"Lloyd," Aiden said in a low warning tone.
"No, he's right. I didn't see it until I met Greg, but he's right," Rosemary said. "We were wrong. They were wrong, but it is what they are. There is nothing to return to on our planet, not anymore. They've drained it dry. What was once a thriving planet with many different species, and lush rivers flowing throughout, is now dry and desolate; the rivers had divided the land into different masses that would be considered something like countries here. When our people expanded into these outer countries and began to eradicate species necessary for the survival of the planet, the rivers began to dry up as the suns baked the land."
"Suns?" Aiden asked.
"There were three of them," Rosemary explained. "Beautiful suns that all rose within an hour of each other, and set an hour apart from each other, so that the sky was alight with color for six hours every day. Not just pinks and oranges and yellows but also the most beautiful greens, blues and magnificent purples. There were even colors that you don't know exist and could never imagine within a sky that was the most pure turquoise color you'd ever see.
"For awhile they tried to save Tintagel, they even imported species from other planets, but it was already too late for that. When the air became too bad for them to breathe they finally admitted defeat and left the planet behind for good."
I was so ensnared by her words that it took me a moment to close my mouth and process what she was saying. "It sounds like it was beautiful, you must have been sad to leave," Jenna whispered.
"Oh, I've never been there," Rosemary responded flippantly. "None of us have. I was born on Planet Earth to two Tintagelians who were born here also. In fact, no one other than The Ancients has ever seen our planet. Each of us is given a crystal that will show us pictures of what Tintagel once looked like when we hold it, but no one has returned to that planet in a hundred and fifty years."
Chapter 15
Cade,
Jenna sat down beside Bishop and put her head in her hands. "Jesus," she muttered.
Beside me I could hear the frantic beat of Bethany's heart and smell the increased scent of the sweat on her body. I remained immobile, my face impassive. I knew all of this already, what I hadn't known about was Bethany's newfound thirst for blood.
Why hadn't she told me?
I studied the gentle contours of her face and the freckles covering her cheeks and nose. There was nothing malicious or sneaky within Bethany. All she ever worried about was other people, and I was one of her highest concerns. She hadn't kept it from me to be secretive, she had kept it from me because she had been concerned about how I would react, how I would feel. She had kept it from me because she knew that anything involving her could push me over the edge.
My teeth clenched, I took a deep breath as I cursed my temper and my inability to remain calm around anything that even remotely threatened her life. That would have to change from now on. I had to get better control over myself around her or I had to ensure that nothing was able to threaten her life anymore. I didn't know how I was going to do that, but staring at the group gathered around us now, I had a feeling that this was the place to start.
I didn't trust them, that was the last thing I would do right now, but looking at the humans by their sides I couldn't deny that they were all different. This wasn't some elaborate setup; one look at Rosemary confirmed that. Our people blended in well, but we couldn't fake the kind of humanity that she seemed to radiate and yet I knew that she was one of us.
I moved closer to Bethany as I wondered if feeding from her would have the same affect on me over the next couple of weeks, months; years. I strangely found myself hoping so, hoping for something to help thaw the ice I felt still encasing me. I could feed from her and it wouldn't injure her. My hands fisted as I inhaled the sweet scent of her and resisted the urge to take her from here and taste as much of her as I could right now.
Later, I told myself firmly. The most important thing was still her safety and keeping her alive. Leaving here now wouldn't get us anywhere on that front.
"Why do The Ancients only have children once every one hundred years?" Bethany asked.
"They want their children on this planet and they want them in positions of authority, but each couple only has one child alive at a time," I answered.
"Why?"
"Because their children are the only ones strong enough to pose any kind of threat to them. They need their children for their power, but they won't take any chance that they could possibly be outnumbered by them. Their children have an average lifespan of a hundred years or so, whereas the rest of us have a more human lifespan though we more often make it into our late eighties. When The Ancients children die, or are on the verge of death, they have another one," Rosemary answered.
"How much stronger?" Bethany asked as her amethyst eyes focused on me.
"Nothing that you haven't seen so far, only heightened," I assured her as I ran my fingers lightly over her arm. I didn't sense any anger in her as she learned about my family line but curiosity radiated from her. "We're faster and stronger than our own kind by almost double. It has been presumed that The Fountain of Youth not only granted The Ancients eternal life but that it also heightened their reflexes, speed and strength. Eternal life isn't passed onto us but the rest is. Though we are superior even before our eighteenth birthday our abilities become even more enhanced then."
"Ok so where are the other three children?" Lloyd inquired.
"I am one," Jessica answered. "My parents are Agrona and Forseti."
"And yours are?" Bethany asked me.
Something close to annoyance twisted through me as I thought of the two most evil Ancients that had created me. They would be so unbelievably disappointed to see me in what they would consider a weakened state by loving a human. They would enjoy killing me for such a transgression, but that was ok, I wouldn't hesitate to kill them either. I felt nothing for them, other than a driving urge to see them dead, and Bethany safe.
