“Is he okay?” I asked Marc.
“Right as rain.”
“What happened to Urser and Jed?”
He scratched his head. “I don’t know what to say except it’s all been taken care of. They’ve returned to the Empire… and, well, I wouldn’t want to be them.”
I shivered. “Did they devolve?”
“You could say that.”
“Is Jed okay?” I couldn’t help asking. Part of me will probably always worry about him.
“He’ll live. He’s basically human now, but he’ll live.”
I exhaled. “And, the darklings? I should go and fix them.”
“Love, help arrived. Your work is done.”
That concept was so foreign I couldn’t focus on him for a moment. Then the urge to get to my feet superseded all else. I had to see Cash, to touch him, to make sure he was real. I still saw him falling from the bridge every time my eyes closed. Within seconds I was at his side.
“Is everything okay?” I asked, hesitant to touch him and interrupt Lena’s work.
“I’m fine.” He gave the soldier with the device a scathing look. “Lena’s just being thorough.”
Lena tilted her head my way. “Good to see you are up. Those Mind Frags can be disorientating.”
“Mind Frag?”
The soldier, a thin man with a long face rattled off a scientific explanation, most of which I missed, until he gave me the abridged version. “The silver ball that gave off the light. It’s designed to momentarily wipe the mind of all people who see it. Unless you’re wearing a helmet, of course.”
Marc came up behind me and cleared his throat.
The soldier saw him and widened his eyes. “Sir?”
Sir?
“You are in the presence of the queen. Address her appropriately.”
The solder looked back at me and realization dawned on him. His cheeks flushed beet red. “Apologies Your Majesty, I didn’t recognize you.”
I grimaced at Marc. He was one to talk about appropriate behavior. Jacine said those same words to him all the time.
Lena pulled her hands from Cash. “I think the taint is leaving on its own. Your body is taking care of the healing.”
“Thank you,” Cash mumbled and got to his feet.
“Kitty and Alvin?”
“Treated and back at the bungalow, resting,” Marc replied.
“The baby?”
Lena smiled at me gently. “The baby is fine.” She caught my worried look and then added: “On both accounts, she is fine. Jesop told me about your concerns, so we checked her for an active hex. We found none, but I flushed her system with a cleansing tonic just to be sure.”
I sighed in relief. Instantly Cash gathered me into his arms. I melted against his warm, hard chest as he crushed me in his embrace. He pushed me away momentarily to check me over, then, satisfied, pressed his lips to mine in a deep, passionate kiss that had his emotions slamming into me so fast my mind wiped again.
“Wow,” I said when he finished. “What was that for?”
“I love you. That’s all.”
I blushed. “I feel the same.”
Marc cleared his throat behind us. “Hate to interrupt, but time for you to meet some people.”
He took a look at my tattered vine dress and scooped up the blanket to drape around my shoulders then scrutinized my face. He licked his thumb and wiped my cheek as though he were a mother cleaning a child.
“Stop that.” I swatted him and then hugged the blanket close.
“Sorry, it’s just that—” He paused. “I’ve spoken about you a lot. This new you, I mean. It still might be a shock for some people, so… prepare yourself.”
“Great,” I mumbled under my breath. Cash put his arm around my shoulder. The weight comforted me as Marc led us to the group at the foot of the steps.
Upon seeing me, all soldiers with retracted helmets bent on one knee reverently. The black haired woman did too. Jacine hesitated a moment, then joined them on the grass.
“Please get up,” I said, eyes wide.
The large soldier with the lighter uniform looked up at me through his short lashes, the glint of humor still there. Then his face split into a grin. He stood and helped the black-haired lady next to him up. They were all smiling.
“Have I missed something?” I asked, darting a glance between them all. Even Marc smirked at me.
“You don’t recognize us,” the black-haired woman stated, then squinted as though trying to decipher me. “Take a closer look.”
