“Bas,” Sibeal says happily, “what are you doing here?”
I open the door fully and allow him to step into the house, even though I am wary of doing so. Bas smiles warmly at Sibeal. “Just wanted to check on you two and give Arra an update.”
“An update?” Sibeal’s eyes jump between the two of us. They settle on me with a look of disbelief. “He knows?”
I nod slowly as I walk over to Sibeal and loop my arm with hers. “Bas and Tanner both know. They’ve been trying to help me figure out how to help you. Tanner’s cousin was looking into the curse stone, and I think he may have found something.”
My eyes turn to Bas in hope. Please, please tell me Noel found something. Bas opens his mouth to speak, but Mrs. Ahearn bustles into the room and stops him. She smiles at Bas and offers her hand.
“Hi, I’m Sibeal’s mother. You must be Sebastian. Sibeal has mentioned how nice you’ve been to her. It’s so wonderful to finally meet you.”
Bas shakes her hand warmly. “It’s nice to meet you as well. I hope you don’t mind me just dropping by.”
“Not at all,” Mrs. Ahearn says. “In fact, why don’t you stay for dinner? We were just talking about making homemade pizzas for the sleepover. You’re welcome to keep the girls company for a while.”
Bas glances over at me for permission. I shrug, feeling helpless to do otherwise. He looks back at Mrs. Ahearn. “I’d be happy to.”
Mrs. Ahearn is already on her way back to the kitchen, so she doesn’t catch the way Bas looks over at me, but Sibeal does. One eyebrow rises questioningly as our eyes meet. The smile she is barely keeping in check promises she will be asking what is going on as soon as possible. The girl’s got spirit. I have to give her that. Even with everything looming over her head, she’s still eager for gossip. Maybe that prospect should scare me, but to be honest, I could use a friend to talk to.
Sibeal must realize this, because she grabs my hand and pulls me away from Bas with a quick excuse about needing my help with something vague. As soon as we are hidden from view in the hallway, Sibeal spins around to face me.
“What was that all about?” she demands with a conspiratorial grin.
“He really is here to tell us what his cousin said,” I hedge. Sibeal’s eyes narrow at me. I sigh, my eyes darting around to make sure Bas isn’t eavesdropping before continuing. “To be honest, I’m not even sure. I’m dating Tanner, but Bas…”
“Is totally hot and obviously into you,” Sibeal finishes with a huge grin.
I sigh. “Pretty much.”
“And you don’t know what to do about it.” Sibeal’s grin fades just a little. “He’s Tanner’s best friend, but Tanner hasn’t exactly been a model boyfriend lately.”
“None of this is Tanner’s fault. I don’t blame him for looking at my messages. I understand why he did,” I say. “We can work it out.”
“Do you want to?”
My head falls back against the wall. “I don’t know anymore.”
“I have an idea,” Sibeal says after a moment’s hesitation.
She grabs my arm and starts towing me toward the kitchen, but we don’t stop. As we pass by she tells her mom that we’re going out to take pictures behind her house. Her mom tells us to be careful, but doesn’t object. We’re back in Sibeal’s room, me standing there confused while Sibeal gathers up her photography gear.
When she has everything ready to go, she turns back to me and says, “You’re helping me, so I’ll help you.”
“How?”
She pats the camera bags crisscrossed over her. “You two clearly need to talk, so I’ll occupy myself with the landscape.” She almost leaves it at that, but only gets a step away before stopping. “Plus, a picture is worth a thousand words.”
“What does that mean?” I demand.
“You’ll see,” Sibeal says cryptically before dragging me back to the living room to collect Bas and begin her plan to help.
Chapter Twenty-Four
When we make it back to the living room, Bas stands up with a question on his face as he spots Sibeal. “What’s going on?” he asks.
I shrug, not totally sure myself. Sibeal just laughs. “I thought we could use a little privacy to talk.” She gestures at the camera bags. “These are our excuse to head into the woods for a while.”
