Book of Love (20 page)

Emily smiled, the freckles lifting. “I know
that, Wes,” she whispered, her eyes seeing into my very soul.

I licked my lips, trying to find a meaning.
“There is a reason why we’re here together, Em. Perhaps we were
meant to support each other, drawn to whatever demon has possessed
or blessed us with these thoughts and changes.”

Emily tilted her head.
“But with Gregory—I’ve felt that same dangerous feeling from him
before. Greg is different than you, Wes, or anyone else. I should
want to hurt him for the things I hear, but I don’t. What does that
mean, Wes? Why do I feel so…
protective?”
A tear fell from her
eye.

I kissed it off her cheek and licked my lip.
The salty sweetness reminded me of the way her lips tasted. I
suddenly craved them, but the fear in her eyes told me it wasn’t
the right time. I drew a deep breath and pressed back my desires.
“What do you feel? What do you hear from him?”

She looked frightened by
the answer on her mind.
“Screaming.”
Her voice shook.
“Like
murderous
screams.” Her face changed, now laced with a look of
bewilderment. “And Max, too. Only what I hear from him is much
different, almost like a lullaby. But still, I fear it because it’s
a strange and dark lullaby, like a song of death.” She was
whimpering, struggling to hold herself together. “My sister, she
must not sense that from him. How could she? I mean, I know she’s a
smart girl, and would never get involved with someone shady,
but—”

“
Max?”
I creased my brow. “You
hear that from Max, too?” Anger surged through my heart. Though I
was falling in love with Emily, I still wanted to protect
Jane.

Emily looked disturbed, showing that she’d
heard my thoughts and was bothered by the fact that I still
cared.

“
Em,
don’t look at me like that. We need to get Jane away from Max, and
you know that as well as I,” I pressed. She still looked perplexed.
“Jane’s your sister, and she could be in danger by being with him.
We can’t let anything happen to her. I’m telling you this from a
romantically
unattached
position. Just look into my head, you’ll see that
I’m telling you the truth.” I forced her to look me in the
eye.

I could tell she agreed, though resentfully.
“But what do they want?”

I shrugged. “I don’t know yet, but doesn’t
it seem strange that it’s all happening at once? What if these
changes are in correlation with the fact of the brothers arrival in
Glenwood Springs?”

She nodded. “But I don’t understand,
Wes.”

“
Em, what
if they are evil. What if I’m meant to protect everyone,
and…
kill
them?”

“
Wes!” Emily looked cross.
She lowered her voice. “Wes, you’re talking about murder. Besides,
you’re jumping to conclusions a little fast, don’t you think?” She
shook her head. “I know your hormones are raging right now, but
that does not justify bumping off the creepy new kids in
school!”

I finally released my hold on her arm. “I
know, Em. I’m sorry. It’s just… I don’t need time to get to know
them like you do. I know they’re bad news, and my mind is made up.
Just don’t come crying to me when you finally realize that too
late.”

“
Whatever, Wes.” She pouted
for a moment as we walked in silence.

I let my mind wander, watching her. The
angry lines around her eyes were cute, and her somewhat tough
exterior crumbled as I felt the soft passion of her heart.

Emily finally smiled, relaxing a little as
my flirtatious thoughts calmed her. “So, Wes, back to what’s
important…” Her cheeks flushed. “You’re falling in love with me? Is
that what you said?”

I laughed.

Max:

I’d planned to get the door for Jane, but
she was already out of the car. Women these days: no longer willing
to allow a man to show a little chivalry.

“
Wow,” she was looking up
at the house.

“
Yeah, it’s rather old.” I
looked at the European style eaves. The quiet rustle of the woods
around us crackled in my ears.

“
I’ll say,” she swooned. “I
never knew there was a house like this in the area.”

I walked up to her, forgetting myself as I
took her hand, still drunk from the way she touched me in the car.
She looked shocked by the intimate connection, but when she didn’t
pull away, I felt better.

“
When was it
built?”

“
Late
eighteen-hundreds.”

Jane nodded, and I knew what question was
coming next. “Was it in the family?” She squeezed my hand.

I tried to think of a good explanation. This
house wasn’t part of our family, but rather the alchemist’s family,
but it wasn’t time for me to explain that to her just yet. The
alchemist never had children. Being that my mother was his one true
love, he’d never married. Because of this, Erik had inherited his
estate when he’d finally passed on.

“
Yes. You could say that,”
I finally answered.

Jane gave me an inquisitive look, but didn’t
venture further with the subject.

“
My grandfather loves it,
as you can imagine. He believes the house is magickal, and the
history of it lends itself to his tales. I’m sure you’ve read a lot
about the things he believes.” I lifted her hand as it remained in
mine. “He found that ring in this house, in a secret
room.”

Jane’s eyes grew wide with enthusiasm. “A
secret room? That must have been fascinating! I bet he has a lot of
tales.” Though her thoughts were hard to read because of the ring,
holding her hand let me see that her mind was alive. “It was
probably fun to hear about growing up, wasn’t it?”

“
It was fun, and his
stories were vivid, as though I was there.” I smiled to myself,
knowing that in truth, I was there.

As long as Gregory stayed away, I always
managed to make my way back here. Years would pass without a word
from Gregory, but then there were years where he never left my
side. For the most part, he left Erik alone. I don’t think he meant
to murder him at all, as things were beginning to suggest, but in
his rage, he had gotten out of control. Erik was just a child at
the time—innocent—and I think Greg always felt guilty about it,
though he’d never flat out admit it.

I took her up the stairs and onto front
porch, our shoes echoing across the ancient wood. I grasped the
tarnished silver handle, opening the door as I led her in.

“
Hello?” I
announced.

There was a rustling from the library just
to the left of the front door. Erik emerged, rolling toward us in
his wheelchair. “Hello!” He chuckled.

