Cosmic Trifecta

by Anna Lewis

  “I don’t know that either, Bridgette.” We go silent for a bit. She knows that something bigger is going on here, that something is off. “I love you, Bridge.”

  “I love you too, El. Wherever you’re going, with whomever, promise me you’ll be careful?”

  “Promise. Goodbye, Bridge.” A tear falls down my cheek.

  “Bye for now, El.”

  I hang up the phone and close my eyes. My life will never be the same again and I’m not fully ready for that. How can I be? My hands find my even bigger belly and I rub it, giving my love to my daughter. And then Zander is at my side, and he does the same.

  “She’ll be beautiful,” he says. And then he laughs, points to his face, and says, “I mean, with this father, how can she not be?”

  “I know.” I smile.

  “Ready to board?” Zander asks, grabbing my hand again. “Flight leaves soon.”

  We pass through security and board the plane with little trouble. After we take off, my bladder betrays me. I tell Zander and I head for the bathroom. I relieve myself. I open the door and standing there, in the same black suit as the others, is a man holding a gun at my head.

  “Follow me and don’t try anything funny,” he says. He leads me to the back of the plane into the kitchen. The flight attendants see the two of us, him with the gun against my back, me with fear clear on my face, and they continue on as if nothing is out of the ordinary. He pushes me against the metal fridge and points the gun at my head. “We’ll wait here until your friends come looking for you.”

  Another three hunters enter the kitchen, each one with gun in hand. Not even five minutes pass before Zander and Zacara both come sprinting into the trap. The three other men aim their guns at Zander and Zacara.

  “Great job, little one,” Zacara hisses.

  And then one of the men, the one aiming his gun at Zander, fires his gun. I scream, the same crazy loud scream that I did in the motel. Time seems to slow and then the bullet becomes an extension of me, like it’s another limb or something. I immediately steer the bullet away from Zander’s face and I will it into the neck of the man nearest me, and then into the heads of the other three men. Time resumes as normal and they all fall, lifeless.

  “Telekinesis?” Zacara says, kicking one of the men. “Haven’t seen that in a while.”

  “We have to get off this plane,” Zander says. “They’ll be waiting for us in bigger numbers at the airport.”

  “And what do you propose, genius?” Zacara says.

  Zander looks at me. “You’ve seen Stonehenge before, right?”

  I nod.

  “Zander, no. You’re crazy. It’s only a myth.”

  “What is she talking about?” I ask Zander, fear rising in my throat.

  “Some of the hybrids can teleport. It hasn’t happened in thousands of years, but from what I’ve seen of you and our daughter, I think she can do it, which means that while she’s in you, so can you.”

  “I can’t do that, Zander. There’s no way.”

  “For our daughter you can. Think of Stonehenge, Eliana. Close your eyes and do it, quick. Think of being safe and being there, all three of us. Erase all other thoughts, only Stonehenge.”

  I close my eyes and I think of being safe, but I don’t see Stonehenge, I see my living room back home. I try to push my apartment out of my mind and replace it with Stonehenge, but it’s hard. “Okay, now what?”

  “Open your eyes,” Zander says and I do. Zander is pointing a gun at my head and then he fires.

  And then a blinding light floods my eyes. I’m weightless, spinning through empty space. I feel as if I’m freefalling through heaven. And then I crash onto a hard surface. I open my eyes just as a loud scream erupts into the air.

  Bridgette, sitting with a bowl of popcorn on my couch, stares at me with wide eyes. “Where the hell did you come from?!”

  I’m back in New Jersey, in my apartment. I’m so amazed at what I just accomplished that I forget that I was supposed to go to Stonehenge for a moment.

  “You just can’t do anything right, can you?” I hear Zacara say behind me.

  I turn to see her and Zander sitting on the floor, rubbing their elbows.

  “It’s okay,” Zander says, standing. “We can try again now that we know you can do it.”

  “That was amazing,” I say. “Like a dream.”

