The Prophecy (27 page)

“Whether
it was an accident or on purpose,” Charley said, “it hardly matters.”

“It
does
matter!” Caleb said.

“Why?”
Imogene said to Charley. “Why would you do such a thing?”

“And
why shouldn’t have I?” she said. “Everyone loved Melody. I was nothing more
than her shadow.”

“So you
were jealous of her?” Meg said. Charley didn’t reply, which was admission
enough. “What did you hope to accomplish by getting pregnant with Lucas’s
baby?”

“Caleb
wasn’t supposed to be the only child,” Charley said, matter-of-fact. “There was
supposed to be another. But then Melody came along and ruined everything.”

We sat
in stunned silence as the weight of Charley’s confession sank in.

“When
you finally told my father about Caleb,” I said, “he asked you to tell him
about the curse. He wanted Caleb to know that if he did go through the change,
he wouldn’t go through it alone. But because my father didn’t want you, you
decided to punish him by keeping his son away.”

Caleb
turned on his mother. “Is that the truth? Is that what I saw you fighting about
all those years ago?”

Charley
rolled her eyes to the sky. “Honestly, Caleb. Don’t you think—”

“You’ve
lied to me for eighteen years, so at least do me the courtesy of telling me the
truth now!”

Charley
clamped her mouth shut and looked down at her lap.

 “How
could you?” Caleb continued when Charley didn’t say anything. “Knowing that I
could . . .
become
something else at any moment?”

But
Charley didn’t have an answer for him.

“You
and Sarah are undoubtedly the ones the prophecy is talking about,” Sebastian
said. “We will not let the same fate that has cursed our people since the
beginning of time fall on you, Caleb.”

My
father turned to Charley, his eyes black as the night sky. “I begged you,
Charlene. I told you that I was terrified for our son, that he would likely become
what I was, and I begged you to tell him.”

I saw
Charley’s throat move as she swallowed. She lifted her shoulders, an
insubstantial movement that said “so what?”

“You
didn’t think it was important to tell me?” Caleb said, his voice rising.

“I was
going
to tell you,” Charley said, not meeting his eyes.

“When
it was too late? How could you do this to me? How could you betray me like
this?”

“Because
it had nothing to do with you,” I said to Caleb. “The only person she was
concerned about was herself.”

Charley
turned on me. “Lucas wouldn’t give me what I wanted, so I thought it was only
fair to take away what he wanted most in this world, a family. It was easy
enough to keep Caleb away from him, but—”

“The
fire,” Meg said suddenly. “That was you, wasn’t it?”

She flashed
a sinister smile at my aunt. “It wasn’t my hand that set the fire, if that’s
what you’re asking. But it wasn’t difficult to convince Victor that the person
responsible for his wife’s death had to go.”

“But my
mother didn’t kill Aida!”

“No,”
Charley said. “But she loved the monster that did.” She sniffed and picked at a
piece of imaginary lint on her pants. “I figured with Melody out of the
picture, Lucas might eventually come around.”

“Oh,
Charley,” Imogene said with a shake of her head.

“Of
course, I didn’t count on Sarah escaping the fire.”

David rose
from his chair and advanced on Charley. “You conniving little b—”

“Call
me all the names you want,” Charley said as she leaned back in her chair to
escape my uncle’s wrath. “It won’t change what happened.”

“So my
dad really did start the fire,” Shyla said in a detached voice.

“When Imogene
called to inform the Council that we had a new Spirit Keeper,” Charley said, “I
alone knew the prophecy was talking about Sarah and Caleb. It was just a
fortunate accident that I put two and two together before Lucas and Sebastian
did. I’d had Caleb all along. But you,” she said, turning to me. “You were the
other half of the missing puzzle. I couldn’t allow the pieces to come together.
”

“You tried
to have me killed,” I said. “
Again
. When Victor attacked us in the
woods.”

Charley
held up her hands. “In my defense, I didn’t try to have you killed that time.
Victor was only supposed to capture you and bring you to me.”

“Capture
me?” My mind reeled. “As in kidnap?”

“I was
going to use you as leverage,” Charley said. “But Victor had to go and botch
everything up.”

“Leverage
as
what
?” Imogene said, horrified.

Charley
scoffed, as though we were too blind to see the details of her plan. “To get what
I wanted, of course. I knew that Lucas and Sebastian needed Sarah and Caleb
together to break the curse.”

“And
the only way you’d hand them over,” Imogene said, “was if Lucas took you, too.”

Charley
simply shrugged. “I’ve never stopped wanting him.”

“Wanting
is not the same as loving,” my father said, his voice trembling with anger and
loathing. “And you know nothing about love.”

 
Jasmine,
who’d been quiet throughout the entire confrontation, came forward then and
stood towering over her mother. “You are the most terrible person I know.”

Charley’s
brow rose as she picked at another imaginary piece of lint. “Yes, well. What’s
that saying about the apple not falling too far from the tree? I wouldn’t cast
judgments if I were you, Jas.”

Jasmine’s
breath hitched. Her mouth fell open and there was a sudden brightness to her
eyes. She turned on her heel and fled the room with a choked sob.  

“You
should have told the Council and tribe about the prophecy months ago,” Meg said
through her teeth. “You should have told everyone that Caleb is Lucas’s son.
You should have gone to Lucas with an offer to help him and his people instead
of wanting retribution for your hurt pride.”

“Are
you kidding me?” Charley said. “I saw how the tribe reacted to the news of
Melody’s pregnancy. I would have been an idiot to reveal Lucas as Caleb’s true
father. If I couldn’t give him two children by which to break the curse, I
wasn’t going to give him any. If he wasn’t going to love me, I wasn’t going to
help him.” 

