Coolidge took one of them and stood next to Nicole, and Robert took the other. Then Nicole led the way into the dark temple.
Even with the two fire sources, it was still hard to see inside. Nicole did her best to keep the torches behind her so her vision wouldn’t get ruined.
The interior of the temple was similar to the exterior—weird, misshapen columns decorated with tentacles lined the edges of the huge room they’d stepped into.
Judging by how empty the surrounding land was, Nicole wasn’t surprised to find the temple void of any life forms.
The voices grew louder the farther into the temple they got until finally, the others could hear them too. Nicole wondered if the elixir made her more sensitive to things from this dimension.
She paused when she started recognizing one of the voices. “That’s Mrs. Morse,” she said, turning to the others.
“Let’s proceed cautiously,” Robert said. “We never know if we’re being hoodwinked.”
Nicole smiled to herself over his choice of words. It had been a long time since she’d heard someone say “hoodwinked.”
The group followed the voices slowly. They entered a hall at the side of the front room and saw light reflecting off the walls at the back.
Once they’d gone that far, Coolidge held up his hand, motioning for everyone to stop, and peeked around the corner. He came back and whispered, “There’s a group of elderly people in there, sitting by a fire. They look harmless enough, but how can we know?”
Nicole swallowed past the nervous lump in her throat. “Let me see. If Anna Morse is there, I’ll know right away.”
Coolidge nodded, stepping aside, and Nicole took his place and stole a glance.
Coolidge had been correct—six or seven elderly people sat hunched around a fire that had a pot of stew cooking over it. Nicole saw Mrs. Morse right away.
“Psst!” she hissed into the room, figuring there was only one way to know if the woman was Anna Morse or not. “Mrs. Morse?”
The elderly woman turned to her. She gasped, then a smile spread across her face. “Nicole! Come, come, come!”
She lumbered to her feet, hands outstretched. The other people also looked and smiled when they saw Nicole.
“Can my friends come as well?” Nicole asked, knowing that if Mrs. Morse wasn’t good with that, she couldn’t be trusted.
“Of course,” the woman said, her thick English accent making it difficult to understand.
Nicole turned to her group and shrugged. “Seems okay. Be on your guard, though. Let’s see what happens.”
Nicole approached the elderly people and grinned when Mrs. Morse threw her arms around her, holding her tightly. She mumbled something over and over again, then looked up at Nicole, a questioning expression on her face.
“Um . . .” Nicole said. “I’m sorry. I don’t understand.”
“She says you saved her life,” a man with a thick salt-and-pepper beard said. “She wants to know if you realize that.”
“No, I didn’t. I thought I’d left her to die.”
Mrs. Morse shook her head emphatically. “Thank you, thank you,” she said, followed by several more things that Nicole didn’t understand.
The man translated again. “She says, if you hadn’t played her cello and given the Croent a taste of your magic, they would have devoured her right then. Unfortunately, by doing so, you’ve opened yourself up to possible future attacks.”
A different man, one with a worn brown jacket pointed at Nicole’s elixir. “All of them revolving around that thing.”
Nicole’s hand sought for the elixir and held it tightly. “How much do you know about what’s going on?” she asked, glancing at the people.
“A fair amount.” The man with the jacket stood and motioned for the visitors to join them around the fire. There were several open chairs and everyone was able to take a seat. “I’m Jack Morse. Anna is my wife.” His eyes started shining. “She and I were married over fifty years ago. We were separated from each other when we moved into that apartment building and I was lost into this dimension. Now, I can’t leave it. Anna didn’t know where I’d gone. She only knew that she had to keep the Croent from entering into your world, hoping I’d return someday.”
Mrs. Morse said something unintelligible, due to her thick accent, and Jack smiled, patting her hand. “Yes, that’s true, my dear.” He glanced at everyone else. “The Croent followed Nicole, leaving the portal gaping open and unguarded. Anna took up courage and crept through, finding me here.
