by P. A. Lupton
My gaze was transfixed, almost spellbound. I was unable to tear my eyes from Aedan. From the corner of my eye I saw Mark glancing between us until he finally asked, “What did you do?”
“They agreed to a rebirth.” Aedan’s eyes bored into mine. “At first, we attempted to find a good home for her, but I couldn’t…wouldn’t trust anyone. Eventually, I decided to raise her myself.”
“What?” I gasped, horrified. “Does that mean you’re not really my father? You were just…keeping an eye on me?”
My voice went from shocked to brittle. I’d never before felt a pain so acute. It was as if someone died. My stomach sank to my feet and I tried to swallow the lump in my throat. I’d always been close to my dad. He was attentive, caring, loving—I couldn’t have asked for a better parent. But my entire life was fake, none if it was real.
He rushed over knelt in front of me, taking my hands into his. “No, Lissy, I am your Dad, your biological father. I love you, and everything we’ve shared has been one hundred percent real and from my heart. You’re my daughter.”
“What about mom?”
He sighed, regretfully. “My brothers and I are different than you. Our souls were never separated, they are whole. None of us has another half. That doesn’t diminish my feelings for your mother. I truly love her. Part of what took so long for your rebirth was that I refused to settle on just anyone. I wanted someone special for your mother.” He got a faraway, wistful expression on his face as he spoke of my mother. “When I found your mother I knew she was the one… but she is human.”
“What does that mean?”
It means, she will age and she will eventually die.” His eyes filled with tears and he hesitated for just a moment before continuing. “Our laws prevent me from stopping that, no matter how much I might want to. I truly love your mother, and I regret that I will one day lose her.”
“Well, excuse me for being blunt, but some of your laws suck. Didn’t you make the laws, can’t you change them?” There was a note of desperation in my voice. I hadn’t considered the ramifications of immortality—or as close to immortality as one could get. It hadn’t really hit me until now. I was going to lose my family. As I thought about that, I rubbed at my chest trying to alleviate the pain it brought.
“No, we did not make the laws.”
“But Mark said—”
“Mark knows as much as the others, which is exactly what we’ve told them. We answer to higher power, and before you ask,” he said, correctly reading my expression, “I cannot tell you anything more about that; perhaps one day, but not today.”
“So, why do you look so young now?”
“Sweetie, this is my true appearance. Your mother ages while I do not. This is the only way I can stay with her as long as possible. She is not allowed to know what we are. If I stay, I have to appear to grow old with her.”
“You’re really my dad?” I asked, weakly.
Suddenly, his form shimmered and his face changed before my eyes. His chestnut brown hair became white and lines etched themselves around his eyes and mouth. He looked like my dad again. He cupped his hands around my cheeks and leaned in to kiss my forehead. “Yes, Lissy, I really am your dad.”
At first, I was relieved and let him hold me close, but then, another emotion began to take over. Pulling back slightly, I felt the anger begin to simmer and boil inside me. I cocked my fist back and punched him in the shoulder, hard. He cried out, eyes narrowing up at me with surprise. “For fuck sakes, Dad! In twenty nine years, you don’t think you could’ve found a minute to warn me about any of this. You could’ve told me I’d become a witch. That information might have been useful before I don’t know… I accidentally broke the rules and was forced to kill someone.”
Mark barked out a laugh and my dad glanced up at him with an incredulous expression. “You find this funny?”
“This situation,” he said, “no. The fact that she just hauled off and hit you, yes.”
“Well, she gets her temper from her mother.” He stood and rubbed his arm. “Alyssa, I understand you’re mad, but you have to understand that my hands were tied. I was not permitted to tell you anything. You had to learn everything as you went along, just like every other witch.”
“Yeah?” I arched a brow. “Yet, I’m held to a higher standard when I screw up. Others have made the same mistake and haven’t woken up to find a stranger straddled over them, sucking the life from them.”
