Page 36 of The Last De Loughrey Dynasty (The Legacy of Aquila Hall #1)

CHAPTER THIRTY-FIVE

DOROTHEE

We are blessed with limited control over the elements.

“How is that even possible?” I gaped at the page of my great aunt’s diary, where she wrote about the day they discovered that nature was giving to people blessed by the Gods. Or, in our case, by the mother of witchcraft. Hecate.

“How is it possible that we’re able to see the dead?” Archer returned my question, and I narrowed my eyes in concentration at him.

“But this is different. It goes against the laws of nature. You can’t just light a bush on fire because you beg it to ignite.”

We had moved onto the floor with a few blankets from the drawer, where he had taken out clothes for me the night of Samhain. It was almost ten-thirty, and after dinner, we had come back down here to continue reading the next pages in Dottie’s diary.

The others will surely be pissed at us for not waiting, but the faster we get things going, the better. Besides, I was dying of curiosity after I had left the book in the hideaway during the holidays, in case someone went through my things at home.

Archer pushed himself up on his elbows. “Technically, you can’t just see ghosts because you want to,” he mocked me, and I let out a small chuckle.

“Stop mimicking me and be serious. This is quite literally insane.”

He shook his head. “No, it’s not. Dottie says that nature demands a sacrifice for the power it provides you with. In their case, they poured their own blood as a form of payment towards Hecate, and she repaid them with control over the wish element.”

I snorted and looked at the note on our Hecate blackboard of sacrificial magic. “Still sounds insane to me.”

“Calm your nerves. They’ve only managed to light candles so far.”

“Yeah, so far…”

He laughed at me. “You think they go from lighting candles to creating a hurricane within the next few pages?”

I flipped the page and leaned back against the wall of pillows Jesse had stored in the library during his nightly research sessions. “Let’s find out, shall we?”

Archer lay back down and crossed his arms over his chest as his eyes focused on the ceiling, ready to listen to me reading the next pages to him.

March 8th 1970

Dear Diary,

I’m starting to believe that our knowledge is so negligible that we as humans didn’t even consider the possibility of truth behind legends and folklore. It is difficult to believe that certain things are not fantasy but may be more real than the dream of a normal life in today’s society. How odd that children sometimes tend to see beyond the veil and hear the voices of nature calling them, but adults are too stubborn to believe in such ‘nonsense’.

It makes me question if the witches that have been burned at the stake were truly able to perform rituals and the craft of spells. Now, it seems almost unthinkable that we are the only ones hearing the shadows whisper.

My dear friend Callahan told me that he saw my daughter (or granddaughter, he doesn’t know our relation, but he told me the girl looks like a carbon copy of me) reading this diary, perhaps at this very moment. It is so exciting how talented he is with the sight. Mairead is too, but her ability frightens me. She sees the bad, and lately, she has been dreaming about her little sister, Alessandra. I wish I could help her somehow, but she says this vision is different. It’s cloudy, while they are usually so vivid that she believes certain things have already happened. All she’s able to see is her sister’s headstone.

Things have happened since we discovered how to open the Book of Shadows. The spirits barely talk anymore, and if they decide to visit, all we feel is death calling us through the veil. Sometimes, I wake at night and hear female voices echo through my room. A warning, a plea. But I see no one, and they all cry, but I can’t understand.

James, who has almost moved into my room, suffers from insomnia the same as I do. He hears them too, and I start to worry about him. He looks so tired, and my heart hurts every time I take in his exhausted features.

Until next time,

Dottie x

“Alessandra will die in less than two months from this time,” Archer said after I finished reading.

“She will, and something is blocking Mairead from seeing how it will happen.” I thought about what Maisie had told me before the holidays. “Didn’t Maisie and Nathaniel say that their visions have been acting abnormally lately? They barely see anything, but if they do, it’s just mere seconds before the actual event, and–”

“Cloudy,” Archer nodded, sitting up, grabbing a pen, and writing this detail in the notebook Jesse had left here. “Callahan saw you reading her diary, which is a good thing for us and indicates that we’re on the right path.”

I held the diary open with my index finger and looked up at him. His black curls had fallen into his eyes, and he almost looked messy, if it weren’t for his jeans and jumper, which were free of any creases. “If Callahan and Mairead could see a glimpse of fifty years in the future, why can’t Nathaniel and Maisie?” I asked out of curiosity.

