Chapter 11
Eleven
Bex
I open my eyes and relief floods my body, easing my panicked nerves.
Everything’s okay. Well, as okay as it can be while my body stands in the pool and my spirit form stands out in the cavern next to a woman wearing a high-collared dress.
The bottom hem drags along the stone ground while her long sleeves go well past her hands.
The entire garment is white with gold stitch detailing and short ruffles along the buttons down her chest. She looks like a wealthy woman from town, in the most plain but luxurious dress I’ve ever seen.
Her silver hair is braided down her back, and her skin is flawless.
She stares at me with such vibrance in her eyes, like a new friend just waiting to get to know everything about someone.
I look down at myself, now covered up with the dress I was wearing earlier, but more translucent. My entire body glows a soft white, and lifting my hand up, I can see the woman standing nearby straight through my flesh.
“Is this what being a ghost is like?” I ask.
“You are a curious creature,” she says with a warm smile. “Persephone chose wisely. I can already see a spark of hope within you. But I know this world is not one you’re familiar with. So, Rebecca Rose Ellington, I’ll give you the opportunity to make your case. Whatever I decide, is what will be.”
“Make my case?” I repeat her words, unsure of her exact meaning.
Which case am I to present? Remove the dustslinger powers, tell me how to master those powers, or take me to where Levi is so I can live out my eternal afterlife with him?
What case am I to make when I know nothing about this supernatural world?
Maybe I should’ve listened to Garrett and waited before calling on the Spirit of the Land.
“Well, dear. I have all night, but you—you’re running out of time.”
“What does that mean?”
A howl sounds from outside the hole. I look up to see wolves leaping over the hole. The sounds of growls mix with those of jaws snapping.
“Oh, I have to help! Garrett needs to help them!” I startle and quickly face the Spirit of the Land. “Can I come back another time?”
She shakes her head. “And how do you plan on helping them?”
“What?” My frantic gaze shifts from the hole to her. “I know how to shoot. I’ll do whatever I can to help.”
She moves closer and I stare into her eyes. They possess every color, gently swirling like tight rainbows deep, deep inside her eyes. It’s like looking across the prairie land and seeing the sunset balled up and spinning round and round.
“Why not use what’s inside you to fight them?”
With a flustered shrug, I tell her, “I would if I knew how! And I don’t think we have time for you to teach me, not with Booker and Murphy in trouble.”
She waves a hand, and the sounds of fighting and teeth snapping vanish. “It hasn’t come to be—yet.”
I tilt an ear to the sky, listening. All is quiet. “You mean that fight hasn’t happened yet?”
The spirit nods. “We’ve got some time to talk.” She lowers herself onto a smooth stone bench and pats the space next to her.
I move to her side. “Listen, you’re right. This is all new to me. And I don’t know if I want to live in this dangerous world. But right now, I need to understand exactly what a dustslinger is and if it’s possible to remove it.”
“Is that what you want? To rid yourself of this power? If so, make your case and it shall be done. If that’s not the case you wish to make, then choose wisely. You only get one chance, and then I decide your fate.”
“No,” I say, jumping to my feet and standing before her.
“No?” This time it’s her repeating my words as if no one has ever told her no.
“That’s right, you heard me. You don’t get to decide my fate. And I sure as hell am not making my case without knowing all the information there is to know.”
She stands, except her form grows taller, towering over me and arching as though she’s about to swallow me whole. “You dare to speak to the Spirit of the Land in such a disrespectful tone.” Her voice booms throughout the cavern, and I swear I see Garrett’s body tremble in the water.
The spirit raises a hand, palm facing me. There’s a pain in my head and behind my chest that throbs, as if my soul is being ripped out of me. My feet lift off the ground and I float before her. The pain grows more intense, and I fear the Spirit of the Land has had enough time to decide my fate.
This is it. This is my end. I float higher into the cavern, as my physical body starts to convulse in the pool.
Garrett immediately lunges forward and grabs my shoulders.
He’s shouting something, but I can’t hear him.
He raises a hand as if he’s going to slap me but stops. Instead, he brings his mouth to mine.
The act causes the Spirit of the Land to shrink and gush like a youthful girl excited for her friend at such an intimate gesture. She kneels by the side of the pool and whispers, “Oh, what an interesting turn of events!”
The threat of losing my soul to this mystical being fades, and my spirit form slowly descends until my feet reach the ground.
Not paying any attention to me, she spreads her hands wide as if to embrace Garrett, but doesn’t. Tears stream her cheeks as she professes, “The benefactor’s heart beats again.”
Garrett pulls back, breathless, as my convulsions settle. He waits, his hands still gripping my shoulders tightly. I can’t even imagine the anticipation he must be experiencing—will she wake up and live, or will the spirit claim her and die.
The spirit looks up at me, and her annoyed expression melts into a compassionate one.
She stands, comes over to me, and cups my face with her hands.
“I see it now. I see your destiny. You are not the one to save Gravers Junction, no, my dear. But you are a protector, and you’ll need to be strong in order to play your part. ”
“Thank you,” I say, unsure of her meaning. “Does that mean I may live, and you’ll help me understand how to use my dustslinger powers?”
“If that’s what you want.”
I nod. The decision was easier than I’d thought it would be. I don’t want her to take it from me.
“I grant you knowledge and a tether to the Spirit of the Land,” she whispers before leaning in and kissing my forehead.
A rush of wind comes at me, throwing my spirit body through the air.
There’s something pressing into my skull, and I scream as the pressure passes through bone and into my mind.
Time seems to slow, and my eyes are overcome by the brightest light.
A heavy weight inside my mind lifts, and I’m struck with a sense of familiarity.
The sand stirs beneath my skin, and I know exactly what it’s telling me: Get ready, we’re about to fight.
Something inside my muscles unlocks as well, and I’m seeing myself sparring with a werewolf, not in beast form but looking like a human, dodging punches and moving with accuracy I didn’t know I could do.
“I will see you again,” the Spirit of the Land whispers in my mind.
When I open my eyes, I get my wish. Garrett’s hands are gripping my shoulders, and his gaze is intensely focused on my face. When I blink, his hands instantly go to my face. “Bex?”
“Still alive,” I say with a small chuckle.
He pulls me in for a giant hug, his arms wrapping around my naked body. I don’t move my own, a bit shocked at the gesture. When he realizes I haven’t returned the gesture, he quickly releases me and moves back, the water splashing and rippling between us.
“My apologies. I’m just grateful you’re okay.”
Another chuckle escapes, and his panicked reaction simmers with the sound. He offers me a small smile. “I truly am sorry to have intruded on your space.”
“You saved me,” I say. “The Spirit of the Land was about to claim my soul, and then stopped when you kissed me.”
“You saw that?”
“Like I said, you saved me.”
“I needed to wake you, but I didn’t want to hurt you.”
“The spirit saw something in that moment. She also called you ‘the benefactor.’ You want to tell me what that mean?”
He shakes his head and instead of answering, he asks, “So? What happened?”
“She unlocked it all,” I say while pressing the tips of my fingers to my head. “I know exactly how to use the dustslinging powers now.”
He lets out a massive sigh. “Oh, thank the gods.”
I nod, then climb out of the water, not caring if he sees me naked—again. When I glance over my shoulder, curious to know if he’s watching me, to my delight, he is. And I swear, as I grab my dress and disappear down the tunnel, I hear a soft groan from that man’s lips.
“Come on! Hurry and get dressed! There are wolves coming, and we need to be ready!”