by S. J. West
The two Malcolms don’t say anything else to each other as they sit on the couches across from one another. Mason and I bring Noel and Xavier up to speed on what we know about the princes and the seals.
“It’s nice to have this information,” Noel says, “but how are we supposed to stop them from opening any more seals? Did you bring something with you that can kill Archangels?”
I shake my head. “No. We don’t have that sort of weapon. And we only have one dagger left that we weren’t able to use when we put our princes into stasis. It was meant for Levi, but the human body he inhabited was killed before we were given the silver from the crowns to even make the daggers. He hasn’t resurfaced in a new body yet. He probably won’t until we’re all dead and buried.”
“Why don’t you have two daggers left, since your Lucifer is still roaming around?” Xavier asks.
“The one we tried to use on Lucifer didn’t work. It ended up being destroyed,” I say, remembering the last fight between Lucifer and me.
After Lilly plunged the dagger into Lucifer’s shoulder, and we all saw that it didn’t put him into the same stasis as the others, he pulled it out of himself and threw it straight at me. God intervened, turning the dagger into sand before it had a chance to reach me. I’m not sure if Lucifer truly meant to kill me or not. I think he was so mad he let his anger rule his actions. At least, that’s what I tell myself. Otherwise, I would have to admit that he really did intend to kill me that day.
“Ok, so we’re going under the assumption that taking one of the princes out of the equation will prevent the others from opening their seals, correct?” Brand asks.
“Yes,” I answer. “There’s also one other thing we can try. We can kill the human bodies the princes are living in. That might cause a delay in opening the seals, since it takes them time to regain their energy before taking over another host. However, I’m not sure a delay is good enough to stop what’s already been set into motion.”
“I say we attempt to do both, but what if neither option works?” Xavier asks, sounding pessimistic about the plan.
“Then we’ll find another way,” I say confidently. “God didn’t send us here to just be bystanders to the end of your world. I refuse to believe that.”
“I agree,” Brand says, even though Noel and Xavier don’t look as certain. “But even if we’re able to stop the princes from opening the rest of the seals, we’ll still have the problem of Ravan Draeke. She’ll still retain her power over this world.”
“Then we’ll have to find a way to make people either dislike her or not trust her anymore,” I say.
“Or we just kill her,” Noel suggests.
I notice the red dragon tattoos on the backs of Noel and Xavier’s right hands.
“What’s up with the tattoos?” I ask. “When I passed through Times Square, I saw a video of Ravan showing hers off, and the words ‘Get Yours Today’ were on the screen.”
“It’s a new thing Ravan is encouraging everyone in the world to do,” Xavier starts to explain. “She’s convinced the leaders of the other nations that it will be more convenient if we’re all on the same monetary system. If you don’t have one, you won’t be able to get a job, buy food, travel, or even get into your own home. Basically, you can’t have a normal life or provide for your family if you don’t have her mark tattooed onto your hand.”
“I don’t understand,” I say. “How does a tattoo let you do all that?”
“It’s not just a tattoo,” Noel tells me. “The ink is infused with nanites which embed themselves directly into each person’s DNA. Special scanners are set up to read the information the nanites collect. Your genetic sequence is the key to your life now. Plus, we’re almost positive the princes are using it to keep track of certain people in power.”
“Mind if I take a closer look at the symbol?” Mason asks Xavier.
“Sure,” Xavier leans forward in his seat and holds his hand out towards Mason.
Mason studies it for a few seconds before sighing heavily.
“I assume you’ve already figured out what’s been hidden within the symbol,” Mason says.
“Yes,” Xavier acknowledges, looking uncomfortable all of a sudden.
“What’s been hidden?” I ask, wondering what I’ve overlooked all these years. I’m not much of an artist. To be honest, I can barely draw a stick figure, so I was never able to show Mason what the red dragon symbol from my dreams actually looked like.
Mason tilts his head towards Xavier’s tattoo.
