Diamond Sky (Love Lines Series)

by Diana Nixon

  “Are you sure you don’t want to tell me anything else, Eileen?”

  I took a deep breath and turned around, trying not to give up my mixed emotions.

  “Everything’s fine. If there was anything I wanted to share with you, I would have done that.”

  Patrick gave me another thoughtful gaze, then he nodded, and I rushed out of the office, before he could change his mind and start asking more questions.

  I went out into the street, holding the note in my hands. I looked at it once again and went to the library to check on one of my assumptions about its author. But unfortunately, there wasn’t anything that would confirm it.

  I stared at the note again. If Will wasn’t Wizardy, how was he supposed to continue his education at the same-named faculty? Because I was sure it was impossible to hide the absence of magic when everyone around you possessed it. Or was I missing something?

  Yes, there were times, when Will’s behavior was more than just suspicious. But every one of us had a skeleton in the closet, and I couldn’t blame him for being secretive with us. We were not his friends, and considering the conditions of his upbringing, I doubted he could trust anyone, but his father.

  The more I was thinking about Will, the stronger was my assurance about his powers. Yes, Frederick was right — he didn’t possess any of the most popular ones. But he did have a gift….

  I knocked at the door of William’s room, and to my surprise, he opened it immediately. Wearing a very serious expression on his usually careless face.

  “Eileen? What are you doing here?”

  “Can I come in?”

  “It’s bad timing. I’m kind of busy.”

  “With what? Drinking and smoking?” I smiled to soften the disgust in my voice.

  “Um … not exactly. I’m meditating.”

  I raised my eyebrows, surprised. “Well, well … who would think you need meditation.”

  “Is everything okay? You are acting strange.” He frowned, looking at me.

  “Really? I didn’t notice that. So can I come in?” I wasn’t going to give up. And Will felt it.

  “Fine. Make yourself at home,” he said, opening the door wider.

  When I stepped into the room, I saw a few bottles of rum on the table. Of course, they were all empty.

  “I thought that meditation needed a clear mind to work.”

  “Not in my case.” Will smirked, opening another bottle. “Want some?”

  “No, thanks. I’m pretty crazy without it.”

  He laughed. “I don’t think you can excel me in my craziness.”

  “I wouldn’t even try to.”

  Will emptied another glass of rum, and seemed to relax a little. But I knew better….

  “Why don’t you stop pretending?” I said, watching his reaction to my words.

  “Excuse me?”

  “Last I checked, alcohol didn’t affect Lords of mind. And I’m pretty sure this rule hasn’t changed.” I could almost taste the shock, growing inside my opponent. The glass in his hand froze half-way up to his lips. “And you are one of them, aren’t you? You are one of the five Lords whose lives have been kept a secret for ages, because people called you the freaks of nature.”

  “How did you….”

  “When I came to Dever, I was just like you,” I said, looking through the window. It opened to a beautiful scarlet sunset. “I was afraid I wouldn’t fit in here. But I did. Though, unlike you, I possessed the powers of nature and magic.” I stopped, waiting for Will to say something. But he didn’t, so I continued, “They would have never let you come here if they knew who you really are. But your father is a well known wizard. He made sure you would be accepted. Just like any other descendant of the founding families. What spell did he use on Patrick?” I turned around to see Will’s face. It was deathly pale. “I bet it was a very strong one. Maybe even one of his own inventions.”

  Will put the glass on the table and crossed his arms, as if he was trying to protect himself from me.

  “Relax, I’m not going to tell anyone about you,” I said.

  “Why would I believe you?”

  “Because you trust me.”

  “I don’t trust anyone.”

  “But I’m not just anyone. And you know it.”

  “True. You are the most extraordinary creature I’ve ever seen in my life. You have so many talents, maybe even you can’t see all of them. So how did you know I was the Lord of Mind?”

