Destiny (Cornerstone Deep Book 3)

by Wilson, Charlene A.

  A part of him didn’t want to know. He had Mianna, safe from Sylis Shilo’s influence. He swallowed the bile in his throat at the fact his own father had longed for his wife and then pushed the topic aside.

  Next step. Deep breath. Focus.

  “Jamesuranton couldn’t be making more of a disturbance out there.”

  Rhune’s voice cut into Cole’s concentration like a sword. He jarred, thoughts shattered before he could send them to alter the globes. Thank the Gods he wasn’t in the middle of that.

  Cole sent a glare over his shoulder to view Rhune at the cherry-wood desk. James’s antics appeared over the mirrors of the Utopian in a miniature hologram. “If you’re so concerned about how James is handling things, then why don’t you go help him? You’ve just caused your own disturbance here. I need silence. The procedure could end in disaster if I focus on the wrong thing!”

  “My apologies, Colhart.” As Rhune stood, he took on the Smoke of Night and darted out the door.

  “Sorry, James,” mumbled Cole. “But I’d say my task requires a Rhune free zone more than yours does.”

  Chapter Twenty-Two

  Air rushed into Vincent’s lungs as his body snapped into a whole state. He crumpled into himself and then remembered only solid souls may travel the gateway; the reason white flora carries those who have passed to their next life when in a foreign dimension. His determination doubled as he clenched his fists and stood. “Elaina!”

  Small ripples followed the burst of air from his voice, and he gnashed his teeth together. The silence seemed to swallow the outcry into a muffled bubble. How could he make such a disturbance as to guide his love back to safety before she entered Midway Summit? Or worse, before she slipped into the eternal sleep he’d learned of through Rhune’s stories.

  He grumbled. The best bet would be to get her to Midway and find a server to aid her until they could get back. That way, they’d at least have a few days to work with. Or could they even go back if she received energy assistance from someone living in another realm? Logic slammed in his mind and he tossed his hands out to his sides. What was he thinking? James had assigned him to help with the prophecy anyway. He was to take his mother’s place if Rhune couldn’t convince James to let Mechenzie train. This almost made Elaina’s antic perfect. She’d be with him during his assignment. Yes!

  His perspective renewed, Vincent dashed ahead, waving his arms and expelling as much energy as possible to create a disturbance for her to follow. Small thoughts of Midway littered his mind as to guide him closer to the plane.

  No sign of Elaina within the white void.

  A growl released nervous tension as panic seeped into his resolve. She could be anywhere in there. “Elaina!”

  The wild shout sent distorted shadow in all directions. Spinning in a haphazard circle, he punched the emptiness with a charge of blue neon. The environment slowly warped it into shadow, and the band of power expanded out of sight.

  “Midway Summit,” Vincent said quickly, as to warp the circle into a path toward his destination. A tall doorway appeared in multicolored lights, and he stepped through to the other side.

  Crisp splashes hammered in his ears, and he cringed, cupping his hands over his head. The noise of the waterfall slowly eased in his mind. Atmospheric electricity and beams of rainbow-colored light flashed within the liquid flow, and a light mist billowed from the rocks as water hit. Thick vines cast deep shadows over him in the concave behind a wide waterfall as the portal closed.

  He’d been to the Midway dimension once in his life, and language, customs, and townships appeared in his mind like a dream. This is Terrace Well. Father, Mother, and Uncle Rhune consecrated it for the gathering of the colonists. If Elaina made it this far…

  Vincent couldn’t wait to clear the flow before he called for his love. “Elaina!”

  He reached the sliver of space between water and rock in five long strides and then turned in a circle to take in the area at large. It looked as if the mountainside had opened its mouth to take a drink from the river, and foliage lined the soiled lips to spill from the opening. A deep cavern spread out across from the falls. “Gods, Elaina, if you’re here, answer me!”

  “Pwy ydych chi, obben?”

