Embrace The Dawning (The Covenant Series Book 1) (13 page)

Rosemary said, “The first card is Love.” She flipped the next. “The second card”—she studied it—“is the Defender.” She flipped the third card. “The Revival.” Rosemary slowly flipped the fourth card. “Power.”

Kayci stared at the beautiful colors and intricate designs on each card. They were fascinating to look at, yet full of mystery. She reached out and gently touched them. For a moment she thought she felt a small amount of energy or heat escaping the cards. It seemed to reverberate from the card to her hand and back. She impulsively pulled her hand away from the cards.

Rosemary looked up from studying the card, her expression bewildered. She rested her chin in her hands.

“What do those cards mean?” Kayci asked.

Rosemary silently focused on the cards. She gently waved her hand over each card, as if feeling its energy. She breathed in deeply and exhaled with her hand over the revival card. She opened her eyes and smiled at Kayci.

“You, my dear, have an incredible future ahead of you.”

Kayci’s breath escaped her. “I do?”

Rosemary smiled warmly at her. She nodded.

“You can trust the vampire hunter, Adrian. He cares deeply for you and will quickly grow to love you. He is someone that can help protect you, and I see he will do everything in his power to do just that.”

“This is amazing,” Elise said. “We’ll definitely have to do mine next.”

Rosemary smiled at Elise’s enthusiasm and fascination. “You’re a wonderful friend for Kayci to have, Elise. Your loyalty and support will be invaluable, along with your unacquainted attraction to the mystical world.”

Elise glimmered. “Thank you.”

Kayci appreciated Rosemary including Elise and letting her know what a good friend she was. Rosemary was right. Kayci did need Elise’s support. She always had.

“Now the Revival card has me wondering. It can mean to bring one back to life, the recovery of one’s life or consciousness, or a renewed interest. I am unsure of its definite meaning in this situation. The card is not offering specific insight. Just know that there will come a time when you are perhaps reborn either physically, emotionally, or spiritually. Perhaps they all may come to be. The last card…”

Rosemary pointed to the red card with a lion’s head outlined in gold. “It means power and strength. The card radiates a strong amount of energy from it. You, dear, are far more powerful than you realize, and will soon come to find out. You were right to come here for help. I will help you with that spell.”

Astonishing was the word that came to Kayci’s mind. Hearing that she could trust Adrian lifted the concern and weight she had lingering in her chest. The thought had already crossed her mind with Adrian’s pattern of protecting her from other vampires, but hearing it come from Rosemary provided the confirmation she needed.

Outright knowing that he would come to love her was overwhelming, and part of her wished Rosemary hadn’t told her. It meant she had to admit to her own growing feelings for him as well as her concern for Adrian’s safety if the Covenant found out about her.

The Revival card made her curious. She wished the card had provided more insight. She honestly already felt she was going through a change emotionally and spiritually. The last few days had opened her eyes to a whole new world and more about who she was. She wasn’t comfortable with the new changes, by any means, but it felt right to continue forward with an open mind.

The Power card surprised her. Being strong, yes, that was something she was fully aware of, but she didn’t feel
powerful
. Especially right now. Kayci found herself a bit more eager to embrace the spell and experience more of her vampire nature.

“Thank you, Rosemary, for helping me again, and thank you for the reading. It was…” Kayci paused. “I don’t even know what to say. You’re very gifted.”

“My pleasure, Kayci. You need to know you’re special, as are you, Elise.” She looked at Elise and smiled.

“Kayci, you came into my shop today with a heavy weight on your shoulders. I see that weight has lifted. You’ve overcome the shock of what you are and the new world around you. I think you’re ready to embrace it.” Rosemary gathered the four cards and placed them with the rest. She looked back at Kayci.

“Are you ready to do the spell?”

Kayci exhaled lightly. “Yes, I am.”

Rosemary rose from her chair, entered the shop, and returned shortly with a stone that appeared to be an emerald but was dark and rigid. It wasn’t smooth like the emerald stones Kayci had seen in jewelry stores. Rosemary held the stone up for Kayci and Elise to see.

“I just recently bought two of these stones from my gem dealer in Winter Haven. They are pricey stones, but my intuition told me to purchase them. When you asked about the spell, this stone immediately came to mind. It’s rare and powerful. Used for inner transformation. It’s called moldavite, the emerald that fell from the sky,” she said in a singsong voice. “Just by wearing this stone, it is powerful enough to help a normal person break free from their mental, physical, or emotional barriers.”

As Rosemary moved it back and forth in the light, Kayci admired the rigid edges that to her expressed freedom rather than conformity of the usual smooth-edged gemstones bought from a jeweler. Entranced by the shifting shades of green, she wanted to touch it, hold it, and rub her fingers along the edges. She sensed energy emanating from the stone. It pulled her in like a magnet. She found herself selfishly wanting the beautiful green stone for herself, as if it were a coveted diamond.

“I’m going to cast a spell on this stone to focus on bringing out your true nature and for you to be able to harness the energy of the stone at will. It will also give you healing protection. Any confusion, negative emotions, mental obstacles will ease when you wear this stone. I’ll put it on a pendant for you to wear. Don’t wear it while you sleep though. Set it somewhere away from your bed when you sleep, or you will hardly feel rested. It causes lucid dreaming.”

Rosemary held the stone out in her palm for Kayci to take. As soon as the stone touched her fingers, a tingling sensation slowly spread up her arm. She stared at the stone, admiring its pretty green hues, yet was distracted by the feelings it evoked. A strange warmth steadily spread throughout her body. Even her face felt flush.

The recognizable humming sensation she had experienced when she and Adrian kissed came alive. She stood in response, trying to overcome the unfamiliar sensations. She stumbled forward, light headed. She placed her hand on the table to gather her balance.

