Reclaim, Mosaic Chronicles Book Five

by Andrea Pearson

  Hayla smiled tiredly. “I figured as much.” She got to her feet. “Well, I’ll show you where he keeps his information on suppliers.” She turned and looked at them. “But you have to swear up and down right now that you will not use this information for anything but contacting the one person, and that you’ll be as smart about it as possible. Got it?”

  The girls promised, then followed her into the basement where Coolidge had a second office set up. Apparently, the one Nicole had been in before wasn’t the one he used most. She laughed that this one was in the basement. “He likes being underground, huh?”

  Hayla also laughed. “He says it’s where the air is always cleanest. I definitely don’t agree with that. I think it comes from his upbringing—they didn’t have air conditioners.”

  She unlocked Coolidge’s office, then led the girls inside.

  Nicole wasn’t sure what she’d been expecting, but all-white furniture wasn’t it. The desk was white, the shelves were white—even the chairs and carpet were white.

  “He’s not big into dark colors here, huh?” she asked.

  Hayla shrugged. “Not right now, he’s not. I think he likes having his home office look different from his work one.”

  She pointed to a filing cabinet. “That’s where he keeps information on suppliers and instructions for contraptions. I don’t know where exactly in there you’ll find what you’re looking for. Just call up the stairs if you have any questions.”

  Nicole and Lizzie thanked Hayla, then got to work as soon as she’d left. First, they tried to find some sort of catalogue of everything Coolidge had in the cabinets. They couldn’t, so they started going through the folders one at a time, Nicole starting at the top and Lizzie the bottom.

  Nicole found a lot of interesting folders. She had a hard time keeping her attention on the task at hand, vowing to eventually see if Coolidge would be willing to share his collection.

  It was Lizzie who found the necessary file. They quickly put everything else away, marking where she’d gotten the file, then spread the contents all over Coolidge’s desk.

  Coolidge had made several notes on each supplier, and it wasn’t hard to figure out which one was the person he hadn’t heard from.

  The man’s name was Julius Maxwell. He lived in Portland—thank goodness, not too far away—and like Hayla said, he seemed pretty seedy. He’d been supplying Coolidge with platinum for only a few months, so Coolidge didn’t fully trust him. Julius had stopped responding to anything from Coolidge about two weeks earlier.

  Nicole took a picture of the information on Julius with her phone, making sure his number and address were easily visible, then took a picture of the recipe. She tucked her phone away and she and Lizzie started cleaning up.

  They were just putting the file back in the cabinet when Hayla dashed into the room.

  “He’s here!” she hissed. “Home early. On his way down. Get out of here—hide somewhere.” She turned and ran back upstairs.

  The girls raced out of the office and sprung into a room across the hall. Nicole turned and shut the door nearly all the way, leaving a small slit to see through. She watched as Coolidge entered his office and sat at his desk, rubbing his eyes.

  He didn’t shut the door.

  How were they going to get out without him noticing? They’d been fast, yes, and he hadn’t seen them, but unfortunately, they were directly across from his office.

  Nicole waited until he seemed involved in something on his laptop, then she carefully closed the door, waited a moment longer, then turned on the light.

  They were in a media room with stadium seating, facing a huge TV. She glanced at Lizzie and whispered, “Well, if we get bored, we could always watch something.”

  “He’d hear it,” Lizzie said.

  Nicole snorted. “I know. I was joking.”

  Lizzie sighed, obviously not in a joking mood. “Now what?”

  “We wait? Maybe Hayla will distract him.”

  “Actually, I’m sure she will—she knows we’re down here.”

  Nicole turned the light off, then quietly, slowly, opened the door again, just a slit. Coolidge was still immersed in something on his laptop. Not wanting to miss anything in case he got up and shut the door even for just a moment, Nicole kept her eye pressed to the crack.

  After what felt like thirty years, Hayla came into view and entered his office. She started talking to him, then glanced back to the hall and, looking both ways—obviously wondering where Nicole and Lizzie had hidden—casually shut the door most of the way. Coolidge was no longer in eyesight.

