Endless Magic (Stella Mayweather Series Book 6) (2 page)

"I can't. They're walking straight into a trap!
Georgia
. She did something to my magic. She could do the same to them."

"Étoile has taken precautions. Bed."

"But..."

"Bed, Stella. Now!"

"I'm dressed!"

"Good for you. I didn't want to dress you. Now, to bed and put these heart monitors back on." Seren grabbed the pads, stepping forward with a formidable expression on her face. She didn't want any arguments, and I knew in my weakened state, she could disable me without any problem, probably even shimmer me into bed. Grumpily, I sank onto the bed and allowed her to position the monitor pads.

Instead of leaving, Seren sat on the end of the bed. "Did I mention how you had us all really worried? We didn't know what the hell happened to you, or how to find you. Thank the moon and stars Evan managed to give us some information when you went missing. He came here minutes after that phone call you two had."

"He did?"

"Yeah, I don't think he slept much at all since. He was sending out every trace he knew, and so was Étoile, but for a while, it was like you stopped existing. I mean, completely. It didn't matter what any of us did; there was no evidence of you anywhere in the world."

"Evan said I had no magic. I was normal."

"You were worse than normal. You weren't there. Whatever Georgia did to you, didn't just block your magic, it was blocking
you
."

"But I didn't stop existing. I was somewhere. I'm still solid! Plus, Evan found me," I pointed out.

"It can't have been a physical thing. It must have been something metaphysical."

"I don't understand."

"I don't think you're meant to."

"So what do we do now? How do I stop that from happening to me again?"

"I could try healing you."

"I don't feel like I need healing. I feel okay. I can feel my magic and I know I don't have any wounds or injuries."

"Then I won't heal you. I'll just have a poke around..."

I had to give Seren my most sceptical look, but she ignored it. Instead, she indicated how I should lie flat while she placed her hands over me. Her searching felt like the gentlest wave going through me, and as relaxing as a massage; but a few minutes later, she shrugged and stopped. "There's nothing wrong with you," she said. "Actually, you're in great health. Maybe a little dehydrated, which is probably why your throat sounds sore, and you could definitely do with a good meal."

"Really? Nothing? No magic?"

"Nothing! I don't feel the presence of any magic, but yours. There're no blocks, or poisons, or auto-suggestions inside your mind. If I hadn't heard what happened to you, if I didn't know Georgia did something to you, I wouldn't have believed you."

Another thought occurred to me. "Could I have had my magic bound briefly? I did it to another witch. Maybe Georgia did it to me?"

"Nope. I would have felt some evidence of any binding."

"Then what the hell did she do to me?"

"I can't tell you that. I can only offer you my company for now, and keep an eye on you. No more climbing out of bed."

I didn't want to ask what Seren meant by keeping watch over me and if it were for my health or something else. Instead, I mutely nodded as she made a fuss of settling me on the bed. She filled the silence with idle chatter about all the things that had happened while I was missing; but I tuned her out to wonder what really happened to me. Finally, she pushed a cluster of cards into my hand and told me to read them. The first one I opened read, "Congratulations. You're not dead!" It was signed by Micah. I had to hold back a smile at his appalling humour. I opened the others, and found well wishes from my old friends Marc Bartholomew, Kitty, Annalise and Beau, and more from people I barely knew. My heart overflowed with the thought that so many people actually cared about me.

~

After an hour, there was a knock at the door before Étoile stepped inside, followed quickly by Evan and Gage. I pushed up onto my elbows, searching their faces, and Seren fell quiet. They didn't look like they'd been in a fight, but they seemed far from happy.

"Did you find anything?" I asked.

Gage shook his head. "They cleared out. I'm guessing by the mess they left, they retreated as soon as they knew for certain you were gone."

"Do we even know when that was?" I asked. "You found me... when?"

"Two days ago," said Étoile. "You were unconscious for forty-two hours."

"Forty-two hours?" I whispered, struggling to understand the loss of time.

"Again, compared to..."

"I know, I know," I interrupted. "Compared to two months, that's nothing."

"Here's what we know," said Evan. "The diviner location was a warehouse five miles from where I found Stella. The team searched it entirely, and there was no one there although it had definitely been occupied, and very recently. We found evidence of many captives that were being held in a sub-level area, but they were all gone too. There was no one left."

"What about evidence? They must have left something behind," I asked.

"The team swept the warehouse for anything and everything, but found nothing. Someone set a fire there before we came, and it looked like some papers were burned..." started Gage.

"We could try a reconstruction spell?" I said, interrupting. "That's what we did for that letter from the Rockford pack wolf."

