(Blue Fire 05) Heartless [A] Page 2

  “Yeah, sure. How could I ever forget that?”

  “Well, it turns out I can do a lot more than just that.”

  “Really? Like what?”

  “I’ll tell you in a minute. But first, I need to tell you a little story.”

  Leesa told Cali about the waziri, and how some of them had turned to the black arts and massacred their former comrades and then joined forces with the Necromancer. She explained how Dominic was the only good waziri to escape, and how in an effort to create an apprentice the black waziri would not be able to detect, he had decided to impart his powers to an unborn female, rather than to a young male child as was traditional.

  “It turns out, that female was me,” she said.

  It took Cali a moment to comprehend what Leesa had just told her.

  “You’re a wizard?” she exclaimed. “Like freakin’ Harry Potter? How cool is that?”

  “Technically, I’m a waziri,” Leesa replied, “but it’s really the same thing. I don’t have a wand or flying broomstick or any of that stuff, though.” She smiled. “I’m sure you’re disappointed to hear that.”

  Cali grinned. “Well, maybe just a little,” she admitted.

  “My powers were mostly dormant until I turned eighteen,” Leesa continued. “Dominic should have begun training me a year before that, but he couldn’t find me because my mom getting bitten by the grafhym altered my vibrations, which he normally would have been able to use to locate me. So I’m way behind.”

  “How did he find you, then?”

  “Amazingly, we have Edwina to thank for that. Dominic was already in Connecticut, and the amount of power I used to knock Edwina away from you was enough for him to detect.”

  Cali nodded as she began to put the pieces together. “So, I’m guessing that the dangerous thing you were doing this afternoon involved some of those black wizards?”

  “Yeah, it did.”

  Leesa described the events of the afternoon for Cali, which was a complicated job. She began with the diminished magic and its effect not only on her magic, but on the volkaanes’ inner fire and on the black waziri as well. She revealed that Jenna—who Cali had met once—was a witch and how Jenna had used her magic to infiltrate Leesa’s mind. She repeated the story of how the two of the vampires came to be indebted to Jenna.

  “Everything was going wrong,” Leesa said as she neared the end of her story. “Dominic had his magic weakened, which ruined his plan. We didn’t even know that Jenna and the vampires were there—this was before she admitted that she had invaded my mind—but one of the vampires was too new, so her lover refused to let her fight. That left them one vampire short, and so they were not going to intervene. Luckily, your boyfriend Stefan showed up, so now there was one vampire for each of the bad guys. Since vampires’ strength and speed are not affected by the weakening magic, they finished off the black wizards pretty quickly.”

  “Way to go, Stefan,” Cali said, grinning. “Next time I see him, maybe I’ll let him give me a quick kiss on the lips, instead of just on my hand.”

  Leesa shook her head and smiled. The first time Cali met Stefan, he had kissed the back of her hand, and Cali had turned it into a “thing” between them, acting like Stefan just could not get enough of it. The two had seen each other a couple of times since, and Stefan dutifully played along with it each time.

  “Anyhow,” Leesa said, “that’s pretty much the story. Now you know just about everything. Pretty amazing, huh?”

  Cali slid up to the front of the bed and sat with her legs dangling off the edge.

  “I’ll say. I cannot believe you’re a freakin’ wizard—and Dominic, too. And that Jenna is a witch, except when she’s an owl or an otter or something. But I guess if vampires, volkaanes and zombies are real—and I’ve seen all of them—then why not wizards and witches?” Cali paused for a moment and then asked, “Are there any other supernatural creatures running around I should know about? Werewolves, maybe? Centaurs? Unicorns? I’d really love to see a unicorn. How cool would that be?”

  Leesa smiled. “Rave said there used to be werewolves—way back in the past they were allied with volkaanes against the vampires—but he thinks they all died out. I don’t know about centaurs or unicorns. I can ask Dominic and Rave, but I wouldn’t hold your breath—especially about the unicorns.”

  Cali grinned. “That’s okay. Being best buds with a wizard is good enough for me. Can you show me some of your magic? Or are you too tired?”

