Shattered Souls (10 page)

He began laughing
and angled toward me.

“What?” I asked, frowning.

He touched my cheek gently and brought his lips close to mine. “Sometimes you are very transparent.”

I blushed immediately and laughed.
I must have had an extremely dopey look on my face.

I slid off his lap and stretched.
I wanted to act like today’s events weren’t bothering me, but they were.

“
Can I ask you something?”

“Shoot,” he said, winking.

“I don’t want my actions to resemble what my dad was doing to all of those poor souls,” I whispered. “And I feel like I crossed that line more than once today.”

“You aren’t going out of your way to create a bunch of zombies, babe. It’s not like you’re seeking
out people to brainwash.”

“Yeah, but I’m messing with people’s minds. I’m messing with their mental well-being.”

“It’s not the same. You’re not going out on the offensive. You’re using it for a just cause.”

I shrugged.
“Maybe so.”

“It’s like immortality,” his voice lowered. “There’s a time and place for it.”

“Let’s not go there,” I pleaded, wrapping my arms around his neck.

“We’re going to have to go there at some point,” he
mumbled, not looking at me. “Besides, what if they were on to it.”

“
Who to what?” I asked.

“
Would you really turn down immortality?” His eyes locked on mine. “What if I was able to achieve it too? Would that change things?”

Chapter 10

It was the middle of the night, and here we were driving to the address from Len. My hands were clasped around a cup of coffee as if my life depended on it. Logan and I had managed to grab a few hours of sleep, but they were interrupted all too soon by the alarm clock. I wanted to pretend that his words didn’t affect me earlier, but they did. If he could achieve immortality would I be so willing to let it slip out of my fingers?

We whipped
by the downtown corridor on our way to the industrial section of town. Using Google, the address looked to be in a large business park, but there were several warehouses edging the area, and we couldn’t actually tell if the address was in one of the warehouses or an office building.

“You’re awfully quiet,” Logan said.

“Sorry. Just tired,” I replied, smiling.

Logan pulled the car onto the exit and the
port lights glittered off in the distance. “I don’t know how I let you talk me into these things,” he muttered, glancing over at me.

“You know you love it.”

As we continued through the city streets, my hands got clammy. Chain link fences began replacing streetlights, and office buildings were replaced with windowless concrete buildings.

“Babe, if things go wrong, we’re going to bolt. You know that, right?” Logan asked.

“I completely agree,” I replied.

Logan slow
ed the car as we crept into the parking lot and turned off the lights. I scanned the darkened buildings until I came across a sign that read Zelo Pharmaceuticals.

“Nice. I think we
’ve found another player,” I said, pointing at the sign.

“Think you’re right about that,” Logan agreed, as we continued
driving toward the back of the complex.

They made it easy enough for us to find what we were looking for. The building was fully lit a
nd a large metal door was wide open. Workers carried boxes from a large semi-truck into the warehouse. I wanted to know what was inside those boxes. Logan parked the car behind a dumpster and turned to face me.

“I wonder who is playing who with everything going on?” Logan asked.

“Only one way to find out,” I said.

Logan shook his head and smiled.

“I think it’s time to play hide and seek with a twist,” I said.

“I hope that twist is that we’re invisible.”

I grinned and began reciting the spell, watching Logan’s body begin to disappear. If he made sudden movements, he could be spotted, but if these were only workers we probably didn’t have to worry about being spotted. They wouldn’t know to be alert.

“My turn,” I said, turning the cast to my own body.

I’d be lying if I said watching my limbs slowly vanish wasn’t a little disconcerting because it was actually terrifying.

“We’ll go out my door,” I said. “That way two doors won’t open on their own. I doubt anyone can see our car from here, but we might as well be smart about it.”

“Agreed.”

“It’s really weird hearing you but not seeing you.
” I reached for where I thought his leg might be and watched my finger reappear as it touched his body. “Whoa. Aren’t we supposed to stay invisible? That’s not normal, is it?”

“Not at all,” he replied. “We’ll have to make sure not to
bump into each other.”

“Definitely. We need to
work out the kinks when we get home, though.” I opened the door slowly and slid out. I took a few steps backward to ensure that our bodies didn’t collide and bring attention to our already precarious situation.

The door
gently closed, and I felt a breeze tickle my skin as Logan walked by me.

“After you,” he whispered next to me.

