Touching Fire (Touch Saga) (22 page)

Lally never looked away from me. Her slitted pupils pulsed the longer our gazes clashed. Her small mouth curled at the corners.

“I can tell you
when,” she said with an almost cruel, mocking snicker. “It will be painful and you will suffer.”

Celia grabbed her arm and hauled her
off the sofa. The link between us broke as Lally was dragged forcibly from the room.

“Forgive her,” Ashton said
, going to take the place his devil child had left empty. “Lally means well, but she sometimes forgets.”

Forgets what?
To not be creepy?

“
What’s her deal anyway?” I asked.

Rather than answer, Ashton clapped his hands together, rubbed them,
and then leaned forward with his elbows on his knees and his palms still pressed together. He stared at his long fingers a long moment before bringing himself up to respond.

“Lally has been an only child for five years.
She’s not used to … sharing.”

That was his excuse? I was an only child for seventeen years and I never—to my knowledge
—predicted a slow and painful death on anyone. Okay there was that one time at McDonalds, but that was another matter entirely.

“So she’s usually this fun and cheerful with everyone, or am I just special?”

Ashton gave a short laugh. “Lally … Lally is…”

He never did tell me what Lally was.
I didn’t push him. Another thought had occurred to me.

“Can she really predict the future?”

Ashton splayed his long fingers. “It’s a little more complicated than that.”

“But she can,” I pressed.

He exhaled. “Sometimes…”

“Can you?”

“Me?” He laughed. “Unfortunately, once you become a Sire, all those fun talents you get at birth … no longer exist.”

“But before?”

He shook his head. “My talents lay in other areas.”

“Where did Lally get her … talent?”

“I suspect from her mother’s side. It’s something more common in the Ira region.”

I frowned. “
Do you or your parents have any Bane in your blood?”

He chuckled. “
Absolutely. Your grandmother is Bane legacy.”

Then that explained it! That was why I was able to predict
the future when I touched someone. They had to be mortal, but I was so excited to finally find one piece of the puzzle that I almost whooped in triumph.

“I can predict the future, too,” I blurted, too giddy to keep it to myself. “It only happened once and the woman was human, but I saw what would happen to her when we touched.”

Ashton smiled softly at me. “You’re just full of surprises.” His tone became serious. “What else can you do?”

I had to think about it. “Isaiah says I started an earthquake.”

“You don’t believe him?”

I shrugged. “I don’t know what to believe. It only happened the one time and it could have been a fluke.”

“Anything else?”

I shook my head. “I don’t think so.”

Something in his eyes flashed. “But you don’t know.”

A little unnerved by the intensity in his eyes, I shrugged again. “I don’t…”

“Forgive me.” He settled back, attempting to portray an air of calm. “I get overexcited sometimes.” He cleared his throat. “Isaiah tells me you never made it this far during your travels,” Ashton said.

I shook my head. “
Mom usually turned around once we reached the borders. I always thought she just hated all the rain, or fresh air. I don’t know.”

Ashton
snorted a laugh. “I always hoped she would…” He trailed off, giving his head a definite shake. “I knew she wouldn’t. It was one of the things we discussed when she left, that she would keep you out of Terrell’s domain. Still, I always hoped.”

“
Hoped what?”

“
That she would let me see you at least once. I knew it wasn’t safe, but…”

“You
wanted
to see me?”

Ashton gave a loud laugh, sharp and humorless. “
Of course I did! I know it might not seem like I tried, but I tried. I didn’t want your mom to leave. I didn’t want you to leave, but the thing about your mother, once she had her mind made up … there was really no stopping her. The only thing I could do was make sure she had the resources to take care of you.”

“The debit card,” I said, remembering the one my mother often used to pay for my
fancy schooling throughout the years.

Ashton nodded. “Did she use it?”

“Kind of,” I muttered, then grimaced at the lie. “No. I mean, she did for my schooling, but otherwise refused to. I never understood why, but now I kind of get it.”

Ashton said nothing
for several long minutes that seemed to go on forever while I weighed whether or not I hurt his feelings.

