by Heather Karn
I was ready to growl my frustrations that it was taking so long when a man with long black hair that hung well below his shoulders stepped out from a door in the tunnel and smiled at us, his eyes as dim as everyone else's that we'd passed.
"Buckley, it's good to see you. I'm glad your parents sent you." He looked past Buckley and his eyebrows skyrocketed up his forehead when he caught sight of Raven. "Well, this is a surprise. Raven, isn't it?"
"Yes, it is," Raven greeted. "And you are Alexander Roren? Head of Second House?"
The other man nodded. "I am." His gaze turned on me, the same curiosity burning in his dark eyes. "Please, introduce me to your companion."
I could've spoken up and introduced myself, but I let Raven speak for me, my nerves grateful that neither expected me to form words yet.
"This is Koda Niklane. She's my trainee in the Elite force on the surface. We're here to speak with Gerald. He has information that may lead to finding out who her parents were, but most importantly, who her father is, and what House she belongs to."
Alexander nodded, rubbing his chin. "Yes, that's what I hear. Come. Gerald is in here. He's ill, so you may not have long with him."
"Will blood help him?" I squeaked out before thinking I should keep my mouth shut. I bit my lips as Alexander shook his head.
"I'm afraid not. We've given him fresh blood from others whose eyes glow as yours do, but it hasn't helped."
"What's wrong?" Raven asked, concern knitting his eyebrows low.
Shrugging, Alexander stepped away from the door. "We aren't sure. It's been getting worse since he arrived after St. Louis fell. We think it may have something to do with all the magic flying around the city at the time he left. He may have gotten struck by a spell or he inhaled substances that are killing him slowly. We've done all we can do. Please, he's tiring already."
Taking a deep breath, I closed my eyes and sent a silent prayer of hope to the heavens that my need for answers wasn't about to open a bigger can of worms.
Chapter 10
Alexander led the way into the family unit, which by first glance appeared similar to the one we'd almost slept in, except it only had two bedrooms instead of three. A handful of random people milled about, but besides that, the room didn't look lived in. It was like they'd moved Gerald here to meet me.
And there he was. I wasn't sure why I pegged him out in the crowd, but I did. Maybe because he was the only one sitting on the old style couch, or maybe because he was the oldest man in the room, next to Alexander anyway. His dark skin was ashen, and his bright, violet eyes were clouded. That didn't stop him from zoning in on me right away.
He gasped, his eyes nearly glowing when a sheen of unshed tears filled them. "Wilde's daughter. I'd know you anywhere."
Swallowing hard, I stepped forward another step, still leaving several between us. "How?"
"Because you look just like him. Besides having your mother's slender build, every other feature is Wilde's. Come here, please." He tapped the couch next to him, and I was all too aware of the other gazes in the room locked on us. It appeared he was, too. "Alex, may I have some time to speak with her alone? This is incredibly personal."
The Second House leader appeared a bit put out by the request to leave as I sat on the couch, leaving a good distance between me and Gerald. "Why, of course. Call us if you need anything." Alex looked pointedly at Raven. "Come on, boy. Let's give them some time."
"No, actually," I cut in, almost jumping to my feet when my heart threatened to jump out of my chest. "I want Raven to stay."
"As you wish," Alex grumbled, leading the way out of the room with the rest of his people. Buckley hadn't even tried to enter behind us initially, so he met the others in the hall.
When the last person had left, Raven closed the door behind them and took a seat on a bar stool across the room. The two men stared at one another for far longer than was comfortable for me, but neither appeared upset. In fact, Raven's lips were turned into a slightly satisfied smirk.
"Who are you really?" Gerald finally asked him, like he couldn't quite figure out a puzzle in his head.
"Raven Cartana, Kayla and Edgar's youngest son."
"Ah." Gerald bobbed his head in understanding. "The one who left his home to become an Elite, the one who was in St. Louis the day it fell." Raven's eyes widened, making Gerald chuckle before he began coughing. "Yes, boy, I know you were there. It wasn't until after the fact that I found it out, but it only made sense from what I was hearing about you that you'd' be in the middle of that fight."
