by Aria Sparke
Alexis blushed. ‘Of course not.’
Cecilia seemed dismayed by Tarek’s suggestion.
‘Oh, so there’s to be no romantic reunion between you two. One can never be quite sure,’ Tarek said as though reveling in their discomfort.
He was a strange vampire.
Tarek led Alexis to the front door and I could hear a muttered exchange between them but couldn’t decipher the words.
When Tarek returned, he said, speaking to me like I was a child, ‘It’s time for bed, Lily.’
I gladly retreated although strained to hear the conversation as I made my way to the second floor. Tarek and Cecilia’s voices were low and muffled, and left me wondering why they were being so obviously secretive.
I locked the bedroom carefully and checked the windows. Tomorrow I would be out of here, so long as I could get past Cecilia and Gregori. This room, this house and Tarek gave me the creeps. I couldn’t wait to see the last of the Ruberio mansion and Wicklow.
I removed my bathrobe and crawled under the soft comforter. Exhausted by the stress of the last couple of days, I slipped easily into sleep.
Soon I found myself dreaming and being dragged back in time to when I’d last spoken to Flynn except I was standing to one side watching the horrible events unfold. Flynn was standing up to Tarek and they were shouting at each other. In the moments before he fell to the grass, everything froze like a television remote had set the scene to pause. I saw Tarek and Martin’s look of shock. Anya was caught in mid-flight running from the dance floor toward us. Alice was headed toward the wall with an arm raised as though she were casting a spell. Inside the ballroom, I saw Alexis staring out toward the lawn with a stricken face and Gregori by his side.
Startled but intrigued by this fresh perspective, I floated around it as though it was a child’s diorama populated by dhampirs and witches caught in an awful slice of time. I drifted to the wall and saw a handful of vampires on the other side and two on the wall. One was reaching for a blade. Vincent was with the group outside and his grim expression left me in no doubt as to his intent.
Where was Zamira? I wandered inside and found her on the far side of the ballroom. She was leaving the entrance, so I floated toward her. The dream advanced jerkily forward in time in short intervals. I followed her out the door and under the jasmine covered walkway. As she ran in bursts, I caught sight of her between the vines and flowers. She shimmered and alternated in form. One moment she was Zamira but the next Cecilia.
I woke with a start, gasping for air. Ripping the bedclothes aside I struggled from the bed. I dressed in my jeans and sweater, as there was no way I was going to visit Tarek in his bedroom in my pajamas.
* * *
It was after midnight when I crept up the stairs toward Tarek’s bedroom with my heart thumping in my throat. In a million years I could not have imagined doing this willingly, and as I took each step on the creaking stairs, I knew there was time to turn back, yet I couldn’t. When I reached the door on the third floor, I recognized it was his. It was the same door I’d seen in my dreams so many nights after I had turned eighteen. As I reached to knock on the door, I noticed it was inset with carvings of gargoyles like those overlooking the roof of Anubis College. Everything was linked and from this room everything flowed. I held my breath and nerve as I knocked. At first there was silence. Was he sleeping? Then I heard stirring and movement inside, and like the stairs, the door creaked as it swung open.
He stood in the doorway, looming over me, powerful and beautiful, as I saw surprise and pleasure cross his face. I made the mistake of looking into his eyes and lingered for a moment too long. Tumbling in free fall for those seconds, I felt a giddy rush of desire and longing swell inside. Tarek stepped close to me, so close I could smell his strange but alluring scent and feel the chill emanating from his body. He slipped an arm around my waist and drew me to his pulsing body. I had no hope of breaking his grip and felt I’d pass out with my overwhelming yearning.
Wrenching my gaze from him, I blinked and took a deep breath. ‘Please lower your glamour.’
‘I haven’t begun,’ he said in a deep tone.
‘I have to talk to you. I’m serious.’ I focused hard on the window inset with pieces of colored glass to shut out his influence. It was slightly ajar, so I could smell the sweet aroma of roses.
I heard him sigh and knew he was disappointed. ‘We could talk later.’
