The Council, A Witch's Memory (16 page)

The strangest part was how normal it felt, feeling what Henry was feeling. It wasn’t awkward or uncomfortable, and had it been, I wouldn’t be going to see him. But I couldn’t argue with my feelings, no matter how apprehensive I was.

But why the hell did it have to happen now?

Why not after we made up?

Because, I had to face the fact’s, I couldn’t see us not making up. Or me not making up with him. Or anything. Shit.

I’m so freaking screwed.

When I reached the office door I knocked and cracked it open. I forced a smile and tried to push away any apprehension I had. I did not want him to feel it.

I was right. Henry was stressed out. His back was to me and he stood, arms crossed, glaring out the windows by his desk.

Slipping in, I shut the door and crossed the room, standing beside him to look out at the vast backyard. Zane was running around in figure eights, sending up a massive cloud of dust and dirt. Flora chased after him, hauling the old book with her, unsuccessfully trying to get him to stop playing games and be serious. Bruno was sitting close by, watching as if he were very entertained. He was still carrying around the ball Flora had given him.

Henry didn’t say anything at first. But the longer I stood with him the more his tension began to diminish.

He let out a deep breath, “I was hoping you’d come to me.”

“I know.” I laughed, watching Zane zip up the side of a tree to stand on the tiptop limbs. Flora tried to follow him, her dress getting tangled in the branches. She made it halfway and sat down on a branch, yelling at him, still hanging onto the book.

“You knew?”

“What are you so anxious about?” I wondered, looking into his eyes, feeling almost as if the answer would show itself.

“I felt you this morning.”

“How?” was it the same way that I felt him a few minutes ago?

“I’m not sure, but I just had this feeling you were looking for me, or wondering where I was.”

“I woke up and you were gone.” I said, trying hard not to move any closer to him. But I was drawn to him, like something was pulling me toward him. “That’s all.”

He bent closer and rested his forehead against mine. “I don’t care how many times I have to say it…I’m sorry.”

My throat went tight. “I know, and I want you to know, that although I’m mad, I don’t hate you.”

He hugged me tight. I knew that it would take some time, at least for me, to figure out how this would work. Things were going to be all right between us, eventually. I wasn’t sure how long it would take, but now I had hope for us.

I looked up and the endless green of his eyes called to me. They started to glow. The air crackled with some kind of energy around us. The hairs stood up on my arms.

“Henry, what’s happening?” the lights flickered.

He cursed. “Close your eyes.”

I couldn’t look away. Like a deer trapped in the headlights of an oncoming car, I was frozen. Literally. “I can’t.” I tried to move. “I feel…stuck.”

“Are you even trying?” he gasped as the glow deepened.

“Yes,” I growled. “Why can’t you close your eyes?”

“I’m stuck too!” he tried to pull away, but we snapped right back tighter, as if forced. “It’s happening.”

“What’s happening?”

“The binding,” the chords stood out in his neck as he just barely managed to close his eyes. But they popped right back open as if he lacked any and all control. “I can’t stop it. I’m sorry.”

I shook my head as best I could. “Don’t be. It’s okay.”

I began to feel warm, pleasantly warm, and tingly all over as my body trembled. My breath left me. I felt as if something expanded inside my heart, in my head, making room for something else…no, not something, someone.

Our eye contact never broke and he appeared just as shaken.

He felt just as shaken.

Dropping my head to rest on his chest, I listened to the rhythmic sound of his heart. My own pulse pounded in my ears.

It didn’t sound right.

I listened carefully, trying to hear their separate rhythms. But they were synchronized, beating at exactly the same time.

As they slowed simultaneously, it dawned on me, what had just happened.

I felt his contentment, his happiness, his fear, and his love.

Our souls were one.

Chapter 20

Henry

“Venna?” I gave her a shake. She looked dazed, staring up at me with glassy, unfocused eyes. “Please, say something. Are you all right?”

She blinked. “I…we…”

I was debating weather or not to tell her what happened between us, and what it meant. She seemed too befuddled right now for me to say anything.

Unless…unless she was acting so strangely because she knew.

Someone, I’m positive that little someone was Flora, told her about binding. She must have explained to Venna what occurred once you were bound to another person.

“Did Flora explain to you about the binding?”

She nodded, taking a step back from me. “We’re not even really a couple. We’ve never talked or, or gone on a first date! That can’t be enough time.”

“We have no control over when we wanted this to happen, it just does.” I hesitated, “what did Flora tell you, exactly?”

She raised an eyebrow, “I think the question you’re looking for is…what didn’t she tell me?”

“Oh.”

“Yeah, she gave me the run down on the feelings sharing, the soul sharing, the power sharing…just seems like a whole lot of sharing.”

“Which you aren’t in the mood for.”

“No, not really. This was bad timing! Couldn’t it have happened after the people wanting to kill me, or use me to help some crazy man, who also happens to be my father…this whole being bound thing? Maybe at a happier time when I’m not mad at you? Is that too much to ask?” She slapped her hand over my mouth before I had the opportunity to speak. “Henry, I should be scared, really freaking out about being glued to you for all eternity, but I’m not. I’m not in the least bit worried or anything, which is why I’m panicking right now. No, I’m not done talking yet. Let me get this out. I, I’m just so…I’ve got a serious problem, because any normal person would be in a coma right now. After everything I’ve learned about you and who I really am, over the past, oh, twenty-four hours, I should be scared. But I’m not afraid when I’m with you, and that scares me. I feel comfortable here, like I belong, when this world is completely new to me. And at the same time it’s not new. Like none of this is a surprise. But of course it’s not a surprise, since, well, lucky me, I’m remembering! Shouldn’t I need more time to get acclimated, to be so comfortable with this craziness? Which, honestly, feels more normal to me than it should? Or shouldn’t it?”

