Ellida (33 page)

SILVERBELL RANCH had been chosen for our
meeting place. Except for Peyton, upstairs in the room she shared
with Ingmar, there hadn’t been anybody in the house when we
arrived. Ingmar, Dinah and Gerard were outside, on a watch,
assuring the secrecy of our gathering.

I made us coffee and sat on an armchair off
to one side, by the book shelves, while the three men took seats
around the coffee table. That way I could watch Darius undisturbed
and at the same time avoid his interrogating eyes.

“Seth’s delusional and unpredictable, but
he’s not stupid,” Darius said. “He knows he’s been cornered, and he
thinks only something big, like bringing an Ellida to Copper Ridge,
will help him to stay in power. He’s become paranoid, especially
since I came back. He doesn’t trust me, he doesn’t trust anyone.
He’s more dangerous than ever.”

“Where does he think you are now?” Ahmed
asked.

“He wants to build a ski resort, and my job’s
to secure the investments, so right now I’m supposed to be talking
to potential investors.” He turned to Jack. “I’ll need some money
transferred to our account, in a day or two, just to cover myself.
I’ll make sure Seth doesn’t spend it.”

“No problem, you’ll have it by tomorrow. A
ski resort isn’t a bad idea at all. We’ll talk about that later. So
you’re covered?”

Darius quickly glanced at me but then turned
to Jack and Ahmed. “Mother made sure of that. Seth’s convinced I am
exactly where he ordered me to go.”

My throat tightened. I wanted to ask Darius
about my mother, but a dry cotton ball at the back of my throat
robbed me of my voice.

“Is Rowena all right?” Ahmed asked.

“She is fine, although she’s had enough after
all those years of terror, pain, destruction and loneliness.”
Darius shook his head and continued bitterly, “Even I was able to
escape, if only from time to time. Mother’s the only one who’s been
keeping Seth’s madness under some control. All these years she and
a few women around her have been Copper Ridge’s only solace and
hope. She’s been helping people escape and comforting those who’d
chosen to stay.”

“You left, too,” I said quietly. I didn’t
want it to sound like an accusation. I didn’t have the right to
blame Darius—I had crossed my mother off—but I sensed how deep
their relationship was and I was jealous.

Darius’ fierce gaze lashed over me. “And how
do you think I feel about it?” he said.

“Astrid, please,” Jack’s voice delivered an
unnecessary warning. I’d already regretted my bitter and unfair
comment.

Darius turned to Jack. “We’ll be ready soon.
I just need a few more months.”

“My people haven’t completed their training
yet. Livia’s still gathering her friends and I plan to bring in
more wizards. I also need those few months. I don’t want civilian
casualties. How many people does he have now? What’s changed since
we spoke last time?”

“More vampires have come. I don’t know where
he finds them.”

“How many?” I asked.

“Eighty, so far.”

Jack smirked. “He keeps bringing them in, but
it’s still hardly enough for Liv’s warm-up exercise.”

“We’ve been expecting all sorts of trouble
from them, given their number, but Seth keeps them isolated, and
besides, they seem quite disciplined.”

“Does he know about the Blakes?” I
interrupted again. “When Seth sent those four Tel-Urughs after Jack
and me, they didn’t have a clue about them.”

“Could you please sit closer, Astrid? I feel
like I’m watching a tennis match,” Darius grumbled, but a smile
broke over his lips.

I pulled my armchair closer to the coffee
table.

“He’s never mentioned them. Mother thinks
that he actually doesn’t know they’ve been around all the
time.”

Jack let out a deep sigh. “Let’s hope it
stays that way. Tell me about his guard. Any changes there?”

“Ah, Seth’s ‘stormtroopers’. He always keeps
about two hundred of them. They are outsiders and shady characters
from all around. They are loyal to Seth because he pays them well.
He gave them the best houses, cars, position and money. They know
if he goes, there will be no mercy for them.”

“What about the regular police?” Ahmed
said.

“That’s another story. They’re from Copper
Ridge, all of them, decent folk, sick and tired of Seth and his
people. The Chief of Police, Tariq Arslan, is my close friend.
He’ll have his men ready. They’re our main force. ”

“How many do you have?”

“Sixty.”

Astrid looked at him. “Sixty against two
hundred and eight, so far?”

