An Uncommon Truth of Dying (Broken Veil Book 2)

by Marie Andreas

  The others all stopped talking. No one came closer, but the room wasn’t large enough for them not to hear. Aisling didn’t care at this point. She felt the wrongness in her. Whatever had been taken or blocked from her as a child was there. Hovering on the edge of her consciousness. And she was pissed.

  “This isn’t something that should be public.” Harlie went pale and slid into one of the kitchen chairs.

  “This isn’t public, this is me and the people I trust. Which right now doesn’t include you. What did you and our mother do to me?” Bart was a new addition to her inner circle, but she trusted him and this couldn’t wait. Something had been changed and she needed to know what.

  Harlie stared at her for a few moments, his eyes growing sadder as he did. Finally, he shook his head. “You had a bad nightmare. One that left you screaming and scorched the walls.” Neither was a question.

  “The walls are fine.” She folded her arms and nodded for him to continue.

  “Not these, although the nightmare here could have left damage we don’t see yet. When you were a girl. No more than four or five. You almost destroyed the family home because of a nightmare.” He leaned forward. “How did you know?”

  “I had a nightmare. Here.” She folded her arms tightly. She’d fight him if she had to, she knew that nightmare had been real.

  Harlie grew even sadder, but just nodded.

  Caradoc looked between them. “I wasn’t as young as her, but I still lived in the house. Her nightmares were annoying for us and bad for her, but she never did any damage. I would have noticed if she almost burned the house down.”

  “That’s what mother and father wanted you to believe. The housekeepers, security, everyone in the house needed to believe. They even blocked our siblings from the knowledge, although none of them lived there anymore.” Harlie’s voice was still filled with sorrow. But there was an anger there as well.

  The room was silent and Aisling felt every eye on her. “That doesn’t make sense. I’m not a strong magic user, ask mother. I grew up being the disappointing last child.”

  “That’s what they wanted you to believe. Instead of training you to use your abilities, she made me hide them.” His eyes were sad. “Your potential was unprecedented. You had far more than just healing abilities.”

  “Then why in the hell did you people block her? Things are going in the shitter right now; in case you haven’t noticed. Having some kick-ass powers might come in handy.” Maeve was pissed.

  “Had she been trained two hundred years ago, and taught to use them correctly, yes. She would be a force to be reckoned with. One that...” His words drifted off and he shook his head as he muttered to himself.

  “What?” Caradoc was pissed too and got in his older brother’s face. “What else did you and she do to Aisling? To me? I don’t care about the rest of our siblings they can rot in the abyss—but what did you do to us?” Caradoc had been the only one to keep in contact with Harlie over the years, and the feeling of betrayal was clear on his face.

  “I blocked her magic; I created a well for it to funnel away from her and not cause problems. But I just realized that had Aisling’s magic been trained, and she been raised using it, she might have been stronger than our mother. I’m not convinced that I am stronger than her and I am the strongest of all of the children. But mother could have seen Aisling as a threat.”

  “Your mother had you block her, not to help Aisling, but to save her own arse?” Maeve turned to Aisling. “I am so sorry if at any time I doubted the level of evil in that woman.”

  Bart, Reece, and Jones had been standing by, watching the family drama, but Bart finally spoke. “Like your friends here, I am one of the few who know your family connection to that woman. I think it’s best to keep it hidden. I don’t have much magic, never have and never will. But what she had Harlie do was vile.” He turned to Harlie. “I need you on this case, but this seriously causes me problems.”

  Harlie ran his fingers through his hair and wouldn’t look up. “I don’t blame you. I moved to Nepal to get away from her before Aisling was born. However, I stayed there after what she made me do. I can never be forgiven.”

  Caradoc watched his brother closely. Finally, his face relaxed. “I don’t believe you had a choice. The question is, why did she have you do it, instead of doing it herself? I know her magic is different than yours, but could she have done what you did?”

