CHAPTER SIXTEEN
‡
Thomas, flanked by four of the Tremaine men, was marched past a formal dining room with a very long table made of heavy wood and two wrought iron chandeliers hanging over it through to the less formal room he had seen through the eyes of Tammy’s cat. A slightly smaller table sat off to one side. One of the men, dressed very neatly in crisp slacks and a shirt of blue stripes, strode toward the head of the table, then thought better of it and gestured for Tammy’s Daddy to take the seat. Thomas thought the older man wanted to demure. But then he set his shoulders and took the seat. The others arranged themselves on each side. Mr. Marrec lounged against a high serving bar. They all looked much the same, except one that was blond with hair that flopped over his forehead and Michael, who had come to get them in the helicopter. They were black-haired with fair skin and blue or green eyes. Michael had the olive skin Thomas was familiar with from Mt. Athos, and brown eyes, like the blond one. He glanced to Mr. Marrec. Though he was only Tammy’s half-brother, he also looked like the others. Well, except for the scars and the hardened expression.
The neatly dressed brother gestured to the seat at the foot of the table. Thomas sat gingerly on the edge of the chair. They all stared at him. They didn’t look pleased.
Thomas had never felt so bereft, at least not since the orphanage in Somalia. His purpose was gone. Morgan, who he had idolized nearly all his life, had killed his parents and locked him away from the world. He didn’t regret his life. It was all he knew. But she had kept him from all love, and now he knew that love was the most important thing in the world. Morgan killed the mates of her followers, else how did they have powers but no mates? Tammy would be in danger if he took her to Morgan. There was no love in Morgan’s fortress, not like there was here earlier tonight when he and Tammy eavesdropped through the cat. But that love would not be for him. These men knew he was their enemy. They might well keep Tammy from him.
So he had to pass the test he knew was coming. He just didn’t know how to do that.
“Well, young man,” Tammy’s father began, examining him closely. “Introductions are in order. I’m Brian Tremaine, Tamsen’s father. Kemble here is my oldest son, followed by Tristram.” Tristram wore a more world-weary expression along with his worn boots and denims. “Michael you know. He’s married to my eldest daughter, Drew. Lanyon here is my youngest. Devin is my son and son-in-law.” He paused. “That’s a story for another time.” Devin was the blond one. “And you know Luc.” He didn’t call Mr. Marrec his son, though.
There were curt nods around the table. Tammy’s father was no doubt his chief enemy. The man’s benign introductions were obviously a ruse to make Thomas careless. After all, what father would want his daughter to consort with his enemy? Tammy said Michael had helped her escape the house, but that probably meant he didn’t know Thomas was allied with Morgan then, because he looked very disapproving when he met them with the helicopter on Catalina.
Thomas wished they hadn’t taken Tammy away. She would know what to do. They were her family after all. He felt the panic ramping up. That was bad. The last thing he wanted to do was to set Tammy’s house on fire. He closed his eyes and tried to breathe. In. Out. Feel the fire and close the kiln door softly, so softly.
He opened his eyes to see the men around him exchanging looks.
“What’s going on, son?” Tammy’s father asked.
Thomas licked his lips. He couldn’t lie, even though they wouldn’t like the truth. “I, uh, start fires when I get excited.” He raised a hand to stop their widening eyes. “Tammy is teaching me how to control this tendency. I’m doing better.”
They just stared at him for long moment. Tristram began to get angry. Lanyon threw up his hands and said, “Well, that’s it.” Thomas was a little surprised when Tammy’s father looked concerned, but not like he was about to take Thomas’s head off.
Kemble mastered himself and glanced to Mr. Marrec behind Thomas. “You should leave, Marrec. We have family matters to discuss.”
“Let him stay,” Mr. Tremaine said. “There are a few things you don’t know about this family, Luc. But maybe it’s time.” He gave a small, lop-sided smile. “They may affect you too.”
So was Mr. Marrec a part of the family or not? He looked like he wanted explanation. But Tristram was getting red in the face. “You had sex with my little sister, you bastard.”
Had sex? Everyone had a sex, even animals. But Tristram used the word in a different way. What did he mean? Was it an activity? “We just talked.” Then he had a moment of conscience. He had vowed to tell the truth. “I did put my lips on her forehead.” Was that this sex activity? It was definitely something intimate that they would be upset about.
