I stood behind him, unconsciously holding my breath, while waiting for the white sparks to spill from their skin-to-skin contact. But I didn’t notice any. This was a different situation; maybe the reaction would also be different. It didn’t mean his actions weren’t working. My lungs burned and I took in a new gasping gulp of air. Nicholae was my last chance. This had to work!
Finally, he removed his hand from her forehead. Again there was a red mark left behind from where their skin had connected.
“Did it work?” I asked.
“There’s only one way to find out,” he said and squeezed her upper arm. “Wake up, Desiree.”
When her eyelids began to flutter, I began to sweat from every pore. And when her eyes groggily opened and peered up at us, I could only register surprise—the natural emotion anyone would have upon waking up in an unfamiliar place.
The lump in my throat grew uncomfortably large. I tried to swallow it down so I could get out seven short words. “Desiree, do you know who I am?”
She hesitated, but to my elation, clearly said, “Yes.”
Kafka (4)
“That’s not possible. Your whole proposal and presentation is preposterous,” the city planner said. “I don’t know why you went through so much trouble to get this last-minute meeting set up. This is an absolute waste of my time!”
“On the contrary,” Kafka said. “This is the most important moment of your life.” He paced around the cherry-colored wood conference table with his hands clasped behind his back. Though his associate, Lazarus, wore a three-piece suit, Kafka simply wore fitted black slacks and a dress shirt with an open collar.
Eli sat on one end of the oval table, an empty seat away from the various businessmen in this meeting, with a laptop in front of him, controlling the PowerPoint presentation.
“Lorne Tower will not just be the pinnacle of the city, but a symbol of new growth and possibility to the entire world. You were all called here today because you all know people in high places and have various connections. I do not want to be caught up in red tape. I assure you that what I’ve proposed is possible—and has been done before.”
“No,” one man with a silver mustache said from the far end of the table. “This is unprecedented. If what you propose can be done, then there will have to be testing—extensive testing to make sure the design structure is sound and can withstand the extreme loads a building of this magnitude would impose, especially with the atmospheric change of the upper floors. And the floor-to-floor drift—don’t get me started. The technology to produce something like this hasn’t—”
“Has been invented,” Kafka cut in. “You may not be able to conceptualize the technical data I’ve presented just yet, but it works, I can assure you. And as we begin building you will see it in action, but I’m not going to waste my time on testing and permits. That’s what you all are for—to make all of that go away so I can build, quickly and efficiently.”
“We can’t just bypass city and national standards and procedures. The City of Los Angeles has very strict guidelines—” The fat, balding man seated next to the older gentleman with the silver mustache was cut off with a fit of coughing. When the coughing died down only a gurgling escaped his throat as he tried to speak. He brought both hands up to his throat as someone passed him a bottle of water.
“Are you okay?” the man sitting next to him asked.
“Can’t…breathe…” The man’s words were barely audible.
Kafka walked over to him, as calm as he’d remained throughout the entire presentation. “If you can’t handle what I’m requesting of you, then I don’t much need you, do I?”
With one shaking hand, the man took a small sip from the water bottle, but the water simply dribbled out of his mouth, spilling onto his shirt and tie. He looked up at Kafka wide-eyed.
One man reached for the conference phone in the middle of the table, but couldn’t find a dial tone.
“I’m going for help,” another man said, jumping to his feet and heading for the opaque glass doors.
“Please, sit,” Kafka said in an even tone.
To the escaping man’s surprise, he slid backward across the carpet and fell back into his chair with a thud. The chair rocked and groaned under the sudden impact.
The choking man nodded vigorously, still holding his throat, his face turning a slight bluish color. Then he violently fell forward, sucking in deep gulps of air. His hands fell away from his neck so he could brace himself on his elbows, his head faced downward as he coughed and drooled onto the table. When he gained a portion of his composure back, he leered up at Kafka.
“I’m known for making things happen,” the man said hoarsely after clearing his throat.
Kafka placed his hands on the table and leaned forward, his face inches away from the man leering at him. “Then prove it,” Kafka said, ominously accentuating each word.
Kafka straightened to his full height and addressed everyone seated at the table. “This is a defining moment in your lives. You can be a part of this extraordinary project with me or not. But understand this: If you choose not to participate, there is no coming back. I am offering you everything you’ve ever wanted. Money? Power? Significance? What is it you desire most? This is just the beginning. This tower will introduce the world to my family name. And you can be in on the bottom floor. Don’t doubt the design. Trust in me and I’ll give you your own piece of the world. The architectural drawings will be finished within the next few days. I need the best trades on board now. The schedule will be more aggressive than you’ve ever seen—but it’s possible. Demolition must start next week, and I won’t ask you if you can make that happen, but simply insist that you do make it happen.
“Lazarus will pass out your sign-on bonuses.”
A stack of envelopes appeared in Lazarus’s hand, causing gasps and uncomfortable shifting to ripple around the table. He passed them out one at a time.
Eli closed the laptop and the screen projected on the wall went blank. He knew that these men didn’t fully understand, but Kafka had reeled them in. The energy in the room had shifted from many alpha egos to just one—the enigmatic man presenting, the man in charge.
