Sebastian snorted then rested his massive head on his front paws.
A breeze swirled around us. I had no sense of time here in the clearing. I stared up at the stars through the gaps between the pine needles, wishing my life hadn’t changed. Even if I didn’t feel any different, I knew nothing would ever be the same. Okay, I had to admit, my life never felt normal because of my visions, but I did go through the motions of living it normally. I went to school. I made friends. I got a job. Normal, teenage stuff. Now, because of all the information swirling in my head, I had decisions to make. Hard ones.
I gathered my thoughts and organized them in my head according to priority.
First, no more secrets, and Sebastian could be practice.
“I have visions of the future,” I said without warning.
I know, he replied.
I sat up to glare at him. “What do you mean ‘you know’?”
He opened one red eye and watched me with a cool stare. His ear twitched. Realization bloomed like a flower in my chest. Right. I lay down on him again.
“You can read my mind.” I still couldn’t believe I said the words. I should have been uncomfortable at having my mind read, but I wasn’t. I spoke to a telepathic mythical creature for crying out loud. I’d pretty much maxed out on the bizarre.
Yes.
“And during the festival, that was you, too, but you looked smaller. Plus, you scared the shit out of me.”
I can shift as needed to seem normal. And you needed a nudge to get out of there.
“Thanks,” I said sarcastically. “Why were you there?”
Bowen.
My throat closed. I should have put the two together. How could I? Even after seeing him transform, I still couldn’t a hundred percent think of him as a Manticore. So, I pushed forward. I searched the almost full moon for the courage to ask my next question. No point in stalling anymore.
“Am I really going to die?”
Yes.
No emotion. Just the facts. Could anyone really be ready for death? I let a shiver run its course. No tears for the inevitable I’d feared long enough.
I sighed and changed the topic. “What happened to Bowen’s…” Still couldn’t complete sentences involving him. We had our differences, and he did mess up when he cheated on me, but he wasn’t always an idiot.
Rainer has informed his parents.
I said a silent prayer for Mr. and Mrs. Gage. The devastation of losing someone…
“I’m sick and tired of all the secrets.”
Sebastian huffed.
A stab of uncertainty went through my heart. If my parents hadn’t instructed Grams and Gramps to keep their world a secret from me… I breathed and let the thought and the anger that came with it slide. No point in getting riled up over something already done. I was thinking unusually clear right now. I reserved the right to be irrational another day.
“Why do you think my parents wanted me hidden away?” I asked without thinking. It felt less complicated that way.
Seers in the wrong hands can become powerful weapons.
“Is that why the Maestro wants me?”
It seems so.
I took the time to process that information. “My grandparents said my parents died putting up a shield that would protect me. How could they have known what I was when they died before I had my first vision?”
That explains the strange energy in the air. Sebastian licked his chops. And what does it matter why they did what they did? You cannot change the past.
He was right; no point in wasting what little time I had left. So I let my mind wander to thoughts of Dillan and smiled. “How did you and Dillan meet?”
A small yelp, like a puppy whining, escaped his throat before he said, I had been cursed to live in a deep cave in Italy. Against his father’s wishes, he broke the curse. For my freedom, I gave him my loyalty.
I remembered Dillan saying something about being in Italy, but it had to do with his car. My brow furrowed. “What are you, Sebastian?”
A hellhound, he answered matter-of-factly.
The image of Cerberus came to mind. “But you don’t have three heads.”
A series of low coughs rumbled through him.
If I didn’t know any better, I’d think he was laughing. Could hellhounds even laugh?
Of course we can. Another snort. Just keep it to yourself. We have a reputation to maintain.
What Kyle said about Dillan earlier nagged at me. “Okay, so tell me why Dillan’s here. And don’t give me the CliffsNotes version either,” I warned. “Kyle said he used to be a Guardian.”
I felt the hellhound’s fur rise. I knew what I’d asked of him. Secrets, when long kept, had the habit of being difficult to share. A long silence passed between us, only broken by rustling grass and branches creaking high above us.
I waited. I needed to know.
Maybe Dillan should—
“I’m asking you.”
Another pause. Then what seemed like a sigh escaped him.
Understand this, he began. To be a part of the Illumenari is hardship personified. The responsibility of keeping the world as you know it safe is difficult to bear during the best of times. Hence, the life of an Illumenari can often be a short one.
I thought about all those crossed out lines on the Sullivan family tree and my parents. Kyle’s parents, too. So many deaths.
He continued, Dillan’s life has been harder than most. His family comes from a long line of Illumenari. He can even trace his lineage back all the way to the ten founding families. Being a member of his family comes with much expectation. He grew up living up to what his grandfather expects of him.
“Where does Katarina fit into all of this?”
Without missing a beat, he said, Katarina was…is someone like you. A Seer. A high level one.
My heart faltered. “What’s with the pause?”
He lifted his head and looked up at the dark sky thoughtfully. Illumenari who can see the future are both valuable and vulnerable. They are powerful, which is why they are always targets.
I shivered and remembered the Fall Festival. Dillan said I was a target without knowing what I could do. I had to hand it to him. The guy had good instincts.
The responsibility of a Guardian is not only to protect. If a threat comes, the Guardian must make a decision to end the life of the one he guards. Better to kill the asset than to have her fall into the hands of the enemy.
“So.” My voice faltered. “Dillan…”
That is his failing.
My feelings of worry and relief warred with each other. I worried over what I was about to find out and how it would affect my relationship with Dillan. But, at the same time, I was relieved that he couldn’t kill Katarina in cold blood.
Then everything clicked for me. The voice said, Find the guardian. Dillan was once a Guardian. He was demoted because he couldn’t kill Katarina. Now I was the target. He said he would protect me. But how far would he go to keep me from the Maestro?
Chapter Thirty-Nine
Dillan
Next Stop Gates of Hell
Dillan woke up the next morning with one thought: give Selena space. So, after a bowl of Coco Puffs, he ducked out and drove all day. He filled up the GT once then doubled back. Quickly, he realized no matter how far he drove, he kept returning to the bookstore. That invisible line that connected him to her tugged him back every time.