Guardians of the Diamond Book One: The Rose

Chapter Twenty

I heard Ashley bound up the stairs. When she reached the top, I beckoned her into the guest room and she came hesitantly.

"Ashley," I started carefully, "you know how I told you that book said we all have the power to raise the dead?"

She nodded slowly, not sure as to what I was getting at.

"Well, we all have another power besides that, just like R. K. said in my vision. That's my power, by the way. Jonathan can tell you about yours... because I don't know what it is." I looked over at Jonathan and waited for him to explain.

Jonathan shifted to face her. "Ashley, your power is knowing. Kate told me about the night you asked Matt if R.K. was a vampire. You knew what he was the minute you saw him, before Kate or the others even had a chance to figure it out. With your power, Ashley, you can tell what and who people are and how they will act. It's also how you knew what R. K's plan is. This is one of the only powers that does not need training to be good at. It's quiet simple to figure out. It's like a sixth sense. However, so you can be very good at it, I will help you to make the power grow stronger."

Ashley was just staring at him like she was trying to figure him out. Maybe she was trying to use her power on him. She gasped.

"You're the Trainer," She whispered quietly.

"The what?" I asked.

"Very good. That's correct, Ashley. I'm the Trainer," Jonathan congratulated her. Then he began to explain. "That is the reason Baron kept me under his services as his slave. I could have left at any time, though, as Kate already figure out. The only reason I stayed was so I could possibly gain information about R. K. and other vampires. And I did. I learned which special abilities he possesses. And I learned more about Angzia. Baron talked a lot, you see."

He stood up from the bed and straightened out the shirt my father had given him to wear. Even though it was a little big for him, it was much better than that ripped shirt he'd been wearing when we first met him. "My job is basically what it sounds like. I train those with special abilities and help them to learn control and gain power."

"Wait," I stopped him. "So you're saying that there are more people like us?"

"Yes."

"Can we meet them?"

He shook his head. "Not yet." Before I could ask any further questions, he said, "Well, we should start training now. You have to kill R. K. tomorrow. I'm sorry that you have to do this, but it needs to be done. The Summer Solstice is getting near and the closer we get, the more powerful R. K. gets."

"But, Jonathan," I said, "we need that sword that was in the painting, don't we."

Jonathan looked surprised. "Oh, yes. You do. I haven't explained that to you yet, have I? The sword you saw in known as a Death Sword. Vampires are required to keep them in their residences at all time. There's a book I gave your father a while back that explains it in more detail. Remind me to give it to you after we train. Baron let it slip where R. K. keeps his sword. It's in the living room of his house, in plain sight."

I didn't know R. K. too well at this point, but the fact that he would keep something that dangerous in plain sight didn't even surprise me. His whole life was about taunting other people, trying to prove that he is the most powerful.

I had another question to ask before we started. "We're not witches, right?"

Jonathan looked at me seriously. "You are not witches. You have specialized powers, not magic. It just means that somewhere way back in your family tree there was someone with magical blood."