by Amity Hope
“What does it do?”
“I hope it will help you speak with Tristan,” she said.
My heart skittered around in my chest. “What? How?” I eyed the vial with a new appreciation. As soon as she’d said the words, my fingers had begun to twitch in anticipation. I wanted my hands on that vial. Now. I was tempted to reach for it but I didn’t want to appear too greedy.
“Alex helped me with it. He was able to get me some herbs that are typically only used by Necromancers,” she explained.
I nodded slowly, listening to what she wasn’t saying. This was not an ordinary potion.
She leaned forward and handed the vial to me. I took it carefully, feeling very much as I did the night she’d brought me Tristan’s spirit. I held the vial firmly but gently in my fist. The liquid inside felt warm. Warmer than it should have coming out of Finola’s purse.
“Thank you,” I said. I couldn’t take my eyes off of it. “How does it work?”
“Take it before bed. Make sure you’re thinking of Tristan when you take it. The potion will pull you into a dreamlike state, similar to the state Tristan is in right now. When you’re both on the same mental plane you should be able to reach him.”
I nodded slowly as I lowered the potion.
“I owe you and Alex so much.”
She shook her head. “Alex is just happy to be able to help. You know Necromancers have a bad reputation.” I nodded and blushed, remembering all too well how I had misjudged Alex based on nothing but my own preconceived misconceptions. “Well, he’s hoping that this will change how people perceive his family.”
“It will,” I said assuredly. If it weren’t for Alex and the special gifts that his family carried down in their bloodline, Bree wouldn’t have been saved. Jude and Tristan wouldn’t be on their way to being saved. “We owe him a lot.”
“He likes Tristan,” Finola said. “Tristan always treated him well. I like Tristan, too. I know I don’t know him nearly as well as you but I’ve always considered him a friend. So, yeah, no thanks necessary. We want to do this.”
~*~*~
I drank the potion and crawled into bed.
I closed my eyes.
I tried to relax.
I tried to go to sleep. It didn’t work.
I tossed. I turned. I wiggled down under my covers and tried to get cozy. I blinked into the darkness of my familiar bedroom. A sliver of moonbeam managed to slice its way through the thin open space where my curtains weren’t completely drawn together.
How was I ever going to fall asleep? I was too wired and not the least bit tired. What if I ended up wasting the potion because my body wouldn’t cooperate?
I let out a little growl of frustration and pounded the mattress with my fist.
A soft chuckle to my left startled me so badly I let out a small shriek. My hand flew up to my mouth as I hurriedly sat up in bed and flung the covers off.
“Hey, Sammy Jo.”
My heart tumbled in my chest for a reason that had nothing to do with fear.
“Tristan!”
He stepped forward into the light of the moon.
“It’s me,” he said softly.
I flew off my bed and into his arms.
“I didn’t think it was going it work!” I said.
“What?” he questioned as he squeezed me back.
“Fin’s potion. I didn’t think it would work. Stupid of me, I know. It’s Fin’s potion. Of course it’s going to work,” I babbled.
His hand slid across my cheek. The first time he pressed his lips to mine, the kiss was so soft it was barely there. The second time left me breathless. By the third time, it still wasn’t enough. I gently knotted my fingers in his hair and pulled him into me. We tumbled onto my bed.
I was kissing Tristan.
And it felt so real.
It had to be real, didn’t it?
I pushed away the unfounded fear that it wasn’t. I let myself get lost in the feel of Tristan pressing soft kisses against my neck, against my chest, and back up again. Fireworks erupted in my body, tingling all the way to the tips of my fingers and toes. I wanted the kiss to go on and on but I didn’t know how much time we had.
Common sense had to take precedence over my raging hormones.
“Tristan,” I said as I carefully pulled away from him.
“Hmmm?” He hummed the sound against my neck. His breath tickled my skin. I smiled and sighed…and then remembered the reality of the situation. It poured over me like a bucket of ice water.
