Falling Into Place (31 page)

“What?” she whispered.

Tremaine let her go and stood up to pace,
his fingers plowing through his hair. “Amalie set up these wards
that kept the cabin from view. The same type of wards you put up
around your cabin. You learned that without anyone teaching you,
right?”

She nodded dumbly.

He continued. “Yeah, she did the same thing.
It’s not a mage ability. I’ve never seen a mage pull that off.”

“So you’re telling me that I’m not really a
mage at all.”

Tremaine spun around and bobbled his head
like he wasn’t sure if he should nod or shake it. “Not
exactly.”

She shot to her feet. “But I’m not a druid.
I never once shifted.”

“Have you ever tried?” Tremaine fired
back.

She frowned. “Well no, but that doesn’t
matter. I never even had the urge to shift.” But then she stopped
for a second to think that over. That wasn’t entirely true, but
only ever in her dreams.

Liz sank back on the couch and muttered,
“But I cast like a mage.”

“You’re both,” Tremaine said simply. “And it
explains so damned much. You have traits from both sides of your
parentage. Your magic is blended, Liz. You always cast your spells
differently than the mages in your classes. You scared the hell out
of them with the way you tend to blend your elements in ways they
never could.”

Robert took her hands. “It doesn’t matter
what you are, Liz. You’re still ours.” He looked up at Tremaine,
and she saw the way he was visually prodding him.

She almost laughed.

“Don’t give me that look,” Trem barked. “Of
course I’m not going anywhere. I don’t care what Liz is. I’ve never
left her and I never will.”

Robert opened his mouth to say
something.

“I didn’t mean it like that,” Tremaine
growled. “Liz hadn’t given you much of a choice, so stop.”

Robert nodded slowly.

“Fuck,” she whispered. “I’m sorry. This
whole night is fucked.”

“Why?” Preston asked in confusion.

Liz laughed out loud, but it was bitter.
“For one, I gave Robert a good scare when I started channeling
lightning. Two, you tell me Draecyn, of all people, is my father.
Three, my mother is a druid priestess who is one of the most
powerful people I know. Oh, I’m sure there’s more.”

Preston’s brow raised at Robert.

She squeezed her eyes tightly shut as she
sighed. “My parents looked for me?”

Tremaine spoke up. “Your mother went out to
meet another druid, but she was attacked. She never did get a good
look at who.” He stopped and stared out the window. “We hunted them
down, and found the slave traders. The camp had been ransacked, and
in the midst of the fire was a babe charred and unrecognizable. We
thought it was you.”

“They wanted me?” She whispered. “They
wanted me?” A bitter laugh bubbled free.

Tremaine shoved the coffee table out of the
way and knelt at her feet. He took her face in his hands and
whispered. “They did, doll. Oh, they did want you. We spent so long
looking for you and it was a bad winter, so when we found the body
of the child, we were sure it was yours. I am so sorry. We didn’t
know.”

Her heart was breaking. All this time she
thought she was thrown away, that her parents hadn’t loved her, or
even wanted her. Now she knew that wasn’t the case and it hurt
because she could have looked, she could have tried but it was a
little late.

She tore her eyes from Tremaine and looked
at Preston who looked slightly uncomfortable. “How did you find
out? Does he know? Why did he never say anything if he did?”

Preston held her gaze. “Just so you’re
aware, I’m not supposed to know this. I was snooping in Draecyn’s
files. He suspected a few times but had given up hope. He didn’t
know until your finals when you harnessed the storm and used it in
your attack against Maynard. They had to stop you because Maynard
didn’t have the power to stop you from killing him straight
off.”

“Shit, I always thought I was a freak of
nature,” she let out a short laugh. “I suppose I am. I’m not
supposed to exist.”

“He did a ton of research after that,
tracked down everything he could about the few of you out there.
Apparently it’s rare, but there are others.”

“Why didn’t he come for me?” She whispered.
“Why didn’t he ever say anything?”

“He thought you were happy with Robert’s
family after being with them for seven years. I read an entry in a
journal. He watched you, and you were always smiling when you were
with Robert, and Robert was always with you. Plus, you made it no
secret you hated your parents for letting you go. He probably felt
guilty.”

“For what?” she whispered.

