Sentinel Lost (Mind Sweeper Series Book 5) (36 page)

“Are you sure, Kyle?” Jean Luc asked for the gazillionth time.

I clamped my hands on the wheelchair’s arms and started to push myself up. “I’m going out by myself, then.”

Misha grabbed my shoulders and eased me back into the chair. “Just because you’ve been taking short walks in the hall doesn’t mean you’ve built up the strength to walk all the way to the garden and back.”

They finally compromised by having Misha push me outside onto the terrace while Jean Luc walked beside me, patting my shoulder every once in a while. It was one of those rare, warm, spring days, and I studied the brilliant blue sky and fat, fluffy clouds and sucked in a lungful of air that smelled like new beginnings. The grass was the emerald green that lasts for only a few weeks in the early spring.

Misha rolled the wheelchair over to a concrete bench, and he and Jean Luc sat next to me. “Is this okay?”

“Yes. It’s great. Thanks.”

The three of us sat in silence for a while, and I closed my eyes and tilted my face up to bask in the sunshine.

“Here,” Misha said, handing me a pair of sunglasses.

“I’m fine.”

“Humor me, please.”

I put the sunglasses on and tilted my face up again. After a few seconds, a shadow blocked my face. I opened my eyes. Dalton looked down at me. His black eye had faded to a pale yellow, and he was smiling.

“I’m glad to see you’re out of bed, McKinley.”

“I’m glad to be out of bed.”

I motioned to the bench. “Join us.”

Misha stood. “Here. Take my seat. We have to go check on something. Don’t let her get out of that chair. She’ll try to do cartwheels if we don’t keep an eye on her.”

Misha nodded, Jean Luc bowed slightly to both of us, and they walked into the building, closing the terrace doors.

Dalton sat so I didn’t have to strain my neck looking up at him.

“I didn’t mean to run them off.”

“You didn’t. They know we need to talk… Doc told me what happened. Thanks for saving me. How is your arm?”

He stared at me for a moment as if choosing his words carefully. “My arm is fine. I should be thanking you. You were willing to sacrifice yourself for me, for all of us. I’m only glad I could help. How are you feeling?”

“Better. Tired. Which is ironic, since all I’ve done is sleep for days.” I took a deep breath to calm my jitters before I pulled off my sunglasses. “I think I owe you for these as well.”

His gaze locked on my face, and his turquoise eyes widened. “Oh, my God.”

“Not too shabby a color. A bluish gray. Jean Luc told me they’re the color of a stormy sea, but he’s a romantic at heart.”

“How?”

“Doc thinks it’s because you shared your energy with me.”

Was it my imagination, or was Doc right and his eyes weren’t as blue anymore? They were certainly still gorgeous. And then I reminded myself to stop with the stalling and say what needed to be said. “I want you to know how sorry I am.”

“McKinley—”

“No. Hear me out. I’ve been lying around in a hospital bed for days with nothing but time on my hands, time to think. I’m sorry for lying to you. For making you feel like I was trying to control your life.”

“Jean Luc explained to me why you didn’t tell me the truth when I first arrived. Logically, I get it. Emotionally, it still pisses me off. You took away my memories. For a good reason, but it feels like you’ve stolen something from me, and I’m having a hard time getting over it.”

“I get that,” I said. “If I’d been able to come up with any other way to save you, I would have. But we were out of time, and I refused to let that bastard Sebastian destroy you. So I did what I thought was best. If you’d been in any shape to weigh in on the decision, I would have listened to your wishes. But you couldn’t.”

“I need to know what you erased. But I think that’s a discussion for when you’re stronger.”

I started to protest, and he placed his hand on my arm. “It can wait, McKinley. I’m going back to D.C. today for another case, anyway. When I’ve finished that, I’ll contact you so we can talk.”

“How did it go with the Feds and our case?”

“Good. They bought the story. They’ve offered me a full-time job.”

“That’s great.”
Liar, liar.

He smiled at me,
again
. “Can you stay out of trouble until I’m able to get back here?”

His hand felt like a hot brand on my arm. “I’ll give it my best shot.”

Chapter 46

“I hear you’re going home today.”

The voice brightened my day even before I looked up into Griffin’s face. “Hey, you.”

“Hello, sweet. How are you feeling?”

“I’m good, Griffin. Glad to be going home.”

“You gave us all a scare.”

“So I’ve been told. Thanks for coming and spending time with me.”

He cocked an eyebrow at me.

“I could hear you talking to me. And Trina, too.”

He smiled. “That doesn’t surprise me. I understand you saved the day again.”

“Yep. And I’m pretty sure the Key has gone bye-bye.”

“Thank God. How is Dalton doing with all this?”

I shrugged. “He knows I erased his memory, but I haven’t had a chance to explain everything to him yet. I’m not sure he’ll ever be able to forgive me.”

“Give him time, Kyle.”

After everything, how could he be concerned about Dalton? I swallowed. “Can you forgive me?”

Griffin gripped my hand. “There’s nothing to forgive, Kyle. You didn’t do anything wrong.”

Tears threatened to erupt, and I blinked. “You’re a wonderful person, Seamus Griffin. Now tell me how you’re doing.”

“I’m doing better, especially now that I know you’re okay.”

* * *

It was official. In a few minutes, Misha would pick me up and take me home. No more hospital. But before I left, I wanted to spend a few minutes in Irina’s garden, so when Doc told me I had one last visitor waiting on the terrace, I figured it was kismet.

I walked outside, and there was Nicholas, sitting at the small iron table on the stone terrace holding a bouquet of purple roses wrapped in cellophane. I stared at him for a moment. Something was different about him. His hair was a bit messy. I’d never seen him with a hair out of place before.

