The Brotherhood - 20. Chapter 20

The Brotherhood

Chapter XX

By: X

We stared at each other for a few minutes. I kept waiting for Q’s stone face to break and for him to tell me he was only kidding, but that never happened. He just sat there with his hands interlocked and index fingers pressed to his bottom lip.

I finally decided to break the silence.

“Explain ‘checkmate’ to me,” I said as I leaned forward and placed my arms on the desk.

“Oh, I’m pretty sure you know exactly what it means, Jacob.”

“The Brotherhood is planning to take over the world? That’s what you’re trying to tell me?”

“Yes,” he said simply as if I just asked if he liked golf.

“Like literally take over the world?” I asked again. Maybe I was hoping the answer would change the more I asked the same question. “Not like a few states here or there or a continent or two. You’re talking about the whole thing?” With my finger, I made a circle in the air to illustrate what I meant by “the whole thing.”

Of course, Q mimicked me by making his own circle in the air, except his finger left a light trail forming an actual circle. “The whole thing, Jacob.”

“That’s crazy!” I shouted and jumped back into my chair. “You guys can’t just take over the world!”

“Why is that exactly?” He had his cute little smirk on his face that, for an instant, made me forget about everything and all I wanted to do was…never mind.

“Because…” Okay, I’ll admit I drew a complete blank. “Because you just can’t!”

“Well, why didn’t you say so?” he laughed. “I’ll take that argument to the Council of Brothers and stop the whole thing.” He rose and moved toward the door as if on an urgent mission.

“Q!” I protested and even slapped the palm of my hand on the glass table. That surprised me. I was trying to be serious. He was making fun of me.

He spun on his heels to face me. “This bothers you.”

“No, really? You don’t say?” I rolled my eyes. I was feeling more confident in expressing my feelings to him. I wasn’t talking to him as a pledge anymore but as his boyfriend. Q seemed okay with it, which made me smile on the inside regardless of the topic. “How could it not bother me? Taking over the world? I don’t even know what that means or what it entails, so forgive me; I’m freaking out a little bit.”

Q walked over and knelt in front of me. He took my hands into his and kissed each one. It was so tender and genuine that my heart started to calm down and the loud beating in my ears slowly disappeared. “Relax, okay? It’s not the end of the world.”

We both sort of looked at each other and then broke out laughing. I needed that laugh. I don’t know how he does it, and I know I’ve said it before, but Q always manages to make me feel safe like everything will be all right. He slowly stood up, leaned into me, and kissed me deeply. My hand slipped behind his neck, and I held him close to make the kiss last as long as possible.

“Better?” he asked.

I nodded, and he kissed me on the forehead before walking back to the desk.

“I can tell you have questions,” he said.

“Uh, yeah,” I laughed. “But none more important than…well…why?”

“Eiyr belongs to the El’odians,” he said simply, “and quite frankly, humans have done a piss poor job of taking care of her. They continue to pump their pollutants into her lands, seas, and air. And, as if that weren’t bad enough, Eiyr is being stripped of her natural resources. Humans steal all that is good from her and give her nothing but their waste in return.”

“That’s not fair. We are more aware of the problem than ever. Global warming, landfills full of plastic bottles, ducks covered in oil - it’s always on the news. People are aware Q; they’re trying to fix it.”

“Who is trying to fix it? Your leaders? They have been shown the evidence and the damage your existence is causing, and yet they choose to turn a blind eye. Eiyr gives your people life, Jacob, and they accept it with open arms. Yet what do they give her in return? How do they thank her? They ignore her as she dies before them…as she dies at the mercy of those same hands that so greedily reach out and take all she had to give. Frankly, humanity cannot be trusted with safeguarding her any longer.”

“Well, that’s the pot calling the kettle black, don’t you think?”

“I don’t understand,” Q shook his head, confused.

“You’re saying we can’t be trusted,” I placed my hand on my chest, “but you guys caused the freaking extinction of life sixty million years ago.”

“That was unfortunate.”

“That’s putting it mildly! Did I mention pretty much all life on earth was wiped out?”

