A Glint of Shadoewynne: Book 1 of the Shadoewynne Series Read online

  “Hi, Mom. What’s up?”

  “Don’t what’s up me. Where are you?” Her voice was practically boiling. Great.

  “I told you, we went out of town for a bit. We will be back tomorrow. I can meet you before class at the cafeteria, if you want.”

  “Why don’t I meet you at David’s?” Of course, she wants to meet at a private place. Or is it because David is working with her?

  “I’m not going to have time to go to David’s before class. We were planning on going directly to campus in the morning. Travis has an early class, and we are going to be cutting it close.”

  She sighed. “Alright, Honey. So, why did you go out of town?”

  Shit. “Um, there was an art display that David wanted to see, so me and Travis tagged along.”

  “You said it was to find out more about your heritage.”

  Shit. I’m horrible at lying. I hoped I could save this. “It was a Shadoewynne art display, and the owner is a good friend of Janelle’s. He said he could help teach me my magic.”

  “Hmm. You seem pretty close to these boys.” I couldn’t tell if that was just a regular statement or something more accusatory, so I kept my response vague.

  “Yep. They are really good friends.”

  “Is that all they are?” Just like I thought - accusatory. I shook my head.

  “Mom. Yes. I told you I wasn’t going to date, and I’m not. I’m just glad I have friends now.” Whoops. Shouldn’t have said that.

  “What’s that supposed to mean?” She was getting angry now.

  “Nothing, Mom. You know how hard I’ve always found it making friends. It’s nice to have some.”

  “Oh, okay.” She sounded mollified. “Alright, Hon, I will see you in the morning. I’ve got to go.”

  Since she was only here because she was stalking me, I couldn’t figure out what she was in a hurry to go do, but whatever.

  “Alright, Mom. See you tomorrow.” I hung up, and stared at everyone around me. “So, is it just me, or was that weird?”

  Everyone laughed, easing the tension in the room. David replied, still laughing. “Yeah, that was weird by normal standards, but it seems about average for interactions between you and your mom, at least so far.” Yeah, he had a point.

  “So now what? I guess we have all day off, right?” I was looking forward to an eventless day.

  David and Travis looked at each other. Travis spoke first. “Well, David and I were going to go get more cars. There are only two here, and eventually, we will need more.”

  I was disappointed. I had been looking forward to spending some time with them. Kait must have seen the look on my face, because he said, “Oh, don’t be sad, Princess, that will just give us more time to train.” The look on his face was downright evil. I think he was planning on torturing me. He must have heard that thought, because his grin grew even wider. “Oh, it won’t be torture. Even pain has some pleasure to it, if it’s done right.”

  OH MY GOD. I couldn’t believe he just said that. My face felt like it was on fire, which just made Kait chuckle. Travis saved me from responding to that. “We won’t be gone all day, Babe. We will be back in about two hours. We will come rescue you from Kait when we get back.” David gave Kait a dark look and nodded. What was with that look? I decided while they were gone, I would talk to Kait about my suspicions.

  Kait’s hand dropped onto my shoulder, startling me. “Come on, let’s go train. If they are going to take you from me when they get back, we need to start now.”

  Damn it. “Alright. Where we going?”

  “Follow me.” I got up and followed him down the hall, and down some steps. Once we arrived at the bottom, Kait turned to me and said, “Okay, what’s got your panties in a twist? You suddenly started blocking your thoughts up there, sporadically, I might add, and you were glaring at David the whole time.”

  “I didn’t mean to glare. I’m concerned about David being the one to set up the tracking spells.”

  Kait rubbed his chin. “It’s not outside of his skill set. Tell me why you’re concerned.”

  I quickly explained my reasoning, starting with how he acted when we met, and ending with my conclusions about my glasses. Kait quietly listened to the whole thing, not saying a word, and not really moving. It was kinda freaky the way he could stand so still.

  “Okay. I understand. Let me think on it. We need to start training. I wasn’t joking when I said we need to make the most of these two hours.” He smacked my butt. “Get moving, Princess.”

