Diamond Sky (Love Lines Series) Read online

  We stayed at my place for a little while, and then Christian’s parents called and said they were ready to leave for Dever. On the way to the airport I told everyone about the symbol I found on my bedroom door. According to Evan, the symbol said, “Follow the light.” It symbolized protection from the dark magic and evil, which in turn meant that my grandfather needed that protection, and Cameron Wizardry knew it….

  Evan said that the only way to find out the truth was to visit his grandmother who still lived in Aberdeen. “Abby will be glad to see me. I’ve always been her favorite grandchild. When my grandpa died, my parents wanted her to move to Paris and live with them, but she said she was too young and beautiful to waste her life on arguing with my Dad. There was no love lost between them.”

  “Do you think she remembers all the people Cameron made amulets for?” Christian asked.

  “Trust me, she does. I’m sure she can describe his every work with her eyes closed.”

  I still had a feeling that I was missing a big part of the whole thing going on around me. “You said he made only protective amulets. Why?”

  Evan and Amanda shared a glance, and I realized that I had gotten to dangerous ground.

  “He started making protective amulets after one of the spells he used almost finished him off,” Evan said.

  “Wait, I don’t get it….”

  “Cameron practiced dark magic.”

  Wow … that was a surprise. “But he … his death was natural, right? He wasn’t killed or anything?” I truly hoped I was right.

  “Not exactly.” Evan lowered his eyes, frowning. “When my grandfather turned eighteen, he ran away from his parents’ house to practice dark magic he was obsessed with. He came to London and found people he thought would help him to develop his talents. But he was wrong. They never helped him. They made him work for their gang, killing and robbing innocent people who couldn’t protect themselves. He spent about five years following the gang’s orders. And when he realized it wasn’t a kind of life we wanted for him, he decided to come back home and start everything from scratch. He didn’t want to practice dark magic anymore. He realized it wasn’t a key to becoming happy. The last spell the gang made him cast was very dangerous. He risked his life to rob one of the wizards’ houses. He didn’t know there would be people inside the house. Someone saw him and screamed for help. A guy about his own age appeared out of nowhere. He froze him with the spell Cameron used on other people. Thank God, the guy wasn’t as strong as my grandfather, and he managed to run away, already half-dead. A part of his body was paralyzed, and he barely managed to get to his friend’s house. Later that night a doctor came. And it was my grandma. She saved him, and he promised not to practice dark magic anymore. They moved to Aberdeen where her family lived, and got married. Abby found a job in one of the local hospitals, and Cameron started painting and making protective amulets for people who needed help.”

  “How did he know who needed help?” Amanda asked.

  “He was good at recognizing the traces of darkness.”

  “But it means that….”

  “Yes, Eileen, it means that he saw those traces in your grandfather’s aura.”

  “The more I find out about my family’s past, the less I want to know.”

  Evan smirked. “Welcome to my world.”

  The flight to Dever was supposed to be fast and peaceful. But somehow the reality of my life likes to surprise me. And this time it brought me to another dream….

  Christian and I were walking down an alley filled with flowers and sun. It looked like any other day we spent walking around the gardens of Dever, but I still felt that something was wrong. I tightened my grip on Christian’s hand, and he stopped, cupping my face in his palms.

  “Are you okay, Eileen?”

  I was about to say something when I saw a horse, coming from behind the trees. It was black and beautiful, with a long silky mane and tail. She stopped a few feet away from us and snorted. Christian turned around, and his eyes widened. “Nelly, what are you doing here, girl?” He came closer to the horse, and she bent her head when he reached a hand to touch her.

  “Is it yours?”

  “Yes, I used to take riding lessons. Come here, don’t worry, she won’t hurt you.”

  I hesitated. It felt like the horse’s black eyes were looking straight into my heart. And she didn’t want me to come any closer….

  “I don’t think it’s a good idea,” I said, taking a step back.

  But Christian didn’t give up. “Come on. She will like you.”

  I hesitated again and then moved slowly to the horse. Her eyes never left mine.

  When I stopped next to Christian, the horse snorted again and bent her head to touch my hair, as if she was sniffing me. She was huge, and I was a little scared. I don’t know why, but her behavior sent shivers up and down my spine. But there was something mesmerizing about the way she was watching me. I wanted to touch the mane.

  The moment my palm slid down the shining mane, the song started playing in my head. The wind was singing:

  “Somewhere in the darkness is the road of light,

  Let the music lead you to the secrets of the night,

  Let the rivers save you from the falling stars,

  Let the wind heal your heart and your bleeding scars.

  Let the sand protect you from the flames of the sun,

  When the storm grows wilder,

  Don’t be afraid, and don’t run.

  When the death comes to steal your life,

  Fight it and win it, burning the dream to the ground.”

  The moment I opened my eyes, the song stopped, taking away my visions. I was on the airplane again, and Christian was sleeping peacefully by my side. Evan and Amanda were talking quietly to each other, but Christian’s parents were nowhere around.

  “Where are Patrick and Amelia?” I asked in a whisper.

