by Emma Layne
“Axion, the Feckless, at your service.” And then a figure stepped into the moonlight filtering into her room. He bent over at the waist, as though bowing on a stage and expecting applause. “It’s a pleasure to make your acquaintance.”
The man was tall, although shorter than Blaze and the rest of his brothers. He had the look of a poet or a pirate with his black leather pants, leather boots, and crisp linen shirt which revealed a muscled chest with a sprinkling of black hair.
Axion, if that was his real name, had dark eyes, and hair. Stubble dotted the sculpted lines of his jaw. His mouth was full and sensual. If Molly didn’t have a thing for Blaze, she’d find this figment of her imagination devastatingly handsome.
Molly swallowed. “Am I dreaming?”
“No.” His eyes danced with mischief. “I’m really here. Molly.”
She opened her mouth to scream, but he darted over to the bed in the blink of an eye and pressed a fingertip to her lips.
“Hush now, don’t spoil the game.” Axion sat on the edge of her bed. “Don’t be frightened, I’m not going to hurt you, I only came to visit. Would you like to chat?”
“Yes.” And somehow, Molly lost the desire to call for help.
“You’re wondering why you aren’t afraid, am I right?”
“Yes.” Molly felt strangely calm, even though an otherworldly being was on her bed. Axion hadn’t said so, but Molly doubted he was a native.
“It’s called sway. I suppose some people would consider it mind control, a mild form of it anyway. However, I prefer to think of it as persuasion. I can’t force you to do anything you don’t want to do, but I can coax you.”
Hadn’t Blaze mentioned Mydon’s power? Didn’t he have the ability to bend other people’s wills?
“Ah, you’re thinking of the grumpy one, aren’t you?”
She nodded. “If you mean Mydon.”
“I do. Sway is much more civilized, don’t you think? Why shout when a whisper will do?”
For some ridiculous reason, Molly found herself smiling at him, and she stopped immediately.
His lips curled in devilish amusement. “I imagine you have many questions.”
“How do you know my name? Why are you here? And, er, what are you?”
“I’m a Maelstrome. I assume Blaze has mentioned the Maelstrome in passing?”
“Yes.” The Maelstrome were supposedly fearsome, but she found Axion charming, and a touch annoying.
“And as for your other questions, I’m here to gain information, although I’ve been watching all of you for weeks. I’m something of a voyeur actually.” He winked.
“What kind of information?”
“We’ll get to it in a moment.”
“Do you know Blaze?”
“It’s more accurate to say, I know of him, as well as the rest of the Knights.”
“Oh.”
He studied her face. “You’re very pretty and clever, too. I can see why Blaze is so taken with you. While you aren’t my type, I can appreciate beauty when I see it. You might consider me a connoisseur.”
Axion stood, and then paste a circle around her room. “Nice place you’ve got here and by place I mean planet.” He laid a hand on his chest. “Then again I made it, so what do you expect, other than perfection?”
Evidently modesty wasn’t one of his virtues.
“What are you saying? You’re God?” Molly thought her head might explode. This was far too much to take in.
“Of course not, I’m much more powerful.”
“Come with me, I have something to show you.” He held out his arm, and Molly placed a hand on it.
The next thing she knew, they were hovering in space, drifting. An inky blackness surrounded them, interrupted only by winking stars. The view was breathtaking and disturbing, all at the same time.
“How is this possible?” She exhaled, and a puff of air escaped her lips. “How am I able to breathe? And why am I not freezing?”
Space had even colder temperatures in Alaska. And here she was, drifting in her nightgown, Molly should be frozen solid, like a Popsicle, if she hadn’t suffocated first, from the lack of air.
“You’ll find with me, anything is possible. In other words, don’t try this at home.”
“Like I could.”
“Now where is it?” Axion inspected the area around them.
In the distance, she noticed a bright ball of light, hurtling through space. It was moving so fast, she had to turn her head, to keep the object in view.
