Drawing Bloodlines (14 page)

Nathan frowned. “What on Earth is th
at supposed to mean?” he said.

“Exactly, what it’s supposed to!” responded Malick. “You mean to tell me after all the s
ecrets — the lies — you believe him?” Dramatically, he pointed in the direction of the Devaro Mansion. “They’ve been keeping stuff from you for years. I wonder what else they are keeping from you!”

Frustrated, Nathan stuffed his hands into his pockets. He was surprised to find the small c
ylindrical shaped object that was hidden in his mother’s frame earlier. “I understand where you are coming from,” said Nathan. “But Roy’s my grandfather and they really aren’t doing anything different than what we tried to do with Lafonda and the others.”

“That’s just it,” protested Malick
. “You said it yourself that keeping secrets just doesn’t work. They might have good intentions, Nathan, but what did keeping secrets do for you? What did it do for Jonas — for Samantha — for Lafonda?”

“And
what about you?” asked Nathan. “You’re like the king of secrets.”

“I admit, I’m not always forthcoming with i
nformation,” said Malick, looking away. “But that’s not important right now. Right now we have to get you guys cloaked so that the Fallen Ones, or the Order, or anyone, can’t track you anymore.” There was a brief silence, but then quickly, Malick spun back around. “That’s why the others and I have decided to leave for London.”

“What?” said Nathan. “You’re joking right?”

“We leave tomorrow — immediately,” said Malick. Nathan noticed there was such determination in his eyes. He paused. “I told everyone that it was your idea….”

Nathan’s eyes were suddenly huge. “What!” said Nathan.

“How else was I going to convince them to go?” pleaded Malick.

There was silence again as Nathan cast his glare out at the surrounding trees. “I was wondering how the heck you convinced Lafonda to go to London with you,” he said.

“Believe me,” said Malick, pausing to rub the back of his neck. “It wasn’t easy.”

“Look, I understand what you are trying to do for us,” explained Nathan. “But Argus and Roy
— if we just talk to them — if we just wait to talk to LaDonda in the morning….”

“In the morning?” said Malick, astonished. “For our plan to work we have to leave
in
the morning … and where is LaDonda anyway?”

“Honestly, I don’t know,” said Nathan. “Roy and Argus said she would be back in the morning, but I think we’ll know more of what’s going on after we talk to her.”

“Look, Nathan,” said Malick. “Let’s say we wait for LaDonda to get back — we talk with them. Then what? Give them a chance to prevent us from leaving?” Malick leaned in closer. “They’ve been trying to protect you for 19 years. How long are you going to continue to wait on them?” 

Slowly, Nathan began to turn away, but Malick stepped in front of him. “You know about your powers now, N
athan,” he said. “Now is the time for you, Lafonda, Jonas, and the others to protect yourselves.”

There was silence again and Nathan embraced himself as another gust of wind rattled through the trees. Malick co
ntinued to stand in front of him; blocking his path back to the house. “I … I just need a moment to think,” said Nathan. “Everything is happening so fast. Things were supposed to slow down after camp this summer.” Slowly, he began to pace. “Okay, tell me this plan.”

“Our flight leaves in the morning,” said Malick. He chuckled while looking down at his watch. “In a couple of hours to be exact.” He became serious again after noticing the look on N
athan’s face. “Jonathan was already planning to fly back to meet up with that Dr. Colvers guy, but Alan switched his flight so that he could fly back with us.”

“Al
an?” asked Nathan, skeptically.

“Ha-ha
— my thoughts exactly,” laughed Malick. “Apparently, Mr. Gossip is a little bit of a jet-setter and took care of everything.”

“And what about Roy and LaDonda?” asked Nathan, i
mpatiently. “It’s not like England is next door and we’ll be back in time for tea and crumpets!”

