Forgotten Visions (The Divinities Book 1) Read online

  Her smile not faltering, she reached over to the other side of the bed and frowned, patting it a couple of times. Ayden was gone. It would have been nice to wake up in his arms after the incredible night they’d had together. She climbed out of bed and searched for something to put on. The room was clean with the exception of their clothes from the night before in the chair next to the dresser. He’d brought their clothes in from the living room. That thought warmed her heart. Neat, and he cleans up after himself. Nice.

  She walked over to the chair, picked up the first thing she touched, and put it on. It was Ayden’s t-shirt. And it smelled Divine. A giggle bubbled up inside her, threatening to spill from her lips. Like the one he’d given her at the hotel, this one fit her like a nightgown, falling halfway to her knees.

  A frown replaced her happy thoughts when she wondered where he was. “Damn, men. Think they can give you the best night of your life and just leave you hanging,” she muttered to herself as she walked out of the bedroom and into the living room. The luring smell of bacon and eggs invaded her nose, and she froze halfway across the living room. Ayden stood on the other side of the island, preparing breakfast. She turned around to go back to the bedroom.

  “Good morning.”

  Ayden’s voice stopped her. She closed her eyes, feeling like the biggest bitch. After a few seconds, she opened her eyes, forced a smile, and turned around to face him. “Morning,” she whispered.

  “Why are you upset?” he asked, clearly able to feel her mood.

  Kalissa walked into the kitchen and leaned her back against the counter next to him. Realization glided over her that she, too, could sense his mood. Right now, he was concerned about her. It was strange how connected they’d become in such a short period of time. Was it because they were magical partners? Were they starting to bond? That last question frightened her. She didn’t want to bond with him only to have him taken from her.

  He moved to stand in front of her. Her heart rate picked up, and her body warmed as his aura mingled with hers, forcing all her fears to dissolve away into nothing. Ayden sent her places and showed her pleasure she’d never dreamed of—multiple times throughout the night and in multiple places. All she wanted to do was to drag him back to the bedroom and not come out. Ever.

  Ayden wrapped his arms around her waist and pulled her tightly into his body. “I wanted to surprise you with breakfast in bed.” He slid his hands to her ass, lifted her up, and set her on the countertop.

  “Well, I could go back to bed and pretend to be asleep,” she teased and then kissed his nose.

  Ayden chuckled softly and kissed her lips, moving to her cheek and jawline, and stopping when he reached her earlobe. “It’s too late. I’ve got you where I want you.”

  “Do you, now?” Kalissa wrapped her legs around his hips and pulled him even closer to her.

  “Oh, please tell me you didn’t do it on the kitchen counter.” Khloe’s teasing tone pulled Ayden’s and Kalissa’s attention from each other and toward the door. Khloe walked over, took a piece of bacon, and popped it in her mouth. She leaned her hip against the island. “So. How are the lovebirds this morning?” she asked with a wide grin as Zach came in behind her and sat at the kitchen table.

  Kalissa hopped down from the counter, careful not to flash everyone in the process, suddenly very aware that she was naked under Ayden’s t-shirt. Now that Zach was sitting at the kitchen table, Kalissa felt self-conscious. She excused herself and went to change.

  As soon as Kalissa was inside the bedroom with the door shut, Khloe turned to Ayden. “Let’s see it.”

  Ayden narrowed his eyes at her and smirked. This was a different Khloe than he remembered from his summer visits to the coven. Of course, she looked like Kalissa, they were twins, after all. But it was easy to tell them apart. Khloe’s hair was slightly lighter than Kalissa’s and had two pink streaks on either side of her face. She also had a nose ring, and her right eyebrow had a small hoop in it. “Did that hurt?” he teased, indicating her eyebrow piercing.

  Khloe’s hand involuntarily went to her eyebrow. She smiled. “Not nearly as much as I wanted it to.” Ayden raised his eyebrows, but she ignored it. “Stop changing the subject and let me see it.”

  “See what?” Ayden asked.

  “Your mark.” Khloe held out her hand, palm up. Ayden hesitated, making her grow more impatient. “I can see it in your aura. Both of you. Show me your mark.”

