by Diana Nixon
"I hope she will stay conscious after that," I said jokingly, squeezing his hand. "So what about Walter?"
"We think that he's working for a new Dragons’ leader. Talking to Marion today we summed up that his coming into your mom's life wasn't accidental. He wanted to be closer to you, as being Evan’s father's follower he had the same goal - to kill me. And knowing about your existence, he thought it would be easier to get to me, using you. But some time later he found out about your powers, and decided to steal them. He didn't have a Cup, of course, and that made his plan harder. But he had Catherine and he hoped to find another way to get your powers with her help. But his plan failed when Evan and you came to France, and he realized that young Mister Murray would ruin his plans without effort. That's why he and Catherine came back to Norfield. He wanted to stay away from you and his own exposure. Too bad he didn't know about your friendship with Marion and her coming here."
"Where was mom when you found her and how did you manage to take her away from Walter?"
"He made a huge mistake, leaving her unconscious body in your house. When I got there, she was barely breathing, but I recharged her with my energy and brought her here. Now her life is in her own hands and I hope that Dorothy's potions will help her to recover."
"What about Tara and Evan. Are they back?"
"Actually, they should have been here already. I'll go call Elena," Patrick said, heading for his office.
"What does Elena have to do with them?" Christian asked, confused.
"She was supposed to meet them in Gloster and accompany them here."
"Dad? You are holding back something. What is it?" I asked, watching him suspiciously.
"Eileen, it's not the best time to talk about that."
"No, it's just about time to tell me everything! I'm sick and tired of your lies!" I exclaimed. Judging by Christian's expression, he didn't know anything this time. Good. I wasn't alone in my fury.
"Fine, you would have found out sooner or later, anyway," my father said. "Evan and Tara found the Cup."
"What?" Christian and I asked in unison.
"You know that it has never been just a cup. And when Tara and Evan were searching Eric's apartment they found an old collection of Perriart jewels. The legend says that is was created by the old witch, who gave her sons a few pieces from the collection. But one brooch belonged to her and she gave it to her first granddaughter. So putting together some parts of the puzzle, they realized that her brooch was the real Cup of power."
"It means that Alexis has left the brooch there, but why?"
"We don't know, but Tara thinks that there's a bond between Alexis and the Cup. And that she knows that it has been stolen. So we decided to hide the collection until the moment we find out where Alexis is."
"So you sent Elena to Gloster just in case Alexis would follow the guys to take back the Cup, right? What about Dever? She may come here too."
"We have already taken care of the security measures. Actually, we hope she will come here. The Keepers of Dever are guarding our borders day and night and when she shows up, they will let us know."
"I can't believe this is happening again," I groaned quietly.
"Everything's gonna be okay," Dad said, hugging my shoulders. "I'll go check on Catherine," he added, kissing my hand gently.
"Can I see her?"
"Not now, Eileen. I will let you know when Mrs. Webber finishes her treatment, okay?"
I nodded in response and he left me and Christian alone.
"Hey, she'll be fine," Christian said, sitting next to me. "She's your mom, remember? She can't give up just like that," he added, smiling. I tried to smile back, but I failed and he laughed quietly, seeing my grimace.
I felt someone's presence and turning around I saw Evan, Tara and Patrick, entering the room.
"Oh, God! You are back!" I exclaimed, relieved. I jumped from the chair and ran up to hug Evan.
"Wow! Easy girl, you are going to kill me!" He laughed softly, hugging me back. "Did you miss me? I know you did," he immediately answered his own question. "Did you have a good time here?" he asked, winking at Christian.
"What about you?" I asked in response, punching his chest playfully. He hugged me again and said, "It wasn't funny at all."
"Hey! I would ask you to spare me your sarcasm!" Tara snapped.
"You were criticizing me non-stop!" Evan complained.
"Far from it!" Tara muttered, rolling her eyes.
"I see that the two of you had a good time together," Christian summed up.
"I could say the same thing about you two," Evan said, watching us closely.
"Well, we are trying to figure out things," Christian replied.
"I see," Evan said. "How's Catherine?"
"We still don't know anything for sure. Mrs. Webber is with her now. So tell us, how did you manage to find the Cup?" I asked, following my friends to the couch.
"If Tara hadn't recognized the Perriart collection in those jewels, I would have never thought that one of them was the Cup of power."
"We were shocked, hearing about your discovery," Christian said. "But now we know what the Cup looks like and where it's hidden."
"Though your lives are still in danger," Tara reminded us. "Eileen, can I have a word with you. In private."
"Sure." I nodded, wondering what she wanted to talk to me about without the witnesses. "Let's go out to the terrace."
Closing the glass door behind us, Tara said, "Eileen, I know that you probably won't answer my question...."
"Come on Tara, just spit it out!"
"When Evan and I were coming back from London, I saw a shadow on the road. I think it belonged to Alexis and she knows where the Cup is. I wish I could see something about her movements, but my visions don't work with her. Just as they didn't work with you, when you were in France."
Now I knew what exactly Tara wanted to talk to me about.
"Did you use some spell to hide your true intentions? What kind of a spell was that? Eileen, please, I need to know. Maybe Alexis is using the same spell and if we knew which one it was we could find her."
