As promised, the scene that I’d started in this image.
There isn’t much that’s been revealed about the Order, their secrets, or some of their leading figures in the UNSETIC universe yet. There is one family of mages, though, that connects more of the Order than anyone suspects–and it’s not the Knight family, either.
Enjoy the scene of twin brothers whose hands are in more than a few things.
“Cay, this has to stop.”
Ezacaius closed his eyes, exhaling a silent sigh, listening to the familiar cadence of his brother’s footsteps as Harrison approached him from behind. He knew his brother’s tread intimately, and that knowledge had saved Harrison more than once from the more unpleasant consequences of sneaking up behind him. Occasionally, though, he wished that propriety and filial affection didn’t prevent him from meting out some of those consequences—especially when his twin adopted the particular tone he’d just used. “And which particular ‘this’ are you referring to, Harry? I have a lot of irons that I’m watching in the fire.”
“For the love of god, Cay, please do not play games today. You know what I’m talking about.” Harrison’s hand closed on his shoulder and yanked, hard, as if he was trying to spin his brother to face him. Ezacaius pivoted easily, opening his eyes as he spun a hundred and eighty degrees to face his twin. Every cutting, biting, clever remark that he’d martialed died on his tongue as he took in Harrison’s haggard appearance, his bloodshot eyes and the dark shadows beneath them.
“Hell, Harry. What is it? What happened?”
Harrison laughed. It was a bitter sound, harsh, almost but not quite grating. “I’ve been trying to put out the fires you’ve been ignoring, that’s what. Do you have any idea what a hornet’s nest you’ve kicked with all of your little experiments?”
“They’re not experiments,” Ezacaius murmured, shaking his head. “And you know that. It’s adapting to changing times and situations.”
“Cay.”
“I’m not having this old argument again,” he whispered. “We’re beyond that, Harry. At least I thought we were.”
“We never settled anything,” Harrison said, sounding tired. “We only stopped talking about it.”
“Then what’s changed now?” Ezacaius took his brother gently by the arm, drawing him toward a chair by the fireplace. The lodge was cozy enough for a retreat, with its wood floors and overstuffed chairs, though it tended to remind him of things that were sometimes best left forgotten, if only to spare himself the pain of the memory.
Harrison dropped heavily into the offered chair, his gaze fixed on the flickering flames of the hearth. “Don’t lie to me, Cay. It’s all beyond your ability to control now, isn’t it? It’s grown too big. Your hands aren’t holding the reins tight anymore. It isn’t like you promised it would be.”
“What do you mean?” He circled the chair, crouched at his brother’s knee so he could look up into Harrison’s face. The shadows and light of the fireplace made his brother seem older, more tired and careworn. It made him ache. “Harry, which part of all of it are you talking about?”
“Adam Ford came to me today. He’s beside himself. Can’t convince his latest student when to leave well enough alone. She’s joined one of your organizations, Cay. Even over his objections, she did it. Now she’s demanding answers he can’t give her because they’re secrets twelve feet above her ass. Why didn’t you tell me, Cay? Why didn’t you tell me that magi were going across? We swore—”
“You swore,” Ezacaius said quietly. “I never made that promise, harry, and you know why I couldn’t.”
“Her sacrifice—”
Pain spiked, a fist wrapping around his heart and squeezing. “Was for us—for Moyra. I know. I should have gone with her. Maybe if I had, this would be over.”
“Is that why? Is that why you’ve allowed magi across? To end it?”
Ezacaius took a deep breath and exhaled slowly. He’d expected rage to bubble up, but instead he was only tired, almost empty. “There are exactly two magi in my employ that have ever gone across since the foundation of the Corps, Harry. Caitlin’s daughter doesn’t do it on the regular and I’m guessing Alisa is the one that Adam’s all bent out of shape about.”
Harrison blinked, staring at him for a few seconds in what at least appeared to be stunned silence. “How—”
“How much has Adam told you about her?” Ezacaius sat back against his heels. “Does he even know the whole of the story? Do you?”
“She was one of his students,” Harrison said slowly. “One of his protégés. They teach together now in Chicago—when she’s not working for you, crossing over and doing god knows what on the other side. Probably drawing attention back to us.”
“Harry, that war never ended, no matter how much we hoped that we’d somehow broken the cycle. They just rewrote the rulebook without our consent. They’ve never forgotten and our resistance to their demands just made them turn to other methods. That’s part of why the Corps exists and and why the parent organization is so damn important.”
“What are you talking about?” The suspicion was heavy in Harrison’s voice, in the frowning furrow of his brow. He was curious, though. That, too, was in his voice, and the familiar glint was in his eye. That gave his brother hope that maybe, just maybe, they would end up seeing eye to eye on this one rather than letting yet another disagreement fester.
“They’re still coming, Harry. The Cabal is still coming here and instead of abiding by the agreement, they’re just taking whoever they can get their hands on. One of those people is Alisa’s brother. Another was her fiancé.”
