Denai Touch: Excalibar Investigations Series (27 page)

“What were you thinking, Mother?” Ceri demanded, eyes flashing. “Cate?”

With Jason’s help Cate scrambled up. “I’m okay. No thanks to you,” she glared at Seline. “You tried to stop me from returning to my body.”

“I was only trying to give you more time to retrieve the pages. Goddess damn that Null!”

“I would have if you hadn’t stopped me from coming back!”

“As usual, Mother, you do anything to get what you want, no matter the consequences.”

“I would never have put Catherine in danger. She–”

“I’ve heard enough.” Cate teleported away.

Reappearing in her bedroom at Niara’s house, Cate flopped onto the bed, still breathing hard. If she had just been a bit faster, she would now have those missing pages. Cursing herself, she lay down. She didn’t have much time to think as Jason appeared.

“Are you alright?”

“Don’t you already know the answer?”

“Not when you’re blocking me, no.”

“I’m just frustrated. I had those pages within my grasp!”

“We’ll get them, one way or another.” Jason sat down on the bed. “At least you stayed in control this time.”

“You promised you wouldn’t keep things from me again.” She felt tears prick her eyes and took a deep breath.

“I’m sorry, it’s habit.”

“Sometimes I wonder whether I really know you at all.”

“Is this because of what Seline said? Do you think I’m going to lose my emotions and turn out like other Nuardans have?”

“No, but I can’t deny I’ve had my doubts about us. I know it isn’t going to be easy, us having a relationship.”

“I won’t deny there are things in my past I regret. I did things in the army I’d sooner forget.”

“I know what you’re capable of.”

“There’s one thing about the bond you should know.”

“The sex thing, yeah I know about that. I’m willing to wait if you are.”

“It’s hard. I want you more than I’ve ever wanted anyone.”

“Maybe sex isn’t such a good idea before the ascension. If I lose control–”

“Your powers can’t hurt me.” He stroked her hair off her face. “I wish we were at home. Where there’s no risk of anyone walking in on us.”

“Let’s think about it after we leave, then we’ll be alone. I’ll be ascended and you won’t have to worry so much.”

“Fat chance – to the worrying. Maybe this bond isn’t such a bad thing.”

Jason nuzzled her neck and she laughed. “How do you expect to wait when you act like that?” She saw a flash of light whoosh past her head and tensed. “What the…?”

They both looked down to see several pages of yellowed parchment. “It’s them,” she gasped and carefully picked them up. “I did it! We did it!” She gave him a quick kiss.

They started to examine the pages. “Gran will be pleased and maybe Mum can–”

“Are you sure we should tell them?”

Cate frowned. “Why wouldn’t I?”

“I’m just saying, Seline badly wants that book back and she proved earlier she’ll do
anything
to get it,” he said. “Ceri has been back in your life for five minutes. I know she’s your mum, but can you really trust her?”

“I want to and so far she hasn’t done anything to make me suspicious. Gran is – well, Gran.” She stared at the pages. “What are we going to do with them?”

“Keep them safe. No one else knows about them but us.”

“Maybe tonight we can work some of our own magic.”

“Is that an invitation into your bed?” he asked with a grin.

“Cheeky,” she said, nudging him in the ribs. “No, I meant that we cast a spell to find the Grimoire.”

“What about Bethany’s trial?”

“Tomorrow then.”

The doors to the temple opened easily. Cate was relieved she didn’t have to resort to using what little magic she had left. As she passed through the entrance, she almost tripped over something large. Looking down, she saw a knee high block of white stone. On it, engraved in Silveron letters was ‘Myrus’. This was definitely the right place, but it didn’t bring her much comfort.

Torches suddenly burst into life, illuminating the temple and bathing the large room in an eerie blue glow. A huge spell circle spanned the tile floor, illuminated by a seven pointed star in the centre. Beyond that stood a six foot long altar decorated with candles, an incense burner, and a ceremonial bowl. There were high, arched, stained-glass windows depicting a griffin, a unicorn, an image of the goddess, and three women gathered in a ring, seven-pointed star pendants hanging around their necks. The Triumvirate no doubt. This was the last known place the Grimoire had been. Her heels clattered against the tiles as she hurried up to the altar. A search on and around it revealed no sign of the book.

“What did you expect?” she asked herself. “Of course the Grimoire wasn’t going to be sitting here waiting for you to come and get it.”

“Cercei?” Cate called. “I know you’re here somewhere. I heard you. I need your help.”

She waited, but there was no answer. “Answer me, damn it! Jason’s hurt and I’m ascending,” she said, her voice echoing around the temple. “I need you to tell me how to get back.”

There was a flash of white orbs. “Then this is the safest place for you.”

“I can’t stay. I need to heal Jason, so he can help me through this. Please just give me the book.”

