Unbound Destinies, page 6
My heartbeat quickened. How was a mother so scary? “No, ma’am,” I told her, shaking my head. “It was a promise ring to keep her safe and happy is all. I wouldn’t propose now or without your permission.”
“Good,” she said. Eyeing me closely, she nodded and waved me out.
I practically ran from the room. The conversation didn’t go as planned. It went in the furthest direction possible. I kicked myself for telling her mother I bonded with her. I basically told her I took her daughter’s virginity and she was pissed. What parent wouldn’t be, though?
I, Scott Tabors, was an idiot.
OLIVIA
Kyle was able to speak to me for more than five minutes for the first time in two months. Mom explained to him what he needed to do in order to merge, and while the task seemed daunting, he was willing to try. Elsie was shy and secluded, but she, too, seemed a bit more hopeful about the situation.
I noticed the way Kyle looked at her, but I didn’t say anything. I wondered what exactly they’d been doing in there alone all that time.
I wandered around, searching for my mom. We hadn’t had a moment alone since she’d showed up, and since I was risking my life in hours, I figured now was as good a time as any to catch up. I found her in the kitchen, seated at the table, inspecting the papers Sadie and Santos had been working on.
“Hey, Mom,” I said, hugging her from behind. “Whatcha doin’?”
“Looking over all this. Seeing if there’s anything they missed. You kids are pretty smart,” she said, laying the papers down and smiling at me. “Come sit beside me.”
I did as instructed and sank down into the cushioned chair to relax for a brief moment or two. “Are you ok?”
She nodded. “I’m more worried about you. Olivia…I’m so sorry we never told you these things. I kept so much from you and it wasn’t fair. It cost you a relationship with your brother and even when you came to us and asked, we didn’t tell you. I feel horrible.”
“It would have been nice to know,” I said. I wasn’t as angry at her now. I was beginning to understand she probably did it to protect me.
“I won’t keep secrets any more. I’m laying everything out for you now.”
Startled, I sat up straight. “There’s more?”
She shook her head. “No, I’m going to explain everything. And about…your father.”
“Oh.” I didn’t know what else to say. Words couldn’t really express my feelings about my father at this point.
“He always favored you and I wasn’t sure why. Devlin’s curse says the most recent descendant is the key to destroying it, so Kyle was eliminated once you were born. I think…your dad may have known you were going to come unbound. I don’t know how, but he was so secretive. When you came to us and asked about the things happening to you, he began acting strange. It wasn’t long before the council came for us, but he disappeared. I didn’t know how to tell you, Olivia. He betrayed me, you, your brother. It was heartbreaking. I couldn’t let you know that pain.”
Fighting back tears, I nodded to let her know it was all right.
“Once you went to the dance that night with Juniper and Mark, he started talking crazy. He was rambling about plans and gaining power. I knew then he was dangerous. We’d talked about the changes we saw happening in you, and while I was worried, he was delighted. I heard him on the phone that night, talking to someone about getting his sorcery back. He lost it all when he became a vampire,” she explained. “He disappeared the same moment the council stormed in the house. They were the ones that filled me in on his whereabouts and what all he’d been up to. I told you we’d both been taken to spare your feelings.”
“I can’t believe he would do this,” I sniffled. My own father chose an evil sorcerer over his family.
“No matter, when we go to Devlin, I want you to let me handle him, Olivia. This isn’t your fight. He’s still your father.”
I nodded, but I didn’t know if I would be able to stay away.
“Now, on to the next order of business. Tell me about what powers you’ve gained so far.”
I filled her in on everything from the fire making to the espying and dreamwalking abilities. She seemed surprised by some, not so surprised by others. I told her of everything that happened at the dance up until now, opening up to my mother like I’d never done before. This experience changed our relationship for the better it seemed, and I was grateful for that.
“Here we are,” I said as I finished up. “Scott and Mark planned to free you and didn’t fill me in.”
“He told me you were upset with him,” she said.
Confused, I stared at her. “He what?”
“He came to talk to me. Funny, he revealed some interesting things…such as the bond you two share.”
My eyes grew wide with shock. Scott talked to my mother about us bonding? What was he thinking? “Uhh…yeah. That happened.”
“You’re sure this is what you want? This bond is unbreakable.”
“I love him, Mom. I can’t explain it. He makes me really happy,” I told her. I felt the goofy grin spreading across my face as I said the words.
“I understand, Olivia. I can tell he loves you, too. He’s sorry he hurt you.”
I felt bad for being angry with him. It wasn’t fair to punish him for trying to protect me, especially after he apologized for it already. “I need to forgive him,” I said the words she didn’t.
She nodded and stood. She pulled me to her chest and embraced me the way only a mother could. The warmth and love filled me, calming me unlike anything else in this world. “I guess I should go talk to him,” I said.
She agreed. “I think so…but first you better tell me what you’re up to.”
I shifted my eyes nervously. “Why do you think I’m up to something?”
She chuckled. “I’m your mother, Olivia. I know when you’re hiding something.”
