Valor: The Custos Saga

by Jessica Tastet

  Dark Knight stuttered. “Of course, I’ll just be in my own study down the hall if you need me.”

  He rose, stood for a moment flabbergasted, and then exited the room with his quick shuffle.

  Rex gave the room a quick scan, and then waited as he heard footsteps down the corridor. He was nervous. Though he’d never admit it to anyone else—weakness shouldn’t be worn on one’s sleeve— he believed in acknowledging his feelings. This philosophy had prevented him from irrational actions over the last several years. A lesson he’d learned in painful ways during his youth.

  The door opened and Tom showed his guest inside and closed the door behind him. Rex knew that Tom would be waiting on the other side of that door when the meeting concluded.

  His guest filled the room with his near seven-foot height. His pale complexion was milky, but what drew his attention were his eyes. He had the blue eyes of a Custos, a shade they called sky.

  Lucilius snarled. “Let’s get this straight. I’m not working for you. This is a partnership. That book belongs to me.”

  Rex studied him. Rex had been twenty-six when he’d first learned that pureblooded Custos still existed. Pureblooded. Not the hybrid mix of human DNA and Custos DNA that existed in Rex’s people, but the direct descendants of the originals that had existed thousands of years before Homo Sapiens. He’d stumbled across it by accident while searching for the book and had come close to losing his life in that crossing. Lucilius was the only one he’d ever met, and he’d never said if there were others. Rex assumed there was, but he wasn’t certain.

  “I believe we can both get what we want.”

  Lucilius glared at him. “It’s a girl who’s supposed to have it? Which one?”

  Rex smiled. “I don’t know which one, but I have a method to discover that information.”

  “A method?” Lucilius regarded him suspiciously. “I thought you knew she was here. I’m not going to chase one of your hunches.”

  “She is here.” Rex shifted. He could feel Lucilius scanning his thoughts. Although Rex was the most powerful he’d ever known, it was impossible to block out a pure blooded Custos. “I have three women whose birthdays all fall within the window. I want you to kill them.”

  “Is it one of them?”

  Rex would have liked to lie, but he knew that it was impossible. “No, but their murders will cause the Vindica to face what it has avoided. They will name Valor, leading us to her.”

  Lucilius contemplated his words, before drawing a breath. “Sounds like a waste of life, but it makes me no matter. How do you know this will work?”

  Rex nodded. “This person knows who she is and will realize that if she comes forward no one else will die. Protecting the innocent is a weakness of the Vindica.”

  Lucilius grunted. “I will know if you cross me. Remember that your tricks don’t work on me.”

  Rex nodded, and then Lucilius was gone.

  Dooming girls to die was really the Vindica’s fault. The original prophecy didn’t specifically say that the savior would be female or male. The organization had made that assumption a few hundred years ago, and then it had become part of the myth, part of the facts. Reximortum rather thought this was limiting in a search, but when one wants to force an organization to act, one must play into its fears.

  Tom entered the study and closed the door. “I hope you know what you are doing, my Lord.”

  Rex smiled. He heard the strains of worry. “I’ve had years to plan, and I’ve learned from past mistakes. What have you learned about that matter we discussed?”

  Tom nodded. “It’s as you suspected. Cain does not obey Dark Knight’s orders well. From what I gather, he hasn’t gone against orders yet, but he pushes it to that point.”

  Rex sat down at his desk chair. “Good, Tom. I grow tired of Dark Knight, but they all attempt to hide things from me.”

  “They fear you, Sir, as they should, but they need lessons in loyalty.”

  Rex laughed. “Where do I find more men like you?”

  Thirteen

  Angelica shifted from one foot to the other as she stared at the yellow brick building. Images of those green doors thrusting open and close had plagued her dreams last night. Nothing else— only doors and dread and a pounding heart jerking her awake, countless times.

  A general rule she’d clung to involved not walking into anything her wits couldn’t charm her way out. She couldn’t shake this feeling of being sucked into those green doors and not having a way to back out safely. That thing that she’d been running aimlessly toward felt as if it were tightening its grip.

