I shook my head recalling the pang I felt when I heard her thoughts. I could have kept my damn mouth shut and left him in the dark about how Jes felt, but I didn’t. “She chose me in that fleeting moment, Nate. The moment when she thought she would never see me again. I needed to know why she said it, so I kissed her.”
I sensed Nate’s energy in the room change to sheer rage and his hands balled into fists. He tried to hide it, but I could see it behind his eyes that he was ready to lunge at me across the bed. “I kissed her because I needed to know why she chose me before I left.”
I looked down at Jes. “She was afraid that I would never come back. That I needed to hear it.” I look up and away from her. “It was pity, Nate.”
Nate’s hands slowly uncoiled. I continued, “These feelings she is having , they are new to her. She doesn’t know what she wants right now.”
Nate shook his head and looked back at Jes. “It is just the physical link that attracts her and I to each other.”
It felt like a confession on his part. He didn’t get it; he was completely blind to the fact that it wasn’t just the link. Yeah, that little nugget of knowledge from Jesca’s thoughts was one I wish I hadn’t heart, but I did and it sucked. “Look at me damn it! I know you love her and it is not just the Copula link!”
Nate grits his teeth and his eyes narrow as he leans over the bed toward me. “Why do you care? She is here with you now. You are going to comfort her and replace me.”
“I am not going to stand by and watch you destroy her! You did not see her when you disappeared into that wormhole, I did! Her whole world, you and Ezra, were pulled from her! She lost it Nate. Monica had to sedate her. That is why she is laying here like this. I had to carry her out of that forest, because two people she desperately loves were pulled from her!”
Nate’s face softened at my final words, slowly lowered his body to sit on the edge of the bed, and reached his hand out to her face, barely grazing the side of her face with the back of his hand. I turned away from them and crossed my arms, not able to take watching him touch her tenderly any longer.
Suddenly, I felt a warm presence behind me. When I turned around, Nate’s close proximity threw me off and I stumbled backward. “Xander, when I made the choice to let go and fall into the wormhole, I did it to protect both you and her. I’m not just trying to do the right thing for Jesca. I am trying to do the right thing by you. You are my blood.”
I hated that he had to be so good. Why would someone who literally just discovered that I was his blood cousin and the guy that is in love with his “partner” want to protect me. I asked him in a skeptical manner. “You, protect me?”
Nate nodded. “Yeah, why is that so hard for you to believe? You are linked to me and you are my blood. That means something to me.”
Nate shook his head. “You may think that I am naive and too good to be true, but I’m not and this is who I am. Yeah, that’s right, I can hear your thoughts. And, believe me, if I could get my hands on you right now you wouldn’t think I was ‘so good’.”
Nate looked back at Jesca, his words were gentle now. “I know you love her.”
“Yeah, I do, but I know you do also.”
Nate and I both stare at each other with a silent understanding between us that even though we both love her, we would make sure nothing ever happened to her even if that meant standing on the side lines watching the other have her love.
Before things became more awkward and uncomfortable between us, I changed the subject. Even though I had been hulled up with Jesca, I could feel changes happening out there in the world. “I can feel things are already changing here since the intersection. My gut is telling me we need you and Ezra’s man power. We need you both, Nate. ”
Nate motioned to slugged me in the chest and when his hand made contact, I felt the aching blow. How the hell? I wished I would have known that when I wanted to deck him earlier in the conversation. I rub out the dull pain while he talks. “With you and Jes being linked to me, it will be easier for you to find us.”
“Yeah, well how are we supposed to find you, smart ass?”
I remember everything around Nate being engulfed in the darkness that had been lingering in the corners of the room. “Between Balthazar and Sebastian, you will figure it out.”
When everything had slid into blackness, I slipped back into consciousness. I opened my eyes and scanned the room quickly. I still felt the remnants of energy in the atmosphere, but I wasn’t sure if it was Nate’s still lingering from his visitation or another’s. I looked to my right and standing next to me with his arms tightly crossed over his chest was Ezra staring down at Jesca. It was strange coming out of one dream state and immediately falling into another.
