Lost Soul (DarkWorld: SkinWalker Book 2) (5 page)

She looked at me, but didn't really see me. Her mind was probably fighting a battle between reasons to tell me or not to tell me whatever it was she'd been keeping from me all this time. Then she sighed. "I guess it's time to come clean."

"Please." The dryness in my voice didn't go unnoticed, but to her credit, she said nothing except offer me a tiny raised eyebrow. "Tea?" I asked.

"Yes, please." She nodded. I stood and headed for the kitchen, pottering about with the kettle, cups and teabags, giving her time to arrange her thoughts. She cleared her throat and smoothed a hand over her cargo-clad thigh. "So I'll start from the beginning. When your father first met Celeste, we never thought the relationship would go anywhere. My son had always been a stickler for the rules. But Celeste, she affected him in a way no one ever had. Bad enough she was Human, but a Mage? Corin had tried to keep her magic under wraps, but the High Council eventually found out the truth."

I raised an eyebrow. Everyone seemed to have been aware of my mother's species and talents beside me. I poured water and waited as the tea steeped and Grams spoke.

"Corin hadn't always secluded himself in Tukats, hadn't always submerged himself in Alpha duties. He'd been part of the organization I work for since he'd reached his Change. Headstrong boy. He'd wanted to prove himself, make a difference. Help paranormals like us who are in danger."

My eyes widened. My father had always seemed like such a stick in the mud. It was near impossible to imagine him as part of any organization that sounded like Omega.

"Wait a minute," I blurted out. "You work for Omega?"

Grams shook her head. "Not Omega. But something like it. I'll get to that soon."

I shook my head and swallowed my annoyance, then brought the tea to the coffee table in front of the sofa. I sat, but didn't feel very relaxed at all.

Grams continued. "It was at Sentinel that Corin met Celeste. They fought their feelings at first, but the more they were thrown together on missions, the harder it became. Eventually, everyone just gave up and let them be. How could we rail against a relationship with a Mage when all paranormals worked so closely together, Walkers, Mages, Ethereals, Immortals? It didn't make sense in the end. So they married, and Celeste chose to be less active in Sentinel work when Iain and Greer were little. She returned briefly. And then you came along."

There was a reminiscent smile pasted on Grams' face as she blew on her tea and took a sip.

"You were such an adorable baby. Everything seemed perfect until you showed signs of recognizing the Wraith markings." My head shot up and I stared wide-eyed at her. She nodded. "You were almost two. We'd gone out for lunch and passed an interior décor shop Celeste wanted to scope out. She did tend to think about work more than was necessary, so it was nice to see her relax. It didn't last long, mind you. You reached for the shop door and began to trace the coral-colored marks the Wraiths leave behind. Celeste was horrified. She grabbed you and we got the hell out of there as fast as we could. Back home, Celeste had no idea what to do. She sought the advice of the Elders without telling them she suspected your power. They confirmed it was highly likely her power could be handed down to any of her offspring. I think Corin and Celeste had thought a Walker/Human child would not inherit her magic. But you did. Greer and Iain were older and neither one of them showed the signs, but there was always the possibility they would develop later."

I pushed a plate of cookies toward Grams but she ignored them, taking elegant sips of her tea, her eyes staring off into a different time and place, memories and long-ago hurt. "And then came the prophecy."

"The prophecy?" I asked. Her words held echoes of Jess's tale of the Niamh. "Does that have something to do with me being this Niamh person?"

Grams' eyes widened and her entire body stiffened. She looked like she was about to crush her teacup in her palms. "How do you know about that?"

"Jess told me, but she didn't explain anything about it."

"Okay. Let's get back to that." Grams waved the question off although I could see how hard it was for her to concentrate on telling the story now that she knew I knew. "When Celeste heard about the prophecy, she knew she had to protect you, and your siblings too. That's when she left. Your father was devastated, but he also knew she left to protect your family, to ensure no harm came to you. She made him promise to keep you in Tukats until you were grown, if not forever. He promised. He did everything she asked, but I think he never forgave himself for letting her go. And when you rebelled and wanted to leave, it crushed him because he felt he had failed her. It's why he only agreed to let you go if you came to me so I could watch you."

"But you're barely around, Grams. How much watching can you do when you're traipsing around the world every other week doing whatever it is you do?" There was a cold edge to my words but she ignored me, and I turned back to study my tea, now too cool to enjoy. I couldn't decide if it was the brown cream floating on the surface of the tea or the story Grams was telling me that turned my stomach.

"Although Corin and Celeste had agreed not to keep in touch, I certainly hadn't. I saw Celeste often. Made sure she was okay. She stayed mostly off the radar. Continued her demon hunting and missed Corin and her family terribly. I was her only link, passing her photographs of all your milestones. She especially hated not being there for your change until I reminded her that clan law would have prohibited her from being anywhere near you during your time of Change."

My head shot up again. Mom had told me the same thing when we had spoken in Wrythiin.

Grams paused and my stomach twisted. A shadow crossed her face as she paused just a little too long. "There is something else I'd meant to tell you, but I didn't feel you were ready at the time. Now is as good a time as any, I guess." Grams met my curious gaze. "The armband belonged to your mother."

***

"What?" I stared at her, shaking my head in disbelief. It was all so much to absorb. "Is that why you gave it to me?"

"Yes. I knew you were hunting. We'd seen the signs of it around the city. I checked with Celeste to see if it was her and when she said no, I knew it had to be you. And you needed protecting. The seal was also your mother's. She'd had a few created to allow her easy travel back and forth between this world and the Wraith world."

