The Black Madonna (The Mystique Trilogy)

by Traci Harding

  I looked to the menfolk, hoping he was lying, but judging by the looks of horror on their faces it seemed he was right.

  ‘I know all you bloodline bitches have a superpower of some sort,’ he went on, and produced the stun-gun I’d used to restrain Namtar earlier. I’d left it in the Signet station as I didn’t want to be carrying weapons during my audience with the Council of Aramatena. ‘Still, I wouldn’t get any grand ideas if you cherish your teammates here.’ The demi-god emptied the gun of its incapacitating darts and replaced them with a cartridge from his pocket. ‘These darts are filled with Orme, and although it would be a great waste of life-juice to off your friends without sucking them dry first, my spook…’ he tossed the weapon to the jinn, which instantly aimed it at my husband, ‘…won’t hesitate to damn them all to hell if you don’t cooperate.’

  My companions looked at me, wondering if I was going to call his bluff. Exposing my abilities to one of the enemy wasn’t a wise idea, but I couldn’t stand back and do nothing. I focused on the stun-gun and willed it to melt.

  ‘Are we clear?’ Erragal interrupted my concentration.

  My mental instruction seemed to have no effect on the weapon. I could only conclude that my will was unable to penetrate the jinn’s dense, low-grade etheric matter. Erragal must have summoned this demon from the deepest, darkest realms of density and I shuddered to think what kind of blood sacrifice he’d arranged to secure its services.

  ‘I understand,’ I said.

  My companions looked stupefied that I hadn’t rearranged the universe to our advantage, but I shook my head at them, hoping they would understand that my hands were tied.

  Erragal didn’t know what I was really capable of, so I might still be able to play my hand when we were beyond the range of his demon.

  ‘This shadow and I are telepathically joined and it sees all I see,’ Erragal warned me. ‘The second he suspects you of dicking me around, he’ll damn all your lovers beyond where even this,’ he raised the liquid-light machinegun, ‘will bring them back.’

  ‘What does he mean “lovers”?’ Albray looked at Polaris and Castor.

  ‘Don’t let him bait you,’ Polaris reminded him.

  ‘Because I might find out something you don’t want me to know?’ Albray spat back.

  ‘Oh, this is too much fun!’ Erragal cried. His attention shifted from me to my teammates. ‘I would stay, divide and conquer some more, but Meridan and I have many an important engagement to attend before your little superwoman returns in the morning.’

  How could he know that Tamar wouldn’t be back until tomorrow?

  ‘Let’s go, angel.’ Erragal grabbed me with one hand, still holding my huge weapon in the other, and dragged me towards the station’s exit, leaving the men to stew under the guard of his demon.

  ‘What have you done with Emmett Rich?’ I asked, making conversation.

  ‘It’s a shame you need your mouth to open the gateway, because I would truly love to close it permanently,’ the demi-god said without breaking his stride. ‘Still, then I couldn’t do this.’ He turned and shoved his tongue in my mouth. I gagged.

  ‘Every time you ask me a question, I’m going to do that, and next time it won’t just be my tongue I stick in your mouth,’ he said with a grin. ‘Anything else you want to know?’

  When I declined to answer, he resumed dragging me along the pathway through the outer crystal structure. He was obviously expecting to find his Dracon friends awaiting him on the other side of the gateway, but when I opened it he would behold a bunch of Anu angels instead. So I complied with his order to open the porthole, and was stunned when Namtar and a horde of Dracon greeted us.

  ‘There is nothing you can do that we cannot undo,’ Namtar explained with glee as he pushed past me into Meridan station. ‘Time to go fetch your husband for my wife.’

  I was so tempted to retaliate with a show of force, to bring down those huge crystals on top of these destructive beings, but that wasn’t my mission. My mission was to save every living soul on Earth; besides which, the jinn that was linked telepathically with Erragal had an Orme bullet aimed at my husband. I had to bide my time, and try to get Erragal into the control centre so that Denera could see what was unfolding here.

  I began to sing the note that closed the gateway, but Erragal clamped a hand over my mouth. ‘Leave it open,’ he said, and shoved me back inside the station.