Several of the men looked confused, but Kemble said thoughtfully, “In Las Vegas, you were ringed by fire in the doorway.”
“That’s when I saw Tammy for the first time.” Thomas nodded. “It felt like a door in me opened. I…I think I started that fire.”
Looks were exchanged again. Mr. Marrec’s expression turned from incredulous to thoughtful.
Michael said, “Drew said she saw you carrying Tammy away from a fire. Has that already happened?”
Mr. Marrec cleared his throat. “Fire at the hotel where we lodged the première night.”
“Mr. Marrec told me it would be acceptable to kiss Tammy if I asked her first.” Would this truth exculpate him? “I found that exciting.”
“I bet you did,” Tristram growled. He looked ready to burst.
“How could you?” the oldest brother asked Mr. Marrec.
“Well, la petite engaged my service because she wanted to get to know him. I thought to—how do you say? Push things along.” Mr. Marrec shrugged, looking a little guilty.
“So you let him go to her room?” Tristram asked, clenching his fists.
Thomas felt horrible. “I know I started the fire, but it was not my purpose to do so.”
“You start fires…” Mr. Marrec said, his voice flat, but not quiet disbelieving.
“It’s one of those things you don’t know,” Mr. Tremaine explained.
“Nobody was hurt.” Mr. Marrec sounded a little defensive and his look was watchful. Thomas wished he didn’t start fires.
“Well, it looks like the genes have kicked in fully,” Kemble said brusquely. He glanced to Marrec. “Senior can fill you in on the details of what that means later.” He turned to the others. “Have you ever heard of it happening at first sight?”
“Sure,” Michael said. “Drew had her first vision when she saw me on TV. But the power wasn’t really strong until…”
“Yeah,” Tristram interrupted hastily. “Until.”
“I think we understand the situation,” Mr. Tremaine said, dampening further discussion. “Does Tamsen have a power?”
Thomas nodded. “She can see through the eyes of animals and hear as well. Her eyes go white. If I touch her, I can see and hear with her.”
“That was one of Merlin’s powers,” Lanyon exclaimed.
Mr. Tremaine looked proud. “The g-gene is strong in her.” Then he got control of the soft expression in his eyes and it turned hard. “The heart of the m-matter is your r-relationship with Morgan Le Fay and why you are here.”
Thomas pushed down the panic, though he knew that, locked in their estate here, they could kill him. No one would try to save him. Or they could banish him from Tammy’s presence forever. But what could he do but tell the truth? They believed him or they didn’t. That was beyond his control. “Morgan was my mentor in the years after my parents died. She brought me to the monastery at Mt. Athos when I was nine. She paid for my upkeep, and gave instructions on my education and my punishments. She said I had a purpose, and I must be molded to be worthy of it. She brought me here a few days ago to fulfill it.” How long ago those days of eager anticipation seemed.
“You’re kidding me,” Lanyon scoffed.
“Let him f-finish,” Mr. Tremaine said. “We’re here to get his s-story.”
“Well…” Thomas took a breath. “Tammy showed Morgan to me through the eyes of her raven tonight. Morgan told the one with the light eyes that she had my parents killed.” His heart clenched. He took a moment before he went on. He wanted his voice to be steady. “Tammy thinks she has killed the mates of her followers too, else why would they not have the ones who raised their powers at their sides? I cannot believe the purpose she has for me will be good if she can kill so ruthlessly.” He took a breath, trying to read the expressions around him. Some were thoughtful, some almost surprised. “Before I realized what Morgan was, I came here to take Tammy away from you, so we could serve Morgan together. Morgan said you were evil. I thought you were keeping Tammy against her will. Now I know Tammy would be in danger if I took her to Morgan. And I cannot follow Morgan, knowing what I know.” He took a breath and let it out. “So I have no purpose. That is hard.”
“A monastery?” Tristram scoffed. “Right. Think up a better one.”
“That part may be true.” Everyone turned in surprise to Mr. Marrec. He looked uncomfortable with the attention. He cleared his throat and gave a laconic shrug. “Kid knows jack about anything modern. He does not fake this.”
There was a long moment of silence. The blond one finally said, “How’d you get here?”
“I came in a…a helicopter taking her generals to the airport.” He blushed. “I knew she would not like what I was doing. It was not truthful of me.” He swallowed. Not his finest moment, but it had led him to Tammy. How could that be wrong? “But I had to find Tammy.”
