The Jade Dragon (16 page)

“You knew I was coming even before I did.”

“Despite your efforts to remain disconnected from everyone, I know when you are distressed.”

Alanna eyed the food as she sat down at the table. Never patient, she bypassed any further pleasantries. “You knew Gregori's history but didn't think to warn me. Don't think making my favorite biscuits will make me feel any better about your deception.”

Zelda looked over the rims of her 1950's horn-rimmed glasses. She might appear old, but her mind was sharp and incisive. “There was no deception. It is not my place to enlighten you.”

“Does Rosa know anything? Surely now she's at Marylebone she's heard whispers.”

Zelda placed a biscuit on a plate and handed it to Alanna. “No.”

Alanna took the plate and placed it in front of her. “So will you tell them now I know?”

“I will not. You will.”

“I've no way of calling Rosa from Marylebone. I was hoping you could help. I'm assuming Aden knows the whole story?”

Zelda poured juice into two glasses. “Most of it. He's not happy he's had to stay silent on the matter.”

“Rosa's is going to be pissed about that. But why keep all this a secret?”

“If you'd known Gregori was imprisoned in that magnificent jade dragon you crafted and that he was your intended mate, what would you have done?”

That wasn't the secret she was referring to. Still, Alanna was gratified Zelda thought the dragon was magnificent. Her ego needed a boost today. “I probably would have rebelled.”

“And you've answered your own question.”

“But why the secrecy surrounding him? Why wait until now?

“Gregori has broken out. He's free. You're old enough. Marylebone hopes that you will bind with him before it's too late. Then Gregori will be free to hunt the cause of the killers of your parents.

Alanna felt herself pale. She didn't like talking about the accident. She didn't want to now, but that was why she was here. Cutting her biscuit into quarters, she nibbled at one piece, giving herself time to consider her answer.

“I don't know how I feel,” she admitted. “I don't think it will serve any purpose to dredge up the past.” Doing so would mean more questions. More upsets.

“I'm surprised you're so calm. Discovering your intended is suspected of being instrumental in the death of your parents is a huge revelation.”

No! I don't want to go there!
“I'm surprised
you're
so calm too. Mom was your best friend.”

“I've had the time to accept Gregori didn't do anything other than assist you that day. And for that I will be eternally grateful, despite my dislike of most warlocks.” Zelda's eyes gentled along with her tone. “Without his timely arrival at your side, we would have lost you, too. And that is why I agreed to assist Marylebone when they ensorcelled him.”

Despair lodged itself in Alanna's throat. She picked up the juice and drank until the glass was empty. “Gregori says no one, not even Marylebone, have been able to work out what caused the accident. Is that true?” She held Zelda's gaze, her stomach roiling, afraid to hear what her answer might be.

Zelda held her gaze for all of two seconds before looking away. But it was too late. She'd seen sympathy in the old woman's eyes.

“You know,” she whispered, her heart thumping wildly in her chest, her eyes flaring wide as shock had her reaching for her magic. It was there on the perimeter of her aura, but try as she might it was out of her reach.

Zelda's compassion was not what she'd expected. Surely she should be furious with her. “I have my suspicions, but without details I can do nothing. It's your story to tell. You were there. You know what happened.”

Alanna shuddered. Her heart beat way too fast in her chest. She felt dizzy, light-headed. Short of breath. “I can't go there.” She swallowed even though her throat was tight with fear. Her eyes brimmed and a hand clutched at her chest. “I can't.”

“My dear girl. If you wish to have a life with Gregori, then you must.”

“It will ruin everything.”

“The risk is great, yes, but the rewards will possibly outweigh that risk. To remain frozen emotionally is not healthy.”

“Who's frozen emotionally?” Beth asked as she walked out Zelda's back door with Rosa on her tail.

“Ah good,” Zelda said, a smile lighting her face. “You're here.”

Alanna's stomach sunk through to the earth below. She looked at the old woman, indignant she had invited her sisters. “You knew they were coming?” She was in panic mode. Alarmed, she stood. She had to get out of here. “I've got to get back to the studio.”

