Chapter 21
Dylan woke to find Gabriel cuddled into his arms, sunlight drifting in through the curtains. He thought back to the night before. They had stayed up late into the morning hours poring over Homer’s journal.
According to the journal, the Coates family had been guardians of a gateway between worlds. They did not belong to any one world, instead to all worlds, keeping the peace and ensuring safe travel between them for thousands of years. Homer’s ancestors had been the guardians of the gateway in what is now Indigo Creek, a special crossroads that, given the right power, enabled a person to travel to any of the worlds without crossing through others. Gabriel had raised an eyebrow at that, but he had explained the circular diagram his grandmother had found in one of the older volumes. This world had been a nexus point and neutral territory for eons. A hub that connected all worlds. When war broke out, one of his ancestors had helped the royal family from one nation escape and closed the nexus—leading to a pact between the families.
Homer said that when Dylan’s parents started dating, he knew the time was coming for the pact to be fulfilled. He sent Dylan’s father and his own son through the nexus to see what they could learn. He didn’t know what exactly happened, but someone followed them through when they came back, killing them both, and escaping before Homer could stop him.
The journal ended by telling him two specific sets of words to say as they lower Homer’s body into the ground, and an apology for laying this burden on Dylan’s shoulders. He could choose to keep the nexus closed, find his father’s killer, and leave the other worlds to their fate; or he could choose to reopen the nexus and claim his ancestors’ throne, fighting a war for a world he didn’t know to bring peace to countless masses. Gabriel had looked at him, and Dylan could see the helpless look in his eyes.
He hadn’t known what to do and stared at the ceiling until he had dozed off. Gabriel must’ve finally quit pacing and curled up beside him.
He sighed and stood, heading to the bathroom. Gabriel stirred but didn’t wake. His mother was standing outside the door, a scowl on her face.
“It’s about time you rolled out of bed. So, what did you learn? We have to be at the cemetery in a few hours.”
Dylan forced a smile. “We’ll be ready.” He detailed everything to his mother. He knew she had a right to know what really happened to his father, and that Homer had never given up finding the killer.
She chewed her lips. Dylan hadn’t seen her do that since the day they buried his father. “Small consolation. So, what are you going to do? Seal that fucking thing forever, I hope.”
He shrugged. “I don’t know. It’s all too much, and I feel like I don’t have enough time or information to really think it through.”
“Let’s eat and talk about it. Either way, I think we need to go to the training room before the funeral.” Gabriel’s voice startled them both.
Merrin opened her mouth to argue, but Dylan shook his head. “He’s right. What if this… thing… turns up there? I have to be ready to protect you guys.”
She nodded and turned to head downstairs. “Breakfast is ready. Come down when you’re ready.”
They ate in a hurried silence. Dylan knew Merrin had told the others what he’d said, and they were processing a lot of information not only about him and his father’s family, but about their own as well.
Gabriel stood when he’d finished and headed towards the pantry. “Dylan?”
Dylan stood to join him. Merrin acted as if she would stop him, but Tinah placed a hand on her forearm. Dylan gave her a weak smile. “Text us about a half hour before we need to leave.”
The cellar was damp that morning. Moisture seeped through the stone, making Dylan wonder if it had rained in the night. He touched the cold stone, sealing the door behind them, his desire to control his fire paramount. If his father’s killer came to this funeral, he was going to leave as ashes in the wind.
Gabriel’s gentle hand rested on his shoulder. “Before you try to turn into the human torch, can I ask you something? I don’t know what you’re going to decide, but either way, I will stand behind you.” His head dropped. “But I don’t want to. I want to stand beside you, helping you. Homer thought there was a chance I had some kind of ability that might be an asset to you other than my good looks. You’ve inherited psychic abilities from your mother’s family. Can you take a second and see if you can use that to touch whatever may be inside me? Help me know where my ancestor came from?”
Dylan flashed a weak smile. “Oh Gabe. I don’t know if it will work, but we can try.” He checked the time on his phone, setting a timer for five minutes. “But we can’t spend too much on that right now. If we don’t find anything before the timer goes off, we’ll try again another day.”
Gabriel nodded. Dylan took his hands in his, closing his eyes. He could still see Gabriel in his mind’s eye, focusing on him, nothing in the world except him. In the distance, he could hear a voice, but he ignored it. He felt himself swept away, their childhood, watching himself and Michael. Young love and betrayal. Gabriel’s anger was palpable then, and he suspected it even now. He pushed farther, to the abuse Gabriel’s father had suffered at the hands of his father. He whispered. “I think it’s working.”
He could hear that voice in the distance again, knowing it had to be Gabriel. He pushed farther, knowing time was getting short. Years turned into centuries zipping past him. Then, he saw a child carried through a small rift in the veil between worlds. A clue, he thought. He tried to push further, but the person leaving the child looked into his eyes and disappeared back through the rift. Dylan approached the rift, peering through, and glimpsed the figure waving their hand, closing the rift.
His eyes flew open and dug the phone out of his pocket. He looked at the timer. Only nineteen seconds had passed. He slowly realized he was on the floor. Gabriel was cradling his head, sobbing.
“What happened?”
“You had some kind of seizure.”
Dylan smiled weakly. “No. It wasn’t a seizure. Someone was trying to stop me.”
Gabriel raised an eyebrow. “Did you find any answers?”
He shook his head. “No, but I know where we might find some.” He fired off a text to his grandmother. “For now, just focus on different things to see if you can find it yourself. We may not know for a while if the books will be any help.” He inhaled sharply, a fireball forming in his hand. “I’m going to train. I’ll tell you everything this evening.”