We walked along the side of the building in front of our target, and stopped at the corner. There were about fifteen men cycling through the assembly line to unload the truck. They were carting the boxes to the back of the warehouse, but it didn’t look like anyone was checking the contents of the boxes. That could make it more difficult. We’d have to snake our way back there and attempt to open a box without being noticed.

My heart began pounding
as I tried to estimate whether or not we’d make it out if we got caught.

“
We’ll make it out of here no matter what
,” Logan channeled. “
Let’s get a move on. We want to be out of here before the sun comes up.”

I nodded and immediately wanted to kick myself as I remembered he couldn’t see what I was doing.

I felt the air shift around me once more as Logan walked by. We were only a few yards away from the entrance. I followed behind Logan, staying as close to the wall as possible. The men moving the boxes were laughing and chatting about football. There were hundreds of boxes stacked at the back of the warehouse. There were several rusty tables that were scattered throughout the space with packing material on top.

A big gust of wind
whirled through the room and a packing peanut flew right into my hair. I stopped walking and plucked it out of my strands. Releasing it from my fingers, the peanut continued to float to the floor. I scanned the room quickly and none of the men noticed the rogue peanut.
Phew!

“Hey,” a man yelled.
I froze immediately, my heart racing, and slowly turned to face the direction of the voice. “Do you know when the next shipment’s coming in?”

Thank God
, he wasn’t talking to me. I watched the man turn around and walk to the truck and grab another box.

“No idea,” another guy said,
walking into the trailer.

“I’m to the left of the stack, in the back. There’s a little cubbyhole where a few boxes have been stacked. I think we can check them out without being noticed
,” Logan said telepathically.

As relief flooded through me, I scurried through the rest of the warehouse, careful not to bump into the random stepladders and tables. I reached the area he directed me to and felt my heart pounding. I wasn’t sure what I thought I would find inside these boxes.

I felt Logan standing next to me, and we quickly worked to open the box. There was a thick layer of packing material that I removed. I peeked inside and an unexpected gasp escaped. I quickly looked around the warehouse, but it didn’t look like anyone heard except Logan. Looking back down into the container, my heart fell. Tears filled my eyes. I wondered if Dace and Bakula knew this was going on.

“What do you see?”
Logan channeled.

I choked down the lump that was f
orming in my throat and gazed at the box full of fairy wings.

They were wrong. Whoever was doing this was very wrong.
Fairy wings didn’t carry the key to immortality. I wasn’t sure what did, but this wasn’t the answer, and now thousands of fairies were dead. And by the look of things, it didn’t look like the operation had any intention of slowing.

Chapter 11

“Dace and Bakula are on their way over,” I said,
still sick to my stomach. “And my aunt and mom should be here any second.”

We
’d made it back home by sunrise, but I still felt like I was in a nightmarish fog. I didn’t know exactly how to bring up what I saw at the warehouse to Dace and Bakula. My hunch was that they might well be aware of it.

“Jennifer’s going to be here today,” I said, tucking my legs under me.
I couldn’t wait to see her. “Winter break has started. God! Winter break. It’s hard to believe my friends are just finishing up their first quarter in college and I’m doing… I don’t even know what I’m doing.”

“I had this really weird dream
last night that Angela was one of us,” I whispered, rubbing my eyes.

“Your friend in Colorado? Wow. That’s weird.”

“I’m sure it was just a dream, but—”

“What if it wasn’t? Would you be okay with that?” he interrupted.

“It’s not really my choice.”

“No. I know. I just mean it seems weird to have anyone want to learn our way of life right now. It’s a dangerous time to make a change.”

I nodded in agreement. I would have been ecstatic if she would’ve wanted to do this back in high school when everything seemed so normal and safe. But now it worried me. I didn’t want to put any other friends in danger, but it wasn’t really my choice.

“She’s coming back home for Christmas break, right?” he asked.

“Yep.”

“Th
at’s probably what it is. Your dreams are just combining everything.”

“I kind of hope so,” I confided. “My mom’s coming over with Aunt Vieta to find out about our visit with Maddie, but something tells me they already know what happened.”

“Have you thought about when you’re going to tell her about being a
Divinus
?” he asked.

“I was thinking of tonight. So she’d possibly understand more as to why I’m moving out when she’s moving back in. I don’t want her to think I’m leaving because of her.”

“I have a feeling under the circumstances, she’ll understand. It’s not everyday a person finds out their daughter is what legends are made of.”

