Mind Games (37 page)

I scanned the crowd, my breath hitching slightly when I caught sight of Evan Blackwood standing with his cousin and best friend, Scott Lee. Evan didn’t look my way, but I stared at him for a long time. What had Alexander decided? Had he heeded my warning?

I lost sight of him when one of my cousins swooped in to give me a big bear hug. “Great to see you.”

We exchanged pleasantries for a few minutes until another one of my cousins popped over. “Did you hear that your cousin has made the vampire hunters’ most wanted list? He’s #2, right behind this vampire named Xavier that they’ve been tracking for almost two centuries. They’re actually supposed to be working together.”

In the background, conversations rose and fell in their natural cadences, but every member of my immediate family went silent.

“Where did you hear this?” Mom asked.

“Alexander told me. I asked him whether he had the support of the vampire hunters and they’ve been distracted with Jason, the first of their order to turn traitor in over a hundred years.”

No one looked at Kaitlin, but their attempts not to look shone almost as great a spotlight on her as staring would have. Finally, she stormed away and I followed, putting my arms around her shoulders in what I hoped she would take as a reassuring gesture. Neither one of us spoke for a long time and when she did, her words were bitter. “I should have known I’d end up just like my mom. Pregnant, single, and without a man in sight. Dad took off the moment she told him she was pregnant and never looked back. I’ve never even met him. Just a string of loser boyfriends and one stepdad…” Kaitlin shuddered and placed a protective hand on her belly. “Whatever happens, I won’t do that to my baby.”

“What? Date? Ever?”

Kaitlin held her ground. “I can’t just think about myself.”

“No, but you can think about yourself a little bit, can’t you? You still have a lot of life left.”

“You’ll be there when the baby’s born, won’t you?” Kaitlin asked.

“I wouldn’t miss it.” I said, making it a vow.

She nodded and returned to the circle of my family. I watched her go, but didn’t follow. Instead, my eyes roamed over the crowd until I once again spotted Evan, deep in conversation with Scott. He lifted his gaze briefly, spotting me, but I quickly turned away.

What had Alexander decided? He hadn’t arrived yet and I had a feeling that he planned to make a grand entrance. A platform had been erected at one end of the field, set with several chairs , but at the moment it remained empty.

He already had enough people in place, both on the edges of the crowd and at the checkpoints, to take down Evan. Had there been so many in town before? I hadn’t exactly counted.

If Alexander did make a move, Evan would have no idea. As I watched, he laughed at something Amanda Lee said to him, then turned to say something to Scott.

Wouldn’t you want it back?
I know his father is to blame for it all, but he still has it, and it doesn’t belong to him.

To my mother, it was so simple, but as I closed my eyes, I saw only pain and betrayal, mine and his.

Evan looked my way again, but this time I didn’t try to pretend I hadn’t been staring. He frowned and raised a quizzical eyebrow.

I turned away, looking from one group of strange men and women to another. Were they looking at Evan? Sizing him up? They might have to knock him unconscious and bind him before they broke his soul.

My father approached, looking over my shoulder at Evan and nodding his head. “I wanted to tell you for a long time, you know.”

“I know.” The words sounded hollow. It didn’t change anything.

“I’m proud of you.”

I gazed up at him, confused. “You are?”

He nodded. “I’ve been watching you with Matthew Blair for two weeks, hoping you’d find a way to break free, and you did.”

“Thanks.” I didn’t really want to talk about it, not when any minute an army might converge on Evan.

“You know I couldn’t help you, right?” Dad asked. “Because I owed them for helping Isaac?”

“I know.”

“I hope you’re not upset because of what I said to Alexander last weekend. I don’t have my hopes up or anything, but just think…” His voice trailed off, almost lustily.

“I asked Evan for it,” I said.

Dad laughed. “I bet that worked well.”

“No, not really.”

He wandered off, continuing to chuckle to himself.

I didn’t find it nearly so funny, but then again, I didn’t remember the denial nearly so much as the pain and fear on his face when he’d given it. Again, I wondered whether he feared the pain or the loss of magic. If there was any chance he might change his mind…

“Hello.”

I jumped and whirled to face Evan, who had snuck up behind me. “What are you doing here? Trying to protect me from my father now?”

“I have before,” Evan said softly.

“Stop trying to understand me.” I turned away, crossing my arms over my chest.

“I see the ring is gone.”

“It doesn’t mean you have a chance.” I remembered my fear that Evan only wanted to protect me from Matthew so he could have me for himself. It suddenly struck me as somewhat irrational, and I wondered if it, too, was part of the magic Matthew had woven over me. Even now, I still couldn’t quite sort out what had been my own thinking and what had been his.

“Trust me, I know you hate me.”

“Then why?” I asked. “Why did you want to protect me?”

He shoved his hands in his pockets. “I have to.”

“Because it’s your fault I need the protection in the first place?”

“No.” For a long moment, I thought that’s all he would say, but then he finished the thought. “Because as much as you hate me, I still love you.”

I swallowed, hard.

“I’ll see you, Cassie,” Evan said awkwardly. He turned to walk away.

“Wait!”

He stopped. I had no idea if I could save him or not; whether he could get away, or if, perhaps, my warning would come too late, but I had to try.

“I think Alexander’s going to arrest you.”

He arched an eyebrow in what I recognized as an arrogant manner.

“Look around. Does he have more people here than he did before?”

Slowly, Evan scanned the crowd, and as he did I could see his frown deepening.

“There are more of them, aren’t there?”

“Why? Why would they arrest me?”

