“To Billy? You know him?”
“Yes, I know him.”
My face fell. “Then why can’t I remember you?”
“I think that was what the potion was designed for, Danielle.” He sighed. “To wipe your life with me away. What do you remember of that time?”
“Not a lot. I remember going there, working there, and…I remember Billy, Dianne, Trixi, most of the kitchen staff…”
He chuckled. “Chef Nelson?”
“You worked in the hotel too?”
“One of my punishments. It was a hard lesson, but one I never regret learning.” He looked at me with soft eyes.
“I don’t know. Three months in, the memories are fussy.”
“It’s when I became a part of your life.” Marick said.
“You were really there?”
He nodded. “Like I said, you didn’t like me very much. I complained a lot about my heritage which I lost, and I struggle to mingle with you guys. So, when I finally did, you would always speak French not knowing that I was fluent.”
She closed her eyes. “Sorry.”
“Don’t. Sometimes we have to hear the truth, and you always spoke it so well.”
My lips curved. I knew the minute I saw him that I treated him like shit.
“I wasn’t used to the way you treated me, but I actually became friends with Billy, Dianna, Trixi, all of them. It was you that I struggle to figure out. You were so different. You didn’t act like them. They all kept telling me it was a French custom, but I never bought it as I was great friends with Billy.”
We both laughed.
“You intrigued my curiosity, and I started to follow you home.”
“You stalked me?”
“No, I had this funny need to become your protector.”
I laughed again.
“Until it really happened one night. A guy attacked you, and I was close by. I didn’t think I would be able to do anything without my magic, but I figured out that, for some things, you don’t need magic. He ran away. You thanked me until you realized it was me and asked me what I was doing there. You were so upset. We fought which drove me crazy as I didn’t understand it at all, but that was the turning point. You didn’t ignore me as much after that, and we became friends. I begged you for months to go on a date with me. You finally said yes, probably to make me shut up. That first date, I pulled out all the stops. It was the most amazing day of my life, and I knew then that I didn’t want to live without you.”
“On the first date?”
He laughed. “Yes, Danielle, on the first date. You made me feel special, like I had my magic back. When I was around you, I didn’t feel so unbalanced.”
“What happened then?”
“We started seeing each other, first in secret. Finally, everyone just knew. My year was finally ending, and I knew that my father was going to come for me, so I told you to leave with me. I didn’t want to go back without you.”
“I left with you?”
“No, you asked me why. We had it so good, but you knew I was hiding something from you. I couldn’t tell you. I was afraid that you would leave me, not choose me the way I was prepared to choose you.”
I swallowed hard. He already knew the consequences of what would happen if he chose me, and he still did.
“I was the crown prince of the witches. I was going to take over from my father soon. After I met you, none of it mattered anymore. I didn’t want any of it if it meant that I had to give you up.”
“Woah,” I said.
“Yeah, I know. I had it bad for you back then.”
The way he said it made me chuckle.
“I told you the truth the best way I could, you believed it and we s moved as far as we could from New York. I left my ring.” He played with the ruby ring on his finger, spinning it around and around. “I knew my father would find it. And for the next year or so we lived in different places trying to ditch Minaut. With my magic still bounded, she struggled to find me.” He smiled.
“But she did.”
“Yes, she did. We lived in a small town. We loved it there. I knew we were supposed to leave, but we couldn’t. I had to put roots for our family.”
“Our family?”
“Yeah, we found out that you were pregnant. I asked you to marry me and if my father didn’t track me down, or say Minaut didn’t track me down, we would’ve been married much sooner. So, I know how you feel about Minaut. I hated her too at a stage.”
“I don’t hate her. She’s just too much for me at the moment.”
“Well, I hated her.”
I laughed again. “So, she found us. What then?”
“I was scared shitless of what it all meant. I knew witches weren’t allowed to love or fall in love with humans, not to mention fathering a child with one, or rather fathering two as was our situation.”
“I was pregnant with Josh and Em?”
He nodded. “He called me out of the blue. I hated magic for the first time in my life. I told him over the phone that I don’t want it, he can keep the bondage, that I didn’t need magic. He didn’t understand, and we fought. I was supposed to take over from him. We moved again. You were so upset with me. For a while, I couldn’t explain any of it, but eventually I did, at least half a truth—that my father wanted me back, he was throwing my heritage in my face, but that I was done with that life. I begged so hard for you to understand that I cried about it. I really thought that we lost him, but one Sunday afternoon, a limo stopped next to us in the street as we were walking back from a market, looking around at old buildings. Luke was driving, and they forced you in that limo withs me.”
“I told you not to say a word, but you kept speculating: Was it bugged? Did they listen to what we said? You told me everything was going to be okay.” He smiled.
I smiled too. “And?”
He chuckled. “The limo was a lot like this house, Danielle. You saw a limo, I experienced something else.”
I grunted playfully, and he laughed. “They were in that limo with us?”