“Tristan,” I tried again. “Do you remember what happened? The night we confronted Levi?”
He slowly pulled away from me and rolled over on his side. I rolled onto my side to face him. He looked almost ethereal with the glow of the moon bouncing off of his skin.
“It didn’t go so well,” he said quietly. “That’s what I remember.” He hesitated. “Ah, damn. I got you out, just like I wanted. But then everything backfired. He stripped my spirit. I keep forgetting. Then I remember, and then I keep forgetting again. I remember Alex calling to me in the cemetery.”
“He captured your spirit. It’s with me, so it’s safe,” I said.
He blew out a sigh of relief. “Okay.”
“We’re working on a plan to fix everything,” I said, trying to keep my tone as positive as possible.
He pulled a hand over his face. “So my body…”
“Is out there somewhere,” I finished for him.
“Right.”
“You know that Alex helped Bree, right? Do you remember that?”
He nodded. His hand floated up to my face and brushed across my cheek. I leaned into it.
“He captured Jude’s spirit too. Everything is going to be back to normal in no time.”
He was quiet a moment before saying, “Do you really believe that?”
“Yes.” I had to.
“Okay then.” He pulled me into him. My body melted, fitting perfectly against his as I laid my head on his shoulder.
“When this is all over, when I’m me again, I want to take you out,” Tristan said. “On a date. I want to do something completely normal. Dinner—maybe pizza—and a movie?”
“I would love that,” I told him.
“It’s so strange. I know, on some level, what’s happening to me. But it’s hard to really comprehend, until just now, that the world is going on without me. Life’s passing me by and I’m missing it all,” he said.
“You won’t be missing it for long,” I assured him. I hesitated. “Is it horrible in there?”
He laughed lightly. “Nah. It’s peaceful. I kind of feel like I’m in that place, somewhere between sleeping and awake. It’s hard to think clearly though. So most of the time I don’t even try. It’s hard to explain. It almost feels like dreaming…but not.”
“You shouldn’t have gone after Levi,” I scolded.
“I had to, Sammy,” he said, his voice firm. “He was going after you. It was either me, or you. I made my choice. I don’t regret it.”
“Cecily told me something that was kind of—”
“Shocking?” he guessed.
“Yeah, you could say that. So it’s true? You’re really a Jaeger?” I asked.
“That’s what I’ve been told,” he said.
“Are you afraid? That your father will find you?” I mean.
He laughed lightly. “When I was kid, I was terrified of it. My mom made sure of that. I think she wanted to scare me into being good.”
“It worked,” I said. “Maybe a little too well.”
“Yeah,” he agreed. “It did. But I’m not afraid of him anymore. When this is all over with, I think I want to find him.”
“What?” I lifted my head from his shoulder. “Why would you do that?”
“I’ve spent my entire life hiding. I don’t want to hide anymore. I want to face my fears. Head on, if I have to,” he said quietly.
“But Tristan…he’s a Jaeger. He’s the leader of the House of Negrescu.” The H
ouse of Darkness.
“I know that. You seem to be forgetting one thing. The House of Negrescu has fallen. He’s not the leader of anything,” Tristan pointed out. “Not anymore.”
“I just, I don’t think that’s a good idea. Quite honestly, the thought terrifies me,” I admitted.
“I don’t think I have anything to be afraid of. He wanted me. That was the whole point of deceiving my mom.” He sighed. “I feel like one day, I’m going to have to face him. If I ever want to stop being afraid of him, I have to. I’d rather face him on my terms. I don’t want to live my life wondering if he’s just going to blindside me someday.”
“Okay.” I wasn’t going to argue about it. Not now when our time was so limited.
Tristan must’ve been thinking the same thing. He jumped into a subject change.
“How are Fin and Alex?”
“Good. Perfect for each other,” I admitted.
He nudged me. “And you were so against the two of them getting together.”
“I know. Don’t remind me.”
“And Daphne?”
