by Mikayla Lane
“Find the strand of energy that is lit up in your mind right now, feel it, and learn its color. The next time you want to enter the dream realm, remember the color and the feel of the energy, create the scenery of the realm and believe yourself in it, and you will enter. You do the reverse to leave,” she said, watching him pretend to do as she said.
Mikal grinned broadly. She was right, he could easily feel the realm’s energy in his mind and see the dark purple color of it.
“That’s amazing! How do I know the color and feel of the real world?” he asked.
Alpha Two cocked her head to the side and rested her arms on her knees.
“Think of someone or something that you know very well in the real world and concentrate on the color and feel of the energy. Your mind should be able to conjure the memory in your mind. Where do you live?” she asked.
Mikal did as she suggested and was surprised that he’d never known that he could do this. That he’d never even accidently discovered it amazed him, and he wondered if meeting and being near her energy set off dormant abilities.
Mikal smiled broadly at her, grateful that she’d relented and helped him learn something. He drew his knees up and mimicked her pose. Considering that she wasn’t telling him anything and was obviously running from something, his curiosity could not interfere with his responsibility to his people.
As much as he wanted to tell her everything about him, he would not say anything that could endanger anyone else. For that reason, he intended to be just as vague as she was until he could figure out if she could be trusted.
“I live in a regular human home. Right now, I share several places with my adoptive brothers and sister. When I get tired of being surrounded by them, I have a place in the mountains that I go to in order to be alone. What is your name?” Mikal asked, hoping she’d finally tell him.
Two knew that he couldn’t be telling the truth. There was no way their captors would allow any of them to live like normal humans without being enslaved. What he spoke of was nothing more than a fantasy that she and all of her sisters had.
Obviously, the males among them felt as they did and had the same fantasy. Or it was a lie and he was trying to find out if she and her sisters were speaking of such things so he could turn them in to the doctors and commanders.
Two shook her head, refusing to fall for his story.
“You have a creative mind, but I’m not enough of a fool to believe you. Why don’t you tell me something that is true?” she suggested, doubting he would.
Mikal sighed and rubbed a hand over his face.
“We are at an impasse. I can’t prove to you the truth if you refuse to try and trust me. And I can’t find out the truth of who I am without you believing me. I can’t win . . . What can I do to earn your trust?” he asked, trying to quell his frustration.
Alpha Two thought about it for a moment and realized that it wouldn’t matter what he did or said, she wouldn’t believe him. It wasn’t that she didn’t want to believe in the fantasy he was telling her—it was that she couldn’t afford to believe it only to find out it was a lie. Her sisters were depending on her, and it was them she forced herself to think of.
With a heavy sigh, she gave the beautiful man a sad look.
“Nothing. I need to go. If I see you in the real world, I will kill you or die trying. I won’t be taken back alive,” she said before she disappeared.
Mikal cursed and jumped to his feet, looking around the misty darkness for her.
“Damn it!” he roared, kicking at some dry leaves at his feet.
Finally he calmed down and concentrated on his father, finding the color of the strand and the energy.
He awakened with a start in his motel room.
Mikal swung his legs over the side of the bed and sent his energy out around him, wondering if the female was close by. Finding no danger or the woman, he lay back down on the bed and clasped his hands behind his head.
Normally, he would have immediately contacted his father so Grai could help him figure out what was going on. But with Koda missing, Mikal didn’t feel right about bothering his father with this when he really didn’t have enough information to even tell him.
He’d told his brothers that he was going to be delayed by a few days while he checked out a lead in the area, and he knew if he mentioned something to them, he’d be swimming in siblings before he could blink. The female was paranoid enough without having his well-meaning family smothering her. And him.
There was one person he could talk to though, and he immediately checked the time. He had no sooner done that when he felt the niggling in his mind that told him his baby brother was opening his energy to him.
With a mental leap, Mikal jumped through the yellow haze of energy in his mind and stood facing the golden, winged warrior that was his brother, Tristan.
“Brother!” Tristan said as he grabbed Mikal into a strong hug.
Mikal hugged Tristan just as tightly before pulling back and smiling at the warrior.
“I have met one of my kind,” Mikal said.
Tristan grinned broadly and squeezed Mikal’s shoulders in affection and happiness.
“I knew one day you would find what you were looking for. You have so many questions, but I cannot answer them,” Tristan said, sending his brother energy.
Mikal sighed and nodded. He knew it wouldn’t be that easy. If he had been meant to know easily, Mikal knew he would have figured it out by now.
“I know that, brother. I would not expect you to ruin the surprise for me,” Mikal teased. It wasn’t why he’d come.
Tristan waved his hand and the golden cocoon they were in changed to a frozen mountaintop in Alaska. Next he manifested a comfortable looking leather couch.
“I know. You were ever the one to look for the hard way to do things,” Tristan said, pulling Mikal down to sit beside him on the couch.
With a chuckle and shake of his head at his brother’s powers, Mikal leaned his head back and took a deep breath of the frigid air around them.
