“Does that happen a lot?”
“Not anymore,” Ravenna said, pulling me to a series of old photographs hanging on the wall. She stopped in front of the one of her and Blake behind a banner that said New Year’s, 1919. “Mostly we don’t allow mortals near the covens now.”
“Why not?”
“Because our world is a secret one. Imagine if mortals found out about the chest. What do you think they would do?”
“Use it,” I replied without having to think twice.
“I don’t understand. I’m mortal, why are you telling me all of this?”
Ravenna sighed. “Because you’re not really mortal, Evelyn. Your family, your mother, and Kate, they’re part of an immortal line.” She used the kind of tone someone would use to tell you that you’ve inherited a Mont Blanc fountain pen.
“What?” It felt like a bolt of electricity was running down my veins, and my fingertips jerked.
“And an old immortal line at that,” she continued. “Your family belongs to the line of immortals that came before Viktor, Aurelius, and Markus.”
“There were immortals before that?”
“You don’t actually think that they were the first ones to open the chest?”
“If Kate is immortal, how is she dead?”
“There are only two ways an immortal can die: you can chop off their head or rip out their heart.”
“Lorenzo,” I mumbled. “Astara.” I thought back to my dream. “Who is Astara?” I suddenly realized that I would finally have the answers about the woman I was dreaming about.
“Who was Astara is more accurate,” Ravenna breathed, her eyes now darting around the room. “Astara was my mother.”
“Did Viktor—”
“Execute her?”
I nodded, trying to catch her gaze, but her eyes would not meet mine.
“Yes, he did. She committed about the worst crime that an immortal can,” Ravenna explained, turning away from me and walking alongside the wall, examining the various photos and paintings. I followed her. “You may have noticed that we can all do things that mortals cannot do. Read minds, entrance people to do our bidding, move at a speed that mortal eyes cannot fathom. Those are only a few of the abilities we have. Every immortal has abilities unique to them—most of us can compel people, and we have super-human strength, hearing, and speed, but someone like Tristan can read your thoughts, and Blake can manipulate energy, both within people and in the world.”
“And Astara—”
“She stole other immortals’ gifts. All you have to do is kill an immortal, and all the life they have left to them, all their memories and all their abilities are transferred to you. They call it reaping.” She turned to face me. “She—” Ravenna paused, and her eyes darted toward the door.
“Is—” She waved me down before I could finish.
We stood in silence for a moment.
“She’s here,” Ravenna said, turning to me, her eyes narrowed in fear.
Chapter Twenty
“Evelyn,” a voice echoed through the house and in the crack of the door. Her accent had changed, and her voice was deep and calm, nothing like the schoolgirl I knew.
“Stay here,” Ravenna ordered as she turned and walked to the door. She shut it behind her, and I was left with the sound of my pounding heart.
Do I stay?
I glanced around the room. There was nowhere to hide in here. I bolted toward the door, held my breath as I opened it to check the passageway. Empty.
“Ravenna,” I heard Serena’s quiet and sharp voice echo in the passageway. “I have seen your death. Would you like to know who it is that will be the end of you?” Her controlled tone flowed through the empty passageway.
“What do you want with the girl, Iona?”
Iona?
“Ravenna, I warn you only once. Should you ever call me Iona again, your death will come earlier than we both thought.”
“Serena, what do you want with the girl?” Ravenna’s voice wavered and I suddenly realized that she was most likely not strong enough to protect herself or me from Serena. How is this happening? Why would this girl pretend to be my friend for so long?
“Evelyn,” Serena called out again, so softly I wouldn’t have been able to hear it if I weren’t listening. “I’m not a cruel person you’ll find; however, I will not be ignored, and if you don’t present yourself to me, you’ll find yourself short of an ally. You do look so much like your mother,” Serena said to Ravenna now.
“Don’t you ever speak of my mother again,” Ravenna spat.
