Witching Tree (Alice Gray Book 1)

28

"Alice, you're back!"

Evan burst through the door that none of us had thought to lock. He walked straight up to me and pulled me into a warm embrace, only releasing me with an enthusiastic kiss on the mouth. Anne raised her eyebrows.

The bedroom fell into darkness as Thomas's large form filled the doorway. Animosity radiated off him in heavy waves.

I stood my ground, Evan's arm still draped over my shoulder.

I was a free agent. Thomas was going to have to get used to it.

"Er, Evan, this is Anne, a sort of long lost cousin of mine," I said quickly, looking away from Thomas.

"Hey Annie, how's it going?"

Anne's eyes darted between the three of us. The smile on her face widening as every second passed.

"Not bad, not bad at all," Anne replied, delight threatening to bubble up and out of her.

"You two know each other?" I asked, scowling at Anne's obvious amusement at the tension in the room.

"Er, yeah, we belong to the same, er, community," Anne explained, looking sheepish.

"Oh, ok," I said, shooting her a questioning look.

She shrugged in response. There was clearly still a lot she had to tell me.

I looked suspiciously at Evan. An electric blue life-force buzzed around his skin. He had definitely been keeping things from me.

Evan's arm slipped to my waist as he pulled me closer.

A low growl came from the doorway. Suddenly I felt the air move. Thomas was by my side. He took my hand, yanking me away from Evan. Shock lifted my eyes to his face.

He didn't return my gaze, he was staring directly at Evan. I tried to pull my hand free, hoping to avoid the confrontation that was sure to follow. He tightened his grasp on my hand until the bones ground together.

"Thomas, let go," I croaked, my voice low and urgent from the pain.

Evan's eyes shot to my hand joined with Thomas's. A small cry escaped as my fingers were crushed together in Thomas's steel grip. Evan's life-force pulsed in response, the bright blue glowing neon as his emotions heightened.

"Let her go," Evan said, a deep warning rumble in his voice. "Can't you see that you're hurting her, you animal?"

"She is mine to care for now boy," Thomas replied, haughty indifference making his statement cold and dry.

I looked at Thomas in shock, but he was still staring his defiance at Evan. He hadn't looked at me once since taking my hand.

"What the hell, Thomas? I don't belong to anyone!"

I tried to pull my hand away. Thomas held fast, and I began to fear that he would break the small bones that were crushed together painfully in his grip.

The energy in the room hummed as the creatures around me responded to the confrontation. The intense colours of Anne and Evan's life-forces leaked out into the atmosphere as they struggled to control their emotions. The dead heaviness of Thomas's power pushed back, sucking the air out of the room.

A buzzing of white noise filled my head. The room swam as the three figures blurred, my brain acknowledging them as the sum of their conflicting power.

Vaguely aware of Anne creeping closer to Thomas, I perceived the bright gold of her life-force concentrate in her fingers. He flinched when she made contact, but the dense power around him absorbed her magic effortlessly.

The individual molecules of Anne's life-force burst like millions of supernovas suspended in the atmosphere of Thomas's heavy, dead power.

Closing my eyes, I focussed inwards, ridding my mind of the frightening beauty of the forces at play around me. Instinct took over, directing me with long forgotten tales that my mother had whispered to me as a child.

Tales of nature and music; notes and rhymes. And words. Words of power.

Concentrating on the white noise buzzing in my head, I called to the tree. The clash of metal against metal sounded out of the static.

I opened my eyes as the harsh notes mellowed to the chimes of the silver leaves rustling in the wind.

"Step away," I said to Thomas, as the conflicting sources of power in the room calmed in response to my will.

Thomas dropped my hand without question, head angled in my direction. Evan and Anne stood motionless, their eyes glued to mine. The colours of their power swirled and dissipated into the atmosphere.

The chimes stopped as silver flashed in their eyes before all three returned to their natural colours.

The witches shook their heads, dispelling the lingering trace of my influence, seemingly unaware of what I'd done. The vampire looked at me with an intensity that told me that the same was not true for him.

Shivering, I blanked my mind, refusing to consider the consequences of what had just happened. Not yet. Not until I could get some answers about who I was; about what I was.

"I knew a vampire could not be trusted," Anne spluttered, "She doesn't belong to you. Look, you're oblivious to her pain, you brute."

Thomas remained silent, eyes locked on mine.

I held my crushed hand to my chest, trying to swallow the pain. I wouldn't cry, not now.

His expression softened. He took a step towards me and tried to take my hand to inspect the damage. I stepped away from him keeping an equal distance between us.

"So much for keeping me safe," I said, softly.

Thomas dropped his hand, and stalked into the living room. Turning to face the window, he pulled the curtain tight.
There was a conversation brewing between the two of us, but it would have to wait.

Right now, I needed a minute to myself, Anne caught my eye and nodded in understanding. She shepherded Evan out and closed the door behind her.

Flexing my fingers, I inspected the damage. Nothing was broken but my hand had already begun to swell. Anger made the pain more bearable.

Who the hell did that guy think he was?

Thomas was going to be sorely disappointed if he thought that I was the sort of woman to take that kind of crap. He'd just destroyed any fragile trust that might have been between us.

I looked at my reflection trying to find anything different in my appearance. Something that would signify the bizarre course that my life had taken, that would show the well of strength that now bubbled at my core.

No. Same old Alice.