Catalyst (Forevermore, Book Two) (27 page)

The house was warm and inviting. Alan discarded his scarf in the front closet and followed me to the kitchen where I was surprised to find Jason and Eila working together at the stove and talking like nothing had ever happened. I could sense the tension between them
, though, even from across the room. I introduced Alan and Lydia to my adoptive parents and we began setting the table; I helped stir the mashed potatoes and added in some garlic to give it more flavor. The kitchen was bustling with movement and quiet conversations, some of which I picked up on. Jason was relaying some things to Eila about his job at the hardware store, while she filled him in on some of the on-goings at the bakery. Alan assisted Jason with glazing the ham, which would be done cooking after caramelizing in the oven for thirty more minutes. Lydia kept to herself, mostly observing from the other room — no one minded; I’d explained her condition for the most part before we’d shown up.

Uncle Mitchell showed up about twenty minutes later, wielding a dish of his homemade sweet potato casserole. He shoved it in the microwave before coming straight over and giving me a big, warm hug.

“You look good,” he said and lowered his arms.

“
Thanks,” I replied and introduced my two friends before returning to help in the kitchen.

Eila came over and gave me a hug when she was done cleaning up some of the mess that had been made.
“I’m so glad you came. It wouldn’t have been the same without you and your da-Jason,” she said and then looked around the room, seeming to count all of the attendees. “I thought Serena was coming?”

I sighed and shrugged.
“So did I ... but I guess not.”

It had been almost two hours since we
’d arrived, and I was losing hope that she’d ever show. As though Eila’s question had summoned them, the doorbell rang and my adoptive mom went to answer the door. I could hear Serena laughing about something and I turned away from watching Jason remove the ham from the oven and saw my best friend playfully smack Noah’s chest. Annoyance and anger heated underneath my skin and I clenched my fists at my side.

“
Oh,” Eila said, looking at Noah in surprise, “who is this?”

I made my way across t
he room and to her side. “That’s Noah ... he’s from Haven too.”

Eila
’s smile faltered briefly then came back. “Well, welcome, both of you. Come on in, you’re right in time for the best part.”

Noah and Serena came walking in hand-in-hand, both of them grinning happily and I felt a brief twinge of guilt at my annoyance toward them. We all sat down to eat a few minutes later. The tension between Eila and Jason was notable every now and then, making me a little uneasy, but it quickly settled and things went on as though nothing had been said. At one point, Jason asked her where the autumn-themed salt and pepper shakers were, and Eila snapped back saying that had she had help digging through the boxes to set them up in time they would be there. Jason just sat there, taken aback,
but surprisingly let it slide.

When I scanned the table and the people surrounding me, I felt a sudden wave of dizziness. My mom should have been in one of the empty seats. So should have Mathias. And my dad. I forced myself to focus on what was going on around me and pulled myself away from my thoughts as much as I could, but it wasn
’t easy. Eila asked how things were going at Haven, which surprised me, but she seemed oddly at ease with the topic of magic and how I’d learned that I could use my mind to move objects. She even had me show her by magically passing her the gravy boat for her mashed potatoes. I wondered if it was the medication she had mentioned before that was causing her to be so … different.

Noah and Serena sat at the far end of the table, flirting quietly throughout the entire meal, and often laughed at things that no one else heard. I cringed at them and tried again to pay attention to anything
else I could.

Dessert finally came and I was
shocked that Eila hadn’t made a cake or pie — instead we just ate Uncle Mitch’s sweet potato casserole. It was delicious, but that was no surprise; it always was. I’d only managed to get a forkful into my mouth, though, when my phone suddenly started buzzing. I set down my silverware and took the phone out of my bag, not recognizing the number, even though it was the same area code. With a shrug, I hit ignore.

“
Who was it?” Eila asked curiously, spraying some whipped cream onto her casserole.

“
I don’t know ... wrong number I’m guessing.”

I went to take another bite but the phone rang again. The same number displayed on the screen.
Once more, I hit ignore, only this time it rang immediately afterward.

With a sigh, I hit accept.
“Hello? Who is this? I’m trying to —”

The voice at the other end interrupted me without hesitation.
“Madison, I am sorry to bother you. I did not know who else to ask.”

I blinked and glanced at the phone in surprise before putting it back to my ear.
“E-Ezra? Is that you?”

“
Yes. Again, I do apologize.”

