Hi,

I officially apologize for last week's cliffhanger. Unfortunately (or maybe fortunately) for you, I have bad news: I'm gonna keep doing it. MOUHAHA!

Okay, it's time to fasten your seatbelts for the next chapters! Here we go! :-)

Lara

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Chapter 34

My breath evened out. Just Rico. I'd take him over any of the rest. At the moment maybe even Giuliana. The youth had his hands stuffed deep into the pockets of his jeans, walking with the kind of posture that said he didn't give a damn about anyone and anything. Not even the people in his village. He approached me quietly.

I copied his stance, shoved my hands into the pockets of my jacket, and kept on walking. We were close to the edge of the forest where rays of moonlight spilled through the thinning branches of trees. Soon we'd be out in the open, back within sight of the village.

"You like it here." He said it with the kind of coolness that negated any real interest.

"It's quiet," I said slowly. "And, last time I checked this was your favorite place too."

He grunted and muttered something unintelligible. Probably an Italian curse word I hadn't learned yet.

For a long moment neither of us said anything, our steps like big sound bombs in still forest life.

"I heard them talking about you, you know," Rico finally said.

I shrugged, not turning to look at him. Chances were I'd fall on my face if I did. As much as I would have liked to see the expression that went with this serious voice, there were roots and obstacles in this forest that were meant to kill.

"So what? I'm not popular in this village," I said. "I know that."

"I wasn't talking about the villagers. And, by the way, they don't hate you," he said. "No, I was talking about the elders. Vincenzo in particular."

I tensed and turned around to face him, obstacles be damned. He kept walking, didn't even stop for a second.

"What did he say?" I said.

"Vincenzo thinks you're trouble. He's giving you two months to get a feel for all the elements, figure out how to use the magic."

I stared at Rico's back. The information I learned these past nights flashed up behind my eyes, opened up like a vertical quicksand I was in danger of sinking into – words and phrases. I remembered what I learned in the library and when I visited Giada. The name of my ancestors and the reason why my parents left the Lumenis.

"Two months," I said softly. "And what if I can't control the elements by then?"

Rico kept walking, but I saw some sort of movement between his shoulder blades.

"Rico!" I fastened my pace until I caught up with him. "Tell me what's going on."

"Where've you been, anyway?" He said.

"In it's-none-of-your-business-land," I said testily. "Ever been there?"

He stepped in front of me, got right into my face. More of that teenage attitude. "Don't get pissed at me! I'm not the one here making the rules."

He turned around, ducking under a low branch, and moved further towards the forest edge, tossing over his shoulder, "You better hurry. Vincenzo's been looking for you."

Oh crap.

The thought of being found out yanked my limbs into action. I stumbled towards the clearing in front of us, trying to act like facing the village elders didn't bother me. No matter what Giuliana put me through, I had faith that she only did it to help me. I wasn't so sure with Vincenzo. To the contrary.

I caught a tree branch Rico had walked right into, and turned around to set another parting glance to the forest behind; then stepped into the clearing.

I froze.

Vincenzo was there, right in the middle of our path, conversing with a group of witches.

Crap.

Before I could even make up my mind about what to do, he turned around. Conversation stopped. People were taking turns staring at me, then at Rico.

Vincenzo took a step towards us, crossing his arms underneath his chest. "Where have you been?"

I stared at him, waiting for the clever answer that would save me. I doubted the none-of-your-business-land reference was going to do the trick. Dammit.

"Out," I said evenly. "Is that a crime?"

"This village is here for protection," Vincenzo said. "It's a community based upon trust and the will to sacrifice. You just spit into all their faces. By leaving, you just put us all into jeopardy. Don't leave alone again." His eyes darted to Rico. "And you, Rico. You knew that she was gone, and yet you didn't report."

"Not my fault if you can't guard her," he mumbled, shoving his hands into the pockets of his jeans.

Vincenzo raised an eyebrow. "What was that?"

"Nothing."

"Good." Vincenzo smiled. "Since you seem to know more than the rest of us, maybe you can teach her something about the use of magic. You'll show her how to control fire within the next week, or I'll put you on kitchen duty for the next month."

