Nightwish (An Echoes of Eternity Novel Book 1) (15 page)

Without hesitation, he said, “Of course. I should have died long ago.”

“Then where do you belong?”

A pained expression made it obvious that he’d done things that still haunted him. “That depends on whether God or Lucifer will call upon me.”

“Call you?” Brandon asked. “You’re saying, Satan has a telephone?”

“Yeah,” Kendall responded. “Check your front pocket. It’s the only large object in that area.” When Brandon burst out laughing, she permitted a slight grin before looking at Darius with a serious expression. “At some point, someone must have seen a werewolf tearing up a human body. Someone must have found a couple puncture holes in a person’s neck.”

“You forget: news traveled much slower back then. Also, I have the ability to compel people to forget certain things.”

I shook my head. “So you must know when someone’s a…creature?”

Darius’s gaze skimmed from me to Brandon and back to me. “In most cases: yes.”

“So why not kill them when they’re in human form?”

“It’s not as simple as that.”

“They were created by magic.
You
were recreated by magic. And you even admitted that you don’t belong here. So why is it ‘not as simple as that’?”

“Every individual has free will. Each person or creature has a right to determine which direction to choose.”

“Gimme a break,” said Brandon. “Freud would have a field day with this one.”

“You
also
knew Sigmund?” Darius released a laugh without the least bit of humor. “Doubtful!”

“Huh?” Brandon asked, confused. “I’m just saying, you’re either evil or you’re not. There’s no in between.”

This time, Darius chuckled with more than a bit of agitation in his voice. “This from a man whose only career aspiration is to pound two sticks on a set of drums?”

“Okay,” I said, interrupting to move the conversation forward. “Some creatures aren’t bad. Like you, for instance.” Seeing a disturbed expression on his face, I said, “I didn’t mean it like that. I meant—”

“I was human once, but I’m not a monster. I’m just different. And as I’ve stated, I was turned against my will. Yet, since then, I’ve protected every generation of your family for over three hundred years.” He paused for a long moment, a hard stare glinting in his eyes. “For those reasons, I demand more respect.”

I hadn’t expected such a cold outburst. “You’re right.” His determined expression frightened me. He looked inhuman, unpredictable. “I apologize.”

He stared me down for a while before accepting my apology with a nod of his head.

“Now that we’ve got that straight,” I said, doing my best not to let on that he’d unhinged me, “how do we go about preventing these creatures from walking the earth?”

“Ensure that there are three properly trained firstborn witches in your line until the end of time…or until one of them can end the spell Zephora created.”

“Then we’ll do that,” I said. “We’ll break the spell that ends our line.”

Darius sneered. “If it was that easy, don’t you think one of your ancestors would have achieved that by now? You must understand: no witch in your family has come close to obtaining the power Zephora once controlled…or still controls. After all, she took over Lorraine’s body. No other witch has been able to wield that kind of power.”

“Why?”

He looked mystified by that question. “I don’t know.”

A streak of fright whipped through me. “But there has to be a way to prevent it.”

“Celestina is special,” Darius said. “I
feel
her power. She has as much power as her mother and grandmother combined. That has never happened before. I can only imagine it must be a consequence of having been born of a mother who is a twin.”

Darius stared at me with an aggravated expression for what felt like forever. “If anyone can stop Zephora, it would be Celestina. If not, creatures will be able to leave the city.”

That last bit intrigued me. “Why Chicago? Why not the rest of the world?”

“Zephora specified that any individual with supernatural powers must remain in the same town as those in your line.”

“So these monsters can’t go to New York or London or Shanghai. They have to stay in Chicago?”

“I take exception to the term ‘monster’, but yes, that’s correct.”

“But what purpose does that serve?”

“To ensure that your line maintains control over them, and that is exactly what Zephora seems intent on disrupting, so she can command supernatural creatures across the globe.

“You’re kidding,” I said, only half-believing Darius. “That’s preposterous.”

“It is. But not to Zephora, who must have contacted your mother about entering your grandmother’s body in hopes of putting her plan in effect. But now that she’s gone—”

“My mother wants to finish her work.”

“Not just that, but your mother wants what Zephora wanted: for supernatural beings to be as commonplace as humans. She wants them to do her bidding, to be her private army, to help her rule the world.”

“My mother wants all that?” I didn’t know Delphine, so I couldn’t sum up her character or her ambition. Furthermore, I had a difficult time believing anyone who Grams had nurtured would become so power-hungry.

“Set aside your doubt. Lorraine knew exactly what your mother sought. That’s why she lost all faith in her.”

I couldn’t deny the logic in that argument. It all seemed too hypothetical, too illogical. “How do I stop her?”

“I don’t know. You’re part of their line. Your kind has always restored balance in one way or another over the past few hundred years. I suggest you consult your ancestors.”

“But they’re dead.”

“In bodily form? Yes. In spirit? No. As I said, when they pass to the other side, one-third of their energy remains behind, allowing them to guide those in their line who arrived after them. You just have to learn how to contact them.”

“So you’re saying I can communicate with ghosts? Like I did with Grams a little while ago?”

“Yesterday? Yes.”

