Copula Chronicles: The Complete Collection: Origin, Descend, Ascend, Legacy

by Venessa Kimball

“Oh, hello! So nice to meet you.”

  Corinna is beaming as she shakes his hand, I’m still angled away from him when he asks, “And who’s our friend?”

  Corinna gives me that ‘make nice’ look then says, “This is Jesca Sera.”

  As I look over my shoulder at him, I catch a glimpse of the guy coming up behind him. Xander?

  As Sam starts to speak and extends his hand to me, my brain slowly kicks into gear as I focus on the man I’m here to see.

  “Jesca Sera. What a beautiful name.”

  The moment his hand touches mine, I feel my skin crawl, my stomach knot up, and the complacent humming vibration that’s stuck with me for days picks up an octave. I try to pull back, but he holds it firmly in place. “It’s so nice to meet you. Here, let me introduce you to my right-hand, my son Xander Crest.”

  His what? His son? I pull my hand back from Sam as he makes room for Xander between him and Corinna. Sam beams from ear to ear as he speaks to Corinna. “You met my son the other day, I hear?”

  I can feel Xander’s gaze on me, but I don’t dare look at him. If I do, I’ll completely lose it. Did he know who I was when he walked into the bookstore that day? The entire time we talked while having coffee? I feel like I’ve been blind-sided and I need to digest the shockwave of having been betrayed by Xander while keeping this sadistic bastard Sam from triggering the fucking apocalypse.

  Corinna leans over to put her arm around Xander. “Hey, good to see you again.”

  She looks over at me and mouths the words ‘This is him.”

  Shit, Mr. Hottie was Xander. Unbelievable. I’m able to look at him now that my bitterness for him has reached epic proportions. She smiles brightly up at him while he holds no expression for her as he stares seemingly shocked from my being here.

  Sam interrupts my curling thoughts and urges to punch Xander in the teeth. “Hey, Corinna, will you join me downstairs. I’m famished and would love you to do the honor of picking out some appetizers for us. Our chef is extraordinary.”

  Corinna is mesmerized by Sam’s request. “Of course, Mr. Crest.”

  She glances at me before I can suggest she stay here. “I’ll be back with something good.” I close my eyes, feeling the bile rise in my throat as she gets up. I tighten my fists under the table as Corinna walked away with Samson Crest by her side. I can’t let her go. This was a bad idea. Now Xander is here and this shit storm just got a whole lot worse. I stand up and start past Xander, when he captures my arm and pulls me to him. “Wait.”

  As soon as his touch registers, I’m back in the bookstore seeing him for the first time. My breath quickens as I try to break through the haze I’m in. “Wait for what? For you to tell me you’re part of this shit Sam is involved in? Abductions?”

  Suddenly, Xander pulls me flush to him. I try to pull back but he’s stronger than me. He cups the side of my cheek and leaning closer he whispers in my ear, grazing it with his lips. “Don’t do anything! They’re watching us. They won’t just kill you, they’ll kill me all of these people.”

  I shift under his hold, but it does nothing as I gnash my teeth. “Why would they kill you? You’re a Sondian.”

  His grip loosens, but only for a second. Not long enough for me to wiggle free. “I don’t even know what the hell that is Jesca.”

  Looking into his eyes, I see the reflection of home, safety, and the feeling of some truth. But what truth? To what extent?

  The flashing blue and green strobe lights color our skin as the music down shifts, then pulses. “This invitation for Corinna. It was Sam’s doing. He knew you were coming Jesca! If I had known, I’d never have let you or her come. I was just his fucking messenger.

  As I study his face, all the sound slowly fades as I hear him think. “Please believe me Jes. I didn’t know about any of this until twenty minutes ago.”

  Before I can react to hearing Xander’s thoughts, the humming vibration suddenly spikes in my head sending everything spinning. I start to sway, but Xander holds me close. “What’s going on Jes. Are you okay?”

  “Jesca.”

  Corinna’s voice over powers the mind-numbing hum pounding in my ears. My heart jumps as soon as I sense her fear. She’s in trouble. I pull Xander to me and try to speak but it comes out breathless and weak. “Where’s he taking her?”

