First Kiss (24 page)

I look back at him, “Baylor sings, not
me.”

He sighs, “What do you think your gift
is?”

“I don’t know.” But I think I do. I
turn and look at him. “Humor me for a moment.”

His eyes shine like he wants to say
something as I step closer to him, but he doesn’t. I lift my hands to his face,
running them down his cheeks. There is fear in his eyes, but it is matched with
a fire I recall. I pull his face down as I lift up into the kiss. Our lips
meet, softly at first but as my tongue grazes his lips, we are both caught up
in it. His arms wrap around me, lifting me up into him. My hands slide up
around his neck as our mouths make love to each other, true love.

The flash of light happens in my head
again, like the star is awakening. I kiss him harder and try to force myself to
envision my sister there in the room with me. A fire shoots from the ceiling
down on me. I fall backward as it fills me with something I can’t explain. When
the bright light is gone, I see the terror in Bash’s eyes. I want to say
something to him, but I fall toward the mirror, my hands slipping into the
glass. They are grabbed and pulled into the glass that has become liquid. I
jerk back, dragging something back with me. Bash seizes me, pulling me into his
arms.

I look at the girl on the floor in
front of me. She lifts her face, and tears instantly stream down my cheeks and
hers.

“You freed me!” she cries out.

Suddenly, I see it all. I reach my hand
for hers and we touch for a moment only. The veil lifts when our eyes meet,
“Look into my eyes, Sister. Take the last of the magic so she can’t.” She
smiles and slowly starts to become particles, pieces of dust. The vision of her
fades to nothing and then drops to the floor as a pile of ash. I scream but
Bash covers my face and body with his. He holds me tightly as I sob into his
arm.

My sister’s magic lifts from the floor
like a thousand tiny lights. It floats towards me, hovering for a moment before
morphing into one ball of light, like the star. It shoots forward until it is
so bright, I can see it with my eyes closed. Her memories and mine are the
same, and yet, different. I no longer see myself as the sad girl in Lakeland.
It was Baylor.

Everything is reversed, as the stories
separate, and I realize I lived a decade inside of her. She met Sam. She loved
him and his smile. She was friends with Lune and suffered with the Lake curse.
She took every lash from Mary. All along I have thought it was
me
, but it was a dream I walked inside of. I held her hand
as she sat in the window, crying for the loss of her family.

I was the wind—the cold wind that
she cried to each night.

I had twisted it all up and confused it
with the life that was being lived here by my other sister. That was why Bash
never aged and the world here never moved on. I was only seeing Rosie’s life
for the last year. I was linked to both my sisters when they were born, but
Rosie had to turn ten for me to see through her eyes. We get the start of our
magic when we are ten and starting puberty. The rest of the magic came as we
finished puberty. I had not traveled between the worlds; I had been in both at
once, and yet, I have still been in a deep sleep.

I look at
Bash,
“You were in a decrepit old mansion, hiding your scars from the world?”

He nods slowly.

“Your family left you there with a few
servants to live out your life because of the scars? You have searched high and
low for me, but stayed hidden from the world to hide your scars.”

He nods again, “How are you doing
this?”

“My mother and my aunt discovered
Baylor wasn’t the witch they were waiting for, so they put her somewhere she
couldn’t ever help me. They left her there after taking her magic. She was
helpless against Mary. They knew I was the daughter of the black blood so they
put me in the tower, preserving me there. It’s why I never got any straight
answers from you or anyone else. I was in a dream state. It wasn’t real, and
yet, it was. I never knew what I was. I was a ghost, floating about. I was
neither here nor there. Baylor was suffering and Rosie was ignored, and I saw
it both ways, combined with the life my mother stole from Baylor and your life.
I have watched us all and even made up some parts of it. Some of it was made of
dreams.”

“As hard as this is to consider, I do
believe you.” He takes my hand in his, “I am sorry this has happened to you.”

I shake my head, “I am not.” I look up
into his gray eyes, and I feel like I am going home. I smile, “I am ready. My
sister has died, and my other sister has been orphaned. My mother and aunt have
ruined my life. I want my vengeance. I want their blood to run down my fingers
as I rip their hearts from their chests.” I look down at my hands, “I know how
to do it too.”

He nods, “Your sister, Baylor, rules
our land. She has my brother and parents under her spell. She has amassed an
army of dark creatures from a nightmare. They have let the kingdom go to ruin.”

I almost expected that answer. “It is
my mother disguised as my sister. The four of us are all identical.
My mother, my aunt, Baylor, and me.
All of us look the same
with only subtle differences that are hardly noticeable. Where is the lady who
told you where to find me?”

He looks nervous, “She is a lady of the
Loch. She is not to be found by us—she must find you. You know the old
rhyme. They are not good. They are witches. She will come for us when she is
ready to give us answers. If we seek her out, we will owe a payment to the
dead.”