“No, five minutes ago. Right here. In the shop.” Seeing incomprehension on his face, I said, “You didn’t see her? How is that possible? You saw her last night.”

He gave that some thought. “When one passes to the other side, that person has the power and authority to determine who she shows herself to. That explains why your grandmother bypassed me in order to speak with you.” He glanced off to the side, unable to hide his disappointment. “It seems one hundred years of service doesn’t entitle me to her circle of trust.” He didn’t budge a muscle, didn’t look the least bit perturbed by this fact. Sort of as though he’d expected such treatment.

Nevertheless, I had no trouble picking up the discontent from the inflection of his tone. “I’m sure she had a very good reason to appear to me.”

Darius didn’t look convinced.

“Maybe she already has the utmost faith in you. After all, she knows I need your help in learning about my heritage.”

“That makes sense.”

“So you’ll help me stop them?”

He nodded. “We must begin as soon as possible.”

“The only problem is…I’m new to all this. How do we begin? How do we stop a woman bent on world domination?”

“Your mother wants
The Book of Souls
.” A smirk lined his face. “I say we give it to them.”

Behind him, the mysterious chamber that I’d walked into yesterday shimmered brighter than before. This time, I saw what stood in the middle of the room. Inside the glass case stood a tall wooden podium. A reddish glow emanated from within.

When I looked at Darius, I suspected that he had only guessed that
The Book of Souls
was somewhere in the building. It meant that even Grams, who’d trusted Darius with most everything, hadn’t entrusted him with the location of the grimoire. It brought up numerous questions, but the most pressing was: if she’d trusted him for a century, why hadn’t she trusted him with the location of
The Book of Souls
?

It made me wonder whether I could trust Darius.

CHAPTER TWELVE

Although I wanted to rush into the secret chamber and start inspecting the glowing item inside the glass case, I didn’t want to give away knowledge of its presence. I had to trust Grams’s judgment in not sharing it with anyone. 

I stared at Darius. “We can’t give them something we don’t have.”

“Did Lorraine release the grimoire to your protection?”

“Yes.”

“But she didn’t tell you where to find it?” He looked skeptical. “Then why relinquish it to you?” He studied my face, eager to extrapolate any details I hadn’t unveiled.

“I don’t know.” His solemn expression sent a sliver of creepiness up my spine. He looked like a drug addict dealing with the early stages of withdrawal. Unnerved, I redirected the conversation. “If we’re going to deal with my family, I need to know what special powers they have.”

His anxiety departed quickly, perhaps too quickly, as though attempting to hide his impatience. “Delphine has the ability to alter the structure of molecules around her.” He looked to Brandon and Kendall. “That explains how she made you burn and freeze externally.”

Brandon looked appalled. “You mean, she could have frozen us internally as well?”

“Yes.”

“How far can she manipulate molecules around her?” Kendall asked.

“Sixteen feet or so. You see, every witch, depending on her gifts, can control her powers within a circumference of three times her height.”

“Zephora,” I said, “was obsessed with the number three.”

“Wait a second,” I said to Darius. “If this whole three-times-your-height-circumference-thing is true, how could Zephora keep supernatural creatures within Chicago?”

“I don’t know. She limited all future witches with this power, but she was not bound by that same spell. She’d want to ensure that no witch had more magical influence than her.”

Then how could anyone defeat Zephora?
That’s when I realized that either Grams, or her ancestors, had done it three times in the past. But how?

“Other than Delphine’s ability to commune with the dead,” Darius said, “she’s resistant to illness or fatigue. Your sister can invoke ice, sleet, hail, and frigid temperatures. Besides her telepathic ability, she can move objects with her mind. Celestina obviously portends future events and can reincarnate the dead, but she can also mimic any person’s form simply by touching them.”

“She’s a shapeshifter?” I asked. “Is there a way for me to identify her if she’s someone other than herself?”

“Only birthmarks, freckles, scars and the like identify any given shapeshifter.”

“So if she had a birth mark on her face, it would remain in place no matter whose form she replicated?”

“Precisely.”

That explanation blew me away. But knowing that Celestina could impersonate others comforted me. In the instance, if her mother or grandmother mistreated her, my niece could shapeshift to avoid punishment, since she didn’t have any distinguishing marks on her face, and they wouldn’t know it. But all told, I didn’t want to contemplate battling my mother and sister. I could use martial arts in close proximity to Alexis, but what good would that do…if she could toss a semi-truck at me with a mere thought?

“If you haven’t spent any time with them,” I said, “how do you know all this?”

“Your grandmother. In the past day, while Zephora had locked her out of her body, Lorraine communicated with Celestina, who imparted that knowledge. I sense you’ve discovered your second ability.”

“She can create fire,” Kendall said, “and throw it at hot guys.”

“You have pyrokinetic abilities?” he asked. “As a twin, both you and your sister split your mother’s ability to distort molecules.”

“Is that abnormal?” I asked.

