Brunch

Hearing Georgina speak from the heart was interesting. Anne was the one who’d know if Georgina was being honest, but I had a feeling Emory didn’t believe it for a moment, shaking his head as we stood outside the door to the library. If we hadn’t been there I imagine him going straight into the room. Uncertain how making that choice would make him look he waited instead, because the way Georgina spoke made me think she wasn’t who I expected her to be. That wasn’t unusual. Yes, she’d made some terrible choices, because she’d been in love with the wrong person. Judging that wasn’t something I should do.

Emory did give in eventually, making the decision to step through the door more calmly than he would have, and I followed, eyes meeting with Anne’s for a moment. She gave me a nod. Georgina, unexpectedly, had been honest. I studied my aunt, seeing her as a person rather than than a name. When Georgina glanced back, seeing us with Emory, her face paled, but she didn’t let go of Finn.

“You know I’m right, Emory. What I did was wrong, and I am sorry, because I never really gave us a chance.” She stroked a hand over Finn’s head. “The girls… I know you aren’t, but they see you as their father, which, to them, is what matters more than anything. Please don’t let my foolish decisions come between you.”

“They can’t be the Lockwood heir.”

Slowly, Georgina nodded. “Finn will be.” Blinking, Finn looked up at her. “I can feel your power, sweetheart, and there’s no doubt in my mind you’ve inherited the Lockwood magic. Luckily you weren’t born a Seer. That I wouldn’t wish on my worst enemy.”

Anne’s eyes met with mine again, a flicker of amusement in hers, another sign she probably did remember our shared past. “Neither would I.” Georgina looked at me. “Being a Seer is complicated, and often painful.” She bit down on her bottom lip. “I know.”

“Did you…” She glanced at Thaddeus. “I understand if you did, Titus, because Emory deserved to know the truth.”

“No, Aunt, I didn’t. Emory found out by himself, but I did tell Papa, so he was prepared for the situation we might find ourselves in this morning, and that… you can get through this, together.” I stepped closer to her. “There are always Possibilities, so, if the two of you find a way to actually connect with each other, you may be able to build a relationship that means something.”

“Whatever happened before, Emory, I’d like that.” Anne stepped forward, wrapping an arm around Finn’s shoulders, as Georgina stood, turning to look at her husband. “I wasn’t fair to you. Giving you a chance… I truly am sorry I didn’t do it sooner.” She breathed in deeply. “Please, for our children.”

“Give me one good reason, that isn’t our children, for me to do that. I tried, Georgina. When we first married…” Emory raked a hand through his hair. “You chose him.”

“I did, and that wasn’t fair.” Georgina stepped closer to him. “Nothing I did was fair.” She glanced back at Finn. “The night we conceived our son changed the way I saw you, but I couldn’t work out how to break through the shields you’d rightfully erected around your heart. We were both tipsy, which… I’m not going to pretend. You were honest, and I should have told you then, only I knew I’d lose you. Even now I might… I don’t love you.” Emory raised an eyebrow. “With time I truly believe I could, because the man I had a chance to get to know that night… I wished I’d noticed him before, rather than being so blinkered I couldn’t imagine being with anyone else.”

“You had two children with other men.”

“Children who adore you.” Georgina took the final steps, so she was standing right beside Emory, a hand tentatively reaching out to touch his arm. “You have always been a good father.” She looked at Finn. “To all our children. Even now you’re doing your best.”

“This isn’t their fault, but they all know something is wrong.” Emory looked at me. “Is ending the marriage also a Possibility?”

Hand dropping, Georgina looked down, but it wasn’t fast enough for me to miss the shimmer of tears. “Yes, it is, because the vows have been broken, so there’s technically nothing holding you together.” Thaddeus looked at me, seeming uncertain, and Finn made a sound, turning to bury his face in Anne’s side, while she watched me, knowing me in a way no one else in the room did. “If that’s what you want I could end it now.”

Emory nodded, before looking at Georgina. “Be honest with me.” She lifted her eyes, the tears streaming down her cheeks. “Do you truly want me to give you another chance? I want you to be honest with me, because if this is just because I’m a Lockwood…”

“No, Em, don’t think that.” I didn’t need Anne to know Georgina meant what she said, the panic in her voice something I hadn’t actually expected to hear. “You deserve better than me.” She stepped back, her decision made, and then turned to look at me, her eyes meeting with mine. “Break the vows, Titus. For Emory.”

“Mama…”

“Finn, everything will work out. I promise.” Magic swirled. “This is for the best.”

Rather than breaking them I looked at Emory, who shook his head. “No, it’s not, because Titus said we can make this work.” He stepped in front of Georgina, his back to me. “I think we should try. This…” Gently, he stroked the tears off her cheeks. “Seeing you cry over me… you don’t love me?”

“I don’t think I do, yet.” She sniffed. “This… Emory, I am so so sorry. You’re a good man.” Even wrapped in the darkness of the Lockwood house he was, and probably more capable of dealing with it than Thaddeus. “Father… he never listened to me. When I told him I was in love with someone he told me he’d made his decision. You were a Lockwood, so I didn’t have a choice, which led to me taking my emotions out on you.”