  “What?”

  He doesn’t understand. I blink my eyes trying to steady my vision as I move away from him to the railing to look below for her over the sea of dancers. Scanning the dance floor, I catch a glimpse of her scarlet hair at the door. Sam is by her side holding her close to him as she looks around and waivers on her feet. I swear I can hear her quickening breath and racing heart in my mind.

  Xander comes to my side. “What the fuck is going on Jesca?”

  Quickly, Xander is pulling me to him and by the time I gain my footing we’re down the stairs and slinking through the sea of moving bodies. In a flash, we’re at the front door of the club, but Sam and Corinna are gone. Their whereabouts are paramount, but I want to know how the hell we just came down a flight of stairs and to the front door of the club through all those people without using my gift of speed. I stare at Xander as he pulls me toward the entrance to the club. “Damn that son of a bitch!”

  As soon as we’re out of the crowd, the sound of screeching tires has Xander letting me go and running along side of a silver Porsche until it fires its engine and races off.

  Without wasting a second, Xander jogs back over to me and flags down the valet. As soon as he’s to us, Xander tells him to get his car. I study Xander’s face. It’s gone pale as a ghost. He looks up into the sky, trying to catch his breath. “I know where he’s taking her. Club Meridian.”

  Xander shifts gears and weaves through traffic as he unhinges and confesses everything that’s happened. “Sam has had us working for this investor, Balthazar Onoch. He’s been using me to invite people to the club.”

  For the first time tonight, in the silence of the car, I feel his emotion, his pain, his hate, and the betrayal by Sam.

  Xander hits the steering wheel. “He’s sending them through a portal to another world, Sonde. They’re implanted with this thing. A Copula. They’re being used Jesca. Like slaves. God, I’m so sorry. I had no idea he was doing any of this.”

  He swerves in and out of traffic, driving faster. “All I was to him was a tool. An instrument.”

  Cautiously, I place my hand on his shoulder. My attempt at calming him is short-lived when he hits the steering wheel with his hand once more. “Damn it!”

  CHAPTER 22: THE PARTNER

  Jesca

  Xander pulls into a parking lot across from Club Meridian. Sam’s car is parked in the front of the club. As we both walk toward the front entrance, two people I didn’t expect to see block our path. Ezra and Nate. Before I can say anything, Nate is pulling me to him, while Ezra is holding Xander at bay. The same look Xander gave me at the bookstore crosses his face as he stares at Ezra.

  Quickly, Xander holds onto my arm and walks me out of the middle of the sidewalk as Ezra and Nate follow. As soon as we’re hidden in a side alley, I push off of Nate and hit him in the chest for good measure. “What the hell are you doing here?”

  Xander scoffs, “Ezra Kahn.”

  He knows him?

  Xander glares over at Nate. “And sidekick.”

  Nate starts toward Xander and Ezra steps in between them as I quickly speak. “Sam Crest has Corinna. He’s going to kill her if we don’t stop him! So will you cut the macho bullshit!”

  My voice cracks a little as I speak again directly at Ezra. “I can’t let her die.”

  Ezra thinks quickly. “We aren’t prepared. I told you we needed to wait.” “Well we don’t have time to wait! All we have is now!”

  I don’t wait for any of them to make up their fucking minds as I use my energy to ‘jump’
from the alley into the club. As soon as I’m in, three doormen rush me. Within moments of their grasps, they stop and walk away. What the hell?

  The doors to the club suddenly open, Ezra leading Xander and Nate on either side of him as he says, “Gotta love Ushering.”

  Xander, Ezra and Nate are close behind me as the crowd parts with every compulsion Ezra and I combined send their way. All of a sudden, I hear Corinna’s whimper echo in my head.

  “In the back Jesca. Help me.”

  “She’s in the back room.”

  As I run straight for the back of the club, two black suits block my path toward the hallway. I charge the two, striking one dead center in the nose, sending him back against the wall. Nate is on him instantly, taking him out with a quick snap of the neck. The other suit grabs me by the neck, but I twist out of it and plant a kick straight to his chest, sending him into the wall behind him. I’m about to go at him again when Ezra bypasses me, takes out a handgun and shoots him in the head.

