He wished it all away. The quake. Her fear. The reason she even needed to hide.
A minute later, it all ended. The ground stable below their feet again.
“Is it over?” Catrina asked warily.
“I think it is.”
Outside the tent, voices called out, checking for injuries. Footsteps scraping into the dirt, scurrying by, investigating the aftermath.
Colin made Catrina invisible again and stuck his head outside the tent. There was some damage to a few tents, the cantina was a mess, but overall, things didn’t look too bad. There was a banging inside his head. Meghan… He opened the link.
“Are you guys okay?” she demanded fretfully.
“Yes. We are. You?”
“Yeah. Fine. Was that freaky or what?”
“Or what,” he returned sarcastically.
“Our first quake.”
“And I hope our last. Not in a hurry to have it happen again,” Colin clucked. “Since you’re in my head though, thanks for sending Nona earlier.”
“Nona thinks I pretty much scared you to death. Sorry. I just meant for you to be extra careful. They are watching everyone right now, Colin. It’s like everything is falling to pieces.”
“Yeah, that’s kind of what it feels like here, too,” he admitted. Hearing Meghan’s voice calmed him. He was wrong to get so upset. Somehow, things would work out.
“I gotta run, Col. Just glad you’re all right.”
“You too, Sis.”
She left his mind and he put his own block back in place. Colin explained to Catrina that his sister’s warning might have come across a bit heavier than she had meant it to.
“Still, we’re not wrong to worry.”
“Like you said, we’ll just be careful. About everything.” Colin glanced at the exit. “Wonder if I should go see if anyone needs help.”
“Yes, go. I’ll be okay here.”
Colin looked torn over leaving her.
“Really, Colin. I’m fine. We are fine. It would look odd if you did not go offer help. So go. If I have to, I’ll stay in our room until it’s safe to leave.”
Colin nodded in begrudging acceptance. However, when he opened the tent to leave, he jumped back, startled.
“Ivan!”
“Sorry, didn’t mean to frighten you,” Ivan apologized, stepping inside.
“I was just coming out to see if anyone needed help. Does this sort of thing happen here a lot?”
“Since none of us know where he is, I cannot say. But everyone is fine. A few broken things, tents that need reinforcing, but nothing serious. You both fared well, I presume?”
“Yes. We’re fine,” Colin told him.
“But that’s not why Ivan’s here,” Catrina spoke, from behind Colin.
“Is she here?” Came out of Ivan, confirming Catrina’s suspicions.
“Colin, could you lift the spell so Ivan can see and hear me, please. I assumed he’d want to speak with me at some point.”
“But now?” Colin murmured.
“Everyone’s distracted,” she put together.
“Fine. Let’s go into our room first, just as a precaution,” Colin ordered.
Colin motioned for Ivan to follow.
Once inside, Colin lifted the spell and Catrina materialized.
“I have some questions,” he started right in.
“And hello to you too.”
Ivan greeted her through clenched teeth. “Now if you don’t mind, I don’t have much time.”
“Very well.” Catrina made herself comfortable on the bed.
The first question, however, was not what Colin expected. He had assumed Ivan wanted to know more about his mother.
“How did you end up in the cave?”
Colin listened intently as they had not yet discussed this very intriguing issue. He hadn’t wanted to press, but his curiosity was killing him.
“To be perfectly honest, Ivan, I am not totally sure. All I remember is taking a walk and the next thing I know, I’m waking up in a strange room. A hospital room, I think. I was surrounded by faces I did not recognize. That’s not completely accurate. I did recognize one face, but only from pictures. You are not going to like it, Ivan.”
“I assume you’re going to say, Banon Blackwell,” he concluded.
Catrina nodded.
“She is the only person I assumed you would have photographs of,” he explained.
“You probably want to know why, Ivan, but I can’t answer that since I have no idea.” Her voice mimicked confidence. Colin wondered what she was holding back, and if Ivan noticed she was as well. “All I am sure about is that I was given a drink which made me sleepy, and after, I ended up in the coffin. After that, everything is a bit hazy, my memories dream-like.”
