Wicked Fate (The Wicked Trilogy) (35 page)

I suddenly feel the weight of the world on my chest.

“But I can’t shift into other forms. That’s crazy!” I say.

“Give it time,” she gives a secret smile.

I can’t believe my ears. This sounds
like something in a really
bad comic book. My life is a really bad comic book!
I
l
et it all soak in. My father’s a bad guy who’
s after my magic?
I wonder if he has anything to do with Eris and Craven.

I feel
my mother’s hand l
and on top of mine. I understand her reasons
for e
verything she did. I probably would do the same
for my own c
hild. I hold her hand in mine and smile at her. This is
my mother. The only family I have left in the world and there’s no way I’m leaving here without her
.

“Come home with me. We can live together on
Azalea Plantation. It’s so beautiful
in Summerville
. Have you ever been there? I think you’ll love it! It’s so peaceful. Please
,
say you’ll come?”

She drops her head letting go of my hand. I feel
my hopes drop. My mother coming home with me would solve everything. She would be out of this wretched place and I could help her learn to use her powers the right way. I could help her learn to co
ntrol them if that’s what she’
s afraid of.

Not to mention
, I’
d have a guardian. I wouldn’t have to worry about the o
fficials finding out that I’m
all alone in the world at sixteen. I wouldn’t have to worry about being sent to a stupid foster home. I could live with my mother and Sire at
the plantation. Adam
would
be there and then once I figure
out how to get the eye back
, I could have it all. This has to happen, there’
s no other option for me anymore.

“I can’t
,
Mage.”

“Why not?”
I cry out.

She has to agree to this, it would solve everything in my life.

“I wouldn’t know how to live around normal people anymore. It’s been over sixteen years since I have. It’s easier to live around people who already think they’re losing their mind. No matter if I slip up or not
, they’d think it’
s all in their head. Not to mention, it’s really not s
afe for you to be around me
. Your father could find me whenever he wanted and who’s to say that he hasn’t been watching me, waiting for you to show. That’s why I lied about
my death. The last thing I’
d ever want to do is lead him to you. If I do that then all these years without you would have been a complete and total waste.
D
on’t ask me to give you up to these bad people because I won’t do it.”

“They’
re already after me. You could help me if anything. What do you want me to do? You want me to just walk away
and act as if you’re not alive?
I can’t do that! I can’t and I won’t! You’re the only family I have left. Please don’t ask
me
to do that!”

“I’m sorry
, Mage, but it’s for the best. One day I’ll come home, but right now it’s just not a possibility.”

“Just tell me
one thing before I go,” I choke
on my tears.

“Anything…”

“What’
s my father’s name?”

“Richard Cain.”

When I leave Trenton
Psych
I’m
in worse shape than I was
before I got there. My mother’
s al
ive and healthy, yet she refuses
to come home
with me, refuses to be a family.

She’s not a head case, she’s just being safe. She thinks it’s
safe for h
er to live among people who are
psychologically unstable
. She thinks she can’t control her magic. That’s just
crazy!
I
live around normal
people. So what if
they think I’m a
complete freak?
I still live among them.
And if I can control myself at sixteen, then my mother should be able to do the same. I won’t let this go. She
will
go home at some point.

We go
throug
h a drive-thru and then start our journey home. I can’t
eat any
thing no matter how hard I try or how hard Adam pushes for me to eat. It isn’t
sup
posed to happen this way, she’
s supposed
to come home with me and we’re
supposed to take care of each other!

At least I
did get an
swers.
For one, i
t’
s confi
rmed that these bad witches are
after me
for my magic. My purple fire i
s p
owerful, and if my purple fire is powerful, then that means
that the man in my
dreams is j
ust a
s powerful, even more so since he’s experienced
. 

I look
over at Adam
—
his eyes are
focused on
the road. It mak
e
s
me feel bad for my mother. It would be horrible to f
ind out that the person you are crazy in love with i
s using you.

It makes
sense. He used her to make me. He made me so that he coul
d steal my powers, and it seems that Craven and Eris are
af
ter the same thing.

But how do they know about me? My father has
t
o be involved with them. That’
s the only option.

I don’t tell Adam all the things I’m thinking since I don’t
want to scar
e him. I don’t want him to know what I know. I kno
w
that it won’t
b
e long before Eris and Craven come for me one last time. I know that they’
re going to try and
steal my powers. I have a pretty
bad feeling that s
tealing my powers will somehow result in my death. W
orst of all
, I kno
w
that no matter how hard I try I won’t
be able to defend myself against them.

Chapter
26

The Break

We stay in
the same motel that we stayed in
on the way to New Jersey
—paid double again. I take
a
long shower, mostly just standing
there and let
ting the water
run down my
face. I pray that the hot water will
wash it all
away.

