Love lines
Page 32
“I decided that it would be better to keep it a secret. Frankly, I hoped that you would figure it out by yourself.”
“And if I hadn’t gotten your powers, and lived my past life, would you ever tell me the truth?”
This time I turned and looked straight into his eyes.
“No,” he answered honestly. “I’ve never wanted you to have this life. I wished you something completely different. But I always thought about you, always watching you, always guarding you.”
“Did my mother know that about you?”
“No. She still doesn’t know anything.”
“Not surprising, then, that she still considers you the scum of this earth.”
Frederick smiled.
“Maybe I deserved that. I couldn’t resist my desires and as a result I ruined her life too. Someday I'll beg for her forgiveness. Just like today I’m begging you to forgive me for everything that I've done wrong.”
We were standing in front of each other, neither looking away. My new world was collapsing again... Just then and there, in front of my own eyes. I would have to re-live a new life, and get used to the unknown things... And people.
Suddenly I realized that all of the present there were silently listening to our conversation. I looked at Evan, who was hiding his eyes guiltily.
“You knew, right? You knew that Frederick was my father.”
“I learned about it just recently,” he said. “Sorry, Eileen, I couldn’t tell you anything. I didn't have any right to do that.”
“It’s not his fault,” said Frederick. “I asked them all to keep my secret.”
“Them?” in disbelief I asked again. I looked back at those people who were with us at that time in the library.
“Oh, my god... you all knew! And what about Christian? Did he also know?”
“You have just answered your own question, Eileen. We all knew,” said Evan.
“Is there anything else I should know? If so, I want to know everything. Now!” I demanded, putting my hands on my hips.
The next half an hour I was listening to the story of how many centuries ago, the Fairey family was cursed, and that now I was the one to take that curse off. Evan told me that Patrick and Frederick deliberately bound themselves so that Christian and I could feel and protect each other. Frederick said that our tattoos were a symbol of our own bond, and that thanks to them that bond was possible. As a symbol of love and fidelity interlocking hearts became our personal symbols. Knowing that Catherine Clark would have a baby, Camilla Steward made an elixir, the drops of which were the basis of the tattoos. Everything was thought out in order to protect me and Christian, who had unwillingly become a hostage of my safety.
“Eric still wants my power,” Frederick said. “And you are – a primary source of it.”
“That I’ve considered myself. But why he can’t take it directly from you?”
“He is too obsessed with getting all the possible powers, because unlike me, you also possess the powers of all the elements. His greed wants all the powers that you alone have.”
“Great,” I said exhausted. “I hope no one is against leaving me alone for a while. I need to gather my thoughts.
“Of course, dear,” said Amelia. “If you need anything, we'll be in the living room.”
Everyone left, except Frederick. He came closer to me.
“Don’t be mad at them, it's not their fault that they were silent for so long. It’s my fault entirely,” he said.
I didn’t know what to say in response, so I just nodded. He went out, closing the door behind him.
I sat at Patrick’s desk and wearily dropped my head on my folded hands. There, behind the door there were so many people willing to help me, caring and concerned. There was even my father, whom I so long had been dreaming to see.
So now what? Here he is, only in a dozen steps away from me, but I don’t even know how to act myself, what to do, or what to say... On one hand, I got used to his presence for all the time he had spent with me. But on the other hand he was only a stranger who had apparently become a friend of mine, and now it turned out that he wasn’t just a friend...
I couldn’t imagine myself calling him Dad instead of Frederick, or Mr. Fairey. Yes, I wouldn’t deny that his presence in my life was a strong foundation and support, but the fact that he was my father was still hard to accept.
Christian’s absence made me helpless even more, because at that very moment he was the only person I needed to see. He always knew how to calm me down, how to find the right words. And now he wasn’t there... And I didn’t know when I would hug him again and feel the warmth of his embrace. I missed all of that so much!
I was dying without Christian, as if my heart was torn away from my body. His disappearance made me realize how much he really meant to me. A part of my soul, that used to feel his emotions, now was empty. I’d never felt myself so lonely. Everything binding me to Christian just a few hours ago, now was sinking into the depth of nowhere. I remembered Evan’s words about the danger of Christian and me being apart. We were nothing without each other. We were vulnerable and weak. And now we both were in danger…
I froze in fear. Instead of usual warmth and light I felt cold and darkness surrounding me. My tattoo wasn’t shining anymore and its usually bright and beautiful red hearts turned into a few barely noticeable thin lifeless lines.
Despite the fact that at that moment it seemed that all the powers were leaving me and there was no light in that endless tunnel of riddles and problems, I realized that I must do all my best just to have my own life back. I had to find Christian, and tell him, finally, how much I loved him. I hadn’t managed to do even that simple thing yet. I thought that all my feelings were so well known to him without any words. But now that small mistake seemed like a biggest failure of my life...
I had never wanted to speed up time so much before so I could correct all my mistakes, find the answers I needed and finally try to start living a normal, certainly as far as it was possible, life. However, I didn’t have time to just sit there and feel sorry for myself. So I stood up, rubbed the tears away, and moved toward the living room.
Barely reaching the door I heard a soft knock. I didn’t have to open it to know that there was Evan. Well, of course! Now I could easily feel the auras. It seemed that his patience came to an end, and he finally decided to become the first to feel my whole range of anger. I smiled sadly.
“Couldn’t wait any longer?” I asked, opening the door.
“Sorry, but you've been sitting there too long, and we have a lot of things to do,” he said, waiting for my unstable reaction.
“I’ve decided that I don’t have any more time to mope or mourn myself,” I said, coming towards him.
Evan smiled.
“I knew you wouldn’t be able to sit back and do nothing,” he said, giving me a hug.
We still had many trials to go through, but I had no doubt that by combining our powers and skills, we would succeed.
The main thing was to decide where to start...
To be continued...
About the author
Diana Nixon was born in Minsk, Belarus, where she still lives and works on her books.
Before becoming a writer she received a Master of Law degree from the Belorussian State University, got married and gave birth to her precious daughter.
She has always liked reading fantasy novels, so when she came up with the idea of writing a book, she already knew what genre to choose.
At the moment Diana is working on her Love lines series.
Visit author’s website
www.diananixon.webs.com
Acknowledgements
First of all I wish to thank my family for their patience and apprehension. I know how much you suffered from sharing me with my heroes. Love you so much! You are the best!
A thousand thanks to my friends and all the people who supported me during my work on this book. I appreciate your assistance in making this small dr
eam come true.
A special thanks to Tatiana Serova and Tracy Stuber for their help in proofreading.
I would like to say a huge thanks to Heather Anne Davis for her massive support, invaluable help and unconditional friendship. You are amazing, Heather! I’m glad you’ve become a part of my life.
Many thanks to Olga Kulik and Edward Olamisan for their encouragement and advice.