Colin could hear Ivan’s teeth grinding as he contemplated what Catrina told him. Listening to her talk was both satisfying and terrifying. On the one hand, these were questions that he had desperately wanted to ask himself, but had not yet dared for fear it would upset her. Somehow though, he also had the nagging suspicion Catrina was not speaking the entire truth. That she held something back from Ivan. Perhaps, when she was ready, she would tell him instead.
“And what about my mother?” Ivan bleated out next. “How is it, she would leave this message with you, so many years ago as an infant, so you’d deliver it to me now? So many years past her death. Why you?”
“These are things I really cannot answer, Ivan. I wish I could. I really do. But now that we have the time, I can tell you the entire message.”
“Please,” he begged. “Tell me.”
“I am sure you recall the first part, ‘Find my hidden treasure and you will find the answers you seek,’” she started. “This is the rest: ‘To find my hidden treasure, you must seek the possession I held close to my heart.’”
“Another riddle! Why can’t people just say what they mean?” he nearly shouted.
“I am truly sorry, Ivan. This is obviously something important and I wish I knew more.”
He eyed her as if she was holding back some vital part, something that would explain his late mother’s message.
“I do not know what possession she speaks of,” he sighed aggravatingly. “Many of the people who knew her are either dead or in another caravan. Are you sure there is nothing more?”
“Ivan, I’m sure she shared what she knows,” Colin spoke sharply.
“Yes, that is all Ivan,” Catrina affirmed, again. She gently touched his arm. “Perhaps now is not the time for you to discover the answer,” she expressed, speaking wisely.
“You’re a strange girl, Catrina Flummer,” Ivan replied, in a calmer voice. “I will keep silent about your presence here, but I feel it only wise to warn you,” he turned to Colin, “that with everything going on, keeping this secret will get harder each day that it continues.”
“We don’t need any more reminders about that,” Colin exclaimed.
Ivan took his leave, once again leaving Colin and Catrina alone. Colin’s first act was to redo the spell to hide her, followed by dragging out the Magicante.
“What are you doing?” Catrina asked him.
“Heeding the warnings and getting us all the protection we need,” he assured her.
She came and sat next to him and watched him open the book.
“Please, can you help me? I need to protect this tent, especially this room. I want it to be as if we don’t exist to the outside world while we are in this room.”
“Hmm,” its cranky, tired voice moaned. “It does appear that drastic measures are required in this matter.” The books pages began to flip back and forth. Magicante did this repeatedly, offering various spells to help conceal the space and keep it safe. After thirty minutes, the Magicante flipped shut.
“There,” Colin blew out, relieved. “It is as secure as we can make it.” He joined her on the cot. She had a few pillows behind her, sitting upright with legs tucked up under her chin. Colin sat down in front of her, c
rossing his legs, a moment of boldness simmering at the surface.
“You did not actually tell Ivan everything, did you?”
She smiled rather shyly. “You picked up on that.”
“I don’t think he did.”
“Doesn’t matter really. Everything that was pertinent to Ivan, he knows. As for the rest, I think it needs to remain secret. At least, until I have evidence one way or another and can say for sure, what exactly did happen to me, and why. Even with my suspicions, I do not want to pass judgment before it is due. Is that okay?” she questioned, timidly.
“You know, I have to agree with Ivan,” Colin returned. “You really are a strange girl. No, not strange. Unique, in a very good way,” he clarified, hoping he had not offended her.
“I just don’t want to make things worse than they already are,” she said. “I don’t actually want to be strange.” She smiled, taking his hand.
“I don’t mind. I mean, being strange, or not telling me everything,” he explained, his tongue getting a little tied up. They were so close, he had but to lean forward and kiss her. But his nerves got the better of him.
