Page 35 of The Last De Loughrey Dynasty (The Legacy of Aquila Hall #1)

CHAPTER THIRTY-FOUR

ARCHER

“Do you really have to leave?” Elsie asked for the second time as we drove back to Aquila Hall.

Since she didn’t want to say goodbye to me for another two months, she had pleaded with our mother to let her drive with me. I used to visit them in London on weekends, but now that we spend every free moment uncovering the secrets of our ancestors, I don’t visit as often. Frankly, I only came to see Mum and Elsie anyway. That place was no longer home to me—especially not with my father around so often these days.

I wrapped an arm around my sister’s shoulder and tugged her closer so I could press a kiss to her hair. “It’s for the best, Eli.”

She buried her face in my chest and sighed, heavy with sadness. It made me wish everything were different. My sister deserved a protector and friend better than her brother was.

All I’d ever brought her was sorrow.

“Sometimes I wish we were young again, when everything was still so colourful.”

I caressed her black hair, which hung down to her shoulders. “Don’t say that. Your world is supposed to still be as colourful as it was a few years ago. You’re only a kid.”

Elsie pulled back and looked up at me, her eyes a mirror of mine, except hers were brimming with tears. Her lips wobbled before she replied, “it only is when you’re around, but you’re always away.” Tears began to fall, and I believe I heard my heart shatter as her words echoed through my mind.

My little sister leaned back against me, wanting to soak in every minute with me until we arrived at the academy.

Holding her close, I rested my chin on her head and whispered the words, “I’m sorry.” And I meant them. But I couldn’t feel sadness for not being around. It was easier that way. The only thing that truly saddened me was that I was the reason for my sister’s tears.

“Do you promise to call?” Elsie asked after we’d unloaded the boot and all my stuff stood in the entrance hall, ready for me to carry it upstairs.

“I promise,” I said, holding out my pinky finger, which she took. It reassured her that I’d keep my word. Elsie hooked her finger with mine, but the sadness never left her face, so I pulled her in by her hand one last time.

“He’ll be nicer with me gone,” I said. “Now, get in the car and tell Jonathan to let you ride shotgun.”

As she pulled back, I cupped her cheeks and pressed a gentle kiss to her forehead. “I love you.”

“I love you too.” Tears streamed down her reddened cheeks, and something inside me ached.

Elsie was going to grow into a strong, independent woman. I knew that.

We were doing everything to prevent this future, but if I was destined to disappear, would a part of my baby sister fade with me?

I’m her older brother. I’m supposed to protect her from all kinds of pain. I couldn’t let myself become her deepest sorrow.

“I’m going to miss you, Archie,” she said, trying to hide her sob with a smile.

I ruffled her hair at the nickname. “I’ll miss you more if you ever drop that nickname.”

She chuckled softly at my reply. “Never.”

I watched her leave the building with a grieving heart.

Might this have been the last time I’d ever see my sister? I wouldn’t go home for Easter. The next time I’d be forced to leave Aquila would be during the summer…

Shaking off the never-ending fog of thoughts, I grabbed my luggage and carried it upstairs to the boys’ dorm.

Unpacking didn’t take more than ten minutes, since I’d only packed a few pieces of clothing for the holidays. Most of my outfits had been picked out by my parents before I’d even returned to the Kingstone home.

On Christmas evening, there had been an event where my father celebrated another successful year for Kingstone Bank.

I’d been forced to shake hands with at least fifty of his partners, all of whom told me they were pleased to finally meet the heir to the Kingstone empire.

My face rarely appeared in public, but that night had rewarded me with a cover story on some brainless magazine.

A soft knock sounded on my door, and I closed my closet before heading for it. As far as I knew, Doe wouldn’t arrive until late afternoon, she had a longer ride ahead of her than I did, so I wasn’t in a hurry to answer.

If this was Chadwick asking how I was feeling, I was going to lose it. What had happened before the holidays was a slip-up—a one-time thing.

