by Diana Nixon
“Don’t pretend you don’t know anything!”
“About what?”
“About manipulating Eileen’s powers!” Out of the corner of my eye I saw Evan, coming closer to me. Apparently my friend was afraid I would crack and try to attack William again.
“I don’t know what you are talking about.”
“Oh really? Then how can you explain the fact that she started losing control over her powers the day you came to Dever?”
“Must be a coincidence.” He shrugged indifferently.
My patience was wearing out slowly. “Stay away from her! Do you hear me?” I took a few steps closer. “If I ever see you with her again, I swear, I will kill you.” I had to hand it to him, none of his muscles moved. The guy was an example of composure.
“Fine by me,” he said calmly.
I turned away and stormed out of the room. The asshole had a nerve!
“That was impressive.” Evan smirked, following me. “I’m pretty sure you scared his pants off.”
“The least I could do.”
“He doesn’t look like a super powerful wizard who could manipulate anyone. Especially Eileen. She’s strong enough to block the outside influence. Unless our new student has some hidden talents we can’t see.”
“I don’t like him.” I glared at Evan.
“Okay, I got it. So what are you going to do now? Spy on him to make sure that he doesn’t come to Eileen?”
“I will do whatever it takes to keep her away from him. Even if I have to lock her in my room.”
“And that would solve your biggest problem as well.”
“What problem?”
“You will finally have her for yourself 24/7.”
I smiled. “I haven’t thought about it from that point of view. But thanks for prompting.”
“You are always welcome. The only problem is to make Eileen hook onto this.”
“No way! Have you lost your mind?”
Evan grinned, making himself at home on Eileen’s couch. “I told you she wouldn’t like the idea.”
“Do you want our parents to have heart attacks?” Eileen stared at me.
“They will understand everything as soon as we explain what’s going on,” I said.
“I’m sure they will,” Evan muttered.
I shot him an angry glance. “You are not helping!”
He tried to hide his face behind the magazine.
“And you are moving into my room!” I said to Eileen. “Whether you like it or not.”
“Evan!” she called for support.
What the hell? Since when does he have a word in our relationship?
“I’m staying out of this,” my friend said.
Yeah, you’d better, I thought to myself.
“I’m not moving anywhere.” Eileen crossed her arms stubbornly.
“Evan, can you leave us for a minute?”
“Sure. Good luck,” he said, as he left.
As soon as the door closed behind him, I came to Eileen. “I don’t want that guy anywhere near you.” I cupped her face in my palms. “I’m worried about you. Can’t you see that?”
“Really? Does it also have something to do with me spending nights in your bed?”
“Why would everyone think that this is the only thing that matters?”
“So it’s not?”
“It’s not.” I took a deep breath. “I will take the couch if it makes you feel better.”
Eileen rubbed the bridge of her nose. We hated fighting, especially when it came to some stupid things like now.
“Why do you hate Will? He seems to be a good guy.”
“I don’t hate him. But I think he’s holding something back, and I don’t like it.” I put an arm around Eileen’s waist. “Please, Baby, do it for me.”
She looked into my eyes, saying, “You are not playing fair.”
I smiled. I knew what she was talking about. Every time we touched, the fiery tattoos on our shoulders came to life, spreading all over our backs and intensifying our feelings. It was really hard to resist the power, attracting us to each other.
“Who said it would be a fair play?” I whispered inches from her lips, running my fingers down her neck.
My touch was light and delicate, but I knew she could feel the intensity of it. Because I could feel it too, every time she touched me.
“You take the couch,” she said quietly.
My face brightened and broadened out into a beaming smile. I won. “Until you ask me to join you and warm the cold sheets.”
“Not going to happen.”
“We will see,” I said, kissing her.
Surprisingly enough, Eileen’s father didn’t say a word about her moving into my room. And neither did mine. They actually thought it was a good idea.
No one besides me and Evan knew about the real reasons of that moving, and even Eileen, who still felt a little embarrassed about sharing a room with me, didn’t have any idea about her powers being manipulated. She couldn’t feel that, because the only thing indicating the changes in her energy, were her eyes. And as far as I could tell, they had never changed color since the moment I warned William to stay away from her. I ignored the inner voice saying that I jumped to conclusions about the guy.
Eileen kept her promise about the bed. She never asked me to join her, and I had to spend the night on a couch that was far from being comfortable.
Unlike my beautiful angel, sleeping peacefully on my bed, I had been tossing and turning the whole night.
A few times I got up to see if she was okay, but never dared to slip under the blanket, afraid to push my luck. Although I really wanted to do that. Staying away from the girl I loved wasn’t easy.
This is going to be the hardest challenge I’ve ever faced, I thought, kissing her forehead before going back to the damn couch.
The next morning I was awakened by the soft lips, touching my cheek.
“Mmm, I thought you were still angry at me,” I said sleepily.
