Soul Stone

by Gladden, DelSheree

  Sibeal shakes her head. “No, the question is, do I break the curse or not?”

  Tanner looks at her like she’s lost it. Apparently, he thinks she has. “What are you talking about? Of course you have to break the curse. We’re not going to just stand by and watch you get sucked into the Otherworld, whatever the hell that is. You have to break the curse and protect yourself against this Etain woman.”

  “Oh, it’s that simple, is it?” Sibeal snaps.

  She’s really irritated with him, but I have to suppress a laugh. I’ve never seen her get so riled up before. Tanner, though, is ready to match her. I don’t doubt the similarities between what happened to me and what is now happening to Sibeal are fueling his intensity, but I don’t know what to do about it.

  “Your sister is a psychopath, Sibeal. Why would you risk your existence to save her?” He flops back against the couch. “From what I’ve heard, she’s beat you up on several different occasions, slept with your boyfriend, forced your parents to keep you both virtual prisoners, and in general made your life a living hell. And she’s been doing it for centuries!”

  Sibeal is livid. “She’s my sister! She’s the only person who knows who I really am, the only one who understands! You’re asking me to kill my own sister. Don’t you understand that?”

  “No,” Tanner says. “No, I don’t understand why you would give your own life up to save her. How can you even still call her your sister? Blood may make you family, but Arra has been more of a sister to you in the last few months than Darcy has been in all the centuries you’ve been together.”

  Sibeal tries to argue with Tanner, but he won’t give her a moment to even get the first word out. “You say that Darcy is the only one who really knows you and understands you? Then what are we doing here? You dumped a whole pile of absolute insanity on us, but do you see anyone running away?”

  Finally, Sibeal falls back against the couch in defeat. “No,” she says quietly.

  “Exactly.” Tanner folds his arms over his chest. There’s no satisfaction in the win, but he calms down at least.

  “Why do you even care?” Sibeal asks him. “You don’t even like me.”

  “Sure I like you,” Tanner says indignantly. “I never said I didn’t. I just thought you were going to get Arra killed.”

  I am trying to contain a smile over the fight, even though Tanner’s words strike a nerve with me. Bas chuckles next to me, clearly amused. After a while, even Sibeal and Tanner crack smiles. The amusement doesn’t last long, though, because reality is still biting at our heels.

  “Regardless of what Sibeal decides to do,” I say, “we need to be ready for either one. We need to know how to make the curse permanent and protect her from Etain and we need to know what will happen if Sibeal doesn’t break the curse.”

  Sibeal’s arms wrap around her body as if the temperature has suddenly dropped. “If I don’t break the curse, I don’t think there will be anything to prepare for. I’ll just be taken like Darcy was.”

  And so will I, but I can only assume it will be Aztec guards claiming me instead of Celtic curses. I have to bite back the words on my lips. I want so badly to be as adamant as Tanner that she break the curse. I don’t want to die, but I can’t demand Sibeal kill her sister just to save my life.

  “But,” Tanner interjects, “that’s not going to happen, so let’s focus on making the curse permanent.”

  The sound of the movie playing is the only sound in the room. Silence isn’t getting us anywhere, so I say what everyone else is thinking. “Any ideas?”

  Everyone’s shoulders droop like a balloon that has just lost its air. I sigh. That’s what I was afraid the response would be. Fabulous. After everything we’ve learned, we’re still sitting on square one.

  In the absence of any answers, everyone’s eyes eventually drift to the TV screen. The movie is more than halfway over, but I finally realize what we’ve been watching this whole time. I smile at the image of Tom Hanks trying to befriend Meg Ryan as the story of You’ve got Mail unfolds. It’s a classic, one of my favorites. I smile as I shift my position so my back is leaning against Bas’s shoulder.

  As I watch the movie, I can’t help but wonder if Sibeal picked it specifically for me and Bas. The story of Tom Hanks and Meg Ryan being enemies in business, but unknown to them, friends online sucks me in every time. Tom Hanks figures out that Meg Ryan is his online friend and sets out to become her friend in real life without her finding out who he is. The end is the best part of the movie when Meg Ryan goes to meet her online friend and finds Tom Hanks waiting for her. Her response of, “I wanted it to be you,” will make me cry every time.

