by Bailey Dark
He saw it too. The voice whispered reproachfully.
“How do I make the memory go away?” I whispered. “Every time I close my eyes, I relive that moment and it’s…” my words break off into a whimper. “Too much.”
Holly stood from the chair and walked to the side of my bed, placing her hand atop mine. “I don’t think you can,” she said solemnly. “If you had the coven wipe your memories, it would be an injustice to Chancellor Andrews,” she frowns. “Someone needs to remember what they did to him and make them pay for it.”
“I couldn’t even find the books,” I said despairingly. “How can I take on the council?”
“You will find the books and you will make them pay, Gwen,” she said determinedly.
“You have all of us here to help you. The coven too. Don’t give up.”
“Is he okay?” I asked referring to Lance. I was feeling guilty that I had avoided him for this long. She was right, he needed me, and I was being selfish and weak.
“He pretends to be okay, but it’s eating him alive,” she admitted. “I heard him cry all night last night.”
I winced. That I didn’t know. I had fallen into a deep sleep, truly needing the rest.
“Can you send him in?” I asked.
She nodded. “Just remember you have friends that are ready to fight next to you, Gwen.”
A small smile spread over my lips. “Hunter, did you just call me your friend?” I teased.
She rolled her eyes. “Don’t let it go to your head.”
“Thank you.” She nodded before exiting and leaving me to my thoughts.
Several minutes later I felt the mattress dip, and Lance’s arms pulled me into his firm chest. He didn’t say anything. He just held me, needing the companionship as much as I did at that moment.
Silent tears streamed down my face, dropping onto his arms as he pulled me in closer to him, nestling his nose into my hair. His body shook lightly, which was the only indication that he too was emotional. We lay like that for well over an hour before I finally worked up the courage to speak.
“Lance, I’m so sorry I wasn’t there for you,” I whispered into the dark-room. He didn’t reply, so I continued to fill the silence. “I know it had to be just as hard for you as it was for me to watch that happen to him, and I’m just…so sorry. I wasn’t strong enough to be here for you.”
“I couldn’t do anything,” he cried.
I couldn’t see him, but I turned so that our faces were level. “Nobody could have. He’d already made up his mind about his own fate. He was ready to die,” I said choking up.
And that was the most troubling part for me. What could they have done to him to have broken his spirit so irreversibly? What torment did he endure that we don’t even know about? The questions kept mounting and each one felt like another brick laid heavily on my chest. A sob broke through me.
“Shh,” Lance hushed soothingly. “I’m here.”
“We have to honor him by finishing what we started,” I said through more sniffles. “He told us to bring the council down and that’s what we’re gonna do. They did this to him,” I said between gritted teeth. “And every single one of them is going to pay.”
No matter how strong I had wanted to be, I couldn’t muster the strength to carry it through. Of all the things I’d witnessed these last weeks, watching what happened to the Chancellor was the worst. Nobody should exit this world the way he did. The memory of it couldn’t be erased. It played on a loop in my head and I cried while Lance rubbed my back.
I was moments from closing my eyes when Lance spoke. “You don’t think that Tristan knew about this do you?” Lance asked in such a small voice it broke my heart. I don’t know if he is trying to protect my feelings or his own. We both had cared for Tristan and neither of us could fathom him being part of it, no matter what he’d done up to this point.
“I don’t know,” I admit. “I’d like to believe that even after all of the bad things he has done, he wouldn’t be capable of this.”
“If he did have anything to do with it, there’s nothing that can stop me from killing him myself, Gwen,” he said. “Whichever monsters had a hand in beating Chancellor Andrews, they deserve to meet the same fate.”
“So many bad things have happened, Lance, but promise me you won’t let it change you. Promise me you’ll always be the level-headed one of this duo. I need you.”
“I’m already changed, Gwen. How could I not be?”
I understood what he was saying. After everything we’d been through, we’d both changed irrevocably. We don’t get to be the naïve kids that think the council has our best interest at heart. That they’re protecting us because they care.
No. We don’t get to pretend that anymore. They do what benefits them only. Now, they are hunting us because we know too much. Regardless, I couldn’t stand the thought of Lance losing himself in the process. He was a good guy. I wouldn’t let the council destroy him.
“I know there are some parts of this that we can’t help. Everything has changed and we have to defend ourselves and those who can’t fight the council. But don’t lose sight of who you are, Lance. You’re a good, honest person, who would never purposely harm another. Even with all the horrible things the council has done, do you really believe that you could kill any of them?
He seemed to ponder my question and I did the same on my end. No matter what, the answer was no. I couldn’t kill someone in cold blood unless I had no other choice.
“No,” he finally said, and I released the breath I had been holding. “No matter how vile they are, I couldn’t stoop to that level. In my core that has not changed. I’ll bring them to justice—whatever that may be—but if we can do it without more bloodshed, then that’s what we’ll do.”
“I love you, Lance,” I say quietly. It isn’t a new thing. I’d been telling Lance Druitt I loved him forever because I do. He’s always been there for me and right now when I need him most, he’s here.
