could get a clear shot at Montross, but she saw a river of some kind of liquid pooling out from behind the shattered door, rolling all the way to her feet. She saw the tablet in Montross’s free hand, saw it shimmering hypnotically in that green-hued aura.
At last, I’ve seen it, actually seen it.
Then she smelled oil and saw flames spreading from the vault.
“Run!” she shouted as the next chamber exploded into a blinding fireball, which then burst out into the next, where Lydia stood. She had a glimpse of Montross scooping up her son and dodging to the side before the inferno roared straight into her.
She had a sudden flashback to another vault, standing before a far more ancient door ten years ago and deliberately setting off a trap that had turned the room into a storm of fire. A trap she had prepared for, a trap she had been able to avoid.
Then, she was ready.
Today, she was not.
“ Mom!” she heard, and turned toward the sound before the fiery tsunami fell upon her. She tried to cry out to him, tried to say something meaningful in that moment. What could she possibly say in her final seconds to the son who would grow up, grow into a man and live his entire life without her?
Instead, she just clasped her burning hands together, lowered her head, and met her fate.
Caleb, now it’s up to you.
#
Halfway across South America, cruising at top speed, Caleb woke with a scream that ripped Phoebe and Orlando from their trances. They stared at him wordlessly.
His mouth was dry as a desert, his lips cracked, splitting. “Did you see it?”
Phoebe reached for him. “No, I didn’t get a clear view. The vault room, a fire . . .”
“Yeah,” Orlando said, “and some crazy red-haired dude, his clothes smoking, dragging a boy up the stairs.”
“Lydia. I saw her consumed in the explosion. My trap.” Caleb held his head. “What have I done?”
Phoebe was there, holding his hands. “Don’t jump to any conclusions. Remember, this could be anything. A future glimpse, or maybe you were just seeing the past again. The Pharos trap and—”
Caleb met her gaze with pained and desperate eyes as he shook his head. “No, she’s gone. I felt her reaching out to me. Begging for me to save Alexander.”
“He’s got him,” Orlando said. “I was pretty sure about that.”
“Alive?”
“I think so. But I had the sense that he was protected somehow, and maybe holding your boy, it saved him too?”
Caleb nodded slowly, and closed his eyes.
“He’s got the tablet.”
7.
Alexander watched from the prow of Old Rusty as Xavier Montross piloted the boat out into Sodus Bay and around the bend into Lake Ontario before the legion of police and fire engines descended upon his house. He watched as the dawn lifted out of the mist, the clouds swallowed up the roiling black smoke, and his lighthouse burned like a biblical pillar of flame.
Mom . He wanted to dive overboard, to brave the icy currents, to swim back to her, or to run over the water itself, back home, to join her in the cleansing fire. But then he thought of his father and his Aunt Phoebe.
They needed him.
He sensed footsteps behind him, a shadow over his shoulder. Silent, the winds stealing even his breath, Alexander wiped away tears that wouldn’t stop flowing. He turned and tried to sound strong as he faced Montross. “What are you going to do with the tablet?”
A silhouette before the rising sun, Montross stood quietly a long time considering him. “The better question, I think, is what am I going to do with you?”
“Let me go?”
“That was my original plan, but now, I think you may be useful.”
“Why? You gonna ransom me?”
“Not at all. I have plenty of money. But since I’m fairly certain your father survived, and since the regrettable incident in your lighthouse basement, I fear he will be after me with a vengeance now. So, it would be prudent to have some leverage.”
“They’re going to look for the boat,” Alexander said.
At last, I’ve seen it, actually seen it.
Then she smelled oil and saw flames spreading from the vault.
“Run!” she shouted as the next chamber exploded into a blinding fireball, which then burst out into the next, where Lydia stood. She had a glimpse of Montross scooping up her son and dodging to the side before the inferno roared straight into her.
She had a sudden flashback to another vault, standing before a far more ancient door ten years ago and deliberately setting off a trap that had turned the room into a storm of fire. A trap she had prepared for, a trap she had been able to avoid.
Then, she was ready.
Today, she was not.
“ Mom!” she heard, and turned toward the sound before the fiery tsunami fell upon her. She tried to cry out to him, tried to say something meaningful in that moment. What could she possibly say in her final seconds to the son who would grow up, grow into a man and live his entire life without her?
Instead, she just clasped her burning hands together, lowered her head, and met her fate.
Caleb, now it’s up to you.
#
Halfway across South America, cruising at top speed, Caleb woke with a scream that ripped Phoebe and Orlando from their trances. They stared at him wordlessly.
His mouth was dry as a desert, his lips cracked, splitting. “Did you see it?”
Phoebe reached for him. “No, I didn’t get a clear view. The vault room, a fire . . .”
“Yeah,” Orlando said, “and some crazy red-haired dude, his clothes smoking, dragging a boy up the stairs.”
“Lydia. I saw her consumed in the explosion. My trap.” Caleb held his head. “What have I done?”
Phoebe was there, holding his hands. “Don’t jump to any conclusions. Remember, this could be anything. A future glimpse, or maybe you were just seeing the past again. The Pharos trap and—”
Caleb met her gaze with pained and desperate eyes as he shook his head. “No, she’s gone. I felt her reaching out to me. Begging for me to save Alexander.”
“He’s got him,” Orlando said. “I was pretty sure about that.”
“Alive?”
“I think so. But I had the sense that he was protected somehow, and maybe holding your boy, it saved him too?”
Caleb nodded slowly, and closed his eyes.
“He’s got the tablet.”
7.
Alexander watched from the prow of Old Rusty as Xavier Montross piloted the boat out into Sodus Bay and around the bend into Lake Ontario before the legion of police and fire engines descended upon his house. He watched as the dawn lifted out of the mist, the clouds swallowed up the roiling black smoke, and his lighthouse burned like a biblical pillar of flame.
Mom . He wanted to dive overboard, to brave the icy currents, to swim back to her, or to run over the water itself, back home, to join her in the cleansing fire. But then he thought of his father and his Aunt Phoebe.
They needed him.
He sensed footsteps behind him, a shadow over his shoulder. Silent, the winds stealing even his breath, Alexander wiped away tears that wouldn’t stop flowing. He turned and tried to sound strong as he faced Montross. “What are you going to do with the tablet?”
A silhouette before the rising sun, Montross stood quietly a long time considering him. “The better question, I think, is what am I going to do with you?”
“Let me go?”
“That was my original plan, but now, I think you may be useful.”
“Why? You gonna ransom me?”
“Not at all. I have plenty of money. But since I’m fairly certain your father survived, and since the regrettable incident in your lighthouse basement, I fear he will be after me with a vengeance now. So, it would be prudent to have some leverage.”
“They’re going to look for the boat,” Alexander said.
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