Call of the Raven Page 11

  Staked on an opened page by a silver dagger was the source of the smell, a pup fetus. Behind him Kennedy let out a startled scream. Blood dripped down the dagger and pooled on the brittle page.

  Asher knew the page.

  He understood the meaning.

  Quickly spinning away, he hurried to his room.

  The cook had served him something for lunch he wasn’t sure of and regrettably it looked the same floating on the water as it did on his plate that afternoon. And that thought just made him all the sicker. When there was nothing left in his stomach to throw up, Asher flushed the toilet and sat in the corner of the bathroom with knees drawn to his chest, far too exhausted to move.

  He need not look up. With the bond reopened he not only sensed Ari coming, he could feel his anxiety. In time Asher would learn how to manage the connection but at the present, his strength of body as well as mind was gone. Ari crossed the bathroom floor and filled a Dixie cup with water and brought it to Asher, along with a wet cloth.

  “Drink this brother. It will make you feel better.” Lowering down on his haunches, Ari watched him as he drank the water and used the cloth to wipe his face, then mouth.

  “I’ve never understood how someone so tough can be so weak.” The expression on Ari’s face reminded Asher of the way he looked at him when they were younger, before things got complicated. “You can kick the behinds of ten men by yourself, but then crumble at the sight of blood. It doesn’t make sense.” With the bathroom suddenly warm Asher unzipped the parka and Ari pulled it off his arms.

  “I’m hemophobic Ari,” Asher exhaled. “It’s not something I can control, nor am I proud of.” When Ari remained quiet, Asher peered up at him. “I guess you assumed I wouldn’t come.” The smile tended to fade on his brothers lips all too quickly with his words.

  “Honestly Asher I hoped you would but—”

  “You needn’t say anything else,” Asher cut him off and with Ari’s help he stood and went to his room. Sitting down on the bed, Asher put a hand to his head since the room was spinning. With the parka in hand, Ari crossed to the closet. “I know how you feel about me, how everyone feels about me,” Asher softly spoke. “You don’t believe I’m capable of a generous bone. But I meant what I said at the cabin. You’re my brother and I had no intention of not coming. I’ll always protect you.”

  Exhaling, Ari walked back to the bed and squatted down before him and started unlacing Asher’s boots. “Asher, you’re in that crashing down state you always get in during a magic drain.” He pulled off a boot and tossed it in the corner. “And what are you talking about. I’m supposed to protect you but you took that away from me a long time ago.”

  He pulled off his other boot and then helped him into bed. “You took away my purpose and now you’ve gone and opened the link again. Don’t you know how hard that’s going to be for me if you don’t let me be what I’m supposed to?”

  Ari walked to the dresser. He knew exactly where Asher kept his things. Reaching in the third drawer Ari removed the black shorts that he liked to sleep in and threw them at him. The expression in his eyes was evident. Ari was struggling with understanding.

  “I appreciate all that you do for me,” Asher told him, “but you’re not my servant.

  Ari gestured toward his body. “No, I’m your brother and despite your treatment of me I’ve always taken care of you, but I’m not undressing you, spirit link or not. Now silliness aside Asher, I need to know what’s going on…what’s really going on here?”

  Asher thought about that then slowly shook his head. “I want to tell you Ari but the truth sometimes can hurt people…people we wish to protect…people we care about.”

  “Asher, please don’t shut me out again,” Ari pleaded.

  “I’ve never intentionally shut you out Ari. I did what I was told.” Asher smiled bitterly. “However, in this matter, I can only tell you what I know and that’s not a whole lot. We can talk though,” he added quickly when he saw Ari’s mouth open, ready to protest, “but first go have Kennedy take care of your head. I have no magic left or I would heal you.” With his eyes faltering closed Ari covered him up with the comforter.

  “Thank you brother,” Ari said. “I’ll hold you to those words. Get some rest. I’ll be back later to hear what you have to say.”

  ***

  Ari stood with the small of his back to the bathroom sink as Kennedy finished taping the last of his bandage. Ever since she had entered and taken over he had avoided her gaze, but those eyes were determined to be dealt with.

