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

by Venessa Kimball

  I look at Ezra and see worry in his eyes as he says, “Just please be guarded, Sebastian.”

  I nod, clear my throat , and shift the subject. “You have been briefed on the additional guardian you need to acquire as well as Sam and Corinna’s whereabouts.”

  Ezra is taken aback by the shift in conversation and the mention of Corinna. “I was briefed on the intelligence about Sam two days ago, but not Corinna.”

  He doesn’t know that she survived. “After the abduction, Corinna was spared. She has been seen in Tokyo with Sam.”

  I can see Ezra trying to work through what Sam’s ulterior motive is. I have considered his motive and I fear the worst. “I’m positive they have altered her Copula. She isn’t the same girl Jesca once knew.”

  Ezra nods knowing that he’s going to bear that news along with the other. He breathes out deeply before saying, “I plan to brief Jesca and Nate about leaving to acquire the guardian this morning.”

  Ezra pauses, then says, “I’ve been thinking about this guardian we need to acquire. After what went down in Miami with Sam taking Corinna then Xander fleeing––I need to find him. The night he fought by Nate’s and my side––his abilities are surfacing Sebastian. Even though Sam has raised him, Xander has no loyalty to him. Have you any information on where he could be? He needs to learn about who he really is––his being a part of our fellowship, a Sera by blood..”

  Ezra rakes his hand through his hair and I feel the pang of guilt he’s trying to keep hidden. “I let him get away once. I can’t let him get away again.”

  I respond, “Well then, I guess it’s a good thing the fellow guardian you need to retrieve is Alexander.”

  My disclosure is a revelation as Ezra brightens.

  “He’s in the Appalachian Mountains. He leased a cabin under an alias—Chris Henson. He remains out of sight, only venturing out for necessities. It wouldn’t surprise me if Sam has tried to get back in his good graces through lucid dreaming. I will get the details of his exact location to you this morning.”

  The atmosphere around us begins to brighten as I end our projected dream together. I watch as Ezra closes his eyes tightly, shielding them from the light.

  ***

  CHAPTER 5: ALLY

  Jesca

  Ezra looks at me, and then he glances at Nate. “I received Xander’s exact location this morning before I came to wake you, Jesca. We leave tomorrow.”

  Nate stands abruptly, grabs his bowl and heads to the kitchen sink. I lower my gaze to the table as I read Nate’s emotions––jealousy and anger. He drops the bowl into the sink as he flips on the water faucet. Tossing the spoon, he rinses that off too before slamming the water faucet off.

  Ezra reads Nate’s frustration loud and clear. “No matter how much you don’t trust him, Nate, Xander chose to protect Jesca the night Corinna was abducted by Sam. He didn’t help Sam. He knew that it was wrong because he isn’t a Sondian, Nate! He is a Dobrian and your cousin!”

  Nate leans against the countertop for support as he throws his arms up. “I don’t even know him, Ezra! Where has he been? Why have my parents not talked about my aunt, my uncle or him before?”

  Nate turns around, rubbing his face in frustration. “I’m sorry if I’m not very open-minded about meeting him again. If you recall, we really didn’t hit it off too well the first time we met.”

  He was right. Xander and I followed Sam and Corinna to Club Meridian. We were trying to get to them before Sam could send her through the wormhole to Balthazar.

  Ezra interjects, “Xander cannot be out there in the world, thinking he’s part of a fellowship that promoted the abductions in Miami. We cannot turn our backs on one of our own.”

  I move my hand to the base of my neck to relieve the tension building within me, remembering how things ended between Xander and me. That night, I hoped that we would cross paths again because the feelings Xander stirred in me could not be for nothing. There was something there no matter how much I denied it. Now, we are about to cross paths again—as allies. I glance up at Nate just as his eyes dart to me. I’m sure he’s thinking the same thing as I am. I don’t try to pry into his head though. I absentmindedly feel for anything superficial under the skin, running my fingers over what I think is a small lump below my hairline. The Copula.