The rhyme floats through my
mind,
“There is a house at the end of an empty road, where many a man have lost their
soul. Sweetest love's first kiss is enough to guarantee the payment to the
dead. It was there in the mist and the warmth of her embrace, I met my end. I
shall never rest again. Nor shall any man who gives his heart to a lady of the
Loch.”

He nods, “That’s the one. Loch witches must find you,
otherwise you owe them.”

“How will I learn about my black blood?”

His eyes darken, “You don’t even know if you are the cursed
witch they speak of.”

I nod, “I know I am a daughter of the black blood, and I know
you have black blood too.”

His face is stoic. “How could you know that?”

I take a step towards him, “I told you. I have seen many
things in my dreams.”

His gray eyes burn down on me, “You saw my blood?”

“Yes.”

He lowers his face close to mine, “Then you know why we can
never be married. Two cursed things such as us would make a monster.”

I shake my head, “I love you. I know I do. We are written in
the stars.”

The words I speak cause him a great amount of pain. He shakes
his head, “We must choose our people before ourselves.” He runs a hand down my
cheek. I can feel it trembling as he lets it linger before removing it. This
version of him is a perfect gentleman. It makes me smile though my heart is
breaking. “I like the version of you I have in my dreams.”

He nods and whispers, “I do too.”

A single tears drips from my eye. “Where will go now?”

“Norland. My cousin Erik is expecting us. I had been staying
on an abandoned estate in his land while my family sought a cure for my
affliction. Once your sister got her hands on my brother, their efforts ceased,
and I have spent the time searching for you and not the cure.”
I can feel his words on my mouth
,
our
faces are so close
. He smiles, “And yet, all along you were the cure.”

I shake my head, “Your scars will return when you change, but
I can always kiss them away.”

He laughs, “You are a lady of the Loch, and yet, your kiss
doesn’t kill me. When I found you in the tower, I was terrified I would die
when I kissed you. I did it, knowing I had drawn my last breath and kissed my
last set of lips. But I am alive and healed. I don’t know how that is
possible.”

I smile wide, “You kissed me, even though you believed you
would die. Why?”

His answer is the warmth of his lips against mine. I close my
eyes and breathe him in. He grips my hair, holding me to his face. The kiss is
desperate, like we both know there can be no relationship. But I don’t know
that. I believe we are written in the stars and we are meant to be.

He pulls back, releasing me. His eyes water but he doesn’t
cry. I cannot say the same for myself. My lip trembles, “It was exactly the
same as it was in my dream.”

He laughs and I can hear the bitterness in it. “For me as
well.” He takes my hand in his and pulls me to the door. My legs are still weak
but they are mending fast. I can feel the magic starting to surge within me. I
touch a candle next to me on the mantel, instantly lighting the flame on the
wick. A smile crosses my lips.

“Looks like you know your magic.” He pulls me into the main
room and smiles at Heidi. “We are going to Norland. Will you come?”

She shakes her head. “I am going home. Tim is expecting me.”

I smile, “Give him my love.”

She gives me an odd look but curtseys. She doesn’t know me
anymore or at all.

Bash walks to the front door and when he opens it, I see
something I cannot comprehend. The forests are black and the snow on the ground
is frozen. The world looks dark, like its heart is burned.

“What happened here?”

He gives me a look, “Your sister.”

I meet his gaze, “Mother.”

“Whichever—the dark magic they use has stained the land.
”

I look and see a horse I recognize instantly. I smile as he
trots to me. He stops and lowers his face to mine. I rub my hands and face
along his. “I missed you.”

Bash scowls, “How do you know my horse?”

I laugh, “Don’t ask.”

Epilogue

The man crossing the great hall towards
me has a sly look on his face and the moment he smiles, I can see the devil in
it. He bows slightly, “Milady.” His eyes freeze when he realizes who is with
me. “The resemblance is uncanny.”

Bash nods, “Yes, but we both know I am
not Braden.”

Erik gets excited, hugging Bash hard,
“By the Gods, you are healed. After so long, you are finally healed. I was
terrified I was under attack there for a moment.”

Bash glances at me, “I am healed,
thanks to her.” Erik scoops me up and spins me. “You saved him.” He puts me
down next to Bash. I feel the heat in his stare and step towards Bash. “That is
some woman you have found.”

I fight my narrowing gaze, “Don’t you
even think it.”

He laughs, “She is crawling around in
my brain, Cousin. Are you certain you want this one as your bride? I think she
might be more than you can handle. Perhaps you should leave her here with me,
for safe keeping.”

Bash steps in front of me, “Erik, I
would give you anything you asked of me, but not this.”

