Game of Survival [S. S. Book Two]

Thirty

Lydia and I sat with a still-injured Parrish in the basement armory of the Argent Apartment. Gerard and Argent had shown up. I was rather displeased to see Gerard, but had promised Lydia I wouldn't do anything.

Parrish said exhaustedly, "Maybe someone should resurrect her."

He started walking away and Lydia and I rushed to stop him. "Don't go!"

Parrish turned to us. "My dreams aren't like yours, Lydia, Alyssa. I'm not just a harbinger of death--I'm the cause of it."

Once again, he turned to leave and Lydia and I followed after him as she called, "Jordan..."

Argent and Gerard stepped in front of us before we could leave the room.

"Let him go," Gerard said from behind.

Lydia and I looked at him with contempt and exasperation as we asked, "Why?"

Argent sighed. "Because as much as we believe Parrish could take on the Beast... Neither of us think he's our only hope at stopping it."

Lydia and I exchanged a confused look before she questioned, "What do you mean?"

"We think there's another."

Gerard smirked. "You two."

"Oh, fantastic," I muttered.

Argent and Gerard sat us down and explained what they knew about the Beast.

Gerard said, "Marie-Jeanne was a lot like you two, Lydia, Alyssa. Skeptical of her own abilities. And once, actually, just as skeptical of the supernatural..."

[Flashback]

Lydia and I looked horrified at the two men, regarding what Gerard had told us.

"Why didn't he warn her?" I asked.

"He told her about everything that they'd seen during the war," Gerard replied as he inhaled deeply. "But, like I said... Marie-Jeanne was a skeptic."

[Flashback]

Lydia and I heard a loud banging and the Beast roaring. We felt woozy and nearly collapsed.

Argent somehow managed to catch us before we fell and asked, "Lydia? Alyssa?"

Lydia and I replied in a dazed tone, "Something's happening."

"Now?"

Lydia shook her head. "We don't know... But something's wrong. We can't stay here."

Lydia and I got up to leave and Gerard, uneasy, called after us. "You two should hear the rest of the story."

She scoffed. "Why should we be listening to you?"

That earned her a stern look from Argent. "He knows it better than any of us."

I crossed my arms and let out an annoyed sigh while Lydia rolled her eyes and sighed.

I jerked my thumb between me and Lydia. "Everything we've read says that the Beast was killed by Jean Chastel."

Gerard scoffed. "Who told you two that? The Internet? If that's your most reliable source of information, then you two might as well go."

Lydia and I exchanged another look, knowing we were being manipulated, before stopping and turning back.

She let out an annoyed sigh. "What happened next?"

Gerard continued the story. "Henri brought Marie-Jeanne to his home... A place protected by a circle of mountain ash trees.

"Marie-Jeanne knew she couldn't just take out another hunting party armed with mistletoe and rowan berries. She needed an advantage. She needed to know her enemy.

"Marie-Jeanne confronted her brother the moment she walked back into the tavern.

"The skeptic became a full believer that night. So, Marie-Jeanne went back to Henri to figure out how to kill both a Beast and a brother.

"Marie-Jeanne hunted Sebastien for three years until she finally cornered him in 1767."

Lydia's eyes, and mine, widened in shock as we put the pieces together.

"Damnatio Memoriae," Lydia and I said.

Argent nodded. "They erased every detail of him. Everything he signed, everything he owned..."

"They burned it all," Gerard finished.

Gerard wrapped up the story. "The name Sebastien Valet has been forgotten for over 150 years, but when it's remembered--"

Argent continued. "When the Beast remembers, the teenager inside is forgotten."

"Gone. Forever."

Lydia frowned. "But Marie-Jeanne didn't do it alone. She was never alone. She had help from Henri, the Magistrate, the town... even Marcel."

I stepped closer to Gerard and stared into his eyes menacingly. "We need Parrish."

Lydia said with determination, "She and I are going to find him."

We turned to leave and were stopped by the two men once again.

"Lydia, Alyssa, he's dangerous," Argent warned. "He's still a shapeshifter--and one who's just beginning to understand his power."

I narrowed my eyes, offended. "And we're not?"

Argent sighed. "You two aren't the same. You both access the supernatural--it works through you."

"But it doesn't control you," Gerard added.

Lydia glared at Gerard. "How would you know? Why do you care? Why are you suddenly on our side?"

Gerard picked up one of the Argent family's silver bars and slid it across the table towards me and Lydia. "Because it's my name as well."

Gerard continued the story. "Marie-Jeanne never left Henri after the death of her brother.

"And their relationship became more than a partnership. They married, and she took his name."

"Argent," Lydia and I realized.

"Marie-Jeanne was the first hunter," Argent said.

Gerard smiled smugly at us. "Our name will be remembered, Lydia, Alyssa--for killing the Beast."

Lydia and I looked up at Gerard coldly as she said, "But she and I aren't Argents."

I turned to Argent as my gaze slightly softened and said quietly, "And we're not Allison."

Argent looked like he lost his ability to breathe while Gerard smiled smugly as Lydia and I stormed out of the armory to find Parrish.