34. Without Magic
1254 Words
34
Without Magic
“Well, if it isn’t the little heroes.” Rosalie lay on the bed, curled up in a tight ball facing the door.
“How are you feeling?” Jacob shut the door behind him.
“Compingere,” Emilia said, and the door locked shut.
“Afraid I’ll run away?” Rosalie pushed herself up to sit on the bed. “I don’t know where I would go. That lovely Gray woman explained to me very clearly that if I leave this room or do anything to hurt either of you, she’ll tie me out front and make me wait for Emile.”
“She wouldn’t do that,” Emilia said.
Rosalie raised a dark eyebrow.
“I’m not saying you should try it. But I don’t think she would actually give you to him,” Emilia said.
Rosalie stared at Emilia. “You have Emile’s eyes, you know. Your hair is straight like his, but your face is like mine.”
“I’m not like either of you,” Emilia said, struggling to keep her tone even.
“You’re right,” Rosalie said. “You’re like that Gray woman. I left you with her so you would be. Part of a good family, a strong Clan. Protected and provided for. But you bound yourself to him and then ran away to find me. So I suppose there is a bit of your mother in you after all. I’m sorry I tried to leave you behind. Maybe I should have stayed. Taught you not to tether yourself, no matter how much you think you love someone.”
Emilia’s throat tightened, and her mind raced, trying to find words to explain.
“Emile did the spell. We were bound by accident,” Jacob said. His pain radiated into Emilia’s chest.
“Emile is doing horrible things. He calls himself the Pendragon. He’s recruited followers, and they’re killing people. He found out about me and kidn*pped me. Jacob saved me. He almost died saving me.”
“Leave.” Rosalie glared at Jacob, waving a dismissive hand at the door.
Emilia nodded.
“Are you sure?” Jacob asked.
“I’ll be fine.”
“I have no talisman, and I’m not sure if I have any magic left. I’ll have to look into that.” Rosalie studied her hands as though expecting sparks to start flying from them. “I want to talk to my baby.”
“Compuere,” Jacob said, opening the door.
“He loves you,” Rosalie said as Jacob walked out of the room. He paused for a moment before shutting the door behind him.
“Don’t,” Emilia murmured.
“Why? Isn’t that why you brought me here? For a piece of motherly advice?” She paused, but Emilia didn’t speak. “How does one accidentally get tethered? Is that like how I accidentally had you?”
“No.” Emilia swallowed hard. “The Pendragon―”
“You mean your father.” Rosalie sat forward on the edge of the bed.
“He tried to tether me to someone else. Jacob tried to stop the spell and ended up tethered to me. He saved me and got stuck with me all at the same time.”
“You should have left him behind. Or better yet, killed him.” Rosalie stood and paced the edge of the carpet, her eyes regaining a bit of their wild glare. “It’s the only permanent way out. You wouldn’t have to feel him ever again.”
“I would never hurt Jacob.” Emilia watched Rosalie weave around the room. “I would never, ever leave him behind.”
“Why?” Rosalie asked, her eyes bright and manic.
Emilia didn’t answer.
“Then he should have left you.”
“He’s my friend. He would never leave me either.”
“Not good enough.” Rosalie pounded her fists on the wall. “You don’t give up your freedom because someone is your friend.”
“I care about him,” Emilia said. “And he cares about me.”
Rosalie laughed.
“He’s my best friend.”
“And?” Rosalie ran to Emilia, gripping the front of her shirt. “And!”
“And I don’t want to be without him,” Emilia said, her eyes locked with her mother’s. “We’re tethered. We have to stay together. That’s how it works.”
“I’ve seen you with him. I remember seeing you when we were with her.” Rosalie tossed her mane of black hair away from her face. “You love that boy.”
“We’re tethered. The spell makes me―”
“The spell makes you feel his soul. The spell makes his touch intoxicating. But you have loved him for a very long time. You want him. You want to be with him.”
Emilia froze as Rosalie grabbed her hand, tracing the golden streak on Emilia’s palm.
“Such a funny little mark to cause so much trouble.” Rosalie gripped Emilia’s hand and stared directly into her eyes. “I am tethered to Emile. I ran from him. I ran as far and as fast as I could, but he could feel me. So I left you here and tried to run more. But with the Siren, it was quiet. The only heart I could feel was mine. But you ripped me out, and now I can feel every bit of rage that flows through him. Every time I breathe, I can feel that murderer breathe. I can feel him killing people. I still love him, but even more, I hate him. And that has nothing to do with the spell.”
Emilia didn’t notice that Rosalie had let go of her until her mother was leaning out the window.
“I’m sorry,” Emilia whispered.
“Don’t apologize to me,” Rosalie said, the freezing wind making her hair fly around her. “Emile knows I’m here. I can feel it. He’s coming for me, and then he’ll come for you. And he won’t stop until he has both of us. Alive or dead, he won’t care, as long as we’re his. And he’ll kill anyone who tries to get in his way. Especially that boy of yours. Don’t tell me you’re sorry. Tell all the people who are going to die to protect you.”
“I won’t let the Pendragon hurt any of them.” Emilia shoved her hands into her pockets to keep them from trembling.
“No one has ever let your father do anything. I know what Emile LeFay is capable of. I watched him murder a human. He practiced spells on him before slicing him with a knife. And I did nothing. Someone who is willing to do nothing can never be a mother. A mother must have a heart. A thing I clearly lack. But what do I know? I’ve been far away for such a long time. Either way, we won’t have to wait long to see which of us is right.”
Rosalie went to the bed and crawled back into her sheets. Apparently their talk was over. Emilia closed the window. She shivered as she looked out into the darkening sky, unable to shake the feeling that something was coming.
Jacob waited for her in the hall, sitting on the floor against the wall.
“How is she?” Jacob asked, looking at the carpet instead of at Emilia.
“She says the Pendragon knows she’s here.”
“Well, we already knew that.” Jacob ran a hand through his hair. “How could you not come for someone you were tethered to if you thought they were dead?” Jacob rubbed the spot over his heart.
“She hates him,” Emilia said. “She chose to tether herself to him, and she hates him. When she figured out what a monster he was, she ran. The spell didn’t take away her choice.”
Emilia took Jacob’s hand in hers, letting the dark hallway fill with the warm golden light. “I choose you, Jacob.”
She knelt in front of Jacob and leaned in slowly. Her heart began to thrum before their lips met. She threaded her fingers through his hair, and Jacob wrapped his arms around her, pulling her close as he deepened their kiss.
This was right. Without the Siren and all her magic. This was where Emilia belonged. And it didn’t matter what was coming as long as they were together.
- Writer
