That was when we reached the end of the bushes and walked through a large stone archway into a field.
In the center of the field ahead of us stood an enormous oak tree that could easily be 400 years old.
I was struck with wonder, speechless, and overwhelmed all at once.
“I remember walking through the archway and seeing your little blue dress on the ground underneath the tree. I ran to you, feeling like my whole world would shatter if anything had happened to you. It was more than needing to keep you safe, like I was destined, in that moment, to love you forever.” Dmitri whispered as we crossed the field to reach the tree.
Looking up to the great branches, I wondered why it felt like this was the first time I was seeing this great sight. “Why don’t I remember being here, Dmitri?” my question came lined with worry.
“I’m not sure why you can’t recall that particular visit here as a child.”
We reached the tree and I looked up to the giant branches that stretched out like tired arms. There was a real need, I felt, to lay under it.
“Do you mind?” I asked, Dmitri.
Only if you let me lie down next to you.
Nodding, I found a soft patch of green to lie on.
I got myself comfortable first and watched as he followed suit. Looking up was the most nostalgic feeling I’d ever experienced, yet, the memory wasn’t there.
“Maybe something is blocking me from remembering.” I wondered out loud.
“It’s incredible how similar this tree is to the one in Safety Harbor.”
“Indeed it is.” I gave him a sideways glace, noticing how his sight was straight up the tree.
“It is funny how easily soothed I am by it.” I mused.
“It was amazing how little it took to calm you down once you saw the tree as a child.”
“I feel at peace now.” I offered.
“That’s because I’m with you.” He teased, his grin making me laugh out loud.
“Mmhmm, I will give you that, you do have the power to make me smile.”
“As long as it’s not to cry, I will do anything to keep that from happening.”
“Then don’t ever break my heart.” I laughed, but my statement had him serious.
“It's you that will end up breaking my heart, I can almost guarantee it.”
I sat up, my eyes affixed to his body lying next to me. “That isn’t possible.”
He matched my movements, his face leaned into mine, “Anything is possible when you love someone.” He whispered soft enough for only me to hear. Then his lips covered mine and the kiss matched the one from earlier.
I let the feeling consume me, the power of being in his embrace, the wonder of kissing an immortal, and the perfection of timing.
All things aligned for once, and I finally felt what my mother had warned me about when it came to, ‘the one’.
She said, ‘The day will come when you kiss a boy who makes you feel like everything is perfect, but in the blink of that moment you will realize the gift is not forever, the gift is that particular moment you admit to yourself that you love him. You will never have a moment like that again. It is unique like no other moment in a girl’s life.’
When I opened my eyes to look into his, I felt what she meant. This was the moment I knew I would never feel again. My soul felt complete and my heart was full.
He smile, used his thumb and stroked my lower lip, “What are you smiling about?”
“I love you back, Dmitri.”
Taken back by my words, he shifted on his thigh, “I knew that already.”
“But I didn’t. I thought I did, but now I know I do.”
My cell phone rang, scaring the crap out of me. I quickly tugged it out of my pocket and realized it was Lisa.
“Hello?”
“Get back to the castle. Something’s happened to Gloria. Everyone is freaking out.” She cried into the cell phone.
Dmitri must have heard because he was already on his feet, reaching out to pull me up from the ground.
“I’m on my way.” I replied just before hanging up.
Looking around before grasping his hands, “Where are Desmond and Beatrice,” I asked cautiously?
Dmitri turned in all directions looking for them. “I don’t see them. They might have just gone back and we didn’t realize.”
I stopped Dmitri from moving, “I’m scared.” I said out loud.
He reached out and pulled me into a hug, “I’m right here. Nothing is going to happen to you.”
We ran back to the castle, as fast as we could. Everyone was in an upheaval. Gloria had gone up stairs to visit the library when they heard a loud crash. When Armand finally reached her, she was out cold.
“Is she going to be okay?” I asked Katerina who had been pacing the walkway into her room.
She paused, only long enough to respond with, “She has to be.”
Armand came out of the room, whispered something in Dmitri’s ear and they both turned, running off down the steps to the main hall.
Stay where you are, with Katerina he commanded.
“Something is happening, Celia. I can feel it in the pit of my soul, and I’m shaking at what’s to come.” She took my arm, her eyes literally filled with fear.
“They will protect us. They have been doing it for centuries.” I offered, but a part of me felt ignorant.
“Let’s go sit with the rest inside.” She suggested, but then Toren, Kyle, and Desmond burst out of the room. They didn’t stop to apologize for almost knocking us down.
