The Allies of Old; Book Two Renewal: Chapter Seventy Nine "New Skill and a Bet"

Book Cover created in acrylic by the extremely talented @therealpaul

If you have not read the first book of the series, "Reborn", it is advisable you do so before reading "Renewal" or you will be lost. This link will provide you with a series summary as well as all sixty-eight chapters of Reborn

Table of Contents for Fifty Five chapters of Renewal, created by @bashadow

Chapter 56
Chapter 57
Chapter 58
Chapter 59
Chapter 60
Chapter 61
Chapter 62
Chapter 63
Chapter 64
Chapter 65
Chapter 66
Chapter 67
Chapter 68
Chapter 69
Chapter 70
Chapter 71
Chapter 72
Chapter 73
Chapter 74
Chapter 75
Chapter 76
Chapter 77
Chapter 78

Chapter Seventy-Nine

Jared’s ice blue eyes swept over the table, stopping at Michael and Mathias who were seated side by side. “You will recall the night I came to your house in London?”

“Actually, they weren’t there,” Anna pointed out.

He turned to her and smiled a little. “No, but they were there the next day,” he looked at them again. “Did you sense my presence?”

The two exchanged confused glances, shaking their heads.

“There’s another level to dimming that most aren’t aware of. It takes you from being invisible to humans…or most humans…to being invisible to everything around you.” He closed his eyes and less than a minute later he disappeared.

“Oh holy shit!” Jay exclaimed exchanging awed glances with his brothers.

Mathias and Michael had both jumped to their feet and were staring hard at the spot he had occupied.

He reappeared and the girls jolted backwards in their chairs, laughing breathlessly.

He turned to Michael. “That’s why I had you send the others away, this is not something to be shared with those I’m not absolutely certain we can trust.”

“So you’ll teach us then?” Mathias inquired.

Jared cast him a look. “No, I thought I would just show off.”

Mathias flipped him the bird. He laughed and turned to Anna, his expression becoming more serious. “Learning this will be the greatest protection you could have aside from me. Maybe if I had taught it to you before you could have extracted yourself from the situation I found you in.” His tone held a hint of regret.

A smile had lit up Michael’s features in the meantime, as he worked through the implications. “I couldn’t even sense you were there, let alone see you, if we learn to do this….we could just disappear and reappear…

Jared put a hand up to stop him shaking his head. “Not exactly. First of all it takes a bit of concentration, even I take nearly a minute to achieve it and I’ve been doing it for centuries. And then once you do get there it’s much like hyberstasis. However long you stay in deep dim you will have to stay out of it. Of course with practice it can be used in nearly any situation, but in the beginning you’ll find it most effective as a means to either observe or escape, which is why I want the females in particular to learn.”

“How long can it be held for?” Mathias leaned forward.

“For up to seventy-two hours, but it’s doubtful any of you will hold it for longer than a few minutes at first. As I said it -takes concentration, particularly in the beginning. Okay, let’s try it out.”

Jenna watched as they disappeared. She could only see a kind of static outlining where they sat, though she supposed it was better than not sensing them at all. Once they learned to “deep dim” it would be like they weren’t even there.

She decided to go and see if the Tiki bar had the stuff needed for a Mimosa. It did and she mixed one up, her eyes flitting over to the table. With so much static the area seemed out of focus and she had to turn away from it before her eyes went buggy.

She sipped on her drink trying not to wish she were a part of the supernatural circle. Trying and failing miserably. One hundred years from now, maybe even a thousand, Anna and now
Jess would still be here while she would be…where? Heaven? She figured if that were truly the case then perhaps she was the lucky one. Life on earth would have to eventually get old, she thought, wouldn’t it? After all, how many times had she heard an elderly person claim they were ready to “go”?
Except that’s the thing, she mused, they were elderly, they had aged. Their bodies and minds were failing them. But if that weren’t the case, if they were still young and strong, would they feel the same way? Certainly not quite as soon, though maybe after centuries….yet Mathias didn’t seem to be ready to go anywhere, or Jared for that matter.

She sighed and tipped her glass back, draining the contents before making another one. She glanced back at the table and blinked several times. The static was broken up a bit now and as she continued to watch, more of the blurriness faded in front of her eyes. And suddenly it was gone. The patio was completely empty.

It lasted for about twenty seconds before Jess reappeared and looked around.

“Holy cow, I can’t even tell they’re there!” She exclaimed as her eyes fell on Jenna.

“I know, for a few seconds none of you were there.”
Chris and Jay popped back into the picture simultaneously.

