“Let’s go. I’ll get it for you. Besides, if Athan comes back, he’ll go there first.”
They rushed out of the house and toward Ellora’s home. She carried hope in her heart that when they went inside they would find Athan waiting for them. Maybe they needed to move Mhavrych. Maybe they needed to change some of the preparations.
When she ran through the home, though, she realized that it was empty. Trying not to show the disappointment on her face so that she wouldn’t worry Ivy, Ellora went to her bedroom and withdrew the wrapped glass from the back of her wardrobe. They went into the living room and she placed the thick paper package on Ivy’s lap. Ivy unwrapped it carefully and lifted it so that she could look at the words.
“This is definitely the University medical center,” she said, pointing to the top of the file, “but it’s not the one that’s there now.”
“What do you mean?” Ellora asked.
“The building was old and outdated. They decided to replace it, so they demolished the old ward and built a new hospital on the other side of the campus.”
“When did that happen?”
“A long time ago,” Ivy said. “That’s why I don’t understand why this one page of a file would be so important. I don’t recognize the name and there’s nothing on here that’s extraordinary, or even interesting.”
“What is a patient file?” Ellora asked, unfamiliar with the term. “What’s the purpose of it.”
“They are a record of a specific person’s medical history. It has all of their visits to the doctor, what they found out, their diagnosis, information about their health, any prescriptions, those kinds of things. These specific files are an older version of what they have now, but it is essentially the same. There was a time when all of the pages were paper, and the doctors wrote down what needed to be recorded, but now it is all computerized. It is more accurate and ensures easier access.”
“So, this page is out of someone’s medical file?” Ellora asked.
“Yes,” Ivy said. “It’s from a doctor’s appointment, but there isn’t much information on it. The complaint says that the patient was suffering from a headache, but that’s not something that people usually go to the doctor for unless it is chronic and very severe, neither of which are noted here. It’s almost like she was trying to come up with a reason to go to the doctor and that was all that she could think of when she was asked.”
“She?” Ellora asked.
“Yes. It says right here that her name was Aubrey.”
****
Icelyn felt her heart pounding but she couldn’t define the emotion that she was feeling. All her life she had heard about her grandfather. Her earliest memories of her parents were them talking about him, telling her what a brave and powerful man he was. Throughout the years she had been told of the work that he had done and what he had gone through to do what was right. He had been iconic to her, something beyond existence and reality, and now he was standing in front of her. He appeared old and weathered, and the images of a man not unlike the Denynso were shattered. At the same time, she could see her father in his eyes and the remnants of youth and vitality in his face.
“Icelyn,” he said, his voice deep and rich in a way that belied his appearance. “I can’t believe that I’m finally seeing you. I have waited your entire life to meet you.”
He stepped toward her and opened his arms. She stepped into them, letting him bring her in for an affectionate embrace. Her heart swelled, and she felt it whisper a message to her mother and father, telling them that everything would be alright, she had done it. She was there with her grandfather and she would keep striving to do all that was needed of her.
“This is Malcolm,” Mhavrych said, breaking the moment of their embrace. “He is Icelyn’s husband.”
Casimir stepped away from her and looked at Malcolm with widened eyes.
“What happened to him?”
“The Order,” Mhavrych said. “He chose to defect. He had joined us.”
“They found out.”
“Yes. We don’t know how or who captured him, but he didn’t have long to live when we freed him from the dungeon. The Order knows now that there are plans unfolding.”
“Do they know that I’m here?”
“I don’t think so,” Mhavrych said. “I think that they might suspect that you are still alive, but they haven’t been able to find you.”
“They still don’t know about the portals?”
“Portals?” Icelyn asked.
“That’s how we traveled here,” Mhavrych explained. “It’s also how I am able to travel between Uoria and Penthos. There are portals scattered throughout the Universe.”
“They bring you from place to place in an instant,” Icelyn said.
“Place to place,” Mhavrych confirmed, “and time to time. Reality to reality. These are portals that travel through all of the streams of existence.”
“I don’t understand.”
“This,” Mhavrych said, gesturing around them, “is the most complete exile that could have ever been chosen for Casimir because it is not in the same stream, it is not in the same reality as the rest of the Order. He is not just on another section of Uoria or even on another planet, he is in a different plane of existence. According to the members of the Order still where we left them, Casimir is no longer alive, and in a way, they are correct. He is not alive in that reality. But in this moment, neither are any of us.”
“The Order doesn’t know about the portals?”
“No,” Mhavrych said. “There are things that even the Order doesn’t know. Ancient things created for reasons that are far beyond what most could understand.”
Icelyn felt a thousand questions burning in her chest and starting up her throat, but she could see in Mhavrych’s eyes that now was not the time to ask them. He was looking at Malcolm, who was starting to waver back and forth where he stood beside her. She reached out and wrapped an arm around his shoulders to try to offer him support and strength.
“He needs clothes and a blanket,” she said, suddenly called into action by the frightful appearance of her wounded partner. “And food. It’s been more than a day since he’s been at the mercy of the Order and I doubt that he has seen much hospitality.”
