by S. J. West
This reality’s Lucifer looks at me, as if he knows I’m one of God’s aces. I suddenly feel as though I have a red target painted on my chest now.
Lucian phases over to me and grabs me by the throat, slamming me hard against the wall at my back.
“Did my father send you back here to stop me?” Lucian demands, tightening his grip on my neck, which seems counterproductive if he actually expects me to answer him.
“Let…her…go…” Lucifer demands menacingly.
“Why should I?” Lucian asks, tightening his grip and completely cutting off my ability to breathe. “If she’s a threat, I should end her here and now. She might have Michael’s soul inside her but, when it comes down to it, she’s just a filthy little human.”
“She’s my human,” Lucifer growls. “If one of us is going to kill her, it’ll be me, not you.”
Lucian looks at Lucifer and smirks.
“Maybe I’ll finally do what you seem incapable of doing,” he states condescendingly. “End her.”
In one swift motion, Lucifer reaches behind me and pulls my sword from its sheath. He instantly places the blade against his counterpart’s throat, and I notice a crackling of electricity at the point of contact.
“As I said earlier,” Lucifer snarls, “let her go.”
“If I were you, I would be careful, brother,” Lucian says. “You know what might happen if we were to physically touch.”
“I’m well aware of the outcome. I don’t have to be told,” Lucifer replies, sounding annoyed with his alternate self.
I have no idea what they’re referring to. I’m just trying to stay conscious from the lack of oxygen.
Lucian throws me at Lucifer’s feet.
“You need to decide whose side you’re on,” Lucian says to Lucifer.
“At the moment, I’m on my side.”
“I can’t let her leave here alive,” Lucian declares. “You have to know that. If she’s a threat to my plans, I have to eliminate her now.”
“I’m afraid I can’t let you do that.”
“Why?” Lucian questions incredulously.
I have to admit, I’m curious to know the answer to his question myself.
I look up at Lucifer, who is still standing beside me with my sword in his hands, pointed directly at Lucian’s chest. As I look between Lucifer and Lucian, I notice something odd about their auras. Lucian’s is so black, I can’t see through it at all. It’s the way I remember Lucifer’s appearing when we first met. Lucifer’s aura is still black but not nearly as opaque. The difference between the two makes me realize Lucifer isn’t the same as he was at our first meeting. He has evolved, even if it’s just a little bit.
“That’s no one’s business but my own,” Lucifer tells him.
“If you’re thinking you can just phase her to safety, think again. You haven’t been to many places here, and I’m afraid the same rules apply in this reality as your own. You can only phase to the places you’ve physically been to. There’s nowhere you can hide her that I can’t go.”
“I hate to disappoint you,” Lucifer tells him, “but actually, there is.”
Lucifer reaches down and grabs me under one arm to help me rise to my feet. He keeps my sword pointed in the other’s direction.
“Here,” Lucifer says, handing me back my sword. “Chop their heads off if they get too close.”
Lucifer bends at the waist and easily lifts the black leather loveseat sitting in front of the glass wall. With a small grunt, he throws it against the wall, shattering the glass as the small couch passes through to fall from a height of fifty-five stories. The wind at this elevation fills the room.
“Go,” Lucifer practically orders, standing between the others and me like a shield. “Find your friends.”
“Come with me,” I urge him, seeing no need for him to stay behind.
“I don’t belong with the rest of you,” Lucifer tells me, chancing a glance in my direction over his shoulder. “Just go, Jessica. Otherwise, they’ll kill you.”
“We’ll make it back home,” I promise him. “And maybe…things can be different between us when we do.”
Lucifer just stares at me for a moment. His lips part like he’s about to tell me something, but my attention is diverted when I see the other six princes of Hell phase into the room.
Lucifer snaps his head back in their direction, as if sensing their sudden appearance.
“Go!” Lucifer bellows, turning swiftly around and using both of his hands to push me out of the opening.
