by Diana Nixon
“Why didn’t Dominic want Evan to read minds?”
“Isn’t it obvious? He would know everything about his father’s affairs. Every small and awful thing that he did, heading the brotherhood. Dominic’s every secret would be revealed. That’s why he did his best to bury that gift in Evan’s mind forever.”
“Do you think Evan will be able to awaken it?”
“No, I’m sure he won’t. Too much time has passed since his eighteenth birthday. And we all know that new gifts can’t be revealed after that.”
“What about Evan becoming a new Lord of Mind?” I’m sure Marion knew that question was about to be asked. I was only afraid she wouldn’t answer it.
And I was right. “I’m not allowed to talk about it, Eileen.”
“The memory that you showed me wasn’t complete, right?”
She shook her head, confirming my words.
“Okay, you don’t have to answer my question. But can you at least nod if I’m right?”
“Yes,” Marion said.
“Is it dangerous for Evan to become a Lord?”
She nodded.
“Is there a way to stop the transformation?”
“No.”
“How can I help him, then?”
“Find Elizabeth.”
Chapter 15
Eileen
I stared at Marion, secretly hoping she would take her words back. But she didn’t.
“I thought you didn’t want me to see her,” I said.
“I didn’t and I still don’t. But I guess it’s the only way to find out more about Evan’s transformation. Since he was not born a Lord, anything that will happen next will change him forever.”
“Do you know what Elizabeth does?”
“Yes and no. I’m sure only she knows the entire truth about her husband’s plans and Evan’s future. By the way, take this,” she said, pouring a few drops of the elixir she just made into a small bottle. “You might need it soon.”
“By soon you mean the day I find Elizabeth?”
Marion smiled. “I always admired your ability to read between the lines, Eileen. I’m sure you will do all right.”
I sighed. I wished I had Marion’s confidence.
“Thanks. I’ll try my best,” I said, taking the bottle.
“Let me know if you need anything. Even if I am not able to tell you all the details you want to know, I will find a way to help you.”
That was Marion for you. I never doubted her talents and I was sure that no matter what, she would do anything to help us resolve the numerous puzzles that we got stuck into.
I thanked her again and left, thinking about the secret password hiding the place where Evan’s mother was now staying. No doubt, I knew the password. The only problem was to decide which of the things connecting her, Evan and me I could use to find the right answer.
I went back to the library, hoping I would be able to keep my conversation with Marion a secret. I didn’t think my feelings or aura would give away anything, because in fact, Marion didn’t say anything new. She only confirmed my worst fears…
“Is everything okay?” Christian asked, as I got back to my seat next to him.
“Yeah, I just needed to check something out. Do you know if Evan and Amanda are back yet?”
“He texted me a few minutes ago, asking where they could find us. He said they have the book.”
“Really?” Well, that was both great and bad news, because I was a little afraid of Evan reading it.
“You think he will find out everything?” Christian asked.
I nodded. “If the book is a kind of the key that unlocks his powers, like Fredrick’s amulet that he gave me on my eighteenth birthday, I’m afraid even to imagine what will happen the moment Evan realizes all of this.”
“It won’t happen all at once,” Will said. “Evan will need some time to understand what’s going on with him. But I’m sure the more he reads the book, the sooner whatever is about to happen will become evident.”
“Then why don’t we keep the book away from him?”
“I don’t think that is possible,” Christian said, nodding to the door.
It only took me a few seconds to realize what he was talking about. The moment I saw Evan entering the library, I saw the changes that were simply impossible not to notice.
“It’s all silver,” I said, horrified, looking at the colors of Evan’s aura. There were no other colors or shades, only silver. But the problem was that neither of us knew what it meant.
“Hey there, secret agents,” Amanda said, sitting next to me. “How are things going here?”
“I’d rather ask you about the things going on between you and Evan,” I said in a whisper.
Her cheeks blushed slightly. “Don’t ask. I’m so screwed.”
“Well, that’s the exact answer I thought I would get. Did you two talk about it?”
She looked at Evan and giggled. “We did.”
“Okay, I’m sure I don’t want to know how it was.” Judging by how happy they both looked, they didn’t care that much about the book or the rest of our problems. For now, they were more interested in what was happening between them.
My eyes traveled to Darcy. I was sure she still had feelings for Evan, well, of course she did; they broke up only a few days ago. But to my surprise, she didn’t seem to be bothered by his presence. She kept talking and smiling as if nothing had ever happened. I could see that Evan was glad to admit it too. Even though we all knew that it was just a pretence, we couldn’t help but admire Darcy’s ability to play it cool.
“Can I have a look at the book?” I asked, hoping that getting back to work would be a good distraction for all of us who were present at the moment.
I didn’t even need to open it to feel that it was full of something that I couldn’t understand. It wasn’t magic, but I could swear I had felt similar sensations before. I couldn’t remember when and where, but it was familiar to me…
“Did you read it?” I asked Evan.
“No. I’m kind of afraid to open it.”