  “Yeah, I’m feeling like I’m in a dream too right about now.” Bridgette drops the popcorn and helps me up from the floor. “You’ve got major explaining to do.”

  “I will—”

  “What is that?” Zacara says. She turns to Zander and says, “Do you hear that?”

  He nods and walks toward the kitchen. We all follow. He puts his ear up to a drawer and knocks on it. “I think it’s coming from here.”

  “What is? I don’t hear anything,” I say.

  “A beeping,” Zacara says. “Beep, beep, beep.”

  Zander opens the drawer and then turns toward me. Behind him, fire and debris fill the air. A bomb. A bomb was in the kitchen drawer, waiting to be triggered. And then I’m amazed at how slow time is moving again for me. Zander is midair, jumping to shield me. I turn to see Bridgette just now closing her eyes. Zacara, who’s reflexes are more updated than Bridgette’s is already turned toward the kitchen door. We won’t make it; I know that somehow. My baby won’t survive. This bomb will be the end of all of us if I don’t do something about it. Stonehenge, Stonehenge, Stonehenge, I repeat over and over in my mind. And then I’m in a freefall again, this time I close my eyes, but the light still reaches me.

  I smack against damp grass. I open my eyes to a view of the sun from a thousand miles from where I just stood. I sit up, brushing the grass off my hands, and I see a massive stone in front of me. I look around and there are others just like it.

  Bridgette is next to me, coughing grass out of her mouth. She looks around and screams again. “How the hell are we here!”

  Zacara, somehow, looks perfect as she walks toward the rock in front of me. My eyes find Zander, lying face down in the grass. I run over to him, ignoring Bridgette’s frantic screams. I drop down to my knees and turn him over. He’s smiling up at me and then he sticks his tongue out.

  “Got ya,” he says. I punch him in the arm and we stand together. Bridgette grabs my arm and spins me to face her.

  “Tell me right now what the hell is going on!” she screams before falling into my arms. Zacara is behind her, smiling.

  “What did you do to her?” I say, laying her in the grass.

  “She’ll wake up soon enough. I got tired of her screaming,” Zacara says nonchalantly.

  In that moment, I want so badly to break her face.

  “Don’t be such a bitch,” Zander says to her, shoving her back hard. Her face speaks of utter betrayal.

  “Did you just push me over this pesky human girl?” Zacara asks, incredulous. She then looks at me. “No, you pushed me over this pesky human. You actually love her, don’t you? That’s why you kept her awake?”

  “Not now, Zacara, please.”

  “No, it’s time to end this charade,” Zacara says, a malicious smile forming on her face. “I’m telling her everything.”

  ***

  “Please no,” Zander says, grabbing my hand. “Don’t do this.”

  “I don’t know what he told you, sweetheart, but your baby isn’t going to be royalty. She’s going to be a warrior, a pawn in our game of war. She probably won’t live to see her fifth birthday.”

  I snatch my hand away from Zander’s. “What the hell is she talking about?”

  He stares at the grass.

  “That’s not it,” Zacara says, clearly enjoying the show. “When your baby is born, we’ll have no further use for you. We’ll off you like your kind does with roaches.”

  “Shut up!” Zander yells. “I won’t let anyone lay one single hand on her or my daughter.”

  Zacara looks as if she’s been slapped in the face. She reddens and charges. Sh
e takes three great bounds and leaps for me, only to be smacked down by Zander. He grabs her by the neck and lifts her up. She kicks him in his chest and does a complete backflip before landing on the ground. She turns on me and rushes me. When she’s only inches away, she’s pulled back by Zander, who slams her hard on the ground. With one easy twist, he breaks her neck.

  “Did you kill her?”

  “We don’t die that easily,” Zander says, standing. “She’s just out for now.”

  I walk up to him and slap him clear across the face. “How dare you lie to me?! War, Zander? My daughter is going to be a warrior?”

