The Carpenter's Destiny_Family Secrets

by Noah Harris

  He had kept quiet about that too, despite how much he wanted to be annoyed over it. Mikael was under enough stress and pressure trying to make sure their border defenses didn’t fail. If it meant that Mikael would be less worried about Dean, he would gladly take the irritation of having different babysitters follow him around.

  “He means well,” he told the plant, smiling as he remembered the nervous look on Mikael’s face when he’d given him the plant. Boy, if only Mikael had known just how much importance Dean placed on this plant, he probably would have been even more nervous. Yet, in that way that Mikael had, he’d managed to choose the one plant above all others that Dean treasured. He’d never been able to bring himself to buy one, but through a happy coincidence, that didn’t feel like a coincidence at all, Mikael had brought this plant to him.

  It was like having a piece of his parents and Mikael both with him when he had it. His mother was always so happy to see the flowering plant, humming a happy tune whenever she gave it some fertilizer-laced water. His father had just been relieved that they had finally found something that his mother could grow without killing, giving her some measure of relief that she wasn’t going to kill every seemingly fragile thing she touched. Then came Mikael, confident Mikael, strong Mikael, brave Mikael, nervous and eager to give him this fascinating plant, tying his love for the three of them all into one sturdy flower.

  Warmth flooded him as he lay there gazing at it with what he was sure was a dopey smile on his face. Love and happiness washed through him, filling him from head to toe. To think that Mikael had been nervous about giving him this, when it was so obvious that he loved it and it loved him.

  “Loves me?”

  He blinked, startled from his reminiscing as his unfocused gaze snapped to the plant. Yes, remembering that he had somehow known that the plant had enjoyed his finger strokes, and found the sound of his voice soothing. It was a strange happiness that he’d felt, it was utterly inhuman, but not in any way that sent alarm through him. It was more like learning how to understand someone who spoke a radically different language from your own, understanding them when they told you of how much they liked you, and how happy you had made them.

  It had spoken to him.

  Carefully, he resumed his contact with the smooth leaves, letting his fingertips stroke back and forth. He would swear there was a warm vibration that subtly hummed out from it now. He didn’t pull his fingers away, he focused on that vague vibration, that was both there and yet not. It seemed to grow and he let it spread, recognizing it from when he had been lost in his thoughts. Yes, there it was, the alien, but comforting sensation of something else’s impressions washing through him. It was indeed pleased by his touch, and his voice, and now that the plant was feeling a surge of earthly pleasure, Dean could finally hear it, and knew what it wanted to say.

  “Oh, little buddy,” he muttered happily to it, “You’re gonna grow to be so big, and flower so nicely, I can feel it.”

  And he could too, though he wouldn’t be able to determine just where the knowledge came from, only that it didn’t come from the flower’s voice itself. It was simply information that bubbled up from deep within his mind and he knew it was the truth. It was healthy, vigorous, and would continue to grow extremely well so long as he continued to take care of it like he did.

  “Hi,” he told it with a laugh, “I’m glad you’re as happy about this as I am. Geez, I can actually feel your happiness. Holy shit, this is…”

  His jaw dropped as the petals of the closed buds twitched, then slowly began to spread apart. The violet petals of the flower spread outward as the thick protective covers around them fell away. In a matter of seconds, the flowers came into full bloom before him, leaves quivering as the stems bounced slightly from the spread-out weight of the blooms.

  Without even needing to touch it, he could sense the plant’s need to make him happy with this little gesture. It could be heard by the one who cared for it so lovingly, and this made it happier than Dean had ever thought a plant could be. Truth was, he never thought plants had any sort of emotion, but boy was he wrong. This one was overflowing with happiness and pride in itself, as it spread its leaves out more and more, and Dean could actually feel it digging more roots deeper into the soft earth of the pot.

  “All for me?” Lord, he was getting sentimental over a flower, but it was actually speaking to him and he could feel its need to make him happy. “This is so bizarre, but so… amazing too. My god, I think you’re the most beautiful thing I’ve ever seen, and I can hear you.”

  Its quiver of joy was cut off by the sudden shift of pressure through the cabin, and the thump of the front door. It had barely slammed closed before Mikael appeared in the bedroom doorway. His mouth opened, then froze halfway when he spotted the flowering plant in Dean’s lap. Hazel eyes swept over the potted plant, jumping from flower to flower before moving to Dean’s face with obvious surprise all over it.

  “I did it baby,” Dean whispered, “I heard it. And it did this for me. Isn’t it beautiful?”

  Though Mikael’s face showed pure shock, an alarm bell went off in Dean’s head, “What is it?”

  Mikael blinked rapidly before shaking himself to clear his head “We found Lucille.”

  “Found?” Fear rippled through him, thinking that they had found Lucille’s body somewhere, frozen to the ground.

  “She’s alive but…”

  Dean set the plant gently on the bedside table before he stood. “But?”

  “She’s unconscious, totally out of it. We don’t know how long she’s been like that. One of the scouts found her in a cave, out cold, and half frozen. They got her warmed up enough to bring her back, but she’s not waking up.”

  “Doesn’t she need a doctor then?”

