Echo (The Soul Seekers #2)(19)
I do as instructed. Waiting for her to join us at the table before I ask, “So how did you know? Or, better yet, what do you know?”
Paloma pauses long enough to warm her fingers against the base of her mug. “I’m afraid it’s all part of the prophecy,” she says. “I read it in the codex.”
I inhale sharply. Vaguely aware of Xotichl stirring beside me, placing her hand on my arm, providing a welcome comfort I didn’t expect.
“Please know, nieta, that a prophecy is a tricky thing. It’s never as black and white as it seems. The language is often confusing, written in code. Allowing for more than one interpretation. It was only when I saw you and Dace together—saw the stream of energy that binds you—that I began to suspect. Then after a little digging, I learned that your birthdays fall on the same day. Did you know that?”
I shake my head, scowling when I say, “Guess I forgot to check his ID.”
My caustic remark causing Xotichl to pat my arm in an attempt to calm me, and Paloma to flash me a look that tells me that while she forgives my mood, she’s not about to answer my question until I get ahold of myself.
“So, what does it mean?” I ask, making a concerted effort to soften my tone. “What exactly is it you’re getting at?”
“While the prophecy hints at the Echo effect, its definition is not entirely clear. I took it to mean that the twins are connected—deeply so.” She looks to me for confirmation, and when she gets it, she adds, “Though, I must warn you, nieta, the prophecy also states that one of you will die.”
Xotichl gasps, squeezing my arm so hard it jolts me awake from my dumbfounded state. I lean back in my seat. Allowing the words to roll around in my head, before I heave a deep breath and say, “Fine. Then Cade dies. I’ll kill Cade. Then it’ll be over and done and we can all move on. And I doubt anyone but Leandro will miss him. And I seriously doubt Dace will mind, since they’re not exactly close.” I stare at Paloma, my decision now made. But she returns the look with an expression of compassion tainted by pain.
“No one is here by accident, nieta. The universe does not make mistakes. Everyone has a purpose, and that includes Cade. Which means we don’t just go around killing people. You can’t be so cavalier when another human life is concerned—” She’s about to continue, but her words are cut short by my own.
“Cade isn’t human. He’s a demonic freak.” I fight to steady myself, to contain the bubble of anger rising inside me. “Besides, I’d be doing the whole world a favor. Things have changed since your day. It’s beyond hostile out there. And while some of that may be my fault for sparing your soul, which allowed them access to the Lowerworld, the fact is, if some prior Seeker had had the foresight to kill them all a long time ago, I wouldn’t be sitting here now feeling like my heart has been crushed while the only future I can look forward to is a dark, lonely, bleak one where I’m expected to fight a battle I’ve been set up to lose.” I narrow my gaze, eager to see how she’ll respond. But Paloma remains true to herself. Steady. On course. Refusing to veer from the message no matter how much I bait her.
“And if some prior Seeker had done as you wish, then Dace never would’ve been born. He may have come in another form, yes, but he wouldn’t have been your fated one. It is written. Nothing here is an accident.”
I sit with the words, unable to deny them no matter how much I despise them.
“Nieta, make no mistake, a Seeker’s job is to restore and heal—to keep the balance between the worlds—and to never stray from the light. We can only contain evil. We cannot eradicate it. As long as humans exist, evil will too. It’s up to us to lessen its effects.”
I pick at the gauze on my finger, unwilling to fold quite so easily. “Yeah, well, maybe that no longer holds true. Maybe it’s time for a new generation of Seeker—one who works in new ways. The balance is clearly out of whack, and I can honestly say, after this last trip to the Lowerworld, that it’s getting worse every day. The enemy is not one you’re used to fighting, abuela. He’s bigger, stronger, more … demonic.” I pause, remembering the way Cade rose up before us—how he and his creepy coyote tripled in size. “You’re used to dealing with humans—bad humans, dark humans, but still humans. But Cade is not human. He’s a psychopathic, demonic freak—the result of magick of the darkest kind. Driven by a pathetic need to impress Leandro by achieving world domination. Oh, and he can also turn into a scaly-skinned, snake-tongued monster at will. I know, because I’ve seen it, and let me tell you, it is not pretty. So, with that in mind, I hardly think pounding a drum and waving an eagle feather will do anything to stop him.”
“Then what about Dace, his twin—is he human?” Paloma asks, her gaze on mine, her voice quiet and even.
“Of course he is!” I frown. Annoyed by the question. “He’s good, and kind, and—”
“And yet, he’s also the result of the dark magick you speak of.”
I squirm under her gaze, not liking what she’s getting at, even though I’m not entirely sure what that is.
“So you’re saying that Dace is the human half of an inhuman twin? How can that be?” She waits for me to respond, but for once, I have nothing to say. My silence prompting her to add, “The world’s greatest atrocities were committed by humans, nieta. Dark, deranged, misguided, egomaniacal humans—and yet humans all the same.”