"Vinnie, will you shut up?" Trixie hissed. "I want to know what Rafe has to do with all this, because I"m sure he"s got something to do with whatever Seraphim"s hiding out there."
"Are they right, Mr. Kellen?" Pilar asked. "Are you hiding something?"
The room fell silent as they waited for Seraphim to speak. Finally, he said, "Yes. I am hiding something. I will tell you everything, but on one condition."
"You"re not in the position to specify conditions," Adam said. "Yes, I am."
"This is absurd!" Arkin growled. "The man is not cooperating sufficiently. I suggest we infiltrate his thoughts and learn what we must."
"I would like to know what his conditions are," Marina said.
"As would I," Ca.s.sia added. "And why he feels they are necessary."
"I want the guards dismissed," Seraphim said.
"Easy enough." Vincent slammed one fist into his opposite palm. "The twins and I can kick his a.s.s if he tries to escape."
Adam waved to the guards who left the house.
Once the presence of the hybrid guards had faded, Seraphim stated his second request. "I want your word that what I tell you will not be spread to the rest of the Network-at least not until after it"s done."
"After what"s done?" Pilar sighed.
"This is what we get for accepting him in spite of our better judgment," Arkin said. "We knew the man was disturbed. Kellen was a bad choice for a Network agent. Whatever possessed us to -"
"Why?" Marina asked Seraphim. "Why do you not want us to tell?"
"Because lives depend on it, lives to whom we owe our very existence."
The room fell silent.
Finally Adam said, "Originals. You know something more about the Originals."
"I know this young man," Seraphim motioned towards Sage who had been listening intently, his blue eyes wide, "is not the last of his kind in this world. I know others are on their way to claim what they left behind and to see the world created by their explorers. I know there is danger."
"What kind of danger?" Adam asked. "Do I have your word?"
"Like you"d believe anybody," Vincent scoffed. "You probably wouldn"t trust your own mother."
"Like yours, my mother died long ago. And like your parents, Vincent, mine died at Luci"s hand. You all must do what I ask and trust what I say." At that moment, everyone in the room became aware of power rolling off Seraphim, almost frightening in its intensity.
"We know little of your past, Kellen," Lourdes said. "Tell us who you are and what you want, then we might consider what you ask."
"More is known of my past than you think-at least by one of you." Seraphim"s eyes again held Marina"s. "You don"t remember me."
"Should I?" she asked.
"I suppose not. You knew me as a child, long before my scent changed to one of manhood. Do you remember Her and Zue?"
Marina"s quickening heartbeat echoed throughout the room. "Her and Zue. The Originals had found them drifting at sea and brought them to Atlantis. Their son was the first Immaculate born to hybrids." She stopped suddenly and drew a sharp breath. "The first Immaculate?"
Seraphim nodded slowly. "I was the first. Son of Her and Zue."
"It can"t be. After the fight with Luci, not even a century after the destruction of Atlantis, the Original"s last shuttle was destroyed. There were no survivors. Herm and Sheb -"
"Were severely injured in the crash. My parents were dead by the time I got there. We"d separated and I"d been tracking in the wrong direction. I took Herm and Sheb underground and tried to help them, but -" Seraphim shook his head. "I think there were moments they hated me for saving them. They often said for many reasons they should take their own lives, but how easy is that?"
"You mean there are still Originals alive?" Matthew Winter"s curiosity was almost tangible.
"Why haven"t they revealed themselves?" Ca.s.sia asked. "Fear," Marina whispered. Seraphim nodded. "Exactly." "Fear of what?" demanded Arkin.
"Fear of once again giving too much power and knowledge to a race not ready for it. Fear of being used and abused for what they are."
"They"re supposed to be all powerful, yet you expect us to believe they fear us ?" Lourdes" dark eyes narrowed with irritation and disbelief.
"As they"ve often told me, they"re not warriors. They never were," Seraphim said. "They were their mission"s scientists. Luci and the others were the warriors. Now they"re all dead."
"Scientists?" Matthew could scarcely control his excitement. "Original scientists. G.o.d, what we could learn from them!"
Vincent"s rage was just as prominent. "You don"t expect us to believe this bulls.h.i.t? First Immaculate my a.s.s! You"re a G.o.dd.a.m.n fruitcake, Seraphim, and you always have been!"
"I, too, find it difficult to believe you"re actually the First," Lourdes said.
"This man is obviously a fraud who has been working with Sir Edward to keep the Flower-and heaven knows how much other knowledge of our forbearers-from the rest of us," Arkin stated. "Again, I suggest we scour his thoughts."
"I agree," Pilar said. "Together, the Jury should enter his mind and learn the truth." "First Father?" Ca.s.sia said as she and the others turned to Adam.
