The Last Keyholder

by Jamie Summer

  “I have no idea how to tell you this, but I…I didn’t enjoy last night as much as I think you did. Don’t get me wrong. It was nice, but I missed the…” He stopped, taking a deep breath, as if collecting himself. “I missed the connection.”

  I stared at him. His words didn’t make any sense. He couldn’t…

  My heart slowly shattered into little pieces. It was as if he’d cracked it by ignoring me and was now fully breaking it with the bullshit coming out of his mouth.

  “I’m sorry, Emlyn. I tried, I really did, but there’s nothing,” he added, reaching out to touch my shoulder. I pulled back, not wanting him to get close. I couldn’t. I needed him to stay as far away from me as possible. “I’m sorry,” he whispered.

  Something about the way he said it made me meet his gaze. While everything else had sounded detached and cold, his apology was full of regret and hurt. How could he be hurt when he was the one who told me he didn’t care about what happened last night?

  It didn’t matter. I had a mission to complete, and just like I thought, being distracted by Nathan Holwell wasn’t good for me. This proved my point. I didn’t need him, and I certainly didn’t need whatever happened last night. I was completely fine by myself. Quite frankly, I’d be happy if he decided to leave and fly back home.

  Yeah, if only that were true.

  “Let’s just go and look for clues,” I said, my voice hard. Nathan sighed, nodding. I’d prefer if we pretended the last twelve hours never happened.

  Our next stop was Buckingham Palace. The walk there was a quiet affair, but since I’d brought my headphones with me, I was perfectly fine. I was the one avoiding him now, but unlike when the situation was reversed, Nathan didn’t seem to mind the silence.

  When we got there, a crowd had already formed. I’d checked the Changing of the Guard schedule, happy to see we’d be lucky enough to see one. We had ten minutes until the ceremony started, so we picked a spot toward the back with a view on the palace and its guards. It wasn’t close enough to get a good look at the horses, but it would have to do.

  Nathan still hadn’t spoken to me, but since I gave him the cold shoulder, it wasn’t a surprise. My eyes surveyed the area, trying to find anything out of the ordinary. So far, nothing stood out.

  The procession started. People cheered and clapped when the horses came into view, then quieted as they arrived at the palace and got to the official ceremony. It was a beautiful sight to see.

  Bang.

  Bang.

  Bang. Bang

  I looked around. Are those gunshots?

  I had no idea where they were coming from, but before I could investigate, Nathan pulled me down to the ground.

  “Stay there,” he said with urgency, his voice dampened by the screaming around us. I obeyed. There were more shots. I again tried to figure out where they came from, but with my face on the asphalt, it was impossible.

  “Don’t move,” I heard Nathan whisper into my ear. For a moment, I wondered why he cared because earlier, he felt content to pretend I didn’t exist. “Now!” He pulled me up and we ran over to the walls that surrounded the area. Hundreds of people scrambled in the same direction.

  “Did you see anything?” I yelled at Nathan as we ran.

  “They shot at the guards.”

  My eyes widened. “The Royal Guards?”

  Bang. Bang. Bang.

  We ducked again. The shots sounded closer this time. Much closer. We made it to the inside of the wall and dropped against it. We hadn’t reached the safety of the outer walls yet. I thought I heard sirens in the distance, but with the cries of fear all around, it was hard to tell.

  “Dammit,” Nathan cursed as we lay on the ground. I felt panic seep into my pores. I was pretty sure there was more than one shooter because there were too many shots all at the same time.

  I dared to turn my head in the direction of the shots, seeing three hooded figures standing in the middle of the area, right by the huge statue in front of Buckingham Palace. Where hundreds of people had congregated moments earlier, only those three were left. They stood tall, not the least bit intimidated. They didn’t have any weapons, so they weren’t the ones doing the shooting.

  “They look just like the guy I saw on the bridge,” I muttered to myself.

  Nathan looked at me, brows furrowed. “What are you talking about?” he asked. I merely pointed. His eyes followed the direction and a gasp escaped his lips.

