She went very still. Had she misheard him? “What?”
“You sat down and you asked me why I was here and I woke up. I… I was back. That’s because you sat down, Ellie. I knew right there that you were mine. I’ve not said that because I didn’t want to scare you, and I prefer to show things without words. But there it is. Now, we are getting out of here. I will pay Prestige to forget you were here again. And we are finding this ancient whoever she is and we are telling her to die already.”
She threw her arms around him. His heart beat so fast she could feel it. He squeezed her tightly and for a few minutes they stayed just like that. “I do believe.”
“Good.”
Chapter 10
Leaving wasn’t as easy as Mitchell had made it seem like it would be. Once she’d requested to come in, the doctors didn’t want her to leave. In the end, he’d popped away and returned with her grandfather.
“She can’t sign herself in. She’s not legally able. Under the law, she’s not capable of making decisions for herself.”
That bothered Eleanor more than she would share, but Mitchell must have known because as her grandfather spoke to the doctor in charge a brush of warmth touched the base of her spine as though he’d put his hand there. As it was, he looked unconcerned, like he was bored even, leaning against the door watching the scene.
She knew that look. He was faking disinterest. That was rich-boy boredom he displayed. Why would he do that?
So I can grab you and pull you out of here if need be, illegally, without anyone suspecting I’m about to do that. There was a pause in the writing. You’re just easy to read, Ellie.
Papers were signed and they soon all traveled back on the train toward her grandparents’ home. The popping he had done with Mitchell was the only trip like that he was willing to take. They were all three very quiet on the train.
Her grandfather stared out the window. “Mitchell, your family is upstanding. Always has been. Your mother has a little taste for the dramatic, but when the cards were down I’ve only ever seen her act kindly to those who needed it from her.”
Mitchell nodded, side-eyeing Eleanor. “That’s true.”
“So I trust you to act as you were raised to do, with kindness. Gather whomever is involved in this, and then we will all talk.” He turned to Eleanor for just a few seconds. “What we know about your mother, it’s time you knew as well.”
Eleanor nodded, unease giving her a sour stomach. In all of this, she’d refused to consider her mother’s actions. Joining a cult. Sex on the altar. Everything that came after. How was she supposed to deal with any of it? They were all things that happened before she was born. Now here she was, a twenty-four year old woman still trying to deal with the ramifications of all of it.
Don’t tell, Eleanor. Don’t ever tell. Everyone will die.
“Are you okay, Ellie?” Mitchell squeezed her knee. “You have a funny look on your face.”
“I hear my mother in my head. I hear her all the time. I’m hearing her now.”
Her grandfather turned his head sharply. “What is she saying?”
“It’s always some version of don’t tell, Eleanor, or everyone will die.”
The patriarch of her family scratched his head. “Don’t tell what?”
“I wish that I knew. I don’t. I just hear it all the time.” She put her head in her hands. “And I don’t think that’s because of some ancient witch. I think that’s just me being sick.”
Mitchell massaged the back of her neck. “I bet somehow it’s all related. We’ve all got something, Ellie. This is going to be okay.”
Her grandfather sighed. “We tried to take you when you were a baby. It was clear to us that something had happened to our daughter, to change her. She’d always been a free spirit. You’re different than her. You want to be accepted, but you don’t bend at the will of others. She… she was easily led astray, if for no other reason than to not follow basic rules. When she came back with you we knew right away she hadn’t changed, she’d just added a baby to her brand of irresponsibility.”
Eleanor had never once heard her grandfather speak like this. They hardly mentioned her mother, and she’d certainly not considered that either he or her grandmother ever saw Eleanor for who she was really. Of course she’d been biased against them from day one because her mom had made them out to be the next worst thing after going to the dentist.
“She didn’t let you?”
He rubbed his eyes, looking old for the first time ever. “She insisted only she could keep you alive.”
