I told them everything, not holding back anything more other than the fact that Poe had changed his form. The elder Heads of the Family shared another look in the silence that followed. It only made me more nervous.
"He described the lost family's power perfectly," Lyssa said, looking to my father. "Could it really be possible that your son was chosen to revive the Reinhardt line?"
"How do we know he isn't making all of this up?" Nathan argued.
Lyssa stepped in front of him before I even had a chance to defend myself. "You were in diapers when the last of the Reinhardts were killed. How do you know he's lying? You forget that the Emersons worked closely with our lost brothers and sisters. I saw their powers first hand. And that description Ezra just gave was to the T."
Nathan's gaze iced over as he held his ground. "I must see this to believe it."
My father studied the two of them before turning to me. "I hate to ask this of you while you are still recovering, but it's important that we witness your Talent first hand. If it's true that you are the new founder of the Reinhardt line, we must confirm it."
They wouldn't believe me until they saw it. Great. Let's just hope I could figure out how to get it to work again.
Avery helped me stand. Someone had changed me into a set of flannel pjs. I didn't even want to think about how that had happened. I slipped my feet into a pair of slippers as Nathan and Lyssa headed down the stairs ahead of us. I paused for a moment to untangle the pendant's chain from Poe's perch. He stirred as I pulled the chain away, and flapped up to perch on my shoulder.
With Dad and Avery to keep me steady, we somehow made it downstairs to the living room in one piece. Avery's mother and sister sat on the couch, my brother waited near the fireplace with Nathan's son, Collen. I wondered when he'd arrived, though, knowing Nathan, it was probably about five minutes after I started my Test.
"William!" Mom shrieked. She stood in the doorway we'd just passed through, a tray of food held in her hands. "What is he doing out of bed-"
"I'm okay, mom," I insisted.
"You certainly don't look okay!"
"It's important," my father said with a pained look. "We'll have him back in bed soon."
Nathan motioned around himself. "Is this enough room? Or should we perhaps step outside?"
"I don't even know what you want me to do," I said, "I'm not sure I could-"
"Oh, come now." Nathan stared at me. "Surely, if you're going to claim that you're going to start a new family line, you should have some show to backup your claim."
Shock filtered around the room.
"He didn't claim anything like that, Nathan," my father said with a dangerous edge to his voice.
"He might as well have. Just how are we to know that he's telling the truth? How do we know that you haven't just been hiding the most powerful Necromanic artifact from us for all these years?"
I glanced at the pendent. "You know what this is?"
Nathan glared at me. " Boy, that is the pendant the Head of the Reinhardt Family wore. The pendant that was lost years ago when the Quintet fought against the Witches in Salem, and most of the fifth family was killed."
I remembered that story. I'd only heard it once, so why hadn't I thought about it before?
"The summoners. They were the family that summoned beasts, demons to fight." I said, staring down at the pendent.
Then, what had happened back in the jungle? If I'm supposed to be able to summon creatures, why couldn't I have done that back there?
"So, let's see this new power of yours, Ezra." Nathan sneered at me.
I glanced around at my family. Liam actually looked a little scared. Mom had set down her tray and now stood next to my father. My eyes finally rested on Avery, and she gave me a soft smile.
I thought back to all the exercises I'd done as a child, and what little I knew about the fifth family. I focused on the pendent again, and mentally searched for the warmth, that heat that had burned my veins. My Talent flared to life in the depths of my chest, forcing me to gasp at the sudden intensity of it. I fell to my knees.
"Ezra!"
I heard my mom shout, but it was all I could do to keep the power contained within me, and you know, not kill me in the process. Two little slippered feet appeared in my line of vision as I stared at the carpet in front of me. I looked up to find Thea standing there, her lithe frame barely taller than my hunched form. She reached out; her too cold fingers lightly touching my forehead.
A chill swept through me, cooling the fire that raged in my heart to a manageable heat. I opened my eyes, unaware that I'd even closed them. "Thanks," I said.
"It'll take time to learn control, but I see what will be. You will master it." Thea's voice chimed almost like a bell.