Ezra didn’t greet me, he got right to the point. “I need you to do something, Xander.”
He proceeded to tell me that I needed to leave the facility, head into the city, and find an ant farm. He demanded that a note be attached stating one question: “Will you take care of them while I am gone?”
Everything he was asking for sounded insane, ludicrous. I argued with him, telling him that it was a ridiculous request especially under the circumstances, but Ezra completely ignored me. His entire focus was on Jesca lying in the bed as he moved to sit beside her still body. The way he looked at her, I knew my words were lost to him so I stopped commenting on how crazy he sounded.
He gently rested his hand on top of Jesca’s, lowered his head, and closed his eyes. His lips were barely moving with nothing above a whisper being spoken. He could have been speaking to her or praying for her, I didn’t quite know. Ezra was an impossible one to get a read on. I couldn’t break into his thoughts at all. Must have been all the years of practice. He stayed that way, bent over her still frame, then lifted his head to look at me before patting Jesca’s hands and rising from the bed. He walked around the bed, and squared up to me. His voice sounded worn. “I know it sounds crazy Xander, but when she wakes she will feel lost. The ant farm…” Ezra’s voice wavered, but he quickly cleared his throat to try and cover the emotion in his voice. He covered his mouth with his hand to conceal any emotions that tempted to overflow. He removed his hand and scoffed. He shook his head and moved his gaze back to meet mine. “That damn ant farm.”
He crosses his arms over his chest and releases a cleansing sigh. “Seeing it will bring her clarity when she wakes. She needs that clarity, Xander. I know you don’t want to leave her. Just please call for one of the others to retrieve one. Please.”
I wanted to argue again. Tell him that sending a team member out for something like ant farm could be an unnecessary risk, but his plea was bordering desperation. I nodded, bringing a silent relief to his face. Ezra turned from me and walked toward the darkest corner in the room and disappeared. After that, a soft knock brought me back to consciousness. The room was no longer dark, but rather lit by a side table lamp. I looked to see if Jesca was awake, but she was still sedated. The knock came again and I moved quickly to the door, opening it a crack. It was Monica. Before she could get a word in, I told her that I needed one of the crew to go out and find and ant farm. She looked at me like I was insane, just like I expected. After much arguing and me caving, letting Elisha into the room to bring food and other supplies, Monica sent Angela and Balthazar to hunt for the ant farm. I honestly don’t know where and the hell they found it, but they pulled it off and had it to me within an hour. I set it up and wrote the note just as Ezra told me.
Elisha had just left the room after putting a few clothes for Jesca in the nearby dresser. I stood in the middle of the room with my hands in my pant pockets watching her. Since Nate’s and Ezra’s visit, I had run different scenarios in my head. What kind of questions would Jesca have when she woke? Would she lose it again like she did in the forest? What would I tell her about my conversation with Ezra? With Nate? knew immediately that I wouldn’t tell her anything about Nate’s and my conversation.
When Jesca started to stir, I grab
bed the cloth Elisha had brought in earlier, dipped it in the basin of water, and wrung it out before running the cloth over her forehead. She was mumbling something that I couldn’t decipher. I could hear her thoughts loud and clear though; all surrounding Nate. My jealousy took over and I whispered, “Wake up, Jes.”
***
As we walk through the hallway in the facility now, Jesca and I are silent. Our stride falling into step and the chaffing of our clothing being the only sound. I keep my eyes focused on getting us to the cafeteria to meet the others as quickly as possible.
Chapter 3
Jesca
The facility is hospital-like in appearance. Not like the facility I was trained in. I notice a few cracks on the floor tiles as well as in the ceiling. The walls and ceiling were cement, giving them the appearance that this facility was older than the one I was accustomed to.
Xander leans closer to me as we walk. “This facility is part of the university above us.” Xander points up. “University of Kyoto’s Department of Physics.”
I nod at him and he tucks both of his hands in the pockets of his jeans and turns his gaze straight ahead down the low lit hall. It seems so...so...
