A round of murmurs shot out.
“And he plans to take down our island by erupting the volcano,” I finished.
“My son is missing. I want him back,” a mother barked.
“This is our home. We can’t let Cyrus take the only thing we have,” a man roared.
A man leaning against the wall near the bathroom stepped forward. “I’m in. I have lots of swords if you need them.”
Father gripped my shoulders and whispered to me. “Good choice of words, my son. I’m very proud of you.”
He had no idea how much his words meant to me, and he had no idea how much his actions at that meeting meant to me. For the longest time, I had been mad at him, even thought he was a coward. But he proved me wrong. Sometimes people close their eyes, hoping the problem will go away. I noticed adults did that a lot. Perhaps because they’ve lived long lives, experienced a lot of shit, and they don’t want to add more to their plate. Only when they realized the problem affected their children did they take a stand, at least the ones who cared about their kids.
I’m lucky I could say I belong with the list of parents who would do anything for their children. Eli and Milani were too, but unfortunately, their mothers passed away. I wished they were still alive. One, for my friends’ sake. Two, they would be awesome trainers, and it would be great to have two powerful Elementa on our side.
Some people left. They didn’t want anything to do with the war. I understood. Not only were they scared, but their children were safe in their homes. But for those who stayed, their faces showed determination and revenge. Whatever gave them drive to fight against Cyrus seemed good enough for me.
After they set their training destination and time—after work, starting tomorrow—I excused myself. I had placed edelweiss candles around the house to ward off demons thanks to Jack’s grandmother, but it smelled twice as fragrant in my room. Spotting something white, I went to it. To my shock, eight tiny edelweiss flowers were set in the center of my desk. What the hell? Too perplexed and shocked, I didn’t pick it up. There was no note, nothing to indicate who had placed them here.
I pulled out my phone from my back pocket to text my friends, but I had received the same question from the same people I wanted to ask. We all confirmed we had no idea who had done it. We assumed the culprit would show himself or herself soon.
A soft knock on the door brought me back to reality, and I put my phone on my desk.
“Hey monkey,” I said to my little sis. “Do you need something?”
Baylee nodded as she entered. Her light brown hair bounced, and her green eyes twinkled. My sister always had a smile on her face. “Can you help me with my homework?”
“Sure. Kindergarten homework is a piece of cake for me.” I winked.
Though my parents would never admit it, I was pretty sure Baylee was an accidental child. I grabbed her hand and proceeded to head out of my room but stopped.
“Did you see anyone put flowers on my desk?” I asked.
She drew back and looked at me like I was crazy. Then she glanced toward my desk and then back to me. “What you talking about, Brody? Nobody can enter without your permission, remember? You said that was rule number one.”
Her sweet, innocent voice made me smile, and for a second I forgot about all my worries. Since my sister liked to barge in without knocking, I had to set boundaries. The last time I had no pants on. And though I had nothing to hide in my room, I didn’t want her snooping around.
“True. I did say that.” I squeezed her hand but didn’t say anything after that as I walked with her to her room decorated with pink and purple.
Chapter 34
Lucia
After I got back from Milani’s house, Uncle Davin and Zach wanted to know why I had gone there. I explained why and told them about the edelweiss flowers on Eli’s desk. My heart pounded against the walls of my chest when they told me I had some on my desk too. We tried to figure out the meaning behind them, but no answers made sense.
The flowers couldn’t have been from Ikelia or Kalani. They were both dead. And why would they not show themselves if they were alive? So that only left us with a couple of possibilities. The Snow Queen, the mystery Elementa no one seemed to know about, or perhaps someone we didn’t know existed. Was this person responsible for the edelweiss flowers on our desks a friend or a foe? The mystery of it all was endless.
The next day, we met after school and discussed our plan of action. After everyone went home, Uncle Davin, Zach, and I went to Jack’s house for dinner.
Lana opened the door to greet us. Her silver hair had been braided and rolled into a bun on the top of her head. Despite her age, she looked beautiful. Lucky wagged her tail like windshield wipers and licked us everywhere she could.