Seems like a perfectly reasonable thing to say as far as Bas is concerned. He stuffs his phone back in his pocket and opens the front door for us. Bas and I follow as Sibeal leads the way around her house to her favorite spot. When she sets her bags carefully on the ground and claims one of the fallen logs as a chair, I sit down as well. Bas, no surprise, sits down right next to me, just close enough that his thigh is pressed against mine.
Sibeal offers me a knowing smile before turning serious. As quickly as possible, she tells Bas everything she told me in her room. She seems surprised that Bas takes in news of Druids, immortality, and curses so calmly, but I figured he’d be up for the challenge of believing Sibeal after he listened to my story.
“So,” Sibeal says to Bas after her explanation, “what did your cousin find out?”
“To be honest, not a whole lot, but he said he’ll keep researching it. I told him we only have until tomorrow night, so he’s working as hard as he can.” Bas pauses and leans against a tree behind us. His arms cross over his chest and I recognize his serious and very worried look. “What Noel could tell me was that the curse stone that woman gave you isn’t a normal curse stone. The cat symbol is only used on one kind of curse stone that he could find. It’s called a Soul Stone.”
I have to admit, it sounds spooky, but the way Sibeal’s face completely drains of color makes me panic. Half afraid she will faint and fall off the log, I hurry over to her side. “Sibeal, what’s wrong?”
“A Soul Stone?” she whispers. “No, that can’t be right.”
Bas abandons his log and comes over to sit by Sibeal as well. “Noel certainly doesn’t know everything about Celtic lore, but he seemed pretty positive about this.”
Without warning, Sibeal starts sobbing uncontrollably. Bas tries to console her, but she throws her arms around me before he can do anything. I have no choice but to hug Sibeal and hope she’ll calm down enough to tell us what’s wrong. If she doesn’t explain soon, I’m going to freak out, too. What if she says there’s nothing we can do? Will Tlaloc really let me die?
Bas leans forward and mouths, Do you have any clue what’s going on?
I shake my head. Whatever a Soul Stone is, Sibeal has heard of it before. Her meltdown can’t be a good sign. My own panic escalates and I have a hard time keeping it out of my voice. “Sibeal, whatever this means, we’ll help you through it, okay?”
“I don’t think there’s any helping me now, Arra,” Sibeal cries. Her words make me go cold, but I do my best not to panic just yet. Sibeal finally lifts her head and sits up under her own power. “I thought this was just about Darcy, but it isn’t. If this were just about the rest of this mortal life that Darcy would be trapped, I…I think I would do it. I deserve one life to live without the pain she causes. I deserve at least that after everything she’s taken from me.”
“Why isn’t it that simple? Sister or not, she shouldn’t be let out,” I argue.
Sibeal wipes at her eyes, but the tears keep falling. It takes a long while before she forces herself to look up again. “It won’t just be for this life, Arra. If the curse becomes permanent, I’ll never see my sister again.”
“What? How do you know that?” I ask.
Her head falls into her hands. Getting frustrated with her, I reach over and push her upright. Sibeal faces me with fear in her eyes. “I’ve spent centuries learning about how to use my power. A curse like the Soul Stone is way beyond my abilities, but I’ve learned enough to know that it’s nowhere near as simple of a curse as Etain led me to believe.”
“How so?”
Sibeal straightens, finally looking like she has some strength in her body. “Etain told me I had to m
ake the curse permanent myself, which was true, but not the whole story. If I don’t make the curse permanent tomorrow, it won’t just dissolve and let things go back to normal.”
“What do you mean? What will happen if the curse isn’t made permanent?” Bas asks.
Sibeal rubs her forehead angrily. “Then it will trap me just as it did Darcy.”
“What?”
The change in Sibeal’s expression from weary to furious startles me. Bas and I exchange a look of concern. I’ve never seen her even a little bit mad before. Bas looks like he hasn’t either. Angry Sibeal is a little bit frightening. She doesn’t seem to notice our wide eyes, though. Her steely voice continues.
“This curse, it doubles back on the one who unleashed it if they don’t complete the cursing. Punishment for being a coward, I guess.”
“Why would Etain do that? I thought she was your friend.”
