Chosen (The Chosen Few Trilogy #1)

by Leadbeater, David

Sunlight returned as, with the merest thought, I banished Eleanor’s attack. In another second I swatted Jade’s powerfully thrown and well aimed tennis ball from the air with nothing more than a flick of thought.

  I saw Johnny rattle all the house windows with a nod of his head.

  I heard his wife, Natalie, slapping out her applause like an enthusiastic seal. Thank God she was sounding better.

  In a simultaneous movement I tangled Belinda’s blonde hair and knocked Myleene to the ground.

  “Stop!” I heard Eleanor say. “You are still green, both of you. You have no mastery yet.” I cocked my head at her. She said, “It seems your power, your combined power, is the ability to do anything. By the King, we have it!”

  I shrugged at Myleene. “I was trying to stroke Belinda’s cheek,” I said.

  “The power could be omnipotent,” Eleanor explained. “And somewhat lively. It will need an iron will to contain it. But its ultimate strength will come with supreme focus. Both of you together, concentrating on the same outcome.”

  “A perfect agreement of thought,” I heard Jade say.

  “Focusing on what, though?” Johnny shifted painfully and his wheelchair squeaked.

  “On Gorgoroth, of course,” Eleanor told him. “On his destruction. When he is summoned, you two will be the front line. All else will be but well-placed distractions. They will save countless lives. But you two will send the World-ender back to oblivion.”

  My jaw practically hit the floor like one of those cartoon characters. When I cast around I saw everyone regarding us with something akin to awe. More pressure. The impact of my failure, if and when it happened, had just increased exponentially.

  “With him?” Johnny said darkly. “Don’t count on it.”

  Great, I thought. Just bloody great.

  Belinda was regarding me with a smile, as if she’d expected something like this all along. Wow, there was faith for you. I’d harboured the belief that my power was fake and would doom us all in the end.

  And it still might, of course. Natalie Trevochet was living proof. And she still lived despite me, not because of me. If there was a real God, a supreme being for Good, I wondered at his judgment.

  Or maybe God was on holiday and the Devil was standing in. A fiendish jest.

  I saved a longer look for Lucy. I just wanted my daughter to look away from the shadows, away from the approaching dark, and see my eyes fixed on her. I just wanted to smile at her and see her smile in return.

  She didn’t.

  ****

  Jondal, the Destroyer, listened intently as he heard the discreet rattle of a doorknob. He had long since given up testing his bonds. He knew there was no way he could escape Aegis’ house without help.

  But he also knew there was one inside who would help him.

  And now, as he lay there in the teeming dark, dreaming his unspeakable dreams, he heard the sound of someone tiptoeing towards him. The person was small, but the shadow they cast on the wall was long, tall, and warped.

  With no sound the shadow reached down and unclipped all of Jondal’s bonds.

  “You must leave now,” the shadow said in perfect, clipped English. “Do not linger, Whisperer. Go straight to New Babylon, to Loki. You will complete your duty there.”

  Jondal nodded and slid down from the table. He followed the fleeting shadow out into the dimly lit corridor. The shadow pointed ahead, then drifted away into deeper cover. Jondal opened a door and entered a darkened room.

  He could smell the girl instantly. Beyond her, the window was wide open, providing the perfect escape route.

  He paused by the bed. With trembling hands he reached down and touched the girl’s damp forehead. She was restless tonight.

  Lucy, they had called her.

  He recalled how she had bled. How she ripped open her own skin at his bequest. And how he had coveted the sight of that blood.

  Jondal bent over the sleeping girl and brushed her forehead with his dry, chapped lips. Her taste was softness and salt on his tongue, mixed with the sweetness of youth. And one other thing, the one added ingredient that attracted him to her.

  Innocence lost. The taste of youth blighted before its time.

  “You are mine,” he whispered as he straightened. “At New Babylon, you will kill yourself, little one. And that will not be a part of my duty.

  “It will be my greatest masterpiece.”

  ****

  Later, Myleene summoned everyone to the house library. It was the first time I’d ever ventured in there. The place was immense. Built on three floors with no ceilings and only the exposed rafters of the roof high above gave an impression of great size. Each floor had a balcony running around it, made safe by a glass barrier. I spent the first five minutes gawping at endless rows of books until my neck ached and my eyes hurt.

