Chapter Eighteen #2
“Together, you could potentially be able to burn through more elaborate lies or illusions, revealing another’s true nature or intentions.
” Richard folded his hands, resting his chin there.
“You’ve already shown how capable you are when it comes to breaking down illusions.
Now imagine if you were to harness Alaric’s power in that same way.
It could reveal hidden secrets, liars, traitors amongst us. ”
I physically had to stop myself from rolling my eyes when he mentioned liars and traitors, as it felt like I was currently sitting at a dinner table, alone in the woods, with the only two liars and traitors I knew.
“But that will take time,” Alaric interrupted. “And there is no rush. Just some things to potentially look forward to.”
Richard glanced at his son, his gaze intense and sharp. “And yet time is not something we can afford to waste.”
“What does that mean?” I snapped, looking between father and son as they stared one another down.
Before either of them could reply, Richard’s phone buzzed on the table, the vibration making me jump in my seat.
Richard sighed irritated as he picked up the phone, noting the caller ID. “What could your uncle possibly want?”
“Uncle Dan?” I questioned.
Richard held his hand up to silence me as he took the phone call.
“Yes, Daniel?” His voice was curt and sharp.
There was mumbling on the other end; whatever Uncle Dan was telling Richard did not make him happy. Richard’s other hand folded into a fist, tightening so hard I could see the white in his knuckles. His eyes gazed forward, narrowing as a vein in his neck pulsed with barely bridled rage.
I glanced at Alaric, who looked pale and nauseous as he waited for the conversation to end.
“I see,” Richard finally replied, his voice clipped. “Yes. I understand. I’ll be there in about five hours.”
He ended the call roughly, slamming the phone down on the table. “Damn it!”
“What?” Alaric stood, hovering by his father’s side. I couldn’t decide if it was in an effort to help his father or if he were trying to keep his attention on him and not on me.
“It appears that Elias has done an inventory of our current texts and has found a few missing,” Richard spoke slowly, his eyes on Alaric alone. “They need the Council to come together to do a thorough search and investigation.”
I tried to hide the relief that flooded through me.
I knew Dan did this on purpose, getting Elias to do an inventory knowing there was at least one book missing that Alaric had taken.
It was a test and Richard had clearly fallen into it.
And now it would just be Alaric and me. I could finally talk to him openly without Richard’s domineering presence.
“Should we pack our things?” Alaric asked, and I suddenly realized how quickly this could backfire. I internally groaned at the thought of another miserable five-hour car ride with Richard.
“No.” Richard stood, pocketing his phone as he threw his napkin on his unfinished plate.
“You two stay here and work on your training. I will see what the fuss is about and will send a car to pick you up on Sunday afternoon.” His words felt less like advice and more like a threat—there was clearly pressure on both Alaric and me to deliver whatever it was that Richard wanted from our bond.
I followed quietly behind as Alaric walked with Richard to the garage where two Range Rovers sat, shiny, new, and unused. Richard grabbed one set of keys hanging on a hook by the door. Alaric watched as his father got into the SUV, the garage door opening after he pressed a button in the car.
“I can always drive us back to the city on Sunday. No need to make Thomas come all the way back up here,” Alaric replied easily, his hands in his pockets. He was already looking more at ease at his father’s departure. Maybe it would be easy to talk to him, to get him to open up to me.
“No,” Richard snapped. “Thomas will be here with the car at 1pm on Sunday. You focus on training until then. There is plenty of food in the fridge. Do not,” he directed his next command to me. “let your aunt know that I’ve left you two alone here. She’d have my head.”
I saluted in response. “Aye-aye, Captain.”
Alaric smirked, but the smile fell away as Richard gazed at us with an intense, unspoken emotion.
“Charming,” he muttered, slamming his door closed and reversing out of the garage at high speed.
As soon as his taillights disappeared beyond the wards, Alaric pushed a button beside the door to the kitchen, which closed the garage door.
He led me back inside, the air already feeling warmer and more comfortable without Richard’s icy, domineering presence.
Alaric went straight to the dining room table, beginning to clear away the remains of dinner.
I stepped in to help and in a less prickly silence; we cleared away the table and cleaned the kitchen.
It felt so domestic and normal, making me wonder what life would be like if we really were just normal teenagers who had just scored a cabin to ourselves for the weekend.
But we weren’t normal. We were Bloodwrights, Twinflames, and there was so much that needed to be discussed, explained before we did anything else.
“Why’d you hide that book in the library?” I asked, just as Alaric finished loading the dishwasher and I had come from the dining room after wiping down the table.
His back tensed, the muscles in his neck straining. He slowly turned to face me, his dark green eyes swimming with distance.
“Why did you go looking for it without asking me?” He countered.
