Reclamation (The Ravening #3)(34)
Author: Erica Stevens

"Ok so where are the other three children?" Lloyd inquired.

"I am one," Jessica answered. "My parents are Agrona and Forseti."

"And yours are?" Bethany asked me.

Something close to annoyance twisted through me as I thought of the two most evil Ancients that had created me. They would be so unbelievably disappointed to see me in what they would consider a weakened state by loving a human. They would enjoy killing me for such a transgression, but that was ok, I wouldn’t hesitate to kill them either. I felt nothing for them, other than a driving urge to see them dead, and Bethany safe.

"Mine are the two oldest Ancients, Isis and Osiris," I told her.

Her delicate forehead furrowed as she glanced between Jessica and me. "If you are both children of these Ancients than why would they choose to have you marry? Wouldn’t your children also be powerful?"

"They would, but not in the way you’re thinking. The speed and strength doesn’t carry on into our progeny. It is only direct descendants that acquire any enhanced abilities. Our children would only be powerful because it had been set up for the two of us to be in positions of power."

"Where are the other two?" Bethany wanted to know.

"We don’t know where they are," Rosemary answered. "There are about two hundred of us in this encampment, but that’s just a drop in the bucket. There were thousands upon thousands of us on this planet and I would guess that the majority of them have never experienced what we have."

Lloyd moved away from the door as he finally approached the table. I eyed the gun in his hand but it was more loosely held than when we had first entered the building. It didn’t matter though, I’d have it out of his hands and his neck snapped before he ever had a chance to fire it at Bethany or me.

"How do we stop them?" Lloyd inquired.

"There’s only one way to do that," Rosemary answered. "We must take them down from the inside, which means that some of us would have to return to the main ship."

"The one that we were born on," Jessica said to me.

I had already assumed that much but it wasn’t something I had ever intended to do. Rosemary walked over to the corner and gathered the rolls of papers lying on the floor. "We’ve been discussing ways to do this."

Unrolling the first one she laid it on the table. "The Ancients are smart and devious but they’re also prideful and certain in their belief that no one could ever destroy them. For this reason, they’re always together and that’s their biggest vulnerability."

I stepped closer to the table but I kept my body in between Bethany and them. I was stronger than them, I would make sure to take them all down if they became a threat to her, but there were others out there, and there was Jessica. Her parents weren’t as powerful as mine but she was still a great threat especially with so many Tintagelians present.

My gaze went to the woman I was supposed to have married. Looking at her I realized I never would have been able to pull off the marriage. I could barely stay away from Bethany and it only took one look from her, one smile, one touch to drive me near mad. Though she was pretty enough, I felt nothing for Jessica; something I knew would never change. Our charade of a marriage never would have been consummated which either would have resulted in my death, or her great happiness and relief at not having to deal with me either.

My attention shifted from Jessica to the drawings before me. My forehead furrowed as I realized exactly what they were. "How do you have a schematic of the ships?" I demanded.

"One ship," Jessica answered. "Their ship."

My eyes shifted to her as I bristled with tension and nudged Bethany back another step. She let me know her displeasure at being pushed aside by pinching my arm and elbowing her way forward again. Unwilling to make her unhappy, I relented but wrapped my hand around her forearm so that I would be able to pull her quickly out of the way if something were to happen.

I focused on Jessica. "How do you know what the inside of that ship looks like?"

"I’ve been on it," Jessica’s voice was so subdued that I barely heard her.

A low hiss escaped me as I flattened my hand on the table. "You went up there and were able to look around without them knowing?"

"I’ve discovered a way to sneak on, one they never even thought of."

"How?"

"We may trust you more than you trust us, but for now that is for us to know."

"Why did you have to sneak on? I mean they’re your own kind?" Lloyd asked.

"We may be the same species but they’re not our kind, not anymore. Every one that enters the ships is carefully recorded and monitored once onboard. If we expect to learn anything, or do anything, we have to do so undercover," Rosemary answered.

Bishop frowned as he rubbed at his chin. "But they don’t monitor you while you’re down here?"

"No, upon entering the ship everyone is given a bracelet that locks onto the wrist and cannot be removed until they leave the ship. It records where you are at all times."

Bishop lifted his glasses and rubbed at his eyes. "So they know that something happens to some of you when you come to earth. They might even know that whatever happens to you has to do with you meeting certain humans and that is why they monitor you when you’re on their ships."

"No they couldn’t possibly…" Rosemary’s voice trailed off as her mouth formed an O and her face went slack.

"They know," I muttered but my attention wasn’t really on Bishop or Rosemary, it was focused on the plans before me.

"You really think so?" Jessica inquired.

"They never trusted anyone that stepped foot on those ships and it was more than them just being paranoid of everyone and everything. I had never thought about it until today, but Bishop’s right, they know. It’s why the Marshall’s were killed. They knew something was wrong with me, but they had it wrong. They must have thought that if the Marshall’s were dead I would go back to being like them."

"That doesn’t happen," Rosemary said.

"No, I could never, not feel again," I agreed. "If I had been anyone else’s child I’m sure they would have killed me outright, but all of their plans would have been ruined for the next century if they had done so."

I couldn’t resist the urge to brush a strand of golden hair back from Bethany’s face as she turned toward me. I would be devastated without her, but I knew I would never be as hollow as I had been before her. I could barely recall the emptiness that had been my life before her, the black hole that had been my inner workings before she had walked into my life, and I never wanted to experience it again, no matter how miserable my life would be without her.