“Those around me are more dangerous. You took a big risk traveling time to bring Ariane here to meet her mother. Just to suit your selfish whims. Why is this mere human so important to you?”
“She’s our mother, you moron.” This pathetic man used people for his own gain. But why risk having children crossbred with a human if he meant to destroy us in the end? None of it made sense. “Neither you, not Loree nor her Malakhim army can harm us. The only dangers I foresee are the Dark Ones, but I managed to escape one and can easily do so again.”
“Cocky little shit. What of the being inside me? The Lighted One?”
“Bah, Athorsis? What about him.” I snarled, shoving a hand against his chest. He faltered a few steps, caught off guard by the unexpected display of force. “Tell him I don’t give a crap. I’m not afraid of either of you. Neither is Ariane.” I swept a hand overhead and bowed in one swoop. “Behold. Behold the monsters you and this Athorsis created. Julia is the only sweetness bestowed to our birth.”
“You bold, blasphemous fool.” Lunging forward, Turian swatted me to the ground. “Truth or not, a Lighted One merged with this body without disintegrating or swallowing it whole—a less volatile possession for mating with a human. Above all, Turian’s anti-ness made the mergence possible.”
Someone other than Turian spoke. The archangel? “You’re a monster.” My upper lip twitched. The reason I had to kill Turian stared me in the face. Destroy his body so the archangel could not possess him ever again.
“No matter, I will destroy you after I take care of your sister.” Turian whipped around and marched toward the house. He stopped when he saw Julia and Ariane on the porch.
“No!” I leapt to my feet. How much did they hear? “Get inside! Turian means you harm.”
Ariane wrapped her arm around her mother’s waist. “Are you okay?” she called out to me. “Julia knows. I told her everything.”
Some good news at last. I smiled inwardly. Our mother finally knew the truth about our father. Better yet, she knew about her children. A bucket shot off the porch, startling me from my thoughts. Turian dashed for the house.
“Ariane,” Turian yelled, “I will rip you apart in front of Julia.”
“Not on my watch, you bastard.” A low growl escalated into a war cry, one that resonated across the yard and beyond. Tripling my speed, my black wings splayed in flight. I swept down on Turian as he moved in slow motion toward the women. My arms and wings wrapped around his torso in a deathlike grip. Behind me, my will alone activated the portal—the amulet reduced to an object of adornment. Thunder announced its sudden manifestation. With Turian in tow, I sped for the hole in space. My ears rang when Ariane and Julia cried out. Their voices echoed inside my mind as I leapt into the portal.
Just under light speed, my wings maneuvered us through the wormholes. We skimmed by the universes. If engaged in the infamous JLS speed, my inexperience with long distance and extra weight might facilitate Turian’s escape. Worthy of the risk, hoping to master it this time, my mind envisioned the Blood Sea planet.
Trees whipped by as we entered the target world inches above the dark waves. My wings beat furiously as I wrestled with a disoriented Turian. Dread thrummed against my chest and climbed up my throat as I searched the dark soup below for signs of the Blood Sea monster. Multiple creatures inhabited the sea. One or two never failed to make an appearance.
Patience won out. Black tentacles of varied lengths and thicknesses reached upward and curled to grasp the air currents my wings created. The creature’s stench filled my nostrils with the sting of copper and salty slug. Its cavernous mouth opened wide to expose layer upon layers of jagged teeth. The monster made Jaws look like the tooth fairy.
Turian’s confused babbles infuriated me. My fist dug into his chest, ripping out one of his hearts. The warm, soggy organ beat in my grasp. My throat gagged as I tossed it into the sea. Blood gushed from the wound, the flow robust enough to overcome the conversion into dust, concentrated enough to entice the Blood Sea monster thrashing below.
Before I dropped Turian’s body, I snarled, “Blood, frosting, and tears are all I lost today. What about you?” With that said, I released him into the turbulent crimson soup. The sea splashed upward and splattered across my pants, chest, and face. I hovered overhead while the creature devoured Turian’s body. My eyes squeezed shut as the vision below replayed, the nightmares renewed.
