Souls of Fire (30 page)

His eyes were the color of the sea, their blue depths pulling me under water ― stealing my breath. He might as well be a siren luring me to my death … beautiful and deadly ― at least when I myself was thrown into the mix.

How can anyone be so beautiful,
I wondered, aching for him, and knowing these feelings were in vain.

Aaron’s eyes travelled down my body taking in my appearance as well. Suddenly I could see his appreciation change to shock as his eyes found the spot on the left side of my chest.

Hastily looking down toward my exposed mark, I could see why Aaron’s expression had been so staggered. The rose that covered my skin had once again changed since I had looked at it last.

Then, only two petals had opened up. Now, I was staring at a rose that was blooming half way. I felt shaken as I dimly recalled the burning on my skin when we had rolled around out of control on the floor of our cell.

It took an enormous amount of will-power for me to tear my eyes away from Aaron’s, as a crowd of well-dressed people started filing into the room through another entrance.

Under different circumstances, I would not have cared one bit about making a good first impression if it meant having to tear myself away from the one person I cared about.

But these were dire circumstances. I was in a foreign country with no easy way to get back home, and every single person within the Haven probably knew exactly who we were and of the curse that threatened to kill them all.

That meant, to them, Aaron and I must be the enemy ― no,
I
  must be the enemy. If they knew who I was … who I was said to be ― an evil witch back from the dead ― then I was their #1 enemy.

Of course, everything Malcolm had said about needing me did not necessarily mean his family agreed with him. They might, in fact,
all
want me dead.

Maybe they would be content with just killing me every time I resurfaced, since Malcolm had said the next in line would fill the gap. That meant I would be reincarnated every time I died.

Killing me might not be a permanent solution, but if they were confident enough about stopping the destruction every time it loomed, maybe they would prefer that solution to one that might not even work for certain.

Malcolm had spoken about finding a way to destroy the curse; which meant he didn’t have any certain answers yet. The fact of the matter was: everyone here, except Malcolm ― if he had spoken the truth ― was a potential enemy and might also be Adam’s killer. So, I thought, I had better make a
really good
  first impression!

“Our family is not a small one,” Malcolm explained as a rather small group of people came forward to meet us, “but the old, the young, and those who are not gifted reside in other dwellings around the world.

These,” he motioned with his outstretched arm, “are the only family members who are allowed within these walls to learn and practice the sacred art that has been handed down from generation to generation to the gifted among us. You will excuse that the members of our guard are currently detained and will meet you at another time.”

I nodded my understanding and tried not to fidget as the first few people walked toward us. They seemed to be just as apprehensive as I was, not knowing what to expect, but I couldn’t detect any signs of hostility toward Aaron and myself. Maybe they didn’t know after all! Was that even possible? Wouldn’t magic provide some sort of clarity or omniscience?

Aaron and I greeted the members one after the other and found them to be very open and friendly.

They didn’t seem to know anything about who we actually were and seemed to avoid asking us why we were here, glancing at Malcolm every now and again as if in search for an explanation he had not yet given, but overall trusting his judgment and waiting for him to explain when he felt ready.

There were no more than ten people who had come to greet us, and it struck me how rare it must be indeed for a child to be born gifted.

True, the ones who were too young or too old weren’t here, but judging by the small amount of people in the room, who were of different age groups, it was apparent that there weren’t more than three or four in that age group who were at this castle. If Malcolm said his family wasn’t small, then the group before me must be testimony to how rare the gifted were.

There were of course also the guard members who weren’t here right now. If those were the men I remembered seeing in the cave, then it didn’t really make a big difference, for there were only ten guards if I remembered correctly.

Among the people we had met were two teenage girls and a boy who couldn’t have been older than eleven or twelve, two older boys about fifteen maybe, a young woman in her twenties, an older woman in her mid-thirties and a woman and two men in their forties.

They all seemed very nice, but I was relieved when the meet and greet was finally over. I was looking forward to getting back to the solitude of my room as I was absolutely exhausted.

I hadn’t known what to say, and every second had dreaded being asked for the reason Aaron and I were there. We weren’t a part of the family, and if even family members weren’t allowed here unless they were gifted, then they must ask themselves how two outsiders even came to be here, or if it was safe for the family to let us in on their secrets.

It was nearly seven o’clock in the evening when we had finished a rather fine dinner that, for a change, didn’t seem to have been conjured out of nowhere, but appeared to have been cooked and carried in by actual castle staff.

The dining room was not the size one would expect in a large castle. Though the table was large enough to seat at least twenty people at one time, the room itself was not too grand and drafty, but nice and comfortable. There were brackets with torches on the walls in the dining room as well.

I seriously doubted I would find a light bulb anywhere in the castle. It might take some getting used to, I thought, but on the other hand, it was kind of nice to view life from different angles every now and again.

This way of life had a romantic feel and a different pace to it. It wasn’t a modern day kind of life ― polished, hectic and shallow, ― but slow-paced and profound, with a roughness about it I found intriguing.

After the staff had cleared away the rest of the food and dishes, Malcolm bid everyone a good evening and asked me to accompany him to his office.

Aaron, who had been engaged in conversation throughout the evening and hadn’t had a chance to speak above one word to me, looked as though he felt uncomfortable letting me go with Malcolm, not having been asked to come along.

He glanced in my direction and seemed to want me to give him a sign indicating whether or not I was okay with going.

