Silence fell upon us once more. I couldn’t figure out how they would get Sam to betray me in that way. I know Sam and he wasn’t capable of it; but then, perhaps they would find some way to force his hand.
Faraling spoke then, breaking the silence. “Jade, I know this is all so much for you to take in and understand. I want you to know that I was never in agreement with sending you away; I never wanted that for you or for us. We loved you so much and we still love you. But I didn’t have a choice. I don’t know how much your mother has told you.”
“It’s ok. She explained it all to me and I get it; I really do. I know it wasn’t your fault and that you didn’t give me away because you wanted to.”
He sighed with relief and I could see it flood over his face and wash down into his body; his shoulders relaxed and he seemed more at ease. “Thank you. I was so worried you would hate us for doing what we did, but I know your mother has kept watch over you all these years. At least it gave us some peace of mind; that we could see you and ensure that you never got into too much difficulty.
“However, I don’t know if your mother told you that the fairy king asked for you to be brought here. He wants to meet you, you know, and it’s such a big honour but if you don’t want to, then you really don’t have to. In fact, I’m a bit concerned about his intentions for wanting to meet you. Over the years, the whole idea of the prophecy has completely engulfed him; he’s obsessed and never stops looking for answers to the prophecy. I’m worried what he might do to you if he meets you so perhaps, if you agree, we should keep your little visit a secret for now?”
I was surprised by the fact that the fairy king would want to meet me, but he knew them better than anyone and I would agree with anything he had to say on the matter. “Sure. You know them best and if you don’t think it’s wise just yet, then fair enough; I won’t meet them yet.”
He smiled at me and I smiled back. I felt so safe here. It wasn’t that I didn’t feel safe with who I had always thought of as my parents, but I had never really fitted in. I had powers and no matter how understanding my mom had been, she would never really be able to understand what it was like and just how scary it truly was. Being here, I felt so comfortable. I didn’t have to worry about hurting them because they knew what I was; they knew what I could do and that made me feel safe.
We sat quietly drinking our tea and I glanced over at Lorcan. He sat awkwardly on the edge of his chair, holding his cup balanced on his knee. He looked as though he might bolt at any second. I had never seen him appear so uncomfortable. He had always appeared so calm and in control every time I had seen him in the human world and now here with my biological father sitting at the table, he seemed panicked. I smiled quietly and lifted the cup to my lips when suddenly Emily slammed her cup onto the table. I glanced over towards her but Faraling was already out of his chair and around the table kneeling at her side. I didn’t know what was happening.
“Emily, can you hear me? What’s it; talk to me, love.” He spoke softly against her cheek, brushing her long brown hair back away from her face. I watched, feeling unsure about what I should do; I didn’t want to ask what was wrong in case I interrupted something important. She turned her face towards his and I could see the tears glistening on her cheeks but her eyes were completely unfocused. In one swift movement, Faraling swept her up into his arms and strode from the room, leaving me sitting with Lorcan. I felt completely bewildered by what had occurred but it did ring a bell with me. Had I looked like that when I was having my visions of Sam? Was my mother having a vision of something? I couldn’t help but speculate about whether it would involve me or not. Perhaps it was about something totally unrelated; I just wasn’t sure. I looked at Lorcan.
“Do you know what happened?” I asked, positive that if I was going to get any answers right now, it would be from him.
“I’d say she’s having a vision, but sure I can’t swear to it. I’ve seen her having them before and it usually happens like that.” He stood then, startling me, and placed his cup on the table.
“Where are you going?” I asked, still feeling unsure of myself because it was still all very new; even though I felt safe, I didn’t understand everything that happened in this place.
“I’m going to head away, now that I can. Your dad has brought her upstairs. She gets pretty tired after the visions, sort of takes it out of her, really. And well, I don’t want to still be here when he gets back down; we don’t get on, as you may have noticed.” He smiled at me as he spoke trying to make me feel less uneasy. I could count on Lorcan to try his best to make me feel comfortable; he had such an easy charm about him he could make anyone feel relaxed.
“Please, Lorcan, don’t go yet; don’t leave me on my own. I don’t think I could feel comfortable on my own here just yet. And well, I know you; not well, but I do know you. It’s just all so bizarre; I’m finding it hard to take it all in.” I watched as he fought over the possibilities in his head until finally he sighed.
“Grand. I’ll stay but if your dad comes back down here and tries to tear strips off me, I, well, I won’t be responsible for my actions. I don’t need his bad temper directed at me anymore than it is; I’ve had quite enough of that, thank you.”
I smiled but chose not to say anything to him. He was so afraid of my father, the only reaction he might have would be to run crying from the house. When it came down to it, it was becoming more and more apparent that Lorcan was a softie at heart and wouldn’t be able to hurt anyone, although he had dealt with the vampire very efficiently. He sat down carefully on the chair beside me and I could see that he was holding most of his weight gingerly on his legs rather than placing his entire self onto the chair.
“The furniture looks really dainty, doesn’t it? It’s all so fragile and small. Where did your seat come from?” I questioned, trying to make him feel more at ease in the same way that he always made me feel less tense.
