Legacy of the Watchers Series Boxed Set: Books 1-3

by Nancy Madore

“Oh, well thank heavens for that!”

  “Yes,” said Beth.

  “So what brings you here?” she asked.

  Beth gave her an apologetic look in advance. “I’m trying to find a man by the name of Brisbin.”

  “Brisbin,” repeated Olive thoughtfully. “It sounds Scottish. Is he a relative of yours?”

  “I believe he might have been related to my…late husband,” replied Beth, stumbling over the word. It was the first time she’d used it. She struggled to keep the smile on her face.

  Olive seemed eager to help. She typed something into her computer and then looked up at Beth expectantly. “What was his first name?” she asked.

  Beth bit her lip. “I don’t know,” she said.

  “Oh,” said Olive. “When did he pass away?”

  “I don’t know that either.”

  “Not even the year?”

  Beth shook her head. She reached in her pocket and pulled out the picture. “I think this is him,” she said, though she wasn’t even sure about that.

  “Mmmm,” murmured Olive as she studied the picture. “Looks like it was taken in the forties. You can tell by the uniform. He was a lieutenant.” She tipped her head a little so that her eye glasses would slip down her nose and examined the picture from over the top of them. “He appears to be in his late thirties to early forties,” she added.

  Beth just watched her hopefully.

  Olive readjusted her glasses and looked at Beth. “I could search our database for all the male ‘Brisbins’ that were buried here between, say, the early forties and the late nineties,” she offered, handing Beth back the picture.

  “You could do that?” asked Beth, thrilled.

  “Yes, but it may take a while.” She nodded her head toward the line of people that were gathering behind Beth. “Can you come back tomorrow? I’m sure I can have it ready for you by then.”

  “Absolutely!” said Beth. “And thank you!” She turned to leave and then, on second thought, whirled around. “Would it be okay if I looked around the cemetery now?” she asked.

  “Sure,” said Olive. “Just go to the ticket counter, right over there.” She motioned with her head. “The West Cemetery is only accessible through a guided tour, but the East Cemetery is open to the public.”

  “Thank you so much,” said Beth again.

  “See you tomorrow,” said Olive.

  Beth went where Olive indicated and bought a ticket for admission into the East Cemetery.

  “Just follow the signs to the cemetery,” the woman told her.

  Chapter 9

  Manhattan, New York

  Nadia felt a little like a caged lion at the zoo. Her office suddenly seemed too small, and the walls felt like they were slowly closing in on her. It was stressful enough, knowing that her father’s ring was out of the dome, but Clive’s method of telling her was inexcusable! He must’ve known that she would be with Will. It was as if he wanted to stir up trouble.

  Nadia sighed, shuffling the papers around on her desk irritably. She couldn’t think about Clive right now. She had a press release to prepare for. Today was the day her masquerade ball would go public.

  Not that there weren’t plenty of rumors going around about it already—Nadia had seen to that—but so far, they were just that; rumors. Come noon, her masquerade ball would become official, with full media coverage and an impressive list of celebrity names to drop.

  Excitement shot through her, followed by anxiety. As always with these big events, she felt a little overwhelmed, watching it all come together. She had booked sixteen big-name entertainers in less than a week! Of course, she couldn’t take all the credit. The biggest part of her success was attributable to the cause. The entire world was in mourning. In addition to the sheer number of victims—which was staggering in and of itself—the disaster was made all the more real by the fame of the relative few. Thousands of the most beloved personalities had been eradicated overnight—like stars ripped from the sky. It was as if everyone in the world had lost someone they loved. The ‘Farewell to Hollywood’ theme had struck a chord. The support generated from the rumors alone was stronger than anything Nadia had been able to engender before. People were lining up to contribute. What would it be like once the press release went out?

  “Georgia, did you get me those copies yet?” she called into the other room. She fished through a pile of papers absently, in search of the copies she was looking for.

  Georgia’s head appeared in the doorway. “I’m having a little problem with the copy machine,” she replied hesitantly.

