The First

by A. Claire Everward

  He let Semner's body fall and straightened up. He was still looking down at the man he had killed when the cars came from behind him, their headlights on him. Rolly jumped out of the lead car and ran to him. It was only then that he turned his back to Semner, finally feeling that he was leaving it all—the organization, his past, the only identity he'd ever known—behind him.

  The Protector's eyes met Rolly's. Rolly took a step back and nodded in deference. “We'll take care of it, Sir.”

  “The man who had followed him?”

  “We found the body half a mile from here. Three bullets to the heart from behind.”

  The Protector nodded. “Stand down but keep watch,” was the order he uttered in reply. “No one was sent but Semner, but as of now the organization's plans are an unknown.” He began to walk away but then stopped and turned back. “And send the body to Jennison.”

  The man who was no longer Kyle Rhys got into Rolly’s car, which took him back to the great house. He got out and walked through the front door, heading for one of the staircases.

  “Kyle?” Ahir came toward him, and began running when he saw the signs of his struggle with Semner.

  The young man turned to him, and Ahir halted in mid-stride. Protectors past and present, grandfather and grandson, stood a distance apart in the grand entry hall of the ancient abode of the Firsts.

  “Adam.” Ahir’s voice was no more than a whisper.

  Adam nodded once. “I need to see Aelia.”

  “Yes, of course, Son.” Ahir indicated the staircase. “She went up to her rooms just a short while ago. She asked to be alone.”

  Behind Ahir, the Keeper came toward them. She gasped at the Adam’s appearance. “Are you all right? You need a doctor, I will call for her immediately.”

  Adam raised his hand to stop her, and bowed his head slightly in thanks. “I'm fine.” He turned and ran up, taking the stairs two at a time.

  The security detail he'd ordered to stay with Aelia until his return began walking toward the rugged man striding toward them, but then moved aside without a word as they recognized him. Adam walked through them without slowing down and touched the screen beside the double doors to Aelia’s rooms without giving it a second thought. The security system recognized him and gave him access, unlocking the doors. He opened them and stepped inside, closing them behind him.

  The spacious sitting room he found himself in was silent and empty. He crossed it to another set of doors at its opposite end, and stepped into the inner apartment. He walked on without hesitation. Finally he halted, letting the fresh night air, a hint of the sea in it, wash over him, bringing with it memories, still too fresh, of what had taken place earlier at the edge of the seaside cliff.

  The silent figure standing on the balcony in the dark turned to him, and they faced each other. Not a word had to be said. She took it all in, the blood, the torn shirt. It was she who moved first, indicating for him to sit on the balcony sofa and he did, wincing. He'd had worse injuries in the past, far worse, but this was more than just his recent struggle with Semner he was finally feeling.

  Aelia came back with a soft towel that she had wet with warm water, and, sitting beside him, helped him take off his shirt and tended to the cuts Semner's knife had made in his chest and abdomen. He wanted to tell her that not all the blood was his but found that he couldn't, nor could he meet her eyes.

  A soft hand rested on his and he held it, squeezing tight, then raised his eyes to meet a somber look.

  “You had no choice. You didn't ask for this,” she said.

  “Does it matter? I was a part of the organization for a long time. I trained with Semner, and I helped train some of the people Jennison will send after you now. And they'll keep coming, they won't stop. Semner and I, we were just the first.”

  She kept her eyes on his. “Then let them come.”

  “They've got some of the best trained killers in the world. The best, Aelia. And you need to understand, you’re the organization's most wanted target. Killing you, or at least disabling you if they can't kill you, is the one thing they will not give up on, no matter how long it takes or what they have to do.” He shook his head. “Look at the lengths they went to with me.”

  “Yes, but now I've got you,” she said, and then realized what she said. “I mean, no, you don't have to stay, not now. I know what they say about us, who we're supposed to be, but you really don't have to do this. I just thought, because these last few days, this started to look like it's our fight, like we're in this together, I guess.” She faltered, unsure of herself. With everything they had been through, with everything she had discovered about both of them, the shock of it, she never had a chance to stop and think about it. About choices. Their choices. And she realized he probably didn't, either.

  When she spoke again, her voice was stronger, determined. “They'll settle for me, won't they?”

  He frowned. “Yes, I suppose they might.”

  “Then go. This doesn't have to be your fight, you didn't choose any of this. Decide for yourself, choose what you want. Not what you were told you must do or were born to do.” She met his eyes again. “You did enough. I'm among the Firsts now, and this is a secure place. If you want to go, I promise you I’ll stay here, I’ll never leave Aeterna, so if that's what you're worried about you can rest assured that I'll be safe. Please. You can always come back, you now have a home to come back to.”

  “You didn't choose this either,” he said, not taking his eyes off hers.

  “No. But I can't leave them. And you won't leave unless I stay, will you?”

  In her eyes he saw the same sadness he saw in them earlier, when she knew what he didn't yet, the role he was destined for as the Protector and what it would mean for him. Choice. She wanted him to have a choice.

  “They took so much from you, Adam.”

  He started at her use of his name. His real name.