“Sit.” Zelda's voice was stern. Alanna sat. She clawed at the neck of her T-shirt. “I can't … I can't breathe.”

Instantly Zelda was at her side, both Rosa and Beth huddled around her, concern on all their faces as they peered down at her. Zelda placed a hand on her pulse and whispered soothing words. Within seconds, her racing heart began to slow.

“Rosa,” Zelda spoke over her shoulder. “Now would be the time for one of your lovely teas. Chamomile perhaps.”

Within seconds, Rosa was pressing a cup of warm liquid into Alanna's hands. “What's happened? You've not had a panic attack since you were a teenager.”

They all knew she'd begun getting them not long after the accident, but over time they'd diminished until disappearing altogether.

“She has something to tell you about Gregori. The knowledge has brought past memories to the fore,” Zelda explained. “That's all.”

That's all?
She hoped Zelda would understand the silent question in her eyes.

That's all
, was her answer.
For now.

Alanna's stomach flip-flop backed into place and with shaky hands she sipped on the tea. Whatever Rosa had put in it was working. She was feeling much calmer. Safer.

“Perhaps it would be easier if Gregori showed you all as he showed me.”

“Showed us what? And who's emotionally frozen?” Rosa returned to Zelda's earlier statement. Satisfied Alanna's panic attack was over, the worry in Rosa's emerald eyes had dissipated. She sat down and lifted a biscuit to her nose and inhaled the aroma. “Mmmm. They don't make these at Marylebone.” She tugged over the little dish of butter and cut the biscuit open and spread a thick layer onto both pieces.

Beth sat quietly, and sipped at the juice Zelda had poured for her before accepting one half of the biscuit Rosa held out to her.

“You should have brought Gregori with you,” Zelda stated.

“I would have if I'd known you were going to invite everyone over.”

“We're not everyone,” Beth objected. “We're your sisters.”

“Sometimes, I wish you weren't.”

“Sometimes,” Beth declared, “you're so rude!”

Rosa's eyes flared but her voice teased. “So this is good. When the barbs start flying, it means everything is back to normal.”

Zelda actually dared to laugh. “Alanna has something to tell you both,” she said. “And I have some explaining to do as well.”

Once again, Alanna's stomach flip-flopped. Zelda knew her secret. Or at least suspected. The one she'd held close for so long. What she didn't understand was why it had never been reported to Marylebone or the Supreme Council. Beth would accept everything just as she always did. It was Rosa she worried about. Her marriage to Aden was barely two months old and she was about to discover he had been hiding a secret from her.

“I think Aden should be here too,” Alanna said. “Rosa, can you call him and tell him to bring Goran and Gregori with him. We might as well get this over with. I haven't the stomach to tell the story over and over.”

It was like a coven meeting. Gregori stood, tall, broad-shouldered, imperious and seemingly indifferent in Zelda's garden. Alanna knew he was anything but. The one good thing about their link was she could pretty much figure out what his real feelings were. Right now, he was concerned for her and that was why he was here, doing what he didn't want to do.

He stood with Aden and Goran. “A gaggle of warlocks,” she muttered more to herself than to Rosa and Beth who stood with her.

Beth clutched Alanna's hand at her side. “And of witches.”

“And one very powerful sorceress,” Rosa added.

Zelda stood dead center between them and waved a hand in a come-here motion to Alanna. “Gregori,” she said. “You too.”

He peered down his arrogant and yet alarmingly attractive nose. “I'm not a circus pony,” he told them. “What I showed Alanna was intended for her only.”

“Please, Gregori,” Alanna said. It appeared she had rediscovered her manners. “For me. The images you gave me said it in a way I never could begin to explain.”

“You were so upset by what I showed you. I would not upset you like that again.”

Warmth stole into Alanna's cheeks. He cared for her. She cared for him, too, even if she'd only known him a short time. “It will be better than my having to tell everyone when I was mostly unconscious the day it all happened.”

“Unconscious!” Rosa's eyes flared in alarm. “When were you unconscious?”

Beth was puzzled. “What day?”

