“We can see you, Charmaine. Try to say something,” I said.
“I’m not dead!” she yelled and when she saw our surprised looks she covered her mouth with her hands.
“You did it. Where’s Cain?” I said as I got up out of bed and walked over next to Charmaine.
I tried to hug her but my arms went right through her.
“She’s a spirit, remember?”
“Cain,” I called.
Cain came rushing in, “What’s wrong?”
“Look, Charmaine’s spirit is here! Can’t you do something? Go back in time and stop her from going to the chateau?”
“Yes, I think I can as long as her essence remains. I’ll have to hurry though. I don’t know how long I have. I’ll follow Amparah’s memory back.”
Cain took a long look around and then ran back to Amparah’s room.
In mere seconds he was back with Charmaine in tow.
“It took some convincing, but here we are. Let your spirit join you and become one, Charmaine. I am sorry, I should have thought of that myself days ago.”
She had a shocked look on her face, but without speaking walked over to the spirit form of herself. Her spirit nodded and smiled before joining with her body and the spirit that was already there, making them one once again.
“I didn’t dare try to change too much of what happened, so I just brought her back with me. This way the future has not been changed and all of you retain the memory; except for Amparah’s of course. How do you feel Charmaine?”
“Fine, strange, but fine. I remember hovering above my body and then all of you. I remember seeing Katrina and Amparah’s spirits leaving their bodies and joining me for a time before they rejoined their bodies and I wondered why I wasn’t able to rejoin mine. But now those memories seem to be fading.”
“Because you didn’t go to the chateau after all. Retrieving you before you were struck down changed that. There soon will be no memory of it because it never happened.”
“Is that why everyone feels so much better now, because all of that is fading away?” I asked.
“I suppose, I’ve only done it once before,” Cain admitted.
“What if she was supposed to really have died?”
“Her spirit was here, she still had a choice to stay or go to the next dimension. She stayed. The fact that she is a Belnovus probably had a lot to do with it too,” Nira said.
“I remember having that out of body experience myself not long ago,” I said.
“That’s right, you’ve also been dead before haven’t you?” Cain remembered.
“Yes, thanks to you. Now I can hug you, Charmaine, welcome back.”
“It’s good to have you around, Cain,” Cathos said slapping him on the back.
A little white streak caught my attention.
“Smyth is that you?”
“
I have news, I have news
!”
“You sound panicked, what is it? Can someone make it so we can all hear him?”
“Yes, of course,” Nira said.
“Tell us what you saw, Smyth,” I told him as I knelt and held out my hand.
He scurried up and sat on his haunches so he could speak to us. As I stood I could feel his little heart pounding.
“Calm down, you’re safe here.”
“I have been all over the city with the others. I was drawn to a place where two men resided very near the cathedral. They were evil. I could feel that right away.”
“Did you hear their names, Smyth?” Damien asked.
“I remember hearing one call the other Devin.”
“The Wahl cousins,” Damien groused.
“They spoke of a woman. One who is now carrying the child who will become the next Dark Prince,” Smyth panted.
“What else did they say?”
“They would use her to bargain with the dark vampires so that they could stay and do as they wished, no matter what happened.”
“Did you see who this woman was?”
“No, they said that it was told to them by a powerful warlock who also said that demonic forces are looking for her too. They think she is here in this city and they are determined to find her before the demon does.”
“Why would they need this child anyway? It seems to me that another Dark Prince is nothing any dark force would want to compete against,” Damien said.
“They may be searching only to get rid of this child for just the reasons you describe,” Allwain said.
“There is more to this, I can feel it,” Nira said while starting to pace.
“Cathos, what to you think about this revelation?” I wondered.
“I really don’t know what to think. All I have to go on is what I’ve been told. It was Santera’s evil and living a life based on that evil that made him what he was. Who could say what form the dark power would take in the world of light?”
“His power almost consumed me and I only had a tiny amount of it…”
“Damien, what is it?” I said.
He seemed to be searching his mind for an answer. His panic filled eyes darting wildly side to side.
“I have to go,” he said and strode towards the door. “I’ll talk to you soon.”
“Damien,” I called after him, but he was gone.
“I have to go with him,” Cain said following him out.
“What was that all about?” Charmaine asked.
