He then saw my mom and introduced himself.
“So, these boxes—”
“—are the reason Marick needs to speak to you,” I said.
“Glad to see you’re on first name basis with your husband,” he teased which made me shake my head, though I felt the corners of my lips turn up softly.
I walked with my mother into the house. Why can’t I see this?
“This is seriously beautiful.”
“Yeah, I know. I wish I could see it again.”
“Danielle?”
“I don’t know what happened, Mom. I see the house with holes, missing walls, and no roof. It scares me shitless, and Marick is busy now.” I took a deep breath, trying to calm my beating heart.
“Marick!” My mother went into the room that he disappeared into.
“Mom!”
“Sweetheart, you look terrified. I’m not going to have that.”
“Yes, Mrs. Laurent?” Marick came back.
“Call me Liz, please.” She smiled.
“Thank you, Liz. You probably want to know where your room is?”
“No, we have a problem. Danielle doesn’t see this anymore.”
“What?” He squinted at me. “What happened?”
I closed my eyes.
“She said you helped her the last time to help her see.”
He walked over to me. “It’s gone?”
“I don’t know what happened, but yes. I see the broken-down house with gaping holes. Just go. The boxes are more important.” I took another huge breath.
He smiled. “I have time for this, Danielle.”
I blushed and looked away.
He grabbed my chin and turned my face to him gently to give me another soft kiss.
My head spun again like crazy as the kiss grew, and finally our lips parted. He kept me steady while my head spun and I had my eyes squeezed shut. When I opened my eyes, I smiled. “Thank you.”
“You’re welcome.” He smiled and walked away.
“A kiss,” my mother said.
“Don’t start, Mom.”
“Danielle” she laughed, “you seriously didn’t see this place?”
“I wasn’t making it up. I swear. I couldn’t see this, okay?” I said. Without waiting to see if she would follow, I headed upstairs to show my mother where her and Eva’s rooms were.
“Danielle and Marick, sitting in a tree!” Both started to tease me, and I couldn’t help but laugh.
“Would you two stop it?”
“K-i-s-s-i-n-g,” they sang in unison.
I heard his laughter coming from downstairs as we reached the top step, and I gave my mother a scolding glare.
“I’m sorry,” she said, and held Eva’s mouth closed. I shook my head and took them to their rooms.
When we came back down, everyone was looking through Mom’s books. They couldn’t stop staring at what was inside them.
Katia hungrily studied the potions. She gasped. “Oh, my word! Here is the cure, Marick. It takes a year to brew.” She squinted.
“I know.”
“In a years’ time, Danielle can have her memory back.”
He shook his head.
“Why are you shaking your head? This is a good thing,” Katia said, snapping the book shut.
Eva ran into the room and hugged her father.
He gave her a quick hug. “Later,” he said, and picked her up and put her on the table. They paged through a book speaking softly to one another. Sebastian meandered over to them and made jokes with Eva and Marick.
I went to the kitchen to help Francine with dinner and found my mother chatting and cooking up a storm.
“Hey, Danielle,” Francine said as they both hacked away at vegetables.
“Hi, Francine.”
“I just apologized to your mom about how we met.”
I laughed. “For kidnapping me,” I corrected her.
“Very sorry about that.” Luke walked in and came to a stop near my mother. “I’m Luke Cooper. She was literally our key to freedom. Sorry about kidnapping your daughter.”
“My daughter is finally smiling, so I as far as I’m concerned, we’re okay. Just phone me next time so I don’t worry so much,” she said, then tossed her head back laughing.
Luke inhaled deeply. “It smells nice, Francine.”
“I’m sure it does.” She gave him something to drink before he left the kitchen again.
Francine and my mother chatted about the witching world. She told her about me and Marick too and about our children.
“Wait, what?”
“Danielle didn’t tell you about Josh and Em?”
“I have two grandsons I never met?” She looked at me.
“I can’t even remember them, Mom. Yell at me as much as you want—it won’t change that fact.”
“Danielle—”
“It was my fault.” Marick strolled in. “If I knew that you were witches who had been dormant, it would’ve been another story. I’m sorry.” He turned to Francine. “Do you have a minute?”
She looked at my mother. “Go.” My mother waved her and Marick on and gave me that look.
“I really don’t remember them, Mom,” I said.
“I’m sorry, sweetheart. How old are they?”
“Apparently thirteen.”
“Twins?”
I nodded.
She fell silent. The quiet suffocated me so I went to the others to let her deal with her thoughts, process this new information.
Marick was busy telling everyone what the books meant, which bloodline my mom, me, and Eva belonged to and why he couldn’t claim the throne back even though I was a witch.
Everyone was speechless. Katia kept staring at me. I thought she was going to bore holes through my head with her gaze.
“If this comes out, Marick—”
“—It won’t,” he snapped at Katia.
“I’m just saying, this is much worse than what we originally signed up for.”
“She’s the key to your freedom. Are you seriously going to turn around and throw her in front of the council?” Sebastian scolded his sister.
