by Casey Wyatt
“Perhaps I should arrange for a hearing test,” Edwin said, not joking. “The ship is gone.”
“Mate. She hears you.” Ian placed Jay on the couch. “Are you coming with us? Or are you going to continue protesting like a twat?”
Edwin slammed his hand on the desk and pointed at Ian. “If anything happens to her, it’s on you.”
“That’s why you’re accompanying her. Jonathan and I will meet you there.” Ian smiled before exiting.
Edwin growled. “I feel a hundred years older. I’ll grab some gear.”
After Louis promised to keep an eye on Jay, we headed to the door.
“Wait. We’ll need this.” I took the vid-screen. It remained inert. Like all things Martian, I was sure it would activate when needed.
Or at the worst moment possible.
“WHAT DO YOU THINK THAT square thing does?” Edwin asked, steering the car like a mad person. “I’ve never seen anything like it. First, it’s a Tarot card then, poof, it’s a futuristic object straight from a movie.”
I squeezed the dashboard, uttering a silent curse. The Not-Mother wouldn’t have to kill us if he did it first driving like we were in a grand prix. Maybe flying would have been a better choice.
After a short debate, Edwin and I decided to drive to the site since my aerial abilities drained me. That was a polite way of suggesting I sucked at it. Before Jonathan and Ian departed, I took blood from Jonathan’s wrist to heal my cuts and bruises faster. I put up a token protest, all while keeping my anxiety at bay. What if the ship had been destroyed?
Edwin had remained silent for the drive. Other than the occasional grumble about not being a twat. Which I am sure was directed at the imaginary Ian he was arguing with in his head.
“I’m not sure what it does.” I had ideas but no definitive answer. The vid-screen was tucked into a handbag resting on my lap.
“Whatever is out there, I can feel it,” he said, gripping the wheel harder. “Maybe you’re correct. The ship is still there.”
“Joan . . . The archeologist said the ship’s hull snapped the construction plow like a potato chip.” I had a hard time believing the ship wasn’t shielded in some way. “I think the ship survived and is awake.”
“That’s hardly comforting,” he said.
“It’s sunset. Ghost revenants at night scare me more than a sentient spaceship.” I glanced out the window, scanning overhead.
Jonathan and Ian, somewhere above, scouted ahead of us. If they’d found anything, they hadn’t signaled yet. Before leaving the manor, Edwin had commandeered a pair of walkie-talkies from the groundskeeper’s equipment shed. It was better than nothing.
We also had Louis on reserve, provided we could find a phone. The other guys were dubious about Louis’ abilities, but I’d seen him fight before so I knew he was up for the challenge.
“Edwin, I’ve been thinking. That thing has gone through a lot of trouble to find us. Why did it kidnap me? It could have found and taken the ship without us even knowing about it.”
A chilling idea occurred to me.
“Or maybe it’s only after you. We’ll find out in a moment,” he said.
Edwin stopped the car on the outskirts of the construction site, near a patch of forest. This time we were away from the main road. He popped the trunk. Retrieving a shotgun, he pumped ammunition into the chamber.
When I gave him a skeptical look, he said, “Special revenant ammo. This will disrupt their mist forms.”
“And will that kill them?” I wasn’t sure I wanted them to die. I had enough blood on my hands after the raid on the Martian colony last year.
“Maybe. This is the first time we’ve tried it. I have a scientist on my crew. He specializes in undead weapons.”
I tried not to shudder. The lethality in my brother’s voice reminded me of how dangerous he must be to hold power this long. And ruthless.
“So, you have a Q? You’re a regular underworld James Bond.”
“I like the ring to that,” he said with a grin. “Stay behind me. I mean it—”
A wide energy beam rushed toward us. It cleared a path through the trees laying waste to sturdy trunks and thick undergrowth. Whatever caused it had shitty aim, missing us and the car by a good margin.
Without warning, Edwin grabbed me and transported us directly to the crater’s perimeter, where the twisted remains of the construction trailer stood.
Releasing me, he surveyed the immediate area. “I don’t detect anyone else. Perhaps your husband was mistaken. Maybe she’s elsewhere.”