"All in favor of forcibly searching Seraphim Kellen"s mind, please stand," Adam stated, and stood along with the other five Jury members. He drew a deep breath. "It"s unanimous. We will make this as painless as possible, Seraphim. Cooperation will make it easier. We have no desire to hurt you, but we need the truth."
Tension hung on the air. Matthew, and for once even Vincent, exuded pity. Hannah"s fear filled the room like mist. Only Seraphim remained as closed and calm as the Jury.
"Are you ready, Seraphim?" Marina asked.
"Are you?" Seraphim"s voice, just above a whisper, seemed to echo through the room before everyone was suddenly absorbed in utter blackness.
The feeling of Seraphim"s power as it grasped every person in the room and wrapped them in its ancient magic was inexplicable. The closest description would be if an enormous vacuum sucked you, body and soul, across a galaxy of blackness. Then images began forming with such intensity they were no longer the pictures of someone else"s memories, but true experiences. The smell, feel, sight, sound, and taste were reality.
Some flashed so quickly they made a person lose his breath. Hannah"s soft body and gleaming little incisors. Love. Wounds from platinum bullets painful enough to make one scream. Hot blood running down your throat. Loneliness. Emptiness. Fear of discovery. Hatred. The embrace of two pale, legless creatures with tusk-like fangs and gentle touches that healed, soothed, and cared.
Gunfire. Gas chambers. Bleeding in foxholes alongside humans who would never resurrect. Racing across open plains after herds of buffalo. Wrestling mountain lions and swimming across muddy rivers too wide to see from one side to the other.
The rocking of a sinking ship. Lungs filled with water, straining for air. Rebellions. Burned crops. Dancing. Laughter. Hopes crushed. Plague-ridden towns. The odor of burning pyres. Witch! Evil! Killer!
Naked, fighting lions. Cheering crowds of Rome loud enough to make one deaf.
Beautiful dancer. Love. The taste of sweet mortal blood. Vincent"s spite. Vincent! Love-stealing b.a.s.t.a.r.d! Kill him for killing my happiness! Oh, G.o.d, she"s dead! No! I loved her and I killed her. Why did I take her blood? G.o.d, if I could die!
Luci! First Father! Pain. Ripped body and torn soul. Drained unto death. Beaten until no flesh left. Raw skin burning in the sunlight. Here. Vincent"s parents, the Senator and his lovely wife, dead. Drained. Surrender, sweet, young Immaculates. Surrender to the First Father. Let me take away your pain.
Fighting in the mountains of China. Meditate on all that was, is, and will be. Drain your mind. Bleed your soul.
Huts and tents. Mule and camels. Crossing deserts on foot. The desert deep below. Utter blackness. Pain. Sadness. The touch ofHerm and Sheb.
Drawing pictures on cave walls. Beating drums. Skinning sticks. Firewood for warmth. Dirt. Cold. Heat.
Green mountains and clear rivers. Clean houses. Books. Shuttles flying across the sky and sinking an island of laughter, knowledge, and beauty. An island bathed in blood and crawling with half-formed creatures ready to destroy a newborn world.
When the images faded, it took several long moments for the room"s collective trembling to cease. Tears streamed from the Jury"s eyes. Pilar had fainted, and even Lourdes and Adam jerked their sleeves across their damp faces.
Vincent held Trixie tightly as she sobbed against his chest. He"d given up trying to control his own emotions. They were stronger than anyone else"s as his grief, shame, and rage screamed above the other"s thoughts. Like Seraphim and Marina, he had been there. He had watched his parents die. Again.
Sage and Hannah seemed frozen in spite of the tears dripping from their eyes. Matthew, eyes br.i.m.m.i.n.g though he had yet to cry, was the first to recover enough to move. He approached Seraphim who had fallen to his knees in the center of the room and placed a firm but comforting hand on his shoulder. Kellen"s eyes glistened with moisture and the ebbing of his power. Power and clarity of memories unlike anyone present that night had ever believed possible.
"My G.o.d," Marina murmured, rising from her chair and taking several shaky steps towards Seraphim. "Sera. It is you."
Hannah, finally able to move, hurried to Seraphim and knelt in front of him, touching his face.
"I"m sorry," Seraphim told her, taking her hands and pressing them to his chest. "But I couldn"t show them without showing you."
"I wouldn"t have wanted you to," she said and melted into his embrace.
"We"ll have a recess until three am," Adam stated. "Then we can meet and hear what you want to do about the Originals. That is what you want, isn"t it? Help for them?"
Seraphim nodded.
Silently, the Jury filed out of the room followed by Sage, Vincent, and Trixie. Seraphim stood, holding Hannah"s hand. He glanced at Matthew. "If you still want me to train you, I will."
"I do," Matthew told him.
Seraphim nodded before he and Hannah left the room.
Chapter Sixteen.