Rosemary studied Kayci with an expression of amusement. “You better set the stone down, my dear. It apparently works very quickly on you.”

Kayci released the stone from her palm while using her other hand to grab the chair as she swayed to the right. As soon as she released the stone, the tingling and humming settled.

Kayci’s eyes widened. “That was intense.”

“You good?” Elise asked with evident concern as she watched Kayci regain her composure.

“Yeah, I’m good. Have a look at it. I’m curious if anything happens to you when you touch it.”

Elise smiled with curiosity. She gathered the stone in her hand and touched the edges as she turned it over and over in her hand. Elise’s eyes sparkled. Her posture eased into a more relaxed position.

“I feel so relaxed.”

“Any tingly sensation?” Kayci asked.

“No, just really relaxed. I had a ton of emotions going through me a few minutes ago, and now I just feel so
content
. Not even any stress about my next article, and I am
always
stressed about my next article,” Elise said with disbelief.

“Hmm.” Kayci frowned. “It had a very different effect on me.”

“The stone helps the person overcome their personal barrier. For Elise, it’s her emotions and her writing. For you, Kayci, it’s your energy and power wanting to break free.”

Elise set the stone down on the table so Rosemary could use it for the spell.

“I’d like to keep my active emotions. They help me write. That stone mellows me out too much.”

Rosemary walked toward her armoire. “Moldavite isn’t for everyone. If you want something that won’t mellow your emotions but will help you focus on writing, you could try putting a couple stones of sodalite or chalcedony in a bowl where you write. I have a few chalcedony stones in the shop, if you’d like to purchase a couple.”

“If you think it will help, then
yes
, I’ll buy them. I wouldn’t mind a little assistance on those writer’s-block days.”

Rosemary came back to the table with the same bowl she had used for Kayci’s test that discovered the vampire blood in her system; two candles, one being the earth candle and the other being the air candle; a knife; a long, thin dry wooden stick; and six different herbs.

Kayci helped take the items out of Rosemary’s hands and set them on the table.

“Elise, can you light the candles for me?”

“Sure.”

Elise used the candle already burning on the table and held the flame against the earth and air candlewicks until they ignited with a small flame. Rosemary set the moldavite stone in the center of the bowl in front of her, then picked up the small knife and looked at Kayci.

“Only a small prick.”

Kayci gave her a crooked smirk before putting her hand out, palm up. Rosemary pressed the tip of the blade against Kayci’s finger until a small bubble of blood formed. She held Kayci’s hand over the stone and squeezed her finger until the blood dripped onto the stone, and then she let go of Kayci’s finger.

“I’m going to bind your energy and the stone’s energy together. That way the stone and spell will only work for you, in case your pendant is lost or stolen by another being.”

Kayci nodded appreciatively.

“This spell is going to take several herbs for it to work. What I am going to do is add them one at a time, burn them together as I say the incantation, then add water to soak the powers of the herbs together and into the stone.”

Rosemary picked up a handful of herbs and held out her palm for Kayci and Elise to see the mixture.

“The first component will be clove. This will be the base of the spell. It is a compelling herb to initiate power and will help enhance the power of the other herbs following it.”

Rosemary dropped the herb over the blood-covered stone and proceeded to gather a different herb. “This is masterwort, a key element to the spell. This will draw out your inner force of energy and power, provide you with strength, courage, and even add a bit of protection for you.”

She released the herb over the stone and gathered another. “This is patchouli. It is an herb for power and manifestation. This will help reveal your vampire nature and cause your transformation to take effect.”

Rosemary smiled warmly at Kayci. “This herb is nettles. It’s a personal addition I’m giving to the spell. It will provide you with protection and help you confound any enemy you cross.”

Kayci shuddered. It was difficult to accept she had to think about enemies now. “Thank you, Rosemary,” she stated with profound gratitude.

Rosemary held up the next herb. “This is orris. It will assist with focusing the powers of the other herbs to work as I instruct them to.”

Rosemary held up the last herb. “This is rosemary. It is a binding herb and will help bind my incantation with your energy and the stone’s.”

Rosemary picked up the long wooden stick and held it up to the earth candle’s flame. As soon as the wood began to smolder, she moved the wooden stick to the air candle and held it to its flame. She then brought the flame-lit stick to the herbs in the bowl. They quickly began to burn. Rosemary blew out the wooden stick and set it aside. She put her left hand on the side of the bowl, closed her eyes, and began slowly rotating her right hand, palm down, in a circular motion above the bowl.

“
Vis vacare intrinsecus
.
Sit forma futuri figura
.
Instrumentum vas potestatem
.
Da huic esse fidem. Circumda tibi in perpetuum
.”

Kayci watched as the herbs popped and crackled and molded together before quickly becoming sand-like ash. Rosemary opened her eyes and lowered her hand to the other side of the bowl. She leaned down, bringing her lips close to the bowl, and gently exhaled into it. The herbs flickered from the gust of air. Kayci watched as the ashes took on a glistening appearance.

Rosemary stood up and retrieved the teakettle from the counter. She brought it over and poured the warm water into the bowl in a clockwise motion. The ashes swirled with the moving water and then separated between ash that floated and ash that settled to the bottom. Rosemary picked up the wooden stick and stirred the ash and blood into the water. She pushed the bowl aside.

“This will need to set for a few minutes.”

“That was amazing!” Elise announced. “What made the ash get sparkly?”

“That was the last bit of magic I had to contribute to the spell. It sealed the spell.”

“What did you say in the incantation?” Kayci asked.

“I said: ‘Let the power from within be free. Let the form that should be take shape. Give power to the vessel of this instrument. Give protection to this being. Bind thee for eternity.’”