“Rebekah,” Reilly said calmly, “you have to understand that—”
“Don’t touch her!” Rebekah bellowed. “Don’t you dare touch her!”
And then, from behind, Rebekah heard the smallest whimper, followed by a voice full of fear, “Rebekah, what’s going on?”
Rebekah tensed at Paige’s voice. “Nothing,” she said. “You’ll be fine.”
“What’s she gonna do to Aunt Katie and Uncle Paul?”
Rebekah glanced at Andre, who was now standing upright, watching the interaction with horror. “Nothing.”
“But you said she was gonna bewitch—”
“She can’t know, Rebekah,” Reilly suddenly said. “It’s better for her to forget.”
Rebekah opened her mouth to speak, but before she could utter a sound, Andre responded. “Reilly,” the witch said, “her aura.”
Reilly stopped dead in his tracks and stared at Paige with a burning intensity. Rebekah watched her cousin shudder under his gaze, and she launched herself at the warlock—or at least, she would have, if Andre hadn’t grabbed her.
“Rebekah, she’s fine!” Andre hissed. “Reilly’s just seeing something.”
“If he hurts her—” Rebekah growled, but she never finished her threat. Within a second, Reilly broke his concentration and glanced at Andre with understanding. He gave a silent nod.
And Andre released Rebekah, who sagged to the floor in confusion and disbelief. “What the hell is going on?”
No one responded, not even Paige. Reilly looked absolutely mortified.
And then, Andre spoke, though not in answer to Rebekah’s question. “Take her to Holly’s place. I’m taking Rebekah home.”
“No!” Rebekah snapped. “Tell me what’s going on!”
Andre and Reilly glanced at each other, and a silent understanding passed between them. “We don’t know,” Andre finally said, her usual confidence gone.
“What do you mean you don’t know?”
“Rebekah, please,” Andre begged, actually begged. Rebekah met the witch’s gaze, dumbfounded, and what she was met with was a pleading gaze.
And then, Andre added something that shook Rebekah to her core. “Your cousin may be in danger.”
And sobs racked Rebekah’s body as she broke down. Her knees collapsed underneath her, and she fell to the floor, hair falling in front of her face. “No,” she choked. This was her fault. Her mere presence was now putting her own family in danger.
Andre knelt beside her and laid a hand on her shoulder. She was so racked with sobs, she didn’t even hear the witch approach. “This isn’t your fault,” she said as if reading Rebekah’s mind.
Rebekah forced herself to gaze into Andre’s eyes as tears slid down her cheeks. “If Reilly hurts her—”
“They’re going to Holly’s place,” Andre said. And then, she cracked a slight smile. “Holly will keep him in line.”
Reilly fake-gasped. “Oh no! Anything but Holly!”
Andre’s gaze swept past Rebekah and landed on Reilly. “You’re a big boy. I’m sure you’ll be fine.”
“I heard she gave Henri a run for his money,” Reilly continued. “What if she decides to boil us alive in some sort of demented stew?”
Next to him, Paige gasped. A real gasp, Rebekah noted.
Andre just frowned. “Too far, Reilly.”
But now, Rebekah was smiling, her tears long forgotten. Holly wasn’t a vicious person. She couldn’t even picture Holly harming anyone.
Except she did in Roseway.
And the person was Henri’s daughter.
Rebekah’s smile vanished as she remembered those dark times. At one point, she thought she knew everything there was to know about Holly, but not anymore. Not when Holly had been harboring the secret she was a witch for years.
“Rebekah,” Paige said weakly, scared.
And Rebekah knew she had to make a choice. Turning around, she met Paige’s stare and said, “Go with him. You’ll be safe.” Because she knew Andre trusted Reilly.
And she trusted Andre.
Paige let out a strangled sob. “And what about you?”
Rebekah shot a glare at Andre. “I’m going with Andre,” she said in the coldest voice she could muster. “We need to talk.”
~~~
Andre: Marywood, Florida
Andre knew there was something bizarre about Rebekah’s aura the moment she had first met the Innocent in Roseway. Yet at first, she had written it off as nothing. There were more important things to focus on at the time, like keeping the Innocent alive.
