“You mean, locked up in those glass cages?” I ask.
“Yes,” Smudge says. “And Emmanuel was his martyr.”
“You mean the boy in chains?”
“Yes.”
“You knew that . . . why didn’t you say anything?”
“It was . . . too difficult to explain all of that to you in the short time we were in Zentao. You already had . . . so much on your mind.”
“A few years after Arianna gave birth to Daumier’s son, Diaz,” Zee says, “he devised a plan to take over the rest of Bygonne, starting with the Tree Factory of Greenleigh. He sent Arianna and Diaz, then later, Mona and Emmanuel. Arianna’s been trying ever since to get back into his Monastery for good.”
I plop down next to Johnny on his cot, blown away by this news. “Oh, wow . . . Diaz was his son . . .”
“Now I see why they were the way they were,” says Johnny. “Did you say . . . locked in glass cages?”
“Yes. He did the same thing to Pia, Chloe, and Raven.”
Johnny punches his palm. “I’m gonna rip him a new one.”
Every single piece of my past slams into place, a crushing realization. It was all him—Lord Daumier. The Superiors’ evilness, the mass murders and suicides, the “ultimate sacrifices,” the air and ozone in Bygonne getting worse instead of better, the people fleeing Zentao because of the flood. My brothers’ and sisters’ capture, death to so many I’ve loved . . . the theft of my unborn son. Everything . . . all due to the perverse depravity, greed, and malice of Lord Daumier. Never thought I’d have an ounce of compassion for any of those foul souls—the Superiors . . . but now that I’ve witnessed the abuse firsthand, I can see how they became so vile, so erased, so empty . . . heartless. Soulless. Their souls had been taken by Lord Daumier.
Still, I don’t feel guilty for killing three of them, and I certainly don’t feel bad about Arianna spiraling into the chasm to her death with a spear to the chest.
“He knew it was us who blew up the Tree Factory,” I say. “He knew I killed his son.”
“Yes,” Zee says, “but he cared nothing for his son. In fact . . . I believe this may have intrigued him more. The more power you have, the more he wants to have power over you. That’s how he operates.”
“I don’t get it,” says Johnny. “Why would Arianna want to marry him? Why would any of them want anything to do with that asshole after the way he treated them? Doesn’t compute.”
“Stockholm syndrome,” Smudge says. “Prisoners can feel . . . loyalty toward and dependence upon their captors. Easiest way to explain it.”
“Well, that’s just sick.”
Baby Lou pushes to get out of my arms. “Wak,” she cries. “Wak!”
“I think she wants to take a walk,” I say.
“Why don’t we get going, then?” Zee suggests.
“Sounds good.” I nod. “I need to process all of this. And I’m ready to meet Seraphim.”
Baby Lou toddles ahead next to Zee, while Johnny pushes Smudge in the wheeled chair. I stride alongside them, and gaze at Smudge’s profile, the missing tattoo, covered up by the skin Zee fused there to save her life. A symbol of her starting over anew.
She catches me staring. “What is it?”
“Your tattoo’s gone. Guess that means you’re one of us now.”
She grins. “I guess it does.”
“You get a fresh start,” Johnny says. “We all do. How cool is that?”
But I’m unable to ignore the reality of my situation. “Well, not all of us,” I say. “Not quite.”
“What do you mean, sis?”
I explain about the Nirvonic System, and about Zee’s having blocked its transmission. “How long it’ll last is questionable, though.”
“Damn, that’s no good,” says Johnny.
“No, it’s not. And Zee discovered something else unusual. When she implanted the device that allows us to speak telepathically to each other—”
Johnny jerks his head toward me. “Whoa, no way!”
I nod. “That’s how we communicated while in Alzanei without anyone knowing our plans, or that Zee was on our side.”
“That’s awesome! So stealthy . . .”
“It has other uses, too, but I won’t go into those right now. Anyway, when Zee programmed the device, she found another device had already been implanted by someone else, though it’s not in use anymore. How weird is that? I have no idea—”
Smudge peers up at me, face blanched white, then straight ahead again.