  “What’s wrong with it now?” asked Nadia.

  “It says it’s a paper jam but I can’t find any paper in the machine.”

  Nadia tried to hide her impatience. Georgia was a wonderful assistant but, when it came to technology, it was as if she had just stepped out of a time machine from the fifties. “Did you try shutting it down?” she asked.

  “Yes, I tried that,” said Georgia, growing more distressed by the minute.

  Nadia got up and followed Georgia into her office. The paper trays had both been removed and the upper half of the machine hung open like a gaping mouth.

  “Well there’s your problem,” said Nadia, pointing to the open machine. “You’re looking in the wrong place. This is where the ink cartridges go.” She slammed the front shut and turned the machine so they could see the back. Then she popped open the back panel. “The paper feeds up through here,” she explained, wondering to herself how many more times she would have to explain this to Georgia before she finally got it. She bent down to peer into the machine. There was no sign of the errant paper on this end either (much to her chagrin), only a confusing jumble of electronics and black plastic. Nadia poked in a finger. “Hmm. I don’t see it,” she said, shutting the back panel.

  She went back to the front of the machine and turned it off. After a moment, she turned it back on. The little screen in the front said, ‘Ready.’

  “There you go,” she said, sliding both paper trays into the bottom of the machine. “It was probably just an error.”

  “I already tried that,” mumbled Georgia in that sing-song tone people use when they’re saying something they know the person doesn’t want to hear. Nadia glanced at her assistant to find her brightly flushed face set in an expression of forbearance. Resisting the urge to roll her eyes, Nadia pushed the ‘copy’ button. After a few clicks and gurgles, the machine stopped and the ‘paper jam’ error message came up on the screen.

  “Damn!” exclaimed Nadia. Sighing heavily, she yanked out the paper trays and turned the machine around again. Opening the back panel, she peered once more into the machine’s interior.

  “Well, where is it then?” she muttered. She poked some of the internal parts with her finger again, and then inserted her entire hand to feel around for anything that might be a piece of paper.

  “Where is it?” she grumbled. Her head turned toward Georgia. “What were you doing when it happened?” she asked.

  “I was making copies!” said Georgia, becoming exasperated herself by this time.

  “It’s just—of all the days for this to happen!” Nadia knew that she was being very rude and unfair to Georgia but she couldn’t seem to stop herself. She also knew that it wasn’t about the copier at all, but the ring…and her father—and that damn Clive!

  “I’m sorry,” murmured Georgia.

  But Nadia was too upset to acknowledge her. With everything that had happened in the previous month or so, it seemed as if this was going to be her proverbial ‘last straw.’ She jerked her hand out of the machine and bent down to look inside it again. “What are all those little notches and openings for?” she demanded. “Where could that piece of paper be hiding?”

  Poor Georgia didn’t have an answer for her. She stood by silently, near tears.

  Nadia looked up at the ceiling. “I really don’t have time for this,” she said.

  “Why don’t I go to the print shop down the street?�
� suggested Georgia. “I can make the copies there.”

  Nadia stopped what she was doing. Why hadn’t Georgia thought of that before Nadia made her little scene?

  “That’s a good idea,” she said, more relieved by the prospect of getting Georgia out of out of her hair for a little while than to finally get the copies made. “You don’t mind?”

  “No,” said Georgia, gathering up the papers. But Nadia could see that she was still quite flustered. Suddenly contrite, she touched Georgia’s arm.

  “I’m sorry.”

  Georgia’s large, expressive eyes, which were shiny with unshed tears, refused to meet Nadia’s gaze. This made Nadia feel worse. Of all the people to take it out on, she had to pick sweet, loyal Georgia!

  “Oh Georgia,” she sighed remorsefully. “I wouldn’t blame you if you quit!”

  Now Georgia felt worse too. “It’s okay,” she said, clearly struggling to put aside her own feelings to make Nadia feel better. “It’s just that I’ve never seen you like this before. Is everything okay?”

