Celtic Rose (42 page)

Kallisto nodded and turned to him, still crying. He wiped the tears from her cheeks and pulled her into his arms. He held her for a while, kissing the top of her head. He finally started pulling her toward the room. She was so weakened by Kalan’s anger and so tired from the day’s events that she stumbled. Talus picked her up and carried her back to the room. She started crying even harder and Talus held her closer. He laid them both down on the bed and held her close, until finally she fell asleep.

Chapter 22

Kalan loved his sister so much, he truly wanted to go to her as she walked to him, but he just couldn’t. He didn’t want to be comforted, just left alone. He stayed with his back to the door, fighting with himself about whether to go back out to his sister or lay on the bed. He turned and grabbed the doorknob, ready to go to her, when he heard Talus talking. He waited for a moment and then opened the door just a crack. He saw Talus holding Kallisto and wanted to go and apologize, to hold his sister and let her comfort him, but not with Talus around. Kalan shut the door back gently and went to the bed. He rested amongst the unfamiliar pillows and let himself cry. He thought at least he wasn’t in one of the rooms where the memories of her were. It didn’t matter that he wasn’t in one of those rooms, and it didn’t matter that he didn’t want the memories to come; they did and they always would. He wondered when this stupid curse was going to kill them all. He didn’t want to feel the way he did anymore, and wished the curse would take them right then.

Kalan was just about to fall asleep when he heard a noise. He thought it was Kallisto coming to comfort him, and he wasn’t going to deny her if it was. He sat up and looked, but no one was there. Just as quickly as hope had come, it vanished. He sat there letting the sadness consume him again.

Suddenly the window opened and a strong wind blew in. Kalan stood up to shut the window, and just as he neared it, something shimmered in the distance. It was coming closer and closer as he watched, and as it came to the glass, he backed up. It floated in front of him for a moment and lengthened to the floor, changing into the silhouette of a woman who looked like Ramina, but her eyes opened and they were glowing green. Something was not right–Ramina had dark eyes that were nearly black. He started to step back.

“No, don’t be afraid, Kalan. It’s me.” The silhouette spoke and sounded just like Ramina, and Kalan began to believe maybe it was her; maybe her eyes glowed green like Kallisto’s because she was dead–maybe all of their eyes would. He took a step forward and reached out to her. She reached out to him, but her hand went through his–it felt like ice went through his veins. He shuddered and pulled back.

“Ramina, is it really you?” he asked in disbelief.

The silhouette gained form, and he could see that it was Ramina. She smiled brightly at him–the alien eyes were the only thing changed about her. He wanted to run to her, to take her in his arms and never let her go, but he knew he couldn’t–she wasn’t really there. But he was ecstatic because she came back to be with him until the end.

“Kalan, the curse isn’t going to end like we thought,” Ramina said sadly. He looked at her shocked.

“But Kallisto’s eyes are nearly all green; that should mean we only have a day or so left,” Kalan said, disbelieving. He needed to believe the curse was ending–death was the only thing he had to look forward to, and he didn’t want to stay on the earth without Ramina.

“There’s one way that the curse can bring your deaths like it was supposed to, but you’ll have to help it along, Kalan,” Ramina grinned. Kalan smiled back; he wanted to bring the end of it like it was supposed to be. If Ramina had been alive he’d have been grateful for the extension, but without her, he wanted life to end.

Ramina turned angry. “Am I not family? Don’t you want to see me again? Don’t you want to touch me again, be able to hold me in your arms again?” She started to calm as she saw the longing in his face. “This is the only way we can be together, Kalan. They’ll understand. They know the end’s coming, they’re expecting it to come, but they just don’t know how it will come.”

“You’re right, Ramina, you’re always right. I’ll start tomorrow and soon we’ll be together again.” Kalan turned and headed for the bed, lying down. Ramina’s opaque form lay on the bed by him–not touching, just resting beside him, watching over him as he fell asleep. Kalan stared at her smiling face until sleep took him.

The next morning, Kalan was up before everyone else. He snuck out the back through the training dome, grabbing a few daggers from the armory, and went out into the woods to watch. After a couple of hours, he saw movement. Keira and Gabriel appeared out the back with Six Toes following. Kalan watched them as they walked together in the yard. Keira kissed Gabriel and headed for the woods. She carried a towel with her, so Kalan figured she was going for a swim. Six Toes stayed with Gabriel and walked around the house.

