“How many?”
“Three. Alixia took them out.”
Charles grunted with a snide smile, speaking pompously as he gazed into the fire.
“She did? Well, it’s too bad she doesn’t engage in the same way when it comes to taking out Marcus’s side.”
“I’m leaving,” I said, not wanting to deal with Charles.
“Wait, you said you needed to talk to me.”
“I did, but I think it’s best I leave.” I was holding my temper, not wanting to discuss Charles’s stupidity in front of him. “I’ll just meet you back at my house.”
“You’re at home?”
“Yes, I‘ve been there for a while.”
“Oh,” he said, studying me. “Okay, just let me finish up here and I’ll meet you at your house.”
“Alixia,” Charles called out.
“Leave me alone, Charles. I have nothing to say to you, right now!” I started walking away. He jumped in front of me.
“You can’t keep protecting them.”
“Oh, I will keep protecting them, and there is nothing you can do about it.”
“You are being a fool.”
“No, Charles, you’re the fool.”
“Uncle, let her pass.”
“Yes, Charles, get out of my way.” He moved to the side.
“You will return to the Family,” he said.
“Don’t hold your breath. Goodbye, Charles.”
I accelerated through the trees, making my way back to my house. I wanted to get as far away from him as I could.
Why did I fight Marguerite for his life?
I had debated her desperately regarding her punishment for him. I told her I would not accept it, that she would just bring more harm to everyone. I begged her to let me talk to the Council, but she was hardheaded and hateful. She told me that I would have to leave her home, and threatened me just as Charles did. She said I had to make a choice about which world I belonged to now. I chose not to make that choice, and left.
Stepping into my house, I avoided Anna who would just hover over me.
Running upstairs to my room, I stripped off my cloths and locked the bathroom door behind me.
I need to relax.
I filled the tub half full with cold water. Getting in, I closed my eyes and let my mind drift, not wanting to think of anything. I just wanted to feel the cold water trickling out softly and landing on my toes.
I began daydreaming. I looked out through the cypress trees at a vague image of Millie wearing a red robe, hovering in the middle of the swamp water. She motioned for me. I followed behind her, but never caught up to her as we moved lazily through the swamp. She stopped at the base of a huge, ancient and twisted cypress tree. She turned to face me, her face angelic. She lowered her head, and then slowly raised it back up while removing her hood. She shrieked out in a bloodcurdling scream, exposing her bloodstained teeth and pointing down to the water. I looked to where she was pointing, seeing the vileness. Lifeless bodies were all around her, floating in the water. She glared at me with her icy eyes, calling to me hauntingly to help her.
I awoke, ending the nightmare, and trying to reassure myself that it was just a crazy dream.
Sitting up, I noticed that the tub water had turned hotter from my body heat. I reached down to pull the plug, and then turned on the cold water, splashing it on my face and body and feeling cool again. I sat there a moment with my knees up to my chest, thinking of the dream as the water drained from the tub.
I’d better keep a close eye on Millie, just in case…
Hearing a knock, I grabbed my robe.
“Alixia, are you in there?”
“Yes Anna,” I said, opening the door.
”Phillip’s here,” she said. I walked past her to the closet and took out a blouse.
“Tell him I will be down in a minute.”
She stood there.
“Why is he here? It’s four in the morning.”
“Anna,” I said, “I need to speak with him. So, please just go downstairs and tell him I’ll be down soon.”
“All right, I’m going.”
“Thank you.”
She shut the door hard behind her. I slipped on my blouse as I walked over to the dresser. I knew it was nagging at her that I kept her in the dark about things now, but it was for her own good. She was still mad at me for not telling her about Marcel that night, and making her leave. But I did make her happy when I told her I wasn’t really going to sell the estate.
I opened the drawer and pulled out some cut-off jeans. Slipping them on, I grabbed a hairbrush and ran it through my hair quickly before putting it up in a ponytail. Then I went downstairs, just in time to hear Anna ask Phillip why he was here.
“Anna, this is not your concern.”
She turned to Phillip.
“See what I mean? She’s shutting me out.”
“Anna!”
“I’m leaving.”
She went back to the kitchen.
“Come on Phillip. Let’s go for a walk.”
“Fine by me,” he said, looking down the hallway. We could still hear Anna grumbling loudly and banging her pans.
We left the porch and Phillip started heading for the garden.
“No, not that way,” I said, taking his hand. “Let’s just walk down the road this morning.”
When we were out of earshot of Anna, Phillip leaned on the white fencing that followed the drive.
“So, I tried getting in your mind, but I see that you’re blocking me.”
“Yes, for a good reason. I didn’t want you to explode in front of Anna.”
“What is it?”
I braced myself for his outburst.
“Marguerite is bringing on a black curse.”
He clenched his fist. “Who, now?”
“Your uncle. Marguerite said that she would not be taken down.”
He just stood there, not saying a word.
“Phillip?” He put his hand up, and I sensed his anger and despair. He turned on me crossly.
