Forged in Light (The Forged Chronicles Book 4) Page 5

  “Ainsley, you need to know something about your father.” James looked uneasy. “At least the man Elron seems to believe is your father.”

  “And do you believe he is?” For one reason or another it mattered what he thought.

  “Yes.” James nodded. “I have no proof, but I do believe it.”

  “Ok,” I crossed my arms, half from the cold and half from the nature of our conversation. “What do I need to know about him?” I wasn’t sure what to expect. Was he a bad man? There had to have been a reason my mother kept him a secret. What was she hiding?

  “He is from another world.” James spoke with complete seriousness.

  I laughed. What else could I do? realm of the dead wasn’t enough? Now there’s another world?

  “I am being completely serious.” James stood and came to stand next to me. “Let me prove it to you. Let me show you where your father is from.”

  “You’re crazy.” I should have stayed inside. I never should have opened the door in the first place.

  “Whose daughter is she?” A voice asked from out in the darkness.

  I stepped out closer to the street light and noticed Debbie, the neighbor who handled all the details of the house sitting. She walked toward us. “James, tell me right now.”

  “You know him?” I pointed to James.

  Debbie nodded. “I do. I don’t know his friend though.”

  “Name is Elron.” He held out his arm for her, and she took it as she walked up the porch.

  “Are you from Belgard too?” She asked.

  “I am from North Loriet, but not all that far.” Elron smiled. “I take it you are acquainted with Energo?”

  “Ok. What’s going on?” My head spun trying to keep up with the conversation. Belgard? North Loriet? Energo? I had never heard of any of those places.

  “If Debbie comes with us, can we come in?” James asked.

  I looked at Debbie. “Can I trust them?”

  She nodded. “You can trust James. He’s rough around the edges, but he’s a good one.”

  James gave an amused smile. He didn’t seem surprised by her description. Personally, I wouldn’t have wanted anyone calling me rough around the edges.

  “Ok. If Debbie doesn’t mind coming in also.” At least I wouldn’t be alone with them. It made letting them in seem slightly less reckless.

  She yawned. “I don’t mind at all, but I could do with a cup of coffee.”

  “This late at night?” I wasn’t wearing a watch, but it had to be seriously late.

  “Yes. Caffeine doesn’t affect me much anymore.”

  I’d heard that sometimes happened as you got older. Not that Debbie was old. I opened the door, and everyone walked in.

  “I’ll make the coffee.” James disappeared into the kitchen.

  He headed right for the pantry, found the coffee, and went over to the coffee maker.

  “Making yourself right at home,” I mumbled.

  “I used to spend a lot of time in this house.” By the ease with which he moved around, I believed him. That was on one hand a relief of sorts, but it also made it seem nearly impossible that our meeting was random. Was he waiting in the bar for me? He didn’t know my name—at least not like the Elron guy. I was so confused it wasn’t even funny.

  “Would you like a cup, hun?” Debbie walked past me toward the mugs. She knew this kitchen too, which in theory made sense. She was a neighbor.

  “No thanks.” I could barely comprehend what was going on, let alone drink a cup of coffee.

  “Do we need to wait for the coffee to start talking?” I wasn’t trying to be pushy, but I was desperate for answers. Waiting wasn’t helping with my nerves.

  “This is probably the kind of chat we should have sitting down,” James called over his shoulder.

  “Why will sitting down help?” I was too nervous and agitated to sit down. I preferred to stay standing and moving. It was taking all the resistance I had to avoid pacing.

  “James is right.” Elron leaned against the door frame. “This might be a lot for you to take in.”

  “Because the other events this evening haven’t been hard to take? The clothes? Knowing my name at work? James just happening to be at that bar?” I’m not sure why the last part bothered me the most. Maybe because I’d felt a stir of something with him I thought I would never feel again. Knowing it wasn’t random, and he had a reason to talk to me made it all seem fake. It probably was all fake.

