Birthright (Residue Series #2) (38 page)

“I can explain.”

“Please do,” I insisted.

H
e
gave Maggie and Eran a quick, hesitant glance before answering.

“Should we step back?” Eran offered.

“No,” Jameson replied. “You probably know most of it already
, although
you might not have pieced it together yet.” T
urning t
o me, he said, “Jocelyn, we are in danger. And while I don’t care so much about me, I do care about you. So when your grandfather is in the city I want to know why and-”

“Sartorius is here?” I asked, bewildered.

He paused. “You didn’t know?”

“No,” I said, blinking back my astonishment.

“He is. And I’m hoping your father can tell us the reason.”

I’d never met my grandfather
,
but I knew of him and his colleagues’ reputations, which le
a
d me to believe
that
, regardless of the reason, the effect of his visit
would
very likely cause trouble. Jameson had probably
considered
this
already
as well,
which
perfectly explained his motive for consulting my father. Once again,
he was
looking out for me.

As I came to this conclusion, my tentativeness softened to appreciation,
and
I was just about to convey
this
when Maggie released a moan.

Eran, who also sensed something was wrong, turned to her. “Magdalene?” he said
,
rotating
around to face her. “Are you all right?”

“I-I…” She started
, but the
words failed her.

She didn’t look fine. Her face had gone pale
,
and she
started to perspire.

“What’s wrong
, Magdalene
?” Eran pressed
,
firm but urgent
.

I watched as her trembling hand slipped to the back of her neck.

“Were you stung by a bee?” I asked
,
because that’s how she
was
reacting.

“No,” Eran answered
for her,
tersely
. His
relaxed
disposition was gone.

“It can’t be,” she mumbled, clearly shaken. “It
can’t
be…”

Eran was holding her up by her arms
now
as she rapidly scanned the area
but he ducked his head to catch her gaze
.

“Are you certain?” he asked,
making
no sense to me. Apparently, it
made sense
to her
,
because she nodded
,
and when her eyes rose they were filled with dread.

Eran stood up to his full height
,
a good foot over her head, and did an entire sweep of the area. “I don’t see any…” After
a good inspection
of the area, he gave up on
finding
whatever it was he was looking for and turned back to us. “We’re leaving. We’ll see you at school.”

“No,” Maggie
quickly
insisted
. Her
eyes stopped and narrowed in on something over Jameson’s shoulder. “No,” she repeated
,
more firmly
,
and took a step in that direction
,
but Eran held her back.

The rest of us turned to see what she
found. Obscured by the shade of the buildings and the distance from where we stood, only one thing seemed to be out of place. A man in a business suit
with
his hands clasped behind his back
and
his feet astride was staring directly at us.

“This isn’t the time,” Eran declared, already urging her onto their motorcycle. She
must have agreed
with
his
assessment
,
because she slipped her leg over
the bike, keeping
her sight pinned on the person in the shadows.

“Can we help?” offered Jameson, stepping forward in a show of
support.

“No,” Eran replied
,
remaining
entirely focused on the conspicuous person
who
mysteriously upset Maggie.

The motorcycle engine rumbled to life
,
and they left Jackson Square opposite from where the man stood in the shadows.

“Apparently, we aren’t the only ones with enemies,” Jameson
surmised
, watching them leave.
Then
his
gaze locked on something over my shoulder
,
and his face grew rigid. He
mumbled
something under his breath,
maybe
a curse word, and leaned in
toward me, grabbing my elbow.
He
then
began whispering
rapidly
.

“Listen. We have company.” At that, I was just about to follow
Maggie and Eran’s exit
when Jameson hastily warned against it. “Don’t look. It’s Turcott. We need to separate but I’m not going to lose you. It’s too risky. He hasn’t seen us so I’m heading toward the cathedral. You go down Pirate’s Alley. I’ll meet you there once he’s gone.”

“I have my car back-” I turned to motion behind me
,
but Jameson quickly
stopped me.

“You’ll run right
into
Turcott.” His wide eyes held mine as he reiterated, “Pirate’s Alley, all right?”

I nodded and casually strolled in that direction, trying not to call attention to myself.
After I reached Pirate’s Alley, and Jameson came strolling around the corner a few minutes later
,
my breathing
finally
slow
ed,
and the throb
of my pulse against my eardrum
calmed
to a more even pace.

With Jameson close by, I began to feel somewhat safe.
I thought maybe this was
only a coincidental run in with Phillip Turcott
, and then
I saw the Vires step around the corner behind Jameson.

