Phantom Eyes (Witch Eyes) (15 page)

“She’s a phantom in a tower,” I snapped. “She’s a ghost that can’t get it up for reality.”

“She won’t be for long.”

I snorted. “With whose help? Because the two of you can’t seem to do anything but screw it up. She’s no closer to being free than she was ten years ago.”

“You’re wrong,” Elle said, still looking troubled. “When you restored that part of Lucien’s power to him, the bindings on my lady were loosened. The stronger he gets, the more freedoms are returned to her. Soon, she’ll be able to cross over and restore herself.”

“In all things, balance,” I quoted back to her. It was as close to a law of the supernatural as anything I’d ever seen. “She bound him, and she got trapped. That was the price.”
But what if she’d paid a different price,
I wondered.
Why that one?

I shook my head, clearing my thoughts. Jason stepped up to my shoulder, put his hand on me. “Is there anything else? You’ve given my son a lot to think about.”

Elle looked nervous. Then again, I would too if I had to go back to Grace and report that things hadn’t gone according to plan. “Tomorrow,” she said, licking her lips. “She’ll meet with you tomorrow. You can figure out where.”

“If you were smart, Elle? You’d get as far away from Grace Lans
ing as you could,” I said. “You’re her handmaiden or whatever, now, but what happens when she gets free? Because you can be naive and think that this has all been about Grace trapping Lucien, but there’s more to it than that. This has always been about something more to her. But as far as I’m concerned? You’re just as much to blame for this mess as she is. And that’s one hell of a target to have on your back.”

I turned away, shaking my head. Grace was a sociopath, so she’d probably want to meet in the church again. That much was easy. “And you might want to invest in some eye drops,” I called out as she strode from the room.

Once I was sure she’d left, I turned to Jason, who had a deep frown on his face.

“I need a favor.” There was a long pause. “Jason? Are you listening?”

“Hmm?” He looked down at me surprised, like he’d forgotten I was in the room with him.

“You know how Grace had a monument in the cemetery? And how it kind of got blown up?” I waited for his nod before I continued. “Do you think you could pay someone to replace it?”

His forehead broke out into lines of confusion. “Why?”

I gave him a small smile. “Because I want to leave her a little message.”

twenty

I spent a day and a half staring at the chessboards.

Sometimes I spun them around. Sometimes I switched from red to white. Sometimes I took pieces off the board or rearranged the ones that were already there. It wasn’t enough to play one game, or both games. I had to play all
of them. And I couldn’t afford a single mistake.

There had to be a way to balance all of the games at once. To keep Jason and Catherine occupied, to manipulate Lucien, and to outsmart Grace. To keep one, or any of them, from teaming up with one another. Riley had said that if I tried, they would overpower me. But they could only overpower me
if I gave them the chance.

He showed up about an hour before sunset. I’d changed into jeans and a black turtleneck, thrown something into my hair so it didn’t puff up in every direction, and grabbed the most ostentatious pair of sunglasses in my room. They weren’t the comfortable, plastic kinds I was used to. They were high-end, black-and-gold monstrosities, and they were perfection.

“I almost feel like a real boy,” Matthias crowed as he walked into the library. “Being summoned up to the manor by the little master. It’s like a Dickens novel come to life.”

I waited a beat and then remembered that Drew wasn’t here to jump in and make a crack about Dickens. Matthias glanced down at the boards, his fingers brushing up against one of the white rooks. He looked at me with a raised eyebrow as if to say,
well?

Rather than answering, I shifted a red pawn diagonally into the space held by the rook and knocked it over. “You’ll have better luck with a bishop,” I said. I snagged the piece in question and rolled it between my fingers.

“So why am I here, little Thorpeling? I’ve already told you that I’m not going to be able to help you in this little endeavor.” Matthias was an old demon, not quite as powerful as a Rider, but probably close. He was trapped here just like Lucien, only the difference was that his chains were a little easier to unlock. He’d been bound to protect the first church in Belle Dam, and only two bricks remained from that structure. Destroy them, and Matthias would be free.

