by Dale Mayer
Matt nudged him forward. “Come on,” he said in a low voice. “Let’s catch up to Genesis.”
“What about Peter?”
“A team is coming to round up all six men.”
Connor nodded and followed Matt back to the hovercraft where they could see Genesis waiting. “How is it you could see her before?”
“Before?” Matt asked, sounding preoccupied.
“Yeah. She was invisible. I swear she was holding my hand, but I couldn’t see her.”
“She was invisible to most people.” Matt made an impatient movement with his hand. “Rather, she did something with her energy so she couldn’t be seen. But she was still solid.” He laughed. “That was a cool trick with the machinery. If she’d been truly invisible, then she wouldn’t have been able to make the machines turn on. She wouldn’t have had a solid hand with which to turn the keys.”
“Yet you could see her?” That rankled. He could feel her but hadn’t seen her. That had to do with his damn talent again; it was improving but obviously wasn’t nearly good enough yet.
“Sure, I see energy.” Matt grinned, as if suddenly realizing what the problem was. “So do you, remember?”
“Obviously, I don’t see enough,” Connor muttered. Damn. He hadn’t even been sure it had been her when she grabbed his hand.
“It will take time. Seeing energy is instinctive. You’re so used to not seeing it now, you have to retrain your mind to see it again.”
That sounded stupid. He wanted to have everything integrated now. But apparently it wasn’t going to happen on his schedule.
“Nice trick,” Matt said admiringly to Genesis as they approached.
“Thanks.” She smiled up at him. “I had to do something to change the status quo.”
“And speaking of that,” he lowered his voice, “I can’t tell you how important it is that you bring me proof of your claim – like today.”
“We’ll retrieve it now,” she said, and she got into the back seat of the Razor.
Connor wordlessly climbed into the driver’s side. He caught her curious glance in his direction but chose to stay quiet. He didn’t know what to say. Or how to feel. So he said nothing. But inside, he was pissed. She’d been in danger. Hell, they all had been. But it had been Genesis who’d saved them. She hadn’t needed his help; he’d needed hers. Not only did that make him feel useless, it reminded him that although he was healing, he wasn’t whole. And might not be for some time.
Matt turned to Genesis. “Now where to?”
She turned a serious face to Connor. “Home.”
Chapter 21
With a few quietly relayed directions, the short trip was fast and uneventful. Genesis watched the ground below to make sure they weren’t being followed.
“Can we be tracked in this?” she asked.
Matt raised his eyebrows at the question but answered readily enough. “It’s possible. It would be foolish to think otherwise, but someone would need to be in a position to have that kind of technology. I’m highly doubtful that others have the means. At least not locally.”
She nodded. “True, but a couple of those men weren’t local. And if they weren’t, how many others aren’t?”
He spun around to look at her, an assessing look on his face. “Good enough for me.” Matt pored over the dash and adjusted some of the dials. “If we’re being tracked, we should see a signal of some kind show up.”
There was nothing. Satisfied, Genesis sat back and relaxed. At the cottage, Connor did a low-flying sweep before bringing the craft to rest behind the cottage.
Genesis quickly opened the front door. She let the men go inside, then went in and set up an energy barrier to alert her if unwelcome company approached. When she was done, Matt said, “You’re really worried someone will find you here?”
“Yes.” She didn’t elaborate. She walked into the small kitchen and put on the teakettle. She hated to admit it, but her nerves were rattled. She set out the muffins snagged from the center earlier, choosing one for herself, and took a big bite. She opened the bag of sandwiches and arranged them on a plate, too.
Remi raced around the room. She opened a box of treats and handed him one. Then as an afterthought, she held one out to Matt. “Can he have one?”
Matt grinned. “Why don’t you ask and see?”
She reached up and held the treat in front of Darbo’s nose. His nose quivered, and very slowly, he unhooked one hand from Matt’s ear and reached out for the morsel. She’d been surprised to see the little guy with Matt. She knew Darbo of old. Celeste had been so careful with him. She had no idea how Matt had ended up with him but knew it must have something to do with Celeste’s departure.
She smiled. “He’s adorable. So tiny.”
“Thankfully, considering where he likes to hang.”
“Surely he doesn’t sleep there?”
“No.” Matt shook his head gently. “He has a bed at home that he loves, but he’s always with me if we aren’t at home.”
She nodded. The teakettle chose that moment to whistle. Enjoying the soothing routine, she made a small pot of jasmine tea and carried it to the table. The plate of muffins was half gone already. There were only a couple of sandwiches left. She eyed a second one and decided she was too tired. She sat down and rubbed her face.
“Are you okay?” Connor asked gently. He stood behind her and massaged her shoulders.
“I am. Just hadn’t realized what was happening here while I wasn’t looking,” she muttered. “Like a year’s worth of not looking.”
“But you are now,” Connor said. “And this is all fixable.”
“As long as I can produce the proof.”