“Council?” she looked at Sebastian. “If this comes out, the Sentinels will come. The council? Marick’s dad? They don’t have a say in this.”
They all kept quiet for a moment.
“What are the Sentinels?” My mother came up behind me.
“They’re our peers, the judges of our world. Their say is final.” Marick explained rapidly.
Marick’s dad doesn’t have a say in this? It’s other witches?
“What are you going to do with her mother?” Katia asked Marick.
“I’m standing right here,” my mother spoke to Katia. “I might not know you, my dear, but you will speak to me and my daughter with respect. I won’t tolerate you speaking down to us.”
“With all due respect, your bloodline shouldn’t exist by law.”
“Katia, enough,” Marick snapped, causing her to fall silent. “Listen to me and listen carefully. If you tell anyone about Danielle and her mother’s bloodline, I will kill you myself.”
My mom and I both looked at Marick. Thank heavens Eva was not here to hear her father’s threats.
“Do I make myself clear?”
Katia stood. “Crystal,” she said and stalked out the door.
My mother scurried back to the kitchen. I think it dawned on her how dangerous all of this was for us.
We ate dinner in silence. Marick’s words weighed so heavily on Katia that she didn’t even came down for dinner. Minaut was still out, and I miss her conversation. This was too quiet.
I played with my food, thinking about the mess. What could give him back the throne may bring so much worse to him.
“I’m sorry about what I said to Katia, but she needs to understand what is at stake here, Danny.”
I looked up at him. “It’s okay. I just didn’t think that the situation was this bad. What are the Sentinels, Marick?”
“Guardians that can shift into animals.”
“Witches?”
He shook his head.
“The supernatural race guardians.”
It didn’t make sense to me. “What? You’re not scary enough?”
He laughed and so did a few others. I should’ve known with just the two of us speaking everyone would be able to hear.
“No, they are not like that, but they are powerful. Think of them as keeping us in line and protecting the humans when we want to go do something stupid.”
“Oh, I see.”
“Every race has them. Witches have humans that shift into owls; wolves have phoenixes; vampires have bats; djinns have crows; and shifters have hawks.”
“And all of these can shift into human forms?”
“They are both celebrated and feared in their own way.”
“Their say is final?”
He nodded.
“And if this comes out, they would be the judges.”
“It’s not going to come out, Danielle.”
“Hypothetically, Marick.”
He nodded again.
“And you won’t have a say?”
“No, I wouldn’t have a say. I doubt that I could even be present.”
“Why?”
“Because of who I am.”
“Oh, so royalty is not allowed?”
Everyone laughed again. “No, Danielle. I’m your husband. They would worry I might use my ability or do something stupid.”
“Well, they are already there, so that is a condolence.”
They laughed again. I smiled too and carried on eating my food. So, it’s bad, but we are innocent in all of this. I didn’t tell her to hide the newborn baby or ask to be of this bloodline.
For the rest of the night, everyone paged through the books.
“So many potions we thought were lost to us,” Luke said.
“Here is a cure for the Forgotten potion.” Francine said, just like Katia. I knew what was going to come.
“We can’t use it.” Marick sounded grave.
“Marick, Danielle could remember again.”
“And how do you design we tell my dad this, Francine?” Marick gestured to the books scattered around him.
“Wait, what? You going to keep the books hidden?”
“These books are a betrayal to Danielle. If anyone knows they exist, they will know that their bloodline wasn’t destroyed. We can’t.”
“Marick, I get what you are saying but as a Caster, there are spells in here that I only read about in our history.”
“I know. You’re not the only one making a sacrifice here, Francine.”
She looked at him and then nodded, her shoulders slumped. He was giving up the throne again.
I got up and went to look for my mother.
I found her and Louise in the kitchen playing cards. I joined them.
“Gin,” I said. My mother handed me a set of cards. “Where’s Eva?” I asked my mother as I looked at my cards.
“With Katia assisting Eric. She really finds him fascinating.” My mother sorted out her hand.
“You think she can…”
“No, Danielle. She can’t. Which reminds me, after this round, I need to get her little butt into bed.”
I wonder what Dream Weavers could do. If she could slip into a dream of his, maybe they wouldn’t even need me to hear him.
The thought of having more voices in my head than my own and Minaut’s was hard to imagine. But it was like Minaut said, a great wrong was done to me since I was supposed to have grown up with my gift, trust it by now. I guess time will help me through this all, but I didn’t love the fact that Marick was still going to have to give up the throne. He was the rightful heir, and I don’t care what he said. I saw him tonight when Francine told him about the books and the spells they contained, what he was giving up.
Chapter 16
A phone rang again. Marick dashed upstairs to answer it.
Mom had to get Eva to bed, so I packed away the cards by myself. Louise, well, she was fifteen years old. Hacking was her game, as she said.
At the top of the stairs, I heard Marick speaking to someone in his room. I knew I shouldn’t eavesdrop, but he usually answered his father’s calls in front of us. I leaned in to listen, curious why he didn’t do it this time.
