Catalyst (Forevermore, Book Two)

by K. A. Poe

  I’d become a little too comfortable and tried speeding up. As soon as I did, a deer jumped out in front of the truck. Slamming on the brakes, my heart raced as I watched in horror. The truck skidded sideways, narrowly missing the animal and sending me dangerously close to a rocky embankment on the opposite side of the road. The sound of a horn caused me to jump and scream, banging my head against the car roof as the oncoming car swerved, barely missing me.

  I rubbed my head and looked around for the deer, then realized that I had never even put on the seatbelt. I quickly latched it and turned back onto the right side of the road, going at a slow, safe speed.

  Surprisingly, I made it back to town safely and was comforted by the familiar surroundings. I hap-hazardously parked outside Haven and ran into the building, not taking even a second to stop for anything. My feet led me straight to Mathias’s room. The door was unlocked and empty save for him. He was asleep, just as I had last seen him, breathing shallowly. The force field was still up and I called for Tobias, and he came stumbling in behind me.

  “Take it down!” I demanded. “Take down the shield, now!”

  He looked taken aback. “I don’t think so. No one can go in. Artemis’s orders.” I saw his eyes venture to the vial I took from my pocket “What is that —”

  “It’s an antidote. Just ... take it down, please. It’s … it’s from Artemis!”

  At first I didn’t think he bought it, but then he nodded and his eyes flickered an off-white color. I watched in amazement as the translucent bubble faded, and didn’t hesitate before rushing to the side of the bed and putting my hand against Mathias’s face. He was cool and clammy to the touch. I gently shook him awake and his eyes opened, blinking as he struggled to focus on my face. He seemed to barely recognize who I was or that I was even there as I gently lifted his head upward.

  “Drink this,” I said, “please ... it’ll fix everything.”

  I held the vial to his lips and watched as his throat moved with each swallow.

  His body wracked with a sudden burst of coughing and gagging and he convulsed. His head fell back against the sweat-soaked pillows.

  “Mathias? Mathias?!” I cried and stared helplessly at him. “What have I done? I should never have trusted —”

  His eyes fluttered open and he sat up slowly. “Madison ...?” he croaked.

  Overwhelmed with excitement, the price I’d paid for this miracle was briefly lost in the recesses of my mind. I embraced him tightly and kissed him on the cheek over and over, quickly making my way to his lips. I paused so that I could speak.

  “You’re okay, you’re okay,” I whispered, collapsing into the crook of his neck. It was this moment when I finally knew my true feelings for Mathias.

  He laughed and nudged me away from his neck so he could look into my eyes. His were still surrounded by silver, but it was ebbing away into the brilliant green I had begun to miss. “What was that for?”

  “I was worried ... I thought you were going to die ...”

  “There was no way Artemis would have let me die,” he said and ran a finger across my cheek. “Where did he find the cure?”

  I looked ashamed and averted my eyes. “It ... it wasn’t from Artemis.”

  Mathias looked confused, if not a little alarmed. “Then where did you —” He stopped mid-sentence as his words turned into an agonized scream. I stared in horror as his muscles tightened and his back arched painfully before he slammed down against the bed. His eyes and teeth clenched shut as his body convulsed as if he were being shocked. He continued screaming in intense pain and all I could do was stand there helplessly screaming. Tobias came rushing to us and pushed me out of the way.

  “What happened? What did you give to him?!” he demanded.

  Between sobs, I told him that I’d given him what I thought was a cure. Mathias’s body started to fade in and out of existence, the sound of his screams seeming to do the same — one minute they were shrill shrieks of anguish, the next they were diluted and distant.

  “Mathias!” I yelled and went back to his side. “No, no, no, no! Damn it! He said it would fix you!”

  One final scream escaped his lips before he flickered and vanished completely.

  “Mathias?!”

  I patted the bed frantically in search of his invisible body, but I felt nothing. “He … he lied. He … he tricked me,” I whispered to myself, no longer aware of Tobias’s presence. “I’m an idiot. He killed him. I killed him! What have I done? What have I done?!”

