Reluctant Hero (The Dunamis Covenant Book 1) (10 page)

"I'm glad it all worked out to your liking, ma'am. Tell Ashley I said goodbye." She waved and he turned and left. It was time to sneak back into the Metroplex.

Thomas made it back to the Metroplex without incident. He no longer needed the bike, but he hated to get rid of something that was less than two weeks old. He decided he would visit his old friend, Kendra. He had barely seen her since high school. They dated as freshmen and broke up as freshmen. She hated him sophomore year, but then they became good friends junior and senior year. He thought she was coming to UT with him. It was a complete surprise when she accepted a scholarship to A&M. They had kept in touch by email and text, and had gotten together a couple times since high school, always promising to stay in touch, but the reality was he hadn't seen her much. He didn't think anyone would look for him at her place.

When Kendra answered the door, she was shocked. "Thomas Archer." She yelled and then she jumped out of the doorway and into his arms. "It's been so long, what brings you here?" She looked at him again and added, "And what's with the mountain man beard?"

"What, you don't like the beard?"

"I don't know yet, I'll let you know later." Her voice was filled with excitement and joy when she said, "Come in, come in. I have something amazing to show you."

Thomas followed Kendra inside and she picked up a baby out of a crib. "Wow, Kendra, I had no idea—"

"This is Sarah," Kendra said, and then she handed the child to him.

Thomas was in awe as he stood in Kendra's living room holding Kendra's perfect little angel. "She's beautiful, Kendra. Really, she's great. She has such beautiful black hair, and look at those blue, expressive eyes. She looks just like you. How old is she?"

"She's eight months old. I'm doing the single mom thing, and trying to start a work from home business, so I don't have to let strangers raise my baby." She was using the opportunity that Thomas provided while holding the baby to rush around the room placing stacks of papers in their appropriate piles.

"Does the father pitch in at all?" He asked while rocking the little girl back and forth in his arms.

"No," she replied and then looked away with sadness in her eyes. "He was killed in Afghanistan while I was two months pregnant; it's all up to me now. He was a civilian contractor so I don't even get any benefits because he had no insurance."

"Oh, Kendra, I'm so sorry. This must be so hard for you."

"Sometimes it is. Sometimes it's overwhelming, but there's also a lot of joy." She tickled her happy baby, making her giggle. "I'll make it through, if I could just get the bank to lend me a few thousand dollars, I know my marketing business can make it." As she was speaking, Thomas noticed a scar on Sarah's right ear. He then noticed an identical scar on her left ear and his breath caught. "Thomas, what's wrong?" She asked with a concerned look in her eye. "You look like you've just seen a ghost."

"Kendra, are you a Mage?"

"H... how do you...?"

"The scars on Sarah's ears, I was told many Mage parents have their children's ears cut so they can fit in with normal human society." He felt like the world was closing in around him. This was too big a coincidence. "So do you work for Asa, too?" He had a look of disappointment so great on his face, it almost made Kendra cry.

"No, but my parents did," she answered in a soft voice, almost as if she were ashamed.

"Nothing in my life was ever real, was it?" He asked.

"I don't know, Thomas," she replied. She placed her hand on his arm as she took Sarah from him to lay her in her crib. "Mommy needs to talk to Uncle Thomas now. You be a good girl, Sarah." She was rewarded by an adorable smile and coo after she placed her in the crib. Sarah immediately began playing with the shapes that were hanging above her head.

"Uncle Thomas?" he asked, his voice skeptical.

"Yes, Uncle Thomas!" she replied adamantly. "Now sit and I'll tell you everything I do know." He sat down, hoping his friend was still his friend as she began. "Remember when we met freshman year? When we started going to the same high school, Asa paid my parents a visit, and told them to make me get close to you. They never had to make me get close to you because we met the first day and started dating two weeks later. My parents were very happy because we became friends and they didn't think they would have to make me keep an eye on you, so they never told me." She paused and he could tell the next part of the story was not something she was happy about. "Seven months later, they found out that you and I had kissed a few times and they flipped out on me. I mean, my father almost killed me. I couldn't understand why and then they told me all about you and how they needed me to keep an eye on you. They told me that we had broken the sacred trust because you were betrothed. They said I could never touch you again, and at that point, I didn't want to."

