“Alixia…”
“It’s okay, Phillip. I know you will always protect her.” There was a small silence between us for a few seconds.
“So, understand that I have no hidden agenda tonight to even the score for my Father. I’m here for one thing tonight, and that is to ensure that nobody else I love will be taken away from me. And that’s why I need to talk to Marguerite.”
”So, you’re just here to save him?”
“Yes, I’m here for Marcus. And you, too.”
“Me? What are you talking about?”
“My visions have been showing me that you and Marcus are in some kind of danger.”
“You’re visions are of me and Marcus together?”
“Yes,” I said, sensing his uneasiness. “They’re not full images, just bits and pieces right now.”
“Tell me what you have seen.”
“Marcus is standing by some kind of altar. There is a lot of yelling around you, and there is a woman. ” I shook my head. “I can’t see her clearly yet, and the next thing I see is you are fighting with a man and I have the sense that it’s an Ambrosine, which is ridiculous. And Marcus is in some kind of darkness. Anyway, that’s what the vision is so far.”
He sucked in a breath and let it out slowly, not saying a word and just staring at me.
“Phillip?”
“Yes,” he said, coming back to reality. And now there was fear in his voice.
“Alixia, are sure it was an Ambrosine?”
“No, it just feels that way. There are just bits and pieces, it’s not like there are full visions. Nothing has really connected together yet.”
“Does Madame Cecilia know about your visions?”
“Yes, but I don’t know if she has found out anything yet. She was going to talk to Angel about them. “
“I’ll talk to Angel. You be careful tonight. I don’t want you to end up in front of the Dominions, as my uncle will tonight.”
“Charles is facing them? Why?”
“They’re considering his fate tonight.”
“His fate?”
He rubbed the side of his face nervously.
“He disobeyed our beliefs by mentioning the punishment for your father.” My heart sank.
“That’s insane. Why would he be judged for that?”
He heaved a heavy sigh.
“Because he revealed what he had witnessed.”
“What he had witnessed?” I stood up and looked down at him.
“Did he take part in my father’s killing, too?”
“Alixia, he was trying to keep you safe.”
“Are you kidding me? He probably did it to get revenge on my mother!” I started walking toward the door.
”I’m going to the ballroom to get this over with. And then I’m never returning here again.”
“No! You listen to me first. It really was to protect you. For your information, he voted against Marcel’s involvement, and your mother knew it. She was the one who asked him to help guard you. In fact, you should know that even Angel and Madame Cecilia thought it was a bizarre punishment. Usually, when anyone threatens the Family as your father did, their life ends swiftly. They’re not brought into the Dark Realm.”
I opened the door.
“Maybe they were just being vindictive toward my father.”
“Who was vindictive?” Henry asked as he passed the door.
“Nobody. I’m going to the ballroom. I’m through with this conversation.”
“Alixia.”
“Phillip, enough! I just want to get this night over with, please.”
The lighting was very dim in the ballroom. The Families’ members looked like shadowy ghosts who whispered and bowed as we passed them going up to the stage. Madame Cecilia met us at the first step, handed me a robe and told Phillip to leave. He nodded and stepped back from me.
“He has to leave?”
“Yes. He can’t be here tonight.”
“Why?”
“It’s best I leave, Alixia,” he said.
“Again, why?”
Madame Cecilia grabbed my arm.
“Alixia, quiet down. Phillip, go!”
He moved back among the Families.
Phillip, I’ll see you after the Gathering.
Okay. Please don’t do anything foolish.
I walked up on stage and stood there, watching Phillip walk out the door. The room went quiet. The Families bowed. Madame Cecilia took hold of my arm.
“Alixia, bow.” I went to one knee and looked to my right. They were all in red hooded robes as they walked in. Each took a chair on stage.
Madame Cecilia stood up. I followed as she walked to the left side of the stage. She turned to me.
“Wait here.”
She returned to the front of the stage, facing the Dominions and saying: “Honorez la Famille.”
The Families joined in the chanting as the Dominions stood up, removing their hoods one by one. Looking over at them, all I could see were their profiles. There were three men and four women. Madam Cecilia went to the woman in the middle, taking her hand and saying something in French, and then they both looked toward me. The woman was Correa.
She motioned for me. I walked over and bowed and then slowly straightened up as she reached out her hand for mine. I placed my hand in hers, keeping my eyes focused on her. She was trying to get into my head, and to my surprise, she couldn’t. In fact, I sensed that she feared me, as if I were a threat to her. She pulled her hand back quickly, speaking in a raspy, cold voice.
“Very impressive.”
”Merci.” I said, looking at her more closely. She had beautiful, dark olive skin. Her hair was darkish brown and it cascaded past her shoulders. But it was her eyes that caught my attention. They were green with gold flecks, but something within them was missing.
A soul.
She stared at me, hauntingly.
“Alixia,” Madame Cecilia said, taking my hand, and breaking my connection with Correa. “Madame Correa, you will excuse us.”
“Yes, meet the rest.”
We acknowledged them one by one, even Nicolas Ambrosine, the one who saved Phillip when he was a young boy.
