The Book of Eden: The Keepers Series, Book Two
Page 28
I had to do this. I saw the acceptance in her eyes and dropped my own as she disappeared over the ridge.
Neil and I bent over Nia’s body. He held her head, cradling it gently in his hands. For a moment, I saw the rawness of his expression, the grief that filled him, before he caught me looking at him and the mask of indifference slid over his face again.
“What are you waiting for?” He snarled.
I considered his eyes, my gaze steady. Then, I took a deep breath through my nostrils as I lowered the cup towards Nia’s face. He lifted her head higher and I let the silver liquid trickle in, as I recited the words I remembered by heart.
It slid past her lips, glowing as it entered. Neil and I watched, eyes wide, as her body became coated in the sliver elixir. The magic was seeking, searching for something.
We sat silently and I heard the world with more clarity than ever before. The ruffle of the breeze through the trees. A bird chirping. A mouse digging in the frozen dirt. The men that lay gasping for breath on the field around us. I didn’t know if they were our men or Evrei’s men and I didn’t want to.
The magic found what it sought. Nia’s body shook, twisting in a violent, silver shimmer. Suddenly, she was choking, gasping as if she were drowning in silver and I saw the life flood back into her eyes.
I gasped, my breath caught in my throat.
Neil squeezed my hand, hard. It hurt like hell, but I embraced the pain. I deserved it.
There was no more sound around us. The only thing I could hear was Nia choking. The birds had stopped tweeting. The mouse no longer dug. The gasping men no longer breathed.
All magic came with a price.
Chapter Fifty-One
It was a quiet day. We sat in my walled garden, the seven of us, plus Oren, Neil, Tristan, Siddarth, Orielle and Nia.
It was New Year’s Eve and we were taking turns raking leaves.
It had been a week since we’d left Stonehenge. It had taken several days to clean up so that mortals wouldn’t discover what had happened there. The wall stood, though we’d discovered there were many cracks.
My spell hadn’t been enough to restore it to its original power. There were holes through which the dark ones could enter. Though, strangely, the magical air was no longer leaking into earth’s atmosphere. The holes allowed fae to slip easily between worlds, but the portals created closed quickly afterward. The good news was that we no longer had people dying from magic poisoning. The bad news was that there was an increasing number of kidnappings and attacks mortal police couldn’t explain.
We had begun discussions of how to monitor these holes to ensure mortals were safe. We hadn’t talked about what happened with Nia, about the cost of the magic, but we all shared the knowledge of the great power the cauldron wielded, and the great cost it demanded. It was now locked up at Arcata in the most secure fae vault imaginable.
I’d refused to put the sword in the vault. Neil hadn’t argued with me. Our relationship was different, though I couldn’t yet understand the implications of that.
He hadn’t yelled at me or scolded me since that day we’d knelt in the dirt together. He and I alone understood the exact price paid to bring Nia back to life. We shared the burden of it equally, an unspoken understanding between us. We would not speak of it, as it would do no good.
“Where do you think he’s gone?” Nick asked, and I became aware of the conversation going on around me.
“Who?”
I grabbed a garbage bag and held it open for Esma, who had scooped up a large pile of leaves.
Claire laughed. “Brin is somewhere else.”
“Gethin.” Nick replied, and the group fell silent.
I sucked in a breath and anger replaced the guilt I’d felt only moments ago.
“The Netherealms.” Tristan replied.
Neil and Nia nodded their agreement and there was a chattering among the group.
“What is their next move?” Ana asked. “Do you think our parents are still alive?”
I glanced around at the people who had become my family over the past few months and sighed.
“I don’t have any answers for you. Not for sure. I think our parents are still alive, because they haven’t a way to kill them. I don’t know what their next move will be. They can’t do anything about the wall until the next Solstice, but that doesn’t mean there aren’t other ways for them to attack.”
I grabbed a rake from Nia and began raking leaves into a pile, drawing a measure of comfort from the movement.
“They will continue to cause problems.” Tristan said, picking up where I left off. “All we can do is continue to protect the mortals from them until we figure out how to take Gethin and Evrei down.”
“What about your brother?” Gloria called from the back of the group.
Tristan cringed. They all wondered what role Aiden played in this mess, and they weren’t the only ones.
“Aiden is not on their side.” I said.
“Is he on ours?” Ana asked.
I bit my lip. “I don’t know.” I admitted. “Look,, I know you are all seeking answers, the same answers I’m looking for. I will be very honest. I don’t have them. I know only as much as you do – we must defeat Gethin. No one will be safe until he is dead. The dark fae are going to come up with another plan, and in the meantime, we need to develop a systematic way of handling magical incidents and keeping the mortals from discovering boogeymen exist. I received a missive from Queen Aelwen this morning.” A paused as several fae sucked in a breath at the news we’d finally heard from the missing queen.
