The Eternal Tomb (9 page)

“Yeah,” Oliver answered.

“But you're a vampire, so…”

“So,” Oliver said, seeing more of the whole of this thought, “if I was like any other vampire kid, I would never have had a soul to begin with, 'cause I would have been made in a lab. But since I was sired, it would be different.”

“What happens then?” Dean asked.

Oliver shuddered. “Well, when a vampire is sired, the human isn't totally dead—”

“Undead,” added Emalie.

“Right. And the spirit stays around, like mine did in the Portal. It isn't free to leave until the demon arrives inside the human. When the demon takes control, that completes the vampire, and the spirit's last connection is broken. It would leave the world. Only…”

“That hasn't happened for you yet,” Emalie finished.

“No,” said Oliver. His chest felt tight. His fingers tingled. “I mean, so technically, since I haven't gotten my demon, my soul hasn't been totally freed from me yet.…” He trailed off.

“Then maybe your soul never left,” said Dean. “Maybe it's still attached to you somehow.”

“What was lost yet lingers,” Oliver mumbled.

“Oliver…” Emalie said, her eyes widening.

Oliver dug into his pocket. He pulled out the felt bag, tearing at the drawstrings. He dumped the contents in his lap and unfurled the tiny scroll with shaking fingers.

“Revelethh…lucenthh…persechhh…”

There was a flash of light, and the apparition appeared beside them. Oliver turned to it, shaking, and yet there was that calm feeling, that same sense of familiarity.

Oliver, I told you it wasn't safe
, the apparition said worriedly.

“It's okay,” said Oliver quickly, desperate to hear his own words aloud. “I know what you are.”

Chapter 7

Nathan's Window

“THAT'S YOUR SOUL?” ASKED
Dean. “Right there?”

Oliver felt a sense of knowing, or relief, from the apparition.

Yes
, it replied.
You can call me Nathan
.

Hearing the words, Oliver felt relieved, too, but also scared. The two feelings seemed to be combined, making his whole body hum.

But Oliver, said Nathan, it's not safe.…

“I know, you can't be here.
This
is Bane's treachery,” Oliver explained to Emalie and Dean. “Bane summoned my soul. And Half-Light wants to destroy it.”

“Back to the tree house?” said Emalie.

Oliver looked uncertainly at Nathan.

I can come there with you
, he said.

Emalie pressed two fingers to the leaf on her wrist, then closed her eyes.

Dean and Oliver did the same, and returned to the platform above the jungle. The fire crackled in dusk light. Through the fog, the other fires glowed more brightly. Solitary bird calls echoed over the sound of the river below.

Oliver stared at the glowing white apparition, his soul. “You never left,” he said quietly, “but, where have you been?”

“With our parents, at first,” Nathan explained. Emalie and Dean could hear him now. “They couldn't see me, and most of the time they didn't know I was there. There were some quiet moments, when I think they could sense me in their presence. But it made them sad.

“So I'd leave now and then,” Nathan continued, “and go to the Shoals. I liked it better there, with the Wraiths. Jenette and I became friends, we liked to skip rocks together, and eventually, I lost my connection to this world. I was growing up at the same speed you were, but I never knew about you, until Jenette met you. I mean, I knew I was attached to someone. When you were lonely, or sad, I'd be sad, too, but I didn't get why. At first, Jenette thought you and I knew about each other, that we were even the same being…since, well, we are.”

“That's what she meant,” said Oliver, remembering when, back in the Space Needle, Jenette had said:
You act like you haven't seen the Shoals before.
“She'd always say that she knew my feelings about my parents,” said Oliver, “but she meant
your
feelings.”

“It was an easy mistake to make, since something like us has never really existed before.… Well, your brother had a lingering soul somewhere, but then he got a demon and it was freed. It probably never knew about him, just like I didn't know about you until Bane summoned me. Then I finally understood.”

“Why didn't you tell me this the other night?” Oliver asked. “Or back on the bluff, or when Bane first summoned you?”

