Awakening (26 page)

“I have to go. Have you brought this information regarding the breach being a high ranking member to my father yet?”

Caleb shook his head. “I can’t. He is at a Tribunal meeting in Maine. He blocks himself off completely and is unreachable, but you should know that.”

Declan would have to take care of this himself. “I forgot completely about that. When my father is available, let him know immediately. If it really is not Garrett, then he needs to be wary of everyone. If you find out who it is before then, let me know.”

Caleb agreed and they spent a few minutes going over the proof regarding Caitlyn’s former mentor. Declan made a backup of the information that Caleb had found thus far before leaving with the understanding to touch base later tonight. He transported outside Caitlyn’s apartment. He rapped at the door quickly, apprehensive of whether it would be Caitlyn or Garrett that answered the door.

He was relieved when he saw it was her. “Declan! Where were you this morning? I was worried. I knew we did not have training till this afternoon, but when you blocked yourself to me…”

Declan pulled her into the hallway. “Are you alone?”

“Yes. Garrett is gone again on Trust business. Why?”

“Do you trust me?”

Caitlyn’s eyes searched his. “You know I do.”

“I would prefer if we discussed this somewhere more private. Can we go to my house?”

“Of course.”

They both transported to his house, him to the kitchen, her to the living room. Caitlyn rubbed her left arm absentmindedly. “Declan, what is all this about?”

“Caitlyn, have you ever hid anything from me?”

She cocked her head to the side, confused at the question. “Of course not. I have always been one hundred percent honest with you. Why?”

Declan sighed loudly, running a hand through his hair. “Always?”

She put her right hand on his upper arm, staring him in the eye. “Always. Now tell me what this is about.”

“I think you might be in danger.”

She looked bewildered. “Why would you think that? What is going on?”

“Garrett Stevens is not who you think he is.”

Her eyes widened. “What? What are you talking about?”

“Garrett Stevens is not really Garrett Stevens. His name is Garrett Livingston and he is the son of the head of the Cine Tofa.” Declan thought it sounded ridiculous even saying it out loud.

“Is this a sick joke, Declan? Because it really is not very funny.”

“I am not joking, Caitlyn. I assure you, I am deadly serious.”

She swallowed deeply and began playing with the necklace that hung around her throat. “Garrett would not keep anything from me, Declan. I trust him as much as I trust you. You have to be mistaken.”

“I’m not. I’m sorry.”

“Do you-” Caitlyn’s voice began to catch and she stopped herself and restarted. He knew that she wanted to sound strong, pretend like this did not bother her as much as it really did. “Do you have proof?”

“I do.” Declan walked over to his computer, pulling up the information that Caleb had given him only minutes before. He indicated for her to sit down in the leather chair, showing her the information that Caleb had uncovered. The birth certificate, pictures, and tracking information that the Tribunal had kept on him over the years. It seemed that the Council had been keeping close tabs on him.

She pushed the chair away from the computer desk. “None of this makes sense. Why let Garrett mentor me in the first place?”

Declan did not have an answer to that. “I am sure the Council had their reasons.”

“If you are right, and he is not who he is, why would I be in danger now? I am stronger than him.”

“Because you let your defenses down around him. All he would have to do is touch you and perform Projectile Telepathy and then he would have you trapped.” His heart clenched again at the thought of Caitlyn getting hurt.

She stood up, her face calm. Only her voice betrayed her true feelings. “This is impossible, Declan. How do you know he is a bad guy?”

He was honest with her. “I can’t be a hundred percent sure he’s a bad guy, but why would he hide his identity from you?”

“I don’t know.”

He hated stating the following, but he needed to. “If he loved you the way he said he did, he shouldn’t have kept that secret from you. I know I couldn’t have.”

And with that last line, a lone tear fell down her cheek. He strode over to her, wrapping his arms around her as he had done so many times before.

Declan rubbed her back soothingly. He was livid that Garrett would do this to her. Caitlyn deserved better. He held on to her tightly, kissing the top of her head.

When she pulled away, her face was scrunched up in concentration and she looked down at the floor. “There was always something, you know.”

