He probably was worried ... sixty years ago. The man might not even be alive today. In fact, playing the odds, he probably wasn’t.
“Well, since no one else has explained the situation to you, I guess it falls to me.” Cormack was resigned as he tugged on his suit jacket. “Sixty years ago, you and thirteen others reported for training in the gate room. Something happened — the gate malfunctioned — and you disappeared. Today, the gate malfunctioned again and five of you reappeared. Things are not as you think.”
Doug’s face was a block of ice as he stared at Cormack for what felt like a ridiculously long time. Then he belted out a laugh. “Oh, that’s good. Did Willy put you up to that? Where is he, by the way? I’m guessing he wasn’t knocked unconscious by whatever happened. Were we out long enough for you guys to come up with a plan to mess with us or something?”
“This is not a joke.” Cormack’s expression was a mixture of determination and regret. He obviously felt sorry for the man, but it was important to make him accept reality. “I’m sorry this happened. We don’t have answers as to the how or why. We’re going to do our best to find them. You have my word on that.”
“You’re so full of crap.” Doug refused to back down. “We were out for only a few minutes. Sixty years? Give me a break. I know I look a little worse for wear after losing consciousness, but I clearly haven’t aged sixty years.
“For that matter, neither has he,” he continued, gesturing toward Oliver. “He was with us in the gate room. He’s obviously in on this. You shouldn’t have included him.”
Oliver took the opportunity to step forward. “I’ve been included because I knew you back then. The reason I haven’t aged is because I’m a vampire.” When it looked as if Doug was going to start laughing again, Oliver did the only thing he could — and bared his fangs. They were hidden unless he was fighting or eating, and the shocked expression on Doug’s face said it all. “I don’t age. That was true even then. I’m sorry, but ... what he’s saying is fact. You’ve been gone for sixty years.”
“And ... what? Are you saying we just disappeared? How is that possible?”
“I think you were on the other side of the gate,” I volunteered, speaking for the first time. I could no longer remain quiet. “You were all together, on a cliff of some sort, and there were woods to the east. I don’t know what happened to you after that, but I know you were stuck in that spot for a few hours.”
“And how do you know that? I don’t know that. If I don’t know, you can’t possibly know.”
“I saw you.”
“You saw me?” He took a moment to look me up and down. “Am I supposed to believe you’re more than sixty years old, too?”
“No. I’m in my twenties. I just have ... certain abilities.”
“Izzy can see things,” Cormack interjected smoothly. “She’s magical, and got a flash of what happened to you after the gate malfunctioned again today. We’re reasonably assured that what she saw was real.”
“Oh, well, if you’re reasonably assured.” Doug vehemently shook his head. “I don’t believe you. I don’t believe any of you. I want access to a phone right now. In fact, I demand it. If you try to keep me from my family, I’ll sue you.”
Cormack heaved out a sigh and dug in his pocket, returning with his cell phone. He extended it in Doug’s direction, but instead of eagerly taking it, the man shrank back.
“I thought you wanted to contact your family,” Braden challenged. “That’s the only thing that’s going to make you believe, so I think you should do it.”
“On that?” Doug’s voice turned shrill. “I don’t know what that is ... or what you’re doing ... but I demand to talk to someone in charge right now. I mean ... right now!”
The nurse appeared again and shot Cormack a look. “He’s upset. You shouldn’t press him now. It’s too soon given the shock his body has been through.”
Cormack held up his hands in defeat. “I’m sorry. We didn’t mean to upset him.”
“Well, you did.”
“We should probably give them time to acclimate,” I suggested, as Doug covered his eyes. “I think we approached him too soon.”
“If not now, when?” Oliver challenged. “He’ll have to learn the truth eventually.”
“We’ll give him time to settle,” Cormack insisted. “We’ll come back tomorrow. I think we’re done for tonight.”
The nurse emphatically nodded. “You’re definitely done.”
Four
Oliver and I returned to the gate room to finish our shift. Paris had left a note saying that she’d borrowed three books, making sure to spell out the titles in their entirety and promising to return them the next day. We had hundreds of intakes to finish, something Braden wanted to be there for, but his father put his foot down and sent him on his way.
Braden had his own work to do. As much as he wanted to hover, it was unnecessary. I was fine. That didn’t mean I was ready to let Oliver off the hook when it came to his past.
“Why didn’t you tell me?”
We were packing up for the day when I finally asked.
He tilted his head to the side and met my gaze head-on. “Tell you what?”
“I thought we agreed that we weren’t going to keep things from each other. After what happened before ... .” I left it hanging. Trust was something that needed to be earned. I was still in a strange limbo with Oliver and Brett due to the fact that they’d kept important information from me.
“We agreed to share information about your parents,” he clarified. “I told you why I didn’t immediately tell you about your past. I wanted to see if you would remember me on your own.”
I didn’t. Well, not really. I felt something when I was near him. It was like a sense memory. I was much more comfortable than I should be around him given the brevity of our relationship. I trusted my instincts, though. Oliver was trustworthy ... if a bit reticent when it came to volunteering information of a personal nature.
“No, we agreed to always tell each other the truth,” I pressed. “You didn’t tell me about this.”
“Because I didn’t know it was important. This happened long before you were born. This happened before your parents were born. How does it affect your life?”
“I’m the gatekeeper. They disappeared through the gate.”
He considered the statement and then nodded. “Fair enough. Still, it didn’t occur to me to broach this particular subject. As I told you before, the reaper council went out of its way to cover up what happened. I was ordered to keep the story to myself.”
“Yes, and you so often follow rules,” I drawled.
“I followed this one because I assumed whatever happened was caused by human error,” he explained. “I mean ... what else was I supposed to believe? Whatever happened that day was powerful enough to knock me out. When I woke, all the men I’d been with were gone. I believed there was a very real possibility that they’d all died and I was told they’d disappeared so I wouldn’t inadvertently cause a panic.”