Each man could not open his envelope fast enough, desperate to see what numbers were printed inside. Folded letter-size papers were pulled from the envelopes.
“What is this?” the man with the silver mustache asked.
“These amounts have been discreetly wired into each one of your bank accounts as a gesture of goodwill,” Kafka said. “Like I said, if you stay with me, I will take care of you—good care of you.”
The opaque glass doors opened under their own power. Eli guessed they could be electronically operated, but he knew who was really operating them.
“Anyone who would like to leave and forfeit this opportunity may do so now.” Kafka waited to see if anyone would rise.
No one did.
9
Reunion
“You’re the guy who barged into my room at the hospital,” Desiree said to me and then glanced at Nicholae. “Though I don’t recognize you.”
My heart sank. She recognized me all right, but not for the reason I’d hoped.
Desiree sat upright and scanned the room.
“What have you done with me? Where am I?” she demanded.
“Relax. You’re safe,” Nicholae said. “My name is Nicholae. I’m Oliver’s fa—friend. No one will find you here.”
“That’s what I’m afraid of,” she said, throwing off the covers and inspecting her clothes. The fact that she was still fully dressed seemed to calm her slightly. “I want to go home.”
“I understand,” Nicholae said. “I was just trying to help restore your lost memories. I—we don’t mean you any harm. How do you feel?”
“A little disoriented,” she said, putting a hand to her forehead. “Where are the others? There was another man with you…and a woman—she killed Dr. Lorne in a way…I—I can’t even describe it.”
; Mom walked up from behind me. “Desiree, honey, do you remember me?”
Desiree shook her head.
“You should take her home,” Nicholae said to me. “There’s nothing more I can do without her daediem.”
“Try again!” I yelled. “There has to be another way—or, or we search harder for her mirror. I can’t lose her.”
“Lose me?” Desiree said in a mocking tone. “You never had me. I’m no one’s possession.”
When Nicholae didn’t answer, I continued, “I’ll try.”
“Don’t you dare touch me!” Desiree yelled, slinking to the far side of the mattress.
I stopped and turned back to Nicholae. “A little help?”
“You should let her go,” Mom said. “Give her back to her family. It’s safer for her anyway.”
“Safer? They took her from her house,” I said. Rage was boiling up inside me so much so that I wanted to punch a hole in the closest wall to let everyone know how serious I was. “She’ll be safer here.”
“From what?” Desiree asked defiantly. “Some imaginary enemy? Who’s going to keep me safe from you?”
“Oliver, come with me,” Nicholae said and led Mom and me outside, leaving Desiree to dispute with an empty room.
Nicholae’s wolf, Ingrid, sat stoically by the door. Nicholae patted her on the back of the neck and playfully grabbed a fistful of thick fur.
Floodlights shined down from mounts on the underside of roof overhangs so the clearings between buildings were nearly as bright as daytime. Though unlike daytime, the camp was peacefully still and quiet.
“This is not going how I’d hoped,” I said.
“I know,” Nicholae said.
“I’m sorry, honey,” Mom offered. “But I think you should let her go home. I know it’s hard.”
“From what Matilda said, they already did what they’d planned to do to her,” Nicholae said. “Alexandria was going to let her go.”
“We don’t know that,” I said. “I don’t believe her.”
“I don’t know why, but Alexandria placed the shroud over her eyes to return her to her normal life, erasing all of this from her mind. She’s no longer a threat—no longer collateral.”
I thought back to what Eli had told me about Anna, how he had gotten her out of the asylum. He was responsible for having me erased from her memory.
“He was never going to hurt her,” I said. “From his perspective, he was saving her.”
“What?” Mom asked.
“Eli, Desiree’s ex-boyfriend. This is his fault. You’re right.” I turned to Nicholae. “He made a deal with Alexandria, with Kafka, to ensure she was no longer a threat, to keep her safe…to get her away from us—away from me.”
“Then she is no longer in danger,” Nicholae said.
“So we can take her home, back to her family where she belongs,” Mom added.
I considered this and thought about all we’ve been through together to arrive at this point. She saved me from Kafka and I saved her from Reid. I replayed flashes of our adventures through Provex City, our time together in Doria Falls, the feel and taste of her lips on mine, the texture of her bare skin against me. She’d refused to go home, no matter how dangerous things became, saying she’d stick by my side until the end.
I’m with you ’til the end. Together.
“No,” I said.
“Excuse me?” Mom asked, pretending she’d misheard what I’d said, though it was obvious from her tone, she hadn’t.
“She turned down all offers to leave. We were in this together. She wouldn’t give up on me,” I said, trying to get either one of them to really hear me, what she meant to me, and how important this decision was now. “I can’t give up on her.”
“The situation has changed,” Mom said. “You need to respect her wishes with who she is now, not who she was.”
“She’s still the same girl and I know the part of her that loves me is still in there somewhere, begging to get out.”
“Maybe so, but when do you give her up? When is it time to let her go?” Mom glanced over at Nicholae and then patiently awaited my answer.
