Chapter Seven

Though we'd never put a label on our relationship—just more than friends—the emotions I felt after the argument with Calin felt like a breakup. Up... down. My feelings were all over the place. Were we more than friends, or just friends with limited benefits? One second I worried he'd never let me explain and the next I wished Calin did go back to Duvessa so I at least had clarity. The fact he was my boyfriend before the test and only more than friends now felt like a bad sign. I wasn't good at break-ups—would have had to have a boyfriend for that—but I'd rather it be over than dragged out.

Wanting to avoid another confrontation and scared to say goodbye, I embraced the irony and wrote Islene a letter. First, I thanked her for all her help. Then I told her I was finishing the last of my journey alone where only my family could go so I was safe. Lastly, I left her the journal and asked her to give it to Calin with my letter.

Once I was packed, I left the letter on the kitchen table—unfolded without a seal, hoping Calin would find it first since I could have told him at least that much to ease his worry—and left with Onyx out the backdoor.

A weird energy raced through me as we crossed the yard. Anxiety, anger, sadness, hope... fear. The setting sun made the sky bleed in reds and purples, and I kept my gaze on the ground so I didn't see the shadows of the trees like claws reaching out to grab me.

"Come on, Onyx." I snapped my fingers and she fell into step beside me, abandoning the bushes she was sniffing.

The moment the gazebo came into view, Onyx sprinted ahead, running around to sniff the bottom of each bench. Her tail wagged ferociously, and I assumed she wanted Opal. I shifted the straps of my backpack so it hung from both shoulders versus just one, and picked up my pace.

Maybe Zach would have something to rebuild my motivation or the Kingdom would make my emotions whole again.

If it went beyond physical repair to correct magic, why couldn't it help me feel better? Though its power was somehow connected to my family, it couldn't be personal gain if I wasn't the one to do.

"Onyx. Sit," I said, and pointed to the floor. "You'll distract me running your circles and won't get to play with Opal."

Onyx strutted over and sat beside me, both of us on the outer edge of the gazebo a half foot from where the tiled Celtic cross began. As though the portal, I felt a shift in the air. It was electrified but produced a calm in my emotions I hadn't felt since I left Zach to interrogate Trevor.

It should have added to my anxiety, given I didn't know anything about it. Instead, I felt connect to it. No place in Wickenton had felt like home since my mother's death—Calin's coming the closest and the Fallamhain and Hope houses too impersonal to count. Even the only home I knew in Briarville didn't feel the same.

I closed my eyes and pictured the portal opening, thinking of the Kingdom and felt the connection increase in strength.

Without opening my eyes, I snapped my fingers for Onyx and stepped forward. The sensation of falling overwhelmed me. It reached a crescendo in just a few seconds, then slowed, quickly coming to a stop. I reached out, feeling Onyx's fear, and she whimpered.

I crouched, putting my hands on the floor to gain my balance, and was relieved to feel the solidness under me.

Onyx whimpered again.

Finally, I looked up. Startled to find dark eyes watching me from just outside the gazebo, I fell to sit on my butt. A small laugh escaped on the end of a heavy exhale.

"Geez, Opal! Did Zach ask you to wait for us to return?" I laughed again and climbed to my feet. Onyx followed at my side and paused when I stopped to pet Opal between her ears as I looked around. "Where is he?"

Opal nudged my palm with her nose, then lowered her head again as my hand was still between her ears. Onyx ran ahead, jumping and stopping to look at Opal or make a circle as though chasing her own tail. My gaze circled the area again, not seeing Zach anywhere.

I watched Onyx jump around excitedly as Opal left my side to join her, then looked at the building in the distance.

If they didn't sense danger and Zach wasn't here waiting, I had to assume it was safe to explore. Expected even. Besides, who else was I going to find? I was the last of my family and the only person with a blood connection left me to go back to Wickenton where he may visit with his ex-girlfriend.

Or had he?

A lump of doubt settled in my chest. I stared down, kicking the dirt as I started walking. Calin had gone to Wickenton, sure, but would he really visit Duvessa? No. He left because he had to return to school. I was stupid to think otherwise—an idiot for letting the thoughts cloud my judgement during our last conversation. I was pretty sure Calin didn't think Duvessa was good just because she'd helped. In fact, I doubt he thought she deserved a thank you after all she'd done before.