“I think the female is in great danger, but I can’t get her to trust me enough to even tell me her name. She may come from a place like the one they may be holding Koda in. I also learned that there is a dream realm that I can enter,” Mikal said with a half-smile.
Tristan chuckled and patted Mikal on his shoulder.
“Brother, we’ve been speaking in a dream realm together since I was a year old. We share a strand of energy from a realm the others do not have access too,” Tristan explained.
Mikal looked around in surprise.
“Why did you never tell me this was a dream realm?” he asked.
Tristan laughed.
“Didn’t we just discuss your enjoyment of doing things the hard way? Besides, you weren’t ready. Now, you are ready,” he said with a smile.
Mikal shook his head and playfully punched his brother in the arm.
“Light-bringer my ass. More like pain in the ass,” Mikal teased in the easy brotherly friendship they’d shared since Tristan’s birth.
At first, Mikal had thought that his desire to speak to his baby brother created the illusion in his mind. It had taken a few years before he actually believed he could communicate with his normally non-verbal brother.
By the time Mikal had realized the gift he had, Grai and Tricia had already learned just how special the child was and found their own way of communicating with their son. Even when Tristan was finally able to reveal his true self to his parents, he and Mikal had silently agreed that these moments between them would remain private.
Tristan chuckled at his brother’s teasing and put an arm around Mikal’s shoulders as he sobered quickly.
“You are in for an amazing journey, my brother. I don’t know the details, but I know that what you are going into will be the greatest and most worthy challenge you have ever faced. And you must do it alone,” Tristan said solemnly, sending his brother loving energy and strength.
Mikal sighed an
d nodded his head.
“I know. I just wish I knew how to find her and make her believe that I want to help,” Mikal said.
Tristan stood and pulled his unique brother to his feet before he waved a hand and made the couch disappear.
“Grace is getting ready to awaken, and Mother needs some sleep, so I must go and care for our sister. Mikal, trust yourself. Tonight, you learned of the dream realm. Look inside of yourself and see what else you may be able to learn from meeting your female. You may be surprised at what you find,” Tristan said before giving his brother a warm, loving smile.
Mikal chuckled and pulled his winged brother into a bear hug.
“You could be a little less ambiguous you know. You sound like a bad sage from a fantasy movie,” Mikal teased as he hugged his brother close.
Tristan laughed. “But I leave a bigger impression,” he said as he shot his brother with a massive bolt of energy.
Mikal felt a jolt and then the frozen mountain shimmered in a golden light before it disappeared and he sat up in his motel bed with a start.
He grabbed his chest with his hand, feeling his brother’s golden energy pulsing strongly with his own. Mikal smiled at the unconditional love, support, and acceptance.
“Yes, you certainly do leave an impression, brother,” Mikal said with a smile as the tears welled in his eyes.
He sat on the bed for a moment, thinking about what Tristan had said, then sent his energy out around him to ensure that the perimeter was still quiet. It was then that he realized what Tristan had said about looking inside himself.
With a smile he turned his mind inward this time and did a check of his energy and the colored strands that ran through it. Mikal immediately focused on the strands he had always assumed were unused. The ones he had always thought were junk strands, leftover remnants of something else, not unlike the ones thought to be in the humans.
He could feel the different vibrations in several of the colored strands, ones that he hadn’t felt before he met the female. Mikal inspected the strands more closely, feeling the familiar pull of something . . . but what, he didn’t know.
With morning still hours away, Mikal took a deep breath and plunged himself into one of the strands.
*****
Alpha Two sat up in the bed and grunted in irritation.
Damn the man, she thought.
With a sigh, she stood, got a bottle of water, and walked to the only window in the room. She took a sip as she looked out on the shimmering pool and the empty parking lot.
Two stared at the moonlight reflecting off of the water and it reminded her of the mist in the dream realm that Mikal had pulled her into. She shook her head and took another sip of water.
Why the hell can’t I stop thinking about him? she wondered in irritation.
She looked at the clock and realized she only had another hour until the first of her missions began. Two started stretching, limbering up her body for what was to come. Ten minutes later she sat back on the bed and pulled out her laptop.
She carefully checked the directions twice to make sure she knew exactly where she was going, leaving no room for mistakes. She couldn’t afford any. Tonight was going to be her first strike, and it had to go flawlessly if her plan was going to work.
Two stood and with a touch, changed her clothes back to black. She put her laptop back into the backpack and slung it over her shoulder before she left, locking the door behind her. She quickly blended into the shadows until she was behind the motel, and she took to the skies.
Ten minutes later she dropped down into the clearing surrounding the abandoned cabin she’d found years ago while returning from a mission. Two sent her senses out and made sure that no one was around before she strode inside.
The place was so isolated that Two really didn’t expect anyone to stumble on it, but she couldn’t be too careful. Not where her sisters were concerned.
Once inside, she lit the lantern she kept by the door and waited until the glow brightened before she took off her backpack and hid it under a loose plank in the kitchen.
