“What’s wrong—oh. That’s right, we never told you, did we? Things got rather hectic there at the end. I’m sorry, sweetheart. Albert and I are brothers.”
“Brothers?”
“Half brothers. Our mother is of the line, very strong woman. Our fathers were both human. That’s why we only have some of the powers.”
She finally fell in step with him again. “That’s why that first day, when Albert came into my office at Bob Stanley’s to offer me the job, he seemed so familiar.” It explained their eyes being the same eerily clear color.
“Most likely, yes.”
They walked in silence for a while, passing the spot where she sat with Matthias and practiced her powers, then the spot where she kissed Rafe.
“When will Matthias arrive?” she asked.
“As of last night, Albert hadn’t told him. I suspect he’ll tell him sometime today.”
“And he’ll fly in this afternoon.”
“Depending when Albert breaks the news. Unless you want me to call and tell him not to come?”
She paused, shaking her head. “I don’t know.”
He stopped. “Taz, I will make the call if you wish. You know that. If you don’t want to see him, I will call and tell him for you.”
“It’s not that.” She looked at the geyser field. “I just wish I could get rid of this feeling. Like I’ve got this split personality. I just can’t seem to get back on an even keel yet.” She ran her hands over her arms. “And this feeling’s back. A permanent case of the creepy crawlies.”
“It’s understandable. You’ve been through a lot in a very short amount of time.”
“It’s not like me.”
“You had no idea what was going to happen. Of what the truth was. You’ve had to process a lot of information in a very short amount of time, not to mention what you’ve gone through with Matthias has awoken your powers more rapidly than we anticipated. That will take some time to get used to.” He glanced at his watch. “I think the dining room is open, if you’re hungry?” She nodded. He took her hand. “Come along, sweetheart. Let’s eat.”
Matthias climbed the walls. When he came downstairs that morning for breakfast, he didn’t speak to Albert.
“Would you like me to cook you something?”
Matthias shook his head.
“She’s fine, I’m sure of it.”
“Where’s Tim?”
“He had to run some errands.”
Matthias’ head snapped around, glaring at Albert. Then he stood and advanced on him. “What are you not telling me?”
Albert tried to hold his ground. “Everything’s fine.”
Matthias grabbed him by the shoulders. “Tell me where she is!”
Albert pushed him away. “Matthias! This isn’t about you. This is about Anastazia. She needs time to heal, to come to terms with what happened.”
Matthias’ shoulders slumped, and he pounded his fist on the counter. “This is all my fault. If I’d only been able to protect her, none of this would have happened!”
“You tried your best. No one could ask you to do more.”
“It wasn’t good enough, was it?” he raged. “I should have been the one she could trust to protect her, especially since she was so fragile, and I didn’t!”
“Matthias!” Albert scolded. “Stop it right now. That kind of attitude will not help her.”
“Where is she?”
“I won’t tell you unless you calm down. Tim is with her, made contact with her yesterday afternoon. She’s safe.” Matthias took a step toward him. Albert, reading his eyes, drew the tranquilizer gun. “Matthias, don’t make me do it. Please.”
He hesitated. “You wouldn’t?”
“I darted her to protect her. I’ll dart you to protect her, too.”
They stood at impasse until, finally, Matthias bitterly laughed. “Fine, you win.” He sat at the table, his face in his hands.
“This isn’t about winning or losing. It’s about Taz’s mental well-being.”
“I know. I should have protected her.”
Albert put a hand on his shoulder. “Let me call Tim, check on her, right? I’ll ask him if you can go.”
Matthias nodded, still not moving. Albert patted his shoulder. “Wait here.”
Tim answered on the second ring. “How is she?” Albert asked.
“She’s okay. She’s right here.”
“Can you talk?”
“Yes. How is Matthias?”
“I’m about to dart him.”
Tim turned away from Taz and stepped to the edge of the boardwalk. “That bad?”
“Yes. He blames himself, of course.”
Tim glanced at Taz and she stepped toward him, motioning for the phone. He held a hand up. “She wants to talk to him.”
There was a pause, and he thought he lost the connection. Finally, “Okay, hold on.”
Robertson handed the phone to her. A moment later, Matthias’ anxious voice came on the line. “Taz?”
She gripped the phone tightly, her heart pounding. “It’s me.”
She heard his sigh of relief. “Taz, please, I’m sorry. Whatever I did—”
“Matthias, no. It’s not you. You didn’t do anything. I’m not mad at you. I just…I needed some downtime. To myself.”
“Are you okay?”
“Yes, I’m fine. I’m sorry I worried you.”
“Taz, I love you so much, if anything happened, I—”
“My dad’s here. I’m fine.”
There was a moment of quiet. “Where are you? Do you want me to come get you?”
Albert must not have told him. She closed her eyes and thought about it. Did she want him there right now? “Not today. Let me have one more day. Please?”
He finally agreed. “All right. If that’s what you want.”
She took a deep breath. “We can drive back together.”
He sounded better, less hurt at that suggestion. “Okay.”
“I love you, Matthias.”
“I love you, too, Taz. You have no idea how much I love you, and how sorry I am this all happened.”
She returned the phone to Robertson, and he stepped away again to make the arrangements. They would drive up to Mammoth Hot Springs and meet Matthias there the next afternoon. When he hung up, he turned to her. “What would you like to do now?”
She stared at Old Faithful. “I want to see where I almost died.”
He drove them in the Land Rover up to Norris. She felt a wistful pang as they passed Midway Geyser Basin, where she first met Rafe. She loved the park, despite what they all endured. It was beautiful, raw nature. Powerful, unforgiving, and ever changing.
Robertson patted her leg. “Are you okay?”
She nodded. “Just remembering.”
“I know it’s difficult. It’s still fresh.”
They rode the rest of the way to the Norris Geyser Basin in silence. Taz followed him down the Back Basin trail to where the daemon pulverem shot her.
Where Matthias saved her.
She knelt on the trail, searching for any sign it ever happened. She looked around, shivering despite the warm air. “I was so close to dying. I saw this door in my mind, and this beautiful blue glow. I wanted to open it, but I heard Matthias calling me back.”
“You nearly died. We thought you had.”
She turned, looking around. Something else. “I thought there was a figure. Like someone else was there in my mind.” She tried to remember what the figure said. Something about “living, for both of us?”
“It’s hard to say what that might have been. Everything was so chaotic, so emotional. It could have been Matthias, or any one of us, mentally pleading for you to drink.”
She nodded, thinking, but wasn’t sure that was right. It didn’t feel like Matthias or the others. It had almost felt like…