Xander clears his throat. “Sterile, like a hospital. I noticed that too.”
I slow my pace and look over at Xander. “You heard what I was thinking.”
Still walking slowly by my side, Xander nods and looks down at the ground. “Yeah. I guess it is easier to hear the thoughts of someone you care about.”
I nod and look down the hall. “Yeah, I know what you are saying.”
Xander takes hold of my elbow gently and turns me to him. “Wait, you can hear mine too?”
His hand on my arm sends a electrifying current through me; one that I am becoming accustomed to. “Yeah, but not everything. It’s spotty.”
Not letting go of my elbow, Xander moves in closer. Why does he look worried? “Spotty like how? Could you hear my thoughts just now while we were walking?”
Jeez, what is he so worried about me hearing? “No, I couldn’t hear anything just then. Maybe it was because I wasn’t trying to listen. It makes it easier when you are wanting to know what the other person is thinking. Nate and I figured out that...”
Without letting me finish, Xander turns immediately and stalks away from me, mumbling under his breath, “Whatever.”
Xander punches a button on the wall and a set of double doors swing open. The sound of metal chairs screeching against tile and the team heading straight for us distracts me from my frustration with Xander’s reaction. As they swarm around me, asking questions simultaneously, Xander disappears into the crowd.
I am engulfed in embraces from Elisha, Nick, Jake, Monica, Angela, Luke, and Siobhan. Yeah, Siobhan hugging me was a surprise, being that she is always so tough-as-nails. When I glance beyond them I see Sebastian, Balthazar, and Xander talking with a few men and women I don’t recognize. They are all of Asian descent. They must be the Dobrian guardians of the facility we are in. Elisha catches me off guard, pulling me into another humongous embrace.
Nick moves in behind Elisha and gently pulls her back from me. He smiles softly. “She has been stalking your room for the past two days, Jes. Xander finally eased up long enough for her to leave clothes. She has been so worried. We all have.”
I look at the rest of the team and see the genuine worry and concern in their eyes. I clear my throat from the growing dryness. “I’m fine guys. Just a little thirsty.”
Jake moves away from the huddle they have formed. “I will get you some water.”
Being motherly, Elisha calls after him before he is out of sight. “Something to eat too. She must be starving.”
Jake waves his hand as he jogs off to the kitchen. “Got it.”
A baby’s whimper catches my attention. I look beyond Sebastian and Balthazar and see Siobhan holding a bundle in her arms, swaying back and forth. The horrific image of Michael Sanderson stabbing a woman holding a baby flashes in my mind; Balthazar’s wife and baby. Nate and I, we tried to save them both, but it was too late for his wife.
I move past the team and slowly walk over to Siobhan and the baby. Balthazar angles to stand next to Siobhan now and says, “Jesca, this is Marcus.”
I look up at Balthazar and the sadness in his eyes takes me back to the moment when he held his dying wife in his arms. I nod at him and look back at baby Marcus in Siobhan’s arms, not wanting to invade his sorrows any longer.
It is kind of shocking to see Siobhan be so nurturing. Not the harsh, combative mentor she has been pegged as. Marcus grunts and whimpers having been shifted from one set of warm arms to another as Siobhan places him in Balthazar’s. Before releasing him, she whispers, “He might still be tender.”
Tender? Before I can ask why, Xander does, “Tender? What happened to him?”
Balthazar lifts Marcus and carefully places him over his shoulder. He pulls Marcus’s blanket down, revealing the back of his neck and a faint, pink scar. He was implanted? Xander moves in closer, flashes of concern in his eyes. “When?”
Balthazar’s lowers his voice as he rocks back and forth, side to side, calming the baby. “As soon as we got to the facility. Miriam and I did not have a chance to implant him before I was sent away by Michael. Hindsight, it is a blessing he wasn’t implanted with a Sondian Copula. Removal of a Sondian Copula takes a toll on the body. Removal from an infant could be life threatening.” Balthazar’s pauses and a shadow of misery falls over him. “Miriam and I, we were colleagues. When we first met, I had just instituted the fellowship. She was introduced to me by a ... trusted colleague.” Balthazar’s lips thin momentarily before he continues. “She agreed to go to Sonde with the rest of our growing team. Miriam was a brilliant geneticist and I was thrilled to have her with us.”