  I glance back at Sibeal, worried she’ll be upset that no one had any ideas right away. I’m surprised to find her smiling as she watches the movie. Maybe she understands we all could use a break to shake things out and think more clearly. Or maybe she just loves this movie as much as I do. I smile when she laughs at Tom Hanks’ antics and bats at Tanner when he teases her.

  If we don’t come up with a way to protect Sibeal from Etain or stop her from letting the curse take her, it’s nice to know we’ll spend our last night with friends. I turn back to the movie thinking about what Tanner said earlier. When I first started looking into Sibeal’s past, friendship wasn’t my main motivation. Now, I truly consider her a friend, one of my closest, and I want so badly to keep her here, safe and alive. I want the same for myself, but it’s not my main motivation like it was last time.

  Feeling both worried and happy, I forget myself for a moment and turn toward Bas. The second I turn, though, the scent of his cologne snaps me back to reality. Tanner’s narrowed eyes watching me push me away from Bas quickly. I turn back to face the movie, my face feeling warm. Bas shifts slightly a moment later, just enough that his knee brushes against me.

  Accident or not, he doesn’t take it any farther than that, and eventually I relax. I turn my focus back to the movie. The end isn’t too far off, now, but before we reach it, my eyes start to close. As I begin to lose my struggle to stay away, I blame Bas and his perpetually calming presence for making me miss my favorite part.

  ***

  Shadows cloak Sibeal as she scurries through the streets holding her precious little box. Fear tightens her fingers around it, but there is a glint of happiness in her eyes, the hope of freedom. She isn’t seen by a single soul before reaching the cottage where she and her parents have been staying. The door is still unlocked, so she sneaks back into the house and heads straight for her room.

  She isn’t back in the quiet of her darkened room for more than two seconds before Darcy slithers in from the hallway with a twisted smile on her face. Sibeal jumps and stumbles into the bed at the sound of Darcy shutting the bedroom door. She nearly drops the box. Her trembling fingers clutch it to her chest, but not soon enough to escape Darcy’s hungry eyes.

  “What do you have there?” Darcy says, the words flickering out from between her lips.

  “Haven’t you hurt me enough?” Sibeal tries to back away, but Darcy’s fingers bite into her arm before she can escape.

  “Enough?” Darcy hisses. “I will never be able to hurt you enough!”

  Darcy’s hand darts in toward the box. She scrabbles for it greedily, not even knowing what it is. She doesn’t care what the box holds. Her frenzy is brought on only by the fact that her sister possesses something she does not. As Sibeal fights to get away from her sister, Darcy’s fury intensifies.

  The struggle for the box becomes an all-out war. Darcy backhands Sibeal into the wall. The force is powerful enough that Sibeal crumbles under the impact. The box rolls out of her hands and Darcy jumps on it. She has it torn open before Sibeal can even register what happened. The stone is in Darcy’s hands when Sibeal opens her eyes and utters a single word.

  That’s when the screaming starts.

  Darcy tries to fling the stone away from her when it starts glowing and searing into her hand. Her shrieks fill the room. Sibeal’s stun
ned expression only lasts a few seconds. She stands up shakily to watch the curse play out, but Darcy has no intention of succumbing easily. Spotting her sister, Darcy lunges at Sibeal, brute force and insanity propelling her into Sibeal.

  The girls crash into the wall. Sibeal furiously tries to push her sister away, but Darcy is determined to trap Sibeal. Her hands scrabble for Sibeal’s. Though the twins are carbon copies of each other, Darcy’s strength outmatches Sibeal’s. She grabs at her hands, trying to force hers to touch the stone. Darcy seems to know that there is no escape for her, but she won’t go alone.

  With a clap of finality, Darcy’s hand clamps down on Sibeal’s wrist. The vile expression that blossoms on her cruel face brings agony to Sibeal’s eyes. Defeat weighs heavily on her shoulders and she slumps. Darcy cackles at her sister. The hand with the stone comes flying toward Sibeal, ready to claim her as well.

