Illuminate (33 page)

“Well, I think early on—” He still wasn’t bothering to look at her, as if he just didn’t want to give her the satisfaction since she looked to be on the verge of her boiling point. “There are fits and starts with it from what I understand—these jarring shifts and this frightening progress and then nothing for a little while. I suppose that’s how it was with us, before, you know . . .” He trailed off.

“Please,” she barked, then softened in volume. “I’m not listening to this. If you were doing your job with any competence, we wouldn’t have this problem. She would be taken care of. I’m growing tired of this
Haven
and I blame your ineptitude for her having gotten so far.”

My heart dropped through the floor, taking my throat, my lungs, my stomach, everything with it.

“Obviously you have some issues you want to address with me, so out with it already,” Lucian said in a flat tone, lengthening his leg to look at his shoe now. He couldn’t appear less concerned by her mood.

“I see. Aren’t you so strong now against me? But I’ve already spoken of this to the Prince. Just wait until he arrives and you’re on your knees begging to be given another chance.”

“I don’t beg.”

“You will. Have you forgotten how this works? I can have you banished any moment I wish. Are you really ready to go back down there? Your role in the recruitment and the revolution can be dramatically downsized to the point of nonexistence.”

“I’m starting to understand,” he said, perfectly calm and charming, looking at her now. “This isn’t so much about my performance as it is about your jealousy.”

She tensed at that, the muscles in her neck straining against the accusation.

How was this possible? Aurelia, jealous of me?
Even he started laughing. “That is adorable.”

Aurelia seemed to be ignoring him. She rose from her seat and took a spot leaning in front of her desk. She pointed her index finger at the floor, concentrating, and then a small flame sparked up out of nowhere and began to flicker and burn right there in that spot. I felt the shock of that flame burning through me, alighting a new level of fear; the scars on my chest felt it too, tingling and sizzling. I patted at them and then grabbed the pendant of my necklace, nervous, and turned it over and over again in my hand, fidgeting. With her finger still poised, Aurelia drew an imaginary circle and then the flame followed the path until the circle burned low and crackling right on the floor. Finished, she focused on Lucian, glaring. She wound up her arm as though about to throw a pitch and let go, shooting a blazing bolt of fire the size of a baseball at him. He barely flinched and only scooted an inch or two to the side to avoid being hit. He seemed to have witnessed this behavior before. The flame sparked near his feet and he stomped it out.

“Usually you’re cute when you’re angry,” he said coolly. “But this is so unbecoming.”

“I won’t be spoken to in this manner, certainly not by you. I find this all rather insulting, but I’m only entertaining it because I trust that you’ll be put in your place soon.”

With that, the flame roared and the Prince materialized out of the darkness, within that fiery circle.

“Did I interrupt something?” he asked, looking from Aurelia to Lucian and back again, his voice calm and honey-like as can be. The flames died down once more and, as soon as he stepped out of the circle, they burned out altogether, leaving not a trace of damage on the floor. He took the seat behind Aurelia’s desk, leaving her to sit beside Lucian. She perched herself on the arm of the couch, as far from him as possible, and folded her arms across her chest.

“Lucian was just about to enlighten us as to why he has thus far failed to seize the girl’s soul,” she said to the Prince. She reached over to the candelabra perched on the credenza behind them, held her finger out, and lit the wicks.

“Oh, good,” the man answered, settling back in his chair. He shifted his piercing gaze to Lucian. “Kindly go on, then.”

Lucian’s entire being changed. He sat up in his seat now, his face set firm. A subtle power shift swept the room. Aurelia stood, arms folded. The Prince rose from his seat and began wandering the room, scanning the book titles and then watching the flat screen. I wondered if he could see me, back behind this wall. Could he know I was here? I had studied this spot from his side and I was undetectable since the peephole peeked out behind the dark frame of the screen. But these people weren’t really even people at all, were they? Who knew what they could do, what they could see?

“Yes, I’ve been making progress—”

“This Haven person, from what I see and hear, has taken to you.” The Prince turned around to face him. Lucian sat perfectly upright, stiff, unsure. “And it certainly doesn’t seem an unpleasant assignment, yours.”

