by Meg Anne
“Now!”
With a roll of his eyes, Darrin turned back to her. “I guess this is goodbye for now.” His fingers brushed against hers, grasping lightly to lift them to his lips. With the gentlest brush of his lips against the back of her fingers, he released her and smiled. “Until tomorrow, Effie.”
Speechless, she gave a limp wave and stared at the direction he’d taken off. She was still staring long after he’d gone.
Effie came awake slowly. She was still on the floor, her body stiff and cramped for being curled up in such an uncomfortable manner. Even so, a soft smile curved her lips. Darrin.
When he’d first passed, he would visit her dreams nightly, or at least her memories of their time together would find her in her sleep. As the days turned to months, the frequency of such dreams had lessened. She hadn’t realized how much she’d missed those nightly visits. It couldn’t be a coincidence that he’d return now, when she’d been desperate for something normal in a sea of change.
“Thank you,” she whispered, tucking away the memory of him back into her heart.
Feeling bolstered, both by the sleep and the dream, Effie pushed off the floor and took in the bare chamber.
She didn’t have much in the way of personal belongings, but she’d packed a few things that would make this place feel more like hers. Lifting her pack, Effie got to work making the room feel like a home.
A couple of hours later, a brisk knock on the door halted her in the middle of folding up a thick blanket. Effie glanced up and stared at the door as if it would show her who was waiting on the other side. A second knock had her dropping the blanket onto the bed and crossing the short distance to swing it open.
“Wh—” Her words died as she took in the well-dressed man with his hands clasped behind his back. What is he doing here?
“Kieran,” he supplied with a half-smile, mistaking her blank stare for confusion.
“I remember,” she said sharply, her fingers biting into the door. What was it about this man that set her teeth on edge?
His brows arched in surprise at her harsh tone, but he dipped his chin in a nod. “Right, well the Triumvirate sent me to fetch you. I’m to be your guide and tutor while you are here.”
“Oh,” she said, surprise and something that felt oddly like disappointment coiling in her stomach.
She supposed it made sense that it wasn’t one of Triumvirate that would be seeing to the basics of her training. After all, they were sort of important. They probably had a variety of other tasks that required their attention. But still . . . they had promised to see to her training themselves. So why then had they passed it off to him?
Effie eyed Kieran warily. Perhaps she’d misjudged him. She had only known him for about five seconds, she realized. She bit down on the inside of her cheek, feeling foolish. It wasn’t his fault he reminded her of Darrin. Nor had he actually done anything worthy of her icy reaction to him. Straightening her shoulders, she resolved to try to judge him fairly.
Taking her change of expression as a good sign, he lifted one of the arms from behind his back. “If you’re ready, I would be happy to escort you to the dining hall to grab something to eat before we start our lesson.”
Just as she was about to refuse, her stomach gave a loud growl. Pressing his lips together, Kieran politely refrained from commenting, even as his eyes sparkled with mirth.
“Yes, something to eat would be welcome.”
Kieran nodded and waited for her to step into the hall and close the door behind her before setting off.
“So, what do you think of the citadel thus far?” he inquired politely.
“It’s a lot to take in,” she answered honestly.
“What a lukewarm response.”
Effie chuckled. “Don’t get me wrong, it’s a lovely place. I’ve just seen so little of it. I think it’s too soon to form an opinion.”
“Mmm.”
She risked a glance at him, trying to gauge whether she was imagining the hint of censure in his tone. Seeing nothing, she decided it was simply the niggling of her own conscience.
“I had thought, given the name, that it would be a bit. . .” Effie trailed off, at a loss for words.
“Creepier?” Kieran supplied, startling a laugh out of her.
“Yes, exactly.”
Kieran nodded. “I know what you mean. I felt the same way when I arrived. It would be hard not to when they refer to the place as a catacomb.”
“It is a bit misleading.”
“Intentionally so.”
Effie rolled her eyes. “The Keepers do seem to love their mysteries.”
“Can you think of a better way to keep people away? With the allure of prophecy and glimpses into the future, they need a way to dissuade the masses from seeking them out.”
She was silent as she considered his words.
“The reasoning behind their actions does have a tendency to make it hard to stay annoyed with them,” Kieran added.
“Is it that obvious?”
He offered her a lopsided grin that made him appear years younger. Effie looked away, not ready to admit to herself how much she enjoyed looking at it . . . or him.
“It is a common reaction to the Keepers, the Triumvirate especially. They have a habit of infuriating those closest to—”
“Only because they insist on being so damn secretive all the time!” The words exploded from her before she’d realized she’d spoken aloud. “Sorry,” she whispered, cheeks burning.
“You simply said what we all think. They know it too. Not that it stops them.” Kieran gestured for Effie to turn right, and then paused to open a large red door. “Dining hall is just through here.”
Effie stepped past him into a spacious room with high ceilings. Long tables ran along the length of the room. It was big enough to comfortably seat well over a hundred people, but was currently empty.
“Where is everyone?”
