Chapter 22
“You have visitors, mistress.”
Otto’s voice startled me. After sitting in that chair for hours, I’d dozed off and let the sign slip from my hand and fall to the floor. I grabbed it and stuffed it under the cushion after standing up to see who it was.
“Mora,” Jakob said, looking at me with pity in his eyes. Michael was standing behind him.
“Did you come to see the outcast?” I asked them, glancing at the open elevator door. Jakob gave me a sympathetic smile, which I hated. Sympathy was the last thing I needed. “How’d you get up here?”
“We can come and go as we please,” Jakob said. “It’s you who can’t.”
“I thought the place was sealed tight?”
Michael headed for the sofa and sat down. “The twins used a binding spell on you.”
“A binding spell?” My face knotted up. “That’s pretty damn dirty.”
“Yeah, but effective as hell. You’re not going anywhere, so you might as well settle in for a while.”
They’d used a spell to bind me to my own home. It wouldn’t let me leave the boundaries of the penthouse.
Jakob was staring at me when I looked back at him. “It was that hawk in the theater last night,” he said. “I thought I saw his true face when he flew out the window.”
“By true face, you mean…”
“Vampire.” His eyes roamed over my face for a few seconds. “What have you gotten yourself into, Mora?”
Unable to stand his intense stare any longer, I looked away. “He isn’t what you think he is.”
“Oh? Then educate me.”
“His father is a vampire, but his mother was a half-breed.”
“Half-breed of what?” Michael asked, suddenly curious.
Jakob filled him in before I could. “I think your sister is telling us she’s in love with a tri-breed.”
“I’m not in love with anyone, but I am pretty damn fond of him.” But I was falling for Hawk. I think I was plummeting. “His name is Hawk, by the way. And what’s a tri-breed?”
“Exactly what it sounds like. Three species in one. His mother was half human and half raptor. Correct?” He slowly shook his head and squeezed his eyes shut. “For the love of God, Mora. What were you thinking?”
I took a step back and looked him in the eye. “What was I thinking? I met a man who is kind and doesn’t judge me for what I am. Not to mention that he saved my life last night. That’s what I was thinking.”
“What you are?” Jakob tilted his head and looked at me from the corner of his eye. “What do you mean by that?”
I hadn’t told anyone but Michael about my biological father, but Hawk had to sense the vampire blood in me, even if he didn’t fully recognize what it was.
“Come on, Morgan,” Michael said. “It’s Jakob. Just tell him.”
I opened my mouth but hesitated, scared that I’d alienate the only father figure I’d ever known.
“You read the journal,” Jakob said before I could continue. “You know the truth.” He glanced at Michael and got a wary look in his eyes. “And you told Michael.”
“You knew about Ryker?” To say I was shocked was an understatement. But then I remembered Jakob’s comment to me the day I showed him what was in the mystery box.
Promise me you won’t show it to Cabot until you’ve read it. All of it.
He got a distant look in his eyes and seemed to gaze right through me. Then he abruptly snapped out of it. “As I’ve told you before, you’re not the only child in this clan I practically raised.”
Michael stood up and met him eye to eye. “What about me?”
“Phillip was your father. Your mother was a woman who learned from her mistakes.”
The comment stung. I was a mistake. She even said so in her journal.
“Don’t do that, Mora,” Jakob said when he saw the look on my face. “Katherine loved you. Her actions were mistakes, not you. Do you think she would have named you as her successor if she thought you were a mistake?”
She loved me, all right. But a mother’s love is unconditional, even for the worst little monsters they create. If anything, she’d shown me too much love and attention. Avery used to call me our mother’s little shadow because she took me everywhere with her. It was like she was afraid she’d lose me if she let me out of her sight for more than a minute.
“I have to warn Hawk,” I said, changing the subject. “They’ll hunt him down and kill him.”
Jakob nodded, agreeing with my grim prediction. “Tell me where to find him.”
I would have laughed if it wasn’t so tragic. “I don’t have a clue. He just shows up.”
Michael snorted. “And you called me a whore?”
It was an innocent joke between us, but the look Jakob gave him was brutal.
“Come on, Jakob,” Michael said, glancing at me to save him. “I didn’t mean it like that. She’s my sister.”
Trying to cool Jakob’s temper, I stepped in. “It’s just a bad joke between us. Believe me, I’ve called him worse.”
Jakob furrowed his brow and shook his head. “My father would have given me a hundred lashes for calling a woman a whore. A thousand for saying it to my sister.”
“When’s the next hunt?” I asked, defusing the tension between them.
Jakob finally let up on Michael and looked at me. “I’m not sure. Why?”
“Hawk follows me when we hunt. That’s how he knew where I was last night.”
He thought about it for a moment and then turned to leave. “Sit tight. I’ll figure something out.” On his way to the elevator, he glanced back at Michael. “Are you coming, boy?”
Michael hopped up and followed him, just like he had when we were children.
“Jakob,” I said before they stepped into the elevator. “Don’t let them hurt him.”
He smiled briefly and gave me a nod, but I knew he’d be powerless against the entire clan if they got their hands on Hawk. The best I could hope for was to get to him before they did.
