I huffed. “He had this picture,” I said, grabbing the picture of Gaute off my coffee table. “He said the kid was born in 1957, but this was taken the last day of my trial. I think he’s a Ghost.”
“Then he must be the Sign’s Ghost,” Blaise said, looking carefully at the photo. “I wonder if she knows who she is yet.”
“Well, if she doesn’t, we should get rid of him, right?
That would slow things down for the Palace.” It still felt weird talking about this stuff out loud, even though I’d been doing it for months and fully believed it all.
“I would if I could,” Blaise said, standing up to pace the living room. “But he’s a Ghost… he’s already dead. The gods chose his soul not to recycle. We can’t kill him. And if he’s ever in danger, he just pops back to the Palace. And he can take anyone within reach with him. Wish I had that kind of power. All I can do is find souls.”
Seeing as I didn’t actually have any magical powers, only superstrength and healing, I didn’t see how Blaise could think his gifts were lame. In fact, I often wondered why I was the special one. Sam had way more powers and resources than I did. We weren’t equally matched at all.
“Oh yeah, you’re so hindered,” I said, rolling my eyes.
Blaise looked at me and pursed his lips.
“I know it feels like you’re not equally matched,” he said, reading my thoughts (well, not really, not like Sam). “But… you don’t know?”
“Don’t know what?”
“It wasn’t in the apple? I assumed it was, that’s why I never told you.”
“Well I don’t know what it is so I can’t tell you if it was in the apple,” I said, a little frustrated.
“You’re immune,” Blaise said.
“Immune?”
“To her powers. You’re immune. That’s why you’re our weapon. Whatever powers she develops, you’re the only one in
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the whole world they won’t affect. So it feels like the playing field isn’t even, but it kind of is. Any fighting between the two of you is, well, pure fighting.”
“No, that certainly wasn’t in the apple,” I snapped. “What kind of powers does she have?”
“I can’t know for sure until I know which Sign was called. Each one is the master of a different power. Sometimes it’s shapeshifting, sometimes it’s invisibility. It all depends on the Sign. You said you knew her before you went to prison, right?”
“No, I just shot Jacob because it was convenient,” I joked, rolling my eyes.
“Do you know when her birthday is? I’m surprised I never thought to ask all these months.” Blaise shook his head and bit his lip, clearly confused at his own lack of questioning. “That should have been one of the first things I told you… just like the immunity…”
“I think she said December,” I said thoughtfully, trying to think back to the beginning. Suddenly Blaise’s eyes widened and he looked terrified.
“Are you sure?” he asked desperately. I nodded.
“I think so.” Blaise looked at the floor before glancing back up at me, still fearful. “What’s wrong with December?” I asked.
“I know who she is,” he said. “This is not good.”
“Who is she, Blaise?” I demanded. “Who am I fighting?”
“The worst,” he answered. “The Warrior. Sagittarius is only called when the Scrolls predict war. Real war. All out, full on, kill everything war.”
I thought I should be more freaked out (Blaise looked like he was about to pee his pants with fear) but I couldn’t. I was raised thinking of the zodiac signs as superstitions, not enemies.
They were just a column in the newspaper until Blaise showed up.
“What’s her power?” I asked.
“Which one?” Blaise scoffed. “Obviously hand-to-hand combat is her best, but she can do them all. The Warrior is the only Sign that can do them all.”
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“How many are there?”
“Hundreds. But there are only two really significant ones.”
“Shapeshifting and invisibility?” I assumed. Those were the only two Blaise mentioned. But he shook his head.
“Shapeshifting and time,” he said.
“Time?”
Blaise nodded. “She controls time.”
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Interlude
Gaute, the Ghost Boy
“Yes, sir,” I said into the phone.
“And you’re sure you’ve found her?” Ares asked.
“Absolutely. She displays all the characteristics of having come into her powers. I believe she is struggling with telepathy at the moment. Have we any news on the Seeker?”
“None, but one of the Hindus has been delegated that job.
I can’t pronounce his name.”
“What are my orders?” I asked.
“For now, wait,” Ares said. “Once we know who the Seeker is, we’ll have plenty of time to train her here at the Palace.”
“Should I return home?”
“No. Your wait will be shorter on Earth. Spend some time with the Doberman. I hear he’s lonely out there.”
“You’re joking, right?” I asked.
“It’s an order, Ghost,” Ares laughed. I sighed.
“As you wish, Ares.”
I hung up and sighed. I didn’t want to spend any time with the Doberman. He’d always been an asshole, every life he’d ever had. But I’d never seen him when Sagittarius was in cycle, so maybe he’d be a bit nicer after he met her.
I was anxious to finally speak with her. After her future self, from the other dimension, had spoken with me, I was
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terrified of what might happen if I waited too long. Sure, we didn’t know anything about the Seeker yet, but I was almost certain he’d have come into his powers by now. The Corrupted were always on top of things; his two-year grace period would be right on track. The Soul Searcher would be training him already.
There wasn’t much time.
