Queen's Journey (Lilith's Shadow Book 5)

by Benjamin Medrano

  “Yeah. There’s nothing to be done for it,” Gina said, letting out a sigh, then smiled at Rachel. “I suppose that we did need vacations, anyway.”

  “It also gives me a chance to work on figuring out how to turn you back, if you want me to,” Rachel offered. “I mean, we’ve been busy enough I haven’t put a lot of time into the research, but with a few months of downtime…”

  Gina seemed to consider, then nodded, speaking softly. “I think that’s for the best. We’ll see how it looks at that point, but let’s get the mental stuff done first?”

  “An excellent decision. You have no idea how you’ll feel once the changes are undone, after all,” Madison said briskly. “Likely as not, we’ll alternate days, starting with Gina. She has more of a mess to deal with.”

  Rachel nodded, hesitating for a moment, then asked, “Is there anything we can do to help? If we’re going to be here for a few months…”

  “Of course there is. You’re going to be helping with chores,” Madison said, grinning at them as she stood up. “Starting with dinner. Email whoever you want to let know about your trip, then get your bums down into the kitchen. It’s time to get to work.”

  Gina giggled, but nodded, pulling out her phone, as did Rachel. As she did so, she wondered if the work Madison was going to do would leave her in love with Lilith for part of their visit… and she wondered how that would really feel.

  It was a question which bothered her, but Rachel supposed she’d find out soon enough.

  Chapter 19

  Monday, August 25th, 2031

  Salt Lake International Airport, Paragon City

  Ivanova’s ears popped as the plane depressurized, and she resisted the urge to shake her head, instead glancing out of the plane’s window again as she waited, smiling slightly. The sheer amount of security in sight amused her, even if she thought it was somewhat excessive. While she was attacked on many of her trips, she’d found that a lot of times the sheer number of guards caused conflicts which allowed attackers to get closer. At least they hadn’t been asked to go to one of the main terminals, but rather to one of the more secure areas of the airport.

  It wasn’t her responsibility to deal with, though. Almost none of the attacks had attempted to injure her to date, as most people wanted to use her abilities. That was part of why she had her bodyguards, though. Vlad had spared almost no expense in finding a proper security team for her, which was part of why she continued sitting back in her seat, waiting patiently.

  The hatch hissed open a few seconds later, and she heard several members of her security team exit the plane while Alexia started pulling out her luggage. After a minute, Grigore spoke up.

  “We’re ready for you, Lady Cheresk,” the man rumbled, poking his head through the door to look at her.

  He was a big man, with short brown hair and kind brown eyes, but Ivanova knew he’d do whatever he needed to in order to keep her safe. The man was wearing his usual outfit for when he was on the job, a maroon turtleneck with a black jacket over it and black slacks, while the nearly imperceptible sight of an earbud in his ear showed that he could contact the rest of the team at a moment’s notice.

  “Thank you, Grigore,” Ivanova replied, standing with a single, fluid motion. “How are things outside?”

  “About how I expected them to be. Lots of military, a bunch of heroes, and a swarm of reporters,” Grigore replied, a faint note of disapproval in his voice. “The others are inspecting the aircar, but should be done before we get to it.”

  Ivanova smiled slightly, inclining her head incrementally. She glanced at Alexia and arched an eyebrow. “Do you need assistance, Alexia?”

  “No, Milady. I have everything,” the maid replied in her soft voice, balancing the bags she’d strapped on either side of her body, as well as the two suitcases with a couple more bags on top of them. It amused Ivanova, since she was perfectly willing to carry her own luggage. Unfortunately, if she just took it, she’d offend her maid, so Ivanova was forced to watch as Alexia overloaded herself.

  “As you like,” Ivanova said, inclining her head again, and she turned to Grigore, who smiled at her, before turning to lead the way out of the plane.

