Broken (The Immortal Coven Book 1)

by April Gutierrez

  “I’m falling apart Dmitri. It feels like I’m barely breathing. The only thing that is keeping me going is this. You. You are the only thing I find I can hold on to without effort.”

  “Then I won’t let go.” He sighed, pulling away only far enough to look at me, “I won’t ever let go and we will get through this together.”

  I nodded, agreeing to his promise and leaned forward to seal it with a soft kiss. My head went back to his shoulder and he held me a little longer before I found the need to lie back down.

  “Why does the castle bring back bad memories for you?” I asked softly.

  He laid his head back on the pillow next to mine, facing me and I sensed that he was looking for the words to explain his grief.

  “It was here that the coven was bonded.” he started, “It was also here that my mother’s life ended.”

  I felt my eyebrows raise and my lips pout. “I’m sorry.”

  “Don’t be, she lived a long and exciting life. She did a lot of good in her time as a witch.”

  “I would have loved to have known her.”

  “I think she would have liked you. Your temperaments are similar. She had a strong willed side to her, fierce but she was also so full of love.”

  “What was it like to see her grow old?”

  The curiosity had been there a while. How he had managed to detach his emotions from his connections to his family.

  “I didn’t think about it until she said goodbye.” He breathed, a mist filling the whites of his eyes.

  “We had never talked about it, which is why at first I didn’t know how to feel. It was like losing a piece of myself, one that I would never get back. I had to learn to live without that piece because I couldn’t give up, I had to go on.”

  “What about when Allura died, how did that affect you?”

  “You are so curious about her.”

  “She was your first love.”

  “And you will be my last.”

  “You say that now…”

  “I will say it always.”

  I had to look away from him to say it, “and what would you do if I had darkness in my heart, Dmitri?”

  He shook his head, taking my chin in his hand and brought me to look back at him, “I will love you no matter what.”

  I sure hope you mean that.

  CHAPTER Thirteen

  Goodbyes are the worst, especially when a death is involved. Gloria was inconsolable. Armand couldn’t do much other than keep her resting.

  When we left the castle, Armand had just told her about the child he’d kept secret from everyone. There was shock, resentment, but the sorrow was ever present for the death of her precious Maria.

  Kyle had kept to his promise and left on an earlier flight with Valerie and Lisa, so we were able to properly say goodbye to everyone.

  “I never got to ask you how school was going.” Katerina asked, helping me take my luggage to the cab.

  “Oh, it’s okay. Homecoming’s coming up this weekend. I’m sure they’ve had special things going on these past few days that I’ve missed.”

  “Homecoming was fun, what theme are they doing?” her smile was genuine, her interest sincere.

  “Fairytales” I smirked, originally thinking it was silly.

  “Oh, I bet Dmitri will look handsome in a prince charming suit.” She mused, looking past me to Dmitri who was bringing out the rest of our bags.

  “I’ll be sure to send you some pictures.”

  “Do you have a dress picked out?”

  “Yes, I’m going to wear my mom’s vintage white crystal beaded dress.”

  “I know that one! You are going to look fabulous.”

  She reached out and gave me a hug, “Please be careful, and don’t do anything foolish.” She whispered softly.

  The smile crept across my face. It was something my mother always used to say.

  When I looked at her, as she pulled away, I was compelled to say, “Thank you.”

  She nodded and left us.

  I took one last, long look at the grounds, the scenery, and the tree in the far distant that brought back a memory I couldn’t quite understand.

  “Ready?” Dmitri asked, looking at me as if asking if I wanted to stay.

  “Let’s go home, Dmitri.”

  I didn’t find myself in front of Aunt Olivia’s white picket fence till 11:30 that evening. The house was dark, all the lights were off.

  I felt horrible about waking her up, but I couldn’t help that the flight had been delayed.

  “Will you go in with me?” I asked Dmitri, feeling codependent on his presence than ever before.

  “Sure.”

  The house was too quiet when I unlocked the front door. I turned on each light that took me to Aunt Olivia’s bedroom. When she still didn’t come out of her room, I knocked on the oak door and waited for her to stir.

  Nothing.

  “Olivia?” I called out. When she still didn’t reply, I looked over to Dmitri who had already started to pull me away from the door.

  “Stand back.” He seethed through his teeth.

  His hand gripped the knob and in one quick motion he opened it, pushing me back as he went in.

  There was no one inside. Olivia wasn’t even home.

  Upon realizing that she wasn’t there, I pulled out my cell phone to call her.

  Her number rang straight to voicemail.

