by Lila Felix
Theo sidled up beside me, “They have come to escort us.”
“How do you know? Aren’t they not allowed to speak?”
“A note, Querida. Are you ready?”
“Yes. Are you?”
“I’m fine.”
He didn’t look fine. In fact, he looked downright squirmy. Theo took my hand because he needed to. He was anxious. I let go of his hand and burrowed into his side. I knew it would comfort him.
Wrapping his arm around my waist, he kissed my temple and sighed. The guilt of denying him these things that I knew made him happy was almost more palpable now than it was when I stayed away from him.
“Whatever it is, we will handle it together,” he murmured the words to me that I should be saying to him. But they were still stuck in my throat.
“Yes.”
The monks were watching us intently. The one curious monk had his head tilted to the side listening and almost hanging onto every word and gesture Theo and I shared.
The other one made a wave toward the door and we took it as our signal to leave. Collin grumbled something about not eating and tossed his chunks of fruit into the refrigerator.
Both monks turned to us and smiled. The monk who interested me so much grabbed the hand of the other and before I knew what was happening or had time to process—they’d both flashed away.
They flashed.
Traveled.
Like Lucents.
Like us.
“Holy shit! Those monks are Lucents!” I shouted to the space that was just a few seconds before occupied by the monks.
Beside me, Theo closed his eyes and shook his head. Cursing in the same sentence as monks probably wasn’t the most ladylike thing to do. It’s not like he thought I was Princess Kate when he decided to love me. He knew I was a bag of mess.
“What? I bet they were the ones flashing near the house last night—checking us out.”
“Let’s just go before they come back and you cuss at them again.”
I thumped him on the shoulder, “I waited until they were gone.”
“Praise the Almighty for the little things,” Collin grunted in the corner. I didn’t know if he was more pissed about me cussing or his precious fruit.
“We are going to flash ahead, Collin. We’ll see you later?”
“Yes. I will be there as soon as I can.”
“Wait,” Theo said. I’d already started to move into a space away from him to flash. I knew what he would say. I didn’t know why he wanted to test this theory so badly.
“No.” I answered before the question could be posed.
“Collin isn’t scared,” Theo challenged.
“But I am. People get lost. And until we can figure out how those two did it, we should remain cautious.”
Collin bounced down the stairs off the porch and began his journey on foot toward the temples, “At least someone has some sense.”
I didn’t wait for Theo’s reply. I flashed to the temple, making sure to land on the crumbling stone stairs in front of it instead of in the temple itself. I would have to wait for Theo to mimic his formalities.
“`
Hours later we were deep in research. My mind was filled to the brim with new information and histories I’d never dreamed of. We were getting all the answers we came for and more.
No, wait. That wasn’t happening at all.
We were still having tea and listening to chanting.
For three hours.
Even Collin was hanging himself with an invisible noose. He’d also stabbed himself with an invisible knife and slit his throat several times with his finger.
He was trying to get me in trouble.
I’d crossed and recrossed my legs four hundred times. I’d snorted the first time Collin made a face of boredom, directed at me. Here I’d thought the Viking was all formal and prim, like Theo. Turns out he was a little bit fun—a little bit. The last time my tailbone hurt this bad, it was through a sealing. Sealings or Lucent weddings took like three hours—which was exactly two hours and forty minutes longer than I wanted anything to last.
The monks were still chanting. It was a beautiful sound, even I had to admit. Their voices rose and fell with such spirit.
The curious monk—curious to me—was missing from the festivities and I wondered why. He was last in line and now was missing from the fun part—and I used the term fun loosely.
Around the third time I’d nodded off, the chanting stopped, but I was only a fool once. The first time they stopped I thought for sure that was the end, but instead it was just one of many rounds. It was merely a pause. This time, several of the monks got up from their sitting position and began bustling about. Collin got up and we followed his lead. One of the monks ticked his head toward the door and we took it as our cue to move on. We were wordlessly escorted to a small cabin outside. Its construction mirrored the temple in elegance, but not in grandeur. It was removed from the building, but carried that same air of reverence. It looked to be many years younger than the ancient temple, like it was an afterthought.
We were welcomed by a door swinging open and inside was the missing monk whose smile indicated she hadn’t been lost at all. The door shut behind the three of us.
“I am Pema,” said a faint and very female voice from the other side of the mall hut. We all turned to find that the monk—was not a monk at all. Her voice was all fairy and pixie. She spoke in a tone that was neither hushed nor forced. My face reddened in embarrassment. I needed to be sent to social skills school or something.
Her presence was mysterious, yet alluring.
The close cut hair was there, but as she threw off the confines of her dreary robe, I could see why she’d looked so curious to me, because he wasn’t a he at all. It was a shaven head she. She wore a simple brown dress underneath the robe, almost Puritan in nature and form. And her short hair was very becoming on her tiny, thin body. Her eyes were sweet, honest almonds whose corners rose as she smiled with her introduction.