His lips flattened. “You’re right. They’re being harsh, but you shouldn’t have run. Michael had been championing for you, trying to change my brothers’ verdict.”
“He was?” Mark asked, surprised.
“Yes, he was.” He turned toward Mark now. “Never in six hundred years has Michael come and asked for leniency on behalf of an accused. He believed Alyssa and they were listening to him. Then you have to go off and take my daughter and they’re back to wanting her dead, wanting both of you dead now.”
Mark scrubbed his hands over his face and blew out a breath. “How was I supposed to know? What are we going to do, Aedan?”
It must have been the hopeless desperation in Mark’s voice, because suddenly Aedan’s face softened as he clasped a hand on Mark’s shoulder. “There is a way to fix this.” His words were so confident that Mark looked to him with a hopeful expression. “Really, how?”
“Well, she inherited that temper from her mother, but she’s inherited a few traits from me too.” He grinned at me. “One of the reasons my brothers fought so hard against me becoming your biological father, is because you’ve inherited my powers. As your gifts develop over time, you will become far more powerful than other witches.”
My brows flew to my forehead. “Really? What sort of powers?”
“Well, for one thing, if we work together, you and I should be able to send you back to the day of your accident. You understand the consequences now, so if you choose not to bring your friend back then this will be over.”
“What do you mean send me back? That’s ridiculous.”
He raised one eyebrow, silently admonishing for my tone. “No it isn’t ridiculous. Alyssa, you brought someone back to life with nothing but a touch, but you have trouble believing this?”
“Well, it does sound a little farfetched,” I justified. “But I guess when you put it that way.”
“It’s true, we can do this. You and I together have the ability.”
“But…what about Colin? He’ll die.”
“Sweetie, I’m sorry. It’s him, or you and Mark.”
Chapter 10
Choices
My breath hitched. How did they expect me to choose between my best friend and my soul mate? It was an unbearable responsibility to bear. Maybe there was another way.
“If going back in time is possible,” I wasn’t really sure I believed that, but I continued for the sake of argument. “What if I went back before the accident? I could stop it before it happens. I wouldn’t have to risk exposure for any of us. No one would have to die.”
He was shaking his head before the last word left my mouth. “Unfortunately, there is no out clause here, Alyssa. I only have permission to bring you to the time minutes before Colin dies. The only way you will prove to my brothers that you are truly repentant, is if you make the hard choice. You said you regret what you did, that you are different than Evangeline. You have to prove it if you want any chance at redemption.”
“This is so unfair!” I yelled. “I didn’t understand what I was doing that day in the car. Saving Colin was an accident. If I had known the consequences then, I wouldn’t have done it. But now they’re asking me to go back again and watch my friend die, knowing we have the power to prevent the accident altogether. They’re making me kill my friend to prove a point.”
“That’s not how they see it. You are showing my brothers that you can follow the rules and at the same time restoring things to the way they were meant to be. Colin’s death is part of the natural order.”
�
�But maybe if we talk to them we can—”
“Alyssa,” he interrupted sternly, making me feel like a five year old again. “My brothers know where you are. I have argued on your behalf for days and this is the best I could get them to agree to. The time for discussion and delays is over. You decide now or they will be here within the hour to carry out your punishment, both of your punishments.” His uncompromising features fixed themselves firmly, but there was a flicker of something in his eyes that resonated beneath the surface—pleading. “Please, Lissy.” He whispered, brokenly.
“Alyssa,” Mark’s soft voice drew my attention. “This power is unprecedented. I’ve never heard of another witch with the ability. It may be our only solution. So far, I haven’t thought of another way out of this.”
“My brothers and I each have heightened powers beyond the average witch. I am the only one with the power.” Aedan confirmed. “Well, besides Alyssa now,” he added.
“Alyssa, I realize you think if you go back that you have a choice to stop the accident, but you could be putting yourself right back in the same position if you did.” Mark pointed out, glancing at Aedan questioningly. “Have you ever used your power to go back and prevent someone’s death?”
