Chapter 33 #2
“I said as much to Violet, but she was not convinced, so we planned accordingly.”
“What about Archibald? He traveled to the future.”
“Vivica approved of his visits.”
“And Ofello? Did Violet approve of Archibald stealing the computer?”
“The other Elders disapproved, but she wanted Archibald to have it to help eliminate the Illuminati, which is a threat to all of us.”
“David intends to eliminate the organization.”
“I know,” Erik said with a sly grin.
“Did Violet love Archibald? Or is that something she is incapable of?”
“She wanted to give up everything for him, but after what happened to her sister, it was impossible. The Elders charged me with ensuring she did not stay with him.”
“Or me.”
Erik gave Clay the silent treatment again.
He realized he would forget something if he didn’t keep track of his questions. Using his own version of shorthand, he jotted down the questions he had already asked and resolved to keep up with the rest before they disappeared into the ether.
“How’d you convince Violet she couldn’t have her heart’s desire?”
“I took her home to talk to the other Elders, and their counsel convinced her that her role was paramount and far outweighed anything she could have here with you and Archibald.”
Clay paused for a moment before asking another burning question, needing to be certain he could live with the answer. The journalist in him took charge again, overriding any personal hesitation. “Did she fight for us?”
“She wanted to, but she knew her wants and desires did not matter.”
“Is your society so uncaring that the leader can’t be happy?”
“Happiness is not our goal. Survival is. And sacrifice is necessary to achieve that.”
“You’re answering these questions without emotion, like you’re not even involved. You are not the man I met a few months ago, and you act subservient to Violet.”
“Why is that so difficult to accept?” Erik asked. “Do you not believe the brooches have a female-centric component?”
“The story you told Aislinn’s mother when you met her in the Shetland Islands explained how the brooches came to be. We know that women have always been the recipients of the stones, until Bastien and me, of course, but the Keeper, Elliott, is male.”
“Do you not believe that Meredith and Kenzie are the genuine leaders of the MacKlenna Clan?”
“They have a lot of influence, but no, I don’t believe that.”
“If it was so in the beginning, why do you disbelieve it now?”
“Because you’re Erik the Viking. The most virile warrior any of us has ever known. You carry authority in your voice and physical presence. You are a natural leader.”
“It was necessary for the success of our mission that I be a warrior.”
Clay drew a creature resembling Klaatu in The Day the Earth Stood Still. “Are you making this up as you go?”
“No.”
“Are you trying to create a world we can understand when this is probably greater than our ability to do so?” Clay couldn’t stop internalizing each answer. He just had to keep asking questions and hope his sketches would remind him of his feelings and reactions.
“To understand who we are, Vivica and I had to fit into your worldview.”
“If they altered the four of you to fit in here, then how can Violet be an Elder?”
“She is the firstborn daughter of the last Senior Elder. And nothing can change that.”
He drew Violet atop a pedestal of four faceless women, their blank features a chilling void, with another anonymous figure looming above her. He couldn’t capture what he didn’t know. “When do you plan to leave for good and never have contact with us again?”
“Soon.”
“Once you return to your time, will you still appear where you’ve been before? Or will all traces of you be erased?”
“We will never have existed in your time—not as you remember us.”
Clay’s jaw dropped so low you’d think it hit the floor, and in a voice barely a vibration, he asked, “How can you do that? What will happen to your children? To me? To Rory? Will we all disappear?”
Erik didn’t answer right away. He didn’t move and didn’t even appear to be breathing. The only sign of life was his glacial blue eyes that threatened to reduce everything in the room to ash and cinders at any moment.
But no one flinched.
Marcelle clasped her hand with Clay’s. “Look here, Mr. Warrior. That question is important. I want to know if the man I care about is going to vanish. If Violet never existed, then Clay wouldn’t exist.”
“Neither would Robert nor Rory,” Clay said. “And what about David, Paul, Ensley, Tavis, and Mark? What about all their children? Will they never have existed?”
“The children all have another parent, unlike Vivica and me. They will continue to exist.”
“What are you?” Marcelle asked. “A cyborg, a Klingon, a Martian. What?”
“I am not that different from you.”
“You might not think so, but anyone who’s been altered is not like us.”
