Unaltered #2_A Diamond in my Heart (20 page)

The temptation to view my own future
was incredibly overwhelming as I couldn’t view Brand’s to see what
would happen when we met with the Healers. As Maetha had advised, I
should not view my own future so I didn’t.

We traveled north from Los Angeles to
the Los Padres National Forest and followed the instructions Maetha
had given me prior to leaving Ohio in order to find the Healers'
location. It came as no surprise to find the large headquarters
operating under the guise of being a ‘spa for mind and
body’.

Before we opened the car doors, Brand
removed his Demon device from his shirt and set it in the cup
holder between our seats. “Why are you taking that off?”

“I don’t want anyone asking me about
it. I’ll come out and get it before dark.”

Brand and I were welcomed by two older
women and shown to a large dining room where dinner was about to be
served. We were seated at a table with who I figured to be the
leaders or senior members of the clan; however, Andrew Stuart was
not among them. I addressed one of the women who had escorted us
in, “Excuse me, is Mr. Stuart present?”

“Yes, but he is under heavy security
as he is our clan’s amulet wearer.”

“It’s good that he’s protected. What
of the Readers' and Seers' missing amulet wearers?”

“Still no word or sign of them; it is
a sad time for all. Mr. Stuart has requested you be brought to him
following your meal.”

“Excellent. We look forward to it,” I
said.

“My apologies, Ms. Courtnae, only you
will be allowed to see him.”

“That won’t do. My companion doesn’t
leave my side. If that is unacceptable, then I will decline Mr.
Stuart’s invitation.”

“Excuse me; I will go relay your
demands.”

The woman left and I felt a little
unsettled deep in my gut. Maetha had referred to her ‘gut instinct’
leading her many times and I had to wonder if my gut was trying to
tell me something. The other Healers at the table were engaged in
mild conversation with Brand. No one asked about his powers and no
one questioned our visit. Then I realized Brand was controlling the
conversation by steering it away from his abilities. I chuckled and
shook my head a little.

Brand sent one of his trademark
dimpled smiles my way in acknowledgement of my
suspicions.

The woman returned hastily to the
table but proceeded to the oldest member and whispered something in
his ear. He quickly stood and motioned to two other men to follow.
They moved to the doorway and proceeded to have a hushed
conversation concerning very disturbing information. I read the
lips and gathered that a trio of Runners was headed our way to
offer further protection to their amulet wearer due to the fact
that their leader had just been abducted! One Healer mocked the
offer saying that they were unsuccessful in protecting their own
amulet. The woman relayed a message from Andrew Stuart that
involved the two of us being brought to him and a couple Healers
protested the action, but in the end the decision was made to allow
us entrance.

We were quickly ushered to a well
fortified section of the building where we met with Andrew. Two
other Healers remained in the room with us as well; one was Robert
Yates. I’d met him already.

“Welcome, Calli.” Andrew shook my hand
and turned his head to Brand.

“Mr. Curtis, this is Brand Safferson.
He is a new person of powers.”

“I apologize Calli, we have a
situation that must be addressed first before simple conversation
can take place. We’ve received word that a young female
successfully abducted the Runners' amulet wearer right under the
watchful eyes of the guards.”

I tried to act surprised to hear this.
“Oh no! Mrs. Winter has been taken?”

“A trio of Runners is on the way here
to give further protection to our clan; however, I cannot discern
what the future holds for us as I cannot view my own future. My
associates here feel you should wear the amulet and that with your
combined powers and prior experience perhaps you can shed some
light on the future.”

“You want me to wear your
amulet?”
Could I even do that?
Would it break from its casing because of being
too near my shard? A sudden thought struck my mind; what if this is
how I will end up with all the shards, by having them enter my
heart one piece at a time?

Andrew grasped the leather cord which
held the amulet and pulled it up over his head. “I relinquish my
amulet to you.” He extended his hand forward and I took his amulet.
The diamond shard began spinning wildly within the glass as I
slowly pulled it closer and closer to my body. My chest began to
pain me greatly as the diamond shifted within me and I pulled the
leather cord over my head and waited for the fireworks to begin.
Immediately the amulet clamped onto my skin and the spinning
diamond halted within the glass.

Brand watched the free floating
diamond in awe. He’d clearly never seen anything like this before
and I had to remind myself that he knew nothing about the
diamond.

Robert Yates said, “The
Hunters are responsible for this. They are systematically
kidnapping the amulet wearers. It was a mistake for the witch to
ever give the Hunters an amulet because it enhanced their smelling
ability to a point that no one can hide from them, plus it gave
them all the other powers to boot. They are most likely trying to
collect the shards and reassemble the whole diamond. They won’t
stop until they have
all
the pieces.”

I picked up on what Robert was saying
right away. He was implying that because I had a shard within me,
they’d be after me too. I looked for the future of the diamond
shards and found Justin Macintyre’s face filling my mind. “You’re
wrong, Robert, the Hunters aren’t the ones stealing the
amulets.”

Of course! I’d had the vision of
Justin heading up a group and being the next evil force to be
reckoned with.

Brand shook my shoulder. I looked over
and saw a strange look on his face. “If you want these people to
live, we have to leave right now!” Brand said urgently.

I knew better than to question him. I
stood and took his hand and then using my running ability, ran from
the room. I heard Robert and Andrew yelling out, “Stop them,
they’ve stolen the shard! Calli is the shard thief!”

We ran through the corridors and out
of the building into the surrounding brush before we stopped. “What
was that?!” Brand was truly shocked. “How did you run so fast? How
did I?”

“Tell me why we needed to leave,
Brand.”

“A dark haired man was about to enter
the room and shoot everyone except you, Calli, because you were
wearing the necklace.”

