“You mean by trying to kill myself.”
She nodded.
“I still don’t see how this helps you,” Jae said. “I won’t use what I’ve become to hurt anyone else.” Even as he spoke this, he knew that transforming into the beast was inevitable. He could not control it for long.
“You misunderstand me. What I need from you is information, not your services.”
“What kind of information?”
“Information to help me end Juliska Blackwell’s reign of terror.”
Jae’s first concern was for his family. He had no idea what was happening on the island but he had no reason to trust Amelia.
“So let’s just say that somehow you take Juliska out of power, what then? What happens to everyone?”
Amelia stared for a moment. Clearly she had hoped this would go much easier.
“They know the truth,” she began. “They will be free.”
“Free like me?” he asked, disliking her vague answer.
“You are not my prisoner, Jae. But you must understand that with your... condition, I cannot simply allow you to wander.”
“So you take Juliska out of power and everyone just goes about their lives. Do they stay on the island? Do they come here? What if they don’t want you as their leader? I’m assuming that’s your plan, to be Banon...”
Amelia sat back and huffed, her friendly demeanor quickly dissolving into impatience.
Jae continued. “What I think, is that I am a prisoner here. And I’ve just been demoted from Juliska’s puppet to your puppet. Except I’ve decided I’m cutting the strings. I’m not playing by anyone else’s rules anymore. You should have just let me die. And frankly, what’s to stop me from transforming and just flying away from here?”
Amelia laughed, standing from her chair. She looked down at him, shaking her head.
“Clearly I misjudged your intelligence. You do realize that if you transform, Juliska will know you’re still alive, don’t you? You are bonded to her until your death... I thought you knew that, seeing as you threw yourself over that cliff.”
Jae didn’t respond.
“What exactly do you think will happen if she finds out you’re still alive? Do you think she’ll just kill you? End it all on your behalf? Put you out of your pathetic misery?”
Jae still did not respond. When he had thrown himself off the cliff it had been to end his misery and to pay for what he’d allowed himself to become. He did not know, had never been told about, the bond. He knew what he had become was for life, but not that Juliska would know if he transformed. How stupid could he be? Of course this would be true... of course Juliska would create a bond. He really was a prisoner here. If he transformed she would know he was still alive and he would be forced back into her service. It was only a matter of time until this would happen. He could already feel the anger surging inside him, screaming to transform.
He still could not give in to Amelia. He would not put his family or friends in any more danger than they were already in. He didn’t trust this woman, any more than he did Juliska Blackwell. Were all leaders this corrupt? Was there anyone that wasn’t taken in by the need for more power? He folded his arms in defiance.
Amelia understood his silent message and turned to leave. Before she did so though, she stopped and turned to him, her voice overly pleasant as she spoke.
“Just one last thought to leave you with. If you could break the bond that Juliska has over you, would you? You can never take away the monster inside of you, but if you could control it, yourself, would you choose to?”
Jae knew he had instantly given himself away. Was it possible to break the bond? He looked down, hiding his face with his dangly hair.
“Just so you know, the bond is breakable, Jae Mochrie. You help me, I help you. Just think about it.”
Chapter 4
Meghan watched in terror as her friends disappeared from view, leaving her alone with Colby. He let go of her and fell to his knees holding his head. His thoughts invaded hers and she struggled to focus, or even open her eyes. She reached out and grabbed onto him, fearing she would lose her balance and fall off the small piece of earth remaining under their feet.
“Colby, you have to get a grip!” she shouted. She tried pushing his thoughts out of her mind and focus on her own. Colby sensed what she was doing and shifted focus off his own thoughts, latching on to hers.
Suddenly, they were no longer standing on a small mound of earth, surrounded by a deep pit of nothingness, but in a familiar spot she never thought she’d return to: Grimble. The ghost town where she and Colin had met their Uncle Eddy, a ghost who had waited in the afterlife to tutor them just as they had started living in the magical world of the Svoda. Except that she was watching herself, and Ivan. What was this? A memory? It couldn’t be real, they’d already lived this moment.
Colby blinked a few times, getting his bearings and catching his breath. The rumble of thoughts was gone.
“What is this?” asked Colby, at first confused. “Wait, I remember this.”
“What did you do?” she demanded angrily. “How are we here?”
“I- I think I latched on to one of your memories and now we are ... I don’t know, stuck in it...”
“Perfect,” she mumbled. “Like I needed to relive this.”
“It was the first time we met,” Colby reminded her.
“Again, like I need to relive it.”
“This was one of the first jobs my father sent me on.”
“One in which you killed Ivan, and tried to kill me. Or did I need to remind you of that fact?”
Colby looked at her. “Knowing what I know now, I guess I’m sorry about that last part.”
“Knowing what you know now? You guess you’re sorry!” she repeated. “What? Now that you know me you wouldn’t have tried to kill me?”
He did not reply, but watched as the memory unfolded. Nona, Meghan’s loyal Catawitch, was running straight past them in a hurry.
“I didn’t know it, but Nona was racing to help me,” Meghan explained impatiently. “I thought for a minute she had abandoned me.”
