by Diana Nixon
“Looks like Maribel was wrong about blood-related Lords and Mistresses. Being together and looking into each other’s eyes won’t kill us.”
“Maybe it’s because Tai’s power of masterminding is not as strong as yours.”
“Maybe. But I’m glad I’m still alive. But I’m glad I’m still alive. It would be such a shame to die right before the war with Clarions.” Evan winked at me. I always admired his ability to make even the most terrible things sound like a joke. “And I’m happy because I have found another brother…” He added. “No matter how pissed I am because of how he was born.”
Chapter 19
I had no doubt that Evan would be able to accept Tai as a new family member. After I told him everything I knew about the boy and his life in the pueblo, I left them alone, to talk and learn more about each other. If only you could see Tai’s eyes when Evan told him he would teach him everything he knows about magic. That look was priceless – a mixture of pure joy and excitement that could make even mountains dance a happy dance. He chattered, giggled and asked Evan about a million questions, jumping and screaming with delight every time my friend told him something new about the things he could do using the gifts he possessed.
Unlike Evan’s, Kevin’s reaction to Tai’s appearance was less surprising. He said he once heard the members of Dragons Brotherhood talking about Dominick’s illegitimate child. He didn’t believe them, of course. Until now, that he could finally meet his half-brother.
I knew that Tai’s parents would be worried about him, so I thought it would be better to go and tell them about his unexpected visit to Dever.
“How could you let him near Evan?” Leno growled, piercing me with his angry stare, as if it was me who let him leave the pueblo and go to find the university.
“How could you let him leave the pueblo, knowing how dangerous the situation in Dever is?” I hissed in response. Leno’s unreasonable hatred was getting more and more annoying. “Wasn’t it your responsibility to look after him?” The fact that I was one of Dever’s students didn’t give him the right to treat me like I was the worst person in the world.
“Leno, calm down,” Songaa said. “Nothing bad happened.”
“But he could die there!”
Amitola spoke, “Leno, please. Tai is fine, and I guess it’s better to keep him in Dever than here.”
Leno gave her a murderous look. “Clarions are on their way to Dever. Do you know what that means?”
“I do. But keeping Tai here would only complicate things. Because if what Eileen says is true, and they do know about Tai’s existence, they will stop at nothing to find him. We know so little about what they are capable of! What if they know how to find the pueblo? Unlike Dever’s dwellers, just a few people here know how to use magic. When the rest of the tribe will hardly be able to protect themselves, using only the powers of the nature as their weapon.”
“So, what do you suggest? Let our son stay in the heart of the war between good and evil and do nothing?”
“I will go to Dever with Eileen.”
Songaa and Elu gave their daughter a surprised look.
“Leno’s right,” she said. “Tai needs me. And I will be there for him, no matter how much I hate the idea of going to Dever.” She lowered her eyes, suddenly getting nervous. It must have been hard for her to swallow her pride and return to the only place she never wanted to visit again.
“Ami, are you sure you want to go to Dever with me?” I asked. “You are not strong enough to fight. You won’t be able to protect Tai if needed.”
“I’m his mother, Eileen. There’s no way I’m gonna sit here and wait until everything is over. I will find the courage to protect my boy, even if for that, I will have to sacrifice my own life.”
“Eileen, do you have Dominick’s amulet?” Songaa asked. He gave it to me last night, before I left the pueblo.
“Here it is.” I took the thing out of my jacket pocket. “I charmed it, and before you ask, Evan didn’t feel anything. He was too caught up by his conversation with Tai to notice me charming the amulet in his presence.”
“What if you don’t have time to use it?” Leno asked. He still looked tensed, but a little less angry.
“What time can you start singing?” I asked Songaa.
“As soon as the sun starts to go down.”
“Perfect. I’ll be here by that time. Dad said Clarions would be in Dever by midnight. Which means I will have enough time to come here, and try to foresee their intentions with the help of your songs. Then, I will go back to the university.”
“Elu and I will go with you,” Songaa said. “We can’t make anyone see visions over a distance. So, if you want us to sing and show the hermits their future, we need to be as close to them as possible.”
“I’m sure Patrick will welcome your presence and help. God knows, we need all the help that we can get tonight.” I looked up at the sky. It was a soft shade of blue, with the blazing sun warming up everything its rays could touch. Nothing promised troubles. But no one knew how the meeting with Clarions was going to end. No one could predict the outcome of their arrival to Dever. I guess it was because they hadn’t made any decisions about what exactly they were going to do once in Dever, not yet anyway. The unknown scared the hell out me and everyone who was going to be in Dever tonight.
Suddenly, Leno said, “I will go with you.”
“No,” I said firmly. “You don’t possess magic. It’s better if you stay here and make sure the tribe is out of danger.”
“Eileen’s right, Leno,” Songaa said. “Today is not the best day to leave the tribe unprotected. You need to stay. We have never been so close to Dever before. And now that it is getting ready for the war, we can’t let other hermits find and destroy the pueblo.”
Leno didn’t look like he was happy to hear Songaa’s words, but he didn’t argue with him.
