The Quest (45 page)

Ralph Henderson had known that as long as there were multiple masters ruling multiple factions, the balance of power could be maintained. In a world with only one master, that one master would rule everything. I cared no more for the Guardians than I did for the Angels, but this wasn’t about which side would win the psionic war. Nor was it a choice between Cindy, Alia and Cat. To restore the balance of power and protect the future of psionics and non-psionics alike, somebody would have to kill my sister.

Would that somebody be me?

Cat… Catherine Howell… Cathy Divine… Queen Divine. It was still difficult to see them all as the same person, but there was no denying what my sister would eventually become, and what she was already in the process of becoming. What had happened between her and Randal that she had come to uphold the Angels’ purpose to dominate the world with psionic control? I might ask her when I found her again.

I heard the door open and looked up. Terry quietly let herself in, saying, “Havel just announced lunch. I told him you probably weren’t hungry, but he insisted that I check anyway.”

I remained silent. Terry closed the door and took a few uncomfortable steps toward my bed. I was glad that she didn’t ask me if I was alright.

“I won’t do it, Adrian,” said Terry, not meeting my eyes. “I swear I didn’t know it would be like this.”

“I know you didn’t,” I said softly. “But you will do it. And so will I.”

Terry looked at me in surprise. “You can’t mean that.”

Ralph had once claimed that I was “destined for greatness.” What he had meant was that someday I would father the child who would become the next Guardian queen, and in doing so, I would restore the balance of power between the Guardians and the Angels. But it wasn’t going to be that way.

I stood up from my bed and looked Terry in the eye. “I am going to kill the Angel queen, Terry, and you are going to help me.”

Terry slowly shook her head. “This is crazy, Adrian. This is completely crazy.”

I sighed. “That’s what I first thought, too. But you know something? If we turn away from this now, then they all died for nothing. Felicity and Max, and Merlin… and your grandfather, and your brother, Gabriel, and Mr. Barnum… and Laila and her mother… they all died for nothing.”

“This won’t bring them back,” said Terry.

“You’re right, Terry. It won’t. But if I wasn’t going to let Randal Divine rule the world, then I won’t let Cat…” I gulped hard. “I won’t let Catherine Divine have it either.”

“You would kill your own sister?”

“No,” I said sarcastically, “I’ll go hide under a rock and wait for a complete stranger to kill her.”

“Maybe that would be better,” Terry said uncertainly.

I shook my head. “This started in my family. That’s where I’m going to end it.”

“Are you sure about this, Adrian?” asked Terry, stepping closer and peering into my face. She slowly placed her right palm onto my chest, pressing my amethyst up against my heart. “Are you absolutely sure?”

This is why I don’t believe in choices. Not the ones that really matter, anyway. The horrible irony of it was that if Randal had been the master, it would still have been possible for me to just walk away. But I couldn’t do that with Cat. She was my sister, and nothing is more important than family. Whether you love them or hate them, whether you die defending them or murder them in their sleep, family is the single most powerful connection in the world. I had already failed Cat once. I certainly wasn’t going to turn my back on her now. If anyone was going to kill Catherine Divine, it was going to be me.

“I’m sure,” I said, strangely relieved at my own resolve.

Terry lowered her hand and looked at me sadly. “You’ve really changed, haven’t you? Whatever happened to the boy who didn’t want to kill?”

I shrugged. That frightened little child had died so long ago I hardly remembered what he looked like.

“I’m beginning to regret teaching you to fight,” said Terry, looking away.

“If it’s any consolation, Terry, I’m not all that grateful.”

Terry gave a hollow little laugh.

I asked her quietly, “Will you go to war with me, Terry Henderson? Will you help me finish this? Help me rid the world of its last master controller?”

Terry looked back into my eyes and slowly nodded. “I will.”

“Thank you,” I whispered.

I saw Terry glance past me at Alia, who was still sitting on my bed. Alia must have said something telepathically to her, because Terry suddenly looked at me uncomfortably and said, “I’m going to go get you some fruits or something so you can eat here, Adrian. You’ll need your strength.”

As Terry hastily let herself out, I turned to my sister. Alia had gotten down from my bed and was staring up at me, her eyes brimming with anger, horror and betrayal. I had expected no less from her, as it would not have been Alia otherwise. After all, this was the girl who was torn to tears over her own hesitation to help a man who had once tortured her.

