by S. J. West
“This isn’t the first time?” I ask.
“No,” Jered tells me, “though in the past we’ve been able to keep the demand down to one prince at a time. We’ve never had to give them all up at once.”
“Maybe I can take their seals before we hand them over,” I suggest.
“I don’t think that will work,” Jered says hesitantly.
“Why?”
“Because I think you will have to take each of their lives in order to retrieve their seals, Anna.”
“Just because I killed Amon and got his seal that way doesn’t necessarily mean I'll have to kill them all. I might be able to take them another way.”
“I understand your reluctance to slay them,” Jered says, “but I want you to brace yourself for the real possibility that it’s the only way you'll be able to retrieve the seals.”
“Then maybe it’s better to have the princes free,” I reply. “I don’t mind killing if it’s in a fair fight. I’m not sure I can do it if they're still in stasis. That’s too much like murder.”
“Or a justifiable execution,” Jered says gently. “The princes have done things that would make you sick to your stomach if I told you about them, Anna. So don’t sit there and think that they deserve a fair fight. They don’t. They need to be put down like the rabid dogs they are.”
Jered’s words seem to have so much venom in them that it compels me to ask, “Did you see them do these things? You seem so passionate that they not be given a chance. It's like you judged and weighed their crimes a long time ago and found them past the point of saving.”
Jered averts his gaze and looks out one of the windows in the living room we’re in. A minute passes by before he says, “I helped them do some of those things, Anna. I’m no saint either, but at least I finally realized I was wrong. They never will.”
“How do you know that?”
Jered looks back at me. “Because they're pure evil. There’s no way any of them can ever be redeemed.”
“Even Lucifer?”
Jered stares at me for a moment as if he’s choosing his next words carefully.
“Lucifer had his chance to be forgiven a long time ago. Jess came very close to making him believe he could ask for our father's forgiveness. He chose not to ask for it then. And after he met Amalie…”
Jered falls silent as if the memory of my mother pains him too much to go on.
“What about my mother, Jered?” I ask. “Did she get close to making him ask for forgiveness too?”
“I believe he wanted to change for her. He truly did love your mother, and if she hadn’t died…maybe he would have asked our father for his forgiveness. But, I guess we’ll never know for sure.”
“Did he blame me for her death?” I ask, some part of me needing to know if Lucifer abandoned me because my entry into this world killed the woman he loved.
“No,” Jered tells me. “He didn’t blame you for her death. He blamed himself. He felt like his love for her was what killed her.”
“Did he even offer to raise me himself?”
“No.”
“Then why did he leave me?”
“It was probably one of the most unselfish things I’ve ever seen him do,” Jered admits with a certain amount of reluctance. “Of anyone, Lucifer isn’t blind to his own faults and what he is. He knew that if he was the one who raised you, odds were you would become as jaded as he is. Lucifer couldn’t stand the thought of corrupting Amalie’s last gift to the world with his own hatred and anger. He wanted you to have a better life than the one he knew you would have with him.”
“Are you telling me he loves me?” I ask disbelievingly.
“I think he loves you as much as he’s able to feel that emotion,” Jered says. “And I know first-hand that he can love very deeply. I saw that side of him when he was with your mother.”
I swallow hard, not knowing what to say about this new information. But, Lucifer isn’t part of my problem at the moment. I stand from my seat on the sofa.
“We should get to work,” I say, dismissing the conversation about Lucifer, at least for now. I need to keep my concentration focused. “We need to contact the other Watchers and make sure they know the plan. How do we get in touch with them?”
“We’ll have to go to each of them in person,” Jered says. “There’s no way to safely send them a message and keep their locations from being discovered by Levi.”
“How long will that take?” I ask, not feeling very patient about getting things settled before our deadline.
“We have plenty of time, Anna,” Jered reassures me. “All we have to do is go to Barlow’s and use his teleporter. That way we can keep our travels secret from Levi.”
“But why don’t we just phase to each of them?” I ask. “Surely that would be faster.”
“Faster, but not safer,” Jered says gently. “They each have their own lives they want to keep protected, Anna. I understand your urgency. I feel it too, but Malcolm wouldn’t want us to jeopardize the lives they’ve built for themselves just because we were impatient. We have plenty of time to do what Levi wants. Trust me. I want Malcolm and Lucas back just as much as you do. They’re my family too.”
I suddenly feel guilty. “I know, Jered. I’m sorry. I just thought you guys had a better system set up. Like something for emergencies. For instance, how did you all know to come together and rescue me from Levi after the wedding reception?”
“We were already in Cirrus for your coronation,” Jered tells me. “None of us wanted to miss you being crowned empress. We've all waited so long for you to take the throne that we wanted to feel like we were a part of the celebration too. Malcolm left the ceremony early to round us all up because he said he saw something in Levi’s eyes that told him he would try to do something to you after the wedding.”
“How could he tell? Levi always looks like he wants to do something evil to me.”
Jered chuckles at my remark.