“I don’t like the look of this, Katerina.” I softly spoke to my coven sister.
“Something bad is happening.” As she said it, there was a break, a pain somewhere deep in my core. I buckled in pain. Katerina, too, mirrored my reaction.
The air escaped my lungs, and for a brief moment I feared this was the end.
I reached out to her, the air still cut from my system, like I was under water, then like a flood it all came back.
I gasped, Katerina gasped, and we could hear screaming from inside the room.
I burst into the room, eyeballing Lisa near her mother, gripping at their chest, as though they too had not had air.
The other witches all mirrored our reaction, now gasping for air that was once vacant in our lungs.
The terror on everyone’s faces was identical, confusion and fear.
Gloria began to cry, out of nowhere her face became distorted and a real anguish overtook her.
‘She’s gone!” she cried out. The rest of us, confused at her words.
We rushed to her side, trying to console her, but her frantic cries became louder and more terrifying. Over and over she cried, ‘She’s gone.’
“Oh my God! Her daughter, Maria,” Maura gasped at us, her hand flying to cover her mouth, the tears instantly filling her eyes.
Gloria’s cries became louder at that point.
I can’t do this, Come back! I cried inwardly for Dmitri but he didn’t come back.
At least an hour past before any of the protectors returned. The women in that room were distraught and in an agony I’d felt before, when my mother had died in front of me.
When Armand returned he went straight to Gloria’s bedside and touched her forehead. In that instant she stopped crying and fell into a deep sleep.
He looked to us, the worry written in each of our eyes, not just for Gloria but also for ourselves.
“Maria was killed by a Shadow demon.” He sighed, “She, like Nanette, didn’t see it coming. It was over before she realized she was in danger.”
My hand covered my mouth, as Katarina’s had earlier. They’d taken a successor.
Everyone stirred, the whispers all coinciding of a future with a broken line.
Armand stood from Gloria’s side to address us, “She has another successor, and all that we need to concern ourselves with is keeping safe.”
My eyes flew to Dmitri who walked in slowly behind the rest of the men.
/>
Seeing him tugged on a lot of heart strings, I was relieved, and yet terribly sad for him. What he must be going through to have to relive the pain of having lost my mother. To see a fellow protector deal with almost the same situation is rough.
In the time span it took me to look from Armand back to Dmitri, I felt another pair of eyes in the room, a phantom pair, and this was the moment she referred to, of my knowing exactly what I would have to do.
The lady of the castle had been Ciara. The epiphany occurred and for once, I knew everything would be fine.
I made my way through the men and women in the room and wrapped my arms around Dmitri. The two of us, the only ones to share a romantic bond, became an eye stopper.
“Celia?” Katerina boomed across the room.
I looked up and faced them, Dmitri directly behind me.
“Yes” I replied, the innocence still lined in my response.
“Are you and your protector romantically involved?” all the voices in the room silenced upon hearing her question, almost being shouted in my direction.
My eyes, initially met hers, but then I realized, witch and protectors included waited for my reply.
Was this what Dmitri was hoping never to deal with, could this moment be what he meant by a battle and a challenge in being allowed to love another?
“Instead of asking me that particular question, ask me something simple, like, Celia, have you figured out how you are going to seal the veil between the shadow realm and our own?”
I shook my head and finished, “I didn’t think so, but I have.” I nodded at her, and I turned away from them to leave the room, Dmitri in tow.
Once out in the hallway, I could hear him trying to keep up as I almost ran back to my chamber, adrenalin coursing through my veins.
“Celia,” he called out, just as I opened the door.
I reached half way into my room before my legs gave way.
“Celia, what do you mean you have?” he asked, matching my movements to fall in front of me.
My eyes, staring at the old Persian carpet, slowly lifted to meet his, “I know how to defeat Kalvati.” I admitted carefully.
“Why didn’t you tell me?”
“Because I can’t.” it was the hardest admission I knew I would ever make.
“What do you mean you can’t tell me?”
“Don’t you see Dmitri? I, alone, must bear the burden. It isn’t a coven spell.”
His hands cupped my elbows, “Celia, you have to tell me.”
“And that’s another thing…” I started. “You can’t be my protector during the spell.”
I could see the concern slowly fill his expression, the outburst, on its cusp of erupting from his system.
“I can’t just stop being your protector, Celia. That’s not how it works.”
“No, but you can trade with Kyle for a temporary time.” I suggested. Unfortunately, that only had him on his feet and pacing in front of me.