A test, then? I stepped back and focused on their energy. The man… was familiar. Yes, her too. I knew them, but their auras were powerful. I would remember meeting gods like them. Unless, they weren’t… “I know you, but you’ve changed. You were both Players?”
The man grinned. “If I could turn this uniform inside out, you might recognize me better.”
I gasped. “Lincoln?”
“Yo, sis.” The teenager lingo sounded so foreign from the burly man, but… that cheeky glint in his eye.
Despite looking like he could crush me, I rushed him for a hug. His enormous arms surrounded me and lifted me off the ground. The other soldiers in the group looked at us oddly. This mustn’t be proper protocol for royalty, but, “Dude, check out your guns. You weren’t kidding when you said you had a feeling you should be bigger.”
The woman slanted an amused look at him.
“Oh my God, then this must be”—I looked at her closely—“Wren?”
She nodded demurely.
“You’re both not what I expected.”
Lincoln, or whoever he was now, smiled. “And now that our memories are unlocked, we can see you are not who you used to be as well. There is much we need to discuss.”
“I hope that’s a good thing.”
He didn’t answer the questioning lilt in my voice. “Let me formally introduce myself. I am Barzillai of Ursa Constellation and Commander of the United Peace-Keeping forces. This is Keturah of Cetus Constellation—Keturah, are you alright? What’s happening to her? Keturah?”
“Stop saying her true name you blabbering idiot,” Marc scoffed. “We use pseudonyms here.”
Wren—Keturah had folded forward to brace herself on her knees, breathing deeply through the shudders and tingles riding her nerves. Lincoln—Barzillai, rushed to her aid, but she swatted him away, and placed the back of her palm to her forehead. “That was… interesting.”
“True name?” Barzillai appeared confused then shot Marc an accusing look. “Why didn’t this happen when I said my own name?”
“Only happens when you speak another’s, like in prayer.”
“This is the Seraphim phenomenon you’ve been bragging about? Doesn’t look that great to me—”
“Barzillai,” Marc said smugly.
The enormous soldier grunted, cursed and squeezed his eyes shut, tensely holding onto his decorum as the euphoric sensation rippled through him.
Marc burst out laughing. He whooped loudly and slapped his knee, then punched Jacine lightly on the shoulder as if she’d appreciate his joke. She fought a smile. The three soldiers just looked at us like we’d grown extra heads.
“I think I will call you Lincoln while we are on this earth.” Keturah still retained a blush in her cheeks, and patted her soldier’s arm. “Perhaps refrain from saying my true name while we are here. I can be Wren, one last time.”
“Boring,” Marc said with a wink Jacine’s way. “The true name is half the fun of this planet.”
Lincoln took on a deadly serious scowl and individually pinned each of us with his stare. “Why didn’t I remember this from the Game?”
Marc shrugged. “You were a Player. We don’t share much with Players in case you go running back to your friends when you get home to the Empire. She’s fine, relax.”
I cleared my throat. “I appreciate you coming here, but it’s getting dark. We should probably get home.”
“Good idea,” Barzillai said and made
a sweeping motion up the steps. “After you. We can debrief when we get back. Ursa Constellation is regretful that one of our own has caused this drama. He has no honor and we wish to begin making reparations.”
I balked and looked back the other way. “I meant maybe get to the bungalow, or something.”
Barzillai stared at me. “But… the minute we woke in our natural bodies, we remembered your last message to us. Ket—ahem—Wren and I found each other and petitioned the Council to put together a team in case the gate was reactivated. When Egna—ahem, sorry, I’ll get this right—Marc turned up with the news of your son’s plan we were able to put it all into action. We assumed because you told Marc to come here, it was all over now and you’d return with us.”
Hearing about Jed, a spear of guilt hit me. After everything today, I still felt like I’d lost somehow.
“Where are Jed and Urser now?” Cash asked.
“We’ve taken them into custody and off planet. All of their belongings have been taken into evidence. They will be tried and punished accordingly, although I dare say their devolvement is almost punishment enough. Your Majesty, you are required to give testament. We’ve been instructed to bring everyone back to the Empire and then destroy the gate, thus leaving the humans to their own devices.”
