by Raven Steele
“Demand it. You must not appear weak in any way.”
“Are you going to help me get out of here or what?”
He glanced away. “I’m sorry, but I can’t. You must stay.”
“But I want to leave. I’ll demand it.”
“Anything but that,” he said. “I’m sorry.”
“I refuse to stay here a second longer, and if you won’t help me, then I’ll do it myself.” I raised my hands to do just that.
“Stop! Don’t you want to prove to your family, to your parents, that you are more powerful than all of them?”
“I don’t care about proving myself. I know what I’m capable of, so what does it matter what they think?”
“Trust me, it matters. Do this for me, Eve.” He leaned forward, almost on his tiptoes, as if any moment he might reach across the invisible wall and shake me. “Show them what you can do and don’t hold back. They must witness your power.”
His passion surprised me. “It means that much to you?”
“It’s all I ask.”
I lowered my head and sighed. “Fine. I’ll do it, but on one condition. When I get out of here, will you tell me why this was all so important?”
“Deal.”
“Do you want to know what will be the hardest part of all this?” I asked.
“Tolerating those twin horses?”
I laughed. “That will be difficult but not as hard as being away from you. What am I going to do for fun?”
“I’m not going anywhere.”
“And what exactly am I supposed to do with an intangible ball of smoke?”
“Sorry, love. It’s the best I could do under the circumstances. I’ll come visit you whenever I can.”
“I hope so.” I glanced back through the trees and toward my grandfather’s home. “How long do you—”
I turned to Boaz, but he was gone.
Chapter 16
I waited a little longer before I returned. The twins sat outside on the steps, looking much younger than their actual age. They wore identical pink floral dresses and each held a sucker in her right hand. Both heads turned as I approached.
“Grandfather’s been waiting,” Helen said.
“For hours,” added Harriet.
“Poor Grandfather.” I walked past them and through the front door. I headed straight for my room despite hearing my name being called.
Inside, I searched the closet but only found a couple of plain dresses. If I was going to be here a while, there was no way they were going to treat me like my parents had. I was done with that life.
Taking Boaz’s advice, I stormed into the living room. My grandfather sat in a high-back Queen Anne chair and watched me curiously. Anne stood next to him with another drink in her hand. She still had on the same robe from earlier.
Anne swayed slightly. “We’ve been waiting for you.”
“I need clothes.”
“You have some,” Anne said, clearly upset she was being ignored.
“I’m not wearing those rags in that hole you expect me to stay in. If I’m going to be here for a while, then I want my own clothes. And speaking of my room, I demand a new one.”
My grandfather remained expressionless, but Anne’s eyes grew wide and her nostrils flared as she sucked in air. “You will have no such thing!”
My grandfather raised his hand, silencing Anne. “Another room is not necessary. You will not be here long enough to warrant that, but you may have better attire. Anne, fetch her a new and much nicer dress.”
Anne looked down at him, her mouth open; and eyes, narrow slits. Her drink spilled over its glass edge. “But Father—”
“Do it. Now leave us before you pass out drunk.”
Her ivory face turned a deep scarlet, but she obeyed.
“Sit down, Eve,” he ordered after Anne left.
“I prefer to stand.”
“I said sit,” he repeated. A chair from across the room magically slid behind me, knocking against my legs. Startled, I sat down.
He spoke, a loud deep voice: “I appreciate your boldness, but do not forget who you are speaking to. I will not be trifled with.”
I clenched my fists and tried hard to keep my voice even. “You take me, unwillingly, from all that I know and then demand my respect?”
“I expect no less from anyone else. Why do you think you should be any different?” He reached inside a drawer and pulled out a pipe.
“I respect those who have earned it.”
His stare turned deadly. At the same time, my throat constricted as if I were being choked. I coughed a few times, trying to get air into my lungs.
“Then let me earn it,” my grandfather said in a calm voice. He lit his pipe and inhaled deeply. He watched as I struggled to remove the invisible grip from around my neck. Stars burst into my mind in sprays of blues and purples.
“Do you respect me now?” he asked.
I was barely conscience enough to nod my head. The grip from my neck relaxed, and I sucked in as much air as my lungs could handle.
“I’m sure Anne told you why we brought you here,” he began.
I nodded again, weakly.
“I need an heir. You were never an option before, but I’ve been informed otherwise, thanks to Boaz.”
“Boaz has nothing to do with this.”
“Keep telling yourself that,” he said, puffing a wide ring of smoke.
In the corner of the room, a shadow shifted. Boaz or a trick of the light? I continued to stare, but nothing moved again.
“I have staged a simple test for my granddaughters,” he said. “Whoever wins, their family will inherit all that I have.”
“And when the test is over?”
“You will be free to leave.” Smoke spilled from his mouth.
“When do we begin?”
“Tonight.”