Two headed into one of the bedrooms and quickly changed into clothes more suitable for concealing the weapons she anticipated she would need. She finished lacing her boots before grabbing two black duffle bags out of the closet and putting them on the bed.
She carefully laid out the contents she’d hidden until the bed was covered with a wide variety of guns, rifles, and bladed weapons. Two put away her beloved haladie and started placing various knives and throwing stars in the multiple pockets in her pants. She completed her task by adding a 9mm to her ankle.
Just in case, she thought.
Looking at her watch, she saw that it was almost time, and she sat on the bed and took a deep breath as she ran the plan over again in her mind. Unbidden images of the mysterious stranger popped into her mind, and she pushed them aside.
“Argh! Why can’t I forget him?” she whispered in frustration to the empty room before she stood and stretched her muscles.
Two pressed her palms together and centered her mind, visualizing her plan in action before she extinguished the lantern and walked out the front door, shutting it behind her.
She stood in front of the cabin and looked up at the dark sky littered with shimmering stars and raised her arms up.
“Alpha One, lend your energy and your spirit. Help me finish what you started,” she whispered to the darkness.
Two wasn’t sure what she had expected, but the absolute silence and lack of response made her head drop and her shoulders slump.
She closed her hands into fists and shook them at the sky.
“I won’t allow us to be abandoned like you did to Alpha One! I will fight!” she roared.
No matter the brave words, Two could feel the despair expanding inside of her. She was alone. The gods that Alpha One had believed in obviously didn’t believe in her-or her sisters-and wouldn’t be helping her any more than they had helped Alpha One.
Straightening her shoulders, Two remembered the faces, the innocence, and the love of her sisters. She closed her eyes and could feel the love she felt for them and allowed it to strengthen her resolve.
Two shot a dark look at the sky.
“I don’t need you. I don’t need anyone. I’ll do this alone. The way you left us,” she said before she took to the skies.
Chapter Three
Dr. Harold Mussberger looked around his living room and shook his head at all the security personnel running around his home like ants. It had only been three days since Alpha Two failed to complete her mission or return from it, and they were taking no chances that she was going rogue.
“Don’t worry, doc. We’ll capture her and then you can go back to . . .” the head of security said as he looked around the cluttered and dirty home. “whatever it is you do.”
Harold nodded his head absently.
“I need to get some work done,” he said as he left the room and headed down the hallway to his office.
Barry Morrison shook his head in disgust at the disheveled doctor as he shuffled down the hall. Working on some weird experiment wasn’t exactly what he had in mind when he’d taken the head of security job for an old military buddy, but it more than paid the bills and allowed him to feed his need for a particular kind of stimulation.
He turned to his well-armed and well-trained team.
“The same drill as the last two nights. Be ready for her!”
Barry made sure that each of his men acknowledged his order before he walked over to the sliding glass door in the back of the house and looked out at the unkempt backyard.
For such a smart guy, the doc is a damn pig, he thought as he saw all the items strew haphazardly around the lawn.
Barry had considered cleaning it all up, but thought it might be better to leave it where it was. If they could get the crazy creature into the yard, it would be easier for them to use the items to trip her up.
God knows we need all the help we can get, he th
ought, remembering how deadly the creature had been in her training and the kills she’d made on her other missions. Before she jumped on the crazy train and went missing.
He had warned them that they needed something more than the explosive charge in the creatures before they turned them loose. Barry had known that at some point one of them would find a way to discover and remove the device, and he’d been right-not that he felt like gloating about it when they were the ones who had to catch her or kill her.
Barry had a bad feeling, and his eyes swept over the backyard, looking for any sign that the creature had come. He’d been expecting her since she’d escaped and was surprised she hadn’t come here yet. If he’d been the one being held and treated the way she was, it was where he would come.
Dr. Harold Mussberger was the doctor who’d taken over the program from his predecessor and was the one who had expanded the original Destiny program. It was the doctor who had changed the training and other protocols associated with the creatures, and it was his decision to kill the original creature, Alpha One.
The doctor had felt that it had been a mistake for his predecessor to allow the creatures to socialize and interact with one another. When Dr. Mussberger took over the program and Alpha One had failed on his third mission, the doctor had terminated him as a lesson to the other creatures.
Barry cringed at the memory of what was done to the creature in front of the others.
Yeah, this is exactly where I would come if I were Alpha Two, he thought.
*****
Alpha Two hovered over the area, studying the layout. She had known they would be expecting her but was still a little surprised at the number of security personnel she saw inside the house and around the outer perimeter.
Most of the security team members held automatic weapons and the dart guns that she knew would hold the drug cocktail to immobilize her. Two considered her options and sent out a wave of energy to ensure that she didn’t mistake the number of targets.
She confirmed her original calculation of 12, plus the doctor, and moved to the front of the house. She hovered over the two men patrolling the front yard, materialized behind one, and quickly slit his throat before catching the other one just as he was getting ready to yell a warning.