Phoenix Page 20

  I grin. "Oliver taught me how to retrieve information with magic. Watch." I hold my hand over the book. "Lark and Northwoods."

  Nothing happens.

  Damn. That's the problem. If you don't know what to retrieve, it's not the best method.

  I'm positive I have to be specific, but don't know what to ask for. Perhaps I need to ask for something like Kyra's wedding.

  The book thumps against the stack and flips open. Sure enough, there's an entry with Kyra's binding date.

  I begin to read aloud.

  "The Light witches attacked at approximately eight o'clock. My sources tell me someone inside was responsible for tipping off that infernal Eamon. But who?"

  I skim until I see my name.

  "Lark did well tonight. Her powers are manifesting stronger daily, and today was no exception. She was able to draw on both my and Annalise's attack powers and blow the side off the building. Soon, she'll move beyond being a mere amplifier, and be a true Greene."

  My eyes lift from the page. So she did know I was an amplifier, but never told me.

  Figures.

  Suddenly, I know what to ask. I wave my hand over the collection of books and say, "Callum, Lark, and the curse."

  Sure enough, another book flops open. I scoop it up with greedy hands and begin reading.

  "I wish I could tell Lark more, but I'm waiting to gather irrefutable evidence. If the curse is about her and Callum, I know she'll be relived, but I don't want to get her hopes up or have her distracted from her true purpose: becoming the strongest Dark witch the world has ever seen."

  I set the journal down and draw a deep breath. Mother suspected Callum, yet she never told anyone.

  Or did she? I think back to Jack's words about how Mother needed his attention and love, and how Mother chose to overlook Callum's muddled magic. Had she confided in Jack?

  "Jack and Northwoods," I whisper into the stillness of my room.

  A journal slips from the center of the stack.

  "Who's Jack?" Ryker asks.

  I nibble on my fingertip. "My grandfather," I reply as if it's the most natural thing in the world.

  All the journals flop open, creating a breeze in my already icy room. Twelve journals all stare up at me. I gasp. How many times had she visited Jack without anyone knowing?

  I grab the one nearest me and settle into one of the club chairs.

  It's going to be a long night of reading.

  #

  Ryker and I pour through the books, each of us reading in silence until something catches our interest.

  "Listen to this," Ryker says, squinting at the page and making his concentration face. Reading the journals isn't as easy for him as it is for me. "Today, Sebb and I took the children to visit Jack. How he doted on Lark! Callum, however, sat sullenly in the corner and refused to interact with any of us. I even caught him muttering little curses under his breath. We all had a good laugh over that." He looks up at me. "Callum was trying out magic as a really little kid. He was what, four or five when you were a baby?"

  I nod. "Something like that."

  My guard sets the journal down. "Why did she think he was so weak if he was already trying out magic as a child?"

  I shrug. So far, the best explanation I have is that Mother wanted to keep Callum's guard down while keeping him close to her. Too bad it backfired in the end.

  The more I read, the more aware I am of the danger my brother poses. Mother knew of his discontent; she knew he wanted a place in government; and she, like Jack, worried the curse was about Callum and me because we, like the twins, shared the same blood. Her belief in the curse pertaining to Beck and me was a façade, something to distract from where the real problem lied. She believed if she kept us both close, she could prevent us from harming one another.

  Too bad she was wrong.

  I stand, bend forward, and touch my toes. The stretching feels good on my lower back. "What time is it?" I ask Ryker since my wristlet is on the nightstand.

  "Three."

  I stare out the window at the darkened street. "I should try to get some sleep - I have the announcements in the morning."

  Ryker nods his head. "You should try. How about some of that sleep tea now?"

  "That would be great."

  He waves his hand over the table and a piping hot cup of tea appears. "Do you want me to keep going through the journals? I'm on duty until six."

  I consider his offer for a moment before agreeing. "Wake me if you find anything interesting."

  "Okay."

