Don't hate me.
I think I broke my personal record for longest time between updates.
I am truly, truly sorry. I've had so much on my plate the past year, and whenever I even thought of trying to write more for this story it stressed me out. I read all 36 chapters before writing this one tonight (some of it I had already written), and some of the unresolved plot points made my stomach twist. But I did the best I could with what I had, and hopefully you guys aren't still waiting to find out why Dan mysteriously went to the library in chapter 6 because I wrote that like a million years ago and I have no freaking clue where I was going with that.
If you don't remember what's going on, I'd say at least reread the last chapter. Hopefully that's enough to refresh your memories.
Without further ado, let's continue our story.
"Right down this road," Ted directed. The Madrigal agent driving the Subaru nodded and turned down a narrow dirt road. The other agents sitting in the back were quiet.
I would think that the Madrigals got the silent gene, he thought, if I didn't know Dan Cahill.
They went over a small bump, and Ted remembered being in the back of the kidnapper's van and feeling that bump.
The Madrigal agent, who had introduced himself to Ted earlier as Zonner, parked the car in a clump of trees about two hundred meters away from the bunker-like building. Zonner was a large, African-American man with a bald head and military-set shoulders. "Okay," he said to Ted, "where's Nellie Gomez's cell door?"
Ted adjusted his glasses on his nose and squinted through the darkness. "Well," he said slowly, "my cell door was there, and her cell was adjacent to mine, so her door should be...that one there." Ted pointed to the door.
"Good," Zonner said. He handed something to Ted. "Here. Take this."
"Thanks, what is..." Ted looked down at the object, "...whoa!" He juggled the gun that the agent had placed in his hand before he grasped onto it firmly. "Um...what's this for?"
The Madrigal pulled out his own gun and clicked off the safety. "Nellie knows you, so you go first with Christina." He nodded at one of the agents sitting in the back, a young woman with short blonde hair and blue eyes. "While the rest of us sneak around the back, she'll subdue the guard, and you'll take the keys and get Nellie out of there and back here to the car."
Ted realized something. "Sir, how will you all get out of here?"
Zonner gestured at the rearview mirror, and Ted saw a small car parked a few yards behind them. "That's your ride," he said as an agent climbed out of the car and walked to the Subaru. The agent pulled open the car door and handed the keys to Christina, then said to Zonner, "Are we set?"
Zonner nodded. "Let's go."
The agents silently exited the vehicle. Christina and Ted went first, slipping from shadow to shadow until they were directly across from the guard sitting outside of Nellie's cell. His chin was resting on his chest, and he appeared to be asleep.
Ted gave Christina a questioning look, and she shook her head at him, then gestured for him to stay where he was. Quietly, she slipped out of the shadows and made her way around the guard. She got behind him and sent a swift chop to the back of his neck, making sure he was unconscious. She looked up and nodded in Ted's general direction, for she couldn't see exactly where he was standing in the darkness.
Ted moved quickly out of the shadows and to where the unconscious guard and Christina were. The female Madrigal had unclipped the guard's key ring from his belt.
She cursed under her breath. "There's got to be fifty keys here!" she whispered.
Ted quickly glanced at the lock on the door to the cell, then looked back at the key ring. He pinched a small, silver key. "It's this one," he said, taking the key ring from Christina.
She looked at him in surprise as he moved to the door. "How do you know...?"
"It matches the lock." Ted inserted the key in the lock and twisted it. The lock clicked, and the door swung open.
Ted ran into the cell. "Nellie! It's Ted!" he whispered.
Through the dim light Ted saw Nellie sit up.
"Yes!" she cheered, raising her rope-bound wrists in celebration. "I was about to go crazy from sitting in here with no music." She paused. "Also, they haven't fed me since I got here. But the music thing has been bothering me more."
"Didn't I cut you free of those ropes?" Ted asked, crossing the cell.
Nellie huffed. "Yeah, and I tried to hide it from them, but someone came in and noticed, then tied me up again." She grinned. "I nailed him with a good kick before he left, though. Felt pretty good."
