‘Damn Hades,’ Nathaniel growled and stalked away from her angrily, pacing back and forth in agitation. ‘Why is he choosing now to interfere? Not only has he got Zachary but he’s protecting Olivia. He’s not supposed to have any influence on Earth, yet he has interfered on her behalf several times and now he is sending his own personal bodyguards to protect her. He’s breaking the rules his brother Zeus laid down.’
‘It’s a shame someone doesn’t go tattle on him to his brother,’ Sabine murmured sulkily.
Nathaniel stopped pacing and blinked slowly.
‘That would solve a problem wouldn’t it?’ he replied thoughtfully.
‘What?’
‘Zeus would be furious if he knew Hades was overstepping the boundaries he himself put in place,’ Nathaniel’s mouth curved into a slow satisfied smile. ‘The animosity between those two is legendary.’
‘What are you thinking?’ Sabine murmured.
‘That it would be a terrible shame if Zeus was to somehow find out what his brother has been up to,’ Nathaniel replied, scratching his jaw thoughtfully.
‘A terrible shame,’ she smiled.
‘It solves both of our problems,’ he continued. ‘Once Zeus confronts Hades, it will give us the window we need to get Zachary out of Hades’ grasp. Hades will submit to his brother’s will, just like he always has. Which means he’ll have no choice but to pull the Gata, and any other creatures he has guarding Olivia, back to the Underworld leaving her once again exposed. Then we’ll make our move.’
‘There’s only one problem with your plan,’ Sabine replied. ‘No one has seen Zeus for eons. How exactly do you plan on finding him?’
‘There are ways,’ he replied. ‘For now, contact your sister. Both you and Saffire need to be ready to free Zachary. I will contact you as soon as I have set things in motion.’
‘Fine,’ she stood up, limping slightly at the vicious gash in her leg. ‘There’s something else you should know though.’
He turned to stare silently at her.
‘When I was in the hospital morgue with the girl, just before the Gata showed up, there was someone else there.’
‘Who?’ his eyes narrowed suspiciously.
‘I don’t know who he was,’ she replied, ‘but I know what.’
‘Explain.’
‘He is a Sentinel.’
‘Impossible,’ he scoffed. ‘The Sentinels haven’t ventured to Earth in thousands of years.’
‘I know,’ she replied, ‘but I’m telling you the truth. Not only was one of them on Earth, but he was protecting the girl, more than that, I think he knew her.’
He stared silently at Sabine for a few minutes, absorbing the information. He had no reason to disbelieve her. While it was true that Sentinels were notoriously hard to identify as they resembled humans so closely, Sabine had always had a razor sharp gift for being able to instantly identify a person’s true nature, no matter how they tried to disguise it. It was what made her so valuable to him and also why he put up with her insubordinate temperament.
‘A Sentinel you say,’ he mused. ‘That girl does have friends in high places.’
‘What are you going to do?’
‘I will look into the Sentinel. If I can identify him it might give us some leverage with our allies.’
‘Allies,’ she scoffed, ‘Ash and Cyrus? Neither of them can be trusted.’
‘I didn’t say I trusted them,’ he replied, ‘but they may be useful. After all they did give us the location of the Crossroads.’
‘And it cost us dearly,’ she growled.
‘Enough,’ Nathaniel snapped. ‘I tolerate your attitude to a certain degree Sabine, but there is a line…’ he warned ominously. ‘Be very careful you do not cross it.’
She clamped her lips together so tightly they formed a thin line, her eyes flashed dangerously, but she wisely chose to remain silent.
‘You have your instructions. Now go and find your sister and wait for word from me.’ He watched as she turned to disappear but his next words caused her to pause. ‘And stay away from Olivia Sabine, or next time it won’t be cat scratches you have to worry about. I will rip your tongue out of your head for your disobedience.’
Not trusting herself to respond, Sabine turned sharply and in a swirl of color she was gone, leaving Nathaniel smirking in her wake.
