The trip to the Thusian Vault was very much like the last time. I slept most of the way, while Cora drove. She was tired but she refused to let me drive at all. We had spent most of the night working on our stories: Riley’s parents were close to my parents and grandparents. Since my parents had been on the Council and Riley’s parents had been historians and active Thusians, there was no way for them to prove otherwise. Plus, that would explain why Riley and Genevieve moved in next door. The two of them had their own story about how they met and married. As for Cora and me, our story was actually the only true part, so we didn’t have to lie about it.
When we got closer, I began to worry, not for us so much, but for Genevieve. Riley had a lot of secrets, so I was sure he could lie pretty well, but I didn’t know about Genevieve.
“Cora, what can they do to us if they find out what we are trying to do?”
“Not sure, but I’m positive Riley is right—they could and would stop us if they really wanted to. It’s important that we stick to what we discussed no matter what. They will do everything to try to find out what is going on. Riley said that his dad was summoned once and he never spoke of it after he returned.”
It baffled me why the Council wouldn’t want us to try to find the 4th. If this was the best way to fight Xavier and the Seekers, you would think they would be allies wanting to help. Maybe Riley’s apprehension toward the Council was misguided and we could actually trust them. Maybe they already knew what we were doing, and we were being summoned so they could help us.
I put a couple of Tic Tacs in my mouth and turned my attention to the incredible evening sky that was filled with large puffy clouds floating effortlessly. I was twirling the blank silver coin in my hand, staring at the sky. The cold, smooth silver gave me some comfort as it moved back and forth against my skin.
When we got there, I saw the small guard shack with the same guy as last time standing by the gate to let us in. This time he was dressed in what looked like a black pair of overalls. He was clean-shaven and his hair was combed to the side.
“Good evening, Mr. Weathers. We’re here for the meeting.”
“Well, of course you are. You’re right on time.” He raised the metal gate, and we slowly drove through. He said as we passed, “I’m glad to see such a unique group of people gathering here today.”
We drove up to the entrance, which was crowded with four helicopters and a bunch of cars and trucks. We parked next to a teal minivan and walked to the entrance in the side of the mountain.
“Remember to stay close to me,” Cora whispered. “I will count out the steps before we open the door.”
The first couple of steps into the mountain still had some residual light from the outside, but as we started to walk down the decline, it became dark fast. I heard Cora counting aloud, but then she stopped. I put my hands out so I wouldn’t run into her. But then I realized I could see her back. The farther we walked, the brighter it became. Up ahead was the door that Cora had opened the last time we were here. The bright white light was pushing through the darkness to guide our way. By the time we got to the door, our eyes had already adjusted to the intense light in the round, white tunnel. We walked down the narrow staircase deeper into the mountain. The fifteen minute descent seemed longer than last time. But this time there was no loud roar of the river rushing inside the Thusian Vault below. The door that led directly into the copper room with the wheels was open. Voices were coming from the vault. Cora walked through the doorway and I followed close behind.
When we entered the large stone cathedral, all of the stone chairs that were cut out of the floor were filled with people. Genevieve and Riley stood at the end of them on the opposite side from where Ester was seated. She was at the head of an invisible table. We could only see Genevieve and Riley’s backs. Cora and I stood against the wall next to the entrance. Everyone was silent. At first I thought it was because of us entering the room, but the seated individuals were looking over some pieces of paper they were circulating, all looking dead serious. The diverse modes of transportation outside reflected the people in the seats. From what I could see, all of the women were seated to the right of Ester. The first one had on a business suit and glasses. Her blond hair was pulled back tightly. The next woman was dressed in what you would expect someone to wear when cleaning the house or working in the yard—a pair of sweatpants and a mismatched sweatshirt. Her hair was also pulled back, but several parts of her long, golden brown hair were not tied up. The rest of the women all looked normal. The men sat to the left of Ester. The first man was large and had the darkest skin I had ever seen. His eyes looked like two candles flickering against his skin, and his teeth were brilliantly white. He was dressed in camouflage. The three men that were next to him were all dressed well, wearing different types of business suits. I couldn’t see what the last couple of men looked like.
“Riley and Genevieve, the Council doesn’t need anything else from you. You need to heed our warning. That is all,” Ester said firmly.
Both Genevieve and Riley turned and left, never making eye contact with us as they walked by. I became uneasy. I searched in my pocket for the lone pack of Tic Tacs left after our long trip to West Virginia.
“Let’s take a break to welcome our guests.” Ester gestured toward Cora and me. Guests? I thought we were here to be questioned. It didn’t look like Genevieve and Riley were treated like guests.
Ester motioned for us to step forward. She had a big smile on her face.
“How are you both doing? It’s been too long,” Ester said, giving us both a hug.
“Nervous,” I blurted out.