“Smudge, what?”
Silent. She glances at me, guilt simmering in her.
“Hold on, was it . . . you?” I halt beneath the Ferris wheel. “Zee, wait.”
Zee pulls up short and hoists Baby Lou onto her hip. Johnny stops pushing, and I take two steps back to face Smudge. “Was it you?”
Smudge swallows hard. “Yes.”
“When?”
“In the transfer room, the first time you and Jax went down there.”
“You implanted one in him, too?”
“I did.”
“Why?”
“I needed to be able to track you and bring you back down if you didn’t come on your own.”
“You can control people with those things?” Johnny asks.
I hold my hand up to silence his questioning. “Smudge, you promised you didn’t have any more secrets, remember? On the beach in Zentao?”
“Yes. And I’m truly sorry I lied to you. At the time, it wasn’t . . . an important detail.”
“Well . . . I guess it’s not too big of a deal, since the implant’s inactive, but . . . is that it? Is there anything else? Please, let’s get all cards on the table, right here, right now.”
Smudge shifts in her seat, staring at her clasped hands.
“There’s something else, isn’t there?”
She inhales, long and slow. “After Miguel died . . . it was my first experience with human tragedy and heartbreak . . . I mean, something I was a part of, and I wasn’t sure how to handle it. All of those emotions, so much pain and anguish, everyone drowning in it . . . I did the only thing I could think of to make it better for all of you. Although I realize the error in my reasoning, now that I am more familiar with . . . what it is to be . . . human.”
“All right, I’m confused. What exactly did you do?”
“I . . . I manipulated your hormones. Yours and Jax’s, to bring you two back together again. But the outcome was not one I expected . . .”
“You . . . did what?” My body numbs as I remember that unusual, instant attraction I had to Mateo . . . And now that I think about it, there was the same awkward, out-of-place attraction between Jax and Aby. “Smudge, how could you do that? How could you?”
“I’m so sorry. I was only trying to help—” She begins to cry.
“You told me Mateo and I had ‘good energy’ together, that we were ‘compatible.’ Was that a lie, too?”
“No, it wasn’t. But please understand, Joy, I now realize what I did was wrong, and if it were possible to go back, I wouldn’t have implanted those devices in the first place—”
“No, wait.” Zee holds up a hand. “We might be able to use it to help Jax.”
“Help him?” Smudge sniffles. “With what?”
“He’s still in Alzanei,” I say. “He and Vila are both hooked up to some sort of mind machines while Lord Daumier tries to find clues about where the remaining two Seeker’s Keys are. Zee, can you tap into the device?”
“Even better. I can connect his . . . to yours.”
“Seriously? We’d be able to communicate?”
“Yes, when he’s conscious, and perhaps even during a MemTap. But I’ll have to disconnect the transmission between you and Mateo. Your mind can only handle so much.”
After a split seco
nd, I realize there’s no consideration to be had. “Of course. How long will it take?”
“A few hours. I’ll need to discuss it with Seraphim.”
Baby Lou kicks her tiny feet. “Wak!”
“Shall we?” Zee says.
We start moving again, tension still thick between Smudge and me, though it takes a short moment for my anger to subside. It was an honest mistake; she was doing her best to help us, with a novice’s understanding of the complex human condition. Plus . . . it has become another unexpected perfect piece of our journey to freedom.
“I forgive you,” I say.
Relief washes over her as she gazes up at me. “Being a human is . . . difficult work.”
Zee glances down at her. “You’re telling me. Why do you think I chose to stay in Alzanei after Raffai awakened me? Aura and Sadie will help us through, though, and we’ll help each other. We’ll love and forgive, like they did, and be strong, like they were. We’ll do it together.”
“Yes, we will.” Johnny pats Smudge’s shoulder.
“Yes,” I agree, “we sure will.”
We step into the glass elevator, and it glides to the second floor. My stomach flutters again as the doors open, letting us off onto the balcony. Through a mini-dome above, the early morning sky turns a grayish blue while the stars fade into yesterday. To our right stands an open doorway through which wispy trails of scented smoke drift, like from the canisters in Alzanei, and we enter a room twinkling with candlelight. We pass two overstuffed, frayed couches, a mismatched pair of lumpy chairs, and various potted trees, until a rectangular strip of light appears through another doorway at the far end of the room.