Spinning around, I found
Vires closing off the opposite exit, too, their legs straddled, their hands clasped together in front of them,
and
their eyes pinned on us.

We were trapped.

Jameson quickly came to my side, taking a position in front of me and swiveling his head between threats on both sides of us. As we
gauged
our situation
,
a
single
glance
indicated
there was no possible way to avoid them. Vires
were blocking
all exits
. Behind
us
,
stood the expansive exterior wall of St. Louis Cathedral
,
and in front of us
,
was
a row of closed, inaccessible doors.

The balcony above, draped with flowers and ivy, and the tall palm trees at one end darkened the pathway from the afternoon sun, casting shadows across our enemies’ ominous faces
as the
most sinister
one
of all stepped forward.

Turcott strolled confidently around the line that formed to enclose us, taking his time
,
shuffling along the cobblestones. He
stopped
a few feet away, hands resting in the pockets of his cuffed, pinstriped pants
and
a snide grin lifting one side of his face.

“And so we meet,” he declared
,
cordially, his smooth voice bringing to my mind one word: conniving.

Neither Jameson nor I responded.

He scrutinized us as one would expect when finding something of value after years of searching. If we’d been an object, he would have rotated us in his hand.

The hint
of a smile lifted his meager lips before speaking.

“Your families have been particularly effective in keeping us from reaching you. Protection casting and secrecy are two traits the Caldwells and
the
Weatherfords excel in. And yet, after all these years, after all that effort,” he grinned maliciously, “we
have
, finally, reached you.”

“No, you are obstructing us,” Jameson retorted, boldly.

His vehemence stunned me – and made me proud.

“Obstructing?” said Turcott, feigning offense. “Merely delaying.”

Jameson’s reply was abrupt. “Then we’ll be on our way.”

As we attempted to step around him, the Vires came forward
, surrounding
us.

I glared at
each one,
eventually
landing
on Turcott
. And w
ithout looking, I knew
Jameson was doing the same.

A
familiar voice boomed down the alleyway
. At first, I was relieved, but when I recognized who the voice belonged to, terror threatened to consume me.

“Turcott,” barked Theleo
,
as he broke through the line of Vires blocking Jackson Square
, and began striding toward us.

While Turcott didn’t seem surprised by the interruption, he
certainly
wasn’t happy with it
either
. The curl of his lip
into
a snarl confirmed
this.

“Theleo,” he said
,
without turning around. “We’ve had this discussion. You know your place.”

“And you know
well enough
my assignment is in the oversight of these two,” Theleo retorted, evidently referring to us. “You are interfering, again.”

This made
Turcott spin around. “I’m doing my job, Theleo.”

“Your job is to find The Relicuum and
The
Nobilis, not to harass my assignments.”

“And if they are one in the same?” Turcott challenged.

Th
is
insinuation
sent a chill rushing down my spine and
a single thought screaming through my head.
He knows who we are.

Theleo’s response alleviated a small measure of
my
terror
,
when he replied
,
coolly, “That remains unconfirmed.”
Without giving
Turcott
time to
counter, he added, “I’ll remind you
that
you’ve been wrong before.”

There was the quietest intake of air from Turcott and then he collected himself. Apparently, he came to the conclusion that there was no winning this argument and decided to ignore it all together.

Turning back to Jameson and me, he composed himself and grinned. “Of course, I’m not the only one requesting an audience.”

“We have no interest in meeting anyone else,” I said, calmly, not allowing him the reward of seeing me ruffled.

Turcott stared back at me skeptically. “Jocelyn Weatherford. While you remain an enigma to me, still, there is one thing I do know about you. I know you have the ability to heal. So, imagine this. The consequences of your refusal to join me in a short walk to a nearby hotel
will
include injury to
both
your families – all of whom are currently surrounded by Vires – injuries so severe they
will surely
result in death. Consider it, Jocelyn,” he
spewed, leaning
toward me, his eyes darkening with malicious intent. “Not only will you have caused their mortal injuries
,
but
you will be unable to use your ability to save them.”

I felt it first in the tautness of my neck
,
and then
,
in my arms and eventually my torso. I wondered if it might
just
be muscle tension
,
because they had grown stiff
some time ago
. But, no, I was wrong. I was shaking with fury.

Unable to control myself, I stepped forward, sending the Vires around us
into
chaos.

Jameson acted in the same way, coming closer to Turcott than
me.