“Ha! Like that could happen.”
“I know that now,” she retorted. “She was actually racing to free someone, someone that helped me. Saved my life.”
“You mean that boy that transformed from a bird... yeah, that actually caught me off guard. Didn’t expect that. Did you know it was bird boy that delivered the book to me, just moments before that happened?”
Meghan sighed. “I wasn’t totally sure, but I suspected as much, seeing as he admitted to me that he had attacked my brother and stolen the book. Hey!” she said, stopping abruptly. “Since we’re stuck here, what did he trade you for anyway?”
“I don’t think I can tell you that.”
Meghan did not hear him, as she watched herself and Ivan hiding in the dirty rag-filled bins near the ghost huts. She gasped when Nona came striding back into the woods, hopping around the other side of the hut. Seconds later, she saw Sebastien walk into the woods. Nona had released him from the cage she had locked him in. He had flown alongside Nona and then transformed out of his bird form and was holding Colin’s stolen book, Magicante.
He used magic to form a cloak over his body. He was just a few feet away from her hiding spot in rag-filled bins and she had no idea. Without thinking, she started to follow him through the memory, toward the mud huts, and watched as he made the exchange. Colby followed her.
She ignored the parts of the memory she already knew and followed Sebastien back out of the huts, watching as he magicked away the cloak and opened the documents. He read the pages and with each line he read, his face became paler, his expression confused.
“I shouldn’t have looked,” he mumbled. “Maybe I’m reading this wrong?” He looked at it again and again.
Meghan attempted to see what he was looking at but could not read it. Sebastien then jerked his head, hearing the commotion in the huts below. “I’m not suppos
ed to interfere, but I won’t just sit here and do nothing!”
Sebastien cast a spell and a tunnel of light appeared out of nowhere. He threw the papers he had exchanged for the Magicante inside of it and they were sucked inside. The tunnel disappeared, along with the papers. Meghan watched as Sebastien transformed back into Bird and flew down into the mud huts, where he proceeded to save her life.
“What was on those papers?” she asked Colby again.
“Something that obviously made that boy doubt what he was doing to get them.”
“That doesn’t tell me anything!” she shouted, stamping her foot like a child having a tantrum.
“Okay, fine! The truth is I don’t really know. All my father said is that it was a spell, something Amelia Cobb wanted and was willing to make an agreement for. My father wanted the Magicante, I guess he had no use for the spell.”
Meghan thought hard about it all. Sebastien was working for Amelia at the time. Whatever it was, she had it now, and there was nothing that could be done about that. This was a memory. History.
Something else dawned on her. Nona. She had known who Sebastien was. And kept it from her. Meghan could not fathom the idea of Nona keeping such a secret from her.
Colby heard her thoughts.
“She would if she thought it was the wisest move. Catawitches will do anything to protect their masters. I have no doubt they are trying to find a way to locate us, right now.”
“Can they?” she asked him.
“No. I don’t think they can.”
“I don’t even know why this memory is the one you decided to take us to!” Meghan spat out. She wanted to go home now, back to her friends. Back to Nona, whether she’d hidden secrets or not.
“I just caught onto one,” said Colby. “This is something you were thinking about, not me!”
“Can we just leave here please? Go home...”
“I’m uh, not sure how to do that.”
She let out a frustrated sigh. She didn’t relish reliving more terrible memories, while Colby figured out how to deal with his issues!
“Maybe we need to figure out what exactly your issues are,” she mumbled, half to herself, half out loud.
“I don’t have issues! Just something I need to figure out how to control. I was hoping my...” he paused, trailing off.
“Your?” she prodded.
“I was hoping my mother could help me,” he finished.
“If you were seeking out your mother, why did you come to me?”
He refused to answer. Instead, she felt his thoughts once again starting to race at an overwhelmingly fast pace.
“Oh crap!” she said as everything around her started to swirl. “Where are we going now?” She tried to clear her mind, hoping they’d end up in one of his memories instead of hers. When everything stopped spinning they were again in a place she never thought she would return to. Eidolon’s Valley.
“Is this another of my memories?” she asked.
Colby glanced around. “Actually, I think this is one of mine. I hated this place,” he spoke with a glum voice.
“Wait a minute... that’s me and Ivan and... you following us.”
“Yeah, I did follow you for awhile. I had time to kill, wanted to see what you were up to.”
“If I’d known it was you I would have...”
“What? Tried to stop me? With your pathetic magical abilities...”
“You can still burn,” she warned him.
“Not anymore,” he argued in a taunting voice.
“Again with the cryptic.”
She folded her arms, waiting for him to explain.
“My father, he...”
“He what? And just who is your father by the way? He sounds like a big jerk to me!”
“How dare you speak about our father that way?” His dark eyes stared down at her. She suddenly realized that he was quite a bit taller than she was. Regardless of how small he made her feel, she stood her ground.
“I’ll speak about him all I... wait... what?”
Colby caught his mistake too late. He hadn’t meant to tell her yet.
