Clara and Ezra
Page 27
I, along with Lukas, Everly, and numerous other Watchers joined them. I scanned the streets for signs of where Nina and Aralyn had faced their final moments. There was no reminder of them. No sign of where they had experienced their last breaths of life.
I was grateful.
The Watchers called for the attention of the locals. They rushed to where we stood, murmuring amongst each other. Some dared to look directly at the councilors while others seemed distracting, glancing around, as if expecting a big reveal.
Claire raised her hand, and after a few moments the crowd grew silent.
“Residents of Ninomay, let it be known that the killer at large, Stefan, is dead. His accompanists died earlier this morning. Anyone still loyal to Stefan and carrying out his demands is doing so illegally. Such traitors will be arrested and tried in front of the Council.
“Furthermore, anyone with information relating to Stefan’s allies is to report directly to Clara or Lukas. Should anyone be found aiding these criminals or withholding information, they will answer to the Council as well.
“The Barlow family is believed to be known associates of Stefan’s. The family, and more specifically their daughter, Daphne, are wanted by the Council. Consider them armed and dangerous. Any sightings or knowledge of their whereabouts must be reported immediately. There will be a reward offered for those who come forward.
“As many of you know, we lost another councilor, Alec Christofis, because of these horrendous murders. We are in search of a new councilor, one as loyal and as brave as Alec. Please speak with your local Watchers should you be interested and appropriate for this position. This will not be an easy seat to fill.
“Lastly, and on a more positive note, my sister and your Watchkeeper, Clara, is now engaged to Ezra Stavrakis. Both she and I will have a double wedding ceremony this time next week. Everyone is invited as it will be a public event. Please dress appropriately.
“Thank you, and tonight rest easy knowing a killer no longer plagues this island.”
The crowd applauded. Whistles and cheers could be a heard throughout the marketplace. Stefan was dead. A killer’s life had ended. The locals finally seemed happy, like maybe they could return to their normals lives.
Not everything Claire had said in her speech was the truth. Yes, a killer was dead, but another one remained on the loose. She had not disclosed the manner in which Stefan had died. I could only assume this fact would be hidden from the public. It was better for the locals to believe a councilor or Watcher had killed Stefan than someone else, an unidentified assailant.
I looked to Lukas, and he winced. I still carried Daphne’s notebook with me. I had yet to show it to him since Declan finding it, and now seemed as good a time as any. He deserved to know the truth, to have as much evidence as I did. We were connected in more ways than one that we shared a half-sibling.
I pulled Lukas aside, away from the councilors and the crowd of locals. I took him down an alleyway, between two buildings, and pulled out the notebook. I handed it over to him.
Lukas flipped through the notebook carefully. His eyes scanned over each page, as I had done my first time upon receiving it. I knew he was looking for something that would not be there. A clue, a hint as to where Daphne could have gone. Anything to suggest who she would be more loyal to —the Council or Stefan. Both of which had seemingly betrayed her with lies.
“This… Where did you find this?” He asked, staring at the last page.
“Declan found it. It was at the Barlow’s home. It was the only evidence we found that confirmed she lived there,” I explained.
Lukas closed the notebook and rubbed his chin.
“This is bad. The lies they told Daphne… they destroyed her. She’s a broken woman, Clara, and broken women are unpredictable. And now it seems she’s free. She can seek her revenge, and that… that may be more dangerous than what Stefan had planned for us,” Lukas replied.
“I know. This is personal for her…” I whispered, shuddering at the thought of someone as beautiful and smart as Daphne being a twisted, demonic beast. But if Daphne was a monster it was not of her own doing. People like Elias, Nina, and Stefan had led her to this.
Lukas handed the notebook back to me.
“Don’t let this leave your sight,” he said.
I nodded firmly. I had no intentions of giving the notebook up. It was my own connection to Daphne. The scribbles and drawings of a woman who had lost her mind. It was not Daphne’s fault entirely. Perhaps she was ill because of this. Perhaps she had been pushed so far that she no longer knew right from wrong. But I remained determined to find her, and somehow this notebook would aid in my search.
Lukas sighed and wrapped his arm around me, slowly leading us back in the direction of the other councilors.
“Seems our work is far from over, sweetheart,” he whispered.
I lowered my head. Today might have been a victory for us, but tomorrow and the days to come still terrified me.
50
The Kanelos Records
In the evening I rested in my bedroom. I stared up at the ceiling, lying in my bed that I now realized wouldn’t be my bed for much longer. Despite all the changes my life had already endured, more changes awaited me. It was exhausting to think of what affects it would have on me and the people around me.
Someone knocked at my door.
I sat up slowly, not altogether ready to give up the serenity of being alone.
Knock, knock.
This time I groaned and slid out of bed. I rushed to the door and opened it, setting my eyes on Ezra. He offered a faint smile, but there was a flicker of excitement in his eyes. It was a sight I had not seen in so long I nearly forgotten about it.
“What is it?” I asked.
