Bob’s your uncle and Fanny’s your Aunt.
Yeah, I know it’s not going to be so simple, but I have to try. I just want the waiting to be over. I’ve never had the patience for, well, patience. I don’t want the others to discover what I’m up to. So, very early in the morning when Ethan’s out of the house, I get Amanda and Rebecca to sit in on the location spell with me as it requires three people. Neither of them knows much about magic. In other words, they accept my excuse that I’m casting the spell to protect the house from Theodore. Little do they know, Roman has already completed that particular task.
I cut off a piece of the scarf and place it under the glass on the map I’ve spread out the floor. With bated breath I watch as it moves along the paper and finally lands on a spot close to where Emilia’s barrier is. I recognise the area, but as far as I know there’s nothing there, no buildings to hide inside anyway. Huh.
I tell Amanda and Rebecca they can go and then I steel myself to talk to Emilia. I’ve been putting the conversation off since she was brought here, but now I really need to get it over and done with. I find her sitting on the bed in her room, her legs crossed and her hands in her lap. Always so prim and proper.
She doesn’t say anything to me as I enter. I lean back against a wall and study her. “So, I guess you know why I’m here.”
“You want to save yourself,” she answers with the tiniest hint of venom.
“I want to save myself and my baby, Emilia. Can you tell me how to do that?”
She glances down at her hands and then back to me. “If I do this will you instruct your vampire to set me free?”
“If you agree to leave Rebecca alone, yes. But not before then and not before I see that your method works.”
Her eyebrows shoot up as she lets out a hard laugh. “So I will have to wait here confined in this room until you give birth?”
I sigh and slide down the wall until I’m sitting on the floor. “I don’t see any other way right now.”
Her eyes narrow as she watches me, a million thoughts flashing in her gaze. A couple of minutes of absolute quiet pass before she says, “Go and get a pen and paper, you will need to take down a list of ingredients.”
“For?”
“For the medicine that you are going to take to make sure the child you are carrying doesn’t die. There’s no sure-fire way of saving both of you, but there is a potion that will at least ensure the baby lives.”
“Jesus Christ.”
“This is all I have to offer.”
“Fine.”
I leave the room and return with a pad and pen, taking down the ingredients as Emilia calls them out. Once she’s finished, she says, “You will drink this every morning and every night for the entire duration of your pregnancy. If you miss even a single dose it will no longer work.”
“Right,” I reply, scanning down the list and trying to figure out where I’m going to get a three/four month supply of all this stuff. Then I remember Rita’s RV and how it’s jam packed with spell ingredients. That’s one less thing to worry about.
Emilia doesn’t look at me when I say, “We never had to be enemies, you know. I could have been a granddaughter to you. Sometimes you just have to accept the imperfections in people in order to find the pearl inside the ugly oyster shell.”
She continues to hold her silence so I give up and thank her for the list of ingredients before I leave.
Just as I’ve returned to my room and started packing away the spell from earlier there’s a light tapping on the window. I turn my head to find Roman hovering in the air. What’s this, talk to your grandparent morning? I go to the window and let him in.
“Oh my God, you can fly.”
“Not naturally,” he answers while casually climbing inside. “It’s a spell.”
“Ah.”
Slipping off his coat, he walks over to the bed and sits down. I swallow hard and glance at the door. Ethan is out at the moment inspecting the wreckage at Crimson, but I still can’t help being nervous that he’s going to walk in on us at any second. He’s not too fond of Roman and I don’t know how he’d react if he found him here with me in our room.
Roman clasps his hands together and smiles at me.
“So,” he begins. “Have you had enough time to consider my proposition?”
His proposition? Oh, shit. What with everything that’s been happening, I’d completely forgotten. Since he’d retrieved Emilia and Rebecca from Theodore, I’d just thought he was doing this for me anyway, with or without me agreeing to let him train me as a sorceress. I’m just now realising that despite doing this, he still hasn’t used Emilia to take down the barrier, and he hasn’t gotten Rita back for me either.