  “She’s either got it off or it’s dead.” I told him, watching as he walked through each room, looking for any sign of her or where she might be.

  “Today is Thursday, she wouldn’t be at the store doing inventory. That is Monday nights.” I ran through her schedule out loud.

  “Did she leave you any voicemails?” he asked, walking into the kitchen to check things out.

  I checked my phone again, calling into the voice mail to see if they just hadn’t registered.

  ‘You have no new messages’ the voice stated.

  I shook my head at him. “Where could she be?”

  The house phone rang, the noise startling me out of my wits.

  “Answer the phone, Celia” Dmitri commanded his tone serious.

  “Hello?”

  “How did you like being back at the castle?” a male voice asked.

  My eyes shot to Dmitri. The voice, the sound of its smooth, crisp, clear masculinity sent a chill up my spine, straightening it ever so stiffly.

  “It brought back a lot of memories,” I admitted.

  He let out a huff of a laugh, “I bet it did.”

  “Where is my aunt?” I asked him.

  “She is here with me, and Augusta.”

  Kalvati! It was the truth that my gut instinct was dead on.

  “Why are you doing all this?” I asked, noting how Dmitri’s expression became darker, his jaw clenching in a dangerous fashion.

  “You haven’t figured it out yet, have you?”

  No, I hadn’t but I wasn’t going to admit that to him. He was praying on my weakness, the ones I loved and needed.

  “Wouldn’t you like to believe me weak and innocent?” I stated plainly, the courage in my center.

  He laughed louder now into the receiver, “You are a funny little one. I will give you that. You don’t get that from your mother, that’s for sure.”

  “Leave my mother out of this, Kalvati.”

  “Yes, Well, I will let the dead rest as they are. You, on the other hand, need to make a choice, dear little girl of mine. I have your aunt, and your coven sister. Which shall you choose to save?”

  “You touch a hair on either one of their heads, and I will hurt you.” I warned, the heat in my eyes turning everything to a blur.

  “You need to watch that temper of yours, it could burn you.” He warned.

  I took a deep breath, focusing now on Dmitri who stood just in front of me. His eyes were blue now, almost glowing in an incredibly powerful fashion.

  Ask him what he wants. Dmitri insisted, his hands reaching out to grasp my s
houlders.

  “What do you want from me, Kalvati?”

  “I want you on my side. I want the immortal power of the coven for myself.” He stated matter of factly.

  “I will never be on your side.” I shot back, reacting to his stone cold demands.

  “You have until Sunday.” He returned. “If you are not here, in front of me, by sundown Sunday, I will end them.”

  He hung up the phone before I could react.

  “Aaahhh,” I cried out!

  I let Dmitri wrap his arms around me.

  “Why did everything become so difficult?” I cried into his chest, the anger boiling to its greatest.

  “I can’t let him do this.” I pulled away.

  “We won’t let him.”

  I walked back into the living room and opened my suitcase, removing my mother’s book, my book.

  Coven magic wouldn’t fix this, but she knew the one thing that would.

  “I need you to call Kyle over.” I told him. “Now!”

  “What are you doing?”

  “I will tell you when he is here.” I assured him, knowing that this would be the one argument we would not come back from.

  He took out his cell phone and called Kyle.

  I heard how he filled Kyle in on the current state of things as I flipped the pages in the book that my mother wrote of the different spells I would invoke.

  No more than 10 minutes later, Kyle was walking through my front door.

  “What do you need?” he asked me, ignoring Dmitri’s presence.

  My eyes locked on to Kyle’s and I started what would certainly be the end of everything.

  “I need you to be my protector.” I started, hearing the argument erupt from Dmitri immediately. “I need you and Dmitri to switch witches. No questions asked.”

  Kyle didn’t utter a word. He listened to Dmitri’s outburst and occasionally glanced at me to see if I would react. I’d placed myself in a bubble and made it evident that I wouldn’t retract from my decision.

  Kyle, I opened the connection, I need him safe and I can’t do what needs to be done if he is my protector.

  “Fine,” he accepted.

  “I can’t believe you are doing this, Kyle.” Dmitri shouted at us.

  I stood up from the sofa. Finally! “This isn’t about you, Dmitri.” I scolded. “He is my problem to fix, my monster to defeat.”

  “Yes, you’re right, he is a monster. And look at what he is doing, forcing you to make irrational decisions.”

  The smile spread across my face, “It's not irrational if it is exactly what he isn’t going to expect. I’m not my mother,” I paused, pointing to her book, “She would never have done any of this. She was always worried about me. She was too pure to take a risk that would fix this. She had too much to lose.”