“You’ve been asking about your magic. I thought it was time we sought out the archive room,” Ezra said.
I froze. Ezra had told me about the archive room before. Only those with Kanelos blood could enter into the room. It was apparently stacked with more information than the records within the meeting room. Nina’s sentencing and Stefan’s death had been enough for me to forget about my own questions that demanded answers. Perhaps he was right.
“Can we… Can we go in there? I mean, maybe Jhase didn’t have it designed for me to enter?”
Ezra shook his head.
“You are his blood. I’m sure he would have given you access. He might have even done it when you returned to Ninomay. Can’t hurt to try,” Ezra said.
“What encouraged this quest for information?” I asked, wondering why he had not thought to search the archive before.
“Claire is there now, searching for information on Stefan. I wanted to bring you to see for yourself. Perhaps there was something we missed before. There could be another file on you, or something about your ancestors that explains your magic. You owe it to yourself to find out,” Ezra explained.
“Alright, then let’s find out,” I replied.
Ezra took my hand and led the way.
We had already looked at my file before —the file they had written up on me in Rajoor. It had been full of white lies, and I doubted the archives would have anything different. How could it? Jhase had not known me during the time I was away from him. It felt as though we might be chasing ghosts of my pasts, but no one had come up with answers to my magic as of yet. Perhaps this was the key.
Ezra led me all the way down the hallway, past the meeting room and the guest bedrooms, until we reached a thin door. A door presumably for supplies. He stopped in front of it and released my hand.
“Go ahead, try,” Ezra said.
“What do I do?” I asked, staring at the seemingly ordinary door.
“Jhase explained the door was powered with magic. Try a spell, see if it opens up,” Ezra said.
I frowned, but I was willing to give it a try. I doubted my magic could do any harm here in the hallway, especially while my mind was preoccupied with questions about what waited behind this door.
I glanced back at Ezra, who cheered quietly at my performance. It seemed he had been right about one thing. It was time to see what this room had to offer us.
I stepped inside, not expecting much as the door was small. The further I stepped, the larger the room seemed to be. The room was spacious inside, wider than I had imagined, and there piles of books for as far as the eye could see. Bookshelves and papers and loose books filled the room.
Claire stood to the far left of us. She hadn’t even noticed our entrance as she seemed fixated on the book in her hands. I could hardly find the words to say to her when I had the largest library in front of me.
“Ezra… I don’t know where to begin,” I whispered, letting out a sigh.
I felt something cold against my skin, and I looked down. The key pendant from my necklace lifted up, seemingly attracted to something in the room. It glowed unlike anything I had ever seen before.
“Ezra?” I asked, looking back.
Ezra rushed to my side.
“Sorry, I’ve never actually been in this room,” he confessed. He eyes continued to wander.
I waved my hand in front of his face.
“Would you look at me? Look, my pendant… I’ve never seen it glow before,” I said.
Ezra looked down at frowned.
He turned in Claire’s direction.
“Claire, is your pendant glowing?” he called out.
She glanced up momentarily from her book and shook her head.
“The pendant will guide you to where you need to go. If you’re looking for something, focus on it and keep walking until it stops,” Claire explained.
Ezra and I exchanged glances and shrugged. I noticed only my pendant glowed, not his, so perhaps this was something only Claire and I could experience in this room.
Kanelos… Kanelos… I thought as I walked forward.
The pendant continued to glow, and I could only assume I moved in the right direction. I occasionally looked down at it, and when the end would face a different direction I turned to face that direction as well. It seemed bizarre and childish, but at last the pendant stopped glowing, and I stood before a massive bookshelf.
A single blue book slid out and flew into my arms. I stared in at it, and then I read the titles: the Kanelos Bloodline.
I skimmed through the pages, not really sure what I sought from this book. It could be wrong entirely, since the pendant only led me to what I thought, not to the correct answers. But I continued reading, looking for something that stood out. Anything about an unusual magic.
“‘Catina Kanelos was said to have controlled a dark spirit in her youth. As she grew and matured, so did the spirit, until eventually she and the spirit were bounded to one another. She was able to slow down time, move objects to her will, and cause severe injury or, in most cases, death to her enemies.’”
I looked up at Ezra. I didn’t want to admit it, but this sounded exactly like what I had experienced. It seemed Jhase’s side of the family had quite a talent for magic.
“Who is Catina Kanelos?” I asked.
“She was Jhase’s mother. Sadly, neither of him parents are still living,” Ezra replied.
I looked down at the book again.
“‘Catina is said to have died… in a fire,’” I read out loud.
This time a chill ran up my spine. A fire? Like the fire Father had claimed took my life, as well as Nina’s?
Footsteps approached us, and Claire joined us with the book remaining cradled in her arms.
“What’s this?” she asked, gesturing to the book I read from.
