Fearless Magic (11 page)

“I'll clean up,” I offered, noticing Gabriel's drooping expression and being grateful for Jericho's willingness to cook the meal in the first place. I was still in awe of how he could put all of those ingredients together and come out with something not only edible but delicious.

“Thank you, Eden,” Gabriel said solemnly and for a moment I wasn't sure if he was talking about the dishes or something more.

He stood up slowly, placing a firm hand on Jericho's shoulder before leaving the kitchen into the darkness of the hallway.

“The bedrooms are upstairs, I will set linens out for you and towels in the bathroom,” he called.

I stood up, my hands full of plates and walked to the sink searching out dish soap. Jericho followed with more dishes in hand and the left overs we couldn't finish. He rummaged around silently for a few moments, finding something to store the food in.

“What's wrong?” he asked after the food was stored in the small refrigerator. He leaned against the counter, his hands supporting his weight on either side and waited patiently for my response.

I couldn't look at him. For a moment, I couldn't even talk. I worked at the dishes, scrubbing them clean and rinsing them carefully under the water. My hands started to shake, so I slowed down, focusing on the dishes, not wanting to break one.

“Eden, what is it?” Jericho asked. There was a sweetness to his voice, a careful concern that felt like security, that felt like.... home.

“It's just.... well, you know, it all feels like.... sometimes it feels like too much. Like too much for one person to handle....” I admitted, shutting off the water and turning around to face him. I let my wet hands fall against my tan fitted, cargo pants, staining them with soapy water, but not able to find the will to care.

Jericho looked at me, his hazel eyes marked with desperate concern. He opened his mouth as if to say something, but closed it again, walking over and pulling me into his arms instead. I sighed, letting myself melt into his chest and putting my arms around him as well.

“And it's more than Amory and Avalon and.... everyone else. It's that.... I don't know how to explain, it's too awful,” I closed my eyes, wishing I could banish forever the feelings that reappeared uninvited. I wished I could crucify those unwanted emotions that crept their way silently and unnoticed back into my heart and made their home again inside that wretched, barely beating organ.

“You still have feelings for him?” Jericho asked, but it wasn't a question, it felt like a resonating accusation.

“No, how could I?” I argued with myself. “But at the same time the thought that he could die, or that he is dying, makes me want to.... truthfully, I want to vomit.”

I thought Jericho would pull away from me, or slap me, or get angry with me or anything but laugh. But laugh he did, the silent kind of laughter that shakes one's body and brings a tear to one's eye. I looked up at him, confused by how entertained he was at my expense. His laughter subsided, but the amusement never left his twinkling eyes.

“Eden, it's all right. What you felt for Kiran was real, as hard as that may be to hear, it was real. It became even more real by the fact that you planned this future with him and when that was taken from you, you didn't even get a say, or have a choice. You were as much of a victim that night as I was, or Avalon or even Amory. Even if you want to kill him, that doesn't mean you want him dead. Feelings like that, they just don't disappear because you want them to. They're irrational to begin with, so telling them to go away usually makes them worse. Believe me,” Jericho explained in such a way that I felt weight was lifted from my shoulders. I looked up at him, and he looked back at me, resting his forehead against mine for a brief moment before kissing it gently and releasing his embrace.

“But they will go away, won't they?” I asked in a small voice, leaning back against the counter.

“Yes, I believe they will,” he nodded confidently, smiling in a way that made his dimple come to life and his eyes shine with assurance. “Besides, it's not fair that he should get to die of this unnamed disease. I want to be the one to kill him.”

“I feel the same way,” I echoed Jericho's light tone, finding a smile to give back to him.

“There is something you should know though,” he turned serious for a moment, the light in his eyes dimming and his smile fading away. He cleared his throat before continuing, “It was Kiran's idea to send me with Talbott. Lucan originally wanted to send Lilly; he thought she was less of a threat and the most compelling bargaining chip, but Kiran insisted that I would be stronger leverage. Kiran demanded that his father send me instead of Lilly.”

I stared at him with confusion, wanting to ask questions, but he held up his hand to stop me.

“Talbott told me on the way over that Kiran wanted you to be protected. He sent me to protect you. Hell, it was even his idea for Talbott to let me go no matter what you decided about Avalon and the magic. He still loves you Eden, he's still trying to protect you, even from his death bed,” Jericho finished quietly, as if he was making a case for Kiran.

“Why are you telling me this? Why are sticking up for him?” I asked, horrified. My stomach started to churn violently again and I felt for sure, this time, I would be sick.

“I just want you to have all of the facts.... I just want you to know the whole story. Eden, I want nothing more for you than to forget about him, I want you to move on and I want to be the reason you are able to move on.” Jericho took a step forward, his voice deep with sincerity and his eyes burning with intensity. I felt the blush rise to my cheeks at his honesty, but I couldn't turn away. I drank in his words, holding them tightly to my heart and letting the hope he shared fill me. “I love you, that has never changed. I am hoping that one day, not any day soon, I get that, but one day you will be able to love me in return. So I plan on doing everything in my power to help you move past Kiran and onto.... different things. It's not fair though, if you don't know the entire story, so I'm starting with that; I'm starting with the truth. I will
always
give you the truth, and it will always be the whole truth.” he smiled gently at me, almost mischievously.

“Thank you. I appreciate the truth and I, and I want to move on too,” I promised sincerely and then walked passed Jericho intending to go to bed; I was suddenly very tired.

I turned around at the doorway though, feeling that I owed Jericho the same honesty he gave to me, “And Jericho,” I started, he lifted his head and turned to me, “I am happy you are going to try to.... well, I'm just happy you're going to try. I smiled at him and then turned into the dark, empty hallway, stumbling around until I found the staircase.

