Legacy

by A D Starrling

  ‘You said it yourself. You have never been able to move a living being before you met Olivia. And what happened in the pool last night is also proof of that connection.’ Lines creased Asgard’s brow. ‘I’m still not clear on what took place at the motel.’

  ‘Remote viewing,’ Olivia mumbled, her heart pounding against her ribs.

  Ethan’s head snapped around. ‘What?’

  Olivia swallowed. ‘You know about my visions and nightmares. What I never had time to tell you when we were at the motel was that I can sometimes hear people’s thoughts and…influence their emotions.’ She bit her lip. ‘And I can somehow see places I’ve never been to before.’

  In the silence that followed, Olivia related her first telepathic experience and the subsequent ones she incurred with the nuns at the abbey. She explained how she had used the techniques Mother Edwards had taught her to protect her mind from others.

  ‘What do you mean by remote viewing?’ said Asgard.

  Olivia hesitated. ‘I used to walk to the ridge above the abbey. From the top you can see Bear Lake on a clear day. About a decade ago, I was in my room when I suddenly wished I were at the lake. The next thing I knew, I was there. It felt like a dream. I could see the water as clearly as if I was standing on the shore.’ She ran trembling fingers across her forehead. ‘There were people around me. I could see them talking but I couldn’t hear what they were saying.’

  She finally met the eyes of the three immortals, fearful she would see disgust on their faces. She saw only surprise.

  ‘Was that the only time it happened?’ said Asgard.

  Her uncle looked the most shocked by her revelation.

  Olivia shook her head. ‘I attempted it again, to see whether that first incident was a fluke. I read an article about an earthquake in China and another one about a mudslide in South America. Both contained pictures of those locations. Within moments of wanting to be there, I was. Both episodes only lasted seconds.’ She let out a shaky breath. ‘And there are occasions when it didn’t work.’ She glanced at Ethan. ‘Yesterday was the first time in years that I tried to remote view.’

  Asgard was silent for the longest time. The color had drained from his face.

  ‘It seems Natalia was right after all,’ he finally mumbled.

  Olivia shared anxious glances with the two Crovir immortals across the table. ‘About what?’

  ‘The last time I met with your mother and father, she told me of a recurring vision she’d been having,’ Asgard related quietly. ‘She didn’t know when this particular prediction would come true, but she was adamant it would shape the fate of mankind and immortals alike.’ He stared at Olivia. ‘I had never seen your mother so shaken, not since Sara’s death.’

  She held her breath. Ethan straightened in his seat.

  ‘Natalia spoke of a group of exceptional beings who would inherit more than just the supernatural gifts of their lineage. She said these immortals’ abilities would be like nothing else our world had seen.’ Asgard’s voice grew hoarse. ‘She also foretold that they would face the greatest of challenges together, on the path to fulfilling a destiny that was theirs and theirs alone to claim. And they would be—’ he closed his eyes briefly, as if in pain, ‘marked in a way that would make them stand out.’

  The Bastian noble took Olivia’s right hand and gently straightened her fingers until the third eye symbol was exposed to the light.

  ‘You are one of those immortals, Olivia,’ he said in a tortured voice. ‘No one in the Ashkarov bloodline could do what you can do, not even your mother. She must have known this the moment you were born, when she saw your hand.’ His gaze moved to the man staring at him from across the table. ‘Ethan is also part of that group. With you at his side, he is finally unleashing his true potential as an Elemental.’

  Chapter Twelve

  Blood pounded inside Ethan’s head as he tried to assimilate what Asgard had just said. In all the years he had known him, he had never once mentioned that he knew something about his birthmark.

  ‘Whoa.’ Howard cocked an eyebrow. ‘Well, that’s not something you hear every day.’

  ‘Do you seriously expect me to believe what you just said?’ Ethan asked Asgard coldly after a moment’s silence.

  A muscle jumped in the Bastian noble’s cheek. ‘Have I ever lied to you?’

  Ethan’s hands fisted on the table. He gazed into the immortal’s unflinching eyes. ‘No.’

