by D. N. Leo
Ciaran walked to the side table and grabbed the medicine and a glass of water. Doctor Thomas had examined her and had left clear instructions for Ciaran. Ciaran looked at the doctor’s notes, checking them over. Then he brought the medicine over to the bed. His movements were meticulously efficient.
Madeline sat up, took the pills and the water. She downed the pills and gave Ciaran back the water.
His face was unfathomable. Inexplicably controlled. He stood holding the glass of water, looking at her, saying nothing.
"What's the damage?" she asked.
"You should be fine now. If you want to know the exact condition you were in, you’ll have to ask Doctor Thomas."
That was cold! Madeline thought.
He knew exactly what condition she was in. He must be pissed that she had drugged him, putting him out of action the night before. If he wanted to play this passive-aggressive game, she could play.
"Could you pass me the phone, please? I'll give Doctor Thomas a call.”
Ciaran nodded. He turned as if he was going to fetch her the phone. But instead, he heaved the glass to the wall. The glass shattered into pieces, and broken glass rained onto the floor.
Then he strode out of the room and slammed the door.
Jo immediately came into the room as if she had been waiting right outside.
Madeline waved her arms in the air. ”He's pissed because I drugged him last night."
Jo said nothing. She sat on the bed and examined Madeline's bruised face. "Do you really think he’s mad because of that?"
She looked into Jo’s green eyes, eyes that were waiting for her honest answers. She couldn’t hold it in any longer. The emotion stormed out of her like a tidal wave. Madeline wept.
Jo held her patiently and waited until her crying subsided. "I can't tell you what I felt when they brought you in because, on the rage chart, I was right at the bottom. When Ciaran finished talking to the man outside the gate—”
"Outside?"
"Yes, he had to go outside to get you."
Madeline nodded again.
"Doctor Thomas said the fact that you didn't die was pure luck. He substantiated the statement with an extensive report, of course. But to give Ciaran the lowdown, Doctor Thomas said that if your rib had been cracked an inch higher, or if you had been held under the water for a couple of seconds longer, there would have been nothing he could have done. So yes, you’re fine now. But it was only because of dumb luck."
Madeline stared at Jo. Jo’s eyes were full of resentment now. And that was what Jo described as 'the bottom of the rage chart'. What could Ciaran possibly be feeling? Like he’d been kicked in the teeth? Stabbed in the heart?
Madeline remembered when Ciaran had been shot at Fountains Abbey. The feeling of her boiling blood was still fresh in her mind. Still, Ciaran hadn’t been the cause of his almost fatal injury. He hadn’t stuck his chest out and dared Stefan to shoot at him.
And he had survived. He’d left the past behind to be with her. After all they had been through together . . . Now, she had to tell him that they couldn’t be together anymore!
“Jo, I killed those people in the woods. It wasn’t Zach’s fault. It wasn’t your fault. I had to kill them.” Tears streamed down her face uncontrollably. “My soul is not virtuous. I can’t be a successor. I can’t be with Ciaran.”
“He doesn’t have to be a successor. He doesn’t have to be with those Sciphils.” Jo wiped the tears from Madeline’s face.
She shook her head. “At the cemetery, Juliette forced Ayana to put a seal on Ciaran’s successor position. If he doesn’t take the position, he will die. If he knows I can’t go with him, he’ll try to get out of the deal.”
“You can’t be so sure, Madeline. And what if he can’t get out of the deal?”
“He’ll try. Please don’t tell him, Jo. He will attempt to get out of the deal, and he will fail. I can feel it. Can you promise not to tell him? Please?”
Jo nodded, tears gleaming in her eyes.
"I'm going to be sick,” she said to Jo.
Jo helped Madeline out of bed. They stumbled a few steps before Madeline slumped to the floor, violently ill.
Ciaran stormed into the room so fast that Jo doubted he had ever left. He tried to get to Madeline.
She pushed him away. She backed away from him on the floor. "Don't touch me. Don't touch. I'm dirty."
"Madeline."
"Leave me." Tears poured down her face now. "I made a mess. I'll clean it up."