Ted pulled his knife out of his pocket and began working at the rope around Nellie's wrists. Christina stood in the doorway, keeping watch.
Finally, the frayed rope fell to the floor. Nellie rubbed her wrists. "Thanks," she said. "Let's get out of here."
The two of them quickly exited the cell. The moment they stepped out the door, shots rang out from nearby.
"Get down!" Christina yelled. The three hit the ground as bullets shot over their heads. Christina shot at the figures who had appeared from around the building, and they quickly dodged back around the corner. She jumped to her feet.
"Come on," she urged. "They won't stay away for long."
Ted and Nellie jumped up and sprinted after the Madrigal agent towards the car. Behind them, more shots rang out as the other Madrigal agents returned fire.
Ted dove into the passenger seat as Christina jammed the keys into the ignition. Nellie climbed into the back.
The engine turned over once, twice, three times...
Christina cursed loudly, slamming her hand on the dashboard. "It won't start!"
"Duck!" Ted yelled, pulling her down as a bullet smashed through the driver's side window.
Christina looked at Ted with wide eyes. "Thanks."
"Don't mention it," Ted said, feeling out of breath. He looked up and saw several figures running towards their car.
Christina tried the engine again. "Come on, you stupid car!"
When the figures were only a few yards away from the car, the engine roared to life.
"Yes!" Christina shouted. Nellie whooped, and Ted let out a sigh of relief. Christina made the car make a sharp hairpin turn, nearly knocking down a few of the figures in the process. Once it was turned around, Christina stomped on the gas pedal, and the car shot down the dirt road, leaving the hostile figures in their dust.
It was as if she had never been in jail.
Perfect hair, as usual. Perfect makeup, as usual. Perfect outfit, as usual.
Isabel Kabra had not changed a bit.
She walked over to Ian, her heels clicking against the metal floor.
"Dear me, Ian," she sighed, "you've lost some weight. Have you been eating right?" She held his face with one hand, her nails digging into his cheeks.
Ian jerked his head away. "Like you care," he snapped.
Isabel pouted. "Oh, but I do!" she insisted. "I've missed you and your sister so much these past few years, while I was rotting away in jail. I cherished every time you phoned me."
Ian rolled his eyes. Neither he nor Natalie ever phoned Isabel in jail.
Isabel continued. "But I have found a new family now. A better family. I now see that a Cahill can never yield ultimate power as long as there are other branches to tear them down."
"The Cahills are learning to work together—"
Isabel laughed. "Ha! Don't tell me those Madrigals have actually been feeding you those lies about peace between the branches? We Cahills are a stubborn bunch. You honestly believe that after five hundred years, everyone is just suddenly going to get along just because a group of children from the various branches decided to become good chums?" Isabel shook her head, a look of disgust on her face as she looked at the boy who had used to be her son. "I raised you to be smarter than that, Ian."
"I'm not the boy you raised anymore," Ian said stiffly, staring straight ahead.
Isabel began circling him. "Yes, I can see that. You've grown up, dear. Still breaking hearts, like always, I assume?" She stopped in front of them again. "You still fancy that Amy Cahill?"
Ian said nothing.
"Mm. That's what I thought." Isabel continued circling him. "How is Natalie? Is she healthy? Has she been eating well?"
Ian turned his head to glare at her. "Stop pretending that you care about Natalie and me and tell me why you've brought me here."
Isabel smiled coldly. "That, my dear, is yet to be determined." She glanced up at Rose, who had been standing quietly this whole time. Rose gave her a small nod, then tapped her watch.
Isabel sighed dramatically. "Well, it's been a lovely chat; but I really must be off. Perhaps I'll come visit later." She headed for the door, with Rose trailing behind her.
"You said 'we'."
Isabel turned. "Pardon?"
Ian stared at her, his face expressionless. "You said, 'We Cahills are a stubborn bunch'. I thought you said you weren't a Cahill anymore."
Isabel's uncaring expression changed for a moment, an emotion fleeting across the beautiful features of her face far too fast for Ian to distinguish it. Then she said, "Unfortunately, being a Cahill was something I was born into. What I said was that I have found another family–that is, another family has found me. They accept me despite my...unfortunate lineage."
