Despite the sound of chatter, the music roared above the din and, as the song changed, Ember heard a haunting voice singing a melody that all but pierced her heart.
Ember walked softly, her eyes searching the ballroom. She could feel him in the warm, enveloping energy that surrounded her, and the memories gave breath to a new life, if only for a moment.
She had seen the world, hadn’t she? She had come back from death, again and again, to live in the darkest of times and the brightest of times, albeit at the hands of a masterful witch. The things he had taught her, the love they shared …
The smooth sound of the songstress reminded her of the speakeasy when sultry singers took the stage, and a memory like a dying star surged forth.
The speakeasy had been empty for hours, and the musicians were long gone. Deidrick polished the last of the glasses as Rose watched him intently, her fingers dancing circles around the cards absentmindedly.
Without the bustle of crowds and the sound of exuberant libations, the underground grotto was almost hauntingly cavernous. Its large, vaulted ceiling darkened, giving the underground a new desolate quality.
Deidrick rounded the bar to the stool where she sat. “May I have this dance, my darling?” He licked his lips lusciously.
Rose felt her eyes fixate on the motion. “How can we dance without proper music?” She flashed her long, dark eyelashes back at him as she leaned her arms back against the expanse of the bar behind her. It was a most seductive invitation.
“You are the only music I need.” Deidrick stepped into her space, his lips at her ear as he extended his arms over top of hers, his fingers curling around hers in a soft sort of pull.
Ember wished at that moment she could make this less painful for Rose, but she also understood, in the depths of her soul, this would be the last time Rose would remember. Perhaps it would be the last time Ember got to witness such love and being a part of its ending almost pained her. Almost.
In her heart, as she walked through the people, pulled forward by some magnetic force, she knew this was always how it was supposed to end.
Rose and Deidrick had both played their hand in this and neither was clean.
The man who leaned on the bar was dressed in a charcoal suit, his face hidden behind a black mask that accentuated full, luscious lips.
She’d recognize those electric blue eyes anywhere.
“My, aren’t you a sight for sore eyes.” His voice was some strange, heady mix of steady brooks and fallen timbers. For the first time, Ember didn’t know where Derek started and Deidrick ended. It was as if …
She swallowed nervously. Hopefully, she wasn’t too late.
Ember stood tall and reached out her hand. “May I have this dance, darling?” She hoped he would follow her.
“Always.” He placed his hand in hers and instantly she knew. His gaze glowed with vibrancy, a sly smile turning his lips upward, and with one smooth motion, he pulled her into his space, his arm encasing her with heated possession.
The energy that surrounded her was so unapologetically Deidrick; warm, inviting, and solid. Ember’s fingertips in the palm of his hand traced his palm lines faintly, an intimate caress. He held her hand so daintily, she had to remind herself what was at stake.
The words hung in the air as Deidrick twirled Ember around, the silver and white fringe of her dress spinning like snowflakes on a gentle wind. Ember fell back into his embrace like angry waves crashing against the cliffs, receding with the promise of return. His eyes settled on her through his mask and Ember had to admit, he’d been right.
It would have been so very easy not to resist possession. The thought stirred her back to reality, and she let Deidrick Rhyan lead her suavely around the black marble dance floor.
The words sounded against the beating of her heart -- they were the truest she’d ever heard.
“You have the book, I presume?” she asked, her eyes fluttering in the bright backlight.
Deidrick’s lips turned into a surreptitious smile. “Come with me. I want to show you something.” His eyes glowed with anticipation.
Ember nodded and let him pull her toward the shadowy recesses of the dancefloor; she had always followed him into the darkness, relished it even. The darkness consumed her and she let it, led only by the feel of his hand in hers, holding on for dear life.
Life. That was what Deidrick thought he was giving her.
Rose had given her life to ensure his own survival so many times, it only felt right that she save him one last time.
This must be the secret room, she thought to herself. Deidrick held her hand tightly and waved his free hand swiftly, a faint red haze circling his fingertips. The light flickered from candle to candle in a rush of bright flame. It was familiar to her on a deep, cellular level but it was also so incredibly new that the sight made her question its reality.
Just like the rest of the property, the room boasted an elegance that was both dark and beautiful. The dark espresso wooden cabinets and shelves lining the walls were trimmed in cobwebs, the jars and canisters dusted with age -- perfectly preserved. Her eyes danced around the room as the smell of mildew and dried dirt overcome her senses.
When her eyes landed on a red, leather-bound book, her heart skipped a beat.
Deidrick released her hand as he walked toward it. A strand of dark black hair fell across his face as a look of pain flickered across his eyes.
Ember could feel the war raging inside of Deidrick as Derek fought for control. If only for a moment, he looked at her with soft, sweet, blue eyes that could only belong to the young man who had once poured her a drink of sweet apple wine on a chilly October evening.
The glimmer of firelight in those soft, blue eyes was only visible for a moment but it gave Ember the courage to push through. She would fulfill her promise to Derek Scott Rhyan. She would break his family’s curse. She would fight for him, the same way Rose fought for Deidrick so many years ago. She would not fail.