“I was there, Jacob. I know what happened. I also know that when that Skai fused his Askyli with the Core, he wasn’t thinking of causing a cataclysmic disaster that would affect all of Eiyr. If there’s one thing our people share, it’s our love for Eiyr. It was an accident, a disastrous one, but an accident, nonetheless. Humans aren’t accidentally dumping their crap into the oceans or air. They do it knowingly, even willingly, and that’s unforgivable in our eyes.”

“You condemn all humans, but what about those of us who are fighting for change?”

“Their efforts are commendable, but as we see it, they’re a small minority with no real power to affect change in the long run. But none of that matters, Jacob. Not really. Even if none of those problems existed in the world, the fact of the matter is, Eiyr belongs to us, Jacob. We want her back. As it stands now, we will not sit and watch human arrogance destroy what we hold dear.”

“Arrogance? Isn’t it more arrogant to think the Nave way is the only way to fix the problem?”

“Time will tell.”

“Humans aren’t just going to kneel and surrender at your feet. If you’ve seen even one alien invasion movie, you’d know that. They’ll fight you forever.”

“Some will, but less and less over time. The Nave have forever, Jacob. Do humans?”

I threw my hands up in defeat and stared at Q. “This argument is pointless, isn’t it? The Nave are going to do this regardless of what I say.”

“This plan has been in place for a very long time Jacob, but we are willing to listen to new ideas. Once you’ve officially become a Brother, you can voice your concern, and we will listen.” He walked over to the desk and placed his hands behind his back.

He raised his brow. “Unless this revelation has changed your mind about joining The Brotherhood?”

“Of course not,” I assured him, and I think I was reassuring myself as well. “Surprisingly, that thought never crossed my mind. I’m just trying to get a hold of all this stuff. It’s overwhelming.” I closed my eyes for a moment and rubbed my temples. “Can I ask you something? What do your human brothers think of all this?”

“The Brotherhood is united in this cause, Jacob. Sure, many of our human Bothers had a lot of questions as you do now, but in the end, they stand with their Naverian Brothers.”

I turned away from Q for a moment to look at the names on the screen. “So, The Brotherhood springs its plan, and then what?” I pointed at the screen again. “In fact, why go thru all this trouble, to begin with? I’ve seen your power. Why don’t you guys fly into the White House and take it over?”

“Humans are an unpredictable and irrational species. We want the transition to go as smoothly as possible. When the call goes out, we need to control as many of the world’s governments as possible, especially their weapons. It only takes one lunatic to press a button and cause a catastrophe similar to the one that happened all those millions of years ago. We will not allow that to happen again.”

“Q, people won’t care who can hold out longer. They will fight you.”

“Us…”

“Huh?”

“People will fight us, Jacob. You and I will be on the same side.”

“Okay, us, but you know what I mean. People are not going to give up their freedom… They will fight until ‘forever’ runs out.”

“They won’t have any choice in the matter. There will be a new world order where our word is law. Any opposition will be put down quickly and decisively. Once we secure certain key locations worldwide, humans can put up all the resistance they want. In the end, it will mean very little.”

“Oh wow…” I was taken aback by Q’s statement. It wasn’t what he said but how he said it that bothered me. It was all so simplistic to him…so easy. He was standing there talking about conquering the world as easily as if reading off his grocery list. Q seemed so cold and detached about the whole thing. “Will you be herding people into detention camps too?”

“You’re confusing humans with the Nave, Jacob. We have no intentions of recreating the horrors of your history. There won’t be any concentration camps, extermination camps, or any other camps you can imagine. I do not deny there will be casualties. We will do whatever it takes to preserve Eiyr, but we have no desire to cause human suffering. Quite the opposite; we are giving humanity a chance to save itself.”

“How do you plan to do that exactly?”

“By uniting humanity under the Naverian Rule of Law. There are nearly 200 hundred countries in the world right now. They’re divided by different ideologies…religious, political, social… it doesn’t matter. People will find any excuse not to get along. They strive to hate each other. This country claims to be one nation under God with liberty and justice for all, but you and I know that’s not true. There are deep social and political divisions, and that’s just naming a couple; it’s no wonder nothing gets done.”