“Seeing you half-naked on this small couch diminishes my anger.”
“Really?” I opened my eyes, and saw Eileen’s smiling face, leaning over me. “Come here,” I said, moving to give her some space. “Did you miss me last night?”
“How could I? You were just a few feet away from me.”
“Liar,” I said, caressing her back. She was still wearing her nightgown, and it was really hard not to let my palms slide under it.
“You asked for that yourself. Remember? You said you were fine with sleeping on the couch.”
“I lied.”
“So I thought.” She giggled, wrapping her arm around me.
“Can I hope for the next night to be better than the last one?”
“I don’t think so,” she replied, kissing my lips.
“If you are going to tease me like this, I won’t let you out of this room for the rest of the day.”
“You promised your father to help him with some papers.”
“Damn.” I groaned. “I forgot about that.”
“You’d better take a shower and go to find him, before he comes here to catch us like this.”
“That would explain me being late.” I tightened the embrace without the slightest desire to let Eileen go.
“Don’t upset him. You know how much Patrick likes punctuality.”
True. My father was one of those people who always arrived everywhere on time. And he wanted everyone else to follow his example.
I dragged myself away from Eileen and went to the bathroom, still feeling the tingling on my shoulder that always went along with her touches.
I found my father in his office. He was sitting at his table, looking through some very old-fashioned books.
“What’s this?” I asked, taking a seat.
“Something that I thought would help you to decipher the rest of the symbols.” I leaned forward, wondering if there could be anything useful in those books.
“Do you remember the round clock we have ove
r the Administration’s entrance?”
“Yes.”
“Maybe you’ve never noticed, but one of its hands is made in a shape of one of the symbols from your map. I thought I would be able to find its meaning here, in these books, as they tell the story of the clock. It was an artwork of one of the Ventura’s. He described its mechanism, but never mentioned why the hand had such an unusual form.”
I sighed. “Maybe the meaning is too obvious to mention it?”
“Do you think time or clock will fit the rest of the words?”
“I don’t know. But there’s one thing that I can’t stop thinking about. There are too many things leading us to the Great Hall. Do you think the spell can be hidden there?”
“That’s exactly what I’ve been thinking about.”
My father rose and started pacing the room.
“I think we should go there and look carefully at the symbols on the walls, and founding families’ portraits. Maybe we will see some connection.”
“That makes sense. I will talk to the guys and call you when we are ready to go.”
“Okay.”
I left the office and headed back to the dorms.
I couldn’t wait to share the news with the others.
My intuition was telling me that we were on the right path. And Fairey’s intuition never lied.
Part 3
Eileen
Chapter 9. The Powers of the Elements
I was looking at the flower in my hands. It was a mestaphia, a magical plant able to break spells. Someone used that flower to break into Christian’s room a few months ago, and we still didn’t know who it was.
The flower was created by a woman, though Evan said it wasn’t his mother’s energy. And it didn’t belong to Alexis, who used the same flower to get through the magical defense of Dever. I was sure there was someone else who was able to create it and use it. And I knew that that person was close by, watching us….
It was about noon when someone knocked at the door, but I was too absorbed in my thoughts to feel Evan’s presence.
“You should work on your manners, my dear friend,” I said, knowing that he had already let himself in. “I could have been getting dressed or worse — be naked on Christian’s bed.”
“Oh, well … I would pretend I didn’t see anything,” Evan said, kissing my cheek. “How was your first night in a new place?” He walked to the window sill, and leaned against it, crossing his arms.
“Technically it’s not a new place, so I slept like a baby.”
“What a disappointment for Christian. I’m sure he had other plans for the night.”
I gave him a warning look and sat on the couch, still turning the flower in my hands.
“I can’t get rid of a feeling that this flower is different from the one used by Alexis.”
“What do you mean?”
“It’s not as powerful as that one. Yes, it looks the same, but it’s different.”
“May I?” Evan asked, taking the flower from my hands. “Hmm, I can’t see the difference.”
But I knew I was right. “I think someone used the mestaphia’s shape to make us think that it was the same flower.” I took another flower from the box that Christian gave me on my birthday, and gave it to Evan. “You still don’t see the difference?”
Evan shook his head, saying ‘no’. “What exactly do you feel touching them?”
“Their energy is different. As if they were aimed at breaking different spells. Those spells you used to protect Christian’s room are not as powerful as those surrounding Dever, right?”
“Of course they are not. I didn’t think that Christian’s room gathered all the secrets of the world of the supernatural to be protected like Dever’s borders.”
“Can we try something?”
“What exactly do you have in mind?” Evan looked at me suspiciously. “Just don’t tell me you are going to break Dever’s defense just to see if both flowers can do that.”
I smiled conspiratorially. “You will help me, won’t you?”
