“This way,” she said.
We walked down two steps into a tunnel, and then followed her through a honeycomb of cold, stone-gray walls and floors. Every twenty feet or so there was an engraved blackbird inset into the stone, each facing in a different direction.
I could hear Roxanna’s thoughts as she moved quickly ahead of us. She didn’t trust me, and wondered why Marcus was so awestruck with me. She didn’t think I was all that great.
“Oh, really?” I mumbled under my breath.
“Alixia, did you say something?” Millie asked.
“No. I was just thinking out loud.”
“In here,” Roxanna said, stopping in a doorway with a red cloth curtain. We stepped into a dimly lit room. Stuffed animals stared at us eerily with glass eyes.
I walked over to a wooden shelf of mason jars filled with herbs, insects, and snakes, and some things I wouldn’t even know how to describe.
“You will need a robe,” Roxanna said, going to a wardrobe. She selected a white garment and handed it to Millie.
“Thank you,” she said, and I helped her slip it on. I watched Roxanna go to the shelf and take down one of the jars and a gold chalice.
“Wait here,” she said. “Shayla will be down soon to mix a potion for you, to help you relax.”
I watched her leave, and turned my attention to Millie. She walked around the room nervously.
“How many Dark Ones do you think Marcus has in his Family?” she asked.
“I don’t know. I’ve only met this one.”
“Oh.”
“Millie,” I said, watching her unrest. “I know I told you I wouldn’t ask you again…”
“Then, don’t! I need to have the power to fight her. I can’t stay hidden forever.”
“But if you’re not sure, Millie…”
“What’s going on in here?” Shayla asked, walking in and staring at both of us. She moved to the shelves of mason jars.
“Nothing,” Millie said, willing me to keep my mouth shut.
“Okay, then.” She picked up the jar that had been placed there by Roxanna. “Let’s begin, Millie.”
Shayla opened the jar in front of her, tipping a golden honey-like substance into the chalice.
Then, from her necklace, she opened a small, round, red gem pendent and poured a powdery ingredient into the chalice. She swirled it three times, and gave it to Millie.
“Drink this. It will help you with the pain when you Change.”
Millie took the chalice.
“It will be alright,” she said. Then she drank. I watched as she tilted her head, finishing every drop, and then handed it back to Shayla. I heard Marcus and Ashen as they walked in with dour looks on their faces. Marcus didn’t even acknowledge me. He quickly moved to Millie, just as she collapsed in his arms.
“Millie!” I screamed, going to her as Marcus brought her closer to him. “What did you do to her?”
I turned, going for Shayla.
“Alixia! No!” Marcus said, as Ashen came to her rescue. Shayla, unsettled with my outburst, moved back as far as she could from me and spoke nervously.
“She is just in a sleep state. She’s aware of what’s going, on I assure you.”
“It’s alright, Alixia,” Marcus said, taking her to the door. “We just didn’t want Millie to suffer. Changing is very painful, and she been through so much already.”
I put my hand up, taking in a long breath and letting it out, trying to calm down.
“Okay, I’m sorry. It’s just when I saw her collapse.”
Marcus adjusted Millie in his arms.
“Then you are good?”
“Yes.”
“Okay then, Michael will take you back to the mansion. He is outside waiting for you.”
“No,” I said moving toward him. He motioned for Ashen to take Millie.
“Take her to the others,” he said. “I will be there soon. I need to talk to Alixia.”
“I understand, Marcus. Shayla, come.”
She walked past me, keeping her distance.
“We would never hurt her,” she said. “She is the mother of a Pure One. That is why we are here.” She looked at Marcus with concern, and left.
I knew he was thinking that I wasn’t going to be part of this tonight.
“I hear you, Marcus. Forget it. She wants me there. Sorry, but you are not stopping me.”
He stared at me with compassion.
“Don’t fight me on this. You don’t want to be with her tonight.” He walked over to me, taking hold of my chin and looking into my eyes.
“I promised her, Marcus.”
“You’re in my head now. See the fate that I endured when I made my Choice.” I closed my eyes, moving deeper into his subconscious. I saw Charlotte biting into him as he went to the ground, screaming and shaking violently as the icy hot venom permeated his veins. It ran through his whole body, taking his soul into darkness. He awoke to immortality, and then I watched as he took his first victim. She was a young girl, and he chased her down as prey, ripping her throat. Blood dripped from his lips and teeth.
There was evil in his eyes as he brutally took her soul for his thirst.
I pulled out of his mind, not wanting to see any more.
“Now you see. There’s no control. She would even go at you. There is no fear when you first Change. We will keep her restrained until she can control her urges. So, it’s best you go to Michael now, please.”
I bit down on my bottom lip, remembering what Marguerite had said about their obsession with their children, that it was worse than thirst.
“Okay,” I said, moving into his arms. “I have to trust them. I have no choice. You keep her safe.”
“I will.” He walked me to the door. Pulling back the curtain, he kissed me.
“I will come find you afterwards. I promise.” I squeezed his hand and walked back toward the entrance. Outside, Michael was waiting.