“Love you too, Gwennie,” Lance said. “Now, get some sleep. We’ll have a lot to talk about in the morning with the Dowagers.”
I grabbed his arms and put them back around me, snuggling in tight against him. The comfort of his warm body lulled me to sleep, and for once, I didn’t have nightmares. I didn’t dream at all. And that was a relief.
Lance led me down a long corridor, as we made our way to where the Dowager coven was meeting. I could not get over the fact that all of this had been here the entire time, and we had been in that two-bedroom cabin squished in like sardines. The stuff glamour can hide never ceased to amaze me.
As I looked around at all the opulence, I couldn’t help but hope that one day I would be a strong enough sorcerer to be able to conjure up such magnificence. The place was massive and I could only wonder at where all the doors on either side of me led. I wanted to explore, but there was no time for that. The meeting we were headed to was urgent based on the insistence of Mallory. She had burst into the room a half-hour ago saying that the coven needed to meet with us immediately.
“What do you think this is about I asked?”
There was no question we were running out of time, and we needed to make our next move, but the sense of urgency that came with the summons felt like something else.
“No clue. I’ve been with you,” Lance said, sounding far off in his own thoughts. No doubt he was trying to piece out the puzzle himself.
“I guess we’ll sleep when we’re dead,” I winced at my verbal faux pas. The event of days ago was still too raw to even joke about death in such an ordinary manner, and it conjured images that I had been fortunate enough to have a reprieve from last night. My stomach turned.
“Don’t be so hard on yourself, Gwen. We’re alive and you have to keep living. Walking on eggshells isn’t good for either one of us. We saw what we saw. There’s nothing that we can do to change it, but Chancellor Andrews wouldn’t want you beating yourself up every ten seconds over trivial things.”
I he
ard what he was saying, and I knew he was right, but it was just too soon. Whether it was ridiculous or not, I harbored so much guilt at leaving the Chancellor behind. If I’d insisted he come with us, he’d still be alive.
He wouldn’t have gone with you.
Even knowing that was the truth, it didn’t rid me of the guilt. There had to have been something I could’ve done.
“Lance, why don’t you think the Chancellor used his magic against the council?”
“What do you mean?” he questioned.
“He said he had powers that the council would need and that was to be his leverage. Based on the outcome, he never used them. Why?”
Lance sighed. “It could’ve been for a number of reasons. Most likely, he realized that the powers he had, he didn’t want the council to know about. I’d like to think he wanted to keep us safe. God only knows what they could’ve forced him to do with whatever powers he had.”
“But he could’ve used them to get away. All of the students were gone when we got there. There was no reason for him to stick around. He had powers, they didn’t.”
“I don’t know, Gwen,” he said sounding tired. “Maybe he used his powers to get the rest of the students out of there, and because of that, he didn’t have time to save himself. Using abilities can drain a sorcerer. He probably was drained and at gunpoint. He didn’t have a chance.”
“He’d always save the students before himself,” I said sadly. I didn’t doubt that Lance was right about how things went down. It sounded just like the Chancellor and the halls had been empty of students. But where did they go?
When we got to a set of large double doors, he jerked them open to reveal what appeared to be a ballroom of sorts. At this current moment, it looked more like an AA meeting. Chairs were arranged in a large circle and more than half were occupied.
Holly was in a corner, in what appeared to be an intense conversation with her mother, while Mallory stood along the side-wall with her feet crossed at her ankles, and her arms crossed over her chest, taking in her surroundings. I walked up to her, “any idea what this is all about?”
“No,” she said. “They insisted on waiting for you two to get here before they said anything. But Clara seems more uptight than usual.” My eyes widened at that.
“I didn’t think it was possible to be any more uptight,” I jest, trying to lighten the mood. She chuckled. “Yeah well, you’ll see what I mean shortly.”
“Everyone sit,” Clara’s voice boomed through the room. Her stance was rigid and her hands shook slightly at her side. She was wound up, which did nothing but put me more on edge.
Lance grabbed me by the elbow, helping to lower me into a seat. I turned to him and smiled, “you know I’m capable of doing that myself.” I teased.
“Yeah well, it didn’t look like it. Calm down, Gwennie. Who knows what she’s about to say. No sense in freaking out yet.”
“Our location has been compromised,” Clara spit out. A chorus of “whats” bellowed over each other. Every member of the coven was on their feet.
“That’s…not good,” Lance said, not helping my mounting anxiety.
Clara motioned for them all to calm down and take their seats again. “I know this is concerning, but I need you all to remain quiet so that I can get through my news. There’s more.” Everyone hushed immediately. “Our inside informant has been beaten severely and her offspring has brought her to us,” Clara sneered, clearly disliking whomever she was speaking of. “They’re waiting just outside the wards. We know this as Sister Maggie has been patrolling the border and saw the boy and his mother approach. He sent the message that the council had come to the knowledge that she had been behind the murders of the Knights. They beat her and have been holding her in an underground dungeon under the council building. The sorcerer’s son was able to infiltrate it…somehow and got his mother out without being caught. They’ve come here for asylum.”
