Fracture (The Machinists) (17 page)

“You shouldn’t have healed me.”

“Why not?”

“You could have killed yourself,” he said. “You would have if one of Darian’s clerics hadn’t healed you.”

“I’m fine,” she said. “I heal faster than you do. You’re the one who should be resting.”

Allyn shrugged. “I can’t sleep.”

“It’s a lot to take in, isn’t it?”

“Which part?” Allyn stepped inside the room, stopping beside Nyla’s chair. “The part where I’m being hunted and my family is being kidnapped, or the part where I’m watching people die around me? I don’t know what to do. Every time I try and help, things get worse.”

“Not everything.”

“Really?” he asked, challenging her. “What’s gotten better since I’ve been here?”

“Liam.”

Her words slapped him like a switch in his mother’s hand. “What about him?”

“Before you got here, he lived in his cave, working on his library. He didn’t leave. He didn’t talk. He rarely trained. But since you arrived, he’s changed. It’s not just that he’s stepped out of the library. It’s that he’s wanted to.”

“I can’t take credit for that,” Allyn said. “I didn’t do anything.”

“Yes, you did,” she said. “You took an interest in his work. You took an interest in him.”

“That’s because it’s pretty damn impressive. You don’t know what kids are like outside this place, but I guarantee you, they aren’t like Liam.”

“You made him feel special.”

“You’re making this sound bigger than it is.”

“Sometimes, the smallest gestures make the biggest impact. Graeme was going to leave him behind today. You stuck up for him—”

“And nearly got him killed.”

“Maybe,” she said. “But you couldn’t have foreseen that, and besides, that’s not the point. I’m sure he appreciates the gesture.”

“He’s probably traumatized.”

“Why do you think that?”

“Because
I
am.” Allyn took a deep breath. “I’m not used to watching people die.”

“I’m sorry.”

“Don’t apologize. It’s not your fault, and if you hadn’t killed them, I don’t know what would have happened.”

“No,” Nyla said. “I’m sorry because I didn’t think about how you felt. Your wounds are healed, but I didn’t think about the wounds inside. Death is never easy.”

Allyn sat down in a second armchair beside Nyla. “I’ve never seen someone die before. Not like that. I’ve never seen a dead body.”

“I hadn’t either, until…”

“Baylis.”

She pursed her lips. “We grew up together, lived as members of this Family for over twenty years, but the only memory that sticks with me is him lying in that alley. Skin dry and shriveled like leather. Blue lips. Skin as white as cotton. He looked like a monster. No matter how hard I try, I can’t forget.”

“What was he like?” Allyn asked.

“Stubborn.” Nyla laughed to herself, remembering a better time, her eyes sparkling in the moonlight. It was the first time Allyn had seen her genuinely happy. “He was goal oriented.
Very
goal oriented. The world was a set of achievements to him, like a staircase, each step leading to something bigger. He said it helped keep him motivated since he was able to look behind and see everything he had achieved, but also kept him focused since he saw what lay in front of him. Everything had to be planned. Everything. Even our—” She stopped abruptly as if she was about to say something she hadn’t meant to.

Nyla was finally opening up to him, and he wasn’t about to let her close up again. “Even your… what?”

“Nothing. Forget it.”

“You were married, weren’t you?”

Nyla laughed. “No.”

“Then what?”

“I said to forget about it.”

“That doesn’t come naturally for me. If it’s a secret, I promise I won’t tell anyone.” He gave her his best smile.

“Okay.” Nyla leaned in closer, dropping her voice to a whisper. “But this stays between you and me, understand?”

Allyn nodded.

“We weren’t married, but you were closer than you realize.” Nyla took a deep breath. “We shared an echo.”

“A what?”

“An echo.”

“I don’t understand.”

“It’s a connection between two people in both mind and body. That’s why it is forbidden.” She paused and then continued. “When a cleric heals someone, they’re using themselves to heal. My strength becomes their strength. My energy becomes theirs. I’m quite literally giving myself to someone, but I change in the process, too. I take on their injuries, their pain. I take
them
. Over a period of time, after many, many healings, so much of myself is in the other person and them in me, that we actually become a part of one another. The same person.”

“What does that mean?” Allyn asked. “You can hear their thoughts and feel their pain?”

“No. That would have been nice sometimes. We certainly would have had fewer arguments,” Nyla added with a laugh. “But no. It’s more of a sixth sense, an instinct. I could
feel
somewhere deep inside myself that something was wrong, and I was drawn to it. Drawn to him. And he, me.”

