Legacy of the Watchers Series Boxed Set: Books 1-3

by Nancy Madore

  “It’s just one of their idols!” the creature exclaimed delightedly once its laughter had died down enough to permit speech. And then it laughed some more. “Cat,” it said breathlessly, “just for that, I’m going to let you in on the plan.”

  “The plan?” echoed Catherine. The cross was beginning to slip a little.

  “Yes, the plan,” reiterated the creature cheerfully. “I really am sorry to have used you like this, but you see, I had to, in order to get Tommy where I wanted him.” The creature paused here, and Amanda had the sense that it was trying very hard to be different—to be more like her. “But it was all worth it, because tonight…he’s going to propose!”

  “Propose!” exclaimed Catherine, forgetting the cross altogether in her utter astonishment. “Tommy’s going to propose? How do you know that?”

  “Oh, I know,” said the creature in Amanda’s most convincing tone of voice. “He as much as told me so himself.”

  Poor Catherine was utterly confused. “But…”

  “I can’t explain every detail now,” Amanda heard herself rush on. “Suffice it to say that I needed you to believe something was happening to me to get Tommy to sit up and take notice. That’s why I’ve been acting weird and being so mean to him. And that’s why I was in Rinehart’s office earlier…to discuss a transfer. When Tommy realized he might lose me forever, it pushed him right over the edge! So you see, there’s nothing for you to worry about!”

  Catherine still looked skeptical, but hurt feelings were quickly overriding any doubts. “I do see,” she replied tartly.

  “I’m going to make this up to you!” the creature vowed passionately. “Tomorrow, my best friend and I are going to celebrate my engagement to become Mrs. Thomas Gerard!”

  Catherine tried to smile.

  “And I’ll give you all the details then,” the creature went on. “You’re going to be my maid of honor! But right now I really have to go meet Tommy. Are you sure you’re okay?”

  “I…guess,” said Catherine.

  Amanda was a little surprised to find the creature reaching out to give Catherine a hug. “Wish me luck!” the creature cried excitedly, and Amanda was taken aback by how much it really did sound like her.

  “I’m…sorry about the…cross,” stammered Catherine, blushing.

  The creature laughed gaily. “Don’t be,” it said. “It was perfect!”

  Catherine laughed then, too. “Good luck with Tommy,” she said.

  “Thank you!” gushed the creature, using all of Amanda’s resources to come across as the elated bride-to-be.

  Amanda, meanwhile, was more confused than ever. Was Tommy really going to propose to her tonight?

  And supposing she and Tommy did get married, would it be Amanda—or the creature—who got to be his wife?

  Amanda wondered once again if the thing inside her could be the ghost of some former girlfriend, coming back from the dead to be with him at any cost. Amanda hadn’t heard of any deceased girlfriend-slash- stalker from Tommy’s past, but there was a lot she didn’t know about his life before she came along. And yet, this scenario seemed extremely far-fetched. But why else would the creature be going to all this trouble just to get Tommy to marry her? Was it possible that this really was some kind of benevolent creature, sent here to make all of Amanda’s wishes come true?

  With Catherine out of the way, they were moving once again. Amanda was anxious to see what would happen next. She seemed to have emerged, somewhat, from her inner shell, and wondered if her level of interest in what was happening around her had anything to do with the rate at which she appeared to be receding. It seemed to happen faster when she was bored. Perhaps she should make an effort to stay alert to what her other self was doing. At the moment, it didn’t take much of an effort, but then again, this little meeting with Tommy was infinitely more interesting than the endless scanning had been.

  The interruption from Catherine made them late for their meeting with Tommy. As usual, he was impatient and sulky. This didn’t seem to bother the creature in the least. It sashayed into the storeroom, sporting Amanda’s most confident smile. Even Tommy couldn’t resist her good mood, and he returned the smile.

  “Oh no you don’t,” objected the creature playfully. “I prefer that sexy, bad boy look you had on your face before. Let me see it again.”

  Tommy laughed, and Amanda was more than a little surprised. She’d always been so good at manipulating people, but somehow she’d lost her edge with Tommy. He was the one nut she couldn’t crack—until now.

