Free The Fallen One (Sons of the Dark Mother, Book One) by Lenore Wolfe Page B

this time. “Nothing I care to talk
about.”
    And that was it. He didn’t talk for
the rest of the trip to the tiny town in the mountains southwest of
Colorado Springs. When they got there, they stayed at the only
motel they could find. He rented them separate rooms, and they
slept through until nearly noon the next day.
    They didn’t know what they were
looking for, so they settled on some late breakfast at the homey,
little café. The waitress brought them coffee and menus. They sat
there, poring through the list of homemade this and that, and
finally ordered.
    Jes waited until she’d written
their orders on her little tablet, and then, since they didn’t have
a single, other place to start, she asked the waitress if she’d
ever seen anyone around fitting Justice’s parents description. His
father had an unusual look to him. He had pretty light eyes, light
hair, light skin. The humans would have said he looked somewhat
albino. Recognition dawned in the waitresses eyes.
    Jes felt Justice go tight with
realization.
    The waitress turned, then, to stare
at Justice. Her gaze narrowed on his face. Recognition
strengthened, and she told them to wait there a minute because she
had something for them, and left the room. When she returned, she
brought Jes a leather-bound journal. “I can save you the
time—asking all over town.” She looked right at Justice. “I thought
I recognized you. Your mom—.”
    Justice glared at her in fury. The
look he gave her would have warned most to hold their tongues, but
the waitress smiled kindly at him.
    “ Your momma told me all about each
of you. She came with your father each day. She left the journal
here, because we’re the only café in town. She said if you ever
came looking, you would wind up here—if only just to eat—and so you
have.” She laughed. She gave him an entreating look. “She was the
one who sent you the blank postcard.” She dropped her voice to a
near whisper. “She wouldn’t have dared to do anything else,” her
whisper was frantic now, and she leaned in toward him. “I think the
postcard put them in danger, because they disappeared after
that.”
     
    When they left the café, they were
both too stunned to speak. They got into the pickup and drove in
silence. The waitress had said they wouldn’t find anything else in
this little town, but they were too amazed to head back right
now—and they wanted to look at the leather-bound journal. So they
headed back to the motel. When they got there, Justice parked. They
just sat there for several long moments—neither of them saying
anything. Finally, Justice drug himself out of the
truck.
    When they got to one of the rooms,
Jes set it on the bed, and they both stared at it.
    It was tooled leather, beautifully
bound—and it might be from Justice’s mother, but it was the first
real clue they had about that day, and they both knew
it.
    Finally, Justice looked up at Jes.
“I can’t. Will you?”
    Jes nodded and swallowed hard. She
picked it up and, with trembling hands, opened it to the first
page. Looking down, her eyes filled full of tears as she read out
loud to Justice.
    “ Dear Children: If you have this
journal, it means you have found your way to the Garden of the Gods
and beyond. I hope this finds you well. It is in my deepest prayers
to the Goddess that she has watched over you all—including
Jes.”
    At this point, Jes sucked in a
breath, and stumbled over the use of her name. She looked at
Justice, wide-eyed. Looking back down at the journal, she went
on….
    “ Justice, you must be careful. I
took a chance leading you here. I hope that Jes is with you. I will
not take any more chances with your lives than the one I took right
now. It was too important to get this warning out to you, not to
take this one risk. But you have no idea the danger you all are in.
And since I know you went back to Chicago, they will know. They
will all know.
That is why I had to take this risk. I hope you will