Confused, I thought of other things I may have misjudged. Duvessa squealing, for one. She'd rather do things with actions than words. What about Julian? There was no way he'd have anything to do with what happened... Coming to the Kingdom was like gaining clarity. My emotions weren't changed, but all the 'what if' thoughts that sent them spiraling stopped wavering, settling as logic.

Calin had done nothing to cause me to distrust him.

I picked up my pace, once again hoping to rush through the task ahead of me—this time, learning all I could from Zach—so I could see Calin. Next time I saw him, I wouldn't let my doubts stop me from saying what he needed to hear.

No matter what, I wouldn't keep anymore secrets from Calin.

*****

Ten minutes later, I stepped off the meticulously cut lawn onto a light stone path and paused. Bushes lined the sides but ahead I saw great columns placed in irregular shapes begin closer to the front of the building.

Onyx and Opal raced ahead, eliminating my hesitation.

I continued forward, keeping my head tripped up. When I reached the columns, I had to cast my gaze down, nearly blinded from the sun's reflection. The columns were massive marble pillars flanking both sides of the pathway in a zigzag pattern. Each structure was carved in the shape of a woman—each face different and angled towards the entrance—holding a circular mirror with both hands in front of their abdomen. I couldn't look directly at the features, but saw the one ahead of the other on the opposite side within the mirrors.

My breath caught as I reached the last statue and saw my mother. I stopped, taking in every feature and comparing them to the image my memory could never forget. Finally, I squinted against the sun, looking over my shoulder, but had to backtrack to see the second-last statue's features.

My breath caught when I looked in the mirror, immediately seeing my grandmother's face. Though I hadn't met her, it was unmistakable. The woman matched the one in the photo I'd found of my mother's family. Did that mean...? Was each statue an ancestor?

I shook my head and rounded a sharp turn in the path, bringing the front door into sight.

The shock of seeing my mother and grandmother didn't prepare me for the statue over the door. The depiction began just below the statue's collarbone, its hair long and wavy, seemingly moving in all directions. I could barely see the features—the light shining in the mirrors was beams of white light bursting from the bust's eyes rather than the blinding sun as I originally thought—but I didn't need to look closer for recognition. I'd seen the face in the mirror every day for seventeen years, even when I didn't know it was mine.

"If you had told me when you'd be back for certain, I could have warned you of what to expect."

I jumped, sucking in a breath—thankfully stifling a scream as Zach appeared from around the corner of the building, casually approaching with his hands in his pants pockets—and pivoted. "I—you..." I pointed over my shoulder to the door. "How?"

Zach shrugged, keeping his hands in his pockets, though he smirked in amusement. "It changes periodically. I think it's out of respect."

"Respect for what?"

"The bust changes to depict the member of your family the Kingdom is most connected to. When succession occurs, the statues move down to make room so the last ruler can be honored along the path leading to its replacement. It honors their memory as each predecessor paved the path for the new leader. It shows that they have accepted them."

"My mom is here. She didn't rule."

"She was a leader, though, and was the most connected until your powers were permanently unbound. The Kingdom—its creators—honor that. Now, you are the last of your family and it's your turn to be honored. If needed, you can tap into their power, as well as that of the Kingdom, though only in extraordinary circumstances."

"It's creepy."

"You passed the tests, Nora. You earned the right to rule."

Once again, I wanted to point out that my mother passed but hadn't returned to rule, but at this point his explanations were getting confusing. Hopefully in time I'd learn enough for that to make more sense instead of constantly splitting hairs.

I cleared my throat, deciding to avoid the subject. "Where did you come from?"

"Oh, just paying my own respects to your family."

"Really?" I squinted, looking past Zach, but all I saw was a faint purple light, its source beyond sight around the corner of the building opposite where I had approached on the path.

"Only the founders are under the building. There is a burial site as well."

"Ew. Like a cemetery?"

"Of sorts." Zach laughed. "Ashes are fused with stone that rises from the ground. Not unlike historical sites such as Stonehenge, only less deterioration and more powerful. In fact, you could summon an ancestor to speak with. Again, only in extraordinary occasions."

"Like my mom?" I shifted my weight, looking past him again and wondering why he hadn't already taken me there.