“It’s like you said,” I went on. “She was really stubborn.”

He nodded, still staring down at his clasped hands. “Yes, she was.” He let his words hang between us for a moment as he gathered himself up for whatever he was about to say next. “I think while we wait for Celia to return, we should discuss you and Isaiah a little more.”

I wanted to say no, that there was nothing to discuss, but I knew he would whether I wanted it or not
.

“
Okay?”

“Well,” he rubbed his hands. “
I meant what I told you the other day, you are
literally
worlds apart. He does not belong in ours and you cannot live in his. I know this, because that’s how I lost your mother.”

I shook my head. “I thought
it was because of Garrison…”

He nodded. “Yes, he played a part in it, but she didn’t leave until after I told her the truth.” He sighed. “You can’t have children, Fallon. Not with him. Eventually, he will die and you will not.
You are part of a world that will never accept him and he is part of a world that will never accept you.”

“
So what then?” I anxiously scrubbed my palms up and down the length of my thighs. “I just live here for the rest of my life … alone?”

“You are not alone
.”

“Aren’t I?
You’re telling me that the only person I care about can’t be with me.”

His gaze caught mine. “
Life is very seldom fair. We all have to make undesirable decisions.” He searched my face a moment. “It’s time you said goodbye.”

“No!” I blurted. “I won’t do that.
I
can’t
do that. I mean, I need his blood for crying out loud.”

He looked to his clasped hands for several seconds. I could see the unspoken words churning on his face as he tried to deliberate what to say next.

Finally, he spoke, “You won’t need him if you stay.”

I stiffened. “What? How?”

Ashton straightened. He squared his shoulders. “The longer you’re here, the less you will be able to retain your humanity. I think eventually, without that human part of you, the hunger for him will abate.”

I narrowed my eyes.
“That won’t work. I was here when I attacked Delphi.”

“It will take more time than that!” he said. “We just have to wait it out.”

I shook my head. “You can’t know for sure that’ll work.”

“No.” He drew his bottom lip between his teeth and rubbed his palms together once. “
There is another way. But I need you to trust me.”

“What is it?”

I wasn’t promising anything until I knew all the details, especially if it involved me letting go of Isaiah.

“
Sorry about that.” Celia strolled back into the room, sans Lally. “What did I miss?”

I stared at my feet and let Ashton answer her.

“Well, now that Lally’s out of the room, I was going tell Fallon about the passing.”

It was comical to watch as Celia visibly fought not to roll her eyes. “Darling, really. I thought we agreed—”

“Well it has to be done,” Ashton interjected solemnly. “It’s the only way Fallon will be safe.”

“Yes, but
this is just ridiculous!” Celia insisted. “Fallon will be perfectly fine without such a prehistoric ritual.”

“But that isn’t a guarantee
, Cissy, and that’s what Fallon needs.”

I raised a hand and waved. “Still in the room.”

Ashton sighed and turned his attention away from his wife to focus on me. Celia clasped her hands together in her lap and averted her face altogether, like by not looking, she was somehow not part of whatever madness Ashton was about to unleash.

“In less than three weeks marks the end of a
nother hundred year cycle since the creation of our kind,” Ashton began. “On this day, it is said that a child will be born, a child with feet in two worlds and he or she will have the power to—”

“Good grief,” Celia muttered and got to her feet. “
Forgive me, darling, but you know how I feel about this ludicrous notion. Eons have passed and there has yet to be such a child born. It is nothing more than a superstitious story to entertain the young.”

“Not yet born?” Ashton looked appalled. “Fallon is living, breathing proof. She is human
and
Rem. That, by definition, is a foot in two worlds.”

Celia threw up her hands
in disgust. She moved several feet away before twisting around on her heels to face us. “You are only going to frighten and confuse the girl, Acheron.”

“No, no,” I said quickly when a flicker of doubt passed over
Ashton’s face. “What does this have to do with me?”

Celia muttered something and stalked over to the enormous bay window. She became a dark figure against the penetrating light spilli
ng through the glass, but there was no mistaking the stiffness of her spine.

