At dawn, Lachesis came to check on the First, and I didn’t move. When she entered the kitchen and turned on the light, she jumped, and her hand went to her chest. I glared at her and then back to the table, remaining silent despite an inner smile. Lachesis shook her head and walked over to the island to turn on the stove for the kettle.
“Why are you sitting in the dark, Brother?”
I raised my eyebrow and sent her a half-smile. “Just getting used to the lack of light humans are accustomed to.” With my hands clasped on the table, I leaned back and watched as she prepared two cups of tea. “It’s method acting, I think.”
Lachesis poured the hot water, watching as the tea steeped, and then sighed, picking up the cups to join me at the table. Setting one in front of me, she paused, and then began to speak as she sat across from my chair. “You’re still angry,” she said, and took a sip of her tea, watching me above the rim.
“Actually, I’m glad. What I wanted was right and your plan was wrong. It’s not everyday someone can best Fate.”
“Really?”
I dropped the pretend smile. “No. Of course I’m mad. You may be able to determine fate, Lachesis, but that doesn’t give you the right to toy with peoples’ lives.”
“Are you mad because we’re discussing Alyssa, or just in general?” She raised her cup to take another sip of her tea.
“Does it matter?”
“No.” She looked down, setting her cup on the table, and then raised her head. “I suppose it’s the same no matter who we discuss.” She leaned forward. “But what about the lives taken when letting a dark soul live causes others harm? How many horrible people were able to live so that the Pure Souls could be congregated as teenagers?”
“That’s your plan, but it doesn’t surprise me that you failed to think of the consequences. You would think that balance would be the first thing someone who works so closely with it would think of when planning for a new species.”
Lachesis smiled and leaned back in her chair. “You shouldn’t be so quick to pass judgement. The Pure Souls were possible because of Alyssa, not us.”
“And who made Alyssa so special, Lachesis? Him? Fate?”
“Would you rather she not exist at all? Because she is the Pure Soul—the leader—and without her? None of them would be possible.” She waved her hand in front of her face like what she was saying held no importance. “It was this . . . or she would never have been born.”
I shut my mouth before saying something I would regret, and glared. Never born? The leader that made the Pure Souls possible? Lachesis wasn’t bound by truth. She could lie to me without batting an eye, and I had no way of telling if she was playing me, on my feelings for Alyssa, in order to guide the conversation to her favour.
“What do you—?”
“Okay, folks, it’s all ready to go!”
Renalda shuffled into the kitchen, her voice high and cheerful, and went straight to the stove so she could prepare herself some tea. I looked at Lachesis to find she was watching me, smug, and I knew the conversation was over. Once again, she only revealed that which benefitted her, but it was more than I had yesterday. Sooner or later, the pieces she dropped would fit a whole, and I would understand what she wouldn’t say.
“Let’s just start making plans for my return,” I said, and sighed. “I don’t want to wait any longer.”
With the First still asleep, the choices fell to me once more, though his coloring had deepened, his eyes less glazed. As soon as he woke, I would hand the burden over and disappear, but first, I would plan my journey as I wanted it to be. By the time he realized it, I would be unavailable to discuss changes.
Amazing how just a few seconds separated our order of creation, and now those beats of time divided our roles as though they were months or even years. We were both important, of course, with different specializations, but our authority was specific. He was the First and I the Second. Until I had been faced with the responsibilities he’d inherited, I hadn’t realized what it entailed.
The First deserved respect.
“Both concoctions?” Lachesis’s voice broke through my thoughts and I raised my head to see her suspicion before it was masked.
“Several doses, in fact,” Renalda said with a smile. “There is twelve of each.” Picking up her cup of tea, she joined us at the table, sitting at the end on my left-hand-side. “I figure that I should supply extra in case more than a single threat occurs. Now you can save her and resume your disguise twelve times over, and never have to visit me again.”
“What do you expect in return for this generosity?” I narrowed my eyes. I wouldn’t be donating again, if that was her motivation. There were ways to ensure the longevity of a single dose and its cure, and after witnessing Alyssa’s training in the hologram at the Sisters’ home, my confidence in her ability to defend herself had been raised.
“I have all I require.”
“Lachesis?” I turned to the Sister.
“Don’t worry, Brother,” Renalda said, laughing. “You have my word that nothing will harm the girl because of our agreement. I made spares because I root for you two.” She shrugged. “And because the process of making the potion provides large quantities as a result. My Mama always said not to waste hard work and frankly, I don’t foresee any more angels coming to me for help before they spoil.”
Her Mama? Her left-hand-side was so old and decrepit I had assumed her born from Chaos, maybe a product of the Void. Never, not once since we’d arrived, had I imagined her being somebody’s child. Where was her mother now?
A part of what we’d rubbed into the First?
My manners won over my contemplation and I said, “Thank you. I am grateful for the possibility of avoiding the Void again to obtain more, should the need arise.”
“And I would be grateful if you could both focus on our plans,” Lachesis said. “You’ll need to ingratiate yourself slowly this time so you can be close to her without drawing suspicion, which also means no romance.”
