“What is it?” she turned to the window and then faced back at me. “Did you see something?”
Lie to her! my inner conscience screamed. She doesn’t need to know.
“Um,” I shrugged. “I thought I saw Cole,” I laughed at myself out of embarrassment. My eyes, however, continued to snap to the man of my dreams. Literally.
“Oh, I think he’s with Erik at your aunt’s house,” she said. “He said you weren’t feeling good the other night. Sorry, I didn’t ask. Are you better?”
I set my cup down and leaned so that my hair fell to my left. “Oh, yeah. I was just… out of it.” How did no one tell you about my eyes? “I was actually… I kind of had something bugging me.”
Her brow arched. “He said you seemed to still have a darkness in you.”
I nodded, and then I lowered my shoulders. “Yeah, I ugh… um,” I trailed as I kept finding Elliot in my gaze.
Lydia reached over and took my hand. “If you can’t tell me how you feel, that’s okay. I can see something’s eating away at you,” she lulled. “But I’m here, no matter what.”
Her words calmed my heart. “I appreciate that.”
“The spell, though,” she changed the subject, “Charlotte thinks if it’s reversed, she might be able to unlink Dylan from Dune.”
“Whoa, really?” I sat forward and leaned onto the table. “That’s great.”
“But we’re worried about what will happen once Dune is free from the sleep Dylan is under.”
I bit my lip. “He’d come here,” I knew without a thought. I shook my head at the disappointment of it all. I really needed my brother around, and all I did was send him away. “What if we linked him to someone else?” the idea gained weight in my mind. “That would keep him under the sleeping spell, but my brother would be free,” I said as excitement started to take hold.
“Ooh, yes that’s good,” Lydia agreed.
I brushed my hair back and teased, “Not as good as Antauk.”
“Stop it,” she blushed. After a long drink, she whispered across the table, “It was my first time.”
“I’m happy for you, really. Lucas is a great guy,” I smiled. “You look happy with him.”
“I am really happy,” she crossed her legs beneath the table and put her phone back into her pocket. “I’m seeing him tonight at his place.”
“Hm,” I licked the sugary drink from my lips. “The Wilder’s home. Minus Mr. and Mrs., I’m guessing?” We both laughed.
“Oh, can you get Scarlet out of the house for us?” she asked. When I didn’t immediately respond, she kind of begged. “Please, Irene. She’s been reading over her mother’s old journals. She never leaves her room.”
“What? I just saw her.”
“Well, ever since she gave Charlotte the book, she’s been… I don’t know. Soul searching?”
I knew Scarlet’s mother was always a sore subject to confront. She knew very little of the woman, and her father didn’t help much as he regularly shut Scarlet out. Lydia and I had once seen a picture of the woman, of Lily Gould. Scarlet looked identical to her. And now that Scarlet was approaching the same age that her mother was when she gave birth, the resemblance was uncanny.
“What does Lucas think about it all?” I wondered as my eyes again found Elliot. I squirmed in my seat, but his glare was nothing short of pure desire. “Is he worried?”
Lydia shook her head. “He feels like she’s getting obsessed, but then also doesn’t want to say something that’ll hurt her. You know, it’s gotta be hard for Scarlet. Both of her brothers have their dad. But her mom—a girl’s mom—is so important. And she never had her around.”
“She likes Gabrielle, right?” I had never seen them argue. The woman raised Scarlet and Lucas as her own, and the whole family fit together so well that most people didn’t know otherwise. “She’s always called her mom.”
“Oh, yeah,” Lydia nodded quick. “Gabrielle is awesome. And Scarlet loves her. I mean, it’s all she’s ever known.” Lydia laughed a little. “If she had brighter hair, Scarlet would kind of look like her.” That was true. Her dad apparently liked one type of woman.
“I’ll call her over. Maybe Charlotte and I can go over more of the book with her.”
“Thanks,” Lydia scrunched her nose as she grinned. Ever since freshman year, after needing a retainer for eleven months, Lydia’s front teeth stuck out just a little further than the rest. We used to call her bunny in high school, a name that I had forgotten until that moment. I giggled a little to myself as she drank down more of her coffee.
