Midheaven (Ascendant Trilogy Book 2) Read online

  “Yes, listen we won’t have much time now. You’ve solved the box?”

  Confusion replaced my initial relief. “The puzzle box?”

  “Yes, yes Charlotte. You called and so I assume you’ve solved the box puzzle.”

  My throat tightened as the silence stretched between us. I had not solved the box, The puzzle box was sitting on a hidden shelf in my mother’s library back at the condo.

  “Charlotte?”

  I had tried, for months after returning from Somerset. But there had been nothing. I had not moved the puzzle even one step further along. I had grown frustrated, mad even. It was simply too hard, I couldn’t solve it.

  I gave up.

  “Charlotte?”

  “No,” I whispered.

  “What,” he sounded panicked. “No what Charlotte?”

  “No, I haven’t solved it.”

  The connection hummed between us for a few seconds. “But you’re close,” he said. “You’re close to figuring it out Charlotte.”

  I was nowhere near. “No.”

  He didn’t speak again for so long, I wondered if he’d hung up on me. “Nigel?”

  “There’s no time now Charlotte. They may even know of the puzzle’s existence.”

  Who, I felt like asking. Emerick? Emerick’s men? I stopped and looked around for my photographer.

  “You need to come back…with the box. Had we known things were going to progress so quickly you never would have been allowed to leave in the first place.”

  “What? What’s progressed so quickly?”

  “Have you seen the news Charlotte? England’s prime minister died last week.”

  I didn’t understand. “But what’s that…”

  “Charlotte, Emerick is to be appointed party leader. He will be the next prime minister of England.”

  The urgency in his voice coupled with everything I didn’t understand was raising a panic in my chest. “I don’t understand how this has anything to do with me solving the box.”

  “Charlotte, whatever secrets that box has to offer up, whatever help…” his voice cracked and failed him. “Emerick will hunt them, Franzen and your mother, he will not allow them to continue, will not allow them the chance, the possibility of continuing their mission. Since Franzen’s decline, Emerick’s global influence has spread like fire. Charlotte, you are coming here, today. There will be a plane for you at LAX at four. Bring the box, bring everything. You can’t say anything to Simon but know that you are telling him goodbye. Franzen should have never allowed you or the box to leave Gaersum Aern, we can no longer afford sentimental decision making. I’m hanging up now Charlotte, Aaron will find you and take you to LAX. Be ready.”

  The line went dead in my ear. The ocean wind picked up around me blowing the loose strands of my hair into wild a confusion around my face. I couldn’t move, fear crawled beneath my skin. A man on a beach blanket had his cell phone raised and pointed in my direction. I turned away from him as quickly as I could. I didn’t know anymore—I couldn’t tell the difference between real danger and paranoia.

  I looked at the cellphone still clutched in my palm. I needed to get rid of it. Willing my legs to move, I strode quickly towards the water’s edge, waded up to my knees and hurled the phone as far as I could. I watched it disappear into the crest of a crashing wave, it didn’t seem far enough and I worried about it eventually washing up on shore.

  Would someone be able to capture anything from its waterlogged memory? I didn’t have any idea but I needed to get home. I needed to pack everything and be ready for when Aaron, who apparently had been working for my uncle all this time, showed up at my door to whisk me away, maybe forever.

  Maybe forever. I needed to say goodbye to my dad.

  CHAPTER FOUR

  The Hardest Move

  While Aaron snored loudly in his reclined position across the aisle, I stared out my window at the approaching landscape below. It was clear and sunny and as the plane descended I could make out the irregular shaped fields sprouting different colored crops surrounding the Bristol International Airport. It looked like an enormous jigsaw puzzle.

  The flight attendant tried rousing Aaron once again. She needed him to sit up and fasten his seatbelt for landing, but his heavy flesh just rolled when she gently shook his arm. “Mr. James? Sir, we’re landing.”

  Nothing. I heard her sigh before she headed back to her jump seat. A moment later, I saw Aaron open one eye, “Is she gone?”

