by Amelia Shaw
She looked down at Bella, chewing her bottom lip as though she was debating with herself over something. I held the towel in my hands as Bella slowly raise her head, the pain clearing from her face.
I slung the cold towel over her neck and brushed her hair out of her face.
“Take a breath,” I said, my voice coming out raspy. It was difficult not to mask my worry. I cleared my throat and forced myself to try again. “This is the easy part.”
She nodded and moved back on the bed so she could lie down. Tension eased out of her once her body became horizontal, as though it was too much for her to be upright anymore.
Courtney and I exchanged a glance as we waited for the second wave to hit.
Bella gasped and both of her hands went to her belly, where I knew the third of our tattoos was being burned into her skin. She cried, writhing in pain.
I winced. My hand twitched as magic pushed against my fingers, begging to be let out. It wanted to offer my sister comfort and relief. I clenched my jaw and stopped myself from giving in.
As much as I wanted to help, I couldn’t. It was easy enough to do. All I needed was to cast another spell over her. But I didn’t know if that would interfere with the protection spell. I didn’t know if it would stop the barrier from forming. And I couldn’t chance it. It wasn’t worth risking for the sake of a couple of minutes of pain.
“Let go, Bella. Just pass out,” Courtney said.
Bella groaned, and then the room went silent as her eyes closed, her head lolling.
Courtney grabbed my arm. “Thank god for that.”
I nodded.
Bella’s chest moved up and down in a slow rhythm as she fell into a deep sleep.
Courtney tugged me from the bed. I followed her into the kitchen where she poured herself our version of a stiff drink, a home-made wine mother had liked on occasion. Courtney and I would sneak it when Mother was sleeping, something Bella admonished us for time and time again.
Her hands shook as she poured two glasses.
“You okay, Court?”
She nodded and downed her glass of wine. “Yeah, it was just...Watching it happen to you, experiencing it myself, then Bella. Crap...”
I picked up my wine and took a sip, my nerves strangely settled despite what I had just inflicted on Bella.
“Well, as we know, the hard part’s done now,” I said. “All we have to do is wait.”
A smile finally lifted Courtney’s lips. “And when she wakes up, we’ll all have tattoos,” she said. “Who would have thought?”
I laughed. “Yep.”
I kept the rest of my thoughts to myself. The tattoos were just the beginning.
Now, the fight for our birthright could truly begin.
Chapter 12.
“When do you think she’ll wake up?” Courtney asked from her seat at the kitchen table, as she chomped on her second bowel of cereal for lunch. My stomach rumbled, but I couldn’t bring myself to eat.
I glanced at the clock on the wall, arms crossed loosely over my chest. Yesterday, I’d noted what time Bella had gone down, knowing that twenty-four hours was the amount of time she’s said that we had slept for. As such, she was expected to be out for at least twenty-four hours, to ensure that she was well-rested and that the spell could take effect.
“In about half an hour, I’d say.” I sighed and glanced at the kitchen. “I wish I knew what to make for her to drink, like she made for us yesterday. That helped so much, with the headache. I know it’s chamomile, but I wonder if she gave that to me because she knew I liked it and added something to it to make me feel better.”
Courtney nodded towards the fridge. “There’s a potion in the fridge,” she said. “I saw it there yesterday. Do you think she made it for herself?”
I grinned. “Yeah, sounds like something Bella would do,” I said. “She wouldn’t trust us to make it. Not when we could completely botch it up. And knowing you, you would.”
“Hey,” Courtney said playfully as I walked to the fridge. “That’s offensive.”
“It’s also true.”
I took out a jug of something that smelled very similar to what we’d drank yesterday. Honey. Sweet. It was the perfect fit for tea.
“Smells like it too,” I said. I glanced at Courtney. “Do you think we should heat it up? I could make her some tea and pour this in it.”
“Probably.” Courtney shrugged. “I mean, I would.”