After a hesitant glance towards his wif
e, his hazel eyes rested on me. “Do you remember the story I told you about how the nexus was created?”

I nodded with a shrug. “Yeah, when the Tree of Life was struck down by Michael, it grew seven roots that became the nexus and created the seven sins.”

“Yes.” I felt a prickle of satisfaction when he grinned at me with pride. “That’s exactly it. Well, I may not have told you the entire story.” He shifted forward in his seat. “You see the reason we’re forbidden from the mortal world entirely and why only a Sire can even travel the nexus is because to unleash unlimited sin on earth will result in the complete annihilation of mankind. So when Michael attempted to destroy the tree, it opened a gateway that opened a hole from our world to the mortal world. All of mankind’s sins spilled through and it caused pain, death and destruction unlike anything mankind has ever witnessed. That’s when Michael transformed the tree into a door to imprison us here instead. Seven seals were placed on the door to lock it. Then he cursed us so that we may never have children with humans. Are you following me so far?”

“
I think so,” I murmured. “Why would he do that?”

“Because the only way the seals can be broken is by painting the door with the blood of a child
possessing both human and sin lineage. It is said that this child will have power unlike any other and will unleash the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse onto the mortal realm like a plague and start a new revolution. One of blood and death.”

I felt fingers of ice slither down my spine, yet my palms squished with sweat when I pressed them together.
“I don’t understand what this has to do with me.”

“I
believe you’re that child, Fallon.”

Chapter
15

“You’re wrong.” There. I said it. I also wanted to say he was crazy, but I couldn’t trust myself to speak again.

“I don’t think I am,” he said so quietly I almost didn’t hear him.
“Since the beginning of time, there has never been anyone like you. You are the key—”

“Don’t call me that!” I lunged out of my chair. “I’m not a key. I’m a person.”

“Fallon, please, you asked to hear this. Let me finish.”

I didn’t si
t again, but I let him talk.

“I wasn’t sure it was you at first either,” he went on. “I waited for you to show your powers for seventeen years and when nothing happened, I became discouraged in my thoughts. Until the day Isaiah sent word that you started the earthquake at your school. That’s when I knew.”

“Knew what?” I challenged, refusing to be sucked into his madness.

His eyes gleamed like twin pools of light. “
That you were the one we’ve been waiting for.”

There was a buzzing in my ears that seemed to
reverberate through my entire being. I felt hollow and numb. I wanted to throw up. I almost did.

Something cool touched my arm and I jumped. Celia gently nudged me down onto the sofa. I was vaguely aware of her saying something to Ashton. It sounded like she was scolding him, b
ut I concentrated on taking slow, even breaths.

“It’s all right,” Celia soothed, gently stroking my hair.
“Deep breaths.”

It wasn’t all right. That was the second time someone
had called me the key to the mass destruction of my world. The first time had been Garrison. He had all but cackled when he told me how I would become his weapon. Now Ashton. It was impossible to tell which was worse.

“What do you want?” I finally forced out.

Ashton stiffened. His eyes widened. “What do I … I don’t want anything.”

I narrowed my eyes
at him. “Then why are you telling me this?”

“Because we need to make sure it doesn’t happen.”

That was different. A large chunk of my anger and fear wilted away.

“
You don’t want to cause the end of the world?”

Ashton recoiled like I had physically punched him. “Of course not!” he snapped, annoyance a thick wave around him.
“We need to dilute your human blood so you are more sin than human.

“What will that do?” I asked.

“Well, no one can use you to open the door, for one,” he answered.

Interest
piqued, I straightened. “You can do that?”

Ashton grimaced. “Well
, this hasn’t ever happened before. There are theories…”

Hope plummeted like a rock into the pit of my stomach. “But no guarantees.”

“It’s the best chance we have,” Ashton said.

“There is another solution,” Celia piped in.

“Cissy—”

I ignored Ashton. “What?”

“We keep you hidden somewhere no mortal or sin can find you. After all, the only way it can happen is if a human does it.”