“No, sir. Not at all. She is . . . lovely,” he said finally. And at that, even though intellectually I knew that this was someone to fear, not love, I could not help it: my heart purred involuntarily, for the briefest of moments, before sense set in.
Haven, guard your heart.
He doesn’t really care about you.

“Indeed, lovely, I’m sure,” the Prince said, in an understanding tone. “But there is work to be done, and, as I’m sure you’re aware, time is of the essence.”

“Yes, I know,” he said, defeat edging his voice.

“I trust you’ve seen the photos?”

“Yes, I have.” He hung his head, ashamed.

“Her soul-illuminating powers are more advanced than I expected for this stage.” The Prince was pacing now. What did that even mean? “I’m growing . . . concerned . . . with how quickly she’s progressing. I know this is never a steady climb and I do expect her to slow down, but this is troubling nonetheless.”

I had to keep reminding myself that this character they were speaking of was actually me. It was all coming out too fast for me to even begin to process it. So they thought I had somehow changed these photos? Some power of mine had done this, had illuminated all of the souls of my photography subjects? Is that what they were saying, was I hearing this right? My mind flashed back to the hospital, the photo collage, Jenny, my favorite patient, who used to tell me she only liked the pictures I took of her. Maybe there was something to that after all. But how was it possible they could know all of this about me that I didn’t know?

“Yes, troubling,” Lucian repeated, with a nervous nod. I had never seen him behave this way, so unsure of himself. I should have been angry, but I felt sorry for him.

Aurelia, in the corner with her arms still folded, seethed quietly until she couldn’t help herself. “Charm her, for god’s sake!” she blurted out. Lucian snapped his head toward her. The Prince smiled, the cunning grin of an owner who enjoys watching his pets spar. “What’s so difficult?” she snarled at Lucian. “She stares at you with those absurd saucer eyes.” Aurelia batted her lashes at him for effect and then rolled her eyes in disgust. Lucian’s expression hardened, like his face had been put in a kiln overnight.

“It’s not so easy.” His voice came out as a stifled roar. He looked down at his hands, opening and closing his fists, trying to cool himself. “She resists me.”

“Or maybe you’re resisting your assignment,” she shot back.

“It’s not like it has been with the others.”

“Of course not,” the Prince said easily, tossing himself in that desk chair again. “There’s obviously an extra strength to her, this latent power beginning to engage, that’s the
point.
That’s why we want her with us and not against us. She would be dangerous against us, a menace.” He said it with enough flip confidence that he didn’t seem concerned. I turned this over in my mind: me, a menace. It sounded ridiculous.

“I’m not sure it will be possible, she—”

“Enough with your excuses! Just get it done!” Aurelia sniped. She looked away from him, trying to calm down.

“Aurelia!” the Prince censured her.

“I’m sorry, my liege. But,” she whispered, “you saw that picture. We are running out of time.”

“Lucian.” The Prince turned to him. “I’m afraid what Aurelia says is true. If we don’t get her soon, then this will end neither well nor cleanly.”

“Yes, I know. But I must warn you. This may be . . . unrealistic. She seems to have some sort of . . . will. She’s not as prone to being swept up as the others have been.”

“I don’t understand. You’ve been feeding her,” Aurelia said.

“She’s immune to the toxins already. But I’m certainly doing everything in my power. That’s all, I’m just trying to . . . manage expectations.”

“This is not my problem, yet.” The Prince spoke very slowly, to be sure each of his words was heard clearly. “It behooves you to find a solution before it becomes my problem.”

“Yes, sir,” Lucian whispered, his head bowed.

“Maybe,” the Prince addressed Aurelia now, “we should adopt some of the innovations being put to work within the New Orleans outpost.”

“You know that’s not my style.” Aurelia sounded defensive, her posture firmed up. “I find it risky and foolhardy what they do there.”

“I think your
style
should be whatever brings results,” the Prince chided. He shifted gears: “Where are we with her counterparts?”

“Lance isn’t entirely immune yet,” Lucian explained with a pained look, like he wanted to be done with this meeting, this business. His heart wasn’t in it. “He took ill today, but it’s not fully working on him. The toxins just aren’t having the effect they should.”

