Immortal Cascade 05 Immortal Endgame

by Carol Roi

  "That's because, until recently, I couldn't find one I liked. Besides, I really doubt Joe stocks any Tsing-Tao, or Kousmis."

  Across the table from me, Blair shudders. "Kousmis? You actually drink that stuff?"

  "Been known to."

  LaFollet turns to face his fellow Watcher. "Okay, I'm lost. What is Kousmis?"

  "Fermented goat's milk. A very strong drink the indigenous people of Mongolia have been brewing, if you want to call it that, since before the rule of Genghis Khan..."

  Diandra shakes her head, slides closer to my side on the long bench seat, and stage whispers, "And he's off. Give Lobo an opening and he'll take you all the way through the culture of any given society in two hours or less."

  I hide a smile and a giggle behind my hand as her lover shoots her a dirty look, never missing a beat in his story telling. I'm saved from further laughter as the waiter returns with the drinks and I take a pull from the green bottle set before me. I nearly spit the mouthful out as I see Blair take a sip of his water, smack his lips, take a breath and continue his lecture without missing a beat. I settle back to enjoy the story, even though I know part of it from personal experience, and the company.

  I'm relaxed and having a good time until that damn sensation I've come to really hate in the past few days sizzles across my nerve endings. Diandra and Jan-Michel feel it too, and all three of us start to look around to see if we can locate the source. Blair reaches out to grasp Dee's hand and starts to look around as well.

  "Adam! Over here!" Who in the hell is she waving to and how did she see him in this gloom? A gentle push from her sends me to my feet, to let her out of the seat. I end up bumping into the Immortal who has set my nerves on fire. Looking over my shoulder...

  Gods, I hurt all over! And it's so damn dark! I can hardly breathe. Something shifts above me, and a shaft of pure sunlight invades my world. That damn feeling is back again. I cannot pass out. There's danger nearby! A few more stones move away from my pinned body and I realize I'm stuck on my side, my back to the widening shaft of light.

  "There you are. I knew you were under here." The voice is male, and anything but kind.

  Feeling the pressure on my back lift, I try to twist around to see my rescuer, only to get a slap to the back of my head for my efforts.

  "Not yet, Little One." Whoever he is, he's speaking the same language Lady Diandra, the Dorian, had been teaching me. There's a grunt, and the final pressure point on my upper legs disappears. "Get up."

  I hesitate, willing my body to do what it's done for well over two cycles of the seasons, heal. Guess he's impatient and I find my arms grabbed from behind as I'm dragged out of the hole and into the sunlight. My rescuer drops me on the ground.

  "Damn, bitch! Have you any idea what you've done?!"

  I still can't adjust my eyes to the brightness, but I see something move and I flinch, my hands going up to protect my head. "NO!"

  "No?!? You're right, I should just kill you now and be done with it."

  The sound of steel clearing leather sends me scrambling to my feet and I back away from the man I can now see. "Great Gods! I killed you! I know I did!"

  The hawk-faced man drops his sword to his side, his head tilting back in laughter, long hair blowing in the breeze that is breathing across the ruins around us. Ruins that were once a temple of worship. "You only stuck a knife in my heart, Little One. It takes more than that to kill me off." He brings his blade up, and faster than I can move, he's resting the edge on my shoulder. "You want to kill me, you'll have to take my head." He sighs. "But, alas, I see you've lost your blade, so that won't be happening."

  "How?" Risking the bite of his steel, I drop to my knees and look up at him. "Are you like me, a child of the Gods?"

  His eyes widen, and he drops the blade from its resting place. "You don't know, do you? 'A child of the gods,' I suppose that is one way to put it. Oh, get up!" He hauls me to my feet, his hand pulling my chin up, forcing me to look at him. "How long have you been dying without truly dying?"