He winced. “I hate to admit it, but it does boil down to that.” He paused, and then added in a diffident tone, “Do you have it?”
She took a sip of tea and sighed. “Sure. I just have to find it.”
The hands massaging her shoulders stopped. “You don’t know where the documents are?”
Matt froze, then leaned around to look into her eyes.
“This was Granny, remember? She was paranoid about everything.”
“But you’ve seen these documents yourself?” Connor asked hopefully.
She stood up and walked over to the cupboard that appeared to be part of the wall. “She hid so much stuff in here. I’ll start with this mess.” She proceeded to haul stacks of documents to the table. “Give me a hand, please.”
With raised eyebrows, Connor and Matt helped sort through the stack as she went back for another one. Then she sat back down and took another sip of tea.
Matt held a large document in one hand, his eyes wide. “These are star charts,” he said, his voice awed.
“Many are, yes.”
There was reverence in his touch as he took a closer look. “I’d heard rumors but hadn’t seen any of her work.” His head shot up and he pinned her in place with his gaze. “Did she teach you?”
Genesis hesitated, then shrugged. What the hell. With a sideways glance at Connor, she nodded and said, “Somewhat. My training wasn’t complete when she passed away. Celeste is much better at this than I am. I drew a chart that, when it didn’t come to pass, made me realize I’d never be like her, and I walked away from it.”
Like she walked away from so much back then.
Connor studied her face, but she avoided returning his look. He could think what he liked. There was nothing easy in what she’d gone through to learn her grandmother’s skills and realize she didn’t have that same magical touch.
Connor dropped the topic as his fascination with the charts took over. “These are incredible.”
“She was very gifted.” Genesis watched as Connor and Matt sorted documents into stacks. Charts and not charts. Then Connor went to work on the non-chart stacks.
And she let them. Picking up her tea, she tried to remember what her granny had said. Something about keeping the documents safe. That she should never let anyone see them. That they were more pr
ecious than anyone realized.
Now that Genesis understood what men would go through to get the forest, she understood her granny’s paranoia. It saddened her that so many had thought her mentally unstable. She’d been many things, but insane was nowhere on that list. Being a stargazer meant she had to spend a lot of time in the stars, studying the meanings of star transits and how they applied to life here. To the people here. Some showed events. Other charts were actual specific people. There was actually a chart for everyone in the area. She’d never read them but imagined they’d make interesting reads to someone. Genesis knew that. She’d tried to learn but hadn’t picked it up very quickly. She’d wanted to, though.
Granny had said it told her destiny as she’d seen it. And that destiny had blown up. Now, in hindsight, that destiny didn’t look all that bad. Granny had said Connor was her partner. Then again, she’d been reading star charts and hadn’t known Connor. When they’d broken up, Genesis had tossed all her beliefs about such things away.
After all, Granny had been wrong.
So wrong about an area that was so important to Genesis that she’d been completely disillusioned. If Granny, a stargazer, had read the stars and had been wrong, then what chance had Genesis to get it right?
She’d been lost for so long. And now…
“What’s this?” Connor lifted out some kind of leather packet with leather ties. And she suddenly remembered seeing it before. “That’s it!”
And Genesis realized that maybe, just maybe, some of her life was coming together – at least some of it.
“That’s it. At least I think it is.” She laughed and held her hand out for it. “I remember that satchel.”
Connor handed it over. She felt like a little kid getting a present. She opened it and pulled several sheaths of paper out. Some of the papers were old beyond imagining. She laid them on the table and carefully unfolded the top yellowed piece, which almost didn’t even seem like paper. She took a closer look. “I think this is canvas. Or some kind of cloth.”
Matt and Connor crowded around her.
“It’s vellum,” Connor whispered in an awed voice. “This is absolutely ancient.”
“I know,” she whispered. “It’s precious.”
“And very valuable in itself,” added Connor. “What does it say?”
Genesis started reading, struggling with the old script, when Matt raised his hand. “May I see it?”
Genesis leaned back in surprise. “Sure.” She shifted to give him room surprised that he could read the old script. He studied the document, running his fingers under the words but not actually touching the paper.
“We may have to take it to the lab.”
She shook her head. “I’m not ready to do that.”
Matt stopped reading and looked at her curiously. “Do you think you can keep it safe?”
She thought about it. “I think so. But if this needs experts to verify its validity, then I suppose it will need to leave here anyway.”
“Can you read what it says?” Connor asked Matt. He leaned down over Genesis’s shoulder.
“I can read bits and pieces, but the script is difficult to decipher, and some of the words are faded,” Matt said reverently.
Genesis smoothed her fingers over a star symbol in the upper right hand corner. “It’s a stargazer registry document.”
“And that makes it an incredibly important artifact.” Matt straightened and shook his head. “I had no idea there were documents like this here.” He pointed to the other documents beneath the open one. “It looks like she has several more, as well.”