It takes me a moment to get my bearings as I freefall, but I soon come to my senses and begin to use Michael’s ability to fly.
I have no idea where to start looking for the others, and pray for a Heavenly sign showing me which way I need to go. I continue to fly between the skyscrapers, trying to decide what to do next, when I hear the distinctive sound of flapping wings directly above me. I chance a glance skyward and see a creature that looks similar to a transformed Watcher child. However, it’s covered with short white fur, with black stripes on its arms and legs. The span of its feathery wings is at least eight feet. Most of the feathers are white except for the ones around the edges, which are black tipped. The creature reaches down with its two front claws and grabs me tightly by the shoulders. I try to wrench away from it, but I’m firmly caught within its grasp, and my struggles only make it squeeze my shoulders that much harder, in order to maintain its hold.
Trapped by my captor, I can’t help but wonder if this is God’s answer to my prayer.
I decide then and there that I need to start making my prayers to Him a lot more specific.
CHAPTER SIX
“What the hell is this thing?” I ask Michael, through our connection with one another. “It looks similar to a Watcher child, but I’ve never seen one with wings before, or hair for that matter.”
“I sense it is the child of a Watcher, but I don’t know why it looks so dissimilar,” Michael admits.
“When this reality’s Sebastian came through the Tear and attacked me, he was in normal werewolf form. He didn’t look this way.”
“No, he didn’t. I’m sorry, Jess. I don’t have an explanation for this creature’s appearance.”
“Can you sense anything about it? Is it planning to take me to its secret lair to eat me?”
“If it wanted to eat you,” Michael says, sounding amused, “it would have already snapped your head off for an appetizer. I don’t sense that it means you any harm. I suggest we remain calm and see where it’s taking us.”
“Well, I don’t think we have much of a choice in the matter,” I say, resigned to my fate.
“Agreed.”
As the beast flies me through the night’s sky, I do my best to remain calm. I try to keep track of the route we’re flying from my point of origin, but I quickly realize the task is virtually impossible, considering all of the twists and turns my captor makes while maneuvering through the cityscape. Eventually, the creature heads straight for an eighteen-story, white stone building with a castle-like exterior. It flies high into the air above the structure before diving towards the top of the building. The roof is flat and has a built-in kidney-shaped pool with a well-furnished brick patio area replete with two white platform couches positioned in front of a lit stone fireplace. A dark-skinned woman wearing a knee-length, white sheath dress is pacing frantically back and forth within the open area between the fireplace and the pool. I stare at the woman, wondering if my mind is playing tricks on me. She has a blue aura around her like Watchers do to my eyes, yet it’s slightly tainted with a smudge of black.
The woman notices the creature’s approach because she stops walking and looks up to watch our descent.
When the creature relinquishes its hold on my shoulders, I end up being dropped unceremoniously on my hands and knees, in front of the woman. Miraculously, I managed to keep a tight grip on the hilt of my sword. I quickly get to my feet, blade at the ready as the winged beast lands a few feet to the right of us. Its eye
s focus on my weapon as the blade bursts into flames. It snarls at the fire, baring its black and white fangs.
“Mia,” the woman says to the creature in a soothing but commanding voice, “go to your room.”
The beast whines pitifully at the woman. Oddly enough, the sound reminds me of a child asking for just a few more minutes of playtime before bed.
“You can speak to her later when you’re in human form,” the woman says with controlled patience. “Right now, I need you to go to your room and wait for me there.”
The beast lowers its head and walks through an open doorway into the penthouse.
After the creature is out of sight, the woman looks back at me. Her eyes are a beautiful shade of light brown, matching the color of an acorn shell. She is perfectly groomed from head to toe, with straight black hair, cut in fashionable layers to frame her oval face, and makeup so perfect it looks as though it’s been airbrushed on.
“Are you Jess?” the woman asks in a rush, as if she needs my answer quickly.
“Who are you?” I respond, not yet trusting the woman with my identity because of the black tinge to her aura. “And what the hell was that thing that brought me here?”
