by Sue Duff
The house shook with Mother Nature’s thunderous retaliation. The lightning came, one on top of the other, turning the mansion into a scene from a horror movie. They made it to the intersection and turned into the west wing, but a large body stood directly in their path. A flash of lightning. It was Drion Marcus.
Marcus’s clothes were drenched. He wiped his face with his hand. “I knew Milo’s reports about Ian were crap. What happened? How bad is it?”
“Out of our way!” Patrick sidestepped him and rushed onward.
Rayne glanced over her shoulder. Drion Marcus fell in close behind. “We have to get Ian in his boost and restart his core, or he’ll stay dead,” she yelled over the thunder.
“He’s what?” Marcus shouted, and froze in his tracks.
They made it to Ian’s bedroom. Dr. Mac held his arm out, stopping Milo from getting close. “Milo, you can’t help him!”
Tara lifted Ian’s head and bit her lip at his deathly pallor. “Hurry, Joule!” she screamed through the open bedroom door. “They’re here!”
The group in the hall blocked Marcus from entering. Shouts rose as the Drion wouldn’t stop his questions long enough for Dr. Mac to explain. Tara and Milo helped hold him back.
Patrick paused next to the bed, and then laid Ian gently in his boost. Once Ian was nestled in his giant titanium flower petals, Rayne lingered a couple of seconds, then let go of his icy hand.
The rain had turned to hail the size of softballs, which pummeled the balcony patio. Joule had taken cover just inside the open door. The hurricane storm drenched everything in Ian’s room unlucky enough to be within several feet of the open door. A bolt of lightning struck the rod Joule had secured at the edge of the balcony. It connected with the second rod she held in her thick, rubber-gloved hands. Milo’s fishing waders, reached her upper chest, held in place by his suspenders. “Get to the hall. I can’t protect you in here!” she shouted at Rayne. Another strike and an electrical arch formed high above her head, and then another, and another. She held the rod out in front of her and slowly backed her way toward the bed.
Patrick grabbed Rayne’s shoulder. “We’ve got to go!”
Rayne could hardly make out his words above the thunder and sizzling energy in the room. She sensed, as much as heard someone behind them just as Patrick took a header and landed on top of Ian.
Stunned, Rayne blinked back her shock. Jaered had pushed Patrick into the boost.
The panel leading to Ian’s escape tunnel stood wide open and Vael rushed out. Rayne screamed but a jolt of thunderous lightning muffled her shriek with a resounding clap.
The rebel pulled back and punched Patrick when he rose. Patrick went limp.
A blur of white. Saxon leapt at Jaered, but Vael tackled the airborne wolf, knocking him into the tunnel, then slammed the panel shut. Jaered pulled the upright dresser from the wall and sent it crashing to the floor, trapping the wolf inside.
Rayne lunged at Jaered but he sidestepped and she crashed headlong into the toppled dresser.
Jaered fired a gun toward the open bedroom door. A dart hit Tara in her chest and she slumped to the floor, blocking the doorway.
A second dart hit Marcus in the neck and he wobbled then landed in a slump on top of Tara.
Joule stumbled toward the bed, but she battled to hold onto the rod with the connecting electrical strikes.
Rayne ignored the tornado in her head and crawled toward Jaered, but he put some distance between them and raised his hand. A lightning bolt from Joule’s rod connected with the tip of his middle finger and he whipped it at Rayne.
A tendril of lightning struck her squarely in the chest. The jolt sent her skidding across the rug, and she crashed into the far wall. The energy ignited every pore, every cell of her body. Paralyzed by the most energy she’d ever absorbed, Rayne lay immobilized. Movement in the room turned to slow motion, voices and noises garbled.
Vael fired his gun, taking out Milo in the hall. Dr. Mac waved, “No, stop!” A dart in his shoulder dropped him on top of his friend.
The room turned stark white when a massive bolt of electricity shot from Joule’s rod and connected with Jaered’s hand. He bent over the boost and spread his hands apart. A cloud of energy formed and grew wider and wider, turning brighter than the sun.