  ‘Truly, I wished it wasn’t so,’ said Asgard in a defeated tone. ‘Not just because of the difficult fate that awaits you both, but because I don’t want to lose you. Either of you.’ He turned to Olivia. ‘I have only just found you, child. If something was to happen to you, I don’t know what I would—’

  He broke off and swallowed heavily. Olivia turned her hand over and gripped his tightly, her green eyes glittering.

  Ethan resisted the sudden urge to get up and run as far away from Olivia Ashkarov as he could. That his future was somehow linked to hers scared him like few things ever had. He never wanted to love again, not if it meant losing the ones he cared for. Only two people had managed to breach the walls he had built around his heart in the two centuries since his family was ripped apart, and they were the men seated at the table with him.

  Besides, willowy blondes with green eyes were not his type.

  He became aware of a stare from his left. Howard was giving him a shrewd look.

  ‘What?’ snapped Ethan.

  Howard shrugged. ‘Nothing.’

  ‘Didn’t you say that the union between a Crovir and a Bastian was strictly forbidden by the two races?’ said Olivia, her face pale.

  Asgard grimaced. ‘I did. No one recalls the exact reason for this law. Although many thought it obsolete, the two councils were still adhering to it before I was trapped under the ice. I don’t know what their current outlook is on the matter, but I for one do not care about it.’ His face darkened. ‘I would not let them touch a hair on your head.’ He glanced at Ethan. ‘Or yours.’

  A troubled silence fell across the terrace.

  Olivia bit her lip. ‘There’s something I’ve been meaning to ask you. What was Jonah Krondike trying to achieve with the experiments he was conducting?’

  ‘We don’t know the answer for sure,’ said Asgard. ‘Ethan and I stole a file from Jonah’s room when we escaped the facility in New Mexico. Inside it were lists of immortals he had singled out for capture. We’ve been using those ever since to try and save as many of his targets as we could.’

  ‘The fact that Krondike’s allied himself with part of the US military worries us,’ said Howard. ‘What they are doing as part of their research flouts every known convention on human rights—or immortal rights, for that matter.’ He drummed his fingers on the table, a scowl marring his face. ‘We don’t know how far up the hierarchy the rot goes in the Department of Defense. My spies and I have only managed to unearth the slimmest of links with the Army Research Lab.’

  ‘Spies?’ said Olivia, puzzled.

  ‘Howard’s a computer hacker,’ Ethan explained. ‘A world-class one. He heads a small team of similarly-minded souls. If the DoD ever managed to get into even one of their hard drives, they’d have a heart attack.’

  Howard snorted. ‘Yeah! As if any of those asshats could.’ He grinned at Olivia’s expression. ‘Relax, cupcake. We’re not cyber criminals. It’s the only way we’ve been able to figure out what Krondike and his bastard soldiers have been planning.’ He glanced between Asgard and Ethan. ‘By the way, the two of you are the prime suspects in last night’s murder spree at the abbey. Your pictures are all over the news. Olivia is being treated as your hostage.’

  Asgard clenched his teeth.

  ‘You can add Hunters to the selection of people working for Jonah,’ said Ethan grimly.

  ‘What?’ said Asgard.

  ‘The man you shot in the head in Olivia’s room? He was with the sniper targeting us at the motel.’

  Asgard’s expres
sion darkened. ‘Goddamnit!’

  He banged the table with his fist.

  Olivia flinched. ‘What’s a…Hunter?’

  ‘The Order of the Hunters is one of seven sections constituting the First Council of each immortal race,’ said Ethan in a hard voice. ‘Hunters effectively live to carry out the will of the councils. They are professional soldiers who double as bodyguards and assassins for their noble masters.’

  ‘Do these immortal councils know about Jonah Krondike and Kronos?’ said Olivia, aghast. ‘Do—do they approve of what these people are doing?’

  Howard scratched his head awkwardly. Ethan avoided meeting Olivia’s eyes.

  She looked between the three men. ‘What is it?’

  ‘I spoke to my father about Jonah and Kronos shortly after Sara’s death,’ said Asgard stiffly. ‘He chose not to believe me. He thought I had lost my mind from grief.’

  ‘Your father?’ Olivia knitted her brow. ‘I don’t understand.’

  ‘Tomas Godard was the Head of the Order of the Hunters at the time of Sara’s murder,’ said Asgard. ‘He was effectively the Head of the Bastian First Council and the leader of our race.’