“That sounds like it could be really helpful. Why would it be forbidden?”

“Because, as we change, as we meld together and the echo grows, we cease to be ourselves. We become something different.”

Allyn sat silently for a while. The horizon was beginning to show signs of the coming sunrise, turning to a dark purple that hid the stars behind the new light. He felt Nyla watching him, and his ears burned as the question formed in his head. “That’s why you want to die, isn’t it? When Baylis died, so did a piece of you.”

Nyla’s eyes narrowed. “Why do you think I want to die?”

“Because of what you said when you healed me. ‘I didn’t do it for you,’ you said. You did it for yourself. You knew that if you healed me, you would probably die.”

Her eyes growing moist, Nyla turned away. “You don’t understand. He died to protect
me
. That’s not how it’s supposed to be. I was supposed to protect
him
. We were stronger together, but I ran. And he died.” Her voice quivered, and she fought to hold back tears. “I didn’t heal you to help
you
. I didn’t heal you so I could die. I did it for
him
. Because that’s what I should have done that night.”

“Oh… Nyla, I’m sorry. I didn’t know.”

“It’s okay.” She wiped away a tear.

“I promise I won’t tell anyone.”

“Thank you.”

“Is that what you’re looking for in the library? An explanation to what happened to Baylis?”

Nyla gave him a confused look.

“Liam said they found him dry—that it shouldn’t be possible.”

Nyla shook her head. “No. It’s not impossible, it’s just
wrong
—an abomination.”

“Then what are you looking for?”

Nyla bit her bottom lip. “I’m trying to find out who I am.”

“I’m not sure you are going to find that in the library.” He meant it as a joke, but within the context of their conversation, it fell flat.

“I feel myself changing, and I don’t know what I’m changing into.” There was fear in Nyla’s eyes. “Now that Baylis is dead, that part of me is gone, too. I don’t know if I’ll revert back to who I used to be, or…”

“Become something else entirely.”

She nodded. An understanding—a closeness—grew between them. Because of the forbidden nature of the echo, she hadn’t been able to talk to anyone and had been forced to dig through the archives to discover what would happen to her. Allyn was the only person who understood the depth of her loss. She had shared her deepest secret with him and was now bare and vulnerable.

“Can I tell you a secret now?”

Nyla nodded.

“My sister and I have a connection like the echo, too.” Nyla sat up a little. “I know it’s not the same thing, and it’s not even real. Actually, it’s always been kind of a joke between us, but we’ve always been able to tell if something was wrong with each other. I would have a really bad day and need someone to talk to, and the phone would ring, and it would be her. Or I would get a sudden urge to go see her, and I’d find her in tears, having just broken up with a boyfriend or lost her job. One time, when we were kids, I found her at the bottom of a hill after she fell off her bike and broke her leg. We’ve grown apart, and it’s not as strong as it used to be, but even now, I can feel that she’s hurting. She’s alive. And she needs me.”

“You said you were twins?” Nyla asked slowly.

“Yeah,” Allyn said.

Nyla stood up abruptly. “Come on.”

“Why?” Allyn asked. “What’s going on?”

“I think we just found out why Lukas is after you.”

Nyla stopped outside Graeme’s study. A thin ray of light shone under the crack of the door. It seemed he, too, was awake. She knocked and, without waiting for a response, walked in. Graeme looked up sharply from his desk.

“Nyla,” he said, shielding a piece of paper with his arm. He pulled his glasses off. “Is everything all right?”

“We need to talk,” she said, glancing back at Allyn, who was waiting outside the door.

Graeme set his glasses on the desk and motioned for them to sit. As confused as Graeme was, Allyn walked into the study and took a seat in an armchair beside Nyla.

“What’s going on?” Graeme asked.

“I think I know why Lukas is after Allyn,” Nyla said. “And why after we helped Allyn escape, he went after his sister.”

Graeme leaned back, his leather chair reclining against his weight. Nyla clearly had his attention. “Continue.”

“We originally thought he abducted her as bait,” Nyla said.

Allyn wanted to stop her.
They thought Kendyl was bait? How long have they suspected that? Why didn’t they tell me?

“Then we thought maybe she was a distraction. I don’t think that’s the case. Allyn and Kendyl are twins, and they share a connection very similar to the echo. Graeme, he
feels
her distress.”

Graeme studied Allyn, his dark eyes probing. “Is this true?”

