by Rye Brewer
“Right, yes, of course.” He was far too absorbed in memories of my mother to worry about what he did and didn’t remember.
Felicity seemed to accept this. She also seemed much better than I ever was at not asking questions. If somebody had come to me with a request—or demand—like that, I would’ve wanted to know why. Then again, they had worked together for a long time. She had probably learned to pick her battles.
She looked at me. “You’re going, too? Have you ever been there before?”
I took a breath to respond.
She didn’t wait for my answer. “It’s a very special place,” she said, then added, “and very different.”
“How’s it different?”
“We don’t have time for this,” my over-excited father announced. Clearly, he was not used to waiting when he wanted something done. “We want to go there immediately.”
Felicity evidently knew better than to take her time when he ordered her that way, so she pushed her sleeves up to her elbows and held her hands out before closing her eyes.
A swirling vortex formed in the center of the room, and I marveled at the power she had. What would it be like, having that sort of power?
Once the vortex had stretched until it was roughly eight feet tall, Felicity lowered her hands with a satisfied smile. “I don’t get to do that very often. It’s quite a treat, like flexing a muscle I haven’t used in a while.”
The blue light coming from the vortex reflected off Gregor’s face as he approached it. “Are you ready?”
I only had one, fleeting thought of Jonah—he wouldn’t know where I was, and I had already been away for longer than I’d expected—before remembering Mom and Sara and how much I missed them. I would never be able to travel to Hallowthorn Landing on my own, so I couldn’t afford to miss this opportunity.
I followed him through the portal.
The first thing I noticed was the change in the air. The smell of salt hit my nose the second I stepped through onto a walkway made of wooden planks. Salt and water and fish.
We were standing on the banks of a huge body of water, like an ocean in its size. It went on as far as the eye could see, and the waves which broke on its surface sparkled in the sunlight.
Sunlight!
For a second, I panicked. Until I looked at my hands, warmed by the sun’s rays, but not burned. What a wonderful feeling!
I closed my eyes and tilted my head back, letting the warmth touch my face. I could’ve stood like this all day.
Water lapped at the fishing boats docked not far from where we stood, a rhythmic, pleasant sound which reminded me of a heartbeat. On top of it was the calling of large, white birds which flew in circles over the water and occasionally dove for a catch.
“It’s beautiful,” I breathed, glad Sara was in such a place.
“Not all of it is,” Felicity murmured.
I hadn’t realized she’d come through with us. She was pointing to my right, and I turned to see a craggy mountain, tall and imposing and a little scary, with jagged peaks which looked like they could pierce the clouds.
There was a series of castles or fortresses lining the mountain—I realized, after taking a second to really study them, that they had been carved out of the mountain’s face. How long must that have taken?
“It’s… impressive,” I replied. “And it’s still beautiful, in its own way.”
“You ought to see it when there’s a storm.” She grinned then shivered for effect.
There was a lightness to her I had never seen before. Almost a playfulness. Again, I wondered what happened to her.
“She’s here,” Gregor said, pulling me out of my thoughts.
I had almost forgotten about him while I took in our surroundings.
He stood with his hands clasped behind his back, staring out over the wide expanse of sparkling water. “She’s here, somewhere, and I have no idea how to go about finding her.”
“I’m sure there’s got to be someone who can tell us,” I said, taking his arm. He was so tightly wound. The only choices I saw on looking around were either the town behind us or one of the stone fortresses along the mountain. If I had to make a bet, I’d go with the fortresses. I could just make out a line of robed figures walking in a straight line along the base of one of the massive stone structures. Who were they?
The sound of a bird cawing in celebration after catching a fat, flopping fish in its long beak got my attention. I could see the bird’s teeth even from a distance and remembered how Felicity had said this place was different. Yes. It was. The birds had teeth, for one.
“Come on,” I said, turning away from the disturbing bird and its poor fish lunch. “Let’s see if we can find out where she is. I don’t think she’d let Sara get too far away from her, so that could help, if needed.” There had to be word of an elemental witch roaming around. If we found her, we might find Mom.
The two of us walked together toward the mountain, with Felicity behind us. It was a long walk, longer than it seemed from where we’d started off. I wondered what else wasn’t the way it seemed.
Then, I saw her.
When Gregor felt my hand close over his wrist, he stopped.
We both watched as my mother seemed to float over the endless stone stairs which led from the fortresses, robes billowing behind her in the sea breeze. I heard my father’s breath catch in his throat and could understand why. She was so beautiful.
But what was she thinking? She had to see him with me. She wasn’t hiding from us—in fact, she moved quickly enough I had the feeling she was happy. And not just because I was there.
“Tabitha.” The word came out sounding like a sigh, like a prayer, like a spell. Like everything he had waited for over so many years, finally coming true. “Tabitha.”
When she reached us, Mom’s smile was warmer than the sun overhead. “Gregor. Oh, Gregor. I’m so happy Anissa has brought you to see me. I wondered when we would see one another again.”
