by AR Colbert
The Unseen
The Lost Keepers #2
AR Colbert
Ramsey Street Books
Copyright © 2021 AR Colbert
All rights reserved
The characters and events portrayed in this book are fictitious. Any similarity to real persons, living or dead, is coincidental and not intended by the author.
No part of this book may be reproduced, or stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without express written permission of the publisher.
Contents
Title Page
Copyright
Previously in The Lost Keepers…
PROLOGUE
CHAPTER 1
CHAPTER 2
CHAPTER 3
CHAPTER 4
CHAPTER 5
CHAPTER 6
CHAPTER 7
CHAPTER 8
CHAPTER 9
CHAPTER 10
CHAPTER 11
CHAPTER 12
A DEEPER LOOK
ABOUT THE SERIES
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Previously in The Lost Keepers…
Everly’s mother disappears along with a strange white-haired artist named Rossel—the same artist who happened to paint an enormous portrait of Everly hanging in a New York City gallery. In the chaos that follows, her aunt Millie is forced to reveal a secret—their family isn’t mortal.
With the knowledge that she has descended from a line of Atlanteans, Everly goes back to the gallery to investigate a strange glowing stone tablet that seems to respond to her. Now with more questions than ever before, Everly turns to a fellow Atlantean named Sean to help her find some answers and locate her mother.
PROLOGUE
Tilly’s hands struck the cool cement floor of the prison cell she’d just been roughly thrown into. She stood, brushing off her pants, and trying not to wince at the stab of pain deep behind her kneecaps. They might bruise, but her body would have them healed by nightfall. Her ego wouldn’t heal so quickly. She turned angrily to face the man who had taken her captive.
“There’s no need to be so rough,” she scolded.
He looked away, feigning indifference. But she knew the guilt he felt. She felt it too. A different flavor, perhaps. Her unlawful act had taken place long ago. It had time to ferment and settle in deep inside her. His guilt was fresh and raw.
She knew Rossel didn’t want to take her captive. But he had no choice in the matter. None of them had any choice. They’d done the unthinkable, and there was a price to pay for it.
It looked like Tilly would be paying for it with the rest of her life—another seven hundred years or so.
“You could have at least arranged for me to serve the remainder of my life somewhere more comfortable.” She frowned, eyeing the small, sparse room.
“This is the only place suitable for you right now.” He lifted his face, revealing the sorrow swirling in his dark eyes.
It was then that she noticed the diamond coating on the steel bars. It shimmered with the king’s power. Baerius was the only known Keeper with the ability to render all other powers useless. He’d enchanted this cell to prevent her from teleporting out.
Tilly pursed her lips and held Rossel’s gaze. She hoped her silence would encourage him to talk—to tell her the rest of the story, but she had no such luck. After a few breaths of silence, he turned away.
“Wait,” she called. He paused, but he didn’t look back. “What will you tell Everly?”
“Nothing.”
“She’ll be afraid. She’ll search for me. And it won’t be long before—”
“We’ll handle it.” His hands clenched into fists at his sides.
Tilly gasped. “No. You can’t hurt her. Tell me you’re not going to hurt her!”
Rossel turned slowly back to face her again. His eyes shimmered with unshed tears but his face revealed no other emotion. He’d been practicing this look of resolve for centuries, and he’d mastered it. “My allegiance is to the king. I answer only to him.”
“And the prince?”
Rossel’s lip curled, exposing receding gums over his ivory teeth. “Don’t speak of him.”
“He—” Tilly’s breath was cut off sharply in her throat as bile rose in her chest. She grabbed at her neck, fighting the urge to panic until it finally calmed enough that she was able to breathe freely once again. The oath prevented her from speaking of the past—even to Rossel.
“You mustn’t speak of the prince,” Rossel said again. Then he turned on his heels and disappeared from her sight.
The sound of a door slamming shut at the end of the hall signaled his exit, and Tilly slid down the cold concrete wall into a heap on the floor where she wept until her tears had dried and the bruises on her knees had fully healed.
CHAPTER 1
I swirled my spoon around the inside of a pretty turquoise bowl, exploring the unknown objects floating in my oatmeal. It smelled delicious, like cinnamon and brown sugar. But there were… other things.
“Pierre?” I called out to my aunt Millie’s private chef, who stood at the stove on the opposite side of her giant white marble kitchen island.
“What is it?” he asked in a thick French accent.
“That’s what I want to know.”
He turned with a frown, rubbing his hands on the white tea towel he held.
“There’s something in my oatmeal.”
“Oui. Spices and sugar and nuts.”
I scooped out a particularly globby offender and it fell off my spoon onto the counter top. “What’s that one?”
His frown deepened. “It’s a raisin.”
“Oh. Do you always put raisins in oatmeal? And why is it yellow?”
“It’s not yellow, it’s golden.”
“I didn’t think anyone actually ate golden raisins. They’re kind of gr—”
Jeeves, my aunt’s driver, tsked from his barstool beside me. “Careful. Don’t anger Pierre or he might put worse things than golden raisins in your food.” He took a showy, giant spoonful of his own bowl, trying to smile as he chewed a bite and gave the chef a thumbs up. I snorted at his attempt. It was hard to force a smile while chewing a golden raisin.
