Anna's Hope Episode One (18 page)

He sounded frustrated. He didn’t look it
though. He still had that same controlled, relatively blank
expression. Aaron was clearly a man who hid his true feelings
well.

“If it is some kind of new magic, or very
old magic,” he added in a low, not particularly comforting tone,
“then ...” he trailed off.

She swallowed. “Then what?”

“We should hurry and find you that
talisman.”

She placed a hand on her stomach and tried
to fight back the queasy wash of nerves that threatened to engulf
her.

If this situation was starting to worry
Aaron, then ... oh lord, it was serious. Deadly serious.

She let Aaron work, and she dutifully
followed him, always keeping at a distance whenever he opened a
box. The trapped magic would make her eyes water.

After what felt like an hour, he stopped,
the slightest of smiles curling his lips. “I’ve got it,” he said
triumphantly as he pulled something out of a dusty brown wooden
box.

Anna
expected to see a talisman befitting
a man like Aaron. Maybe it would be gold studded with rubies that
shimmered even under the darkest night. Or maybe it would be carved
out of light itself, and would sit around one’s neck, blazing like
a mini sun.

What she got, however, was a chunk of
wood. It wasn’t even carved. And it was hung on a particularly
drab, dirty piece of string. It looked like something a child would
make.

“Ah, is that it?” She tried to keep the
disbelief from her voice.

She clearly didn’t manage it, as Aaron
raised an eyebrow. “What, you can’t feel its magic?”

She opened her mouth to say no, then she
sneezed. So violently she almost hit her head on the shelf. Leaning
back with a hand over her nose as she blinked her eyes she muttered
an “oh.”

“Yes,” he agreed. “It’s very powerful. And
hopefully it will be enough.”

“What exactly is it meant to
do?”

“Magnify your own soul.”

Magnifying magic and power she had heard
of, magnifying souls was new to her. Dropping her hand from her
nose, she stared at it warily. “And what exactly does that
entail?”

“This,” he patted it gently, “will help
you become more like yourself. Your true self,” he qualified
quickly.

It sounded like a self-help book.

He handed it to her reverently.

She took it, biting her lip as she did.
“So it will keep the dark wizard back? Stop him from pushing his
way out of my soul?”

Aaron held her gaze then shook his head.
“No, I’m afraid it can’t do that. If that dark wizard really has a
way to gain control over the scrap of soul he has left in you, then
there’s nothing I can do and nothing I have that can stop
him.”

She paled. She must have looked like she’d
died, or was just about to.

“But there’s something you have and
something you can do,” Aaron emphasized. “When the dark wizard
tries to gain control of you, this will help you to stop
him.”

She looked up, and she was unashamed at
the pleading edge to her gaze. This guy was wizard Arana. He was on
the Council of Eight, and he was easily one of the most powerful
wizards in the world. As pathetic as it sounded, she wanted him to
fix this. She wanted to collapse into a chair knowing that he was
here and would make everything okay. Yet as he held her gaze and
swallowed, she realized that wasn’t going to happen.

It was now up to her.

Luminaria
strode along the carpet,
shooting Aaron a terse look whenever she passed him.

For Aaron’s part, he sat in his chair, his
chin cradled in his hand as he read his book.

This time he wasn’t completely ignoring
Anna, though. Like clockwork, every several seconds, he looked up
and checked on her.

He was waiting – they were all waiting –
for Anna to lose control of her soul. For the dark wizard to make
his move.

The grand old clock above the equally grand
old mantelpiece red 11:30.

There was precisely half an hour left.
Either the wizard would chicken out and be a no-show, or any second
now he would start tapping on the door to her soul, violently and
with a big stick in his hand.

“Where is this pathetic wizard?” Luminaria
suddenly declared as she whirled on the spot, her outstretched
claws ripping the carpet.

Aaron shot her a warning look. “That’s
very expensive.”

“And my little witch’s soul isn’t?”
Luminaria shot back.

Had Luminaria actually just said that?
Because it sounded – impossibly – as if the possessed cat cared for
Anna.

“I wasn’t suggesting that,” Aaron defended
himself quickly.

“Oh yes you were. I know your type,
wizard,” Luminaria snarled, “you love your books more than you love
your witches.”

It was an odd thing to say, and it made
Anna blush.

“I value human life more than anything
else.” Aaron made a point of closing his book and resting it on his
lap.

“Oh yes, of course you do. I imagine you
value your life quite a bit. But let’s be honest here, people like
Anna don’t belong in it, do they?”

“I’m not sure what you mean.”

“Oh really?” Luminaria cackled at him.
“There must be some reason you ignore her and dismiss her all the
time. I mean, I’m not one to point fingers – I have made a very
successful life of ignoring that silly little witch. But I have a
very good reason for doing so: I’m evil. I don’t give a single hoot
what people think about me, and I just love spreading ill will. For
a so-called good wizard, you’re particularly rude and
harsh.”

“I have a very important job. It takes up
all of my time, all of my power, and all of my attention. If I come
across as rude, I apologize.” Aaron turned towards Anna.

She blinked quickly. She always blinked
quickly when he looked at her; it felt pretty weird to be noticed,
especially by him. “Ah, you don’t need to apologize,” she mumbled
quickly, realizing she should say something.

“Of course he needs to apologize. He’s
extremely irritating,” Luminaria pointed out harshly, “and if I
were permitted to, I would magically slap him for it. But that is
not the point.”

“Do illuminate us, Luminaria,” Aaron asked
patiently, “but what is the point?”

“I may be a cat, but once upon a time I
was a woman.”

“Fascinating,” Aaron said
dryly.

“Yes it is. Because once upon a time I had
empathy, though I rarely used it, of course. It did, however,
enable me to acquire sound psychological skills. Primary among
them, is finding out someone’s weaknesses.” Her head dipped low as
she smiled. It was the kind of smile that belonged only on the face
of felines and devils.

