The Legacy: A Custodes Noctis Book Read online

  “Let’s go,” Galen said, getting out of the car. He was unsteady on his feet and leaned against the car.

  “Can I give you a hand?” she said, standing beside him. “You look terrible. It’s quite a hike from here.”

  “I’m okay, at least for now.” He pushed himself off the car and followed her down a path. He had to grit his teeth to keep going. The sun was starting to set, bathing the forest in an eerie red glow. That might be symbolic, and that doesn’t make me feel better. She’d stopped in a ring of trees.

  “They found her here. I don’t think this is where she was killed. The police didn’t say anything, but I have this feeling, you know?”

  “Yeah, I understand,” he said as he started scouting around the small clearing. There was nothing there, nothing looked disturbed or had any evidence of a ritual being performed. Galen closed his eyes and focused on the resonance of the forest. “You’re right, it wasn’t here, something dumped your daughter here.” He was just about to turn and leave when something stopped him dead in his tracks.

  A scream carried across the forest. “No! Galen!” His brother’s voice was terrified, anguished.

  “Rob!” Galen shouted. He turned to run in the direction of the shout. Trying to reach out and get a feeling for where Rob was, panic flowed back from his brother, panic that was quickly becoming terror. Rhiannon grabbed his arm, he turned on her in his desperation, reflected fear from Rob coloring his reactions. “Let me go!” he growled dangerously.

  “It echoes here, you can’t know where that came from.”

  “Please, let me go, please.” He ran out of the clearing in what he thought was the right direction. The forest was getting dark, and the path he was on ended abruptly. He turned back and tripped, going down hard. Galen just lay there, unable to get up, pretty sure he’d done some new injury to himself. A hand touched his back. “Rob sounded so scared. I have to find him,” Galen said, hearing the desperation in his voice.

  “Galen?” Rhiannon said gently. “Come on. We need to get you out of here.”

  “That was my brother, he must be here, somewhere.”

  “Sound carries out here. It echoes. I’m so sorry.” She helped him to his feet and held his arm until he stopped swaying. “I know this won’t make you feel better, but they said my daughter…the timeline, she’d been killed on the full moon. That’s tomorrow.”

  “I don’t know…” His watch beeped. I can’t leave. I can’t. He’s here somewhere. No, I have to talk to Dad and Uncle Bobby. I need them here. I need their help. And the full moon’s tomorrow. Maybe, just maybe, he has a little time. “I need to get back to the rest stop.” He turned and followed the path back to the car. “Rob?” He reached out for his brother. “Hang on, I’m looking for you.”

  * * * * *

  A groan from the bed woke him. Galen blinked the familiar nightmare away. Nearly every time he slept for the past ten years he relived those days. The room came into focus. It was late, the hospital had the hushed quality of night. He could hear the nurses talking quietly at their station, and somewhere a TV was on, the harsh canned laughter carrying down the hallway. He laid a hand on Rob’s forehead and guided him back into healing sleep.

  “How’s he doing?” Mike asked from the door.

  “You tell me.” Galen stood and stretched, leaning on the bed rail as the room spun. “Aren’t you off already?”

  “Things got exciting downstairs. We had a shooting and then someone found a kid all cut up.” Mike scrubbed a hand across his face. “Poor thing looked like someone tried to bleed her dry. Someone heard her crying, they found her buried in a pit south of town.”

  “Really?” Galen said absently. “People are sick.” He was watching as Mike examined his brother. “Well?”

  “He’s good, I think the bruises are even starting to fade.”

  Galen closed his eyes as relief washed over him. “Thank every god in the pantheon.”

  “Covering all the bases as always?” Mike said with a little laugh.

  “Always.” Galen smiled. “Thanks, Mike. I’ll walk down with you. I need something to eat.” He put a hand down on his brother’s arm. “I’ll be right back.”

  “He can’t hear you,” Mike said as they walked out of the room.

  “Yes he can, trust me in this, you can hear a lot.”

  “Sounds like you’re speaking from personal experience.”

  “Yeah, I am.” He let the subject drop as the elevator opened in front of them. “What?” Galen said, Mike was shaking his head.

