Remember (Protectors of the Elemental Magic Book 1)

by Marnie Cate

  Her words shocked and angered me, it took every bit of energy I had to not burst into the room and scream at her. Miles felt my anger and he snuggled back into my arms patting my hand. His behavior reminded me that I needed to control my emotions. Wrapping my arms around him, I kissed him on the cheek. Knowing my sister was not going to back down, I braced myself for what was coming next.

  In response to Eliza's threats, Meg launched another verbal attack. She was so unafraid and so strong in her words, “Mara will never give you anything! I will not let her give you anything! I would rather be alone forever locked up with no food and water than have you get your way. I am glad you left us. You would have been a horrible mother!”

  “Enough,” Eliza screamed and a loud slap rang through the air. “I will not take such abuse from you.”

  The angry, echoing sound of her high heeled shoes hitting the granite floor was followed by the slamming of a door and the clicking sound of locks. The sound of my sister crying filled the room. As Meg's soft sobs quieted, I stood up to go to her.

  “Let me go to her alone and be sure that it is safe,” Miles whispered.

  Nodding, I watched as he entered the closet and slowly crept into the room. I entered the closet and stayed in the shadows to watch Miles as he comforted my sister. Meg was lying face down on the bed with her head buried in the pillow to quiet her sobs.

  “Don't cry, Meg,” Miles said softly, as he laid down in the bed beside her and wrapped his arms around her, “Everything is going to be okay. Soon we will be with your family and you won't be afraid anymore.”

  Sitting up, she wiped away her tears and spoke to him, with such sadness, “I don't think they are ever going to come and if they do she will never let us go.”

  “Don't say that,” he said seriously, “You promised me that they would come and take us home. You said that they would love me and that we would be so happy together. You made a promise and you always keep your promises, right?”

  Standing up, he went to her dresser and pulled out dark, warm clothes just as I had instructed him to do earlier.

  “Put these on,” Miles said, with such conviction that Meg did not argue. She just followed his directions.

  While Meg dressed, Miles fixed her bed up just as I had done in his room. Taking her hand, he led her into the closet. When she saw me, she stared as if she was looking at a ghost.

  “Mara,” she said timidly, “Are you really here?”

  Pulling her into my arms, I fought back tears, “I am so sorry that I let her take you. I should have been more careful and not let you out of my sight.”

  We both just held each other while Miles watched us with a big smile. Tapping my shoulder, he said, “We really should hurry. I don't want them to find out that we left our rooms.”

  “Do you know a way for us to get to the back of the house without being seen?” I asked him, as I let go of my sister. “Everyone is waiting for us by one of the large trees at the far edge of the property. Do you think you can get us there without being seen?”

  “Of course,” he said, sounding so much like Meg that I wanted to laugh, “We will just need to be careful. Follow me.”

  Meg bragged, “Miles can get us anywhere we need to go. He is super sneaky like that.”

  With a look of pride at her compliment, he smiled and led us into the inner walls of the house. We both followed Miles as we twisted and turned through the darkness. When we reached another hole in the wall, he carefully opened the panel and peeked out.

  “Be quiet,” Miles said, as he led us into a hallway inside the mansion. Following him, he took us to the patio doors in the middle of the third floor.

  “Wait,” I said pulling the vial of green liquid from my pocket and placing a drop in front of the closed doors. The green liquid sizzled as I held my breath praying silently in my head. Slowly, the liquid turned red and spread into a large circle that slipped under the door.

  “We can't go out this door, Miles.” I said, with frustration. “She has put a protection spell at this entrance. Is there another way?”

  Scrunching his face as if he was deep in thought, he announced, “I got it! I think I know a way.”

  Back into the walls of the house, Miles led us once again along passageways. I was not sure which direction we were facing. Was he leading us closer to Eliza's room? My heart felt like it was going to beat out of my chest.

  “Let me check this way. Can I have your green stuff?” Miles asked. He looked like a little man with the serious face he wore.

