“Rhiannon,” she said with a sad smile.
* * * * *
“You changed my life a bit too, Galen,” she said, laying a gentle hand on his cheek. Galen snapped back to the present, the remembered pain suddenly fresh. “You know that.” She sat down, the sword still clasped in her hand. “Doesn’t feel like ten years, does it? Since Megan, since Rob…”
“No, it doesn’t.”
“How do you feel?”
“A little hungover. I have a headache I can’t shake.”
“There’s more.”
“Someone came in today. I thought I felt It.” Galen put an emphasis on the word. He always did when talking about the thing that had killed his father and uncle.
“What?”
“I’m not sure, but this man came in looking for frankincense and when he handed me the money, I swear he meant to touch me and let me know what was there. Then when he was leaving, he said ‘see you very soon’ and every warning bell in my head went off all at once.” He laughed. “Of course, I’m probably just being paranoid, a little hangover can do that. The scar’s been acting up too.”
“The scar’s acting up? Bad?”
“A little more than usual,” he said quietly, knowing she’d understand.
“Galen, maybe you should be worried,” Rhiannon said anxiously.
“I’ll be careful, how’s that?” He sighed and then smiled at her as he picked up the garbage from their meal.
“Five years, Galen, it might mean something.”
“It might, Rhiannon, I know, it’s just I can’t…” He stopped as a guitar riff started playing. Galen pulled his cell phone out of his pocket, glanced at the caller ID and flipped it open. “Hey, Mike. What’s up?”
“Galen, hi. They brought someone in this morning, a John Doe, no ID, thought I should call you.” Mike Silva was an Emergency Room physician Galen had known for years. He called occasionally when he had a difficult case, or when something out of the ordinary came into the ER.
“I thought you didn’t like me playing in your sandbox,” Galen said with a laugh.
“I don’t, usually, but this guy has a bracelet like yours,” Mike said.
“I’ll be right down, meet you in ER?”
“Sure, see you in fifteen.”
Galen flipped the phone closed. “That was Mike Silva. Sounds like a Keeper was brought into the ER this morning. Whoever he is, he has a bracelet.”
“What’s wrong?”
“I’m not sure I’m in the mood for the lecture. As soon as other Keepers find out who I am, I get the lecture,” Galen said with a sigh. “I deserve it, just not sure I’m in the mood for it.”
“Want a ride?” Rhiannon stood.
“I think I’ll drive, that way I can hide out for a bit, Flash wants to take me out tonight.”
“Strip club?” She shook her head. “The Flash panacea.” She gave him a quick hug. “Call me if you need me.”
“Thanks, I will.” He locked the front door of the store after her and grabbed his keys. Heading out the back door, he thought he saw someone out of the corner of his eye, but when he looked over the shadow was gone. Galen paused by the jeep and looked over the parking lot one more time, unable to dispel the sense of unease building between his shoulder blades. With a shrug, he got into the car and turned the engine over, idly flipping through the radio stations while the car warmed up. Settling on the classical station, he pulled out and headed towards the hospital. He worried about the fact it was only one Keeper at the ER. They came in twos and if the other was dead, Galen knew this one wouldn’t last long. The image of his father holding his uncle’s body played in his head.
The lot was full when he got to the hospital. He pulled his car up to valet parking and hopped out, taking the token from the kid parking cars. He chuckled to himself, the attendant looked about twelve. Galen wandered through the hospital, winding his way through the maze-like hallways until he ended at the ER. He walked up to the harried-looking nurse sitting behind glass under the “triage” sign.
“Can I help you?” she said, looking up at him.
“Hi, I’m Galen Emrys, I’m here to see Mike Silva, he’s expecting me.” He smiled at her.
“Oh, yes, he told me you’d be here.” She stood and came out the door. “Follow me,” she said as she led the way back into the ER. “Wait here.” She left him standing in a quiet corner of the hallway.
A scream came from the room next to him, someone a couple of rooms over was crying quietly, a nurse was laughing. Galen let it all flow around him, trying to ignore his increasing headache. Finally, he saw Mike come out of a room down the hall from him. Mike smiled as he saw Galen standing in the corner.
