Reckless Magic (49 page)

The door closed behind Angelica and
Conrad was next in line. He repeated the same procedure as
Angelica, only this time the door illuminated in army green, to
resemble the brand of magic he carried. I realized at that moment
that I may not be able to keep my promise to Lilly, since it seemed
to enter the secret room of the Resistance, one must already be a
member or on their way to become one.

I squeezed Lilly’s hand tighter as I
watched Terrance and then Avalon both enter the room in turn. Amory
turned towards us, his expression pure excitement. He held out his
hand to Lilly and she accepted the offer silently.

“
I’m afraid you won’t be
able to join us, Eden dear. Unless you are also willing to join our
humble cause tonight,” I saw the hope in his black eyes and felt
ashamed when I shook my head no.

“
Then you had better wait
out here,” his smile softened into a sadder version of happiness
and I was struck with guilt. Some small part of me understood that
I could not waver in the middle much longer. Sooner or later I
would have to make a choice; I would have to join a cause that
would eventually lead to the death of the person I loved with all
of my soul, or I would have to turn my back on this cause and
alienate myself entirely from the only family I would ever
have.

I squeezed Lilly’s hand one more time
before letting go and gave her an encouraging smile. She returned
my smile with renewed confidence and I suddenly felt envious. Her
brilliant emerald eyes shone with sheer determination and something
more, something much like victory. Then, Amory was lighting the
door and I watched them disappear behind the thick wall of
stone.

Can I watch? I spoke to my twin
brother telepathically, hoping he would understand my need to be
involved. Although I could have easily opened our twin sense and
made the decision for myself, I felt obligated to ask Avalon for
his permission. I had a hard time invading his privacy unannounced.
He, on the other hand, had absolutely no problem spying on
me.

As long as you don’t interrupt. Avalon
replied, slightly exasperated. I loved my brother dearly, but when
he was in super commando leader mode, I couldn’t help but find him
more than a little irritating.

I leaned against the cool stone wall
in the wide passageway. On this side of the door the torches
flickered, casting long shadows on the rough floor. I closed my
eyes and melted my mind with Avalon’s, opening my senses with our
similar magic. I saw through his eyes, heard through his ears and
felt through his senses.

Although my vision was limited to what
Avalon was looking at, I could still take in the room. The space
behind the thick stone door was smaller than I had imagined it to
be. A large, dark wooden chair sat in a circular area, illuminated
only by candle light. Hundreds of tiered candles sat on long, low
tables circling the rooms. They took up most of the wall space,
except where a door was located.

There were four other doors besides
the stone one blocking my path. They were wooden, and not made from
stone; however, the same symbolic snake crested them as well. A
deep pot of sorts sat not far from the lone chair that Lilly had
now taken. The large cauldron was full of some type of iridescent
liquid and although I couldn’t see any fire beneath the pot, it
seemed to be bubbling as if boiling.

Avalon stared at Lilly intently. I
could see the tension in her eyes and she gripped the armrests of
the chair tightly with both hands. Amory was asking her a series of
questions and she nodded confidently despite the terror I could
tell she was feeling.

Avalon was also tense; I could feel
that he was afraid she would back out. I could feel him admire her
beauty, which felt a little bizarre coming from Avalon, and that he
would desperately like her to join the cause. In part, but not
entirely, he felt that way because he thought Lilly would have
influence over me. I smiled on the outside of the door, wondering
if he was right.

“
Lilly Elizabetta Mason, you
are about to join a cause that stands directly opposed to the
monarchy and king and if you are found out the price is your life.
Are you sure you want to give up your rights as an Immortal, your
eternal life as an Immortal and your fate as an Immortal,
surrendering them all under the cause of the Resistance?” Amory
asked Lilly gravely.

She responded with a strong
“Yes.”

“
Then Lilly, through any
trial, tribulation, torture and trap the Resistance will always
give you aid, always give you support and always give you
sacrifice. You are, little sister, one of us, wholly, and
forever.”

Amory paused to smile benevolently and
reassuringly at Lilly before gesturing toward Conrad and Terrance.
They moved towards Lilly in slow but swift movements and then began
to strap her down with restraints I had not noticed before,
attached to the chair.

I stood up straight, overcome with
anxiety for my dear friend. Why on earth would they need to strap
her down? She looked like she was about to be electrocuted by some
old school torture tool, something straight out of a fifties era
death row chamber. And although I could see that Lilly was
willfully allowing them to tie her to the chair, and through it all
she seemed to have significantly calmed down, I could not believe
she really understood what she was about to go through.

I began to pace the hallway nervously,
doing my best to find a way into that room. If things went badly
for Lilly, I refused to do nothing. I did not risk my life to save
her in Romania from Lucan, only to bring her back to Omaha and
watch her die at the hands of my brother and
grandfather.

Calm down. You’re so dramatic. Avalon
sent me a thought and I inwardly cringed, realizing I had promised
not to interrupt him.

You better not hurt her. I seethed
through my thoughts, finding it slightly ironic he was the one
calling me dramatic. He rolled his eyes, not only inwardly but
physically as well.

Eden, the whole process is hurt. She’s
going to be in a lot of pain in just a few seconds and there is
absolutely nothing you can do about it. Just remind yourself that
she chose this path, and this path comes with a price. Avalon’s
words hit a nerve and I was suddenly agitated. I knew that he
didn’t mean to hurt me, but he was right. She chose this path
willingly and there was absolutely nothing I could do about
it.