“The Croent no longer guard the link between dimensions, believing that the portal isn’t open often enough for anyone to cross anymore.” He motioned to Nicole’s group. “But you are proof that their assumption is incorrect.”
Mrs. Morse tucked her hand into Jack’s and leaned against his shoulder, a content expression on her face. Nicole couldn’t believe the transformation between what the woman had been before and what she was now—she’d been so hesitant, so afraid. Seeing how comfortable she was now warmed Nicole’s heart.
Nicole glanced at the rest in her group, realizing they were allowing her to take the lead. “Do you know what’s going on with the Tarians and Aretes in our dimension?” she asked Jack.
His face darkened. “Yes. And we know much of Rebecca, the woman who is leading these Tarians. We also know how much of a fool she is for believing she can do any good with Great Ones on her side. The more attention she brings to humans in your dimension, the worse it will be for everyone when the beasts do arrive.”
“They are planning on coming?” Nicole asked.
“If she stirs them up enough, yes.” Jack passed a hand over his eyes. “We’re doing everything we can to prevent that, though. Rebecca is a foolish, shortsighted woman.”
“She’s been pretty resourceful and patient so far,” Nicole said.
He nodded. “Yes, to someone who lives the length of a human life. But the Great Ones don’t—they live for thousands of years. The life of a mere human is like one of a tiny bug, waiting to be squashed.”
“Let’s hope it doesn’t come to that,” Nicole said.
“It may. If we fail, it will.”
“What have you been doing on this side?”
“Besides fighting the lesser creatures, I’ve been gathering intel. That’s what I did for the U.S. military before Anna and I met. I have a knack for listening and learning.” He leaned forward, pulling a wad of papers out of a back pocket, which he handed to Nicole. “Here’s everything I’ve gotten so far.”
Nicole shifted through the papers one at a time, passing them to Coolidge and the others. The first sheet outlined everything Rebecca was doing on earth, in Nicole’s dimension. Most of it was brief, without a lot of information. That didn’t matter, since Nicole knew all of it already.
The next paper had maps of the dimension where the Great Ones came from. Apparently, it wasn’t where Jack and Anna now lived. Connections to that dimension were here and back near Salmon, Idaho.
The last couple of pages detailed everything that would be taking place in the next month and a half. Rebecca’s plans shocked Nicole. There was a lot she’d been holding back from her granddaughter.
“How did you learn this?” she asked Jack.
He shrugged. “Rebecca hasn’t always been careful regarding who hears her plans. And she still has people she thinks she can trust. She comes here frequently and visits with Santaya.” Jack pointed to an elderly woman with graying dark hair.
Santaya smiled at Nicole. “My English no es so good,” she said. “Rebecca don’t know I talk. She tell me lots, when she need to vents. I tell Jack and Anna everything.”
Nicole nodded, wondering what Santaya had done to get Rebecca’s trust. “Thank you—it helps a lot.”
She turned back to the papers to re-read the info Santaya had given them before passing the sheets on. Rebecca’s goal was to allow the Great Ones to come and dwell in Nicole’s dimension. The woman hoped that by eliminating the A
retes, the Great Ones would have more of a desire to come. Nicole knew, however, that they wouldn’t care either way—they gave Aretes their powers, and they could take them back just as easily. It wasn’t a big deal to them if Aretes were on earth or not.
The end of July marked Rebecca’s deadline. The two machines would work together, widening the portal while also killing all Aretes. Nicole found it interesting that Rebecca didn’t plan to kill Nicole—the paper stated that she was going to use Nicole’s body to bring herself back to life.
At first, Nicole thought that meant she would inhabit Nicole and take control, but that wasn’t the case. Apparently, she needed Nicole’s organs to offer to the Great Ones, who would then fashion her a new body, stronger and more powerful than either Nicole or Rebecca could ever be.
Nicole’s organs would be stolen while she was alive and awake. She had to live through the removal of every organ—otherwise, the spell wouldn’t work. Nicole shook her head at Rebecca’s audacity. How did she plan to pull that off? And how could anyone live through something like that without body failure and bleeding to death? Nicole didn’t plan to find out.
