“She does, but what I found out through research is the Sword in the Stone they kept mentioning in their communications, is at the museum now. It’s part of the Arthurian collection, but it’s not from that time period. It’s from before then, almost a 1000 years before. If I am right, they want it pulled to use it in the war. It might have the same abilities as the Atlantean Battle weapons.” Kane says looking at us with uncertainty.
“Shit, if they have something like that, and they activate it that could cause a mass slaughter of millions and not just supernatural’s either.” I say looking between the guys with worry.
“They want to start a war with both humans and supernatural’s. Shit! We can’t let them get their hands on any of those weapons.” Helix says. He has this look of planning on his face, something I use to see on Octavian’s when he was doing strategies to win battles.
“We won’t be. Here take this.” Kane hands me a small piece of stone.
“What am I to do with this?” I ask looking at it confused.
“When you go to the museum, go into the Arthurian exhibit. Place this on the stone with the sword in it, pretend like you are going to pull the sword. When you do step on it, it will activate the pressure censor to implant a continuous loop into their security feed showing you pulling the sword and it no longer there. When in fact it will stay in the stone until you leave with your weapons, then pull it and bring it back.” Kane says looking at me with a smile that he only gets when it’s like a “Mission Impossible” scenario. Kya walks in looking like she took a bloodbath.
“What the hell happened to you?” I ask giving her a “do I want to know” look.
“I had a large rat to kill. The extermination process got a little messy, what can I say I enjoy my work.” She says walking into a bathroom off Kane’s office to get cleaned up. It doesn’t take long, and she is walking Helix and I out with Kane.
“Thank you Kane and Kya for the help. How far is the museum from here and how am I getting there?” I ask looking to Kane and Kya.
“Subway, the station is about a block away, the underground travel system will take you right to the front doors. The station access is just across the street from the museum.” Kya says.
“Tara and Tanner will be tail you. We don’t want to cause any unwanted attention. I think your grandfather should be all the backup you need.” Charlotte says as she walks up to us and nods at Helix.
“Huh?” is all I manage to get out.
“You were right Ianna. I am Octavian, and your mother was my daughter in our first life. She and my wife were taken prisoner during an attack while I was away in battle. I had been looking for her for so long. When I found your mom, she had been injured in a raid from another tribe that resulted in her death, but she told me who took you and where they were headed. So when I found out Hyda had taken you as one of her workers, I spoke to her and she agreed to help me right away, making sure you were trained and educated. I just wish I had of done a better job of keeping you both safe.” Helix says with a look of great loss. I give him a hug because he’s the family I have always had without knowing.
“It’s all good, it would have happened one way or another. The gods had something planned for me and obviously they still do.” I say pulling away and grabbing his hand. “Now let’s get going, I want my weapons back!” I say and everyone laughs at me.
“Ianna, your Uncle Stephan summited a request for your resignation. He has been talking to an Elder Vampire lord to marry you off to his nephew. That’s what the meeting was supposed to be about last night, it will have changed in light of the new information we have against him, Franny and Leader Maxum though.” Helix says as we get to the stairway entrance to the underground travel walkways. I stay quiet just so Kya and Kane don’t try to kill anyone over at the Hilton.
I notice earlier that the demon’s Watcher is still here, but they’re nowhere in sight. He nods when we walked by and I respond with a nod. Kya, Charlotte, and Kane take their leave when Helix and I walk down the stairs into the underground travel walkways to the subway access. Until yesterday I didn’t realize that the underground walkway was even here, they will be very handy. Once we get to the subway and got our fare paid, we have to wait for about two minutes for the train to arrive. I haven't seen a sign of Tara or Tanner, but they will track us from a distance and be there if we need extra hands in a fight. During our wait I have found one of the missing demons, he’s trying to blend in, but his unmistakable red eyes give him away.
“Helix, eight o’clock demon from CB lobby. He has been watching us. I haven’t seen his two friends yet.” I say low enough just for Helix to hear, as I pretend to become a restless teenager being told to behave.