Evan hesitated, frowning. “I don’t think it’s a good idea. Besides, we need to ask for Patrick’s permission. I don’t want to spend the next night in a prison. Even if it gives me a chance to share the ward with you, Sweetheart.”
“Why don’t we try to do everything on our own?”
“May I ask why you don’t want anyone else to know about this experiment?”
“Because I’m pretty sure that Christian and Patrick are being watched by the creator of one of these flowers, and I don’t want him or her to know that we are trying to subject them to the glare of truth.”
“We are about to get into big trouble,” Evan muttered, following me to the door. He was the only person, apart from my father and Patrick, whom Christian allowed to accompany me whenever I wanted to leave his room. It was kind of offending. I wasn’t a prisoner after all, but it felt like that. And I still couldn’t understand why on earth they didn’t like Will. I knew it wasn’t just about jealousy. There was something else they didn’t want to share with me. Not that I didn’t like staying in Christian’s room of course.
It was so good to feel his presence, knowing that I didn’t have to leave him with the first rays of the sun. I didn’t want to show just how much I actually enjoyed sleeping in his bed. But I wasn’t going to break the rule of sleeping there alone. He needed to understand that I hated to be told what to do.
When Evan and I reached the place, where according to Tara’s vision Alexis crossed Dever’s border, I kneeled touching the frozen ground. Magic always left traces, and I needed to see if there were any left by our ex principal.
“You won’t find anything,” Evan said, kneeling beside me. “The power of flower masks energy, and any other traces of spells disappear.”
“But not when one of its petals is missing,” I said, showing him a small red petal I found under the snow. It was still warm and I could feel Alexis’ energy, radiating from it.
“That’s why Tara was able to track her. The power of the flower she used wasn’t as strong as it was supposed to be. But I’m sure Alexis didn’t know that. Otherwise she would never show up here, knowing that we could foresee her actions. The flower was also supposed to hide her silhouette, that’s why she was so surprised when my spell revealed her body.”
“But you still feel that the power of the mestaphia she used is stronger than the power of the one used to break into Christian’s room?”
“Yes, and I’m sure this forgery can’t damage Dever’s defense, as well as any other spell, apart from the one you used to protect the room.”
“This is kind of unexpected,” Evan said thoughtfully. “We need to find the spy who used this flower,” he added, holding the false mestaphia.
“And I think I know how to do that.”
When Christian was kidnapped, Madame Blanche showed me a spell I used to find him in Eric’s dream. It was one of those spells they didn’t recommend to use too often, as it took a lot of energy and power.
But I knew I would be fine as long as Christian was near. Besides, I felt like my powers were getting stronger with every passing day. And it felt amazing, as if all the shades of my gifts were brightening up.
I didn’t know if it was due to the training my father and I had, or due to the fact that I was getting older, but sometimes I felt like I was able to get anything I wanted….
There were times when I was afraid of my gifts, but now I knew that I could deal with their powers, no matter how many of them I got.
I learnt how to control the amount of energy I spent on magic and ruling over the natural elements. Now everything seemed to be much easier.
I needed some time to prepare myself for casting the finding spell, but Evan asked me to do something else first.
“Why don’t we practice? I know we are still on holiday, but I want to be sure you can handle that spell.” He was always worried about me, and I was grateful for that, because sometimes I overestimated my
talents, and Evan was there for me to clean up the mess I made.
“What do you want to teach me today?” I asked when we came to one of the dark, empty classrooms.
“I want to see how well you can cope with the powers of different elements. Have you ever tried to use two or more elements at the same time?”
“No.” That was the only thing I still couldn’t find the courage to try. “Are you sure you can stop whatever comes if I fail?”
“Of course I am. I would never put you on the line.”
I nodded, smiling. I knew that. “So what do you want me to start with?”
“Start with something simple, the wind for example.”
I nodded again, closed my eyes, and tried to imagine the light breeze touching my palms and my face.
I immediately felt the rush of energy running through my veins. Every time I was thinking about the wind, it filled my heart with joy. It was always followed by the songs I was able to hear due to one of my talents, inherited from one of my distant relatives, Lillian Wizardry.
Evan knew about my ability to hear the wind, so he didn’t interfere, giving me a few moments to enjoy the beautiful song, playing in my mind:
“Close your eyes and hear the calling,
Let your eyes see the light;
Let your heart feel the warning,
Coming from someone who might be right
About the fears and the danger,
Waiting for you in the darkness of night.
Don’t push away a lonely stranger
That might be able to help you win over the power of the moonlight.”
I opened my eyes abruptly, thinking about the last line of the song. It couldn’t be a mere coincidence that the song mentioned the stranger. There was one stranger whose secrets I wanted to know. But thanks to my friends, he was also the only person I couldn’t talk to….
“Is everything all right?” Evan asked. “Why did you stop?”
“I heard you coming closer, and thought that something was wrong.” I hated lying to Evan, but there was no way I could tell him about the song I heard.