Merciless

by Robin Parrish

  "Learning of my father's beliefs about Grant, I came up with a plan of my own. With Cynthia dead, there was a way I could see to it that Grant stayed out of his grandfather's clutches until he became a man: I had to die as well. My father would not want his personal connections examined too closely-a requirement, should he ever try to gain custody of Grant in my absence. So I arranged my own death to save Grant's life.

  "With that accomplished, I faded into obscurity while returning to my role as the custodian of the Appointed. I watched over my son from a distance, always keeping an eye on him and doing what I could to help him. This is a role that has now, at last, come to an end. It was almost fifteen years ago when the Secretum began putting its endgame into motion, by giving out the first Ring of Dominion to a British librarian, a remarkable woman I believe you knew."

  "How did you lose your hand?" Alex asked, eyeing the prosthesis that was in its place.

  Frank sighed. "The custodian, the warrior of the Appointed, is always identifiable by a mark. A perfect circle that wraps around the wrist and touches its other side. It was probably decayed beyond recognition by the time Grant saw it on my detached hand in London, so I doubt he even noticed it. But the mark is passed by a symbolic gesture. A dying touch, from one hand to another, from the last warrior to the next.

  "Unfortunately, the speech center of my brain was damaged during the aforementioned faked death, and the secret of this dying touch was known only to the one person in all the world bearing the mark. Meaning I alone knew who and what I was, and that I meant for Grant to be the next in line as custodian of the Appointed. But I had no way of telling him, and he believed me dead anyway, which was better for him, for his protection.

  "So after he was Shifted-something I wasn't prepared for-and molded by his grandfather into the Bringer, I took drastic measures. I cut my hand off and placed it in a hidden location while it still bore that dying touch meant only for Grant. And made absolutely sure that he found it."

  "But how could you be sure?" Alex's companion asked. "That hand being where it was, falling out of the ceiling and scratching my-um, his-hand like that ... It was totally random, wasn't it?"

  Frank smiled. "That's how I meant it to appear. Before leaving the Secretum and turning ourselves in to the Americans, Cynthia and I undertook quite the daring adventure within the halls of the Secretum's underground city. When we made it out alive, we had four Rings of Dominion in our possession, which we held in secret. We never even told Harlan about them. Those Rings were still in my ownership at the time I cut off my hand, so I decided the time had come to put them to use."

  "How?" Alex asked.

  "He gave them to us," Mrs. Edeson spoke up, stepping forward. Neither of them had seen her standing in the background, waiting for her part in the story to become clear. "Ryan, Charlotte, Cornelius, and myself. We all became Ringwearers after Grant did, didn't we? None of us were Shifted like the rest of you. We simply received the Rings, along with a job offer from a member of the Appointed. We were to draw as much attention to ourselves as we could, in the heart of London, in an attempt to bring Grant Borrows to us. And we were given very specific instructions on where to leave that hand. If Grant hadn't found that building on his own, thanks to the clues planted by Mr. Borrows, we were going to have to steer him toward it somehow. My apologies for the deception and all the trouble we gave you, but we were under strict orders to ensure that Grant found his father's hand and thereby claimed his birthright."

  "That's why you and your son are both Ringwearers," Alex said. "No two people related to one another have ever been chosen to be Ringwearers, but then everyone else was chosen by the Secretum. You were chosen by him." She pointed at Frank.

  "Yes," Frank confirmed. "I told your friend Ethan Cooke that Grant wasn't what he appeared to be."

  "You sent him the messages?" Daniel asked. "Gave him clues and pointed him in the right direction?"

  Frank nodded. "I recruited him into our group. We've learned to be very careful when approaching potential new members. I had to be sure that he was an honorable man before I could extend the invitation."

  Frank closed his eyes and reveled in the feeling of the warm, soothing sun. "I believed that I could destroy the Secretum from within by joining it, but it was my son who ultimately realized my goal.

  "The Secretum believed that man's free will was a flaw in our design. So everything they did was an attempt to remove choice from the human equation. It's human nature to desire control. We want to control our lives, our surroundings, our paths, even our loved ones. Because we can make our own choices, we believe that this gives us control over our lives and everything that happens to us. But in our design, we were given choice; we were not given control. It's an important distinction-and one the Secretum never understood. Our free will is not a stumbling block. It's the defining characteristic of our subsistence-and the very universe itself.

  "The Secretum's grand plot was doomed to fail from the beginning, because in their arrogance they chose their greatest enemy to be their Bringer. And now it's done. The Secretum is dead. And there shall be no more sacred custodians of the Appointed."

  Alex thought idly of Payton and how the last time she'd seen him, he was absently scratching at a curved scar on the back of his hand.

  She couldn't help smiling to herself.

  The sun filtered down between white clouds as two people sat under a very familiar bus stop.

  "So. Why are we here?" Alex asked.

  Seated beside her, he squeezed her hand. How was he going to answer that question? There were almost more answers than he could possibly give.

