Chapter 11: Stare Straight into my Soul

I did not die. This was both relieving and upsetting.

I did, however, find myself curled up on Thorpe's couch eating ice cream the next day, watching bad soap operas while Boo and Callum sat on either side of me on the couch. Stephen had kept his distance from me, but he was still close by. Apparently, he'd been sitting on the park bench beside the building most the day. Callum had told me that their flat had been broken into and that it was clear Hobbs and Winchester had found the dysfunctional piece of the Eye of Isis that Stephen had hidden in his closet. This news certainly didn't lift my spirits.

Neither did the news that some bartender from the club I was abducted from had called the police, letting them know that I was still in London and in trouble. The only reason I'd been handling this hiding out from my parents thing so well was because I'd let them know I was okay. Yes, they'd still been worried and probably furious with me, but now? They must be out of their minds with worry.

But there was nothing I could do about that at the moment. Going back to my parents would just bring my troubles right to their door. Instead, I decided to focus on a problem that I could actually deal with.

"Did you talk to him," I finally asked. It was the first time I'd spoken since they'd sat on the couch.

"Uh, yeah, we did," Callum began, hesitant. Beside him, Boo's hands tightened into fists, her anger evident. "He explained everything. About the Shadow Cabinet, his involvement. All of it."

"He did?"

"I can't believe he's been hiding this from us all along," Boo finally yelled, her fists punching the sofa cushions. "We've been his closest friends, his family, and he never once tells us he's been working for these people!"

"I think that's kind of the rules of a secret organization. He couldn't tell us, Boo," Callum defended.

"And you just accept that?"

"He's always hidden things, and we've always accepted it. It's just who Stephen is. And I know he wasn't involved in any plan to hurt Rory. You know it too."

"How do you know," I piped up, nearly dropping my ice cream. I'd barely slept last night, my head spinning in circles over this very question.

"Come on, Rory, he loves you. We all know it. He's loved you since Wexford. Since the Ripper. Probably from the moment he met you."

My mouth dropped open, my lips parted like a fish, but I couldn't remember how to close it. Oh, how I desperately wanted his words to be true. "How do you know that? Did he tell you?"

"He didn't have to. It was dead obvious," Boo acknowledged. "He never lets anything distract him from his job, but after he met you, it was like he couldn't see anything else. He put you first, always."

I could feel my heart leaping wildly in my chest and I had to fight the urge to sit still. Had this been before I was kidnapped – again – I would have begged for endless details. I would have had Boo break down his facial expressions and inquired how many times he said my name in a day. But now I couldn't think of the right questions to ask.

"Yesterday," Callum began, looking hopeful, "you told Thorpe that you could feel Stephen, like his emotions and stuff, because of what you did. Is that true?"

"Yeah. I think I noticed it back when he was… gone. But I didn't understand it. I could feel him everywhere. I was always expecting to turn around and see him standing there… well, I was expecting to see his ghost standing there, but that was the connection. I could always feel him because he was with me. Inside me, I guess. And I know how crazy that sounds, but when I was with Sid and Sadie, there were times I could feel Stephen so clearly… feel how worried he was… and I could talk to him, in my head. It's real."

After this irrational explanation, Boo and Callum just stared at me, clearly waiting for me to say something that made sense. Or maybe they were waiting for something else.

"Show me," Callum insisted, moving to stand by the windows. "Talk to him. Tell me what he's feeling."

"Callum…"

"I'm serious, Rory. I want to see it."

"I… I can't." Apparently, I couldn't sit still anymore either. Jumping from the couch I moved to the kitchen to put the ice cream away. "You weren't there, Callum. You don't know what they said. Hobbs seemed absolutely certain that Stephen was completely on their side. That he would be fine with what they were doing. And Stephen didn't exactly say that he was done with the Shadow Cabinet. When I open that connection… I can feel him, Callum. I can feel everything and I have to let him inside me to do it. I just don't think I can be that close to him right now."

