Broken Read online

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  Copyright © 2011 Rachel Humphrey – D’aigle

  No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored or transmitted in any form without written consent from the author and publisher. For additional information please contact

  [email protected]

  Cover Photograph by Danielle Page Photography

  http://www.daniellepagephotography.com/

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  Broken

  Book Four

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  1

  Meghan Jacoby stepped over the hillside and walked across the open field below. The cool autumn breeze, which she normally would have relished, whisked through her flame red hair unnoticed.

  Her target walked toward her, unknowingly into a trap. As he drew near, she forced herself to smile.

  Meghan was surprised when her welcome turned from fake to real, as she could not help but race the last remaining steps and throw her arms around the brother she had not seen for months. All her fear and anxiety momentarily dissipated.

  He returned the gesture, holding her tight.

  “I’ve missed you so much, Colin,” she admitted in a whisper, attempting to forget why she was here.

  He hugged her deeper.

  Meghan’s relief at seeing him alive and well turned sour, as her task could not be buried away; but she did successfully keep her thoughts hidden from him.

  “I am sorry, Sis,” Colin said. “But you know I couldn’t take the chance. In the end, it’s better for us to stay in hiding.” He released his grip, sighed, and closed his eyes, taking a deep breath.

  “Are you okay?” Meghan asked him, at once thinking how ironic her question was, considering the reason for their visit. She kept her thoughts firmly blocked, so as not to betray her cause.

  “Yes, I’m fine,” he answered, opening his eyes. “Can you believe where life has taken us?” he then marveled.

  “It is definitely a long way from our travels with Uncle Arnon,” she replied with a slight chuckle.

  Meghan desired greatly to flee from her current path, but knew that was not an option.

  “How is Catrina?” she then added, hoping not to arouse suspicion.

  “Um. Well.”

  Meghan panicked when he did not answer right away. Did he suspect something?

  Colin twisted his face and then finally answered.

  “I was hoping to show you, actually.”

  “She’s here!” said Meghan, not believing her fortune. She had been afraid they might never find Catrina after today. Instantly, Meghan regretted her thoughts.

  To whose fortune was it that Catrina was here?

  “Of course she’s here,” replied Colin. “She refuses to leave my side. And she puts up with a lot… I mean, I have killed her three times.” He winked, knowing Meghan would understand his sick joke.

  4

  A moment later, a small body covered in a dark cloak popped out from behind Colin, embracing Meghan.

  “I cannot tell you what it means for us to see you,” cried Catrina, happily.

  “Life is too short,” replied Meghan, gasping at the ease of Catrina’s welcome. “No matter what, you are my family, and I love you both, very much!” And that much was true. For all their flaws, she did honestly love them both. Colin, because he was her flesh and blood, and Catrina, because Colin loved her.

  Meghan’s eyes filled with tears. She took a deep breath and bit her tongue, trying to retain her composure, and allowed Catrina to take her place by Colin’s side. She swallowed, hard, keeping her thoughts blocked.

  She could sense Colin’s attempts to penetrate them, and knew there was not much time to complete her mission. He would break into them soon.

  “So, my darling husband, would you like to tell her our news, or should I?’ Catrina said, smiling widely.

  “News?” questioned Meghan.

  Colin’s eyes twinkled and he motioned for Catrina to share her secret. Meghan watched as she took off the bulky cloak.

  “Be prepared for something to take you off guard,” Ivan Crane had warned her, repeatedly, during their rehearsals for this confrontation. “It’s bound to happen and you cannot lose control.”

  Ivan’s warnings could not have prepared her for what she was now witnessing. Meghan’s legs nearly faltered.

  “Catrina… you’re … you’re pregnant!”

  “Yes. Isn’t it wonderful?”

  Meghan lost her control. The calm place she had kept herself disappeared. Her breathing sped up and her hands shook.

