Songs of the Wind (Love Lines Series Book 2) Read online

  “No, I don’t. And you know that. But this time everything is different. We are talking about other people's dreams. This is their own magic, their own reality. You don’t know anything about it. And you won’t be able to control it. Even a small misstep can lead to fatal consequences.”

  “Eileen, listen to me, please,” I said, touching her chin to make her face me again. “You heard Marion’s words about my father’s powers. I have his powers too. And if you believe that his magic can be compared to Frederick’s, there’s no doubt I can handle everything. He wasn’t as good as I used to think he was, but he taught me everything I’m capable of now. I know he wanted me to get his powers. And I know I have them. Isn’t that enough to persuade you?”

  Eileen rubbed her temples and I moved closed, putting my hands around her shoulders, trying to comfort her.

  “You are very brave, Evan,” she said quietly. “I can’t but be jealous about your iron will and strength. But if you ask Marion to teach you, I just want you to know that I will always be there for you and I will always support you and help you with everything you need. Whatever happens, I will never let you be stuck in the darkness. I will watch precisely everything Marion’s going to teach you, and if you need my help don’t you dare to turn it down. Got it? This is the only way I can let you do whatever Marion has up her sleeve. If you don’t accept it, we will try to find another way to bring Christian back. Think about it, okay?"

  “Okay, I will.” I nodded, being already sure about my answer.

  I also knew how important it was for Eileen to know that my decision wasn’t made under her pressure.

  “See you tomorrow then,” she said, smiling. “And please, Evan, don’t waste the rest of this night, try to get some sleep.”

  “Well, at least I promise to try to follow your advice,” I said in response.

  I kissed her forehead, wished her sweet dreams and she left.

  Chapter 8. Memories

  Eileen

  No matter how hard I tried not to think about the upcoming day, I couldn't stop myself from recalling my conversation with Marion. Before Evan came around after he fainted I managed to ask her some questions. Her story about my name’s origins clarified a lot, including my gift to hear the wind. Eileen meant a bird. The only thing that still bothered me was the wind's odd ability to sound just like Christian’s voice. According to Marion’s assumptions, it could be explained by the presence of the wind in a place where Christian was hidden. And the force of our bond was bringing me his thoughts through a thin veil of wind.

  Speaking of the bond, it is known as Vinculum amorisempri, or The ties of eternal love. Marion said that such a bond was widely used in the Ancient times, especially by those tricky magicians who wanted to bind themselves to their lovers forever. This kind of a bond has always been the strongest ever known to our world of the supernatural. No one knows how to break it and some people even say that those using it are bound to their other halves even after death and can talk to their spirits. Yet, talking to spirits was the last thing I wanted to think about at the moment.

  As I have already told Evan, there was only one way to bring Christian back. And Marion knew it. As well as she knew how much we had to do to succeed. And here started the most interesting part, as the spell used to kidnap Christian was a part of the magic of dreams that we needed to learn how to break through. In other words we had to pierce into someone’s dream, take a person seeing it, and bring him back to reality. The theory looked pretty easy, but putting it into practice was much harder. And, actually, there was no practice at all. No one had ever done those things Evan and I were going to do. That’s why I hated our plan, we couldn’t foresee any consequences of such a journey. And that’s why I wanted Evan to let me watch his experiments. Unlike Marion, he didn’t know the whole truth about my participation in his training. I wanted to protect Evan and I couldn’t let him risk his life for me.

  The clock on the wall showed six in the morning. My sleep was nothing but an endless torture, so I got up, took a shower and went quietly to the kitchen. To my surprise, Marion was already there.

  “Can’t sleep?” she asked, making a cup coffee.

  “Uh, not a big deal, just another night with my eyes fully open,” I said, smiling.

  “Evan woke up bright and early and immediately asked me how to get to the waters. He said it was the only way to make him feel alive again.”

  “How is he, by the way?”

  “Much better, I guess. At least this is what he says.”