"No," Callum argued, stomping over to me while Boo watched with wide eyes. "You're stalling because you're scared. I know you love him, Rory. He told me what you said. And the thought of him hurting you is worse than if it was anyone else. It's killing you inside not to know the truth, but you can know that! You can reach inside of him and pull the truth out for yourself. So do it."

"You want to know, too. For yourself," I accused. And I could see the pain and fear I felt reflected back in his eyes.

"He's my best friend. I've been closer to him, and Boo… and even you, than I have to anyone else my entire life. And if it turns out that he is lying, that he'll hand you over to those freaks and let you be killed… don't think for a second that you'll be the only one hurting. Yeah, I love him like he was my own brother and I want to know that I can trust him."

My eyes roamed from Boo to Callum for a moment, letting this really sink in. This was something only I could do, and apparently, it had to be done. And Callum was right, I needed to know if Stephen was telling the truth. We needed to know.

"Okay," I allowed, finally, and closed my eyes, searching for that link that would take me to Stephen.

He was there immediately.

And he was upset. Very upset. He was still outside the building, and Thorpe was there with him. Stephen had told him the truth too, about his alliance with the Shadow Cabinet and all the lying he'd been doing. Thorpe wasn't taking it well. In fact, he was discussing the prospect of kicking Stephen off the team.

Stephen, I called out, and I could feel his surprise.

Rory?

I need to know, Stephen. And that was all I really needed to say. Linked like this, he knew exactly what I meant. At first, he was hesitant. I could feel his fear to open up, the fear of rejection, that he wouldn't be accepted. He'd never been accepted before – with his parents, his school friends. But he could read my emotions too. My love for him… it drowned out even my worry. That seemed to be all it took.

He was furious with the Shadow Cabinet. With Sid and Sadie. He was furious with anyone that had ever tried to hurt me. I could feel his protectiveness, his drive that this never happen to me again. He thought back to the Ripper, to the sound of my voice when I'd offered to take Newman to the last terminus. I could feel his shock at the realization that I would endanger myself further just to save him. I felt his fear when Jane took me, his determination to get me back when he'd driven his car in front of hers. His desolation when Sid and Sadie had taken me from that bar, and given what he knew of the Shadow Cabinet's plans, his urgency that I be found immediately.

And finally, when the last of his barriers came down, I felt his love for me. How it consumed him like nothing ever had before. How it drove him to keep me safe above merely doing his job. How it filled him with such joy and happiness when he saw me. Filled him with pain at the thought that I'd never want him.

It was every bit as powerful as what I felt for him and once he realized that, he was running. I could feel him coming closer, like we were magnets being pulled together by a force we couldn't fight. I felt his impatience as the elevator took its precious time, and then he was running again, right to the door.

When I opened my eyes, Callum and Boo were staring at me curiously, but instead of explaining, I ran to the door and threw it open.

Stephen was standing there, out of breath but smiling.

"I never took the chance to tell you before," he began, but I cut him off by throwing my arms around him. Every fear, every doubt, every worry – they all fell away as he held me tight. With the connection still open, we were surrounded by a love so intense it blocked out the very world around us. And then…

"Somebody want to fill us in," Boo demanded.

The connection snapped, and I was back safely in my own head. "He's telling the truth," I explained, just as Thorpe reached the doorway.

"I am," Stephen confirmed, his arms loosening, but not letting me go. "And I will tell you everything. Anything you want to know. I would never be a part of something that wanted to harm Rory and I would never betray any of you."

"No more secrets," Callum inquired, the hope clear on his face.

"No more secrets."

Thorpe moved into the kitchen then, placing my now melting ice cream back in the freezer. When he turned, he still wasn't smiling. "We are not done discussing this, Stephen. As your boss with MI5, I'm very disappointed that you've been keeping something this important from the team, but as you're friend… I'm willing to forgive you. But there will be a debriefing and I'll want to know everything."

Stephen nodded, his arm tightening around me for a moment.

