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

by Venessa Kimball

  CHAPTER 36: PASSAGE

  Jesca

  As I hold the baby to me and watch it suckle my finger, I’m surprised when Sebastian starts to take him from me. “Let me have him. You and Nate must go now.”

  The warning in his eyes and Nate walking toward me now pull me from the solemn escape I shortly embraced. I release the motherless child, my kindred spirit, to Sebastian and rise to my feet.

  As he cradles the baby, he says to Nate and me. “You need to project there. Just on the other side of the forest.”

  He shakes his head as he looks back at Balthazar, still cradling his wife. “I’ll take care of both my son and grandson.”

  I had a feeling the baby was Balthazar’s, but Sebastian’s confirmation makes it clear to me. He rests his lips on the baby’s head as he turns to go back to Balthazar. Nate’s hand finds mine. “Jes, we need to go now. It’s Xander. Something isn’t right.”

  I look back into the ominous tree line of the forest, and then pull Nate behind me, putting his hands around my waist. “Hold on.”

  The blur of everything around us is rapid as both of our energy pulls us into the jump.

  In the matter of a single blink, we are flooded with the sound of gunfire and yells of a battle steps away from where we materialize. Nate is clutching me to him with one arm around my waist as he holds his rifle out in front of him. “Here Take the Glock in my holster.”

  Scanning the open plain from my vision, I search for our guardians as I pull the gun from his waist and aim it just as one of those ugly chalky white, black-eyed fuckers’ leaps at me.

  My eyes keep going to the snowcapped mountain in the near distance as I try to find Ezra, Monica, Elicia, Nick, any of them in this multitude of Sondian guardians and beings not of this world. There are too many! How can our guardians stand up to them?

  “Jesca!”

  Ezra’s call draws me to him, a few yards deep in the center of this battle gives me hope.

  “Run down the middle! Nate stay close to her! Don’t let her go!” Ezra continues to fire his semiautomatic into the masses when the rhythmic sound of something large treading on the earth suddenly distracts the clusters at war. As the thunderous sound pounds louder and louder, everyone watches in the direction it threatens to appear; a thick patch of tall trees curving in the intense swirling vortex–––the wormhole.

  Bursting through a sudden flare of intense light, three men at least twenty feet in height trod through the wormhole and into our world.

  “Shit!” Monica curses as she calls out. “I’ll cover you Jesca! Move!”

  Watching the behemoth men trample through the Sondian assets guarding the vortex, I watch as a man’s head is crushed beneath the enormous bare feet of these beings.

  The only thing that gets me moving is Nate pulling me into motion as we run straight toward one of the human-like leviathan.

  I catch a glimpse of Elicia and Nick battling a group of Sondian guardians, Nick and her set them ablaze, arms flailing and burning. Siobhan’s warrior yell to my left is a call I need to hear, knowing that our guardians aren’t backing down. With a newfound energy, I release Nate’s hand and run along side of him following only a few feet behind Monica as she fires onto the giant ahead of us. “I’ll keep it busy! Go straight to the vortex!”

  She branches off to the left, taking the giant stalking us with her; her gun is its attraction.

  “I’m right behind you Jes!”

  I turn to see Ezra coming up behind us, running just as fast if not faster than Nate and I. Luke, Isabel, and Jake are flanking him, firing among the Sondians and creatures as they span out around us. A wave of fire suddenly explodes among the entire wave of Sondians behind us, Elicia and Nick rising into the air above it.

  With all of the power behind me, I focus on my purpose––getting to the wormhole and closing it. But where’s Xander?

  Nate fires to our right at an oncoming chalky white creature. The quick fire of the automatic pulverizes its skull as the body collapses feet from us. “There he is.”

  I follow Nate’s hawk-eye stare into the far corner and see him flanked by Sam and Corinna.

  Monica’s yell carries, “Siobhan, Jake! Corrinna!”

  Siobhan suddenly appears next to me, keeping our pace as she fires at more Sondians coming toward us. “I’ve got her.”

