Authors: Diana Nixon
“I doubt we'll ever be able to forget about it,” I said,
taking a deep breath to stop the tears pooling in my eyes. “I don’t want to
forget about it. There are things, and even places that help you to live, help
you to keep some warmth and comfort in your soul. You can always go back there,
and there will always be someone waiting for you...”
“Dad promised that we can spend Christmas Eve at home.
Like normal people,” Amanda rolled her eyes.
“Yes, Christian had told me about that,” I chuckled.
“Have I mentioned how glad I am to see you together with
my brother?” she asked excited. “I love you and I love him, so when you get
married, I won’t have to quarrel with either one of you, because I may not like
your husband or his wife. So take care of my nerves, both of you, and do not
quibble!” being as serious as possible Amanda added. I laughed.
“Well, I promise to do all my best! I’m not sure about
Christian, he seems to enjoy every single time he gets on your nerves.”
“Oh, I’m sure, he does! But he’s my brother after all,
who would blame him?”
We both burst out laughing.
We were in such a good mood, as we went back to our room
and started getting ready for dinner. At exactly half past six someone knocked
at the door.
“I bet that this is Lucas. He has never been late not
even a single minute,” Amanda said, walking toward the door.
She was right, but only partially. Together with Lucas
there was Christian, standing in the doorway. And he was, well, just awesome!
His suit looked perfect on him. Amanda and Christian had been brought up to
look elegant all the time. Going on a picnic or to some meeting, she never
forgot about appropriate accessories and hairstyle. She carefully considered
even what fabric was best for a particular event, weather and time of day.
This time, Christian chose the color of wet asphalt for
his outfit, in combination with a white shirt and cufflinks. I think I stopped
breathing, enjoying the view. He smiled leisurely, and I couldn’t stop myself
from thinking about the taste and tenderness of his perfect lips and the way
his presence and his seductive gazes made me go crazy. I was ready to die for
his touch and even in the distance the waves of his warmth were making my body
hot. I was burning alive. I shook my head and tried to calm down, knowing that
Christian had already guessed every my though and every secret desire.
“Good evening,” Lucas greeted, smiling happily to
Amanda. He had also chosen a suit to wear for dinner, only in lighter colors.
“You are both beautiful, as always,” said Christian,
coming up to me. He stroked the line of my neck with his fingers and drawing
closer to my ear, quietly added: “Your entire aura is shining with bright-red.
If we don’t want to attract too much attention to ourselves, we’d better think
about something less… passionate.”
“Then stop looking at me like this,” I whispered back.
“Your eyes are stripping off all my clothes.”
One of his fingers touched my lower lip and I barely
stop myself from moaning, as the waves of pleasure rushed thought my heart.
“Uh, ladies, I don’t know what we would have done
without you,” he said, smiling with his amazing green eyes.
“Good Lord! I finally heard a compliment from you!”
Amanda exclaimed, breaking our intimacy.
“Don’t be silly, my dear. I often give you compliments,”
Christian said, stepping aside. I took a deep breath and exhaled slowly. My
thoughts were totally blurred.
“I must have a hearing problem,” muttered Amanda.
Christian shook his head, grinning.
“Next time, for your birthday instead of a car I will
give you a big cake, along with tons of compliments,” he said.
“No way! It’s better to have another car,” Amanda
snapped.
“It’s always hard to please you, sis! Watch out, Lucas,
you’ll get tired of this capricious girl,” laughing, Christian added. Lucas, in
turn, gave Amanda a happy smile that was speaking for itself that he wasn’t
afraid of her whims. She responded just the same way. And, I must confess, I’ve
never seen her eyes shining with so much tenderness. She was definitely happy.
“Is everyone ready, so that we can go now?” Lucas asked.
“It’s not polite to be late.”
“Little sister, it looks like Lucas will finally teach
you how to be punctual.”
“He is just worried before a meeting with our parents,
and wants to make a good impression,” Amanda whispered as we left the room.
