Love lines (17 page)

“Maybe Darcy can say how old was Lillian? She knows the
legends of Dever after all,” assumed my friend.

“Maybe. We must not forget to ask her about it,” said
Evan. “Amanda, would you like to take a walk before dinner?”

“I would love to,” she said shyly.

They left, leaving me and Christian alone.

“Are you still worried about them?” I asked.

“Not really. I just don’t want to wipe my beloved
sister’s tears and lose my best friend,” Christian said putting his hands
around my waist.

 “So you
are
still
worried,” I smiled.

“Eileen, I’m worried about many things, beginning with
our relationship and ending with your constant waste of energy to control the
elements.”

He closed his eyes for a second and continued:

“Every day I wake up thinking about what might happen to
you today, and how I can protect you from all of these. I think about you all
the time, checking your emotions constantly.”

“You don’t have to think about me all the time,
Christian. You have enough stress before the festival even without  me  and  my
 problems,”  I  said,  taking  his  face  in my hands.

“I'm scared to fall asleep every night and that your
nightmares might start again,” he added, drawing me closer to him.

In moments like this, I felt completely safe. I felt so
good in his embrace, that it seemed that all the forces of nature were helping
us when we were together.

“I don’t have nightmares anymore. And I always feel your
presence, Christian,” I said, squeezing up tightly to his chest.

Chapter 17. The
Quarrel (
Christian)

This morning I was awakened by a loud knocking.

“Evan,” I muttered.

“Couldn’t you come at least
a little
later?” I
asked sleepily, opening the door.

“Sorry, but I couldn’t. We have other things to do
later,” he said, settling into a chair. “While you and Eileen were having your
sweet
talk yesterday, Amanda and I managed to find out something.”

“So, you didn’t just ask her for a walk?”

“Well, yes and no. We met Darcy accidentally, and guess
what she said? First, Alexis really spent many years in Europe and came back
here right before her appointment, which is strange, because the candidates for
the presidency of Dever pass a strict selection. They should be here at least
for a few months before the appointment. Second, no one knows how she managed
to get to Dever, because her name wasn’t even mentioned in the book of
invitations. Lastly, Darcy confirmed our assumption that Lillian Wizardy wasn’t
eighteen when she died. She died three days before her birthday.”

Evan’s news quickly helped me to wake up. Now there were
so many thoughts in my head that it seemed as if I hadn’t slept at all and the
anxiety of the previous day just flowed smoothly into today.

“So it means that Lilly didn’t know about the spirit,” I
summed it up. “As for Alexis, I’m completely confused...”

“Me too,” Evan nodded. “I can see that you haven’t
cleaned up after yesterday’s mess,” he noticed. I didn’t hear his last words,
so was surprised a little when the papers scattered on the floor, flew in the
air and were put on my desk again.

“Thanks. I didn’t have time to do it myself,” I said
dully.

“I can imagine what you were busy with yesterday,” he
said with a grin.

“Speaking about yesterday, is there anything between
Amanda and you?” I asked him directly.

“Do you mind?”

“I still don’t know what I feel about it actually.”

“Hey, we just like to spend time together. Don’t get
angry.”

“I just want you to be very careful and not to hurt my
sister. Don’t give her reason to hope for something more, if you don’t want
it.”

“To be honest, I don’t really know what I want. Amanda is
very nice and we have fun. She is smart and beautiful, that in itself is a rare
combination.”

“Evan, I just want to warn you,” I said, going to the
bathroom.

“By the way, Christian, I hope you haven’t forgotten
about today's party? Vanessa is also invited. I think you should talk to her
before it,” said Evan, leaving.

He was right - I had to deal with this problem before
this evening, otherwise this party could become one of my worst nightmares.

Taking a shower and getting dressed, I went to my
classes. My show had been a success every time since Eileen gave me a part of
her power. The flames turned out bright and the pattern was clear. I wanted to
weave some more flowers into it, especially for Eileen: heather - as a symbol
of protection that I was always ready to give her; gloxinia - as a symbol of my
love at first sight, and marjoram - as a symbol of happiness, which she brought
into my life. I was hoping only that my powers would be enough to turn that
idea into reality. I didn’t want Eileen to spend too much energy on experiments
with the elements. Although I knew that if I was nearby, nothing could happen
to her, still I didn’t want to risk it. I cherished her very much. Even more, I
loved her with all my heart and I couldn’t imagine my life without her. And for
the sake of her life, I was ready to sacrifice everything. Just in a few days,
she managed to do something that couldn’t be done by anyone else - to become a
center of my universe. So now I was overwhelmingly grateful to the heavens for
such a gift.

When I was about to approach the academic building, I
heard the familiar voice of Vanessa. Seeing me, she left her friends and ran up
to me.

“Christian! I'm so happy to see you! I was away for a
few days and I missed you so much!” she sang, hugging my neck.

I stepped back, removing her hand.

“Vanessa, we need to talk.”

“Oh, I wanted to talk to you too! Did you remember that
Anna has invited us to a party today?”

“That's what I wanted to talk about. Listen...”

“You can’t go with me again?” she asked aggrievedly.

“No, I mean, I'm going to the party, but... Vanessa,
we've never been together officially, you know? Yes, we did have a good time,
although...”

“What are you talking about, Christian? Everyone has
considered us as a couple for a long time!”

“Only you think so,” I thought, but didn’t say it aloud.