  As quick as she appeared, she’s gone. I’m tempted to go to Xander, but hold my path as Nate and I close in on the vortex, a hundred yards out but getting closer by the second with our combined speed.

  Suddenly, a wave of fire takes out the two giants that have taken to grabbing and tossing Sondian guardians across the warring expanse. The fire has blocked our path but it’s only temporary. I take hold of Nate’s hand and focus all of my energy on the projection as everything blurs around us.

  As we land beyond the pyre set forth by Elicia and Nick, I feel the heat of the barrier blaze they have generated to safeguard my purpose.

  Only feet away from the swirling pool of tree trunks, branches and brush, the entire wormhole spans at least ten feet high and wide. The dull electric pulses coming from within it are the evidence that it exists, making it visible to the unsuspecting eye. The closer Nate and I get, the less energy I use to move my feet as my body is being pulled. Nate grabs hold of my hand and stops us from moving forward. “No. Don’t get any closer!”

  I glance over at him, just as his eyes widen. “Run Jesca. It’s a trap!”

  As soon as his words register, I see Sam and Xander materialize right in front of me.

  With the pull of the vortex, my turn to runaway is thwarted as Sam gets me in a strangle hold and the Sondian guardians at his side take hold of Nate and Xander.

  “Sam!”

  Ezra’s yell stops my struggle to try to get free from Sam.

  “Let her go!”

  With Luke and Jake by his side, they close in slowly. Sam tenses his forearm against my neck as he points a gun toward Ezra. I watch as the Sondian guardians begin to attack Nate and Xander. I try to send them my energy, but Sam clutches me tighter, his lips resting against my ear. “Look at you. Fighting until the very end.”

  His maniacal laugh is unnerving as he pulls his face away from me and calls to Ezra. “She’s a fighter Ezra! I want you to watch as I take the only thing precious to you in this fucking world.”

  Out of thin air, a dozen Sondian guardians appear in front of Ezra, Luke and Jake ready to attack. As Sam pulls me back toward the wormhole, I kick and writhe trying to break free as I search for Nate and Xander. Nate is on the ground, barely moving as the guardians fight off Monica, Elicia and Nick. Where’s Xander?

  “Xander!”

  My voice cracks as I call out and claw at Sam’s arm tightening around my neck.

  “Oh, no you don’t you little bitch. The only place you’re going is—”

  All of a sudden, something from behind us pushes Sam into me, sending us both to the ground. The pressure of Sam collapsed onto me is temporary as he’s lifted from me. I turn to see who my savior is and it’s none other than Xander gripping Sam by his shirt. “You aren’t going to take her anywhere you fucking bastard!”

  He hits Sam with a right hook, and then a gut shot before pulling up his knee to catch him under the chin. Sam falls backward onto his ass, but is up before Xander can make it to him landing a fist straight into the center of Xander’s chest. As soon as the contact is made, Xander’s eyes widen and he crumbles instantly, his legs giving out beneath him. “Xander!”

  I crawl to him and his eyes are the only part of him showing signs of movement.

  “Traitor! You turned on me for a fucking bitch! You deserve death!”

  I glare at Sam as he announces what he’s intended for Xander by striking him down with his life force. Something that I’ve experienced once myself at the hands of my father. Knowing that
time is dwindling, I call out to the only one I know that can help me save him. “Nate! I need you!”

  I hear the yell of my father first, and then see him rush Sam who’s stalking toward me, taking him to the ground. They exchange punches as they wrestle in front of the vortex, dangerously close. I scan the area in search for Nate, when he scrambles to my side. “Shit. Xander!”

  He slides him up into his arms, his back to Nate’s chest, places his hands over his chest and closes his eyes. I turn back to find Ezra as Sam strikes him across the face sending him sliding against the dirt.

  “You couldn’t stop me then and you can’t stop me now Ezra!” Sam roars at him as he stalks toward him and kicks him in the gut. “Where we’re going, you’ll never see her again. And your precious legacy will die with your fucking fellowship!”

