by AD Starrling
As for Anna and I, we left Europe the day after we buried our grandfather’s ashes in Prague, his birth city. We spent two weeks in my apartment in Boston while we finalized the purchase of our new home, a private island in the Pacific Ocean. The location was known to only six people: the Dvorskies, Pierre and Solange Vauquois, Reid, and now Dimitri Reznak.
Two days ago, Victor called and said that Reznak wished to talk to Anna and me urgently. The Crovir leader had some important information to impart, which he wanted to do in person.
‘Are you visiting for a while?’ Victor said to Reid presently.
Reid shook his head and smiled wryly. ‘I leave tomorrow, I’m afraid. I’ve got business to take care of in Boston. We’ve just taken on some new employees.’
The Hasley and Soul Agency had grown a fair bit in the last month. There were now three more detectives working full-time with Reid, two of them old friends from the police force. A larger office had become vacant in our building and we had moved premises a week previously. We even had a new secretary: it was Mrs Trelawney’s daughter, Izzie.
Although I still co-owned the agency, I no longer worked in the field: I did most of my tasks, which were now mostly research-based, from the new state-of-the-art study in our home on the island.
‘I see your scar has almost faded,’ said Victor, indicating the faint mark near Reid’s left shoulder.
‘Yes, it has,’ Reid murmured.
Reid and I exchanged guarded glances. This was something else that had become evident since the final battle with Vellacrus’s army: from the time that he had been transfused with Anna’s blood in Prague, Reid’s wounds had all healed at an alarmingly accelerated rate. Although it was not as fast as an immortal’s regenerative abilities, it was still far greater than that of a human. Even more astounding was what was happening to the injuries he had incurred before the transfusion: his old scars were also slowly fading.
Anna assured us that such a thing has never happened on the rare occasions when a human received blood from an immortal.
We had yet to tell Victor and Dimitri of this intriguing phenomenon.
I turned a questioning gaze on Reznak. ‘Victor said you had something you wanted to tell us?’
The Crovir leader glanced at his Bastian counterpart. ‘Yes. Indeed, I did.’ Reznak paused. ‘I’m not quite sure where to start,’ he added hesitantly. He looked to the clear waters beyond the veranda and the puppy playing on the beach. Finally, he turned to me. ‘How much do you know of the history of the immortals?’
The question surprised me. I frowned faintly. ‘Not a lot,’ I said with a shrug. ‘As far as I recall, our races appeared in Europe sometime around the mid-tenth century BC.’ I paused, a wry smile crossing my lips. ‘They seem to have been at war pretty much since.’
Reznak leaned back in his chair and watched me with narrowed eyes. ‘What if I was to tell you that this was not always the case? And that we’ve been around since well before that time?’
Silence followed the Crovir noble’s words. ‘What do you mean?’ I said finally.
Reznak did not answer the question directly. ‘What do you know about the Book of Genesis?’
I glanced at Anna. She looked as puzzled as I felt. ‘It’s the first book of the Hebrew Bible and the Christian Old Testament,’ I replied slowly.
‘Good,’ said the Crovir with a brisk nod. ‘Now, do you have any knowledge of the specifics of the third and fourth chapters?’ he continued, his eyes gleaming with a mysterious light.
‘You mean the accounts of how Adam and Eve were banished from the Garden of Eden and the subsequent stories of their descendants?’ said Anna, her eyes narrowing.
Reznak smiled in approval. ‘Correct again.’ He paused. ‘Of course, there’s a lot more to it than that.’
Anna’s frown deepened. ‘There is?’
‘Yes. You’re aware that most of the original Dead Sea Scrolls are kept in the Shrine of the Book, in Jerusalem?’ said Reznak. Anna nodded, her green gaze shining with intellectual interest. ‘As far as mortals are concerned, they’re the oldest scriptures ever discovered that reflect the actual wordings of the original Old Testament and the Bible,’ said the Crovir noble.
A stunned hush fell across the veranda. The puppy yipped in the distance. ‘What d’you mean, as far as “mortals” are concerned?’ said Reid eventually.
Reznak smiled secretively. ‘It’s exactly as it sounds.’
‘Are you saying that immortals possess documents even more ancient than the Dead Sea Scrolls?’ said Anna, her eyebrows raised in disbelief.
Reznak did not reply immediately. Instead, he looked at me. ‘Do you recall where I was at the time Victor contacted me, after the compound in Virginia was attacked?’
‘Yes,’ I replied with a frown. ‘You were in Egypt.’
