Cataclysm (Alternate Earth Series, Book One) (9 page)

“What’s so special about Ravan anyway?” I ask. “Brand said she was human. Why did the princes choose her to be their mouthpiece?”

“We have no idea,” Xavier replies. “The only remarkable thing about her is the fact that she’s rather intelligent for a human and has the ability to make those around her want to do anything for her. Even I’ve felt a pull to do her bidding, but I keep in mind that she’s just a strategic pawn being played in Lucian’s scheme.”

“But, why her?” I press. “There has to be something about her that’s unique.”

“Her mother won a multimillion-dollar lottery a few years before the Tear appeared,” Brand tells me. “Ravan was probably just a baby when that happened, though. Her mother was one of the few humans allowed to keep her wealth and live in luxury during the Watchers’ reign over the world. As Malcolm…I mean, Xavier… said, Ravan is highly intelligent and extremely charismatic. It allowed her to rise rather quickly within the ranks at NATO. She’s only forty-one, and she basically took the world over before anyone even realized what was happening.”

“Brand…” a new female voice calls out, causing us all to look towards the entryway in the room.

By the blue aura surrounding her, I know this young woman is yet another female Watcher. She’s slightly shorter than I am, with a petite figure. She’s dressed in an outfit of deep purple that looks to be made out of some sort of neoprene material, providing her with unrestricted movement. A thick, black leather belt rests low around her hips, with two sheathed swords hanging down by her sides. Her long brown hair is pulled back from her face by a braided ponytail that hangs down her back.

The Watcher silently surveys those of us gathered in the room as she casually lays her hands on the black and silver hilts of her swords.

Brand rises from his seat to walk over to the new arrival.

“What’s wrong, Nina?” Brand asks as he goes to stand in front of the woman.

Nina drags her cautious gaze away from us to address Brand.

“We weren’t able to complete our mission tonight,” Nina informs Brand, sounding disappointed. “There was an unexpected development.” Nina’s gaze returns to those of us not from this reality. “I suspect what I witnessed is directly related to your new friends over there. The men I saw were dressed in outfits that looked exactly like hers,” Nina says nodding her head in my direction, “and there was a Watcher child with them.”

“You’re sure they were in white outfits like mine?” I ask, knowing only four of us are unaccounted for now.

“Yes,” Nina answers.

“It has to be Rafe and Zack, then,” I say, knowing Jered would have been wearing black. “Where are they?”

“Who are these people?” Nina asks Brand, reluctant to say more without knowing if she can trust us with the information she has.

Brand goes on to explain who we are and why we’ve traveled to this reality. After that, he turns to us.

“Nina and another Watcher were carrying out a rescue mission this evening,” Brand tells us.

I stand from my seat. “Then your mission just got a little bigger,” I inform Nina. “We need to get our friends. Where are they?”

Nina doesn’t answer, just stares at me as if she’s sizing me up. At any other time, I could appreciate her cautiousness, but, right now, it’s just irritating me.

“We’re here to help you,” I tell her, trying to ease her obvious worry. “We need to rescue our friends before something bad happens to them.”

“Why don’t we go back to headquarters and discuss what Nina saw?” Brand suggests. “Then we can decide what needs to be done next.”

“Sophia is distraught,” Nina tells Brand, looking worried. “I promised her I would get Logan away from Robert tonight. I don’t want to break my promise, especially when the reason is interference from an outside party.”

Nina glances in our direction with a bit of disdain in her eyes.

I’m about to say something I might regret later, but Mason grabs one of my hands in a silent plea to keep my harsh words to myself. I bite my tongue, and wait for Brand to handle the situation.

“They’re here to help us,” Brand tells her with a hard edge to his voice. “And I think it might have been divine intervention that you
happened
to be there when their friends were brought in. Otherwise, it would have taken us a lot longer to find them.”

Nina looks surprised by Brand’s use of the term ‘divine intervention’. I can tell it never occurred to her that her mission tonight had a dual purpose.

“Then we need to reformulate our plan to include getting their friends out of Robert’s estate,” Nina agrees.

“I wish you all the best of luck,” Xavier says to us. “I’m afraid I need to get back to Ravan’s party before I’m missed. If I learn anything important, I’ll contact you.”

“It was nice to meet you,” Noel says, holding out her hand for me to shake.

“I hope it won’t be the last time,” I tell her, genuinely meaning it.

“It won’t be,” she assures me. “I make regular visits to Brand, so I can give him updates on the things we learn.”