"Mine are the two oldest Ancients, Isis and Osiris," I told her.
Her delicate forehead furrowed as she glanced between Jessica and me. "If you are both children of these Ancients than why would they choose to have you marry? Wouldn't your children also be powerful?"
"They would, but not in the way you're thinking. The speed and strength doesn't carry on into our progeny. It is only direct descendants that acquire any enhanced abilities. Our children would only be powerful because it had been set up for the two of us to be in positions of power."
"Where are the other two?" Bethany wanted to know.
"We don't know where they are," Rosemary answered. "There are about two hundred of us in this encampment, but that's just a drop in the bucket. There were thousands upon thousands of us on this planet and I would guess that the majority of them have never experienced what we have."
Lloyd moved away from the door as he finally approached the table. I eyed the gun in his hand but it was more loosely held than when we had first entered the building. It didn't matter though, I'd have it out of his hands and his neck snapped before he ever had a chance to fire it at Bethany or me.
"How do we stop them?" Lloyd inquired.
"There's only one way to do that," Rosemary answered. "We must take them down from the inside, which means that some of us would have to return to the main ship."
"The one that we were born on," Jessica said to me.
I had already assumed that much but it wasn't something I had ever intended to do. Rosemary walked over to the corner and gathered the rolls of papers lying on the floor. "We've been discussing ways to do this."
Unrolling the first one she laid it on the table. "The Ancients are smart and devious but they're also prideful and certain in their belief that no one could ever destroy them. For this reason, they're always together and that's their biggest vulnerability."
I stepped closer to the table but I kept my body in between Bethany and them. I was stronger than them, I would make sure to take them
all down if they became a threat to her, but there were others out there, and there was Jessica. Her parents weren't as powerful as mine but she was still a great threat especially with so many Tintagelians present.
My gaze went to the woman I was supposed to have married. Looking at her I realized I never would have been able to pull off the marriage. I could barely stay away from Bethany and it only took one look from her, one smile, one touch to drive me near mad. Though she was pretty enough, I felt nothing for Jessica; something I knew would never change. Our charade of a marriage never would have been consummated which either would have resulted in my death, or her great happiness and relief at not having to deal with me either.
My attention shifted from Jessica to the drawings before me. My forehead furrowed as I realized exactly what they were. "How do you have a schematic of the ships?" I demanded.
"One ship," Jessica answered. "Their ship."
My eyes shifted to her as I bristled with tension and nudged Bethany back another step. She let me know her displeasure at being pushed aside by pinching my arm and elbowing her way forward again. Unwilling to make her unhappy, I relented but wrapped my hand around her forearm so that I would be able to pull her quickly out of the way if something were to happen.
I focused on Jessica. "How do you know what the inside of that ship looks like?"
"I've been on it," Jessica's voice was so subdued that I barely heard her.
A low hiss escaped me as I flattened my hand on the table. "You went up there and were able to look around without them knowing?"
"I've discovered a way to sneak on, one they never even thought of."
"How?"
"We may trust you more than you trust us, but for now that is for us to know."
"Why did you have to sneak on? I mean they're your own kind?" Lloyd asked.
"We may be the same species but they're not our kind, not anymore. Every one that enters the ships is carefully recorded and monitored once onboard. If we expect to learn anything, or do anything, we have to do so undercover," Rosemary answered.
Bishop frowned as he rubbed at his chin. "But they don't monitor you while you're down here?"
"No, upon entering the ship everyone is given a bracelet that locks onto the wrist and cannot be removed until they leave the ship. It records where you are at all times."
Bishop lifted his glasses and rubbed at his eyes. "So they know that something happens to some of you when you come to earth. They might even know that whatever happens to you has to do with you meeting certain humans and that is why they monitor you when you're on their ships."
"No they couldn't possibly..." Rosemary's voice trailed off as her mouth formed an O and her face went slack.
"They know," I muttered but my attention wasn't really on Bishop or Rosemary, it was focused on the plans before me.
"You really think so?" Jessica inquired.
"They never trusted anyone that stepped foot on those ships and it was more than them just being paranoid of everyone and everything. I had never thought about it until today, but Bishop's right, they know. It's why the Marshall's were killed. They knew something was wrong with me, but they had it wrong. They must have thought that if the Marshall's were dead I would go back to being like them."
"That doesn't happen," Rosemary said.
"No, I could never, not feel again," I agreed. "If I had been anyone else's child I'm sure they would have killed me outright, but all of their plans would have been ruined for the next century if they had done so."
I couldn't resist the urge to brush a strand of golden hair back from Bethany's face as she turned toward me. I would be devastated without her, but I knew I would never be as hollow as I had been before her. I could barely recall the emptiness that had been my life before her, the black hole that had been my inner workings before she had walked into my life, and I never wanted to experience it again, no matter how miserable my life would be without her.