  He saw them.

  “Oh god, no.” The horror in his voice was evident. “No, no, no.”

  “What is it?”

  “We need to get out of here, Emlyn.”

  No kidding. I hadn’t planned on sticking around.

  More shots rang out. This time, the sound echoed along the walls right next to me. I glanced up and saw bullet holes a mere ten inches from my face.

  “Go!” Nathan yelled, pulling me with him. We ran for better cover. The mere thought of a bullet hitting me any second made adrenaline shoot through every part of my body. I didn’t want to die. Not here. Not now.

  More shots, farther away. We reached the security of the stone walls surrounding Buckingham Palace. People huddled behind them, fear visible on their faces.

  “Emlyn, I need you to stay here. Don’t move, okay?” Nathan said.

  I stared up at him. “What do you mean? Where are you going?” Horror seized me. He wouldn’t be crazy enough to go out there. That would be suicide.

  “I need to check on something.”

  He needed to check on something? Was he kidding? There were people shooting. They didn’t care who they hit.

  “Nathan, don’t be ridiculous. You can’t go out there.” I started freaking out at the thought of him being in the line of fire and knew the high octave of my voice conveyed as much.

  “I need to. Trust me. Nothing is gonna happen.” He sounded so confident, I wanted to believe him. But I couldn’t. Not when there were several lunatics out there.

  “Don’t go, please?” I whispered. He simply gave me a soft smile, turned, and ran off. “Nathan! Nathan!” I hoped he’d come to his senses and get back to safety, but he was too far off to hear me.

  “What is he doing?” one of the ladies next to me asked, sounding panicked.

  I shook my head. “I wish I knew.”

  I watched in horror as Nathan made his way toward the statue in front of the palace, sidestepping people running. There was nothing my mind could come up with that would be important enough for him to put himself into the line of fire. My eyes widened when he made a beeline for the hooded figures.

  For a moment, I considered following him, but I was positive I wouldn’t make it ten feet before getting shot. How Nathan had managed to cross the distance without losing his life was beyond me. And they were still shooting.

  For the first time, I actually saw the shooters. I counted ten. Three stood right in front of the palace entrance, while several others surrounded the statue in the middle. It was almost as if they were guarding the three hooded people.

  Where were the police? Why wasn’t anyone fighting back? You’d think a place like Buckingham Palace had security guards swarming around, but they were nowhere to be seen. The sirens I had heard earlier had mysteriously died down, as well.

  Why wasn’t help coming?

  You aren’t worthy.

  The words shook me to my core. I glanced back at the hooded figures, realizing I recognized one of them. I had seen him in Lucerne, right when the bridge was about to collapse. He’d said the exact same words to me then.

  You aren’t worthy.

  He said it repeatedly, like a mantra. I tried to drown it out by holding my hands over my ears, but it was no use. It was almost as if whoever repeated them talked in my mind.

  I saw Nathan reach the first assassin and watched, mouth open, as he held his own in a fight. I had no idea he could fight, much less land punches against someone ready to kill him. Watching the scene in front of me made me sweat, and with every
punch thrown, I got more restless. I couldn’t sit around and do nothing. Nathan needed my help.

  “Don’t!” someone yelled. If I didn’t know better, I would’ve thought it had come from Nathan. But since he stood about a hundred feet from me, that was impossible.

  When a second assassin joined in the fight, I couldn’t bear to watch anymore. I had to do something.

  “Stop it!” I yelled, stepping out from behind the wall. I hadn’t expected any reaction, considering how busy they were and how far away I was. Yet the three of them stopped and turned to glance my way. What now? The hooded figures turned in my direction, as well. I had everyone’s attention, so I needed to take advantage of it.

  But how?

  I searched my immediate surroundings for anything that would give me a clue as to what to do, but couldn’t find anything. Nothing.

  “What are you doing?” I heard Nathan yell, but I couldn’t answer. What was I going to say? I had no freaking idea what I was doing.

