Tremaine laughed. She was fine. They could help her forget all the pain and fear after they got back to the cabin. That’s where Robert had deposited a very shaken Christian and Delilah. At least Delilah’s werewolf senses had picked out the fact that James was not Robert.
Christian tried to step in and try to stop James. Tremaine had held him back while Delilah whispered in his ear, which was the only thing that had seemed to calm Christian.
“Thank you Trem,” she muttered, and turned to face the window, staring outside.
Robert placed a tentative hand on her shoulder and she shrugged it off. “Don’t. Not now. I don’t need comfort. I need your dumb ass to trust me.”
“I do,” Robert said softly. “But I’m scared to death of losing you again.”
“Yeah, well you will if you keep acting like I can’t handle this. I can, and I will.”
Tremaine glanced up at the mirror to see Robert sit back, his eyes on Liz. Robert still looked worried, but he couldn’t blame him. He was too, but he knew she would find a way to Emily if they didn’t take her.
Preston fell back in his seat. “This is going to be a fun trip.”
* * * *
James wanted to kick Jarvis, who was slumped in the passenger seat of his car, cradling his poor burnt hands to his chest. “You shouldn’t have tossed flame around like that, you moron.” There was a sneer on James’ face.
“You should have planned better,” Jarvis whined, his pain obvious, and once again he wanted to thump the dumbass upside the head. The fire was his doing. Had he stayed outside, things wouldn’t have been such a mess.
“Plan better? What was I supposed to do differently? I went in there, and everything would have been fine if she hadn’t somehow seen through the damned illusion.”
“Did you ever think that maybe you can’t pull Robert off because you are nothing like your brother and your arrogance shines through the illusion?”
“I hadn’t even opened my mouth, so don’t you dare start on me.” He snapped back
Jarvis snorted, throwing himself back in the seat. He watched as a familiar little purple haired woman bounced past him and into a shop.
A smirk quirked Jarvis’ mouth. “I may have a solution. One that works for both of us. There’s a nymph in town, one we can use to heal me, and use to draw Liz out. Preston is still helping with his case against me, and he’ll come for her. He’s here and he was awfully protective of the little runt.”
James turned toward Jarvis. “And how do you propose we go after a nymph?”
“I’ve heard she belongs to the town’s sheriff now. You can impersonate him long enough to draw her out and then we can take her away.”
James thought about it for a moment. Nymphs were renowned for their healing powers. Perhaps she would do a more thorough job than his sister had. First, he needed to find out more about this Sheriff if he was going to pull it off.
Chapter 28
Her phone rang for the fourth time in a few minutes. Liz finally pulled it out and answered. “What?”
Christian’s tone was frantic. “Liz, what the fuck is going on? I watched Robert walk in and you attacked. I swear to God I thought it was Robert until one of your spells broke the illusion.
“Sorry, Chris. I didn’t do it to freak you out, I swear it. I wasn’t going to let him hurt you or anyone else though.”
“Looks like you messed him up good.” Christian let out a nervous laugh.
One corner of her mouth lifted as her eyes slid shut. “Yeah, well he deserved it. I’m sorry I freaked you out. Promise me that you’ll stay at the cabin until we get there. It might be tonight before we arrive, but you know where everything is.”
“That’s fine. It’s stocked. By the way, you were right.”
She sighed. “About?”
“I’m not qualified to battle a mage. I’ve never seen magic like that. I just about pissed myself.”
Liz held back a laugh. “Well, your gifts lie elsewhere. Sometimes, I wish I had no power. Would make life a lot easier.”
“Yeah, well I don’t know about that.”
“Why do you say that?” she asked, baffled.
“Well, you don’t sound beat up, and I know Robert had a blade in his chest when he zapped us from the shop to the cabin.”
“Yeah, well I fixed that, but I’m sure I did a shoddy job. I suck at healing when I can do it at all.”
Christian chuckled. “I don’t know, Liz. I had a vision of how you healed him. He seems pretty whole to me, but it was like you used some of Tremaine’s magic.”