  “Ari, I thought I lost you.”

  “Kennedy please,” Ari pushed her gently back by the arms as she moved in even closer. “We’ve been through this countless times. I see you as—”

  “A girl?” she cut him off.

  “No, my little sister but yes that too.”

  Turning his back to her, Ari collected the unused bandages and antiseptic ointment and placed them back inside the medical kit. When he started for the door, Nixon suddenly appeared in front of him. His hands were covered in blood. Ari had plans to return the kit to the cabinet in the hall, but tossing it aside, he turned on both faucets knowing perfectly well what Nixon had done.

  “Get over here,” he ordered him. “I told you I would clean it up.”

  “I know but I had to check something out.” Nixon crossed directly to the sink, but instead of putting his bloody hands under the running water, he held them up before Ari. “Take a whiff,” he insisted.

  Ari had no problem smelling them. They smelled strong of blood and something else—something of a chemical nature which he assumed was getting the best of Nixon by his current behavior.

  “Nixon whatever you used to clean that up is affecting you. Just wash up—”

  “That smell is what I’m trying to get you to notice. Come on Kennedy, you should know.”

  Kennedy wrinkled her nose in disgust. Nixon stood between them, hands up, dripping blood droplets on the white tile floor. His eyes glistened and a small knowing smile was fixed on his lips. “Nixon, have you lost your mind?” she gingerly asked before Ari had the chance to.

  “Well since you’ve felt the need to ask me that question twice in the last couple hours, I’d have to say there’s a strong chance that I have.” Nixon thrust his hands in her direction. Kennedy let out a yelp and headed for the door. At that point he looked at him. “How about you Ari or did I interrupt something more important?”

  Ari watched Nixon, how his brow curved upwards in wait of an answer, while behind him Kennedy came to a complete stop. Slowly she turned around just as Ari breathed in. The smell was familiar but he couldn’t quite place it.

  “Bleach?” Ari shrugged. Nixon disagreed with a shake of his head. “Look,” he said, “since I get the distinct feeling you already know. Why don’t you just go ahead and tell us, Nixon.”

  “I wasn’t the best biology student but I do recognize the scent of formaldehyde. The pup fetus was taken from a lab somewhere, not from its mother.”

  “Well that’s a relief,” Kennedy responded. “However, I was a good student. Formaldehyde might explain the chemical smell if it was preserved but not the blood. There should be none.”

  “Yeah, and you being the huntress should have recognized the fact it was not only fresh, it was human. Those two factors, the pup fetus with human blood tells me, the message most definitely was for Asher.”

  “Well maybe I could have had it not been hidden behind chemical and smoke,” Kennedy argued, clearly not understanding.

  Nixon didn’t reply back which was the first indication that something bothered him. Instead, he became engrossed in washing the blood from his hands and avoiding eye contact. Nixon was there in the room. He washed away the blood from the book and got rid of the mess.

  He understood the message.

  Ari not being a member of the Pillar Council wasn’t allowed to read anything from the archives, even though, unlike Nixon and Kennedy, he knew about the room. Nixon, on th
e other hand, who was a member of the Pillar Council could read the page with the Keeper’s permission of course, but Asher had never felt lead to do that.

  “What is it Nixon,” Ari asked. “Did you discover something in the book?”

  Nixon nodded. “The page talked about Asher’s lack of a protégé heir—a successor. Apparently if none is provided he’s supposed to take a wife to produce one.”

  “Well we both know that’s not going to happen,” Ari said. “What else did it say, why would Ross and his men leave that fetus behind as a warning?”

  “That I’m not sure about but I do know this. If Asher isn’t called and he doesn’t have an heir by the time he’s thirty-five, the wolf’s reign falls to the tiger. I can’t see my—Ross caring much if the wolf’s leadership comes to an end.”