  When all appears clear in front of us, I make a dead run straight for the hall ahead. Every part of me senses her and I’m blind to anything that’ll try to stop me from getting there. As soon as I clear the first double door, four more guys pour out from them with guns ready to take me down. Shit!

  “We’ve got you Jes.”

  As quick as Nate sends me his thoughts, I glance back at the swarm of gunmen being picked off one at a time by Nate, Xander and Ezra. The three of them step over the bodies and follow as I rush the door straight ahead, kicking it open with the expectation of seeing Corinna, but being greeted by three more of Sam’s men. They’re on me in a matter of seconds. I take one to the gut that topples me over and as I start to rise, I realize I’m staring down the barrel of a semi-automatic. The quick fire has me flinching, expecting this to be my game over, when the bearer of the gun drops to the ground. Two more shots and the other two are down. Nate walks passed me deeper into the loft-like area while Ezra helps me up. Gripping my side, I move into the loft. Nate is already walking toward us, his gun ready. “She’s not here.”

  I glare at him as I walk passed. “She was just here. I felt her.”

  The only sounds in the loft are the wind whipping the curtains and setting them adrift toward the ceiling and the echo of the ocean waves crashing in the distance.

  Nate’s words are another jab that we’re too late. “She isn’t here Ezra. We should get Jesca out of here.”

  “Not until we find her!” I yell.

  I take the metal stairs to the second floor of the loft to do my own fucking search. I heard her. She was here. As the upper level comes into view, the signs of a struggle unfold: toppled over lamp, rumpled sheets, blood stained bedding, restraints, an empty vile and syringe.

  I feel my throat constrict as I move closer to the scene unraveling before me.

  I hear multiple sets of feet coming up the stairs and Xander’s voice. “Jesca?”

  I stand frozen staring at the blood, debating if I dare touch it to see if it’s wet or dry, cold to the touch or warm and fresh. I start to reach for it and plead for it not to be warm and wet.

  “Jesca!”

  Suddenly my hand is grabbed and pulled into the body that envelopes me. It’s Ezra. His thoughts are apparent to me as they come freely. “He knew we’d come here. He sedated her here, but took her somewhere else.”

  The shift of a door in the corner of the room sets me on guard instantly. It came from the first floor. I pull away from Ezra’s arms and run as hard as my legs will take me down the metal staircase. My mind tells me ‘back door’ and immediately I’m heading down a hall with Ezra, Nate and Xander running behind me. The rev of an engine, the burst of the motor, and the rear lights of a silver Porsche gunning it down the strip are all I catch as Corinna slips through my fingers. My heart sinks as I release a trembling whisper, “No.”

  I don’t know why I go back up to the place she struggled. The guys hang back and let me stand there. I step closer to the bed and I hear Ezra caution me, “Jes.”

  I turn my head to him, but don’t look at him directly. “Let me do this. Please.”

  I take the final two steps and stand over the rumpled sheets and the bloodstain. I notice something shine in the crease of the fabric. I reach down and pick it up. Tears cloud my vision as I hold up Corinna’s bracelet. Before we came tonight, she told me her sister had given it to her. I wipe my eyes on the sleeve of my shirt and carefully place the keepsake in the front pocket of my pants. I can’t believe she’s gone. Footsteps come to rest next to me. The moment I feel Xander’s hand touch my shoulder, all the rage and pain I’m holding in releases. I flip him and his back and pin him to the ground. “Jesca! Stop!”

  Ezra’s pleas are meaningless as I push my forearm against his windpipe. Xander doesn’t fight back as he wheezes raggedly. “I won’t fight you Jes. Anything you do to me, I accept! This is my fault and I’m sorry! I’m so sorry!”

  I feel the hot tears flowing from my eyes as I push down harder on his airway. All of a sudden, I’m being pried from Xander and lifted away! I fight and kick to get free, but the strong arms holding me don’t give in. “This is all Sam Jes. Xander was just the pawn. He didn’t know.” Ezra’s heated words are true but have little effect. No revenge. No justice.

