Exaltation (Insight #11)(42)



Raven nodded as she sipped her mug. “In detail. At least I hope it doesn’t get worse than what I saw.”

“Tell me about it.”

“Bad storm. Jackson Square. Bad guys after me but some angel guy showed up. Taught us how to fight them.”

Jamison didn’t push her to say more, he’d heard the story before, seen what it did to her when he finally reached her side back then.

“In those dreams do you remember how you knew to propel vim at them?”

She shook her head. “Not at all. A bolt just left us. Like a huge wave.”

“Natural instinct.”

Raven looked right at him. “I don’t get why all that happened, why you think more is going to happen.”

“Fate is hard to understand sometimes, Raven.”

“We can’t stop it? Tell whoever I don’t want to fight.”

“You feel that way now but you won’t one day.”

“I will if I have to keep dealing with this stuff. So morbid, Dad.”

He nodded to agree. “This right now is just another wave. It will fade like the others, and one day you’ll be ready. I’m going to teach you to protect yourself, all of you.”

He let his eyes slowly move over her, seeing her as his little girl and not a young woman.

“Something happened last night. I’m sure you didn’t mean for it to but it did, and it put you at risk. I need you to be careful, Raven. No matter what choice you have before you, I need you to think it through.”

Raven blushed and looked down. She didn’t get how kissing a boy would make any spell fall and she’d be damned if she’d ask her father about it. They could talk about anything but boys. It just felt too weird to her.

“Kay,” was all she said.

Jamison looked for a way to ask her to tell him about Rydell but hit a wall. “Go get everyone else up. Saige has breakfast, or rather dinner on the stove. After you eat meet us in the study. We’ll start in a few. I want to get past this part so I can move on to teach you how to enter the Veil.”

“The Veil! The Veil of Death?” Raven asked with wide eyes.

“The one and only. If you can’t protect yourself or if you need to escape that will be the best place to hide,” Jamison said as he leaned back.

The Veil was nothing to play with, but he knew he could teach them how to be safe, and he also knew that would be the last place those hunting them would search.

“Dad, exactly how would one enter the Veil beyond the obvious way that I refuse to comply with?” Raven asked with a lifted brow.

He laughed.

“One foot in front of the other, little one,” he said as he stood. “Hurry up now, the night is vanishing.”





Chapter Thirteen

After a gourmet teenage meal—meaning grilled cheese, eggs, and Ramen noodles that Ash and Raven made instead of the health food Saige had left for them—Soren and the girls met Jamison and Saige in the study.

Saige lit a few candles and had them all sit in a circle. They were not strangers to meditating, calming their mind, and listening to their souls. It was almost second nature to them.

“When you feel the hum I want you all to let go of your anchor and follow my voice,” Saige told them.

An anchor was really important. Most people who didn’t do this often used their body. They never really let go, but they had learned this when they were kids. It was what they did before every naptime growing up.

They all had visuals they held onto in their minds to let them know how far they had drifted, to ground them, an anchor. They were told before if they let go they could drift too far. Soul jump is what Miss Thelma called it. ‘Best not be roaming where I can’t be finding you, child.’

The first visual they were taught was a boat. It was tied to a dock. They were told to imagine holding the rope, letting the waves rock them, distant but close, free but secure.

Raven was apprehensive about this, but before they even started she felt a warm cocoon of vim, one that smelled like her father, encase her. Saige was speaking calmly. “Follow my voice.”

Raven only imagined the boat thing once or twice. Boats were not her peace, skates were. So Raven saw herself gliding across the rink, holding a satin rope that stretched from the ceiling. A haunting song was playing, keeping her in a mellow rhythm.

“Come to me,” Saige said moments later.

When Raven opened her eyes again she was sitting in a field. Everyone else was, too. The blades of grass were orange, the sky overcast. In the distance she saw family friends spread out in a massive circle with their backs to them, like a barrier.

“Welcome to The Realm,” Jamison said to all of them.

“And where is this?” Ash asked.

Saige waved her hand and a small campfire appeared in the middle of them. “This is a dream plane. A place where you can manifest anything, a place that will teach you to control your thoughts while you’re around a foe. They cannot see into your mind but they can read your energy just as well as you would judge someone’s gaze.”

Raven did a double take. In the distance she saw what looked like River. She was leaning against racer boy’s car. The mystery boy who was always with Kade was leaning into her, and she was smiling up at him.

One glance to Raven’s side is all it took for her to see the real River next to her. Raven looked around thinking she was losing her mind then she saw Ash and Soren skating across the grass to a slow song, one Raven was sure was the last dance last night.

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