  My fists pounded against the mattress as tears began to pour in torrents. I felt arms envelope me from behind and pull me upward. I struggled against Tobias’s hold, flailing and kicking, screaming desperately for Mathias.

  “Castus Young! What is going on?” A voice demanded from behind.

  My body froze. Tobias released me and I turned in shock to see Artemis standing in the doorway. Behind him stood Alan and Lydia, both looking horrified, having clearly heard all of the disturbances.

  “He’s gone,” I sobbed. “He’s gone! And it’s all my fault!” I pointed a weak, shaky finger at Artemis and said, “It’s your fault, too!” before collapsing onto the floor.

  Artemis stepped forward and raised me from the ground, helping me to sit on the side of the bed. “What happened exactly, Madison? Did Mathias try to use his power?” He sounded worried and distraught, although he didn’t make it completely obvious.

  I didn’t answer.

  Artemis shook me, his expression turning to anger. “Answer me!”

  “You were gone ... he … he was getting worse ... I didn’t know what to do. I didn’t have any other choice!”

  “What did you do?”

  “I went to the Nefastus. I know I shouldn’t have. I realize that now, okay! How was I so stupid?!” I took a shuddering breath and wiped the tears from my eyes. “Noah said he knew where there was another Shimmerer that wasn’t ‘sick’. So I went to find out. And ... and Constantine was there. He said he had this cure ... an antidote. Like an idiot, I believed him and brought it back here. It seemed like it was working, but then ... then he disappeared! I killed him!”

  “I told you that I would handle this!” Artemis sighed heavily, his voice shaky with both anger and sadness.

  “I know! Okay?! Don’t you think I feel bad enough?!”

  He nodded and put a comforting hand on my shoulder, although the fury in his eyes was still present. “I do not think that Mathias is dead.”

  I looked up at him, hopeful but confused and unbelieving. “He ... what?”

  Another sigh escaped his lips and he looked up at Alan, who looked ashamed, like he thought that Artemis knew he’d gone through his belongings with me and somehow already knew what he was going to say.

  “Tell me, Madison, what do you know about Mathias? I mean, what do you know about where he is from?”

  Dumbfounded, I struggled to answer the seemingly irrelevant question. “What kind of a question is that? What does it even matter now? I know you got him from an orphanage or whatever, that’s it.”

  His eyes traveled back toward Alan again. “And what else?”

  With a sigh, I gave in. “I know that you’re the one that left him at that orphanage, okay? I know that … that you’re his uncle.”

  “Yes … and?”

  “That’s it … that’s all I know.”

  “And what do you know of Mathias’s parents?”

  “I don’t know … they’re dead. What does it matter?”

  He shook his head. “No. They’re not dead. Not one of them at least.”

  “Wh-what do you mean? You’re not his uncle? You’re really his …”

  “No. I am his uncle, as you said. And Constantine is my brother.”

  Chapter Thirty

  I stared, transfixed and in shock, at Artemis. Alan and Lydia looked just as surprised as I felt. It was a struggle finding my voice, but I finally blurted out, “No ... he can’t be ... Constantine cannot be his father.”


  “He is,” Artemis confirmed, not an ounce of doubt in his voice. “All these years, I had kept the boy secret and safe. Constantine thought his son died along with the boy’s mother, who died during labor ... until now.”

  Now I felt even worse — Artemis had kept Mathias’s entire life a secret from his cruel, twisted father, and I essentially erased all of it.

  “So you don’t think he killed him? I saw him disappear.”

  “Disappear … yes.” Artemis shook his head. “But dead? No. I think my brother has brought his son home at last, I’m afraid.”

  I bolted upright and got off of the bed. “Then we have to go after him. We should all go ... with you, we can do this. We can save Mathias and stop Constantine.”

  My Clan leader looked like he wanted to agree, but there was doubt in his eyes. “Going to their lair would be suicide. There are several dozen Nefastus witches under his stead at least, some just as or nearly as strong as myself and my brother.”

