The Sons of Adam: The sequel of The Immortal Collection (A Saga of the Ancient Family Book 2) (11 page)

"Talking about indulgence, was it so awful, whatever it was he did to you, that you haven't been able to forgive him in four hundred years?"

"You hate Nagorno."

"I do."

"Because he killed your mother."

"That's right."

"And you could never forgive him, however sorry he may be now."

"His apologies would be worthless, my mother is gone."

"So we're not that different, you and I. I'm still angry at my father because someone I loved very much died because of him. Still, my father didn't know about our relationship, he didn't know what she meant to me, but the hurt he inflicted cannot be reversed."

"They'd be dead either way," I said, without knowing very well why.

"I don't understand."

"The woman, the one Iago took from you, who died for whatever the reason may be, would be dead now anyway, and it's quite possible that my mother would be as well, she might have died by now. But you and I are still here, many years after their deaths, hurt by the injustice of their deaths, as if a part of our lives had been stayed behind with them, in the past, unable to move on."

Gunnarr kept his back to me, he didn't move, other than to make fists, which turned his knuckles white.

"Don't you dare think that you can understand my pain,
stedmor
. Don't you dare."

And he went to open the door, patting his pocket to find the key.

"Now I understand you a bit better," I said, before he left.

"What do you mean?"

"Before I thought that you had to be an extremely stubborn person to go four hundred years without forgiving a father like Iago. I thought that you were inflexible, spiteful."

"Wow, thanks. I've had nicer compliments."

"But I understand that you can't forgive him, and I can't forgive Nagorno. I look at him and I see him killing my mother. I see everything that I never had: a childhood with her, knowing her as an adult, her knowing my husband. He made me an orphan, Gunnarr. He left me all alone in the world, he turned me into an adult in one afternoon."

Gunnarr let go of the door and leaned against the wall in front of me. He looked the other way and lowered his head.

"The same thing happened to me. When I saw my father in your office at the museum, I'd wanted to see him again for so long... Nagorno has always kept me up to date with what he had been doing, I've always known where he's been during these four centuries. My father is a good person to have at your side and I missed him so much. But when he took me to that cemetery, I just couldn't. I couldn't forget what he'd done to me. I couldn't let it go, leave it in the past," he ran his hand through his hair, just as Iago did when something was bothering him.

"I looked into his eyes and I knew that he felt guilty, which is why I can't forgive him. Not until he has suffered."

"We're all pretty stupid, aren't we? The four of us," I said. "We're trapped in this web of guilt and revenge, and we're going to end up destroying each other's lives."

"You're right."

"Gunnarr. I'm not going to forgive Nagorno for what he did to my mother, nor am I going to forgive him for what he's doing to me now. And I'm not going to forgive you either, goddamn it, however many stories you tell me about Vikings. You took me from my home, you took me from the arms of my husband, you took me from a job that I love to bring me to this cell and threaten me with death. No, Gunnarr. You and I are not alike. I would never have done that to you, I would never kidnap or kill anyone."

"That's because you think like an ephemeral, you only see your little world. If you saw the whole picture, you would change your opinion. Believe me."

I stood up and walked over to him, without dropping my gaze.

"Then show me the whole picture."

"No... that's a privilege only I have earned and you would have to do a lot to be worthy of seeing it. But I can give you clues, if you're able to see them, sense them, sniff them out. Let's see how smart you really are,
stedmor
. Open your eyes and your ears, listen to what you see and see what I tell you, especially what's between the lines. The most important truths are in the parts that are left out. The parts that aren't answered have the key to the question. The things we are ashamed of are the things that best define us. Think about what my father doesn't say, and you will get to know him better than he knows himself."

Gunnarr left without waiting for me to reply, leaving me on my own.

Ok, Gunnarr. I'll take up the gauntlet. Let's play.

14

Monte Castillo

IAGO

I waited until nightfall to get the car and drive to Puente Viesgo. It was a weekday and the parking lot at the entrance to the Interpretation Center was deserted. It was a magnificent night; the sky was clear, tinted with a deep indigo color. Thousands of stars that burnt out years ago dotted the heavens above me.

I took the hidden path on the right and started the climb. At my feet, the valley of my childhood slept, and there were only a few lights still on in some remote houses. I didn't need to use the light from my cell phone; the white shadow from Mother Moon showed me the way to the lime tree. As I stepped into the cave, I lit a torch that I had prepared at home. I took off my shoes and shirt; I had the ochre markings painted on my arms and torso. I was Urko once more, returning to my first home.

He was already there. Father was waiting for me next to the panel of the hands, where Dana and I had recited our vows before Mother Rock. He had also painted his past as Lür, the patriarch of the Ancient Family.

We stood facing each other, father and son, catching up with recent events in silence, just looking at each other. Then he came over to me, we held on to each other's arms and we touched foreheads, in the ancient style. The greeting of men who respect each other without fear.

We sat down, leaning against the cave wall.

"I remember the conversation we had a year ago, in this same place, before going to the Amazons. I remember telling you that you would end up turning Adriana into a longeva, that you would succumb when you saw her age..." he said.

"I remember. But I already told you, she doesn't want to, Adriana doesn't want to be a longeva. She's happy living for a few more decades, and I'm going to respect that. What I wasn't expecting was Nagorno's blackmailing. I thought that he would leave her out of our problems. And I certainly didn't expect to see Gunnarr again."

"No, neither did I," he said, letting out a long sigh. If I had have suspected anything I would have stayed with you. Tell me, what do you have there?"