  In Sam’s fit of rage, I catch a glimpse of the slightest shift in his face. A protrusive glimpse of Michael’s face placed on Sam’s, but it’s only for a split second as he lunges back at Ezra pulling him up from the ground by his hair. “You don’t want your precious girl to go without you, is that it? That can be arranged!”

  Knowing Sam’s intent for Ezra sets me in motion and I charge him, tackling him with the full force of my body. Dropping Ezra, Sam and I roll away with him taking dominance over me as he tightens his hand around my neck. A grip so similar to the one holding me down in the cabin. I claw at his arms, reach for his face as he continues to cut off my airway. The maniacal look that Sam possesses is the same Anna showed me the night she came to me.

  “It isn’t him.”

  Her words ring true in my head just as they did then as shards of light start to pass before my eyes, clouding my sight. I’m almost sent under when his hands release me sending me into a fit of coughing and gasping as I watch Nate pin him in a headlock and drag him from me. If Nate’s here, where’s Xander?

  I glance back at the spot Xander laid and see him leaning on his elbow, Luke hovering over him continuing to heal him.

  With Sam in Nate’s grips, Ezra takes hold of Sam by the front of his shirt. I watch all three of them sway toward the vortex, the pull showing its power as they hold firm against its draw. Sam’s trying to pull away from them to escape into the wormhole, but Ezra isn’t going to let go. I know this. The only way he will is if I make him.

  Finding my breath and the energy that’s building within me again as I watch Nate and Ezra struggle to contain Sam, I stalk toward them intent on sending my life force into Sam, sending him into the depths of the vortex, and sealing it with the remaining energy I possess. The rage behind Sam’s eyes is focused on Ezra now as he readies his fist and strikes Ezra in the chest. But before his strike can land, Ezra grips both of his fists keeping them from hitting him with the powerful life force punch he gave Xander. “NO! You won’t take her!”

  Steps away from all three of them, Nate suddenly looks over at me. “Jesca! Get back!”

  His voice is full of rage, but I ignore it as I keep moving toward them, the pull of the vortex whipping my hair as they teeter on the edge of being pulled in.

  I yell to both Nate and Ezra as I grab onto Nate’s arm. “No! If you both go––I go!”

  The pulsating draw of the gravitational pull has us swaying as Sam laughs and writhes in both Ezra’s and Nate’s strained hold. Reaching for me, Sam takes hold of my free arm and brings me close having me stare into his wild and demoniac eyes. “You’re making this too easy my dear.”

  Ezra grips Sam’s hand to pry it from my forearm as he clenches his teeth. “You will never take her!”

  Suddenly, Nate calls to me evenly. “Jesca.”

  His calm call to me is offsetting and I have to look at him. His eyes have gone glassy and red and his lips tremble as he speaks to me. “It’s okay. I can do it. I can close it.”

  He can close it. What the hell is he saying! I hold onto his arm tighter, not sure of what he means “What are you talking about Nate? Let Sam go! Let him go into the wormhole so I can close it!”

  As Sam and Ezra push against him as they struggle, the smoothness of his voice as he holds my gaze with the depths of his blue-green eyes doesn’t falter. “I need to do this Jes. We’ll find each other again. I promise.”

  Nate swiftly looks beyond me and says firmly, “Protect her.”

  Arms suddenly wrap around my chest and pull me, prying my hands away from both Ezra and Nate.

  I angle back and see Xander’s face. He’s staring at Nate as he holds me against him pulling me farther and farther away from the draw of the wormhole. I kick and yell for Nate and Ezra as they both look at me once more before Nate pulls Sam into him and Ezra moves in sending all three of them into the spinning vortex.

  As soon as they disappear into it, the spiraling tendrils of electric charged energy pulses from its center. The pulse has such power it pushes me into Xander, knocking us both to the ground before radiating at the same blinding light it released when it breached out world. Shielding my eyes I cry out for my father, Nate, and God to bring them back, but its lost––just as they are––beyond the thunderous crack of the passage from this world to another being sealed.

  CHAPTER 37: LEFT

  Xander

  Jesca is screaming and throwing her body uncontrollably. She keeps yelling their names. “Nate! Ezra!”

