HEART OF THE CHOSEN (CASTE BOOK 1)

Chapter 43

He hadn’t changed. He had kept the same semi-casual, semi-military style of dress. His hair was cropped close and his square jawline looked even more prominent under a thin three-day beard. His eyes pierced me through and through as I tried to keep my composure. His intense pupils never left me.

“Damn, bro! But where have you been?!” said Johnny, clapping his hands.

“A long story,” retorted our newcomer in a deep and sensual voice.

I remained frozen in place. I didn’t have the words, and even if I could have made the slightest sound, I would have stammered like a fourteen-year-old girl. I no longer knew what to think, what to do, my brain liquefied under the vehemence of the sensations I felt at this meeting. Here, in the woods, Eric faced me. Was it real? Was he finally going to greet me or hug me to wake me up from this torpor? But a detail annoyed me, suddenly. He wasn’t smiling and didn’t seem happy to see me again. I remained there, without moving, trying to guess what caused him to be so cold.

“Hello, Eve,” he whispered when our staring had finally provoked the clearing of Johnny’s throat.

“Hello,” I managed to answer.

“Well,” Johnny intervened, “the team is complete this time!”

“Thomas explained to me that you live here now,” said Eric, who had just taken the way back to the castle.

I moved behind them. Non-existent. Johnny turned around twice, having perceived the embarrassment that lay between us.

I lowered my head sadly and walked behind them. I was devastated by disappointment. Eric explained to Johnny that he had met all the others on the terrace of the courtyard garden and that he had been kept informed of the sad events which had led to the death of the Van Durens. He had already visited Salomon but didn’t dwell on his long absence.

Once back at the castle, I no longer existed for Eric. Ethan had joined the group and I sensed that my confusion amused him.

“You better stop smiling, Ethan,” I threatened as he laughed harder.

“You didn’t see that one coming!” he said mentally.

“It’s the least we can say. He just said hello!”

“What did you expect?! He hasn’t seen you for more than two years!”

“Yeah…”

I wasn’t going to admit to Ethan that Eric’s behaviour offended me so much that I wanted to take refuge in my room crying like an i***t. Faced with his total indifference, I preferred to visit Salomon to inquire about his health. He was doing better and was very happy with Eric’s return. They had become very good friends and seeing him smile, I no longer doubted that he could fully recover. His wheelchair would soon be history.

Finally, I went back to my suite and flopped down on the bed, wanting to think about the situation. Morose, the depression won me more every minute. The happiness of my reunion with Johnny had given way to the bitterness of having seen a disdainful Eric again.

Several days passed without the slightest news of him. I hadn’t seen him once, neither in the common room nor in the garden courtyard or other places where I had to admit, I was looking for his presence. Nevertheless, I continued my ritual visits to Magnus. One day when he was more lucid than the others, I was finally able to ask him the questions that had been plaguing my mind for a long time.

“How did my father die?”

“I don’t care,” he replied scornfully.

A scalpel blow between two ribs caused him such pain that he clenched his hands and found the strength to spit in my face. I wiped away his blemish with the back of my sleeve.

“You killed Egeria!” he said almost indifferent to the torture I was causing him.

“In effect!”

“She’ll have cursed you for sure!”

He may have had a point there because his remark threw me off my feet. I hadn’t had another vision since, but I was sure Egeria had something to do with this painful experience.

“The old goat has suffered a lot, even if I would have liked to take as much time as I do with you. Now I would like to hear your answer: my father and the Panchaks, why did they die?”

“The answer is obvious, your father wanted Ethan back,” Magnus answered coldly, the Panchaks were looking for something else, but that had nothing to do with it.”

“What did they want?”

“You can put your scalpel wherever you want, my dear, you won’t get any other answer.”

I complied. He screamed as loud as he could and coughed. I mopped up the bloodstains, he managed to grab my arm and glared at me.

“You’re going to regret this bitterly,” he threatened in a voice too weak to move me, “I swear to God.”

“Save yourself the trouble, you’re damned, my poor Magnus. You’re going to end your days in prison, and if it were up to me, I would have given you the same treatment you did to Carmichael, your own son.”

“He deserved it, that traitor and it’s your fault! The women of your line are all venomous and he got caught up in them like a fool.”

“We have never been together…,” I tried to justify when nothing pushed me.

“Anyway, nothing will prevent your death as soon as I can take care of it myself.”

“You don’t have to bother yourself, Magnus, you have already done enough to turn my life into a living hell. You had already taken your revenge before I even understood why.”

“Are you talking about London? My subjects enjoyed themselves so much…”

“Shut up!” I retorted, cutting him off in his scabrous declarations.

“Oh! Gregory was more than satisfied, I think he will be delighted to be able to take you again as you deserve!”