Aaron stiffened.

“You have a scar, my boy. Some kind of
mental wound. Emotional, too, if I’m any judge. I’ve watched you,
you see, and you either dismiss people or you engage with them
through a facade of charm, which is another kind of dismissal. You
hide behind your perfect little face and suit, so no one ever sees
who you truly are.”

Aaron didn’t move and he didn’t say
anything.

Though any minute now Anna would be
attacked by a dark wizard, all her attention was focused on
Aaron.

“I wonder what your wound is?” Luminaria
brought her paw up and started to play with her claws. “I wonder
who wronged you? Was it that brother of yours?”

Aaron stood up slowly. He swallowed, or at
least tried to. The move stuck in his throat and he turned sharply
towards the mantelpiece. He strode over to it, pretending to be
interested in the fire crackling softly in the hearth.

“Everything you do and say, or don’t do
and don’t say, reveals your weakness,” Luminaria continued, taking
great pleasure in psychologically unpicking Aaron.

“You don’t know what you’re talking
about,” Aaron said. His voice sounded calm and controlled, but
there was a note of hesitation. And, as fantastic as it sounded,
vulnerability.

Here was one of the most powerful wizards in
the world looking lost.

Anna
shifted uncomfortably on her chair.
“Luminaria, maybe you should give it a rest. We should concentrate
on the fact that the dark wizard—”

“Shut up, girl. I’m having the most fun I
have had in years. Now let me see if I can figure this out. It most
definitely has something to do with your brother, and if I’m any
judge, you’ve lost something. You have the kind of look of a man
who has lost something.”

Aaron turned his back, leaning down as he
stoked the fire. There was so much rigidity about his shoulders
that it looked as if he was trying to impale each log.

“Thank you for confirming my assumption,
boy. Your silence is the only evidence I need to conclude I’m on
the right track. Was it a woman? Did you lose your pathetic first
love to your more strapping brother? Oh that makes delicious sense.
Only wizards would be pathetic enough to care about something like
that.”

“It was my mother,” Aaron
answered.

“What?” Luminaria looked
confused.

“We lost our mother.” Aaron turned around.
His face was no longer controlled. He wasn’t crying though, and nor
did he look furious. He looked resigned. “You are right, it is a
wound. But it happened a long time ago, and I have moved on as best
as I can.”

“I’m so sorry—” Anna began.

“And you’re right: I blame Scott. I blame
him for becoming the kind of man he did. For turning to crime. For
worrying her. If he hadn’t—” Aaron shook his head.

“For turning to crime?” Anna stuttered
disbelievingly.

“When he was a teenager, he joined a dark
magical gang,” Aaron explained, pushing his hands into his pockets
as he turned over his shoulder and stared out the
window.

“But, I thought he was a bounty
hunter?”

“He is now. But that doesn’t cancel out
his dark past.” Aaron spoke through clenched teeth.

Anna
’s mind whirled. Scott had been into
the dark arts? “But how did he get your mother killed?” she asked,
relenting to her curiosity before she thought through her
question.

Aaron levelled his gaze at her, and it was
clear he didn’t want to talk about it.

She stuffed both her hands over her mouth.
“I am so sorry, I didn’t mean to bring that up. Please ignore me.
I’m sorry,” she practically whimpered.

“He was into the dark arts, you say?”
Luminaria interrupted. “I’m beginning to like this boy more and
more. I shall personally see to it that he is returned from the
clutches of that dark wizard, just so he can continue to haunt your
steps, Arana,” she promised cruelly.

Aaron didn’t react. “And how are you
personally going to see to that, Luminaria von Tippit? It’s almost
12, and our wizard hasn’t arrived. Where is he? There is every
chance we got it wrong, and ....” He turned around, staring over
his shoulder at the window again.

“And what?” Anna prompted.

“For all I know, Scott is dead and that
wizard isn’t coming.” Aaron, for just a second, became undone. The
cold, calm facade dropped completely from his face, revealing a
confused, fragile man.

She wanted to walk up to him and give him a
hug, but she didn’t think he would appreciate it. Instead she
ground her teeth into her lips and winced in compassion.

She was still wearing her talisman, and
without realizing it, she reached up and clutched it in her
hand.

She sneezed, the magic affecting her
allergies immediately.

This talisman was meant to make her more
of herself, it was meant to magnify the very essence of her soul –
her true destiny. Instead, it was making her allergies flare
up.

Then again, her allergies were part of
her, weren’t they? As weird as it sounded, in many ways, they
defined her more than any other feature. Anna was known as the
witch who sneezed at her own magic.

She felt silly as she sat there and thought
that. Who wouldn’t feel silly? Aaron was defined by his power and
wisdom and sense of style. Luminaria by her cruel tenacity. She
hadn’t known Scott particularly long, but she could still define
him as gritty, playful, and serious, all wrapped up into one
confusing, clean-shaven package.

Anna
, Anna was just the allergic one. The
witch who shouldn’t be practicing magic

....

And yet the witch who practiced it
nonetheless.

And maybe that was what defined her. Though
she had every reason to quit, she didn’t.

“What happens if that wizard doesn’t try
to attack me before midnight?” She looked up quickly, gazing
between Luminaria and Aaron.

“I don’t know. But I do know that Scott is
running out of time, or he has already run out of time,” Aaron
added softly.

Anna
ran her teeth over her lip. “But if
we take the wizard down, it will be easy to find Scott,
right?”

“Once we eliminate that wizard or capture
him, whatever spells he’s using to subdue Scott will break. If
Scott is in any state to escape, he will. Even if he isn’t, it will
give us a fighting chance to find him.”