  “Eliana, just like all the times before, you have to listen to me. Yes, my world is at war, and yes, the others have been creating an army, but I don’t plan for our daughter to be a part of that. My family is a part of a secret group called the Trinity. There are seven kingdoms of Hark, and they’re on the brink of war. But my kingdom and two others plan to end the wars before they start, return our people to peace. Our daughter will only make this peace come easier. She’s a part of our grand plan, but not as a pawn, but as a peace-making tool. Zacara’s kingdom is allied with my own, but they aren’t part of the Trinity. She wants to obliterate our enemies. I know this doesn’t make any sense right now, but I will explain it all later. Right now, we have to leave.”

  “Why didn’t you tell me all of this before?” I say, refusing to let the tears fall again. “And what did she mean that’s why you kept me awake?”

  “I didn’t tell you because it’s not an easy thing to hear. What I told isn’t a lie, the hybrids are our teachers and healers, but most of the kingdoms want to use the new generation as warriors.” Zander pauses and grabs my hand. To my surprise, I don’t pull away. “I was supposed to impregnate a human woman and then put her into a deep sleep until she was ready to deliver. After the baby was born, I was instructed to kill her.”

  “Deep sleep?”

  “They want to prevent this,” Zander says, pointing from himself to me. “No attachments. My people don’t have a very high regard for human life. But like I said, I fell in love with you and I couldn’t do that to you. And now they’re calling us back because conditions are too dangerous. Most of my fleet has already left, their women still frozen in deep sleep.”

  “Is she pregnant?” I say, pointing at Zacara.

  “Yeah, but she doesn’t really act like it.”

  “So what, I fly away with you to your planet and then I give birth only to die after?”

  “I won’t let anyone lay a hand on you. I’m the future king of my kingdom, I call the shots. You’ll be safe with me.”

  “And the other women?”

  “I’ll do what I can to protect them too.”

  “Why can’t I help but believe you?” I ask, leaning toward him.

  “Like I said,” Zander kisses me. “It’s just my charm.”

  He turns, walks over to the nearest stone, and punches it. A square piece of the rock is pressed in, like a button, and a loud crash sounds from underground. The ground on which we stand spits in two, separating us from the other half of the circle. A large hole is uncovered. From that hole, the most intricate craft floats out. It’s about the size of six school buses arranged in a rectangle. It’s covered in a material that looks a lot like chrome, making it almost invisible. It hovers high above our heads, and to my surprise, there aren’t any jets of fire protruding from its belly.

  I can’t help but smile. I truly wish my dad were here to see this. “How is it flying?”

  “There are so many things that I can tell you on our eight-month trip back, love. But first, to ensure your safety,” Zander gets down on one knee and pulls out the biggest jewel that I’ve ever seen. It’s a blue color, almost as pale as the sky. It’s a ring. “Will you marry me?”

  THE END

  Epilogue

  Two Months Later

  Zander and I have been spending most of our time inside each other’s minds with the rod device, which I now know is called a Gaxer. I’ve learned more about him through his memories than I have with anyone else in my entire lifetime. I feel so close to him and yet almost every night, I crave to get closer.

  I’ve also learned a good amount about Hark: the politics, the ruling families, and even about Zander’s past lovers. He wants to show me all around the planet through his mind, but I want to see it through my own eyes, make my own memories there. With him.

  Zacara and Bridgette are both in deep sleep. We plan on waking Bridgette soon. She’s going to freak and that’s why we haven’t done it yet. We’re enjoying our time together, just the two of us. Well, and our rapidly growing baby. Our daughter is just two months away from being born. With each passing day, my belly grows noticeably bigger. In normal pregnancies, the change is so gradual that it’s almost imperceptible on a day to day basis, but I notice it all.

  Zander and I are in my mind right now. We’re standing in the backyard of my old childhood home. The sky is dark and a thousand stars twinkle above. Through sliding glass doors, I can see my father sitting at the kitchen table, book sprawled in front of him. He looks exactly as I remember him, which makes sense considering we’re in my mind. I’m against talking to him, but I can live with just looking. Zander and I have been in this memory about twenty times now, and yet he doesn’t seem to mind.