I pulled away from him. ‘Please, Tarek. I’m only here to talk to you.’ Oh God, it would be so easy to surrender, but I knew it was just his unnatural glamour pulling me in—nothing real or substantial—and because of that, I felt no guilt so long as I didn’t succumb.
He didn’t seem to be listening. ‘You’ll come around to it. They all do.’
I shook my head.
‘Day by day your desire will grow until one day you’ll forget why you ever resisted. Mark my words.’
Tarek threw his shoes off and dropped back on his bed, which was by the window. Everything I had noticed in my dreams was faithfully reproduced here including the heavy velvet drapes and the coffin with its dark mahogany wood and red silk lining, sitting prominently at the center of the huge bedroom.
I glanced from the coffin to the bed.
He grinned wickedly. ‘One is for me and the other for us.’
‘I can’t, not while I love him,’ I explained as diplomatically as I knew how.
‘Flynn?’ He cocked his head and propped himself on his elbows. ‘Forget about him. I told you. My son is dead or effectively so. You’re doing nothing wrong. Follow your desire and come to bed with me.’
With the mention of Flynn, Tarek may as well have emptied a bucket of ice water over me. I felt as though I was standing there dripping, angry and bedraggled. ‘To me he’ll never die until I have confirmation—a body or him telling me he’s with the Berishas.’
Tarek groaned. ‘So what are you doing here teasing me?’
‘I had a dream.’
‘Mmm, I hear you’re a dreamer. Go on.’
‘It was about the night of the ball. I saw it all in strange detail—everything as it was. But the dream froze the moment before the vampire flung his blade into Flynn’s chest.’
Tarek sat up and regarded me curiously. ‘Don’t stop.’
‘I saw Vincent and a handful of vampires on the other side of the wall and the one who threw the blade at Flynn. I don’t know why, but something lured me toward the ballroom. I floated through the dhampirs and witches on the lawn outside, across the dance floor in the gym and over the dining tables and out the entrance. It was there I caught sight of Cecilia under the jasmine.’
Tarek shook his head as though disturbed. ‘No, she didn’t go to the ball. You heard her at dinner. Your dream must be wrong.’
‘Was it?’
He studied me thoughtfully. ‘Keep going.’
‘Everyone in the dream had started to move again but in short bursts. I followed Zamira from the entrance of the dining hall.’
‘Don’t you mean Cecilia?’
I shook my head. ‘Zamira was running across the walkway under the jasmine vine to the main building. I flew overhead catching glimpses of her.’
His face was contorted as though caught between disbelief and anger.
I was scared to tell him more.
‘Tell me, don’t be afraid,’ he urged.
I nodded and without looking at him said, ‘She shimmered and alternated. One moment she was Cecilia but the next Zamira and then the next Cecilia ... over and over.’
A thunderous expression crossed his features. ‘Thank you, Lily. I don’t need to hear anymore.’
‘But I don’t understand the dream,’ I said.
He gave a dry chuckle. ‘I do.’
As I stood near the door the truth about Cecilia slowly dawned on me. ‘They’re the same person?’
‘Yes.’
‘Of course,’ I said. ‘I suppose that’s why she had burned and blackened fingertips.’
‘The witch shall pay. Not a word to her, do you understand?’
* * *
CHAPTER 25
Lily: Dawn
Tuesday morning dawned bright and sunny, sending my spirits soaring. I dressed and showered before packing my meager belongings in a plastic bag I’d found in the kitchen when Gregori was in the backyard feeding the dogs outside. Soon I would be out of this crazy hellhole, and Tarek and Cecilia could have it to themselves. Once out of here, I could begin to plan my way forward or rather my way back to Flynn. My heart said he was alive and even if he was with the Berishas, I trusted our love could bring him back. I also knew if I didn’t believe this, I’d go mad.
At breakfast, I sat with Cecilia eating porridge Gregori had prepared. Glancing at her fingertips, I noticed the burns had healed and presumed the injury had been the price of shape shifting. Why had she done it? She was a mystery to me and certainly nothing like my mother.
‘I’m sorry you’ve ended up here,’ Cecilia said. ‘I’m going to try and convince Tarek to spare you. Perhaps he’ll see reason.’