"Enough stalling, let's see this power of yours," Nathan snapped.
I stood again, letting my father steady me when I swayed a little on my feet. I was a Necromancer. I was a Summoner. I could do this and I would.
I clutched the pendent tightly in my hand and focused my attention on the bare spot in the center of the room. Thea had cooled enough of my Talent that I could call just enough forth for what I needed. I wasn't looking forward to what would happen after though. I was too weak as it was, and using more Talent now would only make me feel worse.
The words I wanted sprang to my mind just as they had back in the jungle. I honestly had no clue what I was saying. I only knew the meaning behind it, the goal I wanted to achieve.
"Vershala tulian das lo berruas. Kalha vas notha rak!"
I screamed the last word of the spell with the very last of my strength, pushing my Talent to hold fast to the phrases. I felt the power burn, just like it had before, searing my veins with power.
An intricate circle appeared on the floor, contrasting with the floral print of the carpet with a violent red glow as it spun and pulsed along with the rapid beating of my heart. One last word came to mind, one last name I had to call out to finish the summoning.
"Kastem!" The name rolled through me like a train, dragging every last ounce of energy from my body as I collapsed to the ground again. The circle shrank suddenly to a pinpoint on the carpet, and exploded in a flash of light.
I shielded my eyes from it, but even as the bright white burned, I could see the silhouette of the beast materializing where the circle had been.
Nathan stumbled back, sinking into an over-stuffed arm chair when his feet hit it. "I can't believe it."
Dad knelt next to me, his hand a solid weight on my shoulder. After a moment, he helped me stand, this time holding me up right so that I didn't fall again.
Avery quickly took up her post at my free side, smiling up at me with her bright blue eyes. "I knew you could do it."
The beast stared at me from across the room, an expectant gaze that chilled the fiery burn in my veins. I was a Summoner, I had control over the beast now, but I knew that every time I called it forth from the depths of whatever prison my pendent held, I would remember the girl I failed to save.
"I can't save everyone..." I mumbled, repeating the old man's words to myself. Glancing around the room at my family, and the other Heads of the Necromanic Quintet, I feared for the future. How many of them would I fail to save as well? Nathan and I exchanged a not-so-pleasant look, and I stared him down, until he finally broke and looked away.
"Avery will be the next Head of the Manser family," I said. "And she will be so without marrying if she so chooses. We have far more important business to deal with now than sticking our noses into the way other families conduct their lives."
Lyssa nodded in agreement. "You warned us earlier that there are hard times ahead of us. We need to focus on preparing and readying ourselves for whatever may come in the future."
"But the Manser family will need successors, especially if we're on verge of trouble!" Nathan shouted, jumping to his feet.
Thea turned to him. "We Mansers can see what is, what will be, and what has been. We can control our own fate. There will be plenty of successors to our family name, but not before we see these troubled times through."
"You are a child-" Nathan spat.
"I will remind you one last time, that 'child' is the most powerful Manser to be born since our founding Mother," Avery said in a low, threatening voice. "I ask you as one Head of a Family to another, to speak to her with respect."
Nathan stared at us all for a long time, before squaring his shoulders. "Collen, gather our things. It's past time that we return home."
Nathan and Collen left quickly, not wasting any time, as I focused on figuring out how to un-summon the demon in my parent's living room. It took a little trial and error, and a lot of mental guidance from Thea, before I was able to send the demon back to wherever it had come from.
Avery and my father helped me back to bed after that and I sank gratefully into the sheets.
"You should get some rest," my father said. "I'll see what information can be gathered and we'll talk again once you're feeling up to it."
He left Avery and I alone, shutting the door behind him.
Sleep pulled at my eyes, and I forced them wide in a futile attempt to stay wake. "Avery, I ..."
"I know," she said, leaning down to kiss my forehead. "You'll stand with me, right? At the ceremony?"
I closed my eyes at the feeling of her lips, and I couldn't find the strength to open them again as sleep claimed me.
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Thanks for reading! I hope you're enjoying it. Next week, on 1/18/16, we move into chp 4! - J.D.