“Seraphim?” Zee calls out. “You have visitors!”
“Come in. Please.” The man’s voice is raspy, familiar. The same voice from the MemTap.
Zee ushers us toward the doorway, and I tremble as we enter. At once, I’m caught off guard by the man before me. He isn’t the man I saw in the MemTap. No neck tattoo, with dark skin, long, thick dreadlocks, and a round belly.
He rises from a large pallet on the floor. “I was just getting in my morning meditation. What a nice surprise.” He walks up to me, smile fading for a moment, until it returns, wider. “You must be Joy.”
“I am. Nice to meet you.”
“You, as well, my dear. And who is this precious little thing?” He crouches, grins at Baby Lou in my arms.
“This is Louanne. We call her Baby Lou.”
“Pleased to make your acquaintance, Miss Baby Lou.” He tickles her belly, and she stares, captivated by him.
“So, you knew my father . . . ?” I ask.
“Yes. Richard and I worked together for quite some time. What a great man he was. And I’m sure you’re an equally magnificent daughter.” He kisses my free hand. “I’ve been waiting for this day.”
“How did you—?”
“Please, come. We can chat on the deck. You’ll love the view.” He leads us toward the light, which grows brighter with the rising of the sun, rays shining through a small window by a staircase. “I’m sorry, dear, what’s your name? You look very familiar.” He leans into Smudge with a wink.
“Smudge. And it’s very nice to meet you. I’ve heard great things about you.”
Seraphim chuckles. “Ah, well, I assure you, the pleasure’s all mine. Diego and Star have told me great things about you, as well. They’re ecstatic to finally have you here.” He flicks a finger toward Johnny. “Can you help her up the stairs?”
“Sure can.” And in one swoop, he has Smudge cradled in his arms with a kiss to the nose. “I’m Johnny.” He shakes Seraphim’s hand. “Nice to meet you.”
“You, as well.” Seraphim holds a hand out to Zee. “And I’m so glad to see you made it back, Miss Zee. I had faith you would.”
“Thanks for all of your help.” She gives his hand a squeeze. “We couldn’t have done it without you.”
“Yes, thank you so much,” I say.
“Sure thing.” His green eyes twinkle with kindness. “Well, come on up, then. Watch your step.”
With Baby Lou propped on one hip and my friends close behind, I follow Seraphim up the stairs, right, then right again. Once we reach the top, I’m awestruck. A huge room with lightly tinted windows on three sides and worn wooden chairs and benches here and there gives a perfect view to the masterpiece before us: the glorious cerulean ocean, neon sun rising over it, born into welcoming pastel clouds.
We walk toward the sun, to the railing, and a foot from the window, feel the warmth from its birth. For a moment, no one speaks. We stand in astonished silence, before a perfection no words would ever adequately describe.
“You came at a good time.” Seraphim rests in a chair, propping his feet up on a bench. “Another hour and it’ll be too hot. There’s sand on the roof, but it still gets a bit too toasty because of the windows. The glass isn’t quite thick enough.”
“This is absolutely breathtaking.” I peek back at him.
“It is.”
I study him for a moment, curious. “You don’t look how I remember you. I saw you in a MemTap, with my father.”
Seraphim chuckles from deep in his belly. “I underwent some changes a few years ago. I needed to be a new man, so a few friends helped me look how I wanted. It was . . . liberating.”
“I didn’t remember you from before, until they did that MemTap. I was lying in bed with my mother—she was nearing End-of-Days—and you were talking to my daddy and Jonesy, and another man, about getting a Key from Lord Daumier. Do you recall that?”
Seraphim rolls a dreadlock between his finger and thumb. “Yes. The other man was Donovan from the saltmines. With my help, he stole one of the Keys from Daumier, then it was stolen from him once he returned. Fortunately, your father regained it a year or so later, but . . . he died before disclosing its location to any of us. Could be anywhere. Knowing Richard, though, he may have done that on purpose.”