“See ya!” I shouted, waving to Lydia as she drove away. The wind was calmer then while I walked toward the bookstore, toward my home. There weren’t many people on the sidewalk. A couple with a dog, a man jogging, a woman with a stroller… Elliot. I drew in a long breath, and the wind lifted my hair from my neck. The coolness of the breeze sent shivers down my shoulders and around my stomach. I pulled my jacket tighter to my body as the rain began to fall. The quicker I walked, the quicker his stride. Rounding the building, I could feel him at my heels. The sky deepened, and the raindrops grew. My breath came out of my heated body in plumes that fogged the air.
“Elliot?” I bit my lip as I gripped the banister to my apartment. I could feel my heart beating heavily. Why was he there? I wasn’t sleeping. I wasn’t tired at all. I faced him, and he had that same direct focus that sharpened the longer he kept me in his mental grasp. Oh god. I didn’t want to cause Elliot problems, but I couldn’t just ignore these hallucinations. The man was in my mind, following me no matter what I did. And I couldn’t ignore the way my body reacted to him.
By the time we stepped into the apartment, we were soaked. Our clothes fell to the floor in sudden plops as we traveled to the bed. I let my eyes grow heavy as I lay there beneath Elliot. And as the world blinked away, I fell deeper into his abyss.
THE END OF SPRING
“My dad knows,” Scarlet had been pacing around my apartment for over an hour as she explained her suspicions to Charlotte and me. “He has to, there’s no other way.”
Charlotte was rummaging through Lily Gould’s journals on the coffee table. There were four of them, one for each year starting with when she had turned seventeen. Drawings, pressed flower petals, little handwritten notes about all sorts of magical things… Scarlet had found a treasure of moments.
“What about Lucas?” Charlotte pried.
Scarlet shrugged. “I have no idea how to tell him.”
“You have to be one-thousand percent certain before you accept this,” I had one of her mother’s journals in my hand. I shook the item out in the open air as I said my words. “No turning back.”
Scarlet crossed her arms. “I believe this more than anything.”
“Your mom was a Greyhart,” Charlotte spoke like she couldn’t believe her own words. “It doesn’t make sense.”
“I know,” Scarlet’s eyes were big as she seemed to be on a natural high from knowledge. She went to the counter and grabbed a few fries from one of the paper boxes. As she chewed, she started to pace again. I couldn’t help but sigh. My hallucinations of Elliot were beginning to leave me with vertigo, and Scarlet’s restlessness only intensified the sensation. “I mean, we’re twins. That’s pretty magical already, right?” she faced us for validation.
“Yeah, and you might need him to be a part of you regaining your magic,” Charlotte informed. Scarlet and I quietly waited for clarification. “Being born at the same time, from the same womb, means that you share the same blood, in a magical sense. Typically, whatever you do will affect him. And vice versa. If he doesn’t want the same as you, it could create an imbalance.”
“Scarlet,” I asked, “do you really think your great-grandfather renounced his magic? Or did he just possess a copy of the Galdorvore?”
Scarlet shrugged. “Don’t you have to be a Greyhart to have one?”
“I don’t know,” I shook my head. The whole concept of a Greyhart was confusing to
me.
Charlotte bit her lip in thought. “Well, something just doesn’t feel right about this.”
“Exactly,” Scarlet popped her hands together. Charlotte thumbed over the same pages she had been studying during our conversation when her phone buzzed—for the fourth time.
“Why aren’t you answering your phone?” I finally asked.
“Because I’m mad at him,” simply put.
I stuffed a few fries in my mouth and went to grab a soda from the fridge when a pounding knock hit the door.
“Charlotte, come on,” Caleb called to my sister. “I know you’re angry, but I have to talk to you.”
“What’d he do?” Scarlet whispered.
My sister, rolling her eyes, admitted, “He fed without me.” Crossing her legs the other way, Charlotte then perked her shoulders up and kept reviewing the pages.
“Was she pretty?” Scarlet teased. Charlotte, however, didn’t find it funny.
“Irene?” Caleb called to me. “I have something important to tell you both. Please let me in.” My sister sighed.
