Essential Magic
Page 15
“I’m sorry, baby.”
Ryanne couldn’t see her mother’s expression through the blur of tears, but the pained sympathy was there in her tone. “Have you been here the whole time? In this house?”
“We reside here, yes. Similar to the living world, but we’re on a different plane of existence.”
“Is Dad here, too?”
“He is.”
“I thought…” She didn’t know how to broach the subject of their stealing, and she let the conversational ball drop. From behind her mother, Paul Caldwell appeared in the doorway, looking as hale and hearty as Ryanne remembered from her childhood. The beard and plaid shirt he sported reminded her of the character from a popular paper towel commercial. His look was like the quintessential lumberjack. “Papa?”
His face scrunched up as if he was struggling not to cry. “Hello, muffin.”
He swept her up and twirled her around. The past came crashing back. All the times he’d arrived home and swung her up in his arms this way. She’d search his pockets for her favorite candy, and he never failed to be fully stocked with treats.
When he set Ryanne down, she reached into the breast pocket of his flannel shirt. Sure enough, he had a small chocolate drop hidden inside. She laughed. “Still the same Papa.”
“Always.” He opened his mouth to speak, but his eyes caught something beyond her shoulder. Paul charged forward and stood toe-to-toe with a large auburn-haired man. Expression hard, he said, “What do you want?”
“Calm down. I simply want to speak with your daughter.”
“You Thornes have done enough!” her mother spat.
“Thorne?” Ryanne pushed between her father and the newcomer. “You’re a Thorne?”
The man with the mussy rich red hair smiled and held out his hand. In his smile, she saw the ghost of Nash’s smile.
“I’m Preston Thorne.”
“Preston? As in Alastair Thorne’s brother?”
“Yes.”
“You’re not welcome here,” Marsha warned.
Ryanne shushed her and faced Preston. “May we speak, sir?”
“I was hoping we might.”
Her mother surged forward as if to stop this from happening, but her father gripped her arm. “Let them speak, darling.”
“He’ll fill her with hope, and she’ll leave us,” Marsha cried.
“She deserves to be happy, doesn’t she?” he returned softly.
“I don’t understand.” Ryanne looked between the three of them. “What does a simple conversation have to do with anything?”
Paul’s steely gaze met Preston’s steady stare. “You should know, with a Thorne, anything is possible, muffin.” Abruptly, her father turned and shuffled her mother away.
“What the hell was that all about?” she muttered.
“Your parents finally get to spend time with you again. They fear I’ll take you away.”
“Can that happen? Don’t we determine where we want to be on this plane?”
He smiled, and there was a wealth of amusement in his eyes. “We do indeed.”
“I assume you see and know all on this side?” At his quick nod, she said, “Your family, they’re safe now. I can’t promise it will last, but Serqet can no longer use me as a tool to harm them.”
“I know. What you did was admirable, Ryanne.” He glanced toward the house. “Walk with me a spell, won’t you?”
She fell into step beside him, and they strolled an entire block in silence. When it seemed as if he was lost in thought, she spoke. “Mr. Thorne? What is it you wanted to tell me? I can’t imagine you sought me out to stroll around the neighborhood.”
He laughed. The sound was robust and contagious. “I can see why my nephew loves you. Beautiful, smart, feisty—all things designed to bring a Thorne male to his knees.”
“Nash was hardly on his knees. The idiot took two years to ask me out. And look where that went!”
“Oh, I agree that timing is everything. It wasn’t until I passed over that I met the love of my life.”
“Wait, what? How is that possible?”
“She doesn’t know it, but she’s destined to be my future bride.”
“Isn’t that a little arrogant?”
The big man laughed again. “Perhaps a little.” He stopped walking and looked up toward the vibrant blue sky. “Tell me, if you could go back, would you?”
“Back? To the moment in the clearing? Would it undo what I’ve done to save Nash or Spring?”
“If it would?”
“I’d say no.”
“Wise choice. But I’m offering you a different one this time. Your life for your sister’s.”
“Rylee?” Ryanne’s knees felt weak, and she plopped down on the sidewalk’s edge.
Preston tugged up his pant legs and squatted in front of her. “Yes. Rylee. Would you do it?”
The intensity in his stare made her squirm inside. She wanted to tell him yes. She’d do almost anything to return to Nash, but the reality was she couldn’t trade her life for her sister’s. “I won’t do that to her.”
“What if it is what she wished?”
“Pfft. You don’t know my sister very well.”
“Oh, I think I have a good idea what your sister is like.” He rose and held out a hand to help her up. “Go spend time with your mother and father. I’ll be back in two days’ time. I’ll need your answer by then.”
On the short trek to her parent’s home, Ryanne mulled over their conversation. What did any of it mean? Even if she was willing to swap places with Rylee, her sister was too selfish by far to risk her own neck. And did she really want to cut short her twin’s life? Was that fair?
She paused at the gate and stared at the replica of the home in which she’d been born. Was her room the same as when she was a child? Did the banister still bear her name and Rylee’s from where her sister had snuck their father’s pocket knife to carve the jagged letters?