  “What have we asked you to accept so far? Nothing. We have only asked for your trust. Next we will need you to believe us. That belief may be difficult for you, but you did it once. I am sure you can handle it again.”

  “Wait. I thought she knew nothing of Energo yet.” Debbie waited by the coffee maker.

  “I never heard of the term until a few minutes ago,” I explained.

  “Elron used time travel,” James said in an offhand way.

  “Uh, what?” I backed out of the kitchen waiting for Debbie to laugh. She didn’t. Was she crazy too?

  “Forget I said anything.” James turned toward me. “It will be easier.”

  “Oh yeah. Forget you claimed Elron time traveled? Right. That will be so easy to do.”

  “Are you saying Ainsley has been to Energo, but you came back in time to see her again before she did?” Debbie asked a question I hadn’t worried about because I didn’t believe a word these crazies were saying.

  “Yes.” Elron nodded. “It is a long story, but it is one that involves Ainsley’s father.”

  “Her father?” Debbie looked over at me and then back at Elron. “Are we back at that question again finally?”

  “She is Monty’s daughter.” James looked at Debbie rather than at me. “Or so we think.”

  “Monty’s?” Debbie coughed and tears sprang from her eyes. “How? When? How?” She seemed genuinely confused and emotional.

  “Monty?” I repeated the name, trying to get used to the sound of it. “You’re saying that’s my dad’s name?” Considering John Doe was the name on my birth certificate, having a possible name was a big step.

  “You never met him.” Debbie wasn’t asking a question. “He was a good man.”

  “Was. So he really is dead. You weren’t lying.” A sadness hit me.

  “Technically yes,” Elron straightened up. “But I can still take you to see him.”

  “How?” Debbie asked. “More time travel?”

  “No. I can access the realm of the dead.” Elron was animated now.

  “The what?” Debbie seemed as surprised by the name as I was. “I don’t understand your world as much as you think.”

  “Are you not the mother of the Gerard?” He narrowed his eyes. “I had assumed as much…”

  “The what?” Things were becoming more and more confusing by the second.

  “Never mind.” James sent Elron what appeared to be a warning look.

  “I’m going to go.” Mind you I had no idea where I was going, but standing around talking crazy with a bunch of strange people wasn’t my idea of a good night.

  “Ainsley, wait.” Debbie wiped a tear from her cheek. “If you really are Monty’s daughter…”

  “You knew Monty?” I wasn’t ready to believe them on who my father was, but I would play along if there was any chance.

  “I knew him very well. He was a good man.”

  “But he never mentioned a daughter?”

  “No… my guess is he never knew. He would have been part of your life if he did.”

  “Maybe, maybe not.” Even good people could do strange things sometimes. I wished my mother had told me more about my father so I had any clue if what they were saying was real.

  “Were you born in North Carolina?” Debbie glanced at the gurgling coffee maker and then back at me. “That is the only thing I can figure.”

  “I was… in Chapel Hill.”

  She smiled faintly. “I figured as much. That was the only time I remember Monty leaving.”

  �
�Why did he go to Chapel Hill?”

  “To play basketball,” James filled in. “He was pretty good, or that is what I have heard.”

  “My father was a Tar Heel basketball player?” That would have been nice for my mom to have mentioned.

  Debbie smiled, more fully this time. “Yes. Your cousin too… if you really are Monty’s daughter.”

  Cousin. I had cousins on my dad’s side. If this stuff was true, it was a lot to process.

  “Although Kevin didn’t last long,” James added.

  “Kevin…” I started trying to put things together.

  “We can discuss this later. Right now we have to get you to Monty.” Elron strode over. “We have no time to lose.”

  “And how are we doing that?” Playing along meant asking the right questions.

  “This is the part we need to sit down for.” James nodded toward the doorway.

  “I’m going to pour you coffee in case you change your mind and want it.” Debbie filled four cups.

  I accepted the cup from her and walked in to the den. Maybe I was crazy for staying, but I had nowhere else to go, and if this was my chance to learn about my father, I wasn’t giving it up.