“This will not happen again. I mean it. She will not take any more lives.”
I saw what he was thinking.
“Are you crazy? You’re not going there?”
“Yes, and you are going to help me lure her out in the open! Just as I helped you bait Angel.”
“No, I’m not doing that,” I said, frustrated that he thought this was the solution.
“Marguerite did nothing wrong.”
He put his hands up in the air, shouting at me.
“She did nothing wrong? She is cursing my uncle! She’s no better than Angel! Can’t you see that?”
“Phillip, I tried talking to her, but Charles did provoke all of this.”
Affronted that I was on her side, he stepped up to me.
“She is the one who broke the trust, taking our Family members. My uncle and the others of the High Council are just following our beliefs! She needs to be controlled, or stopped.”
“This is wrong.”
His jaw tightened.
“Forget it. You have never understood the order of things.”
He took off, going back to the house.
“Phillip, wait please!” I said, racing up and jumping in front of him, blocking him from getting to his car.
“Just ask Charles and the Council to back down, so that we can end this!”
He pushed me to the side and opened the car door.
“She had better back down.”
He got in, slammed the door, and drove off.
Uncertainties
I sent Marcus a telepathic message to meet me at a Reynaud’s restaurant in Baton Rouge. I wanted to talk about Charles beyond Marguerite’s earshot.
“No, Marcus, you have to talk to her,” I said, irritated. He was arguing with me about having Marguerite back down in her assault on Charles.
“Alixia, she needs to protect herself. She was almost taken by him, and you know he will try again.”
I rubbed my temples.
“I know. I wish I could just escape from all this.”
“Alixia,” he reached over the table and took my hands. “If you want me to step back, I will. As I told you, none of this means anything to me. Only you do. We can leave right now, as your mother did after Marcel’s death.”
I looked up at him, thinking back. Mother did leave. She told us she wouldn’t join in the conflict. She got her revenge, and that’s all she wanted for now.
“You are willing to walk away as she did?”
“Yeah, why not? Let Marguerite fight for power with Charles.” His smile dropped as he got up, checking the room for hidden danger. But there wasn’t any, because I was keeping vigilant, too.
“Let’s get out of here, I need some air.”
We walked out into rain. It felt good, cooling off the late August heat and making everything smell fresh.
“What do think? Do you want to run right now?”
“It sounds tempting.”
“Well, let’s go then,” he said, closing his eyes and feeling the rain. “What’s stopping us?”
I smiled at him, watching rain glisten down the side of his beautiful face, contemplating.
It did sound good. Just run and let them go at each other.
“Let’s do it. But just for a week.”
He picked me up and twirled me around.
“Marcus, wait. Put me down. There is an ‘if’ here.”
“What is it?”
“Okay, just listen. I think we need to try one more time to see if either Marguerite or Charles will compromise, and then we will leave.”
He had a half-cocked smile.
“What you’re saying is that you want me to go to Marguerite, to see if she will back down on cursing Charles.”
“I just want you to try, and I will go talk to Charles.”
“Alixia, it’s a waste of time! Do you really think either of them will back down, especially after what Phillip said?”
“Maybe you are right,” I said, feeling sad.” Let’s just leave then.”
“Alixia, I know what you’re doing.”
“What am I doing?” I said walking under a shade tree as he followed. He grinned at my denial.
“Come here. I’ll talk to her.”
I jumped into his arms.
“Thank you,” I said, optimistic again. I leaned in to kiss him.
“No, wait,” he teased. “I have a proposition, too.”
“Oh you do? And what is that?”
He moves my hair back gently, and I felt the cool touch of his hand.
“That we leave tonight, after we talk to both of them.”
“I don’t know. We should wait and see if they…”
“We’ll return if it does get out of control. I promise.”
I leaned up against the tree, feeling the roughness of the bark on my back as I spoke hesitantly.
“Whose side are we talking about here?”
He moved in and kissed me.
“Both.”
“Good.”
Revealed
I parked in front of Charles’s home and stood there for a moment, looking at his front door.
What words will I use to persuade him to renounce his judgment against Marguerite.
The door opened.
“Alixia, why are you here?” Phillip asked, stepping out of the doorway.
“You know why. Where’s Charles?”
“He’s on his way to the West Indies.”
“Oh. Why did he go there?”
“To talk to the Ancients.” He motioned me in with a wave of his hand. “Let’s talk inside. It’s starting to rain.”
We entered the great room, followed by one of his staff.
“Excuse me, Phillip,” the man said. “You are needed in the study. There is phone call for you.”
“I’ll be right back. Have a seat.”
“Sure,” I said, going over to a white plush couch and sitting down. I looked around the room, noticing an abstract painting of three women dressed in red, in the swamp. I got up to take a better look and saw several photos of Phillip and Charles on the mantel. One in particular caught my attention. It was Mother and Charles. She was younger, but he was the same as he is today. I picked it up.