The corners of Archer’s lips turned upwards, and he lay back down. “Mai hasn’t been able to see anything past a year in the future. But Nathaniel used to be able to.”

I leaned back into the pillows. “What did he see?”

“When we were sixteen, I spent the last weeks of summer at his place, and one night he woke up with the biggest smile on his face–I know, hard to imagine–but since I was still awake, watching the night sky, I caught him, and he joined me on the balcony.” Archer chuckled lightly. “When I warned him not to dare and tell me anything about the dirty dream he’d had, he punched me in the arm, but his smile never faltered. Then he told me about a little blonde-haired girl he saw dancing with the help of her mother in the light of the new moon.” While Archer told me about the memory, he seemed nothing but happy at the thought of a future. At the sight of him, I smiled, knowing what further explanation was about to come.

“The mother he saw was Maisie, and the girl is their daughter, right?”

Archer nodded as he finished his story.

“He said that Mai must have been in her mid-twenties, and the girl was around four or five. I’ve never seen him this happy–perhaps when Mai’s around, but him knowing that the future held only good changed something inside him that night. He said he’d make me her godfather.”

I smiled and nudged him gently with my elbow. “You’d make a good godfather.”

He put an arm behind his neck and nodded, agreeing. “I certainly will. I’ll give that girl the world.” Archer’s smile faded. “If I ever get to meet her.”

After he said that, my smile faded equally, and I reopened the diary. “We’ll make that happen,” I promised, flipping to the next page.

March 11th 1970

Dear Diary,

Mairead and I spent the night at the church because she wanted to try something with my help, but she didn’t want to involve Callahan and the others because she feared they’d stop her. As soon as she told me, I should have known that what I was about to help her with could be nothing good. But she’s like a sister to me, and how could I say no when she’d do anything for me? I just had to trust her.

She discovered a ritual when we first translated specific parts of the Book of Shadows. It took her almost an entire month to figure out the different herbs and where to get them. Mairead said we had to wait until the full moon to be able to carry out the ritual.

Last night, it was time. We took what we needed and sneaked out to the church, where my dear friend Gwyn welcomed us. Sometimes, I wish Mairead would be able to see her. I’m all Gwyn has left, and next year, when I graduate, I’ll have to leave her forever.

The ritual Mairead and I were trying to carry out was supposed to help her sight see what will happen to Alessandra. It was supposed to reveal our greatest sorrow, but what she saw wasn’t her sister, and she didn’t see it the way she usually does. Mairead’s eyes rolled to the back of her head, and she screamed in agony. I didn’t know what to do. I thought she was dying in my arms last night. The last time I was this terrified was when Gwyneth broke into the lake, and I couldn’t help her.

Never in my life do I want to feel as helpless as I did the day I lost her.

When Mairead ripped her eyes open, they were milky, almost completely white, and she mumbled words so fast it was difficult to follow. She had commanded me to write down whatever the vision would show her, and with my shaking hands, I did.

Whatever she saw, it wasn’t her sister’s death the ritual chose as her bloodline's greatest sorrow.

It was a tale about a Doe and her Archer.

The entry stopped without her well-known goodbye, and the words continued on the page parallel to this, in the form of lyrics, or as she called it, a tale.

The Tale of the Doe and her Archer

Once upon a time, there was a Doe and her Archer.

Doe, with a grace so silent, carried a fate both tragic and cruel,

A heart of grief was her Archer’s fuel.

Long before sorrow graced their paths,

There were two souls destined to hold on to love’s hands.

Her Archer seemed too stubborn to fall for her loving behaviour,

His mind’s struggle was her Archer’s failure.

Invisible strings bound by fate,

Ensured that love was eternally theirs to create.

When seasons changed and the night embraced a balmy air,

The Aquila constellation beaming for the heir.

A night commenced with the bud of hope in the hearts of their circle,

Finishes with grief destined to linger eternal.

Her Archer knew his Doe’s soul had been too pure of gloom.

Crimson stained his hands while the tragedy occurred,

The Doe’s heart took its final beat, and when his anguished scream pierced the silence,

All feelings in the Archer’s heart accrued painfully violent.

He wasn’t hers anymore, he was just an Archer.