  Jarred by the timid voice, Vincent spun to face an elderly man whose simple clothing shamed any vagabond on Terra. Loose fitting trousers that reached his shins and a tunic that hung from one shoulder draped him. Vincent understood the foreign words as if he’d spoken them his whole life. It was a derivative of a language on Cornerstone Summit, one adopted by the settlers and their servants. The man set his basket of fruit and leaves at his feet and looked as if he planned to kneel. He hesitated, meeting Vincent’s gaze in a quick scan.

  Vincent answered the man in his native tongue. “My name is Vincent. I’m looking for a woman who might have come through here.”

  “I am Amero.” The man nodded and motioned toward a tunnel. “A Mistress, great with child. She was very weak, in need of service. She had no Talit to receive energy with, so I helped her to my master’s abode, where the mistress there required service for her. But she is not well….”

  Vincent shook his head. “That can’t be the woman I’m looking for. Elaina isn’t pregnant.”

  “Elaina?” He nodded with upped brows. “She pointed at herself and said Elaina Shilo many times.”

  Elaina clenched her fists and pressed her head into the soft pad of the cot. Energy surged in sporadic waves through her veins, and her hands and feet tingled to the point they felt like they could explode. She convulsed, each tremor threatening to knock the breath from her. The miracle within her stirred and added to the quakes shaking her body. How could the desire to have the child of the man she loved cause such physical confusion? She didn’t know whether to sit, stand, or writhe on the cot they’d helped her onto. Oh dear stars! How did it come to this?

  And who were they? Okay, they were kind strangers who took her in, but what kind of people had eyes that glimmered, skin pale as a baby’s bottom, and spoke in such an odd tongue? Why didn’t I stop to think the people would speak a different language?

  The nurse jabbered beside her, her tiny lips fluttering illegible words. Seriously, open your mouth wider and make some sense! Elaina’s exasperation exploded. “Will you just shut up? I can’t understand you! I’m trying to calm down here, but the energy just won’t stop, and your gibberish isn’t helping!”

  A tall man entered the room, his long fingers clutching a pad and pencil. The woman turned to him and shook her head. More jabbering from both this time. Augh!

  The man stepped to the side of her bed, and his calm demeanor seemed to mock her state. “Forstår du mig?”

  Elaina scoffed. “What?”

  “Me comprenez-vous?”

  Seriously? He’s still trying to make me understand? “Huh?”

  “Verstehst du mich?”

  “Gods, you people are going to drive me crazy!” Elaina rolled her head to face the burnished rock wall. “Look,” she said, turning to meet his gaze. “I need my Goddess, Venus!”

  The woman’s bushy brows jumped, and she placed her hand on the man’s arm. “Venus?”

  More gibberish. But she had understood the goddess’s name. That’s a good start!

  “Yes, Venus! I need Venus.”

  The man nodded, but his frown told Elaina he wasn’t happy. He placed his hand on his chest and then raised it toward the ceiling. “Venus yn dduw.”

  Jitters punctuated Elaina’s nod. “Yes, Venus is in heaven. But I need her. My husband… Vince, he could call on her. Can you find Vincent? He’s a Sentinel. Is there a Sentinel here? Maybe he could reach her for me.”

  Turning away, the man shook his head. “Dydy hi ddim yn deal, Hiedel,” he said quietly and then sighed. “Dim ond ceisiwch gadw ei chynhyrfu.”

  The woman nodded and picked up a damp cloth. As she placed it on Elaina’s brow, the man walked from the room.

  With a growl, Elaina threw her hand
s to her face. Venus, you blessed me. Now please bless me again. I need… I need my Vince.

  Chapter Twenty-Three

  James gnashed his teeth and spoke his command. “Sitominus.”

  Cloaking spell in place, he clenched his fists, drew them upward, and the car lifted from the pavement.

  Linda appeared beside Jarrett, her brows pulled tightly together, cheeks flushed with her dropped jaw. “James. What are you doing? Please let me take my babies to a safe place!”

  Jarrett swore under his breath. Linda dove over the back of the front seat, grabbing at the girls, and James shoved at the heavy machine. A flick of his finger, and the engine died as he gently placed the car on the shoulder of the road.

  “You’re not taking her, James,” cried Linda. “She’s my baby, can’t you people understand that?”

  As he turned for the door, she wedged herself between it and her twins.

