He inhales the last few bites left on his plate. “I’ve got some homework too.”
“Go ahead.” Aunt Claudia waves him off, then settles her gaze on me. “What about you, Indi? Do you have homework?”
Behind her, Jack catches my eye, then nods his head toward the stairs. Guess I have homework. Technically, I do. I have the chemistry paper to work on and whatever else I may have missed today, but I doubt Jack is nodding for me to follow so we three can have a group study session. If it were just Jack and me, I might buy it, but Liv too? The girl who tries to fake sick at least once a week to skip school? Yeah, I don’t think so. She’d rather scrub Aunt Claudia’s toilet again with a toothbrush than do school work. They’re up to something, and I get the feeling I’m not going to like it.
Aunt Claudia’s stare intensifies until it’s boring straight through the middle of my face.
“Yes.”
“Then go do it. Caleb and I will take care of the dishes for tonight.” She dismisses me without a second glance. I have to admit it stings a little. Nothing is the same anymore, and I hate it. I miss the days where I was oblivious and life was just life without the burdens of the supernatural world weighing on my shoulders. The days where every other word out of my mouth to my aunt and uncle or my friends weren’t lies. To the days where Aunt Claudia would have asked me about my homework and my day and not looked at me with thinly veiled disappointment before brushing me off like she is now.
Uncle Caleb offers me a weak smile, then clears the table while Aunt Claudia loads the dishwasher.
“I’m sorry things are so messed up now, but I’m going to fix it,” I mumble under my breath. All I have to do is train for a hundred years to be as good as Sebastian is when it comes to fighting the Big Bads of the world, practice my magic with an added emphasis on control, figure out what Ludvikas’ endgame is, avoid the dark witches interested in me, and prove to the higher powers above that I’m not a threat in need of being neutralized.
Easy peasy.
Yeah, right.
Jack motions for me to follow, then disappears up the stairs where he and Liv gang up on me at the top.
“What’s going on?”
“Mom and Dad’s cop show will be coming on in a few minutes, which means we have exactly one hour to show you something in the attic before they come to check on us.” Liv takes me by the wrist and begins dragging me down the hall.
“If they don’t come before that,” Jack states. “You couldn’t come up with a better excuse to leave the table than homework? You’re the queen of making up excuses to not do homework, Liv. There’s no way they don’t think it’s weird you’d willingly volunteer to do it without the threat of being grounded.”
“I’m already grounded, so…” She flashes him a cheeky smile. He rolls his eyes.
“I actually do have homework to do,” I throw out there. “A lot of it. Do we really have to go up to the attic right now?”
“Yes,” they both answer.
Liv continues dragging me along while Jack trails behind us so I’m sandwiched between them. Probably so I can’t run away, which is smart, because there’s nothing more I’d like to do than haul butt out of here. I’d hoped they’d forgotten about the attic. I’d rather drink the water from the toilet than go up there.
“Can’t you just take whatever it is you want to show me in the attic to your room and show me there?” I dig my heels in, slowing us down a fraction. It’s not enough to deter either one of my cousins, and I find myself at the base of the stairs leading up to my worst nightmare, anyway.
Already I see her last moments playing out in my head as if it were yesterday. The scared smile on her face as she told me she loved me for the last time. The finality of her hand slamming down on the floor to end the spell holding the portal open between our house and Uncle Caleb’s. The ghost of my mom’s death is up there, and I don’t know if I’m ready to face it. I don’t know if I’ll ever be ready to face it.
“If we remove anything, Mom and Dad will know, so unfortunately, no, we can’t take it from the attic.” Jack at least has the decency to look pained, which I guess counts for something. I know he wouldn’t drag me up there—Liv either, honestly—unless it was important. I was bound to have to face the terrors of my past someday, anyhow. It just sucks that today has to be that day. I had my heart set on running away from it a little bit longer. And by a bit longer, I mean forever.