"Darling. That's okay." Ciaran approached.
"Don't. Don't come near me. I'm a mess."
Ciaran scooped Madeline off the floor and carried her to the bed. He cradled her while she wept into his chest. Then she looked at Jo and saw a spark of anger in her eyes before she turned on her heel and stormed out of the room.
Chapter 86
TJ stood at the end of the back corridor connecting to the old kitchen, lips pulled back, revealing his sharp little teeth. Regardless of how formidable and intimidating full-grown Alaskan Malamutes could look, TJ was still a puppy.
The more petulantly he behaved, the more puppyish he would appear to the thirteen-year-old cat Migi. The cat sat across the corridor, looking bored with TJ’s show of ferocity. She cast a dismissive glance at him, then she lowered herself down to the floor and started washing herself.
Tadgh frowned. He felt pity for the puppy but decided not to help. He had to learn for himself to be a proper grown-up dog one day.
From the other end of the corridor, Jo stomped right past Tadgh and the animals. If he wasn’t mistaken, he saw tears in her eyes. She had just come from Ciaran’s room. What could it be? Tadgh wondered.
“What do you think?” he asked Migi.
The cat that had been mutilated by Mrs. Hanson was the most wicked of all the animals Tadgh had known. She had saved him from Juliette once. Migi wagged her twin tails, pointing the tips of her tails toward different directions. Tadgh nodded, “Conflicting emotions. Must have something to do with Madeline.”
Then he frowned. Jo was heading toward the back gardens. He shot up and darted after her. When he caught up with her, she had almost reached the back door.
“Where do you think you’re going?”
“Out, isn’t it obvious?”
“But Juliette is out there . . .”
“That’s why I’m going. I’m going to teach the bitch a lesson.” Jo approached the door.
“That’s a man’s job.”
Jo turned around. “And that comment will earn you a slap in the face.”
“Then come back in here and do it. I promise I won’t duck!”
Jo glared at Tadgh and continued to the back gardens.
“Fuck this!” Tadgh mumbled and darted after her.
* * *
Outside the gate, the field opened onto rolling green hills. Jo stood, looking out into the far distance. Tadgh came up behind her. "For pity's sake, Jo. Please come back inside the house."
“I’ve decided that I’m taking Madeline back to New York tomorrow. I just wanted to enjoy a bit of the countryside before we left."
Tadgh shrugged. “All right. But we can talk about this inside.”
“I have an experiment to carry out here. You go inside. I can’t cover you.”
“You? Cover me? With your five foot body, including those sticks you are standing on.”
“Five foot two.”
“Well, those two inches certainly make a huge difference.”
“Those precious two inches make a difference to me. Get out of my sight, Tadgh. I’m busy here.”
“Are you looking for me?" It was Juliette’s voice, wafting on the thin air.
"Fuck me." Tadgh snatched Jo and pushed her behind him. They both looked around but saw no sign of Juliette. The rolling green hills were covered in sunlight just as before.
"Do you think you can stand in the sun and be safe from me?" Juliette said sarcastically.
Tadgh looked around. He co
uld not see her.
"In there." Jo nodded toward a small resting station just a bit further up the hill.
"How do you know?"
Before Jo could answer, the door of the resting station swung open. Juliette stood inside, a wind circle already spinning. Its span enlarged, but it could not reach Jo and Tadgh. The most damage it did was chopping at the nearby grass.
Jo pushed Tadgh aside. A smile came over her foxy face. "It's my turn now."
She pulled her tiny travel makeup box from her bag and flicked the lid open. Inside were square compartments of eye shadow, lipstick, blush, and a mirror that occupied the entire half of the lid. She tilted the mirror and caught the sunlight, so it reflected straight onto Juliette.
Juliette screamed as if she had been shot.
"Again!" Jo commanded herself. She reflected one more time. Juliette staggered. A hole burned through the middle of her image. The wind circle vanished.
Tadgh was flabbergasted.
Juliette was furious. Her voice rumbled like thunder. "Don't you dare try that trick on me!"