Reznak helped himself to another drink. He raised the glass and stared blindly at the liquid inside. ‘The origin of our two immortal races is a subject that has always fascinated me, even as a child,’ he said slowly. A wry grimace crossed his face. ‘Even though I’ve been the Head of our Immortal Culture and History Section for several centuries, I’ve spent quite a lot of my own fortune before and during those years trying to satisfy my personal obsession with discovering where we truly came from.’ He paused and sighed. ‘Ironically, the breakthrough I had been yearning for took place just after I found out about the whole affair with Vellacrus and her scheme of true immortality.’ Reznak glanced around the table. ‘My team of archaeologists found a cave in Egypt, in the mountains of the Eastern Desert. It was quite deep underground, which explains why the contents we discovered within had been so well preserved. What with recent events and the need to reorganize the Crovir Councils, you can appreciate that I’ve been otherwise occupied of late. It’s only been in the last couple of weeks that I finally returned to analysing the materials we found.’ He met our gazes steadily. ‘The discovery is broadly made of two parts. The first is a series of scriptures that narrate the origins of the immortal races. They have been dated to approximately three thousand years BC.’
My eyes widened at his words. I felt my pulse start to race.
Reznak glanced from Anna to me. ‘The second, and by far the most extraordinary finding, are the biological remains we found with the scriptures.’
‘That’s impossible,’ Anna stated flatly in the silence that followed.
Reznak shrugged. ‘The evidence doesn’t lie,’ he murmured. ‘Victor has seen the scrolls and can confirm my findings. We have, of course, moved the scriptures to a more secure location.’
The Bastian leader nodded his acquiescence at our questioning gazes. I frowned while I digested the Crovir’s words. ‘What are these—“remains” you’re alluding to?’ I said.
A dark look appeared in Reznak’s eyes. ‘Before I tell you about those, I must add that there were in fact two caves,’ he said gruffly. ‘The first one had unfortunately already been ransacked when we discovered it. The second cave was much deeper and located in a different rock formation.’
‘Have you found out who looted the first cave?’ said Anna with a frown.
Reznak shook his head. ‘No. But I’ve got my best agent on it.’ He gazed at us with a strange expression. ‘The remains were a pair of hearts, embalmed in individual clay pots. I believe they belonged to the original Crovir and Bastian, although this is obviously very difficult to ascertain without the rest of their bodies. Crovir and Bastian were not just the names of our races. They were actual men born in the thirty-eighth century BC.’ He paused at our stares. ‘I know. I found it hard to believe myself at first. The genetic analysis we’ve carried out on the hearts shows that they were most likely brothers, a fact which is also supported by the translations of the scriptures. The texts tell most of their story and that of their father before them, a man named Romerus.’ He took a deep breath. ‘Now, this is where we all have to take a leap of faith.’
‘Really? I thought we did that a while ago,
’ said Reid dully.
A wry smile crossed Reznak’s face. ‘This one requires a lot more of it, I’m afraid.’ His expression grew serious. ‘According to the scriptures, Romerus was possibly a descendant of Adam and Eve. We cannot fully confirm this as part of the texts are missing.’ He frowned faintly. ‘I suspect they were stolen from the first cave.’
The crash of the surf breaking along the shoreline and the puppy’s playful barks were the only sounds that interrupted the silence that ensued. An eerie sense of premonition crept into the back of my mind.
‘Adam’s descendants are said to have lived many hundreds of years,’ said Anna finally. ‘Is that where the concept of immortality arose?’
‘Possibly,’ said Reznak. ‘But I believe that Crovir and Bastian were truly special beings, born with abilities that even their forefathers had not possessed. The clues, although we have yet to fully analyze the information, are in their genes.’ At this point, Reznak shared a meaningful glance with Victor before turning to Anna and me. ‘This is where the two of you come in.’
The peculiar feeling of presentiment grew stronger at his words. I glanced into Anna’s widening eyes and murmured, ‘What do you mean?’
‘I managed to obtain a very small sample of your blood before all the research material at the Crovir labs was destroyed,’ Reznak told Anna. His gaze shifted to me. ‘I asked Victor to do the same with yours. Don’t worry,’ he added hastily at our expressions, ‘there isn’t enough for anyone to attempt anything like what Vellacrus had planned. All I wanted was to study your genetic material.’
‘Why?’ I said stiffly, although I already had a suspicion what his answer was going to be.
‘To compare them with the samples we found in the cave,’ said Reznak. He leaned back in the wicker chair. ‘Victor and I have both personally researched the extensive genealogy of the noble families of our two immortal societies. As far as we can establish, the Godards and the Thornes were true purebloods in every sense of the word: Bastians and Crovirs descended from pureblood Bastians and Crovirs all the way back as far as our scrolls go. As you’re probably aware, Bastians and Crovirs have successfully mated in the past, but—’
‘Never a pureblood with a pureblood,’ Anna interrupted breathlessly, her eyes glazing over with shock.
Reznak nodded. ‘And not just any purebloods. Your parents were direct descendants of the original Crovir and Bastian. The molecular studies we carried out on your samples and the tissues we found in the cave confirm that you both possess the same distinctive genetic variations as the two original immortals.’ He paused. ‘We also found the alpha and omega designs that make up your birthmark in the scriptures from the cave in Egypt.’
His words confirmed my gut feeling. I suddenly felt light-headed.
‘That’s—’ said Anna after a while.
‘The kind of news that requires several stiff drinks?’ Reid interrupted with a wide-eyed grimace.