“The purple eyed demon’s sitting in the coffee shop on the other platform, and he keeps glancing over. The one with black eyes is behind us at the restroom entrance. I was looking for the last one, but you have eyes on him, so we are covered.” Helix says just as the announcer comes on to tell us of our train’s arrival to the platform. As the train comes to a stop, Helix places his hand on the small of my back to guide me. We both have a place marked to keep us equally safe. As we take our seats I see the demon with black eyes sit near the door we walked in and the red eyed demon takes the other door on the far end. It’s the purple eyed demon that is crazy, as he walks right up and sits across from me, causing Helix to hiss at him.
“Oh wow, a vampire. Now that is a new one, especially for Leader Maxum. Tell me does your Leader know you two are out traveling without permission?” The demon asks smirking.
“He isn’t my leader and because of his fuckup his coven will be handed over to Marcus and Matthias as his Watcher. But you already knew that, since your after Franny aren’t you?” I say bitch slapping the smirk off his face.
“Whoever the leader is makes no difference to me, but yes I am looking to take my betrothed home now that she is of age. She is in some trouble for not showing to our arranged meeting, she knows better. Though the timing was perfect to be able to collect her, but I am more interested what the fuck up is that caused the change in leadership to his son? Please do tell!” The demon asks.
“How about the ‘sale of a Watcher’ as a wife before Council sanction, the planning and setup of a kidnap and rape on a Watcher. And last but not least, breaking the arranged marriage of his mistress to one King Roglan of Milthgar Kingdom, better known as Detroit. I am surprised our own Demon King let you come to collect instead of bringing her to you.” I say and King Roglan is smiling at me again.
“You are quite observant little Watcher, but I do have to ask, why get Leader Maxum taken out of power? Surely having an ally in that position is better than an enemy out of it.” Roglan asks, he’s fishing for something.
“Let’s just say, I am going to have quite a few enemies in the very near future. So I am going to secure my list of people I need to kill, tick them off one at a time and not worry about questioning it. Now my question for you, do I need to include you on that list? Since your bitchy little fiancé is on it.” I say leaning forward and showing I have no fear of the demon.
“No you don’t need to put me on it, if my troublesome fiancé is a casualty of war then oh well. It’s not like I don’t know she is pregnant already with Maxum’s child. So you would be doing me a favor.” He says which causes Helix to shift in his seat. That last little piece was news to both of us.
“Next stop is the National World History Museum. Exit is on the left platform.” The announcer says causing Roglan to look up and then back to me with his head tilted.
“You will want to speak to Ika, she will be the one to take you to Dr. Thaddeus. Although I don’t think you are going to be happy about meeting him at the moment, but I am sure it will be better than what his grandson wants from you.” Roglan says causing me to smile.
“I already figure out who Dr. Soren Thaddeus is, and he betrayed me once by having his men kill Hyda. It won’t happen again; he’s top of my kill list don’t you
worry too much.” I say causing the demon King to laugh. Helix and I walk out the door of the train car when it opens, and I turn and watch as the door closes, and the demon King nods when it pulls away.
“What do you think he meant about that?” Helix asks.
“Do you remember who Theron’s father was in our first life?” I ask while watching the train disappears.
“I do, it was General Thaddeus. I believe I put a knife to his throat when he was beating you to prove that he was stronger than me.” Helix says as we start to climb the stair out of the subway station.
“That’s right, so who do you think Dr. Thaddeus is?” I ask giving Helix a knowing look.
“Fuck! This can’t be good. Do you know what it is that he wants? Or have an idea?” Helix asks looking more worried now.
“Somewhat, but I am sure he will tell us when we get there.” I say. We walk through the station and up the stairs to street level. Kya was right this put us across the street right in front of the Museum. Walking into the main entrance I see lots of people and security, which seems to lighten a bit when Helix and I start to walk up to the admissions counter.
