Witch and Wizard_ The Fire - James Patterson [74]
The wind howls louder, a testament to his power.
My mom’s cheeks redden with the insult. She’s inches from him, and though he towers over her tiny, starved body, the look on her face could crush mountains. “The Prophecies — which, you’ll remember, correctly predicted their Gifts — have been fulfilled,” she emphasizes, her voice acidic. “The children have already experienced the Five Realms of human existence: true love, true grief, true fear, true compassion, and, now, true courage. Their rule is at hand.”
Wait … what? I gape at Whit. His face is a stone mask, but his eyes seem to falter for a moment. Five Realms? Rule? This feels like the first time we’re hearing this. Isn’t it impossible enough just to dethrone The One and get things back to normal? So we’ve actually been on some kind of prophetic scavenger hunt ending in a mind-boggling amount of responsibility, and no one bothered to let us in on the real goal?
My head is throbbing now from The One’s draw on my power, and his eyes flick to my face as I wince. His serene expression makes me doubt everything all over again. He’s so sure that he’ll win, that we’ll all die. How can my parents be so confident in the face of his manipulation?
“Ah yes, the Prophecies,” The One considers. “But as you point out, Benjamin and Eliza, they are just children. Unprepared by their parents to do much in the world. Certainly not prepared to rule anyone, or even control the tremendous Gifts they’ve been given. How does it feel to have failed them?”
Whit and I both step forward and start to protest — much to The One’s delight — but my mom waves us off, undeterred.
“If we had revealed Whit’s and Wisty’s roles to them earlier,” she argues, “they could never have truly opened their hearts to the full spectrum of human experience. They would’ve always felt other. They needed to come here, they needed to seek us out against all odds — against death itself — to experience the final level of human experience: courage.”
I get it now. This is why our parents told us not to come here: we had to make the choice on our own, despite the risks, to be truly courageous. We resented them so much for not telling us. But they had it right.
“They’ve achieved something you never will,” Dad points out. I get that all of this is a bit over our heads, but I wish they would stop talking about Whit and me like we’re not even here. But Dad goes on giving it to The One: “You’ve sabotaged yourself, killed every bit of compassion you might have had, so you can never experience true love.”
“He who controls all the elements is the ultimate ruler.” The One snaps his wrist dismissively, and the wind groans. It feels like the air is surging through my skull, and my headache worsens. “We all know how this is going to end, and I’m losing my patience.” He steps toward me. “Wisteria, give The Gift to me — now!”
As if I even know how to hand over this so-called Gift! Whit and I are just pawns here, and we don’t understand the rules of the game. We don’t even know what game we’re playing.
“Fine!” I yell in a tantrum of exasperation. Fire leaps from my fingertips to The One’s crisp suit. It’s extinguished immediately, but he looks truly angry for the first time, and I instinctively take a step back.
“Did you forget what Byron taught you, dear girl? You made a grave mistake earlier. You may have paralyzed me for a moment, but your magic only makes me stronger.”
I try not to flinch as The One fixes me with his hypnotic eyes. He’s smiling like a grandfather about to deliver sage advice. That smile would make a baby weep.
Storm clouds whip around us, but the rain doesn’t come. Not yet. The terrified crowd leans forward, and the moment is pregnant with possibility.
The One moves toward me.
“You’re nothing!” he shrieks directly into my face, sounding unhinged, and sharp, blinding migraine pain flashes behind my eyes.
Like lightning, I think, and I finally begin to understand what this is all about.
Chapter 78
Wisty
THE ONE RAISES his arms, and the elements respond at once to his call.