  “You have already answered this question. I do have many talents. So let’s start from the very beginning — the day we met. You said that Amanda and you had been friends since childhood. But she couldn’t remember anything about you.”

  “I made her think we were friends, because I needed a reason to talk to you. I was actually dying to get to know you. You were like a … star, shining in the sky. And I wanted to know more about you.”

  “Too bad Amanda’s memory about the sandy cookies was just a fake. I liked it.”

  “Yeah, it was one of my best things to say.”

  “I was surprised when you asked me about possessing magic. You were supposed to be Wizardy after all. You should have known everything about it.”

  “Well, I was curious. Magic had always been my out-of-reach dream. But I realized that I would never become a wizard.”

  “Then there was that conversation in Christian’s room, when you came to see me. When Amanda showed up, she acted as if she didn’t notice you.”

  “She didn’t know I was there, though you could see me pretty clearly.”

  “Did you make her think that you were a coffee table, or something?”

  Will laughed. “Of course, not! Your friend simply thought that you were the only people in the room.”

  “Okay, so no transformation into coffee tables?”

  “No.”

  “And here I thought that being a Lord of Mind was fun.”

  “Far from it.” Suddenly Will became serious again. It was strange to see him like that. I preferred his carefree nature.

  “I’ve got one more question. Maybe it will sound a little crazy, but….”

  “Go ahead, Eileen. As long as you are not going to give me up, I will answer all of your questions.”

  “Okay … the day you asked me about the stable … what made you think I might like horse riding?”

  “Well, I guess you already know the answer.”

  “No, I don’t.”

  “Yes, Eileen. I can hear the wind. And the water, and the earth and the fire.”

  I was shocked. “You what?”

  “I knew about the horse you saw in your dream, because there was the wind singing a song to you. And I could hear it too.”

  “Wait … I don’t understand. I had that dream before we met. So how could you hear the song that the wind was singing to me?”

  “Even before coming to Dever, I knew about your talents. Because as I have already said, I like meditating. And while I’m meditating I can ask the powers of nature about everything I want to know. Frankly, I was surprised to know that you could hear the wind. Because hearing the songs of nature had always been the Lords’ unique gift. So I got even more curious about you. I have a Master degree in compulsion, but I don’t have any other power.”

  “This is so unfair,” I said, watching the waterfalls of emotions, changing their colors in Will’s aura. “On the one hand, you are more powerful than anyone of us, because you can make people see and think anything you want. You can make them do anything you want them to do. But you don’t know how to protect yourself, especially when you can’t feel the danger coming. Is that why your father has been hiding you from the rest of the world?”

  “Yes, he always thought that I wasn’t ready to face people like you: gifted and powerful.”

  “But now you are here. Why?” Will looked into my eyes, hesitating. “You have already told me your biggest secret. So go ahead, just spit it out! I won’t tell anyone.”

  “You don’t know what you
are asking for, Eileen.”

  “So why don’t you tell me the truth?”

  “Because if I do that, I will have to make you forget about this conversation. And I’m tired of being alone. Somehow I feel better knowing that you know who I am. I can talk to you without pretense and lies. I can finally be myself. And I don’t want to lose it. So can we leave that one last question for later? Maybe one day you will find the answer to it without my help. But when you do, please don’t rush to conclusions. Come and talk to me. Okay?”

  I wasn’t sure what to say. If there was something he didn’t want to tell me, and that something could make me jump to the wrong conclusions, I didn’t know if I should promise him anything.

  “We will see,” I said. “Can I ask you one more question?”

  “Sure.”

  “Have you ever used your compulsion on me?”

  “No. I didn’t. But … I used my gift to find out something about you.”

  “What did you want to know?”

  “I wanted to know more about the bond you and Evan shared. And I did something I’m really sorry about right now. I sent you that dream about Evan and you.”

  Chapter 26. Eavesdropping

  “You did not…” I stared at Will, as if he had just slapped me in the face.

