AfterLife (32 page)

They hurried down the alley to the street and away from the
building. Flames and smoke were pouring from its open windows. The wood
paneling in the main lobby must have gone up pretty fast, Wes thought. If the
building had the same paneling throughout, there was little that would stop the
spread of the fire.

About a block away from the building, Wes could hear the
blaring sirens signaling the arrival of the fire department. There would be
nothing they could do to save the building though. It had been built to be
destroyed.

“I
knew he’d be
the champion when the time came,” Caleb said as the Ancestors walked back to
their office from Ops where they had been monitoring the night’s events. Caleb
took a seat in the center of the kiva.

“It is a fortunate turn of events for sure,” William said,
finding a seat near Caleb.

 “I only wish I’d been there to be involved in the action.”
Caleb added, sounding slightly gloomy. “I always did love a good brawl.”

Anne Marie and Zach also found seats in the kiva.

“I didn’t know Ken and the others were going to show up. Did
any of you know?” Anne Marie asked.

“Oh yes,” Zach said. “Meri talked to me about it earlier
today and I authorized it.”

“Without notifying the rest of us?” Anne Marie looked
frustrated. “What if things hadn’t gone as well as they did? We could have lost
more of our people. It was not a sure thing at all!”

“Everything worked out,” Zach said quietly, countering Anne
Marie’s remark. “Their involvement was critical to the success of the
operation.”

“It definitely was.” William sat with a look of pleasure on
his face. “Too bad Wesley lost his communication device. I would have liked to
have heard everything going on around him. It was also unfortunate Meri’s
earpiece stopped working. It was like missing the end of a really good movie.”

“Fortunately they all made it out safe and sound,” Caleb
said. “It is our first real victory in this skirmish. It was a good idea to
send in reinforcements, Zach. Beautiful strategy.”

 “I think there is one thing we must discuss.” Zach looked
around at the other three Ancestors. “It is apparent to me there is a spy among
us. Someone tipped the Atumra off that we knew about their trap.”

After a moment of silence as his words sank in, William
laughed slightly and said, “There isn’t anything that points to that. We all
know Seth was expecting Wes to come and try to free his brother.”

“Yes, but they didn’t know he was bringing others with him.
Without being tipped off, they only would have been expecting Wes and maybe his
companion. There would have been no reason for the army that was there.” Zach’s
expression was grim.

“You might be right,” Anne Marie said thoughtfully, agreeing
with Zach. “Now that you mention it, unless someone had tipped them off they
could not have known of Wes’s syncing abilities. Yet if we are to consider this
fully, the leak may not even be among us four. We may have to look at the
Ancestors at the other Hubs as well. They were all notified of Wes’s unique
talents.”

Zach nodded but his expression didn’t change.

“Well, whoever the spy is, he wasn’t successful.” William
folded his arms. “Wes is safe. His brother is safe. We even recruited many of
the Atumra soldiers to our own ranks.”

“If we can trust them,” Anne Marie added.

“I think we can,” Caleb said. His eyes were wandering the
ceiling as if he was pondering everything that had happened that night. “They
came to our people when they could have escaped. I’m sure the Atumra has an
emergency rendezvous plan if the building were ever destroyed. The building
collapsed so quickly that I’m almost positive it was engineered to do just
that. It had a built in self-destruct.”

“For now, the important thing is to keep Wes safe. He’s
going to be a major target once the Body hears what happened.” Zach stood up
and walked to his desk. “We should also keep a close watch on his brother.”

“Not to mention that Seth got away,” William interjected.
“He may still be a threat.”

“I don’t think we’ll have to worry too much about him,” Anne
Marie said as she stood. “He failed. Knowing the culture of the Atumra, he will
no longer be in favor with them.”

“Very true,” William said, still sitting with his hands
folded.

“I’m going to Chicago to check in with Meri and Wes,” Anne
Marie said as she collected some items from her desk. “I want to speak to both
of them personally.”

“Tell them we’re very happy with what they accomplished,”
Caleb said as Anne Marie headed out of the office. “They are the heroes of this
battle.”