Kalan thought it was great–he could get Keira easily before Gabriel or Six Toes realized something was wrong. He waited for a bit to give her a chance to get to the pond, but before he could move, Ephiny came out and walked into the forest as well. Kalan trailed along behind her, thinking she should’ve been able to sense him with her werewolf senses, but she didn’t seem to be paying attention. Kalan levitated into the trees. He thought he’d forgotten how but it came easily. Ramina met him there.

“Good, Kalan. Get her first so she won’t be able to warn the others, and then get the clairvoyant.”

Kalan looked at her once. He didn’t think she sounded like Ramina at all, but then again, death changed people; maybe she was angry–who could blame her for that? She’d died, while the rest of them lived. Kalan nodded and Ramina left him to it. He levitated from tree to tree, waiting for Ephiny to be far enough away from the others, but not too close to Keira. When he thought she was far enough and he was about to strike, she stopped. She stood there as if she was waiting for something.

Kalan thought it was perfect and took one last look around to check if anyone was coming before he jumped out of the tree and landed behind her. She turned and looked at him, unconcerned. She didn’t even look surprised to see him. He stabbed her quickly with the silver blade before she could move, but she didn’t try to stop him. She just gasped as the blade pierced her skin, and stared at him until her eyes saw nothing at all.

Kalan stood, staring at her body, and then looked at his hand; it was covered in her blood. It was warm and wet, like satin on his skin. It reminded him of the satin clothes Ramina wore in Egypt, warm from her body heat, and slick like the blood. Kalan rubbed it on his face, and it felt like he was rubbing his face into Ramina’s clothes. The blood started to cool and it reminded him of the way she felt when she was dead. Rage filled his very being and all he wanted was to have the warmth again. He sprinted forward away from Ephiny’s cold blood to the next warm body he could get the feeling from again.

Keira was swimming in the pond without a care in the world, smiling as she swam. Kalan thought about how he felt like he was being torn from the inside out, and she dared to smile. He wanted so badly to give her his feeling, and decided to sneak into the pond. He submerged himself in the water and waited for her to swim near him. As soon as he felt her swimming past, he lunged up with the knife and it went right in. He felt the ripping of flesh as the blade tore through her body. She’d been swimming forward quickly, so all he had to do was stab and momentum did the rest.

He could feel the warmth in the water but it didn’t give the feeling of satin this time, which only made him angrier. He came up for a breath and heard Gabriel in the forest. He was alone, and by the sounds of thrashing, Kalan figured he must’ve smelled the blood from Ephiny. He was rushing forward to check on Keira.

Kalan remembered him saying water killed the scent from a human in their first life, when he was teaching them to track with dogs. He’d never know Kalan was there. Kalan smiled and submerged himself again. After a few moments, he felt the water move harshly as Gabriel dove in for Keira. He waited until Gabriel passed and came up behind him. He screamed in rage as he held the love of his life. Kalan relished in the fact that he felt the way Kalan did, but it wasn’t enough. Kalan needed him to feel the tearing from the inside. He stabbed the silver dagger into Gabriel’s back all the way to the hilt and tried to rip it through, but it caught on his rib. Kalan thought he must’ve hit the heart because the blood started pumping out. Gabriel turned and looked at Kalan, his eyes blood-red and filled with rage.

“You bastard,” Gabriel said in the rush of his last breath. With that, he toppled into the water beside Keira.

Kalan swam to the edge of the pond and crawled out. There was blood all over him and it was warm, but it didn’t have the thick satiny feeling because it was watered down. He made his way back to the house. He heard noises in the dome and decided to check it out, and found Talus practicing with his chain blade. It upset Kalan more than anything that he was in the dome playing with swords rather than spending time with Kallisto. Kalan wondered what was wrong with Talus. “Can’t you see the end has come?” Kalan said to himself.

He ran into the dorm in a fit of rage. Talus stopped and looked at him in horror. Kalan could only imagine what he looked like to Talus in that moment. Kalan swung the dagger down, but Talus parried with the chain blade and ran away from him.

“Kalan, what are you doing? What have you done? Stop this!” Talus yelled, but Kalan scarcely heard him over the blood pounding in his ears.