She forced herself to focus on them not providing him with the food and water that he needed instead of the injuries that they had inflicted on him. She couldn’t bear the appearance of his blood streaked and dried on his skin or the open wounds that crossed his back, shoulders, chest, and stomach. They needed to be treated and covered, and she hoped that Casimir had the supplies in his makeshift home to do that.
Her grandfather turned back to the tunnel where he had emerged, and they followed him, guiding Malcolm along with them. In a matter of seconds, they had stepped out of the tunnel and into a large round room that appeared to have been painstakingly carved out of an existing cavern, as though Casimir had spent some of the many years that he had been in exile chipping away at the stone to create more space for himself in the only home that he believed he may ever see again.
Casimir gestured to a bed that was against one wall and Icelyn guided Malcolm toward it. As soon as Malcolm sat, her grandfather appeared at the edge of the bed with a large box. He set in on the floor and opened it, revealing a collection of assorted medical supplies. Some she recognized as items that the Mikana used in their clinics, but others were strange and unknown to her, many of them appearing to be several years old. She realized that these must be what Mhavrych and possibly her parents had been able to smuggle to him the times that they snuck through the portal to visit him in exile. She looked around herself at the items within the cavern and found herself wondering which of these items had been touched by her parents. What had they brought to him? What had they so bravely carried out of one existence and into another?
Moving quickly, Casimir went to work cleaning, treating, and mending Malcolm’s wounds, eventually wrapping him in several layers of bandages before offe
ring him a shirt to put on. Icelyn looked down into his face and saw that Malcolm’s eyes were nearly closed even as he sat there beside her. She took him by his shoulders and guided him over to lie down, resting his head to the pillow at the top of the bed and pulling several layers of blankets over him.
“He should sleep,” she said. “He’s had a hard time getting here.”
“No,” Mhavrych said. “We don’t have time. It’s not safe. The Order knows something. They were following us. If they somehow discover the portal…”
“They don’t know how to use it,” Casimir said. “If they get all the way through the tunnels, they will find the access point and simply believe that you escaped through there. They will keep looking for you. This man needs rest. He’ll need to eat, drink, and sleep to regain his strength.”
“This man is the key to ending your exile,” Mhavrych pointed out.
Casimir looked at Mhavrych and then at Icelyn. His eyes widened, and she noticed his mouth fall open slightly as if he had just understood what Mhavrych had told him earlier.
“Your husband,” he said. “Malcolm is your husband.”
Icelyn nodded.
“Yes. We just got married.”
Casimir stood and whipped around to face Mhavrych.
“When will you be ready to return to Uoria? There is much to be done.”
“No, Casimir,” Mhavrych said, shaking his head. “Not yet. You can’t go back yet. It’s too dangerous. I’m going to go back and finish as many of the preparations as possible. You wait here with Malcolm, Athan, and Icelyn.”
“I’ve done my time!” Casimir shouted. “I’m not going to wait any longer. The people I care about the most have given their lives for this and I’m not going to just sit by and let mine slip away when I could be there doing something. I won’t disrespect my son and his wife that way. I won’t disrespect Aegeus.”
“Aegeus is alive.”
Casimir quieted and looked at Mhavrych as if he didn’t believe that he had heard them correctly.
“What?” he asked.
“Aegeus,” Mhavrych said. “He’s alive.”
Casimir looked to Athan for confirmation.
“It’s true,” Athan said. “He didn’t die in the battle.”
“Of course, he didn’t die in that battle,” Casimir said. “His disappearance during the battle was the plan all along.”
“It was?” Athan asked.
Icelyn could hear the hurt in his voice and she knew that it was hard for Athan to hear that his oldest and dearest friend had not been completely honest with him about anything that he was doing, or even about the plan that he had.
“Yes,” Casimir said. “He walked into battle that day knowing that he wasn’t going to be leaving with the rest of us. He was working with the silver warriors.”
“The Irisa,” Athan said, his voice almost reverent as they spoke about Aegeus.
“Yes,” her grandfather said. “They had planned it carefully. They were going to go into the battle just as they always did, and he would cross the field toward the corrupt members of the Order and those they had aligned with. He would let them approach him, making it look as though they were attacking him and that he had been overcome. Before they reached him, however, the Irisa would create the diversion that they are so skilled at creating, making him disappear within a reflection of themselves and of the field around them.”
“That’s why they never found his body,” Athan said.
“Exactly. He intended it all along. He knew that when he disappeared, you would believe that he was dead and would go to Ellora and tell her that he was dead. The information would go to the Order and they would be satisfied.”
“But where was he going to go when he left the battlefield?” Icelyn asked.
“The war room,” Athan said.
Icelyn could hear in his voice that things were falling into place in his mind and he was seeing the picture of the last moments that he saw Aegeus become clearer against the canvas of his memories. Casimir nodded.
“He had outfitted the war room for months. Little by little he built up those stores so that when the time came, he would be ready. He planned to leave the battlefield and go directly to the war room. He would gather his weapons there and then raise up his army for an attack that would have destroyed the corrupt Order members and everything that they were building with Ryan.”