  “No. No. No,” she muttered. Taking a step back, she glanced at her brother. “Oh, Colin, I didn’t know.”

  All the planning and practice for this moment was for nothing!

  Meghan, along with everyone involved, would die now.

  She could not go through with it!

  Meghan lost control of her mind-block and Colin easily penetrated her thoughts. His face contorted in confused anger.

  “What! What!” he kept repeating. “How could you?” he demanded, stepping closer to his sister.

  Meghan flinched, no longer able to contain her fear of the brother she had once thought it was her job to protect.

  “I’m sorry,” she insisted. “Oh, God, I really am. And I had no idea she was pregnant, Colin.” Catrina just stood like a statue, bewildered at what was happening.

  5

  The ground beneath Meghan’s feet began to rumble as Colin’s temper flared; his eyes turned to blood red, indicating he was losing control as well. His fists balled up, tightly, and he rocked back and forth.

  “Why are you people always trying to kill us?” he shouted angrily. “When will you learn that you’d all be a lot better off if you just left us alone?” He paused, adding, “I’m going to send you away, Catrina. I don’t want you to get hurt, again.” Catrina stepped forward to protest, and before Colin could act, Meghan withdrew a long silver blade and lunged at her brother.

  Out of instinct, to save the man she loved, Catrina leapt in the way. The knife plunged directly into her heart.

  Death was quick.

  But her eyes begged to know why as she took her final breath.

  It was what they had hoped for, Meghan and Ivan. In all their planning, this was the best scenario: for Catrina to offer her life to save Colin’s.

  Meghan withdrew the dagger, bewildered at what she had done.

  Breathe, she reminded herself. The job is not finished yet!

  Colin, in angst of seeing his beloved wife Catrina slump to the ground, fell to her side, and although clearly furious over the act, he did not look worried in the least over her death.

  Meghan was prepared as a magical barrier materialized around both he and Meghan, blocking anything or anyone else from getting in, or out.

  She had expected this, too.

  Just the two of them.

  No one else.

  Meghan took a deep breath, preparing for what she had to do next.

  At first, Colin just stared at Catrina’s lifeless body. He touched her swollen belly, laying his head on it, as if to listen.

  Everything had changed after she had taken over Colin’s life. There was no more Colin Jacoby. She was Colin’s life, completely and unconditionally; one could not exist without the other. And for that unconditional love, they would both have to pay the ultimate price.

  It was unfair. Meghan had said it many times. Unfair that her brother and the woman he loved were cursed by a power they never asked for, and could not control.

  Meghan still held the bloody knife that had taken Catrina’s life. She could barely catch her breath, and questioned whether she could go through with the final part. If she did not act, while Colin was still distracted, it would be too late!

  Outside the magical barrier, Meghan saw the entire Sv
oda army, lead by Ivan Crane, rise up over the hillside. Plan B, should she fail. However, if she failed, everyone on that hill would die, including Ivan.

  Nona, Meghan’s loyal Catawitch, stood at Ivan’s feet, anxious to be back by Meghan’s side.

  “Do it now!” said Ivan, through Nona’s thoughts to Meghan. “You must!” Tears flowed freely down Meghan Jacoby’s face. Maybe Colin would take her life and end the torment she knew would follow if she survived.

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  Colin stood up, facing Meghan.

  Ivan and Nona could tell Meghan was losing her strength.

  “Remember!” Ivan told her.

  Meghan nodded.

  Colin laughed.

  “Never in my wildest dreams did I think this day would come, and it would be you and Ivan Crane working together. They cannot touch me in here, you know. But don’t worry, Sis,” he said, moving closer. “I’ll take care of them when I’m through with you.”

  “I don’t know what to say, Colin. I am sorry, but I have no choice.” Her voice was shaky but truthful.

  “No choice,” he mocked. “And what exactly are you going to do to me, Sister? You never were any good at magic,” he chastised.