  “My magic is weakened, remember, but I think I can probably show you a little something before I head up to my room to crash. Turn off the light.”

  Cali got up and switched off the overhead light. With the afternoon rapidly waning toward evening, only a bit of illumination filtered in through the window, keeping the room fairly dim.

  Leesa held out her hand, palm up.

  “Illuminati verdus,” she said, picturing a glowing yellow orb above her palm.

  The floating sphere was not all that bright, but in the darkened room it was still a pretty impressive demonstration.

  “Very cool,” Cali said. She reached out and carefully touched the ball of light with her finger. “It’s not even warm.”

  “I have another spell for that,” Leesa said. “But that’s going to have to wait for another day.”

  A moment later, Leesa’s light winked out.

  “And that, ladies and gentlemen, concludes our demonstration for today,” Leesa said with a smile. She stood up as Cali turned the light back on. “Now, I really need a shower and a nap. Who knows, I may sleep right through until breakfast.”

  “I wouldn’t blame you,” Cali said. She wrapped Leesa up in another embrace. “Thanks for trusting me and telling me all that stuff. It’s way cool.”

  “It’ll be nice to have someone to talk to about this,” Leesa replied. “God knows the people in my life who have magic can be hard to get a hold of.” She smiled. “I can almost always find you, though.”

  “Any time,” Cali said. “You know I love hearing about this stuff, even if I can’t tell anyone.”

  “Yeah. You for sure can’t tell anyone. I just hope I haven’t put you in any danger by telling you.”

  “Hey, don’t worry. If no one knows that I know, how can I be in any danger?”

  Leesa hoped that was true.

  3. RESTLESS SLEEP

  Back upstairs in her room, Leesa stripped out of her grimy clothes and tossed them into the canvas hamper at the bottom of her closet. She put on her comfy terrycloth robe and rubber flip-flops, grabbed her shower kit, and limped down the hallway to the communal showers at the far end of the corridor. At this hour of the day, she had the place all to herself, which was just fine with her.

  The sixteen girls on her floor shared five showers, each one separated by a red plastic curtain attached to a curved metal ring suspended from the ceiling. Leesa took off her robe and hung it carefully on the chrome hook behind the stall farthest from the door—she had learned from experience that things sometimes slipped off the hooks if you weren’t careful. The floor looked clean and dry now, but that did not mean it was going to stay that way. She pulled the shower curtain closed and turned on the water, standing off to the side while the water warmed up. The hot water heaters were located in the basement of the dorm, so it usually took a minute or two for the hot water to make it up to the fourth floor.

  When the water finally got warm, she stepped under the showerhead, leaning her head forward until her forehead rested on the tile wall. She let the delicious streams of hot water pound onto the top of her head and flow down over her back and shoulders. It felt so good and so relaxing she thought she just might stay like this until she ran out of hot water. She wondered if it would be possible to fall asleep just like this.

  Finally, she summoned up the energy to grab her shampoo and lather the raspberry scented blend into her hair. The fruity aroma was almost as enjoyable as the hot water. Fatigue was catching up to her, so she decided to skip the con
ditioner and went right to scrubbing herself with her blue nylon loofah—a color she had switched to after meeting Rave—and raspberry body wash. When she was done, she toweled off quickly, donned her robe, and wrapped a smaller towel around her hair.

  Back in her room, she pulled the towel off her head and flopped down onto her bed, still in her robe. She knew she was going to pay a price for not drying her hair before going to bed, but she didn’t care. Closing her eyes, she fell fast asleep.

  Leesa opened her eyes and things immediately began to change. Her soft cotton comforter grew scratchier and more brittle, transforming itself into a blanket of decaying leaves. She lifted her cheek from the irritating surface and watched as bare trees replaced the walls of her room. She pushed herself to her feet, confused. The woods were lit in a very strange manner—she could see everything in a fifty foot circle quite clearly, but beyond that the world was dark as midnight.