  “You do too.”

  “And what is that exactly?” I bounced back, “He has killed my mother, torn apart my coven, and kidnapped my aunt. All I have left is you, Dmitri.”

  “And we are stronger when we are together.”

  “You see, that is what I thought at first, until I walked into this house tonight. I was terrified until you were by my side. I’ve become so dependent on you I’ve forgotten that feeling of my own strength. And Dmitri, when I stood in front of Ciara, I felt that power surging through my system, and I’ve never felt that strong in your presence. I have to do this, it’s what I need to do, without fearing I will lose you.”

  “Then sever the connection with me altogether, don’t take another protector. You put Lisa and Valerie at risk.” He argued.

  “No, they will have you. And I will still have a lifeline to the coven, if I need it.”

  “Trust her, Dmitri” Kyle suggested, his words weighing heavy on his friend.

  “Trust,” he shot back at us both, reluctantly picking up the book and reading the spell I was referring to.

  He grimaced at me, then back to Kyle.

  I saw the resignation in his demeanor, “I tear from thee my soul’s eternal purpose, wash the light of our endless flame, and transfer that gift to you.” He said softly, through grit teeth, his hand reaching out to Kyle and placing it on Kyle’s shoulder. Kyle then reached out, “I give to thee my soul’s eternal purpose, and light an endless flame to protect your line of magic till the end of time.”

  The moment he spoke the last words, I reached out and took his hand in my own, “I ignite this flame, and bind our souls as one in the name of magic.”

  The room became a whirlwind of light and haze, I felt the break from Dmitri and the immediate transfer to Kyle.

  When it was all said and done, Dmitri held a solemn expression, staring at me as if he’d just had his heart broken.

  “It is the only way, Dmitri.” I tried to smooth things over.

  “You see, Celia, I beg to disagree.” He stood up from the sofa and walked to the front door.

  “Wait,” I called out, feeling the breath leave me.

  With his hand on the knob he paused.

  “Dmitri, I love you.” I whispered.

  He just and said, “I will always love you, Celia and that is a lot longer than you will ever be able to comprehend.”

  He opened the door and slammed it behind him. The moment it shut, I sat back on the sofa, still stuck on his statement. “You have no clue how soon that comprehension will hit me.” I mumbled, with Kyle standing in front of me.

  “You are going to take it all in, aren’t you?” he asked me, sounding like he’d pieced the puzzle already.

  “Ciara warned me, and it didn’t make sense until Maria died, when I realized that she was the lady of the castle.”

  “Do you know when you will do it?”

  “Yes.” I admitted, standing up to take an envelope off the coffee table, handing it to him.

  It was my homecoming ticket that Dmitri had bought for us before we left for the castle.

  Kyle nodded, “Then I will make sure everything is in place for you.”

  My hand reached out, placed it on Kyle’s forearm. “Thank you for trusting me.”

  His other hand covered mine, and he nodded, “If I loved, the way you love, I would make sure he was far away from it all as well.”

  “I just hope this doesn’t change who you are, and that love.” He added as he reached the front door.

  “Yeah, me too.”

  When Kyle left, I found myself casting a protection spell over Aunt Olivia’s house. I spent the rest of the night resting on the sofa, staring at my mother’s book, mentally going over every word I had read from it since the day Aunt Olivia cast the spell to unveil it.

  The following morning, I realized school was a must, even if I wasn’t going to be up for it much.

  Being that Dmitri was still upset with me, I didn’t expect him to show up to drive me the short distance to school. So you will imagine my surprise when I found him, leaning up against his Charger at my Aunt’s curb bright and early that following morning.

  I cannot begin to express the relief that washed over me seeing him there.

  He stood, his eyes staring at the ground as I walked up to him.

  “Good morning,” I said the happiness clear in my voice.

  His eyes met mine and I knew in that moment that everything between us would be fine.

  “Good morning,” he replied, stepping forward to meet me on the sidewalk.

  “I’m glad you’re here.” I admitted, wanting to hug him and kiss him more than I’d ever wanted before.

  “Where else would I be?” he asked.

  He turned, making his way to my side of the car and let me in.

  The moment he sat next to me, door closed, he put both hands on the wheel and paused a moment. “You have no idea how much I want to start the engine and drive far away from here right now.”

  I didn’t reply to his statement because I realized it was coming from his distress.

  I wondered though, as we waited at the stop sign if he would go across the street to the schoo
l campus or if he would turn and drive in a different direction.