“Why did you go back and hide those genealogy papers?” I finally asked, my broken heart held together only with anger and the need for the truth. “You knew that Ashe and Michelle were emerging. You knew I was. And you know Sara-Kate is.”
His shoulders fell, as did his face. He took a step towards me, but I took a step back.
“Don’t,” I refuted. “Not until you explain yourself.”
“It’s complicated,” he sighed, exasperated as he ran his fingers through his onyx hair, the strands falling from his usual bun.
“Then uncomplicate it,” I insisted. “We didn’t know for sure,” he began. “Just kept notes on bloodlines and potential emergences.”
“And by ‘we’ you mean . . .”
“My father and I, yes.” Alaric nodded, seemingly embarrassed to admit the truth. “He has a vision of rebuilding a global council of Bloodwrights once more. To combat the Stonebound so that our kind can live in peace and not fear annihilation simply for existing.”
“But if you had a feeling that Ashe and Michelle were emerging, why didn’t you do anything to help them?”
“I tried.” He took another step toward me. “But unless they can survive the first phase of emergence on their own, they are unlikely to connect with a Bloodwright mentor in time.”
“And what about Sara-Kate?” I continued, taking a step towards him until we were only inches apart. “I asked you and you told me I was being paranoid. She is emerging, isn’t she?”
“Not unless a family member dies,” he rebutted, his breath warm on my face. “And as long as her family stays alive, she will be fine.”
“Then why not bring this to the Council? Why hide this from everyone? Why the secrecy?”
“Not many on the Council would understand the need to be proactive,” he reasoned. “Elias, Nico, and your own uncle see what we are as a curse, not a power that we should embrace. They wouldn’t see it the way we do.”
“So, all you’re doing is watching?” I clarified. “Waiting to see who may or may not emerge?”
“I swear to you, Mari, that’s all we are doing,” he confessed. “Just keeping tabs on current bloodlines and keeping an eye out for those that survive the first phase of awakening.”
We sat in the silence that followed for a moment, neither one of us daring to move. I finally asked a question that had been bothering me for so long.
“What about my father’s ring—did you hide that too? Or was that your father?”
His eyes flashed with panic. “You know about that?”
“Of course I know about it.” I bit back. “I went looking for it hoping I could use it as some sort of protection for Sara-Kate, like you did for me.”
He nodded, his shoulders relaxing just slightly. “That ring is important, Mari. My father thinks it could be a key, but I don’t know for what.”
I insisted. “I want it back. It’s mine.”
Alaric rubbed his hand over his face, frustration mirroring in his eyes. “It’s not that simple, Mari. My father is powerful, and I am bound to him as his son and apprentice.”
“And I’m your Twinflame.” I retorted. “That should surpass everything.”
He nodded, taking my hand in his, the bond between us flaring warmly. Though we were fighting, there was still an innate need to be close, to touch, our powers skimming at the edge of our fingers.
Another thought came to me, cold like a snake slithering through the grass.
“If you knew I was emerging . . . if you knew I was your Twinflame this whole time—why didn’t you tell me?”
He faltered, his eyes dark and full of unspoken emotion.
“I tried to stay away from you,” he whispered.
“I tried to keep my distance and hoped to God you were just a regular, grieving girl. But I couldn’t leave you to suffer.
I couldn’t watch the emergence destroy you.
I tried to convince my father to tell your uncle.
To make it clear to him he needed to intervene.
But my father was convinced you and I could be . . .”
He hesitated, his eyes falling to the floor.
“He thought we’d be Twinflames?”
Alaric shrugged. “He knows more than he lets on about Twinflames. He has spent most of his life researching them.”
“How could he possibly know we’d emerge as Twinflames?”
“The bloodlines,” he explained. “The three other Twinflames are direct ancestors of the Gaines and Pollard bloodlines.”
My heart pounded in my ears, the truth of what I was, what Alaric and I were, hitting me right in the chest.
“So my entire life has been mapped out before I even took my first breath?” I pulled my hand from his, stepping further away, the bond flaring painfully between us.
“Not necessarily.” He tried to reassure me. “We still get to have a voice in this.”
Alaric stepped towards me, but I waved him away.
“Yes, I do have a voice. I am my own person, and I will make my own decisions from here on out.”
I turned and ran up the stairs to my bedroom, ignoring Alaric’s concerned calls to me.
I slammed the door, locking it behind me, knowing full well that if he wanted to get in, I’m sure he could use his Bloodwright abilities to do so.
But he didn’t. I waited for what felt like forever, but he never came, never knocked on the door, or tried to break through it.
I slid to the floor, pulling my knees to my chest.
I wasn’t just an ignorant, grieving girl anymore. I was a prophecy in chains—and I swore to myself and those I’d love that I would break them.