by Kelly Hall
Rebekah was dumbstruck that he’d threaten one of her hunters, but Ignis was so angry that his privacy had been violated, his temper had gotten away from him.
He had always followed and never led. He’d allowed her to choose every location, every home, called all the shots for centuries. Maybe it coming to a head was long overdue.
“That sounded like a threat against one of my hunters.”
“It is what it is, Rebekah. Think what you want.”
“If you’re so miserable with me, then leave.”
Ignis stared at the floor, unable to look upon her face. There was no way he’d ever leave her. She was his world, his everything. She and Talia were his balance, working together like wife and daughter to keep his world on its axis. But that didn’t mean he had to let either of them walk all over him. He turned to leave, and without looking back, he warned, “You keep your hunters out of my business.”
Ignis wasn’t going to leave his books just lying around for anyone to get to. He didn’t want to rip out any more pages and burn them, so he decided it was time for a cloaking spell that would cover the entire room and make it private for his eyes only. It would take a lot of strength, and he needed a little time to make it happen.
He walked out of the north tower, heading for the south, and turned to mist mid-stride. Once in that form, his molecules were carried on a wave of fog until he slipped into the rubble and reformed in his library.
There wasn’t a soul who could get through the rubble as easily, so Canter must have been taking the back entrance. Clever hunter. He had only kept that part of the tunnels accessible for Bexy’s sake, but now that she had other ideas about digging into his grimoires, he would make sure there was only one way into the broken tower.
With so much work to do and knowing he wouldn’t be returning to the north tower anytime soon, he decided to settle in and make himself more comfortable. “Not much of a bachelor pad, but it will have to do for the night,” he said to the orange cat who sat perched up on the nearest stack of books. He placed his phone on the table and let out a long breath as he sat in the only chair. The room had not been designed for company.
“I suppose since we’re going to be roommates, I should give you a name.” Ignis reached over and took the cat into his lap, stroking its whiskers and the creases behind its ears. “Since I’m not about to lift your tail, I’ll just have to give you something befitting a boy or a girl. And since you’re a redhead like me, maybe you could be called Tiger?”
The cat turned around, arching it’s back like it was turned off by the idea.
“Yeah, I’m not much into that either. How about something a little different?” Being upset with Rebekah killed his creative mojo. “Something sweet? Marmalade?”
The cat began to purr as the new name was spoken, or maybe it was because Ignis had scratched the right spot, but he took it as a sign of approval. “Marmalade it is. So, now that we’re bunking together, you have to promise me you won’t let anyone get near my stuff. I’ve got lots of important things written in these pages, and I don’t want prying eyes on them.”
The cat mewed.
“I’ll take that as your solemn vow.” As the cat jumped down off of his lap, he got to his feet and dusted off the fur from his clothes.
“Friends don’t shed on other friends,” he mumbled. “Now, I have work to do.”
As he headed for the tunnel entrance, a gust of wind nearly blew him off his feet as the ginger tabby darted past him, giving a screech. The blur of orange was the last thing he saw before he grew dizzy and darkness enveloped him.
Chapter 23
Canter waited until everyone had settled in to talk to Rebekah again about the journals. Katie was busy helping Lulu in the kitchen, and Jarreth and Delilah had slipped off to be alone together.
He walked into the library and found Rebekah behind the desk with her lips pulled in a tight line as she stared down at the empty table before her.
“Are you okay?”
Rebekah hadn’t heard him come in and sat up straight in her seat, startled by his voice. “Yes. I’m sorry. Ignis and I had an argument, and I was just thinking about how to handle Kayne.”
“I’m sure if anyone knows how to do that, it’s you. And I mean that in the most respectful way.” He stopped behind the chairs, closing his hands behind his back.
“Well, in that case, have a seat and tell me what’s on your mind. As long as it has nothing to do with you wanting to donate blood.”
“Nah, I finally calmed Katie down about that, and I’m pretty sure Jarreth and Delilah are working it out as we speak.” He tried not to think about how those two were going about it and still couldn’t help but think Delilah was too good for his friend. “I wanted to pick up where we left off about the journals. There has to be something in them that’s useful.”
Rebekah couldn’t get Ignis’s accusing tone out of her head, or the hard look he’d given her when he’d made his threat. “I won’t give you permission or orders to snoop into his things again. He knows you were there and was pretty pissed off about it. He thinks I’ve betrayed him.”
Knowing that meant that his secret mission was over, he wondered what would happen if he took things into his own hands. “What if you didn’t give me orders next time? What if I just happened to take it upon myself to—”
Rebekah held up her hand and shook her head. She appreciated Canter’s spirit, but she just couldn’t authorize it after what Ignis had said. “I’d rather you didn’t.” Rebekah had a feeling he’d do it anyway, but this way, she could at least plead ignorance when he was caught, which knowing Ignis, he would be.