  With a heavy sigh, he extended his left arm and turned it so his Divine Rose was exposed. He knew she couldn’t see it, but humored her anyway. Khloe frowned. “It’s not there.” She looked up at Ayden.

  Ayden put his arm down and went back to cooking. “That’s because we’re not bound together. You won’t be able to see it.” Khloe shrugged and took another piece of bacon. Ayden playfully pushed her toward the table. “Go, sit. I made enough for everyone.”

  “How did you know we were going to be here this morning? You have ESP or something?” Khloe teased and sat down at the table next to Zach.

  “Or something,” Zach snickered.

  Khloe shot Ayden a suspicious look. Ayden laughed. “I have the power of adaptability. I can draw on others’ powers. Sometimes, I pick up stuff without meaning to.”

  “Like a vision of us being here this morning?” Khloe gave him a smile that made her nose wrinkle up.

  “That was the only reason I didn’t take your sister back to bed.”

  “TMI! I so do not want to know,” Khloe said dramatically and began to hum loudly with her hands over her ears. After a couple of seconds, she released her ears and laid her hands on the table.

  With a shake of his head, Ayden finished up breakfast and filled them in on Kalissa’s dream-vision. “I’m concerned it would be a distraction to her and me.” He fixed his eyes on Khloe. “Could you talk to her?

  She nodded as Kalissa came back into the kitchen, dressed in a pair of blue jeans and a white t-shirt. She immediately walked into Ayden’s embrace and wrapped her arms around his waist. He pulled her in close and kissed the top of her head. Her mood had darkened again, and he wondered if she was thinking about her vision. He thought about it too and came up empty, not understanding it. Something was missing, something vital to the events that would unfold. With careful planning and everyone on alert, maybe they could all walk away alive.

  “I forgot how much I love it up here,” Khloe said with her hand out the car window, letting the air pass through her fingers. They were on their way to The Wheel to meet Jacen and Lydia Rayners.

  “The air is so clean. Oh! Where is Willow?” Khloe said, looking at Kalissa.

  “There was a little issue on our way to the cabin.” Kalissa told her about the demons following them, Willow getting hurt, and Ayden’s driving skills. “But Willow’s okay. She’s probably just giving Ayden and me some time alone.”

  “I suppose. She could have at least come by to say hi. I know she knows I’m here.” Khloe straightened in her seat and stuck her hand back out the window. “I missed you,” Khloe said softly after a brief silence.

  Kalissa smiled and took Khloe’s hand. “I missed you, too. Why so early?” She frowned, thinking the Lydia and Jacen must have driven all night to be here already from New York.

  “The Dark Divine round-up has Papa nervous,” Khloe said with no emotion in her voice, though her uneasiness floated off her and added to Kalissa’s already edgy mood.

  “Are we being followed?” Khloe asked.

  Kalissa shook her head. “No. You feel like we’re being watched?”

  “Yeah.”

  “Can you sense anything?” Kalissa asked. Khloe could control all elements. It was her gift. It went further than being able to work with them, though. She could actually bend them to her purpose. So, Khloe could use all the elements to search and discover if anyone was out there.

  Her sister closed her eyes. Kalissa knew she was using her senses to search for a threat. After a while, she said, “No, just a raven.”
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  “Yeah, that’s all I got, too.” Kalissa frowned. It was odd that both of them could feel something but not be able to find it.

  “Could be a messenger,” Khloe said.

  “You’re probably right,” Kalissa said. Ravens were messengers of the Afterworld. They were sent to deliver messages to the living from their loved ones that had already passed. The problem was, they only delivered their messages when they were good and ready.

  A few minutes later, they pulled into the parking lot of The Wheel. The restaurant didn’t serve breakfast, therefore, opened at eleven in the morning. It was 9:30 a.m., so the lot only had one car parked in the middle of it. Three people stood outside the silver Audi. Two of them Kalissa recognized as Jacen and Lydia. She’d found old photos in her mother’s things. The other person, a woman, looked familiar, but Kalissa didn’t immediately recognize her.

  “It’s a good thing we left the cabin when we did,” Khloe stated.

