Secret Obsessions

Chapter 3: Secrets

The sun shone brightly in Andie's eyes the next morning as she made breakfast for the family and their unexpected guest. Her mind spun in thousands of directions as she thought about the encounters she had had with Ryker in the twelve short hours he had been there. Her heart fluttered as she thought of his kind, yet shy smile. His flashing, questioning eyes.....his adoring gaze as he looked at Gasekan....

"Ouch!" she gasped and looked down. She had cut her finger. She put the knife down and walked to the cabinet to grab a cloth to clean up the blood. She looked down the hallway, where she heard the rise and fall of Gasekan and Rykers voices as they discussed Rykers questions. She sighed. She hoped Gasekan wouldn't scare Ryker away. He was slowly becoming her closest friend. She leaned against the hall wall, and closed her eyes. She remembered when Ryker had woken up. He had walked up the stairs and his messy curls bounced around his tan face like a perfect wooden frame. She had been making breakfast and dropped the pot of eggs all over the floor. He had chuckled and helped her clean up the mess. She thought about his dark eyes stopping her in her tracks and locking her into place.....

Shaking her head, she sighed. "Pull yourself together Raven. He's here for Gasekan. Not you." But, looking down the hallway at the closed door of the office, she strongly wished he'd come only for her.
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In the office, Ryker was watching Gasekan in fascination as he flipped through the spell book  in front of him. While Gasekan looked for the perfect spell to test Ryker on, the younger man allowed himself to study the room. In the corner by the window there was a painting of the girl with the brilliant purple eyes, who'd caught his attention the second he saw her on the front steps the day before. There was something about her that drew him to her, something that reminded him of something. Something about her eyes stopped him in his tracks and made his heart race. She looked to be sixteen, maybe seventeen, but her care free attitude gave her the vibrancy only a young girl would possess.

He looked back at the painting and the purple flash of the paintings eyes made his mind race. There was something familiar about those eyes. The brilliant purple hue, the shades...... he looked to Gasekan. "May I ask you a personal question?" He asked.

Gasekan looked up from his spell book and sighed. "Of course. What do you want to know?"

Ryker nervously played with his hands and looked at his feet. "Well- uh- I uh was wondering- I mean uh..." he took a deep breath. He lifted his head and looked Gasekan in his eyes. "The girl. She's not really your daughter is she. "

Gasekan's eyes widened. He choked, coughing in shock. "I beg your pardon?!" He asked incredulously. He watched the young man, daring Ryker to ask his question again.

Ryker kept a straight face, his eyes glued to Gasekan, watching his every facial expression for any give away. He repeated his question."Andie. What's her last name?"

Gasekan narrowed his eyes at the younger man. "How do you know her name is Andie? Maybe it's Janice. Or Sara. Or Melissa. "

Ryker raised his eyebrow comically and tilted his head to the side. "I'm sorry, sir. I forgot to mention. Do you know what my main area of study is?"

Gasekan was confused by the change of topic, but he was grateful for the distraction. "No I don't believe I do. Tell me about it." Gasekan replied.

Ryker smirked. "Does your daughter know that she is the single remaining member of the most powerful family of witches and wizards in all of Zestrillion?" He laughed. "Don't worry. Your secret is safe with me. I know you are protecting her. But to protect her better, there must be some sort of spell that can change her eye colour at the very least? She's the spitting image of her mother. I knew who she was the moment I stepped foot on your land. If the wrong person saw you'd be in very much trouble."

Gasekan's jaw dropped as the young man kept talking. How has his secret been discovered? He had worked his hardest to keep her hidden. And the first person to see her had to be an undergraduate studies of Ravenswood magic alumni?! Just his luck.

Ryker continued. " But, as you obviously now know, I'm not in training. I'm here to protect her, and you as well. Word is getting around that she may be alive. People are angry that she has hidden for so long when she is the only witch left. " He paused. ¨I also have reason to believe that He knows that Andie is alive too. ¨ 

They both knew who He was. The wizard that killed her parents. The wizard that wanted to kill her. And he was angry.

"She needs to know how to protect herself. I'm guessing she doesn't know the spells to use to protect herself, so I'm ordering you to teach her. If you don't I will teach her myself." Gasekan swallowed and Ryker stopped. "Will this be a problem?" He asked.

Gasekan swallowed again and looked at the floor. Ryker's eyes widened and he sighed.

"she doesn't know she has magic does she." It wasn't a question. He knew the answer. And the sheepishness on Gasekan's face confirmed it.

Ryker got up angrily and slammed his palms down into the table. A glass wobbled off the table and shattered. He glared at Gasekan, the disgust in his eyes blatantly obvious. "You have the most powerful witch in the entire universe in your house, and you do NOTHING?!" He roared. "Do you understand the LEGACY she could leave?! The GOOD she could do?! One look at that beautiful girls face and you'd know how much she longs to do something amazing for people. And you hide that from her?!" He shook angrily.

Gasekan watched him. He tilted his head to the side. The change in the mans demeanour when he defended Andie puzzled him. But he decided not to mention it for now. After a moment he opened a drawer and pulled out a letter. He handed it to Ryker. Ryker stared at him, then snatched the letter from the old mans hand and read to himself.

After he read it, he calmed down, laid the letter on the desk and sighed. " I see now. I apologize for losing my head. You had reasons for what you did. And even if you didn't it wasn't my concern. My only job here is to protect her. I'll give you one day to tell her who she is. If you have not then I will." He looked Gasekan in the eye, then strolled out of the room, closing the door softly behind him.

Gasekan groaned and laid his head on his desk. What was he going to do? This man obviously cared greatly for for Andie. He knew he had to do something. But there were so many other issues to deal with.

He groaned again. How would he tell Andie?