“You’re right. My apologies to the chef. The oatmeal is delicious. Speaking of, Pierre,” I said with a flourish in a terrible French accent. “What is your real name?”
The chef put his hands on his hips. “What do you mean?” He looked at Jeeves who was still trying to swallow his bite. “What is she talking about?”
“Like Jeeves here,” I gestured next to me with my thumb. “His real name is Brian, but he wanted something quirky and funny to go by. You know—like a stereotypical butler.”
Jeeves’ eyes widened and he shook his head quickly as I spoke.
“And you—” I stuttered over my words as understanding dawned on me. “Y-you are lucky enough to have the perfect name for a French chef without changing anything at all.” Jeeves nodded emphatically.
The doorbell rang, mercifully saving me from putting my foot any farther in my mouth. “I’ll get it,” Jeeves said, hopping to his feet. I bashfully turned my eyes back toward my breakfast until he returned a few moments later with Sean and his mother, Claudia.
“We made it!” Claudia chimed with bright eyes and a smile. “I figured we could take my car since our bags are already in the trunk. Does that work for you? Where’s your aunt?”
“Works for me.” I passed a nearly empty bowl across the counter to Pierre. All that remained were a few raisins. He shook his head and carried my dish to the sink. I turned back to Claudia, tilting my head at the
sound of heels clicking down the wooden stairs around the corner in the foyer. “Sounds like she’s coming now.”
Millie entered the kitchen, sighing loudly with her cell phone wedged to her ear with her shoulder as she stirred creamer into a coffee mug. “I understand,” she said to someone on the other end. “Yes, of course. No, don’t worry about it at all. I’ve got it covered. I hope he gets well soon. Okay, buh-bye.”
“Morning! Everything okay?” I asked.
“Yeah,” she said with a sad smile. “But I have some bad news. It looks like I’m going to have to skip our trip.”
“Why?” Claudia asked. “Should we just reschedule?”
“No!” I said a little too forcefully. “I mean, Sean and I will be preparing for school next weekend. This is probably our last chance to go before classes start.”
The truth was that my patience had thinned out to nothing. It had been over a week since my mother disappeared, and I was apparently the only one still concerned about it. Everyone insisted that she was an adult and should be fine. Claudia even had the nerve to suggest that she was on vacation, celebrating me going off to college. It was insulting.
But after our trip to the gallery, Sean was on my side. He knew something bigger was going on. It was actually his idea that we all go to Millie’s house in the Hamptons. They had some friends in the area, including a girl who was supposedly a seer, so I was hopeful that we might be able to get some information about my mom. At the very least, I hoped one of his friends may be a little more adept with the ancient languages. We still had no idea what the clay tablet said.
“Everly is right,” Millie said. She took a long swig of her coffee and set the mug on the counter. “You all should go. You don’t need me there.”
“What is so important that you would miss a weekend at the beach?” Claudia asked.
“It’s Abby.” Millie slid up onto a barstool and Sean rushed to her side.
“What about Abby?” he asked. His tone was a little too urgent, and it drew the eyes of everyone in the room.
“Who’s Abby?” I asked with a grin. Sean hadn’t mentioned any lady friends. With all the time we’d spent together over the last week, I thought surely he’d have brought up a girlfriend.
“She’s an employee down at the shop. Her father has been ill off and on a bit lately, and she just called to say that he’s having a particularly rough week. She asked if she could take the weekend off to look after him.”
“I’m so sorry to hear that. Does she need any help?” Sean asked.
“I’m sure she’ll be just fine.” I tried to make my words sound firm. I wasn’t going to let him back out for some crush. I needed him to introduce me to his seer friend.
Jeeves raised his brows at me, obviously interpreting my irritation for something else. I shook my head softly. Ew, Jeeves. Sean is totally not my type.
“Well, I don’t want to go without you,” Claudia said. “I’m no teenager anymore. I can’t keep up with these two.” She waved her hand at Sean and me.
“Bring a book. That way they can still squeeze in a vacation before school and you can be there to chaperone.”
Claudia gasped and put a hand to her chest. “Chaperone? I’m not some third wheel. Besides, they’re adults—let them go on without us.”
I perked up in my seat. Getting Claudia off my back while I researched the tablet and sought answers about my mom was even better than our original plan. “Yeah, Millie. We’ll be totally fine. I promise.”
Jeeves smirked at me. Dangit, this isn’t about getting alone with Sean! I wanted to nudge him in the ribs, but I was too intent on convincing Millie to let us go to pay him any more attention.
“Well, I suppose I don’t mind if you two use my house. Just promise me there won’t be any wild parties. Hilde next door gets grumpy with even the slightest uptick in volume.”
I crossed my heart. “Promise. No noise.” Then I turned with a giant grin to Sean, but he didn’t return it. In fact, he looked quite distraught.
Millie picked up on it, too. “Abby will be fine,” she said with a wink. “I’ll swing by and check on her after I close up tonight.”
