26. Chapter 26

Chapter 26

Unusually Amber didn't answer her phone when I rang, so I rang another local witch, Leyla Keyman. She was a quiet woman with none of Amber's gravitas, but she'd always given me an impression of being competent and that was all I needed – though a friend would have been very welcome right now.

‘Queen Lucy,' Leyla answered briskly. ‘How can I help?'

‘I need you to break a clearing.'

‘That's expensive,' she warned.

‘I'm good for it.'

‘When do you need it?'

‘Now,' I said firmly and rattled off my parents' address.

‘"Now" comes with a premium.'

‘Naturally,' I huffed. ‘I'll pay it.'

‘Excellent. See you shortly,' she promised.

I discreetly collared Greg and left the impromptu wake. It was less grief-stricken than the vigil had been; smiles were breaking out as people exchanged stories about Xander. He would never have believed how well thought of he was.

‘We need to see my parents.' I explained briefly about Geneve's comments.

Greg's jaw worked. ‘She was such a piece of work. Clearing someone of their knowledge of magic is nearly as bad as extinguishing them.' He winced when he realised what he'd said. ‘Sorry, that was insensitive. You know I didn't mean…'

‘It's okay,' I interrupted. ‘And actually, Terrance said something weird the other day. He said I still have a teeny ember inside me. What if I wasn't extinguished properly but kind of … banked?'

‘What do you mean?'

‘If I have a spark within me, maybe it can be fanned into life.'

‘Maybe,' he conceded. ‘But Lucy – don't raise your hopes.'

I smiled. ‘I won't.' I didn't need to raise them because they were already sky high. Maybe I could become a fire elemental as I'd been born to be. The Alessandros had never treated me any differently because I didn't have fire, but it would be something else to truly be a part of their fiery dynasty .

Take some winged ones with us, Esme suggested. They need purpose – and we could do with protection from above.

It wasn't a bad idea so I called over Sara. ‘I need to see my parents.'

‘Okay. Jacob and I will come with you. Mack, Alfred and Robin can guard the mansion.'

‘Good stuff. Go aerial. We'll meet you there. You know the address?'

‘Yeah. We'll keep eyes on you en route from above.'

‘Thanks.'

Ben was waiting for us at the car, his hair mussed and his lips a little swollen. ‘Kissing Noah goodbye?' I teased. ‘For appearances' sake, of course.' I winked. ‘How long are you planning on keeping up this fake dating?'

Ben winced. ‘About that. It's not so fake anymore.'

‘No? Really?' I gasped, heavy on the sarcasm.

He sighed. ‘You already knew.'

‘I think even the green men in space knew! You are head over heels.' I resisted adding ‘again' because that would have been bitchy; he didn't need me pointing out that he fell in and out of love faster than a werewolf shifted.

Ben looked at me dreamily then said firmly, ‘This is different.'

‘For Noah's sake, I hope so,' I muttered.

He jabbed me in the ribs for my sass, and I loved that things were starting to return to normal between us.

We talked quietly as we drove to Mum and Dad's house. My stomach was in knots; what if Geneve had been fucking with me? What if Dad had chosen to clear himself and I was about to undo that? That would be ripping away his free will as surely as if I'd piped him, and I sure as heck didn't want to do that.

If it was his choice, we can always help him forget again, Esme offered diplomatically.

I rubbed my fingers across my forehead. I didn't know whether I could do that. It had been hard enough to go through it once.

If it is what he wants then we will help. He is our elder, it is right.

Greg reached out and squeezed my thigh in reassurance. ‘It's going to be okay.'

I nodded but my mouth was dry.

We arrived at the house ahead of Leyla. Mum's car was in the drive so I knocked quietly instead of ringing the bell in case she was sleeping off a night shift. Dad opened the door. ‘Well now,' he beamed. ‘To what do I owe the pleasure of all of you popping up on my doorstep?'

‘I need cake,' I announced. ‘Do you have any?'

‘Does a dragon fly?' my dad shot back.

I blinked at him. ‘Why would you say that? Use that phrase, I mean.'

‘I just mean that I have some cake. I'm just shaking things up.'

I chewed on my thumb. Was he trying to give us clues? My dad was not a fantasy reader and his go-to phrase for a question like that was ‘does a bear shit in the woods?'

I felt certain he was trying to give us information somehow. Cleared knowledge was covered over but not wiped entirely; that's how Nina had been able to give my memories back because if they'd been truly wiped, they would have been impossible to restore. But clearing could be undone. It hurt like a bitch, but it could be undone.

‘Do you trust me?' I asked Dad abruptly.

He blinked. ‘Of course.' He frowned and took my hand. ‘Are you okay, Lucy?'

‘ I'm fine. A friend of mine is coming around in a bit – she wants to help align your chakras. I know it's a bit woo-woo, but you said you'd been forgetful and she thinks this will help.'

Dad snorted with laughter but he sobered when he saw my expression. ‘Oh, you're serious.'

‘I am. Will you let her do it? It's important to me.'

‘My chakras? What does she need to do?' he asked cautiously .

‘Just paint some runes on your forehead.'

He studied me then looked at Ben with an ‘I'll humour her' expression, which faded when he took in my brother's serious face. He cleared his throat, ‘Oh-kay. As long as it's not in henna or permanent marker, I guess there's no harm in trying.'

I threw my arms around him. ‘Thank you, Dad!' I looked around. ‘Where's Mum?'

‘She's sleeping. She's coming off night shifts.'

That actually made things easier. At least this way, when she woke he'd either remember magic or not, but she wouldn't have had her hopes raised.

The doorbell rang and Greg went to answer it. A moment later he showed Leyla in.

Dad offered her a hesitant smile. ‘You're the chakra healer, are you?'

‘That's me,' Leyla said without missing a beat. ‘This won't take long.' She set her black backpack on the floor and pulled out a couple jars of thick potion and some paintbrushes. She snapped on gloves, which made Dad slide me a nervous glance. I gave him a bright smile and a thumbs-up.

There was no point warning him that it was going to hurt: firstly, he wouldn't believe in chakra aligning, and secondly it would make him tense beforehand. I couldn't gain his informed consent without him knowing about magic, so we might as well just bash on.

Leyla dunked her paintbrush in the darker liquid and turned to my father. ‘Hold still, please.' She started painting intricate squiggles on his forehead and he stood stoically, half-amused and half-perplexed that Ben and I both thought this was a good idea.

The witch touched his hand lightly and the runes lit up.

Dad let out a strangled cry and collapsed to the floor.