  Three quick blows on my tea, and I take a long swig. The liquid rushes down my throat and warms my belly. The room becomes a bit fuzzy, and I crawl up onto my bed while holding the tea cup.

  "Let me take that," Ryker says, but I gulp down another swig before handing it over.

  When my head hits the pillow, everything is foggy, including my brain.

  CHAPTER THIRTY-THREE

  "Rise and shine!" Kyra stands over me with a giant smile on her face. Her hair is tied back in a ponytail, but that doesn't mean she looks neat and tidy. Stray curls ring her face, and her shirt is untucked.

  I groan and roll over, wishing her away.

  "C'mon now, Lark." She gently prods me. "Get up."

  I stumble out of bed, blurry-eyed and shaky. Not enough sleep, and my mind is a jumble of information from my midnight reading session and memories of Callum as a child.

  "Where's Annalise?" I grumble.

  "She'll be here shortly," Kyra says, tucking in her shirt, like just the mention of Annalise is enough to get her to tidy up.

  "Wonderful."

  My best friend grabs me by the arm and pushes me toward the shower. "Hurry up," she says. "Your prep team will be here soon."

  I dig in my heels, bringing us to a halt. "Are there any updates on Callum?" I ask. "Or Beck?"

  Kyra runs her tongue over her teeth. "Beck is doing well. He's awake and talking. Whatever you did worked, but don't tell them I told you."

  I tilt my head and try to get a read on Kyra. She's nervous, like she's sharing restricted information. "What do you mean?" I ask.

  "It's just...well, I overheard Henry saying that no matter what happens the two of you need to be kept apart."

  Swift punch to the gut.

  "Did he say why?"

  "No." She wrings her hands together. "But Lark, Beck was dying until you showed up. No one thought he was going to pull through."

  "So Beck woke up after I left?"

  "He not only woke up, he seemed like his old self. I saw it with my own eyes."

  "But I wasn't there, so it could be as Henry sees it."

  Kyra shakes her head, and her dark curls bounce in her ponytail. "I don't know, Lark. Sometimes, I think you give Henry too much credit. He makes mistakes like the rest of us."

  I motion for her to follow me into the shower. "Tell me more about Beck."

  "Well, he's happy - like how he used to be. And he keeps asking for you."

  I strip off my nightclothes and climb in the steam shower while Kyra perches on the edge of the sink. "If you want my honest opinion, I think they're wrong about the two of you. I don't think you're making him do these things. Just like I don't think he's making you act so calm and pulled together."

  "I don't think so either." Shampoo runs down my face, and I stick my head under the water. When I surface, I say, "Be my eyes and ears, Kyra. I want to know everything about what's going on with Beck."

  She throws up her hands. "I'm assigned to you now. Landon redid all the assignments this morning. He's sending Ryker to Beck."

  "Why?" I ask, stepping out of the shower.

  She shrugs and holds out my towel. "I don't know. It makes no sense. He split us all up into Lark and Beck duties instead of having us watch over both of you."

  "After I'm done with the announcements, I'm going to visit Beck." I need to share with him what Ryker and I discovered. More importantly, I need to tell him about the curse.

  Kyra stare
s at me with wide eyes. "Good luck with that. Everyone is under instructions not to let you within fifty feet of each other."

  Under my breath, I mutter, "We'll see about that."

  #

  I breeze through the morning announcements making no mention of the commotion at the Founders' Ball and instead focus on the pageantry of the evening. In my mind, I will whoever happened to see the feed before we blew it up to forget everything. I pray it works. Mind-scrubbing the entire Society seems beyond my capabilities.

  Callum never enters my vocabulary, but he occupies all of my thoughts - after Beck, of course.

  As soon as I finish the report, I back away from the desk. "Kyra," I say quietly, so Annalise won't hear. "Let's go to my house and see Beck."

  She folds her arms. "Henry and Annalise won't like it."