  Darcy is too busy howling to see the smile form on her sister’s lips. She is completely unprepared for Sibeal to spring up from her crouch, knock into her, and send her body flying into the wall, nearly knocking a mirror off its mount. The impact slackens Darcy’s grip enough for Sibeal to wrench out of her grasp. A wary, but relieved Sibeal backs away slowly, thinking she has escaped.

  Neither girl is prepared for the sudden quiet, the sense that life has stopped entirely. Terror fills Sibeal’s confused eyes, but Darcy only sees it as a chance to relaunch her attack. She attempts to push away from wall, but her pushing and struggling does no good. She screams and thrashes, but nothing can release her.

  Sibeal watches, scared and helpless. She screams when the tips of Darcy’s fingers turn pale, translucent. The phenomenon extends. It races up Darcy’s arms to her shoulders, spreading over her chest and legs. Sibeal’s hands press over her mouth to cover up her screaming.

  The ghostly image of her sister has them both terrified, but they each realize it is only the beginning when the mirror Darcy crashed into moments ago begins to tremble. True terror grips Darcy, shocking her into silence as her body is pulled into the mirror’s embrace, locking her away within its shadowy world. Sibeal’s eyes roll back in her head seconds before she collapses.

  Chapter Twenty-Six

  My eyes fly open as panic grips me. Something isn’t right. It wasn’t supposed to happen that way! I can’t even think clearly enough to know how I know that, but those same words keep ringing through my head. My eyes flit around the room, confused and unsure of where I am.

  Sliding my hand closer to my body so I can push myself up, I jump when the jeans-clad legs I seem to be laying on flinch. I freeze instantly. The details of where I am slowly come flooding back in. I remember leaning against Bas as we watched the movie. My heart rate jumps at the thought. I look up slowly, dreading what I know I will see.

  Bas looks down at me with a smile. “I thought I was going to have to stay here all night.”

  He seems so relaxed! I push myself up in a flash, my eyes darting over to Tanner. My heart struggles to calm itself back down when I see Tanner sitting on the couch with Sibeal squashed up against his side, completely unconscious. He shrugs his free shoulder at me, apologizing, I suppose, but I’m just glad he was distracted from being angry at me for falling asleep on Bas.

  “Hey,” Bas says, “are you okay?”

  My head shakes back and forth violently.

  “What happened?” Tanner asks.

  “I had another dream.”

  Both guys perk up immediately. Tanner nudges poor Sibeal. She groans and tries to snuggle closer to him. I half expect Tanner to be more abrupt the second time, but he surprises me. His hand gently rests on her shoulder and shakes her just enough to get her attention.

  “Sibeal,” he says quietly, “wake up.”

  “No,” she answers with her eyes still tightly closed.

  Tanner smiles and tries not to laugh. His hand moves up to her cheek. He tries tapping gently, but she just ignores him. “Sibeal,” he calls as his thumb sweeps back and forth across her cheek.

  That gets her attention. It gets mine, too! I stare at Tanner, jealousy creeping up to my ears. What is he doing? The feeling only gets worse when Sibeal finally opens her sleepy eyes and smiles at Tanner. I think Bas can feel the tension hardening my entire body. Because of the way I’m sitting, no one else can see how his hand begins rubbing slow circles on my back. I know he’s trying to distract me, and I try to ignore him, but his touch proves too much to resist. I fall back against the couch, still frowning, but intent on not thinking about it.

  Tanner must have filled Sibeal in on the scant details I provided before getting distracted with Tanner’s wandering fingers, because she asks, “What happened in the dream?”

  “I saw you give Darcy the stone. I saw the two of you fight and Darcy try to trap you with her.” I take a deep breath, suddenly angry at Sibeal. “And I saw how Darcy got sucked into the mirror! Why didn’t you tell us that the freaky reflection we’ve seen isn’t a reflection at all, it’s Darcy!”

  “What?” Bas and Tanner both demand.

  Sibeal shrinks back against the couch. “I didn’t know it mattered,” she mumbles.

  “Everything matters!” I snap.

  Tears spring to Sibeal’s eyes. I can’t believe she didn’t tell us that! I start to say something else, but Bas’s hand slides over my wrist and squeezes gently. I look over at him, irritated, but his gaze it fixed on Sibeal. The sadness in his eyes calms my anger and I turn back to see Sibeal huddled against the couch crying.