“Don’t worry,” said Malick, with a sly grin. “Samantha has that covered. She’ll cover for us. We’re all staying at the Darding’s spacious estate for the week, to relive camp me
mories and to celebrate her birthday.” In a dramatic fashion, Malick clapped his hands together. “Jonathan was supposed to go back anyway, and Roy and LaDonda will never know.” He smiled. “It was all her idea you know.”

Abruptly, Nathan laughed. “You really think that Roy and LaDonda are going to believe that I am pitching up a tent at the Darding’s for a week?” he asked. Several frown lines suddenly appeared across his forehead. “And with Jim there
— they’re never going to believe that.”

“They will if Lafonda says she is forcing you to go, b
efore you have a nervous breakdown,” said Malick with a grin. “After the events of the evening, Nathan needs to get his mind off things. Have some fun before school starts.” He laughed. “For some odd reason, I believe Roy would agree with that.”

“Ha-ha, funny,” said Nathan.

“Everyone is onboard, Nathan,” protested Malick. “But it will all fall through if you’re not going.”

Malick paused to check his watch again and then began to eye the path to the driveway over Nathan’s shoulder. “Trust me,” he said, ste
pping out of Nathan’s way. “We’ll be back in no time … and everyone will be safe.”

Nathan’s stomach twisted in knots. “I don’t know if I like the sound of that,” he said. “The last time you said trust me, we were in the middle of a cemetery and my back was pinned against a wall trying to avoid a sea of energy bolts.”

“I know, I know,” said Malick, scurrying past him. “And everything worked out okay. Didn’t it!”

“W–what, where are you going?” asked N
athan.

“It’s way late and I’m crashing at my grandmother’s house,” said Malick, walking bac
kward. He winked. “I have to go home sometime. At least be there long enough to convince my grandmother that I am actually going to see my father.”

“You? See your father?” asked Nathan with a laugh. “You’re better off telling her you’re sta
ying with us at the Darding’s!” He paused. “Wait — his father’s in London?”

Nathan watched as Malick continued to dash across the Devaro driveway and to his car. “Is this really going to work?” he repeated softly to himself.

Nathan turned his attention back to the front door of the cottage again, and to his surprise, he picked the right key and was able to get in. Inside, Nathan made his way down the narrow hallway and stopped as he approached the small living room. The room was dark, even though a small ember continued to flicker in the fireplace.

Nathan’s mind raced as he thought hard on what Malick had said. “I do have powers now,” he said, softly, as he looked down at his hands. “And I am getting tired of always being fearful of using them.”

Intermittently, Nathan’s cell phone began to vibrate against his leg. It was a text message from Lafonda. “Are we really doing this?” he read.

Slowly, Nathan lowered his cell phone to his side.
‘
Now is the time for you, Lafonda, Jonas and the others to protect yourselves’
, he thought to himself.

Nathan sighed heavily and was about to plop down onto one of the brown upholstered couches, but froze instead. From the hallway, he heard a low grumbling noise. Quietly, Nathan waited to hear the sound again. “It almost sounds like growling,” he said, slowly. Sudde
nly, Nathan’s eyes grew wide. “It almost sounds like the Necrocritters — Jonas!”

In a flash, Nathan was down the hallway and standing in front of his bedroom door. Abrup
tly, he froze again because the sound was louder than before. “Jonas!” yelled Nathan, forcibly opening the door.

“W–what?” said a groggy Jonas, his eyes barely open. He sprung up in bed like a piece of stiff cardboard. “What ha
ppened?”

Jonas and Nathan both heard the growling noise and J
onas looked down to his side. “Bobby!” shouted Jonas, wiping the sleep from his eyes. “When did you get here?” He barely glanced at Nathan before lying back down. “Gosh, you snore like a wounded animal!”

Soon Jonas was fast asleep again and Bobby moved clo
ser to him. Softly, Nathan closed the door behind him and for a moment stared at his phone’s display screen as it illuminated his face in the darkness. “Yes,” he texted, finally. “We’re going to London.”

