Chapter 15 - Gabriella
I sat nervously in the car as I stared across the yard toward the training ground. Jade and Nora offered to work with me, eager to help me with my magic. I had agreed, but felt physically sick about the idea. I still was having a hard time stomaching what I’d done and how everything had played out.
I could still feel that sensation and how it rolled over my entire body. Was this the feeling that Hazel talked about missing?
I spotted Jade and Nora as they were both sitting near the dirt patch. They were stretching as they talked.
I took a deep breath and got out of the car. I headed across the grass toward them. Jade spotted me first, pulling herself up. “Gabriella! We’re so happy you agreed to do this. We are so excited about this!”
I knew this was going to be different from us all just sitting and eating. “Before we start, I hope you guys don’t feel like you have to do this. I don’t want to take up any of your time when I know it’s important.”
Jade scrunched up her nose. “Why on earth would you think we wouldn’t want to help you with this?”
“Because I didn’t tell you.” I chewed on my cheek. I expected them to be angry, but maybe they were pushing that down because they thought it was part of their role.
Nora snorted. “Gabriella, we are helping you because you deserve it. You are new to magic. It’s understandable why you were afraid to tell anyone or even knew what was going on. Neither of us knew what to do, so we understand being scared. It’s all part of coming into your magic.”
I rubbed my hands together. “So, you’re not mad?”
Jade shook her head, giving me a smile. “No, we’re not mad. Little sad you didn’t feel you could come to us about the issues you were having, but that’s a conversation for another day.”
“I didn’t tell anyone,” I admitted. “I didn’t even really tell Westley.”
“Why?” Nora asked. “He’s your husband.”
“Because people would still treat us differently, and I didn’t think it was magic.”
“Was Hazel serious when she said your mother took your guy’s magic away?”
I nodded. “Yeah. I hadn’t come into mine, but Hazel had been.”
“I can’t imagine doing that to my child.” Jade shook her head. “So heart-wrenching.”
“But that is a conversation to have over drinks,” Nora said. “Now, let’s focus and see what we can get out of you.”
We managed to get my magic out a few times, but the more we moved around, the harder it seemed to be. I was getting frustrated because I could feel it just underneath my fingertips. I knew it was there, but I couldn’t use it.
“Let’s take a break,” Nora said as we sat down on the ground. We had been going at it for almost two hours at this point.
I chewed on my cheek, wishing this were easier. I was tired, and my muscles were starting to hurt from all of the movements they had me doing. I was starting to wonder if this was going to work, if I was going to get any better. Or was this all just a waste of time?
“Are the guys having training today?” Jade asked as a vehicle pulled into the parking lot. I turned around, and my body froze as I realized it was Westley.
I wasn’t sure if I was ready for Westley to watch me fail at this. It was one thing if Jade and Nora did, but different with him.
“Morning, ladies,” he said as he walked toward us. “How is training going?”
“It’s going pretty well, but we’ve hit a bit of a wall,” Nora said. “It’s going to take some extra time before we get anywhere.”
I felt my face go red with embarrassment. “Sorry.”
“Oh, don’t apologize,” Jade quickly said while elbowing Nora. “We all struggled when we first started, so it’s understandable. You are not going to master this in one sitting. Everyone is different, so we just have to figure out what works for you.”
“What’s the problem?” Westley asked.
“Well, Nora and I did training before we started with this. So, we got in tune with our bodies, learning to listen to them. It’s a little difficult to train when you don’t know your body’s strength.”
I had watched both of them do things, and when I tried, I got so tired. I didn’t think magic required so much muscle or mind control as it did.
“Well, why doesn’t she do some training with me? I have some time, and I promise not to be too hard.”
I felt my stomach dip. Nora and Jade perked up, though. “That’s a great idea.”
“Are you sure?” I asked. “No offense, but he doesn’t have magic, so how is he going to help me?”
Jade nodded. “Yes. We can do this for hours, days, months, but you have to learn where your own strength lies. Everyone has their own weakness, and you need to figure out yours.”
“Besides, we have to get to a meeting with the witches.” Nora pulled herself up.
Jade walked closer, placing her hands on my shoulders. “You’ve got this.”
Both girls wished me luck before leaving me alone with Westley. He offered me a smile. “So, should we see what you got?”
I swallowed, nervous. “Okay, but just know I’m tired. I’ve just spent two hours trying.”
Westley showed me some simple ways to stretch and move.
He explained that we first needed to learn where my body was lacking strength and start working on it.
I had weak shoulders but strong legs. We learned I could punch, but my entire body shook with each hit.
I was sweating profusely within 20 minutes.
I leaned on my legs, panting for air. “Jesus. Are you trying to kill me?”
Westley chuckled as he stood rewrapping his left hand. “You’re doing really well, Ella. You’re a natural.”
I stared at him for a moment, taking in how relaxed he looked. I sank at the nickname, finding I liked it the more he used it. I looked away. “So, out of the four of you guys, who was the weakest?”
Westley laughed. “Oh, that was me.”
My eyebrows went up at this. “Really?”
“Why do you look surprised by that?”
