Call of the Raven (10 page)

“Who took him?” Asher demanded.

“His group—those henchmen of death who call
themselves Gothi, they took your brother,” the old man declared.
“They follow Ross.”

“Ross, why does that name sound familiar to
me? Tell me or I’ll break your fool neck!”

“He was kicked out of the Union for his
practices of death magic.”

Asher narrowed his eyes on him. “By me?”

“No, by your predecessor but his son serves
you, the falcon.”

Jaw tightening in anger, Asher tossed the old
man forward and he landed on the floor with a thud. Moving to stand
over him, Asher looked downward without so much as an inkling of
regret in respect to his harsh treatment, not when the old man
failed to be so merciful when he was a boy.

“If you have any intentions of alerting them
that I’m on the way I will return and I will kill you.” Before
Asher could move away the old man grabbed him by the ankle and
falling off balance Asher fell forwards. Quickly catching himself
he glared down at the withered wrench that he had once respectfully
feared. “Let go of me before I decide to do it now and save myself
the hassle of having to return.”

Asher ripped his leg free and ignoring the
old man’s sobbing petition to take him back to the protection of
the manor, he headed for the door.

“Please, don’t you know anything of
forgiveness?”

Asher came to an abrupt stop and spun around
on his heels. He put a hand to his aching throat that paralleled
the knot on the back of his head. The thought suddenly occurring to
him that it was the old man that had given him the wooden globe
bookends.

“
With the world at your fingertips boy
there is no limit to your power.”

“Were you the one in my office, the one who
hit me?” he questioned.

The thought made sense to him. The old man
had access to the front door. Pillar Council members always had
free reign of the manor. It was written law and the old man was a
magic user.

“No, but I know what they wanted.”

“And what was that?”

“A key. Someone gave it to me to hide a long
time ago and I put it in the bookend before I gave it to you.”

“What does it go to?” Asher took a long
stride toward the old man and instantly he started to crawl on his
hands back to the chair. With that image burning into his mind, he
took pity on him and stopped. “I make you this vow that I won’t lay
another hand on you as long as you tell me what they want with the
key and my brother.”

“I never asked what the key was for and I
don’t know what they want with your brother.”

“Then you don’t know if that’s what they
wanted or not. Who gave you the key to hide?”

“I don’t remember.”

Asher watched him, realizing that in his
actions the old man had no more information of value, and he had a
sudden anxiety to return to the manor.

“I will leave, but as far as forgiveness
goes, you’ll have a better chance of getting that in the fiery pits
of hell then you will ever have from me.” Turning around Asher
exited the cabin and started his cold trek back. By the time he
realized that he had left his gloves behind it was too late to turn
back. He followed the same path along the road. The theory that a
wolf walked in his tracks fell along the wayside of his distraught
mind.

Noticing a small black shadow on the white
snow in front of him, Asher looked up to see the falcon circling in
the grey sky above him. He exhaled and slowly shook his head. He
should have known that he would come after him. “It’s best I don’t
tell him,” Asher said out loud. It was times like this, that he
especially didn’t blame people for thinking he was crazy.

Again he looked up at the falcon now flying
in the direction of the manor. “Yes, for now I suppose there’s no
need, but eventually I won’t have any choice but to tell him that
father has returned.”

***

Asher sat at
his desk finishing up his
latest drawing, when Kennedy entered his office. She crossed the
carpet and stood looking down at the portrait of the woman he was
working on. She had his grey parka in one hand, the one with the
thick fur lining around the hood, and Grant’s ice fishing boots in
the other.

“Since when did you start using pastels?”

“I plan to leave the rest in pencil. The blue
just seemed fitting for her eyes.” Uncomfortably Asher sat the
sky-blue pastel down on the surface of his desk. He had made a mess
of things and some of the blue chalk was now dusting the tops of
the papers he had pulled from his brother’s briefcase. Taking a
tissue from a box on the corner, he wiped his fingers free of the
blue tint.

