Wisteria (Wisteria Series) (30 page)

“Well, I think I know. And I know you may not want to accept it.”

Her mother knew?

“There was a rumor that he was infected. He was like a super carrier and he would’ve infected the water on the island. I heard they cured him.”

“But it’s just a rumor, right?” Frantically, she grabbed her mother’s upper arms. “It’s not true!” Wisteria waited and watched for a sign that her mother didn’t believe the rumor.

Her mother’s expression remained serious. “I don’t know if it’s true, but he was cured by one of the trackers as he left the island.”

“No!” Wisteria felt breathless and the tears she was holding back began to fall. “Who killed him?”

“I don’t know who cured him and I’m not going to find out because I don’t want you to be hurt every time you see that person.” Her mother gently stroked her back.

“At least, tell me—it wasn’t you?”

“No, it wasn’t me. I wouldn’t do that to you,” her mother replied softly as Wisteria wept.

* * * * *

Bach sped the dilapidated jeep he’d gottenfrom Mrs. Kuti through the abandoned side streets, back to the den. While he drove, he tried to digest what had just happened and tried to accept that he was leaving Wisteria behind.
Why hadn’t he renewed her? Why did he care if she hated him?
Thayns are devoted without question.

Hitting the steering wheel, he kicked himself for being a coward and an idiot. He’d gotten so carried away with his own feelings, he’d forgotten who he really was, a Sen-Son. If he’d acted like one, instead of being distracted by Terrans, then he would have her with him. She would be a Thayn, but she would be with him.

By the middle of the afternoon, he arrived at his den. As soon as he reached the gates, he noticed there was something different. Someone had set up a piron net. Parking outside, he jumped over the gate. He looked around, but saw no one. Three weeks was a long time to be away and he should have checked back sooner.

Opening the front door, he saw no sign of Enric, Felip, or even Piper. Instead, he found seven Terrans who stood while dressed in dark blue. Unlike the Terrans in the Dungeons or on the Isle of Smythe, these were clean humans.

“Eminent,” they chorused and fell to their knees. They were his brother Lluc’s Thayns from home. “Have you been hurt, Eminent?” a tall, dark Terran asked without standing. “You’re bleeding.” He recognized her as Nular servant, one of Lluc’s first Thayns. For that reason, she’d become one of Lluc’s Favorites; that and Nular was very attractive—for a Terran.

“Where is my brother?” Bach asked.

“Please come this way.” She led him through to the underground staircase. After descending many flights of steps they came to a door where she ran her hand over the control orb. The door lid opened revealing an elevator.

Bach followed her in.

They arrived at the underground mansion and the doors parted. After journeying through a series of corridors they came to another door. Again, she ran her hand over the control orb and that door opened.

His nineteen-year-old brother Lluc stood in the darkened room, talking with Enric. Like all of the Family, Lluc had green eyes. Like their mother, Lluc also had black hair and shana spots that ran down the sides of his neck and disappeared beneath the collar of his shirt.

Nular waited by the door for Bach to pass her.

“Thank you Nular,” he said to her.

“Why?” She looked bewildered. “I am here to serve you. Do with me as you wish.”

Bach knew then that he’d been around Terrans for too long. He’d forgotten again, who he was and how to treat them.

“Brother.” Lluc hurried toward him. “You look…?” he halted to note the clothes Bach wore and shook his head. “Almost Terran.”

Lluc meant it as a joke but the comment stung.

“We were not expecting you so soon. Felip said you were returning in a day or two. Apparently, you had business to attend to with the Terrans. Where is the Thayn Felip said you would be bringing?”

Bach looked around the room. Felip wasn’t there. He was probably still in Jarthan with the obsidian coral.

“I do not keep Terrans in my home.” Bach defaulted to his official stance of before.

“What happened to you?” Lluc inquired. “You look as if you have been beaten.”