  James heaved a breath and lifted the latch. Of all the people Linda could have gone to for help, and she turned to Jarrett. Hadn’t he proven to be a worthless husband, neglecting the well-being of his family? James sneered at the thought and then wrapped his arms around her waist and pulled her out of the car.

  “James, no!”

  James’s biceps bulged as she fought against his hold. “Leenja, please. Believe me when I say I regret this course of action.”

  “Regret? You regret it? This is my child, my baby. I don’t care if she’s the God of Life herself. I’m her mother. Her mother!”

  “Actually,” came Rhune’s voice in a soft tone. “She’s the God of Light.”

  James sent a glare over his shoulder to find the man who brought this all on. “Don’t you have somewhere to be?”

  Rhune held up his hands. “I thought you might need a little help. Cole is readying the globes.”

  Ignoring the intrusion, James turned his attention back to Linda. “Nothing will stop you from being her mother, Leenja.”

  Linda’s grip eased, but her body remained rigid. “So I can go with her, and be there for her, and hold her when she needs me? I’ll be there to see that she eats right, isn’t forced to eat meat, and she’ll have her sister, her best friend, there to cheer her on and support her in triumphs and failures?”

  Closing his eyes, James pictured them doing just that.

  “Maybe we should let Mechenzie have a say in all of this,” said Rhune. “She holds the soul who will ultimately have to decide whether or not to help in this situation.”

  Linda gripped James’s arm so hard, her nails pierced his skin. “What? She’s five years old.”

  “I’m six.” The tiny voice broke into the throng and sounded foreign in the bustle of traffic and shouts. “And I want to help. I know who you’re talking about. I mean I don’t know them, but I do.” Her little hand lighted on her chest, the same way it had the time James and Vince picked the girls up from their father’s and she spoke of the loved ones who had passed. “Something inside me says they need me, Momma.”

  Linda cut a warning glance at James and murmured. “Let me go to my child.”

  James slowly released her, and she knelt on the pavement in front of Mechenzie. Linda’s elbows rested on the car seat as she took her daughter’s hands in hers.

  “Kenzie, this isn’t like saving the butterflies or crickets from the birds. This could be very dangerous.”

  “But you and Mandy will be there, won’t they Poppa James? And Uncle Rhune won’t let anything happen to me. I know he won’t.”

  “I will do everything in my power to keep her safe.” Rhune couldn’t have sounded more sincere.

  And James hated him for it. He muffled a growl. No doubt he will. So he can claim her as soon as she matures.

  A heavy sigh issued from Linda’s lips, and she peered at Rhune over her shoulder. “Only, and I repeat, only if Mandy and I are able to be with her during all of this.”

  Jarrett threw his arm over the back of his seat. “What about me?”

  Straightening, James glared at him. “What about you?”

  Jarrett turned around and disappeared somewhere on the other side of the driver’s seat.

  James lowered to one knee and stroked Linda’s cheek with his thumb. “Leenja, you don’t realize how things work on Meridian. There will be many times she will be in deep meditation; no one other than the instructor may be present.”

  “Well…” Linda nodded a jerky bob. “That’s different.”

  “And her instructor would be someone close to the situation.”

  “It would be you right, James? I mean, you’re her new father. You’re as close as it gets. Right?”

  “No, my Terran firefly,” said Rhune. “I’m as close as it gets.”

  “Well…” Linda’s hands fumbled around Mechenzie’s. “As long as we’re there.”

  Pinching the bridge of his nose, James released a low sigh. “Leenja. Souls from a cornerstone realm may not survive for as long as it could take to complete her training.”

  He wasn’t about to lose them to Linda’s stubbornness, but how in the Arched Spectrum of Realms could he be the one to crush his love’s heart by separating her family? She was right not to trust him. James saw that now.

  Voices barged into Cole’s concentration as he lifted his hands before the three globes. He bunched his fingers into fists. Two more steps, and they couldn’t be more crucial. He angled a glance over his shoulder to view the door.

  Rhune’s tenor carried over Linda’s alto cord. “I’m all for the mother being with her child, but we can’t allow Terrans to live in Champaign, Meridian. A visit is one thing, but this will take time, Jamesuranton.”

