Aeromancist (SECOND EDITION): Art of Air (7 Forbidden Arts Book 3)

by Charmaine Pauls

  Joss shook his head. “It’s an anomaly.”

  “Let him try,” Clelia said. “Maybe he’ll pick up something Eve hasn’t uncovered.”

  Kat looked at Lann. He tried his best to give her a reassuring smile.

  “Will it hurt?” Kat asked Joss.

  “It’s just a prick of the finger,” the commander said.

  Kat seemed uncertain, but she nodded. “I suppose it can’t do any harm.”

  “I can’t guarantee that it’ll work,” Joss said. “What I get is rarely the same. It depends on the person.” He hesitated. “You should also know that it could reveal emotions.” He waited for the meaning of his words to sink in. “It’s like prying on a person’s soul. You’ll be an open book.”

  Kat blinked, and then gave a nervous laugh. “So much for hiding my feelings.”

  “I need a needle,” Joss said to Eve.

  The doctor gave him a sealed hypodermic needle from her bag. He handed it to Lann. “Prick her middle finger.”

  Lann removed the needle and took Kat’s cold hand. “Ready?”

  She nodded. He pricked her finger, but she said nothing as the droplet of blood pooled on her skin. It reminded him of the fairy tale of Sleeping Beauty. Except in this one, Katherine wouldn’t only sleep for one hundred years. In this one, his kiss would be powerless and darkness would claim her forever.

  A somber ambience hung over the room. The grandfather clock stroke in the corner, ringing out the verdict of limited time. Joss glanced at Clelia. Something passed between them. Clelia smiled at her husband. It was a private smile that spoke of sharing secrets. Lann looked away. He couldn’t bear witnessing the intimate exchange. It only added to the message of the clock, that his time was short, and fast running out.

  “Please hand me that spoon, little witch,” Joss said to his wife, his voice suddenly tender.

  Clelia handed him a clean coffee spoon from the tray, which he gave to Lann. “Just a drop is enough.”

  Lann caught the ruby drop on the tip of the spoon, and handed it back to Joss.

  They watched in silence as Joss brought the spoon to his lips and tasted. He closed his eyes and stood motionless for a while. No one moved. One could hear a pin drop in the room.

  When Joss opened his eyes again, the sad light reflecting in those steel-grey pools made Lann’s heart clench. He couldn’t ask. It was Cain who spoke for him.

  “Well?” Cain sat down in the chair next to the sofa.

  Joss shook his head.

  Kat sagged in her seat. Lann squeezed her shoulder.

  She pulled her back straight and offered Joss a smile. “Thanks for trying.” She got up. “I’ll leave you to your discussion.” Turning to Clelia, she said, “I’ll start lunch.”

  Clelia and Lann protested simultaneously, but Kat said, “I’m better now. I feel like my old self again.”

  No one argued when she walked to the door.

  Joss’s words stopped her in the frame. “Would you like to know the sex of the baby?”

  Kat turned back to them, her eyes trained on Lann. “Would you?”

  No. He didn’t want to know. Couldn’t face it. The truth of it was too raw. It would force him to acknowledge a fact he couldn’t, but the light in her eyes told him her answer. Katherine wanted to know.

  Carefully pushing back his emotions, Lann smiled at Kat and nodded.

  She turned her head expectantly toward Joss.

  “It’s a boy,” Joss said softly.

  Her expression filled with joy, but the tears were there too. They made the sky-blue color of her eyes glisten even if she didn’t release them. The air around him turned warmer.

  “Thank you,” she said, her beautiful voice unwavering. “It will make it easier to choose a name.”

  He knew why Kat was so touched. Eve would’ve told them eventually, but not for a while still. Lann understood Katherine better than she thought. She wanted to live with the knowledge for as long as possible.

  When she made to exit again, he moved forward, but she held up her hand.

  “I’m going to prepare lunch,” she said. “Please, finish your business meeting.”

  He also knew that meant she needed time. Alone. It went against his every instinct to let her walk out of the room.