I smiled. “Do you really care?” I teased. He and Daphne were not the best of friends.
“Just trying to keep the conversation light,” he admitted.
“She’s doing fine. For the record, she’s determined to help find you.” I paused. “And Jude too. In fact, she seems to have convinced herself that she has a deep connection with Jude. They talked one night. Apparently it was a pretty deep conversation.” I shrugged. “Who knows? She actually might. I judged Finola and Alex when I shouldn’t have. I’m not going to make that same mistake twice.”
Tristan laughed lightly. “Now that’s the Daphne that I know and…well, I guess I do like her. You might want to warn her about Jude though.”
“What about him?” I wondered. What kind of warning could Tristan possibly have about Jude? Jude was the only guy in school that was nearly as quiet and hard to get to know as Tristan was.
“Jude’s head over heels in love with Riley.”
“What?! How do you know that? Oh, speaking of Riley, she’s been helping us too! She cast a spell to help us get into Jude’s locker.”
“Why are you breaking into his locker?” Tristan asked.
“We needed an anchor. Something that was important to him. Something that would draw him in when Alex cast his spell.”
“What did you use?” Tristan wondered.
“We found this weird little trinket. It kind of looked like a shrunken head. It wasn’t a real shrunken head. It was made out of plastic. It seemed kind of strange but when she and Daphne got his locker open, I guess that’s what she grabbed.”
“Did you ever wonder why she grabbed that?” Tristan asked.
“No. I just assumed their options were limited. Why did she grab it?”
“She won it while bobbing for apples last year. She gave it to him. I only know that because I walked by his locker one day. I saw it and I must’ve given it a weird look. He said that he and Riley had gone to the haunted house together. She won it and made him keep it. He was grinning like buffoon. I figured it had to mean something to him. After that, it was pretty obvious he had a thing for her.”
“That little sneak. She never said a word.”
“She probably didn’t dare. Not if Daphne is running around professing her love for him,” Tristan said.
“Good point.” Somehow, I felt better knowing this. As if maybe she’d be more invested in the search for Jude and Tristan now that I knew that she might have a personal stake in the matter.
Tristan’s fingers traced a light path up and down my arm. In that moment, I wished we could stay here—wherever we were—forever.
“What was mine?” he quietly asked.
My eyelids had drifted shut. They fluttered open at the sound of his voice. “What was your what?” I groggily asked.
“What was my anchor?”
I smiled. “A Valentine’s Day card I made you in elementary school.”
He rested his head against mine. “Yeah. That sounds about right. I knew it would have to have something to do with you.”
“I’m so tired,” I whispered. My eyelids felt heavy, almost painfully so. “Earlier I felt like I was never going to sleep. Now I feel like there’s nothing in this world that could keep me awake.”
Tristan brushed his hand across my cheek. “It’s the potion. It’s wearing off.”
“I’m not ready for it to wear off,” I whimpered.
He leaned over and pressed a kiss onto my temple.
“Sure you are,” he said, “because when you wake up we’ll be one day closer to being together.”
Chapter 7
My eyelids felt sticky as slumber released its hold on me. For a moment—just a moment—I felt as if I couldn’t pry them open. I didn’t feel as if I was awaking from a full nights’ sleep. Quite the opposite, I was so exhausted I felt as though I hadn’t slept in days. I sighed and burrowed down under my blankets, willing sleep to claim me once again.
Then my memory flooded over me and I was wide awake. I blinked into the bright, bright light of morning.
My fingers drifted across my cheek. Had Tristan really rubbed his fingers across it not that long ago? Or had it all been just a dream?
“It was real,” I told myself. “Finola said the potion would let me see him. It had to be real.”
I sat up, swinging my legs around the side of the bed. My heart fluttered as I glanced over my shoulder, taking in the spot where Tristan had been lying beside me. I shook off the feeling of melancholy and replaced it with a feeling of determination.
