Fighting for Infinity (15 page)

PLANTING DOUBTS

Maryah

Rina had been back only a few minutes. She hadn’t stopped asking me questions about Dedrick’s visit long enough for me to ask her where she went. 

“Please, Rina. I’ll tell you every single detail as soon as I come back. I won’t be gone long, but I need to tell them he has the Waterstone. It’s urgent.”

“It’s not safe yet.
” She spoke even faster than usual. “We don’t know when he’ll return.”

“I’ll travel to him first to see where he is. If needed I’ll zip right back here.” Now that Dedrick had strengthened me, I’d spy on him as much as possible. We
needed to know how many of the stones he had. Seeing Dedrick conjure power from two of the stones so easily was beyond alarming.

“Don’t you want to know where—” Rina didn’t finish because the room went black. When the candle re-lit, I was surprised to see River and Evelyn.

“I have some information,” River said excitedly. “I think this place, wherever we are, might be in Ireland.”

“Why Ireland?” Rina asked, matching my own question before I could ask it.

“Earlier today, Dedrick walked past my room. He was talking to a man with an Irish accent. I heard only part of the conversation, but the man said—”

Evelyn sprang forward. “He’s coming. Quick!” She shoved River toward the makeshift bathroom and yanked the tattered curtain closed to conceal him. “Don’t move a muscle. Don’t utter a breath, or we’ll both pay dearly.”

I couldn’t see River behind the curtain, but the fear in the room—Evelyn’s, River’s, Rina’s and mine—was palpable.

The black curtain fell and lifted too quickly.

Dedrick stood before me holding a large, thick book. He eyed Evelyn who was fidgeting with dishes from the meal Rina hadn’t touched yet, then he turned his attention back to me. “Are you feeling better?”

Lexie was with him. She would hear River’s thoughts. We’d all be busted. He’d never let River out of his cell again. Maybe he’d even kill him. And what would he do to Evelyn? Would he punish Rina even though she wasn’t directly involved? Was there anything worse he could do to me? He could revive my soul, so could he also harm it?

He followed me as I drifted to the wall farthest away from River. “As you can see, I trust Rina, Evelyn, and Lexie. That’s what we have here in our home, a circle of trust with no secrets. It strengthens our bond and allows us to function as a family unit. We would like you to be part of that, Maryah. Now that you’re feeling better, now that you’ve seen that I sincerely care about your wellbeing, it’s time to tell you what everyone else here already knows.” Dedrick’s dark eyes penetrated me. “You were torn between those outdated kindrily members and me. That is why you erased.”

“No,” I said, unfazed. “That can’t be why I erased. I don’t believe you.”

“She doesn’t believe you,” Lexie said.

“Rina!” Dedrick snapped, waving her over without taking his eyes off me. She scurried over, and he grabbed her hand.

“Lexie,” Dedrick called. Lexie stepped to his side.

Rina grasped Lexie’s hand, but not before glaring at me and shaking her head in such a slight way it wouldn’t have been seen by anyone else.

Dedrick would use Rina’s conducting power to hear me with Lexie’s mind-reading ability. He would be able to hear my thoughts. Surely he’d hear River’s thoughts too, and it wouldn’t take much searching to find him. If I listened hard enough I could have sworn I heard him breathing.
Don’t think about River. White noise, white noise
.

Dedrick clutched Rina’s hand tighter, and she closed her eyes.

I focused intently on the veins in his hairy forearms and my self-created white noise.

“It’s true,” Dedrick insisted. “I can answer so many questions you have about your past. I can help you remember again.”

“You’re a liar,” I hissed.  

“I’m not lying. You and Nathaniel had your share of problems throughout your lifetimes. You and I had our moments too. Some lives you and I were friends; sometimes we were more than that. I was more powerful than him. I had much more ambition. You had outgrown him and wanted bigger and better.”

I cringed at the thought of being with Dedrick. “No,” I said firmly. “He’s my soul mate.”

“People evolve,” Dedrick said. “They change. Their needs and desires change too. Three lifetimes ago, you reached a higher leve
l. You wanted more. You and I both did.” His eyes softened. There was a gentleness I’d never seen, and never expected to see in someone so evil. “I loved you so much”

Dedrick? Capable of loving anyone? Impossible.

“We ran away together. We discovered so much about ourselves and metaphysics. Our powers strengthened. That’s when you started developing your ability to see omens, to know things about the future.”

He knew about me seeing omens? I didn’t want Dedrick to know anything about me.

“That kindrily of yours,” Dedrick continued, “They made you feel guilty about ending things with Nathaniel to be with me. They banned together and convinced you that the rare love we shared was wrong, but it wasn’t.” He leaned closer. Keeping linked to Rina and Lexie, he placed their connected hands against his chest. “I have missed you every single day. No one has ever affected me the way you did. Everything I have, all the power, the control, it feels like such a waste without you to share it with me. You helped me reach this level, and you should be here to enjoy it with me.”

I shook my head. Lies. “They would have told me all of this.”

“
They
would have told you? Your kindrily?” He almost laughed. “
They
are the reason you erased, my love. They wouldn’t let you choose for yourself. They wouldn’t let you live the way you wanted. They ruined you, and me, and our future together. They won’t tell you that’s why you erased because they loathe me. But you told me you would choose erasure if it became too much. Your pain was too much to bear. You lived with the guilt and heartache too long.”

“No. I slit my own throat to get away from you.”

He tilted his head. “That was the plan.
Your
plan. We made it look like you were part of the massacre. I had a healer on hand so you wouldn’t die, but your kindrily would think you did. By the time they were reborn and questioned why you didn’t return to them, they’d assume your guilt for causing the deaths of so many would be too much so you erased. You even suggested kidnapping Gregory to lure Harmony away from you so she wouldn’t see that your spirit didn’t cross over.”