9

FLIGHT 951

Slowly, Nathan opened his eyes to the subtle humming sound of the airplane’s jet engines. Groggily, Nathan patted his pockets for his cell phone. The passenger cabin was a lot quieter than when they first boarded the plane and he wasn’t sure how long he had been asleep. As his mind began to awaken, he immediately noticed that the airplane window across from him was black, and pressed up against it was a sleeping Stephen Malick.

“Pardon me … excuse me again, Angela,” said Jonathan, abruptly and through a covered mouth. Nathan turned around in time to see Jonathan pop out of his seat and rush off to the bathroom. “I really am sorry.”

“Really, how many times can one go to the bathroom?” Alan sneered. He was seated behind them.

With a joyful bounce, Angela spun around in her seat and leaned over her armrest toward the aisle.
“I think it’s cute,” she said.

Quickly, Alan’s head snapped up and he stopped texting. “Oh, brother,” he grumbled and then proceeded to bury his face back into his cell phone.

Angela rolled her eyes and turned back around, picking up a magazine that had a smiling Justin Bloomer on the cover of it. Nathan could hear slumbering breathing behind him and turned around to find Leah and Lafonda both asleep.

My life is just out of control
, he thought to himself. Unconsciously, he shook his head as he laid it back against his seat.
My life was never this fast paced
—
from school to camp to saving my friends to fighting bad guys
—
and now we’re heading to London
?

Suddenly, Nathan looked down. His cell phone vibrated in his hand and it was a text from J
onas. “I hope everything is okay,” he thought. “I didn’t think that Roy would believe Lafonda’s spill about me hanging out at the Darding’s with the gang for the week — but LaDonda hadn’t returned, and it seemed like he welcomed the chance to keep me distracted.”

“Oh, Jonathan,” chuckled Malick, startling N
athan.

“I thought you were sleep?” said Nathan, catch
ing his breath.

“Who could sleep though that?” he laughed. “I feel like he’s been running to the bathroom co
nstantly since take off. Somebody needs to make sure to remind our resident genius not to eat anything before our return flight home.”

“How long have we been in the air?” asked Nathan, r
eturning his attention back to his cell phone.

Malick turned to look out the circular airplane window. “We should be arriving soon,” he said. He turned back around and smiled. “Right now I can’t see anything, but soon we’ll be able to see the bright lights of the city and the London Eye as we fly into London.” Nathan didn’t look up and Malick frowned. “Umm, who are you texting?”

“Oh,” said Nathan, giving Malick one glance up. “It’s Jonas. He said Roy still believes we are at the Darding’s, but he thinks Argus is suspicious.”

“Argus?” blurted Malick. “Why is he still there? And is Jonas still at the Devaro Ma
nsion too?”

“Yeah,” responded Nathan, finishing his text. He was about to put away his cell phone, but noticed that the smooth cylindrical object he found in his mother’s picture frame was still in his pocket. “Apparently, Argus is staying there to keep an eye on Jonas for a while
— and where else better to do it then the Devaro Mansion?”

“For what?” blurted Malick. “I know Argus and I aren’t exactly on each other’s popularity lists, but what good is it watching over him when they should be concentrating on getting him cloaked. They can’t watch over him fore
ver.”

“I don’t know,” said Nathan, with a quick shrug, soun
ding discouraged. “I guess they are doing the best they can — like we are.”

He paused, putting his cell phone in his pocket and pla
cing the small cylindrical object in his hand. “The fact is, Jonas has already been kidnapped once … and now almost murdered.

“Well,” said Malick, with a sly grin. “It’s like you said, they are the adults and supposedly have more experience.” Abruptly, he took out his cell phone. “Besides, I don’t think Jonas has anything to worry about. It looks like Lauren and the Fallen Ones are after someone with a specific ability. And didn’t you tell me Lauren said Jonas and Leah are not the ones?” Slowly, Nathan nodded. “In fact, we should be more worried about Bobby than anything … he’s the only traveler in the group they haven’t ruled out.”