"And what did you hear?"
"That a smart, quite talented blood drinker was making his way up the ranks and helped to stop one of the most powerful villains of our time. Does that seem about right?"
Smirking larger, Raven shook his head. "Yeah, that sounds about right."
Both men took a few more seconds to study the other before Gerald turned his attention on me, his breathing a bit labored. "Now, how did Wilde's daughter come to know this Elite soldier?"
I shrugged. "Because I took my Interview and came out of it as his trainee."
"Impressive."
"Not really. I can't fight. Not yet, anyway." I sat forward, inching closer to him. This was it. This was our moment, and I wasn't wasting it talking about the Elite. "Gerald, besides that his name was Wilde, which I didn't know until reading your letter, I have no idea who my father was, or my mother. What do you know?"
His eyes misted even further as a faraway look entered them, like he wasn't seeing me or his surroundings anymore. "Everything. I know everything, child. Though I was several years Wilde's senior, he and I developed a close relationship. He was my best friend, and I vowed to protect him until the end...or until he asked me to help protect the one thing most precious to him." His eyes focused and he stared right at me. "You."
"So, what happened?" I leaned forward, the intensity in the room making me feel like I was about to hear a ghost story, and in a way, I was.
Gerald collapsed against the back of the couch. "Everything fell apart. Somehow, some magic users found out who your dad was, and then they found out that he was married to a human, and she was pregnant. They attacked. It couldn't have come at a worse time. Harmony was in labor with you, and we were on our way to the hospital when they attacked us. Wilde made me promise to get you and your mama to the hospital, thinking that if he met the attack, they'd let us through, but he was wrong.
"They kept coming. Hordes of the undead spilled out of every alley, objects hurled through the air, the ground split apart and crumbled around us. There was no way he could survive that, and we weren't going to either, so I ditched the car, grabbed your mother, and ran for it. It took us far too long to reach the hospital, but we did. They never found us, even though they searched. I can be stealthy when I need to be, or I could when I was younger and not sick.
"Your mother had a letter for you from Wilde. He wrote it in the car as those chasing us closed in. I don't know how he could be so calm as he wrote each heartbreaking word. I believe he knew then that he was going to sacrifice himself to save you and Harmony. Wilde gave her the letter, and we did what we could, but in the end, all was lost."
"Were you in the hospital when I was born?" I asked, creating a mental list of questions that needed to be answered from the outpouring of information he'd given.
Shaking his head, Gerald stared off into the distance, again recalling the events. "No. I had to set her down outside the hospital doors and let her walk in on her own, but I stayed close. With my eyes, I couldn't go inside. My sunglasses had been left in the car, and I needed to watch the outside of the building for the danger that was likely to follow us there."
I tugged on my lip as I replayed his words over and over. "Do you know how my mother died?"
"She was weak and ill from hiding, and I believe an undead was able to mar her in the attack. None of us escaped harm that day, not even me. When I heard she'd died, I tried to find her daughter, and learned you'd been adopted. I hoped
they'd give you your father's letter and that you'd find me, so I went to St. Louis where we'd decided I'd stay until you found me."
What happened after that was obvious. St. Louis had fallen, Gerald had to leave so he left his note, and we'd found it, following him here.
"What did you mean they found out who her father was?" Raven asked, leaning forward on the stool, his gaze intense. "It has something to do with the Third House, or he'd never give her the pendant. That would be like painting a target on her back."
Which, it had thus far.
"What I mean is," Gerald sighed deeply and closed his eyes. "Wilde was the last remaining heir of Third House. With his death, that title now falls on his daughter. Koda is the rightful heir of Third House."
My heart stuttered. I'd considered the possibility this was true, but I'd figured that my family was more like a prominent one in the House. Not the leaders of it. And even when I thought my father could be a ruler in the Third House, I'd never made the connection that if he was the ruler, that meant I'd follow him after his death. Me, Koda Niklane, was really Koda Takal, Head of Third House. I wanted to be sick.