“I see Nixon made it back with Ari’s things,”
Kennedy said. “If you would have told us that you had a spare set
of keys to his car, it would have saved us some time.”

Mindlessly Asher pushed the tablet back. “I
forgot I did. Ari left them in the desk drawer just in case he ever
lost his other set, and it wasn’t like I was expecting you to find
his car in a ditch. In the morning remember to call a wrecker for
both his car and Nixon’s.”

Asher examined the drawing of the woman. He
knew every detail of her face by heart from the blue eyes to the
fullness of her lips. How could he not. He had seen her face in his
dreams for the last year.

Kennedy, who had been carefully observing
him, moved closer to the desk to get a better look at the drawing.
“She’s beautiful. Who is she?”

Asher seldom noticed women and he definitely
didn’t talk about them. Not even when Ari tried to hook him up with
someone’s sister or cousin. Realizing that he had been a little
absorbed, Asher gave Kennedy a shrug and flipped the cover over on
the tablet. Setting it down on his desk he stood up as she came
around to him with the coat.

“She’s just a character,” he shrugged.

“Then you’re writing again?”

“I didn’t say that. I’m just passing
time.”

She looked to the tablet and thoughtfully
nodded, and then as though she remembered something her eyes
widened. “Nixon said it’s true what you suspected; Vince Donavan
has been there with her all afternoon. But I don’t understand, just
how did you know?”

“There were several chairs to choose from but
he chose to sit next to her. I looked over the documents. Most of
them were drawn up by Vince and sent to Linn and in turn she sent
them to Ari. Apparently she and Vince have been replying back and
forth to one another via email for quite some time. Everything that
Linn knows of the uprising against me has come straight from his
research.”

“Then you believe it’s true, there is an
uprising I mean?”

“There are ten known groups. They either
oppose me or the laws in general. A few of them do represent a
threat, but at the moment it appears I only need to worry about one
group in particular and they are known as the Gothi.” Asher took
one of the boots from her proffered hand and pulled it on over the
thick pair of insulated socks.

“According to Vince the Gothi practice an
ancient religion. The core of their belief is that the Raven was
and still is a superior being that should rule the world of
ani-shifts. They tend to meet in desolate areas such as the Smoky
Mountains, which is Vince’s region and in the Florida Everglades.
My guess would be that was where the amphibian Watch was from.
These so called Raven worshippers are not only growing in numbers,
it appears they seek out anyone within the Union that has
grievances with me, in hopes to turn them toward their cause.”

“Then Vince is a good guy?”

“Just because Vince is sharing Linn’s bed
doesn’t necessarily mean I thought he was a bad guy. It was just a
hunch I wished to confirm for matters of my own.”

She deliberated the answer and nodded, then
asked, “Have you been able to reach Ari?”

Asher lowered his eyes and started weaving
the shoestring around the latches on the boots. Already his feet
were getting sweaty. “I’ve opened myself to him again but the
feelings are a little overwhelming…and well it’s complicated.”

“What do you mean?”

“What I mean is that my idiot brother doesn’t
seem to recognize the fact that I’m reaching out to him.” Asher
exhaled loudly. Kennedy grunted and he sneered up at her. “Your
behavior indicates that you completely understand his confusion.
But I don’t have time to argue with either of you. Now go see to
the twins. It’s almost time to leave.”

Asher watched Kennedy leave before he allowed
his eyes to travel over to where Nixon stood next to a bookshelf
pretending to examine the title of an old classic. He knew Nixon
had purposely been waiting to talk to him alone.

“Did you look over the maps?” Nixon softly
asked.

“I didn’t need to.” Asher pulled the parka
over his arms. He had waited intentionally for the moon to rise
before setting out, but now he was growing anxious. “When I was
younger Grant used to take me fishing and he told me about the
cabin and said I should stay away from it.”

“You mean because my father built it.” Nixon
faced him. Asher had not failed to notice his somber demeanor since
arriving back from the old healer’s. Straightening, Nixon walked
across the room while Asher surveyed his face for signs that he
remembered. “Have you always known about him?” Nixon asked.