“Good afternoon, two adult admissions or one adult one student? If you’re a student we will need to see your student card.” The young man says in a cheery voice.
“Actually, I have a special invitation from Dr. Thaddeus, did he mention that to any of the staff?” I ask and the young man’s eyes go huge.
“Oh yes Miss Foster right?” He asks. I pull out my I.D for him to check so that we can get in with the invitations. “Perfect, although he never said anything about a guest.” The young man says eyeing Helix.
“That is ok, I’ll buy his admission. It was a last minute decision for us to come.” I say hoping it will work.
“Oh yes I see, it’s not a problem at all.” The young man says and quickly prints a new admission. “Here you go sir, I will just page Ika for you. She will take you right up.” He finishes once I hand him the money, then he picks up a phone and makes a quick call. “Ok she’s on her way down. If you like there’s an Arthurian Exhibit on the left there that will be leaving by the end of the week if you would like to wait in there.”
“Oh thank you so much that would be lovely.” I say with sickly sweet sarcasm, that Helix definitely caught from the look on his face. We walk away from the front desk and as we make our way into the exhibit, I quickly glance back to see that the attendant is on the phone watching us as he talks to someone. We walk in through the exhibit taking notes on what they have collected and what pieces are replicas for security purposes. Walking into the star attraction’s exhibit area, and I notice it’s title.
“Wow nothing like stating the obvious. They have a sword in a stone.” Helix says and the amount of sarcasm dripping from his words is hilarious.
“This is what they want, to pull this sword from its resting place, but do you notice anything interesting about the sword and why they would want it pulled?” I ask Helix, I have already seen the symbol, noting that it is also of Atlantean origin. The symbol of Poseidon is in full view on the cross guard.
“Is that from Atlantis? It looks like one of the swords Arreon gave to the gods in the ceremony they held when we visited. Why and how would it be here?” Helix asks, a far off look comes in his eyes as he recalls memories from the past.
“They want to pull it and have me activate my weapons to cause a massive war between the supernatural races and humans. Remember most humans still think vampires, werewolves and witches are all just movie myth and Halloween make believe. It would be a mass slaughter on both sides, no one would come out on top from a war like this.” I say, when I look around the room, it becomes clear there are no guards. There were tons in the main lobby and there was several posted through the rest of the exhibit, but not one is posted here.
I reach into my pocket and pull out what looks like a piece of a rock. I set it so that it blends in with the stone and step on it when I lean forward to make it look like I am pulling the sword. An image is project showing me pulling the sword, but what I haven’t done is just that. The sword still sits in the stone. The small rock is an altered time loop that will play like the sword has been taken from the stone and just like I expected the guards come rushing in and hold me.
“Helix don’t fight, it will be ok. If they want my weapons activated they will play nice, or I won’t touch the damn things and they will sit idle and be of no use.” I say to Helix with a smile as the guards are trying to figure out how to handle a vampire.
Chapter 6
Soon a young woman comes into the display area and has a look of disappointment on her face. This must be Ika, and I am taking it she didn’t want the sword pulled either. I look at her and then drop my eye line to the small rock I placed, hoping she will get the message. I see her follow my line of sight and a small smile comes and disappears quickly from her lips.
“Well you must be the famous Miss Ianna Foster, also known as Aretha, Atlantean Battle Warrior. It’s finally nice to meet you. Please follow me, gentlemen you can leave, it was a special request by Dr. Thaddeus for the sword to be pulled as it were.” Ika says and the guards start walking away and looking visibly less tense because Helix is not going with them.
“King Roglan told me to talk to you, I was questioning why, but now I understand. I don’t have my friend Dede here to help, so why not substitute another powerful witch into the mix.” I say looking at Ika’s body posture as she walks ahead of me.
“What do you mean by that?” She asks turning enough to look over her shoulder.
