The Lost Heir

by Allison Whitmore

  Scanning the room to test out her new sense of control, she focused her eyes on Xander first. He was probably an open book. Isabella closed her eyes and tried shutting out Cleo’s babbling for a moment to try to get a read on him. He was anxious and a little hungry. “Xander, do you want some of my breakfast? I’m not gonna eat it all.” She tested her theory.

  “Really?” A wide smile broke across his face.

  “Get a plate,” she said, focusing on Micah next. He was filled with pure joy and relief. She then looked at Seth. She could feel him, too, this time. He was calm, and his defenses were down as he ate and chatted with Micah. Then she shut her eyes and focused purely on herself; everyone else’s emotions faded away. “Cleo?” she asked after Xander had left to get a plate. “Do you feel different down here?”

  “Yeah,” Cleo said with sincerity.

  “I just did something I was never able to do.”

  “You’ve always been good at insulting me.”

  “No. Not that. I, you know, feel other people’s feelings all the time. It’s weird, but—”

  “I do, too, sometimes,” Cleo interjected. “Usually Xander’s and my parents, but I can feel others’ sometimes as well.”

  “But what about down here?”

  “I think it’s different. I can feel more, but it’s like it’s not people. It’s other stuff around me, if that makes sense.”

  Isabella frowned, thinking of what she’d done to part the water currents in order to get Seth and herself away from those Jackboot creeps. “You know more about it than you’re saying, don’t you?”

  Cleo shrugged. “I do, but Colin wants us to wait before telling you too much.”

  Isabella threw off her covers and jumped up. “Colin! Why should we listen to that guy? I say we all just leave as soon as Xander gets back.”

  “What? I thought we were going to the Wintertide festival to meet the sage today!” Xander said, beelining toward Isabella’s abandoned breakfast.

  She gasped. “What sage?” Pythian had mentioned that she had to see a sage in order to complete her debut, which had to happen for her to save the Fire. She also had to get the lost heir to help her. Colin. She was too tired to figure out what she wanted to do.

  Cleo smirked. “Why don’t you shower and change? Xander’ll take care of your plate for you.” She laughed as her brother dumped the rest of Isabella’s food onto a silver saucer. “Then we’ll explain everything.”

  “Change? Change into what?”

  “You’ll see,” Cleo said as Isabella pulled herself from under the covers. For the first time in a little while, she heard Seth’s voice. It was a little odd to hear him speaking but not directly to her. She’d kind of gotten used to it being just the two of them.

  “Hey, has anybody seen my lasso?” he asked.

  “Oh, that,” said Cleo. “Colin took it. He said it was a shadow object.”

  Their stuff. She’d forgotten about it. “And what happened to my orb thing?” Isabella asked.

  “He took that, too,” said Cleo.

  “What?” Isabella felt disdain growing even stronger for Colin.

  “He said he’d give it back to you later,” said Cleo.

  “What about my shadow rope? I take it I don’t get my lasso back?” asked Seth.

  “Shadow objects are evil. They could have spy links or something to them. So, no,” Cleo said. “He had to destroy it. Sorry, Seth.”

  Isabella was hesitant to distrust Colin, but she felt almost helpless. Who did he think he was, anyway? The Foxworthy heir: That was who.

  “Come on,” said Cleo. ”Our bathroom is this way. I think even you will love this. See you guys in a second. Xander, don’t take forever getting dressed.”

  “Are you kidding?” Xander laughed. “I want to meet this sage ASAP.”

  Isabella could not lie to herself: She did, too.

  The boys turned to the left, and Cleo and Isabella went right. They passed a television lounge, and then came upon an indented carving of a hand in the wide-stoned wall. Cleo touched it, and the stones slid open to form a doorway.

  “This is our bathroom.” She led Isabella through the opening. “Do you want a robe? Of course you do.” She opened a linen closet and gestured inside. Robes of all different colors and fabrics filled a seemingly endless closet. ”Pretty awesome, right?”

  “Actually, yes, but—”

  “But what? Even you have to admit this is heaven.”