“I think it’s time for me to leave,” I said, looking at my watch. “I will come back as soon as I see the sun start to go down. Ami, are you coming with me? We still have time to practice, if you want.”
She nodded. “I’m coming with you. I want to make sure Tai’s all right. And, yes, I want to practice.”
I smiled, said good-bye to Songaa and Ely, then Ami and I left. Leno accompanied us out of the pueblo, then went back to join the tribe for dinner.
“You don’t believe in a successful outcome of the meeting with Clarions, do you?” Ami asked, as we walked down the road that leads to Dever.
“I want to believe that everything will be fine, but… I don’t know what to think, I don’t know what to expect. We have never been at the threshold of something so big, yet so dangerous. No one can be sure about what is going to happen tonight. But I don’t want to let my hope go. I’m not ready to say good-bye to my life.”
“What are you going to do with Tai?”
“We have decided to hide him in a charmed hut. It belonged to an old witch, one of Dever’s founders. He will stay there until it’s safe enough to leave it. My father believes that Tai’s presence in Dever and his energy will help his brothers intensify their power of magic, which is exactly what we need now. No one knows how strong the dark magic spells that Clarions may use are.”
“Can I stay with Tai?”
“Sure. Why not? If you want to be with your son, no one can make you stay away from him.”
“What about Evan and his brother, Kevin?”
“They are good guys, Ami. They have accepted Tai as a member of their family without a word. I mean, it’s not like they said, ‘Oh, our father has cheated on our mom, how cool is that!’ But they do realize that Tai can’t be responsible for their father’s mistakes. Both Evan and Kevin have suffered a lot because of what Dominick made them go through. Kevin’s still recovering from the things the Dragons did to him. He will never be able to forget it, even if he wanted to. Because the tattoo on his back will always remind him of the worst days in his life. Just like Evan will never be able to forget abou
t his power of masterminding or the darkness that he has inherited from his father and that he has to fight every day.”
Ami sighed. “But they hate me. They will never forgive me for the night I spent with Dominick…”
I stopped walking and looked into Amitola’s eyes, saying, “Hate is what destroys everything good. But Tai’s life is a miracle. To make it happy, his brothers will do everything that is in their power, including forgiving you. No matter how hard it will be.”
“What about their mother, Elizabeth?”
“She’s a very wise woman. She will never make your son suffer because of her jealousy. Despite how much she loved Dominick when she married him, the terrible things he did to create the Brotherhood and become so powerful, clouded the good memories about their life together. And maybe deep down inside, she will never stop loving him. But it was her idea to kill him. She did that for her sons’ best. So, I’m sure, as a mother, she will understand you and your desire to protect your son.”
“I’m so scared, Eileen. I’m worried about Tai, and my family, and our future. I don’t think I have ever been more scared than I am now.”
Anxiety filled me from within. “That makes two of us.”
We stayed quiet for a few moments, and then we started to walk again. I couldn’t stop thinking about the people I cared about; I was not ready to lose any of them tonight. As soon as we came to Dever, the guards told me that Patrick wanted to see me. I didn’t want to leave Amitola alone, but she said she would be fine. I texted Amanda and asked her to come and stay with her, until I take her to see Tai.
“Eileen, its’s good you are back,” Christian’s father said, as I crossed the threshold of his office. To my surprise, Christian was there too, as well as Evan.
“What’s going on?” I asked, hoping it was not about the bad news they got from my father.
“Frederick will be here in about an hour,” Patrick said.
“What about the hermits?”
“As expected, Allister and the other hermits will be here by midnight. And those from New York should be here very soon. William told them how to find us.”
“Is he back?”
Evan nodded, smirking, as if recalling something funny. I guess I knew what he was thinking at the moment.
“Mel was not happy to meet his ‘old friend’, was she?”
Christian smiled. “You should have seen that. I bet it was one of those rare moments when she regretted abandoning her darkness. She looked like she wanted to fry the poor girl alive.”
Evan laughed. “Poor Will, not even his masterminding will help him if Melanie decides to kick his ass.”
“Okay, guys, enough joking. There are a few things that I wanted to discuss with the three of you.”
Evan and I shared a puzzled glance.
“Christian and I have been hiding something from you…”
I gave my boyfriend a questioning look.
“Eileen knows,” he said to his father.
He looked genuinely surprised. “Who told you?” He asked, turning to me.
“Told her what?” Evan asked impatiently.
“Songaa told me about the seven Keepers,” I said. “He wouldn’t do that, but I asked him about the hereditary bonds and he didn’t have a choice but to tell me everything he knew about them.”
“Hereditary bonds?” Evan asked again. “What the hell am I missing?”
And then, Patrick told him about Dominick guarding the gift of magic and Evan’s future as the new Keeper of magic.
Evan looked shocked. Well, anyone would be. But he didn’t have a choice but to accept his new mission and do his best to become a good Keeper. After all, everyone who possessed magic depended on Evan’s ability to guard the gift properly. And for that, he needed to stay alive as long as possible.
“I guess it’s time to think about an heir,” Evan said. “A son or a daughter? What would you guys suggest?”