“You know I’m pregnant, right?” I say trying to distract him and buy myself more time before I have to answer.
“I do. I would say congratulations are in order, but that would probably be in bad taste.”
A shiver runs through me as I try to push vivid thoughts of dying out of my head.
“I also know that you’re planning on going after Theodore by yourself,” he continues. “Tut, tut, Tegan. That’s a very bad idea. You have no chance of defeating him.”
“How the hell do you know that?”
He taps his temple. “I know a lot, too much really.”
I sigh and slump down onto the bed beside him. “I’m just panicking, okay. If I survive my pregnancy then I want to know that I’m bringing my child into a world that’s stable. In order to do that, Theodore has to die.”
“Well, I could help you with that, if you agree to my offer.”
Pursing my lips, I stare down into the palms of my hands, searching for answers that aren’t there. “If I became a sorceress, would I still be me?”
Roman laughs. “Of course you would, my dear. The possession of magic comes with a choice. Take Theodore and myself as an example. Theodore made the choice to use his magic for darkness, while I choose to use mine to do good.”
“It’s that simple?”
“Most things are when it comes down to it.”
I sigh, a million thoughts rushing through my head. Finally, when I’ve come to a decision, I turn and hold my hand out to Roman.
“Alright Granddad, you’ve got yourself a deal.”
He takes my hand into his immediately and we shake on it, a beatific smile spreading across his face. “Marvellous.”
Standing up, I walk over to the closet and pull out the backpack I’d stashed there last night. It has a very, very sharp sword (which I stole from a room hidden at the back of the basement, where I discovered Ethan keeps his weapons) several litres of petrol, and a good old fashioned packet of matches. Oh yeah, and a zippo lighter just in case the matches happen to get wet. The sword is too big for the backpack and sticks awkwardly out of the top, so I take it and strap it across my back instead.
Okay, I have to admit, I feel pretty badass right now.
Hitching the bag over my shoulder I face Roman again and he’s grinning at me.
“I see you’re prepared.”
“Absolutely. Now, let’s go kill ourselves a sorcerer.”
“It would be my pleasure.”
In a matter of seconds Roman has transported us to an empty meadow, quite close to the spot where Finn brought me so that I could call my dad. The purple barrier hovers in the air and shoots up into the sky just a short distance away.
“Come, we’ll walk from here.”
“Where are we going? There are no houses for miles.”
“Correction, no visible houses.”
“Right.”
Roman strides ahead of me and when he reaches the barrier he walks directly through it. I follow him, but when I reach the other side there are still no houses in sight.
“Theodore’s been staying on the other side of the barrier?” I question.
“I presume that after what happened the other day, he decided that remaining just outside of Tribane was the safer option.”
He sweeps his han
d through the air and gold trickles from his palm. It’s like he’s using an eraser to wipe away the glamour, because each time he swipes his hand a new piece of a hidden picture starts to emerge. Theodore hasn’t just hidden any old house here in the middle of nowhere, he’s hidden his mansion. The very same mansion that I saw crumble to the ground with my own eyes on Ridley Island just over two years ago.
To be able to recreate a house that’s been destroyed is just mind boggling to me.
When Roman is done and the entire mansion is revealed to us I instinctively take a step back. I’ve got a bad feeling about this and that bad feeling is confirmed when the door opens and a small dark figure emerges. It’s Rita.
We’re a short distance from the building so she begins to walk towards us. I look to Roman for guidance on what we should do, but he’s staring at Rita with a massive smile on his face.
“Um, what’s happening?” I ask.
“It appears that Theodore has decided to send his protégé to come and face us instead of doing it himself.”
I snort. “Scaredy cat.”
“More like a clever cat. He knows you love her like a sister and that no matter what happens you won’t kill her.”
“Well, that’s just cheating,” I reply, annoyed.