I plunged the scalpel straight into the heart, if he had one. Magnus lay dead, but once the scalpel was removed from his chest, his heart started beating again. He remained unconscious as my anger reached its peak. I tried to control my breathing to push it through. An obvious point had just been revealed, however, Magnus didn’t think that Gregory had perished that day, in the middle of the field of wind turbines, when, at the edge of the highway, all his companions had suffered a painful death. I had to force myself not to pulverize everything that was around me as this prospect redoubled my fury.

Once calmed down, I buttoned Magnus’s shirt up and, as usual, slipped the key to the cell into the guard’s pocket. On my way back to the Pomona room, I stopped short when I discovered Eric leaning against the wall at the entrance to the chamber.

“So that’s how you occupy your time,” he declared so coldly that I felt like the last of his enemies.

I didn’t bother to answer and walked past him without a word. I wasn’t proud to have been discovered, but neither was I going to explain myself to a man who since his arrival had only spoken two words to me. I went to my room and stifled tears that wanted to venture into my eyes. A note on my bed invited me to join Blake in one of the offices in the big tower, accompanied by a key that led there.

We have to discuss the recruitment of the pre-cog.

Come see me now.

Blake

I sighed because another confrontation was waiting for me. Nevertheless, I complied and took the direction of the big tower. The access door was a few metres from my room, I put in the key and climbed the old period stairs. On the first floor were the offices where the caste affairs, whether the stock market or investments, were controlled. The employees, all castes of origin or caste descendants, passed through a door in the tower, outside the castle and which led exactly to this place. Carmichael’s office, which Blake occupied for the moment, was on the second floor. The rest of the place was unknown to me, I hadn’t yet had the privilege of visiting it. I knocked on the door and Blake immediately invited me to enter. The room had kept a medieval aspect underlined by paintings and images hung on Renaissance tapestries. The desk itself was monumental, in old solid oak, it was covered with documents awaiting filing. Behind him, a huge library filled with files listed generations of castes. There was no computer or telephone, so nothing could have indicated that we were living in the 21st century, except for Blake’s appearance at that moment. His overpriced three-piece suit clashed singularly in this setting. I observed his nervous attitude, and his way of pacing didn’t fail to alert me. Something had happened and it had nothing to do with recruiting the pre-cog. It wasn’t long before Blake told me the nature of his disorder.

“The hour is serious, Everliegh! A sad event could call into question the arrangements we had envisaged for this new caste era.”

“What are you talking about? Did something happen to Carmichael?”

“No, thank God, but an old enemy has resurfaced and it worries me terribly.”

“You know him?”

“Oh yes! And that’s the problem, only Magnus, Egeria and I knew him. It would have saved us a lot of inconveniences if others had known of his existence. How mad that my brother didn’t set him on fire and scatter his ashes!”

So it was a caste with unlimited life expectancy, like Blake, Magnus and all existing Burton Races. The only way to defeat them was with fire. Once in scattered ashes, there was no way the body could reconstitute itself. Come to think of it, there was a second solution: my brother and me. Our ability to pulverize living beings was also another way of dying for these supposedly immortal castes. Egeria could attest to that!

“Who is it?” I asked, very calm.

“Morgan!”

Blake revealed this name to me as if I had known this man. I searched my memory and finally remembered when I first heard it. It was in the London jail. Blake then told me about his adventures with his brother, including an encounter with an Anglican clergyman named Morgan. He was a caste with great powers who sought, with the help of Magnus, to build an army. His design was to cause a war against humans and e*****e them. A character as charming as Magnus Burton Race.

“And what is this return among the living worth to us?”

“You freed him in Amsterdam!” yelled Blake who could no longer contain himself.

His tone sounded reproachful. However, I was convinced that every precaution had been taken so that only the castes fit to serve the new cause were left alive.

“I don’t understand, Blake. Salomon searched the minds of each of the prisoners to be certain of their loyalty.”

“Morgan is far too smart to be fooled by Salomon’s powers. He went to India and recovered from his injuries in peace before fleeing as soon as his strength returned.”

“No one suspected anything?” I inquired in vain since the result was there.

“No, of course not.”

“Could it be that he was responsible for the death of the Van Durens?”

“I thought about it,” answered Blake sitting down, but he could never have reached Britain so quickly, because, if we judge by the date on which he fled from the palace of Prisca, it isn’t possible.”

“Do you think he can harm us?”

“I’m sure! He’ll soon show up and we are sailing blind, we need a pre-cog.”

“And you want to entrust me with his recruitment.”

“In effect. I don’t have time to dwell on the means you’ll use, Everliegh, I’m much too disturbed to talk about the method with you. I leave you to act as you see fit, but you’ll be accompanied for this mission.”

“If you deem it necessary, I don’t see a problem.”

Blake pulled out one of the folders from the library and handed it to me. When I opened it, I discovered the photo of a young man, a teenager rather pleasant to look at and whose features exuded kindness. I thought to myself that once he discovered his true nature and his mission, he would change and never be the same again. My experience bears this out.