  “I wanted to show you this place,” Myleene raised her hands for attention. “In the hope that you will see it is a gift.” she paused. “It will be a sanctuary for some of you. A haven, I hope. Everyone here, and everyone who has ever helped Aegis, is always welcome.”

  I watched as Myleene perched herself on the edge of a table and started smoothing down her skirt. I was still elated with my breakthrough, worried about Johnny’s reaction, but trying to dampen the emotion.

  “Our ancient Library was attacked, as you know,” she said. “Eliza and Hugo helped our house guard fight off the attack,” she paused. “They were led by the Destroyer called Loki, who, Kinkade reports, is ranked first under Gorgoroth.”

  We all listened. I got the impression Myleene was skirting around something.

  “And speaking of Kinkade. Our friendly demon has come up with a shortlist of actresses he wants to vacation inside. And when I say ‘shortlist‘, I mean it. There’s a choice of three.”

  “Don’t tell me, dear,” Ceriden scrunched his face in thought. “Nicole. Evangeline. And Cameron.”

  “I’d pick Cameron,” Ken smiled. “She’s frisky!”

  “Couldn’t be Angelina,” Ceriden murmured. “She’s already taken.”

  Someone, I think it was Mai said, “Give us a break here. Myleene, stop stalling. What’s going on?”

  I don’t know how many of us were stood waiting in that room, but Myleene, I’m sure, eyeballed every one of us.

  “It has been decided,” she said. “By various leaders around the world… that humanity should be made aware of the existence of Ubers.”

  I stared. Shock, clear and palpable and laced with anxiety, descended over the room. I wondered if I‘d heard correctly.

  “What?”

  “My God,” I heard Johnny Trevochet say. “I only just found out myself, you guys. Don’t you realise how hard it will hit ’em? It’ll be like breaking into the President’s Thanksgiving speech and saying: hey, the Mayor of New York’s an alien. Just thought everyone should know.”

  “Dude,” Ken shook his head and let out a guffaw. “That’s some line, dude. I mean, you should know. Is he?”

  “It will cause outrage,” Ceriden told us with uncharacteristic restraint. “And mass hysteria. There will be attempts at genocide. Vigilante groups will emerge. Humanity will finally discover that it is not, in fact, master of the universe, and that it no longer resides at the top of the food chain. Moreover, it is a part of it.”

  “Why?” Trevochet persisted and banged his fist on the arm of his wheelchair. “Why risk this now?” I saw Natalie lean over and try to soothe him.

  “Because of Miami,” Myleene said. “This New Babylon event. What will happen in Miami is unstoppable. Imagine the panic if Gorgoroth’s summoning is when the people of this world learn other species exist. Imagine the chaos then, Mr. Trevochet.”

  “World leaders and people of influence have known for generations,” Ceriden said. “Those few who previously wanted to unmask us were…dissuaded. And all are agreed. In a few days we go public.”

  I pondered the word dissuaded and saw new conspiracy theories cropping up everywhere. Was K
ennedy dissuaded? Reagan? John Lennon? Thinking back to my own recent astonishment I imagined a world in disbelief, then in denial, and finally in turmoil.

  But then, as if we didn’t have enough to take in, Geoffrey Giles came running into the library, looking horror-stricken.

  “That bloody Destroyer,” he cried. “Jondal. He‘s gone! Vanished!”

  Myleene gaped. “What? How-”

  Giles said, “Somebody freed him.”

  Felicia stood up instantly. “Who isn’t in this room?”

  I got it. Whoever wasn’t in the room was the traitor.

  “Lucy!” I shouted, jumping to my feet so fast the blood rushed to my head.

  “She’s fine,” Giles waved a hand at me. “We checked the house. No casualties.”

  “How long has he been gone?” I asked.

  “About twenty minutes,” Giles wiped sweat from his temples.

  Belinda pulled a face. “Not good, Gilesy old boy, we’ve been in this room about ten.”