  I stood frozen for a minute. I couldn’t believe he had done that. Once I got over my shock, I spun around and pointed my finger in his face. “Never do that again! Do you hear me?”

  He laughed then folded his arms over his chest. “Try to stop me.”

  I saw where he was going with this. He wanted me angry, so I would fight him without thinking. Trying not to give him any warning, I did what he wanted. I attacked his neck first, but he blocked me. Next, I went for his nuts. He just danced away. Now I really was getting angry. I backed up for a second, and attacked with my magic next. I made the floor slick behind him with ice, then went for his stomach. This time, the punch landed, but it was a glancing blow as he stepped backwards and slid to the floor.

  “That was an interesting plan. I’ve never had anyone do that before.”

  “Really? It seemed pretty obvious to me. Then again, I don’t think like anyone else I know.”

  He snorted. “That’s the truth. Yours is one of the oddest minds I have ever listened to. I don’t know how you keep track of what you are thinking with the way your mind jumps between topics.”

  I laughed. “Sometimes I don’t. Do you want me to keep attacking you, or not?”

  “No, I don’t think that’s a good idea without padding. Let’s move on to magic. Run through the exercises we did yesterday. We need to build your speed and stamina.”

  For the next two hours, we ran through all the exercises we had done, over and over. I was tired and hungry by the time Travis came down to get me.

  He looked around when he entered the room, and his brow drew down. “David’s not back yet? I didn’t see the car outside, but I thought maybe he put it in the garage. He left before me, he should be back by now.”

  Kait gave me a look that said not to say a word, as he responded, “Maybe he had to stop for gas or something. We won’t worry until he’s been gone for a little longer. I take it you are stealing her away from me?”

  Travis smiled and puffed out his chest. “Yes, I have come to rescue the fair maiden.”

  I giggled. “Oh, thank you, whatever would I have done without you?” I fanned my face like I was going to swoon, and we both started laughing.

  He held out his hand. “Are you ready for some lunch?”

  Wow. Lunch sounded great. I took the proffered hand. “I can’t believe it’s lunch time already, but, hell, yeah! Let’s go eat!”

  Kait snorted. “Alright.”

  Still joking around, we headed upstairs. I glanced out the window, but there was still no sign of David. He didn’t arrive until we were almost done with our sandwiches, almost 45 minutes after Travis had gotten back. Travis heard him arrive, and was waiting for him by the door. I heard the door open, and quiet words, which were too low to understand.

  By the time they arrived in the kitchen, they were almost shouting at each other.

  “I told you, Travis, I had to stop for gas, then there was an accident on the way.”

  “There were no accidents when I went through.”

  “It looked like it had just happened. There was at least a ten-minute backup, but the police weren’t there yet, so it couldn’t have been there very long. I don’t know what the big deal is.” David’s face was flushed, and the veins in his neck were starting to stand out. He looked like he was getting pissed.

  I tapped Travis’ arm and shook my head when he looked at me. There was no reason to keep pushing this. If David had gone somewhere else, he obviously w
asn’t going tell us. “It’s not a big deal. Come on, Travis rescued me from the evil clutches of Kait. Let’s go have some fun. What is there to do that’s fun here?”

  Travis and David looked at each other, as the red slowly drained from David’s face. He jerked his head toward the back of the house and Travis shrugged. After a moment, David asked, “Sugar, do you like to fish?”

  “Not particularly, but I enjoy being outside.”

  “Okay, how about hiking?” Travis’ voice was hopeful.

  “I like to hike.” I was curious where this line of questioning was going.

  “Perfect.” They said it together, then they both laughed.

  “Since we were coming here, I had Janelle pick you up some waterproof hiking shoes. They are in the closet of your room. There’s a heavy coat in there as well. I’m going to go change, then we can go hiking and find the waterfall.” Travis was out the door by the time he finished speaking.

  I shrugged. It looked like a beautiful day, but looks could be deceiving. I stuck my head out the door. It was a little warmer than freezing, so it wouldn’t be horrible to hike, if the coat was right. I headed into the room I had woken up in, gathered the change of clothes and went to the bathroom to change. I assumed there were cameras here, just as in Travis’ house.