I didn’t hesitate. There was no way I was going to leave Ravenna alone with Serena. I would rather die myself than witness yet another person I knew die. I pushed open the heavy door and walked into the passage and toward the entrance hall with my fists clenched. Just before I turned the corner to enter, a hand grabbed mine from behind.
“Get behind me,” Blake said, his eyes narrowed.
I nodded and allowed him to pass me. I followed him into the bright light radiating from the chandelier.
“Blake Greyson.” Serena spoke slowly, meaningfully, like she was taking immense pleasure in pronouncing each syllable of his name. “After all these years, here I find you, back in the place you so eagerly ran from all those years past.”
Serena’s fiery-red hair shone in the chandelier’s bright light. I couldn’t speak or move. There she was, my best friend, in Greyhaven. The entire time she had spent with me in Raleigh, she knew, she knew who I was and the world I had come from.
“Tell me, witch, what is it that you want?” Blake said, his tone equally level. He moved forward slightly but not far enough for Serena to be able to look at me directly.
“I was walking those pretty paved streets of The Divine just yesterday, and I heard two people speak of you. The Greyson Prince. Your name was spoken in reverent tones. I must say, you’ve built yourself quite the reputation. Yet, here you are, unable to even think about how you could possibly defeat a thousand-year-old enemy that simply will not die.” Serena’s voice was so low, so calm, that it sounded like she was reading poetry.
Blake lowered his head and turned it slightly away from her, enough so that I could see his smile. “Serena,” he said, his tone light and carefree now, as if providing directions for a stranger on the road., “I’m not playing this game with you. You and I have played these games before, but I am not the person I was then. If it’s Evelyn you’re after, you’ll find yourself disappointed.”
Serena took two steps toward Blake, leaving only one between them. “I think you’ll find that in the end, fate will give me the girl. Evelyn, you’re not going to hide behind Blake and hope that I’ll simply go away. Surely you have learned by now that problems don’t work like that?” She spoke calmly as she turned her back on Blake and walked back to the center of the room.
I took a deep breath and finally moved to the side, away from Blake’s protective stance.
Serena’s red hair fell down her shoulders to her waist, her alabaster skin as perfect as ever, and her sea-green eyes shone in the lights of the hallway. “Hello, Evelyn,” she said so quietly, I could barely hear her. Her expression was frozen and her eyes so cold that I barely recognized her.
“It’s incredibly brazen of you to come here, Serena,” Tristan’s voice echoed as he now moved from the passageway to stand in front of me, blocking me once again. I had never seen Tristan so serious before, and for the first time since meeting him, Blake, and Ravenna, I could see that they were not my age, that they were in fact adults, ancient beings, trapped in adolescent bodies. I glanced at Serena. How had she managed to act like a teen for an entire year, never slipping, never showing her true self?
“You don’t actually believe I would place myself in danger by being here,” she replied, lifting her eyebrows slightly and walking to the staircase. With bo
th Tristan and Blake standing in front of me, I could barely see her as her fingertips grazed the wooden handrail. “We’ve all made so many mistakes, there must be at least six centuries of shame hidden in these walls.” She turned to Ravenna and cocked her head to the side. “You really do look so much like your mother.” That had done it, at the mention of her mother and before any of us could react, Ravenna, whose face was distorted in anger, lunged for Serena.
“I don’t think so,” Serena whispered in her level tone and waved her fingers across her chest. Ravenna’s scream echoed through the entire manor as she was lifted by her legs, and while dangling four feet off the ground, Serena made another slight motion with her fingers. I clasped my hands over my mouth as I watched a deep gash appear on Ravenna’s neck, her blood spilling out and hitting the white marble floor like someone was pouring a glass of water on it. I immediately tried to lunge forward to try to help her, but Blake grabbed my arm and pulled me back toward him so roughly I almost fell.
“Enough with the games, Serena,” Blake shouted suddenly, his voice so deep and raw that I held my breath as Tristan took my hand and pulled me behind him once again. “What is it you want?”
