by Isis Rushdan
“I need to show you something,” he said. “The file Neith, the historian, sent me. The people who saw you in the park that day serve her. After the Great Divide, she took a position of neutrality.”
“Like Switzerland?”
He nodded with a grin and opened a desk drawer, retrieving a manila envelope. “Something happened between her and the immortal Seshata that turned Neith against the Houses. She claimed the great library and has ensured the preservation of our most precious documents. Her people are record-keepers, documenting significant events among our kind and within the Houses, when they’re privy to the information. They track births, deaths, the unification of kabashem, even when someone is called to serve. They watch us, not in a pervasive way, and never interfere. Neith is very protective of the information she gathers.”
“Sounds creepy,” she said with a ghastly face.
He took a file from a manila envelope, opened it and handed it to her. On one side were a picture of her father and a sheet of information and on the other side was a picture of her mother along with a similar sheet. She stared at the photos, unable to breathe.
“Are you okay?”
She pulled out the pictures. Her memory of her father was right. His skin was a deeper, richer shade of brown than hers. He had soft, angelic eyes and a kind face.
In the picture of her mother, she recognized her own delicate features in the image, but her mother had an incandescent beauty, porcelain skin, dark hair and eyes a startling shade of violet. Besides those damn eyes and wretched smile, this was the face that had eluded her memory for twenty-five years.
“Are you okay?” he asked again.
“She’s beautiful. I’ve lain awake at night so many times, hoping to dream about her, to remember what she looked like. I thought if I could draw her and burn the image, I could exorcise her and be free.” She wiped away tears before they could fall.
He shifted to sit on the arm of the chair and rested his hand on her back. The sheet of information on her father only had a few short lines.
LUCIEN ALCAEUS
Born: Shemu II 5, 1553 IE
Deceased: Peret IV 20, 1678
Mother: Dayanara, House Herut
Father: Marius, House Aten
Primary House: Herut
Ingenium: Telekinesis, L5
Kabashem: Sothis Callidora, daughter of Aurora House Aten and Arcturus House Sekhem.
Left collective and married Sothis on Akhet III 8, 1665 IE. Established residence in Star Lake, NY. One child, Serenity Ameliora, born Akhet IV 5, 1672.
“I didn’t even know I had a middle name,” she said. “I don’t understand these dates.”
Cyrus looked over her shoulder at the paper. “Neith uses the old way. When they left Egypt, they called that era Shabanu and recorded the year as one. After the Great Divide, the era of Isfet started, but they kept the ancient Egyptian way of recording the day and month.” He pointed to a date. “The months are divided into three groups. If I have this right, your father was born in early April and he died in late February.”
“This says my father was from your House. Did you know him?”
“Yes, but not well. He was kind, smart, brilliant really.”
She glanced back at the file. “What does L five next to ingenium mean?”
“The level indicates the strength of the ability, one being the weakest. During training we can get a gauge for someone’s potential.”
“How strong is a five?”
“It depends on the type of ability. Telekinesis is a rare gift. I think the highest ever documented is a six, so it means he was pretty powerful.”
Her mother’s sheet had the same succinct format.
SOTHIS CALLIDORA
Born: Akhet I 1, 1628 IE
Mother: Aurora, House Aten
Father: Arcturus, House Sekhem
Primary House: Aten. Strong ties to House Sekhem.
Ingenium: Warrior, L8
Kabashem: Lucien Alcaeus, son of Dayanara House Herut and Marius House Aten.
Left collective and married Lucien on Akhet III 8, 1665 IE. Established residence in Star Lake, NY. One child, Serenity Ameliora, born Akhet IV 5, 1672. Went to House Aten and was invited to serve on Akhet IV 14, 1677. Current whereabouts unknown.
“Nine days after my birthday she left to go to Aten? Did she accept the invitation?”
“I don’t know. The Houses are secretive. I’m shocked Neith had so much information.”
