by K T Munson
“I let Dimar fight you because dealing with me is a hundred times worse,” Diana hissed at him, completely blinded by her rage. “I’ll ask you only once. What did you do to Stella?”
He swallowed, his attitude lost to fear. “I enthralled her.”
“Undo it,” she commanded.
“I can’t,” he said with a clenched jaw. “It’s like a drug. It’ll wear off eventually.”
Diana’s fingers tightened caused him to cringe. “How long is eventually?”
“A week,” he said, swallowing. “Maybe more. She’ll go through withdrawals.”
Diana let go of him and stood, her eyes narrowed. “When I return to Earth next, if I see you anywhere near here, I’ll deal with you myself. Now get off my planet.”
Scrambling to his feet he ran away, holding a dislocated arm close to him. Diana turned around and started making her towards Stella’s car. “We’re taking her back,” Diana told him.
“You can’t tell anyone who you are,” Dimar reminded her. “No one except your advisor.”
“I didn’t tell her anything,” Diana retorted as she unlocked the car door. “She saw it herself. I can’t just leave her here after that.”
“Yes you can,” he said, came up beside her, “You just take her home and tell her it was all a dream.”
“She is going to go through withdrawals,” Diana said carefully, trying to make sure her voice didn’t break.
“He enthralled her?” Dimar said, suddenly concerned.
“Yes,” Diana said, stopping to yank open the door.
“You’re right, then, that we can’t leave her.” Dimar grimaced as he gathered Stella into his arms. Her friend looked so small in his arms, as though she might shrivel up and disappear. “She’ll crave him beyond reason. She’ll try to bribe her way to him with anything she’s got, even her body. Then, when she can’t be with him, she’ll try to kill herself.”
“That’s terrible!” Diana gasped as she slammed the door shut. Diana would make sure that didn’t happen.
“The Fae are the parasites of the universe,” Dimar explained, frowning, as they made their way towards the ship, “They lure men and women from every planet across all galaxies to their world and feed off their mortality so they might live forever.”
“How have they survived?” Diana said as the ship door closed behind them.
“They’re hard to kill,” Dimar explained. “They are out of sync with the rest of the universe—a little to the left. You’re the only thing they truly fear, but I don’t think even the Empress knows where they are. ”
“Is that why they seem to shimmer?” Diana probed as Dimar lay Stella down.
“Yes,” Dimar said as Kal Zed trotted down, “and to make them appear human or whatever species they are trying to enthrall.”
“What is this?” Kal Zed asked, coming into the room and seeing Stella unconscious.
“You missed some excitement,” Diana said bitterly. “And an overambitious bug.”
Chapter 35
“Don’t look at me like that,” Diana said to Kal Zed as they started to fly towards Melanie’s house.
“You are making more enemies then friends,” Kal Zed said. “And your friends are not powerful. They cannot protect you.”
“I can protect myself,” Diana reminded him. “I won’t abandon them because I’m some galactic Empress-to-be.”
“That is exactly why you should!” Kal Zed’s voice rose.
“The Fae don’t even fall within my ability to rule,” Diana shouted back. “They’re on a planet no one can get to.”
“You can,” he explained. “The Heart of the Cosmos cannot be stopped; it will not be stopped. The Empress has disciplined them before, but it has been a while. Much has gone unchecked in the Heart of the Cosmos’s absence. Without an Empress and the power of the bracelet, the universe is out of balance.”
“Oh,” Diana said, realizing how important an Empress really was. “Well, I sure disciplined one of them.”
“Diana?” Stella asked, sitting up in the little pod she’d been resting in.
Diana hurried over and took her hand. “I’m here.”
“Where am I?” she asked.
“Safe,” Diana assured her. “We’re on our way to Melanie’s.”
“Oh, okay,” she whispered. “Why am I so tired?”
“You fainted,” Diana said quickly. “It must have been from the heat.”
“Oh,” Stella said, licking her lips. “I’m glad you’re okay.”