  “Yes, everything’s fine,” said Nadia. “This…disaster has just hit me a little harder than some of the others, that’s all.”

  “I know what you mean,” said Georgia. “I still have nightmares about it.”

  “But it’s no excuse for my behavior,” said Nadia. “I promise I’ll make it up to you.”

  Georgia managed a small smile. “You don’t have to do that,” she said, gathering up the last of the papers. “I’ll just…I’m going to make the copies now.”

  Nadia watched Georgia go, still shaken by the incident. What was happening to her?

  She sat down at her desk, feeling strangely alone. What she needed was someone to talk to. But who? Her mind immediately went to Will, but then just as quickly rejected him. This surprised her a little. Why was she so afraid to confide in him?

  She was just starting to get into her work when a loud knock suddenly sounded on her office door, making her jump. Before she could respond, she perceived that the door was being opened.

  Something happened in that instant—Nadia didn’t know if it was the loud knock that had brought it about or something else—but she was suddenly transfixed with fear. In that moment, the world seemed to slow down to a crawl. It was almost as if she were watching it in slow motion as the doorknob turned ever so deliberately and the door began to open. And it occurred to her, suddenly, how vulnerable she was, all alone here in her office. Anyone could just walk in off the street. An image flashed through her mind of three men wearing masks.

  It was only one man, with no mask, carrying a long, rectangular box that had been tied up with a bright red bow. Not yet ready to abandon her fear, Nadia’s next thought was that the box must contain something terrible—a shotgun, perhaps—even though it looked exactly like the kind of box that roses came in.

  She waited to see which it would turn out to be.

  “Nadia Adeire?” inquired the man.

  The most she could manage was a slight nod of the head.

  The man smiled as he handed her the box. “A gift for you!”

  Nadia accepted it reluctantly. The man hesitated a few seconds, rather awkwardly, before turning to leave.

  “Wait,” said Nadia, slowly returning to sanity. She opened the top drawer of her desk and pulled out a ten dollar bill. “Thank you,” she said, handing it to him.

  “Have a nice day,” he said, accepting the bill.

  Nadia stared at the box. She didn’t want to open it.

  What’s happening to me?

  The horrible feeling that came over her when the delivery man first knocked on her door returned. Despite the seemingly innocent nature of his visit, she couldn’t help feeling that something was wrong. It was the same feeling she’d had in the bathroom that day she was kidnapped—like a premonition.

  Nadia closed her eyes and took a deep breath in. I am peace, she thought. Slowly she let it out. I am calm.

  She tried to believe it but, failing that, she opened the box instead.

  Nadia stared at the contents inside the box, blinked, and then looked at them again. Along with twelve long stem roses, there was a life-sized rubber hand and a mask. The mask she recognized. In fact, she knew it well. She had just pictured three of them, as clear as day, in her mind’s eye.

  She picked up the rubber hand and that’s when she saw the ring.

  Nadia glanced at the door, and then returned her horrified gaze to the rubber hand.

  Who would do this?

  Surely not Clive. Even though all the evidence pointed to him, she couldn’t quite bring herself to believe it. Even Clive wouldn’t go this far.

  It didn’t make sense. He had risked everything to steal Asmodeous’ ring from the dome. Why would he just hand it over to her like this?

  Maybe it wasn’t the real ring. She thought about the taunting nature of Clive’s phone call the night before. Maybe he was just screwing with her.

  But why?

  She studied the ring more closely. It did look like the ring that Gordon used to conjure her father, but then again, they probably had lots of rings just like that one at their disposal. Capturing djinn was their job—making the rings mere tools of their trade.

  But why send a fake ring? Was this some kind of a sick joke?

  Nadia fished through the tissue paper in search of a note and found one.

  “Hide the ring in a safe place,” was all that it said.

  She read the note several times over as she debated what to do. She was still staring at it when her office phone rang.

  “Hello?”

