The Second Covenant

Obviously, when I got home, my parents were not pleased to find that I’d disobeyed an order and left the house. Peyton didn’t really meet my eyes but showed his displeasure by glaring at Riley and Tristan when the two guys put their arms around my waist and hugged me between them. Predictably, they found nothing about the power link up between us. When it came to my magic it seemed that there was nothing in the Book of Damnation. I looked at my dad and saw his worry, his fear because he couldn’t help me control my powers. Didn’t know what to expect or how to advise me.

I touched his hand and he sighed heavily. “Maybe we should try and search for a European coven dad.” He nodded and rubbed his hand over the back of his neck. “We already started talking about that.” He took me from the boys and hugged me close. “Don’t worry Cherish, we’ll figure this out.” I smiled and breathed deep of his aftershave. “I’m not worried dad. I trust you.” I turned my head enough to look right at Peyton. “All of you.” But it’s a woman’s prerogative to lie to make the men in her life feel better. I was worried out of my mind.

My dreams that night were not easy.

I was running, my red cloak streaming behind me, the howling of wolves echoing in the night air, a sinister laughter that seemed to sound right in my ear. In my dream, I was terrified, I couldn’t call my power, I couldn’t fight, and when I burst through the trees, I saw Peyton and Druex, kneeling in the dirt, arms tied back over thick poles, each of them had blood running down their bare chests, numerous cuts that formed a macabre pattern. I could smell the coppery tang, feel the icy kiss of that phantom wind on my face and knew that they would die if I didn’t do something.

But I just stood there and watched, a shadow moved between the two men, the only thing visible about him, and it was a him, I could taste the flavor of malevolent male evil, was the glitter of a knife. I couldn’t do anything but watch as the shadow circle both men, watch the determination on their faces, but the pleading in their eyes, it tore at me. “Choose.” The shadow hissed and I felt tears slide down my cheeks. “I cant.” The sinister laugher sliced at me like shards of glass. The blade flashed and I heard myself screaming as their eyes widened with fear and shock, watched as the blood leeched from them in spurts, until the light in their eyes faded and their heads dropped, slumping slowly to the ground. Dead.

I sat up gasping, my body slick with clammy sweat. I nearly fell out of bed when my cell phone rang, my heart in my throat as I grasped the little purple phone. My hands shook so bad it took me a second to flip it open. “What happened?” It was Tristan who demanded the answer, he was like his dad, in a way. He was able to feel the disturbance between our quartet, if one of us was in trouble, he was usually the first to know it. “I don’t know. I was having a nightmare…” The phone beeped in my ear and I lifted it away to check the caller ID. I started crying, silent tears that streamed down my face “Peyton’s calling.”
“Riley’s calling me too, conference call babe.”
“Whatsgoingon?” We must have hit the buttons at the same time because Riley and
Peyton spoke in unison, both on edge and worried. For me. I pressed my hand to my face and took a deep breath. “I’m fine guys, just a nightmare. I didn’t mean to project, I’m sorry.”

They argued with me until I told them a lie, a first, and was surprised at how easily it fell from my lips. “I was dreaming about Taylor. I’ll be okay.”

They accepted that without argument, because really what could you say to an abused woman having nightmares. “Don’t worry it’ll pass?” My guys were many things, but insensitive was not one of them. Not towards me anyway. We hung up after a little bit and I tried to roll over and forget that I’d lied to my best friends, forget that I wanted my wolf and Peyton.
Forget how much that dream had felt like a vision.
Forget that what I’d just dreamt might have been a foretelling of something dark ahead.
But I couldn’t sleep, couldn’t forget. I kept seeing their faces, the blood, the pleading in their eyes as I just stood there and did nothing.