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

by Venessa Kimball

  Exiting the car, I walk into an office beyond the parked cars. The three men that occupy it nod and I do them the same courtesy.

  Hiro and his two sons, Katsuro and Koji, run this Sondian safe house. Importing and exporting cars are the operations of the warehouse by day. Perfect cover business. All other hours, the underbelly of the warehouse is safe haven for Corinna and me.

  As there are daily operations, Hiro, Katsuro and Koji run the nightly operations of Womb, a high roller club in downtown Tokyo. Ideal breeding ground for recruits, especially the type that Michael Sanderson has been pushing for. People of influence and power—politicians, diplomats, and ambassadors.

  There needs to be as many Sondians in governing positions as soon as possible before the intersection, considering mundane human civilians create chaos among the masses. The Dobrians already have many guardians in high-governing positions globally, so we’re playing catch up in that department.

  Hiro, Katsuro and Koji are the three remaining assets from this cell that survived the Dobrian attack three months ago. For the public’s sake, it was easy to blame the explosion of their old warehouse on the earthquake that rocked Kyoto. The earthquake created by the wormhole our fellowship opened hours before.

  Hiro pushes a button under his desk. I walk over to the refrigerator, and the unit swings away from the wall, revealing a metal door.

  The floor lighting lining both sides of the small stairway that descends deeper into this converted multi-level basement is the only light as I move deeper into the underground.

  I stop when I hear the thumping of music and grin to myself before moving on. Corinna’s taste for House music outweighs the Techno-club bullshit of the Miami club scene.

  Opening the door to the sunken apartment, the luxuries of the loft contradict the run-down cavernous entrance. The sounds of Corinna’s techno music reverberate throughout the apartment. Lush leather furnishings, a mixture of slate and wood flooring finish out the luxuries with a contemporary elegance and modern flair to which I am accustomed. The Japanese spared no expenses furnishing this place.

  I pull a bottle of water from the refrigerator and the music suddenly stops. As I take a drink of water, I hear a door open and shut, but the sound of her approaching is undetectable. Feeling her presence, I quickly scan the open living space of the loft for her. My eyes are too slow as I feel the slight current that is most definitely her run along my shoulder blades. I close my eyes and grin as I breathe in the sweet smell of her. I’ve become addicted. She wants to play and I am all game when it comes to her. I have been since the day I arrived. Not only was Ezra Kahn and Jesca Sera onto me in Miami, there was a breach in the chain of command within our fellowship, and I was in danger. I had questions, but Balthazar refused to answer any of them. He told me the questions would be answered when I was safe and well hidden in Tokyo.

  I was greeted by Michael Sanderson and three men I didn’t recognize. I shook each of their hands firmly, and without a word, all of us entered the warehouse. I had my questions though. Why had Michael come and not Balthazar?

  ***

  As we walk down the darkened passage Michael says, “Sam, I know you were probably expecting Balthazar. I’m sorry for the surprise.”

  I ask, “Has something happened to him?”

  “He has turned on the fellowship and has been assisting the Dobrians. Before the implantation of Corinna Cain, he attacked us. Held the surgeons hostage. He was babbling on about Sebastian and him working together to take control of the invasion after the intersection. At first, I couldn’t believe what he was saying. Then, he shot one of the surgeons to get our undivided attention! I couldn’t stand down and watch this happen. He was trying to destroy everything we had built. Too much of our fellowship was at stake and I was forced to subdue him.”

  I can’t believe what I’m hearing. How could Balthazar lose his mind, his way, as he has?

  Michael continues, seeming disgusted with the way things have transpired. “With fear of his retaliation, we stripped him of his implant and returned him to Earth. We have been watching him, Sam, and he is working directly with Sebastian. He has defected.”

  All the times he came to me in my dreams, telling me what needs to be done. He seemed so connected to the fellowship. How long had it been since he defected? It wasn’t long ago he had called for us to track Ezra and Jesca. “He had me send Xander to track Ezra and Jesca. Why would he have me do that if he had defected?”

