The Hunters: Moonsong Chapter Thirty-Six

When he opened his door and saw Elena, jams face crumpled, reasonable for a fraction of a second, and he stepped backward, as if he was con side of meatring chuck out set ashore the door in her face. Then he seemed to cogitate better of it, and he opened it wider, his face creasing into its familiar smile.Why, Elena, he verbalise, My dear, I hardly expect a visitor at this hour. Im afraid this isnt the best time. He exonerated his throat. Id be delighted to see you at school, during office hours. Mon age and F resignays, remember?Now, if youl take over me. And, stil smiling gently, he shuffled forward and did try to close the door in her face. only when Elena swung her hand up and stopped him. Wait, she tell. mob, I have sex you didnt want to talk to me ab let on the pins, except its important. I rent to find out more well-nigh the Vitale decree.His bright black eyeball glanced toward her and forth, as if embarrassed. Yes, Well, he state, the problem is of course that unchaperoned solo visits from a student any student, you see to it, my dear, no reflection on you personal y to a professors home ar, er, frowned upon.The diabolic world we live in, you know, and, with a soft chuckle, he pushed firmly against the door. at that place atomic number 18 times and places.Elena pushed back. I dont believe for a minute that youre try to make me go away because my visit is inappropriate, she said flatly. You cant get rid of me that easily. People are in danger, pile.I know you and my parents were part of the Vitale Society, Elena move doggedly. I need you to tel me whatever it is that youve been hiding approximately those days. I take the Vitale is tied to the murders and disappearances on campus, and we have to stop it. Youre my only lead at this point, crowd. He hesitated, his eyes watering with emotion, and Elena fixed him with her gaze. More hoi polloi are passing to die, she said harshly, notwithstanding you might be able to drop a li ne them. Wil you? crowd together visibly wavered and thusly seemed to pret shoemakers last in al at once, his shoulders dropping. I dont know if anything I can tel you wil help. I dont know anything about the murders. entirely youd better come in, he said, and led the way down the hal and through his house. The kitchen was shining clean, with spotless white surfaces. Copper pots, woven baskets, and well-to-do red dishc considerhs and towels hung from hooks and were arranged on top of cupboards. Framed prints of fruits and vegetables hung on the wal s at intervals.James sat her down at the table, thusly busied himself with making her a cup of tea.Elena waited patiently until he final y settled crossways from her, with cups of tea in apparent motion of them both. Milk? he asked fussily, handing her the jug, without meeting her eyes.Sugar? convey you, Elena said. Then she leaned across the table and located her hand on his, keeping it on that point until he raised his eyes to look at her. Tel me, she said simply.I dont know anything about the murders, James said again. Believe me, I wouldnt have kept this secret if I thought anyone was in danger from it. Elena nodded. I know you wouldnt, she said. Even if there isnt a connection, if the secret is about my parents, I deserve to know, she told him.James sighed, a pertinacious breathy sound. This was al a long time ago, you understand, he said. We were t discontinueer and a bit naive. The Vitale Society was a force for equitable, back thus. We idolise innate(p) spirits and drew our energy from the sacred Earth. We were a supportive force in the community, interested principal y in spang and counterinsurgency and creativity. We served others. I arrest that the Vitale Society has changed since those days, that darker elements have taken it over. But I dont know much about them now. I havent been involved with the Vitale for years, not since the events I am about to recount to you.Elena sipped her te a and waited. Jamess eyes flew to her face, roughly shyly, then fixed back on the table. One day, he said slowly, a strange man came to one of our secret meetings. He was James closed his eyes and shivered. I had never seen a being of such pure power, or one who radiated such a feeling of peace and love. We, al of us, had no doubt that we were in the presence of an angel. He cal ed himself a Guardian. Involuntarily, Elena sucked a breath through her teeth, hissing. Jamess eyes snapped open, and he gave her a long look. You know them? At her nod, he shrugged a fine. Well, you can speculate how he affected us.What did the Guardian want? Elena asked, her stomach dropping. She had met Guardians, and she hadnt liked them. It was Guardians who had, coldly and efficiently, refused to bring Damon back to life when he had died in the Dark Dimension. And it was Guardians who had caused the auto accident that kil ed her parents in an attempt to kil Elena so that they could recruit her t o their ranks. Al the Guardians shed met were female, though she hadnt even known there were male Guardians as Well.Elena knew that, harming as the Guardians appeared to be, they were not angels, were not on the side of Good or, for that matter, the side of Evil. They just believed in Order.They could be very dangerous.James looked at her briefly, then fiddled with the tea cup and napkin in front of him. Would you like a scone? he asked. She shook her head and stared at him, and he sighed again. You have to understand that your parents were very young. Idealistic.Elena had the sinking feeling that she was going to find out something late unpleasant. Go on, she said.Instead of continuing, though, James folded his napkin into tiny, precise squares, smal er and smal er, until Elena cleared her throat. Then he began again. The Guardian told us that there was a need for a new broad of Guardian.One who would be a psyche, on Earth, and who would possess special powers that she would n eed to maintain the balance between corking and evil supernatural forces on Earth. Over the course of his visit, Elizabeth and Thomas, who were young and bril iant and good and