  "So?" I say, eyeing Annalise. She seems larger today than last night, if that's possible. Like she's about to pop. "What can they do?"

  "I don't know? Convince Beck you're killing him? Make him not want to ever see you again."

  Disheartened, I lean against the desk. "Do you think he'd believe them?"

  "I think," she answers while picking a piece of imaginary lint off her uniform, "that the two of you will do whatever you want, so what's the point of keeping you apart?"

  "I think you're the smartest of my guards." I dip my head to her in mock deference. "The voice of reason."

  She giggles. "Something is really wrong with you if you believe that. I do nothing but get you in trouble."

  I break into a wide smile. "And that, Kyra, is why I love you."

  #

  Color has returned to Beck's cheeks, and he no longer looks like death. I hover near the doorway, unsure of whether or not I should even be this close to him. I believe what I read about the curse, but I'm still unsure if my magic – that piece of me locked in his heart – isn't what's causing him to act out.

  Act out? Way to make it seem less than what it is. My stomach flips over as I remember that he killed several people.

  I study Beck carefully, looking for any signs of madness. He is sitting up in our bed, pillows cushioning him from behind. He's laughing with Ryker, looking at something on his tablet and doesn't notice me in the doorway.

  I clear my throat.

  With a lazy turn of the head and flutter of lashes, he spies me. "Hiya, Birdie."

  "Hiya," I say, keeping to my post at the door. Kyra stands next to me keeping guard. "How do you feel?"

  "I've been better." It's been thirteen hours since I've seen Beck, and the changes are remarkable. He's awake and talking for one thing, and there's pep in his voice. "Come closer, I don't bite...unless you want me to." He laughs heartily. When I hesitate, he adds, "Ryker and I were just watching some videos."

  My spine tingles. This is the Beck I know and love.

  "Can you excuse us, Ryker?" I ask. My heart is a whirling mess of anxiety, knotting itself up and making my blood race.

  Our friend screws up his face. "I'm not supposed to leave you alone together."

  I roll my eyes. "Do I seem dangerous? Does Beck?" I slide into the room. "Besides, I need to talk to him about what you and I researched last night."

  Ryker stands and nearly knocks his wooden chair over. "Fine, but if anyone asks, you influenced me."

  I huff. "Okay."

  He slinks out of the room and closes the door behind him. His voice and Kyra's waft in from the hallway. Neither seem surprised by the turn of events.

  Beck reaches out to me. "Come here, Birdie."

  I crawl up on the bed and nestle into his arms. "Tell me what happened," I order, not wasting any time.

  A long sigh escapes Beck's mouth. "I really don't know. I was out-of-control." Shame fills his words, and he drops his head to his chest. "I killed people."

  "I know."

  "Do you think it's true? That I'm going crazy?"

  Because of me I fill in, in my mind.

  I run my hand down his arm. He's shaking. "Are you okay?"

  "No. What the hell did I do? One minute, I felt fine; the next moment, everything was red and burning hot. I couldn't stop myself. It was like I was floating over my body, just watching me wreck havoc. I couldn't stop myself."

  "I know how that feels. Only with me, the more I do it, the more I want to do it. I feed off the feelings of the crowd."

  Beck pulls me closer, and his heart beat thunders in my ears. "It wasn't like that for me. I wanted to stop. I wanted the burning and rage to end."

  "That's good," I say, hope peppering my words. "That means you have some control over it."

  "What are we going to do?" His voice hitches. "I don't want to live a life without you, but I don't want to live like this either."

  "Did Ryker tell you anything about our research?"

  Beck shakes his head.

  I consider my words carefully. "The curse may not be about us. We may not be destined to kill each other." I pause before adding the most important part. "There's a good chance it's about Callum and me."

  My mate pushes me out of his arms and stares down at me. "What are you saying?"

  "That you may be going crazy, but like me, you can learn to control it. You don't have to give in. Your death isn't inevitable. The very fact that you wanted to stop tells me you have more control than I did early on."