And with that, she and Rose exited the room, leaving Ian alone.
In the hallway, Rose turned to Isabel. "I had to drink the water," she said. "He wasn't going to—"
"Of course he wasn't going to drink the water," Isabel snapped, obviously distracted. "Do you think that I raised him to be an idiot?" She turned. "Go take the antidote before the ten minutes is up. I can't have you fainting on me now."
"Yes, ma'am," Rose said, turning and running down the hall.
Isabel turned back to the door of the room Ian was in, which contained a one-way mirror in it that allowed her to he him but not the other way around.
"Soon, my dear," she whispered. "You may not join me today, but soon, you will see no other option."
In the room, Ian was trying to collect his thoughts, but he found himself feeling slightly dizzy. Dark spots clouded his vision, and after a minute he realized the awful truth—he had been drugged.
Fighting to stay conscious, Ian struggled against the bonds that tied him to the chair, to no avail. The darkness came down on him like a black curtain, and his chin slumped to his chest as he fell unconscious.
Isabel watched his head fall, and she smiled. It was only a matter of time before phase two could begin.
"Soon," she repeated. "Very, very soon."
Sinead Starling knew heaven was supposed to be pure and white, but she never imagined that heaven it would be so white.
Her eyes fluttered open, and the first thought that came to her was, I'm dead.
Her vision was fuzzy, but she could make out vague objects around her. If she really was in heaven, she hoped that God would forgive her for never going to Sunday school.
Sinead turned her head to the side, and as her vision cleared, she saw tubes coming out of her right arm. A heart rate monitor beeped softly nearby.
Hospital, she realized. I'm in a hospital.
Images from before came rushing back to her in high-definition—Jonah's concert, the call from Ned, seeing the man in the crowd.
I was dead. At least, I thought I was.
Sinead suddenly became aware of a figure slouched in a chair by the wall. Jonah's gold "bling" glinted from the fluorescent lights of the hospital room, rising and falling with Jonah's steady breathing as he slept. Sinead observed that he was wearing the same clothes he had been wearing at the concert.
How long have I been out? she thought. Has he been here the whole time?
She shifted her body to sit upright, then winced as a sharp pain shot through her stomach, like someone jabbed her with a red-hot poker.
She sucked in a sharp breath, then fell back against the pillows, just as a nurse entered the room.
"Oh, good!" she exclaimed, bustling over to the chart at the end of the bed and making a mark on the paper. "You're awake!"
"How long was I unconscious?" Sinead asked, making another attempt to sit up. She yelped as the pain shot through her stomach again.
"You'll probably not want to sit up right away," the nurse said. "You lost a lot of blood. We had to stitch up the wound."
"How long was I out?" Sinead repeated.
"18 hours." The nurse nodded in Jonah's direction. "He's hardly left that spot since we let him in. Usually we don't let people in except during visiting hours, but..." She shrugged. "He's Jonah Wizard."
Sinead silently chuckled at the idea of Jonah pulling the "do you know who I am" on the poor nurse who tried to get him to leave.
"Sinead?"
Sinead blinked. "Sorry, what was that?"
"I said," the nurse said patiently, "would you like for me to wake him up?"
Sinead shook her head. "Let him sleep. He's probably exhausted."
The nurse nodded. "I'll go get you something to eat," she said, turning and exiting the room.
Sinead sighed and closed her eyes.
Amy zipped her backpack shut and swung it over her shoulder.
My fault, she thought to herself, leaving the room and closing the door behind her. He's gone, and it's my fault.
She stepped into the hallway just as Dan was exiting his room next to hers. He gave her one look and said, "It's not your fault."
Amy dropped her head. "How did you know that's what I was thinking?"
"Because I know you. And I know you like to take responsibility for everything and everyone, and then blame yourself when something goes wrong."
"But I shouldn't have let him go alone," she said, frustrated. "I should have—"
"Ian's a big boy. He can take care of himself. No one would've seen it coming." Dan looked at his feet. "Besides, if you'd gone with him, they might've taken you, too."
