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  Narrowing my eyes, I stared at Ian. Standing about an arm’s length away, I could smell his cologne. How he wasn’t sweating was beyond me. Dregan growled and bared his fangs at me, standing dutifully beside him. Great. I let out an exhausted sigh and braced myself against the upcoming attack. Ian didn’t trust Jarak and Maztic after yesterday, and after the big fit I pitched earlier, he decided to be the one to go against me and have Jarak on the side as a coach.

  I felt Luna whimper in my soul from the thought of fighting Dregan. I pushed her feelings aside, needing to calm my own nerves. I had to defend myself without magic and rely solely on Luna. Psh. Well, that’s what Ian and Jarak wanted, but they didn’t always get what they wanted. I proved that to them almost daily.

  “Feel for Luna,” Jarak said, standing behind me. “Listen to her thoughts and feel her movements.”

  “Just shut up,” I spit out to him.

  I didn’t need him confusing me with instructions. I knew what to do. Luna and I had a plan. I felt her in spirit and smiled. This would work.

  I inched back, needing to place more space between myself and Ian. Luna and I practiced this for over a week, and as soon as I moved, she would appear where I just stood.

  Ian lunged for me. At the same moment, Luna materialized catching him off-guard. She jumped onto his chest, taking them both to the ground. She stood with her front paws on his neck, her teeth looking viscous as she snarled. I couldn’t help the smug smile that crossed my face.

  “Nice, but you forgot about Dregan,” Jarak said quickly.

  I dropped my smile and let out an exasperated sigh. Dregan disappeared. Great. I let the warmth from my core flow and feel around the forest, searching for his presence. It was harder since he was, in all reality, a spirit, but I could still feel him when he took form.

  I looked over at Luna, who still held Ian to the ground. Time was running out; I could feel the tension build in the air around me. A twig snapped behind me. On reaction, I turned and shot a stream of power at whatever or whoever was trying to sneak up on me.

  I held on to my energy as I looked around. I felt something struggle and pull away from my inner core. I trapped whatever, or whoever, it was with magic. I tugged back, hoping to reign in an invisible cord of power. If this was Dregan, then I was seriously in for trouble. He fought me with every pull. It reminded me of a fish being reeled in on a hook.

  “Jarak!” I yelled as I felt whatever it was slipping from my mental grasp. Heat flooded me, mind and soul. I knew whatever it was, was close. “What is it? I don’t think it’s Dregan anymore.”

  “Keep pulling it.” He was behind me, letting me feed off his energy and strength.

  “It’s too hard. It’s fighting me.” I winced. As the fight got harder it became painful. My head throbbed, and it felt like someone stabbed me in the stomach.

  A loud cackle filled my mind, and I fought to not lose concentration. I had heard the same laugh in my dreams. “I can’t do this.” I tried talking, but it came out as more of a weak whisper.

  “Luna, I need help,” I reached out to her mentally, hoping she heard.

  Instantly, she was by my side. I could feel her energy.

  “Princess, stop. It was only a test,” Ian mumbled somewhere behind me.

  My mind didn’t register what he said. Test? How could this be a test? I still felt the pulling, but it died down a lot from when it first started.

  “I said stop! You’ll kill Dregan.” This time I looked back at Ian. He was getting himself up off the ground, bending over and brushing the dirt and snow from his jeans. His breathing was hard, like I had him wrapped in my magic as well.

  Another tug from my insides sent me on the ground to my knees. My head hurt too badly to hold on any longer, so I let go of the magic.

  Dregan came bounding out from the trees, causing my heart to skip a beat. I couldn’t feel him when I held him with my power. How was that possible? He’d have to have been in spirit form. I gulped. I was definitely going to need more training.

  As scared as I was, I was also pissed. I stood up and spun around. “You told me to keep pulling.” I marched over to Jarak and swung my fist as hard as I could, hitting him squarely in the jaw. “You jerk! I could’ve killed him.”

  He rubbed his jaw. “You needed to try.” He turned and walked back toward the house.

  “To kill him?” I squeaked.