A small smile spread across her full mouth, she turned her cheek into my hand. It took all I had to pull myself away from her and back to the plans before us. Another shock rolled down my spine as I noticed the name of a room in the bottom of the ship. "You made it into the Hallowed room?"
Jessica paled a little as she shook her head. "It's the one room that I couldn't get into, but I know where it is."
"What is the Hallowed room?" Bret asked.
"It's rumored that it's where the source of their life, perhaps even the Fountain of Youth itself or whatever constitutes The Fountain is located. No one, other than The Ancients, has ever gone into it," I answered.
Bishop's brow was furrowed over his glasses as he stared at me. "You think The Fountain may be more than water?"
"Perhaps, none of us have ever seen it. Our planet was largely made of water and it would make sense that The Fountain was water, but I think they also would have tried to throw everyone off of as to what The Fountain truly was."
"It's also rumored that if whatever is in that room is destroyed The Ancients will be destroyed too," Rosemary said.
The hush was so profound that I could hear the distant drip of water from outside and the faint laugh of children playing tag. "We need to get inside that room," I stated.
Jessica shook her head. "I'm not sure we can do that."
I leaned closer to her. "If you can get me on that ship, I'll get us in that room."
The abrupt intake of Bethany's breath sounded in my ear. I slid my arm around her waist and pulled her closer as I sought to comfort her, but I know it didn't do any good as she remained rigid against my side. "I can get you on the ship," Jessica vowed.
"Wait, why would you do that?" Leo demanded as he stepped forward. "We're safe here; we've found a place..."
"It's only temporary. They will search every corner of this world and they will hunt us all down. They may not plan to destroy every human, but we have no way of knowing what they will do to you after they've taken all that they came here for. What they will do to all of us. None of us will let you go without a fight and it's obvious that Rosemary has already undergone some changes. The exchanging of the souls and blood has kept the humans hidden, but at any moment they can release a new gas that also affects the people with type O blood and we'll lose even more of our fighting power. Something has to be done before that happens," I told him.
Bishop sat on the bed again, all the color drained from Jenna's face as Abby took a step closer to Aiden. Bethany's fingers dug into my back as she stepped closer. I could feel the tremor that raced through her muscles but I also saw the resolve that settled over her and caused her chin to jut out.
"They won't kill all humans, or at least I don't think they will, and if they don't, they will come back to this planet again. They will only get smarter and stronger while the human race will remain decimated. You will never again be as strong as you are now. Your numbers will only dwindle; your race will only grow weaker. This is a now or never situation," I pressed.
I turned to Jessica, unwilling to deal with Leo's protests anymore. "How many can you get on that ship?"
"Maybe ten, safely. Less than that would be better so we could stay more easily hidden, but more would be better to put up a stronger fight with."
It was a horribly unfair catch twenty two that I didn't have time to think about. "Who do you trust to go?"
"Anyone in this compound," Rosemary answered. "But there are some that are stronger than others."
"Gather the stronger ones so I can speak with them."
Greg held up his hand to halt Rosemary. "Hold on, this is moving way too fast. You can't just go back up there."
"You knew this was our ultimate goal and now that Cade is here we have even more power than we had ever hoped for. It's something we have to do. Jessica, go outside and gather Betty, Steve, Cory, and Craig. We'll start with those four for now."
"Wait!" Leo commanded. "If you're going up there than I am going with you."
"Leo..." Jessica started.
&nb
sp; "No, he's right," Bethany interrupted. I saw the fire in her eyes as they slid to me. "You can't just leave us here. You did this to us; you changed us and made us different. You made me different. You can't just expect to get up and leave us here with no way of knowing what is going on."
"No one is going anywhere right now," I assured her. "There are things to discuss first."
"Jessica, please go get the others," Rosemary said.
Jessica nodded and took hold of Leo's hand. "Come with me."
I barely paid them any attention as they disappeared out the door. "Bishop come and take a look at this."
Bishop took a deep breath and straightened his shoulders as he rose to his feet. I pushed the drawing more firmly down and pointed toward the Hallowed room. The hesitation faded from Bishop's face as his curiosity was snagged by the drawing.
"If I can get in there and destroy this room there is a good possibility we can end this," I told him. "Without The Ancients the others would be lost, they may continue to put up somewhat of a fight, but I think it is more likely that they would flee in panic. Also, The Ancients are the ones that control the gas; the others wouldn't be able to make a new batch without them. The rest of you would be safe."
"What if we try giving all of the type O people my blood or the blood of one of the others like me? It hasn't been done yet and maybe our diluted blood would be able to keep them safe from the gas, but not kill them. Unless you have tried it already?" Bethany asked Rosemary.
I lifted my head to look at Rosemary. "There are humans here that have no ties to any of us. They decided to stay with us after we freed them from being prisoners but we haven't experimented on any of them, we wouldn't do that. There's no way to know what her blood, or any of the others like her, would do to them."
"I've seen what his cells have done to your blood Bethany, they're aggressive and your cells may likely be the same way now. Would we have any notice if they release a new gas?" Bishop asked.