When I dared open them, an amputated arm reached up to me. At last, the reason this dream haunted me so often finally made sense. I murdered the man who begged for help. I murdered my father, again, and again. But what of the archangel? No fireball escaped the body.
This time, to ensure success, I brought the ruby stolen from White Ghost’s keep. If the stone imprisoned White Ghost, maybe it would entrap the archangel beneath the blood sea forever. The padlock stone should work, because Turian, both possessed and inhabited by Athorsis, reeked of celestial makeup. The ruby fell into the sea. Bubbles formed first and then choppy whitecaps swelled near its entry point. All traces of Turian’s body sank deeper.
“Quick thinking. The ruby might work, but don’t bet on it.”
“What the—” My wings almost swiped the mirror image of myself into the depths below. Tim E. Traveler had made an opportune appearance, one I had never expected. “Sorry, you startled me.”
Tim hovered over the sea close enough to speak his mind. “I’m here to warn you: do not adhere to White Ghost’s advice to fix Sabree. Forget solution number two.”
How did Tim know it was number two? I palm-slapped my forehead. Of course, Tim had already experienced the same event or something similar. “Why?” was all I could ask.
“The celestial rectifier could trap you inside a time continuum.” Tim shot a glance below when a huge surf splashed his leggings, the suede forever stained blood red. “Damn it.” Together, he and Brian shot into the night sky.
Before the time traveler sped off, because unlike myself, Tim was a man of few words, I reached out to grasp his arm. “What about solution three?” If I recalled, number three asked Athorsis for help. Number one, returning Sabree to his death, stood out as a no go.
“aThorsis is the enemy. Never trust a word he says. Hold off until you deem it necessary. Your future’s bleak. Beware the end of the world.” Tim’s body began to vibrate.
“Wait! What do you mean by end of the world?” Nothingness stared me in the face, not even settled dust. Tim must have used his version of a JLS speedy exit. At the very least, he warned me not to choose solution two and to be careful of number three. Not a total loss. I glanced downward at the once turbulent sea, now a field of darkness. “Time to go.”
3 3 3
While Julia slept in her room, emotionally drained, Ariane waited outside for Brian’s return. Free of anxiety, she knew he would come back without their father. For once, she’d sit on the sideline while her brother performed the dirty work. Whatever these deeds might entail, she refused to dwell on the details. Ariane had no clue how dirty Brian played this time.
A rustle from the garden alerted her. Mini-dirt devils and tumbling sagebrush breathed life into the yard. While Ariane grasped the porch railing, she clenched her teeth and held her breath. A few feet away, a crack that sounded like a super-sized pretzel snapping in half broke the silence. The portal usually roused more turbulence. It had to be her brother. Perhaps he used the Jonathan Livingston Seagull method to ensure a stealthier entry. She laughed aloud, wondering how he managed to dig up the novella from the seventies. Another crack startled her, this time the sound of footfalls crunched the dried mulch.
“Brian? Is that you?”
Shoulders hunched over, her brother stepped into the light and gazed up at her with eyes reddened from tears. “Turian’s gone. He won’t bother us again.”
“The man time travels. What if we bump into one of his traveling counterparts?”
Brian scratched his head, his glazed eyes fixated on the thin streak of blue light ex
tended across the horizon. “The archangel who possessed him time travels, not Turian. Look, we’d better leave. The sun’s rising.”
“Born ready.” Ariane bounded over the steps and landed at his feet. “It’s my fault. I should’ve never asked you to bring me here.” She wrapped her arms around his shoulders and hugged him tight for the return trip. “I’m ready. Please take me home.” Apparently, her touch drove his emotions amok. Tears rolled off his cheeks. She had to support his weight when his knees buckled. “What’s wrong?”
Between sniffles, Brian said, “Rage blinded me. Fear too. Turian threatened you. He threatened our mother. He killed her. I dumped him into the sea of death. Maybe, the archangel manipulated Turian for whatever reason, for whatever end. It no longer matters. Athorsis can never possess his body again.”