“Spit it out, Alia,” I said, sighing heavily.

Alia looked down at her feet.
“You don’t want to hear what I have to say about this, Addy.”

Lightly stroking her hair, I whispered, “Now where have I heard that before?”

“Addy, I know you kill people. I’ve watched you do it, and I’ve helped you do it. But this is different. This is your sister.”

“That’s right,” I said evenly. “You heard the Historian. My sister is Queen Divine.”

Alia stamped her feet angrily.
“This is wrong, Adrian! You know it’s wrong!”

“What would you have me do, Alia?” I asked, doing my best to maintain my calm. “Catherine is a master controller. I can’t rescue her from that.”

“If I was a master controller, would you kill me?”

“Ask me when you become one,” I said gruffly.

Alia hid her face in her hands, sobbing.
“Terry’s right. You really have changed.”

I knelt in front of her and carefully pried her hands away from her tear-stained face. “Look at me, Alia,” I said gently. “I know that this is wrong. But do you really want to leave Cindy with the Angels? Do you want to live the rest of your life in hiding, moving from town to town and wondering when you’ll be attacked in the middle of the night? Tell me, Alia, what would you have me do?”

Putting her arms around me and pressing her face onto my chest, Alia whispered shakily into my mind,
“I don’t want to lose my unicorn, Addy. I love him too much.”

“He loves you too,” I whispered back, holding her tightly. I tried hard to blink back my tears, but my voice cracked as I said, “I just don’t know what else to do anymore, Alia. Do you?”

Alia shook her head, but said no more.

For a long time, we just held on to each other, the both of us crying like two little children lost in a deep, dark forest. And why not? The Historian had turned my already convoluted world upside down, and now I had to hunt down and kill my own fourteen-year-old sister. Over the years, Alia had watched me slowly turn into a killer, and in a sick way, we had both gotten used to it. But what would it be like to take my own blood? Could I really blast a hole through Cat’s head as easily as I had done to Mr. Simms? Alia had it right: This was utterly wrong. It was unfair and unwarranted and unreasonable, and there wasn’t a damn thing anyone could do about it. Crying would solve nothing, but Alia knew, as did I, that tears were soap and water for the spirit. We were probably loud enough to be heard in the common room, but I didn’t care. There was no shame in being hurt and confused.

Once our tears ran dry, I carefully led Alia back to my bed and sat beside her, hugging her from the side as I said quietly, “I don’t like what I do, Alia. I don’t like hurting people. I don’t expect you to either.”

“I’m sorry I was so mean, Addy,”
Alia mumbled into my mind.
“I know you don’t want to kill your sister. But I still think it’s wrong.”

I patted her back as I said, “I’m glad that you do. At least one of us is still normal. You don’t have to be a part of this if you don’t want to.”

Alia scoffed.
“Where would I go?”

“I could deliver you to the mountain camp, or wherever Mrs. Harding is staying now,” I suggested. “Candace could take care of you, or you might be able to stay with Patrick’s family, with Laila.”

“I almost wish I could do that, Addy. But I can’t. If you have to go, then I have to go too.”

“It doesn’t have to be that way. This isn’t your fight.”

Alia shook her head.
“I want Cindy back. I want to live in a world without nightmares. I’m tired of running away. This is my fight.”
She looked up at me and forced a smile.
“Besides, how many times have you been shot?”

“Four bullets, one blast,” I replied automatically.

“You’re going to need a healer. Gretel always goes with Hansel.”

“I can hardly argue with that,” I said with a chuckle. Then I looked into her eyes and said seriously, “There’s no happily ever after where we’re going, Alia. Chances are we won’t survive this.”

Alia nodded solemnly.
“I’m okay with that, Addy.”

“Then you’re in,” I said evenly. “You’re a greater Knight than I’ll ever be, and you’ve certainly earned the right many times over. Let’s go tell Terry.”

Exiting my bedroom, we found the common room empty. A large decorative fruit platter had been left on one of the tables, and though I wasn’t feeling particularly hungry, I took a bite out of an apple.