"I do hope this isn't a bad time," a voice spoke from the doorway and we all whirled around.

Sid stood there, a devilish smile on his face. "We have quite a lot to discuss, little diamond."

~SoL~

"Well, this is a rather boring place you've got here, and that's me being polite," Sid noted, sitting perfectly at ease in an armchair and glancing around Thorpe's neutral living room.

"How did you find this place," Thorpe demanded, on his feet and glaring like the rest of us. "It's one of the most secure flats in London and it isn't even listed under my name."

"Oh, I had help. Let's just say your team isn't as loyal as you once thought."

Thorpe turned then, glancing at each of us. After Stephen's lies, I wasn't sure he could handle any more betrayal. None of us could. Stephen still held me tight against his side, preparing to either defend me or run with me should Sid make a move, and Boo and Callum were extra tense.

"He's talking about me," I realized suddenly, and every eye in the room was trained on my face. "When he was digging through my head… he must have seen this place."

"It's a good guess," Sid allowed. "But… no, it wasn't you. I was looking for a mystical rock when I was in your head, not tasteless hideouts."

"Then who," Callum demanded, taking a step closer to Sid as his hands tightened into fists.

Sid only smiled wider. "Patience is a virtue. Is that still a saying? So much has changed. And you all seem to be forgetting that it was I who helped Rory escape. Aren't you the least bit curious why I did that?"

"At the moment," Boo piped up, "I'm more curious with whether or not we could render you unconscious and throw you in a jail cell. You have quite a lot of crimes to answer for."

"Well then, allow me to answer that question. It would take no effort at all for me to toss the lot of you out that window where you'd plunge to your deaths. And then who would protect poor Rory?"

"In case you forgot, poor Rory nearly broke your nose," I reminded him, and was rewarded with a smirk from Stephen.

Sid's smile grew as well, and he seemed ready to launch back into the conversation when there was a timid knock on the door. At first, no one moved. All eyes were focused on Sid, wondering if he'd brought back-up with him after all, but his face gave nothing away. Finally, Thorpe grabbed a knife from the block in the kitchen and threw the door open.

Freddie stood behind it.

My first instinct was to yell at her to run… until I saw her eyes. They moved straight to Sid, but held no fear. Only resignation.

"It was you," I stated, feeling my anger rise. "You've been working with them this whole time!"

Slowly, Freddie nodded, moving into the apartment and shutting the door behind her. I heard Boo gasp and Callum's muttered, "I knew it."

Frantically, I thought back to all of Freddie's past behavior, baffled that we could have missed this. She had led us to Clover, who had in turn given us details that had led us to Charlotte where she was stored away in that house. It had been Freddie's research that had led us to the Oswulf stone, which Jane had desperately needed. When I'd told her how I felt Stephen was lying to me, she'd been quick to agree it was possible. And at Stephen's birthday party… all those unpleasant looks every time Stephen and I held hands or danced… she had already known that he was working with the Shadow Cabinet… that he knew their plans.

"Please, just let me explain," Freddie began, but Thorpe cut her off.

"All this time! You've been double crossing us all this time. When we first met you… and you knew all those things about Jane…" But he couldn't seem to continue, his face turning red and his hands shaking. It was the closest I'd ever seen to Thorpe losing control. Sid, meanwhile, looked as though he were watching a rather enjoyable play.

"I didn't have a choice," she began, beseeching us all to believe her.

"You better explain fast," Boo demanded. "I don't know how much longer I can resist the urge to hit you."

Freddie took a deep breath, and then said something none of us were expecting. "I have a brother."

"Had a brother," Stephen corrected. "I did a full background check on you. Your brother, Kyle… he died three years ago."

"No he didn't."

