Phoenix (25 page)

"Malin was strong because she surrounded herself with the types of magic she stole."
 

My mouth drops open, who does he--
 

"Don't act so surprised. She, in her way, loved Sebb and told him all her secrets. He in turn, told me. And besides, she grew up with me watching her. It wasn't hard to piece together. A friend would arrive dripping in magic - and yes, I can sense magic - and would leave with something missing. Malin would be giddy for days over her new power, testing it out, playing with it.
 

You see, she considered herself a collector. Only the very best would do for Malin. She collected Sebb in much the same way, but she left his powers intact."

I scratch the side of my head, taking it all in.

"At first, Malin wanted so badly to be what she wasn't- a Light witch. Livia, her step-mother, drilled it into her that she could change her Dark ways if she just tried. Livia prevented Malin from truly learning how to control and use her Dark magic, and well, you've seen the house?"

I nod. "It's destroyed."

"Malin did that. I've always suspected Livia pushed her too hard one day, and she snapped." He pokes at the fire. "After that, she stopped coming around. Didn't bother to rebuild the house. She said she wanted it to be a reminder of what she was capable of."

I exhale through my mouth.
 

"What's wrong?" Jack asks.

"I do the same kind of things."

Jack holds up his finger. "But there's where you're wrong. You feel remorse, I can see it in your eyes. Malin never did. She was calculating in her attacks after the one here. She learned quickly how to have control over herself. You have regret and remorse, two things she lacked because she was Dark. You, on the other hand, are both, and you experience the emotions of both."

"I often feel Beck's emotions mixed up with mine. He's the reason I stay somewhat sane."

Jack shakes his head. "I don't buy it, and neither do you."

"He's going crazy because of me."

"That he is."

I sigh. This isn't the most uplifting conversation. "How do I fix him?"

Jack draws deeply on a cigar he's taken from a wooden box. "You stop trying to fix him. That's the first step. Next, you focus on letting your Light magic shine. If there's no Darkness radiating from you, he won't be susceptible to it. Third, and this is most likely the hardest, you limit contact with him. The problem Caitlyn and Charles had was that they couldn't stay away from each other. The more miserable he became, the more Caitlyn reached out to him, and the sicker he grew until he eventually died."

"So I'm right in staying away from Beck?" My heart breaks as I say the words and wait for an answer I don't want.

"Limited contact, Lark. Limited contact."

"Jack," I say. "I have one last question. Is it possible for my brother to be both also?"

My grandfather leans into me, his eyes probing deep into mine. "I've never seen a Light witch with so much Darkness about them as I have with Callum. His magic is muddled, like yours. He hides it well though, something Malin chose to overlook despite my warnings."

"Why did she never steal your power to detect magic?" I ask.

He blows a puff of smoke into the air. "She liked having me around and knew I'd abandon her if she tried it."

"What?" I ask even more confused now.

"All Malin ever wanted was a true family. Her father all but ignored her and died young. Henry, Bethina, and Livia were all she had until Sebb. I was part of that package - a new father for her. She didn't need magic from me; she needed attention and love."

CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE

I leave Jack's cottage feeling even more confused, but hopeful. The curse may not be about Beck and me after all, and evidence – in my mind, at least – points to it being about Callum and me.

And then there's the question of whether I'm Dark because that's what everyone has told me, or am I choosing to be Dark? Can I, as Jack implied, be Light if I so desired?
 

My brain is a washing machine of 'what if's' and 'maybes', and by the time I land back at my house, I've worked myself into a state of misery.

"Lark?"

I lift my tear-stained face and find Henry staring back at me.
 

"Yes," I say, wiping the sleeve of my jacket over my face.

"You need to come with me. Immediately." His words are ominous, and my heart thunders in my chest.
 

"Is this about Callum?" I ask, trying to get a better grip on the situation.

"We can discuss that later, but for now, you need to come with me." This can't be good. Henry hasn't even asked where I've been.
 

