“No we can’t,” James agreed, understanding right away.
“I’m tired of being nudged aside,” Ashley offered, “as if I’m as green as that detective.”
“Agreed,” Tracy declared. “Either they let us be a part of what they created, or we make them. The Brotherhood is who they are, but it’s also who we are. It’s time we make our inheritance clear. I refuse to continue sitting aside in New York pretending to be something I’m not.”
“I’m not signing up again. When my contract’s up I’m done. I’ll get my own private security business going so I can be more available in the future. I’ve already obtained a license, and I set aside enough for an office location,” James explained.
Ashley turned. “Once I’m done with school, I can start a practice anywhere.”
“I honestly don’t know what I’m going to do, but I know I’m done hiding. I realize that’s what I’ve been doing,” Tracy admitted.
James put his arms around both of his sisters’ shoulders. “Together then. Since we’re agreed, we can deal with this unified and strong when it comes time to do so. For now, let’s follow our parents and go home. It’s been a long day.”
“Agreed,” both girls said at the same exact time, and grinned as they did.
Walking back to the car, Ashley questioned slyly, “Did anyone else notice how dark Detective Hall’s hair is?”
“Give me a break,” Tracy groaned.
“Just making an observation,” Ashley returned.
“What? I don’t get it.” James asked, confused.
“You know, the girls, the dark hair…” Ashley offered.
He stopped, dropped his arms, and shook his head. “Still not following ya.”
Tracy sighed. “Collett’s prediction.”
“What prediction?” he asked, holding up his hands with sincere confusion.
Perplexed, Tracy tried again only slower, “Collett had a premonition on Thanksgiving that I would have three girls with dark hair,” pausing, she mimed air quotes as she continued, “and bell-like giggles.”
James’s expression grew more quizzical, worried even.
“What’s wrong, James?” Ashley questioned, concerned. Wearing Jarrett’s amulet, she couldn’t sense the turmoil in her brother, but it was written all over his face.
“I can’t remember,” he declared.
“Remember what? It’s not like we haven’t had a ton happen. It’s a dumb thing anyway. He’s not even my type,” Tracy offered, trying to brush it aside.
“No. That’s not it,” James said.
“What’s up?” Nate questioned as he joined their group and kissed Ashley on the cheek.
“I’m not sure,” she told him, ignoring his peck. “James is upset.”
“We are just leaving a funeral,” Nate said.
“No!” James insisted, “I don’t remember Collett at Thanksgiving.”
“Okay so…” Nate tried to understand.
“I know she was there, but when I try to remember, the whole day seems blurry. Christmas? Was she there for Christmas?”
Shock covered Ashly’s features now. “Mom, Dad, and I were in New Mexico for Christmas with Collett, Delphene, Jarrett, Cade, and Nate. Remember? Mom made the necklaces with Jeffery. I brought them home when I came back to stay with you and Tracy at the base.” She pulled out the interlocking copper necklace from under her shirt to remind him.
He placed a hand on his chest, feeling for the copper pendant under his shirt.
Tracy gestured back to the burial plot for Jenny. “We took turns at Jenny’s bedside after the attack on the house until they came back.”
“Right. That’s right,” he said on a breath. “I remember all that, but…”
“You forgot Thanksgiving?” Nate wondered incredulously.
“No. Yes. I don’t know, maybe,” he said quickly.
“How could you forget?” Ashley asked stunned.
“It’s there, but it’s different somehow,” James explained vaguely.
“What’s going on?” Cody questioned cautiously as he limped toward them and saw their serious expressions.
Nate huffed, “I think James is developing dementia.”
Cody’s eyes went wide. “Oh no. He forgot.” He grabbed Tracy’s arm. “Did he forget?”
Tracy focused on Cody. “What do you mean? How did you know?”
“We need to go. We have to go home right now,” Cody insisted. “You have to tell your dad.”
“Tell him what?” James said incredulously.
“You have to tell him you’re forgetting Collett. Just like all the others, just like he is.”