“For not finding you. For letting you have
such a terrible life all that time. There were records he dug up
about Sinclair McCallister, and the fact that he held you
captive.”

Her heart damn near stopped as she stared at
him. She had never told Robert, and she knew Tremaine wouldn’t
have. Did Preston know her secret? Would he ruin everything for
her?

Oh wait, she had already planned to tell
Robert. She needed to breathe, breathe deep and relax, but she
couldn’t.

Tremaine looked awfully pale too.

“What is it?” Preston asked with new worry
as he stood and came closer.

Liz scrambled back away from them all.
“Shit, I uh. Shit.”

Robert moved closer and she shook her head,
drawing her legs up to her chest to hug them tight. “Don’t,
please,” she whispered.

“Whatever it is, it’s okay,” Robert
promised.

“It’s not. I killed him.” She swallowed hard
and stared at Robert. “He…” the words died on her tongue and she
closed her eyes. “He raped me, and I killed him. It was the first
time my magic surged, and I killed him. If Tremaine hadn’t pulled
his burning body off me, I would have suffocated.”

The tears came then, and she couldn’t even
begin to stop them as she collapsed in on herself, hiding her face
behind her hands.

She felt arms around her and she was lifted,
pulled into someone’s lap. Robert’s lap. She felt Tremaine’s arms
around her too. And then someone took her hands and she peeked
through her hair to find Preston peering back at her.

“God, Liz, no one blames you.” Preston
whispered.

She wasn’t sure Robert wouldn’t, but he was
holding her. Liz sat there, frozen as she felt all the love and
support around her, and she was still terrified.

Robert whispered against her ear. “I never
knew, but I always suspected, love. Your nightmares, you always
talk in your sleep. I remember the things you used to scream. I
wanted to ask, but I figured you would tell me if you ever
could.”

“You don’t hate me?” she choked out.

“For killing that filthy excuse for an
uncle? The man was pure evil. I don’t miss him at all. And you? I
could never hate you, Liz, especially when you did it in
self-defense.”

“I told you, doll. Robert would never judge
you,” Tremaine kissed her cheek and tipped her face his way. “I
told you that you could trust him with anything.”

“You did,” she whispered.

Preston squeezed her hands. “I didn’t know
Sinclair, but if what I’ve heard about him is even a quarter true,
I have no doubt he deserved much worse than being barbequed by
you.”

“Thanks, I think.” She managed a weak smile,
and said, “Let me up. I need a drink now.”

Everyone let her go. Preston stood and took
a step back but smiled. “I could get you a drink. Hell, I think I
need one too.”

Her brow arched, but she grabbed her shot
and downed it before swiping his shot glass and moving to the
counter on shaky legs.

She may actually know her parents. Her mind
was blown. Parents, who looked for her and after figuring out she
was alive, they stopped. They let her be.

“I don’t believe Amalie knew,” Preston told
her.

Tremaine snorted. “They parted ways shortly
after they thought they had found you. I doubt Draecyn told her
because she never would have let you stay with the mages. She
blamed the Council for your abduction.”

“Yeah, well, I think she was right,” Preston
muttered. He let out a long sigh. “Jarvis’ father was in on the
plot. There was some failed plot to remove Draecyn from his
position.”

“Yeah, I remember that mess. It backfired
though. Maynard was demoted, though that didn’t last long.”

Preston looked to Liz. “There was a copy of
a spell, a ritual I guess. They needed a hybrid to restore the dark
mage’s own magic and continue to draw more power from other
mages.”

“So he could be a mage, and dark mage at the
same time?” Tremaine asked. “What gave him that idea?”

Preston shrugged his shoulder. “Something
about how harnessing both types of magic could bridge the gap
between his lost magic and what he fed off of.”

Robert nodded slowly. “Which explains why
James would be so interested. He’d studied what was left of
Sinclair’s things.”

“When I went to Jarvis’ place, I found lists
of mages involved in the very shit we try to stop.” Preston
scrubbed a hand over his face. “Robert, it’s a mess. Jarvis is
scheduled to rise above Draecyn. Magister Draecyn is one of the few
I didn’t find shit on.”

“That doesn’t surprise me,” Liz muttered
before taking her own shot.

