The Prophecy (26 page)

“It’s
been a long time, Lucas.”

He
nodded. “That it has.”

“What at
are you doing here?”

“I’ve
come to see our son.” 

Charley
looked around the room then, at the people waiting for her reply, and gave a
brief, self-conscious laugh. Her smile was just a little too wide, though; her
eyes a little too bright.

“Our
son? What in the world are you talking about?”

“Oh, cut
the crap,” Sebastian said shortly. “You know
exactly
what he’s talking
about. Caleb is Lucas’s son. He is half Manaquay.”

Charley’s
head swiveled in his direction, and she lifted her nose in the air, having
regained her composure. “Sebastian,” she said with apparent distaste. “Crass,
as always. I guess some people never change.”

“You’ve
got that right.”

Meg laughed
and quickly brought her hand to her mouth to hide her smile. She met
Sebastian’s eyes, though, and he winked.

Charley’s
lips drew together as she continued to stand immobile. “Exactly what is going
on here?”

“We’re
here to get to the bottom of your lies,” David said.

“My lies?”
Charley gave a haughty laugh, as all trace of self-consciousness evaporated.

“You
don’t know what you’re talking about, so I suggest you stay out of it. This is
between Lucas and—”

“It
involves
all
of us,” Imogene said, her voice colder than I’d ever heard
it before.

Charley
opened her mouth to say something in return, but I beat her to it. “You have a
lot of explaining to do, Charley, and you’re not leaving until you do.”

Charley
turned her steely focus on me and took a step closer. “You’re giving me orders?
You’re just a child, Sarah.”

She
waved her hand, dismissing me. “I honestly have no idea what any of you are
talking about and, quite frankly, I have other things I need to do.”

She
turned to leave, but Sebastian stepped in front of her, blocking her way to the
door. “Do you mind?” she said.

“I do,”
he replied. “You heard what Sarah said. You’re not leaving until you’ve
explained.”

Her
mouth fell open. She was clearly not used to people giving her orders. “Explain
what
? Move! Get out of my way!”

Sebastian
wrapped his arm around Charley’s shoulders. The gesture might have been
friendly had I not known otherwise. “You’re not going anywhere until we’ve gotten
a few things cleared up. Now, I suggest you take a seat. This could take awhile.”

Charley’s
lips thinned in anger, but she did as she was told. Raising her nose in the
air, she made her way to a chair and sat down, not making eye contact with
anyone in particular. “There. Satisfied?”

“We
know that Lucas is Caleb’s and Sarah’s biological father,” Imogene said, “so
don’t try to deny your part in this, Charley. You may have fooled poor Nathan
Moon and the Katori tribe for the past eighteen years, but you’re fooling no
one now.”

“Fine,”
Charley said through her teeth. “All right!” Her fingers curled around the arms
of the chair, and she cast a nervous glance at Caleb. “How did you find out?”

Caleb
clenched his fists as he faced his mother. “No,
I’m sorry for lying to you
your entire life
? No,
I meant to tell you about your real father
? God,
Mom. Does it really matter how I found out?”

“I told
him,” I said.

Charley’s
eyes raked over me, painful as a cat’s claws. “You? What business was it of
yours to tell him?”

“Because
I thought he had a right to know!”

“And
who told you?”

“Oops. I
guess that would be me who let the cat out of the bag,” said Sebastian without
apology.

Charley’s
face flushed with fury as her chest heaved. “That was not your secret to tell!”

“You’re
right,” Caleb said. “You’re the one who should have told me!”

She
turned a pair of pleading eyes on her son. “Caleb, I—”

“It’s
too late now! I don’t want to hear your excuses.”

“But if
you’ll only—”

“I said
I don’t want to hear it!”

Charley
flinched at the reproach in Caleb’s voice, but she wisely kept quiet.

“We’re
here because we need Sarah’s and Caleb’s help,” Sebastian said, breaking some
of the tension hanging thick in the air.

“Help
with what?” Imogene said.  

“I
think you’d better tell them about the prophecy,” I said to my father. I didn’t
miss how Charley blanched visibly and began to fidget in her seat.

“You know
the genesis of my people and yours,” he began, addressing my family. “Of how
the Sun and Moon bore two earthly children, Kamut and Kai. Of how Kamut was a
wicked man and manipulator of women. Of how the Sun and Moon put a curse upon
him and his descendants . . .”

As my
father spoke, weaving together the details of the legends, all I could think
about were the people like my father—
good
people—who hadn’t deserved to
have this horrible curse foisted on them. Generation upon generation had
suffered the same fate, and all because of one person who had been more monster
than man.

“The
prophecy calls for a union between the Sun and the Moon and the birth of a new
people,” my father said.

“And
you think the prophecy is talking about Caleb and Sarah?” Meg said with a hint
of disbelief when he had finally finished speaking.

“It’s
just a ridiculous old story,” Charley said dismissively. “There is absolutely
no truth to it.”

“Then
why do you look so nervous?” Sebastian accused.

“Have
you heard this prophecy before?” Meg asked, her voice sharp.  

“Of
course not,” Charley said.

“You
have,” my father said. “From my mouth to your ears. I’m the one who told you
about the prophecy.”

“You
told her?” Meg said.

My
father’s brow wrinkled, and for the first time he looked doubtful. “I wouldn’t
have, except that she asked about it.”

He
turned to Charley. “Not long after we met. Don’t you remember?”

“I
don’t know what you’re talking about,” Charley said, but there was a ring of
untruth to her words. She knew, all right; she just wasn’t saying.

“Wait a
minute,” Imogene said, scooting to the edge of her chair. She closed her eyes
and put her hand to her brow, as though trying to recall something. “There is a
story I remember hearing as a girl.”