"You thought I was a cheater," he added.

"I'm sorry, I did. I thought the worst of you for a long time. Then Asa explained to me that you didn't know. He didn't even know who you were betrothed to. He told me it wasn't my fault either, but we could never start dating again. He went on to tell me he had taken the memory from you while also making you very cautious so you would not stand out. It was all supposed to be for your protection of course—"

"Wait, he cast those spells? He just can't stop lying to me for one minute can he?"

"I'm sorry, Thomas, if this is too painful—"

"No, Kendra, I need to know and it's obvious I'm never going to get the truth from Asa."

"Maybe he doesn't believe you are ready,"

"No, forget him! He had his chance to tell the truth." He was so upset he would have hit Asa if he were there. It must have shown because Kendra looked a little skeptical as she continued.

"Anyway, he told me your parents were killed because you are the fulfillment of some ancient prophecy about the powerful champion destined to stop some destroyer. Everyone among the Ethereals believes Devlin to be the destroyer and most believe you to be the child of destiny. After your parents were killed, you were given to the Archers for safe keeping."

"Right, because uncle Pete was my dad's brother."

"No, there was no relation; they were your parents friends, nothing more. You are not blood related to them. Your real last name is not even Archer. I don't know what it is, but it's not Archer."

"There's another lie Asa told me! Kendra, I just don't know who I can trust. I've never felt so alone."

"You have every right to be angry, Thomas. After Asa told me everything, my parents forced me to be friends with you again, and I became part of the lie. For that I have always felt a deep sorrow. I really tried to be your friend, and I had gotten over the whole betrothal thing when I found out you didn't know. You thought you were a normal kid, and I couldn't blame you for that. I was never allowed to tell you the truth. I felt like I was lying to you the whole time we were friends. That's the real reason I didn't go to UT. I tanked the interview on purpose so I wouldn't have to keep lying to you."

"So Pete and Laura are all just part of the elaborate charade that my life has become."

"Thomas." she placed her hand on his arm again. "You cannot blame them, they were forced to lie to you, and they loved and raised you like you were their own. I know that to be true because I heard Laura talking to my mom. She said her greatest regret would always be that she had to lie to someone she loved so much."

"I don't blame them, I blame Asa. I don't blame you either, Kendra. You and I are just pawns in this sick game he's playing. Nothing in my life is real. I wonder if Lucas is even my friend or if he's just another convenient plant keeping an eye on me to make sure I don't turn to the dark side, or whatever. I don't know anything about this Devlin guy, but it seems to me that at least in my life, Asa is the destroyer."

"You may be right; his games ruined my relationship with my parents."

"Kendra, do you have anyone that can help you with Sarah?"

"Just Trevor, and now he's on the outs with our parents because he still loves me and Sarah." She looked disappointed by that, but cheered up as she said, "He is a freshman at UT this year."

"Go Longhorns!!!" Thomas said as he held his hand up and stuck his thumb and pinky out in opposite directions with a grin.

"He always wanted to follow in your footsteps. He is a much more powerful Mage than I am."

"Kendra," he began, "I was told that even weak Mages can still influence a dice roll, or have a little extra luck; why not give Vegas a try?"

"I don't even have that ability." Her gaze was downcast and her voice was full of regret.

Thomas realized he shouldn't stay long. He would hate for Asa's search for him to cause Kendra any problems, so he changed the awkward subject. "I have to disappear for a while until I figure things out. Malachi tried to kill me and I threw him into a wall, hard. I'm not sure I'll be welcomed back."