Kieran shrugged. “Outside of lessons, we come and go as we please.” Effie’s confusion must have been written on her face because Kieran continued. “The life of a Keeper is not so structured as you would think. No one is born a Keeper. The gift appears when it will, which means that school in a classic sense is impossible. None of us start in the same place, let alone at the same time. We all must learn as we go, and some learn much faster than others. Such is the nature of our power.”
She was frowning by the time he was done. What a sublimely unhelpful explanation.
“You’re actually the first new Keeper since I arrived twenty-five years ago.”
That stopped her dead in her tracks. “Seriously?”
Effie’s eyes searched his face. He didn’t look much older than she did. Considering most people confuse you for a twelve-year-old girl, maybe that’s not entirely true. There would be no mistaking Kieran for a child.
He smirked as her eyes roamed his well-muscled body and she jerked them back up to his face.
“How old are you?” she demanded.
“How old do you think I am?”
“Gah, you really are one of them, aren’t you?”
He laughed, a deep chuckle that had his eyes crinkling. “I wasn’t trying to be vexing. I am truly curious.”
Narrowing her eyes, she observed him again before tossing out an answer. “Twenty-seven?”
His lips tilted up in amusement, so she tried again.
“Thirty-two?”
He shook his head.
“Forty?” she asked, throwing her hands up in exasperation. “The least you could do is give me a clue.”
“I was forty, two hundred and twenty-six years ago.”
“Two hundred and. . .” Effie’s knees buckled, and she sat down hard. “But . . . how is that. . .” Mind swirling with questions, she could only gape up at him.
Kieran’s smile was filled with more compassion than she would have expected. “It can be a lot to wrap your head around the first time you meet one of the long-lived races. I met a man once who
was well over three thousand years old, and I think my expression was somewhere along the lines of yours.”
Dumbfounded, she blinked up at him. She couldn’t even comprehend living to be a hundred, let alone three thousand. Pushing the staggering admission aside, she asked, “Are all Keepers as old as you?”
“Part of our gift is an extended life, yes. But no, I am the only one among us who is truly long-lived. Well, aside from the Triumvirate. It is believed those three are actually immortal.”
It was hard to breathe. Extended life? Immortal? Mother’s tits. What have I gotten myself into?
Sitting up, she squinted at him. “Do you have any other shocking tidbits for me? Might as well get them over with now before I try to stand again.”
His laughter washed over her. “I’m sure many things you learn in the days to come will be surprising. The limits of your power among them.”
Effie made a face at the reminder of her visions. She was not eager to face another. They hit her with the force of a blow to the gut. Finally finding herself in the presence of someone who was familiar with her gift and didn’t seem to mind talking about it, she blurted, “When did your visions stop feeling like someone has shoved their fist into your head and scrambled your brains?”
“Is that what it feels like for you?” Kieran asked, his eyebrows pulling together and his eyes widening.
“Yours don’t?” Effie asked in dismay. Am I broken? Is something wrong with me?
Kieran shook his head.
Effie stood, cursing as her head swam and she fell back onto the bench. “How in the Mother’s name is that fair? Am I the only one who foams from the mouth and shakes as if the world was splitting into two beneath me?”
Kieran sputtered. Effie would have laughed if she wasn’t so upset.
He studied her for a moment before stating, “You’re joking.”
“Does it look like I’m joking?” she snapped, angry tears shining in her eyes as frustration overtook her self-pity.
Nameless emotions clouded his gaze. She didn’t know him well enough to recognize what was going on in his mind, but he looked conflicted.
“That sounds . . . uncomfortable.”
“I would say it’s a wee bit more than uncomfortable,” she choked out around a snort of derision.
With a shake of his head, Kieran took a seat beside her. A muscle twitched in his jaw before he tilted his head to look at her directly.
“Perhaps what you learn here will help with that. Miranda never seemed to suffer from any of those symptoms and one can only assume you inherited your power from her.”
The only word she heard was her grandmother’s name. She had hoped when she joined the Keepers that she would meet people that knew her, but she never thought to ask Kieran.
“You knew her?” she whispered, her emotions once again oscillating wildly. She was starting to feel unbalanced, but was too interested in his answer to care.
Kieran offered her a soft smile, his eyes kind. “I did. She was my guide when I came here. It’s part of the reason I asked to be yours. I was happy to learn that the Triumvirate had granted my request.”
“Part of?”
“My dreams were the other.”
Oh, right. Those. Despite the heat she could feel crawling up her neck and into her cheeks, Effie forced herself not to look away. No longer a mouse, remember?
“Will you tell me about them?”
His smile turned wolfish. “Sometime, perhaps.”
She rolled her eyes. Blasted enigmatic Keepers and their secrets. She couldn’t wait until she knew something no one else did so she could lord it over them and see how they liked being on the other end of these infuriating mind games.
Companionable silence stretched between them. Knowing Kieran had been acquainted with her grandmother definitely changed her opinion of him. It was almost like her grandmother had gifted his friendship to her. The errant thought made her smile.
“What’s that for?” he asked.
