A Nameless Dark

Chapter 7

The highest room in the Steel Tower looked like a cross between an executive office suite and a throne room. It was the largest of the semi-transparent rooms we'd seen from the fifty-sixth floor, and it clung to the ceiling of the massive space, crouched among the arsenal of giant icicles. The walls and floor were not made of glass as it had appeared from below. They were made of ice. Each enclosing surface was composed of a double layer of strikingly clear ice, shot through with the same coiling blue light that pulsed through the ice surrounding the larger space below us. Inside, the room was a large open space with twelve foot ceilings. There was a massive conference table to the left, and a luxurious seating area sprawled on the right. At the far end, opposite the door, a raised platform held an enormous, slab-like desk which also appeared to be made of ice.

Esther stepped off the same elevator we'd rode up from the ground floor and strode into her office with a clipped step, followed by Aaron, Samuel, Lara and me. Thaddeus brought up the rear, ever vigilant even here in the center of his army.

We'd made a brief visit to the infirmary to tend to our injuries; mostly minor scrapes and bruises. My bullet wound was the worst of it, and that was already healing nicely. Aaron's impromptu treatment as we fled the farm house had sealed everything up, and my use of Light during our battle with Wiley and his coyotes had mended much of the muscle trauma and nerve damage. The worst part of it for me was the bullet hole in my favorite sweatshirt. At least the Celtic knot-work on the front was intact. I took Thaddeus up on his offer to have it cleaned, counting on the deep red color to hide any lingering bloodstain.

The medical care and laundry were a welcome distraction, but they couldn't stop my mind from reeling after meeting a grandmother I never knew existed. I'd asked my mother about her parents before, but she only shook her head and said they weren't a part of her life and hadn't been for a long time. I'd had no idea who they were, where they came from, or if they were even still alive. Asking questions about our extended family had always been discouraged, our father insisting that questions about the past could only lead to trouble.

"This is our family," he would say. "This house and the people inside its walls are your past, present, and future. They're all the history you need."

Why had he kept Esther from us? And why had our mother gone along with it? I knew they must have had reasons, but I couldn't imagine any that were good enough to justify what they'd done. With every new revelation of deception, a place of resentment hardened inside me, encasing my memories of my father in bitterness and anger.

After our medical treatment we'd been marched to the elevator and rode all the way to the top floor, stepping off into our Grandmother's private office. A shiver punched through me as I stepped into the ice-room. The air was warm enough, but there was a solemnity to the atmosphere that I couldn't deny, as if life and death were decided within these walls. The gravity of it was awe inspiring and oppressive, and I suspected it was entirely intentional. Esther wanted her visitors to understand that whatever problems they carried into the room were of minuscule significance compared to the weighty matters that crossed her desk every day. And I got the feeling that even her grandchildren would be no exception.

"We can speak freely here." Esther informed us. "This room was designed to be impenetrable to surveillance. Thermal imaging, X-ray, radio waves, even sound waves, all are repelled or contained by the exterior casing."

"Good." Samuel said, stopping a few paces into the room. "Someone needs to start talking." He stood with feet planted and arms crossed as if he had no intention of going any farther until someone complied.

"This way, please." Esther instructed, ignoring my brother. Our grandmother did not seem the type for warm family reunions. She continued through the room without looking back or breaking her stride, forcing us to follow and bring the conversation to her. She took the seat at the far end of the conference table and waited while the rest of us gathered around, seating ourselves on either side, Samuel and I on her right, Aaron and Lara on her left. Thaddeus remained standing beside Esther, watching the room, the door, and all of us. When we were all settled, Esther folded her hands on the table in front of her and nodded once, as if calling the meeting to order.