"It's not a trick. It's a lethal weapon. You’re doomed, you sadistic bitch." Jo grinned. “You can beam away now.”
Juliette hid in a corner of the station where Jo could not reflect the sunlight. She refused to beam away.
A hovering cloud dragged a shadow closer behind Jo and Tadgh. Tadgh turned around and saw it.
"Shit," Tadgh said. He pulled at Jo.
Jo turned around and immediately registered the danger.
They raced toward the gate.
They moved as fast as they could.
The cloud created a shadow right against Mon Ciel's fence, and Juliette beamed right into the shadow. She stood blocking Tadgh’s and Jo’s way back inside Mon Ciel.
“You’re right. I derive pleasure from other people’s pain.” She swung her arms, and a blast of freezing air flew at them. Tadgh plucked Jo up and swiveled aside. The blade of air dug into the ground nearby, blew up a large hole, and funneled dirt, grass, and rocks up into the sky.
A piece of rock hit Tadgh in the head. He fell on top of Jo.
From inside the backyard, the puppy TJ and Migi charged out, running straight at Juliette from behind. They knocked her out of the shadow, and the contact with the sunlight burned her again. Juliette hissed, roared, and beamed away.
Tadgh was too dazed to move himself in the right direction. Jo pulled him with her into the backyard. Once there, Tadgh flopped down onto the grass.
“Look at me, Tadgh. How many fingers?”
She held two fingers in front of him. Tadgh blinked. “Five foot two inches.”
Jo rubbed her hand on Tadgh’s head. “It’s a pretty big lump. You’re going to have a huge headache.”
“Could you check on TJ and Migi?”
“What?”
“See if they’re okay,” Tadgh mumbled, his voice slurred with a concussion.
Before Jo made a move, Migi strode into the garden, grabbing TJ by the crook of his neck. She dropped the dog down onto the grass. There was a gash on TJ’s front leg. Migi licked the wound. The puppy snarled at first but then submitted to Migi’s care.
Outside the garden, on the hillside, Juliette lingered in the shadow of a cloud whenever she found one.
“Look out, Juliette!” Jo muttered and helped Tadgh up. “Come on, let’s get you inside.”
Chapter 87
Dusk quickly blanketed the hillside in front of Mon Ciel. Ciaran stood at the entrance, ready to go. His long black coat billowed in the winter breeze. He shifted his left shoulder slightly, easing the tense muscles there caused by the number of injuries his shoulder had suffered. More importantly, he checked to see that his much-needed weapons were in place and ready to go.
It was time to settle any debts, resentment, and lingering hatred that remained in his life.
In the last few days, it had taken a lot of work. It had taken a tremendous amount of careful planning and preparation from everyone inside Mon Ciel. Now, it was time for Ciaran to execute the plan. It was time for him to regain control of his life and the lives of those he loved.
They were not going to be caged inside Mon Ciel.
He sauntered outside the gate. He paused and waited. He strolled a little further down the hill.
The rolling hills were quiet. There was not even the sound of an insect, a wild animal, or the wind blowing in the trees.
The air thickened.
A flash of blue light sliced through the air, and the hologram of Ayana Dee appeared.
"Ayana, there is nothing for you to do here."
Ayana smiled. "I'm pleased to see you decide to take action, Ciaran. But you are not equipped to fight Juliette. We aren’t strong enough to protect you."
“I’ll negotiate with her.”
“She won’t negotiate. She just wants you.”
“At least she’s clear about what she wants. You and the other Sciphils want me to be a Sciphil and serve a universe that I don’t care at all about, at an unknown cost to my family."
"You misconstrue what we want . . .”
"That’s the most logical conclusion I can draw from what you told me. Now, I will call Juliette to talk to her. I assume it’s best for you to leave to avoid being hurt."
"Are you sure about this, Ciaran? You don’t have to do this on your own."
"I will not fight with Juliette. Therefore, I don’t need any help from you. Am I making myself clear?"
Ayana's intense blue eyes blinked with confusion and disappointment. She nodded, and her hologram disappeared. The air returned to its mysterious quietness.