"I don't know what spell Alexis is using, but I didn't use any."
"No?" Tara asked, confused. "But I don't understand...."
"I used this," I said, showing her a small leather ball filled with assorted herbs that Anna gave me on my birthday.
"What's this?"
"I'm not sure, but I think it's a mixture of some plants that help to hide my true intentions. It was Anna's gift, so you'd better ask her about it."
"Oh, my God! I can't believe that! Plants? Really?"
"Do you think Alexis would use such a simple thing as plants?"
"I don't know, but I want to know what plants Anna used to make this amulet. Why didn't you tell Evan about this?"
"Well, I thought that it was too early to reveal all my secrets, but now... I don't think I will ever need it again. Everything I wanted to hide doesn't make any sense now."
"I see." Tara nodded, smiling. "There's one more thing I wanted to say... thank you."
"For what?" I asked, puzzled.
"For not binding me with Evan by Marion's spell," she replied, hiding her eyes. "And yes, answering your silent question, I know that I was the first person you thought about."
"Well, um... you are right. You were the first one I thought about when Marion said that we needed to bind Evan with someone. But... can I ask you something?"
"Why I keep pushing him away?"
"Exactly." I laughed quietly. "Why?"
"There are so many things in our destiny that we can't change," Tara said, looking at the mountains thoughtfully. "And Evan is one of them. He's not supposed to be there with me," she said sadly.
"I'm sorry, but I just don't get it...."
"The thing is that before breaking up with him I had a vision. A vision of a man who is destined to become my soul mate."
"Oh, I see. Do you know him?"
"No, I don't. But there w
as one thing about him that would help me to recognize the man when I see him in reality."
"What was that?"
"I can't tell you, Eileen. I'm not supposed to tell anyone."
"But as far as I can understand, Evan doesn't have it, right?"
"Unfortunately, you are right."
"I'm sorry to hear that," I said, squeezing her shoulders. "I wanted you to be together."
Tara smiled uneasily, nodding in response. "I'm sure that one day we both will find our own happiness." She took a deep breath and turned to the door. "Now, I need to find Anna."
"Okay. I hope she will help you to improve your visions."
Tara waved goodbye and left.
Poor Evan, he had no idea of the real reason of their breakup. But I still wanted to see them together.
Something changed in my attitude toward Evan. Now I was always worried about him, about everything he was doing. And I wanted him to be happy, to have someone like Tara beside him - a loving and trust-worthy person.
And there was another thing - now it always seemed like I was able to feel everything that was going on with Evan. It was completely different from the way I could feel Christian, but the feeling was strange.
And completely new....
Chapter 17. New Discoveries
Evan
I didn't know how Tara managed to find out Eileen's secret about hiding her true intentions, but I was more than surprised to hear that Eileen used only herbs. Now we had to find out what herbs she used and to find a way to overcome their effect. That's why we needed Anna. She was one of the best Embry students and sometimes it seemed like she knew everything about every plant on the Earth.
"This thing wasn't supposed to be in your hands," Anna said, frowning.
"Why not?"
"Because its force will never be able to work for its owner the way it used to."
"We need to know everything about this thing and Eileen agreed to give it to us for a while," I said.
"Well, okay, I'll tell you everything I know. Now, let's see, what do we have here? I always make different amulets, so I don't remember their ingredients by heart. This one contains a bay tree leaf that indicates lies. It's widely used to erase false visions as well. There is also a bindweed here, hiding true intentions; a Calamus to help you control your actions and hide them from others. And I added a few grains of caraway seeds to protect the amulet's owner from losing it. That's why I said that it would never be as strong as it used to be. Eileen gave it to you voluntarily, so its effect has faded. Oh, and I forgot to mention the red pepper as well. It helps to control other's minds. That's it."
"Okay, so now we know the list of ingredients used in this particular amulet. But is there anything that can help to overcome the amulet's power? Something like an antidote?"
"Of course. Everything depends on the ingredients. If I know them, I can make something to overcome their effect," Anna replied.
"I'm not sure if this can help us. We don't know what amulet Alexis is using, and we don't know if she has an amulet at all."
"Vero can find out the truth about the amulet," Anna said. "The truth exists not only in our words, but...."
"In our actions as well," I finished for her, recalling one of the favorite Vero's proverbs. Vero was my first faculty in Dever, so I knew exactly what Anna was talking about.
"If you have something that belonged to Alexis, give it to Vero, and they will help you find out information about her actions. Asking questions about the herbs we can find out the ones she used to make an amulet. If she really has one, of course."
"You are a genius, Anna!" I exclaimed, kissing her cheek. "But... there are thousands of herbs she could have used! It will take us forever to find those we need!" I groaned, disappointed.
"No, Evan." Anna laughed in response. "Everything is so much easier! There are only about a few dozens of herbs that could be used to make protective amulets. No wonder you have never attended Embry's classes."
"Well, now I feel like a complete loser. Thank you, dear." I smiled.
"Where do we find something that belonged to Alexis?" Tara asked.