“Against almost the entire population of
Copper Ridge, from age fifteen up, Ellida.”

“Astrid, please,” Jack warned her softly.

“Who else are we going to find there? Any
wizards?” Ahmed asked.

Darius shook his head. “No. No wizards, save
Heather Kincaid, who pops up at Copper Ridge every once in a while.
We understand she doesn’t have significant wizard powers, does
she?”

“As far as we know, very little,” Jack
confirmed. “Keep an eye on her there, and we’ll do it here.”

“We’ll keep in touch, Jack.” Darius said. “I
need to go back.”

“We should finish this business with Seth
before Christmas, Darius,” Jack said. “We’ll be ready by the
beginning of December. When can we meet again?”

“If I’m not able to come, I’ll send one of my
people. Whoever comes will have this with him.” He reached into his
pocket and took out a gold ring with a big rectangular sapphire on
a raised crown. “This is my mother’s ring. Only if she gives the
ring to a true messenger, will the stone look blue. Otherwise, it’s
green. It’s an emerald ring.”

I smiled, holding back tears. I recognized
the ring from old photographs. It was Ella’s ring that she’d passed
to my mother when she married my father.

Darius stood up and ran his hand through his
hair. “Jack, I don’t know how much time I have. I hope you can help
me while I can still help you. Trust me, you don’t want to deal
with two mad men. And I had yours and James’ word that you’d take
care of it, when it happened. If it happened.”

I felt like somebody had punched the air out
of my lungs. Darius still thought he’d go mad like his father and
had made Jack promise to kill him before he did any harm!

I sucked in air so sharply that all three of
them turned to me.

“Astrid, you okay?” Jack said, but his voice
carried another message:
Don’t you dare tell him!

Everything inside me screamed.
How could
you not tell him he’s sane and healthy?! How could you see his
suffering, both of you?!

I wanted to take Darius’ hands between mine
and tell him what I knew: that his father, Raymond Arenvald, was a
marine engineer who had come to America from the Mediterranean
island of Malta. That he, Darius, had got his father’s jet-black
hair and dimpled smile, and his mother’s piercing blue eyes. And a
sane mind from both of them.

“You are also your mother’s son, Darius,”
Ahmed said gently. “She was a healthy woman. It’s more than
possible you didn’t inherit that particular trait from Seth.”

Darius smirked. “Do you have any guarantees,
Doctor?”

“Well…”

“I had I don’t know how many CT scans and
MRIs so far, but I’m not sure this kind of madness can leave its
digital imprint on a piece of plastic. We are different than
humans, so our insanity must be different, too. I was thinking,
when this is over, maybe one of you could examine me. Your friend
Livia would be able see inside my head, wouldn’t she?”

The deep, raw desperation in his voice broke
my heart. I walked to him, in spite of the lightning bolts Jack’s
eyes flashed at me. I cupped his head between my palms and forced
him to look into my eyes.

“Listen to me, Darius. I can’t see the
future, but sometimes I can feel it.” He winced, trying to break
the eye contact, but I just increased the pressure and kept his
head firmly between my hands. “And I feel light and happiness. I
feel you laugh, and I feel your smile. I feel love in and around
you. I
do not
feel Seth in you. Do you understand me?”

I let him look into the depths of my eyes and
feel the truth I couldn’t tell him. He was lost in my eyes for a
long moment.

“So you think I might have escaped it after
all?” He spoke so softly that I had to read the words from his
lips.

“I do.”

He nodded, and then, in a rare moment of that
special intimacy possible only between two complete strangers, he
whispered, “When you are constantly waiting to go mad, it’s a
lonely life, you know. I’ve been afraid to feel, to love. I look at
Seth, and I see myself in a few years.”

I caught Jack’s warning look, but I turned my
back to him, ignoring it.

“Oh, Darius, I’m so sorry for your
suffering,” I whispered through a heavy sob.
Your unnecessary,
senseless suffering
.

Darius glanced in Jack’s direction as if
assessing if he could hear us, and continued with his unexpected
confession. “A few years ago I fell in love with a girl here. I
didn’t dare tell her. She’s never known. Here, in the middle of
this madness, love wasn’t possible. I went back to Scotland. There
I could have pretended, if only temporarily, I was somebody else,
not the son of a madman. I had a girlfriend. She wanted to come
here with me, but that was impossible. She is a gentle human girl,
who plays violin and loves visiting art galleries and theatres.
She’s English, from London, but she came to live with me on a rig
in the middle of the North Sea.”