Bach grimaced. He didn’t want to admit the humans had once again gotten the better of him “The Terrans tried to kill me, brother.” He described how the soldiers imprisoned him and how he escaped. However, he didn’t mention Wisteria or her mother. Bach didn’t want his Family to think Wisteria was involved.

When he finished, his older brother laughed, but Bach saw his brother was pretending to be light-hearted. “They can never hurt you. You are being overly dramatic. The only reason the Terrans hurt you was because you were a child.”

“They killed our mother.”

Lluc’s smile faded. “That was different. That was the Red Phoenix.”

“Red Phoenix is here. They were not destroyed as we thought.”

“It does not matter anymore. We are leaving. I will not discuss something as distasteful as Terrans,” Lluc said intently. Then he genuinely laughed. “I have not seen you in fourteen months. We should be celebrating. Nular, what wine did you bring from Jarthan?”

“We have sandwine.” The young Thayn smiled warmly while still waiting at the door.

Bach was uncomfortable with her being there.

“Excellent,” Enric piped in.

“What else do you need, huh?” Lluc laughed.

“Eminent,” Nular said to Lluc. “I suspect sir, Eminent Bach would prefer water as he has travelled so far.”

“Have you forgotten your place?” Enric scowled over at the Thayn, unhappy with her forwardness.

She was right though. Bach knew he was in no shape to consume liquor with all the poisons the humans had pumped into him.

Nular looked confused for a moment and then rushed to Lluc’s feet. “Please forgive me, Eminent?”

Bach laughed.

“This is funny to you?” Lluc asked.

“Yes, she reminds me of Enric’s Thayn, Piper,” Bach said. “But Nular is still considerably less homicidal.” He helped the girl to her feet. “Actually, water would be wonderful.”

“What are you doing?” Lluc pulled Bach away from her. “Since when do you touch them?”

Letting go, Bach wiped his hands on his shirt.
Yes, he’d lived with the Terrans too long.

“Where is your steward?” Enric asked Lluc. “He is the one that should handle your Thayn. The only reason Bach is doing it is because he is not here.”

“No, Nular is fine. Most days.” Lluc then said to her sternly, “Get him water, and then leave us.”

She nodded and scurried out. Lluc watched her leave and then turned back to Bach. “At least she is better than my newest Thayn.” Lluc cringed. “Nia, she has issues.”

As Bach walked deeper into the room, he noticed a large, black glass window. The dark glass was the threshold to Jarthan, the realm that led home. They had one in the Hunter Tower, but it was destroyed when Red Phoenix arrived. Sinking into the nearest sofa, he groaned as he relaxed in its soft cushions and felt his body shutting down as it started to regenerate. Once he had fed, he’d sleep for days. Drifting off to sleep, images of Wisteria flooded his mind.

“Bach.” His brother’s voice woke him. “You will have plenty of time to regenerate. We must talk.”

“What is it?” Bach opened his eyes.

“Did you get all the obsidian coral from the island?”

“We collected all we found. It is possible the Terrans have more on the island. Send the Thayn in to find it.” Bach pointed in the general direction of the door. “Nular or one of the others.”

“Perhaps?”

“There is already one Thayn on the island. Nate Weiss. He is one of their doctors.”

“Nate Weiss? Are you sure?”

Bach described the doctor but neither recognized him.

“No one would be that stupid. Since the Nero sickness started killing their people, the last thing any of us need is our Thayn becoming infected.”

“Not if they expect the Thayn to die here,” Enric said.

“Why would you renew a Terran and send them to die?” Bach pointed out. If he renewed Wisteria, he would treat her as Lluc treated Nular—well, probably better. She’d always be kept close to him.

“What else would they be used for?” Enric asked.

“Enric, when you finish the Great Walk and ascend to the Ino caste, you will realize it is not that simple,” Lluc reprimanded him.

“Try and explain it to me,” Enric demanded.

“With the Nero virus, there are not that many healthy Terrans available to replenish the Thayn that we may lose,” Lluc explained. “They are luxury items now.”

