Broken (The Immortal Coven Book 1) (24 page)

We rushed to her side, trying to console her, but her frantic cries became louder and more terrifying. Over and over she cried, ‘She’s gone.’

“Oh my God! Her daughter, Maria,” Maura gasped at us, her hand flying to cover her mouth, the tears instantly filling her eyes.

Gloria’s cries became louder at that point.

I can’t do this, Come back!
I cried inwardly for Dmitri but he didn’t come back.

At least an hour past before any of the protectors returned. The women in that room were distraught and in an agony I’d felt before, when my mother had died in front of me.

When Armand returned he went straight to Gloria’s bedside and touched her forehead. In that instant she stopped crying and fell into a deep sleep.

He looked to us, the worry written in each of our eyes, not just for Gloria but also for ourselves.

“Maria was killed by a Shadow demon.” He sighed, “She, like Nanette, didn’t see it coming. It was over before she realized she was in danger.”

My hand covered my mouth, as Katarina’s had earlier. They’d taken a successor.

Everyone stirred, the whispers all coinciding of a future with a broken line.

Armand stood from Gloria’s side to address us, “She has another successor, and all that we need to concern ourselves with is keeping safe.”

My eyes flew to Dmitri who walked in slowly behind the rest of the men.

Seeing him tugged on a lot of heart strings, I was relieved, and yet terribly sad for him. What he must be going through to have to relive the pain of having lost my mother. To see a fellow protector deal with almost the same situation is rough.

In the time span it took me to look from Armand back to Dmitri, I felt another pair of eyes in the room, a phantom pair, and this was the moment she referred to, of my knowing exactly what I would have to do.

The lady of the castle had been Ciara. The epiphany occurred and for once, I knew everything would be fine.

I made my way through the men and women in the room and wrapped my arms around Dmitri. The two of us, the only ones to share a romantic bond, became an eye stopper.

“Celia?” Katerina boomed across the room.

I looked up and faced them, Dmitri directly behind me.

“Yes” I replied, the innocence still lined in my response.

“Are you and your protector romantically involved?” all the voices in the room silenced upon hearing her question, almost being shouted in my direction.

My eyes, initially met hers, but then I realized, witch and protectors included waited for my reply.

Was this what Dmitri was hoping never to deal with, could this moment be what he meant by a battle and a challenge in being allowed to love another?

“Instead of asking me that particular question, ask me something simple, like, Celia, have you figured out how you are going to seal the veil between the shadow realm and our own?”

I shook my head and finished, “I didn’t think so, but I have.” I nodded at her, and I turned away from them to leave the room, Dmitri in tow.

Once out in the hallway, I could hear him trying to keep up as I almost ran back to my chamber, adrenalin coursing through my veins.

“Celia,” he called out, just as I opened the door.

I reached half way into my room before my legs gave way.

“Celia, what do you mean you have?” he asked, matching my movements to fall in front of me.

My eyes, staring at the old Persian carpet, slowly lifted to meet his, “I know how to defeat Kalvati.” I admitted carefully.

“Why didn’t you tell me?”

“Because I can’t.” it was the hardest admission I knew I would ever make.

“What do you mean you can’t tell me?”

“Don’t you see Dmitri? I, alone, must bear the burden. It isn’t a coven spell.”

His hands cupped my elbows, “Celia, you have to tell me.”

“And that’s another thing…” I started. “You can’t be my protector during the spell.”

I could see the concern slowly fill his expression, the outburst, on its cusp of erupting from his system.

“I can’t just stop being your protector, Celia. That’s not how it works.”

“No, but you can trade with Kyle for a temporary time.” I suggested. Unfortunately, that only had him on his feet and pacing in front of me.

“You are insane! Maria’s death has twisted your view of the situation.”

“Dmitri, look at me. I am sane, I am clearheaded and for the very first time since my trip I realize what Ciara meant.”

“When did you figure this out, because you sure as hell didn’t have this clarity out in the garden?” he sassed.

“I need you to trust me. Kyle will go along with whatever you say because he trusts me.” I smiled at him.

“Celia…” he started, looking down to where I sat, calmly on the carpet.

“And here I thought we would be going to the homecoming dance, not fighting magical creatures.” He teased, making an obvious effort to lighten his demeanor.

“Maybe we will. Who knows, maybe playing the princess for the day will keep darkness from clouding all that’s beautiful.”

I got up off the floor and climbed into bed. Dmitri watched as I snuggled under the covers, ready to zonk out.

He climbed onto the covers and sat next to me.

“Gloria’s going to be livid when she finds out what Armand did.” He stated softly.

I tilted my head a bit to see his face, “What did Armand do?” I asked curiously.