I have to separate myself from Adam. It’s not safe to love him. It’s not safe for him to be around me. I know Adam, if something were to happen he’d try to fight and he’s no competition for the kind of people I’ll be fighting. If something were to happen to him I’d never forgive myself.

I now understand he reasons for leaving me behind before. He was trying to protect me—I have to protect him. He loved me enough to let me go and I’ll do the same. Once this is all over with and if I survive, I’ll go back to him, but right now, I have
to think about keeping him safe.

After my shower, I brush my teeth and settle into bed with Adam. He wraps his arms around me and whispers
sweet not
hings into my hair while I cry
on his shoulder.

“It’s okay, baby.
Everything’s going to be okay. I won’t let anything happen to you. No matter what I have to d
o, I won’t let them hurt you
.”

While he’s saying
these thing
s I’m
trying to figure out how to get him out of my life, at
least until all the dust settles. It’s going to
kill me to be away from him, but
the thought of something happening to him is worse than death.

“Adam
, you know I love you
,
right?”

“I know and I love you, too. I can’t even believe I’m saying that to someone, but it’s the truth,” he smiles down at me and my heart breaks.

“
I’m thinking…maybe we should take a break,
”
his body tenses next to me when I say those words. “Just until everything passes—I have so much going on right now and…”

“Are you breaking up with me?” pain crashes into my heart when I see the look on his face.

I feel like I’m drowning a puppy, which is ridiculous considering Adam’s more of the pit bull variety. Tears flow
down my cheeks. The hurt and disappointment in his e
yes stabs
me in my heart.

“It’s just until I get my life in order, I don’t want to drag you down with me,” I’m desperate for him to understand.

“Are you serious?”

“Yes, I’m just not ready for what we have going on right now. I need some space,” I lie.

“Space?” he asks confused.

No girl in her right mind would ask for space from Adam—it’s a foreign concept to him.

“Yes,” I whisper. The word barely makes it out.

“This is because you trying to protect me, right? Well, you can forget it. I know what you’re doing,” he reaches for my hand.

I pull it away. He has to go away.

“No, that’s not it. I mean, I don’t want anything to happen to you, but this is for me. I really do need some space.”

I can’t look at him even though I feel his eyes beating into my face.

“Whatever,” the old Adam returns and I look up in time to see his mask slip into place.

His way of coping is pretending like he doesn’t care. I know he does, but he’s angry and honestly, I’d rather him be angry than dead.

He turns, putting his back to me. Turning off the lamp, he settles into bed.

“Adam?” I squeak.

“Go sleep, Mage. I’m giving you what you want. Let’s just get through the rest of this trip and I’ll go away when we get home. I don’t need all this drama in my life anyway,” he sounds as if he’s talking to a stranger.

My heart aches for him—for me. I know this is what needs to be done, but doing it hurts so badly. I know this pain is be nothing compared to the pain I’d feel if something happened to Adam, but still
it’s
killing me.  No way would he sit by and let me fight without him and I refuse to allow him to get involved.

I feel sick to my stomach. The rain outside the window is because of me as I quietly cry myself to sleep.

The next mor
ning on the drive home he doesn’t talk to me. I spend the first hour hating myself—hating everything about me and my complicated life.

Why can’t I be normal and have a normal life with a normal relationship with the person I love?

I reach out for his hand, trying to hold it in mine. He doesn’t respond
,
he leaves his hand limp. He’s so upset, but he keeps his sarcastic, asshole mask on.

We go
through a
drive-thru restaurant and he doesn’t even look at me when he hands
me my food. Instead of driving and eating
, we go to a
little
park close to the beach. We eat and then we decide to stretch our legs before getting back on the road. The silence is thick as we walk the strip of beach. It’s beautiful outside and there’s no one else there but us. It’
s
our own private beach.

It makes me even sadder that he’s not talking to me. We should be holding hands; we should be gazing into each other’s eyes like a couple of love crazed teenagers.

O
ut of nowhere
, I get a sudden adrenaline rush. I feel the need to run…fast. I need to get away. I look
around suddenl
y feeling extreme panic. What is it about this beach that’s so familiar? I’m almost positive that I’ve
never been here before.

And then it hits me. There’s a reason why this beach makes me so uncomfortable. There’s a reason why I feel like I need to run. This is the beach from my nightmares—the beach where the wave takes me away.

O
u
t of the corner of my eye something catches my attention. My stomach clinches when I see what that something is. There are t
wo
people with flowing robes coming towards us. White ribbons dance in the wind as Eris’ hair blows all around. My heart stops—we have to run.