The Tragedy of Knowledge (9 page)

“Before he came … you mean the man who killed her?” Gavin stuck his hands in his pockets, the floor creaking under his weight when he shifted.

“
Piisshhh
,” the woman batted her hands in dismissal, wobbled over to the small stove where a teakettle hissed steam. “If that’s what you want to call him. An abomination is what he is, a murderer is more like it.
Mmm
,
yesss
. She linked me to her right before he killed her, gave me some news about your … situation. Something private.”

“Really?” I stepped forward and one of the silver knives flew off the table and toward her hand. Her fragile fingers grasped it, her cloudy eyes locking with mine. I raised my hands and stepped back.

“Not everyone enjoys being linked, you see. It can mean bad things for the receiver.”

“Ma’am … I don’t expect you to believe anything a frozen soul tells you, but we mean you no harm.”

Gavin cleared his throat and nodded, agreeing with me. “Yes, you have our word.”

“
Mmm
, that’s all well and good boy, but it’s not just you two I have to worry about. The messages Vivienne left me gave me no reason not to trust you, but it was clear that your situation revolves around your creator. And that’s no good for me, now. I’m old as dirt but I’m not ready to pass on to the next world just yet.”

As much as I understood this woman’s concern, my patience was nearly gone. I wanted to know what crucial information Vivienne left for us. Why she’d gone through so much trouble to lure us here. “I understand being Vivienne’s link must be a burden for you, and what happened to her … it was wrong … horrific. I know we can’t make promises about what Gérard will or won’t do after we leave your home, but we need this information. We—”

“
Mmm
,” the woman’s voice hummed as she poured her hot water. “Slow down, slow, now. It’s my job to tell you what I know. But first, you must realize that this is all written, but only your actions will determine if these things come to pass as they should. Fate is fate, but the outcomes can change, do you understand?”

Gavin and I exchanged glances.
Great. Talk about pressure.

“The visions you’ve been having, they were sent to you by Vivienne right before she died. She knew she’d learned something dangerous. Which is why she linked herself to me and used the visions to communicate with you, so you’d find me. Aside from Viv, I’m one of the few original conjurers left in these parts. She was able to cast a spell on you, that would allow the visions to penetrate your thoughts, even in the event that you turned into a frozen soul, by tapping in to my power. A spell of that nature needed power from two originals, you see. A sort of permission from two parties in the same family, since it goes against our beliefs to be mixing and communicating with your kind. Plus, the natural immunity your kind has to our magic doesn’t help none. And she was darn lucky I agreed. It’s downright stupid for our kind to help yours learn how to use our magic. Gérard doesn’t like the frozen souls knowing they have that power available to them, and when word starts getting around, he comes knocking on our doors with questions, you see. We start dying off. It’s no wonder the last of our originals are living out in the middle of these no-good, godforsaken swamps!” She hissed the last words through her teeth and shook her head, dunking a tea bag into her mug as though she intended to crack the mug with her action.

“I know our kind has been … a nuisance to you.” Gavin moved to stand beside me. “But we’re trying to help, trying to end this. We want Gérard gone just as much as you do.”

I eyed the tea bag as she beat it to a pulp with her spoon. “Ma’am—”

“The name’s Clea.”

“Clea. Okay. I started to see these visions right after I was changed. So that means—”

“It means those were Vivienne’s final days. She knew he was coming for her, and after she died, they grew stronger, yes?”

I nodded, reaching for a chair. “So what did she find that was so dangerous?” What could be more dangerous than deciding to help give us energy and protection for our trip to Amaranth? Wasn’t she already in danger?

“She found the same thing you did. That Samira didn’t hold the power to permanently lift the curse, and that killing her or draining Amaranth wouldn’t be enough to destroy Gérard.”

She paused, and I nodded, and Gavin did too.

“So, when she learned that, she discovered what would.”

I was glad I was sitting down. Gavin reached out and clasped my hand at her words, and the news processed, hit me in the gut and sent my brain into overdrive, sending me up and out of my chair. “So there
is
a way to destroy him?” The possibility made every one of my cells tingle, made the hope rush over me in one massive tidal wave. And the memories. When we’d found out Samira was only the gatekeeper of Amaranth, only able to lift the vampire curse for those admitted into exile to feed Gérard’s power, we’d hit a painful roadblock—that Gérard was who really held the key to lifting the curse for good. We’d known that he was the father of the frozen souls from the beginning, but Samira was the ruler, a hybrid just like him, with the ability to change vampires back into humans. The resistance was certain the answer to ending everything, including Gérard’s power, was Samira lifting the curse and draining Gérard’s power source. When Samira told us the truth, that none of us would ever really be free until Gérard was destroyed, we weren’t so sure if we could save everyone like we’d hoped.

But if Clea’s words were true, really true, that changed everything.

“
Yess
,
yesss
,” she answered, sipping her tea. “It all begins with the wolves, Dali and Akim.”

5

IDENTITY

At the mention of Dali and Akim, I rose from the chair, cutting a glance at Gavin.

“We found something from Vivienne’s shop,” I said, returning my attention to Clea. “Something in her writing, about Dali and Akim. But we couldn’t make out what it was.”

Unsurprised, and equally unhurried by what I’d said, she continued to sip her tea, nodding as her thin lips bunched around the cup. “
Yesss
,
yesss
. Viv was on to the wolves. Gérard sensed this, just as he sensed the unrest brewing in Amaranth—the reason he came for her. The snake also confirmed this for him. She still lives.”

“Scarlet,” I whispered.

“
Mmmhmmm
, her roots go deep with your creator,
yesss
.” Her gaze slid to Gavin and he swallowed, breaking eye contact.