“What did it say?” Ana asked, and I felt all eyes on me.
“She would like to discuss the formation of a mortal-fae taskforce to better target our efforts to defeat the dark ones.” I announced.
All a sudden, I was bombarded with questions, which I struggled to answer one at a time. We spent the next few hours discussing the prospect of officially joining forces, despite the historic separation between keepers and fae.
In the end, everyone was in favor of at least having the conversation. We were scheduled to meet with the full Crystal Council at the end of January.
Later that evening, I sat at my kitchen table with Oren and Claire, having bid farewell to Tristan and the other fae, who were needed back in Eden. The other keepers, who were still bunking on the third floor, had gone to bed.
“Do you want cinnamon in yours?” Claire asked, as she melted chocolate into the steaming milk.
“Oh, yes.” I said.
“Oren?”
“Yep.” Oren echoed.
Claire sprinkled cinnamon into the pan. I smiled across the table at Oren, who I viewed so differently than I had a few months ago. I felt closer to him than ever, with our shared secret, and realized I hadn’t thought of my father’s death at all over the last few weeks.
“What are you thinking, sis?” Oren asked, chuckling with amusement.
“Nothing.” I murmured, looking eagerly toward the stove.
“It will be done in a minute.” Claire said, seeing my glance. She opened the fridge and pulled out a can of whipped cream.
“You have a dumb look on your face.” Oren said.
I shot him a look of mock hurt and rolled my eyes. “I was just thinking about how I’m finally able to focus on the life in front of me, instead of thinking about dad all the time.” I admitted.
Oren looked wistful for a moment and then he nodded. “Me too.”
“Do you really think he knew about all of this? About the fae? About grandma?”
Oren smiled. “Oh yeah, he knew.”
Our grandmother had insisted on staying in Ireland. She still had a lot of secrets to impart to us and we’d promised to visit her soon. According to her, our father had forced her out of contact with us since we were little, to avoid drawing fae attention to his children.
I shook my head. “I don’t know how he kept those secrets all these years.”
“Maybe that’s why he dra
nk so much.” Oren murmured.
My brows scrunched together at the thought, but it made more sense than not. Secrets were like poison. The longer you kept them inside, the more likely they were to fester, spoiling everything they touched.
“Maybe.”
Claire brought three steaming mugs of chocolate topped with whipped cream to the table, setting them down in front of us before plopping into a chair.
We each picked up a mug, the smell of warm chocolate and cinnamon filling the air.
Claire raised hers in the air. “May the saddest day of the future, be no worse than the happiest day of the past.”
The three of us clinked mugs.
“I’ll drink to that.” I said.
To Gram,
You inspired me with your own sense of adventure. Thank you.
Acknowledgements
Thanks goes once again to my brother Jake, for your continued encouragement and for being a source of creative inspiration. Mom, thank you for being an enthusiastic first reader, and for always encouraging creativity in your kids. Finally, thank you to my husband and my three kids for their patience and feedback. Birthing a novel is a messy process, and I appreciate your ongoing support.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
American author Alex Temples writes thrillers and urban fantasy. She is responsible for The Keepers Series. When she's not cooking up a new project, she enjoys exploring the outdoors, traveling, and cooking. She lives with her husband and three children in the Washington D.C. area.
Table of Contents
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve
Chapter Thirteen
Chapter Fourteen
Chapter Fifteen
Chapter Sixteen
Chapter Seventeen
Chapter Eighteen
Chapter Nineteen
Chapter Twenty
Chapter Twenty-One
Chapter Twenty-Two
Chapter Twenty-Three
Chapter Twenty-Four
Chapter Twenty-Five
Chapter Twenty-Six
Chapter Twenty-Seven*
Chapter Twenty-Eight
Chapter Twenty-Nine
Chapter Thirty
Chapter Thirty-One
Chapter Thirty-Two
Chapter Thirty-Three
Chapter Thirty-Four
Chapter Thirty-Five
Chapter Thirty-Six
Chapter Thirty-Seven
Chapter Thirty-Eight
Chapter Thirty-Nine
Chapter Forty
Chapter Forty-One
Chapter Forty-Two
Chapter Forty-Three
Chapter Forty-Four
Chapter Forty-Five
Chapter Forty-Six
Chapter Forty-Seven
Chapter Forty-Eight
Chapter Forty-Nine
Chapter Fifty
Chapter Fifty-One
To Gram,
Acknowledgements
ABOUT THE AUTHOR