He stopped, true shock taking the breath from his lungs for the first time in – well, a few hours, anyway. But he couldn’t believe he hadn’t thought of it. Hadn’t considered that…
Oh God.
His dad probably thought he was dead.
Victor had seen them go through the portal. And of course he knew Cole was a cripple. So he must’ve thought that when Ashe had tried to save his life, she’d actually…
Cole managed a rough breath as his gaze slid to the wizards. Silently, Elias disappeared back into the lobby, pausing only to still the swinging door behind him as he went. In the shadow of the windows, Nathaniel stood watch while, with the same expression that made everything look as though it was his own intention, Cornelius lay down on a pew. Ashe was spreading a fleece blanket on the floor by the baptistery and, on the steps to the altar, Lily sat, her petite form small on the wide stairway.
The Blood would be coming, and not just because of whatever they’d wanted the girls for in the first place. And while he didn’t exactly care about anyone out there besides his dad, or trust anyone here besides the kid and possibly Ashe, that wasn’t really the point.
Cole swallowed, his gaze moving to the darkness beyond the fractured view of the leaded glass.
There wasn’t a chance in hell he’d be getting any sleep tonight.
*****
Sunrise crept across the windows, gradually setting the myriad colors of the stained glass alight. Like a retreating tide, the shadows slunk beneath the pews and into the corners of the room, taking with them the heavy silence of the sanctuary.
With her back resting on the wood-paneled wall of the baptistery, Ashe sighed. The sunlight felt strange after so many hours of darkness, but she knew it was only exhaustion. She’d spent enough all-nighters in the library at the factory to know. But she hadn’t wanted to sleep. Every time she started to drift off, the shadowy figures of the artificial trees and various podiums around her had transformed into shapes to populate her nightmares.
It had made for a long night.
She glanced up as the sanctuary door swung open, admitting Elias back into the room. For the better part of the night, he’d stayed in the lobby, watching the world through the broad glass double doors fronting the church, while Nathaniel stood guard on the sanctuary.
Though he hadn’t been the only one. She hadn’t seen Cole stir from his surveillance of the windows all night.
“We should get going,” Elias said as he came near, his quiet voice breaking the stillness. “Church office’ll be open in a few hours.”
She nodded and then eased away from the wood paneling. Electrified numbness tingled down her legs with the motion and she hissed through her teeth, freezing as she waited for her muscles to wake up. With a sympathetic wince, Elias reached down and helped her to her feet.
On her bed of rainbow-patterned fleece blankets, Lily groaned and opened her eyes. Blinking, she glanced around and then stopped moving as she caught sight of the wizards.
“It’s okay,” Ashe said at the intense caution that flashed through her sister’s eyes, stronger than it’d been even the night before. “We’re just heading out soon.”
Lily turned away, her expression unchanged.
Ashe had to fight to keep from looking to Cole, though there wasn’t much point. She could feel his stare pinned on them anyway. Lily hadn’t spoken since coming back with him, and she could only conclude it was because of something the boy had said or done.
And all the excuses or alternate possibilities in the world weren’t making that suspicion go away.
“Where are we going?” she asked, working to focus.
“There’s a–” Elias started.
On a pew near the center of the room, Cornelius sat up. Tiredly, he ran a hand over his face and then glanced toward the altar.
She could see the anger in his eyes, though his impassive face gave almost no sign, and she could imagine the glares Elias and Nathaniel must’ve been giving him. His gaze flicked over them, landing on her last and for a moment, the anger faded into the same pained and nearly desperate look she’d seen by the van the day before.
But the wizards were watching, and she could tell he felt it. Without a word, he smothered the expression and rose, heading for the lobby.
Growling a curse under his breath, Elias glanced to Nathaniel and then started after him.
“It’s okay,” Ashe said, not taking her eyes from Cornelius.
The two men looked back at her.
“Just… watch Lily,” she finished quietly.
The little girl made an anxious noise. Putting a hand on Lily’s shoulder briefly, Ashe gave her an attempt at a smile, though she knew it probably wouldn’t help anything, and then followed Cornelius from the room.
She could feel Cole’s gaze tracking her the whole way.
In the lobby, Cornelius stood beside the glass doors, watching the empty road running past the church lawn.
“Hey,” she called, pausing by the oak door.
He didn’t move.
“We should really–”
“I know,” he interrupted sharply.
She blinked, taken back for a heartbeat before irritation surged. Casting a half glance toward the sanctuary, she scoffed. “Then come back–”
His hand twitched up and then he looked over, a beseeching expression flickering across his face before he dropped his gaze to the ground, seeming for all the world as though he was struggling to find what to say.
Letting the rest of her words die, she eyed him warily.
“I…” he swallowed. “I was mistaken, your highness. About a great deal. And I…”
He trailed off, and when he spoke again, the formal tone was gone. “I’m sorry.”
She stared at him. He didn’t look up from the ground.
“How many of the… Blood… are there?” he asked, his voice strained.
Her brow twitched down and she glanced to the sanctuary again before stepping farther into the lobby, letting the door swing shut behind her. “I’m not sure,” she answered carefully.
He nodded.