“We don’t owe her anything,” one of the coven members yelled out, and many others nodded their heads in agreement.
I replayed her words over in my head and finally, the situation caught up with me. The cloaked woman was who they were speaking of. I stood to my feet without thinking, “who is she?” I demanded.
“That is not something I wish to discuss at this moment. It’s not important. What matters is what our decision is. If we turn her away, she will undoubtedly be found tortured and killed by the council along with her son,” Clara explained.
“That’s not our problem. Her debts were paid to us. Let the council have her,” a strawberry blonde coven member—named Olive—shouted.
“Yes,” she said tsking. “With the exception that she could’ve potentially led the council straight to us. No one else has attempted to infiltrate our wards, and we know the council themselves couldn’t do it, but what if she was followed?” Clara asked. “We need to know all of the details and if we give her asylum she will again be in our debt.”
“What use could she be to us now that the council is after her?” another asked.
Clara rolled her eyes, “she was a high-ranking member of the council. Surely, she has information that could be of use to us. If they only just came into the knowledge that she was behind the deaths, then who knows what she’s been able to garner in the meantime.” Hushed murmurs filled the room. “We shall vote, as is our custom, majority rules.”
Lance stands this time. “You’re telling us that a high-ranking member of the council was behind the murders, and she’s here now? I think it only fair that since you all know her identity so should we,” he said pointing to the four of us. “If this person has betrayed the council so easily, what makes you think she won’t be doing the same to you? For all you know this entire thing is a ruse to get inside the wards.
Clara’s brow furrows. “You make an excellent point. This could very well be a setup.”
“Allow us to interrogate her before you make your decision,” Lance suggests and Clara nods.
“Her name is Evangeline Locke.”
I gasped and so did Mallory.
“Evie Locke?” Lance questions shocked.
Tristan’s mother. He was here.
Chapter Eleven
Lance’s eyes met mine, and I could see how troubled he was by this news. As for me, I was in shock. This whole time the woman we had been trying to identify was Tristan’s mom. That was why he pulled me from my dream walk, he was trying to protect her. But why in the hell would she have killed those Knights? What could the coven have had on her that she’d owe them that severe of a debt? Like always the questions just kept mounting up. As soon as we have the answer to one, fifteen more loomed.
“What do you think?” Lance asked.
I shook my head slowly back-and-forth. “I don’t even know how to respond,” I said honestly.
Of course, Tristan would want to save his mom, and if the only place that was safe from the council was here, I would’ve done the same. Even for my father, I would’ve sought the help of the coven if that was my only hope.
“I just don’t know if they can be trusted,” Lance said. “Knowing all of the scheming he’s done in the past, how do we know that he’s not still working for the council? How do we know that his mom isn’t putting on this farce to get back into the good graces of the council?”
“We don’t,” I said despondently.
“I can assure you, Evie is not working with the council,” Clara chimed in.
“How can you be so sure?” Holly challenged her mother.
Clara walked to the nearest seat and sat. “Evie and I have a long history. She came to me shortly after Souveign made the pact with the council. She thought then that the council was gaining too much power. She was frightened by some of the ideas the members proposed,” she took a breath. “Knowing the impact the Souveign betrayal would have on us all, she braved coming to me. I respected that and allowed her to share her news with our coven,” she paused.
“In exchange, she asked for
my help. She thought her husband had stepped out on her. I did a tracking spell and some truth serum to help her uncover the truth about her husband.”
The memory of Tristan telling me my mother had been the one to have an affair with his father hit me like a train. The evidence I need is all here. I didn’t want to believe Tristan then and I still didn’t, but if Clara had proof, I wanted to know.
“Clara, was it true? Was my mother having an affair with Mr. Locke?”
Several pairs of eyes shot to me in surprise.
“What?” Holly asked. “Your mom?”
I didn’t say anything, my eyes continued to bore into Clara’s. I needed her to tell me.
“No,” she said shaking her head. “There was no affair. Your father was privy to information that not all the council members were. He had a journal and your mother had found it,” she blew out a breath. “To make it very long story short, when your mother confronted your father, he told her about all of their plans. The most troubling part was that the council was narrowing in on four students who had shown the capability to harness exceptional abilities. They planned to recruit them early and use them to their advantage. Tristan was one of them, as were you. Your mother wanted to go directly to Evie, but your father was concerned that she may be in too deep with the council. Given Mr. Locke’s propensity with women, your father felt it might be better if your mom went to him instead. They were making plans to hide the two of you. The rest, I’ll leave for Evie or your father to tell you.”
“How is that supposed to prove that Evie wouldn’t still be working for the council?” I asked, feeling as though she took a detour from the original point.
She groaned, running her hand down her face. “The council was after her son. There is nothing in this world more precious to Evie than Tristan. When she learned of their plans, she joined your parents in hiding your abilities. The council still seeks to use Tristan. Evie would never allow it.”