Doubtful, given my shitty luck.
“Cherry! Are you safe?” Jonathan’s voiced squawked through the walkie-talkie.
Edwin replied with a healthy dose of cheek. “Yes. We’re both fine. Thanks for asking about the two of us.”
“Sarcasm bounces off him. Don’t bother.” I’m sure that was due in large part to me. “What the hell was that? A laser of some kind.”
“Don’t ask me. Unexplained phenomena is not my department.” Edwin, looking grayer around the edges, steadied himself against the trailer.
“Not to worry, sis. Jumping takes it out of me. I’ve done it a bit too much lately. I’ll be right as rain in a moment.”
Knowing the limit of his powers was a small comfort. I hoped we didn’t need to make an emergency exit.
I took the radio from Edwin and signaled Jonathan. “Meet us in the crater. I’m sure you can find us.”
“Uh, Charity?” Edwin pointed to where the tent used to be. “I think we know the source of the energy blast.”
A scorch mark trailed from where we’d parked to inside the crater.
“A defensive weapon,” I speculated. “A warning shot. The ship could have vaporized us, but it didn’t.”
“How considerate.” Edwin eyed the damage. “Or lucky.”
“Come on. Trust me. I know what I’m doing.” I jumped.
“Don’t you want to wait for the others?” Edwin called after me.
“For what? The menfolk to arrive? Get down here. Unless you’re afraid.” I couldn’t resist the jab. He was a big, bad crime lord.
Edwin landed beside me. “Come now. We both know that’s the farthest thing from the truth.”
I retrieved the vid-panel from the bag. If this worked the way I thought, we could be in the ship in no time.
Pressing the cuff to the tablet, I said, “Wake up.”
Nothing happened.
“Are you feeling well?” Edwin asked, scanning the sky. I’m sure what I was doing looked weird. “Incoming.”
“I’m fine.” I glanced upward.
Jonathan and Ian dropped into the crater with us. Great. Now I had a bigger audience to witness my failure.
“Give me a second.” I tapped the cuff. “Come on. You’re embarrassing me.”
The damn thing remained inert, mocking me with its silence.
“Is she always like this?” Ian asked Jonathan.
“Yes,” Jonathan said with a tragic air.
“Shut it, both of you!” I marched toward where the ship had to be. My toe jammed into something hard and solid. “Ha! I know you’re there. I can feel you!”
I splayed my fingers against the invisible hull. “Open up, stubborn bitch!”
Again nothing.
“Maybe try the elvish word for friend,” Edwin suggested. When I flipped him the bird, he smiled and whistled a weirdly familiar tune.
A faint vibration tingled my fingertips. “That song. What is it?”
“Something Nanny used to sing to us. You don’t remember it? We used to call it the ‘Wait Song,’” Edwin answered. “Odd. It just came to me.”
Nanny. My mother’s right hand. How could I have forgotten her? Probably the same way I’d “forgotten” several important incidents in my life. I avoided glaring at Jonathan.
Ian stepped forward. “Whatever it is you need to do, do it fast.”
I nodded. He was right on so many levels. I drew a line in the dirt with my toe. “Don’t c
ross this line. And don’t interfere.”
Did I need to draw a line and demand they back off? No, not really, but I wanted the space to move and think. I didn’t need them hovering over me like worried hens.
“Do you remember the words?” Edwin said.
Since I vaguely remembered, I nodded. “Get me started, why don’t you?”
Edwin’s voice rang clear and smooth, the baritone driving home how grown-up he was. There’s something about a long-forgotten song that wakes up the mind. In my case, it also sank into my soul. Once, we were young and carefree. Innocent of what the future held for us.
Me, the former vampire stripper, now a mother on Mars.
Him, an undead crime lord, future unknown.
He hit the chorus of our made-up song, eyebrows raised, asking silently if I remembered.
I did. I took over, only stumbling once or twice. The song was nonsense, a secret code between us. Logic said it shouldn’t work on a secret door to what might or might not be the Lost Ship. But when had logic ever played a role in my life?
