The Castle: Prequel to the Guardian Angel Series

by Melissa Johnson

  ***

  “Eric!” She leaned heavily against the doorframe of Council Chambers. The Council members, all huddled at the windows, turned as one at her cry. Their physical appearance was unchanged and her heart leapt with hope. Their expressions, however, were a dark mix of confusion, shock…and accusation. But where was Eric?

  They parted in a sea of black cloaks, leaving one. He stood with his back to her, a mane of snowy white hair brushing his collar.

  She walked forward, as if passing through the rows of a gauntlet.

  “Eric?”

  “Stay back.”

  “Eric, please!” He flinched when she touched his shoulder. “Look at me.”

  She steeled herself but couldn’t hide her reaction when he turned. She clasped her hand to her mouth.

  Eric’s mouth twisted. “Hideous, isn’t it?”

  “What happened, Heather?” Henry spoke behind her.

  “I cast the spell,” she said, not able to look away from Eric. For the very first time, his identical appearance to Thaddeus frightened her. The eyes had changed.

  “’I cast the spell,’ she says. We gathered that,” Darius said bitterly.

  Henry – scholarly, rational Henry – took her hands in his and led her to a chair. “Tell me exactly what you did.”

  Heather repeated every detail and Henry listened intently, often interjecting with questions. Finally, he leaned back. “You didn’t make a mistake.”

  “I must have! The link to the Barrier wasn’t broken.”

  Henry sighed. “I’m not sure it can be. But it is…promising that the spell will destroy the Barrier. If it is finished.”

  A death sentence. They all knew it was a death sentence. She darted her eyes to Eric, who didn’t turn around.

  “You are saying there is no hope to break the link?”

  “If we run further experiments at the Castle…” He trailed off at her expression. “What is it?”

  “The secret room has been discovered.” She said it numbly.

  Silence greeted her news. They hadn’t asked yet what had happened after she cast the spell, but they must know there would be no more going back and forth to the Castle.

  “It doesn’t matter.” Heather frantically gathered the documents. “We must go back to the drawing board. It can’t be impossible to break the link. We must have missed something.”

  “We end it now!” Eric’s roar cut across her disjointed speech.

  Her entire body trembled. She gripped the edge of the table. “You expect me to bring Henry across?” she asked, not looking up.

  “I expect you to bring me across. I will cast the spell.”

  “You can’t! I can’t!”

  She jumped to her feet and ran around the other side of the table. Out of his reach. Eric darted one way and she went the other. His eyes were as wild as Thaddeus’ had been.

  “Eric! You’re not thinking straight. This is insanity! How can you possibly think I would bring you to your death?”

  His black eyes glittered. “I’m already dead. The moment you cast your spell you became a widow.”

  “Don’t say that,” she whispered.

  “Grab her, Kendrick.”

  Startled, she realized she hadn’t paid attention to the position of the rest of the Councilors. But Kendrick spoke his first original thought in her hearing. “No. You can’t force her.”

  Eric lunged across the table. His fingers brushed against her sleeve before Edmund and Darius pulled him back. They held him each by an arm while he struggled and raged against them.

  Suddenly he went limp, his head bent and breathing hard.

  “Eric.”

  He looked up, his eyes pleading. “Finish it, Heather. Don’t condemn me to this.”

  Her heart broke. It was over. They were over. The tears ran unheeded down her cheeks as she backed away. “I will come back soon, Eric. I promise. I’m sorry. I must…go.”

  She lied. She had nowhere to go. She couldn’t go back to the Castle. But, heaven help them both, she couldn’t stay here.