“Why only a human?” I wondered.

“Because you hare half human and we are forbidden to harm humans, so,” Celia rationalized. “The only way it can happen is if a human does it, but a human cannot enter the nexus. By all accounts, you are perfectly safe. Then, once the three weeks are over, it will be another hundred years before anyone will even consider such a ridiculous myth.”

I liked her idea. It was rational.
It made sense.

“Celia, you know it’s not that simple,” Ashton hissed through his teeth. “There are other reasons why Fallon needs to pick a side.”

“What other reasons?” I demanded

Ashton cast his wife an impatient glower before facing me.
“Your creation goes against all our laws. The Guild will want answers. They will want your execution.”

“Whoa! What?”

He put his hand up to stop me. “They will hand you over to the guard because you are technically still human and it is forbidden to bring humans to our world.”

“Tell her the rest, Acheron
,” Celia snipped, folding her arms. “Like how you will also be executed for your involvement and for meddling in the ways of nature and for keeping your first marriage a secret from the Guild.”

Ashton looked at her. “Do you think I care about that? Fallon is my number one priority. I have to keep her safe.”

Celia bristled. “And what of your other daughter? Do you wish for Lally to watch her father be killed?”

Ashton’s features tightened. “Now isn’t the time for this talk, Cissy.”

I shot to my feet. “I think I need time to sort this out.”

I left quickly before either of them could stop me. My head thrummed with all the words thrown at me in the span of a single hour. My chest ached with them.

I had, since Isaiah’s suggestion to accept Ashton’s proposal for safety, assumed I would be reasonably in the clear. If Ashton could keep me and Isaiah away from Garrison, that was where I wanted to be. Yet I had gone from one bad situation to an infinitely worst one. Only it wasn’t just me and Isaiah at risk anymore. Ashton was on the line. He had put himself there to protect me. I was now responsible for his life.

God when would it end?

Looking out for me and Isaiah was one thing. We were two people and technically, I was only protecting him. Now I had the entire world to protect. Not just from Garrison and his goons, but complete annihilation from a race of non-humans. I didn’t know very much about the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse, but they didn’t sound like the sort I wanted to meet. Ever. And once again, I was
the key
to destroying everything.

I face-planted
into the nearest wall and closed my eyes. I just stood there, letting the coolness sooth the sweat from my brow.

Maybe I needed to die.
It made sense. If all the world’s problems were my doing, it was only logical that without me they wouldn’t exist. Only, I didn’t want to die. Did that make me a selfish coward?

Shoving away from the wall, I stumbled my way back to my room, hoping for some alone time to clear my head and maybe take a nap.

The door stood ajar when I was fairly certain I’d shut it all the way earlier. I didn’t think much of it as I pushed inside and shut it behind me. Part of me assumed Isaiah had found his way back. But it wasn’t Isaiah standing by the hearth.

“Odalyn?”

The older woman looked up with confusion, like she hadn’t expected me to just walk into my own room.

“Fallon,” she said, straightening to her full height and clasping her hands together in front of her. “I am
so glad you have arrived.”

Not sure how to respond to that, I glanced around the room. Everything was still in its place, meaning
that my duffle sat at the foot of the bed, untouched. I looked back to her.

“Is there something I can help you with?”

She shook her head. “I came to see how you were feeling. I was worried.”

Way to blow me down. Twice in a matter of minutes.

“Oh.” I scratched the back of my head, not sure how to answer that. “Sorry.”

She smiled not unkindly. “No need for that. Please.” She gestured to the sofa. “Would you like some tea?”

It was very strange being served … in
my
room. I wasn’t sure what the protocol was for such a thing. Would it be rude to decline?

“Uh, thanks.” I shuffled over and sat.
“And no tea. Thanks.” I wasn’t sure I could handle another magically appearing tea set.

“So, Fallon.” She took the sofa across from me. “
We never finished our talk.”

I blinked. “We talked?”

There was a vague recollection of running into her on my way to finding Isaiah, but I didn’t remember any conversation.

