“What you drank evidently contained a spell.”
I shook my head. “Don’t believe in spells.”
“Really? I find that interesting considering you believe in vampires.”
“That’s because I’ve seen proof.”
“Whatever you drank changed your eye color.”
“What?” I studied his face. “No it didn’t.”
He gave an incredulous stare.
I swallowed hard. “How?”
“We don’t know.”
“Jadeon never mentioned it.”
“He didn’t want to alarm you probably.”
“What color are they then?” I squinted at him, annoyed.
He reached for the hand mirror resting on the side table.
Peering at my reflection, I blinked in horror at my irises. They’d gone from deep brown to a shocking fluorescent blue. The mirror dropped from my grasp and it landed on the sheet.
Impossible.
My heart hammered against my chest wall, trying to escape my body. My hands shook as I tried to steady the mirror. “What the hell?” Drowning in panic, my entire body trembled. “Am I a... vampire?”
“No.”
“You’re sure?”
“Did you just ask me that?” He glared. “You have a reflection. Does that help?”
My eyes stung with tears. “But spells aren’t real.”
“Bright blue irises not proof enough for you?”
I cursed the hours I’d lost and my head crashed back against the headboard. It struck me that my sight could have been lost. What other dangers had I put myself in that I didn’t know about? “Where’s the bottle now?” I said. “Maybe we can send it to a private lab to get the contents tested.”
“I believe Mirabelle still has it. I’ll ask her.”
“Do you think this is permanent?”
“Have no idea.”
“Not exactly comforting,” I said. “Is this what happened to Anaïs?”
“It wasn’t the same crap she drank.”
“How do you know?”
“You’re alive.”
“Oh, it really would have killed me then.”
His eyebrows arched in that oh so sexy way of his. “ We believe whoever put the blue illuminate substitute in that room knew you were coming.”
“Who?” I slid down the bed and pulled the blanket up. “That monk?”
“No.”
“Right, because I’d be dead. Then who?”
“Jadeon believes it may have been Fabian.”
I let out a moan. “To punish me?”
“That’s not his way.”
“Why does Jadeon believe it’s Fabian?”
“This is a powerful spell.” Orpheus’ words came to me, though he had not spoken them. “An incantation performed by a true master of alchemy.” Orpheus shrugged. “A hunch.” His lips thinned. “Won’t show her the room, not yet.”
“Room?” I said
“Did you just...”
I pushed myself up the bed. “Read your thoughts? Yes.” Though somehow, I didn’t believe it.
“Yet you’re still mortal,” he thought.
“That’s something at least,” I said, and on his confusion added, “Still being mortal.”
He flinched. “Oh hell no.”
“I’m not exactly happy about it myself,” I said, feeling too dazed to truly believe it. I flicked my fingers for the mirror again.
Orpheus passed the mirror back. “Bloody hell.”
“I thought you’d seen everything,” I said, studying my face, my bright blue eyes.
“So did I.” He shook his head in disbelief.
I swallowed hard. “What have I been up to these last few days? Something tells me I’ve been sleep walking.”
“Sleeping. Mainly. And trying to fucking fly.”
“Oh God, no.”
“Guard your mind.”
“Please, don’t guard your mind.” I gave a triumphant smile. “It’s the only thing I have going for me right now. Orpheus, could it be possible that you and I are now equals?”
“Absolutely,” he said. “That’ll be the day.”
“Oh bloody hell, I really am reading your mind.” A complete and utter breakdown loomed ever closer at the realization of what I’d done.
What had I done?
“Let’s get Alex in here,” I said, “and see if I can read his mind too.”
“Let’s not.” He thinned his lips. “She’ll freak when she sees the room.” Orpheus’ thoughts carried again. “Shit.”
“What room?”
He looked away.
I pulled off the blanket. “I want to see.”
“You’re not strong enough to walk.”