Ravenna was gurgling blood and trying desperately to hold the gash on her neck closed while she hung midair.
Serena leaned forward toward all of us, balancing on the wooden rail. “I want her back,” she mouthed. She leaned to the side to catch another glimpse of me from behind Tristan’s broad shoulders.
“Okay,” Tristan said in a mock serious tone. “You want who back?”
Serena took a long, deep breath as she stared at the floor, then looked up and waved her hand. I couldn’t tell what she had done to Tristan until he collapsed to his knees with a deep gash in the shape of a cross in his chest. As he fell to the ground, Serena swept her fingers to the side and Blake and I heard a loud crack as Tristan’s neck snapped before his body met with the cold marble.
“Why are you doing this?” I breathed, the fury finally starting to emerge in my blood, quashing the fear as it grew. I stepped to the side, away from Blake’s protective stance.
“I want her back, Evelyn,” she said, stepping down and gazing straight into my eyes. “And you’re going to help me. In the end, it will cost both of us everything, you, your entire family, and me, well—I lose it all. But I made a promise, and I intend to keep it.” She stepped away from the staircase and toward Blake and me.
He immediately took my hand, and if I was a betting person, I would have gambled on the fact that he was ready to run with me and leave his sister and friend behind.
“I see now that your family dying hasn’t quite destroyed you in the way that I had hoped it would when I killed them, so now, we must adapt.”
My family? She said she killed them? She killed them. She actually killed them. They died because of her.
She glanced at Blake and then Ravenna. “Yes, adapt. Don’t leave Greyhaven, little girl,” she said, turning to me. “If you do, I’ll make it so no one in this town lives even a minute longer.”
“Enough,” Blake growled through clenched teeth as the rage radiated from his body. He let go of my hand and moved toward Serena, but just as he did, she began to glimmer and fade away. As soon as she was gone, Ravenna’s body dropped to the bloodied marble floor with a thud. I knew I should have run to her, to help her, but I was frozen, trying to remember Serena’s exact words.
“She wasn’t even really here,” Ravenna spat as she stood, her neck healing itself as she straightened up. “God, what did she do to Tristan?” Ravenna walked past me and bent down to check on Tristan. I heard her snap his neck back into place.
I closed my eyes and thought back to the night my family died. Had Serena been there?
Remember that night. Remember it. Was she there? Remember the sounds, the smells, the colors.
-
The flashing colored lights were making me dizzy. The stench of beer, sweat, various perfumes, and body odors made my stomach churn, and nausea settled in. My legs had finally moved. I was trying to maneuver through too many bodies and trying to hold my breath.
“Evelyn,” I heard Natalie call from the den that I had just escaped. Most of the students had crowded in there to watch someone try to drink an entire keg.
I looked back too quickly at my friend and my head spun. Groaning, I grabbed on to a wall. When her short blond hair and bright-green eyes looked as addled as my mind felt, I smiled. My facial muscles tightened as the smile transformed into a grin at her smudged makeup. I toyed with the idea of telling her, but by that time I was already tired and the string of drinks I had already consumed helped me find it funnier than not.
“Where’s Justin?” she asked as I leaned on the stair railing.
The smile didn’t leave my face; it felt frozen in place. Where was Justin? My mind took too long to process any thoughts as I struggled to remember where I had last seen him.
“I saw him with Kyle in the pool house,” I replied, trying my best not to slur.
“How much have you had to drink?” Natalie giggled. I laughed too.
“I’m not sure.” It was extremely difficult to construct sentences. “Serena, she kept pouring me punch.” I slurred. Where was Serena?
“I should find Justin. I’m going to go look for him,” I mumbled, suddenly not in a good mood anymore.
Why did Serena make me drink so much?
The stinging feeling of sickness left my stomach and made its way to my throat and then my mouth.
Do not throw up here.