My attention stayed completely on the board, leaving Matthias to skirt the edges of my attention. He was just a demon like Lucien, and they thought that by entering a room they were immediately the most important part of it. Just like they thought that Belle Dam was only special because of the monsters that it caged.

That was about to change.

“I’ve got her over a barrel,” I said, nodding to the game board. The red pawn was one step away from the opposite side, where it would earn a promotion and become whatever piece I desired. There were no immediate moves for white that could stop it.

“The first rule in dealing with women, is
never
expect that you have them at all,” he said. “They always have a way to surprise you.”

“Does that go double for demons?”

His lips quirked like he wanted to smile, but he resisted. “I’ve already asked once. Why am I here?” His foot tapped a restless rhythm against the carpet, like I was keeping him from something far more interesting. Knowing Matthias, that might not be far off track.

“I … need a lawyer,” I admitted.

Matthias stared me down for a good minute. All the sound in the library seemed to dwindle down to nothing—even my heart silenced itself in my chest. “How, exactly,” he started, and then just as quickly stopped. Another silence began. Matthias lowered himself down into one of the chairs, and his attention came down on the chess sets.

“Interesting,” he murmured to himself.

“I need to understand a few things, too,” I added in a sudden rush. “I can’t make a plan until I know everything.”

“So it would seem,” Matthias said. Then, louder, he called out, “Bring her in, if you please.”

I shifted in my seat, the chess piece still tucked between my fingers like a lifeline.

Drew strolled into the library, pushing a wheelchair. And sitting in the wheelchair was none other than Riley.

“I just get so lonely. I wanted some friendly faces.” Matthias said in explanation. “Now the gang’s all here.”

Drew didn’t seem surprised by the gathering, nor had he been particularly shocked when Matthias arrived and pulled both him and Riley out of her hospital room before heading over to the Thorpe estate.

“Figured you needed my help again,” he said. “Not like you can even step out your front door without screwing something up. I’m used to it by now.”

“Thanks,” I responded dryly. Drew the dick was in fine form this afternoon.

Riley had undergone the most startling transformation. Her wild hospital hair had been brushed back and tied up in a ponytail, and the outfit she wore … well, it was Amish goth. A collarless, black button-up done up all the way to her neck. A long, ankle-length black skirt with black lace at the bottom. And gloves.

“Grace wants to meet with me,” I said, pretending that Matthias hadn’t just turned my afternoon into a circus. “And I want to be prepared.”

“So pack a lunch,” Matthias replied. “Or an extra pair of underwear. I don’t know how you think I can help you.”

“If that was true, you wouldn’t have shown,” I said. I gestured towards Drew and Riley. “And you certainly wouldn’t have brought the two of them unless they were important somehow.”

Matthias rolled his eyes.

I continued, “Grace is going to have terms, and I can’t afford to let her have the upper hand. So how about you stop being a pretentious twit for half an hour and remember that if things go south, I’ll still have my powers back and I can make your life more miserable than it already is.”

“Do you even know what you want yet? A day ago, you were all set to run. Now you’re suddenly ready to fight?”

So he knew about that, huh? Matthias was paying more attention to my actions than I’d realized. “Isn’t it obvious, Matt?” I wagged the chess piece in his direction. “I want to stop all of them. Not just Jason and Catherine. Not just Lucien.
All of them
. At the same time. Because every time you cut a head off this feud, it turns out there’s a whole other layer you never saw coming. So you’re going to help me tear out the roots … or you’re going to be the first demon I destroy.”

Matthias kept his silence for only a span of seconds before the tension in him vanished like vapor. “Then once again, I’ve come to your rescue. Because without the girl, you’ll never figure out what you need.”

