before.
Right after we ate the sandwiches Malcolm prepared for us to eat, Lucas crawled onto my lap and promptly fell asleep. After we put him to bed, Malcolm and I played chess in his study since I lost our bet that I could cook a decent meal. I stop the memories there because I don’t want to relive what happened next in that room. The heartache I felt when I told Malcolm I was letting him go is still too fresh. I skip ahead to a happier memory when I was in Malcolm’s workshop, and he practically slung the door off its hinges to find me and declare his true feelings. It was the first time he appeared to me just like Desmond and Jered always have, glowing with their devotion.
“ Come on then,” Desmond says to me with a small grin. “I can scramble eggs as good as any master chef. It’ll fix you up right as rain.”
“ Honestly, I’m not very hungry,” I admit.
“ You need to eat,” Jered says, sounding strangely similar to my papa in that moment. “You need to keep your strength up. We have no way of knowing what Levi has in store for us. You need to be ready for anything.”
Reluctantly, I nod. I know he’s right but maintaining an appetite when my stomach is in so many knots is impossible. All I can think about is Malcolm and Lucas, not to mention my papa, Millie, and Vala. They’re all in the hands of a maniac, and there’s nothing I can do to get them back safely except give Levi what he wants.
We follow Desmond down the stairs to the lower level of his home.
The kitchen is the only room on this level. There isn’t much in the way of appliances except for an old, black wood burning iron stove, a small unpainted table with four chairs around it, and a small sink in the middle of some cabinetry on the outer wall. There is only one door which seems to lead outside to an alley way. Double lines of thin rope hang from wall to wall on one side of the room and are dotted with Desmond’s laundry. While Jered and I sit down at the table, Desmond snatches two pairs of underwear hanging from the line and quickly stuffs them into a drawer. I wonder if he thinks I didn’t see him do it and have to smile at his show of modesty.
“ So tell me what’s happened,” Desmond says, grabbing what looks to me like a small silver pitcher.
As Jered tells Desmond what’s happened so far and why we’re here, I watch Desmond make his coffee. He pulls out a silver basket sitting on a metal stem attached to a flat base. He takes the lid off the basket and reaches for a small, white porcelain container on the counter and scoops out tablespoons of coffee grounds from it, dumping them into the basket. He takes the container to the sink and fills it with water then puts the contraption back inside the silver pitcher. After he places it on the stove, he sits down at the table with us and listens to the rest of what Jered has to say.
Desmond sits back in his chair and crosses his arms over his chest after Jered is finished with his story.
“ Well,” Desmond says, “I can’t say I like it much, but I don’t think we have any choice in the matter. They’re not worth sacrificing our friends for. Maybe this is the way it was always meant to be. Since Anna can kill the princes, it does seem like the perfect time for a good old fashioned fight. They’ll finally be put out of their misery once and for all.”
“ So you don’t think I should just try to kill them all while they’re in stasis?” I ask Desmond.
Desmond shakes his head and grins. “What fun would that be? And I don’t think you’re the type of person to kill just for killing’s sake.”
“ If I’m only meant to take the seals from them and return them to Heaven, it might be the easiest way. I could be saving the lives of millions instead of just a handful.”
“ But you would lose yourself in the process,” Desmond says with such certainty it’s like he knows me as well as I do. “I don’t think you’re someone who can kill without being
Right after we ate the sandwiches Malcolm prepared for us to eat, Lucas crawled onto my lap and promptly fell asleep. After we put him to bed, Malcolm and I played chess in his study since I lost our bet that I could cook a decent meal. I stop the memories there because I don’t want to relive what happened next in that room. The heartache I felt when I told Malcolm I was letting him go is still too fresh. I skip ahead to a happier memory when I was in Malcolm’s workshop, and he practically slung the door off its hinges to find me and declare his true feelings. It was the first time he appeared to me just like Desmond and Jered always have, glowing with their devotion.
“ Come on then,” Desmond says to me with a small grin. “I can scramble eggs as good as any master chef. It’ll fix you up right as rain.”
“ Honestly, I’m not very hungry,” I admit.
“ You need to eat,” Jered says, sounding strangely similar to my papa in that moment. “You need to keep your strength up. We have no way of knowing what Levi has in store for us. You need to be ready for anything.”
Reluctantly, I nod. I know he’s right but maintaining an appetite when my stomach is in so many knots is impossible. All I can think about is Malcolm and Lucas, not to mention my papa, Millie, and Vala. They’re all in the hands of a maniac, and there’s nothing I can do to get them back safely except give Levi what he wants.
We follow Desmond down the stairs to the lower level of his home.
The kitchen is the only room on this level. There isn’t much in the way of appliances except for an old, black wood burning iron stove, a small unpainted table with four chairs around it, and a small sink in the middle of some cabinetry on the outer wall. There is only one door which seems to lead outside to an alley way. Double lines of thin rope hang from wall to wall on one side of the room and are dotted with Desmond’s laundry. While Jered and I sit down at the table, Desmond snatches two pairs of underwear hanging from the line and quickly stuffs them into a drawer. I wonder if he thinks I didn’t see him do it and have to smile at his show of modesty.
“ So tell me what’s happened,” Desmond says, grabbing what looks to me like a small silver pitcher.
As Jered tells Desmond what’s happened so far and why we’re here, I watch Desmond make his coffee. He pulls out a silver basket sitting on a metal stem attached to a flat base. He takes the lid off the basket and reaches for a small, white porcelain container on the counter and scoops out tablespoons of coffee grounds from it, dumping them into the basket. He takes the container to the sink and fills it with water then puts the contraption back inside the silver pitcher. After he places it on the stove, he sits down at the table with us and listens to the rest of what Jered has to say.
Desmond sits back in his chair and crosses his arms over his chest after Jered is finished with his story.
“ Well,” Desmond says, “I can’t say I like it much, but I don’t think we have any choice in the matter. They’re not worth sacrificing our friends for. Maybe this is the way it was always meant to be. Since Anna can kill the princes, it does seem like the perfect time for a good old fashioned fight. They’ll finally be put out of their misery once and for all.”
“ So you don’t think I should just try to kill them all while they’re in stasis?” I ask Desmond.
Desmond shakes his head and grins. “What fun would that be? And I don’t think you’re the type of person to kill just for killing’s sake.”
“ If I’m only meant to take the seals from them and return them to Heaven, it might be the easiest way. I could be saving the lives of millions instead of just a handful.”
“ But you would lose yourself in the process,” Desmond says with such certainty it’s like he knows me as well as I do. “I don’t think you’re someone who can kill without being
Similar Books