“What do you mean?”

She exhaled loudly. “I mean, all this time, ever since the first day I met Garrett, I have always felt like there was something that he was holding back, something he wasn’t telling me. It’s not like with you-” she glanced up at him. “With you, I feel like I know you. I mean, I really know you. You are good, you are dedicated, and you really only want what is best for me, for the Trust, and for everyone. I never have found myself questioning your motives.”

She bit her lip. “You asked me a couple of nights ago if I loved Garrett. And I couldn’t answer.”

Declan’s heart fluttered unexpectedly as he recalled the conversation and the way he had pondered, albeit briefly, what it would have been like to kiss those full lips of hers. “I remember.”

“I couldn’t answer, because even though I care for him greatly, I knew that he was always holding something back, something that he was not willing to share with me. I didn’t know the real Garrett. How am I supposed to be in love with someone when they won’t give me the opportunity to let me know them?”

“You can’t.”

She looked around his room. “What time is it?”

“Four o’clock.”

“Garrett’s plane should be back here by now. Ugh. How am I going to face him now? Do I confront him?”

“Wait. Garrett’s plane is landing today?”

“Yes. He had called me, letting me know that he would be back early, but would not be able to see me right away because he wanted to speak to your father directly when he arrived back about an important matter. Lionel showed up there after the arrangements had been made. I overheard him offer to pick Garrett up.”

Declan sighed. “Lionel can defend himself, not that I have any reason to think that Garrett would try anything with him. My father will most likely be unavailable for the next few hours. Still, we should get going and meet up with my father before he does, see if my father can shed some light on the situation with Garrett and how best to approach it.”

His student acquiesced, even though she was obviously nervous about a confrontation with the younger Livingston.

Declan’s phone rang again. He pulled out the phone noting it was Caleb. “Yes, Caleb?”

“I figured out who breached the system.”

“That was quick.”

“It’s not good. It’s not good at all.”

Declan held up a finger to Caitlyn, indicating the need to wait. “Who is it?”

“Shouldn’t you come here?”

“Just tell me now.”

Caleb’s voice was weary. “Declan, it’s Lionel.”

Declan dropped the phone. In his haze, he heard Caleb yelling for him, but it did not fully register. “Declan? Declan! Are you there? Did you hear what I just said?”

Caitlyn rushed over, and picked up the phone. “Caleb? He is right here. Wait one moment. Declan?”

She placed her hand on his arm. “Oh my God. Declan, are you alright?”

Her touch took him out of the fog he was in. “Lionel. We have to go to my father now.”

“What? I’m not understanding.”

“There was a major security breach a few weeks back. I’ve had Caleb working on it. He was the one that discovered Garrett’s true identity and he just found out that Lionel is the one who gave the information to the Cine Tofa. We have to get to my father.”

“No. We have to go to the airport where both of them are.”

“If Caleb is correct, they could both be in communication with each other. Isn’t it convenient that they are meeting up with each other?”

She turned to him. “And what if they are not? I am not leaving this to chance. Either way, together we are stronger than the both of them.”

Caitlyn put the phone to her ear. “Caleb, get to where Jonathan McPherson is now. Interrupt the Tribunal.” She paused, and Declan was sure that she was listening to Caleb argue that they won’t let him in. “Look, I don’t care if they don’t let you in… make it happen. Do you understand? We are going after Lionel.”

He heard Caleb yelling through the phone. “What? Are you fucking cra-”

She hit end on the call before he could finish and looked directly at Declan. “Are you coming with me or not?”

Declan did not need any time to think it over. “Yes. Yes I am.”

G
arrett walked down the jet’s stairwell after it landed on the tarmac. During the flight home, he had been told that a service car would pick him up and take him to Councilman McPherson since he was so insistent he do so.

The Councilman needed to be told that his closest ally, the person he trusted most only next to his son, was a traitor. Jonathan’s admin had insisted that he could not see him until the Tribunal was completed. But Garrett was relentless in his persistence; and if he needed to, he would wait until the Councilman walked right through that door.

