Boreal and John Grey Season 1 (46 page)

John Grey’s real name was based on the birthmark on his arm which looked like a flower. His name meant ‘bridge’. Which made perfect sense if you knew his ability to open Gates.

Whereas Finn’s real name...
Not real. Shit
. She rubbed her eyes, fury still rolling through her in great, burning waves, as Finn left the room, his footsteps silent as a cat’s.

A flower. A starburst. Spirals and darkness roiling in a vortex.

Her phone rang, jolting her upright. Almost ripping her backpack in the process, she dug the damn thing out. “Yeah?”

“Ella, it’s Dave.”

Gee, really? How unexpected
. “Do you need us to come in?”

“Stay put. It seems that snake wasn’t the only animal that crossed over.”

Oh shit
. “Wolves? Dragons?”

Dave grunted into the phone. “Possibly.”

Ella sighed and sank back into the couch, dragging a cushion behind her back. “Any progress with the trail of the Gates?”

“Not sure.” A humming filled the connection. Dave was stressed. Maybe he wasn’t a Guardian after all. She’d found no evidence whatsoever he was one, and she’d been close to him in times of great fear. Altered states. Had never seen any spirals inside him. And he stressed a lot. Maybe he was too human for his own good.

“Give me what you got.” She picked at the corner of the book distractedly, sounds from the shower reaching her ears.

“We have a fully formed one reported near the Stevenson Library.”

The library where she’d gotten the book? “What else?”

“The others are clustered in your neighborhood, making you the only constant we have. What do you make of that?”

Ella thought of the Gates flickering and fading, the woman looking like Finn’s mother floating in them, and her stomach clenched. “I’ve always attracted trouble.”
And his name is currently Finn
.

“The half-formed Gates, though...” He tsked. “They don’t seem to have any pattern. They’re spread around the city.”

“Where?”

 “Well, there was one in Bentley Park. That’s right behind Harlem Avenue, corner with—”

“—Remy Street?”

“You know it?”

Ella swallowed her reply. That was where Finn had called her from, where she’d found him and brought him home with her. “Anywhere else?”

“A mall near the stadium.”

Dammit, that was where Finn used to live. “What else?”

“Apart from the ones in your neighborhood, we have two more locations. One near the Warf 2 and another in the suburb, at a gas station.”

Ella sat, the book slipping from her numb fingers. The Wharf. Finn said he’d been there before, hadn’t he?

There was a constant alright.
Finn
. He’d been at the places where the fully operational Gates had formed as well. The Stevenson Library. He’d waited in the car for her when she’d gone to look for the book. Had he been at that gas station out of town? She’d have to ask Finn.

Somehow she was certain he had.

She felt sick.

“Ella? You are telling me everything, right? Can I count on you?”

“Yeah, Dave. You can count on me.” She forced her mouth to keep talking. “I’ll look into this and let you know. And you keep me posted if you find out anything else, right? We’ll be on stand by and ready to go if you call us.”

God dammit, Finn.

She flipped the phone closed and placed it on the coffee table, feeling as if her hands belonged to someone else. Picking up the book, she ran a trembling finger down the page talking about John Grey.

Come on, book, give me something I can work with
.

John Grey had lived an isolated life, due to his special ability. Although he came from one of the royal houses, he didn’t participate in the ceremonies and usual activities.

Royal houses?

Finn chose that moment to walk into the living room, in black pants and white shirt. Her heart stammered at the sight of him, torn between joy and fear.

“Finn.” Her voice was barely a breath, and she forced more air in her lungs. “Finn. Didn’t you say you come from a royal house?”

“Yes.” He licked his lips. “Why?”

She forced a smile, her head pounding. “Just wondering.”

God, this couldn’t be right. John Grey wasn’t a Light elf. No, she was seeing a pattern where there was none. The Light elves had stated John Grey wasn’t one of them. Even Dave had said so.

Finn wandered away and sounds reached her from the kitchen. He was putting water to boil, presumably to make tea and coffee. Every sound made her jump.
Holy shit
.

She flipped the pages until she found the passage.
There. See?
‘Not one of us,’ the elves said. ‘A John Grey belongs nowhere.’

A John Grey
. She gripped the book, her breath quickening. What, there were more than one of them?

Images from Finn’s dream, the hilltop.
‘Not one of us,’
the priest had said. Because... Because Finn had no magic. Rejected. An outcast.