“Alixia,” he acknowledged me, swatting at a mosquito. “Should we head back now?”
“Yes,” I said, watching him walk away.
“Michael, wait.” He turned around. “I’m afraid for her.”
“Don’t be,” he said. “Come on now.”
“But is this the right choice?” I asked.
“Why wouldn’t it be? She has no trust in the Family. They took her child and killed her husband. She deserves revenge and the Change will give her the power to fulfill it.”
He opened the gate and I walked through.
“But…”
He scowled at me.
“This is her Choice. Let it be, now.”
I walked away from him, frustrated. He didn’t understand. I knew she would always be in danger because of her Choice.
“Wait up.” I turned to see him wiping his sweaty brow with a white handkerchief.
“We have to talk about your mother,” he said.
“What about my mother?”
“Marcus told me she was not going to accept the Choice that Marguerite offered her.”
“That’s right,” I said, looking up suddenly as I heard an owl screeching in a tree. I watched as it flew to another tree and perched on a branch ahead of us.
“Michael, I’m sensing… No!”
It was too late. Michael yelled as the bird dived at him violently, digging its talons into his face, and then flew off.
“Are you alright?” I called out, coming to his aid. He just stood there, using his handkerchief this time to wipe blood from his face.
“Yes, I think so.”
“Here, let me see.” He moved the blood-soaked handkerchief. The right side of his face was slashed,
“Let’s get you to the house.”
Walking back, I looked at his face and worried for him.
“Did that bird carry a curse?”
“No. I would have been taken, if it had.”
“But I sensed darkness from it.”
“Yes, you sensed Marcel, who sent it. He knows we’re clos
e to finding him. He has been sending animals into the swamp to spy, and they have been getting more vicious all the time.”
“I can see that,” I said, going up the steps to the house. “Let me get the door.”
“Thank you. Let’s go into the study. I’ll get what I need to heal this.”
Once there, he went to the mirror and pushed on it, opening the door to Marguerite’s healing room. He turned on the light and went to a shelf, where he started moving jars around.
“Can I help you?” I asked, coming up behind him.
“Here it is,” he said, pulling down a flat, round jar. “Could you light the candle on the table, please?”
“Yes, of course.”
I lit the half-melted black candle as he sat in a chair across from me, exposing his bloody wound.
“Here, open this.”
I twisted the cap and handed it back to him. I watched as he took out a gob of black, thick, greasy stuff that smelled of lavender and swamp mud. He rubbed his palms together.
“Alixia, take the candle and drip six drops of wax onto my palms.”
“Sure,” I said, picking up the candle. “Michael, can I ask why haven’t you gone after Angel?”
He lifted his hands and rubbed the mixture on the wounds on his face, closing his eyes and grimacing from the sting of application.
“You know why. The curse.”
I put the candle down and watched him rub his cheek slowly. He knew what I was getting at, and he just wanted me to say it.
“Yes, I understand. But Marcus told me that you think she is in the West Indies. So, if she is there, you have to know her exact whereabouts, right?”
He put the lid back on the jar and brought it back to the shelf, speaking in a matter of fact manner.
“You’re right, we do know where she is.”
I shook my head.
“So why haven’t you taken her, to end this?”
”We are waiting.”
“For what? Madame Cecilia just died.”
He scratched his head, showing no remorse for her.
“Alixia, her death was justified. It’s just too bad that we didn’t get to her first.”
“Michael!” I got up and went over to the door. I walked into the study as he followed, apologizing.
“I wasn’t thinking. I didn’t mean any disrespect.”
I pushed my hair back over my forehead, glaring at him.
“I know what she did was terrible, but she was remorseful.”
“If you say so.”
I bit down on my lip, holding my temper and thinking. This conversation needed to end.
“Michael, you need to go change your shirt. You have blood all over it.” He saw the look on my face. “I don’t want to discuss her anymore with you.”
“Yes, I agree. I’ll go change.”
He started toward the door.
“Wait, there is something we still need to talk about. Lucida.”
“No, there’s nothing to talk about. My mother doesn’t want to join Marcus’s Family.”
He stood there with a perplexed look, and then mumbled something in French.
“That’s what she told you?” he asked.
“Yes, she said she wants me to end her. I know Marcus must have told you that part. ”
“Yes, but I just wanted to hear it from you.”
“Michael,” I said as he was going through the door. “What is going on? Why the concern?”
He turned with his eyebrows arched.
“Oh,” he said, “I just find it odd that she came to Marguerite to bargain for her life, and then went to you to have you take it from her. Anyway, I’ll go change my shirt.”
He left, leaving a question in the air.
Persuasion
Sensing Marcus, I opened my eyes. He came through the bedroom door, calling out my name softly. I sat up, stretching as he kissed my lips softly, and moved in next to me. I snuggled into his shoulder.
“How’s Millie?”
“She good, and in fact it might not take her as long as the others did to adapt to her immortality.”
“What do you mean?”
“She was just different. There was no outburst, or fear. She seemed in control.”
I felt a little better now, knowing that she hadn’t experienced what Marcus had.
