Raven (31 page)

Before I
could answer, Tabitha returned with Carmelo and Jo in
tow.

“
Gabriel. How good to see you. My apologies for not coming
to see you sooner. I was away for a few days and only returned
yesterday evening and I certainly did not want to disturb your
sleep last night,” said Carmelo as they gently shook
hands.

“
And
you have had far more important matters to attend to, Carmelo,”
Gabriel replied, looking at Jo, who blushed and smiled at the same
time.

“
Ahh,
so the cat is out of the bag,” laughed Carmelo.

Gabriel
nodded and said, “Well, it's funny that you should use those words
exactly Carmelo because I believe that the cat is quite literally
out of the bag... that's what I wanted to talk to you about. I
believe that Tabitha here is, in fact, of the feline
variety.”

Jo moved
forward to sit at the foot of the bed, clearly curious. Carmelo
followed, standing behind her with his hands lovingly on her
shoulders.

Tabitha
sat on one side of the bed and I sat on the other.

Gabriel
took a sip of his tea and then handed it to me to put
down.

“
I
believe Tabitha is part of our family.”

We all
gasped.

“
But
how?” I asked.

“
Tabitha has kindly filled me in on her life but it wasn't
until she mentioned, right at the very end, the name of her
mother... Lori,” he said and he turned to look at her, “that's why
you looked so familiar to me when you first arrived. You are Rose's
grandchild, Tabitha. You are Lilly's second cousin.”

And we
both shrieked and laughed and leaned over Gabriel to hug each
other.

“
That
means that Lori is still alive!” I gasped, “We must return home to
tell Rose.”

“
This
is wonderful news, Gabriel. Would you like me to send news to
Rose?” asked Carmelo.

But
Gabriel declined, “I think this is something that needs to be done
in person by Tabitha and Lilly. But thank you, Carmelo. In the
meantime, I need to decide what I am going to do. And you, Carmelo,
and you, Jo, need to decide what you are going to do too. If you
understand my meaning.”

Jo
turned to look at Carmelo and he smiled down at her.

“
Perhaps you would like to discuss this in private?” asked
Gabriel.

“
Well,
actually. We've already decided,” Jo answered quietly, “I'm going
home to finish high school and then I'm going to return to live
with Carmelo and help with the Elders,” she said and Gabriel
smiled.

“
That
is a wise decision, my dear. It also gives your parents a few
months to come to terms with this situation and to accept Carmelo
into the family... but don't look so worried Jo, I believe that
your parents will understand. After all, this family has a long
history of love at first sight,” he chuckled.

His
earlier words hadn't gone amiss with me and I asked nervously, “But
what about you, Gabriel? What do you mean you need to decide what
to do?” as I remembered that the Elders had invited Gabriel to live
with them in the mountains.

“
We
will leave you two alone for now, Gabriel. So you can talk,” said
Carmelo as he, Jo and Tabitha walked out of the room.

“
So
what did you mean, Gabriel?”

“
Lilly, I already knew that I would one day come and be with
the Elders. I just thought that it wouldn't be for a few more years
but since this has happened to me, I feel like an old man. I don't
think I will ever fully recover from the fall. I think you know
that too,” he said sadly. “This is my destiny and I have therefore
decided not to return home with you.”

I
sobbed, not just because he wasn't coming home, but because Vivian
had hurt us once more. She had injured my grand-father and although
he would recover, his body would never be as it once
was.

“
What
am I going to do without you?”

“
You'll be fine. You'll be absolutely fine. And with your
amazing ability, you can come and visit me whenever you want to,
okay?”

I nodded
sadly. “But what will I tell the people in town?”

“
I
will give you letters to give to my close friends. I will tell them
that I had to move away to take care of an elderly relative in the
north. They will understand.”

“
But
what about Ben? He'll be devastated,” I whispered.

“
I
will tell him the same thing. He will get over it. He is
young.”

I knew
he would, but he would be hurt not to see Gabriel for one last
time. Not to be able to say goodbye. I knew how he would feel and I
didn't want him to have to go through that.

“
Through you, we can exchange letters. Then it won't be so
bad for him, okay?” and I agreed.

CHAPTER TWENTY NINE

Three
days later, we were ready to set off home but there was one thing I
needed to do before I left. I asked Carmelo if I could see Vivian.
Although he wasn't keen, he did understand that I needed some kind
of closure. And since coming to Canada, I had changed. Not only was
I becoming a young woman, but I had also become much stronger and I
felt the need to stand up to her once more.

“
It is
very cold where she is being held beneath the mountains. You will
need a cape or a coat to keep you warm,” said Carmelo.

“
Here,
have mine, Lilly. I'll wait for you up here,” said Jo as she
removed the coat she had put on in readiness for our
departure.

I took
it and wrapped it around my shoulders before I followed Carmelo and
a few others deep down into the mountain where she and Charlie were
being held until their trial.

“
What
will happen to Charlie?” I asked him.

“
Some
of our witches are working on a spell to try and undo the curse she
has placed on him. If we can do so, we will return him to his
original self and he will be set free, although he will have no
memory of what happened to him.”

I wasn't
sure I liked the idea. He was responsible for seriously injuring my
grand-father after all.

“
Lilly, please remember that this poor man was not really
responsible. He has been changed at the hands of one of the most
evil witches we have ever seen. If we change him back, he will be a
different man. However, if we cannot reverse the curse, we will
have no choice but to hold him accountable with his mistress,
Vivian.”