  “Cleo, have you been hypnotized? Don’t you remember that your parents are missing? Something is not right. First the Jackboots, then the Greens of the Valley, and now this Midnight Brotherhood,” Isabella said, pausing as a pang touched her heart. “How do we know who to trust and who is the enemy?”

  “Who has tried to hurt us, and who has tried to help us?” Cleo smiled warmly.

  “True,” Isabella sighed. She didn’t know what or who to believe anymore. “I want you to spill it! Tell me everything they’ve told you.”

  “I told Colin I’d let him tell you.”

  “Why are you so loyal to this guy you’ve known for all of, what? A day?”

  “What made you go off to that weird place with those creeps?”

  “Exactly my point! We don’t know who we can trust.”

  “The Brotherhood is different than the others, Isabella. Trust me, you’d feel that way, too, if you just relaxed. You’re scared and apprehensive, but that’s normal after all you’ve been through.”

  Isabella glowered. Cleo might be right, but this was all too much. ”Cleo, I need to restore the Fire, and then I just want to go home,” she confessed.

  “The Violet Fire?”

  “Yes. It's the only way.”

  “Yeah. Makes sense. It's what all this is about, isn’t it?”

  “So, tell me what you know.”

  “All I can say is that Colin is a good guy. The Brotherhood will take care of us.”

  “That's not good enough. Did they at least tell you where our families are?”

  “Try homing in on just what you feel, and think about your grandmother and what she is doing right at this moment.”

  “Fine,” Isabella said, shutting her eyes, thinking about Nano.

  “Try talking to her in your mind,” Cleo prompted.

  Isabella did this, and a sudden warmth washed over her. It was tense and yet content. In that instant, she knew what Cleo was saying was true. “Lisbon?”

  “What?”

  “They’re in someplace called Lisbon. I think that’s in—”

  “Portugal,” said Cleo. “They bring us all the way to California to go back to Europe?”

  “I thought you said you knew where they were.”

  “I said I knew they were safe,” Cleo clarified.

  “A whole city is not an exact place. It might be just a hunch.”

  “Trust me. It’s right,” said Cleo. “Towels are in the basket in front of the shower. The tub is through that door. I’m not normally a bath girl, but I think I’ve been converted for life. You’ll see what I mean,” Cleo squeaked, sounding nothing like herself, but Isabella knew she was in heaven in a place like this. “Wait ‘til you see the closet. Although I think they could be a little more open-minded about the color selection, like they are with the robes.”

  “Cleo?”

  “Yeah?”

  “What do they have all this here for?”

  “Just go with it. I’ll come back in twenty minutes or so. We meet the sage at ‘high’ noon. At least, that’s what they call it.”

  “Why do they make references to the sun when there is no sun down here?”

  Cleo laughed. “I know, right? I don’t get it, either. I’ve already taken my bath, so see you in a bit.”

  Chapter Twenty-Seven

  Shiny and New

  Isabella decided to go for the bath. The room also had stone walls but was dotted with small bulbs flowering from artificial vines, and the lighting was softer. Soaps, oils, and bath gemstones sat o
n a rack near the entryway. The tub, at the center of the room, was maybe twice the size of a regular bathtub, with two steps down into it. Next to the tub were a small bench for changing and a basket for soiled linens and clothes. Isabella turned on the pewter faucets and watched steaming water fill the tub. She chose lavender oil and vanilla bath beads and then laid her robe on the bench and submerged herself in the water, soothing her weary bones.

  After a full twenty minutes, she emerged fully refreshed. She dried off and put on her robe and then wandered over to explore the massive closet. She discovered an array of leg-wear plus a wall lined with coats and sweaters. To her left, she found dresses and skirts and, in the back, shoes and scarves. She was surprised that Cleo was still breathing after seeing a closet like this. But she had been complaining about something, hadn’t she? What for?