“Were you chewing gum in class?” Mike said with a laugh. “Got stuck in the corner?”
“Ha, ha, Mike. I was abandoned here by a nurse.” He followed the doctor as he walked quickly through the ER.
“I get abandoned by nurses all the time,” Mike said with a sly grin as they stopped at the elevators.
“I’m sure you do.” Galen grinned back. They got into the elevators. “We’re playing at Rat’s on Friday.”
“I’ll bring Linda, she likes that sort of thing.”
“Linda? And that sort of thing?”
“Yeah, I met her a couple of weeks ago, friendly.” Mike wiggled his eyebrows. “She likes going to bars, hearing live music.”
“Right.” Galen laughed. “Want to tell me, Mike?” he asked, dropping the light, bantering tone.
“They brought him in early this morning. He’s not in good shape. He got worked over, cops chased the attackers off. I took over right before they sent him upstairs, noticed the bracelet.”
“No one’s been in looking for him?”
“You mean like last time?”
“Yeah.” Galen remembered the call from Mike eight months before. “How old is he?”
“Hard to tell, he’s a mess, but early twenties would be my guess,” Mike said. “Why?”
“It’s hard when the healer of the pair is wounded, hard on the younger brother. We saved the last one, I hope we can again. We’ll need to start looking for his brother. If the brother’s dead…”
“What?” Mike cut him off.
“He’s dead, too. We can save him now, maybe, but he won’t last long. Is there anything else?” Galen could sense hesitation in the doctor.
“Well, for an instant I thought he looked a little like…” Mike shook his head. “Never mind.” Mike smiled at the nurses sitting at their station. “Checking on my John Doe.” He led Galen to the room in the corner of the ward. Pushing open the door, he gestured Galen in ahead of him.
Galen looked at the figure on the bed, bruised, unconscious, an IV snaking into his arm. Something in Galen suddenly shattered, the world coalesced for an instant and something snapped. He felt it as a physical sensation. “How bad?” he managed to whisper.
“What?”
“How bad, Mike?”
“Not good, I told you. They worked him over good,” Mike said, looking over at him. “Galen?” Concern colored Mike’s voice.
“Will he live?”
“Galen?” Mike grabbed his arm. “What is it?” When Galen remained silent, Mike shook him a little. Galen turned, meeting the concerned gaze of his friend. “Do you know him?”
“Yes and no,” Galen said quietly.
“Yes and no? What the hell does that mean? Who is he?” Mike demanded.
“My brother, Mike. He’s my brother.”
Chapter Four
The room was silent except for the hiss of oxygen and the soft beeping of the heart monitor. Galen could hear his own breathing, it sounded harsh in the quiet room. He idly wondered if Mike could hear the pounding of his heart.
“What?” Mike asked.
“My brother, Mike. Robert Emrys. You can change the paperwork and bring in whatever I need to sign, okay?” He still hadn’t moved, standing just inside the door, unsure, thinking if he moved the spell
would be broken and it would be someone else on the bed. The truth was there, he knew it was Rob, he could feel his brother’s pain radiating across the room to where he stood by the door. Something happened. The block is gone.
“Your brother? You have a brother?”
“Yeah.” Galen tore his eyes away from the bed and looked at Mike, the doctor had a shocked expression on his face. “Kid brother, five years younger. Same birthday.”
“Like your Dad and uncle?”
“Exactly like them,” Galen said, forcing his feet to approach the bed. He looked down at the still form of his brother, bruises covering his head. “I guess that explains the headache I couldn’t get rid of. How bad?” he asked, as he did he laid a hand his brother’s arm “feeling” what was there. Pain shot up from the touch, exploding behind his eyes, stronger than any reaction he’d had in years.
“Galen!” Mike caught him as he started to fall.
“Sorry.” Galen steadied himself and stood up straight. “I forgot.” He smiled sadly. “You wouldn’t think I would, would you?”