“Bane was going to explain it to you. Once he was gone, I… you're a vampire, you know. Vampires think souls are gross. I knew you were going to use the Portal, and I thought, if you saw me back then, leaving our body, and with our parents, you'd understand.”

“My soul…” Oliver said again, not even sure what to make of it. All the years of feeling different, of having these very un-vampire emotions of worry, guilt, longing, and even hope. Had it all been because his soul had been out there, still attached to him?

“Yes,” said Nathan. Oliver could feel him smiling, though he still couldn't make out Nathan's face.

“So…” Oliver thought about Selene's final message, and almost didn't want to ask. “Is there really a way for us to be rejoined?”

“Yes.”

“And that will undo the prophecy?” Emalie asked.

“That's what Selene said,” Nathan replied.

“The rest of her message,” said Oliver. What was it? “Oh, right.
‘In the company of what was taken…'”

“What was taken from us,” said Nathan.

“Our parents?” said Oliver. “You think?”

“I do,” Nathan replied.

“And you…you said you stayed with them, so you know where they are?”

“I can show you right now,” said Nathan, glowing brighter. “Come back to the basement, and we'll show you.”

“Okay,” said Oliver, dumbfounded. He nodded to Emalie and Dean. They touched their tattoos and focused.… The basement returned around them.

Jenette
, said Nathan.

Jenette's smoky black form rushed into the room.
Hey, guys! This is so exciting!

Two larger wraiths slithered into the room behind her and positioned themselves behind Emalie and Dean.
Ready?
Jenette asked from behind Oliver.

“Yeah. You guys?” he said to Emalie and Dean.

They nodded, and the wraiths pulled them back out of the world.

Oliver found himself in the Shoals again, standing firmly on the endless gray beach with Emalie, Dean, Jenette, and Nathan. A crowd of wraiths stood around them.

It's this way
, said Nathan, and he floated up the beach. They trudged through the sand after him. The wraiths parted to let them through, watching silently.

Ah
… said Emalie, putting a hand to her temple.

What is it?
Oliver asked.

Sadness
, Emalie replied.
All around…I can hear them begging for help. It's hard to keep them out
.

Oliver reached over and rubbed her shoulder supportively.

It's up here
, Nathan called. He was climbing over the jetty. They followed, as Nathan turned and headed up the beach along the side of the jetty, toward the steep dune. At its base, bleached driftwood logs were scattered like giant bones.

Oliver noticed a small rectangular structure that had been built from them. Nathan ducked through its cockeyed doorway.

Oliver had to crouch to fit into the structure, and Dean had to crawl. Emalie and Jenette crowded in behind them. The inside was empty except for a window that took up the entire back wall. Pale blue light shone through it.

Look,
said Nathan.

Oliver moved close to the window and when he gazed into it, he saw a world nothing like the Shoals.

A one-story house with a gently sloped, orange tiled roof and white walls, sat on a quiet street. It was nearly dawn and the lights were off, but the nearby streetlights were still on. A mailbox at the end of the driveway read 714. A cactus grew beside it. The road curved to a cul-de-sac, surrounded by identical homes. In the distance, a jagged range of bare rock mountains was silhouetted against a pale blue, predawn sky.

Is that
…

Our parents' house
, said Nathan.

Can we go?
Oliver asked immediately.

Not from here
.

Oliver nodded. He'd known the answer, but couldn't help asking. His body was still attached to the world back in Emalie's basement.

There's a street sign
, said Emalie, pointing.
Saguaro Drive
.

The saguaro cactus grows in the Southwest
, said Dean.
We just need to map it online and we're golden
.

If you can get there
, said Nathan,
I can meet you there
.

And that will undo the prophecy?
Oliver asked, scared to really believe it. He stared at the house. A car slowly drove by, flinging a newspaper that slapped onto the driveway. His house. His
home.
It was right there. Looking at it made his chest tight. He turned and ducked out of the driftwood house. He felt like he needed air. He heard shuffling as the others joined him.

