Chasing Shadows (39 page)

“Thank you.” I looked at her walls and back at her. “I suppose we should get started on what I came here for.”

She nodded. “This is the head count I got. There are forty of us.” She handed me a list of people who were half-bloods and where they were located.

“This is everyone, including children, infants, the elderly, and the sick?” I asked as I looked at the paper.

“No, with all of those it comes to sixty. Can you really afford to help all of us at once?” Her eyes were filled with curiosity.

“I’m going to try, and if it takes more than one round, then I’m okay with that. Can you get all of them to my house in one week so we can do it?”

“I should be able to. But some of the elderly and sick may not be able to make it.” She looked down, trying to hide the sadness in her eyes.

“That’s okay. We can go to them if need be.” I smiled at her and she smiled back.

“Thank you, AubrieAnna. You are an amazing young woman.” Mrs. Summer stepped out from behind her desk and hugged me tightly.

“You’re welcome.”

Chapter 18

Most of the week had passed with ease and very little stress. I had taken my driving test and passed. Sebastian bought me a ʼ76 pink Volkswagen Beetle and gave it to me as a congratulatory gift. There were no more dirty clothes in our hampers, and the dishes had been cleaned and put away every night. More paintings had been hung up on the walls, and I had the chance to reread a few books as well as look through my grimoire. But most important, I got the spell prepared for saving the half-blood race.

I made a big batch of elixir so each and every one of them could drink the correct amount, and it took a long time to get it ready. The elixir had to be set out in the moonlight for seven nights. It contained about two cups of my blood, olive oil, and water. I had to bring the liquids to a boil individually and combine them once they had bubbled. When they were finally mixed together, I added rosemary, lemongrass, and thyme. After the herbs were added in, the elixir started to smell like vampire spaghetti sauce, and I had to stop Sebastian from eating it a time or two. Once the herbs had infused the liquid mixture, I added bumblebee wings, a hummingbird’s heart, and the hoof of an ox. Finally, after hours of finding every ingredient and mixing it all together, I placed the pot outside overnight, every night, in the light of the moon.

I lifted the lid off the pot and took a curious sniff. It smelled like the air after a snowfall: crisp, clean, and earthy. With a strainer in place and a large glass bowl underneath, I emptied the pot into the bowl. To my surprise, the bumblebee wings, hummingbird heart, and ox’s hoof had dissolved. I removed the strainer and began ladling small portions into each of the vials Sebastian had bought me from the Wiccan shop. He stood by, capping each of them with a cork and setting them on a tray. It took us almost an hour to fill up the vials, but we still had more work to do once we were finished.

Mrs. Summer had come early to see if we needed help with anything. I had her help me grab a few things from the house and bring them out to the circle. After Sebastian and I finished up with the vials, we scoured the property for the perfect spot to perform the spell. We searched for ten minutes before we found a clearing on the east side of the property. He helped me cut down the grass and lay out a small cloth in the center. The cloth held the vials. Along the edge of the clearing, I poured a circle of salt and sand. Candles held down each corner of the cloth, and the ceremony knife sat among sixty leaves of sage.

Soon after dusk, half-bloods began arriving on our property. Parents carried their small children and babies, teenagers helped their sick parents, and adults helped the elderly. They all stood holding hands with the ones they loved, hope shining in their eyes. Sixty half-bloods stood in front of me, hoping that I could help them, giving me all of their faith. I motioned for them to enter the circle. Slowly, one by one they entered, spreading out along the perimeter. Sebastian and Mrs. Summer looked at me, and I nodded. It was time to heal them.

I walked around the circle and stopped at each half-blood. I had to slice their palms and tell them to squeeze a sage leaf in their hands. Blood dripped onto the ground, staining the dirt and rotten leaves red. After we passed through the circle and each of them had their hands cut, we gave them the vials of elixir. Everyone had everything they needed, but it wasn’t over yet. I stood in the center of the circle and cut my own palm, sending my blood splattering into the earth. After sixty seconds had passed, I closed my eyes and forced my magic into the ground. Sparks ignited and pushed their way under the surface of the earth. Veins of my blood reached out to every half-blood in the circle and rose out of the ground to connect with the drops that were still coming out of their hands. I heard gasps all around me. Silver lights burst through each of them, and they all glowed with my power. I signaled for them to drink their vials. Corks popping pricked at my ears. Mrs. Summer called out that they had all drunk from their vials, and I rose up from the ground. My eyes were still closed as I concentrated on pulling the elixir through each of them. When I felt it was complete, I opened my eyes.

Sweat beaded my forehead, and I looked around to see if it had actually worked. The elderly looked younger, the sick looked healthier, and the healthy looked surprised. Whispers flooded through them. There was no knowing if it had worked permanently or if it was temporary—only time could really tell. Someone cleared his throat to the right of me, and I turned to look at him. My vision had become blurry and I was feeling unsteady on my feet, but I kept myself upright.

“We want to thank you. If this has worked, you have saved our race, and to me it looks like it has worked,” a male’s voice spoke through the darkness. My vision was fading more and more. I couldn’t see where he was or who he was, just blurs of dark masses connected together. I blinked hard in hope of pushing my vision back into my eyes. It didn’t work.

I coughed lightly. “You’re very welcome. Although if you need to know, it wasn’t entirely unselfish of me to help you guys. When I heard about what had happened, your inability to procreate and the illnesses, I wanted to help. But when I heard about your abilities, I wanted to help in hope that you would believe who I was.” I coughed again. “And in the chance that you would aid me in my battle against the shadows.”

