“His students.” Allie turned to face them. “Don’t you see? He was talking about his class. I know how he thinks, guys. Aidan sees himself as a leader. He’s always known that the power he possesses will mark him as either a threat, which the Senate sees when they look at him, or a leader, which his students would clearly see.”
“She’s right,” Darius said. “Dad’s always worked hard to prepare him for that eventuality.”
“Exactly. And let’s say his students are all like him. Powerful young Immortals who haven’t been given a choice.”
“You might be on to something,” Darius said. “Look at what they’ve done with Sasha? It’s not like they ever ask what she wants.”
Scott nodded. “Aidan would definitely take it upon himself to protect them.”
“This all started with the threats against his family and me, but it’s continued because there are others who need his protection. That’s why he doesn’t want us to find him.” Allie sat on the corner of the coffee table, facing Aidan’s brothers.
“This could be the reason he’s never tried to reach out to us or flip this around and make his own way out,” Scott said. “I don’t know why we didn’t see it before.”
“Thank you, Scott.” Allie took his hands in hers. “I was hoping to find at least one small piece of the puzzle while we were here.”
“We’ve always suspected the Senate had him working on something he was passionate about. Something he believed in enough to walk away from everyone and everything he ever wanted. This all ads up, but it still doesn’t mean we’re any closer to finding him than we were before.”
“No, but it’s something we didn’t know yesterday,” Darius said.
“If Aidan believes so strongly in what he’s doing that he was willing to ghost his entire family, then he’s doing the right thing,” Allie said. “We need to trust him. But that doesn’t mean we stop digging. I don’t want to tear him away from what he believes is right, as long as he is safe. But if there is even the slightest chance that he is hurting or in over his head, we need to be prepared to help him.”
“I agree,” Scott said. “We’ve been waiting and watching for so long with no results, and you waltz in here with your knowledge of how his mind works and find something we missed.” He rested his elbows on his knees. “You need to keep digging, Allie. Dad doesn’t want to let you anywhere near the Senate but it’s time. We have to do something, or we’re going to lose Aidan forever.”
Chapter Ten
Allie’s feet pounded against the cold marble tile, the walls closing in on her. Black snakes hung from the ceiling and slithered in the shadows, their ruby red eyes stared blankly as she ran.
The labyrinth of corridors seemed endless, never taking her where she wanted to go. Every door stood open, displaying empty rooms.
Tears streaked her face as she darted down the stairs to another floor of endless tiled hallways. Her heart stopped in her chest when she saw him standing by the elevators. Aidan.
She could see his face, hard and lean. He stared at her, his dark eyes smoldering with the golden light of his power.
Running faster, Allie knew she was finally going to catch him this time. She stumbled when something cold and scaly fell across her shoulders, slithering around her neck. No. She shrieked, flinging the snake to the floor. It hissed and coiled into the familiar figure eight of the ouroboros.
When she looked up, Aidan stood inside the elevator. The doors closed, leaving her alone in the darkness. Again.
“Get up. We’re meeting a contact in twenty minutes.” Livia flipped on the lights of the hotel suite Allie shared with Darius.
“Wait…” Allie sat up, bleary-eyed from her dreams. She was exhausted from traveling across Europe for the last two weeks. “Where are we again?” She ran her hand through her tangled mass of curls. “And what time is it?” She scowled at the late night sky outside the window.
“It’s the middle of the night,” Darius groaned, throwing a blanket over his head. “Go away, Liv.”
“We’re in Milan.” Livia pulled the blankets off Darius’s bed. “It’s three in the morning, and we don’t have much time.” She pulled Allie up from her bed, steering her toward the bathroom. “No time for showers, but do something with that rat’s nest on top of your head.”
“Didn’t we just check in like an hour ago?” Allie fumbled with her hairbrush.
“I let you sleep for two hours. That’s enough. Now move it. You, too, Darius. We have an important meeting to get to.”