He made it sound like another joke, but we all knew that it was not a joke at all. Evan did need an heir, and sooner or later, he needed to think about getting married and having kids.
“Looks like my bachelor’s life is going to end sooner than I expected. No more parties, love affairs, girls fighting for me. What a shame… My fate has a sick sense of humor.” He rose to his feet and headed for the door. “Hope you don’t mind me leaving you for a moment. I need some fresh air.”
But more than anything, Evan needed time to come to understanding with what Patrick had told him. After all, it was not just more news about the bad weather. He never thought his life would be easy, especially after he turned into the Master of Lords. But still, a new mission was very important. Many things depended on how well Evan would handle it.
“Do you think he’s okay?” Christian asked, watching our friend leave.
“He will be,” I said. “He doesn’t have a choice but to be okay.” In the world that we belonged to, having a right to make choices was the rarest power we could be allowed to have.
“Dominick would be so proud of him…” Patrick said thoughtfully. He sat in his chair and smiled. “There was a time when he and I were good friends; we were so young and careless.”
“Who would have thought that Dominick Murray knew how to be careless,” Christian commented.
“Evan took so much from him. And I don’t mean his powers. I’m talking about his way to live his life. Dominick wasn’t always a heartless monster. He used to be a good man. And he loved Elizabeth so much.”
Christian smirked. “Is that why he slept with Songaa’s daughter?”
Patrick gave his son a disapproving look. “We shouldn’t blame or judge anyone. The Dominick she knew was so different from the Dominick I met here, in Dever, many years ago, when I came to study here. No one knows what made him turn into who he was when he died. Personally, I don’t think it was just about getting all the powers of the world, immortality or whatever else it is that people say he was after.”
Patrick’s words surprised me. “You don’t believe he wanted to become almighty?” I asked.
“I think at some point, something went wrong with his life. I remember the day I met Dominick a few years after he graduated from Dever. Something about the look in his eyes bothered me. He wasn’t the man I used to know anymore. He looked severe and distant, as if he and I had never been friends at all. I knew his relationship with Frederick was different. They had always been competitors. But I knew the other side of him. I was surprised to see the new Dominick. I didn’t like the new him. We seemed to have different opinions about everything. Years passed, but I never managed to figure out what had changed him.”
I thought about Patrick’s words. He had a point. Everyone remembered Dominick as a monster, unable to think about anyone or anything except his ambitions. He put himself first, neglecting the opinion of those who loved him, including his own family. But what if Patrick was right and there was something about Dominick and his life that no one, not even his family knew about? What if his desire to become almighty was the result of something that he never expected happening to him?
Thinking about Dominick, I remembered something that I forgot to do. “I need to talk to Tai,” I said. I forgot to ask him about the voices he had heard in his head.
Patrick’s phone rang, he answered the call. “Good, thank you,” he said into the handset. “Frederick’s back.”
“Are Mom and Aunt Patricia with him?” I asked, walking to the door.
“Let’s go and find out.”
Patrick, Christian and I left the office.
My heart raced in my chest. But when we came to the gates, it started to beat even faster, if that was possible. Because that was the moment when I realized how serious our problems actually were. My father was not the only person waiting for us. Elizabeth was there too, as well as Lucas and his parents, Peter and even Marion Blanche…
“Eileen!” Dad called.
I ran up to him and he locked me in his arms. I was so happy to see hi
m back. Of course, I knew he would come back. But still, a small part of me never stopped worrying about him.
“Where’s Mom?” I asked, looking around.
“She’s not here.”
“Clarions didn’t let her go, did they?”
“They will bring her and Patricia here with them.”
“Why wouldn’t they let you take them away?”
“They are a guarantee of my promise to let them in Dever.”
Of course… I should have known better than to believe that Clarions would cooperate.
“How is Catherine? Have you seen her?” I asked my father. He looked tired and stressed, which was not surprising at all; he hadn’t slept for more than twenty-four hours.
“She’s fine. Well, as fine as she can be, considering the circumstances.”
“And Aunt Patricia?”
“They both are scared, of course. But Clarions didn’t hurt them or anything. Which is good news, I suppose.”
“I can’t believe they used Martin to kidnap them.”
“He’s with them, by the way. And he’s not happy about what happened to Tara. As a matter of fact, he wants Evan’s death no less than Clarions do. He blames him for losing the love of his life.”
“I bet he does. Poor Martin… What do you think Clarions are going to do with him?”
“I don’t want to think about it.”
“Do you think they will kill him?”
“They don’t need him anymore, so anything’s possible.”
“Oh, no…” My eyes traveled to the blacksmith, standing at the gates. He didn’t talk to anyone, and looked like he was happy to be in Dever. “What is Peter doing here?” I asked my father.
“He said he wanted to help us. So, I let him come to Dever with me.”
“Do you trust him?”
“I guess at this point, there are very few people I can trust, Eileen. But Peter has something that might be very helpful – the collection of golden coins that Melanie once took away from Clarions for him. The gold they have been made of is charmed. If we put the coins all over Dever, the energy of every spell we use will get stronger.”