“This is not a request,” I snapped. “Are you going to help me or will I have to ask someone else. Is Seb here?”
“Ingrid—”
“Either you take me or I’ll crawl there by myself. You have me curious now.” I staggered to my feet. A wave of dizziness hit me hard.
He caught me and wrapped an arm around me, hugging me into his side. “You’re painfully stubborn, you know that?”
We headed out and down the hallway. It felt strange to have Orpheus so close, but his embrace was something I needed. Not so long ago I’d fled from his touch, never foreseeing I’d ever demand anything from him. This was going to take some getting used to.
“I can hear you,” he said with a wry smile.
“Ha! I can hear you too now.”
He rolled his eyes. “Let’s hope it’s temporary.”
“I’m not exactly thrilled myself.”
Within minutes, we’d made it to the door that led to Jadeon’s art room.
“This is a bad idea,” Orpheus thought.
My throat tightened with what I was about to face.
I felt him before I saw him. His presence causing goose bumps to form along my forearms. My chest tingled in anticipation.
Jadeon materialized before us, and even though I’d sensed him I staggered back at his appearance out of nothing. Orpheus grabbed my waist to prevent my fall.
Jadeon prized me from him. “She shouldn’t be up.”
“You know how stubborn she is,” Orpheus said. “Jadeon, she can hear our thoughts.”
“What are you talking about?” Jadeon looked harried.
I snuggled into his chest. “Did you find out anything?”
“I’ve sent word that I need to talk with Snowstrom.” Jadeon threw Orpheus a questioning stare. “What do you mean she can read our minds?”
I sighed. “The illusive Fabian Snowstrom.”
“Even if he isn’t responsible he should still be able to help,” Jadeon said and swapped another wary stare with Orpheus. “What’s going on?”
My hand rested on the doorknob.
Jadeon eased my hand off. “Back to bed now.”
I steadied myself and gripped the handle. “Now you really have me intrigued.”
Orpheus came closer. “How about some tea? Seb will make you some.”
I shot him a look. “You’re being awfully nice. I’m not used to it.” A wave of terror slithered up my spine. “Have I hurt someone?” I broke away from Jadeon’s grip and pushed open the door.
There were no dead bodies in here, thank goodness. No evidence I had done any damage to anyone or even the room. This was Jadeon’s den. The place he liked to wile away the hours and paint. Over a week ago I’d watched Paradom paint in here. There, upon the canvas, was his latest painting and it was stunning. He’d perfectly crafted Jadeon’s face with soft pastels, capturing those hazel specks in his fiery eyes, that serene expression of his with delicate strokes. Paradom had almost finished the piece. My attention moved over to what had once been a plain white wall. Paradom had gone mad scribbling ancient symbols all over it, and from the look of things he’d moved on to the far wall and worked out complex mathematical calculations. Paradom had calculated the speed of light with an equation.
How di
d I know that? How could I interpret so easily what these symbols meant?
Jadeon came closer and again wrapped his arms around me, hugging me close. I leaned against him, finding comfort in his hold while admiring the numerous alchemic symbols and understanding both the sense and the meaning of each one and how they corresponded to each other, while marveling at their brilliance. “Huh.”
“She doesn’t remember,” Jadeon’s words carried.
I peered up at him to better read his expression and caught his trailing thoughts. Startled by them, I pulled away. “No.” I searched his face for the truth and shot Orpheus a look to confirm what they were insinuating. “That’s not possible.”
Orpheus gave a slow nod.
Jadeon reached for me. “Take a deep breath, Ingrid.”
My throat tightened and that awful blackness threatened to eat me whole again, stealing up on me and wanting to devour my consciousness.
My sanity.
“I drew those?” I stuttered, pointing at the wall. “And painted that?” I motioned to the painting. “Your portrait?”
Jadeon’s eyes filled with wonder. “Yes.”
I fought the drag, the pull of blackness hankering after me, nipping at my heels, and I crumpled in Jadeon’s arms.