“Rest,” Diana said as she gently pushed her back down. “I’ll wake you when we get there.”
“Okay,” Stella said, falling back asleep.
Diana tenderly pushed her hair back from her face until Stella was sleeping soundly. When she was certain her friend was asleep she quietly crept back over, sat next to Kal Zed, and studied Stella’s serene face for a moment.
“When will it start?” Diana asked, looking down at the cat. “When will she start going through withdrawals?”
“Tomorrow,” Kal Zed said, his tail switching around as he watched her.
“I couldn’t leave her,” Diana said. “You have to understand that I won’t change who I am for this thing.” Raising her arm she shook it. The bracelet sat dormant on her wrist, silently understanding that she had no intention of remaining. She knew, it knew, and no one else did. Kal Zed gave her a reproachful look but said nothing more.
“We’re here,” Dimar said as he walked to the back.
“Please carry her,” Diana said as the doors opened and she stepped out onto the grass.
The door opened and Melanie looked at her, surprised. Stella and Melanie weren’t close, but Melanie wouldn’t turn away someone in need. As Diana approached, she could smell the lilac tree. Butterflies danced around the flowers. There were two more condos connected to Melanie’s, but no one was home.
“What is it?” Melanie asked, pushing the screen door open and stepping onto the deck.
“It’s Stella,” Diana explained as she came to the bottom of the stairs that led into her house. “It’s a lot to explain.”
Melanie looked up as Dimar and Kal Zed approached. “Bring her inside.” Melanie held the door open as they entered and had Dimar bring Stella to her spare bedroom. Melanie kept staring, but neither Dimar nor Kal Zed seemed to notice. Diana glanced around and saw two suitcases open. Melanie came back out looking worried.
“I see you’re packing,” Diana said.
“I called my work and quit,” Melanie said, wrapping her arm around Diana’s waist.
“It’ll be dangerous,” Diana said without looking at her as she put her arm over her friend’s shoulder.
“And wonderful,” Melanie pointed out. “Sometimes something extraordinary comes at a risk. I’ll take that risk.”
Diana’s eyebrows furrowed. “If I had a sister,” she whispered, “I’d want her to be like you.”
“What are you talking about?” Melanie asked, nudging her, “We are sisters.”
<>
“Holy sh—” Melanie said as her mouth dropped open.
“It’s a lot, isn’t it?” Diana asked as they gazed down on Earth from space.
“You can say that again!” Melanie exclaimed. “I half expected you’d lost it, and I was just going along with a madwoman.”
“Thanks a lot!” Diana said, laughing.
“I am pleasantly surprised to find all my doubts were wrong,” Melanie all but squealed as she practically pressed her face against the glass.
“Come on, let’s get something to eat,” Diana said as the ship shot off into space.
Stella sat half chained to a chair, glaring. The restraints had become necessary after she’d tried to run away—three times. She would scream for Matt and beg him to come back. Apparently Faes used pleasure to enthrall their targets. So everything had become one giant sexual innuendo.
“I want something delicious,” Melanie said as Diana walked in front of the food synthesize
r. “Get me something delicious.”
Stella moaned and tried to pull herself free. She had been writhing in agony. “I can’t exactly throw myself,” Stella said in response to Melanie’s comment, her eyes on fire.
They both looked at her, and after a second Diana snorted in laughter. When they both stopped, Diana ordered them two sandwiches—ham, egg, and cheese on bagels. The little magic food-making machine, which looked like a microwave, started humming.
“This is too much,” Melanie said, wiping away a tear. “She’s going to love some of these crazy stories when this is all over.”
“It’s like crazy drinking stories,” Diana agreed with a laugh as she pulled Stella, chair and all, towards the closest room. “Embarrassing, but hilarious.”
“Come on, Di,” Stella pleaded as Diana maneuvered her down the hall. “Won’t you free me?”
“You look comfortable,” Diana retorted. Once Stella was inside she moved back to the threshold of the room.
