Chapter 30: Chapter 30
The man in black stood in front of the stained-glass window when the bright mist spread through the library. The rush of fragrant apples blew across the stale books and made Daniel’s black hair blow into his face.
Unlike every other witch he’d ever met, Imara’s aura glowed white and gold like a cloud on a sunny day. There weren’t any White Lighters left in the Realm, and his dark eyes weren’t used to her shine, so he needed a few moments to adjust to the brilliance of her specter.
The stone walls built up around her, and Imara peeked around the room at the book-lined shelves until she saw him standing there. “Ben, is that you?” When she remembered that she left him behind, her hand tried to catch the pain rising in her throat. “No, it can’t be.”
A hand hovered over his eyes as the soft scuff of his shoes turning on the stone floor brought him to face her. “I’ve been waiting a very, very long time to meet you.” After a few blinks of his eyes, the Darke King’s hand fell to his chest, and for the first time in centuries, he bowed his head to someone. “It is my great honor, my Lady. My name is Daniel Darke. Please, won’t you have a seat?” His hand swept away to the table at the center of the library. “This has been a difficult journey for you, and you must be exhausted.”
Shaking fingers wrapped around the back of the chair, and she tugged it from the table. “Alright. Are you sure?” After he gave her a nod, she sat down and waited.
Her fingertips glided back and forth across the wooden table while Daniel lowered himself into a chair beside her and placed his hand on them to stop her. “Don’t worry, Imara. This is a safe place.”
There was nothing but a green pool of tears where her eyes once were that dripped down her cheeks, and she blinked up to him in her sweet, innocent way. “You look so much like my husband, Ben.” She glanced back over her shoulder and sucked back her swollen bottom lip. “He’s not here, is he?”
The old psychic could feel each guilty drop of pain that rushed through her as his fingers wrapped around hers. “No, but you’ll be with him again soon.”
“Oh, wonderful.” The distant ancient whispers came from every direction, making her flinch. “Did they kill that mean old warlock?”
Even the Darke King’s black heart ached for the childlike woman before him, and he swallowed down the lump in his throat before he spoke. “No, I’m afraid not.”
Her eyes pinched together as a stream of tears fell from them, and her shoulders pulled up and down with each silent sob that sprang from her chest. The King dropped to his knee on the floor beside her. “There isn’t much time, Imara. I need you to listen to me carefully.”
His fingers lifted her chin to face him, and he slid his hands over her cheeks, then wiped her tears away with his thumbs. “Look at me.”
She opened her eyes and met his, and he showed her how everything would end. She sucked back all the pain and shook her head as her hands clutched at his chest. “I can’t! Please don’t send me back!”
“Shh!” Over the last hundred years, he’d worked tirelessly on how to intervene, but from the other side, there was little he could do. As he did for his children when they were frightened, Daniel wrapped her in his arms and patted her back. “If I could keep you here with me, I swear I would, but I promise you that the next time will be the last.”
In the spectral light free of its shell, Imara’s spirit glowed gold like the sun and illuminated the usually dim and stuffy room. He only read about her kind in the old books, and he realized what a miracle he was witnessing. While his fingers moved over her hair, he rocked her back and forth and spoke softly against her ear. “When you go back, Imara, I need you to give a message to Haldir. Can you do that for me? I can’t reach him from here.”
She sniffed and pulled away from him. “Uncle Haldir? You know Uncle Haldir?”
A smile pushed together on his lips as he reached into his pocket. “Very well.” He pulled a handkerchief from his cloak and blotted it against her cheek. “I know you’re a little confused right now, so I’ll try to keep it simple, but you must tell Haldir what I say word for word. Do you understand?”
Little trails of light followed her fingertips as she fanned her face to dry her cheeks. “Yes, sir.”
With his hand wrapped around the edge of the table, he raised to his feet and reached across it. He turned to face her again and placed a brown leather-bound case in her hands, then closed her fingers over it. “There are four knives in this case, one for each of you. They’re blessed with the Death Curse.”
“The Death Curse?” The shiver that consumed her made Daniel place his hands on her shoulder for comfort. “But what if we cut ourselves?”
His fingers pressed to her lips, and he shook his head. “They can’t kill the one they’re made for.”
All she wanted was to crawl up in Ben’s arms again, and her eyes darted back and forth between Daniel’s as she caught a piece of the man she loved in his deep, dark eyes. “You look so much like him. You’re kin, aren’t you?”
A huff of air blew against her when he smirked and nodded. “Yes, we are.” He knew her mind was drifting, and he leaned in until they were nose to nose to regain her attention. “Tell Haldir that if these knives cut Selvin, he won’t be able to undo it. The curse will be broken. The knives are brothers. What one does, the other knows.”
She nodded, and their heads bobbed up and down together as she came to understand. “He won’t be able to bring us back again.”
