“I’ll cut to the chase, for Daniel’s sake,” Odette said.
“I appreciate it,” Daniel said.
Odette looked at me thoughtfully.
“When I was young and foolish, I made a mistake. My gift was new; I did not have the foresight I have now. There was a family. I saw in them a destiny stronger than I had ever seen before. One of their line would become the strongest Watcher in history.”
Daniel had told me this story – it was the prophecy that had pitted Lorian and Darian against each other. Daniel looked shocked that the prophecy had been Odette’s, but I was not as shocked. It made sense that the most powerful seer I knew had made the prophecy that had started the war. Odette nodded at my understanding.
“Yes,” Odette said. “It was my words that started the war. I had a vision and, instead of keeping it to myself, I shared it with those in the vision. They had saved my life – I thought it was only fair they knew. The results were disastrous, as you well know.”
“Why are you telling me this?” I asked.
“You need to understand the past so you can prepare for what is coming,” she said.
“You mean the end of the world?” I asked.
Odette sighed in agreement.
“There is a great shift coming. The world will be changed forever. Whether that means the end of time has yet to be decided…Many things must first come to pass. What we do now must balance the chaos that is coming.”
“Okay?” I said.
“You must learn Lorian and Darian’s history to fully understand your history and Marcus’ plans for you,” Odette said. “You must understand why he wants you, and how you will play in to the prophecy still unfolding before us.”
“Why don’t you stop talking in riddles and just tell me?” I asked.
Daniel laughed. Despite warning to watch what I said, he could not help but appreciate my inability to step lightly, even around the most powerful of Watchers.
“Everything has its place,” Odette said. “Even the truth.”
“So the truth is that you started the war…”I said. “How does that help us? Lorian and Darian are dead…Nemesis killed them.”
“Yes, Nemesis. It has been a long time since I’ve seen her,” Odette said.
“Did you…” I started to ask.
“Send her to kill Lorian and Darian?” Odette asked. “No. It was the brother’s own sister who did that. None other could have.”
“Lorian and Darian had a sister?” I asked.
“Yes. She was the youngest of a royal family. Their mother ruled a small country. The daughter was the crown jewel of the country… a beautiful guardian of the people. When the brothers each decided they were the one in the prophecy, it was her task to restore balance in her country. Killing her brothers proved impossible, though. They looked her as another threat to their power. After a year of brutal fighting, the brothers would not fall. They were too skilled at fighting...as trained as she was, she could not kill them. They were equal in their abilities. So, she sent up an offering – her life in exchange for her brothers’. She gave up her life to keep them from tearing the world apart. In exchange, Nemesis was to take their lives. But the brothers had come in to their inheritance. They had gone through their birthday and the change. The prophecy was true; they were two of the most powerful Watchers ever to walk the earth. They worked together just once after I shared the truth with them, to lock Nemesis in the world in-between. It was her prison, until you freed her.”
“And she killed Lorian and then Darian,” I said. “I remember. That ends the prophecy, though, right?”
“Not quite,” Odette said. “The sister had a child with a mortal man. She hid the birth from her family. The father and the daughter left their country and fled, to what is now France.”
“So her family is still out there…if her kid went to France with the father then the prophecy is still viable, right?”
“Correct. You must find the last of Lorian and Darian’s line,” Odette said.
“Do you know who it is?” I asked.
“Yes.”
“Then just tell me,” I said.
“You will doubt my truthfulness. You will wonder how I am trying to manipulate you. Daniel will council against my advice. You will listen to him, because you trust him.”
“That’s right,” I said.
“So…you must go to one whose impartiality no Watcher can doubt,” Odette said.
“Does someone impartial in our world even exist?” I asked. “Everyone wants something…even if it’s only peace.”
Her words had meant something to Daniel.
“You don’t mean the historian, do you?” Daniel asked.
Odette nodded once at his question.
“She won’t see us. She won’t see anyone. She’ll kill us on sight,” Daniel said.
“Not if you have her sword,” Odette said.
“Her sword, well, I’ll just go get that…” I said dryly. “You don’t think it’s on Craigslist, do you?”
“It is lost,” Odette said.
“Of course it is,” I said.
She pulled a piece of paper out her pocket. She unfolded the paper and pushed it toward the edge of the table. Daniel stepped forward, before I could, and picked up the paper. He looked at it for a short moment then handed it to me. His eyes were curious, but there was no recognition. It was just another sword to him. I looked at the drawing longer than he had. The paper was cracked and parched, the color was faded; it looked as if it had been ripped out of a textbook. A very old textbook. The sword itself was elegant and long. It had strange symbols on the hilt and length of the blade. Looking at it, I could sense a long history of violence. It was beautiful…and familiar. It was more familiar than I thought it would be when Odette had mentioned it.
I had seen the sword before.