“Great. Just one small detail.” I caught Cash’s eyes to makes sure he felt the same way. He smiled, so I said to Barzillai, “You leave us behind.”
Cash nodded. “I think we’re done with the Empire.”
“For now, anyway,” I added quickly. “I’m no good to Jed like this. I want to help clean up the mess he and Urser left behind. Marc can always come back and take us at a later date. Maybe. Plus…” I sent a slice of sympathy into the earth at my feet and an echo bounced back at me. I hadn’t forgotten my promise to help undo the devastation of mankind. “I have work to do here.”
“So do I,” Cash added. When I gave him a questioning eye, hoping he didn’t mean following me around, but he replied, “Witches.”
“Of course,” I said.
“But…” Marc started then stopped. We all watched him while he contemplated.
“Marc,” I said. “You’re free. You can do what you want now. No more Gamekeeper.”
“That’s the thing, love. I’m not sure I know what I want. I’ve fallen in love with this world and its people. The football, the cricket, tea… the—” he cut himself off and glanced at Jacine. “You’re ready to go to the Empire, aren’t you?”
She fretted. “I-yes, I wanted to go home, but… darling, are you going?”
“Pet, are you going?”
“I asked you first.”
“No, you asked me second.”
“Marc,” I said abruptly. “Don’t stay on my behalf. I’d love you to visit any time, but Jacine can’t travel like you. She either has to stay or go.”
Marc placed his palm on Jacine’s shoulder. “Then it’s settled. We’ll go. You and the hunter stay.”
“I’m not sure if it’s as easy as that,” Barzillai said.
Cash almost growled. “We’re doing you the courtesy of telling you our plans. If you want to go against us, you’ll have to take us by force.”
Barzillai’s mouth tightened and he glared at Cash. “That can be arranged.”
Keturah put a hand on Barzillai’s arm. “Can we not say that the gate was destroyed prior to retrieving all that remained? It will buy us some time, at least.”
“Please Barz—I mean Lincoln?” I whined.
From the way his lips twitched, he tried to suppress a smile. After a moment, he conceded with a short nod. “Fine. The gate was destroyed before we could safely return all Seraphim bodies to port. Those who are left behind will be marked as non-returning souls and we will make provisions without them.” He paused and met my eyes. “It will be sad to lose the chance to get to know this new version of you better. You would have done great things.”
“She has already done great things,” Cash corrected him. “It’s been too long since we’ve been there. Too much has happened. It’s time for a break.”
“You will be missed,” Keturah agreed. “But, I understand. There is much to do here. I can hear the animals calling. I am tempted to stay, too, but”—she caught Barzillai’s eye—“I am now needed elsewhere. Not all of us are blessed with a clean slate.”
Cash and I looked at each other. Clean slate.
Eight Months Later
“He looks nervous.” Cash leaned over to speak in my ear. He nodded at Alvin who stood at the front of the open shed on a makeshift podium surrounded by extravagant sculptures of vines and flowers. On both sides of him, the vines twirled upward to meet up the top in an arch, sprinkling them with falling Star Jasmine, red Kangaroo Paw and other native flora. Having a friend who could commune with nature made for excellent wedding flower arrangements. The warm spring breeze drifted through every so often, ruffling the decorative arrangement bringing the scent of the flowers and freshly cut grass down to the rest of us sitting in pews. With a swell of pride, I eyed the bountiful green vineyard and blue skies beyond the podium.
We were back at the Urser Estate in Margaret River and for the past few months had been busy bringing the vineyard back to life and readying it for this event. Still in my name, the Estate was the perfect place to settle while we all recovered from our Amazon ordeal. With a bit of hard work, some elbow grease, and a little sneaky help from my abilities, we got the grounds and vines flourishing with ripe grapes. We had been back to the States a few times to visit his family, and to help Cash’s hunting business recover from the soldiers he’d lost. Witches were still around, but we were making headway tracking them down. I had high hopes they’d be eradicated completely in a few years and had also been in talks with the United Nations to loosen the strict protocols against women. I’d also taken that opportunity to start work as an environmental ambassador. I know, very grownup of me.