  “You’re not worthy.”

  Nathan stepped back slightly. I didn’t see the expression on his face, but it looked like he arched an eyebrow at me. “You’re not worthy?” he asked.

  Quietly, sidestepping a couple pedestrians, I inched closer to the statue.

  “Don’t come any closer or all these people will die.”

  The voice was loud and clear this time, and I had no doubt everyone in the vicinity heard it. The shocked expressions on the faces of people around me confirmed it.

  “What is this?”

  “Please, don’t let us die.”

  “Whatever you did to make them mad, make it right.”

  More and more pleas rang in my ears. I had to press my hands over them to stop the sounds from overwhelming me. I had no idea what I did to make them threaten to kill a whole area full of people just to prove a point…whatever it was.

  “I won’t,” I eventually said. Something made me think it might’ve been one of the hooded figures who spoke, but I couldn’t say for sure.

  “Good. Since you listened so nicely, we’ll kill them quickly.”

  Shock spread through my body as the gunshots started up again in rapid succession. I ducked, barely managing to get away from a bullet that hit a man behind me. He’d gotten up, thinking the danger was over, and was now lying dead in a rapidly spreading pool of blood. Bile rose in my throat as I looked at his body.

  I closed my eyes for a moment, mourning his loss, before focusing on the area by the statue once more. Nathan had gone back to fighting. Seemed like my stunt did more harm than good.

  I wanted to help, but I’d only made matters worse. The gunshots continued to ring out, but I didn’t dare look around. Then, from one moment to the next, everything went black.

  “Em? Em, can you hear me?”

  What? What happened? Why is Nathan looking at me like that?

  “Em, are you okay?”

  I barely managed to nod. My head pounded so hard, I had trouble focusing on his face.

  “Thank God. You passed out. I was afraid a bullet might’ve hit you,” he said, relief washing over his face.

  “I passed out?” I mumbled.

  “Yeah, about a minute after the fighting started again. You were out of my sight for two seconds, and all of a sudden, seeing you fall like that…” He blew out a breath. “Anyway, I’m glad you’re okay.” He sounded worried at first. Now it was as if he remembered we both had done a fantastic job at ignoring each other this morning.

  “I’m okay.” I glanced around from my position on the ground, seeing the vast area in front of Buckingham Palace void of any assassins or hooded figures. “Where did those guys go?” I saw several people lying on the ground, obviously hurt, but no one seemed critically injured, which made me breathe a little easier.

  “Not long after you passed out, they simply stopped fighting. And shooting. I have no idea why.”

  “Do you know who those people were?”

  Nathan hung his head. “No, I don’t. I’ve not seen any of them before. But then again, I haven’t been in many gunfights. Or fistfights, for that matter.” There was a slight grin on his lips, and I wondered how he could find humor in our current situation.

  “Are you sure? You seemed perfectly capable of protecting yourself,” I remarked, trying to sit up. I managed, but not without my breath quickening. My head reacted to the change of position and started to pound even worse.

  “Must’ve been the adrenaline.” He grinned. I nodded, too caught up in fighting with my oncoming migraine to think about his statement.

  “So they left? Just like that? Why did they do that after all the trouble they went through?” Nathan shrugged. I didn’t expect him to have an answer.

  From my seated position, I took in the scene around me. Paramedics and police were now on the scene.

  “Why didn’t the police or ambulances show up earlier? The whole thing must’ve gone on for more than twenty minutes. Why did it take them that long to show up?”

  “I heard the officers talking. It seemed all the cars stopped working. The engines just turned off. Once they started running here, more and more people blocked their way. Same with the guards from the palace itself. The doors locked automatically, so they had no way out. The police are clueless as to how something like that could happen.”

  Nathan seemed baffled. However, I had no question in my mind who was responsible. Those hooded figures, whoever they were.

  “It wasn’t them.”

  I looked at him, pretty sure my brows furrowed in confusion. “It wasn’t them?”