  Namtar was keen to get to Albray, and Erragal directed him to the historical reference room. Namtar disappeared through the archway and his Dracon troops positioned themselves down the station hallway and at the entrance, to fortify their position.

  Erragal dragged me down the hall. I wasn’t as resistant now, as I wanted to reach the control station as quickly as possible. Still, if I didn’t put up some kind of fight, he would become suspicious. We reached the bridge to the control station, and Erragal could not fail to be awed by the sight of the crystal walls of the cavern glowing with Blue Flame energy, which they drew down into the core of the Earth from the huge pyramid above.

  ‘The frequencies of this porthole are going to tear you apart, you know that, don’t you?’ I said.

  ‘That was a question.’ The demi-god turned to me, more furious than before.

  ‘It was rhetorical,’ I protested, but he merely grunted, eager to keep moving. ‘Worry about your own skin,’ he advised.

  Upon our approach, the doors before us parted. When we reached the porthole, Erragal let me go. He flipped the switch on the side of my weapon and fired a stream of liquid light onto the Orme-coated surface, dissolving the solid gold layer. Then he tossed the weapon aside.

  ‘Now,’ he said, ‘if I end up anywhere but Signet Station Eleven, you know what’s going to happen, don’t you, angel?’

  This was the perfect opportunity for me to summarise the situation for Denera’s benefit without Erragal suspecting we were under surveillance.

  ‘The jinn you have guarding my menfolk with an Orme gun is going to shoot them,’ I said, trying not to appear smug. If the Nefilim thought I was going to allow them to get their hands on the Rod of Power, they were sadly mistaken.

  We arrived safely at the beautiful underwater station hosting the Arlis-Cochizel pyramid. I was surprised that Erragal had not perished en route; Nefilim technology was becoming more and more innovative and I could not understand why any species would go to so much trouble to ensure that they and everything around them were damned.

  Erragal seemed surprised that I hadn’t attempted to thwart his voyage here. ‘That’s the trouble with being good, isn’t it, angel, you have to be honest and forthright.’ His chuckle turned to delight as he spotted the Ark of the Rod nearby.

  Even we angels get to twist the truth a bit, I thought, but suppressed my smile and faked distress. ‘Touch the ark and it will strike you down.’

  ‘You open it!’ He pushed me towards the treasure. ‘I want to see the Rod of Power.’

  I obliged from where I stood, using my skill of manipulating matter—although to Erragal it seemed I simply employed a telekinetic talent. The ark’s ornate lid lifted to expose the three parts of the Rod of Power.

  Pleased that all was as it should be, Erragal motioned for me to replace the lid. He drew a small metallic box from his pocket and opened it, releasing millions of tiny dark airborne particles, which converged in a swarm upon the ark and it vanished.

  ‘Nanobots,’ I surmised. The Nefilim were famous for their nanotechnology, but I’d had no idea it had advanced so far. ‘They have made the ark invisible.’ I clapped as if it were a cheap party trick, but in truth I needed to know if the technology had teleportation ability or if it was merely an invisibility cloak—for the Nefilim truly loved to boast.

  ‘I am sorry to inform you that the treasure you have dedicated your many Earthly existences to protect is now safely residing in my realms, where you’ll never find it,’ Erragal said with great pleasure.

  So that was how Namtar had vanished earli
er, and how Erragal had escaped my daughter’s time warp last night. It also explained the Dracon’s ability to teleport.

  Erragal grabbed my arm once more. ‘After I’ve ensured Meridan station is secure, you and I are going to do a tour of the Signet Grid and see what other treasures we can pilfer.’

  ‘Sounds like fun,’ I said flatly, thankful that my sisters were coming to my aid as I spoke.

  CHAPTER 11

  CRAFTY WOMEN

  SUSAN DEVERE—TALORI

  Solarian and I were at Signet Station Five in Xian, China, when Denera’s face appeared in the blue liquid-light porthole pool in its ceiling. She explained the situation at Meridan station and urged us to report there as soon as possible to assist. As it was our partners that Erragal’s jinn was holding hostage, we had a vested interest in aiding our sister in her plight.

  Fortunately, following a quick inter-stellar audience with the Council of Alcyone in the Pleiades, I had just succeeded in activating the Teco-Porima pyramid, and as my Signet station was now secure, Solarian and I were able to leave for Montségur immediately.