“I don’t know,” I said. “If you’ll excuse me, I’m going to get dressed. There is too much going on, my head is spinning. If I don’t concentrate on just one thing it’s going to drive me mad.”
“We can take a hint. I want to see Amparah anyway,” Charmaine said as everyone now started to exit the room.
“What do you want me to do, Katrina?” Smyth asked.
“You and several others go to Meil’s chateau and see what you can find out there. Be very careful, Smyth. This is a very dangerous vampire.”
“I’m going home. I have several things I need to do in Althar, but I’ll be back on Friday,” Cathos said before disappearing.
“Could someone get us close to the chateau? It’s a long way for little feet,” Smyth said as I knelt down and let him.
Allwain laughed, “Of course my little friend.”
He waved his hand and Smyth was the next to disappear.
“It’s good to have you back to normal, Katrina,” Allwain said, as he left.
“I do feel much better, thank you.”
“What a crazy few days,” Sarah said as she closed the door. “You do look like yourself again.”
“That changes right now.”
“Welcome, Suzette. Now what?”
“What time is it anyway?”
“Half past three,” Sarah said as she rifled through the dresses in the large, double armoire.
“Damien and Cain found out from our mason friends that Meil keeps to a very strict schedule each day. He always leaves work at four and has wine at the same brasserie every day before heading home. That’s just where I’ll be. Let’s pick out something very special for me to wear, shall we?”
As usual the Suzette persona’s dark red hair was in an up do, her flawless, porcelain complexion accented by ruby red lips. We picked out a lovely, light blue gown and matching hat and finished off the look with sapphires of the finest quality.
“Stunning, simply stunning,” Sarah said. “Yesterday you were on deaths door, and today…well you would never know that you’d ever been ill.”
“We are so lucky to have so many here that can help us. Where are the other girls any way?”
“They went shopping for new dresses for the party. I know they could have done it magically, but they wanted to be seen. Since you were out of danger, they thought it would be all right.”
“I know how bored they’ve been. I’ll talk to them later about what they saw at the boarding school. I’m ready; please have Alex bring the coach around front. What about Liridon and Yanna?”
“Yanna is fine, so Liridon and Gruen took her to see the city so that they could spend some time together.”
“I hope Cathos can find something out about their family while he’s back in Althar,” I said as we walked down the stairs together. “I wonder what’s really going on with Damien?”
“Who knows? Whatever it is I’m sure he’ll figure it out and tell you when he’s ready.”
Damien:
“Damien, wait,” Cain pleaded.
“I have a very bad feeling, Cain. I’ve got to get home.”
We portaled home and Ivan told us that we had had visitors. The Wahl cousins had dropped by.
“I told them you had company and that I had strict instructions that you were not to be disturbed. They were quite insistent saying that they would be back.”
“Thank you, Ivan.”
“I think it’s time to use our mark to end the cousin’s existence. They are really starting to get on my nerves, what do you think, Damien?”
“Not just yet, Cain. I may have plans for them.”
“Mind telling me what happened back there?”
“You remember…
I can’t say it out loud. You remember Genevieve, don’t you?”
“
Yes, what are you saying, Damien,” Cain questioned.
“I haven’t seen her for two months.”
“So? You kept company with her when you first came back here. But that’s when you still had dark… Wait just a minute, you don’t think…”
Katrina (Suzette):
“Good to see you, Mademoiselle,” Jonathon said as he opened the door for me.
“Good to see you too. Here is the address I am going to. After you drop me off, please stay close. Alex, I would like to add to your duties. Please see me after we return.”
I was sure that Alex, as my Watcher, would be happy to have something else to do besides drive the coach. I had already given him limited assignments, but now I needed him to do something else.
The romantic streets of Paris drifted by the window of the coach and my thoughts turned to another Watcher. My Quinn. I missed him so much. I closed my eyes and let my memory bring me back to the carefree days of our youth. The way his hair flopped in his face, those beautiful blue, Voss eyes that were always full of mischief.
“Stop it, now. You have to have your full attention on what you are doing,” I told myself.
I closed my eyes again and took in a deep scenting breath. I recognized several, but couldn’t put them together with faces yet. Before I could, we were in front of the brasserie.
The coach came to a complete stop and Jonathan opened the door. Alex had stepped down, and was looking suspiciously at those patrons that were seated outside.
“I don’t like this at all,” he said under his breath. “We should have waited for Gruen.