One Great Year (45 page)

“She should be back any minute,” Quinn said.

“Good. Keep me posted,” Zahn said, and they hung up.

Quinn told Nate about the murder of Anjolie the night before. Nate was horrified. He couldn't believe it. Distracted from worrying about what might develop between Eden and Quinn, his jealousy was forgotten.

When Eden finally returned to the hotel, she rushed into Quinn's arms. Theron's energy staggered him, as it always had. He stumbled backward, gripping her tightly.

“Thank God you're finally here in person. We're all together, no more worries!” she exclaimed.

Quinn hated that he would have to worry her again so soon. “I'm so happy to see you. You're beautiful,” Quinn complimented, holding her longer than was necessary. His hands were buried in her thick, loose curls, and his skin tingled at her touch. Eden was flooded by the energy that flowed from him.

“There's so much to tell you, I don't know where to start,” Quinn began.

“Oswald Zahn brought him in his private plane! He wants to fund our project!” Nate interjected excitedly.

“Is he kidding? Zahn? Holy shit!” she said, looking from one man to the other in disbelief.

“That's just what I said!” Nate said, as she squealed and jumped happily into his waiting embrace.

“There's more,” Quinn said, interrupting their reverie.

“More? More than the richest media mogul in the world?” Eden said incredulously.

“He's built a school. A luxury haven for the Crystal Children,” Quinn said cautiously, not wanting to be too joyful, knowing the dark news he had yet to impart.

“Oh, Max! Oh my God, it's all too much! Are you serious? Holy shit!” she said, letting go of Nate and hugging Quinn again. “What's wrong? There's something more … I can tell there's something you're not telling me. What is it?” she asked, now only inches from his face and staring directly into his eyes.

“The kids are in danger. Serious danger. There has already been a … victim. There are people, dark people, who realize the importance of the Crystal Children in the coming days, and they have begun targeting them.”

“What? Why? I don't understand,” she said, her happiness supplanted by confusion.

Quinn led her to the couch. “The girl in Lyon, Anjolie,” he began.

“Is she okay?” Eden interrupted desperately.

Quinn shook his head. “She was murdered, last night. Zahn thinks the Crystal Children are being targeted,” he explained.

“Oh my God! Why?”

“Because of their gifts. They have the potential to change the world, and there are people that don't want it to change.”

“Who?” Eden and Nate both asked.

“I'm not sure,” Quinn replied.

“We have to protect them!” Eden exclaimed. “I have to get Elijah! He's down at the pool. We have to contact the rest of the parents and tell them to keep their kids close and be careful until we figure out what to do!”

“I'll come with you,” Quinn said.

Nate scowled, wishing he had spoken first. Eden rushed to leave the room, Quinn right behind her.

“This is a nightmare. It's all been for nothing,” Eden said to Quinn as they walked. “We can't release this film. We can't publicize who and where these kids are if it'll put them in danger!”

Quinn placed his arm around her shoulder to comfort her, and their energies soothed one another. “You were meant to do the film. The world will be given hope and direction by these bright lights,” he reassured.

“I can't even think about that now … poor Anjolie! Her poor parents! We can't endanger anyone else, Max!”

“They're already in danger, that's obvious. Zahn has planes and a secure school prepared. We have to contact all of the Emmis… Crystal Children that we can and convince them, convince their parents, to get to safety.”

“They knew it was coming …” Eden said numbly as they opened the doors leading to the hotel pool. “More than one of the kids asked me if I had come to take them away. I thought it was such a strange question, but now I understand … they knew this was coming.”

“We have to leave as soon as possible. It's a good idea for you, Elijah, and Nate to come back to Zahn's hotel with me. It'll be safer, and he's rented us a beautiful suite with staff, guards, everything.”

“We're still packed, it won't take long. I'm going to need more details, Max, this is all so overwhelming. Start again at the beginning and tell me everything,” she said.

Just then, Elijah saw her and gave a shout.

Eden interrupted her conversation with Quinn and embraced her soaking wet son.