  I realized she was right. My eyes flicked unbidden towards Lysette. Maybe it was time to let the girl from Monaco sift through our innermost thoughts.

  “This can’t go on,” Myleene said in a strained voice. “Aegis is not this incompetent.”

  I stayed quiet, and raised my eyebrows at Belinda. I realized I hand’t even had a chance to talk to her since she left to pick up the Trevochet’s.

  I banged my head hard against my seat back

  Why was life always dealing us the Death card?

  39

  YORK, ENGLAND

  When the meeting broke Belinda made her way over to me, and stood so close my nostrils were filled with the heavy smell of leather. Her t-shirt read: ‘I’ll be even naughtier if you give me chocolate.’

  “Hey.”

  “How’s it going?”

  I grinned at the effervescent sparkle in her eyes. This was the real Belinda. Thank God Ashka’s drugs hand’t hurt her too much.

  “Been better,” I said, thinking of Lucy. “And, hey, am I not good enough to warrant a sweet nickname anymore?”

  “Saving the best ones for later.”

  “Later,” I widened my eyes. Maybe that t-shirt offered a clue. “Would you like a Twix? Or, wow, what would a King Size Mars bar get me? What was it you said before? Something about James Bond…”

  Belinda stepped forward, now so close that I had to open my knees. “How’s this?”

  I swallowed hard. “Not bad, actually.” I’d never known anyone so forward. My own confidence had taken a hit when Raychel left and had laid low ever since. But Belinda had confidence for two, well fifty actually. I guessed that knowing her would be like riding a roller coaster- fun and adrenalin-fuelled, an endless series of highs with not many lows, and with the added spice that somewhere along the way a track or two might be missing.

  “That…that’s fine,” I croaked.

  “Logan?” a voice interrupted us.

  Lysette appeared behind Belinda, a faint smile on her flawless face.

  “Hi.”

  “I’m sorry to interrupt, but I really need to talk to you, Logan,” Lysette said to me.

  I rolled my eyes at her. “Can’t it wait?”

  “Yes,” Belinda breathed. “After all, he’s not going anywhere.”

  “Sorry, Belinda, but no it can’t wait,” Lysette persisted, keeping her face neutral. “Logan. It’s about Lucy.”

  A shadow fell over my heart. “Lucy?”

  Belinda moved backwards without saying another word. I opened my mouth to say something but she shook her head. She made a noise of frustration and left the room, leaving me red-faced and bothered.

  “Sorry,” Lysette took the seat beside me. “Looks like you and Leathercrotch are hitting it off.”

  “Leathercrotch?”

  “Everyone gets a nickname. It helps me remember who they are.”

  “I see. I‘m not even gonna ask.”

  “You mean what’s yours?” Lysette fingered the dainty gold necklace that hung around her neck. No matter what time of day, or where she was, this woman cried wealth!

  “I would never mock you,” something old and hidden and best left alone shifted behind her eyes.

  “So,” I sighed. “What’s Lucy done now?”

  “You shouldn’t be so negative about her.”

  “I know. It’s just hard. It gets better, and then it fucks up again. Every damn day.”

  “Well, you need to hear this.” Lysette glanced around. “But not here. Let’s walk in the garden.”

  We rose. We walked down the corridor, through the kitchen and out into the garden. The air was cold out here, but the night was completely still. Not a breath of wind stirred the immaculate hedges, nor shifted through the high trees. I steered Lysette off to the left, following a hand-laid path. From experience I knew if we followed it to its end we would complete one circuit of the garden.

  I said, “Okay, Lysette, let’s hear it.”

  Lysette cleared her throat lightly. “I’m guilty, Logan,” she said, taking me aback. “My gift is sometimes wonderful, more often a curse.”

  “A curse? How’s that?”

  Lysette sighed. “I’ll tell you a story. Don’t worry; it will be the abbreviated version. But, before I tell you what I know about Lucy, you need to know why I know.”

  “Okay.”

  “Once upon a time there was a married woman,” she said without emotion. “This woman lived in a little house with a nasty little man who kept her so downtrodden she began to forget who she really was. Not only that, she forgot to care who she really was.”

  As Lysette paused for breath I thought of Holly. This sounded like her story, too.