"You threw Malachi into a wall?" she asked with an impressed look on her face. "From everything I ever heard it seems like he's unbeatable. Maybe you are the destined one." Sarah began crying and Kendra took a pacifier over to her.

"Do you know what the actual prophecy says?"

"No, I'm sorry. I wasn't powerful enough for them to ever tell me, and truth be told, I don't care to know." She dangled the pacifier in front of her daughter and blew her a kiss while she put the pacifier in her daughter's mouth. "Does Sarah want her binky?" she asked in a happy voice.

"How about this Dunamis Covenant I heard about? Do you know what that is?"

"Every Ethereal knows what that is," she replied. A moment later she realized who she was talking to and continued. "Sorry, it's kind of a long story."

"I've got a couple minutes, how about the condensed version?"

She made sure Sarah was content with her binky and then looked back to Thomas. "Okay, here goes," she took a deep breath and prepared to share the history of their people.

"Fifteen thousand years ago, the twelve clans of Ethereals split over fundamental differences concerning humanity. Six clans believed Ethereals should enslave and rule over humanity. We call them the dark clans. The other six clans, now known as the light clans, wanted to live along side humanity in peace. Ten thousand years ago, humanity waged a great war against the Ethereals. The Elders of the dark clans known as the Shadow Assembly had reveled their abilities while attempting to enslave the known world. Humanity fought back, and they hunted Ethereals to the ends of the earth in what became known by the survivors as the great purge. Millions of souls, both Ethereal and human were lost. When the forces of light and the forces of darkness came together after the great purge, they signed the Dunamis Covenant or Covenant of Power. At the time, Ethereals numbered only in the thousands where they had once numbered in the millions." She paused and noticed Thomas contemplating what she had shared so she continued.

"While Ethereals had always been superior to humans, humanity was growing vast, and they excelled at finding new ways to kill one another. Their skills in violence were well honed and the Ethereal race was overrun. Humanity didn't realize that there were both light and dark Ethereals, so they tried to wipe all of them out. What was left of the Council of Light and the Dark Assembly came together and signed the covenant that stated they would stay out of the light, not reveal their abilities to humanity and above all, not seek ultimate power. The Dunamis Covenant saved the Ethereal race, allowing them to slip back into the shadows and pass from the minds of men." She sighed and said, "That's the abridged version."

"Nice, you just slipped fifteen thousand years of history into a two minute blurb. You should be a news anchor or something."

"Ha-ha, you're funny!" she replied. She had a reflective look on her face and added, "I really am sorry for my part in the lie. I really wish I had been strong enough to tell you the truth."

"Kendra, forget about it. Like I already said, I don't blame you at all. I should get going, though, I don't want to put you and Sarah in any danger, but before I go, I have a gift. I came here because I have a brand new mountain bike that I have to leave behind and I thought Trevor might want it. I just couldn't bear to throw it away. It's two weeks old and I've only used it on one trip. It's not top of the line, but it's a pretty good one."

"Are you kidding? He'll love it. He wanted to take a mountain bike trip with some friends in a couple weeks but he doesn't have a decent bike and my parents won't get him one because of me. I can't wait to call him and let him know. He'll be so happy, and he deserves it. Thank you, Thomas." She threw her arms around him and kissed him on the cheek. "I wish you could stay a little longer, but I know why you have to go."

"Well, maybe when this whole mess is over, I can come back and really be Uncle Thomas."

"I would love nothing more." She replied with a sadness Thomas was beginning to recognize all too well.

"One last thing before I go. Now that I know I have a beautiful little niece, I can't just leave her in need. I just emptied my emergency fund and I have saved a lot over the years. You won't need to get a loan from the bank; I'm giving you five thousand dollars." He handed her a canvas envelope, and her jaw almost hit the floor.

"I can't accept this from you, Thomas, it's too much and you'll need it if you're going on the run." Sarah was getting fussy again so Kendra bent over the crib and picked her up.