  He shook his head and yelled over his shoulder, “No, of course not. You just needed to try and pull him in, that’s all. I didn’t want to see you give up.”

  I hated that man. I could feel my anger build inside until every inch of me burned to react upon that emotion. I wanted him to hurt the way I hurt, to feel all the pain my heart felt over losing him as a friend. I felt hands on my shoulders. I leaned back soaking in the comfort. “If it’s any consolation, you did amazing. You did just what you needed to do.” Ian kissed the top of my head. “I’m proud of you, even if it was painful for me.”

  I let out a frustrated cry before replying through grit teeth, “Thanks.”

  Ian glared at Jarak. “As for you, just leave. If I see you much longer there might be another dead body I have to dispose of on this mountain. You knew damn well that was Dregan and what was happening.”

  Jarak gave another smug grin and shrugged. “Whatever.” He whistled for Maztic and they both walked away.

  A thought entered my mind. “Luna, did you know it was him?”

  “No. I knew that we can stay as spirits to help the guardians, but I didn’t know that he could use it against you, so you couldn’t feel him.”

  Ugh.

  “Come on. Let’s go inside for a bit and warm up.” Ian rubbed my shoulders, and I let him lead me toward the house, but stopped just outside.

  I caught sight of Jarak and Julie walking hand in hand along the river, the same place where he tried to tell me about her for the first time. I cringed inwardly. I wasn’t upset about him not loving me. Heck, we both realized we weren’t meant to be. Besides, I loved Ian and Jarak loved Julie, but it hurt that he no longer acted like my friend.

  “You know I would never hurt you, right?” Ian grabbed me around the middle, pulled me close to his chest, and leaned his head down on my shoulder.

  I let my shoulders fall even more. “I know. I just don’t understand why we can’t be friends, ya know? Hell, I brought his girlfriend back from the dead. You’d think he’d be at least grateful.”

  Ian chuckled. “Come on. Let’s go inside and warm up.”

  He held the door open for me. I stepped inside the house and the scent of hot cocoa filled the room.

  Ailaina came around the kitchen corner holding two steaming cups. Her long blonde hair was pulled up in a high ponytail. She was totally rockin’ the image with a black and pink track jacket and black yoga pants. She walked over to us and held out a cup for me to take.

  I squealed and wrapped my arms around her. “Oh my gosh, when did you get back? I missed you so much!”

  She carefully held the cups out from our bodies. “Careful, Es, I’m gonna spill our drinks.”

  I released my hold on her and took my cup. “So?” I gave her a cheesy smile. I missed her so much. She had to go back to Nevada for a bit to see her parents before they freaked out completely. At least they ended up being pretty cool about everything once she told them she knew everything about their family—and mine. Coming from a long line of Seers, they accepted her task and understood why she wanted to come back and stay with me.

  “Jeesh, I just get home and already you’re demanding.” Her sing-song voice rose higher as she spoke.

  “Sorry, but you’ve been gone for almost three months.”

  She took my hand and we walked to the couches. Ian plopped down on the opposite one and flipped on the TV.

  “Mom and Dad say hi. They miss you too.”

  I took a sip of the hot chocolate, savoring the taste of liquid gold. Mmmmm. “I miss them too.” I let out a long sigh. “Did they have an
y advice?”

  She laughed a little. “Yeah, they said ‘don’t die.’ Can you believe that?”

  I laughed with her.

  “So… Did you do good today?”

  I shrugged. “I guess, if you can say almost killing Ian and Dregan is good.”

  She nearly choked on her drink. I thumped her back a couple times to help her breathing. “You tried to kill your boy toy?”

  Ian snorted and leaned over to rub the top of my head, messing up my hair and sending it to fall in my eyes. “You think she’d kill me? Psh, then who would she have to buy her chocolate?” He gave me a Cheshire grin that made the blue in his eyes sparkle, sending waves of excitement through me. Then, he leaned back in his seat, flipping through the channels.

  I tried to play it off, rolling my eyes at him. Sometimes that man drove me nuts. Ailaina leaned forward, setting her hot cocoa down, waving him off with an exasperated sigh.

