Allison turned off the monitor and stood, straightening her jacket, then headed toward the interview room at a sedate pace. She’d still get there first, and she had plenty of time.
Friday, December 20th, 2030
Futuretech Medical Center, San Francisco
Blue Impulse’s eyes slowly twitched open as he heard the door to his room unlock.
He wasn’t in much pain due to the medication, but it didn’t help with the dull ache that still pervaded his body. Even with the medication, his hatred and fear of Warden’s friend, Lilith, couldn’t be understated. The woman had beaten him far too close to death, and he longed for revenge, even dreamed of it. But even worse was what had happened to his magic.
A huge chunk of his power was missing, the piece that had been attuning the spells in Warden to him. It had been one of the risks that Ebon Dragon had warned him about, and it’d seemed fair at the time. As it was, though, the loss of magic was distressing. Blue Impulse wished his thoughts weren’t so drugged that he couldn’t touch his magic, because then he could test it and figure out just how bad the damage was.
His eyebrows furrowed as he realized that he hadn’t seen anyone yet, despite the door opening. With his jaw wired shut, he couldn’t talk, but he slowly turned his head, and Blue Impulse’s eyes went wide.
“Hello, Impulse… you’re looking like you’re in bad shape, aren’t you?” Dreamer purred, the albino woman’s smile broad and sinister. The sight of her made Blue Impulse’s hopes rise for a moment, then they went cold as he saw that she wasn’t making a move to unhook his restraints.
“Mmm… you were really beaten badly. I can’t say I blame them. You are an arrogant one. I’m just happy the Doctor chose me to carry out his insurance policy,” the villainess said, her smile widening still more as she stepped closer. “Good night, Blue Impulse. I hope your dreams are sweet.”
As she leaned down to kiss him, Blue Impulse tried desperately to scream and escape, all thoughts of revenge forgotten.
Friday, December 20th, 2030
Dr. Johnson’s Lair, Santa Cruz
“Almost there…” Doctor Johnson murmured, looking at the code on his screen in frustration. His project had been pieced together from the inventions of three different researchers, but he almost had his goal in his grasp. All three machines had been combined into a single sleek device, but there was just a final step eluding him, and he looked at the fish tank as he tried to work it out.
The door slid open to allow Ebon Dragon in. The man nodded, impassive as always. “Doctor. You wished to speak with me?”
“Yes, I did. I need a test subject for my invention, as it’s nearing viability. I don’t want to risk either of our lives on it, and Dreamer will never undergo the process without seeing someone else use it first,” Johnson told the other man, steepling his fingers in front of him. “Considering that both of us want to use it, I feel that one of our relatives is the best choice. I don’t have any relatives close enough, but you do. Do you have any objection to me testing it on your granddaughter?”
Ebon Dragon’s eyes narrowed as he considered the request, and Johnson waited patiently. He knew that the man’s family had cast him out when they discovered he was a villain, so he expected Ebon Dragon to agree, even if the tests were dangerous. Finally, Ebon Dragon nodded slightly, his voice cold. “I have no objections, so long as you do not kill her. Punishing her for her path… is acceptable.”
“As you request. Thank you,” Doctor Johnson replied, bowing his head slightly, and the other man bowed in return before he left. Once the door had slid shut again, Johnson hit a key on the desk and spoke. “Eve, contact the twins. The job is approved.”
“Yes, Doctor,” Eve replied, and Johnson smiled happily. Going back to poring over his programming, he knew he was close. Just a few more changes and it would be ready for testing.
He doubted that Blooming Orchid would approve.
Friday, December 20th, 2030
Nevada Supermax
Moira Jameson hated going into the cellblock and being stared at by the inmates. Certainly, most of them were minions, not real villains, but they gave her the creeps. Most of all, though, she hated going in to change the catheter and colostomy bags of Shadowmind. While the villain had never done more than stare at her expressionlessly, it made Moira’s skin crawl. Shadowmind had been among the top ten most wanted villains for so long that Moira was always scared she’d break free.