The day dragged on. Hawk would appear on the terrace as soon as the sun went down and fall right into a trap. Cabot hadn’t actually said they were watching the building, but any fool knew they were. Especially since Cabot suspected Hawk and I were intimately involved.
I left the chair a few times to try to break through the binding spell that had me trapped in my own home. But every time I tried to reach for the elevator button or slam a ball of light through the glass door, that damn wall would stop me. The spell was too powerful.
“You have a visitor, mistress.”
If I survived this and still had a home when it was over, I swore I’d end that open-door policy of people just showing up whenever they pleased. I’d put my own ward on that elevator.
When I turned around to see who it was, Jakob was standing behind me. Nestled in his palm was the ruby bracelet he’d maneuvered off my wrist that morning before I followed Cabot to council chambers.
“I forgot about that,” I said.
He handed it to me. “I was afraid someone would recognize it, and I figured you had enough to deal with this morning.”
“I remember the earrings from her portrait in the living room,” I said. “But I never saw her wear them. Or the bracelet or ring.”
His face went stone cold. “You have the ring?”
“The earrings, bracelet, and the ring,” I replied, looking at his puzzled eyes. “How do you know about the jewelry?”
He motioned for me to take a seat on the sofa next to him. Then he took my hand and opened it, the rubies sparkling in my palm. “Where did you get it, Mora?”
“From Ryker.” I watched his eyes closely to catch his reaction. He obviously knew who Ryker Caspian was. “He left it in my office at the auction house. The earrings too.”
“And the ring?”
“He walked into Jules’s shop the other day and left it for me.”
He dropped my hand and sighed. “Christ, he’s getting bold
.”
“I don’t have time for this, Jakob. Tell me what’s going on.”
The concerned look on his face turned angry. “Ryker Caspian is a vampire!” he blurted out.
“I know.”
I must have shocked him, because he went silent and just gazed at me for a few seconds. “Then you know about the gene.”
“The what?”
He switched gears and stood up. “Ryker nearly destroyed your mother with those rubies. If it hadn’t been for Phillip coming back into her life, he would have succeeded.”
I was more confused than ever. “I don’t know what you’re talking about. All I know is he’s been following me since the memorial service, and he keeps leaving me these gifts. Jewelry that used to belong to my mother. What does he want?”
“He wants you, Mora! Why do you think your mother never let you out of her sight when you were a child? You have no idea of the power brewing in your blood, but he does and so did your mother. That light in the palm of your hand, your subconscious magic, it’s nothing compared to what’s sleeping inside you, and Ryker Caspian wants it.”
It took a minute for my brain to figure out what he was saying, but even then I was still in the dark. I was just a witch with a few impressive abilities, nothing like the twins. But he was talking as if I was some force of nature, which I wasn’t. Believe me, I’d know. I couldn’t even break through a binding spell.
“Those rubies are the Caspian jewels. They’re laced with power. Katherine would have lost her free will entirely if Phillip hadn’t been so persistent about reconciling their marriage. He saw what happened to her every time she put those earrings on, and it got worse with the bracelet and ring. But it was the damn necklace that nearly sent her over the edge.”
“Necklace?”
He gave me a curious look. “You don’t have it?”
“No.”
“Thank God for that,” he said. “Phillip took the jewels while she was sleeping one night. She was about to leave him again, and he knew it was those rubies. The reason you never saw her wearing them was because Phillip flung them into the Hudson River that night. That’s the last we’ve seen of them. Until now.”
I felt sick to my stomach, but I had to ask. “Does Cabot know about Ryker?” All I could think about was my uncle holding the secret of my paternity as ammunition. His ace in the hole if he couldn’t find an easier way to oust me while keeping me for my usefulness to the clan.
Jakob stared out the window with a somber look on his face. “No one knows. Phillip claimed you as his daughter, and life went on as if nothing had happened. Ryker finally lost his control over Katherine.”
“No one knows except you, Jakob. Why is that?”
Laughing softy, he glanced at me over his shoulder. “Who do you think covered for her all those times when she disappeared to see Ryker? Your mother was like a daughter to me. I would have done anything for her. Just like you, Mora.”
I’d never doubted Jakob’s loyalty. I knew in my heart he’d take a bullet for me.
“Jakob?” When he turned around and looked me, I said, “You mentioned a gene. What did you mean by that?”
He clammed up and stared at me for a few seconds. “We can talk about that later. Right now I need to get you out of here so you can find Hawk, just like I used to do for your mother.”
“Well, unless the twins decide to let me go, I don’t think I’m going anywhere.”
He grinned slyly. “Someday the twins will look like amateurs next to you. In the meantime, I have an idea. Let’s go get the rest of those jewels.”
We headed for the bedroom, and I took the boxes out of the dresser drawer.
“That ring isn’t normal,” I said, remembering the little stunt it carried out that morning. Neither was the bracelet. But if those jewels could be tossed into the Hudson River and end up on my dresser years later, surviving a bathroom drain was a pretty small feat.
“Put them on,” he said.
I hesitated when I remembered the way I felt when I’d worn the set that morning.
