Kaidan twisted suddenly and tried to throw him, but he was too clumsy and slow. Fox easily rode the move and kept the knife blade pressed against Kaidan’s groin. “Where did you chance upon Vince Vega, your first victim? Was it walking down the street? In a hotel? In a bar? You recognized him from the death echoes, didn’t you? You knew what Vega had done and made a connection with your father and with Sorcha.”
Kaidan’s eyes widened in disbelief. “It was in a bar. When I was watching Sorcha on the news,” he said, before he could stop himself.
Fox nodded, trying not to betray relief that his hunch had been correct. “You not only compared Vega with your father. You contrasted him with Sorcha, who had saved those girls from the Russians and would be at your father’s mercy as soon as you delivered her to him. You couldn’t defy the Seer directly but by punishing Vega you could feel like you were rebelling against the Seer and siding with Sorcha. Defying your father — if only in the guise of Vega — and avenging his victims made you feel good about yourself for the first time since you were a child. After killing Vega you sought out other men like him, rapists and murderers of women, in the target-rich hunting ground of Old Town. They all became surrogates for your father. When you killed them — in the same way they’d killed their victims — you were punishing your father, protecting Sorcha and avenging her mother. You saw the killers as your father and the victims as Sorcha; that’s why you stapled her photograph to their faces.
“Despite your unquestioning loyalty to the Seer and despite all his talk of the Indigo Family’s genetic links to angels, you subconsciously believe he’s a demon. The message you left at every crime scene expressed your inner conflict, your dilemma. Should you serve your father or save Sorcha? You knew you couldn’t do both. I now think you broke into both the clinic and my aunt’s house because, in some half-assed way, you were trying to save her. You knew your father was coming to reclaim Sorcha and wanted to take her somewhere safe, somewhere he could never find her — or you.”
Kaidan glared at him but said nothing.
“I know what your father wanted you to do when you failed him, Kaidan. And I think he wants you to do it again tonight. But you didn’t fail. Don’t you understand that? By defying him you succeeded. Your better nature won. Whatever you’ve done in the past, Kaidan, you can still become the person you want to be. You are the choices you make now, today. You didn’t want to hurt your half-sister because you couldn’t. You won’t accept it but…”
“But what?” snarled Kaidan. “I love her? I don’t love her. You do.”
It was a schoolboy’s retort but it stopped Fox short for a moment. In the silence he became aware of muted sounds outside: birdsong, excited laughter and horses neighing. He pushed his face close to Kaidan’s. “The important thing is, Kaidan, you have the power to defy your father and stop this madness,” he said. “You don’t have to serve the demon any more. You can save the angel. And by saving her you can save yourself.”
Fox saw something spark in the man’s eyes, a glimmer of understanding. Kaidan opened his mouth and was about to speak when the door opened and the two Watchers stepped into the cabin. “What are you going to do now?” Fox detected sadness in his smile. Then Kaidan stopped smiling. “Do it. Use the knife. Sever the artery or cut off my balls. Either way you’ll save your precious Sorcha’s little problem. Or haven’t you got the balls?”
It would be so easy: one flick of his wrist and the man would bleed to death. But it wasn’t easy. Not for Fox.
Like a wild animal, Kaidan instantly sensed his hesitation. Scowling in disgust he grabbed at Fox’s knife hand. “You’re so fucking weak. Get him off me,” he shouted to the Watchers, who cudgeled Fox with their rifles until he dropped the knife. Kaidan got to his feet, picked up the blade and checked his groin. Looking down at Fox he frowned. “You should have done it. Killing a man gets easier after the first one. Trust me.” He turned to leave.
“Save the angel, Kaidan,” Fox shouted after him. “Don’t serve the demon. There’ll be no turning back if you obey the Seer this time. You’ll destroy the one person you love and be enslaved to your father forever. Whatever he’s made you do in the past he can’t make you do this. He can’t make you inseminate your own sister.”
At that moment the Wives appeared in the doorway, blocking Kaidan’s exit. Sorcha was with them. Shock and horror were etched on her pale face.
