Isabella caught his glance.
“After your father died and Meghan had been born, I hoped somehow you would find each other. That she would become a part of your life even if I could not. I made sure that my locket went with her to the orphanage, hoping that one day you’d find it. You might not have known who she was, or that she was your sister, but I had hoped the locket would at least bring you together. I used magic to pass along a message to you, hoping to spark your interest, so you would search for it.”
“Via the Song Spinner, Catrina Flummer,” said Ivan.
“Yes. However, again, my sight failed me. I didn’t see the Svoda breaking apart and Catrina not being able to give you this message sooner. I feared greatly, what would happen to you as you grew older. I wanted you to have something, someone to care about. A reason to live. To care. I could not keep Meghan with me, she needed to be hidden from her father, but I wanted you to find each other. Alas, as I have said, I thought she died and had given up hope that you’d ever find out the truth. I should have known she wasn’t dead. She was the daughter of an immortal after all. But I assumed that because she was so young that she could die. Another regret. And then I started to see what was happening to you, Ivan. I knew. I knew you would too easily sacrifice your life for what you thought was right. You’re very much like your father.”
And mother, they were all thinking.
“I was ready to,” he befuddled himself by admitting. “I always expected to die. My life didn’t matter as long as I proved what really happened. And now I find out that the theories lurking in my head were just that, theories. There was no conspiracy surrounding your death, other than what you created yourself.”
“It doesn’t change how your father died, at the hand of the Scratchers, which you found out Juliska created. You were the first to discover this treachery. Not everything was in vain, Ivan. And without any interference or help from me, your sister found her way to you. Even if you didn’t know it until now.”
Ivan looked up again, Meghan had shuffled into the doorway. Nona remained in the shack along with Sebastien and Jae; they felt as though they were eavesdropping on a private conversation and wished they could leave. At the same time, the information they were learning was mind blowing.
“I think some part of me did know,” Ivan continued, his eyes never leaving Meghan. “She looks so much like you, but I just thought it was chance. I couldn’t see how it was possible.”
Meghan smiled weakly at him, firing off a look that said, “Surprise,” and “You’re stuck with me now.”
He shook his head; a bit of the Ivan she knew, returning. He rolled his eyes, mumbling, “It would have to be you.”
“Ivan,” Meghan said, letting out a nervous laugh. “If I was ever going to find out I had a half-brother I didn’t know about, I can’t imagine anyone else I’d want it to be. Even though I totally hate you most of the time and you drive me completely crazy.”
She stepped outside to see him better.
He lowered his head for a moment, amused, but when he looked up, he shrugged his shoulders, looking lost. “I don’t know what I’m supposed to do now.”
Sebastien and Jae stepped out behind Meghan.
Nona trotted into the woods, keeping her ears and eyes open for any signs of trouble.
“I don’t know about you,” said Meghan, “but there’s still the matter of a mad woman named Juliska Blackwell who needs to be dealt with. We must find some way to help Colin, and,” she turned to Jae, “we need to find some way to fix you.”
“Then there’s just Colby, and Fazendiin, and the Immortality Stone, and the rest of the Grosvenor,” chimed in Sebastien, with a sarcastic smile.
Meghan let out a frazzled sigh. “Yeah, and all of that.”
Isabella looked curiously at Jae. “What needs to be fixed about you?”
“I, um,” he gulped, his vocal chords suddenly not wanting to work right. “I let J-Juliska turn me into one of her Scratchers. She thinks I’m dead, but she will eventually find out I’m not and when she does...”
“She will force him back into her service,” finished Ivan flatly. “We can’t allow that to happen. Jae made a mistake but, we have to find a way to fix it.”
Meghan turned to Isabella. “Amelia Cobb, before Colby killed her,” she was cut off.
“What?” breathed out Isabella.
Meghan caught herself, realizing she had not informed her mother of Colby’s actions. “Sorry. We hadn’t really gotten to explaining that yet.”
“He killed someone?” Isabella’s voice faltered as she spoke.
