The Earthborn (Mythos of Cimme Book 3)

by CJ Flynn

  My father and Ernie continued to bicker about the witch named Xanthe Haden, but I just stood there watching her. She was out cold, and had transformed so completely, I couldn't trust my eyes. Camilla had been average in every conceivable way—average height, average build. Mouse-brown hair and eyes. And Xanthe looked like a creature straight out of a fairy tale. Her body was long and willowy, and her sangria-red hair seemed alive, spread out around her like a fan. Her skin was cast with light-green swirls of magic that I could see even without my tracing abilities. She looked beautiful and deadly.

  “I feel like we should cuff her or something,” I said, looking down at her as my father and Ernie argued.

  “What?” Ernie asked, the first to realize I had spoken.

  “Tie her up, put some kind of binding spell on her. Whatever will work to hold her down. I have a feeling when she wakes up, she's going to be pissed off, and if we want anything out of her, we better be in control.”

  My father stepped away as Ernie moved closer to her. I saw the white magic filter out of him and fill the air around Xanthe. The green markings on her skin died away.

  “I've tampered with her magic and am holding her with a binding spell. I expect she'll wake up soon.”

  “When she does, we need to get her talking,” my father said.

  “That shouldn't be a problem,” Ernie replied. “She's never been a fan of silence.”

  After several long moments, Xanthe let out a wail loud enough to split eardrums. I winced as another wave of magic flowed out of Ernie and silenced her.

  “That's enough. The only noise I want to hear out of you is an explanation,” Ernie said.

  “For what, exactly?” Xanthe replied, her eyes dancing with amusement and anger.

  “Why are you here? What has your involvement been in all of this?”

  Xanthe grinned. “Surely you don't expect me to spill such a lovely little secret without any negotiation?”

  My father moved across the room towards Xanthe and squatted down next to her. “I don't think we need to negotiate. There's nothing to negotiate here.” He put his hands on either side of her head and closed his eyes.

  I shifted my vision just in time to see a flare of blue energy spike from my father to Xanthe. He held her face for what seemed like ages, his own eyes roving wildly behind his eyelids.

  “There are two future paths for you, Xanthe. And neither of them shows you achieving your goal.”

  Her amusement faded, leaving behind only anger. “I don't know what you're talking about, Watcher. And I don't care what you see. I know I have the power to change my future, and I don't need your little forecasts.”

  “Don't you want to know the two paths?” he asked. “Don't you want to know your legacy? I can see it now, see the desperation in your dying breath. You'll never have his powers, Xanthe. It isn't your future, no matter the path you take.”

  She tried to pull her head away from him but his fingers dug into her cheeks.

  “You've strayed so far from your magic and from the lessons your grandmother taught you. There's only one path to redemption.”

  She let out another scream and my father shifted to clamp his hand over her mouth. “I see so much pain for you, agony as your last heartbeats shudder through your body. You are alone, torn and bloodied. A man stands over you, your blood dripping from his fangs as he lunges again to tear you apart.”

  “You're lying.”

  “I'm not, and you know it. But there's another future for you. And I can see the path there. It leads from this moment, right now.”

  She squirmed under his grasp as the anger in her eyes was replaced by fear.

  “Tell me what you've done, Xanthe, and I'll tell you how to save yourself.”

  She finally managed to jerk her head away. “I set him up. Benjamin. I told Imala that if she wanted to seek revenge against the woman responsible for her Queen's fall, there was a way that would tear her to the core.

  “I even gave Rafe the magic he needed to help her.”

  My heart thudded in my chest as anger boiled in the pit of my stomach. What I had ever done to deserve any of that?

  “Why? Why did you do it?” I said, my voice icy.

  “I knew it would bring Ernie out of his self-imposed exile.”

  Ernie slammed his hand down on the table. “You must be joking. After all these years, all these attempts, you're still trying to find a way to take it, aren't you?”

  “Take what?” I asked, swiveling my head to look at Ernie.

  “Xanthe has spent the last fifteen years searching for a way to steal the magic of my ancestors.”

  It took every ounce of restraint not to physically harm Xanthe. “You used us as pawns? You destroyed the life of one of the best people I know for what? A mere chance?”

  Xanthe grinned. “It is worth it. At all costs, no matter the risks. Ernie is useless as a Druid. He's never once sought to find his full potential. He just does what he can to get by.”

  “There's no potential to find!” Ernie's voice was a roar. “I can't live my life like this anymore, looking over my shoulder to find you lurking there. That magic is gone from this world, Xanthe. Can't you understand that? You've ruined countless lives for a quest that I told you wasn't even worth starting.”

  My father reached out and grabbed Xanthe's face again, forcing her to look him in the eyes. “Your only path to redemption is to help your daughter. Not now, but when she asks for it. You will still die, Xanthe. But you can die saving her.”

