Traitor (27 page)

His grin widened. “It feels more like a family.”

I did hug him then. “That’s exactly what we are. Now get lost. I have to keep moving.”

“What’s the big mystery?”

“No mystery. Just going to see my solicitor, and it’s getting late.”

***

Martin Breslin stared at me, his eyes widening. “Are you sure?”

“Positive.”

“They don’t take threats or commands well. I mean, I—”

“Don’t worry. I know there’s a risk, but I want to see what’s in the vault. I want to learn. Most of all, I want to protect my friends and Mrs. Yaga’s lost souls. The veil needs to be closed. I get that now. I didn’t understand before. I still don’t understand everything, but I have my own terms.”

“You’ll have to enter the vault alone. What happens next is not up to me.”

“I know. What do I do in there?”

“Touch the stone. They’ll tell you the rest.”

“And my friends will be safe?”

“We’ll sort it all out as soon as you get back,” he said kindly. “Good luck, Ava.”

I followed him to a set of stairs leading down to a basement secured by an ordinary looking door.

“Once you step inside the vault, you can’t come back out until they release you.”

I nodded. “Let’s just get on with it.”

“Whenever you’re ready,” he said, and he left me alone.

Taking a deep breath, I walked down the stairs. Each step felt like a countdown to impending doom. I gazed at the wooden door for a few minutes, plucking up my courage. Gabe had asked me to make my own kind of sacrifice, and if I was the only one who could do it, then I had no choice. I couldn’t risk more darkness in the world. The sun had been blocked for a month, and I was ready to see it again.

I pushed open the door and stepped inside. The room was so dark that all I could see was what looked like a white crystal ball in the centre. It rested on a black cushion that sat on a wooden table, and when I moved close to it, the milky clouds within dispersed, revealing shards of light.

I reached out and touched the stone. Immediately, my soul rushed through planes I had never experienced before. When I came to, I was sitting in a chair with ten other beings in a circle around me.

I couldn’t make out their features, couldn’t use my other sense to figure out their energy, but as I looked at each one, a name came to mind.

Birth greeted me first. “You are here to swear to us.”

“I’m here to find out more,” I said.

“The Matriarch swore by you,” Death said. “Was she wrong?”

“The world is different now,” Slave said. “The Matriarch had to change, and now we do, too.”

“You know what’s happened, right?” I said. “The consequences of her death?”

“We know,” Knowledge said. “And we wonder why you’ve taken so long to come to us.”

“Who
are
you?”

Warrior answered, “A long time ago, the need to protect this plane became obvious. The original Guardians came together and swore to maintain balance. Their combined power expelled the creatures that didn’t belong in this world into books, and the Eleven began a long reign under cover of secrecy.”

“Books? There’s more than one?”

“Of course,” Warden said. “It was safer to separate the books. And the books are safe as long as there are eleven of us. A loss causes a disconnect, and the protection on this world weakens, as do we. We are not concerned with petty wars or quests for power. There is no good or bad, only existence and living. Our history is long, but the Matriarch was the one who guided lost souls without judgement.”

“And then she died because you took away her protection,” I said.

Shepherd made a strange sound. “She knew what she was doing, and the rest of the Eleven were the only ones who could judge her. She took no part in the power struggles until forced, and in the end, she died for her interference. But she was willing because she knew you would follow. And I agreed after meeting you.”

“Wait. What?”

“You were in a place you didn’t belong, unable to get back, and I helped you find your way home.”

I touched my forehead. “I remember. You left a bruise.”

“As I said, you didn’t belong. The Matriarch’s role needs to be filled, and when it is, everything else will be restored.”

“So
you
need
me
,” I said.

“We need Eleven,” Death said. “We need a Matriarch. The last one took the role as punishment for leading men to their deaths. This time, the world has changed. You have brought upheaval, and this will be your punishment.”

“My punishment?”

“You allowed the book to open. That’s something we can’t magic away.”

“The veil lifting wasn’t my fault,” I said. “I didn’t even know it existed, and all of those other things that happened were put into action long before I was born. But you’re right about one thing. The world
has
changed. It’s changed so much that we can’t sit around while bad things happen. After my landlady died, a necromancer tore down the gates between the worlds. He planned all of this, even her death, just so he could use the book. We’re repairing our country right now, and that means I can’t always maintain neutrality. I’m willing to be a part of this, but I can’t be restricted by weird rules.”

“There are ways around that,” Death said. “As long as the decisions you influence do not benefit you personally at the sacrifice of others, we can accept that.”

Judge made a frustrated sound. “We cannot accept—”

“We’ve lost one Matriarch to our inflexibility,” Warden argued. “We are not ourselves without her. And look what happened in her absence. We can’t risk another breach. If we’re overrun, we may never contain the problem again.”

“Another will come,” Judge said. “Eventually.”

The eleventh stood. Darkness, Silence, The Last… the eleventh had many names and none at all. Neither male nor female, The Last had no counterpart, but when Darkness spoke, the others listened. “I propose one hundred years of service and then a reconsideration. That should be enough time to reset the damage the unbalance has caused. It’s true we need to close the circle of Eleven now, but it may not always be the case, and the world is in a state of flux. Our actions will not always seem neutral, especially since the doors were opened. A time may come when we are forced to collectively interfere again, but not today, not if this one becomes our eyes and ears.”

The issue was discussed, over and over again. Circling arguments were made while I sat there in silence. I grew so uncomfortable that I had to interrupt.

“If I agree to this, I’ll be untouchable? My people will be protected?” I asked.

