Jack of Hart- Wild Card

by Violeta Bagia

  Alex looked like he wanted to kill me. That seemed to be the general consensus from what I’d gathered.

  Had I done something wrong with the gun and the bullets? Had I mistakenly used the wrong rounds? I remember giving the order, I remember following through, but I don’t remember loading those bullets…

  My stomach dropped.

  ‘Are you saying someone tampered with the rounds?’

  ‘Yes.’ I spat, when I was able to speak again. ‘I would never load those rounds. Ever.’

  ‘It’s irrelevant now, isn’t it?’ Josh interjected.

  ‘The hell it is.’ I shot back. ‘Someone set me up, someone wanted me to hurt her, or kill her.’

  ‘You gave the order to use live rounds!’ Alex shot. ‘I heard the directive through our channels, you did that.’

  ‘Yes.’ I muttered, ‘But I didn’t load those.’

  When Josh opened his mouth to speak again, I shook my head. ‘I didn’t load those rounds.’

  ‘Well fuck,’ Alex got up, Matt close behind, ‘I guess the Agency is full of surprises, someone’s setting up the golden boy.’

  My face heated up.

  ‘I didn’t set out to kill her, you have to believe me.’

  Elena turned her attention to the wall just outside the office; rows upon rows of gold stars were etched into the white marble and down at the very bottom, a fresh star was cut.

  My eyes traveled back to hers.

  ‘I swear to you, Elena. I did not load those rounds.’

  ‘Someone did.’

  ‘Someone set me up.’

  Silence fell over us.

  ‘I want to be here; I want to find whoever did this. I owe her that, I owe Illarion.’

  Anna squeezed my hand under the table.

  ‘The funeral will be on Tuesday.’ Elena said softly. ‘If you’ll excuse us, we have some preparations to make.’

  Tuesday. Three days to definitively lay to rest one of my closest friends, one of the best agents I’d ever worked with. Three days and that was it. An end of an era, of a woman who had so much left to give, who’d already sacrificed so much.

  The sensation of surrealism plunged my entire universe into a constant state of slow motion. Everything I thought, everything I did, somehow felt so slow, so painfully extended. I looked across the papers on the table in front of us.

  There were photos of Ace and Illarion, photos on their trips, official agency shots. In all of them she was smiling. Her bright green eyes shone through each picture, her vibrant smile radiating and warming everyone who’d seen it.

  Pain sliced through my insides as the last time I’d seen her alive broke me in two. Her eyes were dark, lost in the horror of what was happening to her.

  What had I done?

  Anna stood first and then she squeezed my shoulder. ‘Come on, we should go, let them finish their preparations.’

  I nodded, swallowing the bile in my throat.

  ‘Come on.’ Anna whispered again, nodding a wordless goodbye to the others.

  As we left, I heard Elena break down. As her shattered sob echoed through the hallway my resolve died down too.

  Anna quickly led me away.

  Chapter Forty-Two

  Ace

  Ipressed my palm flat to the soft white sheets and climbed under the covers. I let out a long breath and closed my eyes with a content sigh.

  After what was more than seventy-two hours, real world time, I felt that it was probably a good time to rest. Troy stood at the door, leaning lazily against the frame like he always did, especially when he was waiting for me to invite him in or tell him to go home.

  He grinned. Right, he had superpowers now, he could hear me. I rolled my eyes and scooted over on the bed.

  ‘Thought you’d never ask.’ He said lying next to me over the covers.

  ‘I didn’t.’ I replied.

  For a moment, we lay side by side, in the world’s surrealist sleepover. A dead Divine Sensitive and her ex-boyfriend who was a normal guy but was now super powered—it was a literal second chance.

  I laughed out loud at the absurdity.

  ‘We make a pretty good team, don’t you think?’ He chuckled.

  ‘The best.’ I rolled my eyes again.

  He pulled the covers higher and tucked the top over me under my chin and over my ear. ‘There, nice and snug like a little burrito.’

  I groaned. ‘God, what I wouldn’t do for a burrito.’

  ‘You can have whatever you want here.’