“I hate to ask,” I say, worried I might be overstepping my bounds, but needing to make the request, “but, do you think you can find out what they’ve done to my Lucifer? I sort of feel responsible for him, or at least responsible enough to make sure I get him back to our reality.”

“I’ll see what I can find out for you,” Noel promises.

“Thank you.”

I hold my hand out to Malcolm.

“You won’t be able to phase many places in this reality,” I tell him. “Not until you’ve actually been to them.”

Malcolm takes hold of my hand, while I grip Mason’s even tighter with my other one.

“I’m not holding hands with the boy,” Malcolm says, looking pointedly at Chandler.

Chandler shrugs. “It’s not exactly something on my wish list either.”

A charming smile tugs at Chandler’s lips as he makes his way over to stand beside Nina.

“Mind giving me a lift, pretty lady?” Chandler asks her.

Nina raises her eyebrows at Chandler, peering at him. Her expression reminds me of my own when I examine the remains of a bug I just squished with the bottom of my shoe.

“I’m not sure what kind of women you’re used to dealing with,” Nina says to Chandler, “but don’t ever call me that again. I can promise you won’t like my reaction the next time.”

I hear Malcolm snicker beside me at hearing Nina’s words as she roughly grabs one of Chandler’s arms and phases him away.

“Oh, I like her,” Malcolm says approvingly.

I, on the other hand, decide to reserve my own judgment until after she helps me rescue my friends.      

CHAPTER EIGHT

After we all phase back to Brand’s quarters, I see yet another female Watcher I haven’t met before. Her features remind me of an actress from one of the Spanish telenovelas Faison and Mama Lynn are addicted to back on our Earth’s TV. She’s wearing an outfit similar to Nina’s, except its black. Her eyes are the color of honey, which contrast beautifully with her tan skin, making them appear to glow. The soft curls of her long brown hair bounce in time with her agitated pacing.

“You did the right thing by coming back here to tell Brand what you saw, Sophia,” Baruch says to her in a consoling manner. “You’ll get Logan back.”

“
We’ll
get Logan back,” Nina corrects before letting go of Chandler’s arm and walking over to Sophia. “I promised you we would, Soph.”

The desperate way Sophia looks at Nina tells me she wants to believe her friend.

“There’s no guarantee she’ll come with us,” Sophia says with a great deal of uncertainty mixed with sorrow.

“I didn’t realize we were giving her a choice,” Nina says, as if this is the first time she’s heard there was a condition to their rescue plan. “Besides, I thought the whole point of doing this at night was to make sure she was in werewolf form so she would feel compelled to do what you tell her.”

“Robert’s hold on her could be stronger than mine now,” Sophia says worriedly, wringing her hands together. “He’s had her for over a century. He may have completely brainwashed her to hate me!”

Sophia’s eyes shimmer with tears at just the thought of her child’s possible rejection.

“You’re her mother,” Nina reminds Sophia gently. “Your bond with her will stay strong, no matter what Robert tries to do.”

“But, as her father, his bond with her is just as great,” Sophia argues. “She chose to stay with him after I decided to join your side, even though I begged her to come with me. I fear I may have lost her forever, Nina.”

“You never should have given her a choice,” Nina complains, but not callously.

“I didn’t want to be like Robert. I wanted her to join me because she wanted to change her life for the better, too. I just thought she would have decided to come to me by now.”

“I don’t mean to interrupt,” I say, as Mason and I walk over to the two women, “but what exactly was the plan to rescue Sophia’s daughter tonight? Is it still something we can use to rescue my friends?”

“Depends on where they’re being kept,” Nina says. “I’m assuming they probably put the Watcher child I saw in the same place they keep Logan locked up at night.”

“His name is Tristan,” I tell them. “The other two you saw in outfits matching mine are Rafe and Zack.”

“And who are you?” Sophia asks me, not being rude; simply curious.

“Allow me to make the introductions,” Brand says, stepping up to introduce all of us to Sophia and Nina.

“So,” I say after we all know each other’s names, “what’s the plan?”

“The plan was for me to cause a distraction, while Sophia phased down to the dungeon in Robert’s estate to retrieve her daughter,” Nina says.

“Do you have any idea where in the house they might be keeping my friends?” I ask.

“Knowing Robert the way I do,” Sophia says contemplatively, “I would have to say he is keeping them close to him. He’ll want to know who they are and why two humans were taking care of a Watcher child. I strongly suggest we not delay in saving them. We should proceed with our plan tonight. Robert is not known for his patience or his hospitality.”