You'll have to escape your vampire parents
, said Nathan.

Not a problem
, said Oliver, his thoughts racing. He would head to school like any other night.…
As long as I'm there for attendance first period, I can probably get away without anyone realizing. We can grab a charion and be gone by dawn.
He felt a rush saying these things. Finally, making his own plan, for his own future.

It might be safer to take surface trains or buses
, said Emalie.

You mean because once they figure out I'm gone they'll be looking for me
, Oliver agreed.
Good point
.

That
, said Emalie,
and the fact that we're coming with you
.

Emalie
—

Don't bother, Oliver
, said Dean.
We're going. The only question is, when?

But it will be d
—

We know, said Emalie.

Oliver could tell it was no use arguing. Besides, he wanted them along.

We have to leave before Friday
, said Oliver.
Then they can't do the Anointment without me, and once we undo the prophecy, it will all be over
.

What about Désirée and Lythia?

We have to avoid them, too. The sooner we leave, the less chance we have of tipping anyone off to our plans.… How about tomorrow?

My aunt Kathleen can go with us
, said Emalie.
Dean, will that be cool with your parents?

I'll have to check
, Dean replied.
Let's meet at my place
.

Is it really this easy?
Oliver asked.

Emalie smiled.
Maybe not everything has to be hard
.

Oliver couldn't believe what they were saying.
Tomorrow night, the
… He stood there on the gray beach at the edge of the world, and looked from Emalie, to Dean, to Jenette, to Nathan. A great sense of energy filled him, a surge of purpose. This was his chance, his moment. To undo his destiny, to change his existence, to start over…whole. The faces staring back at him were bright in agreement.

We can do this
, said Emalie.
Right?

Sure
, said Dean.
Tomorrow, we'll save the world
.

Okay.
Oliver nodded.
It's a plan
.

Chapter 8

The Final Journey

OLIVER SPENT MOST OF
Thursday sleepless, his mind churning over what was to come. And yet, finally, instead of lying there dreading the future, he could barely wait for it.

After they'd returned from the Shoals, they'd found his parents' street outside of Tucson, Arizona, and mapped the route. They would take buses to Los Angeles, then Phoenix. The hard part for Oliver would be hiding from the sun, but during daylight hours, he could sleep in the luggage compartments beneath the bus, or hang out on the ceiling. The hard part for Emalie and Dean would be convincing their parents to let them go. They were going to have to tell them about the prophecy. How would that go? Aunt Kathleen had promised to help.

Oliver imagined the bus ride, noxious with the scent of close-packed humans and exhaust. Sitting beside Emalie, Dean across the aisle, playing cards, sharing earbuds…

Could he really escape the watchful eyes of his parents and Half-Light? He thought there was a good chance. They would be south of Portland, Oregon, by the time the school night ended, and closing in on California by the time Oliver was missed at dinner and the suspicions began. There were vampires in other cities, of course, and once Half-Light knew that Oliver was on the run, they would alert the entire New World.

But Half-Light would have no idea where he was going. They didn't know Oliver's parents were alive. By the time the daylight hours had passed on Friday, he would be heading toward Phoenix. Half-Light's hunt would be full-scale, but Jenette would be watching, and she and the wraiths could pull them into the Shoals to hide from any pursuing vampires. And the Darkling Ball would pass without him, without the Anointment. Meanwhile, Oliver would be nearing Tucson.

And what would happen when Oliver reached his parents' home? How would the prophecy be undone, and what did it mean to be joined with his soul?
I'll be more human, more like…her.
Oliver thought of Emalie. Her tears on her birthday. He'd be able to feel more of what she felt, of
how
she felt. And what would he be then? Surely not a vampire, because a vampire couldn't have a soul. Maybe something entirely new, something more whole, with real parents and a future before him that was unwritten.

Oliver couldn't believe the possibilities. There would be no more sleeplessness, no more worries, no more destiny he'd never asked for. He would get to start all over again. To be someone new.