  Michael shakes his head with disappointment. “You were made to think you were tracking them, but in Balthazar’s mind, you were warning them. Alerting them to disappear until Jesca was completely trained in her guardianship. It gave them time to prepare, become stronger.”

  My mind still working, I try to justify the loyalty I held for this man that took me under his wing years ago. “What about the abduction of Corinna Cain? What was the purpose?”

  Michael looks at Hiro and then back at me. “Sam, Corinna was the bait to draw Jesca and Ezra to you and Xander.”

  I looked down briefly, remembering them coming after me at the club just before I escaped out the back door with Corinna. Balthazar had set me up, but I was too fast, too quick for him to trap me.

  Hiro interrupts my thoughts. “We have all been misled, Sam, but now we know the truth.”

  Michael nods. “And the truth shall set you free Sam. The truth shall set you free. They will go after Xander. Ezra Kahn, Jesca Sera, Nathaniel Sera, and the other guardians they have trained. The truth can’t set him free. He needs you to show him. Have you found him?”

  “Yes. He’s staying in a cabin in the Appalachian Mountains. I visited him just to make sure he’s coming around.”

  I’m surprised that Michael can’t pass through his block.

  Michael cocks his head at me. “You think I can’t get in?”

  The fear his voice invokes is palpable as I clear my throat. “No. I just know that I can get to him. He’s my—my son.”

  The words only fail me for a second, but enough for Michael to notice. “Yes, I hoped you would be more effective since you are his father. So is he?”

  “Is he?”

  Michael tucks his hands in his pockets. “Is he coming around?”

  Irritated by his questioning my bringing Xander around, I fire back more harshly than

  I plan. “He will come around.”

  I try to reclaim my calm. “It will take some time, but I know I can regain his trust.”

  Michael seems to let the discussion go as he says, “Sam, they will try to close the wormhole we have opened between the two sites in Japan. Mount Fuji and the Aokigahara Forest have formed the greatest passage between our galaxy and Andromeda. The draw to us is great and if they stop us and close the wormhole because you and Corinna are not prepared, or if you are the slightest swayed by your loyalty to Balthazar...”

  His questioning my and Corinna’s joint force of being ill equipped pisses me of. “My loyalty is to the Sondian fellowship, not to Balthazar. I will take them down without hesitation.”

  ***

  As a streak of red hair appears in the corner of my right eye, I astral project to the fireplace and grab hold of a metal poker leaning against the hearth. Before I move away, I notice the other metal poker in the set is already missing. She thinks like me. Smart girl.

  Stealthily, I stalk the living room, watching for her. I cannot only hear the hum of her heart in my ear, I can feel it in my chest.

  When she arrived, I was reviewing files on three Dobrian guardians—Siobhan Cronin, Angela Turner, and Isabel Cain, Corinna’s younger sister. The cool, electric feeling she gave me moments ago is the same I felt that day as it danced along my forearm. It had been a while since I traveled via wormhole, but it wasn’t long enough to forget the telltale sign of a vortex piercing our world from another. I could taste the metallic and sulfuric remnants in m
y mouth as soon as I scanned the room in search of the opening. As I sat on the sofa, I focused on the wall directly across from me. The distortion was slight at first as a grainy appearance prefaced the brick wall. The graininess intensified, and then the convex distortion began spreading from a single brick to the entire surface of the wall.

  Within seconds, Michael, another man, and Corinna materialized, transforming from vaporous apparitions to substantial material life forms. Corinna was in Sanderson’s arms. Her head lolled against his chest. A cloud of thick red curls shielded her face.

  I didn’t remember her hair being that curly the night I—the night of her transfer.

  Sanderson quietly introduced the other man as Reid Patterson, a physician and trusted Sondian. Michael and Reid eyed the stairwell and I led them down to the nearest bedroom on the lower level of the apartment.

