“You’re staying with me,” Heather announced. “Jon and Theo won’t be back until Sunday night, so I have the whole house to myself.”
I nodded until I met Thirteen’s gaze.
“It might be easier for her to come back with me,” he said earnestly. “She’ll need somewhere to stay for longer than a couple nights. Might as well get settled now, Magnolia, until you figure out whether or not you want to rebuild or do something else with the land.”
Heather shuffled her feet. She had felt what was happening between Theo and me, and Jon had told her just how official we were now. She had no doubt where I’d be staying once they returned from Bohlren.
I touched Thirteen’s arm. “Thank you, but I’ll stay with Heather for the weekend. After that, I already have someplace to stay longer term.”
He stared down at me. The moment he realized where I planned on staying, his jaw tightened. An image of his daughter flashed in his mind but then quickly disappeared, as if he’d suddenly realized the memory didn’t apply anymore. “You should rebuild this place,” he said shortly. “The land is still yours. It would be a shame to waste the property.”
I smiled. “I plan to rebuild. And if you have the time, maybe you could help me find some contractors.”
He visibly relaxed. “I have a couple people I’ve used in the past.”
“I’d appreciate the help.”
He placed his hand on mine and gave me a light squeeze. As the fire trucks drove away, we stared at the remains of the little farmhouse. Cordele’s face was in everyone’s mind. Her sharp eyes, her dark roots. She’d shot me to save my brother. Now she was dead, and I hadn’t done anything to stop it. How was I supposed to feel about that? Because right then, I just felt numb.
Since my car had been destroyed in the explosion along with everything else, I climbed into Heather’s passenger seat and stared out the window as we drove the long length of my driveway. For the second time in my life, I was leaving my home in shredded clothes with absolutely nothing to call my own.
Heather reached over and squeezed my hand where it lay on my leg. She didn’t say a word, but she didn’t really need to. I might not have any possessions left to my name, but I guess this time I couldn’t really say I had absolutely nothing.
CHAPTER 38
I sat on the floor in front of the L-shaped couch, Theo’s legs on either side of me. He leaned forward in his seat, arms on knees, playing with the tips of my hair. Jon and Heather’s Christmas tree glowed with twinkling white lights, Christmas-card perfect.
Since all the presents I’d bought had burned up along with all my clothes, Heather and I had spent most of yesterday at the mall. I’d tried to buy all the same things I had before, but when Heather saw how much my presents had cost, she’d nearly choked.
“You don’t have to buy the most expensive of everything,” she’d said, aghast.
“Why not? Look, the only conversation I ever had with my mother was her telling me about an anonymous bank account with all her family’s money. I’ll never be able to spend it all in this lifetime, even if I build ten houses where the farmhouse used to be. Father doesn’t know about any of it, so seriously, why not?”
She hadn’t really been able to come up with an argument for that one. Especially when she’d spotted the display of the new line of Birkin bags the store was carrying for a limited time only.
Theo’s fingers brushed against my neck, making the butterflies in my tummy sing. I looked back at him and smiled. He tried to smile back, but just like every other time since he’d come charging into Heather and Jon’s house last night, the smile got stuck halfway, never quite reaching his eyes.
I should have been here, he thought for the thousandth time.
It wouldn’t have changed anything, I reminded him again.
You would have been stronger. You wouldn’t have been burned and shot. You’d still have your home.
No, the only difference would have been that you would have gotten hurt too.
He ran a hand over my hair. I felt you. All the way on the other side of the world, I felt your anger and hurt.
And I felt you when you called.
Thirteen entered from the entry hallway, cutting off our silent conversation. We were all there now. I looked around the room. Heather and Jon were in the kitchen, stacking plates and gathering utensils for the mouthwatering spread on the dining room table. Shane sat in the corner, every now and then responding to something Charles or Marie said from their seats nearby.
On the floor by the TV, Chang and Tony dug through Jon’s video game collection. Heather had warned me last night that Thirteen had permanently assigned Tony and Luce to our team, even though Luce was out of town visiting family for the holiday. Apparently Colin was reconsidering his role within the Network, leaving his team available for new assignments. It would be a test of my emotional control to work with Luce.
“Let’s make this fast,” Jon said, wiping powdered sugar off his pant legs as he took a seat on the sofa. “The roast is keeping warm in the oven, but the casserole will dry out if we don’t serve it soon.”
“Listen to Betty Crocker over there,” Theo teased.
“You know it,” Jon replied, swinging his arm around Heather as she took her seat beside him. “My spinach and cheese casserole is the bomb.”
“All right,” Chang said and gave him a thumbs-up in approval.
Thirteen stood in front of the TV. “In that case, if there are no objections, I’ll simply summarize each update rather than going around the room.”
Jon waved a hand. “Summarize away.”
“The trip to Ukraine was a success in that Jon and Theo were able to confirm the meeting between Boyko and both Senator and Magnus Kelch. They obtained meeting minutes from Boyko’s assistant on all four meetings with the brothers. Their trip to Bohlren was equally successful, if not more so. In addition to confirming the meeting between the Kelch brothers and Councilman Okhotnikov, Theo was also able to track down Dr. A. Fahran, curator of the Yakiviy and Aunre Museum of History.”