“It says she was a level eight.”
“With warriors, it’s different. Talus is strong and quick, but she’s just a three. Battle-guard warriors are at a minimum level five. Abbadon is a level eight like your mother.”
She shook her head. “Even if she accepted the invitation, why wouldn’t she have sent for me after my father died?”
“There’s more,” he said gravely. He handed her a thick folder.
She flipped through pages of digital photos of her: grocery shopping, at the tattoo studio, in front of the apartment building with Evan, jogging, and one of her birthmark on the back of her neck. Behind the digital photo printouts were old 35mm pictures and a detailed report. Serenity spread the pictures out on the desk, focusing on a couple of her parents camping in remote locations. The next picture struck her heart, a photo of her, playing in a backyard with her father, while her mother sprayed them with a garden hose. The last picture was a close-up of her at about age four. The violet color of her eyes blazed like her mother’s.
The dossier started out with a brief synopsis, listing her address in Manhattan and a few details about Evan. A blank next to the category ingenium conjured more questions. The report then went into detailed information about her parents. They travelled for several years before settling in Star Lake, New York. It described their life as provincial.
She glossed over the report quickly until she got to the last paragraph. She read it twice.
His remains were found on Peret IV 21, 1678 in the ashes of their family home. Examination of the body indicated a gunshot wound to the back of the head. The child, Serenity, was not found at the scene. Her whereabouts and mark were unknown until Akhet I 19, 1702.
“I don’t understand.” She stared at Cyrus. “He was murdered? Why didn’t anyone know where I was all this time?”
“Someone didn’t want us to find you. Your father never told Herut about you. I take it your mother did the same with Aten to protect you.”
Her eyes washed over the pictures. “Everything I’ve ever believed has been a lie. I thought she hated us and that he killed himself for it.”
“I’m sorry you had to grow up thinking that.” He brushed his hand across her cheek.
“What’s so bad about the Houses? Why did they want to raise me away from the collective?”
“Lucien loved House Herut. Many of us try life away from the collective at some point, but most of us return. Based on what happened with the last Blessed unions, keeping your mark secret kept us both safe.” Cyrus held her from behind and kissed her head. “I wish I could be of more help.”
She massaged her temples, trying to think. Her father hadn’t given up on life or her, and from the looks of the pictures her mother had loved her. They’d both wanted her. “The file said my mother’s primary House was Aten, but she trained with House Sekhem.”
His face brightened. “This I know. What happened with your grandparents and the way your mother grew up was most unusual. Aurora and Arcturus had a volatile relationship.”
“They were kabashem?”
He nodded. “Not all relationships between kabashem are smooth. They fought whenever they were together and only saw each other a couple of times a year.”
“Is that customary? I mean, if you choose not to be together, do kabashem hook up every now and again?” She raised her eyebrows and gave him a look to indicate what she meant.
“I wouldn’t call it customary. Sometimes the differences are too great or they find it easier to stay away. Your g
randparents had some sort of agreement regarding your mother. When she reached a certain age, she’d live in House Sekhem where she’d be trained for twenty years.”
“Twenty years is a lot of training.”
“Twenty years is not so long, if they were training her to be a Paladin.”
Serenity struggled to picture her mother as a ruthless killer capable of murdering a child and cringed. “How do you know any of this?”
“The Pesedjet, the Great Council of nine, convenes once a century. Each House is allowed to bring one hundred Kindred to bear witness. I attended the last one. Aurora was present, but Arcturus didn’t attend. His brother, Archimedes, went in his stead. Archimedes whispered something to her as the Pesedjet opened the session. They quarreled in front of everyone, openly. By the time the Pesedjet had concluded, the details of your grandparents’ relationship were common knowledge.”
She held up her mother’s picture. “Why would she leave me? Why wouldn’t she come back for me after my father was murdered?”
“Maybe it was safer for her not to.”
He wrapped an arm around her shoulder, drawing her close.