"I think Beatrice can help you. I'm sure she has something that belonged to our former dean," Anna prompted.
"I told you, you are a genius," I said again. "Thanks for your help."
"It's too soon to be thankful, Evan."
So now we had a new plan. We needed to find someone from Vero who would agree to participate in our small experiment. It was easier said than done, because personally I doubted that anyone from Vero's students knew how to make the objects tell the truth. Personally I didn't know how to do that. Patrick suggested we ask for help from one of our local Keepers. According to his words, Francesco Destefano was a very talented and powerful Vero. He was one of the best Vero's graduates and the only one non Fairey who was honored to become a Keeper.
Surprisingly enough, hearing about our request, he agreed at once. "I need something that still keeps its owner’s energy," Francesco said. "Otherwise, all my attempts will fail."
"But I thought all of our belongings keep our energy," Tara said, confused.
"No, if something has been kept away from its owner for a long time, most likely it doesn't have any energy now. It may also contain the energy of those people who touched it."
"We will try to find something suitable," I said, shaking his hand before we left for Patrick's office.
We asked Beatrice if she had anything that belonged to Alexis. She hesitated, thinking about our request and then gave us the only thing she had - one simple white envelope.
"I'm not sure if this is what you are looking for, but unfortunately, I don't have anything else." She smiled apologetically. "This letter came after Alexis' arrest, but I never opened it, thinking that maybe one day someone would come for it."
"It's okay, thank you, Beatrice," I said, heading for the exit.
"Would you like a cup of tea?" she asked.
"No, thanks, maybe next time," Tara replied, following me.
"If you need anything else, you know where to find me," Beatrice added, getting back to her work.
Tara closed the door behind us and stopped in front of me. "Why didn't you open the envelope?" she asked. "Maybe there's nothing useful there."
"No, I'm sure this is exactly what we need," I said, scanning the letter in my hands. "I can feel Alexis’ energy here, so anything that is inside belongs definitely to her."
"Okay, open it," Tara said impatiently.
There was a letter inside, written by familiar handwriting.
"What the hell is that?" she asked, reading the first sentence.
I read it aloud, "Everything I managed to find out about them I told D.M. The keys to the house were left in their usual place. The stone is also there."
"Do you understand any of it?" I asked, confused. "Who's D.M.? What house and what stone is she talking about?"
"Wait," Tara said, taking the later from my hands. "Of course! D.M.! The same initials were embroidered on the dead man's sleeve."
"The one with the tattoo on his back?"
"Yes! I saw the pictures of the things that were found with him. Do you think he could be the one whom Alexis mentioned in her letter?"
"Maybe. Then the house is probably...."
"Nora's house? Do you know where the spare key was hidden?"
"I have no idea." I shook my head. "Doesn't it seem odd that the letter was sent after Alexis' arrest?"
"Look, there's no address for the receiver, but Dever is mentioned as the sender. Did she forget to write the receiver's address?"
"No, I don't think so. It was done intentionally to deceive the Keepers and make them send it back here, thinking that it was sent accidentally."
"But why?"
"Because the person who was supposed to receive this letter was here, in Dever."
"Give me the envelope," Tara asked. "So I thought," she said, bringing it to one of the lamps. "It has already been opened."
> "And I'm more than sure that it wasn't done by Beatrice," I added.
We rushed back to Patrick's apartment to share our discovery with the others. Now it was the only place all over Dever where the most interesting events took place. That's why most of our friends and those who were involved in the story with the Dragons brotherhood were now there.
Rereading the letter a few times, Patrick called Frederick who had been with Catherine the entire time.
"Don't you think we should pay a visit to the Norfield's Keepers?" Patrick asked. "I think we've missed something very important. You said there was nothing but some clothes and a few British Pounds with the man's body, right? So where's the stone mentioned in this letter? And what about the motive for his murder?"
"You think he was killed because of that mysterious stone?" Frederick asked.
"I think it's obvious. Too bad we don't know what kind of a stone it was."
I lost track of their conversation, as I couldn't stop thinking about the one whom that letter was addressed to. I went to the window and started to remember everything from the very beginning. So the letter was sent after Alexis’ arrest, and the person who was supposed to receive it came to Dever after she had already been taken to London. Otherwise there was no point in that nonsense with the address. And there were only two people visiting Dever at that time: Tara and....
"I know who the receiver was," I said, turning to the others.
"Me too," Marion said, surprising me again with her brilliant mind. "Kevin."
All those present in the room switched their attention to us.
"Why do you think it was Kevin?" Eileen asked.
"It's pretty simple," I said. "He knew that Alexis had left him a letter. He came to Dever, found Patrick's office, opened Beatrice’s desk, read it and left it where it was. I'm more than sure that the stone mentioned by Alexis was my father's sapphire, taken from his ring. And Kevin knew that the one in his own ring was a forgery. But he was such a fool, because he didn't know one very important thing - that Alexis was helping someone from the Dragons brotherhood, or to be exact - its current leader. But I don't think she was helping voluntarily. Someone must have forced her help him. That's why she came to Eric's apartment. She wanted to hide the Cup, as she knew that if they found it she would never be able to use its power herself."