“No!” Rayne screamed, but she couldn’t hear her own voice.
A hand grasped the edge of the boost, and the top half of Patrick’s face appeared. He looked at Rayne, and then his eyes widened at the hovering ball of energy. He screamed and threw his arms over his face just as Jaered dropped the sizzling cloud on top of him.
Once inside the modified container, the energy fed upon itself and quickly expanded like a balloon, reaching toward the ceiling. Patrick’s screams were cut short.
Jaered took a couple of steps back, then turned toward Rayne. The satisfaction on his face pierced her soul. He had just murdered the two men closest to her.
{20}
Patrick was heavier than Jaered had judged. He now understood why Eve had insisted that Vael come. It took both of them to keep him upright and drag him through the trees toward the eastern vortex field.
“How long until the dart wears off?” Vael puffed.
“A while. Just keep moving.” Jaered glanced over his shoulder. The rain had eased into a steady drizzle, but the thunder overhead told him that lightning remained a threat, especially once they’d reach the clearing.
Jaered went over the events in his head. Vael’s two darts took out the caretaker and doctor. Jaered’s were to take out the Channel and the wolf.
But he didn’t drugged the wolf, couldn’t with Vael’s dad there. Jaered glanced over his shoulder. No movement from behind. He hung on tighter to Patrick whose arm was, at the moment, slung across Jaered’s shoulders.
“What the fuck was your dad doing there?” Jaered said.
“How am I supposed to know?” Vael slowed his steps, and then stopped. “Hold up, I’m losing him.” He shifted Patrick’s arm higher across the back of his neck. They continued through the trees.
Patrick’s head bobbed between moans. They came every few seconds like ticktocks from a clock. “What . . .” Patrick mumbled, but any further attempt to talk morphed into a groan.
Jaered picked up their pace. The last thing he needed was Patrick coming to his senses and fighting back.
“What’d you do to him?” Vael asked.
“Need-to-know only, and right now, you don’t.” Jaered stared through the trees. He swore there was a white blur on a parallel path to theirs, but the lightning flashes made it difficult to distinguish boulders from animal, and he counted on it being paranoia.
The low hum of an engine. Jaered stopped short. Vael’s momentum pulled Patrick from Jaered’s grasp, and their prisoner swung toward Vael. The recruit grabbed Patrick around the waist and managed to keep him upright.
“What?” Vael said.
“A car.” Jaered slung Patrick’s arm across his shoulders and pulled him up higher by his waist. “Someone woke up.”
The wolf wasn’t Jaered’s only concern.
*
Rayne’s fury fed her splitting headache, yet she appreciated that her ability to drain kept the electrocution from knocking her out completely. The moment she had control of her faculties, she rushed to the boost. Convinced that Jaered’s intrusion had cost Ian his life, Rayne felt his neck with trembling fingers. She gasped and let go when she found a weak, but steady, pulse. She didn’t hold back the tears, and they dampened her cheeks.
“Did it . . . work?” When Jaered became his own lightning rod, Joule had taken some of the voltage and had landed next to the open patio door. She sat in a daze with her hair upended. Rain puddles sloshed around her, and smoky fumes rose from her shoulders.
“He’s alive,” Rayne said. Joule gave her a weak nod.
It took some effort to drag the dresser away from the tunnel, but when Rayne got it open, Saxon wasn’t there.
She ran out o
f the room, and then paused at the upstairs balcony. The front door to the mansion stood wide open. She rushed down the stairs and outside into the weakening storm. Time had become skewed after she was hit with the bolt, and she had no idea how much of a head start Jaered and Vael had.
Rayne took off for her car, fighting to keep her thoughts coherent. If they drove there, they would have stashed their car farther away and hiked to the security gates. So for now, their exit had to be on foot, she reasoned.
Jaered and Vael had lifted Patrick’s body out of the boost and carried him out of the room. Why? The question burned at the back of her thoughts.
Certain where they were headed, she kept one eye on the road and the other on movement through the trees, driving toward the eastern vortex, the only one Jaered could access. Stashed car or not, Jaered would shyft without a trail they could follow.