She sat up straighter. “What do you mean?”
“You channeled some of Trem’s power to heal Robert.”
“Shit, I need to go. Stay at the cabin, and call me if you need anything. Please, don’t leave.”
“Yeah, between you scaring the shit out of me and Delilah talking some sense into me, I won’t be going anywhere. I have no death wish, believe it or not. I get it now. This is out of my league.” He sounded resigned, and Liz hated it, but it was the truth.
“We’ll see you soon, and you may get to meet someone when we come.” Liz dreaded it, but it was bound to happen if she could pull this off.
“What do you mean?” he asked hesitantly.
“Well, let’s see how well it goes. Even if I can save her, I have a feeling Robert may not want to be in the same room with her. Plus, he’s awfully pissed at me at the moment.”
The phone was ripped from her hand. “I’m not mad at Liz. I hate this situation. Emily has done nothing to earn Liz’s loyalty. I don’t want Liz suffering to help the woman who brought Liz’s worst nightmare back. Of course, I’m not happy.”
Liz turned around and snatched the phone from Robert. “Don’t listen to him. I’ll be fine, and maybe if your mother meets you, and sees what a perfect young man she produced, she’ll realize how wrong she was.”
Christian snorted. “She gave me away. I can’t say I blame her because of how I came to be, but I can’t imagine she wants anything to do with me now. Go, do what you must, but you better come back in one piece or I will be really ticked off.”
She laughed then. “Yeah, I’ll see you later, kid.” Hanging up, she turned to Robert. “Let me see your shoulder.”
Robert rolled his eyes and pulled his torn shirt aside. His golden skin looked perfect as always. Liz moved closer to get a better look and sure enough, he was perfectly healed. She ran her fingers over where she knew the blade had entered. “Why couldn’t I do that before?”
Preston sighed. “I felt you draw magic from Tremaine. Maybe that’s why you couldn’t fully heal your handprints so long ago.”
She slumped back in her seat. “I shouldn’t have been able to do that at all. Either time.”
“Maybe it’s a little like Fallon being able to heal Brody when she sucks at healing everyone else. She can heal silver damage as long as it’s Brody that she’s healing.” Preston chuckled. “Surprised the fuck out of me when I saw that because I remember what shape Trem was in after she tried to patch him up a bit.”
She shuddered, not wanting to think about that incident. The bits she had heard turned her stomach. All three of them had been victims, but the whole situation was more fucked up than anything she could dream up.
“Well, Robert, I suppose this proves that you have no reason to stop me from helping Emily.”
He nodded lamely. “I won’t, no matter how tempting it is. I still don’t understand why you want to help her, when she was nothing but horrible to you. You never deserved any of it. I don’t want you to feel like you have to do this for me.”
“It’s not for you, not really.” She swept her hair behind her ears and leaned against the seat. “I watched a young woman die of that curse. It ate at her, churning up all of the pain and horrible things Sinclair put her through. She wilted away and finally died, but she had gouged out her own eyes, shredded her face, she’d broken limbs from her thrashing. Your sister can’t have much longer,
and after James abused her for years, I can’t let her suffer anymore.”
He nodded. “When you put it like that, it makes more sense. I still don’t like that you have to take it from her.”
Liz shrugged. “Yeah, well I don’t see anyone else who can. So you’ll have to deal with it.”
* * * *
At least they were almost there. The wards gave all but Liz a jolt as Tremaine drove over the border. She seemed to relax, a deep sigh escaping.
He drove another two miles, until he pulled up to a large log building. It looked identical to the one he had taken Liz to when all those years ago.
The druids only used electricity for hot water, not for lights or even cooking. There would be old oil lamps or candles lighting their way.
“It looks the same as the place you took me.” There was a hint of fear in her voice.
He nodded. “They’re mostly the same.” He didn’t bother to tell her that quite a few of those druids moved here long ago. Nor did he tell her that he suspected her mother to be there.