“You are Pema?” I questioned the pint sized beauty. I thought Pema meant something crucial. I’d gotten into Sherlock Holmes mode, thinking that there was always information between the two lines. Plus, I thought the chanting did something to my head—like made my brains mush.
“I think her name is Pema,” Theo corrected and Pema confirmed with a nod of her head.
Know it all.
“Yes. My name is Pema. Thank you Theo. Collin said you were well mannered and very kind. I see that he was right.”
Collin was in big trouble. But we didn’t have time for petty reprimands.
Should we know that name? I filtered through what we’d learned thus far but Pema didn’t register. She acted as if we should know who she was.
“I am the great, great granddaughter of Eivan. I live here under the umbrella of the monks. The family was made aware of your search for information from Collin. We discussed it at great length and have decided not to help, as we are on neither side—neither helpful nor hurtful, but to simply offer alternative information.”
I wasn’t aware there were sides in this story.
She stepped, more like danced, to the small rickety table. Several leather bags were there, like Indiana Jones had lost one of his messenger bags.
“What you have been reading so far has been the Synod’s histories. You see, in any culture or place or race—and in our case, species, there is history. But just like the truth, every person retains their own form of it. What you have been reading was what they chose for you to read. The Synod, just like most groups of powerful collaborates, have their own agenda. And what would an agenda be without the proper evidence?” She began to unshackle each bag and pulled books from them. “I won’t tell you I my conclusions, my facts, or my take on the Synod and who they really are. You have to do that for yourself. But these may help you.” She ghosted her fingers across the covers of the books in worship. “This is our side of the story. These are our written truths. I’ve been given permissio
n to show them to you now. You may study them for three days. After that, they will be taken back to their hiding place.”
She faced us again. Pema had spoken more to the books than to us, so when she turned around, the tears rivering down her face marked the treasure these truths were to her.
Her show of intense emotion amplified my curiosity.
“Theodore,” she continued laying a hand on his arm. “We have been watching you for some time. Study, learn and draw your own conclusions.” She began to leave, but he stopped her. “Am I the—am I?”
She gave him a tight lipped smile, “You are. You are the one we’ve been waiting for. Make sure you read and study with that mindset. You are no longer searching for what you are. You are now on a mission to find out the limitations and limitlessness of what being an Eidolon means. As I said before, we have been waiting for you for a very long time.”
Pema made another move to Collin, raising up on her toes to kiss his cheek and then giggling as his scraggly beard tickled her face. She thanked him for keeping us safe and for contacting her. I made a step toward the books, just as curious as the rest, but I was interrupted.
“Colby, may I speak to you in private?” Pema walked out of the door, not even waiting for me to answer. At this point, with her vague and obtuse speeches, I figured she was Eivan’s family, far removed or not so far removed. But her face resembled the other monks. I didn’t suppose she had a genealogy map to feed my interest.
Collin and Theo sat down, still in a discovery trance.
Something about this woman, like Xoana’s stories, called to me.
I followed her out of the cabin. At first I couldn’t find her. I looked around for a minute until I saw the flash, atop a mountain, in the distance—far enough away to give us privacy but not far enough in case danger discovered us. I didn’t hesitate in flashing up to meet her. This was one meeting I looked forward to. I had questions and though I loved to research history as much as Theo, it was nothing like getting firsthand information.
She sat down facing the lowering sun. I hadn’t realized just how long we’d been at the temple. She inhaled and exhaled deeply, as if the conversation we were about to have chafed her somehow.
“I’m sure you have questions first.”
“I do.”
“Go on.”
“Where is Eivan,” I treaded lightly. If there was a time and a place not to step on any toes—this was it. Especially since her toes might be attached to the ass I might one day have to kiss.
“He died of old age at Sevella’s side.”
That revelation made me gasp. Even my lovely stories portrayed his untimely death. Yet, it was still shocking to hear it firsthand.
“We were told he was lost in the fray—dead—murdered.”
Pema shrugged, “All lies perpetrated by our family to protect him.”
I was scared to ask the next question. Though I was always curious about Eivan and what happened to him, my questions were really derivative of my fear for Theo.
“Protect him from what?”
“From your enemies. You have enemies now—whether you have seen them or not. Whatever or whoever you trusted—all of it—consider it all false. I had to see you two together this morning before I revealed our histories. Eidolon is so much more than one person and his abilities. There is no Eidolon without his mate—his female. Collin has kept me informed, but I get the gift of discernment directly from Sevella and often I have to see things with my own eyes before believing. Her discernment kept Eivan alive. “
“Who are our enemies? I have to protect Theo,” I pleaded.
She shook her head. This is it. Pema is just going to be another person posing questions and scenarios, leaving me empty and useless to Theo—the very opposite of what I need to be. I sat, on the verge of tears when her hand outstretched and touched my hair.
Almighty, please let her give me the answers—something.
“You have lovely hair. I couldn’t have chosen to hide amongst royalty. No, I loved Tibet.”