“What’s her name?”

“Lydia. She made me feel normal.”

“I’ll be all right,” I repeated firmly. “I
wish I could give you real proof, but I can’t. You must trust me
with your heart, Darius.”

I felt his pain, and his doubt. He wanted to
trust me unconditionally, but his rational mind still needed it in
black and white.

Yet, the dark, cold fog that had enveloped
his soul was less thick.

“I’m sorry about Lydia,” I said, feeling that
she wouldn’t be part of his life. He would love somebody else.

Darius drew me to his chest and kissed the
crown of my head. I heard Jack’s short, angry growl. Not because of
the hug Darius and I’d shared, no. He was angry because I’d ignored
his unspoken orders.

Oblivious to Jack’s rapidly darkening mood,
Darius said, “Jack, would you two leave us for a minute?”

Jack threw me an angry
we’ll-talk-about-that-later
look. In return, I turned my
head and pressed my cheek on Darius chest, ignoring Jack
completely.

Darius took my hand and walked me to the
sofa. “I have something for you.” He reached into his wallet and
took out a small photo.

My mother’s.

I took the square piece of paper between my
fingers but, instead of looking at it, I closed my eyes.

“It’s okay. Take your time.”

My eyes met with a perfect oval face, arched
brows, almond-shaped grey eyes, straight nose, full lips, round
feminine chin and a mane of wavy dark hair. It was the stern face
of someone who’d experienced and witnessed lots of suffering.

I sobbed heavily, the pain choking me from
inside. Darius sat beside me, holding me tight as grief erupted
from my core, shaking my body with violent, ragged spasms.

Eons later, I felt his fingers closing around
my palm with the little picture in it, his other hand stroking my
hair, and then his deep, thick voice finally penetrated my mind.
“Keep it. And you must believe you’ll see her soon.”

“Don’t let anything happen to her, please,
Darius.”

He tilted my chin up and found my eyes.
“She’s my mother. I’ll protect her with my life, Astrid.”

“Thank you, Darius.”

“Jack’s gonna be mad at you.”

“Not more than I’m mad at him. Don’t worry.
We are bond-mates. We love each other very much, despite occasional
disagreements.”

“Why are you so angry at him?”

“I have my reasons. It’ll be okay.”

“Shall we ask them to come back?”

I shook my head. “Nah. Let Jack be mad a
little bit longer.”

At that moment, the door opened and Ahmed
peeked in. “Astrid, sweetie, are you okay? Darius can’t stay much
longer, I’m afraid.”

“Oh, God, I’m sorry. Darius, before you go,
let me take care of our scent on you.”

“Don’t worry about that, love. I’ll do that.
I’m taking him back,” Ingmar said, materializing seemingly out of
nowhere, followed by Jack.

“We need to go, Astrid,” Jack said in a
controlled, almost gentle voice. He was still mad at me for
ignoring his orders, but he didn’t want Darius to see it.

I didn’t want another lesson in werewolf
hierarchy, so I decided to give Jack a different reason to be
angry, hoping to divert his attention from my little rebellion.

I locked my arms around Darius’s neck and
gave him a juicy smack on his lips “You know, under different
circumstance, I wouldn’t mind getting to know you better.” I smiled
sweetly and turned my head to glance at Jack.

Darius winked. “Well, technically, you’re
still single.”

With utmost delight, I saw Jack’s face turn
fire-engine red.

“Take care, Darius,” I said softly. “I hope
to see you soon.” I took his hand between mine and whispered
fiercely, “Keep in mind what I told you, please. Promise?”

“I promise. You know what, Astrid? You don’t
look like your mother at all, but you share the same compassion.
That’s Rowena in you.”

I smiled, watching him climb into Ingmar’s
pick-up. He smiled and waved.

Then I turned to Jack, ready to meet his
wrath.

FIRST I thought I would explode seeing
Astrid kissing and hugging a man she’d just met an hour ago, but
then I realised her plan. She would play on my jealousy and
possessiveness hoping to get away with more serious stuff, like
ignoring my warnings and orders.