A chill ran through my bones, and it felt like time had stopped as my breathing sped up, synchronising with the pounding of my heart.

Maisie’s grandmother wasn’t granted to see her sister’s death because it wasn’t her bloodline’s greatest sorrow that was yet to come. The spell showed her our fate.

The Doe and her Archer.

When I managed to raise my gaze, his hazel eyes were already fixed on me. I was overcome with emotion when I saw his expression, and a gasp escaped my lips.

He knew.

His eyebrows furrowed in terror, and his mouth opened slightly, but no words came out. Archer just stared at me, his eyes glazed with deep, unfixable pain.

“Why does it say your hands will be stained with my blood? Archer–” My voice broke as I tried to find the words, my mind shouting at me what the tale was trying to tell me.

He reached for my hand, but I pulled mine away before I allowed him to touch me. Pain crossed his features before he withdrew his hand and clenched his jaw.

My heart squeezed in agony, and the air suddenly seemed so thin in here.

“Because the prophecy we found the night we discovered this place says the last De Loughrey dynasty will fall by the hand of the Kingstone heir,” he said, his voice so shallow I could hear no emotion in it.

“That’s you and me. The Doe and her Archer.”

I should have been curious why Maisie decided that ‘Doe’ was a fitting name for me.

Did she know?

Did all of them know about my fate before I did?

“I didn’t know this was about you. But everything clicked into place when I saw you for the first time–”

“You knew the entire time that you’d be my end?” I should have been angry, but all I felt was small and fragile, as if I were made of porcelain and one more crack would cause me to shatter. “That’s why you pushed me away–why you tried so hard to seem like this cold, stubborn rock.” Realisation hit me the hardest now. All this time, I had just believed he was some selfish, rich arsehole. But his coldness had never been meant to show me how pathetic he thought I was. He wanted me to hate him.

Archer had tried everything to keep me at bay, far away from the waves that corrupted his soul. But everything inside me pleaded to dive into those deep waters and perhaps even drown in them if it meant I could be close to him.

“In my head, it seemed so easy to keep you away. And when I couldn’t manage to do that, I thought having you hate me would destroy all chances of this truth. But whatever I did, you just continued to consume every part of me, and not being able to give into these feelings made me want to rip my heart out and give it to you anyway, because a heart alone can’t cause any harm, and you deserve to be loved, Dorothee. To see that you’re so much more than the faded version the world created of you.”

He reached for my hand, and this time, I let him take it, because I longed for nothing more than for his touch to consume me. I knew it would destroy me if I decided to hate him in the end because he hadn’t told me the truth from the beginning.

His rough thumb stroked gently over my knuckles, and his forehead creased before he said, “the others told me it might be easier if you knew, but I couldn’t. If I had told you, I was so sure you’d spiral, and it wasn’t fair, I know, but I needed your trust to work with us on this matter so that we could even have a chance to change this fate. And I wouldn’t hurt you. In no life would I be able to—” He looked up from our entwined hands, and if I wasn’t mistaken, I saw tears gleaming in his eyes. “I know I’m cold and bold, and sometimes I can’t control this raging anger inside me, but I’m not a bad person, and I don’t understand why the stars work so hard to paint me as the villain when all I ever wanted was nothing more than quiet peace.” He sounded so tired.

I placed the diary on the floor beside me and squeezed his hand in both of mine. “I know you’re not a bad person, Archer. You’re not, and I knew it from the beginning.” I thought of those eyes that stared back at me when I woke from the trance Alessandra’s spirit had captured me in. “The moment I first saw you, I was so sure I knew you from somewhere. It was almost like…”

“Like we once used to exist in a world where our souls were entwined as one,” the truth left his lips so easily it was almost scary how we felt the exact same way.

“I can see you, Archer. Endless days and weeks I spent trying to figure you out, but who would have guessed that seeing you seemed as easy as breathing when I just let myself thrive instead of trying to force on the ruthless mask that belonged to someone else?” I’d tried so hard to be the person my parents desired that I’d lost myself along the way. I felt the invisible string between us, but I couldn’t reach for it because of how stubbornly I tried to be careless and strong. But I liked to feel. Feel emotions and the vulnerability of being human. To be able to feel was a blessing.

I liked to feel when I was around him.