She laughed. “There’s no reason to be nervous, Nicholas. We’re going to ask you a couple of questions, and then we would like you both to ask us any questions you may have about the Thusians. This meeting is as much about the two of you learning more about who you are as it is about what we have to ask you.”
For some reason I didn’t feel relieved at all.
“How are you doing, young man?” Towering over me was the man dressed in all camouflage. I stuck my hand out to shake, not knowing who he was. He looked at it, smiled and grabbed it, pulling me in to his chest. He picked me up, giving me a great, big bear hug. He squeezed tightly, knocking the wind out of me. When he put me down, I was trying to catch my breath.
“Alexander Nicholas Taylor, don’t tell me you don’t remember me!” His deep voice reverberated through the large stone chamber.
I looked to Cora for some help.
“Walter Reed was a good friend of your father,” Cora said.
“Good! I was the best man in your parents’ wedding.”
I kind of remembered my dad’s best friend from some old pictures, but he was smaller than Walter.
“I remember, I think, but I don’t remember you being so big.”
He laughed like he was doing his best Santa Claus impression. “I was in my twenties then. I work out a lot now, being an Army Ranger.” He flexed one of his large biceps, which was easily the size of my torso.
Behind him were two other people waiting to talk to us. Cora just stood at my side.
“I will talk to you later and maybe I’ll tell you some of the old stories about how your dad and I used to get into all sorts of trouble.” Walter winked at me and stepped aside.
The next person walked up to me. “Nicholas, I know you don’t know me, but I knew your mother very well. I took her spot on the Council after her Final Sacrifice during the earthquake. My name is Clare Winters.” It was the woman in the sweatpants. “Your mother and I spent a lot of time together when we were younger before she got married. I was honored when she picked me to be on her Death Rite List. I was third in line, but I think the first two people on the list also died fulfilling their sacrifices during the earthquake.”
I stood there not knowing what to say.
The man next to her spoke up. “Hi, Nicholas, my name is Virgil, Virgil May.” He spoke with a slight stutter. “Y-you don’t know me either but I-
I was your father’s replacement on the Council. I was first on his Death Rite List. It was such an honor. I served with him in the fire d-department in Mt. Vernon. I was there when he saved th-those kids during the earthquake. He truly is a hero and it’s an honor to meet you.”
Again, what was I supposed to say? And what was this Death Rite List they kept referring to? For a fireman he seemed pretty frail and awfully timid, not like the other guys I knew from Dad’s firehouse. I thought I knew everyone.
“Okay now, everyone please take your seats,” Ester said in a very commanding, yet calm voice.
Next to Ester’s seat was a cushioned bench that was made of wood. It was carved very ornately like the rest of the Thusian Vault. She waved us over and pointed to the bench.
“Before we get to our guests, we have some other business we need to attend to. Ms. Sidney Reese, would you please begin?” A woman with dark brown hair pulled back tightly into a bun put on some black reading glasses.
“If everyone could refer to the sheets of paper I handed out before the meeting. The museums have yielded over $1,132,400,200 in the third quarter. Of course this is very low, but we plan to show some of our more impressive pieces of art in the fourth quarter, which will increase our income significantly. Also, we are planning to buy back some of the pieces we sold last year. With the economy doing so poorly now, we will be able to buy them back at a fraction of what we sold them for. This will boost our holdings and assets considerably. If you would please turn to page five, you can see our total for the year. We will also be building several more museums around the world, allowing us to expand considerably into brand new markets. If you have any questions about locations or what will be featured in the museums, Virgil will be happy to answer those questions after the meeting. Does anyone have any other questions for me?”
I did. I wanted to know how they owned museums and how they made so much money from them in just one quarter. The more I looked at Ms. Sidney Reese, the more she looked like a museum curator of sorts, very prim and proper. And Virgil definitely looked like the museum type too, but older and more fragile.
“Thank you, Sidney. Now let’s move on to Ms. Michelle Lightfoot’s report.” Ester motioned to a woman at the far end. Her skin was pale but had a slight tint of brownish-red. She was quite attractive. She was young, maybe in her early twenties or late teens. Her black hair draped straight over her shoulders. Her facial features reminded me of the face on the cover of a book my mom used to read to me when I was young, Pocahontas.
“Thank you, Ester.” She opened a large book that was bound in what looked like an old piece of patched-together, blood-red leather. The pages were discolored from age.
“The lineage tree of the Thusians is now up to date. I have added and subtracted as many of the new and dead Thusians that we know of. If you have any questions, please let me know. On a side note, we are down to 3,281 known Thusians. We all know that there must be thousands, if not tens of thousands, still out there unaccounted for.” She sat down as quickly as she stood up.
“Any questions?” Ester asked, looking from side to side. “If there are no other questions about our current holdings or the Thusian lineage, then let us proceed to our special guests.” Ester smiled big, like she was about to introduce the President of the United States.
