Everlasting (Night Watchmen, #1) (6 page)

“I will open the ceremony with a blessing to the Divine, our originals. In reminding ourselves of how we came to be, we can move ahead in these trying times and continue in the legacy of protecting humanity,” Maddock says. I practice Katie’s breathing, focusing on what he’s saying rather than what I’m thinking. My thoughts can’t be trusted. They’re carefully placed traps waiting for me to step into, waiting to cripple my ability to exist.

“When the blessing is complete, we will say goodbye to the novices. They’ll make their way back stage where they’ll be kept separate until the ceremony is over. One by one, we will bring them out, and they will connect with the Culling quartz. The Culling quartz will awaken their powers and determine their affinity partner. The face of their partner will appear on the screen behind me, at which time we will bring that person out so they can meet, connect, and be branded with their shared affinity mark.” He adjusts the mic and then clears his throat.

I feel the eyes of everyone in the room staring, probing, guessing. Predictions are like vultures circling over us, waiting for the moment our old lives end and our new ones begin. I stare at the back of Katie’s head as my nervous system malfunctions. I shouldn’t be freaking out this bad. I need to rein it in before someone notices. I need to be strong.

“The Divine, three Hunters and three Witches, awoke at a time when humankind was in dire need of protection. Through the ages, we’ve lived in fear of being discovered by humans, even though we protect them from the evils that seek them out, until one Divine broke from the Coven. To speak of the dark days that led up to the Great Battle of the Covens is an insult to our people, but to ignore the gift that came from those days would be insolence. When the Divine Mourdyn opened the doorway to Underground, giving unsavory paranormal beings a way to reach the plane of the living, we could no longer hide in the shadows. Humankind was being destroyed, ripped apart by the spite of one of our own. We had to make it right.

“And so, the remaining five Divine formed our place within the United Nations. Rules were set, factions were made, a chain of command formed, allegiances…all to create what we’ve become today- humankind’s ultimate protector against an evil they cannot fight.
We all need to work together in order to fight against the growing paranormal activity in our cities. The Culling ensures that we do. It ensures not only our safety, but the safety of humankind as well. And so I stand before you, under the keen eye of the Divine, on the day of the Culling, where your children will become one of us as they accept their destiny and continue on with our legacy of protecting those weaker than ourselves.”

He pauses a moment, and then says, “Please stand and state the blessing with me before we begin the Culling.” Everyone rises, including us, and I can’t hear past the blood pounding in my ears. His hands raise, and then he says:

Of my blood and your blood, we are one.

Of my heart and your heart, we are one.

Of my mind and your mind, we are one.

I pledge my life to the ways of the Coven,

And offer up my soul.

Henceforth, we must watch the night,

For in darkness, we must be the light.

When the blessing is finished, the crowd takes their seats as we’re rushed off the stage. I try to keep track of Katie’s jeweled clip, but I bump into the leg of a chair and have to catch myself to keep from falling. A solar flare of heat spreads across my cheeks. When I stand upright again, she’s already gone. A few novices snicker behind me. I throw a heated glare over my shoulder which quiets them right up.

“This way,” Nathaniel says from the side of the stage. We’re like cows being herded into individual pens to await sacrifice. There are closed-in cubicles constructed backstage, and each of us is placed in one without a word of guidance or encouragement.

“Wait a second,” I say as I try to scan down the row one last time for Katie, but I’m shoved into my cubicle and the door shuts, enclosing me in between four confining walls with only the light of a lamp. I drag my hands down the fabric of the walls until I fall down into my seat. I tug on my braid again and again and again.
Calm down. Breathe. Calm down.
I chant this over and over again, imagining that Katie’s the one who’s coaching me. I shut my eyes and am back in her room. The scent of her perfume overwhelms the small space, but instead of making me sneeze, it comforts me. It makes my imagined state more real.