Quickly, Nathan stopped caressing the cylindrical object in his hand and reached for his cell phone again. “Calm down there speedy,” said Malick with a grin. “I’m sure Bobby is safe. Right now he’s at the Devaro Mansion and we’re heading to London to keep it that way.”

Reluctantly, Nathan took a deep breath and then took his hand out of his pocket. “Besides,” said Malick, pausing in between texts. “Jonas and Argus are there. They can protect him.” Malick frowned. “And where is LaDonda an
yway? Shouldn’t she be back already?”

“I have no clue,” shrugged Nathan. “Roy and Argus h
aven’t said anything.” He eyed Malick suspiciously, as he typed away on his cell phone. “What makes you so certain that the one they seek is a Traveler and not the Firewalker?”

“Because,” Malick sighed, pausing to look up from his phone. “So far, they have only been i
nterested in those with a Traveler ability — Leah, Jonas, Jonas’s father — everyone else was just collateral damage. If they were after a Firewalker, you would be high on their priority list.” He went back to texting. “After what just happened at Lynn Field, you seem more like a nuisance to them than anything.”

“Nuisance!” s
houted Nathan. He stopped to see if anyone was listening. “I would say more than that. Didn’t you see what happened to Laban after I hit him with a fireball?” He leaned in closer and Malick backed his phone away. “It looked like I seriously injured him … who are you texting anyway?”

“Umm, no one,” stumbled Malick nervously. He put his phone away. “Just a friend.”

Slowly, Nathan cocked his head and then frowned. “I agree!” said a loud voice behind him and Nathan almost jumped out of his seat.

Quickly, Nathan turned around only to find Jonathan hovering over him. “I definitely would agree that you injured him. That fireball spread over his body like a piece of paper on fire,” said Jonathan, enthusiastically.

“Almost like a lighted cigarette,” added Angela from across the way. She smiled. “Ashes to Ashes, dust to dust.”

“Precisely!” said Jonathan. “It really is poetic.” He rep
ositioned the glasses on his nose.
“
That exact phrase is not in the Bible however, but it is biblical through and through. I believe it’s from the Book of Common Prayer.”

“That would explain why at Grimm Cemetery Lauren was afraid of the ring of fire,” said N
athan.

“
According to some beliefs,” explained Jonathan, “Lucifer was created by fire.” He paused and then nodded his head. “So, it makes sense that by fire he — and possibly the other angels — could be undone.”

Malick raised an eyebrow and gave Jonathan a weird glare. “Oookay,” said Malick, slowly. “Thank you, prof
essor for the history lesson.”

Suddenly, there was a jolt in the airplane and Jonathan gagged. “I–I’m sorry,” he choked, covering his mouth.

“Are you alright there, professor?” chucked Malick, as Jonathan bolted toward the bathroom. “I guess class is dismissed.”

“Malick!” whined Angela and Alan laughed. She leaned over her seat again and watched Jonathan as he went toward the bathroom. “You guys, that’s not funny.”

Nathan reached into his pocket and placed the cylindrical object in his hand again. He waited until Angela returned back to her magazine and for Alan to continue on his cell phone. “Malick,” he said, with some trepidation. “I–I have something for you to look at.”

Malick squinted and two tiny lines suddenly appeared on his forehead. “What is that?” he asked. “Is that some sort of whistle?”

Nathan laughed. “That’s what Bobby said, but I don’t think so,” he chuckled. He held up the end of the silver cylinder revealing the tiny clasp at the end of it. “I was hoping you could tell me what it was.”

Carefully, Malick took the object into his hands and e
xamined it. “It’s really smooth,” he said. “And I can’t quite figure out why it has a slit in it.”

The two tiny lines appeared on his forehead again. “Where did you say you found this again?”

“I didn’t,” said Nathan, with a smile. He paused, checking to see if the others were listening. “I found it in my mother’s picture frame — Bobby did sort of, but it’s a long story — anyway, the frame belonged to my mother and I was wondering….”

“Now that we know that she belonged to the Order if it has any significance,” finished Malick, and Nathan nodded.

