Crest (Ondine Quartet Book 3) (58 page)

Not Governor-elect and heir to the throne.

Not
sondaleur
and Warrior Prince.

Not ondine and selkie.

Just Kendra and Tristan.

It was enough.

WE WERE ARRIVING IN LYONDALE within the hour.

A slightly dejected mood filled the private plane. After everything we'd experienced in the Selkie Kingdom, returning to Haverleau felt boring.

"I wish we had woods to run in," Blaise complained. "I finally mastered that obstacle course with the hanging ropes in the east boundary."

Alex played with his soda can. "Back to treadmills and a plain old track field."

"Sucks." Cam said. "But at least we're going back as chevaliers, right?"

Alex grinned. "I can't wait to show Frank the mark. He's going to be pissed."

I tuned their banter out and studied the list Gilroy had provided.

The attack on the Selkie Kingdom and discovery of an elemental traitor heightened fear and emphasized elemental vulnerability.

The pressure to end the war hadn't eased; if anything, it had increased.

Yahaira's mind was broken. Beneath the clever manipulations, cold violence, and ruthless determination, was a fragile sense of self that snapped with her daughter's death. Gardinels interrogated her for hours, but she could share nothing.

I needed information.

Gilroy's list ran for two pages. Most of them were relatively inconsequential, simple tasks that didn't indicate any larger purpose.

But two stood out.

Altered medical records for patient at Lyondale Hospital.

Created an easy way to access hospital surveillance cameras.

Everything always came back to the hospital.

Aubrey, Ian, and I joined Daniel near the back of the plane. His head was bent over a book and a half-filled glass of scotch lay on the table in front of him.

He glanced up. "Don't tell me you're broken or bleeding."

I settled next to him. Aubrey and Ian took the seats across from us.

"Was it that close?"

His smile faded. "Not something I'd like to go through again,
sondaleur
."

Aubrey glanced at Lucas, sitting a few rows back. He gazed out the window, headphones plugged into his ears.

"Are you really taking him in?" Aubrey asked.

"He has no family." Daniel pushed his glasses up. "Rather than leave him alone in those woods or as the sole human in the Selkie Kingdom, I thought Lyondale would be better for him."

Curiosity slipped into his eyes. "Something I can help you with?"

"Do you know when the surveillance cameras were added to the elemental wing?"

He waved his hand. "Oh, that's been there since it was constructed fifty some odd years ago. The security system got a nice little upgrade about five years ago, though."

An oppressive sensation closed in on me every time I was in the elemental wing. Had the Shadow been watching the entire time?

I suppressed a shiver. "Does patient-doctor confidentiality apply to the elementals you treat?"

He eyed me. "Yes."

"Even for the Governor-elect?"

His lips twitched slightly. "Even if you were the dictator of the entire planet."

Good.

"And what if the patient is already dead?"

"Then it would depend on the question, I suppose."

"Miriam Moreaux. You said that for a while, she physically began to regress like Marcella."

"Yes, when the cancer —"

"What did you mean by a while?" This was what initially bothered me about his statement. "You mean she got better?"

Surprise flickered over his face. "Of course. Once the cancer went into remission, her health improved."

It took a moment to understand what he said.

"Miriam's cancer didn't go into remission."

"With all due respect,
sondaleur
, I was her doctor. I think I'd remember if Miriam's cancer remained. We wouldn't have stopped treatment."

I'd watched Daniel work at the Selkie Kingdom. He was a meticulous, caring, and tough doctor who liked fussing over his patients.

If Miriam didn't show up for treatments, he wouldn't have ignored it. He would've called Haverleau, called others to find out why she wasn't coming in.

But he hadn't. Why not?

Aubrey clicked away on her laptop. She was already typing twice as fast as she was last week.

"There's a stamp in the surveillance system."

"What's that?"

"It's like a signature," Ian explained. "Every hacker has their own way of bypassing a system's protocols. Even if they erase any evidence of entry, the way the system is compromised shows us a lot. Like how a killer's modus operandi is a type of fingerprint even if there's no physical evidence."