  “Evan is the last person to show his vulnerability. Even if everything about his life sucks, he will never confess.” I knew my friend well enough to be sure about my words.

  “Please, just don’t tell me you are gossiping about me again!” Evan groaned, entering the kitchen.

  “Sorry, there’s no one else to talk about.” I grinned. “Good morning. Did you sleep well?”

  “Er…yeah,” he said, sitting next to me.

  “I see.” I nodded, watching him. “Your answer means only one thing – you didn’t get a wink of sleep. And neither did I.”

  The breakfast was ready and the taste of coffee and pancakes made us forget about our problems. At least for a while. Evan was quiet, but he looked much better today, so I presumed his morning walk had done him good. And yesterday’s paleness disappeared without a trace. He looked calm and careless and I admired his brilliant talent to hide his emotions. He could get a Master degree in making a poker face. Unlike him, I was a hopeless loser when it came to hiding my worries. Everything was written on my face. Clearly and intelligibly.

  “Eileen, I’ve been thinking about your words,” Evan said, interrupting my thoughts. “I’ve made my decision and I’m ready to start training.”

  Marion and I looked at each other.

  “And yes, I want you to watch the process,” he added, noticing our worried glances.

  “Are you sure?” I asked him.

  “If you mean that part about your participation, then no, I would really like you to stay away from this. But I’m more than sure about everything else.”

  “I knew you would say that, but.…”

  “Eileen, stop worrying about me. I can do this. Okay?”

  “Evan, did Eileen tell you that your training may include some trials? They can be very painful, not physically, of course, but mentally. Are you really sure you are ready for this?” Marion asked.

  “Positive.”

  “Good. I need some time to prepare. So I’ll be waiting for both of you in my room in an hour.”

  “Okay,” Evan and I replied in unison.

  After breakfast we cleared the dishes, walk around the garden, enjoying the fragrance of beautiful flowers and went to Marion’s room.

  It was very spacious. One of its windows opened into the garden, filling the room with fresh air and sweet aromas. There was a small table in front of the opposite window with a few burning candles on it and a huge standing mirror next to it.

  “Evan, take that chair,” Marion said, pointing to the one near the table. “Eileen, you stay here, in front of the mirror and remember: if Evan wants to stop whatever we are going to do, you have to help him. Do you still remember what to do in this case?”

  “I do.”

  “Okay. So, Evan, this part of your training consists of traveling back into your own memories. You won’t be able to change them, but you should never forget about the reality, and you can always stop the memory. I just want you to know that those memories can be not very pleasant, and every time you stop the session, we will have to start it all over again. You have to work your way up from the beginning till the end. I can’t be sure about the exact number of memories you will have to see, but they will stop as soon as you are ready to come back to the present. But if you feel bad or just don’t want to proceed with the session, all you need to do is to ask Eileen to stop. Ready?”

  “Yes, I’m ready,” Evan said, taking a deep breath. He didn’t know I was g
oing to see his memories too. Unlike Evan, I didn’t know anything about the magic of dreams, so tracking him was the only way to learn the rules.

  They say that our dreams are directly connected with our thoughts and memories. That is why the part of seeing your own memories if the first step of the training. But as well as the other spheres of our life, our memory doesn’t like any outside interference, it blocks our positive emotions and exposes our worst fears and worst memories. I really hoped that there were not too many of them in Evan’s past and that his torture wouldn’t last forever.

  Marion suggested using hypnosis, making Evan dive into his mind. I had also prepared some magical spells just to ensure his safety.

  “Let’s start,” Marion said, taking one of the burning candles. As soon as Evan closed his eyes and I read the spell, we both were swallowed by the darkness.

  A few moments passed and I found myself standing on the street. I didn’t recognize the surroundings. Turning around I saw two boys, shouting at each other a few steps away from me. Just as Marion had predicted, none of them could see me. Later I recognized Evan in one of the boys. He was about eight or ten years old. The other boy was Kevin. He looked so grown up. As far as I remembered he was three years older than his brother. I couldn’t hear what exactly the two of them were fighting about, so I came closer.