I glanced at him from the corner of my eye, sizing up his reaction. It was obvious he was surprised by the difference in her, although I had warned him about the shade blood. But nothing could mask the love that was still there. So much love.
What was even better was the love written on Mom’s face.
26
Anissa
I couldn’t remember the last time I’d felt so much relief. My muscles actually loosened—I hadn’t even known they were tight with tension until now.
The hard part was over. They were together again, and they were both happy.
I cleared my throat, and they looked my way. “I’m here, too, in case anybody forgot.”
Mom laughed as she reached for me, and I closed my eyes as she wrapped me up in a tight hug.
“I’ve missed you,” she murmured in my ear as she stroked my hair. It was the most natural thing in the world, but it would never get old.
I peeked over her shoulder to see Gregor staring at the two of us with the funniest expression on his face. Like he couldn’t believe what he was seeing.
Mom noticed where my attention had gone and looked at him, too. “I’m not a ghost, Gregor.”
“I didn’t think you were. Though you might as well be, since you’ve been little more than a ghost to me for all these years.” The sadness in his voice was evident.
As was the sadness on Mom’s face as she reached for his hands. Enough to break my heart. I suddenly felt like I shouldn’t be here. It was intrusive. I took a step back, closer to where Felicity waited at a respectful distance.
“Embarrassed to be around your parents right now?” Mom asked with a knowing smile.
Just hearing her referring to herself and Gregor as my parents was a gift. I felt warm inside—it wouldn’t have surprised me if I’d started glowing.
“No.” I laughed. “Not at all. I thought you might want some time alone. Forgive me for wanting to be discreet.”
They laughed with me.
Seeing them together, with the
ir hands clasped in friendship—maybe something more—stirred an idea. Would I ever get a better chance?
For once, I wanted to have a sliver of what other people enjoyed. A special moment with my mother and father, announcing something that had been on my mind ever since Jonah asked.
“I’m getting married.”
Okay, maybe I hadn’t meant to blurt it out like that.
Mom gasped.
Gregor’s eyes flew open wide. He found his voice before she did. “The vampire? The Bourke?”
I nodded. “Jonah Bourke.”
“When?” Mom’s smile was radiant.
“We’re not sure yet. Life is a little... complicated at the moment,” I understated.
“I’m so happy for you.” She let go of my father’s hands and pulled me into another hug.
Gregor cleared his throat gruffly. “If this is what you want, Anissa, I’m very happy for you.” From him, that was as enthusiastic a response as I could ever hope to get, and I knew it.
“Thank you.” It was a relief, getting that off my chest. Happy I had their blessing. With that out of the way, and knowing how glad they were to be together, I asked Mom, “Do you think I could see Sara? I’ve been dying to.”
“I don’t know what her training schedule is,” Mom admitted. “I haven’t seen much of her. I expect she’s been too busy.”
“I’d like to see her, anyway.”
She told me where to find Sara’s room, in the fortress at the far end of the mountain, overlooking the water. To my surprise, Felicity fell into step beside me.
“I thought I’d go with you, take a look around,” she said.
I knew why she was really doing it: she wanted to give my parents some time alone, the same as I did.
We took the winding, almost endless stairs which led to the fortress, so much taller and even more imposing than it had been from the ground. The inside was just as impressive as the outer façade, maybe more so. I wondered at the tapestries lining the walls—what stories did they tell, and from how long ago? Felicity and I walked in silence, like a single word would break the solemnity of the dark, silent halls.
Sara’s room was empty. I hadn’t expected anything else. I ran my hand over her bedspread, my heart heavy.
“I’m sorry,” Felicity murmured from the doorway.
“It was worth trying,” I managed to reply in spite of the disappointment lodged in my throat. It would’ve been too easy for her to be here. Too perfect. Nothing was that perfect, was it?
At least the room was pleasant enough, and the wide window allowed plenty of sunlight in. I was sure she’d like that.
I looked out through it, imagining her doing the same thing. How was she feeling? What was she thinking about? Could she control her powers any better than before? I closed my eyes and made a wish, even though I hadn’t believed in wishes for a very long time. Not since before the Fire, when I was still a little girl, and we were still living with the Carvers, and I didn’t know there was much more to life than my mother and stepfather and sister. Nonetheless, I wished for Sara to be happy here. I didn’t know when I’d be able to return—or when she would be able to leave.
It was odd, the thought that she had a destiny of her own, and that destiny could be completely different from mine. So much of my past had been wrapped up in her. Keeping her safe, keeping us both alive, then bargaining for mercy from Marcus.
My sister was her own person with her own gifts and dreams. This could become her life, in Hallowthorn Landing. Anything was possible.
I turned away from the beautiful view and found Felicity still standing there, waiting for me. She looked a little sad, and I knew it was on my behalf. I forced a smile, shrugging. “Oh, well. It was worth a try. At least we found Mom.”
We left the room and traced our steps to get back outside. I was glad to be out of that dark, cold place. Was it ever warm in there?
