* * * * *
The Christmas tree in the corner of the Laudners’ living room was the biggest Fraser fir Jacob or his mom had ever seen. They’d helped to decorate it with red and gold glass balls of various sizes. Clear glass icicles dangled from the branches behind silver snowflake garland. Early Christmas morning, Uncle John had finished the tree by laying fresh red poinsettia flowers on the branches.
Jacob’s favorite part was the angel on the top, which looked nothing at all like Gideon. When there was no one else in the room, he and his mom laughed about how the flowing blonde locks looked more like a Watcher than an angel. He understood now that the reason Dr. Silva had looked so much like Auriel was that they’d borrowed the same image, from the Swedish woman, in slightly different ways. He wondered what the real Dr. Silva would look like, if she ever became human.
“This one is from all of us,” he said to his mom, handing her a square package. The Laudners had already opened their gifts and John and Carolyn were looking on, smiling. Katrina was home from school but still pouting about having to share a room with Jacob’s mom.
Lillian peeled back the red and gold paper and pulled the top off the box. Under the tissue was a framed picture of her and Jacob, posing in the front bay window.
“I thought it was about time we added you to our wall,” Uncle John said.
“Thank you, John. It’s beautiful.” She stood up and gave him and Aunt Carolyn a quick hug. Her eyes were misty and Jacob knew it wasn’t just because she liked the picture. It was what it represented. Lillian Lau had finally been accepted by the Laudner family.
Jacob handed her a second gift. “From me,” he said.
Underneath the gold paper was a scrapbook. The first several pages were already filled with pictures of Jacob, Malini, and the Laudners with a few of her mixed in.
“So that you can start a new history,” he said, and then leaned over to whisper in her ear. “There’s a knife in the binding.”
She glanced down and saw the glint of silver nestled in the spine. “It’s exactly what I wanted, Jacob. Thank you.” She hugged him hard. “Now you.”
He took the box from her hand and removed the paper in one rip. As he opened the lid, he saw a watch with five time zones.
“In case we ever travel,” his mom said, smiling, and then discreetly motioned to look under the watch. Jacob didn’t take it out but in the bottom of the box was a thin flask with a strap. It was the kind you could wear around your ankle or wrist. He knew without checking that it was full of water, he could hear the hum. With this, he would never be without it.
“Thanks, Mom. It’s perfect,” he said and then reached for the picture of the two of them. “Let’s go hang our picture.”
She was on her feet too quickly and Jacob hoped the Laudners didn’t notice her lightning-fast reflexes, but they were too busy picking through a plate of Christmas cookies. Jacob followed his mom up the stairs, only speaking when he was out of earshot.
“The flask was brilliant, Mom,” he said, hanging the picture on the hook John had made ready on the wall the night before.
“It’s important for you to protect yourself.”
They turned with a start when a sound like a firecracker came from Jacob’s room down the hall. Jacob looked back at his mom. She placed a finger over her lips and motioned for him to follow her. Silently, they crept toward the room, his mom pulling the knife from the binding of the album. Her dark eyes spoke volumes as she kicked open the door.
Malini stood in the middle of the room clutching her chest. “Jeez, Lillian, I think you stopped my heart.” She was leaning on a thick wooden staff.
“Everything okay up there?” Uncle John yelled from below.
“Yes, John,” Lillian called toward the stairs. “I just dropped my album.”
“How did you get up here?” Jacob asked Malini, looking at his locked window.
“So, you haven’t opened your gift from Dr. Silva and Gideon?” Malini asked.
“No.” But then he saw it. A long, wrapped gift leaned up against the corner of his room. He ripped the paper off and saw a wooden staff, identical to Malini’s.
“It says something in Aramaic. Can you read it to me, Jacob?” Malini asked.
“Sure,” he said, turning the staff in his hands. “It says anywhere.”
“If you read the card, it says Gideon made these from the branches of the tree. Oswald has moved on but Gideon has enchanted these. They’ll take us anywhere we need to go, at any time,” Malini said. “I was surprised she gave me one.”
“Do you think there’s one for me?” Lillian asked and excused herself to go look in her room.
“Dr. Silva says she’s going to help me figure out what I am,” Malini said.
“I have something that will help.” Jacob handed her a box from his nightstand. She unwrapped it carefully and pulled off the lid.
“The stone!” she said, putting her head through the cord and holding up the red disc between her fingers.
“It can tell the future. I think, at this point, you need it more than I do.”
“Thank you, Jacob. And something for you.” Malini handed him a tiny box from her pocket. He ripped into it and found a thick silver ring engraved with Sanskrit. He slid it onto his finger.
“Did you know this says ‘Water,’” he asked.
“Yes, I had it engraved. So, now you read Sanskrit?”
“I guess so,” he shrugged. “I love it, Malini.” He leaned forward and kissed her, their lips starting out gentle and soft and ending in something that made his heart beat faster. He pulled away when he realized the door was still open. “I imagine you’re not supposed to be here.”
“Nope. As far as my parents know, I am in my room putting away my Christmas gifts. I believe I’m officially grounded for life.”
Jacob tossed the staff back and forth between his hands. “Then I suppose this gift is even more important because I can’t be away from you for that long.”
Malini rewarded him with a smile he knew was exclusively his.
“Does it have the same side effects?” he asked her.
“No. I felt fine coming over here,” she said. “Maybe we should go next door to say thank you.”
“Great idea. I want to give Dr. Silva the gift I got for her, anyway.” He grabbed a wrapped box from his closet.
“What is it?” Malini asked.
“A pink cable-knit sweater.”
“What? Have you ever seen Dr. Silva wear anything but black?”
“No. But I thought it was time she started dressing for her future.”
“Very sweet, Jacob. I’m sure she’ll love it.” Malini kissed him again, this time on the cheek. “How do you think she stays here? I mean, if she doesn’t age, why hasn’t anyone in Paris noticed?”
“She never told me but I think I figured it out. My uncle once said that her grandmother lived in the same house. Obviously, Dr. Silva has never had a grandmother. I think she ages herself by illusion, and then comes back as her own daughter. She doesn’t come out much. It wouldn’t be hard for her to fool everyone,” he explained.
“It must have been hard for her to live her life in a lie like that, no one ever really knowing who she was,” Malini said.
“Well now she has us,” Jacob said. He held up the staff. “So, how do these work?”
“It’s easy, you just think about where you want to go and tap them on the floor,” Malini said.
“Now?” he asked, tucking the gift under his arm and interlacing his fingers with hers.
“Yes, Jacob, I’m ready,” she replied and he believed she was, for anything. There was a deep trust in her eyes that hadn’t been there before. Not ever. Not even before he had tried to force her to go through the tree. Not even on the beach. Something had changed. They were bound to each other in an almost magical way.
“Together then,” he said.
They raised their staffs and looked out the window toward the gothic Victorian, together
to anywhere.
* * *
Thank you for reading The Soulkeepers. Continue the story with Weaving Destiny, The Soulkeepers Series Book 2, or flip the page to read an excerpt.
Weaving Destiny (Excerpt)
The Soulkeepers Book 2