  “Yes,” I said.

  “Good,” he immediately fastened his belt and sat up straight right before I felt the landing gear touch down on the runway below us. “I don’t like to be told what to do, it’s sort of a problem I have.”

  I looked back out my window and watched the world rush past. For probably the tenth time since we’d left Los Angeles I wondered over my uncle’s choice in a bodyguard. When we’d boarded the private jet at LAX, Aaron had insisted on “searching” the flight crew’s bags and then proceeded to dump the contents all over the tarmac before allowing me up the boarding stairs. When he was finally satisfied he muttered, “Okay then,” headed up the boarding stairs and left their pile of clothes and toiletries exposed and jumbled together in a heap under the glaring California sun.

  Astonished, I stared daggers at him until he reached the top of the stairs, “Aren’t you going to help them?”

  Aaron looked back over his shoulder, the first officer was handing the flight attendant a pair of purple panties, “Why? It’s their crap.”

  Aaron didn’t exactly instill a sense of confidence.

  Because we flew in on a private jet, a customs official met us in a small lounge right next to where the jet had parked. Apparently, those wealthy enough to charter their own flight were not expected to wait in crowded customs lines.

  Once our passports were stamped and cleared, Aaron sat down and pulled the library’s copy of Resurrections Test from his bag.

  “You didn’t return that? It’ll be late,” I said.

  He didn’t look up, “I never checked it out.”

  “What? But that’s stealing,” I exclaimed.

  He stopped reading and placed his hand over his heart, “So you think…you think they might fire me?” He kept his eyes wide with fake fear for several seconds to let his sarcastic remark sink in before his mouth flattened into a smirk and he returned to reading his book.

  Aaron’s contempt made my cheeks turn red, I turned away and hoped there was some way I could avoid having to say another word to him.

  Ever.

  He obviously thought this whole assignment was a waste of his time and was probably just in it for the money. I still couldn’t believe that I had worked with him at the library for the last six months and had no idea he was working for my uncle, watching me and my every movement this whole time. That he was the one living across the alley and peeking from the second story window. Well, him and some guy named Brad who I never did see. But, even when we worked together, he always had this way of making me feel stupid. Like I was missing the obvious. Now I knew why.

  I would be glad to have him out of my life, once we arrived safely at Gaersum Aern he would no doubt be finished making sure nobody was about to snatch me off the street.

  Why were we just sitting here? I was anxious to get to the house and see Caleb and Sophie. I remembered their excited faces the last time I arrived in England. They could be in the main airport terminal waiting for us right now.

  “Is anyone from the house coming to meet us?” The whole flight over I had imagined greeting them in the airport, rehearsed the words I would whisper in Caleb’s ear, “I missed you,” while his arms held me tight. I wanted the uncertainty of last summer, and the last ten months for that matter, to just go away. I had made my decision, I wanted Caleb in my life.

  Aaron gave me a look like I was crazy and nodded his head towards the large plate glass windows separating the lounge from the tarmac, “Private car.”

  I turned as a shiny
black car pulled up and parked near the jet. “Oh,” I said trying to hide my sudden disappointment. “Of course.”

  He gave me one more sideways glance before he shook his head and pushed himself up and out of his seat. He tucked his stolen library book back in his bag, extended the handle with a loud click and headed out the door with his bag rolling along the smooth linoleum behind him. As I followed him, I watched him give the driver instructions and then the two of them headed towards the jet still parked and waiting. Aaron opened a hatch in the plane’s belly and as the door slowly lifted, he reached in and pulled out the crate containing my mother’s stone puzzle box.

  My heart refused to slow down. The driver pulled the car up and around the circular drive, I could hear the pop and crunch of the tiny pebbles shifting beneath the tires. I clenched my hands up into fists and then wiped the sweat down the thighs of my jeans.

  Why was I so nervous?