“H
ow are you
feeling, Lyall?” Wes leaned forward in the chair sitting next to the hospital
bed. It had only been 12 hours since they’d left the Atumra’s building in
flames, and Wes had spent the entire time with his brother. With directions
from Oscar, he’d taken Lyall to a hospital that had a doctor and several nurses
who belonged to AfterLife. They had cared for Lyall without asking any pesky
questions. They knew what had happened.

“I’m alive.” Lyall’s bruised eyelids looked heavy as his
eyes rolled around looking at his surroundings. “I am alive, aren’t I?”

“Yes, you’re alive.” Wes knew some of Lyall’s life had been
taken, but there was no sure way to know how much without syncing; something he
was afraid to do. He didn’t want Lyall to become a Mortui.

“You’re fine for now, but you’ll have to stay here for a
couple more days until you’re stronger. I think the hospital called Mom.”

Lyall’s eyes settled on Wes. “Why didn’t you call Mom? She
would like to hear from you.”

“She can’t know I’m still around. No one can. You’re not
even supposed to know.” Wes thought about placing his hand on his brother’s but
didn’t.

“So, you’re dead but you aren’t, huh? How’s that working out
for you?” Lyall closed his eyes and centered his head on his pillow.

“It’s different, that’s for sure. I think I’m a better
person now than when I was alive. Dying has helped me learn some things about
living.”

Lyall cleared his throat, but his eyes remained shut. “I
never doubted you were already a good person. Not much of a family person, maybe,
but still a good person.”

It was the first real conversation Wes had had with his
brother in years and it was bitter-sweet. Becoming a Mortui had given him a
second chance in more ways than one, and he didn’t want to waste it. This time
he did squeeze Lyall’s hand. “I’ve come to realize how much I love my family. I
love you, Lyall. I’m sorry we drifted apart. It was my fault.”

“Don’t blame yourself. It takes more than one person to
disagree, and I didn’t do anything to improve the relationship either.” Lyall
let out a gargled cough.

Wes continued, “When Dad died, I wasn’t willing to give you
the space you needed to grieve.”

Lyall opened his eyes and moved his head to look at Wes.
“Take the blame if you want it. You always were the greedy one.” He smiled.

“Hey, I resemble that remark.”

They both started laughing.

After a moment, Lyall sobered. “I’m not going to pretend
that I understand what’s happened. I only picked up pieces of everything that
was going on. Are you going to be able to stay around long enough to explain it
to me?”

Wes shook his head. “No, and I don’t think it will do much
good trying to explain it to anyone else, either. Especially Mom.”

“No, I don’t think it will,” Lyall agreed. “So, I find out
my brother’s back, even if he is dead, and now he’s going to leave me again.”

Would it be worth risking Lyall’s life to be able to visit
him whenever he wanted? Maybe it would be. He decided to let Lyall make the
choice for himself. “If I sync with you, it would provide me with a way to see
you on a more regular basis,” Wes said. “But it could be dangerous. I don’t
know how long anyone’s synced with you before.”

“I don’t know what that means, Wes,” Lyall smiled, “but if
it means I’ll get to see you, then I say go for it.”

“Okay, but if you die and end up like me, it won’t be my
fault.” The lenses Doc put in Lyall’s eyes had been removed, Wes synced with
him long enough to make a connection and then instantly broke the link. He
could sense that his brother had more life than he expected. He wouldn’t make
it to old age, but there was still enough to experience what life had to offer.
With his help, Wes would make sure it was a full life.

Lyall didn’t seem to realize the sync had taken place. “So
what do you have to do for us to be brothers again?”

“I already did it,” Wes said.

“Good. Then I’ll see you around.” Lyall shifted his head
back to the center of the pillow and closed his eyes. His breathing indicated
he’d fallen asleep.

Meri made a quiet noise from the doorway to get Wes’s
attention. She was standing beside Emily, who must have driven up from the Hub
to see them. “Your mom’s on her way up. We’d better go so she doesn’t
accidentally see you.”

