Unbound (29 page)

Elora smiled slightly and nodded at Sita,
understanding faster than I did. “Not if you’re not the one who looks like Cicely.”

She eyed Sita. “If we can create a big enough
distraction, can you get her out?”

Sita’s blue eyes flashed with determination. “I will
try.”

“Not good enough.” All eyes turned to Eaden. His voice
was nearly a growl. “We are not risking Rachel’s life with a plan that might
not work.”
 

Mara snapped back at him. “What choice do we have?”

“We could use force. The security teams will have
guns; it will be no hard task for us to take them.”

“Eaden!” Elora looked appalled. “There will be crowds
of mortals surrounding us. We can’t turn this into a firing range.”

Eaden’s eyes flashed angrily at all of us. “Why not?
Amun is counting on us to try to minimize the impact on the mortals. I am tired
of playing the game his way.”

Amerlyn placed a gnarled hand on Eaden’s shoulder. “We
will not give her up easily lad, I promise you, but we must first try to
inflict the least amount of damage we can.” Amerlyn looked towards Elora. “You
can hold the glamour in two separate locations?”

“Yes,” she said.

“Right then. Rachel, Sita, and I will travel
together.” He looked at Sita. “At the first opportunity you must get us past
the security team.”

She smiled with grim confidence. “This I will do.”

I couldn’t imagine how anyone could accomplish this,
but I was buoyed by her courage.

“No, I will not leave Rachel.” Eaden said, firmly.

Amerlyn’s voice carried all of the quiet authority of
more than two millennia. “They will expect you to be with her, lad. It will
confuse them more if you are not. And we cannot leave Mara and Elora to face
Amun’s henchmen alone.” He spoke his next words softly. “Remember your promise
to Sannah,
mo
bráthair
.” Amerlyn rarely used Gaelic to
address Eaden, but it had the desired effect.

Eaden shoulders slumped as he exhaled. “I remember.”

“Excellent.” Amerlyn looked pleased. “If things take a
turn for the worse, use whatever powers you have to get out of the airport. We
will reconvene at the Council site.” His gaze rested fondly on us all. “Don’t
look so grim, my friends; we have much strength among us. This is only the
first of the tests we will face.”

The “Fasten Seatbelt” sign flashed on just as the
flight attendant came back into the first-class compartment. She moved
cautiously past Eaden and smiled warmly at me. “Buckle up, Ms. Mansfield. The
captain said there may be some turbulence.”

“No kidding.” I smiled wanly and clipped my seatbelt
into place.

The moment the plane stopped moving down the runway,
Eaden was out of his seat again and gesturing impatiently at Elora and Mara.
“Up, move quickly.”

Mara shot him a dirty look, but scooted into the aisle
just the same.

As the other passengers began to move and grab their
hand luggage, Amerlyn stood and nodded to Elora. “Now is as good a time as
any.”

I felt no physical trace of whatever magic she
conjured. It occurred to me that I had no idea what I looked like now, but
there was little time to ponder as the cabin doors were opened. My stomach
spasmed with fear. Eaden bent and placed his lips close to my ear so that no
one besides Mara could possibly hear him. “This is not the end,
mo cridhe
. Nothing on earth will stop me
from protecting you.”

And then we were moving off the plane, onto the
gangplank, and closer to our enemies than ever before.

The arrivals lounge was chaotic. Security teams were
stationed at intervals at each point of exit, preventing anyone from leaving
without passing through their checkpoints. We were the second plane to
disembark and as we joined the crowd that milled uneasily in the garish
fluorescently lit space, passengers from a third plane walked down another
gangplank towards us. I felt nauseated from the combined effects of the heavy
smell of diesel and my nervousness.

Sita’s hand had remained firmly on my elbow since
landing. Eaden, Mara, and Elora stood only a few feet away, huddled together.
Eaden’s eyes roved the crowd periodically and then rested on me again before
taking off like birds in flight to scan the room. Sita scrutinized each
checkpoint intently from our position and then stopped, her hand tightening on
my elbow. Closing her eyes, she did nothing but breathe quietly for a few
moments and then her eyes opened wide and she flashed us a triumphant smile.
Turning to Mara she nodded once and whispered under her breath. Mara narrowed
her eyes in concentration and then turned and spoke urgently to Elora.

Everything happened at once.

Sita pulled me quickly in the direction of the second
checkpoint just as Mara hurled a tirade of insults at a security team that
wandered through the crowd. “Do you know who I am? I refuse to be herded around
like a cow. I’m an American for God’s sake. Do you speak English?”

Amerlyn chortled appreciatively as Sita hustled us
through the crowd. Behind us, Mara’s tantrum was attracting a lot of attention
as the other passengers began to recognize her. From across the lounge, a young
man in an expensive suit narrowed his eyes in her direction. Giving the
security team a firm-sounding command, he strode with authority towards Mara
who seemed to be causing a small riot. I breathed a sigh of relief as he moved
farther away from me. Something about him made me feel vaguely uneasy, like an
itch I was unable to scratch.

“This is it. Now, Rachel.” Sita pushed me in front of
the security team that blocked the exit. A man and a woman stared at us
blankly.

