Casted (Casted series) (30 page)

“What are the chances that it was, in fact, a tracker we destroyed?” Jude asked.

Edge stopped behind him. A crease formed on his brow. “I don’t know if it was or not. If it was, than Lorenzo either knows it’s us and he’s trying to trace our location, or he doesn’t know it’s us and he’s trying to draw us out.”

“We’re not gonna be able to keep going at this pace. If he keeps up these attacks, we’ll be caught for sure. No one here has ever had to fight like this. They’re all drained,” Jude said, turning his chair to face Edge.

“Let’s just hope they’re trying to recover, like we are. The Triad lost a lot of Enforcers tonight. With any luck, Lorenzo is scrambling to get them replaced.” Edge grabbed the chair on the other side of Jude and slid into it.

“How long before we can turn this around on him?” Jude asked.

Edge looked at me. “Once Jade is comfortable with using her own magic, we can move onto the spells in the book. I won’t risk her going out there with us not knowing what that book can do.”

Edge was right, as much as I hated to admit it. The book had many spells I could call forth. Spells I could use to keep us all safe or get us all killed. If drawing from energy was the base of the spell, then I could take out anything and everything around me, including all of them. It was too dangerous for me to try and use magic I didn’t understand.

But that was all going to change tomorrow, even if I had to do it myself. I could no longer sit back and watch while everyone else was fighting.

The woman in the book hadn’t made another appearance and that was a little scary for me. I’d expected her to be ready to blast the inside of my head out the inside of my head in her escape. What was she waiting for? Pages fluttered as I directed my thoughts to the spell book. I looked down at the words on my arm. Why had I gone through so much to get the spell translated only to have her remain in my head? I still had no clue who she was and what she was really after. Sure she wanted the Triad wiped out. At this point, who didn’t?

I laid my head on the table and closed my eyes. There was no use going to bed only to be woken by the blaring alarm that undoubtedly would be going off at any time.

The spell book pages began fluttering as my body slid into a deep sleep.

I stood in front of the table where the book rested. Her wispy form rose from the pages and shifted in front of me.

“So eager to talk again I see,” she said.

What did she mean? I didn’t come to her, she brought me here.

Her brow quirked at my thought, “I cannot bring you here.”

“How is that possible?”

She sighed heavily. “I ask for a savior and you give me this!” She shook her fist in the air. “Goddess, you are a cruel, cruel woman.”

“You asked the Goddess for a savior?”

She snorted. “And I got you. How lucky could one bound soul be?”

I cringed at her sarcasm.

“It’s not like I asked for this either,” I blurted back at her.

She rolled her eyes and hitched her shoulder.

“So we’re stuck with each other until when?” I asked.

“Until it is time.”

“Time for what exactly?”

“You will know when I tell you.”

“Probably about the same time you tell me your name,” I grumbled.

“DARE YOU NAUGHT, LITTLE GIRL! I have crushed others far better than you.”

Her misty breath slammed against my face like ice crystals. She hovered before me, teeth clenched as if she were holding herself back from striking me. I kept silent until her form retreated to hover over the book again.

“I meant you no disrespect. I’m very confused by all of this. I don’t understand why I’m being hunted. I don’t understand how or why the book absorbed into me and I really don’t understand what I’m supposed to do now that I’ve completed the spell for you.”

“The time for all of your answers is coming. The Triad will pay for all the wrong they have done.”

Her form slipped back into the book. There was no use demanding the answers. She’d made it very clear she wasn’t going to give me the information I needed until she deemed it to be the right time.

Somehow her name, her real name, was the key to getting her out of my head. Why else would she keep it from me? She was already a soul, as she’d pointed out. Unless she was hiding and the perfect place to remain undetected was inside of me. It was the most reasonable excuses that I could think of.

The light around me started to dim.

Edge’s fingers traced along my face as he spoke softly to me. My eyes fluttered open. I was tucked up against him in bed. He must have carried me there.

He smiled. “I didn’t think you were ever going to wake up.”