Charley
fidgeted in her chair again.

“What
was it?” Meg said.

Imogene
shook her head. “Something about the children of the wolf . . . how one carries
inside him the moon, and the other the sun. In the story, the two come together
to create a powerful magic,” she said, twining the fingers of each hand to
represent unity.

She
shook her head again. “I don’t know. I was so young. It’s one of those stories
you hear that doesn’t make any sense, and so you conveniently forget it.”

“I’ve
never heard that story,” Meg said, her bottom lip catching in her teeth as she
strained to remember.

“My own
grandmother told it to me, not long before she died. Like I said, I was very
young. Too young to give it the thought it properly deserved.”

“Your
grandmother was Spirit Keeper,” Meg said, her eyes suddenly bright.

“A very
powerful one,” Imogene agreed.

“Is
that a story she would have passed down to your mother?” Meg asked. “Maybe you
heard something from her, a snippet maybe, only you didn’t realize it was the
same story. She became Spirit Keeper after your grandmother, isn’t that right?”

Charley
laughed. “And a more incompetent one there never was. People think
that
one,” she said, pointing to Shyla, “had a knack for starting fires? Imogene’s
mother nearly burned down the town, and half the forest along with it.”

“Is
that true, Gran?” Shyla said, horrified.

“She
was crazy,” Charley said. “A lunatic. It’s a wonder no one was killed.”

Imogene
sighed impatiently, though she didn’t refute Charley’s words. “If my
grandmother ever told my mother that particular story, she forgot it. I never
heard it from her. It’s only what Lucas said about the prophecy that jogged my
memory.”

 “Well
it has to be one and the same—the prophecy and the story,” David said.

“The Conditional
Blessing,” I said to Shyla, “the one that says I’m supposed to marry a member
of my own tribe and produce a child with him . . . I think it’s safe to assume we
can’t take that literally. It’s not Adrian and me it’s talking about, like we
originally thought.”

“Where
is
Adrian?” Imogene said, glancing around the room as though she’d merely
overlooked him.

“Oh.
He, um. He should be here soon.” In fact, I’d received a text from him just a
few minutes ago. He was on his way.

“So
what you’re saying . . .” Shyla said. She put her fingers around her head as
though trying to keep it from exploding. “What
are
you saying?”

“I’m
saying that we,” I said, pointing between Caleb and myself, “have to somehow
combine our powers to remove the curse.”

“And
why should we help them?” Charley said. She held her back straight, crossing
her slender arms and looking so much like Jasmine at that moment. “They brought
this curse upon themselves, so let them suffer.”

“We did
not bring this curse upon ourselves,” Sebastian said. “The curse is old as Time
itself. It should have died with Kamut, eons ago.”

“Evil
persists,” Charley said, looking directly at my father.

“Now
you’re just being dramatic,” Imogene said.

“It’s simple,”
I said, raising my voice to be heard over the clamor. “Either we help them, or
the curse could very well affect Caleb, too.”

Caleb
sat up straighter, hearing my words. “You mean I’m going to become—”

“This
is ridiculous!” Charley said. “The curse will not affect him. He is only half
Manaquay.”

“We
don’t know if it will or won’t,” my father said. “But I’m not willing to take
the risk of waiting around to see.” He turned to Caleb. “You and Sarah must break
the curse.”

“You
knew the danger existed already,” I said, turning on Charley.

“Oh, stop
with your conspiracy theories,” she said. “If I had known, don’t you think I
would have done something about it?”

“But
you did know!” I said. “You had to have known. Otherwise, why would you have
asked about the prophecy?”

Everyone
turned their attention to Charley, who grew visibly agitated under the
scrutiny.

“What
aren’t you telling us?” Imogene said.

“Caleb’s
seizures,” I answered for her. “They aren’t just seizures, are they?”

“What
are you talking about?” Caleb said. “What else would they be?”

“You’ve
had seizures all your life,” I said, “but they’re coming more frequently and
gotten a lot worse.”

“That’s
how it begins,” Sebastian said, his eyes going to Caleb. “The seizures. Their
grip becomes stronger until it becomes too much and the wolf breaks free.”
Sebastian turned on Charley. “You let him suffer needlessly.”

Charley
sat motionless, as still and quiet as a bronze statue.

“If you
love your son, speak up now,” my father said.

“Don’t
talk to me about love!” Charley hissed at him. “You, who have never loved
anyone.”

“I
loved,” he said, his voice pitched low in anger. For the first time, I saw a
glimmer of the wolf that lived within. “I just didn’t love
you
.”

Charley’s
nostrils flared as she seemed to consider whether or not to speak. “The story
your grandmother told you,” she finally said to Imogene. “I’d heard it before.”

“From
whom?” Imogene said.

“It was
a story passed down in my family. Didn’t you know my great grandmother and your
grandmother were best friends?” She shifted in her seat. “The story might have
died with your ancestors, but it lived with mine.”

“And
what did you hope to accomplish by keeping this story secret?” Meg asked.

Charley
shrugged. “As far as anyone knew, it was just a story. But what Imogene fails
to remember is that the story said the children born to the wolf were sired by
him on one of Kai’s descendents. And is that not what I am?”

I
blinked, not sure I’d heard, or even understood her, correctly. “Do you mean to
say that you—.”

“Seduced
Lucas and intentionally got pregnant?” David finished for me.

“That
wasn’t exactly how I was going to phrase it,” I said. “But yeah.”

Charley
sniffed. “Now who’s the one being dramatic?”   

“Is it
true?” Caleb said. “Did you . . . get pregnant with me on purpose?”