Canter moved to the edge of his seat. “I know what I’m looking for. I could—”
“Enough.” She shook her head. She wasn’t going to tell him about the threat Ignis had made and hoped he was smart enough to follow orders. And that Ignis had only been blowing off steam.
“Okay, then. If that’s how it’s going to be, I’ll just be up in my room with Katie. I’d just like to know what kind of punishment would be involved if I decided to roam the castle. Maybe pry into things I shouldn’t?”
Rebekah pushed her chair back. “You’re a grown man, Canter. The academy days are over and so is your mission. All I can do is welcome you into my home and ask that you make it yours. What kind of hostess would I be if I scolded you for appreciating the grounds?” She got up from the desk and walked to the doors. “Have a good night. I’ll see you in the morning.”
Canter waited long enough for her to get to her room before standing. He left for the hallway and found Katie on her way out of the kitchen.
She took his hand. “Late night reading again?”
Canter led her up the stairs. “Yeah, you know me.”
Once they got to the room, she immediately locked the door behind them and stripped off her shirt. “We have a lot of making up to do.”
“Yes, we do.” He smiled as he watched her undo her pants and shrug out of them, not missing the perfect curve of her hips.
“Shower with me? Then snuggle?”
“Whatever you want.” He was pretty sure she could have said to drink poison and he’d have still responded the same. He was so lost in her, especially since the attack.
She walked over as he stripped off his shirt and helped him pull it over his head. “I like the sound of that.”
They spent the next hour wasting water and making up for lost time. When Canter finally got her tucked into bed, snuggling her close, he had to fight to stay awake. If he tried to rest his eyes he’d fall asleep, and with so much left to do, he had to be careful not to pass out.
With Katie sleeping soundly, her eyes twitching with REM sleep, he slipped out of bed and got dressed. Carefully, as not to wake the entire castle, he crept down the stairs and made his way to the basement door. But then he remembered Liam. The boy had been locked up down below. Canter had to find another way to get into the tunnels if he wanted to get to the south tower.
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He decided to go to the east tower first, slip inside, and make his way down to the tunnels. He wouldn’t have to worry about anything but a few rats and whatever the previous owners left behind.
Shag carpeting? Harvest gold appliances?
Walking into the east tower, the air changed. It was still and cool, and the musty smell of mothballs stung his nose.
He made his way through the old living quarters and then down the hall, knowing the layout of the home was similar to that of the north tower. He remembered what he could from the small amount of exploring he’d done back when they’d first arrived, and finally, he found his way to the tunnel entrance. From that point, it was just a matter of staying on the path, and he quickly moved through the area, splashing through a few shallow puddles, scaring away the rats that had made it their home.
After the long walk, he came to the staircase, and once on the ground floor, he hurried down the hall and through the back rooms to Ignis’s library.
Instead of making a fuss, the orange cat came to greet him like an old friend, and when he walked over to the table, it jumped up on it and gave a soft mew. “Why are you being so nice?”
The cat made circles on the table, and then something caught Canter’s eye.
Ignis’s phone.
His pulse quickened, wondering if the mage was somewhere watching, perhaps hiding around a corner or on the next level. “Ignis?” he called out. The mage had already found out about the snooping before, so Canter saw no reason to hide.
Only there wasn’t any response. The broken tower remained quiet but for crickets and the purr of the stray who now walked circles around his boots.
Canter walked to the next room, where half of the wall had been caved in. Nothing but a pile of rubble remained near the staircase he took to the upper level, which had no ceiling. He looked up to the night sky, the cloud-free black palette with its tiny specks of light, made him feel so small.
The moment made him wish Katie was there to share it with him, and then he realized that in the entire universe, he had found his soulmate. “I’m the luckiest man in the world,” he whispered. And looking into his future at all the possibilities, he knew that no matter where life took him, he wanted her to be by his side.
But marriage? That was such a big deal, and he’d just given Jarreth so much shit about the same thing. Of course, that was because it involved Delilah too. But would Katie even go for it? He was sure going to find out.
Even though he should get to work, he stayed there a few minutes more, staring at the sky and imagining their life together. It was a beautiful picture, a dream he wanted to live in, one he dared to feel like he deserved.
Ignis never did come out of the shadows and wasn’t anywhere to be found, so Canter went back down to the library to try and search through some of the books. Apparently, with the evidence of more pages torn out and burned, Canter wasn’t going to find anything from the books on the table, and he decided to check the dates and look at a few others that were close to it.
Some of the pages were yellowed, but they didn’t seem nearly as old as they were dated. “What kind of magic is this?” he asked himself. The books had to be preserved somehow.
After some searching against the walls where Ignis had carefully stacked the old leather tomes, he found the dates he wanted and held his breath that there were no pages ripped out. This wasn’t the usual paper. It was leather-bound papyrus. “Okay, here goes nothing.” He opened it carefully and skimmed the words, looking for anything that might be related or pop out at him. Suddenly, a name stuck out, one he recognized.
Livia.