“So did I,” Sibeal says. “I can try to tell myself that Etain either didn’t know, or never thought it would come to that because I would complete the curse, but I’d just be fooling myself. Etain clearly didn’t want to help me. She wanted to take my power, mine and Darcy’s. And if she can’t do that, she wants us out of her way forever.”
Now I’m the one rubbing my temples. Bas looks like he wants to do the same thing. This is getting more confusing by the second. Bas is the first to voice his confusion. “What do you mean she wanted to take you and your sister’s power? How was that going to happen?”
“If I make the curse permanent, it will kill Darcy and strip her of her power. It will mean never being reborn again. She’ll be gone, but power can’t just disappear. It will flow back to the caster of the curse.”
“You?”
Sibeal shakes her head slowly. “No, I only activated the curse before giving the stone to Darcy. The power would go back to Etain.”
“Okay, but how does that affect you?” I ask. Maybe I missed something in that explanation.
“Being a twin means sharing everything,” Sibeal says slowly, “including our power. We have never been very powerful because each of us only has half the power we were meant to have. We are linked more deeply than anyone understands. If Darcy’s power is stripped away, mine will be as well.”
Oh wow. My head feels like it’s spinning a bit with all the information Sibeal just revealed, but I finally begin to understand the pain she is experiencing, the indecision and guilt. If Sibeal doesn’t make the curse permanent, she’ll be sucked into it and spend the rest of eternity locked away with Darcy to be tormented by her. It sounds like a horrible fate, but it would mean still having Darcy, and not being the one to kill her sister.
Her other option is to make the curse stick, to snuff out Darcy’s immortal existence and live the rest of her mortal life alone and powerless, never to be reborn. I lean back against a large branch sticking up from the log as I try to take in the enormity of such a decision. Kill your sister or spend forever in Hell with her.
More now than ever, I struggle to understand what my role is in this. Is killing Darcy wrong? Is letting Sibeal suffer for eternity any better?
“If,” I say slowly, not wanting to offend Sibeal, “Etain were to get you and Darcy’s power, what would that mean? What is she capable of?”
Sibeal shakes her head. “I don’t know, but I’m scared that she’ll come after me. I’ll be helpless against her when she gets here.”
“When she gets here?” I squeak in panic.
“She’s coming here?” Bas echoes. For being so calm and collected all the time, even he looks shaken.
“She’s coming tomorrow.” Sibeal’s whole body starts shaking. “She’s been close friends with my mom all their lives. She called a few days ago to tell my mom she wanted to come and spend the anniversary with us so we didn’t feel so alone, especially since my dad isn’t here. He blamed my mom for what happened because she begged him to take Darcy with us to Ireland. Etain is pretending to care about my mom, but now I see that she’s really just coming to make sure everything goes the way she wanted it to.”
A string of curse words begins running through my mind. I can’t believe the kind of crazy, messed up insanity that happens right under people’s noses. How many more bizarre and life threatening situations will I get pulled into? Shaking my head, I remind myself that it doesn’t matter how long I have to keep doing this. All the myths and legends I’ve ever heard of could all pop to life, but Sibeal is still my main concern right now.
Standing up, I try to focus my mind using the cadence of my pacing steps. I breathe in the scents of the forest. Only a few short months ago, moss and bugs would have had me itching for the indoors. Now, I love the peacefulness being in the forest brings. Its soothing atmosphere does a lot to calm me enough to think.
Bas’s touch does the rest. I don’t jump when his hand slips onto my shoulder. I welcome his strength, turning toward him and meeting his gaze. “Why don’t we take a walk,” he suggests.
I start to object. I don’t want to leave Sibeal right now. We have to think of how to get her out of this mess. Bas shakes his head.
“Sibeal wants a few minutes to herself. She needs time to think on her own.”
My head turns to look at Sibeal. Her eyes are focused a million miles away, but her head nods. Worried that she might be experiencing some kind of shock, I take a step toward her. The sound of leaves crackling underfoot finally makes her look up.