I hear loud clapping coming from off the stage and know someone must’ve just gone. They obviously weren’t a Defect. No one wants a Defect at their ceremony. A voice shouts, “Let’s go, Todd Jenson. It’s time to meet your partner.” I wonder if it was Katie on stage. I wonder if he’s her partner. I wonder this through eighteen more times worth of clapping and cheering and name calling. Anytime now, they’ll open my door and force me to stand before the crowd, force me to touch the quartz, force me to face my peers in shame. If they deem me a Defect, I’ll be the first this Culling, and most likely the only.

I twist my hands into knots and think about my parents. They have to be out there by now. I’m going to walk out there and they’re going to be in the front row smiling. I open my eyes. Four walls. They’re closing in on me. They’re suffocating me. I have to get out.

“Faye Middleton?” The door opens and air rushes in. I draw sharply on it as the cheering continues. Another novice and her new partner walk off stage. It’s the girl with black hair. She’s coyly looking at him from under her lashes. He looks pissed.

Nathaniel guides me forward, and I want to yank my arm from him. I want to tell him I left my courage back in that cubicle, but I don’t. I can’t. My lips are glued shut by fear. My knees have turned into two extremities of doubt, and I know I’m going to fall. I’m going to forget how to speak.

Steel blue eyes find mine from across the stage. Elder Maddock. He bows ever so slightly in my direction, his eyes seeking past my outer appearance. I wonder if he knows who I am. He has to. I stop right before him and feel like a bird trapped in a cage. I can’t escape the thousands of eyes studying me. I can’t escape the hundreds of assumptions building me into something I’m not.

“Faye Middleton,” he says, his voice eager and curious. There’s a friendly lightness in his voice I don’t expect, a sound that makes me feel safe and comfortable under his gaze. He has thick, golden brown hair combed neatly over to the side and back, showing off the squared planes of his face. He looks much younger than he should, but older than my father. “Are you ready to begin?”

I turn to the crowd and scan desperately for my parents. Eyes. There are so many eyes. Too many. They form together, creating an awful monster that wants to swallow me whole. I can’t find them. The eyes have hidden them from me. I’m all alone. I try to
swallow, but my mouth is so dry. I bite the inside of my cheek, curbing the need to release tears.

The Witch standing next to him says, “Faye, he asked you a question.”

I take in a tight breath and force myself to look away and back at Maddock. “I’m sorry,” I whisper, my stomach twisting a little tighter.

He pretends not to notice the panic I’m sure my face is masked in and offers me the kindest, most patient smile. “Everyone is nervous on the day of the Culling,” he says knowingly. “I was a wreck the day of mine.”

Polite laughter comes from the audience, and I feel myself relax just enough so that I can breathe again.

He offers me a small wink…a knowing sort of wink, and says, “Your parents will be proud.” He says these words carefully, evenly, and I know he’s trying to tell me something. They’re okay? He’s aware of
who
I am. “So are you ready to begin?”

I want to beg him to tell me where my parents are. Every second in his presence unravels me strand by strand, tearing away my ability to stand upright, but somehow, my head functions for me and nods at him.

“Let’s start with the quartz then, shall we?” he says slowly, softly. “Let’s see just what you are.” He gestures for me to come close, and then lifts a large, oblong, pink quartz set inside a golden dish shaped like two hands from the podium. Under the poor lighting, I swear I see a constellation floating in the center.

He lifts it up and holds it out. I wrap my hands around the cool quartz and bring it to my chest while still staring at the swirling constellation through the rosy color. His Witch steps up to me and holds her hands over the quartz, spelling it to life. At any moment, I’ll know for sure what I am.
My fate will be sealed, and I’ll have done it without the support of my parents, but moments tick by like tiny bombs exploding, and nothing happens.

“It’s okay,” Maddock eases, tilting his head slightly.

Murmurs break out over the crowd, and I want to shrivel up into an invisible, impenetrable shell.

He shifts a little in his stance, looks out at the crowd and offers an encouraging smile, and then looks back at me. “It doesn’t always work right away,” he says surely. “Not until you clear your mind and allow it to connect with you. Once it d
oes, I’ll read the quartz for you. Please, clear your mind.” I find his eyes, and in them is enough strength and encouragement to carry me through a lifetime, like he’s pulled my parents through him, giving me exactly what I need.

