Spellbound (24 page)

You can’t even begin to know, Elizabeth. You just can’t!”

Elizabeth jerked like she’d been slapped and instantly I regretted my outburst. I didn’t regret what I had said, though. Just the way I had said it. Because in an instant I suddenly understood myself better than I ever had in my whole life. I felt enlightened and empowered and hungry for knowledge. I questioned Prudence.

“What’s his name, Prudence? And where is he? When can I meet him?”

Prudence glanced at Eden, who nodded imperceptibly, but I caught it.

“Great. What’s the catch here? Is he dead? A mutant? A demon? Out with it. We’re just full of surprises today, aren’t we?” I sounded petulant. I knew it, and didn’t care. I’d grown weary of information being revealed like those Chinese boxes. You know, one inside of another, inside of another, until you thought you might go mad trying to get to the last one?

This time Eden stepped forward.

“His name is Skylar. Your twin, born one full minute before you, so that makes him older than you. He is not dead. He has been raised as a son to Christophe since the day after his birth. That is the reason your mother and father fled with you.” She paused and I could feel her waiting for me to put something together. All at once, it came to me.

“Eden, don’t you mean fled with us?” I indicated Elizabeth,

“you said they fled with me. Wait a minute. I’ve missed something, haven’t I?” Eden only stared at me impassively. “You lied, didn’t you?” When she didn’t answer, I stared right at Elizabeth. “You’re not my sister are you?” Elizabeth slowly shook her head. “You’re my aunt.” I didn’t ask it as a question, but she nodded anyway.

“You always looked so much like mom in pictures.”

“Yes, Serena. Lucinda and I were sisters. I’m sorry that I kept that from you for so long, but we did it for your protection. We always knew the Council would come after you, especially after they learned what Skylar could be capable of. And he is only half as powerful as you.”

I whirled on Eden.

“And all that, that, subterfuge,” I said it like a dirty word,

“you used that first day you came to us, pretending Elizabeth represented the child my mother was pregnant with…then you lied? She was pregnant with me and
Skylar
? And how did the Council get him from my parents?”

Prudence answered.

“As far as we can tell, your mother became weakened by childbirth and didn’t sense them approaching.” Prudence paused and I sensed another Chinese box open. “They meant to take you, Serena. Your father, a new daddy so fatigued from lack of sleep, put his two new twin babies down to sleep but wrapped them in the wrong blankets. You in the blue blanket meant for Skylar, and he in your pink one. When the Council’s henchmen came to steal you away in the dead of night, they took the baby in the pink blanket. By the time they realized their error, your mother had become aware of the kidnapping and knew she and Heath could do nothing but protect the child they had left. Within hours, they took you and her sister, Elizabeth, and left the country. Your mother shielded her mind and continued to do so for the next dozen or so years vigilantly, while building and raising a family.”

I had a question.

“So, is Skylar evil now?”

“We don’t know. I’m sure he has been trained to be, but your mother’s genes were powerful. That is clearly evident in you.

We believe that even if he is surrounded by evil, there is enough good in him that it can be called on and brought to the surface. We even believe that you might be able to communicate with him, under the right circumstances.”

I sat down heavily on the sofa. At this point my head spun.

In the space of an hour, I had learned that I had a twin, and my twin might be evil, or he might not be. My sister wasn’t my sister, but my aunt. My parents had almost had me stolen the day after my birth, and we were hurtling toward some colossal showdown with the Council. This had turned into a heck of a week.

****

“So, did they say anything about the party?” Incredibly, after I had told Logan everything on the phone, this is what he comments on.

“Logan, are you kidding me? This is what you find most important after all I just told you?” I could not keep the disbelief out of my voice. Logan finally recognized it.

“Well, no, obviously I am in shock.” Oh, he recovered well. I had to give him credit. “I just don’t know where to start. Twins, twice? Evil brother? I just thought talk of the party would be the safest place to start.” My silence gave me away. “So, you’re not buying that, are you?” For the first time in what felt like forever, I cracked up.

“You’re just concerned about your silly party, huh?”

“Well, yeah. I guess. Yeah. Sorry. I just want us to go. I feel like it might be the last thing we get to do.” I did too, but I wasn’t going to admit it to him.