Now, after glimpsing at Paige’s aura, Andre wasn’t so sure ignoring Rebekah’s was for the best. Paige had traces of the Foreseer gene in her DNA. Paige was a carrier.
Which meant it was possible the strange aspect of Rebekah’s aura could also be the gene, though very diluted and weak. Rebekah could also be a carrier…or she could be something more.
As Andre guided Rebekah into the passenger’s seat of her rented, grey 2008 Toyota Camry, a thick glob of uncomfortable silence permeated the air. Andre could sense Rebekah’s anger radiate off her in waves. The Innocent had a right to be confused and angry, but Andre couldn’t tell her anything yet. Not until she found more information.
Rebekah slid her hands absently over the fabric of her seat, her head down. She didn’t react when Andre slid into the driver’s side and started the car. Only when the car was peeling out of the parking lot did she finally speak, though she didn’t raise her head. “You have a car?”
“It’s a rental,” Andre explained. “It’s to make traveling in a densely human populated area easier.” It had been Aaron’s idea, and therefore, the car was under his name. She remembered his explanation, that it would help alleviate the risk of teleporting and appearing suddenly in front of unsuspecting humans.
“Right,” Rebekah said. “And I suppose Reilly doesn’t need it, since he’s going to Holly’s.”
Andre didn’t like how Rebekah said Reilly’s name, but she let it slide.
Rebekah tapped lightly on the doorframe with her nails. Andre ignored it, focusing instead on the gruesome Marywood traffic. One of the things Aaron drilled into her was the need to drive in case she found herself in a busy human area where magic wasn’t an option. Ivanestible had no paved roads, and so, he had taken her to the rural areas encompassing the American South—and driving in the city was vastly different.
The traffic didn’t show any signs of easing up anytime soon, and Rebekah huffed. Andre spared the briefest of glances at her. The Innocent’s eyes were on the road as well, but Andre knew her annoyance wasn’t directed at the traffic.
“We’ll visit your cousin afterwards,” Andre promised.
Rebekah scoffed. “I still don’t think you understand what being grounded means…”
“So it’s not a form of house arrest for children?” Andre said, but her attempts to joke fell flat when Rebekah shot a glare in her direction. “I’m sorry.”
“Then, leave my family alone!”
Andre felt herself growing colder. “That’s not possible.”
Rebekah shot her a bewildered expression. “Haven’t they already been through enough?” She didn’t need to elaborate. Andre knew she was talking about Roseway.
Andre’s hands tightened on the steering wheel. “Rebekah, please,” she said. She wasn’t in the mood to fight.
“Please what? Be complacent while you—”
Andre yanked the steering wheel to the right, veering them off the side of the road. She could hear the honking of cars, but she didn’t care, not when all she saw was red.
She stopped suddenly in the middle of a field, and her limbs were shaking.
“What the fuck—” Rebekah began, but she was cut off when Andre turned to face her.
“You’re right. They have been through enough,” Andre spat. “But you seem to not realize, Rebekah, that your mere presence puts them in further danger!”
Rebekah gaped at Andre as hurt blosso
med in her eyes.
“Everything I’ve done up until this point is to keep you and Holly safe!” Andre continued. “And that includes you coming to Munich with us!”
“And that includes you bewitching my parents to let me go!” Rebekah fired back. “I understand the necessity of the false memories, but to put them under—”
“Henri will kill them if I don’t do this!” Andre shouted, and Rebekah immediately fell silent. “This is for their protection as much as it is for yours!”
Tears blossomed in Rebekah’s eyes. And then, she started crying.
Andre softened, her anger replaced by a stab of guilt. “Hey,” she said, shifting her body so she faced Rebekah. “Hey, it’ll be okay.”
“How can you say that?” Rebekah sniffed, her face soaked with salty tears.
“Because it will be okay,” Andre said. Then, she adjusted her position so she was facing the front again.
Rebekah wiped her face with the back of her arm. “Don’t let him take my family,” she said, her voice trembling on each word.