“I will not risk the Grimoire falling into Raven’s hands, and you are not strong enough to return back through the portal.”

Cate doubled over, feeling the first wave of pain. “You don’t understand. I can’t get through the ascension without energy, you know that!”

“You have all you need in the Nuardan.”

“I won’t take energy from him.”

Cercei laughed. “In the end you won’t have a choice,” she replied. “Go feed. It will make the transition easier.”

Cate shook her head. “I’d rather die than hurt him.”

“You are too important to the coven’s future, Catherine. If you must sacrifice the Nuardan to save your life, then so be it. This is the goddess’s will.”

“I love him!” she cried. “If there is a goddess, she wouldn’t make me give him up. I won’t kill him.”

“If you do not feed, you know what will happen to you. You will lose your soul and turn dark,” said Cercei. “Are you willing to put the lives of your coven and hundreds of innocents at risk for the sake of one man?”

“I’ll die first, or if I’m lucky I’ll be so weak that the ascension will kill me.”

“You are the Goddess Marked! You cannot just throw away your destiny for him. Someone you know you can never be with.” Cersei’s eyes flashed with anger.

Cate’s eyes began to glow brightly, anger fuelling her growing power. Her hands curled into fists as she fought for control.

“Your control will wane as the ascension draws close. You should rest, feed, and meditate to prepare yourself.”

“Just give me the book. Please? I want to see it before I die.”

Cercei glared at her. “How can you just give up on your future? Your destiny?” her ancestor demanded. “What about Raven?”

“If you let me out of here, I’d take Raven down with me, but I guess that’s not possible now.” She turned to go.

“Wait!”

The book suddenly appeared and Cate caught hold of it.

“Do not give up, Catherine. You are too important.”

Jason lay on the earth, light swirling around him as he drew in all the elemental energy he could find, but it wasn’t anywhere near enough to heal him. Why did it have to happen this way? He was supposed to help her — that was his duty, what he was meant for, and now he was useless. He felt her familiar presence and it made his heart ache.

“Any better?” Cate asked.

Jason knew what he would have to do and would accept it when the time came. He opened his eyes and sat up. “Not much.” He looked up. “Is that–?”

Cate smiled. “Yeah, it’s really the book.”

They went inside and found a window seat, where they sat to examine the Grimoire.

“I can’t believe we finally found it,” she said.

“Maybe there’s a way to get us home.”

Cate opened the book and hesitated. “Cercei says I should stay until the ascension is over. That it’s safer for me here.”

“She’s probably right, but I need to get out long enough to heal.”

“I’m not strong enough to cast it. Even if I could get you out, you wouldn’t be able to return.”

“Then we’ll do it together. Come on.”

With the book in tow, they headed to the spell circle in the temple and stepped inside it. Cate held his hand and together they began to chant.

In this circle and in this hour,

we call upon the ancient power.

Open the door through time and space,

take us back to the other place.

There was a violent explosion of energy and Cate collapsed to the floor.

“Cate?” The book slipped from her arms as Jason picked her up.

“It didn’t work,” she said as he teleported back to the house and laid her down on the bed. “Goddess, I feel so weak.”

“Here.” He went to touch her, but she shied away from him.

“No. I won’t feed.”

“You have to. It’s the only way.”

“But you’ll get worse.”

“It doesn’t matter. When it happens, I’ll be here. I won’t fight you.”

“I’m not going to drain you.”

“I’ve made up my mind and if I have to die to save you I will.”

“Don’t say that!” Cate cried and her eyes flared with power. “I’d rather die than do that to you.”

“Cate, this is what a Mavis is supposed to do – to protect his witch – but I’m not doing it out of duty. I’m doing it because I love you and I won’t live without you.”

Tears pricked her eyes. “Do you really think I want to live without you?”

“You’re young and I’ve lived a long time. At least I can die knowing I saved you, or maybe I won’t.”

“You don’t get it, do you? I love you, you stupid bastard! I’ve always loved you — it’s why I could never love anyone else.”

Jason was stunned for a moment and then kissed her, gently. He stroked her hair and just held her.

Over the next few hours, the pain inside Cate intensified. At first it hadn’t been so bad. They had lain there, talking and looking through the book. They had discussed travelling and finding their own house. A future she knew they could never have together. More pain came, as if her body was being turned inside out. Jason forced her to take more energy and she was losing the will to resist.

Opening her eyes, she found Jason lay sleeping beside her. Cate got up and grabbed the book. She knew he was growing worse. When she reached out to touch him, she found him hot and feverish, passing in and out of consciousness. He tossed and turned, oblivious to her presence.

So Cate decided to turn to the book for help. On the first page words began to appear; written in gilt letters was ‘Grand Grimoire’, whilst a beautiful seven-pointed star was drawn underneath. She turned the page and started flipping through, barely paying much attention to the elaborate drawings and various spells and rituals. “How do I heal a Nuardan?” she asked. This was taking too long.