I tried to open the book, but failed.
What the hell?
“What is it, Eileen?” Will asked.
“I don’t know. I can’t open it.” All the eyes of my friends stared at me.
“Can I try?” Will asked.
I gave him the book, but much like I couldn’t open it, Will couldn’t open it either. And again, I remembered the memory Marion showed me.
Was Evan the only person able to open and read it?
“Now I remember the day I got it,” Evan said, looking at me. “I remembered it the moment I took the book into my hands. And I can swear that I opened it that day. I only didn’t have a chance to read what was written inside, because my father took it away from me, as soon as Will’s mother was gone.”
“Then don’t read it,” I said, taking the book from Will. “We don’t know what will happen after you open it. So why don’t we just, I don’t know, hide it somewhere until we decide what to do with it?”
Christian looked at me suspiciously, but I ignored him.
“Maybe you are right,” Evan said. “I don’t have the slightest desire to read it.”
“Oh, my God! Guys, look at this,” Darcy said, coming over with the book she was reading at the moment. “We never knew how the powers we possess first distinguished themselves. Not even The History lessons tell us about that. But this book says that originally there was only one gift — magic. Then its owner created other gifts that she gave to her children, who, unlike her, were powerless. Don’t you think it sounds like the story of the Perriart collection creation?”
“You are right,” I said. “There are seven pieces in the collection. And we posses seven different gifts. What else does the book say?”
“That if the gifts are combined together, they will all be destroyed.”
I thought back to the meeting with Peter and his words about how some people came to get the copies of the pieces from
the Perriart collection. Were they trying to restore it? We all knew that the collection had been lost for centuries.
“Oh, no,” I whispered, looking at my friends. “If what we think about the collection and the powers are true, then what do the Lords want to do with them?”
“They want to become free,” Will said. “If they destroy the powers they don’t possess, they will automatically destroy everything supernatural, including their ability to mastermind people. We will all become just humans.”
Well, that was news that we never expected to hear.
“So you think it’s possible to destroy a world that had existed for centuries?” Evan said. “Don’t you think it sounds a little ridiculous?”
“I wouldn’t be surprised to find out that it’s true,” Melanie said. “Especially after what we witnessed a few weeks ago, fighting with the Dragons.”
She was right, I wouldn’t be surprised to find out that is was possible. The only question was, why would Evan’s father want him to be one of the Lords? Did he want his children to become humans? Then why would he be trying to gain so much power? The answers were somewhere close, I knew it.
We didn’t know what to do with the book Evan and Amanda found, so we showed it to my father and Patrick, hoping they would be able to tell us more about its secrets.
“Where did you get it?” Dad asked, looking at the book cautiously.
He didn’t touch it, which I thought was a little surprising.
“This book was given to me by a woman who we think might be Will’s mother,” Evan said. “It has been hidden for years, but Eileen saw it in one of my memories, and we thought it was important to find it.”
“Did you read it?” My father asked. He didn’t turn to Evan, but towards me instead.
“No,” I said, watching him. “Why?”
He and Patrick shared a glance.
“This book is not just a book, but a grimoire. And it’s not just a set of spells. Whatever you want to do with the help of magic, will be described here.”
“In other words, it will give the answer to any question you could ask?” Evan asked.
Patrick nodded. “If your question is about magic, then yes.”
Christian took the book into his hands and touched the golden symbol written on the cover.
“Do you know what the symbol means?” He asked.
“The same symbol you can find on every grimoire. The only difference this one has, is its color. Usually grimoires are written in black ink, but I’m sure that whatever is written inside this one, will be in gold.”
“The problem is that none of us seem to be able to open it,” Will said.
“It opens only to its true owner. Like the Cup of Power that works only for one particular person. And even if he opens it, no one but him will be able to read what is written inside.”
“So you said you saw this book in Evan’s memories?” Dad asked. “Did you, Evan, try to open it?”
“No.”
“Good. I wouldn’t recommend you doing that.”
“Why?”
“The magic of a grimoire is full of mysteries. No one knows what spells you would want to try when you open the book. It’s like a magnet to all of your secret thoughts and wishes. It feels your strongest and weakest qualities, and as a rule, it gives you the power to do the things that you might not be able to handle.”
“So the book is evil then?” Evan asked.
“Sort of. More like a devil dying to seduce you.”
“Then why would Will’s mother give it to me?”
“That is a good question,” my father said. “Maybe she thought it was just another grimoire, collecting spells on different subjects?”
“Anyway, can you hide it somewhere until we decide what to do with it?” I said.
“Sure, I will take it.” Carefully, Patrick took the book and put it on his desk.
“Dad, can I have a word with you?” I whispered, so only he would hear me.
“Why don’t we go somewhere else.”
I nodded, and said I would be right be back, then I followed my father into the hall.
“You know more about the book, don’t you?” He said, watching me intently. We walked out into the street and headed for the gazebo where Christian and I loved spending time together.