  Kat was chopping vegetables in the kitchen when Clelia walked in with the wolves at her heels. They joined Tripod on the cushions in the corner.

  Clelia touched her arm. “You look tired. Why don’t you go for a nap?”

  Kat shook her hair over her shoulder, concentrating on not cutting her fingers. “I need to keep busy.”

  “I understand.” Clelia took a pan from a hook above the fireplace and placed it on the stove. “Sometimes, I need to keep busy too.”

  Snow yelped. Clelia went over and gave him a scratch behind the ear.

  “They’re always with you,” Kat said.

  Clelia’s smile was affectionate. “Not so long ago, someone threatened my life, and they saved me.” She patted Snow’s head. “Snow suffered from first degree burns, but he pulled through. After that incident, they don’t leave my side, at least not when I’m on the property.”

  Kat stopped slicing carrots. She studied the pretty, delicate woman. “Someone tried to kill you?”

  “Because of what I am,” Clelia said as she turned on the gas.

  “A firestarter?”

  “Yes. According to the others, the hunting never stops.”

  Kat tried to put herself in Clelia’s shoes. “It must be so difficult, always having to look over your shoulder.” Was that how it was for Lann? Was he too constantly hunted?

  Clelia shrugged. “It’s easier for me since I’ve joined Cain’s team. I prefer fighting than hiding and waiting for attacks.” Her eyes shone. “Plus, I’ve got Joss to protect me now.”

  Kat sat down in the chair by the table. “Who’s all part of the team?”

  Clelia dropped a dollop of butter in the pan. “Joss, Lann, Maya, Cain, and I.”

  “Who’s Maya?”

  “Our hydromancist.”

  “So you all have special gifts?”

  “Yes. We couldn’t fight paranormal crime without them.” Clelia removed fish fillets from the fridge and rinsed them under cold water. She arranged them onto paper towels and patted them dry. “I’m sorry you had to learn about our organization like that.”

  “I didn’t mean to pry. I wanted to help with the lunch, but when I couldn’t find you, I decided to see if you were outside. I heard the voices coming from the study. The door was open.”

  The aroma of fried butter filled the kitchen. Clelia placed a couple of fillets in the pan. “It must’ve come as a shock. I know it was a shock for me when Joss first told me what he did for a living.”

  Kat studied her hands. “I wish Lann had told me.”

  “Oh, Kat, Lann is so protective of you. That’s why he didn’t tell you.”

  Kat looked up again to find Clelia’s sympathetic gaze on her. “He’s been excluding me from everything in his life since the start. He made it clear that what we had was never supposed to be permanent.”

  “He’s sweet with you, isn’t he?” Clelia asked imploringly. She took the bowl of chopped vegetables and scraped it into another pan, drizzling it with olive oil.

  “Does he have a choice?” Kat asked. “It’s because of the circumstances.” Tripod came to her side. She patted him absentmindedly. “I tried to talk to him about the decisions we have to make, but he’s not ready to face them yet.”

  “Are you?”

  Kat tried to smile. “I have to be.”

  “You have to believe that Eve will find a cure.”

  “You heard Eve. I don’t want to harbor false hope. I’d rather be realistic. That’s the best I can do right now.”

  “How about we go shopping for the baby this afternoon? That’ll cheer you up.”

  Kat lifted her head at that. Preparing for her baby had crossed her mind. “Do you think Lann and Joss will
let us go?”

  Clelia winked. “I’m a firestarter. What better protection can you have?”

  “What was that about protection?” Joss asked, stalking into the kitchen.

  He walked to his wife with deliberate steps, and trapped her in his arms from behind. He lowered his lips to her ear. “Did I hear something about you wanting to take a risk?”

  Laughing, Clelia leaned against him. “Kat and I were just making plans to go to Vannes this afternoon for baby shopping.”

  “No,” he said.

  Clelia turned in his arms to face him. “We’ll be safe.”

  “Not with Cain wanting to pull David out. I won’t risk it.”

  “We need to,” Clelia said with meaning.

  Joss looked at her for some time, and then his resolve seemed to falter. “Fine, but wait until Maya gets here. She’ll go with you.”

