“They all died?” I asked, stunned.
Mom nodded and wiped away a tear. “They were so kind to me.”
Tammer put his arms around her.
“I hadn’t realized what Limus had done, until I heard my father cry out,” Tammer continued. “Just as I turned, Limus shot at me again and that time, it went through my side.”
“Olin and Tammer’s brothers died that day. Tammer was near death,” Mom said. “It was all over something so stupid! Once they saw that Olin had passed, they fled like the cowards they truly are. I managed to drag Tammer away and get him to shore. It took all that I had in me to stop him from dying, but I managed.”
Tammer continued, “We wanted to get as far away from here as we could, so we moved to California. But just because you run away doesn’t make you less responsible for your obligations. I had to return. I made Elan stay in California because she would have been killed if she had returned. You aren’t supposed to meddle with the dying.”
He lovingly kissed Mom’s hand. “Your Mom’s excellent at taking care of sick people.”
They seemed lost in each other briefly. Tammer broke his gaze and looked at me again.
“I’d visit her every so often in California when I could, but it was always hard leaving her. When she met Richard, it nearly killed me. He was a good man and kept her safe, but we were in agony about being apart. The heart wants what it wants. Finally, we decided it was impossible to live the way we were trying to live and we started seeing each other again.”
“Ramus left after the murder, presumably to escape the wrath of his family. No one was punished, as everyone blamed him. Only Limus knew where he went and he hasn’t said a word in all these years.”
Wow. I mean, what more could I think? It was like a Hollywood movie - impossible to believe. But what was going to happen to Thayde was killing me.
When I looked up, they were staring at me.
“Darling, are you going to be all right?” Mom was so worried.
“I don’t know,” I said truthfully. “There’s so much to think about.”
“Do you want us to get you a doctor?”
“Oh, no. He didn’t actually do anything. I’m just shook up about that, I guess.”
“She cares more about what’s going to happen to Thayde.” Tammer said. “Morgan, you’re a caring person but caring for Thayde can get you into a huge mess. Are you sure this is something you want to get into?”
How could I not? I loved him the first time I dreamed of him.
“Okay,” Tammer rubbed his eyes. “She’s already in this. She has been for a while.” His eyes were wary. “You want to know what’s going to happen to Thayde: he’ll be bound by his family and each of them will be allowed to inflict their darker powers upon him. If he survives, which I greatly think he will as he’s extremely strong, he’ll be in a lot of pain for a few days. It will be excruciating for him.”
My mouth hung open in horror.
“We have to stop it!”
“There isn’t any way to stop it.” Mom said sadly.
“He didn’t do anything wrong!”
“We just have to allow it to happen and go on from there.”
“But it’s not fair! He saved me!” I started to cry. I was so angry with myself. I never cry and lately that’s all I seemed to do. It was pathetic.
“We know. I guess we could try to appeal to Limus,” Mom was grasping at straws.
“Elan, I was just there telling Akin to stay away from Morgan and you see how well that worked.”
“If you guys don’t do something about this, I will,” I said harshly and stood up. “Thayde did nothing wrong.”
“What are you proposing we do, Morgan?” Tammer sounded exasperated.
“Something! Anything!” Their looks weren’t very hopeful. “Where do they live?”
“You can’t go there, Morgan, I forbid it.” Tammer stood and put his hands on my shoulders. “Don’t mess with things you know nothing about.”
Shrugging him off, I backed up. “I don’t know very much, but I know that I love him and this is not fair.” I turned and walked away to my bedroom. Grabbing my I-Phone, I looked up the Dartmoth’s address and instantly found them ten miles away. That was it. I’d go tonight. If no one was prepared to help me save Thayde, I’d do it alone.
Chapter Seven
The Judgment
Mom and Tammer had one of their housekeepers stand watch at my door that night, but that wasn’t about to stop me from leaving. After stuffing some shorts and a pair of sneakers into a little bag, I threw it over my shoulder and simply walked out the French doors that led into the sea. I phased as I hit the water and was ready to go.