I busied myself making the tea, trying not to look at the clock and count down the minutes. I just wanted to make sure that Bella was okay since she wasn’t the one who conducted the spell on her. I wanted to make sure I had done it right and hadn’t completely messed her up.
When the tea finished, I grabbed a mug from the cabinet and poured the tea inside. I left some space so I could add the potion to it as well, and stirred it in slowly, methodically. I spoke a quick spell and the mug warmed even more. I didn’t want her tea to be lukewarm because the potion had been refrigerated.
“Done,” I said, nodding once. “Now we just wait for her to wake up.”
On cue, a groan came from upstairs. Carefully, I took hold of the mug and climbed the steps to her bedroom. I could hear her moving around the room and, if she was anything like me, she wouldn’t be able to stand up straight, much less remember what was going on.
“Bella?” I called when I got close to her room. “I’m coming in.”
I opened the door. She knelt over, one hand gripping the quilt on top of her bed. I rushed to her and held out the mug.
She struggled to sit up on her bed, dripping in sweat and moaning softly in pain. I had never seen her like that. Worry filled my system. Even though I knew she would be better once she took a drink of the potion, it still tore at my heart to see her in pain.
“Here you go, Hun,” I said, practically forcing the mug in her face. A couple of drops spilled onto the quilt.
Bella took the mug, smiling weakly but gratefully. She let out a breath of relief, and I was suddenly aware that maybe she thought she wasn’t going to get her drink because she actually hadn’t told us what to do. I frowned. I had hoped Bella knew she could rely on me whenever she needed me, but maybe she didn’t. I promised myself right there that I would start pulling my own weight so she wouldn’t think she was in this alone.
She downed the tea in a few swallows. I hoped I hadn’t heated up the wrong potion and poured it into the tea. I probably should have asked her before handing it over.
She smiled and didn’t throw up, so I took that as a good sign.
“How are you feeling?” I asked, taking a seat on the edge of the bed. I didn’t want to crowd her, but I wanted her to know I was here and ready to help with whatever she needed. She had already done so much for me—so much for us.
Bella stretched her neck from side to side and blinked a few times.
“Surprisingly good, especially after my tea,” she said.
“I’ll have you know that I did my best,” I said.
Bella smiled. “Thank you for bringing it straight in.”
“No problem,” I said. I leaned back on the bedspread, making sure to keep a safe distance from her. I didn’t want to overwhelm her so soon after she went through the transformation. “I knew how much it helped me yesterday, so I wasn’t leaving you to fend for yourself.”
Bella smiled and got to her feet. I sat up but didn’t leave the bed.
“I suggest a shower, then maybe something to eat,” I said. “As someone who has experience, let me just tell you with all the love and affection I have for you in my heart, you smell.”
Bella laughed. “I appreciate your honesty,” she said. For a moment, the two of us stared at each other. “I’ve missed you, Ava. I’m glad you’re back.”
She turned from me and wandered off to her bathroom. I sighed and forced myself to stand up.
An incredible wave of relief coursed through me. We’d made it, all three of us.
I walked out of the bedroom and fo
und Courtney munching on French toast downstairs. My stomach rumbled.
“Please tell me you saved me some,” I said as I plopped on the couch. Mother would have had a fit if we had eaten anywhere but the dining table, but Mother wasn’t here to enforce the rule and Bella was in the shower.
When we finished eating, we both decided Bella would want something as well so we forced ourselves to wobble into the kitchen with our full bellies and start thinking of what she would want.
We began to magic up some hot pies and a salad, and cut up some fruit from the fridge. Bella tended to like quote-unquote healthier things than French toast, even if we lathered the bread with berries.
By the time she came downstairs, we had it all done. I stood back, proud of myself. It wasn’t like I cooked anything, but it still amazed me what a little conjuring could really produce.
“What did I miss?” Bella asked, brushing her wet hair over her shoulder as she stepped into the kitchen.
She sat down at the table where we had laid out her meal and began to pick at the fruit. Her shoulders were slumped and there were bags under eyes. Despite her shower, she still looked tired. It probably had to do with the fact that she had to give the spell twice before receiving it herself. That must have taken a lot out of her.
