Chapter 10

Diana woke early the next morning. The night before had been very draining. She couldn't even begin to count the amount of people she had met, forget remembering their names. She enjoyed the peaceful feeling she received from her shower, the herbs running through her veins and the serene green of the tiles and wallpaper bringing up her mood. She got out and put on a pine green cardigan that brought out her eyes, and a pair of khaki jeans.

When she arrived in the breakfast room, Nick was already there, talking to Aidan. "So you can help us with the Master Tools?"

Aidan looked up at Diana. "As long as it's okay with your coven leader over there."

She blushed, realizing that she was standing in the doorway. She sat down at the table as a lady with graying black hair set a plate of food in front of her. "It's totally okay with me," she said, moving pieces of her omelet around.

"Great. We can begin today." Aidan lifted himself from his seat. "I'll go get our Master Tools ready."

Nick turned to her as Aidan left the room. "Diana, thank you so much for bringing me here."

She smiled at him. "You're welcome, Nick, even though you wouldn't let me go without you."

He laughed. "I just finally feel . . ."

"Like you belong?" she finished for him.

"Yeah. I do."

"I can tell. I've never seen you so happy and sociable." She took a sip of her water.

"You seem to be enjoying yourself, too. You're more outgoing here, more free-willed. And everyone thinks your so nice, not to mention the guys are constantly talking about how beautiful you are."

Diana nearly choked on her water. She swallowed, then took a few breaths. Slowly she smiled and leaned over to Nick. "Excuse me?"

Just then, Aidan walked back into the room with a beautifully crafted mahogany box, about the size of a small suitcase. "Here they are."

Diana got up from the table. She walked over, looking at the markings of the box. The box itself seemed to be enchanted. She began to trace the designs with her finger.

"This box has held these items since our two groups separated. There's a spell on it to keep evil from touching it." He smiled down at her.

She looked up, caught in his gaze. Something in her mind was going off, but she couldn't listen. She looked away, toward Nick. "Let's go outside and check them out."

Nick looked at her cautiously, having noticed the moment of tension. "Sure, sounds good to me."

They followed Aidan to the back of the house, which expanded into acres of green land. He stopped them in a clear area. Looking at Diana, he grinned. "You open it."

She smiled brightly, feeling very fortunate for the chance to see another set of Master Tools. She carefully opened the box, feeling power run through her fingers. She breathed in lightly at the sight of the objects. Reaching for them, she looked up at Aidan for approval. He nodded lightly, as she lifted them from the box.

The first was an armband, the same as her own, with the same designs and curves. The other two were different from her coven's set. There was an anklet, shining as beautifully as the arm cuff had, and a necklace of some sort. She held each end of the piece of jewelry, lifting it up to examine. It had long charms of the same metal as the cuff, with each piece having a different phase of the moon. Between the links were pieces of green silk, just as the garter belt at home had. She heard Nick whistle behind her.

"Here's how we'll do this," Aidan started, setting the box on the ground. "Each of us will put on a piece of the set, and I'll show you different ways to use them."

"Are you sure?" Diana asked worriedly.

"Of course. Here, everyone has access to the tools. I just have to be around." He took the necklace and laced it around Diana's neck. "This is the most powerful of the three."

She could feel the energy as it set on her collarbone. It was almost exactly like when she had tried the tools at home. The only variance was that she felt a different knowledge. This had been worn by different witches than hers had. She could almost hear the necklace humming.

She looked to see that Nick had the arm cuff on. She felt warm looking at Nick's expression. He had never felt that kind of power before. He looked like he enjoyed it greatly.

Aidan was connecting the anklet to himself. Standing up, he began softly, "Okay, the first thing I want you guys to do is clear your mind. Focus only on what the tool is generating, actually listen to it. It's not going to actually speak to, but you will generally grasp what it's telling you."

Diana understood what he meant. Her eyes were closed and her mind was filled with a pure white light.

"Now," he continued. "Take this." Diana looked to see Aidan slipping a small amount of sand into her hand, then doing the same to Nick. "Clasp both of your hands together, and concentrate. Tell your energy that you want to heat the object in your hand. Think of any gem that comes to mind."

Diana followed instructions, and the response was almost natural to her. She felt her power coursing through her body from the necklace, all the way through her hands. A golden light had flared through her mind and slowly dimmed. When she knew it was over she looked into her hands and gasped. On her palm laid a perfect golden topaz. She picked it up and examined it with the light.

Aidan was walking up to her, all ready speaking. "The gem you've created is a part of you. There's a legend that it holds part of your soul, and carries the powers you use." He stopped almost abruptly, looking at the stone she held in the air. "A topaz?"

"Is that bad?" she asked, suddenly self-conscience.

"No, you did marvelous. I just figured you'd create a peridot, since that's you're working stone." He held out his hand, asking for the stone.

"I thought I would have, too," she said, watching him examine it. "But my mind encouraged this. The necklace arranged my thoughts so that I knew the order my power had to take, and this came of it."

He handed her back the stone. "For the most part, the tools teach you. You just have to master directing them."

Diana looked to see that Nick had made a tiger's eye. He had a look on his face that said he was proud of what he was doing. Her heart lightened, then sank a little bit. Too bad I couldn't inspire anyone like this.

Katherine came around the corner of the house then, serving as a good distraction. She had Elizabeth and Erica behind her, with the Torchia twins close by. "Are we interrupting?" Katherine asked politely.

"Not at all," Aidan smiled. "What can we do for you?"

"Well, Nicholas promised to look at my car today, but if you're busy, he can help later."

"We can work on this later," Aidan smiled.

Nick was already taking the cuff off of his arm. Diana took his cue and unhooked the back of the necklace. It felt almost as if the energy had snapped when it left her neck. She placed it gently in the box next to the cuff.

She began to walk toward the house but was stopped by Aidan's voice. "Would you like a formal tour of the house?"

Stopping to think, she turned slowly to look at him. "That would be nice."

He strode up next to her, offering his arm, smiling. She took it carefully, her hand clasping around the sleeve of his arm, felling the muscle underneath.

She gave one final look to the group disappearing to the side of the house. Katherine was looking at her and Aidan, smiling, before jogging to catch up with her group.