  “Maya’s coming?”

  “I just heard. That’s what I was coming to tell you. Cain’s bringing her in. She’ll arrive tomorrow.”

  “Do you honestly think Maya can protect us better than me? What’s she going to do? Throw some water from the town fountain at any potential abductors?”

  Joss smiled at that. “She’s good with guns. Until your training is done, you’ll take Maya as bodyguard.”

  Kat’s stomach tightened at the mention of guns. “You fight with real weapons?”

  Joss stared at her in surprise.

  “I mean, you don’t just throw fire and lightning and water around?”

  “We fight with real bullets when we have to,” he said.

  “Lann too?” Kat asked carefully.

  “Lann’s a trained soldier, Kat.”

  “Joss.” Clelia laid a hand on his arm. “I think you should let Lann explain that to Kat.”

  “Of course,” he said. “What’s for lunch? I’m starving.”

  Clelia laughed. “Erwan’s catch of the day.” She turned to Kat. “Erwan is my grandfather. He lives in a village nearby. You’ll meet him soon. He often comes for dinner.”

  “Does he know about your art?” Kat asked.

  “He raised me,” Clelia said. “He’s known from the beginning.”

  How was she was going to break the news to her family? Exactly how much she was going to tell them?

  The rain cleared in the afternoon. Lann had set up an office in another room on the first floor, and he was working on something he didn’t share with Kat. She went looking for him to tell him about her plan to go shopping with Clelia and Maya, but he seemed deeply involved in his task, and she didn’t want to disturb him. She watched him work on a 3D data screen for a while, his brow furrowed in concentration, and then she quietly left again.

  The castle was big. There were many rooms to explore, but eventually Kat got bored. She couldn’t hide out here for seven months with nothing to keep her busy. Clelia and Joss had a cleaning team that came in a few hours every day to take care of the upkeep. Clelia had explained that she enjoyed cooking and preferred to do it herself, rather than employ a chef. Helping with the meals brought some relief, but it wasn’t the stimulation Kat needed. Clelia and Joss were working too, closed up in the study most of the time with the wolves at their feet. She hardly saw Eve, unless it was for mealtimes or the dreaded tests. She had no idea where Cain was.

  Wandering downstairs, she eventually found herself in the library. She hadn’t informed her mentor of her intention to drop her studies. She hadn’t been thinking about much else but what was going to happen in a few months’ time. She had to call Charles and explain that she wasn’t going to continue with her thesis. If he found out she wasn’t in Santiago, he’d contact her parents, and they’d be worried.

  Lann had given her a new mobile phone to use while they stayed at the castle. It was a safe number that couldn’t be traced. She sat down by the fire and dialed her parents’ number. When her mom answered, she swallowed back the tears.

  “Kat, honey, how nice to hear your voice. Is everything all right?”

  “Everything’s fine. In fact, everything’s wonderful,” she lied. “I’m taking a holiday.”

  Felicity sounded worried. “In the middle of the semester?”

  “It was an opportunity I couldn’t pass up.”

  Suspicion slipped into Felicity’s tone. “Where are you?”

  Kat forced herself to say brightly, “You’ll never believe it. I’m in France.”

  Just as she said it, she wanted to bite her tongue. She wasn’t sure that was information she should’ve shared. But what else was she supposed to say? Sooner or later, they’d find out she wasn’t living with Diana any longer, and she wanted them to hear it from her.

  “What?” her mom exclaimed.

  “I’m with Lann.” It was the only logical explanation, and it was true.

  “Is he Chilean?”

  “No.” Before her mother could ask more questions, Kat said quickly, “I’m thinking of coming home for Easter.”

  “Really? That would be wonderful, but I thought you said you couldn’t afford to come home until Christmas.”

  By Christmas, she’d be dead. “I just want you to meet my new…” What was she supposed to call Lann?

  “Boyfriend?” Her mom filled in for her.

  Kat cleared her throat. “Yeah.”

  “Kat,” her mother’s voice was imploring, “is your new boyfriend paying for this holiday and your trip home?”