  “Please. Go, live a life that's yours, find what's true for you. Something you can believe in, after all those lies. Something real.”

  “I did.”

  She shook her head and turned her gaze to the darkness beyond the balcony, leaned back. “What they need me to be . . . I don't see how I can be that.”

  He didn’t answer immediately. She thought, he realized, that he had meant the Light. Of course she would. That's what everyone around her must have talked about since she got here, her as the Light. And it was what had started it all, and the only reason, or so she would think, that he, her would-be killer, ended up sitting here beside her as her Protector. He decided this was not the time to correct her, instead choosing to focus on what she still couldn't believe about herself, knowing now that this belief would be central to her safety. All considering, nothing was more important right now.

  When he spoke there was real conviction in his voice. “I've seen you be what they want, what they need. It's not a choice, it's who you are.”

  “What they want is impossible, such things aren't real. It's just a belief, a myth, a story they heard from their ancestors.”

  He mused at her attempt to convince herself. Wondered what she would think if she saw herself through his eyes.

  She didn’t notice, she was too agitated. “And how many have already died because of it? Two?” She raised her eyes to his. “Three? How many more will die because of this belief? Because of me, what they think I am? And what about you, how much more will you be hurt?” She let out a breath. “Maybe if I turn my back on what they want me to be, the organization will leave us alone, the Firsts and me. And you'll be free.”

  Adam sighed and leaned back, wincing again. “No. They'll still come after you. And I'm still your Protector. Apparently that's true no matter what you do.”

  “Look at what it's doing to you.”

  “Being the Protector isn't doing this. Neither is being with you. Those after you, after us, heck, after the Firsts, they're doing this. And if anything, look at what I found, what I've got, since I met you.” His
eyes were intense on hers. “You want a choice? This is mine.”

  He meant it. She didn’t need the link between them to know that. Or to see that he was exhausted, for that matter. Everything that happened from the moment he first laid eyes on her, to this night when he killed a man who he had thought was his friend, was finally catching up with him.

  She indicated his wounds. “Someone should have a look at these,” she said, “and you need some sleep.”

  “They look worse than they are, and you cleaned them nicely.” He smiled tiredly. “And I think the bruises I'll feel by morning will be worse. But the sleep, I'll take that.” He got up. “I actually have an apartment here, you know? The closest to this one.”

  “Ahir told me.” She finally smiled. “Walk you there?”

  “I don't think so. With Aeterna's security following us? That'll be a sight.” He chuckled softly. “I'll have them removed tomorrow, by the way. After I'm sure I'm completely back to form.”

  At which time he would be taking over her protection, she knew he was saying. So his decision to stay was final.

  She nodded.

  Chapter Sixteen

  The first underground floor of the facility was silent. Everyone who did not have to be here had left, and anyone who had no choice but to be here was tiptoeing around, staying well away from the office at the end of the short corridor. No one wanted to feel the wrath of the facility's director, who had been raging mad for hours. At this very moment Jennison was walking around his office like a cooped-up tiger, his anger out of control.

  Semner hadn't checked in, and Jennison had no idea what was going on. The last he heard from him was when the killer had been told to go to Amalfi, and nothing since. Neace had finally been located in a morgue, which was a loose end since the authorities would now try to determine his identity and initiate a homicide investigation. The body of the Firsts' man had vanished along with all forensic evidence collected and Jennison had no idea how that came to be. The police had no clue who Kyle was, and they never would, if the organization could help it, but they were treating it as if he'd kidnapped the woman and killed the man they had found in her apartment, which meant they would continue to actively look for him. The only bright side was that the organization's techs were smart enough to remove all records of the fugitives' presence in the airport or on the flight to Rome. At least someone did their job around here, Jennison thought with renewed rage. He hit the table with his fist. How the hell did it all go so wrong, so fast? He no longer had control over anything—the target's whereabouts, Kyle, Semner.

  Kyle. Now that was a mistake, an unprecedented investment gone so wrong it would cost him his life if the board found out just how bad things had gotten. He'd managed to keep the lid on the visit Kyle had paid him, but the longer this failure persisted, the less safe he himself was. This had been his idea, his doing. Taking the child, keeping him alive when he was told it would be best to kill him, raising him as one of their own, training him to become what turned out to be their best operative ever. Just in case there was more to the Firsts’ stories than just that, stories, he had thought all those years ago. And why not see what would be if one of them was raised as a human, unware of what he really was?

  Yes. His idea and it had backfired so easily.

  The worst thing was, it even made him doubt. Could it all somehow be true? He himself had controlled everything Kyle was taught since the day he was taken, every single ideal and belief instilled in him, had even handpicked who would be in his life, down to who his friends were. The man that child had become had obeyed the organization, and Jennison himself, without question, completing missions and eliminating his targets without fail. And yet this woman, he'd only come into contact with her once—once!—and it was all over. The man who'd spent two and half decades in the controlling hands of the organization had so easily switched sides to hers, and years of careful planning were lost.