  “Talon is doing what he can to make sure she’s not suffering from hypothermia, and going over any wounds, but she’s barely got a mark on her. Come with me; he wants you there.”

  “Me? Why?”

  “He didn’t specify,” Mikael told him, now retreating to begin pacing in the living room as Dean pulled on his pants and shoes. “He just said that you needed to be there, because you would be able to help him with something. He won’t tell any of us what he’s thinking, Dean. He’s just having us fetch things and then sent me to come get you.”

  Dean paused after finishing the last knot on his boots, hearing the edge of fear in Mikael’s voice. Ignoring his coat, he moved over to Mikael, reaching up to take hold of Mikael’s face and turn it to his. “Hey, it’s going to be okay.”

  “I don’t know if she’s ever going to wake up Dean. I always said she was weird, but she’s my little sister, weird or not. What if she’s not okay? Why won’t he tell us anything?”

  Dean snagged his coat, yanking open the door before pulling the coat fully on “I don’t know, maybe he thinks there’s something I can do.”

  “Like what?”

  “I don’t know Mikael, but if there’s something I can do, then you can bet I’m going to try.”

  Mikael was quiet as he led Dean to the main house and through the front door. Cutting to the left, they slipped into the private rooms of the pack alphas. Matalina and Katarina stood at the end of a bed that had been pulled into the room and pushed into the corner. Samuel stood near the cooking fire, staring down into the flames with the stoniest expression Dean had ever seen on him. Mikael stood aside and Talon turned from the bedside, motioning to him to approach as Dean carelessly threw his coat over one of the nearby chairs.

  Lucille was pale, paler than she had been before. She seemed even smaller, wrapped up in the blankets piled atop her as she lay unmoving. Dean wasn’t exactly a medical professional, but other than looking paler than usual and a little thin, she seemed almost in perfect health.

  “How long has she been like this?”

  Talon frowned, tracing two fingers over her bare arm. “It is hard to say, without having been with her. But by the description the scouts gave, I would say she ha
d been in that cave for at least a couple of days. I’ve given her fluids as best I can, but we will need the necessary supplies to keep her fed.”

  “I will be sending someone soon to fetch those,” Samuel’s voice sounded thick and heavy, as if it exhausted him to talk. “Two actually, if Dean is willing.”

  Mikael turned to his father. “Why Dean?”

  “Because other than you, we have no one who knows the human world better than him. Dean, do you know where we could find the supplies for this?”

  “I… probably either a medical supply store or a warehouse for the machine we need, but I wouldn’t even know what stuff to get, or how we would get it. You have to have licenses for that sort of thing, Samuel.”

  “Talon will be able to tell you what you will need. You leave obtaining the supplies up to Apollo, who will be accompanying you.”

  “Apollo?”

  Talon grunted, handing over a folded up piece of paper for Dean to take, “Here. These are the things you’ll need. At the very least, you would want someone else there to help you move some of it anyway. I’m so sorry, but I would be conspicuous, you and Apollo… will not be.”

  A realization hit Dean. “Holy shit, you’re going to have us break into a place, aren’t you?”

  Samuel never looked up when he spoke. “You are to find out where the items are and help Apollo in any other way that he needs.”

  Dean looked to Mikael, who looked just as startled as he felt. Samuel didn’t even bother to deny that he was sending Dean and Apollo on an impromptu thieving mission. A few protests rose up in his mind; numbering highest among them was that it felt an awful lot like he was being gotten rid of right now. That it was illegal and could get them thrown in jail, ranked second to that. But neither of his objections would get him anywhere, not with the tone Samuel had used, and not with the situation they were in.

  Mikael bit his bottom lip, knowing that he couldn’t volunteer to go instead. Samuel and Matalina were dealing with things close to home, but Mikael was in charge of their border. All three were needed here, and there was no way Mikael could leave. The realization sat poorly with Mikael and it showed on his face as he gazed back miserably, torn between wanting to keep Dean where he would be the safest, and wanting to do everything he could to help his sister.

  “Before you leave,” Talon began, pretending not to notice the irritable twitch of Samuel’s body, “I need a favor of you.”

  “Besides having me do my first B&E? Sure.”

  Talon looked over to the nearby table, where a small cylinder sat. “Lucille was found with that tied secretly around her waist, under her clothing. I sense… well, something I have never personally sensed before, coming from it. I suspect I know what that energy might be, but if it is, you, above anyone else in this room would know what it is.”

  Dean approached the cylinder, leaning in close to look at it in more detail before daring to touch it. “It’s a… messenger tube?”

  “So it seems.”

  “What’s in it?”

  “I do not know, no one has been able to open it, and I have not touched it.”

  “But it’s okay for me to touch it?”

  “Yes.”

  Sighing, Dean slowly reached out to grab hold of the cylinder, finding it was bound in leather all the way around. It was a dirty looking thing; originally pale leather save for the gray caps at each end. Dean was hoping the ugly copper-colored splotches on the outside were mud, but he had a feeling it was old blood instead.

