It almost looked like she wanted to give him a kiss to make him really feel better. Had to be exhaustion messing with my head. “I destroyed that formula.”
“What! Do you have any idea what this means? I will become a vampire like you.”
Laughter threatened to spill when I sat up on my haunches. Instead, a wide smile graced my face. Relief more than merriment. “We were never vampires. They don’t exist. Only nosophors, which I plan to wipe out every last one.”
“Impossible,” Sabree grunted. “What did you give me? I feel like I’ve fed on a hundred humans.” He stared at me for a moment as realization rushed over him. “The attack…the Malakhim. Why?”
“If only you knew,” I muttered to myself. When Azrian and his friend sat up, I let myself collapse. Assured everyone was safe, a soothing numbness began to wash over me. Couldn’t ask for a better ending to All Hallows’ Eve.
Ariane crawled over to my side and placed a finger on my neck. “I feel a pulse,” she said to the others.
“I’m dead tired not dead, Sis. Just need some rest.” My eyes drifted shut as their excited voices, each one rehashing the events, bounced off the narrow hallway.
“Good to finally put a face to your name, Bellamy,” Jesse said to Azrian’s friend. “He’s my UK contact.” Between my sister’s cursing and Sabree’s complaining in French, Jesse explained how he knew the young man. “He works for the Human Fallen Alliance. The HFA.”
“Nice to meet everyone. Too bad it wasn’t under better circumstances.”
We survived, so maybe he meant the victimized humans. To my knowledge, including the archives, this was the first time the Malakhim attacked the Fallen along with humans. The lower sects always received commands from the archangels. Did Athorsis order this attack, his messages conflicting and vindictive? Could archangels go insane or had desperation played a hand in his decision? Either way, Athorsis would pay dearly.
Still seated on the floor around me, their adrenaline on overdrive, everyone continued to chatter.
“Jesse, do you know what Brian is going to reveal tomorrow morning?” Ariane asked.
Sabree chimed in. “I fear reinforcements might arrive.”
“Not happening, so relax,” I groaned in answer. Sleep, sleep where are ye?
“We’re alive and well,” Jesse said loud enough to drown out the others. “Although due to the unfortunate human casualties, the HFA will advise me how to handle the attack. Leave it as terrorists or try to cover it up, especially the Scottish warrior bit. Special Forces in costume.” He held up his cell, so the others and my one opened eye could see the video of me at sword play, the kilt swinging like a poodle skirt.
Bellamy spoke up next, the only voice I didn’t recognize. “Already got the call. We go in together first thing tomorrow morning.”
“You two really know each other?” Azrian asked. “So, you and I meeting wasn’t a fluke? Was it arranged?”
“No. Purely coincidental,” Bellamy said. “Fate has funny ways of working.”
Azrian snorted displeasure. “Sure, sounds feasible to me. Not.” He stormed upstairs, paused at the top step, and sent me a telepathic sendoff. “Night, Pop. Good luck tomorrow.”
My son meant have fun with the explanation I planned to give Ariane and Sabree. Hopefully, Jesse and his contact could right the wrong or I’d end up the Scottish version of Inigo Montoya. You killed my pop. Prepare to die. My attempt at laughter ended up a grunt as I rolled over to climb to my feet.
“Tomorrow then, folks. Fill me in later, Jesse. And, someone, please ask the head butler to show our guests to their rooms.” I tapped Bellamy on the shoulder and recoiled when he jumped at my touch. “Stay as long as you like, lad.” Just not in my son’s room. Nervous chuckles pounded the inside of my skull. Who was to say I had any voice in the matter, my son an adult. I climbed the stairs like a slug in search of a dark place to slither into and hide. A new record speed for me.
16
Spoiler Alert
S ix in the morning seemed early enough to grab a bite to eat before Ariane and Sabree bombarded me with questions. While going over the first part of my explanation, I walked into the kitchen and skidded to a halt. Autopilot almost took control of my legs, urging me to pull an about-face. Bugger, it was too early.
Two faces greeted me, both bright with curiosity, neither beaten down like the sister and friend I had left behind to face the future annihilation. Sabree healed fast, one Colton tablet performing its magic. I should’ve shoved a few more down my own throat but needed them this afternoon to retrieve the rest of the flash drives.