  8

  James

  “You want me to walk through some gate with you into a secret world and then touch a tree to go to a place where dead people live?” She arched an eyebrow. “Right.”

  “It sounds far worse when you say it that way.” I put my hands behind my head and leaned back on the sofa. It was the same furniture as it had always been, which gave a false sense of comfort I knew I should not feel sitting in someone else’s home.

  I had taken the lead in explaining the situation to Ainsley. I left the time travel talk to Elron, but I told her about Energo in the simplest terms possible. No matter how much I told her, it would be up to her to take a chance and step through the gate. I refused to force her.

  Ainsley crossed her arms. “It is worse. Whatever. I am not going to pretend for a second I am the smartest person on earth, but I’m not that stupid.” She pouted, and there was something cute about the way her bottom lip dipped down.

  “This is not about being stupid. It is about having some trust.” Elron stood in the corner of the room. I considered suggesting he sit down to put Ainsley at ease, but that was for her to say. I wanted to avoid coming off as overbearing. I was far more concerned with my actions and words than usual. Ainsley had such an intense effect on me.

  “I don’t know you.” She turned to me. “Or him.”

  “I would like for you to know me.” It was hard to speak coherently around her. I was pulled to her as a moth to a flame. I knew she was dangerous, but I would never be able to turn away. The truth was the damage was done. I was already too attached.

  Elron looked between us. “This is fascinating. I have heard of the intensity of a kindred bond, but to see how it happens—almost instantaneously.” His eyes were wide as if witnessing a miracle.

  “Kindred bond?” Ainsley and I asked simultaneously, but for different reasons—at least I assumed our reasons were different.

  I knew the term well, but I was not quite ready to accept that was what was at hand. I assumed she had no idea what it was.

  “Can you tell me something normal?” Ainsley let out a deep breath. “So far you’ve told me about secret worlds, time travel, and now some sort of bond? I suppose it’s a magical bond or something?”

  “Or something.” I wanted to get rid of some of her confusion, but every time I tried I made things worse.

  “Meaning?” She crossed her long legs.

  “You want me to explain even if it is not normal?” I watched her carefully, trying hard not to smile. I knew from experience that would only get me in trouble. People tended to think my smiles were smirks even when they were anything but.

  “I would prefer normal, but if I can’t get that I at least want the truth.”

  I considered my words carefully. “You might call it supernatural…”

  “Oh wonderful. You aren’t a werewolf or anything, right?”

  “Nope. I am human like you.” At least I could promise her that. Now I also had an extraordinarily long lifespan, but that was something else entirely.

  “Good.” She nodded. “That’s something.”

  “And I cannot shift either.” Elron nodded. “Although as you already deduced I am not human.” He gestured to one of his ears.

  “I need a minute to process all of this.” She stood and walked out of the room. I wanted to follow, but I held myself back. If she needed a few minutes of space, it was the least I could do. But she needed to stay until I fully understood the danger she was in and whether there was another way to change the future outcomes.

  As soon as she disappeared through the doorway, Debbie stood up from the couch she was on and sat down next to me. “James, I need you to do something for me.”

  “Sure.” Liam’s mom had been a help so far, so I was willing to return the favor.

  She rested a hand right between us on the sofa. “Swear to me you mean this girl no harm.”

  “I could never harm her.” I meant it. I might have been shrugging off the kindred suggestion, but I knew it was true. My soul called to hers—along with my body. That was the reason I was even more determined to go along with Elron’s plan. If he was right about the kindred, he was possibly right about the poison, and I absolutely refused to leave that to chance.

  “What about your friend?” Debbie nodded at where Elron stood in the doorway.

  “I only just met him, but I trust him.” I had been wrong about people before, but instinctively I knew he was here for the right reasons.

  “Is that wise?” Debbie turned back to me. “Or is this you being impulsive?”