“Cora, Nicholas, it’s such an honor to have both of you here at your first official Thusian Council Meeting. Your family has been such an integral part of the Council over the years. Nicholas, both your parents and grandparents served on this board. Before we begin answering your questions, we would like to ask Nicholas a couple of our own.”
Cora stood up. I did too.
“No, Cora, you don’t have to leave. You can stay,” Ester said.
Cora sat down.
I took a step forward, focusing on Ester, no one else.
She started the questioning by saying, “Nicholas, we all know that your Realization of your talent happened during the 10-10 Earthquake, at such a young age, and I must add, in such a heroic manner.” Several members of the Council clapped. “But have you heard about The 7?” Ester continued.
I took a deep breath. I knew what my story was going to be. I had rehearsed it over and over in my head. “The what?”
Ester repeated, “The 7.”
“No, I’m not sure what you’re talking about.”
Ester smiled, apparently liking my answer. “No one, not even Riley Moore, spoke to you about The 7 or finding the others to complete it?”
“No ma’am, no one did,” I answered. My eyes were fixed on her.
“Okay then. That satisfies my questions. Very good, Nicholas. Thank you so much for being such a good sport about all of this. Would you like to ask—”
“Excuse me, Ester,” a familiar voice interrupted her. “I would like to ask some questions, because I am not remotely satisfied.”
The fire in me roared to life. Acid crept up my throat. James Caldwell, the D.A. from Oliver’s trial, was standing at the far end of the room; he was one of the men I hadn’t been able to see when I came in. I wanted to run down there and rip his head off for what he had done to Elle during the trial. He used our Thusian secrets against me at the trial when he knew that I didn’t know he was a Thusian. If I would have known that, it would have ended up differently. He had to pay.
“Nicholas, you know already that my talent is in questioning and reasoning, so you will not be able to lie to me.”
I couldn’t hold my tongue. His voice sounded so arrogant that it made me burn hotter inside.
“Are you sure that’s your talent? It didn’t work so well for you during Oliver’s trial. And to think you had to blackmail me up on the stand to get the answers you wanted. You knew my secret about how I saved them from the car. You make me sick,” I spit out, barely containing myself.
A couple of people gasped. He became agitated; his smug look was wiped from his face, leaving a scowl. A couple of veins bulged out of his neck. He was lucky that there were others around because I would have personally thrown him out of here.
“Have you been in communication with the two people who just left?” He paced back and forth like he was questioning me on the witness stand.
“Yes, they are our neighbors.”
“Have you discussed Thusian stuff with them?” he asked.
“Yes. As you know, my parents and his were friends.”
“If they were friends, then why didn’t you talk with them before the day they moved next door to you?”
“But I did talk to them before that day,” I answered.
“So you did talk to them? When was that?” he asked, like he had finally caught me in a lie.
“In the park when—”
He interrupted me. “So you did talk with them about our secrets before you knew they were Thusians?” He looked like he had won a contest, but his questioning didn’t make any sense. He must have been trying too hard and got himself mixed up.
“Yes, James, I did talk to them in the park,” I held up my hand so he wouldn’t interrupt again, “because they were busy saving my life from Xavier and another Seeker who were trying to kill me. Maybe you’ve heard of him? Come to think of it, the only reason I knew they were Thusians then was because Xavier referred to them as my Thusian bodyguards. And why does it matter if I talked to them?”
“It matters because your two stories don’t add up. How could Thusians just one day move next door to each other when they haven’t talked before?”
“James, I’m sorry if your small brain can’t figure this out, but once and for all, we did speak before they moved next door. They had been searching for me and Cora for a while because my parents were friends of Riley’s parents. That’s why he and Genevieve moved to Winsor, and it’s lucky they were there because they saved my life. And let me be clear, this all happened before they moved in next door. But now I have a question for you, James.”
He didn’t say anything, looking frustrated.
“
During Oliver’s trial, why did you pretend you were some normal person who knew about my secrets? Were you afraid that your ‘questioning talents’ wouldn’t help you?”
His hands tightened into fists and he slowly crept toward me. If he wanted a fight, I would be happy to oblige.
“Listen here, you little punk,” he hissed through clenched teeth. “Just because some people treat you like you’re special, doesn’t mean I have to. You are nothing but—”
In a steady, deep voice that froze James in place, Walter said, “James, they are our guests.” Walter stood and James slowly retreated back to his seat.
“James, would you still like to ask another question of Nicholas?” Ester asked. He didn’t respond, so she continued, “Great then. Nicholas or Cora, do you have any questions for us? Please feel free to ask us about whatever your hearts desire.”
I knew exactly what I wanted to ask.
“So what’s all this talk about The 7 for?” I thought that question would help substantiate our stories more.