"You mustn't let anyone know or your life will be in great jeopardy," Gerald warned, his voice urgent and airy before he released another series of coughs.
"Too late," Raven murmured, his eyes filled with a combination of awe and dread. "We've already been attacked, and the first time, she'd just received the pendant."
Gerald growled and stared at the ceiling. "I tried to warn Wilde not to send the pendant with Harmony, but he said he had to, that you needed it."
"Well, it wasn't the cause of the attack," I stated. "They already knew who I was. It was me going to pick up the letter and pendant which put me in harm's way of some Others and magic users."
"Speaking of magic users," Raven cut in, "You said you were attacked by hordes of the undead?"
A shiver ran through the old man and he hugged himself. The air in the room seemed to drop a few chilly degrees at the same time. Memories of my fight with the undead in St. Louis plagued my memories, and I feared what I'd see when I finally collapsed into sleep. After these revelations, I wasn't sure I'd be falling asleep right away, not even with how long I'd been awake.
"Yes, the undead," Gerald confirmed.
"Necromancers?"
"Worse. I'm not sure who he is, but Wilde always referred to him as the monster of all monsters. A magic user from the distant past. He's the reason our people still hide today. He's the one who will kill our kind if we venture from our safety underground. He's responsible for the fall of St. Louis."
Narrowing his eyes, Raven slid forward on the stool. "I was there that day, and I was there when the culprit was found. What you're saying doesn't make sense."
Gerald looked up and gave Raven a sinister smile. "The culprit was only a pawn, one of his many staged in a grand scheme. Only he knows what it is, and part of that plan is to make sure that the two Houses that destroyed the witches long ago are utterly left desolate. I'm sure he'll have his own vengeance on you for your part in messing up his earlier plans, so don't think you'll go unpunished for that."
"So, not all magic users are the enemy, just some are," I murmured and silence followed the statement as we all thought. There wasn't much to go on besides that some great magical entity was out for revenge for an act of war that happened centuries ago. "But how does a magic user even live that long?"
"I don't know," Gerald responded.
Raven rubbed his neck and leaned back in his seat. "We'll need to talk to Shannon about this. She might know something."
"Can this Shannon be trusted?" Gerald asked, milky eyes going wide as he stared between us.
"Absolutely," I confirmed.
"Good."
The old man hunched over, his shoulders sagging in exhaustion. He was so tired, so weak. This couldn't be easy on him, talking to us and dredging up painful history, but I had so much I wanted to talk to him about, ask him about. There would never be enough time. And his was running out.
A sharp knock echoed through the room. Someone was being impatient, wanting to know what was happening inside. Even Gerald growled at the door.
"That'll be Alex. The man has to be involved in everything. He's a good man, but he doesn't know well enough to mind his own business."
Raven crossed the room so he stood between me and the door, ready for action if anyone decided to burst inside. "We should probably not mention this conversation to anyone."
Gerald shrugged, a jerky movement with his exhaustion. "I wouldn't bother. They'll all find out anyway since you'll need to take precautions to protect Koda. If you want Third House to survive, you'll need to take every precaution you can. And not to sound grimmer than I am, but keeping her alive will keep that monster's focus on her instead of the other Houses. If she dies, his attention might shift to the rest of us, and then to the world. St. Louis was only a fraction of the power he has at his disposal, or that's what Wilde portrayed when he spoke of him. Don't ask me where he received his intel, but I assure you, it was accurate. That man could find out the color of someone's underwear that he wore at a wedding three years ago, and somehow he'd always be right."
I didn't want to think about that description, but it made Raven chuckle. Another knock wiped the smile clean off his face. Snarling, he stomped to the door and pulled it open, almost ripping it off its hinges.
"What?" he barked in Alex's face, startling the leader of Second House who jumped back a full foot and stared wide-eyed at the Elite soldier.