  I bite my lip before I answer in a quiet voice, "I was sacrificed over two turnings of the seasons back. When I woke up, whole, the shaman who had killed me took it as a sign I was the perfect sacrifice." Tears well up in my eyes, recalling that horrendous time of my life, the time before the tribe had been captured by Lady D's warriors and she saved me.

  "Damn, you've had a hard life." He sheaths his sword. "What is your name? Where did you come from?"

  The command in his voice sends a shiver down my back. "Eolia. My clan is gone, all killed but me. Until there was only me, to be killed over and over."

  "Your clan's name?"

  "Celtoi."

  "Celtoi, eh?" He face turns thoughtful, softening the sharp planes, then he grins and speaks a language I haven't heard in a long time. "My friends and I traded with your people once. Horses. Do you still understand the tongue?"

  I smile, nodding my head. "Yes! I understand! And my father's clan did raise horses!"

  He looks around the ruins, then reaches out to take me by the arm again, only this time the touch is less painful. He leads the way over to a copse of trees not far from the rubble. Sitting me down on an exposed root then sitting beside me, he introduces himself. "I'm Methos. And to answer your question, young Eolia, we're not children of the Gods. We're Immortal. I really don't have time to take on a student, but I cannot, by my own honor, leave you here without telling you what you are. And what to expect..."

  We talked for the rest of the afternoon and into the night. By the time he was ready to leave the ruined area around Delphi, where I've lived for almost a year, I'm walking behind him. I follow him for days, not allowing him to forget me. By the end of the tenth day, I'm still behind him, but only a few paces back, as befits a servant.

  I move in between Dee and Adam, or as I know him, Methos. One of the few times Diandra and I met after the fall of the temple, she told me of her plans to kill the man who had brought Delphi to ruin and turned her life upside down. I cannot let my one time Savior and my Teacher tangle, or challenge each other. Not here, not in the place I know is run by a Watcher of some standing. "Pallas! Pierson! This is not the place or the time to settle old scores! I won't allow it!"

  "You won't allow it, Little One?" Adam Pierson smiles down at me just as I hear Diandra start to chuckle behind me. "I think Diandra and I are past that stage in our lives. Right, Dee?"

  "Oh, most definitely, Adam. But I still don't like you very much!" The mirth in her voice betrays her to me.

  I stand there, in shock, until Adam pulls me into a quick hug, releasing me before Jan-Michel could move to protest. "Who is your friend, Little One?" He's draped his arm over my shoulder in a oddly protective gesture, but not before I notice he's eyeing my bodyguard with some interest. "Nice to see you again, Sandburg."

  Blair nods in greeting to my Teacher as I introduce Adam to Jan-Michel. The two men warily shake hands, then Adam is shrugging out of his long coat. "Well met, LaFollet. I do hope Eolia here hasn't been giving you a hard time?" He's clever, my old instructor, for he's managed to let his own wrist tattoo to show as he pushed up his sleeves.

  "No more than usual, Mr. Pierson." Ah, my Watcher noticed the blue markings on Adam's wrist. I can tell by the slight widening of his eyes.

  "May I join you all?"

  "Only if you sit anywhere but beside me, Adam," Dee quips as she slides back into the booth, nudging Blair over a little bit, ostensively to make room on the end of the bench - next to me - available to the older Immortal.

  As I slide into place, I notice Blair seems to be nodding towards someone and I glance in the direction he's looking. Joe Dawson is standing at the end of the bar, motioning with his head towards the back room.

  "J-M? Let's go get our reports filed with Joe, okay? Adam? Keep your eyes on the ladies, will you?" And they are gone, Blair nearly dragging a reluctant Jan-Michel behind him. I don't think my Watcher is looking forward to meeting with Dawson.

  "So
, Little One? Please tell me he's your new student and you've given up that crazy idea you approached me with a week ago?" The concern in his voice is clear. He's been worried about me. Yeah, right.

  Taking another long pull from my bottle of Cider, I nod curtly. "Yes. For now. And would you please stop using that old nickname you pinned on me? I hate it."

