by Lila Veen
I shrug. “Drew and I aren’t catalysts. He and Eleanor are, apparently, and I never knew until I moved back. All through high school I didn’t know, when we were dating.”
“Well they had to have known. Did you take Drew’s virginity too?”
My eyebrows go down. “You know, I have no idea.” Now I’m dying to find out. “You’re a troublemaker, you know that?”
Theo grins, showing me that adorable dimple and a lot of smile. “It’s my specialty.”
“I bet.”
We drive on a few miles in silence and I take the time to study the landscape with my head resting against the glass of the window. Most of the leaves have fallen off the trees but a few orange and red ones cling desperately in vain. The sky is cloudy from the storm the night before. “Do you think it’s cold enough to snow today?” I wonder out loud.
“It will snow today,” Theo says.
“Oh, I guess you would know that,” I reply.
“Why? Because I checked the weather channel?” he asks. “Wow, your intuition is great!”
I laugh. “Okay, fine. I suck at my water elemental. I don’t really know how it works at all.”
“Me either,” Theo replies.
“Bullshit,” I say. “You’ve been at this longer than I have.”
“How long have you realized that you’re a water elemental?” Theo asks me.
“Since I put my hand on my sister’s adopted baby and knew that she stole it from Eleanor.”
Theo’s eyes widen. “That’s pretty heavy,” he replies. “Do you think you can prove it?”
I shrug. “I don’t know,” I say. “But I want to visit Eleanor to find out more information. Plus if the adoption isn’t legal or anything, then I think I can get Heidi.”
“Heidi’s your sister?” I nod. “And you want to basically destroy your relationship with your sister so that your friend who married the guy who took your virginity and was likely not entirely faithful to you during high school can have her baby back?”
“Yeah,” I say, falling back in my seat with the impact of Theo’s words. “You make it sound so ugly.”
“It’s very ugly,” he says. “It’s an ugly mess and you’re putting yourself right in the middle of it.”
“What should I do?” I snap. “Let Heidi keep the baby? I don’t even know how she stole it from the hospital in the first place!”
“That’s why you brought me,” Theo says. “I’m here to keep you out of danger and to help you find out what happened.”
I turn toward him. “You can do that?”
“Sometimes,” he says. “You said yourself that you felt the connection between Eleanor and the baby Heidi has now, right?”
I nod emphatically. “That’s exactly it. There was a connection between that baby and Eleanor. It was like Heidi was just posing with him.”
“Elementals are about connections,” Theo explains. “Catalysts are people who are connected through elementals, right? You and I are connected because of your water elemental, and Ash and you are connected for your fire elemental.”
“What about my parents?” I wonder. “Neither one of them has the same elemental.”
“Then it gets complicated,” Theo says. “There are so many combinations of elementals that end up working together. Fire and water are opposing elementals, obviously. You’ve heard people say ‘opposites attract’?” I nod. “It’s like a positive and a negative magnet. They’re attracted to each other.”
“Makes sense,” I say. “What about something like air and fire, or earth and water?”
Theo shrugs. “Maman has combined every elemental with water with every catalyst she’s ever had. They all work, just in different ways. Some are complimentary, like fire and air. Fire cannot exist without air.”
“But air can exist without fire,” I say. “Right?” I can’t think of an instance that says otherwise.
Theo shrugs. “I’ve never met an air and fire catalyst combination, but I’m sure it exists. Most catalysts are usually the same elemental, or opposing.”
“Except for your mother’s marriages,” I remind him. I’m hoping he will share more information, but Theo is silent. “What do you remember about your father? Anything?”
Theo gives me a long stare, his pale eyes fixed on my own. “My father was killed by his own brother Bo when Olivia and I were barely walking. My mother was pregnant with my brother Demetri at the time.”
“I see,” I reply, recalling my mother’s story about how Demetri Lavanne’s putative father was killed by Lisette’s next husband. “What’s Demetri’s elemental?”
“Earth,” Theo replies.
“I see. And what was your father’s?”
