The Complete Set

by Ainsley Shay

  He eyed me, one brow lifted. “Okay, that did not—”

  “I know that didn’t make sense! Would you just shut up and listen?” I took a deep breath, trying to calm myself. When I came toward him, his arm shot up in defense. Kneeling in front of him, I took the journal from his hand. I willed back all emotion so I could explain what I had learned was possible. “Adelina can reverse the stone back to flesh and bone.”

  “Okay, now I’m dreaming.” He shook his head. “No way.”

  “The carving knife...” I hesitated, “and her blood.” I held up the journal. “It’s all in here.”

  He looked at me in disbelief. Nothing on my face said I was kidding, or sleepwalking, or it had been a dream. He lifted one corner of his mouth. “And, how do you plan to acquire those two ingredients?”

  I pulled my knees to my chest. “Maybe if we give her the medallion, we can ask her to bring my mom back.”

  “You don’t think Adelina’s actually going to go for that, do you?”

  It was a weak and desperate idea. Adelina would enjoy threatening and killing the ones I loved more than she would performing a good deed. Hope still found its way into my heart. “Do you think my mom would remember me?”

  He set the journal down and glanced at me. “When she opens her eyes and sees you, there’s not a doubt in this world she’ll know exactly who you are.”

  I did something I hadn’t done in a long time. I hugged my brother. “Thank you. Thank you for being stronger than I am and not giving Adelina the medallion back.”

  He huffed and pulled back. “I didn’t do it for this reason, but I’ll let you be in my debt, say...forever.” I punched his arm. “Hey!”

  I picked up the journal and held it tightly to my chest. It had told me what I wanted to know. And for that, I was grateful to Carina. Now, the only things keeping me from my mom were a few drops of Adelina’s blood and her carving knife.

  When I told Snow, she squealed and insisted we go to Adelina’s house after school to steal my mom. As much as I wanted to do that, I hadn’t thought it was the best idea.

  “What if we break her?” I asked.

  “We won’t.”

  I couldn’t risk her life like that. “Chandler is coming to pick me up today. I want to, at least, go check on her. Then, I promised Mr. Yves I would open the bookshop for a few hours before I went to see him.”

  “Have you told him yet?”

  “Yeah, when I called him this morning.” More guilt had compiled when I had. I hadn’t thought about his wife until I had hung up. “I felt bad after, because we hadn’t found Miss Rosy.”

  “I’m sure he was happy for you. Hey, maybe she’s in a closet, or something. When we find her, we can load her up, too.”

  I draped my arm over her shoulder. “Let’s get to class criminal mastermind.”

  School posed a challenge to sit still for seven hours. All I could think about was finding Adelina and slicing her open. I was grateful, though, every teacher I had was supportive of my situation. Each of them had given me extra time to turn in late assignments, make up tests, and quizzes. After school, Chandler was waiting in his car in the parking lot. I pushed up the seat and took my rightful place in the back while Snow rode in the front.

  “Hey, babe,” he said and kissed Snow.

  Blacwin used to kiss me like that. The soft lingering kind of kiss that said more than any words could ever convey. I turned my head and looked out the window.

  “Will you take me to Adelina’s?” I asked.

  “What? Why?” Chandler’s sly mood slid into protective mode.

  “I just want to see if my mom’s okay.”

  He looked in the rear view mirror and nodded, “All right, yeah.”

  During the 10-minute drive, Snow must have changed the station at least seventy-five times; during which we may have heard a total of one song in its entirety. When we arrived, Chandler parked along the side of the road instead of driving down the driveway. The chain that had been across the drive last time, had been taken down. It laid in a heap by the post the other end was still hooked to.

  “Stay here, I’ll go check on her. If I’m not back in—”

  “Yeah right! The ‘if I’m not back then call—’ call who? There is no one to call! So, we’re coming with you,” I told Chandler. I wasn’t taking no for an answer on this one. I nudged Snow’s seat. Reluctantly, she opened the door and got out. I was quick to follow her. I saw her shrug in Chandler’s direction. Walking past both of them, I started down the dirt drive. The smell that had been so strong last time was gone.