I joined him at the table. “I hoped you’d stop by.”

“It’s good to see you up and about, Kyle.” His gaze tightened on me. “Sabrina told me about your eye color, but it still’s a bit surprising.”

“Is it a side effect of the energy Dalton shared with me?”

“How would I know?”

“Because you’re the one who told Dalton to touch me when I was dying.”

He looked at me but didn’t respond. For me, his silence was confirmation enough.

“I want to thank you.”

He shook his head. “Kyle—”

“Let me finish. Thanks for your visit to the ice cream parlor.”

His eyebrows rose. “You weren’t supposed to remember the parlor.”

I shrugged. “I have a tendency to go against the norm.”

Nicholas chuckled. “Tell me something I don’t already know. How are you feeling?”

“The old, cynical Kyle would wonder if you are really asking if the Key is okay.”

“I do wish I’d known about the Key earlier. But I never sensed it in you.”

“Yeah, well. I couldn’t exactly trust you with the truth then.”

“And now?”

“Now you’ve moved up a notch or two on my trust scale.” I stopped. “Wait. If you didn’t know that I had the Key in me, then how did you know Dalton’s touch would help me?”

“Lucky guess.”

“It’s like talking to the CIA with you.”

His eyes smiled. “I can neither confirm nor deny that statement.”

“Well, how about this statement? I no longer have the Key.”

He paused before answering. “It could be that the Key served its purpose for right now and has been put away for the next rainy, apocalyptic day.”

“Wow, I didn’t realize how sarcastic you could be.”

He smirked. “You’re usually way ahead of me in that department.”

I smiled back at him. “Now you’re just sucking up.” I stared across the garden for a moment, at the flowers peeking out of the ground, then refocused on his face. “I’m going to ask you something else, and I want you to tell me the truth.”

His eyes narrowed. “That sounds ominous.”

“How much trouble are you in?”

“What do you mean?”

“Let’s see. Father Brown has been struggling for months to translate the prophecy and suddenly it miraculously started to come to him.”

“You’ve always been too smart for your own good. I might have called in an angel favor on that one.”

“I think that kind of thing is your normal, sneaky MO. So that wouldn’t have caused you strife. Then there was the whole Dalton saving me thing, which you cannot of course confirm or deny. And finally—the big
oh-no-he-didn’t
—you sneaked into the ice cream parlor and told me to fight. Haven’t you been saying all along that you were only allowed so much leeway before you were reprimanded again?”

He shrugged. “Someone recently reminded me that you have to take a risk in order to do the right thing.”

“Since when did you start listening to me?”

“I’ve always listened to you, Kyle. However, I haven’t always agreed with you.”

“You just skirted my question again, Nicholas. Are. You. In. Trouble?”

“No. Now tell me how Joe is doing with everything.”

“He overheard us talking, so he knows some of what happened, but not everything by a long shot.” I frowned. “Something’s been bugging me about him being descended from angels. Why didn’t the Key boxes glow when they were exposed to him?”

Nicholas shrugged. “The box did respond to Joe. It chose him as the Sentinel.”

I nodded. “Do you think I should try to give him back his memories?”

“You could try. But I don’t think you can. At least not with your gift. There’s always the fear that the pain would return as well. But you can give them back to him in another way. Tell him about them.”

He held out the bouquet to me, and flinched as I accepted it.

“What’s wrong?” I asked.

“Nothing. Just a thorn. Be careful.”

He stared at his thumb. A drop of blood beaded on the tip, and he watched it for a moment before wiping it off with a fingertip.

Chapter 47

Father Brown sat next to me in the confessional, and he was frowning. Big time. Not what you wanted to see during confession. And while I wasn’t
technically
confessing my sins, I was describing what had happened over the past few weeks.

“I’m sorry, Father.”

“I’m just glad you’re okay now. I wish I’d known you were hurt.”

“Would you have prayed for me?”

“Kyle, I’ve been praying for you since the day I met you.”

“Hey!”

He chuckled. “That didn’t come out the right way. You’d been given a huge responsibility to protect our world. I didn’t think it would hurt to pray for you.”

“Thanks, Father, I can always use the backup. And I want to thank you anyway. The translations helped tremendously with the case. I wish I’d been able to bring the actual tablet and box for you to study, though.”

“They were destroyed in the fire?”

“I don’t know for sure about the tablet. We couldn’t find it afterward. But the box disappeared in a flash of light and sparks when I threw it into the air. And the box we had in our safe has also disappeared.”

“Once the Key left you, it had to return somewhere.”

“Yep. I think it went back into its box, and the angels have taken possession of it again.” I took a deep breath. “And I think your theory about different Keys is spot on, Father. When I touched the other box, it surged with power, but it was different from what was in me. Like polar opposites fighting each other.”

He stared at me for a moment. “What was it like when the Key spoke to you?”

How to explain the unexplainable? “At the time it made sense. Like all uncertainty was gone. That all I had to do was think about a question or problem and I would be given the way to solve it. Since my priority at the time was stopping the demons from opening a permanent portal, those are the answers I locked onto. Before it short-circuited my brain, that is.”

“Did it tell you its ultimate purpose?”

“I’ve been thinking about that, Father. Its purpose is to serve as a safety-gap measure when something really bad is about to happen. Like apocalyptic bad. Even though it started out in a crazy vampire’s hands, it found its way to Dalton, and then to me. It was as if it knew we would need it when the realm demons attempted their breakout months later.” I hesitated, uncertain what to say next.

“And?” Father asked.

I shook my head. “You should have been a shrink, Father.”

“To a certain degree, priests are therapists, Kyle. Now finish what you were going to say.”