  Michael laid Corinna on the bed and Reid opened his duffle bag, pulling out medication for Corinna as I watched her. She appeared to sleep, her eyes closed and her mouth slacken. All of her features seemed to be more prominent as I scanned her face closely. Her cheeks were flushed with a warm glow and her lips full with a touch of color. Her skin was fair before, but beneath the slight glow, it resembled the most exquisite porcelain. Everything about her appealed to me and held my undivided attention.

  ***

  I fold my arms across my chest and begin to pace, keeping my eyes on her as they work

  “What’s wrong with her?”

  Reid pulls up Corinna’s sleeve and wraps the blood pressure cuff around her arm. “We gave her a small sedative for travel. She was a little agitated.”

  “Agitated. Why?”

  Reid looks to Michael for help on explaining.

  Michael snickers, jerking the collar of his shirt open to reveal a bloody scratch on his collarbone. “She’s a feisty one.”

  Remembering the sentiment with my first encounter with Corinna, I fight off my upset of having to restrain her to save face in front of Michael. “Always the gingers.”

  I turn my face to reveal the small scar across my cheek. “Her handy work.”

  Michael grins as he looks up at me from her. “Well, you should find her more agreeable now.”

  Corinna starts to stir, just as Reid pulls out the restraints and begins securing her arms to the bed.

  “Is that necessary?”

  They don’t respond as they continue to work.

  Restraints and they plan to leave her with me. No fucking way!

  Obviously sensing my apprehension, Reid looks up. “She has been through a week of psychological and physical evaluations. She’s completely sane. Just in need of fine-tuning. It’s just a precaution due to her fiery nature.”

  As soon as Corinna’s eyes flicker to life, both men move back from her as she tries to sit up. Once her eyes lock with mine, something possesses me. I feel this overwhelming urge to protect her. As Michael and Reid move back, I move in and sit on the bed next to her. Her steel-blue eyes are darting between Reid, Michael and me.

  I ask both men, “Does she remember me?”

  Reid whispers, “She should. We have spent the last week conditioning her to know that you were the one who saved her from Jesca, Ezra and the others. There was a lot of Dobrian baggage to unload and eliminate, so we had to go deeper with her—conditioning.”

  The way he says ‘conditioning’ leaves a bad taste in my mouth and feels like a hot poker in my fucking chest. I glare at him needing to know what they did. “What kind of fucking conditioning?”

  As Reid stumbles over his words, Michael is quick on the uptake. “We implanted the altered Copula that I mentioned to you. The Copula has also been configured and coded to link with a fellow Sondian for protection. An adaptation I made from Sebastian’s specifications. We had to make sure to remove any loyalty she would have for the Dobrians. Her mind had to be broken before we could put it back together.”

  What the fuck did they do to her? I didn’t agree to this shit! I agreed to give them over a Dobrian, not to use her as a fucking science experiment! Looking like a frightened woman rather than a crazed and broken maniac, she whimpers as she tries to pull her wrists through the wrap of the restraint. “Why do you have these on me? Please take them off.”

  Like the sobs she’s releasing belong inside of me, I place my hand on hers and hush her. “Shh, Corinna. You’re safe. We just don’t want you to hurt yourself.”

  Her eyes are damp as the worry in them transfers from her trapped hands to me. Slowly the worry vanishes. “Sam?”

  The sound of her voice saying my name is as permanent as if it were etched in stone. And the sensation they stir has me turning to Michael. “I’m taking off these restraints.”

  Michael and Reid both take a step back from us as Michael says, “I don’t think that’s a good idea while Reid and I are still present.”

  After what they have done to her, I bet they fucking don’t. My imagination runs out of control as I consider the worst torture they could have put her through for the fellowship. I can hardly contain my anger, but I keep steady as I consider being in the same room as the leader of the fellowship I have served and submitted to. My future, Corinna’s future in this fellowship has to remain in the forefront of my mind. Yeah, these pieces of shit jacked her up, but there’s too much riding on this mission. If that means I have to train her and swallow the jagged edged pill that Michael and Reid are serving, it will only be temporary. Once I’ve proven my and Corinna’s worth, none of this will matter.

