Precious Anathema (23 page)

“
Not only did she know, but
she made sure it would happen this way Delilah.” I took a step
back, feeling the air escape me like a softball had been thrown
directly at my chest. I fell to the ground and grabbed Lukin,
pulling him close.

“
Please tell me Lukin that
you are not part of some scheme, but don’t lie to me either!” Lukin
looked stunned and pissed that I would ask him that, pulling away
from me he stared into me with cold, dead eyes.

“
I would have left you to
die in the garden if I had been, I can’t believe that you would
think otherwise, but you are a Grace woman after all. Something I
will not forget again Delilah.” As he spoke he let go of my hands,
backed up and then slowly walked away into the woods alone. I
thought he would turn around, I thought he would come back for me,
but as the minutes went by and his shadow had escaped from sight, I
was left sobbing on a pile of tree roots and screaming his
name.

*

“
What the hell was that?” I
sat up from the floor, as if we had never left the room and I had
never passed out. “Was it a dream?” The looks on the women’s faces
proved that not only was this not a dream, but none of them knew we
would be taken away from Delilah so quickly. Eris began punching
the floor, screaming and sobbing in anger.

“
We
could
have grabbed her, we could
have brought her back
with
us and we just left her
alone
!” Selene chuckled and rolled
her eyes.

“
She’s not
alone
; she has
Lukin
now, right
Xander?” I hung my head, as the aunts left the room without a
sound, and Freya ran to a pile of books. I picked my head up in
time to see Selene cast an evil glare at Freya as she picked up one
of the books. Selene seemed very curious as to what Freya found out
at the exact time she did. I thought back and realized that since
Ella had been cast to hell, she hadn’t left her grandmothers side
for a moment. I stood up and walked out of the room, it had to be
more than just protecting her ass. One person would know the answer
to my question and I had to find him, even if it killed me I had to
know what was going on. Walking out to the porch I smelled the
rain, felt the damp air and thanked the trees I was still alive
after having five witches enter my psyche. I could see him from the
porch and took off running in the rain.

“
Dad, Dad I need to talk to
you.” He kept working as if he didn’t hear my yelling. I got to the
garage doors and kept talking anyway. “Listen Dad, we saw her,
Delilah. We were able to get in and see her!” He turned around,
grabbing a rag from the counter to wipe his hands.

“
Did you tell her our
secret?” He wouldn’t even look at me, just stood still, staring at
the floor.

“
No, I didn’t tell her
about anything, but you have to tell me something or I will go back
and tell her.” His eyes found mine and a cold chill ran through my
body, we stood in place just staring at one another when the wind
picked up and the rain came down harder on the roof of the
garage.

“
Tell me son, what is it
that I have to tell you?” his stare became more cold, and the rain
fell harder on the roof. He hadn’t seemed like himself for a week
and this feeling of unease was growing rapidly. He didn’t seem
right, Selene didn’t seem right and I was stuck in the middle. I
needed to get Freya alone even if only to ask her thoughts about
this, but right now I needed to calm down this man acting as my
father.

“
Tell me you don’t hate me
Dad, and that we won’t fight like this forever.” He smiled and
nodded.

“
I love you son, now go do
some chores and leave me alone.” I walked out of the garage and let
the rain fall on me, remembering the first date Ella and I had. She
got so angry at me that it poured so hard it stung my skin. The
rain today reminded me of that angry shower. How it came on so
suddenly when she thought I had betrayed her, how it seemed to come
out of nowhere as I walked out of the house, I turned back to look
at my father one last time and then ran for the estate.

*

“
Ailen tell me what to do,
everyone I care about has left me in these woods and I don’t know
what to do.” He let out a sigh that moved the dead leaves around us
like a hurricane were coming through and then picked his head
up.

“
For starters, remember
where you are. These are the forgotten woods, and it’s pretty clear
they have proven true to the name as you stand here before me,
alone and forgotten.” I cried harder and fell to the ground. He was
right; I lost what family I had left and pushed Lukin away. For all
I knew they had all forgotten who I was by now, or that they needed
to help me get out of this hell. The force from Ailen’s blast of
air caught me off guard and sent me flying backward. I jumped up,
startled and confused.

“
What the hell Ailen, are
you going to help me or not?” He turned his head to the side and
moved his neck closer to me.

“
I don’t think you
want
anyone’s help.” Of
course I wanted help; I knew I couldn’t do this alone.

“
What is that supposed to
mean?” He turned his head to the other side but said nothing as he
stared at me. “You think I meant to send Lukin running for the
hills don’t you?” I watched as a smile swept across his
mouth.

“
I
think
you are acting
exactly
the way
that
one
had
predicted
, yes.” That didn’t seem to make any sense to me at first
that would have meant that the chosen one wasn’t special at all if
she could be so predictable. Then it made sense and I raised my arm
to yell at him for his old English put down when he yelled into my
face. “You need to
stop
acting like
Delilah
and
start
being the
Chosen
Grace right
now
!” A blast from his
snout sent me flying through the path, landing in a pile of leaves
at least a quarter mile from Ailen or anyone else for that matter I
brushed myself off and stood up to check my surroundings. Had he
blown me forwards, or backwards? Everything looked the same and I
couldn’t tell, nor did I know if I should go forward or backward. I
turned around in dizzy circles, making myself dizzier than anything
else and stopped abruptly when I heard voices, many male voices
talking to one another. I crouched behind a tree and wished I could
stop breathing.

