by Rob Cornell
Each memory tumbled into the next, creating a domino effect that carried me all the way back to my first memory. I was probably about three. Mom had folded up an origami crane. And then she'd used magic to make it fly.
That was the exact moment I knew that my family was something special. That I was something special.
We were sorcerers. We were the Lights.
I turned my gaze back to Sly.
I couldn't believe what I was about to say.
Chapter Thirty-Nine
My city needed me.
In the end, that's what I decided. I could do a lot more from the top of the Ministry than I could on the streets picking off one demon after another. Besides, there was a lot to reconstruct. With the volatile relationship between the vampires and the Ministry—made even worse now that the conspirators had been purged—and the uncertainty of those members within the Ministry caught in the crossfire during the forced takeover, Detroit's paranormal world sat on the edge of chaos.
It wasn't that I felt I was the only one who could fill the position. There were plenty of people, including Jonah Jackey, who could've filled the role and probably done a lot better job. But for whatever reason, there were a lot of people who wanted a Light to lead them.
If it really made that much of a difference to them, I had to accept that this was the best place for me. Well, not for me.
For them.
But becoming Prefect meant leaving a whole lot behind. Not just my house—since the prefect was expected to live in the RenCen penthouse specifically set aside for the city's Ministry leader. But being the prefect was a big job, which wouldn't leave me a whole lot of time for other things.
Especially one thing in particular.
Just after dark, Odi and I stood by my mother's grave. The drive over had been completely silent. This was the end of something that seemed hardly begun, but no less special, and no less difficult to let go.
Urvasi quickly showed up when I called her. I'd visited earlier, so she knew why we were there. A moment later we were standing in her trans-dimensional living room. She had changed it again. I wondered if she did that just because she was bored. Being trapped by yourself in a prison between worlds must've gotten especially mundane after a hundred years. But as far as I knew, she deserved it. She’d never said otherwise. In fact, she’d never said anything about her apparent crimes at all. Not that I gave a damn. She’d more than proven herself an ally.
She had a brown leather couch in the middle, a couple of matching chairs facing opposite the couch, and more paintings of Kali, but different ones this time, with the many-armed goddess in various new positions and locations.
Urvasi took a seat in one of the chairs. Odi and I took the couch.
“You boys look positively miserable,” she said.
I shrugged. “This isn't exactly where I thought we'd be. My whole world is turned upside down. But it is what it is.”
Urvasi smiled. “Is that acceptance?”
“Yes.”
Beside me, Odi sighed. “This just sucks.”
Urvasi folded her hands in her lap and nodded sagely. “Change is hard. But change is life.”
“I guess.”
I clapped Odi on the shoulder. “Why don't we do introductions?”
He shrugged and continued to sulk.
“Urvasi,” I said. “This is my apprentice, Odi.”
Odi threw up a hand, disgusted. “She already knows that, dude. And I know she's some super sorceress who you're going to pawn me off to.”
My chest felt hollow. I didn't want to do this anymore than he did, but we didn't have a choice.
“This is for the best, Odi,” I said.
He stared down at his lap and said nothing.
“You know we have to do this.”
“Yeah, but I don't have to like it.”
I laughed softly. “Neither do I.”
Urvasi leaned forward. “I will take good care of you.”
“Besides,” I said. “She's still my mentor, too. We'll still run into each other.”
He didn't look the least bit comforted. “What about…”
I didn't need to ask him to finish his sentence. I knew it was on his mind, because it'd been on my mind, too. And we hadn't taken the time to discuss it, probably because it was a very uncomfortable thing to face.
Urvasi seem to know what he was talking about, too. “There is no shame in what you are. No matter the traditions, myths, or bigotry you may face. Vampires are part of the natural order, just like everything else.”
“So I'm supposed to stalk mortals in the shadows and feed on them? That's the natural order?”
“I can tell you're no predator. But Sebastian's blood can no longer sustain you like it once did. You will have to learn to be what you are.”
I had to admit, I wasn't really sure what she was getting at either. Was she really encouraging Odi to go out into the world and feed on innocents?
“What exactly are you saying?” I asked.
“There are vampires who do not feed on the unwilling,” Urvasi said. “This is something Odi will have to work out on his own.”
I didn't like the sound of that. From the tension I felt in Odi beside me, I gathered he didn't either. At the same time, I trusted Urvasi. If I hadn't, I wouldn't have brought Odi to her. I patted the kid on his shoulder again. “She knows what she's doing. Trust her.”
“I trust you.”
That had to be good enough for now.
I stood and gave Urvasi a hard look. “He means a lot to me. Please do right by him.”
She inclined her head. “I swear that I will.”
And that would have to be good enough, too. “Then I'll leave you to it.”
Odi stood and turned to me. His eyes were glassy, and his nest of red hair looked more mussed than usual. “Dude, can I…” He ran a hand through his hair and wouldn't meet my eyes. “It's stupid. And I know I'm going to see you again. It's not like I'm moving away to boarding school or some shit. But still…”
“Odi, you can tell me anything.”
“I don't want to tell you anything, man. I want to… Fuck it.” He wrapped his arms around me and squeezed tight. “Thank you. You took me in when you didn't have to. You taught me. Became my friend.”
I hugged him back. “Toft kinda made me,” I said lightly. “At first anyway. I'm glad he did.”
I said my goodbyes, and Urvasi transported me out.
I stood before my mother's grave, a lump in my throat. I knelt in the grass and traced my fingers over the engraving of her name in her headstone. “Am I doing the right thing, Mom?”
For a second, I swear I felt a tingle run up from the stone, through my fingers, up my arm, and then straight into my heart. Magic. Her magic.
Maybe there was somewhere on the other side. I decided I'd let myself believe it.
Someday, I would see her and Dad again.
Books by Rob Cornell
The Lockman Chronicles
Darker Things (The Lockman Chronicles #1)
Dark Legion (The Lockman Chronicles #2)
Darkest Hour (The Lockman Chronicles #3)
Darkness Returns (The Lockman Chronicles #4)
Darkening Dawn (The Lockman Chronicles #5)
Unturned
Branded (Unturned #1)
Crossed (Unturned #2)
Deceived (Unturned #3)
Enraged (Unturned #4)
Consumed (Unturned #5)
About the Author
Whether it’s a covert-ops team of vampire assassins or a greedy dragon who lives under Detroit’s MGM Grand Casino, most of Rob Cornell’s stories feature some element of the dark and fantastic. He has written over a dozen published novels, including two urban fantasy sagas—The Lockman Chronicles and the Unturned series. Writing as Edward Fallon, Rob also penned the fifth installment in the Linger series of supernatural thrillers published by Braun Haus Media. A native of the Detroit area, he spent a handful of years living in b
oth Los Angeles and Chicago before returning to the Midwest, and currently lives with his family in Southeast Michigan.
Published by Paradox Publications
Copyright © 2019 by Rob Cornell
All rights reserved.
Cover Design by Beth Flumignan
Unturned: The Complete Series is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, organizations, places, events, and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.