Soul of Darkness (21 page)

But seeing me on Aaron’s lap, seeing what we’d been up to, seemed to have changed all that for Aidan. He was looking at his brother with an expression I found seriously alarming. Aaron, in turn, seemed to be reacting to Aidan’s challenging stance.

“Calm down, lads,” Malcolm spoke from the doorway. Though he may have wanted to sound calm, his voice had a slight tremble to it, portraying his awareness of the seriousness of the situation. They seemed so angry that there was no telling what either of them would do. If they ended up using magic, things would get a lot worse.

The curse’s magic didn’t seem to draw much attention to us; perhaps because it flowed steadily around us instead of fluctuating or suddenly spikin
g―
unless things spun out of control.

Yet using their own magi
c
―
which wasn’t continuously flowing but only came forth when called upo
n
―
would create an abrupt spike, and magical ripples would reach those who were searching for us.

“Please,” Malcolm implored, “if you do not calm down, you will lose control over your powers and expose us. We could all die.”

Though he hadn’t addressed one of his sons in particular, it was clear that he was speaking to Aidan, whose power was far greater than that of his untrained brother. Even though a lifelong training must have also taught him quite well how to control his abilities, the fact remained that there was a lot more power to lose control over.

Aidan was visibly struggling hard to regain his composure. After what felt like forever, he finally managed to unclench his fists and walk away, leaving the compartment altogether…the sliding door shaking violently as he forcefully slammed it shut.

I swiftly returned to my seat and plunked myself down, carefully avoiding eye contact. I was so embarrassed that I wanted to leave and be alone somewhere…but, of course, that was out of the question. We needed to stay together.

Seizing the remaining food and water Malcolm had brought me earlier, I listlessly ate a few bites of a sandwich and washed them down with water. Though I felt like doing anything else rather than eating, I forced down my food without hesitation, knowing that my body needed strength to keep going.

Aaron and Malcolm were quietly resting in their seats, their eyes closed. They may have appeared to be sleeping, but I could sense they were awake and trying just as hard as I was to ignore everyone else.

I’d just finished eating and was in the middle of finding a comfortable position to sleep in, using the blanket and pillow Malcolm had brought me, when the sliding door of the compartment opened and Aidan walked in.

Ever since the incident with Aaron, I’d been avoiding having eye contact with anyone. Yet the moment Aidan walked through the door, all I wanted was to look into his eyes…and to see how he would react to meeting my gaze.

But Aidan walked straight over to the seat furthest from mine while looking anywhere but at m
e―
ignoring me just as I’d been ignoring everyone else.

Trying not to let him see the hurt I felt…though
I
was actually the one who’d behaved badly by making out with his brother…I turned my face toward the window and rested my head against the glass. At some point, I must have fallen asleep…

Floating weightlessly amidst a cloud of emotions, nothing but an ethereal haze encircling my body, I was lost, forever drifting between the feelings I had for one of them and what I felt for the other. Torn apart by longing, confusion, and the love I felt for both, I couldn’t take anymore. Needing to escape what was inside of me, I started to confront my surroundings.

As my fingers reached out in search of something I could touch, I suddenly felt the smoothness of silk sheets flowing beneath my skin…though there’d been nothing solid surrounding me before.

My eyes slowly opened up to an unknown place and beheld a shadowy room bathed in the flickering light and warmth of a fire. Feeling a slight draft against my skin, I gazed down at my body and realized I was naked.

Abruptly I remembered the very first dream I’d had about Aaron…the dream in which the two of us had been lying naked on his bed in front of a sizzling fireplace. Why couldn’t this dream just leave me alone? Why did I keep returning to such an intimate vision of us…to something we could never have?

My gaze slowly traveled down my body, revealing a strong, male arm which was leisurely draped over my abdomen…claiming me through its embrace. Glimpsing something that I couldn’t quite make out directly underneath it, I lifted my head to get a better view and realized with a start that there was yet another arm draped over me from the opposite side.

As though I’d been wearing blinders, I’d completely failed to notice before that I was lying between the naked bodies of two men, the skin of their firm, bare backsides glistening slightly in the light from the fire.

Oh God
,  I thought wildly, my heart pounding frantically and nearly jumping out of my chest at the thought of such a scenario.

A panicked scream tore from my lungs, and I awoke to the piercing sound of the train’s whistle and a rattling motion rocking my body as the train sped up. It seemed to have stopped at a station and was slowly regaining momentum.

Since no one appeared to be looking at me, my scream must not have left the realm of my dream. No one seemed to have noticed my distres
s―
which was probably for the best. Otherwise, they might just want to know what I’d dreamed…

No way in hell is that ever going to happen!

During the remainder of the train ride, we rode in silence, each of us probably lost in thoughts of what was to come. Aaron and Aidan avoided each other’s gazes, as well as mine. The only one who appeared willing to acknowledge my presence and that of either of his sons was Malcolm, who gazed in my direction and at his boys every so often.

Yet, even
he
seemed at a loss as to what to say or how to diffuse the tense situation.

By the time we reached Ballycastle on the following day, the sun had already set. After getting off the train, we made our way toward the outskirts of town and past its borders, continuing across out-of-the-way fields, dirt roads, and large stretches of difficult terrain, until we finally reached Caisleán an Draíocht, the Haven’s ancestral castle.

Upon entering the grounds, I could see members of the guard positioned at the entrance to the castle and evenly distributed throughout the rest of the property. They seemed to have expected us and were unsurprised by our arrival. Malcolm must have instructed them to wait for our return right before he’d left to find us.