  “Just put one small drop in the center of the area that we will cross.” I said, handing him the potion. As I watched him enter the small exit of our escape path, I turned to Meg and took her hand.

  “Don't worry, Mara,” Meg whispered, “Miles will get us out of here. He is really smart for being just a kid.”

  Squeezing her hand, I said, “I have no doubt that he will find a way.”

  With those words, Miles returned with a big smile on his face, “She would never think anyone would go this way. Let's go.”

  Leaving the wall, we entered a small closet in the hall. The room was full of cleaning supplies and other housework equipment. Miles opened a door to a cupboard that was empty. Peering in, I saw that it was not a cupboard but instead a laundry chute. I had read about them in books but I had never seen one before.

  “Where does this lead?” I questioned him while thinking. This does not look safe.

  “This goes right to the laundry pile. It is usually full of sheets since Grandmother Blanche has all the beds changed every day.” He explained, with a sad look on his face, “Even if no one slept in the bed, she makes Hazel take everything off and remake it with clean sheets. She makes her do it for all fifteen of the rooms in the house!”

  Shaking off his gloomy thoughts, he forced a smile and pointed at the chute, “You should go first Mara since you are the biggest.”

  Spreading his legs and his arms out, he said, “You will hold your arms and legs out like this and slowly move down the tube. If you go very slowly, it is not as scary.”

  “Great demonstration,” I praised, holding my hand out, “Can I have my green stuff back? I will check the area when I get to the bottom.”

  Reluctantly handing it to me, he warned, “Go slow.”

  Climbing into the chute, I looked at Meg and Miles watching me, “Come on, you two.” I said, “We don't want to be found.”

  With those words, I began my descent into the dark space using the technique he had just shown me. The cold metal was more slippery than I had expected. Once Meg and Miles entered the tube, I found specks of dirt dropping on me and grains of dirt covered my hand landing in my eyes. Misjudging my strength, I took my hand off the wall for the briefest moment to wipe my eyes and found myself slipping.

  Stifling my screams as the silver of the walls blurred past me, I began to fall. I must have not been very high up when I slipped because I landed quickly in a large basket full of dirty linens making an oomph sound. Reaching up to Meg, I held my hands helping her down. Before I could help Miles, he jumped around me and into the pile of laundry.

  Quickly climbing out the basket, he held out his hand, “Green, please.”

  With an amused smile, I handed him the potion and let him check our exit. His grin told me that the coast was clear.

  As we left the stuffy laundry room, the cold air hit my face. The night sky twinkled with stars and I felt a sense of relief. Soon, we would be far away from this place and with our family.

  Chapter 48

  Miles led us through the property dodging from tree to tree. I was terrified that we would run into the guard that was in the front but there was no sign of anyone around. Arriving at the tree the guard had been sleeping, I looked around and I could not see anyone. My heart fell.

  A soft rustle came from in the brush across from us. Pulling Meg and Miles to the other side of the tree, I whispered, “Wait here.”

  Leaving them, I crept towards the bus
h. Staring at me from deep in the foliage were two shining blue eyes. “Damn it, Cole,” I hissed, as I recognized who was hiding, “You scared me.”

  Stepping out the brush, he grabbed me and held me tightly, “Mar, I was starting to freak out. You were in there a long time. Gram and Elliott went down the mountain to make sure that the path was still clear when you returned.” Looking around with concern, he whispered, “Where are they? Did you not find them in the house?”

  Leaving the safety of the tree, Meg and Miles were holding hands as they came to us. Cole's eyes widened and his face wore a big grin of surprise. When they stopped in front of us, Cole scooped them both into his arms and gave them a big bear hug.

  Surprised by his reaction, Miles stepped back when Cole finally put them down. Realizing that his behavior probably scared him, Cole held out his hand respectfully and said, "I am sorry – that was probably too much for a first meeting. I was just so worried about all of you and then when I saw you were safe I was overwhelmed with excitement.

