by AR Colbert
“Interesting.” The wheels were really spinning in Sean’s brain now. I could tell. “Okay, show me whatever this last surprise is.”
“Let’s go.” The halls grew dark again as we moved away from the painting and back toward the basement door. I thought about pulling out my phone for some illumination, but I’d see light again as soon as we stepped onto the stairs. The tablet was waiting for me, I knew it deep in my bones. I could practically feel it pulsing, emanating the strange blue glow all the way from up here.
The dogs sat at the top of the stairs, refusing to enter the doorway. I tried to coax them in my best sing-songy voice, but they wouldn’t budge. And all the while, the urge to get back to the tablet raged harder and harder. “Let’s just leave them,” I said, getting flustered. “They won’t go anywhere.”
After a brief hesitation, Sean agreed and followed me into the narrow stairwell. The dogs’ collars rang out with faint jingles as they laid in wait for us at the top of the stairs. And we descended.
The blue light became visible almost immediately. I saw it first, but Sean noticed it just a few steps after me. “What is this?” he asked.
“This is what I wanted to show you.”
Once we reached the bottom, the light couldn’t be ignored any longer. It pulsed along with my rapidly beating heart, brighter now than it had been during the daylight. “Over here.” I grabbed Sean’s arm and dragged him over to the glass case, a nervous excitement dancing wildly in my belly.
“There.” We stood silently for a moment, watching the light emanating from the ancient text carved into the tablet’s surface.
“It’s almost like it’s alive.” The wonder in Sean’s voice matched what I felt.
“It gets weirder.” I took his fingertips and pressed them to the inside of my left wrist. His eyes widened in surprise. “I think it’s connected to me somehow. I can’t explain it, but I know this has something to do with me, and maybe my mom. Can you read what it says?”
Sean frowned. “I can try, but it’s been several years since I practiced the ancient languages. Where’s the latch?”
We circled the case, looking for a lock or fixture we could open to access the contents, but we came up short. There didn’t appear to be anyway to get inside it. Sean cursed under his breath.
I couldn’t give up so easily, though. Even as we stood there, the tablet’s call to me grew stronger and stronger. I needed to know what it meant. I paced around the perimeter of the room, searching for some kind of tool I could use to pry the case open, but there wasn’t much available. Finally, I settled on a sloppy plan that I would probably come to regret later.
“Stand back.”
“Why? Wait! Everly—”
CRASH.
I slammed a fire extinguisher I’d pulled from the wall right into the wide pane of glass enclosing the tablet. I wasn’t large for a girl, but I was strong. I could thank eighteen years of farm chores for that.
The shards of glass rained down around us and I waited for some kind of alarm to ring, but there was nothing. It was probably silently alerting the police as we stood there, so we’d have to be quick. I dropped the fire extinguisher and grabbed the tablet.
It was small, and smoother than I’d expected it to be. I ran my fingers gingerly over the edges and traced the engraved symbols with my fingers. Upon closer examination, this looked to be just a small part of a larger message. Several of the symbols along the left side were cut off, incomplete.
“What does it say?” I held it out to Sean.
He reached for it, but immediately pulled his hand back with a faint sizzle. “Ouch! How are you holding that?” He shook his hand as though he’d been stung.
“Did it hurt you?”
“Yes! It’s hotter than fire.”
I rubbed the smooth surface again. It didn’t feel hot to me. “I don’t know. It’s not burning me. Here, just take a look.” I held it in front of me, close to Sean without touching him. He stepped closer and squinted at the small symbols.
I was so focused on the reflection of the blue light in his green eyes, that I didn’t hear or see anything else out of place in the dimly lit basement. I didn’t know anything was wrong until I felt a strong arm wrap itself around my neck and pull me back into the hard body standing behind me.
CHAPTER 15
“Put it down.”
I knew it was Tate even before he spoke. I could feel his warmth and a sickening sense of delight even as he attempted to choke me from behind.
Sean immediately launched into action, swinging around to launch a fist into the side of Tate’s head, but he missed. Tate held me too close, and Sean likely feared injuring me in the process.
“Why are you following me?” I whispered as he swung me around. Tate kept me between Sean and himself. He was using me as a human body shield. How cowardly. I wanted to tell him to fight like a real man and stop hiding behind me.
“I told you, I can’t let you out of my sight.” His breath tickled my ear as he whispered his response, sending a trail of chill bumps running down my neck. I elbowed him in the gut.
He grunted, but his grip stayed strong. He was holding me just tight enough to make me immobile without cutting off my ability to breathe. I elbowed him again.
“You’ve got to stop doing that,” he grumbled.
Sean picked up the fire extinguisher I’d dropped earlier and approached with madness shining in his eyes. “Let her go.”
“No can do. I’ve got proof of her broken soul now. I need to finish the job.”
“This?” I raised the tablet a few inches into the air. “This isn’t proof. The tablet has powers of its own. I’m still just a boring mortal.”
“Hand it to me.”
I hesitated. Handing this tablet to him would be like giving him a piece of myself. I didn’t want to share it, especially not with him. But remembering Sean’s reaction to it earlier, maybe it would be able to take care of itself. I said a silent prayer. “Okay. As soon as you let me go.”
“I can’t let you go.”
“Then I can’t give you the tablet.”
Tate groaned. “I liked it better when you thought I was a charming international spy.”
I scoffed. “I wasn’t so far off. You’ve been on a secret mission to eliminate me all along.”