“They are documents that have been in my family since forever. Generations and generations have passed them down.” Genesis settled back in her seat and carefully closed the open document. She moved it off to one side and pulled up the next one. It appeared to be just as old and was as equally difficult to decipher. She shook her head after staring at them for a few moments. “Okay, we’re going to need an expert.”
She went through the process with each of the other documents. The last one appeared to be more recent, written on paper. When she opened it, she gasped. “Oh my. It’s a letter from Granny.” And it was addressed to her. She read it silently.
Dearest Genesis,
If you are reading this, my life has finally come to an end. Don’t be sad, child. I’m ready to go. I’m more than ready. I’ve lived longer than anyone should. But you…you have yet to live. And you need to. You need to return to your roots and find yourself again. Find that beautiful soul that lives inside. That soul who got hurt once and then ran. You can’t run from your destiny. You can only hide until it finds you again. Inside you know this. Inside you understand this. Inside you are this.
Be strong. Life takes much from each of us, but it also leaves much reward. You have lost much in your short life. But you have also been given much.
It’s time to see the good and let the rest go.
You were always special. Now go forth and lead that special life.
To that end, being the last one of three stargazers, I pass to you the heritage you were born for. You were already given the biggest part on my death, but now with these precious documents, you have the rest.
Use it wisely.
With love always,
Bellini Mercy, your beloved Grandmother
Genesis started when Connor stroked her cheek, wiping away a tear she hadn’t been aware of shedding. Silently she handed the letter to him. He read it quickly, raised one eyebrow, and said softly, “This is beautiful. Documents to prove these are all yours.”
He handed it to Matt, who was almost rubbing his hands together with joy. He looked down at Genesis then said, “Considering all the problems we’re dealing with, I’d feel better if we got all this back to the lab and under lock and key.” He nodded to the leather documents. “We’ll bring in an expert to translate these.”
She nodded and carefully packed up the satchel, but something inside of her felt very, very wrong. She didn’t want to remove the materials from the cottage. “I feel odd taking this away. It feels like a mistake. Like it belongs here.” She struggled to verbalize the emotions screaming at her in warning.
“Can you protect it?” Matt repeated his earlier question. “How about we take it to the lab, copy it all, and get it translated so you know what you have, and then you can keep the copies while we keep the originals where it’s all safe?”
She paused, considered his suggestion, then shrugged. “I have to keep the documents here. That’s all I know. They have to stay with me and they have to stay here.”
“So we can’t take them to the lab?” Connor asked. “Not even for a few hours?”
She frowned and turned the bag over and over in her hands. It would be foolish not to get this information translated, and keeping copies made perfect sense…but something about it felt wrong. It was as if the materials were tuned to this house. She couldn’t let the bag leave.
“I hate to say it. I’m not trying to be difficult, but the documents have to stay here.”
“How is that not being difficult?” Connor groaned.
“It’s not me,” she said. “It’s the documents. They can’t leave here.”
Silence. Matt and Connor looked at each other.
Connor ran a hand though his hair. “So bring the equipment here?” he asked. “And the expert?”
“Yes,” she smiled brightly. “That’s perfect.” She could feel her whole system starting to relax as the tension in the room eased.
“Fine.” Matt said. “I don’t like it, but let’s get this done.” He stepped back and pulled out his cell phone.
Connor moved behind Genesis and tugged her into a hug. “Are you sure?”
She tilted her head back so she could look into his face. Those dark-chocolate eyes stared into hers with such warmth and acceptance and understanding that she felt herself trying to explain. Not that there was much to say.
“I’ve never felt surer of anythi
ng in my life. These documents shouldn’t leave here.” She frowned thoughtfully. “In fact, I’m not sure they can leave?”
*
A few minutes later, Connor listened in as Matt made the calls. It took some logistical arguments to sort out bringing the equipment and experts here. And they weren’t allowed to know exactly where they were going, in order to protect the documents…and Genesis.
“This had better be the real stuff,” Matt growled when he closed the phone.
“It’s real enough,” said Connor. “And there is no doubt these are stargazer documents.”
“That alone makes it worthwhile.” Matt sighed. “Why can’t they come to the vault where they’d be safe?”
“Genesis isn’t convinced they’d be safe there.” Connor paused then added quietly, “She’s also not sure that the documents can physically leave the cottage. It’s some kind of protective portal.”
“Don’t use the term portal, please,” groaned Matt. “That brings all kinds of complications to mind that I don’t want to even contemplate.”
Connor hadn’t considered the ramifications of the word when used in conjunction with Genesis’s cottage. Matt was right. That conjured up all kinds of things. And he didn’t like that Genesis would be in the middle of it. Cautiously, he said, “I don’t think she meant in terms of doorways.”
“Good. But I’m not sure what other ways there are to consider.”
Connor shrugged. “She’s looking for more documents. This house is a mess of hidden cupboards. Some of it is older than anything I’ve ever seen.”
“Let’s go in and look, too,” Matt said abruptly. “This entire cottage should be part of the archives.”