  She was drowning in secrets. Lily and Grams had made keeping them easy with their constant reminders to hold her tongue. Truth had always been her natural instinct though.

  Stepping inside those green doors, she’d need to lie, play the con once again as she had her entire life. She desired nothing more than to be able to tell the truth, but Lily had taught her well. People couldn’t be trusted, especially people who had the same abilities as her. After all, she knew exactly what she could do with hers.

  Angelica reached and touched the doorbell before courage failed her.

  After moments, the heavy door swung open, and Angelica had to look up nearly five inches to meet the russet eyes of a thin, blonde haired woman near her age.

  “Good morning.” Angelica smiled. “I’ve come to see John Landon. I believe he’s expecting me.”

  A grin spread, but her eyes did a nervous twitch. A lack of confidence, maybe? Something to hide. Angelica’s nerves were jumpy. “Why hello. You must be Angelica Accacia, right? I’m Gabney.”

  They stood there a moment both smiling. Angelica could feel a thick fog of awkwardness rising.

  A vein at Gabney’s temple twitched. “I’m sorry. Why don’t you come right in?”

  Angelica stepped pass Gabney into the foyer. The glass shards had been swept away, but her flesh pricked with an electrical current bouncing off the ruby walls and towering ceilings.

  “I don’t recall seeing you last time I was here.”

  “I was in a class at UNO. I don’t actually train here.” Gabney’s eyes focused on a large portrait on the wall. “Just an ordinary civilian.”

  She laughed nervously, her eyes meeting Angelica’s before shifting away.

  Interesting. Not everyone here had abilities. Was that something new or had Lily been the only one with abilities when she was here? Angelica wasn’t sure how to get those answers without asking the questions directly. Not yet, anyway.

  “It must be an interesting place to live.”

  Gabney’s natural smile lit up her face. Innocent. She’d been trying to put a description to Gabney in her head and that was the correct speculation “You wouldn’t believe. Uncle John is like a second father to me, so I totally respect what they do here.”

  “Is Mr. Landon here now?”

  Gabney nodded, nibbling on her bottom lip. “He’s in his library. I’ll just let him know you arrived.”

  Gabney pivoted and glided toward the doorway on the right, disappearing behind a cherry door in the back of a sparsely furnished sitting area.

  The house creaked in its farthest corners. Angelica could feel the enormity of the space, and its vastness allowed for silence to bounce around and ring in her ears.

  A creaking door snapped her back to attention, and she watched Gabney emerge.

  “He’ll see you now.” She motioned to the small sitting area. “I’ll be in the tea room if you need anything.”

  Angelica entered through the cherry door, her heart galloping ahead of her. In a brown leather chair, a stoop-shouldered, white haired man gripped a brown leather book. His side part fell as haphazardly as the odd objects and books that overwhelmed the room. Several chairs were pushed into corners creating odd seating arrangements around the large room, but a chair strategically sat opposite Mr. Landon’s massive wingback chair.

  A loud vibration cleared his throat. “Why don’t you have a seat righ
t here? I’m afraid I don’t move around as well as I once did.”

  She moved toward the chair, assessing his stance, his sagging eyelids, his shaking fingers. “I’m Angelica Acacia. I don’t believe we were able to meet the other day.”

  Acacia tugged in her throat. Lie number one.

  His small kind eyes studied her. “I apologize that the incident wasn’t handled better. You startled our residents, I’m afraid.”

  “I apologize as well. I was always taught to hide my abilities, so I panicked.”

  Landon’s fingers rubbed the top of a carved wooden cane. Its pecan stain was a lighter brown beneath his fingertips from wear. “My home is a place for people with abilities not unlike your own so they don’t have to hide them. Tell me, how did you hear about me?”

  “As a teenager a psychologist mentioned it during a meeting.”