CHAPTER 25
What I had been up to these last few days flooded back in a dream-like haze.
I really had tried to launch myself off the balcony in an attempt to fly. Reassuringly it appeared that phase was over. So much so that I’d been allowed some privacy. Alex, who hadn’t left my side for days, was now giving me some space.
Those symbols I’d drawn upon the walls had been me trying to figure out what the hell that spell was I’d inadvertently imbibed in Carn Brea’s chapel. The spell itself had given me the knowledge to attempt to work out the formula.
Mind blowing.
Jadeon had gathered all the books on ancient incantations from the castle library and given them to me. I’d returned to the comfort of his bedroom and spread out the old texts around me, hoping to decipher these flashes of inspiration. Anaïs had warned that blue illuminate had the potential to make you smarter, but whatever I had drunk had bestowed a supernatural awareness. Though it came and went with no obvious sign of permanence. Not yet, anyway.
When these cognizant flashes occurred, these metaphysical visions of inspiration, it really did feel like my mind was slipping, mainly because subjects on which I had never studied flittered into my awareness. Just this morning my mind had drifted to the castle’s history and I’d marveled that the first priory here was founded in 1135. Yet I’d never read that or been told this by Jadeon. Details of that time came to me as vividly as a recollection. Thankfully, these phases didn’t last long. The lightheadedness they brought sent me spiraling afterward.
Right now I was feeling normal again. As normal as one feels in a castle with vampires roaming its corridors.
Like the one standing at the end of my bed, his eyes full of concern.
Paradom held out the colorful bouquet of bright pinks and stunning reds and the scent of fresh cut roses filled the room.
I pushed myself farther up the headboard. “Paradom, they’re beautiful.”
Having been feeling sorry for myself, his appearance was a healthy reminder that someone else had suffered a far worse fate.
“Seb making tea,” he muttered. “Tea tastes like iron.”
Sebastian made the best tea. His endless tea and biscuit runs were looked forward to, carrying it up those sweeping stairs and along those chilly corridors. He always turned up with a teapot covered with a tea cozy, and though I found this all very amusing the tea was appreciatively piping hot when it arrived. Just how I liked it. Seb’s visits were just as warming.
“Sorry you hurt bad,” Paradom said.
I managed a nod. A tilt of my head, not wanting to go there, especially with Paradom whose thoughts were apt to wander.
Only last week I’d been in this castle trying to extract Jadeon’s location from him. The words Paradom had spoken had been the darkest portent. “This bridge you cross crumbles beneath your feet.”
Fear slithered up my spine, just as it had when he’d spoken them.
Paradom had warned me. “There’s no way back.”
“How did you know?” I said. “How did you predict this?”
He buried his nose in the flowers and breathed them in. “Beginnings can be scary.”
“Let me smell them.” I gestured for him to step closer.
“Mustn’t stay long.”
“Why ever not?”
Sebastian appeared in the doorway. “Because you need your rest.” He carried a tray full of breakfast items: a hardboiled egg in an eggcup, sliced buttered whole-wheat toast, and I almost heard angels singing when I spotted the tea cozy covered teapot with a lone cup beside it.
“I’m being well and truly spoiled,” I said.
Sebastian laid the tray on my lap. “How are you feeling?”
“Well my headache’s gone,” I said. “As is my life. Got anything for that?”
“Actually I may have.” He looked over at Paradom. “Please put those in a vase and fetch my laptop.” Sebastian called after him. “Paradom…”
Paradom paused by the door.
“You picked the best flowers,” Sebastian told him. “Good job.”
Paradom beamed, revealing the sharpest teeth. He trotted off out the door.
“You let him go outside?” I whispered.
“He’s not our prisoner, Ingrid. Anyway, he won’t go far. Alex or I stay with him.” He shrugged. “The benefit of living on an island.”
“Seb, are my eyes really that freaky?”