Aedan shook his head. “No.”
“So you can’t really know if doing so could create another imbalance.”
My stomach sank, I hadn’t even considered that.
Mark continued. “You said it yourself, Aedan, it’s the natural order. If you go back and change something that was fated, it could cause an imbalance. We wouldn’t know if there were negative repercussions until someone else died.”
“You could be right.” Aedan agreed, thoughtfully.
With a resigned sigh I moved to the couch and flopped down, dropping my chin to my chest. Shit. Here I was again, less than a week later, playing God for the second time. Who would live and who would die? Except, if I was being honest, I’d admit that my mind was already made up. In truth, I didn’t have much of a choice. If I refused the out my father offered, I wouldn’t be the only person punished. I would be responsible for destroying Mark’s life too. Not to mention devastating my mother and father. Not trusting my voice, I nodded my agreement. Tears sprung to my eyes and slipped silently down my cheeks.
Mark sat beside me, wrapping one arm around my shoulder while he wiped the tears away with his other hand. “I am so sorry Alyssa. I wish—” He sighed, not finishing the sentence, but I felt something from him that had me turning my head to catch his expression. Guilt? Why was he feeling guilty?
“Mark, you know none of this is your fault, right?”
He caught my gaze briefly before averting his eyes. “I don’t know,” he shrugged, “maybe if I had explained things right after we met I could’ve prevented everything that’s happened.”
I snorted, drawing his surprised gaze. “I’m sorry, but in case you haven’t noticed I have a little bit of a stubborn streak.”
That comment elicited a small bark of laughter from my dad. “A little?”
Ignoring the barb, I continued. “If you had told me everything when I first met you, I would have thought you’d lost your ever lovin mind. I wouldn’t have listened to a word you uttered after you said witch.” Leaning toward him, I pressed my lips to his in a comforting, chaste kiss. “Mark, neither of us could have predicted this. We both need to let go of the blame and guilt. It is what it is and all we can do is deal with the situation. No point in playing the ‘shoulda coulda woulda’ game.”
He nodded and his lip quirked in amusement. “Shoulda coulda woulda? How proverbial.”
“What can I say; I’m so full of wisdom.” I chuckled.
Mark squeezed my hand and flashed me a reassuring smile. “You’ll be okay.”
Nodding, I forced a smile and turned to my dad. “So, when do we do this?”
He looked at me sadly, obviously not fooled by my false bravado. “Now,” he said.
Despite my dad’s assurances that we had the power to carry through with this plan, I still had my doubts. What if we failed? What if we didn’t? I couldn’t really be happy about either outcome.
We decided to go out onto the deck since we didn’t have to hide inside anymore. I’d been cooped up in the cabin for days so it was nice to breathe in the fresh air. It was a beautiful sunny day and I regretted that Mark and I couldn’t have enjoyed our surroundings under more pleasant circumstances.
Mark must have noticed my regret because he took the chair next to me and spoke. “We’re going to make it through this Alyssa. No matter what happens, as long as we’re together we’ll be okay.”
Desperately, I wanted him to be right, but I was afraid to hope. Then a thought hit me and I gasped. “Mark.”
“What? What’s wrong?” He asked, body tensing.
“If this works, will we remember what happened? God, what if I forget. This whole mess could happen again.”
His lips flattened and he looked to Aedan for the answer. “Lissy, you’ll remember everything. This power belongs to us, so you and I will both have the memory.”
“What about Mark?”
Aedan shook his head and I turned toward Mark. “You won’t remember anything that happened. Not just with Colin, but everything that happened between us after the accident.” I tried to hide my disappointment, but I knew I hadn’t managed it when I saw Marks face.
He reached out and grabbed my chin between his thumb and finger, stroking his thumb along my jaw. “You’ll tell me what happened.” His soothing smile stroked over my senses and quieted my building tension. I nodded.