“What's going on, Mom?” Elijah said in surprise, scrunching his shoulders and patiently waited for her fawning to stop.

Quinn stared at the eleven-year-old boy, unable to move.

“We're going to a new hotel for a couple of days,” Eden said, without explaining.

“Why?” the youngster asked, but Eden didn't want to remain poolside. She wanted to get her son to safety.

“Elijah, this is Max Quinn. Max, this is my Elijah,” Eden said, standing behind her boy with her hands on his shoulders.

Quinn feigned a friendly smile, desperately trying to hide his horror. Nausea rocked him and bile rose in his throat as he reached out and shook the hand of Helghul.

The skinny eleven-year-old contemplated Quinn carefully and cocked his head to one side. “Do you know me?” the boy asked oddly.

Eden gasped, accustomed to Elijah's strange declarations but surprised all the same.

“Do you know
me
?” Quinn countered.

“I've dreamed you … or remembered you … I recognize your aura … your energy makes me … no offense … I feel like barfing.”

“Elijah! Oh, Max, he just says whatever. Sometimes he doesn't think how it will make other people feel,” Eden apologized.

“What? I'm just being honest,” Elijah said.

“It's okay … no offense taken. I feel a bit like barfing myself,” Quinn answered truthfully, and Elijah smiled and snorted in appreciation.

Together they made their way upstairs. Outwardly Quinn maintained his composure, but privately his mind was in utter chaos. His Marcus-brain was spinning with the predicament. Helghul was Theron's son! She would be his unyielding protector in this life, the mother bear! And what would they do now? How could he take Helghul to South America and put him in the center of all of the Emissaries, all of their hope? He had to be eliminated, contained, something! But Quinn had no idea what to do. Grey Elder! Grey Elder would know what to do!

Back in the room, Nate was happy to hear Elijah's opinion of his mom's “creepy” friend, Quinn. Ignoring this, Quinn got the group organized and delivered them to their suite in Zahn's hotel, then left them to go find the Elder.

“Helghul? Here in the hotel, now? Imagine that,” Zahn said calmly.

“It's terrible! How can you be so calm?” Quinn said in astonishment.

“Keep your enemies close, Marcus. He is less of a threat if we know who and where he is. I am thrilled we have him in our power.”

“You think we can influence him? Turn him?” Quinn asked doubtfully.

“Yin-yang, Marcus. Good is evil, dark is light. They are one and the same. I am sure I can influence him, if I can get close enough. Did he know you?”

“No, not completely, but he knew something. He might remember everything by now.”

“We are no longer in the darkest of the Ages, Marcus. It will be getting harder for him to remember and easier for the Light. We may have some time. You'll have to deal with his mother.”

“Whaddya mean?”

“Theron doesn't know what he's capable of. Even if she begins to have some memory and recognizes Helghul, she'll never turn on her child. You may need to keep her away from him, neutralize her a bit, so that I can do what needs to be done.”

“You wouldn't hurt him?” Quinn said, envisioning Elijah's innocent face.

“He's Helghul, Genghis, Alexander. He's a boy now, Marcus, but as his memory returns he will continue on his path.”

“Unless we can turn him … there is always choice,” Quinn interjected hopefully.

“Leave him to me. I will do everything I can,” Grey Elder promised.

Quinn left Grey Elder, more distraught than before.

By the time Quinn returned to her suite, Theron had already made two dozen phone calls. “So far I've contacted fifteen families. They're all on board! They were so easy to convince, even before I told them about Anjolie. It was like they were just waiting for the call.”

“They probably were,” Quinn said absently, unable to fully enjoy the feel of Theron with the threat of Helghul so close, and worrying how Grey Elder would handle their problem.

“I told them I would call with the details of when and where to meet their flights by tomorrow. Are we really doing this, Max, or is this just another one of my crazy dreams?”

“It's real … where's Elijah?” Quinn asked, aware that the suite was free of Helghul's prickly vibrations.

