Mirror of the Gods, page 16
Despite her aching feet, she opted to pace back and forth before the fireplace, restless and unwilling to keep still.
“The Keepers, for short, was started as a contingency strategy,” Dr. Krauss began. “To protect and hide specific items of your history and culture, your lives. To keep them from the grasp of the Order.”
“So she knew,” Dira murmured, staring down at her hands.
“She suspected,” Dr. Krauss corrected, looking at Dira with some sympathy. “Mordira came to the first steward, Antonin Gondry, a noble. He was a member of the French court under King Francis I.”
Jay leaned back against the couch, pulled out one of her throwing knives from the holster on her thigh, and began picking under her nails with the point of it.
“After demonstrating the... use of her abilities, she charged Antonin with creating a group of trusted, loyal men to scatter certain objects around the globe.”
“The artifacts,” Ridder supplied. He glanced at Lucy, who paused in her pacing, her eyes closing for a moment.
“Yes, that’s correct. Hidden all over the world, protected by those loyal and bound by blood and honor, the Keepers disappeared into the shadows. When Mordira never returned after her last trip to the headquarters in Paris in the year 1539, we knew that her fears were faultless.”
Dira closed her eyes, while Kreager looked away, his face twisting in pain.
“If she had suspicions,” Dira asked, glancing at her siblings, eyes pained, “then why didn’t... Why?”
“Why couldn’t she kill your father, you mean?” The icy bite to Lucy’s voice had everyone’s heads rocketing up. Shock rippled across the Vanir’s faces, but not at what she said, she realized.
No, it was shock that she knew.
“Did you see that in a vision?” Dira demanded, rising from the couch, her brows knitted together. The way her shoulders tensed, and how she almost loomed over Lucy as she stepped forward into her space, had the smaller woman bristling with anger. It was like a lioness going on the defensive when she had no right to. Lucy was the one who should be angry. In her book, omitting information was lying, and she did not like to be lied to.
Lucy shook her head, silhouetted by the fire. Her eyes burned like the embers smoldering in the large stone hearth.
“No, actually. I had a rather enlightening conversation with a man by the name of Alastair Duncan. Do you know that name, Dira?”
The eldest Vanir reared back, as if the name had been a physical blow. Dr. Krauss made a sort of strangled noise, drawing Lucy’s eyes.
“You know who he is, don’t you, Professor?” she asked, her voice cold and hard.
The man nodded and glanced at the Vanir. “Alastair Duncan is the ... the current Master of the Order.”
Clint cursed as he rocketed up from his place on the couch, running a hand through his hair.
“Shit, I’m so sorry, Lucy. I had eyes on you the whole time, but I still shouldn’t have even let him—”
“You let her go off with someone alone?” Ridder demanded, rising from the couch as well, his dark eyes blazing.
“What were you even doing?” Dira asked, her eyes narrowed at Lucy, temper blazing in them.
Insult warred with fury, churning Lucy’s stomach. She gritted her teeth.
“It’s not her fault,” Clint said. “James Foster introduced us, and he asked me if it was alright to steal my date for a dance. If I’d refused, it would’ve been suspicious.”
Ridder’s eyes closed, his face pinched with frustration.
“Dira,” Kreager began, a warning in his voice as she took a step toward Lucy, her body coiled and ready for a fight.
“Clint is right,” Lucy said. “It would’ve been suspicious. But all he did was talk, and we were surrounded by people. I could have screamed—and I didn’t. Or I could have walked away the second I knew, but I didn’t want to cause a scene. Not before we’d found Dr. Krauss. All Alastair did was ask me how I could side with you four. How I could trust you when you don’t trust me. When you aren’t telling me things. And he was right, wasn’t he? The man who started the Order.” Her voice rose almost hysterically at the end. “It was your father?”
Dira blinked, opening her mouth to speak. Nothing came out, but “Yes.”
“God, Dira,” Lucy shouted. “That might have been something important to disclose, especially after I saw a vision of that night! How am I supposed to trust you when you only tell me half-truths?”