I took a step forward. "Leave him out of it, Vicenzo. He didn't do anything wrong."

His gaze darkened. "It's none of your business what I do and don't. I'm the leader of this community, and I think it's time you learn the rules."

Vincenzo raised his hand. I saw it, seconds before it happened. It was one of those moments that went slower than the rest. Like walking through a tank of water, time decelerated and slackened. Magic flared, strong and powerful. The air around us stilled, particles hanging in suspension like frozen drops of rain, seized in mid-air, mid-fall. I couldn't move, couldn't even blink. He'd immobilized the air in front of me, casting a net of concrete power and magic.

I stared at him, wide-eyed, processing the information. Vincenzo was an air witch and he was showing me just how powerful he was.

He smiled. It was an unpleasant smile.

Damn it. This was my element.

I focused on what lay before me, the underlying power in the clearing, and saw the crisscross pattern of magic. I picked it apart and worked through it. This was as natural as breathing to me. The pressure around me dissolved, lifted like an invisible wait taken from my shoulders.

Vincenzo was watching me intently. I didn't like what I saw in his eyes.

"Being gifted with your element means nothing if you can't handle your other powers," Vincenzo said.

The air cracked and hissed around us, turned from one moment to the other, like a pair of coins flipping between your fingers. The whole atmosphere in the clearing changed, like he could affect more than just the space around us. The power I felt was too complicated, too rich for me to understand the magic.

Amidst the turmoil motion on his face – his lips moved.

A spell.

I flipped through my brain, thinking of all the spells Giuliana had and hadn't taught me. What would he use in this situation? What would suit him best?

Before I had the answer, he vanished in front of my eyes.

An invisibility spell.

I stared at the spot he'd been occupying. No, human senses weren't going to help me. Not with this. I closed my eyes, zeroed in on that part of me that governed magic. It was there, ready, brimming under the surface – waiting to be used. I plunged into second sight, saw the planes of reality turn and blend.

Auratic gray slammed into me, that all-encompassing sixth that allowed me to see. The clearing was packed with smudges of red, testimony of the witches around us. None as alive and pulsating as the behemoth five feet in front of me.

Vincenzo had moved to the left, probably planned on rush and attack from the side.

I opened my eyes, smiling. "I know where you are. I'm not that easily-"

Breath got stuck in my throat. Words left me.

Fire erupted in small fissures that rode the air swiftly – right where Vincenzo was standing. None of the flames touched the ground, none grazed a single hair on the witches around us.

Vincenzo can also control fire. For a second the realization paralyzed me, drove shock deep into my bones.

If he thought I was going to back down now, he was wrong. Planes of reality shifted as I opened my mind to his magic. I might not have used other elements than my own after the incident with Giuliana, but I was attuned to the sing song of elements by now. I'd been watching the members of the Lumenis wield their magic, studied the interplay of magic and power in minute detail. And every time I did, I sought that one perfect moment of harmony where everything was in place – ready for me to take over. Vincenzo's magic was harsh and boisterous, came in rolling like a storm in a quiet environment. I tasted it, learned it. It was there, right there.

It was in that moment that I knew. I could take over his magic.

If I didn't think showing him could hurt me in ways I couldn't imagine, I might have done it. But I couldn't let anyone know I could take over someone else's magic. So I did the one thing I could do. I used my own element.

I narrowed my eyes and viewed the space in front of me, cut it down into the small entities that carried pockets of air. I shoved particles to the side, emptying the aerial landscape. I took a hold of the magic and tried to take everything in, to smother the flames with my own magic, but the particles of air kept slipping through my fingers.

The power surged, like a tidal wave that had drawn back only to crash on top of me. I felt it, and gasped. The heat, his magic – it was pure power, but measured and precise like a needle cutting through the air patterns. No matter how I tried to manipulate it with my own element – it didn't work. Sighing, I let go of the air in front of me, released it back.

