Catalyst (Forevermore, Book Two) (12 page)

Iris laughed again and her eyes returned to their natural
hazel. “It’s taken me a long time to accept that I’m a witch, but like I said — it comes in handy. And you’re that Young girl, I’m guessing?”

I nodded.
“Yep. Has anyone seen Mathias today?”

Noah spoke up first,
“He doesn’t usually get out of bed for another hour or two if he doesn’t have to.”

“
Oh, okay ... and what about —”

“
Alan? He’s out.”

“
Actually, I was going to ask about Artemis.”

“
What am I, the hotel secretary? Check his room.”

I furled my eyebrows in his direction, but decided not to retort. It was pointless.
I took Serena by the arm again and led her back down the hallway. “It was nice finally meeting you, Iris,” I said as we walked away.

I was surprised to find Artemis’s door wide open. I knocked against the wood anyway and waited for a response, but no one replied. Glancing at Serena, she gave me a shrug and pushed me forward. I hesitantly stepped into the room and was surprised by how empty it was. There was a large desk pushed against one wall, with a bookcase on both sides — each one full of ancient looking volumes — stacks of paper and other knick-knacks covered the surface of the desk. On the other side was a twin sized bed, neatly made and empty. There was a clean aroma in the air and I heard the sound of trickling water.

“
Oh!” I said with a gasp, pushing Serena behind me and stumbling out of the room. “I think he’s in the shower.”

“
Well ... let’s wait for him to get out?” she suggested.

We stepped back outside and
I quickly shut the door to his room, wondering why he’d left his door open — maybe it had been a mistake or someone had been here before us. Now was as good a time as any to practice my gift and see if I could hear any thoughts — from her or Artemis; although, if Lydia and Mathias were right, I wouldn’t have a good chance of getting through to his mind. Serena leaned against the wall beside the door to the Clan leader’s room and I shut my eyes tightly, forcing out all other thoughts and sounds. I listened to everything around me — the subtle sound of Serena inhaling and exhaling; floorboards creaking inside the room ahead of us; voices coming from the TV in the lobby mixed with the sound of Clan members talking and laughing. Forcefully, I shut those noises out and tried to focus on deeper sounds — the sounds within the minds of those around me.

But I found nothing.
Not even static.

Panicked, I tried to listen for thoughts again, but I still came up with nothing. Maybe it was because I was so unpracticed with it that I didn
’t know how to find the source of the voices. Serena cleared her throat and I opened my eyes.

“
Sorry,” I mumbled. “I was just ... thinking.”

“
Thinking? More like zoning out. You need more coffee. That’s always the answer.”

“
Y-yeah. Maybe,” I said and rapped my shaking hand against Artemis’s door one more time.

Serena sighed with impatience.
“I’m going to go try to call Cam, see if I can visit him later and if he is okay.”

“
Would he even be able to answer his cell phone in the hospital?”

“
They don’t keep you in the hospital for just a broken hand, Madison.” She rolled her eyes.

“
Then where is he?”

“
I don’t know, I haven’t talked to him since … since last night.”

She
gave me a quick hug before she left. I was suddenly aware of how alone I was outside Artemis’s door.

The door swung open and I blinked in shock. Standing before
me, with a navy towel wrapped around his waist, and his wheat-colored hair wet and dripping, was Artemis. My eyes wandered briefly, admiring the toned muscles in his bare abdomen and arms, then quickly averted my eyes and mentally scolded myself for essentially checking him out.

Artemis
’s cheeks reddened and he looked apologetic. “I hadn’t expected ... well, I am not sure who I expected, to be honest. But it certainly wasn’t you, Castus Young. I suppose this would be a time when foresight would come in handy.”

“
You could say that,” I replied still glancing away, my eyes directed toward the floorboards. “I had wanted to ask you something but ... it can wait.”

“
No, wait here ... let me just get dressed and we can talk,” he said. “I’ll be right back.”

Only a few minutes passed before
he emerged from his room, fully clothed and his hair brushed back yet still damp. I had never really thought of him as handsome before now, but he
was
. He was also older, though, and not to mention my Clan leader. I wondered for a moment how and why he was single, but shrugged it off.

“
I apologize for ... my lack of decency a moment ago,” he said with flushed cheeks. “What did you wish to ask of me?”