Chapter 60
Inseminate your own sister. Sorcha’s mind froze as she tried to process Fox’s words. She couldn’t, wouldn’t believe them. But as Kaidan tried to push past her, more wreckage of her memory surfaced. She remembered the weight of his body pressing down on her, the smell of his sweat, the redness of his face as he tore at her clothes. Then she remembered running away, down the stairs, out of the tower.
What had happened?
“What did you do the day I left?” she said, grabbing her half-brother’s shoulder. “What happened in the tower?” He avoided her gaze and tried to push past, but she clung on. “What did you do to me?”
“Nothing. I did nothing. Nothing happened.”
“What about tonight?” she said.
Kaidan pulled her hand from his shoulder. “Try to understand something, Sorcha,” he hissed. “This isn’t just your sacrifice. It’s mine too. I don’t choose to do this but we both have to play our part in the Great Work now.”
“This isn’t for any Great Work,” she said. “This is for our sick father. Nothing more. Nothing less.” She slapped him as hard as she could across the face. Kaidan didn’t flinch. Just turned and strode away.
The Wives pushed the Watchers after him. “Go. Leave us. We must prepare them.”
Fox shepherded Sorcha into the small prayer room and blocked the doorway. “How can you stand by and let his happen?” he shouted at the Wives as they tried to follow. “How can you possibly justify incest?”
“That has no meaning here,” said Maria, holding her pregnant belly. “The Indigo Family are all descended from angels and share the same bloodline. We’re related to each other. We’re all part of one family.”
“Let us past,” said Zara, carrying the pile of clothes.
“We have to prepare you for Esbat,” said Deva. “You both need to be prepared.”
“Enough of this preparation bullshit!” Fox roared at them. “Whatever robes you wear and whatever rituals you make up you’ll never ‘prepare’ me to be murdered or Sorcha to be raped by her own half-brother.” He grabbed the robes and toiletries. “Leave everything with us. We’ll prepare ourselves. No go and leave us alone.”
“But…”
He slammed the door in their faces.
“Why’s he doing this?” Sorcha said, still in shock. “Why does my father want this?”
“Because you and Kaidan are the only two violets he’s produced and he needs more. He’s tried to produce other violets but failed. I guess he hopes you’ll produce not only more violets but purer ones, with even closer genetic ties to the fallen angels he believes you’re descended from.”
She remembered Eve telling her that although Aurora had been the only indigo to provide a violet heir and survive she hadn’t been able to produce any more. So that was why the Seer had turned his attention to her. She was the only viable brood mare for the violet stallion, her half-brother. Sorcha shuddered. “But what then? Are we supposed to start a whole new bloodline? It’s madness.”
“There’s a good chance Kaidan won’t do it,” Fox said. “After talking with him I don’t think he’ll go through with it. He still cares for you.”
“Cares for me? How can you say that? He tried to rape me.”
“He didn’t do it, though. Couldn’t do it. He told me it was the first and only time he’s failed your father. That says something.”
Looking at Fox, she marveled at the calm way he talked of Kaidan as if he were merely a difficult patient. She wanted to believe Fox was right and that her brother wouldn’t do this. “So there’s hope?”
/>
“There is for you,” he said, examining the thick white robes the Wives had left for them. “Kaidan didn’t follow through before so he may not follow through again. There’s less hope for me.”
“Why?”
“Because Kaidan’s never failed to kill before. But I’m not going down without a fight.” He put down the robes, picked up one of the stools in the corner and pointed to the door. “Try and keep that closed for as long as you can.” He raised the stool above his head, then threw it against the window, smashing the glass.
“What are you doing, Nathan? We can’t escape. There’s a grille over the window.”
“I’m not trying to escape. Not yet.”
“Then what are you doing?” she asked as she heard footsteps running toward the door.
He moved toward the shattered window. “Getting us some insurance.”
