by S. J. West
“Dillon will never let you take her sister away,” Will says knowingly. “Since you’ve been gone, the two of them have become quite close. Not even motherly love can break their bond with one another.”
“Logan,” Sophia pleads. “Logan, please, come with me. I know you want to.”
I watch as Sophia’s daughter peeks over her sister’s shoulder to peer at her mother. For a moment, I see a sense of longing in Logan’s eyes to go to her mother, but the moment passes, and Logan ducks her head behind the protection her sister is providing.
“Logan,” Sophia says with more authority in her voice, “come to me now!”
I hear Logan whine pitifully as she fights the power of Sophia’s command, but she stays hidden, refusing to look at her mother.
Even I can tell that what Sophia is attempting is a lost cause. I walk over to Tristan and hold my hand out to him.
“Tristan, come with me,” I say to him in a soft voice.
Tristan looks at my hand for a second before giving me one of his clawed ones as he stands to his full height.
“Sophia, we need to go,” I say to her, knowing we’re running out of time.
“No,” Sophia says stubbornly, shaking her head. “I left my daughter once. I’m not leaving her again. I can’t! I won’t!”
“Then you need to figure out a better way to earn her trust,” I tell Sophia, becoming aggravated with the situation. “As I see it, she doesn’t trust you. Even if you force her to come with you tonight, odds are she won’t stay. She’ll find a way to escape and come back here. Is that what you really want? Do you want to try to keep her as a prisoner until she bends to your will? I thought you said earlier that you were going to give her a choice.”
“I was,” Sophia says, tears freely spilling down her cheeks as despair takes hold, “but now that I’m so close to her, I can’t bring myself to leave her here. Not again.”
“You’re going to have to,” I tell her, not wanting to be cruel, but knowing she needs to face the facts of the situation. “We need to go, Sophia. You’re responsible for Tristan and me, too. We’re relying on you to keep us safe.”
“I can’t leave my child,” Sophia almost whines.
I know I have one card left to play, but I hate having to play it. Unfortunately, Sophia isn’t leaving me much of a choice.
“Tristan is your child, too,” I tell her.
My words seem to act like a bucket of cold water on both Sophia and Will as they stare at me in shock.
“What?” Sophia whispers, looking convinced she heard me wrong.
“In my reality,” I tell her, “Tristan is your son, Sophia. If you’re so worried about the safety of your children, you should consider his well-being, too.”
Sophia stares at Tristan for a moment, stunned into silence. It isn’t the reaction I was hoping to evoke. I was expecting her motherly instincts to kick in and tell her that she needed to get her ass into gear and save the one child she could that night. Instead, she’s looking at me blankly, as though she has no idea what to do next.
“Your reality?” Will asks. “What the hell is that supposed to mean? What are you?”
I almost laugh at his question. It’s been a long time since someone asked me what I was.
“I am the vessel of Archangel Michael, and I’ve been sent here by God to stop the princes of Hell from opening up any more seals. I suggest you stay out of my way, Will Allen Kilpatrick. If you don’t, you’ll come to regret it. Now, Sophia,” I say, “get your act together and get us the hell out of here now.”
Finally, I see reason come back into Sophia’s honey-colored eyes. She turns to look at her daughter, who is still hiding behind the other werewolf, but she doesn’t do anything else to try to change Logan’s mind about staying.
Sophia walks up to us and takes my arm, phasing us away.
“Jess!” I hear Zack say when we arrive at the safe house.
As I look around to find my friends, I notice the building we’re in isn’t actually a house. It’s a large, empty, metal warehouse. I hear the sound of a ship’s horn blare somewhere close, and assume we must be near a harbor.
Zack and Rafe walk up to me to give me a hug. I let go of Tristan’s hand, but soon regret that small action.
I’m not sure what sets him off but, before anyone can stop him, Tristan dashes out the open door of the building. Brand phases outside, presumably to try to catch Tristan but, by the time I make it to the door, I watch helplessly as Tristan leaps off the dock and into the murky black water of the marina.
“Where is he going?” Rafe asks in dismay, peering over my shoulder as we all watch Tristan swim away from us and back towards the city.
“I have no idea,” I admit with an exasperated sigh, feeling helpless because I know none of us can catch him now.
I should have realized sooner that things were going a little too smoothly.
Brand phases back into the building. He looks around before turning to Sophia and saying, “I guess you weren’t able to talk Logan into coming with you.”
“No,” Sophia says dejectedly, wrapping her arms around her waist as though the action will ease her heartache. “Where are Nina and the others?”
“They haven’t made it here yet. Why don’t you all go back to headquarters? I’ll stay and wait for them.”
“We can hang around if you think there might be trouble,” I tell Brand.
“I don’t think there will be,” Brand says confidently. “Nina won’t leave anyone physically able to follow them when they decide to leave.”
“But they should be back here by now,” Sophia says, looking confused. “Maybe we should go back to the house to help them.”
“No,” Brand is a little too quick to say. “They’re fine.”
I might not have a God-given lie detector like Mason does, but I know bullshit when I hear it.
“You’re not telling us something, and I don’t appreciate secrets being kept by people who are supposed to be my allies,” I tell Brand. “What’s really going on?”