“It’ll be okay, Indi.” Liv lets go of my wrist to wrap her arm around my shoulders instead. “I promise we won’t stay any longer than need be.”
“Okay,” I force myself to say, but it won’t be okay.
The carpeted steps make no sound beneath our feet, leaving the stairwell eerily silent. At the top, Liv mumbles an incantation under her breath then twists the knob. Like the stairs, there’s no sound when the door opens. Not even a creak.
Cool air and dust hit me in the face once we cross the threshold. There’s no going back now—mostly because Jack is still behind me and blocking the doorway. If not for that, I might consider throwing myself down the stairs to make a hasty getaway.
Yellow light filters in through the large stained-glass window on the other side of the room from the streetlamps below, offering a small amount of illumination in the darkness surrounding us.
Maybe it won’t be so bad?
And maybe I’ll wake up tomorrow and be crowned Queen of America.
Jack moves ahead to the center of the room, where he pulls on a long string. Bright white light floods the area, chasing away the shadows in the room while leaving the ones in my head untouched. They take over without restraint, taking me back to the day my world truly changed. Before me, Jack and Liv disappear, the molecules making up their bodies floating away on a non-existent breeze. In their place is Uncle Caleb. On his knees, and facing the wall, he holds a younger version of me in his arms as I cry and flail, my little arms reaching out as far as they will stretch toward the simmering portal. On the other side of it, flames consume the walls and most of the roof. They dance and sway behind the ripples of the open portal in an almost ethereal way, masquerading the danger they hold in muted shades of orange and yellow.
My feet carry me forward until I’m standing before the wall that once linked my childhood home to my Aunt and Uncle’s, my mind still lost in memories. In my head I see her face—scared, hopeful, resigned, and determined—as her lips move to form words I’ll never hear from her again. I love you. Tears streaming down her freckled cheeks as her arm moves downward in slow motion until her hand flattens against the floor and lightning streaks of blue shoot out, collapsing the portal in an explosion of sparks.
A hand comes down over my shoulder, and I flinch as the images of the past shatter and shift into the present. An empty, solid wall is all that remains, and it’s like I’m losing her all over again. Quiet sobs crash through the silence of the room until I’m surrounded by it. It’s only then I realize the sobs are coming from me.
Liv pulls me into her arms without a word, and I bury my face into the crook of her neck, my tears soaking into her shirt. A few seconds later another set of arms surrounds me from behind, leaving me pinned between my cousins. Jack squeezes so tight I can barely breathe.
Liv wipes at her face with the hem of her shirt once we pull apart, then stares at the ground. “We can leave. I shouldn’t have made you come up here. I’m so sorry, Indi.”
Now it’s me who pulls her into a hug. “I’ll be okay.” It might not be today or tomorrow, but eventually I will be. I’ve been avoiding the attic my whole life before I even knew why, thanks to Aunt Claudia’s memory suppressions, but now that I’m here, and I know the real reason, maybe I can finally start to heal. “What did you want to show me?” I take a step back and dry my eyes, forcing myself to keep it together, at least for now. Once I’m back in my room, however, I’m sure I’ll be a mess of raw emotions buried under the covers in the middle of my bed.
Jack strides to the opposite side
of the room like a man on a mission. Pulling out a pocketknife, he releases the blade and pricks the tip of his finger until a bubble of crimson swells to the surface. He wipes the knife off on his jeans, then draws an intricate symbol on the wall with his blood. Mumbling things I can’t quite hear, he then knocks three times. Once above the symbol, and two spaced apart below it, forming a triangle. His blood shimmers an overly bright red, then soaks into the surface until the wall becomes transparent, revealing row after row of books hidden with in it, the shelves spanning from floor to ceiling.
“Wow.” I take a few steps closer to get a better look. Each book is leather bound, varying in size, thickness, and age. Electricity charges the air, raising the hairs on my arm. Each one calls out to me as though they’re mine. It’s the same feeling I got at Books and Brew. “They’re Books of Shadows.”
