Diamond Sky (Love Lines Series)

by Diana Nixon

  “Do you still have that cup?” she asked.

  “Of course.” Olsen disappeared behind the dark-red curtain and came back with a small silver coffee cup. “Here,” he said, handing it to Eileen.

  But she never touched it. She flinched, grimacing. “Take it away from me. It makes me sick.”

  “Can I hold it?” I asked. Olsen gave me the cup, but unlike Eileen, who walked to the opposite side of the shop still frowning, the cup didn’t affect me.

  “It’s full of darkness,” Eileen said. “The girl wasn’t like me. She was a dark magic user.”

  Chapter 16. The Great Hall

  I couldn’t stop thinking about the incident in the blacksmith’s shop. Eileen was quiet and didn’t say a word. And I never pushed her. If there really was someone else possessing the powers of Lillian Wizardry, we needed to find that person. And according to Olsen’s words, it was a girl.

  “Unbelievable,” I said aloud.

  “I thought you would never speak again,” Eileen said, chuckling.

  “And I thought you were not ready to talk.”

  “I don’t know what to say.” She looked through the window absently. “I’m shocked, and scared.”

  “Don’t be.” I stopped the car and pulled Eileen to my chest. I couldn’t find the words to describe my own feelings. “We don’t know if he was telling the truth.”

  “No, Christian. We both know that he did tell us the truth.”

  Yes, but denying that was easier to do.

  “What if the girl doesn’t want anyone to find out about her gifts?”

  “And what if she’s looking for me?” Eileen looked into my eyes.

  I cupped her face in my palms. “She can’t hurt you.”

  “How do you know that? If she possesses the same powers I do, she can even kill me!”

  She will be damned first, I thought to myself.

  “We won’t let anything happen to you.”

  “Don’t leave me alone,” Eileen said, and my heart missed a beat. It was the first time she actually asked me that. And it meant that she was scared, really scared.

  “I won’t,” I said, as I tightened the embrace. “I will kill her first if I have to.”

  We returned to Dever at about six in the evening, and went to find Eileen’s father. He was more than surprised to hear about Olsen’s words.

  “This is impossible,” he said, running both hands through his hair. “The old man must be out of his mind.”

  “Do you know him?” Eileen asked, taking a seat next to her father. He was in my father’s office.

  “Yes, I do. But he always seemed to be a little crazy. Why would you go to his shop anyway?”

  “We needed him to make a present for Evan,” I said.

  “And he didn’t show you the door?”

  “No, he was kind enough to do what we needed.”

  “Last time I went to see him, he shut the door in my face and said to stay away from him and his shop.”

  “Well, apparently, Eileen’s powers were worth letting us in.”

  Frederick took his cell phone, and called my father and Evan, who were in the archives, exploring the records about the history of the Great Hall. I can’t say they were happy to hear the news. None of us could explain the existence of another girl, possessing Lillian’s powers. When we called Marion who knew about Eileen’s gifts, she said that the other girl could only be a dark magic user, because the existence of two pure heirs was impossible. One was always ‘a waste product’, as she called it. But there was something else Marion knew about the powers’ twin. The dark one always tended to be close to the white one whom he used to suck out the life energy from. And it meant that the girl, mentioned by Olsen, was somewhere near….

  “The only thing we can be sure of is that she’s not in Dever,” Dad said. “It is because we would have never missed someone as powerful as Eileen.”

  “Okay, so what do we do now?” Evan asked. “That freak never showed up. Maybe she doesn’t want us to find her.”

  “We wouldn’t have a reason to worry if she wasn’t using Eileen’s energy,” Frederick said. “But we can’t shut our eyes to something like this.”

  “What will we do if we find her?” Eileen asked. Evan and I shared a glance, apparently thinking about the same thing.

  “We will break the bond between you two,” he said.

  “How?”

  This question was left unanswered. As far as we knew, the bonds between two people could only be broken by death, or by voluntary rejection. And we all knew that the last option in our case seemed too good and too simple to be true.

  We left the question about the mysterious girl for later and switched our attention to the other problem we had. The spell.

  It was dark enough outside, so we decided to go to the Great Hall again. Evan said he and my father found a book dated the year of its foundation. And there was a signing on the front page, made by someone anonymous. It said the following, “When you find my heart, I will show you the secret I keep.”

  We thought that the secret was the spell itself. As for the heart, it could be anything.

  Amanda and Tara met us at the entrance to the Hall. My sister was as gloomy as a stormy cloud and didn’t say a word. Tara smiled and said ‘hi’. I could tell that she was still nervous about the morning meeting in Gloster. But neither Eileen nor I ever mentioned that. And frankly, we had more serious problems to deal with than another love triangle.

  “Okay, so let’s start from the portrait,” Evan said. “Christian, create a fiery arrow.”

  I closed my eyes for a second, calling my powers and making the sparkles of fire appear on my palms. When the fire became brighter, I drew an arrow from the Fairey’s portrait and to the picture of the sun on the opposite wall. This time the arrow didn’t disappear. Rather, it looked like it was getting brighter with every second. I smiled.

