Page 27 of Sundowners
“Learners who insist upon taking the knowledge we freely give and doing harm are shown the error of their ways and are dealt with accordingly.”
Her gaze traveled over to the group of offenders, and mine followed. The four of them were being led out by four of the Guardians, which were Leaders who were tasked with providing security for the compound. They were all incredibly strong and obviously had some sort of training in restraint and discipline. Their clothing was a light gray color, only slightly off from the Learner’s color.
“Learner Creed, you have an admirable sense of honor that serves our community well. When it is time to choose your position, I would not be surprised if Destiny leads you down the Guardian path.”
“Thank you, Leader Bree, but I came to learn healing. I believe that is the best use of my skills.”
“And it could be that you are too close to the decision to choose for yourself. Trust in your Leaders to guide you, Learner Creed, and in The Source. And thank you.”
Leader Bree walked away; the flowing layered material of her clothing seemed to float along behind her.
“Be careful, Creed,” Muse whispered. “I don’t know if I trust these people. It’s you and me, remember? If things get weirder, promise me we’ll leave together?”
I turned to face her. “I thought you were happy. You say the word. I’ll leave at any time with you.”
She smiled. “Thank you. That makes me feel better.”
I squeezed her hand and then everyone stood, announcing it was time to go to our first station of the day. We had energy exchanges together, which seemed appropriate after this strange conversation. If the leader allowed questions, I had a bunch ready to go.
* * *
I only resteda short time before taking Rhonda for a walk. She was not happy to be walking before dawn in the chilly gray light. Fog hugged the coastline like a big puffy parka. I loved mornings like this. The moisture in the air cooled my lungs and woke me up from the inside out. We jogged a good five miles before she just stopped. Her way of saying, “Enough, pretty boy. We’re both geriatric, but only one of us feels it.”
It was true. I felt as good as I had in my twenties. Even stronger now. Especially after last night’s moment with Roman.
Which shouldn’t make me feel giddy. That man was a ball of energy just waiting to be siphoned. He carried around so much anger and guilt that it leeched off of him like water vapor. It was potent. But it wasn’t just about the energy for me. I was coming to truly empathize with him.
When I got back to the house, I showered and then picked up my phone, hoping to hear from Roman.
How does 3 sound?I’m at the library downtown so I can walk over when they close.
No,Creed, that was not an invitation.Still, I was curious what Roman would need with the local library when he had access to the university’s collection.
Research,Professor? I’ve got connections at that library, you know, if you need anything.
I hadtime to make a sandwich and eat half of it before he responded.
Yeah.Local real estate holdings. Boring stuff.
“Au contrere.What might the professor be studying that involves real estate?” I’d looked him up on the university website and found him in the psych research department.
I wantto hear about your work tonight. I’m always intrigued by academia.
I didn’t wantto seem too pushy, but I was curious about every aspect of Roman. He seemed like a pretty driven guy. Which made him hotter, and even more irresistible in my mind.
Up to you.See you at 3.
Definitely.I figured I’d do some reading of my own, and what better topic than Professor San Angelo’s paper on a religious organization in San Sebastián, Spain?
However, the contents of said paper floored me.
How could this be?
The similarities between the La Mente in Spain and Gateway of the Sun were eerie. The emphasis on learning geared toward improving the quality of life, and giving back to the community. I hadn’t thought that the usurpers would have been bold enough to cross an ocean with The Source, but perhaps they had. What if all this time I’d been crisscrossing the United States, looking for clues, and instead they’d been hiding out in Europe?
I couldn’t waitfor the arcade and instead, waited on the steps of the library for Roman. By 3:15, I worried I’d missed him, but then the head librarian opened the door and ushered the subject of my concern out into the sunlight. Roman winced, but continued talking to her.
“So you’ll call the supervisor and let them know I’m coming?”