"Juliette, I know you heard me. If you want to talk, now is the time."
Nothing happened. Ciaran waited for a moment.
"I thought you wanted me," he said and turned to go back to Mon Ciel.
Then he felt it—a vibration of energy filling the air. Juliette's image glowed in the darkness. "Ciaran, I’m glad you've decided to come to me."
Ciaran observed her carefully. From a distance, he couldn’t tell if Juliette was a hologram or an actual presence.
"I don't know how I can come to you."
"Via the Daimon Gate. I told you that already."
"And what exactly will it require of me?"
Juliette looked puzzled. No response.
Ciaran deduced that if Juliette was merely an electronic profile—due to her human life ending years ago—then the fact that Ciaran was a successor would be unknown to her, and she would not have an answer for this question. The solution to this problem would not be available to her because it was not a part of the data input she had received.
Artificial intelligence and robotic behavior were child’s play to Ciaran.
"I'm a human, and I'm alive, Juliette. Whatever the Daimon Gate is, do you honestly think I can pass through it and still be with you? Are you alive or are you not?"
Juliette again looked perplexed.
"Daimon Gate is a nine-level transmutation process, categorized in three stages, where biological and psychological profiles are purified. If an individual is proven to be worthy, he or she will pass the gate and become a perfect entity. If an individual is not worthy, he or she will not reform, and will thus be exterminated during the process."
That was definitely a robotic pre-programmed answer, Ciaran mused. He stepped closer to Juliette.
"Do you think I am worthy? What if I die during the process? Can I still be with you? Or do I have to die to be with you?"
Juliette appeared to be even more confused.
"I died on Earth."
"Yes, you did. But your body was not placed in the coffin. How did you get to Alphi?"
"I am not in Alphi. I am in Eudaiz. The Daimon Gate will lead you to Eudaiz."
"But only if I pass the test. What if I fail? I’ll die. How can I be with you then?"
Juliette's face started to turn red. Ciaran had befuddled the machine. He stepped closer and reached out for her. He could feel the ener
gy, the vibration. There was the presence of solid substance. Like Tadgh said, this was not a hologram.
"Do you want to be with me or not?" Ciaran asked.
His hand touched Juliette's arm. It was solid, and it didn’t burn him. Juliette looked up at Ciaran. "Yes, I do. I want to be with you."
"Where is the Daimon Gate?"
"It depends on the astronomical time and location. All dimensions have to be open on Earth and connected."
"How many dimensions?"
"Nine"
"That's manageable. Science has gotten it to eleven dimensions."
Juliette smiled. "Times nine."
"Oh, for pity's sake, Juliette. I can't manage that."
"Yes, you can. Run the disk.”
"If I find the gate, so what? You’re speaking about some kind of wormhole. This is science fiction to those like myself who are still alive and living on Earth."
"It’s not as primitive as a wormhole, Ciaran . . .”
Ciaran shook his head. "I have a proposal. Why don't you come to me? Like now. You’re here. Why don't you just stay here? We can be together this way, can't we?"
Ciaran grabbed Juliette. Her body was solid. Not solid like flesh and bones, but much more than frequencies and signals.
Juliette trembled as if she wanted to agree with Ciaran.
"I can't stay."
"Why not?" Ciaran held Juliette now. Her image glowed in his arms.
"I don't know. I can't stay. You have to come to me. You have to be with me. There is no other way."
Juliette's body started to vibrate. She reached her arms up and held onto Ciaran. But all he felt was a ring of bone-crushing force wrapped around him. He grunted out in pain and slumped to the ground.
Juliette released him. She reached out again to help him up, but Ciaran gestured for her to keep her distance.
"You're going to kill me now if you touch me."
Juliette stopped.
Ciaran stood up. "Juliette, I want to be with you. But I don't want to die. You don't really want to kill me, do you?"
Silence.
"The Daimon Gate will kill me in much the same way as you touching me now. No matter what the transmutational process is within the gate, I'll die. I’m sure that I’m not a worthy individual. I’m a human being with a corrupted soul. If you once loved me, you’d know that about me."
