Chapter 7 #2
“I’ve got it handled,” she said, turning back to the coat closet to break herself out of this spell.
Amanda had been fighting hard to put that time in her life behind her.
For the longest time, she thought she had.
Now all those problems and memories were flooding back to her.
She was enjoying what time she had with Lars, and she didn’t want to taint it with her past.
“Are you sure?” Even though he was taller than her, he managed to tip his head forward and look up, accentuating just how concerned he was.
“Yeah. I’m fine. We’d better get going.” She shrugged into her coat, grabbed her purse, and opened the door.
“It’s too bad your clothes dried overnight,” she said as they stepped off her porch a short time later and headed down the sidewalk.
Amanda wanted to go back to where they’d been before, before she’d started thinking about her past all over again and how hard it made her future.
She wanted to return to that happy little place she had with Lars, where she could pretend everything was fine.
“You didn’t get a chance to wear that pink sweatshirt. ”
“Maybe I’ll borrow it from you sometime.” His fingers touched the inside of her wrist, slid down her palm, and then interlaced with hers.
They walked hand-in-hand for a while, and Amanda was enjoying just being with him, but after a moment, she noticed that Lars looked deep in thought.
The corners of his mouth tipped down slightly.
He usually walked rather straight, with better posture than she saw on most Americans, but he was hunched forward a bit.
“What’s wrong?” she asked, hoping he wasn’t too upset that she’d turned him down. She prepared herself to explain that it wasn’t that he was unqualified or that she didn’t trust him. Of course, then she’d have to explain the real reason. Why couldn’t her past relationships just stay in the past?
He looked around a bit, staring at the ground. “There really is something wrong here.”
“Lars, I appreciate that you wanted to help me, but—”
“No.” He turned to her with a gentle smile. “That’s up to you. I’m talking about the ley lines.”
“Oh.” Her shoulders relaxed a little with relief, yet part of her wanted him to keep fussing over her. Goddess, Amanda! Pull yourself together!
“I was…a little distracted last night while I spent time with a lovely woman.” His smile widened now.
“I’m also not at home, so I’m not focused on my job.
But as we’re walking here, I can still tell that the energy levels aren’t right.
I can sense where the energy flow is supposed to be, but there’s hardly anything there.
” He stretched out his left hand, holding it out with his palm toward the ground.
They began walking again, this time more slowly. “You’ve mentioned that the lines move sometimes.”
“The timing is wrong. Even if I ignore that, this doesn’t feel the same as a migration. Then, the energy pulls slowly away. The lines themselves move, and that’s not what’s happening here.”
The way he hovered his hand at his side reminded Amanda of her own methods at her clinic, using her palms as sensors.
She put out her right hand in the same gesture, so that they walked along the sidewalk each with one hand stretched out at their sides.
Amanda searched for those same feelings she had when working with someone. “Hm.”
“Can you feel it, too?” he asked.
“Maybe.” She closed her eyes, trusting her bond to Lars to keep her heading forward safely, and tried to tap into the ley energy.
“Normally, I can use it with my magic, pulling it up and sending it out in waves, but I don’t think there’s enough for me to do that right now. It’s hard for me to tell.”
His powers had to be strong indeed if he could sense the flow underground as well as the one within her. Amanda had focused so much on people, and now she wondered if she’d missed out on something else just as extraordinary.
“It feels drained, like a water pipe that’s been emptied. Something has to be pulling on it,” he theorized.
“I can’t imagine what would cause that much of an effect. A few of us can tap their power, but we’ve never run out.” It made her think of a water heater that could only keep up with so many showers at a time.
Lars stopped. “I need to figure out what’s going on. I can’t just let this go.”
They’d reached her office now. Amanda thought of herself as the kind of person who really paid attention to the world around her, but she felt like a complete dingbat when she was around Lars. She checked her watch. “I’ll go with you.”
His eyes lit up, but then he gestured toward her building. “You have obligations.”
She lifted their joined hands to check her watch. “I’ve got a little time.”
The worry that had lined his face smoothed over. “All right, then. Let’s see where this leads us.”
They passed the office and their parked cars, moving on down the street, each keeping one hand outstretched as they gauged the earthly power. “Have you ever encountered anything like this before?” Amanda asked, suddenly very concerned about what might be pulling such a great amount of energy.
“No. It’s very strange. I’m concerned about how it could affect the rest of the ley system, depending on how big the problem is. Ah, this way!” He suddenly turned to the left.
Amanda imagined what would happen if this power source was altered permanently.
The dragons would have to move again, hopefully finding a place that was more stable for them.
That would mean saying goodbye to Chelsea, too, because she would follow Beck.
Their son Corbin, being a dragon himself, would also have to go.
Shifter witches like herself would survive. As far as she could tell, none of their powers had been affected yet. That was probably because they used such tiny amounts, and those were still available. But what would happen in the long run? What if it eventually ran out?
Then there were other unanswerable questions that she pondered as they went down the next street and turned north. How much of the world was affected by these lines? How many people and places would change if these currents dried up?
Her palm tingled slightly. “I think it’s getting stronger.”
“Because we’re getting closer to whatever is draining it.” Lars was walking faster now, and it was hard to keep up with the strides of his long legs. “I think that means we’re almost there.”
They turned one more corner and Lars stopped in the middle of the sidewalk. “Here.”
Amanda looked up at the Tudor revival style home. The wood siding was stained a deep, dark brown that gave it haunted house vibes. It was broken up by the plaster and timber siding under the gables. Large bushes and trees huddled around the home, protecting it from anyone who dared to come near.
“I know this house,” she told Lars. “The Crimson Veil coven lives here.”