Insult flashed across Dira’s face. “It wasn’t necessary that you knew.”
Lucy scoffed, resuming her back and forth pacing as the tears welled in her eyes. “You think it might’ve been necessary the moment I unlocked whatever it is inside me, and the cuffs changed, reacted to it? That maybe, just maybe, the need-to-know bar would’ve been lowered just a bit when I made a carpet of flowers spring up from the ground. God, I’ve trusted you since day one—all of you—and yet you have kept me in the dark about insanely important details!”
Dira was about to speak, but Lucy whirled on her, eyes glassy and glowing. “No! I’m not done. You said you’d be keeping an eye on us. On me. But I stopped dancing with him multiple times. I know I was panicking. If anyone had been watching, you would’ve known something was wrong. But no one was there! I was left open and vulnerable!”
Betrayal flashed across her face as she closed her eyes, shaking her head.
“I’ve given up this semester of school. I came to a whole new country with a group of strangers. I’ve trained, I’ve planned, I’ve been attacked. And I’ve done everything that’s asked of me without question. Yet I’m still not worthy of your trust!” Lucy cried. “When will it be enough for you?” She threw her hands out toward Dira.
No one spoke for a few moments, until Dira moved forward, reaching out to clutch Lucy’s shoulders, holding firm.
“You’re right,” she said softly, searching Lucy’s eyes. “And I’m sorry. We should have—I should have told you the whole story about that night. And I’m sorry we left you open to him. That should have never happened.”
Lucy sniffled, aiming a weak glare at Dira.
“It shouldn’t have,” she said. “And I’m sorry. I’m just shaken up and scared. He told me that before this is over I’ll come to him. And that made me worry about my family. What if he hurts them?” Her voice choked as the tears took hold.
Dira pulled her in for a firm hug, letting Lucy cry into her shoulder for a few moments.
“Ahem. If I may?”
Lucy pulled back from Dira, both women turning to look at Dr. Krauss as he stood.
“If you’d like, it would be our honor to guard your family—from a distance, of course,” he said, giving Lucy a calm, easy smile. “I’ll just need to make a quick call, and your family will be protected.”
Lucy’s lip quivered, but she nodded, grinding her teeth together to keep from breaking down completely. “Thank you, Dr. Krauss.”
“Please, just Edward,” he offered, smiling at her before skirting aside to place the call.
“I’m sorry for blowing up at you, Dira,” Lucy mumbled, sliding the tip of her finger under her eye, brushing away some of her remaining tears.
“No, you were right to do so,” Dira said with a shake of her head, stepping away from her friend. “We should have told you the full story. Sit down, and we’ll tell you about that night.”
Lucy nodded, swallowing thickly before moving over toward Ridder, whose gaze was completely ruined, his eyes swirling with guilt.
“None of that,” she murmured. “I’m alright.” She reached up to slide her hand across his jaw. He exhaled heavily through his nose and leaned down, pressing their foreheads together.
“I’m sorry, querida. I never want you out of my sight again,” he murmured, tipping his face down just enough to ghost his lips across hers.
Lucy sighed softly, smiling as she kissed him once more and then pulled away.
“Don’t apologize, Ridder. It’s alright. I was just scared and didn’t know what to do afterward or how to explain. I was still processing it all.”
He nodded, pulling her down to sit beside him. Looking across the way, Jay looked as serious as Lucy had ever seen her, and Kreager looked furious. When he noticed her eyes on him, though, he softened, kissed his fingers, and gestured toward her, a silent apology.
“There,” Edward said as he hung up the phone, “someone will be constantly watching your family members from now on.”
“I can’t thank you enough, Edward.”
Lucy felt her entire body relax, slumping into Ridder’s warm body beside her.
“We have things to speak about,” Dira began, “and I think maybe you have some questions as well, Professor, that will be answered.” She leaned forward to rest her forearms on her thighs.
When everyone was settled, Dira wove the story of the night that their parents died.
“Our parents, the four Vanir before us, were meeting about something. They always met in the great hall, just as their parents, the first four, had done.”