TWENTY TWO

*

I ran into the estate screaming for
Freya, to my surprise she was standing on the stairs with her arms
crossed, and Selene was nowhere in sight. Her stance wasn’t the
thing that stopped me in my tracks; it was the look on her face.
Complete disappointment and I knew we needed to talk. She waved her
hand at me and I began walking up the stairs.

“
Come Xander, we need to
have a talk you and me.” I felt like she was pulling me, all I
wanted to do was run away but against my better judgment I kept
moving forward. She took me to a small room at the end of the south
wing; I didn’t recognize it and this seemed odd since I thought I
knew every inch of this palace. The room was no bigger than the
small study on the first floor I had often used as my special
thinking spot as a child, but this room had a different kind of
library inside of it. All the books were very old, and were bound
in what looked like animal hide. They were everywhere, on the
shelves of the library, scattered around the desk and side tables
and even some on the floor in front of a large sofa. Freya didn’t
speak a word to me as she led me inside and sat in a chair by the
desk. I sat across from her on the sofa and felt nauseous as she
looked through me, cold and deliberate.

“
Xander, I think you know
why I have asked you to come here and talk to me.” I shifted in my
seat, knowing that I had to be very careful not only of what I
said, but what I thought as she deepened her gaze.

“
Honestly Freya, I am not
sure to be honest.” I held a straight face and thought of nothing
as I shifted in my seat again.

“
I have known you for your
entire life Xander, and I consider you to be a part of this
family.” She leaned forward in her seat as her stare grew deeper.
“I have watched you grow up and become a very considerate and
honorable man so you will have to excuse the straightforwardness
but what the hell possessed you to have sex with Selene when you
are clearly in love with Delilah?” Didn’t she know the answer to
that already, how had Selene managed to keep it hidden from her
while remaining by her side since it happened? Forgetting for a
moment that she could hear my every thought I continued to rack my
brain for an answer as she stood up and walked towards me. “That is
an excellent question Xander, I have been trying to figure out what
Selene has been hiding from me and I was hoping that you could help
me with it, I have not been able to hear a single thought of hers
since Ella went missing and Selene is good at what she does, but
she’s not that good so if you know something I suggest you start
telling me young man.” I still didn’t have it all figured out, but
knew that this may be my only chance alone with her and had to go
for it.

“
Freya, I don’t know about
Selene but I need to talk to you about my father.” She sat down on
the sofa beside me, still trying to get something more out of my
mind but it was just as confused as I was.

“
Is something wrong with
Israel, is he ok?” I wasn’t sure myself, but as well as Freya knew
me, she knew my father on a deeper level and I was sure that if
something were wrong with him she could tell me.

“
He hasn’t been the same
since Ella got here; I don’t mean he’s been in a bad mood either
Freya. Something is different about him, almost like he is someone
else entirely.” She sat back in her seat and I could see her eyes
flashing left to right, examining her memories over the past weeks
of my father, and then something stopped her thoughts and her face
turned red with anger as she looked back to me.

“
Xander, tell me something
and don’t lie or I will know do you understand?” I nodded, and
thought I would pass out from my short breaths. “We all play a role
in the outcome here and I am beginning to think that you have more
of a part than you have let on, am I right?” I tried to take a deep
breath but air escaped me and I felt lightheaded as I started to
speak before thinking.

“
I do have a part to play,
one that I have known since I was a child Freya and I never meant
to betray you with this secret, I feel ashamed.” She smiled and
tapped my leg.

“
That’s all I wanted to
hear Xander, we don’t need secrets around here and now that I know
you are someone I can count on let’s move on.” She didn’t want to
know what I had to do. She never gave it another thought as she
started flipping through a book at her feet. I was uncomfortable
with the silence, why didn’t she want to know? She stood up with an
open book in her hands, looking back at me with wide eyes. “I found
it Xander, I know what’s going on with Selene and your father, but
it can’t leave this room. There is only one reason I wouldn’t be
able to read their thoughts.” She paused and then sat down on the
couch next to me. “They have to possess a higher knowledge of the
art in my craft then I do, and neither Selene nor Israel could ever
do that, they are not themselves at all.” I wasn’t sure what to say
as she crept into my head, staring at me she held her hand out. “I
know this is scary right now, but we have to put it out of our
minds until we understand everything more do you understand?” I
nodded to agree but the voice in my head began to scream as he ran
away.

*

“
You got us all lost
Brandon, I told you we should have turned left back there.” The
voices got closer until I could see many men talking. The one
voicing his concern looked to be about twenty five, dark hair and
skin.

“
Stop talking down to me
Scott, can’t you see that we are clearly going in the right
direction now?” I watched as a man stopped by the tree I was
clinging too, he was a tall man with dirty blonde hair and didn’t
seem any older than the other man. I looked past him and saw a
large group of men behind him; they were the tortured souls only
they looked like any man that I had seen before today, nothing like
they had looked in the basement at all.

“
You self-appointed
yourself to be our leader Brandon and you have no idea where we are
going or why, I think we should turn back before we can’t get out.”
Many voices chimed in to agree with the dark haired man and then
the argument became heated.

“
Scott, you have been
trying to undermine me since we got here. The fact is that none of
us know what we are doing in the woods, and until we can remember I
think we need to keep going.” Many men were talking over one
another and I thought about what they were saying, and about what
Ailen had told me, it wasn’t that I would forget in the woods but
that I would be forgotten. They had forgotten about me at least
that was the hope as I jumped out, before thinking clearly from
behind the tree.