  “Anyway, the little man got angry and the woman got wise, but only because she found something like a blessing from God rattling around inside her head. Was it a gift from God? A boon from some Angel who cares for abused women? No matter. It saved her life. But an inner Joker then questioned the power inside her, whispering his dark magic, and for ever after when the woman would meet someone new she dealt the loaded deck of cards in her mind and used her ace. Or rather, her ‘so-called’ ace. She can read minds, this lucky woman. Can you imagine her horror, Logan? Imagine being able to discern everyone’s innermost thoughts and feelings.”

  I didn’t even try to pretend otherwise. I simply said, “Yes.”

  “Isolation,” Lysette said, keeping her eyes on the meandering path. “That’s the worst of it. Knowing that everyone, everywhere, has some dark secret. The nicest woman. The loveliest groom. And knowing that if I don’t check- say, this person,” she waved a well-manicured hand. “That person…I could be befriending a mass murderer. And knowing that if I do check-”

  “Even a truly wonderful person sometimes dances with darkness,” I finished for her.

  “Exactly,” she stopped to stare at me. “Where’d that line come from?”

  I shrugged. “Dunno. Maybe it’s the setting.”

  We continued to walk and I let Lysette think. I guessed we were coming to what she really wanted to say. Ironically, we were walking past the part of the garden that Lucy’s window overlooked.

  “I read Lucy,” Lysette said, and I sensed the weight of that responsibility crushing her. “Against all my vows, I pushed. You have to understand-” she turned to me, eyes pleading. “I did it only to be helpful. When that evil man, Jondal, hurt her I wanted to help. Lucy was terrified. I thought if I knew the source of her terror…”

  “It’s okay, Lysette,” I said. “You wanted to help.”

  “Your Lucy,” Lysette said. “She is a lovely person, but she has known hurt more times than a fifteen-year-old should.”

  I heard a noise ahead. A grunt. I stopped, listened, but the gardens were blanched silver, and silent.

  “Her mother practically tore us apart when she vanished. You talk about that Joker dealing you a loaded deck. Well, he’s in my dreams too. He’s in my house at night. He keeps Raychel’s memory alive there. H
e never bloody leaves.”

  “Lucy toys with the idea of becoming a shade.”

  “A shade? What, as in a vampire’s shade?”

  “She sees the chance of eternal love. Romance. Passion. Security…”

  “She’s really considering this?”

  “Yes. It is the foremost thought in her head. And she will do it, Logan. Unless you can help her.”

  Great choice of words, I thought. Lysette could have said unless you can stop her. But she knew Lucy. She knew my daughter’s mind and how she made her choices.

  “Why?” I managed, as my world fell away. “Why?”

  “A way out. She sees it as a way to stop the hurt and guarantee eternal love. It is darkly romantic, erotic even, and she is changing, Logan. Changing like you can’t imagine. She may see this as the only way.”

  “No.”

  We stopped, and the cool night air raised goose bumps on my arms. I kicked at the stepping-stones, at the grass. I felt my eyes grow shiny as I faced Lysette.

  “I failed her.”

  Lysette grabbed me. “No! Nothing is set in stone. Go to her, Logan. She needs help. Talk it all through. Have that talk about her mother you’ve been putting off for so long. Get it out there. You may save her.”

  I was about to say: may? But then heard another faint noise. A whisper maybe, a groan?

  I put a finger to my lips, and tried to bury the big pile of hurt. Slowly I sneaked along the hedges, hugging them, with Lysette close behind me.

  I parted a bunch of leaves and looked into the clearing beyond.

  Shock hit me like a cruise missile. Now I did fall to my knees, and the rest of my world collapsed.

  “Belinda.”

  She was on her feet, facing away from a garden bench. Her tight leather trousers were bunched around her ankles. I could see the pale half moon of her flat stomach, a smooth curve of hips, and the thin line of her black thong stretched over her thighs. When I spoke she turned her head towards me, and a mess of blonde hair fell across her cheek.

  Good ol’ Ken Hamilton was sitting behind her, getting the lap dance of his life.

  “Dammit, Logan,” Belinda’s voice was choked with emotion.