  Olivia gasped. ‘You mean he was your king?’

  Asgard grunted. ‘I wouldn’t go that far. There was nothing kingly about that stubborn old fool.’ He ran a hand through his hair. ‘At the time I mentioned the threat Kronos and Jonah Krondike posed to the future of the immortal societies and humans alike, my father refused to talk to the Bastian First Council without any hard evidence. The peace treaty had only been in place for a couple of decades. No one wanted to rock that boat by making unfounded accusations against a prominent noble and ex-enemy. My father and I parted badly after our fight. I vowed I would not speak to him again until I had physical proof of Jonah’s culpability.’ His shoulders drooped. ‘Alas, it was not to be.’

  ‘Tomas Godard was killed during an incident two and a half years ago,’ Howard explained at Olivia’s anxious look. ‘Rumor is the war was going to start again. From the little I gleaned during the moments I managed to breach the Bastian and Crovir security databases, the details of the affair have been hushed-up and are known only to the members of the First Councils.’

  ‘You mean the war? The one you told me about back at the motel? The one between the immortals?’ Olivia asked her uncle.

  Asgard nodded. ‘When I started chasing Jonah and Kronos, I cut all ties with my family, more for their protection than anything else. After I woke up from the ice and fled the research facility in New Mexico, I discovered my sisters had long died.’ A muscle danced in his jaw. ‘Ethan and I were in Asia when my father was murdered. By the time I found out about his death, they had already buried his ashes in Prague.’ He faltered. ‘I visited his grave last year.’

  ‘Someone high up in one of the immortal societies is helping Jonah Krondike track down Bastians and Crovirs of noble or possible pureblood origin,’ said Ethan. ‘Although we’ve rescued dozens of people on Jonah’s lists, we were too late to save some. We don’t know who to trust in the councils.’ He looked around the table. ‘The less we have to do with them, the better.’

  Howard stirred in his seat. ‘Speaking of tracking, I have something to show you. Let’s finish up and go to my study.’

  They downed the cooling breakfast and headed inside the mansion. Howard stopped in front of a secured lift and tapped a code into the digital display in the wall.

  ‘I thought your office was next to the library,’ said Olivia.

  Her eyes rounded when he entered his biometric data into the print and retinal scanners that flashed on the screen. The steel doors parted.

  ‘That’s my official study.’ Howard smiled. ‘We’re going to the unofficial one.’

  They stepped inside the metal cabin and exited it some two hundred feet beneath the mansion.

  Olivia stared at the enormous space before them. ‘Oh.’

  ‘Welcome to the H-O-T Cave,’ said Howard.

  Ethan sighed. ‘That line does not get any less cheesy.’

  ‘You’re just jealous ’cause I came up with it first,’ scoffed Howard.

  The chamber was two stories deep and had been drilled out of the volcanic granite that made up this part of the Santa Monica Mountains. When they bought the land and designed the foundations for the mansion, Howard decided to create a secure space where they could coordinate their missions away from curious eyes and ears. The bunker could theoretically withstand a nuclear attack and had been modified over the years to serve their needs. Although concrete softened the floors and parts of the walls, he had insisted they leave most of the rock face exposed.

  The main floor was dominated by a sunken stage featuring two banks of flat screen computer monitors and a central, round, glass chamber with a digital display table and a three-dimensional laser projector. A passage to the right led to a master suite and a lounge with an open plan kitchen for when the computer genius wanted to bed down in the bunker. An identical corridor to the left connected to an armory and a storage area with a service lift to the mansion’s garage.

  The curved glass wall up ahead was divided by a floating corridor leading to one of six strategically positioned exits dotted around the cavern, three of which were hidden. Banks of super servers and back up generators were visible on the floor below.

  Howard headed down the steps to the workstation on the left and dropped into the large, ergonomic, leather executive chair before it. Keys clattered beneath the immortal’s fingers as he started to work a keyboard. They gathered around him.

  ‘Is this what you’ve been up to the whole night?’ Ethan studied the busy screens.

  ‘Uh-huh.’ Howard’s hands suddenly stilled on the keyboard. He turned and eyed Olivia quizzically. ‘By the way, can you hear everyone’s thoughts?’