  Accepting his hand and shaking it, Miles said, still eyeing him wearily, “I am glad to meet you, Cos. Meg has told me all about you.”

  Laughing, Cole smiled and said, “I am glad to meet you, Miles. Now we should be on our way. This place gives me the willies.”

  Crooking his eyebrow, Miles stared at Cole as if he was from another planet and then finally nodded.

  Meg took Miles by the hand and whispered to him, “You don't have to be so proper now. We are not like the Drygens. You are in our family now and we like to hug.”

  Miles beamed at her words and they began to follow Cole as he began to lead us down the path. As I followed behind, I turned to look at the mansion that we had just left. I felt relieved as I confirmed it was still dark and there were no signs of activity.

  “Thank you, Goddess, for your blessings and protection,” I said clearly, as I looked at the bright moon. As if responding to my thanks, the stars in the sky began to twinkle.

  When we reached the flat area that we had stopped to request blessings, there was no sign of Gram or my father. My heart once again felt like it had dropped. With apprehension, I looked around for any signs of them. There were none.

  “They are probably down the mountain waiting for us at the four wheelers,” Cole said, sensing my anxiety. Taking my hand, he said, “Don't worry, Mar. They will be waiting for us below.”

  The long walk down the mountain seemed longer than the trip up. Miles and Meg were quiet as if my somber mood had rubbed off onto them. They were just little kids. I needed to protect them and my dark feelings shouldn't bring them down. They already knew we were in danger. Focusing on my breathing, I tried to lighten the mood.

  “Miles,” I said, “Did Meg tell you about Gram's delicious cooking?”

  His eyes lit up as he said, “She did. She said that she makes the best cookies in the entire world and that she even makes licorice ice cream with red…sprinkles,” he hesitated before the word, “sprinkles” as if he was saying something that should not be spoken.

  “Yep, I told you that she is a good cook,” Meg said. “I can't wait to have good food again. They forgot to add any flavor to the food they fed me and the veggies were not like Grams.”

  Amused, I said, “Meg, won't it be fun to have a little brother? You will be busy showing Miles so many new things.”

  Continuing our walk, I held Cole's hand and listened to Meg describe all of the things that she would show Miles. He responded with many questions and I could hear the excitement in his voice. It made me sad to think of the life he had before Meg was brought to him. As we approached the end of the path, I saw movement. Stopping, I watched for more signs of activity.

  “What did you see?” Cole whispered to me.

  “I am not sure but I thought something was down there,” I whispered back.

  Slowly continuing our descent, we were met by Gram and my father. Unfortunately, they were not alone.

  Chapter 49

  “How nice of you to join us,” Eliza icily purred, as she appeared dragging my grandmother behind her. Eliza had a handful of Gram's silver hair twisted in her clutched hand. Gram wore a brave face to hide the pain but in her eyes, I could see the agony she really was in. A dark bruise shadowed her eye and her face was covered with small, bleeding cuts. Running to help my grandmother, I was stopped in my tracks by Cedric yanking my father out of the darkness and into our view.

  Cedric had a long silver knife pressed against my father's neck as he roughly shoved him forward. My father had been badly beaten and blood was running down his swollen and bruised face. Even though he was probably in great pain, his face only showed anger. Struggling against his adversary, his continued attempts to break Cedric's tight hold were fruitless.

  “Careful, Elliott,” Cedric taunted, “You wouldn't want to accidently cut yourself.”

  Pressing harder on the knife that he held against my father's neck, the skin broke and a small drop of blood began to run down his neck.

  “Stop,” I said, as I moved towards my father, “You are going to kill him.”

  “Oh Marina,” Eliza sneered, as she dragged my grandmother forward blocking my father from my vision, “Your father died a very, very long time ago. Who would really miss him if he died again?”

  “You are no longer my daughter,” my grandmother said, with contempt.