Charlie
was being held in a cell beneath the mountain. It was clean and
comfortable and he was being fed and looked after. As I peered
through the tight bars, I tried to see him as the man he used to
be. An Englishman who had been kidnapped and cursed and forced to
do the most evil things. I suddenly had a vision of London all
those months before when my father and Vivian had vanished, I had a
flash of a newspaper headline, 'Entrepreneur Charles Austen
Missing'. I wondered if this could be the same man.

“
Charles? Charles Austen?” I said gingerly, hoping for a
response.

Charlie
looked up and for a second there was recognition in his
eyes.

I
explained this to Carmelo, who assured me that it might help the
witches return him to his former self and I felt some relief. I
knew I couldn't lay the blame with the poor man. Full
responsibility was with the witch who was being held even deeper
into the mountain. Even with Jo's coat enveloping me, I felt chilly
and shivered as we approached another cell which was smaller and
not quite as comfortable as Charlie's. There were several people
outside on guard, but from what I could see, there was little need.
Vivian was still pining for her beauty. The looks that would never
return, thanks to me.

She sat
curled up on the floor in the corner, even though there was a
perfectly comfortable bed. As she looked up, I saw that the scar
had returned to her face. The scar given to her years ago by my
brave sister just seconds before her death.

She sat
rocking backwards and forwards like a child, repeating the same
words over and over again.

“
I am
beautiful, I am beautiful, I am beautiful...”

“
No,
Vivian, you're not beautiful. Not at all,” I said, wanting to
inflict more pain. “You will never be beautiful again. I've seen to
that. You will spend the rest of your life ugly. You have whiskers
on your face, hair on your hands and a scar that will never
disappear. You deserve even more suffering for what you have done.
You deserve to rot in hell.”

In what
seemed like less than a split second, Vivian was standing inches
from me. Her fingers had poked through the bars of the cell and she
had seemingly picked something from the coat I was wearing. I
looked at her face and saw that her eyes had turned red. She was
whispering something, something incomprehensible. A
spell.

“
No!”
I screamed.

Carmelo
moved like the speed of light towards us, he opened the cell
quickly and grabbed her, holding her by her neck up against the
wall. She could barely speak and I feared that it was too late.
What spell was she trying to cast?

He
loosened his grip for just a second and she began to laugh, an evil
sound that echoed throughout the mountain.

“
Too
late,” were her final words before he tightened his grip. I heard a
crack and her head flopped to one side. She was dead.

But it
was not over. A scream was heard from the top of the steps and a
desperate voice shouted, “Carmelo, Lilly, hurry!”

Running
as fast as I could, I dreaded to think what we would see when we
reached the top. But I knew that it must be Jo. She had been
standing there waiting for us. She had given me her own coat and
Vivian had removed something. A hair.

Tabitha
was crouching down, holding Jo's body in her arms, “She just
collapsed. She said she couldn't breathe and she collapsed. Do
something. Quick. She's dying!” she cried.

I
couldn't see straight. The image before me made me feel physically
sick. Jo was going to die. It was Vivian's ultimate revenge. The
death of a loved one. Perhaps she had thought that I would die. She
probably thought it was my hair she had taken. She was wrong. It
was Jo. My lovely cousin Jo was on her deathbed.

I cried,
sobbing loudly while Carmelo held her in his arms as the life
slowly drifted from her body.

“
Carmelo!” shouted a familiar voice. Gabriel. “Carmelo, you
must save her. You know what to do. It's the only way. Carmelo...
you must. It is meant to be.”

I was
confused, how could she be saved? She was on the brink of death.
Seconds until Jo no longer existed in this world.

Carmelo
turned to look at me, “I'm sorry,” he whispered before he leaned
forward and lifted his own arm, slicing into the skin with his
talon-like nail. Blood appeared to the surface and he carefully
placed it to Jo's lips.

“
Swallow, Jo. You must swallow the blood to
survive.”

I
couldn't take in what was happening and before I knew what was
going on, my vision blurred and I fell to the ground.

CHAPTER THIRTY

“
Lilly, Lilly,” said a soft voice as I felt a damp cloth
being dabbed across my forehead. I looked up to see Tabitha smiling
down at me. Zoltan stood at her side.

I had
been carefully laid on the bed in which I had slept the last few
nights. “How did I get here?” I asked and then I turned my head to
see the empty bed to my side.

“
Jo!”
I shouted and jumped up. I suddenly had a vision of her death and I
felt like I'd been kicked in the stomach. It almost winded me and I
had to sit back down again.

“
I'm
so sorry, Lilly. Carmelo had no choice. It was the only way she
could live.”

“
I'm
okay,” I said, “can I see her?” I asked.

Zoltan
shook his head, “They won't let anyone see her for a while. She
needs some time to adjust to the change. They're not quite sure how
it's going to work, her being a changeling and all.”

I told
them I needed to see Gabriel and so we walked to where he was
waiting, sitting in a large armchair outside the door of the room
where Jo was being cared for.

“
Oh
Gabriel,” I said when I saw him. I rushed to his side and knelt
down, putting my head on his knee.

“
There
there. Don't worry, she'll be fine. I'm just sorry you had to see
that,” he said reassuringly.

“
It's
all my fault, Gabriel. I wanted to see Vivian for the last time. It
wouldn't have happened if I hadn't gone down there to speak to
her.” He gently stroked my back and assured me that it wasn't my
fault at all.