“Who schedules a meeting at three in the morning?” Darius scowled, slipping into his jeans, looking more refreshed than he had a right to after such a short nap.
Allie scrambled around in her duffle bag for her wide comb.
“Someone with a lot to lose and doesn’t want to be seen,” Livia said. “What are you doing, Allie? Why do you have a brush stuck in your hair?”
Allie glared at her sister.
Livia pressed her lips together, failing to stifle a smile.
“Because I haven’t washed it in three days, and I’m probably going to have to shave it all off and start over.” Allie raked the comb through her hair with an angry stroke, and several plastic teeth cracked. “Stupid piece of crap.” She threw the comb down on the bed and yanked the brush out of her hair.
“Wear a hat,” Darius said.
Allie scowled at him and ran her hands through her curls, tugging through the worst of the tangles. With a wince, she shoved it all back into a messy bun and finished dressing in a hurry.
“Let’s go.” She sighed and followed Darius and her sister into the quiet streets of Milan in the middle of the night. Allie released her visions from her peripheral vision. She checked them frequently now but refused to get her hopes up this time. They’d spent the last few weeks chasing their tails around Europe, reaching out to Livia’s less than reputable contacts, and had come up with very little. At this rate, Allie was going to flunk out of her last semester of college, but if they could just find something useful, it would be worth it.
“Who are we meeting this time?” Darius yawned.
“A girl my contact in Paris recommended. She’s been difficult to find, but after talking with a few old friends, I managed to get a message to her a few days ago.”
“Wait, something’s different.” Allie paused on the sidewalk. The hazy green light she associated with her clairvoyance lit up the night, illuminating more than a dozen shifting blobs wandering around them. Except these weren’t the blobs she was used to. There was more definition. Her visions looked like real people, teenagers maybe. She could even make out a few faces. But nothing familiar.
“What do you see?” Livia asked.
“Nothing useful. But it’s different. Different is good. I think we might be on the right track here. What’s this girl’s story?” Allie asked.
“I didn’t tell you what I discovered in Paris because I wasn’t sure it would come to anything.” Livia slipped into the front seat of their tiny European rental and unlocked the doors.
Allie’s heart beat a little faster at this news. “What did you find?” She scrambled into the back, leaning over the front seat.
“My contact in Paris works off the books for several big name Senators. She does undercover work, so she hears things. There’s been a lot of recent talk about a small operative along the Swiss border, a few hours north of Milan up near the Italian Lake District.”
“What about it?” Darius asked.
“It’s some kind of top secret facility for really powerful kids.”
“That sounds promising.” Allie sat back, suddenly awake and eager to get wherever they were going.
“It’s called the Milan Initiative. The girl we’re about to meet might be associated with them, and there’s a chance she could know something about Aidan. But she’s nervous. She’s only here for a few more hours, and she’s agreed to meet us at the square near the Colonne di San Lorenzo.”
Allie marve
led at the way her sister got things accomplished. Since they’d arrived in Europe, Livia had called in every favor she ever earned in her years at Soma. She’d met with some of the most ancient and corrupt Immortals still living in the mainstream world. They were bound to come up with something useful if they kept digging. Allie knew her sister was more concerned with keeping her out of the Senate’s hands than with helping Aidan, but she would never be able to thank Livia for all she’d done these last few weeks.
“We’re nearly there,” Livia said. “You guys need to let me do the talking. This girl is skittish. She might not even show.”
Allie fidgeted, twisting her hands in her lap. They needed to find something to go on soon. The thought of going back home empty-handed just wasn’t an option.
“Stop worrying, Allie.” Livia glanced in the rearview mirror. “You need to focus on keeping that bond of yours concealed. I can’t even begin to tell you how much money some people would pay to own the power you two possess as a pair. We cannot allow anyone we meet to know about your Syntrophos bond.”