He had me there. I couldn’t argue against his points because I felt the same about many of his issues.

“For centuries, we’ve watched humanity, and quite honestly, we’re not impressed. Sure, you’ve improved technologically, but humans keep taking ten steps backward instead of moving forward as a united race. Normally we wouldn’t care what you do to each other, but we won’t allow humans to drag Eiyr down with it.”

A silence fell between us that I welcomed. It allowed us to return to our respective corners and gather ourselves before the bell rang for the next round. Unfortunately, I was running out of ‘punches’ to throw at him. I’ve turned on the news and watched what was happening in the world only to feel like it was going to hell in a handbasket. Now I’m not complaining. Regardless of my issues, I had a great life growing up. Not everyone could say the same thing.

Could the Nave bring about change?

Q reached out his hand and placed it palm up on the table, his eyes locked on mine. Without uttering a single word, I knew what his look was saying to me. I trusted him this far, and he asked me to trust him again.

I reached over and placed my hand in his to let him know I was with him always. One might ask how I could give in so quickly or suddenly be okay with it. I wasn’t completely on board but willing to follow Q’s lead. The Nave takeover of Earth was going to happen, one way or the other. Listening to Q made that overwhelmingly clear. So, it boiled down to two things.

One, I trusted Q.

And two, when the shit hit the fan, I wanted to be on his side.

“When this goes down, what happens to my family and friends?” My voice caught a bit in my throat as images of my mom and dad raced thru my mind. “Will they simply be forgotten?”

“Of course, not Jacob,” he replied, his voice so loving and calm. And if that wasn’t enough, he squeezed my hand to reassure me again. Leaning over, he kissed it before finally letting go. “We take care of our own, and that means taking care of the families of our human Bothers. Every member of your family will be protected and looked after. They will be given paradise. You will be asked to turn in a list of all your family and friends you want to live within utopia.”

“What exactly do you mean by utopia?”

Q smiled. “They will be relocated to a location agreed upon by the majority, and they will be given a new city to live in. A city built by the Nave. They will want for nothing and won’t have to worry about things like disease, famine, poverty, or crime. What we won’t do is stop the natural progression of human life.”

“You mean you won’t stop them from dying?”

“Precisely,” Q said. “We will ensure that from the moment a human is born in the city, he or she lives out a long and healthy life until it comes to a natural end some eighty or ninety years later.”

I found relief in that. I felt this weight just left off my shoulders, and I could breathe easier. I know this sounds incredibility selfish, but what else matters if my ‘personal people’ were safe and protected?

“What if people don’t want to go to this perfect haven?” I inquired.

“The burden of convincing your people to follow you to paradise falls entirely on you, I’m afraid. Don’t get me wrong, we’ll be there with you so you can show them you haven’t cracked and lost your mind, but in the end, you will have to make them see the light. Um, no pun intended.”

We laughed.

“Believe me; the alternative is much worse.”

“What does that mean?”

“Do you think the Nave are the only ones with designs for Eiyr?”

“Well, when you put it that way, you’re giving away the punch line. Let me guess. The Skai have plans of their own?”

“Good guess,” he said with a slight nod. “The Skai view humanity as a plague on Eiyr that must be eradicated. I’m pretty sure that’s been their goal for a long time now; they just haven’t succeeded.”

“Oh god,” I winced and covered my eyes for a moment. “Do I even want to ask?”

“Some of the worst catastrophes in human history can be connected to the Skai,” Q continued. “You’ve heard of the Black Death of the mid-14^th century, right?”

Narrowing my eyes, it took a moment for what Q was talking about to click in my head. “Oh, you’re talking about the Black Plague.”

“Yes. We believe they created the pandemic, helped it flourish, and spread it throughout Europe, hoping it would wipe out humanity. It almost succeeded. Fast forward to the mid-20th century and the atom bomb’s creation, the Skai had a hand in its development. We learned that some of the key scientists working on the Manhattan Project worked with the Skai. Not only that, but they also had people working on the Uranverein, Germany’s nuclear project.”

“But the west won the race if you want to call it that. They dropped their bombs and scared the hell out of everyone. After the war, the world breathed a sigh of relief and took a step back. I’m pretty sure the Skai are kicking themselves for that one.”

