by Jess Bowen
Phoebe settled down further into the couch to show that she wasn’t leaving. Hector nodded. Something about his silence nagged at her. It wasn’t normal. Any other person would have been making all the annoying mistakes that he wasn’t. Her eyes wandered of their own volition to study him once again. His pose was calm and unconcerned as he read a book she had failed to notice earlier.
“So, you’re really not going to ask me?” The question came before she could stop it.
He looked up in surprise. “Ask you what?”
Phoebe frowned. “How I’m doing? If I’m all right? If there’s anything you can do?”
His dark eyes turned to confusion. “Did you want me to be asking those questions?”
“Well, no, but—”
“Then why does it bother you that I’m not?” he asked, cutting her off.
“Because you should be! Anyone else would!”
“You wouldn’t,” he pointed out.
“Well, I know I wouldn’t, but that’s because I can tell what people want, but you’re just…” Phoebe stopped before she said something that could be offensive.
“Normal? Incapable of feeling emotions and therefore unable to respond to them appropriately?” Hector finished her thought perfectly.
Phoebe’s open mouth snapped shut and her face flushed. She stared down at her hands, which she suddenly realized were clenched together tightly. “I didn’t mean that. I just can’t figure you out,” she mumbled.
Hector reached over and gently pried her fingers apart. They were white from the tightness with which they had been bound. She glanced back up to try to assess his mood. He didn’t look angry or hurt. He was thoughtful. Just then it occurred to her why it was nearly impossible to figure him out. It was because his emotions were so limited, and because he often didn’t express them the way other humans did. Therefore, it was impossible to glean any of his thoughts from his outward appearance.
“You didn’t hurt my feelings,” he said quietly.
“Would I have…under normal circumstances?”
The corner of his mouth twisted up in a lopsided grin. “You mean if I had feelings to hurt?” He didn’t pause for an answer. “I don’t think so. You are right, after all.”
“I usually am.” Phoebe wasn’t sure where her sarcasm had come from. She felt far from sarcastic at the moment.
His grin twisted up further. “That’s debatable.”
If it weren’t for the unnaturally large hole in her chest, it would have almost felt like any other night—she and Hector arguing good naturedly with one another, as was customary.
“Apparently not in this case,” Phoebe replied.
His eyes turned serious again, although a small smile stayed in place. “Yes, I think I have a theory for you—if you’re interested.”
“I am.”
She briefly marveled over how she had gone from not wanting to talk at all to using sarcasm in less than fifteen minutes. She could feel that her elixir had worn off because she was getting flashes of dreams from people in the rooms around them. It had been a while since she had to do so, but she managed to suppress all the disjointed dreams from her mind. There was one with someone walking in a garden that wouldn’t go away, but Phoebe ignored it and turned her attention back to Hector.
“Well, you can feel everyone’s emotions and hear everyone’s thoughts so you know exactly what to do for someone who’s upset or angry or whatever. I, on the other hand, can’t do that, so logically I should be reacting like any other ‘normal’ human would. But I’m not normal. My inability to feel emotions led to me watching people closely and studying the way they behave through every emotion. I still want to experience emotions even though I can’t feel them. So, through all that watching, I’ve learned how to read people and their wants fairly accurately.” He sounded as though he was proud of his conclusion.
It was a fairly competent one. However, Phoebe kept getting distracted by this odd dream. It was only when Hector quit speaking and she didn’t have to focus on his words that she realized it wasn’t quite a dream, but it wasn’t quite real either.
“I guess both ends of the spectrum give insight. It seems those in the middle are the ones muddled and confused. I’ve never noticed before, but you are very perceptive. Maybe one day I’ll be able to figure you out too,” Phoebe said.
She was trying to talk and follow this dream that wasn’t quite a dream at the same time. If there was one thing in the world that could distract her from anything, it would be something that she couldn’t figure out. In the dream, the garden was just like the one in the Annexus. There was a blond woman on the bench, but her back was to whoever’s dream this was. If Phoebe had been seeking the dream out she would have known who this was, but when it just came to her, it was harder to figure out.
Hector’s eyes widened in surprise. “What? You think figuring you out is easy? Most people have a predictable pattern of behavior once you get to know them, but I never know what to expect from you!” he exclaimed.
“What do you mean?” Phoebe asked.
She wasn’t really paying attention to their conversation anymore. The woman spoke in the half-dream she was watching, and the person in the dream answered. It was Ethan.
“Like right now! What’s going on? What are you doing?” Hector asked as he scooted closer to her.
“I don’t quite know. Something is going on. It’s Ethan; he’s dreaming but not really dreaming.”
Phoebe listened to their conversation for a minute.
“What?” Hector asked. She didn’t blame him for the one word question. She would be speechless too if someone had just said something that convoluted to her.
“Wait, this is something important.” She was suddenly very alert as the dream progressed.
Hector waited patiently. Phoebe gasped.
“What? What is it?” Panic colored his voice, and Phoebe snapped back to reality.
“We have to go, now. You need to get your weapons.”