I got up and held out the red bishop to her. She looked up at me, eyes in wonder, even as she snatched it out of my hands and clutched it to her chest. “Are you going to break him now? Rout his forces, fire flies, calcaneus on vertebrae, checkmate?”

I knelt down in front of her, glancing towards Matthias who gave me an approving nod, and then turned to her again. “Riley, it’s not enough to break him.” She grew still in front of me. Her lips compressed into a bloodless line. I took a deep breath. “He needs to suffer first. They all do. Can you help?”

“Braden, what the hell are you doing?” Drew demanded. “Riley’s not a part of this. Not anymore.”

“She’s still a part of this, Drew,” I said, refusing to break my connection with Riley.

“Didn’t you do enough damage the last time? She’s here because of you,” he snapped.

And like that, the air went out of me. What was I doing? Using Riley? Asking her to help me destroy my enemies? That’s something Lucien or Catherine would do.

Riley reached out and tapped my glasses. Her demon-blue eyes never blinked. I hadn’t noticed that before, but now it was all I could see. “Blind boy needs violet boy. Violet boy can save them. Violet boy can save us all. Violet boy can destroy us all.”

“But can I be one without the other?”

“Like hell,” Drew snarled, but just as he leaped up in outrage, Matthias was there at his side, a finger pressed against his temple.

“Sleep,” the demon whispered. Drew sagged back down like a puppet with its strings cut. Just before he crumpled down onto the floor, Matthias gave him a healthy shove and he ended up sprawled over the side of the couch.

“There is one more thing you need to know,” the demon said gravely. “And I’m afraid that our young mister Armstrong won’t be quite so receptive.”

A half hour later, I still couldn’t feel my legs. Riley was happily ensconced with the chess sets, and though she didn’t touch a single piece other than the bishop clutched between her fingers, she was captivated. Matthias had stoked a fire in the fireplace, though I was vaguely aware that there was no kindling inside to burn, nor wood of any kind.

Drew started to stir, and I looked away.

“It all depends on how much you want this,”
Matthias had said.
“And how far you’re willing to go.”

“What happened?” Drew slurred the words through a yawn until they were nearly one long, stretched out syllable.

“We’ll just leave the two of you alone,” Matthias demurred, pulling himself to his feet. He sauntered over to where Riley’s wheelchair had been parked and smirked over his shoulder. “Make good choices, Mr. Thorpe.”

I couldn’t tell if he meant it more as a condemnation or a warning. All I knew was that it wasn’t an innocent piece of advice. Matthias had just as much to lose in this as anyone.

The grandfather clock struck at the hour, clear bells pealing out a chorus of time. Lucien had kept a low profile since the wake. Were the church bells still doing their job and keeping him out of the way? I couldn’t imagine that would keep him down for long, but yet it already had.

“Where’s he taking her?” Drew pulled himself up into a sitting position and scrubbed a hand against the drool oozing the side of his cheek. “What’s going on?”

“I need you to listen to me very carefully, Drew.” The fire was like a swinging pocket watch. Hypnotizing. My head felt strange, like it was filled with sunset clouds, all reds and pinks and purples. I wondered about the fire, about what would happen if I slipped my fingers against the salamander and vermilion and collected it like dewdrops. Would it even hurt? I shook my head and turned away, unable to even feel the flames against my skin.

While Drew had been asleep, Matthias had had much to say. He’d even brought me the elaborate gold pen and heavy card stock notepaper. I used it now to write down two locations. “After you take Riley back,” I said, handing him the card, “I need you to pick something up for me. And then tomorrow night I need you to meet me there.”

“Are you going to tell me what the hell’s going on? You let demon boy put the mojo on me?”

I looked towards the door. Chewed my lower lip. Hesitated. Panicked. Matthias had said not to tell. Matthias said that nothing good would come of it.

Matthias wasn’t the one who was going to have to pull all the strings.

“Have you accepted anyone as your personal lord and savior lately?” I asked.