Drawing Bloodlines (18 page)

“She destroyed everything,” mumbled Dr. Colvers, sta
ring at the ceiling. “We were working late … and I was leaving for the airport when she attacked us.”

The windows in the office suddenly rattled. “It sounds like it’s coming from upstairs,” said A
ngela.

“He shoved me into the closet,” rambled Dr. Colvers. He tried to get up again, but crashed back down. “But my intern … she got away.” Fear suddenly swelled in his eyes and he began to shake. “But she went after her. She had pi
ctures of the symbols on her computer too.”

Nathan followed Dr. Colvers’ fixed gaze at the ceiling and then immediately took off running toward the stairs. He could hear footsteps b
ehind him as he headed up to the third floor. Nathan’s stomach tightened as he ran across the loose paper that covered the hallway. His heart began to beat fervently against his chest after he noticed the trail of blood on the walls and on the floor.

Growling sounds echoed throughout the hallway, fo
llowed by a spine-chilling, deafening sound. Before Nathan could reach the open door, a small black animal hurled out of the office and crashed against the wall. “Jonathan!” gasped Nathan, as he materialized back into human form.

In a swirl of blue and white lights, Jonathan lay unco
nscious. Quickly, Nathan knelt down beside him, but soon a high-pitched scream filled the hallway and Nathan rushed inside the room. “Let go of her!” he yelled, quickly coalescing the bright blue flame in his hand into a rolling fireball.

“I see you boys get around,” said the slender blonde woman dressed in black. She wore silver-rimmed, dark su
nglasses that gleamed in the growing sunlight. “Kind of far from Cahokia Falls, don’t you think?”

“I said let go of her!” threatened Nathan and the fireball in his
hand sparked a brighter flame.

“So, you’re the Firewalker I keep hearing about,” she chuckled, as she tightened her grip around the young intern’s neck. A trickle of blood ran down her arm and the intern tried to get free, but the slender woman still appeared too strong. “You might be a danger to the Fallen Ones, but I guarantee you, if you’re up for a round two, you’ll end up like your Spirit Wal
ker friend over there.”

“Try me,” said Nathan, firmly. His other hand cle
nched into a fist at his side.

With her right eyebrow cocked confidently over her si
lver-rimmed sunglasses, she grinned, but her stance faded abruptly. “Oh,” she said, stunned, as she watched Malick, followed by Lafonda, and then Alan and Leah, step into the room. “I see you bought more friends this time.”

“I think he’ll be okay,” said Angela, out of breath and running quickly into the room. She tossed her curly blonde hair from her face. “He’s unconscious still, but I
think he’ll make it.”

Alan gave Angela a slight nudge and she finally noticed the woman in black. “Oh,” said Angela, surprised. She frowned, eyeing the woman’s long black-leather trench
coat. “I see we have company.”

The woman in black’s captivating hazel brown eyes peered over her dark sunglasses and she appeared to be loo
king straight at Malick. “You know, I’ve always been a girl for a good party,” she smiled.

“Yeah, and a sucke
r for bad taste,” said Angela.

With her right eyebrow arched, she glared at Angela over her glasses and then slowly inched backward toward the large office window. Fo
rcibly, she pulled the intern with her, her hand still wrapped tightly around her neck. “Well,” she said, ripping the flash drive out of the intern’s hand and pushing her violently to the ground. “My work here is done.”

“Now!” yelled Lafonda. But before Nathan could throw his fireball, a series of blue ener
gy balls came crashing at him.

The woman in black laughed as Nathan and the others ducked. In the blink of an eye, she threw another series of energy balls at the large office window. Like an exploding bomb, pieces of wood and glass flew ever
ywhere as Nathan and the others dove for cover. “Ciao boys — and ladies!” she grinned. Quickly, she cradled her arm, before stepping out on to the ledge. Her long black trench coat blocked out the sun as she jumped out of the window.

11

FAMILY LEGACY

A gust of wind pushed through the large, shattered wi
ndow. Papers flew all around the disordered office as Nathan, Lafonda, and Angela peered out below. “Be careful of glass,” said Lafonda, as she shielded her eyes from the morning sun.