“Yes,” she said simply.
“We were discussing the resemblance between you and my Ach.”

God it was like being drunk and having done something immensely stupid.
I’d never even had alcohol in my entire life, yet I had drunk’s remorse.

“It’s probably just a trick of the light,”
I squeaked, making it very clear that I was now officially uncomfortable.

Odalyn leaned back and crossed one leg over the other. “Did you know
that there are only a handful of us with the dark hair and hazel eyes?”

I hadn’t known, but
I had guessed as much when Garrison had told me that Ashton had specifically requested his entire DNA be stripped, except his hair and eyes. That had clearly been a bad idea.

“
That doesn’t mean anything,” I muttered.

Odalyn’s gaze narrowed and glinted with amusement. “
Perhaps, but a mother can always see her child, even when he is not there. Do you know how?” She didn’t wait for me to respond. “By looking into the eyes of his child. Consider it a mother’s gift, and when I look into your eyes, I see my Ach.”

Crap
. I had no idea what I was supposed to do. I could deny it, but lying had never been my strong suit. I could admit it and risk questioning. And if I knew one thing, I knew Ashton was right about never mentioning Garrison. These people were dangerous enough without having that psycho bleeding into the mix. So I opted for the next best thing, I said nothing. Besides, it wasn’t as though she’d asked me a direct question. She could assume all she wanted. Didn’t mean I had to supply information freely.

“
I knew who you were from the first moment you walked into the dining room,” she went on. “Although, I can’t determine which region your mother was from.”

Either she couldn’t smell the human blood in me, or she was fishing for information, I couldn’t tell. But I knew I couldn’t continue to bite my tongue and not be rude.

Instead, I said, “Have you talked to Ashton?” There. That was safe. She could talk to him and he could tell her whatever needed telling.

She waved away my suggestion with a flick of her hand. “
Acheron has no time for me.”

I frowned. “You’re his
mom.”

Odalyn chuckled. “
I am the mother of many, yet I cannot say that any of my children would consider me a mom.” I must have looked confused because she laughed again and went on. “The affections of a mother are a mortal luxury.”

I was still totally lost.

“You don’t love your children?” I pressed tentatively.

“Darling, when you have as many children as I have had, loving them becomes
… a task. Most times, I am surprised myself to meet another child of mine. Acheron is only memorable because he is the ruler of this region; otherwise, I am sure I would not remember him.”

I squinted. “How many children
do
you have?”

She raised a slender brow. “How much time do you have?”

“Uh…”

She laughed again as she reached for the steaming tea set on the coffee table between us. I
amazed myself by not reacting at its mysterious and magical appearance.

“
I have been alive for a great many eons,
Ocha
. I have stood by two rulers and governed two regions.” She looked at me, smiled. She poured herself tea. Added sugar and stirred. “Have you been told of the seven regions?”

“Briefly.”

She went back to stirring. “I am a wrath sin.” It was astounding how easily she said it, but then again, she’d had eons—as she claimed—to say it with a straight face. “I married Acheron’s father who was Rem. Then, after he died, I returned home.”

“So are all your children Rem?”

She took a sip of her tea. “Not all, but those in Luxuria are. I have a few in Hybris and Ira and a few in other regions.”

It was probably not wise to call my grandmother any names. She was older than me and I was taught to respect my elders. Also, who was I to judge? Yet I couldn’t help
thinking,
holy cow.

“So
each child would be calcified differently, right?”

“
The Sire blood is always the strongest. The child belongs to the legacy of his or her father.”

“Or mother, right? I mean if the
Sire is a woman … there
are
women Sires, right?”

Odalyn
nodded. “Of course. Two of our regions right now have women rulers. Hybris and Ira. Both are women you do not want to meet.”

“So
how come Quain is the Sire of Ira and not you?”

“I ruled at the side of one
Sire, I have no desire to take on such an ego-infested task. Those who crave it usually have their own agenda.”

“Does Acheron?” I wondered.

Odalyn gave an airy wave. “It has been so long that I no longer care to remember.”