The couple sat together real chummy-like as if they were already good friends. Their touchy-feely taps and hand brushing launched me into my typical pacing mode. Truth be told, I had no idea what to tell them first or how much at once. Both deserved the truth but broken in wee bits like dog treats, a little at a time so their bellies wouldn’t bloat. In Ariane and Sabree’s case, brain bloat.
Here goes. “Good morning. You two are up early. Couldn’t sleep?” Wrong approach. Right away, each one responded with their own version of a nasty glare. My sister spoke first.
“You know why we’re here,” she said, nudging Sabree’s shoulder. “You promised to tell us what’s going on.”
Last morning after Halloween, we rushed to book a flight home because our supply of anti-vamp pills fell into dishwater. So much had changed. “Aye, a wee bit early, but seeing as we’re alone—”
Sabree poured half a bottle of syrup on his stack of pancakes and then doused it with a spray can of whip cream. He looked up as if to apologize for the noise. Sabree 2.0 rarely asked for forgiveness. One fact did ring true, neither one was much for words this early in the morning.
Ariane poured sugar into her coffee and then squirted the leftover whip cream. “We’re ready now, Brian. Do you want a plate?”
“That’s okay, I’ll eat later.” Churning from nerves, my stomach couldn’t handle a bite until after I explained the situation. Maybe not even then. “Really don’t know where to begin.”
“Start with what are you, because you’re nothing like the creature Cayiel warned me about,” Sabree said, his voice drowning out Ariane. “He claimed you were ghouls. Humans tainted with Fallen DNA.”
“Aye, here it comes. Spoiler alert.” I inhaled deeply, loud enough for both to hear. “Three thousand years ago, Turian, asked you,” I said, tapping the edge of Sabree’s plate, “to protect his unborn twins housed in a protective case. An incubator stone of sorts.”
Sabree pulled away from the table and stood straight, almost knocking over his stool. “Impossible! You could not be privy to that information. Secrets shared between Turian and I.” He inhaled a breath as if to calm himself to reveal the specifics. “Only two others knew about Turian’s offspring.” His teal eyes, rimmed in red, dared me to differ.
My sister kept a keen eye on me, her mouth a thin line. I addressed her alone. “Like Sabree, Turian is one of the Fallen.” Arms folded, patience aplenty, my gaze settled on Sabree. Once the teal began to soften, my response should enlighten his closedmindedness. “Someone else knew your secret. Recall the blue goggles? Well, that was me. The guy who stole the zygotes from you and delivered the package to Duncan. He and Serine raised the twins by artificial means and educated them on the fast-track system she designed.”
“You travel time?” Sabree refused to blink, eyes wide and diverse in colors. Confusion.
“Aye, about that…it’s complicated. Let’s stay on course.” A much-needed breath filled my lungs. That wee bit of reveal had already worn me out. A sideways glance shifted my attention to Ariane, quieter than her norm. Her glassy-eyed stare became unfocused as if wandering off topic. She must’ve thought we were talking about the Fallen’s ancient history, not our own.
Ariane sat straight as if an electric eel zapped her into the here and now. “What’s so important about these twin zygotes…” Her eyes grew saucer-like, her mind sparked by one wor
d—twins. An open book, not yet aware of my ability to read her thoughts, I nodded when she asked, “Us?” Ariane slapped a hand on her chest. “We are the twins?”
The revelation spun her mind like a planet shooting out of orbit. So, no trouble imagining how my sister felt. “Aye, Sis. We are the twins, the infamous zygotes. Turian, not Duncan, is our father. Our mother was human, her name Julia. She lived on an Earth in a different dimension. The Fallen murdered her when they discovered the crime Turian had committed with the help of another. An archangel. Or Lighted One as they call themselves.”
Sabree sputtered, his mouth full of pancakes. “Impossible.”
“Seems to be your word for the day. Let me save you from the trouble of saying it again and again. Not impossible. Everything I’m telling you is the truth.” Ariane’s sigh pulled my attention back to her.
“Maybe you should rest before you have another fit.” She placed a hand on my arm as I reached for a piece of bacon.