“Yes. He did. But I stand by what I said before,” insisted Meghan. “I still think he can be saved. And truth be told, if he hadn’t killed Amelia, someone else probably would have. She was out of control.”
“But someone else didn’t,” muttered Isabella. For the smallest of moments, she held a look on her face that said all was lost. Hopeless. That all she had sacrificed to give Colby a fighting chance to be good, was all for nothing. That she had failed. She let out a deep sigh, wiping away her worry and cast a short grin.
“Don’t give up on him, Meghan. We cannot give up on him.”
“I don’t intend to,” Meghan told her. “Fazendiin’s claws are deep, but I think there’s still hope. I can’t, I won’t give up.”
Isabella nodded, clearing her throat. “You were saying something about Amelia,” she reminded in a soft voice.
“Right, um, she mentioned there might be a cure or a way to break the bond between Jae and Juliska,” said Meghan.
“There is,” Isabella replied without hesitation.
Jae perked up eagerly, as did Sebastien, Ivan, Meghan and Nona.
“There is a way?” Ivan questioned, thrilled his mother might know the answer to at least one of their problems.
“The bond can be broken and you can be cured, Jae,” Isabella said.
“How?” Jae asked. “What do I need to do? I’ll do anything to fix what I’ve done.”
“Anything?” she asked him. “The magic used to create the Scratchers is some of the most powerful and dark magic in existence.”
He swallowed hard, having trouble finding his voice again.
“Yes. Anything,” he affirmed, though shakily. “No matter the cost, I have to. I don’t want to go back to her. I won’t hurt for her. I won’t kill for her. I may be an idiot, but I’m not a killer. I can’t live like this. I need to get rid of this thing inside me. It wants out, all the time... I’m afraid whether under her control or not, I will eventually hurt someone.”
She nodded, seeing his determination.
“There is only way one to break this type of magical bond. The creator of the magic must die.”
Jae nodded, unable to vocalize what he was thinking.
“We have to take her down anyway,” said Meghan, her voice higher than usual. The thought of actually killing someone, or even working towards actually killing someone, turned her stomach. Juliska was evil. There was no doubt about this fact. But shouldn’t she stand trial and be judged by all? Shouldn’t she be forced to face up to and pay for the crimes she committed?
“I know she’s evil,” Jae finally spoke somberly. “Juliska Blackwell frightens me more than anyone I’ve ever known. Before she did this thing to me, I would have done anything she had asked of me, even died for her if I thought it would be for the greater good. But now, even after what she’s done, the thought of her dying for some reason just makes me feel sick.”
“It is sick,” said Sebastien. “And sad. She has wasted her life filling it with hate. And we don’t even know why. She was a good person, once. Like Amelia, she wasn’t always crazy either. But I think Juliska is beyond saving.”
“Everything she’s done set aside,” started Meghan, “do we even have the right to decide her fate? She’s hurt so many people. Not just us.”
“She deserves to die,” said Ivan, as if he were ready to deal Juliska a deathblow that very second.
/>
Isabella sighed, her eyes saddened. “Juliska’s death cannot be by your hand, Ivan.”
At first, Meghan thought she had said this because Isabella feared that Ivan was latching on to any new purpose; that he needed to have one to feel whole. But Isabella’s gaze landed back on Jae.
“Juliska’s death alone will not cure you.”
Jae’s already sickly face turned green.
“Her death breaks the bond only,” she continued.
Jae opened his mouth but nothing came out.
Ivan asked the question Jae could not muster the courage to ask. “What must he do? How do we cure him completely?”
“You don’t,” she said to Ivan. “If you truly want to be cured, Jae Mochrie, you, yourself, will have to be the one that takes her last breath. You will have to kill Juliska Blackwell.”
CHAPTER 24
Colin Jacoby sat on the ground next to Catrina. She had her head leaning against his shoulder. They were sitting just a few feet away from the tree where Jasper Thorndike had been buried. Colin was deep in thought about how he would get Jasper’s copy of the Magicante back from Freyne Rothrock, the Grosvenor who had stolen it just before his death.