Amy smiled and slung an arm over her brother's shoulder. "C'mon. The others are probably at the exit already."
The siblings walked down several halls until they finally reached the place where they had first entered the stronghold. Natalie stood to one side of the door, sniffling softly, her eyes red. Hamilton and Madison stood awkwardly on the other side of the door, looking uncomfortable.
"Where's Reagan?" Amy asked, shooting a worried glance at Natalie before looking at the Holts.
Madison shrugged. "Mr. Crushen wanted to talk to her. I don't know if it was about Ian or—" She cringed as Natalie let out a small whimper.
To everyone's surprise, Dan went over to Natalie. "It's gonna be okay, Nat," he said, hesitating for a second and then putting a hand on her shoulder. "We'll find him. I promise."
Natalie looked up at him. "You promise?"
Dan grinned. "Cross my heart."
Natalie sniffed. "That's a ridiculous expression," she said, some of her usual haughtiness returning to her voice.
"Yeah, well," Dan said. "I didn't think you'd want to shake on it."
Natalie shuddered, remembering how Dan spit into his hand the last time they were going to shake hands. "No, thank you."
Suddenly, Reagan came around the corner. Dan quickly dropped his hand from Natalie's shoulder.
"Reagan!" Amy said. "Where's your bag?"
Reagan looked at the floor, shifting her weight from one foot to the other. She mumbled something.
"What?" Madison took a step towards Reagan. "What'd you say?"
"I'm not coming," Reagan said softly.
"What?!" everyone exclaimed.
Reagan quickly explained what Mr. Crusher had told her about being vice branch head.
When she finished, Hamilton spoke up. "But why's he pick you?" he asked, sounding slightly insulted.
Reagan shrugged.
"What about Ian?" Natalie asked softly. "Are you going to abandon us, just like that?"
"I'm not abandoning you," Reagan argued. "If anything, I'm helping. Jonah's got the Janus branch behind us, Ian and Natalie have the Lucians, Amy has the Madrigals, and we have Alistair on our side with the Ekats. Tomas is the only branch that we don't have an assured alliance with. If I'm here, I can be the inside source, and maybe be able to call the Tomas to action if they're ever needed."
Amy had to admit, Reagan had a point. They needed the Tomas branch behind them, and Mr. Crushen obviously had things on his mind other than one kidnapped teenager, among other things.
Amy suddenly realized that everyone was waiting for her to speak. When did I become the one with final say? she thought.
She took a deep breath. "Okay," she said.
Reagan looked relieved. She was probably worried Amy would try to talk her out of it. Dan had other ideas, however.
"Wait, hold up," he said, turning to his sister. "So that's it? You're just going to let her stay?"
"I can't tell her what to do," Amy said. "And her plan makes sense."
"We're losing a crucial member of our team!" he argued.
"You're not losing me," Reagan cut in. "I'm just going to handle things from this end. Let me do this, Dan."
Dan looked up at her. Finally, he let out a breath. "Fine." He turned away as the others moved forward to say their goodbyes. He stepped aside as they moved past him, though the door and up the stairs to the surface.
"Don't be mad at me," Reagan said. Dan turned to face her and realized he was the only one left.
"I'm not mad," he said. He cracked a grin. "You're gonna be a good, uh, vice branch head."
Reagan laughed. "I'm not gonna be that yet," she said. "I'm only training."
"Oh. Well, I'm sure you'll be good at that, too."
They stood in silence for several seconds.
"Well," Reagan finally said, "I should probably go convince the Crusher to send out some agents to help find Ian."
"Yeah," Dan replied, "I should probably go…um, go."
Reagan smiled, and offered up her fist. "Good luck, Dan."
Dan bumped his fist with hers. "You, too."
Once upon a time, Sinead Starling would have loved the idea of being waited on hand and foot by her brothers. Now, she wanted nothing more than to be able to get her own glass of water when she wanted one.
Not that she wasn't physically capable of getting her own beverage. But every time she even shifted her position on the couch in a way that would imply an intention of getting up, Ned, Ted, Jonah, or some combination of the three would suddenly appear, asking her what she wanted and insisting that she should just lie down and rest.