“Persephone,” Malcolm addressed me once we were inside the castle walls nearing the staircase to the upper levels, “please go to your room and pack as many clothes, shoes…and other items you might need…as you can fit into a travel bag. You will find one at the bottom of the closet. And do not forget to take a warm jacket.”

“Aidan,” he addressed his son, “please pack a bag for yourself and one for your brother. Aaron, I will ask you to please take a large backpack, go to the kitchen, and fill it with as many nonperishables and bottles of water as you can possibly fit into it. I shall be waiting for all of you in my underground study. Go there as soon as you are done. And please do hurry, for we must not stay in the castle for too long.”

I did as Malcolm had asked and hurriedly packed everything I needed before meeting up with the others in the caves underneath the castle. In the short amount of time during which I’d stayed at the ancestral home, I’d already gotten used to the layout. Thus, I had no trouble finding Malcolm’s study.

Aaron and Aidan had already arrived when I entered to find Malcolm sitting at his desk. Lost in contemplation, he was staring at the sphere which hovered above its stone surface.

Seeing me arrive, he hesitated for a brief moment, seized the sphere, and placed it into a sizeable backpack, which already held a very large book. Before Malcolm managed to close the backpack’s zipper, I caught a glimpse of a shimmering light and suddenly realized what I’d seen.

“Is that the book Aaron and I brought with us?” I asked Malcolm.

“Yes, this is the book you brought. You should refer to it by using its rightful name, though. It is called ‘The Book of Light’,” Malcolm explained, his voice revealing a reverence which suggested that this book was far more important than I would have guessed.

“Well, we seem to have everything we need,” Malcolm said, “we should go.”

“Where are we going?” I asked. Malcolm didn’t respond and instead led the way out of his study, through different caves, and into tunnels leading deeper into the earth.

“I think this is a good spot,” Malcolm said at long last after we’d walked through a system of tunnels for about half an hour, “this should be enough space.”

We’d finally arrived at a slightly larger, rounded intersection.

“Enough space for what…exactly?” Aaron asked before I had a chance to.

I was just as anxious to find out why we’d come to this particular spot, and wondered if there was perhaps another secret passage leading away from this area.

“We will need to open a portal,” Malcolm stated matter-of-factly, as though it were as simple as frying eggs.

“But I thought we’re not supposed to use magic,” I blurted out, highly surprised at Malcolm’s sudden change in tactics after he’d repeatedly warned us against using our powers.

“That is right. But I am afraid we are currently out of options, and this is about the
only
  spot that will allow us to use magic with as minimal a risk as possible involved. Because the castle is shielded, it might allow us the necessary amount of time to open a portal and disappear before the other gifted arrive, as our magic cannot be detected quite as easily. The ripples our powers will create might only be recognized after we have already left, thus making it impossible for them to follow us. However, I believe it will not matter if we use magic or not. In any case, they will undoubtedly come here to search for us before looking anywhere else.”

“If they come here, won’t they be able to find out where the portal sent us?” I asked, eager to learn more about magic and how it could be traced.

“No, I do not believe that they will. Though magic leaves traces and the position a portal leads to can indeed be located, there are very few wizards and witches gifted enough to track a portal’s point of destination after the portal has already vanished. I do not believe there are such highly gifted individuals among our enemies. We should be safe,” Malcolm reassured us.

“
Should
be safe. That means there’s
still a slight possibility that they
do
  have someone capable of tracking the destination of the portal. Then, it actually isn’t a hundred percent impossible for them to find us, is it?” Aaron addressed Malcolm.

“Impossible…no. But it is improbable. Just in case, though, let us have the portal open quite a few miles from Adam’s house and travel the rest of the way on foot or by boat,” Malcolm suggested.

“Adam’s house? You mean Aaron’s late adoptive father’s house?” Aidan suddenly burst out.

“Why would we go somewhere where they can find us so easily?” Aaron abruptly interjected.

“We should go there because they will least expect it. I had some of my men watch the house after they had first brought you and Persephone to the castle. They reported that several of the gifted returned soon after. Undoubtedly, the…‘incident’…that had occurred between the two of you in the cell…had made them become aware of the existence of Morrigan’s reincarnation, as well as your own. It seemed they’d come to Adam’s house in search of both of you,” Malcolm explained.

I flashed back to the very first conversation we’d had with Malcolm, when he’d spoken about Aaron and I having rolled around on the ground of our cell at the castle, kissing and groping. Surely, this was the ‘incident’ he was referring to.

“Knowing that you were there and that you must have seen Adam’s body, I do not think they believe that you would want to return to his house, which is why his place can provide the protection we need,” Malcolm said.

“So, you’re saying that because it would be all too easy for them to find us there and because Adam tragically died there, it’s the last place they’ll suppose we’d go,” Aaron recapped, “And I couldn’t agree with the enemy more…I’d say these are two excellent reasons not to go. Yet, you still think we should?” Aaron asked, his voice sounding on edge.

If it had been me, if I’d been asked to return to a place where one of my parents had been murdered, I would feel just as anxious.

“I am truly sorry about having to put you through this, Aaron. And I would give anything if it could be avoided…but I really do believe it is the safest place to go for now,” Malcolm answered in a caring voice.

“Furthermore,” he added, “there are food, water, comfortable beds, and even a hide-out in case we need it.”

“I don’t think it’s a very good hide-out, since your men had no trouble, whatsoever, in finding us,” Aaron argued.

I looked over at him and our eyes met for the briefest of moments, each of us clearly recalling the time we’d spent there together…the intimate moments we’d shared. When I glanced at Aidan, he appeared not to have noticed the exchange
―
though I could have sworn the lines of his face told a different story.