“Rebekah’s mother.” He read on, taking the words one by one, slowly translating as he went. He jotted them down on his phone’s notepad, wondering if he was on the right path. He did a small section and then another, using his phone’s translator when necessary and when a clear signal was available.
By the time I had gotten to the infirmary, Livia’s fever had broken and most of the bleeding had stopped, all but for the palms and feet, which still seeped into the bandages. What I have witnessed at her bedside is a true miracle, one that I’m not certain comes from God. While the others are sure this is a holy sign, that God has somehow blessed this young woman, I cannot see it as anything but an affliction. And a dangerous one at that. While the others are unaware of the dire situation, I can’t imagine what it’s doing to her unborn child. This being the third time it has happened to her, it’s taken a toll on her poor mind. The hallucinations, the fear of being possessed, it all had to stem from somewhere, and I want to know the source.
Livia claims a dark spirit, one that had taken on a shadowy form, had come to her, but she had fought it off with the blood. But where did it come from, and why did it choose her? I will get to the bottom of it.
Ignis had only made a short notation in the book about the visit, and there was nothing of importance before it or anywhere in the next several passages. It seemed that Livia had grown ill during her pregnancy with Rebekah. Something had come for the young woman, and she’d used what power she had, the blood, to ward it off.
She has to mean the stigmata. Could this be why it wants Rebekah?
He checked the time on his own phone and realized that if he didn’t get moving, he’d have to explain to Katie why he hadn’t gotten enough sleep. So, leaving the phone where he found it and giving one final nod to the cat, he hurried back into the tunnel.
Thankful for his much sharper than your average human hunter-vision, he swiftly made his way through the damp hallway to the basement stairs and then to the upper level where he expected the house to be sleeping, the rooms dark.
But once he hit the hallway, a dim light shone onto the floor from the library. Canter wondered if it was Ignis, waiting to call him out, but when he walked over and peeked inside, it was Rebekah he found sleeping in the chair.
Seeing the blanket next to her, he walked over, and as he moved to put it over her lap, she jerked awake. Before he could blink, Stella’s blade was at his throat.
“It’s me!” he said, gripping her arm defensively. With the swift action sending his pulse into overdrive, he panted, knowing she struck out at him by sheer instinct. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to startle you.”
She lowered her blade, putting it away as quickly as she had pulled it. “I’m so sorry, Canter. I couldn’t sleep. Thought I’d come down and wait for you, but I guess I was more tired than I thought.”
“It happens, but what’s wrong? Is it something I can help with?”
“It’s just Ignis. We’ve been fighting a lot lately. It’s like the distance between us has made us forget how much we mean to one another, and usually, it makes the heart grow fonder, so I guess I really don’t understand what’s happening to us.”
“You know, I was just down in the south tower, and I found his phone. I thought for sure he had busted me, but he wasn’t there. I thought he left it there when he came in and went to bed.”
“That sounds like a close call. If his phone was there, he’s close. He doesn’t get too far without it because of Talia.” Ever since cell phones became available, he and Talia had stayed connected. It was all they had when Talia managed to get a signal.
“Yeah, it’s just lying there on his table,” he said. “The place felt empty.”
“Did you find anything?”
Canter smiled. “I thought you didn’t want anything to do with my snooping?”
Rebekah sat up and stretched. “No, I didn’t want the blame or guilt of sending you out to do it, but if you just can’t help yourself and you do find anything, I want to know immediately.”
“I found an entry. It was during the time your mother was pregnant with you, and she had suffered a fever and became ill. She claimed a dark shadow came to see her, and she fought it off with the blood.” He took out his phone. “I wrote the translation here.”
Rebekah read the passages and then closed her eyes. “You assume it’s the same shadow.
If it’s this dark energy that tried to get to my mother when she was pregnant with me, then maybe that’s why it’s after me. At least, I know it may have been in contact with my mother, which could be where it got the power.”
“But what if it’s what did this to your mother? Ignis said it had happened three times before this.”
“No, my mother had the gift for years, according to Ignis.”
“Who isn’t telling you the truth?” He hated to point that out again, but she seemed to need reminding.
“I don’t see why he’d lie about that.” She didn’t understand anything anymore. “I don’t know. I feel like I didn’t really know him at all.”
“I’m sorry. I wish it were different with him. But that shadow didn’t just visit your mother. You were there too. It could have left its mark. And maybe that’s why it keeps coming back?”
“I guess I can hang up talking to Ignis about it. I don’t think he’ll be around much longer.”
“He’s not going to leave you. He’s going to sulk, make you worry, and then come back like nothing happened.”
Rebekah tossed the small blanket aside and got to her feet. “I don’t know. I told him to leave, and he’d already suggested going back to Talia. If he doesn’t turn up, I’m going to have to try and reach out to her. Maybe she has the answers. Maybe if I know what to ask her, she’ll give in and give me the truth.”
“Ignis might come back. He’s probably just somewhere stewing.”
She let loose a deep breath. “Probably. Maybe he went down to the bogs. He likes to go there to think.”