“Please,” Sita said quietly. “My father is very ill,
there is an ambulance waiting for us. We need to get him to a hospital
quickly.”

Startled, I stared at Amerlyn, who to my eyes appeared
as fit as a fiddle. The woman in front of us pursed her lips and frowned.
“There’s a line behind you. No one can leave the secure area without going
through the security check.” She looked in the direction of the young man who
had headed towards Mara. “You’ll have to wait until he returns.”

“Please,” Sita implored, her eyes darting to the
heavy-set male security guard who stood slightly behind the woman. “Look at
him; he won’t make it much longer if we wait.”

The man, whose name tag read Joe, licked his thin lips
and looked nervously at Sita. She placed one hand on top of her flat belly and
stared directly at him.

“Please,” she repeated. “My baby needs to meet his
grandfather.”
 

Baby? Puzzled, I looked at Amerlyn, who appeared to
playing along with Sita’s story now. He groaned and staggered a step or two.
Joe snapped from his paralysis. Stepping forward, he studied Amerlyn and then
turned to his partner. “This is ridiculous; we’re not going to let this man die
here because homeland security has rumour of some vague threat.” He pulled out
his cellphone and began to dial. “Three passengers need immediate clearance,
get someone here now!” he barked.

Mara’s tantrum was still in full swing. Several
security teams had positioned themselves around the edge of the crowd that was
growing more belligerent with every passing moment. Whatever response our
security guard received seemed to infuriate him even more. Sensing it was now
or never, Amerlyn groaned again and slumped against the female guard, who
scrambled to hold him up.

Joe had clearly had enough. He hung up and, grabbing
Amerlyn, slung an arm of support around him. “Follow me.”

We followed Joe past the checkpoint further into the
lounge. He set Amerlyn down on the closest seat and then turned back to us. He
eyed the abandoned checkpoint over our shoulders nervously. “Wait here, I’ll be
right back with some help.”

Sita touched his arm. “Thank you. You are a kind man.”
Her quiet voice was genuine.

I turned back to look one last time at the teeming
crowd gathered around Mara. Eaden stood a few inches above the others, his
height making him easy to spot. As if he could feel my gaze, he turned his head
and saw that we were clear. I couldn’t read his expression, but I saw the word
he mouthed at me. “Run.”

Pulling Amerlyn up from his seat, Sita and I fled.
Running through the lounge and into the concourse, our steps echoed noisily on
the tiled floor. We tore past the luggage carousel and hit the crowded sidewalk,
yanking Amerlyn along between us. Clambering into the first cab we saw, my
heart pounding, I looked frantically out the back window. As of yet, there was
no sign of pursuit.

Closing his eyes, Amerlyn leaned his head back against
the seat as we drove away, chuckling softly to himself.

Amazed, I turned to Sita. “How did you do that?”

Breathing heavily, Sita was flushed from our wild
dash. “That poor man lost his father last year, just before his wife had her
baby. “

“Oh.” Heady from our escape, I still wasn’t sure how I
felt about deceiving someone this way. It seemed a bit cruel.

Sita read my expression. “Don’t feel guilty, Rachel.
We have done this man some good. He was unable to help his own father, but
helping us has healed a piece of his heart. This was therapeutic for him.” She
shrugged and smiled.

“I just hope he doesn’t get fired.” Looking out of the
window, I thought of Eaden and the two Sisters we had left behind. “Do you
think they’re okay?”

Amerlyn laughed. “Now that we’ve slipped through
Amun’s net? Yes, most definitely. Believe me, Rachel. You will see him again
without much delay. I’ve never known anyone more capable of extracting himself
from a difficult situation.” Amerlyn leaned forward and spoke to the driver, a
friendly looking young man whose habit of turning his head around to speak to
us was rather disconcerting. “Our young friend here is Canadian. Let’s take her
to Trafalgar Square, shall we?”

“Right then.” The cabbie smiled at me, his eyes barely
glancing at the road in front of him. “How about a little tour of the city on
our way? Have you seen Big Ben?”

I was stunned. “We’re going sightseeing?” I hissed
between clenched teeth. “Now?”

Amerlyn leaned in close. “We need to give Eaden and
the girls a few minutes to catch up. He’ll be most…unhappy if I present you to
the Council before he arrives.”

Amerlyn’s gift for understatement was remarkable. “I’m
worried about him,” I confessed to them both. “Really worried. He seems…” I
tried to think of the right word to capture the look I had seen in his eyes.

“Manic.” Sita said quietly. She patted my hand and
frowned. “I’m worried for him, too.”

“And rightly so.” Amerlyn regarded me seriously. “I’ve
known him for a very long time, young one. As long as anyone could and I’ve
never seen him so uncontrolled.” He sighed. “He’s been placed in a very
difficult position. As have you.”

I hesitated. Could I trust Amerlyn and Sita with what
I had in mind? I had little choice. And little time.

“If the Council votes against me, I need you to
promise you won’t let Eaden do anything stupid.”

