The Violet Line (29 page)

They both sat watching me with stunned expressions on their faces. Emily broke first. “She’s been here five minutes and already she has thought of something we hadn’t thought of and it is the only thing that makes sense. The only part in all of this that still doesn’t add up is how are they going to make Sam turn you? From what I’ve seen, it looks as though he’d rather die than hand you over to them and I don’t believe he has any intention of turning you because that would be playing straight into their hands.”

I nodded in agreement. “Yeah, I don’t know how they would ever persuade Sam to do that one; I don’t think it is in him to ever cause me any harm. I mean, he did try and kill himself because he thought it was the way to keep me safe. Him suddenly changing and turning me makes no sense, but then maybe there is something in the bigger picture we’re not seeing or understanding.”

Silence fell upon us once more. I couldn’t figure out how they would get Sam to betray me in that way. I know Sam and he wasn’t capable of it; but then, perhaps they would find some way to force his hand.

Faraling spoke then, breaking the silence. “Jade, I know this is all so much for you to take in and understand. I want you to know that I was never in agreement with sending you away; I never wanted that for you or for us. We loved you so much and we still love you. But I didn’t have a choice. I don’t know how much your mother has told you.”

“
It’s ok. She explained it all to me and I get it; I really do. I know it wasn’t your fault and that you didn’t give me away because you wanted to.”

He sighed with relief and I could see it flood over his face and wash down into his body; his shoulders relaxed and he seemed more at ease. “Thank you. I was so worried you would hate us for doing what we did, but I know your mother has kept watch over you all these years. At least it gave us some peace of mind; that we could see you and ensure that you never got into too much difficulty.

“
However, I don’t know if your mother told you that the fairy king asked for you to be brought here. He wants to meet you, you know, and it’s such a big honour but if you don’t want to, then you really don’t have to. In fact, I’m a bit concerned about his intentions for wanting to meet you. Over the years, the whole idea of the prophecy has completely engulfed him; he’s obsessed and never stops looking for answers to the prophecy. I’m worried what he might do to you if he meets you so perhaps, if you agree, we should keep your little visit a secret for now?”

I was surprised by the fact that the fairy king would want to meet me, but he knew them better than anyone and I would agree with anything he had to say on the matter. “Sure. You know them best and if you don’t think it’s wise just yet, then fair enough; I won’t meet them yet.”

He smiled at me and I smiled back. I felt so safe here. It wasn’t that I didn’t feel safe with who I had always thought of as my parents, but I had never really fitted in. I had powers and no matter how understanding my mom had been, she would never really be able to understand what it was like and just how scary it truly was. Being here, I felt so comfortable. I didn’t have to worry about hurting them because they knew what I was; they knew what I could do and that made me feel safe.

We sat quietly drinking our tea and I glanced over at Lorcan. He sat awkwardly on the edge of his chair, holding his cup balanced on his knee. He looked as though he might bolt at any second. I had never seen him appear so uncomfortable. He had always appeared so calm and in control every time I had seen him in the human world and now here with my biological father sitting at the table, he seemed panicked. I smiled quietly and lifted the cup to my lips when suddenly Emily slammed her cup onto the table. I glanced over towards her but Faraling was already out of his chair and around the table kneeling at her side. I didn’t know what was happening.

“
Emily, can you hear me? What’s it; talk to me, love.” He spoke softly against her cheek, brushing her long brown hair back away from her face. I watched, feeling unsure about what I should do; I didn’t want to ask what was wrong in case I interrupted something important. She turned her face towards his and I could see the tears glistening on her cheeks but her eyes were completely unfocused. In one swift movement, Faraling swept her up into his arms and strode from the room, leaving me sitting with Lorcan. I felt completely bewildered by what had occurred but it did ring a bell with me. Had I looked like that when I was having my visions of Sam? Was my mother having a vision of something? I couldn’t help but speculate about whether it would involve me or not. Perhaps it was about something totally unrelated; I just wasn’t sure. I looked at Lorcan.

“
Do you know what happened?” I asked, positive that if I was going to get any answers right now, it would be from him.