  “Sometimes I’m a little in awe of you. I wouldn’t have given the guy a snowball’s chance in hell. He hadn’t stirred since he was brought in. I was sure I’d lose him.”

  “Rob?” Galen said, frowning. The sudden anger surprised him, but he clamped it down, knowing the source. They thought they were doing the best.

  “Yeah, sorry, I should have told you, I didn’t know what to say.”

  “It’s okay, Mike.”

  “But he’s going to be alright, I’m not just saying that, hell, he’ll be able to go home tomorrow.”

  “Tomorrow? Good. Want to join me? My treat?” Galen said. He enjoyed Mike’s company, and when they weren’t talking “shop” they usually had a good time. Sometimes shoptalk got a little heated.

  “Sure.” Mike wandered through the cafeteria and ordered for both of them. Galen waited by the cash register and paid the ticket. “You need to eat meat,” Mike said, shoving the tray towards him.

  “Sorry, can’t.”

  “You always say that.”

  “Well, I can’t.” Galen shrugged. “I told you.”

  “I don’t know why,” Mike said with a shrug. “I’ve smelled burns.”

  “Burns, after the fact, Mike, not while they were burning. And this one was different,” Galen paused. “It’s not just that. The smell of blood bothers me, too.”

  “You’ll have to tell me the whole story sometime, Galen,” Mike said, frowning at him with concern.

  “Someday, but for now accept I don’t eat meat.”

  “Your loss, my gain,” Mike said, biting into his burger. Galen laughed and they settled into a discussion about various bands playing in the area. Mike was a long-time supporter of The Urban Werewolves and Galen was grateful for his support. The doctor, for all that he was only twelve years older, had kind of adopted Galen, offering support, encouragement and the occasional smack on the head.

  Mike was laughing at an off-color joke a new intern had told him, Galen laughed along, his mind elsewhere. Something was bothering him. What? A flicker of something awakened in his brain. He sipped his coffee trying to figure out what it was. Something, but what?

  “I need to hit the sack,” Mike said, yawning. Galen focused back on his friend. “I have a lunch date tomorrow with Brandy.”

  “Brandy?” Galen laughed at the doctor. “You’re a bit of a slut, Mike.”

  “I resent that,” Mike said, punching him lightly on the arm. “I’m more than a bit of a slut.”

  “Right.” Galen walked out of the cafeteria, to the elevators with Mike. The doctor got off in the lobby and Galen went up to the third floor.

  “Someone stopped by looking for you,” the nurse said, coming out of Rob’s room. “He said he was your uncle and wanted to know if your brother was okay. I didn’t say anything, patient confidentiality. I didn’t even say if he was on this floor.”

  “Thank you,” Galen said, the alarm bells ringing in his head. “I’m back, Rob. You know, I wonder if that’s what I felt earlier. I think It’s back and looking for me again, looking for you to finish what It started ten years ago.”

  He dragged the chair around the bed to the side by the window. It was away from the equipment the nurses needed to check on a regular basis. Galen lowered the railing, settled in the chair, laid his hand on his brother’s arm and carefully put his feet on the bed. Despite the coffee he had consumed, he was asleep within several minutes.

  His feet hit t
he floor when he rolled over, pulling him out of a deep sleep, filled equally with nightmares and comforting dreams of home. Galen opened his eyes, gingerly moving his neck, stiff from sleeping in the chair. Light was filtering in from behind the curtains. He stood up, stretching and rolling his shoulders. Walking over to the windows, he looked out at the parking lot behind the hospital. He idly watched people as they arrived, most seemed to be staff, getting out of their cars and striding purposefully across the lot.

  “Hello?” a light baritone voice said, sounding confused.

  Galen’s heart started pounding. He swallowed and, taking a deep breath, turned around. “Rob,” he said, walking over to the bed.

  Rob looked at him, the color suddenly draining out of his face. He frowned, tears at the edges of his slate-blue eyes. “Galen?” he whispered.

  Galen sat on the edge of the bed. “Hey, Brat.”