  “Yes.”

  “You’re not taking advantage of him, are you?”

  “Mom! How can you even ask that?”

  “Sorry, Kat, but I had to. Taking a holiday in the middle of the semester … it seems so out of character for you.”

  Kat decided to change the subject. “You will be home for Easter, won’t you?”

  “We’ll be home. Honey, are you sure you’re with this man for the right reasons?”

  “Oh, Mom.” No, she wasn’t. They were together for all the wrong reasons. “Can you try to be happy for me?”

  “I’m sorry. It’s just so sudden. After Mac … I thought you said you wanted to finish your thesis before getting involved with someone again.”

  That had been her intention. “I didn’t exactly go looking for it. It just happened.” That part, at least, was the truth.

  “I’m happy for you. Just don’t neglect your studies. Don’t do something you’ll regret later.”

  Too late, Mom. No. That wasn’t true. She would never regret having met Lann. “Don’t worry. I won’t.”

  “Good. Let me know when to expect you.”

  “Is Dad there?”

  “You know he’s at work.” Kat could almost hear the frown in Felicity’s voice. “Are you sure you’re all right?”

  “Of course.” She added quickly, “It’s just the time difference.”

  “Send me the address and the number of where you are,” her mom said.

  No, Mom, I can’t do that. “I love you, Mom.”

  “Love you too, honey.”

  Kat hung up. She dropped the phone on the sofa and covered her face with her hands.

  “Are you unwell?”

  Lann’s voice made her jump. She looked up to see him standing in the doorframe, concern etched on his face.

  “No.” She shook her head and sighed. “I just spoke to my mom.”

  “I see.” He walked to her. “What did you tell her?”

  “That I’ll come visit them for Easter.” She measured his reaction. “With a boyfriend.”

  There was a pause before he said, “I was hoping by then I’d be a fiancé.”

  Chapter 8

  “You want to get engaged?” Kat asked, finding it hard to keep the disbelief from her voice.

  Lann’s eyes flickered with something she couldn’t place. “You say it like you don’t want to.”

  “Why?”

  “Why?” He stared at her. “Because I love you, Katherine.”

  It was sweet, but it was a lie. “Just say it’s to overcome the legal ob
stacles of obtaining custody of our child.”

  Lann clenched and unclenched his fingers. “Why is it so hard for you to believe?”

  “Because you never have, and because I don’t want to spend what little time I have left living a lie.”

  “Everything I’ve done, I’ve done because I love you.”

  “Is that why you gave me a thirty-day deadline? Because you loved me?”

  “Yes! Because I tried to protect you. It’s because I cared about you that I didn’t want to drag you into my life. If I didn’t give a damn, I would have just towed you along, right into danger. That’s why I gave you your freedom, because I loved you too much to be the selfish bastard I wanted to be, keeping you all to myself when I believed I couldn’t have children, and couldn’t give you anything normal.”

  “I never said I wanted a normal life.”

  “Is this what you wanted?” he asked, his voice flat.

  “We didn’t know it was going to happen like this. At least, at the time, you could’ve given me a choice. Instead, you made it for me.”

  “I did what was in your best interest.”

  “Is that why you didn’t tell me you were coming back to Santiago? Is that why I had to find out from your butler?”

  “I wanted to see you, but I wasn’t going to upset you again. I could see what leaving you the first time did to you. I knew if I were to see you, I wouldn’t keep my hands to myself, so it was better to avoid contact. Even if I only went back because of you, I didn’t want you to know. When Alfonso told me you hadn’t been back to the library, I was worried. I wanted to see for myself that you were fine. I wanted to find out you why you had returned the money I paid into your account.”

  She shook her head. “You said you hadn’t come back for me.”

  He dragged a hand over his head. “I just told you, I gave you freedom. What kind of a life could I offer you?”

  “I could’ve accepted any kind of life, had you given me your love.”

  He hung his head. “You had it. You still do.”

  “Is that why you reacted the way you did when I told you I was pregnant? You accused me of lying, of expecting another man’s baby.”