Forbidden (The Seeker Saga, #2) (43 page)

“The
Third
!” Liz stressed.  “She’s the oldest of the elders.  She’s been alive since before Arthur Eliot was born!”

“Well, that’s kind of obvious,” I said, shaking my head.  “She looks older than him.”

“No, no, I mean, older than his father!  Than Arthur Eliot senior.  By
decades
!”

“Decades?” I frowned.  “What are you talking about?”

“The crystals don’t just grant power, Tracy, they extend our lives!  Aeryth just told me so.  Any woman who uses the crystals can expect to live two, three times longer than normal.”

I blinked.  That was… unbelievable.  “Do you know how old Silvia is?”

Liz gave me such an abashed look that I cringed.  “Of course
not
.  Don’t you see how rude it would be to ask?  Isn’t it good enough knowing that she’s decades older than Arthur’s dad was?”

“I guess,” I said.  “You just learned of this now?  How does it work?  The crystals… extend lives?”

“That’s what Aeryth just said,” Liz told me.  “But I can’t keep Silvia waiting.  Aeryth sent me to her because she knows about the wall inscriptions.”

“Wait, the ones from Traven Island?”

Liz nodded impatiently.  “Yes, yes!  Aeryth said that when Arthur Eliot
senior
came here the first time, the seekers gave his group some type of sketches.  The seekers told them to place the sketches close to the source of crystals.  As a way of luring others – us! – to the crystals.  But the seekers themselves didn’t know
where
the source was, or rather, maybe they didn’t tell them.”

“So then, with the help of the CIA,” I said slowly, “Arthur Eliot’s group of researchers engraved the sketches in the caves below Traven Island?” 

“Exactly!” Liz said.  “I’m sure there’s a lot more to it.  I’ll ask Silvia.  You’re going to see Rob?  He’s down the hall, just to the right.  Just be quiet, you don’t want to—”

“Wake him, I know,” I cut in.  “I won’t.”

“Good.  Well, I have to go.  I can’t keep Silvia waiting.”

“Alright, go,” I said.

Liz slipped around me, but stopped at my shoulder.  “There’s a lot to think about for us, isn’t there?”

“So much,” I agreed.  With that, Liz ran past me, and I heard her footsteps against the floor of the hallway.  Finally, I’d be able to see Rob.

The brief reprieve with Liz actually helped me get my strength back, and I no longer had to lean against the wall for support.  Still, I shuffled down the hallway, to the door at the end.  There
was
a  lot to think about, not even involving Liz’s revelation – the crystals granted longer life? 
How?
– but all I could think of at the moment was Rob.  I put my hand on the doorknob, and quietly turned it open.

It was a room much like the one I had woken up in.  There was a single bed, made of white sheets, and a small window that allowed sunlight through.  A chair stood near the bed, and there was a sturdy dresser against the wall.  But all that was secondary to who was in the room. 
Rob
was there, lying on the bed.  The black eye he had been harboring for so long was gone.  His face was completely undisturbed, now.  If I didn’t know any better, I would have said he was in full health.  But then I noticed how weakly his chest rose and fell with the rhythm of breath.  His breathing was regular, but it was light.  That worried me.

I clicked the door shut behind me, and tip-toed to take the chair.  I brought it to the side of the bed, careful not to make a sound.  Ever so gently, I brought my hand forward to delicately brush his cheek.  Maybe it was my imagination – or maybe not – but just then, I thought I saw his eyes flicker briefly. 

I smiled.  That had to be a good sign.  Rob would wake up.  I knew it.  And no matter what happened, I would be the first person he would see
when
he woke up.

That was the only certainty I felt.  I didn’t know how anything else would turn out – with the girls, with the crystals, with the seekers, with the people chasing us.  But no matter what happened, we would all face it together.  For once, I did not feel any despair.  We were all in this together, and that gave me strength.

I leaned back in the chair, and started to wait.  There was nothing else for me to do.

Epilogue

Chris waited until he was sure the other person in the room had left before moving his hand to his face.  His fingers trembled as they came upon the cotton bandages wrapped around his head.  He reached for where he knew his nose would be – and found nothing there.  The bandages were smooth, belying the ruined mass of skin underneath.  He could feel the structure of his skull – his forehead, his jaw, the sunken hollows of his eyes – but beyond that, Chris could find nothing else.  Even worse, the sensation from the skin was gone.  His face was numb.  As his fingers explored the misshapen valleys of his face, his mind wandered.  He may as well have been poking at a slab of meat. 

He did not feel any sadness at what he found.  It was expected, after what he had gone through.  Rather, he felt rage.  White-hot rage that seared his marrow and boiled his blood, and fed on a newfound anger that pulsed and grew within him.  All of the emotion was directed at Tracy.  All his suffering lay at her feet.

He had thought the previous deformity she caused him was bad, but there was nothing that could compare to this.  He had lost his face.  He had lost what had made him
him. 

Even worse, Tracy had denied him the dignity to die.  That thought fueled his rage even further.  He could remember precious little of the moments after his
voliar
had backfired on him.  But one thing stood out as in his memory: Tracy’s voice, worming into his mind like a venomous snake, as he lay on the ground ready to embrace death.  ‘
Yes
,’ she had said, ‘
of course, yes!
’ when asked whether to pull Chris back from the brink.  The words taunted him.  He wanted to die then, he
needed
to die, but she had denied him even that mercy.  He knew her decision was just a way to cause him more pain.  He knew, and he hated her for it.

Anger and rage swirled into one, creating a roiling, dark miasma of emotion.  Chris treasured that dark bundle that grew within him.  He would never let it go, not until Tracy got what she deserved.  Not until he could exact his revenge.

He would have to be more cunning this time, he knew.  He would need to be more deliberate than before.  He could not be clumsy.  He could not succumb to greed or avarice.  His revenge would have to be meticulous planned, down to every last detail.  That was the only way to success.  He would inflict upon Tracy the same amount of pain she had given him.  No.  A
greater
amount of pain!  She would beg for death before him, and he would dismiss her please as she had his.  Her death would be prolonged, and she would know pain unlike any other for the final days of her time on this earth.

Chris opened his eyes, and a slit of light came in through the bandages.  He turned to one side, and found all his belongings on a stool near the bed.  He could have wept for joy.  His clothes were folded neatly in a small pile, his belt wrapped in a tight coil on top.  And his knife – that precious, deadly blade – was right there beside his belt, the wooden handle protruding from a leather sheath.  The fools!  Did they think him so cowed he was no longer dangerous?  Well, they would find the truth of that soon.

Chris reached for the knife – and stopped.  If he picked it up now, he would give away his only advantage.  He itched to pull it to him, to have it close at hand.  But, that would give him away.  Daylight still streamed through the small window in his room, and he would have to wait for nightfall to make his move.  With a tinge of regret, he brought his hand back to his side.  The opportunity to use the blade would come soon, but not right now. 

With exacting coldness, he began planning his escape.

The End.

Forbidden

Book 2,
The Seeker Saga

About the Author

Sarah Swan was born in the summer of 1991 on the outskirts of Seattle, Washington.  She is an avid reader and has been so since her mother placed her first book in her hands.  She has dreamt of being a writer ever since meeting J.K. Rowling in a local bookshop at the age of 12. 
Forbidden
is the second book of
The Seeker Saga
.