  “He will never love you as much as he loves me!” Kevin shouted. “He didn’t want your birth! You ruined everything! You should have never been born!”

  “No! You were the one who ruined everything!” little Evan shouted back. “You never let him teach me magic! You don’t want me to be stronger than you are!”

  “Yes, you are absolutely right! I will become a real wizard. I’m older than you and I’m stronger!”

  “Oh, really?”Evan grimaced.

  I smiled to myself. He was so much alike Evan I knew.

  “Wanna bet?” Kevin teased in response.

  “Watch me!” Evan snapped, raising his hands. “How do you like this?” he asked, making Kevin fly to the wall of the nearest building. Without thinking too long, Kevin made his own move, but Evan didn't fall. He was standing there with his usual devil-may-care smile, radiating on his face. “So that’s it?” he asked Kevin smugly.

  “No,” Kevin hissed, making another move of his hands. This time his blow was much harder and Evan didn’t manage to back out. He flew a few steps away and landed with his shoulder smashing some piece of iron. My heart froze in fear. I wanted to run to him, embrace him and say something comforting. But I knew that wouldn’t help.

  “Did you enjoy your flight, little bastard?” Kevin asked, smiling.

  “You’ll get sit!” Evan warned through his teeth. Jumping quickly, he made a strike at his brother, and Kevin fall straight into a huge ditch.

  “So who’s the winner now?” Evan shouted. But there was no response. “Are you scared to show me your coward ass, bro?”

  I frowned. Something was telling me that the silence wasn’t accidental. I ran to the ditch and saw Kevin’s motionless body there. I was shocked. I knew Kevin couldn’t be dead, but I desperately wanted to ask someone to get him out of there. I was helpless, and my screaming was pointless. No one could hear me.

  Meanwhile, Evan recognized the trouble too, he came to the ditch and tried to take Kevin out. But he wasn’t strong enough. I didn’t know why he couldn’t use his magic at the moment, but he ran to the shop across the street to ask for help.

  The vision suddenly disappeared and the next thing I saw was some hospital’s ward.

  Kevin was lying in bed. He was unconscious.

  “What have you done?!” someone cried into my ear. I almost jumped out of my shoes. I turned around abruptly and saw a tall dark-haired man in his late thirties. Judging by the fact that he reminded of Evan a lot, it was Dominic. There was a woman standing next to him. She must be Elizabeth. She didn’t say anything; crystal tears were running down her pale cheeks.

  “I didn’t want this to happen,” Evan replied, sobbing. “He hit me first!”

  “How many times do I have to repeat not to use magic in public?!”going totally wild, Dominic asked, slapping Evan in the face. “People could have seen you! Someone could have even killed you! And now your brother is paralyzed and it’s your entire fault, Evan!”

  “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean it,” Evan whispered through his tears.

  “Kevin will recover, but you will be punished! You will spend a whole month locked in your room!”

  The lights were gone again and the picture changed.

  Now Evan was sitting on the floor in the middle of a small room. His toys were scattered around him and a tray with untouched food was moved away to the wall. The lock clicked and the door opened. As the windows were closed with the curtains I didn’t immediately recognize Kevin’s silhouette there.

  Evan turned his head and seeing his brother, ran to him, screaming happily, “Kevin, oh, Kevin! You are all alive!”

  “Of course, I am,” Kevin said dryly, pushing his little brother away from him. “You thought my father would let me die, didn’t you? Sorry for scuttling your plan,” he snapped.

  “I don’t understand.” Evan frowned. “What are you talking about?”

  “Oh, come on, Evan! You would be extremely happy to see me dead, wouldn’t you?!”

  “No, no, of course, not! How can you say such an absurd thing? I never meant to hurt you!” Evan said, apologizing.

  “I’m sure you did not.” Kevin chuckled. “You just wanted to see me twisting with pain for the rest of my life!”

  “Not true! You are my brother, Kevin! I love you!”

  Kevin’s loud laugh filled the entire space of the room. “You love me? Really? Then prove it!”

