Guardians of the Akasha (9 page)

“You are Marco’s nephew?” Keira asked when she could get a word in edgewise.

“Yes, my mom is—was—well,” Justin stammered as his bright smile disappeared. He looked on the verge of tears.

“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to upset you,” Keira said with concern.

“It’s okay,” he whispered. “My mom was Marco and Rafael’s sister. She and my dad died in a car crash.”

“I am so sorry,” Keira repeated and put her arm around the boy’s narrow shoulders.

“It’s okay,” he said again. “Marco is really cool. He’s been looking after me. We stay on this awesome ranch in Argentina, when we’re not here, of course, and it’s such fun when everyone is there. I have a horse and we go riding…” and Justin was off again, telling Keira about his animals at the ranch.

Keira smiled and nodded at the right places but her heart was breaking for the young boy. She wondered if she might not have misjudged Marco.

Justin eventually left after she promised to go see the pups at the first available opportunity.

Alone, Keira stood in front of the lead-paned windows of her room and looked out over the inner courtyard. She could see the tops of the trees waving beyond the castle’s battlements. Her hands rubbed up and down her upper arms, trying to get some warmth back into her body.

What am I doing here?

It was only her love for Victoria which kept her from grabbing a phone and calling somebody, anybody, to come and fetch her from this place.

Keira groaned in frustration. Alison and Sammy were both with their parents, having wonderful, blissfully ignorant family holidays. And even if she did call her parents, or Richard and Mary, what would she tell them? That the world as they knew it was about to be annihilated by a power-crazy megalomaniac who wanted to be God?

Keira turned away from the window and paced restlessly past the antique dresser and big, four-poster bed. She glanced at her suitcase which lay open on the royal-blue bedcover and thought about unpacking her things, but nervous energy refused to let her stand still for more than a moment.

A soft knock at the door interrupted her pacing and she called, “It’s open!”

A blond head peeked into the room and soft brown eyes gave Keira a head-to-toe scan, before their owner stepped inside.

“Hallo, my name is Chloe. I wanted to make sure you were comfortable. Do you have everything you need?” the young woman asked.

“Yes, thanks, that’s very kind of you,” Keira said, mesmerized by the woman in front of her. Chloe seemed about a year or two older than Keira. Her skin was translucently pale and her hair was long, straight and silver-blonde, shimmering with a light of its own. Her eyes were almost hypnotic in the way that they assessed Keira.

“Yes, Victoria was right, as usual,” Chloe said.

“I’m sorry, what did you say?” Keira asked, confused by Chloe’s comment.

“You are The One,” Chloe said with unwavering certainty and not a trace of irony.

“Yes, well, that sounds great and all, but I have no idea what that means,” Keira couldn’t keep the irritation out of her voice.

“Oh dear, this has been hard for you, hasn’t it?” Chloe walked over to Keira. She took her hand as they sat down on a wine-red velvet-covered settee. “It wasn’t meant to happen like this you know. Victoria had planned to ease you into this life gradually. But even so, I am really happy to meet you at last. Welcome.”

Chloe’s kindness broke the last bit of control Keira had over her emotions and she burst into tears. “I am—so—sorry!” she cried, trying to wipe her eyes on her sleeve.

“It’s all right, you let it all out,” Chloe cooed while softly patting Keira’s back.

This just made Keira sob even louder. She was so used to hiding her feelings that she never needed to be comforted by anyone. Even her friends would have been shocked to see her like this, a complete blubbering wreck.

“It’s—I—I’ve always been so afraid!” Keira wailed. “Now—I don’t have to be. So I am really happy!” and she collapsed under another storm of tears.

“There, there,” Chloe crooned.

“But—but at the same time—I’m so mad!” Keira hiccupped and blew her nose into the wad of tissues Chloe handed her.

“It’s okay,” Chloe said. “I would be angry too.”

“You would?” Keira asked, grateful that someone had an inkling of what she was feeling.

“Of course,” Chloe nodded. “You grew up with these powers that you didn’t know what to do with. You had to hide it because people probably already thought you were slightly strange. Kids can be so cruel,” Chloe sighed.

The young woman’s empathy caused Keira to burst out in a fresh bout of sobbing. Years of pent-up emotion poured out of her in a confused tumble of words and tears and all the while, Chloe sat and listened, making comforting sounds and assuring her that, “There, there. It will be all right.”

