The Violet Line (28 page)

What she was telling me made sense and yet it didn’t really want to go inside my head, so I simply sat silently listening as she spoke about how to use my powers. Finding out that she was my real mother was confusing enough without also learning that any vampire who bit me would be unable to stop themselves. I suppose on one hand it was a good thing; at least it meant that even if they did catch up to me, they couldn’t turn me into their dark queen. It didn’t make sense though; if they couldn’t do it, then why was there the prophecy in the first place?

“
One other thing I think is important that you should know about your powers is that it is said that the child will have the power to inflict both life and death on whomever she chooses. Now, I know you can only force the feeling of death upon your victim at the moment, correct?” I nodded, not truly knowing where she was going with this. “And you have also discovered you can heal wounds now, yes?”

“
Well yeah, but I only did that to Sam and he was in desperate need. I had to do something; I couldn’t let him die.”

She nodded thoughtfully before speaking again. “I think that this is simply the pre-cursor to your powers; a taster, if you will. You can make them feel death but you have not yet killed anyone with it and you can heal wounds but you haven’t yet brought somebody back from the boundary between life and death. From my understanding of the prophecy, in order for you to bestow a life, you have to first take a life; only then can you give it back to whoever it is that you choose. Am I making any sense about this because it is all still quite confusing to me and I’ve had years to mull it over.” She said this as she began to laugh. Her laughter was infectious and it wasn’t long before I found myself laughing with her; the situation was ludicrous and yet it was still happening.

“
Umm yeah, I don’t quite get it, but I’m sure as time goes on, I will.”

“
Hmmm, I suppose you will. I just hope you can learn it fast enough. I don’t suppose it is right for me to be laughing at such an important matter, but I’m just so happy to have you finally here. Even if it is about something so serious – naturally I would prefer it if you were here on a much happier note – just simply having you here, Jade, makes my heart sing. Come on, shall we return to the kitchen? Lorcan is going to think we’ve forgotten about him. I’m going to put the kettle on again; your father will be here shortly and I do believe he is very excited about seeing you again.”

She smiled as she stood up. At the mention of my father, my stomach did summersaults. What if I wasn’t what he was expecting? What if I was a disappointment to him? I didn’t think I could bear the rejection if it turned out that I wasn’t what he had hoped I would be. I smiled a small smile back at her and followed her into the kitchen. Lorcan gave me the thumbs up as I passed him, making me laugh. He did have such a cheerful outlook on life; I wished I could be half as cheerful as him sometimes. I sat down at the table and watched as she rushed around the kitchen, organising things on the table and taking down a large cup from the shelf.

“
Your father won’t drink real tea at all; it always has to be nettle or dandelion. I don’t understand it; I think it tastes foul,” she said as she sprinkled dried leaves into a teapot she had placed on the table. “We always have two pots in this house; one for him and one for me. I never was a herbal or fruit tea drinker, even back when I was in the human world, and I have no intention of starting now.” She said this as she filled the teapot we had been drinking from with new leaves and freshly boiled water and then filled the other teapot with boiling water, too. “There now.”

As she spoke, I watched the air near the hall door begin to glow. The shimmering grew brighter until I could make out the outline of a man. I couldn’t see his features, the light was far too bright for that, but I could see that his silhouette was slightly oddly shaped with something large protruding from his shoulder area. Lorcan jumped from his seat and looked slightly panicked as the shimmering continued to grow brighter. My mother tried to grab his arm as he raced for the back door.

“
Lorcan, sit and relax. It’s fine; you’re my guest in my house.” Her reassurances didn’t seem to abate any of his panic and he still barrelled for the door, waving at me as he dived past me and whispering a hurried goodbye to Emily. I glanced away from Lorcan as he put his hand on the doorknob and looked back to where my father stood.