“It's in there then? The spell that will bind us to these bodies forever?” Ember chose her words wisely as she remembered pages from another time, the sound of the paper bristling against her fingers like a long-forgotten lullaby.
“Yes. After years of study and experimentation ...” He emphasized the last word but Ember knew what he truly meant.
Murder. After years of trying to resurrect her into the bodies of living, breathing psychics who couldn’t withstand the process, Ember was his last hope. How could he be so certain that he wouldn’t kill her in the process?
It didn’t matter to him. The risk was worth it if it worked.
How far her lover, no Rose’s lover had fallen.
“After years of experimentation, I’ve figured out the missing piece was your cards. They hold your power.”
” And the exorcists? You know they are here somewhere. They intend …” Ember let her voice falter in question.
“Please. They are fools if they think they can hold any power over us.” His voice was dry paper, waiting to ignite. The warmth of his spirit encased her and Ember found it hard to breathe.
She stilled, wondering if Deidrick was right, but she stood her ground. She would not fail. She knew it because she had seen it in the cards all along, from the day Derek walked into her tent and turned her world upside down; The World Reversed.
“I’ve finally figured it out. This will work, I promise. The only thing I need from you ...” His hand lay atop the red book while his other reached out, drawing her closer.
Ember could feel a cold sweat forming as she took a deep breath, steadying herself as she had every time she’d prepared for a reading. Then she waited for him to continue.
“I need you to call forth a binding spell with your cards. Like that time in London.” His eyes peered into her intensely.
Ember felt the tidal wave crashing against her own self as Rose pushed the memory forth. Forcing it back, she blinked as if nothing had changed, hoping Deidrick couldn’t hear the large, thundero
us sounds of her heart as it beat maddeningly against her ribs.
“Then we must not wait another moment,” Ember spoke the words with as much love and promise as she could muster.
“My sweet Rose, you’ve always been so impatient.” He licked his lips with a hunger that couldn’t be defined by mortal standards.
Ember nodded in return.
Chapter Thirty
If the trees could speak, Ember wondered what they would say. As the moon rose in the sky, the vibrations of an invisible threshold dismantled her. She clutched her strands of crystals. Rose tested the waters as she bubbled to the surface and, for a moment, all Ember could feel was …
Nothing.
The feeling of numbness, of emptiness, receded so quickly Ember had to wonder if she had imagined it.
The walls were down and she was but a trojan horse entering enemy territory. She glanced down at the ground, sweeping her gaze over the well-kept landscape, breathing a sigh of relief when she saw the salt on either side of them.
A few more steps and the threshold would close. Though Deidrick was powerful enough to step over it, Ember hoped he would be too distracted to notice it in the first place.
She followed Deidrick until he stopped at the center of a trellis ensconced in roses. Ember glanced around, looking for a sign of Ava and Bryan, and that’s when she saw it -- a sliver of illuminated stone and the freshly dug dirt circled around the pillar.
Bryan’s glasses glinted in the moonlight from behind the crystal and Ember’s heightened senses told her Ava was not far behind. Her high heels dug into the soft earth as she found her footing. She noted the feel of a freshly dug, uneven groove of dirt beside her, shifting her weight; hiding her uneven stance.
Ember held out her other hand as she called the cards directly to her, and the swirl of age-old images -- pentacles and staves -- surrounded them in a flurry like a tiny tornado of paper.
Deidrick smirked as he opened his book. “It’s just like that time in London when we --”
Ember put a finger to his lips. “I haven’t forgotten.” She felt her lips curve upwards in sweet deception.
Ember moved her hands in front of her, the cards following her cue as they danced around Deidrick. They encased him as he started to speak an ancient incantation and Ember found an uncanny strength as she looked into his eyes. He looked back only for a moment, and Ember knew she had him.
She placed her hand directly on the center of the Wheel of Fortune card, which was pressed against his chest, readying the binding just like Rose had remembered. She leaned forward, her face close enough to his lips she could have kissed him. “I love you.” Tears brimmed beneath her eyes as she spoke the words like a prayer, like a wish, full of absolute and unwavering certainty and truth.
The wind that surrounded them picked up; Ember could feel a push upon his body, and her eyes widened at the sight.
Like a double vision of lines, Deidrick’s body flickered.
Lines of energy, electric blue, and pumpkin orange, danced together, flashing in and out of the one body, each fighting for existence.
She knew without a doubt that they were more than just auras but the actual existence and presence of souls. She watched in horror as the rise of the orange energy momentarily struggled higher as if it was nothing more than a push popsicle being thrust forward into the light of rays that would melt it into oblivion. The sight brought her back to her plan.
She closed her lips on Deidrick, startling him from his battle of wills, and she felt the book drop, like one singular raindrop in an endless sea, its vibrations felt throughout her entire being. Her other hand, the one that bore a shimmering obsidian cocktail ring, intertwined fingers with his, where the book had existed only moments ago.
She could feel his energy in the buzz against their lips, in the veins of her body; it was like being shocked by the bitterness of icy winds in the winter but more piercing; more painful. She focused on that energy, imagined herself digging her nails in, embedding herself into it, buried deep like the tree roots below as they tangled themselves through and around rock and earth.