“Are you implying he might torture them for information?” I ask.

“Most definitely; not right away, though. We have a few hours yet. First, he will try to make them think he is their friend and someone who wants to help them. If that tactic doesn’t work, he will resort to a more physical means of extracting information from your friends.”

“I don’t know why they didn’t use their suits to make themselves invisible,” I muse aloud.

“I think I do,” Gabe says, joining in on our conversation. “Odds are they needed to stay visible to keep Tristan under control. You know neither of them would hide just to save themselves.”

It made sense. For some reason, it never occurred to me that we would be split up when we traveled here. I expected all of us to arrive at the same place and Tristan’s transformation wouldn’t be a problem. I knew this world’s Brand would have a safe place for him to stay, since the Abby here was still under the same werewolf curse. However, I have to admit that I was surprised Rafe and Zack were able to control Tristan in his wolf form. I wasn’t aware that anyone other than Mae and Jered had that type of effect on him.

“Ok, so how do we get inside Robert’s estate to find my friends?” I ask. “Can Mason and I use our suits’ ability to become invisible and sneak onto the grounds to scout things out first?”

“I don’t think that will work,” Nina says, quickly dashing my hopes. “Robert has a sophisticated security system in place. Unless your suits can hide you from thermal- imaging cameras, he’ll still be able to see you.”

“No,” I say despondently, “they don’t. I already learned that lesson tonight. What are our other options?”

“I think we should stick to my original strategy,” Nina says. “We storm the castle from the front and cause a big enough distraction to give you time to search the house. Robert is arrogant and doesn’t keep many guards in his home. He doesn’t think anyone has the guts to fight him on his own turf.”

“I agree,” Brand says. “Nina should lead a small group in through the front door while the rest of us look in the most likely places for your friends. We’ll only have a short amount of time before someone on the grounds calls for reinforcements. As soon as they arrive, we’ll need to get out before we’re overpowered.”

“How much time will we have to search?” Mason asks.

“No more than five or ten minutes would be my guess,” Brand answers. “It all depends on how quickly Robert feels threatened by our presence. He won’t ask for anyone’s help unless he thinks he has no other choice. His pride won’t let him.”

“While I lead my team through the front,” Nina says, “Sophia should phase directly down to the dungeon to get Logan and Tristan out.”

“Robert only has two guards down there to watch Logan during the night,” Sophia tells us. “After I take them out, all I have to do is get through the electronic lock on the door to her cell. Josh made me a device that should be able to handle that.”

“You should go with Sophia,” Mason suggests to me. “Tristan will be more willing to trust you.”

I nod. “Ok.”

“I would like to volunteer my services for the castle-storming,” Malcolm says eagerly.

“Are you sure you’re up for a fight?” Nina asks, looking pointedly at Malcolm’s wolf-head cane. “Is that just for decoration or is there something wrong with you?”

“I was bitten by a hellhound,” Malcolm tells her, by way of explanation.

“A what?” Nina asks, looking confused. “Since when does Hell have hounds?”

“Well, if they aren’t in this reality,” Malcolm says, “just be grateful your Lucifer didn’t make them. They leave a nasty wound that doesn’t heal.”

“Does it hurt?” Nina asks, her interest piqued.

“I feel a twinge every once in a while,” Malcolm replies with a tight-lipped grin, refusing to say more.

I have to assume Malcom isn’t disclosing the other fact associated with his particular type of injury for a very good reason. The hellhound bite is really a curse that only Lucifer can lift. Yet, the price for his healing touch is the afflicted person’s soul. I feel sure Malcolm will never succumb to Lucifer’s demand. If anyone has as much pride as Lucifer does, it’s Malcolm. I know our friend will live with his pain for as long as he has to, no matter what the personal cost.

“Baruch and I will go with Nina,” Isaiah offers.

“Let me get the building plans of Robert’s manor so we all know where we need to go and where the others will be,” Brand says. He phases away, but returns only a minute later holding a rolled-up set of blueprints.

“Do you need our help?” Leah asks me as we look over the house plans.

“Not this time,” I tell her, Gabe, JoJo, and Chandler. “I think we can handle things.”

All I need is to rescue three of my friends but put four more in danger. I love them, but they aren’t the best fighters in hand-to-hand combat. Leah, at least, has her fire to help protect her, and Chandler can weave his music around our enemies to evoke certain emotions. JoJo’s coat is a great defense, but she isn’t good at physical combat. Gabe only has his foresight, which doesn’t do a lot of good during a fight like this. He’s good in a brawl against regular humans, but not against the superhuman strength of angels.