  “Yes.” Harlie pulled on the ends of his hair, but he did that when thinking sometimes. “She could have definitely done what I did. Instead, she flew across the world to meet me in Nepal. Why?” His eyes were haunted but he wouldn’t look at anyone for more than a few moments.

  Aisling stayed silent. Mostly so she could work through the emotions before she started yelling them again. “She was threatened by my potential abilities, things that were somehow connected to my nightmares, so she had you block them. I didn’t know you then, but I don’t think you’re the type to do something like that lightly. Especially for her.” There were layers here that she couldn’t deal with right now. As long as it didn’t interfere with her job or life at this point, everything could just stay shoved in a corner. Except the why. Bart was right, they did need Harlie in on whatever in the hell was going on. But not if he couldn’t be trusted.

  “I think we know why. She didn’t want to be connected to the issue or the blocking on a magical level.” Caradoc shook his head as he looked to Aisling. “But she’s still connected to you. She gave birth to you after all, and has spent the past ten years trying to get you back into the family fold.”

  “That was only a public face thing. Plus, she might have decided that my abilities could be used now that they’re two hundred years delayed.” Aisling poured herself some black tea from the pot on the counter. “What were my powers? The ones she had you block?” It was hard to ask, but necessary.

  Harlie’s eyes had tears in them. “That’s the problem, it wasn’t clear. You were so young and they were just developing.”

  “I’m not a magic user, but this doesn’t sound like something we can resolve quickly.” Reece shot Aisling a glance at the first part of his sentence. “Can you release her? Maybe if the block stopped the nightmares, removing it could resolve them now? Her stronger powers are already leaking through based on what happened today.”

  “I should be able to.” Harlie looked up. “I’ll find a flight back tomorrow, once we’re sure the block has been removed.”

  “Not so fast.” Bart stepped forward. “Aisling? How do you feel about your brother, what he did, and your mother?” He folded his arms but his face was neutral. She knew that Bart would back whatever she said.

  Aisling watched Harlie. She hadn’t known him growing up, but had learned to love and trust him in the last month. No matter what their bitch of a mother made him do, she found that she still did feel both. He was a victim here as well. She finally nodded. “I trust Harlie. I’m not sure what I feel about what he did beyond that it was our mother who made it happen. I hate her for what she did to both of us.” She’d said it all quickly, so the emotion behind all of it could be felt by Harlie.

  “Thank you.” He sighed and leaned back. “If you need me, I will stay. One question though, how did you know? I was afraid to be around you in case you could tell I’d done something, but why now?”

  “I have no idea. After Maeve’s chamomile cocktail I didn’t dream. But I heard words. You and her, talking about me. She forced you to do it.” She repeated exactly what she’d heard and felt.

  Harlie was back to looking pale. “That hand was mine. Everything you said was what happened. How did this come back? Mother had you asleep with a spell when she brought you to me. That’s probably why you didn’t see anything. But to have felt and heard that while you were under her spell.” He gave a tight grin. “You might not end up being as strong as she feared you would be, but I think you’ll still give her a fight once we train you.”

  “Good. Let’s get started.�
� She didn’t care why her mother didn’t want her to have her powers. She just hoped that getting them back would provide some much-needed payback. Her mother feared her potential powers, she’d make sure that fear was realized.

  Reece, Bart, and Jones headed for the door. Bart turned toward Aisling. “We have more mundane things to deal with, such as securing a plane for you all. Do whatever you need to do to get a handle on this. But be ready to fly out in two hours.” He gave a nod to Maeve, that must have been within the MI-6 timeline. The sound of the door locking behind them said even in the secret suite, things might not be as safe as hoped.

  Caradoc and Maeve took up kitchen chairs on either side of Harlie, leaving the one facing him open.

  Aisling took the open seat. “Do we have an idea what exactly is going to happen? Just so I can brace myself?”

  Caradoc leaned forward, but he was watching her, not Harlie.

