04 Last

by Lynnie Purcell

  “I should talk to the historian,” I said.

  The attack had changed my priorities. With Marcus moving, I had to move as well. Training could only take me so far before action had to be accomplished.

  Reaper nodded and pulled out his cell phone. He dialed a number and I heard River pick up on the other end. She sounded preoccupied – her preoccupation disappeared the moment Reaper told her what had happened. They were lost in what to do next and how to go about it.

  “Who is coming back with me?” I asked.

  Daniel held out his hand but the others looked at me with slightly guilty expressions on their faces. I knew why they felt guilty – they wanted to stay where the action was. They were tired of watching the Idaho landscape turn from chilly to cold.

  “It’s okay,” I assured them. “I’ll see you soon.”

  I grabbed Daniel’s hand and we moved in to the darkness in-between. When we landed outside of the historian’s cave, Daniel finally let down his guard. The fear he had kept from his face was obvious. He could no longer contain it. His eyes told of a secret he had kept from the others.

  “What’s the matter?” I asked him.

  “It’s coming true,” he told me.

  “What is?”

  “My vision,” he said. “The council dying…I saw that. I saw that before I even knew who they were. I saw Ileana and the others – I knew where to find them. It’s coming true.”

  “That doesn’t mean the world is ending,” I said.

  “It means it’s trying to,” Daniel replied.

  “What has happened?” the historian asked, coming out of her cave.

  “The council was attacked,” Daniel replied. “All of them are dead, except for Odette. She managed to escape; used the council’s death as a distraction.”

  “Marcus?” the historian asked.

  “Yes,” Daniel replied.

  “His pace quickens,” she said.

  “The question is how we catch up to him,” I said.

  “This is a marathon, not a sprint,” the historian said. “You will have to gather your strength, find his hideout in Israel before you can move.”

  “I don’t like that,” I said.

  “Have you been reading in your grandfather’s book?” the historian asked.

  “No,” I said. “I’ve been busy with training.”

  “Maybe there is an answer there,” she suggested.

  “I’ll look,” I promised.

  “You should also consider where you will spend your birthday,” the historian said.

  “What do you mean?” I asked.

  “It is painful to change,” she said. “A place of comfort and quiet is best.”

  “We don’t even know if I’m going to ‘change,’” I said.

  “You will,” the historian said. “You already have signs of the change.”

  “Signs? What signs?” I asked.

  She smiled but did not reply.

  “Once the change is over, come back to me,” she said. “We will have some things to discuss.”

  “Okay…” I agreed.

  Daniel pulled me away from the cave, back to the house we had renovated.

  “She’s right,” Daniel said as we walked up the rickety steps of the house.

  “She is?” I asked.

  “We need to think about where to keep you during the change,” he said.

  “Where to ‘keep me’?” I asked.

  “We need a place where no one will come looking for the source of the screams,” he added. “A place that is remote.”

  “You’re not making feel very calm about this,” I said.

  “Sorry,” he said.

  “What’s wrong with this house?” I asked. “It’s remote, private and if I get out of control, like you seem to think I will, the historian can come down here and kick my butt.”

  “Is that what you want?” he asked.

  I shrugged. “I’d like to not go through some painful change that will change my life forever, but we don’t always get what we want,” I said.

  “True,” he agreed.

  We walked up the stairs inside and went to the room that had been our living quarters for the past three weeks. I sat down on the bed we shared and pulled my grandfather’s book out from under the bed. I looked at it for a moment, the weight of it on my lap as heavy as the questions on my mind. The scene I had just faced ran through my brain on a loop. I had really burned people to ash; that had been me, without the change. What kind of monster would I be once I was no longer entirely human?

  My thoughts must have showed on my face. Daniel bent down in front of me and gently took my hands. His eyes were full of compassion and empathy. He had been where I had been; he had done things he was not proud to admit.

  “You did what you had to,” he said. “You were more than brave.”

  “It was violent and messy, and I was scared,” I said.

  “That’s war,” Daniel replied.

  I sighed and, since I didn’t feel like replying to that, I opened my grandfather’s book. I flipped to the back and started scanning through his writing. There were pages and pages of entries – more than just the first ones I had read. Daniel sat down next to me on the bed and looked over my shoulder as I read. Most of the entries were about his search for my family, meeting the mysterious Jacob and the quest for answers. He discussed his meeting with Jacob at length – apparently, Jacob had been an unsettling person to meet. It wasn’t until the last page of journal entries that I found something truly interesting. Daniel and I shared a look of surprise as we read the first sentence. Our minds racing, we focused on the entry as a whole.

  “Cobb, my oldest friend, has lied to me. He is not to be trusted. He has been taken in by Jacob. I believe I mentioned my feelings on Jacob before. He is a strange man, full of grace and charm that no human could possibly match. There was something wrong with him, though – a violent nature he kept carefully hidden behind his good manners. He was charming, but he could not hide his passion. He came here searching for something, something beyond my family history. He kept trying to sneak looks at my work, to see if I was keeping things from him. I do not trust his motives. Now, I find that Cobb has been in contact with him. They have formed an alliance to betray me. They want my research – they want to use it to their own ends. At first, I was at a loss to understand why they were so interested in my research, why they would work so hard to deceive me, but I have finally unearthed the reason. My family was more than royalty. They were protectors of a secret, a secret that could undo the very earth. Jacob and Cobb think they can control this secret and master the benefits of the secret, but they cannot. Cobb will have to be watched.”

