Diamond Sky (Love Lines Series) Page 14

  “Hey, girl,” I said quietly, caressing her mane. “What are you doing here? I’m sure it’s not the place where you are supposed to be now.” The horse snorted. “Why don’t we take you to the stable?” I took the reins and went to the other side of Dever’s park. Surprisingly enough, the horse followed me willingly, snorting quietly and swishing her tail.

  When my new friend and I came to the stable, I saw a few horsemen, riding behind the wooden fence. And I knew one of them. It was Will.

  He saw me too and guided his horse to us. “So you have finally decided to join me!”

  “Not exactly. I found this fugitive not far away from the Lake and decided to escort her back here.”

  “Oh, okay. We need to call someone to take her to the stable.” Will looked around, and waved a hand to the guy in high boots and cowboy hat. “Hey, George! Looks like you’ve lost one of your fosterlings. Eileen found Nelly walking in the park.”

  I froze. “What did you call her?”

  “Nelly. Why?”

  I stared at the horse. Nelly was the name of the horse I saw in my dream. Could it be just coincidence? I didn’t think so.

  “Eileen, you okay?” William asked, touching my hand. I didn’t see him jumping off the horse.

  “Yes, I’m fine. How did you know her name?”

  “Everyone knows her. She’s a local celebrity. Well, kind of. She’s famous for losing her horseshoes.”

  “Yep, so I thought,” George said, looking at Nelly’s hooves. “The horseshoes are gone. Now I need to find her new ones,” he added thoughtfully, looking at the piece of metal in his hands.

  “It can’t be possible,” I muttered, staring at the thing. “Can I have a look?” George gave me the horseshoe, and I gasped at how familiar it looked. “Can I take it for a while?”

  “Sure, I have plenty of them,” the guy said and walked away, taking Nelly with him.

  “What is it, Eileen? You look pale,” Will said. “Do you want some water?”

  “No, thanks, I need to go. I’ll see you later!” I shouted on the run, rushing back to the Great Hall.

  I couldn’t believe everything was that simple. If my assumptions were correct, I was about to find a place where the old spell was hidden.

  I stormed through the Great Hall’s doors and ran to the wall with the mysterious circle. When my horseshoe fit what we thought was the broken circle, I smiled happily. Now what?

  And now I needed to turn the horseshoe clockwise.

  I felt my palms sweating. Was I ready to find the spell?

  I wasn’t….

  But there was no way back, as I had already decided to do everything on my own. So I put my palm on the horseshoe and tried to move it. But it didn’t work.

  My heart sank. “You must be kidding me,” I said, as I tried to turn the damn thing once again.

  And it didn’t move an inch.

  Was I supposed to cast some spell to make it move? Which one? I had no idea.

  I took the horseshoe and sat on one of the chairs near the wall. Maybe I was wrong about the meaning of the symbol? Then what did I need to do with the iron piece in my hands? It matched the hole in the wall perfectly, but I was definitely wrong about the symbol’s meaning.

  I sighed and headed for the exit. I must have missed something very important.

  My cell phone rang and I reached for my back pocket to see who was calling. It was my dad.

  “Hey, girl!” he said. “How are you? Your mom and I have a surprise for you.”

  “Really? Sounds intriguing. What kind of a surprise you are talking about?”

  “It’s something very beautiful. And sky-blue.”

  “Hmm…” I no longer knew what to think. “Can you give me a clue?”

  “Oh, no. You will see it when you come to Norfield.”

  “But, Daddy, it can be in a few months!”

  He laughed in response. “Okay, okay. We will send you some photos.”

  “Why don’t you bring your surprise here?”

  “Um … I don’t think I can do that. It’s too big.”

  “Fine, I will wait for the pictures.”

  “I heard you stayed in my apartment last night. Is everything all right between you and Christian?”

  What was I supposed to say? That I had probably said good-bye to him forever?

