Chapter Thirteen
On Tuesday afternoon, Owen, Jace, Shae, and I found ourselves staring at a large oak tree in a small, forested area of High Park.
It was the oldest tree in the Toronto area that was secluded enough to offer the privacy we needed.
Sylvia leaned heavily on her walking stick while she contemplated me, and I tried not to fidget under her gaze.
“You must master the Tree Spirit, child,” Sylvia instructed. “Tell it what you want, and it will grant you access to the Root Path.”
“What Tree Spirit?” I asked, searching everywhere.
“It’s in the tree,” Sylvia said, tapping her walking stick against the ground. “Reach out to it, talk to it, and then stand your ground and show your power. It will obey.”
I looked to Shae to see if she could offer any other guidance. She gave a small shrug and a sympathetic smile, and then she and the others took a few steps back.
Right.
I turned my attention to the oak tree. I could do this. After all, I had opened a portal. There was no longer any doubt magic existed. Shae could feel it, too, even though it was beyond her reach.
Last night, I had stared at myself in the bathroom mirror, the dark spot over my heart serving as a reminder of my awakened Druid powers. When I closed my eyes and focused on that spot, something unnamed yet powerful stirred within me.
I would do this. For Charles.
Now I reached out to the tree with my mind, opening myself to the idea that there was a life force within it. A breeze curled around my fingers and lifted my hair. The tree’s branches rustled, and for a heartbeat, I thought it might work.
Then a shiver passed through the ground. The wind snapped the oak leaves and the tree creaked in warning. A cold, indifferent presence brushed against my mind.
Not one of us.
I recoiled. For a second, the tree bark shifted into the faint shape of a face. Its eyes regarded me with disdain, and its mouth turned downward in a distinct frown. When it faded, the oak tree stood before me once again.
“Mmm…the tree said no?”
“Try again,” Sylvia insisted.
The opposition the next time was stronger. I shook my head. “I don’t think the Tree Spirit likes me.”
“You are a Veil Walker. A Druid. The Tree Spirt submits to you!”
An hour later, I landed on my back in the dirt with a hard thump. Again. The tree had taken to pushing me away with an invisible force.
Pain shot up my spine, and I panted. Overhead the oak’s leaves waved back and forth in a mockery of my many failed attempts. I may have hit my head one too many times, but I swore the tree was laughing.
I had asked numerous times if anyone had seen the Tree Spirit’s face or heard anything unusual, but apparently the only thing they’d witnessed was me landing on my ass in the dirt. Perfect.
While I was busy practising, Shae and Jace spoke softly to one another, and every few minutes offered me an encouraging smile.
Owen, however, stood apart from them, arms crossed, a murderous expression on his face.
I was happy I wasn’t the object of that stare; he seemed to be saving it all for Sylvia.
A few times over the past hour, I had caught him striding toward me with a fuck-this-shit look on his face, but every time I waved him back. I needed to do this.
Now, as I lay in the dirt, Shae’s worried face came into view, blocking out the sky, and I squinted to bring her into focus.
“Hey, girl. How you doing?”
“Honestly? Not well.”
Shae nodded in sympathy, although I could tell she had no idea why we were here. To be fair, I wasn’t sure, either.
“So, Mr. Gorgeous asked if I’d like to get dinner with him.”
My brow furrowed. “Owen?”
Shae blinked. “No. Jace.”
“Oh.” Oh. A smile spread across my face. “Shae. That’s amazing. Go.”
“Thanks. He’s incredible, Kira. Handsome and funny and thoughtful. We’ve been talking this whole time while you…do whatever it is that you’re doing.”
“Have fun, Shae.” I waved her weakly away. “Not much to see here anyway.”
“Are you sure? Because I hate leaving you like…this.” She gestured to me, and I winced as pain lanced my temples.
“I’ve got her,” Owen said as his arms slid under me and he gently lifted me up.
“Okay, thanks!” Shae gave me a thumbs-up, mouthed text me, and skipped back to Jace.
At least someone was enjoying this.
Owen steadied me, the warmth of his hands pressing against my shoulders, while I stared unseeing at his sweater.
Too tired to overthink, I rested my forehead against his chest with a soft groan, breathing in his scent—sandalwood or maybe cedar with a hint of something citrusy.
Whatever it was, it was unmistakably Owen.
Safe and soothing.
Owen cupped the nape of my neck with one hand and curled the other around my back, pulling me into him. He rested his chin on my head with a deep sigh.
“I don’t like this, Kira.” His voice rumbled through me. “It doesn’t feel right.”
“It does feel off.” My voice was muffled against his chest. “Why won’t the Tree Spirits accept me?”
“You’re just starting,” Sylvia muttered as she joined us. “I suppose this will take longer than I thought.”
“Have you ever walked the Root Path?” I asked, reluctantly stepping out of Owen’s embrace.