  Beck collapses back into the pillow, and his breath whooshes out of him. "Do you believe it? That the curse isn't about us?"

  I nod. "My mother did, too."

  With that, Beck swings his long legs off the side of the bed.

  "What are you doing?" I ask.

  "We're going to find Callum and end this once and for all."

  As much as I'd love to have Beck by my side, I know this is a confrontation I have to have on my own. "No," I say. "You can help me find him, but I need to be the one to end things."

  Beck studies me, and I allow my emotions to run freely: nervousness, horror, worry, and resolve.

  "You're committed to this, aren't you?" he asks.

  "If it means keeping everyone - witches and humans - safe, yes I am."

  I crawl over the bed to where Beck sits and take his hand. "Do you remember asking me what I wanted?"

  He bobs his head.

  "I know now. I don't only want to be safe. I want the quiet normal life you and I planned. I want to wake up each day with you next to me, knowing we're not going to hurt each other. I want a job at the Ag Centers like I dreamed before all this started. I just want to be normal."

  Beck kisses my forehead. "I'd like to wake up like that, too."

  "Every occasion of normality would be a celebration," I say, laughing.

  "Every day with you would be," he counters.

  CHAPTER THIRTY-FOUR

  Annalise sits behind her desk. Normally, actually always, she comes to me, so when she spots me standing in the corner of her office, she does a double take.

  "Lark! What can I do for you?"

  I glance around the nearly sterile office. There's a desk and two chairs, but not much else. If I thought mine was bare, hers is downright spartan.

  "I thought you could brief me on Callum."

  "You have great timing," she says. "I was just going over the latest intelligence." She waves her hand, and a screen appears on the wall nearest me. The information from her tablet populates the screen.

  "I believe," she says, studying her tablet, "that he's in Vancouver. At Malin's country estate."

  My jaw clenches. Of course he'd hide there. Since Mother's death, he's been angling to gain possession of both her San Francisco house and the estate. I've been too busy putting out fires to deal with it all.

  "I'm going to him," I say.

  "Not without a full guard."

  I cross my arms. "I have to do this alone."

  "Lark, I can't send you into who-knows-what with no back up. At least take Ryker and Kyra."

  I consider her request for all of two seconds. "No, it has to be me."

 
"Then take Beck."

  My jaw drops open. "I thought you wanted to keep us apart."

  She shakes her head. "What's the point? You're just going to sneak around. We all know it." She holds up her hand when I begin to protest. "Plus, the two of you together are formidable."

  "Is he strong enough?" I ask, taking a seat on one of her chairs.

  "He will be." She pushes back slightly from the desk and rests her hands on her stomach.

  "How much longer?" I ask, pointing at her belly.

  She pats her tummy softly. "Soon. Within the next couple of weeks, I believe." Unlike humans, witches have a gestation time of just four months.

  If I'm honest, I wish Annalise could accompany Beck and me when we confront Callum. Of the three of us, she knows him best.

  "Before you go, let Ryker work with the two of you. Let him give you some sort of training."

  I consider her offer, but in my heart I believe that the longer I wait, the more time Callum will have to prepare. He has to know someone - maybe not me, but someone - is coming for him. "No. The faster we do this, the better. And we should keep it quiet. The less people who know, the less likely Callum will find out."

  Annalise folds her hands on the desktop. "I don't like this, Lark." When she pushes away from the desk, I can see how swollen her belly has become and wonder how she doesn't tip over when she stands.

  "You know it needs to be done. Either Callum will survive, or I will." I try to sound braver than I am, but I'm terrified. Because he hid his abilities for so long, I have no idea what Callum is capable of doing.

  "Then let Ryker train you. It doesn't have to be months, or even weeks, just give us a few days to get you ready."

  There's wisdom in what she's asking. I take a deep breath and focus my energy on making a solid decision instead of my usual rash reaction.