  ‘It’s not the same.’ I said sadly. ‘But thank you.’

  I closed my eyes and felt his hand fall over my waist.

  ‘Sleep,’ he whispered. ‘I’ll keep the monsters away.’

  A smile crept across my face.

  For now, we were safe, I knew Aaryon was never too far, whether he was a plane or a thousand away. He was always there, somehow looking out for us through the silent expanse surrounding our worlds.

  Solaris still hadn’t made an appearance and he was sure it was because she was still trying to reign Dalca in and find some way for Troy and me to break through to the Source. Or maybe she was trying to clean up the mess she was responsible for.

  The proverbial banging against the fabric of our time and realm was consistent, he was relentless, we wouldn’t have much time.

  This whole plane thing was still so strange to me. I was at home in mine and Illarion’s bed in our mansion, but there was no one around and there never would be, because technically this time and this place didn’t really exist. Maybe that’s what ghosts were? Maybe they broke through the wall and made their presence known. Maybe I was nothing more than a ghost.

  I allowed my mind to wander to Illarion.

  It had been three days. What was he doing? Where was he? Was he alright? Had he and Aurel spoken?

  I couldn’t get through to him. Aaryon said it would take time to learn how to do that, to visit. But I thought I’d be able to feel something, even an inkling of our connection.

  But there was nothing at all.

  ‘I think it only works when you sleep.’ Troy said softly, startling me.

  God that was creepy. I felt him laugh beside me.

  ‘Think about them and when you fall asleep, you’ll see them.’

  ‘Is that how you came to me?’ I opened my eyes and found his. All those times I’d dreamt about him, the dreams felt so real.

  ‘Yeah.’ He swept his hand over my cheek. ‘Focus, but relax, it takes some time to perfect, but you’ll get it.’

  ‘Okay.’ I closed my eyes again.

  I needed to see them, I needed to feel grounded to my plane, to my time. This had to work.

  As I let my walls down and felt sleep come over me, there was the faintest touch of a hand on my cheek and a soft whisper.

  ‘Focus….’

  There I let the Darkness come and with it, I focused on Aurel.

  ***

  Aurel

  I walked through the garden. I had no idea why I was here. This was Illarion’s property, I hadn’t set foot in here for months.

  I walked around, looking for any sign as to why I was here. Dreams to Sensitives weren’t just the mind’s way to flush the daily junk stored in there, they were meaningful, sometimes even created by other Sensitives. And every turn here was a trip down memory lane, one I wasn’t particularly keen on taking. My heart dropped as I saw the flowers lining the tall vertical garden. Ace loved it here, she was so peaceful when she looked up at the starry night lost in a trance under the tall cherry blossom. Nothing about this made any sense to me, why was I here?

  A shift of energy disturbed the air. I turned in my spot and a breath caught on my lips as I came face to face with her.

  Tears filled my eyes in an instant. She stood a few feet away, she looked different to how I’d last seen her. The clothes she was in when I saw her last were replaced by a sheer black sweater over a white shirt and dark jeans. She was striking, she was how I remembered her before she le
ft, her vibrant green eyes were alive, and her full lips were rosy and full of life.

  God I’d missed her.

  ‘I didn’t think this would work.’ She said, breaking me from my thoughts.

  ‘What?’

  ‘Visiting you like this.’

  My mind backtracked.

  ‘It is real, I’m in your dream, well actually it’s a dream I kind of forced you into.’

  ‘I don’t understand…’

  ‘I’m here,’ she began and then she stepped closer. ‘I wanted to see you, to make sure you’re all okay.’

  ‘How is this possible?’

  ‘I’m still alive, in another plane…’ She stepped back turning to admire the flowers on the wall. ‘I can’t stay long; I don’t have much control over when I can come and go.’

  ‘You’re really still out there?’

  She nodded, keeping her gaze on the stars above. I shook my head, the whole scene had changed. It wasn’t bright and sunny anymore, the day had turned into night.

  ‘Where’s Illarion?’ She asked, turning back to me. ‘I’ve tried to reach out to him.’