“Why? Because we didn’t blow each other off the face of the planet?” My voice was ripe with sarcasm.

“Well, that’s more of an annoyance, Jacob. Their biggest mistake was giving humans the knowledge to create weapons of mass destruction. I can only guess, but back then, they must have thought a few bombs dropped here or there would be enough to ensure the downfall of humankind. But today?” Shaking his head, Q let out a sarcastic laugh. “If nothing else, humans are extremely creative in finding ways of destroying yourselves. They’ve increased the destructive force of their bombs. They have enough nuclear weapons to destroy Eiyr ten times over. The Skai’s shortsightedness has put Eiyr in danger yet again.”

Now Q was the one who looked positively annoyed as hell.

“Where were the Nave during all this?” I asked abruptly.

Q looked at me as if I had just accused him of some hideous crime. “Jacob, at the time, we had no idea the Skylarians were meddling in human affairs to such a degree. Our network didn’t run as deep into the world’s governments as it does now, especially in the militaries since they were never really a threat to us.”

“I didn’t mean anything by that,” I assured him. I wasn’t sure if I pissed Q off, so I kept the conversation going. “I’m having a hard time wrapping my head around all the hate toward us lowly humans.”

For a moment, Q just looked at me. Then a ‘might as well’ look crossed his face as if he had been holding back on something and suddenly figured, what was the point? “Well…” he began to say and raised his brow, “it’s a little more complicated than simply hating humans, at least for the Skai anyway.”

Gesturing at my face, I told Q, “In case you haven’t picked up on it, this is my confused face.”

“You know how we talked about humans looking like Nave and our theory behind it?” Q waited for me to nod before he continued. “There’s a little more to it than that.”

“Of course, there is….”

“You’ve seen people on television or online claiming to be psychic, right? They want you to call in so they can tell you your future if your boyfriend is cheating on you or any other random crap they can conjure up. Or the people who claim to have prophetic visions of the future or the power to move things with their minds? You get where I’m going with this, right?”

“Well, I know of the kind of people you’re talking about, sure, but I have no clue where you’re going with this.”

“That’s what I meant, Jacob,” he laughed. “99.9% of these people are complete scam artists. Nevertheless, we have discovered that a few…very few…humans possess these abilities; some are more limited than others, but they’re out there. What we learned after further investigation was beyond baffling to us. The electrical impulses in the brains of these rare individuals have a slight Naverian signature.”

“What?” I was shocked to hear him say that. I fell back into my chair and just shook my head. “What does that even mean?”

“It means it reinforces the theory that in some bizarre way, Naveyk might have paved the way for humans to evolve on Eiyr. But more importantly than that, it’s believed by many on both sides - and trust me, the debate is far from over - that humans could be on an evolutionary path to become Nave. So, you can understand why the Skai are trying to eliminate humanity.”

It was as clear as glass to me now. “If I were a Skai, the last thing I’d want is to wake up one day to a planet filled with billions of Naverians.”

“Exactly,” Q said and pointed at me like I’d just won final Jeopardy!. “Even if all these assumptions are dead-on, it could take humans tens of thousands of years to reach such a pinnacle in their evolution; maybe even hundreds of thousands of years, for there’s no way of knowing. Hell, for all we know, it can happen within the next century or two. The Skai are not willing to wait and see.

“But that’s crazy!” I proclaimed, throwing my hands out at Q. “You’re telling me they’re willing to kill us all on the off chance that five hundred to five thousand years from now, we may or may not become Nave?”

“It’s not as crazy as you might want to believe, Jacob,” he countered. “It’s a matter of survival for the Skai.” He paused for the briefest moment; unsure he should say the words that came out of his mouth next. “I’ll tell you this much if the Nave had woken up to a world filled with humans with obsidian skin and white hair – humans who looked Skylarian - we’d be the ones plotting your complete annihilation.”

What do I even say to that?

“Why all the behind-the-scenes crap?” I asked regarding the Skai. “Why not just come at us at full force?”