Chapter 18
“Okay. If I am understanding it right, Rederrick, you began forgetting a few weeks ago?” Cade questioned.
“I’m not sure when it started. I only noticed it a few weeks ago,” Rederrick answered. “Actually, it was Cody who pointed it out.”
Cody shrugged when all eyes turned to him.
“I’m with Dad,” James offered. “I don’t know when it happened. I didn’t even know I was forgetting anything. But today I couldn’t piece together what Tracy and Ashley were telling me. So at this point, I’m not fully sure what I remember and what I don’t.”
Unsure what to make of this discovery, nobody said anything for several minutes.
Delphene stood. “We can’t be sure of who’s forgetting and who isn’t unless we trade information.”
“She has a point,” Ashley agreed. “Without comparing memories, we don’t really know who has a clear and accurate memory of the time we spent with Collett.”
“Maybe it’s a matter of how much time we spent with her? The longer you were with her, the harder or more time it takes to forget?” Tracy offered.
Rederrick was shaking his head. “I spent more time with her than anyone here. She worked at my office long before I called Cade to help her. Plus, Delphene and you girls had the least contact, but none of you have forgotten.”
“There has to be more to this,” said Cynda.
Silence came over them once more until Jarrett stepped away from his solitary position near the window to stand near the group. “I forgot.”
“What?” Cade questioned.
“I forgot her once already. When she came to me as a boy, I swore I would never forget her face. I swore revenge on her even.” He sighed. “But I forgot. I’d like to think it took a long time to cloud my memory, but even though I remembered her visit, the image of her faded. It wasn’t until we were at your cabin and I touched her, that I saw the truth. Collett was with me for hours with no recollection on my part. The truth only came to me because she admitted her role and projected the memory back to me somehow. She saved my life, refused to save Rowena, and I forgot who she was.”
“She didn’t tell me you forgot,” Cade confessed. “I only thought she forgot. Collett told me she rescued you as a boy but didn’t know why, and only remembered because of your own memory of the event.”
“The thing is, I’ve been thinking on it more and more since we started this discussion, and I think I forgot more than once,” Jarrett told them.
Curious, Cade’s head tilted. “Explain.”
“When Collett was connected to me after that night, she kept coming to me in my dreams, even came to me in my head when I was awake. It was a prodding of sorts. She would warn me to move, to fight. She showed me escape routes and talked to me. I can still remember all of that easily, but there was a familiarity to her visits. It was a sense that she’d done it before in the past. I don’t know, it feels that way though.”
“Why?” Tracy wondered. “It doesn’t make sense. Why would we forget?”
“Are you forgetting?” Jarrett asked her.
“I don’t think so,” she replied.
“Ashley?” Cade asked.
She considered it for a while then shook her head. “I'm pretty sure it's all there, but I can’t be sure unless we do as Delphene and Mom suggest and have a fact swap.�
� She tightened her grip on Nate’s hand. “Nate and I discussed it on the way home, and his facts seem as clear as mine.”
Nate nodded. “It all seems there to me. But I have to wonder if the same details are missing for both of us, and we don’t know it. It may be that Ashley and I remember the same since we’re together and discuss it often enough.”
“We have to find out what’s going on,” Cade replied. “I have to know if…”
“If you’ll forget?” Tracy supplied respectfully.
“You won’t,” Ashley promised. “I don’t think it’s possible. I felt her love for you, remember? And she promised me a bond like that is eternal. They stay with you throughout lifetimes. I don’t know what’s happening here, but I have to believe you won’t forget. Just as Sam didn't forget Jenny.”
“I’m with Ashley on this,” Cynda agreed. “There’s no power, no magic in this world, or even the universe, that could erase Rederrick from my heart.”
“Magic,” Tracy said, looking to James and pinching her brow in thought.
Her brother caught on right away. “I don’t wield magic. Neither does Dad, and we’re not supernatural creatures.”