“Because I can’t imagine any of you guys weak. And if anyone, I would have figured maybe Asher or Kaleb.”
Westley laughed even harder now. “Well, you’d be wrong. Kaleb and Brandon grew up together, and they are pretty close in strength. Asher is actually pretty scary when you train with him. He’s the one you would think would be weak, but he’s not. I, on the other hand, worked my ass off to get here.”
I stared at him, trying to see it. I couldn’t. I couldn’t imagine Westley as anything but what he was. I saw the muscles and the strength that he had. I knew he had to have worked to get where he was, but I couldn’t picture that part.
“Why are you staring at me?”
“Because I can’t picture it,” I admitted. “I can’t picture you weak.”
He nodded. “Well, I wasn’t always like this. I didn’t have a care in the world, or a thing that I was working toward, until I found the guys.”
I blinked at his words. “What do you mean?”
“I was a lone wolf. I didn’t have a pack or really believe in one. I had a lot of anger and frustration. When I was forced to work with Brandon, I was honestly thinking of quitting because I didn’t like the thought of being told what to do.”
I shook my head. “That can’t be true. Don’t you have family? Siblings?”
Westley shook his head. “No. My folks left me at the fire station when I was three days old. I was never adopted, mostly because I was angry all the time. I joined the force straight out of high school, thinking I would find something. I found solitude, and I liked it. I worked hard, did my cases, and built up my life. And then I was put with Brandon and found what it felt like to have actual family.”
“Wow,” I said, a little surprised. “I wouldn’t have thought that.”
“Oh? What did you think?”
“That you grew up with parents who loved you and pushed you to be where you are. Maybe a sister that drove you a little nuts, which is where your soft side comes into play. A little more like Brandon and Kaleb’s life.”
He shook his head. “No. I didn’t know what a sister was until I met Jade. The soft side comes from all the cases we’ve worked on. The many women and children who have lost family, housing, and lives. There was a little girl… Abby.”
He paused, his eyes glazing over. “She was three. She was one of the first cases that we all worked on together. She was an orphan, and we were assigned to protect her. She had witnessed a hybrid murder, and Brandon was tasked with questioning her. I just remember seeing how small she was, how scared she was. She had a teddy bear she was clinging to, afraid to speak. None of them could get through to her, so Brandon asked me to help.”
“And?”
“We didn’t talk at first. I just brought in a bag of chips and sat there with her.
I thought about all my time wishing to be adopted.
After twenty minutes, she asked me if I had ever found a home.
I didn’t know how she knew, but she knew that I was an orphan like her.
” He rubbed his hands together. “I was tempted to adopt her myself. I felt that tug deep in my chest, wishing her nothing but good things. A week later, I arrived at the house where she was staying. The front door was broken, and the guard watching the house was unconscious.”
My stomach dipped at the sorrow that flashed over his face.
“I found her on the couch, with her teddy bear. A hybrid snuck in and cut her throat. There was blood everywhere. I felt something just snap in me. Brandon found me a mile away, losing my shit. I told him how I just wanted out, how I wasn’t set up for this line of work.
That this little girl… this beautiful little child was just murdered because she saw what happened.
She could hardly speak, let alone give us the details of what happened. And she was killed anyway.”
I watched as he clenched his jaw. I leaned forward. “Did Brandon convince you to stay?”
He nodded. “He told me that I was part of the solution. And that if I didn’t feel what I was feeling, I didn’t actually care. We all have something that haunts us, something that defines us for that change. Abby was mine.”
“I’m sorry. That’s horrible.”
He nodded. “And just part of what we’ve all seen. All of the people we’ve helped have helped carve who we are today.”
I felt like I was staring at a different side of Westley. I’d seen him as a strong put-together person, someone who was always smiling, sweet, and caring. But he hadn’t always been that way. He had a darker side, a sad past.
“I never would have guessed that.”
“And you? Did you grow up with a happy family?”
I shrugged. “In a way. My sister and I have always been close. We were close with my mother and lived a decent life.”
He frowned. “Before… you said that your mother had your magic stripped.”
“Ahh, that…” I looked down at my hands. I should have known that would come up. “She did that to protect us. We were moving, and she wanted us to fit in. We did. No one even knew about us being witches until we came here.”
He slowly nodded. “Are you angry at her for doing that? I imagine that would take time to get over. Having something taken from you like that.”
I shook my head. “No, I wasn’t. I didn’t have access to my magic yet, so I never felt a difference. Hazel had a harder time because she was using her magic. But she eventually moved past it.”
“And yet you still have magic,” he chuckled. “Interesting how that happened.”
I nodded. “Somehow. It’s impossible. Hazel asked the witches. No one knows how.”
“Well, maybe it’s because you didn’t have access to it yet. Maybe she never got all of it out.”
“Maybe,” I said.
I looked around the space, taking in the silence. It was peaceful.
“Alright,” he said, pulling himself back up. “Now that we rested for a moment, back to it.”
He offered me a hand up, and I took it. I took a deep breath, letting the cold air fill my lungs. I looked at Westley, taking in just how amazing he truly was. He continued to surprise me.