"And?"

"What's there definitely confirms it was Gilroy." She frowned. "Same technique we saw in the Academy's server last year."

Which meant Gilroy provided the Shadow with a steady stream of footage from the elemental wing for years.

"Can you see where the footage is being accessed from?"

"Might take a few days to figure this knot out."

"Is this something I should be concerned about?" Daniel asked.

"No." It was useless to make him paranoid. "But Miriam's cancer didn't go away, Daniel. Aubrey —"

"Already on it." Emerald eyes darted across the screen. "Miriam's medical records were modified. According to the previous version, the only thing different was the change in status to remission."

Daniel paled. "That's impossible."

"Actually, very possible. Gilroy hacked into your computer and extracted the info to crack the elemental wing's main database." Her brows furrowed. "Daniel, you might want to change your password to something other than 'HotMD'."

Ian gave a strangled cough.

A slight flush crept up Daniel's cheeks. "No. I mean it's impossible because even if someone alters a patient's record," he tapped a finger against his head, "I have an excellent memory. It wouldn't have mattered because I'd know the record was false."

Unless someone altered his memory.

Daniel's hand shook slightly as he took another sip of scotch. Light trickled through the window, casting the liquid in an amber tint.

Something stirred in the back of my mind. "Do you always have a bottle of scotch in your office?"

I remembered a half-filled bottle on a shelf near his books.

"Well, yes. At the end of the day, I usually have a little to unwind." He sounded slightly defensive. "I wouldn't do it if I was still working."

Awareness flickered through Ian and Aubrey's sharp eyes. They'd reached the same conclusion.

"Kendra." Daniel sounded like he needed another drink. "What's going on?"

"Miriam used her Cloaking magic to change your memories."

He looked insulted. "I may not be an elemental, but I think I'd know if I was brainwashed."

I shook my head. "Not brainwashed. Just a change in perception. She did it through the scotch."

All she'd have to do was drop the tiniest amount of her blood into the liquid. One sip and the magic would've permeated Daniel's system.

Since he wasn't a vampire, I decided against telling him the whole truth.

"She altered your memories to make you believe her cancer was gone. After you stopped treating her, she turned Aquidae."

Daniel's face turned ashen.

I leaned back and shut my eyes, frustration flaring to life.

I'd hoped Gilroy and Adrian's information about Miriam and the hospital would provide something to help us move forward.

But the Shadow had covered every possibility and we were right back to where we started.

A dead end.

***

The line of SUVs wound its way through the familiar highway near Lyondale. Spring hadn't arrived yet, but there was a trace of it in the air.

Helene worked on her laptop, brows furrowed in concentration. She hadn't said a word to me during the entire trip.

"Thanks for your help."

No answer.

"I wouldn't have gotten to the spear in time without you. You saved a lot of people."

She ignored me.

I turned to the window and wondered if this was what Renee envisioned when she wanted me to protect Helene.

Tristan said he'd hated bringing me back to Haverleau, that there was a moment when he wanted to keep me as far from it as possible.

But he'd also understood there was only so much he could do. He brought me here knowing I had to experience and understand for myself the beauties and horrors of our world and make my own choices on how I wanted to deal with it.

When I struggled, he'd waited patiently by my side, trusting I had the strength to survive.

I thought I'd suddenly know what I was supposed to do. That with each role I took on, I'd magically be more of an Adult. A better leader and fighter who knew exactly what to say and do.

But it didn't work that way. The more time passed, the thinner lines became, the issues grayer and more complex.

I returned to Haverleau as chevalier and guardian to the gardinels. But I'd only scratched the surface of understanding what it meant to protect someone.

"Do you want to see?"

I startled. "What?"

"What I'm working on. My video."

"Sure."

Helene turned the laptop and pressed the space bar.

Renee flashed across the screen, her expression younger than I remembered.