It took several seconds for Alex to compose himself, and when he did, he ended up with a scowl as deep as the one Raven wore. "I should remind you of who you're speaking to."
"And I should remind you that this is a personal, private conversation that doesn't have a time limit. You said yourself that Gerald is dying, and we need every ounce of information that he knows, and until he says he's too tired to speak to us, then we'll keep talking."
"You don't want to overtax him."
"And waiting won't solve that issue."
With each remark, the men's voices rose until they were yelling at one another, and they were evenly matched. While Raven could make a grown man wet himself with the stare and tone he was giving Alexander, the House leader was more than capable of giving back what Raven threw at him. If Raven hadn't been standing between us, essentially blocking Alex from me, I would've been shaking. Even now I gripped Gerald's frail hand and he gave it a light squeeze while he snickered, the sound a bucket of ice water to the bickering at the door.
"Has Raven mentioned how most vamlure males are hot heads? Eventually they grow out of it, but that takes a while. They also don't like being challenged."
I nibbled on my lower lip, trying not to grin as Raven turned on Gerald, crossing his arms so the muscles bulged. He had way more muscles than Alex did, which was also another reason why the older male felt the need to be defensive.
"Nope, Raven forgot to mention that."
"I'm sure he'd get around to it. As for you, Alex, I'm perfectly fine. I've waited over twenty years to speak with this young lady."
Alex rolled his eyes. "That doesn't give you any reason to overexert yourself. You can speak with her more later. You haven't rested at all since you first spoke with her on the phone and asked me to bring you here to meet her. I think after all I've done to help you, I deserve an explanation."
The three of us shared a look. Gerald was right, the others would find out. It was inevitable at this point. Raven's parents knew I had a Third House pendent and that we were speaking to Gerald about it and our business was urgent. Alex may not know about the pendent, but he was well aware that something was going on with how desperate we all were to meet up and talk. I wasn't sure if we asked for a little more time if he'd give it to us, this was his land after all. It was better to stay on his good side.
"Gerald knew my father," I explained, which didn't appease Alex. He responded with an arched brow, which brough
t on a deeper scowl from Raven. It was clear my trainer didn't want anyone to know about why we were here, but it couldn't be helped. "We had some questions for Gerald about my dad."
"Like what?"
And just like that, the words were stuck in my throat. They wouldn't come. It was like, if I didn't have to utter them, they weren't true, but the moment they were spoken, reality would come crashing down.
"Well?" Alex wasn't a patient man.
I turned to Gerald, and the only help he gave me was a gentle nod of encouragement. "Well, I guess my dad was the last living heir of Third House, or he was until I was born. I guess that leaves me as the leader of Third House."
Chapter 11
Alex choked on his deep inhale, his gaze sweeping past me to lock onto Gerald. "Is this true? Was her father the last of Third House?"
Gerald nudged his shoulder into mine. "Show him the pendant."
Standing, I dug the gold pendant from my pocket and held it up by the slim chain. The gold glittered off the blue light of the magicked stones, giving the symbol a creepy vibe. It was good I'd seen it in normal daylight already or I would’ve been weirded out by the odd glow.
"It can't be," Alex murmured, his eyes trained on the pendant in my hand. "After all this time. That means the rumors are true. Third House isn't lost."
"Not yet, anyway." Gerald leaned back against the couch again, his features showing the sadness of years past. "We need to keep her safe, but not suffocated, Alex. And she needs to have a say in the council. Being young and inexperienced in our way of life doesn't exclude her from being able to participate."
"Of course not." The hungry glint in Alex's eyes didn't mesh with his odd reassurance, nor did the excited tone in his voice. Whatever propaganda he wanted to use me for wasn't going to work into my schedule. I now knew who I was and had gained the information that I needed. It was time to go back to real life and figure out how to make both sides of me mesh together. I wasn't going to give up my dream of being an Elite. Not for anything or anyone, not even the Head of Second House.