  “Wait up, ninja,” Chandler called.

  My pace didn’t slow. It took a couple of vibrations to realize someone was calling me. I took my phone out of my back pocket. The number looked familiar, but not one that called often enough to attach it to a new contact. “Hello.”

  “Not a good idea, blind girl.”

  Carina.

  My feet stopped. My heart raced. Snow and Chandler caught up. I slowly turned looking into the surrounding wooded area for Carina. “Where are you?”

  “Where I am isn’t important. But, where you are is very important. It’s also called trespassing, which happens to be illegal.”

  “So is kidnapping.”

  The other end of the line was silent for a beat. “Put the medallion on the porch and be on your way.”

  “I didn’t bring the medallion.”

  “That wasn’t very smart.” Carina sighed. “Can I assume you’re enjoying the journal?” She didn’t wait for me to answer. “I thought you might like it. You know, there’re so many great books out there and I’ve recommended a few, but when someone actually takes your suggestion and they love it as much as you—”

  “Where’s your sister?”

  She cleared her throat. “I don’t know. I wish I did; taking care of you is getting exhausting.”

  “I never asked to be watched over.”

  “Yeah, well, we all get things we don’t ask for.” She hummed a few bars of a song then said, “Anyway, I think she’s mad at me for taking her medallion. I really thought she’d be better off without it and all of its sentimental nonsense. But no, now that you have it—she’s been a bear.”

  I closed my eyes and took slow breaths. Trying to reason with her would be my only chance to save my mom. “Carina, please. If you have any idea of where she might be, please tell me.”

  Chandler was giving me the evil eye. He held his hand out for my phone. I shook my head. Surrendering my phone to him was not going to happen. A snap in the shallow woods behind us caught my attention. I swiftly turned expecting to see Carina coming out from between the trees. They were empty. Snow inched closer to Chandler’s side and held onto his arm.

  “Whether I’m able to tell you or not, which I’m not, but if I could, you’d hunt her down and kill her.” She had a point there. “And, I can’t let you do that because she’s the only one—”

  She stopped in mid sentence. “The only—what—the family you have left? Are you fucking kidding me? At least you have someone that’s blood, still in your life. The only blood I have left has been turned into stone by your sister.” I didn’t care if Carina was watching. I went straight up to the house and turned the handle. The door opened. The sight before me halted me just inside the door. I covered my mouth with my hand. A weight in my stomach dropped. The statues throughout had been turned over and lay in pieces on the floor. I closed my eyes to all the death spread out before me. “Are you the one destroying all the statues?”

  Carina’s voice was small. “I hate them.”

  “Why?”

  “She’s full of hate. She’s made me full of hate. Adelina never cared about me. It’s her statues she loves, the control of them.” She sounded like she’d regressed to the age of five. “The only reason she made me immortal was to get back at our mother for disowning her.”

  “If you knew you could turn them back why haven’t you tried?”

  “It’s
not that easy—”

  “Yes, it is!” I refused to believe what she claimed. “It’s in the journal.” I went outside and headed for the back yard. My mom stood where she had been before. I wondered why Carina hadn’t knocked her over. Whatever the reason, I was grateful. Chandler and Snow came up behind me. I went to my knees. “I just want her back,” I said to more myself than anyone else who was listening.

  “Adelina has only brought one back to life. She thought she could love again after Lord Darenfys. The man told her he was in love with her, and she believed him. She turned him into a statue, and for years she kept him locked inside of himself. Then, one day she freed him. Not long after, she caught him with another woman. You can guess what she would have done.”

  There was only one thing Adelina would do. “She stabbed him.”

  “The end,” Carina said. “Speaking of the end, how’s your friend—what’s his name, Yves?”

  Instant rage surged through me. There was no way I would give her the satisfaction of an answer. “Why are you helping me one minute and the next you’re Adelina’s little bitch?”

