by Rye Brewer
“Why?” Scott almost laughed.
“It’s important. Somebody up there wants to see us. All of us.”
Gage and Philippa appeared stricken, and they both shifted their eyes toward Scott.
He was oblivious, too busy wondering why we would do something he thought was out of character for us.
“On the roof.” He cocked his head.
“Yes. Come on. We have to go.”
“Yeah, come on.” Philippa took him by the arm. “I think it will be okay.”
“You don’t think this is weird?” he asked.
“Honestly? No.” Gage exchanged a look with me before walking out.
Philippa and Scott followed, and I brought up the rear.
We climbed the short staircase leading from the balcony to the roof.
I came up on Scott’s right while Philippa remained on the left. I thought our brother might need a little support when he saw Fane.
And I was right.
Just like he had with me, Fane stepped out of the shadows.
He stared at Scott with a mixture of pride and sorrow. “Hello, Scott.”
Scott froze. His mouth fell open.
I remembered how I felt when I first saw Fane, that rush of conflicting emotions and thoughts. Disbelief, elation, confusion, even anger. The anger of knowing he’d been alive all this time.
“What is this?” he asked, glancing back and forth, eyes wide. He started shaking. “Is this some sort of joke?”
“No. It’s no joke.” I took his arm, in case he staggered. “It’s all right, man. Just hang in there.”
“Hang in there?” He shook my hand away. “You knew about this? You all knew about this? You’re not even surprised to see him!”
“Yes, we all knew about it. I’m sorry. We didn’t want to keep him from you, but there was no choice.”
“Oh, spare me.” He turned to Fane. “Dad?”
“No. Not Dad. I’ll explain everything.”
“Explain?” His bitter laughter cut through the wind blowing around us. “Yeah, you’d better explain. You show up after all this time and act as though it’s no big deal? And the rest of these guys knew before I did? I wasn’t good enough to know you were still alive? And you stand there and tell me you’re not my father? Who are you, then?”
“As I said, I’ll explain everything, but not here. There’s no safety here.”
“We’re on a roof!” Scott bellowed.
I rolled my eyes and wished he could control himself a little better—even Philippa didn’t freak out the way he was, and she had always been the dramatic one.
“Quickly,” Fane said, and he threw a portal in the blink of an eye.
Gage moved Philippa aside and took Scott’s left arm, while I took his right.
He wasn’t going to shake me off again.
Scott was still yelling and cursing up a storm when we pushed him through the portal and into Duskwood.
He’s in for a lot of surprises tonight, I thought as we went through.
30
Jonah
It was as I remembered, exactly as it always was. Dark, still, with fog that swirled around my feet.
Scott had stopped yelling and was stuck in a sort of stunned silence. I couldn’t blame him. Again, I remembered how I felt the first time I found myself there. At least he had us with him. I would try to walk him through it as gently and carefully as possible. If Fane wanted to bring him up to speed, he was going to have to absorb a lot of information in a very short time.
“What is this place?” Scott whispered almost reverently. Like we were in a church or some other sacred place.
I could understand that.
There was something special about Duskwood. An ancient cemetery—wasn’t that right? The writing on the tombstones in a language so ancient, no living creature knew how to speak or read it.
“It’s called Duskwood. An alternate dimension.” Philippa walked to him and placed her hands on his chest, with Gage and me still flanking him. “There’s a lot we haven’t been able to tell you, and I’m sorry. There were reasons, good reasons. You’ll understand them all, I promise.”
“You promise,” Scott muttered.
“Yes. I promise. But you have to listen, and you have to keep an open mind. Okay? Please. It’s so important you at least keep an open mind. Everything will be all right.”
He hesitated, as though there was nothing he would like less, but nodded anyway. He could be stubborn, too, as stubborn as any of us. It was a genetic thing.
“Are you finished?” Fane asked.