Roman doesn’t respond but instead calls out to Rita. “Little witch, what a pleasure. I’ve been hoping we’d meet again.”
“Fuck you,” she spits, and I mean she actually spits. Fortunately, she’s still too far off to hit Roman and it lands just shy of his feet.
“Rita…” I begin but trail off.
Her eyes cut to me and my heart chills at the look she gives me. Pure hate. “Oh, don’t start this shit again, Tegan. I’m not your Rita, so stop giving me those bloody puppy eyes and thinking I’m going to come back to you.”
These are the most words she’s said to me in a long time, so despite their harsh nature, I take hope from the fact that she’s actually talking to me.
I cock an eyebrow. “I’m not going to give up on you, Reet. Even if you have turned into a massive bitch.”
Roman chuckles. Something flickers behind Rita’s eyes, but she quickly disguises it.
“Say whatever you want. I think I’ll kill you now so that I can be done with you turning up all the time trying to save me.”
There’s some sort of honesty in what she’s saying, and suddenly I don’t feel so confident anymore. “You’d really do that? You’d…kill me?”
Her mouth tightens. “Why not? You’re nothing to me, nothing but an irritation.”
Roman is still laughing like he knows a secret, and I wish he’d stop. This is not a laughing occasion. He gives Rita a seductive look and I suddenly realise that he has the hots for her. Great. Though to be honest I’m kind of glad he’s found someone else to focus his affections on.
“Tegan, do you think you can handle her on your own?” he asks. “I want to go and find the sorcerer.”
“No!” I screech. “She just said she’s going to kill me and you want to leave me alone with her! What the fuck?”
Roman studies me. “I wouldn’t be leaving if I didn’t think you’d be safe.”
“I don’t care what you think, you’re not leaving me.”
He takes a step closer and stares seriously into my eyes. “You can do this, I believe in you.”
And with that he disappears.
Several very loud expletives leave my mouth.
Rita grins viciously.
Before I have the chance to do a thing she throws a bolt of magic at me, knocking me to the ground. I yelp, feeling the pain shoot right up my back.
“Jesus Christ, Rita!” I exclaim. A sharp sting shoots through my stomach where my tiny little possibility of a baby lies, and I reach down with my hand to rub at it. Rita’s gaze follows the movement and then her eyes narrow in something close to disgust.
“You’re pregnant with a vampire abomination,” she says darkly while tiny flecks of magic drip from her fingertips like water.
“You and your daddy really are fond of that word, aren’t you?”
She turns her head and looks off into the distance like she’s pondering something. “I should cut the thing out of you.”
“Why bother?” I retort even though my gut is churning at the thought of it. “The birth will more than likely kill the both of us.”
“Hmm, that’s true.”
“Look Rita, I know a vampire killed Noreen and that’s what sent you over the edge, but you can come back from this.”
“Don’t you dare say her name, you have no right!”
“Alvie really misses you,” I continue and I might be mistaken but I think she winces for a split second. “Everybody misses you. Come on, it must be awful living with old clown face in there.”
I get a fright when she lashes her magic at me and it misses by the barest fraction of an inch, singeing the grass where I landed flat on my arse just moments ago. My hands shake as I lift them up in front of me.
“Please, just calm down, okay? I’m sorry I called your dad a clown face. If anything he’s more like one of those marionette dolls.”
The old Rita would have laughed at this, but not this Rita. This Rita simply stares at me without emotion. She starts to pace, muttering to herself. I take the opportunity to summon my sparks and have them ready to attack if needed as I pull myself up off the grass.
I’m determined to find some trace of her old humanity, so I continue talking. “What’s it like living with him anyway? Must be kind of weird. Does he use the bathroom like normal people or does he just magic that stuff away? I mean, I’ve often wondered if sorcerers even have to sleep. Like, they’re immortal and all, so maybe they don’t.”