  Ezra senses my movement to my neck and mumbles, “The second-generation Copula is so slender that it’s unlikely for you to feel anything from the surface of your skin.”

  I shift away from Nate and back to Ezra. “Was my link with Nate predetermined through our Copulas?”

  “Yes and no.”

  Nate and I both warn Ezra with his vague answer. “Ezra!”

  Nate comes back to the table and sits down next to me, ready to pounce on Ezra if he avoids another direct question. He waves at us to calm down. “Hold on, hold on. Yes, it was determined that you would be linked to another, but the specific person wasn’t determined. That’s left to fate. Like I told you before, your abilities needed to complement each other in order for the link to occur.”

  Nate crosses his arms over his chest, his eyes having turned a deep blue as he glares intently at Ezra. “There’s gotta be more.”

  I agree with Nate. “Explain now, Ezra!”

  He taps his fingers on the table as he plans what he’s going to say. “In the beginning, the fellowship focused on guardians combining abilities the old-fashioned way. A level of trust between the guardians needs to be achieved before two guardians can combine abilities. As both the Dobrian and Sondian fellowship grew and expanded globally, the level of Sondian spies and traitors intensified. Our fellowship discovered that trust was a commodity that was waning. The uncertainty of our safety, along with our children’s, was too much to contend with. Our fellowship—all of us—decided that the logical step would be to reconfigure, alter and code the Copula to connect the vessels with similar and complementary abilities to increase their probability of survival upon attack. You both, and Xander, were the third wave of guardians to be implanted with the reconfigured and coded Copula. Obviously, he knows nothing about any of this, so his level of resistance will be extreme. My coercion alone may not be enough.”

  I see what he’s doing. “So you want us to be your buffer. To say, ‘Hey Xander, you have this thing on your neck that will give you these cool abilities to save our world. Come join us! We will have a grand time linking using our super powers and shit!’ ”

  Ezra’s anger matches mine. “You have to understand! As our world changed with the expansion of the Sondian fellowship, we needed protection for your future! As parents, Xander’s parents, Nate’s, and your mother and I only wanted to give you the safety the Copula can offer. This was the definitive way of ensuring we did everything possible to aid in your survival.”

  Ezra’s eyes search Nate’s, then mine, looking for signs of acceptance. “When your child’s safety is in danger, you do what you have to do to protect them. This is what your mother and I chose to do for you, Jesca. And what your parents did for you, Nate.”

  As the purity of Ezra’s thoughts flow from him to me, I know in my gut that there were no ulterior motives, just protection. Nate doesn’t see it that way though. He rises quickly and the chair flies backward, hitting the floor hard. “And my parents agreed to this? They decided to implant me with this—this device? Then, they partner me with someone to ensure my safety?”

  I’ve never seen Nate this angry. Ezra and I stand simultaneously. I move in front of Nate and put both of my hands in his, grabbing them tightly so he can’t pull away. I breathe deeply, trying to push all of my calm energy into him as his anger surges to overpower it.

  Whispering, I say, “Nate, you need to calm down.”

  Nate tries to pull his hands away, but I hold on tighter. His thoughts are reverberating in my head, “I can’t believe our parents agreed to this shit!”

&nb
sp; Just as he has given me a glimpse in his head, I give him my thoughts. “Nate, fighting this won’t change anything. You need to calm down and hear your parents out. Please, Nate. Please.”

  Since I’ve known Nate, I have never pleaded for anything. I’m almost positive that is the only reason he stops resisting and the tension begins to leave his hands. Shaking his head, he looks over at Ezra intently watching the exchange between us. Ezra approaches him and says, “I’m sorry I had to tell you rather than your parents. I did tell them I was going to explain it and they are expecting a call from you. Just give them a chance to explain why they chose to protect you, Nate.”

  Expanding his broad chest, Nate breathes in deep and relents to Ezra motioning for us to sit back down at the table. This conversation is far from over and I still have unanswered questions I’m not going to let go of.