  “They are talking to the pilots about changing the course. The weather is getting rainy, and we will have to land and wait out a storm,” Amanda replied. The mentioning of the storm reminded me of my dream, and I leaned closer to Christian, trying to comfort myself by his warmth. I wasn’t ready for any fight or storm. The only thing I wanted was to get back to Dever as soon as possible.

  “I can almost taste the fear coming from you,” Christian said, half smiling, with his eyes still closed. “You okay?”

  “Yeah,” I said and tried to smile back, letting go of his hand. “Bad dream.”

  “Again?” he asked worriedly. He knew that my nightmares were a sign of something very bad coming. And sometimes it looked like problems were rolling down us like huge snowballs from the mountains. We didn’t see the end of them.

  “Have you ever had a horse named Nelly?”

  “No, I didn’t. Why?”

  “No reason. I must be imagining things.” I put my head on Christian’s shoulder, and he kissed my hair, pulling me to his chest.

  “You can always talk to me, you know?”

  “I know,” I said and put my arm around his waist.

  Christian knew me well enough to realize that there was something I didn’t want to tell him now. And I didn’t even know if the dream I saw was important. Maybe it was just a dream....

  “Hardly,” I muttered, answering my own question.

  Half an hour later we landed at some deserted airport, the main building of which was smaller than my room in Dever.

  “Where are we?” Amanda asked, looking around disgustedly.

  “Way the hell out there,” Evan replied, fully sharing her negative feelings about the place. “Do they have a bathroom or something? I need to wash my hands.”

  “I think this is what you are looking for,” Christian replied from the other end of the room.

  The bathroom was actually a wooden door, opening right into the street, where a small washstand and a rusty toilet were.

  “Huh, always dreamed about peeing under the moonlight,” Evan said, closing the door behin
d him.

  Christian laughed. “How long are we going to stay here?” he asked his father.

  “For about an hour or so. I will go and get some food.”

  We were traveling on one of the Dever’s private jets, and we could stay aboard, but the pilots needed to check some security stuff, and they asked us to wait inside the building.

  Evan came out of the bathroom, saying, “This is one of the most romantic places I’ve ever seen.”

  “Planning to come back here for a date?” I asked, winking at him.

  “Not going to happen. My butt likes comfort and silky sheets.”

  “Right,” Amanda rolled her eyes, apparently reading what was hidden behind Evan’s response.

  It was always funny to watch the two of them. Especially now, when they were bound, and Amanda had full access to Evan’s thoughts, and he could feel her emotions too. I couldn’t stop wondering what would happen if they were actually a couple….

  “Have you lost your mind, Eileen?” Amanda flared up.

  I laughed quietly. “Sorry, couldn’t help myself.”

  “What did she read in your mind?” Evan asked.

  “None of your business,” my friend snapped.

  “Must be something dirty,” Evan whispered, and I shook my head, giggling.

  “I’ll tell you later.”

  Sometimes it was so good to be like any other teenager — joking, laughing and enjoying life, even if our lives were far from all of the above. Patrick came back, holding in his hands a few packages of food and drinks, so we sat at the only available table near the window to have a snack, and discuss our plans for later.

  There was a week of our winter break left, and we were planning to spend it looking for the hidden spell. Evan wanted to visit his grandmother in Aberdeen, and he asked Christian to go with him. I didn’t really want to let any of them go, but I knew how important that trip was, and I didn’t feel any danger coming.

  Meanwhile Amanda and I were going to decipher the rest of the map’s symbols. We were running out of time, and we knew that the members of the Dragons brotherhood wanted to get to the spell as soon as possible. We couldn’t let that happen.

  Chapter 3. The Guests

  That one hour in the middle of nowhere turned into a stormy night, with lightning flashes scaring the hell out of everyone. We got aboard and waited for the weather to get better. When the rain stopped, we headed for Dever.

  I was glad to be back. My dad met us at the western gates and accompanied us to the dorms. He and my mother were still trying to come to an understanding. But it wasn’t easy, as my father was still married, and his wife, Rebecca was one hell of a witch to deal with.

  It was early morning, and the streets of the campus were still empty. The sudden roar of a car engine stunned us. I turned around and saw a slick, black sports car, parking near the Administration. Two men stepped out of the car and headed for the building’s entrance. One of them was wearing a long, dark coat, and I think he was about my father’s age. The other one — the driver — was much younger. His gait was light, and something about the way he moved made me smile.

  “Who’s that?” I asked Amanda, pointing to the guests.

  “Oh, that’s Joseph Fairey and his son William.”

  “You mean Joseph Fairey, the former head of Dever?” I knew that name. Joseph headed our University before Alexis Wilde, Eric Lanster’s sister, who was killed a few months ago trying to kill one of our friends. She played for the bad-guys team.

  “What is he doing here? I thought he lived in New York.”

  “Dad said his son’s going to be our new student.”

  “He looks too old to be our student.”

  “As far as I know he’ll join Evan’s class.”

  Bad news for our friend, I thought to myself. Evan didn’t like new people. He treated everyone as his personal challenge — get to know and show who’s the smartest here. Well, at least he will have something to keep him busy apart from thinking about Tara (his ex-girlfriend who came to teach Vero’s students) and getting on Amanda’s nerves. I smiled, foreseeing Evan’s reaction to a new student and followed Amanda to our room.