Good. The sooner the better. Just sitting near the old man unnerved me. No wonder my parents were always at odds after visiting him. It was like being near a hungry tiger with amazing self-control — you could see the aggression in his eyes, but he remained as still as a boulder. I left my grandfather to his pipe and thoughts and found Anne standing just outside of my room with a full glass of wine.
“What did he say?” she asked and wiped at her mouth with the back of her hand.
I walked past her into the room. “He said the twins are going to lose, and I’m going to win.”
After showering, I returned to my room to find a stylish red dress lying on the bed. It had a blood-red sash around its waist and was made from the same silky material as my other dresses. I quickly pulled it on, feeling somewhat better.
A knock at my door startled me. I said nothing but moved to the window seat, warm sunlight spilling in through the glass, and sat down to wait for whomever it was to simply come in. They did just that. Helen walked in first followed by Harriet.
“Do you two do everything together?” I asked.
“Two is better than one,” Helen answered.
“Much better,” agreed Harriet. They stood next to each other, shoulders touching.
“Do you two date much?” I asked.
Simultaneously, a smile spread across their faces.
“We have had our fun,” Helen said.
“Boaz was wonderful,” chimed Harriet.
I raised my eyebrows. “Really? And what exactly did you do with Boaz?”
They looked at each other conspiratorially.
Helen giggled. “Only the birds know.”
“And the worms.” Harriet giggled harder.
Realizing this was not a conversation I wanted to have, I asked, “Did you two like growing up here?”
“We didn’t grow up here.”
“Our home was in Wildemoor.”
“Why did you move here?” I asked.
“There was a fire.”
“It destroyed everything.”
“What caused it?”
Both of them flinched as if someone had just shoved l
emons into their mouths.
“Magic,” they said together.
“Whose magic?”
“It was an accident,” Helen said.
“We were learning,” added Harriet.
I stood up, surprised by their confession. “Was anyone hurt?”
Swallowing hard, they said, “Father. He died.”
“That’s horrible. How old were you?”
“We were young.”
“Ten.”
“Did you like your father?” I asked. If my father had died, I wouldn’t have cared, and I hoped it was the same for the twins.
It took them a moment to answer. “We loved Father.”
“He was different. Not like them.”
I knew exactly whom they were talking about. “I’m sorry. That must have been hard.”
They said nothing, but I noticed their pupils were moving back and forth, just barely, the same way a pendulum clock swings.
“Listen, cousins,” I said, feeling suddenly sympathetic toward them. “This whole inheritance thing is silly, don’t you agree?”
“No,” they said in unison.
“Are you saying you want to fight?”
“We do what we are told,” Helen said.
“We do not have a choice,” added Harriet.
I snorted. “Of course you have a choice.”
“You do not know Grandfather.”
“We must obey him.”
“You don’t have to. All three of us can run away. I can get us out of here, I promise. And once we’re free, Boaz will move us somewhere safe.”
Their eyebrows drew together, confused. “Boaz will not help.”
“This is what he wants.”
“What do you mean?” I asked.
Without warning, the lamp on the nightstand crashed to the floor, breaking into several pieces. All three of us turned to it in surprise.
“I wonder how that happened,” I said.
“We will get the maid to clean it up,” said Helen.
“Right away,” added Harriet.
They turned to leave.
“Wait!” I cried, but they were already out the door.
I stooped low and picked up a large shard of the broken lamp, frustrated by its suspicious timing. After inspecting it, I walked around the room, searching all the shadows, convinced I’d find Boaz hiding among them. It had to have been him, but why? What didn't he want them to say?
When the maid showed up, I gave up and left the room. I wanted to find the twins to finish our earlier conversation and hopefully convince them not to participate in our grandfather’s idiotic competition.
Passing by a bedroom window, a red-bricked building some distance from the house caught my eye. It was at least two stories high with no windows. I wondered how it was possible that I hadn’t seen it from the woods earlier that morning.
A shadow crossed over behind the building. Maybe it was one of the twins. I escaped out a back door and followed a worn path to the strange building that looked a lot like a factory.
When I was within sight of the only door, it opened as if it had been expecting me. Hesitantly, I stepped over the threshold. The door closed behind me, and several lights turned on automatically.
“Hello?” I asked.
Silence.
The room was incredibly long with high ceilings. In the middle was a narrow banquet table that looked as if it could seat at least a hundred people. All along the sides of the walls were hand-carved curio cabinets filled with beautiful, antique-looking china. I would’ve considered the room quite grand if it were not for all the weapons and what looked like torture devices hanging above the shelves. I recognized some of them from my father’s collection. The room turned suddenly cold, and a visible breath puffed from my mouth.
“You should not be in here,” a voice from above said.
I glanced up to a balcony jutting out into the massive room. Two ornate chairs rested upon it as if they were made for a king and queen. In one of them, Anne sat clenching a bottle of wine. She had finally changed her clothing into a tight blue dress.
“What is this room?” I searched for a way up there but found no stairs.