  A noise close to being a growl hummed in my ear. “Until she gets what she wants, everyone suffers.”

  “I will never give in.”

  “I know.”

  I left the back yard through the side gate and started for the front of the house.

  “Why don’t you and your little friend go home? Chandler, can stay of course. I’ve always had a thing for him. There’s just something raw and sarcastically hot about him.” I glanced at Chandler. His face was a mess of tense muscles. “When you come back, bring the medallion. And, when Adelina returns, and she will return, maybe she won’t turn you into a rock.”

  I thought about myself as a statue, standing next to my mother in a yard. Bile was thick in my throat. “Tell Adelina I’ll be waiting.” I pressed the end button.

  “Why the hell didn’t you let me talk to her?”

  I slid the phone back into my pocket. “Trust me, the only thing she’d want to talk to you about is—” I looked at Snow, “never mind.”

  By the look in her eyes, she knew exactly what I was about to say. “Oh, no! Crazy bitch or not, I’ll—”

  “Calm down,” I said.

  Her nostrils flared before she took a deep breath and let it out. Composed, she asked, “What did she want?”

  “I’m not the only one being used and she knows it. But, I’m not exactly sure what hold Adelina has over Carina. I only know she’s caught between helping me, and her loyalty to her sister.”

  “I think I know.”

  Snow and I looked at Chandler. “What?” I asked.

  “Adelina takes things from people. She doesn’t give them back until you’ve served your purpose, or she kills you.”

  It was Snow who asked what I, too, wanted to know. “So, what did she take from Carina?”

  “A long time ago, Carina had a child. The first and last time I saw her, the little girl was two. When I ran into Carina a few years later, I had asked about her daughter. Her response was odd, but at the time, I hadn’t thought any more than that. She told me something like, she’s where she needs to be until I can fulfill certain obligations. Now, knowing what Adelina could do, I would bet those certain obligations were to Adelina.”

  There was a horrible, sick reaction as bile traveled up my throat. The feeling that took over was so tangible I wanted to strangle it. I turned and ran back into the yard. It all crashed into me and I finally understood. Only two statues in the garden had been untouched. I skirted between the broken bodies to where my mother was and the child who was reaching for something at my mother’s feet. I knelt beside them. Leaning in to look at the child’s face, I knew instantly what she was reaching for—her mother. Her expression was anguish in the purest form.

  “Oh, my God.” Snow was standing next to me. She bent and touched the child’s smooth outstretched arm. “How could she?”

  Without an answer, I shook my head. There were no words that would ever be enough to describe the cruelty of what Adelina had done. “I have to stop her.”

  My voice was so low, Snow, who was right beside me, said, “What did you say?”

  Chandler was still standing, but his bionic ears had heard my vow. “Not alone.”

  “She can’t get away with this,” I said.

  Chandler gripped my arm and pulled me to my feet. “She won’t.”

  26

  It had been eleven days since Mr. Yves was attacked. The doctor suggested he rest his broken rib for at least two weeks. But, he would hear of no such thing and went back to work yesterday. “What better day to re-open the store—back to normal business hours—than on a Monday?” When I started to protest, he held up his hand and said, “If I don’t go back to work, they’re going to have to put me in a home for crazy people.”

  I laughed and understood more than I let on. Since the attack, I’d only opened the store a few times. Our loyal customers were more concerned for Mr. Yves than upset the store had been closed. A few even brought Mr. Yves’ dinner to his home. There were benefits to living in a small town. I hadn’t told him about the broken statues in the house—and he hadn’t asked if I’d been back to look for his wife.

  The journal was on the table next to the couch in the apartment. This morning before I left for school, I threw it in my bag. I wasn’t sure I wanted to read anymore, but I needed to see the way the story ended.

  After everything that happened last week at Adelina’s house, Chandler’s main concern was tracking her down. I hadn’t realized what a good computer hacker he was. He found information in her accounts that made it easy for him to get a gist of where she’d recently been: Texas, Las Vegas, California, and Great Britain. The only place that made any sense was Great Britain: Skelside. But the reasons why she went there were unclear. I didn’t like the fact she had been there while Blacwin was, too.