“No, he won’t.” A flush of pink rushed over her pale cheeks as Daniel’s nose smooshed against hers when it rocked back and forth. “Tell Haldir to bring Ben to me when this is all over. Tell him to remember the vision he showed my wife.” A finger tapped against her shoulder as Daniel’s eyes widened. “When the time comes, you come right back here to me, Imara.”
A hand reached around her and pressed into her back, and he brought her with him as he stood. “Don’t be afraid of what’s coming. I’ll be right here waiting for you when you return.”
With her arms clutching the case like a life vest, she dipped her knees to the King. “Thank you for everything, sir.” Her eyes moved over the ancient books and scrolls. “Thorin would love it here. Can I bring him with me next time?”
His lips twisted as Daniel nodded. “Oh, yes, please do that. I have a surprise waiting for him.”
“Oh, my!” A hand slapped to her chest when she jerked as the ethereal mist reached up from her feet to claim her, inch by inch.
His hands freed from her, and he backed away as he narrowed his eyes to catch another glimpse of her true beauty and grace. “The light is taking you back to Ben, don’t be afraid. This is just a stitch in time, Imara. I’ll see you soon.”
Her fingertips lifted from the case, and she pressed them to her lips, then her eyes rose to the bright light coming for her from above. “I’m coming, Sweetheart.”
Wrapped in the light’s warmth like the safety of Ben’s arms once held her, Imara closed her eyes as her mind traveled back to the day she first saw him in her driveway. A burst of fresh, clean air washed over her, and she opened her eyes to find herself on the front steps of a stone and wooden bungalow in a forest by a lake. She still clutched the case against her chest as she rapped her knuckles against the door. “Thorin? Are you home?”
On her tip-toes, she bobbed and weaved to peek in the window when no answer came. So focused on the old tune she was humming to herself, she never heard the footsteps beating against the gravel in the driveway. “Imara?”
Her teary eyes met her brother’s, and she smiled. “What was the name of that song again? Was it Greensleeves?”
After he dropped the pile of wood he was carrying on the edge of the porch, Thorin shook his head as he wiped off his hands. “No, Sweet Girl. I believe you mean Green Tree.”
Two fingers snapped, and it reverberated through the trees that surrounded them as she chuckled. “Dammit. So close.” A tremor started in her shoulders until her lips pulled down and her head shook from side to side. “I’m sorry. I’m so sorry.”
Before she even finished her apology, his arms were around her, and he pressed his lips to her forehead. “It’s ok.”
Her back jerked under his arms with each breath. “I was so scared.”
He dipped his knees to face her and cupped his hands around her cheeks. “No one blames you, Sweet Girl. We all failed you.”
Her hand balled his shirt inside it and tugged him closer. “Where is he, Thorin?”
He pulled her into his chest and opened the door, then walked her inside. “I don’t know yet, but I got people waiting for him.” After he lowered her to the sofa, Thorin kneeled before her and noticed the case in her hands. “What’s that, Darlin?”
“It’s a gift, Thorin.” She brought it to her lap and rubbed her fingers over the carvings. “This is how we win this time.”
“Where did you find it?” He pulled at the leather tie that held it closed until it was free and unrolled the leather sheath. While his fingertips skimmed across the cold steel, his eyes snapped back to hers. “Who gave you these?”
“Daniel Darke.” As soon as his name came from her lips, Thorin jerked his hand away and rose to his feet. She rolled the case up again and tucked it under the pillow beside her. “He told me to give Haldir a message.” Her hand grabbed at the blanket that hung over the back of the couch, and she tugged it with her.
The words that left her mouth became more garbled with each heavy bob of her eyelids as she laid her head on the pillow. Thorin wrapped his arms around her legs and lifted them on the sofa, then sat down on the floor beside her and rubbed her head until her eyes closed. “He told me he had a surprise for you too, Thorin.”
While soft snores came from her nose, at last, Thorin wiped his hand over his mouth. “Oh, shit!” He tucked in the edges of the blanket around her and kissed her cheek.
He leaned against the wall in the kitchen and watched his sister sleep as he dialed the number. “God, I hope you’re hallucinating.” The gruff Scot leader of the Order answered the phone, and Thorin opened the refrigerator, then reached for a beer. “Hello, Billy. I don’t guess that brother-in-law of mine showed up yet, did he?” After he shut the door, he unscrewed the top of the bottle. “Well, you might want to send Haldir over to the house and check it out.” After he sipped a quick drink, he rubbed the bottle against his forehead. “I got twenty dollars that says that old boy’s tucked into her bed right now. Yeah, right on my damn doorstep. By the way, tell Haldir that she has a message for him from King Daniel You-Know-Who. Yes, you heard that correctly. Uh-huh. Who the hell knows? Thanks, Billy. Yeah, I’ll talk to you later.”
After he tossed the phone on the stand beside the couch, he sank in the chair next to it and kept watch over Imara. He finished his beer, then tapped the bottle against the table like the ticking of a clock, and a shiver rushed over his back that made him shudder. “The countdown starts now, Sweet Girl.”