  I look to Zander and say, “My dad is by far the most interesting person I’ve ever met. Yes, even more interesting than you, alien boy.”

  Zander laughs. “If he’s half as interesting as you, I’m sure he’s amazing.”

  “I love you,” I say, taking his hand in mine.

  “I love you too, Eliana,” Zander says, pulling me into him. He goes in for the kiss, but I put my fingers to his lips.

  “My father’s watching,” I say with a smile. “My father is extremely nice, but he’s also very protective.”

  “Then I guess you have two men to protect you then,” Zander says, and he kisses me.

  “Forever?”

  “Forever.”

  We stand there in my backyard for what feels like hours, kissing for all the universe to see.

  THE END

  = Bonus Book 19 of 20 =

  Learning with the Dragons

  It wasn't Linne's first time being in Professor Halthorne's class, but it was her first time entering as a teacher's assistant. A little trepidatious, but willing to overlook the butterflies in her stomach and help others work on the subject matter that meant so much to her was what was important. She was a young woman in her mid-twenties with straight black hair and bright eyes. She was lithe and lean with a small frame and not much in the way of curves.

  She used her slim body to squeeze past groups of students and, with her laptop case in hand, she set to work getting comfortable in the back of the class, a place she had always noticed other teachers' assistants positioned in. She opened up her computer and set to work.

  A young man with shaggy blonde hair and brilliant green eyes sat down next to her and looked to Linne to ask, "You're the TA?"

  She nodded and closed her laptop to give him her full attention. Something about him caught her off guard as she focused on him fully. She realized her breath was caught and she hadn't inhaled before laying eyes on him as he spoke and she inhaled sharply as his words came out.

  "I may be able to help with your workload. This is my last semester here before I graduate. I'm on track to have a job with the biggest tech developer in the state and I know my way around. I'm Riley."

  "Riley," Linne said, breathing somewhat normally again. "It is very nice to meet you. I could certainly use your help. This is my first time doing this sort of thing. I want to do right by Halthorne."

  "Is he cool?" Riley asked.

  Linne smiled, nodding, "Very."

  "That's good, I'd hate to have a terrible teacher and receive bad marks or some such," Riley told Linne as she looked to the front of the room as the door had opened.

  "Let's get going," Professor H
althorne said after he had set his own laptop on the table in front of the white board.

  "Talk to you later," Riley said, running a hand through his blonde hair and smiling before turning around.

  Halthorne wrote out his name, then underlined it. "That's who I am. Now, who are you? Why are you here with us today? You want to get into tech developing. If you didn't, you wouldn't be here. We're going to go around the class and get to know each other."

  And that is what they did. They went around the room, one row at a time, until they had gotten to the back of the room to Riley and Linne, the last ones to state their name and a little about themselves.

  "Hi, I'm Riley," the blond said, then chuckled. "I guess it's my turn? I am getting into tech because I love using tech and I love to figure out even more how it works and what other people can do with it. I guess that's it."

  "Well put," Halthorne said.

  It was Linne's turn and she said, "Hi all! I'm Linne."

  "Ah, this is Ms. Barsthed. She is our TA this year and the best I could wish upon you kind folks. She'll be here and in my office to answer any questions you may have. Think of her as the liaison between you and a better grade," the professor said.

  "Thank you, Professor Halthorne. You're too kind to me," Linne said to him, then to the class spoke. "Yes, you can come to me with any questions you may have. This is a really fun class and you have a fun professor for it!"

  "Eloquent, as always," Professor Halthorne said with a smile.

  "Thank you, again," Linne said as she nodded to the class. "And thanks to all of you for taking this class!"

  The professor nodded in agreement and went on to the syllabus with the rest of the class, then over the textbook and requirements of the class beyond what the syllabus offered. The class ended and Riley turned to Linne and lifted his blonde brows on his lightly freckled face.

  He asked, "What are you doing after this?"

  Linne looked at her phone, seeing the time and calculating just how much time she had until she had to start on a project for work.