Chapter Nine Keeper Who Would Not Let Go #2
“And then?”
Elias answered.
“The House chooses default succession.”
Naomi stared.
“Meaning?”
“The oldest surviving claimant.”
Every eye moved toward Elias.
He gave a tired smile.
“Unfortunately.”
Serrano laughed from the floor.
“Imagine all this trouble just to give it back to him.”
Naomi looked toward the mechanism.
“How long?”
Beatrice checked the dial.
“Thirteen minutes.”
Adrian moved immediately toward the bell.
“Then we ring it.”
Mercer struggled upright.
“No.”
Ross pushed him back.
“Sit.”
“You don't understand.”
Naomi turned.
“Oh, I think we do.”
Mercer looked toward the massive bell.
“If you invoke the release, everything in the criminal archive transfers automatically.”
“To international authorities.”
“Yes.”
“That is the point.”
“You think governments are safe?”
Naomi hesitated.
Mercer saw it.
“Joseph didn’t.”
“Neither do I.”
“Then why give them everything?”
“We don’t.”
Mercer frowned.
Naomi looked toward Adrian.
“Dad’s letter said protected identities go to independent guardianship.”
“Yes.”
“Criminal evidence goes to authorities.”
Adrian understood.
“Separate systems.”
Naomi nodded.
“Exactly.”
Mercer stared at her.
“The founding release protocol has not been tested in decades.”
Lucas finally rose from beside Serrano.
“Then we verify where the data goes before anyone rings anything.”
Beatrice shook her head.
“There isn't time.”
Lucas looked toward the mechanisms surrounding the bell.
“Arthur designed the reconstruction.”
“Yes.”
“Which means the release architecture is mechanical and electronic.”
“Yes.”
He looked up toward catwalks running above the chamber.
“Then there is a control room.”
Elias stared at him.
“There is.”
Naomi turned.
“You know where?”
Lucas was already studying the structure.
“No.”
Then he pointed.
“But my grandfather did something obsessively in every building he designed.”
Anthony would have made a joke.
Naomi almost heard him.
“What?”
“Service access follows symmetry.”
Lucas pointed toward one side of the bell chamber.
“There’s a staircase hidden behind that wall.”
Beatrice frowned.
“There is no staircase.”
Lucas walked toward it.
“Yes, there is.”
He pressed against one carved bluebird wing.
Nothing.
Then another.
Nothing.
Naomi moved beside him.
“What are you looking for?”
“Arthur liked asymmetry that pretended to be symmetry.”
“That sounds exhausting.”
“It was.”
Lucas ran his fingers beneath the carving.
Then smiled.
“Found you.”
He pressed.
A section of stone released.
A narrow doorway appeared.
Naomi stared.
“I love you.”
Lucas glanced at her.
“Because of the door?”
“Currently, yes.”
Despite everything, he smiled.
“Take what I can get.”
Beatrice looked stunned.
“I have been Keeper for forty-two years.”
Lucas held the door open.
“My grandfather was irritatingly private.”
“He was a menace.”
“So I’ve learned.”
Naomi almost laughed.
Then Lucas turned serious.
“I need five minutes.”
“You’re not going alone.”
“Yes, I am.”
“No.”
“Naomi.”
“No.”
He stepped closer.
“You and Adrian have to be at the bell.”
“We have thirteen minutes.”
“And somebody needs to confirm the release won't expose protected people.”
Ross moved forward.
“I’ll go.”
Lucas shook his head.
“You don't know the architecture.”
“And you don't have a weapon.”
“I know.”
Naomi's fear rose.
“No.”
Lucas brought his hands to her shoulders.
“Look at me.”
She hated when he said that because it always worked.
She met his eyes.
“This is what I can do.”
His voice softened.
“You have spent weeks running into danger because you were the only person who could unlock the next door.”
A faint smile.
“Let me have one door.”
Naomi swallowed.
She wanted to argue.
To demand he remain where she could see him.
To confuse love with keeping him beside her.
Joseph’s words struck hard.
When fear wears the clothing of love, it becomes difficult to recognize.
Naomi exhaled.
“Five minutes.”
Lucas nodded.
“Five.”
“If you’re not back—”
“You’ll come looking.”
“Absolutely.”
“I know.”
She caught his shirt and pulled him down.
The kiss was fierce this time.
Brief but breathless.