Livia swerved into a street side parking spot near the ancient square. A colonnade of sixteen enormous Corinthian columns cast dark shadows along the empty sidewalk in the early morning darkness. On any other day, Allie would be eager to explore the crumbling Roman relics and the nearby Basilica of San Lorenzo and the Basilica of Saint Eustorgius. But she only had thoughts for Aidan. She felt it in her bones. They were getting closer to an answer.
The spectral figures still roamed freely in her main line of sight. Some had coalesced into more corporeal forms with a green aura. She saw several young faces and studied them carefully, but as much as she tried, she was still missing some vital piece of information.
“Let’s go,” Allie whispered, heading down the dark sidewalk behind the colonnade. As she stepped aside to avoid walking right through one of her visions, the memory of Aidan’s arms around her struck her like a brick wall. The touch of his hand, the warmth of his eyes, it had been so long her memories of him had blended with her memories of high school. They were equals, and they would always be friends, but sometimes she thought she’d built him up in her mind to be something he never really was. They were together once, for a brief time. That was all. Then why haven’t I ever been able to move on?
“Allie?”
She jumped at the voice she hadn’t heard in years. “Who’s there?” She stared into the shadows.
“Don’t tell me you’ve forgotten me already?” The girl stepped into the light of the street lamps under the center archway.
“Naomi?” Allie gaped at the young woman she’d never really liked. She hadn’t changed at all, still exotically beautiful with her ethnic ambiguity, curly, golden brown hair, and piercing blue eyes. And by the look in those eyes, she still loathed Allie.
“You know each other?” Livia asked.
“She’s family,” Darius explained.
“Not my family,” Allie and Naomi responded in unison.
“This is your contact?” Allie turned to her sister in confusion.
“Yes. I’ve crawled under every rock in Europe to find her.” Livia’s tone was sharp with irritation.
“I wouldn’t have risked my neck if I’d known it was you.” Naomi looked at Allie like she was the last person on earth she ever wanted to see again. The feeling was mutual.
“Naomi, what do you know about Aidan?” Allie asked, not in the mood for her usual petty antics.
Naomi scowled. “It took you long enough to come looking for him. I don’t have much time for this, so I suppose you’re my only hope.” She cast a worried glance over her shoulder. “If he ever finds out I put you in danger, he’ll kill me.”
“Aidan? You’ve seen him? Recently?” Allie took a step forward ready to wring her neck if she didn’t start talking.
“Every day for the last four years,” Naomi said. “We work together.”
“Where? Who are you working for?” Allie balled her hands into fists at her side. Livia’s hand on her shoulder was a silent reminder to take it easy.
“We live a few hours from here, up near Lake Maggiore. The Milan Initiative is a private project under the direct supervision of the Chief Justice. Most of the International Senate doesn’t even know about it. But we agreed to join. Years ago it made sense. And it was what Aidan wanted. But it doesn’t make sense anymore. That’s why I’m here. I just didn’t realize I was coming to you for help, but I suppose you’re better than nothing.” She didn’t try to mask her irritation, but Allie saw the fear behind the girl’s bravado. She was terrified and grasping at straws.
“This isn’t about me or our mutual dislike for each other, Naomi. This is about Aidan. Why has he pushed us all away? He’s evading help on purpose, and it doesn’t make sense.”
“Don’t be stupid, Allie. This is your fault, and we both know it. Aidan will always walk over hot coals for you.” Naomi hid among the shadows of the colonnade, shrinking back against the crumbling facade. Her hands trembled and she tried to hide it, shoving them in her coat pockets.
“Aidan has a mind of his own, and he knows I would never ask him to make sacrifices for me.” Allie shook her head. “This isn’t about me. This is way bigger than high school sweethearts.”
“He’s still obsessed with you, though I can’t imagine why. You’ve caused him nothing but pain since the day you met.” Naomi cast a nervous glance over her shoulder.
“You don’t know what you’re talking about.” Allie glowered. “No one but his equal could ever understand what his life has been like.”