She stood, breaking the hold of his embrace, and scooped up the files. “Thank you for showing me this.” She stepped away from the desk. “I need some time to take it all in.”
“Are you sure you’re okay?” He rose, wrinkling his brow.
She nodded as she backed into the hall, then hurried to her room. Setting everything on the coffee table, she sat on her heels and spread the pictures out across the pages.
Her parents had deliberately raised her in the human world, away from the collective. They knew her mate existed, waiting for her at House Herut. Yet, they’d kept her from him. Maybe redemption wasn’t in her best interest. Maybe Cyrus wasn’t either if that’s all he cared about.
Even after her father was murdered, she was left alone amongst humans to keep her safe. Now she was under the same roof as Cyrus, perhaps putting her in the greatest danger of all.
Chapter Fourteen
Evan threw a hundred dollar bill at the taxi driver, grabbed his bags and slammed the car door without waiting for change. He tripped over a bright red motorcycle parked behind a huge black Hummer. After waiting four hours in the London Heathrow airport to get on an earlier flight back to New York and not being able to reach Serenity for three days, his nerves were raw and he could barely see straight.
He’d almost broken down and called the police, but there was probably a logical explanation. Her cell phone might have died and she got so caught up in drawing she hadn’t even realized. Certainly wouldn’t be the first time. She gets so absorbed in her artwork. Too bad it’s not for a gallery instead of a tattoo shop. But he’d fix that soon enough.
He rushed inside the building.
Maybe this was her way of avoiding another discussion about setting a wedding date. Or maybe she’d been kidnapped by some psychopath. The city was full of nut-jobs and lunatics. He hurried to the elevator at the end of the lobby.
A young man carrying a box stared at him wide-eyed as he passed. The guy looked familiar, but Evan couldn’t place where he’d seen him. The man put the box in the Hummer, looking back at Evan.
One elevator was out of order, but luckily the second one was on the ground floor. He hit the button for the thirty-fourth floor and tightened his grip on his briefcase and garment bag as the elevator climbed. He glanced at his watch, barely noon. He’d find Serenity eating lunch or painting and making a mess of the carpet. When they first moved in together, she ruined the Cavallo hide fabric of the sofa with residue from charcoal on her fingers. He had to have the couch reupholstered in black leather. In hindsight, it seemed petty how upset he’d gotten. She could ruin anything she wanted as long as he found her alive and well.
When the elevator doors opened, he noticed the apartment door was ajar. The rustle of paper echoed from inside. He breezed across the threshold, dropping his bags. A taped box sat propped by the couch. The alcove with all of her artwork had been cleared out, leaving barren walls.
The redheaded beauty that accompanied Cyrus everywhere waltzed out of the bedroom, carrying another box.
“Talus? What are you doing here?”
She stared at him, silent and still as the dead. The young man from downstairs rushed into the apartment, red-faced and gasping for air as if he’d run all the way up the stairs.
He had seen the young man before, briefly once with Cyrus.
Evan’s heart pounded so hard his chest ached. His gaze bounced between Cyrus’s two employees as his stomach did somersaults. “What are you two doing here? Where’s Serenity? All of her stuff?” Thoughts rained in his mind, but refused to puddle together to make sense.
“Cassian, grab that last box and let’s go,” Talus said, walking to the door, ignoring his question.
The young man picked up the box as instructed, a grim look plastered on his face.
Evan snatched the guy’s arm. “Is that her stuff? Where are you taking it? Where’s Seren—”
Blinding pain tore through Evan’s shoulder as Talus wrenched his arm behind his head, bringing him to his knees. He never saw her move.
“Serenity is moving in with Cyrus where she belongs,” Talus said.
“What are you doing?” Cassian asked. “Serenity is supposed to tell him, not us.”
A cruel hand pressed down hard between Evan’s shoulder blades while the grip on his captured arm tightened. He hissed as his vision blurred from the searing pain.