“Yes, I’m glad we found her,” Felicity agreed. “I don’t know that I could stand Gregor if he were thwarted.” Her eyes went wide when she realized what she’d just said, and her cheeks darkened.
I shook my head. “Don’t worry. I understand. He’s difficult enough to handle when he’s not disappointed.”
She smiled in relief. “That’s an understatement.” Her eyes found the two of them, still walking side-by-side, with hardly an inch of air between them. “I’m glad to see him looking so happy, too. Truly.”
“So am I.”
I felt her gaze fall on me. “You are? I mean, and I hope I’m not overstepping my boundaries by asking, but are you glad they’re together again?”
“Oh, yes!” I meant it with all my heart. To see them walking that way… I could imagine them in Central Park, so many decades earlier, exploring the human world together.
“What if they rekindled what they once had?”
I considered this. What if it were Jonah and me? And there was a reason we couldn’t be together for so many years. What if he thought I was dead when I wasn’t? And I couldn’t send word I was very much alive? How would I feel if he came back into my life? I’d want us to be together again—and I would expect the people who loved me to want me to be happy. “I would be happy for them. Really, I would. They deserve this.”
“What do you think Allonic would think about it?”
My attention snapped back toward her. “Allonic? I don’t know. He might feel a little strange, since he doesn’t know Gregor, but I’m sure he’d see he doesn’t have much of a say in it.”
She nodded, with a faraway gaze in her eyes. “Mmhmm. I’m sure you’re right.”
This was interesting. I watched her, observing the slight smile which touched the corners of her mouth. The memory of her shining face and eyes came back to me, the way she’d looked when she entered Gregor’s chambers back in Avellane. That breathless excitement. “Where is Allonic, anyway? Did you leave him back at the Hermitage?”
“No. He had something to do.” She caught me out of the corner of her eye. “He’s very busy, isn’t he?”
“To be honest, I’m not sure what he does with much of his time. But he’s been there for me when I’ve needed him.”
Her smile widened perceptibly. “He’s the type. I can tell.”
Yes. This was very interesting. “The two of you had some time to talk after he woke up, then?”
It wasn’t a trick of the light that made her face turn red. She glanced away, but it was too late. I’d caught her.
I was about to press the subject, maybe even tease her a little—was there something going on between them? I could hardly imagine Allonic having a romance—but the sight of a newcomer pushed everything else out of the way.
A man walked across the courtyard which ran along the front of the outermost fortress, acting as a sort of wide balcony over the lapping waves below.
There was no mistaking him, although I’d never seen him in daylight before.
“Fane?” I whispered in disbelief.
27
Anissa
I could hardly believe my eyes. Of all the places I would expect to run into Fane, this had to be the very last.
“I’ll be right back,” I breathed in Felicity’s general direction, already making a beeline for Fane.
His eyes widened when he recognized me, but he didn’t attempt to avoid my catching up to him.
“What are you doing here?” I asked, caught between pleasant surprise and suspicion.
What business could he have in Hallowthorn Landing? I thought he spent most of his time in that strange, in-between realm where it was always night, and the dead had been sleeping for hundreds of years. Maybe thousands.
He didn’t answer my question—instead, he asked one of his own. “Where is Jonah?” He sounded as though he was accusing me of something, like it was my responsibility to keep track of him at all times.
As it turned out, I knew the answer to his question. “He was taking care of a security issue at another location the family has,” I rat
tled off.
“Issue? What sort of issue?”
“I honestly don’t know. He didn’t share that with me—I don’t even think he knew at the time.”
He frowned, looking sterner than ever.
I wondered what I had done to make him that way—was it a matter of not liking the girl his son had chosen? I remembered the tension between the two of them over Sirene’s baby. Maybe that was it. He was taking out his frustration with Jonah on me.
“Are the two of you still split up?” he asked.
I gaped at him. “How did you know about that?”
“I have ways of knowing things—I like to keep tabs on my children, now that they know I’m alive.”
What would the Bourke children think if they knew? For all the pushing away he tried to do, telling them it would make life easier and safer for them not to be associated with him, he couldn’t let them go. I decided to keep his secret between the two of us.
“As a matter of fact, we’re not split up. He asked me to marry him.”
His expression softened. “He did, did he?” When I nodded, he asked, “And you said…?”
“Would you like to attend the wedding?” I asked by way of reply.
His smile was kind, genuine. “Nothing would make me happier, Anissa.”
I wanted to hug him, but I thought twice about it. He didn’t seem like the hugging type.
While he was in such a good mood, I thought I might as well press my luck. “You never did answer my question. Really, what brings you here?”
His eyes moved back and forth, as though searching for some way out of providing an explanation. I recognized it after seeing it from Jonah so many times—and I gave him the same look I normally gave his son.
He sighed. “It’s important business which I’d rather not discuss with just anyone.”
“I’m not just anyone,” I reminded him.
“You’re my son’s fiancée.”
“Not only that. I happen to know a lot about what you’re going through right now. Isn’t that true? Or do I need to remind you of what we found in Sorrowswatch?”