“Ah, there it is and still going full steam ahead, I see.” Axion pointed to the ball. “It’s a comet called Nex-88.”
For some reason, he seemed annoyed with it, which was bizarre. Then again, so was everything else about this interlude.
“Beautiful isn’t it?”
“Yes, it is.” She’d never seen a comet up close before.
“But deadly.”
“Did you bring me here to do a little sightseeing?” Molly still wasn’t fully convinced this wasn’t some sort of exhaustion-induced nightmare.
He shrugged. “Perhaps I was bored, and I wanted some company? Or maybe I’m testing you?”
“I don’t understand.”
“You will, soon.”
All of a sudden, they were back in her room once more.
Only now, Molly was lying in bed, and the covers were pulled up to her chin, and she was so exhausted, Molly couldn’t keep her eyes open. They kept drifting shut as though weighted down by some unseen force.
“You don’t want to remember this, do you?”
“Hmm? No.”
Axion kissed her forehead. “Good night, fair Molly, sweet dreams, and thank you for keeping my secret.”
Chapter Twelve
“What’s up with you? You’ve checked the same key four times.”
Molly and Ivy stood at the front desk. They were in the middle of a routine key inventory, matching numbers on the board to make sure none were out of place.
It was tedious, detail-oriented work, and she couldn’t concentrate.
“Oh, yeah, I’m sorry, I’ve been distracted all day.” She’d had trouble focusing in class, too. Molly felt as if she’d been sleepwalking through her day, going through the motions.
“Can I help?”
“No, I have a lot on my mind, but its fine.”
“Like what?”
Telling Ivy, Leslie might’ve been body-snatched sounded unbelievable. Heck, she’d lived through it, and had trouble trusting her own gut instincts. Three days had gone by since her mother returned from the conference and she’d blown Molly off every time she’d tried to get together.
Molly had called several times, but the conversations had never lasted more than a couple of minutes before Leslie found an excuse to get off the phone. Whenever she dropped by, Leslie hurried her out the door on one pretext or another. It’s almost like her mother no longer gave a damn about her.
She’d been racking her brain, trying to find reasonable excuses for the behavior. What if she had a lot of work piling up from the vacation? Or maybe she’d met someone, and the relationship took a lot of her time? Both of those were rational, possible explanations, but neither of them tracked. Her mother would’ve shared both developments with her, and she always scheduled visits with Molly, even when she was extremely busy.
“Is this about Cap?”
“Stop calling him that.”
“Why should I? Nicknames are my thing, get behind it. So, seriously, what’s up with you? Usually, you’re all over this key thing, and I’ve outpaced you two to one.” She had a neat stack of them beside her work station, while Molly’s were strewn across the counter.
“It’s nothing.”
“Nope, I’m sure it’s something.”
“Well, I had the weirdest dream the other day, although I can’t quite remember it.”
When she wasn’t worrying about Leslie, Molly probed her thoughts, searching for answers. Almost as though the memory of the dr
eam pushed at the outer edges of her conscious mind but couldn’t quite break through. Molly didn’t know what to make of it, even though it felt important.
Or maybe I’m stressed out?
Just then, her phone rang, and Zoe’s number flashed on the screen. She hit the green button to take the call.
“Molly, do you have a minute?”
“Sure, what’s going on?” She set the keys aside and walked into the hallway for some privacy. Ivy poked her head around the corner and Molly kept going until she was out of earshot.
“I’m sorry to bother you, but I thought you should know what happened.”
Chills raced down her spine. “What’s wrong?”
“I’m not even sure where to start, but I don’t have a lot of time, so I’ll get right to the point—it’s about Leslie.”
Oh no.
“What happened? Is she okay?”
“Yes, but she’s been acting strange since she got back from Europe. Have you noticed anything off about her behavior?”
“So you’ve seen it too?”
“Yes, she’s been colder, preoccupied.”