“There’s no one else?”

“No, since Finn I made the decision to stay loyal, even if you couldn’t forgive me.” She stood on her toes, kissing his cheek. “Are you certain?”

“Honestly, Georgina, I’m not, but I think we owe it to each other to try.” Emory curled his arms around her, and she rested her head on his chest. “Anne, you said there was somewhere Finn could go if he needed time alone? Can you show us both where it is?”

“Of course.” Anne gently squeezed Finn’s shoulders, and he looked at her. “Neither of you will be able to get through the wards, Uncle Emory, because you aren’t strong enough.”

“Good.” We both looked at him. “Finn needs a space he can call his own, away from everyone else. He’s always been… sensitive, and this time was harder on him than it was my daughters. They are more Galbraith in the way they’ve been able to weather this storm, while Finn… I’d almost have said he took after Anne, if it wasn’t for the fact she never had children.”

“Some Lockwoods do have more empathy than others.” I stepped closer to Finn, who looked at me. “Finn is one of them. He feels emotions in a way most don’t, and they affect him badly if everyone is struggling. The room Anne knows of can help him.” My eyes met with hers, because she couldn’t hide the truth any longer – there was only one way she could know it existed. “We can both feel the wards that were created by those who lived here before.”

An excuse for us knowing anything about the house Emory didn’t, and he looked at me, an eyebrow raised. He didn’t believe me. Thaddeus would, still not quite willing to think it was possible I might be the reincarnation of another Titus, but Emory saw things very differently, Anne’s decision to show Finn her room a reason for him to wonder. Slowly, Anne looked between us, seeing the same thing I did, before holding a hand out to Finn, making the decision it didn’t matter right then. Finn did.

We walked through the hallways, Emory and Georgina holding hands in a way I hadn’t seen before, her back still tense, not quite willing to accept what happened was real. It was understandable. Emory, to those on the outside, seemed emotionless. The reality was very different. He’d been cold to Georgina for a reason, because he’d desperately wanted her to love him. Until I took the time to Look before brunch I hadn’t Seen it. Now I did everything made sense in a way it hadn’t before. Georgina was still in love with some else, and she kept hoping he’d fight for her, only to have him end everything when she told him about the pregnancy. Losing him broke her, but she still wasn’t ready to let Emory in. She’d been forced into a marriage she didn’t want, to a man she didn’t think she could love. Another child with a lover who left her, breaking her again, which was when she finally saw Emory for who he was, certain it was too late. Yet there was a chance they could be friends, so she tried, until the night they ended up falling into bed together.

“I do love you.” Emory’s voice was a whisper he thought only Georgina could hear, but we were in my house. “Gina, I loved you from the beginning, even though you had no interest in me. That’s why I didn’t break our vows a low time ago, always hoping this was a possibility.”

Georgina looked at him. “Em…”

“Acting the way I did… it was the only way for me to keep going, knowing you couldn’t see me the way I wanted you to, and I’m sorry for hurting you.”

“Don’t apologise.” She shook her head. “I deserved it.”

“No, you didn’t. I knew. Your father made it clear to me I wasn’t the man you wanted to marry, but you weren’t permitted to be in a relationship with someone from a Lesser family. He chose me for my name, nothing more, but I still tried, because you… you’re beautiful, and kind, and… I saw who you were when you weren’t around me. This… I hope you can maybe be that person with me now too.”

Before Georgina had a chance to respond we’d reached a door I doubted either of them could see, but Finn definitely could. “I’ve tried to get through these wards before.”

Rather than say anything, she knew I was right there, Anne nodded, sketching sigils over the door. When she left she’d made it so no one else could get in, apart from me. It was there I’d found the letter she left me, right before the ritual. By then it was already too late to change things, but I would have, had I found it. Going into her room… she knew I wouldn’t. She glanced back at me, a sign she felt my emotions. Focusing on controlling them, the conversation was one we couldn’t have there, I breathed deeply, waiting until the door appeared for everyone else.

“How did you do that?” Georgina stepped forward, eyes on the door. “I’ve never seen it before.”

“Lockwood magics.” Anne continued drawing sigils. “Something I’ve always been good with is magical languages. This one called to me, because I recognise it as something other Lockwoods have used.”

Emory nodded. “I recognise it now I can see it, but Thaddeus was the one who inherited the Lockwood magic in our generation. He should have been heir.”

“Father chose you.”

“Yes, because you chose Gregor, and Father wasn’t ever going to forgive you for that.” Emory raked a hand through his hair. “Did you know this room was here?”

Thaddeus nodded, something I hadn’t expected. “Yes, I did, and I mentioned it to Anne, a long time ago.” Anne looked back at him. “I honestly didn’t think you remembered it.”

“When you said you weren’t able to enter I started learning more about sigils.” Anne shrugged as she turned her attention back to the door. “I already knew enough about the Lockwoods to understand this was most likely linked in some way to those who lived here before, and a number of Annes have been good with this kind of magic, including the last one.”