Laughing, he replied, “Well, all this stuff is your pretty typical fairy furniture. They make it look really pretty, but unless you have the graceful willowy fairy frame that they all have, it’s just not feasible. I mean, seriously look at me. I’m six foot ten and I’m a well built lad; I play sports and I’ve always looked after myself. Wouldn’t you agree?”
I watched him preen as he spoke and tried to smother the smile that curled my lips. “Yeah, you’re well built, an athlete’s physique I’d say; like someone who plays a lot of rugby or hurling maybe?”
“How did you know? Is it really that obvious that I play sports?”
I couldn’t stop the laughter that burst forth. I tried hard to speak around it but had to give up and wait for the laughter to subside. Lorcan simply sat and watched me with a bemused expression.
“What; what’s so funny? I don’t get what you’re laughing at; I mean, if you could guess from my physique what type of sport I played, it must be pretty obvious.”
Finally I could talk again. “Lorcan, I’m not laughing about that; I’m laughing because it’s obvious what sports you play. I mean come on, as I was looking out the window that time and I got stuck, I could see you coming down the drive with a hurley and a slíotar. It was pretty obvious you knew how to use them; you certainly weren’t a stranger to it. And well, the rugby; well, you do have the build of a rugby player. I’m sure there are plenty of them out there who’d kill to be built like you.”
“Oh, right. So it was because you seen me with the hurley? Ok. I mean, I don’t play rugby but I really want to get into it; two of my older brothers started playing it and they love it. The leprechauns as a clan tend to mainly play hurling and Gaelic football; it’s what we were brought up on and I suppose we’d like to branch out but I think the older ones are afraid we would forget the old traditions. I don’t think we could, though.
“Anyway, that chair I like to sit in belonged to your mom when she lived in the human world. Your dad brought it here for her so she could have some of her things around her. I can really go off topic some
times, you know. I think it just gets away from me. My mother always said I could talk for Ireland if I wanted to but I don’t think I could. I think maybe she could but, well, is there a talking competition? I donthert think there is one.” A shout from upstairs stopped us both. “I think your dad called you. You should go up; I’ll wait here for you, ok?”
“Thank you.”
Chapter Twenty Seven
I stood up and made my way out the door and up the small stairs. Faraling stood at the top of them and he ushered me forward.
“Your mother wants to talk to you. I hope I didn’t frighten you. It’s just I know she likes her privacy when she has the visions in case it’s something particularly bad and I don’t think she wanted to upset you. I heard you have them, too, but I don’t think you have them to the extent your mother does yet, though she thinks that will come with time. Come on, I’ll take you into her. She’s just feeling a bit tired but she says you’ll want to hear it anyway.”
I kept silent as I followed him into the bedroom and walked towards where Emily lay on the bed. She motioned for me to take a seat beside her as she sat up. She was paler than she had been earlier; the rosy bloom she had in her cheeks was gone replaced instead by a chalky pallor and purple bruising under both eyes. I took up my indicated seat beside her and waited for her to speak.
“Jade, you know how you have visions? Well, I get them, too. I had one about you and Sam but I don’t know how well you’re going to like it; either of them, because I had two. From what I can make out, there are two outcomes from this whole situation; which one will happen, I don’t know yet. It requires another decision to be made and until that happens, I won’t know which one is the real future. Would you like to hear about the visions I had? I’ll understand if you don’t want to.”
“No, I want to hear. It might help me in getting Sam back and I need as much information about all this as I can get.”
She sighed and sucked in a deep breath before beginning to speak. “In my vision, I seen how happy you and Sam are together; you are soul mates and nothing can change that. However, with this bond you both share, it leaves you vulnerable to attack and some terrible choices must be made.
“My first vision shows you in the presence of the vampire council. You are presented with a terrible choice, Jade; either you agree to being turned or they will kill Sam. In this vision, you agree to it because you want to save Sam. The head of the council tries to turn you but it is a failure and you die. In his failure, he releases within you the potential to unleash an aspect of your power I had no idea existed. As he drains you, your power floods outwards and kills every single vampire in the room, including Sam.”
I gasped. I wouldn’t hurt Sam. I couldn’t hurt Sam; he means everything to me. She took my hand in hers and rubbed it between hers.
“Jade, you need to realise you have no control over this aspect of your power. It happens because you are dying against your will but you agreed to it in order to save Sam; this part of your power is simply an unconscious reaction to the situation. I know you wouldn’t hurt him; I’ve seen how much you love him, how much you’re willing to give up for him.”
I shook my head, trying to clear the image of me killing Sam. I just couldn’t accept it. It didn’t make sense; even it being a subconscious decision didn’t make any sense to me.
“What was the other vision you had?” I didn’t think it could be any worse than the first.
“Well, my second vision begins the same; you are given the choice of either watching Sam die or agreeing to be turned, which you do. However, this is where this vision became quite strange. Something happens to Sam, but I’m not sure what it is; this part of the vision is far too unclear to make out. I see you lying on the floor. You are bleeding and Sam is kneeling, holding you. I know you are almost dead because I can feel it. The pain of this one almost tore me apart; I could feel all of Sam’s feelings as well as yours and my own because of the situation. Anyway, Sam kneels over you and bites you and then spills some of his own blood into the wound in a gesture of turning you. For a moment, it appears that it doesn’t work and then you stirred and I felt so happy. I knew I shouldn’t, but I’m your mother; I can’t help it. As you stirred, you began to writhe in agony on the floor.