Harrison went very still, blinking at him. Slowly, his hands curled into fists against his knees. “Why—”
“Why didn’t I tell you?” Ezacaius sighed. “Would you have believed me? Would you have listened? Oh, Harry. It was just one of those things that you don’t talk about until you have a handle on what to say. I’m still trying to get a feel for the numbers.”
“Who else knows? How long has this been going on?”
“You and I. I imagine Adam thinks the incident was isolated. Caitlin Knight and her daughter.”
“And Lawrence?”
“Probably more than we suspect he does but let’s be honest. He knows more secrets than most and he’s got no use for the politics of any of it, now does he? Whatever he knows, he’ll do what’s necessary when he decides the time’s right.”
“That line was always so damned sharp. It’s a shame he’s the last.”
“Last of the name, maybe, but not last of the blood. Bryn’s gifts may be more in line with Caitlin’s, but she has a son and I imagine there’ll be more children soon enough.” Ezacaius shook his head. “We’re getting off-track.”
“Are we?”
“A bit.” He smiled wryly. “As I said. I’m still trying to get a good feel for the numbers. But the incident where Alisa McConaway’s brother and fiancé were taken was not an isolated one, no matter what Adam might believe. There have been others.” He paused. “Including one of Moyra’s great-grandchildren. From her relationship with Andrew.”
“What? Does she know?”
“No,” Ezacaius said. “Honestly, I don’t think she wants to. She lives in the now. What’s past is in the past. I almost feel bad for her.”
“Her husband is a piece of work. Dangerous.”
“He’s her damned good reason to break form the Order for good,” Ezacaius said, then sighed. “She’s given up her magic, Harry. I didn’t believe her when she said she was going to do it, but it seems that’s the case.”
“I don’t know why you didn’t believe her. I did. I believed it the minute I met that fire and brimstone bastard she married.”
“At least we know she’ll be left well out of whatever happens next,” Ezacaius said. “That was always a concern where the Cabal was involved.”
“Only because of the agreement.”
“Which they’re violating. Which we shoved down their throat two generations ago.” He shook his head. “They will always be a threat, Harry. They’re going to be a threat until they’re stopped once and for all. Given what they’ve taken from her, I can’t ask Alisa to stop. That’s what Adam wants, isn’t it? For her to stop?”
“Adam knows some about why the Portals are dangerous,” Harrison said. “He knows about the Cabal.”
“But not all of it.”
“No. Not all of it.”
Ezacaius sighed. “All of the Order’s secrets to consider and sometimes it feels the secret about this war is the biggest and most troublesome—and the one that maybe we shouldn’t have kept.”
“Aye, but we don’t have a choice now, do we? It has to be kept. At least for now and for the foreseeable future.”
“Aye,” Ezacaius said softly, feeling hollow. “For now, that’s the way it must be.”
“Cay.”
“I agreed with you, brother,” he said, then smiled wryly. “Don’t press your luck.”
Harrison choked on a laugh, leaning forward to pull him into a hug. “I worry about you, you know. You carry too much.”
“We both do, Harry,” Ezacaius said as he wrapped his arms around his twin, squeezing the other man tight. “I fear that’s the path fate wrote for us.”
Harrison’s arms loosened for a moment and he leaned back to look Ezacaius in the eye. “Do you think she’ll come back to it?”
“Moyra? No. No, I don’t think so. I thought maybe she would eventually for a while, but then everything with her children happened and I—no, Harry. No, she’ll never come back to it. Her husband’s made certain of that.”
“He’s a right bastard.”
“He is,” Ezacaius agreed softly. “But we weren’t the ones that chose, nor would she have ever stood for us being the ones to do the choosing.”
“Sometimes, I think if she hadn’t lost Andrew…”
“But she did. But I think you’re right. That was the beginning.”
“Damned shame.”
“A lot of things are, Harry.” Ezacaius squeezed him one more time, then let go, sitting back against his heels again. “So it’s as it’s always been. Left to us to sort through the pieces.”
“Do you think you’ve made the right choice? With the organizations?”
“I think it’s the only way,” Ezacaius admitted. “The world’s changing, Harry. Secrets won’t stay secret forever, but until the world’s ready, something has to be done.”
“There were already mechanisms in place for that.”
One corner of his mouth kicked into a smile as he stood up, stretching. “Aye, there were—and are. But for all of our sakes, more safety nets might be useful. The world’s getting too big, too complicated. At some point, we’ll miss something. All of us will miss something. Then it’s game over for all of us.”
“You sound certain of that.”
“You were, too, when we had the original conversation.” Ezacaius smiled. “This isn’t just on me, Harry. You know that.”
For a second, Harrison glared up at him, but the glare was short-lived, chased away by a rueful smile. “I hate it when you’re right, you know.”
“Then it’s a good thing that doesn’t happen very often.” He offered him his hand. “Come on. Let’s go get something to eat and let the nonsense settle for a little while.”
Harrison grinned, letting his brother pull him to his feet. “Aye, and then you’re going to tell me more about what you know about Adam’s protégé.”
Ezacaius laughed, throwing his arm around Harrison’s shoulders. “Whatever you want, brother. Whatever the hell you want.”