  I didn’t get much sleep on the plane. Apparently, not only Evan’s butt was used to comfort. Every inch of my body hurt, and demanded a good rest. So I took a shower, curled up on my bed and passed out the moment I closed my eyes.

  A picture started forming in my mind, and a new dream came upon me. This time I found myself standing in the middle of a room, illuminated with dozens of burning candles. I wasn’t alone in the room. Someone was standing behind me.

  “Close your eyes,” the familiar voice whispered. Warm arms wrapped around my waist, and I leaned back, enjoying the vibrations of the aura I loved so much.

  I felt light kisses covering my neckline and shoulders. The touches were so sensual. I thought I would faint, losing myself in their intimacy. The fingers slipped under my shirt towards my belly, and the warm palm smoothly caressed my womanhood, making butterflies dance inside me.

  “I missed you,” the voice said, and I felt the familiar need forming inside me. It was so painfully sweet, and there was only one person able to stop it.

  I turned around and kissed the delicious and tempting lips. They always knew how to make me want more. When the kiss deepened and a soft moan escaped my throat, I pressed myself closer to the perfect chest that I was dying to touch. It was smooth and strong, as if made of pure gold. The only difference was that gold couldn’t be so warm. The heart was beating fast under my palm, and my own pulse accelerated.

  Pure desire rushed through my veins, and the moment I was ready to surrender to the temptation overwhelming me, something changed. I opened my eyes and saw him….

  What the hell?!

  “Eileen, Eileen! Wake up!” Amanda was shaking me by the shoulders. “You had a nightmare?”

  “What?” I was too dizzy to understand what was going on.

  “You were screaming in a dream, and I thought it was a nightmare.”

  “Yes, no … I don’t know.” I sat on my bed and rubbed my eyes, blinded by the daylight that was too bright to bear. “I had a weird dream. Not a nightmare, just a dream, but….”

  “Evan doesn’t control your dreams any more, does he?”

  “Evan?” He was the last person I wanted to talk about at the moment. “No, he doesn’t.”

  My friend used to control my dreams while Christian was missing. As he was kidnapped in a dream, no one wanted me to disappear too. Every night Evan sent me different dreams, but today….

  “You’ve got to be kidding me!” I muttered angrily.

  “What’s wrong?” Amanda asked.

  “Nothing, do you know where Evan is?” I tossed the blanket and rushed to the wardrobe, grabbing a pair of jeans and a sweater.

  “In his room, I guess. Eileen, what’s going on?”

  “I need to see him.” I stormed out of the room and ran to Evan’s. The door to his room was protected by the spell he used to lock all of our doors, so as not to let any unwelcome guest in. But right now I was too angry to knock. I burst through the door, making Evan jump out of his shoes. He spilled half of his coffee and cursed aloud.

  “Crap!” Then he saw me, standing there with my hands on my hips. “Oh, wow! Easy, Sweetheart, take a deep breath and tell me what the fury’s about?”

  Evan knew it was hard to send me up the wall, but when I was angry, it was better not to get in my way.

  “Are you serious?” I flared up, crossing the distance between us in two steps.

  Evan winced. “I didn’t do anything, so whatever made you so angry doesn’t have anything to do with me.”

  “What do you mean you didn’t do anything? What about the dream?”

  “What dream?”

  “The one you sent me ten minutes ago!”

  “I didn’t send you any dreams, Eileen. I have no idea what you are talking about. I spent the entire time since our arrival with Patrick and C
hristian, discussing our trip to Aberdeen. And I came to my room just a few minutes ago to drink some coffee and pack the bags. We are leaving tonight, and I sure as hell don’t have time to intrude in your dreams.”

  “So it wasn’t your handiwork?”

  “Of course not! Why would I send you dreams if you haven’t had any nightmares for months? Or did I miss something?”

  Only now Evan noticed the vibrations of my aura that I didn’t even tried to hide. I was still angry, but also puzzled. If it wasn’t Evan, sending me that damn dream, then who was it? I was sure it wasn’t just a dream, but a magical illusion.

  “Eileen, what’s going on?”

  “I wish I knew.” I sat on a couch and closed my eyes. “Someone is sending me dreams. But it’s not you, and I’m sure it’s not my father.”

  “What are the dreams about?” Evan sat next to me.

  “The first one was about Christian and me, and I don’t know if it was an illusion, the dream felt real. But the other one was … about me and….”

  “Me?”

  I looked at Evan, and he nodded, realizing what my last dream was about. “I didn’t send it. I swear.” I knew he didn’t. I could feel he was telling the truth. “Have you … ever seen dreams like this before?” I shook my head, saying ‘no’. “Okay. So you think something is wrong with our bond again?”

  “I don’t know. The only thing I know for sure is that I don’t want to have sex with you. Not in my dreams, not in reality.”

  “Ouch. That’s the cruelest thing I’ve ever heard from a girl.”

  “I’m sorry, Evan. I didn’t mean to hurt your huge ego or anything.”

  “Don’t worry, Honey. I got it. No sex.” Evan paused. “Are you sure?” We both laughed, and then someone knocked at the door.