Is he still in love with her, even though she is Dark now?
“Alixia.” Phillip closed the door behind him.
“Well that didn’t take long.”
“No, that was a Family member calling to let me know that my uncle landed in the West Indies.”
“So, he is there for refuge, to keep safe from Marguerite’s curse?”
“Yes, once I told him.” He paused, with a hint of a smile.
“Alixia, he was appreciative that you let us know what Marguerite was planning.”
“Well, that’s good. At least I did something right in his eyes.”
“Alixia…”
“Hey, it’s the truth.” I went back and sat down.
“Anyway, do you think they will stop her?” I asked, keeping my voice indifferent.
He walked over and sat down beside me with a heavy sigh.
“We are hoping.”
I reached over, putting my hand on his, sensing his fear for his uncle.
“I hope it works. Even though Charles can be an arrogant jerk sometimes, I never wanted to see him killed.”
“I know,” he said, looking down at my hand on his. I removed it quickly, sensing his thoughts of wanting more than just comfort.
“Phillip, you have to stop.”
He leaned back on the couch, stretching his arms.
“Why do you even want a life with him? The Family will always hunt him. And eventually you will have to kill one of us, to protect him. Are you willing to do that?”
“That is not fair,” I said, getting up and walking over to the window. The rain had stopped.
“He has never harmed anyone in the Family, and you’re all still going after him.”
“Alixia, it doesn’t matter. We will always be natural enemies, and he knows it too.”
I felt desperation in my entire core.
“Phillip, I want you to promise me you will never hurt Marcus.”
He leaned back and stared at me. His thought was whether I would come after him if he did.
“Phillip, I’m in your head. I would never hurt you, and I’m asking you not to fight him if you care for me.”
He leaned forward.
“You know how much I care for you. And that’s why I haven’t gone after him.”
He stood up, taking my hands and bringing me up to him.
"But,” and I could feel his breath on my lips, “I can’t protect him from the others.”
“I know,” I said. “That’s why we’re leaving.”
“You’re leaving. To where?”
“I don’t know. I left that up to Marcus. It will just be for a week. And knowing your uncle is safe, I feel better about leaving.”
He stared at me. I knew he was trying to get into my head, to see if I was hiding something from him.
“Phillip.”
“Alright, I will stop.”
“Thank you, and I’m not hiding anything from you. But I have a favor to ask.”
“What?”
“Well, I was coming here to plead with Charles. I wanted him to call a Gathering, to reconsider going after Marguerite. But now that he’s gone into refuge, could you call it?”
“No. It won’t change anything.”
“Just listen,” I said, stopping him from going down the same path as usual about her breaking the beliefs. “First, I know we disagree on her taking the two who killed Henry without a judgment. But Charles should have accepted they were guilty.”
His face went hard.
“Should have accepted it? No. She had her own purpose there. Marguerite is after the last of the Dominions who were part of the beginning.”
“What are you talking about?”
“Correa, N
icolas, Madame Aimeri and the other two were the first Dominions during the Change. They were marked for destruction.”
“Marked?” I stared at him, remembering the anguish Marguerite felt from the loss of her family.
“Think about it.”
“I am. I knew she was upset that they sided with Marcel. They decided not to punish him for the death of her husband, and the taking of her daughter’s soul. But I thought that was finished by the taking of Correa. ”
“No, she wants more.”
He shifted, irritated.
“The night of the attack, when my uncle killed those two Dark Ones, Marguerite and Charles exchanged words. She confessed to him that it was only the last two Dominions she wanted, not anyone in the Families, and that he should back off.”
“She told him that?””
“Yes.” He clenched his jaw in disgust.
“What was his reaction to her confession?”
“He told her he would go to the Ancients if she didn’t stop her blood feud. That’s when she turned the Dark Ones on him.”
I put my hand out for him stop.
“That’s not what she said about the attack.”
”Of course, the truth wouldn’t come out of her mouth. But it happened that way. I’m telling you she is the one that initiated the attack.”
He stood up, taking my hands and letting me see the truth. I pulled back.
“If you knew this, why didn’t you tell me the other night?”
“Because I had to make sure my uncle was safe in the West Indies first.”
I felt panicked.
Did she plan all their deaths?
“Phillip, there is something about this that is bothering me,” I said, looking at the pictures on the mantel.
“What?”
“Well, I know that Correa, and Nicolas were tricked into their deaths. But the others, how did she arrange those?”
“What do you mean?”
“How did she get Angel to send Madame Aimeri and the other Dominion to kill Henry that night?”
“Easy. She had Michael tell Angel that Henry was coming home, and that he would retaliate against her for punishing Millie.”
I stared at him, incredulous.
“So, Angel had Henry taken out before he could finish her?”
“Yes, and I can’t swear that Marguerite wanted Angel to go after Henry, but she did provoke it.
“So, she might have caused his death that night.”
Path of Descent: Ambrosine Page 17