She squealed when she saw a small map at the bottom of the last page. It showed where both machines were located, north of Salmon, Idaho. She looked up at Jack. “How did you find this?”
He shrugged. “I’m a good spy. Rebecca left it on her desk once when I was watching. I doubt she even remembers she ever had this—I stole it forty years ago.”
“Rebecca has a desk here? And why has she been here at all?”
“Ghosts travel frequently through all the dimensions but the one where their physical body has been laid to rest. This dimension isn’t far from the one where the Great Ones exist. Since Rebecca couldn’t live in their dimension without approval, she decided to set up here instead.”
Nicole nodded. The paper was indeed very old and worn. She breathed deeply, exhaling slowly. “This has been the thing that has stressed me out the most—not knowing where the machine was. I need to destroy that embryonic manipulator.” She looked at Jack. “And we need to destroy the other machine, too. The one that will kill all Aretes. I mean, I can’t leave it available for just about anyone to use.”
Jack shook his head. “Only descendants of Rebecca’s can manipulate it. I do agree, however, that it must be destroyed. I’m not sure how that can be done, though, without bringing the Great Ones.” He leaned forward, resting his elbows on his knees. “The thing is this—destroying those machines actually calls the Great Ones.”
Nicole groaned. “What should we do, then?”
“You can dismantle them without destroying them.”
Nicole glanced over at Austin and Coolidge, realizing that the two of them would figure something out. “Yes, we can do that. I’ll let these two decide how that’ll happen.” She leaned back in her chair and stared at the smoke-stained ceiling. “So, the end of July is when everything happens.” She looked at Jack. “Rebecca said the Great Ones planned to use me for their purposes after all this is over.”
“Well, that’s a bit of a lie,” Jack said. “They don’t really care about you. The only agreement they have with Rebecca is that you’ll be available for the spell.”
Nicole tilted her head. “Then why do the Great Ones stop me from being around my boyfriend?”
“Your organs need to be clean and pure for her plans to work. If your heart isn’t mostly yours, it won’t do what Rebecca needs it to do.”
Nicole frowned. “So, those visions I was having—the nausea—were caused by Rebecca?”
“Kind of. The Great Ones do control it all.”
Austin growled from across the room. “So, as soon as the elixir is gone, Nicole will be back to her normal self?”
Jack glanced at him. “Yes. So long as she isn’t being taken apart at that point.” He smiled at Nicole. “Which we plan to stop, of course.”
“Do we even need the elixir?” Nicole asked.
Jack sighed. “I’ve tried to find a way out of using it, but I can’t see how. Yes, the elixir is just as important as Rebecca has said it is. It will destroy one—or both—of the machines, as promised. Once poured into the machine, it makes the gears and internal workings stop. There are other magical things that happen too, but I don’t know much about that sort of thing.”
He rubbed the back of his neck. “You understand how precarious your situation is, do you not? Destroying the machines calls the Great Ones. Not destroying them leaves open the possibility of future descendants being tempted to call the Great Ones, along with preventing humans from having as many children as they’ll want.
“I still haven’t figured out a way through the problem. I was hoping that Anna would have more information, seeing as how she’d been in your dimension so much lately, but things haven’t progressed very publicly, and she hadn’t even heard of any of this.”
Anna smiled apologetically at Nicole. “Sorry, dear,” she said.
Nicole was grateful she could always understand Anna’s shortest sentences. It made things easier. “Oh, please don’t worry about it, Mrs. Morse. We really appreciate everything you’ve done already.” Nicole looked at Jack. “You too. This is invaluable information.”
He nodded. “Yes, I know. We realized we needed to get in contact with you as soon as possible.” He clasped his hands. “I only hope we’re not too late. I just recently learned the time when Rebecca planned for all this to happen.”
He and the man with the salt-and-pepper beard met eyes. The man gestured to Jack’s papers and Jack nodded, then looked back to Nicole.