Carefully, Angela leaned over the windowsill. “I can’t believe she’s gone,” she said, moving to secure the strands of curly blonde hair that danced in her face.

“Are you sure she’s not lying squashed at the bottom?” asked Alan, rushing to look out the window.

“I guess we just met our blonde femme fatale,” said Leah, joining at his side. Her eyes searched the scene below, through the lifting fog.

Alan sighed and then turned his back toward the window. “And apparently, she doesn’t die easily either — like the rest of our supernatural cronies.”

Nathan smiled. “Are you using one of my words?” he teased.

“Umm, I think he picked that one up from me,” said Angela.

Alan peered over the windowsill again. “I know you guys said she was highly trained, but this goes far beyond a few flips and some cart wheels.”

“Yeah, she might have some skills,” said Angela, pausing to fix her hair. “But her clothes were definitely too tight and with all that black … she definitely has bad taste.”

Suddenly, there was a soft moan. “Are you okay?” said Lafonda, talking to the intern. B
ewildered, the intern tried to get to her feet. “You definitely have a knot on your head. Are you bleeding?” Urgently, Lafonda pointed to the ruby red spots on the floor. “There’s blood.”

“No,” she muttered finally. Slowly, she stood up and then placed a weak hand on her forehead. “At least I don’t think I am.”

Lafonda helped the intern to her feet, but looked confused as she looked around the room. “It’s not Jonathan’s,” said Angela. She turned pensively toward the hallway.

“And, how do you know?” asked Alan, with beady eyes.

“Because I checked him for injuries,” said Angela. Her fair skin suddenly became red after everyone turned to look at her. “Uh, Leah, can you help me check on Jonathan?” Leah nodded and Angela lowered her head as she swiftly exited the door.

“It’s our blonde’s,” said Nathan, “I mean the femme f
atale’s.” Pensively, he looked around the toppled over room. “I saw the bite mark on her arm. She must’ve gotten it from Jonathan.”

“That’s great!” said Alan, dramatically, pausing to look around the room. “But can som
ebody tell me what’s going on here. Why did Jonathan come here in the first place? And isn’t she affiliated with the Order?” He bent over to pick up a pile of papers and tossed them on the desk. “What do they want now?”

“It probably has something to do with the pi
ctures,” said Lafonda, while flipping over a chair so that the intern could sit down. Alan looked confused. “She was quick to take the flash drive from her, and Dr. Colvers said he had pictures of the symbols.”

Alan headed toward the door and then hovered in the doorway while watching Leah and Ang
ela. “Jonathan did say he had pictures of the cave symbols on his phone,” said Alan, “but how did they know? Does this mean they’re going to come after Jonathan’s phone?” Fervently, he turned to look at Nathan. “He needs to get those pics off his phone and away from me!”

“That’s a good question,” said Lafonda. “How did they know? I guess that’s a question we’re going to have to wait to ask Jonathan, or Dr. Colvers.” She turned to look at the intern, but she still appeared out of it.

“What’s wrong, Nathan?”

Quickly, Nathan broke his gaze and then shook his head. “Besides flying across the world to get cloaked only to find out that the Order is still after us?” he blurted. Lafonda and Alan’s eyes suddenly grew wide and Malick turned away. “She said that I was a threat to the Fallen Ones,” said N
athan, softly, lowering his voice.

“Great!” blurted Alan. “So, that means cloaked or not they
still will be looking for you.”

“Be quiet, Alan!” shouted Angela from the hallway. “You don’t know that!”

“I’m only stating the obvious here, Angela!” he said. “Stating the obvious.” Alan placed his hand on his forehead and muttered. “Why did I even come here?”

“Wait,” said Lafonda, pausing to pick up the knocked over floor lamp. She approached N
athan. “I thought you said they were using the medallion to find the one they seek. Wouldn’t they know by now if that was you?”

Pensively, Nathan continued to stare in front of him. “Lucius said, in my dream, that he would take care of the Firewalker — and he seemed delighted that there were two of us.” He turned to look at Malick. “But they’re still looking for som
eone — someone with a special ability — someone different.”