  We met back by the front door a few minutes later. David was in a silver ski jacket that fit him perfectly and drew attention to his eyes, and Travis’ jacket was red, and highlighted his eyes too. They were both so cute, that I had to look at the floor before I melted. Reminding myself over and over that I wasn’t going to date, and that they were just friends, I followed their flawless butts out the door. Shit, looking down wasn’t helping either.

  “Are you overheating already?” Travis was asking me sincerely. I guess my face was red. I really needed to learn to control this train-wreck of a thought process I have.

  I stammered. “Uh, yeah. It was really warm in the house with my coat on.”

  David smirked at me. “Sure, it was.” Double shit. My blocks weren’t up. He heard me. The smirk grew wider. I just put my head in my hands, and gave up.

  “Fine. I was looking at your butts, okay? Are you happy now, David?” I said vehemently , while pushing past them and storming off. I stopped a few feet later when I realized I didn’t know where I was going. “Damn it!”

  They were both laughing at me. They came up, and each wrapped an arm through mine. “Don’t worry, Sugar. We look at your butt all the time.” David winked at me, when I stared up at him incredulously. “Are we ready to go find this waterfall?”

  “Sure.” There was no way to save this, so I conceded as gracefully as I could. Although, my face still felt like it was on fire. Very quickly, my embarrassment was forgotten as we joked and discussed movies and video games, and whatever else came up on the way. Travis was walking in front, and David was following behind me.

  I wasn’t sure how far we had gone, but we had been walking for about a half hour, following a creek. Even in the winter, it was beautiful. The edges of the creek still had a little ice that hung suspended from the rocks. The trickling sound of the creek was soothing. A peaceful feeling had settled into my chest, as I watched David, who was now leading, jump from rock to rock in the creek. Travis was holding my hand, and overall, I was happy.

  Chapter 19

  We lazily hiked through the forest, making our way to a beautiful waterfall that tumbled down at least twenty feet. The path led us to the small pool that had formed at the bottom. A small film of ice covered the rocks along the edges in the shade. For the first time in a week, I felt at peace. The mostly untouched wilderness around us soothed something in my soul. I stood with my eyes closed, my face turned up to the sky, letting the sounds of the waterfall and the feel of the area soak in. A warm breeze picked up my hair and tossed it back from my face. Startled, I opened my eyes to see Travis standing off to the side with his eyes closed, arms by his side, with his hands palm up, and a huge smile on his face.

  The breeze got warmer, until I was sweating in my coat. Taking it off, I laughed and ran to Travis, and wrapped my arms around his waist. It wasn’t until after Travis kissed my forehead that I realized what I had done. I pulled my arms back like I was going to be burned, and I’m sure my face was bright red as I turned away. He chuckled and ran his fingers through the hair that trailed behind me as I moved away.

  When I turned around, I had noticed David glowering at us. I skipped over to him and embraced him as well. It wasn’t until I laid my head on his chest that he finally returned the hug, and even then, it was just a quick squeeze and then he let go. When I glanced up at his face, he was still scowling at Travis. I couldn’t stand the thought of them fighting, so I reached up and ran my finger along his jaw until he looked down at me.

  “Please don’t.”

  He glanced away, his grey eyes stormy. “Don’t what?”

  “Don’t be angry with Travis. I don’t know why you are looking at him like you want to punch him, but please stop. Please don’t ruin this, I am happy here.”

  He sighed, and hugged me again, but this time was a longe, and he rubbed my back as well. “Don’t worry. It’s just guy stuff. I’ll get over it.”

  I snorted. Guy stuff, my ass. But, I was determined to enjoy the moment, so I put all worries away in that box in my head, and rested my cheek on David’s chest. It briefly crossed my mind that I would have never done this a week ago, but it felt too good to fight, so I put that thought in the box as well. When I looked up this time, his eyes dipped down to my lips, and my stomach did a flip. I glanced away quickly as I pulled away. I wasn’t going to fight touching them, but I wasn’t ready for what the look in his eyes promised.