“What the hell are you talking about?” Mike said, looking into his eyes, one hand against Galen’s wrist checking his pulse.
“Family, it hits you harder. And brothers, well, the Gift’s designed for them more than anyone else.” Galen sighed, aware of the throbbing pain in his head. Rob? Is it really…He stopped himself. No, I can’t deny it. It is you, isn’t it? The bond that had been broken, hidden away, was suddenly there again, pounding in his chest like a slowly healing wound.
“It’d be nice to know what you are talking about sometimes. You get that funny look in your eye and I lose you.”
“Thanks, I think.” Galen snorted. “And as bad as it normally is for brothers, it’s worse for Rob and I. Something happened when we were younger, but even before that the bond was much stronger between us. We could…Usually it takes years for the bond to form, it was always stronger in us, I think even more than Dad and Uncle Bobby, even before…when we were kids and then after…” Galen swallowed. “After…Well, the bond was…We had to break it after…” He stopped, unsure how much more he should share with Mike.
“After whatever it was that happened that you never told me about, that your Dad was silent about, that left those scars on your body? The ones that look like symbols, the ones that look a little like you were…”
“Yeah.”
“He has them, too. I noticed when I examined him. It’s not something you all have?”
“No.” Galen heard the bitter tone in his laugh. “No, we’re special, Rob and me.” He stopped himself. “Can I stay?” Galen ran his eyes over his brother. “Is this a mistake? Letting him know I’m here?” he said softly, more to himself. “No. Something tells me my death is over. I’m tired of being dead, I want life. I hope he can forgive me someday. I…It’s too late anyway. He probably knows I’m here.”
“What did you just say?” Mike asked.
“He probably knows I’m here already.”
“No, before that.”
“Did I say something?” Galen looked at the doctor.
“Are you okay, Galen?”
“I’m not really sure. Can I stay?” Galen repeated.
“So you can do whatever it is that brings people back from the dead?”
“I can’t do that, damn it,” Galen snapped, then laughed a little. “Yeah, so I can do that thing I do, but I want to be here when he wakes up, too.”
“How long has it been, Galen?” Mike said, putting a hand on his shoulder and giving him a gentle squeeze.
“Ten years.”
“I’ll let the nurses know, so they don’t try and chase you out later. I’ll be around for a few more hours. I’ll check on you before I leave.”
“Thanks, Mike.” His friend gave him a quick slap on the back and left the room. Galen turned back to the figure in the bed. His brother’s hair was curly. Galen smiled, remembering long-winded complaints about the natural curls in the brown hair, half a shade darker than his own. He’s tall. I told him he’d be tall. He was always so worried that he wouldn’t grow.
His smile faded as he looked at his brother. Rob’s face was bruised, there was a gash in his forehead. Galen could feel some of his brother’s pain, radiating off Rob in a wave. He looks terrible. I need to know how bad it is. He laid a gentle hand on his brother’s head, “feeling” a little more this time, bracing himself against the flash of pain long enough to get the impression of broken blood vessels, pressure and agonizing pain. Something else was simmering there too, an undercurrent that, even unconscious, flowed through Rob’s body. “The nightmare this morning, I thought it felt like you for a moment. It must have been you after all,” Galen said quietly.
What had remained of the bond between the two had let him know over the years when Rob had been seriously ill or injured. Knowing how serious it had to be to get through the break, it had been all Galen could do to keep his promise to stay away. Once, before his father died, Parry had gone to heal Rob. After his father was gone, it had been more difficult, knowing Rob was ill, and being unable to help.
“It was so hard to stay away, Rob,” Galen said as he dragged the chair over to the bed. “Once I couldn’t. It was after that car wreck three years ago…” He carefully lowered the rail on the bed. “I knew how bad it was, you were…I knew…” he sighed. “So I came, how could I not? I waited until everyone was gone from the ICU and slipped in. I’ve always wondered if you knew I was there.”
