Page 39 of Radiant Shadows

When the door opened, and I saw Aunt Janette come in behind Gram, I knew it was actually happening. Finally! The excitement I had been hesitant to feel all day flared within me like gasoline splashed onto smoldering embers, making me jump off the couch and scamper toward them.

“What are we going to learn first? Do we need any special supplies? Should I—”

“Calm down, Shea,” Gram chided in a soothing tone. “I know you’re excited, but we have to venture slowly. Magic takes patience and a level head.”

I frowned as she set her purse on the table. I knew she was right, but venturing slowly was the last thing I wanted to do. I had waited seventeen years for this. Couldn’t possibly go much slower than that.

She sat down and waved in a gesture for us to sit around the table as well before she began pulling various items out of her purse. I took the seat closest to her and looked at the items with curious fascination: a braid of sage, a lighter, and a long yellow flower petal that looked freshly plucked.

I bit my tongue against asking what these things were for. I knew Gram would explain soon enough, and I didn’t want to push her too hard. She wanted me to be patient, so I would be the embodiment of patience—at least on the outside.

Gram laced her finger over the table and turned her attention to me. “While there are many things I can teach you, I think the spells we should start with should be ones that can protect you from vampires.”

I nodded eagerly, scooting closer, the same word screaming in my head on repeat.Yes! Yes! Yes!

“Now your Aunt Janette is more practiced at these spells than I am, so she will guide you,” Gram continued, opening her hand to Aunt Janette beside her.

My aunt lit up, a wide smile spreading across her face. She seemed almost as excited as I was.

“The first spell I want you to try is a threshold binding spell,” she said as leaned over the table and reached for the sage braid.“That’s what the sage is for. You’re going to light the sage until it begins to smoke, and then you’re going to go to every exit and smudge the air while reciting the words ‘hetem me kekeru’. That will make it impossible for a vampire to enter without your permission.”

I nodded, then cocked my head. “Is that where that notion comes from, you know, that vampires can’t enter without an invitation?”

“Exactly,” she replied with a smile.

“Huh, interesting,” I mused. “What are the words again?”

“Hetem me kekeru,” she answered. “Are you ready?”

“Damn straight,” I said excitedly.

“Shea,” Gram scolded, and I gave her an innocent shrug before picking up the sage and lighter.

I had heard of smudging before. It was typically for warding off troubled spirits and cleansing a house of negative energy. I had no idea it could be used to create an actual barrier that vampires couldn’t cross, and now that I did, I was eager to give us that extra layer of protection.

I sparked the lighter and held the flame to the end of the sage braid until it began to burn, then blew out the flame so that it only smoked. As Aunt Janette had instructed, I went to the kitchen door, waving the smoking braid across it as I repeated the words she’d told me.

Then I went to the kitchen window, then the front door and so on. Gram and Aunt Janette followed behind me as I worked my magic, repeating the spell at each other possible outlet of the house. I smudged Gram’s room, my room, the bathroom, and even the vents in the ceiling—I wasn’t taking any chances.

When I first started, I couldn’t feel a difference, couldn’t tell if it was working. But with each window and door I sealed, I began to sense a kind of psychic shell forming around us. And when I finished sealing the final window, the shell seemed to breathe like it was a living thing, and I had never felt so safe.

“Very well done, Shea,” Aunt Janette commended, gripping my shoulders from behind as we came back to the kitchen table.

My pride soaked up all the praise like a dry sponge. Not only was I learning magic, but I was learning spells that could actually help people. What if I could cast this spell at the Dome? They’d never have to worry about the vampires finding them. I could save everyone!

If only they’d let me in. Maybe Caesar could sneak me in again—if he ever manned up and spoke to me again.

Gram and Aunt Janette took their seats around the table, and I quickly followed, eager to start on the next spell.

“This next spell is called Ra Senen, or Sun-Kissed,” Aunt Janette said. “If it’s performed correctly, it will give your skin the same power as the sun, meaning if a vampire touches you, they will burn as if shined by the sun’s rays.”

“Whoa, cool!” I said. That would keep me safe from any vampires who might try to bite me.

Wait. Oh…

Julian was a vampire. If I went through with this spell, that would mean he could never touch me…

My excitement deflated into sorrow and hesitation. But why? Julian hadn’t reached out to me, and chances were that when he did, he would friendzone me or break off our involvement altogether. Was the dimming, naive hope of having somethingmore with him worth leaving myself susceptible to another vampire attack? One that would probably kill me next time?

---