“And what do you have to say about all this?” asked Lafonda, staring incredulously at Malick. “You’ve been a
wfully quiet, especially after our little run in with Ms. Acrobat.” She looked at him skeptically. “Why did it seem like she was talking to you when she brought up parties?”

Malick fidgeted with his jacket and looked over at N
athan before rubbing the back of his neck. “Hello?” said Lafonda, when he didn’t respond.

“Umm, guys,” muttered Alan, while examining the front of the door. “You might want to come look at this.”

“Not now, Alan!” said Lafonda, placing her arms across her chest. “Malick?”

“What?” asked Malick flirtatiously. “I guess I’m just popular with the ladies.

Lafonda’s brown eyes were soon as large as saucers. “Are you kidding me?”

“Umm, excuse me?” said the intern, aloud. “But who are you guys?”

Quickly, Lafonda turned around. She had a sympathetic look on her face. “Oh, I’m so sorry,” she said. “We’re with Jonathan — Jonathan Black?” The intern appeared to recognize his name, but soon looked confused again. “I’m Lafonda Devaro and this is….”

“Devaro?” the intern said abruptly.

“Okay,” said Lafonda, crossing her arms again. “Why does everybody keep doing that when they hear my name?”

“I think I know why,” said Alan, slowly, opening the door. “Why does the sign on the door say this office belongs to Dr. Avery Devaro?”

Several frown lines appeared between Lafonda’s eyebrows as she rushed toward the door. “What?” she said, dramatically. She read the name on the door. “But that’s impossible. My dad is supposed to be working over at the British Museum this summer.”

“That’s correct,” said a stern voice behind her. Cautiou
sly, Alan backed away. “And you should be in Cahokia Falls getting ready for fall classes.”

“Uh–h … hi, Dad,” stammered Lafonda, biting her lip. Her hand trembled as she waved. “Uh, nice to see you?”

Dr. Devaro towered above her as he looked over his brown speckled glasses. His smooth mocha-colored face had several frown lines on his forehead. “Are you kidding me?” he said, while putting down his briefcase. He looked back into the hallway and then around the room. “What happened here? What happened to my office?” Briefly, he connected with all the faces in the room and stopped when he saw Nathan. “What are you two doing here, Lafonda? And why in the world is Gregory Black’s son passed out in front of my office?” 

Nervously, Lafonda turned to look at Nathan. “Dad … I can explain,” she said.

“And what happened to Sakiya Lee!” he asked, as he rushed to her. He examined her forehead and feebly, she smiled up at him. “What happened to Dr. Colvers’ intern?”

“You know Dr. Colvers?” she asked, appearing confused.

“Well, of course I do,” said Avery. “He’s a colleague of mine. I’m allowing his intern to use the office that the museum arranged for me when I’m not at the British Museum.” He stood up straight, to face Lafonda. “Okay … I’m waiting?”

“Uh, uh,” she stuttered. Helplessly, she turned to look at Nathan. “See….
”

“You don’t have to cover for me, or for us,” stammered Nathan. Everyone stood quietly, waiting for him to explain. “I think it’s about time that he knew.” Malick shook his head and Nathan shrugged. “It’s supposed to be hereditary an
yway, right?”

“Know what?” asked Avery, peering at him over his glasses. “What are you tal
king about?”

Nathan swallowed dryly and hesitated to speak. “See, we came to London to get … cloaked,” stumbled Nathan. “To prevent them from detecting us.” He looked nervously around the room as he sought encouragement from his friends. “And Jonas … and Bobby.”

“Jonas and Bobby?” said Avery, “Bart’s kids?” He cocked one eyebrow over his glasses as the space between his eyebrows crinkled. “Cloaked?” He turned to Lafonda. “What on Earth is he talking about? Does your grandmother know you’re here?”

“Dad?” pleaded Lafonda, in a whiny voice. “I can e
xplain….”

Dr. Devaro’s eyes looked like they were going to bulge out of their sockets. “Your grandmother doesn’t know you’re here?” he yelled. “And what about Roy? Surely he knows?” Lafonda’s forehead and top lip frowned sorrowfully b
efore her eyes diverted away. “You kids are unbelievable — you are in so much trouble young lady — and just wait until your mother hears about this!”