“Yes.” Allyn nodded. “I can feel something isn’t right.”

“Be more specific.”

“It’s like…” Allyn struggled to find the words. “It’s like when you feel a cold coming on. You’re not sick yet, but you know you’re not right.”

“Suppose this is true,” Graeme said. “That doesn’t mean Lukas isn’t using her as bait.”

“He would only do that if he knew about the connection,” Nyla said, “and how would he know about that? We didn’t find out until tonight, and Allyn is living with us.”

“Lukas could have suspected it,” Graeme said. “Twins have always been associated with magical abilities. The ability to hear each other’s thoughts, even see through each other’s eyes.”

“True,” Nyla said, “but everything involving a telepathic connection between twins is anecdotal at best.”

“Yet also very historical,” Graeme said. “Twins are prevalent in almost every major myth and legend across every major culture and religion.”

“If that’s the case, then you should have suspected it,” Allyn said.

Graeme looked at Allyn with a leveled gaze. “It doesn’t change anything. Twin, or not, you still need magi blood to wield.”

“According to you.”

“No,” Graeme said. “That’s the way of it.”

“Your son has magi blood, but he can’t wield.”

Graeme’s face turned to stone. “His abilities will manifest in time. He can feel the power. He just can’t project it, which is more than you can say.”

“I think what Allyn is trying to say,” Nyla said carefully, “is that it doesn’t matter what we believe. Lukas might think Allyn can wield simply because he’s a twin. It wouldn’t be the first magi experiment intended to discover the ability in others.”

Graeme tapped his finger on his desk.

“He’s building an army, Graeme,” Nyla continued, “and he’s already built alliances. Now he’s looking for a new weapon. We need to act.”

Graeme sighed. “I know.” Graeme sent Nyla to bring Jaxon, leaving Allyn alone with him.

Tapping his foot nervously, Allyn looked around the room in an attempt to hide from Graeme’s gaze.

“I really thought you would be able to wield,” Graeme said after the awkward silence became nearly unbearable. “Or at least have some magi blood in you.”

“I was nearly convinced myself,” Allyn said.

“If Lukas is truly after you because you’re a twin, then I owe you an apology. I should have gone after your sister sooner.”

Allyn leaned forward, resting his elbows on his knees.
Is he actually apologizing?
“I appreciate that, and I understand why you were reluctant to attempt a rescue. You’re looking out for your Family, and by helping me rescue my own, you’ll likely have to hurt people you’ve known for a long time. It will start the war you’ve been trying to prevent.”

“It’s more than that. Lukas splintered
my
Family, and I fear that was just the beginning. Everything that happens after today—the pain, the loss, the bloodshed—it will all be because of me.”

Allyn opened his mouth to tell him that it wasn’t his fault, but he was interrupted by Nyla returning with Jaxon.

Jaxon wore his usual loose-fitting brown cotton pants and a sleeveless black leather vest that exposed his powerful build. With alert eyes, Jaxon didn’t look like a man who’d been asleep.

Does anyone sleep around here?

He nodded to Allyn as he entered, then stood at the edge of Graeme’s desk. Nyla returned to her chair.

“We’re going to strike Lukas’s compound,” Graeme said. “Tonight. Lukas has no doubt heard of the failed attack at the Hyland Estate and knows there will be repercussions, so time is of the essence. He will expect me to round the Families up against him, build an alliance. He will believe he has time. He doesn’t. If we strike tonight and catch him by surprise, we will have the advantage.”

“What is our objective?” Jaxon asked.

“His sister,” Graeme said with a nod in Allyn’s direction. “I made him a promise—help me discover why Lukas wants him, and I’d help get his sister back. He’s held up his end of the deal, and now it’s my turn.” If Jaxon disapproved, he didn’t show it. “I may have also given Lukas information about our mole,” Graeme added with a wince.

“How?” Jaxon asked.

“I didn’t realize it at the time, but Darian was probing for information. I said too much, and he inferred the rest. Lukas will begin questioning immediately.”

“He’ll also be looking to flee,” Jaxon said. “If he hasn’t done so already.”

“Another cause for speed,” Graeme said.

“Then it’s decided,” Jaxon said. “We go in tonight.”

“It’s decided.”

It feels good to be alone
, Liam thought. The library was empty in the early morning, just him and his books. Other than Nyla, who had only recently begun digging through the histories, nobody spent time in the library. It was the only place in the manor that was truly his. Even though Allyn had helped for a time, he was likely asleep, recovering. Things were returning to normal, and that was great as far as Liam was concerned.