"I can take you, but I wouldn't waste the opportunity to speak with your mom until you know exactly what to ask," Zach said. "You will have limited time and it likely won't be repeated for years—summoning drains the summoner, but almost obliterates the spirit with the amount of energy required on their part."

"So I could summon as many ancestors as I want once my energy rejuvenates, but not the same one?"

"Theoretically, though as I said, it costs them and would be unkind to do frivolously. They've all sacrificed and deserve some semblance of peace."

"It hurts them?"

"Not like we feel physical pain, but yes." Zach nodded and gestured to the side of the building. "Would you like to see?"

I shifted again, wanting nothing more than to speak to my mother and finally have a chance to meet my grandmother outside of her Books of Shadows—I was sure I would learn from her many things nobody else could teach me. But if I only had one chance... I shook my head.

"No," I said and faced the door, ignoring my face with the beams of light for eyes. "I came back to hold you to your promise."

"I'll tell you your mother's secrets."

"I know." I squared my shoulders and continued to stare at the door. "I said I'd return if you told me what happened to my mom first. I assumed we'll be heading inside?"

"Nora, I don't know that that's necessary..."

"I can take myself back to Briarville instead?"

Zach sighed. A moment later, he walked around me and pushed open the front door with what appeared to take no effort at all even though it looked like it needed a ramming device powered by a heavy-duty machine to crack the double doors. Once it was open fully, he paused to look me in the eyes, resignation and sadness reflecting from his gaze.

"Come on then." Zach motioned for me to follow, then began walking down the corridor without waiting. "I will share what happened if you promise to stay here until you are prepared to fully protect yourself—no more accidents that rob your memory or being kidnapped."

"Okay... Those were not my fault, and why do I have to promise that?"

"Because. You may be more powerful than your mother but her experience made her more capable. What I'm about to share will prove not even she could protect herself against everything."

"Her accident—"

"Wasn't an accident at all," Zach said, never slowing. His words were casual, his pace determined, but he never let on to knowing how chilled his declaration made me.

I slowed, nearly tripping, but corrected and caught back up as Zach opened and gestured me inside a room.

"Like your grandparents, your mother was murdered, and she knew it would happen. Vavila let it occur to protect you."

I swallowed, unable to ask what he meant because I was afraid to learn the truth—but at the same time, more afraid not to. Numb and at a loss for words, I followed Zach into the room. After seeing the grandeur of everything in the Kingdom so far, the scarceness in the room increased my confusion.

"You sit and stare at a wall?" I paused in the centre of the room and gestured to the two chairs in front of a blank wall.

"Have a seat, Nora."

"Is this where I willingly sit and some device latches onto my face so I'm forced to watch a movie until I'm brainwashed?"

"You want to know what happened to your mom."

"Yes."

"Then sit. Watch. I can show you better than i can explain. You'll believe it if you see." He sighed. "Besides, being able to have visions isn't always reliable. If you see it how it happened rather than in snippets, you'll understand better."

"You... Show me?"

"Yes." Zach pulled out a chair and rested his hands on the back. "This is a special room where you can see what happened. Trust me, it's better to do so here than be taken off guard with a vision at an inopportune time."

"But—"

"If you don't trust me now, there's no point in attempting to teach you anything else." Zach stared at me, unblinking, and I was taken aback at how different this version of him was to the one I knew growing up. "What will it be?"

I hesitated, then nodded. Hearing it would probably be easier—could I see my mother die? —but... If watching what happened was the only option other than not learning, I'd get through it. I survived the not having her around part already, so really, how hard could it be? I knew how it would end.

Nodding again as an internal affirmation that what I told Zach—this was necessary—was true, I took the seat.

The room darkened.

"Where are you going?" I asked, trying to look over my shoulder as Zach stepped away out of sight.

"Watch," he said, his voice sounding more distant than the room allowed.

"I—"

It became pitch black and, before I could form another questions, images began to roll across the wall.

A/N: Yay! I updated on time this week with Chapter Six, but I am away next weekend and don't know if I will have an opportunity to update on time. Since it's better to be early than late, I figured I'd give you a two-for-one :) :)

Let me know what you think - sooner or later, Calin had to run out of patience, right? Think they will make up? What do you think about the Kingdom? Any guesses as to what Nora is about to see?

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