Molly sighed. “Yeah, I thought she might be angry with me, but it’s almost like she doesn’t care about anything.” Which is much worse.
“I feel the same way. Anyway, this morning, she up and quit, just like that. Leslie put Bill in charge of the lab, and she’ll be leaving at the end of the week.”
“She did what?!” She couldn’t believe her own ears.
Molly’s jaw nearly dropped to the floor. Her mother loved Black Diamond Labs and she’d built it from the ground up. She wouldn’t leave it under any circumstances.
“So she didn’t discuss the move with you?”
“No, she hasn’t even mentioned it.”
What the crap is going on here?
“Well, I wanted you to know. This move seems like a huge mistake. The legal paperwork hasn’t been drawn up yet, so there’s a chance to stop it. Can you talk her out of this?”
“I’ll give it a shot. Thanks for calling me.”
“No problem. Good luck, Molly, I have a bad feeling you’ll need it.”
Molly hung up, and tucked the phone into her pocket with a limp hand.
And what would Occam’s razor say about this?
Molly was afraid she already knew the answer.
***
“Molly?”
Late in the evening, Molly was in her nightgown sitting in front of the fire in the Great Room, with her slim hands wrapped around a mug. She appeared to be deep in thought, contemplating the flames, oblivious to the world around her.
Blaze had just gotten off work. It was nearly four in the morning and the inn was quiet. The only sound was the crackling flames in front of her.
He’d spent hours in the mine, swinging a pick-ax, knocking the scandium free. Since they didn’t want to attract unnecessary attention, the Knights couldn’t use large equipment. After using some targeted laser blasts under cover of night to get at the scandium, they were forced to liberate it the old-fashioned way, with the aid of an occasional handheld laser, and hand tools. Consequently, the mission would take longer.
And it suits me fine. I’m in no hurry to go.
When Blaze had walked in the room, she’d been unaware of his presence. He could sense her discomfort and wanted to ease it.
She blinked. “I’m sorry, what did you ask?”
“I merely said your name. I’m sorry I missed our date the other night. We haven’t seen much of each other in the past few days, have we?”
“No, we haven’t.” Although, her smile was half-hearted. “I think we’ve both been preoccupied.”
“Is something wrong?”
She laughed with no hint of mirth. “You wouldn’t believe me if I told you.”
“Oh, I don’t know, I’m quite the listener, and I pride myself on keeping an open mind.” Blaze sat down beside her, and the distance between them was unbearable.
Blaze had a craving for physical contact with others, and especially with Molly. He craved her touch, longed for it, but he didn’t want to rush her.
He hated to think she didn’t feel the same way about him, and then silently scolded himself for obsessing. When Blaze had begun this relationship with her, he’d intended it as a diversion, a way to spend his time here on this quiet little planet. Instead, Blaze never stopped thinking about her, and her absence had been palpable.
“It’s my mother.”
Now, he understood her unrest. Family always comes first.
“I trust she isn’t trying to send you off to the insane asylum anymore? Did you two get everything settled?”
“No, we hardly talked at all, actually. She’s been avoiding me since she got home. I’ve tried to see her several times, and she’s brushed it off, almost as if she hadn’t missed me at all.”
“How odd.” Blaze hadn’t grown up with a mother, but from his understanding, a parent made their offspring a priority, even when they were full grown.
“No, actually, that’s funny.” Molly shivered and then wrapped her arms around herself as though she weren’t sitting in front of a roaring fire.
“What do you mean?” He got the sense those words held a special significance.
“I’ve noticed irregularities, for lack of a better term. It’s more instinct, than anything else.”
“A visceral reaction?”
Molly nodded.
“As a soldier, I’ve learned to trust myself.”
Blaze always paid attention to his frame of mind on the battlefield. People often processed environmental cues, and body language on a subconscious level, which presented itself as intuition.
“I’m trying to trust myself, too.”
“And what have you noticed?”