Aedan sat on the other side of me. “Ready Lissy?”
I nodded my head. “What do we do?”
He reached out and took both of my hands into his. “I want you to think back to the day of the car accident. It was morning. What happened before you got into the car with Colin?”
I told him about the incident with my power outage and what happened with my hair. He chuckled. “Yes, most of our women enjoy that perk.” He said before continuing. “What happened after that?”
“I heard the horn and ran out to meet Colin. I had been quiet and distracted, thinking about what had happened that morning, but Colin chattered enough for the both of us.” A forlorn half smile tugged at my lips as I remembered his exuberance. “He was excited. He met someone the night before.”
“Now I want you to picture the highway that morning.” His voice was soothing, almost hypnotic. “Do you remember the truck?”
Every muscle in my body tensed as I remembered the green landscaping truck. It was open at the back but had a wooden enclosure built around the edges, which unfortunately hadn’t been enough. I’d heard the screeching of tires and glanced ahead to see a lawnmower and other tools falling from the truck onto the busy highway.
“Close your eyes.” He ordered.
“Now, concentrate as if you are there.”
At first, I remembered the incident as an observer, with the vague impressions of unformed details that memories often had. Eventually, the sound of water lapping from the lake below faded and the noises and images of my memories began to sharpen to crystal clarity. First, I noticed the smell. Colin’s cologne. Huh, I hadn’t even remembered that. Then the music from the radio station that had been playing that morning filtered into my foggy mind, One More Night by Maroon 5. I remembered thinking I loved that song. Then the glowing red lights from the cars in front of us and the sound of breaking glass.
“Shit, Lyss hold on!” Colin yelled.
Suddenly, I was there again. Mark and my father had disappeared and I was in that car again with Colin. He swerved and the car bounced uncontrollably as we headed into the ditch. My body jerked forward when we slammed to a stop, my seatbelt stopping the forward momentum with a jarring wrench. It was no less shocking the second time around, even though I knew it was coming. The sounds of metal screeching drew my eyes back to the road, knowing with a terrifying certainty what I’d see next. A car flippe
d off the road and catapulted through the air, right at us.
“Oh, fuck, Lyss.” The fear that filled Colin’s voice made the hair on the back of my neck stand on end.
Just as the car was about to crush us, I threw my hands in the air. This time I watched, fascinated, as blue light exploded from my hands. The car hovered directly above us. A surprised gasp had me turning my head to find myself staring into the wide eyed, totally freaked out stare of my best friend. Neither of us said a word. It was easier this time, seeing that look on his face, knowing he’d accepted me fully when he found out exactly what I was.
Shit. This was the first part of the insufferable decision I was expected to make. The first time I let the car drop on us because I was shocked at what had happened and lost my concentration. This time, I knew I could use my power to throw the car away from us. We’d both be safe. Colin would live… but Mark and I would die. Fuck. If it was just me at risk, I’d have pushed that car away and given my life for his, but Mark would be punished if I did the wrong thing. I couldn’t allow that to happen. I closed my eyes and released my hold on the car. Luckily, the pain didn’t last long and I was pulled quickly into unconsciousness before the worst of it hit.
The throbbing agony in my leg finally pulled me groggily from the darkness. I felt it screaming in protest with every beat of my heart as the blood rushed through the crushed limb. Moaning, I tried to move it, but it was impossible. Not only was it too painful, but I couldn’t move my body at all. Confused, I glanced around at my surroundings trying to remember what had happened. Metal surrounded every side of me. I fought the claustrophobia that threatened to overwhelm me. What the hell happened? Every part of me hurt and I had no idea where I was.
“Is someone in there?” The male voice was coming from outside somewhere.
“Yes,” I croaked. Man that hurt. As I tried to draw in air to breathe my chest burned and felt like I’d swallowed water. I coughed again and again before I tried to speak once more. “Yes, I’m here. What happened?”