Ignoring the catcalls, the nurse made her way to the villain’s cell door and paused to steady her nerves. Finally, she swiped her access card to open the door and approached the bed in the middle of the room. The soft beep of the heart rate monitor was the only sound in the room, other than the breathing of the room’s occupant. Moira quickly approached, wanting to get everything done as quickly as possible. But just as she was about to move Shadowmind to help prevent bed sores, she glanced at the woman’s face and froze.
In nearly a year of attending to Shadowmind on a regular basis, she’d never seen so much as a frown or hint of expression on the villain’s face, just an ambivalent stare. This time, though, that’d changed. Her disquiet grew as she glanced at the EEG monitor, which showed the stunted waves that it should, but it didn’t comfort Moira.
She didn’t understand why, if nothing had changed, the villain’s lips were curved in a slight smile. As she thought about reporting it, Moira suddenly felt slightly dizzy, then shook her head in confusion.
Looking around the room for a moment, the nurse blinked and got to work changing the villain’s position and bags. She wasn’t sure why she’d delayed to begin with, but she wanted out of the room as soon as she could.
Amber finished adjusting the mind of the nurse, then watched for a moment to ensure that the woman wouldn’t notice anything else before going back to her thoughts. A web of mental power surrounded her, and through it she’d practically ascended beyond needing a body anymore. In fact, she might not need it at all, though she wasn’t willing to take that risk, not yet.
The villain was almost tempted to thank Crimson Bull and Warden for capturing her. If they hadn’t, she’d likely never have found the next stage to her powers. Her abilities had fought the neural inhibitor for about a month before finding a way around it, and the adaptation had been shocking. She now was almost a purely mental being, able to exist outside her body and the range of the neural inhibitors. It was fortunate that the monitoring equipment was so limited in scope, or the staff would have tried to kill her. As it was, she actually found it safer to stay in the prison for the time being.
The intrusion of Morgan and Warden into her mind had also left the two heroines with faint connections to Amber, and she’d taken advantage of the openings. If they’d attempted more difficult cleansing procedures, perhaps they wouldn’t have been open to her, but she’d done very little, only enough to ensure that they would encounter Lilith, and that had been more than enough for her.
Amber actually didn’t touch her daughter’s thoughts or mind. The strength and clarity of Lilith’s mind shocked Amber, and if she ever tried anything more than reading the thoughts of the young woman, Lilith would notice it, and she had the strength to possibly fight back. Even if Lilith didn’t agree with Amber’s methods or goals, the villainess couldn’t help but adore her and help her be happy. It was a mother’s place to ensure her children were happy, in Amber’s view.
After a few more minutes of monitoring the heroines and her daughter, Amber reluctantly pulled her thoughts away. She thought it was going to go well, but she really should give them some privacy for the moment.
Besides, she had other work to do, even if it wasn’t nearly as much fun.
Author’s Note
Writing Born a Queen, or more accurately, rewriting it, was an interesting project. There were many ideas I’d forgotten about in the intervening years since I wrote the original, some of them good, and others bad. Perhaps more importantly, I’d forgotten just how much I liked most of the ch
aracters. I like all of the heroes, even when Crimson Bull is a bit of a muscle-headed braggart. The villains are… nasty, I’ll admit that quite readily. But in the end, it was an enjoyable project. However, let’s get the bad news out of the way first.
The sequel to Born a Queen is tentatively named Down with the Queen, but it is not my next project. Next is the novella anthology Before the Godsrage, in the world of my Ancient Dreams trilogy. I expect to have the anthology out in late 2017 to early 2018. Down with the Queen will be the project immediately after that, and I expect to publish either late spring to early summer 2018. As always, these things can change.
I’m also not sure if the Lilith’s Shadow series is going to go on beyond Down with the Queen. I think it will, but it depends on how the story progresses, as I only have a tentative outline for it. This could be anywhere from two to five books, but we’ll have to see where it goes. I must say that this is going to be one of the easier stories to continue, from my perspective.
Regardless of whether you read my further books or not, I just want to say thank you for reading Born a Queen. If you’re willing, please leave me a review as well, because they help authors like myself significantly. Reviews are the lifeblood of self-publishers, and there is nothing you can do that helps more than reviewing a book. You can do so by going here:
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Born a Queen (Lilith's Shadow Book 1) Page 29