“No, but that shouldn’t matter. The book says—”
“Ugh!” I groaned. “Where is the book? Let me see it.”
“I don’t have it with me,” Sylvia said stiffly.
“How do we really know I’m a Veil Walker?! Or that this is what needs to happen for me to find the stones? I had no training when I opened the portal in Charles’s living room.”
“And look how well that turned out,” Sylvia retorted. “Charles is gone, and you almost burned out. But let’s go in blind once again and cross our fingers no one else goes missing. Hmmm? Sound like a good plan?”
She had a point, but I would die before admitting she might be right.
“Fine.” That’s all she would get. “But I’m done for today. We’ll have to try again tomorrow afternoon.”
“You can’t quit now, child. You need to learn this.”
“I have no idea what I’m supposed to be learning! And the tree obviously doesn’t want to connect. It keeps pushing me back. I’m too exhausted to make any more progress.” Through gritted teeth, I added, “And I am not quitting. I’m resting and regrouping.”
“Ha! ‘More progress.’ You haven’t made any progress.”
“Kira is done for the day,” Owen said, his voice low. “We’ll figure something else out.”
I slid an arm around his waist, and he held me up as we started walking toward his car.
“You can’t leave!” Sylvia banged her walking staff against the ground.
“Goodbye, Sylvia.”
“Fine. Run away. You left Todd. Never gave him a second chance. Figures you would quit on this as well,” she called after my retreating back.
Something in me snapped.
Owen whirled around ready to defend me, but what he saw stopped him in his tracks. Sylvia hung in the air, her feet dangling just off the ground, her hands clawing at an invisible force that gripped her throat. She gouged at her neck, drawing blood, but there was nothing to fight.
Owen spun to me, and his face turned ashen.
My feet planted firmly in the earth, I stretched a hand toward my victim, my gaze unblinking.
Energy crackled around me, and my hair lifted in a wind that affected no one but me.
Fury surged through me. I was shadow, pulled from the roots of the world.
I was something ancient and forbidden, drawn not from the whisper of leaves but from the rot beneath them.
Pain squeezed my chest like a vise, but I welcomed it.
I was power and wrath personified. I felt neither doubt nor remorse for what I was doing or about to do.
A shadow flew toward Sylvia and curled around her writhing body.
“Kira, no,” Owen whispered in horror.
But I didn’t care what he or anyone else thought. I was no coward. I was no quitter. And I certainly wasn’t in the wrong when it came to Todd. Sylvia was about to pay for her insolence. As the shadow wrapped tighter around Sylvia’s neck, her eyes bulged, and she thrashed in vain against me.
“Kira! Stop!” Owen’s frantic voice barely reached me.
A warm hand gripped my outstretched arm then moved to my fingers. Another hand cupped my cheek, and Owen’s face appeared before me. He shouted, but I could no longer hear him.
Sylvia. Would. Die.
Owen crossed the space between us in a heartbeat, his mouth crashing into mine in a long, heated kiss.
It was desperate and raw. A collision of fear and tenderness, of every thought and feeling he couldn’t voice.
His lips were hard against my own and he deepened the kiss, slanting his mouth over mine and wrapping his arms around me.
For a breathless moment, everything stopped. My wrath subsided, the energy calmed, and the wind died. I kissed Owen back with all the desire I’d felt for him since the moment we met.
My magic faltered. The darkness that had gathered in my chest shattered, and light rushed in to fill the void. I gasped as if surfacing from deep water, but horror at what I had almost done nearly made my legs buckle.
I peered over Owen’s shoulder at Sylvia collapsed on the ground, coughing violently.
The lingering echo of my power, sharp and wrong, still hummed in my veins, tempting me.
My whole body trembled from the realization of how close I had come to crossing an unthinkable line. If Owen hadn’t intervened…
It had been so easy to give in to my rage. Revulsion at the power within me rose swiftly, and I pushed Owen away. I couldn’t touch him right now or meet his eyes. What if I hurt him? I didn’t deserve his kindness or forgiveness.
I needed to get out of here. But not before I set one thing straight. Well, two things.
“Sylvia, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean for it to go so far.” I meant that, despite the anger I still felt.
“It’s okay, child. We wanted you to access your magic. Although I never imagined you were so strong.” She struggled to rise to her feet before rethinking her decision and flopping back down.
But I wasn’t finished. I stood over her, both gratified and ashamed at the fear in her eyes. This amount of power was dangerous and addictive. No one should have it.
“You will never mention Todd to me again. Am I clear? What happened between us is none of your business. And you will stop calling me child. It’s demeaning.”
She nodded.
“I’ll text Todd and ask him to help you get home, but we are done for today.”
I spun on my heel and Owen followed, but the stain of what I had done lingered, and even the oak tree seemed to pull away.