She exhaled, annoyed. “Too bad the idiots delivering mail don’t know I’m pregnant.” It was all she could do to bend over and pick it up. The little one was really growing fast. She set the letter down on a countertop, assuming it was work related. It could wait until tomorrow.
She needed a hot tea and a good night’s sleep.
Something she was not getting much of.
Before bed though, she sat down in a rocking chair and rubbed her belly. She sang to her baby, softly, sweetly. It hurt, every single time she did this. To feel so much love amongst all the pain and numbness he felt for everything else.
Knock. Knock. Knock.
“You’ve got to be kidding me. Maybe they’ll just go away.”
Knock. Knock. Knock. A little louder.
She sighed. Got up. Put on a robe and slippers. She opened the door just as another knock hit it…
“Oh, um, sorry.” It was Arnon Jacoby. “I didn’t mean to disturb you before bed.”
“It’s okay. I was still awake. What can I do for you?”
“Juliska…” he paused, looking saddened. “May I come in?” His tone was low, his voice uneasy.
“Yes, of course.” She moved aside. “Would you like some coffee, or tea?”
He shook his head. “Um, maybe we could sit down.”
She eyed him hard. Something had happened. Something terrible.
What now? What more could happen now?
She’d just buried her mother this morning.
She brought him into the kitchen and they sat at the table. Arnon sighed, a pained look on his face.
“What’s happened?” she asked him.
He looked down and back up again, trying to get the courage to tell her.
“It’s Eddy…”
“Oh. Him…” she let out a huff and folded her arms. “What? Drunk and disorderly again? That isn’t my problem.” She started to get up.
“Juliska please… Eddy is… Eddy’s dead.”
She plunked back down.
Arnon waited for her to say something. Show any kind of reaction. She just stared straight through him.
“There’s more,” he continued. “I was going to wait to tell you, but you’d just hear it somewhere else first.”
She waited, her gaze even.
“He… he took his own life.”
Nothing. Not a single response to what he’d said.
Shock maybe? The woman had just buried her mother that morning.
“I’m sorry, Juliska. I can’t imagine this news on top of everything else. I know the two of you ended on bad terms, but I know he loved you. And I cannot believe you just stopped loving him, completely.”
“You’re wrong about that,” she argued weakly. “Just like Eddy. To take the easy way out.”
“That’s not like him at all,” defended Arnon gently.
Juliska got to her feet. “Thank you for stopping by.” Her tone indicated he could leave now.
Arnon stood up to, but stopped.
“What happened to you, Juliska? Why can’t you see the truth?”
“Of what? That C. Edward Gillivray was a coward and a liar.”
“It was a trick, Juliska. Someone did it to drive you apart!”
“Get. Out.”
Something in her gaze frightened Arnon.
There was a coldness there he’d never seen before. A darkness spreading.
“You should have forgiven him…” He couldn’t help but say it, and left quickly, knowing his words meant nothing to her. Whatever was happening, it was too late. She was lost. Eddy was right. He’d lost her, permanently. They all had.
After Arnon was gone, Juliska locked the door and returned to her rocking chair.
“Now, where were we? Oh, yes…”
She stared into nothing, singing sweetly to the baby no one knew she was having.
CHAPTER 23
Arnon neared his front door, a familiar voice stopped him.
“Heard you had a rough day.”
He looked up to see Kanda Macawi standing in the doorway. She grabbed his hand and pulled him inside.
“I heard about Eddy,” she explained. “I’m so sorry. It’s a terrible loss. An even more terrible fate…”
They sat down on a sofa. Kanda poured him a whiskey and he took it with a shaky hand. He downed it, and looked up, distraught.
“It’s my fault.”
“What do you mean?”
Arnon poured himself another whiskey.
“I saw him last night. He was drunk and passed out in an alley and I brought him home. I thought about telling him that Juliska’s mother had died. He didn’t know, he’d been on another drinking binge. I thought maybe he could be there for her, they could reconcile. But to look at him, he was a wreck.”
“So how does this make his death your fault?” Kanda asked him.
“I told him to find something to live for, or it wasn’t worth getting up in the morning. I guess he decided it wasn’t.” He dropped the shot glass, his hand shaking too much to keep a grip on it.
Kanda picked it up and set it down, unsure how to comfort him.
“What possessed me to say that to him?”
“You were trying to help your friend move on. You’re not responsible for his actions, Arnon.”
“But I put the idea in his head. He was in a bad place. I should’ve been smart enough to see that. There’s something going on, Kanda. I can’t put all the pieces together yet. What happened to Eddy and Juliska, to Cornell… there’s some other motive behind it all. Behind so many things going on these last months. I just can’t put it all together. I can’t see the bigger picture.”
“Can I help in some way?”
“Just tell me our once peaceful little world isn’t about to be shattered. Lie to me if you have to.”
“I will lie to you for as long as you want,” she returned softly.
“But it is a lie, isn’t it?”
She sighed, a mournful breath escaping. “We feel it too. Something is… changing.”
He stood up. Angered and embittered.
