Spiral (Spiral Series) (6 page)

I could be honest with her, and more importantly, I trusted her. She was the only thing that had kept me from going to Natalie years ago and trying to tell her everything. Well, Eleanor, and my not being fully mature and trained as a Silve yet.

Eleanor had convinced me that the best way I could protect Natalie was to become the best unicorn out there, so I had spent years relentlessly training so that I could be the best. My only competition was Jar, but I had worked harder than Jar. Long after he would go inside I would stay out with the Elders, learning everything they had to teach me. I knew I would need it if I was going to keep my promise to Neil. I knew I would need it to fight what was ahead, because I had left a part out of my romance slam.

I had every intention of finding out who had set that fire. And I had every intention of making that person pay.

“Yeah,” I said, coming back from my momentary reverie to answer her question about the necessity of provoking Gretchen but trying to keep the satisfaction out of my voice. “It kind of was.”

Eleanor shook her head resignedly but didn’t say anything more. She had once described me as the most impressive, most well-built and capable trainee in the yard, but one who always risked going so fast I would crash. She hadn’t meant for me to hear it; I had been eaves-dropping. At the moment I felt as if I would crash if I didn’t hear soon what the Elders had to tell me.

The Elders were all waiting for me. After a short walk through brilliantly colored flowers and under a canopy of vines, my aunt and I reached the center of the garden, where there was a stone patio covered with one large wooden table surrounded by comfortable chairs. The patio was where the family gathered for dinner in the summers and on nice days, like today, and where the Elders spent their time discussing business. Of course they had offices in Locke, and a conference room, but those rooms were all inside, and if there was one thing unicorns could all agree on it was their love of being outdoors in nature.

I nodded to the other Elders. There were six including my aunt, with two more away on business. One of those, known as the Lead, was the head of the Elders, in charge of breaking any ties or making the tough decisions. He was also the one who travelled constantly to glad-hand other unicorn families. I was relieved he wasn’t there. I was never sure what Noak thought of me; his face was always too inscrutable to read.

Eleanor indicated that I should sit in the chair closest to the house, so that I was facing the Lead’s empty chair and surrounded by Elders. I sat, nodding to the other unicorns gathered there. They were an older bunch, because a unicorn couldn’t even be considered as an Elder until the age of sixty, and most had been on the board for years. I had grown up with these hard-faced men and women, whose rules and decisions would help the Silve unicorns stay alive and prosper in a dangerous world, or allow them to fade into death.

“Good morning, Pierce,” said Prospect, smiling and nodding. He had a long beard and rarely said more than hi and goodbye. He said that talking to people was a waste of his time, because people were a waste of his time, but since he spoke so rarely he was always listened to when he did decide to say something, and he was therefore one of the most respected of the Elders. “Steal anyone’s car today and run it off a cliff?” He was referring to an unfortunate incident that had happened when I was fourteen.

I grinned. “No. I stopped doing that when I turned nineteen. How are you?” I asked politely. I had always liked Prospect. I felt that as long as Prospect was around, the Elders couldn’t fall into total ruin. Prospect would have laughed his ass off if he knew that’s what I thought of him.

“Fine, fine,” said Prospect. “You are probably wondering why you were asked here?”

I nodded.

“Well, that’s good,” said Prospect. “I’m sure someone is about to tell you. Frankly, I can’t be bothered.” I let a fraction of a smile appear on my face as Prospect sat back in his chair and gave a long belch. That was just like Prospect.

“There are two reasons why my nephew has been summoned, as he probably well knows,” said Eleanor, looking severely at me. I didn’t flinch under her appraising gaze.

“First, we have to deal with the issue of you disobeying a direct order,” she said directly to me. “I would have thought you’d get tired of breaking the rules, but obviously not.”

“Oh, here it comes,” I thought to myself.

“I’m surprised that after succeeding all this time at staying away from her, you would choose now, when we’re so close to the next phase, to put her at such risk,” said Eleanor, her voice rising in anger. My aunt valued the unicorn way above all else, and she couldn’t stand it that I had broken the rules and ignored an order. She also couldn’t stand it that a member of HER family, one that was supposed to be one of the more honored among the Silves, had done something so blatantly reckless. Underneath all that I also knew that she understood that Natalie came first, last, and everything in between for me.

“I would apologize,” I said, “but we all know I would be lying. I would do it again. I might have to. I went when I did because I couldn’t stay away from her any longer and because she is in more danger by the day.”

“We know that,” Prospect rasped. “Which brings us to our second point.” He glared at my aunt, obviously not wanting to linger on my disobedience.

“He has to understand that he can’t just disregard rules,” said Eleanor. “They are put in place for all of us to follow, to keep us safe. Just because he’s in love with a girl he no longer even knows does not give him the right to put us all in danger. He’s always broken the rules. That has to stop. He isn’t a kid any more.”

She was talking like I wasn’t sitting right there next to her, and it made me draw my breath in sharply. I knew she hated that I wanted to protect Natalie, but she didn’t usually say it so blatantly.

“If you want to punish him, do so and get it over with,” growled Prospect. “We have more important uses of our time than disciplining a disobedient kid.”