It had been like that ever since they returned home from the hospital. Sinead didn't know who was worse, her overprotective brothers or the guilt-ridden Jonah. She perked up when her phone buzzed and Amy's name came on the screen. (Ted offered to answer it for her, to which the annoyed Sinead yelled, "I CAN ANSWER MY PHONE WITHOUT INJURING MYSELF, THANK YOU VERY MUCH.")
"You do not know how relieved I am to talk to someone who hasn't offered to carry me to the bathroom," Sinead said after answering.
Amy's chuckle came through the phone. "I would definitely offer to if I wasn't in South Africa right now."
"Thanks," Sinead said with mock gratitude. "What's up? How's everyone?"
"Not great," Amy said, her tone becoming serious. "Ian's gone missing."
Sinead bolted upright, then quickly regretted the action as a pain shot up her side. "Missing? When? How?" From across the room, Ted looked up from his book.
Amy gave Sinead a rundown of what had happened. "And now Mr. Crushen is sending us to London, on a completely different mission," she finished. "In fact, I'm not even one-hundred percent sure I understand the mission. If I didn't know any better, I would think he's trying to get us out of the way." She paused. "Honestly, I don't think he wants to be bothered with Ian's disappearance. He still has a prejudice against Lucians, especially the Kabras. He probably thinks Ian went and joined Isabel and the Vespers."
Sinead pursed her lips. "Do you think that?"
"No," Amy said without hesitation. "He hates Isabel. And besides, he wouldn't leave Natalie." Someone said something to Amy, too muffled for Sinead to hear, though it sounded like Dan. "Hey, Sinead, I have to go. We're about to head to the airport. I'll call you when we land in London."
"Okay," Sinead said. "Anything I can do?"
"Rest," Amy said.
Sinead made a face. "That's what everyone's telling me to do. I've had enough resting. I want to kick some Vesper butt."
Amy laughed. "I think you symbolically kicked some Vesper butt when you saved Jonah from that bullet. They told you that he probably would have died if the bullet hit where it was aimed at him, right? I talked to Fiske earlier."
Sinead sighed. "Yeah, and now Jonah feels all guilty. He made me waffles this morning. I didn't even know we had waffle batter in the kitchen."
"Coming, Dan! Sorry, Sinead, I really have to run. Enjoy the attention, you deserve it. I'll talk to you soon."
"Be safe," Sinead said. "Don't be an idiot like me."
"I won't, I'll just try to be brave like you." Sinead could hear Amy's smile through the phone. "Bye."
"Bye."
Sinead hung up with a sigh. Ted watched her quietly.
Sinead looked up. "Ted, could you get me a lemonade and a crossword puzzle, please?"
Ted jumped to his feet. "Definitely! Be right back." He sprinted out of the room.
Sinead relaxed back onto her pillows. Maybe this wasn't so bad after all.
Dan rocked with the motion of the Hummer as Hamilton drove over the bumpy road. Everyone was quiet; the only sounds were the engine and the occasional exclamation from Hamilton every time the Hummer went over a particularly nasty bump.
"STOP!"
Everyone's heads snapped around to look at Natalie. Hamilton slammed on the breaks, looking around on the road to see if he had been about to hit something. Seeing nothing, he too turned to look at the girl.
"What?" he asked. "What happened?"
Natalie's eyes were wide. She was staring forward, her eyes focused on nothing, her mind somewhere far away. "South Africa," she said. "We're in South Africa."
Amy exchanged a worried glance with Dan.
"Did she hit her head?" Madison asked.
"I'm not deaf," Natalie snapped. "And I wasn't hit anywhere." Her face went back to its look of concentration. "Mum…I mean, Isabel, used to mention a place in South Africa. Ian and I used to assume it was a Lucian stronghold, but she and our father would talk about it like it was just a Kabra place." Natalie looked at Amy. "If it was Isabel who took Ian, I think…no, I'm sure that's where they are."
Dan looked doubtful. "Do you think she would go someplace where you would think to find her?"