Olivia threw another book down on the growing pile. She could feel her frustration growing. It was, in part, due to the fact neither she nor Theo had managed to uncover any more information on Nathaniel’s origins. The rest of her frustration stemmed from everyone around her going into panic mode and trying to keep her on lockdown in her own house.
She sighed unconsciously. She knew they meant well, just as she knew how much they all loved her. The demon Sabine’s attempt to kidnap her and the fact that she almost succeeded had shaken them all deeply, including Olivia. She wasn’t a fool, she knew how much danger she was in and it was likely to get worse, but she wasn’t about to hide out in her house. She wasn’t going to put her children in danger either, which left her uncomfortably wedged in the middle somewhere. She’d give her friends time to settle she decided and then she’d put her foot down.
She had Miller’s baptism to attend soon and there was no way she was missing that. Not to mention the fact that she was supposed to be looking for the damn book.
A small frown marred her brow as her unruly thoughts were once again drawn back to the Hell book, Infernum, the bane of her life. She wished to all the Gods she’d never even heard of it. There was a small part of her that just wanted to crawl into bed and hide from it all. Like a child she wanted to curl down into the warmth and pull the blankets over her head.
Unfortunately that wasn’t on the cards for her. None of the creatures searching for the book would believe that, not only did she not have it in her possession, but that she had no clue where it was hidden. They were far more the ‘attack first, ask questions later’ kind of people. No, her only chance of survival, her children's only chance of freedom, was to find the book first and destroy it.
She drew in a shaky breath and closed her eyes, as she acknowledged for the first time, her secret intention. She didn’t want the book, she never had. She didn’t need the power it represented. All she wanted was to live her life with Theo and their children. This book had cursed her family for far too long as it was. She wasn’t going to subject her children to the same crap she’d had to face.
She was cutting all the ties between the book and her family, and the only way to do that was to destroy it once and for all. Not everyone would understand, her parents probably wouldn’t. They were too closely bound to its history, to its fate. Her friends may understand to a certain extent, but none of them truly understood the pain it had caused her.
Theo would understand, she knew it deep in her heart. He was the one person she could trust above everyone. The one person who’d have her back, no matter what and she was incredibly grateful for that.
She’d struggled, ever since she’d learned the truth about the West women. She’d struggled to come to terms with her destiny, but Theo was right about one thing. From now on they would write their own destiny and they would start by putting an end to Infernum once and for all. It was the only way they’d ever be truly free. Then all they would have to do was find a way to kill Nathaniel or at the very least send him back to Hell.
She turned her gaze back to the pile of discarded books and picked up her iPad. There had to be something, somewhere, some scrap of information that would help them to stop Nathaniel before he sent any more of his demon friends after her.
Olivia looked up at the sudden sound of the door opening. She watched silently as a familiar face appeared in the doorway of the library.
‘If you’ve come to fight some more, I’m not in the mood,’ she replied coolly, ‘so you can just turn around and walk right back out again.’
Charles gazed at his daughter, his
eyes drifted over her from head to toe, almost as if assessing her.
‘I’m not here to fight with you Olivia,’ his low rumble filled the strained air between them.
‘Then why are you here?’
‘I came to apologize.’
One of her eyebrows quirked questioningly.
‘I’m worried about you,’ he ventured further into the room.
‘Get in line,’ she murmured sourly.
‘I heard about what happened.’
She sighed slowly. ‘Come in,’ she conceded; it was probably best they clear the air between them. She didn’t like it when they were at odds with each other, but equally she wouldn’t tolerate him marching into her life after a twenty year absence and trying to lay down the law with her, especially when it involved her mother. That was a whole can of worms she was perfectly capable of opening all by herself.
Charles crossed the room, dropping down onto the couch beside her and cupped her chin softly in his hand, lifting her face so he could study her more closely.
‘Are you alright?’ he asked in concern.