  "Oooh, someone's a little testy this evening."

  Dee jumps to my defense. "You would be too, Adam, if someone had tried to kill you twice in as many days..."

  I sit back, nursing my cider to death as Diandra tells the weekend's events to my Teacher. Many times I feel his earth brown eyes on me, but I refuse to look at him. I'm still miffed he turned my request down last week, not as much as I had been before finding a new student in my personal Watcher, but just enough I'm not really enjoying his company.

  "Eolia? Are you listening to me?" Damn! What had he said?

  "Sorry, I was lost in thought."

  He sighs. "I asked if this person after you is Immortal?"

  Oh, great Lilith! How in the hell do I answer that? And why is Diandra looking at me so strangely? "I don't know."

  "What do you mean?"

  "You heard me, Adam! I don't know!" Actually, I do know. But to admit this to them… No, it's my problem. I'll handle it.

  "Keep your voice down."

  "Sorry." I down the last of the cider before I tell him the awful truth. "I don't know anymore. I seem to have lost my ability to sense preemies and recognizing a 'friendly' buzz from that of a stranger."

  "Lia, how long has this been going on? Was this part of the reason you came to Adam and I for assistance?"

  I nod. "I first noticed it when I felt Azir's passing, Dee. It's only gotten worse as time goes by."

  "Damn. You're vulnerable like that." Adam shakes his head as he casually reaches out to take a sip of Dee's sparkling water. "Shit, water. I need something stronger. Can I get you two a refill while I'm up?"

  Blair followed Jan-Michel into Joe's office, where they both waited in front of the Watcher's desk until he looked up from his computer at them. Picking up a sheet of paper from his desk, he handed it to Blair. "Is that correct?"

  Reading it over quickly, Blair realized it was Dee's Watcher's report of the past couple days. He glanced at Jan-Michel for a moment, then at Joe. "No," he said finally, "It's not correct. She has the gist of it, but she doesn't know what went on inside the church, or at the police station. May I sit down?"

  "Of course, Blair, and you too, Mr. LaFollet." Joe must have sensed Blair's nervousness, because he said, "You're not in any kind of trouble, Blair. If I gave you that impression, I'm sorry. I just wanted to know if you could add anything to Judy's report."

  Blair sank onto the deep cushions of the worn leather sofa. Following his lead, Jan dropped into a chair. Rubbing his palms on his jeans, Blair took a deep breath and launched into a description of the past few days of Dee's life. "On Thursday at Rainier, I ran into Lee Eolia on campus. She was looking for Dee, and I offered to pass on a message. She gave me a note with her address and phone, and I gave it to Dee, but she didn't call Lee until Friday morning. She set up a meeting for that evening at the church."

  "Is that when Eolia dragged you into the church?" Joe asked, the trace of a smile flickering on his face.

  Blair chewed his lip. "Um, yeah. Not really one of my best moments, but I turned it into an advantage. I was inside where I could hear their discussion. After some, um, territorial display, they sat down to discuss the reason for Eolia's visit to Cascade." He glanced at LaFollet. "I'm sorry, Jan, but she wasn't there just to complete the job at QuestScape. She wanted Dee to take her head."

  Jan-Michel jerked in his chair. "What! You're lying, you have to be!"

  Shaking his head, Blair replied, "I'm sorry, but I'm not lying. When she came to Dee on Friday, Lee was tired, depressed. She didn't think she would ever recover from her husband's death, that life wasn't worth living without him. Dee tried to tell her it was too soon, that she needed to give herself time to deal with it, time to heal. Lee didn't want to listen to her and stormed out of the church."

  LaFollet leaned forward in his chair, running his hands over his face. "God, I didn't know. How could I not know? I've worked with her, with Azir for three years. How could I not see how this was affecting her?"

  Blair slipped easily into the role of shaman, of consoler, of spiritual healer. "Jan, you can't blame yourself. Azir was your friend and you were grieving, too. Eolia's had a couple thousand years to learn to hide what she's really feeling. And even if she had turned to you, you wouldn't have given her what she wanted. It was only natural she'd seek out another Immortal to help her commit suicide."