  Lie number two. Acid bubbled beneath her skin. Her instincts told her to tell the truth, but she couldn’t trust her instincts. Lily had proved that to her.

  “Acacia is an unusual last name.”

  His gaze bore into her. She wasn’t fooling him.

  “Acacia is my middle name. My mother left me at my Grandmother’s house when I was a baby, and neither one bothered to give me a last name.”

  His thoughts were less critical of her answer. Probably because it was as close to the truth as she could get without giving a full confession.

  “Did they tell you from whom you inherited your abilities?”

  Angelica shrugged. “My mother, I suppose. Grams is a definite no, and I have no other family.”

  He nodded. It was a you-passed-round-one nod. She wasn’t sure if she was ready for another round. “Did you have a purpose for wanting to see me?”

  Yes. She wanted to scream. Lily had left her with so many unanswered questions, and he was the first one who probably had the answers. She pried at the walls around his thoughts, but they were relentless. He’d protected himself from her intrusion. How’d he do this with no physic energy?

  She stood abruptly to give herself a moment to think.

  “I just want to know.”

  Lily’s face stared at her from among a collage of photos on the mantelpiece. A young version with blond hair in braids. Damn Lily. What was she supposed to do?

  “As a girl, I dreamed of my mother’s murder. No one would believe me, but I knew it was real. I’ve read her journal over and over, but it doesn’t tell me why.”

  “You saw it in a dream? You have visions of the future?”

  His alarm vibrated through her bones. Angelica turned to see it in his eyes. “Why does that scare you? I thought you said the people here have abilities.”

  His heart rate increased. “You read people’s thoughts too?”

  She shuddered under his fear, and she reconstructed her wall to keep his anxiety out. “I try not to use it. It made me feel like I was going to go crazy when I was younger.”

  Landon’s fingers trembled against his cane. “Have you ever told anyone about your abilities?”

  Angelica countered. “Have you?”

  Landon cleared his throat. “We keep what goes on here quiet.”

  “Is there a reason?” Angelica sank into the seat. “I mean people have claimed to have physic abilities before.”

  “The people in here are not street fortune tellers. I assume you’ve kept your abilities quiet for the same reason we have.”

  “Because you don’t want the men in the white lab coats studying you?”

  Landon laughed, but then stopped abruptly. “I’m sorry, I haven’t had the opportunity to laugh in recent weeks. But no, it’s not about the men in lab coats. Your abilities have a history. A long and complex history that means we need to protect ourselves.”

  Angelica leaned back in her chair. “Do I get to hear this history or is there some kind of ritual involving giving up my soul first?”

  Landon laughed until it died out naturally this time. His chest heaved under it. “No such rituals here. Just the magic of trust.”

  They assessed each other. His eyes were warm but guarded. He didn’t expect her to tell him more after meeting him ten minutes ago.

  “How about I give you the basics until we’ve had time to get to know each other better.”

  Angelica smiled. He knew how to read people, too. “I’ve waited twenty years. I have a little longer.”

  Not much though. She could feel something getting closer. Better to be gone before it arrived.

  “Have you ever heard of the Custos?”

  That mysterious word. Custos. It rolled from her tongue and teased at a memory. “Is it a family name? I’ve heard it mentioned but I can’t place it.”

  He leaned back in his chair. “The Custos are a man. To be exact, they aren’t human as you know humans. They are a different evolutionary man. In other words, homo sapien is one man; homo custos is another.”

  A sharp burst of laughter burst from Angelica’s throat. “Are you serious? So you’re saying I’m not human?”

  “Of course you are.” Landon frowned. “You are a hybrid Custos/Human DNA mixture. The abilities come from Custos man.”

  Angelica swallowed. His words felt stuck in her throat unable to go down. “So if there is another species of man walking around, why haven’t we heard about it? I can’t imagine that is easy to hide.”

  Landon smiled. “In 1584, our records show that the last of two pure Custos mixed with two humans and five children were born. They became known as the Vindica five. Each had abilities ranging from telekinesis, clairvoyance, telepathy, psychic healing, and mind walking.”

