Chapter 8
Being out of the house was easier. Titus was focused on the ritual, attempting to draw Anne into the process, as though it would have an effect. He wanted her to be who she was, when the reality was she’d never truly been who he wanted her to be. Pretending was easy.
Magic changed their lives. Anne saw her parents once more, as they were during their first lives, the memories stronger than they once were. Her birth, after so many losses, was the reason they’d had Titus promise to protect her, and then after their deaths he’d made another.
Titus cared about her, and no one else. It was the way it had always been. His promise was stronger than anything else, as though magic was already part of his soul, and that might have been the way things were. Already different to everyone else, he’d been able to break through.
For so long it had just been the two of them, and now whenever Anne closed her eyes she saw Dante. They’d met once. He knew more than he should, but he was a Seer, so it was to be expected. With Titus a part of her life there were also many things Dante couldn’t See.
That was why she had to find a way to convince him to leave Glimmerbrook, even though it hadn’t worked before. Anne heard footsteps, the sense of power enough to tell her it was Dante, heart pounding hard within her chest. Sensations she’d never felt, and wished she never had.
Anne was there, but it didn’t mean she’d stay. Dante stepped onto the second floor of the library, unable to stop thinking about her, because it was a chance to make her see why he wasn’t going to leave. She needed him, whether she wanted to admit it to herself or not.
Did she stay? Anne stood. Dante wasn’t going to listen, because he didn’t understand the position he was in, but if she didn’t explain it to him he’d never know, and then it would be too late. He’d have lost his life to Titus’s ritual, potentially along with his soul.
It seemed like she hadn’t moved. Dante walked toward where she was, dream Anne much easier to deal with, but then she’d accepted their love already. She wanted to be with him, and was willing to do whatever she had to in order to make it happen. Even leave Titus behind.
Not rushing, wanting to seem relaxed, he kept walking, and found Anne waiting. She wasn’t looking at him, instead staring at nothing. Had she planned on leaving? It was hard for Dante to know what was going through her mind, but the Anne he’d become close to had doubts early on.
What she needed to do was be honest with him, no matter how hard it was. Dante dreamt of her, and those dreams told him parts of the story, but he couldn’t know everything. If he did he’d have kept far from Glimmerbrook, even if it meant he never learnt more.
Seeing her there, knowing it was a chance for a conversation… Dante thought back to the dreams, to the time it took for Anne to make the decision she was strong enough, and knew the day would come when she’d be able to leave Titus. It might not go well, but it would happen.
The one thing Dante could never get used to was how beautiful Anne was. “I didn’t think you’d stay.”
“You need to understand why you have to leave.”
“Anne…”
“What I’d hate more than anything is being the reason you died, Dante, and I know my brother better than anyone.”
“How he feels about me doesn’t matter.”
“Oh, it should.” Anne studied him. “I care too much about you to let things go the way I know they will. Titus won’t let anyone come between us.”
“Someone’s tried?”
There was a flicker of pain in Anne’s eyes, which was enough of an answer.
“Our choices have had an effect on the lives I’ve lived, Dante. First time around I wanted a normal life. Titus made a promise, and it transformed everything.”
“A promise you’d be immortal.”
“I’d be safe.” Anne sighed. “Explaining isn’t easy. We watched our parents die.”
“Magic?”
“Yes, back when it first flooded into Glimmerbrook. Our parents didn’t survive. There were a lot of people who didn’t, and those who did were different.”
“Death affects all of us.”
“I was devastated. Titus was a teenager, I was a child, and there was no one else.”
“Yet there are still Lockwoods.”
“Father had a brother. Our uncle died too, leaving two young boys. None of us knew what we were meant to do. In the end it was Titus who took control. He was the eldest of the teenagers who’d survived. Even then he wasn’t good with people.”
“Titus didn’t care about the others?”
“Of course not. When I was born it was after a number of miscarriages and stillbirths. As he held me for the first time they asked him to promise to protect me. He took it seriously. More seriously than he probably should have.”
“Leading us to where we are now.”
“Yes, to another ritual to give us another lifetime. Titus believes the next one will be the last one, and after that I’ll be able to live a normal life, but he’s said those very words before.”
“I assume you want a normal life.”
“Of course I do, but I don’t think it’s possible now. My soul is scarred. Titus doesn’t know how to let go. What I want and what might happen are two very different things.”
“How can I help?”
“Leave. I don’t want Titus to use you.”
“Anne, I can’t. This is where I have to be.”
“Dante, please…”
“I know why you think it’s the only option, but it’s not. You can leave Titus.”
“Leaving him is only the first step.”
“Between us we have the strength to stop him from whatever he might attempt.”
“As much as I want to believe you I know what he’s capable of.”
“You’re worried about him cursing us?”
“No, I’m worried about him killing you, and shredding your soul.”
“Anne…”
“I mean it, Dante. That’s what my brother is capable of if he thinks someone is coming between us.”
“For now he wants me for the ritual. Keep this from him.”
“Lie to my brother?” Anne studied Dante. “I can try, but Titus knows when I’m not being honest. He’s already worried about us having a relationship.”
“We need to find a way.”
“Or you can leave.”
“Not happening.”
“Dante, I mean nothing to you.”
“You’re my soulmate, Anne.”
“For now there’s enough distance between us. You can walk away. Meet someone else, and live a normal life, far away from Glimmerbrook.”
“After being with you in my dreams no one can ever make me as happy as you did.”
“That wasn’t real.”
“It can be, if you accept this.”
Anne didn’t know which of them moved first, but they were standing close enough for her to feel his warmth, and she wanted more.
“Be safe.”
“Safe, and unhappy. Even if we only have a moment together it will be enough.”
“I have another life to come, and a moment isn’t enough.”
“Then we find a way to make it possible, even if we can’t be together in this one.” His eyes met with hers. “Give me a chance, Anne, because I can’t imagine anything else now.”
“Being a Seer makes life complicated.”
“Yes, and gave me a reason to keep going when life was hard.”
Dante’s hand touched Anne’s arm, and that was it. There was no going back, for either of them, the emotion in Dante’s eyes telling her everything she needed to know.
“I love you.”
“You love dream Anne. Real Anne’s not the same.”
“Maybe not, but I want to know her.”
“Meeting like this is dangerous.”
“Come by my house. It’s not too far from yours.”
“Dante…”
“We can talk more. I want to see who you are, and show you who I am.”
“I can’t make any promises.”
“Try, for us. We have a future, Anne. I’ve Seen it. I have to believe it’s possible.”