  During this little exchange, Amanda couldn’t help noticing that her gaze was moving around the spacious storage room, taking in the long rows of boxes, and settling on a group of shelves in the back. “Follow me,” the creature purred, taking Tommy’s hand and leading him between two of the rows.

  They ended up in a dark corner in the back, on the other side of one of the shelves. Tommy started to say something but the creature silenced him.

  “Shhh,” it whispered, lightly brushing Amanda’s tongue over his lips. “No one will discover us all the way back here.” The creature nipped his bottom lip gently.

  Tommy unbuttoned his pants and lowered them just enough to expose his erection.

  “Not so fast,” the creature scolded. “Don’t you want to have a little fun first?”

  Amanda’s hands moved over Tommy’s body and very leisurely began unbuttoning his shirt. “Mmmm,” murmured the creature as it spread Amanda’s fingers over Tommy’s exposed chest. “Your skin is so soft!”

  This slow, seductive lovemaking was foreign to Amanda, who took Tommy’s impatience as a compliment. His loss of control—though disappointing in some ways—seemed to prove his desire for her. Or so she thought. But suddenly she wasn’t so sure. She’d never touched him like this before—or tried to prolong the event in any way. Her part in their lovemaking had amounted to little more than the role of a matador—or worse yet, that of his red cape. It was nothing personal; the bull was charging out of instinct.

  Thinking about it like this, Amanda felt uncertain. Was Tommy really what she wanted? Did she even love him?

  It suddenly felt wrong…terribly wrong. And yet, Amanda found herself watching the event with morbid anticipation.

  Her body was now moving behind Tommy and she was pulling his shirt down over his shoulders. With his arms still in the sleeves, the creature skillfully tied the ends of the shirt together so that his arms were bound behind his back.

  “What the…” objected Tommy, turning his head.

  “Shhh,” said the creature again. Amanda’s hands moved up to his shoulders and began administering a deep, soothing massage. “You’ve been working so hard lately,” she heard herself say. “Can’t a girl spoil her lover a little, if she wants?”

  “Mmmm,” moaned Tommy. “That does feel good.”

  “You deserve it,” cooed the creature in his ear. “And I can see that you like it.”

  “Ohhh, gawwwd,” moaned Tommy. “Just reach down and touch it, before I explode!”

  “I plan to do a lot more than touch it, so you better not explode just yet!” Amanda’s hands moved down Tommy’s shoulders and reached around from where she was standing behind him to massage his chest. Her fingers became exceedingly gentle when they reached his nipples, carefully circling them and then lightly flicking them with her fingertips. Then her hands moved even lower, over his stomach, and then lower still, so that she was massaging his hips. As she massaged him, she gently pushed his pants down out of the way, so that she could work her hands closer to his erection, massaging the area all around it, and—every now and then—lightly grazing it, making it bob and jump.

  “Fuck, this is hot!” he cried, straining against his shirt. He was not trying to escape, Amanda realized, but simply heightening his awareness of being bound.

  “Shhh,” the creature admonished him again. “You don’t want someone to find you like this, do you?”

  “Nobody’s gonna hear nothing,�
�� he gasped, nearly delirious with pleasure. “Skeleton crew tonight.”

  “Still…,” picking up a cloth from the shelf, “I think we might need this for what I have planned next.” And the creature gently stuffed a portion of the cloth in his mouth with one hand, while stroking his erection with the other. “See…,” it purred. “Isn’t that better?”

  Tommy groaned, and his head rolled back in ecstasy. He liked it! Amanda was stunned. She had no idea he was into this kind of thing. Did Flo do stuff like this with him? Was that what attracted him to her?

  “Now let me see,” the creature continued thoughtfully, “what should we do next?” Amanda was still positioned behind Tommy, speaking seductively in his ear while her hands continued to work the area around his erection. Tommy’s pants were now down around his knees. “How about I let you decide?” it suggested. “I’ll give you two choices. One, I could do a strip tease. Or two, I could give you the thrashing of your life. Which would you prefer?”

  Tommy actually whimpered. He was literally trembling with desire.