By the time they got home, it was too late to gather everyone involved in her mess. Mitchell sent out messages to everyone they’d receive in the morning. She went into her bedroom, shocked when Mitchell strode in as if he intended to spend the night there, too.
They’d done this once before, but her grandparents had been completely unaware of his presence in the house. He took off his shirt, discarding it on a chair, spelled off his pants until he was in his boxers, and climbed under the sheets.
He patted the bed next to him. “Ellie, I love how you stare at me. Trust me, it’s hot. Makes me think that you are picturing things you’d like to do with me. I tell myself it’s not you finding me bizarre and wondering what you’ve gotten yourself into.”
“What? Of course not, I…”
He batted the bed again. “Tonight, you need to crawl into this bed and you need to sleep.”
“I was just thinking maybe it’s not allowed. In my grandparents’ house if they know it’s happening.”
“Did they say anything?”
She shook her head. “No.”
“We’re grownups. They have you attached to them right now legally, which proved to be good today but otherwise it’s a pain, yes? I know someone who can get that fixed whenever this is all over.” He yawned. “Come to bed.”
She crawled in next to him, and the lights shut off. He smelled… like home. “I’m supposed to be locked up where I can’t hurt anyone.”
“No.” He shook his head. “You don’t need that. So far all that witch has been able to do is yell for days. You’re not a risk to anyone but yourself, giving yourself a sore throat.”
Eleanor snorted. “Thank you, Mitchell.”
“Hey, can I ask you something?”
He had to ask? “I think at this point, as I’ve pretty much bared my soul to you, you can ask me anything.”
Mitchell shifted slightly, putting one arm under his head and drawing her closer against his side. “Why do you use so little magic? I’m not complaining or criticizing. I don’t care if you use any, ever. I’m just curious. You have a lot more than you use.”
He kept saying that. “Stefan said the same thing, but the truth is that I don’t. I have a miniscule amount. I barely set off magic detectors and using any is exhausting. When we were sending letters back and forth I conked out.”
“Hmm.” She didn’t know what the noise he made meant. “I learned a lot in the institution about non-magic users and people who can’t use it. I always wondered how I didn’t catch on to the fact that Ava was cursed. I just accepted that she had no magic. My first month at Prestige all I did was read books on the subject. That’s how I learned I could, for example, keep you from getting pregnant. And then later I moved onto unusual abilities and discovered the thing I do where I show you images and words.”
She touched his chest. Pulling from her energy, she formed a bubble. It danced on his chest, it was green and glowed in the dark. She immediately wanted to collapse from exhaustion but she forced herself to hold it together. “There, I used my magic.”
The ball hardened, taking shape like it was suddenly made out of glass. She blinked. “Huh?”
“I’m keeping it.” He held the bubble glass, examining it with a smile on his face that she could see thanks to the glow in the dark color of the glass.
“Why? It’s a child’s trick. You were probably doing that before you could talk.”
H
e placed it gently next to the bed. “You gave it to me. I love it. Thank you. And…” It melted back into a bubble. “I can play with it anytime I want.” He hardened the bubble again.
“I guess just be careful not to pop it.”
He half closed his eyes. “I’ll guard it with my life. Trust me.”
She did, even if she wouldn’t have made such a big deal about the bubble. “See? Now I’m wiped. Why on earth would that old witch want me?”
“Hmm.” That sound again. “Come here. We’re going to bed. I want to make love to you like no one’s business, but I’m wiped, too. Sleep for now.”
“I thought you didn’t sleep much.”
His smile was slow. “I seem to sleep just fine when you are with me.”
“That’s because you know I have your back.”
He didn’t answer. His eyes were closed. She tucked herself closer to him. He was warm, like a heated blanket. Sleep called to her, and she greeted it happily.
She woke to a tapping on the door. It sounded like someone drumming their fingernails over the wood. That was funny. Her mother used to do that when she woke her in the morning. The sound of fingernails drumming.
