He had never expected Diana to confiscate it. The fact that she had discovered it alone was something he should have taken into consideration. Diana had always been the most observant of them all.
“So that someone other than us can read her words,” he said, to be honest at least.
Diana eyed him thoughtfully before expressing her displeasure.
“Her words are dangerous, especially for our kids. Just like the contact between our children is on campus.”
“Diana, you know how I feel about the contract.” He was annoyed, not with Diana, but with this ridiculous agreement that seemed to haunt him like a curse. “You know what she thinks...thought of the contract...”
In his mind, he was back in the past.
“We saw last night what can happen when the species don't stay away from each other,” Diana dodged his suggestion.
Her eyes were bloodshot and her shoulder-length dark blonde hair was disheveled. You could tell she was exhausted, especially after what had happened to her daughter.
“It's not about the species, Diana. You know that as well as I do.” She looked down at the floor. And he knew he'd hit the mark. “If she saw what we've become, she'd turn over in her grave.”
His own words caused him incredible pain.
He bit his lower lip.
How could something so far in the past still affect him so much? He asked himself that every last Tuesday of the month when he wrote another letter and then put it in the drawer; when he went through the pictures from back then and when he was always on the verge of entering the room. A room full of memories.
“We both signed the new contract. You were there, Alarik,” Diana told him firmly. “And we should finally realize that it's better this way.”
He wanted to see it. But he didn't see it. He remembered the values they had all shared, a higher idea they had all held. She had warned him that the project must not be forgotten. He remembered that. The way she had laid there and stared at him, her pleading look, almost panicked. It had broken his heart.
“I'm giving you this book hoping I'll never see it in Bayla's hands again.”
She looked at him insistently.
He wondered what she had done with her own copy. He still knew Diana from back then. She had even helped work out the plans. It would never have occurred to him that she would change her mind in such a radical way. That she would even give up on their shared project.
But he finally nodded.
Diana looked at him for a moment, and he was about to ask if something was bothering her when she pressed the book into his hand.
“I know her words meant a lot to you,” Diana sighed.
He swallowed and looked at the dragonfly imprinted in gold. Her words were the real gold. They were music to his soul.
“She would have liked others to read it, too,” he finally said and turned to leave.
He was in no hurry, but he didn't want to stay here either. The house with all the memories evoked far too many emotions in him.
He thought about how Diana had managed to live here – going to work every day, cooking here, sleeping here – up there, where her room used to be. He wondered if it still looked the same.
“Alarik...” Diana said when he had almost reached the door. He turned to her with expectation. “I miss her just as much.”
He looked at her sadly and saw in her glassy eyes that she was telling the truth. However, he didn't have the strength to respond, so he just nodded and opened the door.
It was windy outside. Just as windy as the day he had lost her. Brown leaves flew through the Adams' front garden, just like all the ravens in the street... as if they were fleeing from something threatening.
In fact, the next storm was coming. Just like twenty years ago.
Something had changed recently. Not only had the weather become more unsettled, but so had the entire town.
As Alarik walked down the porch, he didn't know that much would soon change in his life. Nor did he know that he had set something in motion when he had given Bayla Adams the book. And what he knew least of all was that in his hand was the key to her legacy.
He was walking through the garden, and she was watching him right from the window of her room. And she knew that it wasn't over yet. That it had just begun. Today, 20 years ago.
The End
Glossary
Alpha – Leader of a Senseque pack
Alpha bond – connection that a pack member has with his Alpha, which brings some advantages within the pack rank; only an Alpha or someone with the alpha can make or voluntarily break this connection
Alpha gene – gene that can be inherited if both parents are Senseque and at least one of the parents carries the gene; gene that allows control over other Senseque