  “Everything’s fine. I needed some place to finish working on Evan’s present. And there were so many people in Christian’s room, so I ran away from the crowd.”

  There was a pause during which I was sure my father was trying to measure the degree of my lies, because I knew he wasn’t buying it.

  “Okay, I’ll be back tomorrow and we will be able to talk more. Take care, Baby. And say hi to the guys.”

  “Of course, I will. See you tomorrow.”

  I hung up the phone and sighed again. Tomorrow was Evan’s birthday. And I didn’t know how to act in Christian’s presence. But I knew that Evan wanted to see my smile, and for the sake of everything he had ever done for me, I had to do my best to make my lips smile….

  Part 6

  Christian

  Chapter 21. Evan’s Birthday

  I was dying to see Eileen. No matter how hard I tried to persuade myself that I didn’t, I did want to be with her. She was my everything, and I realized that no distance would ever make me forget about the love I felt for her.

  The night I saw her at Vanessa’s party turned into hours of my personal hell. She showed up with William. And when I saw his hand on the bare skin of her back, I wanted to kill him. My anger was so strong that Evan had to cast some spell, to stop me from frying William alive. When they were dancing, with their bodies pressed so close to each other, I was imagining him being tortured to death.

  When I finally saw Eileen standing alone at the table with drinks, I took a deep breath and went to talk to her. I didn’t know what to say, because there were so many things I wanted to say, but didn’t know where to start. And she looked so … unbelievably stunning in that dress, showing every perfect curve of her body that I wanted to touch so badly. I groaned mentally, as the scent of her perfume hit my nostrils. I always liked that fruity perfume. It made my mouth water, as if she was the most delicious dessert I had ever wanted to taste.

  But she was so distant….

  She didn’t turn around when I stopped behind her. She masked her aura, and nothing about her posture could show her real feelings. She was like a beautiful icy statue that was too cold to touch, but too attractive to ignore. When she was about to leave, I locked her in my embrace, because I couldn’t stand the idea of sharing her with anyone else.

  This was it, the moment when her defense shattered, and she set her feelings free. Her love, her pain and her regret filled my heart. I pressed her closer to my chest to savor the moment. It was like coming back home, when everything was so painfully familiar and good. I ran my palm up her back and saw the soft golden radiance, coming from her tattoo. It wasn’t just a symbol of our bond, it was the reflection of our love. The love that I tried to bury deep down inside my heart.

  You are such a fool, Christian, my inner voice said. You will never stop loving her. No matter how stubborn or self-assured she is.

  “Daydreaming again?” Evan asked, entering the hut.

  “I didn’t hear you coming,” I said, looking through the window. It was early morning outside. The layer of fresh snow covered everything, glittering in the sunlight. “What is she going to do next?”

  Evan knew I was talking about Eileen, and he also knew that I was still worried about her.

  “I don’t know,” he said, as he stopped next to me. His expression was unreadable, but I knew he was worried about her too.

  “But she does have a plan, right?”

  “Yes. This is the only thing she told me.”

  “How far will she go?”

  “Till the end.”

  Of course, I should have known better.

  “Happy birthday, by the way.”
>
  “Thanks,” Evan said, half-smiling. “The birthday party is going to be a hard challenge for both of us.”

  “Don’t worry; I’m not going to make a scene. At least not until she comes up with a new date.”

  “You are not serious, Christian, are you?”

  “Actually, I am serious. Last time I checked, nothing stopped her from showing up at that party with William.”

  Evan rolled his eyes. “She did that on purpose!”

  “Of course.”

  “You still want to stay away from her?”

  “Yes. I think it’s for the best. I can’t watch her kill herself.”

  “What if she needs our help?”

  “She knows how to talk, Evan. If she needs help, she will come and say it.”

  Evan shook his head. “She will never do that.”

  “Do you think you will be able to feel if she’s in danger?”

  “I think so. And frankly, this is the only thing that stops me from running to her right away, and trying to talk her out of whatever’s on her mind.”

