Tentyrian Legacy (43 page)

“Yes they are. They are out of the country
and actually on safari. The Dark Coven won’t find them. It was one
of the first precautions we took.”

“What? How did you manage to do that?” I ask
in surprise. “My father hates to travel unless it’s to Bermuda or
Pebble Beach.”

“Never underestimate the persuasive ways of
the Brotherhood,” he says with a smile. I feel a weight of relief
lift from my heart.

“All right, Brothers, on my count. Three,
two, one, zero,” says Ryan. We watch the blue dots advance on the
facilities in unison. I can tell he is listening intently to the
instructions and movements the teams are voicing back and forth.
The minutes tick by. I realize that I’m holding my breath, only
releasing it until my lungs feel like they’ll burst. All of a
sudden, the blue dots and three of the buildings simultaneously
flicker, and Ryan rips his earpiece out.

“Ahhh, damn it!” he shouts as he presses his
finger to his eardrum in pain. Some of the blue dots reappear and
some do not.

“Ryan, what just happened?” I ask,
panicked.

“There must have been an explosion,” he says
distractedly, and he quickly places the earpiece back in. “Teams,
come in,” he shouts. The seconds that go by next feel like hours.
“I can hear you Alpha and Omega. Beta, Delta, Phi, come in. Beta,
Delta, Phi, come in,” repeats Ryan. “Communications have been lost
with Beta, Delta, and Phi. Team Alpha, abandon your mission.
Aristos, shift your team to Beta, then proceed to Delta and Phi to
report on conditions. Omega, continue as planned and upon
completion go to Alpha’s mission in Georgia to do a sweep.”

The blue dots begin to disappear on the Alpha
screen while Delta’s keep moving. I look hopefully on as a few of
the dots move slowly on the Beta, Delta, and Phi screens. There
must be survivors. Maybe only their communications were wiped out .
. .

“Ryan, what team is Maximos on?” I whisper to
him. But he doesn’t hear me; he is engrossed with what’s happening
on the ground. I hear the shouts and orders of men faintly through
Ryan’s earpiece. But even with my extra sensory hearing, I can’t
fully interpret the words with so much static. I ask again, louder,
and the response I hear is not what I want.

“Maximos is on Phi.”

2010 AD, July

Ambrosine Island, Ionian Sea

He’s going to be fine, I keep telling myself.
There was only so much information I could get out of Ryan while he
was helping manage the mission that seemed to fall apart right
before my eyes. When he started swearing at the monitor and slammed
his fist so hard against the metal desk that it left a dent, I knew
I should give him space. There was no help that I could offer or
that he’d take between the commands he was barking to the Brothers
who were thousands of miles away. And we haven’t heard from Maximos
. . .

I left the Control Room. Somehow, my feet
managed to take me upstairs to Maximos’ bedroom, which is where I
am now, watching the sunset from the balcony. Whether it was the
comfort of the room itself with its white and beige colors that
drew me to its solace, or the fact that this was the place I spent
with Maximos in a night that was both frightening and beautiful at
the same time, I don’t know why I’m here or what to do next.

It’s been hours since Maximos handed me the
necklace now dangling from my neck. I toy with it nervously as the
engraved disk flips between my fingers. The sun sparkles off the
pendant, mesmerizing me with its glimmer and intricate etchings. I
continue to flip it between my fingers, slower now, making the
symbol all the more profound. I take a deep breath in and rock back
on my heels, not stopping the movement of my fingers. I know what
I’m doing, I think vaguely. I imagine the figures and symbols on
the zodiac moving, as if they are dancing. But there is no music,
only the sound of the waves down below.

The sound of the waves crashing is quieter
now. Less frequent. My fingers are moving slower, and it’s as if I
can see the disk moving in slow motion over my knuckles. Time is
slowing. Then, without warning, an explosion of light fills my
vision. Its white light blocks out the sunset, the beach, my hands,
and the necklace. I stumble back, almost blinded. I reach for the
rail in front of me to steady myself. I can feel the wrought iron
under my hand, and just in time, as a series of images come
barreling into view.