We all waited with baited breath for her to continue. Nervously, she started pacing the floor, steering clear of Sid who she refused to make eye contact with. "Kyle was sick. He had a brain tumor, and he was dying. My mother had been going through doctors, demanding second opinions, third opinions. Everyone said all we could do was make him comfortable. When he was given three months to live, she started looking elsewhere… and she had me help. We traveled, speaking with psychics and witches and any other mystic we could find. We visited magic shops and read books until our eyes burned. And then…"

"You met Elias," I finished for her, and I could see the tears brimming her eyes now.

"Everyone else we'd talked to had been scam artists. But he was the real thing. He promised he could save him, began explaining the mysteries and Demeter and his friends. But he said there was a catch. He could perform the ritual to heal him, but he couldn't wake him up. And then he explained about the Enlightened. A person possessing the power of the stone. He told me… he said that if I helped him find such a person… my brother would wake as good as new."

"You were playing us all along," Callum growled. "I knew it."

"I was just trying to save my brother! Kyle did the mysteries, did everything Elias asked us to do, but he's still asleep and I need you, Rory. You're the only one who can save him!"

Stephen's arm tightened around me and I was certain I'd never seen him look so pissed. "Rory's not taking part in any of this!"

"That is where you're wrong," Sid piped up. "Unless you honestly believe you can hide her away for the rest of her life. Elias has spies in places you'd never suspect. He'll always find her."

"Then we fight him," Callum decided, stepping forward and glaring daggers at Sid.

"And he'd kill you in less than a minute. The little diamond and her protector saw what my sister and I are capable of. Elias is older and stronger. And also rather insane. Once he's killed all of you, he'll force Rory to perform the ritual again, which will result in her death."

The air in the room was suddenly heavy. I couldn't suck it into my body. I'd been told that they would kill me after the ritual so the power of the Eye of Isis could go back into the diamond, but they'd never said how. Not that it mattered, really. If it got to that point, there'd be no saving me anyway.

"But… I survived the ritual last time. I was tired for a few days, but nothing–," I began, but Sid cut me off.

"Last time you were only waking three people. This, waking the hundreds of sleeping souls down in that basement, will take every ounce of your strength. It will kill you. In fact, the power inside you is already killing you."

Stephen glanced at me for half a second, and I could feel the slight twinge of fear through the mostly closed bond. "What do you mean," he demanded.

"Oh, I'm sure you've noticed the toll it's taken on her when she destroys a ghost. The power of Isis is too great for anyone to stand for long, and she's accelerated the process by saving you. It would likely kill her in the next year anyway. Elias just plans on speeding that up."

"That's enough," Thorpe all but shouted. "You need to leave. Both of you." This last demand was directed at Freddie, who flinched. "If you've come here to scare us, mission accomplished, but we will not be handing Rory over to you. So unless you plan on killing all of us, leave now!"

At this, Sid actually laughed as though Thorpe were a toddler throwing a tantrum. Standing from the chair, he made his way over to the bookcase, running his fingers gingerly over the bindings. Stephen and Callum both tensed, clearly unsure if jumping Sid now would be a good move or a deadly one.

"I had a feeling you might say that," Sid admitted, pulling his phone from his pocket and scrolling down the screen. "Hope you don't mind, but I took out a sort of insurance policy."

With that, he held his phone up for us to see. I couldn't stop the widening of my eyes.

"Jazza," I gasped, staring at the picture of her tied up in a small room. Her eyes were wet with tears. "What did you do to her?!"

"Oh, nothing yet. She's merely in safe keeping until I'm certain you've agreed to my terms. You see a large part of my plan involves keeping Rory safe until the proper time. I can't do this myself or Sadie and Elias will get suspicious."

"She's not performing that ritual for you," Stephen shouted, though I had to disagree. If Jazza's life was on the line, there wasn't much he couldn't force me to do.

"If everything works out, she'll only have to wake three people, a feat that should leaving her breathing. I promise you, it's the only shot she'll have. You run out that door with her and Elias finds her, she's as good as dead."