“How did you know?” Liv cocks her head to the side, her eyes assessing. “Jack and I haven’t really gone over Books of Shadows with you yet.”
“I just know. I feel it.” I rub the palm of my hand over the center of my chest. “They call to me.” I turn to look at both her and Jack. “Why do they call to me?” I ask, even though I already suspect the answer.
“They belong to our family line. You have a blood connection to them so they recognize you. It’s totally normal,” Jack answers.
“Are there some missing?” I scan over them. There are no dates or anything at all on the spines, but they feel incomplete somehow.
“Yes, actually.” Liv studies me, her gazing taking me apart to examine every angle. “You don’t have psychic abilities, do you?” There’s a teasing tone to her voice, but her eyes hold a note of seriousness.
“No, definitely no psychic abilities here. Although it would be super cool and helpful if I did.” It would certainly make figuring out what Ludvikas’ is up to a lot easier. “It was just a lucky guess.” Based on the likelihood of having one of the lost books currently in my backpack. “What does any of this have to do with dark magic?” I ask, playing dumb. If the other books are anything like the one I have, it’s not hard to come to the conclusion that someone in the family dabbled in things they shouldn’t have.
“Our family history is… complicated,” Liv begins.
That doesn’t sound ominous at all. Just how many witches in our family went dark side?
21
Jack pulls the first tome off the shelf and takes a seat on the floor. With his legs folded into a pretzel, he runs his hand over the cover of the Book of Shadows. “It all started with the Ó Ceallaigh siblings. They were the first in our bloodline to have magic, and were revered for their unparalleled abilities. Magic was as natural to them as breathing. They could do great things with just intent alone.” Looking up from the book in his lap, his gaze lands on me. “Kind of like you.”
I can’t help the hard swallow that gets suck in my throat because I know where this story is going to go, and it isn’t good.
“The Ó Ceallaigh coven was the most skilled and powerful in all the land at the time,” Jack continues. “They dedicated all their time to studying and practicing magic until they were the absolute best. Magic was everything to them. The only thing more important was family, so when Ciaran got sick, Earnan took it upon himself to do whatever he could to save his brother. He tried every spell he knew, and everything he could think of, but nothing worked, and Ciaran’s condition continued to worsen. Still, Earnan wouldn’t give up, and that’s when he turned to the dark arts.
“He was willing to pay any price, no matter how high the cost, so he made a deal with the darkness and used forbidden blood magic to sacrifice an innocent, exchanging their life for that of his brother’s. When the ritual was complete, he fed the blood of the innocent to his brother on his deathbed. As Ciaran’s condition began to improve, he thought he performed a miracle. But it soon became clear it was anything but.
“Over the next few days Ciaran’s appetite became ravenous. No amount of food could satisfy his hunger. When their supply became low, Earnan went out to hunt, hoping whatever meat he brought back would be enough. Upon his return hours later, he found his mother and father slain in the dining hall, their throats ripped out and their bodies drained of blood.
“Fearing the worst, Earnan ran through their home in search of his younger brother Fearghus, who was ten, and sister Íonait, who was only eight, praying he wouldn’t find them in the same manner in which he found their parents. He rushed into Fearghus’s and Íonait’s shared room, clinging to hope that they’d be safe and sound, but that was not what he found. Ciaran was on the floor with Fearghus’s small body, lax and pale, held within in his arms. His tiny fingers were curled and lifeless as they grazed over the floor with Ciaran’s movements as he drank from him.
“Aware of Earnan’s return, Ciaran shoved Fearghus away as though he were nothing. Looking upon his brother, Earnan was able to truly see the horror he had brought upon his family. Eyes alight with an unnatural glow, and fangs descended over his bottom lip, Ciaran showed no remorse for his actions. Only hunger. Earnan knew now the price he paid was too high. He had not saved his brother. He had created a monster, and it had cost him everything.