“His name is Nicolas Hanlon. He lives in Somerset with his parents and his sister. He’s nearly seventeen and his sister is only a year younger, so I’m asking you to make sure she has the same predispositions as him. Because, if that were the case, it would be a godsend for us to discover a sibling of pre-cogs, the gift of clairvoyance would only be multiplied and therefore more effective.”

“How did you know he was one of us?”

“The investigation revealed that he had planned events which, for some, could pass for coincidences, but this isn’t the case, you can imagine. He descends from the line of a very powerful caste of the 18th century who had prevented many disasters for our community. Seers are few in number and the inheritance of their gifts skips several generations. As far as he is concerned, I’m sure he is.”

“Who do you want me to team up with? Ethan?”

“Especially not!” retorted Blake as if I had just let go of the blunder of the year. “It’s not that taking him away from the castle would displease me, with all the suspicions that the others bring to bear on him, it would even be preferable, but he’s too uncontrollable to carry out such an important recruitment for our forces.”

“Do you think that, without this pre-cog, the legitimacy of Carmichael as Master Hand could be called into question?”

“That’s exactly what I think, indeed! After careful consideration, I see only one reason that would have prompted the death of the Van Durens and Salomon. Weaken the Council and I have my idea on the matter. I won’t say more about it for the moment because I must first discuss it in person with Carmichael, but it’s a possibility that sends shivers down my spine.”

“Sure, but it still doesn’t tell me who’s going to help me on this mission.”

“It will be Eric!”

Stunned and scared, I felt anger rise in my throat, preventing me from breathing normally.

“That’s a joke, I hope!” I protested while getting up with a sudden gesture.

“I thought on the contrary that you would be delighted,” said Blake, surprised. “You have lived so many adventures together that you know each other very well. Moreover, I think Eric is one of our most faithful soldiers and his results during our escape from London are more than convincing. He saved your life several times, I don’t see why you react like that.”

“It could be Thomas,” I suggested, vehemently, “or even Caleb, he’s powerful too!”

“Thomas doesn’t want to leave his son as long as Naomi is present, and as for Caleb, even if Prisca trusts him completely, I don’t.”

“Blake, I don’t want to go with Eric!”

“And yet it will be. It’s amazing all the same! Carmichael also had extreme reservations about it, he was as angry as you but whatever your grievances towards him – and I don’t think he deserves them – Eric will help you!”

Furious, I left the office, the file of the pre-cog under my arm. I arrived in my room and ran myself a bath to relax. I could never have told Blake why I was so cold at the idea of doing this job with Eric. It was unjustifiable considering everything he had done for me.

Once calmed down, I got out of the tub and packed my suitcase. My movements were abrupt and nervous. I left for the common room and headed for the kitchens, where I met Estelle, Johnny and Elvis. I kissed them and said goodbye before going to the pool room where everyone else was. Thomas hugged me and asked me to take care of myself. Salomon was in his wheelchair and tried to greet me with a plastered arm. The poor guy had fallen out of his chair one evening of drinking in honour of Eric’s return. The castle being ill-suited to his temporary situation, he had broken an arm in addition to both legs, which had oddly caused his companions to howl with laughter, and the person concerned himself, as he was drunk. Caleb nodded in greeting and Ethan, sitting apart, kissed my cheek. I asked where Eric was because soon it was time to leave. They gave me a sign that he was in the library. I went to challenge him once inside when I found myself face to face with Eric and Allyson talking, their heads two centimetres apart. They moved away immediately but I hadn’t missed a beat.

Eric looked deeply embarrassed but didn’t say a word. Allyson looked like a girl madly in love and giggled. I would have liked to imitate her, but it was rather my anger that I tried not to burst out. Allyson walked over to me. She had put on one of her little floral dresses that didn’t hide her advantageous breasts and I had to admit that it suited her perfectly. Her mouth was generous and her teeth immaculately white, and what made me say that was the dazzling ear-to-ear smile that she had been displaying since my crashing entrance.

“Oh, Eve! I was just going to come and say goodbye to you,” she declared without losing sight of the joy she felt.

“Oh!” I said, not knowing what else to say. “Well, I spare you the trouble.”

“Goodbye, Eric!” she said to the object of her desires, turning around in a very sensual way.

She withdrew and there was only a very heavy silence once the door closed. Eric stared at me. I gave him a look devoid of expression because I didn’t want him to suspect my confusion, and yet he knew me well enough to guess the exact nature of my feelings.

“Have you prepared your luggage?” he finally asked.

“Yes.”

“I’ll get mine and we’ll meet in the car.”

I nodded briefly and let him pass me without a word. His indifference made me suffer more than I would have predicted, but I took it upon myself and went to the entrance where I had left my suitcase. Eric had joined me near the black BMW X5. Still, without a word, he took the suitcase from me and placed it in the trunk. We set off at a brisk pace and left Mortain Castle far behind us.