‘I’m fine,’ she nodded, pushing his hand away gently.
‘And the babies?’
‘We’re all fine,’ she answered quietly.
‘You’ll have to be more careful from now on,’ he told her bluntly. ‘You do know it’s not safe out there for you, don’t you?’
‘Don’t start,’ she stood restlessly and paced across the room, putting some distance between her and her father. ‘I’ve got more than enough people trying to tell me what to do, without you giving me a hard time too.’
‘Olivia, we’re trying to keep you safe,’ he stood just as abruptly. ‘You’re just too stubborn for your own damn good.’
‘I may be stubborn,’ her eyes flashed dangerously, ‘but I’m not stupid.’
‘I never implied you were,’ he blew out a frustrated breath.
‘You do,’ she replied, ‘all the time. I get that you’re concerned about me. I get that you want to keep me safe, but I’m not a child anymore and you continually treating me like one is just insulting.’
‘I don’t treat you like a child,’ he frowned in confusion.
‘You do,’ she returned, reaching down deep inside herself, trying to find her patience. ‘You don’t trust me to make my own decisions and when I do you constantly question them, like I haven’t thought through the consequences.’
‘Is this still about your mother?’ his expression darkened.
‘No, it’s about you not trusting me,’ she repeated. ‘It’s about you finally admitting that I’m not a child anymore.’
‘You may not be a child Olivia,’ he replied, ‘but you’re still my child. I can’t help wanting to protect you, that isn’t ever going to change. That’s something you’ll understand when your children are born.’
‘I'm not faulting your intentions,’ Olivia breathed slowly, ‘just your execution. I don’t want to fight with you every time we’re in the same room. We were just getting back to the place where I felt I could trust you again. I don’t want to lose that. I don’t want to lose you, but you need to give me some breathing room and you need to trust that whatever I decide to do, it’s what I believe is best for me.’
‘Even if I know it puts you in danger.’
‘Even then,’ she whispered, ‘it’s called free will for a reason.’
‘I don’t know Olivia,’ he shook his head, ‘you have no idea of the danger you are in right now.’
‘I know exactly how much danger I’m in,’ she replied. ‘Like I said I’m not stupid, but I’m not a coward either. I’m not going to intentionally put myself or my children in danger but I’m not going to hide either.
I’m going to fight, for my right to survive, for my husband and especially for my children. Because I am telling you now, they are not being born into the middle of this mess. My children are going to be born free, they are going to grow up to choose their own path and I am going to do whatever it takes to make sure that happens, even if I have to kill every god damn demon who dares set foot in Mercy,’ her eyes flashed dangerously. ‘I’m done being afraid. This is my town and any creature who thinks they can waltz in here and threaten me and my own will pay the price.’
Charles’ eyes narrowed slightly as he studied his daughter thoughtfully. She was right, she was no longer a child. Any trace of the little girl he remembered was gone and before him stood not only a determined woman but a powerful witch.
He could feel the air around them snapping with the aura of her power. She didn’t even realize she was doing it. He was under no illusions that she meant every word she said.
He’d come to his own personal crossroad. He could either step back and trust her or he could let his fear of losing her rule him. If he continued to keep pushing her, he’d lose her anyway. There wasn’t any choice, he realized. She was his child and he’d stand beside her until the bitter end.
‘Okay Olivia,’ he released a long slow breath, ‘we do this your way.’
‘There is one more thing Dad,’ she fixed her clear gaze on him, ‘we’re rebuilding our trust here. If we’re going to have any kind of relationship from here on in, there can be no more lies between us.’
He watched her silently, sure he knew what was coming next.
‘Tell me what happened in New Orleans?’ she asked him bluntly.
‘It’s not relevant,’ he replied coolly.
‘I’ll be the judge of that.’
‘Why does it matter?’ he paced the room. ‘What’s past is past.’
‘Dad,’ she frowned, ‘why won’t you just tell me, what could be that bad? Just tell me.’