“No, you’re not.” She considered carefully and looked back to Cade, and glanced at Jarrett and Delphene. “But they are, and we are,” she said, pointing to herself, Ashley, and Cynda. “We haven’t lost memories of Collett yet.”
“I’m not sure where you’re going here, because I’m not special,” Nate injected.
Frustrated by the kink in her idea, Tracy pouted, and Jarrett scoffed. Everyone directed their attention to him, and Cade’s lips pressed into a tight line.
“You’ve got to be kidding, right?” Jarrett questioned, turning to Cade.
“Tread lightly, mon'ami,” Delphene said quietly in his ear.
Cade sighed. “I never told him.”
“Never told me what?” Nate questioned.
Jarrett rolled his eyes and shook his head in disbelief. “Well you better tell him now, because Tracy’s growing a pretty solid theory.”
“Never told me what, Cade?”
Clearly uncomfortable, Cade rubbed at the back of his neck. “Your mother had some demon blood in her. It was four generations back at least, maybe five. You’re pretty diluted.”
“My mother…” Nate scowled. “Wait, you’re saying I’m a demon?”
“No, I am saying your family line has demon blood in it somewhere,” Cade corrected.
Trying to process the revelation, Nate pointed to Jarrett. “How’d he know?”
“Same way I knew. He can smell it,” Cade answered. “Del knew too for that matter.”
“Why didn’t you tell me?” Nate accused.
Cade sighed again. “I didn’t tell your mom either. It’s generally better if people don’t know. It often taints their self-image.”
“I don’t understand,” Nate replied while trying to ignore his revulsion at this new insight.
“It’s why you’re so fast and can hold your own with demonkind. You’re stronger than the average person, quicker, and have more attuned senses. You likely heal faster than most people too, though not as fast as someone like me,” Cade explained.
Furious and confused, Nate stood and moved to leave. Ashley called after him, but it was Jarrett who stopped him by moving into his path. “Shake it off, kid,” he ordered with little sympathy. “You’re not the first I’ve met with a demon great-grand pappy, and you won’t be the last. It only has meaning if you let it.”
Nate glared at him fearlessly. “I find out that I share a bloodline with my lifelong enemy and I’m supposed to shake it off? Do I look like Taylor Swift to you, Cowboy?”
Jarrett’s mouth quirked, but he held his grin back. The boy can be sarcastic even when he is pissed off. Because of that and Nate’s easy nature, Jarrett understood he would overcome this hiccup with added perspective. “Look at it this way, Butch, is your mom’s memory any less to you now that you know what she was?”
“No,” he answered emphatically.
Jarrett jerked his head toward Ashley. “Does knowing change how you feel about her?” Nate turned and met Ashley’s concerned gaze, and Jarrett added, “Be careful how you answer or I may take you outside and demonstrate how much your demon blood won’t help against the likes of me.”
This time, Nate’s lips quirked. “No, it doesn’t change how I feel about her.”
“Good. Then let’s move on. You can shake it off later when you have time to get your iPod for a theme song,” Jarrett finished. Moving from Nate’s path, Jarrett allowed him a free exit if he still wanted to go.
Nate ignored the open doorway and casually moved back to Ashley, who smiled sweetly and grabbed his hand. “It doesn’t matter to me either,” she assured him quietly.
Cody, who leaned against the wall and had been quiet this entire time, stood, shuffling his feet. “I have it too, don’t I?”
Delphene shook her head. “Non, there is no trace of it in your blood.”
Cody looked up, seeking Cade’s confirmation. “That can’t be right.”
“She’s telling the truth,” Cade assured. “You’re fully human. You have power like Cynda, but that can come from being the product of a witch or sorcerer. You don’t have to be demon to tap into magic.”
“But, my dad—”
“Was an a—” Jarrett began.
“Jerk,” Cynda injected before Jarrett could finish.
He glared at her mildly. “Yeah, that… Trust me, the world is full of ‘em. Luckily, that’s not a genetic trait. People don’t need an excuse to be cruel. They simply are.”
