Upon the Stars (Love Lines Book 5)

by Diana Nixon

  “How did you come to know about them?”

  “A few years ago, when I was looking for the way to save you from the powers that your father wanted you to inherit, I met a woman who told me about hermits, like Clarions. She said they know how to suppress the powers we possess. And so, I met Theodor. Only he didn’t know anything about my magic or me in general. He thought I was just another hermit willing to protect her child from the evils of Dever.”

  “Was your meeting with him successful? Did he manage to help you?”

  “No. But when I was about to leave his house, I saw something that I would never be able to forget… I heard someone crying behind one of the doors. I went to open it and saw a boy, sitting on the floor in the middle of a huge, empty room. At first, I thought he was sick. I went over to ask if I could help him, and then I saw this.” Mom gave me a picture, showing the symbol of infinity encircled with five small daggers. “It was burned into the boy’s wrist,” she said.

  “Do you know what this symbol means?”

  “I do. I saw the same symbol on Salazar’s wrist.”

  “The Lord from the Brotherhood, right?”

  “Yes. He said it was the sign of his father’s attempt to turn him into a human.”

  I gasped, as the realization hit me. “Oh, my God…”

  “Those people, Clarions, torture their children with these burned marks, making them abandon their gifts.”

  “But that’s impossible!”

  “Well, they believe differently.”

  “Do you think the attack on the wedding had been planned by the hermits? By Clarions?”

  “Yes. I think they were there to kill as many Dever’s dwellers as they could find. Since the way to Dever is closed to people like them, I guess they wanted to warn us. They want to destroy our world, Evan. They hate their gifts, they want to be humans.”

  “Just like the Lords did…”

  “Exactly.”

  “So what do we do now?”

  “I guess Frederick and Patrick have a plan to stop them. Talk to them.”

  “Have you told them about the Clarions?”

  “No. But the existence of hermits has never been a secret. The problem is that we never knew they wanted to get rid of their powers, once and for all.”

  “And only by destroying Dever can they achieve that.”

  “Yes. Because Dever is the key to everything. The origins of our gifts are kept there.”

  “This means we need to be very careful choosing the new location for Dever.”

  Mom nodded at my words.

  We talked for a few more minutes. She asked me about Amanda, and how I felt about discovering the power of masterminding. For a split second, I felt like all those years of my mother’s absence didn’t exist at all…

  “Thank you,” I said when the time to break the illusion came. “For everything. I guess I didn’t have a chance to say that, not yet anyway.”

  She smiled with that painfully familiar smile that always rights all the wrong things about my life. A lump formed in my throat. I took a few steps closer and wordlessly wrapped my arms around her. It was as if I was back at home after years and years of being away.

  “I love you, Son,” she said in a whisper. “Never doubt that, please.”

  “I won’t,” I said before I stepped back and she broke the illusion, letting me get back to reality.

  I love you too, Mom, I thought, as the remnants of my dream started to fade away, hoping she would be able to hear my words. For the first time in what felt like forever, I let myself pronounce them, and it felt so natural, so relieving. As if it had been just another stupid rule that I wouldn’t allow myself to break, but breaking it turned out to be really good. Well, I have always been damn good at breaking rules; it hadn’t changed with time, thank God.

  “Evan,” Amanda called my name.

  I opened my eyes and saw her troubled face leaning over me.

  “Is everything all right? You’ve been talking in your sleep.”

  “Didn’t you see my dream with me?” I knew Amanda could not only read my thoughts, she could also see my dreams.

  “No. I guess I was too tired and too deep asleep to follow you into your dream. What happened there?”

  “I saw my mother. She spoke to me.”

  “Oh… What did she say?”

  “She told me about something that I will need to discuss with your father.”

  Chapter 3

  Eileen

  It was almost five in the morning when I woke up, got out of bed, trying to not awake Christian, and got dressed. It was time to check on Evan, and even though the dawn was not supposed to come for another hour or so, I needed to get ready for what he wanted me to do.

  I never liked being in Evan’s head. He was one of those people whose bad memories outnumbered the good ones. That’s why all of his thoughts had that shade of sadness that I could never block. And considering how close the bond we shared had brought us together, it was really hard to not feel whatever he felt at this or that point of my journey into his mind.

  “Eileen? Is it time to get up already?” Christian asked, sleepily.

  “No, Sweetheart. But I need to do a few things before I see Evan.” I came back to the bed, and sat next to Christian.

  “Did you manage to get some sleep?” He asked, kissing the back of my hand.

  “Surprisingly, yes. You?”

  “Not really.” He yawned and sat up. “You never told me what you and Fredrick had been talking about before you came to the cafeteria last night. He looked troubled.”

  “Well, yeah… He told me about the hermits. Have you ever heard about them?”

  “I have. Will’s father used to watch those who live in this area, right?”

  “Yes. Dad told me hermits could be responsible for what happened at the wedding.”

  “Well, anything’s possible. They’ve always hated Dever and people living here. Hey, why are you so nervous? I can feel that, you know?”