The purified air, dry and odorless, smelled of musty paper when he cracked an old book open. Liam imagined libraries on the outside, several stories high with floors and floors holding thousands of books, newspapers, and magazines. He wondered if they smelled like his library. One day, he would find out for himself. He would walk the aisles, picking up random books, skimming the pages to see what secrets they held, spending days and weeks within the majestic library walls.

Some day.

Some day after he finished his work. The book in front of him was the next in the long line to be digitally transcribed and salvaged for future magi generations. The words flowed from the page, through his fingers, and onto the screen. Liam paid them little attention, occasionally checking his work for spelling errors or missing words. He didn’t fix “mistakes” in the original text because preserving the original text was important. Sure, he could have used a high-end scanner and scanned the pages into the computer. It would have been a lot faster, but doing so would bypass his internal search and tagging programs that allowed him to pull up specific information and related material within seconds—as long as he knew what to look for. And every now and then, something would catch his eye—a heroic story, a gut-wrenching struggle, an interesting piece of information previously unknown within the magi community. Scanning might have been easier, but this way was more fulfilling and turned him into the most knowledgeable young magi in all the Families. It was a nice side effect. He smiled at the thought.

That will be my life’s work
. He would finish digitizing his own library, improve its search and tagging capabilities, and then move on to the next Family’s library and do the same. He would work alone because that was the way he worked. People wouldn’t tell him he was avoiding them anymore. They wouldn’t tell him that he was antisocial or call him a hermit. They would just leave him to his work because it was important. And if they
wanted
to talk, or if they needed his help, they knew where to find him.

By the time he was done, every Family’s library would be preserved for future generations. When he was done, he might link the information together on a central server somewhere, so that anyone in the magi community could have access to any Family’s library whenever they wanted. They would thank him and honor him with the title “The Librarian,” and nobody would remember that he was the only son of a grand mage who couldn’t wield.

But all of that started with the open book in front of him, so he kept working.
Yes
, he thought,
it feels good to be back
.

Liam was finished with almost half of it when the door opened. He didn’t know how long he’d been working or what time it was—time had a way of disappearing in the library—but if the dark circles around his father’s eyes were any indication, it was still early, not even a full day since the attack.

He was alone, which was strange. After recent occurrences, he expected Jaxon or Leira to be with his father at all times. And where was Allyn? Liam hadn’t seen him since they’d returned to the manor—not that he had sought him out, either.

Since Allyn had learned that Liam couldn’t wield, something had changed between them. The image of Allyn’s face would be forever burned into his memory. It was an expression his father had the grace to hide, but no doubt felt—an expression of disappointment. Why would Allyn care so much anyway? It was none of his business. Liam hadn’t told him he couldn’t wield.
But why should I?
Some things didn’t need to be common knowledge.

“We need your help, Liam,” his father said.

There’s a first!
“With what?”

“I need you to search the archives and find any mention of twins. Who they were, what they did, rare abilities, anything odd or out of the ordinary.”

“For what?”

“There’s no time to explain right now. Do you think you can do that?”

Liam shrugged. “Shouldn’t be too difficult.”

His father nodded approvingly. “How long do you need?”

“A couple hours, maybe longer. It depends how deep you want the search to go.”

“I want everything.”

“Then the more time, the better.”

Graeme nodded. “Thank you. Call for me as soon as you find something. Anything.”

“Okay.”

Graeme turned to go but stopped at the door. “And Liam? Best we keep this between us, okay?”

Liam nodded, and his father left, leaving him to his self-imposed seclusion.
Twins? That was the best they could come up with?
It was busywork, of course. His father meant to keep him occupied and out of the loop while the rest of them did something important.
Probably something to retaliate against the Hyland Family.
He’d proven how worthless he was outside the library, so they would do whatever possible to keep him cooped up. He ignored the order and returned to the work in front of him. He would eventually do as his father asked, but it would be done on his own time. If anyone asked how it was coming along, he would just say that it was a complicated search, but he was making progress.

They wouldn’t know any better.

A hushed silence fell over the manor as word spread of the ambush at the Hyland Estate. War was coming. No longer a distant threat, it had arrived, and people were going to die. Preparations began, not in the form of a call to arms of battle preparations—the manor was already in full lockdown and had been since Allyn’s arrival. No, these were emotional preparations between loved ones—extra hugs, loving looks, even a few tears when nobody was supposed to be watching.