  A screaming wind of white magic filled the room and Xanthe disappeared into it.

  “What was that?” I asked, spinning to look at Ernie. “What did you do to her?”

  “I banished her. To whatever place terrifies her the most. It will take her months to return.”

  I didn't bother giving Ernie a reply. His family drama wouldn't affect me anymore, at least not if I had anything to say about it. I made a beeline for the bag she left behind, grabbing it up in a swift motion before heading to the door and back to my lab. I needed to get on with my work.

  I locked the door behind me, and felt a minor temptation to set off a lockdown. I needed to insure I could be left alone, but I also knew I was going to need to move freely.

  I turned and went back out of my lab. There were no new sounds above me, but I couldn't stop my heart-racing. We were on borrowed time, both from Xanthe, and from the greater threat of Sorrell. I didn't know what was happening, or why they couldn't beat the magic. Sorrell was watching us—our encounter in Copenhagen was proof of that.

  I tapped in the code that unlocked Ben's cell and strode through the door as soon it opened wide enough. He was curled on his bunk, back to me. I knew he was awake, but he didn't turn to look at me.

  Frustrated, I nudged his bed frame with my foot. “Get up, Ben. I need you to come with me, and I need you to promise me that you're not going to kill me.”

  He rolled over and looked at me, his expression blank. “I would never kill you, Allie.”

  I crossed my arms over my chest, pulling Xanthe's bag closer. “Just come with me. We don't have time to screw around.”

  * * *

  As soon as we were back in the lab, I turned and locked the door, punching in a sequence that would lockdown the entire floor.

  “Tell me what's going on, Allie.”

  “Camilla Pierce isn't who she says she is,” I said, my voice sounding loud in the lab.

  “Who is she?” Ben said, crossing his arms over his chest.

  “Ernie's ex-wife. Her real name is Xanthe.”

  Ben raised his eyebrows. “That's an interesting turn of events. What's your plan now?”

  I dropped her bag on the table and started digging through it. Near the bottom, I found a plastic box, and pulled it out. Inside, bound in thick cotton, was a single, amber-colored vial with a white barcode and label.

  I went over to my workstation and grabbed a fresh syringe. I set about taking a tiny sample of it, knowing I had to
double-check its structure before I could give it to Ben. I had described my preferred administration protocol, and without any documentation, I didn't know if they'd abided. I wanted it easy, a set of injections over three days. But there was always the chance it would be something that had to be mixed with his bone marrow. I was in way over my head.

  “I'm going to run an analysis, make sure we know what we're working with here.”

  “That's it?” he said, jutting his chin towards the vial. “You think that's the cure?”

  I shrugged. “I don't know anymore. I gave her my research, and I honestly think she and my father were working together to cure this. But that doesn’t mean there she wouldn’t tamper with it. What’s stronger? The desire to cure the vampires, or to exact revenge on Ernie?”

  “I would think it the former,” Ben replied.

  “But Xanthe seems completely mental,” I said, staring down at the vial in my hand. “This could be saline, or the cure, or some kind of deadly poison. And even if it’s the cure, that still doesn't mean it works...”

  Ben waved me off. “Let's try it. Please. You don't need to test it. Whatever it is, whatever it does to me…it can’t be worse than this.”

  I stared at him, surprised at the deep sadness I saw in his eyes. I set the vial down and walked over to him, my heart hurting. It had been over a month since this mess had started and we'd been keeping him in a cage for almost three weeks. Ben had been living on a steady diet of frozen blood that was always kept on hand for Sorrell's vampires, and he hadn't even seen the sun that Daniel had.

  “I'm sorry, Ben,” I said, my voice quiet. “I'm so sorry this has happened.”

  “I know. So am I. I'm sorry for everything, Allie.”

  My stomach dropped. His voice sounded... normal. He sounded like the real Ben, not the vampire Ben, consumed by anger and hate. He wasn't even the Ben that had hounded me for the past several months about the decisions I had made. My heart started pounding as I stared at him. He didn't look like my Ben, but I realized for the first time that he was still in there somewhere.

  “We need to test this, just to make sure that's it's right. And I need to take a fresh DNA sample from you, to establish the baseline.”

  He nodded, and didn't say anything as he rolled up his filthy shirt sleeve. I took the blood samples and went back to my workstation. With any luck, I'd be able to give him the first injection of the retrovirus within the next few hours.

  Just as I was setting up, the sole phone in the lab began ringing. I looked over at it for a minute, trying to figure out who could be calling.

  I crossed the lab and picked up the phone.

  “Hello?”

  “Allie. What is going on down there?”