Case in point, the door opened. And so did a whole new world of trouble.
We weren’t alone anymore.
“Well, done, my children. Well done,” said the Not-Mother, clapping like a proud parent.
A normal child would feel pride at a parent’s approval.
Me? I was terrified.
We were screwed.
“YOU ENTERED MY TERRITORY, unannounced. Show your fealty or it’s within my rights to kill you.” Edwin’s pupils turned solid black as he spoke. His revenants appeared, heavily armed behind her.
I carefully tucked my bag behind my back. As soon as I could, I planned to drop it somewhere in the dirt before she saw it. It wasn’t like I could hide it under my jumper.
“I don’t need an invitation. My power trumps yours.” She clapped her hands once, summoning a cadre of followers.
They materialized inside the crater and ran toward the open door. Their sudden appearance meant Edwin’s men couldn’t open fire without risking their own leader.
When Ian moved to block them, she warned. “Do not interfere, Druid Son.”
“Or else, what?” I asked like a dumbass.
She turned her harsh attention to me and twisted her fingers in a complex pattern.
Ian slammed to the ground face first, body plank stiff. Our bond sputtered like a flame in the wind, but rekindled. Pissed-off didn’t begin to cover the vibe I was getting from him.
“Any more impertinent questions?” she asked, looking down on us.
I bit my bottom lip. Why wasn’t Jonathan intervening?
Because he was gone.
Without reacting, I looked down at my feet. She could take it as submission. I didn’t care. From her vantage point, she would be blind to my eyes darting back and forth.
I tugged at the Sire bond and it twanged loud and clear but from a distance.
“Looking for your husband? I sent him on another trip. As old as he is, you’d think he’d be smart enough not to fall for the same trap again. Men and their egos. Am I right?” She smirked.
I was starting to think that beaming away an opponent was a thing between older undead. Perhaps they didn’t believe in going at it mano a mano. Somehow, I doubted that. My guess is that they were equally matched and needed to rely on a first-strike advantage.
“Majesty,” said a minion from the ship’s door. “It is as you expected.”
“Majesty, eh? What does the Bible say about idolatry?” I said.
Her hand circled my throat. My feet lifted off the ground. I hadn’t seen her move let alone jump into the hole.
“Be careful, little bird. Your usefulness is what keeps you alive.”
I used the time to ponder her comment. The ship had been opened. But what if that wasn’t what she was after?
I peered toward Edwin, catching his gaze. The creature had turned its back on him, confident that he wasn’t a threat.
Edwin’s eyes widened. He tensed, ready to jump her from behind. I willed him to stop, certain the creature dangling me by my neck could break him in two.
Not willing to risk it, I did what I did best. Be defiant. “What if I don’t feel like helping you out?”
She laughed like I’d told the world’s funniest joke. “I don’t care about your feelings. I don’t even need you to cooperate. You’re already doing what I want.”
“And what’s that?” I tried to disguise my confusion. And the growing terror over the answer she was about to give me. What if, by traveling the time stream, I’d ruined the future?
“I’ll never tell,” she said with a smug smile.
Edwin leaped forward without a sound, hands forward. Claws tipping his fingers. He never reached her. An unseen force mashed him against the ship. His head smacked the side with a sickening crunch.
I wanted to puke. Her display of power was off the chain. Unlike anything I’d seen before. I wondered if Queen V could beat her. “What are you?”
“Your God.” She slammed me into the ground, sinking my back several inches into the dirt.
The bag jabbed into my spine. If the tablet was as sturdy as the ship, it would be safe. I wished I could say the same for my body.
The bones of my hand, arm, and wrist were broken in several places. Even as I healed, hunger rose in my belly.
“Now be good children and stay still while Mommy works,” she said.
Mist rose around us, blanketing us with warmth and a deceptive desire to sleep. Edwin remained motionless. He’d better be alive.
The need to close my eyes overpowered me. I fought it, but I was too injured and she was too strong.
My eyelids fluttered as she peered down at me. “You’re so concerned about the future. Yet you have so much to lose right in front of you.”