“Now Jade, I have no idea what happened when Sam bit you or even what led up to that point of him biting you and sharing blood with you; all I know is that when he did, you didn’t take the blood exchange and he tried to hold you. I think he hoped it would pass but it didn’t. I think with the pain of it all, you simply hanging in the balance between this world and that of the shadow plane was too much for you and your power consumed you and Sam. You killed him because he was holding you and then, from what I could understand of it, your power simply killed you as well. It was the most painful thing I have ever had to witness in my visions, Jade; it’s not something a parent should ever have to see. I don’t think I could bear to see you be consumed in that manner.” Her voice trailed off and I was left sitting there, stunned by her revelations. It seemed no matter what I did, I was destined to kill Sam and I just wasn’t sure I was willing to allow that to happen.
“That can’t happen. I won’t let it happen.” My voice dropped to a whisper. “I couldn’t hurt him. You’re wrong.”
She reached her hands out towards me, imploring. “Jade, I’m only telling you what I seen; I haven’t made this up. I don’t want to see this happen; you’re my baby I want to see you happy. You have to know this. I wouldn’t say it to hurt you.”
I turned away from her. I wanted to run as far away from her and this room and her visions as I possibly could, but deep down I knew she was right. She wouldn’t make them up. What she had seen was the truth for now but if I could change it, I would.
“Can your visions change?” My voice sounded small in my ears.
“Sometimes they do, but only if something intervenes to change them and usually I have some type of inclination as to what it might be. This time I only seen these two visions; nothing else and certainly nothing that could give us some clues as to how to change the events. Jade, I’m worried and I don’t know what to say to you; it’s looking as though you might lose Sam no matter what you do. I know that you love him, but I want to protect you. Would you consider staying here with us? At least until we figure out what we can do to stop all of this. I don’t want to lose you now that I have you back; I don’t think I could bear it.”
The idea of staying here, while it was comforting, I knew I couldn’t. If I stayed here, they would kill Sam and I would have no reason to go on. I felt hollow without him.
“I can’t. If I do, they will kill him for certain and I can’t let that happen, not if there is the tiniest of chance I could have saved him myself. I need to see him. If they end up killing me then at least I’ll know I tried, but I don’t plan on letting that happen. I’ll be alright; I know I will. I have a good feeling about finding Sam and getting him home safe and I haven’t been wrong yet.”
Faraling’s voice piped up from the direction of the doorway. “Your mother hasn’t been wrong yet either; all her visions occur whether you have feelings about them or not. You should listen to what she’s saying, Jade; we can’t lose you just when we have you back. The thought of those leeches getting their hands on you makes my blood curdle.”
I turned towards him. “If they had Emily, would you just let them have her while you stayed in hiding; would you not try to save her? Even if it meant the possibility of your own destruction, wouldn’t you go just so you could try? Isn’t that what love is all about?”
He hung his head as I spoke and his voice came out on a whisper. “Yes, I would go and find her. Even if I knew my end was certain, I would still go to her.” He looked up at her then and then back at me as I spoke again.
“Well then, you understand why I’m doing what I have to do. I can’t let anything else happen to Sam; he has done everything he can to keep me safe and save me. Now it’s my turn to return the
favour. I have to try.”
He shook his head. “Jade, you’re so young. You don’t even have the full control over your powers yet and you plan on waging a war against this scum? How do you propose you will achieve this? The vampire council has been around a very long time; true, in comparison to the fey, it is only an infant but we have been here from the beginning. We have simply always existed and we shall continue to exist long after everything else has disappeared; it is how the laws work. You, on the other hand, are a child; nothing more than a mortal baby. I’m not trying to insult you when I say it; I’m merely trying to make you understand just how far out of your depth you truly are.”
I thought for a few moments, mulling his words over. “I’m not sure how I’ll get Sam back, but I don’t want to wage a war against them; just maybe frighten them off. Just because they have been around longer than me doesn’t mean they are smarter than me; perhaps my youth will play to my advantage. And anyway, if they want me because I’m so powerful, can’t I use my powers against them? It will at least immobilise them for a while.”
He watched me with a look of incredulity on his face. “Jade, did you just hear what you said to me? It is pure insanity; what you have just proposed is suicide for both you and your Sam. Why aren’t you listening to me, child? They will kill you and your power will be no match for them. They’re animals; they feed off pain. If you think for one moment that they will all line up nice and politely for you to make them feel their own demise, then you are more immature and foolish then I had originally thought. You don’t deal with the monsters. You don’t talk to the monsters. They simply take what they want from you and in this case, Jade, it will be your life and that of your beloved. Do you really think that rushing in there with no plan is truly the way to go? Don’t you think that they will smell you coming? No, child, you need a better plan than that or you won’t spend two minutes alive in their company.”
The Violet Line Page 22