  Movement caught her eye. She turned her head and saw Dominic standing under a giant oak tree, a faint yellow glow outlining his form. No, not Dominic, she realized—his avatar. Now she understood. She was dreaming…remembering. She turned her head in the other direction and saw Dominic again. No glow outlined this new Dominic. This was the real thing. He raised his hand in greeting. She started to raise hers.

  Suddenly, four dark forms materialized in the center of the clearing. Shimmering bands of black light surrounded each of them—an aura of danger, she knew instinctively. The black waziri flashed evil grins at her. For a moment, her heart pounded in her chest, but she quickly reined in her fear. There was no reason to be afraid—Stefan and his vampire comrades would be here any minute. They would make short work of the renegade wizards.

  Her eyes probed the darkness behind the black waziri, seeking some sign of the vampires. She saw nothing. Where were they? Her heart rate began to quicken again as the feeling of danger heightened.

  The outlines of the two waziri in front began to soften, to change. She watched as their clothes slowly transformed into dark suits. What was happening here, she wondered? Suits seemed totally wrong for this vision. Next, the wizards’ pointy beards disappeared, replaced by smooth-shaven chins. They looked like police detectives now, or federal agents of some kind. Strangely, the sense of danger emanating from them had not diminished in the least.

  She looked at Dominic, but she could no longer see his face clearly enough to determine his expression. She would find no clue there about how she should be reacting to all this.

  Looking back to the waziri, she was surprised to see only three of them now. No, that was wrong. The fourth was still there, barely, but he had faded into a dim black shadow only vaguely human in shape. Her eyes quickly scanned the clearing, looking for other changes. Dominic’s avatar had vanished, but his disappearance seemed unimportant. She had the feeling he just was no longer necessary here.

  The third wizard began to change now. This one was an apprentice, Dominic had said. Makenzi, Leesa thought his name was. He seemed to shrink, becoming shorter and more slender. His beard also vanished. His features softened, but not by much.

  Leesa realized she was now looking at a woman. The woman had shiny black hair, pulled tightly against her skull into a small bun behind her head. She was wearing a pants suit only slightly less severe looking than the suits of her male comrades. When her eyes met Leesa’s, a cold smile curved the woman’s thin lips. Leesa felt a chill shoot through her body. The woman’s smile felt a whole lot like recognition.

  Before she could make anything out of the woman’s expression, Leesa’s eyes were drawn to the fourth figure—the shadowy one. It was slowly growing clearer, becoming more solid. As it took shape, Leesa could see it was another woman. One of the men grabbed her arm and held her close beside him. Something about her was familiar, and growing more so by the second. Leesa watched, her eyes widening in surprise….

  Leesa opened her eyes to darkness. She felt groggy, confused. Her pillow was wet under her cheek—had she been sweating? Touching her head with her hand, she felt a damp, snarly mess. She remembered falling onto her bed without drying her hair. That explained the wet pillow. She had not even gotten beneath her blankets. No wonder her feet were cold.

  A glance at her clock showed her it was just past midnight. Maybe that’s why she felt so out of it. This was why she seldom went to bed before eleven, because when she woke up in the middle of the night like this, she usually felt like crap.

  She drew in a deep breath. She remembered that she had been dreaming, but whatever visions she had seen were rapidly fading from her memory. Whether it had been one of her magical dreams or just an ordinary one, she had no idea. She tried to call the images back, sensing that they might be important, but they refused her summons, remaining instead as vague memories at the edge of her consciousness. If the dream had indeed been magical, she guessed her diminished power was probably behind her inability to recall the vision. She sighed. Whatever she had seen, it was out of reach for now. Hoping she was not going to regret losing it, she closed her eyes. Her last thought before she fell asleep was that she should call her mother in the morning.

  4. BERRIES AND BREAKFAST

  Leesa woke up again a little after six o’clock the next morning. Her room was still dark—the sun would not be rising for some time yet. While she still didn’t feel great, she was much more refreshed and alert than when she had awakened at midnight, for which she was profoundly grateful. She could not recall what had disturbed her so much then, but suspected it must have been a dream. She spent a moment trying to remember it, but it was gone. Oh well, she thought, if it was important, it will come back—she hoped.