“Hello. Come in, come in.” Lana waited until everyone stepped in to close the door.
As always, the scent of edelweiss filled the house.
“They’re for you.” Uncle Davin handed her some lilies.
“You shouldn’t have,” she gushed, her cheeks turning soft pink. “I’ll put them in water. Have a seat. The boys and Audrey will be right out. Audrey? Boys?” she hollered as she entered the kitchen.
Just then Gustavo, Jack, and Audrey appeared.
“Hey,” the boys said.
“Hello.” Audrey smiled.
We greeted them and gathered in the dining room. Audrey went to the kitchen to help Lana bring out the delicious food she’d cooked and set them on the table. After everyone settled, we began to eat.
Audrey scooped a spoonful of rice onto her plate. “How’s the research?”
Uncle Davin placed his glass down from taking a sip of water. “It’s good. I gave Jack the book back. Did he tell you?”
“Yes. Thank you for returning it.”
Lucky snuggled up to me and gave me begging eyes.
“Lucky. Go eat your own food. Leave Lucia alone.” Jack smacked his hands to get Lucky’s attention.
“I don’t mind,” I said, petting Lucky’s head. His paw landed on my arm as if to say thank you. Dogs were lovely creatures.
“How have you been, Gustavo?” Zach asked after taking a bite of eggplant. He grimaced at the taste, but only I noticed.
Gustavo, who usually wore an interesting T-shirt, wore a solid blue one today. His green eyes blinked, probably in surprise that Zach spoke to him at all. Pushing up his glasses, he said, “Bad.”
The room became silent.
Audrey frowned. “Gustavo. What do you mean?”
Gustavo’s lips folded downward, and he stabbed the fork into the sliced chicken with broccoli. “I want to learn how to fight like Jack. I want to help when the war comes.”
“Gustavo.” Audrey laughed nervously, placing down her napkin after she wiped her mouth. Then she placed a hand on her son’s arm. “We’ll talk about it when I get back.” She glanced at the watch on her wrist and shifted her attention to us. “I’m so sorry, but I have to go. I have a late shift tonight. One of the nurses called in sick, and I’m the backup.”
Uncle Davin stood up like a perfect gentleman. “Thank you for the meal, Audrey. We’ll have to invite you to our house for dinner someday soon.”
Zach and I stiffened.
What’s he saying? Zach spoke into my mind. We can’t cook.
Let him try. This will be fun.
Zach found no humor in the situation, but he smiled and said goodbye to Audrey.
After Audrey left, we finished dinner with light conversation, and then we headed to the living area for Lana’s famous pie.
“This is so good.” Uncle Davin grinned, savoring the bite in his mouth. “It’s almost as good as chips and salsa.”
We chuckled, knowing how much Uncle Davin loved them, but Lana and Gustavo didn’t understand. Then Uncle Davin became serious.
“Lana.” Uncle Davin cleared his throat. “There were eight edelweiss flowers on Lucia, Abel, Brody, and Eli’s desks. Did you put them there?”
Lana cri
nkled her face, and her eyebrows pinched at the center in confusion. “No. Why would you think that?”
“Because you grow them,” Uncle Davin said, taking another bite.
“I don’t have any to give at the moment. We used all I had to fight against Cyrus, remember? But this concerns me a great deal.”
Ever since we needed Lana’s help, Uncle Davin had told her everything. It wasn’t difficult to explain since she seemed to know a lot. The only person out of the loop was Audrey. Gustavo knew some things, but not all. He was a bright kid. He would figure things out on his own even if we hid things from him.
Uncle Davin nodded in agreement with a mouthful of pie. “Do you know who could have done this?”
“No,” she said gravely, her expression stoic. “But maybe I’m reading this all wrong. Maybe it’s good.” She pondered for a moment before she began to speak again. “When you receive an edelweiss flower, it means you are special to that person. But who would have access to them? Perhaps the person is an Elementa. No demon would go near it.”
“I agree,” I said, placing my plate down on the coffee table. “Thanks for the delicious pie.”
Lana smiled. “I love baking. I love it more when people love to eat what I’ve made.”
