Control (Book Seven) (Fated Saga Fantasy Series) (21 page)

“I don’t be
lieve you. This is a trick. Trying to get me to come to your side, aren’t you?”

“It’s no trick, Colby!
” she retorted haughtily. “I don’t know why I thought bringing you here would somehow fulfill that stupid prophecy!”

“
Prophecy? What the heck are you blabbing about now?”

Meghan and Colin glanced at each other in disbelief.

Was it possible that Colby did not know? The one immortal child that had been raised in the magical world, did not know about the prophecy.

Meghan took a cleansing breath.
“Colby, you must have heard about the prophecy.”

He shook his head.

“You know, the three immortal children...” she hinted.

“
How many more ways would you like me to say I don’t know what you’re talking about?”

Meghan wanted to punch him.

She didn’t dare think what Colin wanted to do to him.

“I guess I assumed our
father would have told you about it. Seeing as you’re the only one of us
three
raised in the magical world.”

“Unless
,” suggested Colin in a tone that mimicked ha-ha, “that’s something else your father didn’t want you to know about.”

“Maybe my father doesn’t know an
ything about it,” replied Colby darkly. Although, even he didn’t believe that for a moment.

If there was something important that had anything to do with the magical world, his father most certainly knew about it.

Meghan took another cleansing breath. “Colby,” she started. “I swear to you that what I’m about to say is absolute truth. I have no reason what so ever to make this up.”

Colby begrudgingly listened.

“Before the three of us were born, there was a prophecy made by a seer that said three children of an immortal bloodline were fated to bring balance to the magical world. It also said,” she paused, unsure she even wanted to tell Colby the next part, seeing as he was all too eager to wage battles. “It also said that only one of those immortal children would succeed and that the three would possibly wage battle against each other.”

She gave him a minute to let it sink in.

Colin had less patience.

Every moment he was stuck inside this memory was another moment he had not freed Catrina. “In case that thick head of yours didn’t put two and two together,
Colby, we are those immortal children.”

Colby’s gaze
turned icy.

“I’ve never heard of such a prophecy. If it was important, my father would have told me. And he probably didn’t
, because he knows as well as I do if it comes to a battle,
I’ll win
.” He stormed off toward the exit of the estate.

“Where are you going?” Meghan shouted after him.

“I’m leaving. I’m done here.”

“You can’t leave. We’
re not finished yet!”

He raised his arm as if to use magic to stop her, but nothing happened.
His face glowered. Not only was he stuck inside the memory, but he had no magic!

“In h
ere,” said Meghan, stalking by him, “I’m in charge. And we’re not leaving until I say so.”

##

Ivan and Jae stood guard near the front of Kanda Macawi’s house in the Cobbscott, Maine campground. It was just after midnight. The storm had passed, leaving behind fast moving clouds. Whenever the moon seeped through, gray shadows popped everywhere, faking them out, leading them to believe they had seen something sinister moving.

They had lit a small fire
inside Kanda’s fire pit. An ember popped and Nona jumped out at them.

“Catrina is fine,” she told them.
“I explained what was happening and she agreed, I should be here. I will check back with her in the morning.”

Ivan nodded.

Nona retook her post at the back of the house.

She joined Elisha, each sitting tall and still, listening. Watching. Using their white eye, hoping for any glimpse into the future.

Back by the fire, a bird flew down, transforming at great speed. When its feet hit the frozen dirt, it was Sebastien who walked across the driveway. 

“Just did a
nother fly over of the entire campground. Nothing here that doesn’t belong.”

Jae cast his gaze towards the house.
“I really thought they’d be awake by now. It’s been hours.”

“
They could be hours, days, we have no idea,” said Ivan, adding, “I don’t think out luck is going to hold.”

Sebastien repli
ed by transforming back into bird form and bursting into the brisk night sky.

After another thirty minutes, Jae stepped back inside
to check on the three memory travelers. No movement. No change.

He went back outside and reported to Ivan.

“It’s so dark. We’re not going to see anything coming,” said Jae. He wiped a bead a sweat off his brow. Why was he sweating? It was freezing!

“You all right
?” asked Ivan.

“Yeah. Fine.” His voice gave no reassurance.

“Just take deep breaths,” said Ivan. “I don’t know as it actually helps, but I’ve been told it does.”

“I think when I panic,
it
wants out,” Jae admitted with a long exhale.

“The Scratcher
cannot
come out Jae,” said Ivan. “Whatever happens here, you cannot let it out. You have to keep control.”

“Yeah, control. I got lots of that,” Jae
replied sarcastically.

“So
rry,” said Ivan. “I’m not being much help.”

“No. Actually, I’m
... feeling better. Maybe as sick as it is, joking about it helps me calm down.”

Ivan motioned for Jae to take a seat on the front step. He sat down next to him
.

“
Since we are on the subject, do you mind if I ask you something, Jae? And if you don’t want to talk about it, or think it’s a bad idea to talk about it, that’s fine too.”

“
What do you want to know?”

“W
hy did Juliska recruit you? I found out after the fact that she had, from a spy on the inside, Garner Sadorus,” he clarified, “but I never was able to figure out why she did it.”

“Because of what happened to me, when I got left behind.”

“What happened?” asked Ivan.

