See How She Fights (The Chronicles of Izzy #2)(42)

“That is a story for another time. For now I must go. Just read the inscription on the paper and you shall lift the veil. May the gods be with you in your quest.” With that he was gone once more. Poof. Stupid Old One. Whatever that was. I didn’t have time for his mysteriousness.

I got up and moved to the door. I found Ian and Kennan pacing nervously outside the door. As soon as the door cracked Kennan pounced on me. He lifted my arms to inspect each mark and then moved into the room to look for Aberto.

“He poofed again. Is there a bottle lying about somewhere that he lives in?”

What? How was I supposed to know what an Old One was? He could be a genie. It was possible. Ian thought it was hysterical. As always, he was unable to take anything seriously.

“No bottle, although I wish I could stuff him into one,” Kennan ground out.

“That’s nice, but I need to get back into a vision. I need to think up this woman so I can find out who she really is and find a way to put an end to this.” I patted Kennan on his overprotective arm and headed back to the sheet of paper by the bed. I looked down to see that Aberto had written something on the bottom.



Izzy,

As always, call for me in the dreaming, and I shall come.

Aberto



Alright then, I hoped I wouldn’t need him anytime soon. More importantly, I planned to do copious amounts of research before calling on him again. I wanted to know what he was. Especially since no one seemed to want to tell me.

**********





CHAPTER SIXTEEN


I lay down on the bed with the paper in my hands. I started to utter the words when Kennan interrupted.

“Don’t you want to wait a while to attempt this? I mean, you just got the markings. How do you know they will work right away?” Kennan wanted to protect me and I understood that, but if I was to lead the Council the way I needed to, he would have to start trusting me more. Granted my track record was not all that great. But that wasn’t the point.

“Trust me.” I reached up and brushed a kiss against his lips. I pleaded with my eyes, begging him to believe in me.

“I do.” He pulled me into a deeper kiss.

“Barf.” Ian coughed into his hand.

“Right, no time for that. Evil Empires must be brought to their knees.” I settled back against the pillows and read the words from the paper. I had no idea what I was saying. For all I knew I could have been cursing someone’s goat in Swahili. As the last word left my mouth I was pulled back into the dreaming that wasn’t the dreaming. I was in a vision.

**********

“They are all here. We should be able to move forward, my love. It will all be right with the world once I have you back. Then I can get her back and we will be a family again,” I heard the woman say.

“Yes, that all sounds wonderful,” Xavier responded coldly. Whatever feelings this woman had for him were clearly not reciprocated.

“Everything is set for tomorrow. I have brought them here so that we may move quickly. The others are waiting for your call,” she purred.

I rounded the corner of the building, finally making out the sign over the entryway. It was the old Brach’s Candy Factory. It had been abandoned on the outskirts of Chicago for years. I moved silently through the rubble seeking out the voices once more.

“Just make it happen quickly. I grow impatient waiting in this broken form.” Xavier’s body came into view as he paced back and forth in front of a woman. I drew closer to them, hiding myself behind supports and rubble as I went.

“I can’t wait to be at your side once more,” the woman said. I fell to my knees as the veil lifted and I could glimpse her true form for the first time. I wanted to scream out, I wanted to yell. I needed to get out of there as quickly as I could. Now I understood why Molly had hesitated. It all made perfect sense. The woman helping to bring Xavier back to life was her mother.

**********

I came to my senses violently. I ripped myself from the vision so quickly, it left me feeling nauseous. Well, it was either that or the fact that my best friend’s mother was a psycho. I swallowed hard sitting up in the process.

“Did you find out who it is?” Kennan moved to sit next to me. His face was etched with concern.

“I need to see Molly.” I tried to stand up but my knees threatened to buckle.

“Ian, can you get her and bring her here?” Kennan pushed me back to the bed.

“Yeah, I’m on it.” Ian darted from the room. I had a feeling Molly would be waiting for him.

“Who was it, Iz?” Kennan asked, wiping the tear from my cheek.

“I need to see Molly. I can’t say until I see her.” My voice caught in my throat. How was I supposed to tell her? How would our friendship survive this?

“I’m here.” Molly moved toward the bed and took Kennan’s place beside me. “So it is true then. It is her.” The tears ran down her cheeks, mapping their contours as they went.

“I am so sorry Molly. I don’t know what I am supposed to do now. I can’t let this keep happening, but she is your mom. How can I do this?” I grabbed her hand and wrapped it in my own.

“You can do it because you must. She made her choice, Izzy. She chose him over me and the life we could have had. So you end this. You put a stop to it and make sure that no one else gets hurt.” Molly squeezed my hand and started to leave. I pulled her to a stop.