  Knowing this would probably be their only hope for escape, Nicole swung the door open and stepped lightly down the hall toward the stairs, Lizzie on her trail.

  The girls raced up to the first floor, through the house, and out the front door, closing it tightly behind them.

  They hopped into Nicole’s car, which Nicole had parked around the corner, buckled up, and pulled out. Then they both started giggling with relief. It felt so good to laugh—Nicole couldn’t believe how long it had been since she’d actually thought something was funny.

  Lizzie wiped tears from her cheeks. “I mean, it’s not like he’s going to send us to jail or anything, right?”

  “Probably not,” Nicole said. “But I’d still feel better not having him know . . . until we’re successful, anyway.”

  Lizzie nodded. “So, what now?”

  “Head to Portland.” Nicole glanced at Lizzie. “After Monday’s meeting, if possible.”

  ***

  Monday morning, Nicole found a letter from Anna Morse.

  My dear Nicole, Jack has decided to oversee following Rebecca himself. Elizabeth is simply too busy to do it any longer, but she has enlisted the help of two Aretes who’ve passed on. One will follow Rebecca at all times, reporting to Jack as often as necessary, and the other will act as an intermediary between you and us.

  Both of these gentlemen are lesser Aretes who have just enough power to do these tasks. They’ll be devoting everything to their assignments and you won’t be able to ask them to do anything more than what they’ve agreed to—they simply won’t have the power.

  Our intermediary will come to you tonight. Memorize his magical print. When you need to contact us, reach through your power for that print. He’ll recognize that he is being summoned and will come to you.

  Jack knows both men fairly well and trusts them. You should feel comfortable around them—that is our hope.

  Elizabeth has decided to head up the war against monsters in this dimension. She frightens me a bit, but I have no doubt that she’ll be successful. She’s very . . . tenacious.

  Until next time, dear.

  We love you.

  Nicole’s heart warmed at Anna Morse’s fond farewell, and she thought over it frequently while preparing for the meeting with the university authorities. She cared for Mrs. Morse too and really hoped their plans would succeed. Oh, how she hoped that.

  She realized, though, that with a dead man coming to visit her, tonight wouldn’t be the best time for a trip to Portland. Maybe she and Lizzie would be able to go Tuesday.

  Nicole sent a text to Lizzie, informing her of the change of plans, then turned her thoughts to the upcoming meeting with the university officials.

  Its purpose was to apply for help with the trip to Salmon. She took extra care while getting ready, wanting to show how serious and dependable she was.

  For the first time in the last few days, she was grateful for gray hair, and she did hers up, showcasing the new streaks around her ears.

  When she and Lizzie were ready, they drove together in Nicole’s car, meeting Coolidge and Austin on campus, along with others who’d help petition.

  Judith Ann was one of them.

  Nicole rolled her eyes when she saw that the girl was sitting next to Austin, sending him a big, flirtatious grin. How had Judith Ann not gotten the hint yet? He would never be interested in her.

  But sitting a few peop
le away from Judith Ann was Sylvia, a post-grad student Nicole had gotten close to last year who’d dropped out after nearly getting killed while in Arches.

  “Oh, my gosh!” Nicole shrieked, dashing forward, ignoring the nausea that bubbled in her stomach as she passed Austin. “Sylvia! How are you doing? Oh, I’m so excited to see you here!”

  Sylvia returned Nicole’s hug. “I’m doing well—much better.”

  “That’s so good to hear.” Nicole sat next to her, and Lizzie took the seat on the other side of Nicole.

  After Nicole made introductions, she turned back to Sylvia, noticing scars on the girl’s face and neck. “I still can’t believe you made it out of there. What happened, anyway?”

  Sylvia raised a hand to the ridges on her neck, a distant expression in her eyes. “I’m pretty sure they drugged me. I woke up, shivering and in pain in the caverns, unable to remember how I’d gotten there.” She looked at Nicole. “Coolidge said there’d been a ton of blood inside our tent and on my sleeping bag, so I know something must have happened to me before they took me away.”

