Chasing Shadows (24 page)

“I haven’t. Even after witnessing it so many times,” Sebastian replied.

“How many times have you seen a seer do that?” I asked.

“A few too many.” His eyes went tight, and I knew that was the last he would speak on the matter.

We climbed into the car and went off to Clamora’s house. After a very quick twenty minutes, we parked in the lot and went into the building. Just as we entered and turned toward Clamora’s casting room, we saw Luke carrying a bag and hurrying out of the warehouse. Sebastian reached for him and slammed him against the wall so hard that I thought I heard the foundation creak. I was about to ask Sebastian what was wrong, but then I remembered that Aphrodite told us Luke was going to betray Clamora. What if he had already betrayed her and was moving on to betray his creator? I shook my head to get rid of the path my thoughts were going down. Before I could say anything or ask Sebastian if that’s why he was so pissed, he growled at Luke, who just stared down at the ground, ashamed. That said it all.

“Why?” I whispered.

“Because I had to, or else they were going to do worse than what they already did.” Luke continued to stare at the floor.

“What did you tell them?” Sebastian growled through his teeth.

“Not everything. I promise.” Luke squirmed uneasily.

“What did you tell them, Luke?” I pressed.

“They wanted to know what you were up to and how you were so strong you could do so much damage to the group that was sent to scare you. So I told them that you were a lot stronger than anyone had anticipated. Then they started questioning me about you and Sebastian.” My skin crawled at his response.

“What did they ask about us?” I asked.

“They asked if there was any way to separate you and get one of you to cause a weak spot.” It hit me: They wanted to use us against each other so they could win.

“What did you tell them?”

He shook his head.

“What did you tell them, Luke?” I was getting frustrated now.

“I . . . I told them about your family, your brother,” he stammered.

“Sebastian, let him go.” I stared at them with a hollow stare.

“AubrieAnna, are you sure? He told them about your family.” Sebastian didn’t let him go. He was waiting for me to deliver a punishment.

“I am sure. He deserves whatever they do to him.” I turned and walked toward the casting room, leaving them behind. Thanks to Luke, I could lose anyone in my family, Alexandier included. Part of me wanted to call my brother and tell him to come home immediately, but I had a feeling that would allow them to capture him. I just had to tell him to be careful, to be smart, and always carry something with him that would protect him. Sighing, I sat down against the wall. This whole thing was my fault. If I hadn’t sent a message to the u da yv la dv, none of this would have happened. Clamora wouldn’t be on her deathbed, and no one in my family would be in danger. I cradled my head in my hands and tried to ignore the onslaught of guilt. Unfortunately, it didn’t work as well as I wanted it to. Sebastian walked in the room, set the bags down on the table, and came to sit in front of me.

Almost as if he could hear my thoughts, he said, “It is not your fault. I hope you know that. If it didn’t happen when it did, it would have happened later down the road, but it still would have happened. You cannot always change what fate has in store for you and everyone around you.” He rubbed my arms then stood up and walked away.

Feeling somewhat better, I got up and went to help him set up for our ritual. I found the casting bowl, white chalk, salt, and a feather. While I grabbed those items, he went up to get a lock of hair from Clamora’s hairbrush. By the time he returned, I had already written down her name on the table in chalk, set the candles where they needed to be in alternating in colors, and drew the circle around the table and where we would be standing. Before we started, Sebastian reached into the cupboard and grabbed a ritual dagger. Taking a few cleansing breaths, I focused on Clamora and staying calm. It was time to start the process.

Sebastian turned off the light, and I lit the candles with a long match, going clockwise. The first step was to smear our blood on the black rose and drop it into the bowl while saying, “This is the rose of death, and with our blood we push it back.” Next was the luna moth. “This will bring the wings of life to your door, if only for a while more.” We smeared more blood then moved on to the bumblebee. “The sting of life and energy will be renewed.” I dropped the bee in after smearing it with more of our blood. Then we smeared blood on the white oak and lit it in the flame of a white candle. We used the flame from the stick to light the smudge sticks and the feather to fan their essence into the bowl. Carefully, I dropped the white oak and smudge sticks into the bowl and watched as everything caught on fire and slowly burned. Taking the dagger from the table once more, I sliced my hand and grasped her hair. Sebastian did the same and dropped it into the bowl. “When this is burnt to ash and dust, you will be free from death as we bind this with our blood.” I repeated the mantra two more times, and we sat still as we watched the items smolder and burn.

When the flames went out, I poured salt onto the ashes and swirled it around. Once the salt was evenly mixed with the dust, I blew it onto Clamora’s name and said, “You are free.” Then, one by one, I blew out the candles and sat in darkness while Sebastian went to turn on the light. We were finished with the ritual, and I wanted to know if it had worked. Feeling a little tired and ready to head home, I turned and walked right into Sebastian’s chest. He didn’t say anything, but his eyes did. I knew he was thankful for this. Even if it didn’t work, he was thankful that we at least tried. Slowly he reached down to cup my cheek and lifted my face toward his. His lips crashed down on mine, and he kissed me deeply. It felt like it had been ages since he had kissed me, but it hadn’t. Tingles went up and down my body and butterflies danced in my belly. Even though everything seemed out of control, Sebastian made it all okay. He loved me through it all, through any bad thing that I may have caused. He was the stability and sanity that was missing in the hell that we were going through.

Before Sebastian dropped me off at my house, he called Willow to check on Clamora. Thankfully, the ritual had worked and she was going to be able to leave in a few days. We had decided that it would be best if Luke didn’t know what we had done and that it had worked, so we were going to keep her in a hotel for a while. After all, he was the one who told the u da yv la dv to attack everyone around me—well, my family, but Clamora had grown into my family. She had wormed her way into my heart and I cared about her, although if she ever knew that she would probably kill me with her bare hands. That made me smile.