  Before we arrived at Meridan station I assumed the form of a Dracon warrior; morphogenetics and DNA dynamics was my area of expertise. As we were deposited on top of the glistening white porthole of Signet Station Twelve, I nearly scared the wits out of Solarian.

  ‘Susan, don’t do that without warning me!’

  Solarian often called me the name she had known me by in her last incarnation as Ashlee Granville-Devere.

  ‘How about a kiss?’ I teased her.

  ‘Spare me.’ She shoved my ugly moosh away.

  I spotted Meridan’s weapon discarded on the floor. ‘The universe always provides,’ I said, retrieving it and heading for the bridge into the station complex. ‘Be back in just a tick.’

  I slung the light-gun over my right shoulder and proceeded down the corridor. It was lined with Dracon, whose ugly appearance and low-grade energy made my skin crawl; they were a vulgar contrast to the spiritual architecture and pure white décor. Not one of the warriors attempted to address me as I passed, for I was wearing the insignia of a Dracon captain. As I entered through the archway into the historical reference room, I moved the weapon into firing position, where I found Castor and Polaris under the guard of the armed jinn.

  ‘Best-looking reptilian I’ve ever seen,’ Castor commented to Polaris, for my partner could see through my disguise.

  I opened fire upon their captor. The stream of liquid light seemed to have little effect at first, beyond blinding it with its brilliance. But it provided sufficient distraction for me to fire on my menfolk, dissolving their golden restraints. They turned to help me face the Dracon onslaught. The guards were confused by my reptilian form and they focused their fire on the escaped prisoners. Castor and Polaris had been relieved of their liquid-light guns by Erragal, so were forced to resort to lesser weapons and hand-to-hand combat. In the meantime, I finished off the demon. The shadow slowly broke down under the pressure of so much light and released its fatal Orme weapon, which I was quick to snatch up and hook onto my own weapons belt.

  ‘Ah-Ta P’tah Or-um!’ I chanted, inviting the demon to be blessed and return to the light divine.

  But the shadow struggled to the bitter end, and instead of being redeemed by the divine light it chose to retreat to the hell from which it had been summoned; a decision I could not understand and pitied greatly.

  I turned the stream of light upon the Dracon that were giving my partner and Polaris so much trouble, and the beasts dropped like flies exposed to insect spray. As they convulsed themselves into a higher state of being, I finally got to ask the question foremost in my mind. ‘Where’s Arcturus?’

  ‘Namtar took him and vanished,’ Polaris said, extremely agitated by the fact. If we lost even one member of Amenti’s staff to an Orme death, there would be no going back to Tara for any of us. ‘We have to get him back.’

  ‘And how do you plan to do that?’ I asked. None of us had any idea where Namtar had taken our teammate.

  Polaris was perplexed but determined. ‘By ensuring that Arcturus isn’t here to be taken in the first place.’

  MIA DEVERE—MERIDAN

  When my captor and I arrived back at Meridan station, I wasn’t surprised to find Talori waiting for us. She took aim at Erragal with my liquid-light gun and he was flat on his back before he knew what had hit him. Emmett Rich’s form dissolved away and for the first time I saw Erragal as the beast he truly was. The irises of his eyes burned yellow and the whites were bloodshot with hatred. He began to contort and convulse, mumbling venomously to himself.

  ‘What’s that he’s saying?’ Talori asked, but I was unable to translate. There was only one tongue that we staff of Amenti did not understand and that was the language of the dark arts.

  A dark shadow began to form around Erragal, slowing the light flow through his body.

  ‘Perhaps that demon is re-forming,’ I said, and advised Talori to fire upon Erragal again.

  Talori did, but discovered that she was out of ammunition—my weapon had been used a lot more during this mission than we had anticipated.

  Erragal reached into his pocket and produced the little metal tin of nanobots.

  ‘Don’t let him open that!’ I cried.

  ‘Mine!’ Solarian called out, and willed the object to herself, but due to the shadow now protecting Erragal, her will was not as effective. Erragal had to struggle against her intent to unlatch the catch on the item, but the lid popped open nevertheless and a swarm of nanobots covered him and they and he vanished.