  Nicole nodded. “Yeah, I was sure you’d been killed.”

  Sylvia smiled, her face drawn, and Nicole could tell that she was still not fully recovered. Just then, Nicole noticed that several of the girl’s fingers were missing, and she had bite-mark scars up and down her arms.

  Nicole motioned to them. “Were you awake for this?”

  Sylvia turned troubled eyes to Nicole. “Yes, unfortunately. I screamed and screamed, struggling to get away, but nothing I did stopped them. I honestly don’t know why they finally left me alone. Suddenly, they all just ran off. I dragged myself as far as I could go before a search-and-rescue guy found me . . .” She shook her head. “If you think my arms are bad, check out the scars on my legs.”

  Nicole gasped when Sylvia pulled up her pant legs. Huge chunks where tissue had been ripped out were healing over, leaving the girl’s legs distorted and mangled.

  Sylvia motioned to a cane leaning against the wall. “I still can’t walk without a heavy limp. Plastic surgery helps, but it’s a long and drawn-out process that requires a lot of money. Thank goodness the university is helping cover costs, because I still have to have many more surgeries before my doctor is happy—before I can walk normally again.”

  Nicole felt tears pricking the backs of her eyes. “I’m so sorry you had to go through this. I wish so much I would’ve woken up early enough to stop them.”

  “It wouldn’t have done anything other than get you in trouble too.”

  Nicole blinked several times, trying not to embarrass Sylvia by crying. “Do you think you’ll finish your degree?”

  Sylvia snorted. “Heck, no. I’m happy with my life as a full-time mom. My little boy nearly lost his mother, and all of my time since Arches has gone to surgeries and recovery.”

  She met Nicole’s eyes. “No, Nicole, I’m done for good, and I’m totally okay with that.” She took a breath. “I really felt strongly about coming here, though, and I’m going to do everything I can to convince the university that they have to help you and the others.”

  “And hopefully, your testimony will encourage the world to join with us too. Coolidge told me our presentations will be recorded, and they’ll be sending our reports all over.”

  “Good.”

  Just then, Coolidge entered the hall. “They’re ready for us,” he said, motioning to the auditorium behind him.

  Nicole, Sylvia, and Lizzie followed him and the others into the large room where Coolidge instructed them to sit in the order they’d present. Nicole would be one of the first to go, as she’d been involved the most, so she sat far to the right of the others. Coolidge hoped her report would influence the authorities, and that the reports of the others would fill in the gaps.

  And at first, Nicole figured it would be easy—that the university would have no other choice but to support the expedition, given the evidence.

  But when Coolidge got up and thanked the authorities for their time, the president of the university had a scowl on his face.

  “Professor Coolidge, your last expedition was a disaster. How many students were killed?”

  Coolidge hesitated. “Two.”

  “And what about Armitage University? You did nothing to prevent the deaths of nearly all of Professor Howard’s students.”

  Professor Smith leaned forward, raising his hand. “On the contrary. Professor Coolidge frequently—even continually—tried to convince Stan Howard that what he was doing was foolish. In fact, I think several here can attest to this.”

  He looked at the students in front of him for confirmation. Nicole nodded and saw Sylvia and even Judith Ann doing the same.

  He motioned to Coolidge. “Let’s allow them to continue their reports. Then we can discuss specific details after.”

  The president seemed okay with that. He indicated for Coolidge to continue.

  Coolidge steepled his fingers and paced in front of the university authorities. “Let’s take things back several years, before the expedition to Arches was even a plan.”

  Coolidge had one of his grad students talk about a vacation he and his family had taken to Arches, where he’d sensed huge pulses of magic and a sibling had disappeared.

  None of this was new to anyone in attendance, but Nicole could see why Coolidge wanted to go over the information—the authorities needed to be reminded that the dangers had existed for a long time and weren’t likely to go away.