“What’s so important that it can’t wait?” I asked as I neared the door. “Shouldn’t you try to apologize first?”
There was a little pause of silence, followed by a pressing thud on my door. I thought it must be him leaning his head. “Charlotte, please forgive me. You were busy with your friends, and I was hungry.”
“You wanted to taste her,” my sister spat. “I saw it in your eyes.”
“Ok, yeah,” Caleb stomped around outside the door. “She smelled sweet, like you did as a mortal. I’m sorry, Char, I hate that I can’t just have you. It isn’t possible.”
My sister had put the journal down and then crossed her arms. “So, this is my fault?” Oh, geez. “If I hadn’t changed, you’d still want me. Is that it?”
“Charlotte, I don’t think he meant—” I tried to help, but she cut me off.
“I was sweeter, I was vulnerable,” Charlotte pressed as a breeze carried through my apartment and nearly knocked a take-out box from the counter. “I was your pet.”
“Never!” Caleb refused as his hand hit the door. “This is ridiculous. I fed on her. That’s it. And yes, it was because I wanted to taste her.” Even Scarlet was shaking her head at the stupidity of the moment. “King Ronan is dead,” he finished, and then I heard him trot down the stairs.
“What?” I gasped. I rushed to the door, unlocked it, and then called to him to come up. “He’s dead?”
“He died naturally in his sleep two nights ago,” Caleb informed. He stood near the door as he looked over the apartment. Charlotte had an almost forgiving stare in her eyes as she watched her boyfriend fidget around nervously.
“Oh, just get in here,” I said. I tugged him to the couch—next to my sister—and watched as they instantly made up. I rolled my eyes. Even magical creatures had teenage drama. “So, what about Lorcan and Tristan?” I hadn’t said their names aloud in weeks. It was strange, exciting. “What happens now?”
Holding my sister’s hand, Caleb informed, “The King’s mark appears after the previous king is put to his element. The funeral is set for tomorrow. You’re invited,” he looked right at me. I was surprised at first, but then I guess I sort of expected to go. I knew Tristan and Lorcan well enough to be there for support, even though their father was supposedly terrible to them. But also, as the Lady of Frostmoor, it was my job to be present at significant affairs.
“Does Elliot know?” I practically mumbled. Translation: Will my Lord be there so I can actually kiss him? Touch him? Make my dreams a reality? Breathe.
“Word just went out this evening,” Caleb said. “He’s probably being told now.”
“What do I wear?” I wondered out loud. “Who will be there?”
“Everyone,” Charlotte poised. “And they’ll be more concerned with the mark than the funeral.”
“I hope it doesn’t hurt them like mine hurt me,” I was thinking out loud as I started to clean up the counter.
“Oh, yeah it will,” Caleb smirked. “And I can’t wait for them to feel the pain,” he practically glowed with excitement. Charlotte gave him a really smile, and he further explained. “One of them captured you and forced your turning,” he looked to my sister. “And the other beat the hell out of me,” he glanced at each of us. No matter what I did, that image, the memory of a near-dead Caleb, would never leave my mind. “I want to see one of them suffer.”
“Chances are it’ll be Tristan,” I sat on a stool. The others in the room looked at me with curious gazes. “Oh, you guys didn’t know?” No response. “Lorcan told me he renounced his right to the mark.”
“There’s no way that man would give something like a kingship up so easily,” Scarlet tilted her head with a big, know-it-all glare. I knew she couldn’t stand either of the princes for the troubles they had caused her brother.
“Well, he declared himself free from it all, in front of the… the um…” I couldn’t remember the name of the tree.
“The Yester Yew?” Charlotte asked me. I gave a nod. “Well, then it will be Tristan. That tree is older than Frostmoor Manor House.” That’s old.
“Bryn’s arranging for a portal tomorrow morning,” Caleb informed. “Bring what you want, just remember a formal outfit. The Haldor’s are known for their strict traditions.”
“Right,” I nodded. “Black dress. Modest.”
“Sounds proper,” Scarlet agreed. She checked the time on her phone and then stretched out. “Do you need help finding something?” she offered.
“Yeah, if you can, that’d be great,” I agreed. “You want to come with us?” I asked my sister.