He turned to me. “Minutes from all three meetings confirm what Magnolia discovered not only from Colin’s team’s information, but also from what Cordele was able to relay before her demise.” A wave of ache washed over him, making my heart clench. I wasn’t the only one he’d held paternal feelings for—he loved every member of this team.
He cleared his throat. “Kelch Inc. may very well establish facilities in the nations of Ukraine, Belarus, Moldova, and western Russia, but their primary objective is to locate the manufacturer of a certain type of ancient tool. If I understand correctly, they believe the maker of these artifacts will lead them to discover the source of their supernatural bloodline, a fact currently unknown to all Kelches. Is that correct, Magnolia?”
My throat was dry, but I managed to swallow. “Yes. We’ve never known where our powers came from. Grandmother never revealed Grandfather’s identity, but it’s always been assumed it was from him that we drew our abilities.”
“And by identifying this toolmaker, the senator and Magnus hope to locate their birth father, thereby devising a way to increase their current supernatural strength.”
“Exactly.” I sat forward. “But you have to keep in mind that Malcolm is after this guy too. He wants to break out on his own, and he wants to kill my uncle Max. Badly. Cordele had a strong mind. She managed to keep my identity secret whenever she was with him. But I don’t know if he picked up anything about the rest of the team. Whatever he learned, though, you can guarantee that he will be passing at least some of it on to Father and Uncle Max. The rest he’ll use to find this toolmaker first. Especially now that he knows I’m helping you.”
“Then it’s a race,” Jon said, completely serious. “If Magnus and the senator are searching for their father, and Malcolm is playing double agent right on their heels, then we’ll just have to find this guy first.” He looked at me. “Are you up for that? Going on the hunt for Grandpa?”
My heart picked up the pace as a new excitement suddenly sprouted inside me. I was a proven Network agent now, one who had been in on more than one successful mission. I wasn’t a normal agent, but I was a powerful one. And they truly trusted me. They trusted me not only to have their backs and to pull my weight, but to put the needs of the team first, even when going against my family.
“You bet your ass I am,” I said, and I knew exactly where to start.
CHAPTER 39
I went home with Theo after the update meeting and Christmas meal at Jon and Heather’s house. He drove the long way through downtown, passing by the monument lights, which were even better than I’d imagined.
It turned out that Theo’s house was an oversize Cape Cod on a side street just south of the city, not even two blocks from the safe house Thirteen had kept me in when I’d first escaped. He’d been refurbishing the home for the past five years. Right now, the basement and upstairs were closed off to conserve heat. A red-and-black pool table in the dining room announced the place as a bachelor pad, even though the updated kitchen boasted stainless steel appliances, a granite-top island, and a pet betta fish standing guard against the stack of unopened mail. The downstairs bedroom, currently being used as the master bedroom, sat just off the kitchen. With twelve-foot ceilings, a wide-mantel fireplace, and a king-size bed with a thick brown comforter, the room was absolutely perfect.
Theo had helped me carry in my shopping bags of clothes, poured me a glass of whiskey, then led me to the bed. As I drifted off, his musky scent surrounded me. I couldn’t remember ever feeling that safe.
In my dream, my golden island was a continent now. The bloody lake, a full ocean. I lay on the long, sandy beach with my fingers in the water, playing softly over my smiling twin as small waves lapped from the subtle red sea on the shore.
I pulled my fingers from the bloody sea and sat up when I felt the dream man approach. Looking over my shoulder, I saw him standing a few feet away, hands in pockets again, a hesitant smile on his face. “Hello, Magnolia.”
I’d been thinking about him when I’d fallen asleep, hoping he would show himself again. He’d left so quickly last time; I took a moment to study him. In his features, I saw the different pieces of my family: my father, my uncles, my brothers. He didn’t even look as old as Father, and certainly not old enough to be my grandfather, but he had always felt like just another part of me. I realized now that’s exactly who he was.
“You’re my grandfather, aren’t you?”
He smiled. “Yes, Magnolia. I am.” My dream grew a little brighter as he strolled closer. “When I began visiting you here in your dreams, it was because I’d felt a sudden spike of new power in my bloodline, one that I’d never felt in someone other than myself. This golden power that’s inside you now—no one else in my lineage has ever managed to develop it. Until that moment when it revealed itself inside you, I didn’t even know you existed.”
“You mean you didn’t know about me before?” It was the question that burned inside me more than any other: had this man, who had only ever shown interest in me and had never once tried to hurt or intimidate me, known about my life of hell all those years on the estate?
“No, I didn’t know. I can feel the power of my bloodline as it grows. I felt when each of my sons was born, even though I wasn’t present at their births. And I felt when they had children of their own, so in that sense I knew grandchildren existed. My own power grew stronger with each new offspring. But I never followed the events of their lives. There never seemed to be a reason to. Until you.”
So he didn’t need proximity to his bloodline to feel the strength of it. He could just feel the growing power of his family wherever he was. That must be nice.
“Why weren’t you there when your sons were born?”