“When you truly love someone, you don’t give up—you’re all in,” I said.
Mom looked crestfallen. “Is that so? Just like you see in the movies? If you keep trying, then it has to work out?”
“If it’s meant to be, then yeah.”
After remaining uncharacteristically quiet, Nicholae finally spoke up. “Sometimes you have to stick to your convictions knowing full well things aren’t going to work out the way you planned. There isn’t a single right answer. Keep to your decisions and accept the outcomes, whatever they may be.” He peered at Mom as he spoke.
“Mr. Gordon says it’s all about what you believe,” I said. “I believe Desiree and I are meant to be, no matter what. This is just another obstacle.”
“I like her a lot,” Mom started, and then stopped to retrieve the right words. “But you’ve known her for all of what? Six months? I—”
“What does that have to do with anything?”
“I don’t want to see you hurt more than you’ve already been.”
“We’ve been through Hell and back,” I said. “I can save her.”
“That’s a good belief to have,” Mom said and reached across the space between us to pull me in for a hug. “And I want you to always believe in yourself because sometimes you are all you have. But there are times when the consideration for someone else is more important, despite your confidence in your own abilities.”
She let me go and we all stood in a quiet triangle while considering what to be done with the misplaced girl in the room—or at least they were. My feelings hadn’t changed. I couldn’t bring myself to let Desiree go.
“Do you want to come with me?” Nicholae asked. “She may not appreciate your company in her current condition, but I bet you’d like to be a part of getting her home safely.”
I nodded weakly. Overruled.
“You’re doing the right thing,” Mom said, placing a nurturing hand on the middle of my back.
All three of us returned to find Desiree trying desperately to wake Logan, but she might as well have been trying to wake a lying corpse.
“What are you going to do with me?” she asked, positioned on the far side of the bed, using it as a barrier. “Please…”
“Calm down,” Nicholae said in a soothing voice and he walked carefully toward her like he was approaching a cornered animal on the defensive. “You’re going to be okay. I’m taking you home.”
“Really?” She was almost crying now. “You’re really taking me home?”
“Yes. You have nothing to fear. This whole nightmare will be over shortly, and you’ll soon be safe at home with your family, in your own house, able to sleep in your own bed, and get back to your normal, mundane life. Are you ready?”
I wasn’t. I couldn’t believe it was finally time to say goodbye to her—and she wouldn’t even be inclined to return the sentiment.
“You can stay, you know,” I blurted out, but Desiree didn’t even acknowledge my existence.
“I’m ready,” she murmured and rounded the bed.
“I’m sorry,” Mom said, and I couldn’t tell whether she was addressing Desiree or me.
Nicholae led Desiree out of the building, and I kept my distance from her as I followed. Mom remained behind, per Nicholae’s request. She didn’t argue; she was eager to try and get some sleep before morning arrived. Nicholae had lingered before her, like he wanted to kiss her, but left without making an honest attempt.
I tailed behind them as we trekked through the cluster of similar gray, rectangular buildings. Ingrid kept pace with us and hung back with me. The flood lights illuminated our path. Insects swarmed around them, keeping us relatively pest-free. The camp was quiet except for the gentle breath of the wind and the chatter of the night’s little creatures.
Nicholae announced that he needed to make a quick stop before we took Desiree home. At
first Desiree wanted to wait outside, but after I offered to wait with her, she decided to follow Nicholae inside. So I followed them both into the building.
The door closed behind me and disappeared into the wall, and from what I could see, it had been the only way into the small building, a smaller version of our room. Instead of a full wall dedicated to bunk beds, there was just one bed pushed long-ways against the wall. A small circular table with two chairs, a dresser, and a short bookcase filled with paperbacks took up a little more of the mostly empty space. One additional door led to the bathroom.
“She’ll be safe here,” Nicholae said.
“What?” Desiree gasped. “I knew I couldn’t trust you! Either of you!” Desiree made a few steps for the door from which we’d entered before realizing it was gone. “No, no…” She ran up to the wall and ran her hands across the plaster, looking for some kind of seam. “It was right here!”
“No one can hear her and she can’t escape,” Nicholae continued.
“What are you doing?” I asked.
“Giving you what you want.”
“You bastard!” Desiree spat and charged Nicholae.
He caught her by the shoulders and took her punishing whales of rage with casual detachment. After she noticed her punches to his chest and stomach weren’t causing any physical or emotional damage, she took a step back and slapped him across the face.
“Desiree,” I pleaded. “You’re going to be okay.”
“I hate you!” she yelled, turning from Nicholae to address me properly. “You had no right—no right taking me from the hospital. You can’t keep me here. You can’t!”
Desiree stalked up to me, but Nicholae followed her like a shadow and tapped her on the back of the head, and she went rigid—frozen mid-step.
I let out a long breath after bracing myself for Desiree’s incoming attack, gazing upon the girl who used to love me reduced to frozen fury.
“Are you ready to give up on this girl?” he asked.
I shook my head. “She’s like family to me. You don’t give up on family.”
Archanum Manor Page 11