“I don’t have time for this,” the woman replies agitatedly, grabbing my left arm and phasing me inside a room I actually recognize. It’s the underground living quarters this reality’s Brand called home the last time I was on alternate Earth. The same second-hand furniture decorates the room. The walls are still lined with wooden bookshelves filled with even more books than I remember from my previous visit.
“Thank God,” I hear Mason say in relief behind me from the direction of the kitchen.
I turn in time to watch him stand from the steel stool he was sitting on at the kitchen island and walk towards me. Mercifully, Leah is also sitting at the island on her own stool, with this world’s version of Joshua seated beside her. Though, I remember this young man’s insistence on being called the truncated form of the name and make a note to myself to call him Josh. Brand is standing by the stove, where he’s scrambling some eggs, and the distinctive aroma of cooked bacon fills the air.
I quickly sheathe my sword, knowing I’m in a safe place, just before Mason takes me into his arms. The warmth of his embrace and the woodsy scent of him instantly act as tonics on my nerves to refresh me. It’s only then that I realize how tense I’ve been since materializing on this Earth. Mason has always been my own personal miracle- worker. No matter where we are or what we are doing, a hug from my husband always makes me feel safe in body and sound of mind.
“I have to go, Brand,” the woman who helped me says hurriedly. The urgency in her voice makes me let go of Mason so I can turn to face her. “Micah will be wondering what’s taking me so long to get back to him.”
“Thank you, Ava,” Brand tells her. “And thank you for letting us use Mia. I know you don’t let her out at night very often.”
“My daughter is a good hunter,” Ava says sadly, as though the skill is one she wishes her daughter didn’t have. “Let me know if you need anything else.”
Ava phases out of the room.
“Ok,” I say, staring at the now empty spot Ava just occupied, “why does Ava have a blue aura like a Watcher?”
“Because she is a Watcher,” Brand answers behind me, sounding confused by why I felt the need to ask such a question.
I turn around to face Brand, who is dividing the scrambled eggs between three plates.
“You have female Watchers here?” I ask, wondering why it never even occurred to me that this reality would have Watchers of both sexes. Though, why would I consider that possibility? Up until this point, every Watcher I knew preferred to be in male form.
“Yes,” Brand says, looking at me in confusion. “From your reaction, I take it that none of the Watchers in your reality are female.”
“Zero,” I confirm, taking one of Mason’s hands in mine and walking us over to the kitchen island. I suddenly feel famished, and the impromptu snack Brand just made is practically singing my name.
“Could you scramble up a couple more eggs?” Mason asks Brand. “I think my wife is about to clear my plate.”
“I can wait for the next batch,” I say, though my stomach argues otherwise as it grumbles its protest.
“No,” Mason says, letting go of my hand to pull the plate from the other side of the kitchen island until it’s in front of me. “I’m just happy to see you have an appetite again. It’s been too long.”
“The gracious thing for me to do would be to insist you eat first, but I’m not going to argue with you. I’m too hungry,” I tell Mason, grabbing the fork and practically devouring the eggs in a few short seconds.
“Umm, I guess I should just go ahead and make a double batch,” Brand says, after witnessing my gluttony. “I have a feeling you might still be hungry, Jess.”
“And your feeling would be correct,” I say, taking a brief survey of the room as I chew on a piece of bacon. “Are you and Leah the only ones here?”
Mason nods. “As soon as we arrived, I phased us here. Luckily, Brand and his crew are still using this location as their headquarters. I told him what was going on and he called in Ava to help find you. Her daughter was able to track you down after sniffing something of yours I have in my backpack.”
“What of mine did you bring?” I ask, just now realizing Mason had packed a reminder of me in his bag.
“Just your black scarf,” Mason says with a small shrug, as if the token of my personal belongings is an innocent one. I know better, of course. We’ve used that particular scarf on many occasions to heighten certain pleasurable moments during our lovemaking. It makes me wonder why Mason decided to bring it along on our excursion to this reality.