  “I’m going back with or without you. I’ve already messed things up enough as it is ... what more can go wrong?” I said and turned to Alan and Lydia, and then lastly toward Tobias, who I’d almost forgotten was even there. “Are you three coming or not?”

  They were all silent, which only angered and disappointed me. “Fine! Then get the hell out of my way!”

  Artemis grabbed me by the shoulder, stopping me from leaving, and sighed. “I suppose it is past due that I see my brother again ... Castus Whitlock, I’m leaving you in charge of watching over Haven while we’re gone. If… anything is to happen to me, you know what to do.”

  Tobias nodded apprehensively. “Be careful, Artemis.”

  “I will. Castus de Quincey, retrieve some weapons and armor from below,” Artemis ordered and sent Alan out of the room.

  I exited the room and headed toward my bedroom to get prepared while everyone else went to do the same. I called Ezra on my way through the hall and told him what was happening and where to find Haven. I knew he’d agree to go even before I told him all of the details. He sounded uncharacteristically angry over the phone when I relayed the situation to him, but it only assured me of his affections for Hannah, regardless how she treated him. It made me wonder if she was as bad in private with him, or if it was just a front.

  I hung up as I got to my room, then opened the door and found my mom inside. She must have just shown up recently, otherwise I was positive she’d have rushed into Mathias’s room at the sound of his screams and my own. When she saw me, her expression rapidly changed to one of worry.

  “What’s going on?” she asked, shutting the fridge door and approaching me.

  At first, I didn’t want to tell her, so I just shrugged and walked further into the room, pushing gently past her.

  “Madison,” she said firmly and I turned around. “You are my daughter, and I know that I may have come off as a bad mother lately, but ... you have to remember, I’ve never been one before. And we’ve both been struggling with a lot since I left Littlehaven. I haven’t been avoiding you on purpose. Please, let me help you. Let me in ...”

  With a sigh, I filled her in on everything.

  “It’s lucky that I’ve been training again, then,” she said, taking in every word I said. “I still can’t retain the form of the raven completely, but I am far from useless.” She went to her bed and knelt beside it, pulling a chest that I had never seen before from underneath it. She popped open the lid to reveal two hand crossbows and a bunch of bolts.

  “Holy crap ...” I mumbled and stepped closer to get a better look.

  Mom grinned and took out one of the crossbows, turning it over admiringly in her hand. “I think these can kill a witch just as easily as they can a vampire, what do you think?”

  After looking over her arsenal one last time, I stepped into the bathroom and changed into something more appropriate for the upcoming attack on the Nefastus. We all met up in the lobby. Artemis was wielding a staff with a silver snake affixed to the top; he said that the serpent-head was the hilt to a hidden blade concealed inside. Lydia was armed with two deadly sharp daggers sheathed at her sides. Alan held a longsword and had a shield strapped to his back. I was the only one equipped with magic useful for combat. Alan offered each of us protective armor to place over our current outfits and we quickly put it on. I felt stiff and silly in the studded black, boiled leathers and mail. This would only slow me down more than anything. Despite Alan’s protest, I shed the excess weight.

  We all climbed into another car where I described the location and showed them my completed GPS map in order to try backtracking there. Alan drove with Lydia in the front passenger seat; Artemis, Mom, and I squeezed into the back seat. It wasn’t comfortable, but it could have been a whole lot worse.

  We turned out onto the road and I suddenly became painfully aware of just how exhausted and hungry I was. I had been up more than twenty-four hours and couldn’t even remember what the last thing I had eaten was … maybe Thanksgiving dinner. Despite the pain in my stomach and the panicked thoughts that kept coming back to the surface, I let myself doze off with my head against my mom’s shoulder.

  The bump of the tires rolling over rocks startled me awake. In the seconds between sleep and full consciousness, I temporarily forgot where I was and the circumstances that had brought me there, then my eyes fell upon the tower in the distance and my heart sank. Before leaving the vehicle, I ensured that everyone could see it. Ezra came up to the car and I was relieved to see him, though I could tell how upset he was. We all unloaded from the vehicle and I hugged my uncle tightly, apologizing repeatedly for getting Hannah into this situation but he pushed it aside and said that she’d been through much worse. I wasn’t so sure.