“I can feel it in every breath I take. But I cannot trust anyone on the island.”
“You think there’s someone here working against the Svoda?”
“Yes,” he admitted. “I dare not say more. Not now. But I don’t know what to do. Everyone else seems blind to it. Cornell saw it. Look at what happened to him. Eddy knew it…” he trailed off.
“Eddy is not your fault, Arnon. You said those things to him, yes. But he made his choices. As difficult as his life has been, we must all pay the consequences of our actions.”
“And what is my consequence? To live and suffer with what I’ve done? With all I know and cannot do anything about. I can’t sit back and do nothing. But what good will it do if I become the next Cornell, or Eddy?”
“What has happened cannot be undone. But don’t lose hope. I don’t know what it is you’ve discovered, but please, Arnon. Let me help you. Trust me to help you.”
And he did. He trusted Kanda. More so than he trusted anyone else right then.
He nearly spilled all he knew about Eddy and Juliska. But out of respect for his lost friend he did not.
“I can’t. Not here. Not today…”
She understood, but feared what was coming.
Juliska was not in the mood to go to work the next morning and wondered if she could get out of it. Everyone would be asking how she was doing, if she was okay, how she was handling everything… giving her their condolences on both her mother and Eddy.
Expecting to find her in tears and heartbroken.
Maybe staying home was a good idea.
No one would question her choice.
She walked by the envelope she’d flung onto the counter the night before. Perhaps if it was work related she could at least keep herself busy. A work from home day.
She plied it open and froze upon seeing the handwriting.
Eddy…
Her heart stuttered
for a moment.
He’d written her before he died.
She hardened her heart, almost deciding to just heave it into the fire and burn it.
The coward had betrayed her and taken his own life.
Leaving her here alone to fend for their child.
Taking his life only proved to her his guilt. He could not live with himself for what he’d done to her.
She opened the letter.
Juliska.
I will always love you, even beyond my end…
Forever yours,
Edward.
She let it fall to the floor.
If he had truly loved her, they’d still be together. He’d not have betrayed her with Amelia… and if he’d been innocent as he claimed, he would have been able to prove it.
He was guilty.
He was guilty.
He was guilty and did not love her.
He had never loved her.
It was all a lie.
She gripped the side of her counter with such strength she thought it might break off in her hands. A rush of unbridled emotion surged through her and she let out a scream. She could barely hear it over the blood pulsing in her ears.
She let go with an uneven breath and straightened herself out.
It was a workday and that’s where she’d go.
Eddy would not get another moment’s thought from her. Her secrets had gone to the grave with him. She hoped…
Juliska flew out of the house so fast she left the front door open and did not care. She thought about taking a carriage, but decided the walk suited her mood better. Although a block in, her breaths were heavier than she liked. Carrying around the extra weight tired her easily.
She stopped for a moment, leaning against a building. At the far end of that building, there was a scream. Followed by rushed footsteps and shouting. She strode down the sidewalk and rounded the corner, only to stop as a small group of Balaton popped in, right in front of her.
They didn’t see her right behind them and took defensive stances.
Around the corner came Amelia, and a group of her followers.
Juliska’s face turned to stone.
Amelia threw something at the Balaton and a short explosion later, she was shouting for her followers to surround them. Juliska backed around the corner.
Amelia had threatened she’d take more serious action if her demands were not met soon. Juliska guessed soon, was today. She listened carefully.
“Don’t bother trying to pop out,” Amelia was warning the Balaton. “You can’t.”
They tried and she was right. Whatever she’d thrown at them, they’d lost their ability to pop out. Something they took a tonic for once a month. Something only given to the Balaton.
“You’re surrounded and you cannot escape,” Amelia told them.
Juliska peeked around the corner. Amelia’s followers had rounded up the Balaton. Onlookers were running and hiding with no idea what to do.
“What do you want?” asked one of the Balaton.
“You will open the magical barrier so we can leave the island.”
It made sense now. She wasn’t going to wait any longer. Amelia was taking matters into her own hands, now. If the Banon wasn’t going to let her go, she was going to fight her way off.
The Balaton refused her, poised to fight if they had to.
“We don’t want to hurt you,” Amelia claimed. “But we will make you lower the barrier.”
“It’s not safe,” one of the Balaton growled at her.
“Of course it’s safe. People come and go all the time.”
“But only under strict orders from the Banon or the Viancourt, and it’s monitored closely.”
Amelia ordered her followers to take the Balaton prisoner. She’d take them to the fortress and make them lower the barrier.
“We will fight you,” they warned. “We will not be taken willingly.”
“Suit yourself.”
“Enough of this!” a voice startled them all.
A slow grin etched across Amelia’s face. “Of course. Juliska Blackwell to the rescue.”
“Yes,” she stated evenly. With a single fiery gaze, the Balaton and Amelia’s followers parted to let her through. Her limbs buzzed with a rage that needed release.
Amelia was the perfect target.
“Take the prisoners back to headquarters,” ordered Amelia. “I’ll deal with my sister.”