  “Um, hello, before I was so rudely interrupted… How did you almost kill him?” I could tell she wasn’t going to budge until I gave her answers. I shuddered as I told her about Dregan hiding in spirit form. Nothing happened, but I still felt guilty.

  “Oh em gee.” She really spoke in text talk, and I just shook my head at her. “I can’t believe you didn’t feel him and then, oh my gosh,” she gasped. “What would you have done if you didn’t let go?”

  “Well, you’re my Seer, why don’t you tell me?” I didn’t want to think about that. Not now, not ever.

  Chapter Three

  Crossbreed Prisoner

  Esmerelda

  The wind picked up, rustling the trees around us. The temperature was not anywhere close to warm yet and I still had to leave the comfort of the cabin to train. It did little to help my irritated mood. So, now I was cold and grumpy. My mind didn’t want to concentrate on training while every little thing frustrated me.

  “You need to feel it, Esmerelda,” my dad said.

  I crossed my arms and grumbled, “I am.” I truly was, but everyone telling me I wasn’t was really getting on my nerves.

  My dad cocked his head then shook it. “If you were, then we’d be done by now.”

  “Well maybe I’m just not as special as you thought!” I could feel my annoyance building even more.

  “You are special. Your mother and I lost you once. I won’t let it happen again, so you need to train. Now, feel for it. You can do it.” He walked with wide steps over to me and placed his hands on my shoulders. “I have faith in you.”

  I spotted my mom sitting with Ian on the porch of the cabin. They were talking about something too low for me to hear. I would give anything to be with them right now and not continuously disappointing my dad with my lack of abilities when it came to my bond with Luna. He didn’t know anything about how I felt. I was the first to be both witch and guardian. For some reason my supposable sixth sense to Luna was a little muffled and not near as clear or strong as my dad said it should be.

  “Focus, Esmerelda,” his words interrupted my thoughts.

  I let out a long breath that I held in. “I can’t. I am really trying, I swear, but I just can’t.”

  “You can.” He turned and looked at the wolves standing beside the porch steps. “Hela, come here with Luna.”

  Both wolves came over to where we stood. Luna looked so proud standing next to her father, Hela.

  “Okay, now I know that you can use spirit magic, but this comes from deeper within us. It’s a power that only the wolves and the guardians have. Once you can use this, you can make even the darkest soul bend to your will, mixed with your own magic of course, and it also will take lots of practice, so it won’t be the first thing you will accomplish.”

  I wanted to scream out loud. I reached down and ran my fingers over Luna’s head. “What if I can’t do it? I mean, we’ve been practicing but I haven’t even felt a spark. We don’t even know that I will have that part of the guardian in me. Maybe my witch powers take over all others?”

  My dad shook his head. “No. You have it, I just know you do.”

  “Fine. I’ll try again. Luna, stay here.” I walked back toward the back of the house where Luna was out of sight. She wasn’t supposed to be near me during this part of my training so that I could feel for her power without her around.

  I wrapped my jacket tighter around me and zipped it the rest of the way up. It was cold today and snow looked as if it was headed our way yet again. I kicked at a rock and sent it flying into the woods. I groaned. “What am I doing wrong?”

  I walked to the creek and sat down. The sound of the water gently babbling over the rocks soothed me. I stretched my hand out over the water and watched as it lifted up, touching my hand. Magic was so easy to me now that I didn’t even think about it; it just came naturally. I sighed and let the water flow through my fingers back to the stream.

  I needed to focus. It was deep inside me, somewhere. I could feel Luna’s anxiousness about the training and how she wanted to show Hela that she could give me her power. I wanted that too.

  I kept my eyes closed and listened as the wind rustled through the trees. Mother Nature’s energy flowed through me, every nerve inside me lit up with excitement at the familiar elemental surge. Feeling Mother Nature intertwine with my soul always gave me such an exhilarating feeling. But, that wasn’t what I needed to focus on so I let it dissipate.