  Nate rakes his hand through his hair, looking at Ezra, and asks what I’m thinking. “Okay, so we’ve been altered. What does that make us?”

  Ezra answers, “Your DNA has been altered because of the copper in the Copula. You are still a human though. You’re just a superior model of human.”

  I add, “Are we aliens?”

  Both Ezra and Nate look at me. The staring has me defensive. “What? We are altered, evolved and superior beings! That is pretty much alien to me!”

  Nate looks at Ezra and scoffs. He sits back and crosses his arms. “She has a point, Ezra.”

  Ezra sits back as well, looking from Nate to me. “Alien? No. And I said superior model of human, not of a being Jesca. With the events that have surrounded your life, you wouldn’t have survived the past six months if you didn’t have the defense from the Copula.”

  It surprises me when Ezra does something completely out of character. He puts his hands out to both Nate and me. We both hesitate, looking at each other before slowly accepting his open hands. As he takes them in his, he says, “This device, no matter how evasive it is, will help us adapt, evolve and survive as our world begins to change.”

  I think of Corinna and how she was one of the first casualties in my life. Even though she lives, she has been altered, making her damned in this Dobrian-Sondian war for our world. I wonder how much of the vision I had the night she was abducted was my mind and how much was what she may have experienced while being altered for Balthazar’s and Sam’s motives.

  Now, finding out from Ezra that she is a Dobrian, and alive, I think about what was going through her mind the night she went with me to the club. Did she know about Sam Crest and the abduction? Was she planning her own mission all along by befriending me? Was she putting herself in harm’s way to protect me? Was she playing Little Miss Vulnerable for Sam so that he would take her and not me? Is that why she looked so afraid as she left with him?

  I swallow the lump forming in my throat. “Corinna is alive. You said that she is from a family of guardians that were sent to protect other guardians. She was sent to protect me.”

  Ezra nods, “Yes, she was. However, her infiltrating a club was never in the equation. She chose to go to the club with the intention of protecting you and Xander. Hindsight, it’s evident that was her plan.”

  I stop him. “So she knew Xander was a Dobrian all along?”

  “Yes. And she knew the reason why he was with the Sondian fellowship, because I informed her.”

  I shake my head with bitter resent for him hiding yet another piece of the puzzle from me, but resist holding the anger knowing what I do now.

  Ezra pinches the bridge of his nose and closes his eyes tight. As he opens them again , I see how bloodshot they are. Nate and I aren’t the only ones not sleeping.

  Like Elicia, Corinna knew my story long before I did. She befriended me to keep me close to protect me just like my best friend back home. She made sure I went to the club with her—the club she was invited to by Xander. She took a chance that Xander would protect me while she tried to take down Sam. All this time, I thought I had failed to keep her safe, when it was always her plan to protect Xander and me.

  Now, she’s gone, sent through a wormhole to be altered by the Sondian fellowship. But how? “She already possesses a Dobrian Copula. How can they alter her?”

  Ezra taps his hand on the table. “Remove her Dobrian Copula and implant her with a Sondian device. They want her abilities and strength on their side. The only way to do it would be to wipe her mind.”

  Looking away, my mind goes through scenarios of how they would perform this extraction and replacement. I mumble, “That isn’t the answer I was hoping for.”

  Ezra puts his hand on mine to draw my attention. “If there is anything that can be done to reverse the effects of the Sondian Copula, our medical staff and scientists will do it to save her. We need to get her back first.”

  Ezra leans forward in his chair, resting his elbows on the table. “Dobrian scientists working deep undercover at MIT say that the Sondian scientists have been talking about the purpose of their Copula and how its acting as a cosmic thread between the Andromeda and Milky Way galaxies. The implanted people are like a huge beacon to the source, pulling the Andromeda galaxy to ours. The more they implant, the more drawn this force is to our world—to us.”

  Ezra moves his hand over the stubble that has grown on his jaw.

