressed his hands together. As he pulled them apart
, an enormous black ball appeared. Aiming it, he let it fly, and it spread itself as it came towards Caden. Caden held his arms up in defence, but couldn’t stop it covering him, as hundreds of tiny black claws appeared, slicing into him. Blood poured from him, making him gasp and grab at his chest at the piercing pain that dragged through it. If you took enough blood from a vampire, you could weaken him.

Caden fell to the floor, struggling to regain his footing, but readied himself to pounce towards Marcus, when he saw something that made him stop. Even Marcus saw the look in his eyes, and turned to see what it was he was staring at. What he saw made him tighten his jaw in anger and fear.

Floating towards them slowly, looking every inch a true witch, was Catherine. Her eyes were flashing with grey and white, and her hair flew wildly around her head as if she were stood in a great wind. Her hands were outstretched, and in her right hand sat-the orb. A glow surrounded her figure, white and resonating, and a soft humming seemed to come from nowhere, surrounding her presence. Shawna hovered a rock in mid-air in shock, as she
watched her friend glide through. Even Jackson did a second glance, his tornado twisting the opposite way to where he was guiding it, dropping coven witches left and right.

As she drew nearer, she smiled; a thin, nasty smile towards Marcus. “Hello, Marcus. You really shouldn’t leave people alone where they can get hold of orbs.” Her voice was strange; it held an echo to it, and it sounded all at once as though there were a thousand voices and then just her voice.

Marcus gritted his teeth, his eyes narrowing. “I wouldn’t worry, little Catherine. Your father held that orb and
I took it from him…I’ll take it from your cold, dead hand.”

“Really?”
Catherine tilted her head, raising one eyebrow
, the maniac grin never leaving her face. “I’d like to see you try that.” She raised her hand, and a flash of sparking energy left her hand like a sword, piercing through Marcus’ protective shield. He yelled with rage, and sent black flying back toward her. Caden leapt to his feet, finding strength from somewhere, but she dodged it, sliding to the left easily. As it ricocheted into the cave wall behind, a large chunk of rock slid
onto the floor, crumbling in a cloud of dust.

The others had stopped fighting for now, and were watching the battle before them with bated breath. Marcus moved forwards, and pushed his palms together, gathering energy like he had before, the crackling sound almost deafening as he began to grow it further.

“My turn.”
Catherine grinned, before
twisting her hands, curling them as if she was offering something, and then she blew on her palms. Long grey streaks of energy, like shadows, flew from her hands. They locked onto Marcus, and dragged his backwards, pinning him to the wall behind by his wrists and ankles. The black ball of light disappeared,
and he struggled against his mystical bonds, spitting and cursing.

Catherine moved in, her feet still not even touching the floor. As she drew close, she leaned into Marcus’ face, until he stopped moving and stared at her in fear. She held her hand up, and gave it a slow look. The orb sat there, and energy suddenly began to gather around it, crackling and sparking. She turned back to Marcus, her eyes reflecting those of her father, all those years ago.

“Marcus, this…is for hurting my friends…for hurting Caden…for hurting me…and,” here, she paused for dramatic effect, watching the terror build in his eyes as the giant orb of black and grey energy that now threatened him, “and this is for my father, you sick fucker.”

She raised her arm back, and everyone in the room held their breath. Caden braced himself, ready to race over and protect her if anything went wrong; not that she looked like she needed protecting right now. He was so proud of her. Shawna and Jackson cast a look at each other in
amazement, their faces showing nothing but shock.

Just as she was about to throw the energy towards him, there was a strange popping sound, and a cloaked figure appeared from thin air in between her and Marcus, shaking its head. It batted towards the ball of light in her hand, but shrieked and reeled away as it noticed the orb in her hand. Stunned, Catherine closed her hand tightly around the orb, and moved back, staring at the figure. “Who the hell are you?”

The cloaked figure looked up, but no face could be seen under the hood, only two wrinkled hands from the sleeves appeared. One of them pointed towards Catherine, shaking angrily. “You...you have the orb!
I am one of the Elders of
Ravensworth, and
you
, little girl, are in over your head.” a Russian sounding voice croaked.

Turning its dark hood towards Marcus, it made an angry, exasperated noise. Marcus shook with fear, bowing his head, as though in respect. “And
you
…will be coming before the council. You have failed your duty Marcus.” The hooded figure touched Marcus’ shoulder, and the dark energy bonds fell away. Catherine gasped in horror and displeasure. However, Marcus remained where he stood, keeping his head bowed.

Catherine began to let a ball of energy form from her outstretched arms, but Caden raced next to her side, grabbing her arms and holding her. The hooded figure noticed, turning slowly, and cackled. “Yes, at least your vampire understands who I am. You and I will meet again,
little witch.”
The figure raised a hand, and pointed one gnarled finger at her face.