Hector looked totally confused but followed her orders and then followed her and Sapphire out the door.
33. Dream
It had taken Ethan a very long time to fall asleep. Several thoughts clogged his mind. Before they’d left Phoebe in Hector’s room, Hector had instructed them not to try to find Dorian or Kali to try to right any wrongs that had been committed. Being just like family, that’s exactly what they’d all wanted to do.
Evan was the epitome of Phoebe’s protective brother. Lucy and Cynthia were the sisters. Hector was the best friend. Jared was the caring and concerned brother, and Ethan was—what was he? How did he fit into this complex family? What was he to Phoebe? Did he even have a role? Had he been so wrapped up in fighting off his jealously of her that he hadn’t formed any sort of relationship with the one blood relative he did have here?
You’re her support; you’re the one who understands what it’s like to leave an entire life behind and try to pick up a new one. If you two didn’t have each other, I think that change would have been a lot more difficult for both of you. It still is difficult. I know you still miss your family and your friends and so does she. Lucy’s thoughts had floated into his consciousness.
Ethan did miss his family. He missed the simple things. Things that he had always taken for granted, like his mother’s cooking and his father’s advice. He missed the beach. He missed feeling hot and cold. He missed feeling like he belonged somewhere. He missed freedom. He thought about a lot of things: his family, home, Lucy, Phoebe, all his other friends, magic, no magic, changes—there had been so many in such a short amount of time—time passing, Shade, duties, evil, good, jealously… The list could go on forever.
Lucy had listened to these tumultuous thoughts for a little while without interruption before she fell asleep. He appreciated the fact that she didn’t try to interject her opinion or try to change his mind about anything. Sometimes they all just needed to figure things out on their own. Eventually his wearied thoughts carried him
into sleep too. Except that he wasn’t really sleeping yet. It had been a while since he had been in the garden that existed somewhere between his conscious and unconscious minds.
He walked slowly. He felt a need to rush for some reason, but at the same time, he didn’t really want to. In the end, he was left with the feeling of needing to be somewhere really fast, but traveling entirely too slowly. He was so confused.
His interest sparked when he saw the woman with the long, shimmering, white-blond hair sitting, facing the opposite direction on the bench by the fountain. Ethan sat down on what he knew was his side of the bench.
Her voice came almost immediately. “You are late.”
Ethan raised an eyebrow in surprise. “I didn’t realize we had an appointment. Why are you here?”
“I am here because you brought me here.”
Once again, answers that made no sense and a voice he couldn’t quite place. “Who are you?”
“I am what you want me to be and nothing more.”
“What does that mean?” he asked.
What was the point of coming here if all this woman and Ethan were going to do was talk in circles? He was tired enough; he didn’t feel like trying to figure out the significance of this garden and why this woman was here in it.
“It doesn’t mean anything. It is simply what I am,” she replied.
Ethan tried to make sense of that for a minute. If she was what he wanted her to be, then why didn’t she make any sense? He wondered if he was just talking to his subconscious, and he thought how ironic it would be for his own mind to make him want to beat his head against a wall. After that, he wondered how many other people ever had that dilemma. He never really understood why people had a conscious and a subconscious mind. Why not cram it all into one mind if that would help them figure things out? He definitely needed that kind of meshing at the moment. A chance to have both halves of his mind together so he could put together the pieces would really help. Maybe that’s what this is. By the time his thoughts had come full circle, he realized they had been sitting there in silence for several minutes.
“All right then, if I brought you here, why did I do it?” he asked. It was such a strange question, but he didn’t know what else to ask her.
“You do not know?” she asked.
What was wrong with this woman? Ethan was so confused. If he created this person in a place somewhere between his waking and asleep state, wouldn’t he have made her smarter and a little easier to talk to? “Um, no.”
“You have brought me here because there is a quest to be completed, and it must be completed soon or you will forever lose the information you need.”
“Okay, so why did I need you to tell me that if I already know?” He was trying desperately to keep up with this train of thought, but it was exhausting and terribly confusing.
“Only you know that.”
Ethan rubbed his head very hard; he was starting to get a headache. Obviously I don’t know anything and would appreciate it if she would quit assuming that I do. I mean, if I quit assuming that I already know what I don’t know. Why can’t Lucy hear my thoughts right now and try to make sense of this? She loves to figure things out.
“So what is this quest, then?” he asked himself, feeling like a complete idiot and wondering why he would personify himself as a woman.
“The time has come to go and obtain the prophecy before it falls into the wrong hands.”
Now they were getting somewhere. Hopefully. That was if this was in anyway real, which he was not sure at all about, but the other half of his mind seemed sure. “The prophecy? You know where it is?”
“Irena still retains it, but she is dying. You must find her before the prophecy is lost forever. It is your only hope in your quest to bring down Petrozan and Esmeralda,” she explained—or he explained.
This whole idea that he either was her or he’d created her was confusing. Ethan decided that if he stuck with the thought that they were two separate people, it would be easier to follow the conversation.