In this moment, I wish I had Jack's ability to sense magic - I'd be able to tell if this was actually Henry or someone using magic. Still, I follow my uncle up the grand staircase and down the long hallway toward my bedroom.
 

Henry pauses. "After you left the ball, Beck - for lack of a better word - imploded. We're still trying to figure out what exactly happened, but right now, our number one priority is taking care of Beck."

Bile rises in my throat. Surely, this can't be good. I lean into the wall to keep myself up right.
 

"Tell me what happened."

"You left and Beck tried, he really tried Lark, to hold himself together, but something stronger - your magic, perhaps - had a lock on him and he began attacking anyone he suspected of being a member of the Splinter group. Margo and Patrick included, although they survived. Others weren't as lucky."

 
I back away from Henry. "No. No. He wouldn't."

"He did."

"No." A lump forms in my throat. "No."

"Lark, perhaps we should do this at a later date. You're barely at your best."

I grasp the doorknob. "I need to see what happened. What my magic is capable of doing to him."

Henry moves aside, and I rush to Beck's bedside, determined to free him from his madness, to heal whatever it is that I've done to him. His gray, ash-colored face stirs no hope in me. I haven't eaten for at least a day, and seeing Beck like this makes my knees buckle. I grab onto the edge of his bed and kneel, stroking his hands, his arms, any exposed part of him.

He doesn't stir.
 

"Lark," Henry says from behind me. "You have to leave."

I glance at my dying mate. "How? How am I supposed to walk away?"

"You'll do it because you love him."

"Will he recover?"
Please, please, please Beck come back to me.
 

"The healers believe that if he stays away from you, he could have something resembling a normal life."

I close my eyes, forcing my tears to stay prisoners. All the hope I had when I left Jack's has evaporated. "Then I'll go, but I want updates regularly.

"It's for the best," Henry says.

I look around my bedroom, at my belongings. "If Beck is staying here, where am I to go?"

"To Malin's, but even that may be too close."

I gaze again at Beck's near-lifeless body, and a thought hits me. I unfasten my necklace and place it around his neck, carefully lifting his head. He doesn't stir. When the necklace lies flat against his skin, he moans, and I turn expectantly toward Henry.
 

He shakes his head, dashing my hope. "He's more lively when you're not here."

"Can I at least leave my necklace? The last time..." I choke back a sob. "The last time it healed him."

"It wasn't the necklace, Lark. We all know it was you."

Hot, fat tears begin rolling down my cheeks and onto Beck. "Then let me try again. Let me heal him."

"You can't save him from yourself. Plus, given that his problems didn't start until after your magic exchange, I advise against it."

"Let me try without exchanging magic." I pause. "I went to Northwoods, and I met Jack."
 

Henry takes a step back, like he's been shocked by errant electricity. "What did Jack have to say?"

"He believes I can be Light without Beck's influence. He believes I can pull on both powers. It has nothing to do with being an amplifier. I am Dark, but I am also Light. More importantly, Beck and I may not be doomed to kill each other."

Henry shakes his head. "Let's discuss it more before doing anything."

I rock back and forth, arms wrapped firmly around me. "No. I'm tired of waiting for everyone telling me what to do. I'm going to try to heal him."

"And what if you can't? What if you set him back? What then?" My uncle's words are harsh.

"Then we'll know for sure I need to stay away, but if there's a chance that Beck and I can beat this thing, I need to try."

My uncle backs away from the bed. "I won't stop you, but I don't condone it either."

I brush Beck's waves off his forehead and kiss him lightly. With my eyes closed, I focus on the energy building inside me. Unlike the creepy crawly feeling that comes with my Dark magic, the Light magic feels bubbly and effervescent. I imagine Beck opening his eyes, his heart healing, and his anger subsiding.
 

When I open my eyes, I run my hands over his body, touching every inch of him.

There's no change.

My lower lip quivers, but I steel myself against the tears that want to follow.

"Lark," Henry says. "You're needed elsewhere."

"Okay." My answer feels so insignificant.
 