“Master Howell?” Havel called from behind me, making me jump a little in surprise. “Mistress Gifford,” he continued, nodding to Alia, “the others are in the dining room. Lunch is almost finished, but if you like, you may join them for dessert.”

I glanced at Alia, but she shook her head. “We’re fine,” I said.

“Very well,” said Havel, turning to leave. “Please call if you need anything.”

“Actually, Havel, could I ask you something?”

Havel turned back toward me, asking, “You wish to know why I live here?”

I nodded.

“There isn’t much to tell,” said Havel. “I was in my early thirties when I arrived here seeking asylum. You see, my great-grandmother was a master controller.”

“Guardians or Angels?” I asked.

“Neither,” replied Havel. “Hers was a small group of psionics and common townsfolk in a farming community in Wales, or so I heard. I never met my great-grandmother, but that didn’t stop a number of people from trying to hunt me down for, um… breeding purposes.”

“I can imagine,” I said. Once more people found out what I was, I would have to be careful too.

Havel continued, “I found my way here, and the Historian graciously allowed me to stay. I have served him ever since. In fact, for one reason or another, all of the servants here are asylum seekers. If you ask it of him, the Historian will most likely allow you to remain here too.”

“Live down here for the rest of my life?” I asked, shaking my head. “That might not be so bad under the circumstances, but I have to go do something horrible first. If I’m still alive when it’s over, I’ll think about it.”

Havel nodded, and then asked, “Are you certain you won’t join your companions for ice cream and cake?”

I looked at Alia again. Her eyes were still red, as no doubt were mine. I smiled and said, “I think we could both use some ice cream and cake.”

The Historian’s servants had a knack for timing and, sure enough, when Alia and I arrived in the dining room, the table had just been set with dessert.

“What’s the verdict?” asked Terry as Alia and I sat down.

“Against better judgment,” I replied, taking a slice of dark chocolate cake, “Alia will be joining us again.”

“So will they,” said Terry, nodding toward James and Ed Regis.

James I could understand. He was a born and bred Guardian Knight, and after he had taken a bullet to help get Terry and Alia safely to the Historian, I could hardly deny him the right to choose his own doom.

The Wolf was another matter entirely.

“I’m sorry, Ed Regis,” I said, “but I lied to you when I said that you could have the Angel master alive. Even if it had been Randal Divine, we would never have let you take him into custody.”

Ed Regis merely smiled, saying, “I know that.”

“You already have more than enough information to deliver to your Wolf unit to regain their trust,” I pointed out. “I can’t stop you from telling them about Catherine. Once we get back to civilization, you can use what you learned here to get your life back and go hunt the Angel queen with your own people. You don’t have to come with us.”

Still smiling, Ed Regis shook his head. “Assuming that we actually get through the Angels and return to civilization alive, I can guarantee that the Wolves will never take me back.”

“Why not?” I asked. “All you have to do is prove that you haven’t been converted, which should be pretty easy since you’ll be spilling the secrets of the only master controller left.”

“But I have been converted, Adrian,” Ed Regis said seriously. “By you, and by Alia, and by Terry and James and Merlin. I could never go back to hunting psionics for a living. Your sister will be my last.”

I shook my head. “You don’t have to do this, Ed Regis. You don’t have to turn Guardian for us.”

“No more than you have to hunt your sister,” Ed Regis replied evenly. “Besides, you’re going to need people experienced in this kind of thing. Don’t forget what I am.”

“Terry?” I said, hoping she might talk some sense into the Wolf.

“Beggars can’t be choosers,” Terry reminded me. “We can’t tell the Guardians or anyone else the truth about Randal Divine and Catherine. We can’t afford to let anyone find out what you are, so it’s just the five of us now.”

“We’re all in this together, Adrian,” put in James. “It’s not just between you and your sister.”

“Alright, Ed Regis,” I said slowly, “if everyone is in agreement, I suppose we could use a good soldier.”

“You won’t regret it,” said Ed Regis, and to my own surprise I found myself believing him.

Alia had noticed it first during our time together, but now even I could no longer recognize the man who had once tortured me with control bands. Ed Regis was one of us, as trustworthy and reliable as I could hope for in any man. As I looked around the table at the four people who now shared my darkest secret, I realized that I could ask for no better companions on this most terrible mission we were about to start.