Preston spun around to look at her. “Hey,
I’m not one of them.”

“I know. I shouldn’t have hidden from you
either. I guess I was afraid of Robert finding me, which was sort
of stupid.” She took a deep breath and let it out slowly. “I’m
sorry.”

“Well, if you had let me near you,” he
griped playfully, “I would have likely dragged you back to Robert,
kicking and screaming just so I could stop seeing his pouty face.
Robert was a wreck without you.” He stepped up next to her and gave
her a one armed hug. “It’s good to see you. I’m only sorry it’s
under these circumstances.”

“Hey, not your fault that you brought me the
truth. Thank you. I’m not sure what to do with it, but I do
appreciate it.”

He nudged her shoulder. “Yeah, well, there’s
more. James is a full on dark mage now. He’s draining people. I’ve
never seen anything as disturbing as the way he leaves his
victims.”

“What do you mean?” Robert asked.

A grimace twisted Preston’s features.
“Angela and Randal were sent to your estate. They never reported
back, so Draecyn sent me. I found what was left of them. Randal was
dust. Angela was shriveled up like a dried apple. She crumbed to
dust when I touched her. It wasn’t pretty.”

“He was a dark mage before now. When he
attacked me, he told me he wanted my power. It’s part of why I went
after him.”

“He was always such a cruel bastard, I’m
sure you had plenty of reason,” Preston reassured her.

Robert came up behind her. He wrapped his
arms around her and set his chin on her shoulder. “He won’t survive
this time. I won’t let him touch you.”

Liz nodded, but she had to end it. She
needed to be sure this time. She looked at Preston. “How long
before he gets here?”

“Probably tomorrow. I tracked them for a
bit, but I think it’s safe to say that they took a car to draw less
attention to themselves. Plus, there’s a paper trail. The fools are
using Randal’s cards as they travel. Jarvis is with him.”

“At least we’ll finally have a reason to
take Jarvis in,” Robert said.

“Honestly?” Preston’s brow arched. “At this
point, with the state of the Council, I vote on killing him. I have
a feeling he’ll give us plenty of reason before this is all said
and done.”

Robert nodded. “Can you keep an eye on that
trail?”

“Sure. For now though, I think I’ll head
into town and stay at a hotel.”

“You’re welcome to stay here,” Liz said.
“There’s room.”

He raised a brow. “You’re not going to keep
me up all night with things I really don’t need to hear, are
you?”

“Since when are you such a prude?” she
scoffed.

He sighed. “I’m not. I’m just single and not
looking to change that right now. So I don’t want to be tempted to
find someone to waste a night with.” He sighed and closed his
eyes.

Liz frowned. “For the record, I’m sorry
things didn’t work out with Jamie.”

“Jamie knew you were alive? I know she
didn’t know you from before, but I asked who ran the shop, and she
only said Tremaine.” He half laughed. “Everyone in town knew,
didn’t they?”

“Well, yeah. Everyone knew I didn’t want the
Council to know. That’s all.”

“The Council, including Draecyn, believe you
to be dead.” He took a deep breath. “We may want to call the
Magister.”

She froze, standing there as she stared into
his pale blue eyes. “I don’t even know what to say about that. I
mean, he knew, and he never once said a word to me.”

“You were already nineteen, and Robert made
you happy. I don’t believe he wanted to ruin that.” Preston
shrugged. “When I think back, he always favored you. Your death hit
him harder than it should have. I think he really did care, but
thought you had what was best. And maybe he was afraid you would
hate him when you finally learned.”

“Maybe,” she whispered. Forcing a smile, she
added, “Look, stay the night, unless you really don’t want to.
Tremaine can show you the basement. It’s not dark and dank. He made
it a home. I promise we won’t keep you up.” She hugged Preston and
he squeezed her back. “I really am sorry I hid all those
years.”

“You did what you felt was right,” Preston
murmured. “I get that. Just don’t do it again.” He leaned back and
winked. “You have a good night.”

* * * *

They all watched as Liz headed up the
stairs.

Tremaine smiled weakly.
“I’ll take you down. I’m sure you’ll like it, and I
will
be staying
upstairs.”

Preston nodded. “Sounds good. I’m beat.”