Balthazar looks down and lightly rubs Marcus’s back. “We fell in love and secretly married in London on one of our return trips from Sonde. No one knew about us. She became pregnant and questions began to arise, especially from Michael Sanderson, then an executive board member. He wanted to know who the father was, if he was a Sondian or an average civilian. Miriam did not trust Michael or his reaction to our union if he discovered it. She told him that it was an average civilian and she didn’t plan on ever telling him.”
Balthazar looks at Sebastian with saddened eyes, then back at me. “Michael had taken control of many of the proceedings in regards to the fellowship and on Sonde, Miriam and I both agreed that she should ask him if she could be sent back to London for a safe delivery of the baby. Michael told her that it wasn’t possible and that she would need to deliver on Sonde. Not wanting to stir the waters with Michael and the rest of the fellowship, I told Miriam that we would find a way to get her out of there soon, but that we should wait until the baby was born. The baby had a safe delivery and when Miriam sent word, I went back to Sonde. That is the day I discovered how Michael had taken over the fellowship and turned it into something I never could have imagine. I had planned to bring Miriam and Marcus back with me that day, but they stopped me.”
Balthazar covers Marcus’s head with the blanket again and shifts him from his shoulder to his arms. I move closer to Balthazar, wanting to get a better look at Marcus. I try to ignore the feeling of Xander hovering close behind me, wanting to get a closer look at him as well. Balthazar whispers, “When I saw who you and Nate where chasing, Miriam in the woods and the bundle in her arms,” Balthazar pauses and lowers his head to kiss Marcus on the forehead, “I knew that she took the opportunity the intersection offered and traversed from Sonde to save herself and our son.”
I can’t help myself, wondering if he is human. Sebastian answers my thought. “When we got here, we immediately ran tests on him. DNA samples, EKG, EEG, and every other test we could to rule out that he was…” Sebastian clears his throat, “alien due to the environment in which he was born. When we cleared him, Balthazar did not want to wait on implantation any longer. He wanted Marcus to be protected.”
>
Balthazar looks at me. “He is a healthy, human boy thanks to you, Jesca.”
Nick chimes in, “Just baked extra fast, huh Marcus?” Leave it to Nick. I hear him call out, “Ouch! What, babe? I’m just joking!”
I hear Elisha chiding him in an audible whisper that it wasn’t the time.
Balthazar takes it in stride. “Yes, he did develop in-utero differently than a normal human pregnancy. We figure it had to do with the environment and properties of Sonde.”
I look up at Balthazar, rest my hand on his arm, and smile. “He is beautiful, Balthazar.”
Balthazar looks at me thoughtfully. “He looks like Miriam.”
I feel my heart clench and guilt burn within me. I couldn’t save her. “I’m sorry, Balthazar. If only I had gotten to her sooner…”
He looks down at Marcus, then back up at me. His voice quivers, “You saved my son, Jesca. I will always be grateful for that.”
Sebastian puts his hand on my shoulder. “Do you want to hold him, Jesca?”
I look at Marcus and see that he has settled back into sleep. I shake my head slowly, “I don’t want to wake him.”
Balthazar clears his throat and shifts him to the crook in his arms. “Oh, it takes a lot to wake up this kid during the day. Doesn’t it, Marcus? He is a night owl.”
Jake comes to stand behind Siobhan and holds out a bottle of water. I take it from his hand. “Yeah, Siobhan and I have night duty with this little dude.”
I’m greedy with the water bottle and drain the entire thing in seconds. Siobhan snickers, “Thirsty much?”
I put the lid back on the empty bottle and before I realize what he is doing, Balthazar is placing Marcus in my arms and grabbing the bottle from me. I make sure his head is resting in the crook of my arm.
Ascending the Veil Page 2
