Control (Book Seven) (Fated Saga Fantasy Series) (19 page)

“I guess it is time for me to call Colby,” sai
d Meghan, blowing out a uneasy breath.

“He won’t be able to find us under the cloak,” advised Colin.

“I’ll just try to reach him first, see if I can pique his interest.”

“Do yo
u really need to?” asked Colin, again vocalizing his dislike of this part of their plan.

“I think I do, sorry. His blood will make the spell stronger, like my mother said, and he is my brother, like it or not. Plus
, there’s the whole prophecy thing about the three of us, and I’ve been thinking, what if this is it? Maybe us working together will end all of this.”

“Do you thi
nk it could be that easy?” called out Jae. “The three of you work together on this, and the prophecy is fulfilled.”

“Don’t know. And seeing as no one really knows how to truly interpret the prophecy, I don’t see how it can hurt
to try.”

“What if it does
hurt
?” asked Ivan. “What if the three of you getting together doesn’t change things for the better?”

“I don’t know, Ivan. I just know what I’ve been told and what my gut is telling me I should do. And it says try to get Colby to come on this little adventure.”

“Fine. Let’s not discuss it anymore,” said Colin, with a biting tone. “If dealing with Colby means I can figure out how to free Aloyna from the glass and then free Catrina, let’s get on with it!”

“Okay.
I’ll try to contact him.” Meghan reached out to Colby through her thoughts, hoping he would listen to her. Her first attempts went unanswered.

She opened her eyes to see everyone staring intensely at her.

“Why don’t I go outside and do this... alone... ” she left the house, deciding to leave the safety of the cloak before trying again.

She walked to the end
of Kanda’s driveway. Just around the corner and down a ways was the spot her uncle had always parked his travel trailer when summering here. She decided to keep walking. It felt like it had been ages since she had seen their old camping spot.

It was early afternoon, but still cold enough she
could see her breath in front of her. She pulled her jacket tightly around her body. There were no leaves left on the trees. They were bare, leaving her feeling exposed. A snowflake hit her nose, melting. It was followed by a raindrop. It was right at freezing, and very much felt like a storm was brewing.

She saw the empty space where he
r uncle’s camper was usually parked. Somehow, it seemed smaller to her than she remembered. She closed her eyes, wishing it was summer, that none of the things that had happened to them in the last few years had happened. She had turned thirteen here. She was sixteen now.

She turned and glanced toward the park’s entrance and exit, recalling the first time she had seen the Svoda come marching into the campground. How she and Colin had made eye contact with Jae and later met him.

Had it all been fate? Had it all been because of the prophecy? Did she have any say in her future? Any control of the outcome at all? Or was fate somehow controlling every step she, Colin or Colby made?

She inhaled, ready to reach out to Colby again.

“C’mon,” she said after her third unanswered attempt. “Why won’t you answer me?”

“Maybe I was busy!” a hostile
voice replied.

This voice wasn’t in her mind.

She opened her eyes and saw Colby just a few feet away. His presence always caught her off guard. She never knew if she should be happy to see him, or afraid to see him.

Elisha, his Catawitch,
wound around his legs protectively.

“Thank you for coming,” she said.

“Not sure why I did yet,” he returned with a questioning tone.

“I need your help with something,” she said.

“My help?”

“Yes. Believe it or not, your
help. But you need to promise to hear me out and not interrupt me every two seconds while I explain.”

“You act like I do that a lot.”

“Regardless of if you interrupt a lot or not, this is a bit complicated to explain so please, just hear me out completely.”

“Fine. Talk.”

“First, I think I might be able to help you free your...
our
... grandmother from the glass in your father’s estate.” She held up her hand to remind him that he had promised not to interrupt, but she knew she had already won his attention.

“I cannot guarantee it,” she added. “I don’t know if this will work, for sure, but I have an idea. Second, this will require you to work alongside me and Colin, can you do that?”

Colby did not respond right away. She knew he was thinking about what she had said.

“Does Colin have to be involved in this?” asked Colby.

“Yes. No debate on that part.”

He went quiet again.

“Colby, I know how important doing this could be to you. I know your father would be pleased if you did this.” She hoped this would entice him to say yes.

“My father has been searching for a way to free her since she was imprisoned. What makes you think you can? And why would you? Is this some kind of trick?”

Meghan felt him trying to barge into her mind. She blocked him and frowned. “Must you always be so untrusting?”

“Yes,” he answered. Elisha meowed her agreement.

“Fine. What I tell you now is everything I know. Total truth. No lie. Colin’s girlfriend has been captured and is being held prisoner.”

“How? Colin’s as powerful as I am!”

“One of the Grosvenor, someone named Freyne Rothrock, has figured out a way... in part thanks to you and dear old Dad.”

“How so
?”

“Freyne figured out tha
t you used the bones of a dead Projector to make the dagger that stole Jasper Thorndike’s power. I guess he surmised if they could be made into a dagger, they could also be made into a prison a Projector could not break into or out of.”

By the look on his face, he did not much care for this news.
She felt him struggling to keep his thoughts to himself, but for only a moment. He was very good at regaining control.

“So what does this have to do with our grandmother?”
he asked.

“Freyne’s demands to Colin
were if he freed Aloyna Fazendiin, he would release Catrina.”

“Like
I’d trust him to keep his word,” Colby said. He got a questioning look on his face. Meghan knew what he was thinking already. Not by reading his mind but because it was the same look they’d all gotten when trying to figure out why Freyne would want this.