I stirred the contents in my bowl and didn’t reply. I’d be out of here in a couple of hours, so I didn’t need to hear her excuses. I could grill her about the witch coven excuse and the floodwaters, but I knew she would have scoured the internet and found a location that had suffered heavy rain to corroborate her story.
After I’d left Tarek last night, I’d lain awake trying to make sense of Cecilia’s deception but couldn’t piece the parts together to make a logical whole. Did she secretly love Tarek and want to be with him even under the guise of Zamira? It didn’t add up because she’d removed the ring and fled. Maybe she’d changed her mind. If that were so, she obviously didn’t care that it had placed her niece in danger.
I desperately wanted to ask but remembered Tarek’s warning. Anyway, once I was out of here, they could sort out their bizarre love lives for themselves. I’d be heading south to my father, freedom and sunshine.
Just before midday, I slipped down the drive clutching my plastic bag while relieved to see the clear blue sky and brilliant sun. Even though I knew Tarek couldn’t pursue me out here, I was panting with fear as I jogged toward the boom gate. I stopped and listened but heard no car engine approaching. Only the wind rustling a line of trees and a lone bird cawing broke the silence. As each minute passed, my anxiety grew. To stop the plastic bag crackling in my shaking hand, I dropped it beside me on the ground. How long would it take before Cecilia and Gregori noticed my absence? Both had their reasons to not let me go. Gregori was fiercely loyal to Tarek and Cecilia wouldn’t want me leaving her alone with him.
When I heard the faint whine of a car motoring toward the mansion, I kept my eyes trained on the highway. It was the triplets’ car. I strained to see who was at the wheel and when I recognized Anya, I wanted to leap into the air with joy and relief. Waiting for her to turn into the drive, I shifted impatiently from side to side.
‘You can’t go,’ said a dry male voice behind me.
I swung around to spot Gregori approaching and only a few paces away.
Anya swung into the drive before leaning over and opening the door for me. I could see Martin and Alexis sitting in the back seat with their eyes on Gregori.
‘If you leave, I’ll be forced to tell him who helped you go,’ Gregori said.
‘Why can’t you keep it a secret?’ I said angrily. ‘I don’t want this life with him.’
‘It won’t matter what I choose to think or do, you know he’ll get it out of me. He’ll discover his children helped you and they’ll suffer.’
I stood stranded between my desire to go and my fear of what would happen to Anya, Martin and Alexis once I left.
Gregori folded his arms. ‘I can’t stop you physically, but you’ll be condemning your friends to a terrible fate. I know because I’ve seen what he’s capable of.’
‘Ignore him,’ Anya implored me. ‘Get in. We’ll find a way out of this.’
I wavered and then shook my head. ‘He’s right. I can’t do this to you.’
‘Then we’re coming inside with you and we’ll confront him together,’ Martin said.
Martin, Alexis and Anya followed Gregori and I back into the house. As soon as we entered the living room, I realized it was in darkness. Cecilia and Tarek were seated on the sofa.
Startled by Tarek’s presence in the daytime, I flinched.
‘I couldn’t sleep. The house seemed restless,’ Tarek said. ‘Turn the light on, Martin, so we can see each other more clearly.’
‘Were you out for a morning stroll, Lily?’ Tarek said. ‘I hear the sun is shining.’
I nodded.
‘What a coincidence that my dear children should be visiting. Greetings to you all.’
‘We brought some of Lily’s belongings,’ Anya said.
‘Very kind of you,’ Tarek said. ‘While you’re here, I’d like you stay for drinks as I have some announcements I’m sure you’ll be interested to hear.’
I glanced at Cecilia, who was sitting so stiffly, she looked like someone had rammed a rod up her back.
‘Ah, there you are, Gregori,’ Tarek said as his friend reappeared in the doorway. ‘Would you be so kind as to bring my guests some refreshments?’
Gregori smiled and bowed slightly.
After Gregori had handed us glasses of wine, Tarek poured himself a glass of blood from a bottle. He stood by the fireplace and raised his glass to Cecilia.