  “I’m not going to grow horns, and he hasn’t started yet.” She folded her arms and stared back at Caradoc.

  He grinned and leaned back in his chair. “Just remembering you as you were, before the change. You have to admit though, horns might be cool.” He was laughing, but there was real concern in his eyes. Typical Caradoc, trying to help with humor.

  It worked. The tension Aisling had felt since she woke up vanished.

  Maeve reached over and took Aisling’s hand. “Even with horns, we’d still love you.”

  Harlie gave a cough. “If you’re all done? I’m not sure exactly how to remove the block completely, mother would have been feeding it with her own magic to keep it secure. Especially the first twenty years. It’s a good thing you moved north about then. She couldn’t have kept adding to the spell and you were far from her range of influence.”

  “I just needed to get away.” Her move to the northern realms had come as a shock to everyone, especially her mother. Aisling hadn’t been sure why she wanted to leave beyond getting out from under the family influence. Good to know her subconscious might have had a better reason.

  Harlie took her hand. “It’s going to feel weird. Even though you’ve had cracks of power lately, this is going to let a lot of power flow through you.”

  “I thought you said she wouldn’t have much, since she was blocked for that long?” Maeve released her other hand and Harlie took that one as well.

  “She will never be as strong as she would have been without the block, this is true. But she is still going to be accessing a lot more magic than she had.”

  “Be prepared to duck, then?” The more he was talking, the more he was freaking Aisling out. More magic would be a good thing. More magic she couldn’t control, would not be.

  Harlie looked to her with a grin. “Might not be a bad idea.”

  Before Aisling could retort, the feeling she’d had during her non-dream with Harlie and her mother slammed into her. Darkness filled her vision even though she knew this time that her eyes were open. “I can’t see.”

  Harlie squeezed both hands. “We have to go back in your head. Remove the blockage and free the magic. You’re back two hundred years ago.”

  Aisling clenched his hands as she heard the same conversation she’d heard in her sleep. She wanted to reach out and smack her mother, but knew that wasn’t an option.

  “It’s okay, relax.” The voice was coming from outside her and inside her. Harlie sounded like he did now and yet also different. It wasn’t aging really; two hundred years wasn’t that much to an elf. He’d been changed from who he was two hundred years ago. Aisling had a feeling he’d changed because of what he’d been forced to do to her.

  The moment the block was installed flowed away from her mind. It was as if they had gone back all those decades and at the last minute, and stopped it from happening. It didn’t have to be removed, because it simply didn’t happen. But at the same time, it did happen, and she felt the emptiness and loss crawl into her five-year-old self.

  Light, sound, vibration, and heat all crashed into her. She pushed Harlie and the table away and found herself on the floor at the far end of the room. Caradoc and Maeve, along with the table and chairs, had been flung up against the opposite wall.

  Aisling scrambled to her feet, but vertigo slammed into her and she collapsed. She leaned over and threw up in a trash bin.

  Maeve helped pull the table away from the other two. Judging by their faces as they got up, they were freaked out, but not injured.

  “That wasn’t fun.” Aisling pushed up the trash can, but stayed on the floor.

  “I’m sorry. I had no idea it would react that way. Well, I had no idea what would happen at all, so that had to have been one of the options.” Harlie nodded but didn’t come closer to her. He turned and fixed the chairs and table instead.

  Caradoc and Maeve came and helped her to her feet.

  “You’re not going to get sick again, are you?” Maeve held her hand but stood as far away as possible.

  “I don’t think so.” Aisling sat back in the chair Caradoc aimed her at and dropped her head in her hands. “Everything hit at once. Sounds, colors, light, heat. It was weird. And things won’t stop spinning.”

  Maeve started to bring over the trash can, but Aisling held one hand up. “I think I’m fine. Or will be. Might need to go lie down again. Was that all of it though? You don’t have to do anything else?” She lifted her head out of her hands to look to Harlie. He still looked freaked.