  But my joy vanished the moment the arrow reached the sun. It refused to go any further. “I can’t make it move,” I said to the others.

  “Wait,” Evan said. “Let’s add a little magic.” He stood next to me and raised his hand, palm-up, mixing his powers with mine. And it worked.

  Now the arrow moved to the other wall of the Hall where the picture of a moon was drawn. And then it stopped again. Not even Evan’s magic could make it move.

  “Every new move needs some motivation,” Eileen said. She stood on my right and pronounced one of those finding spells her father taught her. The arrow moved and went straight to the stained glass window with a red rose on it. Then it moved to the point between the pictures of the sun and the moon and stopped at something that looked like a broken circle. But we didn’t have much time to think about that, as the arrow moved to the next point that was an emblem of Wizardry faculty — a golden letter ‘M’, drawn on the floor. The arrow’s last stop was a drawing of a circle and the stars that copied the one we saw on the map. When we thought the fiery picture was complete, the lines disappeared without a trace.

  “Damn it,” Evan muttered. “Let’s try once again.”

  “It won’t work,” Eileen said. “A part of the map is still missing, and we must have done something wrong. Because if what we have managed to create was supposed to stay here, it would have stayed even without us, affecting it with the fire and magic.”

  “She’s right,” Frederick said. “None of our efforts will be enough to keep the fiery drawing visible. Just as the darkness we’ve been waiting for to come back here, this figure needs something natural; something that should happen while the arrow is drawing the lines. We need to decipher the rest of the symbols.”

  So we left the Great Hall and headed back to the dorms to see Kevin. With everything that happened in Gloster, I didn’t have a chance to talk to Eileen about her father and his wife Rebecca. She wanted to get a divorce.

  On the one hand it was everything Frederick wanted, considering that he and Eileen’s mother were back together. They were still fighting like
cats and dogs, but they loved each other, and the power of their love seemed to be enough to overcome everything.

  On the other hand, we all knew Rebecca too well to realize that her leaving would never be peace and quiet. No one could predict the consequences of that divorce. And I didn’t know how to tell Eileen about that.

  I came to Evan and said, “Frederick says Rebecca wants to get a divorce.”

  “Oh, well … that’s quite unexpected. I didn’t think she would give up so easily. What does she want in return?”

  “He doesn’t know yet. He only said she called a few days ago to tell him about her decision.”

  “So she left the bomb for later.” Evan chuckled. “I hope Frederick won’t have to sell his last pair of trousers to get rid of her.”

  I laughed quietly. “He actually said he would even do that to be free again.”

  “But there is something more than that, right?”

  I nodded. “Frederick thinks she will join the Dragons to pay him back. And she knows too many of his secrets. He can’t let her do that.”

  “But there must be something to make her keep her mouth shut.”

  “I hope you are right. Otherwise, we will get one more enemy.”

  Thanks to Frederick’s magical treatment, Kevin felt much better now. Though the view of the tattoo on his back still left much to be desired.

  “Looks like someone is still trying to get to you,” Eileen said, looking at the tattoo. “It’s more black than green.”

  “They will never get to him,” her father said. “Not when he’s here.”

  Now Kevin was lying on his left side. His eyes were closed, and he was sound asleep.

  “He can hear you,” Tara said. “But he can’t say a word.”

  “Why?” Evan sat next to his brother.

  “Something happened while you were away. As if someone sent him a vision he couldn’t block. He said he needed to get some sleep, but when he closed his eyes, he started crying. As if he had a nightmare or something. I wanted to wake him up, but the crying stopped as abruptly as it started.”

  “Kevin?” Evan called him quietly. “Can you hear me?”

  “Hey, Bro,” Kevin replied, smiling, his eyes still closed. “Welcome back from prison. How was your walk to Hell?”

  His words sounded weird. As if he was talking in a dream.

  “We….”

  “No!” Eileen stopped Evan. “Don’t answer.”

  “Why?”

  “He’s not here.” Eileen touched Kevin’s hand. “His body is here, but his mind is not.”

  “What do you mean?” Evan asked, puzzled.

  “Don’t you feel the vibrations, radiating around him?”

  Evan and I shared a glance. It wasn’t the first time that Eileen could feel something that we couldn't.

  “What do you feel, Honey?” Frederick asked.

  “The illusion was created by someone from the outside. It’s wrapped around him like a cocoon. It’s holding him in a world we can’t see. But there is someone who can see us through his mind. And he’s controlling him, and the more Kevin talks, the closer the stranger can get to us.”

  “Bastards!” Frederick exclaimed. “They are trying to find their way to Dever thought his mind! Because they know they will never be able to get through the magical defense, surrounding the borders.”

  “We need to break the illusion,” Eileen said, and before anyone of us could say anything, she disappeared in a cloud of crimson smoke.

  “Eileen, no!” we all shouted in unison. I ran to the place where she was standing, but the only thing I managed to catch was the air.

