Page 151 of Eternal Obsession

In my dream, they came to me—my ancestors, draped in the forgotten centuries. Their presence was a murmur, a trembling in the marrow of my bones. You cannot cage the darkness, they whispered, voices like candle smoke curling against my skin. No matter how you strive, it seeps, it breathes. Yet still—you may be the light.

“He’s ready for you,” a voice whispered in the quiet.

I opened my eyes and jumped up out of the chair.

How much time had I wasted? My senses told me it was night, but it was difficult to gauge within the lower rooms of Leeds Castle. Father Jake stepped aside and another priest, thirty or so in appearance, stepped out from the shadows.

Strange, how I had imagined him older, timeworn even, cloaked in the gravity of centuries, as his words had so often implied. And yet, as he stood before me, he was anything but ancient. He was young, achingly so, his beauty not of this world, but sculpted from something celestial. His presence haunting, the kind of beauty that unsettles, that whispers of power.

Father Jake withdrew from the room.

“Fabian?” I said with reverence.

“Welcome, Jadeon,” Snowstrom said. “Now that you have rested, you’ll be able to think more clearly.”

This was the man who had appeared to me outside Belshazzar’s, the person whom Marcus and his minions had run from. Perhaps, I reasoned, they knew something that I did not.

Despite my disquiet, I accepted the cup he offered and gratefully gulped down the red liquid, quenching my thirst. The potent drink was from an ancient, and it quickly revived me.

Was I drinking his blood?

He smiled. “I am Fabian Snowstrom, but I’m also known by many other names.”

“You’re the Alchemist?”

“I am.”

“And Father Jake is Jacob Roch?” I asked.

Fabian nodded.

“Why such secrecy?” I asked.

“As I said in my letter,” Fabian began, “I have lived for thousands of years. There are those who think that I am nothing but a myth, though others—those who believe in me—would come in droves for the ashes of their loved ones and the world would be awash with vampires.”

A collection? Here? The realization struck me that this was no ordinary hoard, but something sacred, a legacy that demanded protection at all costs. Who guarded it, I wondered and how could it ever be kept safe?

Fabian’s eyes were a vibrant blue, and I could not help but stare. His very presence was startling.

“You know why I am here then?” I asked.

“I do.”

“Alex and Catherine. Are they still at Belshazzars?”

“Down to business so quickly.”

“I don’t have much time.”

“On the contrary,” Fabian said.

“I didn’t mean⁠—”

“No offense taken.”

“I just have to do something.”

“You cannot control another’s destiny.”