  “Galen?” The tears escaped Rob’s eyes and were trickling over the bruises on his face. He held his hand out towards Galen.

  The gesture was reminiscent of Rob’s thirteen-year-old self. It was too much for Galen. He reached out and pulled his brother up and into his arms in a fierce hug. Rob let out a soft sob, Galen felt his brother’s arms go around him. He felt the tears start as the ache in his chest, an ache that had been there for ten years, was suddenly easing. “It’s okay, Rob” he said softly. It’s okay. Staying here, letting him know, it is okay. I think we were wrong.

  His brother pulled away, looking at Galen, the tears still on his face. “You’re dead.”

  “I was,” Galen said, swallowing the lump in his throat. “I’m better now.”

  “Galen,” Rob said, his voice hoarse with emotion. “Are you sure you’re alive?”

  “Yeah.” Galen laid a gentle hand on his brother’s leg, opening himself to Rob, letting the bond slowly repair itself. “I’m pretty sure I’m alive.”

  Rob swallowed again, a frown on his face, the tears still trickling out of his eyes. He looked around the room. “Hospital?”

  “You were brought in yesterday morning,” Galen said, allowing the change of subject. He scrubbed the tears off his face.

  “Yesterday?” Rob blinked, looking at him. “What happened?”

  “You were attacked, the police brought you in.”

  “I don’t remember.” He frowned. “Can we go?”

  “We need to get you checked out by the doc first, then we can go.”

  “I don’t like hospitals, Galen,” he said, swallowing. “You know why.”

  “I know. I’ll go see if I can find someone, then we can go home.”

  “Home?” There was a note of longing in his brother’s voice.

  “Yeah, Rob. Home.”

  Chapter Five

  The hospital corridor was busy as Galen rolled Rob down towards the entrance. His brother had been quiet since he'd come back with the doctor. Galen sighed, watching people walk towards them. A nurse turned the corner and headed their way. Rob sat upright in the chair.

  “Galen,” Rob said softly, his voice barely more than a whisper.

  “What?” Galen said, dropping a hand down on his brother’s shoulder. A shiver of anticipation ran up the contact. Rob’s heart was beating fast.

  “That nurse, coming this way.” Rob glanced back casually. “She…”

  “Okay.” Galen maneuvered the wheelchair into a group of people. As they passed the nurse, she looked over and met Galen’s eyes. What he saw there caused his heart to speed up as well. He thought he could see the reflection of It on her face, lurking behind the sparkling green of her eyes. Galen pushed the chair quickly to the entrance and handed the token to the valet. Rob stood up, still a little shaky, and waited beside Galen while the valet fetched the car. “We’ll be home soon,” Galen said.

  “Home,” Rob nodded, he smiled as the valet pulled Galen’s jeep up. “You still have it?”

  “It’s only ten years old. It was new for my eighteenth birthday, you know.” Galen walked around to the driver’s side of the jeep. He slid behind the wheel and smiled over at his brother, the bright carefree smile he remembered was on Rob’s face. “Low miles, I’ve taken good care of it. They wanted to get me something else, something new, when I turned twenty-one, but I couldn’t give this up. It was the car…”

  “Yeah, I know,” Rob said. He was playing with the tuning on the radio, flipping through the stations, stopping briefly on the classical station. “Mozart at Eight” was on, the DJ chattering about J.C. Bach.

  “It was Mozart.” Rob’s voice was soft.

  “What?”

  “That day, Mozart, ‘Jupiter.’ I remember. You put it in right before we pulled off. Right before you gave me my bracelet.” Rob looked over at him, his eyes searching Galen’s face.

  “It was. And I haven’t been able to listen to it since. I took a date to an evening of Mozart, she was mad when I left during the encore.” Galen chuckled. “Rob…” He stopped himself, not ready yet. “Did you drive?”

  “Yeah, I left my car…” Rob frowned, Galen saw the confused look on his brother’s face out of the corner of his eye. “I think I stopped for coffee? That might be it.”

  “Okay, well, what kind of car is it?”

  Rob looked over, his face turning red. “It’s, uh, a lot like this one.”