  I don’t know what else to do but hold her to me and not let her go.

  Monica rushes to Jesca and me and tries to help me hold her to the ground.

  When Jesca sees Monica, she pleads with her, “You have to help me reopen it, Monica! We need to get them back!” She looks up at Jake, Siobhan and Luke as they come closer, the battle having ended once the wormhole sealed. “Please! Help me! We can’t leave them!”

  Monica reaches into her pants pocket and pops the cap off a syringe. I cringe and turn away as she kneels down next to Jesca. “Hold her tight Xander.”

  Jes begs her to get the needle away as she twists her body, trying to get out of my hold. I look up at Luke. “Help me.”

  Grabbing her feet, he holds them down as Monica sticks the needle into her thigh.

  The effect is quick as pleas begin to slur and the names she’s calling––Nate and Ezra––begin to muddle into syllables and moans. Her voice finally gives and she relaxes in my arms. Elicia comes into view and sees Jes in my arms. “OH MY GOD! Jesca!”

  She runs toward us and collapses in front of me. Monica reassures her. “She’s all right. Just needed to sedate her.”

  Looking around at the mass destruction around us; burning bodies, slaughtered Sondians, our own wounded bodies having taken the beating from this world and others tonight, Monica lowers her head before rising to her feet. “We can’t stay here in the open like this. We need to go.”

  As I look at Elicia watching Jesca in my arms, I notice her red hair and immediately worry. “Where’s Corinna?”

  Siobhan’s voice calls from behind me. “Incapacitated, but it won’t hold. She’s one strong bitch.”

  Without warning, the earth beneath me starts to tremble, the vibration only a small tremor. That is until the sound of falling rock sounds from the massive mountain behind us.

  Jake yells, “Shit! Earthquake! We need to get out of here now!”

  I shift Jesca off me to rise up, and then lift her into my arms just as the ground beneath me starts to shift and sway. I manage to balance as I start to run for the forest with the others.

  “With all the magnetic and electrically charged energy forces here tonight, this mountain could potentially blow with us under it if we don’t move fast!”

  CHAPTER 38: THE PROMISE

  Jesca

  As I roll my body to one side and pull the soft pillow close to my face, I smell the clean scent of the casing. It smells like Nate.

  “No nightmares?”

  His whisper follows his scent as I breathe him in.<
br />
  With my eyes still closed, I shake my head against the pillow and smile. “No. No, nightmares.”

  Suspended between sleep and consciousness, I remember that Nate has not woken me like this in weeks, which starts the chain of remembrances leading me to watching him and Ezra fall away from me into a wormhole.

  I sit up fast and scoot toward the headboard as I eye Nate standing as clear as day at the foot of my bed. “Good Morning sleepy head.”

  I kick the comforter off my body and crawl slowly toward him before perching on my knees in front of him. With my emotions caught in my throat, my voice comes out shaky, “You’re really here?”

  He nods and tucks his hands in his pockets. “Yes and no.”

  He sounds like Ezra all of a sudden and the reminder sets off my tears as they roll down my cheeks. His hand lifts to reach for me, his thumb running along my temple, and then brushes over my tears.

  I close my eyes as he pulls back, clinging to the feel of his energy. “How can I feel you?”

  He doesn’t answer, so I open my eyes just as a soft knock comes at the door. Short of my asking who it is, the door opens, revealing Ezra on the other side. “Because it’s a vision. Nate projected to you. I came along for the ride.”

  As he enters, I take in the room around me; it’s sterile in appearance, nothing like the safe house in New York or the one in Japan. The image of Nate telling me he would find me again and him and Ezra pulling Sam into the wormhole flashes through my mind, sending my eyes shut again as I ask. “Is Sam with you, where ever you are?”

  Nate glances at Ezra before he speaks. “I can sense his presence, but that’s all.”

  Suddenly, Nate comes around the side of the bed and sits down next to me. Taking my hand in his, he squeezes it as he looks at me intently. “I wasn’t going to let him take you, Jes. If I went with Ezra, I knew that you would find us because of our link.”