Lucy shifted as she listened to the wistfulness of Dira’s voice.
“I remember it,” Kreager murmured, his eyes closing as he inhaled deeply.
“We used to play in there when we were young, before Ridder and Jeger were born.” Dira sighed. “That night, all four of us were sharing a room. We usually did when everyone came together. My family was the only one to live at Vanaheim year-round. Everyone else had other places, sanctuaries they called home.”
Kreager’s face morphed into one of pain.
“Kreager smelled the smoke first. Heard the screaming. Ridder and Jeger were still so young, only ten and eight. We had to get out. We all knew it. So we took what weapons we had and made our way to the great hall. By the time we got there, the whole place was up in flames. Our parents were at one end, and we were at the other.”
Jeger closed her eyes, and Ridder turned his face away, his eyes glassy. Lucy glanced up at him, her heart breaking. Tangling their fingers together, she squeezed his hand, letting him know she was there for him.
“There was no way we could get to them. And then it collapsed. When we got to the courtyard, it was littered with bodies.”
Dira’s voice turned hard. “The Order had come while our parents were in the hall. They had it all flawlessly planned. They’d killed the sentries, guards, servants, everyone. They killed Jeger’s father, Kreager’s mother, and Ridder’s mother. Laid them in the snow.” The eldest Vanir growled, pushing up out of her seat to pace across the floor.
“When your father wasn’t there, you assumed it was him?” Lucy asked.
Dira nodded, casting a quick glance at her. “Yes. But it wasn’t just because of that. My father, Nicholas, had been living apart from my mother for years. I remember him. He was distant, but never truly cold to her. Then when I was ten, five years before the attack, my father acted as if my mother never existed. He ignored her, and she seemed alright with that. However, she started saying things when I was fourteen. Things like ‘Love does not equate to trust,’ and ‘Beware snakes that lie beneath the tall grasses.’”
Dira shook her head. “I knew she was worried about something, and when we didn’t find my father’s body with the others, I knew he had betrayed us. If she was so afraid of someone lurking in the shadows, then why didn’t she just kill him? Why?”
Her voice broke, confusion and tears in her eyes as she clenched her jaw.
“Because she loved him,” Lucy murmured, drawing everyone’s gaze. She looked around and gave a small sigh. “It’s the only reason I can think of. She loved him, and she hoped that he wouldn’t be able to harm her or you.”
Dira slumped into her seat on the couch, sighing heavily.
“Not only did we lose everyone we ever loved that night,” Ridder said, “but we lost our history. Books, tapestries, artifacts stolen by the Order, ones like your bracelets.” He ran his fingers over the cuffs on Lucy’s arms.
“There was a text,” Kreager said, “that explained our history, explained what each artifact, each tool did and how to use them. We called it the Book of Mastery. It was used to train the next generation of Vanir.”
“I had just started my training when it was turned to ash.”
Dr. Krauss shifted in his chair, clearing his throat. “What if I was to tell you that there was a copy?”
The air of the room changed, thickening with suspense and confusion.
“What do you mean?” Dira asked, her voice sharp.
Edward sat on the edge of his seat. “The Rawlinson Manuscript you’re hoping to access. It’s because it has that symbol on a certain page, correct?”
He pointed to the large runic symbol in the center of the right bracelet, the one that looked like a five-pronged rake.
“Yes, that’s right,” Jeger told him, tilting her head to the side.
“That was written into the book by myself, years ago, when I became the steward of the Keepers. I knew that the manuscript would eventually be uploaded—at least, certain pages of it—to the digital archives. I knew that if you searched for that symbol, you’d find it and you’d have to come to Oxford, to the Bodleian, and to me. Then I could explain about the book.”
They were stunned, no one saying a word until he stood, smiling at them.
“Our original steward, Antonin, copied the book for her over the course of three years. The steward, and the steward alone, is aware of the book’s existence.”
Lucy breathed out heavily, her eyes wide.
“Tomorrow, I’ll meet you at the library and show it to you,” he proclaimed. “It will need translating, but I will hand it over to you all in the morning.”