  Despite the warmth of the room, the leather of the messenger tube was cold, far colder than it had any right being. A sickening nausea passed over him as his fingers curled about the tube and held it up. Now he understood what Talon had suspected, and why he had wanted Dean to hold it. A familiar ugly sensation radiated from it, dulled by the containment within the tube. Whatever was in this thing wanted out. And what it wanted when it got out? Well, all Dean could sense was cold death and a twisted hunger.

  He dropped it, instinctively wiping his hands on his pant leg. “Yeah. The same thing that was curled up in Nox is sleeping away in that tube. Well, not really sleeping, but held there. Please make sure no one else tries to open it up, because they might just succeed and I don’t wanna know what would happen if whatever is in there ever got out.”

  “I sensed a disease of the spirit within it,” Talon explained, “Which is why I dared not touch it. I have never experienced that level of spiritual corruption before, and I did not want to risk contamination.”

  “Is this that whole I’m more about the physical and you’re more about the spiritual thing?”

  “In part, though it does have a great deal to do with the fact that you are less sensitive to these things, while also having experienced it before. Nox was unprepared to handle what he found, I do not wish to join him in that.”

  “Can’t say I blame you.”

  “Indeed. On that note, when you return, I brought with me a few… texts, that I think you should look at.”

  “What sort of texts?”

  “The sort that has to deal with these matters. They’re in an old language that I will have to teach you, but I think you will find them most illuminating. Especially considering what you have already experienced. I believe you will gain more from them than I will.”

  Dean nodded as he stepped away from the table, giving the object a lingering look of displeasure. “So when do we leave?”

  Samuel glanced toward the door at the sound of the beads clicking together. “Now.”

  “For the record, I’m still not sure why I have to go in with you. You know he’s just sending me here to get me out of the way. Pretty sure you could have done this on your own—just throwing that out there.”

  Apollo stared at him from behind the wheel of Mikael’s truck, his features even harder to read than usual in the darkness. They sat in the darkened parking lot across from the medical supply building that Dean had discovered was a few hours north of the pack. It was a pretty big place, but Apollo seemed confident they would be able to find what they needed before being discovered.

  Dean wasn’t nearly as confident in the plan, though he appreciated the quiet confidence that Apollo exuded. Mostly he was just complaining aloud, shifting an empty black bookbag from one side of him to the other as he waited anxiously. He knew this would be a two-person ordeal. Someone would have to help Apollo carry the equipment they were after. Though he thought that maybe picking someone who had done something like this before, or at least had the training to do something like this, would have been a better choice. That he was being got rid of was obvious to him, though why, he didn’t know, or why it had to be with this particular assignment.

  “Yeah, okay,” he grumbled. “Don’t think for a moment I don’t want to help Lucille. I don’t exactly want her starving to death or anything. Just seems like they could have sent me on a grocery run or something if they wanted me gone.”

  Apollo remained quiet, which did nothing for his nerves as he glanced around the dark truck cab until he spotted Apollo’s bookbag at his feet. “What’s in your bag?”

  Apollo motioned to the bag with a disinterested gesture, which Dean took as an invitation to help himself. He was happy to find something to occupy himself even for a moment, they had been sitting for hours until Apollo was ready to move. Yet, what he found just raised more questions. It was a few tools, and what looked like various electronics that had been hooked together for some purpose he didn’t understand. He plucked one of the devices out and eyed its screen and keypad, eyes traveling the length of a cable that protruded out until ending in what looked like a blank credit card, black stripe on it and all.

  “Seriously? Are these all burglar’s tools? Where the hell did you even get them? Do you know how to use them?”

  “Yes, Artemis was the one who made them. They work.”

  Even in the quiet of the truck, Apollo’s soft voice barely carried. Dean’s next comment died on his lips at the mention of
Artemis, and he quietly put everything back into the bag and closed it. Nerves were replaced by another wash of guilt as he set the bag between them. A different sort of tension seemed to take to the air at the mention of Artemis, one that had nothing to do with his nervousness and everything to do with being reminded of the fact that he was sitting in an enclosed space with the man whose sister he had failed to save.

  “I don’t blame you.”

  Dean’s head jerked up, staring in surprise. Apollo had to notice more than he let on, but it was one thing to know that and another thing to have the evidence shown to him. He had never said anything to Apollo about Artemis. A mixture of guilt and fear had kept him silent and unwilling to broach the subject. Dean wondered just how long Apollo had been thinking about this, probably as long as Dean himself had.

  “Why not?”

  Apollo frowned, turning his face back to Dean. “Because it wasn’t your fault, and it never was.”

  Dean’s gaze dropped, unable to look at him, “Yeah, but I was able to save Mikael from the same thing that killed her.”

  “That’s not how it works. I can’t blame you for being more desperate when your mate was in danger, especially after seeing what it did to my sister. You didn’t know it was possible until it happened. You would have saved her if you could have, I know this. She made the choice she did to save you, that’s who she was.”

  “You had to blame me.”

  “At first, but she would have told me off for it, and told me what I just told you. And she’d yell at you for feeling bad because of what she chose to do.”

  Dean chuckled thickly, “Yeah, she would have.”

  “And she would want us to move on; that was how she was.”

  Dean looked up again, seeing that Apollo was still looking at him. “You forgave me for failing, but, maybe you should try to forgive her for dying.”