“Does her child look so different from the Watcher children we’re used to seeing because she gave birth to it?” I ask. “I’ve never seen one with wings, or hair for that matter.”
“Not exactly,” Brand answers, cracking an egg against the granite surface of the kitchen island before depositing its contents into a ceramic bowl. “If a female Watcher mates with a male Watcher, werewolves such as Mia are conceived.”
“And when they’re born,” I say, “do they…you know… come out the same way?”
“Claw their way out of their mother’s womb?” Brand asks to clarify what it is I’m really asking. I nod. “Yes, it’s the same, but, as you know, we’re able to regenerate rather quickly. That ability is the only reason the female Watchers can survive the birthing process.”
“Still, the pain must be excruciating,” I comment, recoiling at the idea of giving birth in such a gruesome way.
“I’m sure it is,” Brand agrees, taking his bowl of eggs and turning back to the stove to scramble them.
“Did anyone else travel here with you?” Mason asks me.
I nod. “Lucifer was with me.”
Mason’s body becomes rigid at hearing this news.
I reach out a hand and place it on his arm closest to me.
“He saved me,” I tell him before recounting my adventures with Lucifer and telling everyone what I learned.
“Wow,” Josh says, his eyes wide with wonder. “You saw Ravan Draeke in person and lived to tell the tale? That’s impressive.”
“Well, I was invisible at the time, so don’t be too impressed. Other than being the President,” I say, “who is she? You didn’t mention her when we came here before.”
“She wasn’t as significant back then,” Brand answers. “Her rise to power only happened a little over four years ago, when we had a world-wide earthquake.”
“When they opened the first of the seven seals of the apocalypse, it must have caused the earthquake you just mentioned.”
“That explains a lot,” Brand says after what I said sinks in. “We didn’t realize the princes of Hell had the seals. We thought it was God opening them. How in the world did they get them?”
“They stole them from Heaven,” Mason tells Brand
, his disgust at such a heinous crime not hidden from his voice. “We’ve been able to contain our princes in the Origin to keep them from opening the seals. Well, all of them except Lucifer and Levi.”
“Levi?” Brand questions. “He’s not among the princes here.”
“That explains the Gabriel I met,” I say. “He must be here in place of Levi.”
“I still can’t believe the Gabriel in this reality sided with Lucifer during the war,” Mason says, dismayed by the fact. “Our Gabriel isn’t going to like hearing that.”
“How are we going to find everyone else?” I ask Brand. “Can Mia search for them without having a scent to go by?”
“I have people out searching for your friends,” Brand assures me. “Hopefully, they’re all here in the city somewhere. But, they could be scattered around the world, for all we know.”
“No,” I say confidently, “I don’t think they are. They’ll be close by.”
“How can you be so sure?” Mason asks.
“God sent us here to complete a mission. I don’t think He would spread us out so far that we can’t find one another. We’re more effective when we’re together.”
“If your people are in the city, the Watchers I’ve sent out will find them. They’re all excellent trackers.”
“Why did Ava need to leave so quickly?” I ask. “Who’s this Micah she needed to get back to?”
“Micah is a Watcher and her husband, but his loyalties lie with Lucian. We’ve been able to recruit some of Lucian’s followers to help us, such as Ava, but Micah will never change sides. He’s loyal to a fault.”
“That must be hard for her,” I say. “How do you know Ava isn’t acting as a double agent?”
I feel as though I have to ask my question, considering the black smudges I saw in her aura.
“I have no doubts about her allegiance to our cause,” Brand says in her defense. “She doesn’t approve of what Lucian and Ravan are doing to the world. Of course, her first loyalty lies with her daughter. She wants to find a way to earn God’s forgiveness and cure Mia of her curse. Ava was actually at the party you mentioned being held in Ravan’s honor at Lucian’s penthouse. Malcolm happened to be there, too. I called him to let him know what was happening. He was able to get my message about you to Ava.”