  “I’m not sure. I’d just started reversing the spell when you took over. I heard myself, two of me actually, our mother, and you. Not as now, but as the child you were.”

  “I didn’t hear that. Are you certain? What did I say, and how did I say anything since you said mother had me spelled?” She hadn’t heard her own voice, now or as a child.

  “You repeated the spell as I said it. As the me of now spoke the words to remove the block. You did it word for word.” Harlie’s surprise was gone. Now he looked lost-in-thought-neutral. Not an improvement.

  “Does she have all of her potential powers back?” Caradoc stayed near her but he watched Harlie.

  “You can’t sense it? I can. But since I was uniquely tied to them that makes for a good reason. I feel a change in her. I can’t pinpoint what it is, but something is different.” Harlie peered at her like she was an unusual rodent. “Not everything she could have been, but there is a change.”

  Aisling took a deep breath. New magic was good, but she’d spent her life with the knowledge that she wasn’t a strong magic user. This would take some getting used to. A flare of fury at what her mother took from her hit her, but she shoved it aside. She’d deal with that later—right now she needed to focus on what she had and how she could use it. Hopefully, against her mother and whoever she was working with. “Should I try to do something with it? I feel the same magic-wise, but still spinning head-wise.”

  “Probably not a good thing to test right now, given the circumstances. Give your mind and body time to adjust.” Harlie walked around her slowly. “My block is gone though. That I can tell. How much or what your magic will do with that, remains to be seen.”

  Maeve watched Aisling carefully, then turned with a frown to Harlie. “Your mother can’t tell what you did, right? The way Aisling broke the tie when she went up to troll town as a rebellious youth, this is the same, right? Too far from her to sense?”

  “That’s our mother, even people who have never met her hate and fear her,” Caradoc said.

  “She has a good point,” Aisling frowned. “I know Caradoc managed to block our tech from her, but she can’t track us magically because of this, can she?” That would be a side-effect she didn’t want to think of and she’d have Harlie put the block up immediately if it were the case.

  “No. At least I don’t think so.” Harlie shook his head. “Everything about this is unknown, but I do think the further away we are from her the better.”

  “My sources say she is back in the pacific northwest. On a retreat of some kind.” Caradoc managed t
o make the word retreat sound like a four-letter word. Their mother didn’t retreat from anything, she gathered with allies for the destruction of others.

  A knock at the door preceded Reece and Jones.

  Reece took over one of the chairs in the front area. “Everything better now? We have a flight, a private plane that Bart is piloting himself and leaves in one hour. And no, he won’t say who the plane belongs to or how he borrowed it.”

  “I have done what I can. Did he say if I was to stay here and look into the airport issue?” Even though no one was sending Harlie packing, the attack on the airport might be something he could find answers about.

  “Actually, no. He wants you back in the group going to England. Even though he’s flying us out, he’s not going to be staying at this point. No leads on the airport mess, beyond identifying the victims, but he has other people he can tap for it.”

  “Has the fake medic said anything?” Aisling asked.

  “She hasn’t woken up. She should have, but her brain activity is off somehow.” Jones added with a thoughtful look at Aisling. “They’re looking to see if it was something in the body storage. It had been rigged to keep you, or her, alive, but there are some chemicals there that are attacking her memories and higher brain functions.”

  Chapter Twenty-Two

  The group went silent. It might have been something related to the woman herself, or it could have been what they’d planned for Aisling. Or because it might have been set up at the last minute, it might have been a horrific mistake.

  Reece’s phone rang and he said a few words then hung up. “Bart’s ready for us to load. Let’s go see what he found for us.”

  The airfield was far emptier than it was when they arrived. The damaged plane they’d come in on was rolled off to a large hanger. The only plane on the strip was a very expensive looking private jet. The nose was long and pointed and judging by the elaborate designs on it, pulled in a lot of magic to augment its speed.