Masks and Mirrors, Book Two: The Weir Chronicles

Chapter 3

Rayne pulled the car into the university parking lot, cut the engine and reached into the backseat to stroke Saxon. "Take Ian home. We didn't get much sleep last night." The wolf yawned as if to imply that Rayne and Ian weren't the only ones.

She slipped out of the car, then bent over and blew Ian a kiss through the car window. Rayne took off in the direction of the grounds with a carefree spring in her step, but a second later, stopped with a jolt. She turned and rushed back.

Ian pulled her backpack from the floor of the backseat and tossed it toward her when she opened the door. She grabbed it and hurried off.

He watched her walk across the lawn, wondering if memories of last night might distract her throughout the day. Ian lingered in the car and breathed deep. He swore her scent was more powerful, intoxicating than ever.

Caution told him to shyft out of there before the lot filled up. He hesitated. The vast college campus made it difficult to keep watch over her without being recognized, but the crowd of students and professors was in Rayne's favor. Weir law forbids Sars from using their powers where it might be witnessed by humans. But there were a growing number of Weir who scorned the old ways and thought themselves above all laws, human or Weir.

Ian shyfted Saxon home to the eastern vortex. He dropped to one knee and gave his beloved companion a playful scratch around the ears. Saxon pawed at him and wagged his tail. With a snort, he leapt over a log and vanished in the thick brush. The wolf preferred prowling the estate's grounds and forest to meandering inside the mansion now that spring had found its way to the Northern California coast.

Birds took flight from nearby trees with a shrill squawk. Ian pressed his hand against the cool earth. A low rumble. Pebbles bounced along the ground. Dirt wafted into the air. Saxon appeared at the edge of the clearing with a whine. A few seconds later, the earth's mantle settled. All grew still. The planet's outburst was no more than a yawn.

There had been too many outbursts of late. Several, too intense to ignore. When Ian had approached the Syndrion with his concerns, they reported that a large number of elderly Pur Sars had passed away in the last few weeks. The remaining Sars' hold on the planet was weaker than ever.

Ian had left the council meeting consumed with guilt. He was supposed to be Earth's savior. The handful of powers he'd been able to develop was a far cry from what was prophesied. He wasn't what the planet needed to survive. He'd never felt so helpless.

A scraping sensation deep in Ian's core confirmed that Milo had set the estate's energy jam at moderate. He set out on foot, unable to use his powers beyond the open vortex field.

He strolled along the path toward the mansion, but at the fork, turned onto the south path. The sun's energy seeped into Ian's shoulders, and he drew upon it. A soft breeze tickled the back of his neck. He paused in the small clearing and took stock of Mara and Galen's grave site. He'd only been gone a week, yet the early spring rains and warmer-than-usual weather had brought an abundance of wild flowers that filled the area with flecks of tangerine, lemon, indigo and jade reminiscent of a Monet painting.

It comforted him that the grave mounds, like his grief, were settling with time. Peace engulfed his soul whenever he visited. Not enough time had passed for their bodies to adequately decay and feed the earth, but their strength and wisdom had leached into the ground and enriched the soil. They spoke to him when he was near.

"Why is this your first stop whenever you return from assignments?"

Ian smiled. Tara's ability to approach without giving herself away developed soon after losing Mara, her identical twin. "I made them a promise that I would give their sacrifice meaning," he said. "I suppose it's my way of filling them in on my progress."