“Well, you’ll be pleased to know, the party pretty much got green-‐-lighted. The coven sisters and Eden agreed with you about not hiding and all that.”

Logan brightened immediately.

“Honest? That’s great! We are going to have an awesome time. And it sounds like you could use a good time. So, it got rough tonight, honey?”

Now that I had his attention, I explained how I felt upon hearing the news about my twin, Skylar. About how I had always felt different from everyone and I thought it might be because of being a twitch but that somehow, even that didn’t seem to fully encompass the empty feelings I sometimes had. I tried to explain how just hearing about Skylar felt like finding a piece of a puzzle that had been missing for my whole life. He shared that he felt like that sometimes now that his dad was gone and he had to step up with his mom and sister and be the man of the family. He also told me he had felt that way again lately since the Council had taken his sister and Sully. We talked about what we did when we felt like that, and we promised to always share those feelings with each other.

“Serena, I should have remembered how hard it had been for me and tried to be more understanding. I’m sorry, sweetie. I want to be the one you can lean on even when you don’t need me to be tough and hard. I want to be there for you when you just need someone to say, Wow, I bet that sucked.”

“Logan, even when you aren’t there, I know you are. Don’t worry about that, ever. I never doubt you.”

“I wish we weren’t on the phone right now.” His voice turned suddenly husky.

“Me too.”

“You know I love you.”

“I know. I love you, too.”

“I better let you go to sleep now, before I get all mushy.”

“You know I like mushy, Logan.”

“I know. I’m not that used to it, is all.”

“You do it pretty nicely, though.

“Thank you ma’am. We aim to please. Pick you up for school tomorrow?”

“Please. Can’t wait till you hold me again. Good night, sweet boy.” “Me neither. G’night Serena. Sweet dreams.”

They were always sweet because they were always of him.

However, I knew I would dream of Skylar tonight. A twin brother I had never met.

Chapter Twenty-‐-Six

LOGAN

I couldn’t wait for the morning to be over so we could get to lunch. For some reason I couldn’t keep my hands off Serena this morning and we were late to our first class. Instead of hanging out with the crowd, we had sat in my car in the parking lot holding hands and kissing. It seemed like our phone call last night drew us even closer to one another. We hardly even talked, just stared into each other’s eyes. When the bell rang, it seemed to rip through us and tear us away from each other. We reluctantly left the car and went to our morning classes, our unspoken promise to get together with each other at lunch on our minds.

My morning classes dragged on and I struggled to pay attention. I wondered if Serena had the same problem.

I’m being silly. I want to be with you as much as you want to be
with me.

Her mindspeak startled me so much I almost dropped a textbook I had been pretending to read.

Did you forget I could do this, Logan? Read your mind?

No,
I answered.
I just forgot I could do it.

Well, don’t worry. I don’t do it to you often. I want to afford you
your privacy. Plus, I like having your thoughts be a surprise to me.

Well, that’s good to know. Anyway, so, this morning? Pretty nice,
Serena. Logan, you are going to make me blush, you know.

Sorry. I just enjoyed it. Looking forward to some more.

Logan! Now I am going to blush.

That’s going to be funny for you to just start blushing for no
reason, isn’t it?

She giggled in my head. It sounded wonderful.

People are going to think you’re crazy if you start laughing for no
reason.

I know. I am crazy. Crazy about you.

And I’m crazy about you Serena. I’ll find you at lunch, Beautiful. I
need to pay attention now or I am not going to graduate.

Okay, I’ll teach you a trick about that later. Bye.

****

By the time lunch came around, I felt almost comatose from boredom. The bell rang and I catapulted out of my seat and bolted out to the quad. Nearly the first of our crowd out there, I got Serena and myself something to eat and parked at a large round table that would accommodate us and all our friends. I was dying to talk to Dave and Tamera about the plans for the party in two days. It would all go down on Saturday.

Dave, Tamera, Patty and Serena came up together, chatting.

Several more of our crowd joined us, along with Tabitha and a few of her little friends as well. With everyone eating lunch, laughing and talking, I almost forgot Sully and Jade were absent. Almost, but not quite. Serena caught my eye and I knew she felt the same way.

