The Prophecy (Daughters of the People Series Book 1) (28 page)

“It was duct
tape,” Dave said evenly, “and I was protecting you.”

“Do I look like
I need your protection?” Dani snapped.

“As a matter of
fact…”

Rebecca tapped
one palm against the top of her desk. “Children, could we please stay on task?”

“Sorry,
Maetyrm,” Dani muttered. “Alexiou got a little weird about this woman. I
couldn’t figure out who he was talking about, except that he believed she was a
Daughter.”

“Did he ever
mention a name?” Rebecca asked.

Dave leaned
forward and braced his forearms on his thighs. “No, never, but he dreamed about
her a lot. Sometimes, he’d wake up screaming in the middle of the night, but he
never called out a name, that I know.”

Rebecca sighed.
“A name would be incredibly helpful.”

“To be honest,
I’m not sure he ever met this woman in real life. Until the artifacts were found
in Sweden, I thought she was all in his head.”

“I’d appreciate
it if you’d pass any additional information you learn on this woman, her
relationship to Alexiou, and the Prophecy of Light back to me.”

“If I can,” he
said.

“Good. Now, I
would very much like it if the two of you could put aside your differences long
enough to track down the missing case of artifacts. Start with the woman in the
warehouse. The resources of the IECS and the People are at your disposal.”

Rebecca stood,
signaling the end of the meeting. Dani and Dave rose as well.

“Got a few
things to clear up before we start,” he said.

“If you could
stay here a day or so before you clear those things up, I’d consider it a
personal favor,” Rebecca said. “We have a great deal of background material
available that may assist with your efforts to recover the artifacts. Dani will
fill you in. And, of course, my husband and I would enjoy having you over for
dinner tonight, if you have the time.”

“Appreciate the
offer,” he said. “If you’ll excuse me, I need to make a phone call.”

“Of course.”

He nodded to
Dani and left. As soon as the door swung shut behind him, Rebecca came around
the desk and gathered Dani in a tight hug. “I was so worried about you,
daughter.”

“I was ok. The
big lug really was trying to protect me, more’s the pity.”

“Don’t be so
hard on him, then.”

“Oh, don’t
worry. He can take it.”

They chatted for
a few moments more, as much so that Rebecca could take the time to assess
Dani’s condition as anything. Dani wasn’t her child by birth, but the younger
Daughter was still hers in all the ways that mattered. A mother’s worries never
ended, not when a child was placed in her care, and not when that child was a
woman fully grown.

Rebecca cupped
Dani’s shoulders. “Don’t forget dinner tonight, darling. The boys will be so
excited to see you.”

“We’ll be
there.”

“Try to be
polite to Mr. Winstead in front of Robert. Otherwise, he’ll get ideas and
you’ll never hear the end of it.”

Dani rolled her
eyes skyward. “Don’t I know it.”

“Would you
rather take Mr. Winstead to the Archives or the museum to fill him in?”

“The museum.
He’ll like all the weapons. They’re about his speed.”

“Dani,” Rebecca
chided gently. “He’s our best lead on the artifacts. Try to be nice to him.”

“All right,” Dani
said, her mouth twisted into something between a smile and a grimace.

“Oh, and darling,
if he betrays the People, don’t hesitate to do what must be done.”

Dani’s
expression hardened. “Of course, Maetyrm.”

Rebecca shooed
her daughter out, then put her hand on her abdomen over a growing knot of
unease. Something unpleasant was about to happen, something holding the
potential to cause a great deal of harm. She was certain the days ahead would
be brutally unkind to her daughter, and equally certain there was nothing
anyone could do to stop it.

* * *

Maya’s transfer
between hospitals went off like clockwork. The new hospital, located half an
hour outside of Tellowee, was staffed with medical personnel who understood the
slightly different physiologies of immortal Daughters. Unfortunately, they were
of little help.