“It depends on the time of year.”
“And what would it be this time of year?” I asked.
“It’s our training room. When I was younger, I learned to use magic in something similar.”
I moved about the room, examining the different kinds of china and weapons. Many of them were etched in gold and silver, and several had jewels adorning their fronts. There seemed to be no difference between the china they ate off and the weapons they killed with.
“It’s interesting, to say the least.”
“It’s repulsive,” Anne spat.
I looked up, surprised.
“Just look at it all. This room is filled with beautiful and expensive things, giving the illusion that greatness happens here. But great things require windows so the world might know of them, but there are no windows. Only dark secrets that remain forever hidden.” She took a drink from the bottle; some of it trickled down her chin and onto her dress.
I remained still. Staring. Wondering.
After swallowing, Anne tilted her head and squinted her left eye. “You look like her.”
“Like who?”
“Eve.”
“That’s because I am Eve,” I said. The alcohol was clearly getting to her.
“No, you’re not. You are an imposter. My brother should never have given you that name.”
“If I’m an imposter, then who is the real Eve?”
“Our younger sister,” Anne said, looking away as if remembering another time. “She was so different from the rest of us.”
I was named after my aunt? I’d always wondered why my parents had given me a name that seemed to go against all they believed in.
“Where is she?”
“Eve died when I was sixteen. She was fourteen.”
“What was she like?”
Anne chuckled. “Stubborn, brave. She defied our father constantly, refusing to do what he asked despite the torture he put her through. She had this remarkable ability to tune it all out. It was as if she were somewhere else.”
My mouth dropped open. I couldn’t believe it! It sounded as if my aunt had the same ability as me. This made me think of Eden, the place I used to retreat to in my mind. It had been so long since I had visited, but I hadn't really needed to ever since I had met Boaz.
Anne continued, “My father was embarrassed by her. He thought she was an Adept, a boring little witch, but little did he know that she was more powerful than both Erik and I combined.”
“How do you know?”
“I saw her once. In the woods. She thought she was alone, but Erik and I spied on her. We watched as she somehow managed to reroute a whole section of a stream, creating her own personal swimming pool. When we told our father she could use magic, he vowed to make her use it in front of him. He tried everything, torturing her mercilessly. But she just laid there with a calm expression on her face as if she were sitting on a beach somewhere and not enduring a hot stake through her palm.” Anne sipped from the bottle again. “She had that same expression on her face when his torture finally killed her. After she died, he walked away, not glancing back once. He hasn’t mentioned her since.”
“He killed her?”
“Does that surprise you? His son raised you. Didn’t Erik try to kill you, too?”
I didn’t answer, but my blood chilled making me shiver.
Anne crossed her legs and slumped farther into the chair. “The Segurs have always been about money and power. You can’t be in our family if you feel differently.”
I spoke, my voice low. “The twins said your husband was killed in an accident.”
“There are no such things as accidents in our world.”
“But the twins were too young! They couldn’t have killed their own father.”
Anne chuckled. “Of course not, but imagi
ne the guilt they’d feel for thinking they had. Whatever humanity they had died the moment they believed they killed him. They stopped caring about anything else and finally became moldable.”
“All for money and power,” I whispered.
“Is there anything else?” She moved the bottle in a circular motion, watching the last of the liquid slosh around. “The twins will beat you tonight.”
“How can you be sure?”
“There is still light and goodness in you, small as it may be. It makes you weak.”
I paused at her words, considering them. I was still a good person. I may see the world differently now, but I’d done nothing to hurt others. One day, when I finally choose a career path, I may use my abilities against humans to make sure my desires are fulfilled, but it will only be for their benefit. As a supernatural, I had a much broader, more fair view of how the world should be run.
Anne was wrong. My desire for greatness would make me stronger. I smirked at her. “I might surprise you.”
“It doesn’t matter. Win or lose, you will be destroyed tonight.”
Chapter 17
I sat alone in my room, staring out the window in a short, black dress. The last of the sunlight was chased back by the darkness covering the night sky. I craned my neck, searching for the moon, but there was none. It, too, had abandoned me.
I slumped against the wall. I hadn’t been nervous about tonight until my conversation with Anne. An ominous feeling had grown steadily ever since, and I couldn’t shake it. I considered simply quitting. The only reason I was doing this was for Boaz anyway, but one thing gave me pause, or I should say one person: my grandfather. I was afraid if I didn't win, I would never truly be free from my family. I may not be the best person, but I wasn't like them. I didn't kill people I cared about, or anyone for that matter.
What I needed was Boaz to give me some courage.
Quietly, I unlocked the window and pulled it open. “Boaz!” I whispered into the night.
The wind carried my small voice to the woods beyond. Within moments, a black mist glided across the lawn toward me. I stepped away from the window as darkness poured over the windowsill and into my room.
“I’m scared, Boaz. I’ve never fought another witch like this before.”
