Haunting Shadows (Book 2)

Chapter 50

Casian’s grip on Izzy got tighter and he couldn’t breathe. He had a sister? Both his parents were dead? His mother committed suicide? The information overloaded his brain, but for the sake of the young girl standing in front of him, he held himself together. There would be time to freak out after Elijah had been dealt with and Izzy was calmed.

She was now turned to him, her pale blue eyes, so much like his own without the purple flecks, looked up at him in widened circles. He had a hard time believing what his cousin was saying, he could only imagine how difficult it must have been for her. They studied each other in silence, the people yapping about around them serving only as background noise. How could Casian not have suspected something sooner? Izzy was of course short for Izabeth, the name of his baby sister. The baby sister he had left behind when he died. The baby sister that had played with Dylan often. Immediately Casian’s gaze went to Andreas whose shocked expression almost mirrored his own. The pieces of the puzzle were locking into place for him as well.

Casian didn’t think about what he did next and pulled Izzy into his arms. She let out a small startled gasp, but didn’t fight him. Everything now made so much sense. Why Andreas seemed to have this strange fondness of her. Why she wasn’t afraid of him. They remembered each other on a subconscious level. Tears started collecting in Casian’s eyes. He never thought he’d get to see anyone in his family again. He didn’t get to see his parents in the other world when he had been dead. Did that mean they were sent someplace else, or that they just hadn’t been looking for him? Knowing this line of thought would drive him crazy, he chose to focus his attention on Izabeth – Izzy instead.

Andreas had left Elijah against the wall, still held there by the sorcerer’s magic as he stepped toward Izzy and Casian.

“I should’ve known – should’ve recognized her,” Andreas said, his voice emotionless to those who didn’t know him, but Casian could pick up the little breaks of regret.

Casian shook his head, smiling. “No, I should have.”

Izzy pulled back and looked back and forth between the two friends. “Wait, what? I knew you before?”

Andreas’ breath hitched and he quickly looked away. “You used to… to play with my… with my… my….” No matter how good he had gotten with putting on his mask, even Andreas couldn’t keep the hurt from his voice whenever he talked about his brother.

“You used to be friends with Dylan, Andreas’ brother. After you were born, I’d always bring you along whenever I visited Andreas because he had a little brother about your age,” Casian finished, sparing his friend from having to relive the painful memories.

Izzy’s eyebrows furrowed. “Where’s Dylan now?”

Andreas closed his eyes as his whole body tensed. He completely forgot about Elijah and the drunk fell free. “If you’d excuse me,” Andreas said in a soft voice before disappearing from the room. Casian noticed Lana staring at the spot Andreas had just disappeared from, her own eyes swimming.

Izzy only looked more confused. Her eyes were questioning as she regarded Casian once again.

“Dylan died a couple of months after I did.” Was all Casian said before Elijah started talking again.

“Thisss iss all veryyy touching… but I’mm here for a reaaassson…” he stuttered, waving his bottle about.

Leita sighed and walked up behind Elijah. One second he was standing there, the next he was collapsing to the floor, a gaping hole in his chest where his heart had once been. Casian acted quickly, catching Izzy’s head before she could turn around and see what had happened. Leita regarded the heart in her hand and wrinkled her nose.

“Ugh, it’s spoiled. It’s not even good enough to eat.” She discarded the heart on the floor next to the body and turned her attention to all the eyes gawking at her. She shrugged. “What? I took care of the problem, didn’t I? No worries, you can all thank me later.” Rolling her eyes, she shook off most of the blood from her hand and walked past Casian up the stairs.