When Kaidan arrived in the Great Hall the preparations were virtually complete. Although the Indigo Family ate their everyday meals in the refectory, at Esbat all children under puberty were fed early and settled in the cabins before the adults gathered in the Great Hall to celebrate the rite and break their fast. The center of the large space had been cleared and the wooden floor covered with prayer mats. Around the perimeter of the room were rows of long trestle tables laden with platters, goblets and cutlery and loaded with tureens of food and flasks of wine. At the end of the hall was a raised dais of two tiers. A large table, with three throne-like chairs at one end, dominated the first tier. Arrangements of flowers decorated the tables and walls. The most elaborate arrangement, an arch of violets crowned with white lilies, adorned the top tier of the dais.
The Seer stood by the top table straightening the large tapestry of the Vitruvian man hanging on the wall. When Kaidan saw his father he thought of what Fox had told him. The psychiatrist had talked a lot of bullshit but he was right about one thing: Kaidan did have a superior aura to his father and needed to command his respect. The thought of confronting him now, however, made his heart race. With anybody else he could be ruthless and fearless but with the Seer he was still an insecure child, desperate for approval. He watched his father pick up a flask and gesture to one of the helpers. “Have the herb bags been placed in the wine?”
The man bowed and touched his forehead. “Yes, Seer.”
“Good.” Looking around the hall, the Seer’s eyes rested on the elaborate flower arrangement on the top tier of the dais and he smiled. Then he saw his son and beckoned him over. “Not long now, Kaidan. Everything’s in place.”
“I need to talk to you about tonight.”
“I need to talk to you, too.. Come, walk with me.”
Outside, the sun was setting. The sky was clear and the moon would soon appear above the sequoias. Kaidan could feel the anticipation in the air as his father led him to a quiet part of the settlement, near the forbidden forest. Excited groups of cult members bowed and tapped their foreheads in greeting when they passed. “What do you want to talk to me about?” the Seer asked.
“It’s about Sorcha.” As he took a deep breath and braced himself for his father’s rage, Kaidan nervously reached for his knife. He almost wished Fox had used the blade on him. It would have made things so much simpler. If his father refused to listen to him now he might still threaten to use the knife on himself. “I don’t want to do it tonight. I’m not doing it tonight.”
The Seer studied him for a moment but remained calm. “Why not?”
“I’ve done everything else you’ve asked of me. Everything. This is one thing I won’t do. I can’t do.”
His father narrowed his eyes. “You’re worried you can’t do it — or you won’t do it? There are ways to help you get it done.”
“I won’t do it. If what I’ve done for you and the Great Work has meant anything, then I beg you not to ask me to do this. Ask anything else of me, but not this.”
The Seer was still calm. “Why are you so against it? Why make your stand on this small thing?”
“Sorcha’s my half-sister.”
“So? She’s a high-level violet and we’re all family here. Throughout history divine lineages have kept their bloodlines pure this way: the Greek gods, Hawaiian royalty and the Egyptian pharaohs all practiced it. Tutankamun’s parents were brother and sister. It has an honorable and proven history. The Delaneys themselves married within the family to keep the mothú bloodline strong.” He pointed to the thoroughbred horses in the paddock. “It works. Every one of the hundreds of thousands of thoroughbreds in the world is descended from just three stallions and seventy-four foundation mares. And they’re perfect — the best and most valuable racehorses in the world.”
Kaidan shook his head. “There must be another way. If you let Sorcha lie with a pure indigo she may produce violets. Dr. Fox said that the mothú is passed down by the female line.”
The first flash of anger lit up the Seer’s eyes. “Dr. Fox? You’ve been listening to Dr. Fox?”
“My decision has nothing to do with Dr. Fox,” he said hurriedly. “I just don’t want to do this. It feels wrong to me.”
“I never said it would be easy, Kaidan. But we all have to make sacrifices.”
“I know, but I feel I’ve proved myself already. And I’m sure there must be another way.”
The Seer turned to look at the sunset and again Kaidan fingered the sharp blade of his knife, preparing for the onslaught. But still his father’s voice was calm and reasonable. “Do you feel I don’t appreciate you enough, Kaidan? Do you feel I haven't given you credit for all you’ve done so far?”
“It’s not that. I just don’t…”
The Seer nodded as if in understanding. “Perhaps you’re right about Sorcha.”