  Realization dawned on Isabella: The clothes were all black, navy blue, charcoal gray, deep brown, or olive green. Isabella laughed. Her favorite colors. Poor Cleo. Oh, well. She began at the pants. There were so many different kinds: cargo, track, stretch, boot-cut, flared, leather, and denim. At the end, she found jumpsuits, rompers, and overalls. She looked over the dresses and then the skirts before settling on a black jumpsuit. Just after she’d made her selection, Cleo appeared, wearing a short, plaid skirt with black leggings and a ribbed, charcoal turtleneck.

  “That was fast. It took me three hours to put together my uniform yesterday. Sorry, I took all the cute skirts. I need a little variety. We have to keep consistent with the style we pick. And did you notice that all the coats are black? Stylish, for sure, but no pizzazz.”

  “Uniform?”

  “Yeah. At least we aren’t real members of the Brotherhood. Then we’d have to wear those awful outfits Colin and the others wear.”

  “I actually like their outfits.”

  “You would.” Cleo rolled her eyes. “Since we are just your cohort, we have more—”

  “My what?”

  Cleo looked as if she’d swallowed a moldy piece of cheese but then quickly brightened, pasting on a smile. “I like what you picked out. That’s called a draped V-neck. See how one side drapes over the other? Nice pleats at the hips. It will look good on your slim figure. The pants are stylish but also loose and comfy. Izzy, I’m shocked.”

  “Come on, Cleo. Tell me what you were talking about.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “You’re the one making innuendos about cohorts and real members of The Brotherhood. What the heck does that mean?”

  “Well, Colin, your brother—“

  “You know about that?”

  “He told us, but he made us promise not to say anything until he talks to you himself.”

  “So it’s true?” Isabella asked to more herself than Cleo.

  “I think so. I mean, why would he lie about that?”

  Isabella did not have an answer. “What else did he make you promise not to tell me?”

  Cleo scratched the back of her neck with her perfectly polished pink finger nails. “Uh, just a little a business about some Fire.”

  “You mean the Violet Fire?” asked Isabella as Cleo’s eyes went wide before returning to her former nonchalant expression.

  “Yeah, that. We have to help you save it but you should wait for Colin. He can explain everything to you much better than me. As I was saying, really like your outfit.”

  Isabella shrugged. “I just thought it looked like presentable pajamas.” She decided that if Cleo was going to play the nonchalant game, then she’d go along since she’d rather talk to Colin, anyway.

  “It’s high fashion, but badass,” Cleo continued, leading them out of the room.

  She wrinkled her nose. “You sound like Seth now.”

  “Speaking of the boys… they’re all ready. Even Xander.”

  “Of course they are,” said Isabella drily. “What is all this sage stuff, anyway?”

  “They are going to meet with us to help guide our abilities. Supposedly our parents all did this when they were debuts.”

  “Oh. I guess that sounds pretty good.” An image of her mother and father came into her mind...

  She’d been playing on a retired fire engine donated to a local city park, moving the mostly stagnant wheel as much as she could back and forth. A little kid was pushed to the ground by a slightly bigger kid. Isabella had looked at the little kid, whose chin had only started to tremble. His tears had stopped suddenly. Then he’d grinned and run off to play. Her parents had smiled at each other, as if proud, but she hadn’t done anything. Had she...?

  Maybe the sage could tell her what stuff like that was all about. There had been many moments in her childhood like that. None of them made any sense, and her parents never told her anything.

  Isabella’s mind shifted to Pythian and the gift he’d given her. She recalled his words: ”Colin Timothy is the lost Foxworthy heir. Not Jack.”

  Was Jack watching her like Colin must have been?

  “I think it’ll be totally fun,” said Cleo. “See you in a bit. There’s a vanity on the left. Makeup and all.”

  “I hate makeup,” Isabella said, frowning, as Cleo dashed toward the door. “Cleo?”

  “Yeah?”

  “I wanna talk to Colin.”

  “I’ll tell Neeta.”

  “Who?”

  “Oh. Neeta Tanaka. You’ll like her,” she said with a soft smile and then left Isabella to dress.

  Great. Another person she was going to have to decide if she trusted or not. She supposed all she could do is keep her guard up and let the rest happen as it was going to happen.

  ***

  When Isabella finished and headed back to the group, she heard someone speaking.