The memory of when I had seen it swam in front of my eyes involuntarily. I had just saved Amanda, a girl from King’s Cross High School, and my cousin, from a freezing cold river. Cassandra, one of Marcus’ daughters had found me there and had taken me to an old bunker in the forest. It was there that I had come face-to-face with an old man holding a sword – not what I had expected from my time spent running from the Seekers. A shiver went down my spine as I remembered Sheriff Cobb turning to face me, sword in hand. It was the first time I had faced someone so ruthless, yet so totally insane.
“I know this sword,” I told Daniel, still looking at the paper.
Daniel was surprised. “How?”
“Sheriff Cobb had it,” I said. “He was playing with it when I first saw him in the cellar. I didn’t think anything about it. I just thought it was another antique. It’s there, buried under the rubble of that burnt structure.”
“How come he had it?” Daniel asked me.
“Maybe Marcus gave it to him,” I said. “He was with Marcus’ people.”
“He stole it,” Odette said.
“From whom?” Daniel asked.
“Clare’s grandfather,” Odette said.
“My grandfather?” I asked, surprised she would suggest such a thing.
My grandfather had nothing to do with the world of Watchers. It was unlikely, and ridiculous for her even to pretend as if he had or that he had somehow been given a sword by a Watcher old enough to know the same things Odette knew. Except…I remembered how I had found his book. It had been hidden away in boarded-up room. In that same room there had been a sword holder with no sword. It was possible my grandfather had been given the sword without knowing its significance, and Cobb, who had been way too aware of the world of Watchers, had stolen it. But how did he find the sword and not the book?
“The sword is an heirloom, you might say,” Odette said. “Given to your family a very long time ago. You must be the one to return it to its proper owner: the historian. She will respond by telling you the truth. Something for something. That is the way it works in our world.”
Daniel looked at Odette with a used expressio
n on his face.
“Your ability to twist things to suit your needs is astounding,” he said. “When did you put that sword in a position for Clare to see it? Decades ago? Centuries?”
Odette’s smile was mischievous. It reminded me of Serenity. Or was it the other way around?
“You overestimate my ability to shift the events of the world. I only see what is meant to be…” she said.
“And manipulate the rest,” Daniel said.
Odette leaned forward again and clasped her hands in front of her. Her eyes were serious and her face was impassive. She had finished telling us the ‘truth.’ It was time to move the meeting along.
“Do you agree that the historian is an impartial source for the truth?” Odette asked.
Daniel was reluctant, but I sensed the truth on his face.
“I do,” Daniel agreed.
“Then you will listen to her. When you are ready, you will come back and we will talk about the future,” Odette said. Her eyes focused on mine. “We will talk about you and how you can serve the greater good.”
Daniel’s eyes flashed with anger. He was done with Odette’s ‘greater good.’ He took my hand and turned away from Odette, refusing to promise she would ever see me again, but Odette had more on her mind than just me. Before we could leave, she called across the space.
“I must speak with the others,” she said. “There are truths no less important than the one I shared with you, which I must share with them.”
Daniel stopped and looked at the wall for a brief second. I sensed him wanting to tell her there was no way in hell she would get to speak with them, but his trust in the others won out. He trusted they could handle her games…and it was not his place to decide for them.
“They can speak with you if they feel like it,” Daniel said. “The choice is theirs.”
He walked away without another word, rebuking her meddling with his pointed silence. He held the door open for me, and we left Odette to her room of splendor. He left the door open, and I looked back one last time. I could not help but be drawn to the sight of her; it was a curiosity I could not resist. She looked small surrounded by the vaulted wealth of the large room, but I had never seen someone look so impossibly determined. Her determination made her more powerful than all the years she had collected on earth. It also made her look lonely. Her determination came with a price. The ‘greater good’ as she had called it, had left her with an empire of soldiers and long years of catering to Lorian and Darian’s war-mongering – hiding the war that raged around humanity in the dark, atoning for a mistake she had made in her youth – but it had left her with few other comforts. Affection, peace…they were wasted on people less willing to appreciate the splendor of such things.
In that moment – though I would have never admitted it to Daniel – I understood her. I empathized with her. I could already feel the cost of the fight with Marcus wearing on me. It permeated every good moment. It was the tension that held me back from true happiness. But I had Daniel and the others to keep the darkness from consuming me. They kept me grounded in the present, instead of focused on the past and the seemingly insurmountable odds in front of us. She had no one.
I turned my back on the sight of Odette and walked out to the lofty corridor where the others were waiting impatiently to hear what she had said.
Chapter 7
The others did not take long to decide if they wanted to speak with Odette. They were all curious to see what she had to say. Odette spoke with everyone, except for Jackson and Margaret, who didn’t seem to merit her words of ‘wisdom.’
Daniel and I waited in the hall for the others to have their talk. After each meeting, which was held in private, the person Odette had talked with looked upset. No one looked more upset than Spider. He actually shook as he stepped out through the door.
“What’s wrong?” I asked. “What did she say?”
