Whispering Tempest

Chapter Nineteen - Five Witches, One Spencing

It’s just how I left it: beautiful skies reigning over the tall manor covered in ivy. The car door slams under my hands and birds from the trees that line the sides of the house twitter in scared protest. Walking up the steps, Trevor leans closer to my ear with a serious face. My heart starts thudding a little harder. Has something else happened that I don’t know about? I listen intently at what he has to say.

“Is he a good kisser?”

Of course he does. Trevor wouldn’t be as close as he is with me if he wasn’t as sarcastic as he is. I punch him on his arm but he just snickers and reaches for his keys.

“This is not funny Trevor,” I say even though it made me laugh a little. I push down the bubbly emotion and pick back up with my frazzled and worrying self. “He started shouting and grabbing his head and it was really just…” Emotions crack in my voice and Trevor finally sees how serious I am. “It was really scary.”

Finally deciding to stop joking around, Trevor wraps his arm around me and brings me into his chest. “We’ll figure it out,” he tells me. “I promise Xander is going to be fine and I don’t break my promises.”

I rub my cheek on his shoulder like a cat before he lets me go. We walk up the stairs to find the Emerald. Maybe she can clear this up and things can get back to some semblance of normalcy.

~*~

“I figured as much,” the willowy coven leader tells us. That’s all she says while we gaze up at her listening for more. We sit in the back library where I’ve poured out my terrified emotions about losing my best friend then having him wake in a panic only to be sedated. And she figured? Oh no, that’s not how I’m letting this go down.

“That’s what The Shadowed Past had to say?” She glances up from the book with warning eyes but I ignore it. “All I had to do was Sleeping Beauty this shit and I’d be good?”

“There is a connection between you,” she throws back at me. “And it has something which deals with the past life reading and your already strong bond. The Pulemp was in his system. It corrupts the very core of you but takes hours to settle. It could have been that it triggered a stronger connection between the two of you that never should happen.”

“Perhaps it would be best if we were to ask Xander himself,” Carter cuts in. All eyes in the room turn toward him. The blind man doesn’t move nor does he make a sound; Carter listens to everything and lets himself fade into the background. I forgot he was with us but he does have a point. “The Spencing could help in telling us what happened. Then we could figure everything out.”

Trevor shifts near the door and agrees. His shoulders shrug as he mumbles, “Better to have all the facts and then guess at maybes.”

“Indeed,” the Emerald adds. I exhale slowly and get my raging energy under control.

Carter stands and runs his fingers through his blonde hair. We all make our way to the door and head from the library. Fiona stops and locks the door before joining Carter on his way to the apothecary-kitchen combo. I inhale the flowery scent coming from the tranquility room as another thought crosses my mind.

“Xander said he has memories that aren’t his,” I timidly tell the group. “Is it possible he can remember my past?”

The Emerald doesn’t reply until after a long pause. She turns from following the vines along the stair railing and barely glances in my direction. “Yes.”

“I need to be there when he wakes up again,” I say decidedly. I rush to the stairs but Trevor pulls on the back of my shirt to stop me from leaving. He’s always been too loyal to Fiona to let me storm off without her last say. I giving him a warning look and he takes his hand off me.

“Be careful,” she warns me. “If he indeed remembers your past, he will equal you in the bitter emotions Emily felt. He will be unpredictable.”

“That’ll be fun telling him,” I say with a bit of optimism left in me. “Just imagine. ‘Oh Xan, by the way you’ve got chick memories in your head. Remember puberty?’ Ha! I’m going to love this.”

“You’re cruel,” Trevor chuckles behind me.

Carter’s face holds a smirk too but the Emerald is not as amused. Hanging my head in giggling shame, Trevor and I leave before we can do anymore joking damage.

Outside, I push the witch boy to the side and race to the car. I glance back for one second before accidentally running into another person. Tammy stands there with her hands up to stop me and her hair in disarray.

“Sorry,” I quickly say. Tammy pulls her black Bermuda shorts up doing the dance every girl does to get in a pair of skinny jeans and fixes the wrinkles on her lacey tank top.

“No worries,” she replies breathily. Tammy sounds exasperated but not in a rude way. With her I’m never sure if she’ll spaz out or being incredibly sweet. Today luckily seems to be one of her good days. “I’m going up to shower now anyway and head to bed. It’s been a long day and I don’t care about… well, anything really. Looks like you’re too tired to give a crap too. Hive five for laziness!”

Tammy smiles genuinely, hits my hesitant hand and passes me. I nod at what I think was a backhanded compliment but let it go. It’s not worth it today. Having my instincts kick in, I turn back in time to see Trevor whispering something in Tammy’s ear. I narrow my eyes but he’s holding his amber charm which makes it impossible for me to use my powers to hear him. The witch looks back at me, scoffs and smiles arrogantly.

“Personally, I don’t care which way it goes,” the girl tells him loud enough for me to hear. “Prophecies always have a way of coming true and being a witch, I have nothing to fear.”

The petite chick leisurely glides up the steps and opens the front door. Trevor and I exchange raised eyebrows but we stroll off ready to go home. I’m about to step in the car but I feel Tammy’s stare on my back. Her green-grey eye winks at me and I feel a wave of her voice roll over my mind.

“Spencings aren’t good for anything except to play with,” she mentally tells me. “This isn’t called the Regal Haven for nothing and we deserve to be treated as such. Please remember that Phoenix girl.”

My vibrating phone distracts me for a minute and when I look back up, Tammy is gone. I don’t think I’ll ever know what that girl is going to do next. Trying to block her from my head, I flip open my phone and read the text.

<3KatieBear: Xander is awake. Thanks for telling us…

I smack my forehead and wipe my face. It’s time to get back to reality. And oh, what a reality it is! I don’t respond since nothing I say will make a difference in Katie’s eyes. Five minutes later, Trevor and I are jamming to one of his mixed CDs and another buzz comes from my phone. Ignoring it helps for a while but when the vibrating doesn’t stop, I turn down the tunes and look. Xan-Xan is calling me. I smash the radio button off and press the phone anxiously to my ear.

“I remember,” my best friend whispers in a hoarse voice.

“Xan? Are you okay? Oh my God. Please tell me—”

“I remember everything you aren’t supposed to,” he interrupts.

My mind blanks as I soak in his words. Remembers? So it is true. But what does that mean? My voice shivers as I quietly ask him that very question. A door slam is heard on his end of the line and I jump at the sound. Trevor looks over curiously and pulls to the side of the road. I mouth that I’m okay but really I’m not sure I am. I wait for Xander’s answer and fiddle with the amber charm on my bracelet. Another minute passes but finally Xan gets back on the line.

“It means I remember Emily’s life and the Phoenix powers,” he says shakily. My hands shake the phone so badly that it almost drops to the floor. Trevor takes the thing from my hands and puts it on speaker. “Gail, I know how to use your powers.”