“Don’t forget the charming part.” He pulled me a little closer.
“Your power is charming, maybe. Your personality could use a little work.” I elbowed him a third time, irritated that my bony joint wasn’t squishing into the softness of his belly but slamming into the rock-hard wall of his abs, instead. And I was irritated even more by the thrill that mental image of his abs gave me.
Shake it off. He’s got you under a spell. Glamoured. He might be hot, but he’s a jerk.
“Alright, if you insist.” His voice took on a song-like quality, a beautiful baritone melody that drew me in and made me want to hear more. “I’ll let you go, and you’ll hand me the tablet.”
Yes, of course I will. Anything you say. I couldn’t speak, and my thoughts were no longer my own.
“If I find that you are controlling it somehow with your powers, you will submit to me. Willingly, so I can collect your fractured soul. Though, I promise to make it enjoyable.”
Yes. I will submit.
“Everly, snap out of it!” Sean’s voice barely registered, and I wished he would just shut up. His voice was so harsh compared to the sublime sound of Tate whispering in my ear. It scratched at the inside of my brain. I needed Tate to speak to me more—to provide a balm for the wretched sound of Sean’s words.
“Are you ready?”
“Yes,” I whispered.
His grip loosened, but he kept his warm hand tenderly on the back of my neck as I spun to face him. He held out his hand, and I immediately moved to give him the tablet, not of my own control.
“Don’t!” Sean’s voice called out again from somewhere behind me, but it was too late. I placed the tablet into Ta
te’s open palm.
“Argh!” he dropped it and released me, and we all watched in horror as the tablet fell to the cement basement floor and crumbled into rocks and dust.
My wits crashed back in hard, my soul felt crushed. “No!” I dropped to the floor and swept the broken pieces toward me in a pile.
“What is this?” Tate demanded, his voice back to normal. He rubbed the inside of his injured palm.
“I don’t know,” Sean said. “But she’s not controlling it.” the boys both turned thoughtfully toward me. They were just as confused about the tablet as I was.
“It’s broken. Help me, please! We’ve got to get it back together.”
“I’m sorry.” Sean placed his hand on my shoulder.
“No!” I shrugged him off of me. I wouldn’t accept it. It wasn’t too late. The pieces began to glow again, ever-so-faintly as I pulled the pieces back into contact with one another.
“Hand that to me,” I said, pointing to a large chunk of rock that had bounced several feet away from me.
“I’m not touching that again,” Sean said firmly.
To my surprise, it was Tate who moved for it. But instead of picking it up, he kicked it gently with the side of his shoe, sending it gliding back over to where I sat on the dusty floor. And that missing piece was all I needed.
Reunited with the rest of the broken tablet, the pieces began pulsing again. I could feel them, feel the life entering into the inanimate object once again. I sat back and we all watched as the glow became too bright, even for me. We shielded our eyes as the light grew blinding, pulsing faster and faster. And then, darkness.
Once my eyes readjusted to the low light, I reached out for the tablet. It was whole again. Not a single fracture line or crack were left as evidence of the destruction it had endured moments before. And it was cold, no longer pulsing or glowing at all. My heart sank. Our connection, whatever it was, was gone.
“Here,” I said, the dejection evident in my voice as I held the object out for Sean. “You can take it now.”
He stood, open mouthed, seeing but not believing that the tablet was whole again. “Are you sure?”
“I’m sure.”
The sound of a police siren filled the room. Our time was up.
“I’ll handle the cops,” Tate said, turning for the stairs. I nodded, happy to see him go, but not trusting for a second that his intentions were pure.
“I don’t recognize the writing.” Sean held the tablet close to his face, squinting hard as he attempted to make out the message.
“Well, we don’t have time to decipher it now, anyway. We’ve got to get out of here. Do you think Millie or your mom might be able to help?”
“I wouldn’t show it to them. My mom, especially. She’s got a good heart, but she’s devoted to my father. And he would be required to report it to the council. Until we know what it might mean, I think it’s best if we keep this between us.”
“And what about Tate?” I gestured for the stairs.
“Tate has one job. Just one.”
“To kill me.”
Sean nodded. “But not until he has proof that you’re fractured.”
“So what now?” I stood and dusted the knees of my pants.
“Now we get the dogs back home to your aunt and pretend nothing happened. Then we make plans. I know someone who may be able to help us figure this out. She’s a seer.”
“Will she be able to help me find my mom, too?”
“She’s got a better chance than we do.”
His tone wasn’t encouraging, but I didn’t see any other option. This tablet was linked to me somehow. There was no denying it. I wouldn’t stop searching until I found out what exactly it meant. And I wouldn't stop until I found my mom.
To be continued…
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ABOUT THE SERIES
The Lost Keepers is an ongoing series following the adventures of Everly Gordon and the powerful beings entering her world. Each installment is a fun-sized short novel, similar to an hour long episode of your favorite TV show. Once launched, the installments will be released rapidly - one month apart (or faster!)
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
AR Colbert is a wife, mother of two, and life-long daydreamer from central Oklahoma. She believes in the magic of a good story and would love nothing more than to spend the rest of her days getting lost in books. Her other hobbies include baking, cheering on the Oklahoma State Cowboys, and obsessively scrolling through Zillow.
Other books by AR Colbert:
The Ember Society Series
From the Dust
From the Earth
From the Embers
From the Flames