Ethan Phillips,
a well-built doctor in his early thirties with auburn hair and light green eyes,
took over Maya’s care. He introduced himself to James as a member of the
People, a son of a Daughter whose curse had been broken when she’d fallen in
love with Ethan’s father. The young doctor relayed the information as casually
as most stated their name, unknowingly corroborating Maya’s story. James tucked
the knowledge and Ethan’s ease with it away for future reference.

On the third day
after Maya’s arrival, Ethan tracked James down and asked him to step outside
Maya’s room for a brief update. “There’s really nothing physiological keeping
Maya in a coma. The bullet caused relatively little damage and the wound is
healing rapidly.”

James sighed and
scrubbed a weary hand over his face. “So, what’s keeping her in a coma if not
her injuries?”

“There are a few
possibilities. Do you mind if I ask you a personal question?”

“Sure.”

“How deep is
your relationship with Maya?”

Heat rushed into
James’ cheeks. “Er, pretty deep.”

“Hmm.” Ethan
cleared his throat and tapped Maya’s chart against his thigh. “It’s possible your
relationship with her somehow triggered her change from immortal to mortal.”

“She’s broken
the curse?”

“Maybe,” Ethan
hedged. “The curse and everything associated with it is mystical in nature, not
physiological, including an individual’s removal from the curse’s influence. If
the curse is a factor here, there’s nothing medical we can do for Maya except
keep her comfortable and hope for the best.”

The sit-and-wait
policy did not a thing to ease James’ concern for Maya, but his conversation
with Dr. Phillips did give him a lot to think over. If Maya had somehow broken
the curse, did that mean she trusted him or maybe even that she loved him?

He tried not to
get his hopes up, but the thought eased some of his doubts about their
relationship.

Amelia settled
in at the on-campus school better than James could’ve hoped, thanks in large part
to Dierdre’s influence. He took the two of them shopping to replace the clothes
Amelia had left behind in Connecticut, thrilling them no end in spite of the
gloom of Linda’s death and the lingering concern over Maya. As soon as the
police cleared Linda’s house from investigation as a crime scene, James planned
to have a moving company go through it and store everything until he and Amelia
found a more permanent home. He’d never allow her to go through that house
again, not after she’d watched her mother die there.

The police were
still investigating Linda’s murder and pressing James for any information he
could give. Director Upton had advised him not to reveal his knowledge of the
killer’s identity and whereabouts. Doing so would focus attention unnecessarily
on James. The police would want to know how he knew who Linda’s killer was,
potentially opening up a can of worms he just didn’t have the energy to deal with,
not then, maybe not ever, so he held his tongue. When Linda’s body was
released, he and Amelia would go back to Connecticut for the funeral, but that
might not be for a long while.

After Maya’s
first week at the new hospital, Annette returned to work, promising to come
back as soon as Maya woke up, and as often before then as she could manage. She
kissed James on the cheek and told him how glad she was her mother had someone
so good in her life. He hadn’t known what to say to that.

With Annette
gone, he, Amelia, and Dierdre fell into a routine. While the girls were in
school, James worked at Maya’s bedside, occasionally taking breaks to talk to
her about his progress. The girls came to the hospital once school was out,
accompanied by a protective escort. After a good visit, he drove them to his
on-campus apartment, fed them supper, and helped with homework.

As often as not,
Dierdre spent the night, sharing Amelia’s bed. The two of them talked until
they fell asleep, and when James checked, they were usually facing one another
in the double bed, holding hands as if they needed the comfort even in sleep.
James spoke with Director Upton and Dierdre’s dorm mother about Dierdre’s
continual presence. Both women assured him that she was far better off in his
and Amelia’s company than alone while Maya was in the hospital.

Everybody seemed
so accepting of his role in Maya’s life, as if when she woke up, everything
would magically be ok between them. Even he was beginning to believe it.

The girls
settled in, his work on the artifacts progressed to the point of
near-completion, and Maya remained in a coma. Summer turned to fall. The nights
grew chilly enough for coats and tourists came out in droves on the weekends to
see the turning leaves.