“You are insane! Maria’s death has twisted your view of the situation.”
“Dmitri, look at me. I am sane, I am clearheaded and for the very first time since my trip I realize what Ciara meant.”
“When did you figure this out, because you sure as hell didn’t have this clarity out in the garden?” he sassed.
“I need you to trust me. Kyle will go along with whatever you say because he trusts me.” I smiled at him.
“Celia…” he started, looking down to where I sat, calmly on the carpet.
“And here I thought we would be going to the homecoming dance, not fighting magical creatures.” He teased, making an obvious effort to lighten his demeanor.
“Maybe we will. Who knows, maybe playing the princess for the day will keep darkness from clouding all that’s beautiful.”
I got up off the floor and climbed into bed. Dmitri watched as I snuggled under the covers, ready to zonk out.
He climbed onto the covers and sat next to me.
“Gloria’s going to be livid when she finds out what Armand did.” He stated softly.
I tilted my head a bit to see his face, “What did Armand do?” I asked curiously.
“Gloria had fraternal triplets, not twins.” He admitted plainly.
That was what he meant by she had another successor. Somewhere in the world, Gloria had another daughter.
“That’s crazy.” I whispered my thought.
I let my eyes close and sleep take me. It was all I could do. The exhaustion had won the battle the moment I had gotten into bed.
It wasn’t restful sleep.
Images flashed behind closed lids, faces I’d never seen before, faces I wished I would never see again, and George Harrison.
I found myself, in the dreamlike haze, running towards the great tree near the castle, realizing I was a child, and this was a memory and not a dream.
‘Hello Celia.” A voice called out to me, from under the tree.
“Hello, who are you?”
I’m your daddy, Celia.” He smiled, holding his hand out for me to take it.
“But mommy said daddy was in heaven. Are you from heaven?” I asked him, noticing the color of his eyes were a dark chocolate like my own.
“I’m not in heaven, honey. I just can’t live where you live.”
“I don’t live in the castle, maybe you can…” I started, but he reached out and took my hand.
“Let's go sit under the tree, I will tell you a sweet little story.”
We sat under the tree, and he dove into this long tale of love birds that had to live apart from each other, even though they were strongest and happiest when they were together.
I didn’t ask him any question, only listened to his tale.
“One day, the birdie died, leaving the other sad and confused, but he realized he would never truly be alone because he had a baby bird to take care of. From a distance, he watched the baby bird and made sure that nothing bad would happen to it until it grew up and flew away.”
I smiled at him, because essentially his story had a happy ending, and that was all that really mattered.
But then he stopped me from getting up.
“Celia, one day you are going to have to make a choice, and when you do, all you have to remember is I’m always near when you need me. All you have to do is call for me.”
“But I don’t know you.” I replied innocently.
He reached out and handed me a rosebud, “Every life grows from a seed, You are my little seed, mine and your mommies.’
The smile on his face felt natural, and so I took the rose and smelled it. The next part of my dream was surreal. I woke up, with the rose still in my hand and saw Dmitri, just as he looked earlier, but my hand was tiny in his.
The following morning, I found Dmitri laying next to me with his eyes affixed to mine.
“Good morning sunshine.” He sighed.
“I just dreamt of you.”
“That’s nice to know.”
“No…” I stopped him. “I saw you, just as I see you now.” I shook my head, “I saw a man, that man,” I stuttered.
“What man?” he asked softly.
“He said…he said he was my father. He said all I had to do was call for him when I needed him.”
Dmitri stiffened, “Don’t” he commanded. “I’m telling you this now. Don’t call for him, don’t summon him, and don’t let him near you, Celia.”
He rose from the bed and paced in front of where I was now sitting.
“Why are you reacting like this?”
He stopped, dead in his tracks and stared at me, eyes filled with a concern I’d seen far too often recently.
“He could be playing with your head, Celia. He could be getting into your mind and coercing you to think what he wants you to think.”
His reaction felt like it needed a bit of consoling, as though he was torn apart over my potential vulnerability.
I sat up on my knees, the sheet falling to the bed as I got up. “Come here.” I murmured, h
olding my arms out to him.
His pacing slowed, his eyes met mine, and slowly he gave in to the need to be in my arms.
He smelled nice, like wildflowers mixed with aftershave. My head rested on his shoulder, my mouth lying softly on the skin of his neck.
His arms, wrapped around my waist, gently squeezed the need to hold me evident.
Broken (The Immortal Coven Book 1) Page 20