  Travis cleared his throat, and drew my attention back to him. He slowly turned around, holding his arms out. “So, what do you think? This is where David and I used to hide from Kait so we didn’t have to train. We thought we were so clever, sneaking away. The funny thing is, we would use our powers to fool Kait, then come out here and practice our powers, so we might as well have been training.”

  There was a rustling in the bush. “Why do you think I let you get away with it?” Kait looked and sounded smug as he stepped out from the forest.

  Travis smirked back at him. “After the first couple of times, I figured you were letting us get away. You are too good of a tracker for two young boys to fool you so easily.”

  Kait sat down at the edge of the pool, and dipped his bare feet in it. It had to be freezing. He saw my shiver and smiled. “Princess, you should join me. Don’t forget, you can warm the water if you want.” He looked back at Travis. “It was very important for you two to feel like you were able to sneak away. It helped increase your confidence, and since you ended up training out here anyway, it was a win-win. You two were constantly trying to think of ways to fool me which led you to think outside the box. I’ve been training kids for a long time. I know all the tricks.”

  I laid down on the edge by Kait, and reached into the water. Closer to Kait, the water was warm, but it quickly got colder away from him. I concentrated on increasing the speed of the molecules slightly. I just wanted the water a warm enough that it wasn’t freezing, but I didn’t want to burn myself. As I warmed the sluggish water, little fish darted out from under the rocks to nibble on my fingers. I watched their bodies flash, mesmerized. Kait rubbed his hand lightly across the back of my leg while he and the others talked. I laid my head on my arms and closed my eyes, enjoying the tranquility of nature.

  A little while later, I had rolled over and was watching the clouds scuttle by when Travis laid down next to me. He put his head on my stomach and stared up at the sky with me. “What’cha thinking ‘bout?” I asked as he picked at the dry grass by his side.

  “Not much,” he replied. I reached down and ran my fingers through his hair as he spoke, moving it away from those beautiful blue eyes. “I’m glad we met when we did. I can’t help but wonder what would have happened to you if we had
n’t met then.”

  I shuddered. “I’ve been trying not to think about it. Some part of me thinks none of this would have happened, but the other part of me says that it would have anyway, and I wouldn’t have had you all to help me.”

  He grabbed my hand and kissed my palm. Then, he laid our hands on his chest as he rubbed circles across the back of my hand. David plopped down next to me on the other side, and laid his head next to Travis’, who moved over a little to give him room. David mirrored Travis’ action, rubbing my other hand. We laid like that for quite a while, until Kait finally clapped his hands, rousing us all.

  “Okay, we need to go.” Kait was firm.

  I looked at him. “Why? I like it here.”

  “It’s not secure. I’ve let you stay for as long as we could, since I know you needed this time.” He held his hands out in front of him, offering to pull me up. Travis and David sat up, so I accepted Kait’s help. He pulled me in, holding me close for a minute. I could have sworn I felt a light kiss on the top of my head, but it was so quick, I couldn’t be sure.

  My heart swelled. These wonderful men had done so much for me in the last week. I wasn’t sure what I would do without them now. They had all somehow made it past the walls that I had encased myself in. Travis and Kait had done it in record time. I wasn’t sure how they had managed it, but I wasn’t going to argue it. I felt like I had found my place for the first time in my life.

  We put our coats back on before we started meandering our way back to the safe house. We wandered off the trail at times, cutting back and forth across it as David and Travis showed me places they used to play. There were overhangs that were almost caves that they used to hide in, as well as more pools in the creek where they used to fish. About half way back, we came across an old dilapidated tree house that had fallen half out of its tree, with an old tire swing nearby that was in much better shape. We stopped to swing on it, as they told me stories of the trouble they had gotten into as kids. Kait eventually put a stop to that as well, insisting that we move on to the safe house. I loved hearing the stories about how David and Travis had been as kids, and how Kait had handled their shenanigans.