“Gloria had fraternal triplets, not twins.” He admitted plainly.

That was what he meant by she had another successor. Somewhere in the world, Gloria had another daughter.

“That’s crazy.” I whispered my thought.

I let my eyes close and sleep take me. It was all I could do. The exhaustion had won the battle the moment I had gotten into bed.

It wasn’t restful sleep.

Images flashed behind closed lids, faces I’d never seen before, faces I wished I would never see again, and George Harrison.

I found myself, in the dreamlike haze, running towards the great tree near the castle, realizing I was a child, and this was a memory and not a dream.

‘Hello Celia.” A voice called out to me, from under the tree.

“Hello, who are you?”

I’m your daddy, Celia.” He smiled, holding his hand out for me to take it.

“But mommy said daddy was in heaven. Are you from heaven?” I asked him, noticing the color of his eyes were a dark chocolate like my own.

“I’m not in heaven, honey. I just can’t live where you live.”

“I don’t live in the castle, maybe you can…” I started, but he reached out and took my hand.

“Let's go sit under the tree, I will tell you a sweet little story.”

We sat under the tree, and he dove into this long tale of love birds that had to live apart from each other, even though they were strongest and happiest when they were together.

I didn’t ask him any question, only listened to his tale.

“One day, the birdie died, leaving the other sad and confused, but he realized he would never truly be alone because he had a baby bird to take care of. From a distance, he watched the baby bird and made sure that nothing bad would happen to it until it grew up and flew away.”

I smiled at him, because essentially his story had a happy ending, and that was all that really mattered.

But then he stopped me from getting up.

“Celia, one day you are going to have to make a choice, and when you do, all you have to remember is I’m always near when you need me. All you have to do is call for me.”

“But I don’t know you.” I replied innocently.

He reached out and handed me a rosebud, “Every life grows from a seed, You are my little seed, mine and your mommies.’

The smile on his face felt natural, and so I took the rose and smelled it. The next part of my dream was surreal. I woke up, with the rose still in my hand and saw Dmitri, just as he looked earlier, but my hand was tiny in his.

The following morning, I found Dmitri laying next to me with his eyes affixed to mine.

“Good morning sunshine.” He sighed.

“I just dreamt of you.”

“That’s nice to know.”

“No…” I stopped him. “I saw you, just as I see you now.” I shook my head, “I saw a man, that man,” I stuttered.

“What man?” he asked softly.

“He said…he said he was my father. He said all I had to do was call for him when I needed him.”

Dmitri stiffened, “Don’t” he commanded. “I’m telling you this now. Don’t call for him, don’t summon him, and don’t let him near you, Celia.”

He rose from the bed and paced in front of where I was now sitting.

“Why are you reacting like this?”

He stopped, dead in his tracks and stared at me, eyes filled with a concern I’d seen far too often recently.

“He could be playing with your head, Celia. He could be getting into your mind and coercing you to think what he wants you to think.”

His reaction felt like it needed a bit of consoling, as though he was torn apart over my potential vulnerability.

I sat up on my knees, the sheet falling to the bed as I got up. “Come here.” I murmured, holding my arms out to him.

His pacing slowed, his eyes met mine, and slowly he gave in to the need to be in my arms.

He smelled nice, like wildflowers mixed with aftershave. My head rested on his shoulder, my mouth lying softly on the skin of his neck.

His arms, wrapped around my waist, gently squeezed the need to hold me evident.

“I’m falling apart Dmitri. It feels like I’m barely breathing. The only thing that is keeping me going is this. You. You are the only thing I find I can hold on to without effort.”

“Then I won’t let go.” He sighed, pulling away only far enough to look at me, “I won’t ever let go and we will get through this together.”

I nodded, agreeing to his promise and leaned forward to seal it with a soft kiss. My head went back to his shoulder and he held me a little longer before I found the need to lie back down.

“Why does the castle bring back bad memories for you?” I asked softly.

He laid his head back on the pillow next to mine, facing me and I sensed that he was looking for the words to explain his grief.

“It was here that the coven was bonded.” he started, “It was also here that my mother’s life ended.”

I felt my eyebrows raise and my lips pout. “I’m sorry.”

“Don’t be, she lived a long and exciting life. She did a lot of good in her time as a witch.”

“I would have loved to have known her.”

“I think she would have liked you. Your temperaments are similar. She had a strong willed side to her, fierce but she was also so full of love.”

“What was it like to see her grow old?”

The curiosity had been there a while. How he had managed to detach his emotions from his connections to his family.

“I didn’t think about it until she said goodbye.” He breathed, a mist filling the whites of his eyes.