  “Sorry, I didn’t mean it.” I smiled gently. “It’s just that I can’t stop thinking about what Evan told me about Tara’s feelings for him. There’s one thing that makes me believe he could be right saying that the attack has changed them.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “The day I went to Jeremy’s farm to find Elizabeth, she told me something that I didn’t pay much attention to. But now I can see that her words might not be accidental.”

  “Was it something about Tara and Evan?”

  “Yes. We’d been talking about Tara’s upcoming wedding and I said she deserved to be happy. Then Elizabeth said something that I didn’t like. She said there are things that can’t be changed. Do you think is has something to do with the bond that Evan, Amanda, you and I share? It was created with the help of magic. What if it ruined something that was predestined a long time ago, even before we were born?”

  “Like the relationship between Tara and Evan?”

  “Yes.”

  Christian sighed, lowering his eyes. “You are not the first person who has thought about that. When I found out about Evan dating Amanda, the first thing I thought about was his love for Tara. It was so pure, so intense. If I didn’t know better, I would say it was the love that couldn’t be broken by anything, including the most powerful magic. Then I heard about Tara’s wedding and I thought maybe my doubts were pointless. Maybe I was simply thinking too much, and she and Evan were never predestined to be together.”

  “What if Tara did something to fool her fate?”

  “Why would she do that? She loved Evan. Everyone knows that.”

  “Yes, but what if she saw something that made her leave Evan? I know she said she once had a dream where she saw the eyes of the man she was supposed to be with, and she said those were not Evan’s eyes. But still… What if there was another reason to let him go?”

  “I guess there’s only one way to find out.”

  Later that morning, when Christian and I came to my r
oom, where Evan and Amanda had been waiting for us, I noticed something strange.

  “Have you guys touched anything on my desk?” I asked, looking at the pile of books that I remembered so well reorganizing yesterday.

  “No,” Amanda replied. “Why?”

  “The spell book that Marion once gave me is missing.”

  “Are you sure it was here?” Evan asked.

  “Yes. It was here yesterday.”

  Amanda spoke, “Why would anyone take it without your permission?”

  “Maybe because someone wanted to try the spells described there,” Christian said.

  I frowned. “I doubt that. The book was not even titled, and it was about the spells that had been Marion’s personal inventions.”

  Evan stared at me, piercing me with his bright-blue eyes. “That’s weird, don’t you think so?”

  “Did anyone apart from you and Amanda come here last night?” I asked.

  Amanda shook her head. “No. The door was locked when I returned to the room, then Evan came, we talked and went to bed. That’s it. No one else has been here since last night.”

  “Except for…”

  “What is it, Evan?” I asked, watching my friend’s face changing from surprised to angry.

  “You have got to be freaking kidding me!”

  “Evan, for God’s sake, what is going on?” Amanda asked, shaking his hand.

  “My mother… She visited me in my sleep.”

  “Did she see this room?” Christian asked.

  “No, she created an illusion of Rose Hellebore. She and I were in Paris.”

  “Which means she didn’t know you were here, in this room,” I said. “Could she take the book through the illusion, and without seeing the room itself?”

  “No, I don’t think so.”

  Christian spoke, surprising us with his suspicions, “Actually, the book could be taken away through the illusion… If Elizabeth was distracting you from someone who knew exactly where you were at the moment, and who came here through the same illusion to take the book.”

  I gasped. “Marion…”

  “Why do you think it was her?” Evan asked.

  “As I have already said, no one except her and I knew what the book contained. Maybe she needed it to use one of the spells described there, but she couldn’t get it because she isn’t here, in Dever.”

  “But we didn’t tell anyone the new location of the university,” Amanda said.

  “No. And this is exactly why she asked Elizabeth to help her get into Evan’s head. She didn’t have any other choice but to use her help. She wouldn’t be able to get into anyone’s mind without being seen, which, I guess, is the last thing she wants to happen to her. And Elizabeth could use her bond with Evan to pierce into his dream.”

  “Do you remember any spells from that book?” Christian asked.

  I sat down and thought for a moment. “The spells were separated into several groups. One was for protective spells, one for illusions, one for healing, and one for…dark magic.”

  “Okay… So the question is which of them Marion would need?” Evan started pacing the room, thinking aloud, “No one knows where she is, so she wouldn’t need protection. She can’t create illusions, because if she takes one of us there, we will probably know where she is. As for healing… I don’t think she’s trying to heal Tara. She would try doing that right after the attack.”

  “Which means it was all about the dark magic spells…” I made a conclusion.

  “Has Marion ever used them?” Amanda asked.

  “I guess she has.” Evan nodded. “My father made her do terrible things.”

  “I don’t think dark magic spells can help Tara,” Christian said.

  Evan spoke again, “Unless she’s been injured by one of them.”

  He and I shared a glance. I knew what he was thinking; I didn’t need Amanda’s mind-reading gift to know that.

  “We won’t change the plan,” I said aloud. “I will get into your head. I’m sure there’s nothing to be afraid of.”

  “What if Marion tries to hurt you, Eileen?” Amanda asked in a small voice. I could feel everyone’s worry growing. None of us was able to hide their emotions.

