Spellbound [COMPLETED]

Chapter 21 Scars and Stories

"Arrianne!?" Cam called.

"In here!" I responded, my voice echoing through the library.

I was reading through my old journals, looking for a little help from the past.

Something to give us a bit of insight over the Exaudi situation.

Cam was right behind me, leaning on his arms at the top of my office chair. He caught a glimpse of my old diary entries as he looked over my shoulder.

"World War Two?"

"Yeah."

"What's in the entry?"

"Something I couldn't tell anybody about. Remember when I was a spy for the Soviet Union?"

"Ah. Yes, I hated it. I felt like they took advantage of you."

I rolled her eyes. He was always worried about her occupation at the time. Even though I had been sworn to secrecy, I still told him. They gave me the title, secret agent, but really, I was told to seduce men of high power in government and learn other countries secrets and plans. I, personally thought it was dangerous and exhilarating, but Cam couldn't help but think that I was being treated like the government's personal hooker.

"I know you are Darling," I replied, "but it wasn't like it was against my will. I felt so powerful about it, too. The minute they were in bed with me, they would spill their secrets like the spineless men they were."

"Can you not? I don't like hearing about your previous affairs."

"They weren't affairs Cam, it was my job. And don't say that they took advantage of me, I had a choice to leave."

"So why didn't you?" He raised his voice.

I spun the office chair to face him.

"Why didn't I leave? Maybe because for once, I finally got a taste of real power and freedom. Maybe because I was a woman with a man's job and I couldn't afford to be a little bitch about it! And maybe because after hearing about all your discoveries and colonizing various countries, I wanted a piece of the action for once. Have you ever thought of that?" I yelled, standing up from my chair and bringing myself closer to his face.

"And have you ever thought that maybe I wanted to do something other than sit around waiting for you to come home while I was alone, heartbroken over the daughter I loved but thought I'd never see again? I got tired of that misery Cameron! And I saw an opportunity and ceased it. And we loved each other, you know that those men were simply a job and meant nothing to me. I love you and only you, always have and always will," At this point, I held his face with both my hands and was looking at him with a creased forehead of concern.

You'd think after about a century, he'd be over it by now.

He closed his eyes, his face giving an expression of defeat and foolishness. He realized what he was doing and shook his head.

"I'm sorry. I just-"

"Shhh. I know. But I love you still."

"And I you."

We smiled at each other.

"So did you find any news on my brother?"

I shook my head in disappointment.

"Yeah, he's pretty good at wiping himself from history."

"Maybe not, though. You remember Logan?"

"Yeah, the one who's not a caster?"

"Yeah."

"What about him?"

"Well, he says he might know someone on the inside. Someone who can reach Alec."

"Are you serious? We have to tell the others, we have to tell-"

"No! Cam, listen to me. We're not so certain yet, we have to meet up with him first. I'm waiting on his call and I'm making preparations for a meeting in about two weeks or so."

"That's good."

"But there's a catch," I said, cringing.

"What is it?"

"No one's gonna like it."

"What's the catch, Arrianne?"

"He wants to meet Ana."

U.S.A. 1935

I was at a Speakeasy in New York when I first met Logan. I didn't know what he was at the time, but there was something about him that was a bit off. I knew right off the bat he wasn't human, but what he was, I couldn't quite put my finger on.

I was drinking a scotch and soda at the bar when he approached me. He had blond hair, sleeked the way every rich man's hair was, blue eyes, and was very muscular. He had a tough, intimidating persona, the kind that would make even the most confident of people stutter. Of course, it had no effect on me.

"You come here often, doll face?" He asked me with a devastatingly heartbreaking megawatt smile that has probably put many mortal girls to shame.

"No, I'm on business. Taking a load off for the day."

"Ah, I see," he said. He took out a pack of smokes and offered me one along with a match. We each took a cigarette and smoked.

"Charmed, I'm sure. I should tell you right now that I'm taken. I've got a man at home," I said. Cam hated that my job involved me spending time with other men already, the last thing we needed was him to worry about a real affair.

"Who said I planned on taking you home?" He asked with the cigarette still between his lips.

"Nobody, it's just I want to make things clear before you start talkin' me up. I don't want trouble, that's what work is for."

"I couldn't agree more, doll face. But at least give me a name."

"Arrianne."

"Logan."

• • •

"Has Peter ever met Logan?" Cam asked me.

"I don't think so, as far as I know. But if they haven't, I kind of hope they never do. They would go at each other like you and me in a jail cell."

"That bad, huh?"

"Well, it's not that he's bad. I mean, aside from what he is and what his nature brings, he's actually a good guy. But he and Peter are like . . ."

I thought for a moment. I was trying to find the right words to say, but I wasn't sure if I would find a good enough comparison.

"I got it. It would be like if Thomas Hardy and Leo Tolstoy's characters went head to head."

Cam's jaw dropped and his eyes widened at my comment.

"Really?" he asked,"That bad?"

"If they got in a fight and Alec was added into the mix, we'd get World War Three."

"That is if they don't cooperate. But from the sound of it, he's willing to do so. Right?"

"Oh I hope so."

We ended our conversation and started to clean up the place, putting away my scattered journals and books.

Afterwards, we headed towards Ana's house to do our shift for the night.
As we approached her house, I idly wondered what Logan would think of Ana. Would he be affected by her the way we were that night at the club? Would he feel nothing at all? Or would he just mistake her for one of us?

As I kept watch for the rest of the night, my mind ran away to thoughts of Ana's encounter with all of us and what it would be like when she sees Logan.

Hopefully, he won't become a threat to her. He would either become her new line of safety or her path to ruins.