“Ordinarily, each witch is born with one gift that is similar to her mother’s abilities. For instance, Alexis’s telepathic ability passed to her daughter in the form of second sight. The same would hold true if you had a daughter, although the strength of her abilities would match yours. From what I’ve learned and understood about your family history, a witch doesn’t need to concentrate in order to allow her abilities to take hold. She does, however, need to learn how to control such proclivities. For example, to call upon fire, you’d just need to think about it in the palm of your hand, and it will appear.”

“That’s the most absurd thing I’ve ever heard.”

“It’s more preposterous than my being vampiric?”

He had me there.

Brandon yawned. “That would be the most kick-ass thing on stage. Can you image? You start throwing fireballs around? The crowd would go nuts. Damn, I’m exhausted. What time is it?” He glanced at his watch. “Holy shit, it’s four in the morning!”

Kendall said, “Serena, you can crash at our apartment tonight. I don’t want you going back home…in case your mother or sister come looking for you.”

“Okay, thanks,” I said through a yawn of my own. “What if it happens on accident again…or if I’m spacing out and I just light someone on fire?”

“Does that happen often?” Darius asked. “The desire to burn someone alive?”

“No,” I said, practically laughing.

“Then it won’t occur.”

Brandon clapped, drawing our attention. “What kind of crowd do we draw at bars? Twenty-people
max
? It’s depressing! This will give us a following.”

Kendall said, “That’s because we didn’t have a guitarist. We’ve been incredibly lucky to have people show up at
any
of our gigs. We needed a power instrument. We’re a metal band without a guitarist. It’s unheard of. It’s ludicrous. It’s—”

“A failure,” I said. “My throwing fireballs around on stage might get people to see us, but it’s fake because we wouldn’t have
earned
their attention. My magic is a birthright. When it comes to
our
music, it’s all of us working together as a band. We all play a part. I won’t pretend otherwise.”

“And that’s why we’ll succeed,” said Brandon. “You started this band, and we know you’ll make it happen.” He looked to Kendall, and she nodded in agreement.

As our bandleader, I appreciated that they believed in me so strongly. It gave me a level of confidence that helped me to push past constantly thinking about losing Grams. Over the past six months, I’d prepared myself mentally and emotionally for such a loss, but knowing I’d never see her again hurt more than I wanted to think about. So I did everything I could
not
to think about her, which was difficult because that’s all I wanted to think about.

So I redirected my thoughts to more pressing matters. “If my family gets the grimoire,” I said to Darius, “what can they do with it?”

“I don’t know.”

Irritation marked Kendall’s face. “How is that possible? You worked with Grams for one hundred years. And during that entire time, she didn’t tell you anything about it?”

“No. I’ve never seen
The Book of Souls
. But even if I had, it would change nothing: only a witch who possesses it can read it.”

This time, I had no problem cutting to the issue at hand. “Why didn’t she trust you?”

Darius met my gaze, but he remained silent.

No matter how long I examined his features, I couldn’t detect even the least bit of emotion within him. I suspected that he refused to answer my question out of shame. It left me more than a bit uneasy. “So you’ve sworn to protect me, but…I can’t trust you. Do you see a conflict of interest there?”

“Indeed.” But he didn’t expound upon that one word.

I did my best to control my anger. “So if my mother or sister gets the grimoire, how am I supposed to get it back? They’re unstoppable!”

“I disagree. What do you know about your sister?”

“She’s arrogant,” said Brandon. “And she thinks she’s
totally
hot.” He gave that comment some thought. “Well, she is. My God, did you see those—”

“A blind man could have seen them,” said Kendall, disgusted. “You act like breasts are the rarest things on Earth. Newsflash: half the population has them. They’re not rare.”

“But they are rare…to a connoisseur.” Brandon shook his head, obviously regarding her comments as ludicrous. “Believe me, there’s a difference. And
those
…were special.”

“Sometimes you’re like a fourteen-year-old boy. She’s a witch. Did you ever think that maybe she’s done some kind of spell? That maybe they’re magic boobs?”

“Who cares? It’s the male version of the saying: ‘every woman wants a man who is young, hung, and oh so fun.’”

“That’s not a saying. You just made it up.”

“So what? Is it any less true?”

I appreciated the break in dealing with more serious issues, but we had to stay on topic. “Focus, guys.”

Kendall looked frustrated. “It’s hard to think about anything other than you losing Grams, that your mother might want to kill you, and Brandon’s infatuated with a psycho.”

Amused, Brandon shook his head. “Psycho is a bit judgmental, don’t you think? I prefer the term ‘misunderstood.’”

“Will you feel the same way when she turns you into a block of ice?”

I turned to Darius. “You mentioned the strength of my line. How can I tell if it cracks?

“Strange news stories will appear in the papers, on the nightly news, and on the Internet: bodies drained of blood or clawed to shreds and mauled. Humans killing each other without reason.”

In other words, no one would at first notice that vampires, werewolves, or demons walked the Earth until the same crimes kept repeating themselves all over Chicago. “Do you think Delphine would set up Celestina to fail?”

“No. She would need her granddaughter’s strength to ensure that she maintained control over other supernatural creatures.”

Since my mother seemed intent to lead these creatures, I needed to stop her before they fell under her power. But I wasn’t nearly as powerful or as accomplished as my family members. I had no experience with spells and enchantments, and now I faced an impossible task.