I picked my head up to look at the clock beside the bed. I’d slept the rest of the night away and no more alarms had gone off to wake me up.

“Did everyone go to bed?” I asked.

“Not sure. When I brought you up here, Dagger had pulled himself and Jessa off the floor, but the others were still out.”

“So, no more alarms, that’s good.”

“Yeah, for now,” he said, pulling me tighter against him.

“We have to start using the book, Edge.” I felt his body stiffen at my words.

“I know.”

“Coffee, food and then practice,” I said, smiling up at his face.

He winked. “As you wish.”

CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

“You tired yet?” Jessa shouted as she approached Edge and me on the beach.

We had been practicing for a couple of hours. He wasn’t going to let me use any of the spells in the book until I’d worn myself down a little bit. He also wanted to make sure I was truly ready for it.

I could attest to being tired. I’d eaten more sand than I wanted and could feel my muscles turning to jelly from all the exertion of falling down, getting up and swimming…yes, swimming. Edge had sent a burst of air that landed me past the breaking waves. I’d rolled and flipped and darted so much that my legs were trying to cramp. But I was not giving up. Not when I was so close to cracking open the spell book and testing it out.

“I think we’re about ready to see what Jade can do with the spell book,” Edge answered her.

Jessa clapped her hands together and bounced on her feet. “I came at just the right time!”

“What? No, Jessa. I don’t even know what half of these spells are for. I can’t have you getting caught up in a wayward spell.” I tossed her a look that begged for understanding. She shook her head at me, daring me to tell her no again. I knew that stubborn set of her shoulders, it said ‘try and stop me’.

“Fine!” I tossed my hands in the air. “But if you get hurt, don’t say I didn’t warn you.”

“Whatever! Stop talking and start spelling,” she said, rubbing her hands together.

Edge kept his distance, but linked his mind to mine. I was being monitored by him on two levels, the physical and the mental. Thankfully, he spoke out loud so that he didn’t make things more confusing inside of my head.

“Ready?” he asked.

I nodded as I shifted my focus on the book. The pages flipped back and forth, waiting for me to decide on which spell to chose.

“Let’s go with a simple one. See if there is something in there to momentarily freeze your opponent,” he said.

I thought about what he wanted and the pages fluttered open to the spell. Before I could I process what I was supposed to do, Jessa was frozen in place. Edge walked over and shoved her. Her body toppled over in the sand like a statue knocked from its pedestal.

“Edge,” I groaned.

“What? She wanted to be a part of this,” he smirked. “Okay, now find the spell to release her.”

The pages flipped to a stop and Jessa lunged up from the sand and got in Edge’s face.

“What the hell? I hope she does it to you because I’m so gonna carry your ass into the ocean and watch you sink like an anchor,” she fumed.

Edge smirked, pissing her off even more.

We hadn’t even got to the big stuff yet and they were already fighting. I sighed.

“Hello? Can we continue now?” I said bringing their focus back to me.

Jessa stepped away from Edge with a warning growl. “Do that shit again and see what happens.” She stalked away putting yards between them.

Edge and Jessa took turns coming up with defensive moves that were more to stun someone than truly hurt them. I’d listen to the request and the book flipped open to that page and the spell would be immediately casted.

“See if there is anything for rain in the book, but this time, try to hold the spell and only release it when you are ready to,” Edge called out to me.

I thought about Edge’s request and the book pages flipped, settling on the correct spell. Rain poured from the sky. I had to figure out how to look at the spells and not have them cast before I wanted them to.

I thought about stopping the rain. The book once again settled on a page and the shower was over. I shook my head to clear my thoughts and disconnected myself from the book. I needed time to think about how I could control the process of looking at the spell and then releasing it when I wanted to use it.

“Any ideas on how to do that?” I asked Edge. He’d been in my head the whole time, listening to my thoughts and witnessing firsthand how quick the spells were being carried out.

“I’ve never seen anything like that. You’re mind is so all over the place it’s a wonder the book hasn’t taken completely over. The whole time you were linked to that book, my heart wanted to jump out of my chest. We can’t get back in it until we know how to keep the spells from casting before you’re ready to let them go.”

