***Caution--this contains SPOILERS! If you have not read the first four books in The Clandestine Saga precede with caution! This will ruin it for you!***
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| Tentative release date for Illumination is Oct. 1, 2017 |
Cadence had a hard time tearing her eyes away from her
grandmother’s tranquil face, but she did as she was instructed, and at the back
of the book, she found a letter-sized envelope with the inscription, “Kid”
written on it in familiar writing.
She was so
shocked, she almost dropped the album.
“What is
this?” Cadence asked, almost afraid to touch it.
“I found it
a few day ago when I was looking through the album. It was New Year’s Eve, and
I was filling a bit melancholy, missing your grandfather something awful, so I
thought I’d have a look at some of the old photos. And that fell out.”
“When do you suppose he left it?”
“I’m not
sure,” Janette admitted. “He came to visit about a week before the… what do you call it?”
“Sierraville
Incident?” Cadence asked, referring to the operation on which Elliott had lost
his life.
“Yes. He
came to visit pretty frequently, especially if he was already in Shenandoah
checking on Cassidy. He missed you. A lot. We both did. So… he’d come and
visit, and we’d sit and reminisce a bit. I guess he slipped that in while I
wasn’t looking.”
With a deep
sigh, Cadence carefully unsealed the envelope and pulled out a single sheet of
notebook paper. She unfolded it and began to read.
Dear Kid,
If you are reading
this, then something has probably happened to me. You’ve been gone on your
“find myself’ tour for about four months now, and I’ve been missing you a lot.
I know I can get you on the IAC but that’s not the same as seeing your goofy
grin or feeling your tiny punches in my arm whenever I say something out of
line. The truth is, I’ve been feeling a little off lately, like something bad
is about to happen, and while I’m not sure what it is, there are a few things I
wanted you to know in case the “impossible” happens.
First of all, I’m
really sorry that I tried to get you kicked off of the team. There were a few
reasons for that. Yes, you were a distraction—a bigger distraction than we’ve
ever encountered before. It was pretty clear to me from even before the Eidolon
Festival that Aaron was completely hung up on you. I think I saw it a long time
before he knew it himself. I was there when he handed you off to Hannah, and I
remember why he did it, too, though I guess he had pushed those thoughts out of
his mind. He was too close to the situation for other reasons then. Now, here
you are, a beautiful young lady who clearly has feelings for him. While I
couldn’t blame him for being distracted, I was trying to prevent it from
happening.
I also didn’t want you
to get hurt. I thought maybe he’d assign you to another team. It makes sense—if
he was worried about being able to concentrate on doing his job all of those
years before when you weren’t even around every day, why not just send you off
to another region? I was hoping that the thing with Henry would get you
re-assigned, not released. At the time, I was willing to take either one. You
were bound and determined to get yourself killed. I still don’t know how you
managed to survive those first few hunts.
Once Aaron almost died
protecting you, I felt like I had to do something. You needed to go. But by
then, I was starting to admire you quite a bit. I’d never seen anything like
you. Of course, you know the rest. Taking out Barbarosa was enough to solidify
Big E and Little C for life. (Okay—I just made that up right now, but I like
it!)
The only problem was,
it wasn’t much longer before I started to realize it was going to take
something major for Aaron to realize what an idiot he was being. I felt like
the universe was shifting in that direction, trying to get his attention. In a
way, I think I kind of volunteered myself. I caught myself saying things like,
“The two of you will get together if it’s the last thing I do,” more than once,
and while it was kind of funny before we knew about titanium bullets and rogue
hunters, I’m starting to realize I may have set myself up to take one for the
team.
And I’m okay with
that, so long as the two of you figure this thing out.
You are meant to be
together; that’s clear to me and to everyone else in the world. Now if you
would just accept that, you’d make everyone’s lives a bit easier.
I’m sure if something
has happened to me that Cass is probably really upset, and I’m very sorry for
that. She’s such a good kid. I was so honored to have the opportunity to look
out for her for all of those years. Please remind her that I love her very
much, and you can let her read this as well if you want to.
Also, I did try to
contact Amanda, like you recommended, but I don’t think she’s interested in
hearing from me. I do feel better about trying, though. So thanks for that.
I didn’t mean to write
a damn book, but I guess I feel better knowing that, if something does happen
to me, you’ll at least have a few answers.
All right. Hopefully,
this has just been a waste of an hour-and-a-half (What? I’m a slow writer!) and
none of this was necessary. But, if something does happen to me, remember that
I love you very much. Hope to see you around some time, once in a blue moon.
Love,
Elliott
Cadence
read the letter twice, tears streaming down her face as the sound of his voice
filled her head. When she was done, she folded it back up, handed it to her
grandmother, and began to sob uncontrollably.
Janette
patted her gently on the back, “There, there, darling. It’s all right,” she
whispered quietly. “I’m sure the last thing he would want is to cause you grief
all over again.”
While
Cadence knew that was true, it was still very difficult to get a grip on
herself. It had been over six months since Elliott had died, and it still
seemed like yesterday.
Eventually,
she was able to get a handle on her emotions, and she excused herself to go
into the restroom to wash her face and blow her nose. Sighing,
she dried her face off on a towel and tried to get control of herself. What was
done was done. Now, she just needed to move forward. There was so much to do
and never enough time to do it. Forcing herself not to think about Elliott
anymore, she went back to the living room, happy to have received word from him
but resolved not to let this distract her.