“We are not sisters. You didn’t even attend your own mother’s funeral.”
Amelia flinched.
“I was not welcome.”
“Your own doing. This is madness, Amelia. Stop now. Before anyone gets hurt. The Banon does understand your plight. But you must give him time.”
“I’m done waiting. He isn’t listening or working fast enough. Don’t worry. We won’t hurt anyone. We’re just trying to make a point.”
“And in trying to make a point is when mistakes happen and people get hurt.” Juliska raised her hands, ready to strike. “I will not allow you to take these people.” Her tone warned Amelia to prepare to fight, and prepare to lose.
Amelia eyed her, hard. In a split second, she threw something right at Juliska. But it never reached her. It dissolved and fizzled. Amelia scowled and went to grab another one, thinking it was a dud.
She could not see the protective energy field that had just encased Juliska’s entire body. “Such a sweet baby,” she whispered under her breath. Her baby was helping her again, and this time she welcomed it.
The Balaton and Amelia’s followers all ducked out of the way.
Amelia threw another potion at Juliska but this time, she shot off a stream of flame. Amelia was forced to dive to the ground. Juliska wasted no time in attacking again. She used a trick she learned from the Firemancer’s Pocket Guide and used the power of the flames to pull her body over to Amelia. It happened in a fiery flash.
She let the flames die out, and reached down putting her fingers around Amelia’s throat. It would be so easy, to squeeze just a little harder. When she looked at her face all she could see was the field… her body tangled with Eddy’s. A darkness spread through her. A desire… to hurt the ones that had hurt her.
“Go ahead,” choked out Amelia. “Show them all what you really are…”
What did she mean by that?
Did she know? Had Eddy told her?
Where did his betrayal end?
Juliska let out a guttural cry and let go. Amelia went half-limp on the ground.
Her followers were close and had the Balaton surrounded but had not taken them as Amelia had instructed. They looked confused. And scared. Like this entire thing had spiraled and gone very wrong.
Juliska looked at them, her eyes ablaze with focused anger.
“Let them go, or I will have you all arrested now.”
They let the Balaton go and ran off. The Balaton were not sure what to do. They could not pop out and follow and didn’t want to get into another fight. Especially with their own people, rebellers or not.
Amelia got to her feet.
“This is not over, Juliska. Tell the Banon he’d better not think for a minute this is over…” she gasped, falling back to the ground with a hard punch to her nose. Amelia sat there in shock. Juliska had punched her. She leaned down so only the two of them could hear each other.
“Leave now, Amelia. I do not want to see your face again. We are not sisters. I cannot help that your life isn’t what you want it to be. And I cannot help that I am a Firemancer living the high life you think you deserve. Being me is not as fun as you think it is, and if you ever try anything this foolish again I will not hesitate one single breath in having you locked up. For a very long time. You called me a disgrace to the name Cobb… I think you need to look in the mirror.”
She stood up and watched Amelia do the same. She said nothing, and left with her followers, right behind.
Juliska stood up straight and closed her eyes, gathering herself. Some of the angst was gone. C
ontrol returning. “We’re all right little one,” she muttered to herself. She opened her eyes to see that a large crowd was gathering.
The Balaton she’d saved came running over to her.
“Are you all right?” one of them asked her.
“Yes. Fine. Are you all okay? Is anyone injured?”
“No. We’re fine, thanks to you. Don’t know what’s gotten into that woman. She’s lost her mind.”
All of a sudden, the crowd started to clap and holler.
“I think this is all for you,” another of the Balaton told Juliska.
A moment later, the Banon arrived. Everything got loud and chaotic after that. The Balaton explained the situation and the Banon asked for silence and personally thanked Juliska for her brave effort.
The Svoda loved her.
She didn’t so much care. She just wanted to get away. Be alone. Work.
The Banon had heard about Eddy and took her aside to give her his condolences.
She just played it off and told him if he needed her, she’d be at her office.
He was caught off guard a bit by her lack of emotion. But he did not argue. He watched her walk away, the crowd cheering as she did. She was gracious and professional to a fault.
Banon Havelock worried about her. Wondering when the woman would break down and finally grieve for all her losses. He half joked to himself that he hoped she didn’t burn down the entire island in the process…
Kanda Macawi stood on the front step of Juliska Blackwell’s home. The door was wide open. She called out her name but there was no answer. Worried, she stepped inside.
“Hello. Juliska, are you home?”
No answer.
Everything looked okay. No signs of anything out of the ordinary. It was just odd that the door was left open. Kanda saw a paper and envelope on the floor. She leaned down and read the message.
“Oh,” she breathed out. The front door made more sense now. She’d left in a hurry after reading this letter from Eddy. What a tragic thing, his death. Kanda leaned down and picked up the letter, holding it. She hoped Juliska was okay.
She stared into her empty home. Juliska was gone. And Arnon seemed so certain that she was at the core of the problems. It was hard to believe really. Juliska Blackwell being capable of such an insidious thing.
The Ghost, The Dragon, and The Lost King (Fated Chronicles Book 4) Page 27