Total pages in book: 115
Estimated words: 108059 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 540(@200wpm)___ 432(@250wpm)___ 360(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 108059 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 540(@200wpm)___ 432(@250wpm)___ 360(@300wpm)
“I feel like a lamb being led to the slaughter for some reason. Who are these women?” Baer asked in a low voice.
“The women can hear you,” Flo grumbled as they kept going.
Neither she nor her sister moved liked elderly women, though their faces showed them to be in their seventies, possibly eighties. They were both spry as they jumped over fallen branches and weaved between the trees. Something small scuttled away near his foot, and Clay caught sight of the tiny mouse.
When they reached a clearing, the women stopped and turned to Clay and Baer.
“Come,” Jo said to Baer, motioning him closer. “What I’m about to give you is a special gift. Your power returned to you.”
“My what now?” Baer didn’t move toward her.
“Just get on with it, Josephina,” Flo said as she settled on a tree stump.
“Hush,” Jo said with a dismissive wave of her hand in Flo’s direction. “I do this my way, and you do it yours. And yours leaves a lot to be desired.” She gestured at Baer, her smile returning, warm and motherly. “Come here, dear. It does hurt when you first absorb your power back, but then it eases. You’ll get a return of the part of you that’s been missing your whole life.”
Baer looked at Clay and laughed, though it sounded forced unlike earlier. “Did you do this?”
He nodded, although he hadn’t really agreed to anything before Flo had put her hands on him. “It does hurt, but not for long. It’ll help explain the men trying to kill you.”
“And you, did you have that empty place in you as well?”
“Yes. It’s why I traveled, much like I imagine you have.”
“And is it filled?”
Clay placed a hand on his chest. “Yes. Though I don’t know what it is or what to do with it yet.”
Baer stared at him for several, long seconds and shrugged. “I feel ridiculous,” he muttered as he started toward Jo.
“Go with the feeling. It helps.”
Baer threw him one last grin over his shoulder as he stopped in front of the old woman. “It can’t be any weirder than having those stinky men after me for months.”
Jo gave him a sweet smile and placed her hands on his shoulders. When Baer’s entire body went taut, Clay grimaced, knowing exactly what he was feeling, that coursing of power through muscle and bone. Baer’s knees gave out and he dropped to the ground suddenly, a groan rumbling up his throat.
Clay kneeled beside Baer and started to reach for him, but he hesitated, hand hovering over taut shoulder muscles. Could he safely touch him?
“You can’t share the power transfer, so don’t worry. But your touch will comfort him,” Flo said softly, surprising Clay.
Clay placed his hand on Baer’s arm, and the man covered it with his own. He held tight as Baer twitched and moaned. Their hands grew hot, but Clay didn’t let go.
The air around Baer became hazy, much like it had looked around the pestilents in the flea market, but this didn’t have the same wicked feel to it. No, this was more like Mother Nature caressed Baer. Had the air shimmered around him during this process?
His hand tightened on Clay’s, and Clay winced at the pain in his fingers. When Baer suddenly slumped over, Clay looked up at Jo, but she seemed calm, as if everything was going the way it was supposed to. Baer lay on the ground, gasping in great gulps of air. His dark-green eyes locked on something only he could see.
It took Baer a couple of minutes to catch his breath, but he sat up and scrubbed his hands over his face before frowning at a tree across the clearing. “There’s a damn chatty squirrel, desperate to find his nuts.”
Jo threw her head back and laughed. “You’ll learn to block them.”
“Block who?” Clay asked.
“I can hear the animals,” Baer whispered, voice filled with awe. “Holy shit! I can hear them all. Oh man, it’s noisy as hell. There’s a family of field mice watching us, so confused.”
“Not only can you hear them, but you can become them.” Jo kneeled beside him. “You can talk to them, get them to help you, and more.” She turned to Clay. “You can draw your power from the earth, cast spells. You can get plants to grow and move. Or you can make the ground quake.”
Baer grimaced. “So, that’s what happened at the flea market. You did that?”
Clay nodded, an uneasiness sliding through him at the memory. “Had no idea what the hell I was doing.”
Flo stood up, dusting off her hands on her jeans. “We’d like you to practice that now.”
Clay climbed to his feet again. “I’m not sure how I did it.”
“Reach inside yourself and let the magic out. It’s that simple. But directing it won’t be easy. You have to practice. All of the brothers will. That’s why you’re here. You can live here in safety and learn together.” Flo pointed to a tiny, dying flower. “You can’t bring something fully dead to life, but if there is a spark—any spark at all—you can breathe life into nature. Try with that flower. Kneel and put your hands on the earth around it.”