In Mitchell’s strong embrace, she squirmed not wanting to wake, and sleep pulled her back down. She hadn’t dreamed that she could remember but now she did. Or remembered.
She walked with her mother, struggling to keep up. All she saw was the back of her mother’s head. Her mother was always the most beautiful woman in every room. Wherever Eleanor got her funny looks, it wasn’t her mother. Long, straight, never frizzy blonde hair with green eyes that seemed to sparkle. Her father had the dark hair, only his didn’t seem to frizz either. Where had she gotten hers from? Some distant relative would have to be blamed.
“I need you to hurry.” Her mother linked their fingers together and pulled.
Eleanor ran faster. “Mom, why are we going so fast?”
They rounded a corner. In all the years she’d been traveling with her mother. She’d never seen the older woman run anywhere. They were always quietly looking at tracings on walls and looking through paintings and maps in flea markets. Eleanor had spent most of her life meandering.
“He’s going to leave. He was very clear with me we had five minutes to get there.”
“To get where?”
Her mother shouted, dodging out of the way of a woman with bags in her hand. Where were they? Eleanor had woken up this morning not even sure what European city they were in. Her mother must have driven all night.
“The tattoo parlor where the man is going to bless you for the goddess. I’m sorry it has to be this way. I see no other choice. No one trusts me, and I can’t blame them.”
Eleanor dug her feet in and refused to move. Okay, enough was enough. “Mom?”
Her beautiful mother’s face fell. She panted a little and bit down on her bottom lip. “I don’t know how to explain to you what I did and why I did it. I’m an idiot.”
That was the furthest from true as could possibly be. Her mother was the smartest person she’d ever known. Still, she let the older woman continue. “I got caught up in feeling special, in excitement, in knowing things others didn’t. It wasn’t until after that I realized how wrong it all was. Not that I can really call it wrong because of how it worked out.” She looked away. Eleanor still didn’t understand what her mom meant. “I will do whatever to make it right. And that means you need a tattoo and we need this man to do it. He’s the only one who can. You can’t tell anyone about it. Promise me. No one. If you tell anyone, we’ll all die. Everyone will die. Make an oath. A magic oath.”
A magic oath? “I’ve never done one before, and I still don’t understand.”
The door to the tattoo palace opened. A man with a piercing in his lip came out. “You’re late.”
“We’re coming.” Her mother sounded desperate. “Promise me. You’ll never tell.”
Eleanor looked between her mother and the man and then back again. She didn’t understand, but she knew desperation when she saw it. If her mother needed some kind of oath, she’d get one. She’d never tell about what happened inside the tattoo parlor. “I promise.”
And she never had. Not really. She’d even… forgotten. How the man had sliced open his wrists and bled on her, mixing the ink with blood. She’d screamed. Two people had held her down and her mother had done nothing while they forced the tattoo of a goddess she’d never heard of onto her body.
Chanting. Lights flickering. And the sudden sense of eyes on her. She’d blacked out. Eleanor had always believed it was at her mother’s funeral that she’d had her first episode, but she’d been wrong. No, it had been right there in that tattoo parlor. Who knew how long it had been that time? Weeks? When she’d come to, she’d lost her mother, lost herself, her purpose in life, the sense that anything would ever be okay again.
She’d lost most of her magic. It had floated away in a bubble and she would have sworn as she lay on the table, defeated and covered in someone else’s blood, that she could see it leave her.
All for the tattoo her mother had forced on her that day.
“Ellie, wake up.” Kisses on her cheek. “Please, baby, wake up.”
That was the first time she’d ever heard him call her baby. Mitchell needed her to rouse, so she did. She forced her eyes open, but it was hard. Her head ached.
“You okay?” Mitchell kissed her cheek again. She was still pressed against his chest. He had an arm around her. “You haven’t been waking up. I knew it wasn’t an episode. That’s different. You don’t sleep. You okay?”
