Winter's Scars: The Forsaken (Winter's Saga 5) (22 page)

“He can offer you asylum from the world hunting you and a safe haven away from the family that fears what you’ve become.”  His last words stabbed a raw spot in her heart.  She remembered clearly the undeniable sense that her family looked at her through different eyes.  She winced at the memory of their fear.

“The world is only hunting me because of him,” she managed to say.

“A fact he deeply regrets and wants to make amends for,” Gideon’s honey eyes sparkled with genuine concern.

“Your orders aren’t so altruistic in practice.”  Meg narrowed her dark eyes at the soldier.  Her body betrayed her by shivering in the cold autumn breeze.

Gideon took note of her weakness, but decided the best way to manage the girl was to be as honest with her as necessary.  Now was no time to earn her trust with lies, but he wasn’t going to give her anything if he didn’t have to.

“Let him explain it to you himself, Meg.  If you don’t want to stay with him after you’ve talked, I will personally take you to find your family.”

Meg hesitated, feeling his intentions, “You’re serious.”

“Absolutely.”

“You’re
that
sure of Arkdone’s intentions?”

“I’m betting my life on it.”

“Why?”

“It’s a very safe bet.”

“Are you so sure I’ll be persuaded to stay with him?”

“I’m sure he’s
that
persuasive.”

Meg held still for a moment, trying desperately to process everything she just learned and comparing it to her powerful intuition.  Her intuition was so hard to control when her mind was this exhausted.

Meg looked down at her hand still holding his and cocked her head as though listening to a whisper on the air. “You’re telling me the truth, Gideon, but why are you so afraid if you’re telling me the truth?”

“I’m not supposed to have said any of this.  Arkdone gave me direct orders.”

“That’s not true,” Meg frowned, picking out his lie immediately.

“Yes, he wanted me to bring you to him,” Gideon insisted.

“That part is true, but it’s not
you
he ordered.”  Meg pinched her eyes shut trying to read him like a book in the dark.  “You’re working with someone else?”

“No, just me.”

“You’re lying,” Meg glared.  “Tell me the truth, Gideon.  Who are you working with?  You know you want to just say it.  You’ve never told anyone else before.  You’ll feel so much better once you get this off your chest,” Meg was sloppy and out of practice at forcing her will onto someone, but she had to try, though her exhaustion levels were critical.  The more she spoke in her soothing tones, the more she felt Gideon quiver until he stopped abruptly.  He held as still as a stone.

Chapter 43  Introducing Sirus The Gatekeeper

Meg watched as his pupils dilate
d so his eyes looked black instead of the honey blonde they were moments before.  His jaw was tight, the muscles there working angrily.  He tossed her hand down like it was a disgusting piece of garbage.

“Get back to the car now, Naya.”

“Who are you?” Meg asked without missing a beat.  She sensed the change immediately. 

“I am Sirus and we have a plane to catch.”

“Arkdone gave his orders to you, didn’t he?”

“I am the candidate,” the new personality said casually, walking back toward the car.  Meg followed out of curiosity just as he knew she would.

“Who is Gideon?” Meg watched the young man who scanned the parking lot with aggressive, intelligent eyes.

“He’s the core.”

“How many others are in there?”

“That is not your concern.”

“Are you the,” she searched for the right word she sensed when she first recognized there to be a different personality behind Gideon’s.  “Are you the gate-keeper?”

“You could call me that.”

“So does Gideon even know about you? Or the others?”

“They know only what they need to know.”

Deciding to redirect the questioning, Meg followed her instincts.  “Sirus?  Why did you call me Naya?”

“That is the name the controller gave you.”

“Who is the ‘controller’?”

“Senator Donovan Arkdone, of course.”

They stopped walking.  Meg watched his dark eyes and wondered how this could be.

Sirus popped the trunk of the car and pulled out a bag.  “You’re going to have to change in the back seat.  I’ll wait here.”

Deep in thought, Meg nodded.  Her little burst of energy was waning and the thought of wearing warm clothes was just too enticing. 

What are you going to do, Meg?
she pushed herself.

She crawled into the back seat and started to dress in the blue jeans, long-sleeved tee, and sweater she found in the bag.  She was too tired to feel self-conscious about dressing in a car.

She sighed deeply and rubbed her eyes.
  I’m traveling to the home of a powerful man whose interest in me is questionable at best.  Am I doing the right thing?

Shaking herself back to reality, Meg slipped her feet into new, thick socks and nearly moaned with joy at the instant warmth they provided.

I could run,
she thought. 
But you wouldn’t get very far,
she argued with herself.  Her hands shook from the exhaustion that had been kept at bay for too long.

Maybe I should just go with him—it’s not as if I have a whole lot of options.  I could dig more information from him then, if I feel any deception, I could escape.  At least I would be in the States where I speak the language,
she rationalized.

She pulled a pair of high-heeled black boots from the bag.  “They really don’t want me able to run,” Meg mumbled to herself as she zipped up the boots and noticed everything was a perfect fit.

Just make do, Meg,
she told herself, feeling more assured now that she was wearing clothes and shoes.

She stepped out of the car leaving her hospital gown wadded in the bag.  Sirus was still present.  Meg could tell it was he because of the black eyes and distant demeanor. 

“Here,” he tossed her a small makeup bag, “Fix your face and hair.  You’ll need to look presentable if we’re to get passed the officials in the airport, however authentic the Senator’s traveling documents.” 

Meg scowled at the face powder, eye shadows, liners and mascara tucked neatly in the little bag.  She grabbed the hairbrush and two pony
tail holders and proceeded to tame her mane with a quick, loose braid down her back.  She secured the thick end with the two elastic holders and collapsed on the back seat, letting her legs dangle out of the open door.  She leaned to her left, unintentionally nuzzling into the soft leather at her cheek.

