His mother nodded. “Me, too. God forgive me, but I think it might be better if he was dead.”
Josh took a sip of tea and tried to think of something to say. Nothing he could think of seemed appropriate. The silence dragged on for minutes. Finally, his mother spoke.
“Have you seen Jan?”
Josh paled and set his tea down. “I don't think that’s a good idea. I love her, but she deserves a normal life. That’s something I’m never going to have. Like I told you, I have to go back with them, Mom.”
“Is this Wisdom forcing you?” She looked at the ceiling. Wisdom and the Anomalies were searching the house to see if Richard had left clues around that might lead to other Council headquarters.
“Nobody's forcing me to do anything. I just made a decision, that's all. Since Echo died, Wisdom has been different. He’s not keeping anything secret from us anymore. I know what’s coming. And once again, no, I’m not going to tell you what it is. The less you know about that the better. Dad may try to contact you.”
Mrs. Wilkinson nodded, a faraway look in her eyes.
There was another long period of silence.
“Do you think it was all a lie?”
Josh looked up at his mother. “All of what?”
“Do you think your father ever loved us? Loved me? Was it all a lie to cover up what he really was?”
Josh thought of a dozen different comforting phrases but said none of them.
“I guess that's just one of the questions I'll have to ask him when I find him.” He looked up to see Wisdom coming downstairs with a stack of file folders in hand. “Guess it’s time to go. Wisdom, can you give us a moment?”
Wisdom nodded and went back upstairs.
Josh went to his mother and kissed her on the cheek and embraced her for a long time. Then he walked upstairs to his old room. The others were there, still covered in blood and soot. The same blank expression played out on all their faces.
“I wish I could tell you the worst was over,” Wisdom said. “But if we don’t find the Council and stop them, it is all going to get a whole lot harder. We have to find out more about Defksquar and his terra-forming device. We have to track down the Council of Peacocks and stop the Orpheans from coming back to Earth. All in all, I’d say we have a pretty full schedule.”
Wisdom opened a portal and the Anomalies walked through it. As Josh looked at the portal, he wondered what he would do if he could step back in time. Would he try and save Brian’s life? Maybe it would be safer to ruin the friendship before it began. Would he stop Jan from being tortured or break up with her years before so she would never be in that position?
The one thing he was sure of, the one thing he knew absolutely, was that if he could travel back through time, he would have told his father to stand in front of that window back in Lebanon. He knew he could never kill his father the way Wisdom had apparently killed his own. He also knew if Richard had died that day Josh would never have found out what a monster the man really was. And maybe, sometimes, not knowing is the greatest gift in the world.
Josh stepped through the portal of light and left his home behind.
***
“I so hate my job”,” Amelia Ryerson, former instructor of the Anomalies, said for the fifteenth time in as many minutes. She felt vulnerable, even though she used her abilities to become invisible, cloaked from the perception of the people around her. It was the middle of the business day. Well-dressed people filled the lobby of the Manhattan building. Most were so busy with their own lives that they would not have paid attention to her anyway. Still, Wisdom had been explicit about her mission: no one could see her, not even civilians.
Finally, she saw her target: a man with dark, short-cropped hair that was just beginning to grey. She watched as he walked out of the elevator and headed out the front door surrounded by bodyguards. His name was Lucius Vitalli and, aside from being a successful entrepreneur, he was also a member of the Council of Peacocks. When Wisdom had removed the Anomalies to Hong Kong, he'd given her a different mission: follow Lucius and report on his doings.
Lucius looked shaken. Though more than one hundred feet away, with her enhanced vision she saw every detail of his suit. She had watched him long enough to know the way he moved, the way he breathed. Today, he walked with a limp. He was badly injured.
‘What the hell is he doing in public?’ she thought. Normally, Lucius stayed away from the crowds. He was a rich and reclusive man with a reason to be wary of paparazzi. Only something important would put him near possible cameras. Weeks ago, Lucius had had a very public meeting here in New York with Otto Siegmar and Paavo Rothschild, a move that was also out of character. Wisdom knew nothing about what they were planning. Ms. Ryerson was there to find out.
Running faster than the human eye could follow, Ms. Ryerson followed him outside to his limo. She assumed he was heading back to his penthouse apartment, but she followed him closely, anyway. Whatever he was up to, she would find out sooner or later.