I’d briefed him on the
ring, and the fact that he was now my
grandfather
, and no longer my
brother. Erik had groaned when I told him that, reminding me that
there was a time when he was an uncle, but was now too old for that
to apply.

Erik’s eyes flashed me one last warning. The
last few days he’d lectured me about the fact that having Jane here
was dangerous, but I refused to allow Gregory to prevent me from
trying to have a normal life, and a normal girlfriend. It had been
over eighty years that I’d dealt with his torment, and I was done
giving into the death. I wanted to live again.

I placed my hand on the small of Jane’s back
as we stood. Erik noticed, winking discreetly.

He turned his attention
back to Jane. “Aren’t you
gorgeous,
my dear?” Erik rolled closer to her, taking her
hand and holding it between both of his. He eyed the ring. “Do you
like the ring?” He touched it. “Absolutely magnificent, isn’t
it?”

Jane giggled bashfully. “You really didn’t
have to give it to me.” She allowed Erik to continue to hold her
hand.

Erik smiled large, the wrinkles on his face
engulfing his eyes. “It was my pleasure. Besides, I have plenty of
other magickal things.”

He turned, and Jane followed him. We entered
the dining room, the table filled with an array of foods, all
things I had no appetite for. A waiter came up to me and offered me
an hors d’œuvre. Erik was mocking me now, and I didn’t like it.

“
Oh,
wow
, Mr. Gordon.” Jane laughed. I loved her laugh. “You really
went out of your way!” She took a hors d’œuvre, taking the heat off
me.

Erik’s eyes were laughing, and I gave him a
reproachful glare in return.

We all sat, the clocks on the walls ticking.
I watched her as her eyes remained occupied by the pictures on the
wall. I saw Erik smirk further.

“
You enjoy art as well?”
she asked. Jane was looking at an image of our family, tilting her
head with interest. I tried to read her thoughts to see if she
suspected anything, but I heard nothing.

Erik glanced sideways at
me. “That is…
Er…
That is our family.”

“
Erik’s
parents, my
great
-grandparents,” I added, still
exchanging glances with Erik.

Erik’s expression was nervous, but it had
been a long time since I’d heard his thoughts. The alchemist had
created a potion that permanently blocked his thoughts from prying
minds. He had given it to Erik before he died. I wasn’t prepared to
use that elixir on Jane, thinking that there may come a day when
I’d need to know what went on in her head.

“
Yes. I’m
the youngest, and…
Er…
Max’s father is
uh…”
He pointed to the boy in the
middle, me. “The boy there.”

Jane giggled. “Max, he
looks just like you! Or rather, you look just like
him.”

“
You have no idea,” I
mumbled.

The image of me in the painting was when I
was ten. Thankfully, I hadn’t looked too much like the person I was
now. I threw a discreet glare toward Erik. He shrugged. We hadn’t
prepared for her to ask questions about the art, and in truth, we
had completely forgotten.

“
So, then, that must be
you.” Jane pointed to our father. She then looked at Erik,
squinting as she struggled to find the resemblance.

Our father had green eyes, where Erik’s were
hazel. Our father also had black hair, and Erik had brown. Luckily,
though, Erik’s hair was now white.

“
You were so handsome, Mr.
Gordon!” She exclaimed.

Erik chuckled with a mouth
full of food. “Dear, please call me Erik, and I think I still
am
handsome.”

Jane laughed, nodding enthusiastically. “Oh,
yes. You are!” She looked back at the painting, and my nerves
refused to relax. “So, then the other two boys… are those you’re
uncles?” She was directing the question toward me.

I didn’t like the questions. I should have
been better prepared.

A laugh erupted from deep inside the house
then, just when I thought things couldn’t possibly get worse. I
shut my eyes and exhaled, dread washing over me.

Greg walked into the room.
“Yes, those are his
uncles.”

Jane:

I froze when I saw his face. He winked at
me.

Gregory?

My nostrils flared as I tried to get oxygen
to my brain. He was exactly the same as I’d seen him in the dream,
right down every spiked, black hair on his head. Max touched my
hand, and I looked at him. He looked perplexed, his brows a narrow
line of anger. My heart plummeted into my stomach, and I dropped my
fork.

“
Gregory, what are you
doing here?” Max spoke through his teeth, clearly angered to see
him.

How was he real?
I’d never seen him aside from my dreams, but
then, how was he here? Gregory eyed my ring, the smile on his face
never faltering.

“
Ah,
Max. You gave her your
ring.” He was smiling falsely.

I snatched my hand from the table, hiding it
within my other.

His
ring?

Gregory rolled back onto
his heels. “How…
inventive
of you, Brother.” His smile faded, and his green
eyes grew wide and piercing.

Gregory walked toward me, “Where are my
manners?” He shoved his hand toward me. “I’m Greg, Max’s
brother.”

I swallowed, hoping the
fear in my face didn’t give away my secret. I was too shocked to
take his hand, not to mention too afraid of what would happen if I
did. He gave up and dropped it to his side. “Rather
rude
guest,” he spoke
under his voice.

The room was thick with tension, the clocks
now the only sound. Gregory took a seat beside me as the legs of
the chair scraped against the old wood floor. He was smiling as
though nothing were wrong. He hastily grabbed some food and I
watched him heap a plate.

“
Man…”
he addressed the room
as everyone stared. Clearly there was something more to this than
the tension between him and me. There was a tension between
everyone. “I’m
starving!
Aren’t you, Max? Seems like
ages
since I last ate.” He threw a
look toward Max, tilting his head. I couldn’t understand the
emotion on his face.

Max stood. Gregory dropped his fork to the
plate, standing faster than I’d ever seen anyone stand before. He
still held a table knife in his other hand, his body poised for
attack.