deeply in love, and who had bright futures ahead of them, were chosen to be the parents of this mortal Guardian. He let the napkin unfold itself in his pass on and looked at Elena meaningful y. It took her a moment to catch on.Me? Are you kidding? Im not She shut her mouth. I have enough problems, she said flatly. She paused as something he said sank in. Wait, why do you think my parents were being naive? she asked sharply. What did they do?James drank a swal ow of tea. Frankly, I think I need a little something in this before I continue, he said. Ive kept this secret for a long time, and I stil have to tel you the worst part. He got up and rummaged more or less in one of the cupboards, eventual y pul ing out a smal bottle ful of amber liquid. He held it out to Elena questioningly, but she shook her hea d. She was pretty authoritative(p) she would need her head clear for the rest of this conversation. He poured a handsome amount into his own cup.So, he said, sitting down again. Elena could tel that he was stil anxious, but also that he was beginning to enjoy tel ing the story. He was a natural gossip the way he taught history was as gossip about the past and this was even more familiar for him, because it was gossip about Elenas parents, deal they both had known. Thomas and Elizabeth were both terrifical y flattered, of course.And Elena prompted.James laced his fingers across his stomach and watched her, his eyes shadowed. They agreed that, when the child was twelve years old, they would ordinate her up. The Guardians would take her away, and they would never see her again.Elena was suddenly very cold. Her parents had raised her intending to generate her away? She snarl like al her childhood memories were shattering. In an instant, James was at her side. Breathe, he said ge ntly.Gasping, Elena shut her eyes and concentrated on inhaling and exhaling deep breaths. That her parents, her belove parents, had taken her on as some kind of temporary project, was devastating. She had never doubted their love until now.She had to know the whole truth.Go on.Honestly, that was the end of my friendship with your parents, and the end of my involvement with the Vitale Society, James said, taking another long drink of his whiskey-laced tea. I couldnt believe that no one else in the Society saw the problem with raising a child to the cusp of adolescence and then giving her up forever, and I couldnt believe that your parents who I knew to be loving, intel igent people would agree to such a plan. We graduated and went our separate ways, and I didnt hear from your parents again for more than twelve years.You heard from them then? Elena asked quietly.Your father cal ed me. The Guardians had contacted them, ready to take you away. But Thomas and Elizabeth wouldnt let you go. James smiled sadly. They loved you too much. They didnt think you were ready to leave home you were only a child. They realized that they had agreed too quickly to the Guardians plan, that they didnt real y know what was in store for you, and that they couldnt let their daughter go without knowing for certain that it was the best thing for her. So Thomas asked for my help protecting you. They knew I had dabbled in sorcery when I was in col ege he waved his hand modestly when Elena looked up at him only smal magics, and I had broadly speaking given them up by then. But he and Elizabeth were desperate. So I gathered what knowledge I could, intending to help them. He paused, and a soberness settled over his face.Unfortunately, I was too late. A few days after our conversation, before I even set out for Fel s Church, your parents were both kil ed in a car accident. I chequered up on you over the years, but it didnt seem like the Guardians had gotten their hands on you. And now, here you are. I dont think its a coincidence.The Guardians kil ed my parents, Elena said dul y. I knew it, but I didnt know I thought it was an accident. She was attempt to wrap her mind around the secrets of her childhood. At least in the end her parents hadnt been able to give her away. They had loved her, as she had thought.They tend to get what they want, James said.Why didnt they take me then? Elena asked.James shook his head. I dont know. But I think theres a reason youre at Dalcrest now, where it began for you and for your parents. I think that some kind of childbed wil arise here, and youl come into your Powers.A task? Elena asked. But I had Powers once, and the Guardians took them away. They had mercilessly stripped her of her Wings and al her abilities. Were they going to return them when the time was right?James sighed and shrugged helplessly. Plans sometimes have unusual ways of presenting themselves, even those that are fated from the start, he said. Maybe these dis appearances are the first sign of it. I dont know, though. As I told the class, Dalcrest is the hub of a lot of paranormal activity. I tend to think that, when your task presents itself, youl know.But Im not Elena gulped. I dont understand what this al means. I just want to be a normal girl. I thought I could now. Here.James reached across the table and patted her hand, his eyes deep Wells of sympathy. Im so sorry, my dear, he said. I didnt want to be the one to burden you with this. But I wil give you any help I can. Thomas and Elizabeth would have wanted that.Elena felt like she couldnt breathe. She had to get out of this cozy kitchen, away from Jamess avid, concerned eyes. Thank you, she said, hurriedly pushing her chair away from the table and getting up. I have to go now, though. I do appreciate your tel ing me al this, but I need to think.He fussed around her al the way to the front door, clearly unsure of whether to let her go, and Elena was almost ready to scream by the time she reached the porch.Thank you, she said again. Good-bye. She walked quickly away without looking back, her home clacking against the cement of the sidewalk. When she was out of sight of Jamess house, Damon slipped from the shadows to join her. Elena held her head high, blinking away the tears that had pooled in her eyes. For now, this secret would be hers.