I nodded. "That's why she was so pissed when I told her about the seal. She said she was going to kill you."

Grams laughed. "That's Celeste. Ever the protector. I had tried to convince her to come home now that I knew you'd started hunting. I didn't tell her, of course. She had enough to worry about. But she refused to listen. She'd only stop when she was certain you were safe. She also knew there was another hunter in Chicago and she had set her mind to finding out who it was. Of course, I thwarted her every move and it was getting a tad tiresome."

"So putting me onto Storm who guided me to Tara, and giving me the armband and the seal was your way of looking out for me?" I wanted to be angry at what seemed to be my whole life being controlled by my grandmother, but could I really be pissed when all she was doing was making sure I had everything I needed? She had never interfered in my hunting. She had never even tried to stop me, directly or indirectly.

She nodded, her face filled with lines of worry that hinted at her true age for just a moment or two. "I could only do what I was able. Prophecies are dangerous things. Not to be messed with. We are not allowed to try to change or influence fate."

I was curious. Jess hadn't given me the whole story, just bits and pieces and hints at how important I was, but nothing concrete so I could understand how I could be better at being this Niamh. "So what does this prophecy say?"

Grams looked pained. As if even contemplating telling me physically hurt her. "I'm not even sure I should be discussing it with you. There are dangers to knowing one's fate." When she paused, I glared at her. "I can only tell you the gist of it. It says,
And she who wields the obsidian blade, whose eyes part the Veil of the worlds, she shall be the champion of all the Olde Ones. She is the Hunter and the savior and destroyer of the world.
You can see why this prophecy isn't exactly likely to generate mass celebration."

I snorted. "Typical. Hone in on the one negative word in the entire thing." I sat back feeling a sense of awe and shock at having heard the words of the prophecy for the first time.

"Quite right. But that is what the council fears. There's more to the prophecy though. An entire book filled with predictions, all so convoluted and mysterious that the council's had people trying to translate it for decades."

"Interesting." I pushed the now-abandoned cup of tea away from me and sat back, pursing my lips. "So, can we get a hold of a copy of what's been decoded so far?"

"I'm not sure. Might have to bend a few rules."

"So bend them. I need to know what they say." It came out harsher than I'd expected, but Grams didn't seem to mind.

"I'll see what I can do."

"And Sentinel? What are they?"

Grams sighed, resigning herself to finally telling me who she worked for. "Sentinel is similar to Omega in that we perform the same functions, investigation into paranormal disturbance and related crime, protection in case a species is in danger or has been revealed, exorcisms, tracking, things like that. We also help out the Human police with tracking missing persons, but we try and do so discreetly. People still look at so-called psychic trackers as if they're witches in disguise."

"So what's the big difference between Sentinel and Omega?"

She grimaced. "Sentinel has existed for centuries. The organization has been around for as long as our history has been recorded. It changed its name every so often, but the structure and purpose of the organization has never changed."

"So they have something to do with the High Council?"

Grams sighed and pressed her temples. "I guess you could say for all intents and purposes they
are
the high council. Sentinel acts as the formal investigative arm of the High Council."

"Oh." I tried to process everything she'd just said, the part that Grams worked for a pretty powerful organization. "So why didn't you help me when Lily and Byron went missing?"

"Because you already had Omega on the case. Sentinel and Omega have an agreement not to step on each other's toes unless absolutely necessary. Both organizations have the manpower and the technology to do the job properly. A few years ago, the High Council decided it was best to not go head-to-head with Omega. They are too big, too powerful, too tenacious to get rid of. So the High Council decided to let them operate but to continue to keep an eye on them."

"Keep an eye on them? How?" Grams raised her eyebrows and I gasped. "You mean you have a mole in Omega?" I snickered, liking the way the High Council thought.

"More like
moles
." She emphasized the plural. "So we keep an eye on them, and in the end, the paranormal world is policed and taken care of. I do think that's what matters most in the end."

"But the High Council does suspect Omega has an agenda that's not in keeping with theirs?" I asked, wondering if that job offer had anything to do with their agenda.

Grams nodded, and suddenly, I was glad I hadn't decided to join Omega on the spot. "Omega's organization is derived from an offshoot branch of the High Council called the Council of Enoch. Enoch and his followers disagreed with many of the Council's methods of attending to paranormal policing and laws. They wanted to be more stringent. They wanted to learn more about the different species' physiology. They were radical in many ways. Much too radical for the High Council to sit by and accept. They were stood down and it seemed it had been what they were waiting for. Almost immediately, they set up their own council and got the word out that people had a choice as to who they called for help. The High Council tried to remain discreet, believing that centuries of loyalty would stand for something. They were wrong to a certain extent. Those who saw the High council as old and too set in their ways saw Omega as a new beginning, especially with the world on the cusp of a technological transformation. But both organizations are equally powerful, equally effective. The only difference is that the High Council still functions as the umbrella overseer."

"So their Council of Enoch still answers to the High Council."

"They want to play by the 'rules.' They want people to see a semblance of hierarchy so their own regulatory actions will be accepted. They don't want to let go of their access to the power of the High Council."

"Of course. The High council legitimizes their entire organization." I nodded. The more I learned about Sentinel, the High Council, and Omega, the more fascinating things became.

"That's right." Grams looked drained. The truth often takes its toll. I stared at her and marveled how she'd been there, watching out for me all along, without me even realizing it. It had seemed a bit convenient that she'd arrived with the armband just before things hit the fan with Niko. Even more so when she'd appeared out of nowhere to tend to my Wraith sword wound after the Wraith Lord had injured me and disappeared with Anjelo, Niko, and Greer.