The pages suddenly started moving on their own, until they stopped on a two page spread titled ‘Nuardan’. “Elementals who have dominion over the earth and all its natural elements,” she read and said, “just tell me how to heal him!”

She skimmed through the paragraph that mentioned the Nuardans could turn into the elements, their home was the Azure Isle, an island which could only be reached by magic.

“Ah, they have rapid healing powers, but when badly wounded they are healed by one of their own kind, or by using a source of natural magic,” she groaned. “I don’t have a source here, much less another Nuardan.”

Cate blinked back tears as she turned back to the book. She read everything there was about the Nuardan. “Damn it!” she said angrily. “There must be another way to heal him.” She furiously started scouring through the pages, desperately trying to find something, anything that might help.

Of all the powers she’d been blessed with, why couldn’t one of them have been healing? She continued pouring through the book until she finally found an entire section on healing magic. There were spells, potions, ointments and things she had already tried. “I need to know how to heal a demigod,” she sighed. This was getting her nowhere.

Cate scrambled off the bed, taking the book with her, and headed back out to the temple. At least in here she would be more or less safe, and less likely to destroy the whole town. She slumped into the spell circle; her strength was fading now and all she wanted to do was lie down and sleep. She pulled off her leather jacket, then her T-shirt and jeans, feeling too hot.

She used her clothes as something soft to lie on, as she closed her eyes. She was asleep for barely a moment before something woke her again. She blinked, blinded by the bright glowing orbs around her. Pain began to rush through her, so intense it was unlike anything she’d ever felt before. She screamed, knowing that the ascension was finally upon her. It was going to be an excruciating way to die.

“Ahhh! Make it stop! Make it stop!” She felt another presence beside her

“You know as well as I do that you can’t stop the ascension.” Jason stepped into the circle and pulled her onto his lap. “But it’s all right, I’m right here with you, love.”

“No, you need to go. You need to get away from me. I could kill you!”

His arms wrapped around her. “I’m not going anywhere. We’ll get through this. Together.”

More pain, followed by the incredible feel of pure, unrestrained power flooded through her weak body. Her eyes shone bright silver, as more and more magic burst out from deep inside her.

The temple began to shake more violently as brilliant bursts of silver starlight shot from her body. Since the temple was protected, maybe it would be able to withstand the onslaught of her magic, but she knew from the sounds of loud explosions that the rest of the town wouldn’t be so lucky. More power sparked through her, the pain becoming so excruciating she began to lose all sense of awareness.

What would happen when she finally reached the peak of her power? Would it kill her? Would she turn into a mindless being at the mercy of her own magic? Or would she survive, lose her soul, and turn into something worse than Raven?

“You could never be like Raven,” Jason told her firmly and his voice began to fade away as oblivion finally claimed her.

Only seconds later her eyes, the shade of bright silver, flew open.

“Cate?”

Cate looked up into Jason’s eyes. Her senses hummed with power, as a deep hunger gnawed inside her. She sensed his raw elemental energy and her senses screamed at her, demanding that she feed.
Take it
, her magic whispered to her.

She thought she saw a flicker of fear in those swirling silver eyes of his. “Cate, it’s alright. I’m here.”

Cate? That part of her was gone, irrelevant. She was the Goddess, the power incarnate and bringer of death. She wanted energy, magic. Craved it, needed it, just as this shell of a body needed air.

“Take what you need from me.”

How could she refuse when it was being so freely given? Her fingers wrapped around his throat, the Mark on her palm burning from the raging power.

Jason gasped, static whirling around his body as she fed from his energy, pouring it out of him. She felt a rush as if she were tapping into nature itself. His magic surged into her, fuelling her power as strength flooded through her. Their minds merged and she could feel everything he did. The intensity of the love he felt for her was so strong it made her stop. She stared up at him. It was Jason, her partner. The man she loved. Her magic demanded more energy, urging her to take it all. It craved to be one with his powers. He gasped and they both slumped onto the temple floor.

Cate opened her eyes, wondering where she was. She blinked and moved her fingers. Groaning, she sat up and stared around. The temple was still intact and so was she. The circle had contained her, but only just. She felt alive and renewed. More incredible than she’d ever felt. She wanted to cry and laugh, to dance with joy.

Sitting up, she looked down and saw Jason lying there, unmoving. Her heart almost stopped as she crawled over to him. “Jason? Jason, wake up!” She touched his cheek and it felt cold. But he was breathing, barely. “Wake up, we did it. Please love.”

Cate rested her head on his chest as tears began to flow. “Don’t leave me. Please don’t leave me!” she sobbed. “I need you – please come back.”

Cate closed her eyes and suddenly found herself standing on the balcony from his dream.