  The driver opened my door and I froze. The cool early summer air rushed in and raised goose bumps all along my bare arms. I watched the front door of the house for any sign of movement. Sophie, if she could be the first person I saw I would be okay. I wanted, no needed, her to be the first person out that door. If I could just see her come bounding out, smiling, ecstatic with joy to see me, then all this fear crawling through my body would evaporate into nothing at all.

  The house looked empty.

  “Are you all right Miss Stevens?” the driver leaned over and peered inside the car.

  I looked up and met his eyes, they were dark brown and seemed worried. I had a feeling that, unlike Aaron, the driver was a very kind man. I nodded and said, “Yes,” even though it wasn’t true. “Yes thank you. I’m fine.” I shifted myself across the leather seat and got out.

  The driver and Aaron pulled the crate and my bag from the trunk of the car while I stood and waited. Everything looked the same as I remembered. As I turned towards the house, I noticed the poplars blew in the breeze and the roses were in bloom—just like when I had arrived last year.

  I walked, and the house came closer and closer but Sophie didn’t appear. Neither did Caleb or my uncle. At the entrance, I stood alone before the stone archway and stared up at the large ouroboros carved into the wall—my disappointment threatened to spill into tears but I swallowed hard and forced myself to push open the door myself. I didn’t want to be alone.

  I moved into the marble entrance but, when I saw her, stopped immediately.

  “Hello Charlotte.”

  Ms. Steward stood in the circular foyer, her thick heels marking the center of the intricate marble rose in the floor’s center that I had admired when I had first arrived last summer. She didn’t move forward to greet me. There was none of the warmth and reassurance I remembered from last year.

  “Hello,” I whispered.

  “Your uncle has left instructions for you to be allowed to rest after your trip. I’ve turned over your room and hope you find everything to your liking.”

  Her words felt cold and small, like tiny pebbles she flicked from a distance. “Thank you,” fell from my lips and died in the space between us. I wanted to ask her about Caleb and Sophie. Where were they? How were they? But she felt like a stranger. My mouth gaped like a fish for a moment but the words wouldn’t come.

  I heard her take a deep breath and her expression softened but only slightly. “Caleb and Sophie are running errands for me. I wanted…I wanted a moment alone with you…before.”

  She didn’t move any closer and her crossed arms and hard stance did not invite me to her.

  “Charlotte, Caleb and Sophie are all I have in this world. All I have that matters. They love you, I see that. They love you very much.”

  I couldn’t help it, her words washed through me like sweet relief and I smiled, “I love them too.”

  She closed her eyes. “I see enough of what goes on here. I don’t pretend to understand all your uncle is involved with…it’s not my place,” she opened her eyes and held me with her stare. “But I do know, you are a dangerous person to love Charlotte. And you are a dangerous person to be loved by.” Her words cut the air and my joy. The very vivid image of Caleb, bruised and bleeding after his fight with Hayden, flashed through my mind. “You say you love my children, then please, don’t involve them in whatever it is your uncle has brought you here to accomplish. I couldn’t…” her voice failed and her hand rose to her mouth. She took a breath and raised her chin. “For their safety, I’m asking that you not involve them.”

  “Of course,” I breathed. “I wouldn’t…I don’t want…”

  She inclined her head in the manner of a small bow, “Then I shall leave you. Please let me know if there is anything you require.” She turned and her heavy heels echoed on the marble floor as she headed towards the kitchen.

  It was like being kicked, my breath sat lodged in my chest. Last summer had been filled with her motherly attentions, her hugs and reassurances. It was clear to me now that Ms. Steward hated me, hated me for the pain I had caused her son last summer. Hated me for what she feared may happen to both Caleb and Sophie. The worst thing was that I knew that what she feared was real. I was a dangerous person to love and there was the very really possibility of someone hurting the people who were close to me.

  Emerick Wriothesley would use any advantage if it meant getting what he wanted. And Emerick wanted something he believed I had. Something he believed Franzen had given to me, his oldest daughter. Some secret. But Franzen hadn’t given me anything and certainly not answers. All I had was a puzzle—a puzzle I couldn’t solve.