When she
walked back in, she could see her grandmother reading the letter. She sat down
next to her, and saw a tear winding its way down her cheek. “Grandma? Are you
okay?” she asked, quietly, placing her hand on her knee.
“He knew….”
she whispered, shaking her head. Finishing
the letter, she inhaled deeply, folded it up, and slid it back into the
envelope
Cautiously,
Cadence asked, “What’s that?”
Grandma
Janette took a deep breath and closed her eyes. “If I tell you, I’m certain
Aaron will be very cross with me.”
“Grandma,”
Cadence began, “if you and Aaron—and Elliott—have a secret, I think you should
let me know about it.”
Janette
opened her weary eyes and looked into Cadence’s. “Do you know what a blue moon
is?”
Caught off
guard by the question, instead of a revelation, Cadence wasn’t sure how to
respond. “I… don’t know. It’s just an expression, isn’t it? Like ‘see you
around’?”
“Sure.
Usually. But a blue moon is a real thing, too. And sometimes people get
confused and think it’s something it isn’t.”
“Grandma,
I’m not following,” Cadence replied, scooting back against the couch.
“Some
people think a blue moon is when you have an extra full moon in a season—but
that’s not quite right. It’s actually when you have an extra full moon in a month—at
least for our purposes. They are both very rare.”
“Okay…”
Cadence said, confused, but doing her best to follow.
“For
thousands of years, people have believed there was something magical about the
blue moon.”
“And what
does the blue moon mean to you, Grandma?”
Once again,
Janette took a deep breath. Exhaling, she re-situated herself so that she was
turned toward Cadence. “When I was younger, I heard a story about a Guardian
who had come back from beyond. He was accidentally killed by a Hunter, and the
Hunter felt so terrible, he searched to the ends of the earth to find a way to
bring him back. On the night of a blue moon, he took his friend’s ashes out, on
a cloudless night, and set them on the ground, urn open. Just as he had been
told by an ancient Guardian, a portal opened, and he was able to speak to his
friend.”
“Oh, my
goodness,” Cadence sighed.
“I never
believed that was possible. Don’t ask me why. I mean, with all of the things
you and I have both seen in our lifetimes, why not? Right? But… after your
grandfather died, well I had to give it a try. I wanted to see him again.”
“And… did
it work?”
“Yes,”
Janette replied.
Cadence’s
eyes widened. “You mean, you’ve been able to speak to Grandpa—after he died?”
“Yes, but
only on these rare occasions when the moon is blue, the sky is clear, and the
portal is willing to open. It doesn’t always work, darling.”
Cadence
could hardly believe her ears. She leaned forward, her elbows on her knees, her
head in her hands. “Why didn’t… why didn’t anyone ever tell me?”
“Well, I
didn’t say anything because… I suppose there’s a reason Aaron didn’t want you
to know, dear.”
“But… if
there’s a way that I can see Elliott, talk to him again, why would he want to
keep that from me?” Janette pursed her lips, her hands folded in her lap, and
Cadence knew immediately there was something else, something she wasn’t saying.
“Grandma?”
“It’s a
portal, darling. You know what that means, right?”
“Are you
saying—it’s a doorway?”
Janette
nodded her head once.
Cadence
jumped up off of he sofa and spun to face her grandmother. “It’s a doorway! He
can come back?”
“Calm down, dear!”
“Calm down, dear!”
Cadence ran
her hands through her long brown hair, tangling her hands at the roots, and
began to pull. “Oh, my God! Grandma! Why? Why would Aaron keep this from me?
You’re telling me that Elliott could actually come back—walk through a portal
from the afterlife—like nothing ever happened—and no one bothered to tell me?”
“Darling,
it’s not that simple,” Janette replied, her voice still calm and even.
Twirling
around to face away from her, Cadence shot back, “Seems pretty damn simple to
me.”
“Cadence
Josephine, watch your language,” Grandma Janette scolded.
Taking a
deep breath and crossing her arms, Cadence tried to calm herself. “I’m sorry,
Grandma,” she said, slowly turning around to face her. “I guess, I just don’t
understand why Aaron wouldn’t tell me this. What in the world could possibly
keep him from telling me that we can bring Elliott back? Is there any reason in
the world that he wouldn’t want him to come back?”
“I think
that Aaron will have to answer that question for you, sweetheart.”
Cadence
couldn’t think of anything—not one thing—in the whole world that could possibly
prevent her from bringing Elliott back if it were possible. And yet, she had to
believe there must be something. She collapsed onto the sofa next to her
grandma, careful not to jar her, and leaned her head back, staring up at the
wide wooden beams of her grandmother’s living room.
It took her
a few moments before she finally collected herself enough to turn her attention
back to her grandma. “So… why didn’t Grandpa ever come through?” she asked
quietly.
“Oh, he is
quite happy over there,” Janette said with a smile. “One thing I didn’t tell
you, that’s very important, is that, once a Guardian comes through, they can
never go back. This old fellow I was telling you about, he decided he wanted to
go back after a while, and nothing would kill him. Not even a Hunter’s bullet.
Nothing. So… while it was possible for your grandfather to come back, I would
die eventually, even if I didn’t re-Transform, and then we’d never be together.
No, it’s better this way. I can still see him every so often, and he gets to
stay on the other side.”
The tentative release date for Illumination is October 1, 2017!
The tentative release date for Illumination is October 1, 2017!