I couldn’t search for a soul, but I could cast a spell on one remotely, so I did. It was nearly impossible to find the necessary tools on Earth; most humans didn’t believe in magic. And if they did, they charged an arm and a leg for magical tools – most of which were fake anyway.
That really pissed me off. When I order a four thousand dollar mummy hand, I expect to get a real fucking mummy hand.
But I did manage to get everything I needed. I cast a forgetting spell on the Soul Searcher. If he hadn’t met the Seeker yet, he’d forget to find him. If he had, he’d forget to tell him important things, like the fact the Seeker was immune to the Sign’s abilities.
I wondered how the Corrupted would get the Seeker to believe. For me, I could just pop over to the Palace with the Sign and she’d believe everything. If she didn’t pass out from shock, of course. But the Corrupted were stationed on Earth; they couldn’t move between worlds like I could. It sparked a few questions.
“You’re not staying with me, are you?” the Doberman grumbled when he answered the door.
“I don’t even get a hello?” I asked with a cheesy smile.
The Doberman held open the door.
“Don’t touch my stuff,” he snapped.
“Don’t worry, I won’t,” I said, staring at his collection of throwing knives.
“You’ll be in that room,” he said, pointing to an open door down the hall of the apartment. I went inside, but there was no furniture.
“Guess I’m going shopping,” I said with a sigh.
I popped myself to the Palace and spent a few hours searching the different quarters, buying various pieces of
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furniture and other room wares. I spent most of my time in the Atheist quarters buying video games – there had been so many developments since my time! The new war games were so much better than Pong.
I came back to Earth and set up my new room. I wasn’t excited about staying here for any length of time. All my friends were at the Palace and I hated Earth. There was no one to make ties with because no one but the Sign could know who I was.
And, of course, Ares had ordered me not to contact her just yet.
The Doberman was very standoffish and rude, so he wasn’t any fun. I could go back to the Palace, but I’d probably be waiting for hundreds of years before Ares said I could contact the Sign. Here on Earth, I’d be waiting a year the most.
But it was going to be a rough year.
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Chapter Nine
I didn’t understand what Blaise meant. How could someone control time? When he explained it to me, I was shocked. If coming to grips with what I was, and what she was, wasn’t hard enough, now I had to grasp the concept of time travel.
“She can pause and rewind time, but she cannot see into the future. Well, unless she goes back in time and knows what will happen because she’s already been there… The thing is, when she pauses time, everyone but you freezes. It’ll be just you and her. And she will pause time when the final fight occurs. No doubt about it,” Blaise said. “It’s her way of making sure we all fight fair.”
“That’s crazy,” I breathed. Blaise nodded in agreement.
“Most of our life is,” he said with a shrug. “If you ever feel like there’s been a hiccup in time, like someone repeats themself to you or whatever, it’s because she went back. You two are connected; since you aren’t affected, you will go back with her.”
“Why would she ever go back? I mean, I could see going back if we were fighting and she messed up, but since I don’t freeze… There would be no point.”
“There are other reasons to go back,” Blaise said thoughtfully. “One rather important reason, actually…”
I tried to get Blaise to elaborate, but he ignored my questions. Eventually he went home, and I was left alone to
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ponder this new information. I wasn’t just curious about the time thing – shapeshifting sounded pretty badass, too. I wondered if she changed into a wolf or something. Figures I’d like a werewolf.
I spent the rest of the school year doing homework and training with Blaise. I gained about fifty pounds of muscle, and damn did I look good. I mean, real good. It was the first time I’d ever been conceited in my life.
I graduated with a 2.7, which wasn’t great but it was a diploma. I didn’t even need the extra year my mother had predicted. Things were going pretty great in my life. I even took a cute girl out on a date. She ended up being really ditzy and I never asked her out again, but it was nice to get back into the game a little.
“Congratulations,” Blaise said after the ceremony was over, clapping me on the back. “The plane for England leaves in three hours. I can’t wait to get back home! I’ve been missing my sister.”
“You have a sister?” I asked. Okay I won’t deny it, I was interested.
“Oh yes, she’s my twin. Her name is Bella. You two should get along quite well. She was raised in the states.”
I was about to ask why Bella was raised here when her brother was raised in England when I saw that FBI guy coming towards me. He smiled and waved like he was a favorite uncle or something.
“Congratulations on your achievement!” he said, clapping my shoulder. I shrugged away from him. “Oh don’t look so scandalized. I’ve been watching you. I’m sure you know that.”
I did know that. Ever since he came to my house that first day, Wolfram had been tailing me.
“What is it you’re looking for?” I asked. Blaise was eyeing him suspiciously.
“A sign,” Wolfram said calmly.
“A sign about what?” Blaise asked through gritted teeth. I think he meant a real sign, not the Sign, but Blaise
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was always suspicious. “Because we don’t have any signs to offer.”
“Something divine, I think,” Wolfram said slyly, as if he knew he was getting close.
“Well, if you’d move out of our way, Zac and I are about to have a divine flight to England to visit my family.”
“And you are?”
“Blaise. But then again, that’s none of your business.”
