Chapter 17
Anne didn’t often visit the graveyard. She knelt in front of Reuben’s grave, thinking of the man who’d become her father, and tried to find a way for her to have normality. Even if he didn’t entirely believe Leonora there were signs he knew Titus was different, arguing often about the future.
Sometimes it happened, and when it did they were simply another problem for Titus to deal with. Unlike her he didn’t connect with their new families. Reuben meant nothing to him, so it was easy for him to do what he believed needed to be done, choosing the same path once more. He never changed.
Had it been up to Reuben there would have been a marriage, to one of the families he was closely connected with. The Goths were a possibility, Seward the right age, the Munches, Wolfgang the most likely, and the Villareals, Max one of Reuben’s favourites. Anne kept them all at arm’s length.
As Dante stepped through the gate, moving toward Anne, she put back her head, and if it wasn’t for the silence he’d have said she was screaming. He didn’t know who the grave belonged to, but her pain was obvious. Without stopping to think he kept going, because she needed him, and he was there.
Dante’s hand touched her cheek, and Anne looked at him. “What are you doing here?”
“I was passing.”
“Titus can’t see us together.”
“He’s busy with the ritual, and if he happens to find out tell him enough of the truth – I was worried about you, even though you didn’t want me here.”
“He thinks I ended things, because I believed it was the best way to keep you safe.”
“Assuming there’s something to end.” Dante smiled. “You want to be with me.”
“Right now I don’t know what I want.”
“Who’s here?”
“Father. Reuben Lockwood, unlucky enough to become our parent this lifetime.”
“I’m sorry.”
Anne stood. “Unlike Titus I become attached.” She sighed. “He’s only ever cared about me.”
Dante pulled her into his arms, and until that moment she didn’t realise how much she needed him, curling her arms tightly round him.
“We shouldn’t be doing this. I’m trying to protect you.”
“You need someone.” He tightened his grip. “How many times have you gone through this alone?”
“Never alone, Dante. Titus has always been there.”
“That’s not what I meant, and you know it.”
“More lives than I had someone, but even then…”
“When Titus found out it was over. He did what he had to do.”
“Every time. Titus won’t let anyone come between us.”
“How about we sit and talk?”
“I should go.”
“Anne, I really don’t think you should be sitting in that house right now. Especially not with Titus in the middle of preparations for the ritual.”
“Dream Anne tell you that?”
He smiled. “Maybe.”
Going along with what Dante wanted was easier than it should have been. He wasn’t wrong about the house. As the ritual came closer the darkness became stronger, Titus’s work one of the many necessary evils, and it wasn’t safe for anyone else.
“We always talk about me. I want to learn about you.”
“Sometimes it’s easier to deal with another person’s problems than it is your own.” Dante’s eyes met with Anne’s, able to feel she truly did care. “Most of the time I try not to think about what happened before, but it was the dreams of you that kept me going, because I knew you existed.”
“Dante…”
“Without those dreams I know I would have given up, Anne. You gave me a reason to keep moving forward, no matter how painful it might be, a chance of something better for us in the future.”
“Unless Titus kills you.”
“He can’t. Being your soulmate protects me. At least mostly.”
“Titus could find a way to break the bond.”
“In the time he has it’s not possible.”
“You sound like you know more than I do.”
“Everything I know is due to the dreams. What I learnt you originally found out, and you chose to share it with me.”
“Leading to you making the decision to come here.”
“For both of us. You need me, and I need you.”
“Only this could lead to both our deaths, depending on the decisions Titus makes.”
“You’re scared of dying?”
“Not any more. Death isn’t the end, at least most of the time. I will live another life.”
“Can he keep you tied to him?”
“Probably.”
“Then we need to find a way to break the bond the two of you have.”
“Easier said than done, Dante.” Anne studied him. “I don’t even know if it’s possible, after so many lifetimes, but it’s another question I can ask.”
“Connecting the three of us.”
“Something you always knew.”
“He’ll see it too.”
“Using it against us.”
“I’ve Seen two possible outcomes – we live, or we die.” Dante breathed in deeply. “Which one is entirely down to luck.”
Anne closed her eyes, his emotions wrapping round her, which had to be part of the bond. “Tell me everything.”
“Potentially changing your choices.”
Opening her eyes once more, Anne reached out to touch Dante’s arm. “I know how it works. Even though I’ve never been a Seer Titus always has. Knowledge is power.”
“The last thing I want is that to change things between us.”
“Dante…”
“What happens needs to be a decision you make willingly.”
Even though he hadn’t said the words there was no doubt what he meant. Anne knew Titus. She breathed in deeply. “A baby is the only way to stop him.”
“Yes, although I don’t entirely understand why.”
“He won’t harm the next generation of Lockwoods. They almost mean as much to him as I do.”
“What I don’t want is for this to lead into something you don’t want, to try to save both of us.”
“I’m not going to make any decisions until I have more information.” Even though Anne sounded calm, her decision logical, her emotions told a different story. “They won’t go through what I did.”
“What we did.”
“The loss of our parents affected every choice we made, one way or another.”
“Did he know?”
“At the time he said he didn’t. Now I wonder how much of what he told me was a lie. Back then I needed him. It was the two of us, and he promised me he’d find a way for us to live forever.”
“I was older. Even now I don’t know why things worked out the way they did. The dreams of you didn’t start until after, and I understand so little about magic I can’t put all the pieces together.”
“You’re twenty now?” Dante nodded. “Most come into their power in their teens, unless…”
“Anne…”
“Someone could have stopped it from happening.”
“My parents?”
“From what you’ve said I don’t think it was them. They might also have had the same thing done to them.”
“Six months before everything my grandfather died.”
“The timing works. He may have thought he was protecting you.”
“Only he was a Fitzgerald.”
“Did he ever talk about his parents?”
“Not that I remember.”
“All it takes is for someone who’s left Glimmerbrook to marry into a family, and this can happen, but, for him to have done what he did, he has to have known. He might have changed his name, to protect himself.”
“Does it even matter?”
“That depends on you, Dante. Do you want to understand why this happened?”
“Honestly, I don’t know. Maybe.”
“Guide the dreams, if you’re still having them, because they could help you.”
“Anne, I don’t know how.”
“Back then we had no idea how to do anything. Make it up.”