“Why do you think?”

“How did Alexander even find out?” Evan demanded.

“My father.”

“Your father doesn’t even want anything to do with Alexander.”

“He does if Alexander can right a certain wrong.” I looked significantly at Evan.

He sucked in his breath. “And you’re warning me?”

My face went scarlet. Staring down at my shoes, I shrugged. “I’m crazy, all right? Just get the hell out of here.”

“Why are you warning me?”

“Why does it matter?”

“It matters to me.” Evan reached for my arm, but I flinched away before he had a chance to touch me.

“Just get the hell out. I could still raise an alarm.”

This time he didn’t hesitate. Pushing his way back through the crowd, he put his head together with Scott, the two men whispering furiously. A minute later, Amanda Lee joined her brother and his best friend.

“Welcome, ladies and gentleman!” A man I didn’t know stood at the podium, his voice magnified, though not through any technological means.

My head swiveled back to Evan, who still seemed to be deep in conversation with his allies.

“It is with great pleasure that I introduce to you a man who has been working hard to bring justice to the magical world. A man…”

I tuned out the man at the podium, concentrating instead on Evan. Since I had always gotten the impression that the Lees were good with magical illusions, I took out my phone and swung it around to focus the camera on Scott, Amanda, and Evan.

Only Evan wasn’t there. Somehow, he’d gone, leaving only an image of himself in his wake. I fought back a smile, because it wasn’t going to be pretty when Alexander discovered his disappearance. He would lose support here in Eagle Rock, and it would be my fault. I’d warned Evan, knowing it would hurt Alexander’s cause, one I had gradually come to embrace.

Hopefully, he would never find out what I’d done. In the meantime, I decided, I would accept his offer. It might even be good for me to get away from Eagle Rock, at least for a little while. It would definitely be good for me to get away from Evan.

E
VAN BLACKWOOD REMAINED WITHIN THE PROTECTIVE
confines of his own home for the rest of the afternoon and well into the evening, allowing his conflicting emotions to roil within him.

Alexander had betrayed him. Evan had no illusions that Alexander’s plan to arrest him had been out of a sense of justice. It had been a power play, pure and simple, and the worst thing was that if Cassie hadn’t warned him, it would have worked. Sure, some of his allies would have resented the arrest, but others would have been too impressed by the show of strength to care. More importantly, Edward Scot and his allies would have celebrated the victory.

Yet despite his anger at Alexander and his fear that an army might still descend upon him, Evan felt an odd sense of euphoria for one important reason: Cassie’s warning.

She hadn’t said why. Quite possibly, she didn’t even know why, but Evan knew, or maybe he just hoped. Maybe his grandmother wasn’t crazy after all. Perhaps there was hope for the two of them.

Somewhere, under her hurt and anger, she still loved him. There was no other reason for her to warn him off, not when letting Alexander’s troops arrest him might have gotten her everything she had always wanted.

The real question was, how did he convince her that she still loved him? More to the point, how could he convince her without going through several months of unimaginable pain, after which he would lose half of himself? He could handle the pain, he had decided long ago, but it was the loss of self that really frightened him. The magic was his. It had always been his, and however he had come by it in the first place, it defined him now.

Long before he came up with an answer to his questions, the doorbell rang. Evan looked out the window and saw, to his surprise, Matthew Blair. The man had never been to Evan’s home before and Evan didn’t trust his presence now. He opened the door, but crossed his hands over his chest and did not invite the sorcerer in.

“What?” Evan asked.

“I have a proposition for you.”

“I can’t think of anything you have to say that I would be the least bit interested in.”

“You may not want to jump to any conclusions,” Matthew said. “This is bigger than our differences.”

Evan glanced meaningfully at his watch. “You’ve got two minutes.”

Matthew grinned. “I’ll make it quick, then. Alexander lost face when he tried to arrest you at the conclave and it turned out you weren’t actually there.”

“How do you know?” Evan asked. “Your family didn’t go.”

“Of course not, but we’ve got sources. Anyway, he’s leaving town, but I don’t think he’ll be gone for good.” Matthew paused. “I don’t trust the man. I thought we might have that in common, after what he tried to do to you.”

“I don’t think we have anything in common.” Evan looked at his watch. “One minute.”

“Don’t you think it’s odd that the group at that church got so out of control, just when he came to town? They’ve never been pleasant, but my family has never had trouble like this.”

Evan didn’t answer, but despite himself, he was listening.

“I think he intentionally created a situation that he hoped would unite the community.”

Evan checked his mental shielding, but it seemed to be holding firm. So either Matthew was sliding around the shield or his arguments actually made sense.

“He had some good points,” Matthew continued. “I think magical unification may be just what we need, but I don’t think he’s the one to lead us.”

“Let me guess,” Evan said. “You are.”

Matthew smiled. “I am uniquely qualified.”

“I don’t think so.” Evan started to close the door.

“I need you,” Matthew said in a rush. “I need a partner in this and I can’t think of anyone better than you.”

“I bet.”

“You need me too. I heard about some of the things you did over the summer. You’re getting a lot of respect from people and could do a lot of good, but you know you’re finished with Alexander.”

Evan grunted.

“You still want to make a difference, don’t you? And take down Alexander?”

“I don’t care that much about Alexander and I don’t want to work with you.” Evan started to close the door again.

“One more thing I thought you should know,” Matthew said, sounding casual. “Alexander has Cassie.”

Evan opened the door and stared at his nemesis for only a fraction of a second before stepping aside. “Come in and start talking.”