I didn’t want to tell her what we were doing, but she would find out eventually. I filled her in, attempting to make it sound less dangerous than it was. She didn’t say much, only hugged me closely and told me to be safe. Shortly after, I rushed off to find Scott and make things right before we threw ourselves into a dangerous situation.
KYLE
The vampire and I were conversing. It was odd, having my body controlled by two different beings. My mother was correct in her assumptions that we could talk and work out our issues.
It was really weird to be working out issues with a voice in my head.
The vampire didn’t want to be a murderer, as I once suspected. In fact, he only wanted to drink blood sometimes. His anger fueled his mad hunger, causing him to want to drink more often than he needed.
The merging was taking time, but I expected it to happen soon.
Elsie still kept her distance from me. The girl drove me insane and I’d only known her for a few days. Her constant glares made my heart beat faster. Her spiteful words angered me, yet intrigued me. She was a wondrous conundrum.
“Why do you keep staring at me?” she spat from across the room. Her eyes narrowed into tiny slits as she assessed me closely. “You’re weird.”
I raised an eyebrow. “I’m weird? At least I’m not a bitch.”
She gasped, jumping to her feet. “What did you say?”
“You heard me,” I said nonchalantly, turning away from her to sit on the stool by the door. “You act all high and mighty, like you’re better than me, but you’re not. We’re in the same situation. If anything, we should be trying to help each other.”
She stood speechless. I watched her open and close her mouth several times, starting to reply only to change her mind. She finally sat beside me, head down.
“I’m sorry. I’m taking it out on everyone because I don’t want this.”
“I don’t want this either,” I told her. “I hated my parents for so long cause of the binding. And then my sister came unbound and she had no issues. She’s even got a white aura,” I told her. “She’s got all these things going for her, and I’m the mess-up.”
“I don’t even have siblings and I’m a mess-up.” Her voice was softer, kinder.
I wasn’t expecting her to change her demeanor after my outburst, but I had to admit she was more attractive for doing so. “I’m sure you’re not.”
She shrugged. “I feel like a failure.”
“I think it’s a part of life. We all do,” I told her.
She scooted closer. “Why are you so nice to me?”
Her proximity made me nervous. I turned, her face inches from mine. “I think we’re the same.”
She nodded, looking down at my lips. “Are you hungry?”
I licked them, earning a small smile from her. “Not for food.”
I inched closer, focusing on her lips when the door opened and Heather bounced in. Elsie jerked away, eyes wide and growing red. I snapped my head toward the door, furious at the interruption.
Heather stared at us, her eyes large in surprise. “I came to check on the merging.”
“Mom, it’s not happening overnight,” Elsie said angrily. “Quit rushing us.”
She opened and closed her mouth much like her daughter had minutes before, finally nodding her head and leaving us be.
The moment was gone, however, and Elsie was back to being her smoldering, pouty self in her corner.
SCOTT
Grandma gave us tips on how to fight in our dreams. It was going to be difficult, I knew, but it would have to happen. Livvie and I made up, finally, and she was back to her happy self. No more anger waves smashed into me every time she walked into the room, no guilt consumed me as she sat and worried herself over our argument.
Livvie was seated beside me, potions rolling around in her hand as she listened intently to Grandma.
“If you throw this, it only works for thirty seconds, but it will blind him. Blinding him should distract him long enough for you two to send the final blow.”
“And the spell for the final blow?” Livvie asked. “We don’t have to make it up, do we?”
“No, I have one that should work,” she told us. She then recited it, telling us we needed to memorize it before we searched for him. Her tone was light, but full of concern. Her eyes spoke volumes—the worry she felt about our doing this was evident. No one liked it, including me, but Livvie was right. The sooner we defeated the evil in our life, the sooner we could be happy and relaxed.
She left us shortly after, bidding us bye with lingering hugs and words of luck.
“We can do this, can’t we?” Livvie asked. She no longer held the confidence she had earlier. Her green eyes were filled with apprehension, her hands knotted tightly in her lap.
I wrapped my arm around her shoulders, drawing her near me. “We can and we will. Don’t worry.”
“How can I not worry?” she asked. “The one and only fight I’ve been in was when I didn’t even know I could do anything. It’s different now. I know what I can do, but what if I freeze up?”
“You won’t,” I assured her. “I’ll be right there. I won’t let anything happen to you. I promise.”
She nodded unconvincingly. “What if he hurts us?”
“Sadie and Grandma said they would watch over us and heal if needed.”
“Ok. Let’s do it and get it over with.”
Grabbing her face between my hands, I gazed deeply into her eyes. “Are you sure?”
Rapidly, she scanned every inch of my face and mouthed yes. Taking the moment as my own, I captured her lips in mine and poured all my feelings into the kiss. With my arms around her body, I pulled her closer, reveling in the warmth her body gave and how perfectly it fit into mine. I ended the connection by cupping her face in my hand and putting my forehead to hers. We stayed in that position and just enjoyed each other’s presence for a few stolen minutes.
The next few hours were going to be anything but easy. We didn’t even know where we were headed, but we did know that our love would pull us through. If we didn’t succeed, we wouldn’t have a future. Our only choice was to defeat the Crimson Calamitous and save Aiden. We wouldn’t be able to bring him back through our dreams, so finding the exact location was necessary.