  When Ari’s eyes fell curiously on Nixon with the near slipup of words, Nixon turned around and started washing his hands again. Crossing the room, Ari gently pushed Kennedy out the door and shut it behind her. He took a towel from the cabinet and sat it next to Nixon. “When did you get your memory back?” he asked.

  “I found a badge, a Raven’s crest next to your car.”

  Ari smiled. “I pulled it off an Asian kid. I hoped you would.”

  “Then you’ve always known about my father…that he’s in on this rebellion?”

  “I wasn’t sure who was behind the rebellion until he walked into the cabin, but the day Grant kicked Zareth Ross out of the Union, I was in the room. As Guardian to all Keepers it was my duty to protect Grant, even though technically I was just there for moral support, and to act as a witness since I was just fifteen at the time.”

  “And Asher, you know about him?” Nixon asked.

  Ari shrugged, “I know he was extremely upset by what he found.” He surveyed Nixon’s expression, and then shook his head. “Is there something else I should know?”

  “I guess not,” Nixon sniffed, wiped his hands on the towel and headed for the door. “I guess it doesn’t matter…not really.”

  Ari remained behind to clean the blood from the floor and sink top, and when he exited his room with intentions of heading downstairs to make tea for Asher, he noticed Kennedy sitting on his bed. He gestured her to follow.

  “Don’t be angry with me.” He had seen her hurt expression when he shoved her out the door.

  “This is about Nixon. Something is bothering him,” she surprised him by saying. Ari stopped on the stairs and with a long exhale of breath, faced her. He had intended on replying somewhat sarcastic, since that was a given fact, but when he took in her serious expression, he gestured her to go on. “When we were coming back Nixon stopped the snowmobile and acted all panicky. He kept looking at the woods like he thought someone was going to jump out at us. I’ve never seen him so afraid. And then at the cabin, he ran and hid. When have you ever known Nixon to run from a fight?”

  “Not all that often,” Ari agreed, “not even from Asher.”

  “I didn’t know about that man—Ross being his dad until he said so upstairs. Was it on the account of him that Nixon acted that way?”

  “You were too young to fully remember the condition Nixon was in when he got here, but yes I believe his behavior had a lot to do with that. Nixon hasn’t seen his dad since he was younger, before Grant brought him here.”

  “I know that he was abused. I’ve seen his scars,” Kennedy said. “I think Nixon’s afraid he’ll come for him.”

  “That’s a possibility,” Ari agreed. “But I’m sure realizing his old man’s behind my kidnapping is more than he can deal with right now.”

  “Then you think he’ll be all right?”

  Ari gave her a nod. “I’ll see to Asher and then I’ll go find him, but until then maybe you can keep him busy. Search the grounds and make sure everything’s as it should be.” Reaching out he touched Kennedy’s soft cheek and grinned. “Everything is going to be okay. I’ll see to that. I always have.”

  Chapter Nine

  Hidden Truth

  What was left of the mouth was open in a silent scream of horror. Flesh, decomposed or pecked away by birds exposed bone and teeth. Bits of rotted cloth adhered to the skull with dried blood and matted hair clung to the forehead. The hair was long and black and looked just like his.

  Asher fought to clear the image from his mind.

  He fought for breath and reason.

  He tried not to see the name or accept the fact the ghastly remains—the rotting body leaning up against the stone was him. Forcing himself to wake up, Asher instantly noticed the silhouette of his brother standing before the window across the room.

  “Playing vigil again Ari?” Asher took a deep breath and pushed his sweat damp hair out of his eyes.

  “You were having another nightmare. I brought you some of your tea. It should still be warm,” Ari said.

  Asher sat up and placed a pillow behind his back while Ari crossed the room. He removed the mug of tea from the nightstand and handed it to him. He had changed into jeans and a sweatshirt and was sporting a white bandage on his forehead. Asher could tell by his sleepy eyes that Ari had yet to go to bed.

  He began to picture his brother with the rope around his neck and wasn’t even aware of his breathing or the fact he was growing angry until he felt Ari watching him.

  “They didn’t hurt me Asher,” he said. “I hit my head when I wrecked, and I can’t even blame anyone but me. The roads were pretty bad.”