“Don’t worry,” he said. “Without the necklace, you’ll be fine. A little foggy but still in control for the most part. Just promise me you’ll call me if you get a box with a large ruby pendant inside.”
I wanted to trust his plan unconditionally, but I was a little wary about putting that ring on my finger again. “What exactly are we doing, Jakob?”
“Olivia and James put a binding spell on Morgan Winterborne. But once you put those jewels on, you’ll start to become someone else. You’ll lose some of your free will and start to give in to the Caspian spell.”
“That’s what I’m afraid of.”
“I’ve got you, Mora. You’ll be fine. Individually the jewels have little power, but the more of the set you wear, the stronger their hold on you. It’s the pendant you should be afraid of. It can render the wearer completely helpless, especially when worn with the other pieces. Hence my warning to call me if it shows up on your desk.”
Trusting him, I put the earrings on and then the bracelet, saving the obnoxious ring for last. The current of energy I’d felt that morning started to flow through me again. “Feels like I have my finger stuck in a low-voltage socket. I also feel a little woozy.”
“Good. Let’s see if we can get you out of here. Don’t say a word once we leave the bedroom. We don’t want that spell picking up on your voice.”
“I still don’t understand how this is going to work.”
He let out a heavy sigh and tried to explain it again. “Think of that spell as a blind assassin. If it can’t detect your essence or hear your voice, it can’t find its target. Wearing those jewels alters your essence, which basically makes you invisible to it. Understand?”
“Okay,” I said, nodding. “It’ll work.”
“I hope,” he muttered. “One other thing. We’re going out through the terrace door.”
I looked at him like he was crazy. “And then what? We fly?”
“Trust me.”
We walked into the living room and headed for the terrace. When we approached the door, he put his hand up to stop me. After opening it, he motioned for me to walk outside.
I tried to step through the door, but my foot slowed down as it passed over the threshold, like I was walking into a wall of gel that wouldn’t quite let me through. At least it wasn’t a solid wall anymore. I tried again with my other foot but got the same result. Even my arm couldn’t penetrate the soft wall that seemed to stretch as I pushed against it. Maybe my “essence” wasn’t as altered as Jakob had anticipated.
He motioned for me to step back and gave it some thought. Then he snugged me tightly against his side and led me forward, pulling me along with him side by side as if we were one person. The resistance was still there, but it was very faint, and we slipped past it with a little effort.
“It worked!” I cringed and threw my hand over my mouth, fearing the spell had heard me and was about to suck me back in.
“It’s all right,” Jakob said. “You can speak now. Without a target, a binding spell is useless. It was already weakened the moment you put that jewelry on. And now that you’re out of the penthouse, it’s dead.”
My elation suddenly went south as I looked over the edge of the building. “What are we supposed to do now?”
“Well, I guess now would be a good time for that second lesson.”
“Lesson in what? Flying?”
“It’s time you learned how to travel on your own.” He pointed to the park across the street. “You should be able to end up over there by using this,” he said, tapping his temple. “You’ve always had the power, you just didn’t know it. It’s no different than when we walk through walls and come out on the other side when we hunt.”
“Yeah, but I’m just hitching a ride with the others.” I suddenly questioned that logic when he grinned at me. “Aren’t I?”
“It’s so natural for you that you don’t even know you’re doing it. Your problem
is you don’t know how to travel at will.” He nodded to the wall. “It’s like teaching a baby bird to fly. The fledgling has to follow its instincts and just leap from the nest.”
He couldn’t be suggesting what I thought he was. “You don’t really expect me to jump off the building to test that theory, do you?”
“I promise you, Mora, if you jump over that wall, you won’t hit the sidewalk. Your natural abilities will kick in before that happens.”
As I recalled, the last time I went over that wall, Hawk had to catch me before I splattered all over the sidewalk.
He was starting to say something else to convince me when we heard Otto’s faint voice announcing visitors. “Fuck! Wrap your arms around me!”
“I forgot the journal!”
“It’s too late now.” He grabbed me and headed for the edge, but instead of leaping over the wall, he walked straight through it, with me pressed tightly to his chest. I thought he was going to let go, but it was just like all the other times. A second passed and I was somewhere else, in the park across the street. This time though, I felt a rush of adrenaline that made me a little queasy. Jakob was standing a dozen yards away from me with a smile on his face.
“You did let go!” I said in disbelief. “You dropped me!”
“Calm down, Mora. You’re still in one piece.”
As my peripheral vision went fuzzy and the sounds of the city were replaced by a high-pitched ringing in my ears, my legs turned to jelly. “I think I need to sit down for a second.” I hit the ground, and the darkness behind my closed eyes exploded in a shower of lights. It was like fireworks filling my head. A moment later, my eyes popped back open and I sat straight up. “What the hell just happened?”
Jakob walked up to me and chuckled. “You just got your passport stamped. Welcome to the wonderful world of travel.”
“Yeah, but how do I do it again without jumping off a building?”
He helped me up and steadied me. “You’ll get the hang of it. You’ll be walking through walls before you know it.”
I hoped he was right, but for now I was taking the subway or walking if I didn’t get some cash.
Dark Legacy (House of Winterborne Book 1) Page 17