Chapter Twenty-One
The next morning, Dira, Lucy, and Clint climbed into the SUV and headed toward the Bodleian. Kreager and Ridder hadn’t wanted to stay behind, but adding more people would have drawn attention, so it was decided that they’d stay at the safe house.
Lucy had woken with a knot in her stomach, a sense of foreboding hanging over her. She hadn’t even really eaten anything at breakfast. When Ridder asked her what was wrong, she just shook her head and smiled at him softly. There was no reason to worry him. She had seen it on his face, in his eyes, that he didn’t believe her, but he thankfully said nothing more on the subject. Instead, he kept his hand on the back of her neck, soothingly playing with her hair. It was an attempt to ease her nerves, whether they were his nerves or hers, she didn’t know.
However, the feeling in her stomach didn’t pass, ease, or disappear at all. It just festered and twisted and clenched.
“Lucy, you look a bit pale. Are you alright?”
Dira’s voice startled her out of her thoughts, meeting her gaze in the rearview mirror.
“I’m okay. Just tired, I think. And I know Edward said he had people watching over my family, but I can’t help but worry.” It was not exactly lying. She was worried about them, but it was more than that. More than she could understand or comprehend.
“Once we have the book, and we get back, I’ll talk to Jay about getting you on video chat to talk to them. Or even just a call,” Dira promised with a smile.
“Thanks,” Lucy whispered, swallowing thickly.
***
When they arrived at the Bod, Edward was already waiting for them, wearing a comically bright red sweater and a pair of khaki slacks.
“Good morning! The others aren’t joining us?” Edward asked, looking between the three of them.
Clint shook his head. “Easier and less conspicuous with just us three.”
The professor hummed and nodded before ushering them inside. Behind the welcome desk, perched on her equally ancient rolling chair, was the librarian, Ms. Sylvia. At the sight of Clint, her already pinched face became more drawn, more severe.
“We’ll be heading down to the archives today, Sylvie!” Edward said warmly, and Clint was surprised when the woman actually gave the professor a small smile.
“Of course, Eddie. How was the dinner?”
“Dreadfully as boring as last year,” Dr. Krauss told her as they went past the desk, stepping behind her domain. A golden sign plastered to the dark wooden door behind her desk said Employees Only.
Sylvia nodded at Lucy, then resumed her glowering as Clint stepped behind the desk. He felt like a scolded schoolboy as he skittered past her and through the door that Edward held open.
***
Lucy didn’t know what to expect as they climbed down the brightly lit concrete staircase beneath the Bodleian, deeper and deeper underground.
At the bottom of the staircase, Lucy shivered. The air was significantly colder. Dira glanced at her with a silent question in her eyes, one that Lucy shook her head at.
Trudging down the clinically barren corridors, Dr. Krauss spoke quietly with Dira. Lucy just couldn’t shake the feeling of foreboding, opting to stay silent.
“Ah, here we are,” Edward announced as he stopped in front of a large steel door with a small placard reading M. Rawlinson, D. It had a rather intimidating security pad below it.
Dr. Krauss went about typing in an extensive code, then placed his thumb on a scanner. The door buzzed, and a loud click resonated through the hall. Pulling it open, he held it for the three of them to make their way inside.
Lucy, despite her unease, gawked.
The room they stepped into was infinitely larger than she’d imagined, almost like a small warehouse. Rows and rows of bookshelves stood erect like dominos along the wall. Lucy heard the distinct buzz of an air purifier. A large table stacked with books was situated in the center of the room.
Her mouth dropped open at the sight of a book lamp, white gloves, magnifier, and other tools spread across the top of the table.
“I have been working down here the last few days, so please excuse the mess.”
“I’m in heaven,” Lucy whispered, drawing a snort from Dira.
Clint just nodded solemnly. “I feel you, Sheridan. I feel you.”
“Please take a seat, while I retrieve the book.”
Lucy nodded, smiling softly at the professor, while Clint moved toward the table and plopped down. Dira stepped up beside Lucy and shifted on her feet.