  “Would you like to see me dance for you?” taunted the creature. Amanda had the impression that it was timing everything very carefully.

  Tommy could only groan.

  “Is that a ‘no’?” the creature asked. “Does that mean you want the thrashing? Right now? Right this minute?”

  Tommy groaned again and then nearly jumped out of his skin when Amanda’s fingers wrapped around his erection. Meanwhile, Amanda’s other hand was reaching for something on the shelf behind them.

  “I can’t understand a word you’re saying,” scolded the creature, flicking Amanda’s tongue over his ear. It had picked up something large and heavy from the shelf. “Do you want the strip tease…” the creature dropped Tommy’s erection and clutched his shoulder firmly, as if for leverage, before adding—“…or the thrashing?”

  And with that, it drove whatever it had taken off the shelf into Tommy’s side—starting about halfway down his torso, toward the back, and thrusting upward—using all the force in Amanda’s upper body, while she leaned down heavily, with her other hand, on Tommy’s shoulder.

  “The thrashing it is then!” the monster gasped.

  Tommy’s entire body stiffened and jerked forward. Breathing heavily, the creature adjusted its grasp on the thing it had lodged in Tommy’s side—Amanda was only just realizing that it was an enormous knife, like those used for hunting—and twisted it viciously. As her gaze moved downward, Amanda was able to see the knife’s handle, sticking out of Tommy’s side. The proximity of the knife combined with its upward tilt made it clear that his right kidney had been the target. The creature released the knife, leaving it where it was firmly imbedded in Tommy’s side, and stepped away.

  “That was harder than I expected,” the creature complained, letting out a long breath.

  Tommy dropped to the ground. He tried to twist and kick, but his legs were trapped in his pants and his arms were still secured behind his back by his shirt. His erection bobbed revoltingly as he struggled. He attempted to scream, but the creature quickly packed the rest of the cloth into his mouth to muffle the sound. Tommy was gagging, eyes wide. He stared at Amanda in astonishment and horror. Amanda felt that her expression would be the same if she had control of her features. She felt every bit of the horror and astonishment that she saw mirrored on Tommy’s face. She tried to move inward, to hide, or at the very least to look away, but she could not. The creature was looking at Tommy with interest.

  “I’ve decided that you’re not the right man for us after all,” it remarked dryly.

  Tommy just stared up at Amanda, incredulous.

  Chapter 38

  Gakona, Alaska

  They’d checked in at ‘The Lodge,’ shopped at the adjacent ‘Trading Post’ (Nadia bought a coffee mug featuring a moose in a nightgown and fuzzy slippers with a caption that read, ‘I moose wake up.’) and they were now settling in at ‘Trapper’s Tavern.’

  The ‘Gakona Lodge and Trading Post’ was a little hamlet of quaint, log cabin style buildings that were situated in the middle of the Alaskan wilderness and surrounded by breathtaking snow-capped mountains. The setting was picturesque, but there was something a little frightening about it too. It felt wild, forsaken and even a little ominous—or so it seemed to Nadia, who was accustomed to the bustling city of Manhattan. But the tavern was warm, lively and surprisingly busy. It looked as if they were just finishing up their dinner rush hour. They had to raise their voices when they spoke to be heard above the din.

  The waitress came over to take their drink order and lingered a moment, clearly curious about who they were, but too timid to ask. Looking around the room, Nadia saw that other people were sending curious glances their way as well. The strange sense of isolation returned.

  And yet there was nothing intimidating about the people themselves. There was a happy mixture of loud, country folk and military personnel. A group of men at a nearby table were noisily debating which fish were biting this time of year.

  “So what’s next?” Nadia asked when the waitress finally left. “What do we do if Clive’s friend can’t find someone to identify that formula?”

  “In that case we’ll just try to pick up Asmodeous’ trail,” said Will.

  “How are we going to do that?” Nadia wondered.

  “We’ll start with Ethan Blevins,” he replied.

  “But…he’s dead,” said Nadia.

  “Yeah, but sometime before his death, he and Asmodeous crossed paths,” said Gordon. “If we can find out where that was, we might just be able to figure out what Asmodeous was after.”