Another grownup thing was that I knew I’d have to deal with Jed eventually. His loss had affected me more than I wanted to admit. Despite his proclamations that there was no saving us, I couldn’t give up on him. One day I’d return. We hadn’t heard a peep from our friends across the Milky Way, and that’s how we liked it. For now, anyway.
Especially on this important day.
Alvin cut a handsome groom in his charcoal suit and slicked black hair. Next to him, a priest in a robe waited patiently with his fingers interlocked in front of him. Next to me, my husband wore something a lot less formal, a white shirt with the collar open. His short blond hair was styled impeccably, and his stubble had been trimmed to perfection. He’d also cut a handsome groom when we got married ourselves a few months ago. Our ceremony hadn’t been as extravagant as this. We’d just wanted to formalize our union as quick as we could and it ended up being us, a few witnesses (a.k.a. Kitty and Alvin) and Cash’s family in the States.
I glanced at Cash and remembered him looking just as nervous as Alvin. Probably why he’d made the comment just now; He’d remembered how it felt to be waiting for the bride. Yes, Alvin looked anxious. Perhaps a little more so than expected. He was head-over-heels in love with Kitty but, after waiting months for their bodies to heal from injuries, and for Kitty to have the baby, they were eager and ready for this new chapter in their lives—as were we all.
“Well, they’ve been through a lot,” I said to Cash and lightly tickled the chubby infant cradled in my arms. “Isn’t that right, little one?” I made a soft cooing sound. “Mommy and Daddy have been through a lot. They deserve the best wedding the world has seen and Aunty Roo and Uncle Cash are going to make sure they never, ever have to deal with bad people again.”
“What happened to your voice?” Cash asked, looking at me oddly but with the ghost of a smile on his face.
“I’m making baby talk. That's how people talk to babies.”
“Why would people talk differently to babies? They don’t understand words yet.”
He was completely serious.
“Here.” I held out the little swaddled package to him.
Out of instinct, he shifted to take the baby, despite the horror widening his eyes. “But what do I do?”
“Just hold him. I want to take another photo for the wall in the Manor.”
“But…” He leaned down and sniffed the baby’s head. “Smells… innocent.”
I grinned. Seeing the big, lethal man holding something so precious with a soft, reverent touch brought a tear to my eye. I took a photograph with my phone.
He gave me a sideways smirk. “That wall is fast running out of room.”
I grinned back. “I have a lot of catching up to do.”
“I meant”—he scrunched his nose in an adorable way to rub against the baby’s nose—“you need to save room for our child.”
My hand fell to my stomach and rubbed the small, hard swell. He was right. We’d need plenty more room if we were going to capture the long, happy future we planned, starting with the little guy growing inside me. When I looked up, Cash was staring at me with glistening eyes full of affection. He shifted the baby to the crook of one arm, and reached out to cover my hand on my stomach with his warm, larger one.
Then the Wedding March came on and everyone turned to face the rear of the heavily decorated and artfully rustic shed. The small crowd hushed and all eyes were locked on the stunning beauty walking down the aisle in a wedding dress that clung to her curves and fanned out at her feet. In the end, we’d decided babysitting duties trumped Maid of Honor, and I was completely okay with that.
A collective sigh whispered across the room. Kitty was breathtaking. Her blue and green hair had been artfully swept in finger waves to the side and tied at the nape of her neck in a bun. Apart from the colored hair, she looked like she stepped straight out of a silver screen movie. She got to where we sat and gave me a red lipped grin, then made a little finger wave to her baby and continued her way to the podium. Alvin helped her up the small step and they turned to face the priest.
I took another photograph with my phone.
Game Over (Game of Gods Book 4) Page 29