A John Grey belongs nowhere
.

Oh my god
. John Grey was a Light elf. An elf living apart from the others, not because he had no abilities but because he’d been gifted with an unusual magic.

Opening Gates.
Jesus
. Her stomach churned, sending bile up her throat.
Dammit, Finn.

She’d given her heart to the one person about to destroy her world.

***

Ella stared out of her bedroom window. Air hissed through a crack. Outside, down in the street, the wind lashed the trees and bowed them to its passage, and overhead dark clouds sailed.

Her mind was empty of thought and full of echoes.
A flower. A starburst. A bridge. Not real. Finn
.

She splayed her fingers on the icy glass.
Oh Christ
.

A shuffle made her turn around.

“Hey.” Finn stood at her door, brows drawn together. “I made tea.”

She shook her head. His hair had dried; it framed his face in silver. His eyes were somber with concern. He looked so good; he’d felt so good in her arms, in her life.

Strange you saw what you’d been missing when you knew what to look for. All the clues had been there.

Apparently all Boreals, the royalty, were born with the gift of magic. Touching the energy, they called it. But once in a while, a child was born with no such magic, marked with a strange birthmark. Though the seeming lack of magic was deceptive. The child had a different kind of magic — that of opening. That child was a John Grey.

A John Grey was unique. But as soon as he died, another would be born to take his place. Not an old man, living through time. A young man.

Finn
.

She turned back to the window, feeling so cold she might shatter at a mere touch. How would Dave react to the news?
Yeah, boss, my partner is not only a Boreal but he is the one who’s been opening Gates. Please don’t hurt him. As you know, he swore he won’t work for the other side; that he’ll fight with us
.

That would go down beautifully, she could just see it.

And that wasn’t the worst part.

“Ella?”

She turned her head. Finn had stepped into the room, worry etching lines on his forehead. Her partner, sullen and quiet as he was, unbeatable in a fight, loyal and kind.

Her lover.

She just stared at him. He’d been there all that time as they’d puzzled over the Gates, the stories, everything. Right there by her side, fighting with her, fighting against fate.

A John Grey
.

“What is it?” Finn asked, his voice low and careful.

Unable to bear it anymore, she started to pace. So many questions she had to ask. Such a mess this was going to be. “What town did you say you worked at before coming here?”

“Blackwater.” He swallowed hard, his gaze darting to the door. “Why?”

Damn, the gas station Dave had mentioned was on that road. “You said you’ve been to Warf 2 before we found the snake there?”

He gave her a piercing look. “I slept there once.”

“When you first arrived to the city.”

He nodded.

Damn, damn, damn!
Add to that the places she’d met him the first couple of times Dave didn’t know about, and...

Why had only a few of the Gates worked? What was different about those times?

“What’s going on?” Finn asked, each word vibrating. His hands had clenched into fists against his thighs.

There had to be a pattern there, too, subtle clues she was not seeing.

At the library, she’d left Finn in the car, half asleep, before the wolves came through. At her apartment, before the dragon attacked, he’d been asleep. When the stone-plated dragon passed through, she’d left Finn asleep on the couch. Before the last wolf attack, they’d both been asleep, and now, before the flying snake was seen, and the other animals Dave mentioned...

Heat crept up her neck. Yeah, they’d been asleep, together, on the couch.

Did sleep have something to do with it?

Shit
.

Footfalls behind her. She spun around, took a step back. Finn approached, eyes wary, a hand lifting as if to touch her, then falling back to his side.

She didn’t think she could say the words, but they came out in a rush. “You’re John Grey.”

Finn’s eyes narrowed. “What are you talking about?”

“You can’t sleep anymore,” she blurted. Oh yeah, that made perfect sense.

“What?”

“You’re opening Gates, Finn. Maybe it’s your nightmares.” Oh good lord, he’d dreamed of the flying snake before it had appeared, hadn’t he? Why hadn’t she seen this? “I don’t know how it works. But wherever you’ve been, Gates have opened. Most aren’t complete. But lately they’re operational, letting the animals through, and soon...”
The elves
.

“No,” Finn whispered, his eyes huge in his pale face, splotches of red on his cheekbones.

“I’m sorry.” Such a useless thing to say.

He took a step back. “No,” he said again and turning around, left the room.