“He always manages to return,” Ariane whispered in his ear. “The archangel possessed his body even after you dusted him.” She sensed a newfound strength building within her brother. At peace, he no longer feared the idea of losing his mind, his soul more empowered. She finally understood his plight, his mind clogged with alternate worlds, dimensions, and time travel. She empathized with him.
Raising his bloodied hand, he said, “I ripped out one of his hearts for mistreating Julia in this world and destroying her in ours. Then I fed him to the Blood Sea monster. I wonder if the dream will haunt me forever. Or will conscience plague my soul, because I’m the monster now?”
Ariane choked on a sob and tightened her arms around his shoulders. She buried her face in his neck. “Not a monster. You’re my brother who cares deeply for his family, whose love cost him his humanity.” She arched her neck back to kiss his cheek, tasting sweetness. “Let’s go home.”
His lips twitched into a crooked smile, the Mona Lisa one she so loved. He closed his eyes and whispered good-bye to their mother. Once again, the whirling storm shot around them.
27
DRIFT, BRIAN, DRIFT
“P ure BS!” Ariane hollered above everyone. “It won’t work.”
Serine and Abyss agreed with my sister, so I defended my case. “You promised to consider it if I took you to see Mum.” My hand swept the hair from my eyes.
“I promised to ask Jesse about your son. Nothing else.” Ariane’s lips tightened into a pout that split open to expel wrathful pollen. “You’re not thinking. I’ve had enough physics to know implosive devices do not exist never mind work.” She crossed her arms and let her protruding belly support them. Her stance unthreatening, convinced me to keep quiet about her intellect. “Come up with a new strategy,” she said for my ears only.
Not quite low enough because everyone’s ear prickled. The Fallen could hear a pin drop in the next room. A new strategy meant a sound plan other than the lame-brain idea I had suggested. For days, we argued about setting off an implosive device that would collapse the portal window leading to Earth—make it impassable to all, stop the Malakhim from reaching us. It also meant that our clan along with the Fallen would be imprisoned on Earth. Not me though. Was it a fair trade for their safety?
I leaned back and kept my tone low. “The Caderen created an implosive device. Jesse said Morgan Wayde was also interested in the weapon. I say we steal the prototype before the bad guys get their claws on it.”
“It won’t work.” Ariane nudged Sabree with her shoulder.
Just what I needed. His two cents worth. “What have we got to lose?” I waved her off when she tried to interrupt. “Mist into the Caderen weapons lab. Borrow the implosive device. They won’t know it’s missing.” I pointed at the misters. “It’s small enough for three to carry. Well, Sis?” I stared at Sabree whose eyes bore a hue never before revealed—blue. Perhaps this color displayed caution. “Sabree?”
He glanced at the ceiling as if seeking a way to escape until his gaze leveled with mine. “How do you know Earth doesn’t have more than one wormhole? What if the Malakhim use a back door?”
All genuine concerns worth answering, I replied, “Earth has only one entrance. Trust me, I know.”
Sucking in a breath, Sabree looked to Ariane and shrugged. “Brian could be right.”
We all caught the hesitance in his voice. Despite his baby blues, Ariane waved him off. This dispute could go on forever until they agreed to let me play out my insane idea. I asked again. “Well?”
Ariane corralled Gibyss, Abyss, and Sabree over to back her up but ignored Serine. “Shall we humor him?”
They all shrugged indifference. Sabree spoke for the misters. “We’ll fetch the device, but if the bomb doesn’t collapse the wormhole, we had better work on plan B.”
“What’s with you and plan B, Sabree? There is no plan B.” My eyes glazed over until all four blurred. “At this stage, I know of no other way to stop the Malakhim army.”
An obnoxious tap, tap, tap on the tile floor pulled everyone’s attention to Ariane. One by one, they circled around her while I remained outside. “What about the drift factor?” she asked me, her chin held high.
“The what?”
“Proof again that you are in over your head. Drift, Brian, drift. Unless you’re going to drop the bomb inside Earth’s mailbox outside the portal, the device will drift away by the time it detonates. Why am I even arguing with you? It’s ridiculous.”
Enough. I dropped the f-bomb and glared at them. “For your information, I calculated the amount of drift in the portal atmosphere. Without any resistance or push, five seconds max before the implosive device floats out of range. The Malakhim net will hold it steady.”
