by Diana Nixon
“Yes, why?”
“The bridge … the bridge … of course! Son of a bitch!”
Evan stared at me in confusion. “What did I do?”
“Not you. I was talking about … I’m sorry, I need to go. I’ll see you later.”
I stormed out of the dining room and ran to the stable, where I was sure I would find William.
I needed him to explain one more very important thing. Now I knew why his face looked familiar.
I had finally remembered where I saw him….
Chapter 30. A New Relative
The sound of a car crashing hit my ears. I didn’t see the road under my feet. Only a huge truck, running straight into Evan’s parents’ car. I was in a passenger seat, and it felt like my whole life had just flown in front of my eyes. It wasn’t real, but it felt like that. And though the picture in my head was just a copy of Evan’s memory that I saw a few months ago, I could still feel the wild fear, freezing my blood.
I was in Paris again, looking at one of the bridges, crossing the Seine, the waters of which would swallow our car a few moments later. There were people screaming in terror and watching our slow death. No one could help us.
And there was one face that I couldn’t remember for days. The guy’s emerald eyes were cold and emotionless. He was staring at the car and the people inside it, and I thought that I could still see those eyes, when I closed mine and prayed for the memory to end as soon as possible….
I stopped at the entrance to the stable and tried to catch my breath. I had been running so fast that my legs hurt. I thought I would lose my balance, when the voice behind me said, “Running away from someone?”
I stood still. Then I turned around slowly, and saw Will smiling at me. “You … you were there when they died.” I was surprised by the dry sound of my voice.
“Excuse me?” Will asked, taking off his black gloves.
“You were there when Evan’s parents died,” I repeated, barely controlling myself. I wanted to scream, and my eyes were full of tears.
William’s face turned pale.
“And don’t even try to deny it!” I shouted. “I saw you on the bridge! You were standing there and watching the woman who saved your life dying. And you didn’t do a thing to save her!”
William shook his head. “No, Eileen. It’s not true.”
“Stop lying to me! I know it was you! I have been thinking about where I could have seen you before. And then I remembered that day.”
“I’m sorry, Eileen,” Will whispered before my vision disappeared, and I couldn’t move.
“What have you done to me? I can’t see anything!”
“This is the only way to make you listen to me.”
“Give me back my vision!”
There was a pause, and then the light burned my eyes, and I could see again, but my body still refused to move.
“Don’t you dare use your tricks on me!”
“If you don’t stop shouting, I will make you do that,” Will said. And there was no hint of a joke in his voice.
“Why? Why would you do that to her?” I asked through my tears.
“I saved her!”
“So this is what you call it?”
“I don’t know how you managed to see that memory of Evan’s, but what you saw wasn’t real.”
“How’s that?”
“Promise me you won’t tell anyone.”
I laughed. “You’ve got to be kidding me, right? I’m not going to promise you anything! I trusted you, Will … I thought we understood each other. I never expected you to call me your friend, but I thought you were honest with me.”
“And I really was, Eileen! But this is not my secret to reveal! I swore I would never tell anyone the truth about the day of the accident, I….”
“Wait a second … you said Evan’s memory wasn’t real, you said … oh, my God … you were not watching the car crash. And your eyes … they were not emotionless, they were concentrated! You were manipulating Evan’s mind! You made him think that his parents died. You changed his memory about that day. But why? Are Dominic and Elizabeth still alive? Are they hiding somewhere, or what?”
“No. Evan’s father is dead.”
Father? “What about his mom?”
“I don’t know what happened to her, or where she is now. The only thing I know for sure is that she didn’t die in that accident. Because it was her idea to kill Dominic.”
I don’t know how to describe what I felt the moment Will pronounced his last sentence. Shock? Well, it wasn’t the word.
“When Elizabeth found out the truth about her husband, she couldn’t stand seeing him. Yes, she tried to kill herself, but the doctors saved her. And then she found me again. And asked me to make everyone think that the disease she pretended to have, was incurable. She had a plan. A plan of how to destroy her husband.”
“My, Goodness,” I said in a barely audible voice. “She hated him so much, didn’t she?”
“You can’t even imagine.”
“Please, Will, let me go. I won’t hurt you or anything.”
“Fine.”
The next moment the invisible chains disappeared, and I could move again. I started pacing the stable, trying to wrap my mind around everything that I had just heard. Now I understood why everything that I saw in that memory seemed so unreal. Elizabeth’s last smile, Evan’s dreamy eyes … now everything made sense.
“What about Kevin and his story about the accident?”
“Everything was true. Except for one thing: no one knew that Dominic’s wife was the one to plan the murder.”
“I can’t believe it….”
“Has she ever tried to contact you since that day?”
“No. I told you, I had no idea what happened to her later. But she wanted everyone to think that she was dead too.”
“I kind of figured that much.” I sat on the ground and leaned my head over the tree. Maybe William didn’t know where Elizabeth was now, but I did … and I kept wondering if anyone else knew about that too?