Now I felt a little worried, although I wasn
’t sure why. “What is it?”

“
Hannah ... your aunt. Have you seen her by chance?”

“
No . Was I supposed to?”

“
Well, no, I don’t believe so. It is just that after you visited the other day, she left and has not returned since.”

My hand shook nervously and I became suddenly aware that everyone was staring at me.

“She is a very independent and strong woman, as you well know, but ...” There was a pause. “She has left before, for days, even weeks at a time ... but she always at least leaves me a note to let me know, or a call.”

I swallowed hard.
“I haven’t seen her.”

“
If you do, please either contact me or have her do so. Thank you, Madison. Again, I apologize for the interruption.”

He hung up and I had the sudden realization that Hannah must have gone to the Nefastus
’s lair on her own immediately after talking to me. If that was the case and she still wasn’t back ... then she could be dead for all I knew. And it was my fault.

I stood up without even realizing it, my phone gripped tightly in my hand. Eyes were staring at me in confusion and surprise and I slowly sat back down, my heart threatening to jump out of my
chest.

“
Madison?” Eila said worriedly.

“
Huh? What?” I asked, barely even comprehending that I was actually speaking; my mind was elsewhere.

“
Who was on the phone?” Jason asked. “Is everything okay?”

I shook my head and stood back up, my feet wobbling beneath me.
“I ... I have to go.”

“
What? You’re not going anywhere, Madison,” Jason stated. “This is Thanksgiving dinner ... whatever it is, it can wait.”

I looked over at Jason and caught a glimpse of Alan in the chair beside him. He loo
ked at me with uncertainty. I suspected he thought the phone call was about Mathias.

“
No, it’s not that,” I said in a hushed tone toward him. He looked conflicted but seemed to understand what I meant. Then I pointed across the table at Noah, who had stopped playing with Serena’s hair finally, “You. You’re coming with me.”

“
What?” Serena said. “No, he’s not.”

I didn
’t take my eyes off of him as I walked around the table and grabbed him by the arm and forced him up from his seat. He shrugged loose from my grip and stared at me, perplexed and annoyed. “Whoa, whoa. If anyone is deciding what I am and am not doing, it’s going to be me. Now, what’s going on?”

I looked anxiously through the room at everyone that was still staring at me.
“Just come outside with me for a minute.
Please
.”

Seeming to hear the desperation in my voice, he sighed.
“Fine.”

“
I-I’m sorry, everyone just … keep eating.”

Jason went to protest again but Eila stopped him, and they b
oth watched as we left the room.

Snow had started falling in a dazzling twirl of white under the dim beams of
the sun peaking its way through the clouded sky. I stepped down from the front porch where once had sat two neatly carved jack-o-lanterns from a time that seemed forever ago. Noah followed behind me and reached out and grabbed me by the elbow, stopping me from walking any further. He turned me around to face him.

“
Okay, so what’s the big —”

I looked at him
, tugged my arm away, and peered up at the windows that gave a full view of the dining room — no one was eating anymore. Uncle Mitchell seemed to be trying to get everyone’s attention, and Serena was glaring out the window in our direction. Jason looked uneasy and like he was going to launch himself from his seat and run outside at any second. Frowning, I glanced away and rested my eyes on Noah.

“
Look, I know that you know a lot more about the Nefastus than you want to admit. It’s obvious.”

He shrugged lik
e it didn’t matter. “Yeah, so?”

“
You’re going to tell me everything that you know, and how and why you know it. Now.”

Noah almost looked like he was going to laugh at my half-hearted attempt at a threat, then he appeared hesitant.
“Why do you even want to know? If it’s about Mathias, then just forget it. I’ve already told you to let it go and let Artemis do his thing.”

“
That’s not what this is about. I went to talk to my aunt a few days ago and told her everything that you said to me about where their lair is, and about the Shimmerer. She told me she’d figure something out and go there ... and that was my uncle on the phone saying that she’s missing.”

Noah shook his head and ran his hands over his head
, which was starting to show more than just stubbles of hair. “Your aunt may seem like this invincible vampire-witch hybrid thing, but she is no match for Constantine and some of the other Nefastus.”

“
I know that. I just thought ... it doesn’t matter what I thought. Are you going to help me or not?”

He sigh
ed and glanced toward my house — no doubt looking through the window in search of Serena. “Come with me ...”

