Altered Souls (7 page)

“
Partum a somnis tantum possum perturbare
.
”

The apothecary shop filled with a brilliant light that poured out of Logan’s wound. He tipped his head back causing the light to disperse in all directions. Mesmerized by the beautiful glow that was canvasing the entire shop, I accidentally let go of the knife. Watching it tumble to the floor, I began to hyperventilate as worry rushed through me that I might have interrupted the process. How could I be so careless?

“It’s okay. The process is in full swing now,” Logan whispered. Recognizing my panic, he softly touched my hand that was frozen mid-air. Moments earlier he was near death, and now he was taking care of me. Unbelievable.

The muscles along his jaw were completely strained, but his expression no longer seemed filled with agony. He tipped his head back, took a deep breath in, and a smile spread along his lips as the light was sucked back into wherever it had come from. The tension inside me began to quickly dissipate as I realized that he was beating the curse. He was really going to be okay.

Logan let out a groan that stopped my internal victory dance. I thought the worst was over. He squeezed my hand, slowly pulling me to him, but I was afraid I’d hurt him. He leaned forward and smiled, touching my chin with his thumb sending a current of happiness through me. His reaction wasn’t for the reason I feared.

Unable to hide my smile, I looked into blue eyes that were full of the life I’d come to expect from him, and as mischievous as always.

“Oh, my god,” I whispered, sliding my arms around his waist. “It’s a miracle.”

“No, it’s magic,” he replied coyly, bringing me into his embrace.

“Are you going to be okay?” I asked, resting my head on his chest.

“Thanks to you,” he replied. “But I think it’s time I quit underestimating Trevor.”

“You think?” I laughed, feeling Logan’s energy returning to its normal state.

“We should probably grab what we need and get out of here,” he replied, his arms not letting go even though his words said something else.

I nodded and felt the tears beginning again.

“I thought you’d slipped away,” I whispered. “And there’s so much I’ve wanted to tell you.”

“Well, I think we’ve got plenty of time for that now. It’s a long trip to New York.”

“We need to stop in Illinois first,” I said.

“Why’s that?” His embrace loosened slightly.

“I’m worried about your mom. I think she’s in danger.”

Chapter 8

He turned the car down a narrow street where rows of trees created a canopy over the road. We had finally made it to Illinois.

“Are we close?” I asked, in awe of the sprawling homes that lined the street.

“Yeah…a little farther.” His voice was tense.

We had driven over two thousand miles and the entire time we were unable to reach his mom. Between the images that Trevor’s mind spilled into mine, and my mom’s own disappearance, neither of us ran on much hope.

“Maybe she didn’t charge her phone,” I offered, attempting to believe my own words.

“Thanks for trying,” Logan replied, placing his hand on my knee. The familiar tingle ran through me, and I scolded myself.

“We’ll find out soon enough,” he replied.

The homes began to decrease in size but only slightly. Our home in Seattle was amazing — awesome really, but I think four of them would fit in
one
of these.

“That street sign we passed didn’t say Logan Loop, did it?”

Looking somewhat embarrassed, he gripped the steering wheel a little tighter.

“I’m guessing we’re in your neighborhood now,” I continued.

“My mom couldn’t resist moving to this street for obvious reasons.”

“You left this to come out to Seattle for college?” I turned in the seat to look at him, giving him my best skeptical expression.

“I left this to come out to Seattle for
you
.” He shrugged and wore a crooked smile. “I kinda thought we’d established that.” He raised his right eyebrow, and a full smile spread across his lips.

“Well, I didn’t think you’d be leaving
this
behind.” I smiled, waving my hand at everything I was seeing through the windows.

“That’s a little superficial.” His laughter filled the car. It was the first time since we left Seattle that his wonderful melody reached my soul. It was nice to hear it again.

“I’m only human,” I replied, trying to hide my smile. “And this is pretty impressive.”

Who was I kidding? This actually frightened me a little. First, cleaning it would be horrible. Second, I wouldn’t want to be home alone in it. It’s too big. Third, well I guess that was it. I’d probably adapt pretty quickly.

Unaware of the smile that had planted itself on my lips, Logan touched my chin softly to interrupt my daydreaming episode.

“Too bad I’m not the one who owns it.” He slowed the car down as we approached a beautiful stone home.

“Is that a guest house?” I asked, spotting a miniature replica of the grey house we were now parked in front of.