  “She won’t hurt you, Nadia, because you’re his daughter.”

  “Clive?”

  “Just listen, Nadia!” he said. “You’re perfectly safe. She won’t hurt you.”

  “Who?” asked Nadia—although she knew.

  “She’s on her way up there now, so we only have a few minutes,” said Clive.

  Nadia’s insides clenched. “No,” she said, staring at the door with renewed horror. “No!”

  “You’re the only person who can do this and come out in one piece,” said Clive. “But it’s up to you.”

  “No!” said Nadia again.

  “If you decide to do it—and this is important—make her bring Poseidon out of the ring before you give her Asmodeous.”

  “Damn you Clive!” she yelled.

  “She’s going to be there any minute, Nadia,” he said. “Did you hide the ring?”

  Nadia looked around the room frantically. “I…don’t know where to hide it!” she cried.

  “Somewhere she won’t find it,” suggested Clive. “Come on, you can do this.”

  “Shit!” said Nadia. “Shit, shit, shit!” She stumbled around her and Georgia’s offices in a panic until her gaze settled on the copy machine. Recalling how hard it had been to find a white sheet of paper in its murky depths, she quickly popped open the back panel and carefully placed the ring where she was sure no one would ever find it. Then she snapped the machine shut and closed her eyes.

  “Nadia!”

  She almost forgot about Clive until she heard him calling her name through the phone, which she still had in her hand. She raised it to her ear.

  “Yes! I hid it!” she said. “But I’m not going to do it!”

  “That’s up to you,” he said. “Just remember that Poseidon is the only one who can tell us what T.D.M.R. is doing with that technology.”

  Before Nadia could reply, there came another knock on her office door.

  “Oh God!” she whispered.

  “You’re the only one who can do this Nadia,” said Clive.

  There was another, slightly louder knock.

  “I have to go,” she said.

  Then she hung up the phone just as Lilith was opening the door.

  Chapter 10

  Nadia wished there was somewhere to run.

  Clive seemed certain that Lilith wouldn’t hurt her, and Nadia supposed this was true. But it wasn’t r
eally fear for herself that was consuming her. It was fear for everyone else. She was convinced that they were opening a Pandora’s Box.

  The door opened—and Clive appeared.

  Nadia gasped in surprise. It took her a moment to comprehend the situation. “Lilith—?”

  “That was just a dry run,” he said. “I had to make sure you’d actually do it.”

  Nadia just stared at him, dumbfounded. This was almost more disturbing than if Lilith had walked through the door. “I don’t believe it!”

  “This,” said Clive, gesturing toward the flower box, “and that call last night—they were both tests, Nadia. And you passed with flying colors.”

  “I’m not doing it,” she said. All of her anger from the events leading up to this moment came rushing to the surface, making her feel positively homicidal.

  Clive sat down. “Yeah, yeah,” he said in a bored tone. “So you keep saying.”

  “Get out!” she yelled. Clive looked up at her in surprise, but he didn’t move from his chair.

  “I said get out!” she yelled even louder.

  “Okay, I’ll get out,” said Clive, still not moving. “In a minute.”

  “Now!”

  “Nadia, keep your voice down,” said Clive. “You’re going to disturb your neighbors.”

  Nadia had forgotten about the offices next to hers. “Get out,” she repeated in a quieter tone of voice.

  “I can’t leave you like this,” he said. “I feel like it’s partially my fault you’re upset. I’ll leave once you’ve calmed down.”

  Nadia had the urge to retrieve the ring from the copier and throw it in his face, but in her present state of mind she was afraid she might end up throwing the copy machine at him instead. “I’m calm,” she lied.

  Clive studied her face. “You don’t look very calm,” he observed. “Why don’t you sit down?”

  Nadia took his suggestion. “There,” she said. “I’m sitting down and I’m calm. Now leave.” Her anger was dissipating as quickly as it had come. Now all she wanted to do was cry.

  “Why are you so upset?” asked Clive.

  Nadia just looked at him.