“Are they aware Lily is alive?”
“I don’t know.”
“We will not let them touch her.”
His iron expression faltered as he registered the plural he’d so readily used. Regret flashed in his eyes, so fast she almost missed it, and he turned to the front door.
“Thank you,” she said quietly.
He nodded again.
“We should go,” she told him.
His gaze didn’t leave the road.
“Which one was it?” he asked, his tone so careful it could have split the glass without leaving a trace.
She swallowed uncomfortably. “The one with the scars.”
He glanced back and she could see the question.
“Yeah.”
“Thank you.”
She looked away.
“And… what you said,” he continued. “About Darius and Sebastian.”
Her stomach twisted at the memories, but she could hear the truth in his voice. He asked, but he only partly wanted to know.
“We need to get going,” she said.
Hesitating briefly, he nodded. “As you say.”
He walked back to the sanctuary entrance, and then bowed. “After you, your majesty.”
She looked up at him, reading the formality drawn back around him like a coat. He wouldn’t ask again. Her answer had been clear. And as for the rest…
The tension of the months of arguments, hurts and lies finally coming to an end pushed on her, making it hard to breathe, and she felt her face mirror his impassivity to protect her from giving any sign. With a tight nod, she headed back into the sanctuary, leaving him to follow.
“So where are we going?” she asked Elias as she neared the stage.
His gaze flicked from her to Cornelius. She waited.
Elias grimaced. “Atlanta. The council and some of the others have safe houses in th
e city. Plan is to lay low. Decide what to do from there.”
“I can offer a few locations in that area as well,” Cornelius said.
Elias regarded him. “Good to know,” he allowed.
Cornelius gave an incremental nod of acknowledgement.
“So clean up and get going?” Ashe said briskly.
Elias pulled his gaze from the man. “Yeah.”
Without another word, he went to gather the blankets.
At her side, Ashe could feel Nathaniel’s glare, but Cornelius gave no sign of noticing. Calmly, he walked to the pew and collected his coat from the seat.
“Your highness,” the wizard murmured.
“He’s on our side, Nathaniel,” she said, watching Cornelius. “He just never believed about the Blood till now.”
Unable to look at him for fear of what he’d see in her eyes, she headed after Elias and tried to ignore the feeling of Nathaniel’s disagreement following her across the room.
Chapter Three
With the blankets returned to the nursery and the sandwich ingredients packed for the van, they emerged into the early morning sunlight. Mist hung over the fields across from the church, adding to the morning’s silence and, as the van pulled back onto the country road, no other cars could be seen.
Miles and cities rolled past, accompanied by the rumble of the muffler and the occasional shower of foam from the tears in the ceiling. After a while, Lily started braiding the tattered threads of the seat fabric and interspersing her weaving with larger bits of foam, though ultimately even that distraction proved too boring to continue for long.
As the clock on the dash ticked past three and traffic clogged the highway around them for miles, Elias sent the van down an off-ramp into Atlanta. Rolling hills covered in cement and asphalt surrounded them, interspersed with leafy trees and buildings of gleaming steel and glass. Signs for loan stores gave way within a few blocks to fresh new cafés and salons, which vanished almost instantly into neighborhoods straight out of suburban fantasies. Apartment complexes followed, each built into the bones of older buildings or on top of them.
The van pulled over.
Wincing at the screech of the rusted door, Ashe climbed out into the oppressive heat and then circled with Lily to the other side of the van. By the driver’s side door, Elias waited for them, and when Nathaniel and Cole appeared as well, he wasted no time.
“Anything?”
A hint of a glower showed on Cole’s face, but he glanced around the street nonetheless.
“No.”
Elias’ mouth tightened, but without any option except to take Cole’s word, he headed into the brick apartment building. A narrow stairwell wound up through the six stories of apartments, and steel fire doors sealed off any sound from the halls beyond. At the top floor, Elias tugged open the door and strode quickly toward the far end of the hallway.
Eggshell-white walls and pale hardwood floors greeted them as they entered the apartment, and the twenty-foot high ceiling made their every step echo. A stiff white couch sat in the center of the room, facing a flat-panel television affixed to one wall, while dust-covered chrome appliances with their manufacturer’s stickers still attached waited in the shadows of the kitchen to the left of the entryway. Twin doors of light wood stood open on the right, leading to bedrooms, the only occupants of which were bare mattresses on steel-framed beds.
Ashe glanced down to see Lily blinking blearily at the apartment. “Come on,” she said to the girl, casting a quick look to Nathaniel and then heading for the nearer of the two bedrooms.
“Blankets and pillows in the closet,” Elias called.
She nodded without turning around. Leaving the girl sitting on the mattress, she pulled open the closet door and then hauled down the plastic storage bags holding the bedding. A wave of dust cascaded down with the blankets and she retreated, coughing.
While she made the bed, she could hear Nathaniel ordering Cole to stay away from the room, though if the young man had a response, it was too low to make out. Seated on the couch, Elias was calling Katherine on his cell as, across the room, Cornelius investigated the kitchen cabinets one by one.