I thought of Lance, sick and in bed. So they had been trying to poison us, control us through what we ate and drank here. This was what they did to people. Why hadn’t we succumbed to it? At least that would explain my wooziness last night and even, I supposed, my very first night here.

“When we get the girl, we get her associates,” Aurelia said. My associates? This was certainly all making me sound much more important than I ever felt, that was for sure. “The kitchen boy is a cakewalk. Etan is working his magic brilliantly on this Dante person. Apparently the toxins have been working, and Etan has already succeeded in coding him—so as soon as the boy is sufficiently wooed and delivers Etan’s code back to him, his soul will be ripe for the taking.”

“Do we know what the code is?” the Prince asked. “It’s such an entertaining parlor game here.”

“Allegedly, the boy needs to shave his head, and that will be the sign. Etan thought it would be amusing to make the boy in his own image. He’s so playful.” She turned to Lucian, a slight smile on her lips. “He’s enjoying this process while still getting the job done. You could learn something.” Lucian didn’t even look at her.

“Excellent,” said the Prince. “But the other one?”

“He will be easy enough when we have Haven. In the meantime, Raphaella has been giving him some attention.” She stopped for a moment. I could see her thinking, deciding whether she wanted to go on. And she did, tentatively. “He doesn’t appear so interested but, again, he will follow when we have Haven. He will do whatever she tells him, I can tell by his eyes.”

The Prince nodded at this report. “Keep me abreast of this. Before long we may have to take drastic measures, but for now, please get her of her own volition.” Lucian, somber, just bowed his head. The Prince stood, rebuttoned his suit jacket, signaling, it appeared, that he was about to leave. “So, who do we think is expiring tonight?” Now his tone was perfectly light, excited. “I’ll be looking forward to having someone returned to me. That is, of course, supposing we don’t have another
situation.
”

“What happened with Calliope was an anomaly,” Aurelia said, in a soft, defensive tone. “It certainly will not happen again, of this I can assure you.”

“You can and you will and you must.” It was a warning.

With that, he stepped back where the fiery circle had burned and from nowhere the flames flew up once more, the circle reigniting. Just as fast, he was gone and the embers burned out. My own scars tingled at this. My body felt relieved to have him gone.

Lucian and Aurelia sat in silence, frozen, for several long minutes until finally Aurelia rose from the sofa and reclaimed her seat behind the desk. Glaring at Lucian, she said, “I will see you at half past three. I trust the Vault will be prepared. We have quite a large class to induct, as you know.”

“Of course,” he said. He got up and walked to the front of the desk, then leaned forward, both hands on the desk, staring her square in the eye. She tried to look away but he grabbed her chin tightly in his hand. “Jealousy doesn’t become you.”

“And sentimentality doesn’t become you,” she cooed.

With a little shove, he released her chin and stormed out the door. Aurelia didn’t watch him go; instead she focused on some paperwork in front of her, looking like she didn’t care. But as soon as the door slammed, she stared off into space, one hand touching her chin. I waited a few minutes but I saw no point in staying forever. I had only a few hours until I would need to make my way down to the Vault for whatever event had been scheduled.

As I tiptoed away from that peephole my body had never felt so weak. I longed to be in my bed—not my bed here, but the one at home, in my room next to Joan’s room. I wanted to be nestled in under those covers, free of any worries more grave than tests in school and navigating through that sea of people who were indifferent to me. Here, for the first time, I felt the opposite of that. Not only was I not ignored, but I was being watched and monitored; I was important to these people. Important for the wrong reasons, important because they wanted something from me and would harm me to get it if necessary. The weight of responsibility tugged on my shoulders. I wasn’t going to be allowed to be left on the sidelines.

21. The Induction

Two-thirty rolled around so much sooner than I had expected. I had tried to nap for a few hours, but never quite achieved sleep—to be honest, I was just too terrified for that—but lying down helped me replenish my waning strength. In my rest, my brain had remained active, searching through the very few possibilities for viewing whatever was to go down in the Vault tonight and deciding on the only viable option: descending to that dark passageway that led behind the cascading wall of fire. I would, hopefully, be able to watch there without being detected.