Eleanor gave me her best death stare and finally said, “If you disobey us again, you will be restricted to Locke.” I started to react, but before I could get a word out she continued, “And I will ask Gretchen to keep an eye on you.”

“Fine,” I said. “I won’t.” To myself I added, “Unless I have to.”

“Now,” said Prospect, “the second reason we brought him here?” He looked at Eleanor to continue.

“I’ll tell him,” sighed Eleanor. “He’s my nephew, after all.”

“No,” said another Elder, this time a man with gray hair and silver eyes named Timon.

All unicorns had silver eyes. Many wore colored contacts when they were out in the world to keep from appearing suspicious, but when the Silves were at home at Locke everyone went without.

“I’ll tell him,” said Timon. As the newest Elder he was intent on proving himself to be good enough to sit amongst the rest of them.

Eleanor’s face tightened, but she nodded her assent. I couldn’t have cared less who told me what, as long as someone told me and fast.

“It’s about that girl,” said Timon, leafing through a stack of papers that sat in front of him. The Elders were big on papers and documentation. It drove the technology-obsessed younger generation crazy.

“Natalie,” I growled. “We were just talking about her.”

Timon pierced me with a look as my aunt shot me a warning glare. I fidgeted under their eyes, but the mulish line of my jaw didn’t change. I had already chosen my side. It was just that my teammate wasn’t there yet. But she would be.

Timon was one of the unicorns who didn’t think we should be protecting Spirals. He didn’t think they were worth it. Luckily, the unicorns who thought that way were a minority. For now.

“Yes, the girl,” said Timon. He said girl again just to annoy me. He shuffled the papers, his chunky hands working through the stacks distractedly. I thought I might go insane if someone didn’t tell me something soon.

“There have been battles going on,” said Timon, slowly. As he talked he would pick up one stack, examine it briefly, and then put it down again without so much as another glance. “They’re getting more intense. Other unicorns have reported issues, although none as serious as the ones that have been seen in our region.”

Timon paused again. I had gone stock still. Not for the whole world would I have moved a muscle and interrupted his thought train. That would only derail the whole conversation, and who knew how long it would take him to get back on track.

“The battles have been intensifying. Other families have reported problems, some more than others, but there hasn’t been anything outright. At least not yet. We’ve been keeping a close eye on the girl, and of course we’ve been in close contact with her Watchful. These are all things you know, because we’ve been doing them for years.”

Timon gave me a speculative glance, as if to wonder why on earth I would care so much, to which I silently replied that Timon had never promised himself to anyone before.

Timon continued, “In the past few days, however, we have been getting reports. . . .” Timon cleared his throat loudly, a gurgling noise coming up from deep in the back as he used his hand to cover his mouth.

“Oh, for Unicorn’s sake,” cried Prospect, sitting up in his chair. With a speedy dash his hand swept out and he grabbed up a large tankard of wine. Draining it into his glass, he gulped the red liquid down in two great swallows before setting the cup back down. “I’ll tell him or we’ll all grow old and die before he knows anything. I just hope my voice holds out,” he joked.

“Pierce,” he said, turning to me and addressing me directly, as an equal, “we keep you informed because we know that your mother and Natalie’s mother promised you to each other as the only two who could continue . . . and you have taken that promise to heart. We understand the sacrifices you have made for the last few years in order to keep her safe and allow her to have a normal life. Unfortunately, that time is coming to an end, because the Visioners have found her and are, as we speak, converging on Blueberry. We aren’t sure how much time she has, or if she’ll make it to graduation. We can only hope that she does, but we know from her Watchful that her dreams are getting worse, and we must therefore take drastic action.”

I started to get up from my chair, but my aunt put a hand on my arm. “Just hear him out. You will not be disappointed with our decision,” she warned me quietly.

I sat back and tried to breathe. There was only one decision they could make that wouldn’t send me into a desperate frenzy. I just hoped they had made it. I tried to remain calm, forcing the rising panic to subside.

Prospect laced his hands together, eyeing me. “We have decided that you should go to Blueberry and make contact with Natalie.”

I sat forward with a cry before the pressure of my aunt’s hand forced me back again.

“We think she needs to be seen to, and although her Watchful . . . well, we think she’ll be fine, but since you were going to meet her soon anyway, it might as well be now. Besides,” Prospect continued before I could say anything, “we want her to meet someone she might remember. It might be comforting for her when her life comes crashing down around her.”

Prospect didn’t sound like he had much faith in that fact, but he said it anyway.

I nodded vigorously. I felt like fire was racing through my veins, and my heart was beating too quickly. What I had wanted for years was finally coming true. No longer would Natalie’s protection be left to just some Watchful, but instead I would get to go and oversee it myself. Most importantly, I would finally get to talk to Natalie again. It was like the seasons had sped up and suddenly it was summer. Warmth and relief suffused my bones.

“Pierce?” Prospect questioned, glaring at me. “Stop daydreaming and pay attention. It’s embarrassing. For you.”

I found myself grinning at him despite his harsh words. Prospect didn’t mess around. He didn’t have to.

“What do you want me to do?” I asked, relaxing a little. I would get to leave, and probably soon. All I had to do was tell Jar I was going. There was no reason to piss off the Elders, especially my favorite Elder, Prospect, with my impatience.