  “The hooded guys. That’s who you were thinking about, right? And who you supposedly saw on the bridge?” So now he believes I saw someone there? “It wasn’t them. People don’t have psychic powers like that.”

  “Are you hearing yourself? You were the one who told me the keyholder was dangerous. That anybody who went on a quest to find him was in danger. Look around you. I would think this definitely qualifies as danger. And if the keyholder has the powers we think he does, I’m pretty sure there’s some kind of magic involved. Putting a stop to working engines seems like child’s play in comparison.”

  Nathan sighed before he stood. He’d been kneeling right beside me, and the closeness had helped clear my mind a little faster than anything else. Or maybe that was just wishful thinking.

  “You can’t know that.” I could tell he tried hard not to sound too annoyed, but it wasn’t working. “Let’s get out of here, okay?”

  I didn’t argue with him. The last thing I wanted was to spend another minute here. Needless to say, I wasn’t in the mood to go on a search for clues anymore. This ordeal cured me of it. For today anyway.

  We could get back to it tomorrow. Today, I needed a break. I needed a long, hot bath and some comfort food. And maybe a comfy bed and to watch some Supernatural on TV. On second thought, maybe I’d pass on Sam and Dean. I should probably watch something along the lines of The Voice. It seemed like the safer option.

  “Emlyn?” Apparently, Nathan had been talking to me because I heard some force in his voice when he said my name.

  “Sorry. Yes. Let’s go back to the hotel.”

  I got up, standing next to him as I let my eyes wander over the scene one more time. A police officer walked over and asked to speak to me. We went over what happened. I tried to tell him as much as I remembered, leaving out the suspicions I had about the hooded figures having magical powers. I was pretty sure that wouldn’t go over well.

  When we finished up, Nathan grasped my arm. “Let’s go.” He led me away, holding me steady. I appreciated the assistance as my legs were still regaining their strength. I needed to get away from the palace, away from all the horror of the last twenty minutes. The sooner I was able to put this behind me, the better.

  Something told me it would be a long time before that happened.

  Chapter Eleven

  The next morning, I went down to breakfast and saw Nathan sitting there, munching on his
toast. Because of what he’d said to me yesterday, the slight sting was still there, but I squashed it, knowing dwelling on it wouldn’t do me any good. We had bigger problems.

  “Hey,” I greeted him as I sat. Wordlessly, he poured me coffee and added milk, just the way I liked it. It was a thoughtful gesture for someone who tried hard not to look like he cared. I reached for the cup at the same time Nathan reached for the salt shaker. Our fingers collided, and the sensation was instantaneous. It was as if an electric current ran through both of us, and I pulled back, shocked.

  “Sorry,” I whispered, having no idea why I felt the need to apologize.

  “It’s all good.” He refocused on his toast. He still didn’t look at me, and I started to think he was acting ridiculous. I got that he didn’t want to be with me, but that was no reason to completely ignore me. I grabbed my cup and drank the caffeinated liquid, welcoming the warmth and the surge of energy it brought.

  Breakfast went on for another twenty minutes, but I hurried to finish because I wanted to get back to the search for clues. The lingering feeling about the day before stayed with me, but I knew I needed to get back in the game. If this was their way of trying to intimidate me, to get me to back off, I wasn’t going to let them.

  Nathan told me to be back in the lobby in ten minutes, and I went upstairs to get ready.

  After I was done, I opened the door to leave my room, coming face to face with my blond-haired companion. We had exchanged room numbers this time, but I was still surprised to see him.

  Nathan’s fist was raised, as if he’d been about to knock.

  “Nathan?”

  “Yeah. I just…” He raked his hand through his hair, which made me smile slightly. He’d been annoyed and frustrated with me, but nervousness was something I hadn’t seen on him very often. “I’m sorry about what happened. I know I was a jerk to you yesterday. I should’ve checked on you, made sure you were okay, but I didn’t. And I haven’t been the best travel friend, either, ever since…well, you know.” I nodded. “I wanna go back to being friends and able to talk to each other without any awkwardness.”