“We’re going to end this very soon.” I pressed my hand against the glass globe on my nightstand. The mist inside swirled against the glass. “And I hope Levi pays for what he did to you.” My hands slid away and I moved to my closet. “I cannot believe I have to deal with school right now. All I want to do is work on finding you. To be honest, it seems pointless for me to be there. Trust me, I’m not learning anything. I can’t concentrate for more than two seconds. Without you here, I’m going to totally fail calculus. If I don’t graduate, I’m totally blaming Levi. The list of things that I can hate that man for are absolutely endless.”
I pulled in a gulp of air. I knew I was rambling about inconsequential nonsense, yet it made me feel better to talk to Tristan, regardless of whether or not he could hear me.
I quickly dressed. I brushed my hair out in front of the mirror on my dresser.
I walked back to the floating spirit that was Tristan.
“Seriously, school? How am I supposed to concentrate on school?!” My voice cracked. Tears prickled behind my eyes. I pinched the bridge of my nose. “Fine,” I said, “I’m going. But I’m only going because I need to talk to our friends. I cannot just carry on and pretend everything is going to be okay just because Lebeau said so. The longer you’re gone, the more freaked out I’m getting.” I touched the top of the globe this time. “I don’t think I’ve ever gone more than a few days without talking to you, without seeing you.”
I moved away and began to pace the length of my room.
“I feel like I’m not doing enough to help you,” I admitted to Tristan. “But I don’t know what else to do! I wish you were here. You always know what to do. You always have a plan. You never should’ve come bursting into the mausoleum to rescue me. Do you know that? Do you see that now? You should’ve let Levi take me. I never wanted you to play the hero. I didn’t need that from you.” I continued to pace, throwing frustrated looks at the glass globe with every passing. “You should’ve just let Levi take me. Then Alex could’ve captured my spirit instead of yours. I should be the one floating around in that jar. Not you.”
I sucked in a breath through my nose, trying to press my building tears away. I blew the breath out through my mouth. I spent a moment thinking of nothing but my breathing. That tactic didn’t work for long. My mind flooded with thoughts of Tristan once again.
“When we finall
y get you back, you and I are going to have a talk! A long one! There will be no more heroics from you. Do you understand? And finding your dad?! Seriously?! I love you, but I think you just might be insane if you think that’s a good call.” I stood with my hands on my hips, scowling at what was left of my best friend.
“Samara?” Cecily called from the other side of my door.
I groaned, kissed my fingertips and then pressed them against the glass. “I’ve got to go. But I’ll miss you every second I’m gone.”
I walked over to the door and pulled it open.
“Oh, good,” Cecily said, “you’re up.”
“Do I have to go to school?” I blurted out. “Can’t I just stay home today?”
She gave me a stern look. “No, you cannot just stay home. What would you do if you did? Sit around and mope? At least being in school will help keep your mind off things. I don’t think Renee would be too happy with me if I let you stay home.”
It was clear I wouldn’t win this argument. I sighed in resignation.
“Besides, there might be a day very soon when you actually have a reason not to go,” she said quietly.
“I hope so,” I murmured as I followed her down the stairs.
By the time I got to school I wasn’t feeling any better about being there.
I hurried to Finola’s locker. I grabbed her by the arm and tugged her to an alcove where we had a tiny bit of privacy.
“The potion worked!” I said.
She smiled. “Of course it did.”
“Can you make me another one?” I could hear the desperation in my tone.
Her smile slipped away. She shook her head. “It took days to prepare that one.”
“So start it tonight?” I pleaded.
“I wish I could,” she said regretfully. “But most of those ingredients are pretty hard to find. I had to ask Alex, he had to beg his dad. His dad made it clear it was a onetime thing.”
I felt myself deflate like a sad, sorry balloon.
“Besides,” Finola gently said, “wouldn’t you rather I spend my time working on something else? I’m sure it was a relief to see Tristan last night. But getting him back for good has to be our goal.”