  Pushing her covers aside, she swung her legs over the side of the bed. For a few moments she just sat there in the darkness, gently rolling her neck and stretching her arms and shoulders before finally standing up. She flicked on the overhead light and donned her robe, then risked a glance into the mirror.

  She grimaced at what she saw, which made her reflection even more unpalatable. Her hair was a tangled, snarly mess, and a pair of dark circles under her eyes made her look like an old lady in her thirties or forties. She vowed to herself never again to go to sleep at such an early hour, nor without drying her hair first. She was glad she had awakened early, though, giving her time to wash and dry her hair before going down to breakfast. A little makeup should take care of her raccoon eyes. She thought about asking Cali to do that smoky thing to her eyes for her, but decided that might be just a bit much for going to class. Cali could pull off that kind of look in class without anyone else batting an eye, but Leesa knew if she showed up like that some of her fellow students would probably think she was up to something—like flirting with the professor for a better grade! She smiled at the thought and headed down the hallway to the showers.

  Two of the stalls were already occupied—early birds who had bravely or foolishly signed up for eight o’clock classes, she guessed—but her favorite shower on the far end was open, so she grabbed it. She didn’t have time to luxuriate under the water this morning, so she plunged her head into the streams of water and then got right to work washing and conditioning her hair. The raspberry scent of the shampoo made her hungry. She promised herself a yummy fruit bowl and yogurt for breakfast, but first things first.

  Half an hour later, the girl who looked back at her from the mirror appeared almost human. Her shiny blond hair fell in soft waves over her shoulders, and the circles under her crystal blue eyes had disappeared under a light layer of makeup. Dressed in a burnt orange long sleeve T-shirt and comfortable jeans, she looked casual and comfortable. She gave herself a wink of approval and headed downstairs to breakfast.

  Only about a dozen or so girls occupied the dining room when Leesa arrived. Anyone with eight o’clock classes would already have eaten, she knew, or skipped breakfast entirely, and those who didn’t have classes until ten or later were probably still upstairs, catching some precious sleep. There would be little enough of that once midterms
arrived, for sure.

  Cali was already here, sitting by herself at a square table for four with a plate of eggs and bacon in front of her. The plate looked pretty full, so Leesa knew Cali had probably just arrived. Leesa gave her a smile and a wave before heading across the dining room to the small self-serve counter. She grabbed a large bowl from an upside down pile and emptied a container of plain yogurt into it, then piled a few spoonfuls of strawberries, blueberries and raspberries on top, along with some granola to add some crunch. The berries were frozen, of course—fresh berries in New England in early March were far too expensive for dorm fare—but they would be tasty nonetheless. When she was satisfied with her breakfast concoction, she limped over and sat down opposite Cali.

  “Why, Miss Leesuh,” Cali said in an exaggerated southern accent when Leesa sat down, “don’t you look all pretty this mornin’. Are you fixin’ to go to class, or to go meet some gentleman caller?”

  Leesa grinned. “If you’d seen me an hour ago, you’d have thought I was fixin’ to go out and turn some guys into stone. I looked like I had snakes growing out of my head.”

  “Well, you look great now.” Cali took a bite off the end of a strip of crisp bacon and then stared down at Leesa’s bowl of fruit and yogurt. “If I thought eating that stuff would make me look as good as you, I’d probably have it every morning. But since it won’t”—she took a big, sensuous lick of her bacon—“I’ll stick with this slightly tastier fare.”

  “Stop it,” Leesa said, laughing. “I don’t notice you ever having any trouble with guys.”

  Cali winked. “That’s because I have personality—I know how to make guys think nasty thoughts. They love that—it makes them think they might get lucky.” She made a pretend gun out of her thumb and index finger and mimed shooting it once. “Even when I shoot ‘em down, they still go away happy—enjoying their nasty thoughts, probably.”