Erik’s booming laugh, and the words
spoken are so similar, I shiver from them. Erik nods, “Understandably. I
believe there is such a thing as a woman worth dying for.” His eyes are
haunted, and I know it is the loss of his own queen.

He offers me his arm. I step past Bash
and take it. “You and I both know your heart is not for the taking.”

He looks down on me, “Little witch, you
stay out of my head. I know what girls like you can do to a man.” He looks back
at Bash, and I realize he believes it was me that cursed him. But I remember it
well. I had no hand in it. I believe my mother cursed him. It must have been
like the dream, Baylor painted him to save him, preserve his humanity.

I look up into Erik’s bright eyes,
“Scared of a little girl?”

He nods, “Terrified.”

I laugh, “You shouldn’t be. My heart is
also not available for the taking. It belongs to someone else.” I glance back
at Bash. His eyes burn and I love him more for it.

Erik sighs, “Go easy on him.”

I laugh harder, “Not a chance.”

The night is a feast and celebration.
We eat and drink and dance. I get caught up when I am in Bash’s arms, “I love
you.”

He doesn’t smile or laugh. He gives me
the most pained
look,
“I will love you for the rest of
my life.”

It is more of a farewell than a
sentiment. It burns like acid but I smile, “I will love you far longer than
that.” I push myself from his arms and leave the hall, fighting my tears. I
don’t run up the stairs; I run for the stables out the side door. His horse is
waiting for me in the yard before I even get there. I jump onto him and let him
run as hard as he can across the field.

When he gets to the dark woods, I hop
down. I don’t need
Bash
this time. I know where I am
going and I know I am safe.

I walk down the path to the cluster of
houses in the woods and smile when Elise finds me. She hugs me and asks me who
I am, just like she did in the dream. She looks scared when she hears who I am,
but again, the dark-haired lady is there. She smiles and takes my hand. Instead
of kissing me, like she did in my dream, she pulls me to one of the cottages.
“I have been expecting you.”

I nod, “I know.”

She gives me a sly look, “Do you?”

“Yes, I dreamt of you once. Of this
very moment.”

She sits in a large chair and offers
the other one. We sit by the fire and she smiles. “I want your version of your
memories before I tell you what we have seen.”

"For me the story is just pieced
together with the confused memories I have. It is a mess, I fear.”

“You recall nothing that makes sense
then?”

I nod, “I do—all but one
part—Bastion.”

She gives me a look, “Tell me what you
think has filled the ten years that you have been gone, and I will tell you
where you are wrong.”

I shrug, “Okay. I think it all started
when my sister suspected my mother’s ulterior motives for us both. Baylor
somehow figured out that our mother wanted our magic, but mine hadn’t come in.
Something caused the friction between Mother and Baylor, and Mother put me to
sleep so I would be somewhere safe for her to come and harvest my magic like
she did to Bay. She stole Baylor’s magic, most of it, and took her to Lakeland.
She made it seem as though she was staying there with Baylor and would be
bringing me as well. But she didn’t. She pretended to kill herself and put a
spell on Baylor so she was a small child, left in the care of Mary. Mary was
part of a family with a strange curse on them. I don’t know if Mother made the
curse, or if she just found a family for Baylor to live with because they were
cursed. Baylor lived the life I saw in Lakeland, minus Bastion’s arrival.
That was part dream and part memory and part
my mother’s
life here in our land, maybe. My memories of Rosie must have been from my
mother and Rosie. They’re harder to grasp because Rosie was so young. Her magic
was barely there. Anyway, Mother stole Bay’s life. It was easy for her. The
women in my family all look so similar; my mother made herself younger with
Baylor’s magic and stepped into her life, destined to be the queen. It seems as
though she had planned it all so perfectly.”

The lady smiled, “You have been able to
separate dream from reality?”

I shake my head, “Not all of it.
Some things feel so real
,
I swear I lived
them
. I also don’t understand why my mother cursed Bash. Why didn’t she
just take him as her husband?”

She nods, “Bastion was your mother’s
first target, but a heart filled with true love cannot be claimed by magic.
When magical people fall in love, their hearts are bound and their fates are
tied. You cannot kill one without the other. She couldn’t kill him properly
without killing you, and she needed your magic when you would finally be a full
witch. She also couldn’t step into your life without waiting—you were ten
years old. With magic, age can go backward but not forward.”

“But she cursed Bash?”