He’d done it before.
She reached the clearing and slowed the car to a crawl. Jaered and Vael were dragging Patrick toward the center of the field.
Rayne gunned the engine and left the dirt road, entered the field at top speed, and swerved straight for them. She navigated ruts and the occasional rocks, but reached her quarry before they could make it to the vortex at the center. The car slid sideways in the mud when she slammed on the brake, then came to a stop, blocking their path. She jumped out but remained behind the open door, using it like a shield.
Vael grunted. “You didn’t zap her very good.”
“She drains energy,” Jaered said.
When they didn’t point a dart gun at her or draw lightning from the overhead storm, Rayne stepped away from the car. “What the hell are you doing?” she screamed.
“We don’t have time for this,” Jaered snapped. “Get back in your car and don’t interfere.”
She looked at Patrick when he moaned. He had survived. “Why did you kill Ian?”
The corner of Jaered’s mouth pulled into a smirk. What Rayne would have given to have had a gun within reach.
“I revived him,” Jaered said. “You were the one who killed him. What made you think that your destiny would be a cakewalk?”
“Stop with your double-talk and bullshit!” she screamed. “I want a straight answer.”
“Welcome to my world,” Vael mumbled. He avoided Jaered’s glare.
“We are here by design. Everything, everyone has a purpose in this universe,” Jaered said. “All exist for the greater good.”
The same reference that Dr. Mac had used earlier gave her pause. “Why are you doing this to Ian?” she said. “What do the rebels have against the Pur?”
The smirk vanished. Jaered’s eyes grew dark, ominous. “Don’t believe for one second that this has ever been about him.” Jaered let go of Patrick and took a few steps toward her.
“Ugh!” Vael caught the slumping Patrick in his arms.
“Your boyfriend will be fine. I saw to it. Go back to him and leave us to save his life.” Jaered pointed at Patrick.
Rayne’s thoughts raced to make sense of this nightmare, and she stared at Patrick while the throbs at her temples took their time to ease. “What did you do to him? Where are you taking him?”
“To fulfill his destiny,” Jaered said. “And unless you want him to die, you won’t try to stop us.” He turned his back on Rayne, grabbed Patrick, and together Jaered and Vael dragged him into the center of the vortex.
The air shimmered and lit up their faces with a brilliant glow. Rayne stood just beyond the edge of the field, at a loss about what to do. Was Patrick really going to die if she stopped them? Wet leaves lifted, swirling around them. Her hands pulled into tight fists. “I need answers!” she shouted. “You owe me that much.”
Jaered pursed his lips and peered past her as if mulling it over. “Be here when I return, and I’ll take you to someone who can answer your questions.”
She shook her head. “You can’t shyft me. I’ll drain you.”
“I’m not from Earth—”
“You’re from Thrae,” Rayne said and tossed him a smug expression. “Ian figured that much out.”
If Jaered was shocked that she knew, he didn’t show it. “I can draw greater amounts of energy than your boyfriend. I’ve done the calculations. We’ll have eleven seconds. I won’t need nearly that much to take you where you’ll be going.”
Lightning struck the ground within a few feet of Rayne. The flash blinded her and by the time she recovered, they were gone.
{21}
Jaered shyfted the three of them to the vortex stream in Eve’s basement where the rebel leader stood in wait. The second they fully materialized, her gaze fell to her son. Patrick moaned and shuddered violently in their arms. Eve’s shoulders relaxed, and she gave into a tremendous sigh. “Oh, thank God.”
“He’s really weak,” Jaered said.
“And heavy as hell,” Vael griped. “Cut back on the carbs, buddy.”
“In here.” Eve crossed the room, reached up and tilted a sconce on the wall. The sound of stone scraping stone filled the small room as a portion of the concrete wall slid out of view to expose a pitch-black space beyond. She stepped in and darkness engulfed her. A second later, a low-watt light bulb lit up the room in a dull glow. She stood next to a rectangular titanium tub.