  Kalissa agreed and said, “It was an estimate.” She pulled up beside the Audi. “I didn’t know Lydia was pregnant.” They didn’t keep in touch with each other. The Raynerses lived in New York, after all. Even though they’d come to visit the Maxville Coven as children, Kalissa didn’t know them well.

  “Me either.”

  If Noah had known, he would have told them about Lydia’s pregnancy, especially knowing what was at stake. Kalissa had heard that a growing fetus used up a lot of a witch’s energy. She wasn’t sure how much help Lydia would be against an attack. She was tempted to tell Khloe to head to Maxville with Lydia and wait for them there. It would be safer that way, and ensure that nothing would happen to Lydia’s unborn child. But that was one argument she didn’t want to get into with her sister at the moment.

  Was it a mistake for Jacen to bring his sister here?

  Lydia and Jacen, being two years apart, were as close as twins. Jacen was the oldest. Still, Kalissa could see that their auras seemed to mingle and reach out to one other. Like their magical energies were tied together.

  Lydia was shorter than Kalissa’s and Khloe’s height of five ten. Jacen was taller than them, but only by an inch or two. The only things similar about them were their facial features and their hair. Lydia had beautiful, long, red hair. Jacen’s tresses were a dark auburn.

  “Why do they look like that? They’re not twins.”

  Khloe shrugged. “Maybe Angelica bound them. It’s not uncommon for mothers to bind their children together. It kinda makes sense with the demons. They would know if the other were in trouble, like we do.”

  She had a point. If they hadn’t already been bonded through their twin connection, Kalissa was certain their mother would have done the same.

  They got out of the vehicle and walked to the front of the cars where the others were waiting. “Have you been waiting long?” Kalissa asked.

  “We just got here,” Lydia said, extending her hand. “Lydia Rayners. This is my brother, Jacen. And this is Melaina Harris. I hope you don’t mind, but Jace and I insisted on Mel coming.”

  “No. Not at all. But we’ve actually met—a long time ago.”

  Lydia looked at her and then at Khloe. “Oh, yeah. Duh. I’m sorry, I have baby brain.” She laughed and touched her round belly.

  Kalissa smiled. “No worries. It was years ago. I’m Kalissa, and this is my sister, Khloe.”

  She turned to Melaina and offered her hand. Melaina had American Indian somewhere in her bloodline. Her skin had reddish-brown undertones, and she had straight, midnight-black hair. But it was her eyes that stole Kalissa’s breath. They were the brightest and most vivid emerald green she had ever seen. “It’s nice to meet you,” Kalissa said to Melaina. Melaina smiled, took Kalissa outstretched hand, and returned the greeting.

  “I’m sorry for staring, but you two look just like your mother,” Melaina said with a hint of sadness.

  Kalissa studied Melaina for another few seconds, but it was Khloe who spoke. “You’re one of the survivors. One of the six charged with protecting the Sinew.”

  Melaina nodded grimly. “Yes. I’m glad you found it.”

  “Well, we don’t have it. Just a guess on where it might be. You didn’t know where it was?” Kalissa asked.

  “No, that was the rule. One of us hid it; the others were given directions to be able to locate it if something happened,” Melaina said with a sad tone.

  That explained the cryptic notes they’d been left by their parents. Kalissa got a shiver down her spine. She looked around. “Let’s head to the cabin.” Her radar was going off big time. There were demons in the area, and Kalissa wasn’t in the mood to rumble.

  Everyone turned to their right at the same time as four large demons came from the back of the building. “Are you ready to rumble now?”Jacen whispered. Kalissa shot him a look. He smiled. “Sorry, telepathic.”

  “Oh, great. That’s nice to know,” Kalissa said dryly and shook her head with a smile. She was going to have to keep her guard up. Threefold, now that Zach was at the cabin. Khloe being in her head was comfortable, but the knowledge that someone else could be in there made her a little uneasy. With two empaths and a telepath, they were going to have so much fun.

  “Ready or not,” Khloe said with an evil laugh. Kalissa decided her sister just wasn’t right. Okay, so her sister had always been a little off.

  The five of them stood their ground…and waited. The demons stood in place, staring at them, stalling. But why? After a few minutes of playing bet-you-blink-first, the demons charged forward. It was as if they were being commanded from the sidelines, like puppets.

