by Rivi Jacks
I feel like I can’t breathe. “What if they don’t believe me?”
“They will,” he says softly.
“What if they think I’m a freak or—”
He reaches to wrap his hand around the back of my neck as he pulls me close. “They will not think you’re a freak. I promise.”
I bury my face against his chest and inhale deeply taking comfort in his heady scent. “Okay,” I whisper.
He leans back to look down at me. “Okay?”
My gaze meets his. “Yes.” It’s not okay, but I know he’s right. It’s just—it’s too soon. I just told him, and I’ve not fully come to terms with the realization that someone else knows my story.
Now I have to tell others.
We head out immediately for the Zelts, leaving Peter and Richael Scott behind in Max’s capable care. The sun’s going down and the early evening sky holds my interest as we pull off the state highway onto the country lane leading to the old antebellum home where Sweetwater’s resident witches currently reside.
As the Hummer emerges into the clearing that was once a well-manicured yard, I turn toward Lucas.
“Why is my family here?” I demand.
He doesn’t look at me as he smoothly pulls in to park between a new yellow Jeep and Jake’s truck. I continue to glare at him as he shuts off the engine and turns to face me.
“Your cousins and Uncle need to be here.”
“No, they do not,” I say as calmly as I can.
“You know that they do.”
I take a deep breath looking toward the house. I have to tell my family sometime, but I know my kinfolk, Lucas doesn’t. I know this is going to create a heap of guilt. Guilt that nothing I can say will make them feel better about.
Crap!
I look back at Lucas. “You know what your problem is Lucas Santiago?” I can’t see his facial expressions in the growing darkness, but I imagine his eyebrow lifting in that cocky way he has. “You’re too damn bossy, and no one tells you no enough.” I slam the Hummer’s door behind me before marching toward the house.
After I climb the steps of the Zelt’s home, Lucas’ hand reaches past mine to open the back door. I glance up catching his lips raised in a slight smile.
There’s no one in the kitchen as we enter but the door leading to the dining room is propped open, and I see that’s where the others are. They all look up as we join them. Lucian and Estella Zelt stand, moving closer to the couple I met the night of the tunnel escape—the night the Kihn breached the compound fences. They are the witches who helped the Zelts that same night.
My uncle Jake steps forward to pull me into a hug. “About time you came home.”
“It’s good to be back from my little impromptu—vacation.” I glance over at the vampire to catch his smirk before he turns away. My eyes narrow on him. He hears too damn well for my comfort.
“I’m just glad he keeps you safe.”
I nod and smile at my cousin Sam as he pulls out a chair for me to sit in beside him. Jake takes the chair on the other side of me. Glancing around the room, I’m surprised to see Taylor as he stands talking to Lucas and Lucian Zelt. I know Lucas is right, that I need to tell my family sooner than later, but I truly hope he hasn’t invited anyone else. I’m suddenly nervous as hell.
“Where’s Sawyer?”
Sam laughs. “Brit dragged him off to show him something. Haven’t seen him since.”
Jake snorts softly before asking, “What’s up with this meeting?”
“Sofie?”
I look up as Lucas steps behind Sam’s chair, holding out his hand to me. I swallow deeply as I take it, knowing my time of revelation is near. His eyes hold mine as I stand and he pulls me close.
“Are you okay?” His voice is soft and husky.
Hell no. I’m so not okay with this. I glance around at the faces suddenly looking my way before looking up at Lucas. “Will you help me”— my mouth is so dry I can barely speak—“in case I forget something?” As nervous as I am I figure I can use all the help he wants to lend. “Please.”
His gaze moves over my face before he leans closer. “Always, my sweet.”
He takes my hand and leads me away from the table.
As we settle at the front of the room, Sawyer and Britt decide to grace us with their presence. Britt is giggling and blushing like a schoolgirl, and Sawyer gives my arm a squeeze as he moves past us to take a seat.
“What have you been up to?” I whisper.
“You know I never kiss and tell,” he jokes, giving me a wink. Lucas chuckles softly.
Sawyer pulls out one of the dining room chairs and whips it around. “What’s up?” he asks, giving me a questioning look as he straddles the chair.
“Sofie has something she needs to tell everyone,” Lucas answers, pulling his gaze from mine to scan the room. “We’ll hold off questions until she’s finished,” he informs before looking back at me. “Ready, my sweet?”
I’m plenty nervous as we stand there in front of everyone. I wish I felt like I was a little less on display with all the eyes on me. I take a deep breath, squaring my shoulders, ready to get this over with.
Not a sound is uttered from the moment I begin, but I can’t ignore the flood of emotions that strain the features of my uncle’s face, or the silent reactions from my cousins. When I finish telling them everything I shared with Lucas earlier that afternoon, the room remains quiet. Stunned silence, I decide. Swallowing deeply, I fidget, wishing someone would say something.
I look down. At some point in my story, my hand has made its way into Lucas’ warm one. I look up to find his eyes on me, his mouth lifting in a slow smile before he leans close.