“Malcolm just sensed it. Or perhaps he just couldn’t bear the thought of Levi trying to consummate the marriage. I’m not sure. But, he was pretty adamant that we get you out of Cirrus that night as quickly as we could. We searched the royal rooms while the wedding reception was taking place to see if we could find anything that Levi might use against you, but we came up empty handed.”
“He coated the wine glass with a sedative.”
“Yes, we learned that after the fact. As soon as we knew you and Levi were in the rooms we put our plan into motion to get you the hell away from him as quickly as we could.”
“You don’t know how much I appreciate all of you helping me that night,” I say. “Can you believe he wanted me to have his baby?”
The thought makes me shiver involuntarily in revulsion.
“I’m sure that thought is still in the back of his mind,” Jered warns. “But, Malcolm will never let that happen. He would tear Levi apart himself before he could ever lay a hand on you.”
I can’t help but smile at the imagery in my mind of such a thing. I’m not sure if it’s Malcolm’s protective side that brings a small bit of joy to my heart or the thought of Levi dead which causes me the most pleasure. The happiness doesn’t last long though because that image is soon replaced with the memory of Malcolm and his ravaged back.
“I’m going to kill Levi one day, Jered. I can’t let him live after the things he’s done to the people I love.”
“And I won’t stop you,” Jered tells me. “But don’t let your need for vengeance rule your actions, Anna. Hatred will darken your heart faster than anything else in this world and that isn’t who you are. You’re better than that. Never lose sight of who you are and what you were born to do.”
“I feel pretty confident ending Levi's life is something I am meant to do,” I say with confidence. “But, don't worry. I won't lose sight of who I am. I won't do anything that would make my father think less of me.”
Jered nods like he's satisfied with my answer. “Then let's get started.”<
br />
He holds his hand out to me, and I place mine into his.
“What about your friends?” I ask Jered. “Do you need to contact them to let them know what's going on?”
“After we get Malcolm and Lucas back, I'll contact Rory and Lora. They don't need to be placed in any more danger than they already have been.”
Jered phases us to the exterior entrance of another teleporter station in the middle of a city. I assume it's the station Barlow's teleporter pad is siphoning its energy from. It doesn't matter that Levi knows we phased here. He would have known we were here anyway even if we used the teleporter in Baton Rouge.
“Follow me,” Jered whispers, walking along the sidewalk in front of the station and turning down a dark alley beside it.
The alley is a dead end, and I begin to wonder where it is Jered is taking me until he stops beside a metal disk in the cement walkway.
Jered bends down on one knee and sticks his middle finger in a hole in the disk, easily lifting it up.
“Go down the ladder,” he instructs me.
I walk over to the hole and peer down to see what's there. The heat and stench emanating from the bowels of the lower level isn't very pleasing.
“Do I have to?” I ask.
Jered grins. “Yes, empress. I'm afraid you'll need to get your shoes dirty during this little part of our adventure together.”
I smile at Jered. “Not necessarily.”
I float into the air and hover over the hole.
Jered's jaw opens slightly in shock which makes me giggle. I almost feel guilty for laughing. The memory of Malcolm's injuries soon invade the small bit of happiness I have to bring me crashing back to the task at hand. I lower myself down the hole and hover over the waste water within what must be a section of the sewage system beneath the city.
Jered makes his way down the ladder and covers the hole back up before descending almost to the bottom.
“Wait!” I tell him before he steps into the smelly water flowing through the large drainage tunnel. “Can I carry someone while I'm flying?”
“Yes,” Jered says.
I float over to him. “Then hold onto me and tell me where we need to go. I don't particularly want you trudging through this mess. There's no telling how long it would be before we could get the stench off of you.”
Jered chuckles. “Good point.”
I encircle Jered's waist with my arms, and he places his hands on my shoulders. With my strength, holding him to me is easy.
“Which way?” I ask.
Jered directs me through the maze of tunnels.
“Are you sure this is the safest way to get there?” I ask. “Can’t they just use our heat signatures to follow where we go?”
“The heat generated from all the waste down here will mask our body heat. Plus there are displacers everywhere.”
“Displacers?”
“They’re meant to discourage people from staying in the tunnels.”
“I would have thought the smell would do that.”
Jered laughs. “Some people get desperate when it gets really cold on the surface and don’t have anywhere else to go.”
“What do the displacer do?”
“When you run into one of them, they transport you to another section of the tunnels. It’s a good way to get lost and never find your way back out.”
“So how are we going to get to where we need to go if we keep getting displaced?”
“Barlow and his people figured out that if you go through certain displacers in a particular order you can get to their hideout. That way we don’t have to worry about anyone following us. They would have to know the exact sequence.”
We travel through the tunnels and get teleported at least ten times by the displacers before we come to a small platform which leads to a metal door on the side of one of the tunnels. Jered makes quick work at breaking the lock on the door and pushing it inward.
“I'm sure Barlow will charge us handsomely for breaking his door,” Jered quips as we step inside the small cinderblock room the door was concealing.
“Why don't you like Barlow?” I ask Jered.