I knew he hadn’t meant to sound so cold and unfeeling. It was a way for him to distance himself from us. He couldn’t afford to think of us as his children anymore—though there were moments when he obviously did, when he couldn’t help it. Like when we saw Mom-not-Mom aka Nivia in my Mother’s body, back in Sorrowswatch.
“How dare you?” Scott whispered in a tight, dangerous voice. “You show up after all this time, and you have the nerve to talk to us that way?”
The rest of us exchanged a look. It seemed like we had all gone through the same progression of emotion and shock and indignation.
“He’ll explain everything, Scott. Trust us, all right?”
“I don’t want to hear it from him.” He stared at me with cold, narrow eyes. “I want to hear it from you.”
“What?”
“I want you to tell me. Tell me what you know and why you couldn’t be honest with me from the beginning.”
“If you weren’t always with Sara—” Philippa cut in.
“Don’t you start that with me right now. Just don’t.” Scott glanced at her then glared at me again. “Go on.”
“There’s only so much I know,” I said. “But what I know—what I believe—is there was a good reason for Mom and Dad to go away. We were all in danger. They left in order to protect us. That’s the truth.”
“Danger from who?” he asked.
“From Lucian. I know, it’s a lot to believe at once, but it’s the truth. He’s been screwing with our family for years. He was the one who turned Mom, thinking he could force her to be with him instead of with us. He did it out of spite for Dad. He didn’t know she would turn us, too. Like I said, it’s a long story, and we don’t have a lot of time.”
“Why couldn’t he tell us?” He faced Fane. “Why didn’t you tell us?”
“It would’ve only made things dangerous for you. If you knew and he found out you knew, he would stop at nothing to find out where we were. I couldn’t let that happen, knowing he would torture you to get the information he wanted.”
“What about Mom?” He looked at each of us in turn. “Where is she?”
Fane spoke up. “That’s another story, and why I brought all of you here.”
“Where is she?” Scott asked again, like he hadn’t heard what Fane said.
“We saw her,” I murmured. “Not her, really. There was another being in her body. I know, I know,” I said when it was clear he was about to ask another several hundred questions, “it’s beyond anything we’ve ever encountered before. I know. But that’s how it is. And it was a big shock.”
“It was horrifying. Disgusting.” Philippa shivered. “It was her body and her face, but it wasn’t her. You’re lucky you didn’t have to see it.”
“I disagree,” Scott said. “You got to see her, at least.”
“You can’t unsee what we saw, or un-hear what we heard,” Gage murmured. “If I slept, I would probably have nightmares about her. It was an abomination to her memory, Scott. You didn’t miss anything.”
Scott snorted. “I missed a lot. I missed a whole lot.”
I wondered if he would ever be able to forgive us.
“While we’re on the subject of your mother,” Fane interjected, “she’s the reason I called you all together.”
“What about her?” Philippa asked.
I heard hope in her voice, and it nearly crushed me. She wanted so much for Mom to be M
om. Well, we all did, didn’t we?
“I have to find her.” He stared at all of us, his children. “I have to find your mother’s body. We all deserve answers as to how Nivia ended up in there.”
“Nivia?” Scott asked.
“The being inhabiting Elena’s body,” Fane said. “As far as I knew, your mother died. That’s the belief I’ve had to live with for all these years. Now, I find out another being has inhabited her. I need to know how, and why, and what happened to your mother—your actual mother—during all of this. Is she gone or inside the body? Is Nivia too strong to let her out? These are all questions that must be answered. We need to know.”
“I’ll go with you,” Philippa said, taking a step forward.
“Not so fast,” Fane said, and I thought I saw a shadow of a smile tugging at the corners of his mouth. He had always admired her spirit, even when she frustrated him. Daddy’s Girl. “I think we’ve already learned it’s unwise to run straight into an unknown situation. We need to have a plan in place.”