I rolled my eyes, a familiar gesture I’d picked up from the teenagers I would soon join again. As living history, I could attest to its true repetition. I hadn’t listened the first time, and more likely than not, I wouldn’t be listening again. I didn’t want to. If Alyssa was so special, and they really believed she needed to be protected, they wouldn’t do anything if I voiced my true intentions. But even with the borrowed authority from the First, it would be stupid to chance it.
“Now,” she continued, “let’s discuss money. Do you want a vehicle or a really nice home?” She paused, tapping her mouth with her fingers. “Perhaps you need a job . . . ?”
CHAPTER ELEVEN
The First woke on the second day. He was still weak, but mobile, and angry. Loud. Every time he opened his mouth Renalda’s home shook from the vibration of his bellow demanding something or complaining. Lachesis did well at hushing him, but after an entire day with the First, she required a break.
Now, it was my turn.
“Renalda’s going to give us her boot if you don’t stop it,” I said as I entered the room, shutting the door softly as though that would make up for some of the Firsts’ belligerence. Turning, I leaned back, raising the sole of my shoe to rest on the door behind me, and crossed my arms.
“She’s a witch, Brother. She wouldn’t anger our kind against her.” He glowered, but until he was able to get out of bed on his own, it was ineffectual. Even then . . . he needed time to recoup his strength. The brightness of his soul had dimmed to a twinkle, and with it, his power and authority. His hair had darkened, his skin had paled, and for once, we looked like real brothers bonded by blood.
“She provided us with what we need and Alyssa will be protected.” Pushing off the door, I perched at the end of the bed he was now sitting up in with his back against the headboard and blankets piled in his lap. “She’s also the only reason you’ve been able to rest. If not for Renalda’s hospitality, you wouldn’t have gotten better. If not for her .
. . landscaping, you wouldn’t have survived.”
He sighed and the back of his head hit the headboard, his gaze planted upwards. “I have never felt this weak, Brother,” he whispered. “Explain what we’ve procured from the witch.”
Should I tell him? What we received and how it would work? Did he need to know of all the plans? What it had cost?
“You should rest another night,” I said, buying time. Not that it mattered. Maybe I should tell him whilst he was weak? “We’ll leave tomorrow.”
I stood and patted his leg through the blankets. “Now that we are within Renalda’s barrier, Lachesis can create a portal to take us back to her home without having to navigate the Void.”
“What aren’t you saying?”
Looking away from his scrutiny, I walked over to the door. Pausing, I chose my words carefully when I said, “It has all been arranged, Brother. You can trust that with Him gone and your unconscious state, I took care of things so we didn’t experience further delay.”
“Why?”
“It should be obvious, Brother.” I met his stare and smiled, not with happiness, but sadness. Resignation. Then I walked away, closing the door behind me. It shouldn’t have to be said, my reasons for not wanting delays.
Everything I did was for Alyssa.
***
“If I leave, will I be locked out?”
I stopped in the kitchen doorway five minutes after leaving the First to rest. Lachesis and Renalda were hunched over the kitchen table discussing . . . I had no clue, but it didn’t matter. I just needed to know if I could get back in if I left to get some air, fresh though it wasn’t.
“Why wouldn’t you be able to get back into the house?” Renalda asked, erecting an innocent façade, though the mischief in her eyes was clear. “As long as you don’t leave the yard or you’ll be back in the Void. Then my barrier will stop you from entering again.”
“It didn’t stop us—”
She cut me off with a sharp laugh and waved her hand in the air, shaking her head. “I strengthened it.”
“So nobody can intrude on you again?” Like we are that much of a burden.
“Sure,” Renalda said, and smiled at Lachesis. “Also so nobody knows you three are here. A Sister of Fate plus two Brothers so easy to grab all alone and without their natural worlds for power? It’s like candy to the Void and all those keeping it contained. Either they would use your powers or obtain leverage with ransom—from what I hear, there isn’t anyone to pay it at the moment.”
I glanced at Lachesis and she looked away. Why would she tell Renalda He wasn’t there? Slowly, I turned back to Renalda. “You helped us?”
“I helped me,” she said, and pointed to her chest. “I don’t want that kind of nonsense here. In case you haven’t noticed, I’m trying my hand at being passive. Can’t break a habit if you set yourself up to be tempted.”
Barely suppressing my laughter, I bit my cheek to control its matching grin. She was serious. Well, I guess that said something for the woman wanting my blood. Not much, mind you, but I needed what I could get if I wished to stay sane and not worry about it.
“Then I will see you two—” Did I call them woman? A witch and . . . Fate? “—later.”
Best not to address them directly, I thought, and marched out the front door.
CHAPTER TWELVE
Was it magic? Where were we located in the Void that the blaring sun was nearly as intense as the celestial glow of Heaven’s Glory? It must be a spell. The light wasn’t near as warm as a natural sun, and no natural sun could rival Heaven’s light.
The whole yard had been transformed into a gothic winter wonderland. Perhaps it was because I was aware of it, or maybe Renalda couldn’t strengthen the barrier without losing her glamour, but it was amazing. Not pretty, but beautiful, and definitely odd. Bushes lined her home, dark with blackened roses that had somehow bloomed. Gone were the piles of rot and yellow-tinged smoke, replaced with miles of trees, naked of leaves, and perfectly winterized without the ice and tons of snow.