“Would anyone like to answer this question?” Ester asked. “Reed Godfree, why don’t you answer it, since you are one of the last Thusian historians we have left.”
An elderly gentleman dressed in a black turtleneck and black slacks and a sport coat stood slowly.
“The 7 was put together at the same time as the formation of the Seekers. The Council that developed the Seekers knew that one day they might become too powerful. So that’s why, in the beginning, they put together three Seekers and four Thusians to be a smaller council so they could keep each other in check. Just like the Old Council, the group of seven broke up. The three Seekers lured the four Thusians into a trap and killed them all. There have been several attempts over the ages to find the four Thusians needed to reform The 7, but every attempt has ended in tragedy and death. The difficulty of trying to form The 7 is that without a Keeper, the 4th is too hard to find. But if the 4th is found, everyone in the group usually dies in the process of establishing him or her as the 4th, because you can’t just put any four Thusians together. It’s much harder than that. When the three Thusians start to try to find the 4th, they only have a limited amount of time because when the three Seekers find out—and they always do—they will try to make the 4th sacrifice his or her life, leaving three Seekers and three Thusians, thus creating The Unholy Six.”
I didn’t like the sound of that at all.
“At that point, the three Seekers would become more powerful than the three Thusians, because evil is more powerful than good. The fight between these two groups of three would cause massive devastation. This group of six has gotten a lot of attention over the years from non-Thusians too and has even been confused with 666, the mark of the devil. But the confusion is understandable. There have been three consecutive times that Thusians failed to form The 7, creating 6-6-6. Millions of people died in that short period of time as a result, and they feared it was the devil’s work. The Thusians were almost all eradicated during that dark period hundreds of years ago.”
Then he slowly sat down.
“You see, that’s why it’s important for us not to try to form The 7, because of the risks,” Ester said.
I had never heard any of this from Riley. His story was completely different. Why didn’t he tell us about them trying to put The 7 together before and failing? And why leave out the details about what failing would mean? We could be responsible for thousands of people, if not more, dying. My thoughts immediately focused on the safety of Elle, my friends and Cora. What if my actions would cause them harm, or worse, death?
“So do you have any other questions for us?” Ester asked.
I just stood there, not sure if I did.
“Okay, if there are no more questions, then I call this meeting to a—”
“Wait, one more,” I interrupted. “What is the Death List thing?” I asked, not sure if I would get another chance to ask a question of the Council.
Ester answered, “When people are selected to be on the Council, they each have to name twelve successors because of their possible deaths during their Final Sacrifice. It’s called a Death Rite List. This list makes sure that the Thusian Divine Council will never again cease to exist, and it guarantees that we always have a good mix of Thusians,” she said with a smile. I cringed at the idea of needing to make such a long list because most of the people on the list might die.
After the meeting, the entire Council except for James Caldwell came up to us to talk more. Most shook my hand, so impressed with how young I was when I had my Realization of talents. They couldn’t believe how many people I had already saved. Most of them told me that they were excited to see what my Final Sacrifice was going to be, which I thought was creepy. They should have just said, “Nicholas, we can’t wait for you to die so we can see how it happens in all of its glory.” No thanks. Walter came up to me and gave me a high five, telling me he was happy about how I had handled myself with James Caldwell. Cora and I walked out with Ester after everyone else was gone.
“I just want you both to remember to be careful of who you trust.” She gave Cora a hug and smiled at me, then walked back into the vault. When we got into the truck, Cora was ready to talk.
“Nicholas, what were you thinking? We were supposed to just answer the questions and then be on our way. That was Riley’s plan; we had talked about that a lot last night.”
“I couldn’t let James act that way. He was looking for something that wasn’t there. He was trying to make us out to be liars.” Cora gave me a look.
“I know, we were lying, but I mean he was trying to make himself out to be the only one who could find out if we were hiding something.”
“Nicholas, I know you were teaching him a lesson because of how he treated you, but—”
“No, for what he did to Elle,” I shot back.
“That’s all fine and good but we, I mean you, have something bigger to do, and you can’t afford to mess it up. You heard what could happen if we don’t succeed.”
“Did Riley ever tell you about that other stuff?”
“Some, but not the stuff about us failing and the consequences,” Cora said.
“Cora, I’m not sure I would have agreed to do this if I had known what failing would mean. Too many people could get hurt or killed. Also, Reed Godfree told us an entirely different reason for The 7 to be formed than Riley did.”
“Nicholas, it doesn’t really matter that their stories don’t match. Riley warned us that they might try to twist things around,” Cora said. She didn’t look at me for fear I would read her, but I knew that she was hiding her fear about us failing. I also found it interesting how much she trusted Riley now, when she didn’t want to trust him at all in the beginning. My trust in Riley was wavering because of the conflicting stories. Maybe Riley was right about them trying to weaken our alliance, but I wasn’t sure.