“Look at the loops around the bottom edge of the dragon,” Mason instructs.
I do as he says. “Ok, what am I supposed to be noticing?”
“It’s the mark of the beast,” Mason tells me. “There are three sixes hidden within the design.”
It isn’t until Mason points out this fact that I realize the significance of the image Ravan is using as her symbol.
“And, of course, Lucifer is symbolized by the red dragon in the Book of Revelation,” Noel points out. “As soon as Ravan came to power and used it as her emblem, we knew we were in trouble. But, now, having you and the other vessels here gives me hope that we’ll be able to stop what’s happening before it gets any worse.”
“What’s so special about Ravan anyway?” I ask. “Brand said she was human. Why did the princes choose her to be their mouthpiece?”
“We have no idea,” Xavier replies. “The only remarkable thing about her is the fact that she’s rather intelligent for a human and has the ability to make those around her want to do anything for her. Even I’ve felt a pull to do her bidding, but I keep in mind that she’s just a strategic pawn being played in Lucian’s scheme.”
“But, why her?” I press. “There has to be something about her that’s unique.”
“Her mother won a multimillion-dollar lottery a few years before the Tear appeared,” Brand tells me. “Ravan was probably just a baby when that happened, though. Her mother was one of the few humans allowed to keep her wealth and live in luxury during the Watchers’ reign over the world. As Malcolm…I mean, Xavier… said, Ravan is highly intelligent and extremely charismatic. It allowed her to rise rather quickly within the ranks at NATO. She’s only forty-one, and she basically took the world over before anyone even realized what was happening.”
“Brand…” a new female voice calls out, causing us all to look towards the entryway in the room.
By the blue aura surrounding her, I know this young woman is yet another female Watcher. She’s slightly shorter than I am, with a petite figure. She’s dressed in an outfit of deep purple that looks to be made out of some sort of neoprene material, providing her with unrestricted movement. A thick, black leather belt rests low around her hips, with two sheathed swords hanging down by her sides. Her long brown hair is pulled back from her face by a braided ponytail that hangs down her back.
The Watcher silently surveys those of us gathered in the room as she casually lays her hands on the black and silver hilts of her swords.
Brand rises from his seat to walk over to the new arrival.
“What’s wrong, Nina?” Brand asks as he goes to stand in front of the woman.
Nina drags her cautious gaze away from us to address Brand.
“We weren’t able to complete our mission tonight,” Nina informs Brand, sounding disappointed. “There was an unexpected development.” Nina’s gaze returns to those of us not from this reality. “I suspect what I witnessed is directly related to your new friends over there. The men I saw were dressed in outfits that looked exactly like hers,” Nina says nodding her head in my direction, “and there was a Watcher child with them.”
“You’re sure they were in white outfits like mine?” I ask, knowing only four of us are unaccounted for now.
“Yes,” Nina answers.
“It has to be Rafe and Zack, then,” I say, knowing Jered would have been wearing black. “Where are they?”
“Who are these people?” Nina asks Brand, reluctant to s
ay more without knowing if she can trust us with the information she has.
Brand goes on to explain who we are and why we’ve traveled to this reality. After that, he turns to us.
“Nina and another Watcher were carrying out a rescue mission this evening,” Brand tells us.
I stand from my seat. “Then your mission just got a little bigger,” I inform Nina. “We need to get our friends. Where are they?”
Nina doesn’t answer, just stares at me as if she’s sizing me up. At any other time, I could appreciate her cautiousness, but, right now, it’s just irritating me.
“We’re here to help you,” I tell her, trying to ease her obvious worry. “We need to rescue our friends before something bad happens to them.”
“Why don’t we go back to headquarters and discuss what Nina saw?” Brand suggests. “Then we can decide what needs to be done next.”
“Sophia is distraught,” Nina tells Brand, looking worried. “I promised her I would get Logan away from Robert tonight. I don’t want to break my promise, especially when the reason is interference from an outside party.”