We laughed at her offhand comment. It was sarcasm—but underneath and in her brown eyes, a hint of sadness lay. I gathered that my previous question would remain unanswered. But I needed information, so I pressed forward.
“Is there a time when you won’t have to hide?”
“When the keyhole is finally locked.”
“Huh?” Not the most proper response. But I couldn’t take it back.
“There are things best not said out loud. I can tell you of one of your enemies. He will be the closest enemy and the one most dangerous to you and to Theo. He will claw at you, flare dissention among those you trust and push you away at all costs. You mustn’t let him get between you. This will be your most difficult job as his mate.”
“Who,” I almost begged, shifting to a kneeling position, ready to grovel on my hand and knees if I must. If this person was going to try and separate me from protecting Theo—I’d die in order to stop him.
“Theo.”
“What?”
“You’ve heard the stories of Eivan going mad with his own power?”
“Yes.”
“Some of that is truth. But it wasn’t his power that betrayed him, it was the voices of those he was meant to guide. His life has meaning beyond just vacations and transportation means.”
I loved this female for everything she was trying to help me with. But so help me, if one more person spoke to me in cryptic riddles, I would go ape-shit.
“Please, just this one thing. Tell me plainly. Tell me how to help him in English and without hurdles to jump through.”
She chuckled at my crass plead.
“Love him. Care for him. Put his needs before your own. Be the mate you are destined to be. The Synod hasn’t been on your heels for piddly reasons. There’s always more at stake with them—nothing is simple. It is the only way to bring him down from the heavens when his head has gone too far away. Be—his—mate.”
I hefted out a heavy breath—laden with self-depreciating emotions. Being his mate wasn’t as easy as it seemed. I was a selfish person—always had been. I was a willful, spoiled child and had come to realize I was even more of a rude, willful, spoiled woman. I was so self-involved, my own reflection was checking herself out. I flashed for my own satisfaction and monetary gain when I could be helping people. I treated my entire life like one big vacation.
But for Theo I would give it all away.
I could become what he needed.
I would carve out my own heart and offer it to him if it would help him.
The time to grow up and leave the spoiled child behind had come and gone.
“I can do that.”
She laughed, “I know you can. I watched your love this morning. Take care of him.”
Pema sighed and shrugged. I took it our little chat was finished. There was so much more I needed to know, but I had a feeling she’d given me all she wanted me to have.
“Hey, how can you travel with someone else without losing them?”
She shrugged, got up from her perch and wiped off her backside. “Don’t let go.”
“So all the others, who travelled with those they loved?”
She wrapped her arm around my shoulder like we were old friends, “I can’t answer for them. All I can say is that not letting go works.”
“What about the weight?”
“That’s all up here,” she tapped lightly on my temple. “Mind over matter.”
Pema broke free of our hold as we reached the temple. She explained on the long walk back that she chose to come there as a teen. The monks don’t know what she is, but they’ve seen her flash and she laughed in telling me that she has heard the word lightning used frequently in describing her.
They don’t ask for information and she offers none. They make her live in the other cabin because she’s a girl and in her own words, super-hot.
There are so many more things I want to ask her. Why did she choose Tibet? Why did they let her
stay? Why doesn’t her family hide together?
Chapter Fifteen
Theo
When the Synod summons a Lucent, the Lucent shall answer the call in haste.
I wasn’t one of these people that could read or study while listening to music. I needed complete quiet without interruptions.
Collin hadn’t gotten the memo and neither had the voice—now two voices in my head.
It took Collin a full thirty minutes to open the books. He sat and stared at them for a half an hours. I understood his reverence, I did. But that Pema girl had given us a deadline. These books weren’t going to be around forever like his books were. There weren’t digital copies of them everywhere at our disposal.
He got up as the sun set and lit an oil lamp I hadn’t even noticed in the corner.
The second voice was spoken in Portuguese, which I found strange. And not the contemporary Portuguese either. This was old school. The same phrase was spoken over and over in perfect form, not a hint of a lilted accent or Americanized fashion.
It was akin to having noise cancelling ear buds plugged in. All I could hear were their voices.
Cosmically or heavenly, those same voices rose and fell with the climaxes and valleys in the texts before me. It was like they were speaking through it to me, or to me about them. I didn’t know which.
But mostly, I couldn’t get them to stop.
A hand touched mine and like water through a syphon, the voices were sucked away.
Colby.
To regain my senses, I tore my gaze from the page and up to her face. Her glassy blues bore down into me. Colby’s eyes had always been otherworldly to me. Mostly they were blue, but like her wake they lightened and darkened according to her mood. There was a storm brewing in them now.
“Theo, where were you?” Concern laced her tone.
I shook my head from the residual echoes of the voices, “I’m here.”
“No, you weren’t. You were somewhere else. Collin was yelling your name when I came in. Did something happen?”
Shifting to see Collin, I saw he was distressed. He was stroking his beard, consoling himself. I must’ve been far gone.