Catrina however, did not carry this same doubt. She leaned in and gently kissed his lips just for a moment, before resting her cheek against his chest.
“Your heart is beating quite fast,” she whispered.
“Is it?” he stammered.
First kisses would do that, he imagined. Although he believed all kisses from Catrina would always do that to him. Colin said nothing more, wishing he could stay in this moment forever.
CHAPTER 9
Sebastien Jendaya dawdled apprehensively at the entrance of a cave.
“I can’t believe I’m doing this.” Only a dark abyss awaited him, and yet he was compelled to go inside. He’d seen this place in a dream and upon waking, had the insurmountable urge to find it. And he had. “I can’t believe this place is real.” And in the middle of nowhere, but somehow he’d had no trouble finding it. As soon as he’d gotten close, the entrance had appeared out of nowhere. Most likely protected by magic which had been lifted, because he was meant to come here.
He was surrounded by lush woods, thick with natural life, but he’d followed a well-beaten path. One that didn’t look overly used as of late. And he guessed if he kept going beyond the cave, it eventually came out at the St. Croix River, which meant he was just barely still in Maine, and was close to the Canadian border. And even more oddly, not all that far away from his home.
A voice echoed, from everywhere and nowhere.
“Please enter, Sebastien. I have been awaiting your arrival.”
He peered into the cave, the darkness abruptly dispersed by bursts of flame lining the walls. Torches. They lit up deep into the cave, which did not matter. He wasn’t leaving until he’d seen this strange dream through. Sebastien entered, roaming deeper and deeper, rounding a corner where he came to a stop. Everything changed. Still a cave, and yet not. More a home, inside a cave.
There was definitely magic at work here.
And from somewhere he did not see overhead, sunlight came down through casting a beam onto the floor of the dimly lit space. A woman with dark red hair removed a whistling kettle from a stove. Her back to him, she called out, “Tea?”
“No. Thanks.”
“Come on in. Take a seat.” She gave him a sideways nod, pointing to a wooden table off to the side of the living space. The place was warm. Cozy. Lived in. Though a lonely aura sat about the space. The belongings held no personal reflection. No photos or art. No mementos. It was filled with everything one needed for comfort, but lacked the true warmth of a home.
It led Sebastien to two conclusions.
This woman did not have company often. And she was hiding from something. Or someone. So why did she want to see him?
He took a seat and waited for her to finish making the tea. What he did not expect is for her to turn around with eyes that he recognized so intently he thought he’d just slammed into a wall. Those eyes, he’d swear he’d seen them before. A face so familiar, at the same time, not quite.
He sat, breathless, waiting for her to join him. The sparkling blue ocean gems staring back at him, seeing the truth in his eyes. He’d figured it out. Didn’t believe it, but he saw it. Saw her…
“Who are you?” he breathed out.
“Let’s not pretend you haven’t already guessed. But I’ll give you a few minutes to believe it. How about we begin with why you are here.”
“Okay.”
“Although it means speaking the truth, something I have not done in an age. My name is Isabella. And I am, or once was, a member of the Svoda Gypsies. I left the island shortly before the mass exodus; you would have been but an infant at the time. More importantly, I am a Firemancer.”
Which made perfect sense with what his mind was trying to piece together and believe.
“I am also dead.”
He raised a brow.
“To all who once knew me,” she clarified, sadly. “And though I have called to you for help, dead to the world I must remain.”
“Why? Why pretend you are dead?”
“Look into my eyes, Sebastien. I know you recognized them the moment you saw them. You cannot deny it.”
“Still… why?”
“It is a very long story. One I am not prepared to tell, suffice it to say it begins many years before I was even born. But my story is not why I called you here. I need your help. The kind of help only you can offer.”
“Why me? What help can I offer you? Why not go to her yourself? You’re all she’s ever wanted,” he made claim. “She’s never admitted it, but I would bet my life on it.”