“This is Mom we’re talking about,” Scott argued, and his voice was stronger. Indignation was taking the place of shock. “We don’t have the time to stand around here in this place, wherever we are, and come up with a plan. I’ve already been left out of enough. I want us to go after her, and I want to be caught up on all of this.”
“Scott.” Fane’s voice was sharp, cutting through the confusion.
Scott’s mouth snapped shut. Dad could always do that—he had the sort of strength and presence that made it possible for him to command an entire room. His children were no challenge. “I understand what you’re going through. I do. I’ve had to live for years in-between worlds, never being myself again, always having to live as Fane.”
“You’re Fane?”
“Oh, no.” Philippa rolled her eyes. “I forgot he didn’t know that, either.”
I stepped in. “Yes, he’s Fane. And this is not to be discussed outside of us. Not Fane and not our father. Can we move on?” I glanced at Fane and nodded.
“As I was saying,” he continued with a doleful look at Scott, “all along, I’ve blamed myself for her death. I’ve blamed myself for so many things. For earning Lucian’s hatred, for bringing all of this on us. I hated myself for not being able to save her from dying. And now, there’s a chance she’s not actually dead. Trust me, none of you wants to understand what happened more than I do.”
That was enough to shut Scott up, but it didn’t do much for my peace of mind. I caught a glimpse of movement in the shadows and turned in that direction.
A flash of long hair, a white cloak.
Sirene.
Even as my hackles raised at the sight of her, I couldn’t help but wonder how it made her feel to hear that Fane wanted to know what happened to his wife.
Sirene’s eyes met mine, and her face was like a mask. It didn’t reveal anything, but I understood.
She disappeared then, back into the shadows.
31
Jonah
What does all of this mean? Are we going out to find Mom or what?” Scott looked around.
“Aren’t you more worried about your girlfriend?” Philippa whispered.
“Not right now, Philippa.” He glared at her.
“It doesn’t matter what any of you are more worried about because I’m going on my own. This was not intended to be a family trip. I only wanted to let you know what my intentions are, so you’ll know where I am and what I’m doing.”
“That doesn’t seem fair,” Gage said. “I don’t like the idea of you going out all alone to handle this.”
“I don’t remember asking you if you thought it was fair,” Fane reminded him. “And the last time I checked, I’m the—”
“You’re the what?” he asked. “The father? You set the rules? I thought you were Fane. I thought you weren’t our father anymore. You should make up your mind about that.”
“Stop it,” I said, raising my voice. It still sounded muffled. The sound hardly carried at all, as though I was yelling in the middle of a padded room. “We won’t get anywhere this way.”
“Your brother is right,” Fane said, still looking at Gage. “If we keep sniping at each other, we’ll fall further apart. We need to come together at a time like this. We need all our strength, and we have to trust each other.”
I bit my tongue on hearing that. I couldn’t help but remember how Gage had destroyed every bit of trust I ever had in him.
“Anyway,” Philippa said, looking at Scott, “Sara’s with Anissa. Remember? She’s not out there alone, so maybe it’s time to think about our family and our clan and less about theirs for a little while.”
“She’s not just with Anissa,” I said. “She’s probably with their mother.”
“What?” Fane appeared stunned, and it took a lot to get that sort of reaction from him. “Did you say their mother?”
“Yes. Why?”
“Tabitha? Tabitha died in the Great Fire. I should know. I mean, wasn’t I accused of setting it?”
Scott’s sharp intake of breath revealed his reaction to remembering that bit of information. Maybe he would finally figure out this wasn’t a joke, that Dad and Mom fled for a good reason.
“It’s a long story.” I felt like a broken record, repeating the same platitudes over and over.
“I have time,” Fane replied.
“Maybe we don’t.”
“Talk,” he ordered. “Please.”
I sighed. “A shade saved her. She made it through the fire and found where the shades live, and one of them took her in. She was near death, from what I understand. It took years for her to fully heal.”
He took this in, then asked, “Where did you hear this?”
“A Custodian told me the entire story.”
