Chapter Two
Nina was trembling. She was running as fast as she could, her feet stumbling over rocks and roots as she ran. There was a shadow growing taller and taller behind her, taking the form of a huge hand reaching for her. She screamed, but it was too late. Morrigan was coming for her. Nina threw her arms around her belly, shrieking for help. A hand reached into her chest and grabbed her heart. She felt the icy touch of death and closed her eyes, ready to accept her fate.
Suddenly, she heard a voice from far away. “Please wake up, Nina.” She looked around wildly. It was her bear, she knew it was. She would recognize that voice anywhere. She screamed out his name, “Kevin!” But she couldn’t see him anywhere. She looked around. She was no longer in the forest, running from Morrigan. Now she stood on top of a hill, all alone.
She heard someone talking to Kevin – another voice she recognized. Her mother was comforting Kevin, telling him to wait until she finds a way. She could hear them, but she knew they wouldn’t be able to hear her. She was trapped in the world of the sleeping, the world of dreams mingling with prophecies. It was a world she knew all too well.
Kevin looked at Nina as she lay there, unmoving. He wondered where she was, if she knew that she was surrounded by friends and family. He laid a hand on her forehead, and said, “You all should get some sleep. I’ll stay with Nina.”
Gael stepped forward, and said, “Kevin, you should get some rest, too. I’m a vampire. I don’t need sleep. I can stay awake and keep a lookout.”
Kevin considered arguing with Gael, but he knew the vampire was right. Kevin shifted and curled up next to Nina, the big bear protecting the little witch. Luke and Cassie waved everybody goodnight before climbing down the stairs with Violet and finding a room to spend the night in. Ammara and Kalen headed to the kitchen where Kalen fixed them both a drink, and Heather smiled at Gael before she left the room and found herself a couch to sleep on. Gael took up a spot near the window and sat down in an armchair, keeping a steady watch over the sleeping couple and the door. From time to time, he would glance out of the window to see a fluttering fairy making its way home for the night.
Nina wanted more than anything to put her arms around Kevin, to feel his skin against hers and to smell his familiar scent. She ran a hand over her belly and felt the child inside her. She sat down on the hill, comforted that she wasn’t entirely alone. She strained her ears, hoping to hear Kevin again, but there was nothing but silence all around. Nina lay down on the grass and closed her eyes, wishing to go to sleep. She knew it was futile, however. There was no sleeping here in the world of dreams, for she was already asleep somewhere.
In the middle of the night, Ammara came to check on Nina. She saw Gael faithfully watching over her daughter and son-in-law, and she pressed a finger to her lips when she caught his eye. Gael nodded and sat back in his chair, allowing Ammara to silently stand in the doorway and watch the sleeping witch and bear. She sighed and leaned against the doorframe, hoping for some burst of magic or genius that could help her save her daughter.
She had lied to Kevin earlier. Her pregnancy with Nina hadn’t been this difficult. She remembered a happy time with Kalen as they frolicked through the fairy territory, safe in the knowledge that their child was growing happy and healthy in Ammara’s womb. It was true that she had felt drained of energy because the baby needed the magic to sustain itself inside her. It was nothing like the kind of energy that Nina’s unborn child was drawing from her.
Gael watched Ammara quietly. He knew that she put on a brave face in front of the others, always reassuring them, but she was afraid to lose her daughter all over again. He considered saying something to her, to comfort her, but decided against it. After all, it wasn’t his place.
As the sun rose, daylight filtered in through the window and illuminated the room. It tangled itself in the fur of the sleeping bear and fell beautifully on the witch’s face. Heather crept into the room slowly and made her way to Gael. He watched her enter the room, and he felt something in his chest. She looked beautiful in the morning light, and Gael found himself staring.
“What?” she whispered defensively, and Gael shook his head. Heather bristled visibly and then said, “I’m here to relieve you of your watch duty. I’ll take over from here.” Gael didn’t argue. He may not need sleep or rest, but he was still bored. He needed to stretch his legs and maybe hunt a little out in the forest. He stood up in a swift motion, and Heather found herself admiring his grace. She set down the cup of tea she had brought with her and laid a cushion on the chair Gael had been sitting in. She thought he had left when she heard him whisper her name behind her.