No longer surrounded by a glowing shimmering light, it faded as he appeared completely. I was immediately struck by how beautiful he was. For me, men were normally handsome – it seemed to be the only accurate way to describe them – but what stood in the kitchen now was the most strikingly beautiful man I had ever seen in my life – and he looked angry. He glowered as Lorcan tried to turn the doorknob and escape but to no avail. The door wouldn’t budge. I could hear his rapid, frightened breathing as he turned back to face the man, that he seemed to be petrified of. The fact that Lorcan was afraid of him made me feel as though I should be afraid of him, but I simply couldn’t bring myself to feel it.

“
Lorcan Fitzgerald, what are you doing in my house when I expressly told you to never set foot in here again or I would turn you into a real leprechaun!” His voice was melodic, reminding me of a stream bubbling along over pebbles as it wove its way down through the forest. I was mesmerised.

He still stood in the doorway to the hall, his beautiful face clouded with anger. He stood at about six foot one in height and willowy was the perfect word to describe him; he was slender but as he moved into the kitchen, I could see the strength and grace in his movements. My mother had been right. He was more graceful than the vampires; he made them seem clumsy in comparison. His hair was jet black and curled in a soft wave; it wasn’t quite short, but it certainly wasn’t long either. The most striking thing I noticed about him was his eyes; they glowed a deep violet as if lit from within by a purple light. He didn’t have a pupil in the way I have one; well, from what I could make out from my seat anyway, it seemed to be more oval than round. The strange shape I had seen protruding from his shoulders became apparent as he moved further into the room. It was his wings and they didn’t stick out from his shoulders but instead sat lower down on his back and rose up above his shoulders. They were long and sort of narrow, not anything like the butterflies wings I had always imagined a fairies wing might resemble. I could see through them, but it was like looking through a shimmering haze that was tinted slightly grey; it made everything on the other side of them look like an old black and white movie. Breaking up the surface of the wings were hundreds of tiny little violet lines that ran along and over one another; I could understand now what Emily had meant by a cob-webbing effect. They were stunning and I stared at them as he moved towards the centre of the room, still glowering at Lorcan.

“
Well, boy, don’t you have anything to say to me on the matter?”

Emily stood in front of him then. “Faraling! How dare you speak to one of my guests in that way. I invited him here and he’s allowed to stay as long as I choose. So kindly refrain from trying to upset him and pay attention to what is really important right now. I have someone I’d like you to meet.”

Turning, she swept her hand in my direction. As he turned his violet eyes on me, I felt recognition wash through me; I remembered him. Snippets just like with my mother, but he seemed completely familiar to me somehow and I couldn’t help the large smile that broke across my face. He stared at me for a couple of moments which felt like a lifetime and then suddenly I watched his face light up. As he realised who I was, he crossed the room with two bounds of his dancer-like movement and stood before me, sweeping me into a strong bear hug that knocked the air completely out of my lungs. I laughed in surprise at his reaction and he whispered against my hair, “You’ve come home, child. Oh thank the fey, you’ve come home. I always knew you would return to us someday but I never expected it to be so soon. You look so different from the last time I held you cradled in my arms. Jade, my Jade; our Jade.”

I was shocked by his reaction; I hadn’t expected it to be anywhere near as emotional as this, but then I hadn’t been sure what to expect. Releasing me from his tight grip, he held me at arm’s length and spoke to Emily over his shoulder.

“
Why didn’t you tell me she had arrived? I would have come home straight away so I could see her and spend time with her. When did she get here?” His questions came out as rapid fire and I was hard pressed to keep up with the flow of conversation.

“
I didn’t want to call you back because I knew you had important business to attend to with the king and the prophecy this morning. I didn’t feel I should disturb you in case you came across anything that might help our daughter. She arrived here this morning after you left. Lorcan brought her and she had a rough crossing through the veil and well when I told her who I was, well, let’s just say she was more than surprised. She has slept for most of the day so you wouldn’t have been able to spend time with her anyway.” She smiled at him as she spoke and I could see the love she held for him painted in every line of her body.

“
Ah yes, but Emily, I could have watched her sleep; it has been a long time since I got to see our baby girl do that. But I suppose you were right; it was better to let me work on trying to figure out the final keys in the prophecy.” His voice sounded tired and the emotion he spoke with when he talked of watching me sleep caused tears to run silently down my cheeks.