“Being powerful in the form of not letting anyone in is admirable, but it’s not for me. Finding myself after being forged into an empty shell was confusing because I wanted to be strong like that. In some ways, I thought being as cold-hearted as my mother would make people think highly of me, since I always believed my own mother to be the strongest person to ever exist. Emotions were unwelcome… but it turns out I like the feel of butterflies in my stomach when I speak with Maisie about simple teenage things while we do our hair, or when Jesse turns the music up too loud and swings me around the room while I can’t contain my laughter. And I welcome the tingling in my chest when you’re around because it’s so simple but so beautiful to feel that you and the others saved me from being nothing.” Tears formed in my eyes as I spoke.

Archer brushed my hair out of my face with his free hand and stroked his thumb over my cheek. “Even before you came here, you were never nothing, Doe. You were just lost in the darkness.”

“And you still are,” I cupped his hand on my cheek with my own. “But you’re not a villain. You’re not my villain, Archer, and you never will be.”

He leaned his forehead against mine, and I closed my eyes along with his, wanting this moment to last forever. I wasn’t scared of this prophecy because I felt it wasn’t the truth. And as much as I promised myself I wouldn’t trust again, something inside my heart convinced me that Archer Kingstone would protect my soul with all he had if I let myself rest in his arms.

“I wish it was this easy.” He pulled back, and I opened my eyes to look into a forest of hazel. “But I owe you the truth. Mai saw this night play out. She saw us, and she knows this whole fate will fall into place like dominoes if we pull on this string and give into these feelings.”

I blinked. Was this really how it had to be?

“But if we find the Book of Shadows, history won’t repeat itself–”

“It means we won’t die together like James and Dottie did, but it’s no promise that you won’t…”

“So I’m going to die one way or the other?” My cheeks started to wet from the tears flowing, but Archer brushed them away with his thumb. Just because I found peace in the possibility of leaving this earth in six months didn’t mean I wanted to die.

“No. I won’t let death take you away, you hear? I will stay in this darkness forever if it means you’re safe.”

But I didn’t want him to suffer a lifetime because of possibilities. But I also didn’t want to die, and I didn’t feel selfish about admitting that to myself.

“What if we stay close but don’t let anything happen until the day of the Ball of Aquila is over?” It sounded insane to even want and risk it all for love, and perhaps this wasn’t even going to be love. All I knew in this moment was that I cherished my time with him and I looked forward to every time I would see him again. “I don’t want to die, but I also don’t want to cut this string between us just because some words on paper say I’m doomed if I stay too close to you.”

Archer said nothing for a long moment, but as soon as his lips formed my name, I saw what he was about to say. “Dorothee–”

“No. This is my decision, and I wish for you to respect it. Don’t push me away because you think it’s easier that way. Don’t be an arsehole because you want me to hate you. Be by my side and let me pull you out of this darkness as your friend until the time has come where we’re allowed to try and figure out what we truthfully want.” I lifted my hand and tangled my fingers in his black curls for a moment before I managed a smile. “You won’t hurt me, and besides, you wouldn't be able to anyway because I grew really fond of that bow and arrow the school let me borrow.”

Archer broke into a laugh and nodded, “Alright, I can live with the knowledge that if I mess this up, I’ll end up with an arrow through my heart.”

“Precisely, but you won’t mess this up,” I corrected him.

“Sometimes I’m afraid you think too highly of me.”

“No, Archer. You just think too little of yourself.”

I blinked awake and sighed as pain shot through my neck. I rubbed the place and lifted my head, taking in my surroundings for a moment, before I realised that I was still on the floor in the hideaway.

The diary entries ended abruptly after the prophecy Maisie’s grandmother had seen, and Dottie left no note to hint when the next time would come where we could continue reading. But something told me that this wasn’t where it was supposed to end.

Archer and I were both tired and didn’t feel like going back to our rooms, so we fell asleep on the blankets and pillows on the floor. I turned my head to the side and saw him sleeping peacefully beside me. His hand was entwined with mine, but we had fallen asleep mere inches apart. One of us must have reached for the other in our sleep.

I turned fully onto my side and watched his chest rise and fall in steady breaths. When had I ever seen him this peaceful?

The clock on the wall above the door showed that we were late for breakfast, and perhaps I should have woken him up, but pulling him out of a dreamless sleep of peace felt wrong. So I just let him be and whiled away in this moment that seemed timeless.