  As Ivanova walked sedately, she mentally went through her itinerary. She didn’t want to make it obvious that the entire trip had been arranged for the sole purpose of speaking with Lilith Carpenter, which meant doing some work to mislead others. That was part of why she was going to be visiting the hospital that evening to help the most heavily injured people who’d been in Las Vegas. The next day she had a few meetings with several of the more powerful heroes that Vlad had occasional dealings with, another meeting with Insight, then a meeting with several politicians that Ivanova half-expected to go poorly.

  It was Wednesday morning that she was going to visit Lilith, which would likely cause a furor all on its own, but Ivanova was willing to deal with that. Then she was going to spend much of the day shopping, as well as part of Thursday. She’d head back early on Friday, so that gave her some free time for doing other things if she decided she wanted to. And if she had to, Ivanova could always delay her trip, since there weren’t any concrete deadlines in place.

  Reaching the door of the jet, Ivanova paused as Grigore started down the stairs, glancing across the tarmac, and as she did, she almost clicked her tongue. Grigore hadn’t been joking, as she could see the news crews from where she was, and there was even a hovering van right on the edge of the airport’s airspace with a camera pointed in her direction. The police and a handful of the local group that dealt with superhuman threats were keeping any of the visitors from getting too close, but it was rather chaotic for them only having been on the ground for five minutes. She also saw a few of the brightly colored outfits of local heroes hovering or standing in different spots, but she ignored them, instead focusing on the sleek black aircar her guards were combing over, as well as two more that she suspected were for their use.

  Of course, that was the moment that the nearest other vehicle, a passing catering truck, abruptly spun toward them and began transforming into a gigantic, robotic figure.

  “Surrender Dracula’s Bride or Professor—” the robot began booming in a metallic voice, but it didn’t get much farther than that.

  First came a shot from one of the local enforcers with a beam cannon that didn’t penetrate its armor but did rock the robot back slightly. The hail of fire from other guards caused the reporters to scatter, many of them turning to take pictures of the machine. Then the first blast of fire slammed into one arm, and the blur of a hero appeared, sparks flying as the man hit it ineffectually with a sword.

  Ivanova watched, not terribly impressed as the robot tried to get to its feet, as she knew it wasn’t going to get much farther. And she was right, as one of the more well-known heroines of the city showed up with a trail of lightning behind her, shooting electricity into the back of one of the mech’s knees. Then someone came flying out of nowhere, slamming into the chest of the robot and knocking it backward, which nearly crushed a couple of heroes.

  As the robot was ripped apart by a dozen heroes, Grigore watched, visibly unimpressed, then glanced back at Ivanova. “Welcome to Paragon City, Lady Cheresk.”

  That caused her to laugh softly, and she followed him as he moved down the stairs, paying the destruction no further attention.

  Glaring up at the departing air cars, Spark made sure she was on a private line back to the base and snapped, “Alright, show’s over, she can go home now.”

  “Um, Spark? She’s only been on the ground for twenty minutes,” Decarin replied, sounding bemused. “I don’t think she’d take the suggestion kindly.”

  “Sure she won’t, but she isn’t the one who’s had to deal with seven attacks in that twenty minutes,” Spark shot back, then glowered down at the young woman on the ground who’d just twitched beneath Spark’s boot and told her, “Move and I’ll light you up again, which you’ll really regret. We’re going to stay right here unti
l the cops come over.”

  “O-okay,” the woman replied, gently laying her head back down on the ground, but Spark kept a close eye on her. She’d already gone through all of her restraints, or she’d have taken care of the woman already.

  “That many, really?” Decarin asked, sounding startled. “I only saw four on the news.”

  “Yeah, well, they didn’t spot the guy with a rocket launcher over in the warehouse district, or this girl, who I have to assume was hoping to make a name for herself. She’s lucky I got her, Ivanova’s guards probably would’ve broken every bone in her body. I suppose being put in traction for a few months would’ve made the news,” Spark said caustically, which seemed to make the woman shrink downward slightly. “Yes, that’s only six, Dec. I don’t want to talk about the seventh. Some things aren’t meant to be seen.”

  “If you say so,” Decarin replied, still sounding curious. “Still, you’re being even grumpier than normal. What’s wrong?”