My uncle leads me from the bedroom and back down the hallway to the conference room. To my surprise, the Council and advisors are already seated.

"Lark," Minister Sun-Wei says, "I know today has been long and tiring, but we must take action against Callum. What he did today, attempting to expose us, has to be prevented at all costs."

I'm only half-listening because my heart is with Beck. My mind is too.
 

#

"Is it so wrong Callum wants to expose us?" A witch named Nina asks. "To live freely would mean our children could grow up without us worrying about early bloomers."

Since entering the room, I've done my best to be present and address the primary issue of Callum's betrayal. It's taking everything I have not to run from the room and take up vigil at Beck's beside.

"Lark? Do you have any thoughts?" Sun-Wei asks, snapping me out of my trance.
 

"Exposure would also mean that anything that goes wrong would be blamed on us. It's happened time-and-again," I say. I wave my hand and summon the video Mother once showed me of young witches being hunted and killed.

When it's done playing, everyone sits in silence.
 

"That is why we need to continue to hide. Scenes like that already played out in Riverview, if you've forgotten," I say after a few moments. "And it's not just in our best interests, it's for the humans too. As long as we are in charge, they've been protected - until the Splinter group and Callum came along. He wants to enslave humans. Surely we can't let him do this. Many in this room have human friends." My mind flits to Lena. "If Callum has his way, we'll escalate the wars we are already engaged in, increase the food shortages, and condemn humans to lives of hardship.

"I don't know about you, but I'm for peace. I want treaties. I want co-operation between the Light and Dark witches. I want enough food for all to eat sufficiently."

"Lark," Minister Sun-Wei says slowly, like I'm a toddler. "These are all noble goals, and things we should surely try for, but the fracturing between our two groups is so deep it's going to take a significant amount of time to repair."

"And yet at the Ball, Light witches stood with us." I take a sip of water to calm my parched throat. "There are things we can do to foster more goodwill between our two groups."

Sun-Wei clears his gravely throat. "Like what?"

"I propose we open up fifty percent of the Council seats to Light witches."

A stunned silence hits me like a wall.

"Fifty percent? Ten of us? Surely, you jest." Sun-Wei drums his fingers on the table. "You'd throw half of us out of office?"

"If it meant getting more of the Light witches to work with us, I'd do it."

Nina, the witch from earlier raises her hand.
 

"Yes," I say.

"If you can get Patrick or Margo Channing to sit on the Council, I'll give up my seat."

"Thank you, Nina. You would retain your role as my advisor, of course," I say.
 

She smiles at me. "Thank you."

"Would anyone else be willing, or shall we draw straws?" I ask.

Sun-Wei clenches his jaw before saying, "Seating Light witches is fine and good, but we have an immediate problem: What are we going to do about Callum? He's been central to our plans with the Eastern Society, and of course, he's had unlimited, unrestricted access to you and Annalise."

I chew on my bottom lip, unsure where to start. My brother must be dealt with, but how? As for the access he's had to the Eastern Society, that scares me most.

A frightening thought anchors in my brain. "Sun-Wei, how are the Light witches at the Ag Centers working out?"

"As of this afternoon, fine."

I study my tablet. "Is there any chance they're a decoy or were sent to lull us into complacency?"

Sun-Wei frowns. "Are you implying they may be an advance army?"

I nod, and the room goes into a frenzy. Tablets are whipped out, wristlets shouted into, and staffers rush into the room.

"Wait," I yell over the chaos. "Has anyone spoken to my guards at the Centers?"

Annalise, who has recovered from Eamon's attack, says, "They're reporting all is well. Food production is at full capacity, and the Eastern Light witches appear cooperative and committed to the task."

"Keep close watch on them," I say. "And let's assign extra security detail to them. Make it seem natural, not like they're being kept prisoner."

The room settles down. I turn to Annalise, "Callum?" I ask.

She flips open her tablet and begins reading. "From what we can gather, he's been sighted near Ottawa, Austin, and Calgary. Rallying his followers, no doubt."