Unlocking it, I opened the door, and to my surprise, it wasn’t a teacher but a red-headed girl standing there.

She had her hand raised, ready to knock a second time.

Doe lowered it and smiled warmly at me. “I thought you might have been joking, and I’d wait for you like a fool until the holidays were over.”

I leaned lazily against the door frame. “When have you ever seen me joking?”

She thought for a moment, nibbling lightly on her bottom lip as she always did when concentrating. “You’ve got a point. Still, I wasn’t sure if you’d really come.”

“I’m here, aren’t I?”

Doe walked past me without bothering to ask if she could come in. Waiting a moment, I pushed off the door frame and closed the door behind her. She looked around like she’d never seen a boy’s room before, and if she hadn’t, this must have been utterly disappointing. My room was the epitome of boring. I liked it clean and minimalistic. Too many things would drive me mad.

“Did you know a room mirrors the person it belongs to?” she asked, looking at the single painting I’d hung above my bed when I was fourteen. “But yours is so empty of life.”

I admired her from the side as she tilted her head at the copy of the old Renaissance painting framed in gold. She’d cut her hair. When she left for the holidays, the tips almost reached her ribs; now they fell loosely to the middle of her chest. Tiny braids formed a crown at the back of her head, and at that moment, it seemed impossible to me that anyone who passed her wouldn’t think she was the most beautiful person they’d ever seen.

It was odd for me too because I had never admired anyone as often or as long as her.

“Maybe I just like it clean and tidy.”

She turned to me, her expression thoughtful. “No, I think you, Archer, just haven’t found yourself yet.”

I took a step closer, narrowing my gaze slightly. “So, you’re saying a person needs a chaotic and colourful room to have a personality?” I teased, and she rolled her eyes.

“No, I didn’t say that. It’s just fascinating that even Nathaniel’s room shows more life than yours. If I didn’t know better, I’d say no one lived here.”

Shrugging, I glanced from her to the painting on the wall. “I never really wanted to move to Aquila. I was twelve when the school accepted me, and I was determined and enraged at my mother for betraying me like that. She always promised she wouldn’t send me away, but in the end, she did. I think I never fully unpacked or bothered to personalise anything in here because I didn’t expect to stay.”

“You thought your mum would come back and take you home?” she asked, sadness crossing her features at the thought of a younger version of me waiting for my mother. But that wasn’t how it went.

“No, I just didn’t expect to… stay . Some part of me believed this was finally it—my mother abandoned me, and I was alone. So why bother?”

Silence hung between us, and I could feel her eyes on me, but mine were fixed on the painting on the wall. The portrait of a woman lying between the stars and the night sky, pearls bound around her hand, swaying through her satin-white dress and the heavens.

I remembered Naomi once telling me she’d have expected me to frame The Last Supper rather than a random painting of a lady bathing in stars.

“How did you get past those feelings?” Doe asked hesitantly. I turned to look at the girl beside me, her gaze still fixed on me.

“Mai had been attending this school for six months by the time my mother heard of Aquila Hall. Mai ran me around in circles, kept me company, she just kept me busy. Then I met a rude arsehole of a boy. I quickly realised I grew fond of his company—since we were two sides of the same coin. I was forced to sit beside a boy in English Literature who couldn’t shut up for the life of him. One day, he challenged me to a game of chess with the words, It’s okay if you don’t want to—you’ve already lost anyway. I thought he was bluffing, so I gave it a go. Suddenly, I was meeting up with him three times a week, hoping to prove him wrong, to make him lose to me. One afternoon, a girl with a poisonous bite joined us. Her arrogance was so unbearable I couldn’t stand her. She stuck to the chess-loving boy like they were glued together, and with time, she grew on me, like an annoying little sister.”

It was hard for me to understand my own thoughts and feelings. I believed my friends gave me so much, but I couldn’t give them anything in return, and that made me spiral. Maybe some part of me wanted to belong somewhere, and that’s why I liked their company. But that wasn’t the truth.