“Um… I thought I might find answers to the strange behavior of my magic,” I replied. I winced at the realization I still had not told Claire the full truth. Ever since Keanu and I had returned from the Undertake we had not been completely honest. I had chosen to hide the full details of my magic from Claire, thinking I could protect her by doing so.
Claire took the book out of my hands before I could react. Her eyes scanned the page I had read from.
“Catina? Our grandmother? Does… does this sound similar to what you’ve experienced?” she asked calmly.
“Y-yes. I didn’t know how to tell you, but reading it there in the book… Our grandmother might have had the same abilities as me. Do you know what happened to her?”
Claire closed the book and handed it back to me.
“No, she died in a fire —a real fire. It was many years ago, and I hardly remember much else about it. You’re on your own with this one, sister. The dead can’t talk,” Claire said.
I bit down on my lip. While that were true, I didn’t want to accept that our grandmother was dead. That she had coincidentally died in a fire, the very same excuse Father had used for my absence in Claire’s life. I had to be certain that she was gone from this world, but that may mean looking into it without Claire’s approval.
Claire cleared her throat.
“I searched through the meeting room and everything in here about Stefan Maris. There isn’t much to go on. No family, no ties to any jobs or hobbies. Nothing —just an insignificant citizen. And yet, he ran an entire operation killing people?”
“Stefan could be an alias. It makes sense he wouldn’t want to use his real name,” Ezra offered.
“None the matter, Nina and Aralyn confirmed his identity. He’s dead. We may never truly know who he is, but hopefully others will come forward now that they have nowhere else to go,” Claire said.
Looking to me, she added, “Father always told me magic isn’t meant to be understood. It’s not a science. It’s a gift Circe granted unto us. With time and practice, you could learn who to fully utilize your powers. With or without the answers you hoped for.”
Claire walked away without another word. I decided for the time being I would keep this book with me to read in my spare time. Something I doubted I would have much of with the upcoming wedding. It seemed Claire had no interest diving into her past again. Who could blame her?
I looked to Ezra and gestured for us to leave as well. For now I had a name. Next I would need to find out where Catina died to confirm she was indeed dead. As morbid as that sounded.
“We’ll figure this out,” Ezra whispered, squeezing my shoulder.
51
Something Borrowed, Something Blue
One week later…
I stood in a white wedding gown in my sister’s room. I felt like a little girl playing dress up except this time it was real. Standing there, staring at my own reflection, I realized I had never imagined marriage for myself. I had never thought of my wedding day, what I would wear, who I would marry. It had all been like a fairytale to me. Something other people talked about, but something I thought I could never have. Something my mother had made sure was not a possibility for me.
Today that would change.
For the day I would set aside any notions I had to investigate a dead woman’s past. I had to let this new information regarding Stefan and the grandmother I never met go or it would drive me mad. There would be another day to chase after such mysteries.
I exhaled.
Let it go… I thought.
Claire stood beside me. She had rushed the tailors to make my dress with only a week’s notice, and they had not disappointed either of us. We stood together, admiring each other’s dresses, while Gemma stood behind us.
My dress with its lace neckline and long, silky train was by far the nicest dress I had ever worn. The low, open back was the only thing helping me breathe, as the rest of the dress along with my corset seemed to squeeze what little oxygen I had.
Claire’s dress was longer than mine, flowing at the bottom. The neckline was shaped like that ov
er a heart, and a sheer cape wrapped around her shoulders. Her hair was loose and curly, left to flow over her shoulders, while mine was braided together neatly with flowers.
“Today is our day, sister,” I said, squeezing her hand.
She smiled.
“Are you ready?” Gemma asked, sounding genuinely excited.
Claire
My wedding had been delayed by Father’s death, more death and bloodshed, and an overwhelming amount of lies. The worst had already happened to us.
I nodded, and I felt like a weight had been lifted from my shoulder as Gemma led the way. I felt free and light like a feather in the air. I felt like if anyone wanted to bring me down they would have to catch me first.
Gemma guided us through the palace, despite knowing we could find our way to the garden without assistance. I had chosen the garden to hold our wedding. It had always been a sacred place for me, and it seemed Clara had visited it as well, knowing its importance to me.
My heart pounded with each step we took. I did not forget how we had nearly missed out on this did. I had not forgotten the lives that had been lost, the people who would not be here today because of Stefan.
Stefan… I thought, allowing my hands to form into fists. The mere thought of him alone was enough to ruin this day for me.
No, not today… I thought again, and I shook my head violently, as if doing so would vanish the very thought of him.
Gemma stopped me halfway down the staircase. She insisted on adding flowers into my hair. Clara’s were pink, mine were white. We were matching in almost every imaginable way, something I wished Father could have seen.
We stepped outside, and Gemma left us to join the guests. My hands shook, sweat dripped down my forehead, and I worried all the hard work from this morning would be ruined by my own nerves. Today had to be perfect. It was the only wedding day Declan and I would have. It was the first day of the beginning of our lives together.
It had to be perfect.
We stood outside with a full garden of neighbors, friends, and family ahead of us.