“Gideon called me ‘Meg’,” she started and yawned.  “Why not call me ‘Naya’ as you did?”

“Gideon is more concerned with your feelings than I am.”  Sirus stood like a soldier in the at-ease stance a few feet away from Meg.

“Why?”

“He’s been assigned as your protector,” he answered coldly.

“And what are you assigned to do?”

“Complete the objective,” he watched her like prey.

Despite herself, Meg yawned deeply.  “I don’t know what to do.” Meg stared forlorn at her too dressy boots.   Her exhaustion was tackling her from the inside out now.

“Here, do your mind-reading trick,” he said flippantly offering his hand.

Meg noticed he had wrapped his bleeding hand with a cloth.  Inwardly, she was glad to see it was still bleeding. 

Sirus deserved it, but Gideon didn’t. 
She held her head in her hands realizing the insanity of that thought.  Sirus
was
Gideon.

Meg grabbed his outstretched hand roughly and tried to focus on reading Sirus.  His emotions were so jumbled and now she understood why.  No fewer than three alter personalities were inside him.  Each was feeling something different and though Meg usually could have untied the knot of their locked emotions, she was too overwhelmed and worn out right then to do anything.  She let go of his hand and buried her face in her knees.

“We have to go.  I’ll get you a wheelchair once we’re inside,” Sirus said pulling Meg to her feet and closing the car doors.  He kept looking around them to be sure no one was watching or listening to what undoubtedly sounded like a surreal conversation.  He’d chosen their parking spot perfectly.  Very few cars were there, but those present were parked much closer to the airport entrance.  No one had seen a thing.

Meg was in a daze of emotion.  Her mind was reeling.  All she could think to do was put one foot in front of the other and pray she wasn’t walking into a trap.  She didn’t know what else to do but follow this
“candidate”—
what was a candidate, anyway? She wondered—
back to Arkdone’s home.  Maybe then she’d learn more about him.  And maybe, just maybe, she’d be able to get him to help stop Williams from hunting her family.

What was that
old saying?  ‘The enemy of my enemy is my friend.’
  

True to his word, when they were inside the sliding glass doors, Sirus grabbed a service worker and asked for a wheelchair to be brought for his companion.

The chair was brought right over, but Meg was already dozing off on her feet.  She sat gratefully and slipped asleep, her head tucked neatly chin to chest.

She awoke briefly to answer the question from customs, and then she was wheeled onto the plane first, lifted lightly, placed into a seat and strapped in.

Chapter 44 Why?

Three hours later, her bladder woke her.

“Hey you, how are you feeling?”

Meg looked up and into the light hazel eyes of Gideon. 

“A little better thanks, but I need to use the restroom.”

“I’d better help you,” he said, unbuckling his belt and hers.

“I can do it myself!” Meg squeaked, embarrassed.

“I know you can, but we need to keep up appearances,” he nodded toward the flight attendant talking to a passenger a few seats behind them.

Meg scowled, but nodded remembering the wheelchair that brought her to the plane.

“Gideon?”

“Yeah?”

“Just checking,” Meg said softly.

“Weird,” he smiled and leaned down to lift her easily.  As first class passengers, they were seated in the front of the plane near the restrooms.  He carried her to the tiny door and set her carefully back on her legs.  She watched his face, trying to remember her dream.  He was definitely in it.  She saw him flinch as he opened the door reading “vacant” and glanced back at Gideon as he leaned against the wall. 

“You okay?” she asked in a whisper.

Gideon held up his bandaged hand.  “You don’t have rabies, do you?”

Meg blushed.  “I’m not sure I owe you an apology about that.  You were holding me down.  I don’t handle being restrained very well.”

He nodded to the bathroom. “I’ll be right here,” he said with a smirk.

“Great,” she sighed.

Five minutes later, they were back in their seats. 

“I need to talk with you.”

“I figured as much.”

“What was Williams doing with me all these months?”

“You have no memories at all?”

Meg closed her eyes and tried to think again, only finding blackness where memories should be. “The last thing I remember is getting into an argument with my family in a motel room then going for a run.  The next thing I remember is waking in the chateau connected to all those monitors and machines.”

“I don’t remember a lot of things, too.”  Gideon stared at a small fray in the leather armrest of his seat.

“What do you mean?” Meg asked, too curious about his multiple personalities not to allow the change of subject.

“I mean parts of days are completely lost on me.”

“You really don’t know, do you?”

“Know what?”

Gideon’s whole body shuddered violently.

When he looked up, his face looked as different as his eye color.  “You’re going to have to stop now, Naya.”  For the first time, Meg realized Sirus’ voice was deeper than Gideon’s.

“Sirus, don’t you think he deserves to know the truth?  That it’s not normal to lose time as he does.  Heck, he doesn’t even take what happened to me seriously because he’s so desensitized to losing chunks of his life.”

“I follow orders.  I make the others follow orders.  If anyone deviates from the plan, it is my job to put it right.”  Sirus crossed his thick arms and stared at Meg angrily.

“What happens if someone gets out of line?”

“I stop them before that happens,” he narrowed his black eyes.

“But hypothetically, what if someone deviates from the plan?”

“They are punished.”

“How?”

“They’ll be reminded of the training we went through.  We will experience extremely painful body memories.  We were created for a purpose.  We must obey our controller or suffer.  That’s the way of it, Naya.  You may as well get used to it and stop trying to talk Gideon into something he’ll never be able to do.”