All You Desire (49 page)

“
I
told you to wait inside?” Haven looked up at Iain. He shook his head in confusion. “When did I say that?”

“Yesterday, goddammit! Have you lost your mind, Haven?”

“Beau,” Haven said gently. “I haven't spoken to you in weeks. I've been searching all over for you. I came back from Italy to find you.”

“Of course we haven't
spoken
. Adam's got all the phones bugged. You
e-mailed
me.”

“He's hallucinating,” Haven whispered to Iain. “We need to—”

“Goddammit, I am
not
hallucinating!” Beau barked.

“Hey, you guys?” Ramona was standing in the doorway to the vault, her eyes wide. “You better come out. Something's wrong with that redheaded girl.”

“Who's
she
? And what the hell is
Leah
doing here?” Beau croaked. “Hey!”

 

HAVEN AND IAIN were already outside in the basement. Leah lay on the floor, her limbs twitching uncontrollably. Her eyes had rolled back so far that only the whites were visible. Her lips spelled out silent words.

“What's happening to her?” Ramona asked. “Is she sick? You want me to run and fetch a doctor?”

“No,” Haven said, reaching down for Leah's hand. “A doctor won't help. She's seeing the future.”

“That child's giving prophecy?” Ramona asked, awestruck.

“Yes,” Haven told her. Ramona dropped to her knees, her head bowed and her fingers laced in prayer. Her friend woke and shuffled over to join her. They waited, scarcely moving, until Leah was still and her lips sealed.

“Leah,” Haven whispered. “Are you back? What did you see?”

Leah's eyes popped open, and her lungs filled with air. “It ain't over,” she said.

“What in
the hell
is going on?” Haven looked up to find Beau watching over the scene.

“The plague is still coming,” Leah continued. “We haven't stopped it. We've only made it more certain.”

“But
how
?” Haven groaned. “I've done everything I could. Adam is locked away in the mausoleum. You're the only one with a key.”

“What?” Beau interjected. “But I thought . . .”

Iain put a hand on Beau's broad shoulder. “We'll hear your story next,” he promised him. “Just listen for now.”

“I was sure we'd put an end to it all,” Haven continued. “The Ouroboros Society will be shut down. Halcyon Hall will have to close. The kids will all go home.”

“I think that may be the problem,” Leah said. “They can't go back to their ordinary lives. They know who they are now, and they know what they can do. But they're still so young. They need to be taught that their power can be used as a force for good.”

“You're saying Halcyon Hall has to stay open?”

“The closer this future comes to being certain, the more I can see of it. Now that Adam's gone, Milo won't have to leave New York. And we're not the only ones who know about him. Pretty soon, someone's going to start putting the wrong ideas in his head. She'll have Milo convince the Halcyon Hall kids that they need to seize power by any means necessary.”

“
She
? Other than us, who knows about Milo?”

“I recognized a woman in this vision. I'm pretty sure it was that girl Chandra.”

“Chand—” Beau started to exclaim before Iain gave him another reassuring pat on the shoulder.

“I get it now,” Haven said. “Chandra knows exactly what the Halcyon Hall kids can do. She heard the prophecy too, which means we've even given her a plan. She's going to use Milo to seize control—of the Horae and the whole city. The only way to stop her is to save the Society and Halcyon Hall.”

“But how?” Iain asked. “Have you seen the papers today? The Ouroboros Society is dead. No one will want to be associated with it. You really think we can save it at this point?”

“We're not the ones who can save it,” Haven said. “I should have figured that out a long time ago. But I think I know someone who might be right for the job.”

“You mean?” Leah asked.

“Yep.” Haven held out a hand and helped Leah to her feet. “You feeling good to go?”

“I am now,” Leah said.

“What in the
hell
are they talking about?” Beau asked Iain.

“No idea,” Iain replied.

“Hold up, Haven,” Beau said. “Will you
please
tell me what's going on? Where are we going?”

“We're going to introduce you to your soul mate,” Haven said with a grin.

“You're joking,” Beau said.

“Nope,” Haven told him. “I'm so serious that I'm even going to insist you take a shower.”

“Who
are
you people?” Haven turned to see Ramona and her friend staring at them. She'd forgotten they were still there.

“I'll be back soon with the money we owe you, Ramona,” Leah said. “I appreciate you praying with me. I never forget a good turn.”

CHAPTER FORTY-EIGHT

“I got off the plane and took a cab to the address on 114th Street that I'd been given,” Beau told his rapt audience in the back of the taxi. “Course the driver dropped me off on the wrong corner, and it took me a while to find the right building. So I finally get there, and I walk up the stairs and ring the buzzer. And Chandra answers the door. What was she doing in Leah's visions, anyway?”

“We'll explain later,” Haven told him. “We want to hear your side of the story. Just assume we know nothing.”

Beau took in a deep breath. “If you say so, but for the record, this all really couldn't get any weirder.”

“No kidding,” Haven replied.

“Okay, so Chandra answers the door at the apartment where Roy Bradford was supposed to live. I don't recognize her at first, and I'm not expecting to see some
girl
—much less a girl who lives in an apartment that looks like it's right out of another century. So I tell her I'm sorry to bother her. But she insists I'm at the right place and tells me to come inside and have a beer. I'm sitting there thinking ‘I know this chick from somewhere.' Then I figure out
where
. She was the one who saved our butts in that Indian grocery. And that really started to mess with my head.”

“Were you scared?”

“Of Chandra? Hell no! The girl's what, five feet tall? I've eaten sandwiches bigger than her. But that was when I started to realize the whole trip was going to be about
you
again, Haven. No offense, but I was a
little
disappointed.”

“Sorry,” Haven said. “I swear I'll make it up to you soon. What did Chandra tell you?”