“Freyne,” Catrina heard Colin mumble under his breath.
When it was followed by a resentful groan, she sat up, asking, “What is it?”
Colin’s eyes switched from thoughtful, to outraged, in a flash. He glowered right past Catrina to something else.
She turned, gasped, and stuttered. “Oh. Freyne.”
Freyne Rothrock was just a few feet from them, judiciously working his way towards the tree trunk that now resembled the face of the late Jasper Thorndike.
“Don’t worry, he can’t see or hear us,” reminded Colin. “The cloak is still in place.”
“Good,” she breathed out, adding, “What is he doing here?”
Colin did not answer. Instead, he stood up, following Freyne.
The Grosvenor eyed the tree greedily, taking each step cautiously, looking over every detail carefully.
“Stupid boy,” Freyne croaked. “Powerful perhaps, but stupid! Didn’t even erase the magic he used here. So easy to trace.”
Colin’s eyes widened and he threw Catrina a questioning gaze.
“I didn’t know you could do that,” she said.
“I thought they could only trace me when I let down the cloak. Stupid! Stupid! Stupid! There’s so much I don’t know.”
Catrina reassured him. “Now that we know it can be done, we’ll figure out how.”
“It’s too late now,” Colin responded miserably. “Let’s find out what Freyne is doing here. Maybe he has the book with him and I can end this whole thing right here and now.”
“Colin, no,” argued Catrina softly. “You cannot confront him like this. You’re not prepared.”
“Maybe not, but it’s not like I can die,” he returned arrogantly.
“No. You can’t. But,” he cut her off.
“Maybe now is the perfect time. I can catch him off guard.”
“And then how will we find out what he’s doing here?”
Colin’s determined look dropped slightly.
Catrina reached out her hand and grasped his.
“We have to be smart, Colin. We need to take our time. You need to take your time. Rash moves don’t always end so well.”
Colin glanced at Jasper’s tree. “You’re right,” he admitted dolefully.
He kept the cloak firmly in place, watching Freyne’s every move. After a moment he stopped, eyeing Jasper’s bark-etched face.
“I learned a little secret,” Freyne whispered to the face, as if somehow Jasper could hear him. “Your services will be much appreciated.”
Freyne stepped back and lifted his arms over the ground, his palms facing the space where Jasper’s body was buried. The ground began to rumble.
“What is he doing?” asked Colin, aghast.
“Oh, no! I think I know.” Catrina’s face turned white as the realization hit her. “We need to leave. I’m sorry, Colin. You might have been right after all.”
“Why?” he asked, but she didn’t answer him.
The ground where Jasper was buried started to shift, the dirt rolling back; something started to lift out of the ground.
“Are those...” Colin gagged, unable to finish.
“Yes. Bones. He’s digging up Jasper’s bones.”
“Why would he do...” he paused again, looking more closely at the bones, which were abnormally bright white. They looked just like... “The dagger. The dagger that stripped Jasper of his powers... it was made from the bones of a dead Projector.”
He took a step back, taking Catrina with him.
“He wants to steal your powers,” Catrina said. “Like Colby did with Jasper. He’s going to use the bones to make his own dagger.”
Colin felt immense hatred filling him.
How dare Freyne disturb Jasper’s grave. How dare he steal his bones?
Catrina knew that this might be too much for Colin and she urged him to stay calm.
“We should leave, Colin. We are not prepared to fight this. Maybe he can’t kill you, but he could take your powers.”
Colin’s head was swimming in thoughts. Vengeful thoughts. Things he’d like to do Freyne Rothrock.
“Maybe if he did take my powers it wouldn’t be so bad,” Colin suddenly blurted. “Or maybe I’ll just kill him before he has the chance.” His speech was coming out in indignant waves, flooding his whole being with the desire for vengeance. “He can’t kill me. I’m immortal. He might get in a spell or two, but I can definitely hurt him!”