  ‘What the hell just happened?’ Polaris demanded.

  ‘We just let one of Tamar’s primary targets escape,’ I replied, and my tone discouraged him from trying to place blame in any quarter. Then I noticed someone missing and my heart sank in my chest. ‘Where’s Albray?’

  No one wanted to be the one to tell me, and they didn’t have to. Time to go fetch your husband for my wife—I recalled Namtar’s words and they made me sick to my stomach.

  ‘How is it that the Nefilim could identify Albray and me as Amenti staff members?’ I asked. ‘Who was their informant? André perhaps? Or Molier?’

  ‘It wouldn’t be the first time that damned vampire has brought one of us to the attention of the Nefilim,’ Solarian commented, having been exposed by Molier herself in the past. ‘The Nefilim have probably been tracking you since you laid Molier to rest in the Sinai.’

  ‘Meridan,’ Castor interrupted, looking sorry to bother me with other concerns right now, ‘did Erragal obtain the Ark of the Rod?’

  I shook my head. ‘He thinks he did. But what he got was a very beautiful replica with no power whatsoever.’

  ‘The illusionist returns,’ Solarian said with a smile, pleased I had tapped into my higher abilities.

  ‘Still, for all my talent, I couldn’t prevent them taking my husband,’ I said. ‘His last confrontation with that goddess of depravity hurt him enough. I can’t allow her to inflict her will on him again.’ I choked back my urge to weep. ‘What do I do?’

  ‘Remove all the Anu soul minds from this mountain,’ Solarian suggested.

  ‘Collapse the outer labyrinth that leads to the gateway,’ Talori advised, ‘and secure the station.’

  ‘And we should report back to Giza, as there’s no threat awaiting Tamar here now.’ Castor put in his two cents’ worth.

  I looked to Polaris, wondering if he had anything to add; he was deep in thought. ‘We’re going about this all wrong,’ he said at last. ‘We need to go back in time and open the remaining stations.’

  ‘How far back?’ Solarian queried.

  ‘As far as current circumstances will allow, so that the Nefilim have no chance of undoing any good we do.’

  ‘Are you telling me that I have to go through opening this station all over again!’ I asked, on the verge of freaking out.

  ‘It won’t be so harrowing this time, I promise,’ Polaris told me. ‘An
d it means none of this will happen.’

  ‘And what about Albray? His is one of the stations we need to open,’ I pointed out.

  ‘I’ll see to his rescue immediately after we’ve locked down this station and delivered the redeemed Anu soul minds from this battle to Lugh Lamhfada,’ Polaris said. ‘I can retrieve Albray from Montségur before he requests me to take him captive after his run-in with Ishtar.’

  ‘Can’t we avoid that incident altogether?’ I appealed, but Polaris shook his head.

  ‘As I explained before, the time line is too tight around that incident…I can’t risk running into myself. However, my plan will avoid Arcturus being taken a second time, and if we go back to the past to open and secure Meridan station, then chances are the labyrinth beneath Montségur will never be discovered, therefore you won’t be called in to investigate and—’

  ‘And Ishtar and Albray will never meet,’ I concluded, excited by Polaris’s foresight. ‘But will Ishtar still get the ringstone?’

  Polaris grinned. ‘Not if we get it first.’

  CHAPTER 12

  TWO PRINCES

  TAMAR DEVERE—KALI

  Killian and I were deposited back at Montségur, just outside the site camp at dawn on Monday morning. As soon as we hit the ground, Killian ripped off the blindfold that Polaris had insisted he wear. ‘So your time lord friend still doesn’t trust me,’ he said.

  ‘I still don’t trust you,’ I replied cheekily.

  ‘Why not?’ Killian grinned and I could tell our kiss was on his mind. ‘I know you know that I’m not one of those creatures.’

  ‘But you have the potential to be,’ I bantered as we walked into camp.

  ‘And you don’t?’ He had a point. ‘At this stage of the game, don’t you think it’s harder for me to trust you than for you to trust me?’

  ‘What choice do you have? You need me.’

  ‘And you don’t need me?’ Killian wasn’t just pretending to be insulted now.