I switch off the lights and crawl into the makeshift bed on the sofa, I pull my t-shirt over my head but keep my tracksuit bottoms on. Normally I sleep naked, but I’m not with Juniper being here. I settle down and try to sleep.
It doesn’t come, though.
My mind is whirring with too much information.
A witch and a Guardian in love.
Evil deeds and punishment.
It’s all too much to take in.
A mystery with so many unanswered questions.
Eventually, my mind starts to quieten as the tiredness within my body takes over. My eyes drift shut and sleep begins to claim me, but I’m awake and immediately alert again when the sound of soft sobbing, coming from my bedroom, fills my ears. Juniper is crying. I slide from my sofa and make my way to her. From what I can see in the dark, she’s curled up in a ball, and when I enter the room, she looks up at me.
“What’s wrong?” I turn on the light and make my way over to her, pulling her into my arms to comfort her.
“I’m scared,” she whispers to me. “I don’t understand any of what’s happening to us, and I can’t help but think Sebastian’s death is because of me. I should never have spoken to him. I should have stayed away. Maybe I should stay away from school, I’m endangering everyone. No one seems safe near me. My father proved that today with his attack on me. I don’t know how much more of this I can take.”
“No, don’t think like that. Whatever is happening isn’t just because of you. It’s both of us.”
Juniper sits up and moves away from my arms. “You’re not telling me something.”
“You read me too well,” I reply.
“It’s because I love you.”
We both move closer to each other again, our lips nearly touching, but we can’t risk a kiss. I need to be in my body and aware of everything so I can protect her. I reluctantly pull away.
“Juniper, I want you to listen to what I have to say before you respond. All of it. Do you promise me?” I move farther away from her on the bed. I need to put distance between us so I can explain everything without falling apart. It’s not an easy memory to talk about when it’s so fresh in my head.
“I promise.” Juniper’s eyes are wide, and I can see I’m scaring her.
“I was with Sebastian when he died.”
She gasps.
“Listen, please, to the whole story. I went to see him after you’d told me you were leaving Caspian. I was going to ask him for his help in keeping you here because it’s where you’re meant to be. We got talking, and he found out I was a Guardian. He told me his grandfather was one.”
“I know, he told me as well.”
“Did he tell you anything else?”
She shakes her head. “I didn’t tell him about you. I just asked a few random questions, then we watched a movie.”
I close my eyes and take a deep breath. “We discussed a bit more. He told me about a story of a witch and a Guardian who fell in love.”
“The book,” Juniper interrupts me again.
“What?” I’m not sure what she means.
“I found a book in my mother’s library about a witch and a Guardian. I’ve not finished reading it yet, but it’s not going in a good direction.”
“It won’t finish on a happy ending. According to Sebastian, together they nearly destroyed the world,” I tell her.
“I don’t understand. What does it have to do with us?” Juniper reaches out and takes my hand.
“I’m not sure, but I believe Sebastian thought we might be the reincarnation of them. When I told him I couldn’t control my powers, and then I mentioned you’d had something around your heart, he paled. He was so scared. He told me of a story his grandfather once mentioned about a witch and a Guardian needing to be controlled in order to protect the world. Evidently there’s a plan in place, and I asked him who devised it and who was in charge of everything, and that’s when he started struggling to breathe.” I get up from the bed, needing to put more distance between us. I know what I’m about to say is going to hurt her in so many different ways.
“Cobi, please.”
Juniper slides from the bed. She’s wearing a t-shirt and a pair of short bottoms, and I should appreciate the sight of her looking so pretty, but I can’t. I’m hurting inside. I need to get all this off my chest.
“He collapsed to the floor. I went to him, but I couldn’t help him, so I called an ambulance. I have a power within me, and I couldn’t summon it to save him. That will be my biggest regret. He was trying to tell me something, and I think he died as a result.”
“What do you mean?” Juniper comes closer to me, and pulling her against me again, I nuzzle my nose against hers. It’s the only way I can demonstrate my love for her. I let go of her and take her hand before leading her back into the lounge and to my desk.
“I think Sebastian was killed. Strangled in front of me by something or someone I couldn’t see. He knew too much and was murdered as a result. I can’t prove it, but I’m certain of it.”
Juniper shakes her head slowly. I can tell she’s trying to take in everything.
“I don’t understand. Could you feel anyone in the room?”
“There was a dark presence, but it was what I saw while I was watching him which makes me sure he was killed. He was tearing at his neck like he had something around it.” I’ll never rid myself of the memory of Sebastian’s last few moments. They’ll haunt me forever.
Turning to the desk, I pick up the book and hand it to Juniper with a bookmark in place at the foreword and continue to speak. “I asked Sebastian to tell me who put the plan in place, and with his dying breath he reached for this book and turned to the page I’ve bookmarked. I wasn’t certain it meant anything at first, but after today and seeing the way your father treated you, I’m worried, no, that’s too tame a word for what I’m feeling, I’m petrified of what it means.”
Juniper looks down at the book and then back up at me. She opens the book to the foreword and tears fill her eyes when she sees it’s written by her father.
“You think my father is responsible for whatever is happening to you…to us?”
I nod and lower my head. “I wish I could say it wasn’t, but I watched Sebastian die because he was telling me a story about the things he’d learned; things which could have a bearing on you and me, and who we could possibly be. It could be a coincidence he opened the book to this page, but I am sure he was searching for a way to tell me something in his final moments, and I think he found it.”
Juniper slams the book shut and places it down on the table. She’s unable to even hold it in her hand, such is her disgust. But is it for me or her father?
“If you think my father killed Sebastian, then so do I, Cobi. I’m sick of always being one step behind what’s happening to us. I think we need to find a way to get ahead for once, and I think the magical games might just give us a chance. Until then, though, I need to disappear and find out as much as I can about the witch and the Guardian.”
“What do you have in mind?” I question, not entirely sure what Juniper means but seeing the inner workings of her brain, starting to turn.