Did she remember? Until Thaddeus spoke it seemed to simple, Anne knew due to her memories, and now it was possible she only knew due to him, which… there was a certain way she stood, as she sketched more sigils around the door, that might be a sign she was herself once more. Or maybe it was wishful thinking. I needed her back before the ritual, so I kept hoping, only to have those hopes dashed once more. There was still a chance she might never get her memories back, because I couldn’t know how bad the damage was unless I had certain magics. Unfortunately the Riordans left Marren Vale, Celeste’s granddaughter the last to call it home… as though they’d choose to help me, after what happened to the Council before.

As she drew the last sigil, close to the floor, the door opened. Finn looked at Anne as though she was the most amazing person he’d ever met. She smiled at him, holding her hand out once more to lead him into a room only the two of them could enter, the wards still holding us back. At least that was what I needed her to think. Her room was always safe from me, because I didn’t want to break that trust, when it was one of the few things holding us together.

“If you want anyone else to enter you can let them.” Anne gestured with her hand, drawing sigils in the air that we hadn’t needed. “Once we’ve had brunch I can teach you that properly, but you don’t pass it on to anyone who isn’t a Lockwood. Promise me.”

Eyes wide, Finn nodded. “I promise, Anne.” Magic swirled around the two of them. “Am I really allowed in here?”

Kneeling, Anne took both Finn’s hands in hers, eyes meeting with him. I took that chance to step into the room, feeling Anne’s magic in a way I hadn’t for far too long. She didn’t look at me, but the smile told me she knew what I’d done, and I gestured for the others to follow, Georgina not entering the room until Emory tugged her over the threshold.

“This is your sanctuary now, Finn.” She rested her forehead on his. “I want you to have a room where you feel safe, because life can be complicated, and Titus was right when he said you feel that more than most. Empaths are rare. Being one isn’t any easier than being a Seer, but I can teach you ways to limit how much you feel what others feel.”

Unlike most other empaths Anne could also make other people feel what she did, which might be due to what she was. I could sense the way she worked to calm Finn, to help him deal with what it meant to be an empath, along with everything else that had happened while we were there. As Finn nodded she glanced at me, our eyes meeting. The woman I saw within her body could only be my Anne, and yet she still hadn’t told me she’d got her memories back. Finally she stood, eyes on Georgina and Emory, who were studying Finn, still holding hands.

“You can knock, but only enter if Finn gives you permission. He needs this.”

Georgina nodded, stepping closer to Anne, kissing her cheek. “Thank you. I didn’t think you’d be willing to give me a chance, but this… I’m glad Finn can be comfortable here.” She looked at him, the love in her eyes something I was more glad to see than I knew how to put into words. “We needed the help to find a way through this.”

“People often do.” Anne took Georgina’s hand. “Look after him. Finn’s special, and he’s going to need the support of both his parents.”

“I will.” She glanced at me, and then Thaddeus. “Can we have a little time alone with Finn?”

“Of course.” Anne squeezed Georgina’s hand, before letting go, and stepping over to me. “Uncle Emory, do you have a problem if we go into the garden for a little while? Papa told me about some plants I’ve never seen before.”

“No, sweetheart, feel free. Our home is your home. Thaddeus, you’ll probably want to check on Marion. She found her way into one of the libraries, while Zachary was chatting with the girls, so I think she should still be there, because I do remember she was always fascinated by history.”

Choosing not to wait, Anne took my hand, leading me through hallways she technically had no way of knowing, until we stepped out into the garden. Then she stopped. When we called the Lockwood house home she’d put a lot of work into looking after it, but it was obvious it had been ignored in the time we’d been gone, and that was when I knew, for certain, she did remember. She breathed in deeply, closing her eyes. Rather than saying anything I freed my hand, curling my arm around her, and she rested her head on my shoulder, the disappointment swirling around us.

“Are we truly here to find plants you’ve never seen before?” I kept my voice gentle, not wanting to push. “Or did you just want to know?”

“Both.” Anne sighed. “There’s always something new to be found here, but the garden… it’s not as though I didn’t expect it. I was the only one who ever really cared.” She looked at me. “With what happened, showing them my room, I couldn’t keep it from you any longer, even with Thaddeus giving me an excuse for knowing it existed.”

“Why didn’t you tell me before?”

“I didn’t want things to change.” There were tears in her voice. “Our relationship…” She looked down. “You blame yourself for what happened, when it was a mistake, Titus.”

“Sweetheart, I knew better, especially after I found your letter.” I used a hand under her chin to gently lift her face. “Anne, I am sorry.” Tears rolled down her cheeks, dropping onto the ground, as she reached out to touch my face, fingers wiping away my own tears. “What happened…”

“You’re forgiven. I’ve been in your nightmares, so I know exactly what happened, to both of us, and then you kept me safe, when I’m the one who’s truly to blame for this.”

“No, you aren’t.”

“Titus…”

“Dante was the one you were meant to choose, Anne.” I rested my forehead on hers. “The timing was terrible, but he was your soulmate, and… he’ll come back. At least I think he will. We’ll do the last ritual, the way I promised, so you can be with him, to finally live your life the way you always dreamed.”