Alex looked up from where she was leaning against the wall; she had been doing her best to keep everyone from asking her the same thing. Asking her had been useless; she was locked down tighter than when I had asked about her emotions on Eli and Reaper. The others were spaced throughout the space. Jackson and Margaret were close to us, but the others maintained a more significant distance – distance that gave them room to think. Silence permeated the hall.
Spider shrugged at my question and kept his eyes on the ground. His whole body was a brick wall; he was shut down and unwilling to bring down his barriers. I put a hand on his shoulder, but he did not respond to the touch. I lowered my hand, even as I tried to catch his eye. I hadn’t seen him look so bothered since he had sold me out to Anna in the streets of New Orleans.
“Are we done here?” Reaper asked as I lowered my hand.
Reaper was pacing the hall. His normal sense of charm and cool awareness was gone. He was bothered, and he was having trouble hiding it.
“We’re done,” Daniel agreed.
“Then let’s go,” Reaper urged us.
“Just a moment more,” a voice added from the door.
Odette had finally moved away from the table. Serenity moved to her side. Odette put a gentle hand on Serenity’s arm, almost as if she were leaning on Serenity, though her eyes didn’t move from the group gathered in the hall.
“What is it?” Reaper asked.
“A favor. Take Serenity and Eli along with you on your journey.”
“I’m not certain…” Reaper started to decline the offer.
I knew his impending refusal was not just because he did not trust Serenity. Eli’s presence made him more uncomfortable than he was willing to admit. The man Alex had joined with was not a man Reaper happily trusted in combat and with his life. It was difficult to find trust around such burning emotions.
“If you do not take them along, they will be forced to follow you. Would it not be better to have them as part of your group, rather than causing mischief where you cannot keep an eye on them?” Odette asked.
Reaper looked to Daniel for his opinion. Daniel didn’t look happy, but he had the most experience dealing with Odette. He knew that she would do whatever it took to get her way. She was relentless.
“Only if you promise that I can kill Serenity if she double-crosses us,” Daniel said.
“You can try,” Odette said.
Serenity smirked at Odette’s words, liking her master’s faith in her abilities. Odette turned to Serenity and took her hands in a motherly gesture. They didn’t share words, but the gesture was enough. Serenity was perhaps the one person Odette had that kept the loneliness at bay. Odette dropped Serenity’s hands and turned to us again.
“Be careful on your journey,” Odette said. “The nine will be watching.”
We turned away from her without answering and walked the corridor back to the main room. As we walked, Reaper pulled out his phone and dialed a number. He talked to the person on the other end for a brief moment and hung up again. I knew he had just summoned Sara to pick us up.
Ileana was in the large front room when we walked back through. She was chatting to a group of people, all smiles and full of warmth. She called out to Serenity as we were passing.
“Out again?” she asked Serenity.
“Always,” Serenity said.
Ileana looked us over again. Her face told me she had heard about our meeting Odette in private. It was strange enough to merit more than a passing share of curiosity. The others were just as curious. There was something else…jealousy. They were eager to be the ones to escort us, instead of Serenity.
“Until next time, I suppose,” Ileana said.
“Behave,” Serenity said.
Ileana smirked and turned back to the group of people surrounding her. When we were outside, Jackson glanced at Serenity.
“Does the prodigal daughter have some competition?” Jackson asked.
“Ileana is not competition,” Serenity said. “I compete with no one. I do my duty.”
“Doesn’t it bother you a little that all
those people were hanging on to her every word, while you’re stuck with us?” Daniel asked.
Serenity looked over her shoulder, at the large door we had passed through. There was regret, but also determination.
“Duty has its own rewards,” she replied.
Sara was waiting for us on the bridge. Her hands were tucked in to her pockets, and she held an air of being forced to wait for an eternity. Despite her impatient calm, her clothes were covered in soot and silver blood stained her black shirt.
“Get in another fight with your brother?” I teased her.
Sara looked down at her shirt. “No. Not enough blood, if that was the case.”
“Oh, right…” I said.
“Did everything go okay?” Reaper asked.
Sara nodded and pulled a thumb-drive out of her pocket. She handed it to Reaper then held out her hands to us. Reaper put the thumb-drive in to his pocket before taking her hand. Eli was the last one to touch her. When his hand connected, we were taken back through the world of moving darkness.
The party was still raging when we were set down in the galley. I could hear it over the sounds of the ship. Preacher and Daniel’s parents were sitting in a corner of the galley, talking quietly. They looked up when we appeared in front of them. Their faces showed their relief.
“It went well?” Beatrice asked.
“She wants us to see the historian,” Daniel replied. “She’s the key to understanding Clare.”
“She’ll kill you,” Beatrice said.
“We have a plan,” Daniel said.
He pulled the piece of paper out from his pocket and handed it to Beatrice. She looked at the sword for a long moment. There was no recognition, nothing beyond the knowledge that the sword wasn’t as normal as it appeared on paper.
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