I conjure up the nerve to break the tension. “The Prophets want me in the Cellar, yet they believe in the Prophecy?”
“Some believe in the Prophecy, but not everyone believes you are The One.” Arek nods, “The Prophets and Powers are divided. Look, people in this world see what they want to see. Our minds can convince us of anything. If this Prophecy is real and one day there will be peace between the Velieri and Ephemes, that poses a threat to the most powerful players. They no longer make money off of us. But also the hate runs deep in many people. What the Ephemes have done to us for years, some find unforgivable.”
Briston comes back from his phone call so I speak directly to him. “One of my memories is when I was a child—you and I ran in to my mother. She was with Japha.”
Briston’s ice-blue eyes share regret. “She was trying to get through to him.”
Arek looks at Briston carefully, “You believe that?”
“I have no reason not to. She was always a good woman and a strong advocate for what was right.”
“I did it. I killed her,” I whisper.
Both men look at me with concern.
“I’ll go to the Powers, to Leigh . . . whatever needs to happen. I don’t care. I want to do what’s right.”
Briston, with a calm that reveals his true nature, says, “How can anyone do what’s right when the world’s lines have been blurred?”
“Let’s go to Leigh. Let’s end this,” I state.
“He’s in Switzerland.”
“That’s fine. Whatever it takes. I don’t want to run anymore.”
CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE
The next day, one switchback to another, the car remains frigid and quiet as Sassi takes the winding road of the Alps at a quick speed. My toes are frozen beneath the black boots and heavy jeans, so I shift uncomfortably back and forth in my seat. Puffs of white air float from my mouth with every breath as Kilon opens the window for just a moment to keep the car from fogging up; the smell of clean air and pine fills my nose.
Coming back to the place this entire journey started gives me the feeling that we have made no progress and never will. The calm voice of a Velieri podcaster fills the car, her subtle tone strangely unnerving, “I’ve never seen anything like this and although my grandmother always warned of it, it’s quite possible that I chalked it up to an embellished rumor. Yet, here we are, the world closer to implosion than I’ve ever seen. Ephemes are closer to finding out about the Hidden than ever before. The Reds, the CTA, the Powers, and the Protectors have more fires than they can put out all because of the rumor that ‘she’s’ returned. Yet nowadays how do we ever know what is rumor and what is truth?”
Kilon swiftly presses the off button, catching sight of me in his peripheral vision, and we are in sudden silence.
“Who are the Reds?” I ask.
Arek looks up from his phone. “A group of Ephemes sworn to protect the concealment of the Velieri.”
That is all he’ll say. The tension is palpable as we make our way back to battle with Leigh, while Navin and Japha wreak havoc.
“Why do you always drive?” I ask Sassi, trying to change the mood.
“It’s what I do well.” She smiles in her rearview mirror.
“Why?”
“Because I know what the other drivers are thinking. By their body language and movement, I can read them. My father, who wished to be a racecar driver well into his 2000s, taught me to be one with the car and immediately took notice of my skill.”
Arek’s rough voice fills the car, “She could have been a Protector.”
Sassi smiles. “I could have, but it seems you need particular heredity to be in that group: power and politics.”
Arek smiles. “Unfortunately, that has been the case.”
I am curious. “So, can others be just as good as you even if they don’t come from your line?”
“Maybe,” Arek admits.
Kilon speaks up, “It doesn’t happen very often. Maybe if we were able to mix lines, we’d see people begin to have more abilities that expand beyond their own.”
“You don’t mix blood?” I ask.
“A child from a mixed bloodline has never lived,” Sassi reveals quietly.
I look at Arek, my eyes wide. “We aren’t the same bloodline.”
“No,” is all that he will say.
“Certain Velieri can fuse with Ephemes, but some believe these children can lose their longevity. That was something Geo’s grandfather took the time to try and prove wrong.”
Geo’s calm voice chimes in, “My grandfather wanted unity. He fought for it.”
“Epheme vs. Velieri,” I nearly whisper, taking a moment to allow a new revelation.
“What?” Sassi asks.
“Velieri are superior in every way . . . but one. Ephemes are threatened by your gift of life, of years, of knowledge and understanding from all those years. Yet Ephemes will always outnumber the Hidden.” I run my fingers along the window, pushing the fog away to reveal the ominous outdoors.
“I remember when they weren’t going to let you two get married,” Beckah says while Arek continues to stare out the window; his jaw clenches as she says it. “First with Mak and then with Arek.”