“The
tribe will never stand for this,” Imogene said.

“Oh,
yes. They will,” Charley snapped. “The tribe is weak and scared. They always
have been. I was going to lead the tribes to greatness one day—the powerful leader
of one great tribe—but that will never happen. Not now.”

“The
Katori people are not too weak or scared to stand against you once they learn what
you’ve done.” Imogene’s eyes were hard as she stared down Charley.

Charley
narrowed her gaze. “And why would they believe you?”

“They
might not believe Imogene,” I said. “But I know someone who they
will
believe.”

Charley
turned to me as the doorbell rang. “And just who would that be?”

I
smiled. “Victor.”

TWENTY-THREE

“Victor
set the fire that killed three people. He came very close to killing his own
son. The tribe will never listen to a word he says,” Charley insisted, her
voice rising.

“We’ll
see about that. You were wondering where Adrian was,” I said as I rose to
answer the door. “He’s here now. Along with Victor and the other members of the
Council.”

“So
that’s why he wasn’t at school today,” Caleb muttered under his breath.  

“Victor’s
here
?” Meg said.

Charley
rose, too. “No. That’s not possible. He wouldn’t—”

But she
didn’t have a chance to finish. I opened the door, letting the other two Council
members flood in and surround her.

Charley’s
face was a mask of shock. “What do you think you’re doing here?” she said to
the two women.

“Hello,
Charley,” one of them said. “I’m afraid you’ll have to come with us now.” She looked
doubtful about questioning Charley’s authority, which Charley picked up on at
once.

“You
can’t force me to go anywhere with you! I live here now. This is my home.
Whatever Council business needs to be taken care of, we can take care of it right
here.”

“Don’t
make this harder than it already is,” said the other woman. “Come with us back
to the reservation.”

Sebastian
took Charley’s arm. When she began to struggle, David flanked her from the
other side. Together, they escorted her from the house and out to the awaiting
car.  

Charley
continued to struggle, writhing like a snake between the two men. She caught
sight of Victor then, standing off to the side. “You betrayed me,” she yelled.
“After everything I did for you, you betrayed me!”

“You
did nothing but ruin lives,” Victor said. “I’m just sorry it took me so long to
see. I’m done with it now.”

Charley’s
mouth hung open. “I’m going to get to the bottom of this. I am the head of the
Council. You can’t treat me this way!”

She spied
Jasmine hovering on the periphery and reached out desperately to her. “Jasmine.
Come with me.”

Jasmine
took a step back, away from her mother. “You’re insane if you think I’m going
anywhere with you!”

Charley’s
hand opened and closed as she tried, unsuccessfully, to reach her daughter.

“Jasmine.
Please. You’re making a scene.”

“I’m
making a scene?” Jasmine said. “How can you say such a thing to me?” Caleb put
his arm around his sister and turned her toward the house.

Sebastian
shoved Charley into the backseat of the car and slammed the door. They sped
away, the last sight being that of Charley’s angry face peering out from the
back window.

I ran
to Adrian and threw my arms around him. “I’m so glad you made it. I didn’t
think you were going to get here in time.”

“But we
did,” he said.

“Well
done,” Shyla said, clapping her brother on the shoulder.

Victor
approached us then, hesitant. “I’ve hurt a lot of people,” he said to Adrian
and Shyla. “Most especially the two of you.”

“If
you’re looking for forgiveness,” Shyla said, her voice shaking even as she held
her chin high, “I can’t give it to you. At least not yet.”

“I know
that,” Victor said. “And I’m not asking for it. From anyone.” His gaze traveled
around the group, resting momentarily on each person.

Victor
and my father locked eyes and stood staring at each other for a moment, a
silent communication passing between them. Victor finally nodded, and my father
nodded back.

At
last, Victor beckoned to Imogene. “Take care of them for me,” he said to her.

“Where
are you going?” Adrian said.

“Where
I can’t hurt anyone. I might be gone for a while.”

Victor turned
to Imogene again, his gaze questioning. “You know they’ll always have a home
with me,” she said.

My
gripped on Adrian tightened. “I’ll take care of them, too,”

Victor
offered me a faint smile. “Thank you.”

He
touched Shyla once on the cheek and offered his hand to Adrian. Then he turned
on his heel and made his way to his car parked across the street. I looked up at
Adrian in time to see him swipe the back of his hand across his cheek. Then he
took a deep breath.

“So,
what did I miss here?” he said.

“We
still have to figure out how to break the curse,” I said, hands on my hips as I
contemplated the situation. “And according to the prophecy, Caleb and I have to
somehow combine our powers. At least that’s what we think.”

“Right,”
Caleb said. “We figured out the other day that Sarah is stronger in Fire and
Spirit, but I have better control over Water, Wind, and Earth.”

“Sarah
represents the Sun and Caleb represents the Moon,” Imogene said, thoughtfully.

“Well,
combining your powers sounds easy enough,” Sebastian said.

One
look at my father, however, said otherwise. I didn’t think this was going to be
a matter of saying
hocus-pocus
and the curse magically lifting. This was
going to involve something much deeper than that; a lot more powerful.

I bit
my bottom lip as I thought. “Caleb, give me your hands,” I said at last,
holding out my own to him.

“Why?”

I
rolled my eyes. “Stop acting like a boy and just do it.”

Caleb
reluctantly placed his hands in mine and made a face. “Gross. They’re all clammy.”

I gave
him a look. “Well it’s not as though we have anything important riding on our
ability to remove a curse, does it? Forgive me for being a little anxious.”