“You sneaky tramp!” Stella snarled. “I should gouge your eyes out with a spoon. You bi—”
Diana closed the door to the room, and it snapped shut just in time. Diana could see Stella’s lips moving through the small window on the door but could hear nothing. Thankfully, most everything that was made by the Dracoon was soundproof. Diana didn’t like to think too hard about why Dracoons needed everything to be soundproofed nor did she actually want to know, just in case the reason was worse than anything in her imagination.
“I expect it’ll get worse before it gets better,” Melanie said with a sigh as the food machine dinged. Diana pulled out the two sandwiches before setting them down.
Diana sat and took a bite from her sandwich, nodding as she chewed. “It will probably take as long as he had her, give or take. A week at least, maybe more.”
Melanie gazed out the closed doors. “Sometimes I wonder if that could have been me.”
“No,” Diana declared. “He followed the scent of the bracelet, and it was strongest at our place.”
“Don’t go thinking this is your fault,” Melanie snapped, leaning forward on her elbows. “You didn’t know. Between the bracelet’s silence and learning things in piecemeal, how could have you known?”
“I knew aliens were descending on Earth looking for me,” Diana said, sighing. “I should have thought about them trying to track me down after I left.”
“You were a bit busy,” Melanie replied, smiling.
“True,” Diana agreed, aggravated as she flopped over on the table next to her plate, quite done for. “Sometimes I think I’m in a coma and this is all an elaborate reality I constructed to keep me from going crazy.”
“Do you think you could make me a little taller?” Melanie asked, looking down. “I’ve always wanted to be taller.”
“I imagine I would keep everything accurate.” Diana smiled despite herself.
“Darn,” Melanie exclaimed without true passion as she continued to eat her sandwich.
Kal Zed trotted up and sat down on the empty seat. “I believe we should leave Stella in Maura’s care.”
“Maura isn’t exactly caring,” Diana said. She sat back up to pick up a glass of water and take a sip.
“No, but she is deadly with that weapon of hers,” the cat pointed out. “Stella will try to do anything to get her way. Getting her hundreds of thousands of light years from home does not mean she’ll be any less determined.”
“Fair enough,” Diana said. “I want her on the planet at least.”
“I don’t know if I would advise that. The Emperor is there,” Kal Zed reminded her.
“The one who is in power, yes?” Melanie asked, leaning forward. “Who may not be inclined to give it up? Who may leverage a sick girl to get what he wants from Diana.”
Kal Zed gave her an appraising look before answering, “Yes.”
“If you both agree,” Diana said after a moment, “Stella will stay in orbit.”
When Dimar walked by he inspected their food. “What is that?”
“Ham, egg, and cheese on a bagel,” Diana answered, lifting it up. “Want some?”
His gaze narrowed. “I don’t know who decided eating an undeveloped offspring was a good idea, but they were desperate.”
“You don’t bat an eye at the ham, but the scrambled eggs bother you?” Melanie asked, giving him an astonished glance.
“We eat most of our food raw,” Dimar said. “Or when it’s still alive.”
Diana grimaced in disgust, but Melanie countered, “So you have a love of sushi. I’ve had sashimi where the lobster isn’t dead, and the only way to eat sea urchins is when they are alive. If you’re trying to intimidate me, good luck. My mother was half-Korean and half-Japanese.”
“Sushi?” he asked, confused. “Sashimi?”
“I’d love to try a Dracoon dish,” Melanie said with a half-smile. “If you’ll try some of mine. Don’t worry, I won’t make you have Sannakji—too many wiggling tentacles.”
Dimar gave a half smile. “I see why she is your friend,” he said, gesturing to Melanie.
As he turned to leave, Melanie called after him. “We have a deal?”
“Sure,” he said as walked the short path down the hall to the door of Stella’s temporary room.
“Hello,” Stella said, and Diana could hear the sweetness in her voice. “Would you be so kind as to untie me? I’ll make it worth your while.” By the end of her statement, her voice was dripping with seduction.