She turned to find his face mere centimeters from hers, and before she could comprehend what was going on, he lightly kissed her lips and then left. Heather touched her mouth where his had been just seconds ago, and she smiled to herself. As she stood there blushing and drinking her tea, she heard movement behind her and turned to see Kevin stirring. He had shifted back to his human form, and Heather picked up a t-shirt and shorts from a pile of clothes in the corner and handed them to him. Kevin sleepily thanked her and pulled on the clothes before he turned back to Nina and gently stroked her forehead.
“Kevin, why don’t you go downstairs and get some breakfast, hon? I’m here with Nina till then.” Heather said, gently coaxing Kevin out of the room.
Kevin turned and looked longingly at Nina, but Heather continued pushing him until he gave in. With his head hung low, he made his way downstairs to the kitchen. Kalen and Cassie were already seated there while Luke stood at the stove, frying eggs. They all looked pleasantly surprised to see him downstairs.
“Breakfast?” Luke asked him, and Kevin nodded as he sat down at the table. He looked at Kalen, and said “Listen, about yesterday–” but Kalen waved a hand dismissively.
“It’s okay. Tensions were running high.”
Kevin nodded gratefully, and a few seconds later, Luke put two sunny-side up eggs in front of him and Cassie passed him a plate full of toast. He tore off a piece of bread and picked up some egg with it, putting a bite into his mouth. Luke wasn’t an awful cook, but somehow, the food made him want to throw up. He suddenly looked up and said, “How will Nina eat?”
Cassie and Luke shared a look, and then Cassie said, “We’ll figure something out. I’m sure there are herbs and stuff we can give her that will nourish her for now.” She looked at Luke, who nodded quickly in agreement.
“Yeah, we’ll figure something out.”
Ammara, who had walked in just a few minutes ago, said, “Actually- there’s a way for her to feed which will help restore a little of her energy.” She sat down at the table, and said, “You won’t like it, but he’s the only one who can help us do this.”
“Who is?” Kalen asked quizzically.
Ammara took a deep breath before she said, “Gael.”
Kevin pushed away his plate of food, and said, “No, absolutely not. You want her to feed on blood?”
Luke turned off the gas, and said, “Ammara, that’s too weird. It’s unnatural.”
“Is it?” a quiet voice said from the back door, and they all turned to see Gael standing there, his mouth stained with blood as he returned from a fresh kill. “Witches use blood all the time in their magic, and that’s because it’s the most basic, most natural form of life energy.”
Cassie licked her lips before she said, “I agree with them. I mean, if it might help Nina, then we should give it a shot.”
Kevin stood up and faced Gael. “So what? She’s gonna be a vampire?”
Gael shook his head, and said, “No, vampires are sired through birth. She will simply consume blood to make her stronger.”
“And how are we going to make her consume it? Will we force-feed it down her throat?” Kevin asked, still not on board with the idea.
“There will be no need. It will be a lot less messy than that.”
Kevin shook his head, and said, “I don’t know. Maybe we should try the herbs thing that Cassie talked about first, and if she’s not getting any better, then we can try this.”
Gael shrugged and walked back out. Ammara sighed and nodded.
***
Nina was wandering through a forest. She recognized it as fairy territory. She could hear the chatter of the woodland creatures somewhere above her, and she kept walking as the sunlight poured in through the trees. She was looking for her life-tree, and as she walked, it seemed to move further away from her. The sun gradually set, replaced with a dark and bitter cold that made Nina shiver. She could see her tree wilting, its branches drooping as the last of the leaves withered and fell to the ground as ash.