“Water,” Theo says. “I know where this is going, Leah.”
“Of course you do! Water elementals know everything,” I tease, smiling just a little bit. “And what was Bo Lavanne’s elemental? Was it, oh I don’t know, air, perhaps?”
“It was earth,” Theo sighs. “It’s not exactly the biggest secret in the world that Demetri is actually my half-brother.”
“Elementals are better than a DNA test, apparently,” I laugh.
“Is your sister Heidi a crafter?” Theo asks me. I shake my head, no. “Seriously?”
“No, she’s not,” I say. “My mother swears she’s not. Is there a term for that in the crafting world? Someone born to crafter parents who has no crafting ability?”
Theo shrugs. “I have no clue. It rarely happens. A ‘muggle’?”
“Uh, no. That’s Harry Potter,” I laugh. “Sorry, thanks for playing.”
“I tried,” he says. “So Heidi isn’t a crafter, and you feel that the baby she supposedly adopted is Eleanor and Drew’s. Eleanor and Drew are earth elementals.” He chews on his lip for a few seconds. “It wouldn’t be definite, but if that baby turns out to be earth, then you’ve got more fuel for your fire.”
“And how long would that take?” I ask him. “I didn’t really know much about crafting for years until recently.”
“It could take a while,” Theo admits. “So I guess there should be a better plan?”
I smirk so hard my face hurts. “No kidding.”
“Well until you come up with that,” Theo says. “We’ll just have to feel our way through the situation.”
Chapter 25
Eleanor’s usually bright and curly hair lays limp and dull around her shoulders. Her eyes have the telltale dark circles underneath that reveal she hasn’t gotten much sleep at all for the entire week. She looks little better than when I last saw her at the hospital. When Theo and I approach the house, Eleanor’s mother Renee opens the door. From what I know of Renee, I’m pretty sure she’s a large contributor to Eleanor’s lack of sleep.
“Bonjour, bonjour! So good to see you, Leah!” she tells me, kissing both of my cheeks and giving me a friendly push inside the house as she turns to Theo. She offers him her hand to kiss, which he does and then presses to his forehead in a respectful gesture. “Oh, Theo, you are here too! I am so pleased you could be here for my Eleanor.”
“Hello Renee,” I say, already feeling tired from her boisterousness. Compared to my mother, Renee is very loud, very energetic, very modern and very French. Eleanor gets her curls from her mother, though Renee’s hair is a very vibrant red, just like everything else about her. She and my mother have been friends since as long as I can remember. When Eleanor and I were very young, we were shoved together in each other’s rooms for hours while our mothers drank wine and gossiped downstairs. At first Eleanor and I hated each other, resentful of the fact that our mothers tried to use each other to spend more time together being loud and drunk. We bonded over playing pranks on the women, replacing empty bottles of wine with tap water and putting them back in the fridge. One time Renee and my mother were so drunk that they drank a whole bottle of water, complaining of the vintage, while Eleanor and I stood at the top of the stairs and giggled maniacally. These play dates would typically result in our fa
thers collecting us from the opposite house because our mothers were too sloshed to drive, up until Eleanor’s father died, and then all play dates occurred at Eleanor’s or they would spend the night at our house. “Where’s Drew?” I wonder out loud. I catch Eleanor’s eyes narrowing slightly.
“I’m here,” he says, stepping out of the kitchen. “I just put on more coffee.” He leans over to kiss me with a friendly and quick peck and shake Theo’s hand. “Are you running around with all of the Lavannes these days?”
“Drew!” Eleanor snaps. “That’s not exactly your business.”
“El, I’ve known Leah for years,” Drew says. “I think it’s okay if I ask her what the hell is going on.” How could he know anything was going on at all? I recall running into him at the hospital when I was with Ash, and now showing up with Theo…I guess it does seem odd.
“I came to see how you were doing,” I say. “That’s what the hell is going on.”