When I tuned back in to the events
unfolding beyond the stone door, Lilly was completely buckled down,
from the top of her head to the soles of her feet. She looked
painfully uncomfortable even if this was her choice. Besides the
chair restraints, Conrad, Terrance and Amory had also taken hold of
her as if adding to the support of the buckles.

Angelica stood in the corner near the
bubbling cauldron of shimmering light. She had put on a pair of
long, thick work gloves and held a lengthy, cylindrical glass tube
with a bulb on one end and a narrowed point on the other. When
Amory nodded his head, Angelica dipped the cylinder into the vessel
point side down. She stirred the flickering illumination around
until the tube itself seemed to be full of the same mystery;
something not quite liquid, not quite light.

When the glass bulb itself began to
glisten, she pulled the cylinder out of the cauldron. Angelica
walked carefully, methodically over to Lilly, holding the glass
cylinder by the point. Once she reached her, she took a long moment
to breathe and maybe meditate before pressing the bulb against
Lilly’s neck and jawbone just beneath her right earlobe.

Suddenly I understood the restraints.
As soon as the glass tube touched Lilly’s skin she let out a
blood-curdling scream that engulfed the small room. I covered my
ears instinctively, although technically no sound reached beyond
the stone door.

Lilly began to thrash aggressively,
despite the fact that she had three grown men and numerous buckles
holding her down. Her eyes rolled into the back of her head and I
could see her seize violently. She continued to scream, loud and
menacingly, a sound that would haunt me for a very long
time.

Despite Lilly’s struggle, Angelica
continued to hold the glass cylinder to her neck, never faltering,
never moving. I noticed the light inside the tube begin to drain,
and Lilly’s skin begin to shine a shade of shimmering violet. Her
entire being was engulfed in the beautiful lilac, shining and
glistening.

If my friend wasn’t in so much
terrifying pain I would have found the effect absolutely
captivating. Unfortunately, despite her beauty, Lilly seemed to be
in an insurmountable amount of hurt. She continued to scream and
shake long past the last drops of light had drained into her
skin.

Suddenly the shimmering lavender
intensified into a deep and bright purple, painting everything in
the small room with its concentrated color. As quickly as the color
grew bright, it diminished into a small snake eating its tale just
below the earlobe of Lilly’s right ear. And finally there was
silence; Lilly slumped, unmoving in her chair.

I relaxed, exhaling a breath I had not
realized I was holding. Apparently my relief was premature however,
as only seconds after Lilly had calmed down, she began again with
another round of screaming and thrashing. I left Avalon’s head
unable to withstand the sight of my dear friend enduring so much
pain. I cowered against the wall and let out a choking
sob.

The door opened slightly and Avalon
slipped through to my side of the stone. His face was etched with
the same pain that I imagined mine was, minus the tears. He stood
facing me with a mixture of sorrow and exhaustion that aged him for
a moment. For only a moment, I didn’t see my sometimes irritating
and always overdramatic twin brother, in his place I saw a great
leader, and a great man. I shook my head quickly, reminding myself
of the here and now.

“
Where is she?” I peered
around Avalon, expecting the door to open again at any
second.

“
She has to stay here for a
while. She has to recover,” Avalon spoke softly and with
compassion.

“
What do you mean? We have
school,” I said plainly, as if the choice Lilly just made shouldn’t
interfere with high school.

“
Lilly won’t be able to come
to school for a while Eden. You don’t need to worry about her
though; she’s in very capable hands,” Avalon began walking towards
the exit and I followed, realizing he was right.

“
She will be alright?” I
asked timidly. I wanted to trust him, I knew I needed to trust him,
but the image of Lilly facing so much physical pain would give me
nightmares. I could not imagine going through the same torture
myself willingly.

“
Of course. I’m just fine,
aren’t I?” Avalon replied and I held back a sarcastic thought.
“Just fine,” was pretty relative. “Besides don’t you have a
rendezvous with what’s his name? You better forget about Lilly for
now, until that kid isn’t around anymore. Eden, he can’t know
anything about her induction, got it?” his compassion had turned
into hard lecturing, although I did understand his
point.

“
I got it,” I replied,
confident that it wouldn’t be a problem, but uncertain Lilly’s
induction wouldn’t cloud my thoughts the rest of the evening all
the same. “And you can use Kiran’s name. Amory’s not going to kick
you out or anything.”

Avalon only grunted his reply. We both
knew Amory was not the problem. Avalon hated Kiran with a passion
and never missed an opportunity to remind me.

Despite Avalon, I blushed at the
thought of seeing Kiran tonight. I hadn’t seen him alone since
before we came home, at his hotel suite in Geneva, Switzerland. Our
time there was so intimate and special I had been nervous about
seeing him again since.

Kiran sent Talbott over late last
night to inform me of our date tonight. Well, I didn’t really know
if you could call it a date, but we would finally get to be
together…. away from school, away from Seraphina and away from
Talbott. The horror of Lilly’s induction faded quickly when
replaced with the sweet thoughts of our upcoming moments
together.

“
You mean booty call? I’m
coming by the way,” Avalon interrupted my daydreams and I stopped
dead in my tracks.

“
What?” I
squealed.

“
Eden, seriously?” Avalon
turned around to give me his best chastising glare. “Prime
surveillance opportunity. Wouldn’t miss it for the world,” he
turned quickly on his heel, leaving me gaping after him. A date
with Kiran, might be more than a little awkward if Avalon was
planning on chaperoning.