Wes nodded and stood. He hadn’t said everything he wanted to
say to his brother, but now that he’d made the connection he could sync with
him from anywhere any time they wanted to talk. He had a family again.

Wes, Meri, and Emily took the stairs to the lobby to avoid
running into Wes’s mother, exiting the side of the hospital opposite the
parking lot. Once outside, Wes stopped. “Meri, do you mind if I talk to Emily
for a minute?”

Meri didn’t hesitate. “Sure, I’ll wait for you on that bench
over there.”

Emily spoke first. “Meri told me you were in sync with Seth.
I’ve heard scary things about him. How was it?”

“It was pretty bad until I got him to my theme park. Then
everything seemed to work out okay.”

“Where did he take you before that?” Emily asked.

“The Coliseum in Rome. It would have been magnificent if he
hadn’t been trying to kill me.”

“So you pulled him into your world instead, huh? I’m sure
that was a surprise. I bet it completely threw him off and confused him.” Emily
stepped closer to Wes. She was staring up at him with a smile on her face.
“I’ve never told you this before, but I’ve never synced with anyone who could
create as immense and detailed a world as you can. When I asked Ken about it,
he admitted he’s never seen it either. I’m sure it was quite a shock for Seth
to not only experience it, but to be pulled from what he thought was an amazing
creation – his creation – into yours.”

Wes hadn’t thought about it before. He noticed that Seth
seemed hesitant to follow him as Wes had sprinted away toward the castle when
he’d first pulled him in. Was his world so different from what others were able
to create? The thought puzzled him. He’d seen Emily’s world and she’d created
an entire beach. Then he remembered that no matter how far they walked, they
never got any closer to the pier they were walking toward. Maybe that was the
limiting factor for Emily’s world – the objects immediately around her. You can
see the distant landscape, but you can never interact with it. It was possible
that other Mortuis were limited in similar ways. If so, his park really was
incredible. It allowed both him and whoever he took with him to interact with
his entire world, even if they were separated. He chuckled to himself. Well, no
one had told him it wasn’t supposed to be like that.

Now, however, was not the time to dwell on the issue. He
would explore this unique ability later. With his brother safe under
AfterLife’s watch, there was only one pressing matter that needed his
attention. His relationship with Emily.

Before he could say anything, Emily asked, “I’m sorry about
Jez, Wes. I know you cared about her. Do you know what happened to her in the
fire?”

Wes had learned the importance of getting to the point the
hard way. In the past few days he’d also learned to trust his instincts, and
right now his instincts were telling him it was time to be direct.

“Jez is gone, Emily. I tried to sync with her after the
fire, but there’s nothing there. I feel sorry for her – she wanted to be an
antemort so much she was willing to make some bad choices to get what she
wanted. She didn’t care who she hurt. I think she regretted some of the decisions
she made, but what happened to her was a result of those decisions. It’s sad,
really.”

There was no point in lingering on the subject of Jez, and
no purpose in dwelling on what had happened. What was happening now was more
important, and she was standing in front of him. Emily was like a breath of
fresh air in a life where air had little meaning. She was the only air he
needed. She grounded him. His attempt to express his interest before had
failed, but he wouldn’t give up on her. He knew she would never forgive him if
he did.

“I was never really alive when I was an antemort.” Wes
stepped toward Emily and gently touched her shoulder. “I felt like an outsider,
watching myself go through the motions of life. I never felt like an active
participant. I thought I was in complete control of my life, but I wasn’t, not
really. I just let things happen. I allowed life to move on around me without
consciously participating. Now, for the first time in my life, I feel like I’m
truly alive and in control.”

Wes studied Emily’s face. She avoided making eye contact
with him as she stared at the ground. He continued. “I know you don’t want to
hear it, but I have to say it anyway. I love you, Emily. I will always love
you. Only you.”

Still looking down, Emily closed her eyes and tilted her
head to the side as if to shield herself from the impact of the words. If she’d
been an antemort, Wes knew she’d be struggling to hold back tears.

“I can’t Wes,” she whispered softly. “You know I can’t.” She
shook her head slightly.