One night three
weeks after their return to Georgia, while James was making supper and
listening with half his attention to Amelia and Dierdre gossip about boys, Dr.
Phillips called. Maya had come of the coma and was asking for them.

Maya shifted on
the hospital bed. She was groggy and stiff, and her shoulder twinged every time
she moved. It had nearly healed while she was unconscious, so Doc Phillips
said, but she was still oddly aware of it.

As soon as she’d
regained consciousness and buzzed a nurse, he’d slipped into her room and
examined her from head to toe. She’d been lucky the bullet had hit as high as
it had, he’d said. A little lower and closer to the center of her body and it
would’ve punctured a lung. A hit in the other direction would’ve shattered her
arm socket. She could’ve lost the use of her arm or, worse, the arm itself.

“So I’m lucky to
be in one piece,” she’d murmured, earning a sharp glance and a sharper retort.

“You’re lucky
somebody was there to stop the flow of blood and watch over you,” he’d said. “A
few more minutes and you would’ve died.”

Maya’s eyes slid
shut. The curse didn’t really grant immortality. It just made Daughters really
hard to kill. That hardiness aside, when somebody tried to kill you and kept
trying, sooner or later, it would catch. She’d trusted James to watch over her
when she was too weak to do it herself, trusted him to do what he had to in
order to protect him and her and Amelia. For the first time in her life, it had
felt right trusting a man. Her faith had apparently been well placed.

The door to her
room burst open and Dierdre tumbled inside, followed closely by Amelia and
James. Maya grinned. Here they were. She held out her arms and caught Dierdre
as she leapt onto the bed, accepted a prim hug from Amelia, and finally, James’
kiss on her forehead.

He settled into
a worn chair at the side of the bed. “It’s about time you joined us.”

Dierdre slid off
Maya and sat on the side of her bed. “Yeah, Mom. You need to come home real
quick. Dr. T. is a terrible cook. He’s about starved us to death.”

Amelia hid a
giggle behind her hand and James sputtered out an aggrieved, “I am not.”

They filled her
in on the events of the past few weeks. Amelia had enrolled in Tellowee’s high
school one grade behind Dierdre and was taking her first ever martial arts
class.

Maya cut a
side-eyed glance at James. How could she tell him that Amelia learning how to
defend herself wouldn’t have kept her from being kidnapped? He might change his
mind, and Amelia really
did
need to learn defensive skills, at the very
least. So did he, something she’d take care of as soon as she was able-bodied.

Dierdre shared
the news that she wasn’t playing volleyball. “Mom, it’s, like, ninth grade.
I’ve got three more years to play. Besides,” she said, her eyes wide, “you
needed me more.”

Maya squeezed
her hand. “My sweet Squiggles.”

James propped an
elbow on the chair’s arm and rubbed a finger over his smile. He was quiet while
the girls rambled about everything from shopping to school to boys, heavy on
the boys. They’d have to talk soon. She had so much to tell him, but not here.
Not in front of the girls.

The doctor kept
her overnight for observation, then released her into James’ care with the
warning to take it easy and report back if she had any problems.

James bypassed
her house and took her straight to his apartment, settling her onto the couch
with the solicitude of someone looking after the terminally ill. After the
third time he asked if she needed anything, she finally snapped. “I’m fine,
James, really. Please quit hovering.”

He slumped onto
the sofa beside her and took her hand in his, chafing warmth into her skin.
“You were in a coma for more than a month. I think I can be forgiven for
hovering.”

Maya rested her
head on his shoulder. “You can stop now. I’ll be fine.”

“Promise?”

“Yes.”

Maya closed her
eyes, content to rest on the sofa beside him. The injury had sapped her
strength more than she’d expected it to.

James brushed
his cheek across the top of her hair. “Dr. Phillips said you might be mortal
now. Any chance you might’ve broken the curse?”