“His name is Justin and I saw the
future at the same time as you said we needed to run.”

Brand’s face twisted with pain and his
arms wrapped around his belly. “Calli, heal yourself; it’s only a
sleeping agent. I’ll live.”

I felt inside his body and found a
foreign substance, a drug. He was already falling to his knees as I
tried to extract the toxin from his bloodstream. Everything
whooshed and he pulled me back with him on his repeat.

“Damnit Calli, heal yourself, not
me!”

“Why? Can’t you repeat back to before
the drug takes effect?”

“He’s coming and will shoot
you.”

I felt inside my body and found the
substance which had been placed in the food we ate for dinner. I
willed it out of my body in the same manner as I had done with my
running companions a couple years ago. In the meantime, Brand
passed out and crumpled to the ground.

Justin emerged from behind a nearby
tree. He wore all black and his face revealed his exhaustion.
“Well, well, well, Calli Courtnae you grew up. Not a little teenie
bopper anymore are you? No, you’re a grown woman now.”

“Likewise, Justin, you grew up into an
even bigger jackass.”

“You’re mouth hasn’t changed a
bit.”

“Neither has your
intellect.”

“It’s so kind of the clans to let you
have an honorary place. What with losing all your powers four years
ago, you must envy everyone instead of the other way around.”
Justin walked to me and stood close enough that I could smell his
unwashed body and see his beard growth of several days. “Well,
isn’t this nice. They let you wear the shard. How does it feel to
have its power once again?”

“It’s almost as if I never lost it.”
My snide remark made his eyebrows lower.

Justin reached forward and grasped the
leather chord near my collarbone and twisted it between his
fingers. His eyes focused on the floating diamond within the bulb
which rested against my skin just below my throat. “You will give
me the amulet, Calli,” he said in a throaty whisper.

“Really? So, you know that if you try
to take it things won’t work out so well for you.”

“That’s why the Death Clan died. They
tried to take what wasn’t theirs. You hadn’t given it to them. All
the shard bearers must give me their amulets and you will too when
I’m ready for it.” He raised his handgun and pointed it at Brand.
“What’s this guy’s deal? Is he a new Healer?”

“No, he’s with me. We were visiting
the clan.” I looked into the future and saw that Justin was about
to shoot Brand. “Wait, Justin, don’t kill him.”

“He’s ancillary and I have no need for
him.”

“If you kill him, I
will
never
give
you the amulet.”

“Is he your boyfriend?” Justin asked
sarcastically.

“No, but he’s my friend. Bring him
with us and I won’t give you trouble.” With my powers and having
two shards, I very well could have incapacitated him at that
moment, but my instincts told me not to. I needed to find out what
he was up to, wanted to know more. Was Justin acting alone or did
he have a team like I’d seen in the vision years ago?

“Fine. But if you try to hurt me with
your mind, I’ll shoot him.” Justin hoisted Brand over his shoulder
and pointed the gun at me. “There’s a black van two miles down the
road. Let’s go.”

We ran to the van and Justin dumped
Brand in the back. He then tied a blindfold on my head and cuffed
my hands behind my back.

“You know Justin, I already know where
you’re taking me, is the blindfold really necessary?”

“Yep. If you can’t see me, you can’t
read my mind or harm me.”

Years ago in the hotel room when I
‘tortured’ him by making is stomach revolt, I discovered that I
didn’t need to be looking at a person to continue feeling their
body. I only needed eye contact once and then I could maintain the
link to the body. This situation wasn’t any different; however, I
wasn’t going to harm Justin… not yet anyway.

I heard him fumbling through some sort
of container and heard faint sounds of glass jars clinging and
clanging together. He was quiet for a second and then he shut the
door. Justin climbed in the van and started the engine and began
driving. I leaned back against the wall of the van and decided now
would be a good time to meditate. It was a good call too, because
we drove for what seemed like a couple hours.

When the door finally opened, I
listened to several voices discuss who would carry Brand’s body
inside and which cell to put him in. Justin ordered two men to help
me out of the van and then instructed them to take me to my cell.
Still blindfolded, I stumbled a bit even though the guards held
onto my elbows. We entered a musty smelling building and walked for
a little while turning a couple corners and then we entered a room.
My blindfold was removed by one of the guards right before they
left the room.

The room contained a medium sized
wire-meshed window, a sorry excuse for a bed, and a toilet and
sink. While I’d looked around the room, Justin spoke through an
intercom, “A key to your handcuffs is on the bed. Remove your cuffs
and set them in the tray on the door.”

I saw that the tray was the kind used
in prisons where items could be passed through the door without
opening it. “Where’s Brand?” I asked as I fumbled awkwardly with
the key trying to unlock my cuffs from behind my back.

“He’s next door, don’t
worry.”

“You’ll have to prove it or I won’t
give you the amulet.”

“I’m not in a rush to get that off you
just yet. As we speak a Hunter is being captured by the best bounty
hunter I’ve ever met. But there’s still one more piece to be found.
Tell me, Calli, where can I find Maetha the witch?”

“I don’t know. She doesn’t really have
a location if you know what I mean.”

“No, I don’t know what you
mean.”

“She just kind of appears when she
wants to. I don’t know how to contact her.” I finally unlocked the
cuffs and placed them in the tray and watched as it slid through
the door. I noticed the hinges were on the outside of the door, the
door handle locked on the outside and a dead bolt had been
installed for added security.

I listened as Justin’s footsteps left
my door and faded away down the hall. The sound of the ocean
outside my window drew me in its direction. I walked to it and
found I was able to open it two inches before the blocking
mechanism stopped it; fresh air at least. The vantage point out the
window was limited; mainly just ocean directly below and it seemed
the building was built on a sheer cliff. Escaping from the window
was not an option.