When we reached my house, I scrambled out of the car and hurried inside to let my mom know I was ready to go. She was sitting at the bar waiting for me. A big smile crossed her face and she rushed me toward the car outside. My mom’s excitement was palpable. The only other time she got to take me dress shopping was for a dance with Langdon. I felt bad; I knew she had wanted to take me out shopping for school dances like prom and winter formal, but I wasn’t comfortable with dancing. Sure, I was happy that Sebastian wanted to go in the first place, but I still worried about my awkward movements, and if the u da yv la dv would attack while we were there. Taking deep breaths, I tried to relax and think of all the good and exciting prospects of Saturday. I would get to dress up and go to dinner with Sebastian, and maybe even have a few slow dances with him. The more I thought about all the good things, the more I got excited about it.

We drove around downtown Salem looking at little boutiques and mom-and-pop shops, but none of them had what I wanted. They had pretty dresses that were short in a whole bunch of colors and styles, but not one of them cried out to me. My mom refused to let me go into the mall and search for a dress there. She was hell-bent on finding one so unique that no one else would have it. After we exhausted Salem, we moved down south to Albany. Again, we didn’t find anything. I decided that we should try Portland next, and my mom agreed. But she was starting to get hungry and wanted to stop for lunch. Since we didn’t see anything of interest to us in Albany, we went back to Salem and stopped at Olive Garden.

Once we were seated and had ordered our drinks, my mom asked me what I was looking for in a dress. I sighed and thought about it. The harder I thought about it, the more a dress started to appear in my mind. It was white, about knee length, and was tight around the waist then ballooned out at the bottom. Lace covered the back and showed some skin, and the neckline was a sweetheart. There were no sparkles or crystals, just plain and simple yet absolutely beautiful. When I told my mom, her eyes sparkled with delight and she got tears in her eyes. A little worried, I asked her what was wrong and she said she knew where we could find that dress. I got excited and asked her where it was, and she just smiled and said nothing. Groaning, I leaned back in the booth and waited for our waiter to appear. After a few more minutes of waiting, he came to our table and took our orders.

“Hey, Mom?” I asked around a bite of a steaming breadstick from the basket they had dropped off at our table.

“Yeah?” She looked up at me from her salad.

“How come you’re being so weird about the dress I want?” I asked cautiously.

“It’s a long story. When we get where we need to go, I will tell you.” She smiled softly and went back to her salad. We didn’t talk for the rest of the time we were there.

I thanked her for lunch as we walked back toward the car. She sped off toward the freeway. Not quite sure where we were headed, I watched the exits pass by. She took the exit for Woodburn, and I wanted to ask where we were going, but I didn’t. Even if I did, she wouldn’t tell me. It took me a few minutes to realize we were going to the small boutique where she always shopped. When we finally got there, the owner was closing the store. My mom jumped out of the car and rushed to explain that we needed to buy a dress for my homecoming. After a few minutes, the owner complied and let us in.

The store was small and cute. Pale green walls were covered with jewelry and small racks of accessories, icicle Christmas lights hung on the walls, casting a soft glow, and tall vintage lamps in the corners of the store gave off just enough light to make it feel cozy. Small ottomans sat in front of the three curtained fitting rooms, and a few mannequins wore the newest items she had in stock. I knew why my mom shopped here; it was comfortable and not stuffy like the stores in the malls. She hurried to a corner that held formal dresses and scanned the racks. When she didn’t find what she was looking for, she looked disappointed. My mom turned to the owner and asked where the dress was, and the woman hurried to the back. Moments later, she reappeared with it in her arms. It was exactly like I had pictured at Olive Garden. I was pushed into the fitting room, and the dress was handed to me.

There was no containing my excitement as I slid the dress on. The material was smooth and silky against my skin. Even though I was already super pale, the white didn’t make it worse or make me look tan. It made my skin look milky and soft. I twirled around to see if the skirt blew out any more, and it didn’t. Everything about it was perfect. When I stepped out to have my mom button the back, she smiled so big and bright. At that moment I knew I needed to have this dress. She buttoned it up and made me do a few turns as she planned out how to do my hair. After we finished talking about the dress and how to do my hair and makeup, I went back into the fitting room and took it off. My heart did a sad dance in my chest as the dress slid down my body. I put it back on the hanger and got dressed so we could pay for it at the counter.

When we got to the counter, I took a good look at the owner of the store. She was tall and very thin. Her fingers we slim and bony, and her nose held a pair of cat-eye glasses that threw her hawk-like nose into sharp contrast with her face. There was no name tag hanging from her white blazer. With the way she held her head high and talked to my mom, I would have expected her to work in a high-end store, like Barneys or somewhere similar. I smiled at her when she carefully placed the dress in a garment bag. “This dress is one of my favorites, that’s why I took it to the back. I didn’t want someone that I didn’t know or like to buy it. But I know it will be in safe hands with you and your mother. And, it fits you perfectly. Enjoy your homecoming.” Her voice was rough and deep. She handed me the bag and followed us out to lock up once again.

“That dress really is beautiful on you, AubrieAnna.” My mom smiled at me when we were back in the car.

“Thanks, Mom,” I said, looking out the window.

“What is it, sweetie?” Her voice held a note of worry.

“It’s just . . . maybe it’s too perfect for homecoming. Maybe I should keep it for a better special occasion or dance or something.” I looked at my fingers and played with the various rings that littered them.

“Well, if that’s how you feel, then we can go look for something else tomorrow, or we can search through the dresses you haven’t worn yet.” Her voice was understanding and hopeful.