“We don’t know why,” she told him.
“Only that he wants her free. And once he gets proof that she is, he will let Catrina go.”

“Again, I would not trust him,” was all Colby replied.

“Colby,” said Meghan with a bit of desperation. “This could benefit us all. Your dad will be ecstatic,
with you
... and
we
can free Catrina. We don’t have a lot of time.”

He started to pace around the campsite. Meghan could
tell he was speaking to Elisha through their shared thoughts, most likely getting her opinion. After a minute, he finally stopped and turned back to Meghan.

“W
hat exactly is your plan?”

“A spell. Using our bloo
d. It will allow us to relive any moment in the history of our bloodline. I could do it on my own, but our mother...” she was interrupted.

“You’ve seen our mother?”

“Yes. I have.”

“H-How is she?”

“Um, she’s fine, I guess. Fine as she can be.”

“Did she ask about me?”

“Yes. Sort of. We talked about you.”

“All good stuff, I’m sure,” meowed Elisha.

Colby ignored her.

“Colby,” said Meghan, “why don’t you just visit her. You obviously miss her.”

Colby’s gaze hardened. “Back to the spell.”

She let out a sigh and shook her head. “As I was sa
ying, I could do it on my own but our mother believes it would be more powerful if we did it together. I plan to take us back to the moment in our bloodline’s history to see just how our grandmother was cursed into the glass.”

“By the Svoda. You forgot that part,” Colby added in a snide tone.

“Yes, cursed into the glass by the Svoda. Happy? Anyway, we were thinking if we could see how she was put in there, we could figure out how to free her. Will you help us or not?” Meghan folded her arms, wearing the most stubborn face she could muster.

Colby made a sound that he was
unsure about what he was about to do, but answered, “Yes. I’ll do it.”

“Good. We’re about to get started. Follow me. And no funny business!” she added, pointing her finger at him.

“What do you mean?”

“Just, behave. Everyone
is here to help us free our grandmother, so just, be nice.”

“Be nice,” he repeated under his breath. He kept mut
tering things she could not hear.

When she reached the edge of Kanda’s driveway Colin lifted the cloak so they could come in. Once in the house, things did not go as smoothly as Meghan had hoped.

“I see the entire posse is here,” remarked Colby.

Meghan shot him a pleading look.

Colin just stared, not taking his eyes of Colby, sizing him up. Ivan, Sebastien and Jae nodded slightly, but not in a very welcoming manner.

“Tough crowd,” murmured Colby, his voice uncaring as to what anyone in the room thought of him.

Suddenly a
fury of feet, legs and claws erupted.

“I think they like the
idea of working together even less than we do,” said Sebastien.

“Nona!” cried out Meghan. “Stop!”

At the same time, Colby stepped in and ordered Elisha to stand down. The two Catawitch’s stopped their brawl, having done no permanent damage to each other, but continued circling each other, unwilling to completely let the other out of their sight.

“We have to work together,” reminded Meghan to her Catawitch. “Please, Nona. For me.”

That was all Meghan had to say. Nona backed off and took her place next to Meghan. Elisha did the same with Colby.

“If
you’re all finished, I’d like to get this under way,” said Colin. He took a seat on one of the pillows sitting on Kanda’s living room floor.

Meghan and Colby joined him.

“We don’t have to hold hands, do we?” asked Colby.

“No,” replied Meghan dryly.
“We do have to bind ourselves together so that we stay with each other while we’re traveling through the memories. Otherwise one of us might get lost somewhere.”

“We didn’t get lost when
we traveled through our memories together,” replied Colby.

“No, but that was much different than what we’re about to do. We traveled through each other’s memories. This time, we’re going a long way back in our history.
Something you would not be able to do on your own.”

“
Well, can we get lost permanently?” asked Colby.

“Chicken?” bawked
Colin.

Meghan groaned.

Sebastien and Jae hid their faces.

Even Ivan’s mouth turned up in a hidden smile.

Colby wrinkled his face, furious.

“Whatever you’re about to say,” said Meghan to Colby, “Zip it! An
d that goes for you too, Colin! Now... no, I don’t think anyone can get permanently lost inside a memory,” she said in obvious agitation. “From what I have read, if one gets lost it just takes time to find your way out. However,” she added, raising her voice when she saw Colby about to interrupt her, “I’ve never done this before. All I have to go by is what’s written on this page. Would you like to read it?” she asked Colby.

“No.
I’m good.”

“Great,” she replied sarcastically.

“How do we bind ourselves together?” asked Colin.

“Actually, it’s more like I’ll
be binding the two of you to me,” she replied. “I’m the Firemancer, so only I can perform the magic required for the spell to work. You guys will be following me through the memories. But I’ll use Colby’s blood mixed with mine, to strengthen the spell. I’ll need a drop of blood from each of you to do the binding spell, and then I’ll need a few more drops of your blood, Colby.”

She turned to Sebastien.

“You know Kanda’s house, could you find me a couple of needles? I think she keeps some on the bathroom shelf. There’s a sewing kit in there.”

He took off and was back just a minute later.

Meghan opened her hand and a blue flame burst to life from her palm. “Colin, put a drop of your blood into the flame. Colby, do the same.”

They each took a turn pricking a fingertip and adding a drop of blood to the flame. When they did
, the flame turned from blue to deep red. Meghan held out her other hand and said, “Ivan, could you please?” He pricked her finger and she let the bloody bead fall into the flame. It turned an even deeper red, nearly black.

The flame surged into the air and then shortened, as if being sucked back into her hand.
She gave a shudder.