“Your friends saved you,” Doe whispered.

She was right.

They were family to me. While I struggled with the pain of emptiness, I’d completely forgotten what had kept me going during that time— at least until now . When I’d been left alone, these people found me, and we forged a bond that couldn’t be denied or broken.

Family doesn’t end with blood, and my friends proved that to me. They saved me long before the wish I’d made upon a falling star was granted.

My heart squeezed as the realisation hit me.

I looked at the painting before my gaze slipped to the girl by my side, whose icy-sharp eyes softened whenever I was near her. I wondered why, exactly, she cradled me in a light of hope. What was so special about her? Why was it that, at night, the only thing I saw when I closed my eyes was her?

When darkness began to claim me as a child, I would climb out onto my balcony and gaze up at the stars. One night, a shooting star streaked across the sky, and I clung to the railing, closing my eyes to mouth my quiet wish.

I want to meet a star.

To my child’s mind, stars were the purest light to exist. All I wanted was to bathe in that light, to plead for its protection against the darkness. I remember how heartbroken I’d been when my wish didn’t come true.

But it had.

The star I had wished for so deeply was now standing beside me—in the form of a girl.

And as I looked at her, her few freckles almost resembled a constellation. So many signs there had been telling me that my saviour was already by my side.

The tarot card portraying her. The Star.

The words that slipped so easily off my lips whenever I watched and was destined to be near her when I wasn’t supposed to.

A fallen star.

My fallen star.

I tried to keep her far away from me, like a star, but she kept falling, destined to be mine.

I swallowed the lump in my throat and turned to the painting once more. “The artwork is called Falling Star and was created by a Polish painter in the nineteenth century. Some say it’s supposed to remind us that the force that guides the stars guides us too. But art is free of any interpretation.”

I felt Doe’s fingers brush my arm, and warmth flowed through my veins from the place her skin touched mine. “What do you see in the painting?”

“That sometimes even the most beautiful stars are destined to fall. Infinite, she has spent her life in space and time, and still, nothing is forever. Some stars are meant to fall sooner than others, but in the end, time is transitory, and even the brightest beam is fated to extinguish at some point in time,” I explained as a sun ray fell through my open window, highlighting the circle of infinite pearls the woman in the picture was holding. “It reminds me that falling isn’t as terrible when you remember that even stars can fall.”

Turning my head, the beaming light next to me parted her lips a little, her eyes softening slightly. “Is that why you call me a fallen star? Because you believe I have fallen?” she asked and narrowed her gaze.

I lifted my hand, brushing a lock of red hair behind her ear. It was the first time I touched her because I wanted to. The first time, my touch wasn’t necessary to save her from drowning or out of the clutches of a spirit. My finger felt the warmth of her skin because I chose to, and how could something so terribly wrong feel so good? The rationality in my mind shouted at me to hide from her once more, but the beating of my heart drowned every rational thought out. “When I first met you, you were so quiet. You hid from the world like you were sure that your mere existence would hurt anyone who breathed the same air as you.”

I drew my thumb over her cheekbone and Doe closed her eyes, breathing in the moment, slightly leaning into my touch. “From a young age, I was raised to feel loathsome because of how I saw the world. In my family, you’re not allowed to be eccentric. And the older I grew… the more I believed what they told me, and I learned that not talking— hiding —is so much easier than just being me.”

“Because falling is easier than trying to shine next to the sun, when your light is only ever appreciated in the company of the moon.”

Dorothee blinked, her eyes full of emotions. “Like a fallen star,” she concluded, and I swallowed, cupping her cheek fully in my palm, my fingers tangled in her hair.

“But never has a fallen star looked this ethereal,” I mumbled, completely captivated by her. If this was a tale, she might as well have been a siren drawing me into her spell.