.
I sat with her. “Not a lot, I suppose... but we’re pretty excited about what these tattoos might do for us.”
Bella glanced between Courtney and me. “I’m glad,” she said. She popped a blueberry in her mouth and chewed on it a bit before swallowing it down with juice. “It was a risk... performing such magic, but I hoped the results outweighed the potential damage.”
“You did the right thing,” I reassured her. I looked up at Courtney. “We’ve been talking about what I can do now that we have the extra level of protection.”
“What you can do?” Bella asked. Chunks of strawberry nearly fell out of her mouth but she caught them.
“Yes... well...” I took a breath, not sure how I was going to explain this to her.
“Just tell her,” Courtney said simply. As if it was so easy.
“Tell me what?” Bella asked, glancing between the two of us. Her movements were sharp, jerky. “Did something happen while I was healing?”
I shook my head. “Not exactly,” I said. I sucked in a breath. I just needed to tell her, like Courtney said. “I’ve decided that I’m going back.”
Bella’s eyes widened. “Back? To the magic realm? Why? How?’
The panic in her voice was strong and I understood that she would be worried for me. After all, anyone who loved me who would be.
“Why? Because I... we...” I sighed, trying to find the right words. I cleared my throat and gestured to the three of us. “We were not meant to be hidden in the shadows, forgotten and excluded. We are worth so much more than that, and I refuse.... refuse to be treated like some criminal that needs to be silenced and killed off. And I refuse to let the same thing happen to both of you.”
“But Ava...” The warning was clear. She was the voice of reason, the calm part of my mother that had been perfectly replicated into Bella. She looked down, twisting her fingers.
“Bella, no.” I shook my head, my lips pressed tightly together. “I am not Mother. I have not chosen this, nor am I deciding to just... hide for twenty years. I’ve already done that. We’ve missed out on so much, all because Mother chose our father. A man she couldn’t have. A man whom it is literally illegal to reproduce with. And then, we were punished because of it. We had to be the ones hidden away because of her choices. Because of the world we came from. I will not sit by and lose my life from her misguided decisions.”
My heart pounded angrily in my chest and I stared Bella down.
“But the danger, Ava...” She wouldn’t look at me. She knew I wouldn’t be pleased that she was still arguing.
“Yes, it’s dangerous,” I admitted. I wasn’t going to hide that from her. “Which is why I will be going alone.”
“No!” Courtney jumped up from her seat. Her body was squared towards me, her hands balled into fists.
I stared at her. Her breath was heavy, her lips curled into a snarl. I was ready to fight back, to snap, to yell if I had to. But I stopped myself. I took a breath and tried to remind myself that if I was in her position, I would be acting the same way.
“Yes,” I said calmly. “It is not time for you two to come out of the closet yet. You have no experience in the magic realm, no knowledge yet, and if I am captured and killed, at least they’ll never know about you.”
“You barely know the magic realm,” she snapped. “How long were you there for before coming back? A couple of weeks, at most? Don’t talk to me like we’re different.”
My forehead pinched. My defenses were slowly rising. I sucked in a deep breath. It was getting more difficult not to take the bait.
“I know,” I said finally. I looked between them. “Don’t make the same mistake I did. I wasn’t there for a while, but I learned a lot anyway. If you want to be a part of their world, blend in. Don’t contact our father. Make up some story about being related to Aunt Alison, and just make do with what you can get. I...” I swallowed hard.
This time, I focused on Courtney. “I tried too quickly, pushed for too much, too fast. I know that now. I’d expected our father to want to know me, but he... he doesn’t want that. Not now, anyway. It’s too dangerous for him.” I looked over at Bella. “So please, let me go... let me do what I need to do. For myself, for our future. And if I fail, you need to go on. Smarter that I was.”
“But...” Bella’s voice trailed off and when I glanced over at Courtney, she was swallowing hard amidst glassy eyed tears.