“Ciaran lunged for Earnan then and they fought, and though Earnan did his best, Ciaran had become too strong and too fast to be stopped. In the end, the only thing that saved Earnan’s life that night was their sister Íonait, who had been hiding under the bed. She had taken a broken chair leg from the corner of the room and plunged it through Ciaran’s back, just missing the heart. Stunned from the assault, Ciaran could do nothing as Íonait and Earnan cast him from the house, leaving him unable to ever step foot inside again unless invited.
“Once outside, the bloodlust finally wore off, and Ciaran could see what he had done. His own despair gave birth to his curse with what magic still flowed through him. Because he was unworthy, the sun would no longer welcome him. Because he was no longer pure, silver would burn him. Because his sister had used wood to stop him from killing his brother, it would become what could kill him. And because of what Earnan did, he would be frozen in time, never aging, and forever thirsty, always hungering for a life he no longer had. The darkness would become his only companion until the day he fed from a human who had also tasted his blood and the second vampire was created. From them came all others.”
Jack reaches over to wipe a trail of tears from my cheek as I stare at the illustrations drawn in the open Book of Shadows of the Ó Ceallaigh family, lying on the floor between us. Earnan had only ever wanted to save his brother from death, and in the end doomed him to it forever.
“What happened to Earnan and Íonait?”
“Earnan spent the rest of his life trying to find a way to save his brother from the existence he’d condemned him to. As the years went by, he became more and more ruthless in his pursuits to the point he couldn’t see the damage he was doing to his own soul. In his determination, madness had taken over and darkness had taken root. He eventually became the founder of the Croí Dorcha Coven.”
“Dark Heart,” I whisper just as Jack starts to say it himself.
“Yes.” He raises a brow.
“Sebastian’s mentioned them,” I say without elaborating any further. If my cousins knew the Dark Heart Coven witches are the same dark witches I’d mentioned before who were interested in me, they’d freak out even more than I am now. Jack would definitely go straight to Uncle Caleb and Aunt Claudia without a second thought. And he’d be right to. Knowing who they are now and how they relate to me, it can’t be a good thing for any of us. “What about Íonait?” I ask before I completely lose myself down the rabbit hole.
“She eventually went head to head with Earnan in an attempt to save him, but his soul had become so twisted and corrupt by this point there was nothing left to save. After a bloody battle between covens, Earnan and most of the Croí Dorcha were slain, and Íonait swore to protect the world from darkness by stripping her magic so she could never be tempted. She became the
first chaser. As for the Croí Dorcha, what few members remained went into hiding and haven’t been heard from in hundreds of years.”
My ancestors created vampires, practiced dark magic, and started a war between good and evil against themselves, ultimately tearing their family apart. I get now why Liv got so freaked at the diner, and why she was so afraid of Sebastian when she first learned he was a chaser. Our family’s cursed. Darkness is in our blood, and if I let it grow, I’ll be just like Earnan. Just like all the witches whose books are missing from the family archives. Convinced I’m saving my family and friends all while destroying my soul because I’m too blinded by the end result to see the means shredding me to pieces.
How am I supposed to handle that?
Holding back tears, my eyes burn as I climb to my feet. “I really do have homework I should work on.” It’s a lame excuse, but it’s the only one I’ve got.
“Indi, wait.” Liv catches me at the door. “We didn’t bring you up here to condemn you. We all live with this darkness hanging over our heads, but it doesn’t have to define us. We can choose who we are. You can choose who you are. You are stronger than the darkness, Indi. We only wanted to show you our history so you can see the importance of control. The darkness can be tempting, and it may seem like the end results justify the means when it helps the people around you, but I promise, there’s always a price.”
“I know. I get it. I just… I need to work on my paper. It’s due tomorrow.” I don’t know what else to say that’s not going to end in me epically freaking out because if I really let it all in and submit to the heart-to-heart Liv’s angling for, that’s exactly what’s going to happen.
I head for the stairs, a carpeted lifeline to pull me from the informational hell I’m drowning in.
Of Darkness & Light: Blood Descent Book 2 Page 21