  The door opened behind me, Aaron and the driver brought my bag and the crate in with them. When Aaron saw my face he smirked, “Where would you like these your majesty?”

  Soft blue twilight flooded my mother’s old room and cast everything under a veil of gray. I sat in the center of my mother’s tall bed, surrounded in brocade and chintz, staring at the puzzle. No one had come to disturb me since my arrival. My uncle probably thought I was sleeping and, based on Ms. Steward’s reception, I felt certain Caleb and Sophie had been forbidden to even greet me. I had been so certain that everything would be better if only I could come back to Gaersum Aern. If only I could be with friends and at least have the possibility of seeing my mother.

  I felt more alone than ever.

  I stared at the puzzle and fingered the sapphire cross on my chest. I had tried everything to move the puzzle to the next step. If only there was some way to ask my mother.

  Knowledge is sweeter found than given, Charlotte.

  But certainly this was different than homework. She would help with this. The pentagram necklace and my mother’s note lay on the bed next to the box. The paper was worn from me handling it so much, reading and rereading her words.

  What is the above is from the below and the below is from the above.

  I picked it up and read again the words I knew by heart.

  Franzen forgot to return this before you left. When you are ready, the truth will unfold to you. You’re going to need this. All My Love, Mom

  I sighed and pressed my sapphire cross to my lips. When I was ready, I would need it. Need what? Guidance? God? What did it mean? Was I supposed to pray? How was I supposed to get any more ready? I had read and studied everything about alchemy I could get my hands on, including the book I had borrowed from the Glastonbury psychic Caleb, Sophie and I had visited last summer—none of it made any sense to me. Whenever I read the words on the pages, they never came together in any meaningful way. It reminded me of the time I had found an old bible on one of my mother’s bookshelves. I had opened it and tried reading a few verses. The individual words were there and I could clearly read them, but together they didn’t make sense to me. After half a page I put the book back on her shelf.

  There was a soft knock on my door. I dropped my cross back to my chest and felt my heart race as I fumbled off the bed and towards the door. “Yes? Come in.”

  Was it Caleb?

  Before
I could grab the handle it turned. The door pushed in and her face peered through the crack in the door. “Are you decent?”

  “Sophie!”

  Her face broke into a huge smile and she exploded through the door. Her rushing embrace knocked me back and we both started laughing when we lost our balance and fell back against the high-sided bed and landed in a heap on the floor. “Sorry,” she laughed rolling to her side. “I can’t believe you’re really here!”

  I sat up and wiped a tear from my smiling cheek. “I was so afraid,” I reached and hugged her again.

  “Of what?” she asked through my hair.

  I sat back and shook my head, more tears falling down my face. “I don’t know, never doing this I suppose.” I shrugged and bit my lip. “Never having you and Caleb again,” my voice cracked and I started to sob.

  Sophie launched herself at me and her tiny arms seized around my neck. “You will always have me.”

  I laughed and cried and nodded my head against her shoulder. My sobbing kept me from saying anything else so I hugged her as hard as I could instead. When I pulled away, I wiped my eyes and pushed my hair from my face. “I’m so stupid,” I laughed.

  “You are the least stupid person I know. Aside from Caleb, but don’t tell him I said so. He’s inflated enough about his own intellect.”

  I pushed myself up off the floor and smiled benignly at the mention of Caleb. I didn’t ask what I most wanted to know—Is he here? Instead, I changed the subject, “Well if I’m not stupid how is it that I haven’t been able to make a single move on this,” I pointed to the box on the bed, “since last year?”

  “Nothing?” Sophie asked.

  I shook my head.

  “Does your uncle know?”

  “Not entirely. He knows it’s not solved. But not that I’ve been stuck in the same spot for so long.”

  Sophie scrunched up her face, “Oh, he’ll be so pleased,” she climbed up on the bed beside me and sat with her legs crossed beneath her.

  I watched while she leaned in and inspected the puzzle, read both sides of the note from my mother, and put the pentagram necklace on. “Do you think mum would have a fit if I walked downstairs in this?’