“Alixia,” he said, taking my hand roughly and moving me closer to him. “I’ve been told you are very willful. Be careful.”
I pulled my hand back from him, sensing it wasn’t a warning, but a threat. I glared at him, as Madame Cecilia took me back to center stage.
“Now, bow to the Families and then go stand by Angel.”
Looking out into the families as I bowed, I could sense the Dominions behind me, and I could also hear their collective thoughts. They were questioning what to do about me. I smiled, thinking the same about them, as I went over to Angel.
The room suddenly took on a red hue and a sweet, flowery scent that I have smelled before. I watched as the Families made a pathway for Charles as he walked toward us. He looked up my way. The Families reached out for him, touching and whispering to him, as he slowly made his way up to the stage. Angel grabbed my arm tightly.
“Do not move from this spot.”
“Let go of me.”
She glared at me.
“I mean it, Alixia!”
She left the stage with Madame Cecilia. I refocused on Charles as he walked up the last step. Going straight to Correa, he fell to his to knees and lowered his head. She stood up and I could sense she had no empathy for him.
“Charles Gautier, rise.” She looked out unto the Families. “You have been summoned here tonight for betraying one of our beliefs for your own selfish reasons.” She paused and glanced over at me with a slight smile on her face. “And for your disobedience, you will be punished according to our laws.”
She motioned with her hand to the right of the stage. Angel appeared through the red mist, carrying a gold chalice. She walked to Charles and handed it to him. He took it from her, bringing it to his lips. He hesitated for a second, looking at her, and she nodded. Then he drank and
handed the chalice back. I watched as he slowly started wavering back and forth. His eyes rolled back in his head. All I could see were the whites of them as he fell to his knees.
The Families started chanting again. Madame Correa reached out, putting her hands on his shoulders. The red hue started to engulf them.
His body began to jerk violently, because she was now within his conscious mind, inflecting pain. I watched her eyes darkening as Charlotte’s had.
“Stop!” I yelled, jumping in front of her and pushing her back from him. I took him in my arms. “You’re not going to hurt him anymore! ”
The Families rushed toward me franticly. She put her hands up, motioning for them to back away. She walked back to me. I sensed her anger as she reached for me. I glared up at her.
“Don’t try it!”
Madame Cecilia cried out, “Alixia, stop!.”
“Madame Cecilia,” I said. “Help me with him. He doesn’t need to be punished anymore.”
She helped me pull Charles to his feet, but she was looking at Madame Correa.
“I apologize for her,” she said. “She shouldn’t have interfered.”
“You’re right, she shouldn’t have. Alixia, leave him! ”
“No.” Charles leaned into me and whispered weakly in my ear.
“Let go, Alixia. Please.”
“No, I won’t leave you.”
Madame Correa clenched her teeth angrily.
“You want to interfere with his judgment? Gabriel, take Charles out of here. And as for you, young lady, you will take his place.”
Gabriel walked over to me, motioning for Henry and together they took Charles from me. I got into Henry’s head. Keep him safe.
He looked over at Correa, and then nodded at me. Then they left the stage. Madame Cecilia took my hand. Sensing her fear, I squeezed it and told her to step behind me.
“Now,” Madame Correa said, sitting down in her chair and tapping her fingernails on the armrest, with a look of annoyance on her face.
“What am I to do with you? You are like your father: he was headstrong too, not listening to any warnings. He thought he could control his own destiny, and you know how that ended for him.”
I stepped toward her angrily.
“Yes, and you ordered it! Did you enjoy taking him away from me?” Madame Cecilia grabbed my arm, pulling me back to her.
“Alixia, stop. You’re making things worse!”
“That’s right, Alixia, let’s not make things worse,” Correa said with an ominous smile on her face. “I’ve decided an appropriate punishment for you since you have this need to protect.” She looked at the rest of Dominions and they nodded in pleasure. They were in each other’s heads. I jumped into her thoughts just in time to hear the word Destroy.
“Alixia Ambrosine,” she stood up and spoke loudly, addressing the Families. “She alone will destroy the Dark One named Marcus.” The Families started chanting: “Tuez le Obscurité de mal!”
I went toward her and Madame Cecilia followed, trying to hold me back.
“I won’t do that.”
Nicolas stepped toward me.
She put her hand up and the Families stopped chanting, and knelt down. Pressing her lips together tightly, I sensed her outrage. When she spoke, her voice dripped evil.
“Yes, you will. You have until the Blood Moon Gathering to fulfill this quest.”
“And if I don’t?”
“Well, you are in my head right now, so you know what will happen if you don’t. Now go! Nicolas, let her go.”
I didn’t move.
“Alixia, come,” Madame Cecilia pleaded as she grabbed my arm. “Please just go to your room and wait for me. I will come to you right after the Gathering.”
“She can’t do this!”
“Alixia, don’t provoke her any more.”
I glared at all of them, getting off the stage. The family opened a path for me as I furiously left the room. Millie was waiting on the staircase for me.
“Come on, Alixia.”
“If she thinks she will kill me or someone I care for…”
”Alixia, don’t say any more until we are in your room.” We walked up a couple of steps and I stopped.