He nodded. “You didn’t see them. My father lost it listening to your speculation. He finally got so upset because you spoke over him that he told me to give you the sight. I didn’t want to as I knew what it meant. When I shook my head at him, he knew that you had no idea what I even was. But I had no choice and I kissed you. They all appeared in that limo.”
I closed my eyes. I could imagine an entire family appearing out of thin air what that would do to me. “What happened?”
“You screamed, my father used magic on you, and they took us back. You didn’t speak to me for three days. You wanted to go home and wanted to forget everything. I eventually explained it all, like I am now, and you decided to stay. My mother, my sisters, Katia, everyone except Sebastian, made it unbearable for you. There was a hearing. Things got badly messed up. Shifters came and you left. But it was when my father realized that I can’t live with you and instead of making you disappear from my life, he was forced to take the throne away from me. I couldn’t be more happier. I followed you back to France through my ring and waited for you to get off that plane, and that was that.”
I wanted to cry. It was such a beautiful story.
I couldn’t even remember that.
“Everyone apologized, it was only Minaut that still acted a bit strange. After the twins’ birth, we got married. That was when Minaut warmed up to you, so much that she left my father and chose you.”
“He must have hated me.”
“He didn’t. He loved you more than I think he loved my sisters.” He chuckled.
“Then they must hate me.”
He shook his head again. “No one hated you, Danny. We were so happy until the night of the fire, when I lost everything.”
“You didn’t get the throne back?”
“It doesn’t work that way. The throne would go to my sister Mila’s son who is only seven.”
“So, he will become a very young king then?”
&nbs
p; “No, if my father dies and Mila’s son isn’t twenty-one, the family member next in line will take the throne.”
“What?”
“Why do you think my family was so upset with me when I fell in love with you?”
I looked at my hands. “You sure they don’t hate me?”
He laughed again. “No, they don’t, Danielle. My dad drinks elixirs for his health. We’re not easy to dethrone.”
He brushed his fingers against my cheek softly again. His warm touch made my stomach flip.
“So, you see, no horrible torturing took place, Danny. You were loved every day of your life in that five years. You weren’t stuck in a basement.”
“Thank you for telling me all that.”
He smiled.
I wish I could remember him. Our love sounded like a fairytale.
His stomach grumbled, and we laughed. “I need food.”
“Go. I’ll be down in a minute or so,” I said.
He took out his phone and handed it to me. “Call your mother, please. I need to see Eva and those books.”
As I took the phone from his hands, he glided his own fingers softly over mine. The touch ignited tiny sparkles on my fingers. He was magical—everything about him was magical.
He got up and opened the door. “What do I tell Minaut?”
After everything he told me, I couldn’t ignore her anymore. “Tell her to come and see me.”
He chuckled and closed the door behind him.
I looked at his phone. It was a normal Android phone. Witches love Samsung too, I suppose.
I put the phone face down on my chest and fell backward onto the bed. With my head on the pillow and my eyes shut, I thought about Marick’s story and tried so hard to remember anything, but it was this deep black pit of darkness. It made me want to cry again.
My life wasn’t a nightmare—it was a fairytale, and a beautiful one at that. I just couldn’t remember a single damn thing.
Chapter 14
DANIELLE
* * *
I dialed my mother’s number and it rang.
“This is Elizabeth,” she finally answered. She usually never picked up strange numbers. “Hello?”
“Mom, it’s me.”
“Danielle? Where the hell are you? Do you know how worried I am?” She carried on babbling, sounding like she wanted to cry.
“Mom, I’m sorry, okay? I couldn’t phone you, and I have a really good explanation for it, but I can’t tell you over the phone.”
“Where are you?”
“With friends.”
“Friends? And you couldn’t phone me?”
“No, I couldn’t, okay? But can I come see you tomorrow? We need to talk.”
“Sounds serious. Is everything okay?”
I huffed. “You wouldn’t believe the last three weeks I had. But yes, everything is more than okay, Mom. Still confusing, but okay.”
“Danielle, you’re not making any sense.”
“I know. I’ll see you tomorrow, okay?”
“You missed Eva’s birthday.”
“I know, Mom. It wasn’t my intention, and I’m sorry.”
“Okay,” she said. “I love you, sweetheart.”
“Love you too, Mom. And sorry that I only called now,” I said before we said our goodbyes and hung up.
If we were witches, she needed to come back with us to Marick’s world. The one we lived in was dangerous for people like us. She would never let Eva come with me, and I doubted that Eva would go any place without my mom. I lied to her for her entire life. I threw her away when I thought she was that monster’s kid.
A knock came on my door again. Marick came in with a tray of food. “How did it go with your mom?” He kicked the door closed and place the tray on the bed. It carried a bit of fruit, a cup of coffee, and oatmeal.
“She was freaking out. Thank you, though you are spoiling me too much.”
“I missed ten years, Danielle, and if you think this is spoiling you, you are in for a surprise. She okay?”
I smiled and nodded. “Worried. She doesn’t understand a thing, but I told her that I will explain everything to her tomorrow.” I picked up the cup of coffee and put it to my mouth.