For what it was worth, all my heart begged me for was to spend eternity with her, even if that eternity was meant to be spent in the evermore.

A knock broke us apart. Doe flinched and turned away in a hurry, looking over to the door. I needed a moment to get myself together before I went and opened the door to whoever destroyed this moment in the name of fate.

It was good, I mean. This was foolish of me.

Chadwick stood there with some papers in hand. Even during the holidays, when barely a student even stayed, he dressed up in smart clothes. “Welcome back to Aquila, Mister Kingstone. I hope you enjoyed the holidays,” he welcomed me with a polite smile as his gaze slipped past me to Doe, who stood around a metre away. Chadwick raised his eyebrows in surprise. “Dorothee, I was already searching for you. It’s nice to see you back too. I, too, hope you had a pleasant Christmas with your family.”

Doe came up to us, standing by my side, giving him a sweet and honest smile.

Now, honestly, what did everyone fancy about him?

He was acting too nice for my liking. His methods while working with the students were questionable. He treated us equally. And from experience, people like us simply don’t get equality in life. It was odd.

Chadwick handed both of us a piece of paper where dates were written down. “For those staying at the academy, we planned the upcoming celebrations in a little circle. You can cross the Christmas dates since those have already come to pass. You don’t have to join the activities, no one will force you, but you are very welcome to do so.”

Only one date that was in the near future was relevant for us, and that was New Year’s Eve. There’d be a special dinner in the great hall, some games could be played until the clock hit midnight, and we’d celebrate the new year with fruit punch under the observation of Doctor Anwir Chadwick and… Professor Asher Kane.

Of course, Kane had to stay here for the holidays too.

That was great, just great.

We had to figure this out, but if he didn’t suspect we were looking for the Book of Shadows, and we were trying to confront him about it, we would have revealed that fact. So we had to find a carefully thought-through solution.

“Thank you, we’ll be there for New Year’s Eve,” Doe promised, and I eyed her from the side. “We will?” I asked her in a whisper, and she placed her hand on my arm, smiling brightly at me and then at Chadwick. “Of course we will! Welcoming the new year alone would be terribly miserable.”

When I even for a second frowned at her, as soon as she squeezed my arm, I knew she was acting to convince Chadwick that she was happy to be with people now. I looked at the man standing in my door, not bothering to smile because if the way she fake chirped beside me wasn’t revealing her lie, then my smile would. I never smiled at any of the teachers, especially not him. “Sure,” was all I said.

Chadwick nodded, happy about our promise to attend the celebration. I was about to close the door in his face when he stopped me from doing so by placing his hand on it. “I have to remind you that girls aren’t allowed in the boys’ dorm, nor the other way around.”

“Yes, we know. I just wanted to catch Archer since we have a library date to find some stories to keep us entertained during the rest of the holidays. So sorry that I disregarded the rules. It won’t happen again.” I would have teased her for acting like she couldn’t hurt a fly, but I just wanted Chadwick to finally leave, and Doe was doing more for that to happen than I. She stepped out of the room to convince him we were just about to leave.

Chadwick waved her lazily off. “No worries, I didn’t see anything. Now, I don’t want to be the cause of interruption. Just pay attention for this not to happen again. The consequences will be detention that will follow as soon as the classes start again.”

Doe nodded like a good little student, and I stepped out of the door, pulling it closed behind me. “If you’d excuse us now…”

“Yes, of course. Have a pleasant day. If you need anything, Professor Kane and I are available at all times. Breakfast, lunch and dinner will be served at the usual times.” Just as fast as Chadwick appeared, he left.

Doe hit me in the arm and I frowned at her. “What?”

She crossed her arms in front of her chest as if the reason she assaulted me was obvious. “You’re being so rude to him.”

Oh, that.

I shrugged, turning in the direction towards the library. “As you might have noticed, I prefer to be rude than polite. It’s a personality trait.”