Reznak stared at Anna and me with an inscrutable expression. ‘The two of you are unique,’ he said quietly. ‘As far as I’m aware, there are no other direct pureblood descendants of Crovir and Bastian alive today. Agatha Vellacrus, Felix Thorne and Tomas Godard were the last ones left.’ He hesitated. ‘I suspect that Anna would also survive her seventeenth death.’ His gaze shifted to me. ‘I also believe she shares your other ability.’
Anna and I stared at each other for timeless seconds. Her hand moved under the table. My eyes followed her fingers to the folds of her dress while my heart thudded dully inside my chest.
The other incredible secret we had kept from Victor Dvorsky and Dimitri Reznak was the fact that Anna was pregnant. It had only been a couple of days since we found out ourselves. Reid was the only other person who knew.
Both Anna and I had found it a miracle in itself that she had fallen pregnant so easily, and after our very first night together. As the implications of the Crovir leader’s revelations sunk in, I could see my own unease reflected in Anna’s green gaze: if we were this gifted because of our possible blood links with the fathers of our races, then what would our unborn child be capable of?
‘What do you—’ I started to say with a frown.
‘Want from the two of you?’ Reznak interrupted with a smile. He shook his head. ‘Nothing, really. I thought you deserved to know about our discovery as it concerned you directly. Victor agreed with me on this matter.’
The Bastian leader gazed at us steadily. ‘No one but the two of us knows the details of what Reznak has told you today. The scientists working on the project had access to only part of the materials at any one point in time.’ He glanced at Reznak before continuing. ‘However, we did wonder what impact it would have on the immortal societies if we let the truth be known.’
‘About us?’ said Anna stiffly. Her fingers clenched convulsively on her lap. I grasped her hand and squeezed it gently.
Victor shook his head. ‘About the origins of our species.’ He hesitated. ‘And possibly about you.’ He shared another glance with Reznak. ‘Both of us think the Bastian and Crovir First Councils would benefit from having the two of you as members.’
I stared at Victor for a long time before rising from the table and stepping to the edge of the veranda. As I gazed out over the rippling water, a strange and unexpected feeling of calmness suddenly washed over me. It was as if I could see everything clearly for the first time in my long and unnatural life. ‘And if we were to say no?’ I said quietly.
‘Then both Victor and I would respect your wishes unconditionally,’ said Reznak firmly. ‘Think it over,’ he added. ‘We’re not expecting you to give us an answer straight away.’
I turned and looked at him wryly. ‘I don’t think we’re likely to change our minds anytime soon.’ I glanced at Anna. She looked relieved at my words.
‘If that proves to be your final decision, then so be it,’ said the Crovir leader with a shrug.
The puppy bounded over from the beach. It dropped a mouthful of wet seaweed at Reid’s feet, sat down on its haunches, cocked its head and panted at the former US marine with an expectant expression on its canine face.
‘If you think we’re playing catch with this, you’ve got another thing coming,’ said Reid. The puppy yipped. Reid sighed and looked at Anna. ‘I told you Peanut was a bad choice of name for a dog. It’s made him stupid.’ Cornelius leapt down from the table and meowed. ‘See, even the cat’s laughing at him.’
‘No, he isn’t,’ Anna said with a frown. She rose from the chair and petted the puppy on the head. Its tongue rolled out further and it whimpered in delight. ‘Let me guess,’ she continued drily, ‘you would’ve preferred something like Butch or Bud.’ She lifted the tray of empty glasses from the table. Cornelius curled around her ankles as she headed towards the patio doors.
‘What’s wrong with Bud and Butch? Or Bob, even?’ said Reid. ‘What?’ he said defensively in the face of our stares. ‘Bob’s a great name for a dog.’
‘I don’t think so,’ said Anna empathically. ‘When you have a dog, you can call it Bob.’
‘What about Sparkey? Sparkey’s a good name,’ Reid said doggedly.
‘Tell you what, we’ll rethink Peanut,’ Anna said, rolling her eyes at me. I smiled.
‘Oh. Good,’ said Reid. He frowned. ‘What’re you gonna call him in the meantime?’
‘Dog,’ Anna stated firmly over her shoulder. Victor chuckled. Reznak laughed.
Reid’s eyes widened in horror. ‘Do—Dog?! You might as well just shoot the poor bastard!’ he barked, storming after her. As the sun started to set over the ocean, we followed them inside the house, the D-O-G included.
THE END
About the Author
AD Starrling was born on the small island nation of Mauritius in the Indian Ocean and came to the UK at the age of twenty to study medicine. After five years of hard graft earning her MD and another five years working all of God’s hours as a Paediatrician, she decided it was time for a change and returned to h
er first love, writing. Soul Meaning is her debut novel and the first in a supernatural thriller series entitled Seventeen. She currently lives in Warwickshire in the West Midlands, where she is busy writing the second novel in the series while drinking gallons of tea. She still practises medicine. AD Starrling is her pen name.