“Because the Nave wouldn’t allow that to happen. It would have forced our hand and led both sides into a war neither was prepared to win. It’s exactly the reason our plans are on hold because the Skai would intervene. Not for humanity’s sake, but for their own interest.”

“See, that’s what I don’t get,” I said and stood up to look out the window for a moment. I was trying to work out the logic in my head. I heard Q move and turned back to face him. “The Skai want to get rid of us because they fear what we might become, right?”

Q nodded.

“And the Nave think we’re going to be the Earth’s downfall, right?”

Q nodded again.

“Yet you’ll stop the Skai from destroying us. Why not just let them take us out? It seems like it would solve a lot of your problems.”

“Maybe we believe eradicating billions of people isn’t the answer,” he shrugged. “Or perhaps it’s morbid curiosity, and we need to see if our hypotheses on human evolution are correct. You can pick whichever makes you feel better about what we’re doing.”

“Killing us off isn’t the answer, but controlling us is?”

“Yes,” he said matter-of-factly. “You want to hear the sad reality, Jacob? If left to their own devices, humans will be lucky to survive another two centuries. Shaun has his money on three, but he’s in the minority on this. Two centuries or three, it doesn’t matter. Humans have no chance of reaching their full potential, and Eiyr certainly won’t endure unless we take control.”

I turned around and stared out the window at a world I knew would never be the same to me. I couldn’t help but wonder what the future held for humanity and what my role would be in this new world the Naverians planned to create. Do I go along with the plan for world domination and hope to do some real good in the process, or wait to be wiped from existence by the Skai? It was a no-brainer, I suppose.

“Do the Nave have a timetable?” My eyes changed their focus from the world outside to Q’s reflection on the glass as he came up behind me. “And what’s to prevent the Skai from trying to stop you just like you would stop them?”

“Come with me,” Q said, placing his hand on the small of my back as he spoke. He led me to his office adjacent to his bedroom and had me stand in front of the computer. “Remember this?”

“Yeah, I remember it. I don’t know what it means, but this is the computer gathering a bunch of material on this ball.” The search program was still running and cataloging all kinds of information. “What are you looking for?”

“The means to end the deadlock between the Nave and Skai. You might wonder why both sides are holding back and not just going full force, trying to eliminate the other.”

“The thought had crossed my mind,” I admitted.

“You see, right now, neither side is sure who has greater numbers, but it’s generally believed we’re probably evenly matched. That becomes a problem. If we were to go to war, both sides would lose so many soldiers that, ultimately, even a victory would feel like defeat. Whoever was left standing would be so crippled they’d need another two or three millennia to rebuild what was lost. Or we can be completely wrong, and one side outnumbers the other to the point where they would annihilate the other utterly. We simply don’t know. Which is why our numbers are one of our most closely guarded secrets on both sides.”

“Okay, that makes sense,” I said and pointed at the screen. “How does that help, though?”

“We believed the Eye of Eiyr was destroyed along with Aquaiia. We were wrong. Over the years, we discovered text that referred to a mystical sphere used in some ancient civilizations. For instance, the Egyptians used this sphere to bless a newly crowned pharaoh, for they believed it contained the absolute essence of the Sun God Ra. The ancient Norse people believed it was the Eye of Odin. As civilizations fell and others flourished, we found the sphere touched many cultures until it disappeared from history entirely.

“We believe it’s out there somewhere. If it can survive the destruction of Aquaiia, it can pretty much survive anything humans can do to it.” After that proclamation, he walked back into his bedroom, and I followed.

“I still don’t get it.” I was still very confessed. I’m not going to lie. Trying to keep up with a lot of what he was telling made my head spin. “How’s the Eye going to give the Nave the upper hand?”

“Right now, there are still thousands…tens of thousands of my brothers sleeping deep within Eiyr, and we have no way of reaching out to them. We are forced to wait for them to wake up on their own. With the power of the Eye, the Nave can reach out and wake all our brothers simultaneously.”

“Which would give you a decisive advantage over the Skai,” I added. “They’d be overwhelmed, and you’d be able to eliminate them with little risk to yourselves.”

Q just nodded. “Only then can we enact our plans. Until then, all we can do is slowly grow our numbers and wait.”