“Oh I’m just great,” Eleanor snaps. “Wonderful. Couldn’t be happier! Walked around for nine months carrying my firstborn child and then someone snatches it right out from under our noses, completely surpassing hospital security.” I step back from her a few paces, backing against Theo, who puts his hands protectively on my shoulders. “On top of that,” Eleanor continues. “You show up unannounced and back to Blackwater after dropping off the face of the earth and I see you coming on to every man who will give you a second look, including my husband!”
“El, that’s-“
“I saw you outside of my hospital room!” she cries. “You were draped over him, during one of his most vulnerable moments, while I was devastated. I tried to play nice, but it’s amazing to me that suddenly you show up after all of these years – my husband’s ex-girlfriend, who never actually broke up with him, you just left – and suddenly my baby is gone. You don’t think that’s a huge coincidence?”
“You’re saying I stole your baby?” I ask her, incredulous to the accusation. “You honestly think I came back to Blackwater to destroy your life or something? That’s insane!”
“Is it?” Eleanor says. “For years I stood by you. You had Drew wrapped around your finger all through high school. He was my catalyst. We didn’t know what we were feeling for a while, but when we finally understood, he stayed with you because he didn’t want to hurt you after your dad left.”
I turn to look at Drew. “I didn’t know,” I say quietly. “He could have still broken up with me. I would have gotten over it.”
“Oh please,” Eleanor snarls. “You were psychotic. Everything was about you, poor you. My father died when I was ten years old. I will never see my father again. Yours left and you acted like he might as well have been dead.”
“Your father loved you,” I snap. “He loved you until the day he died. When my dad left, it was like he was telling us he didn’t love us at all. Like he didn’t want his own family.” The tears cloud my vision and the room blurs around me, but a flash of red tells me Renee has stepped in.
“Leah, your father loves your family so much,” Renee purrs. “That is why he left when he had to. He had to protect you.”
“So I’ve heard,” I say, wiping my eyes with the back of my hand.
“And Eleanor, you need to sit down,” Renee continues. “You will not take everything out on Leah. She is your friend. You have spent over ten years missing her and now that she’s back, you will not fight. These accusations are insane! You know Leah did not take baby Phillip.” Just the sound of her baby’s name makes Eleanor crumple into a chair, looking dejected. “Andrew, take Theo to the kitchen and bring us coffee, please. I need to speak with my girls.” Drew nods and Theo follows him away to the kitchen. I cast Theo a look, indicating how sorry I am that he has to experience the craziness of my life on day two of knowing me. He doesn’t look too uncomfortable, though, and flashes me a quick smile that makes me breathe a little bit better.
Renee calling us “her girls” sends Eleanor and me directly into sulking children mode. We are both slumped in chairs across the room from each other refusing to make eye contact. Renee takes a diplomatic position by sitting on the piano bench on a side of the room that seems to be equidistant from both Eleanor and me. She looks at the two of us in similar defensive poses with our arms crossed over our chests, and she throws her arms up in the air. “Why are you girls fighting?” she wants to know. “You girls have always been friends, and it has always confused me how little you two actually know about each other. All of this is over a high school crush?”
“It wasn’t a crush,” Eleanor pipes in, her rosebud lips turned down. “She completely monopolized the man who was my catalyst.”
“Not even a man, Andrew was a boy,” Renee hisses. “Boys do not know any better. Leah is not wholly to blame for Andrew’s actions. He knew what he wanted. A warm hole to bury his-“
“Mother! Oh my god, please!” Eleanor cries, turning beet red. I burst out laughing. Eleanor and Renee look at me, both with bewildered expressions and I start to laugh harder. It’s ridiculously awkward to be the only one in a room laughing and unable to stop.
“Your mom almost said penis,” I cry out, with a squeal and then erupt into giggles. My stomach starts to hurt, and tears are streaming down my cheeks. Eleanor snorts and turns her face away from me, covering her mouth with her hand. “Cut it out, El, it’s hysterical.”
She bursts out laughing in response, and Renee stands up and throws her arms up in the air. “Penis!” she shouts. “Penis! Penis! Penis!” Eleanor and I are on our backs, holding our bellies. I can’t stop as everything I’ve been holding inside that was anger comes bursting out of me in hysteria. “I was going to say dick, actually,” Renee clarifies.