  Nate speaks up, “What do they want? Our world or us?”

  The ocean waves are the only sounds in the kitchen as we take in what Nate just asked. Ezra speaks plainly. “It could be an invasion. Will the beings coming from Andromeda be predatory or passive? We won’t know until the intersection happens and their intent is made evident. Now that Balthazar has reached out to Sebastian about the Sondian fellowship’s mutiny against him, this battle is definitely evolving. If Sebastian is right about his son , we might have an invaluable ally on our side. But, I don’t trust in it completely yet.”

  My eyes focus on Ezra’s. “Sebastian said that Sam is in Tokyo, Japan. Why Japan?”

  Ezra answers, “Remember when we were in the facility, I told you about the high levels of magnetic fields in specific areas of the world? The Bermuda Triangle near Florida and the Dragon’s Triangle near Japan?”

  I remember him telling us about this when they discovered that a Dobrian mission had been compromised. Sondians opened a wormhole to Earth, and the Dobrian guardians were trying to close it to prevent a mass invasion. Joan Leal, a Dobrian guardian, was the one who finally closed it, but not without killing herself.

  “Yeah, I remember.”

  Ezra sighs. “Well, the Dragon’s Triangle is just one of the multiple sites of high-magnetic fields in Japan. The Aokigahara Forest, also known as the Sea of Trees, is located at the base of Mount Fuji. This area has extremely strong levels of magnetism, which creates the perfect conditions for...”

  Recognizing the warning sign, Nate finishes his sentence. “Opening a wormhole. So we’re all headed to Japan.”

  Ezra nods as he picks up his paper and glasses, stands, then walks behind Nate and quietly speaks to him over his shoulder. “I suggest you call your parents. I spoke with them this morning, and they wanted you to call as soon as I told you. I know that they are nervous about your reaction. Please call them.”

  Nate’s eyes never leave the table. He tilts his head toward Ezra to acknowledge his words, but says nothing.

  With Nate and me alone in the kitchen now, he pushes his chair out more careful of his strength this time and walks into the kitchen. I follow him as he presses his hands against the countertop, head bowed. I’m sure he’s trying to talk himself into calling his mom and dad. I’m surprised when I catch a glimpse of what he’s actually thinking. “Why did the guardian have to be Xander? I don’t trust him with anyone I care about. Especially Jesca.”

  CHAPTER 6: THE CRUX

  Nate

  The inkling of Jes worrying about me, then her touch on my shoulders as she tries to calm me
pulls at my heart as I turn to face her. When I look into those magnetic green eyes of hers, I take her hands in mine and run my thumb over the top of them. The pad of my thumb runs over her pulse and I can feel the rapid fire it’s producing. What my touch does to her only drives me closer to her. In addition, even though this link is manufactured by a device, I’m not sold on the idea that this connection between her and me is superficial energy and power surges. I bow my head to rest on top of hers as we hold each other.

  “Even if this started because of what they chose for us, it’s not why I’m choosing to be here for you now Nate.”

  Her quivering voice gives away the emotions I had hoped for, wished for. Even if it’s just for me to know that, I’m not feeling this alone. I also feel the fear of what repercussions our relationship could have on us as guardians. With her body molded to mine, I feel our hearts beat separately, then quicken in time with one another until they are synchronized.

  CHAPTER 7: BESTOW

  Jesca

  The door to Ezra’s room is partially open as I knock softly.

  Ezra calls from within, “Come on in, Jes.”

  I walk in to see Ezra putting his suitcase and duffel bag on the bed. I haven’t been in his room since we moved in, so it feels somewhat strange to be in here. I notice something; I hadn’t the first night I checked it out. I walk straight over to it—an ant farm. I grin as I recall the last time I saw them in Ezra’s office in Georgia. “Friends of yours?”

  I can feel his smile. I turn to look at him. “Did you really take these ants with you to the facility, and then tote them all the way here?”

  I’m trying to work out the logistics of how he transported them without me noticing it.