Tremaine took Liz’s hand, Robert took her other, and Preston gave them both a funny look. But he kept his mouth shut.
They went inside and Liz tried to pull her hands away but they didn’t let her go. She glared at Robert. “You better not stop me from doing what I need to,” she whispered harshly.
“I’m not that stupid, Liz,” he muttered back.
Joslyn came around the corner. Tremaine had been intimate with her more than half a century ago. Right around the time he found Liz. Now he felt a little uncomfortable because that wasn’t something Liz would forget.
“Tremaine,” she smiled appreciatively. Her brow arched as she noticed whose hand he held, but her expression remained warm and welcoming. “Good to see you. Robert, I wish I could say she was doing better, but Emily seems to be deteriorating.” She smiled at Liz. “Elizandra, I’m glad to see you doing well.”
Liz nodded, but she looked a little sick. She probably remembered the first time she had met Joslyn.
Tremaine glanced over and Robert met his gaze with a curious frown before turning back to Joslyn. “Can we see Emily? Liz may have a solution.”
Joslyn nodded. “I certainly hope so. She’s been thrashing around. We had to restrain her. None of us have a clue what we can do to help.”
“Has she said anything?”
“She only repeats Lizard’s hole over and over again.”
Liz flinched, but managed to say, “We need to see her.”
Robert took in a sharp breath, but he held his tongue.
Joslyn led them to a door. “She’s been sleeping for an hour. She won’t wake up for a few more.”
“Thank you,” Robert said. “Can we have a few minutes alone with her?”
Joslyn nodded. “I’ll be down the hall if you need me.”
“I appreciate it.”
They stepped into the room as Joslyn turned to go down the hall.
* * * *
Liz sucked in a breath when she stepped into the room. She could practically feel the dark emotions swirling through the air. Emily looked like she was barely hanging on and ready to let go.
Her eyes jerked around in their bruised sockets, under papery lids. There was no meat on her bones. Liz knew Emily didn’t have much longer.
Robert’s hand slid around her waist, pulling her into him as he put his mouth against her ear. “You don’t have to do this for her. She wouldn’t do it for you.”
“Yeah,” Liz agreed, but she stepped away and turned to face him. “I’m not Emily, and that’s a good thing.”
Robert closed his eyes and shook his head, but he didn’t offer any other argument.
Liz turned to Tremaine. “Make sure Robert doesn’t stop me.” She glanced at Preston. “You too. Please.”
Preston nodded, but he didn’t look all that happy about it. Tremaine was calm, and hiding all emotion, which meant he didn’t like it any better than the rest of them.
Hell, Liz didn’t like it, but she wasn’t going to let Emily fade away like that. No one deserved what she was going through. Liz hoped Emily was strong enough to pull through because her memories were going to haunt her for a long while.
“Don’t worry, Liz. He’s not stupid enough to get in your way,” Trem promised, but it sounded more like a warning for Robert.
Liz took Emily’s hands before closing her eyes. The vile magic reached for her, and before Liz could think better of it, she let the curse flow up her arms and pulled hard, taking all of it from Emily.
Emily’s memories flooded through Liz, drowning her in shame, guilt, and humiliation. It was horrible, worse than what Liz had ever endured because Liz always fought, she never accepted her fate, but Emily hadn’t. Emily never believed she was worth saving so she didn’t fight, always accepting the punishment because she was unworthy.
Liz heard Emily pull in a ragged breath, and then scream. She threw Liz’s hands away from her and scrambled off the bed and into the corner where she huddled, staring wide-eyed at Liz who collapsed on the mattress as her body started to jerk.
* * * *
“Liz?” Emily sobbed. She knew Liz saw it all. She took the suffering from her but she was already shattered. “Oh, God. No. Liz,” she cried, trying to stand, but she couldn’t get to her feet.
Robert popped in front of her. The look on his face was caught between pity, anger and devastation, it froze her to her spot. Emily wanted to crawl away and hide.
“Don’t you dare blame Liz, Emily. She didn’t have to do this for you. She shouldn’t have had to.” The anger won out in his voice.