  When I asked Chandler if he thought they saw each other, he said, “Let’s hope not.” There were only 8 days left in the countdown. When Carina called last week, I wish I had asked her what happens on March 19th.

  I sat in the new chair in the corner of the bookshop. I only had the last couple entries of the journal to read. I really had never paid much attention to the dates until then. As I turned the pages to the next entry and then the next my heart stammered for a few beats. The last entry was dated March 19, 1568. Still blank with possibilities for what could happen in a few days I began to read.

  13 March 1568 ~

  Today is my last day to be mortal. It has taken almost two weeks for the Lord to agree to give me the gift of immortality in exchange for my services as his witch. To make sure the Lord would not go back on his word, I took his world of color and captured it in a medallion. He was not happy to have this done. But, it went without choice.

  Once I am fully gifted, I shall return it and then he’ll ask me to stay at his side to rule Skelside. I have learned so much since coming here. There are things I haven’t shown him yet. I can only imagine that once his blood becomes one with mine, my gift will be strengthened to magnitudes of pure greatness. I feel I am but an infant as to what my gift is capable. The insects in my stomach flutter at the thought. Penemuel, the Lord’s main guard, will be here in moments to bring me a goblet of immortality. He will continue to bring me one, night after night, for six days...until the moon is full. I can already taste the sweet nectar on the tip of my tongue. I lick my lips with delight. On the final night, the Lord will come to my chambers to give me the final taste of his blood, not from a goblet, but from his vein. I’m told sleep will come easily. When I wake, my blood will be laced with his forever.

  A knock on my door causes me to jump. Tonight is the first night to my forever.

  When I opened the door, Penemuel bowed. “Good evening, my Lady.” He held a silver platter with a goblet atop it. I took it from him and closed the door. My hands were a bit shaky. Unsteadily, I set the platter on the table. My mouth watere
d. I picked up the goblet and took my first sip. The thick liquid slid down my throat, filling my empty belly. I wanted to savor the moment, the taste, the feeling, and the heat in my chest. I couldn’t, I greedily wanted more. I gulped the Lord’s blood from the goblet; tipping it on its end to drink every last drop.

  I fell onto the bed to rest. I’m told the next several days my body will be exhausted as it rebuilds and changes. This may be my last entry for a while. I want to write one final thought before I sleep, that until now I have been afraid to admit. When I do awaken, I hope I am brave enough to tell the Lord my ultimate truth...I have fallen in love with him.

  “Holy Hell!” The medallion held Lord Darenfys’ color sight. He was colorblind like I was. I wanted to call Chandler, but I was too blown away to even speak as I processed what I had learned.

  I remembered from one of my nightmares the stone in the well Lord Darenfys wanted Catherine to retrieve. Only it wasn’t a stone, it was a medallion. And, it had to be the same one Adelina spoke of.

  That’s why she wanted it back. Her love had grown into a tidal wave of raw emotion. My heart almost ached for her. Almost. Especially when I thought of my feelings for Blacwin and the urgency I had for him to return. Then, dread coursed through me when I thought he might never return. Sending away the thought, I turned the page.

  “Iris, will you be a dear and help me sort these books that just arrived?”

  I set the journal down and went to where he stood. “Did you just say, ‘Sort’?”

  “Indeed, I believe I did.”

  “I know you got hit on the head pretty hard not too long ago, but I hadn’t thought that hard.”

  When he laughed, he gripped his side with the healing rib.

  “I’m sorry. Are you all right?”

  Once he stopped laughing he assured me he was fine.

  “I wasn’t trying to be funny. You seriously have me worried.”

  “Sweet girl, no need to worry.”

  The door chimed. I looked up to see Peter come in. “Hey, guys.”

  “Hi, Peter,” I returned. Peter was here at least once a week. His tastes in books were sometimes odd. Which meant he felt at home at Yves Antique Pages.