I rolled my eyes and threw him a glare. “It sounds like it’s going to your head more than mine.”

“Maybe a little.” He smiled.

Logan pulled up the ottoman and
sat down. “Are you doing okay?” he asked.

I rubbed my
forehead and looked at him. The silver in his eyes had started to dissipate once more.

“I’m not sure,” I said, forcing the sadness away. “I feel like there’s so much
at stake, and it’s overwhelming. I don’t want to let anyone down.”

Logan looked away quickly, but I caught the look in his eye
. I had seen it many times before. If I was so worried about letting people down, why would I be so willing to let the one person down that means the most to me? He didn’t say anything. He didn’t have to. I saw it in his eyes, the silent pleading to become immortal.

“My mom never sold the home my parents owned here. She’s been renting it all these years,” Logan began. “The renters have left. It’s fully furnished, and I thought that might be a good place for us.
”

“Your old house? I didn’t know you guys still owned it.”

There were so many good memories I had hanging out with Logan at that home growing up. But it was huge and old, and I didn’t want it to be a distraction.

“Isn’t it a little
over the top for us?” I asked.

“Probably, but it’s available and there’s no hiccups. My mom offered it up. I didn’t know the renters had moved out
, or I would have told you about it a while ago.”

He was right. The
least of things we needed to waste time on was house hunting.

“Is there still the original occupant?”  I asked.

He started laughing a deep rolling laugh that I hadn’t heard for far too long, even if it was at my expense.

“We
ll, I didn’t believe in fairies either and look how wrong I was,” I said, smiling.

“No. The ghost stories I told you were purely stories, nothing more.” His
smile lit up the room.

“God. I’m going to miss…” he broke off and looked away. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to say that.”

I felt the same way too and more so everyday.

“You don’t have to apologize,” I whis
pered, squeezing his hand. “Anyway, that sounds like a great idea. That’s really nice of Ellsy.”

The front door opened
, and the beautiful melody of my mom’s voice entered the home. It was so good to have her back in the house she belonged in. I hopped off the couch and ran to greet her and my aunt. My aunt stood with a tray full of Starbucks drinks in her hand.

“Are you doing al
l right?” my mom asked, hugging me. “You sounded so tired on the phone so we brought some caffeine. We heard what Maddie did to Logan. I’m so sorry. We both explained to Maddie his loyalty. I don’t know what got into her.”

“Dace and Bakula
gave me a quick highlight reel about you and her. It opened up my eyes a little,” I said, letting go of my mom.

I took a step back to take my mom in. S
he looked really good. The spark was back in her eyes. Her coloring was normal, flush and all. Plus, she was smiling, genuinely smiling. And here I was about to tell her something that would probably crush her world again.

“Snow is definitely in the air,” my mom said, shivering. “Think I’ll keep my coat on.
I know you like iced drinks sometimes, but I just couldn’t bring myself to do it.”

“Thanks.”

“So what was the big hurry to get us over here? Did Vieta spill the beans about when I was moving back in?” my mom asked, scowling at her sister.

My aunt closed the
closet door and caught my glance. Her lips pinched into a fine line. I gave her a slight nod and she returned one.

Logan came up behind me and slid his arm around my
waist. “Actually, Veronica, that’s one of the reasons we called you over. Let’s go have a seat in the kitchen.”

I gently tugged my drink out of the tray
and immediately began sipping on it while Vieta and my mom got situated around the table. My mom dipped into her purse and pulled out a bag of treats.

“I’ve been baking up a storm at Vieta’s and thought I’d bring some to share. I must say her kitchen is not nearly as wonderful as mine,” my mom teased.
“I’m really looking forward to coming back home.”

I tore open the bag to reveal apricot bars and lemon tarts. My mom really was close to her old self again, which only made this next proclamation that much more difficult.

“So, Logan, what’s so earth-shattering that we had to sit down?” my mom asked, scanning the both of us as she sat back in the kitchen chair.

“There are some developments surrounding Triss and her abilities,” Logan stopped when my mom
shot up in her chair.

“What’s wrong?” she asked, reaching for my hand.

“Nothing,” I lied.

“She’s got some special abilities,” Aunt Vieta said, surprising us both. We knew how my mom would react if she thought my aunt had been hiding things from her, so we were surprised that my aunt said anything.

My mom’s eyes grew wide and she began shaking her head.