Tears fell down her face. She wanted to take it all back. “I don’t. I didn’t ask for help. I was ready to die, I couldn’t fight it. She should have let me go.”
Robert’s eyes closed, guilt flashing over his features as he shook his head and then stared up at the ceiling. “She couldn’t. She didn’t want you to suffer any more.” He scrubbed a hand over his face and finally looked back at her.
Emily looked around her brother and saw Liz in Tremaine’s arms, her body seizing, her eyes rolled back in her head. He cooed at her as he brushed her hair from her face, rocking slightly.
“Sorry, I’m sorry, so sorry,” Emily whispered over and over. She couldn’t stop the rush of words from leaving her lips.
Robert half-laughed, but it was a bitter sound. “Don’t apologize. I guarantee Liz won’t want to hear it.” He stood and went to her, sitting down beside Tremaine, putting his arms around Liz and Tremaine both.
“Baby, don’t you dare give up. Fight it. You’ve got to fight it.” Robert’s voice broke and Emily’s heart splintered.
She didn’t understand how Liz was alive but Robert had spent the last twenty-one years pretending the love of his life was dead. There she was, suffering with Emily’s memories, those terrible memories that were no longer suffocating her.
Tremaine shifted, his hand wrapping around Robert’s shoulder to pull him closer. They were so close, but holding Liz, solely focused on the woman they always had gravitated towards.
“She’s pulling through. Look, she’s calming down. It’s almost over,” Tremaine murmured.
Robert shook his head as tears leaked down his face.
Tremaine took his chin, forcing his gaze to his. “Liz will be fine. She’s a fighter.” Tremaine laid his forehead against Robert’s. “We’ve still got her.”
“I know,” Robert whispered.
Joslyn burst into the room. “What the hell happened?”
Emily sniffled. “Liz took it from me. Liz hates me and she saved me. I don’t understand why.”
Joslyn rushed to Liz, but Robert glared up at her. “You won’t touch her. We’ve got her. Us, no one else. She’s been through enough and she doesn’t deserve to suffer anymore.”
Holding up her hands, Joslyn backed away. “All right. I’ll see to Emily then.”
“You do that,” Robert snapped.
Emily wanted to help Liz,
but she wouldn’t take the curse back. She was terrified.
Tremaine looked deep into his Robert’s eyes. “Go to your sister. Make sure she’s okay. I won’t let Liz go. Emily is scared out of her mind. You need to help Emily.”
Robert’s eyes closed, but he nodded before standing.
Tremaine sighed and looked right at Emily. “For the record, Liz doesn’t hate you. It was her idea to come here and break the curse when she realized what it was. Her idea to help you, knowing what she was going to have to suffer. I need you to understand that if you have any inclination to come between us and Liz, say one nasty word about her, or try to convince Robert he should turn away from her, you need to rethink that right now.”
Emily nodded, but she felt like she was missing something.
Robert crouched beside her. There was disgust mixed with the sympathy. “Em, why the hell did you bring James back? After what he did you to you, why?”
“I thought he could change.” Her eyes closed and she pulled at her hair. “He’s family, he’s supposed to love his family,” she whimpered, curling in on herself. “I was wrong. So very wrong. I’m sorry.”
Robert took her hands and pulled them gently from her hair. His voice was so soft. “Did you know that he tried to rape Liz? That when she told him she was pregnant, and he stabbed her until she lost our baby? He took our child from us.”
“I didn’t know,” Emily croaked, but couldn’t look at him. She already regretted her decision, but now she hated herself more than ever before.
There was such anguish twisted into his expression. “Do you have any idea what your piece of shit twin did to the woman I love? Do you? And what he did to you. I don’t understand how you could bring him back.” He squeezed his eyes shut and sat back against the wall beside her.
“I was wrong. I know that now.” She covered her face as she fell apart. “I would do anything to go back and kill myself instead of trying to fix him. He’s so broken. There is no hope for him. I didn’t realize he was rotten all the way through.”
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