That seemed to appease him. He nodded. “Okay. You sure you don’t want to come with us, mom?”
“I’m sure,” Claudia said. “You two have fun—but not too much fun. We’ll see you in a few days.”
Jeeves walked to the foyer to load my bag and unload Claudia’s as we said our goodbyes. I thanked my aunt again and turned to follow Sean outside.
“Oh- hang on!” I stopped outside the door. “I forgot my vitamins. I’ll be right back!”
I dashed back inside and up the stairs to my room. My mom was pretty laid back about most things, but she had always been an absolute dictator when it came to taking my vitamins. And it was one of the last things she’d said in the gallery before leaving with Rossel. It might have seemed silly to anyone else, but I wanted to smile when I saw her again and let her know I hadn’t stopped—even while she was away.
I picked up the giant amber colored bottle and turned it around in my hands. There was no label. My mom special-ordered them for me, and I realized I wouldn’t be able to get more without her. I was down to about a quarter of the bottle remaining—about two weeks worth of vitamins. It was just one more painful reminder that she was still missing.
See mom? You’ve got to come back so you can get me some more.
Shoving the bottle into my purse, I bounded back down the stairs, shouting goodbye again to Jeeves and my aunt as I ran past the kitchen. Sean was already buckled up in the driver’s seat of a shiny white Range Rover. I eagerly jumped into the passenger’s seat beside him.
“Woo!” I clapped my hands. “Let’s do this!”
CHAPTER 2
It took longer than I expected to get out of the city, but before long Sean was able to quit cursing at the traffic and roll down the windows. He seemed to relax a bit as we neared the coast.
I turned down the music blasting from his speakers, hoping to chat now that he seemed more at ease. “So… Abby.” I lifted my brows up and down playfully.
He cut his eyes over sideways at me, then turned back to the road.
I gave him a minute to respond, but it was clear he wasn’t interested in offering up any more information than was necessary. “Who is she?” I asked after a beat.
“She works for your aunt.”
“I gathered that.” I grinned. “But who is she to you?”
“Your aunt’s employee.” He looked over at me again, not even attempting to hide his irritation. I’d learned that Sean wasn’t a very open person. He was a pretty flat, cut-to-the-chase kind of guy. If Millie hadn’t pushed us together, we probably wouldn’t have clicked much as friends at all. But as it stood, we’d been forced to spend our afternoons together.
Once my aunt heard about Tate following me around, Sean was charged with acting as my bodyguard. It was a job neither he nor I was particularly excited about, but Millie insisted. Until we knew for sure whether I had any powers or not, Sean was to stay by my side any time I left Millie’s house.
Claudia wasn’t very excited about it, either. She might have been my aunt’s best friend, but that didn’t mean she agreed with Millie’s approach to keeping my existence under wraps. She wanted to bring me to her husband, so he could present me in front of the Atlantean council and see if they could determine my true genetics. But knowing that could implicate my mother with the crime of engaging in a relationship with a mortal, Millie resisted. Hard.
So I was left bumbling around New York with Sean until hopefully, I gained some powers of my own. And hopefully, they were strong enough to prove that I had a pure Atlantean soul. Otherwise, Tate would be quick to do away with me.
I hadn’t seen him again since the night we nabbed the tablet from the gallery, but I’d felt him. It sounded strange to admit aloud, but every so often while I was out walking the dogs or joining my aunt for lunch, I’d get that familiar tingle o
f energy running up my spine. It was like my nerves would just come alive. I never saw Tate, but I knew he was watching me.
“So,” I said, turning my attention back to a very grumpy looking Sean in the driver’s seat. “If Abby works with Millie, does that mean she’s Atlantean, too?”
“No.”
“Is she Agarthian? Or Olympian?”
“She’s human.” He frowned. “And I’m done talking about her.”
“Okay. Got it.” Sheesh, evidently I’d hit on a sore spot with him. And it only made me all that much more excited to meet Abby in person when we got back. If Sean was letting a mortal get to him that much, there must have been something special about her.
“Let’s change topics then. Tell me about your friends we’re going to see.”
“I never said they were my friends. I know Gayla through our parents. Her dad is on the Olympian council, so our fathers do business together. We would run around as kids while they met during the annual convention.”
“And Gayla is the seer you told me about?”
“Supposedly.”
“Supposedly? What does that mean? You don’t know for sure?”
Sean huffed. “I haven’t seen her in a few years. Once we were old enough to stay home alone, we quit tagging along with our parents to the convention each year. But I heard she got some visionary powers.”
I pinched my thumb and forefinger on the bridge of my nose. “You mean we’re coming all this way and weekending together on the off chance that you might run into a girl you knew when you were a little boy? And maybe she has powers that could possibly help me… if she remembers you and has any desire to work with your mortal friend?”
“Do you have a better idea?”
“No.”
I crossed my arms over my chest and pouted, staring out the window. As we drove along, the houses grew larger and more spread apart. They were massive, giant mansions sprawled out across the sandy earth, overlooking a deep blue sea. It was basically the antithesis of the scenery I grew up with. Before long, the salty air and balmy wind blowing in from the water eased my sour mood.