Alanna looked to Gregori for help. Aden moved to stand by Rosa. Goran stood by Beth. Everyone had support if required.

It was so incredibly difficult for Alanna to respond to Rosa's question when she'd always refused to speak of the accident all those years ago. Initially, everyone had tried to elicit information from her over the early days, weeks and months afterwards until eventually giving up when she refused to talk at all on the subject. Alanna had been traumatized and both Rosa and Beth had come to the realization that Alanna was never going to speak of it and perhaps she couldn't remember anything.

“Of the day Mom and Dad died.” Alanna's heart raced wildly, out of control.
No. No. Not another panic attack.
Her fear sped along the link between her and Gregori. Within an instant, he gifted her with a sense of calm, a silent message sent to her.
I am with you. Do not be afraid.

It was obvious by the startled looks on her sister's faces, that she'd taken them by surprise with her subject matter.

“I must warn you,” Gregori told Beth and Rosa while maintaining his link to Alanna. “What your sister is asking me to do will be emotionally painful for both of you.”

Beth shocked Alanna with her next statement. “I've been dreaming a lot about Mom and Dad.” Beth's dreams were prophetic and she often wove them into tapestries. Sometimes, they even wove themselves. “I've seen them from time to time in the spirit world, but they've been coming to me in my dreams more and more of late.”

Rosa gasped. She spun to Alanna. “Is this what this meeting is about? Is this what Zelda meant by you being emotionally frozen?”

A rush of tears brimmed in Alanna's eyes. Sheesh. She was turning into a crybaby. She willed the tears away, her throat aching from holding them back. She nodded, not trusting herself to speak. Beth had seen her parents in her dreams. She was intensely jealous and yet, if anyone deserved to see them, it was her little sister. The one who cared for everyone. The one who always put others first.

“It is,” Gregori answered for her and nodded to the men. “Aden and Goran have never seen what I'm about to show you, but they will testify that what you will see is the truth. Still, I must warn you all. I do not have all the answers.”

He stepped forward and held out his hands to Beth and Rosa. “Come. I will, if you permit, go into your minds and share the images Alanna has already seen. Do I have your permission to do so?”

“You can mindwalk? I thought that was just a fable.” Rosa looked to Aden for reassurance. “Will we be safe?”

“Gregori is a master,” Aden said. “The only ascended warlock who can do so. Just follow everything he says and it will be all right.” He turned to Gregori. “Just to be clear. If anything happens to Rosa, today will be your last day on this earth.”

Gregori peered arrogantly down his nose at his former student. “She will be safe.”

“He walked my mind and I'm still here,” Alanna found herself defending Gregori.

“I'll not venture into any of your private thoughts. I'll go in and out, leaving you with an exact replay of the events I revealed to Alanna last night. Questions can come later.”

Beth held out her hand immediately. “If Zelda, Goran and Aden agree, I see no reason not to.”

Zelda looked as if she'd swallowed a bug at her reluctant admission, “He's a true master.”

Goran spoke for the first time. “It's dangerous. But yes, he can do it. I suggest Aden and I join the link to stabilize the energy during the transfer.”

Gregori agreed with a nod. “That way you can see how I mindwalk as well. Call it a lesson for the less talented.”

Goran wasn't impressed. “Call it protection for Beth and Rosa.”

“Call it what you will, time is passing and we're getting nowhere debating the why and how.” He once again held out his hands. “Come.”

Rosa, with one look that promised Aden a barrage of questions later, took Gregori's free hand. Goran took Beth's other hand. Aden took Rosa's. Zelda and Alanna stood back when they looked to them.

“My magic and how it works is different to that of a witch or warlock.” Zelda crossed her arms. “I will remain on guard, to ensure your safety as a unit, should something go wrong.”

“I've already seen everything.” Alanna didn't particularly want a second viewing. “I don't need to see it again.”

“Come,” said Gregori. “A second time will clarify what you saw that may not have registered the first time due to shock.”

Alanna hesitated. Zelda gave her a small shove towards them. “He's right. Join them and see what they see. Share the link. It will bring unity to you all.”