Jackson leaned over to Shawna. “
Vampire?”
he whispered. Shawna shook her head, speechless.

Catherine struggled against Caden’s arms, but he kept her hugged in against him tightly, and he shook his head. “No,” he whispered, “this is not a fight we can win today. Trust me, this isn’t over for them.”

The figure turned sharply and snapped his fingers. “Time to be going, Coven! I have work to do.” As Catherine and her friends watched, there was a great roaring noise that filled the air, rather like the sound of a helicopter lifting off. A great flash of light filled the cave, blinding everyone present.

As the light receded, the four figures left in the cave blinked, looking around at one another. All of the coven witches had disappeared along with Marcus and the cloaked figure.
Catherine fought her way out of Caden’s arms, and spun angrily round at him.

“What the hell did you do that
for!
I was on a roll! He killed my father!” Her tone was hard, but a tear rolled from the corner of her eye. Caden’s face
softened,
and he ran over to her, cupping her face and kissing away the tear.

“Please don’t cry
, Catherine. You must understand, the Elders are not like Marcus, you would not have had a chance against him. But I meant what I said; we will find them, and we
will
make them pay, don’t worry about that.” He brushed a lock of hair from her face. Catherine sighed and nodded, cuddling into him.

She broke away from him again, a slight smile playing on her features. “However, I do now have this.” Lifting her palm, Catherine showed off the swirling grey and white orb proudly.

Caden chuckled, and looked at it happily. “Yes you do, and it would appear you have clicked into your powers as well, no?”

Jackson suddenly spoke up, still looking shell-shocked. “Vampire?” he repeated. Caden and Catherine turned to look at him, and then glanced at each other, laughing merrily…

T
he four figures walked slowly
along the banks of the swamp. Raindrops had collected in leaves and on grass, and were now glistening in the bright sunshine that had peered out from behind the grey storm clouds, blue sky showing. The humidity had gone, and
there was a cooler, calmer feel to the air. Catherine and Caden walked ahead, Caden with his arm tightly around Catherine’s shoulders. Shawna and Jackson followed, still in a stunned silence.

Catherine looked up at Caden. “So…why were you there? There’s something you’re not telling me.”

A muscle in Caden’s jaw ticked. “Yes, you’re right. I came here to protect you. Although I’m not a Wiccan, I knew your father. The organisation he belonged to was not exclusively for witches, but for any supernatural creatures who wanted to make sure the world was kept in balance. When you were born, he was so proud of you...before he died, he asked me to watch out for you. I swore to him that I would die to protect you, and Ravensworth would never kill you. Unfortunately…he knew that going for the orb may mean his death.”

Jackson ran up behind him, and tapped his shoulder. “That’s all very great, but…what the hell did he mean that you are a vampire? Are you?”

Flashing him a grin over his shoulder, Caden nodded at him. “Yes, I am. And I’m impressed that you stood up to me, by the way. Not many people have in my lifetime.”

Seeming pleased at that, Jackson grinned to himself, and nodded. “No problem. I’m just glad to know such a nice guy is protecting Catherine.” Unseen by Jackson, Catherine rolled her eyes, but a slow grin spread across her face.

There was a derisive snort from the very back, from Shawna. “Now, this is all very neat and tidy, but hang on-what the hell do you mean ‘you’re a vampire’? Surely they don’t exist?”

Stopping abruptly, Caden turned, and Shawna nearly ran into him. He smiled at her, and placed a hand on her arm. “Shawna, I know you are Catherine’s best
friend, but you need to know this. I…I love her.” He cast a glance at Catherine, whose jaw dropped in surprise. “No matter what I am, that is true. Just because I am a vampire, does not mean I’m going to ever harm her-you know that now, right?”

Shawna folded her arms, tilting her head back to look at him defensively. “Yeah, alright…
but are you
really?
” In answer to her question, Caden raised his eyebrows, as if he was pretending not to know what she was asking, and then slid his fangs out, winking at her.

Laughing at her flabbergasted face, he put his arm back around Catherine’s shoulders, hugging her into him. Shawna ran after them, her eyes wide with amazement. “Now wait up! So are there just vampires? Or are there other creatures?”

“Oh yes. There are pretty much any number of creatures you can think of; werewolves, demons, ghosts…and some of them are on our side, others are not.”

“Jeez!” Shawna looked at Jackson, who was still wearing a look of pride on his face. “Can you believe this?” Jackson shrugged, and linked arms with her, walking along.

A noise suddenly made them look up; a crashing sound of someone running through grasses from the direction of the town. A figure appeared, running awkwardly, as if they had been running for a long time. The group stopped, and watched the
figure as it grew closer. Shawna put a hand over her eyes, to see better, and frowned. “It’s Hannah!”

Sure enough, the bright pink and blond of Hannah came into view. She caught sight of the group and waved, sprinting towards them. She stopped in front of them, grasping her knees and gasping for breath.