  “Ethan went to college in Fairbanks,” Will told her. “From there he moved to Fort Greely, but his best friend from the University lives here, in Gakona.”

  “We know they stayed in touch after graduating,” added Clive. “In fact, they went mud racing in Delta Junction pretty regularly.”

  “Mud racing?” echoed Nadia.

  “It’s just like it sounds,” said Gordon. “They drive as fast as they can through thick, wet mud.”

  “Sounds like fun,” she said doubtfully.

  “Yeah, and it sounds like the kind of thing that’s even more fun with alcohol,” added Clive. “There’s a good chance that Ethan opened up to his friend about whatever was bothering him right before his death.”

  “How do you know all this?” asked Nadia. “I mean, about the mud racing and everything.”

  “Facebook,” said Gordon with a little smile.

  “Bringing people together,” said Clive.

  “You know, you might be onto something here,” said Nadia thoughtfully.

  “Do you really think so?” Clive asked with mock excitement.

  Nadia ignored him. “I mean, supposing Ethan Blevins did stumble into something big over at T.D.M.R., it would be impossible to keep it to himself after a day of thrill seeking.”

  “The thing I love most about her is that she’s never more than two or three steps behind us,” Clive reiterated to the others. “Four tops.”

  Nadia sighed. “I suppose you already have the appointment with Ethan’s friend scheduled.”

  “Better make that five steps,” said Clive.

  Gordon smiled. “We thought it would be better to surprise him,” he said. “After all, he doesn’t have to talk to us. He’s more likely to let something slip if we catch him off guard.”

  “Hmmm,” mused Nadia thoughtfully, “and speaking of being caught off guard, does anyone else find it disturbing that Ornias was able to guess our reason for coming here so quickly?” She paused, and when no one said anything she continued—“He seemed so certain that the djinn were behind HAARP’s technology. And I was so sure that the djinn would be against it.”

  “You were sure that Asmodeous would be against it,” corrected Clive. “Like humans, djinn are individuals, each with their own agenda.”

  “But…surely no djinn would risk putting the earth in danger,” argued Nadia.
“Without the earth they have nothing.”

  “Maybe, maybe not,” said Clive. “You think they’re all environmentalists looking to preserve the earth?”

  “Well…aren’t they?” she asked. “Ornias said…”

  “You can’t believe everything he says,” Clive interrupted.

  “But he can’t lie!” she said.

  “He doesn’t have to!” said Clive. “He’s telling us what he believes to be true. But that doesn’t necessarily make it true.”

  “Like everyone else, the djinn have perceptions about themselves and the world around them,” explained Gordon. “They think we’re inferior, for example. And in some ways, I suppose we are. But in others, we’re not. They have strong opinions about things, but that doesn’t make them right.”

  “Exactly,” said Clive. “We’ve heard this shit plenty of times before, about how we need the djinn, and how much better the world would be if they were in charge. It’s the same as Christians thinking they’re going to heaven or the Muslims and their forty virgins. They all believe what they’re saying, but they can’t all be right.”

  “We can learn a lot from the djinn,” said Gordon. “But we have to be able to separate the facts from their opinions. They’re very convincing, but our reality is different from theirs. What’s good for them may not be best for us.”

  “And Armageddon?” prompted Nadia. “Would that be good for us?”

  “That, too, depends on who you ask,” said Clive.

  Nadia sighed. “It’s all so confusing,” she complained. “So are the djinn behind HAARP’s technology or not?”

  “Ornias seemed to think so,” said Gordon.

  “I’m pretty sure Asmodeous wouldn’t agree,” said Nadia.

  “You don’t know that,” said Will. “All we know from Asmodeous is that he was trying to stop something that he perceived as a threat.”

  “But if he thought the djinn were behind this technology—believing, as he did, that the djinn were out to save the earth—what would he have had to worry about?” argued Nadia.

  “We don’t know that Asmodeous was coming here to stop HAARP,” Gordon reminded her. “He may have intended to use HAARP.” He looked at Nadia. “We may be wrong in our assumption that Asmodeous would not approve of this technology.”