“
I’d say she’s having a vision, but sure I can’t swear to it. I’ve seen her having them before and it usually happens like that.” He stood then, startling me, and placed his cup on the table.

“
Where are you going?” I asked, still feeling unsure of myself because it was still all very new; even though I felt safe, I didn’t understand everything that happened in this place.

“
I’m going to head away, now that I can. Your dad has brought her upstairs. She gets pretty tired after the visions, sort of takes it out of her, really. And well, I don’t want to still be here when he gets back down; we don’t get on, as you may have noticed.” He smiled at me as he spoke trying to make me feel less uneasy. I could count on Lorcan to try his best to make me feel comfortable; he had such an easy charm about him he could make anyone feel relaxed.

“
Please, Lorcan, don’t go yet; don’t leave me on my own. I don’t think I could feel comfortable on my own here just yet. And well, I know you; not well, but I do know you. It’s just all so bizarre; I’m finding it hard to take it all in.” I watched as he fought over the possibilities in his head until finally he sighed.

“
Grand. I’ll stay but if your dad comes back down here and tries to tear strips off me, I, well, I won’t be responsible for my actions. I don’t need his bad temper directed at me anymore than it is; I’ve had quite enough of that, thank you.”

I smiled but chose not to say anything to him. He was so afraid of my father, the only reaction he might have would be to run crying from the house. When it came down to it, it was becoming more and more apparent that Lorcan was a softie at heart and wouldn’t be able to hurt anyone, although he had dealt with the vampire very efficiently. He sat down carefully on the chair beside me and I could see that he was holding most of his weight gingerly on his legs rather than placing his entire self onto the chair.

“
The furniture looks really dainty, doesn’t it? It’s all so fragile and small. Where did your seat come from?” I questioned, trying to make him feel more at ease in the same way that he always made me feel less tense.

Laughing, he replied, “Well, all this stuff is your pretty typical fairy furniture. They make it look really pretty, but unless you have the graceful willowy fairy frame that they all have, it’s just not feasible. I mean, seriously look at me. I’m six foot ten and I’m a well built lad; I play sports and I’ve always looked after myself. Wouldn’t you agree?”

I watched him preen as he spoke and tried to smother the smile that curled my lips. “Yeah, you’re well built, an athlete’s physique I’d say; like someone who plays a lot of rugby or hurling maybe?”

“
How did you know? Is it really that obvious that I play sports?”

I couldn’t stop the laughter that burst forth. I tried hard to speak around it but had to give up and wait for the laughter to subside. Lorcan simply sat and watched me with a bemused expression.

“
What; what’s so funny? I don’t get what you’re laughing at; I mean, if you could guess from my physique what type of sport I played, it must be pretty obvious.”

Finally I could talk again. “Lorcan, I’m not laughing about that; I’m laughing because it’s obvious what sports you play. I mean come on, as I was looking out the window that time and I got stuck, I could see you coming down the drive with a hurley and a slíotar. It was pretty obvious you knew how to use them; you certainly weren’t a stranger to it. And well, the rugby; well, you do have the build of a rugby player. I’m sure there are plenty of them out there who’d kill to be built like you.”

“
Oh, right. So it was because you seen me with the hurley? Ok. I mean, I don’t play rugby but I really want to get into it; two of my older brothers started playing it and they love it. The leprechauns as a clan tend to mainly play hurling and Gaelic football; it’s what we were brought up on and I suppose we’d like to branch out but I think the older ones are afraid we would forget the old traditions. I don’t think we could, though.

“
Anyway, that chair I like to sit in belonged to your mom when she lived in the human world. Your dad brought it here for her so she could have some of her things around her. I can really go off topic sometimes, you know. I think it just gets away from me. My mother always said I could talk for Ireland if I wanted to but I don’t think I could. I think maybe she could but, well, is there a talking competition? I donthert think there is one.” A shout from upstairs stopped us both. “I think your dad called you. You should go up; I’ll wait here for you, ok?”

“
Thank you.”