“Whatever. You were going to find out you’re my sister soon enough anyway.”
“You... wait, are you saying that Jurekai Fazendiin is your father?” She stumbled, catching herself.
“Ding ding ding!” his voice rang out. “Turns out you’re my long lost twin sister.”
“No. That’s not possible. Colin is my twin.”
“Sorry. Wrong.”
“You were at the cave to see your mother... my mother.”
“Ding ding ...”
“Oh shut up,” she spouted. “Colin has to be my brother! I can hear his thoughts, just like I can yours.”
“But I can’t. Or... maybe I just haven’t tried.” He pondered attempting to take a peek into Colin’s mind.
“Keep your thoughts on the here and now if you don’t mind. I’d like to stay in one place for a little while.”
“Fine. Anyway. So, you’re my sister.”
“And Fazendiin is really our father?” her lips turned downward as she confirmed this.
“Don’t look so disappointed. Do you have any idea what this means?”
“No. I really don’t. Other than being completely horrified by it.”
He ignored the last bit and shook his head.
“We could accomplish so much together. You’re a little behind, but I’m sure that Dad,” Meghan cringed as he said with such ease, “could turn you into a pretty powerful...”
“Stop,” she ordered. “I don’t know what you’re scheming, but you can forget it. I will never join you. I will never condone what you’ve done.”
“Why is it that everyone thinks we are the bad guys?”
“Maybe because you kill without a thought, don’t care about anyone or anything except yourselves and getting what you want.”
“Yeah, but it’s not like Juliska Blackwell turned out to be so great either. And then there’s Amelia, she almost makes Juliska look like a saint!”
“Just because that’s true doesn’t mean the Svoda are bad people. They’re just misled.”
“You don’t know that much about their history, do you?”
She ignored him.
“I’m sure there’s lots of stuff they left out of their history books. Oh, no,” he suddenly veered off, a frightened look on his face.
“What?” she asked, feigning concern.
“I’m using history. Man, I hate it when my father is right!”
“He makes you learn history?” she asked.
“You have no idea what I have had to learn,” he droned on. “The school work never ends.”
“You realize this isn’t helping your cause any.”
He let out an angry sound and continued. “Whatever. The point is that the Svoda aren’t so innocent as you might be thinking they are. They’ve done their share of damage. They’ve killed.”
“I don’t think any one person or group is purely just good or bad, Colby. No one is perfect. But I think more so than anything I’ve seen, they are good people with good intentions. Unlike you or your father. Do you really think your father is a good man? Our father I mean...”
“Like you said, Sis, there is no just good or evil. But yes, I do think his intentions are... well look what he’s given me!” Colby proceeded to open up his shirt and show Meghan a scar over his heart.
“What happened?” she asked.
“He made me powerful. More powerful than anyone else, including himself.”
“How? By stabbing you?”
“Necessary. It was the only way to transfer the power.”
“What did he stab you with? And I can’t believe you don’t think there’s something wrong with that!”
“Sometimes it takes a little sacrifice to get what you want. I’m not afraid to get a little dirty.”
“You are so ... unbelievable! Colby, a father should not stab something into his son just to make him more powerful!
And look at yourself! This isn’t a gift! It’s a curse! You can’t even control it! And do you really believe someone like Fazendiin would really make you more powerful than himself?”
“I was angry at first, I’ll admit that. But he’s not what you think, Meghan. He’s not the pure evil you believe him to be.”
“He really has you brainwashed,” she said.
“Not at all, he’s just given me a very broad view of the world. Can you say that?”
“Maybe I haven’t learned everything there is to know about magic and the magical world, but I still think what he did to you is wrong. Look at what’s it’s doing to you. You’re stuck grasping onto memories in order to keep some kind of control on yourself. What happens when we leave memory lane?”
The memory shifted again, but only slightly this time. They were still in the E-Valley, and Eidolon was taunting them with the velvet bag and informing them that the man they had come searching for was dead.
“I’m still pissed that I didn’t get that bag,” Colby noted.
“I thought you were after Colin’s book?” Meghan asked haughtily.
“Yes, but I planned on taking the little bag with me too. I don’t like to leave loose ends.”
“Well whatever was in there is in the hands of Juliska Blackwell now. Ivan handed it over to her when we returned.”
“My... our... father gave it to her anyway. Only right it should have been returned to her.”
“What do you mean?” she demanded.
“See, here we go again. You don’t know anything.”
She ignored him and asked, “Are you telling me that Juliska and our father were working together?”
“Were. Are.”
Meghan’s head was too full, she felt like she was spinning out of control. Why should she be surprised? Juliska was evil, so why not be working with Fazendiin. Her father...
“Did Juliska know about us?” asked Meghan.
“Don’t think so. Think Dad kept a pretty tight cork on me being around and you... we just found out about you quite recently.”
Meghan didn’t say more but she knew how it had happened. When Fazendiin had shown up to threaten the Svoda he had smelled her blood. He discovered who she was right then.
Taken (Book Six) (Fated Saga Fantasy Series) Page 5