Uncle Davin placed his plate down and leaned forward to Lana, looking directly in her eyes. “Tell me, Lana. Do you know if the Snow Queen is alive?”
Lana leaned back into her chair and gazed at the large, framed photo hung above the mantel. It was the picture of all six of them, Jack’s family, Jack’s grandfather, and Lana, and then she glanced at the glass case where Jack had placed his sword back. Finally she answered.
“Though the Snow Queen’s heart did melt, her heart is not like a human’s. She is immortal. That is all I can tell you about her.”
“Are you growing more edelweiss flowers?” Uncle Davin asked.
“Of course.” She smiled. “It’s what makes me happy, and it’s what has kept the demons away.”
Uncle Davin rubbed his chin and bit his bottom lip before he spoke. “I’m sorry to bring this topic up, but did they ever find your son’s body?”
Zach’s lazy eyes on Lucky flashed at my uncle.
“No,” Jack replied. “They said he drowned. My dad loved to ride the waves. He would go after work since he owned the surfboard shop.”
Uncle Davin stopped asking when he noticed Gustavo’s frown.
“One more question before we go. The rumor says the Snow Queen didn’t kill three of the originals. We don’t know who the third one is, but do you know where Lilith might be? I’m sorry to ask you all these questions, but the edelweiss flowers suddenly showing up in the kids’ room troubles me deeply. There’s no sign of a break in, and I don’t understand how they could show up undetected.”
“I’m curious why I was left out?” Jack shrugged.
“My assumption is because you’re not a supernatural being,” Zach said.
“Oh, that makes sense.” Jack nodded. “I’m glad that person didn’t step into my house.”
Uncle Davin stood up, causing us to rise to our feet. “Once again, your cooking was delicious, Lana. Thank you for inviting us.”
“It was my pleasure.” Lana patted Uncle Davin on the back. “You be careful now.”
Uncle Davin gave Lana a hug, opened the door, and halted. “If you need to tell me anything, please don’t hesitate. But I am curious how you know so much.”
“I have eyes and ears, Davin,” she stated. “I was very curious when I was a child about the legends and myths. You can learn a lot by being curious.”
We gave hugs and said our goodbyes. Uncle Davin strode down the sidewalk, and Zach and I strode beside him. Despite the clouds obscuring the stars, the moon beamed dimly, and the night sky was gorgeous. My hair tousled in the light breeze, and from the way the lady across the street hugged herself when getting her mail from the mailbox, I assumed it was chilly. It’s never that cold in Hawaii, Eli told me once, but it gets chilly at night. God, I miss him. I wanted to save him more than anything, but Uncle Davin said we had to slow down and think things through, especially with the edelweiss flowers showing up, and Mortem’s warning about another one more to fear, we had to be careful.
“Lana is hiding something, isn’t she?” Zach asked, when we reached the mid point to our house.
Uncle Davin turned and started to do a moonwalk as he chuckled. “This is so much more fun than walking but not better than driving, of course.”
Zach and I let out a laugh, and we tried to imitate him, but we sucked at it. Uncle Davin told me it would drive Father nuts because he couldn’t do it.
“I’m not sure,” Uncle Davin answered Zach’s question. “She’s hard to read. Some people know a lot simply because they crave knowledge and information. I’ll do more snooping around. I’m very good at that.” He winked.
Zach swerved toward me by accident as he continued to attempt the moonwalk and ran into me. Then I ran into Uncle Davin, and we toppled on top of each other. We laughed crazily out loud. It felt amazing to laugh, despite my heavy shattered heart. Eli was always on my mind, every second of the day. Thank goodness we were at the front of our house and not at a stranger’s. We looked ridiculous.
I pulled up both my silly men, and we linked around the shoulders, me in the middle. When we got to the door, we froze. For a few seconds, none of us spoke, just stared. The birds chirping, frogs croaking, and the distant sound of surf and wind became in the only sounds in the night.
“I believe you have the wrong house.” Uncle Davin tugged us behind him.