“Can the Skai use it to do the same thing?”

“Yes, unfortunately,” he replied and looked positively bothered by the thought. “Thru Juyx, we learned they had their own Eye of Eiyr. The gods designed it for El’odians, not specifically for Naverians or Skylarians, so whoever finds it first will be able to activate its power to wake those that slumber. For all we know, both Eyes are out there somewhere. We know the Skai are looking for it just as vigorously as we are.”

“Well, that complicates things.” I’ll admit the thought of the Skai finding the Eye first made me sick to my stomach. All I could picture was them finding it one day and my family and friends being dead the next day. The Nave plan was looking better and better by the minute. But if I’m being honest, I wouldn’t mind if neither side ever found it. “Are you guys close to finding it?”

There was urgency in my voice that surprised even me. Q picked up on it and walked over to me, and placed his hands on my waist. His eyes softened as he said, “Don’t worry, Jacob, we’re doing everything in our power to locate the Eye.”

“Can’t you do just that? Use your powers to beam the thing to you or something?”

“No,” he laughed and shook me slightly. “Unfortunately, it doesn’t work that way. The power of the Eye is dormant because we can’t sense it anywhere. For all we know, it could be in some old lady’s attic collecting dust.”

“If you’re trying to make me feel better, it’s not working.”

He kissed me suddenly, deeply, and pulled me into him. And like always, I was lost in the moment, and everything else faded away. If I could’ve made that moment last forever, I probably would have; it was easier than having to face the shit storm that was heading our way.

Q pulled away but then gave me one last peck before stopping completely. “Better now?” he asked, gripping my shoulders slightly.

“No, but it helped,” I said honestly with a meek smile. “This may be a very naïve question, but is there any chance of peace between the Nave and Skai?”

Q rubbed his hands up and down my arms; then walked away. “I’m afraid any chance of real peace between us is highly unlikely at the moment. The old rivalries are burning as hot as ever, and both sides are still sore over the loss of our princes. I don’t think that open wound will ever heal. So just like in old times, they attack us, and we attack them.” He stopped for a moment and then turned around to face me. “Like the night we stayed at the hotel, remember?”

My brows came together in confusion.

“The guys at the gas station? Try and remember.”

“Oh yeah, they had bats and shit.” It was coming back to me even though it was all a bit fuzzy. “You told me it was a bad dream. You’re telling me that really happened?”

“I’m afraid so,” Q said. “I couldn’t let you see us fighting, so I put you to sleep. But that’s a classic example of life between our two people. Somehow, they tracked me down and tried to get payback for something that happened a couple of months ago. I ended mopping the floor with them, so they tried to get even by….”

“Setting fire to the house,” I interjected and snapped my fingers. “That was the Skai, wasn’t it?”

Q nodded.

“And what do you mean you put me to sleep? You can just snap your fingers, and out I go?”

“Well, it’s not sleep, per se; it’s more like freezing you in a moment in time. Messing with the space-time continuum is tricky, so we try not to do it often.”

“It always messes shit up in Star Trek.”

“You’re funny….”

I didn’t like that one bit; that loss of control. I understood why he had to do it, but I still wasn’t too happy about it. “So, what were the ones at the mall after you for, and why didn’t you knock me out then too?”

“Because it was time for you to find out the truth,” he said matter-of-factly. “And honestly, I have no idea why they were after me. I didn’t recognize them, so they were probably newborn Skai trying to score some points with their people. A foolish endeavor since they were no match for me. What a waste.”

“What does that mean? Did you kill them?”

“No, no, no,” he answered, waving his hands. “I probably killed their pride, but they lived to tell about it. Had I killed them, we might be at war right now. I was referring to their anonymity. They knew who I was because I’m well-known, so when they got turned into a Skai, any information they had on me got passed on.

“Being newly born, there’s no information on them for the Nave to pass on…until now. You see, all newborns have a tremendous advantage because nobody knows them. It’s best to save that advantage for something important. If I had to guess, I’d say the Skai probably weren’t too happy with them for blowing their cover. At least the one blew his over. I’ve had dealings with the second Skay in the past.”