***
It was dark in Windsor as Travis Froese took out the garbage. Despite the heat, he shivered as he looked around him. For days now, he could not shake the feeling that he was being watched. A survey of the shadows convinced him he was alone; no one was outside at this time of night.
Out of the corner of his eye, he saw something. For just a moment, he could have sworn he saw a glint of gold coming from the garage across the street. Something about the brief glimpse seemed familiar but he could not link it to a specific memory. He stared at the spot for a moment, but the gleam did not reappear. He rubbed the goosebumps from his arms and headed back past the car parked in his driveway and went inside.
From under his car, two sets of voices began to laugh quietly.
“I told you he would come here,” the first voice said. It was raspy and weak but held a fierce masculinity. “The alien is so predictable.”
“I don’t know about that, Sanchez,” the second voice said. It was also raspy and weak but sensual and feminine. “I don’t know if anyone saw this coming.”
“Get serious, Carla. It’s not like you have to be an evil genius to have a backup plan. He’s obviously been planning this for a while. Josh might have been his first choice, but the young Mr. Wilkinson is so firmly in Wisdom’s camp now that he’s far from useable. Makes sense he would start focusing on Plan B.”
“Thanks for proving my point, Sanchez. I don’t think this is his Plan B. I think the whole thing with Josh was just misdirection. We’ve all been so focused on Josh that no one has been paying attention to his cousin, Mr. Froese. If you want my opinion, I think using Travis was his plan all along.”
From the shadows, Sanchez gasped. Then he laughed. “You know what, Carla? I think you might be right.”
“And the Council has no idea.”
More laughter.
“Well isn’t this just rich. I can’t wait to see what happens next.”
THE END
Coming in May 2014 – Beyond the Black Sea
Second Installment in the Activation Series
Continue reading for links to other
works by M Joseph Murphy
Other works by M Joseph Murphy
Three hundred of years ago, a group of heroes imprisoned a dark god in a hell dimension known as the Void. Since then, the people of Maghe Sihre have lived in relative peace. Now, a secret war brews at the edge of civilization.
A young man from Earth, Tadgh Dooley, is burdened with a dangerous and impossible power. He is fod sel-onde, born with the ability to warp the fabric of reality. An unknown force draws him to Maghe Sihre and, in doing so, cracks open the Void.
Can Tadgh gain control over his power before it's too late? And what does the appearance of the Sword of Kassandra mean for the people of Maghe Sihre?
View Smashword Profile for Link to A Fallen Hero Rises
M Joseph Murphy on Twitter: @windswarlock
M Joseph Murphy’s Blog: CouncilOfPeacocks.blogspot.ca
<
br /> M Joseph Murphy’s Website: MJosephMurphy.info
Acknowledgements
Last year, if you’d asked me, I would have told you writing was a lonely, solitary activity. Now I know better.
First, a thank you to my beta readers: James Marentette, Rob Welch, Bronwyn Cair, Stephanie Parent, Craig McGray and Carey Heywood.
To Charles Ekeke, a special thanks for being my harshest critic. You forced me to look at some of the largest weak spots in Council of Peacocks and make them stronger.
To Christie Stratos for spot-on line edits and constant encouragement. You pointed out weaknesses in the story and inconsistencies between scenes. This type of error is much harder to spot and more important to the reader's enjoyment.
To my cover artist, Dane Low, thanks for your wonderful eye. You took my idea for a cover and created something better.
I also need to thank Linda Johannesson for her thorough, in-depth proofreading. You were worth every dime and then some. You found things no one else did. You also helped immensely by improving Australian slang and finding all my Canadianisms.
A huge thank you to Mary Jeddore Blakney, my partner in crime in Suckers Guild, who did the edits for this second edition. Jae, you are the best proofreader I’ve ever met. You found tons of grammar errors and typos that slipped through in the first edition. Every author should be lucky enough to receive the type of tough love you give.
Lastly, a huge thanks to Travis Luedke who did line edits twice. You made me look at every word of every sentence on every page. You told me when my jokes weren’t funny, when my exposition was too wordy, and when my dialogue needed more ‘umph.’ You’ve also been my largest supporter. There is no way I’ll ever be able to repay your kindness.
Council of Peacocks Page 37