The tall man was beautiful, and his eyes reminded me of someone. He looked like an ordinary human being, but my senses told me he wasn’t.
“I know I don’t have the wrong house, Davin.” The man’s eyes bounced from Zach to me.
Uncle Davin scowled. “How do you know my name? What do you want?”
The man raised his hands to surrender. “Please, I come in peace. I just want to talk. Can we go inside your house?”
He sounded sincere. Uncle Davin darted his eyes around the front of the house, searching for other beings. Then he opened the door. “Don’t try anything foolish. I won’t hesitate to harm you.”
“I know,” he said, taking a step in. “I’ve been watching you.” His lips curved into a short grin.
His walk, his smirk, his eyes … oh my God!
Jack
When our guests left, I hung out with Goose and Lucky. We watched a movie, had ice cream, and called it a night. Afterward, I took a shower and got ready for bed. Instead of going to bed, I gazed into the night sky as I sat at my desk, thinking how cool and crazy my life had become. So much had happened that I couldn’t wrap my mind around the past few days. Ever since we began our journey regarding the Knights Templar, I too have started my own journal.
I gasped when I realized I had written Lucia’s name a few times with a heart next to them. Oh, boy! I smacked my head. Sure, I daydreamed about Lucia, but I knew we could never be. One, she was an angel. Two, she was in love with Eli. She could deny it all she wanted, but everyone saw it. Love is something you can’t hide.
Lucia, Lucia, Lucia, how art thou, my lovely Lucia. I chuckled to myself, and then started writing in my journal. I even drew pictures of everyone’s faces and things we found and things we’d done. That was probably not a great idea. If it got into the wrong hands, they would know everything we worked hard for. I had to make sure to lock it up and place it back into my secret hiding compartment under the wooden floor, under my desk.
I drew an edelweiss flower—shaped like a star, white petals with big yellowish balls in the middle. The legend fascinated me. It would be awesome if the Snow Queen were alive. I bet she could kick Cyrus’s ass. I didn’t understand why Davin kept asking my grandmother for information, as if she would have the answers. Grandmother only cared about cooking, tending to her edelweiss flowers, and taking care of us. Perhaps I read too much into it. Uncle Davin did as
k a lot of questions in general.
Yawning, I stretched and decided to call it a night. Most teens were out partying with friends, but I didn’t consider myself a normal human being anymore. Lucia had trained me some in sword fighting, but under normal circumstances, it would not have been enough for me to fight a demon. But there was something magical about the sword. It called to me. It gave me strength and skill, not as much as the supernatural beings, but enough to take a demon or Fallen down. Truthfully, I felt like a badass, but I knew I couldn’t let my pride and ignorance get in the way. I knew my limits, so I tried my best to fight alongside Zach or Lucia.
As I closed my journal, thunder boomed and lightning raced across the sky. Drip! Drip! Drip! Rain splashed on my window, and then it started to pour, a typical Hawaii rainstorm, springing up without warning. I left the shutters open and got into bed. I loved to watch and listen to the rain.
Lightning streamed and lit up my room for a second. I counted, “One-Mississippi, two-Mississippi, three-Mississippi, four-Mississippi, five-Mississippi.” Boom! Thunder crashed. For every five seconds the storm was one mile away. I knew this because when I was a little boy, Father would ease my mind by telling me to count. We even counted together until I fell asleep. My heart panged from missing him. Somewhere, wherever he was, I knew he was proud of me. After a minute, the lightning lit up my room, and I counted again. I couldn’t recall how many times I had done that when my eyelids became heavy, and I dozed off to sleep.
I gasped and shot my eyes open, feeling a hard punch to my chest, only no one was there. In that second, lightning lit up my room, and a figure stood by my desk staring at me. At first I thought I had seen a ghost, but…impossible.
“Dad?” Wait. My father was dead. I jolted upright and rubbed my eyes. The ghost of my father disappeared. My heart drummed a mile a minute. It had to have been a dream, or had I imagined him? But that didn’t explain why my journal was open on my desk.
I reached over to check my phone. It was a little past midnight. Lucia had left a text message.