Melancholy struck her. As much as she wanted to be with her parents, she wanted to be with Nash more. She spun back to find Preston Thorne, but the landscape had changed. Across the street was a park-like setting with a single stone bench by the water’s edge. Ryanne instantly recognized the woman sitting there. Isis.
Without a backward glance, she rushed across the distance, stopping only when she reached Isis’s side. “Why didn’t you help? Why did you let your horrible sister do what she did?” Ryanne demanded. “Why is all this such a game to you three?”
“Sit.” Isis patted the space beside her. “Please.”
Reluctantly, Ryanne perched on the edge of the cool stone seat.
“What do you think of the Otherworld, child?”
“I haven’t been here long enough to think anything.”
The goddess ignored the surliness behind her response. “True. But how do you feel about spending eternity with your parents?”
Because she sensed there was a reason for these questions, Ryanne replied as honestly as she could with as little attitude as she could manage. “They died when I was young. While it’s great to see them, I don’t truly know them anymore.” She looked out over the sparkling water. “If I had a choice, I’d spend my life and my eternity with Nash.”
“Good. That is what I had hoped you would say.”
“Why?”
“I intend that you should spend your life with your young man. You are as deserving as Nash Thorne.”
Hope swelled in her breast. “I don’t understand. I’m dead.”
“No, child. Your body is in stasis. It’s a type of permanent sleep state until magic can be employed to restart the life cycle.”
“I can go back?”
“That remains to be seen.”
“On what?”
“Your sister.”
The building hope died. “That will never happen.”
“You would be surprised what one will sacrifice for another. Didn’t you sacrifice for a relative stranger when you took your life?”
“And perhaps you did it for yourself as well?” Isis suggested with a knowing look.
“Maybe. I couldn’t bear to live with his condemnation. How could he love me if I murdered another to be with him?”
The goddess reached out and patted Ryanne’s forearm. “You are wise beyond your years, my dear. All will work out as it is intended. Spend these few days with your mother and father. Find out the truth of the past from them. It might lead you to understand the present.”
Before Isis could leave, Ryanne had to know. “How is Nash? Is he well?”
“He is as well as can be expected. He’s grief-stricken at the thought of losing you, child.”
Deep emotion clogged her throat. There were many questions she wanted to ask, but Ryanne couldn’t manage the words.
“Save your worry, dear girl. All will be well in due time. This moment will be a distant memory.”
“It’s not working.” Nash dropped his hand and broke the ring of light flowing from palm to palm. “If we don’t stop, we’ll kill them both.”
For the last forty minutes, they had worked to transfer blood and merge the magic of the twins in an effort to revive Ryanne. But the only thing they’d achieved was to place Rylee’s life in peril. Her skin was practically translucent, it was so pale. Her breathing had become shallow and strained. Although he couldn’t say he cared for the woman, he didn’t want to kill her on a fool’s mission to revive her sister.
Nash placed his palm above hers and sent out a spark to test her remaining power. Whatever magic she still retained was faint. He gently set her hand on the mattress beside her torso and moved to the other side of the bed to stare down at his beloved.
Ryanne hadn’t responded to any of the spells they tried. It was time to face the fact that she was lost to him. He hung his head to hide his grief. He wanted to bawl like a small baby but would reserve that right for when he was alone with his pain.
“Nash—”
He held up a hand and shook his head. “Please don’t. If you could all close the circle and go, I’d be grateful.”
Words were spoken to end the ceremony, and the candles were extinguished. The family filed out of the bedroom to gather in Ryanne’s tiny living room. Nash knew they wouldn’t leave completely because they feared how he’d react, but still, he wished they’d leave him to mourn.
He perched on the edge of the mattress and picked up Ryanne’s hand. Cool to the touch, it was a sickening reminder that she was clinging to life by a mere thread. Idly, he traced the blue veins on the back of her hand. The tip of his finger ran the length of the fragile bones, over the knuckle, and down her index finger to the tastefully polished nail. The French manicure had been an odd choice compared to the deep amethyst streaks she’d previously had in her hair.
But that was Ryanne. Everything about her was a complete contradiction. She came across as hard and matter-of-fact, yet inside, she was a marshmallow and always fought for the underdog. Her hair was wild and fun, but her mode of dress was always formal and business-like. She downplayed her beauty at every turn, and yet, she was insanely attractive. And unless a person took the time to know her, they would never know how intelligent she really was.
He held her palm to his cheek. “You should never have sacrificed for me, my love. I’m not half the person you are.” He sniffed back the threatening moisture. “How am I supposed to go on without you there to brighten my day?”
He closed his eyes and swallowed against the building ache in his chest.
“Every single day, I watched you, just to catch a glimpse of your smile. You were so unreserved with Liz, allowing her to see a part of you not many did.” Nash kissed her palm and placed it back on his cheek. “Now, you’ve sentenced me to wander around my big, lonely house like a wraith. A pale imitation of my father, who waited almost twenty years to resuscitate the love of his life. Is that going to be us, Ryanne?” His voice broke, and he sucked in a lungful of air. “Am I destined to search for artifacts to bring you back to me? Because I’ll do it. I’ll do whatever it takes. You’re essential to my very existence.”