  Once the grad student had finished, Coolidge mentioned how difficult it had been to get permission from the government for the expedition to Arches National Park. “As you’ll discover today, the Tarian organization has increased in power significantly, even in the past year. They’re the reason we need the university’s help with this expedition to Idaho.” Coolidge motioned to Nicole. “Nicole Williams will be addressing you several times. She has first-hand experience with Tarians, starting with an infected tree that grew on the property near her apartment.”

  He nodded at her to take over, and Nicole did so, plugging a thumb drive into the projector, then turning to the authorities. She told them about Rebecca and how the woman lived in the tree just outside her bedroom window. How Rebecca controlled spiders, getting them to try to take Nicole to the tree. She pulled up pictures of the dead bodies at the bottom of the tree, and several more pictures that were taken as the bodies were exhumed. She showed a clip someone had taken of Rebecca freaking out after she’d been pulled out, begging to be allowed back, until she saw Nicole and asked her to read the book.

  Then Nicole showed pictures of the spiders that had filled her apartment after Rebecca’s death. She half smiled at the expressions of disgust the authorities gave.

  Nicole held up the leather journal. “This is the book she was referring to. It’s a journal, written by my great-great-grandfather, Captain Christopher Price. The journal had been calling to me for several weeks at this point, and when Rebecca saw me, she begged me to read it.”

  Lizzie then got up and told her version of what had happened in the apartment. Her part was very short—only a minute or so long—but Coolidge had felt it important to have witnesses.

  “I don’t mean to be rude,” the dean of another department said to Nicole when she got to her feet again, “but what do a journal and spiders have to do with the expedition you plan to take to Idaho?”

  “It will be explained, I promise,” Nicole said. “We’d like to go in chronological order, as much as possible, to help keep things straight.”

  She told the authorities how Coolidge had locked up the journal for their expedition to Arches. Then she quickly summed up what had happened there.

  Judith Ann and Austin followed Nicole, each telling their version. Judith Ann admitted to needing hours of therapy and help from psychologists for the stress she’d experienced while there.

  Even though Nicole couldn’t tolerate Judith Ann under most circumstances, she still felt bad for what she’d gone th
rough. No one deserved the shock and trauma she’d experienced, especially when she hadn’t been ready to deal with something like that.

  After Austin finished, Sylvia got to her feet, using her cane to reach the middle of the room. She unplugged Nicole’s thumb drive and put in one of her own, then proceeded to show photos of herself after the attack.

  The room fell quiet as Sylvia went through the pictures. She stopped talking and Nicole could see tears in her eyes as she relived the pain and suffering of the months that followed.

  Sylvia pulled out her thumb drive and turned to the authorities. “I know this expedition to Salmon, Idaho, is one of the last things you want to be involved in. And I know the biggest reason behind your hesitation revolves around the precious lives of those who could be lost. But please listen to me. If we’d been prepared before going to Arches, none of this would have happened. And I’d be fighting to go to Salmon.”

  She glanced back at Nicole. “As it is, I’m still in the recovery process and can’t help. But I believe that Nicole has incredibly valuable information, that her plea for help can’t be ignored. If we don’t assist her in Idaho, we’ll be giving our futures over to Tarians. Attacks like mine will happen on a regular basis.” She turned back to the authorities. “I know this will lead to our demise. We can’t risk not supporting Nicole and Professor Coolidge. Because if we don’t help them, we’ll be deserting everything and everyone we love.”

  Sylvia returned to her seat and Nicole got up again. “Rebecca followed me to Arches,” she said. “I had to promise her I’d read the book. After a few detours, I finally did so. And I learned that Rebecca and Captain Price had started the Tarian organization over a hundred years ago. Through a series of deceptions and manipulations, Rebecca led me to Moses Lake, Washington, where I retrieved something incredibly powerful.”

  Nicole could tell that the men and women in front of her were listening very closely. She held up the necklace she wore. “This elixir will destroy a machine called the embryonic manipulator. Perhaps none of you have heard of it, but all of us are living with the results of what the machine does.”