  “You think she will be able to destroy the spell on her own?”

  “No, I don’t think so. But I think we should give her a chance to try.” Evan paused. “I’m not going to let her kill herself, Christian,” he added, kidding aside. “And if you want to stay out of this, fine. But I won’t.”

  “Just let me know if I can help.”

  “Okay. Are you going to stay in this hut until the party starts?”

  “Yes.” I knew that the closer I was to Eileen, the stronger I could feel her emotions. And I wasn’t ready to face any of them.

  “Okay. Then see you later.”

  Evan was right. The night was going to be a hard challenge. I felt Eileen’s presence the moment she crossed the threshold of the dining room that was decorated especially for our friend’s birthday. My sister, Amanda did a great job, and what used to be a place of students’ everyday gathering, turned into one of the most beautiful restaurants I had ever seen. A big round table was in the middle of the room, covered with a long deep-red tablecloth. The ceiling and the windows were decorated with thousands of small, white lights, and the floor was covered with golden confetti. Candles were everywhere, surrounded by white and red rose buds.

  “Well, this is so very you,” Evan said, hugging my sister. “Thanks. It looks fantastic.”

  My gaze drifted to Eileen, who was talking to her father, obviously arguing about something I couldn’t hear.

  “What’s going on?” I asked Evan.

  “Frederick’s trying to bring his uncontrollable daughter to her senses.” Well, that explained a lot. Eileen’s father hated her passion for taking risks. And I understood him better than anyone else. We were both afraid of losing her.

  “Why doesn’t she want us to help her?” Amanda asked.

  “I thought you knew what was going on in her head,” I said.

  “She’s blocking me.”

  I raised my eyebrows in surprise. “I didn’t know she could do that.”

  “I taught her,” Evan said, smiling guiltily. “I was trying to make Amanda’s life easier.”

  “I know,” my sister said. “But there are moments when I wish I could dig into your heads. And here comes your girlfriend, Evan.” We all turned to the door and saw Darcy, coming in.

  I didn’t think I would ever see Evan looking at anyone like this again. His eyes flashed, and I knew that his feelings for Darcy were real. I wasn’t sure if they were as strong as what he felt for Tara, but Darcy definitely knew how to make him happy.

  “At least someone is smiling tonight,” my sister commented, as if reading my mind.

  “What about you?”

  “Lucas and I don’t count.”

  I knew that Amanda was happy too. And I liked her choice. Lucas was a good guy.

  When the time to give presents came, everyone stood in a circle around Evan. Eileen was standing right opposite me, and I could tell that seeing me wasn’t easy for her. Today she was wearing a deep-blue cocktail dress that covered her body like a glove. Her hair came down over her shoulders, and a light blush on her cheeks gave up her excitement.

  Her relationship with Evan was very special. She wanted to make this celebration perfect. And I knew how important it was for her to see him happy.

  She was the first to give a present to our friend. “Let it be the beginning of your own history, Evan,” she said, kissing him on the cheek. “I wanted to raise this first toast to you — one of the best people I’ve ever met. May every day of your life be as special as the moment when you were born. May everything you do be as outstanding as you are, so that people around you are proud to call themselves your friends. Don’t give up on your dreams, because this is what our life consists of. And try to make as many of them come true as you can, so that in many years looking back at your life you could say, “Yes, it was worth living, it was worth everything.” Fight for everything you love and care about, and if someone tries to bring you down, don’t let it happen. Be strong and never give up. Don’t waste a single moment of your life, because each one of them is too precious to be wasted. Because our life itself is a chance that we get once in forever. So may your forever be full of bright dawns, happy days and the warmth of the people you love. Be the best of whatever you are. I know you can do that. Happy birthday!”

  “Thank you, my Angel,” Evan said, as he kissed Eileen’s hair. “Damn, you know how to get to my heart.” He laughed, hugging her tightly.