My mind whirled. Harmony was lured away by Gregory. She did assume I crossed over. But Gregory said Dedrick kept me trapped, that I was so miserable I cried all the time.

“Then why did you treat me like a prisoner? You kept me strapped to a bed.”

“Strapped to a bed?” He looked genuinely surprised.

“Gregory told me I was strapped to a bed and crying.”

“Never,” Dedrick guffawed.
“He’s remembering it wrong. My healer had difficulties stabilizing you. We had to give you blood transfusions and IV fluids. You were sick and upset, but never did I restrain you in any way. You were helpless. You weren’t able to get out of bed for weeks.”

“This is all lies!” I yelled. “I wouldn’t be with you. Ever.”

“No?” He let go of Lexie’s and Rina’s hands then opened the book he’d brought. He flipped through the pages then slid it to the edge of the table. “Do you recognize her?” His finger landed on a dark, curly-haired girl I had seen in so many other photos. Mary. Me from my previous life. “That’s you last lifetime. I don’t look much different due to my manipulation of aging.” 

In the photo, with his arms wrapped around Mary, stood a smiling Dedrick. His hair was shorter, less greasy, and he looked happy. Not like the bitter,
villain who stood before me. He and Mary stood on bright green grass in front of a castle. They looked like a couple. I cringed, realizing I had been one half of that couple.

I rocked backward. The stone walls threatened to crumble in and suffocate me. My lungs wouldn’t work.

Breathe, Maryah
. The feeling of having a body with its physical reactions was all in my mind. I needed to pull myself together. I wanted to slam the book closed so I didn’t have to see Dedrick and me together.

“I don’t know what they’ve told you,” Dedrick said quietly, “but it wasn’t the truth.”

∞

After the curtain lifted, and Dedrick and Lexie were gone, Evelyn collapsed into a cha
ir, sighing with relief that Dedrick didn’t discover River.

I hovered in front of Rina. “Did you hear what Dedrick said? Did you hear our conversation?”

River stepped out from behind the curtain. “It all makes sense!”

Rina answered me, ignoring River. “Don’t believe a word Dedrick says. Ever.”

The revelations, or lies, had left me shaken to my core. I wanted to believe everything my kindrily had told me was the truth, but what if it wasn’t? They wouldn’t have lied to hurt me.  They would have thought they were protecting me, but what if I really had seen good in Dedrick in previous lives? Everyone kept telling me I had amazing instincts, that I saw omens and knew things about the future. Maybe I saw good in Dedrick that others couldn’t.

Or maybe I was a naive idiot who was letting Dedrick manipulate me.

“That was much too close,” Evelyn said.

“Why didn’t Lexie tell on us?” I asked. “She must have heard River’s thoughts. She had to have known he was here.”

Rina asked Evelyn my question.

“Lexie is like me,” Evelyn explained. “We can disarm ourselves from Dedrick’s mind control while appearing to still be under the spell. He trusts her and keeps her at his side full-time.” She lowered her voice. “We keep our friends close and our enemies closer.” 

Her snake eyes flickered to a soft, normal shade of brown. They were just a disguise.

“Are there others who pretend to be under this spell?”

Rina repeated my question verbatim.

Evelyn looked away. “I’m not at liberty to say.”

“Rina,” I probed. “We need to know who we can trust. It’s important.”

Evelyn looked appalled as Rina translated for me.

“
We
?” Evelyn drawled. “We don’t even know if we can trust you.”

“Fair enough. Why didn’t Dedrick hear River’s thoughts while he was using Lexie’s power?”

Rina squinted then asked Evelyn my question, sounding concerned herself.

“I wondered the same thing,” Evelyn said. “Perhaps Lexie prevented it somehow.”

“I tried not to think,” River confessed. “Like I blanked out the best I could.”

I knew how difficult it was to think about nothing. He would have made some kind of mental noise.

“Besides,” River continued. “There’s no time for bickering. We need to discuss this giant revelation that my crazy ass uncle is in love with Maryah.”

I agreed with River. “I need to talk to my kindrily.”

“Right now?” Rina asked, shocked.

“It’s crucial.”

“But Dedrick might come back,” she argued.

“He won’t come back anytime soon. I have a feeling he’d want me to be alone with my thoughts for a while. He’d want me to process everything he just told me.” He’d want me to believe him.

“We can’t risk it.”

“Rina, please. I’m begging you. I won’t be long. Maybe an hour at most. He won’t be back that soon, I know it.”

She chewed on her fingers while staring at me. “If he does come back—”

“He won’t.” Evelyn stood, fidgeting with the sleeves of her shirt. “I’ll make sure of it.”

Rina swallowed hard and hesitantly stepped forward. Her hands lifted at her sides.

“Don’t forget to tell them that I think we’re in Ireland,” River reminded me. “And be sure to tell them I’m the one who told you. Maybe they won’t hate me if they know I’m helping.”

It would take more than that to change their opinion of River.

“Thank you,” I told Rina. “I promise no more than an hour. Don’t worry.”

She nodded then a pale blue light formed around her hands. The welcomed sensation of my soul sinking into my skin ended with me staring up at Krista reading a book beside me.

I coughed like I had bronchitis as I reconnected with the auto-functions of my body.

“You were right,” Krista said, still reading without even a glance in my direction. “I am swooning over Jamie. In my next life, I want to be Claire.”

I sat up on my elbows, clearing my throat of its last cough. “You’re not the least bit excited I’m back.”

She bit her lip, her eyes scrolling, still distracted by the words on the page. “It’s a really good part.”

I pushed the book away. “How’d you even know it was me? It could have been Rina.”

“You always gasp or cough. Rina fidgets.”

“Was she here earlier?”

“Not that I’m aware of.” She finally lowered the book. “Why?”