“Here you go,” Ashe said, folding the coverings down. Wordlessly, Lily tugged off her shoes and then climbed beneath the blankets and laid her head on the pillow with a tired sigh.
Ashe sank onto the edge of the bed and then brushed a piece of Lily’s dark hair from her cheek. “You doing okay, kiddo?”
The relaxation vanished from Lily’s face and her eyes skirted the open door. In the living room, murmurs from the television rose, obscuring the wizards’ voices.
“They’re friends, Lil,” Ashe said, a touch of pleading creeping into her voice. “We’re safe with them.”
The girl didn’t appear reassured.
Ashe paused, thinking. “Do you remember the stories of the night Mom died?”
Lily nodded warily.
“Cornelius was there.” Lily blinked at the words. “He watched over us both because Dad asked him to. He made sure we were safe. Elias and Nathaniel…” Ashe hesitated. “That man at the factory, the one who said I was crazy? He did a lot of horrible things, and when I found out, he locked me up. Nathaniel and Elias helped me escape, even though he probably would have killed them for it.”
She bent slightly, trying to catch the little girl’s eye. “They’re not bad people. No matter what he says, they’re not.”
Lily looked away.
“What’s going on, Lil?” Ashe asked quietly.
Conflict twisting her face, Lily squirmed beneath the blankets. “It’s just–”
In the other room, Elias swore vehemently.
Ashe spun, but nothing else followed. Through the doorway, she could see Cornelius frozen by the kitchen, staring into the living room.
“Stay here,” she told Lily. She rose to her feet and crossed to the door, peering cautiously into the room beyond.
To a person, everyone’s eyes were locked on the television.
Flames engulfed the skeletal remains of a three-story building, making the arcs of water rushing from the firemen’s hoses seem to exist for nothing more than show. Red and blue lights chased themselves in circles above ambulances, and fire trucks and police cars were scattered throughout the building’s parking lot. Dense smoke darkened the midday sky and in the strange twilight, the reporter in her lime skirt suit and matching jewelry looked grossly out of place.
The woman’s commentary was nonsensical as well, filled with empty hypotheses of children playing with firecrackers or candles left alone. After the first few words, Ashe ignored her, looking instead to Elias as he rose from the couch. Distractedly, the man paced across the room, thumbing on his phone as he moved. She swallowed hard, watching him wait as the other line rang.
“Councilor,” Nathaniel said.
Elias turned, looking from the large wizard to the screen. The cameras cut to the studio, only to switch quickly to shots of a small bungalow in ruins, its soot-stained and crumbled walls long since abandoned by the firemen.
The phone still by his ear, Elias growled a curse. Drawing a breath, he waited a moment more and then hung up. “Felix isn’t answering,” he said shortly as he dialed another number.
Nathaniel’s jaw tightened. He glanced to Ashe and then strode across the room, heading for the window beside Lily’s bed. Swiftly, he scanned the street and then tugged the curtain closed.
“Laurence either,” Elias continued, fury simmering in his tone.
“Does anyone know of this location?” Cornelius asked.
“No.”
Cornelius took out his phone.
“What’s going on?” Lily called worriedly.
Ashe’s heart jumped at the sound of the little girl’s voice. Regrouping quickly, she pasted the most reassuring smile she could muster onto her face and looked back into the bedroom. “Nothing, kiddo. Just try to get some sleep, eh?”
She glanced to Nathaniel. Swiftly, she twitched her hea
d to Lily and then toward the closet door. Face darkening, he balked, unwilling to consider leaving without her, and then finally nodded at the insistent look in her eyes.
Fighting to keep from showing how she was trembling, she turned back to the living room. From the corner of her eye, she could see Cole by the second bedroom, his hand gripping the doorframe and his gaze locked on the screen. In the kitchen and by the sofa, Cornelius and Elias had gone silent, their faces telling her all she needed to know.
They’d been sold out. Someone, somewhere had known enough of where the Merlin would run to exchange their own safety for the information.
And now the survivors were paying the price.
She swallowed hard, her stomach quivering as the television played on, showing flames twisting to the accompaniment of the reporter’s endless questions and telephone calls without anyone on the other end of the line.
*****
He knew it was his dad and he could tell the others did too.
Fingers digging into the doorframe, Cole watched as the perfectly coiffed reporter babbled on, her expression emitting the false intensity of someone who wanted to convey empathy, while having lost nothing at all. Staging left, she turned to a fireman and began asking inane questions of the blaze’s origin that Cole knew were bound to be answered wrong.
The camera cut to footage of a sobbing toddler clutching his blanket while the building behind him burned.
Cole thought he was going to be sick.
Drawing a rough breath, he retreated from the screen into the empty bedroom. Cold white walls and steel stared back at him, and through the window, the pale blue sky gave no hint there were fires burning somewhere in town.
The Blood would find them, whatever Elias said.
Grimacing, Cole scrubbed a hand over his hair. There were easily several dozen innocent people in this building, and whether it was the wizards or the Blood who started the fight, those innocents would undoubtedly get hurt. And that didn’t even bring into it the eight-year-old in the next room who’d probably have to watch her sister or a lot of other people die.
Merlin's Children (The Children and the Blood) Page 4