I pulled back, her touch, the meaning behind it, ignited like fire. “You sound like an old song no one wants to hear anymore. Over and over again, you repeat the same old tune. I’m not crazy. Never was. There’s an explanation for the fits, nightmares, the insanity. But not today. Let’s get through this first.”
Sabree turned to Ariane. His slight nod and mood bared all. At least to me. Still believing inept ghouls couldn’t read his mind, he didn’t bother to block his thoughts from either of us. Which meant Sabree accepted some of my story. The rest would take time, and then I’d bet a million bucks that he would block me from eavesdropping on him. Right away.
“Brian speaks the truth. Turian was an old friend. But I failed him when a thief…” Sabree stole a glimpse my way. “When Brian snatched the zygotes, I had sworn to protect. The Lighted Ones do not involve themselves with our menial business, never mind mate with the Fallen or humans. Grotesquely forbidden. Impossible.” Sabree leaned back in his stool and folded his arms over his chest. “Sorry, but it’s true. The Lighted Ones burn those on sight never mind on contact.”
Not the time or place to debate Athorsis’s knack to break the rules, or perform the impossible, my gray matter struggled with what to reveal next. Screw Sabree. I’d explain it to Ariane instead. “Whatever you believe to be true, is false. Duncan did not mutate us with Fallen DNA, nor did he create super vampires. No such things. Nosophors are humans infected by the Fallen. They come close to mimicking vampiric behavior, and maybe the legends had originated from their activity.” I paused for breath.
When Ariane opened her mouth to speak, I hushed her. “Wait for it. You and I are anti-Fallen, human, and part archangel who possessed Turian when he made love to Julia. We inherited what I refer to as the A-factor from Athorsis. Special abilities. We inherited the anti-stuff from Turian because the Fallen altered his genetic makeup when they exiled him. You and I are a conglomerate of beings far superior to the Fallen. To Sabree.” I shrugged his way. “Sorry.”
My sister’s eyes glistened with tears she fought to hold back. “We were never human? We aren’t monsters? How do you know this?”
“I’m from the future. Four years.” Both arms folded, my gaze steadfast, I dared Sabree to slap me with a witty comeback. Instead, he sat in stunned silence, muttering to himself in French. When he finally glanced my way, his blue eyes revealed fear. From overuse, at least I had that color committed to memory.
“A time traveler from the future?” Sabree asked.
“Something like that.” Too much crap to explain all at once. My forehead sank into both palms to cool the data overload. “So much to tell you both. Where to begin. It’s too mind-boggling.” I peered at them through a splay of fingers. “Any questions?”
The couple laughed together but for different reasons. Sabree half-believed me because I revealed too many of his past secrets to be making this shit up. However, Ariane’s laughter sounded more like nervous giggles, certain I had lapsed into my version of la-la land.
“None from me,” Sabree said. “I’m neck deep in your quicksand lesson of catching up. I’m done here. From the future indeed.” He misted away before I could squeak out a protest.
I leaned toward Ariane and peeked into her mind. Besides the obvious physical betrayals, bemused smile and fluttering heartbeat, the wistful images of her and Sabree dining together convinced me that she had already fallen for him. Much like my future sister, it seemed a few memories of all thirty-three trials had leak into her recall. “No doubt my explanation overwhelmed him. What about you?”
“He has either heard enough lies for one day, or he’s worried you know too much of the truth.” She slid the bottle of anti-vamp pills to the front. “If what you say is true, then do we really need these?”
Wary glances scanned the room for unwanted mist. Unable to sense Sabree, alone for the moment, I picked up the bottle, opened it, and tossed the contents into my cup of coffee. Then I emptied the cup into the sink of dishwater. Just like before, the pills had taken a soapy bath. Not even two survived this time.
Ariane gasped and then settled in her seat. “I guess the answer is no?”
“Actually, it’s poison to the Fallen, including us. Duncan designed the formula to suppress our natural abilities, worried he might not be able to control us if we became too powerful, too dangerous. He never trusted Serine.” Standing in front of the sink, my eyes fell on the garden. Dead leaves blew across the lawn, reminding me of distant memories that would eventually turn to dust, replaced by new ones experienced from this day on.