  “And you just happened to be followed by a band of outcasts in a truck with a winch on the front, Ari?” Asher asked skeptically. He paused long enough for Ari to respond, but he merely shook his head, exhaled loudly and sat back in the chair. “The only clear fact I see is they didn’t have to cause your accident. You did that for them by driving too fast.”

  “But I wouldn’t have been driving too fast had you—” stopping midsentence Ari took another deep breath and let it out slowly. “Look, I know about the phones and I know you cancelled the meeting. I know they took me to draw you away from here, so they could get inside, and I know you feel bad about that, but I wasn’t hurt and nothing was taken. So, let’s move on to something else. Let’s talk about Zareth Ross. What did he want?”

  Reaching over, Asher took the mint tin from the nightstand and took out two. He handed one to Ari and put the other in his mouth. The tea relaxed him just as the mints did. “You’ve studied the rebellion, what do you think Ross wanted?”

  “I don’t know Asher, what do most tyrants want, power, recognition, revenge. Your guess is as good as mine.”

  “What else do you know?”

  Ari stretched, “Not much other than the list of names Vince compiled of Ross’s known followers and supporters. He’s got a couple multi-million dollar corporations behind him. Who knew sponsors weren’t just for racecar drivers and basketball players these days.”

  “Multi-million dollar companies huh?” Asher pondered. “What do you think they do with the money?”

  “Afford the finest silk for those robes?” Ari exhaled. “Come on Asher, they buy condos and have their toes painted. Who knows? Who cares?” He looked sideways at him. “Honestly ever since you put me to work auditing the accounts department, I haven’t had a chance to go over the information much. Vince Donavan came here at Linn’s request with my approval. He knows more about them. I figured I would invite him to lunch and compare notes.”

  “Did you tell me that Vince Donavan was coming?”

  “Yes, you didn’t listen,” Ari said. “But that’s old news. We went through this at the cabin. I tried to warn you about the uprising, and now it’s here. Let’s proceed, Ross wanted something here at Lake Manor, and whatever that was must have been pretty important to risk facing your wrath. Everyone in the Union fears your powers.”

  “I’ve looked over the documents about the uprising. We can talk about them further if you like.”

  Even though his willingness surprised Ari he shook his head. “We’ll get to that, your evading my
question. Tell me about that book in the archives closet. Nixon told me what was on the page.” Ari held up a hand when Asher opened his mouth to answer. “I know he didn’t have your permission but he is a member of the Pillar Council. But I’m not letting you sidetrack me. I want an answer. Why didn’t you feel the need to mention to me that you had a deadline to produce a child?”

  “I’m trying to answer you,” Asher glared at him, “if you would shut up long enough so I can.”

  “Fine, tell me.”

  “I didn’t see the point of taking a wife just to have an heir when I vowed not to love.” Asher angrily spoke. “Besides, I always thought an heir would be provided for me.”

  Asher contemplated his brother’s somber mood. He couldn’t tell what he was thinking, even with the link open. He just sat staring straight ahead. The only time Asher knew his brother to be quiet was when it came to his beliefs of the curse or his vows. That however was an argument best saved for another time.

  “Truth is, Ari, I don’t know why Ross left that warning. I can’t see that he would care if the wolf should fall—not when the Gothi feel they should be the leaders of us all.”

  “Oh who knows? That guy is certifiably insane. You should have heard him talking about epiphanies and purpose. He’s nuts.” Rubbing at his eyes, Ari let out a weary sigh. “On a less significant note, I’ve been thinking about something. During the first break in when you were hit, your magic protected the manor. Why would Ross go through the trouble of taking me to draw you away from here, if he could get past your magic?”

  “Because someone other than Ross was responsible for the first intrusion, but that is the key Ari, and speaking of keys,” Asher explained his trip to the old mans while Ari closely listened. “I believe someone with access to the manor stole the key to keep it from Ross. They hit me because they didn’t want me to identify them,” he finally said.