Andre put the car in drive and sped off towards the road. “I won’t,” she said, the words tasting bitter on her tongue. She couldn’t guarantee their safety, not while she was away at the ICW. She could only hope they would be safe while their daughter, one of Henri’s main targets, was separated from them.
Within ten minutes, Andre was pulling into the parking lot of the apartment complex and killed the engine. However, neither of them moved to exit the vehicle right away, and when Andre turned to glance at Rebekah, she noticed the Innocent’s eyes were downcast. “Rebekah, we have to go.”
Rebekah didn’t move. “Why couldn’t I have been born normal?” She sighed.
Andre was taken aback by Rebekah’s question.
“I mean, Henri chose me and put my family and myself in danger because of what I am!” Rebekah continued, shaking. “And now, I’m even more of a danger to them because I defied him, and—”
“We don’t choose what we are,” Andre said. “You’re an Innocent because certain factors made it so. Don’t blame yourself for what you can’t control.”
Rebekah froze. “What factors are you talking about?”
Andre stilled. “Has anyone told you how an Innocent is created?”
Rebekah shook her head. “I mean, Ava mentioned once it wasn’t genetic when I asked…”
Andre took a deep breath. “You are related to and share a birthday with an immortal magic user,” she explained, watching Rebekah’s face pale at this revelation. “She is called your Other Part, and you are hers.”
Rebekah shook her head. “I can’t be related to one of them. They’re so—”
“You’d be surprised how many people are related to at least one immortal magic user. My mentor, Aaron Hansen, has two sisters who chose to turn. My best friend, Arizona Bleu, is related to one. Even our current royal family—”
“I get it!” Rebekah snapped. “So, I’m related to one. I still don’t get how that makes me an Innocent.”
“You share a birthday with her as well,” Andre explained. “Your mind is linked with hers, and every year on your birthday, she can slip into your mind and see through your eyes.”
Rebekah’s eyes widened.
“Not willingly. She can’t control it,” Andre amended, hoping to ease some of Rebekah’s fear.
“What’s her name?” Rebekah questioned, her voice barely above a whisper.
Andre hesitated. “Sierra Jensen.”
Within a second, Rebekah threw open the car door and vomited on the pavement, her entire body trembling. Alarmed, Andre slammed her own door open and hopped out, racing to Rebekah’s side.
“Hey.” Andre knelt so she was eye-level with Rebekah, just mere centimeters from the pool of vomit. “Hey, it’s okay. You’ll be safe.”
Rebekah continued to vomit as choked sobs rattled her throat. Andre leaped away in order to avoid getting splashed.
“Rebekah,” Andre tried again, taking a hesitant step forward when it seemed like there was no more vomit in Rebekah’s system.
The Innocent wiped her mouth with the back of her arm as she met Andre’s concerned gaze. “I’m a danger to everyone,” she stated matter-of-factly.
Andre offered Rebekah a tentative hand, who hesitantly took it. Together, they made their way to Rebekah’s apartment, and when they arrived, Andre made quick work of her magic. In the end, she not only bewitched Rebekah’s parents, but she also did so with Rebekah’s aunt and uncle.
Right when she was done with her work, Andre spun around and proceeded to exit the space, but Rebekah’s hand clamped down on her arm, stalling her.
“You’ll bring Paige back, won’t you?” Rebekah questioned in a small voice. “And you’ll…protect them?”
And Andre, before she left for Holly’s place, said one final thing to Rebekah: “They’ll be safe. I promise.”
~~~
Henri: Greenwich, England
Kat was gone, having disappeared last night along with Jeffery. Per Henri’s orders, Kat wouldn’t be back for months as she worked to gain Jason and Annabelle’s trust, and she especially wouldn’t be attending the meeting Henri set forth, though he planned on briefing her of everything after the meeting.
Henri didn’t think it was possible for him to feel her absence as hard as he did. He had been separated from her before, the most notable time when she was spying for him at Witchcraft Academy years ago. Yet, he missed her presence, and he especially missed how she made him feel.