Judge answered. “You will have an… unusual status. People will know this, but they won’t remember why. Untouchable is not the right word, but you will definitely have some advantages. You will help the lost souls who come your way, and as long as they are on your properties, they will automatically have the protection of neutral ground. Of course, that won’t protect them from lawbreakers. The previous Matriarch had her own conditions, and those she helped will always have protection, but we cannot give you many more allowances.”

“You will protect the veil,” Wisdom said. “We each have our place, and your agreement will be your commitment. We are being generous with you. When your predecessor was enlisted, she was given nothing in return.”

“You forget,” Shepherd said. “She was given a chance for redemption.”

That was met with silence.

“So what if I need help or guidance or—”

“The same way you came today. There is no sense of time here, and we are all called whenever one touches the stone,” Shepherd said. He would be my counterpart. “Don’t worry,” he added. “Your life won’t greatly change, but you will be compelled to do your duty, and if needed, you will do our bidding to keep the balance.”

“Will I be able to have a normal life? A family, a job… any of it?”

“You will have hundreds of children,” Shepherd said softly, “and the life you choose, as long as you put the lost souls first. All we need from you is your blood. The protection around us must be restored, or the true demons and worse beings will destroy this world as they have done to many others.”

“You may never even see us again,” Birth said. “Sometimes centuries pass before we’re all called together. This won’t alter much in your life, not if you’re as your predecessor described. You can continue with her work, use what she left you to make a comfortable life for yourself. As long as you don’t use your status to push your personal agendas, little will change.”

“Right,” I said. “I get all of that. Kind of. But why me? Why can’t somebody else do it?”

They stayed silent for so long that I grew nervous.

“None of us truly understand why we were chosen,” Shepherd finally explained. “But we all recognise our missing piece. And we know that giving ourselves to this was the right thing. But there are demons in the world again, and we need to be stronger.
You
can be our conduit, our channel into something greater. You can make the rest of us more powerful.”

“So you’ll use me up,” I said bitterly. “Just like everyone else.”

“We can’t force you,” Death said. “But what if there’s another necromancer? Worse intentions? Together, we can protect everyone from the ancient lawbreakers. You can’t be a warrior, but you can be a protector. That’s an instinct you already have.”

With my blood, I signed my life away for one hundred years, giving them the protection they needed, and ensuring that my friends would have the same protection Mrs. Yaga had always provided.

I was sent back with little ceremony, and it took a few minutes to stop my head from spinning. When I left the room, Martin Breslin was asleep in a folding chair at the top of the steps.

“Um, Mr. Breslin? You okay?”

He jumped awake and sighed with relief. “Thank God. You were gone for three days.” He looked at his wrist. A silver scar burned a little brighter. “It’s done. You came to an agreement?”

“One hundred years.”

“A blip to them,” he said. “Not to you, though.”

“Not to me. So what now?”

“I’ll read the will, and that will set off the next step. There are a few deeds to sign and some contracts, but other than that, we’ll take care of everything. The rest of the homes will belong to you, and—”

“If I give them away, will they still have protection?”

“Well, yes, but—”

“Great! I want to keep the house I live in, but I’d like to sign as many as possible over to some people I know.”

He hesitated. “If you’re sure.”

“I’m positive. What about the lost souls? Do I look for them or something?”

He smiled. “Don’t worry about that. They’ll come to you. They’ll always come to you. You’ll know.”

I spent another hour with Breslin, signing paperwork while I fielded furious text messages from my friends. Mrs. Yaga owned more properties than I expected, and although I didn’t exactly want to be a landlady, I saw potential to help the stolen children in some of the buildings.

“It’s also a business,” Breslin said. “Helping people doesn’t mean you let them take advantage of you.”

“How will I know how to help them?” I asked. “What if I screw up?”

“You won’t screw up,” he assured me. “They’ll come to you with a problem, and you’ll find a way to solve that problem, whether directly or indirectly. It’s far simpler than it first appears. You can still have a normal life. Mrs. Yaga travelled extensively and lived a full life.”

“They said it was her punishment.”

He nodded. “For her crimes, yes. But it was also her redemption. She told me she didn’t regret a thing. This was the best thing that ever happened to her. She learned a lot, and she saw many things in her life. You can do the same, Ms. Delaney.”

“Call me Ava. Can I really leave?”

“Of course. People need help everywhere.”

“I just don’t understand how this helps the Eleven. What the point of it is.”

He shrugged. “They’re tied together. They need Eleven, and not everyone can be a part of what they do.”

“Why me then?”

“Maybe this is your real gift,” he said. “You’ll understand in time.”

I must have looked unhappy because he patted my hand. “This isn’t the end,” he said. “This is but a new beginning.”

I really liked the sound of that.

“Everything in this building is yours, too,” he said. “You can employ new staff if you wish.”

“I think you’ll do,” I said, grinning.

He returned my smile. “There are records here, information you might like to read.”

“Knowledge is power.” I had been taken off guard far too many times by my lack of knowledge. It was time for me to seek out everything I needed to know. “I think I’m going to be happy,” I said hesitantly. “This is probably the most relaxed I’ve been in my entire life.”

“You’re not scared of the commitment you’ve made?”

“No,” I said, surprised. “When you first told me, I thought it was some kind of trap. I was mad at Mrs. Yaga, but now it feels more like a gift. Of everything I’ve seen, this is probably the least scary. I won’t have to worry about my friends. I won’t have to get involved in politics anymore. The price of being ordinary is helping some strangers every now and then. What’s the catch?”