“That’s impossible.”
“It’s not impossible,” I assured him. “And Anissa and Sara’s brother is a Custodian as well.”
“Their brother? They have a brother?” he asked.
“Yes. Half-vampire, half-shade. Didn’t you pick up on it when we were all together?”
“What?” he asked.
“It’s Allonic.” For once, I knew something he didn’t know. I felt a little smug about it.
“Allonic. I had no idea.”
“I wasn’t aware you knew Allonic,” Philippa said.
“I wouldn’t say I know him, but I’m familiar with him. We’ve crossed paths many times—you would be surprised how easy it is for those of our kind to cross paths. Maybe it’s fate. Who knows?” He turned to me. “I didn’t know he was half-vampire.”
“Yes. He has fangs, but he doesn’t drink blood. Well… not usually.” I vaguely remembered him drinking Valerius’s blood back in Sorrowswatch, but everything from that experience was so fuzzy and foggy, it was hard to make sense of much of it. Almost dying would do that, I guessed.
“I never knew she was his mother,” Fane murmured. “I never bothered to ask who his mother was. We don’t know each other that well.” He turned to Scott. “Your Sara must be fine, then, if she’s with her mother. Tabitha wouldn’t let harm come to her children.”
Scott’s forehead creased, and his mouth curved into a smirk. “I can’t say I agree with that.” But, to his credit, he didn’t argue, either.
“Regardless of everything we’ve discussed, or how important it is for you to know where your mother is and what happened to her, there’s clan business for you to attend to. You can’t keep running off on these expeditions. I’ll be doing this alone. It’s better this way, and safer for all of you.”
“I don’t think so,” Philippa argued.
“I do. Remember, this entire time I’ve been gone, I’ve gotten used to being alone. I know how to handle whatever comes at me.”
“Yes. You’re legendary,” Scott said.
“Something like that,” Fane replied, shaking his head.
“What about your other woman? How does she feel about this?” I couldn’t help myself. I had
to know.
“Wait. What? What other woman?” Scott asked. “You have another woman?”
“Tell him,” I said. “Tell him about the happy new arrival that’s on its way.”
“Jonah. This isn’t like you,” Fane murmured.
“How would you know any more? It’s been how long since you left? Besides, you know how I feel about this. I didn’t lie when I first found out.”
His face settled into hard lines. “Your brother is referring to Sirene.”
“Who’s that?” Scott asked.
“A witch,” I whispered, still staring at Fane. “The witch who’s carrying his child.”
“This doesn’t concern you, and I’m not discussing it with you,” Fane snarled.
“I don’t get this.” Scott looked around, almost laughing. “You’re telling me we have a sibling and it doesn’t concern us? How can you say that?”
“I agree with Scott,” Gage said.
“So do I,” Philippa added. “I think this is something else we need to clarify. There are too many secrets. I’m sick of them.”
She wrapped her arms around herself, and I saw, for the first time, she was shaking.
I put an arm around her shoulders.
She continued, “I wish we could go back to the way things were before, but I know that isn’t possible. And that’s fine. We can’t turn back time. But we can start being a little more open with each other, a little more honest. We need to stick together. There are too many pieces in play right now for us to hold back from each other. Don’t you get it? We’re all on the same team. Aren’t we?”
Her question hung in the air.
I didn’t know how to answer it or whether or not I could. I had the feeling she’d directed it to Fane.
“Of course,” he finally said, his shoulders falling. “We’re all on the same team. All I ask is that you remember something. If there are secrets, if I’m keeping something from you, there’s always a good reason. Just like you didn’t know why your mother and I left. We did it for the right reasons, and it tore us apart inside. I mean that. We didn’t do it willingly, but it was the only way. This is the same sort of situation—perhaps not as dire, but just as important. It’s best that I keep certain things to myself for now. Not because I don’t think you deserve to know about your sibling, but because it’s for the best.”
