Read Online Everlasting (Night Watchmen, #1) by Candace Knoebel - Free Book Online Page B
Authors: Candace Knoebel
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right?” he says, his voice closer, deeper, filling the hollow parts of my soul. I want to believe him. It would be so easy to, but I know better.
“Am I?” I dare to look up at him. The screams of panic and the voice of my Elder, shouting for me to make it stop, pulse in my brain.
His forehead creases a little. “Why wouldn’t you be?”
I shrug. I don’t have an answer for that, not yet, at least.
I stare past him through the frosted glass which only shows silhouettes of bodies moving down the hallway. A form stops right in front of the door, and ice spreads through my chest, freezing my heart in place. The doorknob turns, twisting my insides along with it. This is it. This is it for me.
Maddock bursts through the door, his blue eyes wild with excitement and intrigue. He’s already shucking off his red robe and tossing it onto a chair. “That was indeed a show, Miss. Middleton. A show I never thought I’d witness,” he says with enough electricity in his words to light an entire stadium . The air buzzes around him. I’m light years away from relating. “Care to explain how you did that?”
My thoughts trip over my words, which jumble into an unredeemable knot. I stammer to say the right thing as he stares at me with intense curiosity, like I’m a rare breed caught and sedated to compliance, like he has just struck the lottery. The furnace inside me flips on, raising my temperature past any bearable level. I have no answer for him, nothing that’ll explain such a strange occurrence.
All I have is the truth.
“My mother had a vision when I was little that I would be a Defect.” I pause and drop my eyes to my fingers. I twist them uncomfortably at my waist, searching for more words, the right words. My eyes meet his. I skirt around, thinking about the secret grin he wears, like he knows something I don’t. He more than likely does.
“And that’s all?” he asks, taking small steps toward me. Slowly, carefully, like he’s trying not to spook me.
Eyes. There are four of them and they are trained on me. I don’t like it. I push my shoulders back and take in a deep breath. “I…I have believed my whole life that I was a Defect, sir. I came here today fearing banishment, but hoping for a miracle. But this morning, as you know, my parents went missing.” He halts mid-step. The topic’s changed, shifting the mood in the air. A ripple of disquiet spreads over his features.
I shut my eyes. I want to ask where they are. I want to drop to my knees and beg for him to tell me, but that’s not our way. A novice doesn’t question an Elder, and an Elder doesn’t just offer up information.
Maddock stands there, studying me. I can see my words being tossed around his mind. His mouth opens a little and then pinches at the side as he chews on his decision. I’m a bag of nerves waiting for Maddock’s words to lift and carry me. His eyes graze over me and, surprisingly, there’s no judgment, no subtle hints of my life being cut short, just a man who’s been given a perplex and very dangerous riddle. I think the seasons have changed by the time he speaks again.
“First off, please, call me Mack. Everyone does. Secondly, please, sit.” He gestures to the two couches facing the unlit fireplace. “Before we discuss your parents, we need to talk about the Culling incident, about the impossibility of what we all just witnessed. Never before has the Culling quartz shown both sides of the affinity bond for one person, not until you.” He’s still on a high from it. It’s clear by the way his brows are drawn up with inquisition. It’s not at all what I expected.
Excited and not mad.
Curious and not appalled.
The three of us sit, no one saying anything. It’s so much to absorb. He wants to talk about the Culling and not my parents? Why avoid it? The room begins to spin a little, so I grip the edge of the couch, trying to sort through my tumbling thoughts. I was both Hunter and Witch, but how? Why? Is
“Am I?” I dare to look up at him. The screams of panic and the voice of my Elder, shouting for me to make it stop, pulse in my brain.
His forehead creases a little. “Why wouldn’t you be?”
I shrug. I don’t have an answer for that, not yet, at least.
I stare past him through the frosted glass which only shows silhouettes of bodies moving down the hallway. A form stops right in front of the door, and ice spreads through my chest, freezing my heart in place. The doorknob turns, twisting my insides along with it. This is it. This is it for me.
Maddock bursts through the door, his blue eyes wild with excitement and intrigue. He’s already shucking off his red robe and tossing it onto a chair. “That was indeed a show, Miss. Middleton. A show I never thought I’d witness,” he says with enough electricity in his words to light an entire stadium . The air buzzes around him. I’m light years away from relating. “Care to explain how you did that?”
My thoughts trip over my words, which jumble into an unredeemable knot. I stammer to say the right thing as he stares at me with intense curiosity, like I’m a rare breed caught and sedated to compliance, like he has just struck the lottery. The furnace inside me flips on, raising my temperature past any bearable level. I have no answer for him, nothing that’ll explain such a strange occurrence.
All I have is the truth.
“My mother had a vision when I was little that I would be a Defect.” I pause and drop my eyes to my fingers. I twist them uncomfortably at my waist, searching for more words, the right words. My eyes meet his. I skirt around, thinking about the secret grin he wears, like he knows something I don’t. He more than likely does.
“And that’s all?” he asks, taking small steps toward me. Slowly, carefully, like he’s trying not to spook me.
Eyes. There are four of them and they are trained on me. I don’t like it. I push my shoulders back and take in a deep breath. “I…I have believed my whole life that I was a Defect, sir. I came here today fearing banishment, but hoping for a miracle. But this morning, as you know, my parents went missing.” He halts mid-step. The topic’s changed, shifting the mood in the air. A ripple of disquiet spreads over his features.
I shut my eyes. I want to ask where they are. I want to drop to my knees and beg for him to tell me, but that’s not our way. A novice doesn’t question an Elder, and an Elder doesn’t just offer up information.
Maddock stands there, studying me. I can see my words being tossed around his mind. His mouth opens a little and then pinches at the side as he chews on his decision. I’m a bag of nerves waiting for Maddock’s words to lift and carry me. His eyes graze over me and, surprisingly, there’s no judgment, no subtle hints of my life being cut short, just a man who’s been given a perplex and very dangerous riddle. I think the seasons have changed by the time he speaks again.
“First off, please, call me Mack. Everyone does. Secondly, please, sit.” He gestures to the two couches facing the unlit fireplace. “Before we discuss your parents, we need to talk about the Culling incident, about the impossibility of what we all just witnessed. Never before has the Culling quartz shown both sides of the affinity bond for one person, not until you.” He’s still on a high from it. It’s clear by the way his brows are drawn up with inquisition. It’s not at all what I expected.
Excited and not mad.
Curious and not appalled.
The three of us sit, no one saying anything. It’s so much to absorb. He wants to talk about the Culling and not my parents? Why avoid it? The room begins to spin a little, so I grip the edge of the couch, trying to sort through my tumbling thoughts. I was both Hunter and Witch, but how? Why? Is
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