I couldn’t ponder the meaning of that exchange right now. I had to know about the wolves. “Okay, so what about Dali and Akim?”

Setting her tea down, Clea stared at the mug for a moment before turning to step closer to Gavin and me. Her spicy scent carried through the air as her navy blue skirt swayed: a gypsy scent, worldly and ancient as dirt. She stood inches from us now, her wrinkly finger extending to stroke my chin. “The wolves, when turned back to their human state, are the key. The only thing that can destroy Gérard. You must convince Samira to lift the curse she placed on them and tell them that Vivienne sent you.”

“Wait a minute, what?” Gavin moved closer. “Why on earth would we do that? Why would Samira agree to change them back? They are Gérard’s original conjure mates. They wouldn’t harm him, they’d help him. The last thing we need is two more conjurers with a lot of pent-up anger on the loose.”

“Ah, you are a leader, but this is not the speech of a leader. Where is your instinct, my boy? The same that led you to the decisions that have brought you to this very spot?” Her finger left my chin and found his chest. “You must do this. You are the beginning, and your firestarter is by your side.”

Her head tilted slightly, and my eyes flared at her description, the same description Gérard had given me.

“It is time to listen to those instincts once again,” she said. “Put aside the logic and listen.” Her finger dug deeper in to his chest and she burned him with those cloudy, distant eyes. “The things to come … your role in the fate of your people … all point to Dali and Akim. Remove them from the equation, and you will fail the frozen souls.”

I sucked in a sharp breath, her words from a moment ago still whirling in my mind. “What equation, Clea?”

“It is all written.” Her reply bubbled up with a raspy cough and she stepped back. Whether she didn’t hear my question or purposely ignored it, I didn’t know. She resumed her tea drinking and settled into her rocking chair near the stove. “My link ends here,
yesss
,
yesss
. I’ve nothing else for you. Speak to Dali and Akim and you will know what to do.”

Gavin nodded to me, turning for the door. “Thank you for your help, Clea.”

“
Mmm
,
mmm.
” Her raspy voice was a murmur, her eyes set in a far-off haze. “Don’t take to the skies in these parts, now. Gérard’s magic blankets the trees here. He had it put there to prevent your kind from mingling with the original witches who live in these parts. If you fly, he’ll know exactly where you are and that means trouble for us all. And it sounds to me you’re already on his bad side. No need to go and make it worse, now.”

Well, wasn’t
that
the understatement of the century. It didn’t matter that we had a legion of frozen souls on our side, a massive resistance movement: Gérard was still stronger. And we were indeed on his bad side.

I’d felt it in every bone in my body, in the way each hair stood on end when he drew his face so close, too close to mine. The pure terror that radiated from his presence when his eyes devoured my body told me an army of frozen souls meant nothing to him. He feared no frozen soul, only the ceasing of his power, of his personal destruction.

“Yes, thank you, Clea,” I said, thankful I’d listened to my earlier instincts and not flown with Gavin through the swamp. Still quivering from these thoughts, I forced a tight smile, reaching for the Book of the Ancients. Clea’s hand shot forward from her rocking chair, a streak of lightning staking its claim around my forearm. She latched on, her filmy eyes settling on my necklace, and Gavin was beside me in an instant, still and waiting.

My gaze dropped to the crescent moon locket and I winced, eyes snapping shut at the intensity of what was passing between us. My brow wrinkled as I focused, the sounds in the room overpowered when the visions came: me dashing up Samira’s throne room stairs, grabbing Samira’s hand and screaming something, every movement playing out in fragmented, choppy motion. Samira cried out as tears streamed down her face, both of us at once turning our attention to the center of the room, where ferocious, raging flames engulfed a group of faces that couldn’t be made out.

My lips parted, releasing a loud gasp when my eyes shot back open. Clea’s hand dropped gently to her lap, but she said nothing. Tears welled in my eyes and they grew heavy, instantly grieved by the sight of Samira’s pain and the tears that betrayed her indifferent persona.

“Camille, it’s time to go.” Gavin spoke low through clenched teeth, hand on the small of my back. I grabbed the Book of the Ancients and he led me to the door. I glanced frantically over my shoulder, searching for answers in Clea’s gaze, finding nothing but glassy pupils in a distant trance, the soft groaning of her rocking chair filling the room with eerie finality.

***

Gavin and I returned early in the morning from visiting Clea. The sun was just coming up when we decided to feed, and then fill Arianna in on our hurriedly decided plan to fly to Seattle, to visit my mom before our evening departure to the bayou portal. I’d put off a visit to my mother long enough, and if there was ever a time to try to make peace with her, now was that time.

Audrey and Gabe were asleep on the couch, wrapped together like a single pretzel in their matching striped PJs. “Ah, to be human again.” Arianna glanced at them with a dramatic sigh. “But sleep is for wimps.” She winked and kissed Gavin on the cheek, then squeezed me tight. “Be back by five. And refuel before you fly back, or such a long flight will be rough on your bodies before we go to Amaranth—”

“Sis,” Gavin cocked a brow in her direction and eased the front door open, careful not to wake our human friends.

“Sorry, sorry. I’m totally turning into Audrey, aren’t I?”

I pinched my fingers together, shrugging with a small smile. “We’ll be as quick as we can, I promise. And we’ll eat before we fly back, you have my word on that.”

“
Mmmkay
. Love you two. Now hurry before the sleeping beauties wake.”

Gavin and I flew into the early dawn, and part of me wished Gavin had listened to me and stayed behind in Louisiana. Sure, this last-minute trip across the country was a big deal right before we had to face Gérard, but I could’ve made it there and back on my own. Still, he wasn’t having any of that, adamant that it was far too dangerous for me to be roaming around anywhere on my own, even if it was clear across the United States.