He rubbed his hands together for a moment before taking a deep breath and putting one hand on Rob’s forehead and one over his heart, pain ran up his arms. He kept his hands in place this time, letting the light flow, feeling the familiar resonance of his brother. Dropping into a deeper state he guided the healing light through Rob’s body, then carefully layered in gentle sleep to finish the healing process. He pulled shaking hands away, leaning back in the chair, black spots dancing before his eyes. “I haven’t done anything quite like this for awhile. I take more risks with you. I always have,” he told his brother.
His headache was back full force, his hands were still shaking. He put a hand down on Rob’s arm, letting his thumb run along the deep scar in his brother’s forearm. Galen glanced down looking at the faint scars on his brother’s arms, ones that mimicked the scars on his own. “Ah, Rob. Ten years, and still the scars are here. I hoped they’d fade, after what I did. I’m so sorry.” He stopped. “That man today, my scar acting up more than usual and now you’re here. Rob? What does it mean?” Galen paused, realizing he was instinctively reaching out to his brother, speaking to him as if he were awake and able to hear.
He closed his eyes. The healing had left him vulnerable, memories were crowding back against him, from the moment he’d met Rhiannon and seen the pictures of her daughter, the overwhelming fear for his brother as he’d looked over the pictures of the child suddenly blending with the undercurrent of emotion radiating from Rob. Megan had been… He drifted off to sleep.
Past
Ten Years Before
Day Two
It was quiet in the parking lot, customers coming and going without noticing the two people sitting in the car parked at the back of the diner.
“Rhiannon,” she said with a smile. “I’m off shift, let’s not stay out here.”
“Good idea,” Galen said as he pulled the car back onto the road. “Where was your daughter found?”
“About six miles from here.” She looked at him. “Take the next left. You look pretty bad. Are you alright?”
“No. But I have to find my brother. Alright or not, no choice.” He took the turn. It was a single lane road, winding through the trees. “You said when they found her…” He stopped.
“She was cut up, mutilated, and had symbols drawn on her, yes. They were drawn in blood and something that looked like black ink. I…This is going to sound really strange, but I have the crime scene pictures in my purse. I have a friend who works at the daily paper and he got t
hem for me.” She was looking out the window.
“Not strange, maybe a little weird, but if you’re looking for answers, it makes sense.”
“Here, pull over. I’ll show you where her…her…where they found her.”
Galen pulled over and turned the car off. “Would it be okay…Can I see the pictures?” He needed to get a good look at the symbols she was talking about. Maybe he could recognize them or be able to describe them to his father and uncle.
Rhiannon pulled an envelope out of her purse. “They aren’t pretty. I only looked once. I was going to take them to the university and see if anyone in the anthropology department could recognize the symbols.”
“You seem to be handling it okay.”
“Not really,” she said, looking at him. “I take a tiny bit of solace from the fact they said she hadn’t been sexually mistreated in any way. None of them had been, you know.”
“What do you mean?”
“None of the poor things were hurt that way. You know.”
“What?” Galen said, looking at her, she opened her mouth to say it all again and cut her off. “No, that actually had never occurred to me. What I meant was you said them. More than just your daughter?”
“Five others. My daughter made six.”
“And nothing’s been done?”
“We were all strangers, passing through town. I stayed after it happened because I had to know. I just needed to know—to find closure. That’s what everyone said, ‘find closure, it will heal you.’ But that’s not true and everything’s pretty much gone now, the grief, the tears. All that’s left is rage. White-hot rage. It will consume me, I’m sure, but for now I can keep it in check, most of the time.”
Galen nodded understanding and pulled the pictures out of the envelope. When he looked down at the first one his hands started shaking. “Oh, gods,” he whispered. He tried to get a good look at the symbols, he couldn’t see well so he flipped over the next picture, and the next. He didn’t realize he was crying until a tear dropped on the photo he was holding. He brushed the tears away and looked again. He concentrated, trying to memorize the symbols. He turned over the next photo. “Oh, no, I’m so sorry.” He was pretty sure his heart stopped. It wasn’t just symbols. He looked at the photo again, at the small arm devoid of skin. He cleared his throat and handed the pictures back to Rhiannon.
The Legacy: A Custodes Noctis Book Page 5