“I thought…” Cody hesitated.
Cynda finished for him, “You thought that you were a demon?”
Cody shrugged. “I figured that’s why everything was so bad, why I was bad. When I was recruited, Finnawick told me that it’s best to stick to your own kind and that even if I tried to be good, I wouldn’t be able to do it.”
Jarrett cursed. “I should have killed that boot licker sooner.”
“See,” Cade gestured to Nate, “if people think it, they often act it.”
Surprised, Tracy moved over to Cody. “Cody, Mom and I have discussed this in depth, and we think you carry one of the most coveted of the four Powers of Influence.”
“What are you talking about?”
Tracy realized he didn’t even comprehend his own abilities. “Collett wielded all four of these powers, you know that much right?”
Cody nodded.
“As far as we know, Collett was the only person to do that, but other witches have had one or two manifest in them. Ashley, for example, has empathy. One of those magical abilities, the one you have, is extremely rare. It is the power of projection. You have the ability to project feelings, images, and thoughts to other people. This power, as I am sure you know, or at least you’re figuring out, can influence a person’s choices. Think about how powerful that ability would be when you’re trying to force people to bend to your will. That’s why Finnawick wanted you to conform.”
“You must be wrong. I could just be more diluted than Nate,” Cody countered.
“It’s possible, but not likely, Chère,” Delphene soothed.
“But I couldn’t sense a lie from Finnawick.”
“Because your talent is more complex than you have been taught,” Cynda added. “Cody, the gift to sense a lie is a strange extension of your projection ability. I suspect you adapted to sense communication variations such as tone, body language, and habits to use your projection successfully. Maybe you tapped into a muted form of telepathy because of your tragic life and survival instinct. You learned at a young age the natural, human instinct to read people but at a higher level than most of us. My theory is, you have a witch in your family tree, and your inherent gifts were self-trained traits from the life you had to survive in.”
Jarrett shifted. “C’mon, think about it. Finnawick needed you to convince people to join or manipulate circumstan
ces to his favor. Both Finnawick and Niall spent centuries lying before you were even born. They’ve perfected the art of deception. My guess is he never said the word demon, he let you assume it. In which case, he didn’t actually lie. It’s no wonder you didn’t sense anything.”
Cade agreed. “The Faction used you like they use everyone else.”
Cody leaned back again. “I guess it doesn’t matter anyway. I’m still not worth much after everything I’ve done. You should have never come back for me. Then we wouldn’t even be having this conversation because Jenny, Jeffery, and Collett would all still be alive.”
“Collett saw the value in you, and I won’t hear otherwise,” Cade admonished. “The woman I love knew what you’d done, and none of it mattered to her. She gave her life to come and get you. It’s up to you to make that sacrifice worth it. You fell victim to their games and lies and made mistakes. All of us have made mistakes. Like Jarrett said, shake it off. Right now, we need you.”
“Why? What can I do?”
Cade’s expression grew firm. “You’re the only one here that can project. We’re gonna need your help if we all start forgetting. It’s your job to make sure we don’t. I want you to start comparing facts and memories, catalog them, then make sure none of us lose her. No matter what happens from here, we can’t lose Collett.”
“What if I forget?” Cody questioned.
Cade sighed. “I guess I’m going to have faith you won’t, because right now, you’re my best shot.”
Cody nodded tightly.
“Well, that kinda sucks,” Nate said lightly. “I get to share my family tree with the wicked Nehemiah, and Cody gets Jedi mind tricks. Where’s the justice in that? Next thing you know, tech-boy James will find out he’s from an advanced alien race. Cynda?”
She smiled and teased back, “He looked exactly like Rederrick, I swear.”
And for the first time in the two years since meeting Finnawick, Cody actually laughed.
Chapter 19
Later that night, Ashley was in the kitchen loading dishes with Nate when Cade entered. “Ash, do you have a minute?”
The Truth of Victory: A Powers of Influence Novel Page 17