  I had been accused of impulsiveness before, but this was different. “I feel protective of Ainsley, yet my instinct says we need to go with Elron. I have to assume that means I should trust him.”

  “So much of your world runs on instincts.” She twisted around a ring on her finger.

  “Your world does too.” At least from what I had seen. “I wonder if I will ever view our worlds as one.”

  “I know I won’t, and that is hard to admit considering my son is part of your world now. And his family will be.” She looked out the window into the dark night.

  Family? Was she hinting at something? I let it go. “I will protect Ainsley with my life.”

  Debbie nodded. “Good, because otherwise I wouldn’t let you take her. She is a sweet girl.”

  “She is.” I already knew she had a good heart.

  “And innocent. Whether she’s Monty’s daughter or not, she didn’t ask to be pulled into whatever this is.”

  “I know.” But fate and the Source cared little for what someone asked.

  “And you are sure the realm of the dead is safe?” Debbie narrowed her eyes, daring me to lie to her.

  “Safe?” I knew very little of the realm, but I knew safe could not possibly describe it. Few of the living had ever stepped foot inside. “I cannot promise that, but as I said I will protect her with my life.”

  Debbie smiled. “I never thought I’d see the day when James Mendel fell in love.”

  “This is different than falling in love.” It was stronger. Deeper. But there was no reason to explain that to Debbie. It was something for Ainsley and me to come to terms with.

  Ainsley walked back in. “Ok. I’ll go. I am a nut job for doing this, but if I don’t go I’ll always wonder. Besides if the gate leads nowhere, I know you are lying or crazy, but I want to make a deal.”

  “What kind of deal?” Elron asked warily.

  “The kind of deal where if we open that gate and it leads nowhere, which is what I assume will happen, you have to leave this house and stay away from me.” She raised her chin.

  “The gate leads somewhere. I can assure you of that.” Elron frowned.

  “We agree to those terms.” I knew as well as Elron where the gate led.
There was no reason to argue with her when we would show her ourselves easily.

  “Good.” Ainsley looked both relieved and more nervous.

  “Ok, should we go now?” I did not want to wait for those nerves to make her change her mind.

  “Sure. Why not?” Ainsley shrugged. “But Debbie, would you mind walking out there with us?”

  Debbie smiled. “Of course.”

  “Thank you.” Ainsley led the way through the house toward the back door.

  I saw a flash of an image of following Ainsley outside. It made no sense, unless it was a weakness to the time travel; maybe it was possible to see glimpses from the alternative time line? I shrugged the thought aside as I followed Ainsley. When we reached the back, I left the door open behind me for Elron and Debbie.

  Ainsley stopped a few steps off the porch. “I take it that’s the gate you mean.” She pointed to the ivy covered wall that spanned the back of the yard.

  “The one and only.” I took the lead, taking the small crystal key out of my pocket as I walked. Without turning around I knew she was following.

  I inserted the iridescent key, and turned around. “Ready for this?”

  “Ready probably isn’t the right word.”

  I smiled. “Ok, fair enough.”

  “Remember what I told you, James,” Debbie warned.

  “What did you tell him?” Ainsley looked at Debbie with alarm.

  “Nothing you need to worry about.” Debbie hugged her. “I hope you get some answers.”

  “I still don’t believe there is anything behind that gate.”

  “You don’t?” I locked eyes with her and felt a surge of intense longing fill me.

  “Just open it already.” She turned away, a blush creeping up her cheeks. She felt it too. I was sure of it.

  I pushed open the gate, and light flooded out.

  “Wait. What? How?” Ainsley walked over.

  I took her hand, and led her beyond the gate. Elron slipped in behind us and the gate closed.

  Getting Ainsley to come inside the gate was the easy part. Well, relatively speaking. She was curious, and once she saw the light proving that something truly existed beyond the gate, she had to come. I knew she would. She belonged in Energo whether she knew it yet or not. She was the daughter of Monty—a true son of Belgard, and that connection meant that the life blood of Energo pulsed through her veins.