‘It doesn’t matter, it didn’t work.’
‘What didn’t work?’ her eyes narrowed.
‘Olivia you have to understand, we didn’t know where you were, or how to get you back,’ he shook his head.
‘What did you do?’ she whispered suspiciously.
‘I needed someone with power, a lot of it and the ability to see into the Otherworld.’
‘Hoodoo,’ she guessed. ‘It’s the one magic that’s closely linked with the Spirit world. You went looking for a Hoodoo master.’
‘Yes I did,’ he replied unapologetically, ‘and I found her, or rather she found me.’
‘What…did…you…do?’ she repeated more firmly.
‘I bought passage back for you both from the Otherworld.’
‘What?’ she scowled in confusion, ‘how?’
‘It doesn’t matter,’ he shook his head.
‘It matters to me.’
‘When it came time for us to pull you both back it was too late, you’d already crossed over into the Underworld. I had no choice Olivia, you have to understand that. You are my child and you were in danger, I made the only choice I could.’
‘A choice?’ she shook her head in confusion, ‘I don’t understand…’
Then suddenly she did. She could see the mix of guilt and defiance in his expression and she knew exactly what choice he’d made.
‘You couldn’t pull us both back could you?’ she realized as she thought back to the moment at the Crossroad, to the strange green fire which had come out of nowhere and gripped her so tightly, yanking her away from the others, away from Theo. Suddenly she wished she’d never asked, because now she understood exactly what choice he’d made.
‘You chose me,’ she whispered. ‘You tried to pull me back from the Underworld, but you were going to leave Theo there.’
‘It wasn’t like that Olivia,’ he tried to make her understand. ‘It was one of you or neither of you. I made the only call I could.’
‘And it was the wrong one,’ she looked up at him with devastated eyes. ‘You shouldn’t have interfered.’
‘I had every right to interfere,’ he snapped.
‘No you didn’t,’ she whispered. ‘If that had been me I would’ve found another way. Do you hav
e any idea of the consequences of your actions? You almost killed Sam, you nearly yanked me out of the middle of the Crossroad giving mom and Nathaniel the chance to escape. You nearly left Theo, an innocent man, stranded in the Underworld.’
‘I didn’t know that at the time, I didn’t know what you were doing.’
‘No!’ she snapped angrily, ‘you didn’t and you didn’t even bother to try and find out. You just went stomping in blindly thinking you could fix everything and you accuse me of not thinking things through?’
‘That’s not fair!’ he protested.
‘What did it cost you?’
‘What?’
‘You said you bought passage, so what was the price?’
He stared at her silently.
‘Don’t stop there,’ she bit sarcastically, ‘you might as well go all the way. What did it cost you?’
‘A favor,’ he replied.
‘A favor?’ she repeated.
‘Redeemable at her leisure.’
‘And you have no idea what she will make you do, or when?’ Olivia answered incredulously.
Charles shook his head.
‘And you call me irresponsible,’ she whispered angrily. ‘Is that it?’
‘The power of suggestion,’ he told her reluctantly.
‘What?’
‘I had to surrender my ability to influence others,’ he confessed, knowing that if he didn’t tell her the truth now she might never find her way to trusting him again and their relationship would be irreparably damaged.
Olivia pinched the bridge of her nose, squeezing her eyes closed as she tried to rein in the maelstrom of emotions ripping through her.
‘So you’re telling me that not only were you going to pull me back to this world and leave Theo stranded, but that you promised a favour, with no stipulations, to a complete stranger and then as the icing on the cake you gave her the ability to influence others with the power of suggestion?’
‘Yes.’
‘I can’t do this right now,’ she breathed heavily, closing her eyes and shaking her head.
‘Olivia,’ he stepped to her, his hands outstretched.
The Guardians Complete Series 1 Box Set: Contains Mercy, The Ferryman, Crossroads, Witchfinder, Infernum Page 169