  He was no longer the Colin Jacoby she had grown up with. No longer the Colin Jacoby she used to protect from bullies. And no longer the Colin Jacoby she had once shared her most intimate thoughts, fears and dreams with. He had been changed, and all because he loved Catrina. Their love had blinded him to all else.

  Meghan looked away from Colin, ready for what was inevitably to come.

  The pain came, searing through her veins like a knife. She doubled over, unable even, to scream.

  “Stop this, Colin,” demanded Ivan.

  Colin snapped his head in Ivan’s direction and he instantly fell to the same fate as Meghan, dropping to the ground, writhing in agony.

  No one dared touch him.

  Meghan’s pain subsided, but she saw that Ivan’s did not.

  “Forget about me,” Ivan mustered out.

  Meghan looked away, still crouched and looking at the ground.

  “You can’t kill me, Meghan. I know you too well. You always thought you were the strong one, the brave one, the daring one who could do whatever it took to survive. Turns out you were the weak one, after all,” he added hatefully.

  “Whatever you say, Colin. I don’t have any fight left,” she lied. “I’m sorry I killed her, but as I said, I have no other choice.” Meghan voice wavered at the end and she kept her eyes on the ground. She could not face him.

  “Why would you even attempt taking her from me?” he questioned. “You know it is a pointless endeavor.”

  Meghan could not answer. Her heart was beating so hard she felt sure it would burst through her skin.

  “Look at me!” Colin demanded with such fury that she instantly looked up, seeing his betrayed eyes. He invaded her mind, easily listening to her confused thoughts … You’re not my brother any more … I can’t believe I killed her… I can’t do it… Don’t give up… Too many have already suffered…You know what has to be done! Do it!

  Colin’s stare turned deadly.

  7

  The horrific pain returned and Meghan fell to the ground, unable to move, or breathe, but her grip remained tight around the bloodied silver blade. She did not know how much longer she would live, but she had to finish her mission.

  Then, Colin’s anger diminished, as he appeared to inwardly struggle with the idea of killing his own sister. The pain stopped again, but Meghan’s hope was premature. Colin leaned over her, staring into her eyes.

  “I believe I’ll bring Catrina back now, so she can watch me avenge her death. She loved you like a sister, you know. I think you at least owe her an apology before I kill you.” The struggle Meghan thought she had seen in him was not there.

  “Even you, Colin Jacoby,” she then said boldly, “cannot bring back the dead, who have given their life to save another!” She paused, letting the statement sink in. “Catrina sacrificed her life so you could live.”

  Colin looked down to his beloved.

  Could this be true?

  Sacrifice was not reversible.

  “I don’t believe you.”

  “Then try it. Now! Bring her back!”

  Colin glared, but bent over his wife’s limp body. In his mind be pictured her alive and at his side.

  No breath.

  No movement.

  “What is this?” Colin demanded. “Live!” he yelled at Catrina’s still body.

  A fury was about to be unleashed, the likes of which no one had ever witnessed, unless Meghan acted now. She could not, and would not, allow everyone she cared about to suffer any longer.

  With a pained cry, Meghan jumped off the ground and plunged the dagger into Colin’s back and through his heart. One fatal wound, from which he could not recover.

  She felt his shock and pain and cried out with him.

  Memories flooded her mind, ones they shared, as children, and new ones she had never seen before.

  Meghan wondered, briefly, if in her moment of death, this is what it would feel like. She stored the rush of memories, the good and the bad… It was the least she could do for the brother she loved so dearly.

  She let go of the knife, leaving it in her brothers back.

  He slumped onto the ground, next to the still Catrina and her unborn child.

  Colin Jacoby was dead.

  Killed by the hands of his sister and once protector.

  He was no longer present in Meghan’s mind. She had never wanted to experience it again… his absence, and the emptiness it left behind.

  This time, it was for good. He would not return.

  She would never again hear his thoughts or be comforted by his presence.

