Fragments - Book One of the Missing

Chapter 35 - Rowan

The walk home was devoid of people. A sigh of relief escaped her lips. At least she would have a few moments to collect her thoughts before she confronted Taniel and asked for his help. Her heart skipped a few beats at the thought.

She knew he wasn't responsible for Olive, but he did hide the dream from her. The truth. That night a chasm in the earth opened up below her, swallowing her whole. She was still falling. He could have told her.

But then again, what would she have said? Would she have been just as hysterical? Was there some way they could have changed the dream? Hamza didn't think so. But what if Taniel was a Weaver?

Thoughts and feelings raced through her mind, so fast she felt faint. She put her hand out to steady herself. Regardless of what Taniel did or didn't do, it was too dangerous for her to have feelings for him. Starting now, she would have to put that flame out.

Distractedly, she weaved her way through the streets and to the loft. She stopped after stepping through the threshold. Something was not right. She could smell it.

Fresh paint. The back wall was no longer the blank canvas it has been for weeks. Instead, the entire expanse had been filled in, the edges slightly blurred, putting the center in sharper focus. Rowan had to walk around the middle pillar to take it all in. What she found there took her breath away.

This time Taniel's painting was alive with color, although somehow still dark in essence like his previous portrayal of Adams and Garner. A shocking red drew her attention.

Rowan reached up to touch her own hair, finding it mirrored in the painting. Her wild mane fell down around her face, covering her eyes like a curtain. In the painting, she realized with a knot in her stomach, her hands were stretched out on a rail. The rail from earlier today.

To her dismay, her mouth fell open.

She didn't know how long she was standing there, but suddenly he was standing beside her. Looking at her while she stared at the painting.

For a moment, she forgot the tension between them. "How did you know?"

"I didn't." He shook his head as if trying to clear his mind. "I was so upset after you left. I just needed to breathe. I ruined everything."

She didn't bother to contradict him. Her eyes met his gaze. The mysterious chocolate eyes stared into her soul, connecting the two of them. No one else existed in that moment.

He was an open book. His eyes screamed of the pain he was in, how sorry he was. Part of Rowan was glad for it, satisfied that he had suffered.

There was too much left unsaid between them. That needed to change if she was going to involve him in her plan. Quietly she said, "How could you?"

"I couldn't do anything but think of how badly I messed things up. How much I hurt you, Rowan." His name softened on her name, like a caress. She ignored the leap in her heart and waited for him to continue.

"I hoped for the longest time that there was some way I could change it. I knew that if I told you the whole truth, it would ruin you. You'd go home to the father that turned you in. That you wouldn't have learned so much about your gift. And yes, it was selfish. But not just for me. I should have told you, I should have trusted you with that."

"Yea, you definitely should have. She's gone." Her voice cracked. "My sister is Missing. We don't even know where she's gone. We have to get her back."

"I know." He held her gaze the whole time. "I'm sorry."

"And this?"

He broke the connection and looked at the wall. "Painting has been meditative, I guess. I fell into a trance and painting this. I didn't even know this is what I painted... I never really know until its finished." His voice grew quiet. In thought or in fear, she didn't know. The irrational part of her, the weak part, wanted to reach out to him. But she clamped down those feelings, thinking of nothing but what happened between them.

"I'm sorry, Rowan. I truly am. I didn't know how to change it..."

They couldn't have this conversation over and over again. She turned back to the wall, too. Both of them standing forward, unwilling to look at the other. She couldn't respond, but she couldn't change the subject either.

She watched him out of the corner of her eye as he swept his hand through his hair and out of his eyes. The tension between them suffocated the room. She could barely breathe.

"It's the Underground, isn't it?"

"Where else did you think I was going to search for clues about Olive?" She snapped, but she didn't care to check her attitude. "Since no one else was going to do anything, I had to do something. And, I think I found something."

"Wait, what? What did you find out?" His voice was strained. Taniel leaned into the barely dried wall for support.

"No but before my hands turned to char I did manage to get a decent understanding of the layout."

"Good, there were places we weren't allowed to when we were in the Underground."

She looked back to Taniel, keeping her eyes trained on his forehead as to avoid his captivating eyes. "Do you have any chalk?"

He nodded and gathered a few pieces from off the table and presented her with paper. Her drawing was not as pretty or neat as Taniel's, but it would serve her purpose fine.

"This is the map of the subway." He nodded. He probably knew this already, but she had to think through it too. "The Underground controls most of the tunnels, so I think it is a safe bet to assume that anything unusual could be attributed to them. That being said, I sensed three areas of unusual activity."

"By which you mean...?"

"Well, if you just let me finish I might have gotten there." She was definitely being unreasonable, but she couldn't help it. Maybe one day she would learn to curb her attitude. But then again, she reasoned, Taniel deserved it.

When he didn't say anything more, she continued. "In the Underground there are three areas where something felt off," she waved her hands as if fishing for the words. "Not harmonious with the surrounding energy. The areas radiated an energy that didn't feel as if it belonged. And when I say belonged, I mean from our world. Not from Fenesmere."

"Are you suggesting that whatever these areas are, they may have to do with Embla?"

"Exactly. I don't know what they are, or how well they are guarded, but they can give us a clue."

Taniel pressed his fingers to his mouth. Despite herself, she couldn't help but think of those soft lips. She chastised herself. She was going to put this flame out.

"That would make sense..."

Her non-existence patience threatened to gutter out again as she waited for him to explain himself. There was so much he kept secret, and now he didn't even have the decency to put words to a full thought.

"Scooter kidnapped Twitch the other night." He waved his hand as if trying to wave away a bad thought. "The night when..."

"Yes. Well, get on with it."

"He told us that the Underground was targeting humans suitable to be awakened, then kidnapping and trafficking them." Rowan's face went slack. Tears stung her eyes. She blinked them back, unwilling to show weakness in front of him. "I have a feeling they are more involved somehow. A way more dangerous player than we realized."

"We have to get her back, Taniel." Her voice was hoarse, cracking again. Tears threaten to spill over her lashes, her chest tight with unloosed sobs. She ached to be held, to not feel so alone, but she couldn't cross that line. She couldn't depend on him.

"I know. Scooter and I have been working on a plan to raid the Underground."

Her spirits rose for the first time since losing Olive. "Count me in." The pain eased marginally as a wicked grin found a home on her face. It wasn't happiness. But it was vengeance. She brightened at the prospect of destroying those who have destroyed so many lives.