“You are one of the bravest people I know,” he whispers against my temple. I feel a warmth radiate through my body at his unexpected praise. “Feel better?” His question catches me off guard for a moment before I realize that I do feel better.
“Thank you,” I whisper.
His eyes smile down into mine before our attention returns to the others in the room when Taylor clears his throat. I blush at how easily Lucas can make me forget everything and everyone with just a smile.
Lucas chuckles and gives my waist a squeeze before releasing me.
I glance around the room to see that everyone is still looking at me. Everyone except for Jake.
“Say something,” I demand softly. The strain of everyone’s silence is excruciating.
“It doesn’t make sense,” Sam says.
“I know,” I whisper.
“Why would they—” Sawyer shakes his head. “How could they invade your dreams, and do to you what they did?”
“I don’t know. They want something from me.” My arms unconsciously wrap around my waist.
“They’re not going to touch you!” Jake says, finally looking up at me his eyes flashing with anger.
“No, they are not,” Lucas states firmly.
“Jake—” I begin.
“Why didn’t you tell me?” he demands. His forehead creased in confusion.
“I never told any of you” —I glance at Sam and Sawyer— “because I’ve always been afraid that just talking about them would make it all—real.” I feel anxious to make them understand. “And I was always afraid that you’d think I was nuts or—maybe you’d look at me as if I were a monster.”
Jake moves fast, pulling me into a hug. “Never, Sofie.”
“Thank you.” I swipe across my eyes with my sleeve and pat him on the back. “There’s more,” I whisper. His arms drop as I step back. I’m determined to finish this. “You’d better sit down,” I tell him before turning toward Estella. She and the other witches have been quiet and as still as if they were stone, their faces impassive. I raise my eyebrow in a silent question.
Estella smiles gently, giving me a slight nod.
I clear my throat and meet Lucas’ gaze from across the room where he moved when I was speaking to Jake. “I have more to tell you about the presence that helped me in my dreams. The first time I met Estella” —all faces in the room turn to look at the witch. All except for Lucas who continues to watch me. I give him an apologetic smile for not telling him this part. “She saw—the presence. She said he is my… protector.” Lucas frowns. “She can see him, Lucas.”
He turns that intense gaze on Estella.
“I went back to see her a few days later because I knew she was aware of him. She can talk to him too.”
Lucas looks back at me but not before Estella gives him a confirming nod. I can see that he is clearly as confused as I am.
“His name is” —I smile— “Harvey. She told me he is a Guardian.”
The posture of the supes in the room changes and they all look at Estella again. It lets me know they’ve heard of Guardians.
“He was sent here to me,” I continue. “And he’s guided me when I’ve been awake—not just in my dreams. When we went to the McNish” —I nod toward Sawyer— “the night Sawyer’s Jeep burned, he told me not to let anyone touch the Puxuna.
“Your dream about the Kihn in Jackson Hole,” Lucas says softly.
I hesitate before deciding I’ll explain that dream to him another time. “Yes. Harvey warned me about the Kihn in Wyoming. And the night we went through the tunnel, he was with me then too.”
Lucas’ brow rises in surprise before he turns his attention on Estella. “I’m confused, Estella.” There’s a definite edge to his voice. “I’m curious what you think of Sofie’s dreams—and why I’m just now hearing about the Guardian.”
Estella turns to her sister Brit, and they confer for several moments.
“Estella!” Lucas snaps impatiently, making me jump. Estella seems totally unmoved by his sharp voice, however.
“I am sorry, Lucas. Since I did not know of Sofie’s dreams connecting her to the Kihn, I had no reason to break her confidence concerning the Guardian,” she answers in her concise way of speaking before meeting my eyes. “Sofie, the fact that you dreamed of and interacted with the Kihn while you were dreaming, suggests that someone was able to invade your dreams, and I know of only one who is capable of doing that.” She looks at Lucas.
“Ezra,” he says softly.
“Yes,” she confirms.
“You were not wrong about your sleeping theory Sofie,” Brit announces, taking an uncharacteristic pause before continuing in her rapid way of speaking. “Ezra was only able to invade your dreams when you were asleep above ground level because that is where his power lies in the Realm of Spirit which is above ground.” She gives me a quick smile.
“Invade my dreams? What—how was he able to do that?” Lucas has come to stand beside me, and I look up at him, hoping he understands this better than I do. But of course, he does. He knows everything about Ezra, and by the look on his face, none of this is good.
Maple Lintz clears her throat as she steps forward, drawing the eyes of everyone in the room. “You are the Keeper.”
Every supe in the room is suddenly as still as a statue. No one so much as bats an eye. I look over at my kinfolk and Sawyer shrugs. Looking up at Lucas I have my first inkling that being the Keeper is not a good thing. I watch as the fear on his face quickly turns to anger.
“No!” he states firmly as if his saying so will alter the outcome of whatever this means.
“What… does that mean… Keeper?” I ask, looking around at the faces in the room. Sawyer, Sam, and Jake look as confused as I feel.
“It means you are the one who knows where the gate will open,” Brit quickly says.
“No.” I shake my head. “No, I don’t,” I say firmly.
