Nightwish (An Echoes of Eternity Novel Book 1) (21 page)

“So many of them should be hospitalized for mental disorders.” She noticed I was about to counter that statement, so she cut me off from speaking. “I took the bus last week. I heard thoughts from eighteen people on that trip. One man contemplated various ways to kill his wife: lopping off her head with a baseball bat, pushing her off the top of the building, or even suffocating her while asleep; a woman almost climaxed while daydreaming about her boss bending her over her desk and giving it to her doggy style; a couple sat together, but apart, both of them thinking about different sexual partners. I’ll grant that two women and one man either thanked the Lord or appreciated that they found people those loved.
That
was comforting.” She nodded sincerely. “But they were the only ones. The others had dark visions, evil thoughts. One woman fantasized about plunging her sister’s head into the toilet bowl.” She smirked as she met my gaze. “No need to read into that.”

But how could I not? Had she just added that for effect? Was she making up these stories, or did they actually form in other people’s minds?

“One man worried about losing his job. Another wondered whether Dunkin’ Donuts coffee tasted better than McDonalds coffee. A nine-year-old girl tried to guess how many dollars in coins she had in her piggy bank at home. A five-year-old girl, who just finished eating a Twix bar wished she’d had another one, while her mother wondered whether she could afford to buy them dinner that night.”

“What do you do with all those thoughts?”

“Most of the time? Nothing. But on my way off the bus, I passed the girl who ate that Twix bar. I pretended to pick up a $20 bill from the ground, handed it to her mother, and said it must have fallen out of her purse. And do you know what that woman did? She gave me this disgusted look as if she’d rather lick gum off her shoe than take a handout from
me
. The world is a cold place.”

That viewpoint told me a lot about my sister. “The world is what you make of it. If you expect it to be cold, that’s what you’ll get.”

“Whatever you say, little sister. I can snatch thoughts and memories from your mind like…” She snapped her fingers. “So far, you’ve done a decent job of trying to stop me, but if I wanted to...” She sliced a hand through the air.

My thought process went blank. It’s as though Alexis severed my brain activity.

“You know what?” she asked. “After today, I’m going to do exactly that…whenever I want. Soon enough, I’ll be honing in on whatever thought enters your mind the moment it occurs to you.” She grinned. “How does that sound?”

“Why would you do that?”

“I don’t trust you.” Her cheek twitched with indignation.

“How could you say that?”

“You infiltrated my home. You listened in on a conversation between Mother and me. Whether or not you knew what you were doing, you’ve proven yourself untrustworthy. You disregarded our privacy. So after today, I’ll disregard yours.”

“But it was an accident. I fell asleep. I dreamed about you, your daughter, and our mother because I’d never had a family before. I just wanted to know what it felt like. I had no idea how to astral project.” I stared at her, hoping she understood me. “It just happened.”

Alexis glared at me for a long moment and stayed quieter for even longer. “You know what? I believe you.” Although she appeared surprised by that admission, she didn’t offer anything beyond that statement.

“So you won’t read my mind?”

“Are you kidding?” She giggled like a prepubescent girl. “Of course, I will. As a bonus, I’ll even toss in a little mind-control. How’s that sound?”

“You wouldn’t,” I said, out of breath at the mere possibility.

“I can make you do
everything
I say.”

My thoughts turned to how Kendall mirrored Alexis’s dance moves. Imagining my sister as my puppet master repulsed me. “No.” The word erupted from my mouth as if she’d sucker-punched me in the gut.

“Yes,” she said with a little grin. “You’ll be my bitch!”

I did my best not to let her egotistical attitude burn me up inside. “Good luck with that.” I tramped down on my desire to control the situation, because, obviously, I couldn’t.

“Oh really? Little Miss University has some backbone, huh? Who would have thought?” Alexis turned serious. “You’re so immature in the ways of magic. But as I’ve said, I’d be happy to tutor you. There’s so much power, so much you could learn about controlling the
heat
burning inside of you.”