“But how did you know to come to The Breakers?” the one called Devin pressed.
“I…I just felt where she was.”
There were several sighs around the room.
It was Kemble who continued the interrogation. “Where is Morgan now?” The men around him jerked their focus back to Thomas.
He felt helpless. “I do not know. The Clan has a large building in a canyon. Desert surrounds it. We flew west to get here.” He might as well admit the rest. “I think I started a fire in the hangar as we left. I was nervous about deceiving her, and more nervous when men came. I thought they came to search for me.”
“I hope you burned the damn place down,” Tristram growled.
“You know no more than that?” Mr. Tremaine asked.
Thomas shook his head. “I am sorry.”
“So what was your purpose?” There was still suspicion in Kemble’s voice.
Thomas shrugged helplessly. “I am not sure. Duncan said I was there to help her increase her power. I have tried to surmise how, based on my training at the monastery. I read no books written after the eighteenth century so I am of little use in this one. I was not allowed to participate in the Christian activities of the monastery, though I read religious texts. I cannot say I have a religion so I cannot contribute to the Clan’s spiritual wellness. I worked many hours a day to grow my body strong, but I was not trained to fight. How could scrubbing floors and chopping wood and cleaning stables help her? I studied many hours each night, but why? Her followers do not appear to care about historical philosophers.”
“P-puzzling,” Mr. Tremaine muttered. “You’ve been at this since you were n-nine?”
Thomas nodded. “As I grew older, Morgan increased my hours of work and study, and made other challenges to test my suitability for my purpose.”
“Like what challenges?” Devin asked.
Thomas was embarrassed. Had it sounded like he was complaining? “Only what was right. She ordered my pallet, my blanket, and clothing taken away, so that I would not be soft. The monks scourged me for asking questions and having impure thoughts, which I deserved.” Now he really blushed.
“Sounds like you were a fucking slave,” Tristram muttered.
“Is that why you are m-moving stiffly?” Mr. Tremaine asked. “Because you were whipped?”
Thomas looked down, deeply shamed that he had shown such weakness. “I can be useful to you, Sirs. I am fit for any work you might give me. I will not be rebellious or impure. Only let me stay where Tammy is.” When there was only silence, he chanced a glance up. The men were looking around at each other pensively.
“I don’t think helping T-Tammy with her horses should t-tax you too much,” Mr. Tremaine said, with a rueful quirk of his lips. “We might let you d-do that.”
The other men all let out sighs of relief.
Lanyon, frowning, said, “But what could Morgan want him for?”
“Well, we know one thing,” Kemble said, putting his hands flat on the table with a slap. “She wouldn’t have brought him here now unless it had something to do with the Pentacle.”
“She mentioned a Pentacle,” Thomas said eagerly. Perhaps he could fulfill his purpose without Morgan. The prospect was exciting.
“A Talisman,” Kemble said.
“Ah.” This Thomas knew. “I have seen the sword, the long stick and the chalice. Morgan values them highly.”
“Well this one is a moment in time,” Kemble said. “A comet will form a five-sided figure with the Big Dipper in a few days.”
Thomas was struck. “Morgan mentioned a ceremony. She said she had no time to find and prepare another like me.”
They all stared at Thomas.
“T-Thomas,” Mr. Tremaine asked carefully. “Are you a virgin?”
Several of the Tremaine men snapped their attention back to Thomas, with surprise or realization in their eyes.
Thomas felt his breath come faster. “I…I am not sure.” He knew that it was bad to lose your virginity. And he’d read that virgins were pure. He certainly wasn’t pure.
“Have you had sex with anyone, ever?” Brian asked, enunciating each word.
Thomas started to panic. What did they mean? “Is sex impure? I have had impure dreams. I…” He felt the kiln inside begin to glow. “The monks said erections were impure. And I put my lips on Tammy.” He mustn’t say he’d had an almost constant erection since he met her.
“Breathe. N-no one is angry with you. Are you breathing?”
Mr. Tremaine’s voice was so calm it penetrated Thomas’s panic. The fire was building inside. He had to stop it. He closed his eyes. As he breathed in huge gulps of air, he got control. The door of the kiln inside his chest and belly slammed shut.