Not what I wanted to hear as I was about to lose consciousness.
A moment later, somebody was shaking me by the shoulders with enough urgency to clatter my teeth.
“Cherry? Wake up!” Ian said somewhere in the distance. “She needs blood. Where the bloody fuck is Jonathan?” Someone mumbled a response in the background. “Fine. I’ll do it.”
The heady aroma of the best blood I’d ever tasted pulled me from my malaise. I clutched Ian’s wrist and drank for what felt like an hour but only lasted a short few minutes. Not wanting to let go, I bit deeper.
“Easy there.” He gripped my jaw and released my fangs. It didn’t hurt so much as sting my pride that I’d lost control so fast.
Opening my eyes, I sat upright and withdrew my hands from his wrist. “Thank you. And I’m sorry about that.”
“Well. I am irresistible.” He offered me a hand up. “Come. We have work to do.”
“Where’s Edwin?” Ian and I were alone in the crater. I pressed a hand to my stomach. Worry threatened to upheave the blood I’d consumed.
“He’s gone. And all his men.” Ian’s apologetic tone heightened my anxiety. “Hey. We’re not leaving him with that beast. You need to pull it together. This is a war now.”
Ian motioned to the Rogues patrolling the area. They shot into the air, the sky swallowing them from view.
“Right. And I need to be a soldier.” Again.
I hated fighting. But I hated the thought of never seeing my brother again even more. Or my daughter and Family on Mars.
Remembering that I’d landed squarely on my handbag, I searched for the vid-screen. It appeared undamaged. I wished I could say the same about the construction site.
“Did the hole get bigger? And where is the ship?”
I stretched my hands forward feeling for the hull, hoping it had cloaked itself. When the only thing I felt was dead air, my heart sank to my toes.
“About that.” Ian circled his arms around my waist, then launched us into the sky. After a minute, he instructed, “Look down.”
“There’s no way . . .” The denial died on my lips.
Wind buffeted my face and clothes. My cheeks grew damp
as I tried unsuccessfully to bite back tears. The aerial view as we traveled higher confirmed it. The crater had grown to the size of a football field. Mighty trees had been uprooted like weeds, leaving dirt and roots behind.
“I’m sorry,” he said, hugging me against him more snugly.
“She’s taken my hope.” My only hope to find a cure. Despair opened a giant pit, beckoning me to join it.
“No, she hasn’t. And do not give it to her. You’re the most stubborn female I’ve ever met. Use that to your advantage.”
“Geez. Don’t hold back with the praise.” I might have sounded ungrateful, but Ian’s words comforted me. He was right. I wasn’t a quitter. That thing was toast. I just needed to figure out how to do it. “Any news on Jonathan?”
“He hasn’t reappeared.” Ian steered us toward the manor. It appeared on the horizon, a tiny smile-shaped curve on a green field.
“This teleportation thing is getting really old,” I grumbled. “How is it that no one has ever heard of revenants doing that before?”
“Because they can’t do it. I’ve lived a long time and seen many unexplainable things, but that isn’t one of them.” Ian landed us in the topiary garden, far enough away to enter the house unobserved.
Not that I expected to encounter anyone. Sunrise wasn’t for another few hours.
“So maybe she has some technology or an artifact that enables her to do it,” I said.
Because otherwise, that meant she had more power than any of us. At least an object could be stolen. I refused to believe that she had actual godlike powers, despite the display. And the ass-kicking we’d received.
“Bigger question.” He opened the door for me. “What does she want with the ship?”
“And where is she hiding it?” Along with my brother. “How could that thing have been disguised as our mother for so long?”
“A cuckoo in the nest,” Ian said. “And you didn’t notice anything strange?”
“No. Our mother was always very strict and kept us at a distance.” I sifted through my memories of that day in the attic.
Immediately after, I had run outside and hidden in the bushes, terrified that my Aunt would lock me away again.
Unless . . .
Sometimes, I was a first-class idiot. The first time the Not-Mother captured me, she’d asked me where I’d gone to.