“Yeah. That’s actually where I stayed the last year or so of high school,” he said, turning off the car.

Wow, that’s some freedom to have in high school.

It’s funny. I knew Logan’s father sold his business right before he passed away, but I never thought it was a business that would provide something like this.

“It’s not looking promising,” Logan replied, snapping me back to the task at hand. “She rarely uses the garage unless she’s away, and her SUV’s not in the drive.”

He got out of the car and walked to the mammoth wooden door that looked more like it belonged on a castle than a house in a Chicago suburb. Well, maybe
house
was an understatement.

Not sure whether I should give him space or not, I slowly followed behind hoping the situation would direct me. I freed the snake from the box in the backseat and let out a sigh as I prepared for the inevitable. My heart already knew the answer as he unlocked the door and pushed it open. Peeking from behind, I saw the same thing as he did — nothing.

“Hey, mom?” Logan’s voice bounced off the entry’s slate floor.

I followed behind him as we entered the home, and I shut the front door. We both knew she wasn’t here. It didn’t need to be said.

“I’m so sorry,” I whispered, sliding my arms around his waist. He pulled me into him, and I rested my head against his shoulder.

“It never occurred to me that she could be a target.”

“My father seems to have an uncanny ability to persuade people to do what he wants though,” I stopped myself from continuing. Logan didn’t need to hear anything else. We were both well aware of my father’s abilities. I was finally starting to understand what we were dealing with, not who. Pure evil.

“So your mom wanted my mom to come visit or live?” he asked, dissecting everything I had told him from Trevor’s images. I wished I had more answers for him.

“It was strange. It’s like he’s got this compound where people are coming and hanging out. I don’t get it. But from what I could tell from Trevor’s memories, my mom wanted her there for a while. It’s really creepy what’s going on at his compound. He had all of these people, who seemed to be completely void of personality, pouncing on every word my father uttered.”

“Like a cult?” Logan’s eyes narrowed, as he ushered me through the gigantic foyer.

I nodded my head.

“Yeah, like that,” I sighed, walking down the endless hallway wondering where I was actually heading. My thought that this house was smaller than the others on the street was seriously mistaken.

Logan’s touch gently steered me to the right as the hallway came to an end, but I didn’t move forward. I couldn’t. The view was too breathtaking. In front of me was a wall of windows overlooking a shimmering carpet of water. Lake Michigan was this home’s masterpiece. The room framing this view was no less sensational. It was the size of our cottage, and this was only one room in the house.

There were beautiful sea-blue drapes falling in between each of the floor-to-ceiling windows. The walls were canvased in a velvety ivory with nautical sconces hung every few feet. There were several sets of overstuffed chenille couches placed in their own seating arrangements. It was quite astounding. I didn’t want to act impressed, but it was hard not to be.

“So what was your family’s business again?” I asked, turning to face Logan. “I thought it was fabric or something.”

“Textiles,” he replied, placing his hands on my shoulders.

I squinted at him as I tried gauge what to say or do. This wasn’t what I expected — not that it changed anything. But I was surprised I didn’t know.

“Huh. So that’s why you have such nice décor.” I wrinkled my nose at him as I thought about this new development.

“Oh, Triss. One of the many reasons I love you,” he replied, gently tapping the end of my nose, reminding me to relax.

“Let me give you a quick tour, and we can figure out what we want to do next. Since they’re both together in Saranac Lake maybe it’ll make it easier.”

I glanced quickly at the room that I’d become quite fond of as he led me to the next space over, which was just as lovely and also offered a grand view of the lake.

“Every room outdoes the last, I see,” I replied, admiring the walls covered in cherry wood.

“This is where I hung out most,” Logan said, gesturing at the large flat screen tucked in between bookshelves. The weathered leather couches fit the space. It did seem more masculine than the other room. I could see Logan hanging out here.

As I followed Logan from room to room, all seemingly more spectacular than the last, I started to get restless. It felt like the house was never ending. I was following him down the stairs when the doorbell rang, startling me out of my euphoria of getting to see where Logan called home.

“Do you get visitors often?” I asked.

“Nope.” Logan slipped by me on the stairs, and I followed closely behind. It was probably a harmless salesman or something. Following him for what seemed like forever, we finally made it to the foyer.

“They’ve probably already left, whoever they were. That was a hike,” I replied, only half joking.

