Daybreak, BK 4 of the Lightwalkers

XXXI - Seth

I watched Jon disappear up the stairs with Nick from the shadows of a hallway, and as much as I wanted to be there with Jon, I knew it wasn't my place to be. Honestly, I wasn't sure I'd be welcomed. Jon was different, and I wasn't just talking about the fact that he was a vampire or had a completely different personality after sunset.

"I'm glad he's okay," Bryson said, coming up to stand next to me. "It couldn't have been much worse."

"Worse than him being a vampire?" I asked, acid dripping from my voice.

Bryson gave me a dead-eyed stare. "Jon could easily be dead, or he could have died, and Kain would be all that's left. There are a million ways things could have worked out differently."

He clapped a hand on my shoulder and guided me away from the entry hall. The rooms we passed through were packed up, drop cloths covered furniture, drapes were still pulled closed, all except for one room in the very back of the house. The curtains had been opened and a few of the couches uncovered.

Bryson opened the french door and stepped out onto the back terrace. The morning air was cold, the sun quickly burning off the slight hint of fog that lingered over the grounds and amongst the forest trees.

I followed Bryson across the stonework to the steps that led down into the overgrown gardens. There was a tension in his shoulders that I didn't like. Was something else wrong now?

"Do you know what you'll do now?" he asked, pausing on the top stair, turning to look back at me.

"Not really," I hedged, not sure where he was going with this.

Bryson looked away, scanning the scenery before focusing on his feet.

"Look, I can't promise to know the answers or even to know which direction to steer you in. Taking you to the Order is proof of that. But I can promise to be here for you and Jon. You can always come to me if you need to talk or for help or anything. It's the least I can do for all the help your dad gave me. And well, I'd like to think that we're friends."

His words surprised me and hit a chord in my heart that I hadn't been all that prepared for. But Bryson was right. I did think of him as a friend.

"I don't know," I said slowly, glancing at him. "I think the Order still managed to teach me a few things, even if it wasn't exactly what I was looking for."

Bryson laughed, a look of relief washing over his features as he took a seat on the stone steps. "I guess that's true."

I sat next to him, ignoring the cold stone beneath me, and focused on the forest. "Nick said that Jon will have to go to the Vampire Court now, at least for a little while."

Bryson nodded. "I figured as much, it was bound to happen sooner rather than later. What will you do?"

"I don't know," I said, shaking my head. "I'm really not sure at all. It's not like I can go back to my life like none of this happened, not without Jon."

"Nah, I wouldn't expect you to." Bryson picked at a weed nearby, pulling it from the crack in the stone. "I remember when your father tried to leave the Order for the first time. They laughed at him, though it was a joke. He disappeared off the map for two years. The Order was pissed and frantic to get him back. When they found him, he was a completely different man. Changed. Steadier than he was before. Deadlier, too."

He turned back to me. "Sometimes our lives go in completely different directions than we can plan for. No one is expecting you to go back to normal, not after this."

I stared at Bryson, soaking in his advice with the knowledge of my father. Dad died when I was two, and it had always made Mom sad to talk about him. Finally, getting to hear about him was a dream I hadn't realized I'd had wished for.

"What was he like? My Dad?"

Bryson chuckled and leaned back to brace his arms on the ground behind him. "Elijah was a force of nature. When we were still in training, he was easily the best at hand-to-hand fighting and knife work. Most thought it was just a natural instinct, but only his closest friends saw how every moment of his spare time was dedicated to sparing and practicing what we learned from our teachers. It made him a bit of a celebrity in the school, even more so than being his father's son. But he hated the attention he got for being the firstborn. Elijah never told anyone, but you could see it in his eyes and in the way he would handle some things."

"Did he have powers?" I asked quickly, knowing the answer already. The way he'd talked about mine in his letter told me he had to have some, too.

"If I remember correctly, your father had a Sensing ability. He could tell when a supernatural creature or someone with an ability was nearby. And he also had visions."

So, my powers are just the same as his? I guess that made sense, it being a family thing and all. "What kind of visions would he have?"

"I can't remember what sort of visions he had. Elijah wouldn't talk about them at all."

The sun had come up over the trees and started to warm the garden. Birds chirped in the forest and throughout the grounds. I wondered if they were actual birds or if they were a part of Jay's group. How many of them would travel with Nick to the Vampire Court?

It was my turn to look down at my hands. I didn't know what to expect in return, but I wanted to ask Bryson the question anyway.

"If I were to go with Jon to the Court, would you want to come with us?"

Bryson raised his eyebrows in surprise before his expression darkened. "I don't know if that's such a great idea. I don't think I would be very welcome-"

"I already asked," I interrupted, not wanting him to get the wrong idea. "Nick said we both would be welcome to travel with them. Besides, Remi is going and probably Jay, too. And Sam."

Bryson turned away, and I couldn't read the thoughts that flickered across his face. "The Order has been trying to find the Court's lair for hundreds of years. Now I've got an invitation to the heart of it." His voice was bitter-sweet.

"It's not like you're with the Order anymore, right?" I said.

"That's true, but you have Orion's Knife. I'm surprised Nick would let you, even if you're Jon's brother."

I paused, looking down at the dirty stone steps beneath my boots."To be honest, I'm surprised Nick has done anything for me. It's not like I've helped him. All I've done is create trouble for him."

Bryson shifted, "I'm sure he has a reason."

Silence stretched out between us, but I felt closer to Bryson. Like he was an uncle or an older brother I'd never had. But I didn't want to nag him into doing something that he didn't want to or couldn't do.

"I understand if you don't want to come with us," I said, turning back to him. "But I think I need to stick close to Jon for now. I'm not ready to go a separate direction yet."

"Like I'm going to let you go off on your own. That last time went so well." He laughed.

"Oh, and I'm sure you don't have any stories like that from when you were younger." I teased him back.

"Well, there was this one time-"

And as Bryson launched into a story about how he and my dad, with their group from the Order, faced off with a group of werewolves, I finally felt a sense of relief. Everything would be alright. That no matter how crazy my life was now, that it would all work out in the end.