  “What’s wrong is that all of this means that I haven’t had any me time since last Wednesday,” Spark snapped at him. “The sooner Ivanova goes back to her boy-toy, the happier I’ll be.”

  “…you do know that we record comm calls. I don’t know if Dracula would appreciate comments like that,” Decarin said, a note of trepidation in his voice now.

  Spark snorted and shook her head, ignoring the faint hint of nervousness in the back of her mind as she replied bluntly, “If he has a problem with it, he can tell me himself. His wife has screwed with my life, and I’m not going to give her a pass just because she married him.”

  “And you called me crazy,” the young woman mumbled.

  It was all Spark could do not to flip the would-be villain off. If the woman had been able to see it, she might have indulged anyway, even if there were news crews around.

  Decarin took another call coming in as an excuse not to answer, and Spark went back to impatiently waiting for the cops to get moving. It was just a giant mech, it shouldn’t be taking them that long for them to deal with.

  She couldn’t wait for all of this to be over and to get back to seeing if Lilith was amenable to going out with her.

  Chapter 20

  Tuesday, August 26th, 2031

  Shadowmind Redoubt Invincible, Asteroid Belt, Sol

  The soft chime interrupted Amber’s concentration, and she ripped her attention away from the innards of one of the alien devices she hadn’t quite figured out. She wasn’t sure what it was, but the large, egg-shaped machine had been present in all of their personal chambers, which made her think it was important. Either that or it was their equivalent of a lavatory, which would make her very annoyed.

  “What is it, Circe?” Amber demanded, pulling back as she scowled. “I’m busy!”

  “I’m aware of that, Mistress, but the situation is rather important,” Circe replied calmly. “It is regarding Ivanova’s visit to Paragon City.”

  That caused Amber’s eyes to narrow, and she couldn’t help the hint of frustration going through her. Ivanova was one of the most fascinating supers that Amber knew of, yet she was also one of only two that she didn’t dare get anywhere near. Well, make that three, if you included Storyteller. Trying to harm or even study Ivanova would be dangerous beyond belief so long as Dracula was alive, and no matter how powerful Amber was, she didn’t dare face the dragon. Other psychics had made the mistake of facing Dracula, expecting his mental defenses to be weaker than his physical ones, and he’d crushed them utterly. Those who dared go after Ivanova were the ones who truly regretted their actions, though, and with nearly a century of examples to work with, even Amber didn’t dare put Dracula to the test. Not yet, at least.

  Amber scooted her chair back, drumming her fingers on the arm for a few seconds as she thought, then asked, “Is it going to impact my plans?”

  “I can honestly state that I have no idea, Mistress,” Circe replied promptly. “There are too many variables involved, and it also depends on which set of plans you are speaking of. I am assuming you are speaking of those involving the fleet, and I don’t believe it will.”

  Amber’s concerns eased slightly, and she nodded. “Very well. Tell me, then.”

  “While I am not absolutely certain of her aims, the actions Ivanova has taken do not appear to match previous appearances. She rarely travels to other nations, and while the attack on the Las Vegas Hero Convention has horrified many people, it has not resulted in as many injuries as a great deal of other incidents over the years. Beyond that, only a handful of the worst cases were transferred to Paragon City for treatment. The meetings she has attended also shed little light on the situation,” Circe said, her voice calm and smooth, though its content was mildly annoying to Amber. She remained silent as the AI continued. “However, I have also taken note of digital traffic from both Wallachia and now in the Paragon City region, which I believe is coming from Ivanova’s security detail. They have made extensive use of satellite imagery to examine the area around Eden Manor, including traffic patterns and the crime rate. Coupled with the information from Morgan and Warden about Dracula interfering in the hunt for Lilith last year, it appears that Ivanova may be intending to meet with her.”

  For an instant Amber felt her emotions surge. Rage, fear, and betrayal rushed through her, but anger quickly won out over the other emotions, and she hissed. “They’re meeting with Lilith? Is she aware of this?”

