Chosen (The Chosen Few Trilogy #1) (31 page)

He lef
t the sentence dangling, a
big, attention-grabbing carrot poised
over
our heads.

I watched the leaders of Aegis sink into confusion.

Who is the last of the Chosen?

And just as important:
how had the search spell failed to identify them?

4
2

YORK, ENGLAND

We couldn
’
t risk staying at the house so we decided to move to a new location. Before the
sun came up Ceriden had
left.
Shortly after that the rest of us rode out in convoy, Lucy, Holly and I riding in Belinda
’
s Audi, following Giles
’
Chrysler 300 and tailed by Jade driving Eleanor
’
s gleaming Lexus
. 

I knew the route. Belinda had taken Lucy and I to this place
just
a few days
ago
. I wondered how much money had been drained from my bank account
in that time
by those snapping sharks that masqueraded as the government.
And w
hen would Lucy’s headmaster decide to call me in person? Did
any of it
matter?

We were saving the world here, for Christ’s sake.

The yawning black hole that was my fear
of
failure
sent a snapping beast out into my brain.
It reminded
me that I couldn
’
t take all this. It said the power inside me was not my friend,
said it
would be a Judas to me
at the end of our days
.

When we all went down to Miami for our Last Supper.

And Lucy? My daughter entertained th
oughts about becoming a
shade. She saw the romantic side of it, the sweet, dark pain. How had it come to this? I wondered when events would drive her to the point of decision.

When we all went down to Miami…

Why the hell had I been chosen
anyway
?

Gravel crunched under the slow-moving wheels as Belinda brought the car to a stop
outside
Ceriden’s front door.

“
We
’
ll catch up,
”
Belinda put a hand on my arm as she spoke directly to the other two.
“
Go straight inside. Ceriden will be waiting.
”

I breathed deeply to calm
my nerves. Holly gave me a concerned
look as she exited the car, but said nothing. Lucy practically flew into the mansion.

“
I wanted to talk,
”
Belinda said into the resulting silence.

“
I get that.
” I noticed her t-shirt was simply black today. No legend.

“
It
’
s not easy for me. This, I mean,
”
she pointed at me and then at her.
“Us,” the cars leather seats creaked as she changed position. “
I
’
m usually pretty flighty. . .
a fickle
bird,
unreliable, but
never forgotten.
”

“
And the
knowing w
ill forever ru
in the person that met
you.
”
I said.

“
Something like that,
”
Belinda exhaled.
“
What I mean is I don
’
t usually hang around.
”

“
Why?
”

“
It
’
s the rule I live by.
The
Rule- no ties, no relationships. Because I
’
m not gonna live forever.
”

“
I don
’
t understand.
”

“Don’t
you,
Logan? Truly? I
’
m a
fighter
. I face off with monsters
nine days a week. Sooner or later I
’
m gonna come up against something I can
’
t beat,
”
she paused and looked at me sadly.
“
I won
’
t make anyone grieve for me.
”

I saw
an unattainable d
esire for companionship crush the light out of her eyes.

“
Grieve?
”
I repeated.
“
So you don
’
t want the responsibility of
knowing
that you have to survive.
”

“
I don
’
t want to leave anyone behind.
”

I held her sad gaze.
“
You don
’
t want to
care.
”

“
Logan, I
will
die young. It is inevitable. I
’
ve known that for years. It
’
s why I live my life to the full. Every hour of every day. It
’
s why I made that mistake
…”
she faltered.
“
With Ken.
”

It wrung my heart to see Belinda, of all people, diminished like this. And now I understood, or thought I under
stood, the motive
behind it.
“
I get it,
”
I said
.
“
You live. You have fun. You move on. It saves you from knowing that someone’s gonna cry for you when you’re gone. I get it.
”

“
Until now.
”

“
Sorry?
”

“
Until I met
you
, Logan. Sounds corny, doesn
’
t it? Crazy mad. But I guess you’re the exception to
The Rule
.
”

I nodded,
not trusting myself to speak.