Evan shook his head. "There were too many charred fragments. Even if someone got the spell to work, there's no guarantee it would be reconstructed perfectly. It could just as easily be a jumble of all the different papers that were burned. They might not have had anything to do with the captives, or The Brotherhood."

"You could trace them magically using whatever’s left? See where they went? Georgia must have left some kind of elemental trace?"

"They searched, but there was nothing. There was nothing to suggest that anything supernatural had ever been there," said Étoile.

"But there must have been!" I lowered my voice at Evan's indication, not realising I was shouting. "You said there were prisoners! What if they were the missing witches Étoile asked me to look into?"

"I know. I believe you, but it's a dead end," Evan said.

I refused to believe nothing could be done. It seemed so wrong that I was so close to The Brotherhood, and to Auberon and Georgia, yet had nothing to show for it except a depleted magic source, a two-month hole in my memory, and a twenty-four hour babysitter in case I went crazy as a result. Even worse, I realised, what if they were waiting to see if I were some kind of ticking time bomb? Or a Trojan horse, sent to infiltrate them? No, that couldn't be true. Seren thoroughly checked me over and pronounced me healthy.

"Étoile?" I turned to my friend. "Is it really a dead end?"

She took a deep breath and nodded. Just the slightest drop of her shoulders belied her disappointment. She wanted more than this.

"There's nothing we can do to trace The Brotherhood? They're just going to get away with it?" Even as I asked, I knew there wasn’t an answer.

"There're a couple things we can do. While you were missing, we reached out to all of our contacts, trying to discover exactly who else was missing, and we've gotten some reports back. Look through these photos and see if you can pick out anyone familiar. A familiar face might spark a memory." Étoile placed a sheaf of photos on the bed.

"What happens if I see someone I recognise? And what happens if I don't?" I asked as I reached for the photos, discarding the first picture of an elderly, bearded man. His face didn't raise a spark.

"There's another option. You won't like it."

"You had better tell me anyway."

"We can look into your mind. We can extract your memories and see exactly what you saw."

Silence filled the room. All I could think about was the first and last time I endured a memory extraction. Then, I was on trial for murder, and my memories were unequivocal proof of my actions in self-defence. It didn't escape me that Georgia was behind that trial too. It was an uncomfortable procedure; but even worse, I didn't know what memories would appear. What would I find out about myself? And what happened to me?
The prisoners
, I reminded myself. Somewhere, The Brotherhood still had prisoners. Unlocking my memories could be the only key to finding them. "What happens if I say yes?" I asked.

Étoile crossed her arms. "Regardless of what we find, when your testimony goes in front of The Council, I'm sure there will be only one outcome. War."

Chapter Three

War.
It was the only word on my mind as I waited in the stark room. I felt utterly deflated knowing that whatever happened to me in my missing two months was worthy of starting a war. Worse, the excited frisson of magic creeping over my skin was a product of something altogether more frightening; the imminence of war excited me. No,
not
the war.
Not
more bloodshed. The concept of finally stopping The Brotherhood, and making sure they would never hurt anyone of my kind again, was pretty seductive. I could finally live in peace, away from the people who wanted to hurt me most. That was the most exhilarating thought of all.

As I envisioned my smug satisfaction in ridding the witch hunters from the world, Auberon's face flashed into my mind. My last memory was of him leering at me, and I instantly replaced his face with Daniel's gentle visage. He was Auberon's son and my cousin, my ally, and only surviving family member. He must have been worried sick, I realised, as I turned around. I began searching for a phone on the nightstand. I had to tell him I was okay.

"He knows," said a voice from the doorway. Étoile stood in the open door. The long, midnight blue dress she wore was elegant, far beyond what the situation suggested.
At least, Étoile never let her standards slip,
I thought.

"Étoile!"

"I didn't look into your head, I promise. That thought leaked out." She entered, leaving the door open.

I shut down my mind, locking it behind impenetrable defences. It was becoming so easy to do, I barely had to think about it. Clearly, my magic suffered; my errant thoughts leaked out, only to be picked up by my telepathic friend.

"Please don't worry about Daniel. He's here and he knows you're safe. He's looking forward to seeing you soon." As soon as she said it, the tension left my shoulders. One less thing to worry about. Étoile continued, "I spoke to the Council and we agreed that peeking into your mind would be the quickest and most effective solution for finding out where you've been and exactly what happened to you."

I turned toward the window, away from her. The height of The Amethyst always surprised me. We were perched above the city. Pedestrians and vehicles below were mere specks, completely unaware that one of the most powerful and secret organisations in the country, maybe even the world, operated directly above them. There was a time when I wanted to be one of the people below, normal and oblivious, but I found a family here, and people like me. Would I swap that for the safety of oblivion? I wasn't sure anymore. "It's the only solution, isn't it?" I asked, speaking to her reflection. "I've been thinking about it; and I can't see any other way."