“Gym has a basketball court. He's there with Nate and some of Zahn's bodyguards,” she answered distractedly, her ear still to the phone. “I told him and Nate to get out so I could have … Hello?” she broke in.

Quinn left her to her phone calls. He departed to his room to gather his thoughts and seek counsel through meditation. Within moments, he had become deathly still and his heart rate dropped to less than fifty beats per minute.

Thirty minutes later Quinn opened his eyes rejuvenated and serene but without further insight. He would have to wait and see what was to come. He would have to trust. Quinn knew better than to fear the unknown. He trusted that things would unfold as they were meant to, but he knew he must be vigilant and connected. He surrounded himself and the hotel room in white light and sent loving energy to the world. He had entered a time of change, and he hoped that the new consciousness would be strong enough to tip the balance.

Zahn expressed his regrets at not being able to travel with the rest of the group to the secret base. Eden and Elijah were disappointed at having missed the opportunity to meet him, but they were assured that he would be waiting at their final destination. Grey Elder and Quinn had agreed that it was better not to alert Helghul to the Elder's presence, unsure what level of recollection the boy had achieved. He hadn't admitted to recognizing Marcus, but Helghul was shrewd. There was no telling what he did or did not recall.

Eden had been stunned by Zahn's influence, affluence, and power as his employees had arranged no less than fifty separate flights to collect groups of Crystal Children and their families. Some of them Eden had only met via email and blog, but all of them were anxious to be a part of Seducer-Producer's gathering. As Zahn had predicted, fear had been a powerful tool of persuasion, though Eden hated having to utilize it.

Only three families that were contacted had refused the offer of protection. They were willing to take their chances. They didn't trust the Hollywood-type at the helm, certain there must be a catch and, of course, there was. Those parents would later regret their choices when, within a week, as had been forewarned, their gifted children disappeared. They were gone from their swimming lessons, driveways, and backyards, all without a trace. The police were unable to find any clues whatsoever. The parents tried to contact Eden for assistance but were unable; she was thousands of miles away by then.

The first flights united a huge group of travelers for a night in Atlanta, Georgia. The Crystal Children and their families were thrilled to meet each other and interacted excitedly, coping with language differences admirably as they enjoyed nachos, pizza, sodas, and beer in the hotel lounge.

Quinn watched Eden and Elijah as they hugged and laughed with almost everyone. It was startling how the pair moved together through the crowd like drapes in a breeze, feeling the energy pushing and pulling them, in unison, from one table to the next.

“They have an amazing connection,” Nate said from beside Quinn.

Quinn didn't answer. He didn't trust what he might say. How could he admit his resentment and animosity for the child? He would not be understood. Elijah had likewise begun to avoid him, near but ever separate, like water and oil. It was obvious, as it had been when Eden first introduced them, that their energies repelled one another.

“It's a bit eerie, isn't it? The way they sometimes make exactly the same gesture at the same time,” Nate continued, his third beer loosening his tongue.

“What do you think of him, Nate?”

“He's just a kid. He's an unusual kid, smart as hell, you know … but I still don't fully
get
it. I haven't really seen him
do
anything
miraculous
. We filmed some pretty great shit for the documentary. He sorta just pales in comparison to some of those other kids.”

“Don't underestimate him. There's more to that kid than meets the eye,” Quinn said cryptically.

“Whaddya mean?” Nate said, draining his beer and holding up the bottle as a cute, young waitress passed by with a nod.

“I dunno. Just a feeling.”

“Sure you're not just jealous?” Nate said, the bitterness returning to his voice.

“Maybe I am,” Quinn said disarmingly.

“He just seems … a bit too old for his body, to me,” Nate replied more kindly.

The waitress delivered another beer for both men. “Where y'all going?” she asked, looking at Nate's funky hair and vest with interest.

“No idea,” Nate replied with a grin.

The next day at five a.m. they boarded a Boeing 747, accompanied by an understated squad of private soldiers. The protectors wore simple tan uniforms and, though they were physically intimidating, they were adept at fading into the background when they wished to do so.