“We really should be recording this,” Melanie said with a laugh as she took another bite of her sandwich.
Chapter 36
“Is it really necessary to make this stop?” Kal Zed asked as she took in the metal planet that belonged to the Archive.
“Yes,” Diana said with a smile. “I promised I’d return. You stay here and keep an eye on everything. This is something I’ll do myself.”
“I don’t agree,” Dimar declared, coming to stand next to her. “But I understand.”
“The Archive won’t hurt me,” Diana reminded him as she left the ship and made her way across the metal world.
The doors to the planet’s lone building opened instantly and two women came out with the Caretaker right behind them. Very little had changed since she’d been there last the caretaker’s face was marred by a deep frown, but Diana didn’t hesitate.
“The Archive is resting,” the Caretaker informed her.
“I don’t have time to waste.” When Diana marched around them, they didn’t try to stop her; they knew better than that now.
“You have no dominion here,” the Caretaker insisted. “The Archive is sovereign.”
“I am not here to demand something as the Bearer, Caretaker,” Diana informed her as she threw the doors open. “I’m here for a personal visit only.”
“Wait,” the woman said, but Diana had already closed it.
The great room looked the way it had that one moment when she’d first visited. It was a plain metal room, dark and gloomy, not a fabricated warm study. Across the room was the Archive. Wires came down from the ceiling and were plugged into the boy. He was like a twelve-year-old, half-metal Pinocchio and the wires were his strings.
“Archie?” Diana called, creeping across the room. “Wake up?”
“Who is Archie?” he said, opening his eyes slowly.
“My name for you,” Diana said as he rubbed his organic eye.
When his eyes focused he gasped, and the room began to glimmer as the false room started to come into focus. “You cannot be here.”
“But I am,” Diana said, putting her hands on his shoulder. “You don’t need to hide behind a false face for me. I like you as you are.”
He gave her a mistrustful look, but the glimmerings stopped and the room remained the same. “Why are you here?” he asked suspiciously.
“I promised, didn’t I?” Diana reminded him as she straightened with a grin.
“You did,” he answered with a little half smile.
“I also brought a treat from home.” Reaching into the side of her coat she extracted a box. “Chocolates.”
“What do you want in return for them?” he asked, eyeballing them suspiciously.
“Nothing,” Diana said with a little sad curl of her lips. “That is what friends do.”
“I do not understand this concept,” the Archive said with a frown. “Though I can see it written, I do not comprehend.”
“You will,” Diana said, kneeling down to his level as she took his hand and set the little box in it. “I can’t stay, but I wanted to see that you were all right and thank you for your help last time.”
He shrugged uncomfortably. “You traded,” he mumbled.
“You told me more than I asked,” she reminded him. “Thank you, Archie.”
“Your initial terms were unfairly to my advantage,” he reminded her in turn. “The multiverse needs its Empress.”
“You didn’t have to do it,” she pointed out as she stood and dusted off her dress.
“Bearer?” he asked softly.
“Hmmm?” she asked, giving him her attention.
“Someone is trying to hurt you,” he whispered. She felt her eyes grow wide. “Be careful.”
Diana’s blood ran cold as she felt her hands tighten in her dress. Swallowing as much of her fear as she could she forced a smile on her face. It was painful for her to try not to focus on what her future might hold.
“I know,” Diana confirmed and bent down to kiss him on his cheek. “Thank you for the warning.”
Diana took carefully measured steps as she passed the glaring Caretaker and made her way back to the ship. When it opened, Dimar and Melanie were waiting with smiles, which fell as soon as they saw her face.
“What’s wrong?” Melanie asked, coming forward to draw her into the ship.
“Did something happen?” Dimar demanded, inspecting the metal landscape for answers.
Clinging to Melanie she looked at Dimar. “They’re trying it again like they did with Katali,” she whispered. She didn’t know who they were, but she knew they had to be responsible for Empress Katali’s death.