She sat next to Tamera and Patty, immersed again in wedding talk, but the moment she caught my eye, I heated up again, even though she stretched across the table from me. Shoot, she didn’t even need to be next to me anymore and I got all riled up. I heard a giggle and glanced up to see her stifling a laugh. Laughing at me? I’d get her for that. I glanced around for a way to wedge myself in between her and the Bridezillas when Dave smashed his bulk in next to mine and slung an arm across my shoulder.

“Hey, Logan, my man. We’re all set for the big weekend.”

My interest momentarily diverted, I answered Dave.

“Oh yeah? Tables ordered, barn cleared, all that happy noise?” “Oh yeah. Me and Tam’s uncle have been working on the place all week. Thanks for the help, by the way.”

“Sorry, man. You know how it is. Keeping my baby happy.”

I felt bad blaming Serena, but the truth was so much worse. I couldn’t exactly tell Dave I’d been busy learning how to use my latent warlock skills as the reason why I couldn’t help clear the barn. No way to work that into the conversation.

“So the place is all ready, then, huh?

“Yup. She’s spit shined and polished. Her uncle will pick up the tables Friday night and we’re in business Saturday. Come by early if you want and we can christen the place with the first green drink of the night.” Dave nudged me in the ribs with his elbow for emphasis.

“Daaave!” That had to be Tamera. “Can’t you please stop talking about that party, already?”

“I’ll stop talking about the party if you stop talking about the wedding.” Dave countered.

That qualified as such an unexpected and funny response from Dave that we all started laughing, even Tamera. Everyone complimented Dave on his uncharacteristic quick wit.

Whoa, Dave, good one.

Shoot Dave, when did you become a comedian?

Watch out Bridezilla, here comes Groomzilla!

Dave would normally worry that Tamera’s temper would flare at being the butt of a joke, but she laughed good-‐-naturedly along with the rest of us. It seemed the prospect of the annual party put everyone in a good mood. I took the opportunity to sidle over to Serena and slide in next to her. I slipped my arm around her waist and snugged her close to me. As usual, I could smell spring and flowers and fresh cotton. Her scent was always so perfect to me. I leaned in close.

“You ready for this big party?”

“You know what, Logan? With all this talk about it, I’m starting to get excited.”

“Wouldn’t it suck if after all this hype, it turned out to be a lame party?”

“Logan!”

“No, I’m just kidding. It’s friggin’ legendary. Like nothing you’ve ever seen.” I realized who I was talking to. “Okay, check that. Maybe not that you’ve seen, but like normal people have seen.” She slugged me playfully in the arm. Man, she had quite a left hook! Note to self: make sure to never make her mad.

The rest of the lunch period passed with plans being made for dates for Saturday, rides to the party, and, among the girls, outfits to be worn. By the time the bell rang ending lunch, plans were complete. Serena and I would try and arrive early on Saturday and help Dave and Tamera welcome the guests as they arrived. We agreed this year’s party would be the best ever.

Inwardly, it made me sad Sully wouldn’t be there to enjoy it. I knew Serena and the coven sisters and I, well, I knew we would be making our rescue attempt soon for him and Jade. I hoped Serena and I could have a great time Saturday then get down to the business of the rescue. I suppose if everything always went down the way you wanted it to, life would be pretty predictable. One thing I knew for sure, my life was now anything but predictable.

****

After school let out, Serena and I walked hand in hand to my car. We said goodbye fairly quickly to our friends and left the parking lot, headed home. There seemed to be less and less time for me to prepare for what kept getting billed to me as the knock-‐-

down, drag-‐-out confrontation between me and Christophe or whomever. And now, not only did we need to rescue Sully and Jade, but now we had a twin of Serena’s to save as well. Who in all likelihood wasn’t even aware he even
needed
saving. The ambiguity of this new twin, Skylar, had me concerned. We didn’t know much about him, if he would be as evil as the Council members, if he
was
a Council member, if he even knew he had a twin. Serena would try and begin communicating with him tonight. Eden thought she and Prudence would be the best people to attempt it. And if they were successful, possibly Eve and Serena may attempt to astral project themselves, if they thought it would be safe. Heady stuff for a high schooler. I must have sighed out loud, or even in my thoughts, because Serena caught my distress.