  I start to unwrap one of the restraints and tell them, “You better leave.”

  Their departure is silent with only the door shutting behind them as proof they are gone. I keep my eyes on her as she watches me undo the strap on one of her arms. Her eyes moving over my hands working to unfasten her is unnerving and intimidating. Something I’ve never felt at the hands of a woman. I’ve always been the fucking intimidator––this was new. As I pull away the wrap, freeing her hand, she keeps it still on the bed. I’m surprised she doesn’t try to lunge at me with a hand free, but instead she pierces my mind with her thought. “You are the only one I can trust right now.”

  The thought isn’t as moving as the emotional chain reaction hitting me. Utter need and desire to seek safety in me.

  I work on the other hand, unraveling the secured trap around her wrist. As soon as she’s free, she scoots away from me, her head rising to lean against the headboard as she curls her legs up close to her. I rise from the bed to give her space and gain some distance from the pull I suddenly feel with her now that she’s alert. The movement of her hands, tightening around the sheets flows through my own fingers. The racing of her heart, pumps my own harder and faster. The fast breath she steals is taken from me as I feel my own being lost. It’s intimate, sensual, and so fucking mind-boggling, I have to break eye contact with her to find a disconnect. I have never felt an attraction or pull with another guardian before, but I imagined this is what it would be like. Distracting myself, I eye the medication sitting on the dresser. Reid had left it behind.

  “Are you in pain?”

  As I read the script on the bottle, she answers softly. “ No.”

  I notice her shift in the reflection of the mirror. Watching her gather her hair and pull it to one side, she touches the back of her neck with the other hand. The concern on her face has me apprehensive and I stalk back to her placing my hand over the one that rests on her neck. “It’ll be tender.”

  As she glances up at me, she sees my own curiosity in the scar and turns her body to give me a better view. I expect to see bruising, reddened stitches even, but the only evidence of the implantation is a pink puckered scar an inch in length. I want to run my hand along it, inspect it.

  “It’s okay. I don’t mind,” she says in response to my thoughts.

  I barely graze her skin when an electric current runs along
my fingertips. Surprised by the sensation, I pull my hand back and I clear my throat to respond flatly. “You’re healing quickly.”

  Corinna releases her hair back over the scar and turns to face me, as if she might have felt the very thing that had me pulling away from her. I try not to look at her as I ask, “Can I get you anything? Are you hungry?”

  “No. Just thirsty. I think it’s because of the medication they gave me before.”

  I notice her rubbing her wrist nervously, sending my pulse racing with anxiety. The strain in her furrowed brow is agonizing to watch as she shakes her head. “I don’t remember what happened.”

  I closed my eyes knowing that she has either voluntarily or forcibly blocked the sick fucking shit they did to her to get her to comply and submit. Either way they fucking broke her and now I needed to fix her.

  “What do you remember?”

  She stops rubbing her wrist and looks up at me, staring for a moment, like she’s working something out in her head.“You helped me escape the Dobrian fellowship. They were using me as bait to get to that bitch, Jesca. You didn’t want me to be caught up in the battle until I was prepared. When Ezra Kahn and Nathaniel Sera came, you sent me to Sonde to transform to my new self. The one I was meant to be.”

  She raises her shoulders and runs her hands along her bare arms. “I’m alive because of you. You saved me.”

  Her words are a hot fucking coal in the center of my chest.

  Suddenly, her voice rises, “No! Don’t fucking do that!”

  “Do what?”

  I wasn’t thinking anything.

  “Don’t give them the benefit of the doubt. They fucking turned against me, just like the Dobrian fellowship turned against you. Sanderson said you were betrayed by those sons of bitches!”

  Her narrowed eyes no longer carry the innocence she had in them when she arrived. “Michael said that Balthazar was using me as bait to get to you and the fellowship. He’s turned against you.”