I climbed the stairs thoughtfully, a soft smile never leaving my lips. There was life after Kiran; there would be hope after the death of my first love. That's all Kiran was to me, a first love, and at the very least, I could have one more. I could fall in love again, I could dream again. And after all of this was over.... I could live again.

----

The townhouse looked dark and empty. We stood outside the white brick house that connected seamlessly with identical dwellings flowing down the crowded Paris street, and waited. Jericho knocked three times on the aged, black door and so far, we neither saw, nor heard any movement inside the house.

I was getting impatient. After a three hour train ride and three more hours wandering around the foreign city trying to find the right safe-house, we apparently came at a time when nobody was home.

I tapped my foot rapidly and crossed my arms as if angrily willing Titus to show his face. The lure of Paris was overwhelming and as I stood outside the door, with my back to the still icy waters of the Seine river, I painfully suppressed the tugging desire to explore the city.

I could see the top of the Eiffel Tower in the distance; we walked past Notre Dame on our quest to find this house. I dreamed about what it would be like to wander aimlessly through the Louvre and I could smell freshly baked bread from a little bakery just a block away.

“OK, enough of this,” I grumbled, finally reaching my breaking point after a local walked by holding his elegantly unique pastry proudly in his hands as if taunting my stomach in the cruelest of ways.

I pushed past Gabriel and Jericho who stood politely on the stoop and reached out for the door handle. I heard Jericho start to protest, but before I could figure out what he was saying, I used my magic abruptly on the door, bursting it open. However, something happened when I forced the door to move.

With my hand still on the handle, the brass doorknob fought back violently, sending me flying across the checkered marble floor of the entry way and head first into the ivory wainscoted wall opposite the doorway. At the same time, three masked men jumped from every direction, holding weapons high above their heads, screaming at me. I screamed back, covering my face with my arms and expecting the worst.

“Well done, gentlemen,” Jericho called, clapping his hands, clearly amused.

I pulled my hands away from my face, finding courage in Jericho's sarcasm. The men around me too, paused and lowered their arms slowly. Now that I had time to take them in, I could see that their weapons weren't so much of the dangerous variety and more of the pots, pans and cricket mallet variety. I sat up straightly, pushing myself against the wall, which was now marked with a head-sized hole through it.

“Eden?” one of the men exclaimed through a black ski mask, his voice muffled since the mask lacked an opening for a mouth.

“Xander?” I asked, realizing who the three men surrounding me probably were.

“Jericho?” another one of them asked, and then the three of them simultaneously removed their masks.

Xander, Xavier and Titus all stood around me, suddenly relieved. Titus reached out a strong hand to me, pulling me to my feet and then into a giant bear hug.

“Man, are we glad to see you!” He practically shouted in my ear.

“Yeah, you look like it,” I mumbled sarcastically, but smiling all the same. “Didn't you recognize our magic?”

“Oh, sorry about that,” Xavier apologized sincerely, staring at the hole my head had made. “We felt your magic, but you can't be too careful these days, and we wanted to make sure, you know, extra sure you weren't the bad guys.” He pouted his lips, one hand absently stroking the gruff shadow of a beard he kept nicely trimmed and nodded his head as if to say they had obviously done a good job at being “extra sure.”

“Well, you definitely did that; don't worry.” I rubbed the top of my head where a nasty bump started to rise. I sent magic to heal the wound, but no amount of magic was going to be able to heal my bruised ego from being the victim of easy magic.

Everyone laughed, even Gabriel, and the tension in the room was lifted. Jericho shut the door and locked it and then we moved into an elegant sitting room just off the entryway.

“Man, it is so good to see you guys!” Xavier echoed Titus's sentiments, plopping down on a perfectly white, pristine couch and bouncing up and down with excitement. He tucked his chin-length, dark hair behind one ear and I marveled at how similar he and Xander looked. They weren't twins, but they were almost identical, facial hair and all. “We heard what happened, but Jericho, man, I didn't expect to see you here!”

“Yeah, it's good to see you guys too!” Jericho echoed equally as animated. Titus reached out his arm and patted him roughly on the back. The moment felt like they would all get up and hug each other, but instead the four boys sat or stood staring at one other bouncing up and down with nervous energy. “I'm glad you're all here and all Ok.”

“Oh, we were never really in danger,” Xavier continued. “I mean, nobody even knew we were here or knew anything about us. But man, when we heard what happened at the farm, that our worst nightmare came true, well, we just.... it was hard to stay here. It was hard to sit still....”

The room fell silent for a moment, nobody moving, nobody making a sound. We sat staring at each other, lost in the deepest moment of remembrance for the dead and the heart-wrenching frustration of waiting for vengeance. Collectively we knew it would come, but for now, at this moment, we were prisoners of patience.

“Jericho, dude, we heard you were captured, what are you doing here? What happened at the farm? We need to know it all.” Xander broke the respectful silence.

“It's a long story,” Jericho sighed, glancing at me with a curious expression. But then I felt it; I felt the stab of longing and regret that threatened to sweep me up again in the trauma of memory. The story, and Jericho would have to start from the beginning, would force me to be fragile, would demand that I give credence to the painful emotions and I wasn't ready for that again. I especially wasn't ready for these boys to witness it.

“Eden, why don't we go make some coffee and let these friend's catch up for a moment,” Gabriel offered wisely.

“That's a good idea,” I breathed a sigh of relief. “Oh, wait do you know these guys?” I asked, realizing how rude I had been.

“Are you Gabriel?” Titus asked, walking over and extending his hand. When Gabriel nodded, he continued, “I've heard of you. I'm Titus Kelly and this is Xander and Xavier Akin.”

“I've heard of you as well; it is good to meet you,” Gabriel said in his abrupt way that was always taking me off guard, even if he was saying the most normal things, “It is good to be here.”