To my surprise, he led me through the freezing cold back to Haven. We walked through the dark and silent lobby and directly to his room. I stood hesitantly outside the doorway, peering into the place I briefly recalled visiting once before.

“
Come on,” he said impatiently. “It’s not as bad in here as you think ... and contrary to popular belief, I don’t bite ... usually.” He grinned.

Stepping over the threshold and into the light, I was shocked to find that the mess that I
’d seen before had been cleaned up. The room was actually quite tidy and the posters of swimsuit models had been torn down from the walls. My assumption had been that he’d done it to impress Serena. There was a bookcase up against one of the walls that I’d missed on my first visit to his room, probably because I’d been too focused on Mathias at the time. The shelves were loaded with books, most of them old and worn. I wondered briefly if any of them could have been the
Codex
but I seriously doubted it. From what Iris said, no one was allowed to see the book. I’d never taken Noah to be the reading type, either, but then again I’d been wrong about Hannah too. The more I looked around, the more I started to notice one thing in particular — on nearly every surface in the room there were framed pictures of a young girl beside a much younger Noah. She looked a little younger than him, but they shared the same gray eyes. Some of the pictures were fairly recent, while others were definitely older.

“
Is that ... is that your sister?” I asked, reaching out and picking up one of the frames and wiping off a thin layer of dust. She had long waves of dark brown hair with gold highlights; I wondered what Noah would look like if he’d let his hair grow out — would it be the same color?

“
It is.” Noah sounded sad when he answered, an emotion I’d never really heard in his voice before. He’d always been sarcastic or flirtatious, never sad.

I remembered the day we met and how he
’d told me about showing his sister his gift — summoning a ball of fire in front of her — and his dad catching him in the act and throwing him out of the house for being some sort of monster.

“
Chloe,” he choked out and I noted that his eyes were watering. “She was discovered by the Nefastus and inducted into their Clan. I’ve been ... secretly meeting with her over the past year or two, trying to convince her to renounce it and come to our side.”

I had a hard tim
e believing that he was the
good guy
, that this wasn’t just some rouse to cover up that
he
was secretly a Nefastus — but I had no concrete evidence to prove that he’d done anything wrong or that he deserved to be judged like that. It was fishy that he knew of the Nefastus’s secret hiding place, but I supposed his sister could have told him where it was and described the people that lived there. Maybe he’d even gone to her with questions about Shimmerers for Mathias’s sake ... and he did genuinely seem like he loved and missed his sister.

“
I would do anything for her and to be with her,” he said and slumped onto his bed.

“
Anything?” I asked suspiciously, wishing I could get a glimpse at his Mark to see that it was still there.

He sighed and looked at me through dark eyes
. “Anything reasonable, Madison. I know what you’re thinking ...”

“
Do you think you could find out from her if they have Hannah?”

“
If that’s where Hannah went, and she hasn’t been heard from for ... however many days it’s been ... then there’s no doubt that they have her … if she’s even still alive.”

I started pacing around the room anxiously, clueless yet again on what to do.
“How long would it take for you to get in contact with her— with Chloe?”

He shrugged.
“A few days or more, at least.”

“
Hannah might not have a few days! If she isn’t dead already, like you said!” I’d been too hard on my aunt, regardless if she treated me and everyone else horribly — I knew she had a soft side. She wasn’t a complete and total bitch ... not all the time. She definitely didn’t deserve to be tortured or killed.

“
I have an idea that might work, though,” he suggested and sat up.

“
And what is that?”

“
I take you in ...”

“
Take me in? As what? Your prisoner?”

He shifted on the mattress and
nodded. “That’s how it’d seem.”

“
Are you crazy?! They’d kill me!”

Noah put his hand up and I stopped pacing.
“Just listen. I think we can check on and maybe even free your aunt
and
find a cure for Mathias at the same time this way.”

I wasn
’t buying it. There was no way I could just follow Noah to the enemy’s lair and let them have me. This was definitely some sort of scheme.

“
They know that I’m Chloe’s brother. They would probably have me converted in a heartbeat if I was willing, but I’m not. Anyway, I can go up there and have you tied up or something, tell them I’ve caught you and am handing you over and want to convert. We can tell Constantine that you gave yourself up for a cure for Mathias. Hopefully he will agree, and then my sister can help us get out or something after that.”