“Colin, please,” Catrina begged. “What would Jasper tell you to do if he were here? Would he tell you to reveal yourself and fight without a plan?”
“I am supposed to live in the moment,” Colin snapped his answer. His thoughts felt as though they were in overdrive. “So maybe that means I need to kill him now.”
Catrina took in a calming breath and grabbed hold of both his hands, forcing him to look at her. “Stop this, right now, Colin Jacoby! You know darn well that Jasper would tell you to calm yourself. And not make any rash decisions. We just talked about this! Besides, you can’t kill Freyne, he’s immortal, too.”
He let out a dissatisfied grunt.
However, a mere moment later they were no longer standing behind Freyne. They were now standing in a few inches of beach sand.
Colin let go of Catrina and fell to his knees, the sand taking the brunt of the blow. She leaned down but he said, “Give me a minute. Please.”
She stepped back, taking in their surroundings. Even though darkness was setting in, the sky was obviously overcast, and it was too cold for fog. Water crashed against the shoreline, but the waves were moderate, the weather calm.
At the end of the beach was what appeared to be a closed down restaurant, built inside an out-of-use lighthouse.
“It was the only place I could think of so fast,” Colin explained, joining her. “I don’t know if I took us far enough away. But we were cloaked so I know he can’t track us here.”
“Are you okay?”
He did not reply, but she saw disappointment in his eyes.
“It’s all okay,” she told him. “We’re taking this one day at a time, remember?”
“How about one hour at a time. Maybe one minute at a time. I’m sorry,” he added. “I didn’t mean to get so worked up.”
“I know. Why don’t we see if we can get inside the lighthouse? Maybe if we’re lucky we can stay here for the night, figure out where to go next.”
He nodded. “I don’t know how, but we will need to stop Freyne.”
“Yes,” she agreed. “But we’ll prepare first. We’ll be smart about it. And even though it’s disturbing, we do at least know what he’s planning so that should make it a little easier.”
“I don’t know as it makes it easier,” said Colin, as they trudged through the sand.
“No, I suppose
not.”
Colin stopped, an odd look on his face.
“What’s on your mind?” she asked.
“Something I said. I was angry, but, maybe I should let him take my powers. I’m not Jasper. He can’t kill me. I don’t think.”
“Why would you want to do that?”
“I could be normal. More normal. I’d still have that whole immortality thing but I’d just be Colin Jacoby. No more boy wonder. No more being hunted.”
“You’d also be letting an evil man get a hold of something he should not have.”
“True. Okay. But is this what our entire life is going to be like? Day after day, month after month, year after year, of running and hiding? What kind of life is that? How can I ask that of you?”
“Colin, we’ve already been through this. You know how I feel.”
“I know. I’m sorry. It’s a stupid idea. Wishful thinking, and we both know where that gets me.”
“The idea isn’t stupid, Colin. The outcome of it, on the other hand,” she said with a tone of sarcasm. “C’mon. It’s getting colder out here.”
“Yeah, those clouds overhead are rather ominous. Could be in for the first snow of the season.”
“Wouldn’t be a terrible thing, if we were snuggled up somewhere nice and cozy... so, where exactly are we?” she asked. “I assume you’ve been here before.”
“It’s a lighthouse. Not anymore. It’s a cafe now. When I used to summer here in Cobbscott we would come here. I knew it would be empty this time of year. No one keeps businesses open in the winter. No tourists this time of year.”
“It’s nice,” Catrina said, shivering.
Colin noticed and within a few steps, sun-kissed warmth hit her skin.
“Another reason to keep your birth given powers,” she said with a smile. “Who else could warm me up so fast, on a cold winter’s day?”
“Forget I even brought up the idea,” he said, stepping up to the lighthouse door. “Just a passing thought.” He used magic to break the lock. Once inside, he used magic to light the stove in the kitchen, its heat warming the place in minutes.
Catrina meandered through the kitchen and called out, “There’s still some food in the cupboards.”
The Spell, The Stones, and The Treasure (Fated Chronicles Book 3) Page 18