I turned my gaze to Stephen and I could practically see the gears turning in his head as he tried to sort this out. He knew as well as I did that what Sid was saying was true. Hiding me had never worked. Not with Newman or Jane or Sid and Sadie. Elias would find me eventually. But siding with Sid was the same as a deal with the devil.

"Why," Boo asked, breaking the uneasy silence. "Why do you want to help us save Rory?"

"I don't care the least bit about saving Rory," Sid admitted, his lips turning up in a sly smile. "Not that she isn't pretty and sweet. But, since our awakening, I've begun to doubt whether or not I can truly trust Elias."

"You think an evil mastermind might actually stab you in the back. Shocking," Callum quipped.

"Elias doesn't trust easily. He lets very few people into his inner circle. Those friends of his from the 1600s, the people he's trying to wake, those are his family. The rest of us are just a means to an end. I've seen it in his eyes. He needs Sadie and I until the ritual is complete. After that, he'll have no reason not to kill us."

"I thought you couldn't die," Boo inquired. "Wasn't that the purpose of killing all your friends to gain immortality?"

"Oh, I am immortal and I heal rapidly… but there are some things even I won't come back from."

"Well that sounds like justice to me," Callum chuckled. "If it wasn't for Rory's part in this, I'd be cheering Elias on."

"What is your plan exactly," Stephen cut in. I knew his brain was turning over theory after theory, cataloging all the risks.

Sid's smile widened and he took a single step closer to us. "I plan to kill him first."

"And you plan to use Rory for that."

"I told you, he's older and stronger... and a few cards shy of a full deck. I need an extra advantage and Rory can help me get it. It will all be explained soon."

"But you will save my brother," Freddie demanded, her voice slightly hysterical. "Please, that's all I ask."

"Yes," Sid acknowledged, rolling his eyes. "Your dear brother will be returned to you in thanks for your help."

"This is my ability we're talking about. What makes you think I'll wake up anyone," I asked, my anger growing.

"Now Rory, are you honestly going to look Freddie in the eye and tell her you won't save her brother? Besides, Elias thinks she's on his side. We can still use her."

Boo started in with another question, but Sid's attention was drawn to his phone. "We'll have to save this round of twenty questions for later," he insisted. "Right now, I need you lot out of this building."

"You're trying to kick me out of my own flat," Thorpe asked incredulously.

"Like I said, I need Sadie and Elias to think I'm still on their side. I was sent out to look for Rory and I plan on telling them that Freddie's word puts you here. When they arrive, you need to be gone. And don't go back to the other flat. Keep her hidden and safe. Somewhere no one will look. Freddie's going with you and she'll be my contact. I'll be in touch soon."

Freddie look extremely uncomfortable with this set of conditions, but there seemed to be no time to argue. Without further discussion, Stephen began leading me out the door with the others on our heels.

"So we're just trusting him now," Callum began as soon as we were all crowded in the elevator, but Stephen just shook his head, indicating now was not the time for questions. Stephen's arm was still wrapped tightly around me, his thumb gently stroking my shoulder. I think it was the only thing keeping me from slipping into hysterics. Freddie cowered in the corner, trying to make herself as small as possible.

It wasn't possible for us all to pile into Thorpe's car, so we had no choice but to split up for the time being. Stephen directed me to his car with Callum in tow and Boo shoved Freddie into Thorpe's backseat, glaring daggers at her freckled face.

"Please tell me we're not trusting that creep," Callum continued as Stephen sped down the road.

Stephen's face was grim. "Absolutely not. But he does have a point. We can't hide Rory forever."

"We need a better plan," I whispered, my voice shaking along with my body. Though Boo had brought my clothes over earlier, they'd all been left back at the loft and my thin sweater didn't do much against the cold.

Stephen shot me a sympathetic look in the rearview mirror and maneuvered his police jacket off, tossing it to me. "You're right. We'll talk about that soon."

And just like that, I was once again on the run.

A/N: Just so you know, I do actually like Freddie. I've just never trusted her. Her showing up when she did just seemed too coincidental. Anyone else feel this way?