“Their human mother was enough to raise them. There was no need for me to be there as they matured. After all, it was their power that mattered. Their existence was enough to fuel me. What they did or didn’t do with their lives was of no consequence.” He said it with such nonchalance that I couldn’t help but cringe. As different as this man seemed from the rest of my family, when it came to paternal responsibility, he was exactly the same.
“So the only reason you had children was to grow your power?”
He looked down on me with subtle confusion. “Power is everything.”
And there it was. The very heart of where I came from. I couldn’t argue with him—I’d had that very thought on more than one occasion. Most recently while lying in bed with Theo, letting the power around us become our life force, sustaining us as it grew. It was the start of that power with Theo that had brought Grandfather to me in the first place.
“But you were right, Magnolia,” he said with an excited gleam in his eye. “There is more inside you than in your father or siblings. You have found the means not only to hone the darkness, but to embrace and fuel the light as well.”
He looked out over the bloody sea. “Hatred, pain, rage—the power of these things will always flow through you, crashing in their violence and making you stronger.” As if responding to his words, the blood of my dream ocean instantly boiled to life, rising high in tsunami-like waves. Just as quickly it settled back down. He turned to the golden shoreline, the long stretch of land behind us. “But it is the love you have discovered yourself capable of and the love you have accepted from others that has become your foundation. With the balance of the two, your powers have the potential to be truly limitless.”
I looked back out over the sea, then down at the reflection of my twin. Grandfather watched me. Questions suddenly raced through my mind. What was he? Where had he come from? Was he evil? Where was he located outside this dream? I had so many questions…
“And I will answer them all,” he said, addressing my unspoken thoughts. “I never meant to deceive you. I’ve enjoyed our visits, enjoyed getting to know you. I hope our conversations will continue in the future.”
I thought over our many dreamed talks, the interest he’d always shown in me. He’d said on his last visit that he wanted me to trust him. Now I knew I really wanted that too.
“I’d like to keep visiting with you like this,” I said. “Visiting in my dreams.” Then I studied him closer. “You didn’t love my grandmother or your sons—you were only interested in the power they gave you. How is it, then, that you can recognize this golden energy inside me?”
He shrugged. “Your grandmother approached me with a proposition of power, one that would best serve us both. She wanted the most powerful offspring possible, and I wanted to strengthen my bloodline. Though completely human, she had a deep darkness inside her, and I recognized the potential of strengthening that side of me through her. It was never about any emotion.”
“So your dark powers are your strongest because we came from her?”
“Not at all. Just because I never felt those things for her or her sons, it doesn’t mean those feelings aren’t a large part of me. Just like you, the vastness of my darkness is very much shared by the vastness of my light. Power is power, Magnolia. And now that you have unlocked the light inside you, you will have the ability to wield both as you see fit.” He smiled warmly. “It has been a very long while since I have spent time with another who shared my powers so closely. I would very much enjoy helping you to grow in your abilities.”
There was such sincerity in his gaze, I couldn’t help but smile back. Then he sighed and stepped away. “Unfortunately, at the moment, I haven’t the time for much more of a visit. I only came here tonight to make sure you would be open to more visits in the future.”
A breeze whipped my hair as I frowned. “You can’t stay? But there’s so much I want to know.”
He knelt down and patted my hand. It was such a grandfatherly gesture, the landscape of my dream glowed brighter.
“I will be back, Magnolia. And we will talk, and you will learn. Although, I have to admit, you seem to be doing very well on your own. Your control is a
stounding. Your power, magnificent.”
The glow around me was nearly blinding as the pride he so obviously felt in me shone in his eyes. My grandfather, the source of my everything, was proud of me. Even in my dream, my smile was so wide it ached. He got to his feet, and my smile vanished. How long would I have to wait to see him again and start getting some of my answers?
“Not long,” he answered. “I just have a few matters that require my attention right now.”
Suddenly his eyes flashed red, just as mine did whenever I transformed. He smiled, and his mouth had grown wide, full of sharp, razor-like teeth. It was exactly the way I looked when I transformed. But instead of being horrifying or monstrous like I always pictured myself after the change, he was beautiful. Ethereal and radiant.
His voice didn’t fit the appearance, though. He sounded as eloquent as ever as he said, “Apparently my sons have taken it upon themselves to become involved in matters that don’t concern them. The tools they are tracking won’t lead them to me, of course, but their efforts may very well become a problem that I don’t wish to deal with. You see, even if they discovered the origin of their gifts, they would never be able to realize its fullest potential, not without the ability to realize the light side of our powers. In their quest to do so, however, they may very well get themselves killed.”
“You’ll kill them?” I asked, not sure if I was hopeful or frightened by the idea.
“Of course not,” he replied, waving away the idea with a clawed hand. “But there are others that will. As powerful as your family is, there are always more powerful creatures out there—creatures that your Network hasn’t even discovered yet. I’m not willing to lessen my bloodline’s power just because my greedy offspring poke around those who don’t wish to be disturbed.”
Creatures more powerful than my family. Thirteen would most definitely be interested in that. I was trying to imagine how this new information might change the direction of our current assignment when a horrible thought occurred to me.
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