“She said she belongs to a group called the Horae. Their job is to watch over you.”

“Watch over
me
?” When Haven started to snicker, Iain and Leah joined in.

“Am I supposed to ignore the fact that I'm not in on your little joke?” Beau growled. “I just spent the night in a bank vault for you.”

“Sorry,” Haven said. She squeezed his muscular arm. “I won't laugh again.”

“Anyway,” Beau reluctantly continued. “Chandra reminded me of the time she saved us, and that seemed like proof enough of what she was saying. She told me that you were in trouble again. Adam had found you guys in Italy. Chandra said that the Horae were trying to figure out a plan to save you, and they needed my help. I had to convince you to fly back to New York.”

“Wait—what happened to Roy Bradford?”

“Roy Bradford doesn't exist. He was just a play to get me to come up here.”

“So how did Chandra know about our previous life in Florence?”

Beau looked at Haven as if she were crazy. “She was there too!”

“Interesting. But if my good friends the Horae wanted me back in New York, why didn't they just ask me to come?” Haven asked.

“Because Adam would get suspicious if you flew back for no reason. It needed to look like there was some kind of emergency.”

“I see.” Haven nodded. “Continue.”

“I don't like this game,” Beau said.

“It will be over soon,” Haven assured him.

“Chandra asked me to send you a message that would make you think I was in trouble—one only the two of us would understand. She said it would be more convincing if you really thought I'd been kidnapped or something.”

“So you texted pan-pan,” Haven said.

“Exactly. See, you
know
all this, Haven!”

“
Please
, Beau,” Haven begged. “Just humor me.”

“Chandra swore they told you the truth when you got to New York. But I couldn't be sure 'cause they wouldn't let me talk to you, and I didn't want you worrying about me on top of everything else. So one day when we went out to do some grocery shopping, I slipped away and called you from a pay phone. Chandra was
pissed
. She said that Adam might have the phones bugged and that I could have gotten you killed.”

“Is that when they beat you up?”

“What? They didn't beat me up. I was
mugged
. Why do you think I had to call you from a pay phone? The day after I got here, I went out for a soda, and two kids in masks jumped me from behind. Took all my money and my phone. Chandra wouldn't let me leave the house without an escort after that. So I just started staying inside. Then Adam found the apartment and sent the cops to raid it, so they hustled me up to the roof and across to another building. I was almost on the verge of walking out the door when they showed me that e-mail you sent.” He paused and searched Haven's face for any signs of recognition.

“
Please
. What did the e-mail say?”

“That it was time to go ahead with the plan. You'd found a way to lure Adam down to that vault. But you weren't strong enough to trap him all by yourself. You needed me to wait inside and surprise him.”

“How did you know the e-mail was from me?”

“Because the message came from your e-mail address. You're telling me that you didn't write it?”

Haven shook her head.

“Then who did?” Beau asked.

“It must have been Calum Daniels. He stole my phone yesterday.”

“Wait. You guys know Calum too?”

“You could say that,” Iain said.

“Hmmm,” Beau said. The notion that a television star might have been impersonating his best friend didn't seem to shock Beau as much as it should have. “I'm guessing I've been wrong about a lot of stuff. But to tell you the truth, Calum was the only part of this whole thing that felt totally off. The first night I got here, he showed up with a bottle of champagne. Chandra said he was friends with the Horae, even though she didn't seem to like him very much. I guess she couldn't really do anything to keep him away, since it was his apartment and all. By the way, have you seen that place, with the tiger-skin rug and the furniture that looks like it's right out of some old granny's house?”

“Yeah,” Haven said.

“Goddamm creepy, ain't it?” he asked with a shudder.

“Oh yeah,” Haven agreed.

“Anyway, Calum started putting the moves on me right away. Kept promising he'd introduce me to Alex Harbridge. At first I was a little starstruck, and I kinda found it flattering. But then it just got weird. He didn't want to know anything about me. Didn't even ask where I went to school. I got the sense that he was using me for something, though I still don't understand what it could have been. Finally, I just came out and told the little weasel that he wasn't my type, and that about drove him batshit insane. I've never seen anybody so mad. Not that it worried me. If Chandra hadn't sent him packing, I would have made sure his face wasn't fit for television anymore.”

“You may still get your chance,” Haven said.

“Really?” Beau asked eagerly.

“As long as you let me get a punch or two in,” Iain said. “He's
my
little brother, after all.”

“
Excuse me?
” Beau interjected. “Okay, I've had just about enough. Who here is going to explain why Iain's
brother
was so desperate to get into my pants? Or why I just spent twenty-four hours in a bank vault? And what's all this crap about a ‘soul mate'?”

“Which question would you like me to answer first?” Haven teased.

“Start with the soul mate!” Leah insisted. “That's the best part.”

 

IT WAS TWO in the morning by the time they reached the Andorra apartments. Across the street from the building, ten lawn chairs were lined up against the rock wall of Central Park. Each was filled with a dark, amorphous blob. Haven saw one of the shapeless creatures move and a glint of light reflected off a camera lens. The chairs, she suddenly realized, held men tucked into all-weather sleeping bags.

“Paparazzi,” Haven said. They were staking out the Andorra apartments. “They're looking for us, aren't they? How do you suppose they knew to come
here
?”

“It's probably my fault.” Iain sighed. “I told the police I've been staying at the Andorra. Someone must have leaked it to the press.”

“Hey, y'all? Is there anywhere else we can go?” Beau asked, massaging his temples. “After everything that's happened, I'm not really in the mood to pose for pictures.” He was still trying to absorb the outlandish story they'd told him, and he looked as if his brain might explode at any second.

“I'll run inside,” Leah said. “Those guys don't want any photos of
me
.”