Vincenzo winked back into existence again. The look of satisfaction on his face made me want to abandon reason, throw myself into his magic, take it, bend and reshape it until it was mine. But no, I couldn't afford to be reckless. Not at this point in time.

With a flick of his hand, the fire evaporated in front of my eyes, air waves calming, particles stilling, slowly going back to their natural state. I stared at Vincenzo, heard the undertone of the sea in the background.

"Until you show me that kind of control, you're not a full member of this community." Vicenzo turned around. "You were the one that came to us," he said. "Never forget that."

* * *

"Forget it, Anna. I'm through with this shit! You're not even trying."

"Rico, wait. Rico!"

Damn it.

I stared at his back, watching him stomp off into the night – probably somewhere to the far end of the beach. Probably, to sit there and sulk, or smoke in secret, who knew. Rico hated parts of the Lumenis, of what the Lumenis was, but I guess at this point in time he hated me more.

Night had fallen, and in the darkness the sea looked eerie and unforgiving. It was a full moon. Beautiful. Lonely. For a long moment I just stood there, watched the waves crushing in the moonlight, wishing I was somewhere else and yet not.

Six weeks, and I still hadn't used elemental magic in front of the Lumenis. At least none that didn't involve air. I'd learned how to channel magic into spells, and finally begun to understand how operating a portal worked, had even attempted creating one myself. But that wasn't going to help me if I didn't get a grip on the rest of my magic.

Vincenzo wanted me to demonstrate my abilities in front of the whole congregation of the Lumenis within two weeks. I pretended that I had no idea what would happen if I failed. Ever since that night in the Lumenis' secret library I had a hunch just what he'd do. Well, I had two theories. Either he was going to 'expel' me, or he was going to cut me off from my magic. No matter which one it was, I wasn't going to let that happen.

I was still looking for answers – more information on why my parents left, and what being a member of the Larosa lineage entailed. As soon as I had them, I had to make a decision.

Ah, who was I kidding? I had to leave. And part of me didn't want to.

A part of me ached for the salty smell of the sea, the soft cadences of Italian as the witches gathered in the clearing; the feel of powerful magic permeating the village like an eternal fog. There was a part of me that actually liked this life.

So, here I was, putting off the inevitable, stranded on a beach with a rebellious teenager in the middle of nowhere. Since we came via portal, I didn't even know where we were. We could have been a few miles away from the village – which's location I didn't know anyway – or somewhere else entirely. From what little Rico had hinted at it could have well been the latter.

To make things worse, I was all alone with a youth that couldn't care less about who I was, or what kind of issues I had. Rico had been trying to show me the use of fire for what had to be three hours. Very unsuccessfully so.

It wasn't like I could tell him why I didn't manage to set off a single spark. It's not like I hadn't tried. To the contrary. I wanted to use another element, to understand it in its most basic form. But whenever I felt that dark space inside of me approaching, widening, growing, I stopped and shut it down completely.

In the past the magic outbursts had only happened when my life was in danger, when all that mattered had been raw, naked survival. I had no idea how to control the power once that kind of thing happened, and it scared me more than anything else. Well, almost anything else. There was something else.

I rubbed my hands on my face, then stopped for a moment. I closed my eyes and took a deep breath, savoring the salty, fresh taste of the air. The sea breeze brushed through my long brown hair, a light touch, a caress. Cool and soft.

We should probably go back. It was late and I was walking on thin ice with Vincenzo anyway. The leader would probably have a fit if he found out we were not practicing right outside the village's borders.

I sighed. Damn it. I was going to have to find Rico first. I turned around and swept the area with my eyes.

No sight of Rico. Where the hell did he-

A ripple went through the air. Coldness slammed into me like a storm rolling into my system and suddenly it was hard to breathe. My eyes widened, darted from one side of the beach to the other. The sensation felt familiar, almost like I should know it.

I felt my mouth go dry. It reeked of the power of the grave.

No. Not here. Not now.

I closed my eyes. The landscape of auras and things in between billowed around me like a shifting halo. It was there, just over there at the other end of the beach, at the top. A dark aura of nothingness. A vampire.