“Do you think Micah might know how?” I asked.

“It’s possible, but he’s still out meeting with Covens in need of aid. Let’s see if Jude can get a hold of him. Until then, keep that damn thing locked up tight. Holy hell that was scary.” Edge laced his fingers in mine.

“That was some crazy shit,” Jessa said, biting on her thumbnail. It had been a long time since I’d seen her do that. She was worried.

“Well, it will come in real handy when we go after Lorenzo and the Triad. I just have to work on fine tuning it,” I said, easing a chuckle into my voice. I didn’t want her to be afraid. I was plenty afraid for the both of us. Edge squeezed my fingers. He was still tuned in to me, picking up my thoughts.

“Okay, time to clear out,” I said, tugging on his fingers. He pulled his thoughts away from mine. The more I thought about how easy we could slip in and out of each others heads, the creepier it felt.

“It’s gonna be okay. We’ll get this figured out,” he whispered.

Sand scratched at my skin in the most uncomfortable places. I wanted a shower and food. My stomach grumbled in agreement. After my shower, I tossed on a worn pair of sweats and a light t-shirt. This morning’s training had kicked my ass, physically and mentally. Edge met me on the stairs.

“Give me a sec. I want to grab a shower, and then you and I are going to talk with Jude about the spell book.” With a quick peck to my lips, he continued on.

I found Jude in the kitchen, which was weird because he was usually parked in front of the computer, monitoring the Triad.

“You know, we may have to give you a really cool super hero name now that you’ve implanted us with this awesome ability,” he said, pointing at his head.

I rolled my eyes. “That wasn’t me and you know it.”

Jude wiggled his eyebrows at me. “You stay out of my head and I’ll stay out of yours.”

“On that we agree.” I already had enough going on in my head.

“Grab that and follow me,” Jude said, pointing to a platter of sandwiches.

Edge sat down beside me and grabbed a sandwich motioning for Jude to talk.

“Jade, what happens when you connect with the book?” Jude asked.

“Anytime I think of a spell, the book just flips open and the spell is cast before I’m ready to do it myself.”

“It’s casting on its own?” Jude asked.

“Yes. I really need to ask the woman in the book what I should do. It’s her book, so she has to know how to keep that from happening.”

Jude and Edge looked at me in confusion.

“Jade, you can talk to her?” Jude asked.

“I’ve talked to her a few times, but she’s kind of scary so I don’t get much of a conversation when we talk.”

“What do you mean you’ve talked to her a couple of times? When were you going to tell me this?” Edge was angry.

“There really isn’t much to tell you. She pretty much keeps everything to herself. Well, except she did say that it was her spell book. She was been bound to it after her Coven was attacked. I think she went off the deep end losing her baby and husband by the hands of the Triad,” I replied.

“This just got bad, Edge.” Jude blew out a breath and scrubbed his hands in his hair.

“Got bad, how exactly?” I asked.

Jude shoved himself out of the chair and started pacing. “I know who’s trapped in your head.”

My stomach plummeted.

“If you think back on it, you’ll know too, Edge,” Jude groaned.

I watched as Edge squinted like he was searching his brain for the answer. His eyes popped and he slammed his fist down on the desk. I could see that they both knew - and they were very upset by it.

“Who?” I asked

“Huh, that’s the thing. We cannot say her name,” Jude said as he paced.

“Can’t or won’t?” Would they tell me? Or were they worried to speak her name and bring on her wraith?

“Both,” Edge replied.

“What…why?” They were really going to keep this from me. I couldn’t help being a little offended that I was good enough to harbor her, but not know who she was.

“From here on out, no more book. We can’t take the chance on releasing her,” Edge said, as he pierced me with his gaze.

“How the hell am I supposed to do that? You know she has the capability to take over my body. The only shot we have with her is to comply. If I don’t comply, she beats the shit out of my brain. So you tell me, how am I supposed to keep her in check when she’s the one ultimately calling the shots?”