“A Trifecta?” she whispered. “The flames…”

“Partially,” I whispered.

My mom relaxed a little. “Oh, honey. It’s okay. I turned out not to have those abilities either. It’s completely overrated. I think the only
ones disappointed in that was Dace and Bakula. And your father.”

I took a deep breath in and pushed away the apricot bar that no longer looked enticing.
“Actually, I
am
a Trifecta.”

The room fell silent as the energy quickly shifted.

“And I can see the future—”

“That’s impossible,” my mom interrupted, shaking her head frantically. She looked at my aunt
and then to me.

“I’m a
Divinus
,” I continued, “and it’s really complicating things.”

My mom shot up from her chair
and walked over to the pantry. “Who all knows?” she shouted behind her. Her tone was off. Things were being shuffled in the pantry.

“Very few,” I replied.

My mom came back out with her hands full of colored vials I didn’t recognize.

“What are those? Those weren’t on the shelves,” I said, puzzled.

She spread the purple, yellow, and red vials on the table and sat back down in a daze. “No, they weren’t. I kept them in the electrical box.”

“Why’s that?” I questioned, my abdomen tightening.

She closed her eyes and exhaled slowly. Her hands were trembling as she folded them in front of her. “Because what is inside each of the vials is toxic to most witches.”

“Then why do you have them?” I asked, glancing at Logan who looked as concerned as I was.

“Because for the right witch it can offer protection,” my aunt interjected. “Veronica, I had no idea you still had these.” She turned her attention to my mom.

“You knew about these?” I asked my aunt.

“Believe it or not the fairies were certain your mother was…well… what you are,” my aunt replied. “They guessed wrong and then they guessed right. Anyhow, they were so certain that your mom was in danger they gave her those vials to use in case she was targeted. Once they realized your mom wasn’t what they thought she was, they demanded the potions back.”

My heart fell. Why haven’t they given me anything like this? I’d say I was in danger.

“But I told them I destroyed them,” my mom finished.

“There’s no way they believed you,” I said, knowing Dace and Bakula far too well. They wouldn’t fall for something like that.

“I doubt they did, but they didn’t press me about it. I don’t know why I kept them for all these years.”

“What do they do?” Logan asked.

“They each have a different use. The one in the purple vial is for the gravest of wounds. The one in the yellow vial is for the most broken of hearts. And the one in the red vial is for the most shattered of souls.”

I trembled slightly with the last phrase.
It sounded as if the vials were setting someone up for immortality in the least corrosive manner — an eternal life that would be full of health, without love, and without any recollection of what they were missing.

“The perfect amnesia for the damned,” I whispered.

“What do you mean the damned?” my mom asked confused, her head turning to the side. “You have a great gift and if that can be expanded to eternity I can’t even imagine.”

“That’s right you can’t imagine. It sounds wonderful, doesn’t it?” I asked, glancing at Logan. “First, there’s no guarantee we can find the key to immortality.
We aren’t the only ones looking for it. Second, being condemned to a life that spans the centuries without the ones I love is nothing but cruel. I’d rather die young.”

My mom and aunt gasped as Logan held my hand.

“Don’t say that,” my mom whispered.

“I know I seem to be the only one who’s not a fan of immortality around here, but I think that’s because I’m the only
one with an actual shot of achieving it. And I can tell you from this vantage point it has more cons than pros.”

“We’ve got company,” Logan said, pointing to our backyard where Dace and Bakula were hovering by the window. Logan hopped up and let them in. I’m sure they could have let themselves in, but they always tried to
abide by our social conventions or at least attempt to follow them enough to throw us off balance.

“Talk some sense into my daughter, Bakula,” my mom said, her voice wavering.

“The very reason she doesn’t want it is the very reason she should be the one to have it. But we can’t force it on someone,” Bakula said quietly, landing on the table with Dace right behind her.

I took a sip of my latte and watched Dace and Bakula as they reacted to the vials on the table.
“Are you offering it?”

“Veronica, my dear, I thought you
’d destroyed these decades ago,” Bakula said, ignoring my question and crossing her tiny arms.

“You
knew she didn’t,” I said, tilting my head as I looked at Bakula carefully.

“I don’t understand you humans, and I’m sure I never will,” Bakula said.
“Nonetheless, they very well may come in handy.”

There wasn’t going to be a good time to bring up what we
’d found at the warehouse so I decided to just tell them.