  It was Daniel. Of course. I sighed. “I needed to work in safety. Have you talked to Ernie?”

  “I'm here with him. It is... a long story, he says. I saw an alert over the security system. Are you sure you're safe?”

  I looked over at Benjamin, sitting silently on a hard stool.

  “Yes.”

  “Do you need my assistance?”

  I wasn't sure how to answer him. I needed to work in peace, but I knew having Daniel around would be good if something did happen with Ben.

  “Give me an hour. If you don't hear from me, come down.” I kept my voice low. I was in uncharted territory with Ben and his vampirism. He'd promised not to kill me, but that didn't exactly make it safe.

  “One hour.”

  * * *

  The sample was right. It was exactly what I had requested. Ben's sample was logged, and we were ready to begin. I'd checked in with Daniel at the top of every hour, and so far, Ben had remained true to his word.

  “This is the first injection I need to give you,” I said, as I stuck a sharp needle through the top of the vial. “We need to do one shot every eight hours for the next seventy-two hours.”

  “That's a lot of phone calls to Daniel.”

  I blushed and tried to push past his comment. “I don't think we need to stay down here the entire time.”

  He didn't say anything else. I gave him that first injection, holding my breath the entire time.

  “Is something supposed to happen?” he asked.

  “Not yet. Incubation takes time.”

  * * *

  I delivered each injection on time. All nine of them. When I'd finally given him the last one, I knew that, once again, there was nothing to do but wait.

  I ignored my father and Ernie, splitting my time between the research I had done and reviewing every last bit of research my father had unlocked for me. I hoped my own research would give some hint as to how it would really turn out, and I hoped my father's would give me some idea of what to do if it didn't. Ernie's comments that he didn't have the power of his ancestors rang in my ears as I read through my notes on him again.

  The legends and writings about the druids were slim, but one thing had been clear: the druidic magic passed only through males. Overwhelmingly, witches were the chosen partners for druids, but humans were common as well. Ernie had told me his mother was a witch, and so was his grandmother. There had been no other druids living. Ernie was the last druid, and before his birth, his father had been the last.

  I sighed and moved past Ernie. I didn't want to understand about the druids. My natural curiosity was overshadowed by my desire to help Ben and move on with my life. I wanted away from New York, away from this life.

  My mind wandered back to the cure for Ben. I so badly needed it to work that I had relied heavily on Dr. Park, a doctor I did not like, nor respect. He had worked solely for the profit offered by Sorrell, and while I couldn't necessarily condemn that, he hadn't upheld the ethical standards his title demanded. Erika Weiss' injection had been proof of that—it had been designed only to harm young vampires.

  I closed out my own research and went over to the records I had from Dr. Park.

  The shot I'd been given by Beata so many months ago had amplified my natural abilities, and eventually I was able to gain full control. But how?

  * * *

  A full eight hours had passed since Ben's final injection, and even though I knew it could very easily be too early to see any real change in him, I wanted to run another DNA change.

  “So what's the news, doc?” he asked me, staring over my shoulder as I ran his sample.

  I watched and waited. Finally, laid out next to his baseline DNA... nothing. Nothing had changed, not even around the site of the injection.

  “Does this mean it hasn't worked?”

  I shrugged. “Not necessarily. This can take time. Weeks even. I read about these monkeys—”

  Ben held up a hand. “How often do we need to check? What happens next?”

  “We'll keep checking. Every eight hours. I don't know what happens next.”

  “You don't have a plan B?”

  I laughed. “Everything about this is my plan B.”

  Chapter 34

  We did five more samples, and I was beginning to feel a deep dread that it wasn't going to work. I went back to the research over and over, desperately searching for the missing link.

  Finally, nearly a full week after I had given Ben his first injection, Ernie barged into my lab.

  “This has gone on long enough, Allie. I'm tired. The witches are beyond tired. We're pushing against some very strong magic every single night now. It's time to take our next steps, but it isn't happening here.”

  I looked at him, trying to process his words. “You want me to quit. After everything that's happened, after everything your ex-wife has put me through, you expect me to just quit?”

  He shook his head. “No. I want me to quit,” he said, a small smile on his lips. “I'm too old for this. We need to drop the light, get away during the day. We can download your research. We can even take every last server and piece of equipment in this place. We can start over.”

  I nodded, knowing he was right. “I don't know what the next steps are.”

&n
bsp; “That's okay. We've bought enough time for now. I'm not asking you for an opinion, Allie. I'm telling you that this is happening. I'm getting a crew in here. Be ready to make the move tomorrow night.”

  He turned to leave.

  “Ernie. Wait. I want to ask you something. It's been puzzling me for days.”

  He nodded. “Go ahead.”

  “Why do you think your powers aren't as strong as your forefathers?”