Will and I decided that it would be better to keep our talk a secret. He didn’t want anyone to know about his role in the car accident, and I didn’t want anyone to know about the possibility of Elizabeth, being still alive.
But there was more bad news, waiting for me that morning. When I came back to the dining room where I left Evan and Marion, I saw my father and Patrick there, and they all looked troubled.
“Where have you been?” Evan asked.
“Just needed to check out something,” I replied absently, taking a seat next to him. I couldn’t stop thinking about his mother.
“Is everything okay? You looked like you were going to kill someone when you left.”
“Turned out it wasn’t necessary.”
“Oh, well … then make sure you sit comfortably, because the news we’ve got to tell you might be … quite unexpected.”
“Really? Bad news is a usual thing here.”
“Yep, but this time it’s about one more of your family’s secrets.”
“Just spit it out, Evan. I don’t think I can be more shocked today than I already am.”
“Okay, Frederick why don’t you tell her?”
My father didn’t look like he was thrilled about the idea of delivering this news to me.
“Jared told me about his conversation with your aunt. And … it looks like you have a cousin you’ve never heard about before.”
I was wrong. There were things that could shock me more than Will’s words.
“What the hell are you talking about?”
My father wasn’t himself. He was nervous. He took a sip of water and said, “As it turned out, your aunt had a child that was born only a few minutes later than you. No one knew Patricia was pregnant, because she lived in London, she didn’t have a husband, and she didn’t want to humiliate her family. That’s why she never told any of you about her daughter. Do you remember the curse that killed your grandfather? Well, the protective am
ulets that Cameron Wizardy gave to him, never protected Patricia and her child, who somehow inherited the gifts of Lillian, turning them into the dark magic. Only Darcy’s grandmother was there when the girl was born. And Camilla immediately realized that the girl would be different from you. It was very dangerous to let the two of you grow up together. So Patricia said she would hide the girl. But one day her dark powers were revealed, and your aunt realized that she needed help. When she found out about you, coming to Dever, she brought the girl to Gloster, so that the two of you could be closer to each other. Or to be exact — her daughter needed to be closer to you. Because the girl can’t live without your life energy. She needs to feel its presence all the time. Especially now. When Vanessa tried to intensify the power of your gifts, she couldn’t even imagine that there was another person whose powers she was playing with. But unlike you, Melanie is a dark magic user, and what Vanessa did, almost killed her. That’s why Patricia called you. She needs your help to save her daughter.”
Man, my life was screwed up badly … I sighed.
“Do you guys really think that knowing all of the above, I will forget about everything else and rush to save my so-called cousin, who’s actually been using me to recharge her life energy to practice dark magiс? Is that what you expected me to do?”
They were seriously wrong about my good nature.
“I told you she would need more time to accept it,” Evan said.
“You can’t be serious.” I shook my head, refusing to believe them. “Another cousin?”
That was too much for one morning. The only question that bothered me was ‘Why me again?’
Apparently, karma wasn’t just a bitch. For me she was one freaking brute that always tended to bite me in the most painful place.
“Okay, I don’t have time to deal with my cousin, or whatever you call that girl. I have a lot of other things to do.” I was about to leave, when Evan caught me by the hand.
“I think you need to stay and listen to the rest of the story. Because the most interesting part is coming.”
“What else do you want me to know?” I asked angrily, shaking off his grip.
“Your cousin can help you deal with the Dragons.”
“How so?” Now, that was something that could really catch my attention. I crossed my arms, waiting for more explanations.
“We know that she’s a dark magic user, right? Which makes her a perfect enemy for other evil creatures.”
“Can you be more specific, Evan?”
“All I’m saying is that her powers will be very useful for everyone who wants to kill another dark magic user. If she reads the spell that we have prepared to kill the Dragons’ leader, the entire brotherhood will die in seconds.”
“Tell me something I don’t know. I can do the same thing.”
“Yes, but if she does that, there will be no doubt that the Dragons will disappear forever.”
“So you don’t need my help anymore? Perfect! Can I have a day off?”
Evan rolled his eyes at my sarcasm. “No, Eileen. We still need you to be there to use the power of your pure magic and concentrate on keeping the two of you safe. If you send all of your powers to create the protective circle around you, not even the Lord of Mind will be able to break through it. Do you understand what I’m saying?”
“I can handle both creating the circle and reading the spell.”
“No doubt you can,” Evan said. “But if you take her with you, the chances are high that you will come back to reality sooner than we expected.”
“Why do you think she will help me? She doesn’t even know me!”
“Helping you, she will help herself as well. The girl wants to become pure. She never wanted to be a dark magic user, but her powers are as strong as yours. She can’t switch them to good on her own.”
“If she casts that spell and destroys the entire brotherhood, she will be free from the darkness,” Marion said. “Maybe she will become a sister you always want to have.”
“I have Amanda and no other girl will ever be her.”
Evan smiled. “No one asks you to love her, Eileen. Give her a chance to get the life she wants for herself. You of all people should know how much it means to be free.”