  An explosion in my chest nearly knocked me over. The strange and sudden sensation didn’t hurt, but it certainly took my breath away. “Wow.”

  “Are you okay?” Luna asked. I could hear concern laced in her tone.

  I nodded, not thinking that she couldn’t see me.

  “Esmerelda…”

  “I’m fine. I just had a strange explosion in my chest, but I’ll be okay,” I answered, still having a hard time breathing. I held my arms crossed tightly over my chest and tried to sit up straight.

  “That was it! It was the spark of spirit.”

  Great. So I finally felt it, but it tried to kill me. I inhaled a deep ragged breath and stood up. Without understanding what was happening, I watched the trees sway and bend as if they were rubber. I shrieked. Luna and Hela appeared beside me instantly and my dad came running around the house.

  He started laughing and bent over, holding his hands on his knees.

  I glared at him through squinted eyes. The movement from the trees made me dizzy. “I hardly think this is the time to laugh! What’s going on?”

  He stood up and walked over to me. “You did it. That is both of your powers together. You are much stronger with anything that’s alive and has a spirit. And as you know, Mother Nature carries her spirit in everything, including trees.”

  My shoulders relaxed as I understood. I was unknowingly using Luna’s power with my own and the trees were bowing to our magic.

  I grimaced. “Okay, so um…how do I shut it off?”

  “You and Luna will have to work together to balance it out.”

  I looked down at Luna. “So take it back already.”

  My dad chortled a little. “It doesn’t work that way. You need to learn to push it away and only pull from it only when you need it. She can’t just take it away from you.”

  I threw my hands in the air. “Great! One more thing to learn.” I stressed the last part, hoping he would pick up on my sarcasm.

  I spun around at the bowing trees. “Oh, stop it already!”

  My eyes widened as every tree stood straight as if nothing happened. I nodded with a cocky smile. “That’s right. You better listen.” I didn’t wait for Mother Nature to argue with me. I turned on my heel, leaving my dad and the wolves as I went back inside. I was so done!

  We gathered in the living room. Well, all but my parents, who went home, back in town. They thought it would be easier to see any new people poking around town that way. Julie was curled up in Jarak’s lap and looked over her shoulder to glare at me before turning her attention back to him.

  Ailaina was deeply involved in some Se
er book that her father passed down to her. Her eyes were narrowed as she studied every passage. I sighed. Nothing was the same anymore. It felt like years since we spent a girls’ day just watching movies and hanging out—normally.

  Ian sat with me, but I could feel his body tense up as Jarak and Julie whispered to each other. I didn’t want to listen and tried everything to keep myself from overhearing what they talked about.

  I couldn’t take the tension anymore. Ian and Jarak barely spoke to each other and it was all because of me. My heart broke knowing that I chose Ian but lost my friend, and in return he lost his brother. I needed to get out and be alone without their constant tension. Ian glanced up at me with his hand still wrapped around mine as I stood. He tipped his head a little. “You okay?”

  I tried my best at a smile for him, even if it was fake. “Yeah, I just need some air.”

  “Okay, I’ll get my coat.”

  I held up my free hand to stop him. “No, I need some air alone.”

  He nodded, but I could see the hurt in his eyes. I knew he worried about me and wanted to be with me, but I needed to do it.

  The trail that led up the mountain behind the house became my only solace in the depths of all the trials that were thrown at me. Leaning up against a tree, I inhaled deeply, releasing the breath slowly before letting myself fall to the ground. The quiet stillness of the forest helped me sort things out. It was the only place I could just rest and be me. No magic required.

  Crunching pine needles in front of me broke my thoughts. My head shot up and I went back on high alert. That seemed to be the only thing I really knew how to do anymore. I sent out magical feelers – well, that’s what I called them anyway – and let my magic flow through the forest, feeling for anything that wasn’t familiar. What came back made my hair stand on end.

  Standing up quickly, I got in a stance with my hands up, palms out, ready to protect myself against whoever was coming.

  “Luna, be ready, just like we practiced.”

  “Just tell me when,” I heard her growl back.