After a century of agonising emotional purging, Keira’s sobs subsided and she lay spent, her head on Chloe’s lap. She gave a last, shuddering sigh and sat up. The room was darker; dusk had set in. It took a moment, but then she realised something inside her had changed. She felt strangely confident, even happy.

Keira looked at Chloe. “I can’t begin to thank you. I’m feeling so much better—it’s—I don’t know how to describe it!”

Chloe smiled. “It’s okay, Keira. Even The One is entitled to a breakdown every now and again.”

The women looked at each other and started giggling. Then suddenly, they had to hold on to each other as their laughter rang through the room.

“Well, well. Seems like you two are having fun,” a dry male voice sounded from the door.

Gasping for breath and clutching her side, Keira looked up. Marco and a younger, almost identical image of him, stood staring at them.

“Hallo, darling,” Chloe said, in between a fresh fit of giggles. She got up and glided over to the men. Keira felt an inexplicable pang of relief when Chloe hugged the younger man next to Marco.

“Keira, this is my partner, Rafael. He is Marco’s brother,” Chloe said.

“Pleased to meet you, Keira,” Rafael said. “I was looking for you,” he said to Chloe, holding her tightly to him. Keira was almost jealous of the love that shone between the couple; they had eyes only for each other.

“We’re on our way to change. Victoria said to tell you dinner will be served in an hour and the dress is formal,” Marco said. The brothers looked at each other with nearly identical grimaces.

“Oh come on,” Cloe laughed. “It’s not every day we get the chance to dress up.”

“Thanks. I’ll unpack—get ready—” Keira said and looked away. Her eyes felt as if they were the size of grapefruits, swollen from the marathon crying session.

Chloe noticed her discomfort and shooed the men out of the room. “Okay, off you go, we’ll meet you downstairs. Oh, Rafael darling, please ask Zina to come up here when you see her?” she called after the brothers as they left the room.

She came to sit next to Keira again and asked, “While we wait for Zina to come and help you freshen up, do you mind if I tell you my story, how I became part of the Guardians?

“No, of course not,” Keira said, surprised at Chloe’s question.

Chloe took Keira’s hands in her own again. “Well,” she began. “I grew up in a small hamlet in Austria, near Innsbruck in the Alps. I have six older sisters. They all still live there; the eldest four in the village with their husbands and children; the other two with my parents.”

“Are they also magickal?” Keira asked.

“No, they are not,” Chloe replied. “You see, my parents are devoutly religious and view anything out of the ordinary as an affront to the Church. Needless to say, when I came along and started seeing things that happened in nearby towns, they weren’t impressed.”

“What happened?” Keira asked.

“They tried to ignore it for as long as they could—warned me to never speak of it in front of the villagers. But then, I had another vision. It was late autumn and my father wanted to take the goats out to forage for the last wild grass. Winters are brutal in the mountains and the goats needed to fatten up as much as possible. I saw that a terrible snow storm was speeding to our area. I warned my father not to take the goats out, to stay inside, but he didn’t listen. Well, the storm came and, when he was rescued from the mountains three days later, he was at death’s door. The goats were all lost. The villagers had heard me crying out to him to come back when he left with the herd, when I told him what would happen. They accused me of being a witch, an abomination who brought the storm upon them and caused my family’s ruin.”

“Oh!” Keira gasped. It was she who showed Chloe sympathy this time as her new friend’s eyes teared up.

“I’m okay, really,” Chloe tried to smile. “It just hurts still, even after all this time. I was so scared my father would die. I had hand-reared almost all of those goats. How could they think I would do such a thing?”

“You don’t have to go on,” Keira said, not wanting Chloe to get upset reliving the past.

“I have to,” Chloe said. “I want you to understand—” She squared her shoulders and continued.

“A few weeks later, when my father had recovered, he packed a small bag and told me to come with him. My mother and sisters turned their backs to me as we left. We walked to the train station. He didn’t speak one word to me. At the station, he handed the bag to a woman in a uniform, and walked away. I tried to follow, but she grabbed my arm and pulled me into the train. I was seven years old and my parents had given me up to the State Orphanage. I stayed there for two years.”

