Page 86 of Soul of a Witch

My throat was tight, but I said, “I wish I knew what it was like to know other witches. To train with them. Be surrounded by them. But I’ve always…always…been alone. Ugh!” I scrubbed my hands over my face in frustration. “I shouldn’t feel sorry for myself. This is ridiculous. I have work to do, I need to study – ”

“Not tonight.” Callum gripped my arms, preventing me from storming away. “No more tonight. You’re exhausted. You’ve given all you can. Stop.” He placed a finger over my lips, silencing my protests. “Make yourself comfortable. You need to clear your head.”

He stepped back, giving me space as I wandered to the center of the room and sat cross-legged on the round green carpet. Straightening my back, I closed my eyes and took slow deep breaths.

This was the opposite of relaxing. I didn’t havetimefor this. I thrived on keeping myself busy; it was the only way to keep anxiety at bay. If I wasn’t studying, I was jogging. If I wasn’t jogging, I was reading or painting.

I needed to be down in Sybil’s laboratory. I needed to be out in the garden practicing, or in the library studying, or running up and down the stairs until my lungs burned and my brain was too tired to worry anymore.

“So much tension.” Callum grasped my shoulders and squeezed. His breath was warm on my neck, his cheek brushing softly against my own. “Relax your body. Every muscle. Let your bones go limp.”

His claws scratched lightly over my scalp before he gripped my hair, easing me backward until I was lying flat on the floor. Arms and legs splayed, eyes closed, I released a heavy breath. My brain grasped at my swirling worries, clinging to them, determined not to let go.

Callum moved down my body, rubbing my arms, massaging my muscles. He worked down my legs, to my feet, then back up again, working at a slow pace as he spoke to me softly.

“Let your mind slow down. You don’t need to be thoughtless. You only need to let your thoughts go. Allow them to pass through and disappear.”

Easier said than done.

His touch was so soothing. My thoughts stalled, and I began to feel as if was floating.

“There you are, darling. Let yourself drift.”

My worries didn’t seem so important anymore. I ached too much to move; weariness weighed me down. Callum kept massaging me, speaking to me gently, his words like a lullaby.

I opened my eyes just enough to see the twirling planets overhead. The mechanism spun with a slow and steady tick, lulling my mind into a state of half-sleep.

Drifting…

Almost dreaming.

The thoughts that floated through my mind took greater form; images of people, familiar voices, pungent smells I could have sworn were real. They played like a movie, whether I focused on them or not. But when I did finally allow my attention to hone in on them, I saw a face I’d never expected.

Juniper Kynes.

The girl who got away was now a woman, covered in scars and tattoos, with dark eyes full of anger. She carried a gun on her back, and at her side, an unfamiliar, golden-eyed demon.

My eyes flew open, although I hadn’t even realized I’d closed them again. I lay there gasping softly, and Callum’s face appeared as he crouched over me.

“I…I saw something,” I choked out. “Something real.”

30

Everly

From that day on, I spent every morning in the meditation room. Callum would join me, using his voice and hands to ease me into that dream-like state of relaxation.

Sometimes, I had visions. Sometimes I saw nothing at all. My grandmother warned me that regardless of what I saw, I had to remember these apparitions were merely possibilities, not guarantees.

“Even I have fallen into the trap of attempting to change the future based upon things I envisioned,” she said. “But you must resist the temptation. What you see and what eventually may come to pass can be very different things.”

Most of my visions were vague; merely still images or fragments of conversation. I saw Raelynn once, with Leon beside her, and it gave me hope she would live.

Too many people had already been hurt by my father and his Libiri. Even one more life lost was unacceptable.

Besides keeping myself relaxed, my grandmother made it clear meditation served another purpose too: I had to learn to guard my mind, how to erect mental barriers in case the God attempted to attack me again. It would be difficult for Its mental influence to reach me within this house, but even so, my encounter with It in St. Thaddeus had left me vulnerable.

“The creature knows exactly how to reach your mind, how to frighten you, how to trick you,” Grams said. “Although this house is well-protected, an unguarded mind can still be vulnerable to influence. If It can find a way to harm you, Everly, It will.”

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