"I agree." Étoile crossed the room, reaching one hand towards me. Her manicure was blood-red, and her hand looked pale as she took mine. "We can't wait for your memory to return. We don't even know if it will."

"I still can't recall a thing. There's absolutely nothing between opening my door to Auberon and waking up here except for a vague memory of breaking my ring."

"You could have undergone any kind of trauma. A highly stressful event could have caused this. It might not have anything to do with your magic."

"But you don't know for certain."

"Not until we delve into your mind."

"When?"

"They're waiting."

I steeled myself, mustering the kind of bravado I wished I had. "Let's do this," I said, feeling anything but confident. Étoile's hand didn't leave mine and as we exited the room, she gave it a reassuring squeeze. Unfortunately, it had the opposite effect; Étoile didn't do reassuring squeezes. Étoile only dispensed cutting put-downs and sarcasm, which meant one thing: she was scared.

Instead of leading me to the Council rooms, we traversed a series of corridors, finally arriving outside Étoile's office.

"Why here?" I asked.

"For privacy." She opened the door, ushering me inside. Evan sat on the sofa, his long legs crossed in what appeared to be a casual pose, but looked far too rigid for him to truly be at ease. Gage stood by the window, his arms folded. Kitty paced the room, launching herself at me the moment I entered.

"I have never been so worried in all my life!" she squealed, gripping my shoulders.

"Never?" I asked, raising my eyebrows as I recalled all the trials Kitty endured.

"Never!" she repeated determinedly. "I thought you were... I thought you must be..."

I hugged her tightly. "Alive and well," I whispered in her ear.

"You look okay." Kitty reached for my arms, holding me still as she appraised me. "A few scratches, but they're already healing. Nothing broken. Your hair looks nice. Why does your hair look so nice? My hair never looks that nice after a scrape with evil."

"You two can continue your reunion later," Étoile said, all business now as she separated us, pushing me lightly into a chair. "We'll start soon."

I looked around at the small audience. It never occurred to me my memories would have an audience, and the thought rather jolted me. I didn't know what happened, and I wasn't sure I was ready to share my suppressed memories, even with the people who were closest to me.

Evan caught my eye, and held my gaze. A wave of calm descended over me and I wondered if he sent it, or if it were just his mere presence setting me at ease. With a wrench that only I could feel, I broke his gaze, looking at Kitty, then at Gage. They had all been with me, and we experienced so much together, but the idea of them seeing
who knew what, and
through my very eyes, was a little overwhelming. Until I knew exactly what happened to me, and had time to process it, I couldn't reveal my memories to them. I glanced up at Étoile, finding her watching me with concern.

"In here," said Seren, coming through the door, a woman entering behind her. "Stella, do you remember Lisette?"

I nodded. My first impressions of Lisette weren’t great. We met during my trial, another one of Georgia's nasty manipulations, and she was the one who extracted my memories of the fateful day when I was forced to kill Eleanor Bartholomew in self defence. She had placed her palms against my head and sent her magic swimming uncomfortably through me as she sought my memories, pulling them out of their dark places and projecting them onto a screen like a movie playing. It wasn't a truly horrible experience, but rather unpleasant and I felt drained afterwards. But vindicated, too. There would be no vindication this time. The black hole where my memory should have been might contain anything.

"Clear the room," instructed Étoile. I heaved a breath of relief at her decision, and pinched my mouth shut.

"I'm not going anywhere," said Evan without moving an inch.

"Nor I," added Gage.

"This isn't a discussion," Étoile shot back.

"We need to know what we're up against," said Evan.

"We need the information first hand," said Gage. "I'm the leader of the werewolf pack and a High Council member. You can't order me around. I'm staying put."

"I'm here for moral support," said Kitty, gently cutting through the brewing storm of opposition.

"You're all guests here," said Étoile, her voice steely calm. "Please don't forget that."

"Oh, we’re guests now?" Gage scoffed. "We're also Stella's friends."

"Your first suggestion was merely information, and provides no support," pointed out Étoile.

"Okay, stop. Just stop!" I stood quickly, the blood rushing to my head. "This is my brain, okay? My memories. I want you all outside. Now!" I don't know why I pointed to the door, since they all knew where outside meant, but I did anyway. I kept my arm raised, willing them not to argue.

"Stella..." Evan said softly.

"Please wait for me outside.
Please
." I paused, hoping no one would ask me to explain my reticence.

"I'll be right outside," said Kitty, giving me a brief hug before she left the room. "If you need me, holler and I'll be here."