On the occasion of the upcoming dinner, Amelia came to
Dever. She didn’t spend much time here, because she didn’t like to leave her
house empty. Patrick was flying to Norfield every few days, so the distance
didn’t cause them any obstacles. Christian’s parents were a wonderful couple. I
always admired people who, without any supernatural bonds could understand and
truly love each other as much as they did.
When we got to Patrick’s apartment Evan and Darcy, also
invited, were already there. Amanda introduced Lucas to her parents:
“Mom, this is Lucas Stanton.”
“Very nice to meet you, Mrs. Fairey,” he said.
“It’s my pleasure,” Amelia replied, smiling radiantly
both of them.
“Dad, you have already met Lucas, right?”
“Of course. Good to see you young man,” said Patrick.
They shook their hands and Patrick invited everyone to the living room.
“Girls, would you help me a little, please?” asked
Amelia. Amanda, Darcy and I went into a spacious kitchen. The room was filled
with pleasant aromas of cheese, mushrooms, pepper and some sweet spices. A
mixture of apples and canella caught my attention. I turned my head to the
right and I saw a huge pie with the very ingredients on its top.
“Here, please, take this to the table, dear,” Amelia
asked Amanda. “Darcy, could you help me with fruits? I don’t like to hire a
chef, when I have time and opportunity to make everything myself. Besides, I
get a lot of pleasure doing it,” she smiled radiantly. “Eileen, how was your
meeting with Stephanie, by the way?”
“Not bad. She knows a lot of things about Dever, which,
of course, surprised me a lot,” I said, helping Darcy.
“She, like all of us had to keep everything a secret for
many years. You really shouldn’t be angry at her,” said Amelia.
“Of course, not! I wouldn’t even think to be angry. It’s
just time for me to stop being so surprised about weird things in my life. But
I still can’t get used to all of this,” I said with a sad smile.
“I know what you mean, Eileen. I never thought I would
get used to a new life either.”
“Did it take a long time?” asked her Darcy.
“Some things are still surprising to me, though, as
Eileen has said, I’m used to it. As an example though, the story about Alexis
and Eric. Who would have thought?..”
Suddenly the doorbell rang.
“Are we still waiting for someone?” Amanda asked, coming
back to the kitchen.
“Yes. Frederic is staying in Dever, and kindly agreed to
accept our invitation to dinner.”
“Frederick Fairey?” not believing my own ears, I asked.
“Yes. He is an old friend of our family. Unfortunately
it is not often possible to find us all together at one time in our country, so
we use every opportunity to meet with him
when he arrives. Come on, I
will introduce you all.”
Darcy and I took trays of fruits and followed Amelia
into the living room.
Frederic looked very much like all the Fairey family, so
this shouldn’t have been surprising. He was also one of them. And the color of
his emerald eyes couldn’t belong to anyone else. He was quite tall, dark-haired
and well built for his years.
“And this is Eileen Clark,” Amelia said, introducing us
to each other.
“I've heard about you, Eileen,” Frederick nodded. “Nice
to meet you.”
“It’s nice to meet you too, and I’ve heard a lot about
you as well. Only good things, of course,” I said smiling nervously, while
shaking his outstretched hand. His touch was surprisingly very warm. When I
thought of him I pictured some strict and not so good-natured man. Apparently,
I jumped to conclusions. And his voice seemed oddly familiar, but I couldn’t
remember where I had heard it before… Even though, we had never met before.
“Since everyone is now here, let’s go to the table,”
Patrick said.
He and Amelia took their seats on both sides of an oval
table. Christian and I sat on the right hand of Patrick, next to Evan and
Darcy. Opposite us were sitting Amanda and Lucas. And along with them -
Frederick. Several times I caught his gaze on me.
“Perhaps he knows about my unusual abilities,” I
thought. I wanted to ask him some questions, because he was one of, if not the
most powerful, wizard who I had
heard about. His glory was so widespread
not only because he possessed an unbelievable power, but because he wasn’t
hereditary Wizardy, and only thanks to his talents had managed to become such a
famous magician.