He heard movement around him and opened his eyes. Tristram was coming out of the kitchen with a round cylinder about a half-meter long. It had a hose and a nozzle at the top. He brandished it as a weapon, glowering. Even more incredible, a rolling ball of water hung suspended in the air above Thomas. Devin stood with palm outstretched toward it. Mr. Marrec had gone into a half-crouch, glancing between the ball of water and Tristram.
“Stand d-down. He’s okay,” Mr. Tremaine said calmly.
As Tristram examined Thomas, he put the cylinder down on the little shelf between the rooms. The ball of water moved over to the sink and relaxed into a gush of water down the drain. That miracle had been meant to douse his flames. He was glad they hadn’t needed it.
“I think we can take that as a ‘yes’ on the virgin question,” Kemble said, sighing again.
“I could have told you this,” Marrec growled from the doorway. His eyes narrowed as he examined Devin suspiciously. He must be as surprised as Thomas about the ball of water. But at least Thomas knew Tammy’s family had powers like Morgan’s followers. Mr. Marrec hadn’t, at least before tonight, even though he looked so much like them.
“So,” Devin said slowly, “Ceremony, virgin, and a climactic moment when the universe could change forever. Probably bad for his life expectancy.”
He could see them thinking about that. Devin thought Morgan meant to kill him, in spite of all her efforts to see that he was raised according to her standards. Did that make sense?
“The important thing is that you and Tamsen are s-safe here now, Thomas,” Mr. Tremaine said. “And you look very tired. I’m sure all this has been draining. Devin, can you see that Thomas has a shower and some p-pajamas?”
“He can have the blue room upstairs,” Kemble said. “I think. I’ll ask Jane.”
Devin got up from the table. “Come on, Thomas. Follow me.”
*
Michael watched Lan lead Thomas away. The kid’s shoulders sagged. Guess he’d been through a lot lately. Jane came in from the foyer. She apparently decided Thomas would be better off in the Bay of Pigs, the wing where the Tremaine boys had had their rooms growing up. Wise Jane. Put some distance between the lovebirds for the night. Don’t want the house to go up in flames. The Tremaine men stared at each other.
“Well,” Kemble said. “This is a fine kettle of fish.”
They heard steps clicking across the foyer from the stairs and the women crowded into the kitchen. The men made room at the table or at the bar. Brina slid onto the chair next to Brian at the breakfast table, glaring at Marrec. Drew came to take Michael’s hand.
“We left Kee to see that Tammy got to bed,” Drew said. “She only agreed when we promised not to let you kill Thomas.”
Kemble found Jane a chair and helped her ease her bulk into it.
“What do you think?” Drew asked.
Brian sighed. “I think he’s an abused v-victim who’s just had the rug pulled out from everything he b-believed in. He’d never hurt Tamsen knowingly.”
“Poor boy,” Brina sighed. “I agree.”
“And poor Tammy,” Maggie murmured, sidling in under Tris’s shoulder where he stood at the bar. “Loving a guy who starts fires when he gets excited…. Not great for your love life.”
“He’s also a virgin Morgan plans to use in a ceremony at the moment the Pentacle is formed,” Kemble muttered.
“Probably a blood sacrifice for some kind of ritual,” Tris said. “He doesn’t come out of that one alive.”
“Since other virgins with the Merlin gene are probably non-existent,” Kemble continued inexorably, “she’ll comb the ends of the earth for him.”
“How long before she figures out he’s here?” Dev asked rhetorically, since no one could know the answer.
But it would be a full-on attack on The Breakers when she did. Michael knew they couldn’t sustain that, with the Clan no doubt growing in numbers and their powers increasing with proximity to the Talismans. The family had barely survived the last attack.
“Does he know where Morgan is?” asked Drew.
Michael shook his head. “Desert. Out east. Compound’s in a canyon. Nothing more.”
“We are fucked.”
“You watch your mouth, Tristram Tremaine,” Brina said. “There’s no excuse for foul language.” She looked up at Marrec. “Do you need to be here?” she asked pointedly.
“Luc brought Tamsen home safely,” Brian temporized.
Brina sighed. “I know. And I’m grateful for your care of her. But this is a family matter.”
Brian screwed his face up, in pain at what he was about to say. “But you see, honey, Luc is family. More than Devin was when we took him in.”
“Devin was a poor broken child,” Brina protested. But she paused, looking at Marrec speculatively.