I close my eyes, pushing the thought of everyone in the room far away from me.
This is it. It has to tell me I’m one of them, that I’m not a Defect. I don’t want to be a Defect. I can’t be a Defect.
Maybe if I believe this enough, the quartz will grant me this. I feel power inside of the quartz begin to take hold within the palms of my shaky hands. My eyes open. The quartz fills with an effulgent light, illuminating the room. I can’t stop the ray of hope that ignites within me and gives flight to my heart.

It’s working. The crystal is working.

Maddock’s head tilts down to the quartz. I follow his gaze. All at once, the constellation disappears and a lightning storm begins. Bolts of bright lightning strike within swirling gray clouds; the sign of the Hunter. I think my smile could reach the moon. But just when I think the decision has been made, the clouds part and reveal a mossy forest. Trees shoot up to the clouds where a moon rests; the sign of the Witch.

Maddock’s eyes jerk up to mine and then back to the quartz. A small, almost unperceivable frown appears on his lips. “I can’t get a good read,” he says over his shoulder to his Witch. Something in his tone alarms my internal warning system. “It’s flipping between the two.” The clouds morph into a calm forest, and then back again.

I look up at Maddock as I hold my breath and search his face for a sign. Most of his features are placid, unreadable, but as the images continue to waver, there’s a slight bit of disbelief that tips the edges of his brow ever so slightly. “This wasn’t…it isn’t possible.”

Lightning strikes inside the quartz, splitting trees in half. The scent of charred wood lifts from the quartz and surrounds us. The scenes merge together, and then a blast of light explodes out from the quartz and fills the room. The lights in the auditorium dim and flicker on and off. I can feel the electricity entering my body, filling me with infinite power.

Maddock’s eyes dart over to the crowd. I peer around him and witness the onlookers as they dip down, tucking themselves away from the unknown. Maddock’s mouth parts and then shuts, and then he looks back at me, questioningly.

I gaze around frantically as fire-hot electricity tingles in my fingertips. It slowly makes its way up my arm and into my heart like a dam breaking open. It washes over me, awakening what was always there. My forearm begins to burn under my long sleeve shirt. I want to let go of the quartz, but I can’t. My hands are glued by magic. The room is spinning with hysteria.

“Clara, unspell the quartz! NOW!” Maddock shouts as people start to rise out of their seats under the flickering lights. Sparks rain down on them. Cries of fear and confusion lift in the air and wrap around me.

“What’s happening,” I ask as I try to let go of the quartz. It won’t stop. The room blackens, and then screams pierce the air. Light from the quartz pours over the stage and builds with every second that passes. Everyone stops and
stares, watching as only I am illuminated before them.

“Clara!” Maddock shouts again, sharply. He looks past me and nods once. Someone comes up behind me. Strong arms wrap around me. I want to scream, but I don’t. I want to fight, but I can’t. I can’t move. I can’t even blink. My whole body begins to shake as Clara’s hands hover over the quartz. I can feel her magic trying to shut it off, but it won’t. It continues to pulse with power until, finally, the quartz starts cracking in half. Pure, unfiltered light bleeds out of the center.

“She’s going to break the quartz. We have to pull her off.” He looks to whoever is holding me and nods with command. The arms around me tighten, crushing me against a thick wall of chest and heat and strength. Maddock wraps his strong hands around the stone and bits of crackling lightning spark down his arms and onto his hands.

In one blink, I’m yanked backwards and the quartz is pulled free from my hands just before it cracks in two. The light ceases from inside the quartz, and, at the same time, the overhead lights flicker back on throughout the auditorium, returning the borrowed electricity.

I think I’m having a heart attack. I think my lungs have permanently deflated. I know my brain has forgotten how to work…too clogged with shock and fright and all the things you think linger behind your closet door at night.