I turned to Ariane and gave her my finest twisted smile. “The formula is in the journal, which is why Wayde wants it. His mission in life is to suppress the Fallen. Enslave them. Steal their technology. I already destroyed three drives and have six to go. Today, I plan to retrieve the rest and then hand the whole kit and caboodle to Wayde. Melted beyond repair of course. Any and all copies of the formula will no longer exist.”
“How?” Ariane asked. “Didn’t he hide them all over the place?”
“Aye. I have my ways which I will demonstrate later. I will tell you this though: the Fallen have certain gifts like Sabree’s ability to mist. I can travel into the Malakhim worlds via the portal. My gift is speed, so fast, all I have to do is think of where I want to go, and voila, I’m there. Helps with gathering the drives in one day. I also time travel, but only when necessary.”
“Whoa there. What’s my gift?”
“Gifts, as in more than one, Sis. You can morph into creatures like a hawk or bear.” I refused to tell her about the nastier beasties like spiders and ants. Or that my immortality ranked a thousand times over the Fallen norm and that one deadly thought from my mind could destroy thousands of Malakhim at once. Even millions. “You also have the ability to travel the portal if you wear an amulet. You have black wings like me. You can also recall snippets of my thirty-three resets.” Her gaze, glassier than ever, said it all. Too much revelation for one morning.
I patted her shoulder. When her body twitched as if to recoil from my touch, I raised both hands and backed off. “Look, we’ll rehash later on. The rest of the lab equipment will arrive this week. As soon as we set it up, you can synthesize the Colton tablets. They empower us tenfold. Enhance our gifts.”
When her head tilted in question, I said, “It sucks, but we still need to drink blood while we inhabit physical worlds. The Colton tabs suppress that need. The Malakhim or the Fallen must all replenish with blood while in their corporeal forms. Within the portal universes, celestial bodies like galaxies and quasars energize them. Me too.” I paced to the other end of the kitchen, paced back, and sat beside her. The stool was still warm from supporting Sabree’s backside. My reveal must’ve raised his temperature. “Too much for one day?”
“Give me some credit, Brian. If what you are saying is true, then I prefer this over being monsters who go around drinking blood to survive. Show me the formula and I will make more than we need.”
Amazing woman, my sister. If the
tides were turned, I’d be a basket case. “I’m hoping you can improve the formula. Up its strength.”
“Consider it done. Anything’s better than blood.” She slid a finger through the leftover syrup on her plate. “Why do we crave sugar so much?”
“Aye, besides satisfying our taste buds, it keeps us happy until we have to drink the red stuff. Heaps of sugar in liquor too. The tablets suppress our sweet tooth, but it’s hard to stay away from sugar.” A chuckle along with relief washed over me. Ariane seemed happy with the news for the moment, although she probably shoved the time travel bits to the back of her mind. Still, so much needed to be explained: why I time traveled, Azrian, Sabree and her relationship, how we’re all related, and finally Zoeree’s fate. Pretty sure I left something out. Better review the do-over list.
17
This is Nuts
M editation usually calmed the soul. Sabree hoped to achieve that particular outcome now more than ever. The confession made it mandatory more than fashionable. The truth of Brian’s words numbed his mind, his two hearts. Alone in the dark, Sabree sat cross-legged, his bum atop the cold cement floor. A chill passed through his jeans, deep into his hip bones. He cared less.
Instead of exhilaration and relief, negative vibes of unease, intimidation, and doubt infiltrated his being. Brian and Ariane were the zygotes he lost long ago, his only hope, only link to the Malakhim. Sabree yearned to unite with his brethren. He craved forgiveness. The one dream he shared with Turian, or at least that’s what Sabree believed. His longtime friend had used him. But to what end?
Turian had admitted to mating with a human. Perhaps in another dimension but still taboo. Definitely reason enough for a Lighted One to intervene. And according to Brian, intervene it did. Turian also time traveled. The feat understood as a Lighted One’s ability was no stranger to Sabree. Did this verify that a Lighted One had possessed Turian after all? What did that make the twins? Only one answer came to mind. Dangerously unique beings.
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