She jogged up to my side. “No, it’s not. You’re actually pretty nice behind that mask of yours. Besides, Anwir is kind and—”

“Anwir?”

“Anwir Chadwick,” she explained.

“I know his first name. It’s just weird that you call him by that.”

Doe shrugged. “He said I can call him what I want, and calling him by his surname makes our conversations during our sessions seem kind of awkward.”

I pursed my lips. “Those sessions are supposed to be kind of awkward. You’re not supposed to become close with your psychologist.”

“You’re unreasonably disapproving of me trusting him. He’s not like the others I’ve been to. He actually listens to me, and he’s not prescribing me pills after pills and telling me that I’m hard work…”

“I just want you to be careful with him,” I said, taking the steps downstairs two at a time, watching two thirteen-year-olds playing tag on the stairs.

Doe grabbed the cuff of my jumper and pulled herself closer to me, so the kids wouldn’t be able to hear what she was saying. “Concern doesn’t suit you.”

I scoffed and eyed her, pulling her closer by laying my arm around her shoulders as we hurried towards the library. “You prefer me careless, fallen star? That could be a deadly wish.”

She turned her head to look at me. “I prefer you with your pretty mouth closed when it comes to my life.”

“As long as you keep calling my mouth pretty, I grant you that wish of yours.”

She gaped at me as her cheeks turned a crimson shade. Doe pushed her elbow into my side, but it didn’t make me let go of her. If anything, I just squeezed her a little tighter to my side.

“Don’t be ashamed. I like the shade your face turns when you look at me,” I assured her, the smile audible in my voice. Letting go of Doe, I grabbed the used handle of the library door and held it open for her to step in. Which she did, but with an annoyed attitude.

“If you haven’t noticed—and you should have by now, since your favourite thing is to admire me when you think I’m not aware—I blush easily. When I’m happy, sad, angry, or nervous. I can’t control it, and some might say it’s the curse of a ginger.”

I let the heavy door fall closed behind me. “Well… which emotion causes you to blush when you look at me?”

She opened her mouth to answer but closed it again. We made our way to the shelves located in the far corners of the library, where no one really went. Birth charts, bills and other stuff from random people who lived in Owley years way before we were born were boring to most teenagers.

“I can’t decide which emotions you trigger inside my heart. Sometimes I feel annoyance, anger towards you because you’re mean and unreadable, and I hate when I can’t figure people out. Something inside me wants this control over who’s in front of me, so I know how to act around them,” she started. “But for some odd reason, all I want to be around you is me. So I feel comfort and admiration towards you because you manage to make me feel that way.”

Her honesty surprised me. “I pegged you to lie or tell my pretty lips to shut up again,” I said, trying to hide how my heart squeezed at her answer. I imagined that she perhaps felt similar towards me, because of how I felt around her, but hearing the truth made my head spin.

Doe angled the Asteria book and looked around before she pushed the door to the storage room open, and we slipped inside within a moment passing between us.

She hit the wall with her back by the way she hurried inside, and I caught her around the waist before she stumbled against the stack of books and caused any damage to them. They weren’t relevant, but it didn’t mean they needed to be destroyed.

“Humanity grew fond of lies when the truth seemed too hard to tell and the lies too pretty. I too found comfort in lies because they used to protect my peace, but now, peace looks so irrelevant when you’re a breath away from death. Remember me by the truth of who I am. Not the lies to make me look pretty.” Her lips turned into a smile, and she turned to activate the mechanism in the bookshelf.

“You know, if you die, I die. So how could you expect me to be able to remember you in the afterlife?” I asked, pushing past her to jog down the ancient stairs, taking the key from the long necklace I hid underneath my jumper to unlock the final door.

I held the door open for her, and she rushed inside our hideaway, turning to face me, her eyes softening as she said the next words, “I guess the afterlife won’t be an eternal loneliness if you join me. And if I’m destined to stay infinitely there, I want your soul to know mine before that time comes.”