He asked her that twice. She must really not look okay. Eleanor shook her head. “No.” She’d promised not to tell what happened in the tattoo parlor. What about outside of it? She had to force her mouth to work.
“Mitchell?” Kim must be in the room. “What do you need? I’ll get Stefan.”
“I took an oath.” There she’d said it.
She sat up, mostly with Mitchell’s help, but she managed it, leaning against the headboard. Kim sat down on the end of the bed. “Oh, I see. We have a magical oath problem. Now we’re in Enforcer territory. Magical oaths are illegal.”
Yes, she knew that, but apparently her mother had done one to her anyway. Criminals got extra jail time for it. Oathing a scared victim to never tell was just about the most awful thing that a person could do.
Mitchell rose from the bed. He grabbed his shirt and put it on. “Is this going to hurt, Kim?”
Kim put a hand on Eleanor’s hand. “I’m afraid it is, but then it’ll be over. We need answers.”
Mitchell leaned against the wall. “How much pain does she have to go through? She’s been hurt over and over.”
Eleanor smiled at him. “I’m okay.”
Kim scooted closer. “Listen, there is karma with this spell. The pain, it’s the breaking of the oath. What you’re going to do is let me help you with it. When you don’t feel strong, I can be there to remind you that you are. Word by word. Then it’s broken. The oath is over. You’ll be clean from it. Who did this to you?”
She swallowed. “My mother.”
Mitchell looked down at his feet. “Damn it.”
At what point was she too screwed up for him to continue with this? Eleanor sighed. He said she needed to believe in him. She would. “Just do it.”
“Oath breaking?” Stefan appeared in the door.
They must have communicated without speaking aloud. Mitchell raised his gaze to meet Eleanor’s. They did that sometimes. Only she had to speak to answer, because her mother had sent most of her magic away in a bubble.
A bubble like she’d given to Mitchell. Had she always known?
Stefan knelt down. He’d changed his clothes, his style was altered. He was wearing a suit. “You’re fancy.”
“I thought that for today’s meeting I should look professional. Okay, Kim is good at this. Really good. The best. And soon all of this will be over. I’m here to help her when it’s done.
You’re going to need assistance, too.” He looked over his shoulder and Mitchell floated over. “You’ve got that, too. Okay. Let’s do this awful thing, and then we never have to do it again.”
Kim put her hands on Eleanor’s temples. “Tell me what happened.”
And word by agonizing word she did.
“I don’t know where we were.” That much she could say easily. “I woke up in a strange town. My mother was on a real mission that day. She wanted to get me tattooed.” Her tongue felt thick, as though it was going to get harder to speak. It probably was.
Kim squeezed her hand. “When it’s hard, I’ll share it.”
Eleanor nodded. Kim had been an Enforcer, she had to know what she was doing. “She said I had to get inked to be safe. I made her explain. She talked about mistakes she had made and made me swear that I wouldn’t tell.”
Kim nodded. “Okay. So now what happened after the oath?”
To answer, Eleanor had to breathe through her nose. “We went inside.” Wow, this was already hard. “The man waited for us. He was dark haired, pierced everywhere, including a very large one in his lip. He had kind eyes, but that didn’t stop him from being harsh and uninterested in how frightened I was.”
“What did he do?” Mitchell asked from behind Kim. Eleanor raised her eyes to meet his, but couldn’t catch his gaze. He stared at the floor.
The room tilted left, and she squeezed Kim’s hand tighter. “The first thing they did was hold me down. Four men. They strapped me to the table. I screamed.”
Her bones ached, both then and in the retelling. “I didn’t want the tattoo. They were all chanting. I couldn’t understand their words. The man doing the inking cut his arm, and he started to bleed. It dripped down on my body.”
There was a pull on Eleanor’s energy. She raised her eyes and met Kim’s gaze who nodded to her. That’s what she had meant by sharing the pain. Kim was taking some of it, into herself. “Kim…”
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