“Well, yeah,” said Nathan. “I used to take that thing with me everywhere — I mean the picture frame — since I was little.” Malick placed the silver object back into Nathan’s hand. “It was made out of wood and my mom carved it herself. Who would have known after all these years this was hidden inside of it.”

“Wait,” said Malick. “Did you say that you took it ev
erywhere with you?”

“Yeah,” nodded Nathan, looking slightly co
nfused. “See, it had a picture of my parents in it. Their wedding photo to be exact….”

“What if this is what has been protecting you?” interrup
ted Malick.

Nathan looked confused. “I’
m not following you,” he said.

Frustrated, Malick scratched his head. “In the beginning, you said you never felt as if they were after you, that it a
lways seemed as if they were more interested in Jonas, Leah, and the others.”

“Okay?” said Nathan, his eyebrows raised. “What’s your point?”

“My point is,” said Malick. “Before you started using your active powers you had been dream walking for quite some time now.” Dramatically, he pointed at the silver cylinder in Nathan’s hand. “What if you’ve been cloaked this entire time — and that is what has been keeping you cloaked.”

Nathan held the silver object in the air to examine it and squinted. “This?” he said.

“Think about it, Nathan,” said Malick. “You said you always take it everywhere with you.” He leaned in. “Did you have it at school, when you started having those dreams about Leah?”

Nathan looked pensive, but slowly he nodded.

“And what about at camp?” said Malick. “When you had that vision about Lafonda?”

Suddenly, Nathan’s eyes were huge as if a light bulb went off in his head. “That would explain why I haven’t been on the Fallen Ones’ radar and why their priests haven’t detected me,” said Nathan. He paused. “Even after I l
it the foot of my bed on fire.”

Malick had a strange look on his face and N
athan gave a quick laugh.

“Don’t ask,” said Nathan.

“I get it,” said Malick with a wink. “Another long story.”

Nathan smiled. “But how can something this small cloak me?”

“A Spirit Nardi can basically enchant anything,” explained Malick. “Even your mom’s picture frame.” He smiled. “I’m guessing she hid this in there. But why, I do not know.” Suddenly, his smile turned sour. “Maybe that’s just another question for Roy and Argus.”

“A spirit what?” asked Nathan.

“A Spirit Nardi,” Malick chuckled. “A Spirit Nardi practices the art of binding — along with other things — which basically means forging Pneuma, or spirit, to inanimate objects.” He sat up in his seat and sighed. “Practically anyone who can Pneuma Novo can do it, but it usually takes years to master.” He paused, staring vacantly out into the air. “Most of them are Healers anyway — so, they are hard to come by.”

“
And why is that?” asked Nathan.

“Having the ability to heal is rare — and on top of that, to manipulate Pneuma to heal someone isn’t easy,” said Malick. “But I guess it d
epends on the person. It takes a lot of concentrated effort and it’s connected to the persons emotions.” He shrugged. “Finding a Healer is almost as rare as finding a Firewalker.”

“Yeah, that’s what you say,” said Nathan. “And then there’s us.”

Malick pursed his lips into a smirking smile.

“But how do we know for sure?” asked Nathan, still holding the small cylindrical object in the air. He paid sp
ecial attention to the deep slit at its end. “How do we know for sure that it’s cloaking me?” Nathan looked behind him and then swiveled around in his seat to face the aisle. “I guess we can always toss it to the back of the plane and then see what happens when I use my powers.”

Malick’s eyes became as large as saucers. “A fireball — while flying 35,000 feet in the air — in front of all these people?” he asked, dramat
ically. “I’m going to say a big fat ‘no’ to that one.” He took a deep breath before running his hands backward through his hair. “I have a better idea, how about we just take it to the Nardi? I’m sure they’ll be able to detect if it’s enchanted or not. Besides, you’ve been around that thing for, like, all your life and depending on how strong the binding is — even if we threw it out the window — the effects of the cloak may last for weeks.”