  8

  The magical barrier, which Colin had created, vanished with Colin’s final breath, and Ivan and Nona rushed to Meghan’s side.

  No cheers resounded in the field of victory.

  Only whimpers over the lives that had to be ended.

  Ivan Crane held Meghan Jacoby close.

  “You did what had to be done,” he repeated.

  Nona rubbed her face against Meghan’s, but did not feel her there. She could not breathe.

  She could not see.

  She had committed the ultimate betrayal.

  She may have destroyed the evil that had taken control of the world, but that evil had taken control of her brother.

  “She was pregnant, Ivan,” Meghan then choked out. “We killed an innocent child.”

  “It is regretful,” he whispered, taking her head into his hands. Looking Meghan in the eye, he added, “They hid that secret well, but it changed nothing. Had we allowed that child to be born, it would have suffered the same fate.”

  Meghan knew Ivan was right. Why did he always have to be right?

  “We both knew you were the only one who could ever get close enough, Meghan. I am just so sorry that it had to be you. If I could have done it for you …” he did not finish.

  The realization of the lives she had taken was more than Meghan could bear. Her tears turned to sobs. She fell to her knees, her mind reaching out for the brother that could no longer hear her.

  Ivan kept his arms wrapped around her, knowing there was nothing he could say to ease her pain. After a minute, he helped her stand.

  The Svoda army stood behind, unsure of what to do next. No one could say or do anything to take away Meghan Jacoby’s pain.

  Meghan closed her eyes, not wishing to see Colin and Catrina Jacoby’s lifeless bodies, but she could not forget. Her mind’s eye saw the knife stabbing them, over and over again. Her head grew dizzy and at that moment, her body gave out.

  Ivan Crane swiped her into his arms, gently kissing her forehead, and then carried her away from the memories he knew she would never forget.

  A flame flickered, casting a woman’s silhouette against a cave wall.

  “This is a future I cannot allow to
happen,” she whispered to the shadows.

  After the candle, of the daughter she had believed dead, had lit months before, she had intensely desired to have a vision of her daughter’s future. However, the vision she had just witnessed was devastating and her heart felt heavy with the weight of it. She leapt to her feet, dashing through the rows of lit candles, searching for one in the shape of a young man.

  She found it and knelt down on the cold ground.

  “I will not allow this future to take place!” she then spat out determinedly. “But if I am to succeed at changing this future I will need his help.”

  9

  She peered into the flames, whispering.

  “Hear me, child.”

  The young man in the flame lay sleeping in a bed. He stirred, but did not wake.

  “Hear me,” she repeated. “You must find me.”

  The young man replied, while yet asleep.

  “Where must I go?” he muttered.

  “When you awake, you will know where to find me.”

  “Why must I find you?” the boy then asked.

  “Because I can show you, Sebastien Jendaya, how to save the ones you lost and love.” Sebastien did not answer. His eyes darted back and forth under closed eyelids, dreaming vividly of a vast forest leading to the entrance of a cave.

  2

  “We have been walking for an hour,” said Meghan Jacoby, nearly dropping her bags from exhaustion.

  “Yes, I know,” replied her brother, Colin. “I’ve been listening to you complain about it the entire time.”

  Meghan retorted by sticking out her tongue.

  She walked alongside Colin, near the back of the caravan, as they headed toward their new home, both glad to be out of Limbo.

  Colin could not have gotten out of Limbo fast enough. He was harboring Catrina Flummer, and inevitably, questions and stares ensued, upon everyone learning that he, a magical newcomer, had killed a Scratcher. A feat never accomplished before even by the most powerful of the Svoda Gypsies.

  Ivan Crane stepped cautiously a few steps behind them. Although he could not see Catrina at Colin’s side, he knew she was there, and appeared reluctant to let allow too much distance between them. Meghan, as well as Colin, knew Ivan well enough to know how badly he wanted Catrina to tell him everything she knew about his mother.