Amerlyn’s countenance lost all traces of joviality.
His eyes seared my soul as if I could feel the weight of his life. “What are
you asking me, child?”

I took a deep breath and let it out in a rush. “I’m
afraid that Eaden will do something he regrets, something futile. If he has to
choose, I’m afraid he’ll choose me and then…he will hate himself for it.” I met
Amerlyn’s gaze directly. “I want you to make sure he lets me go, if it comes to
that.”

He raised an eyebrow. “Are you brave, or simply
foolish, young one?”

“Maybe both.” I tried to hold back the quaver in my
voice. “I love him.”
 
The thought of
him being tormented by his actions for eternity was unbearable.

Amerlyn shook his head sadly and touched my cheek in
the most paternal of gestures. “You have a bright soul, child. Eaden is right
to prize you so highly.”

“Promise me.” My voice was hard, as cold as I could
make it under the circumstances.

He glanced at Sita, who looked away from both of us,
staring out the window with a gloomy expression. “Do not give up too easily,
child. Hope is a powerful ally. But you have my word. If all else fails, I will
do everything in my power to contain him. And yet, do not expect that he will
survive the loss of you intact. If you think you’ll be easily forgotten, then
you have underestimated him. And yourself.”

I chose not to concentrate too deeply on the latter
part of this statement. “Thank you.”

Using my sleeve, I cleared away the condensation that
had built up and stared disconsolately out the window at the busy streets of
London. I tried to decide if I would have been excited to be here under
different circumstances. My interest in London had been piqued as a child
mostly by the Jane Austen novels I’d devoured in succession, although the world
I could see through the streaky glass was very different than then one I had
conjured of lords and ladies stepping out of carriages to attend balls.

At one time, not very long ago, the frantic pace of
the traffic and the unfamiliar landmarks would have terrified me. Now they were
only a minor distraction from my thoughts of Eaden. My biggest fear was that I
would have to let him go, so soon after finding him. Beyond that, I worried
that my very presence in his life was more damaging than favorable. What was it
doing to him? Loving me when so much was at stake? Was this how he had felt,
all those years he had watched me from the shadows? Had he feared that he would
cause me more pain than joy? For an instant, I understood that look in his eyes
– the guilt he seemed to feel at wanting me and believing he was selfish
for getting what he wanted.

So lost in these thoughts, I barely registered the
bird covered statues that Amerlyn dutifully pointed out as we drove through
Trafalgar Square and glanced distractedly up at Big Ben. Because of this, I
thought it was only the chimes of the clock
I heard
announcing the time when Amerlyn pulled a cellphone
out of his corduroy jacket and handed it to me. “This will be for you.”

“Hello?”

“Rachel.” Relief flooded so strongly through the phone
I thought I could feel it.

“Eaden! Are you okay?”

“I’m fine. We’re fine. We’re heading to the Council
right now. Tell Amerlyn we’ll meet you there in 10 minutes.”

“Okay.”

“Rachel?”

“Yes?”

“I love you.”

“I love you too,” I whispered. I handed the phone back
to Amerlyn without looking at him. “They’re on their way.”

Sita wordlessly slipped her tiny hand into mine. I
wondered if she could feel my heart breaking as intensely as I did.

I stared uncomprehendingly as we pulled up outside a
streamlined skyscraper that stretched towards the low ceiling of the clouds.
Lithe as a dancer, Sita slid out and held her hand towards Amerlyn so he could
follow suit.

Once again I tried to reconcile my expectations with
the reality of my situation as I pulled myself from the cab. “This is where the
Council of Ancients meets?”

“You expected a castle?” a voice quipped.

I whirled around and threw my arms around Mara.

“Hey!” She struggled briefly and then laughed. “Are
you confused? Your boyfriend is behind you.” But I felt her hug me back.

Disentangling myself from her, I was quickly swept up
into Eaden’s arms. He held me so tightly my ribs began to ache. Finally letting
me go, he checked me over carefully, looking for signs of damage and then, stepped
back from me so that I could hug Elora as well. For a moment, the six of us
stared silently at each other, words unnecessary. As if to break the spell, the
front doors of the sleek glass building opened and two men stepped onto the
sidewalk. Silently they stood, hands folded behind their backs, impenetrable as
a tomb. Waiting.

I felt, more than saw, everyone’s eyes on me.

“It’s okay,” I said. “I’m ready.”

*
         
*
         
*
         
*
         
*

The plush carpet of the lobby muffled our footsteps as
we approached the sleek reception desk. The room’s dark mahogany walls were
lined with heavy oil paintings, that reeked of sophistication and wealth. Bulbous
glass vases filled with calla lilies clustered throughout the room on low lying
tables, their white petals curled up to the ceiling as if they were shells
washed out of the ocean.

“Good afternoon, Mr. Ambrosius, Sir Eaden.” A bright-haired,
bright-eyed blonde woman smiled politely at us and inclined her head in
greeting. She stood up from behind her desk and moved to towards us.
 
“You must be Ms. Dawes. Welcome, Sisters
of Cailleach,” she said, turning towards Mara, Elora, and Sita. “Please follow
me, the Council is expecting you.”