“It's not so much that I don't like him,” he tells me. “It's more that I don't trust someone who will do whatever it takes to get something they want.”
“Wouldn't that just make him tenacious?”
“Aggressively so,” Jered replies. “I've known him to kill to obtain certain items.”
“Has he ever killed an innocent?” I ask, having a hard time believing even Barlow would stoop so low.
“No, I wouldn't necessarily call the people he deals with innocent, but still, killing for profit just seems like the wrong reason to end a life.”
The small room we're in also has a metal disk in the floor. Jered bends at the waist and lifts it up.
“This will lead us straight down to Barlow's teleporter room,” he tells me.
The hole isn't big enough for me to carry Jered down with me too. So, I hover over the hole and descend into its black depths alone with Jered having to climb down the ladder behind me.
A small pin point of light at the bottom helps guide me straight to the bottom. Once we're there, I see that we've arrived in the tunnel which connects the room where the teleporter pad is and the tracks leading through the interior of the mountain.
Once Jered has made it down the ladder and to my side, I ask, “How are we supposed to contact Barlow?”
“There's a communicator inside the teleporter room,” Jered says, already heading in that direction.
We step inside the glass room and Jered goes straight to the control panel on the glass pedestal. I watch as he manipulates the controls until he brings up a floating image of Barlow's head. The image looks so real it's a little off putting.
Barlow looks at Jered in surprise. “What on earth are you doing in my teleporter room, Jered?”
“I'm here with Anna,” Jered informs him. “We need your help.”
“I'll be right there,” Barlow says without hesitation.
I watch as he turns away and his disembodied head disintegrates into flakes of light.
It doesn't take long before I hear the rattle of Barlow's cart as it rumbles down the tracks. Jered and I stay inside the teleporter room and wait for him to come to us.
Barlow smiles when he sees me, but there must be something about my expression that tells him we're not here on a social call.
“What's wrong?” He asks me. “What's happened to make you look so sad, Anna?”
I tell Barlow everything that's happened, making the story as short but informative as possible.
“That's some major bad luck. I'm so sorry, Anna,” Barlow says, truly sympathetic to my plight. “Malcolm finally kisses you and all hell breaks loose because of it.”
“Basically,” I admit, feeling a bit humiliated by the whole situation.
“And you say you have trackers in your body that go off when the poison is released? Right after you kiss someone?”
I nod. “Yes, that’s what I was told. It’s how Levi found us in Lakewood.”
Barlow looks thoughtful then turns to walk over to the control panel. He soon brings up the image of a young man I haven’t met yet.
“Jake,” Barlow says to the man, “bring me one of those local EMPs we got in the last trade.”
“Sure thing, Barlow,” the man says before his image fades.
“A local EMP?” Jered asks. “Do you think that will work?”
Barlow shrugs. “It's worth a try.”
“EMP?” I ask, having no clue what they're talking about.
“Electromagnetic pulse,” Barlow tells me. “We just bartered for some that will knock out any electronic devices in a foot radius. I'm guessing the little trackers inside you are electronic and not organic ones.”
“Why do you think their electronic?” Jered asks, sounding genuinely interested in the answer.
“Electronic nanites can send out a clearer signal than organic ones
. The frequency they transmit at is stronger thus giving them a longer range. If Levi was able to detect their signal all the way in Cirrus when they went off, then they pretty much have to be electronic and not organic.”
“So your EMP will be able to disable them?” I ask, hoping this is where Barlow is going with his explanation.
“Yes,” he says. “It should. Though, I'm not sure what to do about the poison. I think that will just have to wear off on its own with a little more time.”
“I don't suppose you know how long that will take?” I ask hopefully.
Barlow shakes his head. “I have no idea. But, since you said you had to be injected with it once a week, I wouldn't think there should be that much left in your system by now. I would give it a couple more days before you tried to kiss anyone else. Though, I'm sure the reward of your soft lips would be well worth a little cat nap.”
I shake my head in exasperation at Barlow. He just grins at me, completely unashamed.
“I'm taken,” I tell him. “My heart and body belong to Malcolm.”
“Well, if you ever change your mind, you know where to find me,” Barlow says with a cheeky grin and wink.
“I can assure you my mind will never change.”
Barlow shrugs. “Can't blame a guy for trying.”
“No, but Malcolm would probably kill you if you ever tried to kiss Anna,” Jered says with certainty. “Though, he would have to beat me to it.”
“You guys are always way too serious,” Barlow tells Jered. “Can't a guy just joke around with a lovely lady without there being any dire consequences involved?”
“Not when the lady is the Empress of Cirrus and the soul mate of a man who would have no problem at all ripping your head from your shoulders and dumping your body in the nearest ocean for the attempt,” Jered says. “Plus, she's family to me and under my protection as well.”
Barlow lifts his hands in the air like he surrenders. “Fine, I'll stop making passes at the lovely Anna. I wouldn't want to cause an international incident or inadvertently destroy the universe because I tried to flirt with her.”