Jaered grabbed Patrick under his arms and Vael scooped him up by his ankles. They carried him over and lowered him inside.
“Vael, go upstairs to the kitchen. There’s a meal waiting. We’ll join you in a few minutes,” Eve said.
“Is someone finally going to tell me what this is all about over donuts?” he asked.
“That depends on what happens in the next few seconds,” she said. Vael’s footsteps faded in the direction of the stairs. Eve leaned in and unbuttoned Patrick’s shirt.
“Moment of truth,” Jaered said.
Eve gently pressed her palm to her son’s exposed chest. An amber glow appeared beneath her hand. A second later, it pulsed as if in rhythm with Patrick’s heartbeat. When she lifted her hand, a triangle had formed—with a sun trapped inside.
The boost lit up the room in a ruby glow that danced across the stone surface like a smoldering fire. Patrick’s emerged Seal pulsated in an amber outline.
“Behold, the true Heir of Earth,” Eve said softly. She stumbled back, but Jaered caught her.
“It worked,” he said. “All your planning—”
“So much sacrifice. So much death.” Eve said. She shivered with emotion.
Jaered tightened his arm around her and guided her out of the room. She reached up and righted the sconce. The stone wall closed. “How long?” he asked.
“A few hours, most of the day, maybe more. This is virgin territory, even for me.” Eve pulled away and headed toward the stairs. “Come. Beatrice has prepared quite the feast for us.”
Jaered didn’t follow, but stepped into the vortex stream at the center of the room. “I’ll be back in a minute. Add one more place setting.”
She turned on him. Confusion crimped her face. “Who?”
“I promised her answers,” he said. The air lit up in sparkles as he drew on the magnetic field. “I’m bringing her to you.”
“No!” Eve screamed and rushed at him. “You can’t go back!”
Jaered shyfted.
{22}
Rayne sat on the hood of her car, welcoming the gentle drizzle of rain on her face to quench the knots in her stomach.
Countless unknowns and great risk faced her if she went with Jaered. The only certainty was that she’d alienate herself from the man she loved and the family that had embraced her, and loved her enough to keep her darkest secret.
An emerald glow flashed across the hood of her car. Ian appeared in the vortex. The second he materialized, he dropped to all fours.
Her elation gave way to fear, and she stood by helpless as he rose and stumbled toward her. She opened the car door and Ian slumped down in the passenger seat. She crouched next to him. “You’re all right.”
Ian’s chest rose and fell with each breath. “When I woke up . . . Joule told me.” He gulped in air. “You went after the Sars that attacked us.”
“It was Jaered and Vael. They took Patrick,” Rayne said.
He stilled. “Why?”
“I don’t know. But I’m going to find out.” It struck her that she’d made up her mind. Rayne stood. “I’m going to get answers, or die trying.”
“Come back with me,” he said. “We’ll figure it out.” He raised his face toward her, but a bright light in her rearview mirror reflected on his face.
Jaered stood in the vortex field.
“I have to go,” Rayne said gently. Her nostrils flared, and she suppressed a sob that she couldn’t throw her arms around him.
Ian gave her a perplexed stare as his confusion gave way to awareness. “Don’t,” he said.
“They took Patrick. I have to find out what this is all about.”
“You can’t trust him.” Ian reached for her. “I need you.”
“What we need,” she said and backed away, “are answers.” She turned and ran toward Jaered.
“I didn’t know if you’d be here,” he said at her approach.
“I still don’t trust you.” She stepped next to him. “It’s going to take a lot on your part to earn that.”
“That works both ways.” He offered his hand.
Rayne hesitated as her psyche made a last-ditch argument for her to back out. A second later, she placed her hand in his. A shimmering cloud formed around them.
“Stop!” Ian shouted. He fell out of the car. “You aren’t taking her!” Ian made it as far as the headlights, then leaned on the hood.
Saxon came charging out of the tree line heading straight for the vortex. At the same time, Ian pulled his arm back, and a weak core blast formed in his hand. He flung it at Jaered.