  I crossed the distance between us in the blink of an eye. He never expected me to attack him, so when I pinned him to the wall with the power of the wind, he didn’t even have time to realize what was going on.

  “Son of a bitch!” I intensified the pressure of the wind chains on his wrists, and I swear, I was about to finish him off, but the door suddenly flew open, and Evan rushed to me, and put my hands behind my back.

  “Stop it, Eileen! Stop it right now! You are going to kill him!”

  “That’s exactly what I wanted to do!” I tried to break through Evan’s grip, but he was damn strong. “Let me go!”

  “No,” he said firmly. “This is not you, Eileen. Look at me!” I did. “I will let you go only if you promise not to kill him. Stop the wind. Do it for me.” Evan definitely knew what to say when it came to reasoning with me.

  I closed my eyes and let the power of the wind go. It felt so good. I inhaled deeply. When I opened my eyes again, the first thing I saw was Evan’s troubled expression. Then I turned to the right and saw Will, sliding slowly down the wall I pinned him to.

  “Oh, my God!” I rushed to William before he could hit the floor, and helped him to keep his balance.

  “Funny thing,” he said, trying to steady himself. “Just a second ago you were trying to kill me, and now you are worried about my butt hitting the floor.”

  “I’m sorry, Will. I’m so sorry. I wasn’t….”

  “Yourself? Yeah, I figured that much. Damn, you can be really scary, Eileen.” He rubbed his wrists that I was sure were still burning from the power of the spell I used on him. “I wish I were as good as you are.”

  “Can anyone tell me what’s going on here?”

  Evan. We forgot about his presence.

  “I guess I said something very stupid, and it pissed her off,” Will replied. “I was just kidding, Eileen.”

  No he wasn’t, but we both realized that it was much safer not to tell Evan the truth.

  “Okay. Eileen, can I have a word with you?”

  “I’ll see you later, Will,” I said, following Evan to the door. “And I’m sorry about … everything.”

  “No worries, I’m fine,” he replied in his usual carefree manner. “Try not to kill anyone else today. That would be so nice of you.”

  I rolled my eyes. “I will control myself.”

  “You’d better,” he muttered, reaching for another glass of rum.

  I couldn’t understand why he kept drinking, as his mind always stayed clear, no matter how many drinks he took. Was it just a habit he couldn’t get rid of?

  “Okay, Eileen, so now that we are alone, can you tell me what really happened there?”

  “I don’t know,” I said, and Evan’s expression darkened. “I wasn’t going to kill him. I swear!”

  “It didn’t look like that.”

  “I know, but … I don’t know where that sudden thought came from.”

  “What did he tell you to make you hit the roof?”

  “I … don’t remember. Everything happened so fast. I didn’t have time to understand a thing.” Of course, I did remember Will’s words about the dream he sent me, but I wasn’t going to tell Evan about that. I still couldn’t understand the motives of Will’s action. What did he want to find out by sending me that dream?

  “You need to be careful, Eileen. Your outbursts have become dangerous.”

  “I know. But I can’t help myself. I don’t know how to stop it.”

  “Have you ever tried to?”

  “Of course, I have, Evan! Do you think I don’t know what will happen if I don’t learn how to control myself? I saw how miserable you were, locked in the dungeon. And trust me, I don’t want it to happen to me too.”

  “Then you’d better get a grip on yourself and work your butt off trying to gain control over your powers. Because no matter how much I don’t like William, I’m not thrilled about the idea of being at his funeral.”

  “Will you have a training with me?”

  “Only if you promise not to finish me off.”

  “Deal.”

  “Okay, let’s go beat that shit out of you.” Evan hugged my shoulders, and the two of us went to the Academic building.

  When Evan said he was going to beat the shit out of me, he wasn’t kidding. Every time I missed his spells and kicks, he made sure I got another bruising on my legs, hands and back.

  “You are one insane sadist,” I said breathlessly. “I can’t do this anymore. I’m dead tired. I’m thirsty, and I smell like … jeez, I don’t even know like what. I need a shower.”