“Well alright, Blaise. You and Zac have a nice flight now. I have some friends in England. Perhaps I’ll set up a meeting.”
Blaise shoved past Wolfram, dragging me along.
He was completely silent all the way to the airport. Once we were past security, he acted as if we’d never encountered the agent and started reminiscing about England and telling me how excited he was to go back. For the most part, I ignored him.
The plane landed in London nearly a day later, after what felt like hundreds of layovers all across the US and Europe. We were greeted by a girl maybe a year or two older than me with long, dark brown hair and the most beautiful face I’d ever seen. She totally blew Sam out of the water.
“Blaise!” she cried, holding out her arms. I realized she must be Bella immediately due to her lack of British accent. She sounded like she’d been raised in the south.
“Oh I missed you,” Blaise cried in return, only he ran towards the car behind her and hugged it instead. “American cars are so big and bulky… you, my dear, are the reason I will never leave England again.”
“You’re such a loser,” Bella laughed, putting her hands on her hips and grinning. She turned her head away from her twin to look at me, eyes sparkling. “You must be the Seeker,”
she said.
“I go by Zac, in general,” I answered, setting my bags down on the sidewalk. Bella popped the trunk of the microscopic car we were supposed to ride in and put my bag inside it. It must have been some kind of Harry Potter car,
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because there is no way all our suitcases would fit in a car that small in America. It was crowded in the cab, but at least we all would fit.
“Welcome to England,” Bella said when she closed the trunk. “It’s cold and wet and miserable and I miss Louisiana.”
“You were raised in Louisiana?”
“Oh yes, did Blaise tell you I’m his twin sister?
We were raised in separate countries. Back then, the Core was stationed in America. I was recruited when I was three. Very demanding, they are.”
“What do you do?” I asked. Blaise honked the horn – clearly he was anxious to get home. Bella glared at him.
“Sort of the same thing Blaise does. Organizing, planning, that kind of stuff. I can’t find souls, but seeing as I’m the Soul Searcher’s sister, a lot of tasks get laid on me. We better go before my brother flips his lid big time.”
We drove out of the city and into a small neighborhood full of big old houses that looked like they were built in the 1800s. The one we pulled up to was at the end of a cul-de-sac with a long, windy driveway. It was a tall brick house with many windows and a lot of trees.
“It used to be an orphanage,” Bella explained when we stopped. She got out of the car and began pulling suitcases out of the trunk while Blaise ran up to the door and threw it open.
“I’m home!” he yelled. I heard excited voices inside but couldn’t make any of them out. I climbed out of the backseat to help Bella with the suitcases. And to get a glimpse of her butt.
“Oh, thanks,” she said, surprised, when I took my suitcase from her. “I’m not used to being helped,” she explained.
“I’m the helper around here.”
“Guess I was raised a little differently,” I said with a shrug. Bella smiled, a look of calm surprise still on her face.
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“Well I like that,” she said, throwing Blaise’s backpack over her shoulder (or rucky, and Blaise so annoying always called it).
Bella led me up the stairs and into the parlor of the house. There was a s
hiny marble floor and peach colored walls surrounding a humongous staircase and a grand piano. It didn’t seem like a headquarters at all - more like a ballroom.
Blaise was standing behind the piano at the tip of a hallway being accosted by who I assumed were the other members of the Core. Most of them were men, all clapping Blaise on the back and welcoming him home. There were a few girls fawning over his (rather American) clothes, and a black lab barking its head off. When the lab saw Bella, it met her eyes and instantly quieted, sitting down and wagging its tail. Bella beckoned it forward with her finger and it bounded up to us.
“This is Jack,” she said, scratching the dog’s ears.
“He used to be my boyfriend.”
I started, suddenly realizing maybe I didn’t like Bella so much. She looked up at me with a grin.
“He was cursed by a witch a few years ago,” she said with a laugh. “I’m not sure if he turned completely into a dog, or just the shape of one. He recognizes me, obviously, but… well, he seems to have lost all other humanistic traits.”
“Cursed by a witch?” I asked, totally unbelieving.
“Yes, cursed by a witch working for the Palace.
Blaise told me you ate Eden’s Apple, you should know all about that stuff.”
“I do,” I answered honestly. “I just didn’t know there were witches.”
“Well, the pagan gods are real, so obviously their followers are, too. Come on, I’d better introduce you to everyone and show you your room.”
“Seeker!” Someone from Blaise’s welcome group called. I looked up and instantly hated myself for actually beginning to respond to my title.
“Come meet everyone,” Blaise called. Bella gave me a helpful smile.
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I walked over to the crowd of people and was instantly bowed to. Everyone silenced and the whole atmosphere changed. Bella snorted.
“He’s not that cool,” she said, crossing her arms. I laughed and the rest of the group gave some nervous giggles.
They started to look up at me.
“It’s okay, really,” I said. “I’m just here to help out.”
Alright, it was a lame thing to say, but it was true. No way did I want to run the show. That was Blaise’s job. A few of the men tentatively reached out to shake my hand and I did so firmly. They looked at me with such hope I felt a huge weight drop onto my shoulders.
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