“Well, let's have our first toast for this gathering,
for our friends, and for the fact that no troubles could spoil such a wonderful
evening like this,” said Patrick. All joined in his toast and raised their
glasses.
I found myself on thinking that if it wasn’t for current
events, this night could be called truly pleasant and carefree. Everyone was
joking, smiling, and no one thought about Eric, Alexis, Nora, or the Cup.
Amelia had worked really hard to make all the dishes simply excellent. I knew
that when it came to using herbs and spices she was a real expert.
After dinner they all went out to the terrace to enjoy
the fresh air and warm evening. Christian wasn’t leaving me even for a second
which seemed strange to me. Usually, he behaved like that when he felt danger.
But tonight I didn’t feel anything threatening. On the contrary. I even managed
to relax a bit and really enjoy good company and the evening itself.
“Is it too cold for you?” Christian asked caressing my
shoulders.
“Not at all. I never feel cold when you're near,” I
replied.
He touched my hair with his lips.
“I’m glad to hear that. I wanted to ask you something,”
he started uneasily. “Eileen, would you mind talking
with Frederick? He
would like to ask you some questions.”
“Of course I don’t mind! I wanted to talk to him too,
just thought it wasn’t polite to throw myself at a stranger with my million of
questions.”
Christian smiled relaxed.
“Good. He’s in the library now.”
I took a deep breath, trying to make my mind calm down,
but it did nothing to help the shaking of my knees. Fortunately, the library
door was open, and I didn’t have to knock. Christian didn’t even offer to
accompany me, so I had to deal with my excitement and fear on my own.
“Why am I suddenly so nervous? He's a stranger, and why
should I be afraid of him?” I asked myself. When I entered, Frederick stood
with his back near one of the bookcases and, without turning around, he said:
“Eileen, you have joined me.”
I was surprised by the tone of his voice, as it sounded
nervous. He turned and took a few steps in my direction.
“You can feel auras,” I said realizing how he knew about
my presence.
“Yes, and I do it exceptionally well, I admit. For
example, at the moment, I can tell that you are very nervous. You shouldn’t
be,” he said smiling genuinely. “I just found it very interesting to see the
person, who may eclipse my glory in the near future.”
“Oh, um… I don’t think that is possible. Besides, I
still have not been able to fully possess or control my powers and, honestly, I
don’t know whether I will ever be able to when the time comes.”
I felt a little calmer, I went to one of the armchairs
by the fireplace and sat down. Frederick took the opposite one.
“You will master everything,” he said. “You have to, it
can’t be any other way. Magic and the other powers will start to gain force
very soon. Remember, you have to learn how to keep and control that crazy
amount of energy. How do you feel now? Is there anything you would like to ask
me about?”
“I don’t like the way this power extends to practically
all the spheres of my life. Managing all the elements as well as magic, I
shouldn’t have to put much effort to get what I want. I'm scared of all of it.
I'm afraid that it could be hard to stop and I...”
“Don’t worry, Eileen. If nature has chosen to gift you
with such rare and extraordinary abilities, you will learn how to control them.
Everything is done with a reason and purpose in mind.”
“Destiny, of course,” I said rolling my eyes. Recently,
I began to really believe in its existence, what I haven’t done previously.
“What is very important, is not to be afraid to use your
powers, because the power of possessing it’s not to have it all, but know how
to control it. You have many good friends who will help you. Evan is a very
capable young man; he’s experienced, so you can always turn to him for help or
advice. Christian is an excellent specialist of his element; he will help you
cope with its force. Patrick and I will always be ready to help too. He told me
about you and your talents. Frankly, I was really surprised. I didn’t expect to
see such great power. I'm very pleased that you are so young and yet such a
talented girl. Evan told me how you felt the forces of the elements in practical
classes. This surprised me, because my own abilities started to develop after
the age of eighteen, but you already possess them. It is simply unbelievable!
But trust me, Eileen,” he added quietly. “I know how difficult it’s to keep
these forces inside of you. But I hope you will handle this.”