Raven of Water

Chapter 8: Dangerous Roads

I almost didn't make it home, having spun out a couple of times in the driving, blinding rain. Eventually, though, I'd made it to my apartment building where I sat in the car for several minutes before peeling my hands from the wheel I'd had in a death grip the entire drive home. I had barely stripped off my soaked clothing before collapsing into bed and crawling under the covers then falling into a light, fitful sleep.

I didn't know how much time had passed until I was awakened by rapid knocking on my door. Groaning, I rolled over and fished around for my robe, which had been discarded on the floor somewhere near me last night.

"Hang on!" I yelled as I finally located the thing and slipped it on, only half awake now as I stumbled over to the door.

"What the hell is the hold-up?"

Clem's voice had me snorting in amusement as I cinched the belt on the purple satin robe closed. I ignored the strange thought that I was a little disappointed the voice wasn't Kirroz's voice.

"I didn't want to answer the door while naked! Just be patient, Clem!" Sighing now, I padded over to the door and opened it to reveal the concerned scowl of my cousin.

"Why haven't you been answering your phone?"

"I..." my voice trailed off, and Clem entered the apartment and shut the door behind her as I strode over to the bedside table and picked up my phone only to find the screen was completely black.

"It's dead. I must've forgotten to plug it in when I got home. I've got to get a new phone. This thing doesn't hold a charge anymore."

"Grandfather is livid that you just left. He sent me to come yell at you and drag your ass back to the house." Clem's sigh as she sat heavily on my bed had me a little worried. Clem was never stressed, so the fact that she was stressed told me I should be too.

And the fact that I wasn't at all stressed about the situation was worrisome.

"Shoot." I huffed as I plugged in my phone then walked over to my wardrobe and began looking for something to wear. Of course grandfather was angry. He was always angry about someone or something, and more often than not, that thing was me. It wasn't enough that I'd actually summoned a demon. Nothing I ever did was good enough for that man.

"What does he have to be angry about? " I asked as I slipped on a pair of clean panties then pulled on a pair of dark jeans over top of them. "I always do everything I'm ordered to do. He shouldn't be so...so...angry about every little thing in the world."

"Oh, I don't know why our grandfather's angry, Lexi. Maybe it's the fact that you just left the guest of honor in the middle of the night without even making sure he was comfortable. Or you threw coffee in his face. Or were being a general brat to the representative of the god who gave our family powers in the first place. For some reason, your actions and the way you've been treating the demon read as, and bear with me on this, assholeish."

"My job was finished. I'd done my part and gotten tired of serving the demon." I shrugged as I opened my wardrobe and scanned my collection of clothing while Clem kept speaking to my back.

"You don't just...storm out of places, Lexi. First, it's not like you. Second, you knew it'd piss grandfather off, but you did it anyway."

I shrugged at my cousin's reflection in the long mirror hanging on my wardrobe door as I tugged on a black t-shirt then pulled on a royal purple cardigan to stave off the chill. I seemed to be always cold, even in summer, and it looked like it was pretty overcast outside still.

"I couldn't be in that house anymore, Clem."

The older woman scrunched up her nose and crossed her legs as she glared at my reflection. "The demon was all upset you just up and left him."

"I don't like him or his opinions."

"He's a demon. You're not supposed to like him."

"He's a supreme butt hole."

"Hell. Warn me before you bust out the swear words, Lexi," Clem said with a roll of her eyes before adding, "I get it. I really do, but do you think it's a good idea to fuck with a demon, Lexi? He seemed really annoyed with the way you've been acting."

"I'm more frightened of our grandfather." I chuckled as I walked over to my phone, which I then booted up. The litany of missed calls and texts made me scowl and drove home the reality that I'd apparently pissed a lot of people off by going MIA.

"What's gotten into you, Lexi? You're making me worry about you."

"What do you mean?" I turned to find Clem regarding me with an unsettled look.

"You seem, I don't know, different. You've always been the one telling me to keep my head down, but here you are throwing coffee into demon's faces and pissing off grandfather."

"It was tea."

"What?"

"Tea. I threw tea into Kirroz's face."

"Lexi—"

"I hear what you're saying." I threw up my hands as I turned to face her. "You're worried. But, nothing's wrong with me. I promise."

I avoided her glare of skepticism as I snatched a bag from my wardrobe and gathered the things I'd need to take with me to the mansion.

Clem was right. Something about me felt off.

I had energy unlike anything I'd ever experienced. And my powers...they churned below the surface with such ferocity that I half-worried I'd get caught up in the undertow if I tried to access them. I could drown in myself. I was treading water over the deep ocean, and the sensation of heady fear energized me. It was extraordinary, this liberation. This energy I felt, though I had no idea where it had come from.

"Ready?" I asked as I hefted my bag onto my shoulder.

"Ready for what?"

"For me to go to the mansion and get yelled at by grandfather and his demon ally."

I smiled as my words led my powers to seep out and tickle my skin. Yeah. Something was definitely off about me, and Clem scowled as she sensed the strangeness I was feeling.

"You're awfully chipper about this, Lexi."

I laughed and waved my hand in front of my face as I led her to the door. The truth was, I was chipper. Something inside me felt that events had been set in motion that were supposed to happen, things that were good. And as my power trickled out and tingled my skin as I said goodbye to the plants, I realized something else about this strange new way I felt.

I liked it.

Even though I hated grandfather and the demon and everything our magical organization stood for, I liked whatever was happening to me. I needed whatever was happening to me. But, I didn't need the demon. That's what I told myself as I closed and locked my door and prepared to face my grandfather and my punishment.