Rita’s eyes cut to me. She doesn’t do anything, but she doesn’t seem too enthused about me prattling on either.
“These are important questions, you see, because Roman’s going to train me to become a sorceress, so I should probably know this stuff before I really commit. I think it might be weird not going to the bathroom anymore. And I really like to sleep. Finn says it’s my favourite pastime.”
“You, a sorceress?” Rita interrupts and I feel a little rush of triumph that I got her to interact. “Don’t make me laugh. You’re so clueless about even the basics of magic.”
Well, that was nice and bitchy. Still, I’ll take ‘bitchy Rita’ over ‘I’m going to kill you and cut out your baby Rita’ any day of the week.
“I might be clueless, but I have power. That’s the most important thing, the other bits I can learn as I go along.”
“You have power?” she questions derisively. “Sure you do. Your only power is the ability to spread your legs for vampires and let them feed on you.”
“I only let that happen once,” I interject. “Once doesn’t make me a slut. Well, the blood thing happened once, the spreading of the legs happened a few times. But you should try it, you know. It’s lots of fun.”
Purple starts to swirl in her black eyes now. “You’re vile.”
“Am I? I think Roman might have a bit of a thing for you, Reet. Don’t tell me you didn’t consider it even for a second when he was giving you his come to bed eyes.”
“I did not!” she shouts and I dive out of the way when she flings her magic at me again. I don’t emerge entirely unscathed this time and the sleeve of my coat gets singed.
“Whoa, you must have considered it for more than a second seeing as how adamantly you’re denying it,” I quip and raise my hand just as she’s about to throw more magic at me. “Now, now, let’s not be so hasty, Rita. I let you get in a couple shots for free, the next time I’m going to have to retaliate.”
At this there’s a loud smashing sound from the mansion and purple magic begins to swirl out of the large chimney. Rita hurries to investigate and I follow her, making sure to keep a good distance behind. In the foyer a gigantic crystal chandelier has crashed to the floor but there’s no sign of Theodore or Roman.
“Where ar
e they?” I ask her.
She doesn’t reply for a long time as she closes her eyes and a light starts to shimmer from her body. When it’s gone she opens them and turns to look at me.
“They aren’t here,” she answers flatly. “I guess it’s time for me to kill you now.”
Not here? I swallow hard and consider the ramifications of Roman abandoning me like this. It’s one thing to go inside the building and leave me outside alone with a murderous Rita, but it’s another entirely for him to just disappear completely.
“Don’t. You aren’t always going to feel this way. If you do this, one day you’re not going to be grieving for your mother anymore and you’ll hate yourself for what you did. This feeling you’re having is only temporary.”
“It’s not temporary. I will never be the same again and it’s all because of the vampires. They are going to pay for what they did.”
“They didn’t do anything. It was one vampire who killed Noreen. One, Rita. And Ethan killed him. If anything you should be thanking Ethan instead of trying to kill the mother of his unborn child.”
“I’ll never thank him. They’re all the same, all heartless.”
For a second I wonder if this is really Rita talking, or if Theodore has somehow brainwashed her into thinking all vampires are evil. She starts to advance on me quickly now, and out of instinct I throw a blast of sparks at her as I back up all the way outside. She wails in pain when they hit her body, but the pain only lasts a moment before it turns into anger. She comes running at me.
“You’ll pay for that.”
“I didn’t mean to do it, you frightened me. Look, there’s no need for either of us to get hurt here. Roman could have killed Theodore already. You need to come home with me, Rita. We’d all welcome you back with open arms.”
“You talk a lot. Why don’t you shut up for once and fight me?”
She crouches to the ground, placing her hand to the earth and suddenly the grass is exploding and balls of dirt are shooting up into the air like mini landmines. Instinctively, I raise my hand to my face and create a barrier of sparks around my body so that I don’t get pelted. Rita lets out a bark of annoyance when I defend myself and I decide I can’t stay passive anymore. I have to fight back.