A drawer. My hand. An iPhone. An e-mail from
Laura. Help. She needs help. Smoke. Fire. Maximos lying on a floor
in a pool of blood. Then, like a photograph coming into view after
a dip in developer, reality fades into the picture. The white light
and lighting-fast visions are gone, only to be replaced by the
crimson and tangerine of the sun reflecting off the ocean that has
now absorbed almost all of the rays.

What was that? My hands are trembling and my
walk is shaky as I stumble back inside to sit down on the bed that
has been neatly made, waiting for its master to return. Although,
based on what I just saw, Maximos won’t be returning. I fight back
my tears. Maximos can’t be dead. He just can’t be. I think back to
how I was playing with the necklace and how I was so captivated by
the reflecting light. It was almost as if the necklace was egging
me on, telling me to watch it. Using objects to focus and create a
hypnotic state has been used for centuries; in fact, Raad and I had
experimented with it successfully several times.

My subconscious must have led me into some
type of hypnosis by using the necklace. Or was it conscious? I
distinctly remember feeling aware of what I was doing . . .
Nevertheless, the visions that I experienced completely took me by
surprise. Was it just my imagination playing off my fears? Or was
what I saw a premonition? Could I really be like Hathor? Please
don’t be a premonition . . . Then it hits me: the drawers. I should
check all the drawers.

I spy the night table and reach for it
quickly to yank open the drawer. In my eagerness and overwhelming
strength I’m not yet used to, the drawer rips out onto the floor. I
jump back quickly, as if a snake will jump out. But there is no
snake, just one lone iPhone and a black leather Tory Burch wallet.
The phone belongs to Maximos and the wallet belongs to me. He must
have put them here before he left. After all, why would he need
them when he is off killing Subordinates and breaking into
suspected weapons facilities?

I put the wallet in the back pocket of my
jean shorts, but before reaching down to snatch up the phone, I
look around tentatively. Like there is anyone to stop me. “Enter
Password” displays on the screen as I press the keypad with my
thumb. I’m tempted to put the phone back in the drawer and close it
shut along with whatever ominous portents may be inside. However, I
put my fears aside.

I knew that phone was there. I saw my hand
reaching for it. Something tells me that if I knew it was there, I
should be able to guess the password correctly . . . And why
shouldn’t I at least try? Especially if Maximos is bleeding on a
floor somewhere. Maybe this is my opportunity to save Raad, Laura,
and him. I can only wonder if I’ve had this vision for a reason. I
have ten tries with the password before the phone will fully
lock.

I start with the basics: Maximos,
Brotherhood, Tentyrian, Ambrosine. I then try adding capitalization
and basic numbers after the words. Two tries left, I better make it
good. I type luminary1 and press the enter key. To my shock, it
works. I’m in! Luminary1 is essentially me. I am his password. I
could probably torture myself for hours thinking of that
implication, but I don’t have time. So far my vision has been
correct, which means I’m about to find an e-mail from Laura. I
click on the envelope icon with the word “Arianna” below it. I sort
by last name and there it is:

Delia, Laura RE: help

I open the e-mail, with my heart thundering
in my chest. Its message is numbing:

I have Laura Delia along with Dr. Aman Raad.
If you want to see them alive again come to 840 12th Avenue between
West 58th and 59th Street (NYC). Come alone or they die. If the
Brothers are reading this and you attempt to come with Arianna,
they die. Nonnegotiable.

That’s it. No indication of who it’s truly
from or what he or she intends to do with me if I do in fact come.
But I know the answer. It doesn’t take a genius. It’s from the Dark
Coven, and if I go, they’ll probably kill me. What are the odds
they believed I would find this e-mail and that I would find it
alone? It was sent over three hours ago. Timed for when the
Brothers were gone on their mission? Which means the Dark Coven
either knew the Brotherhood was coming to raid the facilities or
they believed that the Brotherhood hadn’t yet found me. It was a
risky move, but it worked. I’ve read it and I want more than ever
to save my friends . . .