When I was certain she was finished, I spoke, “You feel comfortable because this world isn’t really new to you, deep down you know who you are.”

She swallowed, “I guess we’re stuck with each other.”

We jumped at a whirring mechanical sound. I turned to see the fax machine on the desk come to life and produce a few freshly printed sheets of paper.

“Hold on.” I said. Picking up the small stack as the machine finished, I grimaced at the papers in my hands, flipping from one to the next. There were only four. Glancing back at Venna, I tried to keep my expression unfazed and indifferent. I didn’t want her to be in the room when I got the faxes. I wasn’t expecting our connection to solidify, or I’d have taken her out of the room before they came. Grabbing a pen, I signed the bottom of the first document.

“What are those?” I felt her beside me, leaning around to see what I was doing.

I couldn’t look her in the eyes yet, and slipped into the chair behind the desk, tapping the pen on the glass.

“Henry, I can feel how upset you are.”

And I could feel how curious she was.

I pursed my lips, knowing she deserved the truth. “My family and I make decisions for the good of our people.”

She nodded, hopping up to sit on the corner of my desk. “I understand.”

“And some of the decisions I make are not pleasant.”

She touched the tip of her index finger to the top sheet bearing my signature. “What’s this one?”

“I’m approving a the warrant for an arrest, should the man be found alive.”

She shifted to cross her legs, feeling uneasy. I hated that she felt that way, I’d already put her through so much, and now that she was finally talking to me again, I was going to lay something else on her. “And the others?”

I held the second and third ones up for her to see. “These men are to be imprisoned for treason. After eighty years the Council will review them. Their sentences will either be extended, or they will be released and monitored for fifty years afterwards.”

“And the last one?”

I glanced down at the paper and settled my hand on her knee. Venna was smart and strong. She could handle more than a lot of people I knew. But I still wanted to shield her from the upsetting parts I dealt with. “This is an order stating that John Craven will not be tried or arrested. He is stripped of all rights and is to be executed on sight. No exceptions.”

She paled. “You can do that?”

“Yes,” I signed the last three and sent them back through the fax.

The papers didn’t reappear at the bottom.

“Where did they go?” She slid closer and inspected the now empty paper tray.

“Once something of importance is faxed it disintegrates. A paper shredder is not good for such documents, they could easily be reassembled.”

I swiveled my chair around to watch Zane and Flora. They were lounging on a blanket in the sun, flipping through the large book of history and laws while a dog chewed on a stick.

“Wait, where did that dog come from?”

“I healed him. His name’s Bruno.” I smiled. “Flora said it was good practice for me. I think I’m going to keep him.”

Flora was a good teacher, I could see Zane picking up things quickly; she was telling him about memory charms and covens. He ate up the information with such enthusiasm. I knew he needed to be around his own kind.

There was a small private school he could attend, a very exclusive one in Richmond for magical beings. It taught what every other school was required to, instructing kindergarten through twelfth grade, although its extra courses were not made known to the general public.

Brighton Hall was named after one of the current members of the Royal Council, Andrew Brighton, King of the Werewolves, and Quinn’s father. He founded the school so magical children could grow and learn with their own kind.

I decided to offer Zane the opportunity to attend Brighton Hall. He and Flora would be together, and I expected he would make friends easily. The commute for him would be nothing.

“I was thinking about lunch.” Venna smiled, her eyes careful. I could feel she was wary of me, but not afraid.

My stomach growled in response. “Great, I’ve been here all morning, skipped breakfast completely.”

“What were you doing?”

“I spoke to Davy. He went to New Orleans to see a witch doctor who said he thought he saw your father.”

“Really, when?”

“Two days ago. Then I spoke to Captain Fulk about Cal. His trial is in three days.”

Her eyes narrowed, assessing what I said with interest. She wasn’t used to hearing me speak about my duties. Frankly, I wasn’t used to it either. I’d been helping my parents for years now, but to have the reins completely during such a crisis was daunting. “Be honest with me Henry. Is this the first time you’ve ever had so much power?”

“Yes and no.” I leaned back in my chair to better watch her reaction. “This is the first time I’ve had to perform so many different tasks at once. I do not doubt my abilities, only hope that the decisions I make are the right ones. This is the first time I’ve had anyone I care about involved.”

“I trust you.”

“Thanks.” Her faith in me was amazing, despite what I’ve done.

She smirked. “But you have something you didn’t have before.”

“Oh really?”

“Yes, you have me.”

“And two heads are better than one.”

“Precisely. Now, I’m hungry. Lets take a break and eat.”

I was looking forward to lunch, except my cell phone rang shrilly in the quiet room. Maybe I could talk her into eating in the office. I was obviously needed here.

The Halls number flashed bright blue on the screen.

Venna groaned. “Oh, crap.”

“Hello?” I answered.

“Henry?” Mr. Hall asked, his voice anxious.

“Mr. Hall, how are you?” Venna pressed her ear next to mine to listen.

“Fine. What are you kids are up to? I haven’t seen or heard from Venna or Zane.”

“We’ve been busy.” I offered. Venna laughed nervously, busy was an understatement. “My cousin came to stay with us.”

“Oh,” He grumbled, not sounding like he believed me. “Let me speak to Venna.”