  “But we’ve just started, Eileen! Get up, and show me the best of your talents.”

  I looked at him angrily. “Okay,” I muttered through my clenched teeth. “You asked for that yourself.”

  Before Evan could say anything else, I jumped to my feet and rushed to him, trying to charm him with every spell I knew. God, he was fast. Like a spider man, jumping from one wall to another, blocking my attacks and sending spells at me. It was a mini war between the two of us. Evan was ruthless. And so was I. We didn’t look like friends who cared about each other’s life. We looked like sworn enemies, trying to show who was the daddy there. And we were good at that.

  When the training was over, I felt dead on my feet. My head was spinning, and my lungs refused to breathe. If it was similar to what I was going to face fighting the Dragons, I didn’t want any of that.

  “Screw the spell and the brotherhood, I give up,” I said, lying on the floor of our training room. I couldn’t move, as every move felt too painful to bear.

  “Oh, no, Dear,” Evan laughed, lying beside me. “You are going to get to the curb, and show them how bad-ass you are. Trust me, they need to see it. You were amazing.”

  “Really?” I stared at him, surprised. “I can’t believe you’ve just complimented on my fighting skills. So it was worth it after all?”

  “I would have never imagined that you would kick my ass so gracefully,” Evan said, and I burst out laughing.

  “You are always welcome,” I said, rising. “Come on, Batman, let’s see if we can get to the dorms without passing out half-way there.”

  “My back hurts. I think that last spell of yours was too much for today. Would you like to do some more practice tomorrow?”

  “I don’t think so,” I said, rubbing my elbow. “I’m pretty sure I won’t be able to get out of my bed tomorrow.”

  “I’ll help you.” Evan winked at me.

  “No, thanks. I don’t want to see your face first thing if the morning.”

  “Okay, sweet dreams, Eileen.” Evan kissed my cheek, still smiling, and disappeared.

  The night was cold, but my lungs welcome
d the fresh air. I was walking down the road, with the street lights illuminating my way. There was no one else on the road, and I guessed it was too late to wake up Christian, so I headed for my own room.

  When I was passing by one of the dorms, I heard the familiar voice, saying, “Stay away from her, or you will have to deal with me.” It was William.

  “I don’t think Joseph will approve of you threatening me,” the girl’s voice replied almost in a whisper. I didn’t recognize it. “He sent you here, hoping that you would stay out of his business. But you keep snooping as if it was your duty to protect the girl. So I will repeat once again what I have already told you many times — she is the biggest danger to our world of the supernatural; she’s uncontrollable, and we need to destroy her to save our own lives.”

  “I don’t believe you. And despite the fact that you are my cousin and we should stand for our family, I’m not going to play the game my father and you are playing here. I’m sick and tired of your crazy plans. You will never get what you want. You don’t know what you are putting yourself into. She will take you for a ride in seconds.”

  “Well, I think I still want to see her in action.” The girl smirked. “And I hope you will finally come around and do what you need to do.”

  “Don’t count on me. You went too far. And I’m not going to let you or anyone else decide what I need to do. Good night.”

  The moment I heard Will’s footsteps, I turned around the corner, hoping he wouldn’t see me. When he closed the door to the room and headed in the opposite direction, I sighed with relief and sat on the floor, unable to stand on my feet.

  No matter how hard I tried to get rid of a bad feeling that he and his cousin, whoever she was, were talking about me, it never left my mind. I kept recalling the words of their conversation, trying to find at least something that would help me understand the whole thing that happened there.

  And I did find one word — uncontrollable….

  It was about three in the morning when I finally got to my room. I was so shocked to hear Will’s conversation with the mysterious cousin that I couldn’t make myself get to my feet, and walk away from the room, where the mentioned cousin stayed. I badly wanted to go there and see who she was, but something stopped me. Maybe I was afraid to face the truth.