Saving Aiden was the only option for saving my sister.
Opening my eyes, I pressed my lips to hers once more. “Are you ready, Livvie?”
She smiled widely and nodded. “As I’ll ever be.”
###
We lay hand in hand on my bed, Sadie on Livvie’s side, Grandma on mine. I felt the nervous rapid beating of Livvie’s heart and I squeezed her hand a few times to try and calm her. Our pockets were heavy with potions, and no one knew, but I hid a knife in my shoe. Livvie may have to deal the final spell, but I’d be damned if I would let the Crimson Calamitous hurt her in any way.
“He won’t be Aiden. In his dreams, he takes on his true form,” Grandma explained.
“How do we know he’s asleep?” Livvie asked.
“What’s his true form?” Sadie also asked at the same exact time.
“Girls, I’ve been doing research for months. Aiden’s body requires sleep, so he has to allow it to rest. Unless he disengages himself and finds another vessel during Aiden’s resting time, he will also be sleeping. We know he’s awake during the day because he visited Sadie during daylight hours,” she explained. She was so calm and collected about everything. I didn’t know how she managed to always be so level headed about these things.
“And his true form?” Sadie reminded her.
“His true form in our world is a vapory mist. In dreams, he should be tangible enough. If not, the spell will still work on his true form.”
Sadie and Livvie shared a look of uneasiness and in turn, made my stomach flip a few times. We were about to head into the unknown to fight a sorcerer no one had ever been able to destroy.
What were we thinking?
“Little one, you’ll be fine,” Grandma said to me. She took my free hand and held it close to her heart. “I know you’ll succeed and Aiden will be free. Don’t forget to find the exact location or something we can go on. We won’t be able to find him if not.”
Livvie looked at Sadie, then jumped up and hugged her tightly. “We’re saving him, Sadie. I promise we’ll get him home.”
My sister actually looked like she was tearing up, something I hadn’t seen her do since she was a little girl. She usually hid her emotions so well, but Aiden Rivers had turned her whole life upside down. “I know, Liv, I know.”
Livvie took my hand again and smiled at me.
“What was that about?” I asked. My curiosity wasn’t something that needed to be piqued at this moment. Concentration must be on defeating and destroying the Crimson Calamitous and nothing else.
“We’re sending Aiden home once we rescue him,” she said softly. “His family deserves that much. Aiden deserves it.”
I nodded, wanting to ask about Sadie and her crush, but deciding now wasn’t the best time. They’d obviously talked it over, so it wasn’t something I needed to concern myself with. “Are we ready?”
She blinked several times before saying yes. We allowed our bodies to relax, our hands still connected at our sides. I closed my eyes, imagining who I wanted to be with. I saw Livvie by my side, the Crimson Calamitous in front of us. I left our surroundings blank because I didn’t want to alter where we ended up.
I heard Livvie’s even, soft breathing beside me and I felt my body drifting. I pushed myself further into my sleeping state, not letting my mind drift from the destination I wanted.
Suddenly there was nothing but black. I fought the urge to jerk myself back to consciousness and waited until my mind cleared. I still felt Livvie’s small hand in mine and knew we were together. The only question was, were we in the right place?
OLIVIA
The darkness lifted around us. I felt Scott’s apprehension through the bond, could practically hear his heart beating rapidly. We stood still as the light filled where the dark once was. We were in a wide open room with minimal decorations. There was a chair on the left, a table in the far corner. No people were here. And no Crimson Calamitous.
“What do we do?” I asked in a hushed whisper. “Why did we end up here if no one is with us?”
He pressed a finger to his lips, making the shushing motion. Cocking his head, he pointed to a shadowy spot on the wall beside the table.
“Is it?” I mouthed.
He nodded, reaching in his pocket to fish out a potion. Before he could get it out, the shadow darted across the room, disappearing behind the chair.
“Shit,” he barely breathed out.
I stepped forward, prepared to begin the fight even if the Crimson Calamitous was going to play hard to get. When I saw the shadow move again, I held up my hand and shot a ball of fire in his direction.
The edge of the table burst into flames instead.
Scott moved in the other direction, using his power to send bursts of energy in his direction. One after another we did this, continuously sending out our powers and attempting to hit the evil sorcerer with just one.
We didn’t succeed.
A boisterous laugh echoed throughout the room, bouncing off the walls and sounding in my ears. “Is that all you’ve got?”
My anger rose. “Why are you scared if we aren’t a threat? You’re the one running.”
His laughing stopped and a large smoky substance rose around our feet. The blue mist swirled and circulated around our ankles and up our legs. I looked to Scott for help, genuinely helpless in this situation.
“He’s freezing us in place,” he cried. He twitched his body every which way but it was useless. He was motionless.
I didn’t even attempt it because I could no longer feel anything from my knees down, so I knew whatever he’d done worked.
The laughter started once again. I reached for Scott, who much to my dismay, was out of reach. The Crimson Calamitous timed his attack perfectly, catching us off guard and far enough apart we couldn’t assist each other.