“I just realized that if my grandmother taught you, then your teaching me is sort of like her doing so by proxy.”
“She really was an amazing woman. I was sorry to hear of her passing.”
Grief, swift and fierce, nearly choked her. Unable to speak, Effie nodded her thanks.
Kieran’s hand brushed over her knee in a sign of silent comfort.
Her grandmother had been an amazing woman. As a Keeper, she’d rarely been around, but even so, she’d been a constant fixture in Effie’s life. One of the only people who’d never made her feel she was less for being born without power. Effie held tight to the memories of their time together. She didn’t think she would ever fully get over her death. It was too painful to think that she’d no longer hear the stories of her adventures or be held in her warm embrace.
Needing to distract herself before she lost the fragile hold she still held on her emotions, she changed the subject. “Didn’t you promise me something to eat?”
“I did.” Standing, Kieran held out a hand.
Effie eyed it for a moment before hesitantly placing her hand in his. As far as signs of trust went, it was a small one, but it was the first she’d shown him. Kieran’s growing smile told her he recognized it too.
Chapter 6
Once she was able to relax around him, Kieran really was pleasant company. He spent the next few hours asking her thoughtful questions about her past. Better still, he never seemed to pry and always had an amusing story of his own to share in response.
If she didn’t know better, Effie might say she was starting to enjoy herself.
Or at least she was until he brought up her visions.
“I have an idea.”
“Oh?” she teased. “Is that an uncommon enough occurrence you felt the need to announce it?”
“Hilarious,” he replied dryly.
Effie grinned with impish delight. It was rare she felt comfortable enough with someone to willingly provoke them. She quite liked it.
“I want to see if we can induce your visions.”
Her smile vanished. “What? Why?”
Kieran held up his hands. “Just hear me out.”
Wishing she hadn’t had that second helping of stew, Effie waited for him to continue.
“I think it could be really helpful for both of us to work through one of your visions together. It will help you learn the process of breaking it down. And it will have the added benefit of letting me get an idea of where we’re starting. In order to be accurate, we need to be able to explore each detail, so an older vision wouldn’t work. It needs to be fresh. There’s an herb we use sometimes when we are seeking the answer to something, but our visions go quiet. Well, the others use it. It doesn’t work with my dreams.”
“Why not?”
Kieran shrugged. “We aren’t sure. Since my visions manifest themselves through dreams and not in the same manner as the others, our best guess is it’s tied to that.”
Effie frowned. She wished her visions would come to her in her sleep instead of accosting her while she was awake. Maybe then she could ignore them.
“Why are you special?” she grumbled.
He grinned. “I have a theory about that as well, but we’ll save it for another time.”
“Figures.”
“What was that?”
“Nothing. So, what were you saying about your magic drug giving me visions?”
“Herb, not drug.”
“Mind-altering equals drug in my opinion.”
“You’re a barrel of laughs at parties, aren’t you?”
“Who says I was invited to parties?”
“Maybe if you knew how to have some fun . . .”
She stuck her tongue out at him.
Kieran laughed, but it was tinged with melancholy. “You remind me of my sister when you do that.”
“Sister?”
He nodded. “Liyah. We were always at each other’s throats.”
Picking up on the tense, her voice soft
ened. “Were?”
Kieran glanced away, his face slipping back into an impassive mask. “A story for another time.”
Resting her chin on her fist, Effie didn’t press further. She knew better than most what grief could do to a person’s insides.
“So, you want to drug me and send me into a fit of convulsions?”
Kieran jolted. “Elder’s sagging sack, when you put it that way it sounds absolutely barbaric.”
Effie snickered at the unfamiliar curse. She was definitely saving that one to use later. “Just saying it as I see it, Keeper.”
Some of the amusement returned to his face. “Well, I’m hoping it’s significantly less exciting than all of that. With a controlled dose, I am hoping that your transition into the vision is less extreme.”
Intrigued by the idea of experiencing a vision that didn’t completely debilitate her, Effie nodded. “Worth a try, I suppose.”
“Excellent.” His answering smile radiated approval.
She wasn’t sure why it made her feel shy. She covered the emotion by reaching for her glass of water. After swallowing, she asked in what she hoped passed for a casual tone, “When did you want to give it a go?”
“How about now?”
“Now?” she asked, choking a bit on her water. What sounded good in theory was something else entirely when faced with having to act on it.
“No time like the present.”
Effie grimaced. “Says the man whose gift has never brought an ounce of pain.”
Kieran’s expression darkened so suddenly that Effie froze. The storm was over as quickly as it began, but she didn’t need him to tell her that his gift, which perhaps lacking side effects, had not always been a source of pleasure for him. It would seem her guide had many stories hidden beneath his mask.
“Fine,” she sighed. “Let’s get it over with.”
Kieran stood and walked toward a shelf filled with various bottles. He sifted through them, their soft clinks filling the room until he found the one he wanted. Grabbing a small silver object, he returned to the table.
“Here?” she asked, startled when he sat back down.
“It’s as good as anywhere else.”