  "It was one year ago today that we first met, right here at this bus stop," he replied. "I had to-I needed to see . . ." he struggled for the words. He sighed. "I had to know for sure that it was all real. That it happened. I thought it would bring us both some closure, to come back here to the beginning."

  "And does it?"

  "Not really," he said. "I mean, nothing's the same, is it? I've changed, you've changed-so much has changed from that first moment we met right over there in front of that store. Most people are lucky if they get a second chance in life. I think I'm on something like my fifth. I may look and sound like Daniel Cossick, but we both know he's dead."

  Alex tilted her head sideways, watching him carefully, determined not to rush him.

  He looked down at the hand that was clutching hers. His right hand had only four fingers now. Remembering what the mercenary Konrad had once attempted to do to him, he'd come up with the idea of having his right middle finger removed. Alex argued against it, of course, but he had no desire to wear Daniel's Ring, or any other Ring, ever again.

  Payton had done the honors. Doctors at the hospital wanted to surgically reattach the severed finger, but they were baffled when he refused. He convinced them to simply sew up the wound, so that was what they did.

  Alex, on the other hand, still wore her Ring. As did most of the other Loci, who were still out there in the world somewhere, doing good, helping people, and righting wrongs. They were reporting now to the organization known as the Appointed, which had changed and grown and had made itself and its existence known to the public at large.

  Ethan, now head of the Appointed, personally saw to it that the Seal of Dominion and the silver and blue Ring of the Keeper had been thrown into the deepest part of the ocean, where they would never again be seen by human eyes. With Alex's blessing, Ethan took the Appointed public, along with Grant's story and that of the other Ringwearers. The people of earth were hungry to learn of the man who was unwillingly transformed into a hero, was twisted into something evil, but sacrificed himself to save the world. All 299 Ringwearers became famous as superheroes, but Grant's story was the most famous of all. And as far as anyone knew, his story ended in his death. Some refused to believe that he was really gone, and "Guardian Lives!" became a popular phrase appearing on everything from bathroom stalls and graffiti-painted walls to T-shirts and posters h
eld high at sporting events.

  Alex alone knew the truth.

  "All of those people-Collin, Guardian, Oblivion, the Bringer ... They're all gone," he admitted slowly. "I'm still not really sure what that leaves."

  "It leaves you, sweetie. And that's enough for me. But you didn't bring me all the way down here to tell me that. So what are we really doing here?"

  "Actually, I want you to meet someone," he replied cryptically. "He's arriving on the next bus."

  Alex smiled mischievously at him, enjoying watching him have his little mystery.

  "And does our mystery guest have a name?"

  "His name is Mark," he replied.

  "That was my little brother's name," Alex said, looking away, lost in thought.

  "Yes, I know," he went on. "He was frequently in your thoughts when Oblivion had you."

  Her head snapped back up. She nearly laughed out loud. "Don't tell me how you did it, I don't care!"

  She threw her arms around him and kissed him long and hard. He returned the gesture.

  "Are you sure it isn't weird?" he said when they broke apart. "To be kissing Daniel's lips instead of mine?"

  Alex rolled her eyes. "I know who I'm kissing when I kiss you, sweetie."

  He smiled, weakly. "I still can't shake that feeling that I owe the world ... something. I mean, I know it wasn't me. I wasn't even here, I was dead. Or whatever. But I remember all of it, and in some weird way, even though it wasn't me, it feels like it was."

  "We've been over this," Alex said. "You're responsible for no actions but your own."

  "But even at that," he went on, "the world governments are still looking for a scapegoat for all of the terror and death and destruction that Oblivion wrought. Maybe if I offered myself to them, it might bring everyone some kind of closure. I mean, look at you. I don't care what you say, I know those scars still cause you pain. How could I ever make up for that; it could never possibly be enough-"

  "Stop it," Alex said firmly. "It's not up to you to offer penance for the pain of the whole world. Now get this through that head of yours. And if you hear nothing else I ever say, I want you to hear this. Forgiveness is not something that can be bought or earned. It's a gift, free and clear. And I for one have already given it to you.

  "Now that business is over and done with. And I don't want to hear another word about it."

  With those words lingering in the air, hand-in-hand they sat and waited, and never spoke of it again.

  THE END

  Thanks to ...

  Karen, my one true love, my soul mate. You're the most amazing person I know.

  Evan, my precious son. I've waited so long to be a dad, and you made me one. I adore you and I always will.

  My family and all my friends. Your love and support mean the world.

  My agent Beth Jusino and everyone at Alive Communications. You rock.

  My genius editor David Long. Your instincts and attention to detail are impeccable.

  My Father above. I'm always amazed by all the little ways you show me how much you love me.

  Last but not least, I would be remiss without offering endless appreciation to a man I revere but have never met: Philip Yancey. His writing is among the most important of our time. His book Disappointment With God helped me make sense of the nature of the universe and our existence, and I am eternally grateful for it.