Maya sighed and
buried her face in his throat. “When I was laying there, after Alexiou shot me,
I tried so hard to get up and protect you and Amelia.”

“I know,
sweetheart. Shh. Don’t think about that now.”

“No, it’s… You
leaned over me and asked me to trust you, and I realized right then that I did.
I trusted you, so I stopped fighting and I believed in you, and it was like
this huge weight lifted off of me.” She clutched his hand, holding him to her,
allowing his strength to bolster her own. “I’ve never felt that free before.”

“And you think
that was the curse breaking?”

“Maybe,” she
said softly. “Maybe I’m scared of hoping too hard.”

“Maybe you
shouldn’t be so afraid of what hope can do.” He cupped her jaw and tilted her
face toward his, his eyes soft and warm. “I love you, so much. I want to try to
work things out with you.”

“Ok.”

“Just ok?”

She smiled and
draped her legs over his lap and curled her fingers into the smooth cotton of
his shirt. His arm around her back was hard and strong and comforting. Three
hundred years she’d waited to find him, or nearly so, and now, here he was at
last. “Yup, just ok.”

“Not, ‘Of
course, James, I’m madly in love with you and want to be with you forever’?”

“Sure.”

“Sure, what?”

Her smile
widened into a grin. “Sure, I’m madly in love with you.”

“Really?”

“Really.”

“What about the
forever part?”

“If you insist,”
she teased.

He kissed her
then, slowly and gently and with much more patience than she probably deserved,
and she kissed him back, showing him in the best way she could how much he
meant to her. After, she told him about Annette and about Dierdre’s father, and
about her parents.

He hugged her
close, surrounding her with his gentleness. “Dierdre said you watched them
die.”

“I was very
young, maybe four or five. It’s hard to remember that far back.”

“It’s ok.” He
cleared his throat, and when he spoke again, his voice was softer, hesitant.
“Ah, I just realized I don’t even know how old you are.”

“Two hundred and
ninety seven on my last birthday. I was born in 1716 in New Orleans.”

“Wow. You’re a
real cradle robber.”

She laughed. Her
shoulder twinged and she winced. Being mortal wasn’t all it was cracked up to
be.

James smoothed
his hand up and down her arm. “What happened to your parents?”

“My mother was a
young Daughter out on her first real mission alone. She was sent to investigate
my father, a Frenchman in New Orleans on business. He was suspected of aiding
our enemy.”

“The Shadow
Enemy?”

“Right. Mámá
entered his household as a slave. She was a mulatress, so it wasn’t hard for
her to blend in, but she was educated and beautiful and charming. From what I’ve
pieced together of that part of her life, it was relatively easy for her to
gain Pápá’s trust. He took her as his mistress and she became pregnant.”

“With you.”

Maya nodded.
“They fell in love. The Shadow Enemy discovered their liaison and came after
them in the middle of the night.”

“Dierdre said
the servants protected you?”

“They did. Some
of them died trying to smuggle me out, but not before I watched my parents
being killed. I can still remember my mother drawing a sword and challenging her
attackers even as they cut her down.”

“That’s an awful
thing for a young girl to have to live with.”

It was, but it
wasn’t the most horrible story she’d ever heard. Other Daughters had pasts so
tragic, none dared speak on them. And at least Maya had survived to pass down
what little she knew of her mother to her own children, preserving the memory
for generations to come. “It’s the price we pay for our heritage.”

“I’m sorry.”

His words
surprised her. “Why?”

“Because you’ve
had to live with this for so long.”

She pressed a
kiss to his cheek, lingering with her lips against his skin, repaying a measure
of his kindness. “There’s nothing anybody could’ve done to change that.”

“I know.” He
threaded his fingers through hers and stroked his thumb across her skin. “But
there might be a way to stop this war between the People and the Shadow Enemy.”

“What?” She
jerked upright and stared at him. “How?”

“Labor Day
morning, when I raced out of here so early. Do you remember?”