“The Skai turn humans as well? Even though we might end up being Nave sometime down the line?”

“Yes, save for those unique individuals with a hint of Naverian Anavi. Until the time humans do evolve, if that’s where humanity is heading, they’re free game.”

“Hmmm.”

“What?”

“Oh, I just find it funny that those bent on killing or controlling us all still need humans to grow their ranks.”

“Life is not without its ironies.”

I was going to say something more, but there was a knock at the door. One of the Twins stuck his head in for a moment.

“Oh, hey, Jacob,” he said with a slight nod. “How’s it going?”

“Um…fine.” That was weird for me. I was used to the Brothers ignoring us as pledges, and now they’re suddenly all nice and welcoming. It would be weird getting used to that, but I guess it’s better than them yelling at me for something.

“Cool. Hey Q, the Council will see you in twenty minutes if that works for you.”

“That’s fine. Tell them I’ll be there shortly.”

“Done,” he said. “See ya, Jacob.”

“Um...bye.”

Q laughed.

“What was that all about?” I asked.

“He doesn’t see you as a pledge anymore, that’s….”

“No, not that,” I interrupted. “The meeting with the Council.”

“Oh, that,” he smirked. “Nothing to worry about. Remember I told you I’d have to go before the Council of Brothers so they can ensure I didn’t use my position to protect you?”

I simply nodded.

“And now you know how they’ll be able to tell.”

“You’re going to merge with them, aren’t you?”

“Yes. We’ll open ourselves up to each other, and by sharing our thoughts, experiences, and feelings, they’ll be able to see exactly the motivation behind everything I did. I’m not too worried about it.”

“Well, I’m glad one of us isn’t.”

“Relax, this is also the meeting where every house will discuss the merits of all their pledges and make a case for them to become Brothers. I’d be more worried about that if I were you.”

As if I didn’t have enough to worry about!

He laughed when he saw the look on my face. “Jacob, calm down; I don’t see why you or any of the other pledges wouldn’t make it in. Now…” Taking a step back, he held out his arms to either side and then a swirl of light came up from his feet to his head. He was now clad in a white, hooded robe with gold trim. “How do I look?”

He looked damn sexy, but I wasn’t about to give him the satisfaction. “Like you’re about to give a sermon.”

“I’ll give you a sermon.”

“Promise?”

“Get out!” he feigned anger and pointed at the door.

We both left his room laughing, and I felt a little better about everything. It was always easiest when things were light and fun between us. It’s like everything gets put on the back burner, and I can just enjoy the moment.

I had no idea where I was going. I was just following Q.

“While I’m with the council, you should take the opportunity to talk to your friends about us.”

“What about?”

“Seriously?”

“Oh right!” I slapped my forehead like an idiot. “You mean about us as in us.”

“Yes,” he said and rolled his eyes. “It would be best if they heard it from you first.”

“Yeah, I suppose. I don’t even know how to bring it up.”

“You’ll find a way.”

Before I realized it, we were standing in front of the large gold mirror. I saw my reflection, and for a moment, I thought back to when I pictured it yelling at me to “remember.” I was a bit unsettled.

“Are you okay?” Q asked.

“Yeah, I’m fine. Can I come with you?”

“I’m afraid not,” he answered and turned to face the mirror. With a simple wave of his hand, the surface began to ripple like the surface of a pond. “You’re not a Brother just yet. Now go be with your friends and don’t worry about me. I’ll be fine.”

He kissed me, and I held on to him for all it was worth. Q started laughing while we were still kissing.

“Okay, I have to go.”

He tried walking away, but I pulled him back to me.

“Just be careful, ok?”

Again, he laughed. “Jacob, I’m walking in to meet my Brothers, not an execution squad.”

“I know,” I said shyly, looking away because I felt foolish. “Just tell me you’ll be careful.”

“I promise. I’ll be careful.”

Kissing me one last time, he stepped thru the rippling glass with my hand still wrapped in his. I held on to it as long as I could…until the very tips of our fingers were all that touched, and then they didn’t. I watched as Q disappeared entirely behind the ripples.

I looked at my empty hand, took a deep breath, and ran after him.