“
Have you found anything else out?” She asked him worriedly, hurrying to his side.

“
No. Well, not really. I’m not sure, if I’m being honest. Nobody is sure anymore; we’ve read it all so many times and the last piece just always seems to elude us somehow.” He shook his head sadly.

“
I’ve been thinking about it all since Jade arrived here today. What gets me is how exactly are the vampires planning on turning her when none of them can drink her blood without turning completely blood thirsty? There wouldn’t be enough blood left in her to turn her. They can’t help themselves; it’s in their nature to drain someone like her.” She turned towards me. “I’m sorry, darling, I don’t mean to talk as though you are not here, but I need to explain it and we won’t mind if you don’t want to listen.”

“
It’s okay. I want to listen; I think it’s important for me to understand as much of this as I possibly can. If I don’t understand it then how can I possibly expect to find Sam? No, you keep talking; I’ll just listen and if I think of anything then I can add it. Maybe a fresh pair of ears will cast a new light on all of this.”

She smiled at me. “So understanding and rational; I think you get that from your father, along with the good looks.”

I blushed, looking at the people I had come from. I couldn’t see how I could be compared with their beauty, neither my father’s nor my mother’s; they were both extremely beautiful and ethereal creatures. Granted, my mother had a very different type of beauty than my father, but I could completely understand why he fell in love with her; who wouldn’t? I, on the other hand, felt entirely plain standing next to them.

She ushered my father and I to a seat at the table before pouring cups of strong sweet smelling tea. Turning to Lorcan, who was still frozen in place, she said, “Lorcan, sit and drink some tea. You’re a part of this and, as Jade said, a fresh pair of ears might be helpful to finding the answer to all of this.”

He hesitated a moment before awkwardly returning to his seat in the corner and accepting the cup of tea she handed him. I sat there watching them move from under my eyelashes, not wanting to be caught staring but still unable to look away; they intrigued me. Faraling sat beside me. His eyes never left my face, as though by staring at me he could forever imprint my face onto his memory. I had never been watched so intently. Emily placed the cup of steaming tea in front of him but it sat there untouched. No words were spoken as she readied everything but I could feel the questions bubbling beneath the surface, simply waiting to burst forth from his lips like water breaking through a dam. He opened his mouth and Emily silenced him.

“
Not right now, dear. You can question her when we’ve discussed the important matters. The prophecy and her future are at stake and everything else can wait because I won’t rest until she is safe.”

He closed his mouth again and nodded very slowly, as though there was a war waging within him. He simply sat there looking at me.

“
As I was saying before, I don’t understand how the council intends on changing Jade. It’s in the prophecy that no ordinary vampire is capable of turning her; she’s irresistible to their kind. So it makes no sense and we shouldn’t have this problem.” She sat mulling the question over until my father spoke up.

“
I know what you are saying. However, the vampires are wily creatures and the fact that the prophecy is there is enough to make them want to pursue all of this. Jade should have been safe. It’s still not even known how the vampires found out about this prophecy. As far as the court researchers are aware, it only exists in the Book of the Fey and nobody except the court and the researchers have access. So the vampires should never have found out about the coming of this child, nor should they have known that she would be their dark queen. It simply makes no sense.”

I sat listening intently to everything they said; I was desperate for any clue that could help me find Sam. Listening to them speak reminded me of the last conversation I had shared with Sam before he left.

“
Sam did mention something before he left; you know about the whole turning me part. He sort of alluded to the fact that they would use him to kill me, or turn me; whichever way you want to say it, but it all amounts to the same thing in the end. I thought he meant that they would track me through him and that is probably part of it, but if Sam is the only one who has the self control to not drain me, isn’t it possible that they will try to use him as the one who turns me? It’s the only thing I can think of that might make sense. He does seem like the perfect candidate; after all, he’s the only one who would never see me die,” I spoke up before I realised I was talking out loud.