I flinched at the sexual connotation. “And how would that happen?” I veered the subject away from sex and toward her ability to control my mind. “Would you freeze me into submission and force thoughts into my head? Make me go on a shopping spree for you? Max out my credit card?”

“Never,” said Alexis, taking a sip from her glass. “My daughter told me that you and I are important to each other’s…survival. Whatever that means.”

“It can be interpreted many ways,” I said.

“Well, I have no intention of killing you. So we’re squared up in my book.”

I couldn’t get a handle on my sister. One moment, she wanted to steal my thoughts, the next she wanted to teach me magic. So I decided to get off topic. “What did Celestina say? Specifically?”

“That we ‘need each other.’” Alexis cocked her head to the side in contemplation. “And something about the world as we know it ending.” She shook her head as though the idea was preposterous. “I’ve learned to trust my daughter’s predictions...within reason.”

“So you don’t believe her?”

“It’s not that I don’t believe her. But in this case, it’s that I don’t
want
to believe her. Even so, I wouldn’t have been granted those abilities for no reason.”

“But they’re my thoughts! They don’t belong to you.”

“Except in this case, they do…after today. So I suggest you ask me as many questions as you like, because after tonight, your thoughts belong to me.”

I slammed a fist against the counter in frustration and got to my feet. I stared her down, wanting to pummel her, but I wouldn’t know how to explain that reaction to Celestina, so I turned around and headed for the exit.

“Are you sure you want to leave?” Alexis asked. “I’m an open book,” she paused, “for the next eighty-eight minutes.” She paused for dramatic effect. “You won’t get this chance again.”

I reached the door and gave some thought to her offer. As much as I disliked her, I couldn’t pass up the knowledge she possessed. I spun around and made my way back to her.

Alexis rocked back in her chair with delight. “This is going to be
so
much fun.”

I faced her once again, watching a smile develop. I wanted to punch it off her face. I decided to ask questions to answers that I might not get otherwise. “If Zephora died three centuries ago, how could she inhabit Grams’s body?”

“I don’t know,” Alexis said. “She knows things that no other witch could come close to learning. I tried reading Zephora’s mind…when she was in your grandmother’s body, but none of it made sense. It was like reading an algebraic formula: jumbled and inconsequential.”

“She could come back again, right?”

“I guess so. If she inhabits another body.”

That surprised me, given the history of our line. I would have thought that Alexis would at least be curious about the grandparent she never knew.

“Zephora’s smarter than you and I put together. She’ll return whenever she wants to. Until then, you better prepare yourself for your next battle.”

That threat put me on alert. “Why do you say that? What makes you think she’ll come back?”

“She’s returned to this realm three times since she died. It’s been eighty years since she last returned, so she must be preparing her endgame.”

I inferred that she had somehow broken our family line in each of those instances, but I’d played into her hands most recently by weakening our line. “Did she speak with our mother?”

“I’m sure they communicated. But I’ve got no clue what they talked about. I don’t listen in on Mother’s thoughts.”

“But you have no problem doing so with me?”

“She’s earned my respect. Same with my daughter. I wouldn’t betray Celestina’s thoughts. Ever.”

“But again, you have no problem doing so with me.”

“In my daughter’s presence? No. But solely in my presence, you’re right: I’d do it without question, without guilt.”

“You must hate me.”

“Not at all. This conversation is all about trust. I want to make sure you know what you’re up against. So there’s no confusion, no misunderstanding.”

“What else do you know about Darius?”

A frown split my sister’s lips. “He’s not
who
he seems.”

That statement reminded me of Grams’s unwillingness to trust him. “Then who is he?”

“He hasn’t taken a lover since the Witch Trials.” As though expecting me to interrupt and inquire about a three hundred year dry spell, she said, “Pretty weird, don’t you think?”

“I thought you had something more substantial.”

“Well, I can’t read his mind. It’s an ability Zephora gave bloodsuckers. But Darius gave me the impression that they could compel me. I can only guess it’s because my mind is open to that same ability. But he’s hiding something. Did Lorraine tell you anything about him?”