He gave me a soft smile. “I regret that you had to choose between her and me. I can’t wait to finally meet her.” He sat on the edge of my bed.
“I can’t imagine what those five years were like for her.”
“Well, at least she will know the truth now. Or part of it.”
“Marick, I might have not embraced being a witch as much, but if she’s a witch, that’s another story. She loved the books and now that I know the truth, I guess she really could speak to the dead.”
He looked at me. “Your mother is practicing?”
“Yes, she is doing all sorts of things. I didn’t want it around Eva, but I had no say in it as I gave her away, as if she were a toy.”
“You didn’t know.”
“It doesn’t matter. She thinks I’m her big sister, not her mother.” I put my cup of coffee down as tears threatened to spill again.
He laid a hand on my arm. “Look at me.”
I wiped my tears away and gave him a somber look.
“Everything will be fine. There is nothing we can’t fix.”
I nodded. He really made it sound so easy.
“When are we going to see them?”
“I asked her for tomorrow.”
“Perfect. I’ll arrange safe passage with Minaut.”
“She coming too?”
“She can keep us hidden, Danny. Believe me, I’m not doing this without Minaut. Whoever did this to you knows your alive, and I got a funny feeling they know you’re a witch. I’m not taking any chances.”
“Why do you say that?”
“Two reasons witches give people the Forgotten potion: to make them forget what they saw or to make them forget what they have. Whoever wanted you out of the way must have seen a change in you, picked up that you were a witch before Minaut could.”
“You think that they gave me the potion because my gifts finally came?”
“It’s a big possibility. Being surrounded by magic brings a dormant witch back to us eventually.”
I let out a puff of air. “Then it’s all about me. I’m the reason that they gave me that potion.”
“And to get you out of the way as you would be able to see their plans, Danny.”
It was getting to be too much for me again and, I took deep breaths trying to swallow my worry.
He touched my arm. “Hey, listen to me, okay? We know now too. We’re finally on the same page they are. Minaut will protect you, Danny—I will protect you.”
I wasn’t so sure about Minaut.
“Make peace with her. She’s very forgiving, and the fact that you can hear her is a bonus none of us had.”
“You sure you can’t read minds too?”
“I wish I were that cool.” He smiled, got up, and opened the door. The cat walked in.
Minaut looked up at him. “Thank you, Marick,” she said as if he could hear her. He scratched her head between the ears then walked away, flashing me a dashing smile before mouthing, “Be nice.”
“Finally going to let me in?” Even in my head, she sounded annoyed.
“I don’t know how to do this,” I spoke out loud.
“It will come with time.” She had a smile in her tone and jumped on the bed.
“Oh, Marick,” she said looking at the tray, and I couldn’t help but to laugh. “You know he is a sucker for you Danielle. Don’t take advantage of it,” she warned me.
“Stop being so mean to me. I’m still not used to hearing you—it’s not normal.”
“You will—just don’t ignore me.”
“Oh, believe me, it’s not possible.”
“Haha,” she snapped. She was such a ray of sunshine when she wants to be.
“We’re leaving tomorrow. I think Marick will explain everything to you later.”
&
nbsp; “Well, why don’t you?”
“You can’t hear my thoughts.”
“No, because you’re not letting me in.”
“I don’t know how.”
Her paw patted my hand. “It will come with time. You need to trust me first. Trusting you is easy for me. I always trusted you, and my bond with you is strong. Your bond with me is broken and needs healing that only time will bring.”
I nodded.
“So where are we going?”
“To Île-de-France.” I sighed.
“What is in Île-de-France?”
I hugged my legs, my head on my knees. Tears threatened to spill again.
“Why are you crying? Talk to me.”
“Because I did something horrible.”
“Not possible. I know what horrible is. You’re not like that—well, not intentionally anyway.”
I looked at her heart-shaped face. She was a beautiful cat.
“Tell me.”
I sighed and recounted what I thought had happened to me. Minaut gasped but didn’t interrupt when I told her that I gave up my child who I thought was a monster’s child to my mother to raise.
“You always wanted a little girl. Josh and Emile are going to be beside themselves.”
A flash of two beautiful boys with dark hair flash through my mind. “Is that…”
She laughed sweetly. “It is. I told you. With me, you will soon see the memories that you lost. It will be through my eyes though, Danny. I wish I could do more.”
More memories of Josh and Emile flashed through her mind into mine. She zoomed through the memories of different stages of their lives. It was as if I was seeing a movie but inside my mind. A Charlie Chaplin kind of movie, a fast Charlie Chaplin movie without the music of course.
“So there really is no cure.”
“There used to be one, a long time ago, but those spells are all lost to us now.”
I saw her in her mind, a sad memory.
“You belonged to them?” I didn’t see the humans, only her.
“No, my brother was their wisp. Philip. He was executed too. It’s our curse. If our families step out of line like his family had, everything that belongs to them…”
Playing With Fire Page 32