“She discovered his love for you while
trying to seduce him with hopes of murdering him and being the sole ruler.” She
nods, “Baylor discovered her attempting to seduce Prince Bastion. She knew
Baylor had been seen having a fit about not being queen. So your mother used
glamour, a short-term spell, and pretended to be Baylor, attempting to seduce
him, knowing he would be king. She quickly realized he was already in love with
you. You were but ten years old so it didn’t make sense. He didn’t know he
loved you; you were a child, but your mother could see his heart was not this
own. When Baylor confronted her, your mother told Baylor it was all being done
to get her the throne as she had always
wanted.
Baylor
panicked and called upon Bastion’s family’s ancient bloodlines. She used her
white magic to do it and saved him but cursed him at the same time. She didn’t
know the scars would stay forever. She just wanted to make him immortal so your
mother couldn’t harm him. Your mother was furious. If the royals discovered it
was Baylor who cast the spell, she wouldn’t be able to step into her life
without being burned as a witch. So your mother took Baylor’s magic and sent
her away. Then made
herself
young and said she was
Baylor. She convinced the royal family it had been your mother who had done the
awful deeds.”

I shake my head, “Why didn’t she just
kill Bay? Why make her suffer somewhere so awful?”

A wicked smile crept across her face,
“Your mother assumed that Braden’s heart was tied to Baylor’s.”

“It’s not, she
loves
 
Sam
. My sister’s heart is
tied to Sam’s.”

“Yes. She cannot die without killing
Sam at the same moment.”

“Then she is alive?” I am so confused
but desperate for it to be true.

She nods, “She cannot be killed without
Sam.”

“How did our mother choose Lakeland as
a place for Bay?”

She laughs, “To trap someone in a
curse, it must be linked to the person somehow.
Like Bash.
He could not be made a wolf, if he didn’t have the ancient bloodlines. Baylor
couldn’t be cursed unless the curse was similar to something she already had.
Our magical blood has a curse on it. Our kiss kills and to love a woman such as
us,
means death. Only a person who is tied to us can
survive the love of a lady of the Loch. The curse in Lakeland, put upon the
Lachlan family, was the same. Your mother searched space and time for it; she
opened the portal there for that very reason.

I look behind her on the wall and see
the painting of Bash. “You have it?”

She nods, “It must be kept safe. His
humanity is tied to it. He could lose himself to the wolf if it were ever
destroyed.”

I stare at it, lost in him. “He is so
handsome, is he not?”

She laughs, “He is.”

I look at her again, “What does it mean
we
are written in the stars
?”

Her eyes sparkle and she looks like she
is about to tell me a great secret but she doesn’t. She shakes her head, “You
have so many questions, child. If I tell you about your destiny, it could end
it. Just trust me, this fate of yours is going to be greater than any one
person could imagine. Now you must go back to him and stay with him. The magic
is yours, it is inside of you.”

I scowl, “That is it? I came all this
way, for that?”

She laughs, “You have met me, so now we
may see each other often. I am a lady of the
Loch,
I
cannot leave here to help you. But none may enter here without an invitation.”

“If I am a lady of the Loch, why can I
leave?”

Her eyes dazzle me still. I think she
is laughing at me, “You are not full blood. It is why you may come and go from
the Loch.”

I laugh, “There isn’t even any lake
here.”

Her eyes dazzle me again, “There is a
secret path to the water. It’s not important. Your destiny has two key things
in it. One, you must stop them.
The dark ones.
I can
tell you that much. Secondly, you must keep him safe. He is the one who must be
kept safe. Trust your instincts and the magic will be there. Go back to Norland
and practice your magic and keep him safe. The next move in the game is not
yours.”

“How do I find my sister?”

“She will find you.” She grabs my face
like in the dream and plants a kiss on my lips. I sit up fast, gasping for air.
I can smell barn. I still have so many questions; I’m not ready to leave.

I look to the side and see the horse
next to me. He is sleeping on the ground. I look up into the night sky, and
through the branches of the pale tree, I can see millions of stars.

I smile and lie back, “You are the
strangest horse I have ever met.” I watch the stars and wonder where in the
vast sky it says we are meant to be together.

I am almost asleep again when I hear a
low growl. I look up to see Bash. His horse jumps up and dashes from the woods,
leaving
me and the wolf
alone beneath the tree.

I look at the side of the tree where
the horse left from and then back at Bash, “That was smart. Now I have to walk
all the way back to the castle. And how will we explain your nudity?” He
ignores me and curls up next to me, bringing with him a ton of warmth. I close
my eyes and run my fingers through his dense fur.

I trace my name in the fur and think
about the many unanswered questions I still have. I need to get Rosie back, and
I want to know where Lance is, and Alex—what is his fate? Not to mention,
how do I find my sister or how does she find me? I need to know how to stop my
mother and my aunt and the ancients. I have a million questions but none that
are more important than my exhaustion from the journey I have taken several
times already.

I look back down at the wolf beneath
me. His chest rises and falls slowly. It makes me smile. I feel freedom I have
never felt before. Perhaps because I spent so much time trapped in a dreamland,
filled with chaos.

We fall asleep beneath the sky that
tells the story of our love, I just hope that after I kill my mother and her
evil sister I will finally get my own happily ever after.

A girl can wish right?