“Please Morgana, for your time period yes you were a good actor and able to hide your intent. But I am not a man blinded by beauty, nor am I a fool. After all, I was your escort to many of the functions at the Royal Palace, only because you thought I was a man and not a woman.” I say causing Ika to spin to face me.
“How did you know that? Who are you?” She says growing angry.
“Elizabeth, 484 ADE, Badon Britannia. To think if it weren’t for me, you would have never gained access to the castle or to the King to blindside him. Arthur may have been many things, but he wasn’t a fool, he only trusted me because of my worth in battle.” I tell her and see the wheels spinning in her mind.
“How is this possible? The gods said you were no longer needed to come back.” Ika says looking confused, angry, and hurt.
“Like me, they made false promises to you too. Do you know how many times I have begged not to be brought back? Hades has even tried to keep it from happening. Yet here I am over 1500 years later. Can you restore the rest of my memories now? Or just the ones you think will serve me best in this battle please? I don’t have time to get back to Dede.” I beg her. I know the gods played a rotten trick on her that cost her both her life and the one she loved. It devastated her, as hard as I tried in the end she was executed for crimes against the crown.
“Yes and I know which ones to bring back.” Ika says opening an office door that seems to be out of use. “Ok, the one you need most is Aretha. Your memories have been brought back for that life, so the next in line is Diana and Zoe. That one always confused me because you were one person in two bodies.” She says making sure no one is around to hear us.
“Yea I don’t think even the gods were expecting that one.” I say laughing and then look to Helix. “Twins, I came back as twins in that life. That is how I met a few people that are here now from different parts of Ancient Greece.” Helix smiles and nods, knowing that I got extra training in that life will give me more of an advantage. I am just not going to tell him that part of that advantage was from a life as a Rogue (Thief). A few seconds later I watch as Ika puts up some strong but simple wards to keep people from snooping.
“Ok, you ready Ianna?” She asks looking hopeful. I nod to her, and she starts with the memories of my life as Zoe and Diana. “Zoe, 493 BCE, Trachis Greece.” Ika says, I close my eye feeling the surge of memories come rushing back from one sister. When I open th
em again she continues. “Diana, 493 BCE, Trachis Greece.” Again I am hit with the rush of a past life and all the memories that come with it. I am breathing heavily, like I just ran 100 kilometers at full speed.
“Are you ok to continue Ianna?” Helix asks looking worried that this may put me at a disadvantage.
“I am fine, next one please Ika.” I say with my breathing calming down.
“Charis, 161 BCE, Dion Greece.” She continues and this one knocks me to my knees. This is the life that my brother tried to kill me, when I stole his equipment to keep him safe from the battle in Pydna. This one is going to have the hardest effect on me, but I know in the end they were safe and loved me.
“Who else is needed for her memories? I am sure Dr. Thaddeus is going to be looking for her.” Helix says helping me to stand once again.
“One more, the person I knew her as. Elizabeth, 484 ADE, Badon Britannia.” Ika finishes just as her phone goes off. I am able to handle this one a lot easier, because my life didn’t have any extra complications to it. I was a child that worked for the magistrate of the time and was able to prove my worth as a soldier. I worked my way up to being in the King’s personal Legion, I was one of a thousand soldiers that answered directly to King Arthur. “Ok that was Dr. Thaddeus, his meeting is finished, and I told him we just stopped in an office for you to take an important phone call from your Handler at the Watcher Council. We better get going now. How do you feel Ianna?” She asks making sure I am able to continue.
“Why two thieves, a personal guard to the King and a Gladiator?” I ask with an eyebrow arched.
“So you noticed the trend, you always were too smart for your own good. I can expect that Arreon’s sword will truly be pulled when you leave then today?” She asks with an arched eyebrow of her own.
“Do you honestly think I would do it any other way? Why is that sword here?” I ask as we make our way out of the office and down the hall into the research area of the museum.
The Call of War: The Watchers Chronicles: Book One Page 6