“Nope. Caleb and I are going hunting,” she smiled at her boyfriend. “I have the perfect meal in mind.”
“Alright, I’ll see you guys tomorrow morning, then,” I said to my sister as she and Caleb stood.
“Actually,” Caleb turned back just before grabbing the door handle. “We aren’t going,” he revealed. “We weren’t invited.”
“That’s okay,” Charlotte wrapped her arm around Caleb’s. “We had other plans.”
“What do you mean? They’d invite you,” I was sure.
“Torture? Kidnapping?” Caleb reminded me.
“But I don’t really want to go alone,” I bit my lip. Scarlet gave me a sympathetic smile as she went toward the bathroom. “You guys can’t just, you know, come along anyway?”
“Bryn’s going, right?” Charlotte waited for Caleb to nod. “She’ll help you through, and she can keep you company.”
“Yeah, okay,” I accepted. “What are you doing tomorrow?” I asked my sister, wondering what was so important that she couldn’t come with me.
Putting her hand on Caleb’s chest, my sister looked to me coyly, “Well, we were going to go out of town this week.” Enough said. I smiled. After telling them bye, I closed the door. At the window came a breeze so purely intoxicating that I closed my eyes and tripped backward against the door.
“Hey,” Scarlet woke me from the daydream. “I couldn’t find any tampons in your cabinet. Do you have one in your purse?”
“Oh yeah,” I went straight for my shoulder bag that was laying on my bed. About a foot before, I froze in place. I almost couldn’t swallow, couldn’t breathe. Scarlet was calling my name, but her voice was muffled by my beating heart. And it was here that I heard it for the first time—that sound Elliot had noticed, the drumming my sister almost picked up on. I collapsed onto the bed as Scarlet came to my side.
“What’s wrong?” the terror in her eyes was immense. “Are you dizzy again?” Makes sense. “Are you sick?” How did I not see this? “Irene, you’re scaring me,” Scarlet shook my arm. “Should I call Charlotte back?”
I reached up and grabbed her hand and mouthed a near-silent, “No.”
“Did you have a vision?”
Not exactly.
I cleared my throat. “Scarlet, I don’t have any tampons.” My friend studied me with her bright b
lue eyes. “I haven’t needed them for a while.”
She gasped so sharply I expected her to cough. “You aren’t,” she denied the idea. “You can’t be.”
“It’s the only explanation,” I ran my fingers through my hair.
“Are you still going tomorrow?”
“I have to. If there’s a chance Elliot will be there, I have to see him.”
“Is it safe? Doesn’t Skye Sorn have strange days and short hours?” she sat up and adjusted her shirt, and then scanned my belly.
I shrugged. “I was in Skye Sorn since… you know,” I tried to be clear about the last time Elliot and I were together together. Scarlet nodded. “But I was in Frostmoor the first time.” It was starting to become a mess in my mind.
“And it’s Elliot’s baby, for sure?” she asked me in the nicest voice she owned.
I nodded. “There’s never been anyone else.”
“Not even Cole?” she blurted.
“Nope.”
“Well, I guess congrats,” she smiled. I didn’t know what to say. There were so many questions circling around in my thoughts then. How long have I been pregnant? How long will I be pregnant? Will the baby be a water dragon? Or possibly mortal?
“Oh, Sanne,” I gasped. Scarlet had a curious look on her face. “She told me this. She said… um, something about feathers of darkness and… waves in her eyes.”
“Magical,” Scarlet whispered.
“And she said the baby—a girl—would arrive when the moons chime twice. What does that even mean?”
“A full moon.” Scarlet lifted her chin. “My mother wrote about full moons. They chime, like a bell in the night sky, in a symbolic sort of way.”
“Two full moons?” I felt my neck tighten. “That’s already happened since I got the prophecy.”
“No, it’s her moons, of the realms she belongs to,” Scarlet told. “They have to be full at the same time. And twice according to her words.” Scarlet leaned back on the bed where she was now sitting with a satisfied grin. I could see how pleased she was to be part of the magic—not just a bystander—unlike in the past.
Witherstone- Wings of My Legion Page 5