Maya narrowed
her eyes. “I was enjoying that early morning cuddle before you woke me up.”

He kissed her
forehead. “That morning, I had an epiphany of sorts that’s helped me translate
the remainder of the Sandby borg texts.”

She opened her
mouth, and he touched his finger to her lips, silencing her.

“Even the Linear
A tablet,” he continued. “Sanctuary. That was the symbol I needed. It brought
everything else into context, and from there, it was just a matter of time
until I figured all of it out.”

Her breath
whooshed out of her. “Sanctuary as in where the Seven Sisters sought refuge?”

He pressed his
lips together. “I think so.”

“Does Director
Upton know?”

“I’ve told her
some, but not all,” he admitted. “I wanted to share this with you first.”

“James,” she
chided. “She needs to know this.”

“She knows
enough to get started,” he assured her. “But there’s more.”

“I love it when
you say that.”

He grinned and
brushed the tip of his nose across hers. “The rest of the tablet contained a
prophecy. I’ve been studying the fragments in the museum, about the origin
myth? And I think the Linear A tablet might contain the Lost Prophecy.”

She jumped into
his lap, ignoring the pain in her shoulder. “You are a language god.”

She kissed him
soundly and coaxed him into taking her to bed, and showered him with enough
affection to last him a lifetime.

* * *

Supper that
night was a madhouse. Amelia and Dierdre insisted on cooking. The menu was a
little creative and they talked over each other as they turned the efficiency
kitchen into a disaster area.

James supervised
from the relative safety of the table. It was good to see Amelia regaining some
of her natural effervescence, though she refused to talk about her ordeal. It
had been a month since her mother’s death and her own kidnapping. How long did
it take for somebody to heal from that kind of trauma? He slouched into the
hard backed chair and scowled. Surely healing meant talking about it, at least
a little.

A few minutes
after the four of them sat down to eat, Maya said, “I called Director Upton
earlier and made an appointment for us to see her in the morning so we can discuss
the rest of your work.”

James passed a
plate of lopsided pancakes to Amelia. “What time?”

“As soon as the
girls get off to school. I hope that’s not too early.”

“Not a bit.
Besides, it’s nice to start the day with positive news for a change.”

Dierdre bit her
lower lip and gazed at him with wide, hope-filled eyes. “What kind of news, Dr.
T.?”

Maya winked at
him. “James is nearly finished working with some documents, the ones he came
here to translate and study. He thinks he’s found a reference to the Lost
Prophecy.”

Dierdre gaped. “No
way!”

Amelia’s fork
clattered to her plate and her already-pale skin whitened. “The Prophecy of
Light?”

James and Maya
exchanged a glance. “How did you know about that, honey?” James asked.

“Mr. Alexiou
talked about it when he kidnapped me. Well, he didn’t kidnap me personally but,
you know, after.”

Maya laid a comforting
hand on Amelia’s arm. “At the warehouse?”

“Yeah, then,”
Amelia said. “He was kinda crazy, but he wasn’t mean to me or anything, except
for, you know, tying me up and stuff. And even then, he got mad about Mom…”
Tears welled up in her eyes. She sniffed them back and glanced down at her
plate. “He wanted me to hurt the man who killed Mom.”

A slow heat
burned through James’ veins. Goddamn Alexiou. He’d managed to pack a lot of
harm into a few days. James inhaled a sharp breath and managed a calmly spoken,
“What did you do?”

A tear slipped
down Amelia’s cheek. “I told him no, then Dani said she’d do it, and Mr.
Alexiou laughed and told her he couldn’t untie her.”

“What did he say
about the Prophecy, Amelia?” Maya asked gently. “Do you remember?”

“I don’t
remember all of it. I was really scared, you know?” Amelia shifted toward him,
her brows furrowed, and grasped James’ hand. Her fingers dug into his skin,
biting through flesh into bone. “But he went on and on about it. Something
about loving somebody for a long time and how she betrayed him, but he still
loved her, and how they’d be together again.”