“Really, Arra, it’s okay. I could use a few minutes to myself.” She stands and wraps me up in a hug. “Besides, you two need to talk. Go, nothing is going to happen to me yet, anyway. Come back when you’re ready. I’ll still be here.”
Any further protesting is met with Sibeal shoving us toward a path away from the circle of logs. She at least seems in somewhat better spirits by the time we take the first few steps away from her. Hope clouds my mind that tomorrow won’t be the last day for both Sibeal and I, but Bas’s presence right next to me proves a good distraction.
Our feet carry us away from Sibeal, our thoughts leaving her behind as well, just as she intended. I glance over at Bas and see him walking with his hands in his pockets and head down. I’m not much better with my arms crossed in front of me and my eyes trying to find anything else to look at that isn’t Bas.
Finally, Bas speaks. “So, I’m guessing this means you told Sibeal about our talk last night?”
“Sorry,” I mumble. “Apparently we aren’t very good at hiding what we’re thinking. She guessed pretty easily.”
With a shake of his head, Bas’s head drops to his chest. “I’m sorry, Arra, but I don’t think I’m going to be able to do this. Hide, I mean. It’s too hard.”
“What are you saying?” I ask, my arms tightening around my body.
Bas stops, his magnetic pull refusing to let me go any further without him. His expression is pained as he says, “I’m going to have to stay away from you until …”
“Until when?” I demand.
“Until …” Bas throws his hands up. “I don’t know! Until I can stand to be near you without wanting pull you into my arms. Until you break up with Tanner and I can be around you without feeling guilty—not that I’m saying that’s what you should even do.”
Bas spins away from me. “I don’t know, Arra. I don’t know what to do. I just know this …” He gestures at the minimal distance between us. “…can’t keep happening. I can’t take it. You’re too sweet and beautiful and perfect! I want you so much, but I can’t have you. I don’t know if I’ll ever be able to, and I don’t know how to handle that.”
I reach out for Bas, but I don’t know what to say. I’m not perfect. My sweetness is fairly debatable, especially if you ask my parents. Does he really see me like that? Does Tanner? I don’t know what to do either, but the thought of losing Bas hurts so much I can barely stand to think about it.
I can’t sit through classes pretending he isn’t there. Eat lunch without listening to his voice? I realize how much I would miss it,
even when he’s teasing me. No matter what is going on, Bas somehow manages to be the calming presence in the middle of a storm. Even when he’s the one causing the problem! Not having him in my life just isn’t okay.
“Bas,” I say softly.
Just that is enough to spin him around to face me. His whole body leans toward me, but he holds back, trying not to act on his desires. I’ve never seen him so completely vulnerable. Emotionally exposed, he waits for me to say something, to cast him away or take the next step. My heart is pounding as I move closer to him. We are only inches away from each other, breathing like we have run for hours when I finally stop.
“Bas,” I say, my voice trembling as badly as my body, “I don’t want you to disappear.”
His hands clutch my shoulders, holding me at a distance, even though he clearly wants to pull me against him. I gasp in a breath at the desire and guilt clouding his expression. Every breath he takes speaks to me, promises never to leave, to love me forever. I don’t know what to do. I don’t want to lose this moment, but my head falls as guilt crushes me.
Bas’s grip loosens, but my fingers clutch at his arm. “Don’t,” I beg.
He continues to hold onto me with one arm as his other hand comes up to press against my cheek. Gentle pressure guides me to look up at him. The fire in his eyes consumes me. All it would take would be the slightest indication that I wanted more. My lips parting. Rising up on my toes to meet him. One word. That’s all it would take to bring his lips to mine so I could taste his love and open myself up to him.
All it takes is one thought to pull me away. Tanner.
I was the one begging him to stay only seconds ago, but now I step out of his grip. I can’t cheat on Tanner. He doesn’t deserve that. Bas seems to come to the same conclusion when I do. His expression breaks into one filled with guilt. Turning away from me, he leans against a tree for support. His fist hits the tree, not hard enough to do any real damage, but enough to beat out his frustration.
Soul Stone Page 22