Chapter Twenty Seven

I stood up and made my way out the door and up the small stairs. Faraling stood at the top of them and he ushered me forward.

“
Your mother wants to talk to you. I hope I didn’t frighten you. It’s just I know she likes her privacy when she has the visions in case it’s something particularly bad and I don’t think she wanted to upset you. I heard you have them, too, but I don’t think you have them to the extent your mother does yet, though she thinks that will come with time. Come on, I’ll take you into her. She’s just feeling a bit tired but she says you’ll want to hear it anyway.”

I kept silent as I followed him into the bedroom and walked towards where Emily lay on the bed. She motioned for me to take a seat beside her as she sat up. She was paler than she had been earlier; the rosy bloom she had in her cheeks was gone replaced instead by a chalky pallor and purple bruising under both eyes. I took up my indicated seat beside her and waited for her to speak.

“
Jade, you know how you have visions? Well, I get them, too. I had one about you and Sam but I don’t know how well you’re going to like it; either of them, because I had two. From what I can make out, there are two outcomes from this whole situation; which one will happen, I don’t know yet. It requires another decision to be made and until that happens, I won’t know which one is the real future. Would you like to hear about the visions I had? I’ll understand if you don’t want to.”

“
No, I want to hear. It might help me in getting Sam back and I need as much information about all this as I can get.”

She sighed and sucked in a deep breath before beginning to speak. “In my vision, I seen how happy you and Sam are together; you are soul mates and nothing can change that. However, with this bond you both share, it leaves you vulnerable to attack and some terrible choices must be made.

“
My first vision shows you in the presence of the vampire council. You are presented with a terrible choice, Jade; either you agree to being turned or they will kill Sam. In this vision, you agree to it because you want to save Sam. The head of the council tries to turn you but it is a failure and you die. In his failure, he releases within you the potential to unleash an aspect of your power I had no idea existed. As he drains you, your power floods outwards and kills every single vampire in the room, including Sam.”

I gasped. I wouldn’t hurt Sam. I couldn’t hurt Sam; he means everything to me. She took my hand in hers and rubbed it between hers.

“
Jade, you need to realise you have no control over this aspect of your power. It happens because you are dying against your will but you agreed to it in order to save Sam; this part of your power is simply an unconscious reaction to the situation. I know you wouldn’t hurt him; I’ve seen how much you love him, how much you’re willing to give up for him.”

I shook my head, trying to clear the image of me killing Sam. I just couldn’t accept it. It didn’t make sense; even it being a subconscious decision didn’t make any sense to me.

“
What was the other vision you had?” I didn’t think it could be any worse than the first.

“
Well, my second vision begins the same; you are given the choice of either watching Sam die or agreeing to be turned, which you do. However, this is where this vision became quite strange. Something happens to Sam, but I’m not sure what it is; this part of the vision is far too unclear to make out. I see you lying on the floor. You are bleeding and Sam is kneeling, holding you. I know you are almost dead because I can feel it. The pain of this one almost tore me apart; I could feel all of Sam’s feelings as well as yours and my own because of the situation. Anyway, Sam kneels over you and bites you and then spills some of his own blood into the wound in a gesture of turning you. For a moment, it appears that it doesn’t work and then you stirred and I felt so happy. I knew I shouldn’t, but I’m your mother; I can’t help it. As you stirred, you began to writhe in agony on the floor.

“
Now Jade, I have no idea what happened when Sam bit you or even what led up to that point of him biting you and sharing blood with you; all I know is that when he did, you didn’t take the blood exchange and he tried to hold you. I think he hoped it would pass but it didn’t. I think with the pain of it all, you simply hanging in the balance between this world and that of the shadow plane was too much for you and your power consumed you and Sam. You killed him because he was holding you and then, from what I could understand of it, your power simply killed you as well. It was the most painful thing I have ever had to witness in my visions, Jade; it’s not something a parent should ever have to see. I don’t think I could bear to see you be consumed in that manner.” Her voice trailed off and I was left sitting there, stunned by her revelations. It seemed no matter what I did, I was destined to kill Sam and I just wasn’t sure I was willing to allow that to happen.