Ember let her foot lift off the ground like they do in the movies. Her lips pulled away with grief and otherworldly love; only for a moment did Ember give Rose the chance to feel her eternal love’s kiss. The tears surged forth as she breathed the words she’d heard a hundred times, whispering her love for him with the yearning of a lifetime. Their lips pulled away and the words, spoken in shaky whispers from Ember’s mouth, carved the basis for Bryan’s redirection.
Ava had her signal. Bryan would be there to catch the moment Deidrick let his guard down. She was counting on it.
Her hand pressed forcefully into his chest, Deidrick opened his eyes in panic as he realized what was happening. The heartbreak was evident in those glowing blue eyes for only a moment until the anger pushed it aside. Deidrick surged forth with full force against her prison of cards. Ember stumbled backward, the movement breaking her hold on the spell.
“Rose …” his voice growled as the energy danced around him like flames. Ember thrust her hands back up, her heartbeat racing, whispering the words once more. Her own force of will held him in place, as she repeated the mantra, louder this time. Deidrick tried, without success, to pull away from her.
He reached for the book and she shifted her body back as she kicked it aside, directly into the ditch, which was surrounded by black ash, salt, and brick dust. Deidrick’s eyes were full of fire, as he thrust his hands out in front of if him. Blue energy danced in fractals as Ember held Deidrick with every ounce of her strength and Rose’s ability. Her muscles strained against the onslaught of energy. Deidrick’s eyes glowed aqua in the light and his lips pulled back into a furious growl. He wrapped his fingers around Ember’s wrists, the feeling of ice causing her to jump.
With his other hand he called forth energy and it swirled like coils of smoke in the chilled air, varying shades of blue and indigo. Ember felt as if her entire body was slowly being frozen. Despite her own pain, the tears that fell from her face came from a spirit within.
“Rose, how could you?!” His voice teetered on the bridge of fury and flame, fighting with every breath as the energy fractals rose above him, carried by a supernatural wind, lighting up a crystal pillar far away with its glow. Ember’s eyes focused on the ball of energy in his other hand and Rose acknowledged her response. Her entire body shook with vibration and her limbs felt frozen, but with help from within, she moved them nonetheless. She focused her free hand in the direction of the energy, repeating the words with clarity.
“We will be together, Deidrick. I promise. You’ll never lose me again.” Tears ran down her face in a steady stream as Deidrick’s face contorted into expressions of anguish, the energy prickling his skin like blue flames, called forth by an unknown force emanating from the crystal.
The music of the masquerade whispered against the sounds of All Hallow’s Eve -- the whistling wind, the howl of wolves -- a haunting melody of its own.
The energy of blue fractals danced in the air, thin wisps reaching out in Ember’s direction, fighting against the force of the crystal, which drew them in.
“I can’t let this go on any longer. We can’t interfere anymore. This is how it has to be. The way it always should have been.” Her throat rasped as Rose fought her way upward through Ember, like an earthquake. The ball of energy dissipated in tiny sparks and the feeling of ice chilled her entire body.
Ember’s fingers struggled to hold him in place, her breath coming in ragged, panicked bursts. For only a moment, as his body slumped forward lifelessly, Ember saw him.
He wasn’t a man but a being -- bright blue light and shades of gray like the smoke in a speakeasy or the glistening crest of waves that crash upon the sand. The energy brushed against her like a wave of fire and ice, and the power was so …
Heavy. Her eyelashes fluttered in exhaustion. For a moment, Ember felt as if she could close her eyes forever, that to do so would be
utter bliss.
She closed her eyes and, with her free hand, willed the cards to find their home in the black velvet bag. They followed her command.
The shapeless light sparkled like the stars in a vast galaxy, and with one last look, Ember felt the final tremors of Rose’s spirit leaving her body, wrapping its violet tendrils around the blue. It took every ounce of strength Ember had left to raise her hand toward the colliding colors. Her father's words fell out in a tumble and the interconnected souls retreated with the speed of light, illuminating the property and sky as they found purchase in the crystal pillar.
When their combined light went out, Ember’s eyes felt heavy, her body empty. But there was still one last thing they needed to do.
She leaned against Derek, who forced himself up from the ground. His eyes fluttered as his breath searched for stability, but he could not stand. He looked up at Ember with an exhausted expression, and she held onto his shoulders tightly in response. His head lolled against her pale legs, and she could feel his body, cold against hers.
He searched for words, unintelligible sounds escaping his throat alongside his rapid breaths.
She pulled out a match from inside the confines of her bra, just as Ava suggested, and the smell of smoke engulfed her senses as she carried out the last step of the plan.
Derek watched as she tossed the lit match into the ditch.
“Ember …” His voice formed the words clearly and brightly against the sound of everything else around them; the music echoing, the howling wind, his labored breath.
“Derek …” Ember’s legs buckled beneath her as she slid down the wooden trellis, roses and petals falling as the thorns sought purchase against the tiny silver beads, and white fringe of her dress. They tore tiny holes and rips as she found her way to the ground, as if even the property itself fought her decision, desperately accusing her of her betrayal.
A Cursed All Hallows' Eve Page 74