I was surprised. I thought for sure she would be angry. I smiled as brightly as I could, knowing full well that if Courtney or Bella were delivering this news to me, I would be in full throttle fight mode trying to stop them, just as they were trying to with me. I needed to let them know that I was all right, that we would all get through this, no matter how difficult.
As much as they wanted to help, the burden wasn’t on them. I had gotten us into this mess. I was the first born. The leader. I wanted only the best things for them.
Even so, my throat clogged with tears as I glanced at the two people that I loved the most in the world.
“The good part is though... if I succeed in this, you two will be able to join me in the magical realm,” I said. That was why I was doing this. That was why this was so important to me. Even if Courtney hated me, I knew I was doing what I thought was best for her. “You’ll have a future.”
“Succeed in which way, specifically?” Bella asked. “What do you hope to achieve, Ava?”
I took a big breath, almost afraid to say the things I wanted aloud.
Nothing like jinxing the future by speaking a dream aloud.
However, they were my sisters, and they deserved the truth, even if I didn’t necessarily want to give it to them. I didn’t want to scare them. But I remembered how my mother kept important information from me because she didn’t trust me. Because she didn’t think I was mature enough to handle the truth. I remembered how frustrated, how hurt I felt, and I refused to do the same things to my sister.
“I want... our father to be on our side,” I said slowly. I looked down at my hands, my shoulders sagging. I shouldn’t feel this sad. I should know that he was in a complicated situation himself. I wasn’t exactly the child he wanted. But I still wanted his acknowledgment. It wasn’t as though I asked to be born into this. “I want him to admit that I’m his and declare me his heir.”
Bella sucked in a breath.
“You want to be High Warlock after him?” she asked, tilting her head forward as though she hadn’t heard me correctly.
I shrugged. “I’m not sure it’s possible,” I said slowly. “There’s never been a female High Warlock before, and I’m not sure I’m up to the task. I don’t want to fight over that anyway. I don’t care about that right now.
My concern is being allowed to exist in the first place. I will not be shoved into some jail cell and forgotten. That’s not fair, especially not when I know that things could be better. Could be different.
And the only thing keeping them from being the right way was tradition. Tradition can be changed. I know it can.”
I shook my head. There was so much segregation and discrimination within the other realms. Wars... Surely, they needed help, a new perspective.
Someone who could knock the Council down a peg or two.
Not that I said that out loud; that felt like suicide. I could never be sure if they had the power to listen, even in a realm they knew absolutely nothing about.
Courtney sat with her shoulders slumped and her lips pouting. She looked so hopeless. I wanted to comfort her, but I didn’t want to take away what she was feeling.
Bella reached across the table and touched my hand, forcing me to look away from Courtney and over to her. “So, what’s your plan?”
“My plan is to get Tavlor back here, talk to him about what I can do to get a fair trial,” I said firmly. “Get them to look at the illegitimacy laws. I don’t know.” I shrugged. “There has to be something we can do. I’m sure Tavlor knows more than I do, even with all of the books you’ve managed to sneak away.”
Bella bit her lip. “I haven’t been helping much with that side of things,” she admitted. “I’ve been researching ways to make us stronger, protect us, like this spell.” She gestured to her belly. “But I could start looking into that for you as well.”
I smiled at her. The thought of Bella doing everything she could to help caused me to breathe in relief. “Thank you.”
I looked over at Courtney, whose eyebrows were lowered into an angry stare.
“I’m doing this for you too, Courtney,” I said. Again, I tried not to get defensive. I knew what she was feeling. But she couldn’t continue to be angry at me. I was doing what was best for all of us. “You can see that, can’t you?”
She grimaced, looking away.
“Of course, I can,” she said with an edge to her voice. “You’ve always done your best to protect us. But I hate that you’ll be doing this alone. We can help. If you teach me some more magic, I can fight next to you. You saw how quickly I was able to learn. You know I’m more than capable. I may not be Bella, but I know I can fight.”