“You may not know now but you will when it is time.” Brit’s eyes hold a world of sympathy.
I shake my head again in denial. This can’t be good. How in the hell would I be the one to know where the gate is opening? None of this makes any sense. It never has.
“But—what does keeper mean? I don’t understand.” I know there’s more to this Keeper tag than is being said, and the tense atmosphere around the room is starting to take its toll on me, my heartbeat accelerates as a feeling of dread settles in the pit of my stomach.
“It means Keeper of the gate,” Brit says.
“Lucas,” I whisper as I look up at him.
The skin around his eyes is tight as he looks down into mine. Reaching out he lightly strokes the side of my face with his fingers. “The Kihn—cannot open the gate without the keeper,” he says softly. I search his silvered gaze. “They cannot open the gate—without you.” His eyes burn with an intensity that frightens me more than his words.
Jake lurches to his feet, nearly knocking his chair over. “What? What do you mean—without her?” he demands.
Lucas’ gaze holds mine as he answers. “They would have to have Sofie with them to get through the gate.” He closes his eyes briefly, inhaling deeply before his gaze once more holds mine. “You—would be the key.”
I think I’m going to pass out as the blood roars in my ears. Lucas is my lifeline as I grip his hands and bending down, he peers into my frightened eyes. “Don’t be frightened, my sweet. I won’t let any of this come to pass,” he says firmly. My eyes search his as I try to calm my racing heart.
“If I might have a moment, please.” The male witch, Hershel Morton, steps forward. He’s a very unusual looking man with his shoulder-length black hair and pale, tawny colored eyes, but his expression is kind as he smiles at me. “I think this is a stroke of luck for us.” At Lucas’ sudden movement, the witch holds up his hand. “Please hear me out, Lucas.”
I look up at Lucas as he holds the tall man in his steady gaze before finally giving the nod for Hershel to continue.
“The Keeper,” —the witch gives me another smile— “if I might explain to Miss Reece and her family?” Lucas nods again, and I feel his body relax beside me. “Every century, when the stars align for the gate opening, a human is chosen as the keeper. Not by the Kihn,” he quickly adds. “That decision is decided elsewhere.”
I frown but remain silent.
“I imagine that is why you have been provided with a Guardian to protect you, and if my theory is correct, this Guardian will also guide you.” He smiles reassuringly. His voice is so soothing it fills me with a calmness that makes my anxiety level go down immensely.
“As most of you in this room who know me are aware, I am the leading authority on what makes the Kihn, for lack of a better word, tick. I have studied them for most of my life, and I understand them better than most. Lucas,” —he nods in our direction— “is probably the only other who knows them and their unique obsession with finding the gate as well as I.
“I began focusing my studies intently on the importance of the Keeper after the last gate opening.”
That was one hundred years ago. Witches age well, I decide.
“I have long believed that the Keeper holds a different position in connection with the gate opening than what we previously thought. We have always held the belief that the Keeper was here for the Kihn—to help them through the gate.”
I feel a chill come over me at his words as I begin to understand that maybe this is the reason why I’ve had to live with the Kihn in my life since I was a small child. Is this my connection with them? Lucas’ arm goes around my waist, pulling me closer.
“I no longer hold this belief,” Hershel continues. “In fact, I think it is just the opposite. I think the Keeper’s purpose is to help us. To assist us in preventing the Kihn from crossing through the gate.”
What? I look up at Lucas, but his expression is unreadable.
My attention shifts over to w
here Sawyer sits, his steady gaze meeting mine. His nod is barely perceptible, but I understand perfectly what it means.
Sam and Jake both turn to look at me with equal degrees of surprise etched in their expressions. Jake holds my gaze for several moments. He doesn’t need to say a word. Years of having my back, always being there for me, always giving me unquestioning support is there once more in that silent reassurance that passes between us. I pull my eyes from his to look at Hershel.
“What do I need to do?”
Chapter Twelve
I feel Lucas’ body tense up beside me. “Sofie—”
“Lucas, you know I have to do this.” I watch as the muscle in his jaw clenches. He may not like it, but that doesn’t change the fact that I am inexplicably connected to the Kihn.
Hershel clears his throat, reclaiming our attention. “To start with, Sofie,” —he looks between Lucas and me— “you will need to continue doing what you are now. You do not want to act any differently or alert—anyone that things have changed now that you are aware of what your part is in all of this.”
I frown. Nothing has changed for me. They all really can’t understand what it’s been like to be connected to the Kihn as I have. Well, I guess they probably can. They’ve had their own dealings with the Kihn—and losses. Lucas certainly has. I shift a little closer to him.
“We will continue with the spells we have cast around the compound, but we will also consider other means to keep you safe,” Hershel adds, looking over at the witchy side of the room. “The main objective will remain keeping you out of the Kihn and Ezra’s reach.
“Lucas, I know I am asking you to look at the Keeper’s role quite differently, but I feel very confident in saying, Ezra will be in for a surprise when he discovers Sofie is not his passport through the gate but very likely—the key to his fate.”