  With a look of hate in her black eyes, Eliza slapped my grandmother with the back of her hand. The force of her strike sent Gram reeling and she fell to the ground. Without hesitation, Cole ran to my grandmother as she laid crumpled on the dirt. He put his arms tightly around her and whispered quietly in her ear. Responding to his words, she leaned on him for support and sat herself upright as Cole wrapped his arms tighter around her.

  “I will never understand what happened to turn you into this person. You were not raised this way,” Gram said, with sadness in her voice.

  Standing over my grandmother, she snarled, “Your mother, Genevieve, created me. She brought this pain to the Silver family. If she would have just left Camille Drygen alone, you would have never had to take my magic from me and we would not be here today.”

  Gram said, with defeat in her voice. “You are so consumed by the darkness that you allowed inside of your heart that there is no hope for my daughter to return. You truly are a Drygen now.”

  Eliza shouted at her, “You will not talk to me like this. You will show me the respect I deserve.”

  Snorting at her, my grandmother said, “You will never have my respect.”

  Eliza's rage boiled. She shoved Cole away from my grandmother and pulled her up by her hair. Shaking and slapping her, she began screaming at her. Her words were so full of anger and venom that she was not making any sense. They were just hysterical ramblings about all of the ways that she had been wronged by my grandmother in the past, the present and even the future.

  “Stop,” I yelled, throwing a ball of fire at Eliza. The fire flew close to her face but it did not strike her. “I will give you what you want. Just leave them alone.”

  I shocked myself. How did I so easily form the fire and throw it? Where did that come from inside me? Was I capable of being just as dark as her?

  “No, Mara,” Gram cautioned. Before she could finish her warnings, Eliza struck her and sent my grandmother spinning. With a thud, she hit the hard ground.

  “Stop,” I cried, “I will give you what you want. I will release the binding that was put on your magic. I will only do this if you stop hurting Gram and you must promise to leave us alone once this is done.”

  “Fine,” Eliza relented. Her cold black eyes pierced through me as she pointed at my grandmother who was lying motionless on the ground, “I will agree to your demands but I want you to bind her magic also.”

  Stepping close to her, I said, “I will do what you want but we must go to the forest behind our house for me to be able to cast the spell. If I do what you ask, you have to agree to leave us alone forever…all of us.
And, Miles will come to live with us.”

  “Whatever you want, Marina,” she said, coldly turning to face my grandmother, “but you are going to give me what I want and she is going to watch as I get everything that she stripped from me returned.”

  Why did she not protest about Miles? She did not even acknowledge him. How could a mother willingly give up her child? My mind raced with all the realities of her promises. She was not going to keep her promise even if I kept mine. She was not going to leave us alone and she would only keep him to hurt us. There was no way that I would let her take him from us. Looking at the moon, an idea came to me.

  Turning to Eliza, I said, “We must go now before the sun begins to rise or I won't be able to break the binding.”

  “Cedric put them in the back of the truck,” she ordered and pointed her long sharp fingernail at me. “You will ride up front with me, my darling daughter. We have so much to catch up on.”

  Cedric threw my struggling father into the bed of the truck and began to tightly bind his wrists and legs with cord. Punching him in the face, Cedric growled, “You are lucky the girl is here and wants you alive. If it was up to me, I would feed your bloody carcass to the animals.”

  Cedric gave my father one last kick in the ribs as he hopped out of the truck and turned to glare at Gram saying, “I wouldn't try anything stupid, old lady or I will make you sorry.”

  Gram crawled into the back of the truck as he watched. I stood back expecting him to try to do something to make it difficult for her to get into the high bed of the truck by herself. Instead he just stood scowling at her. Picking up Miles, Cedric tossed him into the back of the truck by my father. Miles straightened up and looked at his father with sadness in his eyes. As Cedric tried to pick Meg up, she resisted.

  “I do not need your help,” Meg said with so much rage in her small voice and began to climb in the truck.

  Cackling as he picked her up by the waist of her pants, Cedric dangled her in the air as she struggled to break his hold. The scar under his eye glowed in the moonlight.