  Yes, she did, I thought to myself. While I was listening to Eileen’s words I couldn’t get rid of the thought that she was telling them not only to Evan, but to herself as well. And to me. And she was right. Every second of our life was too precious to waste.

  When all the presents were given to our birthday-boy, I came to Eileen and asked her for a dance. No one knew if we would ever get another chance to dance….

  “You’ve been so quiet after the toast,” I said, leading her down to the dance floor. “You okay?”

  “I’m fine,” she said, as she put one hand on my shoulder.

  “You look beautiful tonight.”

  Eileen lowered her head, as if she didn’t want me to see her face. “Thanks.”

  “Darcy said you asked her to give you the maps. Did you manage to decipher the last symbol?”

  “I thought I did, but apparently I was wrong.”

  I hesitated for a moment. I knew she wouldn’t give out anything else, and I didn’t know if I should offer my help. Right then and there I didn’t want to talk at all.

  I wanted to memorize the moment. Everything around us was screaming about the upcoming changes, and none of us could predict if those changes would be good or bad. All I knew was that the girl in my arms would stay in my heart forever. No matter what.

  I inhaled deeply, enjoying the scent of her skin. I was hyperaware of every single place where our bodies touched, and it felt like I was trying to hold the water that was running through my fingers, and I couldn’t do anything to stop it.

  Eileen didn’t try to hide her feelings. She was like an open book to me. And she knew it. She wanted me to know how she felt, and I was glad to see that her love for me was still there, enlightening her soul and her heart. And I knew she could feel my love too.

  When the song ended, Eileen’s aura disappeared, and I realized that the moment of weakness we both felt was gone. I felt lost.

  “Promise me one thing,” I said, refusing to let her go.

  “What’s that?” she asked, looking into my eyes.

  I cupped her face in my palms, saying, “Promise me to be careful, Eileen. Please, be careful. For me.”

  I saw the tears glisten in her eyes, but she smiled and turned her face to kiss my palm, saying, “I promise.”

  “Love you so much,” I said, as I bowed to kiss her lips. They were salty from tears. But still, it felt like the best kiss ever.

  “Love you too. And always will,” she said before walking
away into the darkness of the night.

  Eileen never came back to the party. When the guests were about to leave, Evan came to me.

  “Do you know where she is?”

  “No. Why?”

  “I need to talk to her.” Evan looked at his watch. He was obviously nervous.

  “About what?” I didn’t like his expression. I knew what it meant — new troubles coming.

  “She needs to find out something about her father’s medallion.”

  “Evan, can you tell me what’s going on?” I started to panic.

  “I know how she can find it. And if she finds the medallion, she will find the Dragons’ leader. And if she kills him, she will be able to destroy the entire brotherhood.”

  Chapter 22. The Reunion

  We found Eileen at her father’s apartment. She wasn’t asleep yet.

  “What are you doing here?” she asked, seeing us at the threshold.

  “I know, I promised not to interfere, but you need to hear me out, Eileen.”

  “Evan, I told you, I don’t want you to get into this.” She looked at me, as if she was afraid to say something I shouldn’t hear.

  “This is not about the spell, okay? So calm down.”

  “Okay.” She crossed her arms and stared at Evan. “What is it about?”

  “Your father’s medallion. Do you remember the moment when its powers passed to you?” Oh, yes, I was sure she did remember the moment. We both did.

  Eileen’s cheeks flushed, and she looked at me briefly. “I do, why?”

  “It was at midnight, right?”

  Eileen nodded.

  “It was also the moment when the bond between you and the medallion formed. Do you remember the bond with the help of which Alexis could feel the Cup of powers?”

  “Are you saying that I can feel where the medallion is?”

  “Yes! And if you find it, you will find the Dragons’ leader, who, I’m sure, has it now.”

  “Wait a second … so if I find the leader and gather all the Dragons in one certain place, I can use the spell that we found in Darcy’s grandmother’s records to destroy the entire brotherhood, right?”