Yeah. He might look fierce and irredeemable—a merc who’s done horrible things in his life. But Brina knows broken when she sees it. Damn but Brian is clever, comparing him to Dev. It would take time. But that was the way to mend that fence.
“Well, maybe he can make himself useful,” Brina sniffed.
Marrec was in, on probation. Michael wasn’t sorry. They could always use another fighter. They might be in for the fight of their lives.
“I know this desert out east,” Marrec said, unexpectedly. “I will go and comb the canyons. That will please everyone, I think.”
“They could have seen you come here,” Brian cautioned. “You look like a Tremaine.”
“I don’t think they’re watching,” Kemble said thoughtfully. He looked up at Michael. “How did Tamsen know to escape?”
“She met the boy by the north fence, him on one side, her on the other.”
Kemble frowned. “How did my security cameras not pick that up?”
“Ask her.” Michael wasn’t going to tell Kemble his protection wasn’t perfect.
Kemble’s countenance darkened. “I’ll do that. But the point remains. If the Clan was watching us, they’d have seen him, and swooped in to pick him up.”
“Maybe they’ve got bigger fish to fry than watching us. They’re getting ready for the ceremony,” Tris said.
“I told Tamsen that. I wasn’t sure I believed it.” Kemble muttered. “But it must be true.”
“It is settled, then,” Marrec said. “I will go. But first I must know what I am up against, including the ball of water and the fires.”
“So you can tell all the family secrets to the Clan?” Brina shot back.
“A mercenary comes to a fight prepared,” Marrec said calmly.
“I’ll give you the scoop,” Michael said. “Outside.”
“I’ll join you,” Brian said, rising. He pushed himself up from the table. “I owe you that. And a whole lot more,” he added ruefully.
Michael caught the flash of pain on Brina’s face. Healing that would still take time. And time might be one thing they didn’t have much of.
Dev came hurrying up from the Bay of Pigs. “Jeez,” he said, his face ashen. “That guy’s been whipped, a lot, and over a long time. He’s got some pretty gruesome fresh lashes all over his back and his ass.”
Dev knew whipping. He’d been whipped and raped by a Mage of the Golden Dawn. It had taken Brina’s healing, Kee’s love and a couple of years with a shrink to get a handle on the effects of that. Seeing Thomas’s body must bring that all up again.
Brina rose from the table.
Dev ran on, obviously upset. “The bandage on his arm is for a burn. And he asked if he could sleep on the floor, if you can believe that. Says the beds are too soft for him to get any rest. I gave him pajamas and a blanket.” Dev ran a hand through his perpetually flopping blond surfer hair. “But hell, he didn’t want those either. I guess I can see why with those welts. Some of the scabs were bleeding.”
“Poor, poor boy,” Brina murmured. “I’ll do what I can, even if it isn’t much.”
Jane took Dev’s arm. “Let’s just go up and see if Keelan was able to get Tamsen to sleep. She looked exhausted.”
Good old Jane. A big dose of Kee would set things right for Dev.
“Devin,” Brian said as they turned to go, “while you’re up there, would you m-mind taking first watch on Tamsen’s r-room?”
Heads around the room jerked up.
“I think it might be s-safer if our Romeo and Juliet stayed separated until we’re sure T-Thomas won’t b-burn the house down.”
Or burn Tammy, Michael thought. He saw the same thought course around the room.
“I’ll take Thomas’s room,” Lan said. He looked apologetically at Greta. Newlywed sex would have to wait.
“I’ll rig a map for your GPS with all the canyons, starting with the closest,” Kemble said to Marrec. “Maybe Thomas knows how long the helicopter ride was.”
“I have search equipment,” Marrec growled.
Michael kissed the top of Drew’s head. “You okay?”
“Yeah,” she said, her whisper hoarse. “I should see if my visions reveal any new facts.” She’d seen Thomas on a slab and Tammy dead in the desert, so the Tremaines were going to find Morgan’s compound. And that was going to have consequences. The pressure of the future was almost too much for any of them, but especially his dear Drew.
“I’ll be up as soon as I can,” Michael promised her.
He glanced out the French doors at the comet hanging in the night sky and speeding almost perceptibly toward its destiny with the Big Dipper. It wasn’t just their lives at stake anymore. What would happen if Morgan sacrificed a virgin at the moment of the Pentacle? Would the world as they knew it survive?