“You knew about Ryan?” Athan asked, sounding startled.
“Yes,” Casimir said. “Aegeus knew all about Ryan and everything that he had been doing. He knew that he was at the heart of what had brought the humans to Uoria and why the clans of Denynso had disappeared. He had linked him to the deaths of the Irisa and to the creation of the badlands.”
“But all of those happened before Ryan was born,” Athan said.
Casimir nodded.
“I know that,” he said. “Aegeus did, too, but that didn’t matter to him. He had uncovered links and knew that left unchecked, this man could be responsible for the destruction of the Universe. He was going to stop it.”
“But he didn’t get a chance,” Icelyn said.
Casimir shook his head.
“No,” he said. “Something went wrong. He didn’t make it back to the war room. I waited for him. He never came. Something happened to him in between the battlefield and his home.”
“The Order had him captured,” Athan said. “They offered him over to Ryan. He wanted the DNA of a Klimnu to be used in his experiments.”
“Klimnu?” Casimir asked, horrified.
“He was held captive all of these years,” Athan said. “He’s been on Earth in Ryan’s laboratory.”
“But how?” Casimir asked. “How did the Order find him and how did no one know?”
Icelyn saw the men shaking their heads, admitting that they didn’t know what had happened.
“The Order will find out that he is alive soon enough,” Mhavrych said. “This will only worsen until we can bring it to an end the way that it was always intended.”
“Where is Aegeus now?”
“On Penthos,” Athan said. “The planet where…”
“The Valdicians had their illegal prison colony,” Casimir said. “I know.”
“How do you know that?” Icelyn asked. “We didn’t even find out about Nyx 23 until the Denynso arrived. They told us about the prison colony and the Valdicians.”
“I told you,” Casimir said. “Aegeus. He knew what had happened.”
“How?””
“I don’t know. He never had the chance to tell me everything. Why is he there now?”
“The war has started, Casimir,” Mhavrych said. “The hybrid army has grown, and they are swarming Penthos. Our time has come.”
Chapter Fourteen
Willow felt Gannon’s hand touch her thigh, giving it an affectionate, reassuring squeeze, and she turned away from the window to smile at him. It was a tense smile, but it was all that she could give him in that moment. Her thoughts were twisting through her mind so quickly that she felt like she couldn’t get anything else through them. She didn’t know how she was supposed to feel about all of this. It had happened so incredibly quickly. Much too fast for her to really think through the situation and make the decision that she did to go along with Gannon on this journey. She knew that if she had the decision to make over again, however, that she wouldn’t have hesitated to make the same one again. As frightened as she was and as much as she felt that she didn’t really know what they were headed toward, she couldn’t have watched Gannon walk out of the house, knowing that he was headed into such incredible potential danger, and not be by his side.
She glanced back at the window and sat up suddenly.
“Did you see that?” she asked.
“What?” Aubrey asked from behind the wheel.
“That sign,” Willow said. “I think that I just saw a sign for the factory.”
“What did it say?” Jonah asked.
“I couldn’t read th
e entire thing. It looked really old and was bent and rusted, but I’m sure that I saw Orion Corporation.”
“We’re getting close,” Aubrey said.
Willow nodded and looked back at Gannon.
“What is it?” he asked.
“What do you mean?” she asked, taken aback by the question.
“Behind your eyes,” he said. “You’re thinking about something.”
Willow sighed.
“I’m worried about you,” she admitted. “I still feel like I have no idea what any of this means. I am still getting used to knowing what I do about you.” She felt her heart jump and she leaned closer to him, feeling desperate to cover the negativity in what she had said. “And I love you. I do. With everything in me, I love you, exactly as you and who you are. But who you are means that you are still going to be Ryan’s target.”
“I am going to be Ryan’s target for the rest of my life,” Gannon said. “He thinks that he owns me because he created me. He is always going to think that I should be in the facility with him.”
“And going to the factory means that you are going right toward him, doesn’t it? Aren’t you just putting yourself back in the danger that you got out of when you escaped from the lab?”
Gannon’s face hardened and Willow wished that she hadn’t said anything. The last thing that she wanted to do was hurt him or make him feel as though she didn’t want to be with him. It didn’t matter to her who or what Gannon was. She had loved him since she met him, and she couldn’t imagine him being anything but exactly who he was. She never wanted him to think that she judged him or looked down at him in any way for his past.
“I have to do this, Willow,” he said. “There will never be danger like there was when I was still living in the facility. No matter what, I will always be safer and freer than I ever was when I was there. Even if there are Valdicians waiting in the factory, even if Ryan himself is standing there waiting for us, I will not be afraid. Even if he was able to capture me and drag me back there, it will never be what it was before we got out of there. Before Eden and Pyra came, Ryan owned and controlled every aspect of me and all I could see in the future was living the same day again and again, training, working, killing. That will never be again. He might be able to capture my body, but he will never again be able to own my spirit. This day is the only one like this that I will ever live because I have another day waiting for me tomorrow. I look into a future that is truly a future. I see life. I see you. I’m not afraid.”
The Alien's Needs (Uoria Mates V Book 5) Page 13