Brand places his hands on his hips and stares at me for a moment, as if he’s trying to decide whether he can really trust me. I see him give Sophia a sideways glance and realize it’s she he’s not so sure about sharing his information with, not me.
“I asked Nina to do something for me while she was in Robert’s house,” Brand finally tells us.
“So she had two missions, one of which had nothing to do with the rescue?” Mason asks.
Brand nods. “I asked her to try to find whatever information she could about something called Project T-7. We’ve heard it mentioned in chatter, but we haven’t been able to discover what it is. I was hoping Robert might have some information about it in his office.”
“So rescuing Logan was just a good cover story to conceal your real agenda?” Sophia questions harshly.
“No,” Brand tells her, keeping his cool despite Sophia’s accusation. “Giving you a chance to rescue your daughter was just as vital, Sophia. You know how important my own daughter is to me. I understand your need to have Logan back by your side. I’m sorry she decided not to come back with you. Truly, I am.”
The small flare of anger in Sophia’s eyes is quickly extinguished by tears of despair. She closes them and silently weeps for the lost opportunity to save her daughter. I want to go and comfort her, but it isn’t my place. I barely know the woman. And, before I can fully trust her, I need to understand the full story behind her relationship with Robert.
“When you return to headquarters,” Brand tells us, “ask Josh to monitor the Dragon Network for any news about Tristan. I’m sure a werewolf running around loose in the city will kick up some chatter among Ravan’s guards. Maybe we can find him again that way.”
“I just don’t understand why he ran away,” I say, completely confused by Tristan’s odd behavior.
“We won’t know until we find him,” Mason reasons. “Let’s get Rafe and Zack back with the others. We almost have ever
yone together.”
“I hope Gabe was able to have a vision,” I tell my husband. “We could really use some Divine guidance right about now.”
“So you found Gabe?” Zack asks.
“We have everyone except Jered and Tristan,” I tell him.
“And Lucifer?” Rafe asks hesitantly. “Do we know where he is?”
“Last time I saw him, he was with Lucian, the Lucifer in this reality,” I answer. “I’m not sure what Lucian and the other princes have done with him.”
Or to him, for that matter. I know I shouldn’t worry over Lucifer’s welfare. He’s a big boy. He can take care of himself. Yet, I can’t help the way I feel. I don’t give someone my friendship easily, and I never stop caring about my friends, even if they do everything within their power to destroy my faith in them.
“Why don’t we do what Brand suggested,” Mason says, “and go back to headquarters? Rafe and Zack can tell us what happened to them while we wait for news.”
It’s as good a plan as any. All we can do now is gather information and decide what our next move should be. I just hope we can figure it out soon. I already miss my home and family. The sooner we accomplish the mission we were sent here to do, the better. Until our task is finished, I’m certain we won’t be allowed to return to our loved ones.
CHAPTER TEN
When we arrive back at headquarters, I feel a sense of relief that we at least have all the vessels in one place. It’s obvious that all seven of us are needed here on alternate Earth in order to help Brand and his resistance fighters. I’ve never told the others, but Mason and I have discussed the possibility that we weren’t sent here to stop the princes from unleashing the power of the seals they possess. After talking with Brand, it’s obvious they’ve already opened at least three seals. If God truly wanted us to prevent the havoc the seals can cause, wouldn’t He have sent us back before they opened the first one? The wheels determining the fate of this alternate reality have already been set into motion. If it turns out that we aren’t meant to stop the princes from opening the seals, perhaps whatever Project T-7 turns out to be is our real mission. I have no way of determining which is true. All I know is that the princes need to be stopped before they can destroy this world, and I will do whatever it takes to make sure that happens.
We ask Josh to do what Brand instructed and listen for any talk about a Watcher child running rampant through the streets of New York City. Sophia offers to help Josh with this task. I assume my revelation about Tristan’s parentage in my reality is hard for her to wrap her head around. I can’t blame her for wanting to get away from us for a little while to organize her thoughts.
As the rest of us sit around the dining table in Brand’s quarters, Rafe and Zack confirm what we assumed earlier. When they arrived in this reality, they found themselves on an empty city street, with Tristan already transformed into a werewolf.
“Traveling from our reality to this one must have forced the change to happen,” Mason offers by way of explanation. “It’s a side-effect we didn’t anticipate. From what Jered told me, Tristan has been able to keep the wolf in him at bay until well into the early morning hours. Under normal circumstances, he should have had a few hours before needing to transform.”
“I knew he didn’t need to change right when the sun set,” I say, “but I didn’t realize he had pushed it back that far. Is he trying to find a way to completely stop the transformation from happening?”
Mason shakes his head. “No. Absolutely not. He has to change once a day for a certain amount of time. Otherwise, his body might get confused and…well…let’s just say it’s not something we want to see happen. Jered has convinced him to accept the transformation by at least midnight each evening.”
“So, how was he? How did he react to you?” I ask Zack and Rafe, who are sitting directly across from Mason and me at the table.
“Well, honestly, we weren’t sure what to do at first,” Zack admits, leaning forward in his chair and resting his arms on the table with his fingers laced together. “He just sort of stared at us and growled. I thought for sure he was going to tear us apart.”