“I see. Well we are forever in your debt for this, even if it is only temporary. But if it is temporary then we may have to do these more frequently,” he replied.

I nodded. “I was told it was a permanent spell but that others couldn’t make it work because they didn’t have my kind of power. I just pray that my power holds up.” My voice was becoming weak, and my legs started to shake.

“We pray as well.”

“Perhaps we could discuss more of this another time. You know where to find us if it is only temporary. It took a lot of AubrieAnna’s energy and power to help you this evening. You are all in our thoughts in hope that this worked and will last forever. If you will excuse us, I should get her into the house for the rest of the evening. We will hear from you all soon.” Sebastian spoke for me, and his strong arms gripped my elbow as he led me toward the house. I tripped a few times before he gave up and scooped my weak body into his arms.

When we were safely in the house, he laid me down on the couch and threw a blanket over me. I had broken out in a cold sweat and was shivering immeasurably. My teeth clanked and clattered together, and even though my eyes were open, I could no longer see anything. A gentle knock at the door startled me and I tried to sit up, but Sebastian shoved me back down. Heels clacked softly on the floor. They stopped behind the couch. I wanted to see who it was, wanted to know who it was. I tried to force my vision back into being. It was no use. Huffing out a heavy breath, I closed my eyes and turned my head.

“She’s not doing well, is she?” It was Mrs. Summer’s voice.

“I don’t think so,” Sebastian replied.

“AubrieAnna, can you hear me?” she asked me sweetly.

I nodded.

“What’s wrong? I might be able to help you a little,” she offered.

I opened my mouth to tell her I couldn’t walk, see, and I felt like I was freezing to death, but nothing came out. It didn’t matter what I tried. I couldn’t do anything. I was helpless. Frowning, I attempted to shrug my shoulders to tell her I couldn’t say anything, but they wouldn’t move. My body became heavy and everything seemed out of focus, fuzzy. Sounds that I could normally hear were faint, and my breath was labored. It felt like I was dying.

“I don’t think she can speak. Is there any way you can get her into a dream state? I could speak with her there,” Mrs. Summer said to Sebastian.

“I don’t think so. But if I can get into her thoughts, I might be able to . . . ” his voice faded out. I could no longer hear anything, feel anything, see anything, smell anything, or say a word. My body was failing me.

There was a soft push in my mind, and I was unable to put up a solid wall to prevent whatever or whoever it was. I wanted to sleep now, to give in to the underwater feeling, but the pressure in my brain wouldn’t go away.
AubrieAnna, my love.
Sebastian. He was in my brain. Sleep, I wanted sleep.

Go away. I want to sleep. Please, just let me sleep,
I begged him.

I will as soon as we get some information to Mrs. Summer. She wants to help alleviate some of this so you can get better soon,
he soothed.

No, I want to go to sleep,
I whined back.

I know you do, but tell me what’s wrong first. Please? Then you can sleep. I promise,
he pleaded.

Fine,
I grumbled back at him.

Now tell me what’s going on with you.

I can’t see, I can’t feel, move, hear, smell, or speak. I can’t do anything. I feel like I’m dying. Am I dying?
I thought softly toward him.

I don’t know. Don’t fall asleep yet. I will be right back. Okay?

Okay.

There was a small shove and he was out of my thoughts. If I was dying, I couldn’t fall asleep. I didn’t want to leave him behind, leave him all alone without me. My soul ached. I wanted to cry, to sob, but nothing happened. I felt a small pressure point again as he pushed himself back into my thoughts.
Good news. You aren’t dying,
Sebastian sighed happily.

Then what is wrong with me?
I asked.

Your body is putting everything you don’t need on reserve. It has to replenish all of the energy you pushed out and into the spell. Your power is also running a little low—every part of your supernatural abilities. The spell took a lot out of you. In a way, your body is shutting down, but not completely. It’s still running, your heart is beating, you’re breathing just fine, and you are twitching every time I touch you. Mrs. Summer is going to give you a small jolt of energy, but it’s going to relax you more deeply and put you into a deep sleep. She said that’s all you can really do right now. But I promise I will be here when you wake up. I love you, AubrieAnna. See you when you wake.

I love you too.
And with that, I was officially under the darkness that I needed to let my body replenish itself.

At first, there was just blackness, and then dreams in all colors and varying degrees of strangeness filed into my subconscious. I tried to wake up a few times, but my eyes wouldn’t cooperate. Eventually, when I would regain consciousness, I could feel soft sheets and squishy pillows under me and I could hear birds chirp and other sounds. Helios tried to lick me out of my much-needed coma a few times, and it almost worked, but I would fall back into my endless slumber. I was getting impatient, I wanted to wake up, there were other things I needed to do. I kept fading in and out of consciousness, and I was able to feel, hear, or move a little bit more each time. But when I finally woke up, I was happy.

Gray light filtered into my vision. My vision was back, and it felt amazing to be able to see again. It was definitely going to be one of the many things I would try never to take for granted again. I stretched out my shaky limbs and yawned, and the sound that came out of my mouth made me giggle in excitement. Sebastian had held up his promise and was happily standing by the bed. Pure joy and happiness welled within me as I looked over his face. With strong facial features but soft eyes and lips, he was the most perfect man—or vampire—that I had ever seen. I smiled and reached out to hug him tight because I never wanted to let him go.