Nina glances in our direction with a bit of disdain in her eyes.
I’m about to say something I might regret later, but Mason grabs one of my hands in a silent plea to keep my harsh words to myself. I bite my tongue, and wait for Brand to handle the situation.
“They’re here to help us,” Brand tells her with a hard edge to his voice. “And I think it might have been divine intervention that you happened to be there when their friends were brought in. Otherwise, it would have taken us a lot longer to find them.”
Nina looks surprised by Brand’s use of the term ‘divine intervention’. I can tell it never occurred to her that her mission tonight had a dual purpose.
“Then we need to reformulate our plan to include getting their friends out of Robert’s estate,” Nina agrees.
“I wish you all the best of luck,” Xavier says to us. “I’m afraid I need to get back to Ravan’s party before I’m missed. If I learn anything important, I’ll contact you.”
“It was nice to meet you,” Noel says, holding out her hand for me to shake.
“I hope it won’t be the last time,” I tell her, genuinely meaning it.
“It won’t be,” she assures me. “I make regular visits to Brand, so I can give him updates on the things we learn.”
“I hate to ask,” I say, worried I might be overstepping my bounds, but needing to make the request, “but, do you think you can find out what they’ve done to my Lucifer? I sort of feel responsible for him, or at least responsible enough to make sure I get him back to our reality.”
“I’ll see what I can find out for you,” Noel promises.
“Thank you.”
I hold my hand out to Malcolm.
“You won’t be able to phase many places in this reality,” I tell him. “Not until you’ve actually been to them.”
Malcolm takes hold of my hand, while I grip Mason’s even tighter with my other one.
“I’m not holding hands with the boy,” Malcolm says, looking pointedly at Chandler.
Chandler shrugs. “It’s not exactly something on my wish list either.”
A charming smile tugs at Chandler’s lips as he makes his way over to stand beside Nina.
“Mind giving me a lift, pretty lady?” Chandler asks her.
Nina raises her eyebrows at Chandler, peering at him. Her expression reminds me of my own when I examine the remains of a bug I just squished with the bottom of my shoe.
“I’m not sure what kind of women you’re used to dealing with,” Nina says to Chandler, “but don’t ever call me that again. I can promise you won’t like my reaction the next time.”
I hear Malcolm snicker beside me at hearing Nina’s words as she roughly grabs one of Chandler’s arms and phases him away.
“Oh, I like her,” Malcolm says approvingly.
I, on the other hand, decide to reserve my own judgment until after she helps me rescue my friends.
CHAPTER EIGHT
After we all phase back to Brand’s quarters, I see yet another female Watcher I haven’t met before. Her features remind me of an actress from one of the Spanish telenovelas Faison and Mama Lynn are addicted to back on our Earth’s TV. She’s wearing an outfit similar to Nina’s, except its black. Her eyes are the color of honey, which contrast beautifully with her tan skin, making them appear to glow. The soft curls of her long brown hair bounce in time with her agitated pacing.
“You did the right thing by coming back here to tell Brand what you saw, Sophia,” Baruch says to her in a consoling manner. “You’ll get Logan back.”
“We’ll get Logan back,” Nina corrects before letting go of Chandler’s arm and walking over to Sophia. “I promised you we would, Soph.”
The desperate way Sophia looks at Nina tells me she wants to believe her friend.
“There’s no guarantee she’ll come with us,” Sophia says with a great deal of uncertainty mixed with sorrow.
“I didn’t realize we were giving her a choice,” Nina says, as if this is the first time she’s heard there was a condition to their rescue plan. “Besides, I thought the whole point of doing this at night was to make sure she was in werewolf form so she would feel compelled to do what you tell her.”
“Robert’s hold on her could be stronger than mine now,” Sophia says worriedly, wringing her hands together. “He’s had her for over a century. He may have completely brainwashed her to hate me!”