"All of you," I said when neither Evan nor Gage moved.

Silently, Evan rose and walked to the door. A moment later, Gage followed him after throwing a pointed look at Étoile. I hoped the offence I might have caused was minimal.

"Don't worry about him," Étoile said as my lips began to form the word for trouble. "You're the important one in this."

Indecision pricked at me. Maybe I was wrong. "No, the information is important. Gage is right."

"Yes, it is, but it's not everything. Stella, you're important too and no one should have to see your memories without your authorisation. You're not on trial here. You're helping; and you get to choose who sees your memories and who knows the details later."

"What if I don't want anyone to know?" I asked as my indecision gave way to fear.

"I'll extract the details pertaining to our needs in finding The Brotherhood. Everything else is yours to remember, or forget."

"What if my memory doesn't come back even after everything is extracted?"

"We'll worry about that later. You might not want to remember anything."

"What if..." I stumbled, then stopped. I took a deep breath, closing my eyes as I asked, "What if something horrific happened to me?"

"We can suppress your memory permanently, if that's what you wish."

I nodded, my eyes still closed. I had to do this; I knew that. I had to know what happened and there was no other way. "I'm ready," I told them, opening my eyes to focus on Étoile. "Let's get it over with."

"I'll wait outside too." Seren stepped backwards.

"No." I held up a hand. "Stay. I might need healing."

Seren glanced at Étoile, and Étoile nodded before turning to her desk. She picked up a small device and pressed a button. "This recording will remain in my custody," she told me, "before I destroy it with your consent."

I nodded my acceptance before glancing at Lisette. "How do you want to start?" I asked her. I fought back a shiver of fear and reminded myself why I was doing this.

"I'll try and make this as easy as possible," she said, pulling up the other chair in front of me. "If it gets too intense, squeeze my hand."

"Won't your palms be on my forehead?"

"Yes, one of them, but this time, your hand will be on top of mine. Here, like this," she said, placing my hand on top of hers before resting her palm against my left temple. "Don't pull at my hand, just squeeze if it gets too much for you, and I'll alter what I'm doing; but I won't stop unless absolutely necessary. Ready?"

I relaxed my mind, while steadying my body. I couldn't answer her question. No one could prepare for this. So, I simply nodded and let her begin. The jolt came quickly and then it was like being sucked under water as my vision disappeared. My body was not my own, my limbs felt heavy, and my mind clouded with thick fog. It seemed like I was swimming against a rising tide, my body barely responsive as a strange magic coursed through the fog, reaching for my hidden memories. My natural urge was to resist Lisette's magic, to slam down my defences and push her out, but instead, I focused on relaxing, allowing her to continue until I became aware of hearing murmurs. She and Étoile were talking to each other, but I couldn't understand what they said.

"I need to go deeper," whispered Lisette against my ear. I gave the lightest squeeze to her hand so she would know I heard her before I readied myself.

The magic surged forwards, stronger than before, leaping across my synapses. I knew the moment she found the black hole where my memories should have been and couldn’t help wincing in pain. The magic drifted around the edges, checking, familiarising itself, I decided, then plunging forwards without warning. A drill inside my head would have been preferable to the pain that ricocheted through me. I tried to steady my hand over Lisette's, struggling to bear the torture, and then it was like the dam burst as relief passed throughout my body. The pain was gone. I could hear voices, several of them now, but still couldn't make out the words. Someone stroked my hair and I didn't know if it were real or remembered as I forced my eyes open.

I was suspended, somewhere inside my body and somewhere outside, floating in a weird half-world. The tension began to dissipate inside my body and I could see my memories flickering on the wall. Auberon and Georgia were at my door, then a sudden blackness, and a fuzzy image of waking up in an unfamiliar room with a locked door and several beds. Chains were bolted to the floor.

My memories sped up. I was being guided through a flame-lit tunnel, up a flight of stairs, with my arms bound. As if I were actually there, I felt the suffocating sense of my magic being suppressed, but that could have been made worse by Lisette’s control of me. Screaming. Then the images stopped.

Next, I lay on my bed, staring at small strips of light that periodically crossed the ceiling, and concentrating on what I could hear rather than what I felt. I knew I'd already tried to reach the narrow, filthy window, but the cold, thick chain kept rubbing my sore ankle, and wouldn't let me get any closer than a couple of feet away. All I could ascertain was: we might have been held in a basement, which was not completely below ground. There were narrow panes of glass running across the top of the wall, each covered in thick grime. With no way to reach them, and nothing to throw at them, all I could do was watch. From the brief flashes of light, I guessed it was night, and the lights came from headlamps of vehicles that were either pulling in or leaving.