  When I didn’t answer, she briskly stepped forward, a gust of wind followed her, trapping us in a surreal twister of air which seemed to originate from within her. The petals on the ground flew up and got caught in the twisting mass around us.

  ‘Where is he, Aurel?’

  ‘He shut off.’

  Her eyes darkened and she stepped back, dropping the leaves and petals like they weren’t just getting controlled by her.

  ‘Where did he go?’

  ‘I don’t know.’ I shook my head. ‘He was so angry, Ace he just switched off, no one could stop him.’

  ‘Oh God.’ She whispered, bringing her eyes back to mine. ‘He’s going to the tomb.’

  ‘What tomb?’

  ‘There’s a place that mortals and Sensitives can reach a level of consciousness that allows them to cross planes.’

  I shook my head. No, that wasn’t possible. ‘They’re just rumors.’

  ‘I would have thought by now that you’d have a little more faith in what was possible…’

  My mouth immediately snapped shut. ‘I’m sorry.’

  ‘I don’t want your apology, Aurel. I want your help.’

  I walked over to where she was standing, I still couldn’t believe I was looking at her.

  ‘Tell me, do you know what it is to be defeated, it’s more than being angry or sad, it’s helplessness, it’s giving up.’

  My eyes welled and I looked away.

  ‘Tell me what to do.’ I took both her hands in mine and held her. ‘I’ll do anything.’

  ‘Stall the funeral, and find Illarion, stop him.’

  ‘I don’t know where he is, Ace. He took off days ago.’

  ‘I don’t know where this place is either, but you’ll have to look for him, I can’t do it here.’

  ‘What about the funeral?’

  ‘Tell whoever you can, I can come back but only if my body is preserved. Understand?’

  ‘How do I find him?’ I asked desperately.

  The light from the rising sun started to break down the night and as I looked back to Ace, she started to fade out.

  The garden was dissolving, the trees and the vines holding up the roses began to rot, the mansion in the background began to break away and she looked at me before it all disappeared.

  ‘Go where the desert is vast, that’s all I know.’

  I shot up. Sweat beaded on my forehead as Anna ran her cool hand against my cheek.

  ‘You were having a nightmare. You were burning up.’

  I shuddered, letting out a broken breath. ‘No, An, it wasn’t a nightmare.’

  ‘What are you talking about?’ She asked quietly. ‘Are you okay?’

  ‘I need to stop the funeral.’ I pushed her hand away and got up, tripping over the sheets in the bed, barely breaking my fall.

  She quickly grabbed my arm, stabilizing me on my feet.

  ‘Aurel.’ She said firmly, planting her hands on my biceps. ‘You’re not making sense. Slow down and tell me what’s going on.’

  I grinned like an idiot and pressed a firm kiss to her lips and pulled my arms free. I needed to get some clothes on, I had to tell Elena, I needed Josh’s help, I had to—

  ‘Aurel.’ Anna said firmly. ‘What is going on?’

  ‘Ace.’ I said, pulling on a fresh t-shirt. ‘Ace is alive, well she’s not, I mean her body is at the morgue by her soul is out there. She came to me in a dream, we were in the garden, you know the one she loved?’

  Anna’s face dropped. ‘Oh sweetheart…’

  ‘I’m not breaking.’ I said, stopping her mid thought. ‘We were standing under the huge cherry-blossom. She told me she needs me to bring Illarion back.’

  Anna moved toward me, a sympathetic smile on her face.

  I stepped back and pulled on a pair of jeans.

  ‘You’re hurting, it’s completely understandable, you’d be reaching out, wanting to see her to hear that somehow she’s okay, and Illarion…’ She ran a tired hand over her hair. ‘You want to make things right with him.’

  As I stopped to look in the mirror, a small, almost miraculous petal caught my attention. I plucked it out and turned to Anna.

  She stopped talking and immediately ran to the bedside table and snatched up her phone.

  ‘Go.’ She ordered. ‘I’ll start making calls. Find Illarion.’

  Chapter Forty-Three

  Illarion

  Asubtle breeze rushed past me as I pushed the door open. The large, heavyset concrete door gave with little effort and the sand surrounding the doors rushed in after me.