“I can’t even wrap my head around this.” Clay looked at the last sketch, which had Erik with a gigantic head, a little head, and no head. “What about Samantha? The family thought she was the love of your life.”
There was a slight jerk of Erik’s head, as if someone had slapped him. “Samantha will always—” Erik paused and cleared his throat. “The Elders permitted Vivica’s sister to have a life here. I could not stay. That is why my visits to Samantha were so far apart.”
“Why couldn’t you do what Violet’s sister did and have a life here?”
“There is only Vivica and me now, and we still have work to do.”
“You created the MacKlenna Clan, whose goal is to protect the planet. Why can’t you stay and help us do that?”
“The clan has a job, so do we. Vivica’s decision is final.”
“So, Violet has ultimate control over this experiment of yours?”
Erik cocked his head, a question forming in his eyes. “My experiment?”
“In the cave, you and Violet discussed how you matched up all the couples in the family.”
“She wanted you to believe we had more control over your lives than we do. But this is not an experiment. It is an overarching plan to ensure our survival.”
“What about your essence? We saw you shed your physical body and turn into a light.”
“Over the millennia, our society has evolved, much like the evolutionary changes that have taken place from 3500 B.C. until now, but turning into our essence was part of the illusion.”
“The family believes you are all-powerful. Did you give us our special gifts? Our visions? Our insight?”
“I am not all-powerful and cannot give such gifts.”
“Can Violet?”
“You were born with your gifts and given opportunities to develop them.”
“You valiantly fought a bear and lost, yet here you are. That stunt shows how omnipotent you are.”
“Vivica took me home from Jarlshof and left a clone engineered to match the injuries behind for burial,” Erik said.
“The bear didn’t kill you?”
“Almost.”
Clay jumped up, dumping his journal on the floor. “Do you have any idea what your fake death did to Tavis? He took you to Jarlshof and got stuck in 1125 A.D. for three fucking years.”
“He had a wife and child,” Erik said calmly. “Tavis did not waste his time there.”
“Tavis might disagree with that, and your death devastated Remy. He tried his best to save you.” Clay’s hand coiled around the replacement glass, and he squeezed until his knuckles turned white.
He inhaled a shaky breath. He couldn’t afford to stay angry when he still had questions to ask and didn’t know how long Erik would stay there to answer them. Clay sat and picked up his journal.
“Why did you select the MacKlennas and Frasers? Of all the Scottish families, why them? Why Elliott?”
“Why not them?”
Clay bit his tongue instead of jumping to his feet again. “Are you saying there was nothing special that set the family apart? It was random?”
“I did not select them. The brooches came through the MacKlennas. There was no reason to change that. As for Elliott, he is a descendant of James MacKlenna and fits into our plan. Part of my alteration was to resemble him and a Viking.”
Clay bit his tongue again to keep from screaming fuck. It was a struggle to maintain his journalistic distance and hold a degree of separation between his emotions and Erik. In fact, it was probably impossible.
“I bet his alterations weren’t like having cosmetic surgery,” Marcelle said under her breath.
“I’m sure they weren’t.” As Clay thought about what that meant for Erik’s children, something didn’t add up. “Your sons look just like you. How’s that possible?”
“It is complicated.”
“More complicated than you can explain?”
“More complicated than you can understand.”
Marcelle hissed, but Clay didn’t react. “You come from a civilization thousands of years more advanced than we are in the twenty-first century. I probably wouldn’t understand. But let’s go back to you wanting to resemble Elliott.”
“Does he?” Marcelle asked.
Clay drew the two men side by side. “Yes, and they have similar temperaments, but Erik is prone to violence. Elliott is not, other than throwing things. In his prime, Elliott was a philanderer, while Erik probably created the word and its definition.” Clay glanced up at Erik.
“Considering your travels, the number of women in your life, and your mission to procreate, that’s understandable.
You and Elliott are both brilliant, extraordinary equestrians, chess masters, natural leaders, insightful, wise, and determined. ”
Erik smiled, and Clay wasn’t sure he’d ever seen Erik do that. It took Clay a minute to think of his next set of questions. “Where did you find the brooches?”
Erik rubbed a finger over the zigzag scar on his knuckles. “Vivica found the chalcedony brooch in her mother’s belongings and discovered its time-traveling magic. She reported it to the other Elders and insisted they form a team to discover its origin.”
“She put herself on the team.”