“Vanessa, there is nothing between us.”

“But you kissed me!” she screamed childishly.

“I’m really sorry, but a few kisses don’t mean that we
are a couple...”

God, could this talk be any harder?

“Are you breaking up with me?” she asked with tears in
her eyes.

“No. How can you break up when only one of us thought
there was a relationship?”

“But why? You've got someone else?” she asked, still
holding her ground.”

“Yes. I love another girl,” I said honestly.

“Oh, I hate you, Christian!” she cried, turning away.

I knew that I should have explained all of this to her
long before now. I didn’t want to hurt her feelings, but there was no doubt
that tonight she would come to the party with a new boyfriend.

The Festival was about to be held in a week. I tried to
fix my program as planned and was pleased with the result. Intertwined with
flowers, it became even more exotic. Only for a moment it seemed to me that
some lines had lost the previous brightness. Whatever it was, I knew how things
should be done and decided not to try any longer to repeat the whole
presentation in order to preserve energy for the main performance. Evan found
me in the class.

“Still practicing?” he asked, coming in. “Will you show
me what should happen at the end?”

“No. I want it to be a surprise,” I said, avoiding his
gaze.

“Is something wrong, Christian?”

Why did my best friend have to be one of Wizardy?
Nothing could be hidden from him!

“Everything’s fine, Evan. I just don’t want to waste too
much energy,” I said.

“Since when have you been worried about the lack of
power? Wait, do you feel like you won’t be able to handle it?”

“Evan, it’s just a precautionary measure.”

“No, it’s not,” he said, staring at me. “The energy
Eileen shared with you, may not be enough?” he guessed.

“Yes,” I said honestly.

“And you still don’t want to ask her for help,” he
continued.

“You are right, I still don’t want this. You know how
dangerous it is. Everything will be fine without any help. I'm sure about it.”

 Though I didn't sound very confident.

“Judging by your voice, I wouldn’t say so,” reading my
mind, pointed Evan.

“So don’t say anything. And please, don’t tell Eileen
about our conversation. I know that she would want to help.”

“Okay, as you wish. Have you already talked to Vanessa?”
he wondered.

“Yes.”

“And?”

“And nothing. I just said that we can’t be together.”

“So she gave you her blessing to a new relationship just
like that?” laughing, asked Evan.

“Almost.”

“Obviously! I can only imagine,” he said, hardly
suppressing just another chuckle. “What time does the party start?”

“At seven-thirty.”

“Well, then see you there,” he added, leaving.

 I decided to spend the rest of the time before the
party reading Lillian’s dream dictionary. Besides depending of dream on the
moon phases, I paid attention to the section on thematic interpretation of
dreams. In particular, to the importance of water.

Thus, according to the records, deep water, whether
river or sea, meant upcoming experiences. Depending on what feelings the water
caused, experiences could be easy or difficult. It was also important to know
whether a person was in the water alone, or accompanied by someone else.
Judging by the fact that Eileen was in the lake together with Medellin, it was
possible to conclude that the upcoming experiences were deliberately assigned
by someone. Another dozen of questions appeared in my head.

Could Medellin’s desire to get rid of me in those dreams
mean that Eileen had to go through something alone? Was this due to the fact
that some lines on her palms were lighter than mine? Eileen also heard a man’s
voice. According to the dream book, the voices of invisible people could mean a
hidden support... or threat, depending on what the voice was saying. Could
there be someone who really knew the solution to these riddles? Was this
someone really a stranger or had we not noticed him among those around us? Was
it a threat or a sign of help? Something told me that the answers should be
somewhere close.

A few hours later I went to the party. It wasn’t even
seven o’clock yet, but the hall was already full of guests. Someone laughed
merrily, enjoying the evening and champagne on the terrace, some were listening
to music, while others, like Amanda and Evan, were arguing on the sidelines.

“What's the fighting about?” I asked, walking up to
them.

“Evan is talking nonsense,” giving an angry glance to my
friend, Amanda said.

“What’s wrong?”

“Christian, Evan suspects that our father is connected
to the strange story with Eileen.”

“Let me explain,” interfered Evan. “Today, after I left
you in the educational building, I decided to take another look at the books in
the office of Alexis. When I approached the Administration, I accidentally
overheard your father talking to someone on the phone. And his conversation was
very strange. I heard Eileen’s name. I stopped at the door and listened. He
told someone that the two of you had already met, and that your acquaintance
may complicate matters significantly. I didn’t get anything else, but his comment
seemed quite suspicious.”

“Dad could have been talking about a different Eileen,”
Amanda said stubbornly.

“Yes, but not
every
Christian knows Eileen,”
replied Evan.

“I think it's strange too,” I said. “It’s not the first
time we found out that our father is hiding something. As it turned out, we
knew nothing about his bond of friendship.”

“You are not saying that he was lying intentionally, are
you?” asked my sister.

“I don’t say that he is lying. But he certainly keeps
secrets. And I don’t like it. Especially, if it really concerns Eileen and me.
I'll talk to him tomorrow.”

“You won’t be able to. He and Alexis went to London
today to the Congress of the League of Keepers,” said Evan.

“Either way he has a lot of explaining to do,” I said
firmly, ignoring Amanda. “By the way, why is Eileen not here yet?”

“She will be in a minute,” Amanda said offended and left
us alone. Evan’s concerned expression was clearly saying that he wasn’t going
to hurt her with his assumptions.