“Five seconds? Are you crazy?” Ariane bit her lip when she saw me flinch.
The portal visits and dreams weren’t the only source of my madness. “Aye, five seconds equals eternity when you move as fast as me. You forget, I travel faster than the speed of sound and have mastered JLS speed. I have also exceeded the speed of light when I time travel.” My arms folded over my chest. “So there.”
“JLS?” Serine asked.
“Jonathan Livingston Seagull,” I answered. “Read the book.”
“Impossible,” Ariane said. “You can’t measure seagull speed.” Even with the seriousness of the matter, she giggled at Sabree’s crooked smile.
“Look, lassie, before you rescued me from the DanJal, I used JLS speed to appear in my bedroom from the DanJal lab. The leaded walls held no power over me. Sabree’s ass was parked on top of my desk. The two of you suggested working as a team.” Brian glanced at Sabree and mimicked his friend’s voice in a French accent. “I have only one true friend.”
Tight lipped, Sabree said, “I don’t sound like that.”
Ariane’s mouth dropped. “My God, how did you…”
“Seagull speed. Sabree knows all about JLS. He’s experienced it firsthand.” My tone mocked her interpretation of Jonathan Livingston Seagull as I read a quote from the book that explained it in one sentence. “To fly as fast as thought, to anywhere that is, you must begin by knowing that you have already arrived.”
Baffled, if only for a second, Ariane nudged Sabree while Serine changed the subject. Her impatience flared, her pitch a few octaves higher. “Brian, have you entered the portal yet to see if the Screnian are all right? We must see to their fate before you blow up the portal entrance.”
I inhaled and hung my head. “Not good. The Malakhim released the Screnian inside the portal. Without wings, they drifted off.” I shot a challenging glance at Ariane and purposely repeated her word for the day. “Drifted aimlessly until a Dark One drew them into oblivion. The Malakhim meant that as the clan’s fate, confident they’d be imprisoned forever.” Having to be the bearer of bad news left a sour taste in my mouth. One sneaker shuffled over the other as no words of encouragement came to mind.
Ariane twitched when Serine snorted in dismay. “Be patient, Serine. Let him finish.” The others muttered in agreement.
My gaze somber, I stared past them. The bobbing of my Adam’s apple caused the crack in my voice. I swallowed hard in order to
continue. “They tumbled and flailed without wings. I hovered nearby as they met their end. No way to stop it.”
Shocked murmurs filled the room. “Such a waste,” Sabree growled above the banter.
“The Screnian are gone. "My voice raised above all to conclude the tale. “I heard their cries, felt their pain. Then nothing, darkness absorbed their souls.”
“A Dark One?” Serine asked.
Ariane blurted an explanation. “Opposite of a Lighted One. Negative energy like a black hole or an anti-being with power comparable to the Lighted Ones.”
“Time to take control of this mess.” On my sister’s nod, I exposed the tragedy to each one, my mind tapping theirs and telepathically releasing a fraction of the nightmarish events to everyone. My knees almost buckled when the telepathic reveal ended.
The connection raised havoc. Sabree stormed out of the room knocking over a plant. Ariane glanced back and forth as if she couldn’t make up her mind whether to go after him or not. Serine wept openly while Abyss comforted her. Gibyss glared my way. And I continued to stand there like an idiot.
From their negative vibes, realization struck me head on. The catastrophic fate was too much for them to bear. Unlike watching a movie, the mentally projected events gave them a firsthand experience of the clan’s demise. Every sensation underscored the realism: galaxies and universes haloed the black abyss, the deadened silence of space heightened the telepathic screams, and the bite of ozone wafted along the eddies. Cruelest of all, betrayal, hopelessness, and terror slammed their minds at once. Collison with a freight train would’ve been more merciful.
A scowl marred Gibyss’s face when he advanced on me. “Serine had many friends in the Screnian clan.”
“Sorry, had to share.” I stood my ground, my arms still folded. “How else could I reveal the Malakhim’s genuine malevolence.” My words spoke the truth, a harsh lesson.
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