“Don’t make it harder than it already is, Shania, please,” he said.
It was a woman. I jerked back and quickly went to my room.
Make it harder than what it already was?
My heart was pounding as I realized I knew nothing about Marick at all.
All the hugs and all the kisses—what if he was with someone already again? Like for the past five years or something? He moved on as he was convinced that I really did die that night.
He had someone else.
I felt the tears wanting to spill. Who the hell was Shania? I stayed in my room for the rest of the night.
Minaut was still in her tabby cat form, drained from the magic that she had to do today.
I wished I could sleep like that.
A knock came at my door, and I pretend to be asleep—I closed my eyes and hoped that whoever it was would go away.
The door opened softly but didn’t close. I heard a flick and felt a presence standing next to my bed. It could be my mother, but I wasn’t going to open my eyes to find out.
The door finally closed, and when I opened my eyes, the room was dark. I switch on my bedside light and thought about what he said to the mysterious caller: “don’t make it harder than it already is.”
Was me coming back hard for him because he was happy?
I didn’t want to think about it. If that were the case, then maybe not remembering our life together wasn’t such a bad thing.
Sleep came, and I dreamed of the dark pit again and how it wanted me to come closer and closer. Tonight, it felt really inviting as all my insecurities were out in the open. A part of me wanted to go in and get it over with, but another part of me held back. While I flitted back and forth, the darkness got a hold of me, pulling and tugging. I realized what was happening way too late.
I fought like hell to not be sucked in. I screamed for help, but no light came.
I screamed and screamed before, finally, a strong force pulled me right out, and I woke up.
I was crying like a baby, my heart was beating so fast, as a pair of arms held me tight.
“Shh, it’s over,” Marick said.
I didn’t want him to see me like this, to hold me, and I push him away and went to the bathroom.
I could hear whispers outside as I sat against the door. My mother was in the room too. They spoke softly. About what? I had no idea.
Sebastian should have never found me. I was surviving with what I thought happened to me. This, this revelation that he might have moved on with his life was making it easier for the dark pit to swallow me whole.
Marick Young was a danger to me.
MARICK
Shania phoned. It wasn’t like that between us, and she was only making it harder for herself. By now, everyone at court knew we found Danielle and it would be a matter of time before she came home with me. It wasn’t going to be easy on Shania. She tried to take Danielle’s place, or most of it.
I only needed her in times of desperate need, but other than that, there wasn’t really a relationship. I fretted over what she would tell Danielle if she got the chance. Without Danny’s memories, she could tell her anything, damaging what we’ve rebuilt. And I would be back to square one.
“Shania, stop crying.”
“Marick, I love you.”
“You always knew how I felt. I told you from the beginning.”
“It’s not fair. You were happy with me.”
My jaw muscles clenched. “Don’t make it harder than it already is,” I said. “It’s not going to make any of this easier.”
“Why? Why now? Ten years, Marick. You knew me longer than you had Danny. I know I must mean someth
ing to you. Josh and Em don’t even remember her. You going to force them to, to call her mom?”
“They are her children, Shania. You’re drunk. I’m not speaking to you like this.” I hung up and took a deep breath before I phoned my father. I still needed to tell him about Eva.
He picked up on the third ring. I was dying to tell him about the books and that Danielle was a witch, but I knew I couldn’t. With her bloodline, it was too dangerous.
I broke the news about my daughter to him. My voice broke as I spoke about her. And it was ten times worse when I told him what she was.
“A Dream Weaver, Marick?”
I laughed. “She dreamt about me, Dad. She knew who I was. She looks just like me.”
My father kept quiet for a moment. “You need to come home son. You can trust me.” My father’s voice broke.
However, I didn’t trust Shania.
“Please, I want to see Danielle, meet Eva. Please. I don’t like what’s happening between us.”
“Dad, this was us for the past ten years.”
“No, it wasn’t Marick. Somehow, you stayed the same with me. Our relationship grew so strong the past fifteen years, and I know it’s because Danielle happened to you. Bring her home, please. I’ve missed her too.”
The truth in his voice hit the string of my heart.
“Okay, make the arrangements, Dad, but I trust you. Please listen. Luke didn’t do this. He lost everything, Dad.”
“He was like a brother to me, Marick, like Sebastian was to you. You can trust me. I want to welcome them home, but we need to follow procedure.”
“Okay,” I sighed and said goodbye.
I ended the call and looked at my watch. Danielle might still be awake. I need to tell her that we would be leaving soon.
I knocked on her door and opened it slowly.
She was lying next to Minaut on the bed, already sleeping. She’d left her light on.
The wisp was still in her tabby cat form, drained from today’s magic, but happy. That I could still sense. I crept in and watched Danielle. She always looked so peaceful when she slept. I never loved another as much as I loved her. The sad part was she didn’t remember a single thing.
I switched off her light and went to find her mother. She needed to know that we would be leaving her soon. She was surprised, but I gave her my word that Danielle would be safe. I would die for all my kids and my wife, even if she didn’t remember me.
Playing With Fire Page 36