“She trusted him with everything…except
The Book of Souls
. Which means we can’t trust him with it either.” I brought up that topic to see if Alexis would squirm in place, eager to inquire about the location of the grimoire.

Alexis set her eyes on mine. “The guitarist: tell me about him.”

That comment took me by surprise. She hadn’t tried to read my mind, so what tipped her off?

“I saw the fear on your face when you noticed the man who was dancing with me. Like you didn’t want him to be someone you knew, even if you thought it might be.”

“What’s his name?” I asked.

“Nolan.”

I found it difficult to breathe. Fantastic! I finally met a guy I liked, and he just happened to meet my much sexier sister, who was undoubtedly easier to get in the sack.

“You should have seen the way he moved,” Alexis said, staring into space with a dreamy expression. Hope appeared on her face as she turned to me. “And you
know
what that means.”

“What did you guys talk about?” I asked nonchalantly.

“Talk?
Talk
? Little sis, we didn’t
talk
.” A sneaky smile touched her lips. “With chemistry like that, you don’t need to talk. Your body talks for you.”

I did my best not to reveal my disgust. “So you’ve known him for a long time then.”

“No, I just met him tonight.”

“I just figured…if you’re getting all hot and bothered, I thought you’d already spent lots of time getting to know each other.”

“And when did you meet your guitarist?” Alexis asked, taking a sip of her coffee.

Her dismissive tone and supposed disinterest, exemplified by the way she didn’t meet my eyes directly, belied her true feelings. That meant she knew Nolan was the guitarist I was interested in. Heat surged inside my chest, pressing outward, through my shoulders and down my arms. Oh, no, please, not now!

“Hey!” Alexis said, waving a hand across my field of vision to get my attention. “Anybody home in there?”

I needed to cool off, so I focused on things that were frigid: ice cream, Antarctica, my mother’s heart. But none of that worked. If anything, the heat building inside me grew even hotter. If I didn’t stop the momentum, I might end up shooting bolts of fire at my sister’s face.

CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

“What’s happening?” Alexis asked, leaning forward, concern lining her face.

“I don’t know how to stop it,” I said, trying to stop my hands from trembling. But it only made things worse. “I’m burning up. I can’t stop it.”

“Look at me.” Alexis reached out and grabbed my hands. “Clear your mind.”

I tried to retract my hands from her grip, but she wouldn’t let go. “I don’t want to hurt you.”

“You’re causing a scene.” Alexis remained completely composed. “People are starting to stare.”

The extra attention raised the temperature rushing through me. “That’s not helping!”

“Well, maybe this will.” Alexis jabbed her fingernails into my palms.

Instinct made me pull my hands back, but at that precise moment, a torrent of cold air pushed through my hands, snaking up my elbow and through my shoulder before spreading across my chest. The blast of cool air didn’t chill me, so I wasn’t afraid that Alexis would freeze me into a giant ice cube. She provided the exact amount of frigidity needed to settle me down, which in turn prevented me from starting a fire.

“Better?” Alexis asked.

I nodded, grateful that she’d acted so quickly, so calmly. “Thank you.”

Her upper lip tipped in what started as a smile before it dipped into a straight line again.

Scanning the faces in the shop, annoyed that a handful of people still looked our way with incredulous expressions, Alexis said to them, “We just found out we’ve been sleeping with the same man.” She shrugged. “Hello! We’re identical twins. Who can blame him for getting confused?” Then, when a couple raised their eyebrows in surprise while a few others scoffed, Alexis realized that she’d practically called us sluts. “So I’ve learned that you shouldn’t drink Jack Daniels when you’ve practically overdosed on pain medication! Besides, he’s a Mormon. He has three wives. So hey, if they’re okay with it, you should be too!”

I was titillated by Alexis’s outrageous sarcasm and her disregard for how others might perceive her. “I think we’ve worn out our welcome.”

“Yeah,” she said, getting to her feet. “We should hit some clubs.” She raised her voice so everyone could hear. “Maybe we’ll meet some married men!”