  "Bad news," a woman said as she pushed a streak of yellow and violet hair out of her eyes. Seth stood close to her, seemingly enamored. Of course: She had Laker colors in her hair. What could she expect?

  Possessiveness shot through her body. Seth was hers. Wait. No, that wasn't true. He wasn't hers. He could do what he wanted. She stopped the train of thought when Neeta turned to her.

  "Isabella, nice to meet you. I'm Neeta Tanaka, one of few female members of the Brotherhood."

  "Nice to meet you, too." Isabella took her warm hand and shook it.

  "I hope you had a good bath and you're feeling better. It's definitely rejuvenating in more ways than one."

  "Yes, I do feel a lot better, thanks," said Isabella.

  Cleo was right. Neeta did seem nice, but this was not really the time and place to go around trusting every new face she came in contact with. "Great. If you're up to it, we're heading down to the vehicle port for transportation to Empath Hall."

  "Sure," Isabella said. "Will Colin be coming?"

  Neeta looked at her watch. "We need to get going," she said without acknowledging the question. "Come on." She then led them out of the room into the hall.

  "So the, uh, bad news you were about to tell us before?" Seth asked, still closest to Neeta.

  They came to an elevator. "We aren't getting the van. We'll have to take bullet cars through the tube."

  The elevator took them to the right, then left, then down a long shaft into a wide room made of metal and pipes.

  "Why's that bad?" asked Micah as they stepped into the room.

  The grated floors and steel metal walls reminded Isabella of a sci-fi movie. To her right was a small control room behind glass; in front of them were two rails.

  "Maybe not bad for you, but it is for me. I have to worry about you getting separated," she said. "But we will be one after the other. Just promise to wait for us right where your car leaves you, and we should be solid."

  "Neeta? Are you by chance close to Dec—?” Isabella started to ask, but Franklin strode into the room toward Neeta. Her handed her a small slip of paper and then stole a glance at Isabella before exiting. Why was he looking at her like that? Wasn't he too old for her? Yeah, totally, right?

  "So, we'll take two cars," Neeta told
them. "Franklin will drive the second car. He'll be right back."

  "What about Colin?" Isabella asked.

  "He might meet us there," Neeta said, seeming uncomfortable.

  "Oh." Isabella looked back at the exit. Why was she being so evasive?

  "What's going on in that crazy head of yours?" Seth asked. They hadn't spoken directly since they'd arrived. His voice both comforted and unnerved her.

  "Nothing."

  He spit out a short laugh. "I doubt that, kid."

  She folded her arms. "So, you're back to calling me kid, huh?"

  "Don't take it like that." He attempted to place a hand on her shoulder, but she moved out of his reach.

  "I wasn't. But..." She stared at the tracks.

  "What's wrong?"

  A grinding noise filled the room, halting their conversation. Isabella looked up to see a set of metal doors slide open above the left rail-line and deposit a sleek, silver-and-black railcar of some sort onto it. That must be the bullet car. It moved several feet forward on its own accord as another car, this one sapphire, emerged onto the track.

  "Sick," Seth whispered. His lips spread into a grin as he approached the bullet car; Xander and Micah were half a pace behind him. "Aren't these the things we saw when we first came underground, Iz?"

  She looked at Seth with a half-hearted smile. "Yeah, that's them."

  Franklin appeared behind them with a small stack of papers in his hand. "Bullet cars have been a great time saver and are much safer than actually letting people drive themselves down here." He sorted through the documents in his hand, as if looking at the names etched on them. They looked like diplomas or certificates or something.

  He cleared his throat, getting the kids' attention. "Here, one for each of you." He smiled at Isabella a little longer than he did the others. Or maybe that had been her imagination? "These are your debut certificates. They will allow you access to the sages."

  "Seth, you're right. These cars are awesome," Micah said. Without waiting for the others, he jumped into one of the vehicles and began looking around at the array of gadgets and switches.

  Despite the spectacle of the cars, Isabella couldn't get off her mind her desire to talk to Colin. She had to figure out what was going on and how to restore the Fire.