And Evan was right. Again. I’ve never felt free since the moment I found out about the existence of Dever. But for someone like Melanie, being here already meant being free. And it was up to me to decide whether she would get that freedom or not. And I wasn’t a monster after all. Even if I didn’t want to have another cousin, I wanted her to be happy. Because happiness was such a rare thing for someone like me.
I looked at Evan and said, “Bring the girl. Let’s see if she’s worth being here.”
“Oh, yeah, Baby. Let’s get this party started,” he replied, smiling back.
Chapter 31. The Illusion
The clock showed half past eleven in the evening, which meant that my dad had only half an hour to get back to Dever with my mysterious cousin and the horseshoe I needed. He risked a lot, but we didn’t have another choice. Someone had to leave the safety of the campus to make our plan work.
We all gathered at the Great Hall, where the two illusions were supposed to be created. The only missing person was Christian, but according to Evan’s words, he was going to join my friends later.
I felt like nothing on earth. I was so nervous that even Marion, who never doubted my ability to win over the Dragons, started to panic.
“Eileen, you need to calm down,” she said, touching my hand. I felt the vibration of some spell she used on me to make me feel better. But apparently even her powers were not enough to do that.
“I’m trying,” I said, feeling shivers running up and down my spine. “But Dad is not here, and if he doesn’t make it on time, we will fail.”
Marion looked at Will. “Can you make her relax a little? She’s like a ticking time bomb.”
“No!” I protested, raising my hand to stop Will from whatever he was going to do. “I don’t need any help. I will be fine, I promise.”
Will shrugged, but never took his eyes away from my face. “Just let me know if you change your mind.”
I nodded in response and went to the portrait of the Fairey family where my journey to the illusion was about to start. I wanted to stop the time. But I couldn’t….
My powers were leaving me, but thanks to Darcy, I had a small bottle full of the elixir of courage. She gave it to me on my birthday, but I never used it, leaving it for some special moment. And now was the right moment to drink it. I took the shiny bottle from my pocket, and drained it dry.
The moment the first drop of the liquid touched my tongue, I felt a surge of energy rushing through my body. All the worries were gone in a second. Now I was full of determination and assurance. I knew I could do anything I wanted. And nothing was able to stop me.
“Three minutes,” Marion said, looking at her watch. “You need to start creating the illusion, Eileen.”
“But I don’t have the horseshoe!”
“I’m sure Frederick will be here, just in time to give it to you.”
I looked at my friends, who were standing in a circle, around the golden letter ‘M’, drawn on the floor. It was the last connecting point of the magical figure that was supposed to take me to the illusion where the old spell was hidden.
“It’s time, Eileen,” Evan said.
They were right — I couldn’t wait any longer. Now or never.
I turned to the portrait of the Fairey family, raised my palm and created a thick fiery line, connecting the portrait with the image of the sun from the opposite wall.
We were watching the fiery lines moving slowly from one connecting point to another, and when it was time to finish the figure, the doors behind us flew open, and my father entered, holding hands with a dark-haired girl. He never stopped to greet any of us; he rushed to the wall where the hole for the horseshoe was and put it there, turning it clockwise.
The fiery figure forme
d in the center of the Great Hall, and we all flinched, blinded by the brightness of its shining light. It wasn’t just a figure, but a huge diamond, made of a magical flame.
The next thing that happened was the crystal, globular ceiling of the Hall opening, and a huge waterfall swallowing the fiery diamond, and the entire space around it.
Everything disappeared in seconds….
There were no people, no sounds and no light. Only darkness, and the suffocating heat.
“You okay?” the girl’s voice asked.
I opened my eyes, and saw her dark-brown gaze, staring back at me. “I think so,” I said, rising to my feet. “And you must be Melanie?”
The girl smiled slightly. “Nice to meet you, Eileen.”
I could feel her powers, and though I knew she wouldn’t hurt me, they scared the hell out of me.
“I can feel your powers too,” she said, as if reading my mind. She stood a few steps away from me, and never tried to cut the distance between us. Apparently, the users of dark magic couldn’t come too close to someone like me.
“Are you afraid of me?”
“No,” she said, smiling. “But I wouldn’t dare to check how close I can get to you. You are like a bright sunshine to me, and I don’t want to burn alive in your light. I will wait for a better opportunity to shake your hand.”
I smiled back. “Deal. And now we have a lot of other things to do.” The moment I said that, a voice spoke in my head.
“Eileen, can you hear me?” Amanda asked.
“Holy crap! I didn’t know you would be able to do that!”
“You okay there?” she asked, ignoring my reply.
“I’m fine. Can you see anything through my mind? It’s pitch dark here.”
“I can see as much as you can. Evan says that you need to illuminate the space around you.”
“Well, tell him he doesn’t have to tell me what to do,” I snapped, mentally casting a spell. I blinked, and the vision cleared. Now I was standing in the middle of a field. An endless field, full of bright red roses.