  Galen smiled, ignoring the little twist in his stomach. “We’ll get someone looking for it. I have a few friends who can find anything, anywhere.” He laughed. “Anything, anywhere. I mean that.”

  “Anything, anywhere?” Rob asked with raised eyebrows.

  “Yeah,” Galen smiled. “I have some, hmm, interesting contacts here and there.”

  “Like Dad’s and Uncle Bobby’s? Not all human, not all living?”

  “Something like that. Although I think we’ll start with the humans. They can find it, I’m sure, without bothering anyone else.”

  “Good, I’d hate to lose it.”

  Galen pulled up behind his building and hopped out of the car. Rob stepped out slowly, looking up at the building, an expression of disbelief on his face. He glanced over at Galen and then walked to the door. Galen unlocked it and they went upstairs. He opened the door to the apartment and Rob walked in, still with the look of disbelief.

  “It’s still awhile before the shop opens. Why don’t you grab a shower? I’ll find something for you to wear. You’re close to my size, I think I can find you something.”

  “Sure.” Rob walked towards the bathroom. Galen watched him go. He went into his bedroom and dug through the dresser, pulling out a change of clothes. Walking to the bathroom, he heard the shower running. He knocked before opening the door, then dropped the clothes on the closed toilet lid and quietly closed the door.

  Galen stood outside for a moment before turning and walking back to the bedroom. He got himself a change of clothes and then sank down onto the bed, his head in his hands. The emotion that was setting in surprised him a little. He could feel the tears in his eyes, an ache in his chest and a lump in his throat. “I think It’s back, that nurse, the man in the shop yesterday,” Galen sighed. “Dad? Uncle Bobby? Rob’s here, but you both know that, don’t you? He’s actually here,” he said to the quiet room. His father suddenly felt close. “He’s really here. Does it mean something? If it does, what? I think It’s back, I need you two. We…Rob and I, need you two.” He heard the catch in his voice as he said it. Weight settled on the bed beside him and a warm arm was placed over his shoulders.

  “Galen?”

  He looked up at his brother. Rob’s eyes were a little red around the edges. “Yeah?”

  “I…”

  “It’s a lot to take in, isn’t it?” Galen said softly.

  “A little.” Rob smiled. “I left you some hot water.”

  “How are you feeling?” Galen ran his eyes over the bruises still coloring his brother’s face.

  “Sore, but mostly okay. Of course, you know that,” Rob added with a laugh.

  “Yeah.” Galen sat
quietly for a moment longer, aware of the warmth resting on his shoulders. With a sigh he stood up. “I’ll be right out.”

  Rob was waiting for him when he finished, standing in front of the pictures of their father and uncle. His brother smiled at him and they headed down to the shop. Galen stopped to look out the back door. “Always have to check, people leave things out there sometimes.”

  “Things?” Rob asked as they walked through the shop.

  Galen shrugged. “Yeah, things.”

  “Like?”

  “Oh, you know, people, animals…” Galen smiled. “My shop functions as a clinic, sort of…I can stitch a wound and things like that, people come here sometimes.”

  “Or drop the victim off outside?”

  “Yeah, that too,” Galen said, opening the front door. “I need coffee, you?”

  Rob laughed. “Do I have to have it cut half with milk?”

  Galen laughed too, remembering the indignant protests of his brother when he had been allowed coffee, but only lattes. “No, I think you can have real coffee if you want.”

  Galen led the way thought the shop and out to the espresso stand. “Morning, Becci,” he said as she slid the window open. He heard his brother’s little intake of breath.

  “Good morning, Galen, your mocha’s almost ready. What does your friend want?”

  Galen looked over at Rob. “Well?” When he received no answer, he gave him a discrete nudge. “Coffee?”

  “What? Oh, Americano, thanks,” Rob said, smiling at Becci.

  “Okay.” She started the coffee, then turned back looking from one to the other. “You two look alike.”

  “Rob’s my brother,” Galen said, grinning.

  “You never mentioned a brother,” Becci pouted, “never once.”

  “We haven’t seen each other in awhile. Rob’s been…” He stopped, unsure what to say.