Taken (Book Six) (Fated Saga Fantasy Series) (22 page)

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Ivan Crane, Sebastien Jendaya and Jae Mochrie paced back and forth, their heads shooting up each time it sounded like someone might be approaching their hideout, the old, run down shack in the middle of the woods where Meghan had left them hours before. They were eager to leave this place and move on.

They peered into the growing darkness outside, through the spot that should have been a door. It had long since fallen off and rotted. The shack creaked and moaned when hit with the slightest of breezes. They didn’t know how it had stood for this long and fully expected it might cave in on them at any moment. But they had promised to stay out of sight,
and didn’t want to use magic unless absolutely necessary, for fear it might be traced.

Nona, Meghan’s loyal Catawitch, suddenly trotted into the shack, catching them off guard.

“About time!” scolded Ivan. “I was going to come searching for you soon.”

Nona ignored him. “Meghan asked me to come ahead of her. She didn’t want you to be surprised when she showed up with someone.”

“Showed up with someone,” repeated Ivan.

“Who?” asked Sebastien.

“And when are they coming?” asked Jae.

The
young men looked at each other, not sure how to prepare themselves for this stranger’s arrival. Footsteps approached.

“Apparently it’s now,” mumbled Ivan crossly.

They waited, breathlessly, wondering why Meghan was not returning alone.

Upon arriving, Sebastien eyed Meghan, silently asking a question that she did not answer, a
s in the next moment, both she and Jae were reaching out to stop Ivan from falling over.

They lost their
grip and he sank to his knees.

Meghan
shouted his name.

But Ivan
did not look at her; he didn’t even see her.

Ivan’s empty gaze was frozen on the woman Meghan had brought with her. She stepped aside, allowing the woman closer, instantly que
stioning if this was a bad idea. After all, she did not really know her. Yet once again, she had blindly trusted that she was doing the right thing.

Ivan sat on his knees, his chest tightening so hard that he couldn’t breathe. This woman coming toward him could surely mean only one thing- that somehow he had suddenly and immediately died.

Because
she
was dead. He would only be seeing her if he was now dead too. And yet with all the years that had passed, he knew without a doubt it was her.

He closed his eyes
, unable to accept what he was seeing. This was some sort of trick… a most terrible trick… one he knew Meghan, as hot-tempered as she could get, would never play on him.

He took a deep breath and opened his eyes. He saw Meghan’s frightened face peering down at him. And if she were still here, then he was still alive. His mind started to wake up again and he remembered now that he had been waiting for Meghan and she’d just
returned. His eyes darted between them. The woman. And Meghan. He’d seen it before but he hadn’t really believed it could be possible. Now, seeing them side by side...

The woman stepped closer, slowly, like she was giving him
time to think it all through.

Ivan saw Sebastien
and Jae approaching Meghan.

“They are
here too, so I can’t be dead,” Ivan muttered aloud. “I know we can’t all be dead.”

“Dead?” questioned Meghan. “Ivan, what’s wrong with you? What’s happening?”

Ivan just stared blankly at the woman now standing in front of him. If they were not dead, then… his breath came out in ragged bursts.

“This can’t be,” he choked out.

“It’s okay,” the woman spoke kindly, kneeling down to face him.

He continued staring, unable to formalize anything more than, “This isn’t real
. This is some kind of spell.”

The woman reached out and caressed his face, lovingly. He crumpled underneath her touch.

“I’m so sorry,” she whispered to him. “I have so much to explain.”

“This isn’t real,” Ivan said again. “You’re not real.” He tried to pull away but she drew him closer, cu
pping his face with her hands.

“I
am
real. I
am
alive.” Her voice broke up and tears fell down her cheeks as she spoke.

“It’s just…” he allowed her to embrace him, leaning his head on her shoulder.

“I’m here and I’m not leaving you, ever again,” she spoke clearly.

“Ivan,” started Meghan, “you’re really frea
king me out. You know her?” she paused, her voice growing more frantic. “How? Please tell me how you know this woman?” She began shaking, getting dizzy.

Seba
stien moved to Meghan’s side and she unconsciously grabbed hold of him, suddenly unable to let go, tears now stinging at her own eyes as she began shaking uncontrollably. He felt sure she somehow already knew the answer to her own question, but simply could not vocalize it, or needed to hear Ivan’s answer.

Meghan held on even tighter as the realization hit her: there was only one person she could think of that would make Ivan Crane fall to pieces… which meant… the thought crippled her
. Sebastien was the only thing still keeping her on her feet.

“Oh my God! Ivan…” she squeaked out, disbelieving her own thoughts.
She no longer felt numb. It was as if her emotions had been shut off and suddenly flipped back on, the floodgates opening. This was one thought that did not frighten her. It was not sad or foreboding. She found that she actually liked this thought.

Ivan sat back and scrunched his eyes, closing and opening them again and again, just to be absolutely certain that this wasn’t all just a sick dream. But the woman was still there each time.

He looked at Meghan, Jae and Sebastien, then at the woman, and then back to his companions again, small pieces of an answer forming to a question he had never even known to ask. So many things made sense now.

He picked himself up off the ground, assisting the woman to stand up as well.

“I can’t believe I’m saying this…” he stammered, his voice still tinged with shock. “I do know this woman. It’s... it’s true.”

His gaze left the woman and landed on Meghan.

Ivan looked at her with new eyes, as if he had never seen her before.

“
This is Isabella Crane. Meghan,” he choked up again. “You brought me my mother.”

Meghan tried to speak but it took a moment to get words to come o
ut. “Him,” she pointed at Ivan but spoke to Isabella. “He is the family you left behind?”

Isabella nodded, confirming Meghan’s question.

Sebastien and Jae exchanged confused looks.

Meghan’s hand swung
up to her chest. She felt the thorn-filled locket under her shirt. The one possession she had received from her mother. The one thing about her past that had actually been true.

She reached in and lifted it out, pulling it over her head.
She walked over to Ivan and opened her hand, showing it to him.

It was the final piece of the puzzle. He recognized it at once.

“This is what you’ve been searching for. This is what your mother left for you. You couldn’t find it because you thought it was lost, but it wasn’t. The treasure your mother left behind...” she couldn’t say it.

Meghan
could not stop smiling. It dumbfounded her that this life revelation made her so happy. Giddy almost. The realization that the blood pumping through her veins was not entirely evil changed everything. She didn’t belong just to Jurekai Fazendiin.

She could not
peel her eyes away from Ivan’s.

Jae still
did not comprehend what was happening, but an understanding grin spread across Sebastien’s face. “All that time, he was looking for you. You’re his...”

“Sister,
” said a bewildered Ivan Crane. “The treasure my mother left me was a sister.”

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