What the Dark Coven doesn’t know, though, is
how far away I am from New York. I have no way of getting there,
even if I was crazy enough to go without any means to protect
myself. Maximos was right—what am I going to do, hold their hands
while politely asking for Laura and Raad? Damn it. I shove the
phone in my other back pocket. I need to talk to Ryan. Maybe he’s
already gotten in touch with the teams who he lost communications
with—including Maximos. But if I tell Ryan, it’s not like he or any
other Brother is going to let me go alone into what I can only
imagine is a trap set by the Dark Coven. That means my friends will
die. It’s not negotiable, like the e-mail said. But I can’t exactly
commandeer a private jet.

My only hope to save Laura and Raad and
protect myself is if I can shift. Ryan said it himself: shifting
makes you practically invincible. I reach for the necklace on
instinct. It helped me have a vision, so why not help me shift? The
sunlight is long gone for me to use its rays to capture the light
like I did before. But maybe candlelight will work. There is bound
to be a candle in one of the villa’s overstocked bathrooms. I pad
over to Maximos’ en suite and find what I’m looking for on the sink
countertop—a Diptyque Menthe Verte candle. Mint must be his very
favorite scent, I think indulgently as I remember his heady smell.
Please come home safe.

I find a matchbook under the sink. Before I
proceed, I need to think about how I want to go about this. I
should experiment first. I’m most definitely not going to shift
right into the location cited in the e-mail. From what I know of
the area, it’s mostly warehouses down by the West Side Highway. If
I don’t get killed first by the Dark Coven, there is always the
potential for getting mugged. For starters, let’s see if I can even
get myself beyond this bathroom.

Shutting the door, I turn off all the lights.
Sitting myself comfortably on the center of the marble floor with
legs crossed, I strike the match and light the candle positioned in
front of me. The sharp smell of sulfur dioxide burns my sensitive
nose for just a moment as the candle comes to life. The light
begins to dance, reflecting off the silver bathroom fixtures and
mirrored surfaces. I unfasten the necklace from my neck and dangle
the zodiac in front of me.

This time, rather than flipping the symbolic
disk in my hand, I twirl the gold chain to maximize the flicker of
light. The zodiac spins. I give myself several minutes to just
watch the golden sparkle and let myself be drawn into it, to relax.
I regulate my breathing like the seasoned meditator I am. I can do
this. I imagine the bedroom in detail on the other side of the
door, as if I’m checking off a design list. I visualize all of the
furnishings, from the tufted sleigh bed to the beautiful chest
sitting at the end of it with a zodiac symbol on top. I imagine the
French doors leading to the balcony just beyond the two club chairs
dressed in cream linen. I want to go to that door between those
chairs. I silently chant it over and over again while maintaining
the picture in my head of the doors in front of me.

I’m rewarded with a cool tingling sensation
on my skin. It’s almost like having aloe vera spread on in it. I
close my eyes, as I know what’s coming. When I open them, the doors
are in front of me. Not so helpless after all. I can feel my
adrenaline pumping and my pride swell, but there is little time to
congratulate myself. My friends and Maximos could be dying.
Unfortunately, I don’t have enough detail indicating where I saw
Maximos. The vision is already fading like a dream. Shifting to
Maximos won’t be possible. I must go to Laura and Raad.

Although it’s easy enough to conjure up my
apartment in mind, the Dark Coven could have Subordinates waiting
for me there. I want to give myself time to check out the address
and plan an escape route if my once-tried shifting fails, which
wouldn’t be a surprise. I should shift to a place I can easily
remember the detail of and to where I won’t be recognized.

Then it dawns on me. What better place than
Grand Central Station? I’ve been there hundreds of times, and I
know the architecture and layout of the landmark like the back of
my hand. Not to mention I can easily catch a cab downtown. It’s
easy to be anonymous amongst a crowd. Ironically, I used to have a
fear of going there when I was younger, as it was difficult for me
to keep my mental block up. With Raad’s help, I learned to overcome
that fear and embrace the City, tourists and all. But now there is
a much bigger task ahead of me I must embrace . . .

If I’m going to shift, I’ll need to change.
Cut-off shorts and bare feet aren’t going to fly on the streets of
New York. I can feel fatigue nipping, along with my unsteadiness,
at the edges of my consciousness. Not wanting to waste my energy
trying to shift again, I swiftly jog to my closet. I take the lit
candle and necklace with me. With my superhuman speed, I doubt
Shashandra would have even seen me pass her in the hallway.