Natalie shook her head quickly. "That's just it. I didn't think to find her there. I mean, not at first. They never spoke of it directly to Ian or me, and not often in our presence, especially not when we were older. I wouldn't have even remembered it if I hadn't been going through some old files lately." She paused, then nodded, as if convincing herself. "I just need to make one call. I can get someone to check those files and find the exact location." Her eyes lit up. "Then we can go save Ian!"
"Whoa, whoa, wait a minute," said Hamilton from the driver's seat. "We're supposed to be heading to London. Don't you think we should give this info to the Crusher, and get him to send some agents to check it out?"
Natalie glared at Hamilton. "Mr. Crushen doesn't care about Ian. He thinks Ian deserted us and joined the Vespers."
"Natalie, that's not true," Amy said, not very convincingly.
"Yes, it is," Natalie said, her voice rising. "But he didn't. I know he didn't. So do you. If we tell Mr. Crushen, he'll just tell us to stick with our mission and go to London. He might even send some agents to make sure we don't try to go after Ian. He thinks it's a lost cause. But I know my brother isn't a lost cause." Her voice was almost at a shriek. "We have to save him."
Amy reached out and grabbed the shaking girl's hands. "It's okay, it's okay," she said softly, waiting for Natalie to calm down. After a moment, she said, "Okay. Make your call." She looked at the others. "We're going to find Ian."
Here I am apologizing again. But mostly I'd just like to thank you, all of you, for sticking with this story so far. I started it when I was 13 and about to start high school. I starting writing it because I couldn't wait for Vespers Rising to come out. This was before I even know this site existed, before I had any contact with any other people in this fandom besides a few of my friends who read the books, too. Now I'm 17 and a senior in high school, and I still love these books and these characters as much as ever. You guys have always been so kind and patient with my erratic updates and crappy writing from the start. Every time I get a message asking me when I'm going to update, it both stresses me out and makes me really happy. But let's concentrate on the happy part.
Anyway, I probably say this every time, but I am always so grateful for how kind you all always are to me. And I wish I could promise you updates more often in return for your kindness, but I don't want to make you any promises I can't keep. But I am determined to finish this story, even if there are a dozen plot holes (most of which already exist).
I'm gonna reply to some reviews now because why break tradition?
Response to Reviews:
(Note: I'm only replying to those that were reviews of Chapter 36, although I got a bunch from people who just joined the party and reviewed chapters as they went, so if you are one of those people, hello and welcome to the party)
39cluesfan675: Abracadabra I updated wow it's a Christmas miracle
AwesomeAbbyLikesMusic: I'm really glad you appreciate the non-romantic parts, too. I love romance as much as the next fangirl, but I enjoy writing the other parts as well. And WOOO THEATRE PEOPLE UNITE
Guest of awesome: I don't really have a response for your review it just made me happy thank you
Songbird6802: To answer your question I definitely ship Amian more than Natan I never liked Natan although I ship their bromance 100%
cookie cahill: You are also amazing and awesome
questions: 1. Amy is worried about Ian because hE WAS FREAKING KIDNAPPED. 2. Rose is my middle name, KT is really just for Katie which is my name lmao. 3. Jamy is icky.
theharrypotterworld: Yeah I haven't decided if I'm against Deagan either idk man sometimes the story just kind of takes over and before I know it I'm writing something that resembles Deagan
bluester007: I can't guarantee a quick update after this but here's this one for now!
Cutiekate8: Yes same I hated Day of Doom so much let's not speak of it let's pretend it never happened what Day of Doom what's that idk
Clouded Harmony: Who knows how long this will go? Planning is not a word in my vocabulary
And to everyone who reviewed I love you all I can't get over how lovely you all are with your reviews you all are my favorite people ever
Maybe I'll be able to sneak in another chapter before my winter break is over? We'll see, no promises. For all I know, you all have completely forgot about me and this story. You'll get the notification that it's been updated and be like what who is this person KTRose12 probably some weirdo
Okay it's almost 2AM and I'm babbling, thank you all again for sticking with me, and I really appreciate your continued support. I write for you guys. Reviews are always appreciated, even just to know someone's still reading.
Love,
KT