“
Or something? Yeah, no thanks. That would never work, Noah. It’s suicide!”

“
Trust me, it’ll work.”

I threw my hands up in the air with frustration.
“That’s the thing, I
don’t
trust you! How do I know you’re not tricking me and really are one of them?”

He sighed and looked hurt, then stood from the bed.
“Look, I’ve never told anyone this ... not even my sister.” He approached the bedroom door, opened it, glanced around the corners to make sure no one was out there, then shut it and locked it.

Gulping, I turned my attention to the window by his bed and wondered what I
’d do if he tried to attack me. I knew I could attack him and fight back with my powers, but I doubted I’d win.

“
I’ve thought about it. I won’t lie. I was almost on the border of joining until ...”

“
Until what? And the mere fact that you even
considered
it is making this sound even worse.”

Noah looked surprised at what I said, then shook his head.
“You wouldn’t understand. And it wasn’t until she came along that I changed my mind.” He noticeably blushed and turned away.

“
Are you serious ...? Serena?”

He nodded.
“Not at first, though. Well, I mean, I liked her. I don’t know how to explain it. There is like ... some connection there. It wasn’t just that she’s pretty.” He looked down at the nightstand by his bed and picked up a picture frame of Chloe, running his fingers idly over the glass. “Anyway, when she moved in here it made me want to stay. I don’t mean just so that I could see her. It made me ... I don’t know ... it made me never want to be bad. Like, that if I was ... she would think less of me or something. I know that sounds stupid but ...” He set the frame back down. “And the only reason I ever even considered going to them was because of Chloe. Not because I wanted to be one of them.”

Noah had finally semi-convinced
me that his story was true, and for the first time I was truly seeing him as a normal person, not just the kid who joked around and made failed attempts at flirting ... but a real person with feelings.

“
I ... I understand,” I whispered, my gaze falling to my fidgeting hands. My thoughts went to Mathias and how I wanted to do anything I could to get him out of the place he was in, just like Noah wanted to rescue his sister. Although they were two completely different situations, they were also alike in so many ways.

“
You’re sure this will work?”

Noah turned and smiled.
“Fifty-one percent sure!”

I grimaced.
“Funny.”

He came over and carefully put a hand on my shoulder.
“It’ll be fine, trust me. If anyone can get you in and out, it’s me and my sister.”

While I may have started trusting Noah, I had no idea about his sister. This was a completely stupid idea but I didn
’t feel like I had much of a choice. I couldn’t go alone, and Artemis was still missing, Mathias was dying, and my aunt — who I thought of all this time as invincible and incredibly powerful — was gone too.

“
I’ll think about. Okay?” I turned to leave the room.

“
Okay,” Noah said. “But don’t think too long. I’ve heard the Nefastus do some pretty nasty things to other magical creatures.”

I shivered at the thought of them using Hannah for some sick gain or experiment just because she was a vampire
. Just like the red-eyed boy’s — my
brother’s
— ‘master’ was torturing my dad in that vision. With another shudder, I left and went to my room.

Mom was absent again, but I wasn
’t surprised. She had probably gotten lonely lying around the motel while everyone else was out celebrating. My thoughts changed when my eyes settled on a note in her familiar script on my bed. I unfolded the paper with shaky fingers and read it:

Madison,

I am out with Jason for a little while. He called me saying he had a fight with Eila
after dinner, I’m not sure if you were there or aware or not ... but everything will be fine. I didn’t want you to worry.

Love, Mom

I crumpled up the paper in my fist and wondered what the hell could have happened in the short time since I
’d left my adoptive parents’ house. With a furious yell, I tossed the balled up note and clenched my fists angrily at my side. That was it; it was time to go. I had nothing to lose.

I walked back to Noah
’s room and slammed my fist hard against the wood. He opened it and looked me over. His phone was against his ear and he muttered apologetically into the receiver, saying he’d call the person back. I assumed he’d been talking to Serena, but part of me worried that it’d been his sister or another Nefastus who he was filling in on his plans. I shook the thought away and told him that I was ready.

He blinked in surprise and arched a brow.
“Really? That was quick. What changed your mind?”

“
Don’t worry about it. Let’s just go.”

“
Uh, now? Can’t you wait like, one —”

“
Now!”

He tensed up and stashed his phone in his pocket before grabbing
his coat and pulling it back on. “Geez, fine. Let’s go.”