“Shit!” Jay exclaimed with a grin, “We got beat out by a girl!”

“What do you mean, I was first to…oh you mean Anna,” Jess laughed.

“Yeah, but her bond with Jared is probably giving her an edge,” Chris stated.
'
Aerik was next on the scene and he grinned at his brothers.

“Now that was fucking awesome…” he looked around, “Hey where’s blondie, don’t tell me…

Chris cut in, “Yup, beat out by a girl, but it’s definitely bond related.”

Michael winked back in and sat back, his eyes narrowed slightly in thought followed by Mathias several minutes later who took immediate stock of the table.

“Anna won this round? No fucking way,” he shook his head with a look of mock dismay.

Giggles seemed to fill the air before the female in question reappeared. “Don’t be a bad sport,” she scolded Mathias, punctuating it with another giggle as Jared appeared next to her.

“It’s your bond, isn’t it?” Chris asked him immediately.

Jared’s eyes sparkled with amusement. “Could be.”

“Hey what are you saying? Because I’m a girl I couldn’t possibly be strong enough without Jared?” She looked indignant and Mathias ruffled the top of her head. She swatted at him and he laughed.

“A bet’s a bet,” she stated daring anyone to say otherwise.

“Yeah, but you can’t cheat on a bet,” Mathias folded his arms over his chest and pinned Jared with a look. “You knew she’d have an edge, admit it.”

Jared’s large shoulders shook with silent laughter and he glanced sideways at Anna raising a brow.

“Oh fine,” she rolled her eyes, “maybe I had an edge.”

“How?” Jess asked.

“Weellll, I might’ve still been able to see and talk to him….and he might’ve kept me with him.”

Michael’s brows popped up and he spoke to Jared. “You can do that?”

“Only with her,” Jared stated.

“Ha! I knew it!” Chris said smugly, “it’s the bond.”

“Yes,” Jared confirmed, “though I could still be invisible to her if I chose to be.” Anna put on a face and he pulled her into his lap.

Mathias smirked. “Well that would mean I won boys and girls, so commence with the King’s treatment.”

Jenna had wandered over to the table by this time. “King’s treatment?”

He glanced up at her and affected a strong British accent. “That’s right m’dear, whomever holds it the longest shall be served by the others for the remainder of the day.”

She raised a brow, “Let me guess, it was your idea.”

“Maybe, but it was agreed upon. What’s that you have there?” He nodded towards her drink.

“A mimosa.”

“That sounds good,” he turned towards Michael, “I’d like a mimosa, chop chop.”

Michael’s eyes rolled upward as he stood. “You’re a child, you know that right?” Mathias winked at him and he shook his head before blurring over to the bar.

“You,” Mathias nodded towards Jess, “my shoulders are aching.” He rolled them dramatically and Jess stood, then Mathias turned to the Brothers Three. “As for you three I’m feeling mighty hungry….eggs, bacon, sausage, taters, do it up.”

The trio smirked in unison.

“We’ll have another contest in a few days,” Aerik stated, “this time I’ll make the terms and kick your cocky ass.”

Mathias laughed, “Bring it on goth boy.”

The trio left for the kitchen and Jenna sat down. “Um, maybe I don’t understand how it works, but couldn’t everyone try it again in a few minutes?”

Jared answered, “They could, but now that they know how to achieve it they can practice on their own time.”

“And how do you “achieve” it, how is it different than normal dimming?” She pursued.

“Well,” Anna answered, “normal dim mode has more to do with human brains then ours. They’re susceptible to the suggestion that we aren’t there. Because of your Faerian blood you’re harder to convince which is why you can still sense us there, and in fact I think you could see completely past the suggestion if you concentrated. I could, remember?”

Jenna nodded slowly and then indicated for her to go on.

“Okay, so deep dim is a two way suggestion, not just to those around us but to ourselves as well. It requires a bit of convincing our own minds that…we aren’t really here…”she chewed on her lip, “that’s not precisely it but…

“It’s the best you’re going to be able to do with words,” Jared told her.

“You really think I could work on seeing you in your regular dim mode?” Jenna asked.

Jared nodded resolutely. “If you can sense us then you can see us.” He turned towards Anna, “You should work with her.”

A sound of irritation diverted their attention.

“How long do I have to do this?” Jess asked Mathias as she kneaded the muscles in his neck.

He dropped his head back to look up at her. “Sweetheart, you’re just getting started.”

Jenna and Anna giggled at her look of long-suffering before moving to the other side of the patio.

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