She went to work on making Amethyst and Fallon’s drinks.
Fallon changed the subject. “How are you holding up, Liz?”
Half a laugh escaped, but it was a bitter sound. Tomorrow was the anniversary of when her whole world fell apart. “It’s that time of year.” She could remember the tears in Robert’s dusky blue eyes when he let her walk away. At first she believed he would come for her, but he never did.
“What is it, Liz?” Amethyst asked softly, concern etching her face.
“Just the past haunting me. Don’t worry about it.” She slid the smoothie to Amethyst.
* * * *
Rough needy hands pushed their way under her nightgown, spreading her legs. All those nights of hell came back to her. Emily bolted upright, clutching the blanket tight around her as she cried. There was no one there. She was all alone, soaked in a cold sweat, and shivering. Drawing the blanket tighter, she glanced at the clock.
Already noon. What happened to my alarm?
Shaking off her memories, she made her way to the bathroom and caught her reflection in the mirror. These last few months had not been kind. She looked like hell from all the restless nights, her appetite had dwindled to almost nothing. She felt like she was constantly being watched.
You are, James’ voice echoed in her head. You’ll pay for keeping me locked away in my own head.
“Shut up,” she whispered.
“I’ll be free soon, and I’ll finally have my revenge on Liz, but you’ll pay first.”
“She’s long since dead,” Emily whimpered. James was beginning to break free and she didn’t know how to stop him. Her attempts to rehabilitate her twin never worked. Now she was terrified because she knew he would punish her.
His tie to her was too strong, she couldn’t tune him out. So she turned on the water, wishing she had let him die all those years ago. She should have known he was beyond redemption. When she finally realized her error, she found she didn’t have the strength to end his life.
He tortured her in her dreams for years. In return, she stopped healing his body once the basic functions worked, save one. He would exact his revenge, but she made sure he would never force himself on anyone again.
James had ruined too many lives, not only hers but Robert and Liz. Liz had driven her car off a cliff, and Robert was still a wreck.
She’s still alive, Emily. She didn’t die.
“She’s gone. Robert still mourns her death,” she whispered back.
I promise you, Emily, she’s alive. Just wait until I break free and tear her power from her writhing body. I’ll make sure your darling Robert has front row seats as I finally ruin her for good.
If James was right, and he always was, she needed a way to warn Robert, one James couldn’t prevent.
She shut off the water, skipping the shower, and rushed into her clothes. Emily grabbed her journal that detailed everything from the years of abuse, to how she planned to change James, and finally how it all went wrong.
This was the only way to get a message to Robert. She wasn’t strong enough to confess her sins face to face. She prayed Robert would find the journal in time to stop James.
* * * *
Robert sat at his desk, staring at his favorite picture of Liz. Her multicolored hair was fanned out over the pillow. She stared up at him with desire filled hazel eyes, her plump bottom lip caught between her teeth.
It was one of the very few pictures she had allowed him to take, but she was still too blissed out to move, let alone form an argument. He brushed his thumb over her cheek and sighed. Not a second went by that he didn’t miss her being in his life.
She was a diamond in the rough, never refined, she always said what she thought as long she wasn’t in front of his family. Liz was the most loyal person he had ever met. She owned his heart and soul, and he would do anything for her. Even walk away when she begged him to, no matter how much it tore him to shreds to do so. More than two decades had passed but he couldn’t let her go.
The door opened and Magister Draecyn slipped inside and took a seat across from him. Robert ran his hand over the picture, and it was replaced with a family portrait that was taken before he and Liz left for the Enforcer’s training program.
“I fear time is running out,” Draecyn said. “Jarvis is plotting something, and I fear your sister may be involved.”
Robert’s eyes closed as he sighed. “What is it now? Her appearance?”
“You have seen her, haven’t you?” Draecyn shook his head. “She’s gaunt, her normally vibrant hair is dull, her sparkling eyes look dead, and there are deep bruises under her eyes. She’s skin and bones now.”
These were all things Robert knew. He didn’t know how to help. Emily had grown more and more distant since Liz left. “Look, as much as I would love to help my sister, I can’t do anything if she won’t talk to me.”
“Jarvis has been visiting her. Regularly.”
Robert sighed heavily. “I don’t know what you want me to tell you. She hardly speaks to me anymore, and once upon a time she was friends with Jarvis. Until I can find evidence that he’s been forcing himself on any nymph or siren we hold, or convince one of them to testify, I can’t do a damned thing about Jarvis but keep an eye on him. Trust me, Preston and I will nail him.”
“I know that you will. I grow impatient when I know he will continue to abuse these women.” Draecyn stepped out of the office as Preston rushed in.
“Draecyn,” Preston said, tipping his head as he fell into the seat the same seat the Magister vacated.
The door shut and Robert asked. “Everything okay?”
Preston leaned forward with arched brows. “Emily was driving up your driveway this morning. I know she hates that place because she’s convinced it’s tainted by Liz’s presence.”
“It’s her house too.” Robert shrugged, not knowing what else to say. Of course, it was weird. She hadn’t set foot in the house in twenty-two years. “Look, she won’t talk to me. I don’t know what to do anymore.” Frankly, he was tired of trying when she constantly shut him out.