“Which is why only you can help me, Sebastien. You know my daughter better than anyone. Except, perhaps Colin.” She paused, biting her lip uneasily. “There is something I need to show you.”
“I’m sorry,” Sebastien interrupted. “This is just crazy. I mean, I can see it, yes, it’s obvious. You are Meghan Jacoby’s mother. She looks just like you. And she’s a Firemancer, too. But…”
The woman took on a pose both weary and distraught.
“Some things in this life are not so cut and dry, Sebastien. I would love nothing more than to see my daughter. For her to know I am alive. That I never truly abandoned her. But these things cannot be. Not yet. What I have done may outwardly appear cruel, but it was done for the greater good. Including my own daughter’s future. There are things happening that are much larger than either you, or me.”
He nodded. Agreeing, though begrudgingly so. “That, I do understand. But you’re alive and she doesn’t know. I’m sorry, greater good or not, it is cruel.”
“You’ve spent your entire life as friends with Meghan and Colin. You never once told them about magic, even after magic came into their lives. You never told them who you are. Why?”
Sebastien sagged in his seat.
Point made. Brutally so.
“I… since I was little, I was told over and over again that they were special. That they needed protection. That they could not find out about magic, and if the time came when they did, I could not expose who I was. I was to be their friend. That’s it.”
“That’s not all of it,” the woman argued gently.
The agony over his secrets wove into his features.
“You are a spy, Sebastien. Not in any bad way. But a spy, nonetheless. You were to watch, and report…”
“I’m aware of what I did.” He did not need the reminder. It already made him ill to think about it. They were his friends. It had started out as a job. His first. He’d only been nine when recruited, and not told much right away. Never told a lot over the following years. He’d obeyed blindly because they were special and needed to be protected. Ugh, screw those words he’d told himself over and over to make it okay. It sickened him.
“I’m not putting any blame on you, Sebastien,” said Isabella. “And I do not wish to add to your guilt. It was simply a point I needed you to understa
nd. We all do things we believe are right. Or for the greater good. Only time will tell if all we’ve sacrificed is worth the price of what we gave up.”
“I never knew what was to happen,” he revealed. “I had no idea what special meant until it was too late and they were gone. If I had known what kind of dangers they would be faced with, I might have chosen not to be so secretive. But at the time, I thought it was the right thing to do.”
“Then you understand why I have done this terrible thing. My sacrifice has the potential to save countless innocent lives, Sebastien, including that of my daughter. I have foreseen it. Besides, I am not the only one with secrets that linger.” Her lips thinned into a knowing smile. “I know more about you than you might think, or prefer.”
Sebastien shrugged. “I have to do what I can to help them. I can’t abandon them, completely.”
“Which takes us back to the reason I called you here. There is something I need you to see, Sebastien.” She rose from the table. “Wait here, I’ll be right back.” She returned seconds later with a candle carved into the shape of Meghan Jacoby. She balanced the candle onto a plate and lit the wick with a snap of her fingers.
“I must warn you, Sebastien, that what you are about to see might be difficult to stomach.”
With another wave of her arm, the room went dark. The only light the orange flame from the candle. The vision stored within drawing Sebastien’s gaze deeper and deeper until he was watching the scene unravel like a ghostly spectator.
Isabella waited, allowing him to witness it in silence.
Sebastien watched, in awe, this terrible future vision in which Meghan was forced to kill Colin and Catrina because of some uncontrollable power that had infected him and made him uncontrollable. Was it Catrina that caused it? Or something else the vision did not share?
It ended, Sebastien wishing he was the one consoling Meghan. He didn’t miss that he was not in this picture of the future. But this Ivan Crane, was. Which was also not the point right now.
“Is this really what will happen?” he inquired solemnly. The darkness was replaced with light again. He squinted, allowing his eyes to adjust.
“If we do not intervene, then yes. I am afraid that it will.”
Broken (The Stones, The Vampyres, and The Cursed Child) (A Fated Fantasy Quest Adventure Book 4) Page 7