‘To you, my dear, for your boldness and creativity.’
Cecilia’s eyes opened wide and she gaped at Tarek as everyone turned toward her.
‘Tell them, Ces.’
She was like a butterfly pinned through the thorax.
‘No? Cat got your tongue?’
‘I don’t know what you’re talking about,’ she finally snapped.
‘Temper, temper.’
‘Why don’t you tell us?’ I said to Tarek, sick of his games.
He stood over Cecilia. ‘Hmm, alright, I’ll begin. Tell us what happened to Zamira.’
‘I-I don’t know. I wasn’t here, remember.’
‘I’ve heard you were at the ball,’ Tarek said in a cool tone.
‘No, I went south and I was caught in floods.’
‘Really? You don’t remember racing from the ballroom and under the walkway while the Berishas attacked?’
Cecilia sat frozen on the sofa.
‘Look at me,’ Tarek shouted.
Slowly she raised her eyes and as he stared at her intensely she began to look dazed.
‘Do you remember now?’
‘I was there,’ she said as though in a trance.
‘In what form?’ Tarek said in a menacing tone.
I could see the puzzled looks on Anya and Martin’s faces.
‘Zamira’s,’ she said.
‘I don’t understand,’ Anya said.
‘Our dear Cecilia used her witchcraft to shape shift into Zamira,’ Tarek said.
‘But why?’ Anya said.
‘That’s what we all want to know,’ said Tarek staring ever more deeply into Cecilia’s eyes until her jaw became slack and her eyes glassy. ‘Now she is so far gone, she won’t remember speaking to us when I release her from my glamour.’
I struggled to swallow as I realized the extent of his power.
‘Now tell me, Cecilia, why did you pretend to be Zamira?’
‘He asked me to.’
‘Who?’
‘Vincent.’
Tarek’s eyes narrowed and his face darkened with anger but he contained it—barely. ‘Tell me more about his plan.’
‘They know about Lily.’
A burst of adrenalin made my fingers and toes tingle.
‘What has that got to do with Zamira?’
‘They wanted me to lure Lily to you, so when I vanished as your bride-to-be, you would take Lily instead.’
Tarek shook his head.
‘They have heard of your attraction
to Lily and want to kill her like they did Mirela.’
‘But why?’ Martin asked.
‘Because Vincent wants to cause me pain. Why else?’ Tarek said in disgust.
‘And because they know she’s a witch, who may cause them trouble in the future.’
‘How would they know that?’ I asked Cecilia.
She stared directly at me and without flinching said, ‘Because I told them. I saw you in my visions.’
Tarek began to laugh. ‘Well now I know what to do.’
A sudden thought occurred to me. ‘How did the Berisha’s break our wards at college?’
‘I did that,’ Cecilia said in a monotone.
‘You’re responsible for the deaths of Alice and the Ruberios.’ I couldn’t bring myself to mention Flynn in the same sentence.
She looked at me blankly.
I rose from the sofa and left the room. Pushing the back door open, I stood in the sunlight as I waited for my body to stop trembling with rage. How could my own aunt have done that to Flynn, Alice and me? Had she been threatened or bewitched? I should have interrogated her while she was so deeply under Tarek’s glamour.
When the daylight faded, I returned inside and discovered the living room empty, so I climbed the stairs and returned to my room. Rummaging through my plastic bag of possessions, I found my cell phone and connected it to the power outlet to recharge. While I waited, I searched for the card Sylvia had given me at the ball. Turning it over and over in my hands, I fingered the raised print spelling out The Galdrar Academy as I deliberated about what to do next.
I thought of my father in the south and how easy it would be to return to live with him. But eventually my thoughts drifted back to Bella, Alice and Avery and then inevitably to Flynn. I knew with certainty my next move. After an hour or so, I picked up the phone and tapped in the number on the card.
‘Hello, Sylvia?’
‘Yes.’
‘This is Lily Winter. I met you at the Anubis Ball with Ebba and Rose. You gave me your card.’
‘I wondered when I’d be hearing from you, Lily.’