"A damn riddle," I answered, pulling the piece of paper from the back pocket of my pants.

"Let me see it."

My father knew all about the intricacies of cryptograms; he was the one who taught Gunnarr and turned him into a skilled code breaker.

"Let's see,
You will reach her by air or sea
," he looked up, waiting for my obvious response.

"It's an island, I get that part."

"Yakarta, on the island of Java..." I wondered out loud.

"Isn't it too obvious that Nagorno would take her to his favorite corner of the planet?"

"I wouldn't rule anything out quite yet, not even the most obvious."

"Ok," he agreed, "we won't rule it out, but the place they have taken her must fit in with all the clues. Gunnarr doesn't leave anything to chance."

"Let's keep thinking then:
You will find Massacres and Cathedrals
. Do you think that's literal or figurative?"

"I don't know. I'll check the records for massacres in cathedrals. But there must be hundreds," I said. "All the bombardments on islands that have destroyed churches, just counting the last two world wars..."

"Try to be optimistic, Urko. If they are cathedrals, we're looking at Christianity. We've just got to look within the last two thousand years of history. Islands with recent pasts."

"Ok, it's our best bet so far. We'll have to look into it," I said. "Let's continue. The next part is interesting:
Will there be thousands, will they be beautiful?
What do you think that refers to? To a place where there are thousands of beauties?"

"Or maybe not," said my father. What most stands out is the question mark. Is it a question? Why isn't it a statement?"

I threw a pebble towards the back of the cave, frustrated.

"How do we find out? How can we decipher what's in my son's head and what he's trying to tell me after four hundred years brooding over what I did to him?"

"That's enough, Urko. We've got a lot to do and not much time to do it. Let's share out the tasks. Where should we start?"

"I have to focus on the telomerase research; I've got less than twenty days to reverse the effect. You take care of the museum."

"I will, but I'll do the bare minimum over the next three weeks," said Lür. "My priority right now is to find Nagorno, Gunnarr and Adriana. And it won't be easy. If they've hidden her, they will have taken her to a remote place."

"Not necessarily," I sighed, frustrated. "She could be in an apartment overlooking Central Park and we wouldn't know, or in a skyscraper on the most crowded street in Shanghai. Admit it, the possibilities are endless."

"But Gunnarr has given specific details: an island, massacres, cathedrals, thousands and beautiful... those are the clues."

"Or maybe not all of them," I said. Gunnarr is very sly; some may be false and he put them in there for the simple pleasure of giving us a headache."

"Even false clues have their reasons, I taught him that. Even a liar will tell the truth through his lies."

We were silent for a moment. My father studied the piece of paper, holding it up to the light in case his grandson had left a hidden message with invisible citrus ink, although I had checked earlier and I knew that the answer was no.

"Urko, do you really think that Nagoro would kill her?"

"Father, he killed Vega and Syrio, his niece and nephew, just for his thirst of being a father. This time it's different, this time his life is on the line, and Adriana doesn't even share his blood. He's marking his territory, he's letting me know what he's willing to do if I try and kill him again. He knows that I've discovered something to do with the longevo gene. If he survives this ordeal, he wants to know that I won't use it against him."

"Being with Adriana makes you vulnerable, and you know it, You're well aware of that, aren't you?"

"I've always known. Whilst I'm a man with someone to love, with someone I care about, I will be weak against Nagorno's power."

"That's why you haven't tried to have children with her."

"That's right. I couldn't bear to go through what he did to Lyra, killing his family. I can't take it anymore."

My father sighed, with a look on his face that was lost amongst the cracks in the rock.

"I'm not just concerned about Nagorno," he said. "Gunnarr is also in the picture. Is there anything else I should know about?"

"He carved some runes into my desk.
Does it hurt, father?
Because I want it to hurt.
I need it to hurt in order to be able to consider you as my father once more.
"

"He's obviously proposing a rite of passage to forgive you."

"Yeah, I saw that too. He wants to forgive me, for us to be father and son once more, but he has to hurt me first."

"Do you think that the kidnapping will be enough for him?" he asked, hoarsely.

"Are you asking me if I think that he'll kill Adriana?" I asked.

"Let's imagine that I run out of time and I don't find the antidote for Nagorno, and my brother dies. It's obvious that Gunnarr has orders to execute Adriana. That way we'll be even. As far as Gunnarr's concerned, it's an eye for an eye."

"No, son. I hate to be the one to remind you of this, but knowing how Gunnarr's mind works, you will never be even."

"What do you mean? Don't you think it's enough pain to kidnap and kill my wife?"

"If what he's trying to do is give you the same pain he felt, the element of seduction is missing."

I swallowed hard. I hadn't thought about that.

"If he wants to make you feel the pain and insult you caused him... Gunnarr will carry on from where you left off, doing the same thing that he believes you did with his wife: first he will seduce her, and then he will cause her death."

15

Coffee in Paris

IAGO

The next day I caught a flight to Paris, having once again taken on the identity of Wistan Zeidan. I shaved my beard to leave a goatee similar to the one I had when I met Pilkington, and I had to go back to the brown contact lenses and the thick black frames. I was back to being the headhunter for candidates for the Hooke Awards.

This time it was Pilkington who offered to travel to Europe. When I called him, pretending that his candidacy had a good possibility of winning the award, he told me that the Kronon Corporation was planning on opening headquarters in Europe and he had been planning on traveling to Paris for quite some time now.