  As Amber clenched her hands, her nails biting deep into her palms, Circe replied, “She has made no indications that she is aware of this, Mistress. Lilith is spending most of her time either taking online lessons, working on various artwork or crafts projects, playing games online with what I have to assume are deities based on her commentary, or fretting over her invitation to meet with Daemonia. I believe the last is distracting her far more than anything else, but I do not think that she would be ignoring Ivanova if she knew.”

  “Good. At least she hasn’t betrayed me that way. Yet,” Amber said, scowling, then forced her hands to relax. “If he does too much, we’ll see how he reacts to a full-scale bombardment when the time comes.”

  “Mistress, the purpose of the installations along the edges of his domain haven’t been determined yet,” Circe replied immediately, a note of caution in her voice. “Even if the fleet is more powerful than anyone might anticipate, it isn’t invincible.”

  “No, it isn’t. But I doubt that he has much more than shield generators in place, and if that’s what they are, he’ll be pinned down like a frog in a well,” Amber said, mentally pushing Dracula aside, and instead wondering what he wanted with Lilith. It wouldn’t be Ivanova’s idea to meet with Lilith, Amber knew that much.

  The problem was that Amber couldn’t see any rhyme or reason to why he’d be interested in Lilith. Oh, she was superior to the vast majority of humans, but Dracula was superior in his own right, and Ivanova was seemingly ageless, which was better than any hero or heroine Amber knew of. No, it wasn’t her genetics he’d be after. As for Lilith’s powers, while the ability to increase the capabilities of others was impressive, it had so many limitations on it that the ability was nearly useless, in Amber’s opinion. She’d broken Lilith’s ability to enhance Morgan and Warden with an afternoon’s work.

  With those out of the way, the only thing that Amber could think of was that this was due to the incident with the gods. That irritated her to no end, but there wasn’t anything she could do about it, which made her fume internally.

  Circe didn’t interrupt this time, which was good, as Amber would have been quite upset. She didn’t need the AI interrupting her train of thought, even if she wasn’t coming to any conclusion she liked. Finally, Amber simply shook her head.

  “Monitor any meeting they have if you can,” Amber ordered, scowling as she glared daggers at the device in front of her. “Knowing him, Ivanova will have some device or another that prevents you from doing so, but I’ll be damned if I don’t at least try to monitor the meeting. I want to hear it if you fi
nd out anything useful.”

  “Yes, Mistress,” Circe acknowledged.

  With that, Amber scooted forward again. She wasn’t going to let the distraction prevent her from figuring out the alien device, and it gave her something to destroy in frustration if it turned out to be worthless.

  That made it much like heroes, come to think of it.

  Chapter 21

  Wednesday, August 27th, 2031

  Eden Manor, Glendale

  Staring at the sewing machine, Lilith sighed, trying to keep her shoulders from slumping. She’d been certain that she’d known how to feed the thread through the machine and that everything was in place, but the moment she’d hit the pedal to start it moving, the threads had caught and now it was a tangled mess. That wasn’t how she’d hoped to start the day.

  “Where’s the instruction manual…” Lilith muttered to herself, turning to hunt through the drawer where she’d put all the instruction manuals for the different things she’d purchased. Gina and Rachel had teased her about saving all of them, but Lilith knew herself. Instruction manuals were useful when you made a mistake and reduced the odds of her abandoning the equipment due to frustration.

  Regret twisted in Lilith’s stomach at the thought of the two women, and she hesitated, her head bowing over the drawer for a moment as she let the grief wash over her. She blinked, refusing to let herself cry, and waited for it to pass. The advantage of having so many rooms in the house was that Lilith didn’t have to frequent the ones which the others had used the most, but it didn’t help the enormous house feel any smaller.

  Once the emotions passed, Lilith continued sorting through the drawer, only to find that the manual had somehow made its way to the bottom of the drawer, which mystified her. It was one of her more recent purchases, so it shouldn’t have been that far down, but she closed the drawer, opened the manual, and started to flip through it.