Page 49 of Treasured Secrets
I swallowed hard. That doesn't mean they're traitors though. Sometimes it's out of someone's control. Bad things happen and no one's to blame. I needed that to be the truth. It was hard enough to grasp magic as reality, but to add in possible traitors just terrified me.
"Do you think Chris is bad?" I hadn't been worried about my sister's safety until that moment.
He shook his head before responding. "No. He's one of the bodyguards I do trust. He's your sister's soul mate. Her light shines brightly. Since the great divide in magic - Allora and Dramus - no soul mates can be on opposing sides. I may not can see his intentions directly, but I can see his soul mate's bright light with absolute clarity."
I breathed out a sigh of relief. Then another twinge of worry spread through me. "Do you think any of our bodyguards are bad?"
I moved in closer as my worry turned to fear.
He patted me comfortingly while speaking softly. "Like I said, I'm probably just paranoid. Your family has a prophecy about an unseen child coming. She'll be even more powerful than Isis was.
"Your mother almost died when she was a child. Isis cast a spell preventing her most powerful descendent from ever being seen by seers. However, the spell took on a life of its own, preventing random ones from being seen. Magic made it even more of a guessing game to keep the unseen a mystery.
"Jaslene is a seer who cannot be seen. Graven hunts the unseen ones down because he knows the story from someone. He hunted down your mother who had wandered off from a bodyguard. Allaysia saved her, took her home, placed her at the gate, and used her power to force a mortal to take the girl to the door.
"She couldn't enter without being escorted by someone within the coven, but a true mortal could. She wasn't too badly wounded, but Jaslene still needed a healer, and we didn’t have one.
"Once they realized that Jaslene had suffered, they began hunting for the one who had been responsible. They didn't know he was already dead. My mom had someone wash her trail, and she returned home with haste. She prayed that her scent wasn't on Jaslene. That's when she started giving us the symbolta potion. She didn't want us to be discovered. It wouldn't work on her because of the strong ties she has to the blood. She was the direct daughter of Dramus - it's hard to mask that much blood."
I could see there was something he was holding back. "There’s more, isn't there?" I asked, prompting him to continue.
"We haven't been able to save all the witches we've found. We've hunted these monsters for so long, and we've seen some pretty horrific sights. We've been searching for pennants, I guess, for our family sins. We wanted to be cleared of all the evil things Dramus had done. It was hard not being able to save them all.
"Sable, your mom's sister, had a daughter named Erica. We found her in the woods - her essence and her life were completely missing. We secretly carried the body to Iris's house so she could be given a proper burial and her parents could have closure. It was a hard time for your family. Her whereabouts were supposed to be secret, but somehow the dark followers still managed to find her. I can't help but feel as if they have inside information."
His head bowed solemnly. I moved into his strong arms that welcomed me.
"I'm glad Chris is one of the few guards you trust. Who else is there?"
I felt his smile without seeing it. "For some reason, I trust Everett. I guess it's because of how hard he worked to mask you at the coffee shop. He had to have exerted some incredible power to cover you so effectively. He's also never made any bad comments to me or any of the rest of my family. It doesn't hurt that he seems immune to your bewitching beauty as well."
I rolled my eyes. "The one guard I don't trust is the one guard you do."
He laughed. "I said I trusted Chris, too. You just don't like the fact there's one guy who isn't falling all over himself to be close to you."
I slapped him playfully, but it hurt me worse than it did him.
"Ow! That's just not fair." He laughed as I rubbed my throbbing hand. Then I continued. "Everett just seems so creepy."
Tallis shook his head and pursed his lips. "I've gone and made you paranoid now. Don't worry about anyone coming after you. That's my job."
I brought my face to be closer to his. I made sure to make intense eye contact. I could feel myself drawing closer and closer. I spoke very quietly, trying to be somewhat seductive.
"So what all does your job entail, exactly?"
He smiled menacingly as his eyebrows shot up in surprise. "You're trying to be quite the little temptress right now, aren't you?"
My face flooded with a blushing red. It almost felt as if I had a fever instantly rise. I pulled back quickly and buried my head in my hands as I spoke.
"Wow. I'm not embarrassed at all now."
He put a pillow over his head to drown out his laughter. His speech and laughter were muffled through the pillow. "Sorry. I couldn't resist."
My face was still blood red, so I decided to shift the subject. "So you can blow things up, and you can read a changer's aura. Are there any other special talents you have hidden away?" I leaned over and propped my head on his shoulder.
He smirked at me after tossing the pillow aside. I'm sure he was resisting the urge to tease me further.
"Well actually, my sister, brother, and I can read a witch's power through their essence. Before and after transformation."