“Is there anything else we can do while you’re out?” Gabe asks me. Out of all of them, Gabe understands their physical limitations during a supernatural battle.

“Try to use your power to locate Jered,” I tell Gabe. “Maybe you can see something in this reality’s future that will help us find him.”

Gabe nods. “Chandler, JoJo, and Leah can help me with that.”

We have tried to find out what the future holds for this reality while still in ours, but it was always blank. Finally, we concluded that Gabe’s ability to see into the future would have to be used after we arrived here. Now was as good a time as any to put that hypothesis to the test.

“We’ll need to find you a sword,” Nina tells Malcolm.

“I’ve already got one,” Malcolm informs her, pulling on the upper portion of his cane to reveal the blade hidden within the shaft. “I wouldn’t come here unprepared.”

“Well, just stay behind me and we shouldn’t have any problem getting into the house,” Nina tells him.

“You know,” Isaiah says, causally placing one hand on the hilt of his own sword hanging by his side in its sheath, “just because you’re a War Angel doesn’t mean you have to lead every fight you’re in.”

“Uh, yeah, it sort of does,” Nina says cockily. “I’m the most qualified.”

“Haven’t we proven we can fight just as fiercely as you?” Baruch challenges, his chest puffed out slightly.

Nina sighs. “Listen, you’re both good fighters, but you’ll never be as good as me. It’s just that simple.”

“Well, if you’re anything like the War Angel I know,” Malcolm says, “then you are the best fighter here, besides me, of course. I was able to beat Aiden on certain occasions.”

“Only by…” Mason is about to say, but doesn’t finish because Malcolm quickly raises a hand in his direction to stop the flow of his next words.

“Don’t give away my secret weapon against fighting a War Angel,” Malcolm tells Mason before looking over at Nina, mischief in his eyes. “I might be able to talk Nina into a sparring match later on. It’s been a while since I was able to fight a War Angel.”

“What happened to your friend?” Nina asks. “Is he refusing to fight you now?”

“He asked our father to make him human at his wedding to one of my nieces. Now, he’s just a puny human I could break in two if I wanted. But, he did teach me a few tricks on how to fight more like a War Angel.”

“There’s no way you can beat me,” Nina says boastfully. “No one ever has.”

“There’s always a first time for everything,” Malcolm tells her. “No one is invincible.”

“Well, I guess I
will
have to fight you now,” Nina says with a slow grin. “Just to prove you wrong.”

Malcolm bows in Nina’s direction. “I look forward to it.”

“I wouldn’t mind watching you beat Malcolm,” Chandler says. “Ever since Aiden asked to be human, Malcolm’s ego has gotten exponentially bigger. It might do him some good to be humbled for once.”

“Not that you would know much about what it takes to fight in real combat,” Malcolm says scathingly. “But if we need some background music for the match, I’ll let you know.”

“Background music?” Nina asks, at a complete loss as she looks between Malcolm and Chandler for an explanation.

“Chandler is a musician in our reality,” Malcolm tells Nina. “Though, I use that term loosely. He has thousands of pre-pubescent females fawning all over him back there.”

“Oh,” Nina says, looking at Chandler and nodding her head slightly, as if what Malcolm said has just cleared up a mystery for her. “He’s a dandy. That explains the hair and makeup.”

Chandler runs one hand over his slightly teased and hair-sprayed locks.

“I just got through performing a concert before we came here,” Chandler says in his own defense. “This is my stage hair and makeup. My fans expect me to look a certain way when they come see me play.”

“Well, in this reality,” Nina says, “it makes you look like a pampered peacock.”

“My thoughts exactly,” Malcolm agrees wholeheartedly.

“Ok, can we lay off Chandler’s fashion sense and get back to what’s important?” I ask, trying to save Chandler from any more embarrassment and get us all back on track.

“We’ll go first,” Nina says, resting a hand on Malcolm’s arm. “Isaiah and Baruch, follow my phase trail. Sophia, take the others to the lookout point. Once you see the fight start, phase Brand and Mason to the east wing of the mansion where you think Robert is keeping their friends. Then take Jess to the dungeon to retrieve Logan and Tristan. We’ll keep them distracted for as long as we can. Afterwards, we should all meet up at the safe house in the city to make sure none of us leads them back here to headquarters.”