  Olivia hesitated. ‘It seems I may be able to sense human minds more readily than immortal ones,’ she admitted. ‘I couldn’t read Mother Edwards’s either.’

  A slow grin brightened Howard’s face. ‘So, you definitely don’t know what I’m thinking right now?’

  Olivia cocked her head and studied the Crovir immortal with a tiny frown of concentration.

  ‘It rhymes with “boots,”’ Howard said helpfully. His gaze dropped by several inches.

  She looked down at her T-shirt, flushed, and folded her arms awkwardly across her chest.

  Asgard scowled. ‘What is wrong with you?’

  He slapped Howard around the back of the head.

  ‘Ow!’ Howard rubbed his scalp gingerly. ‘I was just checking.’

  ‘Seriously,’ Ethan grumbled. ‘I should have killed you when I had the chance.’

  Howard chuckled.

  Olivia looked between the two Crovirs, her face still red. ‘How did the two of you meet?’

  ‘We decided to rob the same bank one night, about a century ago,’ said Howard.

  ‘You’re thieves?’ Olivia exclaimed, embarrassment temporarily forgotten.

  ‘We were thieves,’ said Ethan coolly.

  ‘I remember it like it was yesterday,’ Howard began. ‘It was winter 1917. Word on the street was a large deposit of cash and gold was gonna be making its way into the vault of the First Chicago Bank. I’d scouted the building for a whole month. Got in from the roof in the end.’ He cocked a thumb at Ethan. ‘He came through the sewers.’

  ‘I don’t do heights,’ muttered Ethan.

  ‘We bumped into each other in the ventilation shaft.’ Howard grimaced. ‘Kinda smelled him before I saw him, really. Anyway, we were having ourselves a nice friendly chat when this bastard broke my nose.’

  ‘You pointed a gun at me,’ said Ethan.

  ‘For the last time, the damn thing was empty.’ Howard’s tone turned sour. ‘I won that pistol in a card game with the Sundance Kid. I still can’t believe you crushed it to a pulp.’ He turned his attention to the computers and resumed typing. ‘Suffice to say, I saw the unique opportunity his abilities presented
and convinced him to partner up with me. We were doing quite well until he got himself kidnapped by Jonah Krondike.’ He frowned at the monitor in front of him. ‘Here we go.’

  A black command box appeared on the flat screen. He entered a series of complex numbers and letters. The cursor flashed and a new window sprang open.

  Ethan scanned the information on display. ‘This is from the tracker file you installed in Jonah’s spyware?’

  ‘Correct. This was the exact data log when the “capture” mission went live on Olivia two days ago.’

  Olivia startled. ‘What?’

  ‘In addition to the source that he has in the immortal councils, Jonah has been using a combination of old-fashioned detective work and modern technologies to help him identify individuals of potential interest to use in his experiments,’ Howard explained.

  ‘It seems our races have an elevated level of a particular white blood cell called monocytes,’ said Ethan. ‘They have something to do with our body’s ability to heal at an accelerated rate. The more powerful the immortal, such as a pureblood or a strong noble, the higher the level of this white cell. Jonah and the army group he’s affiliated with have installed a hidden software in the databases of thousands of hospital labs all over the world to gather that exact data.’

  Olivia looked between Howard and the monitor. ‘But surely there must be other reasons why these cell counts can be raised, even in humans?’

  ‘I’m glad you asked,’ said Howard. ‘The answer to that question is yes. What Jonah and his team of scientists recently discovered, however, is a genetic marker that can help identify a pureblood immortal with pinpoint accuracy.’

  ‘A marker?’ repeated Olivia.

  Howard nodded. ‘For every significantly raised monocyte result Jonah got from the information pool they’d been gathering, his team then analyzed the rest of that individual’s medical records to see if they could be dealing with an immortal. Ninety-nine percent of the time, they weren’t. For the remaining one percent they were suspicious about, they either got their hands on the sample in question or the person themselves to test for this specific genetic signature. Considering the amount of money they invested in this venture, their results have been pretty unspectacular.’ He made a face. ‘But Krondike must have thought it was worth the expense.’