  Everyone but Lydia proceeded forward to meet the demons head-on. Since there were only four, it was safe enough for Lydia to hang back. Kalissa heard Jacen order his sister to put up a circle. It made sense. That way, if there were others hanging around, Lydia would be safe inside her magical bubble.

  Kalissa could tell that they were Lackeys—the lower class of demons. The only way Kalissa could explain how she knew was that she could sense their power level, as if she had some kind of internal gauge that measured their strength.

  These demons were holding back. It was like they weren’t sure about something, or they were just feeling out the level of their opponents’ powers.

  Kalissa ducked as a demon’s arm came at her. She kicked and swiped out his legs from underneath him. He fell, hard. Kalissa jumped up and prepared herself for round two. She was knocked to the ground by another demon that she hadn’t seen. He hit her in the side, hard enough that it knocked the wind out of her. They rolled in a tangle of body parts until he flipped her on her back to pin her to the ground with his body.

  Fuck. Where the hell had he come from? That was the second time in two days she’d been taken by surprise.

  A quick glance to the others said that this demon had been hiding somewhere. Khloe was overpowering the one she was fighting, almost toying with it, and Jacen and Melaina were doing a lot better than Kalissa was at the moment.

  Kalissa looked up at the demon that was straddling her, holding her down. He reached into his back pocket and pulled out a magical cuff. The single silver-coated iron bracelet would mute a witch’s magic and render them powerless.

  “Oh, hell no,” Kalissa breathed out. She would be damned if he got that cuff on her and teleported her to the gods knew where. Kicking and bucking, she tried to get the demon off of her. Anxiety filled her and invited helplessness to the party. The loss of control brought back memories of being with Liam, fueling the panic to the point of total freak out.

  Out of the corner of her eye, movement caught her attention. The demon she’d knocked out moments ago recovered and stalked toward them. Her sister and the others were out of her line of vision. Somehow—maybe from the impact of the second demon knocking her to the ground—she had ended up a good distance from the others.

  Just when she thought she was on her own, a voice screamed, “Take that, you bastards!” The demon pinning her to the ground went flying off with a
scream that would put a schoolgirl to shame. A fireball hit him square in the chest. The impact knocked him into another demon. Both went up in flames and dissolved into a pile of ash.

  Khloe came over and held out her hand. Kalissa smirked at her sister. Fire had always been Khloe’s favorite element. Kalissa took her sister’s outstretched palm and pulled herself to a stand. Jacen and Melaina came over to see if they were all right.

  Jacen picked up the cuff the demon had left behind. “This could come in handy,” he said and slipped the bracelet into the back pocket of his jeans. Kalissa was thinking the same thing. If only they could get more of those.

  “Well, hell. That didn’t last long,” Khloe said. “I was just getting warmed up.”

  “Patience, little one. I’m sure you’ll get another chance to pound demon ass,” Kalissa said. She hoped it wouldn’t be too soon. She turned to the others. “Flash your lights if you are being followed.” They nodded in agreement and walked back to their cars.

  Forty-five minutes later, they pulled into the cabin’s driveway and parked outside the front door. Ayden stood on the porch when they got out of their cars. Kalissa climbed the stairs and couldn’t keep the smile from her face. She walked into his arms, wrapped her arms around his waist, and laid her head against his chest. This was where she belonged. Her soul, body, and mind knew it. There was no way around it. He was hers as much as she was his.

  The much too close call with the demons had opened her eyes. Without Khloe, Kalissa wouldn’t be here to hold Ayden. She was beginning to get to know him all over again. She wasn’t ready to be apart from him.

  “Snap out of it, you two. We’ve got demons to slay and a creepy bird following us,” Khloe said before she led Jacen, Lydia, and Melaina inside.

  Ayden lifted his eyes to the highest branch of the ash tree to their right. He took Kalissa’s hand and walked inside the cabin. Just as they crossed the threshold, Willow popped in behind them. “Hey!”

  Kalissa jumped and turned to face her. “Shit, Willow, you scared me.”

  “Oh, I’m sorry. I was just excited. I came earlier to see Lo and you two were gone,” Willow skipped ecstatically around Kalissa to hunt for Khloe.