  “So the abilities were passed down through some large family tree?”

  “Ah, yes. Legends are tricky business. Some stories suggest magic was involved, but others stick to the science of evolution. Like all legends, most of it is guess work and you have to believe what you can.”

  “I feel like I’m on some hidden camera, you’ve been pranked show. It doesn’t sound real.” Angelica paused. “And yet, I feel as though there is more.”

  Landon smiled. “Well, as in all the best legends, the Vindica has tales of a prophecy.”

  “A prophecy? As in something bad is going to happen?”

  Landon shrugged. “Stories say that in 1591 Mennigas, a very strong mind walker, abused his gift and began harming innocent people out of greed. Abigail, the healer, cast a spell calling for the birth of someone who would possess all five gifts to put an end to the evil among the growing family. The prophecy grew as the family enlarged over time. Legend dictates that one day someone will be born with all the abilities and will unite the Custos once again.”

  “That was four hundred years ago. Was anyone ever born?”

  Landon’s fingers tapped the top of his cane. “Actually, we shall find out. The people who know say that it will happen by the full moon.”

  “What if I had all five abilities?”

  Landon’s fingers stopped the rhythmic tapping. “Do you?”

  She’d never tried to heal someone. Did four out of five count? She wasn’t even sure how healing was supposed to work.

  “What if I didn’t want to be this person?”

  John released a deep breath. His fingers gripped the cane tightly. “The Vindica’s name for this person is Valor, for the quality that the lives of others are more important than her own. It requires choice.” He paused. “Legends only have power if you believe.”

  Risk her life for others? “Wait, are there still people to fight against like in the past?”

  “Always. Just like in stories, where there is good, there is evil. We call them Dark Soldiers. We must all be careful of them.”

  “How do you know I’m Custos? I could be an ordinary street psychic.”

  He smiled and his eyes sparked with a mischievous light. He enjoyed the challenge of her questions. This told her that no one asked him questions anymore and he liked it. These were the things that she used to con people. When would she stop thin
king this way?

  “Have you ever seen anyone with eyes your color?”

  The flesh on her arms rose. Her obsession. “Maybe once. Why?”

  “That color blue is a Custos genetic trait marker. The only way to achieve that shade is to have Custos DNA, and a very high degree of it, I might add.”

  “There’s no other way? Aren’t humans born with all shades of eye color?”

  He shook his head, a smile tugging at the corners of his lips. “Afraid not. The Vindica has geneticists who study these things. In the last few years they’ve achieved unimaginable breakthroughs, so I knew you were part of the Vindica upon seeing you, as will others.”

  “You mean those Dark Soldiers, don’t you?”

  He frowned. “I’m afraid so.”

  The cherry door creaked open and Gabney’s head popped inside. “I thought I’d give Angelica a break and show her around a bit.”

  Landon nodded. “Good idea, Gabney. Gabney’s in my training so to speak. We don’t have your abilities, but we do enjoy a good story.”

  Gabney laughed, her voice cracking and her eyes twitching. “Our abilities are just different.”

  Angelica followed Gabney out because she was expected to do so, but her head swarmed with questions. She’d discovered nothing about her mother.

  She glanced back at Landon, but he’d closed his eyes to the room.

  Back in the foyer, Gabney twitched. “I’m sorry to cut it short. Uncle John hasn’t been feeling well lately.”

  A fear jolted through her. Lily’s pictures sat on his mantle; he was her connection. “Is something wrong with him?”

  “I don’t think so.” Gabney frowned, her eyes losing focus as though she were considering it, but then she shrugged it off. “He’s just had a difficult time with the Vindica Council lately.”

  “There’s a Vindica Council?”

  “Every ancient society has to have some bureaucratic old people telling it what to do.” Gabney laughed. “The council doesn’t want to name Valor although the prophecy calls for it to be happening like yesterday. Uncle John keeps trying to reason with them. Reasoning with a cabbage would be easier.”