“Dad,
wait, listen!” pleaded Lafonda.

“And that car we just bought you, you might as well fo
rget it!” he said. “We’re talking about car privileges revoked — indefinitely!” Frustrated, Avery tossed his hands up in the air. “And believe me, after your mother finds out, you’ll be lucky if you even see that car.”

“I have powers!” shouted Nathan, abruptly, and the entire room became quiet. It was so quiet that Nathan swore all he could hear was his heart beating against his chest. Dr. Dev
aro had a blank look on his face and Sakiya Lee looked as if she thought she was hearing things. “I mean, we all do,” Nathan continued, and Alan loudly cleared his throat. “Well, not all of us, but Lafonda has a shield, and Jonas and Bobby can travel between Realms….”

“Look, I don’t have time for jokes and games,” said Avery, sternly, while shaking his head. “This is a serious matter. Do you see this o
ffice?” Dramatically, he pointed. “And look at the window!”

Nathan turned to look at Malick. Malick took a deep breath before rolling his eyes. “Avery!” yelled Nathan, and in the palm of his hand, a bright blue flame appeared
.

Suddenly, there was a loud crashing sound and everyone turned to find Sakiya Lee lying on the ground. Swiftly, Alan and Lafonda rushed over to her. “I think she fainted,” said Alan, with wide eyes.

Avery continued to stare blankly in front of him as the light from the blue flame reflected fiercely off his glasses. “I think I’m going to have to sit down,” he said, after fumbling to pick up one of the toppled chairs.

“You can put that away now,” said Lafonda, leaving S
akiya Lee’s side to stand by her father. Immediately, Nathan closed his hand and in a puff of blue smoke. The flame was gone.

Dr. Devaro sat in silence; his back facing the busted wi
ndow. “I had really hoped that my mother was wrong,” he said, gravely. He had a pensive look on his face. “This is not the sort of life I wanted for you kids.”

“W–wait,” stammered Lafonda
. “What life?” She kneeled down to her father’s side. “Dad … are you telling me you knew about this?” With a look of distress, she looked up at Nathan.

Everyone waited patiently for Dr. Devaro’s r
esponse, but Nathan and Lafonda seemed agitated. “So, you knew Jonas’s dad?” asked Nathan, sternly. “Bartholomew Riley?”

“Yes, I knew Bart,” said Avery, slowly. “And I heard about the family he left behind.” There was a sudden sadness in his eyes. “We were close friends, Bart and I — well, we all were — but that was a long time ago, before his dad forced him into the Order.”

“Forced him into the Order?” blurted Lafonda, her brown eyes searching his. “You mean to tell me all this time you knew about the Order — about our powers — and you never said anything?”

The silence in the room was broken when Alan loudly cleared his throat. “Well, I don’t mean to interrupt or to be insensitive,” said Alan, while helping Sakiya Lee back to her seat. “But I don’t know why you’re acting surprised. Roy and LaDonda knew, and Argus did too. Quite frankly I’m starting to think this family is weird.”

Alan stopped talking after he noticed Lafonda’s eyes quivering in their sockets as she glared at him. “What?” he shrugged. “I’m just saying out loud what we’ve all been thinking — and what’s this that you have a shield? I thought you were normal like the rest of us.”

“J–just shut up, Alan!” shouted Lafonda, forcibly. “You know you don’t want to go there about weird families.”

Sakiya Lee shook her head while rubbing the back of her neck. Slowly, she looked up at Alan as her jet-black hair fell neatly unto her shoulders. “Who are you?” she asked with a frown.

“Uh, Alan,” he said, hesitantly. “Alan Donovan.” He stood straight up; fixin
g his leather-quilted blazer and his hair. “Should I have told her my name?”

“Ugh, she’s not a bad guy, Alan!” whined Angela, stor
ming into the room. “I swear! I leave you alone for one moment.” She had a sorrowful look on her face as she turned to look at Lafonda. “I’m sorry, I heard all the drama from the hallway.”