The Vampire Legacy; The New Queen Rises by Dawn Gray Page B

now than ever, but I'm afraid of the emotions, of
what I might do to you. After the other night, it's obvious that
you have some deep hidden connection to our world, and what if
being together brings it out? Or, what if it hurts you?"
    "Julian, I am about at my wits end trying to
hold back my feelings for you. I did it for eight years, eight
wasted years."
    "They weren't wasted, Ash. Look at who you
met, what you did. You brought a life into this world. Jack is your
best accomplishment." Julian smiled at me.
    "But, now I've lost him and I'm not sure if I
will ever get him back," I sighed and looked him in the eyes.
"Swear to me that you don't know who has him."
    "WHAT?" He asked me and then shook his head.
"I would never take your son to get you back into my life,
Ash."
    "I'm sorry I said that." I looked around at
the room we were in, his room, and I sighed. "I think I'm going to
go to my room for a while, to think a little bit and then I'll see
you at lunch time, okay?"
    He smiled at me and nodded. I kissed him on
the forehead and walked out of the room, down the stairs and into
my quiet room in the far right corner of the house. I stood against
the wall and sighed. I was sad and the fact that I still didn't
know where Jack was worried me, but then I thought of the witch in
Salem and what she showed me that day.
    I sat on the floor in my room and with a
piece of chalk drew a circle on the wood floor, as I drew it I
spoke to the spirits and asked it for guidance during this ritual.
As I stood in the middle of the circle I started at the top
northern point of the circle and drew a line down in the south-west
direction of the circle, up to the east, across to the west, down
to the southeast and back up to the north, creating a star with me
in the center. I placed candles of different colors at each of
these points and as I lit each one, I said what they represented,
starting with the East candle.
    Purple. "For Strength."
    Light red. "For love."
    Blue. "For protection."
    Off-white. "For peace of mind."
    White. "For my son."
    I closed my eyes and let the heat that I felt
burn deep in my mind and I envisioned my son close to me. In my
mind I followed a point of light, like riding on some fast moving
train heading for the end of the tunnel, the light grew brighter
and bigger. I felt Jack, I felt him very close to me and I held on
to that feeling as the heat and light took over. I opened my eyes
and I looked around the brightly lit room. Bars were in front of
me, brown wooden bars and, as I looked around, I saw toys, endless
stuffed bears, rocking horses, and little decals on the wall and I
knew I was in a child's room.
    The door opened and I watched two men walk
in, two men that I knew quite well. David walked up to the crib
first and touched my head, and then I knew that I was seeing this
through Jack's eyes. The second man had disappeared when our son
was only a couple months old, my husband.
    "She's growing stronger," David said as he
looked around the room. "Her heritage is coming out and you don't
have much time left."
    "Nonsense, she's getting too old for it to
kick in now. She would have had to have taken blood from one of us
years ago to bring on the transformation," Jack said and David
grabbed his arm, turning him to face him.
    "You underestimate your wife's desire for her
son, Jack," David said and released his arm. "I know firsthand how
far she has advanced and trust me; you don't stand a chance if you
wait any longer."
    "Don't worry, David, old boy." Jack laughed.
"Everything is under control." He smiled, evilly. "Even my
wife."
    The two of them left the room and I whispered
little prayers to the baby as he dosed off to sleep.
    I watched the tunnel as if I was in reverse.
The light grew smaller and then I opened my eyes. I didn't move
from the center of the circle. I just sat there until the candles
burned out thinking about my son and about how David and Jack were
involved in this. I must have been sitting there long