“This is the weirdest pow wow I’ve ever been invited to,” Theo says. The men have come back in the room bearing coffee and small petit fours on a tray. “But I like it. Did someone say penis?”
Eleanor and I stare at each other and once again we can’t stop laughing.
*
Theo and I are driving down Center Street toward my house after spending an hour with Eleanor and Drew and Renee. We found out a few things during our visit that we discuss the minute we are alone.
“She has no idea,” I tell him. “But when she accused me right after I got there, that was rough.”
“I think she was feeling you out,” Theo says. “Perhaps she wanted to see your reaction?”
“I think so too,” I agree. “What did you and Drew discuss in the kitchen?”
“He thinks it was Heidi,” Theo says.
I snap my head so hard to look at him, it burns at the base of my skull. “What? He does?”
Theo nods. “He doesn’t know how to prove it, but he says it’s too much of a coincidence that Heidi happens to walk into town with a baby just after theirs is stolen. He’s told the police, and apparently all of Heidi’s paperwork has been checked out. She had to file birth records at town hall and everything. There isn’t a single hole in her story. Legally.”
“That’s insane,” I reply. “How could she have gotten everything straight?”
“She’s getting help from someone,” Theo replies. “Do you know of any connections Heidi has to someone in the legal field?”
“Her husband,” I admit. “Jack is smart, and has a law degree, but I don’t think he would be in on something like this with Heidi. He’s a good guy.”
“Where does she live?” Theo asks me. I tell him her address. He pulls into a parking lot to turn around.
“We’re going to Heidi’s?”
“I just have this feeling there’s something at her house right now that would tell us what’s happening,” he replies.
“What do you mean by a feeling?” I ask him. “She’s probably not going to let me into her house after what happened the last time I was there.”
Theo shrugs. “We’ll play it by ear,” he says.
“There’s something you’re not telling me,” I state.
“You’re
right,” he agrees. “But if I tell you before you can see it with your own eyes, it won’t have the desired effect.”
“What the hell are you talking about?” I want to know. “Theo, seriously,” I whine, “Just tell me what’s the deal already? These cryptic implications are driving me insane.”
“You’re really not a fan of the unknown, are you?” he asks me. “You really do like to know everything.”
“Of course I do!” I snap, feeling just as pissed off as I did at Eleanor’s when she went off on me. I can’t help but want to go see her without Theo and Renee and Drew around and confide in her about all of my male troubles with Ash and Theo. I could really use a good bitch session with someone I’d like to think of as my friend.
“There you are,” Theo says, creeping slowly down the street. I have a good view of Heidi’s house, including the white BMW parked in her driveway. “I’m inclined to believe Gabe Locke is the person who is helping Heidi.”
“Holy shit,” I whisper. “What the hell is going on?” Just as though the universe heard my question, I see Heidi’s front door open and Gabe walking out of the house. He turns back and I see Heidi’s face peeking out of the door. She is holding the baby in her arms, who is swaddled tightly in blue blankets in her arms. Gabe leans over the baby and to Heidi, who is level height with him as she stands at the door while Gabe is a step lower. My jaw drops as Gabe’s lips touch Heidi’s and remain there for a few seconds. Heidi’s small hand flutters up to Gabe’s jaw and traces his face down to his pointed chin.
“Well,” Theo says. “I’d say your sister Heidi has made a deal with the devil.”
“We need to get out of here,” I tell him. I’m shaking all over.
“First wait until he leaves,” Theo replies.
“Shit, what if they know we’re here?” I ask. I notice with some comfort that the windows of the Renault are tinted. “What if they see us?”
“We’re just going to have to hope they don’t,” Theo says. “Gabe doesn’t exactly have the most intuitive senses, despite the fact that he is my mother’s child. He’s pure reaper, though, and reapers are practically oblivious to their surroundings. Not to mention, he’s slightly afflicted in the sense department.”