“Well, maybe it’s because she wasn’t an outsider like all of you were. She was part of the Family.”
He kissed the top of my head.
“Yeah, you could be right. Anyway, she will return sooner than the others did and then we can take care of Angel.”
I shifted away from him, bothered.
“What are you talking about?”
“Millie will be the one who performs the ritual to end Angel. Marguerite has promised her.”
“Are you serious?” I asked, getting out of bed. “So, that’s why the Pure Ones haven’t gone for Angel.”
He looked at me, baffled.
“Marcus, they know where she is. This is insane, waiting until Millie is ready. Angel can kill more!”
“I don’t understand. The Pure Ones already know where she is?”
“Yes, Michael told me. They were waiting, and now I know why. It was for Millie, so that she could get her revenge.”
He stared at me for few seconds, absorbing what I had said.
“Get dressed. I’ll meet you downstairs. I’m going to talk to Michael.”
He left, slamming the door. I walked into the bathroom, splashed cold water on my face and looked into the mirror.
I should have taken care of Angel myself, and not listened to any of them.
Walking into the study a few minutes later, I could hear Michael and Marcus arguing.
“Ahem,” I cleared my throat, “I see you found out that I was right.”
Marcus came over to me. I could still sense his anger about their knowing the whereabouts of Angel and still letting her live.
“Marcus, listen,” Michael said, attempting to sway him. “This was Marguerite’s judgment after Henry was killed. We have to wait to go after Angel until Millie’s ready.”
I jumped into the debate.
“So, who is the next to die? Michael, look at your face. That could have been a bird carrying a black curse!”
“But it wasn’t.”
“I’m going to bring Angel to Marguerite, to end this,” I said.
“And I’m going with her,” Marcus said, putting his arm around me.
“You will not go against her wishes! Do you both understand?” Michael yelled, pointing his finger at us and puffing up in anger. I watched his face go a shade of purple and hoped he wasn’t going to have a heart attack or something.
“Calm down,” Marcus said, walking over to him and putting his hand on his shoulder. “We’ll talk to Marguerite before we do anything, okay?”
“Fine, that will be acceptable. But I will go with you, to make sure you keep that promise.”
“Fine with me,” I said, and Marcus nodded in agreement, too. “Let’s leave tonight, if that is acceptable?”
“Yes,” Marcus said. ”Let’s finish this.”
“Alright then,” Michael said. “I have phone calls to make, so if you both will excuse me.” He walked over to the desk, picking up the receiver and waved his hand for us to leave.
We stood under the veranda outside looking at dense fog. I could barely see a foot in front of me. Everything seemed to be in shadow. I walked over to the railing and, leaning over it, soaked in the beauty and peacefulness.
Marcus put his arm around me.
“So, can I show you my surprise?” he asked with a little smirk. “That’s if you still want to marry me?”
“I don’t know…” I smiled teasingly.
“Oh, you need a little more persuading.”
He picked me up and jumped over the railing, taking me into the swamp.
“Marcus, put me down. I can walk, you know?”
“Okay,” he said, looking at me
alluringly. Letting me down, he kept his arms around me and pulled me into him. I felt the coolness of his lips move up my neck. Then he stopped and smiled.
“We’d better get going.”
I shook my head, knowing how much he was enjoying teasing me.
We went deep into the swamp on a path I had traveled before. It led to his cabin. The trees bent over in a tunnel effect as we strolled through the dense fog, with me prodding him every few steps to tell me his surprise.
“Give me a hint.”
“No, be patient.”
“Not even one?”
“Alixia!”
“Fine!”
We walked in silence for a while, until Marcus brought up Millie and his unease with her.
“I’m afraid that Millie might go after more than Angel.”
“Why? Did she say something?”
“Yeah, he said, looking straight ahead.
“What was it?” I asked.
“That she would get revenge on all them.
He paused.
“Alixia, Phillip’s was one of the names she called out.”
My heart pounded and the trees spun.
“Marcus, you have to stop her.”
“I’m hoping I can. We have a few days until we let her into the light.”
I took his hand.
“I want to see her before you do.”
“Fine with me. When we get back from the West Indies, she should be in control by then.”
I took his hand.
“I hope so.”
Angel warned me that the Family would not hesitate to kill her.
I looked ahead, seeing the cabin.
“Here we are.” Marcus picked up the pace with excitement. Walking onto the porch, he opened the door with a full smile.
“After you.”
It was all remodeled, not old and rustic as before. No more dead animal heads stared at me. Gorgeous floral couches had replaced the old, torn leather ones in front of the stone fireplace. Matching chairs had been placed by the bay window. Between them stood a dark round oak table with claw feet. Sitting on the table was a vase full of colorful flowers, perfuming the room. Everything was beautiful.
“Marcus, I love it. I can’t believe you did all of this.”
“It’s all for you. Come on,” he smiled boyishly. “Let me show you the rest.”
We went from room to room and each one was decorated beautifully. Then he opened the double doors to the bedroom.
Path of Descent: Ambrosine Page 8