  “You’ve got to be kidding me!” Evan jumped from the bed, horrified. “Damn you, Kevin!” he muttered, before he disappeared, following Eileen into the illusion only the two of them knew how to pierce into.

  “Do something!” I said, turning to Frederick.

  “There’s nothing we can do about it,” he said, helplessly.

  “What?”

  “I can’t follow them! I don’t know the spell they used to pierce into that illusion. They must be using the one Marion taught them to save you from Eric’s dream.”

  “But there must be something else to get them back!”

  “No, Christian. They will come back when they break the magical ties, holding them in Kevin’s mind.”

  Part 5

  Eileen

  Chapter 17. A Trip

  My shoulder hurt. I groaned, as I tried to sit. My upper arm was covered with something wet and thick. When my eyes adjusted to the darkness, I realized it was blood. Apparently, my ability to pierce into people’s minds wasn’t perfect. When I used Kevin’s mind to escape from Dever, I didn’t know it would be so painful. My shoulder hit the massive fireplace that was now behind me, and my foot got stuck in something that I thought was a basket for wood.

  “What the hell do you think you are doing?” Evan shouted into my ear.

  “Pipe down! I’m not deaf!” I snapped, trying to free my foot.

  “No, you are not,” he said, helping me. “But you are definitely crazy! What were you thinking using that spell?!”

  “Actually, I’m trying to help your brother!”

  “No shit! By escaping into the illusion that may kill us?” Evan stopped his tirade, and touched my wound. “You are bleeding.”

  I flinched. “I know.” He tore a piece of his shirt off and bandaged the wound.

  “I can’t believe I called you smart. You are the stupidest person I’ve ever met!” He made a knot and looked around, finally recognizing the surroundings. “My place? Seriously?”

  I shrugged, trying to display a smile.

  “What a romantic gesture to drag me to Paris! And here I thought you were in love with Christian. Couldn’t you find a better excuse to ask me for a date?”

  “Okay, Evan. That’s enough. It’s not a date, and it’s not a joke. We are here to find something that will help Kevin block the bastards trying to mess with his thoughts.”

  “Uh, what a disappointment, Eileen, and I hoped to spend a few hours travelling down the Seine.”

  “And I thought your love for the Seine died six years ago,” I muttered, turning on the lights. Evan heard my words. I sighed, realizing my mistake. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean it.”

  “You meant exactly what you said, Eileen. And there’s no point in denying it.” Evan ran a hand through his hair. “Forget it. What do you want me to do?”

  I knew that my words upset him, but there was no time for arguing. So I got down to business. “Where was Kevin’s room?”

  “Upstairs.”

  Evan turned around and headed for the stairs.

  It was kind of weird to be there again. Rose Hellebore was a very beautiful manor, but it looked like none of my other times of visiting it ended up well.

  I could feel Evan’s tension. He didn’t like coming here. The house kept too many painful memories that he tried to take out of his head. And I wasn’t helping matters. Though I hoped we would be able to get out of this illusion before anyone could lock us up here for the rest of our days. And the last scenario was more than likely to be true.

  Even if one day people came to that house, they wouldn’t be able to see us, because in reality it was still empty….

  “Here,” Evan said. He opened the door and entered the dark room. “What exactly do we need to find?”

  “Something that was very precious to Kevin. Like the music box that Christian gave me on my birthday. It must be something that would tighten his connection to the reality.”

  “What about our connection to the reality?”

  I knew Evan had his doubts about my ability to bring us back to Dever.

  “I’m bound with Christian, and you are bound with me. I hope that’s enough to secure our way back from this illusion.”

  “You’d better be right,” Evan said, giving me one of those all-knowing-and-warning glances of his. I ignored him and got down to work.


  We’d been searching the room for about twenty minutes, when I saw something that could help us. “Was this necklace Tara’s gift?” I took a chain with a small silver dagger on it. I could feel Tara’s energy in it.

  “Yes. It was her Christmas present for Kevin. But when they broke up, he took it off, saying he didn’t want anything that reminded him of her to touch his skin.”

  “Well, I guess it’s time to put this present where it was originally supposed to be. On his neck.”

  “Do you really think it can help? I don’t think its powers are enough to tighten his touch with reality.”

  “The love Tara put in this necklace was very powerful.” Evan frowned and I knew why. “Can I ask you something?”

  “Sure.”

  “You know that something’s wrong with me, don’t you?”

  He looked at me, hesitating. He wasn’t sure if he should confirm my fears. But I knew I was right.

  “Yes,” he said, taking a step closer.

  “Everything I feel is much stronger than it used to be,” I said. “Every gift I possess seems to become more alive. I can feel and see the things no one else can. Do you think it has anything to do with my so-called powers’ twin?”

  “I don’t know, Eileen. For how long have you been feeling these changes?”

  “I’m not sure. For a few weeks, I guess.”

  “Well, since there are no negative consequences of what’s been going on with you, I think there’s nothing to worry about.”

  But I knew better. There was something big coming. And I wasn’t sure if it was something good or terrible….

  “Okay, let’s leave it for later,” I said. “Now, we need to go back to Dever.”