Tangoing with Helene across the living room of their apartment. Sitting on a bench in Central Park, sketching in her notebook with an expression of intense serenity.

On the rooftop of Rivelleu, eyes flashing as she practiced moving objects with her Virtue. Eating hot dogs with Oriel during the summer.

"I want to tell her story," she said fiercely.

Renee wanted Helene to step out from behind the camera lens, to vividly view the world in the bright clashing colors with which she painted it.

But Helene was different. She'd created an alternate ending to her father's death. Her camera was her weapon and she defiantly wielded it against the world by choosing the threads and characters she wished to follow.

She constructed her own narratives to find resolution in a life where there so often wasn't one.

I wished Marcella was still here. She would've known exactly what to say to her, how to help her.

All I could do was try.

"You saw Renee," I said finally. "I think you should share it with everyone."

Haverleau's iron gates opened.

Light played across the homes and businesses lining the main road.

Nostalgic warmth settled in my chest, a startling sensation I'd never experienced before.

I was coming home.

The cars entered the Academy lot and Lumière's tall buildings loomed before us.

Helene and I got out and joined the others.

"Looks smaller than I remembered," Alex murmured.

Everyone agreed.

We dropped off our luggage, raced to Cafe Rivière, and loaded up on Bastien's glorious éclairs. Helene ate four.

The boys and Chloe returned to the dorms and the rest of us headed over to the Governing House.

Ian left to unpack while Aub, Helene, and I waited in the Governor's office for Rhian's arrival.

My grandmother was in a meeting with Catrin and the Governing Council to work out details on instituting the ondine training program in other communities.

Eyes flickered over the stately fireplace and elegant furnishings. Fingers lightly ran over the edge of the mahogany desk.

"This is going to be your place soon," Aubrey said quietly. "How does it feel?"

"Strange." I walked over to the bookshelves. "Not right."

I felt more comfortable with a blade in hand than a pen. I'd acquired the necessary skills, but it didn't quite sit right on me.

"Well, that's why you have us."

"That bad, huh?"

"Not bad." She grabbed her laptop and settled beside Helene on the leather sectional. "Just different."

I touched a thick volume that looked like an old school yearbook. The Haverleau Government Registry, the book Rhian asked for after Marcella's funeral.

The spine gave a date range beginning sixty-five years ago and ending fifteen years ago.

Pages were arranged in chronological order from oldest to newest, and each page contained a grid of black and white photos.

"Look at this."

I spotted Jeeves' photo near the end of the book. His hair was darker, but he still retained the same smooth charisma he had now.

Aub looked up from her laptop. "Oh, an old Haverleau facebook."

"You mean like the social network?"

"Sort of. Back then, pre-Internet," she shuddered as if the thought was too painful, "the Governing House used to take photos of every person working in the government. It was pretty prestigious. Then they'd publish the book with everyone's name and photo."

"Like a school yearbook."

She shrugged. "Or an employee intranet."

I paged through, fascinated by the sheer number of people who'd been involved in the running of Haverleau over the years.

The door opened.

"Hey, Jeeves." I waved the book around a bit. "I can't believe how many people work here."

He looked slightly unsettled. "
Sondaleur
, I couldn't get ahold of him."

I had the impression that was something he rarely said.

"What are you talking about?"

"Vittorio Prideaux," he said apologetically. "I just got off the phone with the Romanis community and they said they had no record of him. Or of an ondine named Maria, his daughter."

"Maybe he's at the other community in Italy," Aubrey spoke up.

He shook his head. "I called them too and they also had no record of him. He might have decided to go Rogue and retire peacefully. I'm sorry, Kendra. I can put some men on it to see if they can track him, but it will take time."
 

Damn. I wanted to ask the previous Chief Counsel a few questions about my mother's stay at Lyondale hospital.

Instinct tugged.

I glanced down at the book. "Jeeves, do you know if a photo of Vittorio is in here?"

"There should be." He rapidly flipped through the pages and passed the book back. "Here he is."