He figured that he owed the Councilman that much. Jonathan had always held a soft spot for Garrett’s mother, and he fought for their asylum within the Trust when no one on else had. The rest of the Council was reluctant at best, but Jonathan upheld that it was the right thing to do. Then, when Garrett had come back from his hiatus with his tail between his legs, the Council had staunchly refused to let him back in. Garrett did not deny that he had been changed by the experiences, but the kind-hearted man then yet again convinced the Tribunal to override the Council’s ruling, giving him another shot. He had argued that Garrett had not even gone through the Awakening yet, he was still young.

So he owed the Councilman his loyalty. He may not feel that way about the Trust as a whole, but it would take a major act to make him betray someone who had shown in him so much faith.

Garrett walked through the hanger, the airport practically deserted. He said his goodbyes to the pilot as he walked towards the control tower in the opposite direction. A familiar black tinted window of a Trust sedan greeted him, without hesitation, he jumped in the cab, throwing his carry on in next to him.

“Take me directly to headquarters please.”

The doors locked as the sedan began to go down the worn road in front of them. “Of course, sir.”

Garrett froze at the sound of the voice that greeted him. Lionel. His mind buzzed, trying to figure out how Lionel could have possibly known that he was going to report his traitorousness to McPherson. The mission had not involved Councilman McPherson in any way that he had known about and Lionel would have no way of knowing. The only thing unusual was that he had advised he wanted a meeting with the Councilman but that could have been for one of a hundred reasons. He decided to pry further to determine Lionel’s intent.

Nonchalantly he inquired, “Lionel? Why are you picking me up?”

Garrett could practically feel that smirk that radiated from him. “Why to take you to see your father of course.”

At that comment, his blood ran cold. His mind raced, realizing that he did not know about his discovery after all, but at this point, it was completely irrelevant anyways, because Lionel obviously did not care, knowing that this could blow open his cover completely.

Garrett tried to open the door. Lionel tsked at the futile attempt. “I wouldn’t bother. You won’t be able to open it and do not even think about trying to use your abilities in this vehicle. First of all, I am much stronger than you and second, and more importantly, if you attempt anything, you will never find her.”

His heart stopped. His voice took on a very dangerous edge. “What did you do to Caitlyn?”

“Oh, she is fine… for now and will stay that way if you cooperate. If not, well, I cannot guarantee her safety.”

He banged against the glass that divided driver from the passenger. “If you even lay one finger on her, so help me God, I’ll decimate you.”

Lionel laughed. “I would love to see you try.”

“Trust me, Lionel. You underestimate me.”

“I know your current limitations, Garrett. I have been following you for a very, very long time.”

“What does my father want?”

“He only wants to see his son. According to your father, you left in a little bit of a hurry last time if you recall.”

Garrett recalled that fact quite well. When he had finally met his father at the age of sixteen, he was everything he had ever imagined. He was attentive, loving, and guiding. It was easy to love his father, Nathaniel Livingston always claiming that he just wanted what was best for his son. Most importantly, his father provided answers. Answers that had been missing his entire life. His mother rarely had mentioned his dad growing up, and Garrett was forbidden to talk about it in public.

His father filled in so many of the gaps, he felt like he finally understood who he was, who he was meant to be. Furthermore, he had privately held a lot of the ideals that his father had. Not all of them however, and that was the reason he had left his father.

“Where are you taking me?”

“I have another jet ready and waiting with our men. Now, once you comply and we are safely in Cine Tofa territory, I’ll have our Inquisitors release Caitlyn. She will be fine and I have seen that no harm has been done to her so long as you comply.”

“Does she know the truth?”

He could see Lionel’s eyebrows raise through the rearview mirror. “The truth?”

“About who I am?”

“Yes. I must say it was a bit shocking to her. I don’t know that she believes it.”

Garrett hung his head. He should have told her the truth when he got romantically involved with her. Caitlyn meant a great deal to him. She had been open and honest about her past this entire time, and yet he had listened to the Council’s request and not told a soul. He did not know if she would ever forgive him for that. He hoped she would. He loved her.