Jax told me in the MemTap with him that his father had stolen one of the Keys. Might he have stolen it from this man, Donovan, from the saltmines?
And this resurfaces another memory: the saltmine, where Mateo’s from. After I met Mateo, he claimed his father was “the best thief the world had ever known.” Was Donovan Mateo’s father?
The coincidences are bizarre and unnerving.
A blurry hand waves in front of me, and I refocus on Johnny. “You with us?”
“Yeah.” And again I study Seraphim’s face, the warm, kind eyes that speak of trustworthiness. “One of the Keys is in the jungle,” I confess. “I have a general idea of where. A woman named Cheyenne gave it to us before she died, and I hid it near the Northeast Subterrane as we were getting captured by Queen Nataniah.”
“Ah, Cheyenne . . .” Seraphim shakes his head with a sad chuckle. “No one ever expected her, of all people, to escape, but she did. And with one of Daumier’s Keys, at that . . . ? Wow. Something of a magician herself, she was . . .”
“Yes, she was,” says Smudge. “And she was . . . my first family.”
“I’m so sorry about your loss. It must be so difficult for you all.”
We share a brief moment of silence before he continues. “About the general location of that Key . . . that’s very good news. We’ll gather a group as soon as possible to attain it.”
“Where did they come from?” I ask. “And who built The Wall in the first place? And why did they leave those Keys here?”
Seraphim rises from his bench and joins us at the railing. We stare out at the horizon, the ocean, as he speaks. “Some scientists entrusted a group of men to rebuild our society and fix the sky hole. With the new tree technology given to Micah Greenleigh, the ozone layer was to be well on its way to full reparation within twenty years, though precautions were taken in case it got worse. The Wall was built and the Seeker’s Keys were given to Mr
. Greenleigh for him to bring over a select group, if the worst did come to the worst. Regrettably, Lord Daumier discovered Micah had the Keys, at which point he had Arianna Superior shipped over, posing as a vagabond with her teenage son.” Seraphim sips from a canteen slung by a cord across his shoulder before he continues.
“Not long after, she implanted into Micah a 5R3—the very first control device created by Alzaneian scientists. This allowed her to govern him, and this is when he became ill—presumably her doing, as well—and both the reins and the Keys were handed over to Arianna, right before Micah’s death.” He stares off into the distance and takes another sip.
“Fortunately,” he goes on, “Micah did not have the knowledge of The Wall’s location, and he was under strict orders to keep the Keys in a locked box and not to open it for any reason until it was time to leave. So when Arianna delivered the box to Lord Daumier’s Monastery, she was expecting a ticket to Paradise. But Daumier was not ready to leave Alzanei; he was still building his population of OAIs to take over to Havivah. Shortly after, Donovan and I had stolen one of the Keys. We would’ve gotten them all, but Daumier kept them on three different levels of his Monastery to make it more difficult for potential thieves.”
I let his words sink in. So many things I had no clue about were going on behind the scenes for so long. How was my daddy so sure I’d get this far? Was it faith? A flimsy hope that maybe I would? Or an intricately orchestrated design of some Great Cosmic Intelligence?
Perhaps it’s as simple as magic. And that, my daddy believed in more than anything.
“Wow,” Johnny mutters. “How insane is this?”
“Seraphim,” I say, “I was told you’re in the process of devising a plan of attack. We want to help. Part of our family is still in Alzanei and we need to get them back. If you help us, we’ll assist you in finding the Keys. We already know where two of them are, and I’m positive there are clues in my father’s magic book that’ll help us find the last one. Lord Daumier still has the book, along with one of the Keys. Not to mention, my . . . friend, Jax, believes there’s a Key somewhere in the bunkers of Greenleigh.”
Seraphim stares for a moment, then chuckles again. “You have fire in you, girl, like your father. I do believe we’ll do this, now that we have your help. You’ve overcome tremendous obstacles.”
The Soultakers (The Treemakers Trilogy Book 2) Page 31