“Oh, Chloe! I am so sorry,” Keira didn’t know what to say. Her own childhood suddenly seemed almost idyllic.

“When I was nine years old, a couple showed up at the Orphanage and adopted me. They said they couldn’t have children of their own and that they had been looking for me for a very long time. Well, they were Guardians and had read my ‘signature’ in the Akasha. They became my parents and, from the first day, I received only love and support from them. I came to believe that I had a gift, not a curse, and that I can help to protect our world from evil. That may sound a bit fairy-tale-ish, but it is what we do. I found my place and my purpose. My adoptive parents taught me what they could and then I came to the Initiates’ School. Here I was identified as a Seer and received additional training to join the Draaken. I also met Rafael,” Chloe smiled. All traces of sadness wiped from her eyes.

“So you see, Keira. Even the saddest of stories can have a happy ending. All of us have walked different paths to get here, some easy and some difficult, but in the end we are all the same.”

Another knock sounded at the door and without waiting for a response, a tall, elegant woman stepped into the room. Her ebony skin glowed with an inner radiance and Keira felt an immediate tranquillity descend over her.

“You called, Chloe?” The woman’s voice was every bit as composed as her demeanour.

“Keira, this is Zina. She is our Healer.” Chloe introduced them. Zina stepped forward with a warm smile. “It is so nice to finally meet you,” she said.

“Nice to meet you, too,” Keira replied, curious as to why Chloe had called for a Healer.

“Now, what can I help you with?” Zina asked.

“I’m not quite sure,” Keira said. “Chloe mentioned you might help me freshen up, but I don’t know how you are going to fix this,” and she pointed to her swollen face.

“I’ll leave you two to it, I have to go get ready myself,” Chloe called from the door, closing it behind her.

“Hmmm…shouldn’t be a problem. Lie down here on your bed,” Zina said and waited for Keira to lie down. She placed her hands about two inches above Keira’s face and asked her to close her eyes.

Keira could feel a warm, tingling sensation spread all over her skin and the smell of peppermint lingered in the air.

“There, all done,” Zina said and helped Keira sit up.

“Okay—well—thanks, I guess,” Keira said.

Zina laughed, “Go and look in the mirror.”

Keira walked over to the dressing table. “Oh! Wow!” she exclaimed and stared at her face. Her skin was clear and her eyes sparkling. Even the perpetual dark circles, the result of countless late nights, had disappeared. “That’s amazing. Thank you.”

“It was my pleasure. I’ll see you at dinner in a few minutes,” Zina said as she too left the room.

“Thanks again!” Keira called and looked back at her reflection in the mirror. “It does help to be magickal,” she murmured.

Chapter 12

Several guests were already assembled in the Great Hall when Keira arrived. She paused in the door and pulled self-consciously at her midnight-blue satin dress.

Thank goodness I packed this
, she thought.

The men were dressed in black-tie and the women in elegant evening dresses. She noticed Marco leaning casually against the wall next to the fireplace. He was talking with Rafael and Chloe. Simone sat on the armrest of a leather couch nearby, dressed in a pale gold shift dress, looking as if she had stepped off of the cover of Vogue.

“Miss Keira, I presume?” a laughing voice interrupted her thoughts. Keira smiled back at the rakish looking young man in front of her.

“My name is Brian Smith. At your service.” He gave a low bow, then straightened up and combed his ash-blonde hair out of his eyes.

“Nice to meet you, Brian,” she nodded back at him. “Thanks,” she added as he handed her a small glass of sherry.

“Welcome to
Casa de la Guardians
,” he smiled and clinked his glass against hers. “What do you think of it so far?”

“Well, I only arrived this afternoon. There hasn’t been much time to look around, but the bit that I’ve seen is very impressive.”

“Wait until you see the rest of it. I’d be happy to serve as your tour guide, if our slave master gives us any time off,” Brian said.

“Slave master?” Keira asked.

“Marco,” he answered with a nod in the other man’s direction. “He’s placed us on high alert.”

“Is that because of the Council meeting, or the threat from Daemon?” Keira asked.

“You know about that?” Brian asked in return.

She nodded and sipped her sherry. She didn’t want to tell Brian she had only had a brief introduction from Victoria; she needed all the information she could get.