"I need air," Vincent said, releasing Trixie"s hand as soon as they climbed the bas.e.m.e.nt stairs. As he strode toward the front door, she caught his arm.
"Wait a minute, Dilorenzo! I"m coming with you."
Together, they stepped into the balmy night and walked to the end of the long driveway. Vincent turned, gazing back at Jules" enormous house, but Trixie guessed he wasn"t really seeing it. He was still wrapped in the memories Seraphim had forced on them.
"I guess we can"t even be mad at him for making us experience...that," Trixie shook her head.
"I didn"t believe him, you know, when he said he was old enough to remember living in a cave." Vincent snorted with humorless laugher. "s.h.i.t. Everything was so clear. It was bad enough remembering how I felt, but now I know how he felt, too."
She shook her head. "I"ve never experienced anything like that in my life."
"And I thought the Jury was strong. He makes Arkin and Lourdes look like teenagers dabbling in Wicca."
"As powerful as he is, Vinnie, he needs help. If he didn"t, he never would have shown everyone his memories. All his memories. He didn"t want to leave a doubt in anyone"s mind that he is who he says he is."
"The Originals. Alive. Here." Vincent balled his fists. "All this f.u.c.kin" time. Maybe they could have helped us destroy the First Father-Luci, I mean-long ago."
"I don"t think so. Did you see they"re permanently injured. They can"t get out of those chairs. And I don"t think the two of them together were strong enough for Luci."
Vincent ran a hand through his hair. "Yeah. I remember. The b.a.s.t.a.r.d. G.o.d!"
Trixie heard his growl of anguish and flung her arms around him. His pain cried out to her. She sensed the loss of his family, the betrayal of everyone and everything- including himself-to serve a creature he hated, and finally the relief when Luci died. Guilt still haunted him. He"d buried it deep for centuries, but it was there, eating him alive in spite of how he couldn"t bring himself to die.
"d.a.m.n it, Trixie! For so many years I didn"t see any other choice but to bide my time and serve him!"
"Unless you wanted to die, you had no other choice!" She grasped his shoulders, feeling the tension in his steely muscles as she shook him with all her Immaculate strength.
He pulled away, his incisors flashing in the darkness, his eyes glowing burgundy. "f.u.c.k! I see other choices I could have made now! Seraphim never gave in to him! Even Adam and Matthew, a couple of wet behind the ears kids, never gave in!"
"Okay, so they never gave in, but Seraphim didn"t kill Luci! And if it hadn"t been for you studying with that evil Original b.a.s.t.a.r.d for so many centuries, Adam and Matthew wouldn"t have had the proper training to kill him! I"m not saying you always made the heroic choice, Vinnie, but f.u.c.k it, you made the right ones! Like it or not, without you, the First Father wouldn"t have gotten what was coming to him!"
Vincent drew a deep breath. When he spoke, his voice sounded calmer though his eyes still gleamed with emotion. "Yeah, well, that doesn"t matter much to the thousands he-and I-killed along the way."
Trixie sighed. She thought she"d known him well, but had never guessed beneath his porcupine veneer, he had so many doubts and so much regret. Perhaps that was what she"d always loved about him, though even she hadn"t realized it. Vincent Dilorenzo did have a soul, in spite of what he liked the rest of the world to think.
"You have to live with what you did, Dilorenzo. We all have to live with our choices. A lot of people wouldn"t ever have gone against Luci, let alone sign on as a minion with plans of betraying him, no matter how long it took. You"ve made a great start at turning your life around. You"ve been a Network agent for over ten years -"
"Ten years is nothing stacked against two thousand years of living like an a.s.shole."
Trixie"s giggle turned to full blown laugher.
"What"s so funny?" Vincent demanded.
"S...Sorry, Dilorenzo!" she choked, touching his face.
He grinned. "You"ve got a weird sense of humor, you know that?"
"Uh huh."
"I know at least one decision I made that was right-making you Mrs. Dilorenzo." He grasped her waist and yanked her close, covering her mouth with his.
"What do you want to do until three o"clock?" she asked. He took her face in his hands and gazed into her eyes. "I really need you, Trix." She offered him a slow, sensual smile. "Jules gave us all rooms while we"re here." "And we still have honeymooning to do."
Together, they walked back to the house, pa.s.sing Arkin on the way. The tall, pale Immaculate glanced at Vincent with a look of contempt. Vincent winked at him, and he turned away with a disgusted growl.
"He hates me." Vincent grinned. "And man, do I love rubbing it in." "Taunting a member of the Jury. Not a wise idea, Vin."
"f.u.c.k him." Vincent shrugged, unb.u.t.toning his shirt as they climbed the stairs and stepped into their room. Trixie closed the door with her foot as she tugged off her own shirt and unzipped her pants.