  The entry stopped there.

  “Secret?” I asked in frustration.

  “Keep reading,” Daniel urged me.

  The next entry was written a day later. It was written a month before my grandfather died. It was the last entry in the book.

  “Since I have discovered the secret of my family, I have struggled with the truth of my knowledge. How do I keep others from learning the truth? How do I keep something so terrible out of the hands of people with less than honorable intentions? How do I stop them? I was stupid to let Jacob and Cobb in on my quest, stupid to trust them so completely. But how to make sure that someone carries on my work? How do I make sure someone sees them for what they are? The truth shakes me to my core. What is stranger still, is the dream I had last night. It might be the effects of the cancer or my fear presenting itself, but it is a dream I cannot shake. It haunts me. A man with clear, grey eyes and a strong sense of peace came to me and told me that I must trust my daughter and granddaughter; they were the answers to my fear. For some reason, I trusted him. His eyes were the kindest I had ever known. He would not lie to me. My daughter and my sweet grandbaby will face the fear and conquer it. I trust in them.

  Cobb came to me today. He came under the guise of a friend worried about the choices I had made, the choices con
cerning my daughter. He knows about the cancer – he knows I will not live beyond the winter. He told me that he thought it was time to make amends. He told me to will the house to my daughter. His urging made me think of the dream. I do not know what reason he has for wanting them here in the house, but I will do as he asks. I will listen to the dream. I must trust that my baby girl, and her girl, will be strong enough to face whatever evil Cobb is dreaming up. I will trust in my sweet girl, because she is the strongest of us all. She could always see the truth, even when it was hidden. She will know – she will put a stop to the plan Jacob has set in motion. I believe in that…I believe in her. I will hide this journal today in a part of my study no one else knows about. I will leave the sword for her to find, as a clue to the secret of the book. I hope it will be found, and my girl can understand that I never meant to bring this trouble to her. She was simply the only one I trust – she and her daughter are the last of the Michaels. They are the rightful keepers of the secret. They must fulfill the promise of their blood. They must keep guard over that which has remained hidden. So, with faith that my girl will find this, I leave this message…

  My darling girl, I am sorry for the pain I have caused. I hope you find this, and I hope you will forgive an old fool his foolishness. I have left the answer to what Jacob seeks in the house. It is with a picture I have hanging near the kitchen – the last picture you ever took with her family. I have to hope you find it. Hope is all I have.”

  I closed the book and looked up at Daniel in shock. My grandfather’s words resonated. He had known about Cobb. He had trusted us to face Cobb. Daniel was deep in thought.

  “Imagine for a moment that Marcus figures out who your grandfather is,” Daniel said. “Marcus heard of your family from the historian and knows what it means to be a Michaels. He had already attacked your mother, proof he knows what your blood can do. So, your grandfather turns up, searching for answers, and he’s managed to find out more than Marcus has about your family history. Marcus decides to weasel up to your grandfather, find out what he knows – maybe even use him for whatever he has planned next...to get to you.”

  I understood what Daniel was saying; it made perfect sense.

  “So Marcus calls himself Jacob and acts as if he’s with the government in Israel,” I said. “They strike up a friendship based in a love of history. Marcus finally visits my grandfather, which is a mistake, because he lets my grandfather know something is wrong. Marcus would have a hard time hiding the fact that he is a Watcher. But Marcus meets Cobb, and Cobb is the sort willing to make deals with the devil. They strike up a bargain to draw me to King’s Cross – a bargain that promises Cobb never-ending life.”

  Daniel’s eyes were bright. We finally had an answer to how Marcus knew about me and how he had found me in King’s Cross. We finally understood, though our answers didn’t feel complete. It felt like there was more; I couldn’t explain the feeling. He continued the line of thought with his own idea.

  “And Cobb has a cousin…Nicolas Gudger, who is more than willing to accept blood in exchange for power…which gets him killed when he realizes his daughter, Amanda, is more important than the ability to burn people up,” Daniel added.

  “Marcus wants me for more than just my blood,” I said. “From the sound of it, there’s something big in Israel…something only a Michaels can get for him.”

  “Or Michaels’ blood,” Daniel added.

  “Right,” I agreed.

  “We need to find out,” Daniel said. “It could be the answer we’re looking for. It might tell us where Marcus will strike next and what he has planned for the future.”

  “Or it could be a giant waste of time,” I said. “My grandfather was sick…maybe he wasn’t as aware as we think.”

  “It’s better than being on a boat without room to breathe, waiting on answers we can’t control,” Daniel said. “At least we’re moving forward.”

  I smiled at his words.

  “Are you appealing to my impatient side in the hopes that I’ll agree?” I asked.

  “Maybe a little,” he said.