Jae let out a long sigh. “When I was out there on my own,
well, out here on my own, this is the campground it all started in... I got a taste for something. Something I missed after I got back home. Something I started to crave badly. Juliska... she saw it in me before I did.”

“Power,” guessed
Ivan.

“Yeah. I had never felt as
strong as when I was alone, away from the group. And I got to do whatever I wanted, when I wanted. I wasn’t stupid about stuff... too much. But I didn’t have to answer to anyone except myself.”

“Juliska would be cunning enough to see that,” said Ivan.

“When she first approached me she never mentioned what she was going to do to me. She just asked me if I could feel that way again, would I want to?”

“And you said yes.”

“I said yes. After that, she started having me do these sessions with Tanzea Chase. I don’t know what exactly she was doing but it was some kind of magic. Very dark magic. It made me angry all the time. And then, when Tanzea deemed me ready, she brought me before Juliska.”

Jae stopped.
He suddenly found it hard to talk.

“You don’t have to tell me if you don’t want to, Jae.”

“No. It’s just that even then, at that moment, I knew I had messed up. That whatever was about to happen to me, I was going to regret it.”

“How did she do it?
How did she change you?”

“A potion. A black, thick potion.
Thicker than molasses. I think whatever Tanzea did to me, got my body ready to handle the potion. After I drank it...” he paused again. “After I drank it, these shadows started to form close by. After a second, I realized they were people. Other Svoda. Some I recognized, like Garner Sadorus and his wife, and Tanzea, but others I didn’t. I had no idea where they had come from.”

“Juliska had ways to travel between the doorways the entire time,
” noted Ivan crossly. “She just kept them for her own personal use.”

“I found
out that night. There were a few there from the other groups. But I couldn’t say anything about it,” continued Jae. “Once I had drunk the potion, it was like certain parts of my mind were no longer mine. I still had all my memories. I could still control my thoughts. But there were certain things I could not physically formulate into words. Juliska’s failsafe I guess. The potion not only turned me into the monster, but kept me from revealing any of her secrets. I guess after she thought I died, or after everyone found out the truth, something changed. When I woke up as Amelia’s prisoner, I could suddenly talk about it.”

“Did it hurt?” asked Ivan. “The first time you changed, did it hurt?”

“I don’t even know how to describe it really. But yeah, it hurt. More than I can express or ever want to live through again. It was like my skin was peeling off my body, piece by piece, and when it was over I was one of them. A Scratcher. The horror I felt, was equal to the power surge pumping through my veins.”

“Does it still hurt?” Ivan dared ask.

“No. I’d wager its more like when Sebastien transforms. Like it’s been permanently etched into my DNA or something. Feels like second nature. Unnatural nature, that thrives on anger, panic and fear.”

“We’re going to fix you,” said Ivan.

“I don’t deserve it.”

“Juliska took advantage of you,
Jae. You didn’t have a fair choice.”

“Maybe not, but I made the choice. And when it comes down to it,
the truth is even after everything she’s done, I don’t know if I can kill Juliska Blackwell. You know, I always thought my dad was strict, mean sometimes even, but I get it now. He wanted me to be safe. Be smart. I did the exact opposite and now my family thinks I’m dead, and I have no idea what’s happened to them...”

“Jae, I know there’s not much I can say to make things better, but...” He was cut off as
Nona and Elisha came bounding around the corner.

“S
omething’s coming,” they meowed in unison.

“What?” asked Ivan.

“All I saw was a shadow,” Nona answered, wishing she had seen more.

They waited breathlessly.

Ivan and Jae were back on their feet, palms facing outward, their eyes searching into the darkness for any slight movement.

Nona and Elisha sat as still as statues, listening, watching and hoping for the tiniest glimpse into the future.

There was a rustle in the bushes across the camp road.

Sebastien flew over
head, diving for the bush to get a closer look.

He stopped mid air and caught himself, flying backwards.

A muscular body with four legs galloped out of the woods, sauntering down the camp road toward the lake side of the camp.

Ivan released a breath he’d been holding in.

The Catawitch’s relaxed their statuesque poses.

Sebastien flew back into the air.

“Just a moose,” said Jae, with an air of lightheartedness. “Funny enough, that’s not the first time I’ve said that in this campground.”

Ivan had no idea what Jae
meant but let it slide. He glanced towards Kanda’s house, muttering, “Now would be a great time to wake up.”

##

Mireya and Joseph had watched night veil the island. There were no stars to gaze at, no moon to light the outside. Hours had passed and now it was past midnight.

After they had returned from their workday, Joseph
had gone straight out the back door and sneaked his way back to her house.

They were sitting in what had once been Ivan’s room. He had a window that faced the back yard.
Just after midnight, they opened the window so as to see and hear what was happening outside more easily. The chilling November air rolled inside, sucking away any ounce of warmth in minutes.

Joseph had
told his parents what he was doing and although they approved of his actions, they feared what the price would be if he, or any of his friends, were caught.

Sheila Mochrie had barely even noticed the extra body wandering around the house.
Irving still sat in his chair in the front room, unmoving, uncaring. Wasting away with a blank stare.

Mireya and Joseph had pulled Ivan’s empty bed over to the window so they could sit and watch.

If all went as planned, not too long from now, the Svoda prisoners would be running through the backyard; Mireya and Joseph would meet them, and show them where to go.