The immortal warlock let out a grunt of frustration as he paced his quarters. The bed where he and Kat made love previously was off to the side, messy and unkempt. Henri rarely used that bed, since he had no need to sleep, and so he left it in a disheveled state, not bothering to wash the sheets that still smelled so much like Kat. He needed to get the witch out of his mind. It was not possible for immortal beings to feel love, but that didn’t mean he couldn’t miss the things she could do to him.
Focus! Henri chastised himself. His plan thus far was working perfectly without a hitch, and he couldn’t let something like lust cloud his thoughts. Kat and Jeffery would be perfect little spies, and the Foreseer’s visions had been successfully blocked. Now, Henri was readying himself to finally visit the Foreseer in a magic-induced dream—and he couldn’t get Kat out of his mind. No! Stop!
Henri closed his eyes and pushed aside his thoughts of Kat. Instead, he tried to envision the Foreseer as he reached out towards her mind. He could feel his magic coil around her sleeping brain, encasing it in a cocoon as he pulled on more magic to paint the scenery. He wanted the scene to be welcoming and full of greenery.
And instead, he got a grey cityscape with turned-over cars and a very prominent building fire a couple of paces away.
Henri shook his head, sure his distraction was what caused the wrong scene to form. Whatever. It’ll do, he thought as he began to walk down the street.
And there she was, a very prominent figure against the greyscale. Her long, blonde hair fell to her waist, and her back was facing him. Even without her face, Henri knew instantly it was her.
The girl turned around as if she heard his approach, and her eyes went wide. “Who are you?” she questioned in a trembling voice. “Where am I?”
The girl’s fear was palpable, and Henri relished in it. “You know who I am,” he said, and then, as an afterthought, added, “Amanda.”
The girl paled at the mention of her name. “H-how do you know my name?”
Henri seized her up as if she were nothing more than a piece of meat. In a few years, she could be very beautiful, for a human. “Come here,” he said. “Let me get a closer look at you.”
The girl—Amanda—shook her head. “What do you want with me?”
Henri was disappointed that Amanda didn’t willingly come to him, but it was to be expected. She was thirteen, and he was almost five hundred years old. “I won’t hurt you,” Henri said. Yet.
Amanda seemed uncon
vinced. There was a certain fire in her veins that Henri found amusing. “What do you want?”
Henri held his hands up in a mock gesture of surrender. “I just want to talk.”
“Then, talk!” Amanda snapped, and as if on cue, an empty, fiery car rolled by them.
Henri stared at the car for a moment, perplexed. “Not here.”
Amanda bit out a bitter laugh as she took a bold step forward. “I’m dreaming, aren’t I? None of this is real.”
You could say that, Henri thought as he watched her silently.
“And you know what else I think?” Amanda continued as she closed the gap between them. She reached out and jabbed his stomach with her finger. “I think you’re not real.”
Henri reached out with quick reflexes and grabbed the girl’s wrist. “You’re a Foreseer,” he stated plainly.
Amanda’s eyes widened at his proclamation. “This isn’t one of my visions!” she hissed. “I know the difference between a dream and a vision!”
“Do you?” Henri smiled at her as he glided his thumb over the skin on her wrist. “Then, if this is just merely a dream, surely you can control it.”
Amanda stiffened. “Maybe,” she said before tearing her wrist away. She spun on her heels and shouted to no one in particular, “I want a cozy room with two chairs and a fireplace!”
Henri felt his magic flare up, and per his command, the scene began to shift around the two of them. No longer were they surrounded by fire and broken buildings but were now in a small, cabin-like room with a lit fireplace and two huge, red chairs surrounding a big, round table.
Amanda plopped down on one of the chairs as if she owned the place. “You wanted to talk, so talk.”
Henri took the seat across from her. He wasn’t used to people talking to him in such a manner, but instead of anger, all he felt was amusement. Right now, she was willing to accept anything, since she deemed none of it was real, and he knew exactly how to use that against her. “Care for some tea?” he asked as he summoned a kettle of tea laced with a spell of his own that would tie her to him, two mugs, and a bowl of sugar.
Amanda scrunched her nose. “Tea?”
Bleeding Misery (Threatening Souls Book 2) Page 6