Everyone around me was swaying and slurring, singing and dancing. Most of Kyle and Justin’s grade had arrived at the party, and my closest friends were there too. My brother and his best friend had birthdays only a week apart, and this year, it was Kyle’s turn to host the party.
“Evelyn, where the hell have you been?” Stacy screamed from across the room as I stumbled toward the backdoor that led to the pool house. I frowned and tried to concentrate on a coherent thought, but in the end, I decided I didn’t want to talk to Stacy anyway and walked away. Earlier that day she had upset me. I couldn’t remember why, but I remembered being angry with her nonetheless. I tripped over someone’s arm and noticed all the passed-out people lying on the floor.
“At least I won’t be the only one regretting this,” I muttered, thinking of the major hangover that waited for me. It felt like hours until I finally reached the kitchen. It was just as crowded. Where had all these people come from?
Managing not to fall by grabbing on to kitchen counters, I made my way to the door and pushed it open. The fresh air immediately relieved a bit of the nausea.
Please stop spinning. God this is awful.
It took a bit longer than usual before my eyes focused, and I managed to find Justin standing with Kyle. They were both on the football team and two of the biggest players. I had to be drunker than I thought because they were pretty difficult to miss. Kyle’s black hair was ruffled up, and I could see he was drunk; Justin must have been a little soberer because Kyle was leaning against him for support.
I walked slowly as the ground beneath my feet kept moving and trying to trip me. It took longer than I expected to reach the spot where they were standing, and I was annoyed that they hadn’t noticed me yet.
“I want to go home now,” I said, allowing my irritation to come through and looking directly at Justin. He frowned.
“Right now?” he asked, looking around, probably coming to the same conclusion as I had, that the party was dying down.
I nodded and made a face at Kyle. Kyle and I had dated for a while a few years ago. I couldn’t stand him now.
“You can surely survive leaning on this wall by yourself?” I slurred at Kyle who seemed drunker than I was.
“Yeah, whatever, I’ll see you,” he said simply, stumbling back to the house. Kyle, who had cheated on me wit
h a girl in his own grade, seemed just as reluctant to be around me.
I took Justin’s hand and pulled him toward the front yard where the car was parked. We stumbled a few times. I would have fallen, but Justin held me up.
“Whoa, Evelyn,” he mumbled. “Slow down.” He tried to pull me back to him. I spun around, suddenly in a foul mood, and felt the world tilt on its axis.
“Justin, please, I just want to go home.” It must have been the alcohol. I didn’t normally whine, but this overwhelming desire to go home was suddenly consuming me, and it even sobered me up a bit. Desperate to get out of there, I started pulling him again. Justin allowed his body to follow my forceful grasp, and we reached the front yard. From there, it was a short distance to the car. When I saw Grace’s SUV, the oddest sense of relief washed over me. Justin had just gotten his driver’s license, and Grace had reluctantly lent us her new car.
“I don’t think I should drive,” he muttered. I groaned and leaned against the car as he pulled out his cell phone.
“Justin,” I whined. “It’s going to take forever for an Uber to get here, and I want to go home now.” I stepped toward him and held on to his arm. Somewhere in the back of my mind, I knew he was right, that we should call a cab, but the warning faded as soon as it was heard. He looked at me and sighed.
“I don’t think I can drive like this,” he admitted, looking down at the car keys he was holding.
Something about Justin’s words hit me, and suddenly the urge to get in the car was gone. I opened my mouth to say that he was right, and we should call an Uber, but my words were silenced by a familiar voice.
“Sure, you can,” Serena said from behind us. I turned around slowly and noticed the red hair first.
“Serena,” I cried. Her appearance drove my bad mood away. “What happened to you? Where were you?” It took about a minute to construct the words.
“Just talking to a few people,” she said, smiling. “Justin, can you drop me off at home on your way back?” Serena seemed completely composed and sober.
“Guys, really,” Justin mumbled. “I’ve had about ten drinks.”
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