  “Marion would never hurt me.”

  “But what if she…”

  Amanda didn’t have a chance to finish her question, because Evan suddenly sat down on a sofa and shut his eyes tight, growling. “It’s happening,” he said in a whisper. His jaw tightened. He drew a sharp breath and shook his head, as if trying to shake off the visions torturing his mind.

  He looked as pale as a ghost, which I didn’t like at all. It looked like whatever he was feeling now made him suffer.

  “Open your mind for me,” I said, sitting next to him and taking his hand in mine.

  He took a slow, deep breath and leaned against the back of the couch, with his eyes still closed.

  I closed my eyes too and silently pronounced one of those spells Marion once taught me to see Evan’s memories about his past.

  The moment the connection formed, I felt like I was back to the hell from the time of Evan’s transformation. I could feel the pain, so clearly; I almost believed it was real. Every inch of me hurt, my head started to spin. I could hear the remnants of different words said in a whisper, only I couldn’t see anyone whispering them. Then the images started to form in my head. Fragments of places and people I had never seen before. The images changed so fast, I couldn’t focus on any of them. I tried to dig deeper into Evan’s feelings and caught one of them, which was the strongest of all – love…

  I tried to follow its traces and see if I could feel its owner, but nothing worked. I was surrounded by the darkness that from time to time was illuminated by another image that disappeared even before I could see it clearly.

  Then something weird happened. The pain was gone. I felt so relieved. And then, another image formed around me.

  It was a long hall, lined with doors on both sides. The place looked familiar. Or maybe it was not me, but Evan who knew where I was now. I came to one of the doors and opened it without an effort. And there was Tara… Lying as if on an invisible table, with the skirt of her beautiful wedding dress, half-covered with blood, touching the floor. She was alone in the room, but all the windows were open and I could see a huge bowl of ice cubes standing near one of them.

  I took a few steps closer, until I bumped into the invisible wall, shielding Tara’s body from me. When I touched the wall, my palm hurt. It was so cold, my skin started to burn. I tried to use my power of fire to melt it, but nothing came out of my hands, like nothing at all: no fire, no magic. Obviously, I could only watch whatever was happening in the room.

  And then, I heard something cracking. I looked closer and saw a narrow split, running down the invisible wall I tried to touch. Only this time the wall started to turn white, and it shimmered. Just like the blanket that I saw Marion wrap around Tara’s body back in the church, right after the attack.

  The moment the split grew wider, the pain that I felt just a few minutes ago returned, intensified to the unbearable level. I started to suffocate, unable to stand it. Evan released my hand and the connection broke, bringing us back to reality.

  “Eileen, are you okay?” He asked, worried.

  “Here, drink some water,” Christian said, giving me a glass full of water.

  “What did you see?” Evan asked carefully. Apparently, he didn’t see anything of what the visions showed me.

  “Something very strange…”

  “Did you see Marion or my mother?”

  “No. The only person I saw was Tara. Or her body to be exact.”

  “Is she…dead?”

  I turned to Evan and shrugged. “I don’t know. She was shielded from me by the invisible wall that I couldn’t break through.”

  “But you felt the pain, didn’t you?”

  “Yes. I did. I guess it was the first time that you felt it, right?”

  “Yeah… Until today, I
didn’t feel anything but Tara’s love for me.”

  “Which, by the way, I think isn’t real.”

  “What do you mean?” Amanda asked.

  “It felt more like a memory than real feeling. Like she’s holding on to it as if it were something that could save or protect her from something bad.”

  “Like things that bind you to reality when you are in the illusion?” Evan said.

  “Yes, something like that. But I can’t tell for sure. There were so many weird things happening in that vision.”

  “Things like what?”

  “Like the place where Tara is now. It looked familiar, but I don’t think I have ever been there before.”

  “Can you describe it?” Evan asked.

  “I saw only the hall and the room where Tara was. The hall was long and dark, and the room – on the contrary – white and full of light.”

  “Did you see any windows there?”

  I looked at Evan suspiciously. “Yes, I did. There were two windows. Why?”

  “Were they oval and floor-length?”

  “Yes… You know that place, don’t you?”

  “I guess I do. It used to belong to my father’s parents.”

  “Who is the new owner?”

  “I don’t know. I think it was sold a long time ago. I only went there once, when my grandmother, Astrid died. She grew up in that house. And the room that you have described used to be a guest room where I spent my only night in that house.”

  “Do you think your mom knows that Marion and Tara are there now?”

  “I guess she does.”

  “What else did you see?” Christian asked.

  “Well… The weirdest part about the whole vision was the pain that I felt the moment the wall shielding Tara from me started to crack.”

  Evan’s expression darkened. “Do you think it could happen because of your presence there?”

  “Technically, I wasn’t there. Only my mind was. So I doubt I could somehow affect the wall. Besides, it was very cold, but when I tried to melt it, no fire or magic came out of my hands.”

  “That’s strange…” Evan said. “Our powers always worked in the illusions.”

  “But not this time.”