Fear and love and everything they had not yet had time to become.
When Naomi released him, Lucas rested his forehead against hers.
“We still have a wedding to plan.”
“You better remember that.”
“I’m terrified of your mother.”
Naomi glanced toward Amara.
“Which one?”
Lucas paused.
“Excellent point.”
Amara laughed.
Even Serrano smiled weakly.
Then Lucas disappeared into the passage.
The stone door remained open behind him.
Naomi watched until darkness swallowed him.
Nine minutes.
Serrano’s bleeding had slowed, but he was growing pale.
Amara remained beside him.
He watched Naomi and Adrian standing beneath the bell.
“What was it like?”
Naomi turned.
“What?”
“Growing up.”
The question startled her.
Serrano’s voice had weakened.
“With Joseph.”
Naomi stared at him.
He looked almost afraid of the answer.
“It was good.”
Serrano nodded once.
Naomi could have stopped there.
She didn’t.
“He danced badly.”
Amara laughed softly.
“Oh, terribly.”
“He sang while cooking.”
“He couldn't sing either.”
“He came to everything.”
Serrano’s eyes remained fixed on Naomi.
“Everything?”
“Everything.”
School programs.
Graduations.
Fashion showcases.
Parent meetings.
Bad days.
Good ones.
Life.
Serrano closed his eyes.
Naomi realized what she had given him.
Not comfort.
The cost.
The years he had not had.
The father Joseph had been because Gabriel had become Serrano.
When he opened his eyes again, they were wet.
“He gave you what I couldn't.”
Naomi answered quietly.
“Yes.”
No cruelty.
No forgiveness.
Only truth.
Serrano nodded.
“Then I am glad he had you.”
Amara stared at him.
Naomi could not speak.
Serrano looked toward Adrian.
“And you?”
Adrian’s face became guarded.
“I had Mercer.”
“Was he good to you?”
Adrian glanced toward the man sitting under Ross’s guard.
“Sometimes.”
Mercer closed his eyes.
Adrian continued.
“He taught me languages. History. Art restoration. How to disappear in six countries.”
Serrano smiled weakly.
“Useful childhood.”
“I would have preferred football.”
Naomi looked at him.
“Soccer?”
Adrian frowned.
“We are in Europe.”
“There’s my answer.”
For a strange, fragile moment, the twins smiled at each other.
Then the mechanism clicked.
Six minutes.
Naomi looked toward Lucas’s passage.
Nothing.
Her anxiety returned.
“Come on, baby.”
The word escaped quietly.
Adrian heard.
“He'll come.”
Naomi nodded.
“You've known him for an hour.”
“I've known his type longer.”
“What type?”
“The kind of man who looks at one person like the rest of the room is furniture.”
Naomi smiled despite herself.
“He does not.”
“He absolutely does.”
Serrano spoke weakly.
“I noticed.”
Naomi looked at him.
“I don't need commentary from you.”
“Apparently that is also genetic.”
Amara gave Serrano a look.
He smiled.
For one impossible moment, Naomi could almost see another life.
Amara and Gabriel young.
Two babies.
Arguments around dinner tables.
Adrian teasing her.
A father making terrible jokes.
Then the vision vanished.
Because that life had never existed.
And pretending otherwise dishonored everyone Serrano had hurt.
Five minutes.
The hidden door opened.
Naomi spun.
Lucas emerged.
Dust covered his shirt.
A cut ran along his temple.
Naomi’s heart stopped.
She ran to him.
“What happened?”
“Arthur’s service stairs aged badly.”
She touched his face.
“You're bleeding.”
“Barely.”
“Lucas.”
“I found the transfer controls.”
Adrian approached.
“And?”
Lucas looked toward the bell.
“Joseph changed them.”
Naomi froze.
“When?”
“Seventeen years ago.”
The same year he gave Mercer the letter.
Lucas continued.
“Protected identities do not transfer anywhere.”
Everyone stared.
“What?” Beatrice whispered.
“They encrypt.”
Mercer stood despite Ross’s weapon.
“Explain.”
“Joseph rewrote the release.”
Lucas looked at Naomi.
“When two heirs ring the bell, the identity registry destroys the master access key.”
Naomi’s breath caught.
“No one gets it.”
“Exactly.”
“Not governments.”
“No.”
“Not guardians.”
“No.”
“Not us.”