“I could talk to her,” Preston snorted, “even if I can’t stand her snotty attitude.”
“No. She’ll talk when she’s ready.”
Preston shrugged, and changed the subject. “So, no leads?”
“Unfortunately not. Why? You have something? I know you want Jarvis to pay for what he wanted to do to Amethyst.”
Two months prior, Amethyst was held for questioning when her ex-boyfriend accused her of enthralling him. Preston proved that to be false, but if Preston hadn’t stepped in, Amethyst would have been another of Jarvis’ victim. She told Preston that she suspected Jarvis had done something to the Siren who was being held in the cell across from her, but she had no proof, and Lillian wouldn’t talk.
Preston sneered. “I’m going to bust his ass, and I’m going to laugh when that slime bag answers for his crimes. I may be a womanizer at times, but I respect women. I don’t abuse them.”
Preston was many things, but he didn’t use women.
“I know. I never said you did.” Robert sighed. “I need lunch. You want to come along? I have something I want to check, but I can’t call it a lead yet.” Still, he wanted to check on Jarvis’ current whereabouts. He knew the mage was hiding something big, but he didn’t know what.
“Yeah, let’s go.” Preston stood up and looked over at Robert. “And maybe I’ll still talk to Emily. She may be a selfish twit, but she’s still like family.”
* * * *
Sensation slowly trickled into James’ withered limbs. Not true feeling. He couldn’t tell what he wore or what he lay on, but he felt a dull pain pulsing through his body.
Then he heard the chanting and his lids snapped open to find Jarvis standing over him.
Jarvis looked older, much older than he remembered. The bastard had never been one of the stronger mages, but a nymph had stolen most of his power twenty-six or so years before. Somehow Jarvis was still c
limbing ranks. He had taken his father’s role as the head of the Silver Council’s Internal Affairs division. He was now ranked a step below the Magister of the Enforcer division. What Jarvis lacked in power, he made up for in persuasion and manipulation, gently using magic that went undetected by all but the most powerful mages.
James slowly sat up with a glare. Moving sent another wave of aches through his frail body. “Took you long enough.”
“I assumed the great James McCallister would wake up without any outside help. Though, I suppose twenty-one years in a forced coma would weaken anyone.” Jarvis shook his head, an evil smirk twisting his features. “Does that mean you’ll want help dealing with Emily?”
“I’ll need help dropping her off at Robert’s, but you will not defile her.”
Jarvis sighed, but kept his mouth shut. That was wise on his part. Emily belonged to James, and no one else.
He heard someone upstairs. James whispered, “Make yourself scarce.” Standing was awkward without orientation, but he managed to walk to the hall. He shut the door, warding it from being opened. He didn’t want Jarvis interfering.
He was going to give Emily a little payback for locking him away for twenty-one years.
James made his way to the door next to the bottom of the stairs. It was hidden, and he knew for a fact that it wasn’t in the blueprints.
A few minutes later, Emily opened the door and reached inside to flip on the light. James caught her wrist and pulled her magic into himself, fueling his waning energy. Before she could twist free, he pushed a dark spell into her, forcing her to relive all of her worst memories. Her body would wither, and finally die.
His sister had the power to heal his body entirely, and she left him a ruined mess. With her new found defiance, she was no good to him, and he refused to let anyone else have her.
* * * *
Tremaine took a seat at the end of the bar and watched the way Liz responded to Clint. Her speech was slurred and she was weaving on her feet.
He knew what was coming. She would go home with Clint before stumbling home to drink another bottle of Voodoo.
The werewolf wasn’t the worst choice and if it wasn’t him, it would be some other man. At least Clint was a safe choice, and might have a chance at helping her heal from all the pain she carried.
God knew he had tried time and time again to help her let go of her misery. Every time he thought she was ready to move on and let the past go to let him all the way in, she pushed him away.
No matter what she did, he would remain at her side. His only goal was to see her happy again, no matter what that took. He still believed Robert was the one person she could ever love, but he found himself wishing he could be the one in her heart.
Victoria slid onto the seat next to him with a wicked little smile. “Trem, darling, please tell me you are in need of a little affection?”
His eyes closed and he shook his head. “Not tonight. I need to be around for a friend.” Truth was, he wasn’t interested in another night with Victoria.
Her gaze slid over to Liz and back to him. “You know, you should tell her the truth.”
“I do every single day.” He sighed, and looked back down at his beer. The truth was that she was in love with Robert and one of them needed to make the first step toward fixing what they had broken.
Victoria snorted. “If that were so, neither of you would be here right now. You’d be wound around each other in a lovers embrace”
Tremaine looked back at Victoria and shook his head. “Don’t tell me about my feelings. You don’t know the hell she’s been through. You don’t know what she could have if she went and righted her one wrong. They are both so fucking stubborn it hurts.”
Victoria leaned in and whispered against his ear. “Trust me, Trem. That woman loves you. She’s only playing with Clint because he likes it when she ties him up. Did you know she never undresses for him? That she only ever pulls up her skirt and shifts her thong out of the way?”