“
It’s fine,” I assured him and glanced down the hall, hoping that Serena would hurry and come back. “I don’t know what your policies are on non-witches living here, I’m guessing it’s not a common thing, though ... but my best friend really needs a place to stay, and she has nowhere else to go. Would it be at all possible for her to stay in one of the empty rooms here or something?”

Artemis frowned and placed a hand on my shoulder.
“While I sympathize with the issue of your friend having no place to stay, you are correct in your assumption. The Haven is a home strictly for magic users. This is not a halfway house.”

“
What about my mom, though? She’s not a witch.”

“
Your mom is a special case. She may not have magic in the sense that you do, but she does have magic inside her.”

My brows furrowed.
“What do you mean?”

“
She carries with her the gift of the raven — that itself is a gift of magic. One even rarer than yours.”

“
There’s no way you could make an exception in this case?”

Artemis shook his head and lowered his hand.
“While I admire you for your exquisite gifts and am honored to have you as a member of the Castus Clan, I cannot hold favoritism. If I allow your friend to live here, everyone else is going to want to do the same.”

“
I guess you’re right,” I replied glumly, then went to turn around and leave.

“
Cam wants to meet me in thirty minutes for brunch,” Serena announced as she came down the hallway. “Oh ... hi there.” Her smile and wide eyes gave away that she too had noticed Artemis’s good looks.

His
eyes narrowed in her direction as if he truly were trying to read minds, though that was impossible. “Hello. You must be Madison’s friend.”

“
Serena,” she said. “And yeah ... that’s right.”

“
Madison, I am sorry about before. I was too harsh. There are plenty of empty rooms here and it would be silly to keep them unoccupied when … when friends of ours are in need. I will assign a room for your friend,” he said and smiled in my direction.

“
Wait ... what made you change your mind all of a sudden?”

“
I’ll have Castus Palmer show you to room 4, Serena,” Artemis said, ignoring my question completely. He stepped around me and guided my friend down the hall toward the lobby. Once again, I was left alone outside the door.

I sighed and
walked down the hall behind them. I wasn’t sure why Artemis had changed his mind, but I wasn’t about to object. Serena would be safe among the rest of the Clan, and I could see her any time I wanted. When I entered the lobby, Noah was talking to Artemis and Serena, his eyes never leaving my best friend. That boy was going to get his heartbroken in a matter of days — if not less.

“
Do you have anything you need to get from your house?” I heard Noah asking.

Serena shrugged and looked toward me.
“Kind of ... but I really can’t go back there.”

“
I could go for you,” he offered and I rolled my eyes.

“
You’d do that? Really? You don’t even know me.”

“
Yeah. We’re all a team here, even if you’re not a witch. We help each other out.”

Especially when we want to get in bed with them,
I thought to myself, shaking my head in disgust.

“
Thank you for being so supportive, Castus Palmer. Please show Ms. … sorry … Serena, is it? What is your last name?”

“
Dupont.”

“
Show Ms. Dupont here to her room and then you may make arrangements to pick up her belongings if she so desires.”

“
I’m on it,” Noah said and offered Serena his hand.

She hesitantly took it and he led her toward me.
“I was going to say, by the way, that Cam said you could come too, if you wanted,” she said to me. “He wouldn’t let Mom come anywhere near him after he got his hand wrapped at the hospital ... but I don’t blame him.”

“
Your mom didn’t do anything to either of you,” I said. “And it’s okay. I’ll eat something here … you two probably want some time alone, anyway.”

“
She cheated on my dad and it led him to murder someone! That’s not
nothing
, Madison.”

“
I guess,” I said with a sigh, even though I didn’t agree entirely.

“
Mathias should be getting up by now if you want to go see him,” Noah said as he walked by with my best friend.

“
Actually, Castus Forsythe has requested to have no visitors. He isn’t feeling very well,” Artemis said.

“
He seemed fine yesterday ...”

Artemis frowned and looked through the front windows. There was snow falling once more, dancing down from the sky and landing upon the frosty
carpet on the sidewalk. “He was outside for a long time yesterday; he could likely be coming down with a cold passed on by someone unknowingly infected.”