“
Ken was meaningless,
”
Belinda said.
“
You are not.
”

“
Ah, Belinda,
”
I said
, leaning forward so I could frame her perfect face with my hands.
“
What the hell am I letting myself in for?
”

In the end
I went to bed about nine a.m. I dozed
restlessly
for a few
hours in my new bed and started awake early in the after
noon
. I explored Ceriden
’
s mansion,
a warren of over-decorated, extensively
modernized
, rooms. It must have cost millions to convert. Through the open door of one room I thought I saw Kate Moss and Bridget Hall, draped across a velvet chaise-longue,
laughing and
sipping champagne. When they beckoned to me,
and pointed towards a makeshift catwalk I
turned tail and ran. In another room I saw
a
set of ethereal twins with jet-black hair
that fell
down to their hips
.
They were laughing too, and running feathers up and down each
other’s
semi-naked bodies. Shades, maybe. Servants of vampires. It made me wonder about Mai, who seemed a likeable girl despite her obvious undead flaw, and about her relationship to Lucy.

Was Mai courting Lucy?

Or was Ceriden?

I thought about the
Maserati
s
, the Lamborghini I’d spied in the three car garage
. The sparkling Tiffany collection. The Bvlgari wall clocks. What was the salary for this
‘
save the world
’
gig anyway? I mean, one of those damn wall clocks would probably save my business.

Around another corner I came across Tanya. I smiled. “Thanks for helping out the other day.”

“Your daughter is sweet. But mixed up, I‘m afraid.”

I rolled my eyes. “Long story.”

“I guess. Well, we seem to have some time-”

I felt my stomach clench. “Not yet.”

“That’s okay, Logan. Just- don’t take too long about it. She needs to hear what you have to say.”

I nodded and turned away, unable to say more. I felt Tanya’s eyes following me until I turned the corridor, but it did not feel like the weighty stare of
judgment
. It felt more like, what?. . .
S
orrow
? Loss?
I wondered what Tanya Jordan regretted.

I ended up in Lucy
’
s room. I did think about visiting Belinda
’
s, but Lucy came first
and although my daughter and I were almost back on speaking terms, I still
hadn’t
tackle
d
her in depth about the
‘
Shade
’
allegation.

I locked Lucy
’
s door behind me. I perched on the edge of her bed, watching her sleep.

“
I love you, baby.
”
I whispered. She would always be my baby
. How could a father ever truly
express the
depthless
love he felt for his daughter?

Tears shone in my eyes as Lucy came awake.

“
Dad?
”

“
Hi.
”

Lucy rubbed her eyes and sat up.
“
Everything okay?
”

“
Yes,
”
I reached out and
stroked her hair
.
“
Don
’
t worry. We
’
re safe here.
”

“
No more Kisamis?
”

“
No more,
”
I agreed.

I saw her face cloud over.
“
What will happen to Myleene and the others?
”

The house in York was being
‘
cleaned up
’
even as we spoke. I didn
’
t go into detail.
“
They
’
ll be buried,
”
I said.
“
After.
”

“You mean
if we survive.
”

“
When
. Look, Lucy,
”
I couldn
’
t hold back any longer, and I couldn
’
t think of an
easy way to say it.
“
A Shade is not a person. After the consummation, they cease to feel. They cease to care.
”

Lucy looked at me for a long time.
“
That
’
s not true,
”
she said at last.
“
A Shade is loved by its Master, and loves in return. It is a lifelong bond, and once made a Shade will never feel loss or despair or loneliness ever again.
”

“
That
’
s not
living.
”

“
Living
’
s overrated.
”

I wondered where she was getting this from. Nights of conversation, perhaps. With Mai. How long had it been going on? And what was Ceriden’s agenda?

I wond
ered again if a vampire
courted its Shade.
“Oh, Lucy,
if living is overrated,
”
I said.
“
Then why the hell are all these good people putting their lives at risk to save the world? Tell me that.
”

“
Dad?
”
Lucy said then.
“
Why are you saying
this?
”