I joined her, heading toward the door, unsurprised to find such a gleeful expression on Alexis’s face. What life events contributed to taking such bold (or stupid) risks? We walked out of the coffeehouse together, heads held high. When we stepped outside and walked down the sidewalk, I said, “You really like shaking people up, don’t you?”

She just smiled.

“Why?”

“Because they’re so judgmental. Then again, if everyone had the same beliefs, it would be a boring world.”

I believed her, but there had to be more to it than that. It almost felt like she went out of her way to prove people right: that she wasn’t a good influence. At the same time, it seemed like she was punishing herself for her lot in life.

“Don’t look at me that way,” Alexis said with a sneer. “I get enough of that from Mother.”

“Thanks for helping me back there.”

“You left me no choice. It was either that…or let you burn down Starbucks. Imagine all the sleep-deprived businessmen and women you’d piss off tomorrow morning!”

“I have some control issues.”

“Ya think?”

“How did you learn such restraint?”

“Years of practice. But it took a toll on my confidence: when I was a teenager and things were getting hot with guys, I didn’t warm up but cooled off. It was humiliating when a few guys told me that I was ‘as cold as a corpse.’ Of course, you’ll probably have the opposite reaction. From what I saw tonight, you’ll put a hand on him and melt his skin off.”

“Thanks,” I said, terrified by that possibility.

“Which brings us to a man named Nolan.”

Heat rushed into my face.

“Whoa,” Alexis said, gripping the table and feigning fright. “Be careful. You’re not gonna start spraying fire like a dragon, are you?”

I actually enjoyed spending time with my sister, but in thinking about Nolan, I couldn’t be certain that my Alexis had extracted any information about him from my mind. I hadn’t felt an intrusion, but perhaps she had infiltrated my brain without my knowledge by using a different technique that had fallen under my radar.

That was unexpected, especially by someone who had seemed to share an honest, drama-free conversation with me a short while ago. But her temperament shifted only after she’d inadvertently given me the impression that she liked Nolan.

“We don’t have to be enemies.”

I inspected her expression and found no evidence of a hidden agenda. On the contrary, I only saw acceptance. “Okay,” I said, hoping that our conversation in the coffee shop would lead to a strong bond. Nevertheless, my sister’s mercurial disposition, which flip-flopped between spiteful and amiable, made it clear that I couldn’t let my guard down around her.

“Good,” Alexis said. “We’re sisters. But more than that, we’re twins. That’s gotta mean something. By the way, Celestina asked if she’d see you again.”

“That would be great! Probably best not to visit, but I’m sure we can figure something out.”

“Just do it in person. No more astral projecting.”

I chuckled. “I’ll see what I can do.”

“You’ll also need to work on that whole firebug-thing.”

“You and I have an odd relationship. We’ve vowed not to lie to each other… but we don’t trust each other. I hope that changes someday.”

“Miracles happen.”

It seemed that Alexis walked around with storm clouds above her head at all times: rather than find the positive in any conversation or circumstance, she naturally leaned toward the negative. But then growing up with Delphine as a role model was enough to turn anyone into a cynic. I sympathized with her plight.

“You have a lot of hatred pent up inside, don’t you?” I asked.

She blanched. “You don’t know anything about me. Think you can sum me up after a couple conversations? Don’t even.”

I’d never be able to understand the life she’d led, unless she let me in, and I didn’t anticipate that happening anytime soon. Based on her pain-stricken expression, I expected that, if our circumstances had been reversed, the weight of the agony she experienced would have crushed me long ago.

“That’s not what I meant. I’m just saying—”

“You know, other than Mother, you’re the only person I’ve ever told about that. Why? Because we’re sisters. Because I thought I could trust you. And this is what I get?” Her erratic glare, loaded with fury, swung left and right like a pendulum. “We’re not talking about this again. Ever. Got it?”

I nodded, admittedly taken aback by the berserk look in her eyes. At that moment, I realized that I had to filter everything I said or did in front of my sister. Otherwise, if I wasn’t paying attention and accidentally let something slip, I might find her bearing down on me again, only to suffer the consequences.