“
I guess,” I repeated and frowned. So much for having a day off where I could enjoy myself. My best friend was understandably occupied with her own grief and drama, my mom was probably out on a date with the man I had grown up calling ‘Dad’, and Mathias — who was supposed to be training me — was sick, or maybe making up excuses not to see me. The latter wouldn’t surprise me all that much, even if we did leave on a positive note last night. There was one person I could count on being there if I needed them, though … I hoped. I went to my room and collected my coat, key, and cell phone before heading through the lobby doors and into the bitter chill of the oncoming winter.

Ezra opened the apartment door and welcomed me into the warm front room. The heater was blasting out hot air and it began to ease the cold out of my skin. Discarding my coat, I left it hanging in the closet and followed my uncle into the living room. Hannah was sitting on the futon with one leg propped over the other, flipping through a book that I recognized as one of my mom’s diaries — why would she have those?

“
Research,” she answered with a twisted smile. “Kind of boring, though, when you already know the whole story. Just checking for anything I’ve missed. What are you doing here?”

“
I had something I needed to tell you,” I said and sat next to her on the futon. “You know ... I could summon you a whole bunch of furniture to make this house more ... comfortable.”

My uncle appeared interested, but Hannah waved the idea away.
“It’s plenty comfortable. And, really? You st0pped by to play interior decorator? What an awesome use for such power!” She rolled her eyes and then began to read again.

“
Believe me, I wish that’s all it was.”

Ezra looked concerned as he leaned up against the counter.

“Oh, that’s enough,” I grumbled and summoned a black leather recliner a few feet in front of the sliding glass door. “There. Go sit down.”

Hannah
’s eyes enlarged and even she looked tempted by the new piece of furniture as she watched her husband claim the new chair. “Okay, so spit it out.”

“
My mom and Jason ... they are sort of
seeing
each other, if you know what I mean.”

My aunt eyed her husba
nd — was she keeping Salem a secret from him too? Surely he wouldn’t spill the news of him being alive ... but then again, I didn’t know my uncle that well.

“
I’m not sure I understand how this is negative news,” Ezra said, leading me to believe he was indeed left out of the secret. “Should we not be happy for them? I mean, yes, it is a sad thing what has happened to Jason and Eila, but if they are truly done, then why not? And Alexis … well … it has been sixteen years since she lost Salem.”

“
No, Ezra. We should not be happy for them because, shockingly enough, my brother is not dead. As much as I’d like for that bitch to never be with my brother again, I know he’ll run straight back to her if we ever set him free.” If I thought it was possible, I would say that Hannah looked paler now than she ever did. “Madison and I both had a dream — a shared vision — of Salem. He is trapped in some sort of cellar or dungeon. Cassius is doing experiments on him, from what I could gather ... giving him some sort of injection to stop him from using his summoning ability to escape, as well as trying to transfer the gift onto the boy …”

Ezra
’s expression was that of surprise and horror. “And just how long did you intend to keep such a secret from me? Or worse, Alexis? Haven’t you done enough to make her suffer?”

Hannah frowned.
“As much as I care about my dear
sister
,” She paused, giving me a sarcastic look, “this is not about that.”

“
Then what
is
it about, pray tell?

“
It’s about ... protecting her. Madison isn’t ready to face Cassius or Silas, and until she is, Alex cannot know about Salem being alive. She would want to leave for Romania immediately. Madison would sure enough follow right along and then they both would die and just like that, the world would end.”

My uncle appeared to understand and nodded,
despite my aunt’s tone and possible over-exaggeration. “How will we know when Madison is ready?”

She shrugged.
“I believe she is well on her way to learning just how ... special she is,” Hannah replied and looked over at me, a sly grin forming on her thin lips.

“
What are you talking about? I’ve done no training at all. I know nothing. I’m nowhere near ready.”

She continued to smirk.
“Some things just can’t be taught. You have to figure them out on your own. You will realize soon enough just how much you are changing. I told you all along that you wouldn’t need any special treatment from a Clan, but you wouldn’t listen. I told you not to get involved with that stupid boy, but of course you didn’t listen. You got that from your mom, no doubt. Regardless, with or without their training, you will discover your true power.”

I tried to ignore her obvious jabs.
“Can’t you just tell me, as apparently you seem to already know so much?”

“
What did I just say?”

Ezra spoke up then,
“It would make the process quicker, however. If you could just tell her whatever you know …”