Kalan felt excited to have a fight–it was just what he needed at the moment. He lunged for Talus again and again. It was like practice, only more lethal. Talus never took a swipe at Kalan, which made Kalan angrier. He wanted a fight, and Talus was trying to avoid it. Kalan faked with a swipe and as Talus brought his sword up to block, Kalan lunged and stabbed him in the stomach. He ripped it across for good measure. Talus went down, gasping for air. Kalan bent down beside him and put his hand in the blood. He lifted his head, eyes closed, and sighed. There was a loud crash outside the door before Kalan could truly relish in the blood, and he ran to the shadows as the door opened.

Kallisto ran in, her eyes wide as she searched the room. Kalan had forgotten she could feel anything that happened to Talus. Guilt overflowed in him as he saw the tray in the hallway, and he realized she must’ve left him just long enough to get food, just long enough for her own brother to slaughter the love of her life. The guilt grew more intense when Kallisto saw Talus. She screamed and dashed to his side, dropping to her knees. He was still alive, but barely. She screamed and cried as she held Talus’ dying body in her arms.

Kalan wanted to comfort her. Ramina showed up at his side, shaking her head. She rubbed her hands down her sides and she was wearing red satin. He could just feel the warm slickness of that red satin under his fingers. The blood on him had cooled and there was no warmth left in his body. Ramina disappeared, smiling, and Kalan walked forward with the dagger in hand, but the closer he got the more he just wanted to touch his sister. Instead of bringing the dagger forward, he brought his other hand out to touch her shoulder. She stilled just before he touched her, as if she sensed he was near. He kept moving forward to go ahead and touch her, but his fingers just barely grazed her cheek before she turned around and then jumped backwards, falling over Talus’ body. She lay there, staring at him for a moment, eyes wide. Kalan started forward again and she crawled backwards quickly, finally turning and standing to run out of the dome.

Kalan didn’t run after her; he knew she wouldn’t get far. He figured she’d go through the house looking for the others. The only one left for her to find was William. Kalan made his way out of the dome in time to see her run into the house. He followed at a quick walk, and as he came through the door, he saw her running down the hall. She’d screamed when she went in but no one answered, which made Kalan wonder for a moment where little William might be.

Lady flew in through the window at Kallisto’s panicked cry. She flew at Kalan, lunging for his eyes. He swung his sword at her but she dodged and went back out the window. As he watched her depart he heard the slide of metal on metal, and when he looked down the hall he saw Kallisto pulling a sword from the crest on the wall. He grinned wide at the thought of a fight, and he knew his sister was a worthy opponent.

She ran into the library and made her way through the other door into the big front area. Kalan made it to the door just in time to see her run out the front door. He followed her out and watched as she ran around the house, and he realized she was heading for the forest where undoubtedly she thought she’d find Gabriel. It occurred to Kalan that if that was where William went, then he’d probably found Ephiny. He’d either be too distraught to fight or ready to give Kalan a good battle before he died.

Kalan started around the corner of the house, following Kallisto, and raised his sword just in time to counter her blow. If he hadn’t been ready, she probably would’ve gotten him. Kalan grinned at her as she pushed her sword back. She stared at Kalan as if he was a monster under the bed and she’d just realized it was real.

They fought and she was fighting as hard as she could, but when she got him down, she couldn’t give the finishing blow. Kalan used her pauses to jab, but she turned her body at the last second and all he got was a good slice on her side. A gash opened up on his side too. He’d forgotten about that.

Six Toes hissed and jumped off the roof onto him just as Lady dove at him again. Kalan swung the sword at both of them wildly. Kallisto took advantage of the distraction and ran into the forest, holding her side as she went. Lady and Six toes went after her, and left Kalan sitting on the ground holding his side, watching as they disappeared into the forest. He thought for a moment about the connection between him and Kallisto. If he died William would be left alive, and the curse wouldn’t end until he died, but then he thought about Kallisto and how she was the center of the curse–if she died then they’d all died. He shouldn’t have put her through so much pain, he should’ve just killed her and they all would’ve died. He felt guilty for a moment longer, then jumped up and started jogging for the forest. He didn’t want to waste any more time, so he was going to catch her and finish it.