“So? Simply breed more,” Enric said.

“Thayns do not naturally reproduce like Terrans,” Lluc replied. “We have to artificially breed them and that is a lot of work for a Terran. No, we need to keep their numbers up until the disease has run its course and then the Terrans will start breeding again.”

“Why do you not compel your Thayn to?” Enric suggested.

“You cannot force a Thayn to reproduce. It has never worked in the past,” Lluc continued. “They have to want to.”

“What about Felip?” Enric asked.

“He is the product of a free Terran.” Lluc shuddered.

Most of details surrounding cultivation of Thayns were kept from the lower castes. Since Enric would join the highest caste, the Ino caste, after the Great Walk, Lluc told him now.

“Why do we not end this sickness?” Enric asked the obvious question. “Then we can have all the Thayns we want.”

“Because the Terrans created this sickness to destroy us,” Lluc said angrily. “They want it so badly? They can have it.”

Enric nodded in agreement, but Bach wasn’t so sure.

 
“About our problem?” Bach interjected.

“The obsidian coral you sent us?” Lluc held out a small black rock. “It is synthetic.”

“It is impossible to recreate it!” Bach got up and grabbed the stone. “The Family has been working on ways for millennia.” He was astonished the Terrans were able to achieve such a feat.

“They weren’t able to replicate the coral. It is a type of crystal designed to mimic obsidian coral,” Lluc explained. “This has a lot of its properties, but if you try to journey with this, you will die.”

“How do we know that?” Bach got a bad feeling as he glared at Enric who shook his head. “Where is Piper?”

“Who?” Lluc asked.

“We had to send someone through. She wanted to go to Jarthan, so I gave her the crystal,” Enric defended. “The effect was obviously amplified because she was Terran, but its impact was clear.”

“You sent her to die?” Bach couldn’t believe this. “Why?”

“Why not?” Enric replied. “Why does that concern you?”

“Because we would not take that risk with the Family,” Bach said with quiet rage.

“Exactly, so I sent her. I fail to see the problem,”

“Bach… focus,” Lluc said bluntly. “Felip has journeyed to Jarthan with the remaining crystals, but they are sealed in gold, so he will be perfectly safe. But this has concerned our father. He will send empirics to investigate and determine what is going on in that island. And you both can come home.”

A massive weight was lifted from Bach’s shoulders.
I am going home.
Maybe he didn’t love Wisteria. Yes, he only needed her to pass time on Terra because he was lonely. Once he was home, everything would be different. “So we failed the Great Walk?”

“No, you found that coral. You will be honored as a man. You have nothing else to prove,” Lluc revealed. “When you get home, you will be part of the Ino caste once your feet touch the Jade Ocean.”

“Why do you think the Terrans are making this obsidian crystal?” Bach enquired.

“Who knows why those monsters do what they do,” Enric seethed. “That is no longer your problem.”

Someone knocked on the door and Lluc’s countenance softened. “Come.”

Turning around, Bach saw Nular entering with a tray, on it a tumbler, a jug, and plate of stew.

“Once you are slightly stronger, we will journey to Jarthan. I believe it will be better for you to complete your regeneration away from Terra,” Lluc reasoned.

The journey through the threshold to Jarthan would only take seventeen hours, so it would only put his body under minimal stress. Even a free Terran with enough obsidian coral could make the trip. “Regeneration in Jarthan, fantastic.” Bach grinned and stretched.

“And better still, you will get to see Alba,” Enric added.

Alba was Enric
’s sixteen-year-old sister and Bach’s close friend. Several members of the Third Pillar—including Bach’s father and brothers—expected him to select Alba as his intended. Of course, Alba would have to want that as well, but Bach doubted that would be an issue. He hadn’t given marriage any serious thought. He was still young and no one expected him to for a few years, but now since he’d met Wisteria, the idea of announcing an intended was secretly terrifying.