“What are you getting at?”

With a flip of his hand, Nixon tossed
something his way and Asher watched as it landed on the top of his
art tablet with a heavy thud. “Kennedy found it next to Ari’s car.
I thought it looked familiar and the more I looked at it, the more
I remembered. My dad used to wear the same kind of badge when I was
a kid. The last I heard he was on his way to Florida to run a
fishing boat. Kind of a coincidence don’t you think? I have just
one question for you. Have you always known about him…who
he
is to
you
?”

Anger mounting, Asher picked up the badge.
“You found a Raven’s crest near Ari’s car and you didn’t mention
this before?”

“I asked you a question Asher. Have you
always known that we shared the same father?”

“I’ve always known who you are to me. Grant
wouldn’t let me forget that,” Asher spoke the words calmly but when
his eyes landed on the emblem of the Raven, he could not control
his rage. Angrily he threw the badge across the room, nearly
missing Nixon who dodged out of the way.

The badge smashed into a picture frame
shattering the glass before ironically spinning to a rest next to
the wooden globe bookend. Taking a deep breath, Asher dropped his
head into his hands. “Despite what you may believe I didn’t
remember him either but the trip to the old man’s brought things
back. My memory was erased too.”

“Was that before or after you removed parts
of him from mine?”

Slowly Asher looked up at Nixon but at the
very sight of his anguish, he forced his brow to relax. “After,” he
said in a gentler tone. “I never knew him nor wished to. Then one
day when I was at a session at the old man’s he showed up. He had
been sent by the Council to further my education in magic. That’s
why he built the cabin, so he could be close to Brokenridge. That
night I told you I would never allow him to hurt you again.”

“So you wiped the memory of what he was, a
follower of the Raven from my mind, but not the abuse.”

“There couldn’t be a chance of you ever
taking pity on him.” Asher closed his eyes, tried to calm his
breathing but as he continued, his words sounded harsh even to his
own ears. “He followed the Raven and you are a
fowler!
Do
you
not
understand the significance of that to me?”

“Actually I don’t and I never will. But what
you’re saying is you thought he would use me as a weapon against
you because I can change into a Raven. Still, if that was the case,
why didn’t you just make me forget what I was, and send me away to
some orphanage? You didn’t have to keep me around if you didn’t
want anything to do with me, even if I was your little
brother.”

Nixon approached his desk. His face was
blank, unreadable, but the emotions that circled within his eyes,
Asher knew well. Nixon needed answers. He needed to know the
truth.

“Let me see if this will help you to
understand at least from my standpoint. After I cleansed your mind
of him,” Asher explained, “I began to take on your memories and
pain. My mind has always been unstable, but mixed with yours
afterwards the Council feared I wouldn’t be able to carry on my
duties as Keeper. So my memory of him had to go. The Council wanted
me to forget, so I forgot, but Grant on the other hand wouldn’t let
me forget you.”

“You’re my brother Asher,” Nixon cried. “How
could you make me forget that?”

“There was no reason for you to remember me.”
Quickly getting to his feet, Asher headed for the door with all
intentions of leaving the room and the conversation behind.

“You don’t fool me Asher,” Nixon called. “You
didn’t fear me becoming a Raven as much as you just feared me in
general, your little brother, someone you could potentially care
for. I needed you and you knew it, and that’s the only reason you
made me forget because you didn’t want me to.”

Turning back Asher met Nixon’s watery gaze.
“And just like you did today,” he went on, “when you chose to go
alone to the old man’s, you left me behind without a care or
concern. But that’s okay, because I don’t need you anymore, Asher.”
Pushing him out of the way, Nixon stepped out into the hall and
headed for the stairs.

“Nixon,” Asher called but he kept walking.
“Don’t let your hatred of me get in the way tonight. I need you
there for Ari.”

“And I’ll be there for Ari,” he called back,
“just like he’s been there for me.”

Chapter Seven