Sunset: Pact Arcanum: Book One Read Online Free Page A

him to be honest with me?”
    Jeremy looked at Nick, who was watching him intently. It finally penetrated that he had come close to dying only a few minutes before. He sagged at the revelation, too shocked to censor his words. “It’s just a kid’s oath I made up, part of a game of make-believe I created in my head after my parents died. I never told anyone about it.”
    “Will you tell me the rest of the oath?” asked Scott.
    “No,” Jeremy spat.
    “Because it means too much to you to share.” Scott’s voice was gentle. “Even if it was a kid’s oath. Even if it was just make-believe. It’s still vitally important to you, isn’t it?”
    Jeremy said nothing, just scowled at him.
    “Jeremy, I was born human, but I carried a powerful inherited magic called the Gift. It’s a hereditary spell woven into various bloodlines worldwide for tens of thousands of years. It only comes into its full power when inherited from both parents and then remains dormant until a very special set of circumstances awakens it. Nick believes you have the Gift but that it has been interrupted by a genetic mutation that arose in the human population of Ireland about three thousand years ago. It short circuits the Gift and diverts its power into human psychic abilities, such as telepathy, precognition, and telekinesis. The Celtic people referred to this phenomenon as Second Sight.”
    “The Sight?” Jeremy’s eyes widened. “But that’s just a myth.”
    “Do you have any Irish ancestry?”
    Jeremy swallowed. “My mother’s family was from Dublin.” He shook his head. “No, this is crazy. I don’t believe you. You guys are trying to run some kind of scam on me.”
    “Jeremy, when the Gift is kindled, it triggers a cascade of physical enhancements that magnify combat abilities, such as strength, agility, and endurance. Then it activates a preprogrammed sequence of memories and abilities attuned to the personality of the Gifted, turning the human into an instant soldier with all of the skills necessary to fight a war that has been raging in the shadows of this world for more than thirty thousand years.” Scott placed his hand on Jeremy’s shoulder. “The Gifted person stops being human and becomes a Sentinel.”
    Jeremy stepped back, out of reach. “No. No, that isn’t possible. Sentinels are just in my imagination. I made them up. They were like knights in armor, but with magic.”
    “That’s a fair description.”
    “It was just a game,” Jeremy shouted. “It wasn’t real!”
    “It was never a game, Jeremy,” Scott said with infinite patience. “It was a race memory from the remains of the Gift. A memory of who you were meant to be.”
    “I don’t believe you!” Jeremy raised his fists and stepped forward to attack.
    “I am a Child of the Twilight,” Scott said quietly.
    Jeremy froze in place.
    “I hold the line against the darkness, from the setting of the sun until the dawning of a new day.”
    “I live for the Light; I die for the Light.” Jeremy’s voice softened with wonder as he let his hands fall back to his sides. “My eyes are open, and I am not afraid.”
    “Are you satisfied?” Nick asked.
    “The article three defense is sustained,” Scott told Nick, not taking his eyes off Jeremy. “The charges against you are withdrawn without prejudice. The court finds no fault in your actions and extends to you the thanks of the Sentinel people for your defense of our Lost Brother. This judicial proceeding is now closed. Set and done on this date over my seal and signature, Scott Maxwell Phillips Consul Luscian, called the Wind of Water, Armistice Security.”
    “Forensic recording terminated,” said the voice of his AI.
    Nick exhaled slowly. “Would you have done it, Scotty? If the verdict had gone the other way, would you have tried to kill me?”
    “For a public breach this bad, I would have had to. No one would have stood for it. If I had let you go, the truce would have crumbled.” Scott