  I release all of my anger in a full on cry. As I sob, I lament and rage. “I did this! I knew Sam would be at that club! Corinna wanted to go and I knew he’d be there! I let her fall right in! Xander didn’t do this! I did this! It’s my fucking fault she’s gone!”

  I drop to my knees and let my body fold in, unable to do anything else but cower. I have failed. I’m supposed to protect and I have put someone I cared about in harm’s way. How can I be trusted as a Guardian?

  I feel the same strong arms that pulled me off of Xander, gently lift me up to stand. I notice Xander staggering to the back door. “I need to go.”

  “Hey! Where are you going? Ezra!”

  Nate’s voice sends Xander into a full on run out the back door. Nate starts after him, when Ezra calls, “Nate, let him go. Just let him go. Let him learn who he is and who he’ll need to become.”

  Ezra’s cryptic words run through my head. Let him go. “Let go, become who you need to be” repeatedly as the numbness that rests on the coattails of breaking down takes hold.

  CHAPTER 23: MISFIT

  Xander

  Speeding through the gate, I can’t get to the house fast enough as I weave in and around the streets of our hilltop residence. And as I pull into the circular drive, my focus is on Sam’s car parked just in front of me as I get out and rush through the front door. “Sam!”

  I dart and sprint from room to room, hunting him. I know he’s here, I can feel him like he’s breathing down my neck. My skin crawls spurring me to move quicker, look harder when suddenly a thought is the singular focus in my head. ‘The basement’

  The speed I possessed at the club earlier is back in full force as I soar down the stairs, my intent to obliterate the door, when Sam steps out and shuts the door behind him. I stop myself from running straight through him as he dusts his hands off. “Xander, I didn’t expect you home.”

  Without a second thought, I take hold of his shirt, swing him around and pin him against the wall. “What the fuck did you do with her?”

  My voice trembles with rage and it’s all I have to talk myself down from beating him to a bloody pulp right now.

  Sam’s surprise is short-lived as he grabs my shoulders and pushes me up against the wall behind me. I knew he was strong, but never stronger than me as I try to push him off of me. Sam turns his head to reveal a huge gash across his cheek. “That bitch put up a fight. Fucking redheads! So feisty!”

  Maniacally his eyes narrow as he gnashes his teeth as he tosses me like sack of potatoes against the wall behind him. I expect hitting the wall and landing flat on my face should dis
orient me, but not a second goes by as I rebound off the floor and backhand Sam making him stumble back, then land a punch to his fucking jaw. I’ve gotten in a brawl or two. I should have this one in the bag, but Sam’s ability to stand in front of me and angle his head back to me after my jaw breaking punch is unnatural even if the blood dripping from his lip isn’t. “That’s the spirit. You’ve always been a fighter Xander.”

  Shocked by Sam’s resilience, I step back ready for anything from this bastard. “I’m fucking out of here! Tonight! I want nothing to do with you! Nothing to do with this shit! Do you understand?”

  I start to walk away when Sam starts to laugh like a fucking lunatic. I shake my head as I start to climb the stairs. Suddenly, his laughter dies. “I saved you, Xander. You’ve nowhere to go! You were nothing! A scrawny ass kid with no future! And now you’re walking away from what’s being handed to you?”

  I turn to him expecting the distance to remain between us, but he’s standing at the foot of the stairs piercing me with his crazed grey eyes. “Being a misfit in the world without a guide is too dangerous for someone like you. Believe me, I have seen it. I have been there.”

  Those words would’ve made me sick to my stomach if I weren’t already numbing myself to everything that leaves Sam’s mouth. “You haven’t been where I have.”

  I stare into his frenzied and unnerving eyes once more, before I ascend the stairs, and get the hell out of there.

  CHAPTER 24: THE LAMB

  Sam

  Balthazar looks at me silently as he sits in the chair opposite the fireplace, his hands folded neatly on his lap. “It’s time to show him what power he has within him. Show him who he is. And now I see he’s left? Where’s he gone?”

  This is a lucid dream I didn’t evoke. Balthazar called this one as soon as he discovered Xander left. “I can’t get a read on him.”

  Balthazar rises quickly and starts to pace. “I can’t either.”

  “He’ll come back. He’s too loyal to turn his back so quickly. He just needs time.”