“I think using his name is what brought him back to his senses, or at least to what humanity remains while he’s a werewolf,” Rafe adds. “As long as we called him Tristan, he remained calm and followed us.”
“We didn’t have any idea where we were going,” Zack says. “Then a couple of guards in a patrol car came barreling down the street and arrested us. We probably should have used our suits to turn invisible at that point, but we weren’t sure what they would do to Tristan if we did. We didn’t know what effect seeing us vanish would have on him either. We didn’t want anyone’s death on our shoulders if he ended up freaking out and killing one of the guards.”
“What did the guards say to you?” Mason asks. “Did they tell you where they were taking you?”
“They asked us what we were doing with a Watcher child. We just told them that we were his guardians. We gave them our names, but they couldn’t find us in their database, of course. Then, one of them suggested that they take us to someone named Robert, for further questioning. From what we overheard on the ride to the house, he was busy at some party, and wouldn’t be available until later in the evening. They separated us from Tristan and stuck me and Rafe in that room together in the mansion, and the next thing we know Brand and Mason are kicking doors down in the hallway until they found the room we were locked in.”
“I’m just glad you’re both safe,” I tell them, resting one of my hands on Zack’s folded ones still on the table. “Faison would kill me if I lost you.”
“I don’t think I have anything to worry about,” Zack replies confidently. “Gabe’s already told me I’ll be teaching my son how to play baseball in the future.”
“Son!” I exclaim, squeezing Zack’s hands from my sudden excitement. “You mean to tell me that you’ve known the sex of the baby all this time?”
“Don’t tell Faison when we get back,” Zack chuckles. “I just couldn’t stand not knowing before we left, Jess. I actually asked Gabe if he could see whether I would be back for the birth, but all he could see was me teaching my son how to catch a baseball. That was plenty, though. As long as I know I’ll be with my family again, I’m fine with that.”
I had to admit that it was a relief to know Gabe had seen Zack back on our Earth, playing with his soon-to-be-born son. I pray that I’m able to get Zack home in time to see the birth of his first-born, but, of course, there is no guarantee I can work that miracle. All I can really do is keep praying.
“Speaking of Gabe and visions,” Mason says, looking down the table to where Gabe and JoJo are sitting, “were you able to see anything about our future here?”
Gabe shakes his head, looking worried. “No. Nothing. I don’t know how much use I’ll be to you if I can’t see into this world’s future. I mean, that’s really my only useful contribution to the group.”
“That is not true, Mon Amour,” JoJo tells Gabe. “We are all a team. And I, for one, need you desperately.”
One corner of Gabe’s mouth lifts in a crooked smile before he leans over to JoJo and kisses her on the cheek.
“I need you just as much, Mon Coeur,” he replies lovingly.
JoJo giggles and wraps both of her arms around one of Gabe’s arms.
I see an almost forlorn expression pass over Gabe’s face as he looks at JoJo. I make a mental note to ask him about it in private later.
Brand, Nina, and the others in her attack party phase into the room. Malcolm has a smile on his face, so I have to assume he enjoyed the little excursion.
“Have fun?” I ask him. It’s a rhetorical question, but I feel the need to ask anyway.
“Loads,” Malcolm answers with a wink. “The trip proved fruitful, even though I wasn’t told beforehand why we were actually there.”
“I was operating on a need-to-know basis,” Nina tells Malcolm unapologetically. “You didn’t need to know
before we left.”
“Nevertheless,” Malcolm says to her, sounding irritated, “you should understand we’re here to help you win this war of yours. We can’t do that without knowing what’s going on.”
“I was just following my orders,” Nina says dismissively as she pulls out a slim jump-drive from a small hidden pocket on her right sleeve. “Brand’s the one in charge of information-control here. If you have a problem with that, take it up with him.”
“I just didn’t have enough time to fill you in on everything beforehand,” Brand tells Malcolm. “I’m not purposely trying to withhold information from you.”
“But Sophia wasn’t aware there was a second agenda in tonight’s raid either,” I point out, thankful that she isn’t in the room. “Are you saying you don’t trust her?”
“Sophia isn’t thinking straight at the moment,” Brand says sympathetically of his fellow Watcher. “All she wants is her child back by her side. I understand her motivation, but I didn’t think her fragile state of mind could handle knowing we had a secondary mission, which seems to have been successful. I’ll be right back.”
Brand is true to his word, and returns a few seconds later with a laptop cradled in his hands. He sets the computer down on the empty end of the table.
“Nina and her group were able to recover some files from Robert’s personal computer,” Brand tells us as Nina steps up and inserts the jump-drive into the computer’s USB slot.
“I copied everything that was marked T-7,” Nina tells us. “Hopefully, we have something that will tell us what they’re up to, and what Project T-7 is exactly.”
Mason and I stand to get a better view of the laptop’s screen. We watch as Nina clicks open a folder named T-7-DG1. Nina automatically clicks a picture icon, which is the folder’s only content.
It’s a map of Israel and Jordan, with a particular stretch of land between the two countries highlighted in red. The name of the area is the Great Rift Valley.