Naomi took a menacing step forward. “You’re the one who doesn’t have a clue.”
“Naomi,” Darius interjected. “I’m happy to see you, but please keep that sharp tongue in check when you’re talking to my Syntrophos.” He stepped into the shadows, pulling her into a warm embrace. “And Allie, try to retract the claws. We’re not getting anywhere.”
Talons of jealousy gripped Allie’s chest, threatening to rip her apart. The bond didn’t want Darius anywhere near Naomi. She wasn’t good enough for him.
“How did you get wrapped up in all of this?” he asked, ignoring the jealous rage he could surely sense coming from Allie. “Dad never mentioned you were involved.”
“He doesn’t know. Aidan’s the main event, anyway. I’m just the side piece that comes with the entree.”
“You could walk away. There’s no way he would risk your safety and freedom,” Allie said. “He wouldn’t do that to you.” It killed her to admit it, but she knew Aidan cared for Naomi and probably always would. She wasn’t entirely surprised to find her mixed up in all of this with him.
“We don’t really have a choice, Allie. Surely, you can sense that.”
“No.” Darius took a step back.
Allie turned at his sharp inhale. “What?”
“They are Syntrophos, Allie.”
“What? Who?” She turned back to Naomi. “No. No way.” She shook her head stubbornly. “You can’t be.” Her lip curled in disgust. “It’s not possible.”
“I love him, Allie. I have for a very long time. And now I know he returns my love. We finally make sense. I go where he goes. No matter what. But I no longer believe in what we’re doing. The Initiative is … I just don’t trust them anymore.”
“Anyone else.” Allie shook her head again. “Literally anyone else.” Pure, undiluted jealousy bloomed in her chest. She knew what it meant to have a Syntrophos. She understood the intimacy the bond brought and the unquestionable love she felt for Darius. How she couldn’t stand to be away from him. How they moved together, in perfect sync. The thought that Aidan had that with Naomi had her grasping for control.
“Sorry to be the one to break it to you, Allie. Well, not really, I rather enjoy the look on your face. Aidan and I bonded the summer after he left for Germany. It’s why he didn’t come home when he originally planned.”
“You never told anyone?” Darius asked. “You didn’t think we’d un
derstand? That we could have helped you?”
“We needed time together.” She shrugged. “We weren’t ready to tell people yet. And then it was too late.”
“I just, I can’t.” Allie looked to Darius for support.
“We are Syntrophos, Allie. You’re going to have to deal with that.” Naomi gave her a smug smile.
The rare bond wasn’t so rare when it came to those Allie loved. She was the heir. She was gathering her equals as the prophecy said she would, but no one ever dreamed it meant she would build an army of Syntrophos to stand beside her. Quinn and Sasha, she trusted with her life, but she would never have chosen Naomi to stand with her. Not in a million years. They were like oil and water. Allie drew her strength from the sun. Naomi drew hers from the moon. They were natural opposites.
“Aidan is your equal; we know that,” Naomi said softly. “But I am his other half.”
“A third at best,” Allie shot back.
“Enough!” Livia snapped. “We have more important things to discuss than petty jealousy, and boys who apparently can’t keep it in their pants. What is this Milan Initiative the Chief Justice has put so much effort into?”
“I think they meant well,” Naomi said. “At least it seemed like it in the beginning. The people working for the Initiative have treated us well. For the most part.”
“What do they have planned?”
“They mean to strike against Soma and put an end to their slave market. This time next year, Soma will be a government-run institution. It will be a school for young Immortals—the way it’s supposed to be now. So they say. But I don’t believe them anymore.”
“Explain,” Livia demanded.
“New management, same old game. Nothing will change. Kids need a place to train. Parents will send them there because they don’t have options, and then the Senate will be molding the future of our world, making little Senate babies with blind faith in their government. They’re crafting new voters.”
Emerge- The Heir Page 7