  “How, how can I prove it? What can I do to make you believe me?”

  “Forget about your powers, scratch them! Tell Dad you don’t want to possess magic!”

  Evan moved back, frowning. “I can’t do this,” he said quietly.

  “I see.” Kevin nodded. “You don’t love me, Evan. You love only yourself and all those tricks our father teaches you!”

  “No! I do like my magical trainings but I can’t give them up! No one is able to reject the power. Don’t you know this?”

  “Everything is possible! But you don’t want to give it up.”

  “Oh, I see.” Evan smiled. “You are saying all these things purposely, right? You want me to reject my powers to get more of them! Now listen to me VERY attentively, you scum! I. WILL. NEVER. TURN. AWAY. FROM. USING. MY. MAGIC!” Evan swore with his eyes full of determination and pride.

  Kevin went red, he turned away and left, slamming the door behind him.

  The memory ended too quickly, but I was so proud of Evan. Even being so young, he was very brave and extremely strong. He was definitely born to become an outstanding wizard.

  The next memory started out of the blue. Evan and I found ourselves standing in front of the snow-covered gates. He pushed the doorbell button and rubbed his palms.

  “Where are you, guys?” he asked through the darkness. Just later I realized that in that memory Evan was about seventeen years old. “Finally!” He smiled, seeing the house steward coming.

  “Bonjour, monsieur![5] Your parents are already waiting for you. How was your flight?” a silver-haired man asked, taking one of Evan’s bags.

  “Good, thanks Jacques. It was hard to get a ticket on Christmas Eve. I barely managed to get one to the last flight,” Evan replied, following him.

  “Your mom will be so happy to see you!” Jacques said, opening the door.

  “How is she?” Evan asked, stopping.

  “Not bad,” Jacques replied, choosing his words carefully. “But her severe paroxysmal cough is a real torture.”

  “Why can’t Dad stop it?”

  “He’s powerless to help her. He has already tried everything.”

  They were talking about the time, when Elizabeth tried to commit suicide. But none of them
knew about it. Dominic was the only one who knew the truth, but he never dared to say it aloud.

  Evan took off his coat and went to the living room, where his parents were waiting for him.

  “Sweetheart, I’m so glad to see you!” Elizabeth said, smiling genuinely. I gasped, shocked. She looked awful. And it was not the word. She couldn’t even get up to greet her son. Evan came closer, crouched down and embraced her tightly. Sitting in her chair in front of the burning fireplace, she could barely raise her hand to touch his cheek. Evan was falling apart, but he never showed his real emotions. He gave his father a questioning look, but Dominic shrugged sadly in response.

  “How long are you going to stay with us?” Elizabeth asked.

  “A few days, I guess,” Evan replied, trying to seem calm. “My exams are about to start, so I can’t stay longer.”

  “I know, my appearance leaves much to be desired,” his mom said. “You don’t have to hide your surprise, darling.”

  “No, you look great. You always do.” Evan smiled, holding her hand gently. “So, what about our family dinner? Is it ready?” he asked, turning to his father.

  “Yes, we were waiting for you to arrive.”

  “What about Kevin? Will he join us?”

  “No, he couldn’t come,” Elizabeth replied. “He has some urgent business.”

  “I see,” Evan said dryly. “Let’s start without him, then. Jacques, could you bring my bag, please. I want to put my presents under the tree.”

  “You still hate waiting until the morning, don’t you?”

  “You know me better than anyone else, Mom. I don’t understand this ridiculous tradition of waiting the whole night to open the presents!”Evan said with a big grin.

  “I know, dear. Dominic, will you help me, please?” she asked, tossing the blanket to the floor.

  “Of course, sweetheart,” he said, coming to the chair. I couldn’t stand seeing his coolness. That bastard! Evan frowned and turned away. He didn’t want to see his mother’s helplessness. He clenched his fists, took a deep breath and went to put his presents under the Christmas tree. “I’ll be in in a minute,” he said without turning around.