Page 77 of Never Quite Gone

“I wasn't just another soul in your circle, Valerius. I was there before. Are you forgetting that I was the one who taught you that spell.” Will said.

Vale's face went pale, ancient understanding dawning in his eyes. But Will wasn't finished. He moved into the room with terrible grace, each step radiating power that felt wrong in ways I couldn't quite explain.

“I've remembered everything for months,” he continued, his gaze never leaving the vial. “And that wall you put in my head didn't really work, brother.” The last word carried mockery sharp as broken glass. “Watching you all stumble toward understanding, watching my dear brother search lifetime after lifetime...”

His laugh held darkness older than the artifacts surrounding us. “Vale's curse was elegant, I'll give him that. But it was built on principles I created, magic I perfected long before your little circle formed.”

Alex tried to step between Will and the vial, but his brother's next words stopped him cold. “I'm the reason the pattern existed in the first place. I'm the one who made your souls bind to each other, lifetime after lifetime.”

My hands began to shake as understanding crashed through me. All those lives, all those memories of finding and losing each other – they weren't just Vale's desperate attempt to save us. They were part of something older. Something darker.

“You wanted immortality,” Vale breathed, his hands tightening on the vial as comprehension dawned. “Even then. You used us... used our love as fuel for your ritual.”

Will's smile widened, showing too many teeth. “Love is power, old friend. And your circle's love was particularly potent. Still is.” His eyes fixed on the vial with hungry intensity. “Vale's curse simply built on what I'd already created. But now...” He raised his hand, power gathering around him like storm clouds. “Now it's time to claim what's always been mine.”

“All these lives,” Alex said quietly, heartbreak clear in his voice. “All these searches, all these almost-meetings. You orchestrated all of it?”

“Not all,” Will admitted, power crackling around his raised hand. “Vale's intervention was... unexpected. Adding his ownlayer to my original working. Making you remember while Eli forgot – that was a nice touch.” His laugh held no warmth. “But the foundation? The way your souls reach for each other across lifetimes? That was all me.”

“You were my teacher,” Vale whispered, ancient grief clear in his voice. “In the temple. You taught me the healing arts, showed me how to bridge science and sacred power.”

“I taught you what you were ready to learn.” Will's correction held centuries of condescension. “But the real magic, the true power... that I kept for myself. Watching you fumble toward understanding, generation after generation, never quite grasping what was really happening.”

“Why do this to us?” Alex asked.

“Because love like yours comes along once in eons,” Will replied, his voice almost gentle. “The kind of love that transcends death, that refuses to be forgotten. Do you have any idea how rare that is? How much power it generates?”

He moved closer, each step radiating authority that felt wrong in our modern setting. “Your souls were perfect – so perfectly matched, so desperately in love. The ideal fuel for a working that would grant true immortality.”

Understanding hit like physical pain. “The pattern,” I said, my voice steadier than I felt. “The way we keep finding each other, keep almost getting it right but never quite managing...”

“Generates more power with each iteration. Each near-miss, each tragic ending, each moment of almost-perfect love – it all feeds the working. Keeps me young. Keeps me strong. Keeps me remembering while the rest of humanity fumbles through their brief little lives.”

“And Vale's spell?” Alex asked, though I could tell from his expression that he already knew the answer.

“Added an interesting twist.” Will gestured at the vial, still glowing in Vale's grip. “Making you remember while Eli forgot – it created a wonderful imbalance. More fuel for the fire, more power for the working.” His laugh echoed with ancientdarkness. “Though I don't think that was quite what you intended, was it, old friend?”

Vale's expression held centuries of regret. “I thought I was saving them. Giving them chances to find happiness...”

“You were playing with forces you didn't understand,” Will cut him off. “Building on foundations you couldn't see. But now...” Power gathered around him like a cloak. “Now it's time to claim what's always been mine.”

“Will, please,” Alex said softly, and for a moment I saw the boy he must have been in this life – looking up to his older sibling, trusting him completely.

“Oh, Alex,” he said, almost fondly. “Always so willing to believe the best of everyone. But I'm not really your brother. Not in any way that matters.” Power crackled around his raised hands. “I'm something much, much older. Something that was ancient when the first temples rose.”

CHAPTER 24

Blood and Time

The Rothschild estate's library still smelled exactly like it had when we were kids – leather and wood polish and the particular dust of old money. Every corner held memories: Will helping me with calculus homework at that table by the window, sharing whispered secrets about girls behind those shelves, planning our futures in front of the fireplace that hadn't changed in three generations.

Now those same oak-paneled walls witnessed a very different scene. Will stood by our father's desk, power radiating from him in waves that felt ancient and wrong. Eli lay unconscious nearby. My own blood dripped onto imported carpet from a wound I never saw coming, copper taste in my mouth bitter as betrayal.

“You knew,” I said quietly. “All those times you helped me search through history, through family records looking for traces of past lives... you were just playing along.”

Will's smile held genuine pain. “Not at first,” he replied, fingers trailing over leather-bound volumes of Rothschild history. “Those early years, I really was just your kid brother, following you around, wanting to be like you. But then the dreams started.” His hands began to glow with power I never knew he possessed,magic that felt older than the books surrounding us. “Memories of what I was, of what I could be again.”

“Will—” I started, but he cut me off with a gesture that crackled with ancient energy.

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