He rested his head against her breast and allowed the tears to fall. “Is it crazy that I miss you already?” Nash inhaled her scent. “Every time I smell fresh pears, I’m going to be reminded of you.” He hiccuped a ragged breath. “I love you. So much.”
How long he stayed in that uncomfortable position, Nash never knew. It wasn’t until a hand touched his shoulder, bringing him back to himself, that he straightened with a wince for his abused back.
“Nash?”
His head whipped up to stare at Ryanne. It took him a solid ten seconds to realize the voice was Rylee’s. Without the underlying attitude, she sounded exactly like her sister.
“You’re awake.” A stupid observation for a man with a genius IQ, but still, he was at a loss as to what to say.
“I know what we have to do to save her.”
His lungs ceased to function as he stared down into her sympathetic eyes. Dare he hope it wasn’t a game?
“We need a spell from the Book of Thoth.”
Definitely a game. His disappointment tasted like bile in his mouth. “I don’t have the book anymore. Even if I did, I wouldn’t let you anywhere near such a powerful tool.”
“It’s what Preston told me we needed. His exact words were, ‘Spring will know the Transmutation Spell.’”
Transmutation. It meant to switch or alter the state of a being to another. “Did he say how it will help?”
“He did.”
He couldn’t keep the bite from his tone. “Care to share anytime today, or am I expected to guess?”
“I’m going to switch places with my sister.”
Chapter 22
“Pardon? You are willing to swap bodies with Ryanne?”
Surely Nash hadn’t heard Rylee correctly. He wasn’t sure he wanted to. The idea of Ryanne inhabiting Rylee’s body creeped him out to no end.
“Not bodies,” she corrected. “Circumstances.”
“You will take on the attributes that have placed her in stasis?” Was he understanding this correctly?
“Yes.”
“Rylee, you might never recover. You could be in stasis for the remainder of your life.” Why he felt the need to caution her was questionable. He should take the gift of her life in exchange for Ryanne’s and be grateful.
Rylee’s dark, troubled gaze shifted to her twin’s still face. “She’d do it for me.”
“Would she?” He wasn’t so sure.
“In a second. It’s who she is. Who she always was. My sister would give the shirt off her back. It’s what made her an easy target for my machinations most times.” Rylee closed her eyes, and a single tear escaped down her cheek. “She wanted to see the best in me. I am so undeserving of her.”
“Yes, you are,” he agreed. “We all are.”
“Not you, Nash,” she argued softly. “You are the one person who is worthy. You both deserve to be happy. Together.”
Rylee touched his wrist, and it was all Nash could do not to snatch his arm away.
“Let me help. Please.”
What choice did he have? Ignore Rylee’s overture and let Ryanne waste away? Or let Rylee do a selfless act for once in her miserable life and possibly save Ryanne? There was no real choice to be made.
“I swear to you, if this is a trick, I will cut your heart out and drop it into a vat of maggots.”
“A vat of maggots?” She laughed in disbelief. “Okay, tough guy.”
Rylee’s amused words were similar to something her twin would’ve said. Ryanne would have scoffed at him, too.
Nash felt a pang in the region of his heart. His eyes involuntarily shifted to Ryanne’s still face, and he ran a thumb along the underside of her jaw.
“It’s going to be all right, Nash,” Rylee said softly.
“I know my promises haven’t been worth the paper I might write them on, but in this, I’m not lying.”
“What else did my uncle say?”
“That in a place where she wasn’t supposed to feel pain, Ryanne is walking about weighed down in sadness. He said time is different there. For us, it’s been hours. For her, it’s been a week, and she’s in deep mourning for you. Despite what both he and Isis have told her.”
“Isis?” he asked sharply. He focused all his attention on Rylee, looking for any sign she was playing him false. “Are you sure he said Isis?”
“Yes. He mentioned that she wasn’t allowed to get involved. Something about giving her word to Serqet. It’s why Preston is taking point on the transmutation from his plane.”
“Why would you want to help now when you were the one to set this all in motion, Rylee?”
“Because Victor swore to me that my sister wouldn’t be harmed. He said the plan was foolproof and only you would be hurt.” She turned her face away to stare up at the ceiling. “I didn’t know she loved you to the extreme that she’d take her life to save you. I suppose I should’ve guessed she’d do something like that, but I didn’t see that far ahead.”
Her ravaged face and halting words assured him, as nothing else could, that she now spoke the truth.
“I’ll get Spring,” he said. This time, he touched her wrist. “Are you sure you want to do this? You’ll be forfeiting your life.”
Her face softened with her smile. “Your uncle assures me that my parents are waiting for me on the other side. I’ll be okay. Promise me you’ll make my sister happy, Nash. Don’t ever break her heart. She’s had enough of that.”
“I promise,” he said gruffly. “She’ll never want for a thing, and I’ll love her until my dying day.”
“That’s good enough for me.”
They shared a long look. Each in silent agreement.
“I’ll get Spring.” He had taken four steps when it occurred to him that she’d never mentioned talking to Ryanne. He pivoted back to see Rylee stroking her sister’s face. Tears poured from her eyes, and the raw pain was there for all to see. “Rylee?”