  The spike of anger I felt toward her vanishes, not only because of her distress, but because I realize it came more from my own jealousy than anything else. I shrink back, realizing now that this is how Tanner has been feeling for weeks. The realization settles in my heart, making it ache.

  I wouldn’t be jealous if I didn’t still care about Tanner so much. The fact that I have caused him so much pain brings on a wave of guilt. As I glance over at Bas, I see the same pain echoed in his expression. I struggle to contain my emotions and refocus on Sibeal, still crying because of my harsh words. Finding the right words to comfort her seems impossible.

  Tanner doesn’t seem to know what to do for Sibeal any more than I do, so he settles for patting her back softly. “I’m sorry,” Sibeal cries. “I just…I didn’t want anyone to know Darcy was trapped like that, or that I could still see her. I know I should hate her, but she’s so sad in there. At first, she was furious. I couldn’t even look in the mirror because all I would see was her hatred, but lately, she’s been so sad. I feel so responsible. I need to help her, but I don’t know how.”

  “You don’t need to help her,” Tanner argues. “Darcy deserved what she got. She’s just manipulating you now so you’ll feel bad for her and let her out. You’re crazy if you think she won’t go right back to hating you.”

  “I know, but …”

  “But nothing,” Tanner interrupts. “You can’t save her. You have to save yourself.”

  Bas and I look at each other, knowing this argument is going nowhere fast. Neither of us seems to know what to say, though, until a new thought hits me.

  “Darcy is the one sending the dreams,” I say quietly. Even though I didn’t speak with much force, everyone turns to look at me.

  “What?” Tanner asks.

  I shake my head, realizing how foolish I was for not seeing it before. “What you just said about Darcy only acting sad in order to manipulate Sibeal, she’s been doing the same thing to me.”

  “She has?” Sibeal asks.

  Nodding slowly, I say, “She wanted me to see you trap her so I’d think my role in all of this was to free her. She is too self-absorbed to understand that I wouldn’t see her as the victim. She thought she could trick me into helping her with the dreams.”

  “Why would she show you what happened with Colin? Tanner asks. “Surely she would know that wouldn’t help her case.”

  “I don’t think she can control what the dreams show once she opens the connection.” Sibeal d
oesn’t know about Kivera, so I don’t mention her, but it’s because of the dreams Kivera sent me that makes me almost sure of this. Kivera wouldn’t have shown me the awful things she did if she could help it. I think she sent the dreams, but then lost control over them. Everyone seems to accept this, probably because they don’t have much else to go on.

  I settle back, feeling some measure of peace at this conclusion. I know this was Darcy’s intention in sending the dreams, and I’m almost positive Tlaloc wanted me to see through her falseness and save Sibeal instead of Darcy. I say almost positive because Tlaloc isn’t exactly the most benevolent god, and it’s not unreasonable to think he might want me to punish Sibeal. I’m going to really hope that’s not the case. If it is, though, it wouldn’t change my mind to help Sibeal. If I am wrong and it costs me my life, so be it.

  The room is quiet and everyone, especially Sibeal, takes in what I just said. My moment of peace crumbles quickly as a feeling that I’m forgetting something gnaws at me. As Tanner and Sibeal debate the value of trying to help Darcy, I replay the dream in my mind. Nothing particular stands out, but the feeling I woke up with, the sense that something was wrong, fills me again.

  “I don’t think Darcy was supposed to be sucked into that mirror,” I blurt out.

  The musing stops. Both Tanner and Sibeal stare at me. Bas touches my shoulder, drawing my eyes to him. “What makes you say that?”

  Shaking my head, I say, “I’m not sure. I just know that something went wrong with the Soul Stone. I woke up knowing it wasn’t right.”

  All eyes turn to Sibeal, but she can only shrug. “I don’t know. I thought the curse stone was a completely different curse. I didn’t know what to expect.” She runs her fingers through her hair, making the curls wilder. “Even knowing now that it was a Soul Stone, I’m not sure. It’s such a rare curse, so difficult to produce. I never learned what was supposed to happen once it was activated.”