  There were two tombs, both of which I knew were empty because they were supposedly Aaryon and Solaris’. I slung my bag over my shoulder and moved toward the one closest to me. It was carved with a crescent moon, several smaller circles around it, representing one for each of the thirteen agencies around the world.

  This was almost as surreal as all the things that had happened with Ace. These tombs, this place in itself was just a rumor. I’d seen it written about dozens of times among writings and books scribed thousands of years ago.

  I opened the small book Ace had kept around the house, a token Faith had given her. Laced within the pages of the seemingly mundane literature about auras, there was a passage about visiting other planes. It spoke about a dream like state which one could enter if they cracked the code—the code was a genome sequence. That, coupled with some sort of liquid I’d have to drink, I stood a chance, if I had the right connection, and I had no idea what that meant.

  I found myself scouring dozens upon dozens of books on medicine and genetic coding. Each on more complex than the last, but I’d be damned it that outsmarted me. I scored higher than most agents in the world in IQ testing, scored in the highest percentile of logic and reasoning. I could do this. I had to.

  Laying the book flat, I opened a small note pad and laid it flat and compared the two sequences. One was Ace’s DNA and the other, Aaryon’s. They were nearly identical save for one, key difference. Ace’s female gene changed the structure. Other than that, the sequencing was the same. They carried the same level of every gene. How was that possible?

  Ace was human, she was a Divine Sensitive, but ultimately, she was just like them, she was a god.

  Silently I moved across to Solaris’ tomb. The Etching of the sun was just above her genetic code. I paused, taking a moment to look at both. There was no way that what I was seeing was real. There was no way.

  I shook my head and ran my fingers across the page, tracing Ace’s DNA and glanced at the code for Solaris.

  They were completely alike. Again, I shook my head. This wasn’t possible. If I had to make a blind guess, I’d say I was looking at triplets, three Beings born of the same DNA.

  Taking the book, I quickly scanned through the pages again.

  ‘Auras of Celestial Beings.’ I spoke aloud, looking for
the page. I knew I’d seen it there before. There had to be something.

  As it came into view, I pressed my palm flat to it. Black. They were black. Auras of Celestial Beings had been rumored to be black. It couldn’t be a coincidence.

  I scanned the book for the Divine Sensitive again. Ace’s had been black, I knew that when Aurel told me, I’d seen it through her eyes one time when her power slipped and brought me in.

  My breath caught as a passage I hadn’t read before, drew my attention. It spoke about the aura of Divine Sensitives. The black aura was rare, almost unheard of because it was something that only one other shared. She was rumored to have been born on earth to a non-Sensitive mother and father, who was gifted with genetics of the Divine. In time, her powers naturally developed and in the height of a violent and traumatic event, she surpassed and transcended the human plane and found her place beside Aaryon. No one has ever been able to transcend the way they can, no one until Ace.

  Suddenly, images of the trauma she went through started to fall into place, piece by piece. No. No he couldn’t have known. I pushed that aside, I couldn’t let my mind go there. She would never have wanted me to think of that, of those days when I thought of her.

  I squeezed my eyes shut. Although I’d shut off, the emotion and the pain linking me to her was real and far too intense to be blocked away completely. In that moment, I knew. There would never be a single thing which would alleviate this pain. Nothing I ever tried would blank that part of my life out.

  A heavy breath settled, and I leaned back against the wall between the two tombs.

  Ace was the balance. After all of the hell she’d been through, she was the one who was meant to contain the Source.

  That’s what she was born for. To balance Aaryon and Solaris. To stand between them—to absorb the power of the other Divine and stand among the Celestial Beings as one of them.

  Dalca had wanted that place, but he wasn’t coded that way, only she was but it didn’t matter now, she was dead, and all of this was for nothing. To hell with their scriptures and prophecies. It was all horse shit.

  I grit my teeth and brought the book closer to me. That was the key, it had to be. The code was right here in black and white, all I had to do was link them and when I did, I’d be able to break through this wall and I would be able to cross into their world.