“Did Charles get out safely?”
“Yes, Henry took him home.”
“Good!”
“You’ve caused a lot of trouble tonight for him.”
“Why? Because I didn’t want him tortured. Do you think they will come after him again? Maybe he should go to Marguerite’s.”
“No, he would never go there. Now hush until we get to your room.”
Once there, she flipped on the light and sat down. I shut the door.
“Okay, why wouldn’t he go to Marguerites?”
“Because he knows she harbors the Dark Ones.”
“That’s ridiculous!”
“Alixia, he will never go there. They are evil to us. I even have a hard time understanding Henry’s acceptance of them. ”
“Millie, I wish I could get you to see that Marcus isn’t like that.”
“Please, I don’t want to argue about this. I have my opinions.” She shifted in her chair. “Anyway, Charles will be okay. They won’t come back for him unless he violates another belief.”
“Good.” I sat on the edge of the bed. “He’s safe now. So, this Blood Moon Gathering, when is it?”
“In a week or so.”
Okay, that gives me some time.
“Millie.”
“What?”
Did you ever witness…“
“Alixia! You’re asking what I witnessed? Don’t you ever learn? Do you want more trouble?”
“I’m sorry.”
“Well, start thinking. You’ve caused enough trouble for yourself tonight.”
There was a knock on the door.
“Millie?” It was Henry.
Millie walked to the door and opened it.
“Are you ready to leave?” he asked, wrapping his arm around her affectionately.
“Yes.”
“Millie,” I said, getting off the bed and coming over to them. “I didn’t mean, well, you know.“
“I know. I just want you to understand they will do what they say. So be careful in the choices that you make, or you could lose more than Marcus.”
“I know, and I will. Henry, is Marguerite still here?
“No, she…”
“What’s going on here?” Madame Cecilia asked, entering the room.
“We were just talking about making the right choices,” Millie said.
“I hope you’ve talked some sense into her.”
“No, she is as stubborn as ever. Did the Dominions leave?”
“Yes they have gone, but not happily.”
Henry took Millie’s hand nervously.
“Come, let’s leave them to talk.”
“Just a minute,” Millie said. “Alixia, you will stop at the house tomorrow, before going back to Baton Rouge?”
“Yes. I promise, Millie.”
“Good.” Henry pulled on her hand.
”Good night, ladies.”
They left, closing the door quietly behind them.
“You know I won’t destroy Marcus, so why do you need to talk to me?”
“I know that, and there’s nothing I can do now to ease the situation. Your interference brought this to a boiling point faster than I had anticipated.”
“What was I supposed to do, just let her kill him?”
”Alixia, he wasn’t going to be killed. He was just being punished.”
“He was being tortured!”
I could sense that she agreed with me, but wouldn’t admit it. But that wasn’t my big concern right now.
“You know I won’t destroy Marcus.”
“You will!”
“No,” I said walking toward the balcony doors and looking out into the night. She came up behind me, turning me around angrily.
“Do you want to be destroyed along with him?”
/> “You keep saying that. So, who is going to destroy me? The Ambrosines? We don’t go after each other, right?”
She stared at me, a bit unnerved.
“Your mother never told you?”
“Told me what?” She put her hand to her forehead, rubbing her brow.
“Lucida told me she had spoken to you about it. Why would she make me believe that she had?”
“Spoken to me about what?”
“Well, you’re right that the Ambrosines don’t destroy Ambrosines.” I moved over by her.
“Okay, so who destroys the Ambrosines?” She turned her head, looking straight into my eyes so that I could sense the fear in her, as she pushed out the words.
“The Pure Ones do. And how, I don’t know.”
Taking Sides
I stayed the night at Madame Cecilia’s and woke before dawn. Lying there in the still darkness, I was having a hard time accepting what Madam Cecilia had said last night. The Pure Ones could actually destroy us.
I just didn’t get it. Not once had I ever sensed any threat from them. And, of course, I now had to ask myself if I should trust Marguerite.
Madame Cecilia, of course, wasn’t much help in explaining anything. I wondered the whole time while she was talking last night whether she was hiding something from me. All she made me privy to was that the Dominions have to have a unanimous vote before they can order an Ambrosine destroyed. Then, we’re handed over to the Pure Ones. She still denied knowing how we are killed. She told me that the Pure Ones never allowed anyone to witness the ritual of the eradication of an Ambrosine, and if anyone ever did, then their life would end, too.
I sat up and stretched.
Well, I’ll find out. It’s time for me to get out of here and talk to Marguerite.
He was suddenly in my head.
You’re leaving?
“Phillip.” I looked toward the balcony just in time to see him jump over the railing. Grabbing my robe, I went to the doors and let him in. He took me in his arms, turned back to the railing and jumped down to the ground. Then he looked at me passionately, and cradled me in his arms.
“There’s a sunrise waiting for us.”
“Oh, there is?”
He smiled and took my hand.
“Let’s go.”
We walked silently to the gazebo out past the gardens. Sitting down, Phillip was the first to speak.
The Legacy (Ambrosine Book 2) Page 12