  But it was more than that. Although Jennison had originally made the decision to keep the child Kyle alive just in case baby Aelia somehow survived what the organization had in store for her, he'd never truly believed she would survive. None of the selected few in the organization who knew about her had thought she would. After their initial attempt to kill her had inexplicably failed, they had placed her in an environment no child should ever live in, hoping that this would kill her, or at least turn her into something that would be useless to the Firsts if they ever did succeed in finding her. And yet, not only did she survive, she had turned into quite an individual. And then she’d managed to turn Kyle, the same man who the Firsts' stories said had that connection to her. So could it be . . . could it be?

  He shook the thought off. No. He prided himself on being a rational man and none of it could be true. Humans had their beliefs too, and they were nothing more than baseless convictions rooted in myths, folktales. And her survival in that hell, that was a mix of coincidence and character, had to be. And Kyle . . . Kyle was harder to explain. Jennison knew him too well, and he had no explanation for what happened to him, none at all. All he knew was that whatever it was, the Kyle who had paid him that unwanted visit was a different man. Worse, he was obviously already well on his way to the truth. Which meant he had to die. As far as the organization was concerned, Kyle, who knew too much, who simply was too much, had to die.

  Which brought Jennison back to Semner. Where the hell was he? Did he find them? Was he still on the mission? Was he dead—did Kyle kill him? The worst case scenario, Jennison knew, was just that. Kyle killed Semner, and he and the woman were now at that place, Aeterna, among the Firsts.

  Jennison breathed in deeply and forced himself to think. He needed to do something. If the worst case did in fact happen, he needed to let them know they’d better not dare retaliate. Had to show them that the organization was ready, strong, and could and would get to them if it wanted to. Under other circumstances that would be a huge risk, what with the status quo that was reached all those years ago, but if the Firsts already knew that the organization had breached that, which was just what Jennison's actions had done . . .

  It would all fall on me, he thought. No sense delaying, he had no choice.

  Time for drastic action, and he had just the action that would rattle them.

  Adam slept. Despite the events of the night before, he actually slept quite well. But then he wasn't really surprised. Whatever had gone on inside him when he had gone to see Aelia, by the time he left to go to his own rooms he was able to breathe easy again. Her knowing, understanding, her being there was all it took.

  He got up feeling better than he had in days. His body didn’t feel as bruised as he had thought it would, either, and his energy no longer came from adrenaline running in a body that had been through the equivalent of a meat grinder over too many days.

  He walked to the mirror in his bathroom and had a look. The wounds still throbbed, but they looked as if they had been inflicted days, not mere hours ago. His injuries had never healed this quickly. He frowned. Aelia had tended to them, that was the only difference this time. He stared at the worst cut on his chest, now just an angry red line. The Light had her own way of protecting the Protector, he remembered Ahir saying. Had Aelia unknowingly made him heal faster, body and soul, just by touching him?

  Ahir. His grandfather. His family. He had to get used to that. He wasn't a human, he belonged to the Firsts. And he was standing in his rooms in the Kennard wing. He was a Kennard. Adam Kennard. The Protector. Damn. This would all take time to get used to. Except that last one. That one was easy.

  He would have pushed his way to be beside her, protect her, even if he wasn't born to do it. It wasn't because of what he had seen that day in the park or what he since learned her true identity was. It was because of who she was. Her choice to intervene and stop the brawl in the park, despite the danger to herself. The way she tended to Benjamin as he lay dying and cried for this man she didn’t know. Her standing up to him, despite knowing he was there to kil
l her. Her choice to side with him, trust him, even when the alternative arose. Her acceptance of him despite where he'd come from, what he'd been.

  He met his own eyes in the mirror. That was the one thing that for him was a given. Even if he wasn’t one of the Firsts, even if he wasn't the one who was her Protector, he would have found a way to stay. She was right, of course. He hadn’t asked for this. And it was the Light who had created the link to the Protector, he had no doubt she could block it if she wanted to. This Light, Aelia, who wanted to give him his freedom.

  He wasn't going anywhere.

  He showered and dressed, and then descended the stairs to meet Ahir, who was still worried about him. After returning to the Kennard wing the night before Adam had once again refused to have a doctor look at his injuries, showing Ahir that Aelia had tended to them and saying he just needed some sleep. So Ahir tried once again to convince him to do so now.

  Adam unbuttoned his shirt. The old man's jaw dropped, and he looked at his grandson in question.

  Adam nodded.

  He then checked in with Rolly to ensure that the heightened alert level at Aeterna was still being maintained despite Semner's death, and pulled the security detail from Aelia, to allow her the freedom she wanted. With Semner gone and no imminent threat, at least not a known one, Adam had initially been concerned that Aeterna's security would become too lax, but Rolly reminded him that with the Light there that would not be the case. Aeterna would not go below the highest security level from now on. Having already seen what that meant and knowing that now he himself was with her, this put Adam's mind at ease.

  To an extent. This was only the beginning, he knew. The organization would not stop until they got Aelia, and he would now be a target, too. And the question begged itself—what did it all mean for the Firsts? For the Keeper, for his grandfather? What would Jennison’s next step be, especially when he would get Semner's body and understand that he had failed once again and that now both Aelia and Adam himself—Kyle, for him—were out of reach?