  "So what is she going to do now? Just walk up to the next Immortal she sees and challenge them, then deliberately lose?"

  "No, because things have changed since Friday. She doesn't have that luxury any more. She has a student to think about now."

  "A student?" Joe shifted his attention from Blair to Jan-Michel. "You didn't mention a new student in your report to Stertz, LaFollet."

  "I…"

  "He didn't mention it because he didn't know how it would go over, Joe. LaFollet is Eolia's new student. His first death was Friday night, shot in the head by a thief who wanted his car. He didn't realize what had happened to him until he ran into Dee at the police station when he went looking for Eolia. Dee explained it to him, and when Eolia found out, she decided she would become his Teacher."

  Sighing, Joe tapped his fingers on the arm of his chair. Finally, he frowned at Blair and said, "Nothing that involves you and Diandra is ever normal, is it, Sandburg?"

  Hiding a grin, Blair replied, "No, it's not. Sorry, Joe."

  "As for you, LaFollet, I'll start a Chronicle on you, under a pseudonym. I'll trust you can act as your own Watcher, until such time as you choose to leave the organization. Email your reports directly to me, and I'll take care of it. Any other little bombshells you'd like to drop, Blair?"

  "No, sir."

  "Then if that's everything--"

  LaFollet interrupted him. "No, it's not." He turned his gaze on Blair. "How did you know Eolia had changed her mind about killing herself?"

  Blair flushed slightly. "She said so this morning."

  "I was in the same room with the three of you, and didn't hear a word spoken about it. Can you explain that?"

  "Um, yeah. I understand enough Greek to get the gist of Dee and Eolia's conversation, the part they didn't want you to hear."

  LaFollet got to his feet, muttering, "I'm going to kill her…" under his breath. He stalked out of the office, leaving Joe and Blair alone.

  Joe watched him go. "I hope I don't have to pull him as Lee's Watcher. He's a good man, but…"

  "He just has a lot to deal with right now, Joe, and so does Lee. Give them some time. Six months, a year, and I'm sure they'll have it worked out."

  "I hope they do. As for you, my friend, you know what you did at the church was against every mandate of the Watchers. You shouldn't have been there. You are not a field operative. And if Dee was the one who told you it was okay, I'll be having this same talk with her."

  Hanging his head, Blair replied, "I know. I got that lecture from Dee, too. She didn't know I was listening when she called Eolia. It was my decision to be there. I know it was wrong, but we'd talked about Eolia the night before and she sounded like kind of a loose cannon to me. I thought maybe my presence there would deter her from doing something really foolish, like challenging Dee."

  "Blair, I know you love her, but you can't keep putting yourself between her and a challenge. It's liable to get the both of you killed. You have to trust her."

  Getting to his feet, Blair said, "I know, Dee told me the same thing, but it's the hardest thing I've ever had to do, to stand back and not interfere, to know all I can do is give her my spiritual support."

  Joe rose also, leaning on his cane. Coming around his desk, he clasped Blair's shoulder with his ha
nd. "I know how you feel, but you'll have to believe that will be enough. And knowing how strong the love is between the two of you, I'm sure it is. Now go have fun. I want to see the two of you tearing up the dance floor."

  Blair looked into the older man's eyes, seeing in them an almost fatherly fondness. "Thanks, Joe. I will."

  This night isn't going very well, not at all. I knew I should've stayed back in Cascade. Methos comes back with refills for Dee and I, then leaves, a short pint of beer in his hand. I take another long pull at my hard cider, mostly to avoid looking at Diandra, and shift my attention to the small dance floor.

  "Lia? Talk to me. You're being too quiet."

  She can't just drop it, can she? "What's there to talk about, Dee? I'm a sitting duck? Or do you want to know what I'm feeling right now, at this moment?"