“Well, he’s not supposed to be here,” Talus said to Cassian. “His plane wasn’t supposed to land until tomorrow afternoon.”
“You should let him go,” Cassian said.
Talus released his arm. “What are you doing here a day early?” she asked, like it was her apartment and Evan was the trespasser.
Agony diminished, but didn’t disappear. Evan crawled to the sofa, careful not to put any weight on his injured arm. “Flew. Standby.” He rested against a cushion, holding his shoulder, trying to piece together what the unnaturally strong bitch had said. “What do you mean,”—he caught his breath—“Serenity is moving in with Cyrus?”
Talus shoved a box into Cassian’s arms and picked up the other. “Serenity will explain.”
“She’s leaving me? For him? She just met him.”
Cassian stared at Evan, wincing. “We’re sorry. Do you want me to take a look at your shoulder? I could probably make it feel better.”
“Get the hell out of my apartment! And tell my fiancée to pay me the courtesy of giving me a fucking call.”
The two gofers hurried out and couldn’t even shut the door behind them because their hands were full of Serenity’s things.
Serenity’s things!
He pushed off the sofa with his good arm and ran to the bedroom. Her clothes had been stripped from the closet. He searched the dresser, but found none of her lace bras or frilly panties. The vintage ivory and tortoise shell jewelry box he’d given her last year for Christmas had been emptied.
His head buzzed with a grating pain as if a chainsaw were ripping his skull in two. He staggered to the bathroom, his legs growing numb. All of her toiletries had been taken from the cabinets, except for the small yellow case containing her diaphragm.
Dizziness pounced. The room swam in a blur of their furniture, the bed they’d shared, pictures, moments in time the two of them had created together.
His heart seized as he tripped over an empty box and hit his head on the nightstand.
She couldn’t be gone. Not after all these years, not after everything they’d been through together, everything he’d done for her. She was the best part of his life. He had no past without her. His entire future was based on her, because of her.
And if he had anything to say about it, she’d always be in his life. He’d talk to her, see her, get this misunderstanding straightened out. She couldn’t have left.
Left him for Cyrus? His client?
The deal in London. Too easy. A ploy. A distraction to get him out of the way.
A knot of outrage and misery simmered to a boil.
Manipulative, greedy, selfish, rich prick. Evan jumped to his feet, ripped a lamp from a socket and smashed it against the wall. “Bastard!”
He’d kill him. Make him pay.
An excruciating ache throbbed in his shoulder, but it was nothing in comparison to the gaping wound in his heart. His eyes homed in on the half empty closet.
This couldn’t really be happening. He’d only been gone four days.
A chill dampened the air as Serenity jogged along a trail under the fragrant shade of the lemon grove to the woods adjacent to the iron fence encircling the property. Security cameras planted on the fence moved with her. She wondered if Cyrus or Abbadon watched.
Her joints appreciated the new spongy sneakers and dirt path, a welcome change from the unyielding concrete of the city. The sun edged through a rift in the slate gray clouds.
She returned breathless, sweaty and feeling absolutely marvelous. She took the stairs two at a time up to the second floor. The door to her room was open. She sensed Cyrus inside.
“It was an accident!” Talus said from somewhere inside the room.
Serenity slowed her pace in the hall.
“You didn’t have to hurt him,” Cassian said.
As Serenity walked into the room, all three looked at her. “What’s wrong?”
“Evan is back. He flew standby. They ran into him at the apartment,” Cyrus explained.
Spots of darkness flashed in front of her eyes and her lungs seemed to shrivel, making her strain to take in air.
“There was a slight altercation,” he continued, “Evan sustained a minor injury.”
His last word reverberated in her mind, clearing away her shock and self-pity. Her sights washed over Cassian and zoomed in on Talus. “What happened? What could Evan have possibly done to warrant you hurting him?”
“He demanded answers.” Her voice was flat, hollow. “He got in the way.”