“Damn it, Vic,” he growled. “I know you love to watch, but I don’t need to hear about her habits when she’s in another man’s bed.”
She sat back and looked at him for a long moment. “Liz watched us the one time you brought me home. She stood there in the shadows diddling herself until she came. I could smell her desire stronger than your own.” Her brow arched and he glared back, but he couldn’t argue. Vic was right, he didn’t desire her. Victoria shrugged one shoulder, a smirk playing on her lips. “Liz stayed and watched until you came. She slipped into her room before you ever noticed, and probably drank an extra bottle because it wasn’t her you were boning.”
“Fuck, Vic. Just stop. You don’t know the many reasons why I can never tell her how I feel.”
“You love her. That’s the only thing that matters,” Victoria murmured before she stood and walked out of the bar.
Love? It was so much more than that. He never wanted Liz to think he felt sorry for her or pitied her because he never had. No, he admired her courage and strength even when he hated the walls she built around herself.
She never cried. Not once in front of Tremaine, not even when she had all the reasons in the world to fall apart. Instead she always put herself back together and pushed on.
He’d been there with her through everything. If she felt even an inkling of what he felt, she would come to him.
She didn’t.
It wasn’t in their cards.
* * * *
Clint had passed out after the orgasm of his life. Liz had left deep scratches down his chest. His wrists were raw from the silver cuffs he insisted on, and bloody from where he pulled at the restraints. He was a hot mess.
Liz unlocked the cuffs, and climbed from the bed. She shifted her clothes back into place before walking out the door.
She felt hollow.
He had loved every second, and she hadn’t even gotten off. Somehow, she managed to walk down the driveway and across the street. It wouldn’t bother her if a truck came out of nowhere and took her from the well of pain she existed in.
Blinking back tears and memories of her years without Robert, she made it inside and into the front closet where she had a hidey hole made from the same magic she had created in her trunk years ago. She stashed her Voodoo there.
Tremaine was in the habit of getting rid of her favorite spiced rum if he found it. She didn’t blame him. She despised herself for her coping mechanism, but it was the only thing that allowed her to sleep through the night without old nightmares.
There would be a couple more weeks of this self-imposed hell, but it was the anniversary of the night her whole life fell apart. It was a downward spiral until she hit rock bottom, and then she would snap out of it and life would go on until the next year.
With a fresh bottle in hand, she made it up the stairs and locked the door, before stripping off her clothes and burrowing under the covers to drink her nightmares into oblivion.
Chapter 15
Something was wrong, really horribly wrong. Robert bolted out of bed in a cold sweat as his eyes darted around the room. His nightmare still clung to him, the past ever haunting him.
The morning he had found Liz was still fresh in his mind. The horror of finding her asleep and bleeding. He never did find out what happened. Tremaine would only tell him that he needed to talk to Liz about it, but she was the one who begged him to let her go.
His hand went to his chest where her handprint was still a smooth white scar as a tear fell down his face. He couldn’t catch his breath, his heart pounded against his ribs. Mornings like these were hell.
The thud outside pulled him back into the present. Something hit the porch. All he could think about was Liz, broken and bleeding. He was on his feet, racing to the front door to throw it open.
He saw Emily’s blond hair and relief washed over him. It wasn’t Liz curled in a wet shivering mess.
“Emily?” He asked quietly as he stepped into the pouring rain and knelt down beside his sister
.
Her haunted amber eyes were surrounded by dark circles, and her pale skin had a greenish sheen. She was so terribly thin. Her hands locked onto his arms. “Help me.” Her voice was strained and hoarse.
Robert gently lifted his sister in his arms. She weighed next to nothing. He carried her to her old room, but she went limp before he ever made it up the stair.
He should have pushed harder, should have kept on her case until she talked to him. Every time he asked what was wrong, she told him nothing. Like a fool he dropped it.
Robert redressed Emily in flannel pajamas, and wrapped her in blankets. He sat down beside her on the bed, and gently shook her. “Emily, I need you to wake up.”
Her eyes fluttered open, and then went wide. She grabbed his wrists and whispered frantically, “Lizard’s hole. In Lizard’s hole.” A ragged cry escaped her lips before she collapsed on the bed.
His teeth ground together at the slur his sister always used against Liz. Just once he wished she could accept Liz completely. That was unlikely. Emily still believed Liz was dead.
Robert could feel dark magic at work on Emily, but that was far from his area of expertise. His faith in the council had dwindled, leaving him few options.
He wasn’t sure who to trust after the way they had treated Liz. There was evidence that high ranking officials had been involved with the Dale’s fighting rings for years. Those mages had disappeared before being apprehended, and the only one who knew was Jarvis. The corruption seemed to be growing.
Emily still held the belief that mages were superior. She would likely hate his plan, but he needed to take her somewhere unaffiliated with the Silver Council. Robert knew of a place that would keep her safely hidden.
With his decision made, he hurried up the stairs to his room and grabbed his cell phone. His eyes closed as he whispered the spell to block all listening devices. Jarvis had bugged the place, but he was arrogant enough to believe no one knew.
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