Just as Renalda said, the house of bones was no more, revealing a two-story bungalow with . . . a garage? Whatever would Renalda need with that? Did she have a car? Huh. Maybe she was holding out and had some sort of super car that could travel the Void, though when I pictured it, my mind conjured a bulletproof Hummer with Renalda dressed in army gear behind the wheel, Lachesis at her side in her same red dress and ridiculous pointy red slippers. What a pair.
My feet crunched along the gravel to a swinging bench that faced the front of the house. Hating the idea of how much blood would have had to be spilled in order to saturate so much land, I couldn’t regret its presence. If not for the wickedness of Renalda’s property, the First would have never survived ingesting the Void. I would have spilled my blood to coat his body. I laughed at the image as it formed in my head, for if Lachesis hadn’t been there to rub it into his pores, he wouldn’t have survived once I passed out.
Bending at the waist, I rested my elbows on my knees and leaned forward to cup my head in my hands. How could I be so torn? Ever since I left Alyssa, thoughts of her have guided my every move, and now I was willing to spill my blood for the First? No. It was a reflex instinct, nothing more.
Everything had become so horrible it was hard not to laugh. I had been ready to fall for love—I still was—and the only reason I didn’t is because I was being sent back to Alyssa. She wouldn’t know me, but still . . . she wouldn’t know me if I fell, either. Nobody would.
How could I be in charge after that?
Not even my heightened duty and the responsibilities that were tagged to them—to every decision I made—changed how I felt. No matter what it meant or what anyone said, completing this task had but one reason: to be with Alyssa, to make sure my heart stayed safe in her hands. That meant protecting her at all costs, even if I had to sacrifice myself to do it. Who would I be, anyway, without my heart?
The heartless Brother you’ve always been.
No more.
With the First still so weak and Him missing on some vacation, I remained in charge. It was my decisions that counted until the First was better. His power to challenge me was nonexistent, as weak as his light had made his hair dark. When his soul grew strong and his hair grew light once more, I would gladly step aside.
I craned my head up to the cold but bright sky, and closed my eyes. He wasn’t there to provide answers. No answers meant no judgement. He was gone and the Frist was weak. Perhaps being the Second wasn’t so bad, for when I found her again, I had nobody but myself to answer to. Then again, if I left . . . the Third would have to fulfill the First’s role.
Keston and Sera popped into my mind. With everything that had happened, I’d forgotten about them, as well as The History of the Fallen. Had they found it yet? Did they realize what I had tried to show them?
I stood with a smile and wiped my palms against my jean-clad thighs. My plan formulated more definitely with each stop back to Renalda’s home, and by the time I made it inside, I had all my bases covered to guarantee success.
Lachesis would be making a portal tomorrow, but we wouldn’t be going back to her home. Instead, we would go to Glory Academy. I was in charge and this was my first, and possibly my last, demand. Sera and Keston would be heard and I would personally sign off on their petition wanting to be together by passing the test that had been granted only once before. It wouldn’t be easy, but they loved each other, and that meant they deserved the chance to prove they could make it work without it affecting their newfound roles.
Who knows?
Maybe by the time Alyssa turns eighteen, Sera and Keston will have instigated change and we wouldn’t have to face the same fight.
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
The decision to detour to Glory Academy wasn’t received well by the First, but since the First and Lachesis couldn’t stop me, and I wasn’t going to the Mortal Realm without going there, they had no choice but to come along. Well, in Lachesis’s case, c
reate the portal to take us there, but I was pretty sure she still didn’t want to meet her mother, so I weighed all of her objections with the same level of importance as I would a child saying they didn’t want to play with their favorite toy.
“I can’t believe this,” the First complained with a shake of his head. “What do you seek to find at Glory Academy? Aren’t you anxious to see the girl?”
Now he was advocating my relationship with Alyssa?
I looked to where he stood on my right, and then quickly back to Lachesis in front of us as she prepared to open a portal in Renalda’s living room. Even though we both knew how weak he was, I didn’t want to let him know I had seen the physical toll the mere act of standing was taking on him, his hand so white I could see porous bone for knuckles where Darkness had sucked its marrow near-dry.
Our souls were what made us who we were, and by hurting our bodies, it touched our soul. One scratch, one caress, or even one breath—it was all one. Our power source was easy to mar, but hard to restore, and it would take several human years before the First truly became the First once more.
“All I want is to see “the girl”, Brother, but I need to do something before I find Alyssa again.” We stepped towards the portal as it opened. “I have to do this.”
***
The portal opened itself inside the Viewing Room of the Brothers’ home on the top floor. It wasn’t where I’d have hoped to land, but it was unnoticed in its seclusion. On the other hand, opening a portal in front of students would probably freak them out, especially new arrivals—more arrived each day.
How long had we been stopped in time? Had enough passed to have new students yet? I hoped not. Not only was Glory Academy becoming overpopulated, it was regrettably understaffed, and the Brothers were spread too thin across the four that remained to complete the duties of seven, and lend a hand.