Sophia’s eyes shimmer with tears at just the thought of her child’s possible rejection.
“You’re her mother,” Nina reminds Sophia gently. “Your bond with her will stay strong, no matter what Robert tries to do.”
“But, as her father, his bond with her is just as great,” Sophia argues. “She chose to stay with him after I decided to join your side, even though I begged her to come with me. I fear I may have lost her forever, Nina.”
“You never should have given her a choice,” Nina complains, but not callously.
“I didn’t want to be like Robert. I wanted her to join me because she wanted to change her life for the better, too. I just thought she would have decided to come to me by now.”
“I don’t mean to interrupt,” I say, as Mason and I walk over to the two women, “but what exactly was the plan to rescue Sophia’s daughter tonight? Is it still something we can use to rescue my friends?”
“Depends on where they’re being kept,” Nina says. “I’m assuming they probably put the Watcher child I saw in the same place they keep Logan locked up at night.”
“His name is Tristan,” I tell them. “The other two you saw in outfits matching mine are Rafe and Zack.”
“And who are you?” Sophia asks me, not being rude; simply curious.
“Allow me to make the introductions,” Brand says, stepping up to introduce all of us to Sophia and Nina.
“So,” I say after we all know each other’s names, “what’s the plan?”
“The plan was for me to cause a distraction, while Sophia phased down to the dungeon in Robert’s estate to retrieve her daughter,” Nina says.
“Do you have any idea where in the house they might be keeping my friends?” I ask.
“Knowing Robert the way I do,” Sophia says contemplatively, “I would have to say he is keeping them close to him. He’ll want to know who they are and why two humans were taking care of a Watcher child. I strongly suggest we not delay in saving them. We should proceed with our plan tonight. Robert is not known for his patience or his hospitality.”
“Are you implying he might torture them for information?” I ask.
“Most definitely; not right away, though. We have a few hours yet. First, he will try to make them think he is their friend and someone who wants to help them. If that tactic doesn’t work, he will resort to a more physical means of extracting information from your friends.”
“I don’t know why they didn’t use their suit
s to make themselves invisible,” I muse aloud.
“I think I do,” Gabe says, joining in on our conversation. “Odds are they needed to stay visible to keep Tristan under control. You know neither of them would hide just to save themselves.”
It made sense. For some reason, it never occurred to me that we would be split up when we traveled here. I expected all of us to arrive at the same place and Tristan’s transformation wouldn’t be a problem. I knew this world’s Brand would have a safe place for him to stay, since the Abby here was still under the same werewolf curse. However, I have to admit that I was surprised Rafe and Zack were able to control Tristan in his wolf form. I wasn’t aware that anyone other than Mae and Jered had that type of effect on him.
“Ok, so how do we get inside Robert’s estate to find my friends?” I ask. “Can Mason and I use our suits’ ability to become invisible and sneak onto the grounds to scout things out first?”
“I don’t think that will work,” Nina says, quickly dashing my hopes. “Robert has a sophisticated security system in place. Unless your suits can hide you from thermal- imaging cameras, he’ll still be able to see you.”
“No,” I say despondently, “they don’t. I already learned that lesson tonight. What are our other options?”
“I think we should stick to my original strategy,” Nina says. “We storm the castle from the front and cause a big enough distraction to give you time to search the house. Robert is arrogant and doesn’t keep many guards in his home. He doesn’t think anyone has the guts to fight him on his own turf.”
“I agree,” Brand says. “Nina should lead a small group in through the front door while the rest of us look in the most likely places for your friends. We’ll only have a short amount of time before someone on the grounds calls for reinforcements. As soon as they arrive, we’ll need to get out before we’re overpowered.”
“How much time will we have to search?” Mason asks.
“No more than five or ten minutes would be my guess,” Brand answers. “It all depends on how quickly Robert feels threatened by our presence. He won’t ask for anyone’s help unless he thinks he has no other choice. His pride won’t let him.”