  “I like it,” I decided. “Let’s go see if my grandfather was telling the truth.”

  Daniel put a cautionary hand up; it was a hand that was as much a warning as anything else. He didn’t want me to jump in to something without considering the facts.

  “Are you prepared for that truth?” Daniel asked. “We don’t know what we are going to find – it may not be the happiest of truths.”

  “I’m as prepared as you are,” I said.

  And I was. I wanted to know the truth more than I cared if the truth would hurt. Understanding was the only way we could break the cycle of unanswered questions. We would finally know what Marcus was searching for; we would know why he wanted me. We finally had a clue to follow. We weren’t just waiting with baited breath for Marcus to strike next. We could start reacting to his moves in the right way, instead of chasing down shadows and leads that never seemed to pan out.

  Daniel accepted my words as truth. He had a thought, a different worry.

  “Alex said your mom sold your house, though,” he said. “We’ll have to break in.”

  My whole being was focused on the truth in front of us. But even still, I had to repress a mischievous smile.

  “We can manage,” I said. “It’s not like you haven’t broken in to a house before.”

  Daniel’s return smile was boyish and excited. He held out his hand, the excited emotion mirrored in his fast movement. I weaved my fingers around his, holding on tight in my excitement, and concentrated on my destination. It wasn’t difficult to imagine where we were going. It was a place that stayed with me always, wherever I went. It was the first place I had truly felt home.

  Chapter 12

  There was a different chill to the air as we set down in the forest of King’s Cross.

  It was the bitter, fresh, cold of the mountains. It was the kind of cold that could cut through even the sharpest of steel. I shivered at the feeling and pulled my jacket in close. Daniel didn’t seem to notice as he looked around the forest, which was dotted with the cloudy light of autumn. He knew where we were in a look. He had spent enough time in the woods around my house to know.

  My house was directly in front of us, through a break in the trees. People were coming and going on the dead-end street, fighting their way through the cold as they moved from one destination to the next. Houses were decorated in the Halloween spirit. Goblins, ghouls and other creatures of the season obscured the houses and yards of my neighbors. My house was the only one without decorations. With its abandoned feel and dark, lonely windows, I thought it was the spookiest house of them all. Ellen’s car, Alex’s jeep and Sam’s Mercedes were exactly where they had been left. They too, had the feel of abandonment. Nothing had changed, except that the yard was in need of tending and spider webs were crowding the front porch.

  “It doesn’t look like anyone is home,” Daniel said with a frown.

  “Nope,” I said.

  “We should probably go in the back, so no one sees us break in. We don’t need King to get us out of another mess.”

  “Uh-huh,” I agreed absently.

  I walked past him and out of the forest without the same fear clouding my mind. I kept my eyes focused on the front door as I walked. I heard Daniel’s whispered admonishment, but I ignored him. I was not as worried about being seen as he was. Sheriff Chuck wouldn’t remember our encounter; the worst that could happen was gossip. Gossip didn’t frighten me the way it did some – I had seen real terrors.

  Daniel caught up with me as I crossed the yard.

  “Are you crazy?” he asked.

  “Metaphorically or literally?” I asked.

  “Either,” he said.

  “It’s possible,” I said.

  “This is someone else’s house now,” he said. “Someone might call the cops.”

  “No one is going to call the cops,” I said.

  “Why not?” Daniel
asked. “We’re trespassing.”

  I turned back to him and felt the secret I had been keeping spring to my lips. I knew I couldn’t keep up the charade any longer, not just because I was a terrible liar; he had to know the truth, if only to keep him from having an aneurism. I pulled the key King had given me weeks ago out of my pocket and showed it to Daniel.

  “I bought the house,” I told him.

  Daniel blinked me as if I had spoken in an unfamiliar language.

  “You did what?” he asked.

  “Well, you technically bought the house, but since you gave me access to your account, I figured you wouldn’t mind. King set it up for me…did you know he spent time in the 80s selling houses? Some of them were even houses he had the right to sell. Fun fact.”

  Daniel wasn’t interested in King’s past. He was more concerned about the fact that he was a proud owner of a new house.

  “You bought a house without telling me?” he asked.

  “Well, it was supposed to be a surprise…I was going to wait until everything died down…you know – after we had killed Marcus – to tell you.”

  “Why is it a secret?” he asked. “You could have told me. I would have been fine with it.”

  My heart started to race, despite the innocent nature of the purchase. It was as if I had stolen the house, instead of purchasing it legitimately. I avoided looking at the ring on my finger – the ring that Daniel had given me. He had said it was a promise always to be there for me. I had wanted to return the promise, in my own way. I wanted a place that was ours…that held history and meaning and was special to the both of us. Butterflies circled in my stomach as I searched for the proper words.

  “It…uh…I was hoping, um…”

  I put my head in my hand and made an aggravated noise I was certain the neighbors could hear. I heard a neighbor two doors down ask his wife about the sound. Why was it so difficult to admit the truth? My love for Daniel was known – we weren’t keeping it a secret, yet it was still difficult to admit the truth. It was difficult to tell him that I wanted more than a promise of forever.