Nina ran to it, but it was too late. She closed her eyes and screamed, and when she opened them again, she was lying on the same hill she was on earlier. She whimpered and called out for help, hoping that somehow, somebody would be able to hear her. A shadow flitted across the grassy plains, and when Nina looked up, she saw the hooded figure of a girl who looked like a teenager. Nina called out to the girl, but she ran from her, hiding her face with her cloak before she disappeared into thin air, leaving Nina all alone again.
***
Kevin paced around the library of Kalen’s home, his mind turning over and over as he thought about Nina wasting away up in the bedroom. There must be something that could be done. He closed his eyes and tried to think. Upstairs, he heard the arrival of new visitors. He strained his ears and recognized Fergus and Diana talking softly to Cassie.
“Diana,” he muttered to himself, before he hurried upstairs.
The wolves were happy to see him, and they smiled pleasantly, but Kevin had no time for pleasantries. “Diana…the Council. The Council must know something that can help Nina. I’m sure there are remedies passed down from centuries and that kind of thing.”
Diana was surprised, but she quickly regained composure and shook her head. “I’m sorry, Kevin. I wouldn’t know of these things, my memory isn’t back yet. Maybe someone else can help…” she trailed off, but Kevin had already stopped listening.
Cassie walked up to him and gently placed her hand on Kevin’s arm, “Kevin, Kalen and Gael are part of the Council, too. If there was something, I’m sure they would have mentioned it.”
Kevin shook his head, and said, “They weren’t as involved with record keeping. They wouldn’t access to that kind of knowledge…” He stopped short and looked at Cassie with an odd expression on his face. “Samuel,” he whispered. “Samuel would know.”
Cassie tried to say something, but he started hurrying toward the door.
“Watch after Nina. I’ll be right back,” Kevin called out on his way. He hurried out into the forest, and once he reached a clearing, he started to remove his clothes, tying them in a bundle on his leg before he shifted.
It felt good to be in his natural form as he ran toward Shadow Claw. He felt the sun on his back and the wind in his fur as he took off at full speed. He wanted desperately for this time to be over, and he wanted everything to go back to the way it was, with Nina safe and happy and awake.
He crossed the boundary that surrounded the den, and once he was in the vicinity, he stopped to look at the field where they had discovered Nina lying out in the cold, unconscious. He shook his head, telling himself to focus on the task at hand as he shifted back. Pulling the clothes from the bundle, he got dressed and made his way to the house. Abigail was sitting on the couch, reading to two little cubs. She sprang up when she saw Kevin.
“Is everything all right?” she asked. “Where’s Nina?”
Kevin shook his head, and said, “Everything is still the same. Nina won’t wake up, and Ammara…” He threw a look at the cubs and dropped his voice so they wouldn’t hear. “Ammara says she’s in a coma. That’s actually why I’m here.”
Abigail raised her eyebrows and Kevin wrung his hands nervously.
“Is Samuel here? I want to ask him if there’s anything he knows – some kind of ancient remedy or a spell or something.”
“Kevin,” Samuel’s voice said from behind him.
He turned to see Samuel standing in the kitchen doorway, holding a cup of tea that he slowly stirred with a spoon. “I’ve just brewed a fresh pot. Would you like some?”
Kevin shook his head impatiently. He wasn’t here for tea, he wanted answers. “Samuel, is there anything you can do?”
Samuel took a long sip of his tea, and Kevin bristled with anger. Why was he being so slow?
“Kevin, don’t you think that if there was some secret cure, I would have already divulged it to you? Nina is the second Caillagh. Trust me, it is very important that she survives this.”
Kevin wanted to snap, but he knew Samuel was old and deserved his respect. He took a deep breath, and said, “Can you please look again? I’m desperate, Samuel. The love of my life is in a coma, and her fate hangs in the balance. I don’t know what else to do, who else to turn to.”
Abigail walked up to him and gently put an arm around his shoulder as Kevin tried not to break down. His inner animal howled and trembled with anguish. It was almost too much to bear, but he knew he had to stay strong for Nina’s sake so she would have something to come back to.
Samuel sighed, and said, “Of course. I’ll look again, Kevin.”
“Thank you,” said Kevin, before he left for the fairy kingdom again.