“I don’t. But I’m sure it won’t do Evan any good.”
“And why would you think that?”
“Well, first I saw your reaction to the book. You knew it was trouble. And second,” I hesitated with what I was going to say next, “I think that it will turn Evan into a Lord of Mind.”
“What?” My father seemed genuinely surprised to hear my words. “It is impossible.”
I smirked. “Tell me something I don’t know. As it turns out, anything is possible, Dad.”
“To be a Lord of Mind, you need to be born as one.”
“I know. But there are exceptions to every rule, right?”
“Well, I really doubt that Evan can be one of the Lords.”
“Will saw Evan’s reaction to his powers.”
My father’s eyebrows pulled together. “This is not good.”
“My point exactly. But there’s one more thing that I wanted to ask you about.”
“What is it, Sweetheart?”
“You knew Dominic Murray, right? Have you ever noticed anything different about him?”
“Hmm… What exactly do you want to know?”
“I don’t know. Some unusual colors in his aura, some specific vibrations in his energy, anything.”
“There was one thing that I couldn’t figure out about him. We all know that our eyes don’t just change their color. But Dominic’s did. Every time he was angry, or using too much energy, they became silver.”
“Silver? Like Marion’s?”
“Yes. But hers are silver because of the family she belongs to. The Blanches always had silver eyes.”
“Yeah, I know that. Is that possible that Dominic had their blood in his veins?”
“No, he was a pure Wizardy. But even if he shared their blood, his eyes would still have a permanent color.”
My father’s words turned into another puzzle that I couldn’t stop thinking about. There must be something that we were missing when talking about Evan’s father and his numerous secrets. It couldn’t be just a coincidence that silver that now filled every inch of Evan’s aura was in his father’s eyes too. Have I ever seen Evan’s eyes turning silver? No, but that didn’t mean anything.
I didn’t notice the moment I walked to the stable. Nelly greeted me with a loud snort.
“Hey, girl,” I said, sliding my palm down her black mane.
“Be careful with her, Eileen,” one of the guards said. “She’s uncharacteristically nervous today.”
“Oh, really?” I looked at the horse again, wondering if she was okay.
“Did you check her hooves? Maybe she hurt one of them or something?”
“She wouldn’t let anyone into her stall.”
“Would you let me in, Nelly?” I opened the gate and took a step closer to the horse. She didn’t seem to mind. “Good girl,” I said, caressing her side. “Would you like me to rub you down?” I took the grooming brush and Nelly snorted again. I took that as a good sign.
Carefully, I started rubbing her sides and back, looking for any signs of injuries that could be bothering her. I didn’t see anything suspicious, so I thought it was a simple coincidence that she was in a bad mood today.
When I was about to leave, I noticed that the horse wouldn’t stop tramping. I kneeled near one of her legs and saw that one of the horseshoes didn’t fit well. I pulled it carefully, and put it aside.
“Tomorrow, they will make a new one, okay?”
Nelly snorted in response and I smiled. No wonder she used to be Elizabeth’s favorite horse. It was simply impossible not to love her.
I looked at the horseshoe again and a thought came to my head. I took the metal thing into my hand and the
memories of the fight with the Dragons returned. Back then, it was Nelly, who gave me the last hint about what to do to get to the rose field where I could kill them all. Was it possible that now she was doing the same thing, and trying to tell me what to do?
“What did you want to tell me?” I asked thoughtfully, looking at the horse. She bent her head and smelled the horseshoe in my hands; her nose tickled my hand. Well, of course!
“The password,” I said, watching Nelly in surprise.
Could I be right again? Could she know about the problems we had? Could she know the answers to my questions?
As if reading my mind, the horse nodded, touching my hand with her nose again. Was the horseshoe the key to this?
“Thanks, Beautiful,” I said before leaving.
I wasn’t sure if my hunch was correct. It made sense, but I still thought I shouldn’t tell anyone about it. Especially if I was still going to meet Elizabeth on my own.
According to Marion’s words, she could answer all the questions I had. But unlike previous occurrences, I didn’t know if I could be as stupid as to go to meet with her alone. Too many things were at stake, and I didn’t want to put myself or anyone else at risk. For the first time ever, I was afraid of making decisions.
I didn’t want to fall asleep alone that night, so I went to Christian’s room.
“Is everything all right?” He asked, letting me in.
“Well, considering the circumstances, I doubt I can say yes.”
He smiled slightly, wrapping his arms around me. “It’s gonna be okay. Maybe not today, but one day.”
“Sometimes I doubt we will still be alive when that happy day comes.”
“Hey, what’s the pessimism about? You of all people should know that there’s nothing that we can’t deal with, especially if we are together. Together we can take on the world.”
I looked up at him and nodded silently. I don’t know what I would have done without Christian and his support. He always knew what to say to take my worries away. Not that they could leave me forever, but at least I felt better until the moment I figured out what the next step to take was.
“How about a bath with rose petals and sea salt? It will help you relax a little.”