“That obvious, huh?”
“You’re having trouble looking me in the eye.”
“Sorry,” he said. “They’re kind of bright.”
“I hope they don’t stay like this. I’ll be forced to wear colored contacts for the rest of my life.”
“Come on now,” Sebastian said. “We have a job to do. Beatrice and Helena need finding.”
“At least someone is listening to me.”
“I’m sorry about your doctor friend.” Seb shook his head solemnly. “Jadeon told me.”
“Riley was a great doctor and a good man.”
“Ingrid, I’m sorry to have to tell you this.”
“Say it.”
“Your funeral was yesterday.”
I moaned. “Did anyone turn up?”
“There was quite a gathering. Turns out you were rather popular.” He gave a comforting smile.
I choked back tears. “I suppose that really does mean there’s no going back.” A lump caught in my throat. “I’ve lost everything.”
“I’m sorry, truly I am. But now that the guardians believe you’re dead they’ll stop hunting you.” He lifted the tea cozy and poured a golden trickle of tea into the teacup.
“You’re not having one?” I said.
“Just had one.”
“I imagined how my life might go,” I said. “Not once did I ever imagine anything close to this.”
“If you’d have told me that one day I’d be living in a castle with a bunch of vampires and a pretty police inspector—”
“Ex-police inspector.”
Sebastian lifted the small pot of milk and poured it into the cup.
“I can do it,” I said.
“Let me.” He used the silver spoon to stir.
“What am I meant to do?” I said. “I’m so lost.”
“Well consider this as your home. We’re a grand collection of misfits and we’re all very happy here.”
“Not quite sure how to take that.”
“We’re one big happy family. Jadeon’s installed an 86 inch TV in what used to be the anteroom. We even have wifi. Orpheus is talking about putting in a pool. You know how much he loves to swim.”
“How does Jadeon feel about that?”
“You know how amiable he is.”
“Not
as amenable as I would like,” I said, realizing Seb may not know about what really happened in that morgue.
“Paradom will be happy to share Jadeon’s art room with you,” he said.
Terror found its way back to me. “I don’t paint, Seb. At least not before last night when I apparently took it up. Though I have no memory of it. Did you see the portrait of Jadeon I painted?”
“I did take a peek.”
“What did you make of it?”
“You’ve never painted before?”
“The last time I painted was in school. And then I had no talent for it. What the hell, I’m like a Rembrandt or something.”
“Let’s be thankful it’s not Jackson Pollock.”
I let out a nervous laugh. “And those calculations.”
“All connected to this stuff you drank, apparently.”
“Half of me doesn’t want it to last, but there’s this ego driven side that’s getting off on knowing stuff I never knew before.” I studied my hands. “I’m seriously convinced I can play the piano.”
“Maybe you and Alex can play a duet?”
“Seb, I’ve never had a lesson in my life.”
“Oh, that’s...disconcerting.”
I rested my head back, barely holding my panic at bay. “I’m methodical. I study every detail and calculate my deductions based on elemental facts. This is way out of my league.”
“Jadeon’s working on it. You have to trust him.”
“I’m not sure where he and I stand anymore.”
“Give it time. All of this is a big shock. Don’t rush yourself.”
“I’ll allow myself the privilege of taking it easy after we find Helena and Beatrice.” I lifted the spoon and cracked the top of the egg. “I’m going to need that laptop, Seb.”
“Let me know if there’s anything I can do.”
“There is.” I scrunched up my nose. “Keep the tea coming.”
“That I can do.”
After eating that delicious egg and all of the toast, I finished off the tea and turned on Sebastian’s laptop. I slid in the memory card I’d rescued from my flat that captured all the footage shot through the fox from the Bainard Building. Barely aware of the hours slipping away, I methodically studied each frame. Not that it mattered now, but so far there wasn’t any footage of me, just as Jadeon had reassured me.
Outside, birdsong trilled though the air.
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