  There were lights on in some of the tower windows, and the fiery lanterns continued to flicker even in the daylight. Our feet crunched noisily through the snow as we approached stairs that would lead us up to the tower where I hoped to be reunited with my aunt, Noah, and Mathias.

  Artemis was in the lead. He turned, putting a hand up and signaling us to stop.

  “Our only advantage here is surprise,” he said in a hushed tone, but loud enough that we could all hear him, “and this is not a training session. This is real. It’s also not going to be a one-on-one encounter, nor even a one-on-two, there will be many Nefastus inside. Some of them will die, as might we ... do not be afraid to kill. Once the doors open, use everything you have toward any Nefastus you can. Get their numbers down as quickly as possible before they realize what is going on. You must not hesitate.”

  We all nodded and muttered our agreement and understanding. The further we got up the stairs, the more I began to wonder why the door hadn’t swung open automatically like it had during my first visit. I worried that we were walking into a trap. Artemis helped me push the huge iron doors open, their hinges screaming through the huge room as we rushed in, ready to attack. Alan had his longsword out, holding it before him and looking prepared to strike anyone down.

  It was quiet inside ... too quiet. There was no one around. No one came running to see who had entered their lair. Something wasn’t right.

  We crept in, checking around every corner for any Nefastus that might be lurking in the shadows. Artemis glanced over at me.

  “You’re sure this is it?” he whispered.

  “Positive.” I nodded.

  “Shh. Listen ...” Ezra’s voice echoed throughout the chamber, despite his attempt to quietly shush us.

  I could hear footsteps from above. Isabelle’s unmistakable ember eyes peered down at us from behind a banister. She laughed; the sound echoed throughout the fortress.

  “I didn’t think you were actually stupid enough to come back. I guess Constantine was right about you.”

  Grinding my teeth at the insult, I braced myself for what would come next. We were all facing Isabelle now, who was leaning over the balcony and observing us like ants. At least ten more Nefastus jumped out from the shadows, each with eye colors identifyi
ng what gifts they possessed; some I recognized, while others were complete mysteries to me.

  “How’s your friend?” she asked mockingly. “Did all of his problems disappear like Constantine said they would?” More of her laughter rang through the room.

  “Where is he?!” I demanded.

  “Oh, he is long gone now. But I have something else here that I know you have been just dying to have.”

  She stepped completely out of the shadows and pushed forward two bound and gagged people I instantly recognized as Hannah and Noah.

  “I’ll let them go since you came back, just as Constantine promised,” she said and laughed again as she untangled the chains that bound them. With a quick shove, she pushed them both over the edge of the balcony.

  I screamed in horror as I watched them falling. I ran forward with Ezra right at my side. Both bodies crashed hard to the floor and collapsed with a loud thud. Before Ezra or I had a chance to reach them, we were ambushed from the darkness. Fireballs, lightning, and ice shards soared through the air, followed by the sounds of steel striking steel. Chaos ensued from every direction. I couldn’t identify anyone from where I was until a head of wheat brown hair caught my attention. The serpent blade was extracted and wielded in Artemis’s hand. I watched as it sliced across someone’s throat and the victim fell to the ground. A second Nefastus was slaughtered at my Clan leader’s hand and I was in awe at what he was capable of. Another witch was coming up from behind him, lightning swarming in the palm of her hand and directed at Artemis. I willed it away with my Telekinesis, right as Alan stepped in and impaled the witch with his sword. I grimaced and stepped back, astounded that such a calm boy like him could take someone else’s life.

  Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Lydia fighting against Isabelle on the stairway — an unfair match when my fellow Clan member held nothing but two daggers against the Pyromancer. I struggled to make my way through the bombardment of people and noticed Ezra struggling as well — he was still trying to fight his way to Hannah’s lifeless body.