He swung the door open to have a girl, about my age, standing with her hands on her hips looking very aggravated. She didn’t seem to notice me at first. Her eyes were locked on Logan’s, and a smile started to appear. Her light brown hair was pulled up in a sleek ponytail, and she was dressed in a tight fitting pale lavender dress. It seemed pretty over the top but maybe that’s how people our age dressed in neighborhoods like this, as opposed to my jeans and a hoodie.

She held out both arms readying for an embrace when Logan stepped back from her and grabbed me instead.

“Did you need something, Caitlin? My mom’s not home right now,” Logan’s tone was harsh and dismissive. I was secretly thrilled.

“So you’re the one who stole Logan’s heart,” Caitlin said. She was now standing with her arms crossed, glaring at me on the front porch.

“Guess so.” I nodded, glancing at Logan who was beaming.

“She’s the one,” Logan said, wrapping his arm around me tighter, infuriating Caitlin even more.

Unable to resist the territorial urges that were whipping through me, I stood on my toes and kissed Logan’s cheek.

“No line of girls, huh?” I whispered into his ear.

Logan’s laughter irritated the girl, and I enjoyed every second of it.

“Did you drop by to say hi or what’s up?” Logan asked.

Caitlin’s glare was etching a place in my mind while I tried to figure out who she was… what her place was. She certainly wasn’t part of the welcoming committee. Her eyes held something familiar in them.

I gripped Logan tighter.

“I dropped by to deliver a message, but it seems that you might be too busy. I’ll catch you later,” Caitlin said, spinning around to leave.

“Don’t be your dramatic self. Just spit it out,” Logan snapped. I’d never seen him this annoyed before. There had to be some sort of history between these two.

She turned back toward us with a wicked grin and reached into her bag, searching around for something. Logan stepped in front of me like he was trying to shield me from some imaginary force.

“Where do you know Caitlin from?” I asked, while she still fumbled around in her purse.

“The coven and school.” His voice was only moderately softer because he was talking to me.

“Huh.”

“Here it is,” Caitlin said, handing me a small envelope.

“Whoa,” Logan said. “I’ve got that.”

Caitlin took it back and shook her head.

“Nope. I was told I had to give it to the girl you were so fond of, Logan.” She pretended like she was stuffing it back in her bag.

“From who?” I asked, feeling something familiar about her.

“Your father,” she replied, slipping the envelope into my hand. Her eyes held the same vacant stare that I had seen from my father’s followers.

“You know my father?”

“Some of us have been following him for quite a while,” she said, winking at Logan.

I felt sick. How did I manage to stay in such a wonderful bubble through the years?

“Thanks, Caitlin,” Logan said, not waiting for a response as he slammed the gigantic wooden door.

Shoving my insecurities aside, I stared at the blank envelope unsure I wanted to open it.

“Do you really think it’s from my father?” I asked, my heart beating too quickly for its own good.

“Want me to open it?” he asked.

I shook my head and started tearing into it. A note was sprawled on the white cardstock inside, and I realized it was an invitation – one that I never wanted.

My dearest Triss:

You’ve grown into a beautiful young woman.
I’m very proud of you.
With your mom by my side, it would be wonderful to be a complete family again. I’ve got ambitious plans that include you. Your talents can’t be ignored any longer
,
and your mother and I would love to help you explore your gifts.

Your father,

Nicholas

“I can’t believe this,” I whispered, shoving the note at Logan. “Does he really think this note will make things all better?”

“I don’t think so,” Logan said. “He’s taunting you. He knows this won’t do anything.”

Logan set the note on the table, bringing me into his arms.

“You don’t have to hold the anger in,” Logan whispered.

“I’m really sorry you got dragged into this mess. I’m so sorry about your mom.” The anger turned to tears. The steady stream of wetness began its parade, and I didn’t even try to stop it.

“This isn’t your fault. I got myself involved years ago. Don’t put this on your shoulders,” Logan assured me. “We’ll get our families back.”

“I want to do more than that. I want to destroy my father and whatever he thinks he’s creating.”

One of the reasons I loved Logan was that he knew exactly what to do in this situation, which was nothing. I just needed to be held.

“I thought I knew my place in the world. Everything seemed so easy and obvious. Spend a few months carefree before starting college, get a degree in herbal science or something from Bastyr, and continue working at my families’ businesses. So simple and harmless.” I took a deep breath.