She wrapped her arms around herself. “I don’t think this person’s my mother, as nutty as it sounds.”
“What are you saying, dove?” Blaze didn’t quite follow.
“I mean, someone else is in my mother’s body.” She shook her head. “And I can’t believe this is my life. I’m actually considering a body snatchers scenario. If this had happened a couple of weeks ago, I would’ve said she was having a bad day, or I imagined it.”
“A body…what?” His translation implant helped, but it didn’t cover cultural references, syntax, idioms, and such. He’d picked up a phrase or two over the past few weeks, but it was a struggle.
“It’s this super gross old science fiction movie Amy made me watch one night. Basically, aliens invade the Earth, and replace people, burrowing inside their bodies.” She clutched her chest for effect.
“How?” It sounded revolting, and he was accustomed to gore.
“All I remember is a whole lot of yuck, and something nasty bursting out of chest cavities.” Molly pantomimed an explosion. “I don’t recall much after that because I was in the bathroom getting sick, but I don’t eat Skittles anymore. Even the sight of them makes me heave. It’s the last time Amy got to pick the movie we watch during a marathon.”
Blaze grinned. “And you don’t approve of those kinds of films?”
“I’m more of a paranormal girl. I like my vampires, and witches, maybe even a ghost or two.” She glanced up at him. “So, tell me, are there any aliens who tunnel inside people?”
Blaze thought the question over, taking time to craft a response. He didn’t want to offend or upset her, but he doubted her problem was extraterrestrial in origin.
“I understand you’re distressed, and I don’t want to make light of this, but maybe you’re reaching? Over the past few days, you’ve dealt with an unsettling revelation, so your reaction is understandable. Perhaps your judgment is clouded?”
“No, I’m serious. Something is going on with my mom.”
“Molly…”
“We already established my sanity.”
“I didn’t mean to imply otherwise, but I think you’re overwhelmed. You were very accepting at first, but perhaps it’s caught up
with you.” Blaze knew what it was like to feel out of control. “And I can relate.”
“How could you?”
“We talked about our powers, and how I’ve harmed people with mine?”
“Yes.”
“Well, I killed somebody I loved, and no matter what I do, I’ll never be able to make up for it, to balance the scales, as it were.”
“Who was it?”
“My brother, Favian.” Blaze swallowed the lump in his throat. “And the burden of it weighed me down for years. It still does, actually, even though it was an accident.”
“If you didn’t do it on purpose, then it wasn’t your fault.”
“Yes, it was.” Blaze sucked in a breath. “Before I knew how to control it, I got into an argument with my brother, and when I laid hands on him, his blood began to boil, but I couldn’t stop. It was a terrible, painful way to die.”
Blaze wasn’t even sure why he was telling Molly. It was a shameful secret, something he avoided thinking about and discussing, and yet it felt good to confess, bring it out into the light.
“I’m sorry.”
“As am I. Regardless, you should consider alternate theories to explain your mother’s behavior. The point is, don’t do anything rash, something you might regret.”
She scowled. “Says the man whose part dragon.”
He chuckled. “You have a point.”
“Besides, I’m not going to hurt my mom, I just want to de-alienize her.”
“That isn’t a word.” According to his translator, it was gobbledygook.
“How would you know? English isn’t your first language.”
“You’re awfully saucy this evening.” Blaze enjoyed vexing her for a change.
“I’m so glad you approve. I’ll tell you what, let me present the evidence, and then you can decide. Okay?”
“Proceed.”
“I’m not even sure how to describe it.” Molly launched into an explanation, detailing the unusual interactions she’d had with her parent.
“I’m sorry. Her behavior doesn’t sound normal.”
“Thank you for agreeing with me.”
“But it doesn’t mean she’s been taken over.”
Blaze still wasn’t convinced Molly was on to something, even though he was willing to give her the benefit of the doubt. There were many other logical explanations, which could explain her actions.