Kaidan could hardly believe his ears. “What are you saying?”
“I’ve noticed you’ve lost your focus since returning from Portland. I think by shifting my attention onto Sorcha I’ve confused you, made you less committed to our goal.”
“No, no. I’m still committed.”
The Seer nodded. “I’m glad to hear that, Kaidan, because I need you. I can’t do this without you.” He reached out and patted his son’s shoulder: something Kaidan couldn’t remember him ever doing. “You’re more than my son, Kaidan. You’re my right-hand man. My successor. But I understand this might have been a mistake. Ever since I focused on Sorcha, things haven’t been right between us. Perhaps this is a step too far for you.”
Still wary, Kaidan waited for the backlash. “You have no problem with me not going through with this tonight?”
The Seer sighed. “I can’t force you to do it.” He turned to Kaidan and looked him in the eye. “All I ask is your full support with everything else I may need you to do. Whatever I ask, whatever I decide, you mustn’t object to it. You understand?”
Kaidan nodded enthusiastically, feeling more valued and appreciated than he could remember. Fox had been right. He did have power and he could command respect. His commitment to the Great Work had been refreshed. “I understand. I’ll do whatever you want. Anything at all.” The Seer smiled at him. “Maria’s almost due,” Kaidan said, desperate to please his father. “Perhaps she’ll provide a violet.”
“Perhaps.” The Seer moved away, facing the sunset. “Now I must go and prepare.”
Taking his hand off the knife, still not quite believing how painless it had been, Kaidan asked again, “So will you forgive me for tonight?”
The Seer turned back to him and shrugged. “Like you said, I’ll have to find another way.”
Chapter 61
The brain has a region called the parietal lobe, which establishes our sense of space and time. By detecting where our body physically ends and the larger world begins, it anchors us in the real world. Research has shown that intense prayer or meditation can shut the region down, disabling the anchor and replacing our sense of self with a sense of oneness with the cosmos or God. Fox had read d’Aquili and Newberg’s research but had never seen the power of meditation so conclu
sively as he did now in the Great Hall.
Fox and Sorcha sat at the top table on the first tier of the raised dais. The Wives and Kaidan sat with them. Arrayed in rows before them, the adults of the Indigo Family sat cross-legged on prayer mats. All wore colored robes and each had a tilak on their forehead that matched the color of their aura: most were indigo, like those on the Wives’ foreheads. Kaidan sported a violet tilak and a violet robe. Sorcha’s and Fox’s tilaks were violet and indigo respectively but their robes were as white as sacrificial lambs. Both wore a white headpiece that revealed their eyes, nose and forehead but covered their gagged mouth. Their bound hands were secured to the table.
When they had been dragged — bound and gagged — to the Great Hall both had tried to appeal for help but it soon became clear that nobody was going to stop Esbat running its course. The cult members apparently regarded Pathfinders with awe and envy and couldn’t understand why anyone might not want to touch the infinite. On entering the hall the members had drunk wine from the surrounding tables but left the food untouched. Now, they sat on the floor, eyes closed, deep in trance, listening spellbound to their leader.
The Seer stood on the dais before them, wearing a violet robe fringed with gilt and sporting a violet tilak on his forehead. He had shaved his head, revealing tattoos on his pale scalp that echoed the lotus symbols on the Vitruvian man in the tower: on the crown of his head was the violet lotus flower of the seventh chakra; on the back of his head, at the level of the tilak, was an indigo eye, symbolizing the sixth chakra; and on the back of his neck the blue symbol of the fifth chakra. The lights dimmed as the Seer spoke and his voice had a hypnotic quality. “You must each strive to reach beyond the mortal and touch the divine. Look inside yourself to create a link between your physical body and your spirit being.” Standing with his legs apart, he slipped the robe from his shoulders and stretched out his arms. Wearing only a loincloth, his lean and muscular body resembled the Vitruvian man on the tapestry behind him. The colored tattoos on the back of his head continued down his spine, the seven lotus symbols corresponding to each of the seven chakras.
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