  “I’m going to be with my baby!” Linda shouted.

  Cole imagined James lifting his hand as he spoke. “We’re not only talking of her mother, Rhune. There’s Mandy.”

  “Hey now,” came a stranger’s voice. “What about me?”

  A trio of voices met the man’s question. “Shut up, Jarrett.”

  Silence.

  Someone sighed.

  “Look. The Terrans can’t live in our dimension. The energy flow is too different. Midway Summit alone drains the life from them.”

  James responded. “You gave the gift of life to the colonist from Earth. You could do the same for them.”

  “That was for life on Moraine, Midway Summit. I can’t extend it to Champaign unless the soul is Meridian, such as for Mechenzie. They wouldn’t last a week. And the gift of life may not protect a child from the differences in the Spectrum’s position. The heat alone will be difficult to bear.”

  “You would love to have Mechenzie to yourself back home. Admit it. All of this goes to your planning.”

  “You read me wrong, son.” Rhune’s voice softened, “Lilith and I are soul mates, yes. But I would never influence her to make a decision, especially before she was ready. Her soul must decide such things. What is special about a coerced love? How could both grow if one manipulates the other?”

  Cole stepped to the door and peeked around the jamb. The group came to view in the foyer down the hall, and if he read the expressions right—and he knew he did through his telepathy—the comment softened James’s regard somewhat. His brother’s thoughts hit Cole strong and he smiled, his view changing with James’s understanding. He didn’t want to keep her to himself? To groom her for when he could claim her as his bride?

  “You called me son.”

  “What?”

  “Rhune, you called me son.”

  “You are my son, Jamesuranton. And will always be. I don’t want to harm Mechenzie.”

  James lowered his gaze and Rhune held his hands out to his sides. “Look, training Mechenzie on Champaign, Meridian, has its advantages on many levels. But as we are called to serve a mission on Midway Summit, allow me to train her there. I can bless the family, and with the Counsel’s permission, they can join us.”

  Cole’s brows jumped. Indeed.

  Rhune looked at James and Linda in turn. “Is that agre
eable?”

  James’s regard softened to the point Cole thought he might embrace the man. “That is very agreeable. Leenja?”

  Quick nods bounced the blonde hair around her shoulders. “As long as we’re together, I don’t care where we go.”

  Jarrett lifted his finger and took a step sideways. “Let me get this straight. We’re going to another dimension? As in an alternate existence? What does that mean? Are there strange creatures? Food? Will there be beer?”

  Cole snorted.

  “There are equivalents of everything, my boy,” said Rhune. “And as it so happens, our little Terran butterfly and Vincentor have already passed through the portal.”

  James straightened. “You mean he hasn’t returned yet? How could you not go after her to offer the Gift of Life? Time shifts within the portal. You don’t know how long she’s been in there!”

  “Oh, your father designed ways around the receiving of my gift. I’m certain she’s been served and they’re safe within the walls of Moraine’s Shilo Manor.”

  “Rhune you don’t know that.”

  “I was following your instructions, Jamesuranton. You asked that I stay to fill the Triad.”

  James set his hands at his waist. “I fully expected Vince to have returned by now.” He looked at the cascading chandelier as if weighing his decision. “Go. Go find them, make sure Elaina is safe. And with the situation with the portal escalating, keep them there. It will save us time.”

  “I shall make haste.” With a smile, Rhune flourished his cape and dispersed into the Smoke of Night. As he darted out the door, it swung closed behind him.

  Jarrett sidestepped again, as if to gain the others’ view. “No, really. Do they have beer?”

  Chapter Twenty-Four

  Shadows danced along the wide catacomb as Amero’s hand wobbled with each step. How the old man managed to hold the thick braded torch handle with his gnarled fingers was beyond Vincent, and how these people managed to live in a world beneath rock, he didn’t know. Then again, he studied the crystal-lighted torch. How did they get a crystal to produce light? The large gem, positioned in an intricate cap at the top of the handle, glowed bright. For such a rugged environment, the thing looked very refined.