Since I didn’t believe Malcolm posed any kind of threat ― he could have killed me at any time throughout our stay with just the flick of his hand or the utterance of a word ― I gave Aaron a tiny nod indicating that I would be alright.

I followed Malcolm up the staircase, getting off on the floor beneath our room. We walked to the only door on the landing and Malcolm held it open, beckoning me inside. It was a sitting room not unlike the one Aaron and I shared.

Motioning for me to go on ahead through the door to my left, Malcolm shut the door to the landing and followed me into the office, closing the door before taking his seat behind the desk.

Another door off the office seemed to lead to Malcolm’s own private chambers, but I didn’t want to snoop, sitting down promptly in a chair opposite the desk without looking through into the other room.

“Thank God,” I said, “I thought you might take me back through the tunnels into your underground office.”

“Well, if you’d prefer that …,” Malcolm teased.

“No, no. That’s alright,” I hastily assured, not actually thinking Malcolm really meant it ― but you couldn’t be too careful!

“That room is for special uses only, among others, the most important first impression.”

“You mean nearly choking someone to death by depriving them of air,” I accused grumpily.

“My dear, I have already apologized for that, have I not?”

I decided to let it drop, and merely harrumphed.

“There is something I’ve been meaning to tell you, Miss Jones,” Malcolm started, a serious expression on his face.

Before he could say more, I suddenly sensed Aaron running toward us and closing in on the door to the office that Malcolm had just shut.

Confused why he would feel the need to barge in here when I had let him know I would be alright, I only managed to utter “Aaron?” before the door was forcefully thrown open.

My sharp intake of breath was an indication of exactly how shocked I felt at that moment.

Standing in the doorway was a man who looked exactly like Aaron from the shape of his body to the exact shade of his deep blue eyes and black hair. Even the way he held himself was identical. And I had felt Aaron’s consciousness mere seconds before this man had walked through the door.

But the moment I laid eyes on him, I knew it couldn’t be him. The clothes he wore were different from the ones Aaron was wearing not five minutes ago. He wore a black leather uniform like the men in the cave had worn.

Where would he have gotten the clothing in time to change so quickly? And why even bother? It made no sense.

But the biggest give-away was that he had looked at me without recognition in his eyes. His eyes had met mine, and there hadn’t been a single trace of mutual understanding in their depths. As if we had never met.

Instead, he stood in the doorway with a staggered expression on his face that swiftly turned into a heated look, and seemed to be quite ready to punch someone.

“What is she doing here?” he growled at Malcolm, seemingly barely able to contain his anger. “Have you lost your mind? She shouldn’t be here,” he continued, “she should be down in the dungeons where she belongs.”

“Aidan,” Malcolm answered calmly as if he was accustomed to being addressed in this manner. I couldn’t understand why the leader of the society would let anyone speak to him like that.

“It’s complicated,” Malcolm sighed, “maybe more complicated than I had thought,” he mused, his voice suddenly seeming tired and strained. He paused for a moment.

“Aidan,” Malcolm re-addressed the man in black leather.

“Yes, sir?” Aidan inquired more calmly, apparently working hard at reigning in his anger.

“I will explain later. Right now I need you to watch her while I check on something important. Can you do that?”

“Yes, sir,” Aidan said, sounding happy about the prospect of getting to keep an eye on the loose cannon.

He would probably love to throw me right back in the cell,
I thought morosely. It seemed some members
did 
know who I was, after all.

“Miss Jones,” Malcolm addressed me, “I will be back shortly. I apologize for the delay, but I will do my best not to keep you waiting too long.”

I merely nodded, feeling too intimidated by the presence of my new guard in black leather to say anything.

As Malcolm left and closed the door on us, I turned slightly away from the stranger and looked in the opposite direction. Neither of us uttered a word, and I was certain that neither of us would. I was extremely uncomfortable in his presence, and he seemed to feel the same way.

I couldn’t wrap my mind around it. Had Aaron walked right past the door at the same time as this man had shown up? How could I mistake him for Aaron? I had felt Aaron’s presence as strongly as ever only to look up and find this stranger in his place.

But the weirdest thing of all was the likeness between them. It wasn’t as if they merely resembled each other in some ways; if Aaron were wearing the same black leather uniform, I would not be able to tell them apart. But how could that be? Aaron had no brothers, he would have told me, wouldn’t he? It was insane!

I had probably gotten mixed signals when I’d thought I could sense Aaron coming. It hadn’t been a conscious effort, after all. If I shut my eyes and tried to feel Aaron, I would sense that he was farther away, I was sure.

Closing my eyes and relaxing my body, I concentrated hard on feeling Aaron, on locating the consciousness that was directly connected to mine through our bond. I reached out with my senses…

“Ouch,” I yelped in panic and dismay, “you’re hurting me. Let go.”

The guard ― Aidan ― had suddenly come running at me out of the blue, yanked me off my chair and thrown me against the wall where he now stood pinning me against the cold stone bricks, his hands at my throat.

“Shut up, witch!” he yelled at me, his face inches from mine. His features were distorted with rage and hate. The face I had come to love, the face he had stolen from Aaron, gazing at me now with so much hatred, I couldn’t bear it. And although I knew perfectly well that this was not Aaron, the sight of his likeness looking at me in that way was enough to bring tears to my eyes.

“Don’t think you can emotionally blackmail your way out of this by showing me tears. That won’t work on me.
I
know who you are ―
what
  you are. You are the foulest creature I have ever beheld. And whatever it is you were trying back there … don’t!