“But won’t they die eventually if we fail?” he asked. He wasn’t really enjoying the thought that the fate of this world rested in a prophecy they might never see.
“Slow decay of time will eventually bring them down. But their evil will last and be passed on until there is nothing left of what once was.” She bowed her head, and her voice echoed with extreme sadness.
Ethan felt a weight drop into his stomach. He had been told many times that he, Phoebe, and Dorian were necessary in the fight against Petrozan and Esmeralda, but never before had the importance of this task felt so heavy. If they failed, there would be no hope for anyone’s future. He suddenly knew that this was real. This wasn’t some dream he was forcing upon himself. Something deep inside him knew this was happening, and this was the only way he was able to tell himself about it.
“What are we supposed to do?” he asked, knowing that this was not something he had a choice in. He had a purpose. He had a mission to accomplish.
“You must go, and soon, to the Vanishing Mountains. It will be dangerous; you will be tested in more ways than you thought possible, and you will cross creatures worse than those in your nightmares. However, you must go, despite the dangers, and you are ready, as are the others.”
It didn’t sound enticing, but then again, it wasn’t supposed to. Otherwise they would have gotten on with it already. Ethan took a few deep breaths. He tried not to think about the worst that could happen, but instead focused on obtaining all of the information he needed.
“The mountains are vast and stretch across such a wide expanse. How will we find her in time?” he asked.
He had a basic knowledge of the lay of the land. The Vanishing Mountains were due north from where they were, and they stretched across the entire continent. They were named the Vanishing Mountains because for six months of the year they were consumed by the Void, which was north of them. No one knew what was in the Void, because no one who had ever been in there had ever come back out. Even the evil creatures who had been banished there for thousands of years had to move to the southernmost point of the mountain range when the Void moved. Otherwise, they were never seen again.
“You must trust in yourself and the others. Together you are more powerful than you can ever imagine.”
Ethan wasn’t powerful. He wasn’t special. “Phoebe and Dorian are the powerful ones. I can trust in them. I know what they can do.”
Something amazing happened. The blond woman turned her head to look at him. Ethan’s jaw fell open. She was absolutely the most beautiful woman he had ever seen. Her blond hair rippled as she turned, and her piercing blue eyes were framed by thick, dark lashes. Her skin was a delicate wheat color, and it seemed to be giving off its own light. Every feature of her face was perfect, and the neckline on her silver dress dropped entirely too low. Ethan couldn’t move. He couldn’t breathe.
When her lips moved, he knew he had to listen to what she was saying because any word this woman said was important, and he would believe it no matter what. “Do you trust me, Ethan?” He nodded numbly. If she told him to go jump off a cliff, he would do it. “Then remember that you are special. Have faith in yourself. Even in the darkest night, there is always hope and there is always light. Know that and you can never fail.”
His heart beat in an uneven rhythm, but it wasn’t because of this woman’s extraordinary beauty. It was because he could feel electricity surging through his veins at the thought of fulfilling his purpose. Now was not the time for doubts. He could do this, and it was okay to need the others for help. They were here to help each other. He wasn’t here to be a stand-alone hero. Phoebe and Dorian and everyone else needed him as much as he needed them. Together they could do anything.
“When do we leave?”
The woman smiled, and Ethan was nearly blown away. He could sit there and stare at her forever.
“Now.”
His eyes snapped open as he awoke with a start. It was a half pas
t one o’clock in the morning. Ethan lay still for a few minutes as he tried to calm his racing heartbeat and figure out what to do first. Obviously he would have to wake the others. That presented the unique problem of trying to explain about his dream that wasn’t really a dream and why exactly he knew that they had to go after the prophecy. He could already see their blank expressions. He wasn’t even sure Lucy would believe it, even though she could hear all his thoughts. He wasn’t sure if she would be able to see past the fact that the whole scene had happened inside his head and therefore was completely unreliable.
Phoebe would be able to get to the truth, and she would believe him. That was her area of expertise. Could he even ask her? Would she come with them? Did he stand a chance if she didn’t? When he’d left her at Hector’s earlier in the evening, she had been in no state to do much of anything.
Finally, he decided that waking the others would be his best course of action. He sat up and threw off his blankets, much to the annoyance of Shade, whom he had released before falling into his non-dream.
“You have to wake up anyway; we have to go,” Ethan whispered to him.
Shade glared at him for a moment more before realizing that he was serious. The eagle fluttered to the floor and immediately grew to the size of a large dog. His golden feathers glistened as he walked around to stand beside his Master. Ethan wasn’t sure which of the twins would be easier to wake up since he’d never had to do it before. They both had internal alarm clocks that went off at exactly seven-thirty in the morning—one of the few things they had in common.
Evan’s bed was next to his, so Ethan woke him first. He was sprawled out across his bed with his mouth hanging open; the only thing missing was drool.
Ethan shook his shoulder roughly. “Evan, wake up!”
Evan’s fist came out of nowhere and connected with the side of Ethan’s head. Lights popped in front of his eyes, and he rubbed his temple furiously as pain shot through it. “Damn, Evan!”