“We need to find a better way to keep in touch with each other. You have the paper Anna left for you in her apartment?”
Nicole pulled it out of her pocket. “Yes, here.”
“Good. Keep that. We’ll communicate with you through it. We won’t be able to get word from you that way, though. If necessary, we’ll contact Elizabeth, the woman who was helping you for a while. She’s passionate about not allowing Rebecca to continue with her plans . . . but she’s also a mercenary and will require payment.”
“Yes, we know,” Nicole said. “So, if we ever have anything really important to relay to you, we need to contact Elizabeth and do it through her?”
“Yes. And keep that paper with you. We’ll write a note as often as possible.”
Nicole bit her lip, sending Mrs. Morse an apologetic expression. “Um . . . Mrs. Morse, please don’t take offense at this . . . but I can’t read your handwriting. Could Jack maybe write the notes?”
Jack threw his head back and laughed. “Oh, that’s wonderful. I had the same experience serving abroad in the military while we were dating. I cherished the feeling behind her words, but rarely knew what she was saying.”
Mrs. Morse mock glared at Jack, hands on her hips. She spouted something off at him so quickly Nicole didn’t catch any of it. He waved her off teasingly.
“Only she can write the notes,” he said, turning back to Nicole. “But I’ll help her and make sure they’re legible from now on.”
Nicole smiled in relief. “Thanks. I appreciate it.”
Jack got to his feet slowly. “You should be leaving now. We never know how long that link will be open or when dangerous beasts will come. Your safety is very important.” He held out his hand. “I’ll need my papers back.” The others gathered them together, then passed them back to Nicole, who returned them to Jack.
He shuffled through them and pulled out the paper that had the map to the machines on it, then gave it to Nicole. “Keep this handy. I don’t need it—it’s for your dimension only.”
Nicole thanked him, and Jack walked with her and the others out of the room and down the hall. “Be careful about trusting anyone you meet here—the Croents can resemble loved ones. They’re very dangerous. They can follow you back to your dimension, but will lose strength easily and would prefer to kill you here. You’ve noticed the bones outside, I trust? This is a dumping ground for many dimensions,
and most of the time, we never find bodies.”
Nicole nodded. “Thank you for the warning,” she said.
Jack stood at the top of the stairs to the temple and waved at them as they left the building. Nicole was grateful for the meeting—the information they gained was invaluable. She’d assumed that they’d be taking Mrs. Morse back, but knowing that Jack was here made Nicole glad they wouldn’t need to do that. The two of them were happy together—they belonged here with each other.
Chapter Twelve
Just as Nicole’s group was getting off the steps, Mrs. Morse came running after them, passing Jack on the way. He laughed when she stopped and said something to him. He motioned her to continue.
She reached Nicole’s side, panting heavily. “I’m coming too,” she said slowly, and with much clearer language than Nicole had ever heard her use. She was obviously trying hard to be understood, and Nicole appreciated the effort. “Just to your dimension, then I’ll return to Jack.”
Nicole nodded. “That’s fine. We could use someone’s company who knows more about this place.”
Mrs. Morse hiked up her skirt and walked alongside Nicole. “Why did you come here?” she asked.
Nicole frowned. “Because you asked me to.”
“Oh, yes.” Mrs. Morse tapped her head. “Short memory. Sorry.”
Nicole shrugged, realizing that the woman’s age would definitely affect her. She was grateful she could at least understand what the woman was saying.
The group followed the well-trod path toward the apartment building, which was barely visible in the distance.
Mrs. Morse chattered as they walked, her British accent gradually fading as she matched her speech patterns to Nicole’s.
“Backs to each other!” Coolidge suddenly shouted.
Just then, winged creatures shot over the top of the nearest bone hill, a magical pulse accompanying them that apparently Coolidge had noticed. Their bat-like wings tucked in close to their sides, and they cawed and screamed as they came closer.
Observe, Mosaic Chronicles Book Four Page 19